Coming Back

by bats

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Romance, Rainbow Dash
Length: 95955

Peace in the world beyond proves elusive to Rainbow, and she'll never let her friends down when they need her.

A living meteor has fallen, bringing the threat of Equestria's destruction. The Elements of Harmony have broken, following Rainbow Dash's ultimate sacrifice to protect her friends, and they scramble to solve the mystery while the world prepares for war. Moving forward is hard with Rainbow Dash dead.

But peace in the world beyond proves elusive to Rainbow, and she'll never let her friends down when they need her. Not even death will stop her from coming back.

Currently undergoing rewrites on a semi-regular basis, please check recent blogs or the 'current projects' module on my user page for details.

Editing for remastered version by Formerly Committed and Shellsh0cker.

Published 2012-11-29 13:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-13 23:01:44 UTC

Chapter 1 (Remastered)

Nopony in Ponyville noticed the tremors until their photos were falling off the walls. From nothing, they built to a dull rumble that threatened to shake the town apart. Everypony inside rushed to doorways to wait out the vibrations, while the few who were brave or unlucky enough to be outside found themselves staring skyward.

A ball of fire arched across the clear day, trailing black smoke in a billowing tail. As it fell, blazing brighter than the sun, a roar joined the quaking earth that grew louder and forced everypony to clap their hooves over their ears.

Nopony moved as it marched overhead, crossing the town and heading deep into the heart of the Everfree Forest. A wave of panic passed over everypony as it neared the ground: a frantic scramble to some form of cover to brace against a shockwave that never came. A muted crash ended the sphere’s flight and tendrils of fire leapt into the air, igniting trees and adding more smoke to the remains of the tail. The tremors stilled, but the howl of noise continued.

Twilight skidded to a stop in front of the forest’s path. Rainbow Dash was already there waiting for her. “Rainbow? What’re you—?”

“Same reason you’re here, egghead.” She flashed a smirk that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Twilight opened her mouth, but the clatter of hooves from different directions drew her attention. Applejack and Fluttershy galloped side-by-side down the road leading from their homes by the Whitetail Woods, and Rarity and Pinkie Pie ran to meet them from downtown Ponyville. Gathered together, they exchanged looks, all fearful, all determined. Twilight turned towards the forest. “C’mon, girls! Let’s go!”

The six raced into the trees.

The rush of noise gradually quieted as they made their way closer, dodging tree roots and animals fleeing the impact site, their journey made disconcerting by sunlight streaming through the canopy making everything seem bright and merry.

Applejack stamped through a rotted log in her gallop and called out, “Whaddya think we’re in for, Twi?”

“I don’t know; that looked like a meteorite, but it didn’t land like one. We’ll probably need to put out some fires, but we could be in for anything, really.”

“Oooh, it could be anything?” Pinkie mused. “Maybe it was soft and squishy, like marshmallows! I bet it was a marshmallow meteor!”

Rarity grumbled, “I hope whatever it is isn’t much further.”

Snorting, Rainbow teased, “C’mon Rares; a little running never hurt anypony.” She leapt off her hooves and backflipped around a branch, hovering just above the group. Her grin widened. “Right, Fluttershy?” At her friend’s squeak of surprise, she laughed.

Twilight shot ahead a few paces, calling over her shoulder, “Less talking, more running.”

They slowed their pace as they approached a clearing of blown down trees. An oppressive wave of sulphur invaded their snouts and they squinted as much against the stench as the brightness of the sphere in the center of the circle.

Applejack’s brow knit in suspicion. “Somethin’s not right. Shouldn’t that thing’ve burned out by now?”

As the words left her mouth, the wild flames died down, surrounding the lumpy ball in an orange corona. With the crackling hiss of moisture cooking out of green wood, the blob lurched upwards. The six stared wide-eyed as the dark silhouette of the thing’s core separated and spread.

Four cloven hooves sprung from the mass, dragging it up to standing. A ropy tail flicked to life behind it as the center elongated into a barrel-chested torso. Horns erupted from a newly formed head.

The fire tightened around the new shape until it hung like flesh. A giant bull stood before them, glowing orange and yellow, a full head taller than Princess Celestia. It lowered its featureless face toward the group and pawed the ground. A grinding sputter sounded from its head and twin plumes of smoke poured from its nostrils.

They could feel the heat pouring off of the beast across the wide distance. They slunk back a step and Rainbow cried, “Twilight, what is that?”

“I don’t kn—” The bull scraped its hoof again and charged. “Run!” They scattered around the flaming bulk and looped back into the clearing. Twilight shook her head to clear it. “Fluttershy, have you ever seen any animals like this?”

Eyes narrowing in determination, Fluttershy said, “No, I haven’t, but it might be in pain.” She flew towards the bull as it stepped back into the clearing, and waved her forelegs to grab its attention. It paused at her approach and regarded her with its unreadable face.

“Are you hurt? You don’t have to be scared. My name’s Fluttershy and I help animals, will you let me help you?”

The beast lowered down in a threatening crouch. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and poured her will into her gaze, searching out weakness, looking for empathy in the liquid current of fire.

The bull was empty.

Fluttershy turned to flee as it charged from dangerously close, unable to dodge around its bulk and just barely avoiding its horns.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow yelled, “go up! Up!”

Scrunching her eyes shut, Fluttershy darted straight into the sky. The bull reared up on its back legs to follow, swinging a hoof upwards, zeroing in on Fluttershy’s exposed belly.

A guttural roar made the beast’s swing falter. Fluttershy sailed up out of reach and turned to the sound. A large brown bear padded into the clearing, his teeth bared at the creature. “Harry!” Fluttershy squeaked. “It’s dangerous here, go home, please!”

Harry growled and hunkered down, glaring at the bull, which dropped back to all fours and matched the bear’s stance. Fluttershy screamed, “Harry, no!” as they lunged.

Paw met hoof and Harry tackled the bull, dragging it to the ground. His rage turned to a yelp of pain as fire leapt up his shaggy fur. He tried to pull back, but the amorphous flesh held fast. His eyes widened.

“No!” Fluttershy wailed. Rainbow’s hooves circled her middle as she rushed to help her animal friend. Her screams turned to sobs as the bull dragged Harry down. She struggled in her friend’s grip, but Rainbow held tight, leading her back towards the others.

The bull stood over the blackened and smoking remains of the bear. Bile rose in the back of Applejack’s throat. Leaping to a felled tree, she stamped down hard and split off a large section of its trunk. She spun on her hooves and bucked it with all her might at the bull.

The hunk of wood hit the beast with a rebounding crack, sinking into its chest. A whining hiss of superheated water followed as the log blackened and flaked away. The bull stepped forward, completely unfazed. Applejack broke off another piece and sent it sailing.

Twilight’s horn flashed and magic surrounded the log. With a burst of force, it sped up and shot into the bull’s chest. The wood hissed and spat, burning to char the same as the first, but the bull reeled back from the blow. It shook its head and stamped the ground, leaving a long scorch mark beneath its hoof.

Twilight shot another bolt of magical force and the bull turned towards her, lunging forward without warning. Rainbow Dash grabbed Twilight beneath her forelegs and flew her clear of the charge. “This isn’t working!” she called as she was set back on her hooves.

As they scrambled around another rush, Rarity’s eyes widened. “The river isn’t far from here!”

They turned together and bolted through the trees, dividing the bull’s attention as they darted in and out of cover, bringing it on a slow and meandering chase. The foliage fell before the creature, charring and twisting away from its aura of heat, hissing and blistering under its hooves. Pinkie Pie shouted, “I’ll buy everypony time to cross!” and veered off course, banging a drum and playing a clarinet. The bull reared back and lunged, parting the trees like blades of grass, and Rainbow lifted Pinkie away from harm at the last moment.

At the river’s edge, the water high and turbulent, Fluttershy lifted Rarity off the ground and Twilight wrapped her hooves around Applejack. In a flash of magic, they appeared on the opposite bank and watched Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash carry their other friends over. A relieved sigh escaped Twilight’s muzzle as she caught her breath.

Trees a smoking ruin at its appearance, the bull burst from the forest and charged headlong into the river, boiling the water to a haze of steam around its glowing form. Twilight squinted through the orange mist at the creature’s legs. The heat kept the water away from its fiery flesh; it was less fording the river than parting it.

Concentrating, Twilight conjured twisting whirlpools up from the waves, lifting them high and slamming them into the bull’s body. Steam poured away in torrents from her efforts before it even touched her target, but the bull paused and shook its head in a daze. Twilight’s eyes widened. ‘The magic is slowing it down!’

“We need the Elements of Harmony; I’ll meet everypony back in that clearing!” Scrunching her eyes shut, she vanished with a thunderclap of energy. The bull regained its bearings and charged.

“You guys get across, I’ll keep it busy.” Rainbow puffed out her chest and bellowed, “Hey, ugly!” leaping into the air. Her friends scattered to the sides, Fluttershy taking turns carrying them all across, while Rainbow buzzed around the bull’s head, dodging its horns and hooves. As the others made it to the far bank and galloped into the trees, she sailed over its head and blazed her way through the air, leading the bull back across the river and into the forest.

Rainbow flew in looping twists around the bull, keeping its attention focused on her through the chase and drawing it up to its full height to bat at her with its forelegs. They lurched back into the clearing, where Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity heaved in gulps of air during their reprieve. Rainbow didn’t let up, goading the creature with boasts and catcalls.

Twilight reappeared with a pop and slammed the tome holding the Elements of Harmony to the ground. “Quickly!” She flung back the cover as Rainbow darted to join them.

Five necklaces lifted up into the air and flashed to each pony, locking into place. Twilight’s crown settled onto her head and a shockwave of force leapt from the group in every direction. The charging bull was blown off its legs and rolled across the ground, leaving a smear of char before scrambling back to its belly.

The Elements lifted them from the ground in a glow of magic as they focused together, spinning in a circle and letting the power course through them. Twilight let out a breath of relief. “Okay, I think we’re goi—”

A howl filled the air as the bull swung its head skyward, and Twilight’s mind blanked mid-sentence. Her consciousness torn from reality and her mind thrust into nothingness, she had time to think, ‘Astral projection; a psychic message,’ before blinding orange cut through the darkness.

The burning meteor of the bull roiled through the expanse of nothing, moving ever forward. As she watched, another two fiery spheres flanked the first. Then more. And more. Countless rows forming countless columns spread in front of her, stretching back through the emptiness; a never ending wall of embers. The first pulled away from the group and streaked toward a glittering blue marble far in the distance.

Twilight’s thoughts were assaulted by a cascade of images, none clear, but all of fire. Plants burning. Towns burning. Ponies burning. An entire world consumed, the blue overpowered by an endless ocean of red as more and more bulls descended from space.

The final image lingered in her consciousness, bright and clear: the horde of meteors returning to the void, leaving the smoking ruin of an entire planet behind them.

Twilight awoke in a heap, lifting herself off a fallen tree in the clearing. She blinked and shook her head, watching her friends slowly rouse themselves from a similar state of groggy confusion. She looked over her shoulder at the bull.

The creature stared back through its featureless face, waiting silently, its tail flicking back and forth in an idle restlessness. Her gaze hardened.

“It’s a scout,” she said, willing the tremor out of her voice. “There’s an army coming. We have to stop it.”

They all clamored back to standing and gathered in a group, lifting off the ground as the Elements of Harmony hummed back to life. As the magic surged through them, throwing them into the meditative trance of power, only Rainbow Dash saw the bull rear up on its back legs and swing a hoof through the air.

A chunk of its darkened core flew free from the end of its leg, coated in liquid flesh, barrelling at the group.

Rainbow’s aura vanished as she flared her wings and turned, bucking with all her might. Her hindlegs connected with the projectile in a solid thunk, sending it careening away from her friends and back to the clearing.

The magic left the others as they stared at Rainbow Dash. Liquid fire sheathed her back legs, glowing bright, racing up her cannons towards her barrel. No one could say a word as Rainbow Dash was completely engulfed.

Twilight locked gazes with Rainbow. Through the haze of orange fluid she could read the pain in her friend’s face, bright and sharp, but the resignation and acceptance was far more terrifying. Silence stretched out as Rainbow’s mane crisped and her skin grew taught. The rotten egg smell of sulphur was overpowered by burning hair.

Rainbow’s voice, raspy and dry, but still unmistakably her, full or strength and conviction, erupted from the blaze. “I love you guys.”

Rainbow turned through the air, her mane in tatters, her silhouette turning gray, and streaked through the air. An inch from the bull, a thunderclap shook the air as color exploded from her hooves. The rainbow streak, bright and vivid through the fire, struck the beast in its solid core, tearing through the liquid flesh and carrying a hunk of its core away. The gaping wound shot tongues of flame in her wake, and the remains of the bull lurched and fell still, its liquid flesh burning away to smoldering ash like a dying campfire.

The magic of the Elements faded, and they landed back in the clearing. As soon as hooves touched ground, they shot off at a gallop through the trees. Rainbow’s flight path of destruction ended at the charred and blackened bark of a tree, fat and broad with age. Their breaths hitched as they looked for any sign of their friend.

The Element of Loyalty lay at the base of the tree, the golden neck bands twisted from heat and blackened with soot. A sharp crack down the middle split the dulled ruby lightning bolt in two, marring its surface. Wide eyed and in shock, they turned to face each other.

All six gems, bright and shaped to match each mare’s special talent, shared the same flaw.

The Elements of Harmony had broken.

Five sets of hooves made the slow trek back through the Everfree Forest and into Ponyville with the twisted Element of Loyalty floating in the middle of their group, suspended in Twilight’s magic. Nopony noticed how empty the town was as they crossed in front of town hall and entered the desolate marketplace, their expressions frozen in shock.

They arrived at the library, and found Spike waiting for them at the door, a scroll in his claws. He handed it to Twilight and stepped aside as they entered, his expression grave and ashen. Twilight unrolled the letter and cleared her throat. Her words came out barely above a whisper.

“To my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

“Please forgive the brevity of this letter, but you are no doubt aware of the declaration of war psychically transmitted across all of Equestria. This, coupled with the reports of a meteor strike near Ponyville, leads me to hope that you have further information.

“I hope this letter finds you and your friends in good health.

“Princess Celestia.”

Twilight’s legs gave out on her. Applejack rushed to her side and offered a steadying hoof, guiding her back to standing and whispering, “It’s gonna be okay, sugarcube, it’s gonna be okay.” Twilight leaned against her side and shivered, before nodding once and crossing the room to her desk on faltering steps.

Everypony gathered around while she pulled a sheet of parchment and a quill from her desk. As the feather touched the paper, an image of Rainbow Dash flashed through her mind and a tremor of panic raced up her spine. She took a deep and strained breath, willing away her emotions, focusing on the task at hand. The feather scratched out the first word in shining black ink.

Spike watched the words flow onto the page. He swayed where he stood and threw out his arms, clutching the side of the desk to hold himself up. Fluttershy broke the silence when a strangled sob tore its way out of her throat. She sunk to her haunches and found herself hugged on either side by Pinkie and Rarity.

Twilight blinked and two teardrops fell to the page, smearing the last word she’d written. She leaned away from the page as her chest shuddered, forcing down her feelings, fighting her way through writing the letter.

A hoof settled on her shoulder and she jumped, turning to find Applejack behind her. Silent streams of wetness ran down her friend’s cheeks, but Applejack nodded in encouragement and rubbed her back. She took a ragged breath and blotted away the wet patch on the sheet, starting fresh on the next line.

Spike’s claws tore away thin shavings from the desk as he gripped harder. When Twilight’s letter reached Rainbow Dash’s fate, chunks of wood came away in his claws, and he pinwheeled backwards onto his tail. Leaping to his feet, he fled up the stairs, burying his face in the crook of his arm. The door slammed as Twilight signed her name.

Twilight dragged herself to her hooves and lifted the completed letter in her magic. Applejack stepped back and slunk to the floor, hugging the others, as Twilight climbed the stairs on shaky legs.

She knocked gently and called through the door, her voice rough, “Spike? Open up, I’ve gotta send this to the—” her throat hitched and she sniffed to clear her snout “—princess.”

Spike opened the door and peered around it with a single bloodshot eye. Twilight grimaced at what she could see of his expression and tried to push her way into the room, wanting nothing more than to hug him. Before she could, he breathed a tongue of flame over the scroll and slammed the door with a bang.

Twilight lowered down onto her belly as the embers of dragonfire flashed out through the window. She closed her eyes and leaned against the door, whispering, “Please let her answer quickly.”

After an eternity played out in a matter of minutes, she heard a belch through the wood and a letter slid under the frame. She half stumbled down the stairs to her friends, wiping her eyes as she held up the letter. The penmanship was messy and rushed compared to others from Celestia, and she had to squint to read it. Everypony took deep breaths and willed themselves quiet as she cleared her throat, hiding the waver in her voice.

“My dearest Twilight,

“It has been a long time since I’ve gotten such sad news. All of Equestria will mourn the loss of Rainbow Dash, one of the greatest ponies I have met in all my years of living. You and your friends have my deepest sympathy, and each and every one of you will be in my thoughts, though I feel words are inadequate.”

Twilight paused in reciting as the light dimmed. In a mental fog, she trotted to the window. The moon had risen early, eclipsing the sun and casting the world into a dim, red haze. Twilight marveled in a hushed tone, “She...Princess Celestia’s declared a national tragedy.”

She turned back to her friends. Wordlessly, they bowed their heads and joined the moment of silence.

When the light came back, Twilight returned to the letter.

“I have placed a request with the treasury to expand your monthly living expense stipend to help you give Rainbow Dash a send-off worthy of her importance to Equestria, and her importance to you.

“I’m reluctant to ask now, but when you can, I request you and your friends come to Canterlot. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask.

“With my love,

“Princess Celestia.”

Twilight closed the letter and floated it to her desk. She cantered from the window and collapsed against her friends, hugging them with desperation. They grasped each other, searching for comfort, but only finding the empty spot where the sixth set of hooves should have been, powerful limbs that could keep fear at bay with reckless ease, now missing.

There would come time to make funeral arrangements and struggle to move on, but at the moment all they could do was cry against each other, lost to the world around them. The reality had sunk in.

Rainbow Dash was gone.

Applejack sighed and sunk into the couch, pulling off her formal black Stetson as everypony filed into the library. They sat in a rough circle, smoothing their funerary outfits and pulling back veils. Spike cast a miserable look around them and undid his tie, pulling off his tuxedo piece by piece as he plodded up the stairs, leaving a trail of rumpled clothes behind him. As the bedroom door shut with a click, Applejack let out another heavy breath.

Rarity looked out the window from her spot next to Applejack, her expression vague. “I can’t believe she’s gone.” She shook her head and sniffled. A hoof settled on her shoulder. She turned and gave Applejack a thin smile.

Fluttershy wiped at her puffy eyes and hugged herself as if huddling for warmth. “There was so much I still wanted to say to her.”

“She—” Pinkie’s voice hitched, and she cleared her throat. Brushing a sheet of straight mane from in front of her eyes, took a deep breath. “She was the best of us. That day, against that bull thing, she kept saving us.”

Fluttershy’s lip quivered as she met eyes with Pinkie. Smiling weakly, Pinkie went on, “When...when poor Harry…” She closed her eyes and sniffed. “Dashie grabbed you to keep you away from the bull.” Fluttershy squeaked in agreement as Pinkie turned to Twilight. “And...and she flew both of us away when we almost got squished.”

Twilight gave a solemn nod as Pinkie’s gaze settled on the floor. Sighing, Pinkie said, “And on the other side of the river, she kept it busy. She must’ve been so tired already, but she kept everypony safe.”

Applejack looked at her hooves and found she had ruined her hat by twisting it. She shut her eyes tight. Rarity’s hoof stroked her back, and she bit back a sob.

Pinkie looked back up, silent streams of tears running down her cheeks. She was normally such a loud crier. “It didn’t matter what it was, she was always there for us...for all of us. What are we gonna do without her?”

As Pinkie held her face in her hooves, everypony else turned to Twilight, their expressions searching and hopeful. Applejack tried to smooth out her Stetson as she said, “I ain’t gonna be gettin’ over Dash any time soon, but I wish I knew why this happened. Do you know what’s goin’ on, Twi? What that thing was, what happened to the Elements?”

Twilight sighed and settled back on her haunches. “I don’t know what happened…” Her expression set hard, a grim determination edging into her voice, “but I’m gonna find out.”

Twilight winced inwardly as they nodded. Her racing mind plotted an array of tests and plans all throughout the subdued dinner and somber goodbye the group shared at Sugarcube Corner. When she returned to the library, she went directly to her desk and pulled the Elements of Harmony in front of herself one by one, pouring over books, searching for anything she could find.

The sun moved across the sky and she grabbed a few candles to see the page. When they all burned down, she lit up her horn, prodding Element after Element, flipping page after page, a manic need to have something, anything for when they left for Canterlot in the morning gripping her.

Rubbing the bags under her eyes, she cast another spell over the current necklace in front of her. A grunt escaped her muzzle and she barked out, “Nothing!” as she slumped in her chair. The magic glow around her horn faded, casting the room in darkness, and she sat upright, sparking light back around the room.

“Mustn’t sleep,” she muttered to herself, “gotta stay awake, invasion coming, Elements broken, no time to sleep…” She got to her hooves and stretched out her back, groaning at the stiffness. She floated a fresh candle out of a cabinet and sparked it to life, pushing it onto a holder that was already overflowing with the remains of previous candles. “Girls are counting on me, can’t sleep, can’t have that dream again…”

Twilight shuddered. The dream, reliving Rainbow’s last moments, replayed through her head and she shoved it away with a steadying breath.

The bedroom door creaked open and Spike’s voice drifted down the stairs. “Twilight?”

She jerked and spun towards the stairs. She shook her head again and cleared her throat, trying to banish some of the exhaustion from her voice. “I’m here, Spike.” He rushed down the stairs and hugged her around the neck. She returned the embrace and found that he was shaking. “Everything okay?”

He sniffed, his face buried in her mane. “I-I had a bad dream. I’m scared, Twilight.”

Twilight’s heart ached. She lifted the little dragon in her forelegs and sat on the couch, rubbing his back in soothing circles. “I’m scared, too, Spike, but it’ll be okay.”

He sniffed again. “How’s it gonna be okay?”

She closed her heavy eyes and rested her head on Spike’s. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure something out.” Spike’s quivering lessened in her embrace as they sat together in silence, receiving comfort from each other’s presence.

“…Do you know what’s going on, Twilight? I heard you and Applejack talking about the Elements after Rainbow Dash’s fune-f-funer—” his voice caught.

Twilight tightened the hug. “I don’t know yet. Normally you can sense the magic in everything; even broken spells have a traceable path, where you can follow the leaking energy, but the Elements look…” she frowned, idly rubbing his scaly back, “…dead. They look dead, like they never had any magic at all, which is impossible.”

“Well, what does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I wrote to Princess Celestia to see if she’d heard of such a thing, but all she said was that she’d sent it along to the high scholars. Maybe they’ll find something I didn’t, but everything I’ve found in my research suggests this is something new.” She massaged her temples with her hooves. “I should get back to work; the girls are counting on me to figure it out…”

She turned to stand and go back to her desk, when Spike’s grip tightened. His voice came out small and fragile, reminding Twilight exactly how young he really was. “Stay with me a little longer, please?”

Twilight resettled and wrapped her hooves around the baby dragon. “It’ll be okay, Spike,” she whispered. Her eyes drifted shut as she sat with him.

Twilight’s eyes met with Rainbow Dash’s. Twilight could see her reflection in them, through the haze of liquid fire, saw her own horror crystallized. She saw the pain in Rainbow’s face as the heat consumed, the acceptance, the resignation. There it was again: the exact moment when Rainbow Dash realized she was going to die. Twilight tried to shut her eyes, but couldn’t, and she watched helplessly as Rainbow turned and blazed away, too fast, but never over. She heard Rainbow’s voice echo endlessly. “I love you guys.” “I love you guys.” “I love you—”

Twilight’s eyes snapped open and she shuddered, hugging the sleeping form of Spike close to her chest. She shut out the early morning light, blinking away her tears and struggling to keep her sobs from waking him up.

Rainbow Dash found herself in a world of mist. She sat on her haunches in the swirling whiteness and tried to collect her thoughts. Her body was absolutely still, more so than she had ever been before. As she contemplated it, she realized she wasn’t breathing.

Rainbow inhaled. She found the sensation foreign and strange, like picking up a hobby she hadn’t tried in years. She touched a hoof to her neck and couldn’t find a pulse.

The mist receded and Rainbow looked around at the clarifying landscape. She sat at a crossroads, the worn dirt path beneath her continuing into billowing mist in front of and behind her. The crossing path stretched into the same mist to either side.

The paths cut through grassy fields, which also disappeared into the white, and as Rainbow looked, she found the stillness to be unsettling. Wind didn’t stir the blades and no insects crawled through the dirt. Rainbow sat alone in a frozen world.

She lifted a leg to walk forward. Pausing mid step, she stared at her raised hoof. The desire to move hadn’t been her own, she had felt a compulsion to walk ahead into the mist. She looked forward and the desire grew stronger. With some effort, she looked back over her shoulder.

The path behind her disappeared into the mist as well, and with halting hoofsteps she turned around and headed back, feeling the hairs of her coat stand on end as her body demanded she head forward instead.

As she reached the fog, it held strong against her muzzle, like she was trying to push her way through a cloud. It didn’t give and eventually sprung back, pushing her down onto her haunches. She stood up on her hindlegs and leaned against the barrier. As she tried to push through, she saw distorted shapes in the distance, and leaned in close, trying to make out the shapes.

Across the veil of mist, Rainbow could see her friends. A hollow echo of their voices filtered through the fog and her eyes widened. They were calling out to her. They needed her.

“Twilight! AJ! Rarity!” she yelled, shoving against the fog. It rebounded and she fell onto her back. Rolling over, she leapt into the air and hammered against the mist with her hooves. “Fluttershy! Pinkie! I’m here! Where are you guys?!”

Darting back, she threw her shoulder against the barrier, bouncing away harmlessly. Again and again she charged, screaming at the wall that held her in. She grew sloppy and frantic, crashing to the ground and tearing up chunks of grass.

With no heartbeat to count the seconds, no fatigue, no soreness, no strained breaths, time lost meaning to Rainbow as she slammed against the barrier. Her body screamed at her to turn around and continue forward, but she refused to give in, not when her friends were looking for her, not when they needed her.

She collapsed against the wall in despair, burying her face in her hooves, burning with the need to continue down the path.

“…My, my, my. It’s been ages since I’ve seen a pony resist the pull for this long.”

Rainbow’s ear swiveled towards the voice, coming from the path off to the right. Its simpering tones were familiar: deadly and mocking. She turned her head and squinted into the mist.

“And do I recognize that pathetic whimpering?”

Rainbow stood and trotted towards the voice. The mist receded as she headed along the path, and she saw a faint glow through it, off in one of the fields. She tentatively left the path, and the glowing haze grew in clarity.

Chains made of light wrapped around his long body, cuffed to each mix-and-match limb, encircling horns, hooves, claws, scales, fur, and feathers, locking him in complete immobility. Rainbow halted in front of Discord, tethered in the field.

His tone oozing condescension, he mocked, “Ah yes, it is indeed Ms. Rainbow Dash, the blustery little pegasus who was just absolutely dying to turn her back on all her friends.”

Rainbow bristled and she dropped into an aggressive crouch. “Discord! What did you do to me? Why can’t I get back to my friends? If you did something to them, I’ll—”

Discord laughed loudly, cruelly. His bindings bulged around his heaving stomach, but he didn’t move an inch. “Me? You silly mare, haven’t you realized you’re dead?”

Rainbow raised up out of the challenging stance, her eyes wide. “...I’m dead?” She turned in place, trying to find her bearings, an impossible task in the world of mist. Four pathways were all she could see, one sealed off holding her friends, one beckoning her body, and two stretching away into emptiness.

She forced a breath and winced at the oddness of the sensation. She frantically wished to feel the thundering of her heart instead of stillness. She turned back to Discord.

“Yes,” he confirmed, the mirth leaving his tone. Rainbow thought he almost sounded sad. “This is the land between worlds. You’ve kicked the bucket, and it’s time for you to move on; your afterlife awaits.” He looked pointedly at the path that pulled at Rainbow, sapping her strength.

“...Why are you here? Aren’t you trapped in stone?”

Discord regarded her coolly. All theatricality left his tone as he answered. “I am here, and I am not here. My body cannot die, and my mind cannot exist in stone. This is my prison.” His eyes narrowed and he frowned, his expression not angry, but contemplative. “How is it that you have not followed the path to your reward? How are you resisting the pull?”

Rainbow frowned and her brow knit in puzzlement. She looked at the path leading on to her final rest, then back towards her friends, so close and so far away. Her voice was hollow and flat, almost robotic. “I have to get back to my friends; they need me.”

Discord’s expression remained neutral and ambivalent, but his eyes were sharp and attentive. “Your friends are of no concern to you anymore: you are dead.”

Rainbow dropped back down, wings flared and glaring. “You shut your face!” she yelled. “I gotta get back and help them! They’re in trouble! They’re…” Rainbow reeled back as if struck. Memories churning just below the surface flooded her mind, driving her down onto her haunches.

The bull charged in front of her, chasing her friends, burning trees to ruin under its hooves. Fire consumed her, and she could feel every nerve ending, could smell the hairs in her nostrils crisp to ash.

The psychic message replayed over her thoughts. Endless rows and endless columns of bulls, descending on a planet, descending on her home.

Her eyes snapped open and she jumped back to her hooves. “The bulls are coming; I gotta help them! I gotta—” She flung herself back at the barrier, slamming again and again.

“Rainbow Dash.”

She stopped and hovered in place. Time had almost fallen away again and Discord’s voice demanded attention, but the strength wasn’t what made her pause. It was the kindness in his tone. She flew back to his prison and landed at his feet, looking at him in silence.

For a moment, Discord simply watched her, searching her face. “...I am wondering how I managed to convince you to abandon your friends and forsake loyalty.” His frown deepened. “Though I suppose I only forced you to trade one loyalty for another.”

Rainbow sat without speaking as they regarded each other.

“...There is a way back to your friends, though it’s not an easy path to follow. It is possible.”

Rainbow’s eyes brightened, but then narrowed with suspicion. “Why tell me? You’re totally the bad guy.”

Discord rolled his eyes with an exaggerated flare. “Oh, you ponies are all the same; ever since Equestria came into being you all think chaos is a bad thing.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Before Equestria? What’re you talking about?”

He chuckled indulgently. “And you’re so arrogant, too, like the world sprung into existence when your silly little tribes came together.” He shook his head, the motion constrained by the chains. “Older cultures knew chaos was just as useful as order, and order just as destructive as chaos.”

He rolled his eyes again and looked back at Rainbow, his tone serious. “I am not your enemy, Rainbow Dash. You yourself carry a great supply of chaos in your heart. Not nearly as much as that pink friend of yours of course, but chaos lives and breathes inside of you.” He smirked, the amusement not quite entering his steadied and emphatic gaze. “The Elements of Harmony are the only things in Equestria that can hold me, so you see, your group found yourselves quite directly at odds with my goals.”

Rainbow frowned, mulling over his words.

“I also have a vested interest in keeping those bulls from ruining my world.”

Rainbow jumped in surprise.

He nodded as best he could. “I saw them as your memories returned. When I escape again, which I will, I would quite like to not wake up in a burned out crater of a planet, thank you.”

Shaking her head, Rainbow tried to wrap her mind over the turn of events, comparing the images she had of Discord at the height of his power, twisting Equestria to his whims, and the current, kind, helpful creature in front of her.

“You are free to ignore me and continue to your afterlife if you’d like. The affairs of the living are beyond you now, and it’s the easier choice. No one would blame you and you wouldn’t be letting your friends down: to them, you are dead and gone.”

Rainbow paused in thought. The pull drawing her towards her eternal reward burned. She longed to give in. She could feel the peace emanating from the stretch of mist when she focused, and she knew in a part of her heart that her battle was over, and she would see her friends again in time.

Her body might have been tireless, but her mind was beaten. Her memories and the allure of the beyond had taken their toll, leaving her exhausted past the hardest race, the most sleepless night, her fastest speeds.

The vision of the bull, pawing the ground and aiming its horns at all her friends, had never left her thoughts. She met Discord’s gaze. “Tell me how to get back.”

Discord nodded minutely. “There are six relics that once existed in the world of the living called the Elements of Strife.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Like the Elements of Harmony?”

“The same magic that made one made the other, though the Elements of Strife were destroyed a thousand years before the Elements of Harmony came into existence.” Discord’s voice grew listless and he sighed. “They’re still in Equestria, but they’re dead. The magic that inhabited them resides in this world beyond the veil now.”

Discord yawned extravagantly. Rainbow tapped her hoof with impatience.

“To make a long and terribly, desperately boring story short, the Elements of Strife can be reborn in the world of the living, and you can hitch a ride with them.”

Rainbow waited for several moments. She rolled her eyes and let out a heavy breath. “And?”

Batting his eyelashes, Discord asked in a sing-song voice, “And what?”

She stamped her hoof. “And what are they?! Where are they? How do I get them, and how do I...rebirth them, or whatever?”

“Hmn?” Joy danced in Discord’s eyes, belying his raised brow and questioning frown.

Rainbow sighed again and sat down on her haunches. “Is there any way I can get you to just get on with it? Do a silly dance? Walk on my forelegs? Cartwheels?” She waved her hooves.

An unreadable expression flashed across his face before he smiled. “Yes. Scratch the dewclaw on my lion arm, will you? It’s been itching for weeks.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and stomped over to him. She swiped her hoof at the nub on his arm and he sighed in satisfaction. “Little higher, right there, ohh, that’s it. Ahh…”

Grumbling, she stomped back a few paces and sat down, glaring at him. He shot her an indulgent grin. “I don’t know where they all are or what they all look like.”

Her glare grew venomous and she felt her eye twitch.

“The first one is further that way, though.” He glanced down the right path, leading away from the crossroads. “It’s called the Bodhisattva’s Leaf, and also the Element of Inaction. Just keep going that way ‘til you find the goat. He knows more about all those old things than I do, anyway.”

Rainbow rubbed her face and got to her hooves. She let out a groan. “Thanks for your help, I guess.”

Turning to face the path, she set off at a trot. The mist receded as she traveled further from the crossroads, and the pull of her beyond faded in strength with each step. Soon she could see a still and frozen meadow stretching away in front of her. Her pace increased, her will no longer sapped.

Discord watched her vanish into the mist. Smirking, he wriggled his paw until a single claw edged out of the chains. With a leering grin on his face, he twisted his wrist sharply and a loud snap of cracking bone shotgunned from the joint. His limp paw pulled free from the chain and he shook his arm, snapping his wrist back into place.

Flexing his claws as the bones reset, he extended his paw outwards. A small cloud formed, raining chocolate milk into his palm.

Author's Note

This is the remastered version of chapter one. The original version, if you're interested in perusing, is available here.

Chapter 2 (Remastered)

Rainbow kept losing track of herself. The mist had fallen away as her path became rocky, and aside from the unnatural stillness of the fields, she could’ve been walking along any path. She kept expecting to run into a carriage headed off to some far away city like Manehattan, or that one of the times she glanced over her shoulder she’d pick up the sound of hoofbeats as her friends caught up with her.

Her own steps grew muffled by a growing number of stale pine needles as the path became steep and lined with evergreens, and she stopped at the top of a hill to turn around and check her progress. She could barely make out the haze of fog at the horizon line.

“...I couldn’t have gone that far; the mist must’ve gone away,” she muttered. Squinting, she followed the dirt road back through the fields, trying to spot the crossroads, or barring that, Discord’s glowing chains.

She frowned. “How long have I been walking, anyway?” An uneasy grimace marred her expression when she realized she didn’t know.

She couldn’t use the sun to measure the hours; there was no sun she could see, just a dull glow of light from a featureless sky. She didn’t get tired or hungry, so there was no reason for her to take a break. When she had first seen a tree, the thought had crossed her mind to take a nap solely out of habit, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to sleep.

She felt exactly the same as when she started walking.

Her frown deepening, she mused, “Couldn’t have been more than an hour or two…” She eyed her progress doubtfully, and turned around. Unfurling her wings, she took off and flew above the path with growing speed.

The foothills got larger as she raced forward, and the path changed to switchbacks. Flying up higher, she cut through the air in a straight line until she couldn’t keep track of the path anymore. The treeline thinned and gave way to dull, gray outcroppings of granite, with the dirt road replaced by nothing more than a worn groove.

Rainbow rubbed her chin. She kept an eye on where the path left the trees and darted away to try and take everything in.

She was climbing the tallest mountain she had ever seen. The timberline barely reached the midpoint in its height. She turned in place to check her progress, and couldn’t even see the path on the other side of the foothills. Gritting her teeth, she flew back to just above the path and raced up the mountain.

Rainbow lost track of the path. It had been a gentle slope of switchbacks, and then it was gone. With a bewildered frown, she flew back down until she picked it up again at the treeline.

A couple hundred feet back up, she lost sight of it again.

Up and down she went, finding the path, losing the path. Her frustration hit a breaking point and she landed heavily, grumbled a stream of obscenities, and took off at a gallop. “Try and lose me now, you stupid path.”

Twilight stepped off the train first and adjusted her messenger bag, followed down the platform by her friends. Canterlot, normally a bustling metropolis filled with activity and amused voices drifting through the streets, was a ghost town. The few ponies out and about rushed from one shop to another, intent on getting their errands done and back home where they could be out of the dull gloom that had fallen over the whole country.

Twilight turned to her group, her voice tired and soft. “Alright, everypony ready?”

At a few hesitant nods, she led them through the streets, tracing the familiar path worn into her memory over the course of years. Twilight’s mind was clouded with visions of her dream, and when they passed the armored guards at the gate, she didn’t notice how quickly they stood aside. When she came out of her reverie, they were already in the throne room.

Celestia smiled at their arrival from the raised platform, her poised and practiced expression betraying the barest hint of exhaustion and mourning. “Twilight, my dear student.” She turned to the others, her gaze lingering over each. “Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy. It does me well to see you all again at such times.” She bowed her head, her voice dropping. “And my deepest condolences to you all.”

As they bowed to their princess, Celestia gave the guards a small nod and they left the chambers, closing the door behind them. As they did, she sagged where she stood and let out a heavy breath. “Come sit up here so we may talk.” She floated five pillows to the throne’s platform and took her seat.

Cantering up the steps, Twilight took the pillow closest to Celestia’s right, and the rest filed in to fill the circle. Stifling a yawn, Twilight said, “It’s good to see you, Princess.”

“It’s good to see you, Twilight, though I wish the circumstances were different.“ She regarded the group as a whole. “These are troubling times, and I fear the loss of Rainbow Dash is merely the start.” Her volume lowered as she bowed her head. “I fear for my little ponies. I do not need magic to feel the terror that has gripped every mare, stallion, and foal.”

Applejack nodded. “It’s been a hard couple’a days for everypony.” At their murmurs of agreement, Applejack continued. “So what can we do to help?”

“Well, I would like to compare notes.” Celestia straightened in her seat. “Twilight and I have exchanged further correspondence regarding the Elements of Harmony, and we should discuss what we know of this coming threat.”

Turning to Twilight, Celestia smiled. “Why don’t we start with your research into the Elements.”

Twilight let out a slow breath and pulled her messenger bag around to her chest. The Elements of Harmony lifted out one by one in a glow of magic, and she floated them to the middle of the group. The Element of Loyalty, blackened and twisted, hovered in the center, while the others spun in a lazy cloud around it.

“I’ve used every analysis spell I could find on the Elements,” Twilight began, her voice gaining strength and conviction as she went on, falling into the matter-of-fact tone of reciting an answer in lecture, “and a few I made up for the task. Everything in the world has traceable magic in it: from the air, to plants, to even rocks. Everything has a little bit of magic in it. Spells, magical artifacts like the Elements, and ponies especially have a large amount of magic in them. Before this happened, an Element of Harmony looked sort of like this…”

Twilight closed her eyes in concentration and the Elements stopped their movement. The Element of Loyalty raised up a few inches, and a glow of white light poured out into the room, making her friends shield their eyes. The necklace looked alive, with dots of energy coursing through it like blood through veins.

“When an enchanted item breaks—even something small and weak, like a hairpin that has a spell to help ward off mosquitoes—it has a very specific look…”

The white light filling the Element of Loyalty spread inward to the jagged flaw running through the lightning bolt gem, leaving the edges of the necklace pale and dull. From the break, a cloud of light seeped out from the Element and into the air, the ordered flow turning into a jumbled blot. The sight reinforced the notion of veins and arteries running through the Element, as everypony was reminded of a bleeding wound.

“This is what broken spells and enchantments normally look like; the magic loses cohesion and spreads away from the object, but it never goes away completely. But that’s not what the Elements look like…”

The light vanished from the Element of Loyalty. Inky, impenetrable black, darker than anything the gathered mares had seen before, hugged the necklace’s form, made all the darker by the motes of energy floating through the air around it. It felt like they were staring into a hole in reality.

“This is what the Elements—all the Elements look like. There isn’t any magic in them. No break, no traceable flow of leaking magic, nothing. Everything in the world has magic in it. Except the Elements of Harmony.”

The image faded along with the energy from Twilight’s horn, and the Elements of Harmony settled on the floor. Twilight let out a sigh of relief, sagging in her seat. As her eyelids drooped, a tremor of terror raced up her spine, and she jerked back up, letting out a small gasp.

Celestia knit her brow, looking over her student with concern. Twilight shook her head and gave Celestia a strained smile.

Turning back to the Elements, Celestia touched her horn to the closest necklace. “An excellent facsimile of the magical imprint, Twilight. That does not, unfortunately, answer any questions. I have never encountered anything that appears devoid of magic before.”

Sitting back up, she let out a weary sigh. “I’ve shared your correspondence with the High Scholars, and I’ll fill them in on this as well, but I’m afraid I’m not hopeful that they’ll find anything. The Elements of Harmony are mysterious and powerful artifacts, and when dealing with such things, the normal methods rarely ever work.”

She smiled at the group. “It has been my experience that such mysteries always seem to reveal themselves in time to those they affect. I am hopeful I am right in this suspicion, and you find the answers to what has happened on your own.”

Her smile faded as she looked out the window. “...I also had the High Scholars scanning the skies, looking for the invading army.” Her voice dropped and became grave. “They found them early this morning, far out in the night sky. Based on the speed the bulls are travelling, they estimate we have six months before their arrival.”

The five exchanged looks, silently pleading with each other’s eyes for some sign of comfort. They turned back to Celestia, her gaze still lost out the window. As they waited for her to continue, they were all struck by the weight of centuries pouring from her expression: an unimaginable level of experience and fatigue. “...We have six months before our way of life faces destruction.”

Celestia bowed her head. “With the Elements of Harmony the way they are, I cannot ask you to involve yourselves—”

Applejack cut her off. “‘Course we’ll help, Princess.” Her tone invited no argument, and her friends nodded with conviction. “This is our home, too, an’ we’re not gonna abandon it when it needs us, Elements a’ Harmony or not.” She nodded at Twilight. “Twi’s the smartest pony we know, and she’ll figure out what’s wrong with the Elements. We’ll get ‘em back, an’ no invadin’ monsters’ll set hoof here again.”

Celestia turned to each of them and found the same hardened expression. Slowly, she nodded in assent. “As we prepare for war, any help you can provide will be appreciated by every pony in Equestria. Do not hesitate to write if you need anything at all.” As she stood, the sun streaming in from the windows appeared to brighten. “But before you return home, I insist you join me for dinner.”

Rainbow Dash crested the final outcropping of granite to the summit. She found a natural basin within the peak, like a dormant volcano. From the edge, she could see a tree growing in the center, its trunk thick and ropy, with snaking branches covered in fat, heart-shaped leaves. The whole basin glowed with warmth: an oasis far above the timberline, higher than any tree should grow.

Under the tree, she could make out the form of a goat, hovering a foot off the ground, his hindlegs crossed underneath him. She opened her wings and glided down.

His coat was a ruddy tan, a wispy beard hung from his maneless head, and his white tunic fluttered in a non-existent breeze. A tangle of beads wrapped around his neck and ran down his forelegs, which rested in his lap with one hoof pointed down as if dropping something and the other up to receive. His closed eyes were upturned in joyful crescents and a contented smile spread across his muzzle.

Rainbow cleared her throat. “Um...I was told you could tell me about the Elements of Strife.”

The goat said nothing. As the silence stretched out, his flapping robe caught her eye and she stared, trying to feel any sort of breeze. She fidgeted her hooves and swayed to a snippet of a half-remembered song running through her head. She crossed her eyes to stare at a lock of mane just in her vision, and started tapping along to the beat. She realized she was humming.

Shaking her head, she cleared her throat again. “So, uh...can, uh, you tell me anything? Please?”

His stillness was remarkable. Rainbow knew part of it was from being dead, but as she tried to match him, she found she couldn’t come close. She fidgeted her hooves, or her wings, or swayed to the song, and her mind raced in circles.

‘Wonder how long this guy’s been here,’ she mused to herself. She paused in her tapping as her eyes widened. ‘How long have I been here?’

Rainbow chewed her lip and looked back at the sunless sky. How many switchbacks had she climbed? Even without getting tired, how long does it take to climb the tallest mountain ever? Worry squirmed into her belly and she sat on her haunches, willing herself still and her attention focused on the old goat.

“Please, I need your help. I gotta get back to my friends. If you know anything about the Elements of Strife, please help me.”

His contentment didn’t flicker. She found her hooves wanting to tap again, but she forced herself to stay still. “Can you at least tell me how long I’ve been here?”

The goat’s eyelids opened the smallest sliver, revealing a peek at his amber colored eyes, somehow full of laughter. A clear voice, emanating from all around her, rang out, its tone warm, but not friendly. “You have been dead for twenty-three days.”

She flinched. “Twenty-three days?” A shiver ran up her spine as images of her friends facing an endless sea of bulls without her played through her mind. She shook her head. “Please, I gotta get back, tell me what I need to do!”

“If one is to understand the Element of Inaction, one must learn how to not act.”

Rainbow sprung to her hooves. “Not act? But I’ve gotta do something; my friends need me!” She yearned to fly, to charge headlong into danger and take on anything in her way, even as the desire to let her mind wander pulled at her. “Me not doing anything is gonna hurt them!”

“One cannot cause harm through inaction. To inflict harm, one must act.”

Her brow furrowed. She straightened from the challenging crouch. “But if I don’t do anything—”

“A friend may or may not befall harm from an outside force, but one cannot control an outside force through action or inaction.”

Frowning, she narrowed her eyes at the goat. He continued to remain absolutely still, the slits of his eyes unfocused and the smile never leaving his face. Her wings drooped as she mulled over the words. “...But if I was there, I could save a friend from getting hurt, and if I didn’t do anything and they got hurt, it’d be my fault.”

“One can only choose whether to act or not, they cannot be blamed for the actions of another.”

She lowered her gaze. “But I can’t sit by when there’s something I could do. Not if I can help.”

“One can always act, but acting is not always the right choice. To master the Bodhisattva’s gift to the world, one must master their own desire to act. The foolhardy will always act, but the wise know when the best thing to do is to do nothing.”

She lowered back to her haunches, running the idea through her head. The thought of standing by while her friends were in danger drew a snarl to her face, but she knew that wasn’t really what the old goat was saying. ‘How many times has Twilight said I should think before I did stuff?’

“One must accept that one cannot control the world around them, and let go of that which they cannot change.”

Rainbow raised her head, her gaze set hard and determined. “How do I do that?”

The goat’s eyes slid closed again. “Commune with the Bodhi tree.”

She stared at the tree. As she looked, she noticed that the branches were covered in buds, and a few hung lower, weighted down with wrinkled fruit. As she stared, she felt her hooves start fidgeting. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself. ‘...If I’m supposed to not be doing anything, talking and twitching isn’t gonna do any good.’

Rainbow took a deep breath and sat up straight. After a brief moment of hesitation, she forced her back legs to cross, glad that being dead meant they wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. She focused on the tree and willed herself still.

Her mind desperately wanted to wander. She fought against the desire, focusing all of her attention on the heart-shaped leaves. After a while, she closed her eyes.

Whispers that Twilight had gone crazy started making the rounds in Ponyville.

Twilight paced around her room like she did most days anymore, her mane and tail knotted and unkempt, with deep purple bruises ringing her eyes. She muttered to herself. She glanced around fitfully, chasing movement in the corners of her eyes that proved to be nothing. If she’d been a bit of a recluse before, she had become a hermit.

“…History books aren’t enough, not enough, doesn’t go back enough, need something from before, before history, must be magical deadening somewhere, not new, nothing’s new, Elements, who made the Elements? Made items, made magic, unmade, magic doesn’t come from nothing, can’t go to nothing, empty vessels, empty cups, empty books, history books…”

She rambled on, circling an endless spiral of half-thoughts and vague ideas, tunneling back into nothing, looping forward into more nothing. Her hoof caught on a rough patch and she looked down.

There was a divot running through her rug. The woven threads were stamped flat and frayed at the edges, the once vibrate colors muddied and meshed. Her tired mind snapped into focus, recalling facts and figures on the wear and tear of different fabrics. Diagrams, tables, numbers, and notes raced through her head as she compared the divot to the rest of the carpet.

Based on her memories, it was likely she had paced the same patch for over a hundred hours.

She swung to her vanity and came face to face with the pinched, red, and miserable expression of the stranger in her mirror. She fell to her haunches. “Oh, Celestia, what am I doing?” Her eyes swam with stinging tears and she squinted, which hurt even more. “I’m so tired, but I can’t sleep! If I sleep, I’ll see…”

The image of Rainbow’s eyes flashed through her mind. She sunk to her belly and sobbed into her hooves, her face burning, her entire body aching. She dragged herself back up. “I need help…”

As if rising from a dream, the sound of banging reached her ears. The door leading downstairs sat bolted shut. She tried to open it with magic and pain lanced through her forehead. She stumbled forward and threw back the lock.

Spike fell into the room. He leapt to his feet and flung himself around her neck. “Twilight! I’ve been so worried; you locked yourself in here a week ago and wouldn’t let anypony in!”

“I’m sorry, Spike.”

“I sent everypony home when we couldn’t get in, but you weren’t eating! I...I heard you crying, and…” He hugged harder. “I’m so scared, Twilight.”

“I’m so sorry.” She wavered where she stood as she hugged him back. “I...I need help, Spike. Can you go get the girls?”

He nodded and jumped down. Twilight teetered, and he gasped, rushing around to press into her side and keep her from falling to the floor. “Twilight, you look awful.”

“I know.” She shook the cobwebs from her thoughts and stood up again. “I need the others.”

“Okay, but let’s get you somewhere. You haven’t eaten anything either; let me get you some food.”

“Spike.” She tried to sound stern through her exhaustion. “I’ll eat something later.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go first.” He headed for the stairs, paused, and ran back to hug her again. “Please be okay, Twilight. First Rainbow Dash, I couldn’t stand if you…”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, guilt flooding her system, keeping her sharp and focused. Spike scrabbled down the stairs, and she followed with careful steps, leaning against the wall. The door slammed shut in his wake as she hit the third riser down, and she made her way into the main room of the library, and then over to the couch. She rubbed her stinging face as the door clattered open again. Either she had taken far longer to get downstairs than she thought, or she was losing chunks of time in her sleeplessness. She turned to her friends as they surrounded her.

“There ya are! We been worried sick about ya, Twilight.” Applejack brushed Twilight’s bangs away from her forehead and looked at her eyes.

Fluttershy pressed a hoof to Twilight’s forehead, then to her throat. “Are you sick? Does it hurt anywhere?”

Pinkie bounded forward and bear hugged Twilight, catching both Applejack and Fluttershy and squashing the three together. “What can we do, Twilight?”

Rarity nodded with resolution. “Anything you need, just name it.”

Twilight sat back, her gaze drifting from concerned face to concerned face. Spike padded into the room from the kitchen with a sandwich on a plate. Twilight burst into tears.

“I can’t sleep!” she cried. “I keep seeing Rainbow die over and over in my dreams! I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since it happened last month!”

“Oh, you poor thing.” Rarity touched Twilight’s cheek and inspected her face. “A mare simply must get her beauty rest.”

Twilight nodded and opened her mouth to continue, when Spike shoved the sandwich in her face. She grabbed it with her hooves to take it out, but at a glare from him, opted to chew it instead. “And she hasn’t eaten anything in days.”

“A glass of warm milk can help with nightmares,” Fluttershy offered. “You should try to take care of yourself, Twilight; it’s important.”

Twilight swallowed and felt her stomach twist with nausea. She set the sandwich back on the plate and groaned, sinking further into the couch. “It’s not just the dreams, I…” She scrunched her eyes shut as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. “I can’t figure it out!”

Pinkie nuzzled her cheek. “Can’t figure out what?”

“The Elements! Everypony’s counting on me; I can’t let you down. Have to figure it out, have to…” She struggled up to her hooves, turning towards the stairs. “There must be an answer, I just have to look at it from a different angle, I can’t let you down, I—”

Applejack’s hoof pressed her lips shut and guided her back onto the couch. “Easy there, Twi.” She brushed a gnarled lock of hair away from Twilight’s face. “Ain’t nopony gonna be upset if’n ya can’t find anything. You can only do so much, an’ ya don’t got a heck of a lot to work with in the first place. We’re all in this together, ya hear? Maybe this ain’t somethin’ that’s in any books.”

Rarity patted Twilight’s mane into some semblance of order. “Applejack is right; we’re all in this together, and you simply must get some sleep! It doesn’t help matters at all if you’re in such a state.”

“C’mon,” Fluttershy said in a soothing voice that seemed to melt some of the stress from Twilight’s shoulders. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“But,” she protested, “but my dreams…”

Pinkie Pie ran a hoof over her back. “That’s all they are: dreams, silly filly.” She hugged Twilight and guided her up to her hooves. “We’ve all had bad dreams. Nothing to be afraid of.”

Together, they flanked Twilight and led her up the stairs, providing both physical and emotional support with their presence. They guided her up to the loft and into bed. Spike followed behind with a glass of milk, breathing a lick of dragonflame over the bottom to warm it. Twilight took it and drank it down.

“Th-thank you,” she said, leaning back into a pillow, her eyes heavy and sticky.

Spike took back the glass. “We’re all in this together, Twilight.” The others nodded. “You’re gonna be okay.”

Her mind swam out of focus, her fears growing nebulous and hazy in her exhaustion. She was asleep before anypony could say ‘goodnight.’

Rainbow Dash stared into her, bored into her, that same look, that acceptance. Death. She stared into death, framed in the burning features of her friend, distorted by heat, dyed a grotesque orange, those eyes. She knew it then that sleep would forever be hopeless, her search for answers fruitless: hope had died with Rainbow Dash. She wanted to scream, staring at those eyes, staring—

Twilight blinked when the distortion lifted. She sat in a featureless void, face to face with Rainbow. Her friend, sitting with her hindlegs crossed in a strange way, stared back at her in surprise. Rainbow’s voice, the tones free of strain, echoed around her. “T-Twilight?”

Twilight blinked again and Rainbow was gone. The empty vacuum blurred and shifted to some other dreamscape Twilight wouldn’t be able to recall.

Twilight awoke refreshed.

She sat up in bed, releasing a series of satisfying pops up her back and neck. She hopped out of bed and looked out the window; she had slept through the late afternoon, the whole night, and half the morning. She went to her vanity and worked the snarls out of her mane.

As she watched her reflection change from a stranger back to herself, she tried to shake the dream from her mind. Rainbow Dash had been there: the real Rainbow Dash.

She frowned, whispering, “Rainbow’s gone and that was a dream.”

As she said it, she knew somewhere deep down that she was lying. It had really been her friend. That Rainbow was still around was confounding and illogical, but it was true, and no matter how much she tried to dismiss the notion as wishful thinking, it still brought peace to her mind.

She hated herself for it.

Rainbow snapped her eyes open. She hovered three inches off the ground with her wings folded to her sides. As the realization hit her, she fell to the ground. Wincing, she knit her brow. “Twilight? Why did I see Twilight? Did I mess up?”

The goat’s eyes cracked as the voice filled the air. “Your communion with the tree has begun; as you connect with the Bodhi Tree, you connect to the world of the living once again.” In her still state, free from wandering thoughts and distractions, Rainbow realized the voice was coming from inside her own ears.

“So I really saw Twilight? In, like, a dream or something?”

“Every individual connects in a unique fashion. Your connection might be through another spirit.”

Rainbow nodded and dismissed her lingering questions, refocusing on the tree. She wanted to see Twilight again and her mind whirled, disrupting her stillness. It was only when she forced herself to accept that there was nothing she could do to make herself see her friend again that her thoughts quieted. She closed her eyes.

Twilight’s trouble with sleep went in the opposite direction: when the nightmares stopped, her fears of sleeping went with them and a desire to see what she knew was Rainbow again gripped her mind. In her waking hours, she warred with herself, unable to shake the belief it had been real, and unable to stop hating herself for the fantasy. She went to bed earlier and earlier, and got up later and later. When she found herself sleeping sixteen hours a day, she turned to her friends.

Spike poured out five cups of tea as they sat around the kitchen table. Twilight smiled at him before turning back to her friends. “It was like she was really there. It felt like it was her, not just a dream or a memory, but really, really her.” She kneaded her forehead with a hoof and sighed. “And as silly as it sounds, I still think it was her and not just a dream. Now I can’t stop sleeping, just in case I might see her again.”

Pinkie frowned in thought. “...Well, maybe it really was her.”

Twilight’s heart thundered with hope, but she winced and shook her head. “But she’s gone. There’s never been a single case in the history of academia concerning communing with the dead that had any sustainable evidence.” She drooped, staring into her steaming mug. She pulled out the tea bag and set it on the saucer. “It can’t be real.”

Fluttershy tapped her hoof on the table with nervous energy. “Maybe it is, though. Nopony’s ever heard of magic dying, or leaving something permanently. We’re all off the worn path as it is.”

Twilight frowned, her mind racing as she took a sip of tea.

Applejack sighed. “I’m sorry, Shy, but I think Twi’s right.” Twilight turned, seeing her own bitter disappointment reflected in Applejack’s expression. “We ain’t got no real reason to be thinkin’ Dash’s still out there where we might find her, an’ gettin’ caught up in all that’s just gonna get in the way of what we gotta do.”

Rarity swallowed a lump in her throat and looked away. “I really wish I didn’t agree with you, Applejack. I really, really do.”

Pinkie exchanged a guarded look with Fluttershy before offering Twilight a faint smile. “Stranger stuff’s happened.” She gulped down her mug. “It doesn’t hurt to hope, just don’t let it eat you up.” Fluttershy nodded.

“What y’all need is a distraction.” Applejack got to her hooves. “I was thinkin’ about it the other day, an’ it struck me that the Elements all broke before, back when we were fightin’ Nightmare Moon. Maybe we should take ‘em back to the temple in the forest: somethin’ might happen.”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she grinned, jumping up. “Applejack! That’s brilliant!” She stormed out into the main room.

The others followed to find themselves in a cloud of floating things. Saddlebags from the closet packed themselves with water bottles from the kitchen. Sleeping bags flew down the stairs and rolled themselves up. A sheet of parchment stayed half a foot in front of Twilight’s muzzle with a quill scribbling and checking things off as she paced back and forth.

“We can leave right away; it’s less than a full day’s trip. We can take readings once we get there, and at the bare minimum we can wait until the night, since that’s when the Elements healed themselves before. Oh! And I can write to Princess Celestia, maybe even Luna; see if they can come if we don’t find anything on our own. Oh, this is exactly what we needed!” She turned back to her friends with excitement radiating from her face. “So if we—”

Applejack held up a hoof, smirking at her. “Now hold on there, sugarcube. I think it’s a darn good plan, but I’m afraid I can’t drop everythin’ right this minute. I got chores back home today, an’ if’n I don’t get things squared away with Mac, he’s gonna be right cross come the mornin’ an’ I’m not there. I bet we all got stuff we gotta do before headin’ out.” The others nodded in agreement. “How ‘bout tomorrow mornin’?”

Twilight coughed and offered them a chagrined smile. “Sorry; guess I got a little carried away.” She halted the levitating items and turned around, directing the packed bags to line themselves up against a wall, and the checklist to her desk. “This is just the first real direction I’ve had since I started looking. I just got a little too excited.” She turned back to them and found herself pulled into a hug from Pinkie.

“It’s good to see you being yourself again, Twilight,” Pinkie whispered so only she could hear. She hugged her friend back. Applejack wrapped her hooves around the both of them, and then Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike joined, clinging to each other and grinning. Hope had been rekindled.

Twilight said her goodbyes to her friends, then double- and triple-checked the packed saddlebags. She sat at her desk, making lists and devising experiments to conduct at the temple, working well into the night, and when she dragged herself up to bed, she felt more like herself than she had in weeks.

She tossed and turned, her mind racing through plans and figures, until sleep finally found her. She opened her eyes to a stretch of emptiness.

“Rainbow?” She couldn’t help grinning, face to face with her friend, still sitting with her back legs crossed and smiling back at her.

“Twilight! It worked! I knew I’d see you again if I just stopped trying to force it! Awesome!” She pumped a hoof in victory and stood up.

Twilight stood to match, her hooves touching nothing, but supported on the same plane as Rainbow’s. “Is it really you?” She took a cautious step forward. “It can’t be you.”

“‘Course it’s me, egghead.” She puffed out her chest and plastered a cocky smirk on her muzzle. “You didn’t think something stupid like being dead would get rid of me, did you?”

Twilight’s smile turned sad. “You certainly sound like Rainbow Dash, but I’m probably just imagining this.”

Polishing a hoof on her chest, Rainbow said, “Nope; I really am just that amazing.” She stepped forward and pulled Twilight into a hug.

Twilight’s eyes dilated. She could feel the soft hairs of Rainbow’s coat over powerful muscles, could smell fresh rain and the coppery tang of lightning in her friend’s mane. Warmth and vigor poured out of Rainbow, and the only thing missing was the thrumming of a heartbeat. Rainbow’s chest, pressed close to her own, lay still. Twilight felt like all her senses had been pinched, yet she didn’t wake up.

Her hooves flew around Rainbow’s neck, pulling her close, every fiber of her being wanting it to be real. “...How do I know it’s really you? How do I know I’m not just imagining this, and going crazy from missing you?”

Rainbow sat back from the hug and looked Twilight over. Twilight could read a contemplative ambivalence in her expression as she settled back on her haunches. “I can’t help with that...I can’t change you...or anypony else.” She frowned, her brow creasing and gaze introspective. Shaking her head, she grinned at Twilight. “But you can tell me what’s going on; maybe that’ll be enough...and maybe you can help me. Have you heard of the Elements of Strife?”

Twilight’s brow knit. “Like the Elements of Har—”

Rainbow snorted, clapping a hoof over her mouth to hide a series of snickers. At Twilight’s glare, she cleared her throat. “Sorry, sorry, I just asked the same thing!” She forced down her chuckles the rest of the way, forcing a serious expression. “Yeah, like them only older; they were around a really long time ago, but sorta died, or something. If I can get their, like, spirits together, I’m supposed to be able to bring ‘em back to life, and come back with ‘em.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed as her mind raced; she’d never heard the phrase ‘Elements of Strife’ before, and it very well could have been a message from beyond the grave. It could just as easily be a random assemblage of words by a fractured mind, forming a narrative allowing her to cling to an impossibility.

Twilight shook her head to clear it. She had to approach the problem empirically and consider all possibilities; she would have time to analyze later, and disbelieving now would limit what information she had with which to evaluate possibilities. She took a deep breath. “No, I haven’t heard of them. Do you know anything about them?”

Rainbow tapped her chin. “Not very much. Right now I’m after something called the Element of Inaction...it’s also called the...body-something’s leaf. Uhh...bowbie-safflower, or whatever.” She gave a hopeful smile.

“Bodhisattva?”

“Yeah, that’s it! So, you’ve heard of it?”

Twilight’s frown deepened. As she tried to recall specifics, it felt unlikely that her mind would bring up such esoteric history unprompted. “Well...the Bodhisattva was a real pony who lived thousands of years ago; there’s a religion in some places in and out of Equestria that follows his teachings and believes he found the path to enlightenment.”

“Lighten-whatnow?” Rainbow scratched her head, raising an eyebrow.

Twilight smirked at the expression; she’d seen it before and missed it. “It’s a concept of inner peace. Enlightened ponies are said to have complete acceptance of the world, and a connection to everything around them.”

Rainbow nodded. “That sounds like what this goat guy’s been trying to get me to figure out…” Twilight started. “What? What’s that look?”

“Oh, uh...most accounts say that the Bodhisattva was a pony in life, but a number of them say he was actually a goat.” She shook her head again and refocused on Rainbow. “So this goat is helping you get a leaf that belonged to the Bodhisattva or something?”

“Something like that...And there’re five others, and when I get all of ‘em together, I can, like, bring them back to life with their real parts somehow...I dunno how all that works.” She shrugged and attempted a winning smile.

“Who told you about this?”

Rainbow looked away and rubbed her knee. “Well, uh, I kinda found...Discord chained up at the entrance to my afterlife.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Discord?! And you trusted him?”

Rainbow sighed and rubbed her face. “Listen, I didn’t trust him at the start, but he didn’t have a reason to lie, or try and help me. He didn’t have to do anything; if he kept his mouth shut I’d probably be banging on some mist,trying to find you guys still. Plus, he didn’t even ask me for anything. Besides…” She smirked, her eyes narrowing in challenge. “I could tell he was telling the truth about it. Nopony can get a lie past me if I’m paying attention.”

Twilight opened her mouth to object, but paused and let her thoughts drift back through her memories. Sure, she could remember several instances of Rainbow missing some subtlety in conversation, but every time her friend was face to face with somepony she didn’t trust, she always erred on the side of caution, disbelieving until given a compelling reason to accept. She couldn’t remember Rainbow ever being wrong, either. Except once.

“Discord tricked you in the maze.”

Rainbow winced and lowered her gaze, an old hurt coloring her expression. “He did, but not by lying to me...He showed me Cloudsdale being destroyed. He didn’t even tell me it was real, just showed me a picture. He didn’t trick me with a lie...it was ‘cause I couldn’t help myself from trying to control stuff.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she watched recognition pass over her friend’s face. She felt like she was intruding, and tried to find something else to focus on, but the little pocket of darkness in which they sat had nothing to it but Rainbow Dash. She shifted her weight from hoof to hoof. “It’s hard to believe he didn’t lie at all, though.”

Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, he was lying a lot, just not about the important stuff. I don’t trust him, but I could tell that the Elements of Strife are a real thing, and that he was serious that they could bring me back somehow. I just have no idea how, and I know he’s hiding something about it.” She stepped closer. “Will you help me?” Before Twilight could say anything, she stepped back again. “...Can you help me? I dunno what’s going on with you and the others...I mean, I know I’ve been dead, what, three weeks now?”

Twilight’s brow furrowed; she supposed her subconscious could get the time wrong on purpose, but she couldn’t fathom why. “...Rainbow, you’ve been dead for six weeks.”

Rainbow stumbled back, flaring out her wings. “Six weeks? I’ve been talking to a stupid tree for, like, a month?!” She danced on her hooves, spinning in place, her whole body itching to move, to do something, to grab hold of somepony and smack some answers out. As she whirled, her form shimmered, wavering in place and growing transparent.

Twilight’s heart wrenched, and all thoughts of empiricism fled to the back of her mind. “Rainbow, don’t go!” she cried, leaping forward and hugging her friend around the neck.

Rainbow’s body solidified as thoughts of action fled her mind. Twilight’s mane filled her vision, and the random notion, ‘I forgot her shampoo smelled like raspberries,’ flitted through her head. Twilight held her with desperate strength, quaking against her, crying into her neck. She pushed her surprise away and returned the embrace, rubbing Twilight’s back. “Shh, Twi.”

“Don’t go, Rainbow, please don’t go...I...I don’t know if you’re real, but I don’t care, just don’t go again,” she sobbed into Rainbow’s shoulder.

Rainbow closed her eyes and rested her chin on Twilight’s head. “I gotta go eventually, Twilight, but I’m coming back. I promise you I’m coming back. I just need your help, ‘cause I can’t do it all by myself. Can I count on you?”

Twilight gradually stilled against Rainbow, until they were standing in a gentle embrace. Rainbow started to pull away, but Twilight wouldn’t let go. “...You were my best friend, Rainbow. I love all our friends, but I got so close to you...ever since you started coming over for those weekly reading days...And you were so smart, Rainbow. You acted like you were just a jock, but everything came so quickly to you when you applied yourself. Such a fast mind...just like the rest of you.” She sniffled. “I can’t deal with the thought of never sitting around the library and reading with you again. I...I’m imagining this because I can’t bear to have really lost you.”

Rainbow sighed and hugged Twilight tighter. “You’re my best friend, too, Twi.” Twilight grew quiet in her grip. “You really got me better than anypony else, and you’re totally awesome in a really eggheady sorta way.” She dropped her voice, whispering, “I’m not just coming back to fight a bunch of bulls, Twi. I owe you six weeks of reading nights.”

A weak giggle escaped Twilight’s muzzle, and she at back to catch Rainbow’s gaze. “...If this is real, I’m gonna hold you to that.”

They smiled at each other, before the void flashed. Everything around Twilight wavered out of focus, and she re-strengthened her hug. “No! I’m waking up! No, I can’t—” Rainbow’s hoof pressed to her mouth.

“Don’t worry; I’ll be here tomorrow.” She smirked. “I’ve been doing this...communing thing for three weeks now, and I don’t think I’m gonna figure out whatever the heck I’m supposed to figure out before then.”

Twilight tried to hold on, but Rainbow faded from her grasp.

Twilight sat up in bed, blinking the morning sun from her eyes. She swore she could smell rainstorms and copper on her sheets.

Author's Note

This, like the first chapter, is the rewrite of the original with lots of fixes. If you're interested in reading the original version it is available here.

Chapter 3 (Remastered)

Twilight led the way off the paths into the Everfree. Outside of eternal night, and with a couple years of living near its borders, the forest has lost most of its mystery to her, and the retraced path carried none of the desperation of their first journey, but as they walked together in silence, a heady nostalgia gripped them.

The treeline broke at a steep decline, and they made their way down with care, arriving at a worn groove where the sod had torn away at the edge of a cliff. Twilight glanced at Applejack, then stared at the long drop down. “This is where I let go,” she murmured. “I let go, and then Fluttershy and…” She swallowed the lump in her throat “—and Rainbow Dash caught me.”

Fluttershy took them down to the valley one at a time: first Twilight, followed by Pinkie. While they waited for the others, Pinkie turned to Twilight. “Everything okay, Twilight? You’re kinda out of it.” She waved a hoof in front of her friend’s face.

“Hmn? Oh, I’m fine.”

“You had another dream, huh?”

Twilight jumped, staring at Pinkie wide-eyed. “How did—?” At her friend’s shrug, she sighed and rubbed her face. “Nevermind. Let’s not talk about it just yet; I’m still figuring everything about it out.”

Applejack landed in front of them as Fluttershy went back for Rarity. “Twi, ya look like ya seen a ghost.”

Pinkie opened her mouth, but Twilight pressed a hoof to her shoulder. “It’s nothing, Applejack. At least, nothing yet.” Frowning to herself, she flipped back the flap of her saddlebags and lifted the book she’d shoved in at the last minute, floating it in front of her face to read the cover: Bodhism, A Historical View.

As Rarity and Fluttershy settled on the valley ground, they set off again with Twilight half-absorbed in the book. She made a concerted effort to avoid eye-contact with either Applejack or Rarity.

The sheer cliffs surrounding the valley broke at a narrow choke point, and they stopped, looking around the tranquil patch of grass, searching out any remaining signs of their struggle with the manticore. If they didn’t know they were in the right place, it might have been any unremarkable stretch of wilderness.

“To think what might have happened if you weren’t with us, Fluttershy,” Rarity marveled. “Even if we had been victorious, that poor beast was as much a victim of circumstance as we were.”

Fluttershy stared through the bottleneck, and chewed her lip. “He was just a poor, hurt critter, but if he wasn’t…” She took a steadying breath. “I don’t know if I could do something to keep everypony safe. That was...that was what Rainbow did.”

As they passed between the two cliffs, the breeze picked up the gamey fish smell of running water. They entered the woods, heading towards the river.

The trees grew older and thicker as they went, and the dappled golds of sunlight through the canopy pulled Twilight back out of her book. The charm and character of the trees made her smile despite herself, and as she glanced around the group, she found she wasn’t alone in grinning.

Pinkie stopped at a fat, twisted tree, with limbs stretched up like claws and thick knots forming a face in the trunk. Pinkie snorted, and fell to her back, giggling and kicking her legs. “I’m sorry!” she choked out. “The trees are still so silly-looking!”

Applejack choked and clapped her hooves over her muzzle. A ripple of laughter assaulted them, and they joined Pinkie on the grass, howling with joy, gripping their aching bellies. A current of melancholy passed through, as they all recognized the absence of brash and raspy laughter, but one look at the goofy tree got them all going again.

Eventually, they regained their senses, staggering back to their hooves with their sides aching and cheeks sore. Twilight hugged Pinkie around the neck, whispering, “Thank you.”

Pinkie bounced in the embrace. “For what, Twiley-wiley?”

“For being you.”

Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy joined the bouncy hug, before they separated and continued through the trees, the smell growing stronger and being joined by the rushing sound of the river.

The stopped at the edge of the river and watched the water flow by at a calm pace. Rarity giggled to herself. “Oh, I wonder if that delightfully stylish serpent has kept his mustache in good order.” She looked at her tail and sighed. “I’d hate to think through I went that awful shorning for him to simply grow it out.”

Applejack shook her head, smirking at Rarity. “Ya lost your tail for all a’ five minutes, Rarity.”

“A dreadful five minutes, I assure you.” She winked at Applejack, but didn’t notice her friend look away quickly. Frowning, Rarity looked up and down the bank. “I don’t see any stepping stones; how shall we cross without getting wet?”

Rarity shrieked as she was lifted off her hooves. She through out her forelegs for support, and hugged Applejack around the neck as she settled onto her friend’s back.

“C’mon, miss prissy, we ain’t got time for findin’ bridges.” She leapt into the water while Rarity sputtered in indignation.

Twilight and Pinkie jumped in, while Fluttershy flew above the group. Pinkie giggled at the splashes she made, and jumped again. Twilight grinned with malice, and swung her hoof through the river, drenching Pinkie’s flank.

“Eep!”

In a flurry of giggles, Pinkie chased after Twilight, and they barraged each other with water. Fluttershy flew a few feet higher and out of firing range, grinning at her friends’ antics.

Rarity lifted her legs as far from the water as she could. “Really, Applejack, this is not my idea of crossing a river.”

Applejack chuckled, leering over her shoulder at her passenger. “I think ya oughta save it for somepony who ain’t keepin’ your hooficure neat.”

Color rose to Rarity’s cheeks, and she glanced away. “...Well, yes, I suppose.” She cleared her throat. “Thank you, Applejack.”

“T’ain’t nothin’.” Applejack grinned to herself as she climbed onto shore.

Rarity hopped down, and inspected her coat. The two smiled at each other, waiting for Twilight and Pinkie to finish their water fight. Applejack glanced away, and silence stretched out until Twilight jumped out of the river, breathless with laughter.

Pinkie followed and shook herself off like a dog. Rarity shrieked and leapt behind Applejack, who chuckled and poked her in the ribs.

“Not that this ain’t fun an’ all,” Applejack said, smirking at her friends, “but we’re burnin’ daylight here.”

Twilight siphoned off most of the water from her coat with the glow of her horn, still catching her breath. “Yes, we should keep going.” She dropped her voice and mumbled to herself, “I sure needed this trip, though.”

With their spirits raised, the walk through the forest went at a fast clip, and when the trees broke again, the sight of the rope bridge hit them like a lead weight. The deep chasm, bright and clear in the sun, had an image overlaid in all their minds: thick fog choking the line of sight, and Rainbow Dash soaring out of the soup, landing with a flourish, inviting them to cross with a smirk on her lips.

Twilight bowed her head and stepped onto the first plank, and they crossed in single file, not daring to break the silence.

The Ancient Castle of the royal pony sisters lay before them, overgrown with vines and decrepit. They pushed through the doors, rusted and creaky, and picked their way across cracked tiles dotted with sunlight streaming in through holes in the roof.

Twilight took careful steps up the crumbling stairs, and at last Twilight came to where the Elements had healed themselves before in her showdown with Nightmare Moon. She turned around and watched her friends finish the climb.

They had made the trek again, through less perilous challenges, but together, encased in the memory of their first adventure. Twilight felt gratitude flood her body, watching them each make it to safety, ever reliable, ever bonded as friends.

But as she looked, a spark didn’t dance across her eyes: without Rainbow Dash, the circuit had broken.

Twilight’s many tests and readings would prove fruitless.

Celestia rolled out of bed. She stretched and shook her head, dispelling the haze of sleep, and paced around her room, enjoying the brief reprieve that walking out of her formal regalia had become. She stepped to her window and gazed out at the nightscape of Canterlot.

Closing her eyes, Celestia’s horn sparked to life. She watched the sky lighten as the sun rose behind the mountain, bringing on another day. A yawn snuck up on her, and she stepped back, covering her mouth. She sagged her shoulders, and turned back to her plush bed-chamber, muttering, “Coffee…”

She stepped into her shoes, and floated the rest of her formal wear around her neck, taking a deep breath and rising to her full height. With a quick once-over in the mirror, she opened her door and stepped out into the hall.

A mug of coffee floated to her face. “Good morning, sister.”

Celestia stifled a second yawn, and took a sip from the cup. “Thank you. What are you doing up so early, Luna? Or late, depending on perspectives.”

She sighed and fell into pace alongside Celestia, heading towards the throne room. “I wish to ask you to reconsider, again.”

Celestia expelled a slow and level breath through her snout, and took a long sip of coffee. “Sister, we have been talking about this at the nightly meetings; there’s one tonight, so we’ll talk there.”

“Celestia, those meetings are just as much part of the problem as our argument.”

Trying to keep the annoyance from her voice, Celestia stopped and turned to her sister. “What do you mean by that?”

“They are always during my time. Always.”

“I’m just being mindful of your sleep sched—”

“Tia, I did not ask you for that; you choose to take all the burdens for yourself. The sun was late this morning; did you know that?”

Frowning, Celestia walked to a window and looked out over the clock tower. “It is not late.”

“You are two minutes behind, sister. I know that is not much, but it may well be three hours late knowing you. I can stay up late; I’m up late right now. We can switch off, Tia. I grow concerned for your health as I watch you struggle” She set a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “You don’t need to do this by yourself. The old ways are just that to you now, Celestia: they are old. But they aren’t old to me.”

Taking a deep breath, Celestia sighed and turned back to the hall. “I will consider it, Luna, but I have already explained my reluctance.”

“Part of it.” At Celestia’s flinch, she continued, “Do not think I cannot tell, sister. Our past is only a piece of that which is bothering you.”

Celestia grimaced and looked away. “It is...most likely nothing, Luna. We are all under enough stress.”

“So remove some of your burden by talking to me. Please. Please, Tia. If you must continue to consider everything else, let me help with this.”

They stopped in front of the throne room, and Celestia looked her sister over. Conviction poured from Luna’s expression. A wave of uneasiness rolled down her spine, seeing the strength of resolve. She knew that Luna’s resolve had led to cruelty with little persuasion, but beneath the resolve, she could read worry, fear, and compassion.

Taking a deep breath, Celestia opened the door. “It’s just a feeling at the moment, Luna. I received a letter from Twilight Sparkle yesterday afternoon—”

“I did as well.”

“She mentioned that she was writing to you, yes.” They stepped into the room, and Celestia waved to the guards, who followed the command and left, shutting the double doors behind them. “She also mentioned a dream to me, and some of the details reminded me of something.”

“A dream? Surely she would come to me if bothered by nightmares.”

“It is not nightmares that bother her...anymore.” At Luna’s surprise, Celestia chuckled. “You should know by now that my student is more than a little resistant to asking for help. I was unaware she was having sleeping problems until after she resolved them.”

Luna smirked and shook her head. “Well, if not nightmares, what troubles her?”

“It is not her, it is me.” Her eyes drifted over the stained glass lining the room’s windows. “I was reminded of a hard decision I made none too long ago...one I still question.”

Luna frowned and rubbed Celestia’s shoulder. “Do you wish to speak—” Luna yawned, and shook her head “—about it?”

“I believe I will, but later. Enjoy your rest, sister, and we shall talk more this evening at the meeting.” Luna opened her mouth to object, but Celestia continued, “I shall add a proposal for alternating morning meetings to the agenda.”

Luna smirked. “It is a paltry start, but a start nonetheless. Good morning, Tia.”

“Good night, Luna.”

Rainbow Dash did her best to listen.

Without Twilight’s presence, she sat in nothing, stared at nothing, and did her best to not miss her friend: talking to Twilight was probably counterproductive to doing nothing.

She let out a huff, and glared into space. “The heck am I s’posed to do? Or not do? How does this junk even work?”

Every time she pushed her thoughts away and tried to slip into emptiness, an idle chatter sprung into her mind, circling half memories, old comforts, and a loop of complaints directed at her lack of direction.

A purple mist drew her attention, growing brighter and drawing together before her eyes. She smirked to herself, understanding how she’d lost three weeks of time; it could have been ten minutes since Twilight left for all she knew.

“Hey, Twi.”

Twilight stood, and gave Rainbow an uneasy smile. “Hi, Rainbow…” She turned in a circle, searching for substance other than her friend. “...It seems less and less likely that I’m just imagining this…”

Smirking, Rainbow jumped out of her cross-legged sitting position. “Not surprised; imagining somepony as cool as me has gotta be impossible.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out. “Not exactly. See, I found a book about the Bodhisattva, and some of what I learned from it matched up to things you’d said. I didn’t know it before, so if I was imagining things, that information either wouldn’t match up, or I would’ve remembered it while I was reading.”

Rainbow’s brow knit. She scratched her chin. “I’m...not sure I followed that. But anyway, did you find anything out that could help?”

“Well…” Twilight took a deep breath and began pacing back and forth. Rainbow’s grin turned rueful, as she recognized the start of a lecture. “Historically speaking, Bodhi trees have been a symbol for Bodhism, and within the religion itself a symbol of enlightenment, for as long as the religion’s existed.”

She cast a glance at Rainbow to confirm her friend was paying attention, before falling back into her steps. “There wasn’t any holy symbol or anything that fit the relic you’re looking for, but I found something interesting in the chapter about reincarnation.”

When Twilight glanced at Rainbow again, she was met with an unfocused look. Rainbow shook her head. “You’ve gotta stop using big words at me, Twi.”

Twilight stifled a snort and waved a hoof dismissively. “I was getting there, Rainbow!” She giggled, shook her head, and resumed walking. “Reincarnation is a Bodhist idea. It’s the idea that after a pony dies, they’re reborn over and over, until their spirit finds enlightenment.”

Her ears flicked. “‘Reborn’? So is that what I’m trying to do? Reintarnate myself?”

Twilight almost choked. She sputtered out a few coughs and fought to keep her laughter in check. “Reincarnate, Rainbow, and no. That idea is about a spirit being reborn as a whole new pony, with a new body and new life. This sounds like you’re supposed to come back as Rainbow Dash, just as you were before you died. But it’s not reincarnation in and of itself that caught my attention; it’s that the Bodhisattva was a pony who came back to life after he found enlightenment, so he could help others find their own way,”

Rainbow knit her brow and sat down again. “...So there’s more than one Bodhisatt-guy?”

Twilight grimaced, shifting from hoof to hoof as she tried to organize her thoughts. “...Yes and no. Yes, in that it’s known history that several ponies have been called the Bodhisattva over centuries. But no, in that all of them were said to be the same spirit, reincarnated over and over again.” She looked at Rainbow hopefully.

“...I think I get it. So, like, he kept being reborn, so it was sorta like he was the same guy, but he had a different name and junk each time, right?”

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, and nodded. “Exactly. So how this all connects to your relic is how the Bodhist temples found the Bodhisattva after he was reborn. They had a collection of stuff that older versions of the Bodhisattva owned when they were alive, and they found foals who seemed like they might be him, and looked to see if those foals could recognize any of it from a bunch of random things. Some of the belongings were said to be powerfully magical, and others were just normal things.”

Twilight straightened and took a deep breath. “The items that were magic were said to have changed, so what was powerful for one Bodhisattva might be just a brush to another, and what used to be a normal fan might have magic three generations later. These magical items had a lot of different names, but one of the translations I found called them ‘the leaf of the Bodhi.’”

Her eyes widening, Rainbow grinned. “That’s gotta be it! Did your book say anything about where it is? I’d feel way better if you and the others got ahold of it and kept it safe.”

“...That would be worthwhile, but I’m not sure where to even start.” She frowned in thought, tapping her chin. “The magic jumped around from item to item, and in addition to that, there hasn’t even been a recognized Bodhisattva in two thousand years.”

Rainbow sat down slowly and chewed her lip. “...Discord said that the Elements of Strife got...broken, or died, or whatever, a thousand years before the Elements of Harmony were made. That...kinda lines up, huh?”

Twilight shook her head and marveled, “If this really is just a dream, my brain’s pulling out all the stops. Anyway, I wouldn’t even know where to start looking. There are some Bodhist temples scattered all over the world, and they might have some of the Bodhisattva’s relics, but there were dozens of personal items. I’m not sure I’d even be able to tell which one is the real thing, and which is just a two thousand year old salad fork.”

Rainbow smirked, then nodded. “I get ya. But keep your eyes and ears open, alright? I sorta feel like it’s not gonna work right if everything’s all over the place on your side. I’m just guessing, but it feels like that.”

“You’re probably right, Rainbow. The Elements of Harmony never worked on their own…” She narrowed her eyes and frowned. “Although there’s no mention of five other relics appearing alongside the Bodhisattva.” Rainbow shrugged in response, and Twilight grinned at her. “I hope I’m really talking to you, Rainbow. I have no idea what I’m doing, but everypony’s counting on me.”

“Well, what’s going on right now? You didn’t have a chance to tell me what was up last time before I freaked out over how long I’ve been dead.”

Twilight sighed, and started pacing again. “I don’t know what we’re going to do when the bulls get here. Princess Celestia told me Canterlot’s beginning to prepare for war, but the only thing that seemed to hurt the thing at all was magic.” Twilight stopped, and turned to Rainbow with an eyebrow raised. “That reminds me: I’ve been wondering about your sonic rainboom.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow puffed out her chest and spread her wings. “What about it? How awesome it is?”

Twilight smirked and rolled her eyes. “Well, sort of. I cast a lot of spells at the bull, which slowed it down, or maybe confused it, but your rainboom killed it, which made me think about something…” She took a deep breath. “When we used the Elements to seal Discord again, he was hit by a rainbow beam, just like Nightmare Moon...but there were rainbow shockwaves that came off of all of us.”

Rainbow started, and shook her head. “You’re totally right...it looked just like a sonic rainboom.” She smirked at her friend. “Leave it to an egghead like you to notice that.” Twilight snorted in response, and Rainbow asked, “So what does that mean?”

“Well, uhh…” Twilight bit the tip of her hoof in thought. If she was talking to the real Rainbow Dash, the information she could glean would be invaluable. She couldn’t count it definitively, but it was well worth experimenting. “Do you think you could perform a sonic rainboom right here? If I could analyze the magical output of it…”

Twilight closed her eyes, and her horn sparked to life. The spell came to mind without trouble, after spending weeks casting it and similar ones on the Elements of Harmony, and motes of magic swirled through the void in front of her. “I think this’ll work, if we just—” She turned to Rainbow, and her jaw dropped.

Ponies in general had bright auras, tied to the magic inherent in all three tribes. Rainbow Dash wasn’t just bright: she was something else. Rivers of raw power pulsed through her body in waves, dazzling and ordered, and spilling off her form into the void. She was brightest in her wings and hooves. Each tip of her hoof, attuned to touch and control cloudstuff, jittered with energy, while her wings leaked tendrils of power into the air, rising close to five times her height.

“Rainbow…” Twilight marveled, “your aura…”

“What, is something wrong with it?” She danced on her hooves, trying to see through herself.

“It’s so…bright.” Twilight rubbed her eyes. “The only ones I’ve seen like this are…” she swallowed a lump in her throat as color rose to her cheeks. “The princesses and, well...erm...mine.”

Rainbow blinked, her jaw hanging open to match her friend’s. “My aura’s as bright as Princess Celestia’s, Luna’s, and yours? What the heck does that mean?”

Twilight cleared her throat several times. “I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised; you’d have to be a really powerful pegasus to be able to perform a sonic rainboom.” Twilight looked over Rainbow again, and noticed a glimmer of faint magic hovering over Rainbow’s head. “That’s strange; it looks like there’s something attached to your head that isn’t a part of you.”

Out of habit, Rainbow looked up at the nothing above her. “...Huh. Maybe I’m getting close to finding...getting...whatever with the Bodhi Leaf.” She exchanged a bewildered shrug with Twilight. “Anyway, I don’t see why I can’t pull off a rainboom right now. Want me to?”

Twilight blinked away her awe, and nodded.

Rainbow dropped into a crouch, and felt the void blur around her. She blanked her mind in reaction, and Twilight came back into focus.

“What was that?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I’m here ‘cause I’m meditating, and working on not doing anything...this might be kinda hard.” She chuckled and shook her head. “I’ve done a bunch of other stuff without losing my focus so far; I just gotta not think about it too much.”

Twilight opened her mouth to object, but Rainbow lifted up on her wings. Twilight watched the magic spreading from both limbs whip behind Rainbow, trailing back like kitetails as she sped up, flying in a circle over her friend’s head.

Rainbow flew faster and faster, buzzing around Twilight, her magical aura blurring into a strobing ring of light. Bolts of energy crackled away from her as she pressed harder, and specks of ambient magic flew away from their paths. Space bent in front of Rainbow Dash as the residual power piled up in front of her into a nearly solid barrier.

All at once, the cone of resistance tore open.

A thundering crack shook the very substance of the pocket dimension. A slipstream formed around Rainbow as the magical substance of space parted in front of her and piled up behind her, pushing her forward and dragging her faster through the open air, scattering dots of magic out in ripples, searingly bright to Twilight’s mental senses: a visual cacophony of power.

Rainbow’s aura grew solidly brilliant, like a miniature sun given life, exploding from every inch of her body and sending violent blades of magic into the void. The shockwaves rebounded around them, until Twilight’s mind hurt from the sight.

Slowing down, Rainbow circled a few more times and landed on Twilight’s plane. The writhing spike to her aura faded back to her baseline, and the chaos of rebounding waves gradually stilled around them.

Twilight locked the joints in her legs to keep them from shaking. She could feel the hairs of her coat standing on end from the display of power, and had she never experienced wielding the Elements of Harmony, it might have been too much to comprehend. Twilight stopped the spell, and Rainbow waited patiently while she struggled to collect her thoughts.

It took her a while.

“Rainbow Dash…” She blinked and rubbed at her eyes; they stung like she actually had stared into the sun. “I think...I think if you’d performed a sonic rainboom and flew into Discord, he might have turned back into a statue.”

Rainbow’s jaw fell open. “...What?!”

Twilight cleared her throat and blinked the tears of irritation out of her eyes. “The sonic rainboom’s magic isn’t just sort of like the Elements of Harmony; it looks identical.”

Rainbow’s throat bobbed silently as she gaped at her friend.

“I’ve never seen so much magic in a pony...Oh, I wish you were alive, Rainbow; we wouldn’t even need to fix the Elements of Harmony…”

“Wait, what’s wrong with the Elements?” Rainbow’s wings flew open at her sides, and for a moment she flashed translucent, before re-solidifying.

Twilight sighed, and fell back into pacing. “When you died, the magic in all six of the Elements of Harmony just sort of vanished. I’ve never heard of anything like that happening before, and neither has anypony else. Princess Celestia has the High Scholars researching, too, but nothing’s turned up that’s even close to giving us any clues.”

She huffed and shook her head. “We all even brought the Elements back to the castle in the Everfree Forest, but nothing happened and I’m running out of ideas. And it’s so annoying, because I feel like I’ve heard of magic dying before, but I can’t figure out where; it’s taunting me, but I just can’t seem to—”

“The Elements of Strife died.”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, and whipped around to stare at Rainbow, shock coloring her expression. Inspiration flashed across her eyes, and she clapped her forelegs together in excitement. “Rainbow, you’re brilliant!” She fell back into pacing. “If I focus on finding the Bodhi Leaf, I’d be able to compare it to the Elements! I’ve only looked at the one book on Bodhism, but there are more, and barring that, there are only so many temples! It’s simple process of elimination!

She bounced in place. “We can set out right away! —Well, I can set out, the other girls all have so many other responsibilities I couldn’t ask them to come, too, but I can set out and—”

A hoof caught her shoulder and brought her face to face with Rainbow, and the look of concern made her brow knit in confusion. “Twilight, I know you’re excited, but you need to slow down.”

Twilight shook her head. “Did...did you really tell me to slow down?”

Rainbow chuckled, but the seriousness never left her eyes. “Listen, if you go running off all over Equestria looking for something that you just told me could be anything at all, what’s it gonna help with? And leaving everypony else behind?” She shook her head.

“Well…”

“C’mon, you said the magic jumped around a bunch of times, what if there isn’t something out there to find at all?” She let out a sigh and sat down.

“I have to look, Rainbow, I have to.”

“You don’t, though, Twilight. You don’t have to do anything. And you totally don’t have to do it all alone. You’ve got our friends to help, and...and you’ve got me…” Rainbow looked down at her hooves. “...And I don’t have to do this by myself, either.” She caught Twilight’s gaze. “Listen, I’m gonna work my tail off to get the leaf here with me, and when I’ve got it, we’ll have a better idea what you’ve gotta find on your end. That makes sense, right? We’re gonna be partners on this, you and me. And until we know what you and the other girls are looking for, the best thing you can do is nothing.”

As the words left her mouth, a flash of white light blossomed above her head like a dancing halo. Her eyes lit up with the same energy, and she rose off her hooves into the air. The halo tightened, refining its shape, spreading out into a wide, fat heart.

Rainbow let out a gasp. Her voice echoed around the void as if from far away. “Twilight! We’ll talk again when I can…!” Her body blurred, turning hazy and transparent. “Partners?”

Twilight’s jaw hung open as the corona of light solidified into a green fig leaf, floating above Rainbow’s head. As she watched her friend glow brighter as she grew less distinct, she nodded sharply. “Partners.”

Rainbow faded away to nothingness, and the void changed to a normal dream.

Rainbow opened her eyes, and retched. Her lungs were on fire, and as she heaved in gulps of air between coughs, her whole body convulsed. Floating off the ground, her wings twitching and her back arching, she felt pins and needles in every nerve ending.

Her heart thundered in her chest, squeezing turgid blood through her atrophied arteries, and a red haze clouded her vision with every thump. She shut her eyes, seeing stars, and tears ran down her face.

Her nostrils felt raw and red, and acid burned her throat. Every second was agony, like ants made of broken glass were biting their way free from her insides. She was hungrier than she had ever been, more nauseated than she had ever imagined.

As she fell to the ground from her levitation, sending new sheets of pain lancing through her nerves, Rainbow Dash felt alive.

A single leaf fell off the tree. It caught the air and floated in lazy circles, descending a little at a time, until it settled just above Rainbow’s head. A flash of white light lit up the grove.

Rainbow’s breathing evened out, and her heartbeat slowed. She coughed once more, and dragged herself up onto her haunches, taking deep breaths and willing her hooves to stop trembling.

She opened her eyes and blinked the tears away until she could see the goat, and she watched him lower to the ground. He took a breath, and she could hear a rattle deep in his lungs. “You have...restored...your connection...to the world...of the living,” he choked out.

A jag of coughs interrupted him, and red foam splattered on the granite. He cleared his throat and spat, before raising his head to look at her with tears rolling down his cheeks. “This place is not meant for the living, but the leaf will protect you from its harm.”

Rainbow stood up, her legs shaking, and vertigo nearly drove her back to the ground. “Am I alive again?” She rubbed at her stinging face, almost welcoming the pain.

“You are connected to the living,” he said through ragged breaths. His voice was soft, and he had an exotic accent; it didn’t match the voice that had boomed through her ears.

“I wasn’t talking to you before, was I?”

“What you heard was the voice of the tree. Your communion with it began the moment you entered the grove.” His levitation continued to fade, and as he neared the ground, he leaned forward. “You have completed your communion, and the tree as given you its blessing, connecting your spirit with everyone and everything.”

Rainbow nodded, before the goat fell, clattering his hooves for support they wouldn’t give. She gasped, and rushed to his side, leaning into his shoulder to keep him from landing on his side. “Are you okay? What’s happening?”

“The tree never gave me its blessing,” he wheezed. “I was made one with everything, but in this place, I had to render my body so still as to be dead to escape the corruption.” He pulled in a deep breath of the air, and Rainbow winced, remembering the fire in her lungs. “I have been waiting for the true bearer of the Leaf of the Bodhi.”

She rubbed his back, wrinkling her muzzle at the thick wet sound in his breaths. “How long’s that been?”

“After countless cycles shepherding spirits along the path of enlightenment, looking for the bearer among the living, I stayed here to commune with the tree, two millennia ago.”

Rainbow jumped back in surprise, then pressed back into his side as her staggered. “...You’re the Bodhisattva, aren’t you?”

He closed his eyes with a pained smile on his face. “Please, call me Sid.” He fought his way up to his hooves, straightening his neck to stand tall. “My vigil has ended; you are the true bearer of the Bodhi Leaf.”

“...I don’t get it. Sitting still isn’t really my thing...I don’t even know what I did.” She smirked. “And it took me weeks to do whatever it is. I’m bad at this.”

Sid chuckled, which set off another series of coughs. He spat, and shook his head at her. “In my first life, it took me six years of searching to find the path, and forty-nine days of meditation to reach enlightenment. You found the path up the mountain in twenty-three days, and enlightenment in another twenty, all in a world where the flow of time is altered.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“You are not bad at this; you are exceptional. In your journey, you learned the act of stillness, discovered the cost of acting when you should not, and bestowed the knowledge of stillness on another, all in a remarkable amount of time.”

Shaking her head, Rainbow scoffed. “You’re making it sound like it was all special, but it wasn’t; I was just thinking and talking to Twilight.”

“Just because it was mundane does not mean it wasn’t special.” A flash of pain passed over his face, and he winced. He cleared his throat and stood straight again. “And special it is; you have become a true shepherd of ponies, faster than any being that has ever walked on four hooves. Your journey here is the true sign of worthiness.”

“What, dying?”

He snorted, and shook his head. “I was referring to the climb up the mountain. Attempting to find shortcuts up the path would render a pilgrim lost; it is only through true dedication and effort that one can find their way. Most give up the journey, whether they took it here, or in their minds from the world of the living. Those that do make it stray, and must start at the bottom. It is a journey of years, not weeks.”

Rainbow shook her head and smirked. “I knew there was some sorta trick…” She let out a sigh and a chuckle. “But, uh, I don’t really feel any different, Sid, how can I be enlightened now? Shouldn’t I feel all...I dunno, peaceful and junk?”

He grinned. “Most do not, but you will find moments of stillness in the heat of action, and calmness in the heart of confusion.” Irritation tickled his throat, and he covered his mouth with a hoof as he hacked, sinking down to his haunches, then onto his belly. “You will feel the difference in time; the presence of the Bodhi Leaf will be a burden to you. Being still is not in your nature, and it will be a constant struggle. It is because of this struggle that you were found to be worthy, when I was not.” He closed his eyes and rolled over onto his back.

Rainbow reached out and grabbed a hoof, frowning at the trembling. “...What’s happening to you, Sid?”

“My soul is dying.” He opened his eyes again and met her gaze. “I will lose what is left of my individuality, and truly become one with everything.” He smiled. “It’s what I’ve been waiting for.”

Rainbow stood up and nodded. She looked him over. “Do, uh, do you know what the other Elements of Strife are?”

“For most, I have heard tale told, but nothing else. They are like the gift of the tree, though; they might appear to be cruel or heartless, as doing nothing in the face of pain and suffering, but they stand for more than they seem on their surface. I do not know what they are, save one.” Sid crossed his hooves over his chest, and took a deep breath. “The one I know was wielded against me in my travels among the world of the living. If you encounter its owner, I ask that you do not judge him for what he’s become.”

“Can you tell me about it?”

“It is the Element of War.”

Rainbow winced and shook her head. “Cruel’s right. Is it, like, a leaf, too?”

“It is Tyr’s Right Hoof: the gauntlet of a god.”

Rainbow swallowed the lump in her throat. “Do you know where I can find it?”

Sid’s eyes slid shut again. He took one last breath, and whispered, “Listen to the universe.” As the words passed his lips, Rainbow watched his chest go slack. Sid lay still before her, and as she bowed her head, light filled the clearing.

His body lifted from the ground, glowing white, and Rainbow watched wide-eyed as he shimmered, growing indistinct, his body turning to mist. A swirl of light specks rose in a twisting column as he disappeared, and she watched the dots fill the Bodhi Tree. The tree, glowing like it was full of fireflies, flashed bright, and all signs of Sid vanished into the leaves and branches. The wrinkled fruit hanging from the tree grew fat and ripe as Rainbow watched.

She gasped as hundreds of buds erupted into a shock of white and purple flowers, raining petals that caught in a breeze Rainbow couldn’t feel. They danced to and fro, but never quite reached the ground. Rainbow rubbed at her eyes and gave the tree a weak smile. She nodded her goodbye, and caught sight of the leaf over her head.

Rainbow turned away from the tree and looked up at the sky. “Alright...he said if I listen, I’ll know where to go…”

She closed her eyes, and sent her senses outward. The thrum of her pulse slowed to a murmur, and she found stillness. Finding it was easier for her, but a sense of loss settled on her shoulders. A melancholy paled her mood as her senses expanded, racing down the mountain and filling the air. Every rock, every tree, every blade of grass, all of it was connected by a flowing tapestry of white energy, flowing in and out in constant motion. The world wasn’t static: it lived and breathed around her.

As she marveled, she felt something pull at her perception, dragging her focus to the north, and far off she saw a darkened peak, beckoning her.

The mountain, easily twice the height of where she currently stood, rose up into a perpetual thunderhead, which roiled with lightning and shrouded the rocky and threatening surface below. Her senses plowed through the cover, and she could see twisted shapes of magic lurch across the surface, over ledges and along paths.

A stone castle, carved into the mountain itself, pulsed with magic, and each beat pulled at her, demanding her attention, drawing her to listen. “That’s gotta be it,” she murmured.

Rainbow struggled to open her wings, and withdraw her expanded mind back to herself. As easy as it had been to find stillness, finding the will to move again felt overwhelming. Nearly crying out, she severed her connection to the flow of the world and found her way back to herself. As she did, the melancholy nearly drove her to her belly, feeling like she’d tore off a piece of herself.

“This is a burden.” She shook her head and trotted in place until she felt close to normal. Pushing the desire to replace Sid at the tree in an eternal vigil, she opened her wings.

Rainbow flew away from one mountain and towards the other, streaking through the sky. With several powerful flaps, she felt the air tighten around her. A thundering explosion shook the sky as she rocketed forward.

An impossibly high peak, blanketed in dark and crackling clouds, loomed in the distance.

Twilight yawned and stretched in her sleeping bag. A weight on her chest threatened to fall to the floor, and she wrapped her hooves around it out of instinct. Her eyes snapped open, and she bolted up to sitting.

Morning sunlight streamed through windows and missing chunks of roof and wall in the Ancient Castle, dappling her friends hunkered down in their own bags spread around her, laid out for the night in front of the altar of the Elements of Harmony. She shook the sleep from her head and stared down into her lap.

She held a fat, heart-shaped leaf made of marble, colored white with red veins that added a sense of life to the form. It was thin enough to be translucent, and far too smooth to be crafted by hoof. She lifted it reverently, closed her eyes, and sparked her horn to life.

The magic specks of the air made the whole room shimmer, and the glow of her sleeping friends drew her attention, but Twilight forced her attention into the leaf. The ambient magic of the room danced across its darkened surface, never getting close enough to touch. Magic neither entered nor left the stone, black as pitch, dead to the world.

Twilight leapt out of her sleeping back. “Everypony, wake up!” she cried. “It wasn’t just a dream; it’s really her! She’s coming back! Rainbow’s coming back!”

Author's Note

The rewriting of these early chapters continues. As before, if you're interested in the original version, it is available here.

Chapter 4 (Remastered)

“Huh, whazzat?” Applejack bolted up, stumbled, and toppled back into her sleeping bag. “Not pancakes again, Granny.”

Twilight bounced from one hoof to another as her friends groaned and rolled away from her. “Come on, girls, wake up, look!”

Applejack straightened again, rubbing an eye with a hoof. “All right, I’m awake, geez, Twi. What’re ya goin’ on about?” Twilight thrust the stone leaf at her, and she yelped. She looked it over, turning it in her hooves. “... That’s really somethin’ you got there, Twi.”

Twilight grinned and nodded.

She turned to the others, still in a groggy fight to wake up, then looked at the leaf again. “... The heck is it?”

“This,” Twilight said, lifting the leaf up over their heads in triumph, “is proof that I really have been talking to Rainbow Dash.”

“... Uh huh.”

Twilight huffed through her snout and floated the leaf to Rarity, who squeaked as it flopped onto her chest. “Rarity, look at the latent magic in this. Stop glaring, this is important!”

“Can’t this wait until after coffee?” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Okay, okay, you stop glaring.” Rarity sucked in a breath and sat up the rest of the way, muttering, “Some ponies have no appreciation for the concept of beauty sleep,” under her breath. She floated the leaf up in her own magic and scrunched her eyes in concentration. She gasped. “Goodness, why, it’s completely empty! Just like the Elements of Harmony!”

“Exactly!” Twilight bounced in place. “This is an Element of Strife, it has to be.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “What’s an Element of Str—?”

“Rainbow Dash told me that thousands of years ago, there was a set of magical artifacts called the Elements of Strife. When they stopped working in our world, their magic went on into the afterlife.”

Pinkie butted up against the leaf, her eyes wide. “Ooooooh, neat!” She looked up at Twilight. “What’s that mean?”

“Um, well,” Twilight started.

Applejack cut her off, saying, “And where in the heck did it come from?”

Twilight snapped her teeth shut.

Fluttershy reached out a hoof, then drew back before she touched it. “And what does it have to do with Rainbow Dash?”

“Well, see, it’s—”

Everypony started talking at once. Twilight pouted, folding her ears flat against her head, and raised her voice. “If you’d let me explain!”

The murmurs dropped to a respectful silence, except for Pinkie who was sharing a recipe for cornbread with a confused Applejack. Eventually her attention snapped back to Twilight, and she smiled innocently.

Twilight cleared her throat, then fell into pacing. “Okay, so, the short explanation is that Rainbow Dash found the spiritual imprint of this Element in the afterlife. I’m not quite sure why it’s here … but I think it’s because the relic doesn’t exist anymore and had to be recreated on this side of the veil ... probably showed up here because I’m Rainbow’s conduit between the two sides …” Twilight paused in place, frowning off into the distance.

The others looked at each other in the lull, then Applejack huffed. “And?”

Twilight jumped, then gave her friends a guilty smile. “Um. Yes. Anyway, Rainbow was told that if she can bring together all six of these Elements, and if we could do the same with what’s left of the relics on this side, she can cross over back to us.”

“But…” Applejack reached a hoof out and touched the leaf, as if affirming it was solid, her brows knit tight. She pulled her hoof back and let out a groan. “Okay, so this … thing here showed up outta nowhere, and that means you know Rainbow Dash can come back from the dead?”

“Basically.” Twilight brought the leaf closer, then frowned. “Well, maybe? I don’t know for sure that Rainbow’s right, or that we can even do everything that needs to be done first for her to be able to come back, if she really can.” Her ears drooped. “There are a lot of unanswered questions.”

Applejack huffed. “You’re tellin’ me.”

“But I do know that when I saw Rainbow Dash in my dreams last night, we talked for a long time about this very Element, and when she had to go, it seemed like she’d found whatever she was looking for on her side. And here it is.” She grinned at the leaf, flipping it over. It felt cold in her magic, a truly dead thing, even without looking at the latent magic. “If my mind was playing tricks on me, this wouldn’t be here. If it was just a dream, this couldn’t exist. This means she’s really there. She’s there, and she’s doing everything she can to get back to us.”

A moment of silence fell over the five, grouped together in the ruins of the castle and looking at the Leaf of the Bodhi as it floated in Twilight’s magic. Fluttershy broke it, barely rising above a whisper. “So … what does this mean? What do we do?” She bit her lip, looking around at the others, sharing expressions of deep thought and confusion.

“I’m … not sure. Rainbow said … well, she said a lot of things. If we’re going to help her, we need to find the other five of these here in our world, but I don’t even know where to start. We don’t know what to look for. I guess the first step is talking to Rainbow again.”

Fluttershy sunk in on herself and bowed her head. “Do you think you could ask Rainbow to talk to me, too? I really miss her.” She raised her head, and hope burned in her expression. In an instant, the others all looked at Twilight with the same look of yearning..

A pang of disappointment hit Twilight and she quickly shoved that feeling away. “Of course, Fluttershy. I’ll ask for all of you. I know she misses you, too. She told me so.”

Before she finished talking, Fluttershy hugged her around the neck. The others joined in and piled on, and a dam of pent up grief, rage, and sadness that had been built by mourning broke away from them all at once.

“She’s...she’s really still there,” Twilight said, holding her friends back just as tightly. “She’s there, and we’re going to get her back.” Hard steel entered her tone, and she glared at the leaf through her exhausted, hope-filled tears. “We’re getting her back, and nothing will take her from us again.”

As the sun rose higher, filtering through the gaps in the ceiling and dappling the stone floor around them, Twilight gathered the strength to pull away from the embrace. “Come on,” she forced out. “Let’s go back to Ponyville.”

Rainbow Dash neared the stormy mountain peak, streaming a trail behind her. The clouds were an angry, churning black, sparking gold in little flashes, clouds that an ordinary pegasus would know to avoid. They were the wild, magical kind that promised certain death from the slightest mistake.

Rainbow Dash was no ordinary pegasus. She licked her lips and grinned. Slowing her flight, she plunged into the cloud cover. She grasped the cloudstuff in her hooves, twisted her body, and spun a tight spiral, blasting a hole through the stormhead. Crackles of electricity barked as she passed, as if in protest. The hairs of her coat stood on end. Rainbow knew something was wrong.

Time slowed. From the corner of her eye, she saw a bolt surge from the cloud, searing, blinding bright, its path arcing straight for her heart. She grit her teeth, slammed her eyes shut, and flared her wings, twisting against the lightning, plunging for the hole out of the stormcloud.

She felt the heat rip through the space behind her, slapping her in the back as the air expanded outward. She half tumbled out of the storm as the air collapsed back in on itself in a thunderclap, the electricity barrelling off further into the clouds, leaving only the itchy hum of static in her feathers.‘Well,’ she thought to herself, ‘that was new.’ She looked around for a flat patch on the mountainside and noticed she hadn’t dropped the clump of cloud. She grinned.

Rainbow slammed the wisp of gray down as she clattered onto the rocky surface, feeling it burst into a splash of water and wheezing snaps of electricity. “Aw, yeah, I’m still awesome,” she said, puffing out her chest. She looked around the clearing. The bare, flat stretch of rock extended around her as a small plateau. It fell away down the cliffside in one direction and erupted into pillars of rock climbing upwards in the other. She stood nestled in an empty, shadowy crevice on the side of the mountain, with everything around her dull, flat, granite, and lifeless. She couldn’t even see a weed fighting its way up through a crack in the rock. She huffed. “Too bad nopony was here to see that.”

A dry, dusty scrape cut over the distant rumble of thunder.

Hoofsteps echoed across the rock, dragging and shambling, bouncing back at Rainbow from every angle. Pebbles loosened and rolled down the mountainsides around the clearing, and shadows began to stir. With a hollow clatter, a figure dropped onto the plateau. Two pinpricks of fire regarded Rainbow from the mass of shadow, and they slowly straightened, moving into the light.

The embers burned inside the empty sockets of a jagged, broken pony skull. A hiss wheezed from where its mouth used to be, over the few cracked teeth still jutting downwards. The lower jawbone was missing. It stepped forward, its hoof bones clacking and grinding against each other, and drew itself all the way into Rainbow’s view. The skeleton stood tall and silent in front of her. Mummified flesh clung tight in patches, stretching around a fetlock and halfway over its ribcage, the fine hairs of a coat long since rubbed away to leather. It spread the thin, fragile bones of what had once been pegasus wings.

Rainbow turned in place slowly. Five other skeletons moved from the shadows, climbing up from the cliffside or sliding down the rock. The four that still had working jaws carried axes fashioned from sharpened pelvic bones lashed to femurs. She was surrounded. The first skeleton let out another raspy wheeze, and in unison they closed in on her another step.

Rainbow grinned. Maybe she did have an audience.

She straightened up and popped a kink in her neck. “Y’know, six on one isn’t really all that fair. I’m not gonna even break a sweat.” She dropped down low, then leapt backwards. She felt the impact in her back hooves as a sternum shattered inwards, reduced to chips and powder. A bone-axe sailed overhead harmlessly as the skeleton toppled back. Rainbow caught the axe in her forelegs. She stifled a yawn as her wings sprang open.

Her wings did all the work as she sprung forward, twisting the axe down into the skull of the first skeleton, cutting its wheeze off sharp. The red pin-pricks in its eye sockets flared bright, then puffed into smoke. A sour, acrid taste of air hit the back of Rainbow’s throat and she let the momentum carry her axe into the next skeleton, sending its head leaping away from shattered vertebrae.

Rainbow smashed the sharpened pelvis of her axe to bits on the ground and vaulted over the handle in a front flip, then she brought the handle around hard in a full circle. The remains of the femur sent vibrations all the way up to her shoulders as the last skeleton crumpled in a heap of dust and bone fragments.. She leaned against the femur, blew a lock of mane off her face, and flicked her tail. “Oh yeah, I’m still awesome.” She raised her voice and yelled up the mountainside, “Anypony else want some!?”

An echo of hoofsteps bounced along the rock like rolling thunder. Twelve more creatures rattled and slid into view. Not all of the skeletons were ponies, she spotted at least two sets of ram horns, and a few carried spears and shields.

Rainbow stopped smiling. She flexed her jaw and dropped into a defensive crouch, slinking sideways and keeping her eyes moving from one skeleton to the next. She held the femur axe handle in the crook of her foreleg.

The first creature charged. It lowered its horns and barrelled full-speed at Rainbow, all brute-force and no finesse. Rainbow leapt to the side, and the skeleton sailed over the side of the plateau. She smirked at the tumbling crash, then squared herself against the next attacker, sweeping the axe-handle upwards and cracking a skull to pieces. She twisted and slapped a spear down with a hoof. It snapped in half and she caught the sharp end in her teeth.

The rest of the skeletons charged. Rainbow lifted up on her wings and spun again, dragging the remains of her axe from one creature to the next, until the handle shattered against a ram horn. She parried and deflected hooves and weapons with her makeshift bayonet, until it stuck tight through the eye-socket of what used to be a unicorn. Weaponless, she smashed and kicked with her bare hooves. She put aside the fun, action-star flourishes from the start of the fight in favor of bare and brutal efficiency, smashing leg joints, breaking necks, and snapping shoulder blades.

Rainbow panted in breaths of air as she wrenched her hoof free from the remains of a chest cavity. The wind felt bitter against the layer of sweat clinging to her coat. She straightened up and looked around the clearing. Eighteen, maybe nineteen or twenty skeletons smashed to pieces. She touched her head and sides, looking for an injury she hadn’t noticed..

“Rainbow Dash one, stupid skeletons zero,” she said into the wind, grinning again. “That really all you got?”

The bouncing echoes of hoofsteps bled together into a single roar. The roar turned into rolling thunder.

Rainbow’s smile vanished again, and she lifted up off the plateau, flying back away from the mountain. Bleach-white bones, dull and cracked in some places and worn shiny in others, caught lighting flashes from every angle in Rainbow’s vision. The entire mountainside rippled and churned with skeletal bodies pressing and pushing against each other, turning the mountain into a living, squirming creature, like a swarming anthill. The thunder of hooves and axe heads on granite grew even and steady as an ominous applause. An errant spear sailed in Rainbow’s direction, falling a couple feet short and tumbling down the cliff. She pulled back a few more yards.

Further up the mountain, the jagged rock swarming with skeletons turned smooth and straight. She looked at the walls of a stronghold, carved directly into the mountain, lined with spikes and turrets. Where the mass of undead bodies slid and jostled against each other across the rest of the rock, the skeletons lining the stronghold wall stood at attention, with their skulls trained directly on her.

“That … would be easier to get into if nopony was looking at me,” she muttered to herself.

Another spear, thrown with more strength and from higher up, beelined for Rainbow’s head. She caught it in her hooves and hucked it back in the direction it came from, smiling to herself when it hit an undead pony directly in the eye. Her smile faded when the sky darkened with spears. A wall rained down on her, dense and wide.

“Ah, crap!” She slammed her eyes shut and covered her face with her forelegs and she beat her wings, flinging herself sideways. There were too many to dodge, and her mind grasped onto the wild hope that she’d blunt the impact if she was in movement. She braced herself and prepared to turn with whatever struck home first.

After a few moments she opened her eyes. The wall of spears remained overhead, perfectly frozen in place. She glanced around in confusion, seeing the sea of skeletons below had stopped, standing silent and unmoving. She had to squint against a frozen flash of lightning arcing through a cloud. Even the air against her feathers felt static and dull, like a stuffy basement nopony had aired out in years.

“Stillness in the heat of battle, huh?” she muttered. “This could be useful.” She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened her senses.

Thousands of dead soldiers covered the mountain. She could see them all in her mind, ponies, goats, rams, minotaurs, hippogriffs, griffons, every creature directed at her. From each and every skeleton, tendrils of glittering energy extended up and back into the stronghold. She could feel the flow of the magic, and understood immediately that it was the force holding each pile of bones together. A huge, pulsing force buried deep in the mountain extending its energy like marionette strings, guiding a private army, protecting its secrets.

Another tendril of energy clung to Rainbow’s body, extending up and out from her back. She could see it in her mind’s eye. It was light purple.

Rainbow returned her attention to the waiting army. One on one, they might have been pushovers, but there was no way she was getting through all of them at once, and she was pretty sure she’d ruined any chance of sneaking past at that point. And she somehow knew that as soon as she made a move, the little frozen-world magic trick would go away. She needed somewhere to lay low. She narrowed her focus and scanned the mountain.

“That’ll work,” she muttered. “Now … how the heck do I get there?” She frowned and turned her attention to the cloud of frozen spears. They were a bare few feet away from her. She let her senses expand, taking in as much detail as she could and keeping her breaths deep and even. She nodded to herself, and opened her eyes.

The spears lurched into motion the barest amount, creeping through the air towards her. She kicked her hooves out, fighting through the thick, jelly air. The shafts snapped like kindling as she smashed a rough, pony-sized hole in the raining death, then barrelled herself through it. The world moved in slow-motion, but so did she, and as a spear grazed her fetlock while she passed, she knew she still didn’t have any room for mistakes. She beat her wings and flew upwards.

Rainbow crashed into the clouds in a halo of light from the Element of Inaction. The lightning bolt arced through the air exactly where Rainbow guessed it would, slowed down only enough for her to track its path. She willed the pegasus magic that let her walk on clouds into her hooves and caught the bolt as carefully as she could.

She could feel the raw power racing up her fetlocks, keenly aware that one wrong move and it would blow up in her face. Her face if she was lucky. She opened her wings, gave it a nudge in the bolt’s direction, and let the lightning carry her downwards.

A rainboom tore the air without her even trying as she rode the bolt. She smashed back through the wall of spears before they had had the chance to hit the ground, blistering, blazing fast even through the slow reality, stripping the air from her lungs and blurring her vision to a hazy red. She let go and leapt backwards as hard as she could. Time sped up again.

A crack of exploding air shook Rainbow to her bones, teeth clacking together, ears ringing, eyes vibrating behind her eyelids. The lightning bolt jumped from one skeleton to another, tearing them apart in an expanding cone. She landed in the clearing. Scattered legs and ribs sparked with static around her. Skulls twitched with rattling teeth, and red eyelights burst to smoke as she sensed outward. She could see the wisps of magic feeding the skeletons break and disappear as each corpse fell silent. She tasted the coppery tang of blood and lightning in the back of her throat.

A sense of vertigo struck her. Her senses kept expanding outward, past the skeletons, through the stronghold walls, and inside the heart of the mountain. Her mind wanted to wander, flow inside the rock and into the clouds, and let her sense of self become lost in the flow of energy. She caught herself just before sitting and crossing her legs.

“Ooh,” she muttered, rubbing her forehead. She looked around again. The shockwave of the lightning had given her a clear stretch, but the sea of skeletons closed in, rushing to fill the void. “Useful, but dangerous,” she muttered darkly, then forced strength into her legs and ran.

Weapons flew overhead. She ducked and weaved, following the narrowing path along the mountain. She could see it just ahead, the small cave between two chunks of granite. One last push, and she could crawl her way inside, then find some way to seal herself in.

An axe flashed out. She skittered to a halt as it swept towards her head, and she turned away, gritting her teeth, grunting with effort and surprise. Pain sprung across the left side of her face. She slammed her hooves back into the ground and kept running. Flecks of blood caught flashes of light and reflected them into the corner of her vision. Her left eye started watering and she scrunched it shut.

With one last push she jumped over another axe swing and smashed through a skeleton, half landing and half tumbling up to the mouth of the cave. She turned on her forelegs and slammed her back hooves into the stones above the tiny opening, then darted inside. A small avalanche followed her retreat. Rainbow Dash fell into darkness as the cave mouth closed.

“Dang,” Rainbow heaved out through heavy gulps of air. She dropped onto her haunches with a thump and wiped her eye, wincing as her face stung from the contact. “Fighting’s a heck of a workout.”

When she could breathe normally again, she opened her senses and scanned the outside of the cave. A group of skeletons crowded around the pile of loose dirt and stone that sealed her in, scraping and digging with their hooves and weapons. Rainbow followed her gut and pushed her senses out wide and shallowly, flowing into the mountain and up into the air. The diggers slowed and turned, following Rainbow’s aura as she expanded past them, returning to the digging, then growing aimless. After a few minutes, they’d all stopped digging and wandered away, the sea of skeletons turning to a dull, half-blind patrol of the empty mountain.

With her presence expanded, Rainbow found the purple beam of magic attached to her own aura. She grasped hold and flew along its river of magic, up and away, leaving her body trapped on the cold mountain. ‘Wonder if she’s sleeping right now ...’

Twilight snuggled up in the covers for the tenth time. She rubbed her normal, totally awake eyes. “Ugh,” she muttered, “Come on, you can’t talk to Rainbow if you’re not asleep.” She turned one way, then the other, until her blankets had her in a death grip, and then flung them off in a huff. “Today was a really long day, I should be exhausted!” She groaned and contemplated going downstairs. Everypony was waiting for her, hoping for news, she’d just have to tell them …

A sense of vertigo made her wobble sideways. Energy pressed at her head, fogging her mind. She closed her eyes and opened her magical senses. A mist of blue magic had her surrounded. She smiled, dropped back into bed, pulled her covers up to her chin, and let the mist inside her mind. She faded into sleep.

”Rainbow, I was just … You’re hurt!” Twilight grabbed Rainbow’s chin and clucked her tongue at the angry gash across Rainbow’s cheek.

“That? Eh, it’s nothing.” Rainbow flicked Twilight’s hoof away. “Some skelepony got me with an axe.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “… Rainbow … you are really bad at reassurances.” After a moment, they both started giggling. Twilight recovered first and pressed her glowing horn against the wound.

“Hey! Oh, wow, that feels better…” Rainbow patted the cut. The swelling had already gone down and Twilight could see the meat of her cheek knitting itself back together. “That’s a cool trick.” Twilight jabbed her bruised rib, earning a hiss, then a sigh of relief.

“Hold still, you’re torn up everywhere.”

“Geez, stop poking me already.” She swatted Twilight away again, then twisted and turned in place. A kink in her back popped and she sighed again. Aside from a hoofful of scratches, she looked and moved like she was good as new. “Heh, wonder if all that healing’s gonna stick with me when I get back to my body.”

Twilight shrugged, her gaze just above Rainbow’s head. “I see you got the Element of Inaction.”

Rainbow looked up, and the leaf followed her movement, staying above the top of her head and out of direct sight. “Yeah, it’s pretty sweet. Sid’d been waiting for me to come along and—”

“Who’s Sid?” Twilight cocked her head to the side.

Rainbow shrugged. “The old goat guy who was at the tree was the Bodhisattva. He told me to call him Sid.”

Twilight grinned, then covered her mouth with a hoof.

“What?”

“The Bodhisattva’s real name was Siddhartha.”

“Huh. No wonder he wanted me to call him Sid. Anyway, he’d been waiting for me, ‘cause I’m the true bearer of the Element or something. It can do some awesome stuff, like I can slow down time a little, and I can sorta see the essence of everything around me if I think about it.” She puffed out her chest. “It connected me to the world of the living again, too. Check this out.” She grabbed Twilight’s hoof and pulled it to her chest.

There was a strong, steady heartbeat. Realization sent shivers rushing up Twilight’s spine. It was really Rainbow Dash. Twilight bit her lip and held back tears as she felt the thump beneath Rainbow’s coat. “Rainbow …” She sniffed and pulled Rainbow into a hug. Feeling Rainbow’s heartbeat against her own was intoxicating. “It’s really you! I’m not dreaming; it’s really you.”

Rainbow chuckled and returned the hug. “’Course it is, Twi. But what made you know for sure?”

She squeezed tighter. “... Well, uh …” She cleared her throat. “When I woke up, the physical shell for the Element of Inaction was on my chest. Not a lot of room for skepticism after that.” She felt Rainbow’s hoof in her mane and closed her eyes.

“That’s … convenient, huh?”

She ran her own hoof through Rainbow’s tangled mane, still counting the steady beats against her chest. “I think it makes sense, especially if you’re the actual bearer of it, and not just trying to find it. The Element didn’t exist in the physical world in any form until you connected with it, and then it manifested with me, since I seem to be your conduit back to Equestria.”

After a moment, Rainbow nodded slowly. “Well, so long as it makes sense to you, egghead.”

Twilight giggled, smelling the storm in Rainbow’s coat.

Rainbow’s tone turned matter-of-fact. “Okay, so, you got one and I got one now. Next one’s not gonna be as easy.”

Twilight reluctantly pulled out of the embrace, and caught a flash of a frown in Rainbow’s expression, before Rainbow straightened up and ran a hoof through her mane, bobbling the leaf. Twilight rubbed her chin. “Do you know what you’re looking for yet?”

“Yeah, Sid told me it’s called the Element of War. He called it the gauntlet of a god. Uh…Teary hoof? I need to pay attention better.” She scowled and crossed her hooves.

Twilight’s eyes sparkled. “Tyr’s hoof?”

Rainbow’s brows shot up and she smiled. “Guess I don’t. Twilight Sparkle: most awesome adventure partner ever! You heard of it?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, then fell into pacing. Rainbow rolled her eyes, which Twilight ignored. “Heard of it! It’s a legendary weapon that’s rumored to be the true power behind every dictator ever! There are even rumors that Princess Celestia has it hidden somewhere, if you can believe it.”

“Psh, yeah right.” Rainbow’s frown deepened. “... Does she?”

“No, of course not.”

“... But are you sure?”

Twilight stopped and looked at Rainbow. Rainbow shrugged. Twilight sighed and shook her head. “No, she doesn’t.”

“But what if—”

“I know she doesn’t have it, because I know where it is.”

Rainbow’s wings popped open in excitement and she jumped up. “Really?”

“Yes. All the archeological research points to an old set of ruins in the north, but nopony’s ever found it.”

She drooped her wings. “Well that doesn’t sound promising.” Her eyes narrowed. “Which means maybe Princess Celestia does have—”

“Forget I said anything about Princess Celestia! Look, if you’re looking for it in the spirit world, that means the one here is dead and she couldn’t use it anyway!”

Rainbow nodded, almost reluctantly.

Twilight glared and crossed her hooves over her chest. “It’s like you want her to be a dictator.” She cut Rainbow off and waved her hooves in the air. “Anyway, this doesn’t matter! Nopony’s found Tyr’s Hoof in the ruins, but I know how to look for it now! It’s going to be magically dead, just like the leaf and the Elements of Harmony! If I get close enough and concentrate, the dark spot should stick out like a sore hoof!”

A grin spread across Rainbow’s face and she pumped a hoof in victory. “Alright! Now all I’ve gotta do is get past an undead army and—”

“Undead army!?” Twilight’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Rainbow looked at her for a moment, snorted, then buried her face in the crook of her foreleg and let out a series of fake coughs. Twilight glared.

Rainbow straightened and waved Twilight off. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, geez, they’re pushovers, there’s just a ton of ‘em. I had to slow stuff down just to do any real damage.” A smile crossed her face and she stood up straight. “Which, by the way, earned me a new title.” She held her hooves up, as if stretching out a banner to read. “Rainbow Dash: fastest flyer in Equestria, and champion lightning bolt thrower.”

“You threw a lightning bolt!?”

Rainbow’s grin widened and she dropped her hooves, puffing out her chest. “Yeah, it was totally awesome, when I got it going slow enough, I could grab it like a cloud. An angry, shaking cloud that wanted to kill me, but still.”

Twilight closed her mouth and frowned in confusion. “That is … extremely fascinating and I plan on running several tests when you get back, but, um … if you can slow down time enough to grab lightning, why didn’t you just sneak past the army?”

Rainbow’s smile faltered, then she grumbled. “You’re no fun.” She breathed in and evened her voice. “I was already fighting them before I figured out I could do that, and when time slows down, I slow down, too, it’s not like I could just fly past all of ‘em, they would’ve seen me still. It was either chuck some lightning or turn into a pony-shaped pincushion. Though … I guess since they lost me now, I probably could slow things down and sneak my way past all of ‘em. Good idea, Twi!”

Twilight opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She cleared her throat and tried again, keeping her voice even. “You weren’t moving any faster, but you still caught and threw lightning.”

“Well, yeah, it made it so I could see where it was going and figure out where I needed to be to catch it and stuff.”

Twilight shook her head slowly.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Twilight blurted out. “Nothing, that’s … just … I suppose in order to have the title of champion lightning bolt thrower, you would also need to be the fastest flyer in Equestria.” She rubbed her forehead and muttered, “Lots and lots of tests.”

Rainbow crossed her hooves over her chest and stuck out her chin with a smile. “See? I knew you’d think it was cool.” She gave Twilight a probing look. “Maybe you think the wrong part is what’s cool, but you still think it. Good thing it’s you that’s my conduit pony, or whatever. Like, can you imagine if it was Fluttershy? She’d think it was scary.”

A pang of disappointment struck Twilight, and she quickly forced her expression into something neutral, hoping that Rainbow hadn’t caught it. Rainbow knit her brow. Twilight winced inwardly and launched into talking. “That reminds me, the girls asked if you could try talking to them, too. They all miss you.”

“Well, uh … I don’t think I can.”

Twilight hoped that she didn’t show any signs of relief.

“When I focus and can see the magic and stuff around me, you’re the only, uh, magic wire thingie that see.” Rainbow frowned and lowered her head.

“I guess that means you can only connect with one pony.” Twilight offered an apologetic smile.”I don’t know why it was me, though.”

“Well, that’s super easy, Twi. You’re my best friend. I wasn’t just being nice ‘cause you were upset when I said that.” Twilight flashed a smile, which faltered as Rainbow walked up and jabbed her in the chest. “But that doesn’t tell me why you’re happy about it just being you.”

Twilight widened her eyes. She glanced away and dropped her gaze in guilt. “... I guess you could tell?” She winced and breathed in deep. “I’m sorry, Rainbow. I’m being selfish. I … was worried you’d spend your time talking to everypony else instead of me.” She felt her eyes grow hot, and straightened up to face Rainbow. “It’s awful for me to feel that way, and I know you want to see them as much as they want to see you. I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t feel this way, but I can’t help it.”

Rainbow’s frown deepened, but the hardness left her eyes. “... Okay, Twi. I guess I get it.” She sat down on her haunches while Twilight deflated with relief. “I dunno why you’d think I’d stop talking to you, though.”

She sighed. “I don’t ... really think that.” She rubbed at her eyes and looked away. “... I just don’t want to lose you again.” She took in a deep breath, then huffed in annoyance at herself. “I’m being silly. I shoul—” Her voice died as Rainbow’s hoof touched her face and drew their gazes back together. She could feel Rainbow study her in the beat of silence.

“... I’m very lucky I got a friend who cares that much, Twilight.” She lowered her hoof and cracked a smile. “And you’re not getting rid of me even if you try.”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle, and she shook her head. “I know that’s true about you, Rainbow. I just … have the habit of thinking the worst about ponies when I’m upset. I’m sorry.”

“And I know that about you. Still don’t know why you keep thinking that Princess Celestia’s gonna banish you every time you sneeze, though.” She frowned and tapped her chin. “Unless she does have Tyr’s Hoof …” Twilight shoved her. “Hey, watch it!” she chuckled. They shared a smile for a moment, then Rainbow fidgeted. “So, uh … we both know what we’re gonna do now, yeah? You know where the real hoof thing is in some boring mountains somewhere, and I’m gonna be sneaking past a bunch of skeleponies like a total ninja.”

“I … wouldn’t describe either thing that way, but yes.” She cocked her head to the side. “Why?”

“... I dunno. It’s just these dream thingies seem to stop once we know what’s going on. Should...we, like, get to work?” Rainbow shuffled with a small look of distaste on her face.

“Well, um … we could just talk for a bit.” She ran a hoof through her mane and looked aside, wishing she had something else to focus on in the big expanse of blackness. “I do miss just spending time with you.”

Rainbow smiled. “That’s cool. All this fighting and weird philosophy junk’s giving me a headache. So, uh …” Her smile turned mischievous. “Read any good books lately?”

Twilight snorted and rubbed her face with a hoof. “I change my mind, I’ve spent too much time around you recently.”

“Har-har. These last few days have just been really nuts is all, not like there’s a ton of stupid, fun stuff to talk about.” She sighed and leaned backwards, resting her head against her hooves and beating her wings. She floated upside-down in lazy circles through the void.

“Oh, that reminds me! Do you mind if I look at your aura again?”

“Eh? Yeah, sure, go ahead.” She flipped around and landed again, keeping her wings open. “What’s up? Need me to do a sonic rainboom again?”

“No, I just …” Twilight looked away and cleared her throat. “I just want to see it again. Up close.” She felt heat in her cheeks, and tried to will it away.

“Well, uh, I guess it probably looks pretty awesome. Go ahead.” She struck a pose with her chin up, chest puffed out, wings raised, and one hoof pointing forward.

Twilight rolled her eyes and giggled, then lit her horn. Rainbow’s explosively powerful aura invaded her senses. After blinking away the spots in her vision, Twilight slowly circled, watching currents of energy flow through Rainbow’s frame. Up close she could trace the path of magic as it coursed through nerves, arteries, and muscle tissue. At Rainbow’s hooves, the flow pulsed and writhed, spilling out of her body and enveloping her limbs in power. The overflow was even greater at Rainbow’s wings, extending out in long tendrils of energy, bobbing and rippling in the air like tails of a comet. The Element of Inaction glowed above Rainbow’s head, constant and gentle, connected to her crown by spider silk threads of magic, interweaving with Rainbow’s aura, but still separate.

The biggest change to Rainbow was that her heart was beating again. Each thump sent shockwaves of energy through the channels of magic, racing down arteries and through muscle, making the overflow around her hooves throb and the comet-tails of flying magic dance and sway.

Twilight shook her head, her mouth feeling dry. “Rainbow …”

She chuckled. “Still that amazing, huh?” Twilight nodded, making Rainbow chuckle harder.

“You’re beautiful, Rainbow.” Twilight’s jaw snapped shut and she coughed. “Erm, I, uh…” Rainbow burst into laughter as Twilight’s face darkened. “I meant your aura, it’s, what’s, uh … oh, I’m making it worse.” She sat down and covered her face.

“I’d go with awesome next time, Twi, but whatever.” Rainbow sat on her haunches, still shaking with amusement. “Awesome, beautiful, breathtaking, whatever you wanna call me. My aura, I mean.”

Twilight grumbled and crossed her hooves over her chest.

“Hey, speaking of auras, mind if I look at yours? I’m pretty sure that what I’m seeing when I use the Element.”

Twilight took a steadying breath and grabbed hold of the change of subject gratefully. “Sure, Rainbow, go ahead.

Rainbow closed her eyes, and the leaf above her head gave off a dim glow. Twilight had looked at her own aura lots of times, she knew what Rainbow would see. The same map of nerves and arteries coursing with energy that she’d seen in Rainbow’s core lit up her own body, but grew dim in her limbs, since solid ground didn’t need any magic to support a unicorn. Unicorns only needed to expel magic from their horns, and last she looked, she expelled a lot of magic from hers. Almost as much as Rainbow gave off from her wings.

Still with her eyes closed, Rainbow winced. She flinched back, shook her head, then rubbed her eyes. “Oh, man. I haven’t looked at a bunch of ponies like that or anything, but dear Celestia, you’re bright. That’s amazing, how do you keep from just blowing up every monster we run across? Heck, how do you keep from blowing up your own head?”

Twilight grinned sheepishly and looked down, hiding herself behind her bangs.

“Oh, knock that off, what’re you, Fluttershy?”

Twilight giggled and sat up straight. “It was just something that took a long time to learn how to control.”

“I believe it.” Rainbow’s smile softened, and she lowered her voice. “Thanks for letting me see you like that, Twi. You’re, uh … beautiful, too.”

Twilight felt her face warm up. She could see color on Rainbow’s cheeks, too. She shuffled her hooves, feeling butterflies rise in her stomach, wondering what to say to break the silence, or if Rainbow was going to break it. A nervous energy fell over her, making her breaths shallow and her hooves a little shaky.

Rainbow hissed in pain. She snapped her attention away from Twilight and looked at her right foreleg. Twilight saw three thin lines of red trace across Rainbow’s leg, just below the crook, welling up with crimson. Rainbow pressed her other hoof against the spreading blood, and Twilight’s eyes widened as she watched a purple bruise blossom around the cuts.

Rainbow’s attention snapped back to Twilight with a half-apologetic, half-panicked look. “I gotta go!” she blurted out. “Talk to you soon!”

Rainbow Dash vanished.

Twilight bolted upright in bed. She took a few steadying breaths and let her heartbeat slow, then threw the covers off. She headed downstairs to the group in the library common room, feeling numb and shaky.

Applejack glanced up and called out, “What’s the word, Twi?” She caught sight of Twilight’s face and frowned. “Everythin’ all right?”

Twilight cleared her throat. Her head buzzed with a flurry of sounds and emotions, and she didn’t know if her gut reaction was to scream, cry, laugh, or throw up. Maybe all of them at once. She closed her eyes and sorted out her thoughts as quickly and logically as she could, carefully laying out a conversation tree ranked by topics of importance. The mental exercise of rigid organization was more soothing than a gallon of chamomile tea. She took a deep breath and came down the rest of the stairs, then fell into pacing.

“Okay, first topic. Rainbow Dash is looking for the next Element of Strife, which we know is an artifact called Tyr’s Hoof. Luckily, I know where the physical artifact ought to be right now, so we have a goal and a destination. Second—”

“Where is it?” Pinkie asked, already wearing a pith helmet. “Let’s go!”

Twilight clacked her teeth together. Part of her wished she’d written a debriefing and answered questions afterward. “Erm, well, it’s in the north, but we can’t leave immediately. This is going to take some careful planning. We might be gone for a while just to find Tyr’s Hoof.” She frowned and rubbed her chin. “And that’s not even taking into account the fact that there’s no way to know where we might end up going next.”

Rarity frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

She sighed and shook her head. “This could take us all over Equestria. We might not be able to make it back to Ponyville before the invasion starts.” She looked away and drooped her ears. “We should plan to leave like we might not ever be coming back.” A silence stretched out and she shuffled her hooves on the floor. “... I understand if you want to stay here. It’s a lot to ask of a pony.”

The silence stretched out a few moments longer until Applejack stood up. She crossed the room and stopped in front of Twilight. She stuck out a hoof between them. A moment later, Pinkie bounded over and set her hoof down on top of Applejack’s. Fluttershy’s and Rarity’s joined them.

Applejack smiled. “We’re in this together, Twi.”

Twilight returned the smile, and set her hoof on the top of the pile. “Thanks, girls. I don’t know what I’d do without you. All of you.” She dropped her hoof, and the others followed, staying close in a loose circle. “So that’s the first point of order. Second is what Rainbow Dash is doing in the other world. She, uh, was a little fast and loose with the details …”

“Ya don’t say,” Applejack teased.

Twilight smiled, then huffed and shook her head. “Right? Because from what I could gather, she seems to be fighting an army of skeleton ponies.” At their reaction, she giggled. “I said ‘right?’ But she seems to be handling it well, for the most part. Being the bearer of the Element of Inaction gave her some interesting powers. She, uh, apparently threw a lightning bolt at them.” She giggled harder, relishing being on the giving end of Rainbow’s insanity for a change. “My point is, I’m not sure how often I’ll be in contact with her. This sleeping experiment made it clear that she’s the one who can connect our dreams, not me, and she’s kind of busy. We’ll have to operate under the assumption that we’re not going to be able to share information very often. Which, uh, leads to point three …”

Twilight looked down at her hooves, still feeling pangs of guilt. “Rainbow doesn’t think that she can talk to anypony else other than me. I’m sorry.”

Everypony else bowed their heads to match her. She could almost feel the depth of distance between Rainbow and the rest of her friends in the air. The guilt threatened to boil over and drive her out of the room, when she perked up. “But if you’d like to write to her, I would be happy to memorize your letters. The next time we talk, I’ll pass them along.”

Their heads rose one by one, and a smile spread between them. “That’d be great of ya, Twi,” Applejack said. The others nodded.

The twisting knot of snakes in Twilight’s stomach loosened, then turned ice cold as she got to the next bullet point on her mental conversation tree. “That … brings us to the last thing … which is why I was shocked when I came downstairs.” She shuffled her hooves on the floor. “I think Rainbow’s body was attacked while we were talking.”

Everypony’s expressions turned from smiles to confusion and worry. Pinkie raised a hoof and let out a gasp, which she cut off and turned to a mumble, dropping her hoof back to the floor. “What do we do?” she asked. “Can we help her?”

“... No,” Twilight said, keeping her tone even and calm. “She’s in a completely different realm of reality from us. We can’t reach her, or give her any help, and if it’s an emergency, we can’t even talk to her. All we can do is gather up the Elements of Strife and keep them safe and together.”

The confusion slowly faded from the others, leaving only worry. They exchanged looks, one by one, and a blanket of resolve settled over them, hardening their expressions. Fluttershy cleared her throat and said, “We’re still with you, Twilight.”

Twilight gave them a sad smile.

Rarity shifted and asked, “So what’s our first step?”

Twilight turned and walked over to her desk, to the empty husks of the Element of Inaction mingled in with the Elements of Harmony in her saddlebag. She lifted the leaf out and set it gently on her desk, then carried her saddlebag over to a cupboard. She emptied the Elements of Harmony onto a shelf, then shut the doors with resolution. “I guess … we get ready to … to say goodbye to Ponyville.”

As Twilight headed upstairs and the others filtered out of the library, their minds buzzing over the upcoming days, the Elements of Harmony sat on the darkened shelf. Nopony had noticed that the flaw running through the Element of Loyalty’s ruby lighting bolt had knit. The solid red stone twinkled in a beam of light that trickled through the cracked cupboard door.

Rainbow’s eyes snapped open. The clawed, bony digits of an undead teenage dragon dug into her foreleg. She coughed out dust as she felt herself dragged out of the rubble. The pinpricks of red light blazed brighter in the dragon’s eye sockets. It raised its other claw and clattered its finger bones together like clacking dice, and other skeletons drew closer. Rainbow caught sight of a small stone band that wrapped around the dragon’s wrist. As bony claws and hooves closed over her mouth and snout, Rainbow thought, ‘Useful, but very dangerous …’ before slipping into a dreamless sleep.

Author's Note

Hey, so … long time since the last one of these remasters. Sorry it’s been such a wait. I’m planning on working through the rest of these remasters at a more reasonable rate, and hopefully go back to writing new parts of this one. As with the previous chapters, the original version of chapter four was saved and is available to view here, if you’re curious or want to compare the changes.

Chapter 5 (Remastered)

Twilight lay down on the floor in the main room of the library. Six saddlebags sat in a pile in front of her, open and empty, and she closed her eyes. Her horn sparked to life and she lifted the bags off the floor in a glow of magic. They circled over her head as she grit her teeth, growing faster and faster as energy pulsed over them. She let out a hiss of breath and wiped her forehead as the bags settled back on the floor.

She stood up and grabbed the bag with her cutie mark stitched into the side. She smiled in satisfaction as she turned it over in her hooves. “Outward appearance is normal,” she mumbled. She flipped open the cover of one of the compartments and set the bag on the floor, then stepped her forelegs inside it and stretched it. “Functions normally with living tissue.” She lifted her legs out and snatched a teetering pile of books off her desk, floating them one by one into the bag, dropping them to the bottom with a distant, echoing thump. After the first stack vanished, she floated over a second. She stepped closer and looked through the opening. The bag was barely half full. “Extradimensional space functions properly …” She lowered herself to the floor, scooted under the straps, and stood up. “And so does the weight dampener.”

She grinned to herself and bounced on her hooves. “It worked!” She slipped the bag off and let it fall to the floor. A thundering crash echoed through the library.

Twilight jumped in surprise and let out a squeak. After a few steadying breaths, she shook her head to clear it, letting out a shaky laugh. “That, uh … was unexpected. Guess the weight dampening only works if somepony is touching the bag.” She gave herself a chagrined smile and opened the other compartment of the bag, then turned her attention to the gigantic collection of survival equipment and camping gear piled up by the door. She lifted half of it and filled up the compartment. She tried it on one more time, nodding at how comfortable it felt to carry, then floated it off. After a moment’s hesitation, she set it gently on the floor next to her desk, rather than on top of it.

She slung four of the empty bags over her back and headed for the door, stopping short just before going outside. She frowned and looked back on the one bag left on the floor. She turned around and walked back to it slowly. It was old and scuffed, its canvas worn soft and frayed at the edges. Its original color had been lost to time and the elements, leaving it a blotchy, uneven gray. A yellowing lightning bolt patch stayed in place thanks to luck and a few remaining stitches, and at the bottom corner of one side, she could still read the faded initials, “RD,” scrawled in ink.

As she stared at it in silence, she gave a resolute nod and filled one side of it with the other half of the camping supplies. A playful smile rose on her face. She lit up her horn and floated an entire shelf of Daring Do novels into the other side. She snapped it shut, and set it down next to her own. She headed back out the door and towards Sugarcube Corner.

The shop bell tinkled as she stepped inside. A loud crash from upstairs sent it chiming again.

Mrs. Cake looked up at the swinging chandelier. “Oh my!”

“Hi, Mrs. Cake. I’m guessing that was Pinkie Pie?” She gave Mrs. Cake a knowing smile.

Mrs. Cake returned it and giggled. “It’s nice to see you, Twilight, and who else would it be? Go on ahead upstairs.”

Twilight nodded, crossed through the dining area, and headed up the stairs. The door to Pinkie’s room was standing open. Or maybe the phrase she was looking for was wedged open. Twilight peered inside, and was reminded of exactly how the library looked whenever Rainbow crashed through a window. Toys, clothing, musical instruments, deflated balloons, streamers, paint bottles, banners, and a terrifying amount of candy littered the floor. She carefully stepped through the minefield. “Pinkie?”

A call of, “Hi, Twilight! I was just—” floated from the closet, followed by a grunt of effort, and then a cascading crash of ringing bangs. Twilight grimaced and flattened her ears to the sides of her head. “Whoopsie! Of course, it had to be cymbals. Oop! Here it is!” She flopped out of the closet, wearing a lime green snorkel and mask. “Jusht whurd Id neerd!” she said through the mouthpiece, bouncing in place.

“Uhh …” She raised an eyebrow, stepping back on a whoopie cushion and letting out an obscene noise. She grimaced, then shook her head. “Just what you need?”

She slipped the mask off and grinned. “You know, for the trip! Never know when somepony’s gotta go underwater.” She zipped across the room, somehow avoiding everything on the floor, and up the side of a bookshelf. She hung from the top two shelves and rifled inside, making the whole thing teeter dangerously. “Now where did I put my skis?”

Twilight slowly shook her head and pinched the bridge of her muzzle. “... Anyway, I brought you your saddlebag. It should be able to hold everything you need, and not weigh any more than normal. Word of warning on that, the magic that keeps it light only works for ponies, so be careful what you set the bag down on.” She floated the crisp, clean white bag with pastel balloon patches, and looked for a clean patch of floor, table, bed, or chair to place it. Sighing, she gave up and set it down on an upturned canoe. “Everything else going okay? Did the Cakes take the news well?”

Pinkie looked over her shoulder at Twilight, her forelegs hanging from the top shelf and back legs kicking little circles in the air. “Yeah, I don’t think anypony’s that surprised.”

Twilight tilted her head to the side and frowned. She took a step forward and knocked over a deck of cards. “What do you mean?”

“Well.” She leapt to the floor and hopped around to face Twilight, her hooves never touching anything but bare wood, making Twilight’s eye twitch. “This invasion thingie’s big news, and everypony thinks we’re a bunch of superheroes, anyway, so of course we’re the ones going off to do stuff about it.”

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes, then scowled when her hoof wedged inside a flower pot. She kicked it off and sent a can of tennis balls flying. “I guess that makes sense. Anyway, I better go give everypony else their bags. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t put any of the other enchanted bags inside of each other.”

Pinkie zipped around the room, tossing random things into the saddlebag. “Why not?

She shuddered. “Well, uh, best case scenario is the bags implode into each other. Worst case scenario is the universe is torn to shreds.”

“To shreds you say?” She clucked her tongue and shook her head as she dropped a bowling ball into the bag. “Got it, no bags inside of bags inside of bags.”

Twilight lifted a hoof with a look of concern on her face, ready to interject, but froze as she watched Pinkie bounce up and down on the canoe, it sinking a few inches into a straining compartment with each bounce. The interjection died in her throat and she stepped backwards to the door. “Um … yeah … I’m … going to head to Rarity’s now. Remember to pack warm.”

“Okie dokie lokie! See ya later, Twilight!”

Twilight backed her way out of the room, shook her head to clear it, and slunk down the stairs, still shaking her head.

Mrs. Cake looked up from the display case as she loaded in a tray of cupcakes. “Everything okay up there, Twilight?”

Twilight chuckled. “It looks like somepony let an Ursa Major loose in her room, but yes, she’ll be fine. I’ll see you later, Mrs. Cake.” The bell chimed as she opened the door, but she stopped in her tracks when she heard Mrs. Cake sigh.

“I certainly hope she’ll be fine. That all of you will be fine.” She searched Twilight’s face, her expression a mask of worry, then she looked down and continued loading cupcakes.

Twilight stepped back from the door and gave Mrs. Cake an apologetic smile. “We’ll do our best to stay safe. Are … are you okay with Pinkie Pie going?”

She sighed again and clicked the display case shut. “Not really. I’m not okay with any of you going.” She ran a hoof through her mane and slowly stepped over to the counter, leaning against it. “Nopony in Ponyville wants you to go. But …” she breathed in deep, and let out a slow breath, giving Twilight a sad smile. “But we all know you have to go. Just come back to us in one piece.”

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat and gave Mrs. Cake a solemn nod. “... I promise we’ll come back as soon as we can.” She smiled despite herself as she remembered the first dream conversation she had with Rainbow. “Ponyville can’t get rid of us that easily.”

Mrs. Cake laughed, breaking the haze of melancholy, and she shook her head. “Thank you for that, Twilight.” She sighed again, though a less anxious and more relaxed. “Well, I won’t keep you, I’m sure you have a lot left to do tonight. Though between you and me ...” She leaned over the counter and dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “Don’t let Pinkie throw the going away party. That’s my job this time.”

Twilight grinned and nodded, then turned and left the shop. As the bell jingled and the door clicked shut, the smile vanished. A weight of uneasiness settled on her chest. Mrs. Cake had spoken for all of Ponyville when she said she didn’t want them to go. They had a lot of ponies thinking of them. Twilight shuffled her hooves on the ground, then set off for Carousel Boutique, three saddlebags in tow.

“But it ain’t fair!” Apple Bloom slapped the floor, glaring at Applejack. She stood in the middle of Carousel Boutique’s showroom. Sweetie Belle sat next to her, hooves crossed over her chest, sticking out her lip at Rarity. Applejack and Rarity sat next to each other on a couch, both rubbing their temples. “Ya gotta let us come, too! This’d be the perfect way for us to get our cutie marks!”

“Eeee!” squeaked Scootaloo, who bounced around the room, wings fluttering, not paying any attention to the others.

Applejack grumbled. “Listen, AB. This ain’t like a visit to Zecora’s or nothin’, we’re goin’ really far away and ain’t comin’ back for a long while.” Apple Bloom’s glare deepened, and Sweetie turned her pout towards Applejack. Applejack chewed her lip as her train of thought derailed, and she cast a look at Rarity, pleading support.

“Applejack is quite right, a dangerous trip for Celestia knows how long is no place for you girls. I’m afraid the matter is already settled.” The pouts turned their ire on Rarity. “And further—”

“Rainbow Dash is coming back! Rainbow Dash is coming back!” Scootaloo sang, running up and roughly shaking Sweetie and Apple Bloom before prancing away.

Applejack rolled her eyes and grinned, shaking her head. “All right, Scootaloo, quit your hollerin’ and plant your rump down over here. This last bit’s important.”

“Aww …” Scootaloo joined with the pouts of her friends in a united front against Applejack.

Applejack nodded and started to talk, but couldn’t find the right way to start. “Ya see, girls, we, uh … we … when we go, we might, uh ...” She grimaced as she stammered over herself. She took off her hat and rung it in her hooves until it nearly tore in half. Rarity put her hoof on Applejack’s shoulder, and Applejack looked over. Rarity gave her a small nod, and she let out a long breath of relief, sinking back on the couch.

“You see, girls,” Rarity said delicately, speaking slowly and picking her words with care, “we don’t know how far we have to go or how long it will take us. There’s a possibility …” Her expression wavered and she dropped her gaze from the group of fillies down to the floor in front of them. “There’s a possibility that we won’t be able to come back before the bulls come.”

The pouts changed to looks of shock. They looked at each other, then back at Rarity. “But you have to come back!” said Sweetie.

“You can’t go at all, then!” Apple Bloom jumped up and hugged Applejack around the middle in a death grip. “What’ll we do if you ain’t back yet?”

Applejack swallowed the lump in her throat and returned the hug, stroking Apple Bloom’s mane. “I’m sorry, sugarcube. If I got anythin’ to say about it, we’ll be back months before that, I promise.” She sniffled and shut her eyes. “I promise we’ll be back if we can.”

Sweetie snagged Rarity around her middle. “Mom and dad are gonna be so worried if you’re gone that long! I’m gonna be so worried if you’re gone that long!”

Rarity sighed and lowered her tone to a soothing murmur. “I know, dear.”

Scootaloo looked between her friends and their sisters and fidgeted in place, her wings drooping toward the floor.

Rarity closed her eyes, then stood from the couch and walked over to Scootaloo, sweeping her into the hug with Sweetie Belle. She raised her voice to a normal level and said, “Listen. We told you about this, and about what’s happening, because you’re old enough now to know the truth. As hard as the truth is to know, it wouldn’t have been fair to keep it from you. You know what’s happened to Rainbow Dash, and you know what’s coming.”

Rarity closed her eyes and held them for a few moments, her breaths controlled and even. When she spoke again, her voice came with more strength. “We have to try and stop it. We might not do it in time, and we might not be the only ponies who could do it, but we have to try. Whether it’s fate, or simply stubbornness, we must do this. And you need to be strong.”

Apple Bloom stilled in Applejack hooves as Rarity spoke, and she pulled her head out of her sister’s chest to listen.

“Watch out for each other and keep each other safe. Applejack and I will be arriving home to happy sisters, right? And Rainbow Dash would be quite disappointed if she gets back to an honorary sister who is suffering from melancholy.”

The girls chuckled lightly. They pulled away from their hugs and wiped their eyes. Applejack swiped a hoof over her face, then cleared her throat. She took a deep breath and bit her lip, glancing around the room for something to focus on.

Rarity stood and brightened her tone to singsong. “Now run along, you three. We’re not setting out for a few more days, there will be plenty of time for proper goodbyes. I bet if you hurry, you could fit in some more crusading before lunch.”

The three perked up and exchanged looks. Scootaloo asked, “White water rafting?”

Rarity paled. “Erm, there may not be time for something like th—”

“Yeah! shouted Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom in unison. They slapped their hooves together in a circle, then raced out of the boutique.

“Oh dear.” Rarity sighed and shook her head, then turned back to Applejack. “Well that went—darling, you’re shivering.” Rarity sept back to the couch and sat down, hugging Applejack around the shoulders.

Applejack sniffed and wiped her face again. “Thanks, Rares.” Her voice came out raw. She leaned into Rarity’s shoulder, then bolted upright. “Uh—erm, sorry, don’t wanna, uh … mess up your mane or nothin’.”

Rarity restrengthened the hug and pulled them back together. “Don’t be silly, Applejack. And you’re quite welcome. That certainly wasn’t the most pleasant conversation.”

She sighed and shook her head. “I didn’t know what to say, and was trippin’ all over myself. Probably would’a upset them worse. You’re a lot better with them touchy-feely words than me, Rarity. I’m all action, and the only action here’s turnin’ on the waterworks.”

Rarity leaned her cheek against Applejack’s mane. Applejack could smell Rarity’s lilac perfume. “Think nothing of it. You’re always there for me, I’m happy to be there for you, too.”

Applejack felt her face heat up and she stirred against Rarity’s embrace.

“Everything all right, Applejack?”

“Erm, yeah, I’m fine.” Applejack cleared her throat and took a deep breath, willing her heart to stop racing. “Thanks for bein’ there, sugarcube. It means the world to me.” Her heartbeat didn’t listen, and she felt the heat spread across her muzzle. “... Rarity, do you, uh ...?” Applejack didn’t know how to continue. She’d run through what she could say and how she could say it to Rarity dozens of times, but the words never came when she wanted them to come. She didn’t know if they would ever come.

“What was that, Applejack?”

Applejack winced. She always struggled with words, she was a pony of action. She grit her teeth and tried to convince herself to go ahead and act already. Her stomach somersaulted and kept her pinned in place, her mind bouncing back and forth between paralyzed and determined. She was about to mumble some excuse and get up, when a voice in the back of her head screamed, ‘Coward!’

That did it. Applejack took in a deep breath and lifted her head, guiding her face towards Rarity’s, letting her eyes drift closed as the lilac perfume thickened.

A knock on the door made her leap back a foot across the couch. Her eyes shot open and she forced a smile. “Oh, hey, the door! Welp, I better get goin’, gotta help Big Mac hire on some helpers for while I’m gone, see you later!” She snatched the twisted remains of her hat off the floor and slapped it on her head as she bolted across the room, flung open the door, and nearly barrelled over Twilight. “Oh, howdy, Twi, Rarity’s inside, I was just goin’, and—”

“Hi, Applejack! Before you go, I have your saddlebag ready, if you can stay a minute, it’ll save me the trip.”

Applejack danced on her hooves for a moment, then she forced another smile. “Uh, yeah, sure, Twi.” She swallowed the lump in her throat and slunk back towards the couch, her ears lowered. She shuffled in place in the middle of the room and tried to keep focused on Twilight, seeing Rarity stare at her in a mixture of surprise and confusion from the corner of her vision.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Uh, well, here are your bags.” She floated the tough, reinforced green one over to Applejack, and the gem-coated white one to Rarity. They each took their bags as unspoken tension sucked all the air out of the room. Applejack noticed even Twilight started to fidget from it. “They’re, uh … magically expanded on the inside, and aren’t heavy when filled, but only if you’re touching them, so, erm, careful where you set them down when you’re not touching them.”

Applejack nodded. She felt beads of sweat spring up on her forehead. She didn’t know that tension in a room could be itchy.

“And don’t put one of these bags inside another one. The world might end.” A beat of stuffy silence stretched out as Twilight pawed at the floor. “... That’s all, Applejack, if you need to—”

“Great, thanks, Twi, thanks, Rarity, see you later!” She flashed out the door, snapping it shut behind her.

Rarity raised her eyebrows as the door rattled in the jam.

Twilight stared after Applejack with a look of bewilderment, then turned to Rarity. “What the heck was all that about?”

“I’m...not sure myself.” Rarity smoothed her mane flat. “She was rather upset over telling Apple Bloom about our trip, she must have gotten embarrassed about it,” Rarity said with a frown, not entirely convinced as she said it. She shook her head and smiled at Twilight. “So how are you getting along?”

Twilight let out a breath, her nervous fidgeting disappearing. “It’s all going pretty well. Princess Celestia gave her blessing for the trip. She’s sent along six letters declaring us as official agents of Equestria in case we have to travel outside of the country.”

“Six?” Rarity said in a distracted tone as she fiddled with her saddlebag. “My goodness, this is a lot of space. And it won’t get heavier, you say? This would be marvelous for gem hunting.”

Twilight grinned. “The sixth letter is for Rainbow Dash. In case we end up needing it.” Rarity looked up from the bag and returned Twilight’s grin. “And Spike is all set up to manage the library and feed Fluttershy’s animals while we’re gone.”

Rarity frowned in concern. “Is Spikey-Wikey taking everything well? He was so distraught over Rainbow, and now we’re all gallivanting off, too.”

Twilight’s smile fell to a neutral line. “Well …” She sighed and looked out the window. “In … a lot of ways, he’s doing better. He was really hurting after Rainbow died. He never knew anypony that died before, and I wasn’t in any shape to help him process it, if you didn’t notice.” Twilight gave Rarity a half-smile and cut off her protests with the wave of a hoof. “Don’t deny it, I was a mess. Between the nightmares and insomnia, it’s a miracle I didn’t accidentally blow up Ponyville.” Twilight chuckled in amusement, like what she’d said was absurd.

Rarity bit her lip and looked away quickly.

“Anyway, when I told him about talking to Rainbow, and about what we’re leaving to try and do, he cheered up a lot. When I told him that we might not be back in time, well …” Twilight sighed and sat on her haunches, lowering her head. “He’s still so young, Rarity. I forget that sometimes, because he’s clever and has good common sense.”

A silence fell over the room as Rarity nodded and bowed her head as well.

After a moment, Twilight looked back out the window, her tone distant. “I hope we get back in time. I can’t stand the idea that we won’t be here to protect everypony. That we won’t be here to protect him.”

Rarity stood from the couch and walked over to Twilight, draping a hoof over Twilight’s shoulder. “We’ll do all that we can to return as quickly as possible, Twilight. We all have ponies we need to protect.”

Twilight’s half-smile returned. “I know we do.” She stood up and cleared her throat, stepping out of Rarity’s hug. “I should get to Fluttershy’s, though …” She frowned and rubbed her chin. “Maybe I ought to stop by Sweet Apple Acres and make sure Applejack’s all right. She might want somepony to talk to about the girls … then again, I wasn’t here for that. What do you think?”

Rarity waved a hoof in dismissal. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry right now, just go on to Fluttershy’s. I was going to go have a chat with Applejack later.” She walked Twilight to the door and held it open, then frowned and caught Twilight’s shoulder. “I almost forgot. Have you heard from Rainbow?”

Twilight’s expression turned troubled, and she shuffled her hooves on the ground. “... No. Not since we were interrupted last week.”

Rarity raised her eyebrows. “Goodness. You don’t think something happened, do you?”

Twilight put on a weak smile and waved Rarity away with a hoof. “I’m sure she’s fine. She’s probably too busy kicking flank and taking names to talk.”

Rarity smiled and nodded, then waved and shut the door. She looked out through the window and watched Twilight trudge away, off in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight’s head looked awfully bowed, and her steps were rather heavy.

Rarity sighed and slipped back to the couch, sitting down and fiddling with her saddlebag. Despite trying to plan for the following few days, her mind kept returning to Applejack. She couldn’t shake the image from her head. Applejack leaning in close, her cheeks a deep red, her eyelids closing, her lips parted. Rarity shook her head. She must be imagining things.

“Listen, Angel,” Fluttershy said slowly and calmly, “I know it’s a surprise, and I didn’t give you a lot of notice, but I—” she ducked down as a carrot sailed at her head and bounced off the wall behind her, then kept talking like nothing happened, “—I have to go. You understand, don’t you?”

Angel’s face twisted into a mask of rage. He leapt off the couch and whipped around the living room, knocking over everything in sight.

Fluttershy followed along behind him, catching lamps and vases as Angel hit them, and slipping them back into place, her tone of voice still steady and soothing. “We’ll be back as soon as possible, sweetie, but we have to go. It’s too important.” She dodged another carrot. “It won’t be for very long, and the other critters are going to need their smart, brave rabbit to help take care of them.” She ducked again as Angel’s porcelain food dish flew at her head, shattering against the wall with a crash.

“Now, Angel, it won’t be that bad, you’ll have the cottage all to yourself!”

Angel leapt onto the wall and started yanking down pictures. As they clattered to the floor, Fluttershy pinned her ears back and covered her face from the noise. “You won’t have to do any of your chores!”

Angel’s gaze circled around the destroyed room, and he settled on the throw rug. He jumped down and grabbed it, tearing at it with his teeth, glaring straight at her the whole time.

Fluttershy’s mask of calm broke. “I’m sorry, okay!?” Fluttershy shrieked. She sunk down on her haunches, still covering her face. She breathed in deep, recollecting herself, then stamped her hoof on the ground, resolutely but quietly. “I’m sorry, Angel, I really am, but you have to let me go. Please let me go.” She met Angel’s gaze.

Angel glared and gnashed his teeth. He crossed his forelegs over his chest and tapped a back leg on the ground impatiently.

Fluttershy quaked under the glare and her hooves started shaking. She dropped all the way to the ground and covered her face. “Angel, please! If I don’t go, I can’t protect you! I couldn’t protect Harry, I couldn’t protect Rainbow Dash, I—I … Please let me go, or I won’t be able to protect you either!” She wrapped her hooves more tightly around her face, feeling tears in her eyes. “I can’t … I can’t let anypony else get hurt just because I’m too scared …”

A miserable moment of fear and dread clung to Fluttershy as she shivered on the floor, until she felt a tiny hug around her neck. She took in a steadying breath and raised her head. Angel pressed into her cheek, letting out a sad little squeaking noise. She patted his head and sniffled. “Thank you, Angel. I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise. Please be nice to Spike when he comes to feed and clean all the other critters.”

Angel stepped back and gave her a look that said, ‘no promises,’ before hopping away.

Fluttershy wiped her face, then stood up. She moved through the living room slowly, picking up Angel’s mess in silence. A knock at the door interrupted her, and she hurried over, swinging it open. “Oh, hello, Twilight. Come in.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. Aches raced along her body, and her mouth felt like she’d been chugging ash. She let out a weak cough and curled onto her side. She opened her eyes and waited for the room to come into focus.

Smooth stone walls boxed her in. She got her shaky hooves underneath her and forced herself to stand, brushing her mane on the ceiling. She slowly turned in place, looking around the tiny prison cell.

The space was maybe six feet square, with three smooth, flat walls that bled into the floor and ceiling, like the room had been carved into solid stone. The last wall opened out to a larger room, blocked off by bars. She stood in the middle of the room on a military pallet, barely large enough to fit her. Next to the bars were two buckets and a hay trough.

Rainbow stepped off the pallet and approached the bars. The room outside her cell was large and plain, the same smooth rock as her cell, lit by orbs of light lining the walls. She touched one of the bars. It was also stone and fused with the floor and ceiling as a solid piece. She looked at the two buckets. One was full of water, and the other empty.

She slid the empty bucket to a back corner of the cell and bent over the water bucket. The water tasted old and stagnant, but somehow delicious on her sandpaper tongue. She took several gulps in her mouth and tried to swallow. She choked and spat all the water back into the bucket. She ran her tongue over her teeth and crinkled her muzzle in distaste. “Weird,” she muttered to herself. At least her mouth didn’t feel like a campfire anymore. She glanced at the hay trough and tried to picture eating, then shrugged. “Guess the leaf means I don’t have to eat or drink.”

Rainbow stretched out her wings, sending a cascade of aches and pains over her body. She hissed in a breath and winced. She sat on her haunches and looked over her injuries.

She was covered in nicks and scratches all over her legs and along her sides, but her right foreleg had the worst of it. Blood dried to flaky rust matted her coat from the cannon down. Rows of grizzled claw marks stood out in the brown as shiny, clotted black. Under the blood, a dark purple bruise rose all the way to her shoulder.

As she poked and prodded herself, she found the bruised rib and gash on her cheek were both gone. She grinned and nodded, then wrenched her neck to the side to pop a kink. She pinched herself on a collar. She frowned and touched it.

A ring ran around her neck, so thin it was almost weightless, and as she traced its length, she couldn’t find a clasp. She pushed it up, but it was just small enough she couldn’t get it around her head. She stepped back to the water bucket and looked down at her reflection.

The band was as smooth, dull, and gray as the stone walls of her cell. She spun it around, twisted, turned, and prodded at it, feeling like something that thin ought to shatter to pieces in her hooves, but it stayed in place. She went back to the bars and pressed up against them, trying to get a better view of the room beyond.

Two skeleton ponies stood on either side of her cell, stock still and staring forward, just far enough away she couldn’t reach them and had to strain to even see the sides of their skulls. She cleared her throat. “Uh, hey?” She banged her hoof back and forth against two bars. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

Neither guard moved.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, then turned and went back to her cot. She sat down on the thin pad, crossed her back legs, closed her eyes, and opened her senses. She flowed out … and found her mind shoved back into her body. A crease formed in her brow and she tried again, pushing to expand outward, and rebounding back. She moved her attention as best she could through her body, feeling her magic trying to flow outwards, then being sucked back in, like a diverted river. The ebb and flow circled around the collar, which thumped and pulsed against her aura with an icy coldness. Rainbow scowled and opened her eyes, tromping back to the cell window.

“Room service!” she shouted, running her hoof back and forth across all the bars. “Hey, waiter, go get me a daisy sandwich!”

The skeletons didn’t move.

“You guys suck. Come on, say something, or am I just gonna wait in here forever?”

As her words hung in the air and were swallowed up by the silence, a chill ran up her spine. She spun on the spot and bucked her hind legs against the bars with her full strength, launching herself forward in a heap. Her legs had gone numb from the vibrations of the kick, while the bars stood in place without a scratch.

Biting her lip, Rainbow tried to push her senses outward again and rebounded into her own head. The mental prison was even smaller than the physical one.

Pushing back the urge to panic, she carefully searched through what little space she could move her senses; until at last, she found a small crack in the blackout. A thin filament flowed out the top of her head and into the element of inaction. She moved up the connection and into the leaf, but the magic dampening of the collar kept it closed off, too, closed from the rest of the world everywhere except a thin, purple line of energy. It connected to the leaf, then passed up through the wall of blocked magic and grew fuzzy on the other side as it raced away from Rainbow’s body.

Rainbow pressed her mind against the barrier, narrowing her focus as tightly as she could, pressing at the point where her connection to Twilight passed through the wall. Bit by bit, almost too slowly to notice, she felt her senses move along the strand, pushing and stretching the barrier outwards.

She opened her eyes and repositioned herself on the pallet. She took a deep breath, held her back straight, and set to work, digging her way back to Twilight, gaining slow but steady ground as she went. She kept an eye half open and watched the bars for any signs of movement.

Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy stepped onto the platform of the train station, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes. They had their saddlebags on, with Twilight carrying both her’s and Rainbow’s.

“Goodness,” Fluttershy said around a yawn. “Mrs. Cake really went all out.”

Rarity nudged Pinkie and said, “It was quite the party, wasn’t it? I bet you’re proud.”

Pinkie grinned and nodded with enthusiasm, then let out a huge yawn and bowed her head. “Taught her … everything she knows …” Pinkie leaned against Fluttershy and started snoring loud enough for Fluttershy to flatten her ears.

They made their way over to the waiting area for the oncoming train, half dragging Pinkie, and swayed in place in the chilly morning light. They had the station to themselves. After a few moments, Fluttershy fell asleep leaning into Pinkie, and they wavered on their hooves, propping each other up. Applejack sat and slid her hat down to shield her eyes from the sun. Rarity came and sat next to her, the lingering tension between them having melted during the going away party. Twilight went over a checklist for the second time and started in on the third when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Twilight looked up. “Oh, hello, Mayor Mare! What brings you …?” Twilight’s gaze trailed away from Mayor Mare, behind her and off the platform. All of Ponyville crowded into the streets and alleys. She nudged Fluttershy, knocking her and Pinkie over into Rarity and Applejack.

They all turned and looked out over the sea of smiling friends, family, and familiar faces. As the rumbling chugs of the approaching train filled the air, a new rumbling joined it. Hooves thundered on the ground and a cheer swelled like a steam whistle, growing to an unchecked roar that drowned out the train itself.

Twilight looked back and forth from the crowd to Mayor Mare. “Wh—what’s this?” she shouted over the crowd.

“A send-off,” Mayor Mare shouted back, “from Ponyville to five of its most beloved citizens. Please come back to us soon!”

The roar swelled louder as the train pulled into the station. Twilight forced a smile and gave the crowd a little wave, glancing sidelong at the others. Pinkie seemed to weather the attention better than anypony else, giggling and throwing hooffuls of confetti in the air. Rarity mirrored Twilight, her smile coming off more natural than Twilight felt, but still colored with embarrassment. Applejack waved, too, with her hat pulled down over half her face. Fluttershy hid behind everypony else.

Twilight desperately wished Rainbow Dash was there to take the brunt of the cheer. She knew the others were thinking the same thing.

The conductor stepped off the train and looked over the platform with wide-eyed confusion. After a moment, he straightened his hat, then shouted “All aboard!” They nearly bowled him over rushing onto the train.

The doors snapping shut barely dulled the thundering hoof stomps as they made their way back through the train until they found a private car. They collapsed on the seats and sunk below the windows, which danced in their frames from the thunder. They let out a collective breath of air when the train lurched into motion, the cheers slowly fading away into the distance.

One by one they dropped off to sleep as the train rumbled across Equestria’s plains, out of Ponyville, past Canterlot, and off towards the frozen north.

The sound of hoofsteps echoed through the chamber outside her cell, and Rainbow pulled her senses inward. She got up and approached the bars.

A pegasus stallion glared at her from the other side. At first glance, Rainbow figured that he used to be handsome. He had fine, delicate features and cobalt blue eyes, a chestnut coat and short, sandy mane pulled back in a windswept mess. As a colt, he must have been quite the looker. That colt was buried, his coat and mane beaten to a dusty granite, and his features were crackled with scars, spiderwebbing across his cheek and brow, running down his neck, and turning to think blotches of pink, smooth skin across his flanks and down his legs. He wore nothing except a thin stone band around his right foreleg, just above the fetlock. His glare bore into her, his bright eyes dulled and haunted. Rainbow could just make out his cutie mark of a bronze scepter, as mottled and worn as the rest of him, as dulled as his eyes.

His voice was sharp and graveled as he spoke. “Where are your accomplices, thief?”

Rainbow glared. “Thief? Who are you calling a thie—” A red light shone from around her neck, and she felt her throat seize up. She flapped her mouth, hissing out a few silent breaths.

“Silence,” he growled. “You will only answer questions, thief.” He turned and flared his tattered wings, pacing back and forth in front of the cell. “Where are your accomplices?” he barked. The map of scars could have made him look grizzled and pathetic, but thick, powerful muscles rippled under his coat. He looked larger than life, his hooves booming on the stone floor.

Rainbow growled and dropped towards the ground, ready to pounce. “I don’t have any accomplices.”

“Liar.” His muzzle crinkled in a sneer, scar tissue bunching up in knots. “A living pegasus could not get here without the help of a unicorn, and furthermore wouldn’t be able to survive more than a week in meditation without food or water. That is, unless she were enchanted.” He slapped a foreleg down on the ground. “You have outside help.” His glare turned to a malicious smile. “Rest assured knowing that I have isolated you and broken any lingering magical connections you may have had. Soon the spell will fail, and you’ll be forced to eat and drink again.”

Rainbow grit her teeth as she realized she’d lost another week while meditating. She forced a steadying breath and kept her tone even. “I’m not alive.” She felt her vocal cords freeze in a red glow.

He stamped his hoof again, his voice turning to a lion’s roar. “Such insolent lies, denying a heartbeat to the face of His Majesty Agmundr Vilmar!” He shook his head and paced back and forth, like he was the one in a cage. “An ill-considered tactic to make for a living pegasus with no armor, no clothes, no magic items …”

Rainbow knit her brow and touched the leaf overhead, feeling its smooth contours with her hoof. As she watched him pace, he made no sign of recognition as she touched the leaf.

“It is a sign of true foolhardiness to invade my keep and make such outlandish claims.” He turned to one of the skeletal guards and hammered his foreleg down. “Take her to the gladiator pit. If she dies, we’ll have to hunt her help the old-fashioned way.” He turned his glare on her. “If she lives, perhaps she’ll gain a greater appreciation for the truth.” He turned and stomped out of the room, his head held high and forward.

Rainbow leapt back as the stone bars slid seamlessly along the floor and into the walls without a trace. She sprang forward, hooves ready to smash through the skeleton’s ribcage, and a red flash erupted around her neck, arcing out in bolts of electricity. She let out a hiss of pain as the energy coursed through her body. Muscles twitching, she slid sideways and fell to the floor. Through the spasms, she distantly felt the skeleton pony grab her leg and drag her out of the cell. The little air left in her lungs rushed out with a huff as she was tossed onto the skeleton’s back.

Twitching and shaking, Rainbow tried to keep her eyes open and her attention on the series of rooms they passed through, but it all blurred together into chamber after chamber, a slow descent down a spiral staircase, and a trek through a narrow passageway. She landed in a heap on the stone floor, and the crackles of electricity disappeared. She groaned and tried to get her legs underneath her, her vision finally coming back into focus.

She found herself caged, in a large dome of stone about forty feet across and twenty high. Outside of the cage, the room was circular, with walls rising ten feet up then sweeping back into a stadium that extended a hundred feet up to the roof. The sheer wall around the dome didn’t have any doorways, and as she turned, she didn’t see any signs of the skeleton that had brought her in. Orbs of light hung suspended in the air, dotting the coliseum and casting heavy shadows from the stone bars crisscrossing the dome. Skeletons filled every seat in the stands. Burning red eyes stared out at her in all directions. The only empty spot she could find was a large throne of granite seamlessly erupting from the rock of the first row.

The bars of the dome glowed red. Rainbow barely felt her collar fall off, clattering away from her. A hole widened in the middle of the floor.

The gaunt form of an ox rose to the surface. Scraps of leather and metal hung in strips around its cracked rib cage. It carried a war hammer over its shoulder, the handle a twisted tree bough and the head a pitted boulder as big as Rainbow’s body. The ox braced the hammer between a single hoof and the tip of a sharpened horn. Fractures ran across its skull, and dark gaps of missing teeth lined its jaw. It took a step forward.

Where the skeletons on the mountain moved in halting, creaky lurches, the ox lumbered as smoothly as oil, the only creaks and clatters coming from a gold hoop bouncing in its nasal cavity, and a small stone band around its left foreleg. The burning coals in its eye sockets stayed trained on Rainbow as it started to circle.

Rainbow lowered down and circled in the other direction. The room fell silent. Rainbow kept pace with the ox and extended her senses outward. She could get out as far as the dome and floor, and as she passed over the ox, he lit up in a pattern of bright magic, stitching together his body and pooling in his hooves and horns. The stone band on his foreleg flashed and pulsed, coating his entire body in a haze. She grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes as she focused. The ox’s hoofsteps froze in time. Her own body slowed, too, feeling like she was stepping through pudding, and she watched the ox’s limbs lift and descend in slow motion. He was studying her just as much as she was studying him, watching for signs of attack, the giveaway flexing of muscle, or sudden twitch of movement. The difference was, he was watching in real time. Rainbow could see everything, plan, react, change her mind, and do it all again before he could even move his eyes. She smirked.

As her back hoof touched down, Rainbow sprung forward with all her strength, sweeping her wings open and catching just enough air to pull her up and forward, closing the distance in a single flap. She saw the ox react in the instance she moved, squaring his legs and sweeping a horn in the direction of her approach. Any normal pony wouldn’t have had time to change their trajectory, at best twisting enough to blunt the seriousness of the damage, at worst ending up gored on the cruel point. Rainbow wasn’t a normal pony. She twitched a wing, her muscles screaming, and dodged past the horn, slamming her hooves into the ox’s jaw.

Rainbow jumped back and leveled above his right shoulder, twisting around to watch him. He recovered from the blow in an instant and turned with it, bringing the war hammer off his shoulder and upwards, ready to catch her and paste her against the floor. She twisted her body in a spiral, dodging above the hammer as it passed at a snail’s pace, but feeling the rush of air from the swing against her belly. She kept spinning, trying to gain height and get her legs out of the way. She hadn’t started to dodge fast enough.

The hammer slammed into her right foreleg, just above the hoof. Pain ran up to her knee as she spun through the air, her concentration breaking, the world moving faster around her. She opened her wings and hovered in place, clenching her jaw until the world froze again. The cuts on her leg had opened up again, oozing dark red. When she looked at the ox, she threw herself backwards. He had already swung at where she had righted herself. The swing played out in slow motion in front of her eyes, ending in a thundering crash against the floor.

She beat her wings and flew further away from the ox. The ache in her leg dulled to a distant throb from the adrenaline, and she heaved in deep breaths of air. Wherever she turned, no matter how much time she took or how much she slowed everything down, the hammer swung perfectly on target, ready to bash her ribcage in, smash her legs, crack her skull, plaster her against the ground.

At first, she couldn’t find the time to think at all as she wrung every bit of strength from her muscles, twisting and turning to stay in one piece, trapped in a loop of reacting, always off-balance and ready to fall out of the air. At first. As the fight dragged on, the rhythm and flow of the ox’s swings turned into a pattern she could follow, until at last, she found an opening where she could make a move. She twisted over a hammer swing, flung her wings wide, and flew directly up. Near the top of the dome, she twisted and dove sideways, feeling the air rush as the hammer barely missed, catching sight of the ox at the apex of a tremendous leap. She watched as he sailed past and started to fall, prisoner to the whims of gravity. She slammed her eyes shut, clenched her teeth until they hurt, and dove with all her strength downwards, hind legs pistoned out, ready to meet the ox halfway back to the ground, aiming for where the back of his skull met his neck.

The force rippled its way up her legs, driving them to numbness as she catapulted him into the floor. He crashed down with a dull roar that stretched out in the slowness, like rolling thunder. She shot back up to the top of the dome as he pulled himself upright. She barely noticed the hammer sailing through the air, clipping the feathers of a wing as she twisted aside just in time.

Her lungs burning and muscles aching, she took the spare moment of knowing exactly where the ox and his hammer were to think. She could plan and react before his eyes could move, but he didn’t need to move his eyes to follow her movements, didn’t need to slow down time to think and plan, he just came after her in a constant onslaught, and the damage she could manage to dish out wasn’t enough to slow him down. She, on the other hoof, had a cold layer of sweat covering her body, which was turning into a collection of aches and pains, and felt like she needed to throw up. If she could throw up. She needed to act fast and make it count.

Staying up near the roof of the dome with her eyes following the ox, she started to fly in circles, picking up speed as fast as she could, weaving between jumps and hammer strikes until she was going too fast for even the ox to follow. Electricity crackled around her as she pushed her hooves forward, bending the air, sharpening it to a cone of force, barreling around the stadium in faster and faster loops. The ox kept jumping and attacking, trying to judge where she would be, but never quite keeping up with her. On one of his jumps, Rainbow watched his arc and knew exactly where he was going to land. Somewhere she could meet him. She dove.

The explosion of color shook the cage as she tore through the cone of air. She could feel the burst of power and energy around her as she connected with the ox’s neck, sonic rainboom expanding behind her, and sailed through to the other side. She could feel the neck bones shatter to powder that rained around her, and the ox’s head leapt through the air overhead as she crashed past the skeleton. Time sped up as she rolled in a heap along the stone ground, banging and bruising every inch of her body, until she finally smashed against the stone bars of the dome. She let out a sharp gasp as she felt her ribs crack from the blow. She rolled away and forced her eyes open, wheezing in breaths of air, looking for any that the ox wasn’t finished.

The body of the skeleton stood stock still for a moment, war hammer still posed in its forelegs, then all at once seemed to realize its head was gone. A keening screech filled the room as the fallen head split in half, pouring red smoke from its eye sockets. The band around its foreleg shattered in a haze of the same energy. The skeleton toppled to the ground with a dusty clatter.

Rainbow tried to get her hooves under her, but couldn’t move. She could taste acid in her throat, and the orbs of light in the air grew dim and blurry. Her head swam, dipping and bobbing in different directions, unsure which direction was up or down.

“Who … who else wants some?” she forced out as a rough rasp, barely above a whisper. Her eyes rolled back and she floated away into inky darkness.

Author's Note

And we continue on with the remaster! Slowly inching my way towards getting everything edited up to current. Maybe one of these days I’ll be writing new chapters of this. As with the previous remasters, the original version is available here if you want to take a gander.

Chapter 6

A low groan echoed through the tiny cell. Rainbow Dash’s scattered mind eventually registered that the noise had come from her own mouth. Bleary rose eyes slid open the barest amount, attempting to focus on the cold stone wall in front of her. She slowly pushed herself to a sitting position, her eyes wincing shut again as she applied pressure to her right foreleg. She glanced at her wound, finding the whole limb wrapped in white cloths, stained a rusty brown around her knee. The pegasus inhaled sharply and nearly fell back to the pallet. Pain shot like bottle rockets along her left side. The mare instinctively wrapped her forehooves around her middle, finding cloth bandages circling her entire chest. Teeth clenched in a grimace, Rainbow struggled to breathe in shallow, slow oscillations. She tentatively felt around her neck, finding the small, smooth curve of a new stone collar.

The hollow echo of hoof to stone reverberated around the cell. The mare’s eyes snapped open and she turned to her cage’s barred passageway. Agmundr Vilmar sat on his haunches just outside the bars, his left forehoof rising and falling to the floor in a slow applause. The sudden turn of Rainbow’s head proved unwise and she collapsed back to her cot as the room spun. The soft impact sent sparks of electricity racing through her rib cage. Another groan escaped her muzzle. She pushed herself back up on shaking hooves.

“Speaking is unnecessary.” His gruff voice was icy, but had lost the avarice from their previous conversation. “You have impressed me, warrior, and I did not give you enough credit.” He lowered his head closer to the bars. His blue eyes were wide, staring, boring into Rainbow Dash’s pain-dulled gaze. The sky blue mare wished wildly that she couldn’t read ponies so well. Her captor’s sapphire pools danced with unchecked excitement. The excitement was tinged with oceans of unrealized rage, endless regret, and a complete disconnect from self-analysis. The mare shuddered; she had seen eyes like that before in the face of Nightmare Moon. They were the glittering gems of sadistic insanity. A grin tore its way across his twisted face, the scar tissue marring his cheeks bunching together in pocked clumps. “The gladiator pit feeds my army the strength of those who battle within it. I’ve been waiting for centuries to feed them the fighting spirit of a true warrior.”

Rainbow Dash’s raspy, drained voice floated weakly through the bars. “I’m not a warrior.” A flash raced across Agmundr’s face. For the briefest moment the weakened mare saw the colt her captor once was rise to the surface of his eyes; fear, confusion, self-loathing, pain. The light fled from the twin orbs as they narrowed to a glare, shrouding them in dulled animosity once again.

“How dare you continue to lie to me?” he hissed. The stallion rose to his hooves and paced in front of the cell. “It is one thing to have bested a number of my horde out on the mountain, but it is quite another to face one of my left hooves in an arena. You are clearly a seasoned warrior with military training.”

“I’m not. I’m just a—” an angry haze of red light flooded the cell from around her neck. Her throat bunching and seizing, she croaked out, “Weather pegasus.” Unable to continue verbalizing, the mare shook her head from side to side, her expression set and determined. Vocal chords dancing and body aching, her mind sought relief away from her form and she tentatively extended her second sight outward. She could feel, through the haze of glowing red magic, that the dampening was still in effect, blocking her off close to the very outside of her physical form. She pressed at the filament connecting her to Twilight. The previous work of extending the field had held and the barrier gave way easily, expanding her extrasensory sight up and out in a widening cone. As the space grew, she hammered on the barrier around her body. The block receded further away with little effort, seeking an equilibrium of space surrounding the mare. She pushed it out into the surrounding room and soon His Majesty Agmundr Vilmar was in her magical vision.

The stallion was like a beacon in a night storm. Undulating torrents of power exploded all around him, the brightest white the mare had ever beheld. No pony shape was discernible through the ebbs of magic; he was simply a vibrating ball of pure, impossible power. Rainbow could place a single physical feature; the stone ringlet circling his right hoof held a steady, constant red glow. Its crimson power bled into the pegasus’ aura, staining it pink in angry streaking bolts that raced through the jittering mass. From the undulating barrier of his might, thousands of threads erupted from his form, streaming out in a fan, growing indistinct before reaching the edge of Rainbow’s preternatural senses.

The sight was impossible to behold for long. Rainbow’s mind raced away from the vision, seared and burned by its ferocity. The emphatic look slid from her face and she fell to her pallet. The mare wrapped her forelimbs around her head, hindlegs curling into her belly. Ignoring the distant twinges in her leg and side, she shivered violently. Tears streaked her azure cheeks; a useless autonomic response from her body attempting to clear her mind’s eye. A small scream escaped through chattering teeth. To the daredevil’s ears it sounded foreign; there was no way the Rainbow Dash could sound that terrified.

The grayed stallion smirked at his quaking captive. “Resisting the magic of Tyr can be painful, foolish warrior.” Lilting cruelty reentered his graveled voice. “Tyr can also speed up the process of healing. Soon you will be ready to reenter the pit and feed my army.” Despite her mental pain and horror, when Rainbow focused on her left side she could feel the bones knitting, could almost hear the sound of new skeletal tissue lacing together at a rapid pace. The itch she felt through the bandage around her forehoof gained new meaning. The pegasus king turned and strutted away from the cell, his proud hoofsteps echoing sharply.

A tiny voice stopped his momentum, drifting to his notched ears as if from a great expanse. “…I-I’m really not a warrior. I’m just a weather pegasus and amateur athlete. I-I know some martial arts and…and I’ve fought to protect my friends, but...” A slow shuddering gasp floated through the bars. “I’m a stunt flier t-trying to get home…and you’re not going to help me. I saw what you are. You’re n-not a pony. You’re a m-monster...” His ears flicked in surprise. She had continued her stream of falsehoods and insults, despite the magic, despite the promise of further violence. Before anger broke over his mind again, a small dissenting opinion tugged at his thoughts. The broken, naked fear and pain in the mare’s voice was not the sound of a warrior. Ancient, atrophied memories passed through his consciousness. Each a different instance of a civilian being interrogated, the pool of memories numbering in the thousands, all carried that same tone. As he slowly cantered out of the room, Rainbow Dash could not see the fright and confusion playing in his eyes.

As his hoof falls grew distant, the echoes lower and further apart, the mare’s scarred mind fled her pain and fear-addled body. Digging along the purple strand of magic at a fevered pace, she abandoned her physical form. The stone band continued its work, healing flesh and fusing bone.

Discord flung the hard rubber ball. A quick snap of his wrist released the sphere from his paw with a spin, sending the ball in a predictable direction after rebounding off the sod with a solid thump. Sodstrosity smacked the ball back with his tail, aimed perfectly for the demigod to snatch it from the air. He rotated his lion arm at the elbow, a chain of light pinning the rest of the limb across his bicep. He cleaned the hard rubber on his chest fur, quirking a lopsided eyebrow at Sodstrosity.

A tangle of tree roots and clods of earth formed the abomination’s legs and neck. It’s wide, flat head, body, and tail were made up of squared chunks of sod torn from the field and given a cruel mockery of life. The flora-golem wagged his tail high, low on his forelegs, begging like a dog. Discord listened sympathetically to his creation’s trace psychic thought patterns, all of which were emphatically pleading for death. A snaggle-toothed smirk leering out of his mouth, the deity lobbed the ball again. Sodstrosity snapped his tail to return the serve.

A slow, steady vibration began to build in the chimera’s prison. The glow from the chains growing in strength around him, Discord winked at Sodstrosity. The golem’s proto-brain sighed in relief as it crumbled to a lifeless husk of plant matter. The demigod snorted through his snout and spat, putting on a ‘game time’ expression and closing his eyes. The vibrations of the chains grew in intensity until Discord was pulled through nothingness, his consciousness realigning itself in a dull, featureless void. He popped a kink in his neck, watching the golden motes of light lining the vacuum coalesce in front of him with bored eyes.

The disapproving face of Princess Celestia glared from the darkness. As the last glinting specks of dancing yellow formed the tips of her flared wings and the ends of her golden hoofwear, her commanding voice broke the silence and echoed through the void. “Discord, what is your game?” Her horn was lowered menacingly at Discord’s chest, her ethereal mane flowing fast with barely suppressed righteous fury.

His red eyes rolled heavily in yellowed corneas, a lizard nail tapping the non-existent ground impatiently. “My game? What makes you think I have anything to do with this, you royal pain?” The monarch stamped a hoof, contempt bleeding from her features.

“You have sent Rainbow Dash on a fool’s errand, risking her very existence for your own gain. You will explain your actions.” The tip of her long horn was prepared to gore. Flared wings framed her regal torso. Few beheld Princess Celestia in such a state of anger and those who had did not have the opportunity to relate the tale.

Discord’s face never shifted from tight lipped, passive boredom as a barking laugh filled the barren pocket dimension. Amusement shifted to contempt which shifted to rage, a cacophonous thunder roiling through the air. As the cackling subsided to rebounding echoes, the demi-god raised to his full height, looming over the alicorn. “I will do nothing, you contemptible shrew. I am not yours to command, not yours to imprison, either,” as he spoke his voice grew in volume, lilting dramatism replaced by speed and rage, “That silly little pegasus holds more power over me than you, you usurper, you false prophet, you unwitting disciple of Appaloo!” His composite face was twisted and contorted with avarice. All at once his form faded to shadow, expanding through the featureless space in a hazy mist. Princess Celestia stepped back, her jaw slack and eyes wide. A tongue hissed in her ear, causing her to jump and turn. Stumbling back from the sibilation, she swept her head to the side and found empty air. In her retreat, her flank met Discord’s snake-like midsection. A small gasp escaped her throat as she swung around. “Equestria is my world!” he howled, three times his normal size. In a blink his body was gone, replaced by his looming face filling the princess’ entire field of vision. His mismatched horns gleamed with blue light, casting a shadow over his face, highlighting the creased, folded lines of utter animosity. “My safe haven from my brother. An entire world of chaos. Taken from me and corrupted. You have invited him to my doorstep!” Inky claws and talons extended from the darkness, reaching and grasping at Celestia’s ivory coat and flowing mane.

The princess staggered back. She had been caught terribly off guard and was reduced to gaping at the fuming chimera. His looming face shrunk back to normal size, his eclectic body returning in a position lowered down on all fours, face muzzle to muzzle with the alicorn’s. His voice, a thick whisper of hate, barely reached her ears. “Those bulls are his. He’s coming to take what’s mine, burn it to ash, burn it to nothing because that’s what his idea of ‘order’ is. I’ve done what I can to save what’s mine and how dare you blame me for this. Go ahead and keep your precious semblance of peace and order to yourself, continue to poison my beautiful haven. But leave whatever stupid, pathetic ideas you have about my motivations here. Now. Get. Out.”

A fierce torrent of magic-infused air lifted Princess Celestia from her hooves. In a flash of light she found herself staggering back into the palace’s hedge maze. She regarded the cold marble statue with wide eyes. She suppressed a shudder, clearing her throat and slowing her fluttering heart. Poise restored, she turned from the gardens. Unfurling her large, alabaster wings, the monarch took to the air and headed for the tower of the High Scholars, the name ‘Appaloo’ running through her mind.

Discord returned to his chains. His face contorted and quaking, teeth bared and gnashing, the fallen remains of Sodstrosity rose to the air. Strips and chunks of sod tore themselves from the ground with slow, wet ripping noises. Specks and clods of dirt, wormy with roots, joined the floating masses. Teeth grinding hard enough sparks shot from his mouth, Discord glared balefully at his floating amalgamation. A flare of force from his eyes struck the slowly spinning wad of vegetation. In a psychic gasp, it gained partial sentience, screams of suffering echoing through the deity’s mind. The cloud of plant-matter slowly compressed, from ten yards across, down to five, down to one, down to a single foot, a sphere of psychic trauma. His red eyes flared and glittering, his lips curled back from his teeth, Discord screamed through his chains. The mass of roots, soil, and sod exploded to smoke, an amorphous gray haze. The cloud recompressed, leaking spiders, snakes, worms, and beetles to rain on the scoured meadow and bury themselves in the upturned dirt. A single tiny seed floated in front of the demi-god’s eyes. It dropped to the ground and sunk into the disturbed, dark soil.

The strength and anger fled Discord’s body. His eyelids drooped and he hung in his brilliant chains, his free arm limp at his side. The demigod rested, his breath growing slow and even, and listened to the torrent of psychic agony emanating below his mismatched feet.

The five mares marched through the swirling blizzard bundled tightly in winter wear and blanketed in the soft glow of magenta magic. Twilight, horn glowing continuously, held back the snow and winds with a globe of force around the group. The jackets and scarves around each mare kept the remaining cold at bay and the group was in reasonably high spirits considering the intensity of the whirling tempest. Twilight led the way, divining the direction of the foothill path through magic rather than vision. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack stuck to the middle of the bubble, while Pinkie Pie whipped through the clear space on skis.

“Twilight, dear, how much further is it now?” Rarity cut a striking silhouette in her pastel blue, fur-lined coat. The novelty of winter fashion in the height of summer had not worn off for the unicorn, but she eyed the ever-strengthening storm through the protective bubble with a furrowed brow and a worried frown. Her contemplation was joined by Applejack, the orange mare pulling her bright green scarf more tightly around her neck. The trek didn’t bother the athletic work-pony, but she had never been a fan of snow.

“I’m not positive,” the lavender mare’s voice was level and even, maintaining magical focus on the barrier with practiced ease, “You see, the ruins are roughly twenty-five miles northwest of the Crystal Empire. There hasn’t been an expedition out this way since the Empire returned and the geography’s changed.”

“Changed?” three voices inquired in unison.

“Wheeeee!” cried the pink earth pony.

“Yes. When the Empire disappeared, it wasn’t replaced by an empty field; the whole land-mass completely vanished. When it reappeared, it altered all the recorded distances. All the maps are wrong now, and the few expeditions that have occurred have been more concerned with the new mountains that appeared.” Twilight shifted her direction slightly to the left, following the gentle sloping path through the foothills. “But as close as I can tell, it should be a day’s hike from our arrival at the base of Mount Everestria, which we will be reaching by nightfall.” She pointed a hoof at the vague outline of a mountain in the distance, mostly hidden from view by the storm and the glow of her protective barrier.

Rarity shuddered, her blue eyes still watching the storm battering their thin magical shield. “I hope this storm breaks soon. I’d hate to have to make camp in such a downpour.” Applejack attempted to offer a reassuring smile to the white unicorn, but couldn’t shake her own worry. Fluttershy was even less help, her lower lip trembling violently. Pinkie Pie slipped by, skiing backwards. The wide grin plastered on her face lessened the three mares’ growing nerves.

“Don’t worry; this should only last for another hour or so. By the time we’re ready to camp, we should be in the clear.” As the last syllable left her mouth, a familiar pressure settled over her mind. A soft gasp escaped her lips as a grin broke out. “Rainbow’s trying to talk to me!”

Twilight paused in her forward momentum. The other’s gathering around her, she felt split in many directions; part of her continuing the protective sphere, part watching the path, part focused on Rainbow Dash’s magical presence, and part trying to organize her thoughts in a communicable way. “Okay girls I’m gonna cast that spell, so that means—”

“We know, Twi’.” Applejack’s piercing green eyes found Twilight’s violet. “Ya told us already. You cast your spell, and most of your mind goes off to talk to RD. Your body stays awake and has enough sense to get us where we’re goin’ and keep us dry. If there’s trouble we give you a sharp tap and you’ll feel it, but you’re gonna have a hard time answerin’ any questions. That about cover it?” A smirk had broken out on orange lips. Twilight smiled sheepishly.

“Yes, I’d say it does. Well, I’m going to cast the spell now. I guess I’ll…see you in a bit?” She shrugged helplessly at their mystified expressions, and concentrated on her new spell. A sliver of glittering white energy sliced through her mind like glass and her consciousness flew unfettered to her home-away-from-home vacuum.

A hazy blue mist hung in front of the unicorn. The cloud was compacting slowly, a gradual gain of opacity matching the slowly diminishing volume. “Rainbow, why do you look like that? Probably this spell I came up with. See, I thought it might be difficult to organize when you were available to talk and I was available to sleep, so I figured out a way to talk and stay awake at the same time!” As Twilight spoke, she began pacing. Were the misty shape of Rainbow Dash to have eyes, she probably would have rolled them.

“Twilight.” The pegasus’ voice had no power; the breathless whistle of wind over a wine glass. The unicorn didn’t even hear it.

“...It must have interrupted our connection a tiny amount. Well, no matter. So anyway the girls and I are on the way to collect the Element of War. We should be in the ruins sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening. That reminds me—”

“Twilight.” Her voice strengthened to hollow reads rustling in a breeze.

“—I asked the girls to write you a letter each that I could memorize, so you had a chance to talk to them through me. I should be able to relate a reply to each of them from you. Do you want to do that now? Whose letter do you want to hear first?”

“Twilight.” The unicorn heard such misery in the hollow, raspy voice of her friend that she stopped her pacing and turned in shock. The misty amalgamation of Rainbow Dash’s mind had coalesced into a roughly solid form. Still indistinct at most edges and especially transparent around her neck, Twilight took in the bandages wrapping the mare, and the utter exhaustion on her face. “That’s great and all, but do you think it could wait?”

The unicorn’s throat worked uselessly for a moment, her jaw slack. “…Are you okay, Rainbow? What happened?”

The celeste blue mare, still hazy but gradually sharpening in clarity, limped a few steps towards Twilight, her gaze aimed at the imagined floor. Her voice was small and cracked terribly. “…I got captured and I’m being held prisoner.” A pace away from the frozen unicorn, Rainbow slowly sunk to her haunches. “I almost died again in a gladiator match. He said he’s gonna make me fight again and again to feed his army my strength. I don’t know what to do. I’m…” She lifted her head. Where the rest of her form was slightly out of focus, a hazy vibration of indistinction, her magenta eyes were sharp, clear, brilliant, and completely overwhelmed with emotion. “…I’m really scared, Twi’.”

Wordlessly, Twilight wrapped her forehooves around chromatic mane and pulled the mare’s head to her chest. Rainbow protested weakly, trying to pull away from the embrace. “N-no, it’s okay. I’m fine, really, I’m—”

A soft whisper floated into her slowly sharpening ears. Twilight’s voice, gentle and soothing, paralyzed her struggling hooves. “You don’t have to pretend, Rainbow. Not for me.” After several pregnant moments the pegasus began to spasm in slow hitches and starts. Like a broken levy, she sobbed desperately into a lavender shoulder, her hooves frantically clutching around her friend’s sides. Twilight rubbed the mare’s back, holding her tight and close. A steady stream of whispers fell from her lips, “It’s okay, shh…It’s gonna be okay…Shh, Rainbow…” Exhaustion and terror bled from Rainbow Dash’s body, bawled out on Twilight’s coat. As her hitching breaths evened out, the pegasus left her sodden, matted face pressed into her friend and focused on the feeling of being held and protected. Eventually she reached an emotional equilibrium. With some reluctance, she pulled away and wiped at her face with a clean part of her bandages.

“Th-thanks, Twi’.” The thick wall of emotion and strain of sobs pitched Rainbow’s voice an octave lower than normal, but some of her strength had returned to the tone. She sniffled loudly, a weak smile finding its way onto her face. “If you tell anyone that happened…”

Twilight snickered, hiding her mouth behind a purple hoof. “You’d have to kill me. Secret’s safe with me.” The unicorn smirked at her friend, tiffany blue outline sharp everywhere except the space directly around her neck, but concern shone through her eyes. “And you’re welcome, though it was nothing really.” She glanced away from Rainbow’s face, eyes finding only blank emptiness. “I’m not trying to tease you, but I could tell you needed that. Anypony else would have done the same.”

“Nah…” Twilight’s attention returned to the mare’s cyan face. The daredevil’s brow was furrowed and a small frown of contemplation tugged at her mouth. The crease on Rainbow’s forehead deepened as their eyes met. “Any of our other friends woulda’ probably tried, but it wouldn’t’ve worked…” Her frown growing deeper and her eyes swimming with confusion, the pegasus sat back on her haunches and sighed. Her gaze grew distant and unfocused, aimed somewhere above and to the right of the unicorn. Twilight was frozen in place, hardly daring to breathe and interrupt her friend’s thoughts. “…I don’t think I’d let anypony else see me like that, Twilight. But…it was okay with you. It felt…,” after a long pause, the mare shook her head forcefully, multicolored hair splaying out and swirling around her face. The intensity left her expression and she smiled, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know what the heck I’m talkin’ about Twi’. Thanks all the same, though.”

Twilight cleared her throat. Her voice was very small, willed to smoothness through the cloud of emotions embattling the unicorn’s mind. “You’re welcome, Rainbow.” She did her best to take a deep breath; her head was swimming. Overwhelmed, her mind retreated to the comfort of organization. Sorting and arranging, she began identifying and ranking her emotional responses. The mental exercise transpired in less than five seconds, but left more questions than it answered. “I’m…I’m really touched that you can…be open with me.” She blinked the moisture from her eyes and cleared her throat again. “Anyway, what’s going on? And you’re hurt, let me heal you.”

Rainbow shook her head emphatically. “I’m being magically healed already and this guy’s really paranoid. He’s already accused me of having outside help and I kinda do.” The mare flexed her right forelimb under the tight cloth. “…And I’m almost healed anyway.” Twilight detected only reluctance and fear in the mare’s rasping voice.

“So who is this he? You said he’s holding you prisoner and you were in a gladiator ring?” The unicorn set a lavender hoof on Rainbow’s left shoulder.

A rueful smirk came across her sky blue face. As she spoke, a hoof absent-mindedly found its way around Twilight’s on her shoulder, cupping the appendage and holding it in place. “I tried really, really, hard to pay attention to his name, but it’s really weird and I’m sure I’m gonna mess it up anyway. Agmun? Igman? Ogmander? Ogmander Vilmar. Or something like that.”

Twilight giggled, shaking her head. “Very, very close this time. Agmundr Vilmar.” The blue mare grinned, yellow, red, and orange mane framing her eyes. “I thought that’s who it might be; the girls and I are headed to some ruins that was the seat of his empire.”

Rainbow’s face grew troubled. “Can you tell me about him? The few times I’ve talked to him…” The pegasus shuddered, her hoof squeezing Twilight’s against her coat. “If it was just that he was crazy or evil it’d be one thing, you know? But he’s not. He’s…lost. And scared. And he’s more powerful than both the princesses put together.”

Twilight’s eyes widened, a gagging noise surprised from her throat. “Wh-what?”

The daredevil’s brow was fraught with worry. “He was so bright when I looked at him it actually hurt. I…I felt like a bug lookin’ at him. I bet everypony he’s met was a bug to him since before he died. Two thousand years is a long time to be that alone and that powerful.” Rainbow Dash discovered that at some point when she was talking, she had lowered her head to her shoulder and began nuzzling Twilight’s outstretched hoof. She straightened up and released her grip.

A pang of disappointment flashed through Twilight’s mind as the warmth and pressure left her appendage. She stepped closer and wrapped her right forehoof around Rainbow’s shoulders, the blue mist haze of her not quite solidified neck making the short hairs of her coat tingle. The act banished the sense of loss, but added an uneasy confusion, her heartbeat rising and her muzzle tingling with the mare’s metallic storm scent. She put it out of mind. “Well, Agmundr Vilmar was one of the most successful dictators in known history. He united most of Equestria under his control, and most accounts say he was a fair ruler. He, uh...” Twilight chewed on her lip, recalling the specifics, “He came to power through a civil war in an older empire, and expanded through brilliant military campaigns and political debates. He lived in a place called Granitekeep, which is close by to the Crystal Empire—there’s some evidence he might have built the Crystal Empire actually—and he was assassinated by his own son.”

Magenta eyes shot wide. “His son killed him?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Poisoned him. The empire fell apart afterwards over a matter of years.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin with a hoof, leaning into the unicorn’s embrace. The pressure on her knitting ribs was somehow welcoming. “That explains a bit about him. Now I just gotta figure out what the heck I’m gonna do. Here, lemme just give you the whole story.” Twilight listened closely while the pegasus related her first conversation with the conqueror. Her grip tightened around Rainbow’s shoulders when the tale shifted to the death match against the ox. When the story switched to her friend’s second encounter with the dictator and near psychic blinding she found herself holding her breath. The pegasus let out a long, slow exhalation when she was finished, the knotted muscles in her shoulders relaxing under Twilight’s foreleg. The lavender mare released her own held lung-full.

“Wow, Rainbow…” Twilight shifted, her arm sliding across her friend’s back as she brought herself muzzle to muzzle with the pegasus. Wrapping both forehooves around Rainbow Dash, she hugged the mare tightly, her face buried in technicolor mane. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, “You’re so brave, Rainbow. I don’t know what I’d have done if I were in your place.” The pegasus found herself returning the hug gratefully. Smelling the sweet berry perfume of Twilight’s shampoo, the mare grew puzzled. She stroked the unicorn’s back in slow circles and furrowed her brow in thought. She was not a touchy-feely pony. She wasn’t against physical contact or anything, unless you were talking about her hooves, but it always made her a little uncomfortable and she did her best to minimize those situations.

’And here I am…hugging Twilight and…’ she squeezed the mare tightly, eliciting a small squeak of surprise, ’…and I feel so…safe.’ Holding the unicorn fiercely, Rainbow whispered into indigo hair, “I dunno what to do. I can feel my leg and ribs are almost better and then I’m gonna have’ta fight again. What if I die again, Twi’? Sid became ‘one with everything,’ or something, I don’t wanna lose myself…” The pegasus was trembling. Were she with anyone else, she’d be mortified to show such weakness. Wrapped in lavender hooves, her strengths, weaknesses, and reputation didn’t matter.

Twilight’s gentle voice was as soothing as her proximity. “Well…I have an idea about that.” Rainbow straightened, catching and holding violet eyes in her gaze. The unicorn frowned in contemplation for a moment, her voice rising and catching the tone of dictation. “You said Agmundr’s army fed on fights in the ring, right?” The pegasus nodded vaguely; Twilight understood that to mean her friend wasn’t sure on all the details. “Well, participating in those fights just helps him. I’m not saying you should let yourself get hurt, or throw a fight or anything…but if you can control time, you can probably avoid fighting entirely.”

Rainbow Dash’s brow was furrowed and she tapped her chin with a hoof. “…I guess it’s worth a shot…I mean, even if I have to do some fighting I could be using this power differently.” She smirked at herself, shaking her head. “I mean, when I got the ox slowed down I probably could’ve taken a nap instead of chargin’ in, hooves swinging, huh?” The mare’s smirk resolved into a chuckle. “I told Sid I wasn’t really cut out to bear the Element of Inaction. I can give myself all the time in the world to think and all I use it for is to sucker-punch a ghost.” Twilight couldn’t help but grin at her friend’s rueful look. “Boy, he wasn’t kidding when he said this thing would be a burden.” Rainbow flicked the floating Element gently and stood, stretching out her back. The itching under her hoof bandage had stopped and when she took a deep breath there were no twinges of soreness in her ribs. “I’m either fighting against the leaf for tryin’ to keep me from ever moving again, or myself for trying to smash down all the doors with my face.”

Twilight was struck by a giggle fit; the cyan mare sticking out her tongue in retaliation. “Alright, Egghead. I gotta go scope out my cell again. My leg and ribs are healed, and I don’t wanna be here when Igmuh…Agmun…King Vilmar shows up again.” The unicorn’s mirth died away and she nodded solemnly. “Next time we’ll have to do that letter thing for the girls.”

“Okay, Rainbow.” The leaf suspended over Rainbow’s head began to glow steadily. Her substance grew indistinct, a wafting haze of celeste blue particles evaporating into mist. Twilight sighed in disappointment as the lingering azure light faded and she begrudgingly returned to her body.

Twilight’s eyes shifted back into focus. Half expecting something to have gone terribly wrong without her conscious mind around, the unicorn was pleasantly surprised to find four mares traveling amicably in a bubble of protective magic. The storm had slowed to a sullen spattering and Mount Everestria loomed before them, its base tantalizingly close.

“You awake, Twi’? How’s Rainbow?” Applejack waved a hoof in front of Twilight’s face.

The lavender mare’s smile was strained. “She’s got her hooves full, but she should be okay.” The five continued their trek through the foothills, Twilight hoping she was not mistaken.

Rainbow Dash stretched out her back and grabbed the end of her foreleg bandage in her teeth. A sharp snap of her neck sent the blood-stained strip of cloth sailing into the empty bucket. She regarded her right foreleg and winced. Three parallel lines ran diagonally down her leg. From the crook of her knee on the outside of her body to just above the pastern facing inwards, a blistering of shiny pink scar tissue marred her sky blue coat. She ran her left hoof over the marks. There was neither pain nor tenderness to the spot and Rainbow Dash guessed that she’d never grow her coat back over those spots again.

A soft sigh escaping her lips, she bent over awkwardly and worked her chest bandage off. As it dropped to the floor, she took a deep breath and smiled. Her eyes trailed back to her right foreleg. Rotating her hoof on the stone ground, she appraised her new scar. An appreciative frown graced her lips and she nodded slightly. ’Ya know,’ she thought, ‘That’s actually pretty rad-looking.’

The mare settled back onto her cot and opened her senses. The collar’s magic seemed feeble now; barely able to suppress her vision within the cell. She practiced pushing it out in different directions until she spotted the peripheral edge of a tremendous light approaching the room’s entrance. She quickly disengaged her extrasensory perception and approached the bars, pouring her will into looking determined and cock-sure, instead of terrified. His Majesty Agmundr Vilmar entered the room in a stately canter.

“Feeling better, little warrior?” The dancing insanity had returned to his eyes, a leering puckered grin dispelling any sense of regality from his visage. Rainbow managed to glare, although it was not nearly as withering as she’d hoped for. He stopped short of the bars. “You’re in for a treat today. I have deigned to attend your match and your competitor will be a bit more your…speed. You should feel honored.” He beckoned to the left guard, its creaking hoofsteps growing distant. “If you’re a cooperative little pegasus, you’ll be allowed armor and a weapon for this battle. I would strongly suggest you cooperate.”

As he turned to leave, Rainbow called after him, doing the best she could to hide the waver in her voice. “Wait. Can we please just talk?” A red glare emanated from her neck. She felt her voice box tingle, but not quite seize up.

“No.” His hoofsteps echoed up the stairs, fading to indistinct clatter that filled the room. The skeletal guard approached the bars carrying pegasus armor across its back. The bars slid aside and the shade tossed its load into the cell. Rainbow Dash fumblingly strapped into the protective gear. Hard sheets of boiled leather attached with steel ringlets ran down her sides and flank, two holes on the upper back leaving her wings free to their full range of movement. Hard leggings and a light, hammered steel helmet completed her ensemble. After pulling on the leggings and maneuvering the helmet over her head with some difficulty to avoid disturbing the Element of Inaction, the mare had to admit; she felt pretty bad-ass. As she slowly stepped through the parted door, she contemplated her luck at making a break for it, until a slim beam of red light expanded from her collar and connected to the stone ring on the guard’s left foreleg. She felt a restrictive force press down on all sides, slowing her movements and dulling her reflexes. She was led sedately through the door and down the stairs.

Having more presence of mind than the last trip, she mapped the path down through the spiraling stone staircase. Four flights down, a long straight hallway, three more flights and through a large passageway. The size of the room made sense now; she was deep inside the mountain. The room was different than her previous fight. The hemispheric dome was gone; a framework of dark stone beams covered the rounded pit surface before forming a cage boxing in the spectator stands. The guard that had brought her in left through the door and the wall slid seamlessly closed. Stone bars covered the new surface and began to glow red. A net of red stone encircled the entire arena; she was still in a cage, it just extended all the way to the ceiling. Her collar snapped off and clattered to the floor.

Rainbow shielded her eyes from the suspended orbs of light and studied the room. The stands remained completely filled, the only change in spectatorship taking the form of Agmundr Vilmar sitting in his rock throne, silent and grinning. The rounded wall, in addition to being lined with magic dampening bars, was covered in a variety of weapons. To quell her nervous energy she trotted towards the gathered weapons.

After some nervous deliberation, she strapped a pitted steel shield to her left foreleg, cinching it in place over her armored legging. She found a short sword with a bit for a handle and took it in her teeth. Wheeling around she caught sight of an approving nod from her captor before a hole opened in the stone floor.

The skeleton of a small pony rose from the floor, delicate wing bones fully extended. Where the previous specters Rainbow had encountered were gray and scarred, spider webs of fractures lining their surface, this pony was immaculate. Gleaming white bones, perfectly smoothed and polished, reflected glints of light from the floating sources of illumination. There were not any shreds of clothing, no broken armor, just ivory-bright bones surrounding gleaming red eye flames. Rainbow Dash’s gaze automatically shifted to the pony specter’s left forehoof, finding the same stone band. The corpse’s only other adornments were directly below the band; glittering blades studded its hoof bones, a cruel mockery of a bear claw rendered in polished steel.

As soon as the floor smoothed out, the pegasus shade took to the air. Rainbow was briefly mesmerized, watching the spotless wing bones propel her enemy without muscle or feathers. She snapped to reality quickly, bearing down on the hilt of her blade with a clenched jaw and taking off on rapidly beating wings.

The two pegasi circled in the arena. Rainbow watched the dead pony’s movements with keen interest. Where the ox had moved fluidly, the pegasus moved like clockwork; each adjustment of wing and realignment of joint was a precise snap, every articulated joint moving cohesively in a series of short, exact gestures. The celeste mare matched speed with her opponent’s ever increasing velocity, a silent competition of raw celerity occurring seventy-five feet in the air. The two became a blur, then a whirlwind. Rainbow grinned viciously around her weapon when the corpse hit its top speed; they were just beginning to near the sound barrier. Even in death she was the fastest.

She was quite surprised when the skelepony sharply changed directions, barreling to meet her with glittering steel claws stretched forward. A powerful flap propelled her beyond range of the attack. The extra burst sent her past the sound barrier and in a few more beats she broke Mach 5. A booming shockwave flashed behind her, a shower of colors flung out. The rainboom trail streaked through the air behind her hooves, highlighting her gently arcing flight path. A delighted gasp from the stands reached her ears and she smirked. It was wiped from her tiffany lips when she glanced back and saw that her enemy had corrected immediately, making up for raw speed with shorter distances along a straight path. A nearly intuitive turn brought the steel blades to bear across her armored side instead of her underbelly. Rainbow Dash whirled around and snapped her neck to the side sharply in retaliation. The dead pegasus ducked around her swing and a bladed hoof shot out. The mare brought her shield up to block, knocking it off its direct course. Inexpert in wielding shields, Rainbow knocked the blow across her body instead of away, the hoof sliding inside the eye-hole of her helmet.

Fire erupted from the cyan mare’s face. A hot, sticky wetness trickled down the side of her jaw, angry gashes running from forehead to cheek directly across her right eye. Worst of all was her eye itself; a jagged line of terrible pain blackening her vision and slamming the lid shut. She reeled back, twisting quickly and putting on a burst of prodigious speed to create some distance. ’What am I doing?!’ she screamed at herself. Through the pain, she slammed the full force of her will into manipulating time.

Half flying, half crashing, Rainbow chanced a look over her left shoulder with her one good eye. The glittering hoof blades, alarmingly close, fell away as she sped. Flaring her wings wide too late, she sunk to her knees from the forceful impact on the granite floor. Even slowed, the skeleton was gaining ground and Rainbow Dash, trembling on her hooves, nauseous from the splitting pain in her head, had nowhere to run. She slammed her jaw shut tightly and pressed at the fabric of time with all her might.

The shade’s movements almost stopped altogether. From roughly 700 miles an hour to less than an inch a minute, the blue mare gave a shaking sigh of relief, letting the short sword clatter to the floor. The threat of imminent death no longer looming over her head, she reached a hoof to gingerly touch her eye. “Oh thank Celestia,” she breathed; her lid had been torn and her cornea was probably wounded, but her eye was still in one piece. She pressed her hoof down to stem the flow from above and below her ravaged eye and took a deep breath, wincing from the pressure.

Outside her death match arena, a few hundred skeletons and one extremely powerful pegasus were so completely frozen they could be statues. Above her head, one incredibly skilled, frighteningly deadly corpse descended with impossible slowness. Rainbow Dash took another steadying inhalation, sat on her haunches, crossed her hind legs, and listened.

Absolute silence filled the void. The emptiness, mostly darkened sky glittering with distant starlight, was lit with thousands of burning torches. Slowly advancing in rows and columns, rotating balls of liquid fire moved inexorably through space. Five of the orbs broke formation, slowly rising above the others. Other burning spheres advanced forward to close their gaps, the fluidity of a military charge. The five gathered in a loose circle, hanging in the emptiness while the others continued their onward momentum. One by one the chosen bulls lined up in a new formation, blazing past the marching army, speeding towards a small blue planet in the distance.

Author's Note

It’s Thursday (for real this time)! Time for more Coming Back.

I’ve crossed 63k words drafted. There’s no turning back now; I’m gonna finish this thing or die trying.

Chapter 7

For possibly the first time in her life, Twilight found herself unable to read. Three tents were nestled snugly in a rocky outcropping at the base of Mount Everestria. A luxurious white and purple double-decker was flanked on the left by a simple indigo pup-tent decorated with constellations and on the right by a puffy white and pink pavilion which gave the impression of a cross between a big-top and a cupcake. Magically shielded against the weather, all five ponies were taking safe-haven in the temporary domiciles as the last golden rays of Celestia’s sun peeked their way over the western peaks. The lavender unicorn, snuggled down into her sleeping bag, read the same page for the tenth time. A huff escaping her snout, she covered her ears with both hooves in a futile attempt to block the frantic kazooing buzzing through the air. Having secretly drawn the short straw, Fluttershy was bunked in Pinkie’s tent. Twilight wasn’t sure if she could actually hear groans from the yellow pegasus or if she was just imagining them.

The mare snapped her book shut in exasperation. She rolled over and faced the peaked canvas top of her tent, vigorously rubbing her eyes with both hooves. It wasn’t really the errant noise that was keeping her from focusing; her mind kept wandering back to a certain mare that had been quite literally invading her dreams. ’I hope you’re doing okay, Rainbow,’ she thought to herself, finding no solace in the action. A frown creased her face, brows drawn together over eyes focused on nothing. ’…I’m not really that worried, though, am I?’ She mulled over the notion. Rainbow Dash was dead, in a world where anything could be possible, imprisoned at the hooves of one of the most powerful dictators ever to have lived, fighting for her very existence and…Twilight had complete and utter confidence that her friend would succeed. That in and of itself was worrisome; she was more concerned about Rainbow’s emotional well-being than her physical. Even as she tried to contemplate it rationally, she couldn’t fathom the daredevil failing. Rainbow Dash was going to succeed. It had been the pegasus’ state of fear that had worried her so much. She just wanted to hold the mare tight and protect her.

The perplexed unicorn stared at her cloth roof, letting her mind wander. Her daydreams kept drifting back to the pegasus. “Must be this book, is all…” she muttered, glancing at the closed copy of a Daring Do novel sitting next to her. She had pulled it from Rainbow’s saddlebag on a whim, but the eponymous character’s tan coat kept shifting to blue in her imagination. It was quite vexing. She wanted to relax with some brain candy and here she was, worrying herself over a friend she couldn’t help. She was needlessly filling her mind with worry and…something else. There was more to it, but the full explanation proved elusive. She opened to a random page towards the back and let gravity pull the book closed, a flurry of sheets buzzing over the tip of her hoof. Of course Daring Do would remind her of the mare. That must be it. It’s just because of the books. That’s why I keep thinking about her mane…and eyes…and voice…’

Twilight groaned and sunk her head into the sleeping bag. “Twilight…” she growled at herself, “If it was the book, why have you been thinking about her for weeks?” The unicorn didn’t know. She despised not knowing something.

Sitting bolt upright, her voice grew in volume and took on a berating tone. “Twilight Sparkle, you have too much to do and too many ponies counting on you to spend all your time thinking about Rainbow Dash.” Her eyes set in determination, the mare flung the Daring Do novel back into Rainbow’s bag and levitated out a history text. As the sun finished setting over the mountains, she read and reread the same paragraph, her mind filled with soft blue coat, chromatic mane, and the smell of fresh rain.

As the early evening settled into night, Luna’s moon brightening their valley with ethereal white, the five mares slowly drifted to sleep. Rarity and Pinkie Pie nodded off with ease. Applejack and Fluttershy found themselves tossing and turning, each wrestling with a problem they didn’t quite know how to solve. Twilight read by the light of her horn, not ever quite able to turn the page, until finally giving up. Even though she was not visited by Rainbow that night, the cyan mare filled her dreams anyway.

Rainbow’s breaths were slow and steady, her left eye gently shut, right eye tightly grimaced, and her mind open. Cross-legged with her wings closed, she levitated two feet from the stone ground in absolute stillness. The skeletal pegasus was suspended directly in front of her. She had been forced to stand from meditation and move as the shade neared her twice, but eventually she had slowed its movement to a complete stop. Her meditation had been difficult; the stinging in her eye was a challenge to ignore. The burn had slowly faded to a dull throb, then an ache, and eventually faded to the point she didn’t notice at all. With time stopped and her body’s complaints compartmentalized, she allowed her sense to fill the entire stadium.

She examined the aura of her foe. Glittering white trails of magic filled its gaunt form strongest in the wings and hooves, with a haze of power emitted in pulses from the creature’s hoof band. The mare looked closely. Twilight’s aura had followed biological pathways through arteries, veins, and tissue; this specter’s aura acted less like a liquid and more like wire. Bands of magic ran down along bones, twisting together at joints. Points of articulation had multiple filaments wrapped together in a snarl of light and simple joins had one or two beams stitching the individual bones together. The pony’s wings lit up in a chain from the multiple lines of power. Along the delicate ulna and phalange-like digits of its wing bones spikes of light shot from its form; their splayed pattern immediately recognizable to the pegasus as the inner vane placement for imagined primary feathers.

The haze from the stone band hung around the skelepony’s entire form. The cloud, composed of glowing motes, was tinged the barest red. Glittering specks entered and exited the wired frame. The red lights intermingled with the white ambient dots of magic from the room at large, dyeing the whole mist the faintest pink. Rainbow’s attention settled on the ringlet. The red was strongest on its surface; a pulsing pink trinket of steady magical force. Turning her attention from the skeleton, Rainbow’s mind touched the forgotten halves of her collar, abandoned on the floor just inside the ring from the smooth wall that once held a doorway.

The simple band, cleanly split in two, carried specks of white. It appeared about as magical as the stone ground it rested on. The outer edges of her sense met the crisscross of beams forming the magical cage, surrounding the walls and ceiling and embedded a few inches below the floor. Whatever empowerment her collar had contained had been withdrawn.

Rainbow Dash refocused on the pony corpse. ’Where is it?’ she thought, searching the pegasus’ form for the conduit of magic that should be connecting it back to the power source. She had seen tendrils of magic coming off every shade she had encountered so far, with the exception of this pegasus and the ox. ’I know it’s there…’ Any trail was covered by the haze of red power and background noise of the room.

The mare groaned inwardly. The magic of the leaf was sapping her will. It would be so easy to lose her sense of self to the room; let the constitution of her mind dance with the floating dots of magic, her body forgotten, her goals abandoned. She’d drop the rigid control of time and let the world pass by around her. The compulsion was alluring and frightening. Her ability to concentrate wavered in and out with the ebb and flow of her embattled mind. ’I wish Twilight was here…’

The room disappeared from her enhanced sight. In emptiness, lavender hooves wrapped around her neck. The unicorn’s soft coat was pressed to her back, her chin resting on Rainbow’s left shoulder, radiating warmth and strength. A gentle heartbeat thumped against the base of her wings. The soft exhalations of breath against her neck soothed the mare’s war-torn mind. Twilight wasn’t there, but Rainbow Dash felt her there. She would always be there if she listened hard enough. The pegasus leaned into the imagined embrace; she was bolstered, the desire to lose herself fading away to gentle nothingness. “Thank you, Twi’…” she muttered, “I can always count on you.” She could hear Twilight’s delighted giggle in her mind.

A contented smile graced the lips of Rainbow’s floating body. Her left eyelid was upturned in a crescent of joyful peace, but her right was clamped down, glued shut with dried gore.

The gladiator stadium came back under her scrutiny. She focused. Her will was resolute.

From the misty motes of ambient energy, a strand of magic connected to the stone hoofband slowly became discernible.

“So how’d you sleep AJ?” Pinkie Pie bounced alongside the orange mare as the group circled Mount Everestria. Applejack yawned loudly.

“I’ve had better nights, sugar cube.” The earth pony rubbed at the bags under her eyes and shook her head. “But, I’m alright. Ya look like you caught your full forty, though.”

The pink mare giggled lyrically, bounding sideways as she faced the farm pony. “Yep! Why didn’t you sleep so well?”

Applejack cast an askance look at Rarity and Fluttershy, both absorbed in a conversation. “…Don’t worry about it none. Nothin’ important.” She returned her attention to Pinkie Pie and leaned her head back in surprise when she found herself almost muzzle to muzzle with the mare.

“You should just tell her, silly filly,” Pinkie whispered, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes. She cupped a hoof around Applejack’s ear and lowered her voice further. “You two would be so cute together!”

The orange pony paled to an almost peach. “Pinkie!” she hissed in shock, “How on Equestria did you—” her jaw snapped shut. In the silence, Pinkie winked at her, still hopping sideways. “Nevermind. But it’s not so simple there, Pinks. I’m no good with words an’ I don’t wanna scare her off…” Her ears drooped as she turned back to the path, her already tired hoofsteps growing heavier.

“You’re so silly, AJ. Almost as silly as Twilight.” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“What’s that about Twi’? She ain’t exactly the ‘silly’ type in my experience.”

Pinkie Pie giggled, turning to bounce over to Rarity and Fluttershy. “She hasn’t even realized it yet! Isn’t that a riot?” The orange mare watched her friend go, completely mystified. The pink earth pony reached the two chatting mares in a few hops. “How’d you two sleep?”

“Oh, Pinkie dear, I’m just a wreck without my bed, but I soldiered through. Mostly.” The snow white unicorn struck a dramatic pose as she cantered, the back of a hoof to her forehead as she pleaded to the sky with her eyes. She was completely alert and energized. Fluttershy stifled a yawn, blinking blearily.

“I didn’t sleep…too badly.” She chewed a yellow lip, focusing on the forward path.

“Why Fluttershy dear, you do sound rather peaked. Are you feeling alright?” Rarity pressed a hoof to her yellow forehead, checking for a fever. The pegasus shrunk back from the touch.

“I’m fine, Rarity. Just a little trouble sleeping sometimes.” The unicorn’s brow was knit in concern.

“Something must be bothering you, then.” Rarity turned to Pinkie, silently asking for help. The earth pony shrugged mid-leap. “Please, you can tell us, dear.”

The yellow mare sighed heavily, barely a noise escaping her mouth. She made eye contact with the white unicorn and Rarity was shocked by her good friend’s teal eyes. They were filled with exhaustion, worry, fear, and strangest of all anger. “…I’m…I’m okay, Rarity.”

“Fluttershy, please.” The lilting had dropped out of the unicorn’s voice. “Please tell me.” The yellow mare looked away, hiding her face behind billowing pink locks.

“…I just don’t want anything to happen to anypony else like what happened to Rainbow Dash or those little birdies. I wish I was strong and brave like her.” She caught the alabaster pony’s blue gaze again, the anger more apparent in her expression. “But I’m not. How can I protect anypony when I’m so…” her head sunk, the tip of her mane nearly brushing the fresh snow, “…useless.”

The unicorn’s eyes wavered. She swallowed heavily and pulled Fluttershy’s face back up, setting a stern furrow in her brow. “You are not useless, darling. You are a valued and trusted friend to all of us and to Rainbow Dash as well. You are stronger and braver than you think, dear. We can count on you and when the time comes we’ll be able to count on you again.” She broke the locked gaze to regard the hopping Pinkie Pie. “Won’t we?”

“Of course!”

Moisture swelled in Fluttershy’s cerulean eyes, threatening to spill but never quite turning to tears. She sniffled quietly. “Thank you, Rarity, Pinkie. I hope you’re right.” The bounding mare turned around and headed past the still bewildered Applejack towards the purple unicorn bringing up the rear.

“How did—erm…” Pinkie noted the heavy bags under bloodshot eyes on her friend. “Did you sleep at all, Twilee-Wilee?”

Twilight glanced up, surprised out of a daze. “Hm? Oh, yes, thank you Pinkie.” Her violet eyes glazed back over. Purple hooves crunched through the thin layer of compacted snow under the freshly fallen powder. A pink eyebrow grew higher and higher on Pinkie’s forehead as the quiet stretched on past the point of a conversational pause.

“…Really?”

The unicorn snapped back to reality in surprise again. “What was that?”

Pinkie crossed her forehooves and kept her brow firmly raised, still bounding along as if all hooves were striking down. “Did you really sleep okay?”

The lavender mare sighed, rubbing her eyes. “No. I keep worrying about Rainbow Dash, even though I know she’ll be fine. I was trying to read, but I kept getting distracted.”

Pinkie Pie huffed loudly, rolling her blue eyes. “This’ll be so much easier for you once you figure it out, Twilight.”

Her red rimmed eyes swimming with confusion, Twilight asked, “Figure out what?”

Pinkie giggled, jumping back towards the center of the group. “I can’t tell you; that would be cheating!”

They took a break at noon and Twilight fetched a campfire coffee pot from her saddlebag, to both Applejack and Fluttershy’s gratitude. Refreshed and reenergized from a simple lunch and caffeine, the group veered away from the mountain and into a snow-drifted valley. As the day waned towards early evening, the group rounded a gentle hill at the base of a mountain that Twilight didn’t recognize.

Tombstones of rough-hewn ruins poked out of the fresh snow. A scattered collection of buildings lining the valley coincided to the mental map the studious unicorn had memorized. The armory, barracks, grain processing, officer’s quarters, clerical, and central planning buildings were all that was left of the formerly bustling metropolis. The rest, made of wood or stacked stone rather than solid rock, had slowly been reclaimed over the centuries of disuse and harsh climate.

“Alright, everypony,” Twilight exclaimed, the contented smile of tutoring gracing her face, “I think the first place we should look is the central planning building.”

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy’s voice didn’t quite reach the now pacing unicorn’s attention.

“After that, the next logical place would be clerical and the officer’s quarters. If that turns up—”

“’Scuse me, Twi’?” Twilight drove over Applejack’s interruption without a hitch.

“—empty we can try the other buildings. If that’s a no go, we’ll have to comb the whole valley in case it was kept in one of the buildings that isn’t here anymore. Any questions?” She turned to regard the four mares. All were focused on the side of the unfamiliar mountain facing the valley. The unicorn glanced over her shoulder as she said, “What are you looking…at…?”

An enormous castle sat nestled into the mountainside. The valley face had been in the shadow of the snowfall and most of the keep remained dry, revealing smooth granite walls carved directly into the butte, spiked with turrets and flanked by high towers, looming above the valley. The expansive walls hugged the mountain and tunneled back into its heart, a smooth ceiling of stone framing the entire structure in shrouding shadow. A rough staircase switch-backed down the steep incline, ending at the valley floor, its surface submerging into the fresh snow here and there. The cold, dark visage had been abandoned for a long time judging by the lack of upkeep, but it was in better shape than the valley’s ruins.

Twilight picked her jaw up off the ground. “Oh…oh my…” She swallowed thickly. “That must have disappeared with the Crystal Empire. Nopony’s stepped hoof in there in probably two thousand years.” A peculiar shine came over the mare’s violet eyes.

“So, Twilight…think we should start there instead?” Pinkie pointed unnecessarily at the grand castle.

“…Are you kidding?! Of course we’re going there first! An entire castle magically preserved for a thousand years! Think of what we could find here! This might be the biggest archeological discovery in hundreds of years!” The lavender mare was vibrating with excitement. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy exchanged uneasy glances. Pinkie Pie was extracting pith helmets from her saddlebag, giggling with joy.

“Twi’, I know this is exciting for you an’ all, but don’t forget why we’re here.” Applejack set an orange hoof gently on Twilight’s shoulder.

The unicorn blinked. She coughed into her hoof, a faint stain of red lighting her muzzle. “Yes, of course. We’re here to find the Element of War.” The mare lowered her voice and muttered under her breath, “And once this is over I can come back with such a large research team…”

The five made their way to the foot of the stairway, most wearing their pith helmets reluctantly after Pinkie insisted they don them. Only Applejack’s head was free of a tan hat, having refused outright to remove her Stetson. Twilight led the ascent, scouring settled snow with a glowing blast of heat from her horn. Fluttershy flew alongside the focused unicorn, while Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity climbed the wet but snow-free steps.

“Ya alright there, Rares? Hate for this wet to mess up those dainty hooves of yours,” Applejack teased.

“Applejack, please,” Rarity responded haughtily, mounting each step with a regal bearing, “If I wasn’t prepared to get a little dirty, I would have stayed at home.” She winked at the earth pony, a sly smirk on her white lips. “How about you? Having apple orchard withdrawals yet?” The orange mare snorted, grinning and shaking her head slowly.

The climb was careful and meticulous, but they arrived at the ruins without incident, the low light of dusk guiding them to the ornate archway leading into the castle. The five entered the antechamber through the grand entrance. Twilight’s horn sparked to life, bringing the bare room into sharp relief. The walls were smooth and seamless, with gentle filigree carved along the crowns of the walls and both archways. The back wall’s welcoming passageway was even larger than the main entrance.

“This is rather odd.” Twilight’s eyes scanned the bare room, searching. “There aren’t any defensive measures here. No doors, no slit windows for archers…” Her curious gaze shifted to her friends. “Even Canterlot’s castle is set up for military defense and we’ve been at peacetime for a thousand years. Granitekeep was the seat of a war-torn empire.” They moved on to the main receiving chamber, the glow of Twilight’s magic barely reaching the far side of the room. The air grew stale and dusty, the fresh smell of winter snow blocked by heavy stone. With a small amount of concentration, the unicorn sent several orbs of pure light around the ceiling. The massive room was just as bare as the entryway.

“I don’t understand…” Twilight’s voice echoed hollowly through the cavernous room. “There’s nothing here.”

“Well, dear, perhaps it was looted?” Rarity was focused on the swirling patterns carved along the door frame. “This is marvelous craftsmanship. I can’t find any carving marks.”

“Even if it was looted, this room should have more in it. You can’t take benches and tables that are carved into the walls. There should be receiving alcoves, and guard stations, and…and everything!” She huffed, spinning in place, eyeing the walls with venomous accusation.

“Well, maybe they used this room differently, Twilight.” Fluttershy stepped to the decorative border timidly, her curiosity competing with her nerves.

“That doesn’t make sense, either. Everything about this place is just…wrong.” The purple unicorn huffed again and collapsed to the floor, groaning in anguish. The boldness of all five was evaporated in Twilight’s consternation. Fluttershy retreated from the walls and sunk to the floor glancing around nervously. Rarity’s artistic appraisal turned to paranoid suspicion. Pinkie’s constant bouncing had fled her.

Applejack approached the miserable mare, resting a hoof on her back. “Listen, sugar cube. It’s starting to get a bit late. Why don’t we hunker down in here and get a fresh start exploring tomorrow?”

Sighing, Twilight nodded into her hooves, her pith helmet bobbing up and down from the gesture. The five dug into their saddlebags and began erecting tents for the night. Applejack’s suggestion proved to be wise; the downtime of a campfire dinner followed by a relaxing evening in magically warmed tents was just what the group needed. When they awoke the following morning, all five were excited to continue their exploration.

“Where should we go first, Twilight?” Pinkie asked around a mouthful of daisies. Twilight swallowed the remains of her breakfast and quickly wiped her face with a napkin before answering.

“Well, I should try and pinpoint the Element from here. If it’s close enough, we’ll know which direction we should go.” After everyone finished their breakfast, the mare stood and trotted to the center of the room. Laying down on all fours, she closed her eyes, channeling power into her horn. Magical sight was second nature to the powerful unicorn, but she wanted to get as large a view as possible. Opening her mind’s eye, she scanned the ruins. Layers of glowing white surrounded her, from the gentle specks floating through the air, to the slowly vibrating dots of solid granite. The general layout of the castle’s interior was lost on her; the whole of her vision a jumble of white haze. She turned her sight in a methodical pattern, scanning every direction with careful focus. A spot of darkness caught her attention. Grinning, she got to her hooves. “Found it!” She clapped her forehooves together with excitement. “It’s below us by one or two floors.”

The five gathered in a circle, anticipatory smiles on every face. Applejack’s grin widened; she angled her Stetson up and glanced around the room. “Well, let’s go find us some stairs.”

The exploration proved rather frustrating. Every room they entered was unadorned and barren, save filigree carvings along framework. Leaving orbs of light as breadcrumbs they began mapping out the castle. From their starting position they took every rightmost doorway and back-tracked when they hit a dead end. There was no rhyme or reason to the keep’s lay-out. Mess halls abutted receiving chambers. Three throne rooms, all barren save a raised dais, were scattered throughout the main floor. Barracks led to larger bedrooms. They found no less than five kitchens, identifiable exclusively by large fire-pits. Everything was completely empty.

“UGH! This place makes no sense!” Twilight whined as they entered yet another dining hall. “It’s like they scrambled the whole castle.”

The excitement of exploration had worn down to boredom for Pinkie. Multiple costume changes hadn’t helped, either. Currently in her lime green snorkel, a formal dress, four mismatched boots, and a sombrero, she whined petulantly. “This is taking FOREVER.”

Rarity, her face set in a cringe, shook her head and covered her eyes. “Please, Pinkie, take that off. You’re hurting me.” Applejack had caught a lingering case of the chuckles, finding the bizarre repetition funnier as the day wore on.

“Well, Twilight, maybe it was scrambled.” Fluttershy’s nervousness and excitement had slowly trailed away as the day passed. She had become set in a steady determinism; mentally mapping their routes carefully and searching the barren rooms for anything out of the ordinary regardless of her companions’ lack of enthusiasm. “Nopony’s found any tool marks, maybe this whole place wasn’t carved at all.”

Twilight jerked violently. She regarded her soft-spoken friend with wide eyes. “Fluttershy…that’s brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?” Enthusiasm rekindled, she danced in a circle. “Stoneshaping magic…There isn’t any evidence of Vilmar having powerful unicorns under him, but it’s silly to think he wouldn’t!” She opened her magical senses, relocating the dark spot. “Perfect! We’re almost right above it. Okay, I can open a hole in the floor, but it’s gonna take a little while.”

As the unicorn rooted through the library side of her saddlebag, the others settled down to wait. Twilight studied the stoneshaping spells closely, making notes on a sheet of parchment. Despite the rekindled thrill of adventuring, the others all slowly nodded off into a heap of dozing ponies. Fully prepared, the purple unicorn began casting the new spell, molding and reshaping the raw stone in the way her book had described. Finding natural separations and veins of different minerals, she pulled the floor apart with her magic, kneading and smoothing the solid rock like soft clay. A hole opened in the ground, the raw material descending and reforming into a simple spiral staircase. She had cast the spell perfectly on the first try. She stood and turned to modestly receive her earned praise. The other mares were less than impressed as they snored softly in a pile.

“Hey wake up!” the mare snapped with some irritation. Scrambling to their hooves, the four coughed and lined up, no one quite looking directly at the annoyed mare. Twilight rolled her eyes and descended her new staircase, beckoning the chagrined group with a flick of her tail. Halfway down, the dusty smell of the rest of the castle was replaced by the faintest exotic odor; somewhere between a smokehouse and dried cinnamon. She sent several orbs of light into the room. As their ethereal glow lit the cavernous space, the unicorn gasped.

A tremendous chamber expanded in all directions. The dozen orbs she had sent into the room extended out hundreds of feet and didn’t even reach the far walls. Twilight reasoned this lower level room was the same size as the entire first floor, but its size was not what had shocked her. The room was a mass grave. Sealed off from outside light, air, and moisture the thousands of dead ponies had naturally mummified. Dried flesh pulled over gaunt bones, clumps of mane hanging from skulls, brittle clothes and armor crumbling from shoulders and haunches, the endless layer of ancient corpses covered nearly every inch of the floor. Littered amongst the dead, countless artifacts glinted in the artificial light. Silver dishware and cutlery, metal and polished stone weaponry, the moth-eaten remains of tapestry, wood and stone furniture of all types, paintings and sculptures, everything marvelously preserved and undisturbed. Twilight spotted a small patch of free ground and teleported in a thunderous clap.

“Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!” she squealed, dancing in place. “This is the most important discovery since…since…” Twilight screamed with happiness, rapidly bouncing in place. The sound made the other four ponies’ manes stand on end. They were bunched up at the top of the staircase, regarding the morbid tomb with widened eyes.

“T-Twilight…?” The butter yellow mare’s voice quivered. “I-I Think I’d rather go convince that dragon to leave again... Or maybe fight Discord... F-five Discords?” She covered her eyes with her hooves, trembling. The four were huddled together in a shaking puddle, clinging to each other with grasping hooves, eyes darting around the room. Twilight caught the terror etched on all four faces and grimaced inwardly.

“Hey, it’s okay girls.” She added as much of an apologetic tone to her voice as she could, while trying to sound upbeat. “This is just part of archeological exploration. Whatever happened here happened two thousand years ago.” She glanced around and tried to take in the scene from a non-objective perspective. She winced. “…This is pretty grim-looking, huh?” She sighed. “I’m sorry for getting caught up again. Just trust me; this is really important historically…” She eyed the room around her further, noticing identical punctures running through the chests of a dozen mummies. “…It also explains how Vilmar’s empire fell so quickly after he was poisoned, I think.”

While Twilight was busy attempting to empathize from a non-scientific perspective, Fluttershy was trying to do the same from a scientific one. Her fear seemed to recede, much to her surprise. She found her voice again. “What do you think happened?” The ball of huddled ponies nearly jumped in shock hearing the pegasus’ voice.

Twilight frowned thoughtfully, scanning the room in a circle. “When Agmundr Vilmar knew he was going to die, he must have gotten a powerful, trusted unicorn to do this. Somepony with incredible stoneshaping skill.” Her brow creased. “…The best stoneshaper to ever live, probably. The unicorn must have shifted the entire castle at once, trapping every pony inside this room.” She bent over a close pile of remains, scrutinizing the puncture mark running through its sternum. “…And with all of them trapped, killed them with combat stoneshaping. All at once.” The lavender mare’s throat ran dry as she spoke. Scratch ‘probably;’ without question this was the work of the most powerful stoneshaping unicorn that had ever lived, and probably the most powerful that ever would live. “They must have emptied the castle’s contents, removed defenses, and jumbled the layout to make the whole place useless as a base. Vilmar’s son’s coup was crippled from the start thanks to such a...ruthless retaliation.”

Twilight glanced back up at her friends and was relieved to see their fear had subsided. They had begun cautiously descending the stairs, reaching the landing suspended over the ground by a foot and contemplating where, if anywhere, they could step to. The unicorn concentrated and gently levitated a section of remains off the floor from in front of the staircase, dispersing the collected mummies and relics throughout the rest of the room as carefully as she could. It wasn’t the best thing to do from an archaeologist's perspective, but she reasoned the history books would forgive her. In another booming flash she reappeared in the center of the clearing.

“So I think we just have one more floor to go. Shouldn’t take me too long to cast it this time.” She smiled sheepishly at her friends as they leapt onto the bare stretch of ground. Finding a shaky resolve on their faces, Twilight turned around and began focusing on her stoneshaping spell. The magic came easily, opening a hole and lowering a new staircase. Their new pathway clear, the unicorn turned back to the group. A nervous anticipation had stolen over her and proved infectious. “Well girls, here we go.” Taking a breath, Twilight led the party down the stairs and into the millennia-lost tomb of His Majesty Agmundr Vilmar.

The glowing filament attached to the skeleton’s stone band glittered through the air. Rainbow Dash traced its signature as it flew away from the ring, swinging lazily through the air. It ended at the magical stone barrier, indistinct on the other side, directly in front of Agmundr Vilmar’s private box. The sky blue mare hovered on slow wings in front of the strand, lost in thoughtful contemplation. She passed a hoof through the energy, watching the band stretch and flow around her glowing limb. Frowning, she glided over to the frozen shade, scrutinizing the magic’s entry-point. The ring’s gentle pulsing coincided with the inward flow of the energy, emitting a spray of magic particles into the hazy cloud. The mare watched the cloud. Specks of red alighted on the wiry strands of its aura and faded into the stream.

Touching down on the ground, Rainbow began pacing. “I could just rainboom through its chest…” She scanned the room, calculating flight vectors with honed intuition. Her foe’s lack of mobility would make it laughably simple. She could shatter her enemy and land at a cocky strut. “…But I shouldn’t.” She reapproached the glittering beam; what had been impossible for her to see was now sharp and clear to her senses. She pawed it listlessly, watching the energy sway and snap back to position. “This is the ticket, right here,” she muttered. Frowning, she extended her mind towards the magic, probing in and looking for something she could use. The wavering band flowed in a single direction into the pony corpse. Exploring the entire length of what was available to her, she found no weak point or definitive opening.

She resumed her slow pacing. “Twilight would know what to do. She’d snap that with magic in ten seconds flat.” Her hoofsteps slowed. “…Maybe I can do that, too…”

She trotted back to the magic band, standing on her hind legs. A different sort of concentration filled her mind. She pooled her cloudshaping magic into her forehooves, the faint mist of water particles hanging in the air becoming immediately apparent. Her brightly glowing hooves stopped the undulating pulse they normally carried; the field of magic growing still, flat, and hard. As she concentrated on the idea of gripping a cloud, the energy shifted shape into a smooth bowl. When she focused on cloud breaking, it became squared and blunt. Thinking grabbing thoughts, she carefully extended a hoof to the band. An insubstantial thread caught in her hoof’s cupped aura. Gripping and twisting, the magic moved with her swaying limb, trapped tight. A grin spread across her celeste blue face and she exclaimed, “Yesyesyesyesyes!” under her breath as she pumped a hoof in victory.

Stepping back down, she adjusted her armor. Everything smooth and in place, she cocked her steel helmet, spat on both hooves, and gripped the specter’s source of power. She yanked and tugged, the filament strong as woven steel fiber. Her thoughts shifted instinctively to cloud breaking and the beam slid out of her now flat and blunt magical grip. Taking a deep breath, she regripped the band, one hoof pushing the other pulling, and closed her left eye. She imagined holding a cloud, and carefully slicing it in two, a shear split between the fluffy mass. The cup-like aura of her hooves extended from her form and narrowed, forming two sharpened blades of magical power. With a swift snap of both forelimbs, the bladed ends of her hooves sliced through the beam of magic, sundering it in two. The side leading into the stone band dissolved into the air, its energy dispersing into the ambient magic of the room. The severed tip of the line leading back to His Majesty Agmundr Vilmar hung suspended, spewing liquid power into the air; the spurting neck of a decapitated serpent. It snapped back through the air, gliding through the magical barrier of stone beams in a blur. Bled magic rose in steaming clouds through the room along its path.

The tiffany blue pegasus stepped slowly over to a position away from the frozen pony. She took another deep breath and released her magical senses. Time resumed in a rush. The dead pegasus banked sharply, twisting through the air to realign its flight path with Rainbow Dash. Pausing in mid flight for a scant moment, it blazed a direct line for the quietly standing mare. Twenty feet from its target, a shriek filled the stadium. The stone band around its left hoof exploded into glowing red fragments. The fiery pinpricks buried in gleaming sockets ruptured, spilling crimson smoke in billowing waves along the side of its polished skull. A hollow, guttural wheeze poured from its open jaw.

The creature’s articulated joints fell apart along its flight, appendages separating, skull tumbling free, pelvis and scapula leaping from the spinal cord and ribcage. The loose amalgamation took on a tumbling spin; a degrading comet of remains. Rainbow Dash stepped aside as a clatter of individual bones bounced along the stone floor, sliding and rolling with unspent momentum for several feet. The heaped pile glowed in the artificial light. Every single ivory specimen was untouched, smooth, and perfect. In both life and death a true blow had never landed on this pony’s form. A true blow would never have the chance to land. The cyan mare regarded her defeated enemy with her good eye, a solemn frown of respect on her lips, and waited in the silence.

A scream of fury echoed through the coliseum, sending a shiver up the pegasus’ spine and freezing her in place. Stone bars leapt from Agmundr Vilmar’s path as he streaked down on tattered wings and slammed into Rainbow with a muscled shoulder. She skidded along the floor, past the fallen bones of the defeated pegasus. With a quick tuck, she turned the slide into a roll and launched herself back onto her hooves, facing her furious captor. Rage erupting from his throat, he swept his right hoof through the air. Glittering daggers of rock pulled themselves from the smooth ground and whistled through the air. The mare dove to her right, protecting her blind side, and felt the knives slice along her armor. The boiled leather flew from her side in ribbons. Three of the stone projectiles were too close, a sting accompanied by a wet heat racing down her side.

Rainbow’s knees buckled. She collapsed to the ground, biting her lip to keep from screaming. It felt like there was crushed glass in her side, twisting with avarice in her flesh. Two fingers of stone extended from the ground and clamped around her neck, glowing red as soon as the circuit was complete. The mare’s shuddering body convulsed as magic slammed into her, forcing a cry out of her throat. Her vision clouded and her mind swam through the agony. She barely heard Agmundr’s cruel, angry, and terribly frightened voice.

“What are you?! Who sent you?! ANSWER ME!” Fire in her split side, shut right eye, and tortured mind, Rainbow Dash struggled to keep her jaw locked and not bite her tongue in half. Two minutes of twisting, magical persecution proved to be her limit. Rainbow’s consciousness fled her body, blissful nothingness a soothing, welcome reprieve. Eventually Agmundr Vilmar stopped his assault, sending for a shade to dress the fallen pegasus’ wounds. A door leapt into existence along the wall as he charged from the gladiator pit, his screams of rage and terror echoing through the stone castle endlessly.

Author's Note

Thursday! Woo!

So, Coming Back has been featured. I can't begin to say how thrilled I am that that's happened. I've put a lot of effort and energy into this story and it's very gratifying to know that it resonated enough with people to build an audience that pushed it into featured status. I've not responded to a lot of comments that have been left because I don't want to litter the page with a bunch of thank yous (I'm also not the type of person to PM or leave a user page comment that says, "Thanks for the favorite," or whatever), but I have read every comment left way more than once. I’m glad people like this story. I’m glad many people gave it a chance when they normally wouldn’t; believe you me it was not with a little apprehension that I decided to write a story that started with me killing Rainbow Dash. You guys and gals are all awesome. As much as I enjoy the show and the characters, it’s the fandom that really pulled me in. You guys are why I’m writing this and why I’ll continue to write MLP fanfiction for a good long while.

Party on, Garth. Bats out.

Chapter 8

The gentle mulberry glow of Twilight’s horn punctured the darkness of the tomb. As they circled the staircase the illumination threw the ten foot by twenty foot room intermittently in sharp relief and heavy shadow. Deep sigils covered the stone walls, excised from the rock with the impossible care of stoneshaping magic. Every inch was covered in complicated glyphs. The symbols carried a vague meaning to the learned unicorn, but they had no grounding. Phrases abutted each other at obtuse angles; lines wavered and overlapped, spiraling across straight sentences in a discordant flurry of marks. At the center of the tomb rested a raised slab. The mummified remains of a large pegasus was set on the sigil-laden surface.

Twilight hopped lightly to the ground and sent an orb of light to the ceiling. His Majesty Agmundr Vilmar’s remains had been placed on the slab with reverence. Wide, powerful wings stretched from corner to corner behind the fallen emperor, the thick feathers crumbling to powdery dust. His forehooves were crossed over his desiccated torso. A patchwork of ancient scars crisscrossed his stretched hide; the barest remains of grayed fuzz giving way to pockmarked skin. A horned helmet rested on his skull over brittle and dusty mane, scarred and dented from countless blows and a stone ring circled the end of his right foreleg, loose against the taut, dry flesh. His tarnished sword and scepter cutie mark stood in sharp relief on his flank; the image bold and clear. The heady aroma of exotic spices permeated the enclosed space.

Fluttershy was the last off the staircase, stepping gently to the glyph coated ground. As her hoof left the final riser, all the symbols lit up at once. A heavy red glow hanging in the air, the mares’ manufactured entry point sprung upwards, rewinding itself and fusing to the ceiling. A collective gasp emanated from the five as the red light flowed into the sigils coating the former staircase, the ceiling smooth and seamless once again.

“T-Twilight, wh-what happened?” The haze of burgundy faded from the walls as Pinkie glanced around, hooves tremoring.

The purple unicorn chewed her lip fitfully, wide eyes scanning all surfaces. “These symbols are wards…But they don’t keep ponies out…” Her ears drooped as she returned her attention to the four mares in front of her. “They keep ponies in.”

Applejack felt her chest tightening. She struggled to take slow, steady, deep breaths. This was no place for a farm pony; she needed a whole orchard to gallop through, the sky over her head, the wind in her mane. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Can ya get us out of here, Twi’?”

Fear slowly edging its way to terror blanketed Twilight’s friends. Her hammering heart fought valiantly against her inquisitive mind. She desperately wanted to panic with them, if only to excise the adrenaline overflowing her system, dumped into her bloodstream by the treacherous organ. The unicorn’s brain would have none of that.

“Yes, I should be able to,” she stated flatly, her eyes narrowing and becoming hard analytical tools. “Ward magic is passive; without a power source it’s simply a matter of disrupting the latent energy and redirecting it out of the spell vessel.” She scanned the complicated runework racing erratically along a wall. “I can break this, given a little time.”

The four sighed in relief. The enclosed walls, which their nerves seemed to have shrunk to a stifling two foot box, had expanded back to their original dimensions. They began exploring the room with some unease. Twilight was absorbed with the markings, plotting their eventual escape. Rarity, unnerved by the glowing runes, turned her attention to the dais. Applejack stuck close to the unicorn, not really looking at the entombed ruler if she could help it. Pinkie and Fluttershy briefly eyed the walls with paranoia before approaching the slab.

“Well, Twilight dear; we’re here. Where would we find the Element?” Rarity’s voice carried some disappointment; she had been hoping to strike a vein of inspiration drawing from long forgotten fashion styles, but a patina-dulled helmet and hoof bangle were not cutting it.

Snapping out of her scheming, Twilight shook her head and cantered over to the slab, chuckling at herself. “Yes, I suppose first thing’s first.” Her horn flashed and she scanned the room. The inky blackness of Agmundr’s stone ringlet stood in sharp relief to the brightly glowing shapes of the four ponies and pulsing wall sigils. A rough, rectangular seam in the shape of a doorway was etched into the wall behind Vilmar’s head, briefly catching her eye. She dismissed the anomaly alongside her extrasensory sight. “It’s that stone band on his hoof. That’s the Element of War.”

“So, uh…do we just take it?” The earth pony’s orange muzzle wrinkled in distaste. “’Cause I don’t really wanna touch it.”

Twilight giggled and opened her saddlebag. Purple light surrounded the simple ring, floating it off the dried limb as slowly and carefully as possible. As it passed the tip of his hoof, the gentle light of Twilight’s magic vanished.

The unicorn’s eyes went wide as the band levitated higher into the air, spinning slowly. The five stepped away from the slab, watching Tyr’s Hoof hover above their heads. In a sudden burst of speed, the Element slammed into a perfectly round sigil on the back wall. The symbols began to glow crimson again, the rough outline of a doorway Twilight had half-noticed slowly burning into sight.

They huddled against the far wall away from the new door. Its interior was lazily consumed by the light like lit parchment. Fully illuminated, it vanished. A darkened hallway took its place, the red haze of the room dying away. The near silence, punctuated with fast, shallow breaths from the five mares, was broken resolutely by a low growl.

The green, reflective flash of nocturnal eyes peered from the darkened doorway. Soft, padded steps drew closer. The ragged, shaggy head of an enormous arctic wolf entered the light of Twilight’s orb. White fur, grayed with time and dust to match the granite walls, hung limply around the beast’s face and neck. Patches of bare skin shone through the thin coat, a sickly pale yellow. Angry red lined its eyes and snout, coagulated fluids crusting its orifices. Fangs, yellowing to brown, jutted out of its snarled mouth from inflamed gums.

It padded into the room, its whole form thrown stark in the artificial light. Stone rods were imbedded throughout its body. The smooth cylinders poked out alongside major muscle groups, blackened necrotic flesh puckered around the exit points. Its thin chest heaved fitfully as the growl transformed to wheezing pants, a blistered tongue lolling from its mouth. Fear was replaced by curiosity in the group of ponies as the wolf sat back on its haunches and wagged its sparsely-furred tail.

The circular sigil containing Tyr’s hoof flashed blinding crimson and the stone band shot from the tiny alcove. The ring dug into the center of the wolf’s spine soliciting a keening shriek from the beast. Red energy lanced from the glowing walls into the many granite rods. The cry turned to a howl; the canine’s muscles bunching and expanding in rippling waves, filling out its shoulders and chest. The walls dark, a vibrating red clung to the ends of stone jutting from the now hulking beast. It lowered its head slowly from the upturned howl, a corona of magical fire dancing from its eyes. Its muzzle bunched back in a snarl of menace as an otherworldly roar rumbled from its broad chest.

“T-Twilight, get us outta here!” Applejack’s green eyes pled desperately into the unicorn’s violet.

“Can’t; I need time and quiet to break the ward!” her eyes never left the wolf, its deliberate stalk taking it around the dais. Her mind held back the alarm that threatened to overwhelm her, formulating a quick plan. She opened her magical senses to scan the creature. Its base aura was very faint; the white currents of energy looping through its body barely brighter than inert soil or air. The barely living aura was being twisted by an outside source. Angry red power flared from the many rods running straight through the canine’s body. The crackling energy dug into the gently glittering aura, winding through blood vessels and flesh, staining the white every place it touched; pink through the arteries, stark crimson in its enlarged muscle tissue. The jagged tendrils wrapped the beast’s heart and lungs, pumping and bellowing the organs. A circle of complete blackness encased two vertebrae halfway down its back. Satisfied that she had confirmed this was actually a wolf, she kept her extrasensory perception active and began scanning for weak points. “Fluttershy? That’s definitely an animal.”

“On it.” The pegasus’ voice had a hard, determined edge that shocked the rest of the mares from their cowering. They stood together as the butter yellow mare glided in front of the wolf’s face on gentle wing beats. The rolling growl died in the beast’s throat as its glowing eyes locked with Fluttershy’s teal ones. “Hey, there,” she said soothingly, “It’s okay…”

The wolf sat abruptly, its jaw snapping shut. A shudder of gratitude ran up the creature’s spine as a soft hoof stroked its head. “You don’t want to hurt us; you’re just in pain. We can help you, boy. It’s okay.”

A doggy grin spread across its muzzle. The red light from its stone body modifications flashed, a yelp escaping its throat. Snarling again, it lunged for the floating pegasus. Fluttershy’s cerulean eyes narrowed.

Twilight watched an eruption of white power explode off her timid friend. Her unassuming aura, so like any standard pony the unicorn had examined, swelled to a tremendous level rivaling Twilight’s own and leapt from her airborne body, completely enveloping the wolf’s enhanced signature. Twilight’s mind snapped shut, her vision returning to a normal view of the shy pegasus hitting an animal with The Stare.

“Now you listen to me, young man! We're your friends, we're here to help, and you will do as I say. Right. Now.” Her tone invited no discussion. The creature was frozen mid-strike. As it stood, one paw raised and jaw half open, the red energy animating its implants grew brighter and brighter. A whine of hate and pain escaped its throat. The beast tore its eyes away from Fluttershy’s gaze and reared back, a tremendous howl pouring into the room. The cacophonous echoes still reverberating, its raised paw swept through the air and slammed into the hovering mare.

Fluttershy cartwheeled through the room over Agmundr’s slab and smashed into a rune-covered wall in the back corner. The air knocked from her lungs, she collapsed to the ground in a wheeze. “Fluttershy!” the four mares cried in unison.

The downed mare struggled out a rough reassurance, saying, “I’m okay,” through strained breaths. The wolf’s head pivoted sharply; its angry gaze falling over the group. Their fear had been replaced by fury.

A bolt of blue energy struck the beast between the eyes. Its surprised bark was cut short by Pinkie Pie, the earth pony ramming a foreleg with her shoulder. Orange hooves met the other at the joint, slamming the creature to the ground jaw first, teeth clacking together in a loud snap. Purple energy seized the wolf around the middle. Twilight’s shout of anger ricocheted off the walls as she hurled the canine back down its dark hallway.

Before they could collect their thoughts, the wolf leapt back into the room. Twilight watched helplessly as their foe sailed over the slab, paws extended and jaw open, and landed on top of Rarity. The two skidded back to the wall, beast firmly on top, and its open maw clamped down onto the white unicorn’s back.

A blur of orange thundered past the lavender mare and slammed into the wolf’s shoulder. Applejack whirled onto her forehooves, face contorted in rage and dismay, and slammed her hind legs into the animal’s face. Countless trees worth of practice, muscles honed through rigorous training and nutrition, and the innate magic of earth ponies drove her hooves with explosive force. A piercing crack filled the air; the wolf’s muzzle shattering, its jaw dislocating, and its neck breaking. The beast sailed limply through the air, its hip striking the slab and sending it tumbling to the back wall like a rag doll. The wet smack of it landing headfirst spelled the end of its flight and it lay still.

“Rarity! Rarity! Speak ta me!” Tears traced down Applejack’s cheeks. She cradled the white mare to her chest, her entire body trembling. Twilight and Pinkie Pie galloped over as close as they dared.

In a daze, Rarity shook her head and fluttered her eyes open. “Oh, Applejack, you’re my knight in shining armor,” she breathed weakly, “That dreadful mongrel only got my jacket, thank Celestia.” Pinkie and Twilight breathed shuddering gasps of relief. Applejack’s shaking grew worse.

“Rarity, sugarcube. I was so worried. I thought that—and you—and I—and if—” the mare inhaled sharply, her shudders ceasing and her voice growing strong again. “Ah, ta heck with it!” An orange hoof around violet mane, Applejack pulled the white unicorn’s face to hers. Amethyst eyes widened in astonishment as Rarity found her lips pressed to the soft, warm muzzle of the farmpony. In the first few moments, the unicorn noted several things. The earth pony’s strong, muscular legs and chest against her own felt luxuriously fleecy and snug. The comforting scent of growing trees and fresh grass clung to the mare miles away from Ponyville. Applejack’s lips were even more gentle than the rest of her. But the primary mental note she made was that every single one of her wild fantasies about being swept off her hooves started with some minor variation of this exact scene.

Rarity melted into the orange mare’s embrace, eyes drifting shut and alabaster hooves snaking into blonde mane. Twilight’s bewildered gaze met Pinkie Pie’s grinning face.

“Finally!” Pinkie’s shout startled the two mares out of their kiss.

“Erm, Applejack darling—” A grinding snap from across the room drove the white unicorn’s jaw shut. “Later,” she breathed, getting back to her hooves. She cast a rueful look over her shoulder at the shredded remains of her coat before facing the wolf.

It was back on all four paws, its head hanging obscenely to the side on a shattered neck. Its tongue slid inside its mouth; the mandible re-hinged back into proper alignment. The jagged peaks of its broken muzzle straightened and lengthened, a crackling ripple of sound like a slowly shifting sheet of ice reaching their ears. In one swift motion, it swung its head sharply back into place, a gunshot bark discharging from the reforming bone.

“The heck is that thing doing back on its paws?” Applejack’s eyes were narrowed venomously, flexed muscles ready to spring.

“Those rods have got to be keeping it alive,” the purple mare reasoned, gathering focus and magic for some defensive spells. She was not letting the wolf get that close again. “That kick must have only paralyzed it instead of killing it.”

“Got a plan?” The party pony’s voice was calm and serious, her effervescence replaced by complete determination. Twilight turned her head to answer, taking her gaze away from the wolf for a split second.

Crackling beams of red energy bolted from the stones studding the wolf, striking all four mares at once. Electricity raced through their muscles, bunching and seizing, driving them to their knees. The wolf stalked closer to his paralyzed prey. The girls watched helplessly as he began to round the dais, passing by the spot where Fluttershy had fallen. Throats seized and jaws clenched, none could exclaim in shock when the bubblegum-maned mare leapt onto the beast’s back.

The pegasus’ mind was in a flurry of indecision. She had seen inside the wolf’s heart with The Stare. Angry and violent animals were often twisted by fear or pain; this creature was consumed by it. For two thousand years it had been kept alive, fed nothing, unmoving in a dark tomb with the sole purpose of guarding its treasure. The wolf could have been broken or corrupted into a tool, but it had not. It was still there, still present within the mutilated body, wanting to rejoin its long dead pack. There was no fight in it. The corrosive magic was forcing the attack. The poor thing was as much the victim of circumstance as the manticore had been, but it wouldn’t stop, it wouldn’t be allowed to stop, until she and all of her friends were dead. It would soon paralyze her as it had the rest, and then it would be all over. She didn’t know what to do.

The image of Rainbow Dash, shrouded in liquid flame, shone brightly in her mind. Rainbow had found the resolve. Despite everything, regardless of the consequences to herself, Rainbow had done what she had to do to protect her friends. The quiet pegasus would do the same. It was the only way.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy whispered through a veil of tears, her voice growing smaller and smaller. One forehoof clutched the beast’s chin, the other pressed at the base of its neck. “I’m so sorry I can’t save you.” The wolf reared on its hind legs, failing to buck the mare from its back, red power gathering in the many cylinders. “But I have to save my friends…” She screwed her eyes shut, grip tightening. “Please forgive me.”

Her hooves, hooves designed by fate for healing, twisted sharply. The motion itself could heal; bears from all over the Everfree could attest to it. Fluttershy felt as if her heart would explode as she pulled past the point of rejuvenation and into the realm of destruction. A horrible snap filled the room, louder than anything that had come before, the stark echoes serving as the signal flag for a terrible silence. The fiery corona surrounding the wolf’s eyes and implanted rods guttered out. The cylinders exploded in a shower of ashy powder as the wolf collapsed to the floor under the yellow mare.

The four galloped around the dais. Fluttershy had rolled off the dead canine’s back and lay curled in a ball, her whole body wracked with desperate sobbing. The broken beast’s body was rapidly disintegrating; two thousand years bleeding away in seconds. A single immaculate stone band remained in the heap of dust. A red glow overtook the room. The Element of War lifted from the pile with delicate slowness. It swam through the air languidly and slid gently into place. The stone fell still around a quivering butter yellow hoof clutched over a tear stained face. The glow of the room faded abruptly, a low, dying hum filling the air. Twilight’s staircase slowly re-descended from the ceiling of its own accord. The pegasus’ wails of anguish never stopped.

“Come on.” Twilight’s voice shook as terribly as her knees. “Let’s get her out of here.”

Rainbow Dash was getting tired of waking up to the sound of her own throaty complaints. She knew immediately that consciousness had found her more quickly than after the last gladiator match; the pain in her eye and side were pounding. She gingerly pulled herself up onto her forehooves, biting her lower lip as jagged glass raced up her left side. Sweat broke out on her brow from the effort under the tightly coiled bandage wrapping her head. Thick gauze circled her crown and looped under her right ear, completely encasing her right eye. She carefully began removing the long strips, wincing whenever she moved her left side too vigorously and careful to not snag the remaining cloth. A thick pad of cotton was being held in place, covering the entire socket. The mare slowly and deliberately pulled it away, ready to put it back the second fresh pain lanced her face, but the pad came away easily. She softly ran her hoof over the closed orb. The dried blood caking the socket had been wiped away before she was bandaged and the wound across her lid felt old and stable, the faint itch of growing skin tingling under the scab. Breathing steadily to keep her nerves in check, she closed her left eye and tried to open her right.

The lid was heavy and sluggish, almost glued in place over the organ. With painful slowness, her eye opened.

A cloudy swirl of hazy darkness floated in front of her. The eye was dry and sticky; barely responding to her mental commands of movement. She looked in every direction, seeing nothing, finding nothing. The heavy, marred lid sunk shut again. Rainbow Dash began to shake.

It wasn’t fair.

She was the best flier in Equestria, a future Wonderbolt, the pegasus that could shatter the sound barrier like it was nothing, race to mach five in seconds and push the very bounds of magic to their breaking point. She knew that hypersonic flight was many things. What it wasn’t was something that could be done with poor depth perception.

For a long time the mare mourned the loss of her eye and her dreams in silent shudders. Glittering moisture ran down the left side of her face, pooling on her chin to drop in spatters to the stone floor. Her right eye remained dry. She curled up on her pallet and rocked herself in her hooves. ’I wanna see Twilight,’ she thought miserably.

’I don’t want her see me like this,’ she argued back.

’But I wanna see her more.’

The pegasus knew better than to argue with herself when she was right. Finding the familiar strand of purple, Rainbow Dash raced the majority of her consciousness along the filament to see her friend.

Fluttershy needed to be carried from Agmundr’s tomb. When she had gained the presence of mind to notice the band around her right hoof, she flung it across the room with a shriek and collapsed back into sobs, refusing to stand. Applejack settled the crushed pegasus on her back and climbed the staircase, a quiet Rarity close beside her. Pinkie Pie did her best to comfort their heartbroken friend as they climbed. Twilight collected Tyr’s Hoof and set it next to the Leaf in her bag. The group retraced their steps in silence back to the large receiving room they had camped in the night before. Shaken and broken, they set up their tents to call it a night, no strength left to start a fire for a warm meal.

Fluttershy refused the cold rations each pony in turn tried to offer. She slunk on trembling hooves into the cupcake tent. Pinkie said good night and followed her in, prepared to spend a sleepless night with her wounded friend. Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight ate together in silence; the muffled sound of the party pony’s ministrations the only background noise.

Eventually the fashionista could stand it no more and broke the quiet. “So, uh, Applejack…” The earth mare paled. “Was that a, uh…heat of the moment sort of thing?” Twilight sputtered a series of coughs and quickly excused herself for the indigo tent.

“Erm, that is ta say, uh…” Applejack bit her lip, desperately wanting Twilight to come back out and save her. The white unicorn slid closer. A white hoof traced along her orange jaw line.

“You know, dear, I’d always harbored the suspicion you didn’t like me very much.” Applejack grew quiet as Rarity’s head rested against her well-muscled shoulder, a hoof wrapped around her middle. “We’re so different, you and I. I remember that first sleep over at the library…” the unicorn laughed at the recollection, her hoof squeezing the earth mare closer. “We were at each other’s throats! But I gained a strong admiration for you that night, Applejack. If ever there was a pony in Ponyville who threw as much of themselves into their work as I do, it’s you. Listen to me; I sound so immodest saying that!” She shook her head slowly, her lilac-scented mane brushing slowly against Applejack’s face.

The alabaster mare lifted her head and cupped the farmer’s face in her hoof, gently bringing their gazes together. Her voice lowered. She spoke with honest sincerity and conviction. “I hadn’t really thought much about there being something between us. But then that day after we told our sisters we were leaving…I thought perhaps you were intending to kiss me before Twilight arrived.” The faint glow of heat on orange cheeks dispelled any lingering doubt. “It is perhaps a good thing we were interrupted, so the idea had the chance to mature.” The small smile gracing her white lips made Applejack’s heart speed up, the flutter of long lashes stopping her breath. “I’ve had the opportunity to think. Applejack, I’ve been waiting my whole life to meet the right somepony and be swept off my hooves…” her eyes drifted closed. Leaning closer with delicate care she whispered, “…I could not have asked for a better knight.”

Applejack’s lips met with the unicorn’s for the second time and her worries dissolved in a torrent. She leaned into the embrace and held the gentle mare close, craving the delicate warmth of contact. The euphoria receded quietly when their kiss ended, forehead to forehead and muzzle to muzzle. Green eyes met half-lidded blue, holding them in place. “I shoulda done that ages ago. I always thought ya didn’t like mares.”

Rarity’s lyrical giggle delighted Applejack’s ears while it confused her brain. “You don’t know much about unicorns, then.” The earth mare sat up abruptly, brow creased. “Come now, Applejack. Unicorns have been having foals magically for five centuries. Gender preference went out of fashion generations ago.”

The earth mare nearly went cross-eyed. “But you’ve always been goin’ on about your prince charming.”

The unicorn’s smile grew thoughtful, her gaze centered on something off in the distance. “I am rather fond of the grand, sweeping romance, and those stories always feature a rugged stallion.” Her eyes returned to the pony. “But a stolen kiss after a daring rescue from a rampaging beast by a courageous mare seems just as befitting. I can’t say gender really ever entered my mind when contemplating romance.”

The pony brought an orange hoof to her face. “And here I thought RD and I were the only ponies that swung that way, now you’re tellin’ me Twilight does too?” Her green eyes went wide. “Ah heck, I just broke a Pinkie Promise tellin’ you that about Rainbow.”

Rarity giggled again, a warm smile on her face. “Well I can’t speak for our dear librarian. It’s not common but certainly not unheard of for unicorns to, ahem, ‘swing’ a specific way, but I promise Rainbow Dash’s preferences will stay between us.”

Applejack smirked, playfully jabbing the white mare in the ribs with a hoof. “Pinkie Promise?” The two shared a laugh, finding themselves wrapped in each other’s hooves as the mirth died away. As they sat in each other’s embrace, the farmpony’s voice lowered to barely above a whisper. “…It was that sleep over where I started to figure it out. You can be a real pain in my flank, Rares, but there’s somethin’ about you.” She chuckled at the mock-offense the unicorn affected. “You’re about the hardest workin’ mare around. Aside from me,” she winked. “You’ve always been there for me.” A bloom of red spread across her muzzle, her green eyes darting around the unicorn’s face. “Not to mention how beautiful ya are.” She shook her head slowly at Rarity’s chuckle. “I’m still no good with words, Rarity. But you mean the world ta me.”

The ivory mare leaned in close, their muzzles almost touching. “Dear, I believe I can blather on well enough for the both of us.”

“Howdy Spike!” The bell over the library door jingled as three fillies burst into the tree, the last few rays of the day’s sun still peeking through the windows. The little dragon performed a fast about-face that would have been elegant if it hadn’t toppled the stack of books he was carrying.

“Gah!” Spike staggered up from the heap of fallen knowledge and dusted himself off. “Hi you three, I guess we’re technically still open...What can I do you for?” The dragon felt a forehead vein begin to throb as he watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders climb random shelves, knocking assorted books to the floor. It had been so quiet lately, too.

“We’re looking for some books on martial arts!” Scootaloo flitted across the room from one set of shelves to another, upending the large bust on the round reading table. “Whoops. We’re gonna get our cutie marks in Brayzilian Jiu-Jitsu, or maybe Ap Yeog Do.”

“Didn’t you already try karate?” The little dragon was beginning to sweat, rushing around the large room catching books and bracing shelves threatening to topple on the oblivious trio.

“Applebloom did, but now it’s super important! We gotta be ready for those bulls in case our sisters don’t get back in time!” Sweetie Belle, clinging to a shelf with her forehooves and kicking books to and fro from a lower one with her hindlegs, was magically pulling books from the top shelves of cases at random with a concentrated effort, bringing them down to scan the titles. Getting them down from the shelf was easy, but putting them back was slightly beyond her. Spike groaned as ‘As’ mixed with ‘Gs’, ‘Ls’, and ‘Xs’ on the floor.

“Alright already! The self-improvement reference books are over here, anyway!” The baby dragon stomped over to an as-yet untouched set of shelves and pulled a clawful of self-defense courses and guides out.

“Yay!” they cried in unison, leaping from their perches and snatching the proffered stack. “Thanks Spike!” In a whirlwind they were gone, the frantic buzzing of the little pegasus’ scooter and a surprised scream from an unsuspecting pony down the block spelling the return of peace and quiet to Spike’s library.

Several abused shelves gave way at once, a thundering avalanche of tomes littering the floor in a dusty heap. The dragon held his face in his claws. “Some things never change…”

As Spike got to work cleaning the tremendous mess, he didn’t notice the brief flash of pink coming from a slim crack in a cupboard. The flawless butterfly gem on the Element of Kindness twinkled in the spare light.

Twilight was in her sleeping bag looking at nothing when the familiar pull of Rainbow’s presence settled over her mind. Relief showered over her jangling nerves. She let her eyes slide shut and watched hazy blue settle into the shape of her friend.

Rainbow Dash was sitting on her haunches in profile. Twilight could see the left half of the mare’s face, a forced neutrality set hard through her features. A fresh, bloodied bandage wrapped the tiffany blue pony’s chest. The greeting died in her throat. After a long and heavy pause, the pegasus broke the silence.

“…It worked. I stopped time, broke Vilmar’s connection to the dead thing he had me facing, and killed it without fighting.” She breathed a slow, weighted sigh, her head drifting lower throughout the exhalation. The Element of Inaction seemed to be drooping sadly from its normal perch. “But I didn’t listen at first. I got caught up…I wanted to know if I was the fastest…” Rainbow turned her head to look at the unicorn.

Twilight felt fresh tears waver her vision. A jagged wound scraped its way down Rainbow’s forehead, forked just below her mane and ending at the bottom of her upper eyelid. The shaky ‘Y’ skipped down to the top of her right cheek, curling away from her muzzle to the outside of her sky blue face. Her right eye was half open. The vibrant, dancing light the unicorn knew so well was gone; the magenta grayed and shine dulled. The pupil stared at her, unseeing, a cloudy grey circle. She felt her heart break again.

“…The magic’s gonna heal the cuts, but I think it leaves behind scars on purpose.” She raised her right foreleg, the triplet lines standing bright pink against her celeste coat. Twilight’s gaze never left the darkened orb in the mare’s face. “I can’t see out of it anymore. Which means I can’t fly my fastest. And it’s all my fault.”

“Rainbow…” her voice was barely a whisper, her timid hoofsteps closing the gap, “Maybe I can heal it. I don’t know that I can, but please. Let me try.” Rainbow Dash’s reaction was measured excitement. With a monumental force of will, she kept her hopes and expectations low. She nodded gently, her left eye sliding shut.

Twilight inhaled deeply. She poured her magic into her horn, every fiber of her being directed towards reversing the pegasus’ shattered dreams. She sunk to her knees, then her belly, sweat rolling down her face and teeth grinding together. She poured everything she had into the spell. With a gasp, the magic alighted on Rainbow’s damaged eye and Twilight wavered to near unconsciousness.

Rainbow Dash held her breath. From the hazy smoke, a purple blob took shape. The undulating splotch sharpened with delicate slowness. The amorphous lavender finally resolved into Twilight Sparkle, dragged up to a sitting position, an exhausted but hopeful look on her face. A tear ran down the cyan mare’s right cheek. The unicorn was pulled into a desperate embrace.

“Thank you, Twi’.” Rainbow’s voice was impossibly small. “Thank you so much. You’re always there for me. I can always count on you.” Twilight lifted her sore and fatigued hooves to return the hug, endless relief driving her to quake. She rested her tired head against chromatic mane and allowed herself to be held. She had nearly fallen asleep when the pegasus’ whisper reached her ears. “…I almost didn’t make it. I came really close to giving up. But you were there with me, Twi’. You gave me the strength to hold everything together.” The mare sniffled softly, slowly pulling back. Her face was turned away, hiding her damaged right side. Slowly, she turned to face the unicorn. “So, uhh…” a blemish of red entered her muzzle, a foreign shyness overtaking her brash voice, “How do I look?”

Twilight’s gaze traced the mare’s features. It had been so haunting to see that beautiful eye turned dark and empty. Light had re-entered the orb; the same jittering energy as her left. The rusty mark held the lid half down, not enough to impede vision but far enough that it rendered the organ in a perpetual state of cocky laziness. The rest of the scar held a roguish energy, reflecting the pegasus’ cutie mark in a dangerous, playful way. The unicorn mentally pictured it as healed skin rather than crusted scab; the image even more alluring.

“It…suits you, actually.” Why was her face feeling warm?

Rainbow Dash snorted. “You’re just saying that.” She turned her face back to the right, hiding the eye. A lavender hoof caught her chin.

“I mean it. It’s…Dashing.” She smirked, a bit of energy returning after the magical drain. “Looks good on you.” The sky blue pony rolled her eyes, the motion oddly hypnotic in her half-lidded right, but did not turn away again. “So why don’t you tell me what happened, Rainbow. And, uh, then I can tell you what happened.”

The two mares sat and shared their previous exploits. Twilight listened quietly through Rainbow’s story, offering assurances that she understood how the daredevil could get caught up racing, and designing experiments in her head with barely contained excitement after Rainbow explained how she had broken the magical connection. She kept needing to force herself to focus, rather than linger over the mare’s right eye. When finished, Rainbow took in Twilight’s story with alertness. She interrupted the unicorn when she was explaining the damage a stoneshaping unicorn had wrought in the aftermath of Agmundr’s poisoning.

“Vilmar did that, not a unicorn.” Her voice carried a resolute finality.

Twilight’s brow furrowed, her head cocking to the side. “But…he was a pegasus…”

“It’s the Element,” she explained, standing up to pace. Neither mare realized she was instinctively copying Twilight’s lecture-walk. “It controls rock. His whole castle here is controlled by him. He can make and get rid of doors in smooth wall, make these collars that can keep me from doing stuff…” She touched a hoof to her bare neck. “Oh yeah; forgot those don’t show up here…” she resumed her pacing. “Anyway, this wound on my left is from some stone knives he willed out of the ground to throw at me. Heck, the really powerful dead things I’ve been fighting all have stone bands on their left forelegs that he controls ‘em with.” She stopped her pacing and faced the sitting unicorn. “He was the one that killed all those ponies, not a unicorn. An angry stallion’s dying revenge.”

Twilight swallowed, nodding gently. “No wonder every dictatorship wanted to control Tyr’s Hoof.” She cleared her throat and continued, describing the tomb and their fight with the wolf. Rainbow Dash had to restrain herself from trying to sonic rainboom her way through the void to get to Fluttershy. Knowing she could do nothing, she sunk back to her haunches, her heart going out to a hurt, dear friend.

“…So the Element of War floated onto Fluttershy… What does that mean? Is she the bearer now?”

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought. She felt much more grounded in herself; sharing the tale had been an emotional exorcism and she felt whole again. A doubt in the back of her head told her she always felt like this after seeing the celeste mare for any length of time, but she ignored it. “If I had to make a hypothesis, I’d say she might be the new bearer of the Element of War. But there’s not enough evidence to say one way or the other.”

Rainbow nodded slowly, frowning. “…It would make sense if she was. Sid said an Element of Strife is a burden to its pony...” She shook her head as she came to terms with the notion. “Poor mare. Being still’s tough for me, but Flutters and War?” Twilight nodded sadly, her gaze drifting to her hooves. “…If she is the bearer, that might mean all of you are s’posed to get one of ‘em, too.”

Twilight’s chewed on her lip, mulling the idea over. “…Maybe. We are all connected by the Elements of Harmony; it might be the same for Strife. We can’t assume that’s the case, though. We don’t know how any of this works.”

“Yeah…” The pegasus drew inward, her brow furrowed with concern. “…Twi’, could you tell Fluttershy something for me?”

“Of course, Rainbow.”

“…Tell her that no matter what she’s going through, no matter how she feels, she can always count on us. You four and me, too.” Her eyes were set and hard, the determination underlined by the now-flaking scar. “Nopony has to go through something like that alone and we’re all here to help her carry the load.” She smiled sadly. “Even if I’m not right there with her.”

Twilight nodded solemnly, committing the exact words to memory. A sky blue hoof had found its way over one of her lavender ones. She held the appendage in both and squeezed. “So what happens now? We got War…do you know what’s next?”

Rainbow Dash slowly shook her head. “Sid could only tell me about the hoof. He didn’t know the rest. But I’ve got a plan.” The unicorn perked up, holding the blue hoof tighter. “Vilmar’s magic is getting easier to break through. He might just be sloppy, but I’ve been practicing using the Leaf almost constantly. It took me days to talk to you after gettin’ locked up, but it’s nothing anymore. I couldn’t fight him directly, but I don’t think that I need to.” She pursed her lips, thinking. Her other forehoof settled on top of Twilight’s. “He won’t let me talk, but maybe I can make him listen.”

“...Well, I guess in the meantime we’ll go to the Crystal Empire. Once we know where we’re going for sure, we can take a train from there, and it’ll be a good place for everyone to recover.” Twilight sighed. The day was really catching up with her.

Rainbow Dash looked at her hooves entwined with the purple limbs of her friend. She had no idea how they’d gotten that way, but had no desire to move them. She understood why other ponies said that hoof holding could be comforting. She normally hated when anypony touched hers, though. She looked back at the lavender mare sitting next to her. A wave of gratitude struck her again as her right eye took in the unicorn’s soft face. Not quite sure why she was doing it, Rainbow slid herself shoulder to shoulder with Twilight on her uninjured side and wrapped a hoof around the mare’s back. Maybe hugs were cool.

“…So you told me about Fluttershy…what about the others? Everypony else okay?” Rainbow was surprised to hear Twilight snort.

“Well, when I had the girls write letters Applejack’s kept asking for advice about something she didn’t want me to directly know, and uh…” A fit of giggles interrupted her. She struggled to keep them down; it wasn’t that funny. She was beginning to feel lightheaded from sleepiness. “But, I think her problem’s pretty well resolved now.”

“Alright, she finally made her move on Rares? About time.”

“Wait, you knew?” Twilight blinked rapidly, not quite willing to sit up from Rainbow’s chest.

“Yeah, she kept askin’ my advice about it for months before I died. I’d always say TALK TO HER, but that pony’s skull is thicker’n mine.” Twilight chuckled, snuggling into Rainbow’s soft chest. “Not sure why she asked for my advice, though. I dunno the first thing about relationships.” She glanced down at the top of Twilight’s head before resting her chin on indigo mane. “So how’d that go? Those two lovebirds now?”

“I think so, but I’m uh, not sure,” she mumbled, pressing her face into soft, blue fur. “AJ kissed Rarity during the wolf attack, and I bolted when they started talking about it afterwards. Seemed sorta private. But based on that kiss, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re together now.” The two shared a chuckle. Twilight’s brain was starting to shut down from the long day and intense spell work. She couldn’t understand anything going on in her own head. Why did her face feel so warm? It wasn’t from what happened with her friends. She leaned back, still in Rainbow’s embrace, her eyes meeting with the pegasus’. Her face burned brighter, seeing that half-lidded pool of magenta.

Before she could say anything, Rainbow’s attention drifted elsewhere, snapping back to the unicorn with a sense of urgency on her features.

“I can tell Vilmar’s comin’ to see me in the cell. I’ll talk to you soon, Twi’.”

Twilight whispered, “Good luck,” as the swirling mist of Rainbow Dash cascaded away and left her feeling cold and incomplete in the void. She laid her exhausted head on her hooves, eyes drifting shut. The vacuum shifted to dreams, all featuring a laughing pegasus with a striking facial scar.

The majority of Rainbow Dash’s mind returned to her body as heavy hoofsteps grew closer. Agmundr Vilmar approached the mare’s cell and sat on his haunches, a heavy sigh escaping his muzzle. The insanity had left his eyes, to be replaced by oppressive shadow. His head hung low, his gaze centered on nothing, taking in nothing. Rainbow pushed herself up and waited for the stallion to speak. Eventually, the pegasus lifted his head. One of the two skeleponies guarding Rainbow’s cell stepped into view.

“…You are a mystery to me, mare. I don’t like mysteries. I would very much like to simply kill you. But…something happened in the world of the living. And I believe you might hold answers.” He stood, flaring his ill-kept wings to their full span. “I am going to let you out of this cell, mare. You are going to repeat your method of disrupting my connection on this grunt,” a casual flick of his ear pointed at the shade. His voice was flat and even, an affectation of boredom the celeste mare saw right through. He was frightened, angry, and…hopeful? “Then…I will permit you to speak.”

The bars sprung aside. Rainbow Dash remained sitting. She attempted to raise her right eyebrow, but found she couldn’t thanks to her nearly-healed scar. She lifted her left instead which felt unnatural and proved to be surprisingly difficult. That would take some getting used to. “…Why?”

His voice grew terse, temper edging past his fear and overpowering his mask of disinterest. “Hold your tongue. Do it now.”

The cyan pegasus’ eyes narrowed. She lowered her front into a half-crouch. ’Stop fighting him, stupid. He wants to talk.’ The voice in her head sounded mysteriously like a certain purple bookworm. She shook her head and slowly got to her hooves. As she stepped from the cell, her collar expanded out into a small dome encapsulating herself with the dead pony.

“Do it.”

Rainbow Dash turned her back on the stallion and opened her mind. The shimmering connection was difficult to see in the glare of Agmundr Vilmar’s aura, even facing away. Lifting on her hindlegs, the mare gripped the strand of energy and in a sharp twist, she broke it.

As the lifeless bones tumbled to the floor amidst the screech of the exploding stone band, the dictator took several frightened steps back. “Y-you’re a demon…” The small dome contracted around Rainbow’s neck, pulled with unseen force against the stone wall of her cell. The impact sent bolts of pain along her left side, a sharp hiss forced from her mouth. The bars of the cage leapt back into place, separating her from the shaking stallion. His bright eyes overflowed with mania. “An assassin! You want the hoof and my kingdom for yourself! I will destroy you.”

The mare could feel the haze of red energy from her collar clamping on her voice box as the band itself grew smaller and smaller, her muscles seizing, her mind growing cloudy. Any intention Agmundr had to let her speak had been consumed by madness. In his rage and fear, she would have the life choked from her body and be left to join Sid in the Tree.

’I need your help, Twilight.’

With two lavender hooves around her neck instead of a shrinking collar and gentle breathing in her ear to replace the dictator’s gibbering accusations, Rainbow’s will sharpened to a blade. A shriek rebounded through the room. The collar exploded in a shower of gravel and dust. She fell limply to the floor, nearly all of her energy drained.

Agmundr had fallen silent. The sadism had left his eyes again, replaced by only fear and confusion. In the tense silence, the mare dragged herself up on all four hooves and spoke, her voice raspy and strained. “My name is Rainbow Dash. I’m not a demon, I’m not here to kill you, and I don’t want your damn kingdom.”

She sat heavily on her cot and fell forward, head landing on her forehooves. Her eyes were heavy and her mind sluggish. “I just wanna get back to my friends.” The stallion cowered while darkness threatened to overwhelm Rainbow’s awareness. After several minutes of wavering near a black-out, the mare returned to her hooves. “Please,” she said, her voice still raw, “Let’s just talk.”

Author's Note

It's Thursday! Coming Back! Woo! Etc.

A little note about 'Ap Yeog Do,' since I can just imagine the mystified 'whaaa?' faces. I practice Tae Kwon Do and have been exposed to some Korean as a result. Tae Kwon Do translates to 'the way of the foot and the fist.' Ponies, being ponies, have neither feet nor fists. Ap Yeog Do translates to 'the way of the front and reverse,' which makes sense to me as a ponification of TKD. Complete waste of time? Probably.

Part One of Coming Back comes to a conclusion in Chapter Nine, before we launch into the next story arc. See y'all next week!

Chapter 9

Twilight dragged herself onto tired hooves. She blinked her bleary eyes in the darkened tent while groaning miserably. Late nights with little sleep were no mystery to the frequently manic unicorn, but days of hiking and archeological exploration followed by a frenzied fight for her life had forced her to invent a new category of fatigue located somewhere between ‘bone tired,’ and ‘clinically deceased.’ Muscles she didn’t know she had complained in silent revolt and Twilight had written a dissertation on unicorn muscular anatomy.

“Doesn’t help that it’s always dark in ancient, abandoned castles,” she grumbled petulantly at the morning, her sleeping bag whispering sweet nothings on the air. A tumbling crash from outside the tent added some nice punctuation to her blooming headache and she slowly plodded out.

“Sorry!” Pinkie Pie chimed, standing on a single hindleg while balancing three mixing bowls in the crooks of her others. A heap of bake ware had been sent flying when the party pony nearly overbalanced, but she remained upright, dipping a wooden spoon gripped in her teeth in each bowl and vigorously beating them one by one. A fire was already going strongly in the makeshift pit, heating a large, black griddle. “Fluttershy is still so sad, so I thought I’d bake a cake, but then I remembered I don’t have an oven, so I’m making pancakes!” The mare deftly hopped on one leg closer to the griddle and poured out several perfectly round puddles of batter, the extra bowls balanced on the ends of a forehoof and hindhoof without spilling a drop.

“That…sounds wonderful, Pinkie,” Twilight said, her stomach voicing its approval just as loudly. “I think everypony could use that this morning.” She glanced at the double-decker tent with a small smirk, muttering under her breath, “Even if it’s more of a celebratory thing for some.”

“Ponies love to eat and I love to feed them.” Pinkie’s voice lowered in volume as she flipped the bubbling pancakes with a spatula, still balancing all three bowls. “Sometimes I think feeding ponies is better than throwing parties.” As the cakes finished, she loaded them up on the spatula and tossed them to the ground.

“Wha—Pinkie, those looked perfect!” The earth pony giggled, pouring out another set of disks.

“Silly filly! You always throw the first batch away!” Twilight sighed and shrugged hopelessly, her eyes drifting to the big-top cupcake.

“I’m gonna go check on Fluttershy. I talked to Rainbow Dash last night and she had something she wanted me to relate.”

“Okie dokie lokie! Pancakes’ll be ready in a few minutes!” The unicorn made her way inside the tent to the sound of Pinkie Pie’s contented humming. The interior was surprisingly utilitarian compared to the playful exterior, with two sleeping bags in the middle and two saddlebags close to the back. One of the sleeping bags was unzipped and empty, while the other contained the huddled mass of a quivering pegasus.

Twilight approached the trembling mare slowly. “Fluttershy?”

“Please leave me alone, Twilight.” The pegasus’ voice froze the purple mare in her tracks. It was small and quiet like it normally was, but there was so much hurt in its tone. Pain and resignation. Twilight suppressed a shudder; it was the look in Rainbow’s eyes before she died made vocal.

“I will, but I have something I need to say, because I promised Rainbow Dash I’d say it.” The yellow mare straightened, sitting up in her bag and turning to face Twilight. Nearly all of her face was hidden by swooping pink mane save a single blood-shot teal eye. The unicorn closed the distance and sat next to her friend, sweeping her hooves around the mare’s neck. “Rainbow said ‘no matter what you’re going through, no matter how you feel, you can always count on us. Us four and Rainbow, too.’” She hugged Fluttershy tighter, sinking conviction into their departed friend’s words. “’Nopony has to go through something like this alone and we’re all here to help you carry the load. Even if one of us is not right there with you.’ Those were her exact words. Well, paraphrased so they made sense for me to say to you, anyway.”

She sat back, brushing the large lock of pink mane from the mare’s face. “And she’s absolutely right. You can count on all of us to be there. What happened…” she bit her lip, looking into Fluttershy’s reddened eyes, “It must have been so terrible. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but don’t shut us out, please. Please.” She grasped two yellow shoulders with her hooves, brow furrowed and eyes pleading. “Don’t do what I did. Don’t shut yourself away from the ponies that love you.”

Fresh tears sprung to Fluttershy’s eyes. She pulled the unicorn close and buried her face in purple chest. The sobbing hurt, but carried a strong catharsis. The haunting weight threatening to drag her to the bottom of the sea would not leave, but she was no longer drowning. “…That wolf, Twilight…” The soothing hoof on the back of her head began stroking gently. “He was just like the manticore…Just a poor, helpless animal. And I—And I—” her voice caught and she cringed, hugging the unicorn tighter. “I had to. I had to do it, or he would have killed us. It…It’s what Rainbow would have done.”

Twilight nodded slowly, her eyes sliding closed. “She would have. And if she were here, she would have done anything she could to keep this from happening to you.”

The mare’s shaking stilled. Her voice grew stronger, with a hard edge. “But she’s not. She’s not here. We don’t have our hero to protect us.” She sat up from the embrace, the hardness from her voice set in her eyes and mouth. “We have to protect us.”

Twilight regarded her friend silently, a loss of words seizing her mind. Fluttershy wiped her cheeks with a hoof and sniffed to clear her snout. “…And that’s what I did. And as horrible as it was…I’ll do it again if I have to.” The pegasus stood and cantered to the tent’s flap. “Come on, Twilight. I smell pancakes.”

The lavender unicorn numbly got to her hooves, following Fluttershy out of the tent. Five plates stacked high with flapjacks circled the dancing fire, Pinkie Pie sitting next to one and grinning proudly. Applejack and Rarity had taken their places next to each other in front of their own plates, two hooves casually entwined. The yellow mare took her own place while Twilight approached in a mental fog.

She thought about Rainbow Dash and the transformation she had seen take root in the pegasus; the raw vulnerability, the fear, the new strength and center she had found. She thought about Fluttershy’s hard, determined gaze. ’This journey…’ she thought, taking her own seat. ’Is it going to do this to all of us?’ She glanced around at her friends. Pinkie’s toothy, carefree grin. Applejack’s confident, down-played smirk. Rarity’s playful, refined smile. Who was next? Who else would she have to watch change?

“Well,” Twilight muttered, turning her attention to the stack of pancakes. The wheaty aroma forced a smile onto her face. “Let’s eat.”

Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. The hoarseness was beginning to lessen and it was easier to talk again. “First off, I really am dead.” There was no response. Agmundr Vilmar was in a shaking heap against the wall opposite the mare’s cell. He had been gripped by a new mania that shuttered comprehension. “I have a heartbeat and stuff because I’m the bearer of the Element of Inaction.” She touched the leaf above her head and frowned. “…you can’t see it, I don’t think. Dunno if you’ve heard it called that either, but Sid said you knew about it, at least a little.” She huffed, her words falling on deaf ears. “C’mon, listen to me Aggie.”

The stallion’s head swiveled to make eye-contact, his greyed eyes alert and bewildered. “A…Aggie?”

Rainbow pinched the bridge of her muzzle with a hoof. “…I’m really bad with names, okay?” A heavy silence hung over the pair. Agmundr’s lips began quivering. A small smirk broke across his face, a youthful glow entering his gaze. “…Anyway, the Element of Inaction, it’s also called the Bodhi Leaf?” The pegasus sat up quickly, the smile leaving his lips. “Good, you know what I’m talkin’ about. That’s why I’ve got a heartbeat and whatever. It’s also how I did that thing with your pony guy over there. I’m its bearer.”

Marred brow furrowed. “The last I crossed paths with the Leaf of the Bodhi tree was millennia ago. How did you come to receive it?” Lingering nervousness began to bleed away from Rainbow; Agmundr’s eyes were haunted and dull, but he seemed to be in control.

“When I died, I was told there was a way for me to come back to life. The, uh, guy who told me said I needed to find the Elements of Strife and if I brought them together, I could return to my friends.” She paused, chewing her lip. “The first one I got to was the Leaf. I wasn’t expecting to be the bearer or anything, but that’s what I am I guess.” She frowned. “After that I came here to get the Element of War.” Her gaze lingered on the stone band around the stallion’s foreleg. His eyes drifted down and a flash of anger passed over his face. The mare stepped back, eyes wide, nearly tripping over both her words and hooves. “B-but I dunno that I need to take it from you! I just need it to get home! You’re already its bearer, you could just come with!”

Agmundr shut his eyes tightly, teeth grit. He shook his head forcefully. After several moments he opened his eyes again, the anger having passed. “…Tyr’s Hoof has not been mine to command for a long time.”

Rainbow’s eyes swam with confusion. “But you can do so much with it…”

The pegasus sighed, the weight of the centuries sagging his muscled shoulders. “I have had a lot of practice forcing it to my will.” His eyes lingered on the floor. “But its true strength has been lost to me since before I died.”

The sky blue mare re-approached the bars. “…Why are you telling me this?”

Another sigh escaped his snout and he redirected his gaze to his captive. A clarity lit his eyes that had been absent. “A new bearer has been found. When I died, I set a trap that could only be broken by a pony worthy of the Hoof.” He stood on all fours, carefully approaching the mare. “A true wielder holds no love of conquest and understands the true pain that battle can bring. My guardian could only be defeated by a warrior that understood the act of violence they were committing.”

Rainbow Dash sat heavily, the crushing weight of realization driving the strength from her legs. “F-Fluttershy…” His Majesty Agmundr Vilmar stepped back in surprise.

“You know of what happened? You are a spy, you do have help!” His eyes widened, glittering rage entering the faded orbs.

“N-no!” she croaked, “Listen! The Leaf lets me talk to one of my friends when she’s asleep and they’ve been looking for what’s left of the Elements of Strife in the living world. That’s why I know.” The stallion grimaced again, shaking his head. He huffed; the anger once more contained and he began pacing.

“This Fluttershy then, she killed my guardian with the full knowledge of her actions. She has earned the might of Tyr.” Rainbow sat quietly, watching the stallion pace. “…You tell me that you wish to use its power to return to life?”

The mare nodded, her thoughts still lingering over the yellow pegasus. “The Elements of Strife are all dead. If I get them together, I can do something that will bring them back to life and me at the same time.” The conqueror stopped his pacing. He approached the bars, a silent, reflective expression gripping his features. He sat on his haunches in front of the bars.

“…Why are you seeking a second life?”

Rainbow Dash met his gaze, determination shining through her scarred face. “Because my friends need my help. There’s a war coming.”

His eyes did not waver. “…The Hoof will never work for you, Rainbow Dash. The love of battle bleeds into everything you do. Perhaps it is true that you were not a soldier in life, but you have inherited the spirit of the pegasi.” The mare stared blankly. “…Truly Equestria has changed much since my time. We pegasi have always been a race of warriors; true ponies of battle.”

“Equestria’s been at peace for a thousand years.”

After a moment the stallion nodded. “That answers much about you, Rainbow Dash.” He frowned in thought. “You have been a mystery that has plagued me and ignited my paranoia, but I believe I understand now. You are a warrior of exceptional skill, but a surprising absence of training. You performed a sonic rainboom and wielded it in the least effective manner.” Rainbow Dash’s wings sprung open in surprise, but she held her tongue. “In times of peace, the warriors become athletes. You are a mare of remarkable skill, enough to get by as a soldier without formal training. This…duality has brought out the worst in me, but I believe that has passed.”

He stood again, the stone bars separating the winged ponies sliding into the smooth walls. “You have no reason to fear me.”

Hesitantly, Rainbow exited her cell. Agmundr stood a full head taller than her, but she held his gaze. “…What’d you mean about the sonic rainboom?”

He turned, slowly cantering towards the stairway. The mare followed behind as he spoke. “The sonic rainboom is the most powerful offensive maneuver a pegasus can perform without magical assistance. It is useful for defense, as you used it, but as an attack it can devastate.”

“I know,” she said over the clacking echoes, following him down the spiraling stairs, “I blew up a barn with one once; ya gotta turn on a corner just right. Never done that in a fight; though it’d probably be somethin’ to try. What I meant was…how’d you know about it at all? It…it was a myth before I did it as a filly.”

The glance he threw over his shoulder was shocking; a youthful and playful orb of striking blue rising to the surface for the briefest flash. “Myths have to come from somewhere, Rainbow Dash.” He led them out through a door into a throne room. The opulence was a jarring dissonance compared to the rest of the castle. The smooth stone throne on a raised platform, round table, walls, and floors were draped with rich tapestries, cushions, and carpets of vibrant silk. A warm energy hung in the air. “We may be the only two pegasi to ever live that have performed it.” He cantered to the far side of round table and took a seat on a floor cushion, a sweeping hoof beckoning the pegasus mare to join him. Rainbow sat, a contemplative frown on her face.

“So, uhh…I get it that the Hoof won’t work for me. I don’t really like fighting, not like flying, but…it’s exciting. It’s a rush, and I kinda kept getting lost in it.” Her frown deepened. “But I wasn’t really here for it, anyway. I just need it to get home. Would you come with me?”

She watched his face. The lines of centuries deepened with heavy shadows as he leaned forward, shoulders sagging wearily. “…No.” He sighed, brushing a lock of grizzled mane from his face. The spare magical light in the room cast his expression in shadow. “…My time with the Hoof has come to an end.” He raised his head to meet the mare’s gaze. Rainbow nearly jumped. The haunted pain was alive with a freshness she hadn’t seen in him; a shuttered piece of his being laid bare, for the first time in centuries by her guess.

She shook her head slowly. “I don’t get you. I spend weeks fighting for my life because you think I’m gonna take that thing from you and now you’re, what, giving it to me?” She tried to keep the frustration from her voice.

The large stallion sighed. “It was your mention of the Leaf and my memories of the old guru who wielded it.” He paused, his gaze vague and frowning in thought. “Let me tell you a story, Rainbow Dash. My story.” He stood, stepping carefully to the side of his throne. The stone wall slid silently apart at his approach, revealing an inset shelf of dusty bottles and glasses. He lifted a tray onto his back and brought it back to the table, pouring two short glasses of golden liquid and sliding one over to Rainbow. After a brief moment of wrestling with her scarred eye, she raised a skeptical left eyebrow. “Don’t tell me booze went out of style the way war did.”

“No, I just haven’t been able to drink anything since I died, and…” She glanced at the bottle. “Where’d you even get alcohol here anyway?”

He chuckled, tipping the glass back and refilling with mechanical precision. “I was buried with many goods that followed me into this world.” He drained his second shot and sucked in sharply, slamming the glass back down. “And drinking alcohol is not the same as water; give it a try.”

With some reluctance, Rainbow Dash brought the glass to her muzzle. The powerful smell made her eyes water. She held her breath and slammed the liquor down. It felt like the bull’s liquid fire flesh was running down her insides again. She gagged and started coughing. “Augh.”

“Good, right?” The grin bunching his scars didn’t reach his eyes, still bright and pained.

A painful, wet, burning belch fought its way up the mare’s throat. She wiped her eyes, the last traces of scab coming away from her healed scar. “It’s not cider.” She pushed the glass away and shook her warm, fuzzy head.

His smile faded as he sat back. “I am not sure how much you know of my history. Can I assume a general outline of my empire and death?” Rainbow Dash nodded in confirmation. “My empire brought me nothing but pain. I took control as little more than a colt from my father.”

“Your father?”

Agmundr nodded gravely. “A cruel man who came to control Tyr’s Hoof before me. Perhaps in his youth he approached its power with the proper level of fear and understanding, I don’t know. When I was old enough to pay attention, he was a tyrant. When I led the resistance movement to victory, I swore that I’d never turn into him.”

He drank his third glass, running a hoof over his face. His clear, hurt eyes stared into the empty drink ware. “I failed.”

Rainbow Dash’s brow knit in sympathy. “What happened?”

Surprised from his reverie, he glanced up. “I lost myself. I took control with the best of intentions and led my soul to corruption.” He looked at the Element of War, a distasteful glare on his face. “This wretched thing will not accept an unworthy pony, but it will destroy its wielder. I fear I was more cruel than my old man ever was and in my paranoia I did worse by my own boy than my father did by me.”

“I heard it was your son who poisoned you.”

“Yes. A cowardly action by a colt I cloistered for fear of the past repeating itself.” He shook his head slowly. “My coup was borne out of compassion for my subjects, his was out of greed. He was one of many failures in my life.” He took another drink, a dusky redness settling over his eyes and muzzle. “But he is not my most profound failure. That honor belongs to Annaliese and that old stallion guru.”

Agmundr’s eyes trailed over the empty glass and bottle. He hefted the bottle and took a long swig, exhaling forcefully and smacking his lips. “That guru knew I was falling…he was one of my only friends, and I shunned him. And Anna…”

Rainbow Dash smiled sadly, watching the directionless hurt sharpen with focus in the stallion’s recollection. “I’ve seen that look. She must have been important to you.”

He nodded gently, his eyes trained on the rapidly-emptying bottle. “My wife. When the Hoof started to grip me…they both saw it happening. They both tried to stop me…I…” The otherworldly bewitchment of dull pain settled over his features, dimming his countenance. He took another long draught. “I was too far gone. I lost them both. I had…forgotten about them.”

His gaze settled on the sky blue mare, a rueful smirk on his lips that only made him look more wretched. “It’s hard to believe I had forgotten. But, perhaps it makes sense…” He lifted his right foreleg, examining the simple stone band with red-rimmed eyes. “As soon as my guardian died, I felt it pull away from me. It’s been in my mind, clouding my thoughts since I first took it up those centuries ago. It never left even after I lost its graces the day I killed my dear Annaliese.”

Rainbow Dash’s wings opened in surprise. “You…you killed her?”

He continued to stare at the Element of War. A heavy silence gripped the throne room as he slowly rotated his foreleg. He slowly set his hoof down on the stone table. “My time under its power is over. Perhaps your friend will not succumb as I did. You say you come from a world of peace, Rainbow Dash. Perhaps that will be enough.” With grim resolution set into the large pegasus’ features, he placed his left foreleg at the top of the Element and slid the stone band down his hoof. As the band hit the surface, a resonant crash shook the table.

The mare jumped back in shock, catching herself in a low hover. Agmundr staggered back from the table, smacking the wall and leaning heavily against its smooth surface. The celeste pegasus shot over to him, pressing her side against his for support. He sat on his haunches, gently pushing her away. “T-take it.” His whole body was shaking. Rainbow’s attention turned to the table. With heavy reluctance, she approached Tyr’s Hoof. Rose eyes regarded its contours with unease and revulsion. She took a deep breath and set her right foreleg into the ringlet.

The hoofband shrunk to fit the mare’s slim limb and slid up to her fetlock. A dim vibration filled her hoof as she watched scraps of stone gouge themselves out of the table’s surface, skittering their way to her blue coat. She lifted her leg from the table, the small pieces of rock following the motion and slowly coating her entire hoof. The tiny pebbles felt like a swarm of ants as they moved into place. The gravel spread and became smooth, encasing the entire hoof in stone. From its surface, granite spikes elongated from five points along the front and side of her hoof, growing long and sharp in front of her face into a bladed claw. The new digits waggled through the air of their own accord. It reminded Rainbow of some form of blind rodent sniffing the air.

The mare was struck by a sense of vertigo. She felt a foreign presence on her mind, a hungry force tasting her thoughts. As fast as the presence had come it withdrew, a lingering sense of something she thought felt like disgust coloring its wake. The claws folded up to nubs along the sides of her new gauntlet. The gauntlet settled into a strange combination of a bear paw and an elephant foot in appearance. She gingerly stepped on her right foreleg and took some practice steps. The stone was imperceptibly thin at the base; each step felt completely natural.

“It, uh, doesn’t seem to like me very much,” she murmured, still feeling the distaste the Element of War left in her head. She turned her attention back to Agmundr. He was sitting placidly, bathed in golden mist. She cantered closer.

“It probably won’t ever like you.” The rough, sharp timbre had left his voice. A playful mirth of youth touched his words. He sounded cocky and carefree, a vibrant voice that could have belonged to any number of colts Rainbow knew in Flight School. She watched the haze of energy. The stallion’s coat was leaking motes from its surface to dissolve in the air around his body. The glow left him too bright to behold with any clarity.

“What’s happening to you, Vilmar?” She raised a hoof but couldn’t bring herself to penetrate the cloud.

“I don’t know, but it feels…good. Peaceful.” The mist grew in brightness to a blinding peak and in a flash it was gone.

The young colt Rainbow Dash had seen in glimpses stood before her. His coat a rich chestnut brown, his mane a sandy blonde of devil-may-care fly-away locks. His bright, cobalt eyes vibrating with energy and intensity over a smug but kind grin. Free of scars, pain, and granite, his delicate features exuded strength and confidence is gentle abundance. If Rainbow Dash had an older brother, this colt might very well be him. “You’re…you’re young again.”

Agmundr inspected himself idly. “This…is who I was before the nightmare started.” He flared his immaculate wings and ran a hoof along the primaries. “No, this is who I really am.” He glanced at the mare. “I can see the leaf now…” his gaze was above her head, his mouth open in awe. He smiled at the smaller pegasus, no cockiness just pure contentment. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

“For what?” He chuckled at her bewildered face.

“For giving me back myself. It’s been too long since I’ve felt like this and it would never have happened without you. Thank you.” The colt swept Rainbow Dash into an embrace.

As she patted his back awkwardly, she thought, ’Maybe hugs with Twilight are cool.’ “Don’t, uh, don’t mention it.” After several uncomfortable minutes, the former conqueror released her. She took a step back and rubbed her neck with a hoof. “So, before I go…I don’t suppose you know anything about the other Elements of Strife?”

His brow furrowed. “Not by that name, no…but the Leaf of the Bodhi was not the only magic I crossed paths with.” He stood and trotted to the table with a bounce in his step that had been missing. He eyed the empty glasses and bottle before placing them back on the tray and taking them over to the liquor cabinet. “My father was in a stalemate for most of my foalhood with a kingdom far to the south. The city-state of Bridleon was a lush and prosperous place that could not be attacked directly. All attempts to lay siege were fruitless; they seemed to have no need for outside trade to survive. There was much talk of bewitchment.”

He moved about the room, straightening and fluffing pillows, re-centering carpets, and knocking the dust from tapestries. “Shortly before I seized control all contact was lost with the military forces surrounding Bridleon. At the start of my rule I sought peace with the neighbors my father wished to conquer, so after the dust settled I sent emissaries to parlay an accord with them.” He paused in his work to address Rainbow Dash directly. The vibrancy had not left, but seriousness gripped his features. “The city was gone. In its place was a vast desert. My emissaries found one survivor; an old crone who would not speak of what happened. She only repeated a single phrase.” He re-approached, sitting on his haunches in front of the tiffany blue mare. “’The Breath of Fames.’”

Rainbow Dash screwed her eyes up. “Bridle-bon. Breath of Famish.”

“Wow, you are bad at names,” Agmundr Vilmar said with a chuckle. “Bridleon. Fames.” She repeated a few times until the words were firmly in her head.

Glaring at his amused chortles, Rainbow changed the subject. “Do you know where I can find the Breath of Fames?”

The colt shook his head. “I don’t even know if it’s a real thing, or just the ravings of an old mare. But whatever transformed that garden into a dune is a force to be reckoned with.”

The mare chewed her lip, slowly nodding. “Well…The Leaf led me here, so it should lead me on to the next place…Thank you, Agmundr,” the colt smiled fondly, “For listening to me.” She turned to leave, eyes sliding shut and mind opening, when a hoof caught her shoulder.

“Wait.” She turned back, the fresh face of the colt serious and pleading. “Before you go, I need to ask you to do something.” He drew in on himself, the true youth he now inhabited underlined by his timidity. Rainbow Dash thought he might have actually been younger than her. His wings and ears drooped. “…I’m still tethered to this castle. Until that’s broken, I cannot be free. It’s time for me to move on.” He made eye contact, his cobalt eyes bright. “Please, Rainbow Dash. Free me.”

She regarded the young colt quietly. “…Do you know what’s gonna happen if I do that? Your spirit might die. That’s what happened to Sid…he just became one with the Bodhi Tree. You might lose everything about yourself. Is that what you want?”

“…I don’t know. Maybe that will happen, maybe it won’t. The guru—Sid was it? I’d forgotten his name—was a Bodhist. I followed the warrior gods…” He grew distant and reflective. “When I first died, I shunned my warrior’s reward. I had the Hoof, even after death, and it drew me to recreate my empire here and populate it with my fallen enemies and greatest generals. Perhaps now I can find peace again. It has been so long since I flew through the skies.” His wings twitched with excitement, a smile on his lips as lost in reminiscence as his eyes. “To feel the wind in my mane and feathers again…and perhaps…” his vision re-sharpened, a contagious grin of warmth and joy spreading across his face, “Perhaps Anna is waiting for me.” The two pegasi shared a smile for several moments, the throne room never feeling more welcoming. Agmundr’s eyes darted away, a shyness overtaking him. “Do you have a special somepony waiting for you, Rainbow Dash?”

The mare blinked. “No, I don’t.” For some reason it felt like she was lying.

“Well,” he said, a bit of age re-entering his face making him look more like an older brother once again, “As one warrior pegasus to another, don’t let that pass you by. When you find somepony for you, grab ahold of them and never let go. I lived a long life full of a great many mistakes, Rainbow Dash…” his gaze sharpened, “Annaliese was not one of them.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and nodded. “I’ll remember that, Agmundr. So…are you ready?” He nodded slowly, a contented smile playing on his lips. She closed her eyes and opened her mind. The torrential force of his power had not dimmed and she was forced to look away. The corrupting red no longer snaked through his tremendous aura, but its obliterating white presence staggered her. Attempting to focus on something else, she caught sight of the Element of War on her hoof. The red tendrils danced away from her own energy. They would touch the outlying force of her hooves and jump back as if stung. She smiled grimly. It definitely didn’t like her. Good thing she didn’t like it.

She circumnavigated the undulating white, spotting thousands of strands flowing off into the surrounding castle. “There are a lot of connections here…” Agmundr nodded and closed his eyes. She watched as the wavering bands coalesced, growing thicker into a large cable of swirling magic. Rainbow gripped the thick band in her hooves. The sharp claws of the Element of War extended at her motion, perilously twitching over the woven connections. She pulled back her magical sight to see the stallion’s face. “I’m ready. Thanks again, Agmundr.”

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash. May the gods bless your journey.” He nodded gravely. Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the magic, extending her senses up and out, and swept Tyr’s hoof through the air. The glittering bands of white sundered in its wake.

Thousands of skeletons all over the mountain paused in their vigilant watch. Keening shrieks echoed across the peak from stone rings and magic dampeners as they exploded, a low hum reverberating into the throne room. The dead army toppled, red smoke spraying from sockets, moving no more. Stillness gripped the mountaintop.

As she dropped her enhanced sight, a low rumble overtook the throne room. She turned to Agmundr. Golden motes of light began to bleed from his being, his wings and limbs growing transparent and fading away entirely. The last thing to vanish in the swirling yellow mist were his blue eyes and smiling mouth. A flash of recognition passed through the cobalt orbs, focused on something the mare could not see. A faded gasp escaped his dissolving lips. The spiraling lights floated up and out of the vibrating walls, a spinning dance away from the cold mountain. A distant echo of an unanswered question followed in their wake, the reedy voice on the wind barely touching Rainbow’s ears.

“…Anna?”

The rumbling grew in intensity. The walls surrounding the mare began to fade, growing translucent and effervescent. Rainbow opened her mind. The specks of white making up the surface were coming unstuck from the stone, floating free and aimless through the air. The violet strand of her connection to Twilight stood stark in space, stretching away from the floating Leaf. For a moment, she was torn. Now was not the time to talk to the unicorn, but she had important information to convey. Making a quick decision, Rainbow concentrated and sent a psychic message down the strand. ’I’ll see if that worked later.’

Refocusing, she lowered down and braced herself. The tremors reached a fevered pitch, nearly tossing the mare from her hooves. The walls, cloths, and ceiling grew hazy and smoky, the floor under her became soupy and soft. She leapt into the air on her wings, spinning in place, taking in as much of the sights around her as she could. As the rumbling subsided, the running stone completely vaporized. The heavy black smoke caught a current in the rumbling storm and was whisked away from around Rainbow Dash. She followed its path turning around to regard the state of the peak.

The mountain was irrevocably scarred. An enormous chunk had been uprooted from its face, a slim, narrow outcropping of granite supporting the peak. The overhang was precariously large, the whole top of the mountain threatening to tumble. The black smoke of the dissolved keep dissipated into the storm, a haze of red tinting the lightning storm a threatening orange.

She let out a shaky laugh. Weeks of stress melted from her mind, the chuckles growing in volume. All at once it became hysterical, tears streaming down her cheeks. The mania left her slowly, her body quaking as she flew in lopsided circles. “It’s over,” she whispered. “Oh thank Celestia, it’s over.” She took in a shuddering gasp, finding calm in the endless turmoil of her mind with ease. “Okay…Time to find the Breath of Fames. Whatever that is.” Hovering in mid-air, Rainbow Dash opened her senses. A pull on her mind drew her attention, much like the Element of War did from the Bodhi Tree. A tunnel at the base of the former keep, burrowing deep into the mountain stood in sharp relief to the lazy motes of magic making up the rest of the landscape.

She groaned. “Underground? Figures.” A slow, grinding rumble filled the air. The peak was collapsing, threatening to bury her path under countless tons of rock. She groaned again.

Rainbow Dash inhaled sharply and beat her powerful wings. Five beats she was faster than the speed of sound. Ten beats and the cone of air and magic pressure surrounding her began to narrow. Twenty more and she hit mach five, her flight path angled up at the scoured roof of the crevice that housed Agmundr Vilmar’s second kingdom. Her sonic rainboom shook the sparse granite holding the peak in place. In the multicolored shockwave the mountain gave way, a slow fall to fill in the excised castle. Rainbow reached the roof directly in the center and turned on a point, her hooves clacking against its surface angled up and away from the cave entrance. A concussive blast ruptured the air as the gathered force of her rainboom collected at the single point and exploded up and back. The magic barreled through the rock, the terrible vibrations shaking the mountaintop apart in an eruption of boulders. From the dust-spraying fissures, a rainbow of smoke churned from the ruined peak. The shattered hunks fled from the blast, showering down the back of the mountain in a tumbling avalanche, disappearing in the orange storm. A mushroom cloud of colors hung over the new, shorter summit.

The sky blue pegasus alighted gently next to the mouth of the tunnel. Her extrasensory vision followed the narrow passageway far into the heart of the mountain. A set of gentle switchbacks raced down the rocky interior, growing steadily longer and wider as the bore of the peak expanded. At the point where her ability to see distinctly gave way to uncertainty, the paths forked and wandered. She gently traced a hoof over the smooth, pink skin above and below her eye. “Not gonna happen this time.”

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and galloped into the darkness.

“So what’s the plan, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie had finished a stack of flapjacks and was pouring out another batch of batter on the griddle. The mares had eaten in silence for a while, the food dispelling a lingering unease from the atmosphere.

“Well…we don’t know what the next Element of Strife is yet. Rainbow hasn’t found out, so we’re at loose ends until she does. I think we should head to the Crystal Empire. Shining and Cadance should be there, and we can relax until Rainbow gets back to us.”

“That sounds mighty fine, Sugarcube…How is RD doing, by the by?” The orange mare scraped her plate clean, a piercing eye leveled at the lavender mare.

“Well…she’s fine.” The unicorn’s eyes darted around the room.

“Twilight.” She shrunk from Applejack’s gaze, feeling like a caught animal. “You’ve been keepin’ us in the dark on what Dash’s been up to for a while now, don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

She sighed heavily, looking down. “I’m sorry, girls. I didn’t want you to worry. Rainbow Dash has been…” She set her plate down and caught each of her friend’s eyes in turn, her expression set and serious. “She’s being held prisoner by Agmundr Vilmar.” The four gasped in unison. “She’s been forced to fight in gladiatorial matches. So far she’s made it through, a little worse for wear…” she shuddered involuntarily, the image of a darkened, empty rose-colored eye passing through her mind, “…but she’s okay. We talked last night and she has a plan. We’ll hopefully hear from her soon.”

The circle nodded solemnly, any lingering morsels forgotten, the new batch abandoned to darken past edibility. They slowly dragged themselves to their hooves and cleaned up the remnants of their breakfast. Twilight snuffed the fire in a purple flash of magic and the others began to pack up the rest of their belongings. The grim determination that had stolen over Fluttershy did not leave; her usual silence taking on a new meaning and casting a pall over the party. Once everything was packed, they gave one last look around the darkened hall and headed out of the castle.

Halfway down the switchbacks, Rainbow Dash’s voice invaded Twilight’s mind. Her tones echoed hollowly, as if shouted a great distance down a narrow pipe. “Breath of Fames. Bridleon. Take a break in the Crystal Empire. It’s over, I’m okay. Busy now, talk soon. Letters tonight. Miss you.” The unicorn felt dizzy and shook her head.

“You alright, Twi’?” She turned and smiled at Applejack.

“Yeah, Rainbow Dash just learned a new trick, I guess.” She shook her head again. “She said she’s okay.”

“Splendid news!” Rarity gripped the orange mare’s shoulders, a wide grin on her face. A genuine smile broke out on Fluttershy’s face and she hugged Pinkie Pie, despite the party pony’s frantic leaps threatening to send them both plummeting down the side of the cliff. A sense of weightlessness entered their steps as they continued down the mountainside. “Did she say where we’re off to next?”

“Yes,” Twilight beamed, “To the Crystal Empire to take a break.” A rush of gratitude propelled them down the path and back towards Mount Everestria. An idle chatter gripped the group, all five mares prepared for the mental reprieve of some relaxation. The largest transformation was in the yellow pegasus. She melted back into an idle contentment seamlessly. Twilight kept her worries to herself; she reasoned the mare was probably still troubled over what happened but was striving to move past it. The excited buzzing surrounding her and the internalized quiet worry kept the librarian distracted on the surface, her subconscious left to puzzle over why Rainbow Dash bothered to say she missed her if she was in such a hurry.

Celestia’s sun moved inexorably across the sky. Clear weather, high spirits, and a few short range group teleports brought the mares to the outskirts of the Crystal Empire by nightfall. A large wooden sign had been hastily erected along the path between the train station and the glittering city, just as snow broke way for perpetual spring. Twilight trotted ahead and read the sloppy letters aloud by the glow of her horn.

“’Equestria’s Army wants you to join the military,’” she recited, the large block print taking up most of the post. She frowned in thought and nodded. Rumors of a push for recruitment had been drifting through Ponyville before they had set out the previous week. She scanned lower on the sign. Newer, smaller letters were squeezed in below the main text. Twilight squinted and her voice grew quiet as she read on, “’Mandatory draft now in place...Compliance is required…under penalty of…Prison?!’”

Author's Note

Nine weeks of Thursday updates brings us here: the end of Coming Back Part One: War.

Now WOULD be a good time to take a breather, but to heck with that! Tune in next week as we launch into Part Two of the story.

Chapter 10

The five mares cantered slowly into the Crystal Empire, sloughing off their coats and scarves and stowing them away in their saddlebags as the bitter cold gave way to the warmth and glow of the magical city. The warmth did not touch their moods as they contemplated the foreboding missive.

“A military draft. Never thought I’d see the day.” Applejack shook her head sadly. A white hoof settled on her shoulder and she smiled at Rarity. “I reckon it makes sense, though. Princess Celestia can’t put all her eggs in our basket.”

“That’s true,” Twilight mused, rubbing her chin with a hoof, “We can only hope we get Rainbow Dash back in time and honestly there’s no guarantee that having her back will actually be helpful.”

“Of course it’ll be helpful, silly! Then the Elements of Harmony will work again!” Pinkie Pie said with a giggle, her mirth dying prematurely when she caught sight of the quiet contemplation on the purple mare’s face.

“Will they though? The Elements broke with Rainbow Dash’s death, but we don’t know that her being alive again is going to fix them.” Twilight slowed in her steps, lost in thought. She glanced around when she found her friends had stopped a few paces in front and were watching her expectantly. She hurried to rejoin the group. “All we really know about what we’re doing is that Rainbow will be here and so will the Elements of Strife.”

Rarity frowned in thought. She glanced around at her friends, biting her lip. “I…hate to be the one to bring this up, but…we know our dear Rainbow bears one of the Elements of Strife…” her gaze settled on Fluttershy, who had grown quiet and introspective since entering the warmth of the Empire, “And by all appearances the Element of War picked you. Perhaps it will be the same for the other Elements?”

As Fluttershy opened her mouth Twilight was quick to halt the flow of the conversation. “That is a working theory, but without solid evidence that’s all it is. We cannot operate under the assumption that Fluttershy bears the Element of War, nor that the rest of us are to bear the other Elements of Strife.” She eyed the yellow mare closely while she spoke, pleased to see her friend’s clenched shoulders visibly loosen at her words. “For now, all we’re doing is collecting.”

As they approached the outlying buildings of the city, two pegasi standing rigidly at attention came into view, positioned on either side of the road. Both wore midnight blue armor adorned with silver crescents. The stallion on the left cleared his throat. “Halt.”

The mares stopped their forward progression, apprehension steeling over them. “Evening sirs,” Twilight chimed as brightly as she could muster, cantering towards the pony, “We’re here to visit Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.”

“Papers.” The gruff voice of the guard offered no compassion, his stock position not wavering. Twilight stopped short in her approach, swallowing heavily.

“Papers? What’re they talkin’ about, Twi’?” Applejack cantered slowly next to the purple unicorn, a bewildered eyebrow raised. The other three joined them, lining the narrow road.

“No papers? It is a crime for of age ponies to be without either conscription orders or a letter of dismissal.” The pegasus broke his statuesque façade to eye his opposite number on the right side of the road. “We might have some draft dodgers here, Tusk.” Tusk grunted, beginning to stand.

“Wait, hold on.” Twilight quickly rummaged through her saddlebag, floating five bundled sheets of parchment out in a gentle purple glow. “What about these?”

She levitated the sheets in front of the guard where he could read them. After scanning through the first his expression softened. “Agents of Equestria? That’s Princess Celestia’s seal.... Alright, Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor are at the Crystal Palace.” The two pegasi saluted sharply and resumed their stoic vigil. Twilight returned the letters to her saddlebag and the five mares trotted quickly into the city, unease blanketing them.

“This is rather unsettling. I’ve never felt so mistrusted in my life, not even from guards when visiting the royal palace.” Rarity’s white brow was fraught with worry. Twilight grunted, nodding slightly and scowling.

“Equestria is preparing for war. The threat of changeling invasion was the closest we’ve been to actual wartime in recent history. From what I’ve read about times of conflict…this is just the beginning.” Twilight shuddered, her discomfort infectiously eliciting similar reactions from her friends.

“Oh, why’d this have to happen? It’s not fair.” Pinkie pouted.

“Life isn’t fair.” There was no cruelty in Fluttershy’s voice, just a hardened, bitter edge. Her simple declaration shocked everyone to silence and they continued the rest of their trek to the palace without speaking. The deserted city didn’t improve their mood; a lifelessness that forcefully reminded them of their first visit suffocating the atmosphere. They hurried into the castle.

The mares found Shining Armor and Princess Cadance in the dining hall, talking quietly. The walls and floor, like the rest of the castle, were made of polished crystal that twinkled brightly in the light of the chandeliers. The married couple was seated at the long, cut stone table. A few attending crystal pony stallions in the same midnight blue armor as the border guards stood quietly against the walls. Twilight’s mood instantly brightened. “Shining! Cadance!”

Turning in surprise, a smile broke across the white unicorn’s strong features. “Twilee! What are you doing here?”

Cadance leapt out of her seat at the sight of the purple mare and galloped over, her steps transforming to a prance halfway across the room. Twilight joined her, their singsong voices intertwining. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They collapsed into giggles. Applejack felt a pang of loss as the image of Rainbow Dash rolling her eyes flashed across her mind, but quickly dismissed it.

“It’s nice to see you Twilight! What brings you and your friends here?” Cadance cantered back to the table, waving a hoof at an attending stallion. “Could you tell the kitchen to add five more?” The pony grunted in affirmation, leaving through a side door as the pink alicorn reclaimed her seat.

The five mares gathered around the table, thankful to get off their hooves after the long day of hiking. “Well, we were just at the ruins of Granitekeep. It, uh, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience and we thought we’d take a day or two to recover here before we set off again.”

Twilight watched her brother exchange a confused look with his wife. “You girls are welcome to stay in the castle until you set off again. I’m sorry, but I gotta ask…how’d you five manage to get out of being drafted? Very, very few dismissals have been given for healthy ponies.” Cadance’s mouth was pulled down in a small frown, a furtive glance cast around the table.

Twilight’s brow knit. “Well, to be honest there wasn’t a draft when we left Ponyville, so technically we never had the opportunity to be drafted.” Shining’s cobalt eyes widened. “But we’ve been declared political agents of Equestria, so we’re all exempt.” The couple blinked, surprise mixing into the confusion. The lavender mare frowned. “…This is all rather sudden, isn’t it? When we left home, there were only rumors of increased recruitment. It’s only been a week…”

“Well, Twilee, this has been coming down for a while now…But I guess you weren’t really a part of the debates.” The white stallion scratched his chin with a hoof, his confusion giving way to confidence. “The princesses have been going back and forth since about a week after the first bull arrived.” The five mares exchanged confused glances. Shining ran a hoof through his blue mane. “The last standing army Equestria had was a thousand years ago, since then there’s only been the royal guard. Before Nightmare Moon, the army had been under Princess Luna. Princess Celestia was worried helming the army might make Princess Luna fall back into…bad habits.”

Twilight chewed her lip. “I suppose I can see where the princess is coming from, but Nightmare Moon wasn’t really Princess Luna and she was corrupted by jealousy, not power.”

Shining Armor nodded gently. “That was Luna’s argument. Princess Celestia was also worried about her lack of familiarity with modern Equestria, but…well, most agreed that would be an asset.” He smiled sadly at his sister’s questioning face. “Princess Celestia has ruled over a peaceful country for a thousand years. Wartime is a relic for her. Princess Luna was not really aware of her time as Nightmare Moon, so in a lot of ways the time before Celestia’s rule is a recent memory for her. That’s something most of the advisors agreed would be advantageous in preparing for war.”

“So it was decided Princess Luna would be in charge of the military?”

“Yes, about six days ago. I’m still not sure exactly what happened; Princess Celestia had been rather adamant, but something changed her mind. That meeting, she seemed…spooked.”

The conversation was interrupted by several attending ponies delivering their meal of steamed vegetables. They ate in silence for several minutes, the group of friends relishing a second hot meal and letting the aches of travel ease off. Levitating a fork to her mouth, Twilight paused and frowned. “So Shining…if everypony’s being drafted, what about you and Cadance?”

His chewing slowed, a grimace crossing his strong features. Swallowing, he answered softly. “Well, Twilight…The Royal Guard is already part of the Equestrian military. I was made an officer before the draft started and as part of the royalty, Cadance has been involved since the start, too.” He read his sibling’s expression carefully, watching the deliberately controlled neutrality spread across her face. “We’re only here in the Crystal Empire for a few days to oversee the transition of governance and then we’re going to Canterlot.”

Twilight’s voice was flat and even. “I see…” She inhaled slowly. “That makes sense…I don’t know why I’d think it would be different.” She smiled wanly at her brother before leaning over and hugging him around his strong neck. “You be careful, BBBFF.” Shining hugged her back, nodding against her shoulder. She sat back and resumed dinner, a composed smile on her lips. Shining exchanged a relieved glance with Cadance before levitating his fork back to his mouth. Twilight’s mind was a battleground of terror for her brother, the single most important stallion in her heart, but she kept it hidden; she was putting herself in as much, if not more, danger than he was and it was not her place to try and stop him. Panicking would have only hurt him, so she bottled it up. No one caught the deception; the only pony who would have been able to see through her manufactured calm was currently dead.

“So where are you five headed off to, Twilee?” Shining wiped his muzzle with a napkin. Their dinner plates had been cleared and cups of coffee had taken their place. The purple unicorn nervously eyed Pinkie Pie as she guzzled her mug.

“Yeah, Twilight. You didn’t say where we’re going next, just that we’re taking a break here.” The pink mare waved a hoof at the white stallion standing ready by the wall. Twilight emphatically mouthed ‘decaf’ when Pinkie’s back was turned and sighed in relief when she got a slight nod in response.

“Well, what Rainbow said was—”

“What Rainbow said? As in Rainbow Dash?” Shining Armor’s wide eyes loomed into view as he bent over the table. “But, we were at her funeral!” Twilight rubbed her forehead with a hoof.

“Ugh, did I really not tell my own brother about this? I’ve lost the right to tease you about the whole getting-married thing, haven’t I?” She kneaded her temples in small circles and filled in the couple on the events of the past few weeks. Shining Armor did not hide his fear as well as his sister had hidden hers. Finishing the retelling, Twilight addressed the whole group. “So Rainbow said the next Element is called the Breath of Fames and that it was in Bridleon.”

“Bridleon? I don’t believe I’ve heard of that place.” Rarity tapped her chin, lips pursed.

Twilight smirked. “That’s because Bridleon hasn’t been around for about fifteen-hundred years. It was a collection of cities in the southern end of the San Palomino Desert. The only thing that’s left anywhere near Bridleon is Saddle Arabia, and that’s quite a bit to the east.”

“So we’ve gotta go to the middle of a desert? Ain’t that a touch dangerous?” Applejack frowned, glancing at Rarity.

“We can take a train into Saddle Arabia, buy supplies, and go from there. Ponies have crossed deserts before; I packed some books on the area and desert travel in general. Shouldn’t be any more difficult than getting to Granitekeep from the train, it’ll just take a little longer.” Twilight nodded sharply, a smile on her face.

“I’m not sure it’s the travel that’s gonna be dangerous, Twilee.” The white stallion’s eyes were drawn together, a slight tremble in his lower lip. “That wolf attack was a trap. All of these Elements of Strife might be trapped.”

The lavender mare sighed. “I know that, Shining. We can’t be sure that there will be traps, but to pretend that it can’t happen again would be foolish.” She drooped in her chair, her shoulders sagging. “And on top of that, I’ve never heard of the Breath of Fames. I remember the name Fames, but I can’t place it.”

Applejack cleared her throat. “What Element is it, anyway? Tyr’s Hoof was the Element of War and we had to fight somethin’, might be the same for this Breath stuff.”

“Rainbow Dash didn’t say. She might not know; from what I’ve gathered talking to her, not all of the Element bearers were even aware of a connection between the Elements of Strife. We’re kind of in the dark right now, but I brought a lot of books.”

Shining Armor smiled ruefully. “Why am I not surprised?” A wave of giggles passed over the table. “I’m glad I got to see you, Twilight.” He ruffled her indigo mane, a small smile on his face. “You’ve grown up so much. I just know you’re gonna do great things. Well, greater things.”

Twilight threw her hooves around his neck. “You’ll do great things too, and you’ll always be my BBBFF.”

“Always.”

Conversation shifted to more light-hearted topics. As the evening wore on, all five were talking and laughing with their hosts. When the hour grew late enough, they were shown to guest suites, reflections of the lavish rooms in the castle in Canterlot rendered in crystal. Glad to be on actual beds again instead of sleeping bags, all five mares retired gratefully. Lying under the sheets, Twilight hugged a pillow to her chest with a smile on her lips. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, her thoughts on a cyan pegasus she hoped to see.

Rainbow Dash’s galloping hoofbeats echoed through the dark tunnel, the sharp reports bounding up and down the narrow passage; every fourth clack of her hooves a solid discharge of stone against stone. She descended the switchback tunnels quickly, her augmented vision guiding the way. As the bore of the tunnel widened she took to the air on straight stretches, racing down into the heart of the mountain.

The tiffany blue pegasus kept her enhanced sight extended as she plunged. The smooth hairpin turns were nearing an end, leading to more natural winding tunnels in a rapidly diminishing number of levels. As she grew closer, she tried to press her perception further on the path, but clarity remained elusive. A slight frown on her lips, she landed sideways against the end of a straight tunnel and pushed off swiftly, rocketing down the next leg. Eventually her fast descent ended. Flaring her wings wide, she gently alighted in front of the forked passage.

“Hmm…” She mused, her magical senses probing both choices in front of her. The path to the right extended straight ahead an additional thirty feet before banking down and to the left. The leftward tunnel went ten feet before a straight drop. Try as she might, Rainbow Dash could not perceive past the turns in either choice. Where before she felt a beckoning pull towards the next Element of Strife across a vast distance, now she felt nothing. Her ability to probe was reduced to being able to see where she was going in the dark. “Well…Eeenie meenie minie moe.” Shrugging her shoulders, the blue mare picked the right path.

The tunnels became irregular, meandering in dips and twists with many splits. Sometimes they broke way into small caverns, others were narrow enough she had to squeeze through, forcing into the next segment with a grunt. Many paths ended abruptly. She backtracked and tried new directions, the twisting labyrinth of tunnels a jumble of choices, none of which stood out as the better option. With a deepening frown, the pegasus’ concern of getting lost grew from unease to dread.

At a point where she thought she was making some real progress, she climbed an incline and found herself back where she started at the initial fork. She sighed and leaned against the smooth stone wall, her wings drooping.

With her senses constantly extended simply to see, it was immediately apparent when the thin purple band of magic brightened and grew sharp. ’Twilight must’ve fallen asleep.’ The mare straightened, a relieved smile on her face. She sat and crossed her hindlegs in front of the two passageways and traced the filament up to Twilight.

The two mares appeared in the nothingness. “Hey, Twi’. D’ja get my message?” The pegasus stood and stretched her back, a pleased smirk on her lips. Twilight’s eyes were drawn to the Element of War, the stone shoe encasing the pony’s right forehoof before her attention returned to Rainbow’s beaming face.

“Hi Rainbow. And yes, I did hear you. Oh, I’m so glad your plan worked; you look so much happier.” A sense of relaxation surrounded the sky blue mare. A portion of her cocky bravado that had been absent in Twilight’s recent interactions with her friend had returned and she couldn’t help but smile fondly. “Tell me what happened!” Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest and launched into the tale, a small, springing strut in her pacing steps. Her swagger had returned with the threat behind her, but Twilight noticed a marked change from older memories of the pegasus. She was playful in detailing her brush with violent asphyxiation, but there was no air of bragging as she described her escape. When she discussed Agmundr and the change he underwent from paranoid to receptive she slowed the pace of her recantation and was thoughtful, more focused on accuracy than getting through the story. The unicorn remembered many stories, even simple jokes the brash pegasus had ruined just by rushing through and skimming over crucial details. It was a small change, but it lightened the lavender mare’s spirit.

Throughout Rainbow’s retelling, Twilight’s attention was consistently drawn to the healed scar. It looked even better on the mare than she had imagined it would. A bloom of confusion entered the unicorn’s mind when she discovered she was chewing on her bottom lip. Before she could really think about it, the pegasus grew somber and redrew her focus.

“So I asked him what’d changed, you know? Why’d he decide to talk after bein’ happy to just throw bones at me for a while. He told me…he knew what happened with you girls and that wolf.” The mare sighed, a weariness settling back on her shoulders as she sat. “It, uh, wasn’t an accident that Fluttershy was the one who put the thing down.” Magenta eyes locked with violet. “The wolf could only be killed by someone worthy of bearing the hoof. Fluttershy is the new bearer.”

A heavy silence gripped the void as the two friends stared into each other’s eyes, mourning in silence. Twilight shook her head slowly and asked in a quiet voice, “So then what happened?”

Rainbow remained seated, going over the dictator’s fall from grace in life and his connection to the Bodhisattva. Part of Twilight was devastated that she had no way of interviewing the stallion; much of the details surrounding his life had been lost and it was fascinating to hear about. She listened carefully as the pegasus completed her tale, bringing the purple mare up to the present.

“Wow.” As it escaped her lips, Twilight was expecting a smirk or a chuckle from her friend. Instead, she only nodded in agreement.

“So that’s what happened. Now I’m goin’ through some tunnels, but I can’t tell which way is the right way and they’re all confusing and dead-end a lot. I kinda got lost and ended up back at the start.” She smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck with a hoof. “Any advice?”

“Yes, actually. When you’re searching cave systems or old ruins, always go the same direction and backtrack when you hit a dead-end. So if you just take the right-most tunnel, back up and take the next rightmost when you can’t go any further, and so on, eventually you’ll explore every path possible.” The unicorn grinned at Rainbow’s mystified expression. “It’s how we went through the castle at Granitekeep, although that place was purposefully jumbled up to not make sense.”

“Twilight…you are a lifesaver, you know that?” The unicorn giggled. “Well that’s gonna save me a lot of headaches…so what’s the Breath of Fames, anyway? Agmundr didn’t really know.”

Twilight sighed, brushing a hoof across her bangs and looking down. “I’m not sure. I’ve been reading a lot of history books for different cultures from two thousand years ago, but there hasn’t been anything about the Breath of Fames. I can’t put my hoof on it, but I think I’ve heard the name Fames somewhere…” She tapped her chin slowly. “…I know about Bridleon, though. Did Agmundr say where in Bridleon?”

The mare crossed her forelegs, her extended wings fluttering idly. “No, just a big city called Bridleon. He said his dad was trying to take it over, but that they couldn’t invade and sieging it didn’t do anything either.” Her brow furrowed as she settled back into a sitting position. “Then somethin’ big happened, right before he took power. When he sent some ponies to maybe work out a peace agreement, the whole place was turned into a desert. They found an old mare who would only say ‘Breath of Fames,’ so he didn’t even know if it’s a real thing.”

“Interesting. That’ll make it a little easier to look things up, hopefully.” The celeste pegasus grinned. “Nothing quite so exciting’s happening on our end. We got to the Crystal Empire…there’s a draft now; everypony’s preparing for war. I got to see Shining and Cadance…” After a pause she shrugged.

Rainbow smirked. “Calm and quiet is good. Believe me; I’d much rather have a day like that instead of all this skelepony fighting.”

The unicorn giggled, hiding her mouth behind a hoof. “Fair point.”

“So how about those letters? I know it’s probably been weeks now since everypony wrote them; just never had the time ya know?” As the lavender unicorn opened her mouth, Rainbow Dash interrupted her. “How long’s it been now, anyway? It was six weeks when I got the leaf…”

Twilight cleared her throat. “Sixty days now and it’s night-time. Tomorrow’s the sixty-first.”

The pegasus nodded. “That’s about what I thought it was, but it’s hard to keep track when there isn’t a sun and you don’t need to sleep or eat, you know?” The purple mare chuckled. “So whose letter should we do first?”

“Well, Applejack’s letter was asking a lot of advice about Rarity and she quietly asked me this evening to give her a chance to write a new one.” The pair shared a none-so-innocent smirk. “She did say to tell you, ‘Howdy, RD, should have listened to you months ago. Miss you, featherbrain.’”

The sky blue pegasus shook her head chuckling. “Well, tell her I said I’m always right and she should listen to me more often.”

Twilight’s smile grew thin and she looked away. “…And Fluttershy said she wanted to write a new one, too. She said to thank you for what you said the other night and that she misses you.”

“Well, I miss them, too. I miss all of you girls.” She smiled gently, her gaze turning inward. “It’s been really good to see you like this, Twi’. I don’t know that I could’ve made it through all of this without you.” She swept the unicorn into a hug. Nuzzling the side of Twilight’s face, she whispered, “You’re such an awesome friend, Twi’.”

Twilight returned the hug gently, a small smile pressed into the greens, blues, and purples of fly-away mane. The hug went on longer than normal for such a gesture, but when it ended both ponies were left with the feeling that it was too brief. Rainbow Dash grinned at the unicorn and cleared her throat quietly. “So how about Rarity and Pinkie Pie?”

“Okay. Let’s do Rarity first.” Twilight straightened, her face growing serious and focused as she recited the memorized letter.

“Dearest Rainbow Dash,

“After your passing, I had a realization. Of all our friends, you are the one I’ve known the least about and have spent the least amount of time with. It is not particularly surprising; you would agree with me that neither of us have much in common I would think. Me with my boutique and you with your weather duties and training often limited us to seeing each other as part of a group rather than individually. I always assumed we would have the chance to build our friendship further given time. Time used to be such an accepted luxury. It was with a heavy heart that I had this realization about us. You are not a pony whose friendship should be treated idly. I treasure the friendships I have forged in our little assemblage; you girls are as much family to me as my actual blood relations.

“I’m pleased beyond words to know you will be returning to us soon. Your leaving has left a hole with tremendous horseshoes to fill and conspiratorially I had believed it would have never be filled without you. I hope we may have the chance to rectify the lack of interaction between us, if only in the form of the occasional lunch that’s just the two of us. Perhaps you could regale me of stories about Cloudsdale? Our visit there was brief, but the city was fascinating and I can be a very good listener. I promise that I will not ask you to model any dresses for our one on one time.

“With fond regards,

Rarity.”

Rainbow Dash sat quietly through the letter. She had closed her eyes and imagined the words coming from the white unicorn; Twilight’s gentle voice replaced by Rarity’s haughty diction. A wide grin on her face, she spoke softly, “I’m glad you thought of this, Twilight.” The unicorn’s smile was small and pleased. “So, uh, how should I answer?” The pegasus’ brow furrowed. “Should I just tell you what I wanna say, or…”

“You could pretend you’re writing a letter yourself. I’ll memorize it and ‘read’ it back to them later.”

Frowning in thought, the blue mare spoke slowly and carefully.

“Dear Rarity,

“It did seem like we’d have all the time in Equestria, didn’t it? I think it was a mistake how little we saw each other before all this happened and you can count on me to fix that. And it might not look it, but we got stuff in common besides a group of the same friends. Both of us are awesome at what we do and we’re proud of what talents we have and put a lot of effort into everything we do. Everything we’ve got we’ve earned with sweat. And just because we have different tastes doesn’t mean we both don’t care about lookin’ good. You’re an awesome friend Rarity and I’d like to know more about you, too. And I’m becoming a better listener just recently.

“Congrats on you and AJ. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already told you what with her being so awful at lying, but she’s been crushing on you pretty hard for a few months. I’m happy for both of you, but try to keep the PDAs in check, alright?

“Your friend,

“Rainbow Dash.

“How’d that sound, Twi’?”

Twilight stayed silent for a few moments, her quick mind committing the message carefully. When she had it down, she opened her eyes. “That sounded perfect. A little longer than I expected from you, but you keep surprising me Rainbow.”

Her blue ears fell flat on her head. “Oh…did you get it all? I can try again and not ramble so much.”

Twilight giggled. “I got it all. It was the perfect length I think.” Rainbow grinned, running a hoof through her mane. “Ready for Pinkie Pie?” At the mare’s nod, the unicorn sat up straight and began her narration. Rainbow Dash leapt into the air and began flying in lazy circles upside down, her forehooves crossed behind her head in a relaxed recline.

“Dear Dashie,

“Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I get to see you again! It hasn’t been the same in Ponyville without you. It’s so hard when things change and you don’t want them to, but I guess that’s always what happens, huh?

“Everypony was heartbroken over you, Dashie. We’ve been through so much together and to think you wouldn’t be around anymore was too much. It hurt all of us, but especially Twilight. Hey, Twilight’s the one who’s gonna read this to you, isn’t she? Hi! I’m Twilight Sparkle, I like books and magic and Rainbow Dash is my bestest friend and I got so crazy after she died I was practically mooing!” Rainbow Dash was doing her best to stifle laughter, still flying in slow loops. Twilight’s voice quivered slightly, her muzzle bright red, but she promised she’d read her friend’s letters exactly. In a way it was comforting to be on the receiving end of a Pinkie Pie-Rainbow Dash prank.

“Sorry, Twilight. Anyway, Dashie, I have a feeling something really good is gonna happen to you soon. Not gonna say it’s Pinkie Sense, but if I’m seeing things right it might as well be. When it happens, don’t worry what anypony else thinks. We’re all gonna be happy—especially Twilight, remember that, too!—so just go with it! I know you will anyway. Miss you bunches and bunches.

“Before you left you said, ‘I love you all.’ Nopony had a chance to say we all love you, too.” Rainbow stopped her lazy recline, landing abruptly. Twilight swallowed hard, her voice wavering with emotion. She cleared her throat to continue.

“With love,

“Pinkie Pie.”

It took a few tries for Rainbow Dash to get her throat to work. “That Pinkie Pie…” She shook her head. “How can she be so random and then choke me up like that? That mare’s got some freaky powers.” She ran a hoof through her mane, blinking rapidly.

Twilight’s smile was small and pained. She spoke barely above a whisper. “She was right, you know. About everything. About how hurt we all were and,” she swallowed again, her throat thick and sluggish, “And how hurt I was. If you hadn’t found a way to talk to me…” She grimaced, her eyes clenched tight as she shook her head.

“Hey…” A tiffany blue hoof caught Twilight’s face and gently brought her violet eyes to bear on rose. “It’s okay. Don’t cry, Twilight. When I died…” her eyes lost focus, drifting into memory, “My entire body wanted to move on. Every second I fought it hurt. But I couldn’t give in to it. I couldn’t leave you girls, not then not ever.” The purple unicorn sniffled and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash’s mane. She returned the hug. “I’m sorry this happened Twi’. I don’t wanna see you sad. Please don’t be sad.”

“I’m not sad,” she breathed, nuzzling Rainbow’s face gently, “I’m not sad because you’re here now. You’re here now and soon you’ll be back with all of us again.” The two mares sat in silence, holding each other. The close proximity was intoxicating; a reprieve from the aches of the past two months both ponies desperately needed. Reluctantly, they broke the embrace, sitting in the void and regarding each other fondly.

“…What do you think Pinkie meant about all that ‘good thing happening’ stuff?”

Twilight shrugged, a smile entering her face. “You know Pinkie Pie. Sometimes she’s like talking to a foal, other times she’s so mysterious and perceptive it’s like receiving a riddle from the princess. I have a feeling this is one of those second times.” The pegasus grinned, shaking her head. “And it’s really weird calling you ‘Dashie,’ by the way.”

Rainbow chuckled. “It was weird hearing you say it.”

“Think I’ll stick with ‘Rainbow.’” They shared a laugh, the lingering melancholy hanging over the pair lessening.

As the laughter died away, the blue pegasus was left grinning at Twilight. “You ready for my letter back?” After a brief nod, she straightened, growing deliberate and thoughtful in her speech.

“Dear Pinkie Pie,

“I really needed that laugh. Twilight mooing. Priceless.” She grinned at the unicorn, who was sitting with a very reserved and dignified air that was only partially ruined by sticking her tongue out at the pegasus.

“I’m sorry I’ve not been there for everypony, but I’ll be back as soon as I can. You girls hang in there. As for this good thing that’s supposed to happen, I once again have no idea what you’re talking about. Hope you’re right though; I could use all the good news I can get.

“And it’s okay no one had the chance to say anything; I already knew.

“Love,

“Rainbow Dash. How was that, Twi’?”

“Perfect, Rainbow.” Twilight grinned as she finished trapping the words in her mind. After a few minutes she broke the silence. “While we’re doing this, do you wanna keep going? I know I don’t have letters for the other two, but…”

“Hey, if you can memorize what I’m saying I can keep talking. How ‘bout AJ? A real letter, I mean.” At Twilight’s smile she began.

“Dear Applejack,

“I know you’re writing a new letter since you finally got off your orange rump and did somethin’ about Rarity, but I miss teasing you and this is the perfect excuse. Just goes to show that I’m always right and you should listen to me more often. You better not get all prissy, though. Next Iron Pony, you are so eating my dust and I don’t wanna hear about how it messed up your mane, too.

“Seriously, though, I’m really happy for you two. Rarity woulda been crazy to turn you down. With everything that’s happened and all the stuff I’ve done here, it’s strange to hear about romance and that sorta junk. But it’s a good kind of strange. It means things didn’t end. Things are gonna be okay, you know? Celestia keeps raising the sun, pegasi keep making the clouds, and the farmpony gets the mare. I can’t wait to get back to you girls, not because things will go back to the way they were, but because of what’s different now. It’s like I’m on a vacation. I’m gone for a while, but when I get back we have a chance to catch up all over again. Maybe that’s corny, but I’m so excited to do that with you, AJ.

“You be sure to save a barrel of the good cider for me, okay? I had a shot of two-thousand-year-old whiskey and your stuff’s the only thing that’s gonna get the taste outta my mouth.

Until then Fruitflank,

Rainbow Dash.”

Twilight couldn’t control the smile on her face as she memorized Rainbow Dash’s words. “This is fun, Rainbow.” The pegasus chuckled, grinning back. The happiness slowly slid off of the unicorn’s face as she continued speaking. “…Do you want to say something now for Fluttershy?” Their twin expressions were somber. The pegasus slowly nodded.

“You’re gonna tell her she’s the bearer, right? Tell her what I’ve gotta say afterwards, ok?” At a nod, she cleared her throat. The words came even slower to her; dragged from her throat with strained effort.

“Dear Fluttershy,

“I’m sorry this happened. You’re my oldest friend and I’ve always been there through thick and thin for you and it hurts to not be there now. I know you’re a grown mare and don’t need my protection, but I would’ve given anything to protect you from this. But the truth is I couldn’t even if I was there; you were the only one that could save our friends. I’m the bearer of Inaction and you’re the bearer of War.

“Sid, the goat who told me about Inaction, said that these Elements are a burden to the ponies that bear them and Agmundr told me about War. You’re not gonna be able to actually bear it until I’m alive again, but I want you to know what to expect. I can’t protect you from this, but I can prepare you for it.

“The Elements of Strife go against a pony’s nature. Inaction makes me wanna give up all the time. It’s really hard, really really hard, to not sit down and stop moving forever. Every time I use it I have to fight it and it hurts. And if you use War, it’s gonna be the same. Agmundr told me how much he wanted to use it to help ponies. When he started, that was all he wanted. But after years and years he lost the fight and he hurt somepony he loved. It stopped working for him then, but it stayed in his mind and made him worse and worse. It took two thousand years after he died to be free of it.” She paused and sighed, slowly collecting her thoughts. In hitches, she resumed.

“…I’d tell you to never use it once you can. I’d make you promise that you wouldn’t, either in person or through Twilight. But you and I both know you couldn’t keep that promise. For the same reason you did what you did with that wolf. It’s what made you the bearer. It’s also what makes you stronger than you realize. You’re so strong Fluttershy. I’ve always known that. You’re one of the strongest ponies I’ve ever met. It’s one of the reasons I always protected you. It wasn’t because you were weak; it was because you were so scared of how strong you could actually be. I wanted to save you from that…I dunno that I knew that until recently, but it’s the truth. You’re strong and nopony can take that away from you. But you’re also not alone.

“Whenever I thought Inaction was too much and that I might give up, I’ve had Twilight there to help me. Just because it’s your burden doesn’t mean you’ve gotta take it on alone. It’s just what I told you before. You’ve got all of us to lean on if you need to and when you can take up the Element of War, I’ll be there again, too. You’ll never have to do this alone, Fluttershy. None of us do.”

“I miss you,

“Rainbow Dash.”

A heavy silence fell over the void, broken only by a few quiet sniffles Twilight tried to hide. She cleared her throat when she had the words solidly in her mind. “…You really do continue to surprise me, Rainbow Dash.”

“Too long, huh?” Twilight giggled despite her heavy heart. “You keep surprising me; I was the one that said all of that stuff and I have no clue what I just said to any of ‘em. You really memorized all of that?”

The unicorn smiled coyly. “I might have cheated and cast a memory sharpening spell before going to sleep.” Rainbow Dash blinked a few times. A belly laugh shook her frame until she collapsed on her back, forehooves gripping her sides. Twilight lay down next to her, laughing more at the pegasus than the situation. They would eventually sober and the sky blue mare would leave to continue her journey through the dark, exchanging a grudging goodbye and lingering embrace with her lavender friend. But for the time being they laid next to each other in nothing, no words spoken, just helpless mirth driving away the outside world. For a little while they could just be two ponies laughing together.

Rainbow Dash slowly floated down to the floor from her cross-legged levitation. She stood, stretching out her limbs and back with a small groan of relief. Wrenching her neck to the side with a satisfying crack, she smirked at the rightmost tunnel and took off at a steady trot. She worked through the twisting cave system quickly and orderly, heading to the right, doubling back at dead-ends, and pressing on. The limitation of her perception kept her from knowing if she was making progress, but the sense of being lost was not present following Twilight’s exploration method. She worked diligently, pressing through narrow passages, galloping or flying through wide stretches, and methodically probing the entire system.

Tendrils of red magic bled into her body. As she pushed herself, dozens of micro tears formed in her muscles; her legs from hooves to shoulders or haunches from a steady gallop and straining through narrow holes, wings from rapid flight. The Element of War twisted through her body, stimulating her bloodstream, expanding arteries, increasing the efficiency of her cells; lactic acid was pulled out of limbs before the mare could feel fatigue and new proteins provided by the Bodhi Leaf were forced in to repair the damaged tissue as fast as they could form. When each tear closed, the fibers were left stronger, denser, less likely to tear. She pushed herself harder and harder, and her body protested less and less. The process of healing was so fast and seamless she wasn’t aware that anything was happening. Sleepless, never hungry, and now tireless, Rainbow Dash plunged ever downwards.

Author's Note

Thursday's here and it comes bearing the start of Coming Back part two!

A lot of people expressed concern regarding possible burn-out. Don't worry; if I need a break I'll take one. As it is, I'm writing like a madman, both this and other projects. Y'all just get to enjoy the fruits of my mania.

Chapter 11

Twilight stretched out her back, the early morning rays of Celestia’s sun peeking through the window and rousing her from unconsciousness. She hopped down from the bed and brushed her mane in the vanity mirror, a contented smile on her face. A quick stop to the attached restroom to clean her teeth and she trotted out into the hallway. Pausing mid-step, her eyes lingered to the left where Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie’s suites were further down the hall. Timidly she shifted her gaze to the right, violet eyes warily lingering over Fluttershy’s door. Her smile faltered, turning to a small grimace. Inhaling deeply through her snout, she cantered to the right. Lifting a hoof, she tapped gently on the stone door.

A bleary turquoise eye looked around the cracked door as it opened. “Oh, good morning Twilight.” Straightening her mane with a hoof, Fluttershy yawned and swung the door all the way open. “Come in.”

“Thanks Fluttershy.” An edge of apprehension colored Twilight’s voice as she stepped carefully over the threshold. “I talked to Rainbow Dash last night.”

Fluttershy stepped away from the vanity, dropping the hairbrush she had picked up. “Oh? She’s okay isn’t she?”

Twilight smiled. “Yeah, she is. Agmundr eventually listened to her and she got Tyr’s Hoof from him.” At the mention of the artifact, the pegasus silently shuddered, a rolling spasm racing down her spine. Tensing her shoulders, she bit her lip and forced a smile.

“I’m glad she’s okay,” she nearly whispered, picking the hairbrush back up.

“Fluttershy…you, uh, you might want to sit down.” Muscles rigid, the quiet mare slowly turned to face Twilight, brush still held in a hoof. Her mouth was frozen in a neutral line, but her eyes were wide. “It’s about the Element of War.” As Fluttershy winced, Twilight grimaced, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Rainbow Dash found something out from Agmundr Vilmar. Something I have to tell you.”

Fluttershy sat gently. She already knew what Twilight was going to tell her and did not react to the revelation as the unicorn put the suspicion to words and shattered any fantasy of denial she had tried to hold on to. She nodded solemnly as the unicorn finished, her gaze settled on the floor. A lavender hoof caught her chin and brought her eyes to bear on violet. A weak smile on her lips, Twilight gently said, “Rainbow dictated a letter she wanted me to share with you.”

A flash of anger crossed the yellow pegasus’ face. Seeing the surprised recognition in Twilight’s eyes, the mare winced at herself. Biting her lip, she looked away. “…I’m sorry.”

“Fluttershy…” Twilight rested a hoof on a butter-colored shoulder. “This is what I meant about not shutting yourself away from us. We’re here to talk to, even if what you need to talk about is being angry at Rainbow Dash.”

She shut her eyes tightly, her head still turned away. “But it’s not fair to Rainbow. She didn’t want to die. It’s not her fault this happened.” She took a shuddering breath. “…Bad things just happen sometimes.”

A moment of silence hung in the air. Twilight closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. “Just…Just listen to what she said, okay? I think…I hope it’ll help.”

Twilight quietly recited Rainbow Dash’s letter back to Fluttershy. The pegasus’ shoulders and wings slowly drooped as the message went on. When the unicorn finished, Fluttershy was trembling.

After a while, the yellow mare found her voice. “…Rainbow said all that?”

“Yes.”

“It doesn’t even sound like her. She’s never been so…articulate.” She chewed her lower lip, brow creasing in thought.

The purple mare nodded slowly. “She’s…” Twilight looked away, her eyes growing distant over a vague frown. “She’s changed, Fluttershy. This whole experience has changed her. It’s…” a smile graced her lips, “…mostly for the better. She’s so gentle and thoughtful now.” She became lost in contented reminiscence until Fluttershy spoke again.

“Do you think she’s right? I don’t feel strong…” The pegasus was meeting her gaze again. Twilight smiled and pulled her friend into a hug.

“Yes, I do. And she’s right about us, too. You don’t have to do this alone, Fluttershy.” She heard a wet sniffle on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. I don’t know how to deal with this. I-I thought I figured it out yesterday, but...”

The unicorn ran her hoof gently over messy pink mane. “It’ll take time, Fluttershy. The first thing you have to do is forgive yourself.” The pegasus sniffled again. “If you forgive yourself, you’ll be able to move past this.”

“…How do I forgive myself, Twilight?” Her voice was tiny, barely audible despite the closeness. “I know I had to do it, and I know I’d do it again if I had to, but…it was wrong. It was the wrong thing to do.”

Twilight tightened her hug. “Sometimes good ponies have to do what’s necessary instead of what’s right. We…one of us would have had to kill that wolf, Fluttershy.” She leaned back, still gripping the yellow mare by the shoulders, and looked into her reddened eyes. “We thought Applejack had killed it, but it had to be you. I’m sorry that’s true, but it is. We’ve been put in a position of compromises. It’s…” the unicorn grew vague, trying to find the right way to finish her thought. Fluttershy beat her to it.

“It’s war.” She hugged Twilight again. “…I’ll try to forgive myself, Twilight. Thank you. And thank Rainbow for me, too. I’m…I’m sorry I was angry at her.”

“It’s okay,” Twilight murmured, “Don’t shut us out. Everypony is here for you. Talk to us.” She felt Fluttershy nod against her shoulder. Their embrace broke, and Fluttershy rubbed her eyes. She turned back to her vanity and began straightening her mane.

As Twilight contemplated standing to leave, Fluttershy broke the silence again. “…You’ve changed, too, Twilight. I, uh, we were all worried about you after Rainbow…” the mare sighed, “You’re better now. Happy again. But you’re not the same. I can tell you really miss her, even if you can see her sometimes.”

The unicorn was at a loss. She eventually managed to nod, a slight frown on her lips. “I do really miss her. And I worry about her being okay. I…” her frown deepened, “…I know she’s gonna make it back to us. I’m not worried about her making it here. I’m worried about what she has to go through. What, uh, we all have to go through to get there.” She looked out the window, watching the sun continue its slow rise. “Rainbow Dash said that she didn’t think she could’ve made it through everything Agmundr Vilmar threw at her without me. I…I don’t know I would’ve made it through these last two months without her.” She closed her eyes, lowering her head. “She’s become really important to me. I…I think about her a lot. I don’t get it, Fluttershy.”

A weak grin pulled at her lips as she set her comb down. “That’s okay, Twilight. I think you’re probably really important to Rainbow, too.” She stood and cantered towards the bathroom. “I bet she had more letters than just mine, huh?” Twilight looked up and nodded. “Why don’t you go see the others? I’ll meet you and everypony else at breakfast, okay?”

Twilight smiled and turned towards the door. She paused. “…You said I’ve changed. Is it a good change?”

Fluttershy looked back, a small genuine smile pulling at her mouth. “I wasn’t sure at first. Now I know it is.” She disappeared into the bathroom. Twilight left the suite, confusion coloring her thoughts.

Twilight made the rounds to the others. Rarity and Applejack both grinned warmly when they heard the missives from their departed friend. Pinkie Pie refused to answer the unicorn’s badgering questions about this secret good news she had predicted. All three were saddened by the knowledge that Fluttershy was to bear the Element of War.

The five mares were in high spirits through breakfast. Fluttershy’s enigmatic grin never left her lips as she thanked them all in turn for their offers of lending an ear. After eating with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, they split up for the day to relax and gather supplies. Most shops were closed and the streets held very little hoof traffic. The emptiness was unsettling. Each mare entertained the notion that given enough casualties even a victory could reduce such a glorious city to a ghost town of orphans and invalids. When they returned to the palace in the early afternoon, Twilight held aloft in a soft glow of magic five train tickets to Saddle Arabia, dated for seven that evening; the only journey there for a week. No one was upset to cut their visit short.

Restocked, rested, and with a renewed determination to prevent the visions of empty cities all over Equestria, they boarded the train heading away from Twilight’s brother and towards the unknown. Twilight had booked a full car with five cots and attached restroom for their extended trip, the last one before the caboose.

“Next stop, Saddle Arabia, girls.” Twilight set both her own and Rainbow Dash’s saddlebags down carefully next to the small bed.

“This is exciting! How long before we get there, Twilight?” Pinkie flung her saddlebag down. A thunderous crash shook the train car. “Oops.”

Rarity straightened her mane with a hoof, willing her nerves out of her voice. “Pinkie dear, were those bowling balls I just heard?”

The bubblegum mare chuckled nervously. “Never know what you might need on an adventure, right?”

“Pinkie…how in Equestria does an earth pony bowl anyway? Don’tcha need unicorn magic to hold those things properly?” Applejack tipped back her hat to scratch the top of her head, one eyebrow firmly raised.

She narrowed her blue eyes, determination set in her features. “Very carefully.”

Twilight blinked. “…Anyway, we should arrive in Saddle Arabia in eight days.”

A collective groan filled the private car. “Eight days? What’re we gonna do for eight days, Twi’?” The orange pony hid her face under her Stetson.

“Well, uh…I’ve got a lot of books?”

They all groaned again.

The train left the station as they finished unloading their packs. After dinner, the five friends settled into their beds and watched the moon slowly rise, the train pulling them inexorably across the Equestrian countryside. As they drifted off to sleep, the frozen north gave way to sunny plains.

Rainbow Dash was stuck. Deep in the heart of the impossibly tall mountain, one of the caverns had a small hole leading into another tunnel and the pegasus had squeezed herself in. Clearing her wings, she thought she had made it, but the narrow passage met her hips and refused to budge. “Perfect,” she grumbled, glaring at the twisting passage in front of her.

Rotating her hips with forelegs braced on the smooth wall, she grunted and pulled. It just wasn’t happening. Admitting defeat, she braced her hindlegs on the back wall and began pushing herself back into the previous room. The rock slid along her barrel, until she felt the base of her wings halt her progress. Wriggling back and forth, she tried to get her wings to lie flat enough on her sides to get them through the hole. That wasn’t happening either. “Drat.” She sagged, all four legs dangling uselessly on either side of the opening, head, tail, and wings drooping.

Muttering darkly, Rainbow scanned the room for something to grab, either to wrench herself free or try and widen the portal. The walls were smooth and empty. Also, she was getting an itch on her flank she couldn’t reach with a hindleg. Swatting it with her tail wasn’t helping.

She regarded the stone gauntlet around her hoof. Eyes narrowed, she focused on the claw nubs. The rounded bumps unfolded slowly, waving in the air like an upturned spider. Tongue sticking up from the side of her mouth in focus, the pegasus brought the claws to the stone wall. “C’mon…” she muttered, “Bend the rock away. Do somethin’.” The claws stretched out, clacking lightly on the smooth stone, trailing and jittering across the surface. The mare huffed out a held breath in annoyance as they folded back up.

“Rainbow Dash, Best Young Flyer winner, Wonderbolt Cadet team leader, one of two ponies in all history that ever performed a sonic rainboom, defeated by a hole.” She blew a lock of red out of her eyes. “Alright Rainbow Dash. You’re a big girl. You can figure this out. Maybe if I pull sideways…” She twisted her hips to the side, hoping to get one half through first before wrenching the other side free. She succeeded in scraping the itchy spot along the rock. She sighed in relief.

“C’mon,” she moaned, hind legs kicking pointlessly, “I can’t get stuck here! This is so stupid!” She hammered her left hoof against the wall in frustration. A loud crack reverberated through the narrow cave, bits of stone showering to the floor around where she struck. She eyed the spot, seeing deep fissures lancing away from the impact. “Whoa.”

Grinning, she began to beat her powerful wings, pulling her body forward and pressing her hips tightly against the narrow hole. Swinging powerfully, she rained blows with her forehooves down on the edge of the opening, flecks of dust puffing out with each echoing clack. After a full minute of solid exertion the bottom lip crumbled, sending the mare tumbling forward into the tunnel.

Panting, Rainbow wiped her forehead with a shaky hoof. She leaned her head against the smooth stone wall and closed her eyes. The purple filament of magic leapt to the forefront of her awareness. As she had worked her way methodically through the cave system, she had been aware of it occasionally growing brighter or dimming, marking the times the lavender unicorn was asleep. The pegasus guessed roughly a week had passed since their last talk. Resting from the strain of freeing herself, she contemplated paying Twilight a visit, but the dimness of the band meant it was probably daytime. ’Ah well,’ she thought, feeling the tremors of her muscles quickly subside.

The celeste pegasus jerked upright, her back rigid with gooseflesh running under her coat. Eyes wide, she felt a series of vibrations run through the magical connection between herself and the unicorn. Something was wrong.

On impulse, her mind exploded from her body, racing along the magical pathway up through the mountain. As her consciousness blasted through space, she silently screamed the unicorn’s name.

“Hey look everypony! Sand dunes!” Pinkie Pie bounced on her hindlegs with a hoof pointed out the window. Twilight’s eyes shot open and she blearily dragged herself to a sitting position.

“What’s goin’ on, Pinkie?” She rubbed an eye with the back of a hoof and got out of bed. Cantering over to the window, her vision was greeted by an expanse of gentle hills. She cleared her throat, her voice brightening. “Hey, we’ve made it to the San Palomino Desert! Only two more days before we get to Saddle Arabia!”

Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy pulled themselves out of bed and hurried over to the window, watching the dunes roll past the window. Twilight broke the silence that settled over them, her voice quiet and reverent. “…We’re out of the country now. We’re no longer in Equestria at all.”

Their still contemplation held new meaning as they watched the scenery. Fluttershy lifted a hoof to the glass. “I hope we make it back. All of us. All six of us.” A murmur of agreement rippled through the group as they turned away from the view.

“Well, whaddya want to do today, girls? ‘Nother game of cards?” Applejack pulled a deck from her saddlebag by her teeth to the mild mumbles of acquiescence. She spoke carefully around the pack. “Care ta join us, Twi’?”

“Sorry, Applejack. I’m still looking for anything to do with that name ‘Fames.’” She levitated a stack of books from her saddlebag, eyeing each one with distrust. “I swear I’ve read the name before, but I haven’t found it anywhere in these books on ancient Bridleon, Saddle Arabia, or any of the other cultures from this part of the world.”

Applejack sat near the center of the car and set the deck next to Rarity. A sly grin on her snow white face, the unicorn shuffled the deck in a flash of blue energy. Applejack and Pinkie Pie joined the circle. “Sorry ta’ hear that, Twi’. Any other cultures it coulda been from?”

“I don’t think so. These books cover all the major settlements in the geographic region, both then and now. Some of these go back another thousand years, too, just to be sure.” The unicorn huffed.

Fluttershy frowned, picking up her cards. “Were there any pegasus cities around then?”

Twilight’s jaw fell open. “Fluttershy, you’re absolutely right!” In a flash of magenta, books cascaded into the air forming a rotating globe around the purple mare. Her eyes raced from cover to cover. “How could I forget about pegasi? Cloud cities have been around for centuries!” Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity watched the sphere of rotating hardcovers with wide eyes, attempting to understand how a pony could locate anything in the chaotic jumble. Pinkie Pie glanced sidelong at the cards her friends were holding in slack hooves, hiding a smirk. A flash of triumph crossed the lavender mare’s face as she plucked a tome from the air. “Aha!” In a spiraling wave, the rest repacked themselves as Twilight greedily fell into her new volume. “This has got to be it, I just know it!”

Rarity traded a smirk with her marefriend. “Do be a dear and remember to breathe, Twilight.” Applejack stifled a snort.

Twilight held her head aloft, her voice taking on a false haughtiness. “Laugh while you can, girls. You’ll be sorry when I only tell Rainbow Dash what the next Element of Strife is.” The empty box from the deck of cards flew across the room and bounced off her shoulder.

“Really, Applejack...?” Rarity was struggling to control her giggles.

“She started it.”

“Are we playin’, or not ladies?” Pinkie Pie grinned over the fanned hoof of cards. The four settled into their game as Twilight excitedly flipped through pages. Pinkie won the first game with seeming preternatural luck before Applejack settled into a steady stream of victories.

“It’s kinda hard to keep beatin’ the saddle off you girls with the train shaking so much.” The orange mare set a hoof on the discard pile as it threatened to spread across the floor.

Fluttershy grabbed a bed frame to keep from overbalancing. “Is it supposed to be this rough of a ride?”

“We are going through dunes; this must be from sand blown over the tracks.” Rarity stood slowly, mindful of the mounting tremors. “Hopefully this levels off soon, although it seems to be getting worse.”

Twilight tossed her book into the top of her saddlebags, rolling onto her back and burying her face in her hooves. “Ugh, I can’t read with it shaking so much, can’t somepony—”

A scream from a few cars ahead echoed dully through the cabin. Several more voices joined in as the shaking reached a fevered pitch. The mares struggled to their hooves and rushed to the head of the car.

“What’s goin’ on?!”Applejack shouted through the door. “Somepony say somethin’!”

A terrified stallion screamed somewhere ahead, his voice distorted and shrill. “They’re here! Oh Celestia, save us!” Applejack turned to her friends and her eyes settled on Twilight standing at the window. Her eyes were wide and her jaw hung open. The farmpony could see the tendons on her neck working uselessly, her jaw trying to render something into speech from uncooperative vocal chords. The four rushed to the glass.

Six balls of fire hung suspended in the sky, billowing trails of blackness tracing their route back into the mid-morning blue. The train wasn’t shaking; the world around them was shaking. The orbs twisted through the air, angling in from the side, following a line towards somewhere ahead of the train.

“B-but, it’s only been two months!” Fluttershy cried, her forehooves pressed to the glass. “They’re not supposed to be here!”

In a whirl of panic, organization came to save Twilight’s cacophonous thoughts. Her jaw snapped shut and her eyes narrowed. “Get the saddlebags. First priority is getting out of here alive. Second priority is protecting the Elements of Strife. Third is protecting supplies.” She turned from the window and flung herself under her pack, a burst of mulberry energy securing it in place and floating Rainbow Dash’s bag onto her back in front of her own at the same time. Leaping up to her hooves she rushed to Pinkie Pie then Fluttershy, helping them secure their own packs with the haste of magic. Rarity helped Applejack with a flash of blue. They huddled around the abandoned playing cards.

“Alright Twi’, now wha—”

The world lurched violently, the passage of time seeming to slow. A thundering roar blocked all other noise as the train car lifted off the tracks, the back end rising up under their hooves and twisting a few degrees clockwise. The five mares were thrown into the air. Gritting her teeth, Twilight pushed out her will and surrounded them in a sphere of magic, the train car upending around them. A shuddering squeal cut through the roar; the windows on both sides of the car exploding to dust, the frames twisting, the wooden panels making up the walls, roof, and floor buckling and snapping to jagged splinters. Cards, candles, mattresses, and pillows hung in the air around them. The rising floor hit the bottom of Twilight’s bubble and sent the ponies ricocheting against the disintegrating ceiling.

A wrenching shudder pulled shreds of wood free as the car came uncoupled in front. The front swept back and under, the five mares watching the track pass by underneath through the small, shattered window in the door. The pendulous swing smashed into the bottom of the caboose; a cavernous crash of exploding wood and grinding metal. The coupling to the caboose snapped. All at once everything sped up, the heightened awareness and sense of time crawling left the group in a flurry of rolling and twisting wood. Twilight couldn’t hear herself screaming.

The train car rolled end over end away from the tracks, each collision with the ground sending splinters of wood shooting out into dunes and inwards against the bubble of protective magenta. Suspended in the sphere, the five were buffeted against walls and tumbling debris. At last, the front end sunk into a dune, pulling the entire car into a vertical pillar. With one final groan, the metal beams holding the wheels in place bent and the back end collapsed in a hail of wooden chunks.

Twilight gently released control of her magic, guiding her and her friends to the front door serving as the ground. They stood pressed together on shaking hooves, eyes glazed over from shock. The still silence was jarring to the lavender mare; the ringing in her ears muffling any lingering noise. Between pants, she struggled out, “Is everypony okay?” Four heads bobbed numbly. “Okay. Okay, we have to get out of here right now. Does everyone still have their saddlebags? Good. Hold on.” She scrunched her violet eyes shut, and with a loud crack they tumbled into the loose sand and baking desert heat just outside the destroyed train car. Getting to trembling legs, they surveyed the rest of the train.

The engine was gone. Five bulls of liquid fire stood in the remains of the iron mass, bubbling molten metal running around their undulating hooves. The coal car had run headlong from momentum into their burning forms, the sooty chunks spilled around the tracks hissing and smoking. The rest of the cars had bunched and derailed in a winding zigzag snaking behind the fiery beasts, the detached caboose lamely resting on top of the last car. Theirs was the only car thrown free, resting in sand thirty feet to the side of the track. Five eyeless orange faces turned towards them.

Twilight willed the quiver from her voice, lifting the saddlebags off of Applejack, Fluttershy, and herself in a glow of magic. “Rarity. Pinkie. Take the bags and get behind the dune. Try to keep the bulls on the other side of it from you if you can. Our priorities are protecting the Elements of Strife and supplies now.”

“But—” Pinkie’s protest was cut short.

“Go!” The two mares raced across the sand as fast as they could with three bags each, trying to use the upended train car as cover for their path. “Applejack. Fluttershy. Get any survivors out of there if you can.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’m gonna try to draw their attention.”

The earth pony’s green orbs widened. “Twilight, that’s crazy! We can’t leave—”

“We can’t leave those innocent ponies to burn to death! Take them to the far side of the train from here, then come back to help me! Go!” Without another word, Twilight charged towards the beasts slowly stepping from the ruined engine. “Hey! You things! Here I am!” Her horn sparked to life. Gritting her teeth, Twilight flung the force of her mental fortitude into her magic. With a cry of effort, she locked her limbs and slid to a stop through the sand as the biting smell of sulphur invaded her nostrils, a cone of cold energy erupting from her horn. The cone spread wide, the far ends of its circumference meeting the glowing liquid iron of the ruined engine. The orange metal flashed black with a high-pitched squeal, frost forming on the crackling surface. The cone struck two bulls head on; filtering past them to glancing hits on another two. The augmented cold spell sent deep ripples through their liquid flesh, the fiery substance peeling back over the dark silhouetted shapes making up their cores.

The one on the left staggered back, a rumbling howl erupting from its whole being as its coating hissed and bubbled back over the frosted core, shoulder, and forelimb; stripped clear by her magic. The one on the right had its head lowered into the blast, the liquid sheared from nearly its entire upper torso. The beast staggered forward uncertainly and then collapsed, its oozing skin running into the flash-frozen iron and spewing gouts of real flame. Its interior was left bare on the ground; irregular hunks of rock, gray and lifeless. The four remaining beasts leapt over the remnants, unfathomable faces directed at the unicorn.

Twilight sagged on her shoulders. Relief that she had killed one, that they could be killed by conventional magic at all, washed over her. Fatigue quickly followed, her mind filling with a low buzzing and her protesting muscles growing unresponsive. She squinted and fired a smaller, more directed cold spell at the foremost bull, catching it from its head down to its shoulders. The beast swayed to the side bumblingly with a rolling groan, but didn’t fall. She shakily wiped the sweat from her brow and began to back away, drawing the bulls’ attention away from the train and their wrecked car. One creature lowered its head, twin streams of smoke curling around its quivering horns. It pawed the ground, leaving a streak of black and bubbling glass. Twilight swallowed thickly as it charged.

Closing her eyes, the unicorn disappeared from under the bull’s cloven hooves in a flash of light, reappearing further along the dune. In her haste and weakened focus, she materialized a foot off the ground and tumbled down the loose sand several paces. Panting, she forced her focus on the advancing bulls. Grunting with effort, a glow of mulberry magic surrounded the closest and contracted around its form. The creature screeched; the magic pressing on its flesh. Eyes screwed shut, she strengthened the shield, blocking the flow of gases through the energy and compacting tighter with all her might. She let out a gasp as she heard a grinding crunch.

The bull she had held weaved drunkenly. The unarticulated rocks making up its structure were a loose gravel swimming in reds and yellows. Its head and limbs distorted, bulging orbs of flesh bunching around knees, horns lopsided, one might-be nostril shut while the other poured a torrent of inky smoke. It continued its advance on unsteady hooves.

Twilight was having trouble keeping her eyes focused; a haze of red vibrating her vision with each thundering heartbeat. Gasping huge lungfuls of air, she trembled as one of the three uninjured bulls lowered to charge. Standing, she switched her tactic from any offense to pure defense and evasion, backing away and up the dune. Drawing as much will as she could she prepared to teleport.

Flashing up and down the sandy hill, the unicorn kept her opponents to her front, wary of being flanked. Keeping a solid distance between her and the creatures, she slowly regained her breath, but her mind was reeling from the magical exertion and her hooves trembled on the uneven surface. The constant teleportation was having its effect too; the practiced spell growing more and more difficult to cast. Twilight sighed in relief when she spotted a yellow and orange speck flying away from the wreckage towards her.

Applejack’s voice was strained. “We helped everypony we could, Twi’.” Fluttershy set the orange mare down on the dune, hovering on beating wings. “Now whadda we do?”

The unicorn’s voice had a strained tremor, her eyes darting between three bulls spread evenly apart from them a hundred feet down the dune and the hobbled one slowly limping its way from further along the train. “I don’t know, Applejack. I’m running on empty here, and we’re not sure if these things can be killed without magic.”

“Weren’t there five a minute ago?” Fluttershy frowned at the beasts, eyeing them distrustfully. Twilight smirked.

“I got one, but we can’t let the rest run free. We need a plan.” The three bulls charged, sprays of sand and black glass marking their hoofbeats. The soft footing hindered their speed, Twilight’s fatigued mind working desperately in the earned moments. “Scatter to the sides, loop back behind them. They’ll gain the high ground, but they won’t use it to their advantage. Keep them occupied; I’m gonna try to kill the wounded one.” In a pop of collapsing air, the unicorn was gone.

Shoulders bunched, Applejack charged to meet the oncoming beasts, angling down and to the right. The middle and rightmost diverted to pursue, hindlegs sinking deeply into the dune as they changed direction and leaving dark craters of molten glass behind them. The left bull slowed, torn between the pegasus in front of it and the unicorn on lower ground. Fluttershy dived, seizing its attention and weaving away back towards the orange earth pony.

Directly in front of two with a third coming from the left, Applejack’s haunches tightened. Powerful leg muscles propelled the mare in a leap over the heads of the rushing creatures. Their fiery forehooves lifted at the last moment, meeting empty air a few feet too low to touch the pony. Feeling the heat of proximity crisping the ends of her belly fur, Applejack twisted mid-jump, landing in a fighting crouch and sliding down the hill backwards for a foot, eyes locked on the evaded beasts. Off-balance and struggling to stop, the two kicked up sand and half-buried themselves in the dune. The bull pursuing Fluttershy slid on locked legs into the two with a wet splat, the yellow mare zipping down to meet her friend.

“You alright, ‘Shy?”

“Just…just let me…catch my breath.” The three monsters were a puddle of liquid flesh and rock, undulating lethargically in a running bowl of smoking glass. Slowly, they began to disentangle themselves.

Twilight circled the malformed creature, studying its movements. The thing could not run and it was having trouble tracking her. Perfect test subject. Breathing slowly and deeply through her snout, she conjured a shield of magenta around it, stepping in a slow circle to its right where she had determined its vision has been disrupted the worst. She shrunk the field and cut off the flow of air, watching the beast’s flaming body.

Dancing ineptly, it twisted and turned away from the ever-present magic, the yellows of its body turning to red as the fuel for combustion was cut away. The undulations grew more violent; the lamed bull arching and twisting. Twilight’s victory was cut short when at the point she believed the fire would snuff, the bull tucked into a sphere, its flesh bright and even.

’Of course,’ she thought, straining to maintain the rather simple shield spell, ’It has to fly through space; it can protect itself from a lack of oxygen.’ She released the magic, drawing in her focus again as the creature slowly reformed its attempt at quadrupedalism. She sent a lancing bolt of energy, tearing through the quivering liquid. A plume of flame leapt from the wound, a rough, gravelly bark emanating from the beast, but the wound sealed itself quickly. ’Okay Twilight. One more spell you want to try.’

The mare stopped her circling and shut her eyes as her horn flashed to life. Two smaller fields of magic formed around the bull, one encasing its lopsided head, the other just below its neck and covering its shoulders. Eyes clenched, teeth grit, the unicorn fed power and will into the bubbles, clamping down and tightening around the struggling creature. A growl began to grow in Twilight’s throat as she poured energy out of her horn. It grew in volume, her horn pulsing fervently, into a howl with one last wave of magic flashing blindingly bright to punctuate the effort.

The two magic fields wrenched apart from each other. Stretched and pulled, the bull’s neck ruptured, spewing thick jets of flame into the air. Her magic fading, the creature’s head dropped to the sand, its liquid flesh pooling and burning away. The shambling malformed body shot a torrent of flames from the former neck in a geyser, the rough gravel interior spreading the dwindling flesh like a dropped sack of marbles across the sand. The fire quickly guttered away, scorched hoof-sized hunks of stone on a sheet of glass the only thing marking the creature’s former presence.

Twilight’s vision throbbed in strobes of red. Her head was threatening to split in two, throat raw, knees shaking even when locked. She fell to her side in the sand.

The two mares on the dune turned when they heard the unicorn’s cry. Leaving the three beasts to sort themselves out, Fluttershy took to the air and the two rushed towards the crumpled purple mare.

“Twilight, you alright?” Applejack cupped the mare’s head gently, patting her cheek with a hoof. Twilight’s eyes fluttered, her mouth opening and closing weakly.

“Water,” she croaked.

“I ain’t got any water; it’s in the bags with Rares an’ Pinkie.” The earth pony glanced over her shoulder. The three bulls were standing together, eight or nine legs struggling apart from an amorphous floating blob of flesh and rocks.

“Please, water…”

“Fluttershy, can you get her over to the girls? We have a few minutes, I think, but I’ll keep ‘em busy.” The pegasus nodded, carefully scooping up the dazed unicorn and flying to the far side of the dune. She spotted the huddled mares, their ears fitfully twitching as they moved side to side to keep the sounds of battle on the other end of the hill.

“Twilight needs water,” she panted, “Me too. Gosh, it’s hot.”

Rarity floated a canteen from her bag, popping it open and tipping it to Twilight’s lips. The unicorn drank greedily, breaking away to weakly pant. “Th-thanks.”

Pinkie gave Fluttershy the canteen and rested a hoof on a lavender shoulder. “You alright, Twilight?” The unicorn nodded gingerly, struggling back to her hooves.

“Come on, I need to get back to Applejack.”

The three blocked her path, Rarity’s forehooves holding her shoulders. “Twilight, you’re a wreck.”

“But—” The thumps of heavy hoofbeats echoed over the hill. Three bulls crested the gentle peak, thundering down towards the party. Applejack raced behind them, uselessly calling to get their attention.

“Applejack!” Twilight waved frantically, beckoning the earth pony to get to them. “Fluttershy, she’s not gonna make it here first.” The pegasus took off, eyes narrowed in determination. The earth pony’s powerful legs pistoning, she flung herself above the charging bulls in an arching bound, gripping the yellow mare’s outstretched hooves in her own. Turning sharply, the two crashed down with the group just as the bulls started their own leaping attack. A dome of mulberry surrounded the five as cloven hooves descended, sparks of magic throwing them back as they made contact. Twilight shuddered, nausea and vertigo spinning her head. Hooves thundered down again on the dome, which contracted as the unicorn sunk to her haunches, shoulders sagged and trembling with effort.

Rarity’s cobalt eyes were wide, watching the three fiery monsters circle them and hammer at their shield. “Is there anything I can do, Twilight?”

“Magic bolts hurt them,” she strained out through clenched teeth, “But you’d need to hit one roughly two hundred times in a minute to kill it.”

“I…I don’t think I can do that,” the fashionista muttered.

“Can ya teleport us, Twi’?” Applejack backed into the tightly packed group of friends, their shield shrinking around them as liquid hooves hammered down.

“N…no. I don’t think I can do anything but hold this barrier up…And I don’t know how long—” she winced as the three struck down at once, willing the magic back outwards to reclaim half the lost ground, “How long I can keep this up.”

Pinkie looked frantically around, from the three attackers to her four friends. “What do we do?”

Twilight lowered forward to her knees and then onto her belly, eyes scrunched tight, teeth locked in a grimace, sweat pouring down her forehead. “I don’t know.”

The mares fell silent, hooves wrapped around each other for comfort, wide eyes directed at their foes. Blow after blow earned the bulls inches, the shield shrinking tighter and tighter around them, the rotten egg stench growing overpowering. Twilight was shaking violently, tears streaming down her cheeks from tightly closed eyes. ’Rainbow Dash, I wish you were here,’ she thought faintly.

A distant, cavernous echo filled her mind. Distorted and hollow, shouted across unfathomable distance through a mist of shadow, a single brash voice filled with fear, concern, and effortless confidence bypassed her ears directly into her brain.

“Twilight!”

Author's Note

And on that note, permanent hiatus! Trololol.

In all seriousness, I am NOT taking a break on that doozy of a cliff-hanger. However, I will be taking a break after next week's update. I've fallen further behind than I thought I would on drafted chapters and I've had less time and energy to write than I expected this semester. So, after chapter twelve goes live, I will be taking a short breather from updates for two weeks.

You have no idea how hard it is to not put up chapter 12 tomorrow and say the hiatus will be for three weeks. Echriedz had this to say about the idea: "Fuck no, they can squirm for a week," so direct your ire at him.

See you next week!

Chapter 12

A shockwave knocked four of the five mares to the sand. In a brilliant flash of opaque magenta, the dome shield rushed outward, smashing against the three bulls and tossing them through the air. Sand flung in sprays as they impacted, long troughs of shiny glass forming as they slid. Twilight was up on her hooves. A corona of energy clung to her coat, flickering as ethereal fire; a sheath of red magic slowly bleeding to royal purple, then light blue at the tip of ghostly licks of flame. The force of the power held grains of sand in the air around her, bobbing up and down with each pulse of magic. The updraft of her aura caught the unicorn’s mane. Long straight hairs flew and danced, spiking and tangling in windswept chunks around her face. Her tail billowed in the preternatural breeze, neatness replaced by dynamism.

Twilight’s stance was confident, but relaxed; fatigue forgotten, fear replaced by something unfathomable. Her head slowly turned to face her friends. With the magic fire swirling around her features and clinging to her horn, a spark of electricity bent and forked around her right eye. The mare’s neutral face broke into a smirk.

“Stay here,” she said. Her voice had an understated air of strength added to it, an inaudible layer just underneath her normal tone. “We’ll handle this.” The fire rolling across her back tightened, the power growing brighter and more focused. Two spikes of energy coalesced on either side of her barrel, refining and sharpening, they spread wide. Two translucent wings, magenta at the base and sky blue on the tips, extended from her back. Lowering down, Twilight leapt into the air on beating wings, a splash of sand following her upward path. She passed through the protective dome, it’s colors slowly cooling to indigo. A whooping cry of utter elation pealed from her throat as she spun in a barrel roll through the sunbaked sky.

The three beasts of liquid fire followed her flight path with their blank faces. Rearing back on its hindlegs, one swept a forehoof through the air over its head. A head-sized rock, sheathed in amorphous flesh, sailed through space to meet the flying unicorn. A sneer on her face, she somersaulted above the projectile, a blast of purple from her horn stripping the fire and frosting the stone halfway over.

“Is that all you got?!” she taunted, forehooves extending and wings beating faster. Corkscrewing and rolling through the air, howls of joy flowed from her lips. A steady stream of burning rocks were effortlessly evaded in dips and sharp turns, beams of magic striking them down as they passed. With a strong thrust of purple and blue wings Twilight’s speed jumped, her irregular dance of twists and spins evening out to a whirling circle above the three creatures surrounding the shield. The four mares inside watched with wide eyes and hanging mouths as each beat propelled the bookworm faster and faster. Breaking from the circle, she flew straight up, effortlessly dodging and freezing thrown chunks as she went above the dune’s soft peak, higher and higher in the desert sky.

A speck of flickering purple in the distance, the mare plummeted, wings of magical fire pumping, eyes narrowed, teeth clenched, forehooves forward. A cone of air and magic formed in front of Twilight, tightening, narrowing, drawing tears from her violet eyes. With a final beat, the world shook.

Rings of color exploded behind the unicorn, filling the sky in a rolling wave of chromatic magic. A rainbow trail flowed from her hindhooves, crackling magenta electricity lancing up and down its length. With explosive speed, Twilight raced straight towards a fiery bull, raised up on its back hooves, forelegs waving threateningly through the air. The glowing purple mare front flipped in her flight, hindlegs lancing forward in a diving kick, her hooves coated in a sheath of solid energy. She struck the oozing flesh of its chest and shot back into the air on a hairpin turn, arcing up and over her shielded friends back into the sky. The bent point of impact on the creature’s chest expanded.

An earthquake knocked the mares back off their hooves as the bull exploded with a thundering boom. A shower of guttering liquid fire and obliterated stone bounced off the dome and thumped onto sand in the wake of a second chromatic shockwave, surrounding an expanding mass of multicolored smoke rising rapidly into the air. The colorful mushroom cloud hung high above the four mares, their unicorn friend hollering laughter as she soared.

The rainbow trail following Twilight twisted as she lined herself up and dived towards the remaining bulls. Grinning, shots of purple lanced from her horn in machine gun blasts, peppering the front most with flame-spewing wounds. A few seconds into the onslaught and the beast’s roiling flesh ruptured. A grinding howl filled the four nearby ponies’ ears as the liquid coating gave way, lifeless rock tumbling to the sand, oozing yellows and oranges burning away in whining hisses.

Crackling trail still behind her, Twilight’s horn grew brighter, a purple cone of energy mimicking the magic barrier expanding around her head. Diving low and leveling out, the unicorn’s combined personal shield and magical lance struck the beast in the center of its chest. In a thunderclap, Twilight erupted through the back of the creature, sparking rainbow following her through its gaping wound. The force of the impact tore the bull in half, head and upper torso tumbling through the air in sprays of liquid, stone, and fire, its lower legs stumbling dumbly and toppling over.

As the last liquid flesh burned away, the protective shield dropped. On trembling hooves, the four watched Twilight’s rainbow trail flicker as she twisted around to meet them. Feet from the ground, the flaring magic snuffed out in dying wisps around her lavender coat. Eyes sliding shut, the mare dropped to the sand and rolled towards them in a tumbling heap.

“Twilight!” Applejack’s voice wavered as she rushed to her side. The earth pony lifted Twilight’s head to her ear and breathed a sigh of relief. “She’s just out cold.” Held lungfuls of air released in huffs echoed from the others. The farmpony turned an incredulous eye to her friends. “What in the heck just happened?” She was answered with mystified shrugs. “Nevermind. Twi’ll let us know when she comes around, I reckon.”

Rarity wiped at her brow with a hoof, dropping to her haunches. She sniffed and made a face at the acrid sulphurous musk still hanging around the base of the dune. “Goodness, that was close. Why did they come now? And here?”

“Darlin’, ain’t it obvious? Five of us and five of them.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Oh my. Do you really think they were here for us?”

Applejack straightened the Stetson over her forehead, brows pulled low to match. “Sugarcube, I’d bet every last bit I got.”

Pinkie Pie gathered up the heap of saddlebags, giving Fluttershy and Rarity their own plus Twilight’s and Applejack’s. She then strapped on Rainbow Dash’s in front of her balloon-decorated pack. “Well at least nopony got hurt.”

“Yeah,” Applejack spat darkly, eyes drawn low and mouth in a grimace. “None of us five got hurt. C’mon. Let’s get Twi’ outta the sun and over to the train.” Hefting the unconscious mare onto her orange back, she set off at a steady canter. The five ponies made their way back around the dune.

Two mares sat in the middle of empty void, eyes locked. Rainbow Dash sat in silence, left eye wide and bright, right half-lidded, a contented smile on her lips, the Bodhi’s Leaf perched just above her head. Twilight’s mouth broke out in a grin that grew wider and wider until she leapt to her hooves.

“Rainbow! That was amazing!” She hopped around in a circle, an excited squeal erupting from her throat. “You came and I could feel you in my mind! We shared our magic! That…That was incredible!” She danced back and forth on her hindlegs, clapping her forehooves together. “And your strength of will, Rainbow! I could cast spells all day long if I had your fortitude!” The pegasus watched her friend dance and cheer, her small grin never leaving.

The unicorn continued to bounce. “And flying! Flying was the most wonderful experience of my life! I’ve never felt anything like that before but I could remember all the times you flew like it was me! Oh, that was magnificent. You have to promise to take me flying with you when you’re alive again; I want that feeling! I need it again! Rainbow Dash, I get why you love flying so much now! The rush, the thrill, the wind in my mane!” She squealed, the sky blue mare watching her silently.

Eventually, Twilight’s energy subsided and she sat back on her haunches, grinning at her friend. Her euphoria slowly turned to confusion as the silence stretched out. Before she had a chance to ask if everything was alright, Rainbow spoke.

“You felt it too, didn’t you?” Her tone was low and gentle, a contented happiness Twilight wasn’t sure she ever heard from the daredevil. Her bewilderment grew. “How much of my mind did you see?”

The unicorn’s unease continued to rise. “Well, I could tell what you were thinking…we kind of were thinking together; it was less of a conversation than shared thoughts…And I could see and feel a lot of your memories…and…” a subtle blush broke out on her face, lavender growing pink on her cheeks, “I could feel a lot of your emotions.”

Her tiny smile didn’t waver. “So you felt it too.” She stood, taking a single step forward.

Twilight frowned, tension rising up her spine in waves. “I, uh, I don’t know what you mean, Rainbow.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what I felt.” The small smile was coloring the mare’s voice. It sounded so quiet to Twilight, so understated and pleased. “I saw memories of you thinking about me like they were mine. I felt how you feel when you think about me, as if they were my own feelings. An’ while it was happening…” she took another step, the gap slowly closing between the two ponies, “It made me think about how I thought about you and what I felt…” another step, closer still, her rose-colored eyes bright and dancing, “And both sets of feelings were the same.” The pegasus stayed her advance, half a foot between them. “Did you feel it, too?”

Numbly, the unicorn nodded, her eyes wide. “Y-yes, I felt it…I…I don’t know what it means. I haven’t understood these feelings for weeks.”

Rainbow Dash’s smile widened almost imperceptibly. “I didn’t either; didn’t have time to think about it really…until just now.”

Twilight found herself shaking. She didn’t know why. She hated not knowing something. Despite the tremors, despite the panic she couldn’t comprehend demanding her to flee, she forced strength into her voice. “…What does it mean?” It came out as a whisper. Rainbow was a step closer. ’What’s she doing?’ Another. Magenta orbs arrested her vision. She could feel warm, humid breaths on her muzzle. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to lean back or lean forward. ’Is she?’ Rainbow Dash took the final pace and their lips met.

Twilight inhaled sharply, the smell of fresh rain and lightning tingling her snout. Her eyes drifted closed as her lips moved of their own accord. Rainbow Dash was there behind her eyelids. She was there in her mind and there in front of her, blue hooves around her neck and in her mane, warm and soft muzzle pressed close to her lips, thundering chest coat to coat with her own. Waves of euphoria overtaking even the feeling of flight in strength cascaded down her spine. Rainbow Dash was there. Rainbow Dash was kissing her. She was kissing Rainbow Dash. And she never felt so right, so at peace with her life.

And it all made sense now.

The dreams, the worries, the flushed cheeks and trembling hooves. Every time the pegasus had hugged and held her, every time she felt the mare’s touch, smelled her scent, saw her face. It was all clear as crystal while they were pressed close in a burning embrace. Even the allure of the eye-scar was no longer a puzzle; the skeletal spectre had succeeded in giving the pony a permanent bedroom eye.

Twilight wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash and pulled her closer. The pegasus squeaked, running her forelimbs through indigo mane, the scent of raspberries drawing her in. The answer to a question she hadn’t asked had been there for the daredevil, dancing just out of reach, waiting for her to come and find it. It was why hugging Twilight was cool. Why Twilight could hold her hooves and she wouldn’t shy away. Why Twilight’s presence brought peace to her thoughts, purpose to her actions. Why it felt like she had lied to Agmundr Vilmar.

It was the reason why, when she desperately needed to cry, it was Twilight who had succeeded in breaking down her barriers. Hidden away, whether for weeks or months, unexamined by a pony unfamiliar with self-analysis and a neophyte to relationships, it had bided its time until she figured it out. And when they had melded minds in a flurry of panic and magic Rainbow had been given the tools she needed for comprehension.

Somewhere along the way, in the years they had known each other, on the adventures they triumphed over and the quiet, pointless times they shared together, Rainbow Dash had fallen head over hooves for Twilight Sparkle. And in touching the bookworm’s consciousness and sharing her thoughts, she knew something about the unicorn, too. Twilight Sparkle had fallen for Rainbow Dash.

The purple mare broke the kiss, panting heatedly. She pressed her forehead up against the sky blue pony’s brow, her horn sliding into chromatic mane. Their eyes locked as they both pulled in heavy lungfuls. She ran her hooves along the pegasus’ face and through her mane, gripping wind-tossed greens and blues, feeling the hairs slide across her coat. She delicately traced the smooth, pink skin of Rainbow’s scar across her brow, the caress light and lingering. Rainbow’s hooves wrapped around her sides, gliding softly along her shoulders and down the small of her back.

Licking her lips, Twilight leaned forward and kissed Rainbow again, the contact brief, a fiery note of acceptance and implicit request for more. Hot exhalations were traded back and forth, dampening the fine hairs of their coats as they sat with muzzles pressed together. She kissed the mare again. And again. Twilight had been completely unaware that she craved this contact, this feeling, in any way mere moments before. Now the unicorn found she wasn’t getting enough of it. A giddy thought flitted through her mind that told her it would never be enough. She pressed forward again, urgently, yearningly, forelimbs flying around Rainbow Dash’s neck and into her shaggy mane. The pegasus pressed back, hugging tightly around Twilight’s middle.

They held each other in the vacuum, trading smoldering kisses. Grins stretched across their mouths between touches, a breathless laughter overtaking the pair. Twilight watched mirth and affection dance in magenta eyes. Rainbow Dash watched the same in violet. Blue wings unfurled and wrapped around lavender sides, the feathers soft and warm, the contact cherished and reciprocated with a tighter squeeze. The unicorn nuzzled the side of Rainbow’s face, burying her head in colorful mane, hugging firm. The pegasus kissed the side of Twilight’s jaw, nestling her face into a purple shoulder.

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight whispered, “You are the most amazing pony I’ve ever met.” The blue mare chuckled, gripping tighter with her wings. “I never want this to end.”

“Me neither.”

“…But it does have to end, doesn’t it? We’ve gotta keep looking for the Elements of Strife.”

“Yeah…” she sighed, running a hoof down Twilight’s sleek, soft back, “But not this minute. We can just…stay like this. For a while.” They embraced in silence, a need neither knew they had being filled at last; they saturated their senses with the other’s scent, their touch, their presence.

“…I’ve never felt as safe as I do right now,” the unicorn whispered. “It all seems so obvious now. I don’t know how I could’ve been so blind.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Just think if I hadn’t figured it out, you could’ve gone on for months confused even after being in my brain.”

“Oh, hush.” Twilight lightly nipped at the mare’s neck. “We both would’ve figured it out eventually, I think.” Rainbow adjusted her wings, eliciting a surprised giggle. Grinning, she rustled her feathers over the unicorn’s sides, dragging out more laughs. She stopped as the mare began to squirm, opting to hug her tight again. Chuckles subsiding, Twilight continued softly, “We would’ve figured it out…” she frowned, tracing lines through colorful mane. “…At least I think so.” She pulled away slowly, her forelegs gliding along blue shoulders and back to the hooves around her middle, lingering over the triplet lines of pink racing down Rainbow’s fetlock. Guiding the pegasus’ movements, she untangled herself from their hug, holding two soft hooves in her own just below her face. She kissed them both tenderly, closing her eyes and resting her cheek against them. “…Maybe we wouldn't have figured it out if you hadn’t died. If…if we hadn’t gone through all this…”

Rainbow caressed the mare’s cheek with one of her held forelegs, leaning in to rest her chin on top of Twilight’s head, purple horn sliding gently along her jawline. “What happened, happened,” she whispered, “We’re here now. I don’t understand how it happened, I don’t know where these feelings came from, I don’t know what could’ve gone differently or if it would’ve gone differently at all, and I don’t care.” She nuzzled indigo mane, laying butterfly pecks on fuzzy purple ears, grinning as they flicked in response.

Twilight nestled into soft, warm chest fur, sighing contentedly as strong wings wrapped back around her sides. “I’m sorry. I wish I could stop thinking sometimes. It’s all just, so…scary. It’s scary to not know something, to not notice something so powerful.”

“Don’t be sorry. All that matters is what we do now.”

“Well…what do we do now?”

“For starters…” Rainbow flapped her wings, spinning around the sitting unicorn. She snaked her hooves under Twilight’s forelegs, clamping down tightly before kicking off. The pair swept through the blankness of the vacuum in lazy spirals and figure eights, a string of joined laughter following their path. The pegasus eventually set the cheering mare back on her hooves. Twilight’s mane was a mess. Neither of them cared.

Twilight smiled warmly as her giggles subsided, cupping the side of Rainbow’s face with a hoof. Her lids slid shut and she caught blue lips in another gentle kiss. Eyes still closed, she grinned and bit her lip. “I don’t think I’m ever gonna get tired of doing that.”

Smirking, the pegasus ruffled indigo hairs into further disarray. “Which part? The flying or the kissing?”

“I’ll let you know if I ever decide.”

“I’m okay if you never do.” Wide smiles on their faces, they snuggled back into each other, a mess of limbs and wings tangled tight.

“So what do we really do now?”

Rainbow frowned in thought. “…First thing we do, is make it so I can keep that promise and take you flying. We’ve gotta get the Elements of Strife, then we’ve gotta stop those bulls.”

The unicorn sighed. “I know that, I meant…us. What do we do?”

The blue mare shrugged, the action effortlessly carefree. “We’ll take what Equestria throws at us. I know I’m gonna spend the rest of the time that I have tryin’ to be worthy of you.”

Twilight carefully pulled a hoof free to cup Rainbow Dash’s face, her voice quiet and concerned. “Rainbow, of course you’re worthy.”

The mare grinned, light shimmering in her rose eyes. “I know that egghead, I was in your head after all.” She planted a kiss on purple brow. “But I’ll never feel like I am all the way, so I’ll spend the rest of my life tryin’ to be better than I am. Not ‘cause I think something’s wrong with me, but because you deserve it. You deserve me to be the best I can be, and I want to be that pony. Not because you asked me to, just because I want it. And…” she pressed her lips back against Twilight’s forehead, “From what I saw of you, I think you’re gonna do the same thing.”

Twilight smiled, staring back into magenta eyes. “That sounds like a good life.”

“Will you live it with me?”

“For as long as I can.” They shared another kiss, deeper, longer, and slower than the ones before. When it eventually broke, half-lidded eyes meeting, Twilight had only one thing to say.

“I don’t know when or how it happened, but I’ve never been so sure of anything before in my life. I’m in love with you, Rainbow Dash.”

“And I know I’m in love with you.”

A tiny, contented smile on her face, Twilight turned around. The pegasus encircled the unicorn’s middle with her hooves. Words no longer needed, together in silence they sailed on sky blue feathers, dancing freely through the void.

Before Twilight’s eyes even opened, a grin spread across her face. She sprung to her hooves, eliciting several surprised jumps from the four ponies gathered around her form, resting in the shade of a derailed train car. Every muscle fiber burned in her body. Rather than the dull ache of a hard day, it was the peppery, lancing pain of over-taxation. Her head throbbed sharply, keeping time with her heart’s steady pulsation in angry flashes. She was sweaty, dirty, exhausted, and in pain. She was also the happiest mare on the planet.

“Eep,” was all Pinkie managed to get out as the unicorn attempted either a hug or a flying tackle. Neck fully enclosed in a foreleg, Twilight swung around and looped Applejack around the throat. Two earth ponies in head-lock embraces, she charged her captives into the dumbfounded Rarity and Fluttershy’s chests, knocking identical wheezes out of them as she swept her hooves open to trap all four in a crushing hug.

“Aaah!” Twilight cried, hugging tighter.

Applejack struggled to free her face from being buried in Fluttershy’s side. “Twi’!” she groaned, “What’s gotten into you?”

Wide grin on her face, hindlegs hopping rapidly, she shouted, “Rainbow! She—I—We—Aaah!”

Pinkie gasped. Instantly extricating herself from the tangle of body parts, she clamped onto the group and lifted them off the ground in a rib-cracking squeeze. “I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!”

“Pinkie,” Rarity gasped, “Set me down this instant.”

“Knew what?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Twilight and Dashie!” It was the pink mare’s turn to bounce on her hindlegs, jostling the suspended ponies to lightheadedness.

“Pinkie,” Applejack growled, “Put us down.” Blue eyes blinked, watching her orange face slowly turn puce.

“Oops.” Chagrined chuckles escaping nervously, she lowered them back to the ground where they collapsed to the sand.

“Now,” Applejack coughed, “What was all this about, Twi’?” The unicorn looked away, a faint redness remaining at the top of her cheeks.

“Oh, this is so exciting!” the pink mare chimed, dancing around the heavily breathing four, “I’m gonna throw so many parties once we get back to Ponyville! First Applejack and Rarity, and now Twilight and Dashie! I’m just so thrilled I could explode!”

Rarity’s eyes widened as she turned her gaze on the blushing unicorn. “Twilight, Dear?” Still looking away, Twilight grinned and nodded slowly. “Oh, that’s simply marvelous!”

A yellow hoof pumped in victory. “Yes! Called it!” Fluttershy shouted. They all turned. Even Pinkie stopped her frantic cartwheeling to stare at the smirking pegasus. “What?”

Pinkie turned, smiling widely at Applejack. “So, AJ, I believe you have something of mine?”

Grumbling, Applejack got to her hooves and trudged over to her saddlebags. The white unicorn raised an eyebrow, a small pout of a frown gracing her delicate features. “Erm, Applejack dear, what are you doing?”

“Just a minute, Rares.” She pulled a small pouch from the green bag by her teeth, opening the drawstring and tipping out four gold coins into a hoof. Stomping back over to Pinkie, she reluctantly proffered the bits.

“My dear Applejack,” Rarity said with reproach, crossing her hooves over her chest and shaking her head. The act of admonishment was ruined by unsuccessfully contained chuckles. “Did you have a bet with Pinkie as to whether Twilight and Rainbow Dash would end up courting?”

The earth pony mumbled something about the Crystal Empire, easy money, and a bottle of sparkling cider, burying her face inside her hat.

“Wait…” Twilight muttered, her eyes narrowing on Pinkie. “You knew somehow, didn’t you? That’s what all the ‘good news’ talk in your letter was, wasn’t it? Why in Equestria didn’t you tell me?!”

The bubblegum mare looked absolutely scandalized. “Where the heck’s the fun in that?!” The unicorn groaned, massaging her twitching eyelid.

“What’s important,” Rarity interjected, cutting through the grumbles and giggles, “Is that our friends are happy.”

Shaking her head as she resettled her Stetson, Applejack grimaced. “What’s important, Darlin’, is gettin’ the birdbrain lovebird back into the land of the living.” She paused, expelling a sigh and turning a worried smile on Twilight. “I’m sorry, Twi’. I really am happy for you and that ol’ sack of hot air, but we got some pressin’ business to attend to, I reckon.”

The unicorn’s expression sharpened. “Right, the train crash.” She leapt back to her hooves, the sudden movement sparking her headache back to life. “Ugh.” Wavering, she sat back on her haunches. “Did you and Fluttershy get everypony out?”

A thick silence greeted Twilight’s ears. Four heads bowed to examine hooves. “Well, Twi’…” Applejack began, her voice low, “We made it through without a scratch ‘cause of your magic…nopony else had that.”

The purple mare swallowed thickly, her eyes widening. “How…how many ponies did you find?”

“...Five. An’ one fella was banged up pretty bad. He…he didn’t make it.” Twilight flinched. “The other four were hurt somethin’ fierce, too. I got ‘em bandaged up, but they’re all sorry sights.”

The unicorn got back to her hooves. “I can help, I think.” She wavered dangerously.

The farmpony hurried to her side, throwing a foreleg around her back and guiding her gently back to sitting. “Hold on there, Sugarcube. There’s no fire; they’re hurt but I got ‘em wrapped up. Fed, an’ watered. You look kinda like death warmed over. Just take it easy for now.”

Twilight lowered herself slowly back down on her belly, laying her head in the sand to stop the spinning. “Ooh…” she moaned, “I felt better a minute ago.”

The alabaster unicorn frowned sympathetically. “Can’t say I’d recommend dancing to and fro immediately upon waking after stressful exertion, Twilight.”

The purple mare nodded miserably, squinting out over the sand. “Wow, the sun’s low. How long was I out?”

“Most of the day, Dear. You fell unconscious after dealing with those awful bulls. It’s nearly evening.”

The butter yellow pegasus rubbed her chin. “What happened back there, Twilight?” Sighing, she sat down. “It looked hopeless, but then…”

Twilight smiled, closing her eyes to slow the spinning. “Rainbow Dash came.”

Applejack looked nonplussed. “We figured out that much, Twi’.”

“Well…she entered my mind. We shared our magic, and some of our thoughts and memories.” She scrunched her face, trying to organize her words. “Shared is the wrong word. We…thought and remembered together. Like we were a single pony. I had a bigger pool of magic to work with and I could use Rainbow’s strength of will to focus on spells. She handled the flying and most of the tactics. But…it wasn’t like we were taking turns, or deciding what we would do together. We just…blended? I guess. It’s complicated to explain, but simple in practice.”

Applejack shook her head. “Well whatever it was worked like a charm. The two of you, or one of you, or however you wanna put it, looked amazin’. It’s a right handy trick if we get any more visitors.”

Twilight’s frown deepened. Concentrating through the haze, she turned a critical magical eye on herself, examining her aura. The flowing channels of energy lacing through limbs and organs seemed to be in working order, but the appraisal confirmed her suspicions; she had burned a lot of energy fusing with Rainbow Dash and would face a long recovery. The magic flowed slowly and the brightness had faded. The very act of looking was difficult. Slowed responses, misfiring connections, dimmed pathways. She hadn’t suffered such a power-dampening since she was a filly, still learning to control the flow and direction of magic into proper spell-shaping.

“…I’m not sure how feasible a repeat would be. That took a lot out of me and I’d wager it took a lot out of Rainbow, too. In a pinch we could do it again, but it’s only going to become dangerous. One of us might get hurt from it after too long.”

Fluttershy grimaced, shuffling her forelegs through the loose ground. “So how do we fight these things if they attack us again?”

Twilight smiled mirthlessly, raising her head as her pain began to subside. “I managed to conduct a field test of sorts on one of them. I have some ideas on less strenuous tactics that would probably work.” She struggled back to her hooves. She was a little unsteady, but the nausea had passed. “Hopefully I have the chance to practice before that’s an issue, though. Figuring out how to supercharge a cold spell into something offensive wasn’t too hard, but using it in the middle of a fight was another issue entirely.”

Applejack glanced around the gathered mares. “What about us, Twi’? I’m sure you an’ Rarity can work on some fighting magic, but Pinkie, Fluttershy, and I can’t exactly do that. I don’t feel too right about runnin’ and hidin’.”

The purple unicorn sighed. “I understand. Unfortunately, the only thing we know that can hurt the bulls is magic.” She stepped out of the shade of the car, shielding her eyes from the low light. “But, theoretically they can be hurt by other means. I decapitated one with simple force and that killed it, so it would be reasonable to assume that decapitation through other means would work as well.”

Fluttershy shuddered as she trotted next to the bookworm, the others falling into step as they made their way around the derailed train sections. “I know these things aren’t alive, but that’s still rather unsettling.”

Applejack nodded. “An’ how would we go about decapitating them, Twi’?”

“I’ll see what I can find in my books. Maybe weapons? They’re really hot, but I might be able to enchant metal to withstand extreme temperatures.”

Rarity blinked. “That sounds rather complex, from what I know about enchanting objects. Can you even do that while we’re travelling?”

“I’ve been reading lots of books about battle-magic and there are plenty of sections about making weapons for earth ponies and pegasi, including quick-fixes for in the field emergencies.” She smiled wanly as they rounded the last of the toppled cars; a small camp shaded by a tarp had been set up for the injured crash victims.

Applejack cantered past Rarity and Twilight, her vision directed a ways from the train towards the rolling sand. The purple mare followed slowly. A small lump marred the smooth ground, small indents of hoof-prints attesting to the nature of the mound as recent and ponymade. The unicorn’s breath caught in her throat.

A small, red, stuffed dragon rested atop the tiny hill.

“You…you didn’t say he was a foal,” Twilight whispered.

Applejack took off her hat, holding it to her chest as she lowered her head. “I didn’t think it mattered.”

“…I guess it doesn’t.” She shut her eyes and turned her head away. The small grave conjured images in her head that she desperately wanted to dispel. It was perfectly sized for a certain green and purple dragon.

She turned to the camp-site and picked up her pace.

A large, chestnut earth stallion with a trim grey mane lay in the shade, a foreleg wrapped in a shredded curtain and splinted with a length of metal rod, munching on a chocolate chip cookie. Next to him was a green coated pegasus mare sitting and chatting with a small yellow pegasus filly, their matching purple manes bobbing as they spoke. Both had some minor lacerations that had been bandaged, but looked mostly intact. Bookending the group was a unicorn mare, her coat a dusky midnight blue and mane a startlingly bright white. She held a hoof to a large piece of cloth tied on the side of her head, a grimace across her face.

Rarity smiled, resting a foreleg on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, allow me introduce you to Rumble.”

“Charmed, ma’am,” the stallion said around his cookie, “I saw that ‘splosion from here. I owe you my life.” The lavender mare smiled, looking away from Rumble as her cheeks colored. He chuckled with amusement and took another bite of the treat. Rarity advanced down the line.

“Thunder Cloud and her daughter Raindrop.”

Thunder Cloud opened her mouth to speak, but the little filly jumped to her hooves, small wings buzzing animatedly, and cut her off. “Nice ta meet ya, Twilight!”

“Nice to meet you too, Raindrop. And you as well, Thunder Cloud.”

The green mare chuckled warmly. “Nice to meet you, Twilight. I heard you were the one who saved us. I don’t know how to thank you.” Her eyes lingered over the bouncing little filly. Twilight’s face grew warmer as she looked down at the sand.

“And last but not least, we have Peppermint.”

“Nice to meet you, Peppermint.”

The mare groaned. “I’d shake your hoof, but my head won’t stop spinning.” Twilight frowned in concentration, her pounding head making the act difficult, and gently touched her horn to the large bandage on the side of Peppermint’s head. Lowering her hoof, the injured mare sighed in relief. “Oh, that’s much better, thank you very much miss. I’m afraid I don’t know my way around any sort of medical magic. I think I’ll fix that mistake as soon as possible.” A warm smile spread across her face as she extended a dark blue hoof which Twilight shook. “I feel much better, thank you. A pity we couldn’t set out earlier, but I understand you were in no state after facing those monsters.”

The librarian nodded feebly. “Well, it’s a good thing you waited, anyway. It’s dangerous to travel overland through the desert during the day; a pony should find shelter and sleep through the hottest part and move when it’s cooler.” She paused to knead her forehead with a hoof. A fuzziness had fallen over her thoughts. She turned her attention back to the mother and daughter pair.

Horn glowing softly, she set to work mending their many minor lacerations. Raindrop giggled as the magic worked, dancing away from Twilight’s gentle prods. A mother’s smile of gratitude flushed the unicorn with a mix of pride and guilt even as her thoughts attempted to scatter. She sat down abruptly.

A supporting hoof reached either side of her back from Rarity and Applejack. “Are you alright?” they both asked.

“I’m…I’ll be fine. Can you get me a piece of parchment and a quill?” She focused on her hooves, willing her vision back into focus. “Fixing a broken bone is a lot more difficult than cuts and scrapes. I need to write to the princess before I heal Rumble.”

Fluttershy trotted over from the small distance away she and Pinkie had been talking, carrying Twilight’s saddlebag. Twilight dug through the side of it, pulling her writing implements free. She set to work, paper, quill and ink wavering in front of her. Squinting to focus, she sighed and floated out a book to use as a flat writing surface.

Applejack raised an eyebrow as Pinkie Pie joined them. “What’s this about, Twi’?”

“Notes.”

The unicorn fell wordlessly into her work, struggling to maintain focus. Applejack and Rarity fell back to let her write, their eyes meeting. The orange mare’s expression softened. She spoke low, a private conversation injected with warmth and gentleness. “Hey there, Rarity.”

“Hi yourself.”

“We’ve not had much time for just us two, I reckon. How’re you holdin’ up?”

“I’m alright, dear.” The unicorn frowned, looking off across the billowing sandscape. “Thinking about home. I think I might be having sewing withdrawals.”

Applejack chuckled. “I know what ya mean. I might start buckin’ trees in my sleep soon.” They shared a short laugh, purple mane coming to rest on an orange shoulder.

“I must say, I’m not a huge fan of ‘roughing it.’”

The earth pony straightened in surprise. “Darlin’, you haven’t seen half of roughin’ it. We’ve spent a couple nights in tents, but mostly we’ve been on a train or stayin’ as guests. An’ everywhere we’ve been is a stone’s throw from a town.”

Rarity waved a hoof dismissively. “Well, it can’t get that much worse.” Applejack bit her lip.

Twilight sighed heavily. “Okay, done.” In a flash of mulberry light, the scrolled rolled itself up and vanished in a puff of smoke. She shook her head slowly, clutching at her temples with both forehooves.

Applejack frowned with worry as she and her marefriend returned to the shaded camp. “You aren’t lookin’ so great, Twi’. Might want to take a break.”

“Can’t. Need to heal Rumble’s leg before it has a chance to get infected.” She bit down on her lip savagely, almost breaking the skin. The fresh, pulsing flash of pain raced through her mind, sharpening her muddy thoughts. “Listen, I’m not sure I’m going to be in any state to explain things after the next spell. Los Pegasus is less than a night’s hike back along the tracks from here. When Rumble’s healed give them some supplies to make their way back.”

Her brow furrowing over confused eyes, Pinkie asked, “Shouldn’t we wait ‘til you’re okay and go back as a group?”

“We’re not going back.”

Fluttershy’s wings sprung open in surprise. “What? But Twilight…”

“We are at this moment closer to most of Bridleon than we would be leaving from Saddle Arabia. I restocked what I could at the Crystal Empire. We’re missing a few things, but we have everything that’s strictly necessary to survive in the desert. It would be weeks of hoof-travel to Saddle Arabia, or weeks of waiting in Los Pegasus for this mess to be cleared and a new train to take us there.” She expelled a heavy, pained breath, her head thumping with each beat of her heart. “We’re all set to go. We have food, we can generate water, and we have shelter for the day and warm clothing for the night.”

Rarity frowned, turning her cobalt eyes to Pinkie Pie. “You’ve been in charge of our food, Pinkie. Do you think we’re adequately stocked?” The earth pony nodded enthusiastically. “Well, alright then.”

Twilight groaned. “We can discuss this further after I’m done. If I’m in any shape to talk.” She turned back to Rumble’s bandaged leg. Magic collected at her horn, the healing spell directing the chaotic motes of the unicorn’s energy into twisting bands. At its apex, the power leapt from the lavender horn, spiraling around the wound, knitting tissue and realigning bone. As the magenta glow faded, The large stallion gingerly stretched his foreleg before standing with a grin.

“Thank you kindly, ma’am.”

Twilight blinked. With a stunned expression, she checked her head, carefully touching her brow and horn in a few different places, seeking spots of tenderness. She carefully stood, waiting for a wave of vertigo that didn’t come. Her violet eyes were wide and sharp. After a mystified glance around the group, she looked at Rumble and opened her mouth. “…” The mare’s eyes fluttered shut and she keeled over on her side in the sand.

Raindrop gasped. “Is she okay?” A loud, rumbling snore from the unicorn answered her question. Applejack rolled her eyes.

Rarity turned to her marefriend, talking quietly. “What do we do now, dear? I trust Twilight has read a lot on the subject, but you’re the one who has experience living off the land like this.”

“We should manage. Twi’s right; it’s the best option we’ve got.” Turning, the earth pony started making her way back towards the train.

Pinkie waved a hoof, calling out, “What’s up, AJ?”

“We got a bit before Twi’s in any shape to hoof it. I…don’t feel right just layin’ one little colt to rest. I’m goin’ back into the train.”

As she continued her deliberate steps towards the wreck, a set of yellow hooves joined her.

Rainbow Dash opened her magenta eyes as her body slowly lowered back to the stone floor. She was startled. The tunnel was the darkest thing she had ever experienced. Moonless nights, deep forests, windowless rooms, they had nothing on the sheer, overwhelming, absolute blackness of being deep in the heart of a mountain. A small frown on her lips, she pushed out her magical senses. A wavery haze of light came to her mind, doubled up and unreadable. Groaning, she tried to stand.

Fire raced through her muscles. She inhaled sharply, the air a multitude of needles stabbing her insides. The jackhammer rumbling of her heart spread pinpricks of agony racing through her veins and arteries. She stifled a cry, falling to the stone floor. The impact sent waves of nausea through her painfully empty belly. Rainbow wretched dryly.

Her mind attempted to flee and the discomfort immediately lessened. Pausing in her outward sensory rush, she examined her magical aura. There was no discernible difference that she could see on her physical being, but the glowing green Element of Inaction drew her attention. It sparked fitfully, the heart-shaped outline indistinct in wobbling greens. The small filament connections running from the leaf to her body were thin and indistinct, the flow sluggish.

Rainbow Dash hesitantly returned to her fitful body. Fumbling, half-blinded by dizziness and half by her tenuous extrasensory perception, she forced herself back into a meditative position. Her breathing evened out, the shallow inhalations fading from excruciating to merely uncomfortable. As her body slowed its metabolic movements, the pain vanished. Her body slowly lifted from the stone floor, left eye an upturned crescent, right eye a downward slit. In stillness, she watched the spiking green force and waited.

Author's Note

Happy Hearts and Hooves Day! You guys deserve a chapter about nineteen hours early. Especially this chapter today.

Ahh, the Twidash. This scene was crystallized in my mind as the seeds of Coming Back were taking root. I've been wanting to write it since before Thanksgiving. Actually writing it down and getting it out of my head was one of the most cathartic experiences of my life; I felt like I was exorcising a demon. I hope it landed for you guys. Only a handful more demons to tear out. Thankfully for you guys most are near the end, so if I want to get them out I'm not allowed to quit writing this.

For those of you that follow me and saw my not-so-subtle blog post about having something special planned for today, this is only part of it.

This also brings us to the start of a brief hiatus. I will be skipping the scheduled updates on 2/21 and 2/28 in order to replenish my buffer. Coming Back will resume normal updates on 3/7. I definitely won't be quiet during that down-time though so keep your eyes peeled (especially later today, hint-hint).

I wanna thank you guys again. Some of my other pieces have gotten more views, more upvotes, and more favorites than this story, but I feel like this work has been my most successful. Seeing the same people comment week to week, making guesses, asking questions, asking for the next chapter already...it's really amazing to me. I couldn't ask for anything more. You are all wonderful and I love hearing from you so much.

See you guys in March.

Chapter 13

“Sister, please.”

“’Tia, it cannot be done at this time.” The princess of the night sat hunched over a large wooden table in the middle of the throne room. The mahogany surface was scratched and scarred from years of use and stood starkly out of place in the opulence of the palace. The old beater of a table had been given the nickname of the ‘War Room’ by the palace staff and Luna had not sought to break them of their habit. This was where she worked now, making decisions she hoped would keep Equestria from falling. “We have no intelligence on the attack and the nearest pegasus recon unit won’t be able to report back until tomorrow morning. We must be patient, dear sister.”

Celestia paced the length of the room with jittering agitation, her ephemeral mane whipped into a torrent of motion. Her voice was strained and tired. “Luna, I can feel it in my wings. The attack was directed at Twilight Sparkle. We must go.”

“There is too much to be done here and too many lives at stake to move without knowledge. Please, calm yourself.”

“How can I be calm?!” she shouted, “How can you be calm?! If you will not see to it, then I will go personally.” Unfurling her alabaster wings, Princess Celestia marched boldly to the window.

“We cannot abide you leaving,” Luna’s voice thundered as she leapt to her hooves, halting the elder alicorn mid-step. Her voice dropped in volume, but held a hard edge. “Your judgment has been compromised, sister.”

Celestia turned around, her eyes wide with surprise. “Luna,” her voice was barely above a whisper, “You used the Royal Canterlot Voice.”

The midnight mare lowered her head, releasing a sigh. “I’m sorry, ‘Tia. But your love for Twilight Sparkle is coloring your actions.”

The princess of the day shifted on her hooves, “I love all our subjects.”

“As do I, but you cannot be blind to the truth, ‘Tia. I have seen it with my own eyes. You love Twilight Sparkle as your own daughter.” The monarch’s head lowered, the preternatural breeze suspending her pastel mane slowing to a gentle current. “We shall move as soon as we have information. Five of them, ‘Tia. Five. With half of the High Scholars watching the incoming army’s every move, they arrived with no warning outside of our borders. There is much to be evaluated before we can proceed.”

Luna placed a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder, her voice dropping low and soothing. “I know you worry for them and we will do what we must when the time comes to act. Trust me, ‘Tia. It has been a long time since you have had to wear the crown of war and even then it was mostly mine to bear. I will do what’s best for us. What’s best for all of Equestria.”

The elder princess sat on her haunches, letting her head hang low. “You are right, Luna. About everything. It has been a long time since I have grown so attached to a mortal pony…I had forgotten the feeling.” Hooves circled her neck and she returned the embrace, nuzzling her younger sister gratefully.

“Twilight Sparkle is a remarkable unicorn, sister. If there is a pony alive that has a chance against these bulls, I believe it is her.”

“I pray you are correct. I pray that she is not on a fool’s errand. You heard the accounts of her brother first-hoof, Luna.” She pulled away enough to look her sister in the eye. “They are playing with forces neither of us understand. This has Discord’s treachery written all over it, but I cannot ascertain how. Or why.” She stood again and turned, her pacing resuming the deliberate, practiced rhythm of royalty. “I knew I was right those scant few months ago. Purposefully releasing him would have been disastrous. But I have found nothing to go on regarding this ‘Appaloo,’ if there is such a being. I know not what to do.”

Luna’s voice stayed low as she caught the elder mare’s shoulder with a hoof. “We shall face these trials together, ‘Tia. You do not bear these burdens alone any longer.” Luna offered a wan smile. “But for now, you must remaster your patience. We have both been alive for over one thousand years; surely you can stand to wait a day for news.”

As Celestia dipped her head to relent, a flash of magenta energy lit up the throne room. A roll of parchment bounced plainly on the stone floor. The princesses’ eyes met before they rushed to the scroll. Gripped in a glow of sunlight made solid, Celestia unfurled the parchment in front of their eyes. Slowly she began to speak, relief coloring her tone.

“Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,

“This is an in-field debriefing. The five of us are fine. The bull attack was centered on us and occurred while we were aboard a train destined for Saddle Arabia. The train was completely destroyed in the attack with multiple casualties, but all five bulls were terminated. The wreck was catastrophic; a great deal of cleanup will be required to render the track usable again. Following are my notes regarding their weak points and fighting tactics.

“~What I’ve found on bull anatomy: Their flesh is a sheathing of gelatinous fire, minimum temperature of 2900 degrees Fahrenheit (contact with sheathing melted sand to glass). The interior body is made up of inert stone. Puncturing the flesh produces wounds that emit fire, but quickly heal. When shaped as a bull, they require oxygen to maintain their combustion, but formed as a spherical meteor, they do not.

“~Their fighting tactics are limited. They have restricted mobility and do not plan strategically. Their method is a combination of brute strength and low vulnerability. Here are the methods of attack I found successful:

“~The first bull was successfully terminated with a cone of cold cast at three times normal power. A direct hit proved fatal, but several indirect hits only inflicted quickly recoverable wounds. The focus and magic drain was substantial. The tactic might prove effective as a tandem attack from multiple unicorns, though.

“~The ability to function is tied to the flesh, rather than the rock body. Damage directly to the body via constrictive force resulted in impairing its ability to form a coherent body and move with any coordination. There is a point of no return on damage to the flesh that results in failure of function. Standard concussive bolts of magical force delivered at a rate of 400 per minute will result in termination within ten seconds. A rate of 200 per minute would theoretically work within forty-five seconds. Forceful separation of sufficient size will also lead to termination; decapitation proved to require the least amount of force and result in success.

“I hope this information proves useful. If either of you had lingering suspicions that my communications with Rainbow Dash were not real, I received 100% confirmation during the attack. I will explain in a later letter; I can barely hold this quill in my magic at the moment.

“Be well. I hope to see you both soon.

“Your faithful student,

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia sunk to her haunches, expelling a forceful breath of air. She shuddered, feeling the tension fall from her shoulders in a crashing wave. Luna bounced on her hooves and practically pranced over to the War Room, crying out, “Guard!”

A white pegasus stallion wearing dusky blue armor entered the throne room, saluting the monarchs. “Yes, Princess?”

Luna grinned. “Ah, Vigil, it is nice to see you. But today I am not calling you as a princess, but as High-General of the Equestrian Army.” Vigil straightened in his salutatory stance. Her voice dropped in volume but grew in speed and confidence. “Rescind the scouting orders for the recon unit; direct intelligence has been magically sent that renders it unnecessary. A disaster response team needs to be sent instead to clean up a train wreck.” A parchment and quill lifted from the old desk in a glow of blue, hovering above the princess’ head. The quill flew across the page in a flurry of writing as she sorted through papers laid out on the scratched surface. “After that, summon the generals. There is much to be discussed. Dismissed.”

Vigil hurried from the room as further papers and feathers floated from the desk in a frantic blur of note taking. Celestia stood on shaking hooves, having at last mastered the almost nauseating levels of relief that threatened to incapacitate her. “Sister…what is it that you’re planning now that we must gather the generals?”

Glancing up from her work, Luna’s stern focus cracked with the appearance of a sly smirk. “Now my expedience surprises you, ‘Tia? Why, it’s to begin planning what is only my favorite past-time as military general.” Her smirk spread to a grin as she floated a sheaf over to her sister. “Drills,” she chimed with delight.

Twilight shivered. Raising her head, a burst of pain and vertigo shuddered through her brain and she dropped back to the ground with a groan. She opened her eyes and struggled to make them focus. A cool breeze sent further shivers down her spine as the world resolved into muted blues and violets.

Pinkie’s voice called out close to the unicorn’s head, drawing a wince. “Twilight’s awake!”

Twilight turned a bleary eye in the direction of the voice, locating a slowly-sharpening pink blob. She mumbled, “Pinkie, not so loud.”

“Oops. Sorry, Twiley-Wiley.”

The scrunching patter of hooffalls in sand grew louder. The rustling of a tent flap was followed by Applejack’s voice, low and soothing. “You feelin’ alright, Sugarcube?” Twilight groaned, swiveling her gaze to the orange shape standing over her. “You’ve been out for a spell.”

“What time is it?”

“Bit past midnight. We sent them four on their way a couple hours ago. Everypony else hunkered down for a nap.” The exhausted mare nodded weakly. “Can we get ya anything? Probably need something in your stomach soon; you haven’t had a drop of water or a scrap of food since breakfast yesterday.”

Without waiting for an answer, Pinkie bounded a few feet away. Twilight watched her go, happy her vision had cleared enough to identify the saddlebag her friend was now digging through by the balloon-shaped patches. The earth pony returned with a canteen, a few slices of bread, and a small bouquet of daisies. Twilight slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position. She attempted to grasp the canteen with her magic and a lance of pain shot through her head.

Applejack grimaced, sitting on her haunches and placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Best to take it easy with the magic, there.” The unicorn shook her head gently and reached for the container with her forelegs, drawing it close awkwardly and fumbling with the cap. The farm pony couldn’t contain her smirk. “You unicorns and your magic. Take it away and you’re as helpless as a filly.” She grabbed the canteen and removed the lid in one swift motion, handing it back to Twilight, who stuck her tongue out at Applejack before taking a long drink. She sighed as the water soothed her parched throat and accepted the assembled sandwich from Pinkie.

After finishing the meal, Twilight’s head had cleared considerably, and she smiled gratefully at her friends. “I really needed that, thank you.” She got to her hooves and exited the tent. The girls had made camp where the injured ponies had vacated; their shelters set up in a triangle behind the wreck. The cool breeze rustling her mane drew another shiver and she turned away. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked over the sand.

The lone stuffed dragon’s hill had been joined by others. She shut her eyes and turned away. Applejack exited the tent and took stock of Twilight’s body language. She bowed her head. “…Thirty souls. We’re lucky most folks’ve been drafted.”

“Yeah,” Twilight whispered, “Lucky.” She released a heavy sigh and sat down.

Applejack sat next to the mare and wrapped a hoof around her shoulders. “So what’s next, Twi’? You up for hoofin’ tonight?” Pinkie followed the two and took a seat on Twilight’s right.

“…No, that’s probably a bad idea. We should camp here for the day and set off tomorrow evening.” She glanced back into the tent and spied her saddlebags. “I was interrupted on the train. I have research to do.” A small smile pulled at her lips. “Wake everypony up, though. We want to try and sleep through the day when it’s too hot to travel.”

Pinkie leapt to her hooves. “Ooh, I’ll make a tasty breakfast! That’ll keep miss grumpy saddle Rarity from being too upset.” Applejack snickered as the pink mare bounced into the tent towards her saddlebags, pulling open the side reserved for foodstuffs. She inhaled deeply, smelling the aromas as she shuffled through the pack. Pushing aside assorted bouquets of fresh flowers, bags of fruit and vegetables, cartons of eggs, loaves of bread, and jugs of milk, she pulled out a sealed container of pancake batter. She pulled up the lid and gave a sniff. Grinning, she extracted a griddle, a spatula, and a few logs of firewood, piling them on her back before leaping out towards the center of the clearing.

Twilight stood and re-entered her tent. Shuffling through the library half of her bags, she huffed through her snout. “This is a lot easier with magic,” she muttered. The crackling of fire and sizzling of batter had filled the air before she found a title related to pegasus culture.

Rejoining her friends, Twilight sat around the fire as Pinkie worked. The smell brought her appetite roaring to life, the daisy sandwich a stop-gap measure that was rapidly failing. She smiled apologetically at Rarity and Fluttershy. “Sorry for waking you both up. It’ll be easier if we’re fully rested when we leave tomorrow evening.”

Rarity waved a hoof. “That’s quite alright, dear. I’ll get my beauty sleep over the day.”

Fluttershy nodded, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Yeah, we’ll be fine. How are you feeling, Twilight?”

“I’m okay. Just worn out, mostly.” She sighed and ran a hoof through her mane, wincing when she was met with some resistance. She decided that the first thing she was going to do when her magic wasn’t so shaky was a thorough mane, tail, and coat brushing. “A quiet day—err, night—and a good day’s sleep should do a lot of good.”

Rarity nodded. “Any plans for passing the time?”

“Well, I was going to pursue that lead on Fames, now that I have the time.”

Rarity gave Twilight a piercing look. “So…you’re going to be reading all night?”

“Um…yes?”

A heavy silence fell over the group as Pinkie finished dishing up the cooked pancakes. She passed the plates around and cleared her throat. “So…anypony have another deck of cards?”

Floating serenely in the tunnel, Rainbow Dash watched the fitful spiking of green energy with patience. The ebb and flow of color was hypnotic in its own way; a dancing symphony of waving magic jittering in the darkness. Every so often she would cast her enhanced gaze around the stone walls and take in the unintelligible sight. Her ability to sense clearly was still impeded, but she believed it was slowly improving. Shortly after entering the meditative trance, the purple beam connecting her to Twilight grew bright, but concern for the well-being of her body kept her mind rooted in place. When it sharpened a second time, she cautiously extended her consciousness down the filament.

Twilight tackled Rainbow Dash. A flurry of giggles echoed through the void as they assaulted each other with kisses. Pulling back to catch her breath, Rainbow gazed up into the purple eyes above her, lightly stroking straight mane with a hoof. “Hey, Twi’.” The unicorn grinned and snuggled her cheek into her marefriend’s neck, hugging tightly. Rainbow trailed her other hoof down to the small of Twilight’s back, still running a limb through indigo hair. Twilight breathed deeply, tasting the storm smell clinging to sky blue coat.

For a long time, they laid in each other’s hooves without talking. Twilight’s tail idly swished back and forth over Rainbow’s until with a flick the pegasus’ chromatic hair circled purple and magenta. The blanket of safety settling on her mind caused Twilight's eyelids to droop, the sensation only reinforced by the physical blanket of the wonderfully warm wing draped across her back. She murmured softly into Rainbow Dash’s neck, a stretch overtaking her body as she nestled further into the embrace.

The blue mare grinned indulgently at the stretch, hugging tighter with her wings and hooves. “You’re adorable.”

Twilight lifted her head and stuck her tongue out. “You’d be so angry if I called you that.”

“Well, yeah,” she smirked, “’Cuz I’m not adorable; I’m rugged and striking.”

“Mmm…you look pretty adorable to me.”

It was Rainbow’s turn to stick her tongue out. “Can’t be adorable with a badass eye scar.”

“Oh, but it’s so cute.” She leaned forward and planted a kiss where the forking lines of pink converged on the mare’s forehead. Rainbow Dash gave her a deadpan stare. Twilight watched the muscles under the other mare’s brow twitch momentarily before the left side raised. A wry grin broke across her muzzle. “You can’t raise your right eyebrow anymore, can you?” Rainbow pouted out a lip and Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “That’s even more adorable.”

Rainbow Dash wriggled her wings rapidly up and down. A surprised shriek tore its way out of Twilight as Rainbow grasped tightly with her hooves, viciously tickling her captive. “Not adorable,” she growled over Twilight’s laughter, “Rugged.”

Twilight struggled out, “Okay, okay!” between cackles. As Rainbow’s wings stopped rustling, her laughter subsided and she snuggled back into the pegasus’ neck. “You’re my rugged, striking, awesome mare. Happy?” She listened to Rainbow’s gentle breaths as the blue pony laid back in quiet contemplation.

Twilight felt the soft wings around her back tighten. A wave of euphoric comfort rolled up her spine from the fierce embrace. Rainbow’s whispered response made her shiver. “Happier’n I’ve ever been before.”

Twilight dragged herself up and looked Rainbow in her eyes. They held each others’ gaze in a silent exchange of thoughts, clearly read on their partner’s face. Twilight’s hooves grasped colorful mane and she pulled Rainbow Dash’s muzzle to her own. Their mouths opened as the kiss deepened, a fevered need igniting, overtaking the idle contentment of simply being chest to chest. The hug transformed to desperate grasping, a burning attempt to close any gaps between their bodies. When they broke, flushed and panting, Twilight nuzzled Rainbow’s cheek and neck, breathlessly whispering, “I love you,” over and over.

Rainbow Dash gripped her marefriend tightly, her eyes sliding shut. “I love you, Twi’.” Twilight nuzzled back into the hollow where Rainbow’s neck met her shoulder. Her sense of safety remained, but she felt drained and raw. A hoof resumed stroking her mane and she murmured tonelessly. Rainbow grinned.

“I never knew I could feel this way about somepony, Rainbow.” She closed her eyes and felt the gentle rise and fall of her love’s chest, soaking up the body heat radiating beneath her. “I suddenly can’t imagine a life without you in it. And it’s all so new but so strong. I don’t understand it. It just doesn’t make any sense.” She huffed a frustrated breath.

“Doesn’t have to make sense, Twi’. So long as I can hold you in my hooves, all the other stuff doesn’t matter.” Rainbow smirked and shook her head. “You’re turnin’ me into a total sap, ya know.”

Twilight chuckled. “Me too.”

“We’re being gross.”

“I hope we get this out of our systems before we’re supposed to do anything with the others.”

Snorting, Rainbow mused, “Poor Fluttershy would probably start talkin’ in squeaks around us.” She stroked Twilight’s mane as the unicorn giggled.

Nibbling on Rainbow’s neck, Twilight asked, “Think we should do something constructive instead of fawning all over each other like a couple of school fillies?”

Rainbow Dash mock-sighed. “I guess. Anything major going on?”

“Not really. We’re setting off tomorrow evening. We kept ourselves awake last night so we could sleep through the day. Not much happened. I have a lead on the Breath of Fames, though. Haven’t found anything yet, but I know where to look. See, I was reading about cultures that were in the region back when the Elements of Strife were working, but I didn’t—” Rainbow Dash cut her off.

“Think to check pegasus cultures, I know. Brain thing, remember?” Twilight blew a raspberry against Rainbow’s shoulder. Her wide smile slowly shrunk as the blue mare grew thoughtful. “So did you have any…side effects when you woke up?”

Twilight nodded gently, using the motion as an excuse to burrow her face further into Rainbow’s neck. “Us joining drained a lot of my magic. It’s probably gonna take me a few days to be able to comfortably cast simple spells for extended periods of time. Might take a week or two before I’m back at full strength. How about you?”

Rainbow cleared her throat. “I can’t move my body right now.”

Twilight sat up, meeting Rainbow’s gaze. “What?”

“When I became enlightened, my heart started beating again and I needed to breathe, but this place isn’t meant for ponies to do that. The leaf’s been protecting me from the air and hunger and stuff. When I woke up, the connection got messed up a little, so it wasn’t protecting me anymore.”

The unicorn’s brows drew together over wide eyes. “Are you okay? What does it mean?”

“I’m not sure, but my body’s okay,” she replied, offering a small smile, “Sid said since he didn’t have the leaf he had to meditate to keep from gettin’ hurt, so that’s what I did. Now I just have’ta wait until it’s working right again.”

“How long is that gonna take?” Rainbow answered with a small shrug of her shoulders. “…Sid died when he started moving, didn’t he?” She swallowed heavily and lowered back down onto Rainbow’s chest, hugging tightly. “…We can’t do that melding again. It’s too dangerous.”

“Twi’…”

“No, Rainbow. We can’t. I can’t…” She bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut. “I can’t lose you again.” The purple mare quaked in Rainbow’s hooves and the pegasus tightened her grip, frowning into the void. “It almost killed me last time.”

“But what if you need me there?”

“No!” she yelled, drawing a wince out of Rainbow Dash from the volume, “I’m not losing you forever just because I can’t take care of myself!”

“Hey, hey, c’mon,” she soothed, stroking Twilight’s mane, “I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

“What if the next time it breaks entirely? What if you’re just stuck meditating forever?” The pegasus’ mouth pressed into a thin line as her hoof ran through long, straight hair in a steady rhythm. “I just have to figure out how to deal with these things on my own.” She frowned in thought, her vice-like embrace slowly lessening. “…I had a few ideas about that; I can work on some of the easier spells with Rarity and I found some promising weapon magic for the others, but…Rainbow.” She sat up again, the frown still creasing her muzzle. “I know a lot of magic, but I don’t have the willpower to cast complicated spells under pressure consistently. Your strength of will when we were bonded was amazing…” Her brows drew tighter together. “Rainbow Dash…will you teach me how to meditate?”

The pegasus blinked. “Sure thing, I guess. Why?”

Twilight sighed as she slowly pulled herself off of the incredibly comfortable Rainbow Dash, letting her rugged and striking bed get to her hooves. “I saw lots of bits and pieces of your memories and how you felt about things. I’m almost positive your current willpower is new. I think it’s from your enlightenment.” She shuffled her hooves on the empty space serving as a floor. “I don’t expect to be able to get to your level, but if I could build up my strength of will even a little bit it could mean the difference in a fight.”

“That makes sense. Alright, Twi’.” She beckoned the unicorn over as she sat on her haunches and crossed her hind legs. “All ya gotta do, is do nothing.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and awkwardly folded herself to match. “Nothing, huh?”

“Yep. No moving, no worrying, no thinking about silly things, just do absolutely nothing.” Twilight huffed a breath of air and looked forward. After thirty seconds she understood why it was challenging. Her snout itched. She found that without even realizing it one of her hooves was nervously bouncing. Her ears had minds of their own, swiveling around as if following a bug. Her brain was wandering every which way, pulling apart math equations, recalling meals of days past, and puzzling over forgotten song lyrics.

“This is hard.”

“Yep. Took me twenty days of trying non-stop to make it. Took Sid forty-nine.”

Twilight swallowed thickly. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and focused on stilling her restless body and mind.

Pinkie Pie stuck her head through the tent flap, the orange rays of the setting sun dyeing her hair a rich crimson. “Ready to go?”

Twilight sighed, snapping the book shut and getting to her hooves. She shoved it into her saddlebag and eyed the roof of her tent. “…Think you could help me get the tent down and packed?”

Pinkie’s indulgent giggle did not brighten the unicorn’s mood. However, the pink mare’s bouncing grace made short work of the tent and sleeping bag and soon the five ponies were gathered together, strapped into saddlebags and sitting around the blackened remains of the campfire.

Applejack slid a hoof up and down Rarity’s back as the unicorn leaned into her shoulder. “So what’s for breakfast, Pinks?” The upbeat mare dug through her bag, tossing apples to each of her friends, her aim dead-center to their chests without even looking. The farm pony stared at the fruit in her hooves, a mist entering her eyes. “Pinkie…I could kiss ya.”

Rarity shoved against Applejack’s shoulder and spilled her marefriend into the sand, both of them giggling. Twilight took a bite of her meal. The sweet juice threatened to spill down her chin and she scrunched up her face, eyes creased and muzzle wrinkled as she slowly chewed. “Mmm…good thinking, Pinkie. Desert travel’s not gonna be kind to perishables. No telling when these sorts of things are gonna go bad.”

Pinkie froze mid-bite into her apple. Her blue eyes flicked over to her saddlebag, catching sight of the contents poking out; fresh fruits and veggies, cartons of eggs, bouquets of flowers, bottles of milk. Her jaw twitched and the taste of the apple hit her tongue. Grinning around the apple, she bit down the rest of the way and smacked her lips. “These are almost as good as the ones from Sweet Apple Acres.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Almost.” Pinkie threw them each a second apple and snapped her pack shut without another look.

Applejack buried the remains of the previous night’s fire and the five mares set off across the tracks, heading into the rolling dunes. The final rays of sunlight to their right faded as they rounded a hill and left the train wreck behind them. The cool night air fought with the heat radiating from the sand and kept them all comfortable; the journey an amiable canter that reminded Rarity more of a walk through the park than any sort of traumatic ‘wilderness survival’ experience. ’Applejack is so pessimistic. This isn’t bad at all,’ she thought, smirking to herself.

Every once in awhile Twilight halted the group and scrutinized the star map dazzlingly bright over their heads, adjusting their direction towards the coordinates of the nearest ruins. During the first hour of their trek, she struggled to hold a book in her hooves and read as they went. After the third slip that sent the tome skidding down a hill she opted to mutter darkly through the night instead.

Applejack smirked and shook her head, but injected soothing kindness into her tone. “Any luck at all, Twilight?”

The unicorn grumbled, shooting a venomous eye over her shoulder at her saddlebags. “Not really. Pegasus history books aren’t organized by geographical regions at all; they’re split into cultures. There was a lot of moving around and intermingling, so it’s considered the easier method,” she huffed, her voice dripping with disdain. “I’ve gone through three books so far, covering the major cultures.” She raised her head, a pep re-entering her words and steps. “There was something I found. Remember I mentioned enchanting weapons?”

“Oh yeah?” Applejack’s ears flicked with interest. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy perked up, hurrying their pace to the front of the group. Rarity huffed and grudgingly sped up.

“One of the books on battle magic I have talks about how to make a signature weapon.” Twilight’s trot changed into almost a skip, her eyes closed as she entered lecture-mode. “A signature weapon is made out of pure magic and it’s powered by the pony it’s made for. So say we made a bit handle for you, Applejack. I’d cast a spell connecting you to the handle and when you held it in your mouth it would manifest a blade of energy.” She cast a glance at Fluttershy. “It could work with all sorts of weapons, but the book suggested mouth-swords for earth ponies and wing-blades for pegasi.”

Pinkie quirked an eyebrow. “What’s a wing-blade?”

The unicorn opened her mouth to answer, but Fluttershy spoke over her, her quiet voice matter-of-fact. “A wing-blade is a short, light sword that’s attached to the end of a pegasus’ wing.” Twilight blinked at her. “What?” she asked, a small smile on her lips, “I paid attention in history class as a filly.”

Applejack cleared her throat. “Well, that sounds like a mighty fine solution. Can’t imagine somethin’ made outta magic’s gonna melt.” She frowned. “I reckon it might be dangerous to get up close an’ personal enough to use somethin’ like that, though.”

Twilight’s smile widened. “That’s the other thing I found. Remember that stoneshaping spell? That was from a book on archeological magic and it occurred to me that sometimes ponies might need to go inside places like active volcanoes.” A flash passed over her eyes as she gave a toothy grin. “I found a spell that protects a pony from extreme heat!”

A murmur of excitement rippled through the four, growing decidedly more hollow at the back of the group. Twilight halted to check the stars, saying, “It’s not perfect; it doesn’t last very long and the more heat the spell absorbs the faster it fades. And it doesn’t keep hot things from causing damage. The example it gave in the book was a pony could stick their hoof into a fire and not get hurt, but if they submerged it in liquid rock, the magma wouldn’t burn them but it would still stick to their body.” Her voice dropped and grew dark. “The spell would fail eventually and then you’d have molten lava on your leg…And, uh, I think everypony remembers what happened when Rainbow Dash touched that thing’s body.” A collective shudder ran through the group.

Their path adjusted, silence fell over the group as they headed through the cooling landscape. The wavy dunes began to grow smaller and further apart. Applejack dropped her speed, drifting to the back of the group. “How ya holdin’ up, Rarity?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m alright, dear.” The unicorn’s smile was strained. “A bit more walking than I’m used to, but hardly the worse for wear. I should be fine, don’t you worry.”

The farm pony smiled warmly. “I’m glad to hear it, Darlin’. And’ don’t forget; we’re not in a big ol’ hurry and have to sprint there. If you need a break, just say so.”

Smiling indulgently, Rarity said, “I think I’ll manage.”

Pinkie broke the general quiet hanging over the group. “So how hard are these magic weapon thingies gonna be to make, Twilight?”

“Hmn?” The unicorn blinked, drawn away from her wandering thoughts. “Well, the hardest part is going to be making the focus object, after that it’s a pretty simple spell that I’ll be able to cast once my magic’s normal again. Mouth-blades should be easy; the book said anything that could be comfortably held in a pony’s teeth would work. Wing-blades might be a challenge, though. I bet Rarity could make something if she had the materials.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “That’s okay, Twilight, I don’t think you should bother with those.”

Raising an eyebrow, Twilight asked, “Why not?”

Fluttershy frowned. “Wing-blades aren’t exactly easy to use.” She bit her lip, her cerulean eyes growing distant. “When I was in school my class went to see a battle reenactment with choreographed wing-blade fights.” Her frown turned into a smile. “It looked like they were dancing in the air. I don’t think I really connected it to fighting at the time; it looked so graceful and pretty. After that I read everything I could about wing-blades.” Her eyes swam back into focus as she gently shook her head. “They’re mostly used for defense and it takes special training just to learn how to use them for that. Most of the deaths of soldiers using wing-blades were from making mistakes and losing control in the air. And learning to use them for offense takes years.”

Twilight nodded slowly, a deepening frown on her muzzle. “I guess making a weapon and using a weapon are pretty different. No point in making something that nopony can actually use…I hope I brought along enough books so that you girls can learn how to actually fight with a mouth-sword.”

The moon drifted directly overhead as they crested a small hill. Applejack turned to Rarity. “Looks like it might be lunch time. Ready to stop for a spell?”

The unicorn smirked. “Oh, I’m doing just fine; no need to stop for my sake. Why, are you getting tired, dear?”

Applejack chuckled. “Hungry’s more like it. Just pace yourself, Rares. You don’t have anythin’ to prove to nopony out here.”

“Believe me, Applejack, when I need to stop I will let you know.”

“I’m cold,” Rarity whined, pouting out a lip, “And my hooves hurt!”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “Grab a jacket then. It’s getting close to sunrise; we’ll camp soon.”

Rarity’s moans provided an unpleasant backdrop to the remainder of the night’s journey. The five mares had made good time across the sweeping sand, leaving the wrecked train far behind them. Twilight’s careful attention to the star map above kept them pointed in the right direction and the wind died down with the reduction of dune size. Twilight would have been enjoying herself without Rarity’s constant complaints over the last three hours.

“Alright,” Twilight sighed, “This spot looks level. Let’s stop here.” A sigh of relief echoed through the others as they plopped down into the sand. Pinkie Pie busied herself prepping a campfire, her energy levels barely tapped by the long journey. Twilight winced watching her and turned her attention to the waiting book in her saddlebags.

Applejack scooched over next to her marefriend with an exasperated smirk on her lips. “Didja survive, Sugar?”

The unicorn sighed and leaned into Applejack’s shoulder, slinging a foreleg around the orange mare’s middle. “Mmm, you’re warm.” Applejack hugged Rarity, rubbing her back in slow circles. “Ooh, my hooves are killing me. It didn’t seem this bad going through the mountains.”

“Sand ain’t the most comfortable thing to hoof through.”

“I’ve been a pain, haven’t I?”

“No.” Applejack bit her lip. “Well, maybe a little. You’ll get used to the sand eventually.”

“I hope not. It’s dry and itchy and I can feel it in my mane.” She cast a baleful glare at the ground. “It’s too hot during the day and too cold at night, there’s nothing pretty here, and the only thing to do is walk.” She kicked a small plume of grit with a foreleg. Applejack frowned and opened her mouth, but Rarity cut her off. “But it’s not really about me and my personal comfort. This is about Rainbow Dash. Twilight, too. More than that, it’s about Equestria…” her voice drifted low and somber. “It’s about that little colt with the stuffed dragon.” Her grip around the farm pony’s middle tightened and she dug her head into Applejack’s shoulder. “So don’t worry about me, dear. This is too important for my fussing to get in the way.”

Applejack blinked rapidly. Suddenly the presence of the mare lying against her felt much warmer and more vital. She wanted to say something, to bring her feelings into focus, but words failed her again. She turned herself to face Rarity and hugged her, strongly and silently.

Pinkie was digging through her saddlebags, throwing merry shadows from the crackling fire, when Twilight gasped. The four turned to find her standing over a book, legs planted widely apart, with a radiant grin on her face.

“I found it!” Twilight cried, “I found Fames!”

Author's Note

And we return! A day early from the normal Thursday update, a day late from my hopeful update, and six days late from my planned update. Ah well, it's here! I didn't quit! XD

You may have noticed some changes to the description. Most obvious will be the tag alterations. Reading this chapter will probably make it clear why AU was added and I took Tragedy off because this isn't really a classic tragedy story. The tag was really there due to Rainbow Dash's untimely demise in the first scene, but honestly the description itself and Dark tags cover that base.

You may have also noticed I picked up a new editor. Shellsh0cker is a welcome addition who has promised to help stamp out my lingering case of Lavender Unicorn Syndrome. Welcome aboard and thanks, Shell!

The last change is about the update schedule. My break, even with the extra week, did not leave me with a replenished buffer of chapters. So, I'm gonna slow down a tad and switch to a bi-weekly schedule of every other Thursday for the foreseeable future. It takes about three days to draft a chapter when I'm in top form, and until the last week or so I've not been in top form. I don't want to burn out on this, so I'm gonna give myself plenty of wiggle room to write regardless of my pace. But if I end up building a buffer of five chapters ahead I'll switch back to weekly. Also, as soon as the story's fully drafted regardless of buffer size I'll switch to weekly.

For those of you who don't follow me, I've posted blogs regarding the status of this chapter when I knew it was gonna be late, when I hoped to get it up, and when it was in edits. I think I'm going to start posting 'production blogs' once a week on Sundays that give rough word-counts on in-progress stuff, just to keep people in the loop. If you missed the blogs about this chapter and would be interested in seeing that sort of stuff, give me a follow or just check my user page on Sundays to get the run-down. That way you won't be surprised if something falls apart and I have to miss an update like I did last week.

See y'all on 3/28 with chapter 14.