Shadow of the Sun

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28

Chapter 1

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 1

It had been a terrible idea. How could she have possibly agreed to something like this? They had seemed so innocent and curious. Their motives sincere and their interest genuine. Now, however, Twilight Sparkle seriously questioned how she had let three school aged fillies talk her into ‘helping out’ in her library.

Apple Bloom and her two friends Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, meant well, at least, Twilight thought that they did. They were always rushing around, trying something new to earn their cutie marks. The problem was, they always seemed to pick something very opposite to their nature.

At first, Twilight had been excited to help the girls become Cutie Mark Crusader Librarians. That enthusiasm had left her less than ten minutes later. For the last half hour she had been racing around, trying to stop the three fillies from destroying her library.

A horrendous crash from the far end of the room halted Twilight in her tracks. She looked over just in time to see a whole collection of books topple down onto Scootaloo. The young filly was buried in a small avalanche of fairytales, with only her head poking out from under the pile.

Twilight hurried towards the filly, dropping the books she had been moving back to biography from biology, where Apple Bloom had mistakenly stuck them. Her horn began to glow as she rushed to Scootaloo’s aid. Using her unicorn magic, Twilight levitated the books off of the tiny orange pegasus and back onto the shelves.

“Scootaloo, are you alright?” asked Twilight in concern. “What happened?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” replied Scootaloo as she climbed back to her hooves and brushed herself off. “I was trying to put this book back on the top shelf but I slipped and all the books tumbled down on me.” Scootaloo held up the book she had been trying to return.

“Scootaloo, we have a ladder for that,” said Twilight in frustration. Her horn glowed again and the rolling ladder zoomed around the library to stop next to the two ponies. “Also, that book is fantasy, not fairytales. It goes over there,” explained Twilight as she pointed to a shelf across the library.

“Oh,” said Scootaloo in confusion, “aren’t fairytales, fantasy?”

Twilight opened her mouth to explain the difference but was interrupted as she felt a tug at her side. Glancing behind her Twilight found a small white unicorn with a curly pink and purple mane looking innocently up at her and instantly knew that no good could come of this.

“Yes, Sweetie?” asked Twilight, dreading what might be wrong now.

“Um, are your books supposed to be on fire?” asked Sweetie. Twilight’s eyes widened as Sweetie pointed to a book that had burst into flames.

“I… what… but how?” stammered Twilight as she rushed over to put out the tiny fire.

In all the chaos, Twilight didn’t hear the knock at the door nor did she notice when a powder blue pegasus made her way into the library. Twilight was just getting the flames under control when the pegasus called her name and made her jump.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash!” exclaimed Twilight. “Thank goodness, for a second I thought you were another…” a second crash from the far end of the library interrupted Twilight.

“Oops, my bad,” called Scootaloo. Twilight let out a sigh and dropped her face into her hoof.

“If they ask you to be Cutie Mark Crusader Weather Ponies, tell them no,” whispered Twilight. It was then that Twilight saw the expression on Rainbow Dash’s face. “Rainbow, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, weather ponies! That’s a great idea!” said Applebloom in the background. Twilight gave an involuntary twitch.

“I didn’t know where else to go or who to tell,” said Rainbow Dash, her whole body shaking. Twilight had never seen her friend like this, it wasn’t just panic in her eyes, it was fear. “I think something is wrong with the sun.”

“What do you mean, ‘wrong with the Sun?’” asked Twilight in concern. Rainbow Dash ran a nervous hoof through her hair before she answered. Twilight heard the patter of small hooves as the three fillies approached to listen in.

“The Sun,” continued Rainbow Dash. “I think the Sun has stopped moving.”

“What? That’s impossible, the Sun can’t just stop moving,” replied Twilight in a disbelieving tone.

“Look!” cried Rainbow Dash desperately. She pointed out the door behind her, gesturing up towards the sky. “Look at the Sun!”

Twilight took a step outside and shaded her eyes with a hoof as she glanced upwards. It was a bright blue day with a scant few clouds in the sky. The Sun was at its pinnacle but Twilight couldn’t tell if it was moving or not. From what she could see, there didn’t appear to be anything wrong.

“I can’t really tell,” said Twilight. “How do you know it’s stopped?”

“I went to take my noonday nap,” explained Rainbow. “But when I got up it was still noon. And I’m not the only pony who’s noticed, the whole town’s in a panic about it.”

“I suppose I could run some experiments,” muttered Twilight to herself. “My astronomy equipment is upstairs…”

“Oh, oh,” said Sweetie Belle. “Let us help, we could be Cutie Mark Crusader Astrologist!” Twilight Sparkle looked horror struck at the idea of letting the three fillies anywhere near her astronomy equipment.

“We don’t have time for that!” exclaimed Rainbow. “We have to send a letter to Princess Celestia and find out what’s going on!”

“Oh, you’re right, that’s a great idea,” said Twilight. “Spike!” called Twilight. Her voice echoed through the library but no answer came. “Spike!”

“Uh, he ain’t here,” said Apple Bloom raising a confused eyebrow at Twilight. Both Rainbow and Twilight looked down at the little filly. “Don’t ya’ll remember? You said he could have the day off when you agreed to let us be your assistants.” Twilight’s eye twitched again.

“Yes, I did, didn’t I,” said Twilight, letting out a nervous laugh. “I’d completely forgotten.”

“Well, we need to find him,” said Rainbow. “Where do you think he’s gone off to?”

“Oh that’s easy,” answered Sweetie Belle. Everypony looked at her. “He probably went the same place he always goes, Carousel Boutique.”

“Oh course, I should have guessed,” sighed Twilight, rolling her eyes. “Come on Rainbow, let’s go get him.” The two mares turned to leave but a small voice stopped them.

“What… what should we do?” asked Scootaloo. Rainbow and Twilight glanced at each other then back at the three little fillies.

“I think it’s best if you three wait here for now,” said Rainbow Dash. “At least until we know more about what’s going on.”

“I also have an important job for you,” added Twilight.

“It isn’t cleaning up the library, is it?” asked Scootaloo. “Because I don’t think we’re cut out to be Cutie Mark Crusader Librarians.” Twilight couldn’t agree more, but didn’t want to hurt the three fillies’ feelings.

“No, it isn’t cleaning the library,” answered Twilight. “If Spike gets back before us, I need you to have him send a letter Princess Celestia right away. Can you do that?” The three fillies saluted.

“Ya got it!” said Applebloom. “Cutie Mark Crusaders are on the job!”

“Alright Rainbow, let’s go!” said Twilight. The two mares hurried out the door but Twilight poked her head back in. “Seriously though, don’t touch anything else.”

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash galloped as fast as they could through the streets of Ponyville. The town seemed unusually empty. Sale carts sat vacant, no fillies were out playing. It almost felt like the town had been abandoned.

Rarity’s Boutique wasn’t far away, at their current pace, it would only take a few minutes to get there. Twilight couldn’t help but glance up at the Sun every now and again. Rainbow was right, it didn’t seem to be moving at all. The more Twilight looked, the more worried she became. She didn’t like the implications of what a stationary Sun meant.

It was unpleasantly hot as they reached the shop. Twilight was thankful to get inside. The downstairs clothing shop appeared to be deserted. Bolts of fabric lay on the floor where they had been dropped. Several mannequins sat with loose threads hanging off them. Rarity very rarely left her shop in such a condition.

“Rarity!” called Rainbow Dash. “Spike!” No answer came. It appeared that both of them had left. “They must have gone to the Town Hall. That’s where most ponies seemed to be going when I was headed over to your house.”

“Then that’s where we need to go too!” said Twilight.

Without waiting another moment, Twilight and Rainbow rushed out the door, galloping for the center of town. Twilight was worried, they weren’t getting answers fast enough. With Spike missing, the one pony that could shed some light on what was happening was unreachable.

By the time the two of them arrived at the town center, Twilight could feel the heat rising up from the ground. Whatever was going on was getting worse, much quicker than Twilight would have hoped.

“Please, everypony! Please just calm down!” pleaded the Mayor of Ponyville. She was standing up behind her podium, trying to bring some order to the mass of panicked citizens.

There were dozens and dozens of ponies in the enormous crowd. Twilight could hear unease building in their whispers. If she couldn’t get word from the Princess soon, things were going to get a lot worse.

“How can we calm down!” cried a pony in the crowd. “Look at the Sun! It hasn’t moved for hours! What if it never moves again!” There were echoed jeers of discontent from the on lookers.

“Excuse me,” said Twilight Sparkle trying to get past. Some of the ponies turned to look at her.

“It’s Twilight Sparkle!” exclaimed a pony. “She’ll know what to do!”

“Yeah, ask her! She’s Celestia’s student!” shouted another.

Twilight felt her cheeks warm in embarrassment. The mass of ponies pressed towards her, seeking answers she didn’t have for them.

“What’s going on?” demanded a yellow mare.

“What’s happening?” asked a dark brown colt.

“Is the Sun ever going to move again?” whimpered a little frightened filly.

“Do you like my hat?”

“Pinkie?” asked Twilight. She turned to glance at the pink pony who had poked her head out of the crowd. Atop her head was a bright yellow sun hat. It hurt Twilight’s eyes to look at it.

“Uh, it’s very nice,” said Twilight. “Have you seen Spike?”

“Yep, I sure have!” replied Pinkie Pie.

“Fantastic! Where is he?” asked Twilight in desperation.

“Some place over there,” said Pinkie. She waved a hoof towards the sea of ponies, many of whom were staring at Twilight, expecting a miracle from her.

“You couldn’t be just a little more specific, could you?” asked Twilight. Her eyes searched the crowd, unable to see anything resembling Spike.

“Nope,” said Pinkie Pie and with that, she vanished.

“Naturally,” said Twilight with a sigh. “Excuse me.” She forced herself into the crowd, squeezing between ponies that seemed reluctant to let her pass without getting an answer.

“Let me see if I can spot him!” said Rainbow Dash. With a flap of her wings she leapt up into the air. She held a hoof up to her eyes and scanned the crowd. “I see him, he’s over there!” Rainbow called down. She pointed a hoof off towards a spot that Twilight couldn’t see.

“Pardon me!” said Twilight, becoming a little irritated that the others wouldn’t part to let her through. When the ponies in front of her still didn’t move, Twilight let out a huff of frustration. “Oh, we don’t have time for this!” exclaimed Twilight at last. She closed her eyes and focused as her horn began to glow.

With a flash and a pop, Twilight vanished. She used her magic to teleport past the crowd and up onto the stage. From her new vantage point she was able to spot Spike, standing alongside Rarity of course.

Twilight’s horn glowed again. A bubble of magic wrapped around the small purple dragon and lifted him up into the air. He floated over the heads of the other ponies before finally coming to a stop along side Twilight.

“Spike, at last,” sighed Twilight in relief. She was still holding Spike aloft with her magic so that he was eye-level with her. “I need to send a letter to Celestia immediately!”

“Uh, actually, she already sent you one,” said Spike, looking a little embarrassed. He squirmed uncomfortably in Twilight’s magical grip. “I have it in my bag.” He struggled to reach it but in the weightless space of Twilight’s magic he only managed to spin around. Twilight lowered him gently down to the wooden platform and released him from the spell.

Spike rummaged around in his bag before pulling out a white scroll with a golden seal. It looked just like every other letter Twilight had ever gotten from her mentor. Twilight didn’t know why but she had somehow expected it to look different, more important in someway.

“It arrived while I was uh… out,” said Spike, with a slight blush. “I was totally going to give it to you when I got back! But then everypony started panicking and I wanted to see what was going on… and…”

“It’s alright, Spike,” said Twilight. She levitated the message out of Spike’s claws. Twilight broke the seal and unfurled the letter. Quickly her eyes scanned across the page. As she read she frowned with concern.

“What does it say!” shouted a pony from the crowd.

“Yes! Tell us!” cried another pony.

“What’s wrong! What’s happened!” pleaded a desperate mare.

Twilight rolled the letter up and pushed it safely back into Spike’s bag.

“Ponies, please,” said Twilight, raising her voice for all to hear. The gathered ponies quieted a little. “I have received instructions from Princess Celestia. She has placed me in charge of making sure everypony in Ponyville is safe while she works to fix the Sun.”

There was a murmur of uncertainty from the crowd.

“I know you’re frightened,” continued Twilight, “but now is not the time for fear. We must act as quickly as possible. This heat is only going to get worse. But, if you all listen to me, we can bring this situation under control.”

Some of the crowd nodded their approval and Twilight took this as a sign to continue.

“We can’t stay out in this heat. We need to go someplace where it’s cooler. If you have a cellar, then I want you to go down into it. Bring as much food and water as you can.

“If you do not have a home with a cellar, find a family that does and stay with them until this crisis is over. Do not leave your homes. I will provide you with more information when there is more.

“These are instructions from Celestia!” said Twilight, mustering as much authority in her voice as she could manage. “Please, go home, make yourself and your family safe. That is all we can do right now.”

This seemed to appease most of the gathered crowd. Either because they believed Twilight or because the heat was becoming too much for them, the ponies began to disperse. While most of the ponies were trotting away from Twilight, five of them made their way towards her.

“Well, I’m glad Celestia put you in charge,” said the Mayor. “I have no idea what to do in situations like this. Uh… what exactly should I do?”

“Just like everypony else, go home and go to your cellar,” said Twilight. The Mayor nodded before galloping off.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all gathered up on stage with Twilight as the crowd continued to thin.

“Wow, that was totally amazing!” said Pinkie Pie. Her bright yellow hat was still unpleasant to look at. Rarity’s eyes widened at the sight of the hat but she didn’t comment on it. “I’ve never seen you talk like that before. You almost sounded like Celestia! You were so strong, so assertive, so…”

“Lying,” said Applejack her unhappy glare fixed on Twilight. “Y'all lied to them, didn’t you?” Twilight looked away, all but confirming Applejacks accusation.

“So Celestia didn’t put you in charge?” asked Fluttershy softly.

“And she didn’t tell everypony to hide in their cellars?” asked Rarity.

“No,” said Twilight. “The letter didn’t say any of those things. That was all me. I had to do something. They needed to get indoors. Not be out here in a panic.”

“What do you mean?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Why don’t you want them to be out here?" Twilight ran a foreleg across her brow.

“Can’t you feel how hot it’s getting?” asked Twilight. “At first I thought it was just because we were galloping around so much but that’s not it.”

“Now that you mention it, I am feeling a little flustered,” said Rarity.

“I think it’s going to get a lot hotter, a lot quicker,” said Twilight. “I needed to get everypony out of this sun.”

“And I think we had better do the same,” said Rarity. “It seems to be getting hotter by the second!” Rarity was right, Twilight felt like she was starting to burn.

“The library is closest,” said Twilight. Her horn glowed and she levitated Spike up onto her back. “Let’s hurry there and we can figure out what we’re going to do!” Without wasting another moment the friends galloped off, making for the library as quickly as they could.

By the time they reached the library, the Sun was blazing down on them with an intensity that Twilight had never felt before. The moment everypony was inside, she closed the door solidly behind them. It was still hot but not the burning hot of the outside.

“You’re back!” cried three small voices. Twilight turned just in time to see the three little filly rush past her. Applebloom ran to her big sister and embraced her in a hug. Sweetie Belle did the same. Scootaloo stopped just short of Rainbow Dash, unsure what to do but clearly longing for the same kind of reassurance as her friends.

“Uh, hey there kid,” said Rainbow nervously, giving Scootaloo’s head a rub.

“We were worried you weren’t coming back!” said Sweetie Belle, her eyes welling up with tears.

“There, there,” said Rarity comfortingly. “We’re here, everything is fine now.”

“I don’t think anything is fine,” said Twilight seriously, letting Spike down from her back.

“Alright Twilight,” said Applejack. “I think y'all owe us some answers. Just what the hay did that letter say?”

Twilight looked at her friends. They were all staring at her, expecting answers just like the crowd had wanted. Answers she didn’t have for them. However, she wasn’t going to lie to her friends.

With her magic, Twilight lifted the letter out of Spike’s bag and unfurled it.

“This is the real message Celestia sent to me,” said Twilight. She turned the parchment around so that her friends could read it. The message was very, very short.

‘Whatever happens, do not come to Canterlot.’ It was unsigned.

“That’s… That’s it?” asked Applejack, her eyes scanning over the blank page, making sure she hadn’t missed something.

“That’s it,” said Twilight. She rolled the parchment back up and tucked it away. “She didn’t address it or sign it but I recognized her hoofwriting. Something must have happened in Canterlot. Something must have happened to…” Twilight broke off and looked away, unable to speak her fears.

“So, we just need to send a letter to her and ask,” said Rarity calmly. “I’m sure that should clear things up right away.”

“Right,” said Twilight with a nod. Yet, there was something in her voice that sounded like uncertainty. Normally, Twilight would have asked Spike to write the letter but she did it herself. She described the situation and asked for further instruction.

When the letter was completed, she signed and sealed it before levitating the rolled up message over to Spike. The baby dragon held the scroll in his claw and blew his magical flame at it.

His fire breath acted as magical transport, carrying messages to and from Princess Celestia. However, that was not what happened this time. The flame engulfed the parchment and it began to burn in his hand. With a cry of surprise, Spike dropped the letter and Applejack sprung forward. With quick hooves she stamped out the flames before they could spread.

“Spike!” cried Twilight in distress. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry Twilight!” said Spike in surprise. “I don’t know what happened! I tried to send it, just like always but… but it didn’t work!”

Hurriedly, Twilight rushed back over to her table and wrote a second, much more brief, letter. She signed it and sealed it again, before giving it to Spike.

“Try again,” insisted Twilight. Applejack stood by, ready to stamp out another blaze. Spike took a deep breath and blew. But this time, only the faintest gasp of flame escaped his mouth. The fire was not even enough to singe the paper. “Again!” Spike blew again but to much the same results. “Again!” shouted Twilight.

“Twilight,” said Rarity sternly. “That is enough! You don’t have to shout at Spike.” Twilight glared at Rarity and there was something like insanity behind her eyes. Then Twilight blinked and looked away ashamed.

“I’m sorry,” whispered Twilight before collapsing down into a heap on the floor. “I don’t know what to do now... I thought we would at least be able to send a letter.”

“Well, if we can’t send one, we’ll just have to go ourselves,” said Applejack.

“Um, hello?” said Pinkie Pie, waving a hoof in front of Applejack. “Didn’t you read the letter form Celestia. It said ‘Do not come to Canterlot!’”

“So what?” said Rainbow Dash. “I say we go anyhow. Something is wrong and we need to find out what!”

“But we can’t go even if we wanted to,” said Fluttershy softly, everypony turned to look at her. “Sorry.”

“What do you mean we can’t go?” asked Rainbow Dash moving slightly closer to the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy shrunk away. “Sure we can!”

“No,” said Twilight, not looking up from her spot on the ground. “We can’t.”

“Just because some piece of paper says we can’t!” exclaimed Applejack. “Maybe the Princess didn’t know she would need our help! Maybe she figured we’d still be able to send her letters. Maybe…”

“That doesn’t matter,” interrupted Twilight. “We can’t go because there's no way for us to get there.”

“What do you mean?” asked Applejack.

“Canterlot is two days away at a gallop,” answered Fluttershy. “Even flying it’s nearly a full day’s journey. If Twilight's right and this heat's going to get worse, then there's no way we could make it there.”

“I think my magic could shield us from the Sun,” said Twilight a little despondently. “But not galloping and not for two days straight. So we can’t go, because, we can’t.”

“So… so what do we do then?” asked Rainbow Dash, sounding a little defeated. The reality of their situation was at last starting to sink in.

“Oh, oh, I know, I know!” said Pinkie Pie bouncing up and down and waving a hoof in the air.

“I don’t see how a party is going to improve things Pinkie,” said Applejack, rolling her eyes.

“A party? No, don’t be silly!” said Pinkie Pie. “We need to help as many ponies in Ponyville as we can. If we can’t go to Canterlot, then we need to do the best we can do, here.”

“Pinkie's right,” said Twilight, slowly getting back up to her hooves. Some of her determination was returning. “We need to help however we can, until all this is over.”

Author's Note

New chapters post on Saturday (excluding this first week), so Chapter 2 will go up Dec 22nd and consistantly every Saturday after that until we are done.

An (interesting?) note about this story, the original title was 'Twilight Eclipse' which I really liked the sound of. However, a quick Google search pointed out a minor issue with that name... ah, vampires...

Anyhow, thank you very much for taking the time to read my work, I hope you enjoyed it!

Chapter 2

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 2

The blazing golden disc of the Sun radiated down unbearable heat. It was fixed in the pale blue dome of the world. There were no clouds left in the sky. An endless noon day blue stretched from horizon, to mountain crested horizon.

Below, in Ponyville, the town was just as empty as the sky. The streets were quiet and still and silent. Every shop window displayed a closed for business sign. Every street cart had its goods packed away. It was as if the town had been completely abandoned.

Everypony was inside hiding from the heat — everypony, except, for Twilight Sparkle.

Through the shimmering heat waves, Twilight moved slowly down the main road, pulling a small two wheeled cart behind her. Purplish light flickered around her body every time she took a step. Her face was strained with effort as her horn glowed brightly, working to maintain her shield spell. The thin light was all that kept her safe from the burning heat.

The back of the cart had been covered with a thick white cloth. Like Twilight, the cloth also glowed with a purplish aura. Twilight had cast a spell on it, to make it heat resistant. The spell had to be renewed regularly but it was worth it, to protect the cargo.

Underneath the cloth were precious bags of food. Hours ago the cart had been completely full with deliveries. Now, Twilight had given out most of them and only had a few more stops ahead of her.

Twilight continued up the street. Her course turned slightly as she moved towards one of the nearby buildings, a tan house with a tiled roof. Her progress was slow, her movements labored. She had been out in the Sun for far too long and she needed to rest.

Hot, tired and slightly out of breath, Twilight dragged herself towards the house, each step more difficult than the last. She reached the front door, raised a hoof, knocked and waited.

Standing still proved to be harder than walking. Twilight struggled to maintain the spell as the intensity of the Sun beat down upon her. Her face tensed with concentration and her shield flickered slightly.

The approach of hurried hoofsteps reached her ears. It was a very welcome sound. She didn’t have to wait long before a teal unicorn with a very light blue and white mane, answered the door. The unicorn mare stayed well inside the house, keeping out of the Sun. Even still, it was apparent that the heat from outside was making her uncomfortable.

“You made it,” said the mare. Twilight could only nod. “Here, let me help you.” The unicorn’s horn glowed and two bags of food lifted from the covered cart, held aloft in a magical golden aura.

“Rest,” said Twilight, barely managing to get the word out. So far, she had delivered food to more than two dozen houses. Every four of five houses she’d had to stop to rest and regain her strength.

“Of course!” said the teal unicorn. “Please come in.”

“Thank you, Lyra,” said Twilight. She shrugged off the cart harness and stepped into the house. Once Twilight was inside, Lyra shut the door quickly behind her. The shield around Twilight shimmered away.

“Come on, I’ll take you downstairs where it’s cooler,” said Lyra. Using her magic, the teal unicorn placed the food bags across her back. The supplies had been tied together so that they could be carried like saddle bags. Lyra trotted on ahead and Twilight followed behind.

As the two mares reached the other side of the room, they found another pony waiting for them. She was a white coated earth pony with a purple and pink mane. She held open a door that Twilight assumed must lead down into the cellar. She smiled as Twilight and Lyra passed her.

“Oh Twilight, you look terrible!” said the mare holding the door.

“It’s been a very long day, Bon Bon,” said Twilight wearily. “I just need to rest for a bit before I continue.”

Behind the door was a steep stairwell that led down into the earth. Twilight had never been down into Bon Bon’s cellar. In truth, she had never even been to her house before. As Twilight understood it, Bon Bon was hosting three other ponies beside herself, one of which was Lyra.

The three mares descended down into the ground. The air became cooler with each step. Quickly, they reached the lowest level, which was nothing more than a simple room. Two other ponies were spread out around the small space. They looked up hopefully, excited to see the food.

“Is that… all there is?” asked a dark pink pony with purple hair. Twilight remembered her name to be Berry Punch but knew little else about her.

“I’m afraid it is,” said Twilight tiredly. She looked for a nice comfortable spot on the floor to rest for a bit. There was a place that seemed to be a makeshift bed. “Does anypony mind?” asked Twilight, pointing a hoof towards the bed.

“Go right ahead,” said Bon Bon with a nod. Twilight smiled thankfully and settled down. It was not the most comfortable thing she had ever lain on but it would do.

“So…” asked a blue mare with a white and blue mane. Twilight did not know the pony’s name but she knew her question. It was the same question she had been asked at every stop, even when she hadn’t come in to rest. “Is their any news from Celestia or anypony else?”

“No,” replied Twilight, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice.

“But it’s been five days!” cried Bon Bon. “The Princess hasn’t sent you any letters?”

“No,” answered Twilight a little sadly. That was her least favorite question.

“Has the Sun… moved at all?” asked Berry Punch.

“No,” replied Twilight again. She knew what question was coming next and she didn’t want to answer it.

“Do you know why it's taking Celestia so long?” asked Lyra hopefully.

“No,” said Twilight softly. Everpony was quiet for a long while, until Twilight spoke again. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know much more than you do.” The room fell into an awkward silence once again. Twilight let her eyes close. She wished that she could sleep but there were only a few more houses to go and then she would be home.

“Do you have any idea how to fix this?” asked Lyra, breaking the silence. Twilight looked up at the teal unicorn. That was not the first time she had heard that question either. The answer she gave was not entirely honest.

“No,” whispered Twilight.

Lyra showed Twilight back upstairs to the door. Twilight had told her she didn’t have to come along and endure the heat of the house. However, Lyra had insisted on seeing the other unicorn off. It was either because she felt she owed Twilight — for risking life and limb to bring them food — or because she had something she wanted to ask in private. It turned out to be the latter.

“Twilight,” asked Lyra, as they reached the door. Her tone indicated that the question she was about to ask would not be a happy one. “Things… they don’t look good, do they?” Twilight tried to smile but it faltered.

“No,” said Twilight, falling back on her new least favorite word. “Things do not look good.”

“Is Celestia really going to fix this? Can, she even fix it?” asked Lyra. Twilight looked down before she answered.

“I don’t know, Lyra,” replied Twilight, the tiniest of quivers in her voice. Lyra reached out a hoof and touched Twilight’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Whatever happens,” said Lyra with a smile. “Thank you, for all that you’ve done for everypony.” Twilight nodded but couldn’t find words to respond.

“I need to recast my spells,” explained Twilight. She turned away from Lyra, looking at the door. Focusing her effort Twilight ignited her horn with sparks of magic. She cast a spell on the cart outside, on the protective cloth. With a great effort that left her panting slightly, Twilight renewed the resistance spell upon the cloth.

When the spell was complete, Twilight swayed a little, threatening to collapse to the ground. Lyra moved forward, making to support her.

“I’m alright,” said Twilight. She held up a hoof, halting Lyra’s worried advance. “That spell just takes a lot out of me. Hopefully that should be the last time I have to cast it today.”

Taking a deep breath, Twilight prepared herself to cast the second spell. This one took less effort but unlike the cloth, Twilight would have to maintain it. Once again the sparks of magic cascaded down from her horn. Slowly, a shimmering shield began to spread out around her body, coating her from horn-tip to hoof.

Once she was protected, Twilight gave a nod to the other unicorn. Lyra opened the door, standing as far away as she could. A blast of hot air rushed into the house. Quickly, Twilight hurried back outside so that Lyra could keep the heat out.

“Twilight,” said Lyra. She stood just inside the door, her eyes fixed on the lavender unicorn. “I just want you to know, that we believe in you. That I believe in you… and your friends.”

“Thank you,” said Twilight with the first genuine smile she’d had in days. Lyra smiled back before finally closing the door.

Alone once more, Twilight turned back to her cart. The wooden frame had started to warp under the heat. She wished she could make her shield spell larger and protect more of the cart but she didn’t have the energy to spare. A larger shield meant more effort and more effort meant less time.

With relative ease, Twilight slipped back into the harness. She was ready to be on her way again.

The next set of houses went by fairly quickly. They were not that far apart and Twilight did not stop to rest at any of them. Some of the ponies had been unhappy about their food rations. However, Twilight had been firm on the amount for each house. One bag for every two ponies, no exceptions.

She and Applejack had counted very carefully. Twilight had done the math herself and the results were not good. They needed to be strict with all of the food they had left. There simply wasn’t enough to sustain them for very long, although Twilight didn’t tell that to anypony.

At last, Twilight was on the final leg of her trip. Her path strayed slightly, taking a longer route that led her passed the train station. Her eyes moved hopefully over the empty platform and the vacant tracks. At the end of the platform, a cart had been pulled across the tracks. If any train did come through, it would either have to move the cart or smash it.

Twilight’s expression fell. The cart was right where it had been yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. No train had come through Ponyville. No train had stopped in Ponyville. Wherever the train was, it didn’t seem to be coming here any time soon.

Twilight moved on, making her way home. She didn’t have far to go before she could see the shape of the tall library-tree between the buildings. The tree was starting to wilt and it saddened Twilight to see her home in such a condition.

With a click and thud, Twilight detached herself from the cart once more. Reaching into the cart, Twilight grabbed the last two bags of food. She hauled the bags up over her back, unable to use her magic and maintain the shield. She grunted at the new weight and was glad her task was almost done.

Twilight turned towards the house and started to walk. With each step her shield flickered. It took all her focus to keep walking and casting. The short distance of a dozen hooves was the most difficult walk she had made all day but at last, Twilight reached the front door.

She paused only for a moment to read the temperature on a thermometer she had fixed to the doorframe. It read the exact same as when she had first attached it. The liquid inside was at the max temperature it could display. Twilight wondered how hot it really was, having no greater measurement tool.

Using her body, Twilight leaned against the door and pushed. She stumbled across the threshold and the door swung shut behind her. Twilight was able to take only two more steps before she collapsed to the floor, completely exhausted.

With a final dieing flicker, her spell faded away. She had made it inside not a moment too soon. It took her a great effort to shrug off the bags. When at last she was unburdened by magic or supplies, she lay there on the floor, too tired to move.

“Spike!” called Twilight, not getting up. “Spike!” she shouted again, not giving time for a response.

The sound of tiny footsteps pattered up from below. While Twilight waited for Spike to arrive, she glanced around her poor library. Books still lay strewn about and shelves were toppled to the floor. Twilight longed to clean it up but the heat was too intense for her to remain upstairs for very long. It would be a waste of effort to use her magic, simply to clean.

Twilight had been upstairs many times, each time wishing she could spend just a little bit putting her books back in place. However, there were more important things for her to do. She had been taking solar observations, making supply deliveries and trying to find a way to get to Canterlot. There was simply no time to put the books back in order.

Spike emerged from the cellar door, breaking Twilight out of her musings about the library. He looked just as tired as Twilight felt.

“Twilight! You’re back! Did it all go as planned?” asked Spike. Wearily, Twilight nodded.

“Everypony should have enough food for at least four more days, depending on how much they eat,” said Twilight. “Applejack should have the next batch ready to go by then. I just hope the other unicorns were able to make all their deliveries.”

“You can’t keep doing this!” said Spike, walking across the floor towards his friend. “How long do you think you can keep going out there?”

Twilight smiled up at Spike.

“I don’t have a choice, Spike. I have to do what I can until this is fixed,” answered Twilight. Very slowly she got to her hooves, instantly wishing she hadn’t. It was much hotter standing up. “I promised I would take charge and keep everypony safe.”

“Twilight…” said Spike sadly. “What if this is never fixed?”

“Come on, we should get back into the cellar. This heat is unbearable,” said Twilight, dodging the question. She made to lift the food bags but Spike grabbed them instead.

“I think you’ve done enough deliveries for one day. How about you let me carry these?” said Spike, hefting the bags over his shoulders. Twilight nodded, in no shape to argue.

Spike hurried back towards the cellar door but Twilight moved at a much slower pace. Her muscles ached and her body was tired. She needed a good long sleep.

Twilight paused at the threshold and looked sadly around at her library. There would be no visitors today. There may never be visitors again for that matter. How much longer would her books survive? If this heat kept up… how much longer would anypony survive?

“Twilight, come on!” cried Spike. Twilight turned and followed, closing the door behind her.

Only a small number of houses in Ponyville had cellars. Many homes had been abandoned and ponies had been relocated to live with another family before it had been too hot to go outside. Twilight had organized the reshuffle herself, ensuring that no home had more then four ponies. Four, her books had told her, was the optimal number for the confined space.

Like so many others, she had two roommates as well. Her friend Rainbow Dash and the filly Scootaloo were now living with her. Rainbow’s home had evaporated on the second day. She had lived in a cloud house but the heat had burned it away.

Scootaloo had been stranded at the library when the whole crisis had started. Her parents’ house didn’t have a cellar so they had been moved and there simply wasn’t room for one more at their current location.

However, Scootaloo didn’t seem to mind. She was getting to spend lots of time with her idol, Rainbow Dash. Despite Rainbow’s frustration with being kept inside, the attention from Scootaloo was helping keep her spirits up.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had also been moved. Fluttershy was staying with Rarity at her shop while Pinkie Pie was staying with Applejack at her farm. Fluttershy had wanted to bring all her animals with her but both Twilight and Rarity had agreed that was a bad idea. Fluttershy had released them all into the forest and Twilight hoped that Rarity had been able to get their animal loving friend to stop crying.

Twilight descended lower into the cool ground, the heat of the house overhead rapidly becoming more tolerable. The ground was shielding them from the unrelenting Sun. Yet, yesterday, this area near the top had been much cooler. Twilight wondered how long it would be before even the cellars were unlivable.

Twilight shook her head. She didn’t want to think about that.

“Still no luck sending a message to Celestia?” Twilight asked the little dragon. Spike didn’t look back at her. He stopped on the stairs and Twilight had to halt suddenly or risk knocking him down.

“I tried as hard as I could,” said Spike. “I really did!” He turned around and there were tears in his eyes.

“Oh Spike, it’s alright!” said Twilight. She stepped around Spike so that she could be level with him. Gently, she wrapped a foreleg around her small dragon and gave him a reassuring hug.

“No it isn’t!” cried Spike, tears streaming down his face. “It isn’t alright at all Twilight!” Twilight held him and let Spike cry into her coat for a good minute. At last he wiped away his sniffles. “I don’t know if it’s me or… the Princess… but… there hasn’t been… anything… No matter how hard I try… I just can't send anything!”

“Keep trying, Spike,” said Twilight with the best smile she could manage. “That’s what we all need to do right now.”

“I know,” said Spike sadly. “It’s just… it’s so hard not to be able to do anything.”

“Come on,” said Twilight. “Let’s keep going.” Spike nodded and followed as Twilight led the way.

They quickly reached the room at the bottom of the stairs. Cold air washed over them as Twilight pushed open the door. It was much cooler down here, thanks in part to Twilight. She had tried out a couple of her cold spells and some of them seemed to work. At least it wasn’t snowing inside anymore.

“I’m back,” announced Twilight. Her eyes drifted from the pale-blue mare to the orange filly both lying on their roll-up beds. Twilight hardly got through the door before the two of them rushed her like little fillies, well, one of them was a little filly.

“Woah, calm down girls, it’s good to see you too,” said Twilight, returning their hugs.

“We were so worried about you,” said Scootaloo. “It’s so hard sitting down here and doing nothing.”

“I wish we could be out there helping you!” cried Rainbow Dash, her wings flapping impatiently. “What good is flying if we can’t even go outside? So, How’d it go? Did you get all the food out?”

“Yeah,” replied Twilight. “I took the north end of town and Rarity did the south. Amethyst Star took the house to the east and Comet Tail did the west. I did a lot more stops than they did. But, all of them were doing a much better job with the shielding spell…” Twilight trailed off and looked away.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” asked Scootaloo.

“There’s… There’s something you should know,” said Twilight seriously. She bit her lip, she hadn’t been looking forward to telling them this. “It’s about Cloudsdale.”

Both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo’s eyes widened at the mention of the pegasus home city in the clouds.

“I… I don’t know how to say this…” Twilight paused. She had tried most of the way home to think of words she could say but her mind had just replied with empty answers. “Cloudsdale… it’s… it’s, gone.”

“What!” cried Rainbow Dash.

“No way!” exclaimed Scootaloo.

“How can it be gone!” demanded Rainbow Dash.

“Applejack and I looked for it when we were loading up the food. It’s been growing smaller and smaller for the last couple of days. Today, it was just gone. There aren’t any clouds left in the sky.”

“It can’t be,” said Rainbow, sitting back on her haunches. “What happened to everypony? My parent’s… my friends…” Twilight shook her head sadly.

“I don’t know Rainbow. All we know is what we can see,” said Twilight. “And what we can see is that it’s getting worse. Somepony begged me to fix all this,” continued Twilight, there was an almost-laugh in her voice. “Like I have the power to move the Sun…”

“We’ll find a way,” said Rainbow Dash. Twilight smiled at her. It was nice of her friend to say but Twilight had little hope that it was true. The terror in the town was building again. She could see the fear returning in the faces of everypony. Even if they were protected from the heat down here, there were other, just as difficult, problems ahead of them.

The biggest of those problems was food. The intensity of the Sun was wilting all of the crops. In another day or two, the plants would be inedible.

Spike was right, how much longer could she do this? It was harder and harder every time. She had actually felt the heat through her shield.

“I have to get to Canterlot,” muttered Twilight, more to herself than her friends. She had been thinking this ever since the message from Celestia had arrived. She needed to know what was going on! She needed to know why the Sun had stopped! She needed to get to Canterlot!

“Twilight, we’ve already been over this! Every single day in fact! That’s exactly what the letter told us not to do!” said Spike in exasperation. “And how would you get there anyhow? And with you gone, what will the town do?”

“I know,” said Twilight. “I know. I could never sustain the shield all the way, let alone while galloping. Besides Rarity and myself only a few other unicorns are either able or willing to brave the outside.”

“Couldn’t you just teleport there?” asked Scootaloo. Twilight shook her head.

“The further a unicorn teleports, the more dangerous it is,” explained Twilight. “I might be able to do it but I could just as easily miss by a mile or end up falling out of the sky! Or I might appear in a wall or inside somepony else! No, it’s just too dangerous.”

“We just can’t sit here and do nothing!” complained Rainbow Dash.

“We aren’t doing nothing, Rainbow!” said Twilight.

“You, aren’t doing nothing! Me and Scootaloo have been stuck down here for days!”

“Uh, guys,” Spike tried to interject. His words were unable to halt Rainbow’s rant. This argument had been brewing up inside of Rainbow ever since she had arrived.

“It’s not like you can just go outside! Even with my magic I can barely manage it. And it’s getting worse! We just have to stay put for now.”

“Stay put? Do you have any idea what it’s like being stuck in this room, unable to help anypony else! I need to go outside! I have to go outside!”

“Guys!” Spike tried again.

“Spike not…” but Twilight’s words were suddenly cut off as she saw the small dragon’s face. “What, it can’t be…”

For a moment Spike looked like he was going to be sick. His cheeks bulged out, his pupils dilated. Then, with an enormous burp, he belched scarlet flame. Usually his fire had no odor to it, save for when he accidentally charred something. But this red flame had the strangest metallic smell.

The flames subsided and from the air, a roll of parchment dropped to the ground. The four of them stared at it. This was not the normal letters they were used too. This parchment was dark black, almost as if Spike’s flames had burned it.

None of them moved to pick it up. It was like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Nothing for days and then… this.

At last, Twilight was the one to lift the document with her magic. She noticed that not only was the parchment a different color but the seal on the outside was not that of Celestia’s.

“It’s… from Luna,” said Twilight, a little shocked.

“I didn’t know Luna could send you letters,” said Rainbow Dash.

“She can’t,” said Twilight, looking down at the letter held in her magic. “The magical connection exists only between Spike and Celestia. So Celestia must have sent us a letter from Luna… but why?” Both Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash shrugged.

Twilight glanced at the letter again, considering it. She looked at the other ponies, as if asking them what she should do next.

“Well, open it!’ said Rainbow Dash after a long moment when Twilight had done nothing but stare at it.

Twilight was snapped from her thoughts. Nodding she broke the seal and unrolled the parchment. Her eyes widened. For one terrible moment she thought it was blank. However, once she found the words in silver ink, she wondered if it might have been better if it had been blank.

“Well?” asked Rainbow impatiently.

“What does it say?” pressed Scootaloo eagerly.

“Come to Canterlot at once. Bring the Elements of Harmony,” read Twilight. She looked up from the very short message. “Bring the Elements of Harmony? But we don’t have them… Also,” continued Twilight in frustration, “why does everypony insist on not telling me what the hay is going on! Is it really that hard to write just one more line?”

Author's Note

Alright! Chapter 2! Enjoy :D

Thank you to everyone who read, liked, favorited, commented and/or sent me pm's. You are all awesome and it makes me happy to write for such a great community.

Next chapter on Saturday the 29th! Hope to see you then.

Chapter 3

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 3

It didn’t seem to matter how many times Twilight Sparkle read the message from Princess Luna, she still had no idea what she was supposed to do. Each time she hoped there would be something more. She searched each word as if trying to discover some great hidden secret within the ink. However, the more she turned the words over in her head, the more confused she became.

Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash and Spike had all read it as well. None of them seemed to have any additional insight into the meaning of this letter either. If Luna had concealed a hidden message or meaning, there wasn’t a pony in the room that could find it.

Twilight trotted in a circle, trying to get her brain to think more than empty white noise. She continued to stare at the letter, although she was no longer reading it. Absently, Twilight listened to the others as they debated what to do.

“Princess Celestia said don’t go to Canterlot, no matter what,” reminded Spike.

“I don’t think ‘no matter what’ covers Luna asking us to come,” replied Rainbow Dash.

“But what if it does?” chimed in Scootaloo.

“But what if it doesn’t!” cried Rainbow in frustration. “Twilight, come on, what should we do!” asked Rainbow for the third time.

“I don’t know,” answered Twilight, not looking over at her friends as she continued to trot in a circle. It was the only answer she could give them and it did not seem to be what they wanted to hear.

“Do you think you should go?” asked Scootaloo.

“I don’t know!” repeated Twilight, her voice raising slightly in irritation.

“Where do you think you’re supposed to get the elements?” asked Spike.

“I DON’T KNOW!” screamed Twilight at the top of her lungs. She finally came to a stop, the letter dropping from her magic. Both Rainbow Dash and Spike looked a little unnerved at her outburst. “I’m sorry. I just… I need to think!” The others quieted but her head still buzzed with empty noise.

“Okay,” said Twilight at last. She willed her brain to think, to work. “What do we know? The Sun has stopped. Equestria is getting hotter. We have one letter from Celestia telling us to stay away from Canterlot. We have another letter from Luna telling us to bring elements we don’t have! But we can’t even get to Canterlot! And we can’t leave the town the way it is!”

Twilight lifted the letter again. For the hundredth time she looked over the very short message.

“Why couldn’t she have told us anything useful?” complained Twilight.

“Maybe we should ask the others what they think,” suggested Spike. “If you aren’t sure what to do they might have an idea. The decision doesn’t have to be all on your shoulders, you know.”

“You’re right Spike,” said Twilight after a long moment. “This is something everypony needs to hear.” She looked at her friends seriously. “And I think it’s best if we all go. Which means, we’ll need more cover. Spike, go up to my room and get the blankets off my bed.”

“You got it Twilight,” said Spike with a salute. The little dragon turned and hurried off, hopping up the stairs and out of sight.

“Are we really going outside?” asked Scootaloo excitedly. “All of us?”

“Yes,” said Twilight. She used her magic to levitate a pair of empty saddle bags onto her back. She placed the letters from Luna and Celestia inside them. “I can’t leave you guys here if we decide to go. The library is in the wrong direction and it would take too much time to come back this way.”

“And if we decide not to go?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Then we’ll just have to come back here anyhow,” said Twilight.

“Alright!” cheered Rainbow Dash. “Time to go outside! This is going to be so awesome!”

“This is awful!” protested Rainbow. She and Scootaloo were sharing the back of the small two wheeled cart that Twilight had used to deliver food. The small white cloth that had previously covered the back had been removed. In its place, the two ponies were huddled under a dark blue blanket, patterned with stars and crescent moons. The blankets glowed with the faintest hint of magic. “Can’t I fly? Just a little?”

“There’s no way you could be out here,” replied Spike. Unlike the others he was not under the blanket but rather sitting on the front of the cart, legs dangling over the edge. “I’m a dragon and it’s hot even for me!”

“Not hot enough that you’re hiding under here,” said Scootaloo, poking her head out under the front.

“Spike’s right,” said Twilight as she hauled the cart. There was a shimmering aura around Twilight as her horn glowed. “The only thing keeping you safe is the spell I put on that blanket. You won’t be able to stay out under the Sun for more than a minute. But you can get Rarity when we get to her house. A few seconds under the Sun should still be safe for now.”

They moved at a steady pace. Not a full gallop but not a struggling trot either. None of her passengers were very heavy. In fact, the food had been much more difficult. The only reason they weren’t going faster was because all of Twilight’s effort was directed towards keeping up the shield spell.

“It’s so hard to believe it’s really gone,” said Scootaloo quietly. Twilight allowed herself a brief glance back to her passengers. Scootaloo was poking her head out under the blanket, gazing off into the sky ahead of them. Twilight tried to follow her gaze, to see what Scootaloo was looking at but there was just bare empty blue sky. “I’ve never even been there and now I’ll never get to go.”

Twilight could have hit herself in the head. Cloudsdale. Of course, she was talking about Cloudsdale having evaporated. How could Twilight have forgotten about it so quickly?

The answer to that was simple of course. The letter from Luna had changed everything. It had made Twilight lose her focus. She was a planner, an organizer, a leader. Knowing what she was supposed to do always came naturally to her. Except, not this time. This time, Twilight had no idea what she had to do. She was making it up as she went and that feeling terrified her.

It wasn’t long before they reached Carousel Boutique. Twilight pulled up right along side the door. Without having to be told, Rainbow darted out from under the blankets. She didn’t even pause at the door as she raced inside the shop.

A few short moments later Rainbow Dash re-emerged with Rarity, Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle in tow. The group of ponies stood just inside the doorway, keeping out of the sunlight.

“Twilight, I didn’t expect to see you so soon!” said Rarity. Scootaloo waved at Sweetie Belle, who waved back. Fluttershy stayed behind Rarity. The yellow pegasus looked a mess. Her normally well groomed mane was disheveled and there were tear stains on her cheeks. “What is this all about? Rainbow said something about a message from Canterlot.”

Twilight nodded, feeling the strain of keeping the spell active. “I’ll explain later…”

“Oh, oh of course dear! How thoughtless of me!” Rarity’s horn began to glow. White magic wrapped around her as she joined Twilight, her own shield spell protecting her.

Rainbow Dash hovered into the air and lifted up Sweetie. With a few quick flaps of her wings she hurried out to the cart. Scootaloo held up the blanket so that Rainbow could put Sweetie under it. Once the filly was safely under, Rainbow Dash slipped in herself.

“My, that’s an… interesting… way to travel,” said Rarity as she glanced at Rainbow’s face poking out under the blankets.

“Oh hush up,” said Rainbow in irritation. “Come on Fluttershy, we’ve got room for one more.” Fluttershy looked outside but didn’t move.

“No, that’s okay,” said Fluttershy. “I think I would rather just wait here.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“Fluttershy, we came to get you, now come on,” said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy opened her mouth to protest. “We aren’t leaving without you! Now hurry up, Twilight can’t keep her spell up all day long!”

Fluttershy glanced towards Twilight and opened her mouth to apologize but closed it instead. Without further argument, Fluttershy finally left the safety of the house, although she didn’t look happy to do so. In fact, she looked completely miserable. It took a little bit of shuffling and scooting around, as the back of the cart was getting full, but at last the two mares and two fillies were protected under the enchanted blanket.

“Alright, let’s go,” said Twilight.

“Wait!” cried Rarity. “Wait, just a moment!” Rarity vanished back into her house and Twilight winced a little as she worked to keep her shield up. Rarity did not take long and when she came back out, she was wearing a pair of saddle bags.

“You seem to think we are going some place,” said Rarity with a smile. “I thought I should come prepared.”

It was only a short walk to Sweet Apple Acres. Both Pinkie Pie and Applejack were staying at the farm; them and about a fourth of the town. The Apple Family had some of the largest cellars in all of Ponyville. When the heat had really turned up, Twilight had helped move many families here herself. Applejack had been kind enough to take them all in.

Twilight was sweating hard by the time they reached the front of the apple orchards. She paused at the gate, trying to regain some strength — a difficult thing to do while maintaining a spell. Here too, the trees looked wilted. Leaves had turned brown, dozens of apples had shriveled up. The crops were dying.

They were still a good ways away from the buildings of the farm. Twilight looked at the distant barn and let out a sigh. It was so far away. She was just about to continue on when Rarity stopped her.

“Twilight, dear, why don’t you let me pull the cart the rest of the way,” offered Rarity. Her eyes looked Twilight up and down. “You look completely exhausted.”

Twilight couldn’t even bring herself to words anymore, she just nodded. Twilight tried to undo the harness but couldn’t manage it.

“Here, let me help,” said Rarity leaning forward. As she took hold of the straps her shield spell bumped against Twilight’s. For a brief moment sparks flew into the air. The two spells trembled as if they were about to collapse. Then, like soap bubbles colliding, the shields joined together in a mix of purple and white magic.

“Ooooh, sparkly,” said Sweetie Belle from under the covers.

Twilight and Rarity looked at one another and then at the slightly larger bubble around the both of them. The combined spell was nearly four times the size of the two previous spells. It was large enough now that it even covered the front of the cart.

“Hey, it isn’t hot in here,” said Rainbow, sticking her head out from under the blanket so that she was protected under the bubble.

“Twilight,” asked Rarity in slight shock, “what just happened?”

“I have no idea,” said Twilight, looking just as bewildered as Rarity. Rarity took a step back. Suddenly the bubble popped and the small personal shields shimmered back into place around Twilight and Rarity.

“Hot, hot, hot!” cried Rainbow, ducking back under the enchanted covers.

“It looks like it only works if we are in close proximity,” said Twilight thoughtfully. “I wonder if we can… Unh,” grunted Twilight, her own shield flickered.

“I think for now we should just keep moving,” said Rarity with concern. Twilight nodded.

Rarity stepped forward again and finished undoing the straps of the harness. Twilight slipped free and stepped aside. Without even a complaint, Rarity took her place and hooked herself up. With a slight strain at first Rarity began to pull the cart and they were off at a reasonable pace.

The two of them walked side-by-side in silence. Twilight was thankful to switch for a while even if it didn’t feel much like resting.

It also probably didn’t help that this was the third time Twilight had been outside today under the protective spell. All this magic was taking so much out of her. Yet, for the very brief moment when their spells had combined, it had almost felt… easier. But perhaps she had simply imagined that.

The cellar where Applejack and Pinkie Pie were located was the largest of all, built right under the big red barn of Sweet Apple Acres. This cellar was designed to stockpile large amounts of food for winter. At present the food stores were only a few weeks full. There wasn’t much down there, certainly not enough to keep the town fed that much longer.

Ponyville of course had its own stores of food and water. Yet it hadn’t had much either. The town supply had been the first things to go out during the second day. Now, they were empty and all that was left was in the cellar just ahead of them.

“Um, could you hurry up just a little, if it’s not too much trouble,” asked Fluttershy.

“Yeah, it’s starting to get really hot back here,” said Rainbow Dash.

“The resistance spell is wearing off faster than I expected,” said Twilight half to herself. “We need to pick up the pace!” Rarity nodded but didn’t say anything. While they certainly couldn’t gallop, Rarity did her best to pick up the pace.

The big red barn rose in front of them, getting larger and closer as they approached. Even though no one could have known they were coming, somepony was waiting for them at the barn door. The pony was pulling it open to let them in. The group hurried past, getting out of the Sun as quickly as possible. Once they were clear the sliding doors quickly rolled closed behind them.

The inside provided little relief but at least blocked the direct light from the Sun. The barn was empty, just as it had been that morning, if there was such a thing as morning anymore. Everything that had once been in it had been moved down below.

“Heya Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Dashie, Sweetie, Spikie and Scootalooie!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, giving them each a quick hug as she zipped around the cart. Somehow, Twilight wasn’t at all surprised to find that it had been their friend Pinkie Pie who had come up to let them in.

“Do you mind if we move someplace not so hot?” asked Rarity.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” said Pinkie Pie and she bounced away, like the ground was some sort of trampoline. They followed her to the cellar door and Pinkie pulled it open for them. In a single file line, the group descended down into the cellar under the barn. Once they were all in, Pinkie closed the door behind them.

“Girls!” exclaimed Applejack when she saw who Pinkie had brought down with her. Applejack rose from her makeshift hay bed on the floor and crossed the room to her friends.

Due to the size of the cellar there were a few more than four ponies staying here. All of Applejack’s family — her big brother, little sister and grandmare – as well as fifteen more ponies.

“What are y’all doin here? The next delivery isn’t for two more days,” said Applejack, a look of concern on her face. “Is something wrong? Did something happen with today’s delivery?”

“Twilight got a letter from Canterlot,” said Rainbow Dash, jumping right to the point. All ears perked up at this announcement. “We need to leave at once.”

“Y’all got a letter from Canterlot?” asked Applejack with a raised eyebrow. “But I thought Celestia said we should stay away.”

“It’s complicated,” said Twilight, giving Rainbow an annoyed glance. “This just arrived through Spike.” Twilight used her magic to levitate the black parchment from her saddle bag. She held it up for everypony to read. “It’s from Luna.”

Everypony, except Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy seemed interested in reading what Luna had to say. Rainbow had already read it but Fluttershy… she didn’t seem to be paying attention at all. Twilight was worried about her but now didn’t seem to be the time to talk about it.

“She has really pretty hoofwriting!” said Pinkie Pie.

“What does it mean, Twilight?” asked Applejack.

“I don’t know,” was the first thing out of her mouth. Twilight shook her head. “No, I do know. I just don’t want to accept it. If Luna had to send the letter than Celestia…” she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Oh sugercube, no, no. I’m sure it’s not what you think…” said Applejack, trying to sound reassuring.

“But the Sun has stopped and…” Twilight couldn’t finish. Tears were welling in her eyes. She knew it in her heart that something was terribly wrong with her mentor.

“Sooooo…. That means we need to get going!” said Rainbow Dash, a quick flap of her wings carrying her up into the air as if she were ready to fly off on the spot. Applejack grabbed her friend’s rainbow colored tail and pulled her back down to the ground.

“Hold your ponies missy,” said Applejack, letting go of Rainbow once she had landed. “We can’t just go to Canterlot. How would we even get there, what would happen to the town if we left?” Twilight nodded her agreement, Applejack’s thoughts mirroring her own.

“It’s two days to Canterlot by hoof if we go as fast as we can…” continued Applejack.

“If we go as fast as you can,” interrupted Rainbow Dash. “If I fly I can go full blast and make it there in an hour, tops.” She stood ready to launch herself into the air again and race off.

“And just how are y’all planning to fly under the Sun?” asked Applejack. “You’ve been outside, you think you can stay out there for an hour?”

“Maybe,” said Rainbow, trying to sound tough.

“Well I don’t think flying is the best way to go,” said Pinkie Pie. “Because you would be up higher so you’d be closer to the Sun!” Twilight opened her mouth and held up a hoof to correct Pinkie but couldn’t actually figure out if she was right or not. Pinkie continued on, not noticing Twilight’s odd reaction. “I think the best route would be to follow the train tracks. And maybe we’ll find the train! Then we can be there in a few hours! And also ride the train! I love riding the train!”

“I’m not sure I could do the protection spell for a few hours,” said Twilight, finally regaining herself, “let alone a few days, not with all of us.”

“But… should we even go?” asked Fluttershy, her quiet words oddly harsh. “Celestia said to stay away from Canterlot. Are we just going to ignore her warning?”

“I know,” said Twilight looking away ashamed. She was still torn between what she should do.

Twilight had been over the arguments in her mind again and again. Maybe Celestia hadn’t wanted them to come right away. If they had, they would have been unprepared for the intense heat, they might not have made it.

Than again, the second day hadn’t been that bad. They might have already reached Canterlot by now if they had left right at the start. Or maybe, Celestia had wanted them to stay in Ponyville to help the others, somehow knowing what would happen. Twilight just wasn’t sure.

They stood in silence for a long moment. None of them talking, each weighing the options before them. Stay and wait for the situation to sort itself out or go and risk never coming back, possibly never even making it to their destination.

“I think we should vote on it,” said Applejack at last. “All in favor of goin to Canterlot?” Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash all raised a hoof. After a moment Spike raised a claw too.

“Spike!” exclaimed Twilight, looking at her little dragon. “What are you doing!”

“I’ve been sitting around all week, watching as things just keep getting worse,” said Spike. “Rainbow Dash is right. Staying here isn’t going to make things better.”

“But we don’t know that going to Canterlot will make anything better either!” said Fluttershy more forcefully than Twilight had ever heard her speak before.

“Well, we have to try,” answered Applejack. “If we don’t do nothing, we can’t expect nothing to get fixed.”

“But even if we do want to go! We can’t!” said Twilight. “I don’t know if I can keep you all safe!” Twilight looked away, feeling ashamed that her magic wasn’t strong enough to help her friends. Applejack made to move forward and comfort her but Rarity spoke up first.

“Twilight,” said Rarity. “Nopony said you had to do this all by yourself. We are your friends and we plan to help however we can. And I think I might have a suggestion!”

“You aren’t going to make us ride under a blanket all the way, are you?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Actually, I kind of liked it,” said Fluttershy. “It felt safe and warm and I couldn’t see anything scary.”

“No, I had something a bit more functional in mind,” said Rarity. “Do you remember what happened on our way over?”

“Yes!” exclaimed Pinkie. She opened her mouth to explain. “Wait, no, I don’t, I wasn’t there.”

“Yes,” said Twilight, giving Pinkie Pie an odd look. “On the way over, we bumped into each other,” explained Twilight. “Our shield spells kind of merged together. For that brief moment, it was big enough for the both of us and the front end of my cart. And… it almost felt easier.”

“Yes,” said Rarity. “So what if we cast the spell together.”

“I’m not really sure. I’ve never tried anything like it before. But even still,” said Twilight, “we had to be right next to each other.”

“Well, what if you sit in the cart and we pull it?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“That might work…” said Twilight, picturing it in her head. With her and Rarity sitting at the front of the cart, their shield spell would be large enough for all of them. “But it’s still too risky. I have no idea how long we’ll be able to maintain it. It might get us there but…”

“But what sugarcube?” asked Applejack.

“But if it fails, we’ll be out in the open, with no hope of finding cover…” explained Twilight, a very serious expression on her face. “It would only be a few minutes before we succumb to heat exhaustion… and only a few minutes more before…” Twilight trailed off.

The room was silent with Twilight’s words.

If they took the fastest path, the most direct route from Ponyville to Canterlot it was two days of galloping. It would take one day to cross the hills and planes and rivers, and another day to climb the mountain. But they wouldn’t be galloping. That made it two days to reach the mountain and two days to climb it. Four days total out under the Sun.

There would be no shade to hide under, no place for them to rest. At some point, the shield would fail and they would die…

“I don’t know,” said Twilight at last. “There are just too many things, too many parts, too much risk if we get any of it wrong! What do we do about the town? What do we do about ourselves? What do I do about the conflicting letters? I just can’t think. I can’t focus! I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do!”

“Maybe you just need to solve one problem at a time!” said Pinkie Pie with a bounce. “Start with the smallest problem you have to overcome first, and maybe, fixing that problem will help you fix the others!”

“Well, I suppose the letters are the smallest problem,” said Twilight. The letters were actually the largest problem for her, conflicting instructions on what she should do. But unlike all the other problems she was facing, these were just words and all she had to do was make a choice between them. She pulled out Celestia’s letter and held it side-by-side with Luna’s, as if she were weighing them. “Do I listen to my mentor or do I act on her sisters conflicting orders?”

Twilight looked to her friends, trying to read the expression of each. They all seemed to be giving her words serious consideration. It was, of all ponies, Apple Bloom who spoke first. Twilight had nearly forgotten she was there. In fact, Twilight had forgotten any other ponies were here with them. Yet, gathered all around them, listening to the discussion were more than a dozen ponies.

“Well, that’s easy,” said Apple Bloom. “You should do what your heart tells you!” Twilight bit her lip.

“My heart tells me I should go to Canterlot,” said Twilight after a moment. “But that’s the next biggest problem, what about all of you! Without me and Rarity here…”

“Dearie,” said Mrs. Cake. “You may be able to help us for now, but the food and water we have isn’t going to last us forever. If you stay, than there surely is no hope for us. You have to go, whatever is happening, you seem to be the only ones able to do anything about it…” Twilight tried to interrupt, to say they weren’t able to do anything to fix this but Mrs. Cake pressed on. “…even if you can’t do anything right this moment, you six have accomplished great things before.

“You stopped Nightmare Moon,” continued Mrs. Cake. The crowd murmured its assent. Twilight suddenly became aware that the crowd hadn’t just been listening, they had been hoping. “You defeated that nasty Discord fellow. You halted the changeling army from taking over all of Equestria. And you freed the Crystal Kingdom from a reign of darkness.

“You and your friends have done great things,” said Mrs. Cake very seriously. “And now, we ask you to do those great things once more.”

“Eeyep,” said Big Macintosh simply.

“Alright,” said Twilight, her voice a little stronger than it had been a moment ago. “You’re right, all of you. We have to do this. Not for us but for everypony.” She looked at her friends who all smiled back at her. “This is a risk we must take and a journey we must make.”

Author's Note

Next chapter on Jan 5th. Enjoy (or at least I hope you will).

Chapter 4

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 4

If there was anything Twilight Sparkle was good at, it was organizing. With a newly inked checklist, Twilight was busy keeping everypony on track as she and her friends prepared to depart. Spike, as usual, was doing the actual checking off. He hurried around after Twilight as she inspected each task.

Applejack and Big Mac were busy with the four wheeled wagon they would be traveling in. It was the largest and most durable wagon the apple family owned. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, along with some other town’s folk, were getting what little supplies they would be taking with them ready.

Twilight glanced over the small pile as a slow trickle of objects came up from the cellar. Three bags of food, several coils of rope, one barrel of rain water, two blankets — one of which had come from Twilight’s bed — and a spare wheel. Rarity was helping load and organize the items into the wagon with her magic.

Twilight nodded, all was in order there. She checked the items off her list.

“We found the map you asked for,” called Scootaloo. She, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had gone off in search of a map of Equestria, mostly to try and keep them out of trouble while the others worked. The small fillies hurried across the barn, Apple Bloom carrying the rolled up map in her mouth.

“Perfect girls,” said Twilight. She used her magic to levitate the map, unroll it and place it on the ground so they could all see it. “Now, we need to figure out what’s the best way to travel to Canterlot.” Spike leaned over the map, examining the possible routes.

“The wagon is loaded and ready to go,” said Rarity as she, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy joined the growing group. Twilight levitated the checklist as Spike busied himself with the map. She ticked off ‘loading the wagon.’

“Everythin looks like its in tip-top shape, Twilight,” said Applejack, taking her place in the circle of onlookers along with Big Mac. Twilight ticked off ‘preparing the wagon.’ All that was left now was ‘pick route', 'say goodbyes' and 'depart.’

“Alright Spike, what do you think is our best bet to get to Canterlot?” asked Twilight.

“Well,” said Spike thoughtfully. “This path is the most direct.” He traced a straight line with his claw from Ponyville to Canterlot. “But I don’t see any place we could stop. There might be a cave that way, but it’s mostly hills and fields and stuff.

“If we go this way,” continued Spike, his claw moved in an arc that made a half circle to the north-east, “and follow the train tracks, then we can stop at Hoofington.” He tapped a small dot, indicating the town. “It looks like it’s about halfway between here and the mountain.

“But we could also go this way,” said Spike. He traced a line to the north-west. “Which would add maybe another day. But, it looks like there are a bunch of small ranches all along the way to stop for shelter.”

“I say we go straight for it,” said Rainbow. She reached out to the map and traced the first route Spike had outlined. “We go as fast as we can and race to the mountain.”

“But there is no cover that way,” said Applejack.

“There might be,” said Rainbow.

“But there just as easily might not be,” said Twilight. “Our safest bet is to go north-west… but, we can’t lose another day…”

“Then it sounds like we only have one option,” said Rarity. “We follow the train tracks towards Hoofington.”

Twilight examined the terrain. It looked like the road would be mostly flat until they reached the Silver River. They would have to cross the river as it ran from the waterfalls of Canterlot out to the Western Ocean and there was no way around it. After they were across, it was nothing but hills until their first stop at Hoofington.

The small town was maybe a day away. This first part would be the longest stretch of open land for them to cross. From Hoofington it would be less then a full day of travel to the base of the mountain on which Canterlot sat. They would have to hope to find shelter once they reached the mountain.

The final leg of their journey would take them up the winding path to Canterlot. If they were lucky they could make the trip in just under two days. The climb would be the most difficult part of their journey, even though it would have the most protection from the Sun in the form of caves and tunnels.

All-in-all, Twilight estimated that it would take roughly four days for them to reach Canterlot.

“To Hoofington then,” said Twilight at last. She glanced around at her friends. One by one they nodded their agreement.

Their farewells were brief. The town’s folk that had come up to help were getting anxious to get back underground. Big Mac, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, Mrs. Cake and Spike stayed to see the six friends off and close the door behind them.

“Everypony ready?” asked Twilight. She and Rarity had assumed the front most spots in the wagon. Their seats would put them center in the group and give them the easiest time casting the spell. Applejack and Rainbow, the most athletic of the group, would pull first. Pinkie and Fluttershy sat at the back, ready to relieve their friends in front if need be.

“Ready,” said Applejack and Rainbow together.

“Ready,” said Spike, climbing up next to Twilight.

“Spike,” said Twilight, looking at her little dragon. She opened her mouth to protest, then closed it, then opened it again. “Alright,” said Twilight after a moment. “You can come with us.”

“Awesome! Can we come too?” asked Scootaloo. “We could be Cutie Mark Crusader Adventures!”

“No!” cried Rainbow, Twilight, Rarity and Applejack together. They had all experienced the chaos the little fillies brought along with them.

“I think it’s a better idea if the three of you stay here,” said Rarity at last, regaining her composure the fastest. “We don’t really have any more space and this will be a very dangerous journey. What would mom and dad say if something happened to you Sweetie?”

“What would they say if something happened to you,” replied Sweetie Belle, looking back at her big sister with a worried expression.

“Don’t you worry none,” said Applejack. “We will all do our best to keep each other safe.”

“Let’s get this party started!” said Pinkie Pie exuberantly.

Twilight looked to Rarity. She thought her friend might be having second thoughts – Twilight certainly was — but that was not the case. Rarity looked ready and determined. She nodded to Twilight. Both unicorns began casting their spells at the same time.

Purple energy streamed out of Twilight’s horn. White twines of magic flowed from Rarity. Shields flickered into existence around both unicorns. The shields touched and the magical bubble began to expand around them. It was like the shield was pouring from them and filling an invisible space, spreading outwards and encasing them.

It only took a few moments to form, but at last it was a solid shell all around them. Applejack and Rainbow Dash started to walk as the doors parted. The magic bubble glinted in the Sun and protected the ponies inside from the intense heat.

They passed the doors, moving out into the harsh light. To Twilight’s surprise, maintaining the shield did not become any more difficult when the rays of the Sun crashed against it.

“Be careful Twilight Sparkle!” called Mrs. Cake.

“We’ll miss you Rainbow Dash!” shouted Scootaloo.

“Hurry back Rarity!” called Sweetie Bell.

“Good luck sis!” cried Apple Bloom.

“Eeyep!” said Big Mac.

The doors closed behind them as the wagon rolled clear. There was no turning back now. They had to move forward if they were going to help everypony.

“Hey!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie as the wagon moved away from the barn! “Me and Fluttershy didn’t get a goodbye!”

The train station was clear across town, but the walk didn’t take as long as Twilight had expected it would. With Applejack and Rainbow pulling they were making good time. Far better time than she’d been able to do when pulling a cart herself.

Twilight couldn’t help but glance up at the Sun high above. It still hadn’t moved. Hoofington was a day away, but how would they know when a day had passed if the Sun wasn’t moving? Twilight supposed they would simply rest once they reached the town, as stopping any place before seemed unlikely to be safe.

The magic dome glided along the dirt, shining with purple as it phased around objects on the ground. The shield was only meant to defend them against the heat, which it was doing very well. Solid objects, such as the small rocks on the ground, passed cleanly through the edge as if the shield spell was nothing more than colored light.

While it was by no means cool within their protective sphere, it wasn’t boiling hot either. Twilight wished she could have cast a snow spell to cool them down. However, that was a fixed spell, so it wouldn’t move with the wagon unless she made it move. She couldn’t do that and work the shield.

They continued to follow the main road out of Ponyville. The wheels bumped over the train tracks as they crossed the metal rails at the edge of town. They paused briefly at the road sign which pointed them towards Hoofington. Then the group turned right and continued on.

They couldn’t travel on the tracks. Their wagon wasn’t wide enough to avoid the planks that the rails sat upon. The constant bouncing might cause Twilight or Rarity to lose their focus and interrupt the spell. Or they might break a wheel, for which they had only a single spare.

Luckily, there was a road, only a few dozen hooves from the tracks. They could travel along side and keep an eye on it so they wouldn’t head off in the wrong direction.

Across the train tracks and more than two hundred hooves away was the edge of the Everfree forest. It appeared to be fairing much better under the heat. It was hard to tell from a distance but none of the trees appeared to be wilting.

While Everfree Forest might certainly provide more cover, there was no clear path through it. At least no path on any map they had. Taking the wagon through the forest would have proved impossible as some paths became so narrow between the trees that ponies could hardly squeeze through.

There was also the added danger of the forest itself which was home to fearsome creatures and beasts. It was never a good idea to remain with in it longer than anypony absolutely needed to.

The first section of road was flat and featureless. The normally green grass had turned brown, small bushes had become skinny leafless skeletons. The plant life all around them was dying. They had brought their own food and it was a good things too because Twilight doubted they would come across any along the way.

In the distance they could see the bumps of the hills rising up. Off to the left was the tall mountain on which the city of Canterlot sat. It had never seemed so far away as it did at that moment.

For the briefest of instants, Twilight was tempted to try and teleport to Canterlot. She knew, deep down inside her, that she could do it if she tried her hardest. The problem was that she was afraid. Not just that the spell might go wrong but of what she would find, what she would face in Canterlot. It was almost foalish, but she didn’t want to go there alone. She wanted her friends to be there with her when she found whatever terrible truth awaited her.

Twilight’s eyes turned away from Canterlot and back towards Ponyville. The town was still prominently in their view. It wasn’t too late for them to turn back and abandon this mad quest. Yet, at the same time it was. She knew her friends would not turn away and give up so easily. Going back was not an option they had left.

The empty road rolled past them as they moved on. The scenery hardly changed at their fast paced trot. Mountain, hills, road, tracks, forest and town seemed ever the same. If it hadn’t been for the hoofsteps or the bumps of the wagon, Twilight might have thought them standing sill.

The shield took minimal effort between Rarity and herself. Yet, it was still draining her. Twilight could feel the strain building ever so slowly. Having no prior experience in maintaining a shared spell for any amount of time, Twilight had no way to know just how long she would be able to keep going.

After what felt like hours of walking, the town had finally become much smaller, although it was still visible. The hills had not gotten any closer but they had come to their first obstacle, a river crossing.

This was a larger river, maybe two or three houses wide. From where they were, they could see the sandy banks, but not the actual water itself. A lumber bridge had been built for the train but not for the path. The crossing point would be shallow but they would still need to be cautious. Pulling a wagon across fast moving water could be very dangerous.

However, as they got much closer, the group discovered that the crossing would be much easier than they had thought. The water level wasn’t low at all. The river was dry.

“Oh my stars,” whispered Applejack as the wagon came to a stop at the dry bank. There was no water in the channel. It wasn’t even muddy. The ground had pealed up in great flakes of dry dirt.

“What happened to all the water?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“It must be blocked off up stream and the heat… unh.” Twilight shut her mouth quickly. Talking made the spell much harder to keep up.

“The heat must have evaporated whatever water was left,” whispered Spike, finishing Twilight’s thought. “It’s a good thing we brought our own water.” He gave the water barrel a tap.

After the momentary pause, Applejack and Rainbow Dash continued pulling the wagon. It rolled down the gentle slope onto the hard dry river bed. The crossing felt a little eerie. Twilight was half expecting a wall of water to suddenly overtake them. However, in no time at all, they were leaving the river up the opposite slope. And, in a few minutes more, the river was behind them, blending into the flat landscape.

It was another hour or two before the ground began to rise, steadily sloping upwards. They had at last reached the start of the hills that separated Hoofington and Ponyville. While the climb was not steep, it was more work. Their pace slowed and both Applejack and Rainbow strained under the effort of pulling the wagon.

The path twisted and turned, doubling back on itself in some places as they climbed the hillside. At last, Ponyville vanished from sight as they rounded a bend that blocked their view.

They made their way over the second of many hills that lay ahead of them. The Sun continued to beat down relentlessly and the heat, combine with the hills, seemed to be taking its toll. Applejack and Rainbow had been pulling for most of the day and they looked exhausted.

Twilight had hoped that the train would have cut through tunnels in the hills, providing a little relief from the sun but there was no luck there. The hills were not steep enough to warrant tunnels. So the train tracks continued to follow the road, winding around the hills.

“I think it’s time to switch,” said Pinkie Pie as their pace began to come to a crawl near the top of the hill.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I could use some water!” said Rainbow.

“Just a little further. Let’s get to the top of this rise,” grunted Applejack, pulling them onwards. The crest of the path was only a short distance more and they reached it quickly. Rainbow was the first to slip out of her harness as they brought the wagon to a halt on the level ground. She used her wings to hover into the wagon, creating a gentle breeze as she did.

“Oh, that felt really good!” said Pinkie Pie. Rainbow landed in the wagon, pulled open the top of the water barrel and practically dunked her head in.

“Rainbow!” said Rarity indignantly. “Show some restraint! That water has to last us… Oh, sorry!” Rarity had let her focus lapse, causing Twilight to strain under the effort of maintaining most of the spell on her own.

“It’s… alright… Rarity,” grunted Twilight. Rarity closed her eyes and concentrated on the spell. The shield glowed brighter as her magic was added back in.

“She’s right,” chimed in Applejack as she climbed into the wagon. “We need to conserve what we have. We don’t know what we’re gona find in Hoofington. With heat like this, the water we have might be all we are gona have. You saw that river. Might not be any water left from here to Canterlot.”

Rainbow backed away from the water barrel, tiny droplets dripping from her muzzle. “Sorry,” she said, her ears drooping a little. “You really think we aren’t going to find water anywhere?”

“I don’t know sugarcube,” said Applejack. “But I hope everypony is being cautious with what they have and makin it last as long as they can. It may take us four days to get to Canterlot, but that doesn’t mean everything will be fixed when we get there.”

“Keep… moving…” grunted Twilight. Everypony looked at Twilight. They seemingly had forgotten that while they were all taking a break she and Rarity were keeping them safe.

“Oh, right, sorry,” said Fluttershy. She and Pinkie Pie hopped out of the wagon and fitted themselves into the harnesses.

“How you doing sugarcube?” asked Applejack, looking towards Twilight with concern. The lavender mare gave her a sideways look. Her face was relaxed and calm with concentration now that they were moving again. “You and Rarity still both ok?”

Twilight nodded but didn’t speak. Recovering from their lapse had been more difficult than Twilight thought it should have been. However, the shield seemed to be stable for the moment.

“So what do you mean everything might not be fixed when we get to Canterlot?” asked Rainbow.

“Uh, what?” asked Applejack, caught off guard by the question.

“You said everything might not be fixed when we get to Canterlot,” repeated Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, it’s nothing sugarcube,” said Applejack. Her eyes flicked to Twilight and then quickly looked away.

For a long while the group traveled in silence. Neither Rarity nor Twilight were able to talk freely. Both Pinkie and Fluttershy were working hard pulling the wagon. Neither of them were as fit as Rainbow or Applejack so talking for them was limited as well.

The wagon tilted back as they started up the incline of another hill. All four of the ponies in the wagon reached out a hoof to keep themselves from sliding out the back. Spike just dug his claws in.

These hills had once been green with grass but now they had turned brown. There were no trees here, save for those of the Everfree forest, which had splintered off from the road a while back and become a distant line of green.

“AJ,” asked Rainbow after a long while. “What do you think happened to all the pegasus in Cloudsdale? Now that… now that it’s gone?”

“I don’t know sugarcube,” said Applejack, looking sadden by the question. “I hope they all got out of there once they noticed something was wrong.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow, biting her lip.

“Did they have a plan, you know, in case of emergency?” asked Applejack.

“Move the city,” said Rainbow, her eyes looking longingly off towards where her cloud-city childhood home had once been. “I guess that plan wouldn’t have done much good.”

“I’m sure everypony got out just fine,” said Applejack, trying her best to give her friend a reassuring smile.

Once more the friends drifted into silence. The wagon moved along, shaking slightly at the bumps in the road. They rounded the corner of the path to reach the top of another hill, several more stretched out in front of them as they started downwards once more.

“But what if they couldn’t fly?” asked Rainbow. The destruction of her home still weighed heavy on her thoughts. “What if they just… what if they fell?”

“No ponies fell out of that city,” said Applejack. “I was watching it, when I could. Weren’t no ponies that went in, nor none that came out. Don’t know where they went but they certainly didn’t fall out of the sky.”

The protective shield around them flickered once, and then twice. Applejack and Rainbow halted their conversation. The expression on Twilight’s face told them both that something was wrong.

“Twilight,” asked Applejack in concern. “Are you alright sugarcube?”

Twilight certainly didn’t seem to be alright at all. Her face was strained and sweat was rolling down her brow. The shield flickered again.

“We need to get to cover!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. Her eyes darted wildly around. They were on the winding side of a dirt hill. There were no nearby trees, nor rocks, nor cover of any kind. Behind them Ponyville had long vanished. They were hours and hours away from any kind of shelter.

“Hang in there Twilight!” said Applejack, trying to sound encouraging. Twilight nodded but as she did, the shield flickered again.

“I need to get higher,” said Rainbow, her gaze turning upwards.

“Rainbow wait!” cried Applejack, but her impatient pegasus friend did not heed the warning. Instead she launched herself upwards into the sky, wings beating hard. In a blur of speed she vanished into the glare of the Sun. “Rainbow!” shouted Applejack. No answer came.

The wagon continued to move forward, climbing slowly towards the top of the next hill. Applejack’s eyes were still turned upwards, a hoof attempting to shield her sight from the brightness, but she couldn’t spot Rainbow Dash. It was as if her friend had flown right into the Sun.

Suddenly a small black dot appeared against the bright golden disc and a moment later Rainbow Dash sped down out of the sky. She passed through the protective barrier, causing it to flicker again. She landed with an undignified thud before collapsing.

“Rainbow, are you alright?” asked Applejack. Rainbow Dash smiled warily up at Applejack, her eyes half open.

“There’s something off that way,” said Rainbow Dash pointing out a hoof to their left. “Just around the hill, a big grouping of trees with a lake… and something else…”

“Something else?” asked Pinkie Pie from up front.

“What kind of something else?” pressed Applejack.

“Something… shiny,” said Rainbow with a shrug. “Like one of Rarity’s gems. I dono. It’s the only thing around for a long ways that I can see. The trees might not offer much, but they are better than nothing.”

“Alright!” exclaimed Pinkie. “Let’s do this!” With a sudden jerk she broke into a gallop. Fluttershy let out a squeak but fell into the gallop alongside Pinkie, having no other choice.

“Woah!” called Applejack as the wagon bumped and jostled at the new speed. “What the hay are you doing? Slow down!” The wagon bumped again, nearly tossing Applejack out. The shield overhead flickered as Twilight strained under the new added burden of staying in the wagon.

“Can’t stop now, we have to hurry!” shouted Pinkie. Just ahead of them the path curved sharply.

“Pinkie stop!” pleaded Rarity. However, when she looked towards where Pinkie should have been she found only empty harnesses.

“You guys might want to hold onto something,” said Pinkie. Somehow, she and Fluttershy had gotten into the wagon. Pinkie Pie was busy fastening a helmet to her head.

Rarity let out a terrified scream as the wagon launched itself over the edge. Spike clung to Twilight’s leg, holding on for dear-life. Applejack pinned her body against Twilight and Rarity, helping keep them in the wagon. Fluttershy grabbed Rainbow Dash and let out a wail of distress. Together, they all plummeted over the side.

Luckily it was not a sheer cliff but a steep slope that awaited them. The wagon careened down the grass slide as the hills on either side rose tall all around. Ahead was a small patch of forest, not much larger than the Ponyville park, and at its center was a small lake.

Except, like Rainbow had said, there was something odd about the lake. The water looked wrong somehow under the Sun.

All of the ponies held tightly to the wagon, except for Pinkie who had her forelegs up in the air and a huge smile on her face. The shield around them trembled and flickered in and out of existence. Applejack could feel the intense heat of the Sun through cracks in the spell.

The wagon bumped violently and the shield evaporated. Twilight let out a cry of distress as the spell broke. They were only exposed for a brief moment before a canopy of trees rushed past overhead. While the leaves shaded them against the Sun, they provided little relief.

The wagon didn’t stop or even slow. It continued to roll on, its speed nearly unchanged. Trees flashed past them, a few nearly hitting the wagon. The edge of the lake loomed up in front of them.

“Hold on everypony!” shouted Twilight. Her horn glowed with magic. The wheels screeched in protest. The wagon slammed to a stop so hard that the friends were tossed from it. They flew through the air, tumbling down toward the waters of the lake below. They crashed down hard onto the lake and slid across its surface before coming to a stop a dozen hooves from shore.

The group lay atop the lake, spread out from each other. They had not fallen into the water nor landed on a dry lake bed. They had ended up on top of solid water.

“Ice?” exclaimed Rainbow Dash in surprise. She tried to stand but her hooves slid out from under her. “This lake is frozen!”

“This is impossible!” cried Rarity in disbelief. She worked carefully to get to her hooves, only slipping once. “How can there possibly be ice here in this heat!”

“Actually,” said Fluttershy, “I think it’s rather nice here.” She looked up at the Sun which was still blazing above them. Yet it seemed duller somehow, not as bright. “Which is strange, because just a moment ago, it felt like I was burning.”

Applejack tapped the ice with her hoof. It was thick and solid, like midwinter ice that had taken months to form.

“It has to be magic,” said Twilight, examining the ice closely. Twilight looked up at the Sun. “Some kind of powerful cold spell maybe?” She held up a hoof. “I can’t even feel the heat of the Sun here, like there is something protecting us.”

“But who, or what, would make a giant patch of ice in the middle of nowhere?” asked Rainbow Dash, finally using her wings to get up after slipping around.

“A good question,” replied Twilight. She looked thoughtful but didn’t elaborate.

“I think there’s something out there,” said Pinkie Pie, holding up a hoof to shield her eyes and gaze off into the distance, “in the middle of the lake. It’s like some big tower, thingy!”

“I think we should check it out,” said Twilight.

“I don’t know,” said Spike warily. His tone brought the conversation to a halt. “I have a bad feeling about this place. Maybe we should just get back to the wagon.”

“We can’t.” said Twilight with a shake of her head. “Whatever is out there might be responsible for this spell,” she waved a hoof at the ice. “It might be the only hope Ponyville or Equestria have. We have to go.”

Twilight looked at the rest of her friends and none disagreed. Moving slowly, so as not to slip, the group moved further out onto the lake. Twilight led the way, with Pinkie Pie following at her heels. Applejack took the center of the spread out pack, Spike and Rarity trotting not far behind. Fluttershy was trying to be last but Rainbow Dash kept behind her, urging the other pegasus on.

As they got further out, flakes of ice began to lift from the surface of the lake and drift in the air around them. A gentle wind had started to blow, carrying the flakes in a twirling little dance.

“Oh burr! Is it just me or is it getting colder?” asked Rarity with a little shiver.

“It’s not just you,” said Twilight. “The closer we get to the center of the lake, the colder its becoming.”

She was right. At the edge of the lake it had been cool and pleasant. Now, the further in they got the more it began to feel like winter. With every step they took, the wind began to increase in intensity. The small flakes of snow that had drifted through the air now tumbled down on them, like it was snowing.

Before long the icy chill was biting at them, stinging like little knives. The drifting snow flakes turned into a gale of freezing ice. It was like they were walking through a blizzard, a blizzard that had sprung up all around them, out of nowhere.

“Twilight!” shouted Applejack over the roar of the wind, “we gotta turn back!”

“We’re almost there!” called Twilight, leading the way through the storm raging around them. She could no longer see the center of the lake. There was only a wall of white in every direction. Even the Sun overhead was lost in the storm.

When they had started towards the center it had been calm and clear, now it was like a hurricane raged around them. Twilight and Pinkie Pie vanished into the snow storm as visibility became zero. Applejack called out for them but her voice was pushed back into her lungs by the force of the wind.

They were going to freeze here! Equestria would burn all around them and they would freeze! Applejack pressed on. Turning back was not an option. Twilight couldn’t be that far ahead and Applejack was determined to catch up.

The icy wind blew against her, pushing at her, making her coat cold with frost. It was hard even to put one hoof in front of the other. Just as Applejack thought she couldn’t go on, the storm ended abruptly. The Sun shone down from over head and the piercing cold vanished.

“What the hay!” asked Applejack in confusion. She turned on the spot and saw a churning, whirling, wall of moving ice behind her. The storm wasn’t just behind her, it was all around her, in every direction. Snow and ice spun in a violent circle around this small patch of clear and calm.

“It’s the eye of the storm,” said Twilight. Applejack turned towards her friend. Both Pinkie and Twilight had made it out of the storm ahead of her. However, they were not looking at Applejack, they were staring at something else. Applejack started to follow their gaze but another voice drew her attention away.

“Whoa, that was cold!” exclaimed Spike. He emerged from the storm riding atop Rarity’s back. Fluttershy came next and finally Rainbow Dash.

“What… what is that,” asked Fluttershy, looking past Applejack.

Applejack realized she was the only one not looking at whatever her friends were staring at. Slowly, she turned and found herself in awe at the sight.

They had reached the center of the lake. In front of them, towering up into the sky was a fifty foot tall spout of frozen water. It was at least four ponies around, maybe five. The crest at the top of the column, where the spout had spread out before being frozen had to be another fifty hooves across, creating a dome of ice above them. All along the under side of the frozen dome were huge icicles.

The column of ice pulsed with a soft purple light. Applejack’s eyes were drawn back downwards towards the base. She felt her eyes widen as she saw at last what had drawn them here; what was frozen in the ice.

“Twilight, is that what I think it is?” asked Spike, pointing to the thing that none of the ponies could look away from.

“Yes,” said Twilight seriously. “That’s… my element of harmony.”

Author's Note

So, for next chapter I have decided to change things up a little. Instead of Sat morning next week I am going to try posting Thursday night (01/10/13). Who knows, Thursday might not work out any better but at least you get an update two days earlier!

Chapter 5

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 5

The six ponies and Spike gathered around the frozen column of ice. The unrelenting storm of whirling sleet raged just a few dozen hooves away. The friends stood in the calm center, at the eye of the storm. All of them were transfixed by the shining jewelry locked inside the icy pillar.

The purple star-gem, set in the golden tiara, pulsed with an inner light. It glowed like a beacon, beckoning for them to take it. The tiara itself shimmered with blue-ish magic that twisted and moved around the headpiece, making its golden finish ripple and dance.

“Twilight, just what in the hay is your element doing way out here?” asked Applejack. She pulled her eyes away and glanced towards the puzzled lavender unicorn at her side.

“That,” replied Twilight, “is a very good question. And I have no idea.”

Twilight glanced up at the Sun still high above. It had not changed in intensity. It should have been burning hot here. Yet, it was not. They stood on a frozen lake with an ice storm all around them while the world outside was practically on fire.

This was deliberate. The location, the element, the ice. Somepony had put these things here for Twilight to find; knowing she would come this way; knowing that the Sun would stop in the sky and the world would burn. The questions now were who… and why…

Twilight thought she knew who. Only Princess Celestia had this kind of power. However, the answer to the ‘why’ evaded her. Why send the element here? Why not Ponyville where Twilight could have easily found it? Why this lake? Why freeze it?

“What should we do now?” asked Fluttershy meekly.

“Well, I for one think we should take this opportunity to rest,” said Rarity. “I’m sure Twilight is just as exhausted as I am and I think we can spare a bit of time for a break. What do you think Twilight?”

“Uh-huh, yeah, sounds good,” said Twilight absently. She was busy examining the object locked in the ice, hardly having heard any of Rarity’s words.

“Wish we had brought some supplies from the cart,” said Applejack. “This might have been a good time for lunch… or, uh, dinner, whatever the case may be.”

“Nah,” said Pinkie. “You don’t want to eat anything for thirty minutes before you go swimming!”

“Pinkie, I don’t think any of us are planning on trying to swim in a frozen lake!” said Rainbow.

“I’ve never seen a spell this complex before,” whispered Twilight to herself. She was trotting slowly around the pillar, examining the magic from all angles, paying close attention to the details of the spell. “I’m not sure I could cast it even if I knew how it worked.”

“So no hope of casting it on the wagon?” asked Spike. Twilight didn’t respond. “Twilight,” said Spike, trying to get the mare’s attention. “Twilight,” repeated Spike. “TWILIGHT!” shouted Spike at last. Twilight jumped a little.

“What!” cried Twilight in surprise. She looked around at her friends, her eyes filled with shock, like she had forgotten any of them were there.

“I asked if you think you could cast the spell on the wagon,” said Spike again.

“Even if I could, it’s a fixed spell, it wouldn’t move with the wagon,” said Twilight. “It also requires an enormous amount of energy to maintain.”

“Then what, or who, is maintaining this spell?” asked Applejack, looking around as if the pony responsible might step out of the storm.

“I think the element is,” said Twilight. “It looks like there’s some kind of enchantment on it. But I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Twilight took one last glance up and down at the column of ice. “I think this must be a test,” announced Twilight at last. “Otherwise, why have obstacles for us to overcome?”

“Maybe so no pony else picked it up by mistake?” suggested Fluttershy.

“No,” said Twilight with a shake of her head, “we were meant to find this. I was meant to find this… Somepony put this here, and I think it must have been Celestia.”

“Or Luna,” said Rarity. “After all, she did take five days to send you a letter. Maybe she spent that time hiding the elements for us to find?”

“Why would she do that?” asked Rainbow. “Luna’s the one that asked us to bring them to her in the first place!”

“I guess there is only one way for us to know for sure,” said Twilight. “We need to get to Canterlot and find out what’s going on.” Twilight reached out a hoof and touched the icy pillar. “It looks like I’ll have to melt it with magic.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Twilight?” asked Spike.

“We don’t have a lot of options and we can’t just leave it here,” said Twilight. “If anypony has a better idea…”

“If I get enough height, I think I can smash the ice!” said Rainbow. Her wings flapped as she lifted off the ground.

“Or do some serious damage to yourself,” said Applejack. “I bet I can buck that thing hard enough to break it.” Rainbow scoffed at Applejack’s suggestion, making the cowpony glare at her rainbow colored friend.

“Oh, oh! I know, I know! We can try licking it, like this!” Pinkie stuck her tongue out before anypony could stop her and licked the frozen column of ice. However, when she tried to pull away, she couldn’t. “Hewp I’m tuck!” Rarity rolled her eyes.

“Maybe we could just have Spike melt the ice with his fire,” suggested Rarity. Spike blushed at the suggestion.

“Or maybe, we could sing to it?” suggested Fluttershy.

“While those are all… good… suggestions,” said Twilight with a forced smile, “I think I’m just going to stick with melting it by magic.” Twilight lowered her head and her horn began to glow. Magic wrapped around the pillar. A sudden heat flared where the spell touched, trying to melt the ice.

The spell seemed to have no effect. The pillar did not melt but stayed exactly the same. However, the moment the magic took hold the walls of the storm began to close in. The roar of the wind increased and the air became icy cold.

“Twilight, stop!” cried Rarity. The spell halted and its energy faded away, but the storm did not retreat. The freezing wall of snow continued to close in on them and the temperature continued to plummet.

“We need to get that thing and get out of here!” cried Rainbow Dash. She retreated a little from the closing walls of the storm.

“Cold! Too cold!” chattered Fluttershy.

“Ah think Fluttershy is right,” said Applejack, her breath coming out in puffs of frost. “This place aint just cold, it’s freezin.”

“I think I might have triggered some kind of trap,” said Twilight with a slight blush. The purple gem in the tiara was now pulsing rapidly with light. The runes of magic that had crawled slowly along the tiara spun wildly, racing around it in a blur of light.

“Anypony!” cried Twilight in distress. “Any ideas?”

“Qwick!” cried Pinkie Pie. “Hewp me lick!”

The others began to argue their ideas again, the wind making it so they had to shout to be heard. The storm continued to close in around them. They were forced to move inwards, retreating towards the column of ice in the center.

The freezing wall of the ice storm shrunk and the ponies backed away, the eye of the storm shrinking rapidly. If the storm kept closing in they would be engulfed by the cold wind in only seconds.

With precious little room left, the friends backed up against the pillar. However, as they all touched the icy column, something strange happened. There was a flash of blue light that raced out through the ice. The gale of the storm suddenly halted, the winds dying away. The roaring wind went silent and the skies around them cleared.

“Twilight, what just happened?” asked Applejack. In answer to her question the frozen column of ice suddenly returned to water, raining down freezing droplets from above.

The element dropped to the ice, the gem no longer glowing and the magic runes fading away. Twilight grabbed the element of harmony with her magic and placed it inside her saddle bags.

For a very brief moment everything was still and silent.

“Uh-oh,” said Pinkie with a shiver.

The thunderous sound of cracking ice rent the air. The frozen lake beneath their hooves groaned. Another loud crack and Twilight looked down to see a dozen jagged lines running out in all directions from under her front hoof.

“Everypony back to the wagon!” cried Twilight.

The water from the melted column had made the ice very slippery. As Twilight tried to gallop her hooves went out from under her and she crashed down with a painful smack. Her brief burst of momentum carried her away, sliding slowly across the ice.

“Hold on Twilight, I got ya,” said Applejack. The earth pony took a step after Twilight and promptly began to spin out of control. “Whoa… whoa!” cried Applejack as she spun in slow circles away from the group.

The others didn’t appear to be faring much better. While Rainbow Dash was hovering safely in the air, Fluttershy appeared too frightened to fly. Rarity had all four legs spread as far as they would go, trying to keep her balance. Applejack was picking up speed as she continued to spin across the ice. Pinkie Pie and Spike appeared to be the only two who were managing okay.

Twilight watched in horror as a dozen hooves in front of her the ice began to break apart. Large chunks up-ended as they broke away from each other. There was no safe path back across the lake to the wagon. Twilight could hear the screams of her friends intermixed with the rupturing ice. All around her huge chunks of the frozen lake came apart.

She tried to get back to her hooves, but simply couldn’t. The ice slab she was on began to tilt, causing her to slide. As she slid towards the water, the opposite edge of the ice rose higher, making the slope steeper and causing her to slide faster. Desperately, Twilight tried to take hold but her hooves just scraped against the slippery surface.

With an icy splash she plunged into the freezing water. The stinging cold raced across Twilight’s body as she was completely submerged. For a moment she almost felt like she was burning. The breath in her lungs was pushed out of her by the cold and she had to fight the reflexive urge to gasp for air. Her hind legs kicked, struggling to get back above water.

Twilight’s head broke the surface and she gulped in the frozen air. Coughing and frightened, Twilight glanced around, trying to get her bearings. She felt her eyes widen in confusion. The large chunks of ice were rapidly melting away before her eyes. In only a few moments, the ice had vanished completely.

Twilight looked around for her friends. She found Rarity and Fluttershy treading water only a few dozen hooves away. Applejack was doing the same in the opposite direction. Rainbow Dash was still hovering above the lake. Pinkie Pie and Spike were the closest to Twilight, only a few hooves away.

“Is any pony hurt!” shouted Twilight as she treaded water. While she couldn’t make out Fluttershy’s response the others shouts were easy enough to hear. It appeared that they were all unharmed. “We need to get back to shore,” shouted Twilight.

“Uh-oh!” said Pinkie Pie again. Ripples spread out from Pinkie Pie as her whole body shook. “It’s not over yet!”

“Oh what now!” cried Twilight.

Rainbow Dash let out a yelp of pain before dropping out of the sky and into the water. Before Twilight could ask what was wrong steam began to rise from the surface of the lake. Quickly the icy cold water became warm, then hot.

“Oh no!” cried Twilight. “Swim to me everypony!” Not waiting for an answer, Twilight began to swim as hard as she could towards her friends.

Twilight could feel the water staring to burn her. They needed to hurry! The sound of splashing brought Twilight to a halt. All of her friends had made it.

“Dive,” said Twilight without an explanation.

“You can’t be serious!” said Rarity indignantly.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight dove under the surface. Through the murky water she could make out her friends doing the same.

Twilight’s horn began to glow and a bubble expanded out around her, pushing the water away so that the inside was filled with air. One by one, as the bubble expanded, her friends were brought inside. Once everypony and Spike was safely within the spell, Twilight focused harder and the bubble began to descend. Slowly, it sank into the depths of the lake.

“Whew, is everypony okay?” asked Applejack. The temperature around them was once more becoming tolerable.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Rainbow Dash, shaking herself dry. “Does anypony want to explain what the hay just happened?”

“I think the lake is boiling away,” said Twilight, her horn still glowing gently. The bubble continued to sink. The surface and the Sun were now shadowy and distant above them. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I figured that much out,” said Rainbow. “I meant more like why, or how? Is it really hot enough to boil water?”

“No, I don’t think it is,” said Twilight after a moment. “It’s hot out but not hot enough for that. I think when I removed my element the spell collapsed violently. The effect is most likely localized right above us.”

“Fantastic,” said Spike sarcastically.

With a plop they reached the murky bottom of the lake. Down here it was very dark. Only the magical bubble gave off any light. They couldn’t see very far in any direction. Through the limited light they could make out a little of the muddy lake bed around them.

“What do we do now?” asked Fluttershy timidly.

“We walk,” said Applejack. “Back to the wagon.” Twilight nodded, her face a bit strained. “You alright there sugarcube?” asked Applejack in concern.

“Fine,” grunted Twilight. “I’m just holding back millions of gallons of water.”

“Here, let me help,” said Rarity. Her horn glowed as her magic added its strength to Twilight’s.

“Thanks, Rarity,” said Twilight, her strained face relaxing a little.

“Alright, let’s get going,” said Applejack, taking the lead.

The six ponies and Spike began to trot slowly along the bottom of the lake. Only a thin membrane of magic protected them from the enormous amount of water overhead. For some reason, Twilight thought it should be much harder to hold back so much water. Yet, with Rarity helping her it was almost easy.

Twilight wondered why she had never thought to try casting spells with other unicorns before. The answer of course was simple. Her books never talked about it. All the spells, all the examples, were for one unicorn.

Twilight hoped they could maintain this spell long enough to get out of the lake. She didn’t know what would happen if the spell suddenly collapsed, or what they would do when they did get out of the water. Would she be in any shape to keep up the shield spell?

They walked silently through the blackness of the lake. Twilight had completely lost track of time. Her mind was focused on only two tasks, walking and keeping up the spell. She hadn’t even realized that the ground beneath her hooves had been steadily sloping upwards.

The sound of hissing and bubbling halted everypony. At first Twilight had thought they’d reached the surface of the lake. She was partly right. In truth, the surface of the lake had reached them.

Above them the boiling surface rushed down towards the ponies. In a moment it was upon them. Massive clouds of steam billowed around them as the water evaporated. In another moment more the water was past them, leaving them to stand on the momentarily muddy slope of the lake. Then the ground dried up, leaving only cracked earth.

Twilight could feel the heat. Her bubble spell popped and she and Rarity cast the shield spell at the same time, having to endure only a second of the Sun’s wrath. Even Rainbow Dash had let out a cry of discomfort at the momentary touch of the Sun.

Twilight glanced behind her and watched as the lake shrunk smaller and smaller, almost like somepony had pulled the plug at the bottom. Huge clouds of steam rose into the air before vanishing into the blue sky as the water boiled away before their eyes.

The last column of steam rose as the final small pool of water lingered at the very bottom of the lake bed. It resisted for only a moment before vanishing in a cloud of steam, leaving nothing but a massive hole in the ground where a lake had once been.

It didn’t take much longer to make it out of the empty lake bed. The wagon was not far from where they had come out. For some reason, maintaining the shield spell was not as draining as before. Even walking as she was now, Twilight found the strain to be minimal. It took less effort than before, something Twilight found odd. If it was getting hotter, then why was the spell easier to cast?

Indeed, in her fatigued state, Twilight would have believed the shield spell nearly impossible. Yet, there it was. Twilight didn’t have thoughts to spare to the issue. Focus and conservation were key. When they found another spot to rest, hopefully some place that wasn’t trying to kill them, she would ponder it.

It took a bit of effort to get both Twilight and Rarity back into the wagon without breaking the shield spell. Climbing slowly, with the help of their friends, the two unicorns managed to get back to their seats, with the shield only flickering once as they were hoisted up into the wagon.

Pinkie and Fluttershy hooked up once again, ready to get them back on track. Applejack and Rainbow Dash resumed their spots at the back of the wagon. Spike, pulled out the map he had brought with and examined it. They couldn’t go back up the steep incline of the hill they had come down, so they would need another path.

“I think this is the lake,” said Spike as he looked over the map. He tapped the rough outline of a lake with the name Whispering Waters Lake. “It looks like there should be a trail not too far away.” Spike pointed off to their left. “Someplace over there.”

“Then lets get going,” said Applejack. With a jerk, the wagon started to move again. The uneven ground made the wagon bump and jostle but their pace was slow enough so that it wasn’t too bad.

As they walked, orange leaves began to tumble down around them. Soon the air was filled with a cascade of brightly colored leaves of all kind. The wagon didn’t stop but all of the ponies looked up at the trees.

“Wow,” said Rainbow Dash. In every direction leaves drifted down from the trees like winter had come early. The leaves passed through the shield and piled into the wagon.

As the leaves continued to fall their colors began to change. It wasn’t long before the orange had gone, replaced with brown. The dried leaves crumbled in on themselves before dissolving into dust. In minutes it was as if they had sped through all of fall and the branches of the trees above them were bare.

Eventually, they spotted a path, winding through the brown grass. From the path’s condition it was obvious that nopony took care of it. This was not a path meant for carts but rather for walking. However, it was a path and it had to lead some place.

The progress was slow. If they moved faster they risked damaging the wagon. Pinkie and Fluttershy did their best to avoid the biggest potholes in the path but the way was narrow with little room to maneuver.

The road split, with no visible indication of direction. Spike studied the map before finally instructing them to go right, only to call for a stop twenty hooves later and go back to take the left path.

The winding road seemed endless as they stayed at level ground in the valley. The few paths that led up the hillsides were too narrow for the wagon. They had also lost sight of the train tracks. It felt like they were wandering in circles under the relentless sun.

“Alright!” cried Pinkie just after they turned another bend and found nothing but more endless path. “Break time! I need some water!”

“Didn’t you get enough in the lake?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Nope!” said Pinkie, missing the sarcasm. She slipped from the harness and bounced to the wagon, Fluttershy following after her.

“Ah reckon it’s our turn to pull again,” said Applejack.

“Sure,” said Rainbow with a stretch. “I would rather be doing anything other than sitting.” The four ponies all swapped places. Applejack and Rainbow slipped into the harnesses, while Pinkie and Fluttershy seated themselves in the wagon.

They began to move again.

“I’m so thirsty I could drink a lake!” said Pinkie as she worked the top of the barrel off. However, when it came loose she let out a gasp. “Oh-my-gosh-oh-my-gosh-oh-my-gosh!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“Pinkie, what’s wrong?” asked Twilight in concern. But she didn’t need the pony to answer, Twilight had turned to look and saw what had upset Pinkie Pie. “Oh no!”

“What’s wrong!” called Applejack.

“The water,” said Rarity. “The water barrel is empty.”

Author's Note

Next chapter will be up next Thursday (01/17)! I hope you enjoy and like the new schedule. Working hard on the rest as well as some other things. Crazy busy for me at work right now wasn't sure I was going to finish this chapter in time, but here it is.

Chapter 6

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 6

There seemed to be no end to the desolate trail through the hills. The uneven, rocky path wound its way along the valley floor. There were no trees for cover nor outcropping of stone to give shade. The wagon continued to bump and roll as Applejack and Rainbow Dash pulled their friends ever forward.

Nopony could deny it any longer. They weren’t just lost, they were in serious trouble.

All around them the hills hid the horizon, concealing any chance of finding their bearings. The sun was of no help either. Stopped in the sky as it was they could not determine east, west, south nor north.

Their water gone and the ponies fatigued from a long day of hard travel, their chances of reaching Hoofington seemed to be dwindling away. All of them were starting to feel the effects of the relentless Sun beating down upon them. For now, the shield spell was holding but both Rarity and Twilight looked as if they might pass out at any moment.

Spike was still focused on the map, believing it to have some critical detail he might have overlooked. He had been studying it relentlessly, searching for any information that could possibly be of use. But the simple truth was that this map just wasn’t very accurate. It hardly showed any of the routes they had taken since they had left the main road.

In another strange twist of irony, the current path they traveled on appeared to once have been a small river of some kind, not much wider than the wagon. It was of course dry, possibly either from the heat or having been cut off long ago. Either way, there was not even the hint of a muddy puddle or a road sign.

The bleak terrain passed by without much variation. Rock, rock and some more rock, interspersed with clumps of dried grass. The hills loomed tall around them, the daunting peaks spread wide, providing no relief from the Sun. The ponies were boxed in on a narrow, fixed path. They just had to hope it would lead them out of the hills and back to a real road.

As they came around a blind curve, they spotted something they had not expected to see. A cave, large enough for the wagon, was visible in the side of a hill. Applejack and Rainbow Dash didn’t even need to be told what to do. Their pace quickened and they hurried towards the shelter, eager to get out from under the sun.

Soon, they were pulling under the cover of the stone. The moment the whole wagon was inside, Twilight and Rarity let the shield drop, both of them collapsing from fatigue. Dry, uncomfortable, heat washed over the group. The cave was not cool nor of much relief but it was the best they had.

From the entrance they could see the back wall, not more than a dozen hooves away. Any hope they had of finding water or supplies in here were crushed. Save for them, this cave was empty. This was nothing more than a spot to rest. One in which they wouldn’t be able to stay for very long.

“Ah don’t know how much further we can keep going,” said Applejack, struggling out of the harness. “Ah ain’t feeling so good…”

“Me neither,” said Rainbow. She plopped to the ground to rest on the hard dirt. “Any idea how far away we are?”

“I… not really…” said Spike. “I’ve been trying to trace our route.” He held up the map and pointed to some squiggly lines. “But I don’t know how accurate it is.” Tiredly, Twilight glanced over at the map that Spike was holding.

“Spike, is that a loop?” she asked, pointing to Spikes scrawling.

“Just minor calculation adjustments,” said Spike, shifting the map so Twilight couldn’t see it anymore. “I think we’re headed towards Hoofington.

“You think?” said Rainbow, an edge of irritation in her voice. “You think!”

“Rainbow, there is no need for that kind of tone!” said Rarity. “I am sure Spike is doing his best.” Rainbow looked like she wanted to argue but simply let her head fall back to the ground.

The group lay in silence for a long time. Words had become too difficult to say. It required too much energy to speak. Twilight longed for sleep but forced herself to stay awake. This spot was shielded from the Sun but it was not protected. It was still very hot and very dry here. Every second they stayed exposed like this was a second they were losing water. They could not stay here.

“I think that’s enough of a rest,” said Twilight at last. “We should keep moving.”

“You can’t be serious!” said Rainbow Dash. “We just got out of the Sun, why would you want to go back outside?”

“I agree,” said Fluttershy. “Doesn’t a nice nap sound much better?” Twilight hauled herself back to her hooves.

“Yes, it does,” said Twilight. “And if we stay here that’s just what’s going to happen.” Her friends looked at her in confusion. “We aren’t safe here. There’s no water and we don’t know how much further Hoofington is. The longer we are exposed to this heat the worse our chances become. We need to keep moving.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” said Pinkie Pie, completely convinced. She bounced up to her hooves. Slowly the other ponies resumed their positions. Pinkie and Fluttershy once more took to pulling the wagon while Rainbow and Applejack moved to the back.

“What are our chances of getting to Hoofington,” whispered Applejack as she climbed into the back of the wagon. Twilight didn’t answer, looking away instead.

The shield spell flickered back into place. Even if the respite had been brief, it had helped. Twilight just hoped they would reach Hoofington soon and that they would find water when they got there.

They resumed their journey, following the dried up river towards some unknown end. Rivers, after all, had to flow to some place. It was hard to tell if the path they followed sloped up or down. They may very well be walking towards the source, which might end in an insurmountable cliff face. But, they might also reach the rivers end, which could lead out of the hills.

They had been traveling for a while when Rainbow Dash suddenly sat bolt upright in the back of the wagon. Both her wings and nose twitched as she sniffed the air.

“Does anypony else smell that,” asked Rainbow. Applejack sniffed at the air and wrinkled her nose.

“Smoke,” said Applejack. “Somethin’s burning.”

“Look! Clouds!” cried Pinkie. The wagon came to a halt as she pointed up towards the top of a hill. Thick black smoke had begun to pour into the air.

“Those aren’t clouds,” said Rainbow. “I need to get a look at this.”

“Rainbow, don’t you dare think of…” exclaimed Applejack. However, before she could finish, Rainbow Dash burst into the air, racing away in a blur of speed. “Dang that impulsive pony!”

The black clouds were growing thicker, spreading out across the sky ahead of them. Fluttershy pawed nervously at the ground. She wasn’t the only one. All of them looked jumpy. None of them knew why but some buried animal instinct was telling them to flee.

Rainbow Dash slammed back into the wagon, panic across her face.

“The hills!” she huffed, out of breath. “The hills are burning!”

“What!” cried everypony at once.

“It’s a firestorm! I’ve never seen anything like it!” cried Rainbow Dash, still trying to regain herself. “There are flames everywhere, like the whole world is on fire!”

“We could go back to the cave,” suggest Spike.

“No, we’d box ourselves in with no way to escape,” said Applejack.

“Hoofington?” asked Twilight, her face strained. Rainbow Dash nodded.

“Yeah, we’re heading the right way but…” she broke off.

“But what?” asked Applejack.

“But… there’s a wall of fire between us and the town,” said Rainbow Dash. “We aren’t that far from where the hills end. I’ve never seen anything like it… there are fields of flames…”

“We have to go back,” said Fluttershy. Rainbow shook her head.

“No, you don’t understand,” Rainbow waved a hoof in a circle all around them. “The fire is EVERYWHERE. We can’t go back!” She pointed behind them and they could see the black smoke gathering in the air from where they had come.

“Then we have to push forward,” said Applejack. “We ain’t got no other choice.”

“Shield won’t protect from fire,” said Twilight. The spell flickered as she spoke.

“Well, we don’t have any choice. We have to keep moving,” said Rarity. “The smoke is getting worse and if we stay here it will suffocate us.”

The wagon jerked forward. Pinkie and Fluttershy picked up the pace, going faster than was safe. They still couldn’t gallop but they were being less cautious. The air above them was filled with black smoke, blotting out the Sun. Slowly the smoke began to settle downwards and the valley became a hazy fog of darkness.

It was getting hard to breathe. All of the ponies started coughing. The shield spell blinked out during Twilight or Rarity’s coughing fits. The smoke was so thick above them that the Sun hardly seemed to reach through.

The sky over the hilltops glowed orange, like some strange dawn had come in the nighttime of the smoke. Then, orange-red edges of the roaring blaze became visible, creeping along the dried grass at the crest of the hills. The fire was indeed all around them, behind, along side and… ahead.

The wagon bumped and jumped at each rock or dip in the ground. Twilight and Rarity held on as best they could. The shield flickered in and out of existence. The hot, dry, air was made ever worse by the approaching flames. Every time the spell was disrupted all of the ponies felt the unpleasant touch of the scorching heat.

At long last, the hills parted in front of them, giving way to a wide open space that might have once been a great grassy plain. Now, however, it was filled with fire and smoke. The wagon came to a sudden halt as they faced the roaring maw of the inferno. The path ahead of them, their exit, was blocked by flames.

The fire moved and churned and rolled along the dried up river. The blaze spread towards them, blocking their way and threatening to consume the ponies if they came any closer. Nervously, Fluttershy and Pinkie backed away as the fire reached out towards them.

“Twilight, what do we do?” asked Pinkie Pie, rearing back from the flames.

“I… I don’t know,” said Twilight. She had not expected there to be so much fire. There was no clear path. There was no way through. None of them would be able to endure the flames for long and Twilight didn’t know any spells for putting out a fire of this scale.

“If you guys were dragons we could just walk through it,” said Spike. Twilight looked at Spike, his words catching in her brain.

“We could just walk through it…” said Twilight to herself a plan spinning in her mind. “Quick, everypony into the wagon.”

“The wagon ain’t gona protect us against that,” said Applejack. “This thing is made out’a wood.” Applejack gave the wagon a tap with her hoof.

“Just do it!” shouted Twilight desperately, the shield shuttering and flickering with her panic. Fluttershy and Pinkie unhooked from the harnesses and joined the others in the back of the wagon.

“Twilight what are you planning?” asked Rarity with concern. Twilight let the spell drop. It was hardly much different as the Sun was mostly obscured by smoke. Twilight fished out one of the blankets and tossed it out over her friends, covering them.

“Rarity,” said Twilight. “I want you to cast the protection spell on the blanket and then cast the shield spell to give as much protection as possible. No matter what happens, do your best to keep everypony safe.”

“But the shield spell won’t protect us against fire,” said Rarity.

“Hopefully we’ll be through fast enough that fire won’t be an issue,” said Twilight, glancing back at the flames.

“Oh no, you ain’t gona try and pull us through all on your own!” cried Applejack suddenly realizing what Twilight was planning.

“What, no!” cried Twilight, slightly shocked by the suggestion. “No, Spike is going to pull us!”

“Wait, I’m going to what?” asked Spike in confusion. A surge of heat flared causing them all to flinch.

“There’s no time to explain!” exclaimed Twilight. “Spike, get to the front and get ready to pull!”

Spike hopped down while Twilight and the other slipped under the blanket. Rarity’s horn began to glow causing the blanket to shimmer with a protective aura. She rested briefly, the enchantment having taken a lot out of her. After a moment she focused again and recast the shield spell. It spread out over the back of the wagon.

“Twilight, I can’t even reach the harnesses. How exactly is this supposed to… whoa!” cried Spike in surprise. Twilight’s horn glowed with intense magic and as it did, Spike began to grow. Soon he was twice the size of a pony.

“Pull!” cried Twilight.

“Oh, yeah, right,” replied Spike, who had been flexing one of his arms and examining his muscles. He took hold of the harnesses, one in each hand and tugged at the wagon. With little effort he was able to pull it forward. The heat intensified as they raced towards the flames.

“Go as fast as you can Spike,” called Twilight. “And don’t stop until we’re clear!”

“Right!” shouted Spike, as he picked up speed. In a moment more they were engulfed in the flames. The shield spell on the blanket protected them from the heat, while the wagon blocked them from the fire, for now.

All around them the blaze roared and swirled as the six ponies huddled under the small layer of protection. Twilight’s face was strained. Maintaining the growth spell was harder than she had anticipated. Rarity looked like she might pass out at any moment as she kept them shielded. Fluttershy was holding tightly to Rainbow and shaking with fear. Applejack looked almost pale.

Flames licked at the bottom of the wagon, sometimes poking through between the planks. The fire lashed at the wooden sides, trying to tear them apart. However, the wagon did its part, holding the blaze at bay.

They charged through the inferno, unable to see what was going on around them. While the blanket protected them, it also blinded them. They could make out tendrils of fire reaching over them. They could hear the cracking of burning wood. And they could taste the ash in the air. But they could not see where they were going or how much more there was ahead of them.

The friends all stay close together, huddled not for warmth but for reassurance, for protection. At any moment the fire might get the better of the wagon and it would crumble apart into splinters of wood. Or, perhaps, there was no end to the fire. Maybe it went on forever and the whole world was engulfed in flames.

The wagon’s joints groaned as it jostled around. It could not go much further before it would be overcome. The wood below them was starting to get very hot. The shield seemed to have reached its limit as arms of fire smacked against it.

Without warning Rarity let out a gasp and the spell she had been casting ended abruptly. Now the only protection they had left was the thin flammable blanket, enchanted with a spell to hold back the heat.

Then, the roar of the blaze suddenly vanished. The intense heat faded away.

“Is… is it over?” asked Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was the first to chance a glance. She poked her head out from under the blanket.

“We’re through! We made it! We made it!” cried Rainbow exuberantly. She stood suddenly, tossing off the blanket. But her expression quickly changed to one of fear. “The wagon is on fire!” shouted Rainbow.

It was true. They had left the roaring inferno behind, yet there were still flames all around them, moving with them! The wagon began to slow as Twilight finally lost concentration on the spell. Spike shrunk back to his normal size, so that he dangled from the harnesses, no longer able to pull them.

With a sudden crack of splintering wood, one of the back wheels gave way and the wagon dropped sharply on one side. The ponies let out a scream of terror as the wagon dug into the ground, sliding through the dirt. Then another wheel broke on the same side and still another on the opposite side. Finally the last one gave out and the wagon crashed to the ground and skidded through the dirt to a rough stop.

Quickly the ponies abandon the wagon, carrying their supplies out with them. Twilight and Rarity recast the shield spell and the others moved to shelter beneath it. Twilight had expected the shield to be much harder to cast, yet it was easier than the simple growth spell she had just used.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried kicking sand and ash at the flames, hoping to put them out. But it seemed to do little good, the wood continued to burn. Even if they had been able to stop it, all four wheels had broken. The wagon was never going to move from this spot. Soon, the whole thing was engulfed. The group watched with a silent moment of sadness as their wagon that had carried them so far went up in smoke.

The smoke was not as bad here, now that they were out of the valley. The hills on either side had flattened out and they were traveling through what was once a great open grassland. Now it was nothing more than burnt ash, consumed by flames.

The fire had burned its way past them. It was still billowing great columns of smoke from the hills. There was no telling where it would end, but at least it was behind and not in front.

The group continued on, moving slowly without a means of conveyance. The charred wasteland around them seemed to weigh heavy on everypony’s thoughts. Even Pinkie was struggling to maintain a smile. Spike however, seemed to be full of energy and excitement.

“Did you all see how big and strong I was!” said Spike, completely impressed with himself. He flexed his tiny arm to emphasize his point. “I’ve never felt so amazing! Why have you never made me big like that before Twilight?”

“Actually I have,” said Twilight with a slight smile. “Although, I’m not sure you would remember, it was just after you were born. You grew so big that you put a hole in the roof of the magical academy.”

“Whoa,” said Rainbow, clearly impressed.

“It’s a hard one to do,” said Twilight. “And it takes a lot of effort.” The shield spell flickered.

The trotted onwards, their pace slow and their spirits low. Each step felt like an uphill struggle. How Twilight and Rarity were still managing the shield was anypony’s guess. The hardly had the strength to walk, let alone cast.

“Hoofington!” shouted Spike, after they had been walking for quiet some time. He pointed ahead of them towards a distant shape.

The only indication that they had was a tiny far off shadow on the horizon, little more than a colored smudge in the distance. They trudged on, the sight of their goal giving them new strength. Soon, they could see the stone houses that made up the outskirts of Hoofington. They moved ever closer to the town, the friends resisting the urge to break out in a gallop.

As expected there didn’t appear to be any ponies walking around outside. Where were the ponies of this town hiding? Did they also have cellars they had been able to get to? Were they all safe underground?

The train station was the first building they could recognize. There was a moment of hope, followed by a disappointed sigh of frustration. There was no train in the station at this stop either.

After what felt like forever, they reached the edge of town. It was an eerie feeling as they entered the empty streets. The heat waves made the air dance, sometimes making it seem like there were other ponies around but they were just shimmering illusions.

“Hello!” shouted Applejack. “Is anypony home?” Her words echoed, but no reply came.

“Does anypony have any water? Or lemonade? Oh-oh or apple juice?” shouted Pinkie.

“Shelter,” muttered Twilight, her face tense with concentration.

“Pinkie, I think we need to find some place to rest first,” said Rainbow.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” said Pinkie Pie. Her eyes swept across the buildings of the town, searching for someplace they could bunker down. “Oh that one! Its got a funny shape!” said Pinkie, pointing at a large wooden building, shaped somewhat like a barn.

“Uh, Pinkie,” said Applejack, “I’m not sure a cart repair shop is going to do us any good now.” Pinkie didn’t answer but hopped towards the shop with a smile on her face.

The shop had wide doors, which would have been great if they still had a wagon. They didn’t know what they would find inside but it couldn’t be any worse than outside. Applejack pulled one of the doors open for them to enter before promptly shutting it behind them once they were all inside.

With a grunt of exhaustion Twilight dropped the shield and collapsed to the ground. She looked completely worn-out. Rarity didn’t seem to be doing much better but she managed to stay on her hooves

It was very hot inside the shop, even with the doors closed. Much to their disappointment, the shop had no carts or wagons inside. There were some spare parts, which did them no good but otherwise the workspace appeared empty.

The group split up, searching the shop while Twilight rested.

“There’s a cellar over here,” called Rainbow from the far side of the shop. “I don’t know what’s down there, but it has to be cooler than this.”

The friends all trotted over to the door on the far side. Rarity used her magic to open it. It wasn’t locked.

“Hello?” called Fluttershy down the dark hole. “Is anypony in there? Do you, uh, mind if we come down?” No answer came. The friends waited a moment, looked at each other and then Twilight gave a tired shrug and descended down into the depths.

The cellar was not very deep, only just under the ground. Pinkie closed the door behind them, cutting them off from any light. Twilight’s horn sparked to life, illuminating the way.

The room at the bottom was not very big but it was cooler than above. It was enough space for the six ponies and Spike. The earthen floor was covered in dried straw but the room was empty otherwise. If there had been supplies here, they were gone now.

“I think we should all get some rest here,” said Twilight. Her eyes were half closed. She walked as if in a trance to a spot on the floor that she intended to make her bed. “We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Where do you think all the other ponies are?” asked Fluttershy as she nestled down. The others were picking out spots too. Spike found a spot not far from Twilight in a small pile of straw.

“Prolly anywhere they can keep cool,” answered Applejack resting her head on her hooves.

“Shouldn’t we look for them before we leave tomorrow and make sure everypony’s alright?” pressed Fluttershy with genuine concern.

“I don’t know if we have time,” said Twilight with a yawn. “We really need to find water here and we still have a long way to go. It could take hours of searching to find anypony else.” Twilight let her magic extinguish and they were plunged into darkness. “But we can discuss it in the morning.”

Author's Note

Hello again everyone! As always thank you for taking the time to read my work! I hope you are enjoying the story so far. As always another new chapter next week, continuing with Thursday postings. So, new stuff coming 01/24.

Chapter 7

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 7

Twilight Sparkle found herself standing out in the middle of a frozen lake. All around her, the ice cracked and broke into smaller chunks that spread away. She was trapped on a tiny section and unable to go anywhere without falling into the freezing water.

Atop the ice chunks that floated away from Twilight were her friends. Each pony moved in a different direction, each mare drifted further away. Twilight called to them, begged for her friends not to leave her behind. Yet they simply waved goodbye and faded into the distance.

Frantically, Twilight spun on her tiny island of ice. Her eyes swept over the vast water around her. The lake appeared to stretch on forever and ever in every direction. It was almost as if the lake had become an ocean without her noticing.

Twilight was completely alone, abandoned by her friends. Panic and fear began to overtake the lavender unicorn. Mournful tears fell from her eyes. Where the salty drops of water touched the ice, fire began to spread out across the water. Soon the lake was ablaze with flames of red and yellow. Twilight was surrounded by roaring flames.

Great giant purple points began to rise out of the lake of fire, encircling her like a cage. The ice beneath her hooves jerked with a sharp upward movement. She was being lifted into the air. Below her, the fire lake rapidly fell away. Twilight suddenly realized what the tall pointed things around her were, they were claws.

Hesitantly, Twilight turned to see what was lifting her up. Her eyes widened as she saw a great towering beast behind her; its long arm outstretched; its massive hand raising her upwards. The beast was enormous, large enough to swallow up half of Ponyville. It towered high into the sky, such that its face was hidden in the clouds. All she could see, apart from its arm, was the monsters scaled, yellow, underbelly.

The clouds parted above her. A great monstrous maw with spiky teeth opened to eat her whole. Twilight tried to use her magic, to do something, anything. But her spells simply didn’t work.

In one final movement, the great beast lifted Twilight to his gaping mouth and tossed her in. Twilight screamed, plunging down into the never ending darkness. Down she tumbled, down she fell, towards a bottom she could not see.

“Twilight,” said the darkness, its voice filled with concern. Twilight stopped screaming. She stopped falling. Somepony was shaking her. Not here, not in the darkness but someplace else. Someplace she knew but did not know.

The darkness began to fade away. Her brain fought confusion, struggling to piece together the reality coming into focus around her. The fading memory in her head was obscured and slipped away as the world became more real to her.

A dream. She had been dreaming.

Twilight didn’t remember falling asleep. She had put her head down, closed her eyes and entered into a dream world of terrors. It had been such a long time since Twilight had been visited by bad dreams. She had almost forgotten what they were like.

For a brief moment, her befuddled mind thought it was Spike that had awoken her. Yet that seemed very unlikely, Spike was never up before she was. Twilight took in her surroundings, while her brain sorted out the pieces of what she was seeing. It took a few moments but at last she seemed to make some sort of sense of it.

“Twilight, are you alright?” it was Applejack.

The sight of her friend calmed Twilight down. The rush of being woken up began to fade as fatigue took hold of her once more. Never before in her life as she did at that moment did Twilight want to ask for just five more minutes of sleep. However, she didn’t want to go back to sleep and face more unsettling dreams.

“Uh, Applejack?” asked Twilight. The words tasted funny in her dried out mouth. The room was dimly lit by magic, although it was not Twilight who was doing it. Twilight could make out Applejack standing over her and hear low whispered words in the background. “What’s wrong?”

Twilight rubbed the sleep from her eyes, lifting her head and looking around the small cellar room. Pinkie and Rainbow were both still asleep. Rarity and Fluttershy were whispering quietly, Fluttershy appeared to be very upset. Spike was wrapped up in Twilight’s tail, like it was some kind of blankie.

“You were, uh, crying out in your sleep,” replied Applejack her voice sounding slightly embarrassed. “I thought it best to wake you up.”

“Thanks,” replied Twilight, running a hoof through her untidy mane. “It was a really bad dream.” It took Twilight a moment to realize the slightly upset expression on her friends face. “Applejack, are you okay?” Applejack shook her head.

“You weren’t the only one having bad dreams,” said Applejack. She glanced over her shoulder at Fluttershy and Rarity who were also both awake and whispering quietly to each other.

“All of us?” asked Twilight in concern.

“No, just you, me and Fluttershy so far,” said Applejack. A loud snore punctuated the conversation right at that very moment. Both Twilight and Applejack turned to look at the two mares that were still blissfully asleep. “I haven’t woken up Pinkie or Rainbow yet. But neither of them seem to be having bad dreams of any kind. Rarity neither, she woke me up just after Fluttershy.”

“It’s most likely just coincidence,” said Twilight. “After all, yesterday was dangerous enough to give any pony bad dreams.”

“Ah guess,” said Applejack uncomfortably. “Been a long time since I’ve had such a bad dream. I don’t remember all of it, but there was ice and fire… and the ground opened beneath me and I started to fall…” Twilight felt her eyes widen slightly. Applejack noticed. “What?”

“I had a similar dream,” answered Twilight.

“You think something funny is going on?” asked Applejack.

“I don’t know,” said Twilight after a moment. “But it does seem unusual. Any idea how long we’ve been asleep?” Applejack shook her head. “Well, it’ll have to be enough. Let’s wake the others.”

Twilight pulled her tail free of Spike’s claws. He whimpered, reaching for it in his sleep for a brief moment before turning over and sticking his thumb in his mouth. Gently, Twilight nudged him awake. As expected, it took a bit more effort to actually get him up.

Rainbow and Pinkie took much more time. The first shakes had resulted in a yawn for five more minutes from Rainbow and an ensnaring sleep-hug from Pinkie, trapping Applejack in a crushing embrace. However, with only a little more coaxing they were able to get both mares awake.

Pinkie, Rainbow, Spike and Rarity all appeared to have been free from bad dreams. Rainbow had mumbled something about flying through the clouds, although she didn’t really remember. Pinkie had been eating an endless cake-pie, a dessert she claimed was half cake, half pie. Spike had been dreaming about his soft blanket, which he had left at home. And Rarity had been designing dresses for a fabulous ball.

It took more effort to get Fluttershy to recount her dream. Like Applejack and Twilight, her dream had also included elements of ice and fire in it. She had been awoken, similar to Twilight, during the moment in which she had been falling out of the sky.

“Twilight, do you think there’s something to this?” asked Rarity when Twilight went into silent thought.

“It does seem odd,” said Twilight after a moment. “All of our bad dreams had similarities to what we faced yesterday. Like the lake of ice and the field of fire. But, I don’t think it’s anything more than coincidence.”

“But all of us?” asked Fluttershy.

“Three of you,” corrected Rainbow. Twilight frowned a little.

“Strange though it might seem, it’s not that uncommon for stressful events to leave a lasting impression,” said Twilight knowledgably. “Bad dreams happen and considering what we’ve gone through I’m not that surprised.

“Besides,” continued Twilight, looking over her friends. They all still looked very tired, except for Pinkie who was bouncing up and down. “We have more important things to talk about, like finding water. We can’t leave Hoofington until we do.”

“Um, what if we don’t find any water?” asked Spike, raising a claw but not waiting for Twilight to call on him.

“There has to be water here someplace,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, but what if there isn’t!” exclaimed Spike. “What if there isn’t any water left in all of Equestria!”

“Oh no!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “I’m eighty percent water! What if I don’t exist in Equestria anymore!” She lifted her hooves examining them as if she were about to fade away.

“Pinkie, calm down,” said Twilight. “It doesn’t work like that…”

“And I’m… uh… Twilight, how much of a dragon is water?” asked Spike. Twilight let out a sigh.

“Look, both of you,” said Twilight. “I’m sure we can find water here, in a well or from the ponies who live here. We just need to look in the right place.”

“So, where do you reckon we should start our search?” asked Applejack.

“The water tower,” said Rainbow Dash. “I saw one as we were coming into town.”

“That seems very unlikely,” said Rarity. “After all, our tower ran dry just a few days after the heat started. That’s why we had to deliver all those supplies by hoof.”

“I don’t know where there might be a water supply here,” said Twilight. “But it would have to be someplace cool, someplace out of the Sun. Except I don’t know enough about Hoofington to guess where that might be.”

“Well, they obviously got cellars,” said Applejack, glancing around to emphasize her point. “It seems likely they would store it wherever they keep their food supplies. If Hoofington is anything like Ponyville, then they would have a storehouse someplace.”

“What about all the ponies that live here?” asked Fluttershy, everypony looked at her. “Shouldn’t we make sure its okay to take their water?”

“We don’t have time to waste looking for somepony to ask,” said Rainbow. “We’re on an important mission! They’ll understand.”

“No,” said Twilight. “Fluttershy is right. We can’t just steal their water. I think our top priority should be finding the ponies of this town. They can tell us where the water is and we can negotiate to get some of it.”

“Alright,” said Rainbow a little irritably. “So how are we going to find the ponies anyhow to ask them? Are we going to search every house or something?”

None of the friends had an answer to this.

“I don’t know,” said Twilight at last. “But we’ll just have to do our best because it's not just Equestria that's running out of time, so are we...”

Reluctantly, the six ponies and Spike made their way upstairs into the uncomfortable heat of the cart repair shop. Twilight had almost forgotten how bad it was up above. Leaving the cellar was like walking into a solid wall of hot air.

Wasting little time, Twilight and Rarity both cast the shield spell together. Slowly a sphere of magic expanded out around them so that everypony was protected. The heat subsided, but didn’t go away. They were out of the fire and back in the frying pan for now.

The shield gave all of the ponies, except Rarity and Twilight, a chance to spread out a little, although they stayed relatively close together. Twilight and Rarity had to walk side-by-side at the center. Rainbow and Pinkie took up the front while Applejack and Fluttershy followed in the back. Spike, not restrained by the shield was free to walk wherever he pleased.

With a push, Rainbow worked the door open. Slowly, the group ventured out of the shop and back under the Sun. The giant golden orb was right where it had been yesterday, dead center in the sky, its heat streaming down.

Hoofington was not the same as Ponyville. It had been built long ago, in a time when the wilds were still wild. Most houses were made from heavy stone and well weathered with age. They moved slowly through the town, their eyes searching each building as they trotted passed. There was no sign of anypony else. How long would they have to stay here, how much time would they lose?

Every few houses Spike would hurry inside and search quickly to see if there were any ponies hidden within. However, he always returned to the group with the same shake of his head and look of disappointment.

“This is taking way too long!” complained Rainbow. “I could fly up and take a look around.”

“Again?” asked Applejack with concern. “And just how are you going to do that? This heat will cook you like a potato in a camp fire.”

“Nah, I can stand if for a few seconds,” said Rainbow. Her wings flared out at her sides. A mischievous grin spread across her face. “Besides, Spike is doing just fine.”

“Uh, he’s a dragon,” answered Fluttershy from the back.

“Also, it’s still really hot out here,” said Spike wiping sweat from his brow.

“Relax, this will just take a second,” said Rainbow. Without arguing further she launched herself into the air. Despite Applejack’s protests, Rainbow zoomed upwards, racing through the shield and causing it to shimmer.

All of the ponies followed their friend as she soared high into the sky. She got to the top of her climb, put a hoof to her eyes and spun around. She was only there for a moment then she fell backwards, tumbling out of the sky in a dive. There was a gasp as her friends thought she was falling for a moment but her wings flapped and she slowed just enough to make a hard landing

Rainbow looked a little flustered. Her cheeks were red, her face was damp with sweat and her breathing was labored.

“I… saw… somepony…” said Rainbow between breaths. Her friend’s looked at her in disbelief.

“Wait, what? You saw a pony outside?” exclaimed Twilight. Rainbow nodded.

“Yeah,” answered Rainbow. “They were too far away for me to get a good look. But it seemed like they were pushing something. A barrel maybe. If we keep heading this way we might be able to catch up.” She pointed a hoof to indicate the direction.

“Rainbow, dear, do you want to take a break first?” asked Rarity, sounding concerned. Rainbow shook her head.

“We should hurry and try and catch whoever it is,” said Twilight. “This might be our only chance.”

The friends headed towards the north side of town. The buildings got larger and more closely spaced as they went. They came to a sudden halt as they reached a large castle sitting on the far edge of town. Twilight had forgotten about Hoofington Castle. It was one of the few towns in Equestria, besides Canterlot, that had a structure of this kind. It had been built long ago to protect against the monsters of the Everfree Forest.

Now that Celestia ruled the land however, the monsters rarely ventured beyond the edge of the forest. The castle was more of a hold over and didn’t serve much of a purpose anymore. Although, now it seemed that the ponies of Hoofington may have found a use for it.

“Look, the pony must have come this way,” said Applejack, pointing at the ground. Imprinted in the dirt were deep tracks that seemed to have been made by many barrels rolling along this path. The track led towards the castle ahead.

The six ponies and Spike passed under the main gate. The courtyard was large, with a fountain in its center. The fountain seemed to have run dry which was not surprising, although it was disappointing none the less. There had also been a small garden around the fountain, however, all the plants had wilted and the grass had turned brown.

There was no sign of the pony, nor its barrel, anywhere in the area. However, the track appeared to lead off towards one of the castle doors, which had been left slightly ajar. As a group, they headed towards the far left gate, following the tracks.

Pinkie pushed the door open the rest of the way so that they could enter. The group hurried inside and Applejack closed the door behind them. Twilight and Rarity dropped their shield spell. This room was moderately large, obviously intended as some kind of storage area. There were dozens of barrels piled high against one of the walls. A door that most likely led into the castle was also slightly ajar at the far end of the room.

“It looks like the tracks end here,” said Applejack, nodding to the barrels. Rainbow hovered over to the barrels and examined them.

“Empty,” said Rainbow as she moved from one barrel to another. “Why stack a bunch of empty barrels here?”

“Maybe we should try searching the rest of the castle?” asked Rarity, her gaze turned towards the door at the far end. The friends all agreed.

Cautiously, the group approached the door. Twilight tried the handle and found that it wasn’t locked. The solid wooden door squeaked open on rusty hinges. The sound echoed down the empty halls.

There didn’t seem to be any ponies lingering around inside the castle, which wasn’t surprising. It was nearly as hot inside as it was out, just with less sun.

“How are we going to find anypony in this huge place?” asked Pinkie. The clop of their hoofsteps reverberated as they walked deeper into the stonework building.

“We just gotta find a staircase or something leading down,” said Applejack. “If their really are a bunch of ponies here, I doubt they would be up on this level.”

“Old castles like this usually have a dungeon,” suggested Twilight. “They might be down there.”

“Du-dungeon?” asked Fluttershy. “Why would anypony need a dungeon?”

“To lock up bad guys of course,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Hoofington is an old town,” said Twilight. “It was built in a time before Equestria was peaceful. I highly doubt the dungeons have been used for a long time. At least not for keeping anypony against their will. But it would be cutoff from the light, making it an ideal hiding place.”

The friends continued their search, looking in on rooms and checking for any path that led downwards. The castle was large but eventually they came upon what they were looking for. The hallway ended at a narrow stairway that led downwards into darkness.

At the top of the stairway, several barrels had been stacked side by side. One of them was open and inside it, was precious, incredible, delicious, water! Both Pinkie and Rainbow rushed towards it, but Twilight caught them with her magic, holding them back.

“That isn’t ours!” said Twilight, straining against the two of them. “I know you are thirsty, we all are. But you need to wait just a little longer. We can’t just steal it!” Rainbow looked like she wanted to argue but at last she stopped struggling.

“Whatever pony brought this here must have taken some of it down,” said Rarity. “The barrel appears to be half empty.”

“Or half full,” said Spike, trying to stand on tip toe to see inside.

“It looks too wide to fit down the stairs,” said Applejack. “So, they must be transporting it by hoof.”

“I’m sure if we go down and ask nicely, they will let us have some,” said Fluttershy.

“It looks pretty dark down there,” said Spike, moving to the edge of the opening that had been cut into the stone. “I can’t see the bottom.”

“Helloooo!” called Pinkie, shouting down into the darkness. Her voice didn’t echo and no answer came.

“I wonder how far down it goes?” asked Rarity.

“Only one way for us to find out,” said Twilight. Her horn blazed with magic as she cast a spell to light the way. “We’ll just have to go down and ask.”

“What, go down there?” asked Rainbow Dash, pointing a hoof at the hole.

“Uh, yeah,” said Applejack. “You don’t see any other way down do you?”

“Well, what if there is, what if they didn’t go down there?” asked Rainbow, taking a step back. “What if they are still up here in the castle?” She waved a hoof around her.

“Rainbow, we searched most of the castle already, there is no way a whole town is hiding up here,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, well, maybe one of us should stay behind, you know, like a lookout?” suggested Rainbow.

“A lookout?” asked Twilight in confusion. “A lookout for what?”

“I don’t know, other ponies maybe,” said Rainbow, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof.

“Rainbow, dear, is something wrong?” asked Rarity.

“Yeah, you sure are actin all funny,” said Applejack.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” laughed Rainbow Dash nervously. “Why would anything be wrong.”

“Alright then, if you’re sure,” said Applejack. “We best get a’move on.”

“Rarity,” said Twilight, glancing to her unicorn friend, “do you mind taking the lead?” Rarity looked a little surprised by the request but nodded.

“Certainly Twilight,” replied Rarity. Her horn began to glow, just like Twilight’s had. She took a last glance back at Rainbow and then began to descend down the dark steps. The others lined up to follow, except for Twilight and Rainbow, neither of which moved.

Rainbow’s eyes were locked on the stairway and the ponies descending down into it. Twilight’s eyes were locked on Rainbow and the almost panicked expression on her face.

Spike was the last of the group. He paused at the top of the stairs, looking between Twilight and Rainbow.

“Uh, are you two coming?” asked Spike.

“Go on,” said Twilight, “I’ll be right behind.” Spike looked back at Rainbow one last time, shrugged, and then vanished down the stairs.

Rainbow still hadn’t moved. She was sitting on her haunches, looking at the stairway as though it were some kind of predator waiting to eat her the moment she approached.

“Okay,” said Twilight, once the others had gone. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” insisted Rainbow Dash.

“Really?” asked Twilight. “If that’s the case why don’t we just head down?” Twilight’s horn glowed again. Her magic nudged her friend forward slightly towards the stairs. Panic filled Rainbow’s eyes and her hoofs scraped the ground, trying to stop the movement.

“No!” cried Rainbow. Twilight released her spell. “I mean, nah, I’m good.”

“Rainbow,” said Twilight seriously. “You’re afraid!”

“I’m not afraid!” exclaimed Rainbow. “It’s just… I don’t like… small spaces…” her eyes returned to the narrow stairway. “I’m a pegasus, born to live in the sky. Being in your cellar was hard enough. I can’t…” she looked away ashamed. “I can’t go down there…”

“I understand,” said Twilight. Rainbow looked up in confusion. “I don’t like the idea of us splitting up. But I also think that forcing you to come down with us would be a mistake.

“We’ll be back as quickly as we can.” Twilight put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder to reassure her. “I promise.”

“What are you going to tell the others?” asked Rainbow.

“I’m sure I can think of something,” said Twilight with a smile.

“Right,” said Rainbow. Twilight smiled one last time at her friend, and then she too descended down into the ground.

Author's Note

Chapter 8 will be back on the regular schedule of Thursday (01/31) next week. Thank you all for continuing to read and comment on my work. I hope you are all enjoying it.

This chapter has proved to be a frustrating one for me. The one you just read (or are about to if you started with the ANs for some reason) is the fourth iteration of the original draft. While most chapters go through extensive editing, usually the main themes from my draft remain in place. because if they don't, I might have to cutout huge chunks of the story (which was at one point the case here).

I'm not sure what it was, but this chapter just never felt right, which is part of the reason it got delayed. It still isn't exactly where I want it to be, but, well, nothing ever is. And if I keep tinkering with it then it will never get posted (which is why I have a posting schedule, because otherwise, nothing would ever get posted). In the end it still gets us to (about) the same place, so I guess it all works out...

Chapter 8

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 8

Down, down, down the path led, well below the surface. This stairway did not seem likely to go to dungeons nor any part of the castle. From what Twilight could make out ahead of them the only place this narrow stairway seemed to go was into darkness.

Twilight managed to catch up to her friends rather quickly. Even though they had a head start their pace had been cautiously slow. Rarity led the way, her magic pushing back the shadows of the stairs as they went ever deeper. Behind Rarity was Pinkie Pie, then Fluttershy, then Applejack and finally Spike.

Spike looked back as Twilight approached. He shifted a little to his side to look past Twilight and see the empty stairs behind her.

“Where’s Rainbow?” asked Spike.

“She isn’t coming,” replied Twilight.

“Say what now?” asked Applejack, coming to a sudden halt and causing Spike to bump into her. “You just left her behind?”

“I didn’t really have a choice,” said Twilight. “I think Rainbow is claustrophobic.”

“Clost-a-what?” asked Applejack.

“Afraid of small enclosed places,” explained Rarity. “I had no idea. The poor dear, is she going to be alright all alone up there?”

“Maybe some pony should go back and stay with her?” suggest Fluttershy.

“I think she’ll be fine on her own,” said Twilight. “Hopefully we won’t spend too much time down here. We still have a long way to travel after all. Besides, I don’t think we could go back from here if we wanted to. There really isn’t enough room to turn around.”

“I thought that pony wasn’t afraid of anything,” said Applejack, continuing on.

“How do you fight against something the size of a castle?” asked Twilight. “How do you face something intangible? A fear you can feel inside and can’t control?”

As they went deeper the passage narrowed considerably. The bricks that lined the walls were replaced with smooth stone. The ceiling got closer so that it felt like they were squeezing down a narrow hole.

It was a good thing they hadn’t tried to force Rainbow down with them. Even Twilight was feeling nervous as the walls got tighter around her. It was almost like she could feel the weight of the world pressing down from above.

The stairway went on without turn or end. Wherever this tunnel led, it was very deep underground. They had been walking downwards for at least fifteen minutes now. Why did any pony need such a deep down basement? What were they going to find at the end of this path? Twilight desperately hoped it was the ponies of Hoofington and even more desperately, their water.

“I think I see light up ahead,” announced Rarity from the front.

“Good, ‘cause this place is starting to make me feel uncomfortable,” replied Applejack.

“I know what you mean,” said Fluttershy. “I’m starting to wish I had stayed up top with Rainbow.”

The ponies continued their descent. Twilight caught a glimpse of the end of the tunnel. There was a flickering light at the bottom of the stairs. It had to be some kind of fire light, most likely from candles.

As they moved closer, Twilight could hear voices, even if she couldn’t understand the words. She felt relieved that there were ponies down here. This sidetrack hadn’t been for nothing.

The friends were almost at the bottom of the stairs when a pony suddenly appeared in the doorway, blocking their path. The light was bright at the pony’s back and Twilight could only see a silhouette.

“Who’s there!” called the pony, his voice weary. “Stay where you are!”

“Hello,” said Rarity as she came to a stop. “We have come such a long way and we were wondering if we might have some of your water. You see our…”

“No,” interrupted the pony flatly. “We can’t take in any more ponies.”

“We aint looking for a place to stay,” replied Applejack. “We just need some supplies.”

“Please,” said Twilight, “We’ve come all the way from Ponyville and we…”

“Wait, you came from Ponyville?” asked the colt.

“Yes,” said Twilight. “We were carrying our own water but it sort of evaporated. It’s a long story…”

“Seven chapters to be exact, oh, eight now,” said Pinkie.

“That’s impossible,” said the colt at the bottom of the stairs. “No pony could have made the trip from Ponyville. Who are you?”

“If you let us come down, we’ll explain everything,” said Twilight. The colt was quiet for a long time but at last nodded.

“Alright, but don’t try anything funny. I’m not alone down here,” said the colt.

Cautiously, the friends descended the last several dozen steps until they reached the exit at the bottom. The stairs came out in a fairly large circular tunnel. Candles had been placed along the walls to provide light.

The small space was packed with ponies. Not just a few dozen but more than a hundred. It seemed they had found the entire township of Hoofington all stuffed into this small spot. How they had been living like this, Twilight couldn’t fathom. Ponies were pressed up against each other with hardly any personal space.

Twilight and her friends stood at the far end. The front most ponies had backed away leaving a small gap between the two groups.

“My stars, would you look at them all?” whispered Applejack. “What are y’all doing crammed in down here?”

“I’ll ask the questions, thank you,” said a rust colored colt with a redish mane. It was the same one that had shouted to them in the tunnel. His flank bore a six pointed star with a lasso around it.

“And who are you?” asked Spike. The colt glared at the dragon but Spike held his ground.

“I’m the Sheriff of this town, the names Long Star,” said the colt. “I am charged with helping keep the town safe. Now just who are you ponies and what are you doing here?”

“Like I said,” explained Twilight. “We came from Ponyville. We’re just passing through. I know this is a difficult time for everypony. I know what we are asking for is a precious resource but we desperately need it. We haven’t had any water for almost a day now and...”

“Oh you poor dears,” said one of the older mare’s nearby. “Sheriff, maybe we can just let them have a little bit…”

“Alright, just a little bit,” replied Long Star. He made a motion and some of the ponies came forward, bearing canteens of water. Twilight and her friends gladly took the offering. It took all of Twilight’s effort not to drain the whole thing in one gulp.

“I’m truly sorry that I can’t offer you more,” continued Long Star as he watched the thirsty ponies drink. “But I have a whole town to keep safe here. We don’t know how long this is all going to last and with things the way they are… well… lets just say our options have become limited.”

“Now hold on a minute,” said a golden coated unicorn mare with a contrasting silver mane. She had two rings on her flank, one gold and one silver. “I’ve been going outside to get water for days now. If these ponies came all the way from Ponyville, maybe they could help us!”

“You might be right, Glinting Rings,” said Long Star. “Would you be willing to stay and help us?” Twilight frowned slightly.

“We’re sort of in a hurry,” said Twilight. “We’re on our way towards Canterlot and…”

“To Canterlot?” asked Long Star harshly. “You’re headed to Canterlot?”

“Yep,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “We’re going to save Equestria!”

“Save Equestria?” repeated the Sheriff in surprise. A whispered murmur spread across the gathered ponies. “Just who are you anyhow?” His eyes swept across the new comers as if he might have missed something important about them.

“Well,” said Twilight. She lifted a hoof and pointed to each of her friends in turn. “This is Applejack and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie…”

“Hello!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“…and Rarity and Spike,” explained Twilight. “And my name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“You’re Twilight Sparkle! Oh, of course you are! How did I not see it!” stammered Glinting Rings. “I’m Glinting Rings!” she repeated. “Uh, you already know that. I’m sorry, I’m just so nervous! I mean you’re Celestia’s personal protégée!”

“Uh, so I take it you’ve heard of me,” said Twilight with a strained smile. It was rare that any pony knew who she was, let alone that she was Celestia’s student. With the exception of her friends in Ponyville, Twilight kept mostly to herself.

“Ha, heard of you!” said a gray earth pony, “she won’t stop talking about you. How you’d come and save us. How you’d use that awesome magic of yours to fix everything.” Glinting Rings looked at the ground, her cheeks turning red.

“Oh,” said Twilight simply, she was at a loss for words.

“Look everypony,” said Applejack, stepping forward. “We can’t fix everything…”

“I knew it,” said the same gray pony.

“… But that doesn’t mean we aint trying to,” continued Applejack, giving the earth pony a harsh stare. “We are on our way to Canterlot right now. We’re gona talk to the Princess and get this all sorted out.”

“And what good is talking going to do?” asked Long Star. “If the Princess could fix this, she would have by now.” There were whispered murmurs of agreement.

Twilight could feel things starting to go wrong. These ponies were scared, terrified even. And they were right to be. Nopony knew what was happening, not even Twilight and her friends.

“Listen up everypony!” shouted Twilight, putting a halt to the growing fear in the conversation at hand. “I promise we will find a way to fix this! I promise we will do everything in our power to make things right! But you can’t give up hope. You can’t give in to fear! Now, more than ever, you have to stand together. Not just as ponies but as friends!”

The murmurs in the crowd changed. Twilight could hear agreement in the tone if not the words. It was working.

“Me and my friends, we stopped Nightmare moon,” continued Twilight. “Friendship held us together when her trickery tried to tear us apart.” There was a cheer this time, led by Glinting Rings.

“Me and my friends, we defeated Discord, even when he pitted us against each other!” The cheer was louder this time.

“Me and my friends,” the crowd of ponies cheered, the loudest so far. “We stopped the changeling Queen, even when thousands of her minions changed into copies of us and fought us in a really confusing battle, also, Pinkie used me as a unicorn cannon, and I guess, really, my brother and sister-in-law actually defeated her…”

There was an uncertain cheer at this last part, some of the ponies gave each other confused looks.

“… But friendship is what we all need right now!” Twilight pressed on, getting her pep talk back on track. “Look at the pony next to you, they aren’t just your neighbor anymore, they are your friend. Trust in them, believe in them and you will get each other through this!”

The crowd cheered again, hooves stomped on the ground.

“We will find a way to fix the Sun! We will find a way to save Equestria!”

The loudest cheering and shouting yet erupted from the crowd of ponies. Some of them began to chant Twilight’s name.

“Very well said, Twilight,” complemented Rarity with a smile. Twilight blushed a little.

“It’s what they needed to hear,” replied Twilight quietly.

“Thank you Twilight!” cried Glinting Rings, her eyes wet, the speech obviously moving her to tears. “I knew you could do it! I knew you would come through.”

“Those were some nice words, I’ll admit,” said Long Star. “But words aren’t going to fix the Sun. And words aren’t going to solve our problem.”

“What problem is that?” asked Fluttershy. The room went suddenly quiet. All of the ponies stared at her and some of them started to whisper. Fluttershy looked embarrassed.

“You’ll have to excuse them ma’am,” said Long Star. “Up until yesterday, we were not stuck in this part of the cave. We fled here after something attacked us. We’ve been holed up here ever since but… this is no way for a pony to live…” None of the ponies interrupted. “If you really are as great as Glinting Rings thinks you are, then we need your help.” He nodded to Glinting Rings.

“Everypony move aside!” shouted Glinting Rings to the crowd. It took her several repeats of the shout but finally there was just enough space for them to squeeze past. Glinting Rings led the way. Twilight and her friends followed in a single file line. Long Star brought up the end of the precession.

Twilight glanced around at the ponies packed into the tunnel. They were of all ages, young and old, big and small, mares and colts, unicorns and earth ponies… unicorns and earth ponies… Where were all the pegasi? There didn’t seem to be even one among them.

Twilight was distracted from her musings of missing pegasi when she realized that all of the eyes in the crowd were fixed upon her. Normally, having everypony looking at her would have made Twilight uncomfortable, but she held her head up high, trying to look as impressive as she could. She hadn’t studied magic with Celestia for years and not learned anything about presence. Her speech would mean nothing if she couldn’t act the part of the savior.

Her heart dropped a little in her chest. The question now was acting the part the only thing she could do. She hated to admit it but the earth pony in the crowd had been right, what would they do when they got to Canterlot. How would talking to Celestia fix any of this? Would they even be able to… to talk to Celestia?

Luckily they had moved beyond the crowd when Twilight finally lost her confidence in her own words. Her thoughts turned back to her teacher. She hadn’t thought about her since before they had left Ponyville, how could she have let that happen. Shouldn’t she be worried about the Princess above everything else? The truth was, there was simply too much to worry about to just think about her mentor.

“Where are we going?” asked Twilight, finally becoming aware that they were walking deeper into the underground area far beneath the castle. She hadn’t been paying attention at all. How long had they been walking? How far had they gone, how much longer was this going to take?

“It’s not too much further now,” said Glinting Rings, still leading the way. “We had to move as far back into the tunnel as we could to stay away from… well… you’ll see.”

The friends exchanged worried looks.

“So, you said you came all the way from Ponyville and you intend to get to Canterlot,” said Long Star as they walked.

“That’s right,” answered Applejack. “It’s a long way by hoof, so that’s why we’re itching to get a move on.”

“How exactly?” asked the Sheriff. “So far, Glinting Rings here is the only one of us that’s been able to go outside.”

“Are you talented with magic?” asked Rarity. Glinting looked back and blushed a little but shook her head.

“Uh, no,” said Glinting Rings. “Actually, my shield spell isn’t very good at all. But I’m the town smith so I am used to really intense heat. Up until the last couple of days I’ve been able to make the trip to the storehouse and back with very little magical aid. It’s been a lot harder these past few days.”

“Well,” said Twilight. “I can manage the shield spell fairly well on my own but Ponyville to Hoofington is a stretch even for me. Luckily, we discovered that Rarity and I could combine our magic to protect us against the Sun.”

“Combined your magic?” asked Glinting Rings with curiosity.

“Yes,” said Twilight. “It makes keeping up a larger shield much easier. I can teach it to you if you like.” Glinting Rings came to an abrupt stop and Twilight nearly collided with her. The golden mare turned around to look at Twilight. From the expression on her face and the tears in her eyes, Twilight might have very well said she was setting the Sun for her.

The whole group came to a stop in the tunnel.

“Really?” asked Glinting Rings. “You would teach me a spell?”

“Sure,” said Twilight with a strained smile. “It you want to learn it.”

“Yes!” said Glinting Rings excitedly. “Yes, yes, yes, yes…”

“Okay,” interrupted Twilight. “Come stand next to me.” The other unicorn let out a squeal of delight and rushed next to Twilight so that they stood side-by-side. The golden unicorn was practically shaking with anticipation. “Now, cast your shield spell.”

Glinting Rings horn began to glow with light and an orange-ish aura of magic spread out around the golden unicorn. It wasn’t the strongest shield Twilight had ever seen, but it was cast correctly and it would repel the heat of the sun.

Taking a calming breath, Twilight’s own horn glowed with magic. The shield spell expanded around her, shimmering with purple light.

“Now,” explained Twilight, “we just have to move closer together until the spells touch.”

Twilight took half a step towards Glinting Rings and as she did a blaze of red sparks sprayed into the air. Instantly, Twilight knew something was wrong. She tried to stop the spell but she couldn’t. The two shields pushed against each other, the point of contact burning white hot. A moment later, with a crack that shook the stone tunnel, the two ponies were flung apart.

Twilight crashed into her friends, while Glinting was flung across the ground, skidding along the stone. Long Star rushed to her aid.

“Twilight! Are you alright?” cried Spike in concern. Twilight’s head was spinning and her body was a little sore but nothing seemed to be broken. Long Star was helping Glinting Rings back to her hooves, she seemed to be a bit dazed but otherwise uninjured.

“I think I’m fine,” said Twilight getting back to her hooves. “What happened? Why didn’t it work?”

“I have no idea,” said Rarity, glancing between the two ponies. “It looked like you did everything correctly.” Glinting was coming back over too them, helped by Long Star. The other unicorn looked a little unsteady on her hooves.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” apologized Glinting Ring’s.

“No, that should have worked,” said Twilight. “I don’t understand…” Twilight trailed off as a thought occurred to her. “No… that can’t be right…”

“What?” asked Glinting Rings, “what can’t be right? Did I do something wrong?”

“I want to try one more time,” said Twilight. She hoped that she was wrong about what she was thinking. Glinting looked a little hesitant after what had just happened but finally nodded. She made towards Twilight but Twilight shook her head. “No, this time I want you and Rarity to try casting the shield spell.” Rarity raised an eyebrow.

“I guess I can,” said Rarity. She and Glinting Rings moved closer together and the other ponies backed away slightly.

Once in place Rarity’s horn began to glow, as did Glinting’s. Shield spells formed around them. Rarity stepped closer but Twilight could already tell it wasn’t going to work. The two shields flickered dangerously and red sparks erupted into the air. Any moment the two ponies would be flung apart.

Acting quickly, Twilight used her magic to move the two ponies apart. The shield spell flickered and collapsed but neither pony was tossed away.

“Oh my,” said Rarity. “That was unpleasant.”

“It looks like I’m right,” said Twilight, a worried expression on her face. “It doesn’t seem like the spell works with any unicorns except for Rarity and myself.”

“Why not?” asked Long Star. Twilight shook her head.

“I wish I knew,” said Twilight. “I’m not even sure how it works in the first place. I’ve never read anything about the shield spell ever being combined in any of my books. I’m sorry,” said Twilight. She wasn’t sure if she preferred ‘I’m sorry’ over ‘I don’t know.’ Over the last couple of days she seemed to be using both phrases a lot. “I don’t think I can teach you that.” Glinting Rings looked incredibly sad. “But maybe we can still help you with your other problem.”

The golden unicorn nodded and the group resumed their trot down the tunnel. It wasn’t much longer before the passage opened up into a huge natural cavern. It was like nothing Twilight had ever seen before. The area was so tall that she couldn’t see the ceiling above. The only indication that there even was a ceiling was a tiny hole so far away that it looked like a little star. The cave was so wide that she thought most of the town above might fit inside it.

In fact, there were actually houses down here, like a very tiny town. It sat near the entrance to the cave but couldn’t have extended more than one tenth of the way into its full space. Green flame torches bathed the whole subterranean town in an eerier emerald hue.

“What is this place?” asked Twilight.

“Neat, huh?” said Glinting Rings. “This is the largest chamber in a series of natural caves that run all over the town. We’ve never explored them all. Some of the passages go on for ever and ever. Others drop strait down into blackness and no pony has ever been to the bottom.”

“The castle was built directly above it by my great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather,” explained Long Star from behind them. “He discovered the entrance to the caves and got lost in them when he was a little foal. He spent a month in this chamber. When he finally got out, he had become so accustom to the caves that he wanted to go back.

“So, he built the stairway down to them so he could visit whenever he wanted. I think he actually spent pretty much the rest of his life down here. He was a strange pony.”

“Yeah, this is really impressive,” agreed Twilight. “But, uh, we are kind of in a hurry to save Equestria, don’t you think you could have just told me about it?”

“Oh, no,” said Glinting Rings with a shake of her silver mane. “No, the cave isn’t what we wanted to show you…”

A painful screech rent the air. Twilight put a hoof over her ears, although it did little good to dampen the sound. Several other screeches echoed the first.

“What is that!” cried Fluttershy in terror over the sound of the screeching.

“That’s our problem,” shouted Long Star. The colt was holding out a hoof and pointing into the distance. Two dancing tiny flames raced around the darkness of the cave, leaving trails of fire behind them. Twilight had never seen anything like it… or had she… there was something oddly familiar about them. She just couldn’t place her hoof on it.

“What they hay are those things?” yelled Applejack, still covering her ears. As abruptly as it had started, the screeching stopped.

“We aren’t really sure,” said Glinting Rings. “They showed up a few days ago and started attacking us. We had to move everypony out of the main cave to keep them safe. And there is something else.” She led them forward, up a slight incline to give them a better view of the shadowy depths of the enormous cave.

“That hole in the roof appeared about a week ago,” continued Glinting Rings. She pointed her hoof up at the ceiling to the distant stream of light. “I think that’s how whatever those things are got in here.”

Twilight’s gaze followed where Glinting Rings was pointing, but something else caught her eye. There was something on the floor of the cave. A spot, that glinted like a diamond in the light. Twilight felt her eyes widen slightly.

“So, we can’t come back in the cave with those things flying around like that,” explained Long Star. “It just isn’t safe. But, since you all are big shot adventures, maybe you could lend us a hoof. After all, you did have some mighty fine words for us.”

“Yes,” said Twilight her eyes fixed on the distant gleam of light. “We will help you.”

Author's Note

Thank you all for continuing to read! Next chapter on Thursday the 7th, hope to see you then.

Chapter 9

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 9

The ponies walked through the streets of the small town below the ground. Like its counterpart high above, the houses that comprised the underground settlement were made from stone. Many of them had been designed in the same style as Hoofington, but a few had actually been carved right into some of the giant stalactites.

The miniature city was lit by torches that didn’t burn but glowed with florescent green light. The emerald color washed over all the ponies, making their coats appear dull. The flickering light made their shadows dance from side-to-side, imparting an uneasy sensation that the silent darkness was watching them.

Glinting Rings led the way as they trotted through the abandoned subterranean village. None of the ponies talked. In the unnerving quiet, a question repeated itself in Twilight’s thoughts. She hadn’t had a chance to ask when she had first noticed, but now seemed like the time to get some answers.

“I noticed there were no pegasi back in the cave with the others,” said Twilight. Glinting Rings glanced back at Twilight with an uncertain expression on her face. She didn’t answer but instead looked to Long Star, who trotted alongside her.

“They left town,” explained Long Star simply, not looking back at Twilight. “A day or two after this whole thing started.”

“Why would they do that?” asked Rarity in confusion.

“Fear,” answered Long Star. “You see, at first, most ponies didn’t think too much of the Sun stopping. We thought that maybe the Princess had her reasons. On the third day, when no trains had come and no word had been sent, we found we could no longer go outside. That’s when things started to get bad, real bad…

“Everything might have been lost. Then I had the idea to move the whole town underground,” explained Long Star. He looked back, a smile on his face for a brief moment before it became a frown. “But the pegasus, they weren’t so happy about being so enclosed. I tried to get them to come down. Pleaded even. But they wouldn’t have none of that. I could see the fear in their eyes. I don’t know if it was the Sun or the prospect of being trapped underground, but they refused.

“In the end, I had to leave them behind,” continued Long Star. “Glinting went up the next day, to start fetching supplies, but, they were gone. Don’t know where they went.

“I’m surprised your friend came down with you.” His gaze turned to Fluttershy. “Most pegasus wont go anywhere near the caves. Can’t remember the last time one actually came down. You must be very brave.”

“Oh, no, not really,” said Fluttershy quietly.

“Did they say where they were going?” asked Twilight.

“Nope,” replied Long Star, still not looking back. “Hope they found someplace safe though.”

A screech reverberated through the cave. The group came to a halt, covering their ears. The sound sent a chill through Twilight. After a moment, the screech stopped and the ponies continued forward.

“That is one unpleasant sound,” said Applejack. “Any idea what those things are?”

“Fire beasts,” said Glinting Rings. She turned so that she trotted backwards. Her face was lit with the torchlight as if she were telling a scary campfire story. “It’s said they only come out at night! Swooping down through the air and snatching little foals off the street! Their favorite meal is pony flesh! And they love listening to the sounds of our screams!”

“Who says that?” asked Pinkie Pie with keen interest.

“Uh… well… townsfolk I guess…” answered Glinting Rings.

“Has any of that actually ever happened? Did they take any of the foals?” asked Twilight.

“Well… no, not that I know of…” said Glinting Rings.

“So what exactly did they do?” asked Applejack

“They terrorized the town,” said Long Star. “Flying through the air above us, screeching. It was enough to give any pony bad dreams. We didn’t have a choice. Those things wouldn’t leave us alone. I don’t think they ever even took anything or caused harm to the town, but they upset everypony something real bad.”

“I still have bad dreams about it,” said Glinting Rings with a shiver.

At last the group reached the far end of the settlement. The town, after all, wasn’t that big. Glinting Rings and Long Star halted at the threshold.

“So, uh, good luck then,” said Glinting Rings.

“You ain’t coming with?” asked Applejack. Glinting shook her head. It almost looked like there was terror in her eyes.

“No way. I’m not going near those things,” she said.

“The way’s dangerous,” said Long Star. “The floor of the cave is uneven and in some places it drops into bottomless holes. You best watch your step.”

“Easier said than done,” replied Twilight absently. She was looking out across the darkness of the cave. Even with the break in the roof and sunlight streaming in, most of the cave remained dark. There wasn’t enough light to see much more than the area directly beneath the opening.

“We could just take one of these glowing sticks,” suggest Fluttershy, hovering up next to a green torch and pointing to it. Rarity shook her head

“If we have any light sources, those things will be able to spot us from across the cave,” said Rarity.

“I don’t think we have any choice. It’s too dangerous to travel without light,” said Twilight. “We’ll just have to risk being seen.”

“Thank you all for do this for us,” said Long Star, sounding genuinely grateful. “To be honest, I thought you just would have left us by now, once you saw what we were up against.”

“How could we do that?” cried Pinkie in surprise. “You guys need help! And we are just the ones to do it!”

“There aren’t many who would,” said Long Star with a smile. “You ponies be careful and come back in one piece. I need to be getting back to the others. We’ll see about getting you some supplies.” The colt turned to leave.

“Sheriff,” said Twilight. Long Star stopped in his tracks. “Our friend Rainbow Dash is still back in the castle. I didn’t think we would be down here that long but this might take a while. Could you send somepony up to give her some water?”

“We still have to fetch down the rest of the water,” replied Long Star. “I’ll make sure she gets some though.”

“Thank you,” said Twilight. “Fluttershy, pull down that torch.” Fluttershy nabbed the glowing stick off the wall and brought it down. Twilight used her magic to levitate the light to Spike. “Lead the way, Spike.”

“You got it, Twilight,” said Spike with a salute. He grabbed the torch out of the air and started off. The others followed him. Twilight gave one last look at Glinting Rings then she used her magic to pull down a second torch before she turned and trotted after her friends.

Two small pools of eerie emerald light lit the path. Spike held the torch as high as he could while Twilight did the same with her magic. The black rocks around them glinted in the ghostly green light, giving the cave a strange dreamlike quality.

Far ahead the two blazing things were still up in the air racing around and screeching every so often. If the fire things could see the lights the friends were carrying, they gave no indication. They either hadn’t seen Twilight and her friends or they weren’t interested yet.

They had to move slowly. The light was not strong and the darkness beyond where the torch light fell was pitch black. The sunlight seemed only to make the cave darker, blinding them if they looked at it.

“Woah,” whispered Spike. He came to a sudden halt as did the others behind him. Their current path ended in a sheer drop into invisible darkness. Spike held his torch out over the edge but in the short distance that it lit he could not see the bottom.

Carefully, they made their way around the crevasse, walking along its edge. Rarity looked into the depths wide eyed, but said nothing. Applejack gulped. Fluttershy looked away. And Pinkie… shouted down into it.

“Echo!” she called. All of the ponies came to an abrupt halt. Twilight clapped a hoof over her friends’ mouth. Pinkie’s voice echoed in the darkness, repeating the word until it finally faded into silence. The ponies waited and held their breath. Their eyes were fixed on the distant flying fires ahead. The fear in the air was tangible.

Had they heard? Would they come?

After a long moment, when the fire things stayed where they were, the group let out a collective sigh. Twilight removed her hoof from Pinkie’s mouth.

“Sorry,” apologized Pinkie with a nervous smile.

At last they came to the end of the chasm and were able to turn back towards their destination. They had to make only minor course corrections to avoid stalagmites in their path, but otherwise they stayed on track towards the column of light.

“Twilight,” whispered Applejack. “I know these ponies need our help, but why in the hay are we doing this? We ain’t got time to be down here.”

“Applejack!” said Rarity indignantly. “I’m surprised at you. These ponies need our help! Although, I am curious what made you change your mind, dear?” She glanced at Twilight.

“I saw something,” said Twilight. “The glint of a gem under the sunlight.”

“You think it’s another Element of Harmony?” asked Fluttershy. Twilight nodded, then remembered that her friends probably couldn’t see her.

“Yes,” said Twilight. “Of course I don’t know for sure… but…”

“I’m sure it is,” said Pinkie exuberantly.

“Pinkie Senses?” asked Spike.

“No silly! Because I believe in Twilight!” said Pinkie Pie.

As they got closer the eyes of the group kept glancing from the treacherous ground to the flying fire above. Twilight had a bad feeling about the flying flames. There was something nagging at the back of her brain, something just out of reach.

Ahead of them, sunlight poured down from the opening in the ceiling. It made a large circle where they would clearly be visible once they were inside.

Unlike the rest of the cave, the section bathed in light appeared to have been artificially created. It hadn’t been as visible back in the town but now that they were closer the group could see a great tall pillar of stone, four dozen ponies high. There did not appear to be any visible way to get to the top. It was perfectly circular and smooth. Atop the tall pillar, in its very center was a second, much smaller, column of stone.

Shining like a diamond and sitting on top of the column was the glint of gold. Twilight was sure it had to be an element but she couldn’t tell which one it was at this distance. Not that it mattered. They needed all of them if they were going to have any chance of fixing the Sun.

The element was just sitting there waiting for them. It felt like a trap, like the lake of ice all over again. Twilight didn’t like it but they didn’t have a choice. If it was an element they needed it. They needed to help the town. And they needed to do all of it as quickly as possible. The problem was, Twilight had no idea how they were going to do any of it.

The group came to a halt at the edge of the intense sunlight, just behind a large stalagmite. Twilight wondered if the rays of the Sun would have the same effect down here that they had on the surface. Carefully, Twilight held out a hoof but pulled it back very quickly when she touched the light. Well, that answered that question.

“Alright,” said Twilight, thoughtfully. “Alright… let me think… We need to get the element and we need to get rid of those flame things…”

“It can’t be a coincidence that they are here,” said Applejack. “Maybe they are guarding the element?”

“So maybe, if we grab it, they will go away!” said Spike. Applejack nodded.

“Or maybe they will chase us,” whispered Fluttershy. “Until they get it back.”

“Oh, yeah…” said Spike. “I guess that’s way more likely.”

“Twilight, you could just levitate it down with your magic,” suggested Rarity. “They might not even notice.”

“Maybe,” said Twilight, looking at the glint of the gold high above them. “Although, the last time I used my magic, it just made things worse. And if I drop it… No, I think we have to somehow work together to get it. Like we did at the ice lake.”

“Uh, tiny problem,” said Pinkie Pie. “We are short one pony! Unless Spike is the new Rainbow Dash…”

“We’ll just have to make do with who we have,” replied Twilight.

“So we all need to get up there?” asked Rarity, looking at the tall insurmountable tower around the element. “And do what? It’s not like the lake, where it was frozen.”

“No,” said Twilight. “It’s just lying there… I don’t know what we’re supposed to do.”

“Oh! Oh! I have a plan!” cried Pinkie raising a hoof into the air and waving it like she wanted Twilight to call on her.

“This should be good,” mumbled Applejack under her breath.

“We need to work together to get the element,” explained Pinkie. “So for this to work, we need to split up!”

“Uh, Pinkie,” said Twilight. Pinkie continued on, ignoring Twilight’s protest.

“If we each go to a different side we can distract them,” continued Pinkie Pie. “We just need to keep them running around in circles so that they are way too busy to notice the one pony sneaking in to grab the element while they aren’t looking!” All of the friends stood speechless, looking at Pinkie as if they had never seen her before. She smiled back at them pleasantly.

“Do you think that would actually work?” asked Applejack after a long moment.

“Maybe,” said Twilight, “but it only gives us a window to get to the element. We still don’t have a plan to deal with those fire things.” Twilight looked back to Pinkie.

“Um, ask them nicely to go away?” suggested Pinkie.

“Maybe we could lead them back out the way they came in?” said Rarity, looking upwards at the hole in the ceiling. “Then seal it behind them.”

“That might work,” said Twilight. “I’m pretty sure a patch spell should be able to close that hole. Now we just need to get them to go out somehow…” Twilight turned to her yellow pegasus friend. Fluttershy cowered away as if Twilight had screamed at her.

“Oh no,” said Fluttershy cowering down, already knowing what was coming.

“Fluttershy,” said Twilight softly. “I know it’s scary but we need you. You’re the only one who can fly. Rarity will shield you so you can stay in the sunlight. While we have them distracted you fly up and grab the element. Hopefully that should get their full attention.

“Once they come after you—” Fluttershy gave a squeak of terror “—you’ll need to fly as fast as you can and lead them out. As you come back in, I’ll seal the way behind you, trapping them outside.”

“But Twilight…” protested Fluttershy.

“I know you can do it Fluttershy,” said Twilight, putting a hoof on her friend. “We are counting on you.” Fluttershy looked at Twilight’s hoof, looked at her friends, who were all waiting hopefully for her answer. At last she nodded.

“Alright, is everypony ready?” asked Twilight. A resounding yes came from all of the mares, and Spike, except Fluttershy, who quietly whimpered ‘no’. Silently, the group spread out around the circle of light. Rarity stayed close to Fluttershy, so that she could shield her.

“Now!” shouted Twilight. Her horn flared with magic. The tip of a stalagmite broke off from next to her and flung itself into the air, narrowly missing one of the flying things. That managed to get its attention.

With a screech, both of them dove down out of the air at Twilight, racing right for her. With a flash of magic she teleported away before they could get to her. They stopped in the air, confused as to where their target had gone.

“Hey, flame face!” called Applejack, she bucked a stone at one of the burning things. It screeched and turned towards her.

“Surprise!” shouted Pinkie Pie from the other side. With a bang that sounded like a party horn, streamers launched into the air from a mini party cannon. They hit the other fiery thing before bursting into flame and turning to ash. The two beasts split apart, each once chasing after a pony.

Twilight reappeared beside Rarity and Fluttershy. Twilight nodded to Rarity. The white unicorn’s horn began to glow and a shield shimmered around Fluttershy.

“Alright Fluttershy! Go!” shouted Twilight. However, Fluttershy didn’t move, she remained where she was, cowering. “Fluttershy!” shouted Twilight. The yellow pegasus let out a little shriek of fear before finally getting up. “Hurry!”

“Any time would be dandy!” shouted Applejack in annoyance. She ducked to avoid the flames as the fire beast swooped. It chased after Applejack, leaving a trail of fire in the air behind it.

It was gaining on her, about to catch her. A blast of green flame lashed out at the fire beast causing it to swerve away as Applejack dove for safety.

“Uh oh,” said Spike as the fire beast turned towards him. He let out a scream as he ran while the thing swooped at him.

“Fluttershy!” demanded Twilight, her plan falling apart before her eyes.

“Oh no! I can’t do it! I can’t!” wailed Fluttershy.

“Twilight!” shouted Pinkie. “I’m running out of streamers!” The party cannon sounded again, this time launching party hats and dinner plates. The flaming monster charged through the party trinkets, burning them away at the merest touch.

Twilight looked back at Fluttershy who was trying to hide beneath a rock.

“I’m going in,” said Twilight.

“You’re what?” was all Rarity could get out.

With a crack and a pop, Twilight teleported up onto the top of the platform. Instantly, she felt the sunlight hit her with all its force. She bit her lip to keep from crying out. The element of loyalty was just sitting there, waiting for her. Twilight didn’t hesitate, she snatched it up in her teeth.

Fire slammed into Twilight, knocking her off her hooves. She crashed to the ground, skidding along the stone and stopping at the edge. An angry, ear piercing screech, lashed out at her. Twilight forced her eyes open to see on of the fire things coming slowly towards her.

She wasn’t sure, but it almost looked… pony-like. Twilight suddenly realized what these things were. What a terrible mistake they had made coming here. She had to get out of here. They all had to get out of here. She focused her magic on a return teleport.

The thing screeched again and Twilight winced as her concentration was broken. The fire thing got even closer, its blazing red demonic eyes fixed on her, its mouth spilling fire. It lifted a flaming hoof into the air to strike her, its heat so intense that Twilight was sure she must be on fire.

There was nowhere for her to flee.

Applejack, Pinkie, Spike and Rarity were all shouting desperately, trying to draw the fire thing away but it wasn’t doing any good, it was focused on Twilight.

Her mind raced, trying to find a plan, trying to think of an escape, trying to…

The hoof of the fire beast fell and Twilight did the only thing she could think of, she rolled backwards off the edge of the stone rise. Her own hooves grabbed the edge so that she dangled over the side, the invisible blackness of the ground below her.

The fire beast moved closer, its hoof rising a second time to strike her off. Twilight looked up into the face of fear, the element of loyalty held tight in her mouth. The thing screeched at her again, its breath coming out as sparks.

Twilight’s hoof slipped and she toppled backwards, the fire beast falling away above her as she dropped towards the ground.

Except, suddenly she was falling sideways instead of down. Twilight’s brain struggled to try and figure out what had happened. At last realizing that she was flying, that somepony must have caught her.

She half expected it to be Rainbow Dash, even though that seemed impossible. Although the pony she found carrying her seemed even more impossible. Fluttershy. Fluttershy had rescued her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” apologized Fluttershy.

The fire beast screeched in anger at its target having escaped. Flaming wings spread from its side as it prepared to charge towards them.

“Twilight!” shouted Spike from below. “Look out!” Twilight looked right just in time to find the other fire monster coming towards them. Twilight opened her mouth to tell Fluttershy to dodge but as she did, the pegasus rolled hard in a sort of backwards flip that made Twilight’s stomach lurch. The element of harmony dropped from her open mouth as the flame beast soared past them, missing by half a hoof.

“Fluttershy! The element!” cried Twilight pointing down. Fluttershy’s eyes followed the tumbling glint of gold as it fell. With speed Twilight had never seen Fluttershy use before they turned sharply downwards and dove. A screech raced past where they had been.

The two ponies sped downwards, racing toward the invisible ground below. It was no good, they would never reach it before it hit the ground.

“Ah got it!” shouted Applejack, galloping towards the falling element.

“No, Applejack!” cried Twilight, seeing what her friend could not. However it was too late. Applejack leapt for the element, catching it in midair before she began to fall herself.

Below her, invisible in the darkness, was an enormous, bottomless, pit, that Twilight doubted very much was bottomless. Applejack tumbled down, the element still clasped tightly in her jaws.

Fluttershy didn’t so much as slow down as they raced into the vertical tube after their falling friend. Tumbling ahead of them, glowing in a sphere of red-ish light was Applejack, the element of loyalty held tightly in her mouth. Twilight's own element glowed from within her saddlebags, giving them just enough purple light so that they could dimly see the circular walls around them.

An echoing screech sounded from behind them. Twilight glanced back and saw two points of fire enter into the vertical shaft. It seemed that the fire beasts were not about to give up their pursuit. Twilight took little comfort in knowing that her plan to lead them out through the hole in the ceiling would have probably worked.

Twilight turned her focus back towards their falling friend as Fluttershy carried them downwards. It was hard to tell but Twilight thought they might be catching up. Applejack tumbled in freefall, her hooves trying to slow her down but grabbing only air.

Down and down they plummeted into the never ending darkness below. The tunnel opened suddenly into another large chamber. A waterfall roared at their side, the light of the element making the water glow red below. Because they were flying downwards so quickly the water almost appeared to be falling upwards. On their other side was open air, stretching out into the darkness of another enormous cave. Twilight could make out the midnight black water of some huge underground lake churning below.

Another scream echoed behind them and Twilight dared to glance back again. The fire things were right on their tail and gaining rapidly.

Twilight looked back to Applejack and she knew they wouldn’t reach her in time. Even if they did, Fluttershy couldn’t carry them both. If the fire beasts didn’t catch them, the lake would swallow them up. Twilight did not think that Applejack would survive a fall from this height.

Panic threatening to overtake her, Twilight forced herself to focus, to deal with one problem at a time. Fire beasts, nothing she could do about them. Falling friend, nothing she could do about her. Element, Twilight could try and levitate it. And if she could do the element, why not Applejack?

“Fluttershy,” shouted Twilight. “Get ready to pull up as hard as you can.” Fluttershy didn’t answer. Twilight didn’t even know if her friend had heard her. She just had to hope that Fluttershy was ready.

“NOW!” shouted Twilight. Her horn sparked with magic. An aura reached out and wrapped around Applejack, slowing her down. It was just enough. Twilight’s forelegs hooked under Applejack and Fluttershy pulled out of the dive. Twilight could feel the g-forces tugging on her. The feeling was extremely unpleasant. Their straight drop turned into a curving arc.

Two large splashes echoed behind them. Steam billowed into the air with a hiss. Twilight looked back and saw two burning embers going dim in the inky waters of the lake.

However, they weren’t safe yet themselves. The weight was simply too much. Applejack’s legs hit the water first, dragging them down. Twilight lost her hold and Applejack was tugged out of her forelegs before tumbling into the lake.

Fluttershy let out a cry of distress, her angle tilted and Twilight dropped into the icy water. The water was like thousands of tiny stinging needles on her skin. A dozen hooves away, Fluttershy crashed into the lake as well.

Twilight treaded water at the surface. Behind her, Twilight could see a red glow slowly coming towards her. For one terrible moment, Twilight thought it was one of the fire beasts but she could make out Applejack’s outline in the water.

“Is everypony okay?” shouted Twilight. A muffled yes from Applejack and a quiet squeak from Fluttershy told her that everypony was unharmed. She could hear both her friends swimming towards her. Twilight’s horn glowed and a flare of magic shot into the air, illuminating the whole cave.

Twilight felt her eyes widen at what she saw. They had been extremely lucky. On either side of them were sharp jagged rocks.

“Where are we!” shouted an unfamiliar voice. “What’s going on!”

“Help! Help!” shouted a second, female voice. “Somepony help!” The shouts were coming from where the fire beasts had slammed into the water. In the glow of her flare spell, Twilight could see the faces of two ponies sticking out of the water.

“Stay calm!” shouted Twilight. She swam towards them, Fluttershy and Applejack swimming along behind. The three friends stopped a safe distance away, looking at the two ponies in the water. They both looked positively terrified.

“Are y’all hurt?” asked Applejack, her voice slightly muffled by the element in her mouth. The two ponies looked at each other but finally shook their heads.

“I don’t think so,” replied the colt.

“Can you fly?” asked Twilight.

“I think so,” said one of the ponies. Her coat was a darkish purple, her mane was blue with highlights of green. She flapped her wings, lifting gently out of the water. The other pegasus beside her did the same, a colt with a brownish coat. “Where are we, how did we get down here?”

“I think I can explain,” said Twilight. “But first, do you mind giving us a hoof back up?” Twilight pointed to the opening high above. The two pegasi nodded. The mare grabbed Twilight, while the colt took hold of Applejack.

Slowly, the five ponies began to climb, although much slower than they had fallen. Fluttershy followed last, staying below her friends, while the two pegasi lifted Twilight and Applejack

They reached the narrow opening they had come through, not more than a tiny hole in the ceiling. They continued slowly upwards, rising towards the cave above that they could not see.

After what felt like forever they emerged out of the deep chasm and back into the massive underground cave. The pegasi set Twilight and Applejack back on solid ground before landing beside them.

Quickly, Twilight used her magic to stow the element of harmony they had retrieved in her saddle bags. She didn’t want to risk losing it again

“Okay,” said the dark purple pegasus, “now what exactly is going on! How did we get here and who the hay are you?”

“Twilight, where did these ponies come from?” asked Rarity. The rest of the group had gathered around them.

“They are… they were,” corrected Twilight. “The fire beasts.” Her friends looked at Twilight in surprise then glared at the two pegasus. “And if my guess is right, you’re both from Hoofington?”

“Yes,” said the colt.

“So where are we,” asked the purple pegasus. “Is this that creepy cave the earth ponies like so much?” She glanced around at the darkness. “Or has the Sun finally set?”

“It’s the cave,” said Applejack her voice was full of mistrust. “Twilight, what do you mean they were the fire beasts?”

“I didn’t recognize what they were until I was up close,” explained Twilight. “Although it’s no wonder I didn’t know what they were. No pony has seen one for a thousand years…” The whole group was looking at Twilight as she paused. They held their breath, not wanting her to go on but craving the answer. “They... are nightmares.”

Author's Note

Dun-dun-duuuunnn.

Chapter 10 is on track for next Thursday, although it may be the last one... to go up on Thursday. Mid(-ish) week is just proved to be too rough on me and Saturday is not as stressful.

I hope you all are enjoying the story. I thank you very (very,very,very,very,very) much for continuing to read and comment on my work.

Chapter 10

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 10

“Nightmares!” cried Applejack in alarm. She took an uneasy step away from the two pegasus. Her eyes flashed quickly between them and finally to Twilight. “You can’t be serious! That’s impossible!”

“Twilight, dear,” said Rarity, her normally calm voice quivering slightly. “Surely you must be mistaken. Nopony has seen or had a nightmare in over a thousand years.”

“I know,” said Twilight quietly. She turned back to the two pegasus who both looked uneasy. “But I’m sure of it.” Unlike her friends, Twilight moved towards the two strange ponies. They backed away at Twilight’s approach

“We aren’t monsters!” shouted the purple pegasus angrily. She stamped her hoof and flared her nostrils. The friends all took another step back, except for Twilight, who held her ground.

“Calm down,” said Twilight. “I am not accusing you of being monsters. But surely you must realize that something has happened to you.” The two pegasus looked uneasy. “What are your names?”

“Rainstorm,” said the purple pegasus. “And that’s Thunder Cloud.” She nodded to the brown colt standing beside her.

“Do you remember how you got down here?” asked Twilight. “Do you remember any of what happened to you?” Rainstorm looked away, it seemed like she didn’t want to answer.

“Parts of it,” said Rainstorm after a long moment. “It’s like a distant dream… A dream I don’t really want to remember… but that I can’t forget.

“I remember leaving for Cloudsdale when things got too hot here. The earth ponies wanted us to stay underground but… well…”

“Pegasus don’t like being underground,” offered Twilight. Rainstorm nodded.

“Yeah… so anyhow, we flew North,” continued the mare. “We thought that flying might be cooler, but it wasn’t. We didn’t get far before some of the others wanted to turn back and return to Hoofington. But we never got the chance…” She trailed off, unable to continue.

“A young colt,” said Thunder Cloud, picking up where Rainstorm left off, “named Evening Frost was the first. We saw him burst into flames. We heard him scream. He fell out of the air and tumbled down to the ground.

“We rushed after him, but there wasn’t anything we could do. We watched in horror as the fire consumed him. And then, all of the sudden, he was fine. Like nothing was wrong. He just looked at us calmly, engulfed in flames and… screeched. It was the worst sound I’ve ever heard. Even under the heat it made me feel cold.

“I don’t remember much after that. I remember the flames taking me and the taste of fear in the air,” finished Thunder Cloud.

“Nightmares are attracted to fear,” said Twilight knowledgably. “Is that why you came down into the cave? Because you smelled fear?”

“No,” said Rainstorm. “There was that… the fear I mean… a lot of it… but there was something else… an Element of Harmony. We came to take it, but no matter how hard we tried it wouldn’t move.”

“An Element of Harmony?” asked Twilight in surprise. “Why would you want that?” Rainstorm shrugged.

“Like I said, I don’t know,” said Rainstorm. “I just know that I was sent here to get it after we set the fields on fire.” Rarity started to say something, but Applejack let out a shout of anger.

“You did that!” exclaimed Applejack. She moved forward towards Rainstorm. “You that started that fire?! The dang thing nearly killed us!”

“Well, not just me,” said Rainstorm looking a little wary of Applejack. “All of the nightmares. We had to.”

“Why would you want to do that?” asked Fluttershy quietly. Rainstorm shrugged.

“I have no idea,” replied the mare. “Why does anypony do anything in a dream?”

There was an awkward silence for a long moment while the ponies looked at each other. The mistrust in Applejack’s eyes was only growing stronger.

“Twilight, where exactly do nightmares come from?” asked Rarity.

“From our fear,” replied Twilight. “Nightmares are the embodiment of fear. Their physical form takes on the manifestation of what they and everypony around them fears the most. In this case, the Sun.”

“That’s why they were on fire,” said Applejack. Twilight nodded.

“Exactly,” said Twilight. “And why In Luna’s case, it was a personification of darkness.”

“I know I can’t be the only one thinking this,” said Spike, he looked at Twilight. “But if nightmares are coming back, do you think Nightmare Moon is behind all this?”

“You mean, do I think she stopped the Sun?” asked Twilight.

“And created the nightmares,” added Spike.

“As her name suggests, Luna was once changed into a nightmare herself,” explained Twilight. “When she brought eternal night, everypony in Equestria became afraid. That fear was focused on her. It wasn’t long before she began to change from Luna into Nightmare Moon.

“And she wasn’t the only one. The fear was so strong that others began to change too. But the last nightmare vanished a thousand years ago, when Celestia raised the Sun and the fear was driven out of the ponies’ hearts.”

“Wait! You’re telling me all it takes is a little fear and we might all burst into flames?” exclaimed Pinkie. “Oh no! Oh no! I already feel hot!” Pinkie trotted in a circle trying to look at herself. “Is my tail on fire? Are you all afraid of me?”

“Pinkie!” shouted Applejack. “Calm down, you ain’t changing into a nightmare.”

“But how do we know!” cried Pinkie, falling to her knees and grabbing Applejack.

“Well, actually we don’t know,” said Twilight. All of her friends looked at her in surprise. “It takes a lot of fear, not just in the ponies that become nightmares but in the ponies around them too. Everypony in Equestria is terrified of the Sun at the moment. That fear gave way to the nightmares.

“It’s not impossible that the same thing could happen to us,” said Twilight. She lifted a hoof an inspected it. “I’ve been afraid since this whole thing started.”

“You?” asked Spike in surprise. Twilight nodded.

“Yes,” said Twilight. “Afraid for all the ponies. Afraid for Celestia. Afraid for my friends. But in a strange way, that fear gives me courage.” Twilight half smiled.

“So, uh, if everypony is so afraid,” said Fluttershy timidly, “then why aren’t we all nightmares?”

“That’s a good question,” said Twilight thoughtfully. Her eyes moved across the two pegasus, who just stared back at her uneasily. Then she looked past them, to the sunlight streaming down into the cave. “Of course!” exclaimed Twilight. “Follow me!”

Without waiting for an answer, Twilight turned and made to gallop off. However, she hadn’t gone more than a few steps before she let out a yelp of pain and came to an abrupt stop.

“Twilight!” cried Rarity, moving to her friend. Her horn glowed to illuminate the way. “Are you… oh dear!” In the light of her horn, Rarity could see Twilight properly for the first time. A large spot on her side had been burned where the nightmare had slammed into her.

“I’m fine,” insisted Twilight. She took another step forward and winced. She hobbled towards the sunlight with a slight grunt of pain.

“You are most certainly not!” said Rarity indignantly.

However, Twilight did not stop as she led them onwards. The others followed, watching their friend with concern. Twilight stopped at the edge of the light. The ponies gathered around her, the friends still keeping their distance from Rainstorm and Thunder Cloud.

“If I could borrow one of you for a moment,” asked Twilight, looking at the two pegasus. They glanced at each other, as if asking who would be brave enough to go. At last, with a shrug, Rainstorm stepped forward. “If I could just have you put your hoof out into the light?” asked Twilight with a smile.

Rainstorm hesitated a moment then did as requested. Slowly she lifted her hoof and moved it into the light, the expression on her face said that she expected pain. The shock in her eyes told Twilight that there wasn’t any.

An instant later, her hoof burst into flames. With a yelp of surprise, the pony pulled her hoof out of the sunlight, but the flames did not extinguish. Instead they began to spread up her leg. Rainstorm began to panic. Twilight backed away in alarm.

“Hold on!” shouted Pinkie Pie. In one quick moment, she lifted up Fluttershy and sped over to the mare. Her whole front leg was engulfed in flames. Holding the yellow pegasus out over the fire, Pinkie wrung Fluttershy’s mane. It wasn’t much water that came out, but the few drops seemed to be enough.

With a hiss, the flames extinguished and the mare held up her foreleg to inspect the damage. Except there was none. Her coat was not burned, her leg was not injured.

“The Sun,” explained Twilight. “It is the very thing you fear most. It must act as a trigger to change you. As long as you stay out of the sunlight, you should be fine.” Both pegasi backed away from the sunlight behind Twilight.

Turning, Twilight looked at the opening in the ceiling. Her horn started to glow with a soft light. The magic stretched out and wrapped around the massive stone pillar that had been the obstacle to the Element of Harmony. Twilight let out a grunt of effort and the stone pillar was torn from the ground with a thunderous crack.

The column of rock raced upwards into the air. Higher and higher until it slammed into the ceiling, plugging the hole and blocking the light. Instantly they were thrown into blackness. Both Twilight and Rarity re-lit their horns at the same time.

“We should head back,” said Twilight. “We’ve already lost too much time.” She took a step forward and winced.

“Oh no you don't,” said Rarity in a disapproving tone. “We are not going anywhere until we’ve had a chance to look at your injuries!”

“Rarity I’m fi… ouch!” exclaimed Twilight as Rarity poked her gently in the ribs. “Okay, well maybe I am hurt, but just a little. Look we don’t have time to… ouch! Stop that!” cried Twilight as Rarity nudged her softly a second time. “Alright, fine.”

It seemed that Rarity knew a few things about first aid and was even prepared for it. From her saddle bags she produced what Twilight assumed to be a long scarf. However, it turned out to be a roll of bandages.

“Now, this might sting just a little,” said Rarity. Her horn glowed with magic and she levitated a small jar from her saddle bag.

“What’s that?” asked Pinkie Pie, poking the glass with a hoof.

“Burn ointment,” replied Rarity. “I figured with the Sun the way it is, bringing something like this along seemed very appropriate.” The lid to the container unscrewed and Rarity dipped a hoof into the white gel. She dabbed it gently on Twilight’s back and side, causing her to flinch. However, she didn’t protest.

“I want to do the bandaging,” said Fluttershy as Rarity replaced the lid on the ointment. “It’s my fault Twilight got hurt in the first place.”

“Oh, darling, no it isn’t,” said Rarity.

“No, it is,” said Fluttershy softly. “All of you don’t have to pretend it wasn’t. I know I’m not brave. If I had just done as Twilight had said…”

“No,” interrupted Twilight. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have put you in that position,” Fluttershy looked up at her friend. “I should have given the plan more thought. I’m sorry…” Twilight looked away.

“Well,” said Rarity, trying to break the tension. “It doesn’t matter now. Let’s get these bandages on so that we can continue on our way.” Fluttershy nodded and Rarity gave her the roll of bandages.

No pony spoke as Fluttershy wrapped the strips of cloth around Twilight’s body until the burn spot on her side was covered.

The return trip was far less eventful. They retraced their path back towards the emerald lit town at the edge of the cave, now with two extra ponies in tow. Twilight was hoping they could make good time but between the burn and the bandages it was proving difficult for her to keep up a trot.

They had to stop several times so that Twilight could rest, despite her protests. However, Applejack and Pinkie Pie and Rarity and Spike and even Fluttershy, insisted. Twilight wasn’t sure if she should have been annoyed or thankful for their concern.

At last, after what felt like far too long, they arrived back at the edge of town and found Glinting Rings waiting for them. She looked positively ecstatic to see them, although her expression turned to worry as she saw the two extra pegasus.

“Rainstorm?” asked Glinting Rings in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story,” said Twilight. “Needless to say, we were able to take care of your problem. The nightmares shouldn’t bother you anymore.”

“Nightmares!?” cried Glinting Rings. “Those things were nightmares!? What will we do if more of them come?”

“Twilight plugged up the hole,” said Spike. “They shouldn’t be able to get in again.”

“I also think you should stop going outside,” said Twilight.

“But, our supplies,” protested Glinting Rings. “Where will we get water from?”

“There is a huge lake in here,” said Twilight pointing back into the darkness. “These two pegasus know the way, they can help bring you water.”

“Yes we can,” said Rainstorm with a smile. “It’s the least we can do after…” she caught herself. “… After we abandon you.”

Twilight felt forelegs suddenly wrap around her in a slightly painful hug.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” exclaimed Glinting Rings in excitement. “I knew you could do it! I know you would come and save us!”

“Ouch,” complained Twilight. Glinting Rings release Twilight at once, looking embarrassed and apologetic. Twilight gestured to her friends. “And not just me.”

“Of course… I mean… I didn’t mean…” stammered Glinting Rings. She looked like she was about to have a panic attack.

“It’s alright,” said Twilight, she placed a hoof on the shaking mare’s shoulder. “I’m glad we could help. But now we really need to get going.”

“I… I understand,” said Glinting Rings.

All of them made their way back to the small tunnel. However when the reached it, the two pegasus refused to go any further.

"I'll wait here with them," said Glinting Rings. "There's no reason to stay in the tunnels anymore."

With a very brief farewell, and exuberant waves from Pinkie, the friends continued on towards where the citizens of Hoofington were packed in. Twilight did her best to keep pace with the others, trying not to slow them down, but the injury was taking its toll. It was worse than she had first thought. The scorch marks on her coat were just a shadow of the bruises in her ribs. Every step was painful, every movement ached.

As they approached the mass of huddled ponies, whispers began to fill the air.

"It's them! They're back!" cried a pony in the crowd.

"Did you do it? Are we safe?" shouted another mare.

"Yes," said Twilight, trying to make her voice sound as strong as possible. To her surprise, it was filled with more confidence than she expected. "The fire beasts are gone!"

A roaring cheer filled the tunnel. The sound was almost deafening in the confined space. Twilight and her friends were suddenly surrounded in a swarm of ponies all trying to congratulate them at once.

“Alright that’s enough!” shouted a rough voice. “Enough I say!” The crowd slowly began to part and Long Star made his way forward to them. “I have to say I’m surprised. You ponies did a fine job. More than just helping us, you’ve restored something to us. Something we haven’t had down here for a long while now. Hope. We’re in your debt.” He bowed and Twilight blushed a little.

“We are happy we could help,” said Twilight. “But we really should be going.”

“Of course,” said Long Star. “The supplies you asked for are waiting for you at the staircase.”

“Thank you,” answered Twilight.

“It’s the least we could do,” replied Long Star. He turned back to the crowd who had begun to move in once more. “Alright everypony, back to town, come on now.” Slowly the crowd began to move around Twilight and her friends, flowing passed them like a sea of ponies.

Twilight waited as the whole of Hoofington moved around them. In the crowd she could hear excited whispers of what had happened spreading through the villagers like… well, fire. Thankfully the word ‘nightmare’ was absent from the discussion.

When most of the ponies had gone, Twilight headed towards the far side of the cave. Her friends were already there, going over the small pile of supplies that had been made ready for them. All of it was packaged to fit in their saddle bags or be slung on as another pack.

They had already gone to work dividing up the supplies between them as Twilight arrived. She tried several times to get some of the supplies into her pack, but Applejack kept snatching them away and telling Twilight it would be better if she carried it. In the end, Twilight was sure she wasn’t carrying any of the supplies, save for the two water skins attached to her saddle bags.

“Ick, what is this?” asked Rarity as she glanced inside one of the food pouches. Twilight glanced over to see a green slimy substance.

“Moss,” answered Long Star. “The caves are full of it. It’s our main supply of food. Not very flavorful but it’s got what your body needs.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure it’s… uh, wonderful,” said Rarity, closing the pack and passing it to Pinkie Pie, who gladly took it.

“Maybe I can turn it into some kind of cake,” said Pinkie, dipping her hoof in and taking a lick. “Oh! This would go great with raspberries! Or maybe strawberries! Or blueberries!”

At last, with the food sorted, their farewells said, Twilight and company began the long hike back to the surface. Going up was much more arduous than down. Twilight’s friends tried to get her to rest, at least once but Twilight had flatly refused, they had lost so much time.

It wasn’t long before the ponies of Hoofington were well behind them and the friends were alone once more in the silence of the stairwell. Twilight gritted her teeth between steps and made her pace as quick as she could.

Soon they could see the bright point of light ahead that was the end. The cool air of the caves changed abruptly to the hot dry air of the surface. Twilight had either forgotten how hot it was outside or it had gotten hotter.

The six friends hurried up the last of the stairs. Twilight was glad to be out of the underground, even if it was hotter up here. She didn’t quite have the level of dislike that Rainbow Dash did but… Twilight’s thoughts crashed to a halt and she glanced around, looking at the empty corridor.

Rainbow Dash was gone.

Author's Note

Hello once again everyone! Good to see you back! Well... you know, it would be... if I could see you... Anyhow...

This chapter is a bit shorter and a little less polished than I would like. This has been a crazy busy weak (what with my car exploding and all (well, just my transmission, but it might have just as well exploded)) for me and this chapter just didn't get the love it really needed. I may make a second pass at it but that seems unlikely.

This is the last Thursday post. Next week I am going back to Saturday, cause Thursday is just way too hard.

Chapter 11

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 11

Twilight stood in the vacant corridor, her eyes wide with the sight before her. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found. In her place, a mess of broken wood littered the floor. The water barrels had been smashed apart and their planks strewn haphazardly across the ground.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” asked Applejack. She stopped beside Twilight, finally seeing the destruction spread out before them. “What… what happened here… Where’s Rainbow?”

“I don’t know,” said Twilight. Her mind whirled with possibilities, none of them good. “Rainbow!” shouted Twilight, holding a hoof to her mouth. No answer came. “I never should have left her behind.” Twilight trotted forward as quickly as she could, ignoring the pain in her side. “Rainbow!” she called again.

“She really doesn’t like small enclosed spaces,” said Fluttershy. “She never has. It must have been really hard for her to be in your cellar for so long.”

“You have no idea,” said Spike. “She was practically climbing the walls!”

“Oh, does being underground give her spider powers?” cried Pinkie.

“No, Pinkie,” said Applejack, “we’ve been over this. It’s just a phrase, nopony can climb walls. Twilight, why do you think she ran off?”

“Or was taken,” said Twilight as she examined part of a barrel.

“Taken?” asked Rarity in surprise. “You mean ponynapped? Why would somepony take Rainbow Dash?””

A shrill screech like an angry bird pierced the air. Fluttershy let out a squeak of terror and jumped into Rarity's forelegs. Twilight's eyes searched the rafters high above, her ears fully alert and listening.

“Maybe it wasn’t somepony,” said Twilight. “Maybe it was another nightmare…”

"Oh you can’t be serious!" said Applejack in exasperation. "Not more of those things!”

The screech sounded again causing every pony to flinch at the sound as it raced past overhead. Thundering hooves clopped against the roof shaking down dust and making the ponies look up uneasily.

“How many do you think are out there?” asked Applejack.

"There’s only one way to find out,” said Twilight. “We’ll have to go outside." Twilight pointed a hoof in the direction that led back to where they had entered from. Quickly they rushed down the hallway. Twilight winced as the pain in her side kept her from galloping. She pushed the discomfort back, focusing her attention on the task ahead.

At last, the group reached a familiar door. It was the service entrance they had used to come into the castle. Cautiously, Twilight opened the door into the storage room. Here too the empty barrels that had once been piled high had been destroyed.

“Boy, somepony sure doesn’t like barrels,” commented Spike.

“Look!” cried Fluttershy, hurrying over to a spot on the floor. “Rainbow must have come this way!” She lifted up a blue feather that was lying atop a pile of broken wood. The trail of destruction appeared to lead to the main door that went outside.

The door had been broken. It looked almost like somepony had tried to buck it off its hinges. Carefully Twilight examined the door, pressing against it with a hoof. The door swung open easily.

“Wait here,” instructed Twilight. She used a hoof to press the door open just enough that she would be able to squeeze outside. The blistering heat rushed in. She squinted against it, her eyes watering the moment the hot air hit them, then her tears evaporated.

“Twilight! What’re you doing!” exclaimed Spike. “You’re in no condition to go out there!”

“I’m just going to have a quick look, I’ll be right back,” said Twilight. Rarity tried to tell her friend to stop but Twilight’s horn was already glowing. A magical shell, just big enough for her body, flickered into existence. Despite the protests coming from her friends, Twilight squeezed through the crack in the door and made it outside.

The Sun was still high in the heavens, its relentless heat radiating down upon the world. She searched the sky but she couldn't find anything other than the empty pale blue above. Another painful screech cut through the air, this time from behind Twilight. She turned just in time to see a streak of fire rushing down at her. It was indeed another nightmare.

Twilight stumbled sideways, narrowly avoiding the blazing ball of flame. She expected the fire to crash into the ground, but it didn't. It landed, running along the hard pact dirt in a fast gallop before turning, circling and finally coming to a stop twenty hooves away.

Twilight felt her eyes widen as she got her first real glance at the creature. Twilight could see its pony shape clearly outlined in flames. Its body was pure white, glowing like an ember in a fire. Its hooves were ablaze and an orange trail of flame burned on the ground with each step it had taken. Its mane and tail were made of fire, glowing in a pattern of red and orange and yellow…

A terrible thought ran through Twilight's brain as she saw its eyes. She knew those bright pink eyes that were in sharp contrast to the rest of the pony. They were Rainbow's eyes. The fear had taken Rainbow Dash, she had become a nightmare.

The blazing mare struck the ground with its hoof sending out sparks from the strike. Twilight realized a second too late what was about to happen. The fiery mare charged her, leaving a trail of rainbow colored flame as she rushed at Twilight.

Twilight couldn’t move. She was frozen place as if claws of fear were holding her tightly. She felt the force of the other mare and burning heat. The two of them tumbled across the ground in an inferno of flames. The shield was keeping her safe from the heat but it had done nothing for the impact. The force had knocked the breath out of her.

When at last they stopped rolling Twilight was pinned under the fire Rainbow, gasping for breath. Her shield was still holding but the intense heat was starting to overwhelm the limits of the spell. Without the shield, Twilight knew she would be on fire.

The nightmare brought down a blazing hoof trying to break the shield. Twilight held up her forelegs to protect herself. She felt the strike against her legs, it hurt so badly. Twilight closed her eyes, she knew her shield wouldn't hold much longer and she couldn't watch. She couldn't keep looking into those unsettling pink eyes.

Another strike hit her forelegs, then another and…

“Hey! You leave her alone!” shouted a small strong voice. Twilight opened her eyes and turned her head to see Spike sprinting towards them. “Why don’t you pick on somepony your own size!”

The nightmare screeched and turned from Twilight, leaping off her before lunging at Spike. The little dragon came to a complete stop, suddenly frozen just like Twilight had been as two fiery hooves dove for him.

“Spike!” shouted Twilight. There was nothing she could do. All her effort was focused on keeping her protective shield in place. She watched in horror as the nightmare that had been her friend bore down on Spike.

Suddenly, the Rainbow-nightmare halted in mid air, colliding with what appeared to be something solid. She let out an angry high pitched screech that cut through the air. She tried to retreat but was meet with another impassible barrier. The blazing Rainbow appeared to be trapped, sealed within a bubble of magic.

The mare’s hooves lashed out, hitting the bubble. With each strike tiny cracks began to appear in the magical prison. Rarity, it was Rarity who had done it. She was still inside, casting from the doorway. Her face was strained trying to hold back the furious fiery Dash.

Her shield failing, fatigue setting in and her front shins now thoroughly bruised, Twilight limped back to the castle side entrance. Once she was inside she let her shield drop before adding her magic to Rarity's. The cracks in the bubble that held Rainbow vanished. It didn't seem to matter how hard Rainbow hit the bubble it didn't do any good.

Slowly, Twilight began to pull the magical cage containing their friend towards them. Rarity didn't protest, she seemed to be using all her focus to maintain the prison of energy. Pinkie closed the doors once the bubble was inside.

"It looks like… Like…" stammered Applejack as Twilight slowly lowered the magical force field to the ground.

"Rainbow…" said Twilight through gritted teeth. The mare had stopped fighting them and was glaring around at each of the ponies. Even without the constant assault, keeping the heat contained was a lot of effort. Twilight didn't know how long Rarity would be able to hold out but she knew that her own magic was nearly all spent.

"How can that be Rainbow?" cried Fluttershy.

"Twilight's right!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "Look at her eyes! It’s Flamebow Dash! She’s twenty percent hotter!"

"Well what do we do now?" asked Applejack. "How do we fix this?" The ponies all looked at each other uncertainly.

“Well, water worked on those other ponies,” suggested Fluttershy softly.

“It’s worth a try,” replied Applejack. She uncorked one of her water skins and moved closer to Rainbow. Pressing the bag between her front hooves, Applejack sent out a spray of water. However, the water instantly turned to steam as it struck the flames. “Well that didn’t do no good,” said Applejack, tossing aside the empty water skin.

"I would normally suggest a hug," said Pinkie Pie, "hugs solve a lot of problems. But I'm not sure how I would do that without burning myself."

Inside the bubble the blazing mare trotted impatiently back and forth. She wasn't kicking, but she hadn't given up on trying to escape. Without warning, she suddenly lunged forward. The bubble began to roll towards them.

Applejack and Pinkie were knocked aside as the tumbling prison collided with them. Fluttershy managed to hop out of the way. The rolling sphere narrowly missed Twilight and Rarity as it passed between them before it slammed into the far wall. Rarity's magic broke at the force of the impact. The strain on Twilight doubled, her horn felt like it was on fire, even if the mare was nowhere close to her.

Rainbow turned around, her sight now set on Twilight, the last remaining obstacle to freedom. Twilight couldn't move, she couldn't run and she could barely stand. Everything she had was focused on the prison, holding back the flames and the mare that was covered in them.

The bubble began to roll again, charging at her. This was going to hurt.

"Twilight! Shield me!" shouted Pinkie Pie, galloping passed her, charging at the on coming bubble of flaming doom. Twilight didn't have time to think, she just reacted. The bubble around Rainbow evaporated, causing the mare to stumble in her charge but not to fall. A wave of heat slammed into Twilight as the nightmare was freed.

A new shield shimmered into existence around Pinkie, giving her the same protective armor that Twilight had worn only a few minutes ago.

Pinkie leapt at Rainbow, her hooves out stretched, determination on her face. She and Rainbow collided in a tumble of legs and hooves. Twilight almost wanted to look away, but she had to keep focused, Pinkie was depending on her.

When the tumble stopped, both Rainbow and Pinkie were sitting on the ground. Rainbow's front legs were pinned to her sides with Pinkie holding her wrapped in a tight hug.

For a few moments Rainbow struggled against the embrace, however, something Twilight couldn't believe started to happen. The flames around Rainbow began to recede. They didn't vanish completely, but the fire was much less noticeable now and the heat much less intense.

"Where... What happened?" asked Rainbow, her voice dazed. "Pinkie?" she asked in confusion, only now just noticing the other mare that was squeezing her. "What are you... AHHHHHhhhhhh!" screamed Rainbow. "I'm on fire! Somepony put me out."

"Rainbow!" shouted Rarity. "Calm down, it's alright dear. We’re here to help you."

"Rarity! I'm on fire!" shouted Rainbow in a panic.

"Do you actually feel like y’all are on fire?" asked Applejack. The question seemed to stun Rainbow as if she hadn't thought to consider that.

"Uh, no, actually, I feel just fine," said Rainbow after a moment. She lifted a foreleg, although she was still mostly pinned by Pinkie Pie she was able to get a good look at her blazing hoof. "Now that I think about it, I feel cooler than I have all day long."

“So what do we do now?” asked Spike. “Pinkie can’t hug her all the way to Canterlot.”

“Yes I can!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie happily.

“I don’t think Twilight can keep that shield up much longer,” said Applejack.

“Element,” grunted Twilight. She could feel her strength fading, her magic weakening.

“Hot! Hot!” exclaimed Pinkie as the shield around her flickered. Even with the flames singeing her, Pinkie did not let go.

Applejack made a fast trot to Twilight, looking at her inquisitively.

“You think the elements can fix Rainbow? But how, don’t we need all six to work?” asked Applejack. Twilight shook her head.

“Just… need… Rain…” explained Twilight in a strained voice. Each word was punctuated with a squeak from Pinkie as the shield flickered.

Applejack seemed to get the hint and dug into Twilight’s saddlebag. A moment later she came up with the element of loyalty in her mouth. She looked questioningly at Twilight, who nodded.

“Whatever you two are doing, hurry up!” cried Spike.

Applejack turned and galloped to Pinkie and Rainbow. The shield around Pinkie was fading away. Pinkie’s face kept changing between relief and pain. Carefully, Applejack lowered the element of loyalty around Rainbow’s neck.

The instant it snapped into place the flames extinguished. Twilight let out a gasp of relief as the shield faded away. She collapsed to the ground completely exhausted.

“Alright Pinkie,” said Rainbow Dash. “I think you can stop hugging me now.”

“Do you think it’s safe for me to let her go?” asked Pinkie. The friends glanced at each other, then finally to Twilight.

“I sure hope so,” said Twilight.

Slowly, as if she were afraid it might make Rainbow explode, Pinkie released the pegasus. There was a moment were everypony stood absolutely still, holding their breath and waiting for something to happen. However, the moment passed and everything remained still.

Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof to examine it. The fire had not returned.

“Rainbow,” said Twilight, not getting off the ground, “you need to tell us everything that happened to you.” Rainbow Dash looked a little sheepish. She turned her head away.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” said Rainbow.

“Please,” pressed Twilight. “It’s important that you tell us. I know it must be hard but it will help you. I know it will.” Rainbow’s eyes flicked back to her friends then she quickly looked away.

“You remember when you asked me about my dreams when we woke up?” asked Rainbow. Twilight nodded but didn’t say anything. The others were also listening closely. “I didn’t… I didn’t tell you the truth…”

“You were having bad dreams?” asked Fluttershy. Rainbow shook her head.

“No…” said Rainbow, she looked at Twilight, slight tears at the edges of her eyes. “I was giving you bad dreams.”

“What?” asked Applejack in surprise.

“I didn’t want to,” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “It just sort of happened. I just kept thinking about the ice lake, and the burning fields and… something I had to get… down in the darkness…” Rainbow touched the element around her neck. “The more I thought about it, the more real it became. And then I could feel the thoughts spreading out of me and flowing into the three of you…”

“How is that even possible?” asked Spike. “How do you give somepony bad dreams?”

“It’s no accident that the word ‘nightmare’ also means ‘bad dreams’,” said Twilight. “Nightmares feed on fear. While ponies sleep, a nightmare has the power to enter their dreams and manipulate them. The ponies down in the cave had to leave the village because of the bad dreams the nightmares were causing them. Both Long Star and Glinting Rings said that the fire beasts were giving them bad dreams.”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” cried Rainbow Dash. “I didn’t’ want to but… I had too… I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Hold on,” said Spike. “You weren’t on fire this morning. If she was already a nightmare then, why wasn’t she all covered in flames and stuff?”

“Her manifestation must have been slow,” said Twilight. “Because she hasn’t spent a lot of time in the Sun.”

“I told you not to keep fly out of the magic shield,” said Applejack. Rainbow looked defiant for a moment then looked away.

“I thought I could hold it back,” said Rainbow. “That we would fix the Sun and it would just go away. But when you wanted me to go underground… The fear was too much. I could feel it taking hold of me. I couldn’t go down there because if I did I wouldn’t be me anymore.

“Then the ponies from Hoofington came up,” continued Rainbow. “They said you were helping out the village. I felt so awful that I hadn’t come with you and I wanted to go after you so badly, but I just couldn’t do it.

“They let me have as much water as I wanted while they loaded the rest of the supplies. And when they were just about to leave I asked what exactly you were helping them with. And they told me you were off to fight monsters!”

Rainbow Dash started to tremble slightly and her element glowed around her neck.

“I wanted to race after you,” continued Rainbow, tears running down her cheeks. “I tried, I tried so hard to go down the stairs. But I couldn’t do it. Not even twelve steps from the top and my body froze and I couldn’t do it!

“Loyalty and fear,” whispered Rainbow. “They were waging a war inside me! Without anypony else here… fear won. And the fire came…” Rainbow looked away ashamed. Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy all hurried to comfort her. Rainbow’s eyes opened wide in surprise as she found her friends embracing her.

“You… you aren’t mad at me?” asked Rainbow.

“Of course not,” said Applejack.

Twilight hadn’t moved from where she lay on the ground.

“What happened next?” pressed Twilight wanting, needing, to hear the rest. Fluttershy shot her a disapproving glance. “I’m sorry to ask, but we have to know.”

“It’s alright,” said Rainbow, wiping the tears from her eyes. “You’re right. I do feel better talking about it. I felt the fire take me, burning me from the inside out. Then it was like I was dreaming. And the voice told me I had to get the element.”

“The voice?” asked Spike. Rainbow looked surprised, as if she hadn’t realized she had said the last part out loud.

“What voice?” asked Twilight.

“Well, not a voice,” said Rainbow. “More like words… a thought maybe? I can’t really explain it.”

“Do you know who told you?” asked Twilight.

“No,” replied Rainbow, looking away. Twilight didn’t think she was telling the whole truth.

“Are you sure?” pressed Twilight.

“I said I don’t know!” repeated Rainbow in irritation. Twilight looked a little hurt by Rainbow’s harsh tone, but didn’t say anything further.

“Hold on!” said Rarity. “I almost forgot! I meant to ask those ponies in the cave but Applejack interrupted and I never got the chance!”

“Ask them what?” asked Spike.

“Rainstorm said they were sent to get the element,” said Rarity.

“So?” asked Applejack.

“So, she said ‘sent’. Somepony sent them,” said Rarity.

“And you’re thinking it’s the same voice that Rainbow heard?” asked Applejack.

“Why not,” replied Rarity. “It could be whatever is behind all this.”

“Do you know why it wanted the element?” asked Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“No, just that I had to get it,” said Rainbow. “I guess I kind of did.” She held a hoof up to the necklace. “So… what now? Am I back to normal?”

“No,” answered Twilight at last. She did not get up off the ground. “Until the object of fear is removed you will still be at risk.”

“What do you mean ‘object of fear’?” asked Rainbow, looking a little pale.

“Show her,” said Twilight, nodding towards the door.

“Come’ere,” said Applejack. She trotted over to the door, stopping just beside it. Cautiously, Rainbow slowly made her way over to where Applejack stood. Rainbow looked incredibly nervous, as if she expected the door to suddenly burst open and something behind it to pounce on her.

Applejack unhooked another water skin and held it at the ready. Rainbow came to a stop, just out of the reach of the sunlight streaming through the cracks in the door.

“What are you going to do with that?” asked Rainbow nervously.

“You’ll see,” said Applejack. “Put your hoof into the light.” Rainbow lifted her leg, holding it back as if she were afraid of the light. Then she extended it slowly so that the rays of the Sun glowed upon her powder blue coat.

Nothing happened.

Rainbow Dash moved her leg back and forth. The others looked at Twilight in confusion.

“Huh,” said Rainbow. “I thought it would at least feel hot or something, but it doesn’t. It just feels normal.”

“Applejack,” said Twilight. “Open the door.”

“Twilight!” cried Rarity in surprise.

“Are you sure, sugarcube?” asked Applejack. Twilight nodded.

“Yes, very sure,” said Twilight.

“Okay,” said Applejack. Pinkie crouched down, ready to pounce into another hug the moment Rainbow burst into flames. Applejack pushed open the door and the full force of the Sun fell upon Rainbow Dash.

And still, nothing happened.

Rainbow Dash stood in the sunlight, squinting a little but otherwise, perfectly fine.

“Hey, I think the Sun finally fixed itself,” said Rainbow Dash. “It doesn’t feel hot anymore.”

“Or you can’t feel that it is,” suggested Spike.

“Your element didn’t just return you to normal, it’s protecting you,” said Twilight. She lifted a hoof and pointed at Rainbow Dash. The ruby lightning bolt set in the center of her golden necklace was glowing with a red light.

“So, I can fly again?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow trotted outside, the element glowing around her neck. She looked up into the sky and smiled.

“It works!” cried Rainbow. “It really works! Twilight, maybe yours does the same thing! Come on, get up an try it out!”

“I don’t think so,” said Twilight. She was still lying down. “I don’t think I can stand.”

Author's Note

Well, we are back to Saturday and I have to admit it's a whole lot easier to get a chapter done when I don't have work looming on either side of it.

Thank you everyone for continuing to read and comment. It really means a lot to me and I really enjoy reading what you have to say about my work!

Next chapter next Saturday March 2nd! I Hope to see you then!

Chapter 12

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 12

Twilight made another attempt to stand but found that her front legs simply wouldn’t support her. She winced in pain as she put weight on her hooves and tried to push herself up. However, after a moment she abandoned the effort and lay back down upon the ground. Between the pain in her side and the fresh damage inflicted to her forelegs Twilight was in no condition to move, let alone travel.

“I’m sorry-I’m sorry-I’m sorry,” apologized Rainbow Dash rapidly.

“Rainbow it’s alright,” replied Twilight, but her words went unnoticed.

“I didn’t want to,” cried Rainbow. “It wasn’t me out there… well, it was… but I wasn’t in control… well, I was… but not like I am now. I really didn’t mean to. I’m sorry-I’m sor…”

“Rainbow!” interrupted Applejack, finally causing the rambling mare to quiet into silence. “Twilight, what’s wrong?”

“It’s my front legs. It hurts to put any weight on them,” said Twilight. She lifted a leg slightly to show Applejack. The apple-pony frowned at what she saw.

“I’ve seen my fair share of leg injuries, applebuckin an all. Had my fair share of them too,” explained Applejack as she moved around so that she could examine her friend’s legs. “Let me take a look.”

Twilight let out a soft whimper as Applejack lifted one of her hurt legs. Expertly, Applejack moved Twilight’s hoof, stopping whenever her friend’s expression became pained. The orange mare ran a hoof along Twilight’s leg, feeling out the bruise.

“Well,” said Applejack, setting down the hoof and lifting Twilight’s other foreleg. “The good news is that one ain’t broken.” She repeated the process with the other leg. “And neither is this one. But they are bruised up real good. I ain’t no doctor but I don’t think you should be walking on them for a couple days.”

“But we don’t have a couple days!” exclaimed Rainbow. “We need to get to Canterlot as soon as possible!”

“I don’t know what you expect us to do, darling,” said Rarity. “We don’t exactly have another wagon. And it’s not like Twilight has wings that she can use instead.”

“Oh I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “We’ll just carry her to Canterlot!” The friends glanced at each other and finally back to Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie,” said Applejack, “that’s the craziest suggestion I think I’ve ever…”

Twilight had to admit that, like her friends, she had been skeptical about Pinkie’s plan. Carrying another pony such a long distant seemed like it would be an impossible feat made even worse by the condition of the Sun. Yet, here she was atop Pinkie Pie, while Rarity was carried by Applejack.

Rarity had wanted to walk and reduce the load on their friends. However, this proved impractical. The two unicorns needed very close proximity for the shared spell to work. The height difference from riding to walking proved too far.

The lavender unicorn had never ridden on the back of another pony – except for her brother when she had been much younger – but it actually wasn’t as bad as she had imagined.

Around them, the shimmering shield held against the Sun. Much to Twilight’s surprise, the spell was even easier to maintain now than it had been before. Which was good, because Twilight didn’t think she would have been able to cast it otherwise.

It seemed that two elements together eased the effort significantly, even if Rainbow herself wasn’t doing any casting. This fact was reinforced any time Rainbow moved off from the group. Whenever she went more than a dozen hooves away, the spell was more difficult. Whenever she was near, the magic became much easier.

At Rainbow’s suggestion Twilight had tried putting on her own element. While it didn’t protect her against the Sun — in the same way that Rainbow’s did — it did glow, although to what end, Twilight had no idea.

Hoofington was slowly shrinking away behind them and the peaks of the mountain were growing larger ahead. The road was straight and flat. There was no forest and no hills, just empty, endless, road.

Like before, the road followed the train tracks. Perhaps, if they were lucky, they would find the train waiting for them along the way. Even if they couldn’t get it to run, it might provide some shelter to rest in.

The group was unusually quiet as they walked. Pinkie had started the second leg of their journey to Canterlot with a song. It was something about ninety-nine cups of hot chocolate milk with marshmallows on the wall. However, even she had reached the limit of how much she could sing and walk and carry at the same time. She had halted the rendition with forty two left to go and nopony had complained.

Twilight was starting to worry that this journey had pushed them all far too hard. Her current condition made her wonder how much worse it would get. What good would any of them be if they reached Canterlot and none of them were able even to walk?

The time passed slowly with little variation in the surroundings. There was no cover for them to stop under and no place for them to rest. The water skins they had been given made it so they didn’t have to stop to drink and none of them had much interest in food.

On and on they went. Slowly, steadily forward.

Every now and then Rainbow would race off, scouting ahead. Whichever direction she went – up, forward, left or right – she always returned with the same report. All clear. No sign of anything.

The slow trudge forward began to feel as if they were simply repeating the same moment over and over. The mountain in the distance never seemed to get any closer. Had it been hours since they had left Hoofington or days? Maybe it had only been minutes. It was impossible to know.

Twilight’s body felt sore, not just from the bruises but from the ride. She could only imagine how Pinkie and Applejack were doing. If either were in discomfort from their burdens they didn’t show it. Although Twilight supposed that Applejack was used to carrying such loads. Pinkie on the other hand always seemed to surprise Twilight in the things she could accomplish.

“Woah,” said Applejack coming to a sudden stop. “Did y’all feel that?” asked Applejack, looking down at the ground. The rest of the group stopped as well, glancing at Applejack.

“Feel what?” asked Rainbow, hovering in the air.

“I thought… I thought I felt the ground move just now,” said Applejack. She stomped the dirt as if trying to get the earth to move again.

“I didn’t feel anything,” said Pinkie Pie. “And I’m not getting an eye wink, nose twitch, stomach rumble either.” Her friends looked at her in confusion. “You know, the combo for a ground-shake.”

“Is it still shaking?” asked Fluttershy with concern. She had hopped into the air as if she were afraid of the ground.

“No,” said Applejack. “Nopony else felt that?” The friends all shook their heads.

“Maybe we should take a break,” suggested Spike. All of the ponies looked at the dragon as if he had suggested something ridiculous. “Not for me! A break so that Applejack and Pinkie can rest.”

“No,” replied Applejack sternly. “Until we all get to rest, we aint gona stop.” All of the friends nodded in agreement. Stopping was a bad idea.

The party pressed on, falling back into silence and monotony. The hours or minutes – Twilight couldn’t tell – passed slowly. Or maybe time had stopped completely. It sure felt like it.

The one good thing in all this was that Twilight hardly even had to focus to keep the spell active anymore. It was almost like it was keeping itself up. Her eyes were locked ahead of them on their goal but she didn’t really see it anymore. Her thoughts shifted in and out of focus and her eyes tried to work their way closed.

Fighting in vain, Twilight struggled to stay awake against the fatigue that longed to take her into sleep. Slowly, her eyes drifted shut and she forced them back open. But they didn’t stay open.

Twilight didn’t remember falling asleep but this could be nothing else. The Sun was gone and there was nothing but darkness; moving, churning, darkness. There was something in the shadows, something that was coming for her.

“Twilight!” cried a voice. The shout startled Twilight back into consciousness. It had been Rarity who had awoken her.

“I’m here, I’m awake!” cried Twilight. Rarity gave her an apologetic look, as if she regretted having to wake her friend.

The moment of rest seemed to do a bit of good. Or maybe it was the adrenalin throbbing through her body, but Twilight didn’t have the urge to drift off again; even if she was still very sleepy.

However, a few minutes later Twilight was almost sure she had fallen asleep again. Not only had they seemed to have gotten closer to the base of the mountain, but Twilight could make out a cave ahead of them. At first she was sure it couldn’t be true. Yet, the train tracks led right into the cave. No, not a cave, a tunnel! Shelter!

Holding themselves back from galloping, the friends moved as quickly as they could across the last stretch of land between them and the mountain. Once again time seemed to move unevenly. Before Twilight knew it they were trotting into the shadow of the tunnel. Rainbow halted at the entrance a little apprehensively, but finally made her way inside.

Twilight had never been so glad in all her life to stop casting a spell as she was then. There was talk of food and water and other things but Twilight didn’t hear any of it. The moment Pinkie Pie set her down Twilight passed out.

Shadows danced around Twilight in a night that never ended. There was no Sun and no stars. Only the infinite empty void in every direction. Twilight called out into the darkness, shouting for her friends. Yet she heard nothing, not even the sound of her own voice.

A flutter of panic raced through Twilight’s chest as she realized that she was completely alone. The shadows began to stir, sensing her fear. She could not see them, but she knew they were there, closing in, looking for an opening, waiting to strike.

Twilight took a step back and her hoof bumped against something. Her eyes turned first and her head slowly followed as she looked to see what terrible thing she had found in this place.

However, relief washed over Twilight. It was not some horrible monster nor a creature made out of shadows. It was Applejack. And lying beside her was Rarity, and Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie and… where was Spike? A snore from her back made Twilight shift her gaze to find the baby dragon curled up on her back. Twilight smiled. All of her friends were here with her, though they were all asleep.

Briefly, Twilight debated if she should wake them. However, something stopped her. She looked over her friends again.

“One, two, three…” counted Twilight to herself, pointing to each of her friends in turn. Five, there were only five of them here. Somepony was missing. Twilight tried to think who was absent.

Movement in the shadows drew Twilight’s attention away. She had forgotten about the things in the darkness. In the time since she had looked away, they had gotten much closer.

Now she could make out their terrible shapes running through the night. She could see the black flames boiling into the black sky from the black ponies. They were coming for her. They were coming to feed on her and her friends.

Twilight tried to use her magic, tried to ward them off, but she couldn’t remember how to do it. Closer and closer the things in the darkness came. There was nowhere to run. Her friends were helpless, trapped in their sleep.

Suddenly, out of the dark, a blaze of rainbow light raced past. The things in the darkness hissed and screeched and backed away. The colored light encircled Twilight and her friends. It wrapped around them like a wall… no, like a shield.

“It’s alright,” said the rainbow colored light. “You can go back to sleep, I’ll protect you.”

Twilight didn’t know why, but she trusted the light. With a nod, she lay down next to her friends and drifted into sleep, not at all aware that she was already dreaming.

Twilight was not ready to wake up, yet she did so all the same. It was not the shake of somepony, but rather the shaking of the ground that stirred her. The sudden jarring movement had pulled Twilight out of her empty dreams and back to the waking world. The ground continued to shake and the stone tunnel rumbled.

“What’s happening!” cried Twilight, her sleep weary brain struggling to catch up.

“Another earthquake,” said Rainbow Dash calmly.

“Another?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, they’ve been happening for the last couple of hours,” explained Rainbow Dash. “That one was the strongest so far.”

“Have you… did you go to sleep at all?” asked Twilight with concern. Rainbow looked at Twilight.

“No,” said Rainbow. “I’m not tired.”

“How long have I been asleep?” asked Twilight.

“Five, maybe six hours,” said Rainbow. “You should get some more rest.” The ground shook again.

“No,” said Twilight. “We should get moving.” She made to stand up but toppled back down, having forgotten about her injuries.

“You’re in no shape to get moving,” replied Rainbow Dash.

“And a few more hours isn’t going to fix that,” answered Twilight. “If these earthquakes really are getting worse then the last place we want to be is in a cave!”

“Oh, yeah, I guess you’re right,” said Rainbow. “I’ll wake the others.”

It didn’t take long to get everypony on their hooves and ready to continue on. Rarity walked to the end of the tunnel, but Twilight still needed to be carried. Once they were ready to go outside, Applejack knelt down so that Rarity could climb onto her back once more.

Together, Rarity and Twilight recast the protective spell and the group ventured out into the Sun once again. They had passed the halfway point of their journey to Canterlot. With luck, it would take them less than two days to climb the mountain and reach city.

Waves of heat churned the air and made the rough ground dance. The Sun beat down upon the six ponies and Spike with all its might, but it could not touch them. Their shield was stronger than before, reinforced by sleep and friendship.

The path they were following had taken a steep climb as they left the tunnel. There was no proper road up to Canterlot from this side. The only path they could take was the one that the train took in its climb towards the castle.

While the train could make the ascent in only a few hours, it was a much longer hike by hoof. This would be their third day of travel, although, as Twilight had pointed out, since the Sun never set anymore day’s hardly seemed to be a good measurement system anymore. They were instead racing an invisible clock that slowly counted down towards doom.

The ponies trotted along the tracks. Spike led the way, with Applejack and Pinkie right behind him. Rarity and Twilight sat upon their backs, maintaining the shield spell and Fluttershy following in the back. Rainbow Dash had still preferred flying instead of walking and was currently hovering out over the side of the cliff.

It was hard work going uphill, more-so when carrying another pony. Talk was sparse and the group trudged along in silence; until they rounded a bend in the mountain. Spike came to a halt, his eyes open wide in surprise.

“No way…” said the small dragon in disbelief. “Twilight, look at this!” cried Spike, pointing to something Twilight could not yet see. For one moment Twilight thought they had reached Canterlot, but that was impossible, they had only just begun their climb.

The rest of the group rounded the corner and Twilight looked out along the sloping tracks that led ever upwards. Her eyes searched back and forth along the ground. Up the tracks, down the cliff side; there was nothing here but more of the same. Twilight opened her mouth to speak but Applejack spoke first.

“I’ll be darned, was that thing always there?” asked Applejack. Twilight redoubled her efforts. What had she missed what had she not seen?

“No way,” said Rainbow Dash, flying forward a little. “It wasn’t there yesterday, uh, well before we went to sleep at least. I’m totally sure, there is no way I would have missed it!”

“Missed what!” cried Twilight at last. “What am I missing?” Pinkie reached a hoof backwards and slightly pushed Twilight’s head upwards so that her eyes lifted from the train tracks and the mountain and into the sky.

It took Twilight a moment to realize what she was seeing. She couldn’t believe it, didn’t believe it.

“The Moon,” whispered Twilight, gazing up at the great silver circle in the sky. It definitely hadn’t been there yesterday when they had traveled from Hoofington. It was not high in the sky, having only just risen. “Luna…” whispered Twilight.

The ground beneath their hooves began to shake again, the most violent so far. As it shook the Moon began to move much faster than it should. It dragged across the sky as if it were tearing at the world below and the shaking became worse.

Above them the rocks shifting. Twilight heard it before she saw it, before she knew what it was… an avalanche.

Rocks tumbled down from overhead. For a moment the five ponies and Spike were bathed in shadow, then the sky of rock crashed down upon them in a heap of dust and rubble and jagged stone.

Twilight wasn’t sure when the shaking had stopped. Rocks were still tumbling down in a terrible echoing clatter above them but the noise had subsided considerably.

Her horn glowed with magic, but she was not the only one, Rarity had also reacted and brought her magic to bear. The glowing force wall held under the strain of the crushing weight of the mountain that had fallen down on top of them.

“Good work you two,” said Applejack as the last of the tumbling rocks knocked together outside.

All Twilight could do was nod but even this effort seemed to weaken the barrier. Yesterday had taken a lot out of her and she wasn’t fully recovered. They may have stopped the falling rocks, but now they were trapped.

Experimentally, Twilight tried to push at the rocks, expanding her magic outward. The rocks didn’t move. She let the shield shrink a tiny bit, and the rocks pressed forward, hurrying to try and crush them.

“No… good,” said Twilight. “Can’t… push… them… off.”

“Did you hear that?” asked Fluttershy. The small enclosed space absorbed her already whispered voice. The ponies fell quiet, listening to the crushing silence.

For a long moment there was nothing. Twilight strained her ears. Then she heard it, a muffled shout from the outside. Twilight couldn’t make out the words.

“Rainbow!” shouted Applejack. Unlike Fluttershy’s whisper, Applejack’s voice was like a booming cannon, it made Twilight flinch and the shield shrunk just a little more. There was another shout from outside, but Twilight couldn’t understand the words. Applejack however appeared to have heard what Rainbow was shouting about. Her face filled with panic. “Rainbow wait! Rainbow!”

There was no response.

“What did she say?” asked Rarity, less breathless than Twilight.

“She’s going to get help,” said Fluttershy.

In a blur of speed Rainbow raced up the side of the mountain. Many other parts of the train track path had been covered in falling rocks. But she had wings and flying to the top would be a breeze, she would be at Canterlot in only a few minutes time.

Then the heat hit her, like a wall of fire. Rainbow let out a shrill shriek and plummeted backwards. She tumbled out of the sky, the fury of the Sun burning her all over. And then the sensation was gone.

Rainbow’s wings flapped hard, halting her uncontrolled descent. Panting slightly she managed to make it to a nearby ledge where the train tracks ran past and the avalanches had not covered.

Had she just felt the touch of the nightmare again, the flames from within? The feeling had been similar, yet, she didn’t think so. It was more like she had slammed into a wall of fire.

She looked up towards the castle still high above, trying to see what had stopped her. However, the air appeared to be clear and she had no idea what had just happened. It had felt like she had been burned, like her whole body had been on fire.

Taking a calming, reassuring breath, Rainbow put her wings back into motion and rose up into the sky, slower this time. She held a hoof out above her. She didn’t have to go far before she felt the touch of flame and pulled her hoof sharply back.

There was nothing there, just air. Yet the air felt like fire here, even if it didn’t look any different. Rainbow flapped her wings hard, gaining some distance from the mountain, and tried again.

At exactly the same height, she felt the touch of heat and pulled her hoof back.

She had reached some kind of invisible fire barrier. There was no way she could fly up to Canterlot, no way she could find help for her friends.

Rainbow slumped in the air, panic and fear and defeat all overtaking her. The element around her neck glowed brightly, although she did not notice. She put her hooves to her face in frustration and screamed. What was she supposed to do now! Her friends were buried alive and she couldn’t help them, she couldn’t do anything!

A glint of red caught her attention on the mountain side. It was a bright red, not the color of stone.

“The train…” whispered Rainbow. “The train!” she shouted. With a burst of speed Rainbow soared through the air. She had seen the caboose of the train, sticking out of the end of a tunnel, safe from the falling rocks.

The train was here! Stopped on the tracks! And maybe, just maybe, there was somepony inside who could help her.

Rainbow hardly slowed down as she banked into the tunnel, her hooves pushing against the side of the train to keep from colliding with it.

“Hello!” shouted Rainbow, her voice echoing in the tunnel as she flew along side the train in the confined space. “Hello is anypony here! Please I need your help!”

Her eyes searched each compartment, but as she passed car after car, the worry began to return to her. The train was empty. There were no ponies on board. Before she knew it, Rainbow was out the other side of the tunnel, having passed the engine.

She looked back, surprised that she had passed the train so quickly. She turned forward just in time to see a pile of rocks racing towards her. With a shriek of terror she spun off the side of the mountain, narrowly avoiding a collision.

Regaining herself she turned back to the train and flew to land beside it. The tunnel in which the train sat was dark and silent and still. Rainbow took a step inside and her hoofstep echoed nosily.

“Hello!” Rainbow shouted again. “Anypony?” Rainbow trotted alongside the train. She couldn’t see inside quite as well from the ground but she could see the cars were empty.

She dropped her head in misery. She had failed her friends. If only she had acted sooner. If only she had…

“Oh a rescue party! Well it’s about time you showed up, I’ve been stuck down here for… YOU!” hissed a voice. Rainbow Dash looked up and felt a wave of shock race over her.

“YOU!” cried Rainbow Dash. “What are you doing here?” Rainbow’s eyes swept across the powder blue unicorn with the silver mane. She had a star shaped magic wand on her flank and was exactly as Rainbow remembered her, minus the hat and the smug smile, the later of which had been replaced with a scowl.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need to explain herself to the likes of you,” said Trixie. “The way you were racing about and shouting, I thought you were are rescue party. But that can’t possibly be true. Nopony in their right mind would send you down here.”

Chapter 13

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 13

“I need your help,” pleaded Rainbow. Whatever Trixie had been expecting, that wasn’t it.

“Me? Help you?” scoffed Trixie. “Why in Equestria would I possibly want to do that after the way you and your friends ran me out of Ponyville?”

“Because my friends are trapped under an avalanche and I can’t get them out on my own!” cried Rainbow desperately. “Please, I need… we need, your help.”

“Well that’s just too bad, isn’t it?” answered Trixie, turning away. “There’s no way you’re getting the Great and Powerful Trixie to go outside, not in this heat. I am waiting here until help arrives and they get the train running again.”

“Get the train running?” asked Rainbow in confusion. “Get the train running? How thick headed are you!” exclaimed Rainbow, Trixie gave an indignant huff at the name calling, but rainbow pressed on. “Look outside, this train isn’t going anywhere! The track is covered in rocks! It will take weeks to clear it all!”

“Then the Great and Powerful Trixie shall wait here until the way is clear,” said Trixie. The powder blue unicorn moved back towards the compartment door from which she had emerged.

“And you’re just going to let my friends die?” asked Rainbow seriously. Trixie halted. She couldn’t seem to bring herself to look at Rainbow Dash, so instead she stared at the ground.

“There… there isn’t anything we can do for them,” answered Trixie. For the first time there was something like regret in her voice. “The other passengers left me two days ago, making for Canterlot. The fools.” Her voice hardened and she was her arrogant self once again. “I told them, the Great and Powerful Trixie warned them, but they didn’t listen…”

“What happened to them,” asked Rainbow. Trixie’s eyes flashed to Rainbow.

“Why should the Great and Powerful Trixie care?” asked the unicorn and she stepped a hoof back into the train.

“But you do care!” cried Rainbow. Trixie halted. “You do care what happened to the other passengers… or are you just afraid of being alone in here?”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is not…!” began Trixie.

“Seriously, do you have to say that every time?” interrupted Rainbow.

“Yes,” replied Trixie, sounding almost offended. “And the Great and Powerful Trixie is not afraid of being alone.”

“Then you’re worried for the other passengers,” suggested Rainbow.

“Do you think me a heartless monster?” snapped Trixie. “Of course, but like your friends there is nothing either of us can do. We can’t even step a hoof outside.”

“Yes we can!” exclaimed Rainbow brightly. Trixie snorted. “I’ll show you!” Quickly Rainbow dashed back to the end of the tunnel and hurried outside. “See!”

Trixie moved towards Rainbow but began to slow as she neared the edge of the tunnel. Rainbow could see Trixie’s expression grow increasingly worried the closer she got to the light. The unicorn halted then took a step back.

“You may be just fine, but this is close enough, thank you,” said Trixie.

“You can just use your magic to protect yourself,” said Rainbow. “Now come on, we’ve wasted a lot of time arguing!”

“No,” said Trixie, taking another step back. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m staying here.”

“But my friends!” cried Rainbow.

“What can we do for them? I can’t even go outside!” shouted Trixie.

“Use your magic to…” repeated Rainbow.

“I can’t!” shouted Trixie her voice breaking. Rainbow blinked, she could have sworn that shout had almost sounded like a sob. “I can’t.” repeated Trixie softly. “My magic… is… it’s…” Rainbow looked at her in puzzlement. “It’s leaving me!” shouted Trixie at last. She looked away in shame. “Soon I won’t be able to do any magic at all…”

“I’m sorry,” said Rainbow. Trixie shot her an angry glare.

“What do you care?” snarled Trixie. “It won’t be long before the Once Great and Powerful Trixie is just a regular unicorn, or worse, nothing more than an earth pony with a useless horn. I know that’s what you and your friends wanted. I’m nothing without my magic.”

“No,” said Rainbow, trotting back to Trixie. “Magic isn’t who you are or even what you are. It’s one thing you can do, not everything you can do.” Trixie looked up at Rainbow in surprise. “And something you can still do is help me rescue my friends.”

“But I…” Trixie’s words trailed off and she just stared at Rainbow dumbfounded. Rainbow Dash smiled at her and held out a hoof in friendship. “Alright, the Great and Powerful Trixie will help you and your friends.”

Trixie took hold of Rainbow’s hoof. As she did, her body shimmered with magical energy. The red stone around Rainbow’s neck surged with an inner light. Trixie pulled away and the shimmering aura vanished.

“What… what was that?” asked Trixie.

“I think it might be a way for you to go outside,” replied Rainbow with a smile.

It was odd having another pony on her back. Rainbow had done it a few times before, but she had never liked it. Rainbow didn’t much care for it now, as her passenger had their hooves wrapped around her neck and kept shrieking in her ear any time Rainbow turned or dove or flapped her wings.

However, there was no other option. The rockslides had blocked much of the tracks and traversing it back down to where her friends were would simply take too long. Additionally, it seemed that the element of loyalty only offered its protection while they were in physical contact.

“How much further?” shouted Trixie over the wind. Rainbow flinched. Trixie was right beside her ear and hadn’t needed to shout at all.

“Not far, they should be just around… oh no…” whispered Rainbow. She slammed to halt in the air, nearly throwing Trixie off her back. Trixie started to ask what was wrong, but she didn’t have to, she could see.

The moon was moving again and a second avalanche had started. It was hard to tell from the air if the ground was shaking, but she could see the falling rocks. Giant stone boulders tumbled down. Clouds of dust filled the air and hugged the mountain like dirty brown fog.

“No, no, no!” chanted Rainbow as she watched in horror. At last the shaking stopped and the lingering clouds began to settle. Quickly Rainbow rushed down, although she did not land.

“Twilight!” shouted Rainbow still hovering a hundred hooves from the mountain side. “Applejack! Fluttershy! Rarity! Pinkie Pie!” Her voice was lost among the chorus of tumbling stones that still clattered noisily. “Twilight! Applejack! Fl…”

“They can’t hear you,” said Trixie rolling her eyes. “And even if they can, we wouldn’t be able to hear them.”

Rainbow glanced around in a panic. Everything had changed, all the rocks were different. Any of the huge piles could contain her friends buried underneath. How could she possibly know which one? How could they possibly find them?

It was getting hard to breathe.

Twilight’s breath came in short gasps as she struggled to hold back the rocks. The last avalanche had brought down even more debris on top of them. Twilight felt like she was being crushed under an invisible weight that she couldn’t push off.

Rarity was doing her best to help, but it simply wasn’t enough. All Rarity could do was act like a brace for Twilight. Even now, Twilight could feel Rarity’s magic weakening. Soon her support would fail and then Twilight knew that she too would fail.

Tears burned at the edges of her eyes at the thought. Not for herself, but for her friends. She had failed her friends. If only she had paid attention. She should have noticed the Moon sooner, she should have realized the cliff face was unstable, she should have…

The shield protecting them flickered and Twilight refocused her thoughts on maintaining the barrier that was keeping them alive.

“Twilight?” asked Applejack, her voice breathy. All of the ponies had lain down, trying to slow their breathing and use less oxygen. Twilight hadn’t had a choice to stand as her front legs still would not support her. It had been difficult to keep Pinkie quiet but they had finally managed. “What’s wrong?”

Twilight blinked away her tears.

“Nothing,” lied Twilight.

Applejack looked like she wanted to argue, but now was not the time and she knew Twilight needed to focus.

“Do you think Rainbow made it to Canterlot?” asked Fluttershy.

“I sure hope so sugarcube,” said Applejack.

“Air,” reminded Twilight.

“Right, sorry,” said Applejack.

They fell back into the pressing silence once more.

Twilight was finally starting to understand why Rainbow Dash disliked being underground so much. This place felt like a tomb, like their tomb.

Her mind began to wonder again.

What would happen to Equestria when they were gone? What had happened to Equestria in the first place? It seemed unlikely that Twilight and her friends would ever find out. What would Equestria do without them and the Elements of Harmony? Would Celestia pass the elements on to new ponies? Could Celestia even do that? Was she even alive to do that?

Twilight hadn’t been able to stop herself thinking it. She had resisted the urge to contemplate what had happened to her mentor but as her mind wondered, the unreal truth hit Twilight. Emotions exploded inside her and rushed outwards in tears.

The barrier broke and Rarity’s meager supports snapped. The rocks tumbled down. The ponies screams and Twilight wept, overcome by inner turmoil for which she was not prepared. She had failed everypony. Her friends, her mentor, her family.

Twilight closed her eyes, not wanting to see the end come. But the falling sound of rocks came to a halt and Applejack let out a gasp of uneven breath.

“They stopped,” said Spike. The small space in which he and the five friends occupied had narrowed considerably. “That was a close one.” Spike tapped a rock that had stopped less than a hoof from his head.

“I’m sorry,” whispered Twilight between the tears. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright dear,” said Rarity. “Nopony expected you to be able to hold that up forever.”

“No, I should have been able to hold out longer, I lost my focus, I thought of… I thought of Celestia,” said Twilight, looking away, tears still rolling down her face. Nopony responded.

“Twilight, I’m sure she’s…” started Fluttershy.

“Don’t tell me she’s fine,” shouted Twilight angrily, then her face relaxed as she saw Fluttershy terrified expression. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“No, it’s alright,” whispered Fluttershy timidly. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…”

“Guys? Remember the part about being quiet and not talking?” asked Pinkie. “Am I the only one here following the rules?” Twilight couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh come on, now you get to laugh too? That’s just not fair.”

“All of you be quiet,” snapped Rarity. “You’re using up the oxygen!”

“I don’t think it matters,” said Twilight distantly. “There must be a new mountain of rock above us by now. Even on a good day, I’m not sure I could move all that and keep it from falling in on us.”

“So this is where our adventure ends?” asked Spike. “I can honestly say I never thought it would end like this.”

“Yeah, me neither,” said Pinkie Pie. “I always figured our adventure would end at a huge celebration party!” Twilight laughed again. “Hey, I have a great idea, why don’t we just have a party here! A rock party!”

“Pinkie,” said Rarity. “I hardly think this is the time to be celebrating anything!”

“Sure it is!” said Pinkie with a watery smile, tears had started down her face too. “We have to celebrate our fantastic friendship!” There was nothing for it, Twilight wrapped Pinkie in a hug and a moment later Applejack and Rarity and Fluttershy all joined in. One by one they began to break down into sobs.

Trixie, the Great and Powerful, was not fond of many things. Very high up on the list of things she wasn’t fond of was flying. The silly blue pegasus had refused to land, circling back and forth over the same spot. She was looking for something she couldn’t see and locate something she had no idea how to find.

“How do we find them!” cried Rainbow, her eyes darting back and forth across the piles of identical stone. “They could be under any of these, they could be anywhere, they could…”

“Calm down,” said Trixie, her forelegs wrapped around Rainbow’s neck, holding on for dear life as they swayed back and forth in the sky. Trixie glanced down, the dizzying height making her head spin a little.

“Calm down!” cried Rainbow, her voice near panic. “How can I possibly calm down!?”

“If you don’t, the Great and Powerful Trixie won’t be able to concentrate… and… find… your… friends,” said Trixie, emphasizing her words. Rainbow became silent.

Trixie let her eyes close and took a deep breath. Inside her incredible mind she focused her thoughts. She could feel her distant, weak, magic. She focused harder, commanding her power to come to her. Slowly, glittering strands of glowing magic began to gather in her thoughts. It was taking all her effort but she could feel the spell forming…

Rainbow dropped suddenly and Trixie’s focus was shattered. The tiny glow at her horn fizzled out and the treads of magic unwound.

“Keep still!” demanded Trixie irritably.

“The updrafts keep changing,” said Rainbow. “It’s hard enough to carry you, let alone keep still.”

“Then land!” said Trixie. Rainbow opened her mouth to protest. “If you want me to find your friends, if you want me to help you save them, then you need to trust me! I can’t focus up here with you bobbing around. You need to land so I can concentrate!”

Slowly, Rainbow nodded. Her descent to the ground was not gentle, more of a crash really, but Rainbow stayed on her hooves and Trixie, somehow, managed to hold on. They slowed to a trot before coming to a complete stop.

“Alright, we’re down,” said Rainbow looking around nervously. “But at the first sign of shaking I’m getting us out of here.”

Trixie nodded but didn’t answer. She let her eyes close again. It wasn’t any easier down on the ground, but at least Trixie wasn’t worrying about falling. She reached for the distant threads of magic that were so faint and small. Her great and powerful powers might be dwindling away but she could still sense what little remained.

In her mind, Trixie reached for another strand of magic but had to release it the moment she took hold. When she had grasped the thread of magic it had burned her, like it was on fire. It was not the first time she had felt such a sensation. Ever since the other passengers had abandon her Trixie had been having bad dreams about fire. She could feel the heat of the fire in her dreams and it had been growing stronger.

Carefully, Trixie avoided the strand and went to the next one. One-by-one, she gather her magic. She could feel the spell growing on her horn, her senses expanded and she could feel other magic around her.

“There!” announced Trixie her eyes suddenly snapping open, her hoof pointed at a nearby rock pile that looked like all the others. She almost couldn’t believe she had been able to do it! For the past day even simple levitation had been difficult for her.

“Are you sure?” asked Rainbow skeptically.

“Of course the Great and Powerful Trixie is sure,” replied Trixie. Rainbow trotted forward, Trixie still upon her back. The pegasus halted as they reached the pile.

“Twilight!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “Applejack! Rarity! Pinkie Pie! Fluttershy!” The mare went quiet and Trixie strained her ears, listening for a response. None came. “You’re sure this…”

“Yes!” exclaimed Trixie, an uncontrollable tone of anger in her voice. She was sure, she had felt magic here, strong magic. Trixie collected herself before speaking again. “Perhaps the additional rocks make it impossible for them to hear you.”

“Alright, so how do we get them out?” asked Rainbow.

“Don’t ask me, I have no idea how to help them,” replied Trixie.

“What!?” cried Rainbow Dash. “What do you mean you have no idea!”

“Look, you came asking for my help! I didn’t say I could move mountains,” said Trixie.

“I’m almost surprised you haven’t boasted that you could,” sneered Rainbow Dash. Trixie narrowed her eyes. “Sorry,” apologized Rainbow. “I didn’t mean… my friends… this thing with the Sun… other stuff… I’m just… I’m sorry… Please. Please can you help me, Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“The Great and Powerful,” corrected Trixie softly. “And yes, I will try.”

Trixie’s eyes swept across the pile of fallen stone. Some rocks were as big as she was. Moving just one with her normal magic would be hard work. In her current state moving the whole thing would be impossible. There was little hope she could dig them out. Her mind whirled with thought, trying to find a solution.

“Could you teleport them out?” asked Rainbow. Trixie contemplated the request.

“Teleporting others is tricky, even in the best of times,” said Trixie. “It is doable but there is a small problem, I would have to be in there with them to get them out. A blind teleport is the most dangerous of prospects. If I don’t know where to land, I could appear inside a rock, or the cliff, or even somepony else.”

“But you could do it?” pressed Rainbow Dash, suddenly hopeful.

“If my magic wasn’t failing me, perhaps,” said Trixie. “But the Great and Powerful Trixie is in no condition to teleport.”

“Please,” begged Rainbow Dash. “Please try.”

Trixie sighed. Once more she closed her eyes, searching to grasp magic that struggled to evade her. The threads were more distant this time, harder to take hold of. The fire in her mind was becoming more intense. She wasn’t just dimly aware of the flames in her thoughts; she could actually see them now with her eyes closed. Maybe being out in the Sun was making it worse.

After a long while of trying she was almost ready to make an attempt. The spell did not come as easily. She pulled as hard as she could, drawing the magic to her. At last, when the spell started to form the magic collapsed and sputtered out on her horn.

“I’m sorry,” said Trixie and she was surprised to hear that her voice actually did sound sorry. “My magic is just too far gone. I can’t do it.”

“Please, try again, please!” begged Rainbow Dash.

Trixie nodded again and let her eyes close. She focused, harder than she ever had before but the magic didn’t come any closer… at least not at first. As she struggled to bring the spell, something odd happened. There was other magic here, magic that wasn’t hers. It was familiar and alien to her at the same time.

The fire in her mind grew large, trying to block off the foreign magic, but the flames could not. The new energy flowed over the fire, dousing it as if the waves of magic were water.

Trixie’s eyes snapped open and an instant later she felt the teleport spell complete. Reality bent around her and she slipped through it. As she moved between the folds of the universe she could feel out obstacles in her path. Trixie could feel the hard cliff wall at the back. She could feel the rocks themselves, but she did not sense any ponies inside it.

From the twisted perspective of the teleport spell she watched the world vanished into blackness and with a final snap, she was yanked from one spot to another, moving instantly between them.

She had done it! The Great and Powerful Trixie had surpassed magic itself and bent reality with her will alone. She was the greatest, the most powerful…

Fear overtook her thoughts and the fire inside her roared in triumph. She was not greeted by the inside of a rocky cave, nor cheering ponies at her arrival to rescue them, but darkness. Infinite, terrible, darkness. And worse, she was alone again.

The fear she had felt since the others had abandon her in the train returned, even stronger than before. She felt the fire spreading out from her mind and racing through her body, threatening to burn outwards and become real flames. Her lungs burned as she tried to breathe, the air tasted stale as she inhaled.

With all the courage she could manage, Trixie forced herself to be calm, to focus. She had held the fire inside herself at bay for days, she could do it for a few more minutes. She tried to breathe again and it had the same result. Something was wrong with the air in here.

Where was she, where were Twilight and friends? Had she teleported to the wrong spot? No, she was sure this was correct, sure there should be others here.

Trixie did not have to wait long for her answer.

A pulsing purplish glow washed away the darkness momentarily revealing the sight below her. Trixie felt like somepony had dumped a bucket of ice on her as the light faded away into darkness. She couldn’t have seen what she had just seen. Slowly the glow returned, illuminating the small cave again and Trixie’s gaze reluctantly found the shapes on the floor.

Laying motionless all around here were the bodies of five ponies and one small dragon. She couldn’t tell if they were alive or not. If they were, they were hardly breathing. She looked over the ponies, scowling a little as she came to Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes moved up to the crown on Twilight’s head. It had a purple gem fixed in it that pulsed with light.

Trixie took another breath and felt the burning become worse. She had to get out of here. She had to get them all out of here. Once more she closed her eyes and reached for the magic and felt utter and complete bewilderment at what she found.

It was a little like reaching into a purse you knew was empty but finding it to be bottomless and overflowing with coins. The magic was everywhere, around her, through her, stronger than she had ever felt it before.

Trixie didn’t understand. Her magic was so weak as to be almost completely gone. She hadn’t thought that any spell, let alone teleportation would have been possible. But here, this place had given her strength. Now she had found where that strength had come from. It was these five ponies, no, six, even if Rainbow Dash was outside, Trixie could feel energy streaming from the pegasus.

The magic wrapped around her as she prepared to teleport them all to safety. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. It was like warmth and love and happiness all rolled into one. She almost couldn’t comprehend the feeling, it was overwhelming. It took all of Trixie’s strength to stay on her feet.

Her eyes blazed with magic and the air crackled with energy. In a flash of light that was more spectacular than any display she’d ever put on, Trixie let loose her spell and reality was ripped open for the seven of them to slide through.

With a crack as loud as thunder they all popped back into existence — including Rainbow Dash, who looked incredibly surprised — inside the train car that Trixie had made her temporary home. Trixie couldn’t help but smile. The magic was still flowing through here, almost stronger than before, as if it were trying to thank her. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed in a heap in complete exhaustion.

Author's Note

Well hello again! Good to see you back... or... well, you know, it would be if I could see you... good to see your avatar icon if you posted?... anyhow...

What's this, Trixie! Helping?! Staying!?! Yes, while her icon hasn't yet been added up to the story's cast of characters (I will include it with the next chapter update) this chapter marks the addition of our final character, the Great and Powerful Trixie! It only took 13 chapters...

Anyhow... I hope you are all enjoying the story, feel free to let me know below. I know my reply comments have been a bit sparse these past few weeks but rest assured, I do read every one of them, usually more than once, even if I don't reply to everything.

Next chapter next Saturday 03/16! Thank you everyone for continuing to read my work.

Chapter 14

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 14

A blurry red ceiling was the first thing that Twilight saw as her eyes opened. Her brain was having problems with what she was seeing. Her brain was lagging behind as her eyes darted back and forth trying to take in her new surroundings as quickly as possible.

Her first thought was that she was in some kind of room, but that didn’t seem right. This place had walls, and a ceiling, and she was laying on something soft. The place was room shaped, but it just felt… off, although she couldn’t say why.

The avalanche! Her friends! Memories and panic flooded into her as sleep faded away.

Twilight was jolted fully awake, sitting up and instantly regretting it. Her head was pounding, her chest hurt and her vision was out of focus. Twilight let her eyes close, trying to will her body to relax. After a moment she opened her eyes again and tried looking around a second time.

Her surroundings didn’t seem to make any sense. This red colored room was long and box shaped. It had an arched ceiling with rows of softly glowing light fixtures that bathed the room in a yellowish hue. Sets of dark windows lined the walls on either side. There were also a dozen benches on each side of the room, all facing forward like this was some kind of theater. This room just didn’t make any sense.

It took Twilight another moment to realize that outside the windows it was pitch black. Night? How could that possibly be night outside? Twilight turned her body and pressed her face against the glass.

At last, the realization of where she was finally snapped into place. This wasn’t a room! This was a train car! And they were in a tunnel! How in Equestria had she gotten here?

Another wave of panic prickled over Twilight. Quickly she spun from the window. Her eyes raked the inside of the car before she finally let out a sigh of relief. Spread out across various benches were her friends and… was that Trixie?

Everypony appeared to be asleep, everypony, except herself and Rainbow Dash. She looked at Rainbow and Rainbow looked back at her, but neither of them spoke. Twilight lay back down at a loss for words. Her most recent near death experience weighed heavy on her. She contemplated waking the others and asking for answers. However, for the moment, she preferred her friends asleep, where she couldn’t put them in more danger.

Ever since this whole thing had started a worry had been building in the back of Twilight’s mind. A worry she would not confess to her friends. This whole journey felt like she was leading them all into terrible peril. And Twilight felt like it was her fault.

Carefully, Twilight put a hoof down on the ground. She winced slightly at the pain but the leg held her weight. Slowly, she moved herself off the bench. She was standing. Twilight took a step forward and felt her leg nearly buckle, but she managed to steady herself.

Slowly she limped through the compartment, her steps uneven and shaky. She glanced at each of her friends as she passed them. They all appeared to be fine and peacefully sleep. Spike’s leg twitched as though he were chasing after something in his dreams. Twilight couldn’t help but smile and wonder what he was dreaming about.

Twilight stopped at Rainbow Dash, who turned to look at her. There was something in Rainbow’s eyes that gave Twilight pause. Or, at least there had been something. Whatever Twilight had seen it was gone now.

“You’re awake,” said Rainbow. Her voice was slightly raspy and the sound of it startled Twilight. She hadn’t realized just how quiet it had been until Rainbow spoke.

“So are you,” answered Twilight. “How did we get here? How did you get us out?”

“I didn’t,” replied Rainbow. “She did.” Rainbow turned her head towards Trixie who was sleeping a few benches away. Twilight followed Rainbow’s gaze.

“Trixie saved us?” asked Twilight in disbelief. Rainbow nodded slightly. “Maybe she isn’t so bad after all…” Twilight turned back to Rainbow. “Did you not sleep again?”

“I’m not tired,” said Rainbow. Something in her words told Twilight she wasn’t being entirely truthful. However, Twilight didn’t inquire further.

“I’m going to have a look around while the others are still asleep,” said Twilight.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” asked Rainbow. “Should you even be up and walking?”

“I’m fine,” lied Twilight. “I won’t go far.” Rainbow looked like she wanted to argue but didn’t say anything. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

Leaving her friends to sleep, Twilight moved into the next compartment. She made her way through the empty passenger cars as she headed towards the front of the train.

It felt a little eerie with no other ponies on board. The floorboards creaked and silence filled in the gaps. The dark tunnel outside made Twilight feel as if the world had vanished and the train was all that existed beyond herself.

Her progress was slow. Several times she had to stop to rest when her legs hurt too badly. She considered going back and waiting for the others to get up, but her curiosity, as well as her desire to be alone, drove her forward.

Twilight was five cars away before she allowed her thoughts to turn towards the thing she was dreading, the reason she wanted to be alone. It was the thing she had been avoiding. The thought she didn’t want to think. The concern that had nearly crushed them all. Celestia.

Twilight had kept her thoughts about Celestia in check, but under the stone, in a moment of desperation, Twilight had thought about the Princess. The Sun Goddess had been her mentor for much of her life, since Twilight was a little filly. She had never thought of Celestia like a mother, but more like a grandparent, although she would never dare tell the Princess that.

What worried Twilight was the same thing that worried everypony else, the Sun. However the fears of her friends and the other ponies were nothing compared to Twilight’s. They merely assume something had gone wrong. A miscast spell perhaps or maybe Celestia was sick. Twilight had worse fears.

What if they reached Canterlot and found Celestia to be just fine. Except, what if she wasn’t Celestia anymore? What if she had become like Nightmare Moon. How could they possibly hope to stop her? Twilight didn’t even know if she could face her mentor like that.

The unicorn let out a sigh as her worries whirled through her head. She reached the front of the train. The compartments ended here, not giving access to the engine up front. Carefully, Twilight made her way out of the car and out into the tunnel.

The sunlight was bright here. It blazed down in golden light at the tunnels end, just in front of the engine. She stopped a good dozen hooves from the brightness, even though she could still easily feel its heat. She missed the nighttime.

Her eyes swept up the tracks. This train wasn’t going anywhere. Even if they could get it started, the path ahead was blocked by more rock fall. It looked like they would have to continue on hoof over hazardous terrain.

Twilight glanced away from the track and out into the sky. The Moon was still there. Although it was hard to tell, Twilight was sure it had moved a little further, although it was still not very high.

Yet, the Moon wasn’t moving. Like the Sun, it too stayed where it was. Twilight wondered why Luna had stopped it. Had she felt the earthquakes it was causing? Or was there another reason… was it even Luna who was behind it…

Twilight winced again as she shifted her weight from one hoof to the other. Her legs were really starting to bother her. Letting out a sigh, Twilight decided it was probably a good idea to make her way back to her friends.

She probably shouldn’t have pushed herself in the first place but it was nice to move under her own power. It would still be difficult for her to go any great distance. But at least she had her friends to…

“Heya Twilight!” cried a voice from behind her. Twilight stumbled forward in surprise. The sudden movement was too much and Twilight collapsed to the ground with a painful thud. “Oh-my-gosh! Are you alright?”

“Pinkie?” asked Twilight, looking back at her friend who had managed to sneak up on her. “Yeah I think I’m okay… ouch!” exclaimed Twilight when she tried to stand back up. “Well, I guess I’ve been better… What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was having this amazing dream,” explained Pinkie. “I was galloping through a never ending field of lollipop trees! And then, I was riding down a chocolate river in a giant cupcake! And then, I was flying through the sky on a rainbow star! And then, I woke up and saw you going off on your own and I figured you would need a ride back, so I followed you.”

“Uh, okay,” said Twilight. She tried to stand again, her legs protested loudly but at last she got back to her hooves. She didn’t really have an answer to her friend’s ramblings. “Are any of the others awake?” Pinkie shook her head at first and then nodded.

“Oh, Rainbow was,” said Pinkie thoughtfully after a second. “Anyhow, why wake them up, when we have a train!” With a woosh, Pinkie sped off, leaping up into the main cabin of the engine. “Let’s get this train a-rollin!” shouted Pinkie. Somehow, she had found an engineer’s hat and was wearing it atop her head.

“I don’t think we can,” said Twilight. She slowly trotted back to the steps leading into the engine. “Something stopped this train from getting to Canterlot in the first place. And even if we could get it running, the path is blocked by fallen rocks.”

“Oh yeah, I guess you’re right,” said Pinkie. She hopped out of the compartment, leaping over Twilight and leaving the engineer’s hat behind. “That’s too bad, I love riding the train, its so much fun!”

“Come on,” said Twilight. “We should really get back to the others and get a move…”

“Twilight!” exclaimed Applejack. For a second time Twilight found herself startled by the sudden appearance of one of her friends. Although, this time, she did manage to remain standing. “Oh my stars I thought we had lost you! I thought we had all…”

Applejack trailed off, her eyes were wet with tears. Twilight felt surprised at by her friend’s reaction. The earth pony was normal so firm and hardly ever mushy. Applejack grabbed Twilight in a hug, which took her complete by surprise.

A brief moment later, Twilight felt another pair of forelegs wrap around her as Pinkie Pie joined in. Then a third pair of smaller arms took hold around her lower half as Spike embraced her as well. She put a hoof around him, glad that he was there for her.

The rest of her friends were trotting up to them as well. Twilight smiled. She was happy that they were all alright.

“It’s okay,” said Twilight. “We made it out.”

“Uh-hem,” said a voice that made everypony’s head turn. Trixie had come along too, walking the furthest behind the group. She was beaming as if she had some great secret to offer. “You all have the Great and Powerful Trixie to thank for saving you,” proclaimed Trixie. “I used my incredible magic to rescue you from certain doom, against all odds, with my fantastic abilities and incredible powers!”

“You used incredible twice,” said Rarity. Trixie turned a slight shade of red.

“What are y’all going on about?” asked Applejack sternly. “You ain’t never helped no pony.”

“Excuse me!” said Trixie indignantly. “I most certainly did!”

“Lay off Applejack,” said Rainbow Dash. “If it wasn’t for Trixie, I don’t know what I would have done. She really did save your lives, somehow.”

“Somehow?” scoffed Trixie. “Somehow? Not somehow, but with the most amazing magic I have ever cast!”

“What do you mean?” asked Pinkie.

“Well, my magic has been… spotty as of late,” said Trixie, it looked as if it took her a great deal of effort to admit this. “But when I was saving all of you, it was like no magic I’ve ever felt before. It was an amazing feeling. I was able to do it because… because of you.” She looked away embarrassed at her own admission. “But just to be clear, just because the Great and Powerful Trixie saved your lives doesn’t mean we are friends.”

“So what are you doing here then?” asked Applejack.

“Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie has decided to help you on your journey,” answered Trixie smugly. “It is obvious that you required someone of my talent to assist you.” Applejack did not look pleased by this announcement, but Twilight spoke before any of her friends could.

“We would love to have you come with us,” said Twilight. “We can use all the help we can get.” Twilight looked to her friends and felt relief as each of them nodded their agreement in turn, even Applejack.

“So we’re back to climbing the mountain then?” asked Rarity, sounding a little disappointed. “I wish we could ride this train the rest of the way.”

“Me too!” exclaimed Pinkie. She bounced up and down, circling around the group as she talked. “I love riding trains! And I love eating cake while riding trains! Oh-my-gosh! Do you think there’s any cake left of this train?”

“No,” said Trixie with such certainty that it made Pinkie’s ears droop. Her bouncing stopped, midair and she drifted down slowly as if she were light as a feather. Trixie gave her a strange look. “How did you just… Never mind. The others took most of the food and water when they left. I secured what I could,” she tapped her saddle bags with a hoof, “but there wasn’t much.”

“What happened to the train anyhow?” asked Twilight. Trixie shrugged.

“I don’t know,” replied Trixie. “It just started slowing down and then suddenly stopped. The engineers didn’t have a clue why it wouldn’t go. They just said that they couldn’t get it to move anymore.”

Twilight glanced up at the engine alongside them. She had read many books, some of them about trains and how they worked. Train engines used a combination of steam power and magic. Magic to heat the water in the boiler and steam to turn the wheels and move the train. Enchantments like that didn’t usually fail.

“Rainbow, can you go outside and see how bad the path ahead is?” asked Twilight. With a quick salute, Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air and sped off into the blazing light.

They didn’t have to wait long before the pegasus returned.

“It looks pretty bad,” said Rainbow Dash as she landed with a gentle flap of her wings. “There’s no clear path and a lot of the ground looks pretty rough.”

“Well, what should we do now?” asked Applejack.

“Oh! Oh!” said Pinkie hopping up and down. “We can take turns riding Dashie up to the top!” With a hop she leapt towards Rainbow Dash, intending to land on her back.

“Don’t even think about it,” said Rainbow. Her glare stopped Pinkie in mid-hop and the pink earth pony floated down slowly to the ground, looking disappointed.

“Seriously, am I the only one who is bothered by how she keeps doing that?” asked Trixie a little disconcerted.

“She’s Pinkie Pie,” explained Fluttershy with a shrug. The other ponies nodded. Trixie looked at them like they were all crazy.

“Besides, I don’t think that would work,” continued Rainbow Dash uncertainly. “I already tried to fly up to Canterlot but I ran into some kind of invisible wall of heat.”

“Wall of heat?” asked Applejack in confusion.

“Invisible wall of heat,” corrected Rainbow Dash.

“That’s strange,” said Twilight, more to herself than anypony else. “I thought your element protected you from heat.” Rainbow shrugged.

“We could have Trixie teleport us up to the top,” suggested Spike. “Just like she got us out from under those rocks.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not just teleport anypony who asks,” scoffed Trixie.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea anyhow,” said Twilight. “If there is something going on in Canterlot that was too hot for Rainbow, teleporting right into the middle of it seems like a bad idea.”

“Oh wait! I know!” cried Pinkie, turning around towards Rarity.

“Most certainly not,” said Rarity. “I am not carrying you up the mountain!”

“Well, I’m out of idea-ea-ea-ea-eas,” said Pinkie Pie, suddenly starting to shake up and down rapidly. Trixie didn’t have any words for what she was seeing. “Ooo, my pinkie-sense! It says there is another way over there!” Pinkie pointed to the other side of the train and began to trot off nonchalantly, humming to herself.

“Trust me,” said Twilight, glancing to Trixie, whose face was filled with utter confusion. “It’s a whole lot easier if you just accept it.”

The group made their way under the train at one of the car connections and reached the other side of the tracks. Pinkie turned left and began walking back down the tunnel.

They followed her back to where they had woken up in the train car. Twilight was just about to speak up and tell Pinkie this was the wrong way, when they reached an opening in the rock.

The recent shaking appeared to have loosened the rocks that had been blocking the opening. The passage seemed to be artificial. Somepony had dug this tunnel and then sealed it up. The way was dim but the path appeared to lead upwards. It was not tall, although it was wide enough to trot side by side.

“Any idea where this thing comes out?” asked Applejack.

“Nope!” answered Pinkie. Rainbow Dash looked nervously at the small entrance in the rock, not moving a hoof towards it.

“You know what, I’ll just meet you guys up at Canterlot,” said Rainbow.

“Oh come on Dashie!” said Pinkie Pie brightly. “It’s not that scary. I know! I can sing you a song about it! OH, when the walls are closing in and… mefh-mefh-a-mefh.” Rainbow slapped a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth, halting her song.

“Okay, okay, fine I’ll go, just… no singing, okay?” pleaded Rainbow Dash. She removed her hoof.

“Okie-dokie-lokie,” replied Pinkie happy and she bounded forward into the tunnel. With a nervous glance, Applejack followed along behind her. Then Fluttershy, who looked positively terrified, then Rarity who was doing her best not to look scared. Spike was right behind Rarity. Twilight felt an eerie sensation of déjà vu.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this Rainbow?” asked Twilight as she stood beside her terrified friend. Trixie gave them both and odd look before trotting off after Spike.

“No,” said Rainbow Dash. “But the last time I stayed behind…” Her eyes turned towards Twilight, looking at the bandages.

“That’s not your fault,” said Twilight with a reassuring smile. “Well, not all your fault.”

“I know…” said Rainbow. “Twilight…” Rainbow glanced into the tunnel to make sure the others were out of earshot. “I’m… I’m worried. Not about the tunnel, about what happened in Hoofington. What’s going to happen to me when I take this off?” She tapped the elemental necklace. “Will I change back into that thing?”

“I don’t know,” said Twilight. “But whatever happens, your friends will be here for you, no matter what.” Rainbow smiled.

“Dash! Are you coming? Do I have to start singing,” called Pinkie’s voice.

“Yeah, I’m coming, I’m coming,” said Rainbow. Looking a little fearful, she trotted towards the tunnel. She stopped at the entrance, looked back at Twilight and smiled. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and trotted on.

At least the tunnel was going in the right direction, up. Twilight had no idea where this would come out, or if it even did come out. But she trusted Pinkie Pie.

Luckily the tunnel had widened slightly and Rainbow’s anxiety had lessoned somewhat, although she still looked nervous. For the most part they trotted in silence. Pinkie Pie was still bouncing happily at the front of the group, leading them onwards.

Twilight couldn’t say how long they have been traveling. Her legs were starting to ach badly but she pushed herself forward, not wanting to hold them up. She was very thankful when they came to a stop.

The group had reached a split in the path. The tunnel forked into two passages, with no indication of which one they needed to take.

“Well, which way now?” asked Applejack. She glanced between the nearly identical openings. Pinkie shrugged.

“I don’t know,” said Pinkie.

“What in the hay do you mean, you don’t know!” exclaimed Applejack. “You’ve been leading us this way. How can you not know?”

“I don’t control my pinkie-sense silly,” explained Pinkie Pie. “They told me to come into this tunnel. They aren’t like some magical guide that tells me the path to take!” A strange shiver ran down Pinkie’s back. “Oh, that one!” she said pointing to the right tunnel.

Applejack rolled her eyes and started to walk towards where Pinkie was pointing. However another shiver ran down Pinkie’s back.

“Wait, no, that one!” she cried. She stretched her hoof across her body, pointing to the left tunnel. Applejack stopped, gave Pinkie a strange look and began to trot to the other tunnel. No sooner had she reached it then a third shiver ran through Pinkie. “No, wait, that one!” She lifted her other hoof and pointed back towards the right tunnel, so that her front legs were crossed. She held the pose for a few seconds before losing her balance and face planting into the ground.

“Will you make up your mind!” exclaimed Applejack.

“It nwat mhy fwalt,” said Pinkie, her face still pressed against the ground, hoofs still pointing to both tunnels. She looked up. “My pinkie sense says we need to go both ways!”

“That impossible,” said Rainbow Dash. “We can’t go both ways!”

“Yes we can,” chirped in Fluttershy. Then she shrunk and whispered. “If we split up…”

“I think we should stick together,” said Rarity.

“I agree. I don’t think we should split up,” said Twilight. “But I also trust Pinkie. Do you know who should go which way?”

“Hold on,” said Pinkie. Her eyes screwed up, trying to concentrate. Her face was tense with focus. “Nope!” she answered at last.

“Hmm,” said Twilight, looking back and forth between the passages. The passage to the left appeared to lead downwards, while the one to the right went up. Based solely on direction, Twilight assumed they would need to continue upwards to reach Canterlot. So why point down unless… “Unless,” said Twilight voicing her thoughts aloud, “we do need to go both ways!”

“So you want us to split up?” asked Spike in confusion.

“No we should stick together but what if pinkie is right?” explained Twilight. “What if we do need to go left and right?”

“But you said we shouldn’t split up,” said Fluttershy.

“We aren’t going to,” announced Twilight with a smile. She trotted to the left entrance and as she got close, the purple star gem in the tiara atop her head began to glow softly. “We’re just going to go this way first.”

Chapter 15

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 15

The path sloped steeply downwards, descending deeper into the heart of the mountain. Twilight’s horn glowed brightly, helping to light the way. Even with the three unicorns all casting illumination spells, the tunnel was very dark.

Atop her head, Twilight’s element continued to pulse softly. If she was right, then this path led to another Element of Harmony. It wasn’t their destination but it was something they desperately needed.

If she was wrong, then they would have wasted valuable time they already didn’t have.

The friends walked single file behind Twilight. The passage had narrowed so that there was no longer space to walk side-by-side. Rarity was in the middle of the procession, her horn shining with light. Trixie brought up the rear, just behind a very nervous Rainbow Dash.

As they turned a bend, Twilight saw something through the darkness ahead of them. At first she thought it was daylight, but as they got closer, she wasn’t so sure. It was definitely light, but she couldn’t tell what it was coming from.

Something in the light moved and Twilight came to an abrupt halt. Applejack crashed into Twilight’s rump and Fluttershy did the same to Applejack, creating a pony-pile-up.

“A little warning next time,” said Applejack as she struggled to untangle herself from the collision.

“Sorry,” whispered Twilight. “I thought… I thought I saw something move up ahead.”

“Something? SomeTHING?” asked Fluttershy, panic welling up in her voice. “Like a giant pony eating monster something?!”

“What? No,” answered Twilight. “I’m not sure what it was. Not a pony eating monster… most likely not… In any case, I don’t see it moving anymore.” Climbing off of Applejack, Twilight got back to her hooves and continued onwards. Again, she could make out the faintest movement. The light she had seen was also getting brighter… closer.

“Hello!” called Twilight. The earth around them dampened her voice. “Is anypony there?” No answer came. Twilight slowed her pace. She squinted, trying to see what the shape was. She could make out the vaguest of shadowy silhouettes against the light.

Whatever it was, it was pony shaped. If Twilight wasn’t mistaken, it appeared to be another unicorn, also casting a light spell, and walking right towards them!

“Hello?” Twilight tried again. This time she heard he faintest whisper of words reply to her, but she couldn’t make them out. “Can you tell us where this passage leads?” Again, words replied but she could only make out the end of it.

“…age leads…” said the words.

“Wait a minute,” said Twilight, once again stopping abruptly. Applejack crashed into her again.

“Dang it Twilight!” exclaimed Applejack.

“That isn’t another pony,” cried Twilight ignoring Applejack’s complaint. Twilight trotted forward at a quicker pace, with only a slight protest from her legs. The other unicorn did the same, charging towards Twilight. The friends watched as Twilight and the other pony finally came face-to-face. Except, it wasn’t just another unicorn, it was another Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh no, there’s two of them!” cried Trixie in horror.

“What? No! Of course not!” said Twilight. “Although, that would be kind of neat…” She reached out a hoof and the other pony did the same. “It’s my reflection.”

Slowly, the others approached — their own reflections doing the same. As they reached the end of the passage they were able to see how they had been fooled. An enormous, almost clear, crystal stretched from the ground up to the ceiling above. Its surface was highly reflective, creating a perfect natural mirror.

They had reached the entrance to a chamber filled with giant crystals of all shapes, sizes and colors. The walls, ceiling and even the floor were no longer stone. They were in a room made completely out of crystal and filled with their own distorted reflections.

“It’s so beautiful,” said Rarity. Her eyes sparkled at the incredible sight before her.

“I’ve been here before,” said Twilight looking around. “These are the crystal mines below Canterlot, where the changeling Queen banished me and trapped Cadence.” Twilight raised her horn and the light at its tip flared. The crystals all glowed around them, making the cave much brighter. “I don’t think it’s exactly the same section though.”

“Look how many me’s there are!” exclaimed Pinkie rushing from one reflection to the next, stopping to make a funny face in each one. “I wish there were more of me sometimes…”

“I think one plenty is Pinkie,” said Applejack. “I mean, one Pinkie is plenty.”

“At least there is more room!” cried Rainbow Dash. She leapt from the ground and flew up into the air, circling high above. Dozens of her reflections did the same, while a few of them did the opposite and flew around on the floor.

“It appears that we still only have one direction to go,” said Trixie peering ahead. “We should keep moving.”

“For once I agree with Trixie,” said Spike. “I don’t like this place.”

“I thought you loved gems,” asked Fluttershy.

“I do,” answered Spike. “But these aren’t gems, they’re crystals…” he stuck out his tongue and made a face. “They make my tummy upset just looking at them.”

The group continued forward, spreading out a little in the less confined space. The crystal floor beneath their hooves glowed with color at the slightest touch. As the group walked they left glowing hoofprints. Ripples of light spread in a wake behind the ponies. The room shimmered with multi colored light as they traveled through it.

Rainbow Dash continued to fly, preferring to observe the light show from high above, rather than take part in it. The next chamber they entered was much larger than the first, but still the path did not split. The cave of crystal continued to glow with dazzling rainbow light, enhanced with each step.

It wasn’t long before they reached the abrupt end of the path. Twilight slowed to a stop as she saw what was ahead. Thankfully, Applejack did not collide with her this time.

The ground dropped away at a jagged edge, falling down into nothingness. A narrow stone bridge extended out from the end of the chamber to another like it across the way. The crystals that should have made up the back wall and the sides of the bridge had fallen away.

Twilight looked over the edge, but could see no bottom below. Rainbow flew out into the empty space. She made a wide circle, not straying far from her friends but enough to get a good view.

“I can’t tell how far down the ground is,” Rainbow called back. “But… woah!”

“What is it Rainbow?” shouted Twilight in concern.

“I wish you guys could see this!” exclaimed Rainbow excitedly. “All the crystal rooms we just walked through are lit up and glowing. It looks amazing!”

“Can you tell how big this place is?” asked Applejack.

“Nope,” said Rainbow. She flew back to her friends. “It looks huge though. All these rooms are stuck to the ceiling.” She tapped the crystal floor beneath their hooves, sending out a dozen rainbow colored ripples of light. “There isn’t anything holding this up except the crystal walls. The chamber just ahead looks like it’s the last one, so I hope what we are looking for is in there.”

“We’ll have to cross this bridge then,” said Twilight. She looked down at the very narrow stone path that stretched two dozen hooves from one chamber to the next. With a gulp, Twilight put a hoof out onto the stone. It felt solid enough. She put another hoof out in front of the other and closed her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight mustered up the courage to keep going. She opened her eyes, now filled with determination. One hoof at a time she crossed the bridge, looking straight ahead. Before she knew it, Twilight had made it across. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Come on everypony, you can do it,” said Twilight looking at her friends. “Just don’t look down and you’ll be fine.”

One by one, her friends came across. Applejack went next, then Rarity, who looked unbelievably frightened with each step, but made it all the same. Pinkie bounced across next, hardly even seeming to notice the bridge. Spike made it across with the most ease after Pinkie. His small size meant that what was a narrow bridge for everypony else was more than wide enough for him. Trixie also crossed, doing her best not to show the worry in her eyes.

Finally, only Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were left.

“Come on Fluttershy,” said Twilight when the little yellow pegasus hadn’t moved. “You don’t even have to walk across, you can just fly!”

“Oh, no,” said Fluttershy, “I’m way too frightened to fly. Why don’t you guys just go on ahead and I’ll wait here until you get back?”

“Come on Fluttershy,” said Rainbow putting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “It’s easy, I know you can do it.” Fluttershy looked at her friend.

“You… you know I can?” stammered Fluttershy.

“Of course!” said Rainbow with a laugh. “You’ve done way more dangerous things before. Besides, if you fall, I’ll catch you.”

“You… you will?” asked Fluttershy.

“That’s what friends are for,” replied Rainbow with a smile.

“Alright,” said Fluttershy getting back to her hooves. “I can do this!”

“Come on Fluttershy!” called Pinkie. “We know you can do it!”

Fluttershy put her hoof out on the bridge.

“Don’t look down,” said Fluttershy to herself as she took another step and then another. “Don’t look down. Don’t look down.” She looked down. “Oh no, oh no, oh no! I can’t do this!” screamed Fluttershy.

A sudden crack split the air. Fluttershy looked behind her. There was a jagged break in the stone where the bridge connected to the crystal room. Sharply, the bridge dropped a few hooves. Fluttershy let out a scream of panic.

“Hang on Fluttershy!” called Rainbow Dash. “I’m coming!” Suddenly, the whole bridge gave way. With a crumbling sound, the rock broke apart and plummeted down into the black abyss below. However, Fluttershy remained right where she was, her wings flapping and holding her in place. Rainbow stopped next to her. “You can open your eyes now,” said Rainbow.

Fluttershy had both hooves over her face and just shook her head. Rainbow rolled her eyes. She placed both hooves on Fluttershy’s back and pushed her the rest of the way across the gap. At last they landed on the opposite side.

“Well, it looks like we’ll have to find another way back across,” said Twilight. She turned to the new room they had arrived in.

This room was almost perfectly round. Unlike the previous rooms, it was made mostly of stone, save for three floor-to-ceiling crystals that were placed evenly around the circle. In the center of the room was a pool of dark blue water. At the center of the pool was a crystal pillar and atop it was…

“My Element of Harmony!” cried Pinkie Pie excitedly. She made to leap forward, but Twilight held out a hoof and stopped her.

“Wait,” said Twilight. Her eyes still swept the room. “So far, every Element we’ve encountered has been protected somehow. We need to be more careful this time.”

At first glance there didn’t appear to be any dangers in this room. No deadly ice storm. No fiery nightmares. Besides the pool and the pillar, there was only their reflections in the three large crystals. Except, something about the reflections bothered Twilight. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew something was odd.

“Come on, lets just go grab it!” said Rainbow Dash impatiently. With a burst of speed she ignored Twilight’s call for her to stop. The Rainbow pegasus rushed to the center of the room. She took hold of the Element and pulled, but she couldn’t move it. “Uhf, it’s stuck or something!”

Cautiously, Twilight moved forward and her friends followed. She kept glancing at the reflections in the crystal. What was so odd about them?

The pool of water was only hoof deep but it was icy cold. The group trotted through the water until they reached the pillar at the center of the room. It was not a natural formation, it had been carved, smoothed and carefully placed in this perfectly round pool.

“Maybe I have to pick it up,” suggested Pinkie, bouncing forward. She put a hoof on it and tried to move it. It did move slightly, but it was like there was something holding it back. Pinkie strained, trying to take it but she couldn’t.

“Maybe we just need some magic here?” asked Rarity.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” said Spike. “The last element we use magic on almost froze us!”

“True,” said Rarity. “But I don’t see an ice storm here.” She looked to Twilight for her approval.

“It’s worth a try, I’ll shout for you to stop if anything bad happens,” said Twilight. Rarity’s horn glowed and the Element lifted easily from the pillar. The white unicorn couldn’t help but smile.

“See, it just… required… a little… uhnf… finesse…” Rarity grunted with effort as she tried to pull the element towards them. However, while she could levitate it up and down, she couldn’t move it away from the pillar. At last Rarity set the element back, disappointed by her fruitless effort.

Twilight moved up to the golden necklace and examined it. There didn’t appear to be anything she could see that was holding it in place. Experimentally, she used her magic to try and lift it. Indeed, up and down was easy enough, but moving it in any direction didn’t seem to work.

Twilight released the element from her magic and as she did, her reflections all did the same. A sudden realization dawned on Twilight and she glanced at the three large crystals that held their reflections. As she looked at the crystal to her right, she finally realized what was odd.

“What in the world…” said Twilight.

“What is it, Twilight?” asked Applejack, following her friend’s gaze to their images reflected in the wall. It took Applejack a moment to realize what she was seeing. The reflection she was staring at, wasn’t staring back. Their reflections were mimicking them, but not from the direction they were reflected.

In the crystal to their right, their bodies all should have been profile. Instead, the reflections faced them. In fact, every reflection in every crystal faced them. As Twilight and Applejack stared at the crystal to the right, their reflections were looking to their left.

“I think,” said Twilight aloud. “I think we can’t move it, because our reflections are stopping us.”

“So, we just have to smash the crystals then?” asked Rainbow. Twilight looked around the room and shook her head.

“You said this room was attached to the ceiling. Doing that might make this whole thing crumble apart,” said Twilight.

“Well, what do we do then?” asked Rarity. “How can we fight our own reflections?”

Twilight pondered Rarity’s words. How could they fight their own reflections? Her eyes searched the mirrors. There had to be an answer. What where they supposed to do? And then Twilight saw it, staring her right in the face… or rather… Twilight turned to look at Trixie.

“You,” whispered Twilight. Trixie took an uncertain step back, her expression a little unnerved at Twilight’s sudden attention.

“Me what?” asked Trixie uncertainly.

“You aren’t reflected,” said Twilight. Trixie raised and eyebrow, then turn her head to look at the reflection to their side. Sure enough, no reflection looked back. There were only six ponies and one baby dragon reflected in each wall. The others stepped aside to make way for Trixie.

Trixie walked slowly through the water, moving up to the pillar. The reflections waited and watched, just like their real counterparts. Trixie put a hoof on the element. Then, taking a deep breath, she lifted it clear of the pillar. In each reflection, the element dangled in mid-air, not held by magic, but simply floating.

“You did it!” cried Pinkie Pie, leaping forward and hugging Trixie. The Pinkie in each reflection did the same, hugging the air. The only Trixie in the room looked at Pinkie in shock and surprise at the sudden contact.

“Help!” cried Trixie as Pinkie grappled her in a crushing hug. The others laughed.

However, their moment of triumph was cut short. With a bellowing crack, the three crystals broke. A spider web of lines ran up the length of each reflective surface. Twilight caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror directly ahead. It smiled wickedly and wave goodbye to them. Then the crystal fragmented again and the image was lost.

“This can’t be good,” said Applejack as the ground began to shake. The crystal mirrors shattered, falling away in gleaming shards. The whole room shivered violently and cracks spread out across the floor. The shallow pool of water drained away.

“We need to get out of here!” shouted Twilight. The group galloped back towards the entrance where the bridge had collapsed. The gap was too far to jump. “Rainbow! Fluttershy! Fly Pinkie and Applejack across!” commanded Twilight.

Without hesitation, the two pegasus scooped up the two earth ponies, flying them over the gap. The ground trembled beneath them. The far end of the room collapsed away, the stone floor cracking and starting to break apart. Rainbow and Fluttershy were on their way back.

“Rarity and Trixie next!” ordered Twilight. Rainbow’s eyes widened in disagreement as she looked from Twilight to the collapsing room behind her friends. Twilight could see her friend’s internal struggle. “Do it! Now!” Rainbow nodded and grabbed Trixie while Fluttershy lifted Rarity.

Twilight felt the ground beneath her hooves shift and drop. Rainbow blazed across the gap, dropping Trixie haphazardly before looping in a back flip and rushing towards Twilight.

Twilight could see that Rainbow wasn’t going to make it. She looked down at Spike, her horn glowing softly as magic wrapped around him. The dragon was shouting something, pleading with her, but Twilight couldn’t hear him.

As if in a dream, Twilight levitated Spike out towards Rainbow Dash. Her friends were shouting to her but their voices were lost in tumbling stone. She smiled at them. Expertly, Rainbow grabbed Spike out of the air. She didn’t even slow down as she continued to speed towards Twilight. Her hooves outstretched, pushing herself to fly faster, Rainbow sped across the gap.

The ground broke away and Rainbow rushed past, narrowly missing her friend.

“TWILIGHT!” shouted Rainbow Dash, watching as Twilight plummeted down into the darkness below.

Chapter 16

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 16

Rainbow Dash watched helplessly as Twilight plummeted backward into the looming darkness below. Chunks of the ceiling had come loose and cascaded down in a shower of stone all around Twilight.

“Rarity!” shouted Rainbow. Rainbow knew what she had to do. She didn’t turn to see, she didn’t wait to hear. In one great arching motion, Rainbow spun in the air. Spike let out a wail of surprise as Rainbow hurtled him at the other ponies on the ledge thirty hooves away.

Then Rainbow Dash dove down into the falling rocks, racing headlong after Twilight.

Behind her she heard Rarity call out to Spike. Rainbow hoped that the unicorn had been quick enough to catch him. The others shouted for her and for Twilight as well. But Rainbow couldn’t make out their words. She didn’t have time to look back or heed their pleading shouts.

The glowing light of Twilight’s element guided Rainbow as she sped downwards. The pegasus flew so fast that the falling rocks seemed to be floating in the air all around her. With expert skill and speed she wove through the cascade of stone towards her friend. In a moment more, Rainbow caught up with Twilight and wrapped her hooves around the unicorn.

Twilight was not as heavy as Rainbow had expected. She could easily have slowed their fall, but she did not. Instead, Rainbow beat her wings harder, making them fall faster, pushing them through the rocks.

They obviously couldn’t stay where they were. Going up was way too dangerous with the rocks tumbling all around them. Going down was even more dangerous as any moment the ground might rise up to meet them.

Using her wings, Rainbow turn them, picking a direction that seemed to have less obstacles than the rest. Slowly, Rainbow began to pull up, keeping just enough speed that the rocks weren’t racing past her. With the other mare in her forelegs, maneuvering was much more difficult, but Rainbow managed to avoid hitting anything.

Falling debris tumbled all around them with no end in sight. Rainbow didn’t know how far down this place went but it couldn’t go on forever. The sooner they were flying level the better.

Rainbow felt the sharp sting of stone as a jagged piece of rock bit into her wing. They turned sharply in an uncontrolled spiral. Twilight let out a fresh scream of terror that was lost in the stone fall.

Rainbow struggled to regain her stability. After a brief moment she was able to break them out of the spin. Although she couldn’t flap the hurt wing she was still able to glide on it. It was painful to extend the wing out all the way but she didn’t have a choice. She had to get them out of the rain of rocks before something larger hit them, something big enough that there would be no recovery.

The momentary lapse in concentration had turned them around. Rainbow didn’t know which way she had been flying or which way to go now. Picking at random, Rainbow continued to race through the stone. She wove and dodged with near misses zooming past her head.

It was difficult to see. The only light was coming from Twilight’s tiara. The soft purple glow was weak, giving them less than a dozen hooves of light in any direction. Unfortunately, wherever the light did shine, its beams found only more falling stone and no clear direction of escape.

The second and third strikes came in rapid succession. One slammed into the back of Rainbow’s neck and the other into her flank. She bit back a yelp as hot pain surged through her body.

With a powerful flap that sent a fresh wave of agony through her, Rainbow at last propelled them out of the falling rocks. They were still descending, but at least they weren’t falling with the rocks anymore. She still couldn’t tell how far down the ground was but she knew they were going way too fast.

There was no other option. She couldn’t slow them down just by gliding. Rainbow flapped her wings again and gritted her teeth. Her right wing had been hit hard. Her instinct was to bring it to her side and protect it. She struggled with all her might to keep it extended. Retracting it would drop them out of the air like a.... stone. She flapped again, slowing them further.

It was still not enough. They needed to lose more speed. Rainbow banked, using the change in direction to slow them down some more. She wasn’t sure how far ahead the walls were and just going straight might cause them to crash.

There was only blackness around them. The rock fall, while she could still hear it, was no longer visible. The two mares glided down in slow looping circles, the never ending darkness below them.

It felt like they had been falling for hours, that their descent was without end. Twilight looked downwards but the light from her element did not shine far enough. Both of the friends were tense as they spun slowly downwards into the dark, unable to see where they were headed.

At last, the pale reflection of the ground shined below them. It looked to be flat and smooth. Rainbow had been worried they would find a field of pointed rocks. But this flat surface would make a perfect landing area.

Giving another painful flap, Rainbow slowed them one last time and warned Twilight what was about to happen.

They were still going too fast so they would have to gallop as they landed. Rainbow came low to the ground and released Twilight. Her friend almost stumbled when her hooves hit the stone, but Twilight recovered and galloped along the ground for a long while before finally slowing to a stop.

With Twilight safely on the ground, Rainbow lowered herself down. Her hooves hit the stone with an impact she could feel in her bones. She ran as hard as she could. Gradually, Rainbow slowed her speed before making a sharp turn and circling back towards Twilight.

Rainbow folded her injured wing against her side. It hurt quite a lot and she wondered how bad the damage really was. She couldn’t really see her wing in this low light. Even still, it didn’t feel like she would be flying on it any time soon.

“Are you okay?” asked Rainbow, reaching her friend and examining Twilight for any injuries. Twilight nodded and then her eyes widened as she saw Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow!” cried Twilight in concern.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” said Rainbow extending her wing and wincing slightly. “With any luck it should be good as new in…”

“No!” exclaimed Twilight. “Your element! Where did your element go!?”

Rainbow felt a little taken aback. She lifted a hoof and touched the spot where the necklace should have been, however, she didn’t find it there. She moved her hoof around her neckline desperately, searching for it as if the jewelry had just been pushed to the side. But it was gone.

“One of the rocks that hit me must have knocked it off,” said Rainbow, glancing around trying to spot it. If it had indeed fallen off, maybe it was still glowing. In this darkness any light would be easy to spot. She couldn’t see it, if only she could fly…

“Oh, this is bad, this is bad,” chanted Twilight. She trotted worryingly in place as though the ground was too hot to stand on. Rainbow looked at Twilight in slight puzzlement, not sure what was bad, until the burning pain engulfed her body.

The pegasus let out a wail of distress, that came out like a terrible screech. Rainbow felt the flames beginning to crawl up her leg. She was changing back into a nightmare! Without the element to keep herself in check the monster inside was about to burn through.

“Run, Twilight,” urged Rainbow Dash as the flames spread across her body. “Run from me before I lose who I am.”

To Rainbow’s complete surprise, Twilight did run, but not away. The unicorns forelegs wrapped around Rainbow, hugging her tightly. The flames began to dwindle until they were all but gone. However Twilight did not let her friend go.

“I won’t abandon you,” said Twilight. “We will find your element and then figure out how to get back to the others.” Twilight glanced up through the darkness above them and Rainbow did the same. Very, very, high above, the distant ceiling was dotted with hundreds of small glowing crystals, no bigger than fireflies. “Somehow.”

Twilight was getting used to being carried, even if she didn’t much like it, but there was no other option. Without her element, Rainbow needed constant hug therapy to combat the nightmare inside her.

Twilight hadn’t been sure that the temporary solution discovered by Pinkie Pie would work on Rainbow again. The last time, it had required strong magic to even be able to hold her. All the same it seemed to be working. Perhaps Twilight had been able to catch it early enough that magic wasn’t needed... yet.

However, the flames hadn’t gone completely. Rainbow’s hooves blazed with fire and already it was slowly crawling up her front legs. While Twilight’s hugs had managed to slow the transformation, it had not stopped it. The fire was still spreading, albeit slowly.

With her injured wing Rainbow’s ability to fly was limited. She was sure she could manage a short flight if she absolutely had to, but neither of them wanted to see just how far she could go.

They were traveling by hoof towards the glowing red light in the distance. In this darkness the light of the other element was easy to spot. Even if the glow was weak it was still visible whenever Twilight covered her own element, plunging them in to blackness.

At the moment the tiara was back on Twilights head. It continued to glow in slow steady pulses, casting a ghostly purple light in a circle around them. Unlike the last cave they had been in, this cave appeared to have no deep crevasses or mazes of stalagmites. It also had no light what-so-ever, save for the distant red glow and the twinkling crystals high above that almost looked like the night sky.

The slow strobe from Twilight’s element was all they had to light the way. For all they could see in the dimness, there might be a bottomless drop not far to their left, or a forest of gems just to their right. But within their little sphere of light, there was nothing more than flat, smooth, stone.

“I need to stop for a few minutes,” said Rainbow Dash. Twilight was surprised to hear the fatigue in her friend’s voice.

“Of course,” replied Twilight. “Rainbow, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” said Rainbow in a tone that implied her words weren’t entirely honest. The pegasus halted where she was before lowering herself down to the stone with a grunt of effort.

“Do you want me to get off you?” asked Twilight. She was still on Rainbow’s back with her forelegs wrapped around her friend.

“Can you get off and still hug me?’ asked Rainbow.

“Not really…” answered Twilight after a moment. The two lay in silence for a long while. The darkness pressed in against them as the weak light of Twilight’s element faded in and out.

Twilight was not tired. The fall had put so much adrenaline in her that she might never sleep again. For the last week she had practically been casting magic almost non-stop. First in Ponyville while delivering supplies, then while on the road to Hoofington and again while traveling to Canterlot. Today however, she had hardly cast anything. It felt… odd.

Her eyes wandered upwards towards where they had fallen from. The tiny crystals sparkled and Twilight wondered what her friends high above were doing. Had they continued on to Canterlot? Were they sitting there waiting for her and Rainbow to return? Maybe they were formulating a plan to come and rescue them… And… had that glowing crystal just moved?

Twilight squinted her eyes. Yes, she was right. A tiny point of light was moving high above. It was almost impossible to see at such a great distance and with so many other little points of light up there… actually… a lot more little points of light… had there been that many glowing crystals before?

“Alright, let’s keep going,” announced Rainbow Dash. With a sudden jolt, she got back to her hooves. Twilight had to tighten her grip to keep from falling off.

“Rainbow,” asked Twilight, her focus returning to her friend. “Are you sure you’re alright?

“Yeah, I’m just a little exhausted from the fall,” replied Rainbow as she trotted on. “And, not to sound mean or anything, but you’re not exactly light as a feather. I can’t believe Pinkie carried you all the way from Hoofington.”

“Yeah, me neither,” answered Twilight. “She’s always full of surprises… Rainbow,” asked Twilight again, redirecting their conversation, “when was the last time you slept?” Rainbow missed a step but recovered.

“I don’t…” began Rainbow, but she didn’t even have to see Twilight’s face to know the look her friend was giving her. “Ponyville…”

“Rainbow, that was days ago!” exclaimed Twilight.

“I know,” replied Rainbow. “But I can’t sleep… bad dreams… More than you can imagine,” added Rainbow quietly.

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight confused by her friend’s words. If Rainbow wasn’t sleeping, how could she have had any bad dreams?

“At first I just wasn’t tired,” explained Rainbow. “But when we got to Hoofington, something changed… I changed. I just couldn’t sleep while we were there.

“When we left from Hoofington, something followed us,” continued Rainbow. She glanced up. “Lots of somethings.” Twilight looked at the glowing points of light high above too. She felt her eyes widen. There weren’t just a few more of them this time, there were a lot more of them. What had been a small sprinkling of tiny dots now looked more like the daytime sky.

“Nightmares…” whispered Twilight. “There must be thousands…”

“Yeah… a lot of them for sure,” said Rainbow finally looking away. “Every time you guys go to sleep, they’ve tried to come and feed on you.”

“Feed on us?” exclaimed Twilight in horror. Rainbow nodded.

“On your fears,” explained Rainbow. “I’ve been keeping them away.”

“How?” asked Twilight in surprise.

“It’s hard to explain,” said Rainbow. “But there is this place, it’s not really a place, between being awake and being asleep. Ever since I started to change I can go there, although I don’t really go anywhere. When I was wearing the element it was a lot harder to do. Like I said, it’s hard to explain.

“Anyhow, while I’m there everything is different. Distance doesn’t mean anything. Time doesn’t move. And I can go in and out of others’ dreams like they were clouds floating by.”

“The æther,” whispered Twilight.

“The what?” asked Rainbow, turning her head to glance back at Twilight.

“The æther,” repeated Twilight. “It’s... well, it’s magic. Pure tangible magic. Magic without shape or form, just waiting to become something. Sometimes, in dreams you can see it, or touch it. We are actually in it right now, although we cannot see it. Unicorns can feel it, draw from it.” Twilight paused for a moment. “Nightmares must be able to travel through it, to invade the dreams of others.”

“Yeah, well, not while I’m here they won’t,” said Rainbow, she smiled. Twilight looked up again, she couldn’t help it, there were so many of them.

“What are they all doing here?” wondered Twilight out loud. Rainbow shrugged, or rather tried too, but with Twilight holding on to her, she couldn’t.

“You said they were after my element back in Hoofington,” said Rainbow. “Maybe they came to get the one here?”

“I hope not,” said Twilight, her worry for her friends high above increasing. Two nightmares had been more than enough. This time, there would be thousands. And Twilight couldn’t see any water around to put them out.

“Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash. There was something sad in her voice. “When I… when I change into one of them…”

“You won’t!” cried Twilight. Rainbow ignored her protest.

“I want you to run,” said Rainbow. “Please, get as far away from me as you can. I don’t want to hurt you ever again.”

“Rainbow…” whispered Twilight.

“Promise me,” demanded Rainbow.

“We’ll get your element before that happens,” promised Twilight, putting all the courage she had into her words. Rainbow didn’t respond.

They trotted on forward. Every now and then Twilight would cover her element. They would wait while their eyes adjusted to the low light so they could check their course. Whenever they were walking, Twilight’s gaze was almost entirely focused upwards, watching the dancing stars move above them.

“Twilight!” cried Rainbow. “Look!” Twilight pulled her eyes away. Rainbow was holding out a hoof pointing straight ahead. At first, all Twilight could see was darkness. But after a moment she saw the faintest flicker of red-ish light. It was only there for a moment before fading back into the dark. They were here.

A thousand screeches echoed from high above. Twilight had to fight the urge to clamp her hooves over her ears. Both ponies looked up, terrified by what they saw. Descending from the ceiling was a tornado of fire. More nightmares than they could count were coming down, heading for…

“The element!” shouted Twilight over the screeches. She didn’t need to say more than that. Rainbow broke out into a gallop as Twilight hung tight with all her strength.

If Twilight had thought being on pony back for long periods of slow trots was bad, she had been sorely mistaken. Galloping was far worse. The world of shadows jumped up and down all around her.

Something loomed up out of the darkness too fast for Twilight to comprehend. Rainbow, however, was quick enough to dodge it. Twilight glanced back, able to make out the brief shape of a giant piece of upright stone they had narrowly avoided. Yet, no sooner had they passed one than another sprang up out of the darkness and then another.

They had reached the edge of the collapse. The stones glowed with a red light emanating from some place ahead. That was their destination. That was where they needed to go. Yet, if they kept up this pace they were bound to collide with something.

“Slow down!” cried Twilight as Rainbow wove back and forth around the fallen stones.

“Can’t!” shouted Rainbow. Twilight wanted to ask why, but a brief glance upwards told her why. The funnel of nightmare fire was almost to where they were.

Suddenly the red-ish light was washed out as the area was bathed in a white glow. The nightmares were so close that the fire from their bodies lit up the ground. This change in illumination didn’t slow Rainbow down at all.

With one final leap, her wings spread out and she glided into the center of the rock fall. The two ponies landed in a shallow crater, surrounded by towering stones. The stones made archways in a circle around them. It was like they were in some sort of house where the walls and roof had gone and only the stone supports remained.

In the center of the crater, sticking slightly out of the ground, was Rainbow’s element. The red lighting bolt shaped gem was pulsing with light, similar to Twilight’s. Without wasting a moment, Rainbow hurried to it and yanked it from the ground. It came free easily.

Twilight slid off her friend’s back and helped fasten it around Rainbow’s neck. The red gem continued to pulse weakly.

“Alright, now get us out of here!” cried Rainbow.

“Right!” said Twilight. She closed her eyes, getting ready to teleport.

A screech made Twilight lose her concentration and stumble backwards slightly. Twilight looked up. She had thought she would have more time before the nightmares reached them. And she was right. They were getting close but they weren’t here yet.

Slowly, Twilight turned her gaze downward. A terrible chill of fear ran down her spine as her eyes found Rainbow Dash. The screech had not come from above.

Rainbow’s mane blazed with rainbow colored flames. Her whole body was covered in fire. Only her face and the element around her neck remained normal. Twilight’s eyes searched in panic, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.

“But… I don’t understand!” cried Twilight moving towards Rainbow Dash. “The element, you’re wearing the element!”

“Stay back,” cried Rainbow, taking a step away from Twilight. “Run. You have to run!”

“No!” shouted Twilight. “I’m not leaving you! I can put a magic shield on myself and hug you and we can get out of here!”

Hooves thundered down around them. Heat washed over Twilight from all sides. The nightmares had reached them, encircled them, trapped them. Above them the air was full of blazing nightmares.

“Please,” whispered Rainbow. Twilight looked back to her friend, the fire slowly consuming the last of Rainbow’s face. Only her eyes and snout remained. “Please…” Rainbow screeched. The other nightmares echoed. Twilight covered her ears. She couldn’t look away from her friend. Or what had been her friend.

Rainbow Nightmare took a step forward. Twilight closed her eyes. She couldn’t watch.

The screech came again, but this time, from above her. Twilight opened her eyes. They were leaving. The nightmares were leaving. And Rainbow was leaving along with them.

Author's Note

I haven't put up some authors notes for a while so I thought I would share a little about this chapter. Originally, it was just Twilight down in the dark, all alone, for a whole chapter (and the stuff with Rainbow happened later). But, well, it was boring. Boring to write, boring to edit, probably boring to read... It might make a good side story (not related to this one) but I could just never get it to work here.

The problem I had was that I really liked the way the previous chapter ended (with the ground crumbling out from under Twilight). So back and forth I went as to what I wanted to do with this chapter. I tried bringing other characters down with her (Spike and Trixie each got a chance) but much to the same results as the first draft, I just didn't like it.

So, I said, forget it, I'll just cut the chapter and have Rainbow grab her and we can move on! Or... and the wheels of insanity began to spin in my brain... I could have Rainbow go down into the dark with her and we can move a major event up in the story timeline (with only minor quantum instability within the fabric of the story).

End result, one additional chapter in this giant monster of a story and I get to cut a bunch of Rainbows dialog moving forward. So, uh, yah!

Anyhow... I'm off to my second day at Wonder Con... and maybe some Disneyland afterwards. I hope you all are enjoying the story. See you next Saturday April 6th!

Chapter 17

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 17

With hardly even a glance towards her friends, Rainbow Dash spun as hard as she could. She let go of Spike, tossing him like some kind of hoofball, then she dove down after Twilight into the darkness below. The baby dragon let out a wail of terror as his arms flapped uselessly.

Rarity’s horn flared with magic and an aura of blue light glowed around Spike, catching him in mid air. He looked incredibly relieved to no longer be tumbling out of control. However, the moment was short lived. Rarity let out a cry of distress as the spell on her horn sputtered and died. She stumbled backwards barely managing to stay on her hooves.

“No. Not again,” muttered Trixie, taking a nervous step away.

The magic that was holding Spike in the air suddenly vanished. The little dragon let out another cry of fright as he started to drop once more.

“Applejack!” shouted Pinkie Pie. Applejack watched in complete confusion as a pink blur galloped past her. In one moment of terrible clarity, Applejack realized what her friend was about to do. Without any hesitation, Pinkie leapt right out over the edge. Applejack had only an instant to respond. Her jaws clamped down on Pinkie’s tail, only just managing to catch the end of it.

Pinkie stretched out her forelegs for Spike, her whole body extended out over the vast nothingness below. Spike tumbled down, his claws missing Pinkie’s hooves as the two falling bodies slipped past one another.

Imitating Applejack, Pinkie grabbed Spikes tail in her teeth. Spike let out a yelp of pain as he dangled from Pinkie Pie, who hung from Applejack, who was slowly sliding closer to the edge.

Applejack tried to pull with all her might, however, she simply wasn’t able to drag her friends back to safety. Slowly, she continued to slide forward towards the ledge, despite her best efforts.

Fluttershy hurried forward, wrapping her hooves around Applejack’s middle and bracing her. While they weren’t sliding forward anymore, they weren’t making any progress pulling their friends back up either.

Rarity joined in, taking a similar position to Fluttershy, but on Applejack’s other side. The three ponies pulled and bit-by-bit, they began to make progress. Slowly, cautiously, Applejack put one hoof behind the other, moving them away from the edge.

They were almost there, only a few more steps and their friends would be safe. Applejack’s back hoof pressed against the ground and slipped. The whole group suddenly lurched forward. Applejack was pulled halfway over the edge, with only Rarity and Fluttershy holding her from falling.

“We can’t pull you back up!” exclaimed Rarity. “Not without magic!”

“I could try lifting them,” suggested Fluttershy. “Um, if it’s okay with you?”

“Yes!” cried three voices in unison, two of which were slightly muffled.

“Let the Great and Powerful Trixie take your place,” said Trixie, at last trotting over to the side Fluttershy was on. She wrapped her forelegs around Applejack and braced herself. Fluttershy let go but both Rarity and Trixie held Applejack in place.

“Anytime you want to come get me that would be great!” cried Spike.

“Oh, right, sorry,” apologized Fluttershy. She hovered out over the edge and lowered herself down so that she was level with Pinkie and Spike. The dragon was dangling from Pinkies mouth by his tail. It didn’t look very comfortable. Pinkie on the otherhoof was all smiles. “Okay now, I’m going to help lift you back up.”

Holding out her hooves, she took hold of Pinkie and began to slowly lift her. As she did, Rarity and Trixie pulled at Applejack. After a few moments, all of the friends were back on the crystal floor, a dozen hooves away from the sheer drop.

Spike was cradling his tail, refusing to let Fluttershy examine it. Pinkie was talking non-stop about how much fun being up-side-down was, although her head was starting to feel funny. Applejack was on her back, recovering from the exertion. And both Trixie and Rarity were oddly quiet.

“Trixie,” said Rarity at last, her voice slightly shaky. “You’ve encountered that before, haven’t you?”

“You’ve almost fallen down into never ending darkness, while clutching a helpless baby dragon in your teeth? And I thought I was the only one!” cried Pinkie excitedly.

“Hey, I’m not helpless,” protested Spike. He let out a cry of ‘ouch’ as Fluttershy gently bandaged his tail and apologized for the discomfort.

“No,” said Rarity pointedly. “When my magic failed you said ‘not again’. Is this what happened before when you said you were having trouble with your magic?” All of the group looked towards Trixie expecting an answer.

“Well… uh… I… The Great and Powerful Trixie does not want to talk about it,” said Trixie at last. Applejack rolled over to her hooves and glared at Trixie.

“We are all in this together,” said Applejack. “Keeping secrets just cause they are embarrassing isn’t helping no pony.” Trixie and Applejack exchanged looks of annoyance with one another.

“Fine,” said Trixie. “When the train first stopped and I was stranded, everything was fine. But after the others left, my magic started to… fizzle.”

“Fizzle?” asked Fluttershy.

“It’s when a spell doesn’t work,” said Spike. “Sometimes, when a unicorn attempts magic too difficult for them it can cause the spell to release uncontrolled energy. Most spells, when they fail, turn into sparks and fizzle away.”

“You’ve spent way too much time with Twilight,” said Applejack looking at Spike.

“Actually, I don’t remember the last time Twilight fizzled a spell…” said Spike.

“Anyhow…” interrupted Trixie, sounding a little annoyed. “At first it was just difficult spells, like teleporting, that didn’t work. But soon even simple spells such as levitation were impossible.”

“But you managed to teleport us,” said Rarity pointedly. “Teleporting ones self is not easy. Teleporting a whole group is an amazing feat. If you could barely levitate then how…”

“I don’t know,” snapped Trixie irritably. “For some reason, I just could, like all my magic came back. When I was around you guys it feels like I could do magic I could never do before. Or at least I thought so.”

“Around us?” asked Applejack. “Wait a minute, did you come with us just so your magic would work again?”

“No!” exclaimed Trixie. Her eyes flicked away. “Well, maybe a little… okay… maybe a lot. But the Great and Powerful Trixie did say she would help you, so help she shall. Although, I’m not sure how.” Trixie’s horn lit up again before the magic shattered into sparks and died away. Trixie winced and let out a grunt of discomfort.

“What are we supposed to do now?” asked Rarity. “How are we going to travel the rest of the way to Canterlot without magic?”

“I don’t know,” replied Applejack. “I just hope Rainbow was able to… RAINBOW!” Applejack suddenly leapt up from the ground and rushed back over to the edge. In all the excitement she had completely forgotten about her friends. She could see no trace of them below. “Where are they? It shouldn’t be taking this long to fly back up here.”

Pinkie joined Applejack at the ledge, looking down into the dark as if her eyes could spot anything.

“Something’s wrong,” said Pinkie, still staring down into the abyss below.

“Ya’think!” exclaimed Applejack. Her voice was filled with frustration and the tiniest hint of anger. “I’m not sure how things could be any more wrong!”

“That’s not what I meant,” said Pinkie, a little hurt. “I mean I don’t sense anything.”

“I thought you couldn’t control your Pinkie Sense,” said Spike.

“I can’t,” replied Pinkie. “But I should be feeling something, anything! But I haven’t felt even a twitch, scratch, wiggle, flop, shake, itch, rumble or shiver at all!”

“What does that mean?” asked Applejack.

“I’m not sure,” answered Pinkie uncertainly. “I don’t know what no twitch is supposed to be.”

“Maybe everything is fine?” suggested Fluttershy. Pinkie shook her head.

“No, silly! Everything is fine is all four legs going wobbly and two hard blinks,” said Pinkie. She imitated the affect by making her legs wobble like rubber bands and blinking twice. “But I’m not getting anything at all! Maybe I don’t get good reception down in this cave?”

“Well something isn’t right,” said Applejack. “That’s for sure. We have to do something!”

“Like what?” asked Trixie sarcastically. “Even if we could use our magic, we can’t just blindly teleport down into the dark! And we only have one pegasus, who seems too scared to even fly!” Fluttershy cowered away. Applejack returned her glare to Trixie.

“Anypony else have some useful ideas,” said Applejack. Trixie turned away in a huff.

“Twilight and Rainbow have both gotten out of worse stuff than this,” said Spike. “I’m sure they’re fine. We just have to wait for them to fly back up, or send us some kind of signal.”

“What if they can’t do either?” asked Applejack. Spike went silent and looked suddenly worried as if he hadn’t considered that anything bad could possibly happen to his best unicorn friend. “I say we should…”

But whatever Applejack was about to suggest was lost in a terrible screech that sent a shiver down the spines of all of the friends. Their attention was pulled away from their discussion and out into the darkness that was now filled with lights.

“Oh no!” shrieked Fluttershy, ducking behind Spike and cowering down so that most of her was still clearly visible.

“Not them again!” cried Applejack.

The ceiling crawled with flames and hundreds upon hundreds of nightmares moved across it. They were flooding in from all directions, filling the roof of the cave. More shrieks echoed through the darkness.

“How are we going to hold them off without magic?” asked Rarity.

“We have to fall back,” cried Trixie. The friends all turned to her once again. “It is the only way, we can’t stay here!”

“We aint running!” said Applejack forcefully. “We aint leaving our friends behind.”

“It doesn’t matter, we can’t run! Look!” exclaimed Spike. He pointed back from where they had come. Flickering light was coming from the crystal cave behind them. In a moment more a flood of nightmares came streaming out of the cave.

The friends were frozen, facing down a terrible army of fire. They couldn’t run. They couldn’t hide. They were trapped. The nightmares screeched and charged. Their fire rippled through the colored crystal cave, reflecting the blaze of flames in every surface.

At the last moment, as the nightmares reached the friends, the beasts took to the air. Applejack shouted for them to duck and all of the ponies did. Rarity, Fluttershy and Trixie all let out cries of distress as the herd of fire galloped past overhead. The group all lay there, cowering while nightmares soared by so close that ponies felt like they were back out under the blistering Sun.

Before long the mass began to thin until only the last few trickled past. The ponies watched as the wave of nightmares dove downwards into the cave below, creating a giant whirlwind of flaming doom. When the last nightmare had passed, the friends got back to their hooves.

“Woah,” said Applejack, “that was close! I’m surprised those things didn’t attack us!”

“Yeah it was almost like they weren’t interested,” said Rarity.

“Or like they couldn’t see us!” said Pinkie Pie.

Another screech echoed from behind them. The friends turned again to find a lone straggling nightmare galloping through the cave. Like the others it was charging right towards them. But unlike the others it did not fly. It was headed right towards Fluttershy, who was frozen in place.

Pinkie leapt through the air, knocking Fluttershy over and out of the way. The nightmare skidded to a halt. It turned towards the ponies, its blazing eyes swept over them, looking at each pony and yet… not at any of them. It moved towards where Pinkie and Fluttershy lay, and stopped nearby. But it wasn’t looking at them.

A distant screech made the nightmares ears perk up and it charged off, joining the frenzy already in progress.

“Well, that was strange,” said Applejack, trotting over to her friends to make sure they were okay. Her eyes found Pinkie’s element, it was glowing softly.

“Where do you think they were going is such a hurry?’ asked Trixie.

“Last time they were after an element,” said Rarity. “Maybe Twilight and Rainbow found another element down there. And maybe the nightmares are after it!”

“Uh, guys, they’re coming back!” exclaimed Spike. A fresh round of screeches signaled the return of the nightmare horde. Like a wave of fire they crashed against the ceiling of the cave before breaking into smaller blazing streams. Quickly they vanished, flying into unseen cracks in the walls. Before long, the nightmares had gone completely, as if they had never been in the first place.

“I’m going down there,” said Fluttershy, to everypony’s surprise. “Who’s coming with?”

Spike, as it turned out, was the one who was coming with. Despite every other pony, except Trixie, volunteering to go, he was the only one that made sense. The others were simply too heavy to fly down.

Down into the darkness they descended. Spike clung tightly to Fluttershy. He kept glancing backwards, watching the distant crystal formation shrink ever smaller above them.

They were fully in shadow when Spike spotted it. A tiny, faint, glow in the dark. It had only been there for the briefest of moments but he had seen it. Then it glowed again. Spike directed Fluttershy down, guiding her until at last she could see it too. The light source was weak and small, but against the lightless dark it was like a beacon.

At last they landed lightly at the edge of an indent in the ground. At its center was a huddled up ball of fur with a slowly pulsing light atop her head. Soft sounds of crying were coming from the pony.

Spike hopped off Fluttershy’s back and cautiously approached his friend, worry spread across his face.

“Twilight,” asked Spike. “What’s wrong, what happened? Where’s Rainbow?”

“Oh Spike!” exclaimed Twilight. She leapt to her hooves and galloped towards the baby dragon, grabbing him up in a tight embrace. Tears were rolling down her face and her mane looked a mess. “They took her! The nightmares took Rainbow Dash!”

“What!” exclaimed Fluttershy, trotting closer. “How? Why?”

“Her element came off during the fall,” explained Twilight. “We went to look for it but she was already starting to change back. I tried to help her, to keep her as she was. And it worked, sort of. But when we found the element it didn’t do anything. She changed back and she flew away with them! And I can’t go after her!” Twilight’s horn sparked and fizzled as she tried to cast a spell.

“I don’t know what’s wrong!” continued Twilight completely distraught. “With Rainbow gone and my magic not working I have no idea how we can do anything! This is hopeless! We’ve failed! We’ve lost!”

“Twilight…” said Spike.

“I’m sorry Spike…” said Twilight. “I’ve failed everypony.”

The three friends ascended upwards through the darkness. Once again, Twilight found herself on the back of a pegasus. She didn’t need to hug Fluttershy the same way Dash had needed it, but she still had her forelegs around her friend all the same.

None of them spoke. All of Fluttershy’s efforts were directed towards carrying them. They didn’t move very fast, but Twilight preferred it that way. She didn’t know what she was going to tell the rest of her friends. What would she say to them? How would she explain the loss of Rainbow Dash and why her magic had stopped working?

Slow as they might be, it was too soon for Twilight when they reached the rest of the group back up on the crystal ledge. Twilight had been dreading this moment but found her worries to be completely unfounded as her friends embraced her the moment she climbed down from Fluttershy.

Then her thoughts finally caught up. For some reason she had expected them to know what had happened down below. She had expected them to demand answers as to why she had let the nightmares take Rainbow Dash. But for the moment, the only words being spoken were thankfulness for her safety.

However, the moment could not last forever. Her friends looked at Twilight expectantly and she realized that they were waiting for her to speak, to say something, to say anything.

“Rainbow is gone,” blurted out Twilight. It hadn’t been the first thing she had wanted to tell them. But it had just come out all on its own. An expression of worry and horror spread across her friends. Even Trixie looked a little unnerved.

“Gone? Gone how?” asked Applejack.

“The nightmares took her,” answered Spike. Twilight was thankful she hadn’t been the one to say it.

“I’m sorry, I tried, I really did…” pleaded Twilight. Tears came unbidden once more to her face. She felt surprise as her friends hugged her a second time. She couldn’t believe that she had expected her friends to hate her.

“It’s alright sugarcube,” said Applejack. “We’ll get her back. Rainbow is strong, I’m sure she’ll fight them.”

“Where do we even start looking for her?” asked Twilight. “They could be anywhere in this huge cave.”

“I don’t think they stayed here,” said Pinkie. “Before Fluttershy and Spike went down to get you, we saw them all flying away.”

“Twilight, dear,” said Rarity. “We do have a, uh, another problem.” Twilight’s eyes widen slightly. “Both Trixie, and myself, seem to be having some difficulty with our spells.”

“They don’t work,” said Twilight somberly. It was worse than she feared. It wasn’t just her magic that was failing, it was everypony’s. Rarity just nodded.

“My magic isn’t working either,” said Twilight, looking away. “I was trying to teleport… to take us to safety… but it didn’t work. I thought it had just been the nightmares breaking my concentration but, even after they were gone I still couldn’t do it.”

Twilight focused her magic attempting to teleport like she had below. Much to her and everypony else’s surprise, it worked. With a flash of magic she vanished from one spot and appeared in another.

“But… but it didn’t work before!” cried Trixie. “The Great and Powerful Trixie tried and tried but it didn’t work!” Trixie’s horn began to glow and she levitated Spike into the air, much to his protests.

“It would seem that our magic is working again,” said Rarity. Trixie dropped Spike unceremoniously, but Rarity’s horn glowed and she caught him before he hit the ground. Carefully she set him back upright.

“But it wasn’t working!” cried Twilight. “This doesn’t make any sense!”

“Maybe, like the shield you have to be close to another pony?” suggested Pinkie Pie.

“Maybe,” said Twilight thoughtfully.

“So what are we going to do about Rainbow Dash?” asked Fluttershy.

“We can’t stay here and hope she’ll just come back to us,” said Applejack. “We ain’t got no direction to go but back at the moment.”

“I don’t like it, but we don’t have another option,” said Twilight. She turned her head and looked back out into the darkness. “We don’t have any way to search for Rainbow. And we don’t know how long our magic will last before it gives out again. We need to get to Canterlot. Hopefully we’ll find help there.”

The group backtracked through the crystal caves and back up the tunnel until they once more came to the fork in the path. They took the other passage this time, the one that continued upwards.

At last the tunnel ended into bright sunlight. Twilight had never been so happy to be back out in the burning heat as she was then. The darkness and bad memories of the caves seemed to have lasted a lifetime and Twilight was not eager to ever go back below ground.

With two elements in their possession, keeping up the shield was still easy. Pinkie had tried to see if her element protected her from the Sun the same way Rainbow’s had. However, that was not the case and she’d had to hurry back under Twilight’s protection.

They were not in Canterlot yet, but rather along the side of the mountain. The group found themselves on a modest hiking trail, wide enough to stand side-by-side. There was still only one path ahead of them and hopefully it led the way they needed to go.

The going was slow, but the rock fall was not as bad as the train tracks below. Rocks littered much of the path, such that no pony could walk in a straight line. But their path was never completely blocked.

Gradually the sloping path began to level out and ahead of them the spires of Canterlot rose into view. The castle city was sparkling white, its towers topped with domes of gold. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at the sight of it but as they got closer she could already tell that something was wrong.

The path they followed led them past the train station. The platform was empty as they passed. No guards, no ponies. Not surprising given the fact that the Sun was blazing down the way it was.

The group followed the walkway that led from the station to the main city. The path was unnaturally quiet and Twilight could feel a building dread within her. Something here was very, very wrong.

As they passed under the main gate at the front of the city, everypony halted and gasped in shock.

“What… what happened here,” stammered Twilight, her eyes taking in the sight, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

The city was filled with ponies.

Some were walking casually down the sidewalk. A couple were sitting at tables, enjoying lunch and a few fillies were playing on the nearby grass. Or at least they all had been doing those things. Now, all of them, every last one, had been turned to stone.

“This… this isn’t possible,” said Twilight. She led them towards a nearby mare. Twilight inspected the pony as best she could while still maintaining the protection spell. The pony was frozen in stone. Twilight tapped the statue with a hoof. “Completely solid and not a statue. This is, was, a pony. But what could do this?”

“A cockatrice?” offered Fluttershy. “Their gaze can turn ponies to stone.”

“But look at them,” said Rarity. “None of them are afraid, none of them are running. Its like they were frozen solid, right in the middle of whatever they were doing.”

“This has to be magic,” said Trixie darkly. “But I’ve never seen a spell so powerful that it could do something on this kind of scale.”

“We have to get to the castle,” said Twilight urgently. The others nodded and the group hurried as quickly as they could towards the castle at the center of town.

Every street was the same. Stone ponies everywhere. Twilight forced herself to look ahead, to keep her eyes on the castle but she was already afraid of what they would find within.

Once they were through the front door Twilight and Rarity dropped the shield. The group broke into a gallop, with Spike clinging to Twilight’s back so he wouldn’t get left behind.

They rushed past the guards, who did not, could not, move. They hurried down the main hall, careful to avoid knocking into the ponies who had been solidified where they stood. Just like those outside, the ponies within the castle had been going about their business. Some had been talking while others were simply headed towards some place they would never reach.

Twilight led the way, galloping as fast as she could. The others followed, keeping pace. At last they reached the throne room. Twilight nearly tore the doors off their hinges as the group burst in.

The friends all stood there, motionless, like they had been turned to stone themselves. And Twilight’s worst fears stood before them.

“Oh no, please, no,” whispered Twilight as her eyes fell on Celestia. The royal goddess was standing in the center of the room. Her hair did not blow in an unseen wind, her eyes did not glint with kindness and hope. She did not move for she too had been turned to stone.

“Twilight Sparkle,” boomed a voice that made everypony jump. The group spun with alarm. Their eyes widened in disbelief. “I see you received my letter.”

Author's Note

Once, long ago, when this story existed as little more than an outline and a bunch of almost empty word documents that had only a few lines in them like "write something awesome for this chapter" or "Rainbow Nightmare stuff goes here" this chapter was number 9 in the order list. So... I had intend to get here a bit sooner in the story, but... well... one thing led to another and the story just kept getting longer.

Part of the reason for it's 'length' is actually my limited time to work on it, although, I'm not sure how limited 20 hours a week is. Since I never have more than around 3ish hours a night during weekdays I had to break a lot of chapters in half keeping them at manageable size for editing time.

At first, a lot of chapters were 8k words, but that was way too big. 4K was much more manageable (around 12 pages) but even that started to give me issues on tight weeks where my time was eaten up by other things *cough* bioshock *cough*.

So, the longer winded post here (getting as long as the story) even if we had less chapters, I think our size would still be roughly the same, maybe a tiny bit less.

Anyhow... half way! :D

Chapter 18

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 18

“Princess!” exclaimed Twilight as her eyes found the tall shadowy black mare towering over them. The princess’s midnight blue mane was filled with tiny glinting stars and danced in an invisible wind. “You’re alright!” Twilight rushed forward and hugged the royal mare, much to the other pony’s surprise.

“Yes, dear Twilight,” answered Princess Luna. After a moment of pause, she returned Twilight’s embrace. “I am unharmed.”

“Princess, what happened here?” asked Rarity seriously.

“I am afraid that I do not know,” replied Luna. “This, is how I found Canterlot,” she waved a hoof around at the ponies frozen in place. “At first I was surprised that I had awoken in the middle of the day. Yet, when I went to find my sister, I discovered the sight before you.” Luna’s eyes moved slowly towards the throne room but she turned her head away before she saw her sister. “It has… been difficult to accept.”

Luna let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. With strong determination, she forced herself to look at her sister before she moved purposefully forward. The group of ponies parted to make way for her.

She trotted at a snails pace, as if longing not to reach the destination ahead. The six friends and Trixie stayed a few steps behind her. None of them wanted to pass her.

They had all sensed it as they had entered the room. Something here was very, very wrong. Twilight felt even more uneasy as they neared Celestia. The closer they got, the worse the sensation became. The air tasted wrong here, foul somehow. The sounds of their hoof-falls were dulled in a room that should have rung with their echoes.

Twilight’s eyes moved around the room, examining the odd sight before her. Celestia stood in the center, immobile in solid white stone. Spread around the room, in a uniform pattern, were six of her guards. Two guards stood behind her, at the base of the throne. Another two were off to either side of her, although at a respectful distance. And the last two ponies were behind Twilight and her friends, back at the door.

Luna halted a few dozen hooves in front of Celestia and the group came to a stop behind her, none of them eager to get closer. While the Princess of the Sun had been turned to stone, just like all the other inhabitants of Canterlot, she was different from the other ponies. So far, everypony else seemed blissfully unaware of what had happened to them. Celestia however had an expression of terror frozen upon her face.

Twilight moved to Luna’s side but was hesitant to take another step forward. She couldn’t say what it was but there was something very wrong here. Not just the ponies frozen in stone but something else. Something terrible. She had to get closer, she just didn’t want to.

With a gulp, Twilight put forward a cautious hoof. She felt a shiver run up her spine but she didn’t pull her leg back. She placed her hoof on the cold stone floor. The ground was just a step away, yet it was as if the marble was made of ice, rather than stone.

Closing her eyes, Twilight willed herself forward. It was like plunging into ice water. Her whole body shook again. When she gasped her breath came out in a puff of frost. She wasn’t imagining it, it really was colder in this small section of the room.

“This was the center,” whispered Twilight as she advanced towards Celestia. “I can still feel the aftereffects.”

Feel was the wrong word for it. Twilight could practically taste the bitter metallic stench in the air. Her horn itched and tingled like it never had before. The nearer she got to Celestia, the worse the sensation and the cold became. Twilight turned her path, the cold becoming too much for her.

Twilight’s eyes swept over Celestia and examined her white stone form. She was hoping for it to impart some insight. Yet, apart from being stone, the statue had little to offer.

Making her way around the back of the statue, Twilight noticed something in the marble floor. Scratch marks? She pawed at it with a hoof. The statue had been moved forward slightly by a few hooves. Had Celestia been charging her attacker when she had been frozen? If so, why had none of the guards reacted?

Continuing around Celestia, Twilight finally came back to face her friends. She had gotten very few answers from the statue. Instead even more questions were tumbling around in her head. She let out a breath of white mist and gave another shiver. Why was it so cold right here when everything else was boiling hot?

“This whole room just don’t feel right,” said Applejack nervously. Twilight noticed that all of her friends looked extremely shaken. “Something about this place is really wrong.”

Whatever had happened here it was strong enough that even non-unicorns, who knew nothing of magic, could feel the unnatural sensation around them. Which meant… Twilight’s face filled with horror at her sudden realization.

“It can’t be…” whispered Twilight to herself. Quickly, she backed away from Celestia.

“What can’t be?” asked Spike. “Twilight, what’s wrong?”

“You feel it too then,” asked Luna. Twilight could only nod. She felt like if she tried to talk she might throw up. She galloped the last few hooves back to her friends. The cold instantly vanished and the odd acrid taste in her mouth lessened, although it did not go away.

“It feels like the magic here is… dead,” said Twilight a little breathlessly. She attempted to light her horn with a simple spell, but not even the faintest glow appeared. “The æther in this area is broken somehow.”

“The what now?” asked Applejack.

“The æther,” answered Trixie. “Magic, the purest, untapped form of magic. Like pegasus tap into the wind to fly and earth ponies use the ground to grow. Unicorns manipulate the æther to perform spells. But for it to be damaged… that’s impossible… like wounding the air. It just can’t be done.”

“Apparently it can,” replied Twilight. Her eyes moved back towards Celestia.

“Now you understand why it took so long for me to contact you,” said Luna. “I was unsure what I was dealing with at first, or how dangerous it could be. As it was, touching my horn to my sister’s to send you a message was extremely difficult.”

“Oh my, that sounds terrifying! Why did you have to do that?” asked Fluttershy softly.

“The link exists only between my sister and Spike,” explained Luna. “With the æther so badly damaged here, it took me several days to gather enough magic to cast the sending spell.”

“Wait, are you saying that magic won’t work here?” asked Spike.

“Not exactly,” answered Luna. “But casting anything is extremely difficult.”

“But without magic, how can we help Princess Celestia?” asked Rarity.

Rarity was right, just how were they supposed to help Celestia without magic? The others were looking at Twilight, expecting an answer. A plan. She didn’t have either.

“Well…” said Twilight, forcing her brain to think, to search for something, anything. “We need to figure out what happened,” announced Twilight at last. “It might help us figure out a way to fix it. Any ideas Princess?” Twilight looked hopefully towards Luna but the mare just shook her head.

“I have never seen anything like this before,” replied Luna. Pinkie suddenly rushed past Twilight and Luna, darting forward into the area of cold.

“This calls for an investigation,” proclaimed Pinkie. She held a magnifying glass in one hoof, through which she was examining the floor, and there was a watch cap on her head. However, she hadn’t gone more then four steps from the group before her whole body gave a violent shiver and she let out a loud ‘eep’ of shock. She rushed back, hiding behind Twilight in a way that Fluttershy might have done. “I’ve never got a Pinkie Sense like that before!” cried Pinkie Pie, her voice uncertain and fearful.

“What did you feel?” asked Rarity.

“Like everything went all wrong at once,” explained Pinkie. “It wasn’t like an eye-flutter, or a tummy-rumble, or nose-twitch… it was like… like everything was wrong! Like up became down! Inside became out! Cakes became pies! It was awful!”

“How do we figure this out if we can’t get near it?” asked Applejack.

“We look for other clues,” said Twilight

“Like the citizens out in the streets, halted in mid motion,” said Luna.

“Or the Sun, stopped in the sky above?” suggested Fluttershy.

“Or that all of Canterlot was frozen,” said Applejack. Then she turned her gaze to Luna. “Except for you… Uh, your highness,” she added quickly.

“I do not know why I was unaffected,” answered Luna. “But if you are suggesting that I am somehow responsible…”

“Maybe you haven’t been outside for a while, but there are nightmares flying around out there,” said Applejack seriously. “And didn’t you used to be one?”

“Applejack!” cried Rarity in horror at her friend’s accusations.

“I have already explained what happened when I awoke!” retorted Luna, an anger surging up in her eyes that Twilight had never seen before. “If you would accuse me of this crime than do not imply it. Speak it to my face!”

“Applejack! Enough!” cried Twilight, getting between her friend and the princess. “Lets everypony just calm down. Blame and accusation will not get us anywhere.”

“If only we could ask Celestia what happened,” said Spike. “I’m sure that would clear things up.”

“Perhaps the power of the elements will succeed where I have failed,” suggested Luna, regaining some of her calm. “You do have all the elements, don’t you?”

“Uh… no… we don’t…” answered Twilight, feeling slightly embarrassed. “We only managed to get and keep two of them.”

“You do not have them all?” asked Luna in surprise. Her dark pupils flicked from one pony to the next, lingering on Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle, the only two to bear the jewelry of the elements. “Then… how?”

“How?” repeated Twilight in confusion. She looked to her friends, but they shrugged, having no idea either. “How what?” asked Twilight uncertainly.

“How did you enter Canterlot?” asked Luna. “A protective barrier surrounds the top of the mountain, created and maintained by the elements. How did you get through it if you do not have them all?”

“We came through a cave,” explained Spike.

“So the barrier is still in place,” asked Luna.

“Maybe,” said Twilight. “Rainbow said she hit some kind of heat wall when she tried to fly to Canterlot, maybe that was it?”

“Still,” continued Luna. “Coming here without all the elements…”

“We tried our best,” pleaded Fluttershy.

“I thought the rest of them might be here, in Canterlot,” explained Twilight. “They seem to have been placed along our path. But we only ever came across three of them. So the rest must be…” Luna shook her head sadly and Twilight trailed off.

“Alas, the vault is empty,” said Luna. “Wherever the elements are, they are not here.” She paused for a moment before looking across the group once again. “You said you had three? What happened to the third?”

“Something happened to Rainbow Dash during our journey to Canterlot,” explained Rarity. “Something that… changed her.”

“Changed how?” asked Luna with narrowed eyes.

“She got all mean and fiery,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “Well, more fiery than usual. Actually fiery. With flames and everything!”

“She became a nightmare,” whispered Twilight. “She wasn’t the first one, or the last. Down in the cavern beneath Canterlot there were thousands of them.”

“Go on,” whispered Luna softly, her expression revealing nothing.

“We used her element on her and that seemed to change her back… or at least keep it in check,” explained Twilight. “But it got knocked off and by the time we found it again… It didn’t seem to work anymore. Even with the element around her neck she…”

Twilight broke down into silence. Tears welled in her eyes at the horrible memory of watching her friend taken and turned against her. She still couldn’t believe Rainbow was gone. Rarity moved forward and put a hoof around Twilight to comfort her.

“Princess, do you think two elements will be enough to undo whatever spell was cast on Celestia?” asked Rarity.

“No,” said Luna flatly. “With so few of the elements, I do not expect it will. Even with all six I am unsure they would have the power to change what has happened here.”

“Well, we should still try,” said Twilight softly, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Ready Pinkie?”

“Yep!” cried Pinkie with an enthusiastic bounce.

Twilight let her eyes close, willing her element to work. The gem in the golden tiara began to glow with powerful swirling magic. Both she and Pinkie Pie were lifted off the ground as Twilight activated the elements of harmony. But Twilight could already tell that something was wrong.

The two gems blazed with light but as they did the unsettling feeling in the room surged forward. Twilight suddenly felt icy cold. She let out a gasp and her frozen breath misted up into the air once more. The energy of the elements continued to pulse around them, filling the air with light, but the glow was dull and weak.

A small, faint rainbow slowly extended out from Twilight’s element. However, it had not gone more than a few hooves before it faded away. The light around Twilight and Pinkie winked out of existence and they tumbled down to the ground.

Neither of them moved and Celestia remained exactly as she was, frozen in terror.

“Twilight! Pinkie!” cried Applejack, hurrying to her friends. She reached out a hoof and touched Twilight, but pulled it back with a yelp.

“What’s wrong?” cried Trixie.

“They’re cold!” exclaimed Applejack. “Freezin cold! Somepony give me a hoof we have to get them out of here!” All of the ponies, except Trixie and Luna, hurried forward. They pulled Twilight and Pinkie across the smooth marble floor, back towards the entrance.

Both ponies appeared to be unconscious but alive. Twilight and Pinkie were shivering uncontrollably on the floor.

“What’s wrong with them!” cried Spike in concern. “Twilight! What’s wrong!” begged the baby dragon.

“They seem to be drained of energy,” said Luna curiously. She moved forward and lowered her horn over Twilight. Now that they were further away from Celestia, magic appeared to be working once more. The princess’s horn glowed with warmth. “The elements were unable to pull magic from the æther so they drew it from the bearers instead.” Rarity looked troubled by this suggestion but said nothing.

“It didn’t work…” whispered Twilight softly. Everypony let out a sigh of relief as color began to return to Pinkie and Twilight. “How could the Elements of Harmony not work?”

“Well, we do only have two of them,” answered Fluttershy. “Maybe that just isn’t strong enough?” None of the ponies had an answer. The elements hadn’t just failed, they had completely backfired.

Twilight and Pinkie got back to their hooves.

“Come, we should not linger here,” said Luna at last. Her eyes flicked back to Celestia. “There are other more important matters we must attend to.” The friends looked surprised by this announcement.

“More important?” asked Twilight in confusion. “What could be more important than Celestia?”

“I will explain on the way,” said Luna. “Come.” She began to trot off. The other’s had little choice but to follow. They had not gone far when the question that was burning at the front of Twilight’s mind made its way forward. It had been something she’d wanted to ask ever since Luna had appeared but she hadn’t had the opportunity to ask it until now.

“Princess Luna,” asked Twilight. “There is still one thing I don’t understand.”

“One thing?” asked Spike.

“In your letter,” continued Twilight, ignoring Spike’s comment, “why didn’t you just tell me what happened to Princess Celestia? What happened to all of Canterlot?”

“Would telling you their fate have aided you in your journey?” replied Luna, not looking back at Twilight and not stopping as she led them on towards some unknown destination.

“No, I suppose...” began Twilight but Luna interrupted her.

“Would knowing what had happened to all of Canterlot have made your trials easier?” continued Luna. This time she spared a half glance back at Twilight.

“Not really…” replied Twilight, her ears turning down slightly and her steps slowing a little.

“I told you what you needed to hear,” explained Luna calmly. “Not what you wanted to know. I needed you and your friends to be focused, not fearful. I needed your mind to be sharp and full of wit, not snared in trauma. I needed you to be in the now, instead of dwelling in the past on something you cannot change.” Twilight looked down at the ground, feeling a little ashamed.

“Now, you must face the truth,” continued Luna, her attention straight ahead. “And I wonder if you can accept it as I have. Or if you will be strong enough to do what must be done.”

“What truth?” asked Applejack.

“My sister is beyond our help,” answered Luna flatly.

“No! I don’t accept that! We can change her back!” exclaimed Twilight defiantly. She lifted a hoof and tapped the tiara of Harmony atop her head. “Uh, as soon as we find the rest of them that is…

“And Rainbow Dash…” added Fluttershy. Twilight looked away, sadness in her eyes at the mention of her lost friend.

“Your dedication to my sister is… astounding,” said Luna. “Perhaps you are correct and the curse upon her and all of Canterlot can be broken. However, they are the least of our worries at the moment. You see, I did not summon you here for Celestia.”

All of the friends looked shocked and confused at this announcement.

“Uh, what do you mean?” asked Fluttershy timidly.

“I brought you here for me,” admitted Luna. She came to a halt beside a large metal door. The dark grey iron was etched with the symbols of both the Sun and the Moon upon it. Twilight had never been to this room before. In fact, she didn’t even recognize this section of the castle.

“For… you?” asked Rarity, confused. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I cannot move the sun,” explained Luna. “I have tried, but no matter my effort, it stays right where it is. I have tried and tried. But it is fixed in the sky, possibly forever.

“I believe my sister’s condition has affected more than just her body,” continued Luna. “If we cannot wake her to move the Sun, then perhaps we can use the Elements to…”

“…set the Sun?” finished Twilight uncertainly. Luna shook her head.

“No,” answered Luna. “As I have said, I do not think any force, save for my sister could move it now. As you have perhaps seen, I have lifted the Moon into the sky. My intention was to create a solar eclipse and shield Equestria from the Sun. Yet the Moon will move no further. It would seem my magic is simply not strong enough.”

“So, how are the Elements going to help?” asked Applejack. Luna looked away.

“I believe there is a pony that can help us,” said Luna. “Another with power over the Moon and a strength greater than my own.” Twilight’s eyes widened with terrible realization.

“No way!” said Twilight louder than she had meant. “You can’t possibly be asking us to…”

“Yes,” replied Luna seriously. “You must help me bring back Nightmare Moon.”

Chapter 19

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 19

The group of friends stood in shocked silence, unable to find words to convey their horror. Princess Luna had suggested the unthinkable, to bring back one of the greatest dangers Equestria had ever faced. She wanted them to willingly unleash a monster that desired nothing more than eternal darkness. She wanted them to change her back into Nightmare Moon.

“You… you’re joking, right?” stammered Spike at last.

“I have given much thought to it,” explained Luna. “I cannot move the Sun, although I do have the power to block it with the Moon. Equestria will be shadowed in twilight, but it will be better than it is now. Yet I cannot do it as I am. I have tried, but the Moon will move no further.”

“And y’all think Nightmare Moon’ll be able to do it?” asked Applejack. Luna shook her head.

“To be honest, I do not know,” answered Luna. “After all, we share much. Her strength may be just as feeble as my own.”

“So than turning you back into Nightmare Moon might not even help?” asked Rarity skeptically. The friends shared an uncertain glance, none of them seemed to think this was a good idea.

“I don’t think it will even work,” said Twilight seriously. “I mean, the Elements of Harmony restore balance. How can they even do what you’re asking?”

“I do not know, Twilight Sparkle,” answered Luna. “But, as with my sister, we must try. I am willing to sacrifice everything I have, everything I am, to save Equestria.” The group lapsed into silence. After a long moment, Trixie spoke.

“I say you do it,” said Trixie. The five ponies and Spike turned to stare at the light-blue unicorn. “Think about it, if we do nothing, how many ponies will suffer? If the elements don’t work than we are no worse off then we are now.”

“I don’t like this,” said Applejack. “And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Trixie is right. We have to do somethin, and unless you think you can move the Moon on your own Twilight…” Applejack smiled apologetically.

“I don’t like the idea of bringing back Nightmare Moon,” added Fluttershy softly. She shrunk away as Twilight turned to her. “But, um... Whatever you think is best…”

“And you can always change her back if things get crazy,” chimed in Spike. “Well, you know, more crazy…”

“Pinkie,” said Twilight after a long moment of thought. “Any twitches that tell you this is a bad idea?” Pinkie Pie stood still for a long moment. She opened her mouth as if to proclaim something, then closed it, then opened it again. At last, she just shook her head.

“Nope, I’m not getting anything,” said Pinkie. She lifted a hoof and examined it. “Nothing at all.”

“I still don’t like this,” said Twilight at last. “But you’re right, we have to try something.”

“I am glad you agree,” said Luna. “Nightmare Moon on the other hand will be less… cooperative. Getting her to help will be a challenge all its own, but I know you are up to the task.” Twilight smiled a little sheepishly, unsure if she actually was up to said task.

Taking their silence as agreement, Luna lifted a hoof and pushed open the iron door. At first it seemed like there was only darkness on the other side but, as they entered the room their eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light.

This room was unusually dark and Luna warned them to watch their step as they entered. Through the shadowy light, Twilight could make out small details of the room. It seemed to be rounded and the floor sunk down in the center, as if it were some kind of pit.

Luna trotted around the room. A moment later her horn flared with light, bathing the room in a shimmering white glow. Twilight could see that she had been mostly correct. The center of the room was indeed lowered, although not as deeply as she had thought at first.

A few hooves from where Twilight stood the floor dropped down like a step. A large circular ring of stone made up the first tier. Below it, a similar small ring made up the next step, and below that still another. Four steps in all between the main floor and the center of the room which was lowered by at least a dozen hooves.

“What is this place?” asked Spike curiously. Twilight had been so taken with the room she had not thought to ask.

“This is the…” Luna blushed slightly “…the Lunar Observatory,” said Luna. “My sister had it built not long after I was… sent away. It is a focusing room of sorts. While I was gone my sister used this room to bring the night and… to watch me…”

“Watch you?” asked Applejack uncertainly. Luna nodded. “How, uh, exactly?”

“I will show you,” answered Luna. Her horn glowed and something up near the ceiling moved. Twilight looked up and noticed that the same tiered design cut into the hole in the floor was repeated in the ceiling.

Bright sunlight suddenly poured into the room. However, it was focused down to the lowered center. It took Twilight a moment to realize what she was looking at.

“The Sun!” exclaimed Twilight in surprise. “It’s not just sunlight it’s an image of the Sun!”

“Yes,” replied Luna. She used her magic to slide the trap door in the ceiling shut. The image of the Sun vanished, but Luna’s light spell kept the room from going dark. Gracefully, Luna used her wings to glide down into the center, where the Sun image had been projected. “Even though it was made for the Moon, the Sun works just as well. From here could my sister… visit me, as it were, each night.”

“So what are we doing in here?” asked Pinkie, still looking around. “Not that I’m complaining this room is awesome! Look at all the little stars carved into the walls!”

Twilight had to look again, indeed, she had missed the fine detail of the stars. They were not just carved into the walls but the floor and ceiling as well. This room didn’t just show the Sun and Moon it was a map of the sky.

“As I said,” explained Luna. “This room is a focusing chamber. Raising the Moon during the day is no easy task. Here the burden should be lessened slightly.

“There is something else I must ask,” Luna’s eyes fell on Twilight, “for the safety of everypony. You must bind me.” Twilight opened her mouth to argue but Luna did not even need to speak to convince Twilight. They were about to bring back a terrible evil, bindings were the very least they could do.

Twilight’s horn glowed again and heavy iron chains materialized into existence. They wove themselves into the floor before snaking over Luna’s body. A shackle locked into place around each of her legs, while a fifth belt bolted into place around her middle so that she couldn’t open her wings.

The friends spread out around the upper level, looking down at Luna. Pinkie Pie stepped forward and nodded to Twilight. The lavender unicorn returned the nod, although there was no possible way she was ready for this.

“I really hope this doesn’t work,” whispered Twilight to herself.

“This is our best hope, Twilight Sparkle,” announced Luna. Twilight blushed a little, not thinking that the princess would have been able to hear her. “You may begin when ready.”

Twilight nodded and closed her eyes. She could feel the element of magic flicker inside her. The sensation was not what she had been expecting. Unlike the throne room it was not a bad feeling, not like something was about to go wrong, it was more like an incomplete sensation. She could sense Pinkie at her side, as well as Applejack and Rarity and Fluttershy. She could even feel Spike and Trixie to some degree. But it didn’t feel the way the elements should feel. It was like they were searching for the rest but couldn’t find them.

At last, unable to join anymore elements, Twilight felt the magic well up inside her, though diminished significantly from how she remembered it feeling. The powers of the two elements focused through her. The light that shone out of her was not rainbow but simply a mix of red and green.

The energy reached out from Twilight and wrapped around Luna. The light circled the mare in a wrapping arc, moving faster and faster until she was hidden in a cocoon of colored light.

Yet, Twilight could tell it wasn’t working, the spell wouldn’t take hold, the elements wouldn’t do what she was commanding them to do. Bringing back Nightmare Moon was so against their nature that asking such a thing of them was impossible…

Twilight felt a sudden tug and her breath caught in her chest. Twilight could feel the spell starting to go wrong. With hardly even the slightest effort, she stopped the elemental energy. Instantly the blaze of light around Luna evaporated, sending the room into darkness once again. The only sound was that of Twilight and Pinkie panting like they had been galloping as hard as they could.

Twilight’s whole body felt tired and sore. It was an unpleasant sensation that neither magic nor the elements had ever made her feel like this before. Although, at least this time the elements hadn’t tried to suck out her life force. Even still, it hadn’t worked. And right at the end it had almost felt like something was about to go terribly wrong.

“What… is… this?” asked a hissing voice from the center of the room. It was a voice that made Twilight shiver. She couldn’t believe it, somehow, it had worked!

A pair of eyes opened in the darkness. The pupils were nothing more than slits and the emerald irises glowed with their own pale green light. There was a sudden jingle of chains and a snarl of discontent. Silvery light flared in the center of the room and Nightmare Moon stood before the ponies. She was just as terrifying as Twilight remembered, the midnight black coat, the pointed fangs and the terrible dragon like eyes that glowed with a sinister light.

Nightmare Moon tugged at the chains, trying to free herself, but they would not come loose. Her horn glowed, trying to break the manacles that held her, but she seemed unable to do so.

“They are enchanted so that only I can open them,” announced Twilight. Nightmare Moon’s gaze suddenly snapped to Twilight.

“You!” hissed Nightmare Moon, her eyes narrowed. She stopped struggling. “Why have you brought me back?”

“We have brought you back to ask for your help,” said Twilight. Nightmare Moon let out a cold, in-pony laugh that made Twilight shiver.

“Help?” said Nightmare Moon. “Why would I possibly ever want to help you?”

“Because Equestria is in danger!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “The Sun has stopped moving and we…” Nightmare Moon’s eyes shifted to Pinkie and the pony lapsed into silence.

“The Sun has stopped, you say,” said Nightmare Moon thoughtfully. “I am not the keeper of the Sun. You want my dear sister.” A smile spread across Nightmare Moon’s face. “Ah, but if you have brought me back then something has happened to Celestia.”

No pony answered. The smile was wiped from Nightmare Moon’s lips to be replaced with a scowl.

“I will not help you,” said Nightmare Moon.

“But Equestria!” cried Fluttershy.

“Has shunned me,” snapped Nightmare Moon. “They do not want my night, nor my dreams. They crave the Sun. And it would seem now they have all they could ever want of it.”

“Please,” begged Twilight. “You’re the only pony with the power to help.”

“I told you, silly foal, I cannot move the Sun,” said Nightmare Moon. “You can beg all you want but I cannot change that.”

“Well, we don’t want’ca to move the Sun,” said Applejack. Nightmare Moon looked confused for a moment.

“We would like you to raise the Moon,” said Rarity. “And block out the Sun. It is almost there already. You only have to move it a bit further.”

“An interesting proposition,” said Nightmare Moon softly. “But why should I? What is in it for me?”

“Uh, helping out Equestria, of course?” said Spike. Nightmare Moon laughed at the very notion. Pinkie did not join in.

“That is hardly a good enough reason,” said Nightmare Moon. She tugged at her chains. “And what will you do with me once I lift the Moon into place? Send me away, burry me back inside my prison?”

“We cannot let you roam free,” said Twilight, trying to sound apologetic. “Your very existence is driven toward suffering.”

“Than you give me no reason,” said Nightmare Moon. “You simply waste my time.”

“Well, I can give you a reason,” said Trixie. Her horn glowed softly, her magic flickered and an instant later the trapdoor in the ceiling began to open. Brilliantly bright sunlight poured into the room, filling it with harsh yellow light. Around Nightmare Moon an image of the Sun reappeared on the floor as the rays of light blazed down upon her.

“What are you doing!” demanded Nightmare Moon, trying to shrink away. Yet she could not move as the chains bound her in place. Desperately her eyes searched for some hint of shadow she could reach. However, there was no such place within her reach.

“Stop it!” pleaded Nightmare Moon.

“This is what everypony in Equestria is going through,” said Twilight seriously. She did not like the sight before her, she did not like this at all. “Raise the Moon and you will not have to endure this light any longer.”

“I will!” exclaimed Nightmare Moon. “I will! I will! Make it stop.” Twilight’s horn glowed and instantly the room was plunged back into darkness.

The dim sliver of light remained, where the trap door hadn’t closed all the way. Nightmare Moon lay upon the floor, her breathing fast and uneven. Her eyes, filled with hate, were locked upon the ponies and for a long moment she did not move.

“Well?” demanded Trixie impatiently. “Are you going to raise the Moon, or do we need to remind you what it’s like out there.”

Twilight felt a terrible pang of guilt. She couldn’t stand the thought of putting any pony through that again. Trixie’s horn began to glow. Twilight was just about to tell her to stop when a second, ghostly blue glow filled the room.

Nightmare Moon’s horn was ablaze with magic, yet her horn was not the only thing glowing. The carved stars in the walls also shown with light. Twilight looked on in wonder at the sight around her.

The stone floor below Twilight’s hooves trembled. It felt like an earthquake. The other mares in the room move uncomfortably as the room shuddered.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes opened wide, her gaze burning with magic and power. Suddenly, the room became darker still so that they all seemed to be standing in the night sky, surrounded by a field of stars.

“Look! Look!” cried Pinkie Pie. Twilight followed her friends hoof. Among the stars was an image of the Moon. Yet unlike the starts, this Moon, moved. It was clearly made of magic, yet, Twilight was sure it must represent the real moon outside.

“She’s doing it, the Moon is eclipsing the Sun!” cried Applejack. “Just a little further and it will be covering it!” However, the moment Applejack announced this, the floor suddenly stopped shaking. The room seemed to grow lighter once more and the image of the Moon winked out of existence.

Twilight pulled her gaze away to see why Nightmare Moon had stopped. The midnight black mare was still on the floor in the center of the room. The magical glow on her horn had extinguished and only the small ray of sunlight kept them from being in total darkness.

Parts of Nightmare Moon shifted in and out of reality, as if she were fading away.

“It seems fate is against you,” said Nightmare Moon with a dark smile. Her form suddenly faded away, leaving Luna in her place. The Princess of the Night collapsed in exhaustion. Twilight and her friends rushed forward, descending down the strange steps in leaps until they reached her side.

“Luna!” exclaimed Twilight. As she reached the dark mare, Twilight’s horn glowed and the chains unlocked themselves and vanished back into nothingness.

Luna’s eyes opened slowly, they had once more become their normal dark blue color, the slits having vanished and the eerie glow gone completely.

“I am fine,” said Luna, although her voice sounded very weak. “Did it work?” Twilight shook her head very slightly. “Did… did I hurt any pony?”

“No,” said Twilight quickly. “No, Nightmare Moon lifted the Moon, but she faded away before it could cover up the Sun.” Twilight directed her gaze upwards. The trapdoor was still in place so that they couldn’t see the Sun. “She faded away before she was done.”

Luna frowned.

“Did it even reach the Sun?” she asked.

“We’d have to open it up and see,” said Applejack also looking up.

Without waiting, Luna’s horn glowed and the trapdoor suddenly opened. Blazing light rushed in, eager to wash away the darkness. The friends flinched as the sunlight hit them, and Twilight reacted, casting the shield spell around them.

“That will have to be enough for now,” said Luna. With a great effort, Twilight followed Luna’s gaze to the floor. The image of the Sun had indeed returned, however, a tiny part of the Sun was indeed eclipsed by the Moon.

“It worked,” whispered Twilight in disbelief.

“As well as any of us could have hoped,” said Luna. She struggled, trying to stand but could not manage it. “I fear do not have the strength to move it any further. I need to rest before we try again.”

The friends escorted Luna back to her chambers. Twilight saw the princess to her bed while the others waited outside. The instant Luna put her head down she drifted into sleep. Quietly, Twilight crept out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“Well, what do we do now?” asked Applejack. The friends looked to Twilight for answers. But it was Spike who gave them a reply.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m pretty tired too,” said Spike with a stretch and a yawn. “The last time we got to rest was back at the train and that feels like ages ago.”

“Yeah, the Great and Powerful Trixie could do with a little beauty rest,” announced Trixie.

“There are guest chambers not far from here,” suggested Twilight. “We should be able to find enough beds for everypony.”

Twilight led the way to the rooms a few floors below. There were more rooms than they needed so they each got to have their own bed and their own room, even Spike. They bid each other good night. Although it was still daytime outside this was as close to night as they had come for a long while. The others made for their rooms, however, Twilight paused at her door and stood there thoughtfully.

“Twilight, dear,” asked Rarity. Twilight jumped a little. The others had all gone into their rooms, but Rarity was still in the hallway. “You are going in to rest, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” said Twilight absently. “Yeah, I just need to go check something out first.” Rarity frowned. “Don’t worry, it won’t take long.”

Without another word, Twilight hurried off.

Twilight found herself back at the throne room. She knew she should be getting sleep like her friends, but she simply couldn’t rest yet. There was so much more she needed to know, so much more she had to investigate. Something was still bothering her, well, many things were still bothering her. But there was something in this room that Twilight couldn’t let go.

Slowly, Twilight approached Celestia once again. The strange sensation washed over her again and she tasted the metallic flavor in her mouth. The coldness was still there too, although not as bad as before.

As she had done previously, Twilight circled around Celestia, moving behind her and staying a good distance back. The scrape marks on the floor were still there, yet Twilight needed to get closer to examine them. Taking a deep breath of chilled air, Twilight forced herself forward.

The cold bit into her like teeth and she had to clamp her jaw shut to keep from crying out. Each step was worse than the previous one, but Twilight forced her way forward.

At last she stopped next to the scratches in the floor. The biting cold became slightly more tolerable the moment she stopped moving. Twilight touched the grooves with her hoof. The statue had definitely been moved, but why? Why move it just a few hooves forward? Unless… maybe it was covering something?

Instinctively, Twilight tried to use her magic to move the statue, but nothing happened. Remembering that she couldn’t cast magic here. Gritting her teeth, Twilight took the last few steps to reach Celestia. She had almost expected gale forced winds and numbing cold to slam into her as she advanced, yet, those last few steps were actually the easiest. In fact, Twilight was sure it had gotten slightly warmer this close to Celestia.

Twilight put out a hoof and touched the stone form of her mentor. Maybe she was just imagining it, but the stone felt… warm? Moving even closer, Twilight put her whole body against the statue and urged it forward. Slowly, with a low scraping sound, Celestia began to slide along the floor.

Twilight hadn’t needed to push the statue very far before she discovered that she was right! Celestia had been moved, well, moved before Twilight had moved her again. Somepony had used her to cover something! Where Celestia had been, was a hole not much larger than a hoof or two, punched into the floor.

The hole was perfectly round and clean cut around the edges. Something had blasted through the floor but done so in a way that hadn’t otherwise damaged the ground. Twilight looked down the hole but she couldn’t see where it went.

Pondering the hole, Twilight wondered what was at the bottom, how deep it went, and what had made it? What she needed was more light. Almost reflexively she tried to cast a light spell. However nothing happened and it took her a moment to remember that she couldn’t work any magic here.

She looked up at her mentor as if trying to ask her what she should do now. Then Twilight noticed something else, something she had missed before. Above her was a second hole, also perfectly round, but also obviously not built into the room. Twilight wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but she thought that it had to be directly above the hole she had found beneath Celestia.

Twilight returned her focus to the hole in the floor. What had made it? Why cover it up? It didn’t make sense. Twilight looked up again to the hole in the ceiling. Two of them. Why were there two of them?

Twilight was sure now that they were aligned with each other. Twilight’s eyes turned back to the rest of the room, looking for anything else she might have missed the first time around. It wasn’t long before she found a third hole, just above the throne. There were also fourth and fifth holes to either side, half way up the walls. And finally a sixth hole, once again directly opposite the one above the throne.

“Six holes,” whispered Twilight to herself. Her eyes widened in sudden realization. “Six elements…”

Author's Note

Also, because I forgot to put AN's on the last chapter, we're back! I know my break took a bit longer than I would have liked, and to be honest, I'm still not fully recovered. But if I wait too much longer I'll never get it done, and I really don't like leaving stories unfinished.

If you're curious as to what I did on my break, I spent much of it writing... I know what you might be thinking, "starwin, didn't you take a break from writing?" Well, no, actually I took a break from editing technically. The trouble I have whiling I'm publishing a story is that all my writing time goes into editing the story I am putting up, because, you know, self imposed, weekly deadline. So any other stories I want to write or work on, get pushed to the way side.

Anyhow, break is over, back to editing... sigh...

Next chapter to follow next Sat the 22nd.

Also, Last of Us is amazing! (and might have caused some of my Fri night/sat morning editing to get a little less attention than normal, so apologies in advanced for the things I didn't catch).

Chapter 20

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 20

“Twilight?” asked the slightly sleepy voice Applejack.“What are ya’ll doing?” Twilight lifted her head out of Applejack’s saddle bag, a roll of parchment in her mouth.

“Sowee I need dis,” replied Twilight, her mouth full of paper. Twilight dropped the parchment down onto the ground and unrolled it with her hooves. It was the map of Equestria that Spike had used to guide the way. “Six holes…” Twilight whispered to herself. “Six holes…”

“Twilight, are ya alright?” asked Applejack, now a little more awake. Twilight didn’t answer. Instead her focus was solely dedicated to the map in front of her.

She produced a quill and ruler from some place. Holding the map flat with her hooves she used her magic to place the ruler and draw with her quill. She made two long lines crossing at the center of the map.

“Yes! I’m right!” exclaimed Twilight, examining her work. “Look!” She levitated the map into the air so that Applejack could see the giant ‘X’ now dividing Equestria.

“Uh… okay?” replied Applejack uncertainly.

“Look!” cried Twilight, pressing a hoof against the map as if this suddenly made everything clear. “Don’t you see! I thought the elements had been placed along our path! But they weren’t! Six holes! Don’t you see!” Applejack gave Twilight a look that very plainly said she had no idea what her friend was on about.

“We found mine in this lake!” pressed Twilight. She tapped the spot again with her hoof as though this explained everything. “And this line, from the hole in the throne room, perfectly intersects it!”

“Hole in the…?” asked Applejack, trying to keep up. “Twilight what’re ya’ll on about?”

“No time to explain,” said Twilight. She used her magic to toss the blankets off Applejack. “We need to wake the other! We have a map to the rest of…”

“Twilight!” shouted Applejack, finally managing to snap Twilight out of her rambling. “What in tarnation are you talking about?”

“The elements!” answered Twilight impatiently. “I figured out where they are. Now come on, we don’t have a moment to lose! We have to hurry.”

“You figured out where they are,” repeated Applejack, not getting out of bed.

“Yes!” exclaimed Twilight. “See! Right here, on this map!” Twilight lifted the map again to emphasize her point.

“Along these lines,” said Applejack.

“Yes!” cried Twilight starting to become annoyed.

“These lines that extend from one end of Equestria to the other,” stated Applejack.

“Ye…” Twilight caught herself, her eyes suddenly returning to the map.

“These lines,” continued Applejack, “that run from the Eastern Ocean, to the West Coast?”

“Well, uh… yes,” said Twilight, realization starting to sink in.

“Where exactly along those lines are they?” asked Applejack.

“Some… place…” replied Twilight with a slightly sheepish smile.

“Twilight,” said Applejack, looking her friend in the eyes.

“Yes?” asked Twilight.

“Go get some sleep, sugarcube,” said Applejack, reaching over and retrieving her cast off blankets. “We can sort this all out after we’ve had some rest.”

“But…” tried Twilight desperately. Applejack just looked at her. Applejack was right, she had overreacted. She really wasn’t any closer to pinning down the location of the elements. Even if she was right, and the last three lay along these lines, they could be anywhere. A few hooves form Canterlot, or out in the middle of the ocean.

“Besides,” said Applejack, turning over and stifling a yawn. “Rainbow’s element isn’t even on any of those lines.” Twilight felt taken aback. She looked down at the map and found that sure enough, Hoofington was not on any of the lines Twilight had drawn. The town was off to the side of the lake by a good distance. “And Pinkie’s was down in the mountain.”

“Directly below the throne room, I’m sure of it,” whispered Twilight but more to herself than to Applejack. “Still… you’re right about Rainbow’s element. It doesn’t fit.”

“Go get some sleep Twilight,” mumbled Applejack. “We can go over it in the morning… err… you know what I mean.”

Somberly, Twilight left Applejack’s chambers, taking the map with her. She levitated it in front of her so that she could study it while she walked. Her eyes were focused on the location where they had found Rainbow’s element. Had she miscalculated some how? Were the holes not what she thought they were?

Looking up Twilight found that she had managed to walk into her room without even realizing it. She laid the map down on the table. Perhaps Applejack was right. Sleep would do her good and help her see what she was overlooking.

Twilight nestled down in the guest bed, snuggling under the covers. Her mind whirled and turned with questions. She didn’t know how she could possibly fall asleep with all these things buzzing inside her head. But the more she thought about it, the stranger everything became. Until at last, she wasn’t thinking about any of it any more and reality blurred into dreams.

With a sudden shock, Twilight awoke. Her name rang in her ears. Somepony had been shouting to her, calling for her, pleading with her. Somepony needed her. The distant words lingered even as the dream washed away. Twilight heard her name again, this time, it was much less dreamlike and also accompanied by a knock.

Twilight sat up in her bed.

“Twilight, are you awake?” asked the voice again. It was Rarity.

“Yes,” answered Twilight. “I’m up.” The door opened slightly and Rarity poked her head.

“I am sorry to rouse you so early dear, but Princess Luna insists on our presence,” said Rarity. Twilight wondered how long she had slept for. She still felt tired and worn out. However, she forced herself out of bed before trotting wearily towards the door and snatching her saddlebags on the way. “You look dreadful dear.”

“Tired,” replied Twilight, too fatigued to respond with a longer explanation.

“I would guess so. When exactly did you finally make it back into bed?” asked Rarity. Twilight shrugged. She had been out for hours after the others had gone to sleep. But without the movement of the Sun or Moon, she had nothing to judge her time by. “Well, perhaps you can catch a nap after we have heard what Luna has to say.”

Luna was waiting for them in a sitting room not far away. As they approached Twilight could hear the voices of her friends, even if she couldn’t make out the words. When she and Rarity appeared at the doorway, the talking stopped and her friends looked up at her. The others, even Spike, although he looked like he would rather be asleep still, were gathered around Luna, seated on various cushions and pillows.

“Ah, Twilight Sparkle, I see you are awake at last,” said Luna with a smile. “I am sorry to take you from your dreams.”

“No, I’m fine,” said Twilight, fighting back a yawn. Twilight trotted to an open spot beside Spike and sat.

“So… then you’re not going to try and move the Moon again?” asked Pinkie Pie. Twilight had obviously missed some of the previous discussion. Luna shook her head.

“No, I believe summoning Nightmare Moon a second time would be… unwise,” said Luna. There was a flicker of something in her face that Twilight thought might be fear. “While the Sun is not fully eclipsed, at least half of Equestria is covered in shadow. It will have to do for now. We have more pressing things to attend to.”

“Like what?” asked Trixie in disbelief.

“I know you have all come far, of that there is no doubt,” said Luna. “And if I did not have to ask this of you, I would not. Yet, what you seek is not here. What Equestria need’s, is out there. I must ask that you prepare to venture forth once more in search of the elements, wherever they may be.”

“You want us to leave?” cried Spike in surprise.

“Spike,” hushed Twilight in a disapproving tone.

“But we just got here!” continued Spike.

“As I said,” explained Luna. “If there were any other way, I would not ask this of you. Without the Elements of Harmony, Equestria has little hope for survival. We have given them some relief, but solving one problem with another is no solution.”

“But we don’t know where they are,” said Fluttershy softly.

“Well, actually, Twilight worked out some kind of map last night,” chimed in Applejack. “Or, maybe I dreamed all that?”

“No,” said Twilight, blushing a little. She pulled the map from her saddle bag using her magic. “I was able to work out the trajectories of the elements from the holes in the throne room.”

“Holes?” asked Fluttershy in confusion.

“Don’t ask,” replied Applejack.

“But I can only guess they landed some place along these lines,” said Twilight, running her hoof along the map. “We already found mine to the south. And Pinkie’s directly under the castle…”

“And Rainbow’s way off to the side,” reminded Applejack.

“Yes… and Rainbow’s off to the side,” grumbled Twilight. “So if I’m right, then the last three should be some place along one of these lines.” Twilight ran her hoof north, west and east.

“Oh, well that certainly narrows it down,” said Trixie. “Searching this line here,” she ran a hoof west, “that should only take, what, a few months?”

“I do not understand,” announced Luna, looking up from the crude approximation of a map. “This is what my sister sent you?”

“What?” asked Twilight in confusion. “No, I worked this out myself. Princess Celestia didn’t send us any instructions on how to find the elements.” Twilight blushed uncomfortably, remembering the short contents of the letter from Celestia.

“Are you saying she gave you no way to find them?” asked Luna in surprise. “You have simply stumbled across them by chance thus far?”

“I guess so,” replied Pinkie Pie with a bounce. “Or maybe, they stumbled across us! Her letter didn’t really say anything about the elements.”

“She sent you a letter?” asked Luna sharply. The friends nodded. “Did you bring it with you?”

“I did,” answered Twilight a little uneasily. She had in truth brought both letters with them, safely tucked away in her bags.

“Let me see it,” demanded Luna. Hesitantly, Twilight rummaged through her saddlebags a second time. She used her magic to fish out the parchment from Celestia. She floated it to Luna who grabbed it out of the air and unfurled the scroll with her own magic. Her eyes raced across it, once, then twice, then a third time. “There is… nothing here!”

“That’s what we were trying to tell you,” said Spike. “She didn’t give us a map! She told us just about as much as you did! Less even!” Luna turned the parchment over, unable to comprehend that it was blank. “Really she couldn’t have taken just an extra second to write, like just two more words?”

“This note was not written,” explained Luna as she examined the parchment. “It was crafted with magic. My sister did not write you a message, she made her thoughts tangible. These words were the last things to go through my sister’s mind before...” Luna looked up at Twilight. For a brief moment, Twilight was sure Luna would scold her for not following Celestia’s instructions to stay away. But the moment passed and Luna looked away, saying nothing more.

“Couldn’t she have imagined some pictures?” suggested Spike unhappily.

“Spike!” protested Twilight a second time. She returned her focus to Luna. “Luna,” said Twilight much more softly. Twilight rose from her seat and took a few steps towards the dark mare. “If there had been time, Celestia might have sent us a map but… there wasn’t and she didn’t.” Twilight reached up and used a hoof to move away the parchment. “Celestia… your sister she… “

“Oh my word! Twilight look!” cried Rarity. Twilight and Luna looked together at Rarity, who was pointing back at them. No, not at them, at the letter that Luna was holding and Twilight had pushed away. The parchment was glowing with magic, magic not from Luna.

Carefully they lowered the letter to the floor. Twilight used her hooves to unroll the parchment so they could all see it. Shimmering lines of purple light spread from edge to edge, making a highly detailed map of Equestria, but that was all. There were no instructions. No ‘X’, like Twilight had drawn on her own map, or any other markers that indicated anything. It was just a map.

“I don’t understand,” said Twilight as she looked over the magical map. “I have dozens of these at home. We have one right here with us! What good is a magical map if it doesn’t have a location?” Twilight lifted her hooves from the map and the glowing purple lines began to fade. “What did Celestia want us to see?”

“Maybe it can show us where the cake is!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie excitedly. She leapt forward, placing her hooves on the parchment. Instantly the gem around her neck flared and the map began to redraw itself, except this time, in pink.

“Whoa,” whispered Spike. “That’s neat! Hey let me try, I wonder what color I get!”

“Okie-dokie-lokie,” said Pinkie happily, lifting up her hooves. Once more the map faded away. Spike put his claws upon it and instantly the map began to redraw itself in green.

“Ick, green,” said Rarity before she could stop herself. “Oh, I mean…”

“It’s an imprint,” said Luna softly.

“A what?” asked Spike as he pulled his claws off the map to look up at Luna.

“A memory,” said Twilight thoughtfully. “That would make sense if she didn’t write it, if she willed it into existence. She hid something in it. But why didn’t it activate before? And why doesn’t it show any locations?” Twilight put her hoof back down on the paper and watched the map redraw in purple.

“Come on Rarity, give it a try, lets see what color you get,” said Spike.

“Wait!” exclaimed Twilight lifting her hoof off the map and causing it to fade away again. “Rarity, can you try touching the map?”

“Certainly, but I am really hoping for blue,” answered Rarity. She reached a hoof forward and touched the edge of the paper, yet nothing happened. She lifted her hoof in confusion and tried again, but still the map remained blank. “Am… am I doing it wrong?”

“Spike,” instructed Twilight, “touch the letter again.” Spike did as instructed. The moment his claws came in contact with the paper, green lines of fire spread out across the map. As the lines of light filled the paper, something else appeared.

“Look! Look!” cried Pinkie pointing to a tiny silver-blue dot against the purple lines. Twilight’s brow furled as she saw where the dot was located, almost at the edge of the map. She couldn’t help but smile. If there had been a giant cross drawn in the middle of the map, Rarity’s marker would have fallen right on it.

Rarity lifted her hoof and the dot vanished.

“We had a map the whole time,” whispered Applejack. Twilight nudged Spike. He lifted his claws off the map and it faded away.

“Not the whole time,” said Twilight. “Applejack, if you could please.” Applejack moved forward. She put a hoof on the map but nothing happened. Just like with Rarity the paper remained blank. Applejack opened her mouth in confusion, but had no words.

“The elements,” explained Twilight. “We need an Element of Harmony to activate it.” Twilight touched the paper and the map shimmered back into existence, complete with an orange-gold dot for Applejack’s element. Twilight frowned as she saw where it was located. Still along her invisible line, but opposite Rarity’s.

“Rarity, Fluttershy,” continued Twilight, looking at each of her friends in turn. “Place your hooves on the map.” Her friends did as instructed and when they touched the paper, two more glowing dots, yellow and silver-blue, pulsed into existence.

“One to the West,” said Applejack, looking at the orange-gold dot.

“One to the North,” said Fluttershy, staring uncertainly at the yellow dot.

“And one to the East,” said Rarity unhappily. “Out in the ocean…”

“All as far away from each other as they could possibly be,” said Trixie, her eyes sweeping the map.

“Well, we better get going,” said Applejack. “I reckon we can head to mine first then…”

“No,” interrupted Twilight firmly, catching Applejack off guard.

“Uh, you want to head to Rarity’s first?” asked Applejack.

“No,” repeated Twilight.

“Fluttershy?” suggested Spike.

“We can’t head to just one, we need to get to each element as quickly as possible,” said Twilight. She looked at her friends seriously, but their expressions already told her they understood. “We have to split up.”

“You must be joking!” exclaimed Trixie. “What kind of chance do we have splitting up?”

“The best chance we can have,” answered Twilight. “The elements are too far away from each other, if we travel as a group it might be a month before we have them all. And we still need to find and rescue Rainbow Dash.

“It’s the only way. We don’t have another option.” Twilight looked at each of her friends in turn. They each nodded, even Fluttershy.

“So I guess I’m headed west then, out into the Sun?” asked Applejack.

“You and Spike, yes,” replied Twilight.

“And myself,” said Luna. “You will require shielding from the rays of the Sun.” She looked towards Twilight who smiled. “I know this location.” Luna tapped the map with her hoof. The purple lines indicated some large flat bit of land that might be a lake. “It is the Galloping Desert. It appears as if your element landed right in the middle of it.”

“Great,” mumbled Applejack. “Blazing sun and blistering hot sand. Sounds like ‘fun’.” Her tone was heavy with sarcasm.

“Oh! Fun! I want to go too!” cried Pinkie.

“No,” said Twilight with a shake of her head. “Pinkie, I wan you to go east with Rarity and Trixie.”

“Twilight, dear, how do you expect us to get there!” asked Rarity. “That is all the way across Equestria. Even without the Sun beating down on us, that trip will take weeks!”

“Don’t worry I have a plan to get you there,” said Twilight with a nod. “Lastly, Fluttershy and I will go North. Because there is only two of us, I should be able to teleport us.”

“Oh, that sounds terrifying, couldn’t I just, um, go with Applejack?” asked Fluttershy timidly.

“Except you’re element is north,” said Twilight.

“But you don’t really need me there for it, do you?” asked Fluttershy. “I mean, we got Rainbow’s element without her being there.”

“And she turned into a nightmare,” reminded Applejack. Fluttershy let out a small ‘eep’ of terror.

“Twilight, that is a long way to go,” said Rarity. “Are you sure you can teleport that far?”

“No,” answered Twilight with a shake of her head. “I can’t.”

“Then how…” began Applejack.

“I don’t need to do it in a single spell. We will teleport a little bit at a time until we get there,” said Twilight. “And don’t worry Fluttershy, teleporting is fun!” From the way Fluttershy was shaking, it looked like she expected anything but fun.

“Oh! Teleporting is fun! Can I go with you guys then?” asked Pinkie.

“No,” said Twilight, a bit of frustration in her voice. “Trixie and Rarity will need you.”

“Need me for what?” asked Pinkie.

“For this,” explained Twilight. She looked down at the map. Her horn glowed and the sound of ripping paper filled the air. Rarity let out a wail of distress and Luna a huff of disapproval. The map had been neatly torn into three parts. Twilight levitated one to Spike, one to Pinkie and one to herself.

“Now we each have a section,” said Twilight. She touched her piece with a hoof and it glowed. She moved it towards Fluttershy, who reluctantly put her hoof upon it, lighting the way to their destination. “One pony, or dragon, that can activate the map, and one pony to guide the way.”

It was time. Time to leave. Time to set out once more across Equestria. Time to split up and go their separate ways. One group to the West, exposed to the blazing wrath of the Sun. Another to the East, with the farthest distance to travel. And the last to the North, into the frozen crystal mountains.

Each party of ponies faced a unique challenge, but none more so than Rarity’s group, which had by far the furthest distance to travel. It was double the distance that Twilight would have to teleport and four times the distance that Applejack would need to gallop. Yet Rarity, Trixie and Pinkie would have the easiest time reaching their destination, assuming they could pull off Twilight’s plan.

The barrier around Canterlot, an invisible wall made of fire, was still in place. Luckily, they had arrived by another path. Retracing their steps, the group headed back towards the tunnel that had led them in.

There seemed to be no need for a shielding spell. With the Moon high overhead the heat of the Sun seemed to have diminished significantly. So much so that Twilight actually found it rather odd. Things should not have cooled down quite so much, not that she was complaining. Yet, the air should have still been painfully hot. The ground should have been at least warm. But it felt like just a normal, regular day.

The trek down through the passage was uneventful. It wasn’t until they were back in the tunnel with the train that Twilight explained her plan to get their friends to the East coast.

“The train,” explained Twilight, holding out a hoof. “Is the fastest, most direct route.”

“Except,” interrupted Trixie. “It doesn’t work. And, it is stuck behind piles and piles of rocks.”

“Yes,” agreed Twilight with a nod.

“So how exactly do you propose we use it?” pressed Trixie.

“Well, the first thing we need to do is move it down the mountain, to the tracks below,” explained Twilight. “Trixie is right, there are too many rock slides on the tracks for us to get it down by conventional means. So we are going to have to levitate it down.”

“You want to do what?” cried Rarity. “Twilight, that train is enormous. I know you might be a magical prodigy, but the rest of us…” Rarity looked around at Luna, a Princess who regularly, and recently, moved the Moon across the sky. And Trixie who… well was Trixie but despite her boasting was still a unicorn who had worked hard on her magical skills, even if those skills were mostly tricks to impress.

“We aren’t going to move the whole train,” answered Twilight. “Just the engine, that’s all you really need. We will lift in pairs. Each team moving the train a little way before passing it off. There are tracks every so often, so we can set it down and take a rest and reposition. At most, it should only take a few hours.”

“And what would you like the rest of us, non-unicorns to do?” asked Applejack, waving a hoof at herself, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Spike.

“You are going to help direct us,” explained Twilight. “Fluttershy can coordinate from the air. Applejack will go with Luna and Trixie. Pinkie will stay with us and relay instructions.”

“And what about me?” asked Spike, not having heard his name mentioned.

“Keep close to me and be ready to assist if needed,” said Twilight with a smile.

“Can do,” said Spike with a salute.

“And Pinkie, do you think you can uncoupled the engine,” asked Twilight.

“On it!” cried Pinkie and she hurried off in a puff of smoke.

“Okay,” continued Twilight as she began to lead the way to the front of the train. “Rarity and I will lift first. Luna, you and Trixie get down below, to the next ridge and bring Applejack with you. We will levitate the engine down to you. Once you have it, give us a signal and I’ll teleport Rarity and myself down below. Fluttershy can bring Pinkie and Spike down. Then you can pass it off to us. And we’ll continue until we get to the bottom.”

“You know how crazy this sounds, right?” asked Trixie.

“It’ll work,” answered Twilight. “Just remember, don’t stand under the train.”

Trixie nodded, then with a pop, she vanished. Luna, instead of teleporting, used her wings to fly down. Fluttershy put her hooves around Applejack and lifted her into the air with a visible effort before they descended. Twilight looked over the edge and watched to make sure they were ready.

“Pinkie? How is the engine coming?” asked Twilight.

“All unhooked,” said Pinkie, popping out from behind the train car. “Ready when you are.”

“Alright,” said Twilight. “Rarity, are you ready?” Rarity nodded, although Twilight thought she looked a little pale. “It will be fine, don’t worry, we can do this if we work together.” This did not seem to reassure Rarity very much.

“Okay, let’s start by moving it forward,” instructed Twilight. “The rockslide is covering the tracks just ahead, so we can’t move it all the way out of the tunnel. And… pull.”

Both Twilight and Rarity’s horns ignited with magic. The train glowed with a flickering multicolored aura. Twilight strained under the weight of it as did Rarity. Yet the train didn’t roll forward, despite their best efforts.

“Something is wrong,” grunted Twilight. “It won’t move.”

“I’m on it!” cried Pinkie Pie. Pinkie leapt up and into the cabin. When her head reappeared she was wearing an engineer’s cap upon her head. “Brake was on!” cried Pinkie. With a click, the wheels suddenly unlocked. The engine lurched violently forward. Luckily, both Twilight and Rarity had not taken up positions on the tracks.

The train rushed out of the tunnel. Twilight’s face strained as she worked to bring the train to a halt before it could crash into the landslide. The metal grate at the front stopped mere hooves from the rocks.

“Well, that could have gone better,” said Rarity, a little out of breath.

“Alright Pinkie, hop on out,” called Twilight.

“I’m already out silly,” said Pinkie from behind Twilight. The lavender unicorn gave a little jump of fright, not having seen Pinkie get behind her.

“Pinkie, don’t do that!” cried Twilight, working to bring her rapid breathing back under control. After a few moments Twilight was able to settle herself. “Okay, it’s time for the heavy lifting. Ready? Here we go.” Both she and Rarity used their magic together to lift the engine from the tracks.

The metal creaked and groaned as it lifted into the air. As the body lifted the wheels seemed to stay in place, getting further and further from the underside of the train. For a moment, Twilight thought the engine might separate, leaving the wheels behind. However, at last, the wheels began to lift as well, hanging well below the train.

Much to Twilight’s surprise, it actually wasn’t nearly as difficult as she had imagined it would be. It was by no means easy, but it didn’t feel like the huge metal lump of steel that it was.

Slowly, the two unicorns moved it out over the edge. Pinkie had moved over to the ledge so that she could look down below and direct.

“Looking good,” said Pinkie, “a little more, a little more, a little more! Alright, start going down!” The engine vanished over the cliff. Twilight and Rarity could no longer see it, although they continued to feel its weight. “Almost there,” directed Pinkie, “okay Applejack is waving, Luna and Trixie have it.”

“Are you sure?” asked Twilight, starting to feel a little strained.

“ARE YOU SURE!” shouted Pinkie over the edge. An echoed ‘yes’ came back up. “Yeah, they’re sure.”

At the same time, Twilight and Rarity released the spell. While it hadn’t been too taxing, Twilight was glad to not be holding up the massive hunk of metal any longer.

“Alright, we need to head down too…” began Twilight. However she had hardly gotten the words out before a thunderous boom made the very mountain shake. Fluttershy suddenly started waving her hooves, trying to get their attention.

“Whoa, what was that!” exclaimed Spike. Twilight was already hurrying towards the edge of the mountain. She stopped dead in her tracks as the great metal body of the engine rose up before them. The train’s upward momentum slowed and stopped as it hovered out in front of them, then, it began to fall.

Twilight reacted. Her horn flared to life and her magic wrapped around the engine. She strained under the weight as her body was dragged forward. Her hooves dug into the hard dirt but she continued to slide.

Spike hurried in front of her, using his body as a brace to keep Twilight from sliding off over the edge. Yet he seemed to do little to slow her down.

The two of them had almost reached the edge, Twilight straining under her magic, Spike straining under Twilight. Suddenly, they stopped moving, the back part of Spikes claws knocked tiny pebbles over the cliff. They had halted just short of the sheer drop.

A few hooves behind them, Rarity’s horn was glowing too. She had been able to add her magic just in time.

“What happened,” cried Fluttershy, flying over to them.

“Don’t know,” said Twilight, her voice strained. “Need to find a place to set it down.”

“Hold on!” cried Pinkie, she waved her arms over the edge, signaling Applejack below. “Okay, more to the left and down a dozen more hooves.”

Slowly, Twilight and Rarity worked together, lowering the engine as Pinkie gave them directions and adjustments.

“Annnd down!” instructed Pinkie. Rarity and Twilight stopped casting.

“We need to get down there and figure out what happened,” said Twilight. A few short trips, with the help of Fluttershy and Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight and Spike were all down on the ledge below. Twilight was the last to land.

The train sat a few dozen hooves away. There was no track here, just a large ledge that was somewhat flat. The engine’s metal wheels were half sunk into the dirt, but lifting it out again would be no problem.

“What happened? What went wrong?” asked Twilight.

“I did not expect such a violent reaction,” explained Luna. “It would seem that our magic is incompatible.” She glanced at Trixie, who said nothing. “Subtle differences in our casting created a conflict in the unified spell. Magic that is not perfectly balanced can fizzle away or become violently unstable. In our case,” Luna glanced at Trixie, “the latter appears to be true. Multicasting is tricky, even in the best of times.”

“I didn’t even think it was possible until Rarity and I did it by accident,” said Twilight. “I’ve never read anything on it, or had any lessons about it. We tried to teach it to other unicorns but… it didn’t exactly work.”

“I am surprised you do not know,” said Luna. “My sister never taught you how to cast magic alongside other unicorns?” Twilight shook her head. “Well, it is not a skill that just happens,” explained Luna. “It takes focus and practice. Often, a lifetime of study.

“Long ago, back before...” Luna trailed off slightly and there was a pained expression on her face “… before my sister sent me away, there were many unicorns who could cast spells together. Yet such a thing was not easily accomplished.

“Usually, only like minded unicorns were able to obtain the focus needed to maintain the complexities of a spell together and create the desired results. Every spell is slightly different and unpredictable. Even something as simple as levitation can very greatly from one unicorn to another.

“But two or more unicorns who have mastered Multicasting can cast numerous spells together. They can create exactly the same affect, the same spell.” Luna looked from Twilight to Rarity. “But I guess if any ponies could accomplish it naturally, the bearers of the elements of harmony would have the best chance.”

The group was silent as Luna finished her explanation. So many questions were running through Twilight’s head that she didn’t even know what to ask first. Well, she did know what she wanted to ask first, but it was both rude and it seemed unlikely that Luna would be able to answer it. Why had Celestia never told her?

“So,” said Spike, breaking the silence and interrupting Twilight’s thoughts. “How do we get this thing the rest of the way down?”

As it turned out, getting down was actually fairly easy, if slightly more time consuming. Instead of passing of the train from one set of unicorns to the next. Twilight and Rarity simply lowered it over and over. They would set the engine down whenever they reached the edge of their levitation magic.

A few spots didn’t have a large enough ledge for them to set it down upon. However, Luna was able to help with this, using her magic to make the ledge temporarily larger.

What should have been just a few hours turned into half a day. Yet, they had at last reached the bottom. As the metal on metal clinked together, Twilight heaved a sigh of relief.

“Alright, now we’ve got it down, but so what?” asked Trixie. “It still doesn’t work, and we have no idea how to fix it.”

“Well,” said Twilight. “We don’t exactly need to fix it.” She smiled a little sheepishly at Rarity and Trixie. “There is a reason the both of you are going East on the train. You two are going to use your magic to propel it forward.”

“We are going to what!” cried Trixie. “Did you miss the part where the engine shot up into the air and nearly came crashing back down on us?”

“Actually, I think that will make it a lot easier,” said Twilight. “Originally, I was going to suggest that you both use your magic to work the wheels and move the train. But I think if you work together the resulting, uh, effect, will propel the train forward.”

“You want us to mix our magic,” cried Rarity in slight surprise. “And you don’t think us mixing magic is going to make the train explode?”

“What? No, of course not,” said Twilight. Then she added, “Well, at least I hope not.” Her words seemed to instill little confidence in her friends. “Don’t worry, I’m mostly, almost, pretty, sure that it will work.”

“Sounds like fun!” exclaimed Pinkie. She had already climbed back up into the cabin and returned her engineer cap to her head. “It will be like a rocket train! I love rocket trains!”

“Pinkie, have you ever been on a rocket train?” asked Applejack. “Is there even such a thing?”

“Nope, and nope!” said Pinkie happily. “But I’m sure if I had, it would totally be super-fun!”

“So this is it then?” asked Spike. “We are really going to split up?”

“Yeah,” said Twilight. The reality of them going their separate ways finally began to hit her. “This is where we say goodbye.”

“I don’t wanna say goodbye!” wailed Pinkie. The group was suddenly smooshed together as Pinkie wrapped her hooves around all of them, Luna and Trixie included, in a giant crushing hug.

“It’s not like it’s goodbye forever,” said Fluttershy, trying to reassure her friend. “If everything goes according to plan, we should all be back here in no more than four days.”

“Yeah, according to plan,” mumbled Spike. “When has that ever happened?”

“Hush now Spike,” said Rarity sternly. “If Twilight is confident that this plan will work than so am I.” Twilight smiled, blushing a little but didn’t say anything. “Now, we should get going. If you don’t mind Pinkie?”

Somewhat reluctantly, Pinkie released the ponies. She still looked a little mopey, but followed Rarity and Trixie up into the train engine once more. She stuck her head out the window, looking back at her friends somewhat teary eyes. Twilight waved to her, and Spike and Applejack both joined in.

“Stay safe,” called Twilight. “We’ll see you again soon.”

“I’ll write to you every day!” called Pinkie, waving both hooves back at her friends.

The back of the train engine began to glow with swirling blue magic. A moment later, silver strands of a spell began to form as well. With the suddenness of a rubber band snapping back the two spells violently merged into one. A crack like thunder made the ground rumble.

The train blasted away from them, a scream of excitement or terror –Twilight couldn’t tell— lingered in its wake as it sped off down the tracks.

“Are you really sure this is the best plan?” asked Applejack.

“No,” answered Twilight, watching the retreating end of the train rush away into the distance. “But we don’t have another option.” She gave Applejack, Luna and Spike one last glance, and a small smile, then took a half step closer to Fluttershy.

“How exactly do you think Pinkie intends to write to us everyday?” asked Fluttershy in confusion. “How is she going to know to write the correct address if we keep moving around?” However, instead of answering, Twilight’s horn blazed with magic. With a pop and a cry of distress, Twilight and Fluttershy vanished.

At last, only Spike, Luna and Applejack remained. They would be the only part of the group not traveling by some magical means, well, until they reached the edge of the Moon’s shadow.

Applejack turned and looked out across the vast landscape behind them. She could not see their destination from here.

“I guess we better get going too,” said Applejack. “We still have a long way to go.”

Author's Note

Hey, welcome back, good to see you all again... well... you know what I mean...

Anyhow, this is a sorta, kinda long chapter. Which is funny, cuze I cut a ton of stuff out of it... of course I ruined all that by adding the next chapter into this one. Why, well, because, we didn't need a whole chapter of them moving the train down the mountain.

And anyone who is worried that we have another ten chapters of traveling to the elements and back, without giving spoilers, I can at promise we are closing in on the end of this long journey and there isn't that much further to travel, either for the characters or for us.

In any case, I hope you enjoy.

Continuing as planned, next chapter on Sat the 29th.

Chapter 21

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 21

Applejack, Luna and Spike were still in the shadow of Canterlot, even after hours of walking. The massive base of the mountain seemed to dominate all of the northern sky and stretch west far into the distance. High above, the lingering Sun still hadn’t moved. Only the Moon, which half eclipsed the Sun, kept the intense rays at bay.

Under the shadow of the Moon the heat was much less intense — to the point that Applejack hardly even noticed that it was slightly warmer than normal. However, that would change all too soon. The Sun was not fully eclipsed. At some point they would reach the edge, where the wrath of the Sun waited for them.

Relatively speaking, the group didn’t have far to travel when compared to where their friends were going. The Galloping Desert was roughly the same distance as Ponyville, not more then two days away. Unlike the other two groups though, they weren’t moving under magical means.

Rarity, Trixie and Pinkie were being carried in a magic rocket-powered steam-engine which was not actually being powered by steam. Twilight and Fluttershy were vanishing from one location and instantly relocating some place further away. And Applejack, Luna and Spike had to walk.

Although Applejack wasn’t complaining. The task ahead of all of them was surely fraught with danger and hardship. If the first three elements had been any indicator than all of her friends were headed for difficult challenges.

Gradually, the mountain moved past and then fell behind as they walked on. Applejack was so lost in her own thoughts and of the task ahead that she hardly noticed the changing of the scenery.

They had been walking for what must have been hours. The brown grass cracked beneath their hooves as they trotted on. The land around them had small rolling hills, and little else.

As they were making their way over one of the hills, the earth began to shake. Applejack stopped dead in her tracks. Spike let out a cry of surprise. And Luna just stood there, looking slightly nervous.

“Not again!” exclaimed Applejack. Her eyes raced upwards, towards the Moon that hovered in front of the Sun. The last time the ground had shook so violently, the giant white orb had been racing across the sky. However, that was not the case now. The Moon stayed right where it was.

The shaking stopped and the three companions looked at one another.

“What was that?” asked Spike.

“I thought, I thought it might be the Moon moving again,” explained Applejack. The two looked towards Luna. She shook her head.

“No, I would have felt the Moon move,” said Luna. She glanced upwards. “I do not know what it was, but it seems to have passed. We should continue on.”

Applejack nodded in agreement and they continued on their way.

The rolling hills stayed with them for a long ways. As the land began to become flat once more it also started to dip into a shallow valley. Running through the center of the valley were the banks of a wide river. The water ran quick and deep, flowing south-west, away from Canterlot, towards…

“I know this river,” said Applejack as she approached the water. She turned her head and looked down the band of blue that cut through the countryside. “This flows past Ponyville. We crossed over it on our way here.”

“Did we?” asked Spike. He moved up beside Applejack and put his claws into the water. “I don’t remember crossing a river.”

“It was all dried up,” said Applejack. Spike’s expression changed.

“Oh yeah!” cried Spike, flinging his hands into the air and splashing cool water on Applejack. “Sorry. But this can’t be the same river, can it? I mean, this one isn’t all dried up.”

“Which means it’s either blocked or diverted further down stream,” said Applejack. The earth pony looked ponderous for a long moment then turned to Spike. “How far off course would we go if we followed the river?” asked Applejack.

“Hold on let me check,” said Spike. He wiped his claws against his scales to dry them before he produced the fragment of the map that Twilight had given him. The moment his claws touched the paper, the map came to life, glowing with shiny green lines. His small sharp eyes examined the route.

“Well, it does go west,” said Spike. He traced the rivers path with a claw. The river was a long thin line snaking down from Canterlot to Ponyville. Applejack touched the map and the orange-gold dot flared to life. She didn’t need Spike to tell her the next part, she could already see it. But he did anyway. “But it looks like it will take us way off course.”

“I know,” said Applejack. She removed her hoof and the pulsing dot faded. “Look. I think we should go find whatever is taking the water outa this river.” Luna spoke up for the first time since they had reached the river, her voice calm and reasoned.

“That problem could be all the way down in Ponyville,” said Luna. “Such a path might take us two days out of our way.”

“I know,” said Applejack again. She let her head drop. “Look, Ponyville is in bad shape. I’m sure they need water and this here river is the best source there is. If it’s blocked up though, we should find out why and fix it, if we can. We have to, please…”

Rarity and Trixie had their hooves wrapped around each other, holding on for dear life. When the train had launched off, the jolt had knocked them to the floor. Their screams echoed in unison as the train shook violently around them, speeding uncontrolled down the tracks. Pinkie had her head out the window, also screaming, but with excitement, rather than terror.

Pinkie was still waving to their friends back at the base of the mountain, although she could no longer see them. At last, when even the little dot she thought might be them had vanished, Pinkie pulled her head back into the train.

“Hey,” shouted Pinkie, trying to be heard over the clamor of the train and the wails of her friends. They continued to scream. “HEY!” Pinkie shouted again. This seemed to get their attention and they finally stopped.. “Are you guys gonna hug all the way there? If so, do you have room for one more?”

Rarity and Trixie looked at one another and promptly pulled apart, both looking slightly embarrassed.

“We aren’t dead!” exclaimed Trixie in surprise. She ran her hooves over herself to ensure no parts were missing.

“Nope,” answered Pinkie. “But we are going really, really, really fast!” As if to emphasize this point a loud metal screeching noise echoed through the air and the train swayed uncomfortably to the side as the track curved.

“How far do you think this, uh, spell, will take us before we have to do it again?” asked Rarity. Pinkie shrugged and Trixie did not answer. “Well, I guess we don’t have much to do other then wait.”

“Maybe we could play twenty questions?” suggested Pinkie Pie.

“Or,” suggested Trixie, retreating to a corner of the train. “We could just sit in silence and not talk to each other unless we absolutely have to.”

“The staying quiet for a really long time game?” asked Pinkie. “My Mom used to play that with me all the time! I was never good at it though. Now Fluttershy! She is like the champion of it! Rainbow once told me that Fluttershy holds the world record for being the quietest for like five years straight!” Trixie glared at Pinkie, but the pink pony did not take the hint.

“I think we are starting to slow down,” said Rarity. “It looks like we will have to recast the spell.”

“Not yet,” said Pinkie, hopping back up to the window and looking out. She watched as the flat landscape rushed past.

“Why not?” asked Trixie. “If we keep our speed up we will get there sooner.”

“Faster isn’t better,” said Pinkie, climbing back inside the cabin. She examined some of the dials on the engine, tapping one with a hoof. “If we go too fast, the train will jump off the tracks.”

“How do you know?” asked Trixie. “When did you become a train expert?”

“Oh, a while back, right before I moved to Ponyville,” replied Pinkie, missing the sarcasm in Trixie’s voice. “I love trains! And I was totally thinking of becoming an engineer. I got all the way through the training… hehe training… get it? And well, that was the problem, nopony else did. They were always all so serious. So I went into baking instead, which worked out a lot better!” Both Rarity and Trixie looked at each other uncertainly.

“But you already had your cutie mark at that point?” asked Rarity. “You knew that your true calling was making other smile, right?”

“Yep,” answered Pinkie happily.

“Then why in Equestria did you want to become a train engineer? What does that possibly have to do with ponies smiling? Baking I can understand, but trains?” asked Rarity in confusion.

“That’s easy,” answered Pinkie. “I was going to ride the party train from town to town! Bringing smiles to ponies everywhere!” Trixie groaned. “But, well, like I said it didn’t work out and I found myself in Ponyville.

“Anyhow, I think you can recast your spell again. It looks like the train has slowed down en-nough-ouf-ouf-ouf.” Rarity and Trixie looked concerned and Pinkie suddenly began to shake up and down. Trixie took a step away like she was afraid she might catch whatever Pinkie had.

However, it did not last much longer. Just as suddenly as it had started Pinkie stopped shaking. Her eyes suddenly looked panicked. She rushed forward and grabbed the break leaver, pulling it down as hard as she could.

The wheels screeched in protest and both Rarity and Trixie were tossed from their hooves a second time as the train lurched to a sudden halt.

“What they hay!” exclaimed Trixie in annoyance. Pinkie however didn’t have time to explain. This time, the whole train started to shake and wobble around them Rarity let out a wail of terror, while Trixie spread her hooves out to keep from sliding around during the shaking. Pinkie just stood there, waiting for it to pass.

The shaking didn’t last long and soon the world was still once more.

“There, all done,” said Pinkie. “We got lucky we weren’t going all that fast and I could stop us in time.”

“Seriously! How do you keep doing that!” cried Trixie working her way to her hooves. Pinkie shrugged.

“I dono, I just do,” said Pinkie. “Twilight didn’t get it either at first. Anyhow, you guys can cast your spell now.” Rarity and Trixie slowly moved back towards each other. They were about to put their hooves together when Trixie suddenly stopped. She looked seriously at Pinkie.

“If this spell was about to make us explode… you would tell us, right?” asked Trixie.

“Of course!” said Pinkie. There was a long pause in which Trixie waited for Pinkie to comfort her and say they wouldn’t explode.

“Well?” asked Trixie when Pinkie said nothing. “Aren’t you going to tell us if we are going to explode or not?”

“Oh, I have no idea,” said Pinkie. “I don’t control it, it just sort of happens, usually before things are about to happen. Only a couple times after…” Trixie looked uncertain once again.

“Don’t worry dear,” said Rarity. “I’m sure we will be just fine.”

Trixie nodded somberly. Slowly, they brought their horns together. Magic swirled as the two horns attempted to create one spell. They had chosen a simple spell to propel them, levitation.

“Wait!” shouted Pinkie, suddenly holding up a hoof. Trixie instantly pulled away and the spell died. Pinkie wrinkled her nose and sneezed.

“What does that mean!” cried Trixie in alarm. “Does that mean we are going to explode!”

“I think that means she had to sneeze,” said Rarity a little irritably.

“Okay, I’m good now, I just didn’t want to miss blasting off!” cried Pinkie happily.

With a slight grumble, Trixie and Rarity brought their horns together once more. Magic flickered in around them. A loud crack split the air. The train lurched sharply forward and all three ponies were tossed off their hooves by the sudden motion.

Pinkie let out a squeal of delight, while Trixie gave a grunt of discomfort and Rarity a cry of distress. After a moment, the sensation of rapid acceleration eased and the ponies were able to get back up.

“We really need to find a better way to do that,” said Rarity.

Teleporting more than one pony at a time was tricky. Plotting a single landing site thousands of hooves away was difficult enough, without having to ensure that a second body came with and didn’t get lost along the way.

Twilight had done shared teleportation before. Her first experience had been with her mentor, Princess Celestia. The experience had been, for lack of a better term, magical. One moment the two of them had been standing on a balcony, outside of Celestia’s private study, overlooking Equestria below. The next moment, they were out on the beaches of Los Pegasus, watching the Sun set. It was a memory that Twilight hoped never to forget.

While not quite as good as her mentor, Twilight had preformed shared teleportation once before, getting Rarity, Rainbow, Spike and herself out of danger when they had been chased by dragons. However, that had been only a short distance and only once, not over and over again.

The distance she could teleport was also limited. Like all magic, the more you practiced it, the better you could become. Princess Celestia had been teleporting for a long time before Twilight had even been born, before even her parents had been born, before even their parents…

Celestia’s skill was so great she could move from one side of the world to the other. Twilight, on the other hand, was pretty good at it. Not, other side of the world good but still, pretty good.

All of these thoughts ran through Twilight’s head as she moved herself and Fluttershy through time and space. The worry of shared teleportation. Her memory of the first time she had shared in it. Her own attempts and successes at it. Her own limitations. Her awareness of Fluttershy, sliding through the æther beside her. And, most importantly, her focus upon their destination.

While the other thoughts helped her, the last one was critical. Without focus and planning, teleportation, shared or alone was dangerous. If a unicorn didn’t know where they were going to land or couldn’t visualize it properly, then many unpleasant things could happen. Twilight had to force herself not to recount all the things that could go wrong.

Twilight could feel their destination rapidly approaching. Except, something about it was wrong somehow, fuzzy, out of sorts. She couldn’t tell what was wrong with the location. It was like the destination was… moving? That couldn’t be right.

With a crack and a quiet scream of fright, Fluttershy and Twilight popped back into existence. They had arrived upon the top of a small hill. It was part of a series of hills that made the land around them seem like a wavy ocean. Except, this ocean was made of dead, brown, grass.

Behind them, still tall and not too distant was the looming shape of the mountain upon which Canterlot sat. They were only a few hours walk from it at best. Twilight felt her face fall slightly and turned her head to look forward. This wasn’t the hill she had meant to teleport to. Her target was a few hills away.

Something odd had happened right before re-materialization. But for the life of her, Twilight couldn’t figure out what.

“That was terrifying!” cried Fluttershy, collapsing down to the ground and trembling with fear. “I felt all stretched out, like I was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”

“I’m sorry,” apologized Twilight. “I should have prepared you a little more for what was going to happen. We have to do it again.” Fluttershy looked up her eyes wide.

“Can’t we… um… just walk instead?” asked Fluttershy. Twilight shook her head.

“It’s too far, we would spend four or five extra days getting there,” said Twilight. “Teleporting is the only way.” Fluttershy almost looked tearful as she got back to her hooves. “I guess it can be a little strange if you aren’t used to it… but, was it really that bad?”

“I felt… never mind…” whispered Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy,” answered Twilight, her voice soft and reassuring. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“No, it’s alright, it doesn’t matter,” said Fluttershy meekly. Twilight stood there for a long time, looking at her friend. Fluttershy kept looking else where, her eyes flicking back every now and then to see if Twilight was still looking at her. “We should keep going,” said Fluttershy at last when neither of them had spoken for almost five minutes.

“Not just yet,” said Twilight. “I need a minute or so more to recover.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” apologized Fluttershy, as she usually did whenever anything might slightly be her fault. “If you want to rest, we can stay here as long as you like.”

“Well, we can’t actually,” said Twilight. “We have a long way’s to go. But this should be enough of a break. Okay, I think I’m ready now.” Twilight took a deep breath, closed her eyes and focused. She could see her next destination in her minds eye. Another small hill, with a wilting tree upon it. “Here we go.”

Magic engulfed the two of them a second time. Fluttershy let out a small cry of fear as they vanished from existence and slipped into the world unseen.

Here, in this space between spaces, distance and time did not matter. Teleportation was not so much about moving from one spot to another but changing one spot into another. The outward appearance was that a unicorn could instantly vanish from one location and reappear a great distance away. But that was a crude interpretation.

In actuality, Twilight and Fluttershy weren’t moving at all. They were staying perfectly still, while the world raced past around them. A small, but important distinction, as much of magic tended to be.

Twilight felt their destination arrive beneath them and she pulled them out of the æther. The two reappeared with a pop and a breathless wail. This time, Twilight had hit her mark dead on.

The mountain was now very distant behind them, a half a day away. Before them the hills ended into low flat land that became a forest of leafless trees.

“How many more times do we need to do that?” whimpered Fluttershy.

“Only twice more,” said Twilight. “Do you see those cliffs over there?” She held up a hoof and pointed ahead of them. Beyond the forest, across a lake, hardly visible from where they were, distant cliffs were not much more than a faint line on the horizon. “That’s where we are going. But it will take two more teleports to get us there.”

“Why…” asked Fluttershy, her voice faulting slightly. “Why can’t we just go there?” Twilight’s face fell a little. “I’m sorry, should I not have asked that?”

“No,” answered Twilight, trying to recover and appear more confident. “No, it’s alright. It’s just, well, hard to explain to a non-unicorn. Let me see… if you had to fly all the way there, you would be pretty tired, right?”

“Actually, I would prefer to walk,” said Fluttershy. Twilight gave her friend an odd look. “Um, if that is okay with you?”

“Fluttershy, this is a hypothetical situation, I’m not actually asking you to…” said Twilight. She shook her head. “Never mind. Okay, if you were to walk there, you would be kind of tired by the time you arrived.”

“I guess so, that is a long ways away,” answered Fluttershy.

“Now, if you galloped instead, you would be really tired,” said Twilight.

“Oh my, I’m not sure I could gallop that far,” said Fluttershy timidly.

“Well, teleporting isn’t much different, just, faster,” said Twilight. “The further I go, the harder and more tiring it is. And it’s like I’m doing the walking for both of us.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you want me to walk?” asked Fluttershy. Twilight shook her head.

“No,” said Twilight, knowing that her friend wasn’t understanding. “What I mean is, I can’t do it in one go because… well, it’s just too far. I would be too tired. So I am getting a little more distance by only going a small way and resting between them. Don’t worry, once we reach the cliffs we’ll take a long break.”

Twilight’s horn began to glow again and with a pop, the two vanished.

Applejack wasn’t sure how long they had been following the river now. She knew it had taken them pretty far off course, she just didn’t know how far. While the magical map showed Equestria, as well as the location of the element, it did not actually show where they were on it. And this section had very little in the way of landmarks.

“We might be here,” said Spike, tilting the map slightly. “I think that rock over there looks like this one on the map.

“That is a boulder,” replied Luna, her eyes turning from the rock Spike had pointed to, back onto the map. “The Horns of the Bull, is a mountain peak. Also, it looks nothing like the image on the map.”

“It does if you turn your head like this,” Spike tilted his head so that he was almost looking at the rock upside down.

“It’s just a rock!” said Applejack, her voice slightly irritated. “Now put that map away. We are following this river till we find out why it’s stopped flowing ta Ponyville.”

“I must once again state my objection to this course,” replied Luna. Applejack rolled her eyes, but Luna, trotting along at the back, could not see. “We are wasting valuable time we do not have.”

“Time all of Equestria doesn’t have,” muttered Applejack.

“What?” asked Spike.

“Nothin,” answered Applejack. “It’s nothing. Come on, lets keep moving.”

“Uh, Applejack, we are moving,” replied Spike.

“Well, move faster! With less chit-chat!” shouted Applejack. Spike and Luna shared and uncertain glance. Since they had started down this river course, Applejack’s mood had become more and more foul. She had been snapping whenever Luna or Spike said anything. And she wouldn’t listen to reason.

It was almost another hour later when Spike found the courage to speak up again.

“Applejack,” asked Spike timidly.

“What! What in tarnation is it now!” exclaimed Applejack. She spun around, anger in her eyes, which were locked on Spike. The whole group came to a stop. “Did you find another rock? Or maybe a tree shaped like a saddle?”

“…” Spike’s small voice was barely audible.

“What?” shouted Applejack in annoyance.

“Why… why are you acting like this?” repeated Spike. “Why are you so angry?”

“I’m not… I…” stammered Applejack. She was taken aback by the question. At last she realized how much her bad mood had come through. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so rough on you. I’m just… worried is all.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find your element and make it back to Canterlot and fix all this,” said Spike, trying to sound strong and reassuring. But Applejack just shook her head.

“No, not about that,” said Applejack. She looked away. “Twilight said I should keep it quiet, that saying it would just worry everypony. But it’s been eating me up inside and I don’t reckon it matters keeping it a secret from you two anymore.” Applejack took a deep breath, preparing herself for the truth she had been holding back for so long. “There aint enough food,” said Applejack a little sadly.

“Duh, we already knew that,” said Spike. “That’s why we’ve been in such a hurry.”

“No,” said Applejack shaking her head. “You don’t understand. I mean, there isn’t enough food to feed everypony once this is over. Our stores were already low when this started and my apple orchards were dying even before we left.

“Even if we fix this, get the Sun moving again, bring Celestia back… we don’t have enough food to last us through the months of waiting for new crops, let alone through winter.” Both Spike and Luna were silent, shocked by Applejack’s words. “Twilight asked me not to tell nopony. She said it would just make everyone worry.”

“No… no food…” said Spike. His tummy grumbled at the thought.

“Spike, you eat gems,” reminded Luna. “I think that those will be unaffected by the heat.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” said Spike. “So what are we going to do for everyone else?” Applejack looked away.

“I don’t know,” said Applejack. “I’m not sure there is anything we can do… But I know that if we can fix this river, we can at least get water to Ponyville, and Oatsfield and San Donkey. So that’s what I’m gona do.”

The train continued its uncontrolled careen down the tracks. For the third time, Rarity and Trixie had recast the spell and propelled them forward. The three ponies had braced themselves against the back of the compartment. While the acceleration was still unpleasant, it didn’t toss them to the ground.

“SO BORED!” cried Pinkie, who had taken up a spot near the front of the compartment. “This isn’t as fun as train rides normally are.”

“We aren’t exactly here to have ‘fun’,” pointed out Trixie. The light blue unicorn had taken up the spot furthest away from both Rarity and Pinkie.

“We just have to endure it,” said Rarity. “Being in this filthy cabin is not my ideal travel situation either, but we don’t have much of a choice. At least we don’t have to actually shovel coal into the engine.” Pinkie let out a snorting laugh. “What? What is so funny.”

“Picturing you shoveling coal,” said Pinkie with a smile. “I don’t think your white coat and tiny black sooty lumps would mix. Besides, these trains don’t run on coal, they haven’t for a hundred years now.”

“They… they don’t?” asked Rarity in confusion.

“Nope,” said Pinkie with a shake of her head. “They did, at first, but it was all yucky.”

“What… what do they run on?” asked Trixie, unable to contain her curiosity.

“Uh, magic, of course,” said Pinkie rolling her eyes. “The boiler is enchanted with a heating spell. This lever,” she pointed to a lever with a red handle, “makes it hotter when you push it forward and cooler when you pull it back.”

“Wait, are you telling us we don’t need to keep… keep blasting this thing?” cried Rarity. “We could have just pushed a lever and moved the train?” Pinkie laughed again.

“Of course not silly!” said Pinkie with a playful roll of her eyes. “The boiler is empty. No water.” She tapped a gauge. Rarity couldn’t make out the numbers on it from across the cabin but the needle appeared to be pointing to what might be empty. “Also, the enchantment is gone. I tried it back before we went up to Canterlot.”

“Gone,” asked Trixie in confusion. “What do you mean gone?” Pinkie shrugged.

“Just that, it isn’t there anymore,” said Pinkie. “I didn’t think that could happen. At least they never covered it in training… hehe training, I never get tired of that.”

“That is because it can’t happen,” said Trixie. “Enchantments don’t just vanish. It takes a really powerful spell to break them. You must be reading it wrong.”

“Nope,” answered Pinkie. “I double-uble-uble checked it.”

“Impossible, let the Great and Powerful Trixie take a look,” said Trixie moving forward importantly. “Magic is a job for unicorns anyhow, not earth ponies. Only one such as I, The Great and Powerful Trixie can…”

“Can you please give that a rest!” interrupted Rarity.

“Excuse me!” cried Trixie, stopping halfway across the cabin.

“Is it really so hard to just say ‘I’ or ‘me’? Must you insist on always proclaiming your silly title whenever you say anything?” asked Rarity, her voice agitated.

“Yes,” said Trixie. “The Great and Powerful Trixie must always proclaim herself. Least the common ponies forget they are in the presence of The Great and Powerful Trixie!” Rarity’s eyes flickered with anger, while Trixie shot contempt back at her.

“All you seem to think about is yourself,” snapped Rarity.

“Because that’s what’s important!” shouted Trixie. “It’s not like I have any friends!” Silence fell over the train. Trixie’s eyes suddenly widened and she turned away, realizing she had let slip something she shouldn’t have said. She turned away from the other two, trying to hide her face.

“Is that… do you really believe that?” asked Rarity kindly.

“Of course,” said Trixie, not turning to look at the other two. “I don’t have any friends. No pony has ever wanted to be my friend. I came along with you guys, but I know you don’t really want me here.”

“But we are friends,” said Pinkie. Trixie let out a humorless laugh.

“We are,” insisted Rarity. “If you want us to be.”

“You don’t have to pretend,” said Trixie quietly. “I know that behind my back you all despise me. The moment you don’t need me anymore you’ll send me away… just like always.”

“We wont,” said Rarity. Trixie felt a hoof lightly touch her on the shoulder. “When this is all over, you are more than welcome to come and stay in Ponyville and be our friend.” Trixie turned her head slightly, looking at Rarity and trying hard to read her expression. There was no malice, no dislike, no lie that Trixie could see.

“I… I would like that,” said Trixie, a slight smile coming to her face. Suddenly she and Rarity were both smashed together as Pinkie grabbed them up in a crushing hug.

“And we can have parties, and cake, and sing…” cried Pinkie, tightening the hug further.

“She’s joking about the singing part, right?” asked Trixie.

It had actually taken three more teleports to reach the distant cliffs, rather than the two that Twilight had anticipated. Long range teleportation wasn’t something Twilight did very often and having a passenger along made each one more difficult. However, they had at last reached their destination.

With a flash, Twilight and Fluttershy popped into existence. They had only appeared a few hooves from the edge of the cliff. Fluttershy had let out a tiny shriek of terror before leaping into Twilight’s forelegs. Or, at least she would have, if Twilight had been prepared.

Instead, the two ponies collided. Twilight was knocked to the ground and Fluttershy sat atop her, looking embarrassed.

“Oh my… I’m so sorry Twilight,” said Fluttershy in her ever bashful voice. “Usually, somepony is always ready to catch me.”

“It’s okay,” answered Twilight, her voice slightly exhausted. “If you could, you know, get off me, that would be great.”

“Oh, sorry,” apologized Fluttershy again. She hopped off Twilight. The lavender unicorn slowly worked her way back to her hooves. It seemed to take a great effort. “Are you alright?”

“I’ve been through worse,” said Twilight with a slight stretch to ensure nothing was broken. “Just, try to warn me the next time you decide to do that, okay?”

“Oh, um, okay,” said Fluttershy meekly.

Twilight gave an involuntary shiver. She suddenly felt cold. At first she thought it might be from a chilly breeze, yet the air here was still and silent. But the air was simply icy cold. The sensation boggled Twilight’s brain.

Turning, Twilight glanced behind her. In the distance was the mountain on which Canterlot sat. It was still prominent on the horizon but much smaller than a few hours ago. They had traveled a good distance so far.

Twilight shivered again. She turned her attention forward, to the path still to travel ahead of them. From this point on there were no forest, or hills, just flat, cold, tundra. Far off in the distance, were the peaks of the Crystal Mountains. The tiny points were little more than gray shadows against the cloudless sky.

The mountains weren’t actually made of crystal, they were made of ice. One massive glacier extended from ocean to ocean. It was tall enough in places to be a mountain and many mistook it for snow covered rocky peaks, although Twilight knew better.

For some reason, she had almost expected them to have melted away completely under the intense heat. While it was impossible to tell from this distance if the Sun had had any affect on them. Twilight could still certainly feel the chill in the air. She had no idea it extended so far out.

“We should rest here for a few hours,” said Twilight. Her eyes turned down to the sandy ground, broken up by small patches of cold gray stone. “Then I can teleport us the rest of the way.”

“Um, shouldn’t we just keep walking?” asked Fluttershy. “I mean, if it’s okay with you?” Twilight smiled a weary smile. It was getting hard to stand, let alone to keep talking or walking.

“You might not be too tired, but I just moved us a days worth of travel in a few hours,” said Twilight. “I’m not sure I could really walk any further.”

“I could carry you,” suggested Fluttershy with a slight blush of embarrassment.

“Really?” asked Twilight, a little surprised.

“Well, I probably could,” correct Fluttershy, looking away timidly. “I mean, I’ve carried lots of hurt animals before, although none quite as big as a pony.” Twilight thought for a long moment. With Twilight teleporting them as far as she could, and Fluttershy walking them as far as she could, they might reach the element even faster. However, Twilight shook her head.

“I wouldn’t really be able to rest,” said Twilight. “While we might go a little further now, we wont go as far later. No, I think it best to just stop for a bit.”

“Um, okay,” said Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus lay down on the dirt beside Twilight. She let out a little shiver, as though feeling the cold for the first time. “Oh my, it really is cold here, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” agreed Twilight with a nod. “The closer we get to the mountains, the colder it will get.” Twilight let her eyes close. She felt the edge of sleep calling to her, beckoning her into dreams.

“Twilight,” asked a soft voice that kept her lingering at the boundaries of sleep.

“Um-hum,” answered Twilight, more just agreeing to her name than truly responding.

“It’s not your fault, and I don’t blame you for it,” said Fluttershy. Twilight half opened a sleepy eye, not really following what Fluttershy was on about. “And, I’m sorry to ask you, but I have to know… do you think Rainbow Dash is okay?”

Up until those last words, Twilight hadn’t really been listening to Fluttershy. But the mention of their lost friend pushed Twilight firmly back into the waking world, with all thoughts of sleep fading from her mind.

“I honestly don’t know, Fluttershy,” said Twilight. The yellow pegasus looked a little put-out by Twilight’s less than reassuring words. “I know it isn’t what you wanted to hear but no pony, in the history of Equestria has ever faced anything like this before. I just don’t know if we can win against this.”

“Oh, okay,” said Fluttershy, visibly drooping and curling tighter on herself. “It’s just that… that I…” Fluttershy looked away, her cheeks turning suddenly red with embarrassment.

“You just what?” asked Twilight.

“Nothing, it’s not important,” answered Fluttershy, refusing to look at her friend.

Twilight got up from the ground and crossed the short distance to where Fluttershy was. Carefully she lowered herself down beside the other mare.

“What, what’s wrong?” asked Twilight seriously, her eyes locked on Fluttershy.

“I could hear her,” said Fluttershy softly. Twilight’s expression changed to puzzlement.

“Hear… her?” asked Twilight uncertain what her friend meant.

“Rainbow Dash,” explained Fluttershy. “I heard her voice, every time you teleported us, I could hear her, calling for us…” Twilight’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, yet no words seemed to come out. “You probably think I’m being silly…” said Fluttershy looking away.

“No,” said Twilight quickly. “No, I don’t think that at all. Did you really hear her?” For a moment, Fluttershy hesitated then she nodded, ever so slightly. “Rainbow really is a tough girl. She came back once and I know we can bring her back again.”

“But what if she can’t come back,” asked Fluttershy. “What if by the time we find her it’s too late to save her and she is stuck that way forever? What if it’s too late for everypony…” Fluttershy suddenly broke down into sobs. Twilight put a hoof around her, and Fluttershy turned her face into Twilight’s chest and cried.

“We are who we are,” said Twilight quietly, almost to herself. “No spell can change who we really want to be. Only we can decide that. Magic might make us look different on the outside, but it can’t change who we are inside.” Twilight looked down at Fluttershy who was still crying softly. “I know Rainbow is waiting to come back, that she wants to come back. We just have to show her and the others the way… somehow.”

Author's Note

Another long-ish chapter here. Didn't get as much time with it as I would have liked, so, apologies in advance for any mistakes that made it through editing.

If you couldn't guess this was three chapters. But... well... I mushed them together for a lot of reasons. Not the least of which is to hurry things along, earlier chapters went a bit longer than I had originally planned. I guess end chapters will go a bit faster.

Anyhow... hope to see you all back next week as we close in on the final chapters.

Chapter 22 goes up Sat July 6th.

Chapter 22

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter

Applejack wasn’t sure how far out of the way they had walked. They were still traveling West but also South as well. She knew they were off course, she just hoped they weren’t too far off.

For the moment they were still under the shadow of the moon. However, they were quickly approaching the edge of day. Applejack could see it, the place where the shadow ended and the Sun blazed down in the distance. Luna, or rather, Nightmare Moon, had moved the Moon, but it didn’t fully eclipse the Sun. They were getting close to being out in the open once more, even if it was still hours from where they were.

Alongside them the babble of the river continued endlessly. They had been trotting along its banks for a long while now. Applejack had lost track of time once again. She could feel a dull ache in her hooves and knew they would need to rest soon. But not yet, just a little further, they could manage a little further.

“Applejack, are we gonna stop any time soon?” asked Spike, voicing the very thing Applejack had been contemplating. “My feet are killing me!”

“Just a little more,” said Applejack. “I want to find whatever is clogging up the river before we stop.”

“But we’ve been walking forever!” complained Spike. “We might never find what we are looking for!”

“Another half hour and if we don’t find it, we’ll stop,” answered Applejack.

“You said that a half hour ago!” complained Spike.

“I believe you are both in luck,” answered Luna, nodding her head forward, we appear to have located the problem.”

Applejack had to squint to see it. There was something ahead of them, something that seemed familiar, but that she had never seen before. It wasn’t just in the river either, it just ended at the river.

Thick white undulating lines rose and dove in and out of the ground. They stretched on into the distance. From where the group was they seemed tiny but they were far enough away that Applejack thought they must be huge.

“What is that?” asked Spike, holding up a claw to his eyes to try and see it better. “It looks like some kind of giant snake?”

Applejack quickened her pace and Spike called out for her to slow down, but she only galloped harder. It was impossible. She had to be imagining it. Those weren’t… they couldn’t be…

Panting hard, Applejack’s gallop slowed to a trot as she came close and the giant white wall that rose before her. It was made of dozens of thick round strands that wove around each other before spreading out and plunging into the river.

“What… are… they…” panted Spike finally coming up along side Applejack and clutching a stitch in his side.

“Roots,” said Applejack, her eyes sweeping across the enormous plant structure. “These are tree roots.”

“Tree roots!” cried Spike in disbelief. “How can they be tree roots! They are bigger than a house!”

“Big roots, for big trees,” said Luna. She too had caught up, or perhaps, never fallen behind, Applejack had neglected to notice. In either case, she was not out of breath. “They lead off towards the Galloping Desert.”

Slowly, Applejack approached the river. She looked over the edge into the water. As the river passed the roots, it all but vanished. While the roots were not blocking the water they were absorbing it. Each one of the giant roots seemed to drop the level of the water by a few hooves until, when it passed the last root, only a trickle came out the other side.

“How are we supposed to unblock this?” cried Applejack in distress. She had expected a dam or a diversion, but not giant, water sucking roots.

“We follow them,” said Luna. “And find the source.”

“Awwhhh, does that mean more walking?” whined Spike.

Applejack lay on the river bank, her eyes searching along the giant twisting roots. She had spent the past several hours watching them, like she expected them to move, or change.

A few hooves away Spike snored softly. He had drifted off the moment they had lain down. Luna was on Applejack’s other side. While she too was asleep her breathing was silent.

Despite her fatigue, Applejack simply couldn’t sleep. She wanted to sleep, but she wanted more to go on. Stopping felt wrong. Every moment they wasted could mean the difference between survival and starvation.

As if hearing her thoughts, her stomach rumbled. She ignored it. They had brought hard bread with them from Canterlot, but Applejack was determined not to eat it unless she had to. Some other pony they might meet along the way would need it more.

Twilight had convinced Applejack not to tell anypony else about how bad the food situation was. But they both knew the terrible truth. A few weeks, that was all Ponyville had left in its stores.

And now, it had been a few weeks. Even if they got the elements, even if they returned the Celestia to normal, they couldn’t fix the devastation to Equestria overnight. Magic couldn’t fix everything, and it certainly couldn’t make food.

“You are still troubled,” said Luna softly. Somehow, Applejack had expected the words.

“Yeah,” said Applejack. “I just can’t help thinking this is all for nothing. Element’s can’t fix this.” She looked up at the Sun. “Nothing can fix this…”

“So you would rather do nothing?” asked Luna.

“I didn’t say that,” answered Applejack a little sourly. “I just don’t like not being able to do anything about it. I don’t like having to keep it secret from everypony.”

“Sometimes,” said Luna. “The lie we tell ourselves is preferable to the truth.” Applejack turned her head to look at Luna. The princess was standing, her long mane much longer than usual, streaking out behind her, filled with stars. “If you let others know the truth, they will hate you for it, blame you for it…”

Blue fire began to burn all around Luna. Slowly her shape became larger, more menacing. Applejack lay transfixed, unable to move as she watched the horrible transformation in front of her. The pupils of Luna’s eyes narrowed into slits. Her wings enlarged so that they turned the sky black with night.

“Sometimes,” whispered the dark terrible form, now towering over Applejack. “The truth can destroy you.”

“Applejack! Come on, get up!” cried Spike. Applejack shook. Her eyes snapped open. There was sweat rolling down her brow. “Are you alright? You don’t look so good.”

“They must be following us,” said Luna, stepping forward. Applejack couldn’t help but recoil. Luna’s face fell slightly and there was hurt in her eyes. She looked away, back into the sky behind them. “I am sorry. I should have stayed awake to shield you from them.”

“Who?” asked Spike.

“The nightmares,” whispered Applejack, half to herself and half in answer to Spike’s question. “We should get moving. We’ve wasted too much time here.”

Without waiting for the others to respond Applejack got to her hooves and hurried towards the river. Her pace quickened into a gallop and without hesitation she leapt across the divide to land on the other bank.

“How am I supposed to jump—WOAH!” exclaimed Spike as Luna lifted the small dragon up and carried him across the river.

“Can we follow these roots?” asked Applejack. She looked down towards Spike, who stared blankly back at her for a moment before realizing that he had the map.

“Oh, right, hold on,” said Spike suddenly realizing that the question had been for him. He pulled out the blank paper and it began to glow in his claws. “That’s odd…”

“What is odd?” asked Luna moving forward to examine the map.

“I could have sworn that…” Spike ran a claw up the map, following a series of what looked to be woven lines, “this wasn’t here last time.”

“You mean the map changed?” asked Applejack. Spike nodded.

“I think, it got bigger, like it’s zooming in the closer we get,” said Spike. His eyes swept across the page. “There is a lot more detail now.”

“That’s all well and good,” said Applejack seriously. “But it don’t answer my question.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” said Spike. “Yeah, it looks like these lead right to the desert, right to… can you put your hoof on the map?” Applejack did as requested and her golden orange dot flickered into existence. “Right to where your element is.” Applejack pulled her hoof back in surprise. Spike stowed the map.

“My element,” said Applejack. Her eyes moved over the roots again. “You don’t think… my element caused this? Do you?”

“Roots?” asked Luna. “Not impossible but I don’t see how or why it would.”

“Well,” said Spike thoughtfully. “Twilights was stuck in a frozen lake. And Pinkie’s had those weird reflections. Maybe it’s another spell protecting it?”

“Maybe,” said Applejack shaking her head. “Doesn’t matter. Standing here wondering about it ain’t gonna get us there no faster. Spike, hop on, today you get a ride.”

“Uh, are you sure?” asked Spike, looking a little embarrassed. Applejack nodded, hardly seeming to notice his discomfort with riding a pony who wasn’t Twilight.

“Yeah, we need to make up some time, now get on,” said Applejack. She turned sideways so that Spike could climb up. He packed the map away and approached Applejack. No sooner had he put his leg over her back did the mare break into a gallop. Spike let out a cry of surprise and only managed to stay on by grabbing hold of Applejack’s mane.

Luna followed right behind. She hardly seemed to be exerting any effort at all in her gallop. For all that Applejack could tell, the princess might have been standing still, rather than running as hard as she could.

The two ponies galloped along side the white wall of wood. The giant tubular roots dove in and out of the ground, like a serpent in the ocean. While there was enough space between the roots for them to walk, there was not enough to gallop safely.

They had been galloping for almost an hour straight before they finally reached the edge of the shadow of the moon. Applejack skidded to a halt, sliding along the ground a half dozen hooves before actually stopping.

However, it was not at all what she expected. The shadow was not motionless upon the ground, it was moving, crawling along the dirt.

“What the…” whispered Applejack in disbelief. She turned her head and looked up into the sky. The Moon was still high overhead, blocking out most of the Sun from her perspective. It didn’t seem to be moving, yet, such a thing was difficult to tell at this distance. “Luna? What’s going on here?”

Luna was also looking up at the Moon, her expression impossible to read.

“Something is… odd,” said Luna, not looking away from the white orb in the sky. “The Moon is not moving and yet… It is not still. I cannot explain it.”

“Well, at least it’s giving us more shade,” said Spike, pointing ahead. “The shadow isn’t moving as fast as a gallop but it’s still moving.”

“I guess it is better than nothing,” said Applejack.

“We could push ahead,” suggested Luna. “I can still shield us from the Sun.” Applejack thought about Luna’s words for a long moment, her eyes watching the shadow slowly crawl forward, its pace as slow as a trot. At last Applejack shook her head.

“No, we don’t know what danger is waiting for us ahead,” answered Applejack at last. “Best to have you able to defend us if we need your magic.” Luna nodded, seeming to agree with Applejack.

The slow shadow seemed to stay just ahead of them, moving with each step. They couldn’t go much faster than a trot. Their destination was still out of sight in front of them, blocked by thick trees ahead. The trees appeared to still be in good shape, despite the Sun’s wrath.

“Spike, how far past the forest is my element?” asked Applejack. She wondered if these massive roots beside them had come from here. Except Spike had said the roots went all the way to her element. Had he read the map wrong, was the line he had pointed out not the roots? It seemed like an odd feature to have on a map.

“Uh, Applejack, your element isn’t past the forest, it’s in it!” cried Spike.

“What?” exclaimed Luna and Applejack together.

“Come again?” asked Applejack. “I thought it landed out in the middle of a desert. Did it move or something?”

“No,” said Spike. “Well, I mean it could have, but, no that is the desert!” Spike was holding out a claw and pointing at the forest.

“That can’t be right,” said Applejack. “Those aint desert trees, those are… no they, can’t be, that’s impossible. Apple trees?” Applejack made to gallop forward, but she stopped only a dozen hooves into her sprint, the edge of the Sun still blocking the way. “Just what in the hay is going on here!”

“I do not know,” said Luna. “But I expect we shall find out soon.”

The slow crawl towards their destination was almost unbearable. Applejack felt an incredibly strong urge to reach those trees. Her mind kept jumping around to the possibilities. Where had they come from? Why were they here? And most importantly, was there enough food to save Ponyville? Enough to save Equestria?

Applejack was so lost in her focus she didn’t notice at first that the hard dirt ground had given way to loose soft sand. What’s more, the trees seemed to be getting closer a lot faster than Applejack would have expected. The ponies weren’t galloping yet the trees were getting big really fast… too fast… too big.

Applejack was still struggling to comprehend what she was seeing as night rolled over the edge of the forest and they wandered inside its grove. She had no words for it. The trunks of the trees were so large around that a house, maybe two, could have fit inside them.

Giant trees. Giant apple trees. Giant apple trees, in the middle of a desert.

“This is unreal,” said Spike. He was walking again, as at their slow pace riding no longer made sense. His head was turned upwards, looking into the branches high above as the group moved slowly through the forest. “It’s like we shrunk down to the size of little bugs… OH NO! WE’VE SHRUNK DOWN TO THE SIZE OF BUGS!” cried Spike in a sudden panic.

“Calm down, we haven’t shrunk,” said Applejack, still looking up into the trees.

“But how do you know!” cried Spike. “Giant tree roots, giant trees…” a woosh from overhead was all the warning Applejack had, she leapt backwards a moment before an enormous red-skinned apple crashed into the ground, sending up a spray of sand. “… and giant apples!”

“Big enough for a whole family,” said Applejack wistfully. She moved up to see her distorted reflection in the glossy red surface of the fruit. “This forest might have enough food to save everypony.”

“If we can get the food to them,” added Luna, skirting around the giant apple and continuing forward. “For now we should focus on the task at hand. We must find your element.”

“Right, of course,” mumbled Applejack, moving around the apple and continuing forward. She glanced back at it somewhat longingly as they moved on. Spike’s words brought her attention forward once again.

“It looks like we’re almost there, your element should be…” said Spike, coming to a stop. Spike looked up from the map and Luna and Applejack both halted behind him. They followed his gaze upwards.

The group was at the very heart of the forest. Standing before them, five times around and five times as tall as the largest tree they had seen so far, was an even bigger tree.

“It’s like a mountain,” said Applejack, looking skyward. High up, near the very top, Applejack caught a glimpse of the faintest sparkle. “Of course,” mumbled Applejack. “Why wouldn’t my element be at the very top! Now how the hay are we supposed to get up there?”

“I believe I can assist with that,” said Luna. Applejack suddenly felt light as a feather. A pale black glow shimmered around her body, making her weightless. Luna opened her wings and flapped. As she rose into the air, so did Applejack and Spike, carried by the levitation spell.

Up and up and up they went. Around them the canopy of the forest fell away and Applejack got her first glimpse of the size of the forest. It was massive, stretching out over a huge amount of land. She could make out four or five more root clusters twisting across the countryside, reaching out towards rivers too distant for Applejack to see. Then the forest was far beneath them, little more than a sea of green.

Applejack looked up. They were nearly to the top of the tree now.

Their ascent slowed and Applejack’s eyes widened slightly. The top of the tree was not at all what she had expected. Here the branches twisted outwards, forming what looked like an open air amphitheater. And at its center, waiting for them, calling to them, was Applejack’s element.

The gem sparkled and glowed, floating silently up and down just above a pillar that had grown up out of the tree. Gently, Luna lowered Applejack and Spike down onto the branches before landing herself.

“This is amazing,” said Spike. Unable to contain his excitement. “Would you look at this tree-hitecture. Twilight would have really liked this, it’s a lot like the library, except without, you know, the books.” Applejack gave Spike a quizative glance.

“Tree-hitecture?” asked Applejack.

“I believe we have located your element,” said Luna nodding towards the pillar in the center. “We should retrieve it and be on our way as quickly as possible, something… is not right here…”

“You mean like the fact that we are in a giant apple tree?” asked Spike, waving his claws around. But Applejack had to agree with Luna, the sooner they had the element and were on their way back to Canterlot the better.

Not wasting any more time, Applejack galloped forward. She stopped in front of her element. It shown with a golden light that twisted and flickered as it moved across the surface of the metal.

And there was something else, something Applejack hadn’t been able to see until she was right beside the element. A thin, nearly invisible line of light was projecting out from the gem. Applejack’s eyes tried to follow it but the beam was so faint that she lost track of it before the edge of the tree.

Yet, as she looked onwards, her eyes found Canterlot in the distance. She had the distinct feeling that the element was facing Canterlot, pointing towards it.

“Applejack, come on,” cried Spike when Applejack hadn’t moved. Spike seemed to be in a state of unease. He was clutching his tail as he waited beside Luna. His eyes flicked around nervously.

Snapped out of her thoughts, Applejack nodded and steadied herself. She reached out a hoof, but stopped. A terrible thought ran through her head. What would happen when she took this?

She remembered back to Twilight’s element where the ice had melted and the lake had boiled away. And Pinkie’s element, where the cave had collapsed around them and nearly caused them all to fall to their deaths. Or Rainbow’s element which had… Well, okay, so nothing bad had happened with Rainbow’s element.

Except for being chased by nightmares, but that hadn’t really been the element’s fault. The nightmares had been after them even before they took the element. And the nightmares were after them now…

“Applejack, what are you waiting for!” called Spike. “Grab it and let’s get out of here!”

“Right,” shouted Applejack. Yet she still didn’t take it. She had a bad feeling about all this.

Reluctantly Applejack at last touched the golden necklace. She flinched away as her hoof clinked against the metal. She half expected the necklace to explode or something. Yet nothing happened.

After a moment she pulled the element off its pillar. And still nothing remarkable happened. This had been almost too easy, compared to the other elements. No traps, no monsters, no lost friends.

“What is wrong?” asked Luna, her voice calm as she and Spike approached Applejack.

“I dono, I just got this feeling like… ah I shouldn’t say it,” said Applejack. She clicked the element around her neck. Beneath her hooves the tree shuddered violently. “I shouldn’t evena thunk it, dang-it!”

The sound of splintering wood echoed through the air. Shards of wood were suddenly flung up all around them as huge cracks opened in the tree.

“We have to get out of here!” yelled Spike. He hopped away, just as the trunk below his claws began to open.

“Quick, climb on my back!” instructed Luna, turning so that Applejack and Spike could reach her. Applejack hurried forward, as did Spike. She flung herself over Luna’s back. The wooden ground suddenly collapsed away and Spike leapt for them, claws outstretched.

Applejack reached out a hoof and Spike narrowly grabbed it, sliding a little before finally catching her leg and stopping before slipping off. He dangled, swinging slightly, from Applejack’s front leg as Luna began to rise upwards into the air.

Below them, the enormous tree was tumbling downwards into itself. Giant fragments of wood were flung out, ripping huge swaths of the forest away as they cut through the smaller trees like twigs.

“No, no, no!” cried Applejack watching as their last hope for food was quickly being devastated below them. “We have to do something! We have to save the food!”

“I am not sure there is anything we can do,” said Luna, her dark eyes watching as tree after tree toppled over.

“We have to put it back!” shouted Applejack, knowing already that such a thing was impossible.

“Be calm Applejack,” said Luna. “It appears the damage is done and much of the forest still remains. Hopefully much of the food is salvageable. While you and Spike return to Canterlot I can began moving the food to…”

“Uh, guys, I think we have a problem!” interrupted Spike. He was still dangling from Applejack’s hoof. With his free claw he pointed out into the sky. Applejack felt her eyes widen slightly.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” cried Applejack angrily. A sudden terrible screech cut through the air as a cloud of fire advanced on them. “It’s a horde of nightmares!”

“Actually, a gathering of nightmares that large is called a terror, not a horde,” corrected Luna.

“Not important!” yelled Spike. “More flying, less defining!”

“Yes, of course, hold tightly,” instructed Luna. Her wings suddenly drew in. Applejack felt weightless as they turned sideways and toppled out of the air. A rush of fire and a cacophony of screeches swarmed overhead, like a cloud of extremely angry birds that were on fire.

With a tug, Applejack pulled Spike in and he landed behind her. Both of them held on tight to Luna as they dove downwards towards the ground — towards the raging chaos of the crumbling forest below.

Spike was shouting for Luna to pull up but Applejack was frozen with fear as the green of the treetops rush up at them. They burst down through the canopy, carrying a great many leaves and branches with them. Luna pulled up hard and they stabilized into leveled flight a dozen hooves above the ground.

Chancing a glance back, Applejack saw the swarm of nightmares flood through the hole in the branches. Many of them struggled to slow down, before crashing into the sand below. Unfortunately, a great many more did indeed manage to follow.

The massive trees loomed high all around them. Expertly Luna wove her way between the trees, dodging braches and trunks almost effortlessly. Yet still the nightmares were gaining on them.

“They are going to catch us! Fly faster!” cried Spike.

“They are not carrying two passengers,” protested Luna. “I am flying as fast as I can!”

“There are so many of them!” shouted Applejack.

“From what Twilight described to me, this looks like it is only a small group,” replied Luna. Applejack glanced back again. Everyplace there weren’t trees, there were nightmares. If by small group she meant hundreds of them, than yes, that was the case.

“What do they want with us anyhow? The element?” asked Spike.

“They cannot take the element,” explained Luna. “It is protected from being claimed by a nightmare. But that will not prevent them from making Applejack into one of them.” Applejack’s stomach did a summersault as Luna swerve sharply to the left. It was not the maneuver but the words that made her uneasy.

“They are after… me?” asked Applejack in surprise.

“More than likely,” answered Luna. “They have no doubt pursued the others as well. Hoping to catch you just after you have claimed your element.”

“Why! What do they want with the elements! What are nightmares going to do with them?” shouted Applejack. Luna did not reply. Instead they dropped sharply and a branch whooshed past overhead.

“I think we lost them!” shouted Spike, looking back. Applejack glanced behind them as well. The nightmares did indeed seem to be gone. Then her eyes looked upwards and saw the smoke.

“No!” shouted Applejack. “They are burning the forest! We have to go back and stop them!”

“How exactly?” asked Spike.

“I don’t know but we have to do some…” Applejack’s words were abruptly cut off as the forest in front of them suddenly exploded. Rainbow colored fire spread out like a wave, cutting through the trunks of the trees like they were nothing.

Luna spun her body protectively, but Applejack still felt the heat and the impact. She and Spike were tossed off Luna’s back, and the three of them were sent spinning through the air.

The world became a blur of tree trunks, sky, green leaves, sand and finally, blackness, filled with pain.

.
.
.
.

When Applejack opened her eyes, she had no idea how much time had passed. Her head was buzzing and everything seemed slow. There was dry, hot, sand in her mouth and her vision was blurry. All around her, she could see dancing red shapes waving in and out of existence.

Suddenly, Applejack was snapped out of her daze and the world came into sharp focus. She was lying on her side in the sand. Desperately she looked around, trying to find Spike or Luna, but she couldn’t spot either.

She worked her way to her hooves but felt a sharp pain in her front leg. She fell back down with a yelp, followed by a cough and then another cough. Something was wrong with the air here.

Applejack finally realized what was going on around her. The forest, the whole forest was burning down. Hazy gray smoke lingered in the air, pressing down on her.

“SPIKE!” shouted Applejack before she broke into a fit of coughing. She put a hoof over her muzzle though it did little good. “LUNA!”

“They cannot hear you,” said a voice that turned Applejack’s blood to ice. Slowly, Applejack turned her head and found the most terrible sight behind her. Towering over her, dark and menacing and burning with black flames, was Nightmare Moon. “But do not worry, for soon, you will not care. Soon, you shall be one of us.”

She reached out a blazing hoof and touched it to Applejack’s chest. Applejack’s body filled with fire and the world began to burn away before her eyes as her thoughts slipped into dreams of madness.

Author's Note

Also, dun-dun-dunnnnnnn

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this installment. In answer to your yet to be asked questions: yes, no, yes, yes, no, maybe, yes, banana.

New chapter next Saturday July 13. There won't be one on the 20th as I'll be at comic con.

Chapter 23

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 23

The metal wheels whined and screeched against the tracks as the train slowed. After sliding for a long while the train at last sat motionless in the empty land. There was little here save for dirt and tracks and train. A hundred hooves ahead the track split in two. One route turned South while the other curved North and neither continued East.

Inside the train cabin three ponies were gathered around a glowing map, closely examining the shimmering lines of light. The map did not show the tracks nor did it seem to have anything they could easily identify.

“I am absolutely, positively, almost, mostly sure, we must be here!” announced Pinkie at last, placing a hoof on the map.

“Pinkie, dear,” said Rarity. “I am fairly sure that cannot be correct.”

“Sure it is,” said Pinkie. “See how these squiggly lines sort of look like that dirt out there?”

“Firstly,” said Rarity, she put her hoof on the map and spun it right side up. “And secondly, no, I do not think those lines bare any resemblance to the outside.”

“So, we’re lost,” interjected Trixie.

“Nuh-uh,” said Pinkie with a shake of her head. “I totally know where we are! We’re in a train!”

“And where is the train exactly?” asked Trixie.

“I have no idea,” said Pinkie with a shrug. Trixie let out a sigh. “The train must be lost!”

“Can’t you just use your crazy sensey thingy and figure out where to go?” asked Trixie waving her hooves around to emphasize her point.

“It doesn’t work like that, I don’t control it, it just kind of happens,” said Pinkie.

“Without the tracks, finding our location on this map seems hopeless,” interrupted Rarity. “I guess we will just have to guess which direction to go. Worst case scenario we simply have to walk the rest of the way. So now the question is, do we go North or South, left or right?”

“I say left!” cried Pinkie exuberantly. “No, no, I mean right! Oh, I can’t choose both sound like fun!”

“How does a direction sound like fun?” asked Trixie, shaking her head slightly. “In any case The Great and Pow… I mean… left, we should go left. That will take us North, towards Manehattan, which is near the ocean.”

“But possibly just as far away from our destination as we are now,” added in Rarity. “If only this map showed us where we were! Or if we had been paying more attention along the way.” She paused for a moment while she considered the map. Her eyes were locked on the tiny silver-blue dot out in the ocean. How were they supposed to get to it, surely they didn’t have to swim!

“Perhaps,” said Rarity after considering the dot. “We should continue on hoof?”

“But we could be days away, maybe even a week,” said Trixie. “Without a landmark, there is no telling how far we’ve traveled.”

“We cannot risk a week of travel getting there, let alone coming back,” said Rarity. “It looks like we will just have to stick with the original plan and continue by train.” Rarity took a deep breath. “I agree with Trixie, we know that Manehattan is by the ocean, so we will at least be heading East at some point. We just need to keep our eyes out for landmarks and try and figure out our location.”

“Alright, sounds like a plan! I’ll go flip the switch!” said Pinkie. With a single hop she bounded out the cabin door and vanished.

Pinkie returned a minute later, still smiling.

“Okay, the track is switched so we’re ready to go!” said Pinkie.

“Let the rocket train roll on,” said Trixie moving towards Rarity. However, before the two could get close enough to cast their shared spell Pinkie suddenly sprung up between them.

“Woah, what are you guys doing?” asked Pinkie, a slightly more serious tone in her voice than Trixie had ever heard.

“We are going to move the train forward,” said Trixie, giving Pinkie a quizzical glance.

“Yeah, but you can’t just launch it forward like you’ve been doing! We’re at a bend in the track, you gotta move slow here,” explained Pinkie.

“Ah, yes, of course,” said Rarity with a strained smile. “But how exactly are we going to move the train? I’ve never tried to move something this large on my own before. Without Twilight…” She gave Trixie a sheepish smile. She hadn’t intended to imply that Trixie wasn’t as good as Twilight, but it had just come out that way. However, Trixie seemed to have hardly heard.

“If we divide the task and each take a set of wheels,” suggested Trixie half to herself, half to the other two ponies, “then I think we can move the train.” She looked at them for confirmation of her plan. Rarity nodded slightly as she turned the words over in her head.

“It sounds difficult, do you think it will work?” asked Rarity. Trixie shrugged.

“I don’t know, this is a first for me,” answered Trixie. “I’ve never needed to work with another pony like this before… or move a train for that matter. I guess we will just have to give it a try.”

Trixie moved to the left side of the cabin, while Rarity took up a spot on the right. Wordlessly, they looked at each other, nodded and began to cast. The train shuddered around them. The wheels groaned then they jolted forward, sliding more than rolling.

Both Trixie and Rarity looked visibly strained by the effort. The train began to move slightly faster, the pace of a trot, as it rolled along the tracks.

“That’s it, keep it up! We are almost past the switch,” said Pinkie, who was looking out the window, keeping an eye on their progress.

Rarity let out a huff of exhaustion and her spell faltered, the magic on her horn extinguishing. Trixie managed to keep her spell going a little longer but without Rarity to help, she couldn’t maintain the locomotion spell. At last the glow of magic faded from Trixie as well although the train continued to roll slowly onwards.

“Okay,” said Pinkie. “We’ve cleared the bend. You guys can make it a rocket train again.” Both Trixie and Rarity let out a weary sigh and looked tiredly at each other. Whether they would admit it or not, blasting the train forward was a lot less work than moving it by conventional magic. “And more fun!” exclaimed Pinkie with a smile.

Landmarks, as it turned out, seemed to be very hard to find, at least along this part of the track. Rarity was paying much more attention to what was out the windows, but it all looked the same, countryside, more countryside and some more countryside.

Very little changed as they rolled along across the flat barren land. At least the track was indeed taking them North-East, but where they would end up, none of them knew.

They finally brought the train to a stop after hours and hours. Both Trixie and Rarity were completely exhausted. Pinkie engaged the brakes and locked them in place. The three ponies spread out around the cabin and one by one, drifted into sleep.

Rarity was the first to awake. She had no idea how long they had slept for but she didn’t feel rested. However, she was sure they could continue on, so she woke the others.

Reluctantly, Trixie opened her eyes, unwilling to rise. After much prodding and ultimately a very loud coaxing from Pinkie Pie, they were on their way once more.

As they sped along the track Pinkie sat over the map. She looked for anything that might give them some clue as to where they were. Yet, the map seemed to lack greatly in any detail. It had a roughly drawn peak for Canterlot, and a squiggly line for the beach, but in-between was little more than blank parchment. As far as maps went, it was severely lacking in detail.

“I think I know this place,” said Trixie as the train rolled along. Out through the windows was a series of small farms and tall windmills that stood motionless.

As Trixie said it, Pinkie noticed that the map began to change. A town was slowly drawing itself onto the parchment, like the map had overheard them and decided to draw what they were looking at. A small name tag appeared below the town.

“I performed here a year or so ago,” explained Trixie. “What was its name…”

“East Bridleden,” said Pinkie helpfully.

“Pinkie, you know this town too?” asked Rarity in surprise.

“Nope!” answered Pinkie. “It just appeared on the map!” Both Trixie and Rarity hurried over, their faces shocked in disbelief.

“But this wasn’t here before!” said Rarity, examining the small glowing representation of the town.

“It is a magic map,” said Pinkie. “Maybe it just didn’t know where we were!”

“That’s nonsense,” said Trixie. Then she looked at the other two. “Isn’t it…?” Pinkie shrugged.

“I have no idea, but it makes sense to me,” replied Pinkie. “Look! There is more, it’s drawing more!” Sure enough there was more. The lines had not stopped with the town. The three ponies watched as more and more area drew itself onto the map.

“Those are train tracks,” said Rarity, pointing at lines racing across the parchment. “But… but that is the way we came from! It’s drawing the route we took! But it isn’t drawing anything new!”

She was right, while the map had drawn the town, it wasn’t showing anything beyond it, save for the already establish ocean.

“It doesn’t look like we are too far from the ocean,” said Trixie. “I don’t know how far it is away, but I remember another town on the…” her words trailed off as the map suddenly began to draw the town Trixie was talking about.

‘Cape Colt’ read the little tagline below the beach front town.

“Oh, oh, let me try!” said Pinkie. “How about… Fort Withers? That’s south of Manehattan isn’t it?” She looked excitedly down at the map yet nothing appeared.

“How odd,” said Rarity. “I’ve never been there but I believe you are correct. I wonder why it isn’t showing up.”

“I’ve been there,” said Trixie, “when I was making my way along… the… coast…” For a second time the conversation died and the three ponies’ eyes were all pulled down to the map. The light was drawing again and a little town, complete with name tag, appeared on the parchment. Fort Withers. Trixie looked at the others in surprise.

“Perhaps, the map requires that you have been there before,” suggested Rarity, “before the map can show it.”

“Oh, that makes sense. How else would a map know where to go if it had never been there?” said Pinkie with a nod.

“What? No,” answered Trixie in shock. “That doesn’t… I mean… why just me?”

“Well, neither Pinkie nor myself have ever been out this way before,” replied Rarity. “It would seem lucky indeed that you came with us. Now, we just need to figure out where to…”

“Oh my gosh!” shouted Pinkie. She suddenly jumped up and leapt across the cabin. Trixie and Rarity shared a strange look with each other, unsure what the pink pony was up to. However, they didn’t have to wait very long to find out.

Pinkie yanked a leaver at the controls and the train let out a loud screech. Trixie and Rarity were thrown forward, toppling to the floor as the train ground to a lurching halt.

“A little more warning next time Pinkie,” said Rarity, looking up at her friend from the ground.

“Why did you stop us!?” demanded Trixie, getting back to her hooves.

“We almost missed the exchange!” said Pinkie, returning to the map. When her hooves had left it the parchment had gone blank. She touched the map again and it redrew, complete with the newly discovered locations. “Look, there are tracks now, and if this is East Bridleden here, then we need to switch tracks just ahead. Come on, let’s go find the switch, it shouldn’t be that far!”

Without waiting, Pinkie leapt out of the train. Rarity and Trixie exited somewhat more slowly.

The two ponies stood at the base of the steps, looking at the desolation around them. This town had an uncomfortable feeling to it. The farms here that had once grown tall green crops were vacant. The fields had turned brown and the plants had wasted away under the Sun.

They also noticed that Pinkie seemed to have vanished. Rarity half expected the pink pony to be bounding along the tracks, hurrying ahead. However, she didn’t seem to be anywhere.

It was Trixie who finally nudged Rarity and pointed a hoof towards the pink pony. Pinkie was standing out in front of one of the farms, her back to them. She had stopped at the gate that bordered the edge of the land and was looking sadly at the house.

“Pinkie,” asked Rarity quietly as she trotted up to her friend. “Are you okay?”

“I used to live on a farm when I was younger,” said Pinkie quietly. “Not like this of course, this farm is for plants. But still, it reminds me of my parents’ home. And it makes me… sad, to see it like this.”

“I’m sure the ponies that were here got to safety,” said Rarity.

“Yeah,” answered Pinkie distantly.

“Come on, we should keep going,” said Trixie, turning and moving on. Pinkie watched her friends as they began to move off. Neither of them saw her tremble as she looked back at the house.

Finding the switch had not proved to be very difficult. With Pinkie’s help they had been able to figure out the strange language of the signs. After changing five or six different switches, Pinkie informed them they should now be headed east.

The whole task was more time consuming than they would have liked. The walk there and setting the switches had taken almost an hour. But the walk back was quick and they were once again aboard the train. Without wasting any more time, Trixie and Rarity blasted them forward once again and they were off towards their destination.

They hadn’t been going for very long when a strange smell filled the cabin. It was the smell of the ocean. While they still couldn’t see it the salty odor told them they were getting close. There was still no breeze but the salty smell lingered in the air.

As they came up over a ridge, the great wide body of water spread out before them. From their vantage point, the three ponies could see the rounded curve of the moon’s shadow stretching across the water in front of them. Sunlight was still visible in the distance but the edge of day was very far off.

Further down the tracks, at the bottom of the small hill upon which the train was climbing over, was a small town, which Trixie identified to be Cape Colt. Pinkie expertly applied the breaks as they crested over the hill and began to roll down the other side. She was able to keep enough speed that they didn’t need to cast the spell again.

They rolled into town, towards the very small train station where the tracks went no further. The engine slowed to a stop at the end of the tracks. Pinkie worked the break to bring them to a gentle stop at the station.

There were no ponies at the station, which was not surprising, although it did feel unsettling. The three of them departed the train and made their way out into the empty streets. The town felt completely abandoned. With the Moon blocking out the Sun overhead, the ponies of the town should have come out by now, yet, there was no one here.

They did not stop to search for others and their talk was minimal as they made their way towards the beach. They reached the water’s edge and could go no further. Pinkie produced the map and Rarity touched a hoof to it.

The area the map showed seemed to have zoomed in. They could make out the town of Cape Colt and they could also see Rarity’s marker. She had not been wrong about its location.

“Oh you must be joking!” cried Rarity as she looked up from the map. Her eyes swept out over the sight in front of her. “This stupid map must be wrong! My element is out in the middle of the ocean?”

“Well, not the middle,” replied Pinkie. “I would say closer to like one, one hundredth of the way to the middle. Not really in the middle at all.”

“But not on an island either,” said Trixie, pulling the map closer to her and examining it. “Definitely not on the shore.”

The three ponies stood in the sand on the shore of a beach. None of them had actually expected the map to lead them right out into the not-middle of the ocean. How were they even supposed to get there, surely they didn’t need to swim? Perhaps they needed to go by boat?

“Hey, look at that!” cried Pinkie, raising up a hoof and pointing towards something out in the water. The two unicorns followed where Pinkie was pointing. Rarity wasn’t sure what she was looking at. It seemed to be some kind of… thing… floating out on the water. It was far enough off shore that the Moon’s shadow didn’t reach it.

Rarity felt a worried expression come to her face. If her element was out in the Sun how were they going to reach it? She and Trixie couldn’t work the shield spell together. Rarity knew she could shield herself and Trixie could most likely do the same, but Pinkie would have no protection against the Sun.

“Come on! Let’s go check it out!” cried Pinkie jolting Rarity out of her thoughts. Not waiting for an answer, the pink pony bounded off. Rarity let out a sigh.

“Where does that pony find all that energy?” asked Trixie. “And how can she possibly bounce like that? Are her legs made of springs?”

“Anything is possible, when it comes to Pinkie Pie,” responded Rarity with a smile. Trixie gave her an uncertain look, but returned the smile. The boisterous unicorn had become slightly more manageable after Rarity and Pinkie had told her that they considered her a friend. Rarity was really starting to warm up to Trixie. She really wasn’t as bad as she’d been in Ponyville when she had come to show off.

“You guys! Hey you guys! You gotta come see this!” shouted Pinkie waving her hooves in the air and bouncing up and down. “You aren’t going to believe it!”

“Do you think she’s found a seashell that looks like cake?” asked Trixie.

“I am hoping that she found my element and that I don’t have to get my hooves wet,” replied Rarity with a playful smile. “But I think we are most likely going for a swim.”

“Half right!” cried Pinkie, springing up from behind them and causing Rarity to yelp and leap into the air in fright.

“Pinkie! I told you not to do that!” said Rarity, her eyes wide with panic and her chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Look! Look what I found!” shouted Pinkie whooshing around the two unicorns and holding her hooves out towards the ocean.

“Yes, the sea, well spotted,” said Trixie rolling her eyes.

“No, look, closer,” said Pinkie. Rarity looked where Pinkie was pointing. At first she couldn’t really see anything. But as she continued to look Rarity could tell something was… odd. She trotted closer to Pinkie and as she did something began to move out of the water.

“What… what is that?” asked Trixie, pointing to the rectangular shaped object jutting out of the sea.

Pinkie moved out to it without caution and put a hoof on it.

“Water,” said Pinkie. “Just plain old, mostly solid, water.”

“Mostly… what?” asked Rarity. Pinkie stepped out onto the block of water and bounced on it. Trixie and Rarity exchanged glances of disbelief. “Pinkie… how…”

“I dono, it feels weird, but in a fun way,” said Pinkie bouncing happily. “Come on, you guys have to try this.”

“I don’t know,” said Trixie wearily. However, she and Rarity suddenly found themselves being pushed from behind. “Seriously, how does she keep doing that!”

“I think the question I would like answered right now is how are we doing this!” cried Rarity, her eyes fixed downwards. Trixie followed her gaze. All three ponies were ten hooves off the shore and standing on water.

Rarity tapped the water with her hoof. It wasn’t solid, but it wasn’t liquid. The almost-solid water rippled at her touch. It was more like gelatin than solid water.

“Look there’s more!” cried Pinkie. She bounced off humming happily as she hopped up and down along the top of the water.

“I find,” whispered Rarity to Trixie as they watched Pinkie defy all laws of physics. “That it is often better just not to ask.”

The water bridge took them outwards into the ocean. On either side of them tall waves rolled past, split down the middle by the bridge. Pinkie led them onwards and Rarity followed right behind, with Trixie stuck in the rear.

There was no island ahead of them, but they were moving ever closer to the edge of the sunlight. Except, the funny thing was, and it was hard to tell, Rarity was sure they should have reached the sunlight by now.

The sunlight hadn’t been that far off shore yet, it seemed to be the same distance away now as when they had started. Perhaps it was just an illusion, a trick of perspective. Or maybe, no, that was crazy, the Moon couldn’t be moving the wrong way in the sky.

Without warning, Rarity bumped into Pinkie’s rump.

“Pinkie!” cried Rarity losing her train of thought. “A little warning please.”

“We’re here,” whispered Pinkie in awe. At first Rarity was confused. Then, she saw it. Towering out of the ocean and glistening in the shadowy light was a castle, made entirely of water. It had see-through walls and towers, windows and doors. While it was solid like the walk way, streams of water flowed down its walls like it was one great fountain.

The group had come to a halt at its front gate, which was closed. Rarity put out a hoof and pressed against the liquid door. It did not move.

“How do we get in?” asked Rarity. “Do we need a key?”

“Pfft,” said Pinkie with a wave. “You don’t need a key when you can do this!” Taking a few steps back, Pinkie charged forward into the door and dove into the castle. Rarity felt her mouth fall open slightly.

“Swim! You expect me to get my mane wet?” asked Rarity indignantly. Pinkie smiled at her from inside the water wall and nodded.

“Or, we could just punch a hole,” said Trixie. Her horn began to glow. Pinkie’s eyes widened and she swum quickly out of the way. A blaze of flame erupted from Trixie’s horn and blasted a hole through the water wall. “See, easy.”

The water poured down in small streams, slowly closing the gap. Trixie and Rarity bounded through and an instant later, the water door had reformed behind them.

“You know,” said Pinkie, her head poking out of the ceiling above them, “you could have just swam through… or swum through…” She looked thoughtful as she pondered the correct word.

“Yes, or, the Great and Powerful Trixie could have just blasted a hole in this fortress of dampness,” explained Trixie with a smile. With a yelp, Pinkie toppled down out of the ceiling, landing on top of Trixie.

“Swum, definitely swum,” said Pinkie absently.

“Get off me!” exclaimed Trixie.

“This place is incredible!” said Rarity in awe. She was completely oblivious to the argument going on behind her. This place simply couldn’t be real. It was like something out of a dream.

In fact, it was almost like she knew this place, like she had been here before. Yet that was silly. She had never been to anything made of water, let alone a castle. Still, there was something familiar in the design.

The group was in a great entry way, complete with a massive, three-story spiraling stairway. Carpet lined the floor, paintings hung on the walls, chandeliers dangled from the ceiling. And all of it was made of water. The only thing it seemed to be missing was fountains, but the small waterfalls that flowed down the walls of the room seemed to make up for the lacking fixtures.

Rarity let out a squeal of delight as a small fish swam under her hooves, tickling her. The tiny fish was not alone. A large school of fish shimmered into view before they turned and darted away, swimming up a wall then vanishing out of sight into the ceiling.

“The element has to be here some place,” said Trixie, finally getting back to her hooves and trotting up beside Rarity. “Even though it’s all made of water, it isn’t transparent. I can hardly see anything in the next room.”

“So we will just have to search for it,” said Pinkie happily. “I call the floor!” She leapt upwards then dove face first into the floor, vanishing beneath the surface. Trixie stood there wide eyed.

“We should start on the ground… uh, sea-level, and work our way up,” said Rarity. Her horn glowed and a moment later Pinkie was yanked out of the floor and back into the room. She dangled upside-down, dripping onto the water-carpet. “And, we should stick together. Who knows what is lurking in this place.”

The downstairs area was huge. It had a ballroom, complete with a water-piano, that, despite Pinkie’s best efforts at playing, only made splashing sounds. It had a kitchen, complete with water food and water stoves, that made actual hot water-fire. The cake sitting on the dinner table had also been made of water. Until Pinkie dove into it head first. She claimed that it didn’t taste salty at all. However, it also didn’t taste like cake.

Rarity stopped to sip one of the remnants of the water-cake. Pinkie was right. It didn’t taste like salt water. She wondered if just the food was salt free, or if the whole castle was. They were out in the ocean, a castle made of water was strange enough to find, but made of fresh water, now that was just crazy!

There was also a library, with water books, that when you pulled them from the shelf, dissolved back into liquid water. A pool, with, well… water, but swimable water. Several guest rooms and a large lounge rounded out the first floor.

Every now and then fish would swim through the walls and Pinkie would get distracted, following after them until they swam out of sight.

As they made their way back to the entry way, Pinkie brought the group to a sudden halt. When they looked down, the enormous shape of a whale moved under them, only a few hooves below.

Once the whale had passed the group made their way up stairs. There were more living quarters, each lavishly decorated, and finally, a throne room. And in the room, atop the throne, was the first thing they had seen, that was not made of water. Made of gold, with a diamond shaped blue gem at its center, was Rarity’s element of harmony.

“Finally!” cried Rarity, hurrying towards her element. However, she came to a stop as the castle wobbled underneath her hooves. “Another earthquake?” asked Rarity in alarm.

“Waterquake!” cried Pinkie.

“WAVE!” shouted Trixie. “NO, GIANT WAVE!” Pinkie turned around and looked out the water-windows. Rolling across the ocean was an enormous wall of water.

“Oh, that’s not a wave,” said Pinkie knowledgably. “That’s a tsunami.”

“Get the element!’ shouted Trixie.

Without waiting another second, Rarity galloped as hard as she could. The floor bounced beneath her hooves and small waves in the floor rolled towards her. Without missing a step, Rarity leapt over the rolling water-floor. But as she landed the castle trembled again and she stumbled, falling down.

“Rarity hurry!” shouted Trixie. Rarity struggled to try and get up, but the shaking floor was making it difficult. Trixie closed her eyes and reached for her magic. Her horn began to glow.

She reached out with all her power, casting it forward towards the wall of water. She felt the spell impact the wave and the magic broke. It was no good. The wave was simply too big, too powerful.

“Try again!” shouted Pinkie. “Both of you! You have to!” Rarity and Trixie locked eyes across the room.

“But we can’t mix our magic!” cried Rarity. “It doesn’t work! Every time we try we make something… explode! That’s it!” Trixie nodded with understanding.

Trixie began to gather her magic once more while Rarity did the same. Together they cast forth their magic. Their combine spell hit the towering wave, holding it back for a brief instant. Suddenly the magic exploded outwards. The wave began to split down the middle and tear apart.

The thundering power of the water began to slow. The wave lost energy and momentum as it slowed and became smaller. The two halves broke away, shrinking rapidly back into the ocean.

“We did it!” exclaimed Rarity. “I can’t believe we did it!”

“Me neither,” said Trixie half to herself.

“Well, you didn’t do it alone,” said Pinkie. “You had each other, and me.”

“Grab that element and let’s get out of here!” said Trixie.

“Right!” agreed Rarity. She hurried forward but stopped as Pinkie let out a strange sound. Rarity looked back at her friend to see the pink pony vibrating and bouncing up and down.

“Uh, that isn’t good… is it?” asked Trixie, taking a step away from Pinkie. The pink pony suddenly stopped shaking.

“Well, it looks like it was no-ah-ah-ah-thi-ing-ing…” said Pinkie as she began to shake again.

“Just grab the element and let’s get out of here," called Trixie. Rarity nodded before moving towards her element waiting for her on the throne

Now that the floor was stable once more she easily made it the rest of the way. She took hold of the element and lifted it to her neck and it snapped into place.

The castle suddenly shuddered again. Trixie spun around, her eyes searching the horizon for any sign of another wave. However, there was nothing but vast empty ocean.

Then a single drop of water fell onto her nose. The water castle around them shivered. Another drop and then another. It was raining, inside a castle made of water.

“Uh-oh,” said Pinkie. “I think I just figured out what’s wrong!” She lifted a hoof and pointed at the far wall. It was turning back into regular water and the side of the castle was slowly washing away.

“I think now is the time for us to get out of here!” said Rarity. The three of them made to go back to the stairs but stopped as a gaping hole opened in the floor. The castle was dissolving around them.

“Dive!” shouted Pinkie. Rarity and Trixie were both suddenly dragged down as the pink pony pulled them into the floor. Trixie gulped in a mouth full of water in surprise as Pinkie dragged her downwards.

They were yanked down before suddenly coming free of the water floor, which had now become the ceiling. The three of them toppled down, crashing into the piano in the room below. The water instrument bent under their weight like a trampoline before pushing back and tossing them off onto the floor.

“Don’t worry,” said Pinkie as the castle poured down around them. “I totally remember the way out!” She turned towards the door but they hadn’t even taken a step before it collapsed into a waterfall. “Okay, now I’m lost.”

“I have an idea,” said Trixie. She stepped forward and lowered her horn. A blast suddenly erupted from the tip. A huge chunk of the castle was ripped away. As the parts of the castle flew through the air, they turned back into normal water, raining down out into the ocean. Where the walls and ceiling had been broken, water streamed down, like the castle was bleeding.

“My mane!” wailed Rarity as water splashed down on them. “Look what you did to my mane!” The castle trembled around them.

“That can’t be good,” said Trixie.

“We have to get out of here!” cried Rarity pushing her mane out of her face.

The three of them began to gallop as hard as they could, back towards the main entryway as the castle dissolved around them. They didn’t even pause this time as they leapt through the front gate, one right after the other.

They galloped away from the water castle as it came apart, cascading back down into the ocean. The bridge back to land was holding for now, but they didn’t dare slow down.

Now all they had to do was get to shore, back to the train, and make for Canterlot as fast as possible.

They were almost to shore when the water bridge collapsed beneath them. The three ponies splashed down into the shallows of the beach. They struggled to shore, out of breath, tired, and soaked from mane to tail.

“We did it,” said Rarity. “I can’t believe we did it.”

“We aren’t done yet,” said Trixie. “We still have to get back to Canterlot.”

“And find the others,” said Pinkie.

“Oh, there is no need to find them,” said a voice that sent a chill down each of their spines. “I want it to be a surprise when I come to take Twilight and Fluttershy. After I am done here I will teleport to them next.”

The three ponies leapt up to find Nightmare Moon waiting for them on the beach. Dark and terrible, burning with black flames the queen of darkness stood before them.

“Impossible,” said Rarity, taking a step back. “You… you can’t be here… We defeated you, we saved Luna…”

Nightmare Moon didn’t respond, instead, she reached out a hoof and pressed it against’ Rarity’s chest. The mare’s eyes went wide as she was suddenly frozen.

“Luna! Stop it!” shouted Pinkie. But Nightmare Moon did not stop, she held her hoof in place and shot Pinkie an angry glance for the name. Rarity gave her friend’s one last fearful look and then she was completely consumed in fire.

Nightmare Moon turned her focus towards Pinkie and Trixie.

“Why! Why are you doing this?” demanded Trixie.

“Because it is the only way we can be free…” said Nightmare Moon, stopping in front of the two remaining ponies. “… from my sister.”

Author's Note

Slightly longer than I had original intended, still cut a whole bunch of stuff out of this one. My favorite part that didn't make the cut was Pinkie using a water-party cannon, shooting water-pies.

Anyhow. As I said previously, no chapter next week as I'll be at SDCC wed-sun and my editing time and internet access will be limited.

Chapter 24 will go up on the 27th! Hope to see you then.

Chapter 24

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 24

“Twilight, Twilight wake up!”

The words echoed in darkness. The sound was oddly distant and soft, as if the speaker was very far away. The name came again, her name. She struggled towards the sound, moving slowly as if submerged underwater. And then her eyes opened and the split second between dream and reality crashed together.

“Unh, Fluttershy?” asked Twilight uncertainly, her thoughts fuzzy and unfocused. “Is that you?” She opened her eyes only to be greeted by more darkness. In a panic Twilight struggled to sit up. Something heavy had been draped over her. She tried to throw it off, but couldn’t. “What happened? Where are the others?”

“Uh… what?” asked a voice that did not belong to Fluttershy. It took Twilight a moment to recognize the speaker. Spike. It was Spike’s voice. For a moment she had expected somepony else.

A small figure came into view, illuminated by a dull light outlining his form. Spike stood a few hooves away, a lone figure in the shadows. In his claws was a firefly lantern that gave off less light then a dying candle.

Gently, he shook the small glass jar and the little insects inside buzzed softly. More of the room became visible around Spike as the lantern shined brighter. The light filled the room with the warm glow of the fireflies.

“Twilight, are you alright?” asked Spike uncertainly when Twilight didn’t respond. “You don’t look so good.” For a moment, Twilight had half expected to be outside. She remembered that she should have been outside…

Twilight felt confused and disoriented. She didn’t know where she was or where she should be, but she didn’t recognize this place. It surely couldn’t have been where she had fallen asleep. She tried to think back to where she had last been but found the details to be fuzzy.

Her eyes moved through the shadowy surroundings, but she couldn’t make them out. She glanced back to Spike before letting her eyes wander to the firefly lantern he was holding. Her eyes lingered on it, looked deep into it. The little bugs raced around inside the glass, faster and faster, forming into a single great ball of fire that flared as bright as the Sun.

“Hello! Spike to Twilight! Are you there?” asked Spike’s voice. Twilight blinked. The small dragon was on her bed, waving a claw in front of her eyes. She looked back at the lantern he had placed on the nearby table. It once more had the normal dull glow of the bugs within.

“Uh, fine,” said Twilight, shifting her eyes back to Spike. “I’m fine. Spike, where are we? How did we get here?” Spike raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, well, we’re in your room,” answered Spike. He took hold of the lantern once more and lifted it to illuminate the walls around them. Sure enough Twilight could make out her bookshelves and desk. She could see the outline of Spikes basket on the floor. Her deep blue star patterned bed sheets were spread out around her. This was her bed. “We got here via the stairs.” He moved the lantern to cast the light onto the doorway that led down to the lower library. “Were you having some kind of bad dream or something?”

“Dream…” whispered Twilight to herself. Had it been a dream? Had all of it been a dream? The Sun stopping in the sky. Setting out with her friends on a long and dangerous quest… losing Rainbow Dash… Twilight tried to remember. She tried to think back on her journey across Equestria. But the more she tried, the more it seemed to slip away, like none of it had been real. “I… I don’t know.”

“Well, come on, you’re going to be late!” said Spike, hopping off the bed and taking the light with him.

“Late? Late for what?” asked Twilight. It was still very dark outside. What could she possibly be late for at this hour in the morning? Spike rolled his eyes.

“Don’t tell me you forgot!” cried Spike. “You’ve only been spending every hour of the past two weeks planning this!” Twilight looked at Spike in confusion. Spike sighed, dropping his head into his claws. “The Summer Sun Celebration, its today, in a few minutes!”

Whatever Twilight had been expecting, that wasn’t it. The Summer Sun Celebration was months away! Her eyes glanced down towards the calendar at her bed side and found, quite to her surprise, that Spike was right!

Putting a hoof out, she lifted the small calendar and examined it closer as if trying to find some signs of tampering. If this was some sort of practical joke, Spike had gone to a lot of trouble and gotten up extra early for it.

“Twilight, come on!” called Spike, waiting impatiently at the door. A weary feeling ached in Twilights stomach and on her horn she felt the slightest tingle of magic. Was that what Pinkie Sense felt like? Had her body just tried to warn her something was wrong? Or was it the memories of the dream, still lingering in her mind, reluctant to fade away.

She hadn’t gotten out of bed yet. Twilight was still debating if leaving her bed was even a good idea. Something wasn’t right here. She knew it, could feel it. But she didn’t know what wasn’t right. This all felt real, more so then the lingering thoughts of a nonsensical dream.

“Twilight, do you want to keep the Princess waiting?” asked Spike, sounding slightly annoyed. At the mention of being tardy, Twilight’s automatic instincts took over and she tumbled out of bed, dragging the sheets down with her. She fought with her bed spread, working hard to untangle herself from it before she scrambled for the door. “That’s more like it,” said Spike, hopping up onto her back.

“We can’t go like this! I’m not ready! I haven’t made a checklist yet!” cried Twilight, dancing nervously on the spot. Her worries of a few moments ago had been swept away in panic. She was faced with being completely and utterly unprepared to meet with the Princess.

“Don’t worry,” said Spike. He held out a piece of parchment for Twilight to see. “I have the checklist already done.” Her panic suddenly vanished, like it had never been. Twilight looked at the parchment Spike was holding out, her eyes reading the list and yet, making no sense of it. Spike had never willingly put together a checklist before.

“Item one,” announced Spike, pulling back the checklist so that Twilight could no longer see it. “Leave the house!” Twilight felt oddly compelled to comply. After all, the checklist said she had to, so who was she to argue.

Moving swiftly, Twilight hurried down the stairs, Spike’s lantern showing the way. Not stopping at the bottom of the steps, Twilight hurried to her front door and pushed it open. Sudden bright blazing light rushed in and Twilight raised a hoof to shield her eyes.

“Ahem, item two,” said Spike clearing his throat. Twilight lowered her hoof, confused by what she saw. It was fully dark outside, with no light what-so-ever, save for the twinkling stars. But she could have sworn… “Head to the center of town!” Twilight didn’t move. “Twilight?” asked Spike. She didn’t answer. “Hellllooooo Twilight?” Spike waved a claw in front of her face. She blinked.

“The Sun,” whispered Twilight absently.

“Yes, that’s right, the Summer Sun Celebration,” said Spike. “And we are going to be late if you don’t hurry.”

“No… No I saw the Sun, just now,” cried Twilight. She pulled the door closed.

“Twilight, what are you doing?” complained Spike. Twilight pushed the door open again, but it was just the same dark street outside. She closed the door and tried it again. Still nothing. “Twilight, come… whoa!”

Twilight bucked suddenly, tossing Spike off her back. He landed hard on the floor. Before he could sit up, Twilight was hovering over him, her hooves pinning him down.

“What’s going on?” demanded Twilight, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Spike did not respond. The expression on his face was not one of fear, but of something like anger. “I want some answers!”

“The list says…” began Spike, his voice calm and measured. Twilight’s horn flared and the list zoomed over to them. The items were nothing more than illegible squiggles. “So… you did notice. You really are very clever.”

“Who are you!” demanded Twilight. “Where are my friends? Where is the real Spike?”

“It’s already too late…” whispered Spike. As he spoke his body began to dissolve into mist. Twilight’s hooves clopped to the floor as not-Spike faded out from under her, leaving Twilight completely alone in her library.

Twilight galloped as hard as she could, racing through the darkened streets of Ponyville. Even though it was night time, the town was oddly empty and still. There was a sensation that continued to linger in Twilight’s thoughts. Somehow, everything was wrong. She knew she shouldn’t be here. Except, she didn’t know where else she should be.

She had seen Spike vanish right before her eyes, turning into smoke like he had never been. Yet, he hadn’t been Spike. Something about him, since he had first awoken her, had been wrong. And then when he had suddenly vanished… Twilight had never seen anything like it.

Whatever was going on here Twilight had never encountered anything like it before. If only she could remember how she had gotten to this place. She struggled to remember the dream, the last clue she had in her mind. The images were already so fuzzy she didn’t think she would be able to recall anything new.

She could remember bits and pieces of her adventure that hadn’t really happened. Like Canterlot. They had gone to Canterlot and met… Luna, yes. But what they had needed wasn’t there… it was someplace else… hidden.

Twilight tried to remember what was hidden, but she couldn’t. She tried to remember where it was hidden, but she couldn’t.

She ran harder with no destination in mind. She didn’t know where to go. She didn’t know what to do. She needed help! She needed her friends she needed…

“Look out!” cried a small voice.

Twilight dug her hooves into the ground and skidded across the dirt before finally coming to a stop in the middle of the street.

For a moment, Twilight wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking at. There was another pony standing in before her, yet, the pony was strange somehow. A lantern hung from the pony’s back and there were two sets of eyes looking at Twilight.

At last, Twilight’s brain kicked in and she finally realized what she was seeing. It wasn’t one pony before her, but two. A smaller filly was riding on the back of a larger pony.

“Twilight, dear, why whatever is the matter?” asked the white pony in Twilight’s path. Rarity, it was Rarity. As Twilight realized it, the light from the lantern seemed to make Rarity glow brighter. Twilight could have leapt forward and hugged her, yet, there was something else here with them, something sitting atop Rarity’s back. Something, staring at Twilight. Something that the light did not show.

“Yes, Twilight,” said a cold voice that did not belong to the filly that spoke it. “Tell us what the matter is?” A muzzle slowly came forward from the shadows and Twilight recognized the filly at last. It was Sweetie Belle, except, something about her wasn’t right.

“Sweetie, there is no need to be rude,” said Rarity, lifting a hoof and patting her little sister. Twilight took a hesitant step back. The ache in her stomach and the tingle in her horn had returned, just like with Spike. “I’m glad I was able to find you. I guess we should head over,” said Rarity with a smile. Her expression faded as she saw Twilight. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes,” said Twilight, her eyes fixed on Sweetie, who was staring right back at her. “I don’t know what, I can just feel it.”

“Really?” asked Rarity in surprise. “You mean… are you saying you have pinkie sense?”

“Or something like it,” answered Twilight with a nod. “I’ve had a really bad feeling ever since I got up. Something isn’t right and…” Twilight looked away before turning back to Rarity and looking her in the eyes. “I feel… I feel like we are supposed to be some place else, doing something else!”

“You know, it’s very odd you should say that,” said Rarity looking a little distraught. “I had the exact same feeling when Sweetie woke me up. Why, I had completely forgotten today was the Celebration.” Twilight’s eyes suddenly flicked up to Sweetie Belle, who glared down nastily at her.

“And, it’s strange really, but I feel like I’ve been walking for hours now but not really getting anywhere,” continued Rarity.

However Twilight was hardly listening to Rarity talk. Her eyes were locked on the filly who was glaring back at her. A sudden shiver raced down Twilight’s spine and she knew what she had to do. Magic flared on Twilight’s horn, lifting Sweetie off Rarity’s back.

“Twilight! What are you doing!” exclaimed Rarity in horror.

“She isn’t right,” said Twilight harshly, dangling Sweetie in the air, out of reach of Rarity. “I’ve got the same sensation around her that I had with Spike. It’s like she doesn’t belong. Like she isn’t who we think she is. She knows something about all this! Tell us! Tell us what’s going on!”

“It’s already too late,” said Sweetie, a terrible, nasty smile spreading across her face. Her horn flared with magic and Twilight was forced to drop her. The moment the little filly hit the ground she bolted, galloping away as fast as she could.

Twilight didn’t miss a beat. She gave chase, charging after the escaping filly. Whatever this thing pretending to be Sweetie was, Twilight knew it must have answers. However, as Twilight followed it around the corner of a house, she found herself in an empty alleyway. Twilight skidded to a halt. Her eyes swept back and forth but the filly had vanished, just like Spike.

Rarity was visibly shaken. She didn’t seem to know what to think about her sister. The unicorn was on the edge of complete panic, pacing back and forth in near hysteria.

“Rarity, calm down,” said Twilight for the fifth time. “I’m sure that wasn’t really your sister. Just like Spike wasn’t really Spike.” Rarity did not stop pacing, nor did she acknowledge Twilight’s words. “We need to figure out what’s going on. We need to find our friends!”

Rarity stopped and looked at Twilight, then she resumed her nervous pacing.

“Do you remember anything before Sweetie woke you up?” asked Twilight. Rarity shook her head, but words didn’t seem to come to her. “I remember being someplace,” said Twilight out loud. She closed her eyes trying to will her thoughts to return. “Someplace cold, a forest of ice I think…”

“A… forest of ice?” asked Rarity, at last stopping her pacing. Twilight nodded.

“I was there with somepony else… I can’t remember who…” said Twilight. “As we went deeper into the ice forest it got colder and colder. Then, finally, we reached a clearing and… it was like a tiny paradise. It should have been freezing cold there, but it wasn’t. The ground should have been hard dirt, but it was soft grass. And the whole place was filled with small animals, like it was some kind of sanctuary for them…

“We found what we were looking for,” continued Twilight. “But when we took it, everything started to go wrong. The grass froze over. The ice forest began to crumble down and cover everything. We helped get the animals to safety. But there was something waiting for us. And that’s when I woke up.” Twilight’s gaze became distant and she touched a hoof to her chest. “Do you remember anything?” Rarity looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Yes,” said Rarity after a long pause. “There was a train ride and also a castle out in the ocean. And I remember two other ponies...” Rarity trailed off into silence.

“Do you know why you were there?” asked Twilight.

“It was a dream Twilight, there wasn’t any reason for me to…” began Rarity. “Although… now that you mention it. Yes, I think I was there to get something… something… hidden.”

“Me too!” cried Twilight. “But… not for me, for somepony else. I just can’t remember what.” The two fell into silence.

“So, what do we do now?” asked Rarity.

“We go to the center of town,” said Twilight.

“But you said that was most likely a trap!” exclaimed Rarity. Twilight nodded.

“Yeah, but it is still our best and only lead,” explained Twilight. “Something is going on here and we need to find the others to get to the bottom of it.” Twilight turned and began to gallop towards the center of town. A moment later, Rarity followed behind her.

A huge crowd of ponies were gathered out in the town square. A golden beacon stood tall in the center of the square, rising four dozen hooves into the air. At its top was a crescent circle, in which the Princess would raise the Sun. And standing below it, waiting on stage, were their friends.

“Ah, Twilight Sparkle,” boomed a voice. All of the ponies in the crowd turned and looked back at Twilight and Rarity. “We have been waiting for you and your friend to arrive!” The mass of ponies stepped aside, parting and making a path for Twilight and Rarity. “Come, you must hurry, dawn is almost late.”

Cautiously, Twilight and Rarity moved forward, the eyes of the ponies all around them watching silently. As they traveled, the ponies closed in behind them so that there was no hope of retreat.

“Remember, wait for my signal,” whispered Twilight. Rarity’s nervous eyes glanced at the horde of unsettling ponies all around them.

“And what is the signal?” Rarity whispered back.

“I don’t know, but you’ll know when you see it,” said Twilight. The last of the ponies parted to let them up onto the stage.

“Great,” whispered Rarity to herself.

The two friends came to a stop, halting before Princess Luna, who stood tall over them. For a moment, Twilight was confused. She had expected… somepony else, but she just couldn’t remember who. It was always Luna who preformed the Summer Sun Celebration… wasn’t it?

“If you two could take your places please,” said Luna, motioning to the two spots in the center. Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were all spread out in a semicircle around the beacon of the Sun, so that they faced Luna and the crowd of ponies. The last two spots appeared to be for her and Rarity and were right between their friends.

Twilight also couldn’t help but notice that each of her friends had a small companion with them. Applebloom was riding atop her big sister Applejack. Scootaloo was doing the same on Rainbow’s back. Angel Bunny held tightly to Fluttershy’s mane. And Pinkie, Twilight almost couldn’t believe Pinkie had been taken in by her riders. The baby cake twins sat astride Pinkie, glaring at Twilight as she approached.

At last Twilight and Rarity stood side-by-side, flanked on either side by Rainbow Dash, on Twilights right side, and Fluttershy, on Rarity’s left side. Applejack and Pinkie stood at either end of the semicircle. And Princess Luna stood in its center.

“Welcome my faithful subjects,” said Luna, raising a hoof out to the gathered ponies. “Today has been a long time coming. I have waited more than a life time to stand here before you today. Fate has conspired against me, trapped me, hidden me away from the world. But today, a new dawn begins and I will be reborn.” The crowd cheered.

“These six ponies are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony,” continued Luna. “Yet they have been lied to and manipulated by my sister. They believed they were using their powers to do good but instead they have done terrible things.” Twilight shot a sideways glance at her friends. None of them, save for Rarity, seemed to actually be listening. They were all smiling blissfully as if the words were praise.

“Today, they will help me raise the Sun,” explained Luna, holding out a hoof to the six friends. “They will use their Elements of Harmony to make right what they have set wrong. Through me will their power flow and as the Sun rises, so shall I take my rightful place as Queen of Equestria!”

Luna’s horn glowed and the Elements of Harmony shimmered into existence. The jewelry floated to each of the six ponies, the necklaces attaching around their necks and the tiara landing lightly on Twilight’s head.

“Use the Elements upon me and give me your strength,” commanded Luna. “Show us all the power you used to defeat the likes of Discord, who sought to throw the world into chaos!” The crowd cheered. “Show us the strength you summoned to push back the changeling army who sought to usurp my power.” The ponies cheered even louder this time.

“Show you the friendship we found to stop Nightmare Moon,” interrupted Twilight. The cheering instantly died away. Luna turned slowly. Her frightful green eyes locked on Twilight.

“Did you?” whispered Luna dangerously. “Or did you simply seal her away. Trapped in a prison of her own mind, forced to live a lie of a false existence?” Twilight’s eyes widened slightly. The world around Luna shimmer and Twilight caught the faintest glimpse of something else. Something that was not this place, something that was not Luna. “You are too clever for your own good, Twilight.”

“I know,” whispered Twilight. “Now!” she leaned towards Rarity, her horn flared with magic. Slightly startled, Rarity reacted, moving towards Twilight. Their horns touched and light exploded outwards from the two unicorns. The world was torn open before them creating a gap in reality that was not Ponyville.

Twilight struggled to comprehend the sight before her. She and Rarity were normal, standing in the night of Ponyville, up on the wooden stage. However to either side, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were half their normal pony selves and half nightmares, blazing with fire. Beyond them both Applejack and Pinkie were standing in the throne room of the castle fully transformed in fire.

It was as if Twilight were looking through some kind of hole, or rip in the very fabric of reality. On one side was Ponyville and the other was the interior of the castle. Two worlds, existing in the same place as the same time, but different from each other.

The throne room, that had moments ago been the town square, was filled with nightmares. In the center, completely surrounded was the princess Celestia. She was still frozen in stone, but had been turned so that she could watch.

And towering over them, the vestiges of Luna burned away, was Nightmare Moon.

In one moment of clarity, Twilight suddenly understood what she was seeing. They were dreaming. Ponyville, her side, was a waking dream made for their minds while their nightmare bodies followed the orders of their soon to be queen. Somehow she had used her magic to see both realities at once.

“It’s over!” said Twilight, straining under the magic. “You’re deception didn’t work! We won’t help you do whatever it is you are planning to do.”

“Yes, you will,” said Nightmare Moon softly. The dark mare’s expression was unreadable, but there was no hate or contempt or any other emotion that Twilight had expected.

Nightmare Moon suddenly flickered, her form becoming fuzzy, her shape shrinking slightly. For the briefest of moments, Luna stood in front of Twilight, surprise in her eyes. Then she was gone and Nightmare Moon returned.

“It would seem our time is shorter than I thought,” said Nightmare Moon, more to herself than Twilight. Her eyes flashed up to Twilight. “I want you to remove the spell you placed upon me. The one that sealed me back inside Luna.”

“No,” said Twilight before even considering the request.

“I see,” said Nightmare Moon. Her horn glowed and the rip in reality that let Twilight glimpse into the waking world began to close. The night of Ponyville began to return and her friends changed from nightmares back into regular ponies.

“You do not understand Twilight,” said Nightmare Moon. “You do not see things as they really are.” The magic continued to shrink, the crowd of gathered nightmares returned back to being regular ponies. Twilight’s view of the throne room was almost completely obstructed. All she could see was Nightmare Moon and the statue of Celestia behind her.

“But I will show you the truth,” whispered Nightmare Moon. She halted the rip in reality so that only Twilight’s head was exposed. The dark mare’s eyes glanced down. Hesitantly, not wanting to see, Twilight did the same.

She had expected this. Known this. Yet, she was not prepared for it. Her body burned with the fires of a nightmare. This strange reality she inhabited, it was a prison for her mind while her body was enslaved.

The gap closed and Twilight found herself back in Ponyville, her friends all looking at her expectantly.

“The time for foalish things is over, Twilight Sparkle,” said Luna, rising tall before her. “You will do as I command. You have no choice.” The self proclaimed queen raised a hoof and Twilight felt her body lift off the ground. At her sides, her friends were doing the same, floating upwards as magic flickered around them. The elements on their necks came to life.

“Use the Elements of Harmony to free me,” whispered Luna. The memories of the world that had just been were already slipping away as Ponyville became more real around her. “Use their power to undo this prison you have forced upon me!” The light in Twilights crown began to glow. Energy streamed from her friends, flowing into her, focusing into her. Luna opened her forelegs wide, ready to receive the power of the elements.

Twilight could feel the elemental energy reaching its peak. Any moment the power of the elements would rush forth and Twilight had no idea what that power would unleash.

“No!” shouted Twilight defiantly.

“You have no choice, you cannot stop what has been set in motion,” cried Luna. “My sister tried and you’ve seen what happened to her, what happened to all of Canterlot!” Luna pointed a hoof back towards the beacon of light that was actually Celestia frozen in stone in the waking world.

“No, I can’t stop this,” shouted Twilight. “But I also don’t have to use it on you.”

With all her strength, with all her force of will, Twilight moved her head slightly to the side. A brilliant rainbow of light exploded from the tiara, only just missing Luna and striking the golden beacon behind her.

“NO! What have you done!” shouted Luna. The townsfolk began to back away as cracks appeared in the metal structure. The rainbow light rushed around the beacon, causing it to glow. Suddenly the golden beacon broke apart and daylight erupted out of it. The town ponies scrambled away, galloping, flying, fleeing.

The roar of energy suddenly went quiet as the elemental magic subsided in an instant. Slowly, Twilight and her friends were lowered back to the ground.

“There, you have her back!” shouted Luna. Her body began to flicker once more, changing between Nightmare Moon and Luna in quick succession. “You have your worshipful Sun goddess! I do not care! But please, you must use the elements upon me! You must before it is too late!”

“It is already too late, sister,” said a strong calm voice that came from the blazing column of light. “It is far too late for any of us.”

Author's Note

Dun, dun, dunnnnnn! Huh, I seem to be using that more than usual as of late... oh well...

Anyhow...

I hope you enjoyed. This was a fun chapter to write (as you might have guessed I really like the not-reality stuff a lot) but wow did it kick my ascii in editing. I don't know what it was but this chapter just didn't want to get finished! Every pass wanted more and more changes, edits, re-writes, additions and removals! Yet... it's still nearly what I started out with... I think my brain is just messing with me.

In any case, like most things it's reached the point of close enough (and out of time) so up it goes.

We continue into our final set of chapters next Saturday Aug 3rd, so I hope to see you back then!

Chapter 25

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 25

Twilight stood transfixed by the blazing column of golden light. It was like a waterfall that was tumbling upwards from the ground and falling into the sky. But instead of water it was made from parts of the Sun. The pillar was so bright that it turned the night of Ponyville to day, although there were still stars in the sky above.

“What do you mean it’s too late?” asked Rarity. Twilight gave a little jump. In all that had happened she had completely forgotten there was anypony else there beyond herself, Luna and the glowing column of light.

“It is too late for us to save Equestria,” said the golden column of light.

“No,” whispered Twilight. “That… that can’t be… we worked so hard…”

“I am sorry my faithful student,” said the light. “This is not what I wanted.”

“Surely there must be something we can do?” asked Rarity in desperation. “We have the elements! Together we can fix whatever is wrong!”

“I am afraid that not even the elements have the strength to stop what has been set in motion,” said the light sadly. “Even if you were not trapped in the æther.”

“If we weren’t… what?” asked Twilight in surprise. Her mentor’s words echoed in her mind. It was almost like she had remembered something, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what it was.

“It is not possible for me to explain it to you, but I can show you,” said the light.

The ground beneath their hooves shook. Slowly the light began to expand, moving outwards. Luna took a step back, but the light enveloped her all the same.

Twilight closed her eyes as the light washed over her. It felt safe and warm. She felt her body relax slightly. She had the strangest sensation of being hugged. Of being loved. Then as quickly as it had come the feeling was lost and she simply felt like herself once more.

When she opened her eyes, she was standing back in the throne room in Canterlot, sort of. The ground beneath her hooves was still the wooden planks of the stage in Ponyville. Yet, in a wide circle around her, the wood ended abruptly, giving way to a stone floor. It was like being inside a tiny bubble of another world.

Twilight felt groggy, like she had just woken up. Memories of Ponyville, of the place she had just been were fuzzy in her mind, like a fading dream. But they had not completely left her. It was like she was both awake and still in the dream.

“I don’t understand,” said Rarity in surprise. “How... where… what is going on here?”

“You are trapped,” said a voice that made Twilight’s ears perk up. Her eyes snapped forward and found Celestia standing before her. The tall white mare glowed with shining golden light.

Twilight leapt forward, excitement and relief welling up inside her at seeing her mentor freed from stone. However, Celestia lifted a hoof and stopped Twilight in her tracks before she could embrace her.

“You must forgive me Twilight,” said Celestia. “But I am afraid you may not touch me.” Unbidden tears suddenly came to Twilight’s eyes, she tried to hold them back but she couldn’t. Celestia looked at the lavender unicorn solemnly.

“I know you do not understand yet, but I will make it clear soon,” explained Celestia. “First, I believe my sister has something she wishes to say.” Celestia turned her head towards where Luna had been standing. Twilight felt her eyes widen as she followed the gaze. For half an instant, Twilight had expected to find Nightmare Moon standing there, but the mare she found was still Luna.

“No,” said Luna looking away. “I’m not sorry for what I did.”

“You… you turned your sister to stone!” exclaimed Rarity, a note of surprise in her voice. Twilight felt shocked by her friend’s sudden accusation. Yet, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t said it herself. It was so obvious.

“You did this?” asked Twilight, the slightest quiver of anger in her words. Luna shook her head, backing away. “You stopped the Sun? You turned everypony to stone!”

“No!” said Luna, her voice breaking. “I didn’t turn anypony to stone! That wasn’t what I wanted! I didn’t mean for any of this…”

“Yet this is partly your doing,” said Celestia. “If you had simply done as I had asked…” A flash of momentary rage crossed Luna’s face.

“You just want me to pretend everything is fine,” said Luna, her voice rising as she spoke. “You just want me to forget all that’s happened? You want me to live in a cage forever because it’s what you want?” shouted Luna.

“It is what’s best for you,” said Celestia calmly. Luna scoffed.

“Princess…” asked Twilight. Celestia’s eyes turned towards Twilight and it was the first time the pony had ever seen something like anger in her mentor’s eyes. Twilight mustered up all her courage and continued with her question. “What does Luna mean ‘live in a cage?’ What cage?”

“My sister never bothered to explain what you did to me, did she?” asked Luna, the smallest bit of humor in her voice. “Of course she wouldn’t.” Luna looked away. “Why would she bother to tell you…”

“Tell us what?” asked Rarity.

“We never really brought back Luna,” whispered Twilight softly, putting together Luna’s meaning in her head.

“What?” scoffed Rarity. “Of course we did!” Twilight shook her head. “We fixed her. We used the elements to change her back. I saw it!”

“Magic can do many things,” explained Celestia. “But it cannot change who we are at the very core of our being. The elements may have made her look like Luna and force her to act like Luna, but you can only pretend for so long before you have to face the truth.”

“You didn’t want to face the truth, sister,” said Luna harshly.

“No,” whispered Celestia. “I did not. I do not…”

“My sister has never bothered to tell you why she banished me to the Moon, has she?” asked Luna, turning her attention back to the two mares. Both Rarity and Twilight shook their heads. “She had the elements, she could have changed me back, but she chose to send me away instead. Do you know why?”

“Because…” said Twilight, Luna’s eyes snapped to her. Twilight swallowed hard. “Because you weren’t Luna anymore. She would have just turned you into a lie.” Luna looked impressed by Twilight’s answer. “You knew didn’t you?” asked Twilight, looking with sad eyes towards her mentor. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“When you defeated Nightmare Moon,” said Celestia, her voice soft. “You returned my sister to me. I had not seen her for so long. For a time I wanted to believe it had worked. That Nightmare Moon had been a curse to be cast aside. So I accepted the lie.

“But I knew something was wrong. I knew she had not really returned to me,” continued Celestia, looking sad. “I did not want to lose her again. I thought she would get better. That she would be happy, just like she was when she was younger.

“When I found her in the throne room, holding the elements, I finally had to accept the truth. That Luna is not but a memory.”

For a long moment they were all silent.

“The time we have grows short,” continued Celestia. “There is still much you must know about your friends, yourselves and the world.” Her eyes fell on Twilight and Rarity. Then she lifted her gaze and looked behind them. Both Twilight and Rarity turned. Twilight felt her eyes widen.

Standing behind them, gathered in a semi-circle were four nightmares. They stood, motionless, dull eyed and silent. They stood… exactly where her friends in Ponyville had been. And each had an Element of Harmony around their neck.

Twilight moved towards them but as her hoof left the golden ring of light, fire blazed into existence around her leg. She pulled back and her limb returned to normal.

“In this room, the æther is weak,” said Celestia. “It was damaged when my sister attempted to use the Elements of Harmony upon herself and when I attempted to stop her. For the moment, I can free your minds from the nightmare. However I cannot keep you here forever. Soon you shall slip back into the dream and all I have told you will fade away.

“You will forget the world and its troubles,” explained Celestia. “You will forget me. The dream shall become your lie.” Her eyes turned towards Luna. The ground shivered again beneath their hooves. “A fantasy your reality.”

“Wait, are you saying we are stuck as nightmares forever!” cried Rarity in horror.

“No, not forever,” answered Celestia. “Unlike my sister you did not seek out this change. It is little more than a spell placed upon you. Which is why you cannot touch me. If you did, you would spread the curse to me as well. The spell will last for as long as we have left.”

“What… what do you mean?” asked Twilight, dreading the answer. Celestia’s eyes looked upwards. As she did, the ground shook again.

“Twilight, if you could cast a simple transparency spell upon the ceiling,” asked Celestia. Twilight felt confused as to why Celestia hadn’t done it herself, the spell was easy, but Twilight nodded. Her horn glowed and as it did, the ceiling above shimmered with magic. It became transparent as if it were made of glass. Twilight felt her eyes widen in horror.

The blue of the sky was gone, replaced with an unending wall of white and gray. It took Twilight a moment to comprehend what she was seeing. The Moon. It was the surface of the Moon. It had come so close that it filled the entire sky.

“Luna!” cried Twilight. “You have to do something! You have to stop it!” Luna looked just as shocked as Twilight, but she nodded.

The dark mare’s horn began to glow with midnight black magic. Her eyes closed tight under the strain as she tried to push the Moon away, but it did not move.

“I can’t,” panted Luna after a moment. “It isn’t falling, it isn’t even moving!”

“Of course it is!” cried Rarity, pointing a hoof at the great white Moon. “It’s falling out of the sky! It’s going to crush us!”

“No,” said Celestia calmly. “Luna is correct, the Moon is not moving. It is we who are falling towards it. Or, more accurately, we who are falling into the Sun.”

Everypony stood silent for a long while, Celestia’s terrible words sinking into them.

“WHAT!” shouted Twilight. “I… we can’t… it isn’t…”

“Equestria has been getting hotter, not because the Sun is stuck in the sky,” said Celestia. “But because we are gradually getting closer to it. Slowly our speed will increase until the whole planet falls into the Sun.”

“And Luna did this?” cried Twilight in disbelief. “By turning you to stone she caused all this?”

“I didn’t turn anypony to stone!” objected Luna angrily. Twilight opened her mouth to argue but Celestia spoke first.

“She is correct,” answered Celestia. “I turned myself and all the ponies of Canterlot to stone.” Twilight didn’t have any words for that. Her mouth simply hung open, her brain buzzing with a sort of static. She couldn’t have heard that right.

“Why… Why would you do that?” asked Rarity in shocked disbelief.

“It was the only way to keep my sister safe from the darkness inside her,” said Celestia. “A spell powerful enough to imprison her, would also imprison me… and all of Canterlot.”

“So you knew this would happen?” cried Twilight in surprise. “You knew this whole town would be turned to stone.”

“Yes,” answered Celestia simply. For a moment, Twilight was taken aback by her direct answer. “Yet, it did not work. At the moment of the spell’s casting, my sister did something I did not anticipate. She used the elements against me.”

“And… that worked?” asked Rarity in surprise.

“No,” said Luna. “We were both attempting the same thing, to balance opposites. My sisters for imprisonment and mine for freedom…”

“You have no doubt seen what mixing magic can do,” said Celestia addressing Twilight. “It can be terrible and dangerous when two unicorns are not compatible and try to cast the same spell together.” Twilight nodded. “My sister and I… have never been able to multicast. We are naturally opposite of each other. We attempted to cast the same spell, but with different goals, focused through the elements.

“As I felt my spell taking hold, turning me to stone I felt my sister’s magic trying to set us free,” continued Celestia. “I felt a multicast spell. The most powerful magic I have ever encountered. The force of the spell flung the elements apart, spreading them across Equestria.

“In that moment the spell broke and twisted, becoming something neither I, nor my sister were prepared for. The resulting devastation from that spell has damaged the very fabric of magic in our world. The very same magic that holds us in place and allows me to raise the Sun and Luna to raise the Moon. Like a pegasus with a broken wing, we are tumbling down out of the sky.”

“So… being stone isn’t what stopped the Sun?” asked Rarity. Celestia shook her head.

“There was magic before mine, and there will be magic after mine, that will move the Sun,” explained Celestia. “While my change to stone may have kept the Sun in place, it does not hold it there.”

“And the elements?” asked Twilight. “What happened to them? Each one we came across was protected, did you do that?”

“I did not,” answered Celestia. “You did that.” Twilight felt confused. “The elements are focuses but their true power comes from within you. Even when they were not with you, the elements still tried to help you, to help the world. They created what each of you thought was needed.”

“Someplace cool and protected from the Sun,” said Twilight, thinking back to her element. “And Pinkie… more friends?”

“Applejack encountered a great forest of apple trees,” said Luna with a nod. “She has been very concerned about the food supply.”

“And I encountered a castle made from water,” said Rarity. “Protected and cool under the Sun. Yet dignified and refined.”

“And I think Fluttershy and I found a sort of animal sanctuary to the north,” said Twilight, trying to think back and remember. “But what about Rainbow? She didn’t even want to go under ground.”

“Actually, hers went up into the sky,” explained Luna. “It made a maze of clouds high above Canterlot. But when all the clouds evaporated, it must have crashed to the ground.”

“So they were trying to protect us,” said Twilight.

“More than you know,” answered Celestia. “The element locations were not random. They were arranged around a focal center, projecting a shield around Canterlot to keep the damaged æther from spreading.

“Now that you have brought the elements here I am afraid the problem will quickly grow worse, and as it does, we will descend faster and faster, into the Sun.”

“But you can still fix this, right?” asked Twilight hopefully. “I mean, we used the elements to change you back! So now you can set things right and set the Sun!”

“No,” said Celestia with a sad shake of her head. “I cannot help you. The elements did not free me, not in the waking world. Like you, I only exist in the dream. I am still stone.”

“This can’t be,” whispered Twilight to herself, looking down at the ground. The golden ring around them suddenly flickered. For a moment, all four of them appeared as they really were. Luna became Nightmare Moon. Rarity blazed with flames and Celestia stood motionless in stone. Then they were back in the half-dream world once more.

“We are almost out of time,” said Celestia.

“What do we do!” cried Twilight.

“There is nothing you can do,” answered Luna. “There is nothing any of us can do.”

Author's Note

So you said you wanted some answers eh?

Anyhow... not much to say about this chapter, I think it said more than enough. Just a few things to take in all at once.

Just an fyi, no new chapters for the next two weeks. I'll be traveling and my access to both a computer and internet will be minimal. I am taking my tablet with me so I do plan on writing, but it will most likely be new stories, rather than editing work on this one.

See you all when I get back. Next chapter on Sat the 24th.

Chapter 26

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 26

The glowing ring of light that bridged the boundaries between dreams and the waking world began to shrink. As the light moved along the floor the dream realm of nighttime Ponyville was replaced with the white stone of the palace throne room. Soon the light would be gone and Twilight, Rarity and Luna would be plunged back into the dream, becoming sleeping monsters once more.

"There must be something we can do!" pleaded Twilight. "Some spell, some magic!" Celestia watched the three ponies with sad eyes but she did not answer. "Please! We have to try!"

"While magic can transcend between worlds, I am afraid that from inside the dream there is little we can do," answered Celestia at last. "The power of the Elements, combine with the disruption in the æther, have let you open a window into the waking world. However, without help from the outside that window will soon close."

"But surely you must be able..." began Rarity.

"I am stone," interrupted Celestia. "I cannot cast even the simplest of spells." The ring contracted again. The light passed over Celestia's back. As it did, she became half stone once more. "There is little time left. I am sorry my little..." Twilight had to step away as the edge of the golden light raced forward over Celestia, fully returning her to stone once more.

"No..." whispered Twilight. She had to fight the urge to run forward and embrace her mentor. The golden edge of reality moved over Twilight’s hoof and she felt the flames return. She pulled away and the flames extinguished.

Twilight, Rarity and Luna backed against one another, the ring shrinking rapidly around them. There was no place to run, no place to hide. No spell that Twilight could cast to keep them here.

In a moment more their minds would be back in the dream and their bodies would be monsters of fire. The ring shrunk ever smaller. There was hardly any place for them to stand now.

A loud crash across the room dragged Twilight's attention away. The doors to the chamber stood open. Standing in the entryway, chest puffed out wide and a heroic grin across her face stood...

"The Great and Powerful Trixie!" proclaimed the blue unicorn confidently.

"And Spike!" announced Spike, emerging a second later from the doorway, looking like he was slightly out of breath. "We got here as fast as we... Woah!" Spike stopped dead in his tracks taking in what must have been a very strange sight before him.

"Look out!" cried Rarity. For a moment, Twilight felt confused, until four blazing nightmares, that had once been Twilight's friends, raced around the golden circle. The fiery ponies galloped and soared towards the entrance, their screeches filling the air.

"Stop!" shouted Twilight. "Leave them alone!" However the nightmares did not stop, nor did they seem to hear. Trixie ran one way, wailing as Fireshy and Blazejack chased her. Spike ran the other direction with Flamebow Dash and Nightmare Pie, who still continued to hop, right on his heels.

"Twilight we have to do something!" cried Rarity.

"What can we do? If we leave this circle we'll be just like them!" exclaimed Twilight.

The boundaries of reality squeezed inwards again. The golden edge crawled over Twilight's leg. She felt the burning sensation of the flames as her true appearance became visible once more. The sight of the flames reminded Twilight of something. Her eyes snapped up to Spike and she knew what to do.

Using all the concentration she could manage, Twilight turned her horn towards Spike. Magic flickered around the small dragon and with a pop, he suddenly grew much larger. It was the same spell she had used to get them through the firestorm so many days ago.

Caught off guard by the sudden growth, Spike skidded to a halt. The two nightmares chasing him crashed into his back and rebounded off. He turned towards them as Flamebow and Nightmare Pie got slowly back to their hooves, looking dazed.

"Spike! Grab them!" shouted Rarity. Spike nodded and scooped up the two nightmares, holding them tight under his massive arm. They struggled and bucked but could not escape. "Trixie! Lead them towards Spike!"

Trixie changed direction, galloping across the room as fast as she could, rushing towards Spike. However, less than a dozen hooves away she stumbled and tumbled forward, crashing face first into the stone floor. Her momentum carried her forward, sliding across the smooth surface and between Spike's legs. A moment later, the two Nightmares collided with Spike and he wrapped them up in his other arm. The four ponies struggled but could not get free.

"Well, that works too," announced Trixie, brushing herself off as she trotted over to the shrinking circle of light.

"Not... For... Long..." grunted Twilight, the effort of the spell taking its toll on her.

"You need to get out of here," said Rarity. "This ring of light is all that is keeping us from becoming just like them. Once that happens you'll have six nightmares and..." her eyes turned to Luna. “And other things to worry about, I’m sure.”

"There is a way to keep us here," said Luna softly after the momentary pause left in the air by Rarity. "As my sister said, the elements gave you a window between worlds that is slowly closing, but we can keep it open. We just need magic from both sides. We need to multicast."

"But we can't!" proclaimed Rarity. "Trixie is the only unicorn here that isn't a nightmare and both you and I have tried to multicast with her and failed."

"Twilight has not yet tried," said Luna. Trixie let out a laugh.

"I hardly think that Twilight and the Great and Powerful Trixie would be... Compatible," said Trixie. "Besides, she is already busy maintaining a spell."

"Rarity..." grunted Twilight. "I have to try, no... Other... Choice..."

"But the nightmares!" exclaimed Rarity. Twilight glanced at her. "Oh... Oh, no, Twilight I can't! I've never cast anything like that before!" Twilight didn't look away. "Oh, alright! But hurry!"

Rarity's horn began to glow and a second aura wrapped around Spike. He became even larger, stronger. The nightmares struggling in his arms became still, seeming to realize that their efforts were in vain.

Twilight's horn stopped glowing and Rarity's faced tensed. The spell held but Spike was slowly getting smaller once more.

"We have to hurry," said Twilight, panting a little with the effort of the previous spell. Trixie bent her head forward and her horn moved through the golden light before touching Twilight's.

"Focus on keeping us here," instructed Luna. "Think about both worlds, of the dream and of reality." Both Trixie and Twilight closed their eyes. Magic sparked at their horns and their faces tensed with concentration. Flickers of electricity jumped back and forth. Then a burst of energy erupted in a shockwave that made the room ripple. The force of the failed multicast knocked the two unicorns apart.

Trixie was flung away, sent rolling across the ground. Twilight was propelled backwards, colliding with Rarity and knocking her out of the circle of light. The moment the white unicorn left the ring she burst into flickering orange flames. Spike instantly returned to his normal size, releasing all of the nightmares he had been keeping back.

"Trixie!" shouted Twilight, clambering back to her hooves as the circle shrunk down even smaller. "Hurry! We have to try again!" Fire rolled over Twilight’s hooves, there was no longer enough room for her to be untouched by the waking world.

Trixie staggered back to her hooves, looking dazed. Behind Trixie, Twilight could see her four nightmare friends turning and charging towards them. Any moment they would reach Trixie and she would become a nightmare and all hope would be lost!

Trixie began to gallop as hard as she could, her path slightly erratic. Twilight thought that she would trip and fall again but she managed to stay upright. She was almost there when Rarity, ablaze with nightmare fire, charge past Twilight, headed right for Trixie.

The unicorn was surrounded on all sides. There were nightmares behind her as well as ahead, blocking her path. And all Twilight could do was watch helplessly.

Then, several things happened at once. In a flash of light, Trixie suddenly vanished. The nightmares collided in a tangle and with a pop, Trixie appeared right in front of Twilight, looking just as surprised as Twilight felt.

"But... I didn't..." said Trixie in astonishment.

"I did," said Nightmare Moon. Both Twilight and Trixie looked at the tall dark mare standing beside them in surprise. Luna had stepped out of the circle of light and become her true self once more. Parts of her body still flickered in and out of existence as though she wasn’t really solid. "A trick Twilight used against me the very first time we dueled." Twilight opened her mouth to ask why but Nightmare Moon cut her off. "Hurry, there is not much time, they are still coming!"

Sure enough the nightmares had regrouped and now five of them were bearing down on them. Trixie nodded and stepped forward.

Only a tiny golden circle was left. Flames burned all across Twilight’s body so that only her head and neck were left untouched. Once again Trixie put her horn against Twilight's.

"We can do this," said Twilight, feeling the fire crawling up her neck. "I know we can." Trixie closed her eyes. Sparks jumped between them. Twilight could feel the spell faltering, starting to fail again. She tensed, concentrating harder, trying to force the spell to work, yet this only seemed to make it worse.

The nightmares raced closer, their hooves outstretched, reaching for Trixie. The fire was at the base of Twilight’s head now. Their time was almost up and yet the spell still wouldn’t work!

Twilight, didn't understand. She didn't know why she couldn't multicast with Trixie when it was so easy to do it with... Her friend... In a moment of insight, Twilight finally realized what was missing, what multicasting really needed to work properly. It was not enough to just be compatible or to practice for years on end.

Friendship, multicasting also needed friendship!

"Trixie!" shouted Twilight, over the roar of the magical storm raging around their horns. "I want you to be my friend!"

"I..." said Trixie uncertainly. "I... I want to be your friend too!"

Suddenly, Twilight felt a very strange sensation take hold of her. It wasn't the same as multicasting with Rarity. It was different somehow. She couldn't explain it but it almost felt like making a new friend. A warmth, a happiness, that came from knowing there was another pony out there that you could rely on, that would help you and be there for you when you needed them.

The world seemed to slow down to a stop. The closing nightmares froze in mid air. Even the flames on Twilight’s body seemed to have become still, as if they had been turned to ice. Then the spell clicked and the storm of whirling magic became a focused multicast spell.

In one jolting instant motion returned to the world. A light as bright as the Sun erupted outwards, spilling across the room. For a moment everything turned into blinding white, then, slowly the brightness began to recede.

All of them now stood in Ponyville, but above them was the ceiling of the throne room in Canterlot, rather than the night sky. They existed evenly balanced between worlds.

Twilight and Trixie pulled apart. A thread of shimmering gold connected the two unicorns together. They were no longer maintaining the spell, yet its effects continued to linger in the room. The floor around Trixie's hooves was still stone, encircled in a golden ring of light, similar to the one that had kept Rarity, Luna and Twilight in reality.

Celestia however appeared to remain stone. Like Trixie the floor around Celestia’s hooves was of the castle, rather than Ponyville. It seemed that the spell didn’t have the power to change her back a second time. Twilight looked at her a little sadly, but Rarity drew her attention away.

"You did it!" cried Rarity, hurrying forward. "I've never seen anything like that before. It was amazing!"

"Why did you help us?" asked Twilight, turning to look at Luna. The dream had changed her back too. "I thought you wanted all of us to be your nightmare army."

"I never said that," answered Luna. "I just needed you and your friends to use your elements on me, something I knew you would not willingly agree to."

"You mean you didn't turn all these other ponies into nightmares?" asked Rarity. Luna shook her head.

"I was trapped here in Canterlot. Until you showed me the tunnel out I had no way to leave," explained Luna. "Although, I think I may have inadvertently been the cause. My desire to return to being Nightmare Moon was so strong that it began to spread to others."

"Like some kind of flu?" asked Spike.

“I guess that is a fair comparison," answered Luna.

"Okay," said Twilight. "So you made them nightmares by mistake, what about me and my friends? Can you change us back?" Luna shook her head.

"It doesn't work that way," said Luna. "I can’t simply change you back. The spell will end when it’s requirements are meet."

“And what requirements are those?” asked Rarity.

“When the Sun sets forever,” said Luna with a weak smile.

"Well, that's just great," said Trixie, rolling her eyes.

"So there is nothing we can do for them?" asked Spike. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to the four ponies stopped in their tracks behind them. Each pony’s eyes were dull, as though they were asleep. Upon each of their backs sat a rider.

"What's wrong with them?" asked Trixie, waving a hoof in front of Applejack's eyes. "Why are they just standing there?"

"I don't know," said Twilight with a shake of her head. "They were like that before, in the dream. I think I was like that too at one point."

"And me as well," reminded Rarity. "I thought it was Sweetie Belle on my back. But it was something else… something I can’t really describe." Rarity gave a shiver. “It gives me the chills just thinking about it.”

"They are controlled by fear," said Luna calmly. "Fears for those they care about. Fear for those they cannot protect. Fear for themselves. They have let their fear consume them."

"So how do we help them?" asked Spike.

"Twilight was able to just yank mine off my back," said Rarity. “Maybe you can do the same for the others?”

“A temporary solution,” said Luna. “For a while you can hide from your fear, or even deny it, but in the end, it will always catch up with you again.” Rarity glanced around uncertainly as though she expected Sweetie to pop out of the shadows some place and leap at her.

“But it can be done?” asked Twilight. Luna nodded slowly.

“Yes and no,” answered Luna.

“I hate when somepony says that,” mumbled Spike. “What’s so hard about just saying yes or no?” Luna’s glare found him but she continued addressing Twilight’s question.

"You can use your magic to help your friends escape their fears for a time," explained Luna. “However, those fears will not be gone. Removing them completely will prove... Difficult… maybe impossible, it is hard to say. Only by facing and overcoming your fear can you ever hope to regain control. However, for the moment a spell should be sufficient.”

“Okay,” answered Twilight with a nod. She tried to think back to when she had bucked not-Spike from her back. She tried to remember what it had felt like to yank not-Sweetie off Rarity. It had been so easy both times. Yet knowing what she was facing now seemed to somehow make it harder.

She turned to Fluttershy who was the closest. Of the fears, the bunny seemed to be the smallest, so perhaps he would be the easiest to remove.

“Here goes nothing,” whispered Twilight. Her horn began to glow as her spell took hold of Angel Bunny. Slowly Twilight began to lift the creature from Fluttershy’s back. It hissed and its tiny claws grabbed hold of her mane, keeping it in place. Twilight strained under the effort, yet the little monster would not let go.

“Perhaps two is better than one here,” said Rarity, stepping up beside Twilight. She placed her horn to Twilight’s and in an instant the fear, that took the shape of Angel Bunny, was almost completely pulled off.

Yet it would not let go. The thing still held tight to a single strand of Fluttershy’s mane, even though it was now suspended five hooves up in the air.

“Sometimes,” said Trixie. Twilight felt a third horn join the multicast. “Three is even better.” The moment Trixie joined them, the bunny instantly vanished into a puff of smoke without so much as a peep. With the fear removed Fluttershy gave a little shiver.

“Oh my, I was having the most terrible dream…” began Fluttershy. She was interrupted as the other fears suddenly abandon their ponies. Each little monster scampered off in a different direction.

“Don’t let them get away!” cried Spike. Twilight redirected their spell across the room. The beam of light turned towards the shadowy Scootaloo that had been on Rainbow’s back. The moment the spell made contact the fear exploded into dust. As it vanished Rainbow, like Fluttershy, seemed to come out of her trance.

“What the… what’s going on… where are we?” asked Rainbow looking around in a daze.

At the far end of the room the cake twins were making for a crack in the door. However, Rarity was able to guide the spell in a great sweeping motion to them before they could escape and they too were washed away. Pinkie gave a shiver and a twitch.

“Oh no!” exclaimed Pinkie in a sudden panic. “We’re falling out of the sky!”

“Last one!” grunted Twilight, as she swung the spell towards not-Applebloom. However, before the spell could wash it away, the fear leapt out the window and was gone. Yet, Applejack still seemed to return to her old self.

“Twilight?” asked Applejack in confusion as she looked around the room. “How the hay did we all get back here? The forest!” exclaimed Applejack suddenly. “What happened to the Apple forest!”

“Apple forest?” asked Pinkie in excitement. “You mean a forest made from apples?”

“No Pinkie I think…” interjected Twilight.

“That sounds totally and completely and fantastically and amazingly, awesome-ly!” exclaimed Pinkie.

“No Pinkie, it was a regular old forest,” said Applejack. “But you know, filled with giant apple trees… in the middle of a desert. But that ain’t the point! It was on fire and…”

“A giant flaming apple forest!” shouted Pinkie with delight, as though she had never heard of anything so incredible in her life. Applejack put a hoof to her face in frustration.

“Don’t worry AJ,” chimed in Spike. “After the nightmares took you they all just kinda left and the fires died out. They did a lot of damage but there is still a lot of forest left.” Applejack let out a sigh of relief. “I made my way back here as fast as I could but…” Spike looked up uncomfortably at the ceiling. “I don’t know if you guys have looked outside lately…”

“Why? What’s outside?” asked Rainbow Dash curiously.

“The Moon is falling out of the sky,” answered Trixie almost too calmly. The unicorn turned her eyes accusingly towards Luna. “She just tossed me aside like I was nothing when she came for us. Then she left me behind when she took Pinkie and Rarity with her.” Luna did not look away from Trixie’s gaze, nor did she dispute the claim.

“I couldn’t take the train back,” continued Trixie. “But traveling on my own I was able to teleport my way here. Every time I got a little closer to Canterlot, I notice that the Moon had become larger in the sky.”

As Trixie said it the ground gave an ominous rumble. The palace shook and dust streamed down from the ceiling. Fluttershy let out a squeak of terror and ducked behind Rainbow Dash.

“Now it fills the whole sky above us,” said Trixie, looking upwards at the ceiling as though she could see the Moon through it. “I don’t know how much longer we really have.”

They all stood silently for a long time. None of them really having any idea as to what they should do.

“Do you think…” began Spike at last, breaking the awkward quiet. “Do you think we could use the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight touched the crown upon her head, she had almost forgotten it was there.

“I don’t know,” said Twilight after a moment. “But I think it is worth a try.”

“The west tower has the best vantage point,” offered Luna. “If you wish to try, then we should go there.”

Author's Note

Hellos everyone, sorry for the long delay in this one. I've been traveling the past couple weeks and had limited access to both the internets and a computer on which to write (my tablet works okay but it's just not the same).

Anyhow, we should be back on track to the end (of which we are almost finally at) next chapter next Saturday Aug 31!

Chapter 27

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 27

It was very odd to walk down the halls of Canterlot. The magical window between the dream world and the waking one followed the group of ponies as they trotted through the castle. Twilight and Trixie seemed to be at the center of the spell, connected by a shining golden thread between their horns. The two stayed fairly close together, unsure what would happen if they got too far apart.

One of the odd sights caused by the gap in reality around them was that the group was half in Ponyville, or at least some dream facsimile of it, and half in Canterlot. Their hooves pattered against the dirt road upon which they walked while above them the white stone ceiling of the west hallway moved past.

There was still a visible golden boundary around them about neck high. It extended out a few dozen hooves in both directions, as the hallway’s walls didn’t permit it to be a complete circle. Yet, even this was not completely true. On the Ponyville side of the window, there were no walls and if Twilight lowered her head far enough she could see out into the nighttime of the dream world Ponyville.

As the group walked, the boundaries of the dream would wash over other ponies that had been turned to stone. For a brief instant the stone ponies would flicker back to life as they entered the dream. However, the momentary freedom into dreams did not last. After only a few moments they would change into some inanimate object inside the dream, such as a lamppost, or a tree, or, even one unlucky pony, a trash bin.

In short, it was all very strange.

“What are we going to do about all these poor ponies in Canterlot?” asked Fluttershy, unable to stop herself from being concerned for them. “How are we going to change them back?”

Twilight felt herself choke on the response in her throat. Changing them back hadn’t even entered her mind, not since they had first come to Canterlot so many days ago. There were more problems, bigger problems. If these ponies remained stone for what was to come, perhaps they would be better off.

“I’m sure Twilight will think of something,” said Applejack encouragingly. Twilight felt a little pang of guilt in hearing her friend’s confidence.

“Yeah,” answered Twilight automatically, before whispering, “Something…” so quietly that nopony heard her. “For now there isn’t anything we can do for them. We need to focus on the task ahead.”

The hallway ended in a large open courtyard, laid with intricate stonework around a large dry fountain and what had once been a lush garden, now turned to dry barren dirt. Above, the Moon filled the entire sky from edge to edge. It was enormous and extremely dark, not it’s usual bright white. It was even bigger now than the last time Twilight had seen it.

“We don’t have long,” said Luna, her horn glowing slightly. “If you are going to do something, you must do it soon.”

In the distance a column of lightning streaked down out of the sky. It was so bright that it actually lit up the dark surface of the moon. Then, a few moments later, a boom that made the very ground shake crashed into them.

“Woah, what was that!” cried Spike in alarm.

“Lightning,” shouted Twilight, the sound of the thunder still ringing in her ears. “But I’ve never seen such a powerful…” Another strike, just as bright cut Twilight off. The lightning bolts were coming from the Moon, streaking down through the atmosphere and smashing into the ground below.

“Come on!” shouted Rainbow Dash, her voice loud enough to be heard over the deafening noise. “Get to the tower!” She hovered in the air, pointing at the tall tower across the courtyard. The friends broke into a gallop, going as fast as they could while lightning flashed on every side of them every few seconds.

As the edge of the dream window touched the tower, the stone was transformed from stone to… bark? And that door… Twilight had to force herself not to come to a halt.

The moment they were all inside the tower, Spike shut the door behind them, then backed away from it in alarm.

“Twilight,” said Spike, pointing a claw at the door. “This… this is…”

“Ourlibrary,” said Twilight with a nod. She looked around. Above the golden line that split realities was a stone tower, with a winding stairway that led upwards. However, below it was the unmistakable carpet of the library tree in which Twilight and Spike lived back in Ponyville.

“How strange is that,” said Rainbow Dash, rubbing the carpet with her hoof. “It even feels real.”

“We need to keep moving, we aint got time to stand around admiring the carpet!” cried Applejack.

“Applejack is right!” said Twilight. “We need to get to the top!” Twilight signaled for them to go up the stairs.

The stairs in the real world didn’t seem to accurately accommodate the library however and they soon found themselves climbing an extremely elongated version of the staircase.

As they were nearing the top, the stairs changed from wood, to clouds. Twilight hardly gave it a second thought though. It was just a dream, it didn’t have to make sense.

Rainbow Dash opted to fly, rather than climb the stairs, however while she longed to race ahead, she couldn’t go beyond the dream boundaries without reverting to a nightmare once more.

Even inside the tower they could still hear, and feel, what seemed like explosions, one right after the other, with only a short pause between them. It was a stark contrast to the quiet night of Ponyville.

At last they finally reach the top of the tower, which in the dream world was actually a cloud. Twilight felt a terrible dread wash over her as she got her first good look out across Equestria. Hundreds of bolts of lightning were streaming down like rain all across the countryside. Great whirling tornados churned and spun, lifting dirt and trees and rocks into the air.

The wind at the top of the tower felt like a gale. The clouds around them creaked and moaned like they were made from wood instead of water vapor. Then, with an ear splitting crack that was heard by almost nopony, a large chunk of the cloud above them was ripped away. As it sailed out of the dream window it changed back into the roof of the tower.

“So, I guess this is it,” said Twilight, looking up into the Moon filled sky. “We have to stop this thing, here and now. We have to give it everything we’ve got because if we don’t…”

“We’ll all be pancakes!” cried Pinkie flailing her front legs in the air before toppling backwards.

“Uh, yes, that,” agreed Twilight.

“Are the elements really going to be enough?” asked Trixie.

“They are all we have, so they better be,” answered Rainbow.

“Are you ready girls?” asked Twilight. Uncertain nods but no words told Twilight they were willing to try, but none of them really believed it could be done. Except maybe Rainbow who looked like she might fly up to hold back the Moon herself if this didn’t work.

Twilight looked up towards the Moon that filled the sky. If nothing else, they would try. They would give it all they had. And if they failed, at least they would be together at the end.

The Elements of Harmony began to glow but even as they did, even as Twilight felt their power welling up inside her, she knew it wouldn’t be enough. Ribbons of multi-colored energy swirled around her, flowing to her from her friends.

The gem in the tiara atop Twilight’s head glowed with magic. There was a flash of brilliant white light as the elements harmonized with each other. A stream of dazzling rainbow magic erupted from Twilight’s element, speeding towards the Moon.

The torrent of energy crashed into the white surface, turning a small patch from white to rainbow, but only for the briefest of instants. Twilight felt the weight of the Moon press down upon her. Her hooves dug into the cloud beneath her, which cracked as though it was made of stone rather than water.

For a moment, it worked. Twilight could feel it. She could feel the whole planet shudder beneath her hooves as it stopped. The moment passed and the entire weight of the Moon pressed down upon the magic of the elements. The rainbow beam bent and fractured and broke. It shattered into a thousand glittering shards of light that tumbled out of the sky, before they were lost in the flashes of lightning. The power of the elements had failed.

“No,” whispered Twilight as the glow faded from her gem. She looked around desperately at the others as each elemental gem went dark one by one.

“It… it didn’t work…” said Rarity in surprise.

“What do we do now?” asked Fluttershy softly. No pony answered.

“Come on you guys!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “We can’t give up now! We have to try again!”

Twilight looked away, but could see that Rainbow seemed to be the only pony who couldn’t accept that they had failed. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, even Pinkie Pie all didn’t seem to hear Rainbow’s words. They all looked like they had given up hope and accepted the inevitable.

Luna’s eyes were fixed upon the Moon. Yet, she seemed to be the only one looking up at it. Everypony else was looking at their friends and Twilight couldn’t help but feel a sad little smile come to her face.

If this was it, if this was where they would meet their end, then Twilight was glad she was with her friends, all of them.

“All of them…” repeated Twilight out loud. Her eyes suddenly turned to look out over Equestria. “All of them!” she said again, even louder this time.

“All of what, sugarcube?” asked Applejack in confusion.

“Luna!” exclaimed Twilight suddenly. “How many nightmares are out there?” Luna looked taken off guard by the question, but answered all the same.

“I believe that at this point there would be few ponies who are not nightmares,” replied Luna. “Even those who stayed out of the Sun would be completely overcome with fear by now, given the current situation.”

“So, all of Equestria then?” asked Twilight. Luna nodded slowly. “Perfect.”

“How is that perfect!” cried Rainbow Dash in confusion.

“Can you give them orders,” asked Twilight, looking seriously at Luna. “All of them, from here, right now?” Luna nodded slowly again.

“Yes,” answered Luna. “Their fears control them and I control their fears. While their minds are within the æther I can reach them through their dreams. What is it you want them to do?”

“Multicast with us,” said Twilight with a smile. A long shocked moment of silence passed over her friends.

“That’s impossible!” exclaimed Trixie at last. “Every unicorn in all of Equestria! Multicasting with you? We could barely get it to work with two of us!”

“Not every unicorn,” said Twilight with a shake of her head. “Everypony.”

“Twilight, I think this whole ‘end of the world thing’ might have made you forget that only unicorns can cast spells,” pointed out Spike. But Twilight shook her head and continued to smile.

“No, I didn’t forget Spike,” answered Twilight. “Only unicorns can cast spells, but everypony has the power within them to help others. Our elements are proof of the strength within everypony.

“Luna,” said Twilight, turning away to face the great white sky. “Tell everypony to look up at the Moon and… push. With everything they have, with all the strength inside them that they can find.”

“Is this really going to work?” whispered Trixie to Applejack.

“If Twilight thinks we can do it then I believe in her,” answered Applejack.

Luna closed her eyes and midnight black energy streamed outwards across Equestria.

“It is done,” said Luna after a moment.

Twilight closed her eyes tightly, willing every ounce of strength she had into her horn. In the faintest reaches of her mind she could feel other threads of magic in the æther vibrating. Other unicorns were starting to cast as well, she could feel their spells.

Her horn flared with magic and a brilliant burst of energy erupted outwards. A single stream of purple light stretched out from Twilight towards the Moon. The light hit the white surface with a thunderous crash. Twilight let out a grunt of effort, her strain increased, but the beam held and the falling Moon seemed to slow.

“Twilight!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “You’re doing it! You’re doing it!”

“Woah,” said Spike. He was standing near the edge of the tower, looking out over the darkened Equestria below.

Far below them, the world seemed to glow with a hazy light, as if Equestria were covered in thousands of tiny glow bugs. Then, from one miniscule point off in the distance, a tiny line of blue-ish light raced up through the air, before softly reaching the Moon. The blue-ish line of light raced across the Moon’s surface before connecting to Twilight’s beam.

Then another line of light, green this time, began to reach up into the sky. And then another, and another, and still another. Then hundreds of them, thousands of them. From every direction, from every town.

“Unicorns,” whispered Fluttershy. “They’re all helping, every one of them.”

“Not just unicorns,” said Applejack. Twilight could only spare a partial glance behind her, but she could see that all of her friends were starting to glow. Swirling tendrils of mist danced through the air, making their way towards Twilight. The instant they connected with Twilight a swirl of rainbow light wrapped around her beam and raced up towards the Moon.

“I… I can feel it,” said Rainbow in surprise. “I can feel magic! And it is totally awesome!”

“So this is what it’s like to cast spells?” asked Applejack, lifting a glowing hoof. “It does feel kinda warm.”

“Oh yes, I like it very much,” added Fluttershy.

“You guys! You guys! Do you know what this means?” asked Pinkie excitedly. “This makes us honorary unicorns!” shouted Pinkie.

“Huh,” said Spike, examining his non-glowing scales. “I guess I don’t count?” An aura of pale blue magic wrapped around Spike and lifted him into the air before setting him down upon Rarity’s back.

“Oh, nonsense Spike,” said Rarity. “You can give me and Trixie a hoof.” Rarity gave Trixie a smile that seemed to catch her off guard.

“But… we can’t,” said Trixie uncertainly. “I mean, it’s never worked for us before, even after you said I was your friend.”

“What’s the harm in trying one more time,” answered Rarity, still smiling. Trixie opened her mouth to argue but closed it again and finally smiled. She moved up beside Rarity.

The air was oddly quiet, the lightning seemed to have stopped, as had the winds. The only sound came from the tingling of magic that made the sky hum. From every direction there were beams of light of all colors reaching up into the sky. Some were grouped together in large clusters, others were out on their own.

Trixie and Rarity’s horn’s touched. A second blast of light, mixed with swirling green, blazed up into the sky, joining the thousands that were already crisscrossing the surface of the Moon.

The Elements of Harmony flickered to life once more. As they did the hundreds of thousands of beams began to focus, to change. A rainbow ring stretched out around the Moon, completely encircling it.

The tower beneath their hooves trembled. The Moon was starting to move away, the rainbow light carrying it upwards into the sky.

“But I don’t understand,” said Luna, her horn glowing. “The Moon isn’t moving.”

“No,” answered Twilight. “The Moon was never the problem. We, we were the problem.” The Moon was shrinking rapidly back to its normal size in the sky. “Magic was the problem.” Luna gave Twilight a sideways glance, unsure what the unicorn meant.

At last a tiny ring of sunlight appeared behind the edge of the Moon. As it did, the elements of Harmony went dark. One by one the beams of magic from Equestria began to recede from the sky, withdrawing from the Moon until only Twilight’s initial spell remained.

Twilight opened her eyes and the magical energy coming from her horn evaporated into the air. The rainbow ring around the Moon remained, although it was very difficult to see against the Sun.

Then, the strangest thing happened. The eclipse ended and the Sun began to move across the sky.

Author's Note

Hey everyone! Welcome back! Glad you made for this (hopefully) exciting chapter! It was one of the first ones I wrote way, way, way back at the start (although its (like everything else) had more than a few revisions). At one point I considered doing a flash movie of it, but, well, my animation skills are... lets go with... terrible?

So, anyhow, I hope you enjoyed.

We are almost there, only one more main chapter to go! Like always (or at least most of the story) it will go up next Saturday September 7th!

Thanks again for reading! It's been a long strange journey to the top of the mountain and I want to thank you all for sticking with me through it all. Only a little further now.

Chapter 28

Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin

Chapter 28

The blazing golden disc of the Sun raced across the sky, as though it couldn’t wait to finally set. The eight friends and Luna stood atop the far west tower of Canterlot castle and watched the setting Sun in silence.

The magical window that let them exist in both dreams and the waking world remained in place. Through the gap in reality the top of the tower was a fluffy white cloud, with different parts of it either cracked or missing completely.

The sky overhead darkened rapidly, as if a second eclipse were taking place. Yet, the Moon was still high above them, the rainbow ring around it becoming more prominent as day faded into night.

From atop the tower, the friends could see nighttime at last roll across Equestria, painting the land below in a soft blanket of shadows.

Yet even as the Sun set in the real world, in the dream world the Sun was just starting to rise. The white cloud beneath their hooves changed color, becoming a light pink. Although this went unnoticed by most, as they were transfixed with the rapid sunset of reality.

The edge of the sky in the real world turned orange, then red, before settling into a darkening purple and at last, a deep blue. Finally, the Sun vanished behind the rim of the world and only the Moon shone bright overhead, with the faint stars only now starting to twinkle into existence above.

“I don’t believe it,” whispered Luna in awe. “How… how did you… what did you…?”

“We restored balance,” answered Twilight, still watching the lingering edge of the Sun. “The elements alone weren’t enough to move the world, but all of the ponies, their strength, their courage and their magic was. They just needed somepony to guide them and the elements let me bring harmony to the chaos of their multicast.”

“So it’s all over then?” whispered Spike.

“No,” said Twilight, turning to look at Luna. “Not yet. Not everything. We still need to see if the nightmare magic is really gone, now that the Sun has set.”

“I can do it,” said Rainbow with a confident smile. “Just be ready to zap me or something if I turn all mean and screechy again.”

“On it!” shouted Pinkie. She leapt over to Twilight and lifted the unicorn up like she was some sort of pony canon.

“Pinkie, we talked about this,” said Twilight, sounding a little embarrassed.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been working on my aim,” answered Pinkie as she sighted Rainbow Dash down Twilight’s horn.

“Just... just go,” sighed Twilight as Pinkie pointed her at Rainbow, ready to unleash a barrage of magic if the pegasus so much as smoldered even a little.

Rainbow trotted to the edge of the cloud-tower-dream-thingy and pushed a hoof through the golden barrier that separated the worlds. Her hoof remained exactly as it was. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she jumped of the edge. Her wings hummed and there was a slight shimmer of light as she passed through the boundary, but otherwise nothing remarkable happened and she remained her normal self.

“Okay Pinkie, you can put me down now,” said Twilight, struggling to be back on her hooves, instead of pointed at somepony. “I think we should be okay to get rid of this thing now,” said Twilight waving a hoof at the magical window in the dream world. “Although, I’m not really sure how we…”

Luna’s hoof suddenly rushed through the air between Twilight and Trixie. For an instant there was a glimmer of a golden thread that Twilight had almost completely forgotten about. The thread stretched then snapped. All Twilight felt was a slight tug on something that was not her body and then the sensation was gone.

In an instant the clouds around their evaporated and the dreamland Ponyville went with it. The friends all stood upon the top of the stone tower which looked like it had seen much better days.

All of them had returned to normal. All of them except Luna. As the dream world evaporated into the night, so did she. And it was Nightmare Moon who stood before them once more, although something about her appearance was slightly off.

Rainbow Dash rushed back to stand with her friends as they looked at Nightmare Moon with fearful, yet defiant eyes.

“Have all the nightmares been returned to normal?” asked Twilight, her eyes locked on the tall dark pony standing before her.

“Yes,” answered Nightmare Moon. “The curse upon them ended with the setting of the Sun.

“So,” continued Nightmare Moon. “What will you do with me now now? Send me back to the Moon perhaps? Or would you prefer me as Luna? Or maybe, you want another statue for my sister’s garden?”

“No,” answered Twilight. “Right now, I think we need your help.”

“With, what?” asked Nightmare Moon, sounding genuinely surprised by the request.

“With… your Sister,” answered Twilight.

The walk back to the throne room was short and silent. The many statues of frozen ponies that lined the halls stared blankly at the group as they trotted past. The feeling of being watched by statues was still uncomfortable, but hopefully they shouldn’t need to endure it much longer.

Celestia stood right where the group had left her. The cold, unsettling feeling that had lingered in the air in the throne room from the damaged æther was gone or at the very least so minor none of them could feel it anymore.

“So what exactly do you expect me to do?” asked Nightmare Moon, standing at the door but unwilling to get any closer.

“I want you to change her, and all of Canterlot back,” answered Twilight. Her voice was strangely quiet. She was not demanding, or accusing, she was simply asking. The tone seemed to be unexpected.

“Why do you think I would do that?” asked Nightmare Moon. “Why would I bring my sister back for her to imprison me once more or send me away?”

“Not just your sister,” corrected Twilight, “all of Canterlot.” Nightmare Moon searched Twilight’s face for some hint of deception or trickery, yet there was none to be found.

“You have the elements,” said Nightmare Moon at last. “You can bring everypony back.”

“Maybe,” answered Twilight. “But I’m asking you to do this.” There was a long moment of silence in which the two ponies simply looked at each other.

“Fine,” answered Nightmare Moon at last. “I will break the curse upon them.” She moved to Celestia’s side and placed her horn against her sister’s stone one. Dark, swirling magic began to curl its way around the statue before jumping outwards to the other ponies around the room.

Then the magic leapt out the door and down the hallway, jumping from one statue to the next until the magic was out of sight.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes flared with black magic and she let out a shout that almost sounded like a nightmare screech. Then the magic pulled back into her and she took a staggered step back. Yet Celestia still remained stone.

“It didn’t…” began Applejack, but as she started to speak, there was a cracking sound. The stone skin began to tumble off the guards around the room, revealing the ponies underneath. As the stone bits hit the floor they turned to dust.

The guards looked around confused. From their perspective it must have been as if a huge group of ponies had suddenly appeared in the throne room.

“Nightmare Moon!” shouted one of the guards. “Advance, surround her!”

“What has she done to the Princess!” shouted another guard.

Nightmare Moon began to back away, suddenly looking panicked as the guards advanced on her.

“Stop!” commanded a voice that made the whole room still, like it had turned them to stone. In the center of the room, the stone shell was falling away from Celestia. Her horn glowed with magic so bright that no pony, except for Nightmare Moon, cast any shadows. “So, sister, this is what you have chosen,” said Celestia, it was not a question.

“It is,” answered Nightmare Moon simply.

“I see,” replied Celestia impassively.

“Princes! Wait,” cried Twilight rushing forward. Celestia turned to look at her student and her expression softened somewhat. “She isn’t how she used to be! She helped us, she even brought you back!”

“Did you?” asked Celestia turning towards her sister. Nightmare Moon looked away. “So what is it you desire now, my sister? Do you still wish to bring eternal darkness now that you have witnessed eternal day? Do you still want to rule over Equestria and make its citizens into your army?”

“I… no,” said Nightmare Moon after a moment. “But I can’t pretend things are how they once were either. I’m not Luna anymore. I haven’t really been her for a long time now.”

“No, you haven’t,” agreed Celestia a little sadly. “I was foolish to want it to be so. I knew it was not Luna the elements returned to me but just an echo of her. You can never again be the little sister I remembered so fondly.

“But that does not have to be a bad thing, for even we grow and change, in our own way. I can long for the past, but forcing it into existence can only bring you hardship.

“And yet,” continued Celestia as she looked over her dark sister. “Nor are you Nightmare Moon either. You are somepony new, somepony different and we cannot simply hide you away.”

As Celestia said it, Twilight could see there was indeed something different about the pony standing before them. Her eyes were different somehow, more silvery. Her mane was filled with stars but Twilight was sure she could see what looked like shooting stars racing through it every now and then.

While the pony retained her dark black coat, there was something of a soft silver shine to it. And most different of all was her cutie mark, which had once been a crescent moon yet now seemed to be only a dark circle on her flank. Twilight didn’t know how long the change had been there but she was sure the Princess had looked like that atop the tower.

“Beg’in your pardon your highnesses but, we still have a major problem on our hooves,” interrupted Applejack. “Our crops have been completely destroyed, our food store whittled down to almost nothing. It will take months before we can grow anything and then there is winter to think about too. Aint no way we’ll have enough food by then.”

“Well, we still have that apple forest,” reminded Spike. “What’s left of it anyhow.”

“Maybe, but I aint sure that will be enough,” said Applejack. “We got a whole darn country to feed.”

“Well what about Hoofington?” asked Pinkie.

“What about them?” replied Applejack in confusion. “Their crops are in just as poor a-shape as Ponyville’s, worse even on account of most of them being burned up in that firestorm.”

“No silly,” answered Pinkie rolling her eyes. “Hoofington has lots and lots of food. Long Star said so.” Applejack looked completely confused.

“You don’t mean that foul tasting moss!” exclaimed Rarity in horror.

“Actually, I didn’t think it was so bad,” added Fluttershy quietly.

“Yeah, Long Star said the caves are full of it and that the caves go on and on forever!” cried Pinkie in more excitement than anypony had ever before expressed when talking about moss in caves.

“It might be viable,” agreed Twilight thoughtfully. “We just have to transport it somehow.”

“That can easily be arranged,” said Celestia. She turned her attention to one of her guards. “Prepare an envoy to be sent to Hoofington, as many as are able. This is of the utmost urgency.” The guard nodded before departing.

“But what about all the others stuff!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “What about the crops and weather and the animals and what about Cloudsdale!”

“Equestria will recover in time,” answered Celestia calmly. “Some things will heal on their own, others we must work hard to mend ourselves.” She looked towards her sister. “For the moment, I believe that all of you have earned a rest.

“As for you sister,” continued Celestia, her attention returning to the dark mare who stood listening to the conversation, but had thus far said little. “It seems that you too have been mended, that much of the anger and hate and fear that was within you is gone.

“I believe you have changed my sister. You no longer possess the anger of Nightmare Moon nor the insecurities of Luna,” said Celestia. “I believe you should have a new name. One that reflects your new strength. What do you think of Selenia?”

“I… I like it,” answered the dark princess. “I like it a lot better than the last name I chose for myself…” Celestia smiled.

“Tell me sister,” asked Celestia. “Will you still stand by my side and protect Equestria? Will you raise the Moon at night and make way for the dawn in the morning? Will you rule with a just hoof and work for the betterment of all ponykind?”

“I will,” answered Selenia at last. She turned to look back at Twilight, who smiled warmly at her. “I will guard this world and its dreams for all of my days, and all of my nights. Let us keep the balance and share the sky so that neither endless day nor eternal night shall ever threaten our world again.”

END

Author's Note

Well dear readers we have at last reached the end of this extremely long journey. I hope it was an adventurer worth taking and that you enjoyed it. I worked really hard on it and it's been a crazy 11 month long ride for me. (and around 700~ish hours of work, that's more time than I've spent in Skyrim!)

There was actually a fair bit more content that didn't make it into the final cut. My original chapter count comes to 47. That's not to say we are missing 19 chapters, some of that got rolled into other chapters in one form or another. But I did end up cutting out a fair bit so that we could finally get to the end. So the battle with Trogdor will just have to wait for another story.

Just as most stories go, things changed along the way. In the original draft (the one I prepare before I start posting) the story didn't include Spike at all beyond the first few chapters. Yet, I was asked to add him and I agreed that his presence would make the story better. And it did! (or at least I think it did).

I know some readers may not like the ending for whatever reason (and despite previous, uh, story reactions, this is it and it won't change (save for typo corrections or perhaps better clarity)), but this story is more about the journey. Not to say the ending isn't important to me, it's just not the most important thing.

This is a type of story I have never really tried before (and by far the longest amount of time I have spent posting new chapters (not my longest story mind you, just the longest time I spent working on it)). I think it came out okay (having now re-read it several dozen times I've kind of lost perspective), could it have been better? Yeah, but I think everything I write could always be better than it is. Could it have been shorter, yes... yes it could have been.

Anyhow, that's all for now. I have an epilogue for this, but I don't think it's needed so, story complete.

Now I'm off to work on other things and stories and such.

Thank you all again for taking this journey with me. It has been an amazing experience reading all your comments and hearing your insight. The story is always fun, but it's the community that makes it worth doing.