Chapter 4: It begins.......

As her memories came back and she lie in a similar way as she had over the course of a couple days. The light that was powered by a generator above her had become the most familiar icon of being awake. It was symbiotic of being aware. Today was different though, her thoughts lingering on the fact. Nopony was around and she had control of her faculties. She lifted one shaky hoof after another onto the wooden floor. Instantly regretting the decision and making sure not to fall on her face.

The edges of her vision were filled with stars, acompanying the feeling of dizzyness. She balanced on the bed and her hooves, using it as a brace to edge closer to the door. As Twilight got closer she could feel the sensation dissipating, replaced with a mild sense of confusion. But before she could reach the door, a slight click and movement opened it. Revealing a pleased guard, Crimson, to be exact.

"Somepony's on their feet I see." He said in an elder's gruff voice.

"How....long?" She asked, even this simple question being hard to verbalize.

"Three days. The princess kept you under a sleep spell."

It didn't feel like three days though. She kept this thought to herself. In reality it had felt like an eternity, leaving her to mull over her thoughts and be left in a perpetual state of boredom.

"It's good you're awake though, I was about to wake you up myself soon. We need to get into your training..." He said as he began leading her slowly down the hall.

"Training?"

"Yes. We can't have another incident like that every time we get into combat." He said with authority. His royal blue armor clanking in the silence. Crimson even seemed as though he were ready to say something else but kept it to himself.

I wonder what they have in mind? Her curiosity getting the better of her as she stepped into the bright rays of sunlight streaming in her eyes. She had been in what appeared to be the equivalent of an infirmary. Her question wouldn't go long unanswered as she could see that the usually hyperactive training field, which she now realized must be the only equivalent to fun that they had, was barren. The rigors of practice taking their minds off of the inevitable boredom almost unoccupied.

There in the center of the field lay dummies lined up, Crimson nodded his head at her questioning gaze. On the opposite length of the grassy expanse, Luna and NightSear trotted in conversation. Soon the two groups came to a stop in front of the the thirty faux ponies.

"It's good to see you're awake, Miss Sparkle." NightSear whispered lightly. The title irked Twilight, it seemed she couldn't help but to correct him.

"It's Twilight!" Came the ferocious whisper, then she added "Why are we whispering?"

NightSear only grinned and turned back to the princess who had taken the lead and was standing with her back towards the targets, facing the three gathered subjects.

She cleared her throat and addressed them, "Twilight, from now on, you are to take lessons in sword combat, self defense, and magic. The armed combat will take place with Crimson. The unarmed, with NightSear. And magic, with me. Do you have any questions?"

"When do I start?" Twilight offered, which elicited a smile from the Princess.

"Now."

Crimson stepped forward and presented his hoof blades, the tip glinting with a brilliance that belied it's purpose. NightSear tapped Twilight on the shoulder an offered his sword, which was held in his mouth. She enveloped it in magic, feeling the weight, finding it surprisingly heavier than she would have assumed a sword would weigh. Though she had seen them, never this close.

"Are you prepared, Miss Sparkle?" He said, the princess and NightSear standing off to the side. The stallion of the two had trouble hiding his grin.

Before Twilight could respond properly, he lunged methodically. Clearly pulling his slash, but even so, it was still to quick to stop it's arc. She had only had time to raise the sword to her shoulder before the point of Crimson's own weapon lay against her neck. Now NightSear was laughing under his breath, and even Luna had a gleam in her eye.

"Again!" He yelled. Before beginning another assault.

This time instead of thrusting, he stepped to the side in a wide sweeping motion. Meaning that Twilight was open to her right and her sword clearly blocking her front, he wasted no time finishing the step with a twirl, flourishing the blade against the back of her head. But instead of finishing the complicated move, he connected with the flat of his blade. Her head exploded in flashes of white as she was thrown forward with the momentum.

"Ow!" She exclaimed as she attempted to pick herself up.

Crimson seemed satisfied, and he allowed NightSear to take his turn in front of the mare. The purple unicorn had little time to let the pain fade to a dull throb before NightSear offered his hoof. After picking her up he kicked the blade away, and the two took opposing stances. Twilight had no idea how to hold herself, so she mimicked NightSear's posture. Relaxed and loose.

"Are you prepared, Mis- I mean, Twilight?" He said, allowing his friendly smile through.

"I guess...." She said, partly expecting him to attack without her comment.

He then calmly trotted up and threw a hoof into the mare's face. The swiftness of the attack threw her off, her cheek smarting after the blow. He didn't show any emotion, just the same smile, except now she could tell that there was a glint in his eyes. Twilight barely had time to react before he issued a short burst of speed, slamming into her hard enough to knock her to the ground. NightSear then offered a hoof to the downed mare.

"Need help?" He said.

"Yeah sure, I also need to be hit in the face." She spat, letting her anger show, she hadn't been hit hard. Hell, Crimson had struck her harder. But the fact that he was still so...relaxed, made the mare want to do the same thing to him.

Without taking the hoof she scooped the sword off of the ground a couple meters away with magic. The unicorn then made a wild slash towards his face, which wasn't there anymore. He had easily ducked away from the lethal weapon, and even had the audacity to smile afterwards. He tsked his mouth, and Crimson looked as though he was about to step in. Luna had adopted a grimace, matching the lavender mare's own visage.

"If you wanted to use a sword, you could've said so. You're getting waaaay too angry." He said as he closed the distance, smacking the levitating sword so hard that it flew off, planting itself in the ground. "And anger, clouds you're judgment." He said as he lifted the mare with his hooves around her neck, using his wings to pull them off of the ground. "And if you're judment is clouded, you can't make the right decisions. Understand?"

Twilight was barely able to nod as she could feel her pulse through her neck, she was impressed by the sheer amount of strength that it would take to do something like this.

How is he this strong? Guess I misjudged him, then again...Why would he be in the NightWatch if he wasn't good at this? She thought, feeling herself being lowered to the ground.

As soon as NightSear let go, she began gasping for breath. He offered another of his friendly grins, and she could feel herself start to hate it. Luna stepped out from the sidelines and declared that they would be taking a break to eat and rest. More for Twilight's benefit than theirs. She called the purple unicorn over and they began to eat some sandwiches that were provided them by an errand colt. The two soldiers retired to the mess hall, talking at length as they went. Probably about how they planned to train the mare.

"That was a foalish thing to do." Luna said as she finished hers, content to sit back and watch Twilight chew ravenously, it had been days since she had had a sufficient meal. The sun was now high above, washing away any shadows lingering amongst the buildings. Twilight reached for another, talking between bites.

"What?" Twilight asked knowing full well what she meant.

"Attacking NightSear like that. I know he has that quality, but if he had choose to......" She didn't bother to finish the sentence, allowing it to trail into silence.

"It's just....his smile....It was, like...Like he was..." She began not knowing what to say exactly.

"Mocking you?" The lunar princess said as she plucked it out of her head.

Twilight only nodded, and Luna understood. She had never personally seen her guardsman mock anyone. But the way he carried himself, the way he had a carefree demeanor did tend to chafe on those not used to his nature. Soon the two were left in a perpetual state of avoiding conversation, looking at the surroundings.

The purple unicorn finished not too long after and couldn't help but feel her mind begin to think about the night Luna kissed her, the sheer oddness of it. Why had the princess done what she did?

Was it a dream? Twilight thought with a bit of fear welling in her chest. There was only one way to find out...

"...Luna?" The mare said with a dash of hesitation, attempting to lace her words in what she hoped was sexiness.

"Yes?"

Twilight leaned closer, looking into those teal eyes she adored. And for a moment it looked as though the lunar princess was going to move forward as well.

Until...."Twilight, what are you doing?" The words seemed to echo in the back of her skull. Making her heart beat so fast that she was sure that every pony for miles around could hear. No sound came to her mouth as she disquised the pass as an attempt to look around the alicorn.

"Oh...I, uh.... Thought I saw....somepony...that....I knew? Yeah, somepony I knew." She said as she sat back on her haunches to a very unamused princess. There was no way she bought the lie. But at that moment the two ever present guards, NightSear and Crimson, came into view.

"Are you ready to do your portion of the training, princess?" Crimson questioned.

"...Yes...Of course. Twilight, follow me." She said as she took one last look at the unicorn before turning to the dummies and taking position. Once both ponies were in front of the dummies, holding both nervous frowns and determined expressions; Luna broke the silence. "We cannot practice the spells I am going to teach you on each other, considering the deadly nature of them. Under normal circumstances, these have been kept secret among the upper echilons of the magical society. And if done incorrectly could result in severe injury or death."

Twilight felt the apprehension in her gut.

"Are you ready?"

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The cyan blur raced through the clouds in a speed that would rival that of two wonderbolts combined. The matter that whipped past her becoming less than smears of inconsistent ramblings on a painter's canvas. Her contrail adding the perfect touch of color to a now unimportant landscape.

There in the distance lay Twilight's house, and she was racing towards it at speeds twice as fast as she had ever traveled in the past. Not even five minutes ago the athletic pegasus known as Rainbow Dash had recieved news that Spike had woken up to find Twilight missing. She was nowhere to be found, none of her favourite stores for supplies. Not even down at the lake. Rainbow had checked personally.

Off to the East, she could see dust being kicked up by an approaching posse of four. Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were all inbound. The mare made a slight adjustment to her flight path and intercepted the ponies, landing lightly in front of them.

"Did you guys hear?!" She said, her voice cracking like a brittle leaf in the Autumn, even more so in her state of panic.

"We sure did, sugarcube. Do ya know where she mighta left off to?"

"I-I don't know! She was....I mean...last I saw her...was with Fluttershy..." The magenta eyes darted everywhere but into the searching green ones.

"But didn't you soar back over there just yesterday, darling? While I was attending the stand, I mean." Rarity intruded, making the pegasus even more nervous.

"Well, yeah....But...nopony answered the door. She just......didn't open it." Rainbow offered with what she hoped was a genuine smile.

"Then why are ya actin' so strange, Dash?" The farm pony queried.

The streamlined mare noticed that she had come off of the ground and was now hovering with her wings prepped for a quick liftoff. She slowly edged back into the ground, and tried to come up with an appeasing answer, but only managed to choke on her thoughts.

"Me and her......weren't....." She let the sentence hang, but the other four understood. Considering Applejack had been around the mare when she had blown them off the first time.

"It's okay, sugarcube."

In the background there was a yellow pegasus trying to get everypony's attention. The pink mane and yellow coat hovering about as she was speaking softly.

"Umm, girls....? If, you would just listen.......for a moment.....I could tell you that....Um, Trixie...saw Twilight heading out of town.....just last night.....and we could find her....."

Spike had walked in on the situation, all of her friends too tied up to notice her soft-spoken nature. He overheard what she was trying to convey and spoke up for the pegasus. "I think Trixie may have seen Twilight leaving town last night, everypony!"

All sounds quieted as they intently focused on Spike, who promptly directed attention to the yellow mare. Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity all egged her on to tell them what she knew.

"Er, well....Last night when Trixie was helping me care for some of the animals... She made a comment on the strange group of ponies heading South...Maybe South-East....."

"How does that help, exactly?" Piped up a till now silent Pinkie Pie, which was completely uncharacteristic of her.

"Well, one...one of the ponies was being ridden....By a unicorn......With pink in her mane....... I didn't think about it that much at first, but when I was told Twilight was missing, I thought maybe.... She was ponynapped!!!" The mare let slip with her iris's closing to pinpoints in fear.

Similar reactions echoed in her friend's faces as they thought over the implications. But the first to do anything was Rainbow. She took to the sky, heading in the exact direction that Twilight should have. Only to be tugged down by a blue overglow, wrapping her tail in it's ethereal grasp.

"Rainbow DASH! Whatever are you doing?" Rarity asked, putting emphasis on her name to show her disapproval.

"WE'VE GOT TO SAVE TWILIGHT!!!!" Rainbow yelled, every fiber of her being twitching with loyalty.

"And where is she then? What do you know about the ponies who "ponynapped" her? Was she even ponynapped? Remember, now, that she had recieved a letter from the princess. And it said that she would be doing something for all of Equestria...." The prim mare explained in a thoughtful manner.

The gears in Rainbow's head were beginning to turn, but she didn't want that right now. At this point she didn't even care how Rarity had figured out about the first letter. All she wanted, was to find her friend. The adrenaline that was pumping through her veins added to a flustered pegasus. Until she looked out across the other ponies gathered, all of them just as concerned as she was, and all even more concerned for her rash actions. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

"Alright. I'm listening. And how did you know about the letter exactly?"

All of the ponies gathered untensed with relief, clearly happy that she wasn't going to go off on her own. The athletic mare realized that they were just as afraid to lose her as they were to have "lost" Twilight.

"Spike, darling. He had seen the the letter, and had given us the 'rundown' as it were." Rarity explained.

The apple pony stepped in saying,"Okay, then. We're gonna need a plan....."

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As Twilight plopped onto the bed, she couldn't help but feel her sore muscles and weary eyes rest. But even behind her closed eyes she could recall the events of the day. As it was the last day in the peace of the encampment, her teachers had decided to drill her constantly with little respite. All in the name of helping her later on down the line.

The spells were the easy part. The sworplay the hardest. The close combat, dreary. In the end, she could say she had learned how to parry a thrust, jump out of the way of an attack, and how to blow a stuffed dummy to pieces from the inside..... And there were even more techniques she was positive she would never get the hang of. For example, use an opponent's weight against them, or how to gather large amounts of magic into a sphere and then use it as a kinetic displacement shockwave.

These thoughts, however, were compounded by the fact that Luna had shown none of the emotions she had exhibited that night. And so effectively Twilight had been convinced, she began to think it was all just a fanciful dream...

Uhhhhgg, I really don't need the extra worry. "Oh no, what am I gonna do? Luna may possibly not have any interest in a bookworm! But what about the rest of Equestria that lies in you learning all that you can from her? No, silly! I'm to worried about if a princess likes me!"

The mock conversation in her mind left a bitter taste in her mouth, as though she had been saying the whole thing. Then as a head peeked in, reavealing a tentative Luna, she realized that she had been shouting it.

"Um, are you alright?" She said, letting her mane slip past the door. Her face a mask of concern.

"Uh...Yeah! Sorry if I interuppted anything! I just, uh, had alot on my mind...." Twilight replied, knowing that her sentence was hollow and unconvincing.

I really need to get better at lying... The mare put as a sidenote to her thoughts.

Luna let slip a questioning gaze, then decided to step into the door. Twilight's eyes couldn't help but follow from the princesses's eyes, all the way down to her flank. The way her mane revealed a swirling and endless night was breathtaking as always, which seemed to be complimented by the glow of moonlight through her curtains. All of Luna's adornments and other royal attire were absent, lending the look of an average pony. Despite the mane, the horn, and wings. Her cutie mark was now the center of Twilight's attention as the mare walked to lay on the bed.

Never had she thought to look at it for more than a passing second. But now, as she looked closer, she could see it was encircled in what appeared to be a midnight birthmark of sorts, adding a backdrop like a painter's canvas on a mesmerizing, perfect crescent moon shape. After what seemed like ages, she was meet by the beautiful alicorn. And, despite her muscles protest, she moved out of the way to allow her room on the small bed.

"I'm sorry about earlier....." Came a whisper from her blue lips.

At first Twilight was stunned, When was the last time a princess was sorry for something?

Then she said, "What are you sorry for?"

"For blowing you off, I....can't let...ponies...see...." The princess started.

"Why?"

"Well, if my subjects knew...." Yet again the princess was interuppted.

"NO, why me?" Twilight felt her fears in that sentence. She had closed her eyes now, trying to ward off any evil by facing it blind, she expected something entirely different than what she got.

"I....don't know." Luna's voice was so sensitive, and sincere, that Twilight couldn't possibly ignore the obvious plea.

She opened her eyes to find another set looking intently at her. Except the princess's were coated with a layer of tears. They flowed silently, and dripped quickly to the bed. Her heart was feeling as though it were being torn. One of the all powerful rulers of Equestria, here in front of her, crying. And she could do nothing, not a comforting hoof, not a well spoken word, there were no books on this subject. The purple mage couldn't help but feel as though she were the cause of her pain.

"Luna...I....." She began. Only to be stopped with a quick hoof wave by the princess as she got up from the bed.

"No, Twilight. It's not your fault, I just need to....get my head together." She said as she passed through the door frame. Her dark silhouette blending into the blackness of the hallway. She heard the door to the princess's room click shut, leaving the unicorn to contemplate silently on her own.

Eventually Twilight looked over through the curtains, it had to be at least five in the morning now. How long had she lie there? It didn't seem to matter as she drifted into the realm of nevermore.

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Rainbow looked one last time over her saddlebags, not expecting anything to be out of place. She had prepared herself carefully, after they had come up with a plan the night before. "They" being Spike, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and herself. A day had passed since Twilight had been gone, and Rainbow refused to wait any longer.

With the help of a few of Twilight's maps, and aided by knowing the direction they were headed, the six of them had decided that they had to be in any one of five places. Either the cities Hoofston, Little Trottingham, and the ruins of old Manehattan. Or the two military bases near the border to Romanea. The cities were relatively small in population, aside from Little Trottingham, which had nearly ten thousand ponies within it's borders.

And the bases....the bases were last resort. They hoped that they were just headed to one of the centers of population, than some out-of-the-way military compound. Also it had been decided, since Rainbow was the fastest, that she would be carrying out this mission alone. Much to the dislike of the other ponies present, even if it did make sense.

Right now they were standing around her, the midday sun looming overhead. Lending some semblence of normalcy to an otherwise sad day. Nopony wanted to talk, and they had done all that they could to aid her. Rarity providing blankets, Fluttershy giving her provisions for a couple days, and Pinkie handing over a couple uninflated ballons.

Though Rainbow had no idea what to say about the last part, but the mare just said "It's so you won't forget me, Dashie." Not looking like the hyperactive pony she had grown to be accustomed to.

The solemness of the moment strangled any words that might have been said, shriveling under the sun's glare. So without a word, she took off. Not looking back, for fear of breaking down and turning around. And looking back now.....she wished she had told them how much she cared for each and everyone of them. For she knew that if she ever found the mare, that she would be plunged into something bigger than she could ever imagine.

Was I right, to not tell them about her second letter? I mean...I didn't know what was in it either... So there was no point...... Oh, Twilight...... Please be okay..... The streamlined mare thought to herself, seeing the last of Ponyville disappear from under her.

She remembered the layout of the map, and began to head to the closest landmark, Little Trottingham.

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As the mare stepped into the dusty air, she heaved a heartfelt sigh. Nopony she had talked to had seen anypony close to her description, especially the part of the pony riding another. Night had descended upon Little Trottingham, giving the air a brisk chill. Nopony seemed to notice, however, and went about their business. She had checked every shop that she could, making sure to ask the places that got the most patronage first.

Now she couldn't think of any where else to go, so she decided to stop in front of what appeared to be a rundown motel. The neon sign showing a hoof being slammed into a door, aptly named "The Broken Hoof". As Rainbow entered, she could hear the roar of ponies laughing and enjoying themselves. Accompanied by the staggering drunks, all seeming to be in sync with the raucous laughter.

One such stallion came by and slapped her on the ass, saying "H~ey, babeh! You wanna...wanna have a-good-time?" in a melodic mockery of singing.

At first the pegasus was surprised by this assault of booze stained breath and presumptuous behavior, then she couldn't hide her anger. "Get the BUCK away from me!" She yelled, lifting herself to the eye level height of the tall stallion. Giving him a look that Fluttershy's would be hard-pressed to beat.

"YO! Bronze! Get your drunk ass away from my customer! Or I'll throw you outta here so fast, your head'll be spinnin'!" Yelled what appeared to be the innkeeper/bartender. He was a dark black unicorn stallion, and had yellow eyes.

Dash slowly and cautiously walked up to the confident owner. He threw her a winning smile, and asked "What can I get'cha, hun'?"

"I need a room, one night. I have the bits..." She said as she fished through her bags with her mouth, coming up on a pouch of bits tucked under one of the blankets.

"For a pretty young thing like you? Nah, you can have a night on me! On one condition though." He added, then adopted a serious face. "If you'll have a couple a' drinks too!" He bursted with laughter in his eyes, and a smile on his face.

Dash couldn't help but grin at his demeanor, he just seemed so friendly. "Sure, I guess I can have one or two..."

After Rainbow's fourth bottle of Canterlot Ale, she couldn't feel anything but pure warmth and happiness. She began to joke back and forth with bartender as he tended to the other customers. The mare quickly becoming more and more like the other drunken bastards milling about. The fireplace near the corner across from the bar was where the tables lay, with food coming from the kitchen which added a thick aroma to coat the cozy room.

"And thas, thas when I said to 'em tha' I wahs Rainbow DASH, not, not CRASH!" She said laughing at her own joke. The bartender went along with it, until the mare reached for yet another bottle. He quickly slid it out of the way with his magic, much to the dismay of the pegasus. "Whadja do tha' for?" She exclaimed.

"As much as I love your company, I can't letcha keep drinkin' like that. Against my policy, ya see?" He said as he puffed out his chest a bit.

"I thou-thought, yer policy wahs, to drink let mares like me?" She said in an uncomprehendable sentence.

"Yeah, you're to drunk. Let's getcha to bed, I feel bad for ya in th' mornin'." He said as he levitated the protesting drunk turned hostile. She squirmed and wiggled, making him smile as she found no results.

He went up the stairs and unlocked a door at the end of the hall, away from prying eyes and ears. Nopony would miss him if he were gone, and the pony he was carrying was now a lifeless body, slumped into itself in the visage of sleep. She had tuckered herself out trying to fight him. If he wanted he could have her to himself in the room without anypony noticing..........

But as he laid the peaceful pegasus upon the bed, he shook his head, and berated himself from having those thoughts. He removed her saddlebags and set them down near the nightstand. Then he gently closed the curtains, and left silently. Turning off all the lights as he left the one pony bedroom. Going back down the hall to deal with the rest of his guests in the shadow of midnight.

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As Rainbow Dash let her eyes open, she could see nothing but the daggers of white on the edges of her vision. She clenched her teeth, trying to force the pain away. She managed to scope out a glass next to her bed, a clear liquid held within. Next to that, was a tidy note that held the words "Get well soon!" obviously talking about the raging hangover dominating her body. With one swift move, she downed the glass of water, noticing the bitter undertone. Probably an aspirin of some sort.

"Shit........." She said in spite of herself, letting the empty container fall to it's original resting place on the bedside nightstand. She felt around in the dark until she found the door, opening it to stare into the drawn curtains, letting viscous sunlight pour through, burning her eyes like a vampony in the light. She shook her head vigorously, and clamped her eyes shut. Retreating back into the room.

Soon, the pain began to fade, and she decided to take a shower and head out. After the steamy cleaning, she rubbed her head on a towel briefly. Grabbing her saddlebags and heading out of the motel while her coat and hair was still mostly drenched. She didn't see the stallion from the night before, so she couldn't thank him properly. With no scruples, she took to the air, heading to Hoofston.

All the way to Hoofston she only saw a few ponies under a vast expanse of Equestrian green, this was an offshoot of the Everfree. Not as dense, but just as green, lending to the beauty of the landscape artist ponies spent their lifetimes trying to capture perfectly. After only a couple hours of slightly rushed flight, she ended up landing in the town square.

The building layout seemed rather similar to that of Ponyville, and the vibe that the streetside vendors gave off reminded her of the main thoroughfare on a daily basis in Ponyville. It just so happened that the community was just as friendly, after grabbing an apple from one of the salesponies, they directed her to the mare who would know about any strange ponies. It was the mayor of Hoofston, a miss Summer Harvest.

Chomping the last bit of the apple as she entered the office of the main town hall that was located near the edge of the small city, she could see the lush vegetation growing near the windowsills.

I wonder if her and Golden Harvest are related? Thought the mare.

Her question wouldn't go long unanswered as the mayor stepped out of her office and offered a warm smile, waving her over. She had a lime colored mane, the same eyes as Golden, and had a cutie mark in the image of a celery stalk. The only difference that she could descern between the two would be this one's light green coat and mane.

"I've been expecting you, Rainbow Dash? Is that right? I'm sorry if I got it wrong, I'm not that great with names, you see...." Summer rambled, showing the athletic mare into her small office piled with stacks of papers and forms. There was little in the way of decorum, but there was a small photo of her and Golden smiling widely into the camera, holding each other in a friendly, loving manner.

"Yeah, that's right... Why were you expecting me?" Rainbow had to ask.

"Oh, my sister, Golden Harvest? She sent me a letter to be ready for you, and I can tell you that I honestly haven't seen any ponies like she described. Especially a lavender toned one, riding another, or with pink and purple streaks in her mane. That kind of thing seems rather specific."

"Oh....okay. Thank you for your time!" The athletic mare called as she was headed out of the doorway. However the Earth pony was quick to clamp down on her multi colored tail to stop her.

"Yer nowt gnna sty n' eat sum'fin?" She attempted around a mouthfull of tail.

"What?"

"Your not gonna stay and eat something? Have you eaten? You look sooo thin!" She said after letting go.

Rainbow stopped for a moment, realizing that all she had had was the apple a few moments ago, and that was less-than-filling. So she consented and was immeadiately whisked into what appeared to be a kitchen area. Summer left the room for a second, a plate firmly gripped in her mouth. As she returned, the once empty plate was now laden with vegetables of all types. Carrots, vine ripe tomatoes, and other assorted vegies.

It didn't take long for said plate to be cleaned, and she sat back in her chair. A hard task considering how she was sitting.

"So?" Came a happy mare across from her.

"It was good..... More than good..... That was probably some of the best...." A burp escaped her mouth, "Food that I've ever tasted..." Rainbow said in all honesty.

The green mare offered a smile and returned to her duties as mayor. Allowing the cyan pegasus time to settle.

Not long afterwards, Dash told the friendly mare that she needed to be off. And as she left the town, she promised herself that after all of this was over and done, she would most definately be coming back for more of her hospitality. Now the only other place that she could look at that wasn't a military base, was Old Manehattan, and that wouldn't take much more than a quick fly-by. Considering it was uninhabited after a flood from one of the nearby rivers.

After a much longer flight of five hours; she was speeding towards the jutting remnants of towers that clawed out of the ground, as if to say that they were the last survivors of that catastrophe. The pieces of rock that made up most of the ciry were scattered about as she made the first loop, the shadows casting an ominous hue among the empty streets.

It had to be close to seven in the afternoon now, and she didn't have anywhere to spend the night. The nearest city being about three hours away. So after landing and finding an archway that had collapsed on itself, creating an overhang that was out of the way of the street, she inspected it. Finding nothing wrong, she pulled out a blanket and stretched out early, planning to get a headstart in the morning. Soon the darkness of night descended, creating a cacophony of insect noises. The sound was soothing to the athletic pegasus. And even sooner the sound of snoring joined them...

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Author's Note

A/N TIME!!!
If anybody was confused about the time,(even though I would doubt it considering I made plenty of time indicators, I think), Twilight has been gone for five days, and RD's journey is at it's third. So this chapter was basically to catch them up....
(Also realllly sorry for the late update. Been excruciatingly busy.)

Anyways keep dem' comments comin' you guys! I love everybodies input!
-The DeadGraverock
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^(If anyone gets the reference, please comment on it!)