Chapters Chapter One: The Last Sunrise
Slowly a young lavender unicorn began to open her eyes. They fluttered briefly before she was fully awake. She looked around her surroundings, which was illuminated with moon light, to see that a small straw basket that would normally contain her sleeping assistant was empty.
She didn’t think much of it, assuming that he was simply going to the bathroom, so she slid out from underneath the sheets and trotted over to her mirror.
The lavender mare looked at her disheveled mane and levitated a brush with her magic. It only took a few brush strokes before it was back in its normal condition.
The young unicorn looked downstairs to see a few beams of light peaking over the staircase. She assumed that her scaly friend was downstairs getting a drink or something to eat. So she made her way over to the staircase and trotted down, through the library, and into the kitchen.
Not to her surprise, she spotted her friend looking through the refrigerator. She prepared a dissatisfied look on her face and asked “Spike?”
The young dragon instantly yelped and smacked his head on the top shelf of the refrigerator. Spike then proceeded to pull his head out to reveal a cookie bag in one hand and one of the baked treats in his mouth, but not yet chewed. “What?” he asked in an extremely muffled, but still slightly understandable, voice.
Twilight shot Spike her disapproving look and asked “Really Spike?”
Spike took the cookie out of his mouth, not without taking a bite out of it first, and replied “What I was hungry. Besides we’re all out of sapphire.”
Twilight levitated the bag out of Spikes hand and set it on the nearby table. “You could have always just eaten the sulfur I gave you last week.”
Spike chuckled sarcastically. “You’re kidding right? That stuff smells like rotten eggs and you know what it tastes like? Rotten eggs.”
“Well the doctor said that you need more of it in your diet so I’m just-“ Spike quickly cut Twilight off there.
“The doctor also said you had high blood pressure and that you should study less, yet you just read a new spell book last night.” Spike then grinned a little smugly, feeling as though he were the victor of the argument.
Twilight stopped talking for a moment before she threw the bag of cookies back at him with her magic. “Fine, just leave me some.”
Spike easily caught the bag of treats and continued to grin. “I’m not going to promise you anything,” he joked as he reached his claws into the bag.
Twilight rolled her eyes and made her way over to the cabinet where she kept the dinner plates at. She opened it with her magic and levitated out a small white dish.
Just as Spike was about to gobble up a cookie, a burst of green flame shot out of his mouth and turned it to ash. Then a scroll appeared in its place. “Noooooo!” Spike screamed, “It was too soon!”
Twilight rolled her eyes again at Spike’s over dramatic display of loss and levitated the parchment out of his claws. She then proceeded to unfurled it. As she did this, she noticed it was wrapped up in a necklace with a small pendant attached to it instead of the usual royal seal. ‘That’s weird,’ she thought. Twilight then began to read the almost scribbled horn writing.
She only read a few sentences before the lavender mare’s face had a look of utter terror. Twilight could feel her blood run ice cold as she continued to read. She couldn’t help but lose her magical grip on all the objects she was levitating; sending the dish crashing to the ground, as well as the necklace and letter. This immediately caught Spike’s attention.
Spike looked over to the lavender mare and noticed her horrified expression. “Uh, Twilight? Are you okay?” Twilight didn’t answer. She instead looked over to the window and saw that the sun was just above the horizon.
Twilight then frantically ran over to the sink and shoved a cork into the drain, before turning on the water. “Spike!” she screamed, which frightened the young dragon, causing him to drop the cookie bag onto the floor. “I want you to go upstairs and start filling up all the bath tubs!”
Spike’s expression became rather confused and slightly worried. “What? Why?”
Twilight jumped over to Spike, at speeds he didn’t even know she was capable of, and threw her hooves onto his shoulders. “Spike, just listen to me!”
“Twilight! What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later! Now go upstairs and fill up the bath tubs! We need all the water we can…” Twilight’s voice began to trail off as she noticed the lights above them began to flicker. As if her blood wasn’t cold enough, when she saw this it must have dropped by another ten degrees.
Suddenly all of the lights in the library were blinking on and off and within a few seconds they all went dark. Spike looked up at Twilight with a look almost as horrified as hers. “T-T-Twilight? What’s going on?” Spike stuttered.
Twilight knew she didn’t have time to explain, so instead she pulled Spike into a tight embrace and kissed him on the forehead. “It’s going to be okay,” she said with a cracking voice as tears began to fill her eyes.
Spike was no longer as scared as he was shocked. Twilight had never kissed him before. Now he knew whatever that letter said, it must have been something pretty important.
Suddenly there was a large crash. It was quickly followed by another, and another. Then the sound of explosions could be heard throughout Ponyville. Almost as soon as the booms had begun, screaming started to accompany it.
Twilight quickly broke the embrace and raced to the front door of the library. As soon as she opened it, she could see what the sources of the explosions were; Cloudsdale was falling.
First massive stone pillars would plummet to the ground, smashing anything unlucky enough to be caught in its path, then giant stone slabs that might have once been floors and roofs had a similar fate, and last was the most disturbing, Pegasi poured out of the crumbling structures as they plummeted to the ground.
Twilight wanted to believe that no pony was hurt by the destruction. She wanted to believe that all the ponies had escaped, but she knew deep down that some didn’t. After all it was far too early in the morning for most ponies. They were likely asleep when it happened.
Though the thought of her best friend, as well as many other ponies, being dead pained her greatly, one feeling almost made her want to puke; it was a feeling of helplessness. She knew there was nothing she could do to help the Pegasi, at least not without her magic anyways.
Twilight just covered her mouth and tried to hold back sobs as she watched the city of her dearest friend crumble. No matter how much she didn’t want to, she lost it. She began to sob heavily as she turned away from the destruction. Twilight couldn’t look at the chaos any longer, so she quickly galloped inside.
As Twilight slammed the door behind her she looked up to see Spike trying to hold back tears as well. But each massive bang and scream made it harder and harder. “Twilight? What’s going on? Is Rainbow Dash okay?”
Twilight cried a little harder at Spike’s question. “I don’t know Spike.” She then went over to the young dragon and rested a hoof onto his shoulder. “But I promise nothing will happen to you.”
Spike pulled Twilight into a second embrace as he began to sob himself. “Twilight, how can you be sure?”
The lavender unicorn pulled away from Spike slightly and smiled comfortingly through her tear soaked face. “Because as long as I’m here I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“But what about everypony else? Can’t you use your magic to help them?”
Twilight could feel a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach at Spike’s mention of magic; she knew she had to tell him what was happening. “Spike, I can’t help them.”
“Of course you can Twi! You’re the element of magic.”
“Spike, my magic-“ Twilight was interrupted by a particular blue Pegasus smashing through the door.
“Can somepony please tell me what the hell is going on?!” demanded a panting Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow Dash!” Spike and Twilight yelped in unison. Quickly the pair ran over to her and wrapped their arms and forelegs around her. Spike even went so far as to kiss her on the cheek. This of course elicited a light blush upon the blue coated mare’s face.
“You’re okay!” squealed Twilight as tears of joy and sorrow streamed down her face.
Spike, who was in a similar mental state cried “We were so worried about you! We saw what was happening in Cloudsdale and thought you were there when it happened!”
Rainbow Dash chuckled emotionlessly. “It’s going to take a little more than that to kill me.” She then nuzzled both of her friends before she backed away from their embrace.
“But Rainbow Dash, what about your house?” asked Twilight.
The Blue furred mare threw a hoof over her shoulder. “I was planning on moving into town soon anyways. Besides It’s not like I had a lot of stuff in it.”
“But what about your Wonderbolts collection?”
Rainbow Dash looked down sadly. “It’s okay. Just as long as you guys are fine.” She then shot the pair a halfhearted smile.
Spike and Twilight returned the gesture through their still tear soaked faces.
Rainbow Dash returned herself to her original composure and asked “Now, can somepony tell me what’s happening out there?”
Twilight made a slightly regretful expression and looked away from her friends ad wiped away a few of her tears. “You may want to sit down,” she said sadly, trying to hide her eyes behind her mane. “P-Princess Celestia sent me a letter this morning. It said there was something wrong with the magic in Equestria. She said she sensed disturbances, I guess. She’d been noticing them for a while before, but it just kept getting stronger and stronger. Then this morning everything just fell apart. These disturbances became so strong that all the magic in the world just collapsed. She has no idea why this happened.”
Spike and Rainbow Dash just sat there perplexed for a moment. “You’re sure?” asked Rainbow Dash. “There’s no magic in all of Equestria?” Spike added as he wiped away the last of his tears.
Twilight attempted to levitate the small pendant over to her, but nothing happened. She let out a sigh and trotted over to it. “Yes, I’m sure,” she said as she slid the pendant around her neck.
“Hey, what’s that?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I’m not sure. Celestia had it wrapped around the scroll she gave me. She didn’t say anything about it, but I’m guessing it’s important”
Rainbow Dash and Spike examined the small pendant. It looked like a small clear crystal with a golden encasement. There was nothing too special about it besides a small blue glow from within the crystal.
“Hey, is it supposed to be glowing like that?” asked Spike. “Yeah,” added Rainbow Dash.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” The lavender mare then looked down at the pendant and, as a reflex, tried to levitate it up to her face. To every pony’s absolute shock, the small pendant was encased in a light purple glow and levitated in front of the trio. Twilight instantly lost her magical grip on the object causing it to fall limp onto her chest. As she did this the small blue glow from the pendant faded.
Spike and Rainbow Dash stared at the small crystal, wide eyed and mouth agape. “Did you just levitate that thing?” Spike asked, with disbelief clearly audible in his tone.
Twilight took a few steps back. “Th-Th-That’s impossible.”
Rainbow Dash smirked. “I think I know why the princess gave that thing to you.”
“Twilight,” began Spike, “You can never let anyone know that you have that. It they were to know, Celestia only knows what they would do.”
“Spikes right,” agreed Rainbow Dash, “But how in Equestria is that thing doing that?”
Twilight, who was still staring at the pendant, replied simply “I have no idea.”
Rainbow Dash then stood and began trotting over to a closet. “Well, in the meantime, I’m going to go find some lanterns.” The blue Pegasus paused for a moment as she thought to herself. “Hey wait a second. Isn’t it supposed to be light out by now?”
Spike was a bit surprised by how well Rainbow Dash had been taking in the events of this morning, but he just shrugged it off as her being a tough pony and all. However, her words did catch his attention, so he walked over to the window and saw that the sun was still just above the horizon. “What the hay?” he said to himself.
As Twilight’s two friends walked about the library, all she could do was sit on her haunches and stare at the tiny pendant. It almost seemed to mesmerize her the more she looked at it. She just couldn’t stop thinking about all the power it could have and why it was hers.
Ten years after the blackout…
“What you have to realize is that it wasn’t always like this. One decade ago the world was much brighter. We had cloud cities, vast empires, power, and even the ability to raise the sun. But one day, everything went crazy. All magic simply vanished. Millions died instantly, then over the next few years billions probably died from the climate change.
So, what caused the blackout? What made Equestria crumble into nothing?”
Rainbow Dash, who now had a much longer mane, looked around the small, dimly lit, class room and saw that many of the foals were on the verge of falling asleep, or had already done so.
Raising her voice, she added “Come on. This should bother you. The whole world was turned on its head that day and no pony knows why?”
Despite Rainbow Dash’s best efforts, her change in tone did little more than make a few colts’ ears flick up. She was beginning to feel that her efforts were absolutely pointless. Just then, almost as on cue, a much older Spike walked into the doorway and leaned against it. The look on his face seemed as if he were sending Rainbow Dash a mental message saying “Oh come on already.”
Dash was rather happy to see him, for now her best friend was here and she had a reason to dismiss school. “Okay everypony, that’s class for today. You can go home now.” As soon as those words left her lips, even the seemingly unconscious foals awoke. She didn’t know if they were faking or if the words “go home” were a mental alarm clock.
As the herd of foals rushed passed Spike, he began to make his way over to Rainbow Dash. Spike couldn’t help but shoot her a sarcastic grin.
“Well you seem to be the life of the party,” Spike joked.
The blue coated mare simply rolled her eyes. “You try explaining what the ocean is like to somepony who’s never seen water before.”
“Well that’s simple; I’d show them a picture.” Spike couldn’t help but grin once more.
Rainbow Dash trotted up next to Spike and added “Did I mention that they have the attention span of a fly?”
Spike let out a soft chuckle before gesturing towards the exit. “Shall we?”
“Oh dear goddesses yes, please get me out of here.”
Spike laughed lightly once more.
Spike and Rainbow Dash continued to walk down the dimly lit streets of Ponyville, on their way back to the library. They continued to laugh and joke around, despite the occasional attention they attracted and the ensuing gossip.
Lyra was sitting beside Bonbon as they talked about everypony in the town. Almost the second Spike and Rainbow Dash passed out of earshot, they immediately changed topics.
“Oh you know those two are bucking,” Bonbon smirked.
“I don’t know,” began Lyra, “I mean it seems like they’re flirting, but that’s kind of how we thought it was with Twi and him.”
Bonbon leaned a little closer to her mint colored friend and lowered her voice. “You know I heard a rumor that those two started up right after Twilight… You know.”
Lyra rolled her eyes and threw a hoof. “Oh that’s nonsense. I mean I know Spike was pretty sad about the whole ordeal, but I don’t think he would have done that.”
Bonbon shrugged. “Hey, it’s just a rumor.”
“I honestly think they’re just friends.”
“Yeah they’re friends; friends with benefits.”
Lyra rolled her eyes and crossed her front forelegs. “They’re just friends, Bonbon. And that reminds me; I heard a rumor that everypony thinks were a couple.”
Bonbon shot her friend an un-amused scowl. “Now I know you’re lying. I mean who’d think that?”
Spike and Rainbow Dash were still making their way home, and as they did so they continued talking about all sorts of things. Much of it was joking, but some of it was gossip as well.
“I mean I know Lyra and Bonbon are a couple and all, but do they ever hang out with anypony else?” Spike stated rather bluntly.
“I know right!” replied Rainbow Dash.
“Anyways, I still can’t believe you took Cheerilee’s place.”
“Well somepony had to step up after she to Fillydelphia. It’s not like the foals were gonna teach themselves.”
“Well yeah, but you of all ponies?”
“Oh shut up,” Dash snapped jokingly.
“I’m just saying Ponyville has such a vast intellectual population that you’d think somepony else would have filled in. Because you know all the foals these days are just dying to hear about Applejack’s new method of planting apple trees.”
The blue Pegasus smiled up at Spike. “I’m not sure if I should laugh or put a hoof in your gut.”
“Well I was hoping on the first one, but that’s just me.”
Rainbow Dash chuckled softly, however it soon faded as a thought crossed her mind. “I think the best teacher would have been Twilight.”
Spike’s upbeat tone quickly faded at the mention of his former friend’s name. “Yeah, I do too,” he said sadly.
The blue coated mare detected the sorrow in her friend’s voice and looked up at him. She hadn’t meant to hurt him; she just thought mentioning her name wouldn’t have much of an effect on him.
“Oh Spike, I’m sorry,” the blue mare said sympathetically as she wrapped a foreleg around him. “I didn’t mean to-“ Spike cut her off there.
“It’s okay RD, don’t worry about it,” he lied. Spike then continued to walk right out of Rainbow Dash’s embrace.
The blue Pegasus just stood there for a minute. She let out a sad sigh before trotting off. She assumed that, at the moment, it was best to leave Spike alone.
Though Spike appeared to want to be by himself, he was silently dying inside. He wanted to hold Rainbow Dash in his arms and lose it. He wanted her to never leave his side, like Twilight, but he couldn’t let her know this. After all these feelings would probably be thought of as childish in her eyes, or at least that’s how it felt to him.
Though he had been getting better at coping with the thought of Twilight, it still ate away at him every time someone mentioned her. He guessed that Rainbow Dash had noticed this, and assumed it was okay to talk about her. This was definitely not the case.
Suddenly, the loud sound of alarm bells could be heard ringing throughout Ponyville. Spike quickly looked up, ignored his current emotional state, and began sprinting to their source.
After only a minute of running, spike came to the Ponyville gates. It was a massive wooden wall all of its citizens had helped build to keep the town safe. It stretched up twenty feat into the air and five feet into the ground. Needless to say it was no easy task to complete.
As Spike approached the gates he could see that the ponies at the torch and mirror spot lights were focusing on something. Quickly, he climbed the staircase and looked to where they were pointing.
There, only a few feet away from the entrance, stood a tall pony wearing a heavy coat with a hood to conceal its face. The material it was made out of seemed to resemble fur, but from what animal Spike could not tell.
“I’m sorry,” shouted the young dragon, “No pony who does not live in Ponyville may enter. Please go back to where you came from.”
The mystery pony didn’t look up or remove her hood, but she did speak. “Before I leave, you may want to hear what I have to say, Spike.”
The young dragon could feel a chill run down his spine. “How do you know my name!?” he demanded to know.
No pony could see it, but the mare smiled beneath her hood. “Because Spike, you know me.” The pony then lifted up a hoof and removed her hood.
Spike took a step back as he felt his breath leave him. ‘Is that… No, no, it can’t be,’ he thought; for there before him was a mare with a tall horn, a pink coat, and a long disheveled pink and yellow mane. “C-Cadence?” he stuttered.
The Alicorn smiled up at the purple dragon. “Hello Spike.”
“Let her in!” Spike shouted to the colt at the bottom of the gate. He gave him a nod and lifted the large wooden plank out of its place. Almost instantly the gate began to swing open on its own.
Spike quickly raced down the stairs to greet his long lost friend. “Cadence!” he shouted with glee. Before the mare could even have time to enter the town, Spike wrapped her into an embrace that was so tight it threatened to rival the one he had given Rainbow Dash a decade ago.
Cadence smiled and nuzzled his neck in return. “Hi Spike, it’s been awhile.”
The young dragon now had tears of joy beginning to well up in his eyes. “Oh my goddesses, I can’t believe it! I thought you were dead!”
Cadence pulled back a little and replied “That’s nice to know, and let’s just say I was beginning to think the same.”
Spike chuckled a little through his tears. “Well come on in,” he said as he gestured towards the town.
Cadence nodded and began to walk with him. She looked around; admiring how well kept the town was, despite the lack of magic. “This is quite a beautiful village you have here. It’s much better than any I’ve seen, on my way here.”
Spike, who was still beaming, replied “Yeah, it’s not as great as it was, but we all try our best.”
“And this weather; my my, it’s just perfect. I wish I would have come here sooner. This is the tropics compared to Canterlot.”
“What do you mean? How cold is it there?”
“Cold isn’t the right word Spike. It’s beyond that. We’re lucky to see temperatures above negative twenty.”
Spike was a little shocked, and thought for a moment about just how cold that really was. Needless to say, he was having a hard time picturing it. After all, the coldest weather he’d ever been in was ten degrees above zero.
“Is this were you were taking me?” Cadence asked.
The Alicorn’s words knocked Spike out of his thoughts, to realize that they were standing in front of the library. “Oh, uh yeah, but I should probably go in first. You might give Dashie a heart attack.”
Cadence raised an eyebrow. “Dashie eh?”
The young dragon rolled his eyes. “Damn it. Why does everypony keep thinking we’re a couple?”
Cadence couldn’t help but laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that, but whatever you say Spike.”
Spike could feel a warm sensation in his cheeks, but simply brushed it off. As the young dragon stepped into the library, he could see that Rainbow Dash had set a small fire in the fireplace, that he dearly hoped was for light, and had just finished laying out two plates; one of sapphire and another with lemongrass and daises, each right next to the other.
The blue Pegasus looked up and smiled at her scaly friend. “Hi Spike, I felt kinda bad about what happened today so I thought I’d make you dinner. I had been saving the sapphire for a special occasion, but… I just thought,” Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, “I’m sorry,” she said sadly.
For a minute, Spike thought his blush would fade away, but as soon as he saw all that Rainbow Dash had done he knew he had no hope. “Dashie, you didn’t have to do all of this. It’s okay now.”
The blue mare threw out a hoof. “Don’t worry about it. You’re my best friend you know that, Spike. You deserve this.”
“Riiight, you’re not a couple,” he could hear Cadence say from behind the door.
“Oh shut up,” he whispered.
Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “What was that?”
Spike’s eyes instantly widened. “Oh no I didn’t mean you! Cadence, come on in.”
‘Cadence?’ she thought, ‘He can’t possibly mean-‘ Then, before Rainbow Dash could finish her thought process, the door opened to reveal her old friend. “Cadence!” she squealed as she galloped over to her.
Before the Alicorn had time to react, she was taken into a tight tackle hug. “Hi Dashie, it’s nice to see you too.”
“Oh my gosh! Cadence, what are you doing here?”
“Yeah Cadence,” Spike added, “What exactly are you doing here?”
The pink coated mare slowly broke the embrace and shut the door behind her. “It’s about Twilight,” she said hesitantly.
The pair looked to her with absolute confusion. “Cadence, Twilight is dead,” Spike replied.
“No, she’s not dead Spike, and she needs our help.”
“Help with what?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Cadence smiled. “She needs our help turning the lights back on.”
Chapter Three: The Last Day in Ponyville
“So, what you’re telling me is that you want us to go with you to Canterlot, because Twilight thinks she knows how to bring magic back? No offence Cadence, but I’m not exactly ready to run off after somepony who hasn’t even tried to tell me she’s alive it ten damn years!” Spike yelled bluntly.
Cadence averted her eyes from the young dragon. She had expected some resistance, but not this much. “Spike, she needs our help. She could die if she tried to do this alone.”
Spike threw his arms up as tears began to well up in his eyes. “So what!? Encase you haven’t noticed, that’s what I’ve been thinking for the past ten years! It wouldn’t make a difference to me!”
As Spike finished his rant, he felt somepony lay a hoof on his shoulder. He looked back to see Rainbow Dash standing behind him. She looked as though she had tears in her eyes as well, but she still had a look of understanding. “Spike,” she said softly, “Could you come with me for a second?”
Spike was so upset that he almost snapped at Rainbow Dash, but when he looked into her eyes, he quickly caught his tongue. He gave her a nod, which caused a tear to fall from his eyes. Spike was sure Rainbow Dash had already seen it, but he quickly tried to wipe it away regardless.
The sky blue Pegasus smiled halfheartedly at her scaly friend. She then looked over to Cadence and said “Could you excuse us for a moment?” the pink mare gave her an understanding smile and nodded.
Rainbow Dash then put a foreleg around Spike and began walking him into the next room. She could tell Spike was trying his best to hide his face from her.
As the pair walked through the doorway the young dragon walked out of Rainbow Dash’s embrace and leaned against the wall. “What?” he asked, with sorrow and agitation clearly visible in his tone.
The blue coated mare sighed a little and stepped closer to him. “Spike,” she said warmly, “We have to go.”
“Why?! Why the hell should I?!” he snapped. Once he’d realized what he’d done, he quickly put an arm around Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry. I’m just… Go on.”
She nodded, ignoring his outburst, and looked into Spike’s eyes. “Because, if Twilight does know how to fix all of this, she could return the world to what it once was. No more violence, no more murder, no more rape. Spike, it’s not just you we’re talking about.”
The young dragon let out a sigh and broke eye contact. “What if she’s wrong? What if she was lying?”
Rainbow Dash smirked. “Then you can put a boot up her ass as many times as you want and I won’t lift a hoof. But until then, we need to go out on a limb for the greater good; not just ourselves.
Spike couldn’t help but smile. “Since when did you become so good at convincing me to do what you want?”
Rainbow Dash smiled as well. “Well, I’m not the stupid sports driven sixteen year old I was, ten years ago. And you’re not the same little girly thirteen year old you were.”
Spike laughed lightly. “Oh shut up,” he joked.
The blue Pegasus laughed a little herself and took a few steps back. “Okay, now you go upstairs and start packing. I’ll be up in a minute after I tell Cadence. Oh, and don’t forget to pack a lot of lantern oil.”
Rainbow Dash began to trot back over to Cadence, but before she was through the doorway, she heard Spike call “Hey Dashie.” She turned around and was met with a sudden embrace.
“I’m glad you stayed,” he whispered softly.
Rainbow Dash lifted her forelegs around the young dragon and whispered, in the same tone, “Nothing would ever make me leave you, Spike. Nothing.”
Spike smiled and tried his best not to cry. However, after a few more seconds, he broke the embrace. “Okay, I guess we better start packing.”
The blue coated mare smiled and tried not to cry herself. However her efforts weren’t as good as Spike’s. He could clearly see that she was only seconds from crying too. Despite this, she shrugged it off and added “Yeah, those bags aren’t gonna pack themselves.”
“Yeah,” the young dragon chuckled halfheartedly. He then turned and walked towards the staircase.
Rainbow Dash waited a moment, before turning herself and trotted over to Cadence. She could instantly tell that the Alicorn thought something was wrong, mostly due to the tears.
“Is everything okay?” Cadence asked with a concerned tone.
The blue Pegasus, who was still smiling, threw out a hoof. “Oh no, everything’s fine. It just took a little bit of talking to convince him.”
Cadence skeptically raised an eyebrow. “Is that all?”
Rainbow Dash blushed slightly. “Well, we did talk about… Other things.”
Spike was finishing up packing winter cloths and a few cans of oil, when he looked over to the small table next to his bed. There were two things on it; a small hardcover book and a picture. He walked over to it and lifted up the picture frame. It was a photo of him and all of his friends from before the blackout. As he looked at it he remembered what had happened to everypony.
The first pony in it was Pinkie Pie; she left with the Cakes for Fillydelphia a few years ago; something about Mr. Cake’s parents needing help. She hasn’t been seen since. Next was Rarity; she was visiting family in Manehatten with Sweetie Belle when the blackout happened. Again no pony has seen her since. Then Fluttershy; she went missing a few weeks after it happened. Everypony thinks she’s dead. Applejack was next. Things hadn’t changed much for her family, besides taking in Scootaloo after her parents went missing. Everypony thinks they died when Cloudsdale fell. Next was Rainbow Dash, whose story was already known. Then there was Twilight.
Spike quickly flipped the picture frame over and shoved it into his bag. He couldn’t bear to think about what she did. Not right now at least.
Spike shrugged it off and picked up the book. It was his old diary. He never hid it from Rainbow Dash, because he trusted her not to read it; he trusted her more than he’d ever trusted anypony in his life.
As Spike held the book in his claws, he thought about all of the past entries. The first few pages were about Rarity and how Twilight would always make him work. Usual things a teenage boy would talk about. But after the blackout, his entries took on a darker tone. Much of it was about death and loss. Never before had he written such awful things. However there was a light in the darkness; Rainbow Dash. Rainbow was the only good thing Spike would ever write about.
The young dragon remembered back to his first few entries about her. In one he talked about how they were playing together in the lake. In another they were hiding in the basement during a bad thunderstorm. Then he remembered one night, he had a dream about Twilight and started crying. Rainbow Dash held him all that night.
As spike thought about that last memory, his cheeks took on a light shade of crimson. Despite the fact that he was just a young boy at the time, the memory still made him kind of embarrassed, and, oddly enough, happy.
After a minute more, Spike leaned over and slid the book into his pack. After he was done he let out a soft sigh, and thought for a moment as more and more memories came back to him.
“Whatch ya doin?” asked the voice of a familiar blue Pegasus.
The young dragon wanted to nearly jump out of his scales. Quickly he turned around and saw that Rainbow Dash was standing only a few feet behind him. ‘How in the hell did she get in here so quietly?!’ he thought.
“Well?” she asked.
“Oh,” Spike replied, blushing harder than he already was, “Sorry, I was just thinking about this picture of everypony.”
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “You were? Because to me it looked like you were day dreaming with your journal. Were you mentally clopping to thoughts of Rarity again?” she joked.
‘Goddesses kill me now,’ thought Spike. “Oh for the love of the goddesses, I only had a crush on her when I was a child; I don’t anymore. Can we please forget about that?”
The blue Pegasus smirked playfully. “Never.”
Spike just rolled his eyes and sat down to zip up his pack. “Well, let’s give Cadence a place to sleep for now. I mean Canterlot is a pretty long walk.”
“Okay, you go tell her she can stay while I pack.”
Spike turned a corner into the library and saw Cadence was looking over various books. “You read much?” he asked. Cadence almost jumped, not expecting anypony to be back so soon.
“Oh, yes. I used to read all the time in Canterlot. It was one of the reasons Twilight and I got along so well.”
Spike chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I can believe that… Hey Cadence, I’m sorry about earlier.”
The pink Alicorn threw out a hoof. “It’s okay Spike. I would have been pissed off if I were you too.”
“I know, but… I don’t know. I just kinda feel guilty.”
Cadence trotted over to Spike and made sure to make eye contact as she spoke. “Well, did you mean all the things you said?”
The young dragon sighed. “No, none of it. I love Twilight; I’m just pissed off about what she did.”
Cadence smiled and laid a hoof onto his shoulder. “And you think she isn’t?”
“Huh?”
“Spike, when Twilight got to Canterlot she was devastated, not by the walk, but because she couldn’t stop thinking about you the whole time. She loves you, probably more than you love her, and I can promise you that hasn’t changed.”
Spike just stood there wide eyed for a moment. “B-But how do you-“ Cadence cut him off there.
“She would never shut up about you, that’s how. Every single day she’d say something about you. Either it was how much she misses you or how she wished she’d never left.”
Spike couldn’t help but feel a little skeptic. After all, ever since Twilight left, he’d thought she hated him. So who’s to say Cadence wasn’t just saying something to make him feel better? “You’re lying, aren’t you?”
The pink mare made a very confused expression. “Why would I lie to you about something like this? Spike, you can’t even begin to imagine how much you mean to her.”
The young dragon could feel tears beginning to well. “Then why’d she leave? Why didn’t she take me?”
Cadence slowly put a foreleg around Spike. “You know the reason, Spike. It’s the same reason why we’re going to see her now.”
“Is everything okay?” asked a familiar voice. The pair looked up to see Rainbow Dash standing at the bottom of the staircase. It was clear she had a look of concern on her face.
Spike wiped away a few tears and replied “Yeah, we were just talking.”
“Something tells me you weren’t talking about Cadence’s sleeping arrangements,” she said as she began to trot over to Spike.
The purple dragon laughed lightly. “No, no we weren’t. It was about Twilight.”
Rainbow Dash made a very understanding expression. “Oh okay. Well Cadence, when you’re done talking, I just thought I’d let you know that you can use the shower. There’s no hot water, but it’s all we have.”
Cadence smiled. “Oh that’ll be more than enough Dash.” And with that she began trotting up the stairs.
Once Cadence was out of earshot, Rainbow Dash trotted alongside Spike. “So uh, what was that about?”
“Oh, she was just telling me about all that Twilight has said about me.”
“Is that good or bad?”
The young dragon chuckled, causing a few tears to break free. “It’s very good Dashie.”
Rainbow Dash smiled. “Well that’s great.”
After what must have been an hour, Cadence came trotting out of the bathroom to see Rainbow Dash getting into bed and Spike laying out a mat and blanket on the floor. Spike smiled up at her. “Feel better?” he asked.
Cadence returned the smile. “Much, but Spike, what are you doing?”
“Well if somepony is going to trot all the way from Canterlot to get me, the least I can do is offer her a good night’s sleep.”
“Oh Spike, you don’t have to do that.”
“Yeah Spikey,” Rainbow cut in. “You could always sleep with me tonight, because you know how much I want it,” she said in a faked seductive tone.
The young dragon immediately shot her an angry scowl as his cheeks flushed bright red.
Cadence quickly threw her hoof over her mouth, but nothing could hold back this wall of laughter. “B’ahahahahahahahaha! What?!”
Spike face palmed as he shook his head. “I told Rainbow what you said earlier. I also told her you were joking and not to say anything,” he said in a muffled and monotone voice.
Cadence chuckled a little more as she trotted over to Spike’s bed. “Wow, I haven’t had a laugh like that in a while.”
Spike simply rolled his eyes and pulled the sheet over him. “Night,” he mumbled angrily.
Chapter Four: The Journey Begins
The three friends ate their breakfast quickly that morning. They knew the journey to Canterlot would be a long and dangerous one, so they wanted to try to cover as much ground as one day would allow. However, they had no idea just how dangerous it would actually turn out to be.
“Are you ready to go?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Spike turned away from the bed, he was standing next to, to see his Pegasus friend standing across the room. She was wearing a heavy black trench coat. It definitely wasn’t her normal style, but these weren’t normal circumstances. “Give me a second RD,” he said with a light smile.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “Well, Cadence and I will be down stairs.” And with that the blue Pegasus trotted away.
Spike turned back to his bed and got down onto his knees. Reaching a claw under his bed, he found what he was looking for. He slid out a crossbow and a sword.
He remembered making the crossbow not too long after the blackout. At the time, the chaos from the outside world had a habit of pouring into Ponyville. Spike was grateful that he never had to use it on anypony, but he feared that may change.
Next was the sword. He found it a few years after the blackout when he went out of the village after hearing the sound of explosions. When everypony found ground zero, they saw a large canon like device, or the remains of it. This cannon looked as if it were filled with fireworks instead of its intended propellant. Needless to say, it quite literally blew up in their faces.
As Spike and the other ponies looked through the rubble of the explosion, they scavenged several things. Most of it was food and other supplies. However there were a few weaponries as well. Everypony who helped scavenge for food received a weapon of their choice.
Spike lifted up the crossbow and slid it over his shoulder. Next he picked up the sword and hooked it to his jacket. He then stood and walked over to the staircase. Quickly he noticed the two mares looking up at him. “Okay, let’s go.”
As the three trotted down the streets of Ponyville, they could see ponies all along the streets looking at them. They weren’t staring out of confusion or curiosity; they were staring out of sadness. They all assumed that this was going to be the last time anypony would ever see them again. And this was their way of remembering their faces, and saying good bye.
Spike was the first to approach the Ponyville gates. Without saying a single word, he nodded to the guard, who nodded in return, and began to open the gates. As soon as they were wide enough, the trio stepped through, and out into the unknown, Spike looked back at his town, just encase he wouldn’t see it again.
“Well,” began Cadence. “Welcome to my world.”
The three had been walking for almost eight hours, making small talk and telling the occasional story. Many of the stories they told were events from before the black out. Of course they would have been significant then, but now that’s all they were; stories.
“And that’s how I met the Wonder Bolts for my sixth time,” said Rainbow Dash.
Cadence smiled while listening to Dash’s story, but for the most part she wasn’t paying all too much attention.
Spike rolled his eyes. “Yes Rainbow, we know this story. Everypony knows this story.”
The blue Pegasus shot Spike an angry scowl. “Yeah so? It’s not like you have any interesting stories. What about you Cadence, do you have any stories?”
The pink Alicorn chuckled softly. “Well, when you’ve been wondering this wasteland for as long as I have, you’re bound to collect a few stories. Like this one time, Twilight and I were out looking for supplies in the forest by Canterlot, and I swear to the goddesses that I saw Slender Mane.”
Spike crossed his arms and shot Cadence a look. “Riiiight.”
Suddenly Rainbow Dash jumped between the two. “Hey, don’t be a nay sayer about Slender Mane! He’s just as real as you or me.”
The young dragon continued to hold his expression. At this point he knew the pair must have been playing some kind of prank on him.
“Anyways,” Cadence cut in. “We were looking for a crashed airship. We thought it might have had some medications in it. We thought, hey it’d be good for trade. Well, when we were out there I kept thinking I heard something behind us. That’s when I started to get real paranoid, but Twilight ignored it… At least for a while she did.”
“What changed?” asked the blue Pegasus, who was genuinely listening to the story.
“I’m getting to that Rainbow. As I was saying, we kept hearing noises behind us. That’s when things started to get… weird. We noticed that the snow birds had all stopped chirping. Hell, even the wind stopped. All we heard was our own hoofsteps, and something else’s.”
Despite how good of a story teller Cadence was, Spike wouldn’t buy into it. However he did think it was a good story; a fictional story, that is. But when he looked over at Rainbow Dash, she looked genuinely scared. This caused Spike to unfold his arms and actually start to pay more attention.
“After a while of this, Twilight and I came up with a plan. We decided to take three steps, but just before we let our hoof touch the ground, we’d stop. If there was something following us, we’d hear its step.”
Rainbow Dash could feel a chill go up her spine as Cadence spoke. And it didn’t exactly help that the eerie twilight was casting some rather unsettling shadows.
“So, we did it. Our hooves rested in the air only inches off of the ground, but nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud snap,” she said, trying to put more emphasis on the word snap. “We both were about to piss ourselves, but we had to see what it was. So we slowly turned around and saw this thing that looked like a really tall and thin colt, just standing there staring at us. Well, needless to say, we got the hell out of dodge. But hey, Canterlot is in the dark zone, so for all we know it could have just been a weird twig in the darkness.”
“But,” the blue mare said with a cracking voice. Quickly she cleared her throat and spoke again. “But twigs don’t make hoofsteps.”
Cadence nodded. “That’s why I think it was Slender Mane. Of course Twilight is going with the twig idea though.”
Spike laughed lightly. “Aint no Slender Mane gonna mess with me.” The young dragon them put an arm around Rainbow Dash. “Right Dashie?”
The blue Pegasus let out an involuntary yelp upon feeling Spike’s arm around her. Cadence and Spike couldn’t help but laugh. But once she realized what she had done her face turned a bright crimson, as she tried desperately to hide it behind her hair. “Haha, very funny. Did you guys have this planned or something?”
The pink mare chuckled a little more. “What? No, of course not.”
Spike chuckled as well, as he pulled Dash in a little closer. “Oh come on Dashie. You know we love you.”
The purple dragon’s particular choice of words caused Rainbow Dash to blush once again. “Yeah, I guess so,” she said shyly.
“So,” began Cadence, “What do you guys think of…” Her voice trailed off as the group rounded a bend in the trail and cast their gaze upon a massive airship. The balloon that could once support it had long since been eaten away by the weather, but the gondola was still very much intact.
“Hey Cadence, is this the balloon you were looking for?” joked Spike. “I mean I wouldn’t want Slender to take Dashie.” As soon as Spike said that, he could feel Rainbow Dash moving closer to him.
“Oh no, the one we were looking for was in west Canterlot. This is far too east.” The pink Alicorn then looked back at the pair and decided to have a little fun with them. Shooting them a sly grin she said “Now, if you two love birds are done groping, I’d like to set up camp here.”
Cadence’s words instantly caused a blue Pegasus to jump away from Spike. Shooting Cadence a look of her own, Rainbow Dash said “Hey Cadence, we’re not like that! Okay?!”
The pink Alicorn took a step back, rather surprised by Dash’s outburst. “I-I’m sorry Dash I was only-“ Cadence was quickly cut off by Spike’s sudden roar of laughter.
“Damn, you two need to calm down before you have a cat fight. I mean there’s plenty of me to go around,” he joked. This however, only earned him an angry glare from both of the mares, instantly causing an embarrassed blush to surface.
After that, no one said much. They each just set up camp over the next few hours and went to bed. Spike, as well as everypony else, had mentally declared this to be the most awkward night of their lives, especially Rainbow Dash.
“Wakey Wakey.”
Spike slowly opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar colt standing above him. Quickly he jolted himself into conciseness only to receive a hoof to the forehead, and a hoof-strapped knife to his throat. Panicked, the young dragon looked around to see Rainbow Dash and Cadence being held down by stallions with knives as well.
“Get off of me, asshole!” screamed a struggling Rainbow Dash.
“Leave her alone!” Spike shouted.
The colt on top of Rainbow Dash gave him an evil grin. “No, I think we’ll have some fun with this one. She has some fight in her, and I like em fighting the whole time.” Suddenly the stallion picked up the Pegasus by her Rainbow mane and began dragging her to the back of the gondola.
“No!” Spike screamed.
“Get off of her!” shouted Cadence.
The stallion currently holding the knife to Spike’s throat smiled. “Don’t worry. When it’s my turn, I promise I’ll be gentle.”
The young dragon glared at the malevolent colt. “I’m going to give you one chance to get off of me.”
He laughed menacingly. “And what are you going to do about it?”
Spike smirked. “The same thing all dragons do.” Suddenly the young dragon let out a massive ball of fire, instantly setting the colt’s fur and skin ablaze. Wasting no time, he rolled the screaming stallion off of him and ripped the knife right off of his hoof. Spike then ran to the back of the gondola.
By the time the stallion knew what was going on, it was too late. Spike drove the knife deep into his throat, blood splattering across the wall. The young dragon could see the terror in the colt’s eyes, but he didn’t care. Spike simply threw the colt onto the ground and went over to Rainbow Dash.
During the confusion, Cadence quickly slid her hoof into her coat and drew her own hoof-strapped knife. In less than a second she threw the colt off of her, tightened the strap on her knife by biting it, and drove it into the base of the pony’s skull. Despite the fact that the stallion was already dead, she felt compelled to speak. “This isn’t my first go around asshole.” She then smiled menacingly as she threw the lifeless body aside.
Spike was holding a sobbing Rainbow Dash, still quite shaken up about what had almost happened. “Are you okay!? Did he touch you!? Rainbow what did he do!?”
The blue mare shook her head. “N-N-No, he didn’t do anything. Y-You got him before he could.”
“Are you sure?!”
“Y-Yes Spike, I’m sure. H-He didn’t get past my jacket.” Once again the blue Pegasus began breaking down. She laid her head onto Spike’s chest and began to sob. This went on for a few minutes, until Dash pulled away slightly and looked him in the eyes. At first Spike had no idea what was going on, until Rainbow Dash leaned forward and locked her lips with his.
The young dragon was obviously shocked, but none the less, he enjoyed every second of it. After all, the pair had been living together for over ten years, so it was only natural for them to start to have feelings towards each other. However, this moment wasn’t exactly as they’d been picturing it.
Suddenly there was the sound of hoofsteps on the other side of the room. The pair’s kiss was cut short when they looked up to see a tall dark colored stallion raising his bow at them. Quickly Spike dove over Rainbow Dash trying to do whatever he could to save her, but to his surprise an arrow, seemingly out of no wear pierced the pony’s throat, pinning his dying body to the wall. Despite this, the arrow he was readying shot; only missing the pair by inches.
Still in a state of shock, the three looked to the entrance as yet another pony stepped through the doorway. Spike’s jaw dropped at what he saw before him. “That’s impossible…”
“Fluttershy!?” Spike exclaimed.
The yellow Pegasus swiftly looked over to the young dragon and raised her bow. “How do you know my name? Who are you?”
Quickly, Rainbow Dash and Spike threw their hooves and hands up, however Cadence did not. “Fluttershy,” began Dash, “It’s us. Spike and Rainbow Dash.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened in complete shock. Hastily, she lowered her bow and put it over her shoulder. “Oh my goddesses! I thought you guys were dead!” she exclaimed as she ran over to the couple.
Cadence mentally snickered at Fluttershy’s choice of words. ‘I think that’s the usual nowadays,’ she thought.
As the yellow Pegasus wrapped her friends into a tight embrace, Spike noticed the twigs and leaves in her, now much shorter, mane. Needless to say, her appearance was similar to that of a homeless mare.
“Hey Fluttershy,” Spike began, “Where have you been all this time?”
Fluttershy slowly broke the embrace and took a step back. It was odd, but after all of these years of being alone, she honestly didn’t expect that question.
“Well, where do you want me to start?”
“Right after the blackout,” answered Rainbow Dash.
The yellow Pegasus nodded and let out a sigh. It was obvious that she didn’t want to remember some of the events she was about to portray, but despite this, she did so.
“Well, right after the blackout things at my cottage got bad. The animals just went crazy. At first I had no idea what was wrong. I thought that maybe something had just upset them. That’s when they started attacking each other. I had no idea what to do.
I tried calming them down, but it didn’t do much. They just kept fighting. Then this bear I was tending to…” Fluttershy trailed off as she remembered what came next. “It tried to kill me. It started destroying the house and killed countless animals before… I could stop it.”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Stop it?”
Fluttershy sighed sadly. “Kill it, I mean.”
Spike and Rainbow Dash made a somewhat surprised expression. Even after what had happened moments ago, the pair was still having a lot of trouble picturing Fluttershy, the element of kindness, killing anything; or at least that early in the blackout that is. However their moment of thought was quickly cut short, for the yellow Pegasus was not yet done speaking.
“After that I was covered in blood and the cottage was completely destroyed. There was no way I could go into town looking like this. So I ran. I ran as far and as fast as I could. Eventually I found a nice stream in the forest and decided to stay there for a while. But I just never left. I guess I just figured there was nothing left in Ponyville for me; at least not anymore. Hell, maybe I couldn’t face everypony after what I did. I don’t know. Anyways I built a small cottage out here. So if you’d like to rest there that’s fine.”
“But you know what happened to Cloudsdale, and the rest of Equestria right?” Spike asked.
“Of course I do. I’m not that much of a hermit. I found out news from ponies who got lost in the forest. It kind of became my job to guide them back.”
The young dragon blushed slightly out of embarrassment. “Oh.”
“So would you all like to come back to my cottage?”
“No,” Cadence answered. “We need to keep moving. Besides, I very much doubt Spike or Rainbow Dash will be able to sleep anytime soon.”
Spike nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry Fluttershy, but she’s right. We really do need to keep moving.”
“Where are you headed?” the yellow Pegasus inquired.
“Twilight needs our help in Canterlot.” As soon as those words left Spike’s lips he noticed Cadence glaring at him. He knew he had said too much, but in return the young dragon shot a quick look back. It was as if he were trying to say ‘We can trust her.’
“Very well then. I’ll take you there.”
Cadence quickly took a step towards Fluttershy. “Thank you, but that’s really not necessary. I believe we can handle things just fine.”
The yellow Pegasus shot her a playful look. “Well, if it wasn’t for me I do believe you’d be handling Spike and Dashie’s burial at the moment.”
Cadence returned a not so playful look. “With that said I’d like to thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse us we must be on our way.”
Spike could easily tell that if he didn’t do something, there may very well be a full blown mare on mare brawl on his hands. So, quickly, he rose to his feet and went over to Cadence. Laying a claw on her shoulder, he said “Hey, maybe she could guide us. Besides if we run into trouble, it may be good to have an extra mare with us.”
Cadence resisted the sudden urge to shout at Spike. Instead she gritted her teeth and nodded. “Fine.”
Fluttershy smiled, trying her best to hide the glee of winning the subtle argument, and said “Now, before we go, I need to stop by my hut to get a coat.” She then looked right at Cadence with the same grin. “I hope that’s not too much trouble.”
Once Fluttershy had stepped into the small cottage, Cadence immediately turned to Spike. Keeping her voice down, she snapped “Spike, we can’t trust her. You must have been stuck in your little gated community for too long, because you don’t seem to understand a damn thing about the outside world. Ponies change, Spike. I mean for the goddesses’ sakes, you heard what she did to her pets.”
The young dragon shook his head. “She had no choice. Trust me I’ve known Fluttershy a lot longer than you. She’s not like that.”
“Are you really willing to bet your life on that, or what about Dash’s life?”
Spike shot her a look. “And what the hell makes you so ready to jump to conclusions about her?”
Cadence turned away briefly. “She has the look.”
“The look? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
The Alicorn let out a sigh. “It’s something ponies get when they’ve been through some shit. I have it, Twilight has it, and Fluttershy has it.”
Spike folded his arms. “Then if you have it, why should we trust you?”
“You shouldn’t, but you do because we knew each other.”
Spike smirked and unfolded his arms. “Well there you go.”
Cadence let out a light sigh. “Look all I’m saying is that we should be careful around her. Okay?”
Just then, the yellow colored Pegasus came trotting out of the small cottage. She was wearing what appeared to be bear skin, but no pony could be sure from what animal it came from. She smiled up at the group and asked “Shall we be going now?”
Cadence rolled her eyes at the mare and turned back towards their original heading. Spike saw this and scowled at her yet again, before looking back towards Fluttershy.
The young dragon smiled and gestured for her to come over to them. “Yes, we’re ready.”
She did as she was instructed, and began to trot along with the rest of the group. Needless to say, much of the walking was in silence. A silence most of them found rather bothersome; all except for Cadence that is.
After a few hours of walking, the group had begun to spread out along the trail. Cadence found herself in the front, Fluttershy wasn’t far behind her, and Spike and Rainbow Dash were alongside each other in the very back.
As Spike and Rainbow Dash walked, they decided to take this time to have a conversation on what had occurred a few hours ago. The couple also made sure to keep out of earshot from any prying ears up the trail.
“So, what exactly was that earlier?” Spike asked.
Rainbow Dash blushed and looked away; she couldn’t help but regret what had happened. “Nothing, don’t worry about it. I was just caught up in the moment, I guess.”
“No, it wasn’t nothing. I saw the look in your eyes Dash.”
The blue Pegasus hung her head and tried her best not to make eye contact. “Please, can we just forget about it?”
“No Dashie, it’s okay. I mean it’s not like it was a bad thing. Besides, do you want to know something?”
“What?” she asked in a monotone voice, still not making eye contact.
Spike smiled and placed an arm around Rainbow Dash. “I kissed back.”
Those words instantly caused the blue mare’s ears to perk up. ‘What does he mean by that?’ she thought. So, slowly, she lifted up her head to see Spike looking at her with the same expression she had hours ago.
“Dashie, you have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to say something.”
Rainbow Dash smiled, hoping to the goddesses that she knew what Spike was about to say. “Then say it,” she said with a cracking voice.
The young dragon smiled and pulled her a little closer. “I love you.”
Suddenly, the blue Pegasus jumped up and nearly tackled Spike with a hug. “I love you too!” she yelped a little louder than she should have. However this didn’t faze either of them for one second. For just as quickly as she had hugged him, Rainbow Dash pressed her lips to Spike’s once again.
Fluttershy and Cadence both looked back at the display of affection and smiled. It reminded Cadence of her past with Shining Armor, before the blackout. However those days were long over and she knew they were never to return. Turning her attention forward once more she let a soft sigh escape her lips.
As the pink Alicorn began to search deeper into her memories of Shining Armor, she noticed a yellow Pegasus trotting up beside her. Quickly, she looked the other way trying her best to avoid the impending conversation. However these efforts failed her regardless.
“Hey,” began Fluttershy, “I’m sorry about earlier. I just thought we could talk a little or something.”
Suddenly, Cadence snapped back towards the yellow mare. “Okay listen Shy, I may have known you a long time ago, but that was then. Things have changed since then. You’ve changed. I’ve changed. Everypony has changed.”
The yellow mare shrugged. “Then maybe it’s time we get to know each other again.”
“Yeah, well maybe later.” As Cadence finished speaking, she let out a yawn.
“You sure you’ve had enough sleep last night?”
“Yes, I’m just-“ she was cut off by yet another yawn.
Fluttershy smiled. “Hey, I may not be too familiar with ponies these days, but I know a tired mare when I see one. Besides, it’s not like it’s getting darker.”
“I’m fine.”
Fluttershy threw out a hoof. “Nonsense.” She then stopped to turn towards Rainbow Dash and Spike. “Hey, do you guys need to rest?”
Rainbow Dash let out a light yawn and replied “Yeah, I could go for a nap.”
The yellow mare turned back towards Cadence. “Then it’s settled. We’ll rest for a little while.”
As Fluttershy laid out a small mat she had packed, she could feel Cadence’s eyes burrowing into the back of her head. Ignoring it, she continued to set up her accommodations.
“Stop it,” Rainbow Dash demanded in a giggling tone.
“Stop what?” Spike replied in a similar manor.
Sighing, Cadence averted her gaze from Fluttershy and looked over towards the new couple. “I swear to the goddesses if I wake up and find you two going at it, you’re both going to get a hoof up your asses. Understood?”
The pair just giggled as they slid around in their sleeping bag. “Whatever you say Queen Chrysalis,” joked Spike. This of course caused Rainbow Dash to giggle some more.
Cadence rolled her eyes and laid down in her own sleeping bag. ‘Dear goddesses, this is going to be a long trip.’
