The Gift of a Feather

"GO! DON'T LOOK! FLY!!!! DON'T LOOK BACK!! DON'T LOOK IN HIS EYES!!"

Running the down the line I violently shoved each of them in other the direction. One by one they each took off in flight; once every last one of them had caught on and lifted up and away I leapt off the ground myself and driving madly after them into the sky. With giant, hard pumps of my wings and rushing air roaring in my ears I ascended to the rest of group and we settled into a wide v-formation with me and Thunderlane in the center as we blasted through the night air just above the tree line. Scootaloo held to my neck for her life and Pipspeak held to her for his.

"NOBODY LOOK BACK!!!" I shouted to everyone. The arrangement settled into place so that Thunderlane was just to my right and beside him was Buddy and beside him was Clear Skies. To my left was Blossomforth, Merry May, and Whitewash respectively. "If you look directly into his eyes he'll kill you!!!"

"Ok that's bad!" remarked Thunderlane. "What's the plan?" he asked turning his head to me with crazy eyes while the rest of them following suit as my last declaration hit each of them like freight trains.

"Get these kids back to their families!" I cried over the wind, unable to look anywhere but straight ahead. Get them back at all costs; just keep flying and don't look back, regardless of what happens. Fear was devouring me so much that my vision seemed foggy, and in this darkness the only way I knew we were going in the right direction were the pitch-black outlines of the mountains going up on either side of us. "Don't fight him, don't look at him - just fly them out of here!!! Whatever it takes just don't give up!!"

"What if he attacks us???" screamed Buddy.

"He will. Just keep flying!!" I replied - it was inevitable but I was trying so hard not to think about it.

The panicked conversing stopped; we pushed forward with all that we could instead. I set everything I knew in life aside except flying straight ahead as fast as my body could possibly achieve while the icy air assaulted my exposed frame now that I didn't have a cloak to protect me. Considering I had already asked so much of my body to even get to this point, flying up here with those two on my back hadn't been an easy task. The extra weight on top of the resistance from arctic blasts of air made it such that almost instantly upon liftoff it was devastatingly clear as to just what I was going to have to put myself through to get them out of here.

All the more daunting was knowing white eyes of death followed just behind us. What really made Scootaloo and Pipsqueak so heavy for me of course was not their bodyweight; it was their feelings, their experiences, their memories, their hopes and dreams, their relationships, their futures... and not just those two, but everyone surrounding me along with their families, their friends, the princesses, along with of course the mare who made this all possible.

The degree of insurmountable pressure became clear as I knew I had only a few seconds to mentally prepare before he was sure to engage us. Though I couldn't intellectually comprehend everything that was happening - or everything that was about to happen - the unfathomable implications of everything hanging in the balance burned brightly in my subconscious as snow flurries whipped by my face in the darkness.

With looks in either direction I saw my terrified teammates fighting the exact same inner battle with the two scared and hopeful foals of their own clinging for survival. My entire life came down to this moment. If I didn't give every last bit of life and energy that I had left - if I left *anything* in this valley - then everything I've done in my time alive would have been in vain. As I locked myself into this fight to end all fights vowing to give my strongest resistance until my dying breath, my mind, body, and spirit ordered themselves solely around the six words that now defined my whole existence. I want to save them all...

"Come on guys!! ONE MORE TIME!" yelled Whitewash at the top of his lungs, flying slightly in front to look back at everyone. "We never dreamed we'd get this far - don't look back!!!"

"Just stay together!!" offered Blossomforth, with ferocious beats of her wings. "We're so close!"

"AHHH this wind sucks but I'm not giving up!!" shouted Thunderlane.

Then it came.

Oh Sonic... I told you - I'm not evil. Just natural.

In spite of all the noise his smooth, youthful voice penetrated far and clear into my head. It was clearly addressed to all of us since out of the corner of my eyes I could see my companions turning their heads up and around fearfully in response.

I'm just behind you.

"DON'T LOOK!" I screamed at them as some of them had started to turn their heads. The wind was forcing water out of my eyes when the gusts lined up squarely against my face.

I really must offer a counterargument to not looking behind, he continued - we had no choice but to hear every word. Granting Sonic's concern for the effect that looking back might have on your personal wellbeings, I might point out that all of you are already exhausted and you must realize that with two foals on your backs there's simply no way your bodies can make it back to your camp... and that's excluding my influences. So it would certainly save you some more meaningless discomfort. It may also be worth acknowledging that though refusing to visibly engage with me may make for less interesting of an interaction, I can assure you that in the short moment that you all did gaze up at me I took full advantage in getting to know each and every one of you as much as I could.

"Get out of my head!" wailed Whitewash while everyone else shook theirs in distress. Merry May and Buddy both screamed out loud and terror rattled down my spine.

Alright, fine... though I see my logic has not swayed you I would still like you to see me. Suddenly there appeared in front of us in midair just above eye level what looked to be a large mirror that he quickly stepped into, revealing his entire appearance to us with the tiny luminous spheres circling all around his being; the light from these star-like orbs reflected off the mirror so that everyone's face was faintly visible in the darkness - especially their eyes. We were flying as fast as we possibly could but he had to be following along behind us in the air. Though the mirror itself seemed to be stationary it always stayed in front of us at the same distance so it was as if he was at all times just hovering sinisterly while looking down on us. Now to fly away from him, we had to fly towards him.

On his purple stallion-like face with the two small fangs on his upper jaw was the same smug and indifferent expression I'd seen in the cave. Still holding it so steady he opened both palms arrogantly. Clear Skies... I must thank you for the most informative exposition on the elements of harmony I ever could have asked for - true to your name you cleared up what Sonic was not able to explain very well, he remarked with a comfortable smile of pure malice. The pink mare who despite everything had seemed to maintain an innocent fearlessness for this entire ordeal had now visibly succumbed to dread.

"Why are you doing this?!?" called Thunderlane to the image in the floating mirror.

"Don't talk to him!!!" I begged, fighting back against my wings that were increasing in soreness at a disturbing rate.

I say Sonic, it's rather difficult to refrain from speaking to me in these circumstances... you need not do so out loud, he sneered at me before his face turned squarely down on Thunderlane. From my point of view it's rather simple... what you believe is substantial I know is not, however for the purposes of explaining it to you, Thunderlane, I would merely maintain that our perceived hostilities are attributable to irreconcilable philosophical differences, though primarily the lack of intellectual capacity to comprehend them... on your part.

"Oh I see," retorted a disgusted Thunderlane who was confused at first but quickly made sense of the sophisticated sentence. "So us peasants are too stupid to be owed an explanation, is that it?" he shouted back in a display of incredible bravery and grit.

That's a surprisingly accurate summation...

"Try me!"

The white-eyed creature continued to stare ominously at him then seemed to smirk in reaction to something that Thunder must have thought in response.

My dear Thunderlane, I certainly can if you insist. By the way, I saw that you have some, shall we say, *astoundingly* intimate and sensuous feelings for Princess Luna. And also, more recently - oh, my... a female ice dragon? He placed his left claw on his face and shook his head in mocking laughter leaving Thunderlane wide-eyed and speechless. The shocked stallion looked stiffly in both directions and then shrugged mid-flight.

"Yeah, I got nothing."

"Seriously??" called Whitewash from across to him.

"She had the IQ of a coconut!!!" cried Blossomforth.

"I wasn't gonna do anything about it!" he offered defensively.

"GUYS!!!" I screamed.

As far as Princess Luna is concerned under different circumstances I might encourage you to pursue those aspirations, he chuckled. Having read her mind I can tell you that for a supposedly virtuous and angelic being she certainly harbored some strong jealousy and was in desperate need of some affection... as of a thousand years ago anyway. With regards to Queen Blizzard of the ice dragons however, I have seen some strange things in the minds of stallions especially... but this?

"Hey, you know what? I shouldn't have to take this from you!" Thunderlane barked back angrily. "You're just a random last-minute villain!"

Am I? he mused, not losing one shred of his own assurance as he stared down my treasured companion. Your bizarre passing fancies don't seem to bother you. Very truthfully, I can actually respect that. I do know your true weakness though. He's just to your left.

My head jerked upward in a gasp as I was slammed with dread. Just keep flying, Sonic... Just keep flying! I told myself in my fight back. My concentration began to shift as I started to anticipate an attack of some kind. Protect Scootaloo and Pipsqueak, and protect my team members... Whatever it takes, I thought, just get them through this. Rainbow please get me through this!!!

"My best friend is my weakness?" Thunderlane laughed. "You're insane!!"

You think you love your friends so much. That they're such a source of strength for you. They make you so happy. Well Thunderlane, I can assure you that your feelings for each other are quite mutual. Sonic is as fond of you as any I've ever observed and it would be a waste of time for me to attempt to lie about that. In reality I cannot deny you've all grown exceptionally close to one another.

I felt the eyes of everyone on me and the endearment between all of us seemed to glow especially strong in each of us, but what was deeply disturbing and surprising was the fact that not only did he seem to admit this with no reluctance whatsoever, it just seemed to empower him. Thunderlane looked in my direction and then felt especially brave.

"HA! You idiot!!!" he declared. "Now I'm even more motivated to kick your - "

Interesting... he interrupted with a malevolent grin that penetrated me to the core. What is he planning, I thought to myself. What is he going to do to us? Not knowing meant I couldn't prepare for it. As it turns out even if I did know I wouldn't have hoped to have ever been prepared for what did come next. You have been so eager and so quick to defend Sonic from your Wonderbolt counterparts, and he was quite appreciative. His head then seemed to turn to me, his reflection's cloudy white eyes looking directly at me and the cruelty in his expression becoming a little less subtle as he winked at me. Just between you and me, Sonic, I can tell you he is most certainly not ready for this...

"What?" I asked him though my words were a mere whisper in the roaring noises of flying and thundering through the valley. "NOT READY FOR WHAT?"

You see, Sonic and Thunderlane were close when they were colts until his parents moved him away from Cloudsdale. Of course this is also where he met his true love - the rainbow mare you all apparently know very well - and the two of them were quite romantically attached even as young foals. You think you live in a land of peace and harmony. What Sonic never got around to telling any of you is the unspeakable misfortune that happened to him right after he moved away from Cloudsdale. He's hidden his lasting scars from you all...

"NO!!!" I pleaded with all of my will. Thunderlane didn't know. None of them knew. "Don't tell them about that NOW!!!"

The team took this with worry and distress wondering where he could be going with this despite our efforts to keep forward in the wind. At the same time a particularly strong freezing gust abruptly blasted us from the side and almost sent us all into careening disarray and the aches in my wings and my body were getting stronger and utterly impossible to ignore. We fought to regain our balance in flight and then Thunderlane turned his gaze to me with a genuine fear growing by the second.

"Unspeakable misfortune? Sonic what is he talking about?" he asked me, and I couldn't even hardly look him in the eyes though the evil one's strong chuckling drew his attention back to him.

You are utterly oblivious to your new best friend's depressing history. Just as I couldn't lie to you about Sonic's affinity for you, neither can he lie to you now regarding what I am about to reveal to you....

"Stop it!!!" I shrieked.

That I cannot do.

"WHY NOT??" I screamed at him as my feelings took over. I frantically searched my mind for some kind of strategy to fight back and prevent this but I was totally powerless.

Do not ask me why, he snarled. His smugness had finally left his face in the form of merciless anger. I tried to have a conversation with you in the mountain but you wouldn't listen.... you can accept the worthlessness of your life, as your parents did - one of the few enlightened entities in this world - but I am not obligated to pretend that reality is anything but what it is.

All I could do was flap my wings. There was nothing else to do but flap my wings while thinking of everyone else.

When Sonic was a colt he was always eager to please his parents, but for reasons not known to him he began to notice they seemed to abandon all concern for him. For recourse he turned to you Thunderlane and of course to his foalhood hero and idol - his true love, the rainbow filly. And recourse he found a hundred times over in her affections. But then, when the two of them were reveling in the glory of their soaring friendship -

"Don't listen to him!!!" I begged them furiously, throwing my wild eyes in each direction at my horrified companions. "Just keep flying!!! For my sake it's not important!!!"

Sonic loved this filly as much as any colt could ever love anyone, he interrupted forcefully - at this point my eyes were closed and I was shaking my head violently to get the water out of them. One day his parents appeared and announced they were to leave Cloudsdale - including his rainbow filly - immediately and forever. They dragged him from her side as he wept bitterly and flew him to the far ends of the Equestria, and when he woke up the next morning in a dark forest... there was nothing but himself.

"WHAT?!?" muttered Thunderlane who swung his head in my direction and I watched as his expression grew from complete shock to totally brokenhearted. "What happened to his parents??"

They left him to die.

"No... That's not true!" he cried, shaking his head torturously. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!! NOT SONIC!!!"

It is true. Your cherished stallion was humiliated beyond your wildest nightmares and abandoned by his own parents...

"You're lying!!!" sobbed Blossomforth angrily. She then looked desperately to me for reassurance but when she found none I got a full view of the crippling misery that coursed its way through her. To her left Whitewash and Merry May exhibited identically gaping mouths of utter sadness and disbelief. I felt Scootaloo's face buried into my neck.

"How could they do that?!?" lamented a distressed and otherwise speechless Clear Skies, with Buddy's reaction mirroring Whitewash's.

Until this I'd been putting everything I had into overcoming the exterior challenges to get us all back, but now - as I looked at each one of these ponies I'd come to care for so passionately - I saw the lengths to which they were tortured all because of what happened to me. Thunderlane was so distraught he looked barely able to carry on.

This devastated your friend beyond what you can imagine. It left him broken and confused. When he and Rainbow had parted however the filly had gifted him with a single feather from her a wing without which he never would have made it through. That feather he guarded closely for these last ten years and that he only just now bestowed upon the orange filly on his back to prove that she is not merely a means to an end. Well Scootaloo, rarely do I ever misperceive reality but in this instance I admit it... this stallion is genuinely devoted to you.

Even through the chaos I heard her gasp; when I looked up I saw it was in reaction to what was now floating just above the open palm of his reflection's left claw. This is that very feather. But what a failure your vain existence was, Sonic. You went through so much pain... you waited ten years for your happy ending, only to come up just short. Maybe now you can finally understand. Then - in plain sight before everyone - the small blue feather that had been my only true comfort for ten years that I had freely gifted to Scootaloo... burst into flames.

For a moment it seemed like time itself stopped all throughout the universe with the weight of the whole world on my shoulders. I felt everyone and everything slipping away. Then the scariest thing of all; my roaring feelings both internal and external - from the devouring anxiety and thunderous noises to the aching muscle and shivering bones - were completely suspended. They fell all the way to zero until I was completely numb in all sensations. Tell me Thunderlane, based on how you feel right now... was it worth it? Looking at you and seeing your state of being, which truthfully is at this very moment as grim as I've ever observed... I'd be inclined to think not... It turns out you weren't prepared for what you thought you wanted. Perhaps it's not what you thought it was, friendship and compassion... But it can all end right now. The pain will go away forever. Just look back.

When I gazed over I saw on the outside what was tormenting him on the inside... and that was the experience of my parents leaving me. My body began to shake. Then like a volcanic eruption the numbness ceased instantly and all of my feelings came back a thousand times stronger. 10 years of buildup exploded out of me in a scream that seemed to reach the stars themselves.

The fatigue was severe and the suffering of my friends was crushing, but they - my gallant heroes - lit a flame of determination in me that suddenly blazed out of all control. I hadn't come this far to see them fall before my eyes.

My best buddy right beside me looked close to dropping from the sky or maybe even looking behind him, but he was at my faithful service.

I called to him, turning my body and flying right up beside him. I wanted to start by telling my brother that nothing that I've ever been through was worse than what he was going through right now with the rest of us, and - that though I would never in a million years ask him to have to endure it for my sake - he was handling it so courageously. But before I could say anything though my best friend's head suddenly thrashed upward towards our attacker with a ferocity that could've sent all of the other monsters in Equestria fleeing for their lives.

"I'm not looking back..." he declared tearfully, and the arrogance faded from our adversary's face who though calm was visibly taken back at the stallion's voice that got stronger with every word. "I've never felt worse in my life than I do right now. I don't know how I'm still here... but now that I've lived through that, now that I understand - I just love him that much more... and I'm glad you told me. In fact - GO AHEAD!! READ MY MIND!!!! READ THIS AND TELL ME I'M LYING!!!!"

The creature was taken aback and flashed a terrible wrath with clenched claws before snapping back to a calm laugh just as quickly. He snapped two of his talons and raised his claw into the air and a giant ball of white light erupted from it in a loud bang; it exploded into countless white stars that instantly surrounded us on all sides descending from the sky.

As they approached each one of us it was clear they were hostile and seemed to be either deathly cold or white hot - in a panicked terror and with no other choice I began dodging frantically, flying into a barrel role prompting the two foals on my back to scream. I dodged and dodged with flaps up and down and dramatic shifts in all directions as they sizzled past me with a few feeling like they'd scorched my body.

"Are you ok???" I screamed to the foals on my back as we emerged from this minefield and back into the snowy darkness.

"Yes!!!" replied Scootaloo.

It had devolved into an every-pony-for-themself moment but to my astonishment as I looked around I saw everyone else had seemingly made it through as well, foals and all - only now Thunderlane was just to my left and everyone else was to my right as the V formation had rearranged itself so that Blossomforth was now dead in in the middle with Merry May just to her right. That gauntlet had taken a toll on my wings which never felt heavier but everyone seemed energized at the sight of each other still moving forward; a thrilling rush that would ease the physical pain for just a few seconds before it would return in full force.

Blossomforth... muttered the glowing demon in our heads as the mirror containing his reflection appeared back out in front of us. I could barely see her in the snow and the faint luminescence from the stars that circled his being as emanated off the reflection onto her, but the white mare's eyes twinkled with a fear that I'd never seen in her as she flapped her wings in a wild frenzy.

You all know her as your strong, intelligent and unfazed team member... she certainly comes across so. She is aware of her own relative intelligence, but she's successfully concealed her tortured spirit as of late... she's not living up to her potential and she doesn't know how to fix her life, on top of that pesky self-consciousness. Of course there's many other things you don't know about her; for instance it never once occurred to you, Merry May, that Blossomforth has been quite conscious for a long while now that while you've doted and fawned over the filly on your back for many months now you seem to save very little affection for her, your actual sister... What does that say about you, Merry May? Does that filly give you something that your real sister cannot? Have you given up on Blossomforth?

Wrought with grief at this publication the crushed green mare turned to her sibling who shot her only a quick glance in return, which only seemed to embolden the reflection in the floating mirror who's eyes were locked on Blossomforth as she silently begged him to stop, and I had no idea what to do about it with my heart going out to both of them. You all may admire her confident decisiveness, but none of you know what's been tearing Blossom apart ever since you escaped the dragons' cave... and once again, your so-called kindness is to blame, Sonic.

My inner fire turned all it's attention to helping this mare. To his credit she was indeed the source of my profound admiration for her unfazed steadfastness and her many helpful observations, but more importantly she was underneath it all an ever-loving and empathetic friend.

She didn't turn her head to face me though - she just gasped as her expression went from utter desperation to heartbrokenness.

You see Sonic, Blossomforth has been fighting more battles then the rest of you for several hours now - the fate of these children isn't the only thing ripping her heart in torturous conflict; the other subject at the center is none other than you, my dear stallion. The sight of her closing her eyes and wiping them frantically with her hooves as she shook her head back and forth sent shockwaves down my spine.

When you were prisoners in the cave and the two of you hung beside each other in chains is when she truly invested herself in you for the first time... she gazed unchecked into the false hope that your deceiving eyes distribute so carelessly, and that was her downfall. You struck something deep within her and instantly and at once she adored everything about you in quite the romantic bliss, which she has been from that very moment been so determined to destroy knowing full well your heart belongs to someone else... but thus far it's been to no avail, and she is twisted and plagued at this very moment deathly afraid she will fail you all because she can't control these additional feelings weighing her down.

The entire time his voice was speaking he was glaring silently straight at her funneling as much malice into her as he possibly could, all of which overflowed straight into me. It was such a blast of negative feelings that I barely knew how to process it as never before had I been in any situation like this nor ever considered my appreciation for someone could be hurting them so much. The white mare meanwhile began to sway out of a straight line as she tried flying ahead with her front hooves covering both eyes.

She knows all too well... How could a stallion who is pledged to another make her feel so valuable and loved? It's such a powerful thrill, but for her it will never be quenched. She now desires you among all creatures to sire her foals, but everyone knows where your heart lies.... you will marry your mare and forget all about Blossomforth, and no stallion will ever live up to who she will always know was perfect for her... how could she ever be satisfied with someone else for as long as she lives? She has nothing left... but a miserable and lonely life ever aware of the unattractive and inferior specimen that she is...

Not for the world could I listen to this for another second. I barely knew what to do with this, but I what I did know I had to make clear to her as she reeled from one of the most devastating acts of psychological terrorism that any of us had yet endured. I threw myself across the line and stuck my face in hers, begging and pleading for her to listen to me.

He made her feel as horrible as anyone could ever feel, and he used me to do it; his implication was that because Blossom and I would never get married and have children that this somehow meant that our relationship - what I viewed as an incredible friendship - meant *nothing*. That it would soon fade. After all we'd been through even entertaining such a thought was not anything I could begin to process, nor anything I could ever let happen while I live.

"LOOK AT ME!" I demanded as we flapped wings beside each other. She turned to face me and I never saw a more piercing helplessness or a more desperate plea for something, anything that might console her. She felt as horrible as anyone in the world can feel, and I shared in all of it. "You look at me," I repeated.

She hesitated, ready to consider whatever I had coming; I knew that the salvation of both us hung in the balance, because if I couldn't convince her now it was likely over for me as well.

"None of that - and I mean NONE of it - is true," I stuttered, pouring myself out to her. "If you aren't a part of my life when this is over," I continued, hardly able to compose words - especially in the circumstances. I felt as strongly about her as she apparently did about me minus one aspect.

I had so much to say to her... about her courage and decisiveness, her powerful encouragement, how my appreciation and desires for her well-being are real and everlasting, and how I was so eager to see her go through life's experiences as we grow older together. But in this setting only my expression could do the talking and I could only hope that was enough... I spoke the truth as best I could.

"Look in my eyes and tell me this isn't real. TELL ME I DON'T NEED YOU IN MY LIFE!"

Wanting as desperately to believe me as I needed her to, she battled forward while she fought herself from within, eventually lowering her head.

"Blossom!" called Thunderlane, who was shaking his head back and forth to get the tears out of his own eyes. "If anything happens to you I'd probably commi - and you're *so* not ugly! Trust me!"

"You've been a rock of this team Blossom - everything I was too scared to be," called Whitewash to her as the support began to flood in from each team member. Merry May, her own sister, was in her ear opposite of me muttering fanatically her own private words of support and what had to be apologizing for her own perceived failures.

"YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING!" she finally screamed in a furious outburst at our adversary with more passion and ferocity than the storm we were flying through. "I may be young but I'm old enough to know that young mares have feelings they can't always control - that never last very long. Sonic and I love each other but I don't need to marry or have kids with him for us to have a friendship as deep and magnificent as the stars - and even if I am unattractive I would NEVER submit to a self-hating worldview like yours where I would give up on my wonderful friends and family over something like that!!!"

The floating creature in the floating mirror shook his head in either direction appearing to be greatly irritated with her rebuttal which he attempted to hide through a dismissive smirk. His irritation turned to self-indulgence as though he had the perfect answer to her, and suddenly the luminous balls rotating around his being once began to increase in speed and luminosity and he rose both of his palms high into the air. They began to absorb and emit some kind of terrible energy which was undeniably a precursor to a catastrophic attack.

Though it felt as though time stood still as all of our hopes and dreams hung in the balance, I saw out of the corner of my eye Blossom's head turn downward.

"Follow me!!!!" she cried before she impromptu nose-dived into the forest below us.

Almost involuntarily I felt my body fall downward after her as she disappeared below the treeline - I lost her almost instantly but began weaving my way in and around the sea of pine trees as other team members began to quickly cross me from every direction before they disappeared into the trees - with each pass we flashed each other our own terrified and exhilarated expressions as we criss-crossed midair through the forest.

At first, as I settled into this new strategy it seemed like a brilliant escape considering we'd escaped the draining sight of our opponent with his endless torrent of discouragement as we passed what felt like two or three pine trees a second; it very quickly however took an indescribable toll on my already-ravaged body as the effort that went into weaving in and around the trees and up and under my own teammates quickly.

Then - at once and without any warning - a large tree directly in front of me burst into flames. In an instant were surrounded by blinding orange light and deafeningly loud explosions on all sides as pine trees all around us began to disintegrate in towering infernos that seared my body numb from the cold. Scootaloo and Pipsqueak screamed as fear raged through me despite my best efforts. Just keep flying, I told myself as I thought of Rainbow and played images of their smiling faces in Ponyville through my head. Keep trying for their sake Sonic!

Flying through the trees was not an option anymore. Though my wings begged and pleaded me not to, my spirit fought back as I dug deep into my last reserves to lift us out back into the sky above. Looking frantically in either direction for my beloved friends as I rose I saw each team member ascending back into the driving snowstorm with me with two foals on their backs. Everyone looked significantly more exhausted as our traumatized faces traded incredulous glances; the tip of Thunderlane's tail was now pitch black, Whitewash's coat was scarred in certain areas, and the others had what appeared to be some burn marks on their hides and wings... but the foals looked unharmed, and somehow... every one us was still flying forward.

Whitewash was now in the middle as the team settled back into a line as most of them were to my left with just Merry May and Clear Skies to my right. The debilitated and worn-out stallion for whom every flap was a struggle was perfectly representative of every one us as he defiantly plowed ahead in the face of every force in the universe working against him. Just keep flying Sonic... just keep flying... Opening my eyes and looking in front I saw White Eyes hovering still in his mirror gazing on with a calm hatred. I wasn't sure but it seemed like he was not surrounded by as many tiny stars as he'd been before.

"We're so close! Don't give up! I promise! I PROMISE NOT TO!" Whitewash cried to each of us as he thrashed his head in both directions.

Well, if it isn't the mighty Whitewash, who from the very first instance I spoke has been dreading the moment I expose his pathetic facade to the rest of you like a schoolyard filly watching her web of lies come crashing down... Why else do you think he was been so quiet?

The white stallion who up to this point had never shown the slightest glimpses of fear in his life lifted his head to the mirror with nearly the identical one Blossomforth had only a short moment ago, reduced to the most helpless and depressed existence imaginable as he stared down his worst nightmare.

Whitewash, as you all well know, has sought hard to see himself as an indomitable rebel with his intimidating anger and merciless shoulders. But what many of you somehow don't know is that he's merely nothing more than an insecure and self-pitying little colt who hates his mother and father.

You see, Whitewash is at the center of some family drama uncharacteristic for much of the rest of Equestria. Much like you Sonic, Whitewash enjoyed a loving home in his earliest years. But to his great disappointment and bewilderment these last few his mother and father's empathy for each other has waned to the point of non-existence. Despite his steadfast attempts and wholehearted investments into saving their marriage and the home life for his dear colt brother, the vitriol between his mother and father has only increased to the point that it is now a matter of time before their impending split becomes a public affair. Deep down Whitewash knows he himself is to blame for his own and his brother's woes...

The stallion who had yet refused to stop flapping his failing wings closed his eyes and lowered his head as he flew blindly into the driving storm. With what little strength I had left all of it was now spent suffering with this brave, reeling older brother at the center of everyone team members' grieving eyes.

Your so-called 'toughness' is just a cover for your own failures, isn't it Whitewash? Sonic - who has so longed to understand you - could've shared a thing or two about his own parent-induced hardship... but you repeatedly hardened your heart against him and anyone who tried to show you any kindness.

With this the ailing older brother opened his water-filled eyes gave himself up totally with a fling of his head directly towards me.

"I am so sorry!!" he wailed hysterically as he shook his head back and forth. I heaved myself over to him and put my own sobbing face directly in front of his.

"You are my hero!"

Just as you failed you to save your own family, so too will you fail to save your foals and your friends. You are nothing but a sad, confused, insecure little boy who understandably fails to make sense of a world that has been so cruel to him...

With this the stallion's face and eyes began to drift slowly back towards the direction of the mirror in front him as he began to seethe.

"The only villain in my life... is YOU!!!" he fired back. "I'm done feeling sorry for myself. My brother believes in me. My friends believe in me. These kids believe in me. I believe in me. The only one here who doesn't is YOU!!!"

Suddenly the mirror in the sky disappeared, and shooting straight up in front of us was none other than White-eyes in the flesh taking the place of his own reflection. He glimmered in the night sky like a dark angel amidst the sea of snowflakes, always staying directly in front of us despite a lack of any visible movement as we pushed ahead. His white wings which he was not using began to glow dark blue as they stretched out and quickly became huge.

When I see you lying dead in the snow I'll remember which one of us was right... His once again raised and tilted his palms upward; his claws began to glow with intense electricity that grew with every second accompanied by a increasingly loud and terrible sound while the rest of his body gleamed in a mystical ecstasy. His being seemed to be drawing a prodigious energy to his claws from his surrounding orbs. He was booming so bright it was like an exploding star and with no regard whatsoever every single one of us gazed straight into this white death as we anticipated the impending destruction.

"SHIELD THE KIDS!!!" I heard Whitewash's voice bellow.

"KEEP FLYING!!!" screamed Thunderlane before the building energy drowned out all other noise in what had already been an incredibly loud environment.

Both of his claws shot high into the air. Blinding light erupted forth from each in the form of hyper charged lightning bolts that began to flash by us in all directions amidst thunderous roars. Seeing nothing but flashing lights I tried futilely to dodge them but they were too many and too fast - I turned my body to protect Scootaloo and Pipsqueak and almost instantly the first one hit my neck, immediately followed by another to my back left leg.

Electrical currents surged up and down my spine as my muscles convulsed violently and my skin began to smoke. Initially I fought to fly forward but the pain throughout my whole body was so great that it felt like I was briefly separated from it and I actually saw myself falling from the sky as I endured the shocks. Coming to at the last second I somehow spread my wings to keep us off the ground before my hooves scraped the snow and I collapsed belly-down into the snow.

....

...

...

...

Somehow I was still conscious. Barely conscious, but conscious nonetheless. I knew I was lying in the snow. I knew the electric shocks and convulsions had stopped, but my body screamed in the worst physical discomfort I'd ever experienced from the fight to get this far at a level that was nearly as severe as when the lighting was coursing through me. The heartache, the weakened spirit. I had no tears left to shed.

Dreamy images of Rainbow Dash with the sun at her back and Scootaloo at her side were my perceived reality. Both of them appeared so happy together, until they looked up and longed for me to join them. Yet they were so far away. How much I'd love to be with you right now, resting under your wings, I thought to the mare. Seeing Scootaloo's face reinforced a powerful sadness. Somewhere inside I knew that brave and glorious angel was not yet safe. No matter what happens... no one can take away what we had. They disappeared, and the cold started to set in.

Without moving a muscle I tried feeling around for it. Maybe in mane. Or maybe I was on top it. The feather, that is. That's when I remembered. Oh... right. The feather wasn't something I kept on the outside anymore. Deep down, that feather was still in here. The flame was almost extinguished. But an ember still burned. Don't let it die... I heard within me. I remembered everything, from the revelations about my friends to their steadfast resistance to dodging the attacks, and then finally the lighting that struck me down here. Then... a foreign and unfriendly voice invaded. I laid low the royal guards of old with that assailment, how did they manage to survive? pondered the voice angrily. And they protected the children... At least I will get use of out of them now.

Despite lacking the ability to act my heart suddenly cried out with a dire need to know the state of the rest of my company. While I opened my eyes I somehow found the strength to lift my head straight ahead out of the snow, with two foals especially on my mind. It was extremely dark but I saw the silhouettes of Scootaloo and Pipsqueak, and with a few more breaths their grave state of being seemed to almost improve at the sight of my looking up at them. They were alive, and didn't appear to be hurt. In spite of everything I knew that that was good. I looked into their eyes. How deep and gorgeous they were. We had already accomplished the impossible on account of those eyes.

But they were so sad. I remembered that look. I had it ten years ago. They deserve better. So much better. That was a much greater tragedy then the ravenous afflictions consuming my body. Resting my face back in the snow I prepared to lift myself up. I don't know what's gonna happen, Rainbow. But I'm still alive, and I'm going try to my very best.

The first attempt was in vain and my limbs barely moved. Get up... get up... A second more concerted effort and I got my legs underneath me. I pressed against the snow - it was a slow process but I staggered upward to the utter resentment and bewilderment of the rest of my body. Out of the corner of my eye was something large laying right beside me. A turn of my head revealed Whitewash waking up in a similar fashion. The mere sight of him instantly gave the ember within me a little more strength as he began to attempt to lift himself up.

A glance across revealed a similar scene unfolding with all of the others and their two foals, with groans and sighs coming from my team members who were too tired to make any words. Amidst my long and focused breaths in my mind there was only one thing to do... get the foals onto our backs and continue onward.

You are such a waste of time and energy... suddenly remarked the voice of the the foreign invader. In a world where I can freely assail you like this, where is your self-pity? How can you not ask why? White-eyes appeared, lowering in a hover just out in front of us with his namesake squarely on me. I briefly noticed directly above him were the same two shadowy equine figures after which I turned my head and looked down at Whitewash's hooves.

"I do ask why. Why do you hate us so much? What did we ever do to you?"

There was a long pause before pause before he replied. In the lengthy meantime I simply inhaled and exhaled hard and slow with my eyes closed. Because you believe in a lie... that your life matters in a universe with so much pain... and a universe that is set directly against you.

"It can't be," I uttered quietly. That one hurt. I thought I had no tears left to cry, but I was wrong. Bleeding on the inside and outside I was aided only but significantly at the sight of my friends pulling themselves out of the snow along with Scootaloo's innocent face standing just behind me.

And how do you figure? I have seen thousands of hearts... yours all suffer more now than any I have ever seen. You were specially chosen for the greatest failure of all time. The weight on the whole world is on your shoulders.

"Because I still have my feather."

Your feather is ash in the wind...

"No," I declared, as Whitewash put his shoulder directly next to mine in a show of solidarity. I wanted to look directly at White-eyes so he could see how strongly I believed, but knowing I couldn't I looked at all of my friends instead so they instead could see it along with the blameless children that I sought so passionately to save from worse than my fate. "My feather is immaterial, and it belongs to Scootaloo, Rainbow, and every pony that you see here. I figure because I have them in my life who are good and wonderful and deserve everything I give them, and because they make me so happy."

He scoffed at my response with dismissive laughter. You are completely delusional, not to mention insufferable, he then hissed harshly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him hovering towards me with purpose, quickly closing in on me. Look at me... he demanded.

"We will not look," I responded feebly, taking more deep breaths as he approached. As I shut my eyes altogether I suddenly felt his slender but huge ice-cold claw wrapping around the front of my neck. I'm afraid you are now obligated to join my collection since you have wasted so much of it. You should know that one characteristic about my appearance is that I take on the features of the latest pony I've added to it - this stallion was quite handsome, wasn't he? Thus after more consideration I resolve I shall have to save you for last, as it was my intent when we first met to meet the royal sisters with your head on my shoulders... but now I think I may have to find your rainbow mare first instead assuming she's still alive.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" sobbed Scootaloo fiercely to him. "You are such a coward!!!"

I am no coward. Cowards fear... I do not fear him in the slightest, he quipped coldly. The grip around my neck tightened and I realized he had Whitewash in his other claw. He lifted both of us upward as I felt the air I fought to draw into my lungs decreasing. After more deliberation however, maybe I'll end your life you right now in front of every one of them instead... that will surely be enough for them, and I'll absorb their life and become the most superior being in the cosmos by my own intelligence. But before you go, my dear Sonic, there is one little secret of mine that I think you will find especially interesting. He paused while his claw squeezed my neck tighter, as his voice drew to it's lowest tone. I will have you know... that this... my claw on your neck, the way it is right now... this is the means in which I -

Suddenly my neck was free. Without warning he unexpectedly released me, casting me into the snow along with Whitewash as the two of us gasped for breath. Scootaloo and the other foals surrounded me as Blossomforth, Merry May, and Thunderlane lumbered towards us as well. My body quaked with every cough as my face absorbed snow that melted on-contact into an ice cold drip.

"You'll wish you hadn't done that," growled the demon in the other direction, but unlike any other time he had ever spoke this was through his mouth rather than in the form of a mind-to-mind communication. His actual voice lacked completely the subtly and smoothness of his other voice. Instead it was much deeper and rougher and altogether monstrous.

"Sonic!" the filly screamed to me separately.

"Scootaloo," I repeated in a faint whisper as I searched for strength from that ember deep down. I'm not giving up... When I got my breath under control many foals along with Thunderlane, Blossomforth and Merry May helped Whitewash and I to our hooves as we repeated the process of standing up, this time inviting Scoot and Pip onto my back. The lot of us gave each other a final embrace.

Clear Skies and Buddy must have done something when Whitewash and I were being choked as when I turned around I saw my two friends shaking in utter terror as they were stared down, though they intelligently weren't gazing up at him directly. Now that I could observe him from the back and therefore without fear of his eyes the creature now clearly had less of those tiny stars emanating from his being, which I found curious despite too tired to make anything of it.

"Leave them alone," I called weakly to him. I hope that I was as grateful for their incredible courage on my behalf as anyone in the world could be. He turned around and I saw his expression for the briefest moment before I glanced away into the snow. He looked good and long at me with Scoot and Pip on my back me with utter shock and confusion.

What are you doing? asked his usual mind-reading voice intently, noting them on my back.

"We're taking these kids back to their families," I answered slowly, not knowing what else to say.

You... are... not... serious... he replied incredulously. You are not about to attempt to fly... you have no reserves left. You shouldn't even be alive, you won't make it off the ground.

With several long, concentrated breaths I shook my wings out. They ached worse than anything I could put into words and in many ways flying back into the sky and icy wind was the last thing I wanted. But they seemed to have gotten just enough rest for one final run whether they could handle it or not.

"I am serious," I uttered in reply, motioning at the two ponies in front him who I disregarded completely. "Everyone mount up... Get the kids and let's get out of here."

It was of course obvious to me and all of us that there was a host of attacks or actions that he could levy against us at any moment and it was entirely possible if not likely we wouldn't even make it into the sky at all, but I tried my hardest to suppress the fear and stay focused on them. He kept staring at us as if to see if we were actually going to fly away.

With a few more breaths I turned up and peered back through the darkness at my team members as their foals climbed up on their backs and we prepared what we knew and to be our final attempt to enter the skies once again. They looked much different now on the outside then they did when we all gazed into each other not long ago, before our epic battle with this foe appeared.

In reality the lighting attack had robbed us of most of what we had left. Deep down the confidence was gone and doubt was present despite our best attempts to subdue it. But the resolve was exactly the same as before. Just as we could not believe that we had made it that far and our connection to each other seemed to be at a level impossible to ever raise again, so much moreso were these true at this time. All I could think about was how proud I was of them, and how inspired. I hoped Rainbow would be proud of me, and deep down I knew she would be, and I knew she was. As long as I kept fighting.

Right before he spoke again is when it started to hit me. I was exhausted to the point of being delirious with slowed thoughts but a few more deep breaths in the company of my friends and it occurred to me that we had to be close, as in the valley's entrance had to be near based on the ground we'd covered. We'd made it this far. We were still alive - every single one of us. But most importantly, we were *close*.

"What are you... DOING?" our opponent bellowed ferociously.

His disbelieving growl injected a large dose of fear into me but it was just the kickstart I needed to conquer the impossible lift off.

"COME ON!"

With a savage press off from the ground I beat my wings in defiance of the excruciating response. While my limbs and muscles screamed in violent protest the noise quickly grew to deafening levels when we met the gales above ground. The only source of light in the valley - the countless lives he held hostage - was behind us, but with our ascent into this dark blizzard the valley was lit with affection, fear, sadness, disbelief, courage, passion, dreams, awe, appreciation, hopes... Maybe I'll never see Rainbow again. Maybe we'll all be annihilated by another lighting attack only seconds away. But as long as we breathed we were going to keep trying.

Take off was extremely challenging for everyone. There was nothing I could do to ease the anguished cries of my teammates; lifting my eyes upward I searched diligently for the stars - the infinite expanse of snowflakes was going to have to suffice though I knew they were just beyond. Scootaloo and Pip were getting heavier and heavier, but if they weren't on my back I never would have made it this far.

Just keep flying... I told myself repeatedly knowing he'd be right us. As the wind and cold raged once more against my whole existence and though I was apparently - as he stated - the most miserable creature who ever lived, I ultimately wanted nothing more than to to keep giving it all right back with ten times the force it was throwing at me. But not just against him.

More than anything I wanted to rage against doubt itself. The possibility that we might not make it back. The thought that I might not give every last bit of myself for my heroes. The very idea that Rainbow's feather, the extraordinary sacrifices of my friends, and the unspeakably beautiful children on our backs were anything less other than of infinite value. That they were nothing but a means for him to advance himself.

If anything in life was clear it was that these ideas and the forces that advanced them hated me. And as much as they hated me, I realized that I hated so much more. Because I *love* Rainbow. I *love* my friends. And I *love* the lost children of the world, which I was once one. This is my whole identity and indeed my entire being - and in this dark hour, with the help of my feather and whatever the cost... I'm going to save them all.

One more time across the line... Scootaloo. Pipsqueak. Thunderlane. Blossomforth. Whitewash. Merry May. Buddy. Clear Skies. Each of their foals.

With what life I had left I sought to fight the icy gusts resisting my advancement with one hundred times the power they tried to throw at me. Then suddenly out in front of us he shot up into the sky with a purpose. You thought a feather was going to save the world... Wasting no time he pointed his claws directly at me and tiny orbs of brilliant blue shot out from each one rapid fire.

*RATATATATATATATATAT*

This barrage of supercharged bullets pounded me repeatedly straight in the chest and the face with several hits a second. Each one had an evil will of its own feeling like the crack of a soaked whip that attacked my body's traces of reserves much like the lightning had. I raged on, and despite my absolute best effort I began to fall from the sky once more when Thunderlane flew in front and took the barrage of bullets.

A phenomenal surge of gratitude... my descent stopped.

Thunderlane fell to my side, but Blossomforth took his place to receive them. Merry May took her sister's bullets, and Whitewash hers. Clear Skies and finally Buddy received theirs willingly as well. Then the attack stopped.

We were, according to him, the most miserable ponies in the world seconds from death. But in those few seconds we were still flying.

You are all within an inch of your life... one more attack will suffice. When I exit this valley my first course of action will involve Rainbow and the Princesses. After that, I shall be going straight to your families and telling them all how you offered the me the children to save yourselves. Then I'll add their hopeless souls to my collection and everything any of you have ever done in your lives will have been in vain.

The sheer willpower it took to stay airborne and keep pressing forward came at the expense of not being able to think critically; I finally realized that when White Eyes made the remark about my joining his collection he must have meant that it was my own life that he sought to add as he had tried to in the mountain - and the tiny lights surrounding him were the souls of ponies he had previously claimed.

However - the critical fact of the matter is that this also meant every attack he leveled against us was apparently power he couldn't get back, made clear in that we had "wasted" his collection. Which meant not only were we nearing the valley's exit, if we could just somehow survive a few more of his powerful assaults...

When my face exploded at this shattering revelation I immediately gasped at another equally shocking spectacle; directly in front of us now were the outlines of two giant monstrous clouds in the form of the two ponies that had haunted my hoofprints more than any on Earth not named Rainbow - my parents. The two clouds had their distinct features, only now their joyless and indifferent eyes were pure white to go along with sharp canines.

With the reality of their appearance was I wasn't sure if they were deliberately created using the images in my own memory or my own hallucinations. A quick glance at a few of my teammates' visible reactions to them confirmed it had to be the former. It inevitably drudged up the memory of their joyless faces disappointed with my very existence precluding their final solution for me. But regardless of whether or not they were or my own creation I was going to rage against their apathy and doubt.

You will never move on from it, he snarled to me. There was now open and unfiltered rage in his voice that lacked any subtlety. It had become apparent he was losing all patience and was no longer enjoying what he had been treating as a game of cat-and-mouse. Above the two evil clouds of faces resembling my parents, the shadowy outline of the two equine beings loomed above and behind them, figures much smaller than the ones right in front of us. If Zecora and Rainbow Dash couldn't free you from it, nobody can. You will NEVER heal from their most intelligent decision to abandon you.

I HAVE moved on, I fired back, unable to say anything out loud anymore. I AM moving on! I can't control what you or my parents choose to do to us. But you'll never take my feather and I'll never stop giving it to those that need it. As if to mock my response the two evil figures opened their mouths with demonic laughter and flames of war poured out from their gaping mouths in the forms of countless white fireballs. Though it didn't seem like I had the energy or capability to speak I had to somehow muster the strength to let everyone else know that our efforts meant everything.

"HE'S LOSING POWER!!!" I blasted out at the top of my lungs before I had to struggle to not to fall out of the sky as I began to fall when I made the sacrifice to yell this.

Regaining myself just in time the unfriendly flaming spheres quickly encircled us on all sides. When we began to attempt the necessary flying maneuvers to avoid them we soon discovered they were actually like small heatseeking bombs; as they neared they turned inward that upon detonation sent vigorous powerful waves of force and heat that seared my fur in several locations.

Scootaloo and Pipsqueak clamped their mouths onto my mane. Bright flashes, thunderous booms and burning hot air blasted me from every direction as we danced around the sky for our lives in a terrified daze. Up, down, sideways, twirling... every flash and boom in my face was like a shrapnel of stress and trauma as every last part in my entire being raged in maximum overdrive to protect the foals on my back. This continued for several seconds - some of the longest and most taxing few seconds of my entire life as the amount of effort and focus that it took to escape with only minor burns to myself was indescribable.

Then my parents disappeared.

No pony could have endured th- IT'S NOT POSSIBLE! he hissed furiously.

Against all odds everyone had made it through alive. Though he undoubtedly did not mean to concede anything to us, whether he liked it or not he knew that what we were achieving was beyond extraordinary. Every single one of us. Nothing we ever do for each other will ever be in vain,, I told him from inside.

Searching madly in front of us I hoped and prayed for any sign of the entrance. Lo and behold far some distance ahead through a lighter snow the black outline of the mountains seemed to be closing off in front of us, though they weren't close enough.

A feeling that I'll never experience again swept over me when I realized the implications of what might be if we could just last a few more seconds and the hope and confidence that we could just possibly make it through this came roaring back. The sudden reality was not only was he using large amounts of power that he could never get back but we were nearing the valley entrance that had just come into visible contact a ways in front of us. Everything we'd been through - the fear and doubt stretching back to childhood up to the inconceivable difficulties of this mission - would all be worth it. We weren't just going to save the children. We were going to save the world.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER LET US TAKE OFF AGAIN YOU SON OF A - " screamed Thunderlane.

"I SEE THE ENTRANCE!!!" cried out the voice of Blossomforth.

"WE'RE ALMOST THERE!!!" encouraged Whitewash hysterically.

Each one was getting their last words in at the climax of our lives.

Every second that now passed by that we continued to soar through the driving winds was itself an impossible accomplishment as we pushed our bodies beyond the ultimate extreme. We had to clear the giant black trench at the front of valley, and what came after that no one knew. It was now abundantly clear that we were reaching our final moments in air as there was simply no way that we could survive more than one or two attacks at the most before we crashed to the ground with nothing left no matter how badly we wanted it. But we flew with the confidence that each and every one us was going to proceed with a determination that the world has never seen, all on account of each other.

Our attacker's fury was growing exponentially. His put-downs and derision had ceased while he searched indignantly for anything he could throw at us. He didn't seem to in any way expect us to survive his last attack and though I couldn't at that moment see him I could feel him; his raw hatred had been unleashed and draped all around us like invisible black smoke.

You are quite right, Buddy... he suddenly snarled. You have wasted your entire life in irrational fear of the most minuscule affairs, he taunted. He had apparently identified current the weakest link and was going to try to exploit it as he had done with nearly everyone else, attacking the stallion for something that he'd been struggling with but wasn't known to the rest of us. Attempting to look over to see the green stallion who was the latest object of his contempt - the stallion who had conquered all of his said fears - it was impossible for me to see the internal impact it was having on him as were putting our all of our souls into staying airborne in the face of the mighty valley winds and our failing wings.

The guilt that has racked you for the better part of this mission, hasn't it? The realization that this valley has rendered your lifetime fears to be totally in vain and that every major life decision you've ever made was wrong because you were too afraid to do the right thing... You can't take back the times you've failed to manage your irrational fears and indecisiveness nor the misery that will accompany you for the rest of your life because of it. Now the foals entrusted to you will freeze to death.

Another devastating blast of energy from his claws.

But we refused to die.

I didn't have the strength to say anything to Buddy over the screaming noise but I put everything I had into flying close to him. In my own heart I regretted many things, starting with my continuous doubt that I was ever worthy of Rainbow's love and the amount of energy I wasted self-loathing after the abandonment - energy I could have put into loving my friends. However if I had anything to say to Buddy, it was that we can't change the beginning or the middle, but we can change the end. If I didn't have the power to tell him directly as I bent all my last energy on moving forward, I would at least fly as close as I could in the hope he could feel my willing his good and support. As I did that I realized that every pony now surrounded him.

You have romantic feelings for the least intelligent pony I believe I have ever engaged, the imbecile right beside you... continued the voice. NOT CLEAR SKIES!! I thundered back as I grimaced through this physical inferno; my wings were liable to detach from my body at any second and send Scoot, Pip and I hurling to the ground. Whereas with the others I at least still had the ability to offer some verbal and emotional support when they faced his assaults, now we were at a point where we couldn't say anything to help these two when they needed it most.

Clear Skies... you have the intellectual capabilities of a FOAL! While it is obvious to Blossomforth that Buddy feels stronger about you than anyone else in his life - having way less exposure to the signals as you have - you have remained ignorant of this right up until just now, even though you may in fact return his feelings if you would but spend a little more time in thought about it. You have contributed the least of any team member, and you will never be more than a dim-witted weather pony with a simplistic enthusiasm for the elements of harmony of which you are a LESSER-BEING...

"LIAR!" screamed an enraged Buddy, an emotion I never thought I'd use to describe him.

He's so wrong Clear Skies, I told her from the inside as now I could barely put my thoughts into words though I remembered her kindness when she and Buddy came over to my house with Thunderlane to console me after the incident that sprained Rainbow's wing in Ponyville for which I was framed. No one believed me at first, not even Blossomforth... but you always did. You came to my house and believed me when no one else would. Being smart doesn't mean anything if you use to it put others down. You're one of the friendliest and pure-hearted mares I have ever met, and that's how I choose to remember you!

"Sonic look out!!!" Scootaloo suddenly shouted in my ear.

Now there was swirling straight in front of us and a giant and malevolent tornado much like the one guarding the entrance of White-eyes' domain under the mountain, although unlike before this one appeared to be born from a hatred that was increasing exponentially with every second. It seemed like I was just going to fly straight into it since I definitely didn't have the strength or ability to stop and hover or try to fly above it. If it had the strength of the one I'd flown into before it was sure to scatter us all throughout the valley, and it appeared to have ten times the power.

But Clear Skies dipped down and Buddy followed directly behind her with both of them now flying right towards it at an angle. The slightest idea or comprehension of what was happening I lacked completely but I got in line right behind the green stallion. Soon the rest of the team trailed me in single file as we all put our faith and hope in the pink mare knowing what she was doing. Our lives were in their wings.

Watching nothing but Buddy's rear for guidance we leveled out near the ground and changed direction slightly - approaching the tornado from the side before flying directly into the outside of it's vortex with it's rotation. We entered the terrifying swirl. Following Clear Skies' lead Buddy tilted his inside wing down, and with what I had left I spent trying to copy his every move. The icy cyclone lifted my wings and shot us forward and around, but Buddy tilted his body he launched out of it towards our final destination. In perfect harmony I tilted my wings to create the same effect, and somehow... it worked. Thunderlane quickly popped out behind me with Blossomforth coming next, Whitewash following her and Merry May after him.

I BELIEVE!! I screamed internally. WE'RE DOING IT!!! I'M NOT GIVING UP!!!

We were now only a feet above the ground as the black silhouettes of the mountains in front of us began to tower higher and higher above us. My wings began burn as though they were being blowtorched point blank by the mouth of a dragon as I offered them every last ounce of support the rest of my body could possibly give while the universe's center of pure malice and ill-will was growing to the size of a mountain just behind us as we left him behind.

I BELIEVE IN THEM!! I BELIEVE IN MY FEATHER!!!!!

A twisted but altogether desperate laughter that had lost all sanity or rationality shook the entire valley to it's core. I don't care if I void all my earthly power and use every last worthless life I've thus far acquired! If I must send myself back to the very beginning and spend the next hundred or thousand years collecting souls to regain my current status I shall do it if it means fulfilling the only objective I now have at this time...

The demon roared with many times the force and vengeance then the one that led to the avalanche that had buried us all.

"DEEEAAAATH!!!" spewed forth from his mouth.

Every inch forward now was for Scootaloo running out to face White Death herself in the cave. Every time that Thunderlane made me laugh. For when Whitewash came back. For when Blossomforth spoke up for us. For when Clear Skies and Buddy came to my house to comfort me. For every encouraging glance from Merry May. For every time I failed to be a better friend. For every lost foal in need of a feather. For their families that needed them home. For Zecora, who took me in as her own and will always be real mother. And for the filly who made all of this possible one evening ten years ago.

Consciousness faded; my mind slipped away while I poured out my last traces of life to last the final few seconds. Somewhere behind us the same hideous sound of intensifying electricity that we'd heard before his devastating onslaught of lighting began manifesting itself once more while mystical white gleams lit up the valley bright enough to see with my eyes closed.

He harnessed every last bit of power he had to launch his final and supreme attack. I felt the tips of my hooves brushing the snow and images of my entire life playing through my head.

It all flickered by so fast - childhood, moving to Ponyville and meeting Rainbow, reconnecting with her and Thunderlane, befriending the Scootaloo and the other 5 team members, telling Rainbow about my parents, hearing about the lost foals... and everything that happened here in the valley.

Finally... a long and lasting image of the filly's longing eyes while she plucked it from her wing.

Then placed it in my hooves.

I love Rainbow... I love Scootaloo... I love all of my friends... and I love my feather...

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In the far north of Equestria just west of the northern plains there laid a dark and narrow valley wedged between two mountain ranges.

The valley was a place of severe arctic climate, foul creatures, and the most insidious entity in the world... a land where no pony had ever previously dared to venture, if only in their most haunting nightmares.

On this night, a great host from across the land in waited breathlessly in darkness. Mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles stood together in the bitter cold with a legion of support.

Just before dawn as hope was fading, a silence hung over all the land.

Tucked away in the mountains' gate under the cover of its towering cliffs, there laid together in dreamless sleep seven pegasus in the hushed shadows.

With each that rested peacefully there, two cold and grieving foals nestled their tender heads into this devoted protector who left the luxury of their own home to enter willingly into this nightmare that they may be brought back.

One filly was as broken as any as she wept inconsolably into her eternal advocate.

From the moment he entered into her life his interest in her wellbeing was unparalleled... her joys were his joys, and her sorrows were his sorrows.

He was matched only by her longtime idol, who so happened to be his.

The nightmare he freely endured for her was unexplainable and unfathomable; a mystery that overwhelmed her whole being.

For what started off as a romance between himself and his first love had been transformed into a romance between themselves and the whole world.

Their appreciation for each other was so strong and their inspiration so deep that it would never be contained to just two ponies.

Far from taking away from what this mare and stallion had, this added to it so profoundly that its extent could never adequately be described in the boundaries of this dimension.

The filly was touched by love's pure light... the living eyes of he who believed with all of his heart in the value of her being and whose investments in her were immeasurable.

The stallion who lifted his dying head from the snow, but upon looking at her did raise himself up.

But his glowing appraisals of his dearest companions is not a figment of his imagination... it is real, for all that laid with him shared as intimately in his glory and gleamed as bright with regal beauty.

His spirit craved desperately the very best for his friends and his great hero... The more he gave to them, the more he had.

Until he had nothing left to give.

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"Sonic..."

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"Sonic..." whispered the raspy voice. It was softer than a night breeze, coated with sweetest affection.

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"Sonic," it repeated gently in the silence.

This time, the stallion stirred.

"Here I am," he replied.

He couldn't see anything. He was barely conscious. But light and warmth were both present.

"It's time to come home. There is a place prepared for you with me. All of our friends will be there."

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*Inhale*

*Exhale*

One deep breath. Followed by another. Slowly the stallion's surroundings began to come back. Darkness still hung. But for the distant winds it was quiet. The ground was cold and hard as was the air. His entire body was sore except his back, which was numb. But two small ones were cuddled into his chest. He sensed that they were suffering. His soul descended to embrace their sorrow and share in it, that he might relieve them. His head moved downward and welcomed their warmth, returning theirs with his own.

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"S-S-Sonic?"

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He knew that voice. Suddenly her pain was melting, shifting rapidly into divine wonder.

He took another deep breath, and with this one remembered *everything*.

His eyes opened. With all of his strength he lifted his head but a little, and was blinded by the radiant beams from the filly's face. Beside her was another magnificent star, a painted colt. Laying his head back down, he inhaled the breath of life from their glimmering faces. When the two then returned to his chest they came with a euphoric enthusiasm that he was not strong enough yet to experience with them, though with every ounce of his ability he condensed his body and took in their bliss for a lasting rest.

When next he opened his eyes he saw the deathly stillness of his best mate laying just beside him, on top of which two hopeful colts begged for revival. With an urgent want he leaned in with a gentle breath into his friend's nostrils. When no response came his spirit descended again and with closed eyes he conferred tenderly his next blow onto this prince's muzzle.

Thunderlane's stomach expanded and a groan escaped his lips.

"My wings," he murmured in his halting slumber.

Despite their mutual discomforts Sonic's weak smile downplayed the power of his rejoicing.

"Oh no..." stirred the prince. "This can't be heaven, so it must be -"

Thunderlane's eyes then opened, and beheld his adoring best friend.

"N-nevermind... it's h-heaven."

The two of them buried their heads in their foals once more, and the recovery moved along. Sonic turned and saw Blossom on his other side. He exhaled warmly into her nose, and when the mare woke up, so did the wonder within her. A few more breaths and Sonic's mind began to clear. Thunder and Blossom nuzzled two more beside them, and before long all seven were awake or stirring. That's when Scootaloo called his attention.

"Sonic," she muttered.

Her tone was serious and her demeanor was breathless. His attentive response matched her urgency. Her face beckoned behind them, as if to call attention there. Silence reined supreme, but over the distant wind a rhythmic wheeze that struggled quietly could indeed be heard. Sonic leaned upward, peering heedfully into the darkness.

He knew an investigation was necessary. With his limbs underneath him he conquered his soreness and staggered upward, but when he looked that way he saw them immediately; two white eyes glaring straight back at him.

He drifted his own eyes so he wasn't making direct contact with them, which were several pony lengths in front of them. They belonged to a decrepit, skeletal creature; exposed bone dominated his whole appearance, with white leathery wings full of holes. It appeared to Sonic to have been devoured by its own power, it's own hatred for them and for itself as it laid belly-down on the ground raised slightly on its two front claws. One small twinkling orb drifted slowly around its body. It had no robes or clothing of any kind, and it laid at the edge of the great black abyss that stretched across the gap just behind him.

Sonic stared in that direction with total stillness. The creature's gaze was as steady as a rock with its ragged inhales. This continued for a long time, with Sonic gathering more and more of what had happened - until the creature finally laughed at no provocation. It was a detached and sickly cackle belonging to a hideous voice.

This frightened Sonic, but now all of his companions stood on either side so that all twenty-one of them faced the abhorrence together - the hopeless monster choking on its own laughter in the gray. Sonic started pondering the next step for his team - he was recovering with every second, his feelings and understanding of everything increasing though he was still sore and heavy to his core. His thoughts and energy remained squarely on his everlasting purpose.

Looking around, he wasn't sure exactly what happened. They were at the end of the valley; the giant rockbridge with it's tubular holes hung overhead. The valley's gate with it's towering cliffs was just behind them. He wasn't sure if this creature had any power left to harm. But he knew it was beyond their help and they had to leave it here whether it had any ability to do anything about it or not.

Sonic lowered his head and turned his body away from it. They couldn't fly away as their wings were numb - Sonic suspected his right wing was sprained or broken. They couldn't run, as they didn't have strength for that yet either as they'd only just got up. So he started to walk. The team at his beckoning slowly and uneasily started towards the passage through the narrow cliffs with the goal of leaving this creature and this awful place behind them forever. The creature went quiet, and Sonic drove each aching hoof into the ground, hoping and begging for a peaceful exit with his heart set on delivering his heroes to their happy ending.

Then it called out to him.

"Your parents never abandoned you."

With these words, the stallion - along with every other pony - stopped dead in their tracks. They were all frozen in place and time and his statement hung on suffocating silence.

"When I first saw you in the mountain, I remarked I'd seen you somewhere before, that I couldn't put my talon on it. Then when I looked into your eyes I realized I saw you as a foal in the hearts of your parents. They were nomadic, moving all around the land with you when you were young. Following the ancient battle of old I first awoke in the darkness some years ago, but I did not just remain here. I ventured out into the north, both to observe and add to my collection. I claimed many souls, until one day I came upon a mare light purple in color with a dainty blue mane.

"She was passing through a remote woods in search of a gift for her son, somewhere to the southwest. It was summertime, so these northern woods were in full bloom for a short time. I engaged her. She was open to conversing at first, but she soon decided she wanted to return to you. I insisted otherwise. She had many flaws and deficiencies which I plainly revealed to her, though she refused to succumb to despair on your behalf. When I finally emerged to take her for myself, she broke free on account of you. Never before had that happened. Evidently she saw me as a great threat and I saw in her mind her intention to notify Celestia. But that I could not allow, for I was not yet ready to advance against the elements of harmony.

"She fled. So as a wolf chases a deer I pursued her, and finished her with my claws - your father I found shortly after and proceeded likewise. But I knew I had a problem with their son, that ponies would inquire about their whereabouts on your behalf. So I made, just for you, two soulless golem to take their place. They would stand in for a time, but they were made ultimately for one end... your end."

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Sonic's legs began to shake. His vision blurred as smothering darkness surrounded him.

He finally he stumbled several steps backward and fell heavily to the ground. His throat tightened so that every breath now seemed a battle. His heart twisted around in his chest. His stomach lurched in violent pulls in all directions. Spasms wracked his entire body.

Thunderlane was next. The stallion's legs gave out from under him and clutching his chest he collapsed. He staggered back up but crashed hard next to his best friend. He threw his limbs around Sonic and the two stallions cuddled together in the cold. They clung to each other for life.

They were joined immediately by Scootaloo, and soon after Blossom, Buddy, Whitewash, Merry May, Clear Skies and every foal were huddled together as one body bearing this monumental blow, crying out over the creature's unnatural laughter.

But none of them were under any external influence of the creature's whatsoever. All of their actions and feelings were solely in response to what he had disclosed.

They convulsed and thrashed while this great evil made its last and most violent stand in their lives. But then... at the center of it all, amidst the hardest bearing of the stallion's burden that everyone shared - a certain truth was springing up from his heart that began spreading to every pony that embraced him.

His parents never abandoned him. They always cared for him.

Another truth... even more powerful... was that even if they had not, Sonic had already found victory through his friends.

Suddenly a stray and thunderous gust from the valley came barreling towards the valley's entrance. The memory of the events at this very spot when the team first arrived flashed through their minds as they instantly recalled the converging winds that had sent them scrambling for their lives when it had tried force them into that bottomless pit. In the mad rush to get themselves and the foals to safety, the stallion at the center of them used his strength to push Scootaloo out of harm's way as the winds from above engulfed him.

He grabbed unsuccessfully for anything he could as he slid along on his belly at the gust's compelling. The others had made it out just in time, but Sonic soon slid off the edge into the black. Before he could begin an endless descent into it however he found himself immovably stranded on a tiny perch of hidden rock just below the edge.

The creature had also been hurled into the pit by the stray gale. Sonic saw it as it flapped its damaged wings meaninglessly against the winds that compelled it down, the lone soul that surrounded his being as the only light in the darkness. It appeared to be terrified, screaming and clawing hopelessly for the surface as though drowning. It shot itself upwards several times in repeated bursts of light and energy, but then the star accompanying it departed.

The creature's futile struggling then ended and in one last glint of hopeless despair the light seemed to leave its white pupils as it plummeted into the crushing darkness.

Sonic's body was leaned tight against the rock and his hooves were barely able to fit into the ledge that was holding him up, stretched out with disproportionate weight on his front right leg. With the exception of his head he couldn't move his body at all, and his wings were uselessly numb.

He closed his eyes and his breathing slowed.

"I'm so afraid," he whimpered.

The deathly exhausted pony buried his face into the frigid cliff and pictured Rainbow and his friends... but out of nowhere a feeling foreign to this valley seemed to wash over him. It was an uncharacteristically warm and peaceful breeze that enveloped his freezing body and soothed his weary spirit.

He lifted his head and beheld the clouds parting in the sky to reveal glittering stars in a painted twilight sky. It was dawn... the most natural light he'd seen since before they left for Canterlot.

More significantly in the sky were the two translucent equine figures he saw (or thought he saw) before. A female's voice he hadn't heard in many years then whispered tenderly into the depths of his heart... You are going home.

"W-Who are you?"

Ask me who you are, she answered.

"Who... who am I?"

You are our beloved son... and we are so happy with you.

The luminous mare spread her brilliant wings. She then departed from her lofty perch, gliding down directly towards him. The closer she drew the more her presence filled him with an exhilaration not of this world. Her glistening face came, finally at long last, into full view. He dared to whisper:

"M-Mom?"

She smiled.

"SONNNNNIIIIIIIIC!!!!" Thunderlane shrieked.

His giant eyes desperately begged the darkness for any sign of him.

Sonic jolted out of his trance. Shaking his head he looked up once more - the vision of his mother was gone but countless sets of eyes stretching across the top were searching furiously for him. Their hysteria rapidly became his as he fought to process what was happening.

"Down here!" he called up to them and by the twinkle in his eyes they spotted him. He leaned his body into the cliff and tried to rearrange his legs, but he had no room to do so whatsoever. He looked around for his mother, who was gone.

They cried out his name in unison. Buddy and Clear Skies hugged each other violently upon first sight of him as did Merry May and Blossomforth. Whitewash, Thunderlane and Scootaloo each leaned their front legs over the edge and reached in vain for their friend they so direly craved. But the distance between them was too far for them to help him up and any rejoicing they had at finding him was soon replaced with frantic desperation.

"Thunderlane... my parents never abandoned me."

"I know S-S-Sonic," he replied, choking on his own words.

"I love you. All of you," he muttered, looking directly at a certain orange filly who at that moment knew she would throw herself in the darkness to enter it with him before she ever watched him fall alone.

"It's o-k-k Sonic..." Thunderlane stuttered. "He's gone... We're gonna get you out of there and we're gonna have the greatest happy-ending anyone ever dreamed of..."

"I-I-I c-can't hold on much longer - my front hoof is slipping," his best friend replied as he pressed hard against the cliff.

"SOMEBODY FLY DOWN TO HIM!!" screamed Thunderlane.

"AAAHHH I CAN'T MOVE MY WINGS!" cried Merry May.

"ME NEITHER!!!" wailed Whitewash, as they all tried fruitlessly to move their feathered appendages.

Sonic beheld the urgency of their need - the impossible degree to which they cared for him - and reciprocated it a thousand times over as tears spilled uncontrollably out of his eyes while they sobbed inconsolably without him.

"Don't leave us Sonic," begged Buddy, shaking his head free of the water in his eyes.

"Sonic, I c-can't - i-i-f you d-don't - I w-w-on't e-ever-" stammered Blossomforth.

"Please Sonic, please FOR THE LOVE OF HEAVEN DON'T-," pleaded Whitewash.

"Hold on Sonic... p-please, j-just hold on..." wept Merry May.

"Don't let this happen," bawled Clear Skies into her hooves.

"Forget this - I'M GOING BACK TO CAMP!!! HOLD ON!!" demanded Thunderlane.

"Thunderlane I can't hold it that long!!!" wailed Sonic up to him - he had nowhere to put his left front hoof as his right front hoof was holding up much of his weight by itself, but his leg was going to tire and slide out of place soon.

"WE'RE SO CLOSE!!!" shouted the grey stallion as he threw his hooves through his mane. "WE'VE GOTTA DO SOMETHING!!!! DOESN'T ANYONE HAVE ANY WINGPOWER LEFT???"

His cry was answered in a flash of dark blue. There suddenly emerged at the top of the abyss a most zealous ally eager to assist in any way he could. Landing wide-eyed next to the spectacle was none other than Soarin' the Wonderbolt, fueled by the unimaginable thrill of seeing 19 hearts whose deliverance now rested solely on his fresh wings.

Gazing down into the pit he saw clinging to the cliffside the humblest eyes in the world staring helplessly back at him. It was clear that he was at the brink of falling into the never-ending darkness and were for whatever reason unable to fly as it appeared to be for the rest of the Ponyville team members.

He knew instantly what he had to do. Though he hesitated, as this required him to confront a more terrifying reality than he could ever imagine in his worst nightmare. He had to plunge face first - immerse himself completely in this horrifying unknown before he could turn around and blast Sonic out.

Peering directly into the void of death every bone in Soarin's body told him not enter this black nothingness as he was consumed with fear. His life flashed before him - most especially he remembered what he knew nothing could ever be worse than, which was facing parents and siblings of the foals that he had given up on and the disappointment in his Princess. Nor would he would never forget the sacrifice of Rainbow nor the divine rapture her dying spirit bought for her foals' families.

With a final look at the the glowing star that Rainbow needed the very most the stallion bucked his fear and launched off the edge straight into the abyss. His descent was over in a few seconds; he spread his wings in the pitch black and turned his eyes to the light to begin his epic ascent. Aimed at victory for the innocent he flapped with all the rage of his blue idol.

Sonic's front hoof finally gave out. As quickly as his body started its free-fall Soarin' swept through him from below.

They lunged upward. Despite the Wonderbolt's best efforts they leveled out and Sonic felt them starting to dip.

Until Scootaloo's head slammed into Soarin' from below and leveled them out again.

They couldn't seem to lift him any higher.

But with their failing wings they entered the nightmare one last time.

They fought like their great heroes.

They fought like true believers.