Twilight panted. Her hooves hurt, but she kept galloping anyway. Her watering eyes barely perceived the scenery stretching out before her: gray heavens, speckled with dark clouds, bathed the black plains surrounding her in a dim light.
Her purple mane streamed in the hot winds blowing towards her as her saddlebags rubbed at her already raw flanks. A flake of ash caught her in the eye, making her blink and shake her head. She did not cease running, though. Too much was at stake. She could not rest. She needed to find him.
Behind her closed eyes unfurled the chain of events that had led her here. Spike and her, exploring the mountaintop where the big dragon had slept. Another dragon, swooping down towards them, grabbing Spike in its big, ugly claws. The dragon, flying away again, oblivious to both Twilight's and Spike's desperate shouts. Within seconds, he had been out of reach of her magic—how could she have been so slow?
She groaned in anger, directed her gaze forward again and redoubled her efforts, a new wave of determination flowing through her. She would find that dragon and rescue Spike. All would be well. She would be able to make up for it. It was her responsibility, and she would bear it.
What sounded like a cannon beat ripped through her recurring thoughts. A shock wave hit her from the side and lifted her off her hooves. Looking up, she saw that the top of the nearby mountain had blown off; pouring out the base was what looked like orange juice to a disoriented and bedazzled Twilight.
She stood up, still looking in disbelief at the lava running down from the mountaintop. Rocks and ash rained down all around her while she looked transfixed at the approaching mass. At last, she turned tail and ran. Running at breakneck speed, she did not dare to turn around and look, but she could feel the heat emanating from her pursuer growing ever fiercer; she would not be able to outrun it.
Ahead was a raised stone platform. It had a thin base and would not withstand the lava very long, but it was the only elevated ground around. If she could get onto there, she would be safe for the moment. Twilight jumped on a boulder next to it and transferred to the platform with a great leap, just as the lava reached her and swallowed both ground and boulder, sparing only the space she now stood on.
Think, Twilight, think, she thought to herself, nervously jumping from one hoof to the other. Levitation? No, she could not possibly levitate herself away from here over a long distance, not to speak of all that molten stone. Teleportation? She had never heard of anyone teleporting over long distances before, and she doubt she would be the first one to pull it off. Summon a parasprite? Were it not for the severity of her situation, she might have laughed at her own thought. A parasprite would never be able to eat lava. Weather magic! Yes, this would work. She would conjure a monsoon that would extinguish the smoldering mass, which was constantly eating away her last resort's foundation.
Concentrating hard, her eyes shut, Twilight tried to make the dark clouds grow, cool down, and start raining. Sparks sprayed from her horn as she stemmed her magical powers against them. Breathing heavily, she paused and looked up. They had not budged even a little.
Twilight tried again, exercising all her might this time. Her horn shone bright against the gloomy glow of the lava all around her, and had anyone watched, he would have seen a blazing, lilac beacon in a sea of smoldering blackness. At the verge of fainting, Twilight stopped. Again she looked up, staring in disbelief at the unforgiving clouds.
Teleportation it is, then, thought Twilight numbly. She closed her eyes and mobilized what magical powers were left in her. Concentrating hard on Ponyville, she cast her spell, and opened her eyes again; she was still on her forlorn platform. Ponyville is too far away, she thought and repeated her effort, this time thinking of the bleak mountain she had lost Spike on, but to no avail. Anywhere, anywhere safe! thought Twilight, desperately repeating the thought as she cast her spell again, and again, and again, only to find herself staring onto the same gray, barren rocks beneath her hooves each time. It was hopeless; she could not teleport herself away from here.
She resumed pacing the platform, the fumes of sulfur biting her nostrils. The stream of black lava below radiated heat, scalding the purple pony that was already drenched in sweat. Twilight went through all the magic she had learned; once, twice—there had to be a solution!—three times. Finally, she had to admit defeat. It felt like a punch in the stomach. Wobbly on her hooves, she realized she would not be able to save herself.
A flier would be able to help her out of here, she thought. Rainbow Dash would surely be strong enough to carry her on her back. Reassured, Twilight looked up at the skies again, half expecting to see the multicolored blur that was her friend darting towards her... but the skies were empty.
“Oh no...” she whimpered as her knees gave way. Nobody knew—in her haste to chase the dragon, she had not taken her time to tell anyone. All her friends probably thought she was still doing research on top of the mountain. She did not have any appointments with her friends that evening, either. The next day, they would notice she was gone... but then it would be too late!
Was this it? Was she to—to die—in this hellhole?
Twilight's heart beat fast, pounding against the inside of her chest, as if only to point out that its beats were numbered. She felt lightheaded, her mind racing with thoughts. She was unable to stand up, trembling from head to hoof. Her gaze darted around her small sanctuary, trying to find anything, anything that might be able to save her.
She took off her saddlebags and started rifling through them. A map, an archeology book, an ink-bottle, a quill, a bunch of blank sheets of paper—her water bottle!
Frantically, Twilight unstopped it and gulped down the water, its wet touch a relief to her stinging, dry throat. She finished it all in one streak—what point was there in saving up anyway?
She tossed the empty flask carelessly back into her saddlebags, unable to care as it smashed the bottle of ink. While she stared at the deep blue liquid soaking the contents of her bag, trying to distract herself from the despair that threatened to engulf her, she noticed a wooden box becoming visible behind the now sodden papers.
Without stopping to think, she pulled it out, opened the lid, and peered into it. The box was subdivided into two compartments. One was filled to burst with gemstones of different size and color, while the other one was neatly packed with a stack of daisy sandwiches, three carrots, an apple and a cupcake.
Twilight stared down at the lunchbox. She would have forgotten all about such mundane things like food when going for a research trip, but her number one assistant, of course, had not. Unable to avert her gaze, she felt a large knot build up inside her throat and her vision became blurry. What would happen to him? Who would rescue him? Would that big dragon eat him? My poor Spike... a sob escaped her as she screwed up her face.
He was still a baby, after all. To think she would never see him sleeping on her desk again, dozed off mid-sentence... Tears streamed down her eyes as she remembered the day she had magicked him out of his egg, tiny and sucking on his own tail. It had been that very same day Princess Celestia had taken her under her wing.
This was all too soon. She had so much more to learn—what would Celestia think of her? Getting herself killed out of foolishness and pride, not stopping for a moment to think she might need help. Not even her brother, bravest of all, would have tried to hunt down a dragon all on his own.
Oh, Shining Armor... how would he react? He would search for her night and day, she was sure of it. When would he have to give up on her? Would he ever give up on finding her? Had she also ruined his life by forfeiting hers? The thought was unbearable.
She buried her face in her hooves, crying. She wanted to see him again so badly. Wanted to tell him how much she loved him, how much he meant to her. It was so unfair. There was so much left unsaid between them—now, it was too late.
And what would her friends do? She had promised to help Pinkie Pie at Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow morning. The cheerful mare would be bouncing around the kitchen, waiting for a Twilight that would never come. The pink party pony's smile would be fading over time, thinking the unicorn had flaked on her. The image of her friend, sitting in her kitchen all by herself, her usually puffy mane drooping, made Twilight feel a stab of regret that had nothing to do with her own fate.
What if they thought Twilight had left for good? That she had left her friends behind on purpose, forsaking them in the search of new friends, and, for good measure, had taken Spike with her. They would never know what happened to her.
While I'm here... to die, all alone. A howl of sorrow escaped her scorched throat as she broke down, her whole body shaking as she wept uncontrollably. She tried recalling the faces of her loved ones, but failed. All she could see was blackness; all she could feel was despair and heat. It was all too surreal. It couldn't be; it shouldn't be. This was all a mistake, a nightmare. She wanted to wake up, wake up now!
A large bubble of lava popped close to her, sprinkling her in glowing blobs of hot stone. She whined as they burned through her coat into her skin. The acute pain had however freed her from her stupor. She sat up, hiccuping and rubbing her stinging eyes, trying to wipe away the tears.
No, she thought. She was being silly. Her friends loved her, and they knew she loved them. They would know she did not have a choice, that she had not left them out of her free will. They would search for her and Spike. They would find Spike, she was sure they would not rest till they had; they were a persistent lot. Anyway, she calmed herself, there is no documentation of cannibalistic behavior within the dragon population of Equestria.
Also, she would not face her end like a foal, crying about things she could not change. Though it hurt to think she would not see Spike growing up, she knew things would be taken care of. Sure, her friends would be sad that she was gone, but they would have each other. They would be strong, overcome the loss... live on... and cherish the memory of her.
Twilight squeaked as the platform she had been lying on gave a wobble. My time is nearly up... she thought, but the idea had lost its horror by now. The world would go one without her, and what she had contributed was good. Her life had been good. Besides, she was sure she would be seeing her friends again. They would join her—hopefully only after a long, long time still—but they would.
Effortlessly now, the view of her friends clearly appeared before her minds eye. Pinkie Pie was bouncing with the characteristic, cheery grin on her face. Applejack and Rarity stood besides her, one with that honest smile of hers, the other glancing affectionately at her, with the slightest hint of a reproach in her gaze, as if to tell her she would not let her leave looking like such a mess. Rainbow Dash was hovering above them, cool as ever, with a smirk that seemed to call out to her: “See ya there, mate!” while Fluttershy was a bit to the back, smiling slightly, her warm eyes full of compassion.
Oh, what stories they will have to tell, she thought, sick of the wait already. I hope they have a library there... She had to giggle at her own thought.
The platform was now slowly tilting to one side. Twilight gulped. If my friends can be strong, so can I, she thought, and closed her eyes.
Author's Note
First things first: Thank you for reading, I sincerely hope you liked it. If you did not, please consider telling me what in particular; I'm still a rookie and need all the feedback I can get.
I'd like to thank both Fimbulvinter and CluelessFilly for pre- and proof-reading. Your corrections and comments were a big help. I'd also like to thank Ventious for letting me use his gripping artwork as a cover for this story; if you don't know him already, check out his deviantART page.
You got the sad story, the sad artwork... I guess I owe you the sad song of which I blatantly ripped the title off: Saturnus – All Alone
I used one more song as inspiration. Although it can hardly be called sad, it painted the landscape for me (CAUTION: Black Metal): Satyricon – Black Lava
PS: For love/hate/spam mail, I invite you to write to wYvern1349@gmail.com
