Lost in the Dark

Vinyl and Fluttershy remained silent as they ventured through the darkness. They looked for any clues that would lead them to Hige. Fluttershy began to hear a strange noise.

“Do you hear that?” Fluttershy asked.

        “No, what are you talking about?” Vinyl responded.

        “That… it’s like a beat…” she said closing her eyes.

        “… Where is it coming from?” Vinyl asked.

        Fluttershy remained silent and concentrated on the noise. “There.” She pointed a hoof in a general direction.

        Vinyl took one look at the direction and quickly made the circle move there. “Only clue we have…” Vinyl murmured.

        “Um… W-who are you? If you don’t mind me asking…” Fluttershy asked.

        “Me? I’m a friend… The name’s Vinyl”, she said, looking back with a smile.

        “And you know Hige?”

        “Yeah, he’s one hell of a party animal”, Vinyl responded.

“Um… Sorry for being rude, but… Where are we?” Fluttershy asked as she looked around.

        “You don’t know?” Vinyl asked. Fluttershy shook her head. “We are inside Hige’s mind.”

        “How did I get here?” she asked.

        “I… I have no idea”, Vinyl said. “What was the last thing you did before you got here?”

        “Um… I remember Hige… I walked in front of him, and looked into his eyes… then I appeared here…” Fluttershy answered.

        “Hmmm… That’s strange… Maybe yo-” Vinyl stopped the instant she saw a faint movement in the darkness. “Did you see that!?”

        “No! What!?” Fluttershy asked in a terrified tone as she shrunk down next to Vinyl.

        “I’m not sure…” she began to look around. “There it is!” she said as she looked at two glowing, blood-red eyes flying towards them. The entity flew near the circle and tapped a hoof against it. The circle slowly began to fade in that spot.

Slowly, the circle completely vanished. Vinyl tried as hard as she could, but was unable to stop the circle from fading. “Fluttershy!!!” Vinyl screamed as the circle under Fluttershy began to fade.  The only sound that could be heard was the sound of Fluttershy screaming. Once the circle finished fading, Vinyl began to fade until she was no more.

“Ahhhhhh!” Vinyl screamed as she regained control of her body in the real world.

“What happened!?” Big Macintosh asked.

“I… I don’t know… Did Fluttershy come back?” Vinyl asked as she looked at the still motionless body of Fluttershy.

”NO NO NO!!!” She screamed. She quickly lost her balance and fell to the floor.

“Are you okay!? What happened!? What’s going on!?” Big Macintosh asked in a panic.

“I’m not sure… But Fluttershy is alone, she is scared…” Vinyl looked at Big Macintosh in the eyes, “and she is our only hope…”

Fluttershy found herself lying on an invisible floor in the middle of the darkness. A mist of dark aura began to concentrate into a pony-sized orb. Once the mist dispersed, she was able to see the form of the dark alicorn that she had encountered moments before. She felt a magical force help her up.

        “What are you doing here?” The alicorn asked in a deep voice.

        “Hige!” Fluttershy said as she ran towards the alicorn and gave it a hug.

        “I’m not Hige…” he said.

        Fluttershy quickly stepped away. “B-but you look exactly like him…”

        “That’s because I’m part of him…” he said simply as he began to walk away.

        Fluttershy began to follow. “What do you mean?” she asked.

        “Nothing…” he said. “Now, what are you doing here?” he asked once more.

        “I’m not sure…” she said.

        “Then leave…”

“B-but… I need to find Hige!” she exclaimed.

        “Why?” he asked plainly.

        “W-what?” she asked in confusion.

        “Why do you want to find him? As you can see, it dangerous here; trying to find him could mean your death…”

        “But I need to see him!” she exclaimed in desperation.

        “He isn’t himself right now…” he said grimly.

        “I don’t care! I need to see him!” she screamed.

        “What are you going to do to him when you find him?”

        “I-I’m… I’m going to help him...”

        “Do you really think it’s that easy? Just walk in there and save him?”

        “N-no… but that won’t stop me from trying…”

        “There’s no saving him at this point… he is too far gone… Just leave him here to die…”

        “NO! I won’t leave him here!!!” she screamed in anger. The alicorn ignored her and continued walking. “Did you even hear me!?” she screamed.

        “Yes I did”, he said as he stopped moving. He placed a hoof on an invisible wall and pushed. The wall broke like glass, giving way into a new room. “You want to help him? Go ahead”, the alicorn said as he stepped away from the hole.

        Fluttershy looked inside and found Hige sitting in the corner of the room, fear being the only perceptible expression on his face. “What’s wrong with him?” she asked as she looked back at the alicorn.

        “Just wait…” the alicorn said as he began to wait. Suddenly, strange dark figures began to come out of the walls and walk over to Hige.

        “Stop!!! Leave me alone!!!” Hige screamed at the top of his lungs. The figures continued towards Hige. Once they were close enough, they began to scream a mess of words that made no sense, but were still affecting Hige.

        “What happening to him!?” Fluttershy asked the alicorn worriedly.

        “Horrible memories…” he said.

        “He needs help!” she said as she ran towards Hige. The instant she came close to the figure, they disappeared. Hige lay on the floor. “H-Hige?” Fluttershy asked.

        “Monster… Death… Destruction… Evil… Hate… Murder…” Hige murmured to himself, completely ignoring Fluttershy.

        “Hige…” she said softly.

        “Who’s there!?” Hige said in a panic.

        “It’s me! It’s Fluttershy!” she said excitedly.

        “Leave me alone! Just leave me alone!!!” he screamed as he buried his head on the floor.

        “No, Hige it’s me! Please…” Fluttershy said as she began to lose hope.

        “Death… Murder… Evil… Destruction… Monster… Lies…” Hige continued to murmur.

        “H-Hige…” she said disheartedly.“Please… Just listen to my voice…”

        Hige raised his head and looked directly at Fluttershy. “Who…?”

        “Yes, Hige it’s me!!!” she yelled, regaining hope.

        “Leave me alone!!!” he screamed once more, tears forming in his eyes.

        “H-Hige…” Fluttershy felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked to find the alicorn.

        “Just go… He’s too far gone…” he said in a sad tone.

        “B-But…” she began.

        “Just give up… I’ve never seen him like this before… I don’t think he’ll be coming back…” he said grimly.

        Fluttershy began to sniffle. “Okay… Just give me a minute…”

        “I understand...” he said as he began to walk out the hole.

        Fluttershy shifted her attention to Hige. “I’m sorry, Hige… I thought I could help you…” Tears began to form around her eyes. “The first time I met you, I knew you were different… I knew that there was something wrong with you… I thought I could help you… I should have just left you alone, I drove you to all of this…” She broke down. “I’m sorry, Hige!”

        “Don’t make it any harder than it has to be…” the dark alicorn said.

        “*sniffle* Okay…” She looked at Hige. She placed a hoof under his chin and turned it to her direction. “I’m sorry, Hige…” She said as she pressed her lips against his. She quickly let go and began to walk towards the hole. Tears were streaming down her face.

        “I told you not to make it harder than it already was…” he placed his hoof on another invisible wall. He pushed and caused the wall to break, a bright light came out of it. “Once you cross this hole, you’ll be back in the real world. Good luc-“ The alicorn paused and took on a face of shock. “What!?”

        “Where am I...?” a familiar voice asked.

        Fluttershy’s heart stopped, she turned her head to confirm what she had just heard. New tears began to form as she ran towards Hige who was getting up off the floor. “Hige!” she screamed as she tackled Hige into a hug. “I thought I lost you! I thought I was never going to see you again!” she screamed in excitement.

        “Fluttershy?” Hige asked as he looked at the mare that was hugging him. He began to hug her back “Um… What happened?”

        Fluttershy looked at Hige. “Nothing… Nothing at all…” she said as she moved  towards Hige and gave him a kiss. A huge blush appeared on his face. “I’m just happy to see you!” she said with a small blush.

        “I can’t believe it…” the alicorn began. “You actually did it…” he said, surprised. “I’m sorry for doubting you.” He started to use his magic to move Hige and Fluttershy near the portal, still connected by the hug. “I hope you know what to do now, Hige.”

        Hige took a serious look. “Yes I do…”

        “Then good luck to you both”, he said as he tossed them through the hole.

Big Macintosh’s body tensed up as Hige’s body began to move. He braced himself for the worst.

        “Big Macintosh?” Hige asked. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

        A smile appeared on Big Mac’s face. “Nothing, I’m happy you’re back.”

        Fluttershy lost her balance and fell. A magical force helped her up. “T-thanks”, she said to a familiar looking unicorn. “Vinyl?”

        “Yeah”, Vinyl responded as she gave Fluttershy a big hug. “I’m happy you’re safe…”

        “Thanks”, Fluttershy said.

        “Fluttershy!!!” a familiar voice screamed. Applejack quickly made her way towards Fluttershy and gave her a huge hug. Rainbow Dash flew above them and placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder while giving her sincere smile.

        “Where’s everypony else?” Fluttershy asked.

        “Twilight’s still out cold, Rarity and Pinkie stayed with her”, Applejack answered.

        Fluttershy heard a familiar voice. “Hige?” she said as she turned her head to meet it. She quickly ran towards Hige and tackled him into another hug. “I can believe it! We made it!” she exclaimed in excitement.

        “It’s not over yet…” Hige said in a serious tone.

        “Huh?” she asked in a worried tone.

        “I need to back to Manehattan… There’s somepony I have to meet…” he explained.

        “Well I hope you don’t expect us to stay here”, Vinyl said with a grin.

        “You owe us...”, Big Macintosh added.

        Hige felt a nudge on his back and was happy to find Kiba looking at him

        “Thanks...”, Hige said with an accepting smile.

The group entered the library. Applejack followed Fluttershy to her cottage to help with healing Kiba’s injuries. Rainbow Dash began to talk to Vinyl while Hige and Big Mac attempted to fix the door (It looks fixed, just don’t touch it…). After the door was ‘fixed’, the four of them began to walk towards the cottage to join the others. Once they got there, Applejack convinced Rainbow Dash to join her in the hospital. Only Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, Vinyl, Kiba, and Hige remained in the cottage.

        “Wait… How are we going to get to  Manehattan?” Hige asked.

        “We can either go by train or I can call up a private carriage to take us there. Either way, it’ll take about a day to get there”, Vinyl responded.

        “Um… It would be best to take the carriage, it would give Kiba a chance to heal up… Or we can stay here another day and give him a chance to rest...” Fluttershy mentioned.

        “The earlier, the better…” Hige murmured.

        “So, you aren’t going to tell us what happened in there?”, Big Macintosh asked.

        “I can’t.” Hige answered simply

        “What do you mean?” Vinyl asked in a curious tone

        “There are still some thing that remain a mystery to me, and I’m having a hard time understanding them... all I know is that I have to look for somepony in  Manehattan… I’ll understand when I get there…” Hige explained.

        “Well, I need to call the carriage… you guys should get your sleep, it’ll be here in the morning”, Vinyl said.

        “I need to tell Applejack about me leaving”, Big Macintosh said as he got up.

        “Seeya”, Hige said to Vinyl and Big Macintosh as they left.

        “I need to feed the animals…” Fluttershy said.

        “I’ll feed the ones outside”, Hige said with a smile.

They  fed the animals swiftly. Hige had finished feeding the outside animals, but, instead of going back inside, remained there, deep in thought. He suddenly heard Fluttershy call his name. Once he entered the house, he realized that Fluttershy had cooked a large meal. They began to eat the food. Hige remained quiet. Once they were done, Hige helped clean up.

        “Um… Fluttershy?” Hige said, finally breaking the silence that had started since they fed the animals.

        “Y-yes, Hige?” she asked.

        “There’s something I need to show you… It’s in my house… Do you think you can come over?” Hige asked as he looked at the floor.

        “Sure, I’ll go…” she answered.

They quickly finished cleaning and departed to Hige’s house. They walked in a slow pace, giving Kiba the chance to keep up. Once they reached the house, Hige opened the door and walked upstairs, Fluttershy followed and Kiba remained downstairs resting. Hige looked at the papers where he had written his memories. Once he finished organizing them, he handed them to Fluttershy, sat on the bed, and waited for her to read them. She began to read.  Fluttershy put the papers down, meaning that she had finished reading them.

“What do you think?” Hige asked. Fluttershy smiled and walked over to him and gave him a small kiss.

        “Thanks for keeping your promise…” she said in a happy voice

        “Thanks for not leaving…” he said as he pulled her in for a passionate kiss.