Lost in the Dark

It took Hige about half an hour to get his breathing back to normal. He’d sat on one of the couches inside the carriage, closed his eyes while he rested. Once he regained his breath he looked around the carriage. Vinyl went all out, the carriage had much more room than he expected. There was room to walk back and forth and just enough room to pass by somepony who’s going the opposite direction. There were three windows. Two of them lied on opposite wall that made up the sides of the carriage. Under both of the windows were small couches one could use either look out for the window of bathe in the sun while you sleep or talk to the other passengers. The third window was on the back of the carriage, and was covering Hige in light.

Hige could see Big Mac sleeping in the farther couch. Vinyl was laying on the couch closest to Hige. She had her headphones on while she looked at Fluttershy who was rubbing Kiba’s belly. Vinyl was tapping her dangling hoof against the wood of the bottom of the couch, probably tapping out the rhythm of the song. She was deep in thought. Kiba turned his head to see Hige, and Fluttershy turned her head to see what he was looking at. She was happy to see Hige finally looking awake. ‘Wait... She caught her breath before me? I must be out of shape... Or she must be really good at running.’

        “How long has it been?" Hige asked curiously.

        “About half an hour.” She responded with a smile.

        Hige made a big yawn and stretch causing various bone to crackle. “Have we gotten far?” he said as he sat on the floor and began to bet Kiba.

        “Not really, but we haven’t been traveling that long either.” she responded.

When Hige threw himself to the floor, he created a thump loud enough for Vinyl to feel. She turned her head to see Hige.

        “Finally caught your breath?” She asked with a sly smile.

        “Yeah.”

        “So, have you gotten any clue to what we’re going to see?”

        “No.”

        “So we’re going in blind?”

        “Yes.”

        “Well... That’ll be interesting.” She said with a smile.

        “How far till Manehattan?” Hige asked curiously.

        “Eight hours? I’m not sure, we’ve only just started.” Vinyl answered

        “Oh, okay then...” Hige said as he thought about what was to come.

        “You okay?” Fluttershy asked Hige on account of his serious facial expression.

        “Oh, what? Nothing.” Hige said realizing he had made a strange expression “Just... Thinking...”

        “About what?”

        “I don’t know... Everything, I guess...”

        “You look worried.”

        “Considering that I have no idea what’s going to happen, and the fact that I have involved my only three friends into this, I think being worried is understandable.”

        “You make it sound like it will be dangerous...” She mentioned. Hige gave her a serious look “Oh...” She said realizing  that what’s to come can possibly be dangerous.

        “Think back to yesterday... Something like that can happen, and I’m not sure if the outcome will be the same. Yes, I was happy all of you came along, but I’m starting to regret it...”

        “I think we can handle ourselves, if it comes to that.” Big Mac said as he woke up from his so called ‘sleep’.

        “Yeah, you talk as if we’re weak.” Vinyl said with a grin.

        “I didn't... I just...” Hige stuttered for words to say.

        “We’re just messing with ya’.” Vinyl reassured once she saw Hige’s reaction.

        “Yeah, no need to get worked up over it...” Big Mac added as he lifted himself from the seat.

        “Yeah, but...” Hige tried to say “Forget it.”

The carriage began to slow down.

        “Are we stopping?” Fluttershy asked

        “Oh right, we’re going to make two pit stops. One here, and another one while we’re nearing Manehattan.” Vinyl explained.

        “So this is the first?”

        “Yep. There should be a place to eat food outside.”

They all walked out of the carriage, except for Kiba who continued to sleep, and were met by a wooden structure named ‘Dirt Road’. Seemed to be some sort of saloon/diner. It looked like a popular place since there were somewhat large amount of ponies on the inside. The four of them walked inside, while the chauffeur and the stallions pulling the carriage took a well deserved rest. Once they reached the inside The Dirts Road, the suddenly felt out of place. Ponies began to glare at them, almost saying ‘You don’t belong here.’. Even though the feeling was hard to ignore, they had no choice but to stay and eat. They were going to have to stay there anyways and they weren’t about to go on an empty stomach.

        “Why don’t we get the food and eat it in the carriage?” Hige asked not liking the glares he was receiving.

        “Y-Yeah... I don’t think they like us being here.” Fluttershy agreed.

        “But why? This place is supposed to be open to visitors...” Vinyl mentioned.

        “Guess we’ll find out.” Big Macintosh said as he took a seat at the nearest table. The rest joined him. “We can go to the carriage after we get our food.”

        “Okay...” Fluttershy said in a hushed voice.

Big Mac waved for the menus. A light red mare walked over and basically placed the menus on the table. She didn't seemed mad, and she didn't seem to be glaring at us. She looked nervous. Minutes later was when they decided what they wanted to eat, and Big Macintosh waved over at the mare who had given them the menus. She walked over to the table, wrote down the food they ordered, and went to the kitchen.

        “Did she seem off to you? She looked kinda... I’m not sure...” Hige pondered.

        “Nervous maybe?” Vinyl asked.

        “Yeah... Maybe...”

        “Why do you think she’s nervous?” Fluttershy asked.

        “She’s afraid of the gang.” Big Macintosh answered.

        “Gang?” Vinyl asked asked.

        “If ya look closely, everypony that has been glaring at us has a red bandana somewhere. On their arm, neck, tail, etc.” He explained “They usually wear something to set them apart from the crowd.”

        “W-what should we do?” Fluttershy asked.

        “We don’t look scared, and we don’t piss them off.” He answered simply.

        “And what if we do?” Hige asked.

        “Then we’d have a full-on riot.”

        “Then let’s not piss them off.” Hige answered.

        “Easier said than done...” Big Macintosh said in a grim tone.

        “Thank you, Mr. Positive.” Vinyl said in a sarcastic tone. “Lets just get the food, pay, and go.”

        “How long do we have to stay?” Fluttershy asked.

        “Fifteen minutes, give or take.” Vinyl answered.

        “Oh...” Fluttershy said as she looked around the room.

        “I’m gonna take a quick walk.”  Hige said as he sat up from his chair.

        “I’ll join you.” Vinyl said as she got up from her chair.

Both Vinyl and Hige walked out of the diner and began to walk along a short trail that circled the diner. The silence followed them since they got up, but was broken a few minutes after they began to walk.

        “You’re lying...” Vinyl said breaking the silence.

        “What?” Hige asked in confusion.

        “When you told Fluttershy about not knowing what’s to come...” She explained.

        “W-What?” Hige asked again causing Vinyl to stop walking.

        “That look on your face. Whatever it is we are looking for, it’ll be the death of you and you know it.” she said with a serious expression.

        “...” Hige remained silent.

        “Admit it.” she persisted.

        “...” Hige continued to walk.

        “Say it!” She screamed. Hige stopped walking.

        “Why?” He asked simply.

        “I want to know... We all want to know...”

        “Why? So you can stop me? So you can try to ‘save’ me?” Hige said with a hint of anger.

        “N-No...” She said as she thought of something to say.

        “Yes, what’s coming could be the death of me... And you know what? I’m actually-” Hige stopped talking.

Hige and Vinyl felt a wave of danger surge through them. Once they looked at each other and saw that they both reacted to it, they rushed to the diner. They looked inside and found that a stallion was now sitting at the table. He had a dark green coat, and a light green mane. As they got closer, they began to hear the conversation.

        “What you doing out here, boy? I thought we had an understanding...” The stallion said. Seemed like he was threatening him.

        “Just passing through, don’t want any trouble.” Big Macintosh answered.

        “Well now you have trouble.” He said with a grin

        “You pick a fight with him, you pick a fight with us.” Vinyl said in an angry tone.

        “Really? You don’t look like much.” The stallion responded.

        “You’d be surprised how wrong you are.”  Vinyl responded in a grim tone.

        “Fluttershy, lets get to the carriage.” Hige said as he turned to face her.

        “What about them?” Fluttershy asked as she pointed to Vinyl and Big Macintosh.

        “They can handle themselves... And I don’t want you to get hurt.” Hige explained.

        “Okay.” She answered.

Hige and Fluttershy began walking towards the exit until three ponies stepped in front and blocked it.

        “And where are you two going? I thought you were all in this together.” The stallion mentioned.

        “Let them go.” Big Macintosh said. “This is between you and me.”

        “Hmmm...” the stallion said as he put a hoof to his chin and acted like he was thinking. “No. Bring them here.” he said as he pointed at Hige and Fluttershy.

The three ponies blocking the door began to walk towards Hige and Fluttershy. They began to grin as they extended their hooves towards them.

        “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Hige said with a grin.

        “Is that a threat?” One of the ponies asked with a grin.

        “No.” Hige said as he donned a serious look and looked at the pony who asked the question. “It’s a promise.”

The pony began to have a nervous laugh, and looked at the other two ponies for support, but found that both of them were very weary of Hige. The pony stopped his nervous chuckle and walked aside to let Hige and Fluttershy through.

        “What are you doing!? Get them-” The stallion screamed furiously.

The stallion was rudely interrupted once Big Macintosh slammed down on his side of the table, causing the other side to shoot up and slam against the bottom of the stallion’s head. The stallion fell unconscious on the floor. Big Macintosh got of the chair and looked around the room.

        “Anypony pony else have any bright ideas!?” He screamed loud enough for the entire diner could hear. There was no response.”

Big Mac walked alongside Vinyl as they walked out the doorway of the diner. Hige and Fluttershy were just outside the carriage waiting. Once both of them reached the carriage, Hige opened the door. They all turned their heads to the sound of hoofsteps running towards them. They soon saw the same mare that had taken their order rushing towards them with, what they think,  was what they had ordered when they arrived.

        “I’m... I’m...” The mare tried to say between breaths. “Thank you. From all of us.” She said with a smile. “They’ve been here for weeks, keeping any new customers away. After this, it’ll be awhile before they come back. Oh, and I brought you your order... Well some of it was still being cooked, so I had to replace some of it. Take it, it’s on the house.” She said.

        “Thank you.” Big Macintosh said. Hige picked the tray up from her back and brought it into the carriage. Fluttershy followed.

        “Oh and one of the ponies from tha gand told me to give this to you. They took it from the stallion you knocked out.” she said as she handed him a red scarf.

        “Thank you.” Big Macintosh said with a nod as he grabbed the scarf.

        “Oh, and, um... I’m Magie...” She said with a small blush.

        “Well thank you, Magie.” He said with a friendly smile.

        “Okay then, bye!” Magie said with newfound happiness. She quickly made her way back to the diner.

        “Smooth moves...” Vinyl said with a mischievous grin. Big Macintosh had no response.

Vinyl and Big Macintosh walked inside the carriage and were happy to see that the food they had ordered was already spread out and ready to be eaten. Vinyl walked up to the window at the end of the carriage and told the chauffeur “Slow and steady.” and tapped her hoof against the wall of the carriage. The carriage began to move at a slow pace, giving the group a chance to eat.

They all ate happily, except for Vinyl and Hige who share a few serious glares. Once Kiba woke up, Hige passed him a plate that he had saved him. Once all of them were done, they put all of the plates in a bag and placed them in a bin under one of the seats in the carriage. They all soon fell asleep. Vinyl and Big Macintosh slept on the seats they were in when they arrived at the diner, while, after a lot of convincing, Fluttershy slept on the seat Kiba was sleeping. Kiba and Hige slept on the floor.

‘Wake up...’ A voice rang inside Hige’s head as he started regaining consciousness. ‘Wake up... You need to wake up...’ The voice repeated. Hige forced himself up and grabbed his saddlebags. The carriage was still moving, but out the window he could see the edge of Manehattan. ‘Get out...’ The voice said. Hige placed a hoof on the door and found that the noise of him getting up had awoken Kiba. Kiba stood and was ready to follow Hige. “Just like old time... just you and me...” Hige said with a smile as he silently opened the carriage and let Kiba jumped out. Once Kiba was outside, Hige jumped out and silently closed the door after.

“Next stop: Manehattan...” Hige said as he stood in place. Kiba walked up to Hige and sat beside him. Hige began to walk, but he wasn’t walking directly to Manehattan. Whatever it is that he had to do next, it wasn’t there. He kept walking as if the direction of where he was going was out of his control. Every turn felt right, even though he had no idea where he was going. Once Hige stopped, he knew exactly where he had to go.

Hige stopped and found himself confronted by a large brush. As he looked around he knew where he was. He’d taken this trail many times in his childhood. This was the trail leading to his old tree house. “Kiba.” Hige said trying to get Kiba’s attention. Kiba looked at him “I... I need to do this alone...” Kiba laid down. “Kiba...” Kiba looked at Hige once again. “I’m not sure if I’m coming back... If I don’t... I want you to stay with Fluttershy. Keep her safe.” Kiba nodded. Hige took a deep breath and force himself through the brush.

The brush was dense, but it wasn’t as thick as he expected. After forcing himself through two feet of it, he found himself in an empty bubble. It was dark. Hige couldn’t see anything. As he walked further, he was taken by surprise as fireflies flew out of the ground and circled him. He was able to see further into the brush, but could see that the bubble went on further than he expected. As he walked, the fireflies followed. Hige kept walking for what felt like hours. The feeling of loneliness kept consuming him. He remembered an old rhyme he’s heard a few years back.

        “Careful what you do...” He rhymed trying to pass the time “Cause god is watching your every move. Hold my hand in the dark street, for if you do I know that I’ll be safe...” as he finished those last word, a vortex of dark aura appeared next to Hige. As Hige walked passed it, the dark alicorn he’d seen back in Ponyville walked out of the vortex and kept up with Hige’s pace.

        “You ready?” The dark alicorn asked.

        “I hope.” Hige said in a grim tone.

        “You were going to have to face this eventually...”

        “I know... I just want to get it over with. If this is the way I die, then there’s no point in keeping it waiting.” Hige said monotone.

        “Good luck...” The alicorn said before it disappeared.

        “Yeah... I’ll need it.” Hige said in a low voice. “Be careful what you do, cause god is watching your every move. Hold my hand in the dark street, for if you do I’ll know that I’ll be safe...”