A Brew of Blood, Tears, and Brine

Chapter 1:

The Black Notebook:

Nothing was meant to last forever. Time passes, and as new things bloom in the world, old things have to shrivel up slowly, before dissapearing for existence. Some not-so-old things are also abruptly taken out of the universe. Things work that way.

Things were meant to work that way...

~~ -[+]- ~/~

The funeral was that day, and Caelus was at the library, determined to support her friend until the very end of her sorrow. She herself was haunted by some painful memories: meeting Twilight Sparkle was a priceless experience. Caelus quickly became fond of the old pony as they started to talk about the marvelous adventures of the purple unicorn. The filly personally liked those involving the Royal Pony Sisters. She was eager to know more about them, and why they dissapeared. Those moments they shared together left an indelible mark in the cerulean pegasus.

She stared at nowhere for a second as she remembered it. The old pony, Twilight Sparkle, the pony of the tales books, was dead.

"I'm c-c-coming", said the shaky voice of her friend, Dawn, as the pink unicorn descended from the higher level.

Caelus looked her. She wasn't a filly anymore. Both ponies were now adult mares wearing black dresses and a painful heart on their chests.

Dawn was trembling. The pegasus approached carefully and hugged her friend tightly. The black maned pony cried over her friend's back, unable to hold her sorrow anymore. Caelus herself shed a couple tears.

"Th-th-thank you, Caelus", said Dawn, as she pulled herself from her friend's embrace. "It r-r-really hurts."

"I wouldn't let you handle it by yourself", replied Caelus, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder.

"She w-w-was a big p-p-part of my f-f-family", stated the pink mare, staring at the ground. "I miss h-h-her so m-m-much."

Caelus couldn't say anything. It felt awkward to see that bereaved expression on her usually cheerful and jolly friend.

"Friendship is truly m-m-magic", whispered Dawn, with a weak smile, before throwing herself on weeping again.

"It is, my dear, it is", admitted the white maned mare as both ponies began to walk to the funeral.

~~ -[+]- ~/~

The Harmony Monument was standing somewhere between Ponyville and the Whitetail woods. It was rectangular and wide, but not taller than three ponies one on top of the other. On top of it there was a huge tower casting a shadow over the trees. Inside the main monument, five deceased ponies were resting peacefully as time passed on. Another pony was going to join them some time later. Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic. One tomb for each pony.

The sun held high that autumn noon. Caelus and Dawn stared at the massive amount of ponies at the funeral of Twilght Sparkle. Important fellows from all around had come to witness that exceptional event. Some other ordinary ponies had joined too.

For them, it was the burial of an equestrian celebrity; but for Dawn, it was the burial of her grandmother. Both mares drew near to the monument, wearing sad expressions. The pink unicorn was dropping tears again. Her friend was walking at her side, trying to comfort her.

They eventually reached the monument frontage. The present equestrian governor was there, giving a speech. Some musicians were tuning their instruments somewhere nearby. Spike was also there, sitting against a wall, weeping. The dragon was as tall as two ponies one over the other, and was wearing a really gorgeous tuxedo, a not so recent gift of Rarity. When the mares approached, he stood up and knelt down to hug her sister, as both cried on the other's back. Those two fellows were suffering, and for real. Caelus felt awkward as she backed a step. She, being raised in an orphanage since birth, couldn't understand their sorrow, no matter how hard she tried. But one thing she knew for sure: nopony deserved to suffer that much. It was heartbreaking seeing both, dragon and pony, embraced and crying disconsolately, as she backed one more step.

An eerie bell rang, as the funeral was about to begin. Every talk stopped and a really heavy silence fell over the crowd. The musicians started playing a sorrowful melody. The coffin was brought to the monument frontage by four tough stallions in black. Spike and Dawn separated as the dragon walked to say the last goodbye to his deceased friend, and the unicorn stepped on the stand to give a speech.

"Twilight Sparkle, my grandmother, was a very intelligent mare. She was once the student of the mighty Princess Celestia everypony here has heard about, but never seen. And my grandmother was amazing because her contributions to science and magic have helped to develop Equestria into what it is now. And, as she helped the world with her wisdom, she also raised me as carefully as anything", her voice cracked. "A-a-and she loved me so much. She loved everypony s-s-so much. I h-h-hope she is fine wherever she is."

Dawn was weeping openly now. She left the speech stand and joined her brother to give some love words to her dear grandmother. She sat next to the dragon and started talking again.

"Granny, I thought I had so many things to do that I just forgot time passes quickly. I should have spent more time with you, show you things you wanted me to show you, or just sit down and have a heart to heart talk with you. I don't know if I was being selfish, or stupid, or anything at all. All I can think of now is how much I want to see your smile or to hear your advices. I miss you, granny. I really, really miss you."

She came to a stop when she realized she could not continue, as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Do you feel better now?", asked Spike, embracing his sibling with a long and sharp claw.

"Yes", answered her, with a sad smile on her face. "Much better."

"Are you okay?", whispered Spike, concerned, as he saw his sister paling suddenly.

"No, not really", she said. "I really need some rest. We have to get over this soon."

"I hope we do, but, for now, we should stay to see the burial, at least."

"Okay", Dawn agreed. "Bring Caelus here, so we can leave this place as soon as that ends."

Spike nodded and walked towards the crowd, as the same four stallions took the coffin and carried it to the monument, where it would lie forever and ever. Spike and Caelus joined Dawn as they saw the coffin cross the gate and dissapear.

Dawn couldn't hold herself anymore and fell to the ground, crying again.

~~ -[+]- ~/~

The library kitchen was quiet that afternoon. Some sweet smell rose from the cups in front of both mares.

"Thank you for coming, Caelus", said Dawn, quietly. "I hope I'm not another burden for you."

"Of course you are not", replied the pegasus, sipping her tea. "We are friends after all."

"And friendship is magic", whispered the unicorn with a sad grin. "I can't believe only a year has happened since then. It feels like a whole decade or more."

"I'm glad to see you'd gotten over it almost completely by now. Is Spike better, by the way?"

"He isn't. I wasn't expecting him to recover that quickly, anyway. He knew her since birth, literally."

"Poor Spike", said Caelus. "We have to think of a way to help him. Maybe we can travel together, or something like that."

Dawn smiled at her friend. "We both are happy to have you as a family friend. You're welcome to come everytime you want. The door will be always open to you."

"Thank you", answered Caelus. "You don't know how much I've learnt since that summer camp, back when we were fillies."

Dawn didn't say nothing, but approached her friend and hugged her.

There could be times for being sad later, but now she was glad to have such a wonderful friend.

~~ -[+]- ~/~

Spike stared blankly at the window in front of him. He still felt that unsettling void in his chest. He saw the sunset, remembering the day the Royal Pony Sisters dissapeared mysteriously, back when he was a child. Twilight hasn't given too many information about why that happened, as it was some kind of "alicorn bussiness" he wouldn't understand, anyway.

Spike left his room, and went to the kitchen. He wanted to talk with Dawn.

"Hi, Spike", he heard. "How are you feeling this lovely afternoon?"

Spike stared back at the cyan pegasus in front of him. He wanted to talk with Dawn alone.

"Nothing out of the ordinary", he groaned. "Do you care leaving the room for a while? I want to talk with Dawn alone."

The pink unicorn behind the pegasus frowned at him.

"Sure, why not", Caelus said, as she left the library.

Dawn was very angry at him. "I hope this is really important."

Spike fidgeted with his claws. "Have you found anything written by Twilight in the library?", he asked.

"Not really, why do you ask?"

"You know the alicorn princesses dissapeared even before you were born."

Dawn's frown deepened. "So?"

"The following days were hard for her, I recall. She never said anything on the subject. I was concerned, of course, but she wouldn't tell me anything, neither. I think there is more about the issue. Even after she apparently got over it, she would still act like she was hiding something"

"Why are you so suddenly interested in those matters?", she asked, sharply.

Spike stared at his feet. "My mission in life was always helping her in anything she would do. After the princesses went away, I always had the feel that I wasn't accomplishing my mission. Now, I want to compensate it."

Dawn's frown vanished. "Spike, you're worrying just for nothing."

Spike turned around. "I knew you wouldn't understand."

Dawn raised a hoof, but her brother only started walking towards his room, carrying a shattered heart in his chest.

~~ -[+]- ~/~

Sighing, Dawn lifted another book and put it on a nearby shelf. Her special talent was arranging books, as her cutie mark stated it.

The pink pony remembered the argue she had with Spike the day before. She didn't knew if she had to apologize, or if she just had to let time pass and wait. Spike, of course, was still hurt.

She lifted the last book with her magic and placed it on another shelf. Sighing again, she started walking towards her room until she noticed something lying in front of her, out of place.

There was a black notebook in the floor. Dawn stared at the black notebook, and the black notebook seemed to stare back at her, for a second. She lifted it with her magic and opened it. The ink on the first page shined eerily.

==== (-) ====

Painful Memories about the Dark Side of a Pony.

By Twilight Sparkle.

==== (-) ====

Dawn's heart skipped a beat. She blinked hardly, but the neat handwriting of her grandmother remained there, untouched. She didn't knew why, but she was really scared of the black notebook floating in front of her. The pink pony was trembling when she turned the page. It was empty at first, but then, letter by letter, following the scratching of an invisible quill, a small paragraph appeared.

==== (-) ====

Dawn, I wrote this for you a long time ago. I hope it will help you know more about your grandmother, and the mistakes she has comitted, of course. Trust Spike; he will help you to make the right choices. Other friends may help you too. Remember this book was written with very powerful magic, and it's a somewhat dangerous object. You will have to discover the key to read it, but I will give you a first hint: Take a train to Canterlot.

==== (-) ====

Dawn read the text slowly, and then, she read it again. She stared confusedly at it for a while, trying to understand a well covered secret on it, but quickly resigned.

"Spike!", she called. "Come on, please!"

She heard a groan and some footsteps coming, before Spike's shape appeared next to her.

"What happen?", he asked, looking at the black notebook.

"I think I owe you an apologize", Dawn whispered, blushing. "I found this a while ago. What do you think, Spike?"

The teen dragon read the paragraph three times, and then, he turned the page. Then, he turned another page. And then, another.

"This notebook is completely empty!", he exclaimed, dissapointed.

"It's magic", Dawn stated. "I think we have to pull a trigger to read it. Maybe we should try taking a train to Canterlot?"

"Are you sure it isn't dangerous?", asked Spike. "It might be a trap as well."

"We won't know for sure until we try it", stated the unicorn. "Think about it. I'm going to bring Caelus here, so we can make a choice."

"Caelus?", Spike's expression hardened. "What does she have to do with all of this?"

"She is my friend, Spike. And she is trustworthy. She can help us with this, too. Or have you forgotten what Granny used to say?"

"Friendship is magic", Spike sighed. "Ok, we can bring her with us."

"So, are you coming?"

"Of course! Twilight wanted me to help you, and I'm going to help you."

Dawn hugged her brother, tightly. "Thank you, bro."

The pair left the house, and walked together under the soft rain.