//------------------------------//
// Lost 
// Story: Singular Entities 
// by Cynical 
//------------------------------//

She was lost, she swore she’d passed this exact same dune thrice before. The desolate landscape was getting to her after all this time; she’d been wandering around in the dark for, what seemed like, hours with not a thing to look at past the ever-rolling dunes.

There were no hints of white amongst the black sand, nor the violet shade of Twilight that she searched for. It was just sand. Sand and dunes.

There were no stars in the sky to guide her way, nor a wind to carry her feathers, the air remained perfectly still despite her movement. Almost as if she walked through a vacuum. She’d tried to fly up and see further than the next hillock of dark sand, but the air had pressed her down, refusing her flight and denying her the empty sky.

She rounded another corner, hoping against hope that she’d see a colour which wasn’t in shades of dark and groaned audibly. It was the dune. The same dune. She’d drawn a cross in it with a hoof the last time she was here, and there that cross stood, clear as day and marked into the foot of the dune.

Who was she kidding? She would never find Twilight, this desert was playing her for a fool, driving her in circles and circles until even the grains of sand could be recognised. Twilight had trusted her to keep her safe and Rainbow had tried… she’d failed.

She slumped to the ground, the black sand shifting around her, accommodating her as she gave up and set her gaze on the cross. She’d been stupid, she’d been arrogant and idiotic, she’d thought that she could take on the beasts of Tartarus themselves and still hold her ace. She was an Element of Harmony for pony’s sake! That had to stand for something, right?

Some element.

She was going to die here, just like Twilight, and she’d never see her friends again, she’d never be able to tell them how sorry she was for all she’d done over the years, she’d never be able to apologise to her parents, never be able to tell Scootaloo that she was impressed about her skills.

She’d never be able to say sorry to her.

Twilight would probably die here too, then the beasts of Tartarus would come for her and Rainbow held little hope that she’d ever see hide or hair of Twilight again.

So much for loyalty.

No, you know what, screw loyalty, this was love, she loved Twilight and she wasn’t going to let any petty spectre made from bones stop her from reclaiming her marefriend.

A shining halo of light, signifying Rainbow’s power from the element of love did not appear.
The sands around her did not shift into a path directly towards Twilight Sparkle.
The black skies above her remained starless and empty, the air still oppressively still.

Rainbow groaned to herself, getting to her hooves and standing heavily. Grimacing slightly, she started off in a different direction, she might not have been the most loving pony in the world, but she’d be damned if she let her determination to find Twilight Sparkle be undermined.

High above, a lone, ice-blue, star appeared.