Man o' the Moon

by Spout

Book 2

It’s early morning, and the rain has finally died down to a light sprinkle, though the sun has not risen yet. Spike is curled up against my left rear ankle, and the soft scales of his tail are curled around my right. I don’t want to wake him now, but despite my best efforts to move slowly, he opens his eyes and blinks rapidly.
        “What?” he asks softly. “Oh, good morning, Twilight.”
        “Morning, Spike,” I whisper, trying not to wake the others. I had hoped the extra reading last night would help me sleep, but instead, it has had the opposite effect. My mind is racing, and I feel compelled to learn more, and find a way to get Derek home. “I’d like to get in a bit more studying before Celestia arrives.”
        Spike nods, eyes half-lidded, and grabs a candle from the mantle, lighting it for me with his breath.
        “Thanks,” I whisper, following him quietly into the kitchen with my book. Through the doorway, I can see him trembling suddenly—his candlelight casts an enormous shadow against the kitchen wall, with great wings, and an enormous head, looming. He drops the candle, but it doesn’t hit the floor—instead, it hovers and reassembles on the counter. I see the white glow of a horn, and I open my mouth to scream but find that my voice is completely gone! Reeling away, I lose my footing and fall hard on my flank.
        Princess Celestia is in my kitchen! Standing behind my counter! The glow softens, and she raises a hoof to her mouth, indicating for us to be quiet. I immediately drop to my knees, but she walks over to me and touches my shoulder, smiling and shaking her head.
        “Thanks Twilight, but there’s no time for that,” she whispers, smile fading a bit. “I apologize for startling you. And I apologize again for the spell of silence. But I couldn’t risk waking the others. Listen to me—and this is very important—would you please open the book I asked about and read the last page on chapter nine? Quietly, please. I really don’t have time for a commotion right now.”
        I center myself on my four hooves again and nod, channeling energy through my horn to lift the book and open it to the correct page. I clear my throat and begin reading softly, “Atmospheric water vapor condenses and forms into clouds whenever there is a significant drop in temperature or air pressure.”
“Huh?” whispers Spike, hoarsely, as if Celestia’s spell hasn’t quite worn off yet. “What does that have to do with Derek being here?”
        “Keep reading,” prompts Celestia. “I need to verify what I remember seeing before.”
        “In the modern world, Equestria’s weather has been largely serviced by the pegasi of Cloudsdale, who collect water and form or scatter clouds to replenish the landscape. However, other storm systems have been observed following disruptive natural phenomena, such as a volcanic eruptions or forest fires, and also following supernatural phenomena, such as strong magical spells, or at the opening of gateways to other worlds, which can trigger severe pressure differentials (see Weather or Not Appendix, Volume II). The resulting weather systems...”
My voice falters because the solution is so obvious, and I feel foalish for not having considered this before. I glance over at the pocketwatch, crafted many decades earlier but still in mint condition. Time warping is powerful magic. This just couldn’t have been some random phenomenal occurrence. “This wasn’t an accident,” I realize aloud.
Celestia’s silent nod is a prompt for me to continue.
“Something—or somepony—is intentionally opening gateways between Equestria and Earth. And manipulating time?”
        “A very reasonable conclusion, Twilight, and consistent with my intuition as well,” whispers Celestia. “But I wanted to hear your thoughts before I came to my own conclusions.”
“But...” Spike asks, “what about yesterday morning, when Derek was actually brought here? Why didn’t we get a storm then?”
        “That’s a very good question, Spike,” I say, considering. “Hmmmm. Well... let’s think about what would have been different. In order for that to happen, the air pressure between the worlds must have been at or near equilibrium. Ah, of course! Derek appeared high up in the atmosphere, but last night’s storm—”
        “Quite near the surface,” Celestia confirms in a whisper. “That’s straight from the weather scouts’ reports. According to them, last night’s storm origin was in the canyons, right over the Everfree Forest.”
        My head is spinning. I know what’s coming, and I briefly feel sick to my stomach as Celestia continues.
        “Twilight, I wish I could help you, I really do, but I’ve been putting out fires all over Equestria,” she says with a sigh. “I mean literally putting out fires—the lightning started them. Trees are blocking the rail lines all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot, and some of the roads have washed out where they were hit by the heavy rains. And I still have to dispatch a full support unit to Cloudsdale before sun up to assist with the cleanup efforts there—many homes there were torn apart by the strong winds.” She levitates a scroll toward me and sets it on a nearby counter. “This map was drawn up by my field scouts. The storm’s approximate origin is marked with a circle. I want you to bring the others and investigate.” She hesitates for a moment and then adds, “And you should bring the Elements with you.”
        “The elements?! W-what are we going to find?”
        “It’s a prudent step,” Celestia says measuredly. “I do have some ideas about what you will encounter,” she admits, “But you’re a mare of evidence, not conjecture, and I don’t want to raise any unnecessary alarms. ‘Trot slowly in tall grass,’ as they say. Wouldn’t you agree?”
        I nod.
“I want you to bring the human boy, too.”
“Derek? But I thought you wanted him kept safe.”
For a moment, she looks uncertain, or perhaps merely lost in thought, looking up at the ceiling. “The ancients used to say that wherever disease is encountered, the cure can be found nearby. Derek is part of the problem—I believe he has a role to play in its solution        .” She looks down and levels her gaze with me. “To be quite honest, I can’t think of any safer place than right by your side.”
It’s a compliment. A tremendous compliment and an affirmation of my previous triumphs over adversity. But things are different this time, with the fate of an intelligent, extra-equestrial being in my hooves. My emotions run a dizzying course, from curiosity over the strange set of events, to anger for not getting the help I need from Princess Celestia, to fear of the unknown. My vision blurs a bit with the beginnings of a few tears, and Celestia leans her head down, so that she is looking me straight in the eye. She almost never does this.
“Twilight,” she says, gently, “Remember, you are never alone.”
        From behind me, Spike squeezes my leg and smiles. I smile back at him. I remember the challenges that my friends and I had all faced before. Challenges we’d confronted—and triumphed over—together. “Right. That’s right! Okay, Princess, we’ll—” Glancing back over the counter again, I see that Celestia is gone. And so are any feelings of confidence that I once held. I glance down, realizing that I’m wringing my hooves. I have no idea what we’re up against, and Celestia was not particularly helpful. I know, of course, that all of my friends will have faith in me—they would follow me into the deepest and darkest pits of Tartarus if I asked them to. They would understand. But I do not know Derek, and I can’t risk his being unwilling to come with us.
        “Oh, Spike, how in Equestria am I going to do this?”
        “That’s easy!” he says, drawing a claw upwards along the map in a zig-zagging motion, “We’ll just follow the old forest road up to—”
“No, you silly dragon! I mean how am I going to convince Derek to come with us? We might be wandering in the forest for days before we even find anything unusual, and that whole time we’ll be completely exposed to timberwolves, 3-headed cockatrices, and Celestia-knows-whatever-else is out there! Even with Nightmare Moon out of the way—” My breath catches, and I can’t finish the sentence.
“Twilight? Are you okay?”
“Oh no!”
“What?”
“Nooo, no-no-no-no-no. It can’t be. It can’t be! I’m sure it’s not.”
I hold the map close and take another look at the circle and let go a deep breath in relief. The red circle is on the old forest road, but it’s well beyond the castle ruin.
“What is it?” Spike asks, throwing his arms in the air.
“It’s nothing. False alarm. But I do wish Princess Celestia had given me more information. Why would she want me to bring the Elements of Harmony? And what am I going to tell Derek? I don’t even know what we’re looking for—this red circle on the map probably covers a hundred square miles of forest and canyons.”
Just then, the kitchen door swings open, and I whip around, hoping it won’t be Derek. I’m greatly relieved to see that it’s just Applejack.

“What’s with all the whoopin’ and hollerin’ in here?” I can almost feel the tension when I step into the kitchen. I don’t like that look in Twilight’s eye. She gets like this, sometimes, and I know trouble’s not far ahoof.
Her glare softens, she takes a deep breath, and explains, “Celestia was here in my kitchen just a few moments ago.”
“Yore kiddin’! The Princess was here? Does this have somethin’ to do with the human boy?”
“Yes, exactly! Celestia wants us to investigate the origin of the storm, in the Everfree Forest. And she wants us to bring Derek with us.”
That didn’t sound good. Downright nuts, in fact, to bring Derek with us. “Well heck, the boy’s only got two legs, an’ he probably can’t run for—”
“And she said we should bring the elements, too,” Twilight interrupts. “Just in case.”
The thought o’ them timberwolves sets my knees quiverin’. Celestia-knows-what else we’re gonna find out there. ‘Cept that’s just the problem, ain't it? Celestia don’t know! “The elements?! Gosh, Twi, are ya shore about this? The forest is dangerous! What if we run into timberwolves? Or worse?”
        “It’s a risk we have to take if we want to get to the bottom of this. But I don’t know what to tell Derek. I mean, I’m not even sure exactly what we’re looking for.”
        “Ya mean the princess didn’t tell ya?”
“No. She just gave me this map. See? This red circle right here marks the storm’s origin.”
“Wish I could help ya, sugarcube, but I ain’t never been that far out along the old forest road before. I got no idea what yer lookin’ for.”
“Unfortunately, that makes two of us.”
“You mean, that makes three of us!” says Pinkie, swinging the door wide.

        I listened to the whole story. Well, most of the story. Okay, some of the story. The important parts, anyway: Everfree Forest, something about gateways. Elements. Sounds like an adventure to me. That’s more Dashie’s style, but I’m up for it. It’ll be fun! Maybe we can even party it up with Zecora! I wonder what Zecora’s up to, in her tree. Her tree in the forest. Hmmmmmm, the forest has berries in it. I love berries! I hope breakfast is soon, ‘cause I’m starving! Then I realize something.
“Wait, the Elements?!”
“Shh!” shushes Twilight. “Not so loud!”
“What’re we gonna find in there? It can’t be Nightmare Moon again—we defeated her already. Discord? I just saw him in the gardens a week ago. Hard as a rock!” Ha! Moon. Rock. Moonrock. Snnrkt! Hey, why is my tail twitching?
        “Pinkie, this is serious!” Twilight glares. “Celestia didn’t actually tell us what we’d find. She just said that we should go there and investigate.”
        “Oki doki loki!”
        She lifts an eyebrow at me. “Wait, you’re not going to lecture me about the insanity of going into the forest?” She then flashes a nervous glance at Applejack, and back to me.
        “No, of course not,” I say. “I’m sure you’ve already come to a sensible conclusion after carefully considering what will happen when we go up against Nnn—hey, are we going to have breakfast? I’M STARVING!”
        “Wait, what did you just say?” Twilight’s head twitches rapidly, as if she were suddenly trying to shed an insect. Ha! That’s funny! Her mane goes all frazzled when she does that.
“Breakfast?”
        She sighs. “Uhhh.... right. Okay. Breakfast.”
        The kitchen is suddenly bathed in a brilliant, flickering, turquoise hue as Dashie floats in and yawns, her fluttering wings barely clearing the door frame. She’s so pretty! I wish I had wings like that. I would love to fly around the way she does. And find some pickle barrels. Hmmm, pickle barrels. Pickle barrel cupcakes. Pickle barrel kumquat cupcakes!
“What’s for breakfast?” Dashie says.

        I awaken to aerosolized oil and butter and cinnamon and apples. It smells like Saturday. My mother often used to make apple-filled pancakes on weekends, and I knew that’s what was cooking. It might even be Saturday, I can’t remem—
I open my eyes and bolt upright suddenly with a flood of new memories, realizing that I’m not home. It smells like home, but I am definitely not home. I wonder if I’ll ever see home again, or my parents, or even my annoying little brother. I’m not dreaming. I’m really here, and this is really happening—a quick glance around the room confirms that much. Like Fluttershy’s cottage, this dwelling has been carved into a hollowed-out tree. But unlike Fluttershy’s cottage, there are bookshelves lining all of the walls. Stairs lead up to a mezzanine, and down to a basement (I wonder if that leads to Twilight’s “laboratory.” Actually, I think I’d prefer not to know). There are smaller doorways leading to other rooms as well. An old horseshoe hangs over the fireplace, and in the middle of the room is a table with a horse’s head, on which several books are either open or stacked one on top of the other. Theoretical Magic: The Fourth Dimension; Quantum Entanglement for Ponies; Historical Accounts of the Everfree Forest. It occurs to me how incredibly lucky I am—if a way could be found to get me home, surely Twilight would be the one to discover it. Never mind this “Princess Celestia,” whoever she was. It’s when I finish taking in the rest of the room that I notice a great owl sits atop a low perch. It's staring at me. It looks like it's stuffed, but suddenly it fluffs its feathers, opening its eyes and then slowly allowing them to drift closed again. A brief thought of escape passes through my mind. But where would I go? Fluttershy’s lullaby starts playing over again in my mind, and I catch myself humming. My arm itches briefly, and I reach down to scratch it. A bird flutters by the window, casting a shadow through the sun’s morning rays.
Twilight arrives from the kitchen holding a tray full of food in a halo of pink magic. There are three apple-filled pancakes and some strawberries and what looks like a glass full of pulpy orange juice. And it looks amazing.
        “I hope this is enough food,” says Twilight.
        “Wow! That’s... just like my mom makes them.” It’s uncanny. Even the presentation. How could our worlds be so alike when they are so different? “Thank you, Twilight.”
        “Oh, well, to be perfectly honest, I had no idea you would like them. It was Pinkie Pie’s idea—”
        “No, not just the pancakes. I mean for... well... thank you for everything. You all have been so kind to me, and—”
Twilight’s face momentarily contorts with a pained expression, and she sets the tray down next to me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
        “It’s been a... stressful morning,” she says. “I just had a visit from Princess Celestia.”
        “While I was asleep? Is anything exciting ever going to happen to me while I’m awake?”
        She chuckles at my joke, but it’s nervous laughter. “Heehee! You mean like falling from the sky? Well... uh, to be fair, everyone else was asleep, too, actually, except for Spike and me. Celestia was in quite a hurry this morning, so we actually just exchanged a few bits of information before she had to take off again to deal with the storm cleanup efforts.”
        “So did you stumble on any clues? Like maybe how to get me home?” I’m scarfing on some bits of apple pancakes and washing them down with a hearty swig of OJ. The food is familiar, and intensely comforting.
        She bites her lip. “Well... yes. But it might be a little bit... dangerous.”
        “Dangerous how?”
        “We have to go into the Everfree Forest.”
        “It sounds lovely,” I say through a mouthful, savoring the last few bites of pancake. “So what is it that makes this forest so dangerous? Are the trails washed out? Are there bears? Wolves?” I didn’t have much trail experience, but these all sounded like very mundane challenges, relative to, say, being on another planet.
        She nods rapidly, then she says in a high and tense voice, “Probably all of those things.”
        “Hmm,” I consider, “Okay, so what’re we looking for, exactly?”
        She levitates a map over to me and unrolls it in a pink glow, and having seen this telekinetic ability a few times now, I’m not even unnerved—it just seems normal to me now.
“Celestia’s field scouts identified this region as the storm’s origin.” She proceeds to explain to me what she’d found in the book, and how an interdimensional gateway might trigger the kind of storm that just blew over.
“I see. I guess that would explain a severe weather disruption.” Science was always something that intuitively made sense to me, and in this world full of so many things that seemed nonsensical, it is comforting to talk about the things that our worlds have in common. I actually smile, and she smiles with me, and it is an earnest smile.
        “I can't make any promises, but this might be your way home... So... will you come with us?” she asks hopefully.
        I nod, finishing my last bites of food and tilting the bottom of my glass up to get the last drops of juice from it. “Okay, sure. Well, I mean it’s the only lead we’ve got, right?”
        “Really? I mean... you have
they were behind a fence in a zoo, but—”
        “Wonderful!” she says, clapping her hooves together. “And look at it this way—there will be eight of us, including Spike, so I’m sure that if we stick together, we can fend off any... um... animals... that might try to attack us.”
        “How long will it take us to get there?”
        “Well if all goes well, a couple days or so, at most,” she says, walking over to a bookshelf and retrieving one of the larger volumes.
        “What’s in that book?” I ask. It looks particularly ornate and must have been something of great importance at one time.
        “Oh, just some gems for the road,” she says, stuffing it into a saddlebag hanging from the railing of the stairwell. The other ponies start to file in from the kitchen, still listening to Pinkie Pie, who was apparently in the middle of concluding a joke.
        “And theeeeen, she said, ‘I think so, but how are we going to carry that much cream cheese?’” They all laugh, and she snorts.

         I must have overslept, because Opal is nuzzling me and meowing very loudly. I’m loathe to lift my sleep shade because I know the sun is going to be much higher overhead than I would like it to be. I stayed up waaay too late working. By the time I’d finished the rain gear, it had nearly stopped raining, and then the yellow slickers just didn’t seem appropriate. And neither did the sweatshirt, or the trousers, or the hiking shoes, or the... well, at least he’ll have a week’s worth of clothing now.
        “Ouch! Will you stop that!” Apparently Opal decided that I’ve waited too long, because she's biting my ear. I love her, really I do, but it is the weekend after all, and a little extra sleep isn’t too much to ask, is it?
        “Alright, ALRIGHT!” I sit up, stretch, and walk over to window, opening it up for Opal to go outside. On the way back to bed I pass by the vanity: I hate how my mane and tail fall out of place overnight, even while sleeping on the silkiest linens that Canterlot has to offer. Oh well, nothing that a shower and a few hundred brush-strokes can’t fix.
Water temperature just below scalding...perfect! Loofah, body wash, body gel, shampoo, conditioner, all good. My horn seems a bit rough today; I’ll definitely have that looked over extra carefully in the spa. I step onto the stream of water, and a hot wave of bliss spreads through my mane, down my shoulders, back, thighs and tail. Last night's tension is literally washing down the drain, and it feels exquisite. I look forward to a long soak in the hot tub later today at the spa. With a deep breath, I inhale the marvelous aroma of my new shampoo and conditioner—they're like apple blossoms! Not too strong, but if somepony happens to be standing beside me—hmm I think the loofah is too rough this morning; I'll use the soft sponge instead, cleaning the folds of my ears, nose, eyes, and my belly. I just don't know how ponies manage any of this without magic. I feel so sorry for them. I could stay here forever, but I must get on with my day.
Hmm, that's strange: my ringspun cotton bath robe just doesn’t seem as soft as it used to be. Maybe it’s time to switch to bamboo from the forests of Ponri-La.
 I step out of the shower, begrudgingly, squeezing excess water from mane and tail. After a thorough thrice-over with the blow-dryer, I use hoof powder, moisturizer, a detangling comb, and finally the brush. Alright, here we go: 200. 199. 198...

Three... two... one... one... one, ONE already! That last curl in my tail is so hard to get just right. There. Now then, let’s see just how well you’ve done, Rarity.
        My full length mirror just doesn’t seem to cut it. I’ll have to remember to bring up one of my three-panel mirrors from the studio. There are too many down there anyway, as I discovered yesterday. Oh! Oh dear, is that somepony knocking? Already? Don’t they know it’s a weekend? Don't they know I'm not ready?
        A muted voice drifts up the stairwell, “Rarity, open up!”
        My goodness, Twilight sounds desperate! It must be an emergency! I wonder, does she need a dress for an event tonight? I wasn’t invited to any events this evening. Why wasn't I invited? I should be there, after all.
        “RARITY!”
        “I’ll be right down!” I shout down the stairwell. Really, I haven’t even had my tea this morning. It is a bit rude for her to be braying on the door at this hour—well I guess I did get up a bit later than usual. When I eventually open the door, Twilight Sparkle walks straight in, followed by a parade. Well, not really a parade, it just feels like one. All of my friends are with her, and the human boy is here, too. I do hope he likes his new clothes.
        “Good morning, Rarity!” Twilight says merrily.
        “Um, good morning, Twilight. I was just about to make some tea—”
        “Oh, there’s no time for that!” she replies, somewhat hastily. She seems a bit tense. I think a trip to the spa is surely in order now—I know that’s certainly what I want. And she certainly could stand to relax a bit. And now I think I want coffee.
        “There’s always time for a morning beverage,” I say. I can feel my eyes narrowing, but I’ve kept my tone even and civil.  And I decided in that moment that I want my hooves done, and a mud bath, and a massage with hot stone therapy. And cappuccino instead of coffee. Yes, I think I'll go to Madam Espresso's house for cappuccino this morning.
        Twilight’s ears droop, and I feel bad now. And I finally notice something else that’s strange: she looks like she’s dressed for an expedition, and so are all of the others. They look a bit like Daring Do, that silly character from Twilight’s novel series. Is it time for the dragon migration already? I certainly don’t want to go for a hike today! After working all night, I just want somepony to rub my shoulders! Twilight reaches back to her saddlebag and lifts the flap, showing me—
        “Oh my!” I would, of course, recognize that book anywhere. It’s the book with the Elements in it, and I know something is terribly, terribly wrong. And yet Twilight is smiling, a little too eagerly, and she looks a bit nervous, too—maybe desperate, even, and I think she must be trying to hide something. “Oh,” I say, catching on. “Oh, well maybe... maybe we don’t need tea after all.” And, now, finally, I know that I am most definitely not going to the spa today.
        “I’ve had a little visit from Princess Celestia this morning,” Twilight says. “We think we may have discovered a way to get Derek home." Her voice is unnaturally bubbly.
        Damn it! “Oh, that’s marvelous!” I’ve just finished six new outfits for him, and he had better wear every... single... one of them... before he goes home to Earth. Stay cool, Rarity. “Oh, that reminds me!” I say through gritted teeth, a feigned smile.
        I walk over to a high shelf where I’ve been storing one of the other projects that kept me up so late last night.
        I levitate a white box down and hand it to Derek.
        “Here, try these on,” I say, smiling. I’ve never made socks and shoes for a human before, and I’m nervous about what his response will be. He puts them on and looks up at me with a bright expression. “Rarity, they fit perfectly! And they are so comfortable!"
“Oh, I’m so glad!” I say with relief. “I had to guess your size, because I didn’t actually measure your—what did you call them again? Oh yes, your feet! Also, I wasn’t sure how long you’d be here, and I kept coming up with new ideas for other outfits, so I made a total of six outfits for you. I hope it’s alright that there aren’t any more.” I trot over to a rack and show him a variety of outfits on hangers. Most of them are in the dress-casual category, but he seems especially interested in the khaki shirt with pockets, and the matching trousers. I suppose he’ll be going hiking, too. And I wonder if he knows what he’s in for. Likely not, given his expression. And Celestia-damn-it, I want my cappuccino. Sigh.
        He looks so happy. In fact, his eyes look a bit glassy; goodness, is he going to tear up? I’m startled out of my wits when he bends forward and throws his arms around me and squeezes hard. But a little wave of pleasure passes over me, too, and I just can’t be angry anymore. I smile and awkwardly put a hoof up over his back. It was worth every stitch, and the coffee and the spa can wait. For a little while, at least.
“Thank you so much, Rarity! These will be perfect going into the forest today!”
“Oh you’re welcome, dear! It was... oh...” The forest?! “Twilight... a word, please? In private? Now?”
“Oh, uh... heehee! Um, sure!”
        Twilight follows me upstairs, and when I turn to face her, I can feel my face flushing. “What... is... going... on?!”
        Twilight backs away nervously. “W-well, I was visited by Princess Celestia this morning, and—”
        “You said that already. What are those!” I pointed to the book of elements in her pack.
        “These are the Elements of Harmony.”
        I start trembling with anger. Must... stay calm... “I know that! I mean why are you here with them?!”
        “Princess Celestia told me to bring them along... er... just as a precaution.” She lowers her voice, releasing any last remaining touches of cheerfulness. “Rarity, I don’t know what’s out there, but I”—and with each punctuated syllable, she nods her head toward the book in her saddlebag—“need... your... help. So, are you with me or not?”
        I’m not going to the spa. Or getting a shoulder rub. I’m not getting a cappuccino. I’m not even getting tea. She’s pleading with me. She’s afraid. She doesn’t need to beg—I can see it in her eyes. How can I say no? With a deep sigh, I tender my reply: “Yes. Yes, of course I’ll do it. I will come with you.”

        I don’t have a GPS with me, but it feels like we’ve only been hiking for less than a mile. Twilight’s gear list went on and on and on! And there was some mention of cakes coming to pick up all the animals. How can cakes pick up animals? Well, whatever. I’ve seen stranger things. I think she packed me a spare toothbrush! Not that I’m complaining about that—I mean, the shape is a bit off, but who doesn’t need a toothbrush of any sort after a couple mornings without? I suppose it’s a good thing that she insisted on being thorough. I’m not even sure how long we’re going to be out here. Whenever I ask for a precise timeline, her answer is consistently “a couple of days, I think.”
        A little way off the main trail, I see a gnarly-looking tree ahead, with a door carved into it, and I know this must be our first stop. “What’s Zecora like?” I ask.
        “She’s daaaaaark and mysteeeeerious,” Pinkie says with a bright and mischievous grin. “And you’d better be nice to her or she’ll shrink your head! Mwuahahahaha!”
        “Or turn you into a toad!” Rainbow Dash giggles.
        “Oh, cut it out, you two,” says Twilight. “Zecora is sweet and kind, and she would never do anything like that.”
        “Why are we visiting her again?” I ask.
        “We don’t get out this way all that often, and I thought it would be nice to stop in and say hello,” says Twilight.
“Look, there she is,” says Fluttershy, pointing up the path.
I look up and see her walking toward us from the forest. Her mane is a mohawk of black and white, and the rest of her was similarly striped—a zebra?! She wears heavy golden rings about her neck, her ears, and one of her ankles, her flank is marked with what looks like a spiraling, tribal sun, and her eyes are a soulful blue, intense and deep-set. Memories of images from Earth’s Savanna region come to me in a fleeting rush. She carries a small basket full of some herb that I don’t recognize. She smiles on seeing us, but as soon as she glances at me, I see her expression grow very serious. She greets us with a question and an invitation, in rhyme:
        “What events transpire to bring you... human beings
        Come into my home, and please tell me these things.”
        The others all file in slowly before me, disappearing into the darkened entryway of her tree. I notice a light fragrance of sage, and another unusual scent, coming from the doorway. I can’t explain why, but I’m overcome by a sudden and gripping fear—I’ve never felt this kind of terror before, outside of the occasional nightmare. I don’t want to go in. Maybe Zecora’s and my tension are playing off of each other—she seems a bit reluctant for a moment, but she stares at me and smiles sincerely anyway, reaching out to touch my shoulder with one of her hooves.
        “There is no reason to to stand there, dismayed
        Please come inside! Do not be afraid.”
        Her touch is gentle, and she never breaks eye contact. When I let her lead me inside, the tension doesn’t go away—something in this room just doesn't feel right. Zecora’s hoof, or my shoulder, is trembling. Or maybe it’s both of us. As I adjust to the dim light, my eyes dart around, looking for shrunken heads, or voodoo dolls, or any other signs that I really just shouldn’t be here at all, because that’s what my instincts are screaming at me. Thankfully, I see none of these things—just shelves and cabinets lined with jars and vials, some curious looking masks hanging from the ceiling, and a tiny cauldron of... something... bubbling on a table in the middle of the room—the source of the unusual smell, presumably. The others here in the room clearly trust her—that ought to have been good enough for me. And yet, somehow, it wasn’t. I should be feeling gracious for Zecora’s hospitality—after all, she’s probably never met a human before—and yet I just feel anxious.
        “Your human friend is burdened with suspense
        It pains me dearly to see him so tense”
        “Derek’s kinda been through a lot,” says Spike, and I agree with him, nodding quickly. Zecora nods too, measuredly, and she walks over to a cabinet, pulling down a small vial and a sponge. She pops the cork from the vial and presses the sponge into it so that it sticks out partway. Then, holding the vial gingerly between her teeth, she comes over to me very slowly and presses the sponge to my chest, just above my shirt. As the fragrance from it wafts upward, I recognize it instantly as lavender oil. I’ve read before that lavender sometimes had a calming effect on people, and apparently that's true for other animals, too.
        “It’s not as good as steeping tea
        But take this as a gift from me.”
        The lavender is strong, and it seems to be helping, and I can’t help but smile at her kind act of good faith. “Thank you, Zecora, that’s very sweet of you. Your tea, by the way—I had some of it last night. It really did the trick.”
        “He’s not kidding,” says Rainbow Dash. “He was out cold all night long.”
        I don’t have the heart to tell them that this wasn’t strictly true—my nightmare had woken me up briefly. But it also didn’t take long to get back to sleep.
        Zecora smiles back, re-corks the vial, sets it on the counter, and pushes it toward me with her hoof.
        “Zecora, we’ve been sent by Princess Celestia to investigate a weather disturbance in the forest.” Twilight says, opening her saddlebag. Zecora lifts one eyebrow, peering briefly inside. Twilight then floats the map out and unrolls it for everyone to see. “This is the area that was identified by Celestia’s scout team as the origin of last night’s storm. We think it was triggered by a dimensional gateway that might lead back to Derek’s home on Earth.”
        Zecora flashes a look of concern, staring right at me.
“About the gateways, you are right
But danger awaits you there tonight.
I fear you will soon find out
These doorways are deadly, without a doubt.”
“W-What does that mean?” I ask, looking at Twilight.
Twilight draws a deep breath. “Well, Derek, there’s no way to know where the gateway will lead. It might drop you off a thousand miles above the ground, or over an ocean, and there will be no pegasus on the other side to save you.”
I hadn’t considered this before. And the sensation of fear was starting to creep back in despite the lavender.
“Just leave that to me!” Rainbow Dash says, flapping her wings so aggressively that some of the random items hanging from the ceiling begin swaying back and forth. “If you want, I will scout out ahead for you. A thousand feet is nothing to me—I can just fly in and fly right back out again. Hey, then you’ll owe me twice, right?” she winks at me.
I was still concerned, but I couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm.
“Whatchya brewin’ there, Zecora?” says Applejack, pointing to the concoction in the tiny cauldron. Zecora leans over the brew and inhales deeply.
“I’ve been asked by Miss Cheerilee
To help her discover who’s been naughty
Truth serum is in this brew
Sorry, but this is for her, not for you.”
Twilight begins to back away and starts heading toward the door.  “Well, it was really good to see you again, Zecora, but we should probably get going, heehee.”
There’s that nervous laugh again. I wonder if Twilight is uncomfortable here too.
“But you and your friends only just appeared
You’re leaving already? It seems a bit weird”
“Well, I had hoped to stay longer, but it would probably be best if we could reach our destination before nightfall, and because we’re starting so late, it’s already going to be a close race.”
“Good thinking, Twilight,” says Pinkie, turning to follow her out the door. “It was nice to see you again, Zecora! Why don’t you come by Sugarcube Corner the next time you’re in town. I’ll make you a free milkshake!”
The others began filing out, but Zecora stops me as I turn to follow them.
“A moment longer, Derek, please stay
There’s something more I have to say.”
“Oh... okay.” I grow nervous again, not sure that I want to stay here by myself. The others are outside already.
An awkward silence passes before she speaks.
“Truth serum allows me to see
That which others may hide from me.
Your friends care for you deeply, it’s true
But one of them is lying to you.”
“I see,” I say, somewhat skeptical. I wonder, why would the others want to lie to me? It didn’t make any sense, what she was trying to tell me. But what, if anything, did make sense here, really? I started toward the door, but I was curious about what she’d just said, and I pause for a moment. “So that truth serum of yours... it kind of... works in reverse?” I ask.
She nods to me, her expression quite serious for a moment. But then she smiles cordially and says in a warm and gracious tone:
"You're safe with your friends if to them you keep near
But friend Derek, always, you’ll be welcome back here.”
“Thank you, Zecora. Friend. I won’t forget you.” I remember to pick up the vial of lavender that she offered me, tuck it into my shirt pocket, and walk out the doorway.
As I step out of Zecora’s hut, I almost slam into Pinkie Pie, who had been waiting for me on the other side of the door.
“What was said was for you, and for you alone,” she says, staring gravely at me.
I blink. “What?”
“Just kidding!” she giggles and dashes off toward the others.
        

        It’s no small miracle that we manage to keep lunch brief. Because of that, we were making excellent time, and I knew we’d reach the mark identified by Celestia’s scout team before dark. But as we follow the map, drawing ever closer to the circle, the terrain starts to feel increasingly familiar. We’ve been climbing slowly and steadily for the last couple of miles. This worries me because it means we’re getting closer to the castle ruin. I suppose I’ve never fully recovered from our encounter with Nightmare Moon, despite long since becoming friends with Princess Luna. Worse yet, it sounds like I’m not the only one who’s getting agitated.
        “Stop stepping on my heels, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash snaps.
        “I’m so sorry! I’m just n-nervous because... we’re getting so close to the... to the circle on the map.”
Thank Celestia she didn’t say the word “Castle.” I don’t know what I’m going to say to Derek if anything comes up about the last time we were here. It wasn’t exactly an accident that I neglected to mention our previous encounter with Nightmare Moon, and Zecora’s truth serum had me seriously rattled. If the others are content to use just a bit of discretion when we pass by, well then—
“Hey, that means home isn’t far away,” Derek says
I want to share his enthusiasm, but instead, I feel awful. In fact, I was almost certain now that Celestia had intentionally omitted some critical information, and I didn’t know whether to be upset with her for not telling me, or with myself for not having figured it out sooner. Just then, we reach a clearing, and I can hear the river up ahead. We are almost done traveling, and there’s still plenty of time before sundown.
“Good news,” I say, hoping to cheer everyone up. “I think we’re almost there.”
The effect is an immediate and crippling silence, and I knew then that I should have just kept my muzzle shut. I feel certain by now that everypony knew we were approaching the castle, and no one wanted to talk about it. Well, everyone knew except for Derek, of course, which explained his enthusiasm. The tension somehow seems amplified by the lack of willingness by anypony else to admit out loud what she is feeling. “Okay. Um, I’m pretty sure I hear the river up ahead. Everypony stay close.”
In fact, the river is so low that there are several continuous paths of dry rocks connecting both banks. There was no sign of the serpent we’d met here before. He was presumably in deeper waters somewhere far away. Pinkie starts bouncing across. A rock shifts under her, suddenly making me feel uneasy about this crossing.
“Alright, carefully now!” I shout across the water. “We’ve come too far to let twisted ankles slow us down here.” I consider teleporting everyone across, but although I’m getting better, that spell is still not one that I’ve perfected yet, particularly over great distances. The risks seem greater than simply hoofing it.
“I don’t understand the problem,” Rainbow Dash says with a wink before turning to a flash of colors arcing across the water.
Fluttershy hovers lazily a few feet off the ground, helping Rarity to cross beside her.
“You first, Derek,” I say as he steps up beside me at the river bank.
“Oh, thank you. Hey, I wanted to ask you,” he says, stepping carefully out to the nearest rocks, “about what you think we might find once we get wherever it is we’re going. I mean, how will we know what to look for? It might be easy to miss. The gateway I passed through was so quiet that it didn’t even wake me up. Well, at least, not until I was falling through the clouds, of course.”
My front hoof begins to slip on the rock just ahead of me, and he quickly steps out with his shoe to brace against it.
“Thanks, Derek! As for the portal, I think it will be hard to miss,” I say, somewhat evasively. “Last night’s storm was pretty intense.”
“I’ve been thinking about that, too. What if the wind is so strong that it pulls us all inside? Or what if the reverse is true, and the force is so strong that we can’t even approach it?”
I didn’t have any answers for these questions, and it bothers me that he is asking them now, when we were so close to the castle. The one thing we had in common—science—was quickly turning into the one thing that might quickly drive us apart. And then it occurs to me that we don’t actually have a destination. All we had were a few loosely assembled clues, and a circle on a map that covered a huge area over terrain that was riddled with canyons and crevices. It might take us weeks to search the entire area. I suppose we could set up a base of operations in the cast—oh no.
I stop dead in my hoof tracks. The circle on the map suddenly made no sense at all. It was out in the middle of nowhere! What made a lot more sense was...
“You’re a mare of evidence, not conjecture, and I don’t want to raise any unnecessary alarms.”
Celestia’s words are loud and echoing when I mentally recite them. No, it can’t be. It can’t be! I glance back to my saddlebag with the Elements. The Elements! Great Celestia, how could I have been so stupid?! There’s nothing under that circle! It was just a ruse to lead us in the direction of the castle! Nightmare Moon is back! She must be! That explains everything! The dimensional portals, the storms—only a powerful sorceress could conjure those things! Why wouldn’t the princess tell me? Why would she set me up like that? Is this some kind of test? A test of my planning skills? Or lack of planning? My leadership? My courage? No, she wouldn’t intentionally put our lives in danger by lying to us like that, I’m certain! But I’m not certain.
My hoof slips again on one of the rocks. Frustrated, I teleport myself the last ten feet or so to the shore, just in front of Derek, who had just taken his final step up to the bank.
“Whoah, that’s incredible! Can you just flash around like that anywhere you want?”
“Not anywhere,” I admit. “I’m still learning.”
“Don’t be so modest, Twilight,” Rarity says. “Tell him about the time you helped us all escape from a pack of wild dragons!”
Uh-oh. Derek’s eyes opened wide, and I know what’s coming.
“I want to try it!” he says.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I reply, looking away. I know that without proper concentration, someone could be really hurt by the spell, and I was anything but focused after my realization of what—of whom—we were up against.
“Please, Twilight?”
“No, this isn’t a good place. We can try it later, somewhere free of obstacles, like an empty field. I promise, okay?”
“C’mon, Twilight,” says Rainbow Dash. “Learn to live a little.”
“It’s not safe!” I snap. “Princess Celestia is counting on me to deliver Derek safely to the castle, and that’s what I’m going to do! Don’t you understand?”
Rainbow Dash sinks to the ground, stunned.
“What castle?” asks Derek.
Oh no. No! Quick, Twilight, think of something! Anything! “Uuuuuh, the castle we’re going to pass right by, because the circle area is just a little way beyond.”
“I was wondering about that,” says Rarity. “What if the scouts made a mistake? Do you think that’s possible, Twilight?” She glances at my saddlebag grimly, and I suspect she knows now, too.
        Please, not yet. We’re so close! Think, Twilight, think! Okay, if we can just get across the bridge, we’ll be at the castle’s doorstep. We don’t actually have to go inside. We can hide out among the trees and design an action plan. I can explain everything. We don’t have to face Nightmare Moon right away! I just need a little more time to prepare. “Look, the bridge is just a little way ahead. We can stop on the other side, maybe set up a base camp, get some more food, and plan our course of action from there.” As I say it, I stare right at Rarity. Oh please, for the love of Celestia, please don’t say anything about Nightmare Moon! We’re so close! Please, just let it go for a little longer!
        Rarity stares back at me, and she looks like a wounded bird. For that brief moment, I feel as though our minds have connected, and I’m staring into a mirror. The moment passes, and she looks away. “Oh, well, I suppose that’s a good plan.” She re-rolls the scroll and returns it to my pack, walking away to catch up with the others. Derek frowns, but eventually he turns to follow.
        I’ve been holding my breath, and it comes out as a ragged gasp. Keep it together, Twilight. We’re almost there. Just a little bit longer.
        If I thought I’d catch a break in seeing the castle ruin, I was mistaken. The bridge crossing the ravine is in much worse shape than when we’d first crossed it almost two years ago. Several of the timbers are clearly rotting, some are missing, and there are places where the rope is badly frayed.
        “Oh no,” says Fluttershy. “How will we all get across on that? It looks like it could come apart at any moment!”
        Rainbow Dash hovers down in front of me and crosses her arms with a smirk.
        “Alright, I’ll try my magic!” I relent. Walking out to the edge of the landing, I fix my focus on the far side. I feel the familiar warmth building in my horn, see the glow against my muzzle. I know I can get myself across easily—it’s the others I’m worried about. Still, this extra bit of practice will be useful. The light brightens into a flash—
        “Ouch!” My jaw smacks hard into a bridge plank, and a wave of nausea passes over me. My leg is caught between two of the other planks, near to what had previously been the far landing of the bridge. The teleportation spell stopped far short of where I’d expected it to. Both the plank and the ropes holding it up are creaking loudly under my weight, and I’m afraid the bridge is going to give way completely. The bridge instead just sways for several long moments, and I’m suddenly frozen and very queasy, staring into the abyss of the canyon below.
        “Oh no!” Fluttershy squeals, drifting over to help me.
        In a moment of panic, I shout, “Fluttershy, wait, don’t put any weight on the bridge!”
        “Don’t worry, Twilight.” She hovers close and reaches out to steady the bridge from swaying. I let go of a deep breath, trying to overcome nervous exhaustion as she offers a hoof to help me stand. It’s awkward going, and the dizziness hasn’t stopped, but I’m able to walk slowly the rest of the way across.
        Rainbow Dash flies over to join us. “What just happened?” she asks me.
        “I don’t understand,” I say. “That should have been no problem for me. Stand back, I’m going to try something.”
        I concentrate again, on the other landing, next to where Applejack is standing, but I feel strange. My horn warms and begins glowing. There’s a flash and—
        I haven’t moved. Not one inch.
        Rainbow Dash giggles. “Performance anxiety, Twilight?”
        “This isn’t funny!” I growl. “My spell isn’t working.”
        Rainbow Dash’s expression softens in understanding, and she scratches at her mane pensively for a moment. “Hmm, well, why don’t you try a different spell? Something simpler, maybe?”
        “Okay, I’ll try a simple augment. Fluttershy, do you see that daisy on the ground? Would you please pick it, and hold it up for me?”
        Fluttershy nods and plucks the daisy, holding it between her teeth nervously.
        I screw up my concentration and think, bouquet...
        There’s a spark, and Fluttershy squeals, dropping the flower.
        “Oh no!” I gasp, “did I hurt you?” The flower is wilted, still smoldering on the ground.
        “N-no... You just... startled me,” says Fluttershy. “I’ll be alright.”
        “Well, that’s just great,” Rainbow Dash says, folding her arms.
        “What’s happenin’ over there?” Applejack shouts over to us.
        “Twilight’s magic isn’t working,” Rainbow Dash shouts back, and the shouting match isn’t helping my dizziness.
        Rarity glances over to a daisy on her side of the bridge and turns it into a small patch of them. “Everything seems to be in order over here.”
        In that moment, I understand exactly what’s happening. It explains everything, including the extreme nausea as I was crossing the chasm—which still hasn’t quite cleared away.
        I walk very slowly out to the bridge, near to where I hit the plank. I take one more step, and the nausea clears. Instantly. “Ah-ha!” I say.
        “Ah-ha what?” Spike asks.
        “It’s a Dispel field,” I say. And I don’t want to elaborate in front of Derek, but I have a pretty good idea that whoever is opening the gateway doesn’t want interference from outsiders. I teleport back to Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Spike, and Derek, and the spell works perfectly this time.
        I can tell that Rarity definitely knows something’s up, and thank goodness, she has the good sense to keep it to herself. She says, “Well, I suppose we’ll just have to find another way to cross.”
When Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fly back to join us, I glance up at them and ask, “I’m still worried about that bridge—it sounded like that board was almost ready to crack underneath of me. Do you two think you could fly Derek, Applejack, and Pinkie across?”
“Way too awkward,” says Rainbow Dash, shaking her head. “If we had a sling or something, we might be able to carry them across, but it’s just as likely that Fluttershy would wear out halfway there.”
Fluttershy looks down, shuffling her front hooves on the ground. “I’m sorry.”
“Anyway, I’ve got a better idea,” Rainbow Dash continues. “How about I just walk across the whole bridge a few times? Twilight’s already crossed it once. If it’ll hold my weight for a few trips, it should hold everyone else just fine, right? If it breaks, I’ll fly back, and then we’ll just have to find another way around.”
I was stunned. That was, actually, a really—”Great idea!” I was still collecting myself when she began to proceed with her plan. She walks across the entire bridge with a smooth gait, and she’s on the other side in seconds. She looks positively bored, but after a few more trips like this, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Okay Derek, your turn,” Rainbow Dash calls back.
“I wish I knew why I was crossing,” Derek says, stepping carefully to the exact same planks that Rainbow Dash had chosen. About halfway across, he stops and stares back at me, with a skeptical look on his face. “What’s over there that isn’t over here? And how do you know that what we’re looking for is on this side?”
The board begins creaking, and in that moment, an awful, awful realization suddenly kicks in. Dashie’s and my weight was distributed over four limbs, but a human, walking erect—

There’s a loud CRACK! and I hear Derek shout and see him grasping about wildly. Already, I’m diving toward him, but it feels like I’m moving in slow motion—his right arm wraps around one of the ropes, where another plank is attached. Fluttershy has reacted too, and she’s right next to me, but it’s too late, and we can’t get to him in time—the ropes split apart, and the bridge begins collapsing underneath him. The rope swings, slamming him into the cliff face.
From the time the plank broke, less than two seconds have passed, and Fluttershy and I are there together, lifting under his arms, but he’s been badly hurt—blood is streaming down his elbow.
He tries to clamber up the rope and remaining timbers as we help lift, but his injury is making it difficult. Eventually, we roll him onto the ground, where he lies breathing heavily for nearly a minute, cradling his arm.
This is my fault. I’m ashamed to look him in the eye, or at his arm. I can’t even say “I’m sorry.” I want to. Badly. But when I open my mouth I just choke on the words. This is my fault! It was my terrible idea that caused this! If I hadn’t been so impatient, we could have figured out a better way to get him across safely. I should have remembered how heavy he was when I first dove after him. I can feel him staring at me now. He’s angry. He has a right to be. I’ve let him down. I’ve let everyone down.
“Oh no, you poor thing!” says Fluttershy, lifting his arm gently. “Hold still!” She rifles through her saddlebag and takes out a scarf, cleaning his wound with some of the drinking water from her canteen and wrapping the scarf tightly around his arm, binding it off with a knot.
“There you go,” she says. “Can you move it?”
I can’t watch. Finally, I manage to squeak out, “I’m sorry.” I hope he believes me. I’m so sorry!

When our eyes meet, Rainbow Dash’s are glassy. I nod to her, and a second later, with a blast of wind, she’s gone. I’m not angry at her. I know she never meant for this to happen. Twilight won’t look at me at all.
Fluttershy, too, is somber, but she is also very focused. “Derek?” she asks again.
“Oh right... my arm. Uh, yes, I can move it okay, but it’s hurting.” It burns, just like it did on the day it actually got burned, and Zecora’s words begin coming back to me:
“Your friends care for you deeply, it’s true.
But some of them are lying to you.”
“I should have known that coming here was a bad idea,” I say quietly.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asks. Her voice is tense, and I finally know why.
“You lied to me!” I say through gritted teeth. “Zecora tried to tell me, but I didn’t listen to her. Her truth serum told her that you were lying to me. And I felt it too. That’s why I didn’t want to go into her house—because you were in there, and the serum made me afraid of you. I want you to tell me what the hell is in that castle? Don’t tell me that dispel field is a natural phenomenon. Someone—or some thing—does not want us to be here.”
        Twilight stammers, “Celestia told me to... I-I never meant for anything bad to happen to—”
        “Celestia never actually told you what we’re looking for, did she?”
        She’s crying now, and her voice is breaking. “No, she didn’t.”
        “You don’t have a clue how to get me home! This is insane! I don’t even know why we’re out here. Of all the people... ponies... whatever... I thought you, Twilight, would know something about how to get me home, because you are so... incredibly... smart!” And now my voice is straining, too, teetering between rage and betrayal. “I... I trusted you!”
My hands find their way to my pockets, an old nervous habit. I fidget with the vial of lavender oil that Zecora gave me, and I know where I’m going. I turn and start walking.
“Where are you going?’ she asks, with an air of desperation.
“I’m going back,” I say simply.
“What?! You can’t! It’s not safe!”
        “Safer than that,” I say, pointing back at the bridge.
        “Stop!” she cries, almost hysterically. “Derek, please! We’ll find another way! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Derek, come back!”

I’m still walking, heading back in the same direction that we came. If I were thinking clearly, it probably would have occurred to me to think that this was completely stupid. I didn’t know anything about the forest except that it was dangerous, and probably moreso now that I was alone, and injured. Knowing those things wasn’t particularly helpful at the moment, though. The sun dips below the horizon, and soon, it’s beginning to get cold. I need to get down to a lower elevation, or I will freeze to death. For a while, it seems like I’m making excellent progress—particularly along the softer ground, the hoof prints made along the way up are very easy to follow. At this rate, I figure I can make Zecora’s hut by nightfall, but it will be very close. As I’m walking though, I begin to fear what she would say. What was I going to tell her? That I was a coward? No, I’ll tell her what happened: I’ll tell her that she was right, and I that was deceived. I hope she will understand. She did call me “friend” and said that I would be welcome to return. Maybe she could even do something about this arm! Damn, it stings!
My thoughts are interrupted by something flitting about somewhere overhead and behind me. At first it sounds like bats, and I see a few of them darting about, but the sound doesn’t go away for a long time, even after it’s too dark to see them. I decide that whatever it is, it can’t be all that dangerous. More disturbing, though, is the fact that I can’t see the path clearly now. The sky is getting darker, the forest denser, making it difficult to see anything more than a few feet away. It seems like I should’ve arrived by now, but the terrain is still too rocky, and I’m still up higher than I should be. A cold breeze cuts through the night air, and I start to shiver. At this point I wished Rarity had made me a fur coat to keep me warm. She probably didn’t expect me to go running off alone, or to be caught up in the mountains alone so late at night. The trail is getting rougher, and something definitely feels wrong—I don’t think we came up this way. I hear the snapping of a small branch, broken.
And then, I see the source of the noise. A pair of green, glowing eyes—No, that doesn’t do these justice. You know how sometimes you will see a raccoon or a cat in the middle of the night, and their eyes will reflect a light source back at you? This wasn’t that. These eyes were glowing, with a sickly, phantasmal, green energy that chills me to my core. A deep groaning follows, like the sound that a breaking tree trunk makes as it begins to give way and fall. In the extremely dim light, I can just barely make out one of its features—an enormous appendage stalks forward, briefly backlit by the thing’s own glowing eyes. A gnarly, twisted hulk of interleaved branches, big as a motorcycle, and with sharpened wooden claws out at the edge, steps toward me and depresses the hard-packed trail as if it were soft loam. The groaning continues, like a thousand shuddering branches, rising into a howl. A timber... wolf. But this is no animal. This is evil.
I have never in my life spun around, and sprinted, so fast. And though I began with a five yard lead, the beast is easily gaining, its enormous weight making the earth shiver beneath me whenever its great claws connect with the ground.
I couldn’t even see where I was going—I simply followed the path with my feet, hoping there wouldn’t be a tree in my—
I smack hard into something, but it’s not a tree. In fact, it’s relatively soft, and furry. One of the ponies? No. Against the forest backdrop, I can barely make out an enormous head, and a thick, dark fur coat.
        Oh God, it’s a bear! And I am actually relieved, because this seems so ordinary compared to the beast that was chasing me. It’s not quite as large as I am, but as I whip around to reassess my pursuer, another bear, bigger, growls and slams into the timber wolf, biting through its wooden neck with massive jaws. A hailstorm of wooden shards flies toward me, scratching my face and arms. The growling continues as what sounds and looks like more bears begin to pile onto the timber wolf, shredding its body one limb at a time. I see its green eyes thrashing about, and eventually, they grow dark, and the wooden carcass collapses in a heap of rattling splinters.
Recovering from the spectacle, I turn again and stumble on a half-buried rock while trying to back away. Not three feet away, the largest bear growls. Another one, smaller, closes in from my left, and there’s also a smaller one to my right, about ten feet away or so. A mother with her cubs? So this is it, I think. I’m a meal for this family of bears, hard-fought and earned. This is my penance for deserting the ponies. Probably no more than I deserve. I guess their quest was righteous after all. What else could I have possibly done to deserve this end?
        “Alright then,” I say softly, my voice cracking now. I twist my head around, staring at the largest bear behind me, right into her amber eyes, and wishing I could communicate with her. I would tell her that I’d deliver all the food she wants if she’ll just let me live to see the light of another day. No? Make it quick then, okay? Please? Maybe go for the femoral artery, or the... the throat? She’s so close now that I can smell her, and she smells strongly of moss and dirt. She sniffs at my injured arm. Oh please, I don’t want to die like this! I think the timber beast would have killed me faster. Someone help me! Didn’t I just shout? No, my voice is gone! I’m so scared! I don’t want to die!

        I’ve circled back three times now, but somewhere along the way, I lost track of them. It’s so hard to see below the forest canopy, and I know it’s dangerous down there, especially after sunset. I can only hope that Charlotte and her family can find Derek. I’ve done all I can. I hope it was the right thing to do—they seemed like such a nice family! Hoping to join up with the others, I fly my way back along the trail. I can spot a small camp not far from the bridge, though there’s no fire, and Rainbow Dash is still missing.
        “Did you find him?” Twilight shouts up to me.
“No,” I shake my head, landing next to her. “I found a nice bear and her cubs, who offered to go looking for him, but I lost track of them shortly after.”
        “Bears? You sent BEARS after him?!” She looks particularly desperate, and I suddenly feel very foolish and naive. I thought that because they weren’t the dreaded Ursae, they would be nice and gentle. But now I’m worried that Charlotte tricked me, and I’ve just committed a grave mistake.
“Oh Great Celestia, it’s all my fault,” Twilight cries. “I should have told him the truth.” She continues sobbing, and even though it’s dark, I can see purple lines forming where tears stream down her face. I can’t stand to see her hurting like this. I walk over to her and hold her.
“I’ve failed him,” she says through sobs. “I’ve failed Princess Celestia. I’ve failed all of you! I’m unfit to be your leader. I can’t keep you all safe. I can’t even keep you all together! Derek is gone. Rainbow Dash is missing. And now all of Equestria is in danger. And it’s all my fault!”
        “Hey! It’s not over yet!” chirps Pinkie Pie, and although she’s not her usual, bubbly self, she is smiling. “We still have each other, and we still have the Elements. And I believe in you, Twilight! And I know Celestia wouldn’t send us on a fool’s errand! Maybe if we—”
        A bright flash silences her, and over the castle, a great, swirling vortex, like a hole in the sky, erupts and lets a well of sunlight stream down onto the castle ruin.  A slow, rolling thunder follows, making the ground tremble beneath me. I begin to tremble too. I close my eyes and cover them with my hooves, petrified.
        “Everyone get back! Get out of sight!” Twilight suddenly shouts. I can’t follow! I can’t even move! I uncover one eye to peek.
        Where the light streams through the hole in the sky, enormous objects begin falling through—I can’t clearly tell what they are, but they’re strung together in a great line, and when they crash down onto the stone ruins, the entire canyon is filled with a terrible, grating, metallic noise, like a thousand iron horseshoes splintering over stone.
        There’s a low rumbling, and I can feel the ground begin to shudder under my hooves. I don’t want to move, but my instincts take over when the ground begins falling away beneath me. I flutter and scramble back to safer ground, where the others are waiting. The chasm width has more than doubled. Rainbow Dash is gone. Derek is gone—probably dead, thanks to my foolish hope that a pack of bears would save him. I start crying, and I can’t stop. Pinkie Pie grabs me, pulls me away from the edge, and hugs me hard.
        

I’m terrified, and I’m almost ready to offer my vital organs to this bear, to end it quicker, when something strange happens. She just whines and lies down next to me. The others are advancing too, but they’re not crouched—they’re not hunting. They crowd in around beside me, nudging up against me. And they’re warm! They’re not going to kill me! And I’m not going to freeze to death! But what could they possibly want? Are they just saving me until breakfast time? Fully an hour passes and I am still wide awake, terrified and trembling, not from cold, but from nervous exhaustion, and from my horrific encounter with an evil creature from another realm. My eyes have finally adjusted to the starlight. I can no longer see any of the bears moving anymore, and I can hear them breathing softly and steadily. One of them is even snoring. I move ever so slightly to stand up, and one of them starts a low growl again—one of the cubs. He casts an icy glare and puts an enormous paw over my leg, as if challenging me to step away. One of the other cubs stirs a bit, too, but he doesn’t open his eyes. They’re all still fast asleep. I can’t sleep. And yet I can’t stay awake, either. The exhaustion is too great, and I pass into an uneasy dream.

BOOM! A flash of green and purple rays fills the sky, and the whistling of the firecrackers echoes throughout the hills. We’ve never had to go far to watch fireworks; our street overlooks a small, urban valley, and only a few blocks from our doorstep, we have one of the best views in town. The grass beneath me is warm and soft. The summer breeze blows across my arms, carrying hints of alfalfa from the barns behind us on the hills, and I inhale deeply to take it all in. Even the smoke from the neighbors’ fireworks doesn’t seem to bother me—it’s all familiar, and it’s all wonderful.
“Here, Derek, why don’t you go over to the sidewalk and try a sparkler.” My mom hands me a sparkler and lights it for me. With the sparkler in my right hand, I draw lazy circles as it cycles through different stages, dropping little showers of white and gold, and eventually it burns a steady green.
        Jeffrey walks over to me, his eyes wide. Mom is right behind him.
“Why don’t you let your brother try,” she says.
I reach over to hand him the sparkler. He doesn’t say anything. He never says anything. His eyes grow even wider, and he reaches out and grabs the sparkler. But instead of taking it away from me, he clutches it tightly, bending it up against my arm. The burning is immediate and intense, and I am screaming. The glow turns into a pair of glowing eyes, and a giant timberwolf stands before me, groaning its sickening groan with crackling branches, and a whistling howl in the breeze.
A dark, winged creature appears in the silhouette of the moon, and suddenly a lightning bolt arcs across the sky, spidering down the limbs of the beast and shattering it into a million glowing embers of glowing wood. The creature turns to stare at me, then with a powerful beat of its wings, it leaps away, leaving only a charred landscape surrounding me.

        The sun has barely cleared the horizon, but the clouds are already beginning to clear off. It’s still very cold. I smell eggs cooking, and Spike is standing over a small fire in an apron, tending a sizzling skillet. Leave it to Twilight to think of everything. The others are awake too, sitting around the fire. My fur is damp with dew, and I drift closer to the fire to warm my hooves.
        “Oh, hello Fluttershy,” says Spike, eyes downcast. “Eggs?” He tilts the pan toward me, not lifting his gaze.
        “Oh. Um... Yes, please,” I say, holding my hooves near the open flames. “Has there been any sign of Rainbow Dash?” I ask hopefully. They all shake their heads.
        “Sorry Fluttershy,” Twilight mumbles. “We haven’t seen her all night.”
        “And I don’t suppose Derek has returned?”
        Applejack draws a deep sigh and lets it go with a “Nope, Haven’t seen him, neither.”
        “I thought we’d split up after breakfast,” says Twilight. “Pinkie, Rarity, I want you two to try locating another way to get to the castle. Stay out in the open if you can, in case Rainbow Dash comes looking for us.”
        “Yessiree!” she salutes.
        “I do hope the sun exposure doesn’t bleach my hair,” Rarity says, fluffing the curls in her mane.
“Applejack, I want you to come with me to help search for Derek.”
“You got it, Sugarcube!”
“Fluttershy, I want you to take Spike and go to investigate the castle ruin. Can you do that?”
        My wings start quivering. “You want m-me to go search the ruins?”
        “You’re the only one here who can get across the chasm,” says Twilight. “And we need to know what’s happening over there if we’re ever going to get Derek home. You can carry Spike across with you, right?”
        “I’ll try.”
        “Also, please be careful! And be as quiet as you can! If you see anyone, don’t stick around, just turn and run, okay?”
        I am afraid. I am so afraid. Spike must know it, because he pats gently on my mane.
        “Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” he says, “I’ll protect you!”
        I smile at him, but it’s a forced smile.
Breakfast is light and unfulfilling. It also weighs heavily on my stomach, and I wish I had eaten less.
“Alright, everyone,” says Twilight wearily, after we’ve all eaten. “Stick together, and be safe. No unnecessary risks. If we can, let’s all try to meet back here before sundown. If you can’t make it, don’t stumble around in the dark, just set up camp wherever you’re at and wait till first light to set out again.”
With Spike firmly on my back, I stretch my wings wide, galloping to a running start. Although he’s a bit heavier of a load than I’m used to carrying in flight, it’s a relatively short distance, and we reach the other side of the chasm all too quickly. I land as quietly as I can, allowing Spike to hop down off of my back. He turns to look at me, and we nod to each other in silence.
        As we begin walking toward the ruin, I feel a bit strange, like the beginnings of a headache coming on, and I have to wonder if whatever affected Twilight yesterday was beginning to affect me as well, in a different way. No wonder she wasn’t performing magic like her usual self.
Already, I can begin to get a better sense of the wreckage of last night—as we approach the ruin steps for what used to be the castle vestibule, I can see, ahead in the main hall, a pair of what appear to be metal train cars jackknifed against each other to form an upside-down V. But they’re unlike any train cars I’ve ever seen—long, metal tubes with slots cut in the sides. It hardly looks suitable for passengers. I wonder what kind of freight this train could possibly carry? Something tells me I won’t have to wait long to find out. My hoofsteps seem to echo louder than usual as I step up to the raised stone floor, so I begin to slow my approach, increasing my efforts not to be heard. It doesn’t seem like anyone is here, but something still feels terribly, terribly wrong. A moment later, my nose wrinkles, catching the unmistakable odor of death.
I hesitate, but Spike continues forward, slowly, into the great hall. I want to call out to him to stop, but I’m afraid to call attention to ourselves. I plod on steadily to try and catch up, painfully aware of each hoofstep against the stone. Slow down, Spike!
When I cross the inner archway into the great hall, behind him, more details slowly come into view. There are perhaps six or seven train cars, twisted at odd angles to each other, and most of them are at least somewhat crumpled. But I don’t see a locomotive, or any sort of caboose—just these cars. Suddenly, Spike comes bounding back, attempting to mute his footsteps, but in his haste, his claws are clicking loudly along the stone. He’s waving his arms wildly, silently trying to gesture for me to turn around. Why is he running? Why is he—”Oh no. No. NO!”

The train cars are vented, and out of several of the vents, there are gleaming rivulets of blood dripping slowly down to the floor, collecting on the cobblestone in shiny pools of red. At the base of the heap, one of the cars is broken open, and I see the unmoving carcasses of lambs, cows, and... horses? I think that’s what Derek called them. I turn, and I run—no, I sprint back to Fluttershy to stop her from coming any closer—I cannot let her see this...
        I'm not fast enough. I will never forget that moment. She stood as still as stone, like the broken statues around us. I really don’t know how much time passed like that. Her eyes were dilated, and the tears just started pouring from them.
        Eventually, she collapses to the floor, and I try frantically to lift her back onto her hooves, to get us out of here, to get to safety, but she just lays there and starts wailing. I have never heard such a cry before or since—it echoed over the stone floor, and it rang throughout the hollow remains of the broken columns and rubble-filled archways.
        I try with all my strength, and from every conceivable angle, but I cannot lift her—except for the spasms of her mournful sobbing, she is limp, and her wings are splayed out across the stone at unnatural angles. I lift them one at a time off of the stone floor and try to fold them neatly onto her back, where I rub gently. Sometimes when I am crying, Twilight rubs my back, and it makes me feel better. I hope this makes Fluttershy feel better, too. Time passes. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. The panic has long since subsided, and I’ve long since realized that there is no one coming, and a strange feeling comes over me. I can’t put my finger on it right away, but it’s getting stronger. I feel a bit like I did on my birthday, when I began to grow larger, like other dragons. I feel aggressive. But I’m just Spike! What can a baby dragon do facing this callous indifference to life? I don’t care! I will find whoever is responsible for this. And I will destroy them.

        The first thing I realize is that I’m cold. But the next thing I realize is that I’m cold because I’m alive, and because the bears are gone. And I’m alive. And I’m not dead! The sun is just peeking over the horizon, and I can feel its rays beginning to stream through the forest at a low angle.
        “Ha!” I say, amazed at my luck. And then I scold myself aloud. “You are such an idiot! What were you thinking?!”
        “That’s what I want to know!” another voice calls back to me.
        “What? Who said that?” Wait, I know that voice. I’d know that voice anywhere! It was the first voice I’d ever heard in Equestria. “Rainbow Dash? Is that you?"
        “The one and only!”
        I turn a complete 360 degrees trying to find her. “Where... where are you?”
        “You should know by now that you’ll always find me when you’re looking up.”
        I look up into the tree boughs, and she’s hanging lazily from a branch directly overhead, wearing a grin like a cheshire cat. She starts giggling, lets loose the branch, and crashes right on top of me!
        “Whoah! Ouch” She collides into me at about chest level—not gently—and we both collapse onto the forest floor in a heap.
        “You didn’t think you could shake loose the greatest young flier in all of Equestria, did you?” she smirks, looking down at me triumphantly.
        “That was you following me last night?” I’m struggling to hold back my tears, because I am so relieved to see her, and so relieved that I am alive!
        “Yep. It was tricky after sundown, ‘cause you were on the ground, and I was above the trees. But then I started following the bears when I found out they were tracking you. It was a lot easier to track them. They made a lot more noise than you because there are four of ‘em, and they’ll crash through the underbrush without much thought to where they’re stepping.”
        “So did you send them to keep me warm last night?”
        “Nope. Honestly, I thought they were gonna eatchya. And then I saw the timber wolf, and I was getting ready to zap it with a lighting bolt, but then when they went after the timber wolf instead of you, I realized that Fluttershy might have set them onto your trail, and she wouldn’t have done that without a really good reason. Well, I was pretty sure, anyway.” For a moment, she looks away and frowns, then she turns back and smiles again. “So I just figured I’d stick around until morning and make sure they didn’t… y’know... change their minds around breakfast time.”
        There was an awkward pause in conversation where I was still looking up at her, and she was still looking down at me.
        “Why did you rescue me?” I ask her. “When I fell from the sky?”
        Avoiding eye contact, she screws herself up as if she were getting ready to bound off.
        “Wait, please! Tell me. I promise I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about. I promise!”
        She looks back at me and huffs, blowing her bangs up out of her face. “I’ll explain later, when we have more time. We’ve got to get back to Twilight. So are you coming back with me, or what? I won’t let you get lost again. Pinkie swear.”
        “No.”
        “Er... what?” she blinks in disbelief.
        “No, I’m not going back there. I’m going to Zecora’s. You can tell Twilight that I’m very sorry, but I just don’t trust her anymore.” I turn back toward the path toward Ponyville, fairly confident that I can find my way again with the sun fully illuminating the trail.
        She slams down onto the path in front of me with her front legs bowed, and she stares at me defiantly. “I will hurt you,” she says. “I didn’t follow you all this way just so that you could run off like a coward, and I am not going back with empty hooves. It would only take me a second to gather up a little storm cloud, and I've found that a couple a million volts can be a powerful motivator.”
        “You’re bluffing.” As I say this, it occurs to me that she probably isn’t bluffing at all. Her eyes are on fire, and it looks like she might actually hurt me. Her resolve is simultaneously endearing and terrifying. I’m in no condition for any kind of confrontation, though. “Look, if you’re going to be angry, then be angry with Twilight. She lied to me. Even after all that has happened, I’ve never gotten a straight answer from her about what’s in that castle.”
        At my comment, she turns to look away.
        And then, finally, it occurs to me how naive I’ve been. “You... you know what’s waiting for us there at the castle, don’t you? You all knew.”
        Silence.
        “Unbelievable! I thought Twilight had you all duped, but I guess it’s just me that doesn’t know what’s going on. And I guess you're not telling me, either.”
        “Psh! Whatever, human! This is between you and Twilight, and I’m not getting involved.”
        “Fine.” I take a wide step around her and start heading along the trail. She starts following me. I look back at her, genuinely worried that she’s going to make good on the promise of a lightning storm. Could she really do that? It’s hard to keep an edge of panic out of my voice. “So now what? You’re going to bully me into going back?”
        “No. I’m making sure you get to Zecora’s safely. I owe you that much, and nothing else.”
        I’m hesitant to believe this. Maybe this is just another trick. But the fire in her eyes has burned out, and her gaze is steady and unflinching. And I know she’s not lying.

        The sun is high overhead, baking the stone floor around me. It’s uncomfortably hot, I’m parched, and I must have been lying here for quite some time. Spike is sitting in front of me, with a deep frown.
        “I’m okay,” I say with the biggest smile I can manage, biting my lower lip.
        “No you’re not okay,” he says, listlessly.
        He’s right. I’m not okay. A breeze carries the stench of death. I don’t need to turn to look at the train cars to understand the carnage. I know that what’s behind me is real. A fresh wave of tears threatens to overwhelm me, but I manage, barely, to choke it back and stand up. It’s time to move on.
        “You’re right, Spike. I'm not okay. Come on,” I say softly, my voice quavering. I clear my throat. “Let’s get out of here.”
        At the base of the steps, I kneel to let Spike climb onto my back. He feels heavier than before, and it’s not as easy to cross the chasm this time.
        My knees give out as soon as I land, and so does my consciousness.
        Seconds or hours may have passed when I awaken again to Spike’s voice.
“She’s over here,” he says.
“YAY, you’re back!” Pinkie shrieks with excitement.
        “We were so worried,” Rarity says. “We were down in the canyon and we heard this awful crying, and we were terrified that something horrible had happened to you.”
        The words barely register. I am so thirsty. I take a deep breath and hope my words will be comprehensible. “I... need... water.”
        “Oh my!” says Rarity. Using her magic, she lifts a waterskin from her saddlebag and unscrews it. I try to reach up with my hooves, but my hooves and wings are trembling, and I can’t hold it.
        “No let me, dear. Just hold still, and I’ll help you.” Using magic, she touches the spout to my tongue and tilts it up. I don’t want to take all of her water, and I start to resist after a few swallows, but she tilts it up higher and insists, “No, I want you to drink all of it, Fluttershy! You need this much more than I do. We’ll find some place to refill it later.”
        “What did you find?” says Pinkie. “What was that awful racket last night?”
        I swallow the last of the water and screw up my courage to answer Pinkie. But my voice vaporizes, and my eyes start welling up again. I can’t go back there. I can’t go back there. “I... I... can’t....”

        Zecora’s gnarled tree isn't particularly easy on the eyes, but when it comes into view, it is the most welcoming sight in the worl... well, in Equestria, I suppose. Rainbow Dash has been walking behind me the whole time. I’d never seen her spend that much time on the ground to go anywhere—she always hovered, or flitted about. But just as I turn back to thank her, she’s already gone.
        “Well, so much for saying goodbye.” I take a deep breath and raise my hand to rap gently on Zecora’s door. I hesitate, feeling awful again. Really awful. Not like before—it’s not terror this time. It’s sadness. It’s loneliness. I have precisely one friend left on this whole planet. What will she say when she realizes the others aren’t with me? She told me to stay with them, and I didn’t. And as I’m trying to decide whether to knock, the door creaks open.
Zecora smiles at me. Then, as I feared, she frowns, realizing I'm alone. A long silence passes—the longest, I think, I’ve ever experienced.
        “Friend Derek, you’re back! But nopony by your side?
        Please come in, tell me what happened, please come inside.”
        “Zecora... I’m... really sorry,” I say, eyes welling a bit. “You tried to tell me, and I didn’t listen, and now everything is all screwed up. I didn’t trust you, and I’m sorry! You were right. Twilight and the others were lying to me. And now I don’t know... I don’t know what to...” As I say this, my voice breaks, and it occurs to me that I had always expected, with enough time and enough help, to find some way to get home. But now I'm afraid that I'll never see home again. Ever.
        Zecora’s expression is hard to read, but she looks very concerned, especially when she sees my arm. She lifts her hoof to my waist and ushers me inside gently.
        “Friend Derek, you’ve suffered great harm
        Please let me take a look at your arm.”
        “Uh, there was… an accident... at the bridge... near the old castle ruin,” I explain. “Twilight tried to—” I grimaced. I didn’t want to tell her details. Not now. I offer my arm, very hesitantly—of course it’s the bad one. I’m afraid she’s going to ask about the scar that’s still visible around the bandage-covered gash, and I don’t want to tell her about that, either. She stares at me for a moment. Finally, she glances down at the dressing that Fluttershy applied—her scarf is soaked through with blood. The pain and swelling have worsened, too, and it stings when she pulls the dressing off. “Ouch!”
        Zecora winces, drawing a breath sympathetically, and then she walks over to a cabinet and brings down a clear vial between her teeth. She glances back at me for a moment and gives me an appraising stare, as if she’s trying to read my mind. It makes me very uncomfortable. And when she speaks, she’s still holding the vial, and it makes her sound a bit funny.
        “Shomething tellsh me thish won’t do the trick”
        She returns the vial to the shelf.
        “I think something... inside... is making you sick.”
        She then brings down a bowl of green paste and a large, waxy leaf. She gestures to a long, low bench, where I guess I’m supposed to take a seat.
        “Before I start, you should lie down, not sit
Give me your arm, Derek. This won’t hurt a bit.”
        Having been lied to once already, I’m again hesitant, but Zecora just waits patiently, smiling, her eyes full of nothing but kindness. Eventually, I lie down with my arm resting over my heart, and she begins to dab on the paste very gently, very careful not to further aggravate the wound. The pain lessens significantly, and I release a long, ragged breath that I hadn’t even realized I was holding. My whole body had become tense in response to the wound. A few seconds later, the pain stops entirely. A few breaths later, it feels very warm and tingly and slightly numb, like I’ve just been injected with lidocaine. And soon, the warmth spreads into my whole arm and shoulder, and down my chest.
        “Uh-oh... Um, Zecora, I... I dunno about this… I don’t think… I don’t think this is working the way it’s supposed—” The tingling spreads, and my vision starts going snowy, my ears ringing slightly.
        She rests her hoof gently on my shoulder, perhaps in an effort to reassure me. It feels strange, though, like it’s passing through skin and bone, and sending rippling waves through my whole torso. I feel like I’m floating in air. One by one, my senses begin shutting down. Last to go is my hearing, just after she says:
        “Soon you will feel a need to sleep.
        Be calm, Derek. Rest, and dream deep.”

        “Jeffrey, what are you doing?!” my mom is screaming. Why is she screaming? “Oh God, William, call 911!” She’s staring at my arm. There’s flesh missing, and it’s blackened, but... that’s strange... I don’t feel any pain at all. In fact, I feel quite calm. I think I’m floating. Right up and out of my body. Jeffrey is crying. Why is he crying? Did he do something wrong? I feel strange. I see... I see both of us now. I see myself. I look angry. Now I’m the one who’s screaming—at Jeffrey. I look so angry!
        “You stupid little shit! Don’t you understand? Look what you’ve done! Look at my arm! It’s ruined for life!”
        Did I say that? That can’t be right. Don’t be angry, Derek. He didn’t mean it. Look, Jeffrey’s crying. He knows you’re upset, but he doesn’t understand. I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm. He doesn't understand. I’m sorry, Jeffrey. I’m sorry! I... I forgive you.
My tears turn to waterfalls, and I begin falling with them. Through them.  They vaporize into a white spray, and the spray begins to fall away from me as I am floating again. The droplets coalesce into a pearly avatar: a bird, I think. Is it a dove? No, bigger. Much bigger! Its wings span ten times my height, and we are gliding together over a cool sea of constellations. We drift for a long time, passing from one star cluster to the next. Eventually, the bird swoops up in front of me, opens its great wings and curls them around me in an enclave, drawing me toward its head, turning to peer at me with steely, grey eyes. Definitely

When I open my mouth to reply, my voice completely fails. Instead of trying to speak, I simply nod. The bird draws me closer, staring at my bad arm. Its beak opens, and with the precision and fluidity of a scalpel, it scoops through my arm and pulls away the damaged flesh. There’s no pain—in fact, it feels incredible! I feel lithe and unburdened, and the bird vanishes, and I'm flowing through a sea of stars, and they're washing over me like rain.

I feel warm. There’s a blanket over me—wool, I think. Zecora is sitting next to me, and she’s offering me a bowl of steaming soup. I want to take it, but I can’t—both of my arms are still numb, and I can’t move them. Zecora awkwardly helps me to sit up, and she tilts the bowl up into my mouth. It’s some kind of vegetable stock, and it tastes amazing.
        “While you slept, you spoke in your dreams
        Deep anger at little brother, it seems?”
        I draw a deep breath. “Oh no, you—you heard that?” I feel so ashamed. I was so angry with him. I’ve never told anyone. Not mom. Not dad. Not anyone. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t know any better. And now Zecora knows, and she must think I’m a monster. My brow furrows, and I have to explain! I have to—
Zecora puts a hoof to my chest, and she speaks slowly, softly.
        "Peace, Derek. Your body stores trauma, emotion, it’s true
        In muscles, in bones... it’s like a residue.
        This herbal poultice takes away pain
        Physical, spiritual, it’s one and the same.”
        I look down at my arm. The paste had formed a kind of crust over the wound, sealing it and protecting it from abrasion. The feeling in both of my arms finally starts to return, and I clumsily reach for the bowl of soup myself, drinking more, spilling a little on the blanket.
        Zecora just smiles.
“I'm not angry anymore. I forgive him."
        “I believe that you do
        But much more than that, I would ask of you.
        Twilight Sparkle is just outside.
        Nothing more from you will she try to hide.
Forgive her as you forgave your brother
And go with her, if you want to be with your mother.”
        And with that, Zecora rises from the bench and steps out the door, carrying a small wooden basket. A moment later, there’s a gentle knock.
        “Come in!” I say.
        Twilight Sparkle swings the door wide and steps in, her head hanging very low. “I owe you an apology,” she says.
        “No, I owe you an apology,” I say. And I really mean it.
        “Fine, we both owe each other an apology,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I’m sorry for lying to you. It was wrong.”
        “I’m sorry, too, for running off. Alone. Like an idiot. That was probably the single stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I know now that you were just trying to look out for me, and you didn’t want to frighten me.”
        “That’s all true, but it wasn’t good enough. And I’m sorry for that too. I owe you more than just an apology. I owe you an explanation.”
        And so began the tale of Equestria’s history. She told me of the Princesses that ruled together, and the jealousy that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon. She told me of the Elements of Harmony (and she even opened the giant book and showed them to me—never in my life have I seen so many gems, let alone all in one place!) She described the showdown against Nightmare Moon, and I was once again struck by how extraordinary it was that I had run into these six ponies, who were all so very brave.
        “And this is where the history lesson ends and the conjecture begins,” she says. “I don’t have any proof, but my gut is telling me that Nightmare Moon is somehow behind all of this, including your presence here. I think Celestia knows it too, or at least she must suspect it.”
        “But how could that be? I thought you said Luna went back with Celestia to live in Canterlot.”
        “I don’t understand that part, either. But what I do know is that we have to get to the castle to find out.” She stares at me, and her purple eyes are enormous and intense. She hesitates. She’s afraid. “We may die trying to get you home, Derek. If we really didn’t destroy Nightmare Moon using the Elements of Harmony, I’m not sure what to do now. But I have to try.”
        There is a sincerity in her voice, and a quiet resolve in her demeanor that leaves me speechless. I haven’t even mentioned how I was almost killed by a timber wolf. Or the bears that rescued me. It hardly seems important, given what we’re up against now. But in the silence that follows, it occurs to me that I still have unfinished business with Rainbow Dash, and that is important.
“Twilight, did Rainbow Dash ever catch up with you?”
        “She’s outside. Why?”
        “Would you please send her in? I need to speak with her. Alone.”
        A few moments later, Twilight trots out and Rainbow Dash trots in, with a somewhat vacant expression. “What’s up, Derek?” she asks, looking away.
        “I need to come clean,” I say.
        She smirks at me. “If you want a shower, I think we’re going to have to go back to Ponyville for that.”
        “No, I’m serious. I was... upset. With you. Your impatience. At the bridge. Really upset. But... I’m not upset anymore.”
        “Oh,” she says. And her stammering is not unlike my own. “Well... I... Uh...”
        “It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. I just want you to know that I forgive you. That’s all.”
        She doesn’t say anything. She’s beaming at me, her eyes briefly flickering with fire. She steps forward, and I think maybe she wants to hug me. But the flicker fades, and she glances away quickly. “Alright, enough mushy stuff already. Are you going to come with us willingly this time, or am I going to have to lightning bolt your flank all the way back to the castle ruin?”

End of Book 2