//------------------------------//
// 2: Trouble on the Road 
// Story: Emberfall 
// by The Fluffy Ninja 
//------------------------------//

	The old road was disfigured and twisted. The various breaks in the grayed asphalt intertwined with one another. Dead grass and weeds grew in between the cracks, slowly taking over the street. The rusted metal shells of cars littered the road. All of them had been stripped for parts. Their color had long since faded. Another lonely highway that had endured both time and the elements.
​
​Twilight noted how silent it was, and this unsettled her. The only sound she could hear was the whisper of the wind and the hoofsteps of the horse she rode on. Even the sound of chirping birds were strangely absent. She felt all alone on this dead road.
​
​A cold wind brushed against Twilight’s spine, making her shiver. “Its freezing,” she said.
​
​Daniel nodded his head in agreement. He too was beginning to shake from the biting cold. “I know. If we stick to the highway, we’ll reach a patrol outpost soon. Once we get there, we’ll go inside and warm ourselves up.”
​
​Twilight hoped in the back of her mind that the outpost was not too far away. The group rode on in silence. Overpasses and abandoned vehicles had become a common sight on the road. Countless green signs with the names of forgotten cities passed them by. All of the different vehicles became a blur of chipped paint and rust in Twilight’s mind. It was the same scene over and over again. Twilight was getting restless and wanted to think about something else other than the ruins around her.
​
​Daniel stopped at the side of the road and dismounted. He said that he wanted to give Ulysses a break and grabbed the horse’s reins. He started down the highway again while leading the horse. Still sitting on Ulysses, Twilight took the opportunity to start a conversation.
​
​“So, where are we going?” she asked. It was a question that had been nagging her since they left that morning.
​
​“I already told you, we’re going to stop at the outpost,” Daniel responded.
​
​“I meant after that.”
​
​“Oh.” Daniel rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Well, I had planned that we would follow the highway up to the city of Baltimore. I’m supposed to meet someone there, and he might help us out on our little mission. Plus, we could grab some supplies while there. We are going to need some warmer gear if we keep on heading north.”
​
​Twilight was racking her brain. Daniel had said ‘Baltimore’, and she swore that she had heard the word before, but she wasn’t sure from where. When it finally came to her, she spouted out, “Wait, don’t you mean Baltimare, not Baltimore?”
​
​A moment of silence passed, and then Twilight could hear a low chuckle from Daniel. A small grin was etched on his face. “Why are you laughing?” she asked slightly agitated.
​
​“I’m sorry, but was that supposed to be some sort of pony pun?” he questioned light-heartedly.
​
​Twilight realized her mistake and immediately tried to cover for it. “Uh, yeah. It was a joke. Thought it would help lighten up the mood,” she fibbed.
​
​“Well, I thought it was kinda funny,” Daniel said sincerely.
​
​As they continued on down the road, Daniel felt a small trickle of rain on the back of his neck. He looked up into the sky and saw the dark, heavy clouds above. The wind was beginning to pick up. It wasn’t long before the drizzle turned into a relentless downpour.
​
​“Great, just great,” He huffed. “I thought the worst of the storm had already passed us.”
​
​“So, what are we going to do?” Twilight asked. Daniel hopped back on Ulysses and spurred the horse to pick up the pace. Twilight, caught completely by surprise, held on desperately as Ulysses bolted down the cluttered highway.
​
​“We need to get to the outpost and out of this storm. It’s only going to get worse.”
​
​“How can you tell?!” Twilight yelled over the storm.
​
​As if to answer her question, a streak of lightning shot down from the storm clouds and struck dangerously close to the group. Twilight could feel the heat from the lightning strike, and her hairs stood on end. She yelped in surprise and nearly fell off, but Daniel quickly reached back and grabbed her hoof. “I’ve got you!” he shouted as he pulled her back on.
​
​Ulysses dashed forward against the rain, weaving around the wreckage that surrounded them. The wind was blowing more forcefully, and Twilight was finding it more difficult to hold on. Raindrops and powerful wind slammed into Daniel’s face, covering his glasses. It was nearly impossible for him to see the low building that sat by the side of the road.
​
​“Whoa, slow down boy!” Daniel cried out. Ulysses skidded to a halt in the parking lot of the outpost. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. She was cold and soaked to the bone.
​
​“Goodness, I thought I was going to lose my grip back there,” she said. When Daniel didn’t answer back, Twilight looked back at him and noticed he was staring dead-on at the outpost. “Daniel, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
​
​“Something isn’t right here,” Daniel replied. His eyes darted cautiously around the area. “Even in this weather, there should be a guard outside. This place looks abandoned.”
​
​Indeed, the place seemed to be deserted. Not a single person was in sight. The concrete barriers that were positioned around the aged gas pumps were moved out of their usual spots. The windows of the former-gas station were busted and were crudely boarded up with wooden planks. This storm-beaten building had certainly seen better days.
​
​Daniel and Twilight dismounted Ulysses. Twilight grabbed her saddlebag and levitated it onto her back. She watched as Daniel walked over to Ulysses and whispered something into his ear. She couldn’t make out what he said, but the horse then turned around and sprinted down the road until he was out of sight.
​
​“Daniel, what did you tell him?” she asked with an edge of wariness in her voice.
​
​“I told him to get out of sight. I’ve got a bad feeling about this, and I don’t want our only means of escape getting hurt.”
​
​“And how was telling him to leave was a good idea? Are you sure he’ll be safe? How will we escape if he’s not here?”
​
​“Trust me, he’s smarter than he looks; he’ll be close by when we need him.”
​
​“I hope your right,” Twilight muttered under her breath.
​
​Daniel and Twilight came up to the door of the outpost. Daniel thumped his fist on the door. “Is anyone there? We need to come inside; the storm out here is getting worse by the second!” No one answered back. Twilight pressed her hoof against the handle of the door. The door slowly creaked open. “This isn’t good, why was the door unlocked?”
​
​Daniel reached into his side pocket and retrieved his handgun. Twilight looked at him with suspicion. “Have to be prepared for anything,” he told her plainly.
​
​Hesitantly, the two carefully stepped into the building. Daniel closed the door behind them while holding his weapon at the ready. It was dark inside with gloomy light filtering in through the slits of the wooden planks. Twilight casted a small orb of brilliant light that hung over her. In the pale light of her magic, they could see that the room was completely trashed. Shelves and desks were overturned and carelessly scattered about. The walls were laced with large cracks. Bits and pieces of broken items lied on the floor. Shattered glass littered the area around the windows along with discarded bullet casings.
​
​“Sweet Celestia, what happened here?” Twilight whispered.
​
​“A fight,” Daniel stated. “There must have been a shootout between the guards and whoever was attacking them. The question is who was attacking? There was no blood or bodies outside or in here.”
​
​Twilight stepped around the debris on the floor and reached the back of the room. She was in front of the store counter, and she spotted the door behind it. Although some of the letters were scratched out on the name tag, Twilight could make out the words “Manager’s Office.”
​
​“Hey Daniel, there’s another room back here. Maybe we should check it out.”
​
​As she reared around the counter, Twilight caught her breath. Lying crumpled behind the counter was the corpse of a… thing. The creature was humanoid in shape, but that was the only resemblance it had. The creature seemed to be made up of an onyx crystalline material, like someone had coarsely carved the skeletal remains of a human from a large crystal. Its claws were like broken glass, and its misshapen head had no eyes, but its maw was lined with sharpened points like teeth. Twilight grimaced when she noticed that both the teeth and the claws were stained dry crimson.
​
​As Twilight backed up, she jumped when her rear bumped into something. She flipped around and shot an arcane blast from her horn. The bolt missed Daniel by a hair and crashed into the wall behind him.
​
​“Whoa, Jesus! Watch where you aim that thing,” Daniel yelped.
​
​“I- I’m so so sorry, I panicked! Are you okay? Did I hit you? If I did, it’s okay. That was just a stun spell, so it wouldn’t have hurt you, but I should still be sorry, which I am, because maybe it DID hurt you and then…”
​
​Daniel could see her mouth moving, but he could not make out a single word of what she was saying. The words were coming out, but it was way too fast to understand. Daniel kind of wished that the spell had knocked him out now.
​
​“Twilight,” he said just loud enough to catch her attention. “It’s fine. I wasn’t hit. Just… please be careful with your magic. Also, just ‘I’m sorry’ will work fine next time.”
​
​Twilight opened her mouth as if to say something, but then she just simply nodded. Once she had regained her composure, she looked back at the strange creature. She spotted that its chest was riddled with holes.
​
​“What is that thing?”
​
​Daniel gave her a quizzical look. “You’ve never seen a Hollow before?” She shook her head. Daniel cautiously approached the Hollow and tapped it with the barrel of his pistol. The creature remained motionless.
​
​Daniel took in a slow breath, removing his glasses as if it helped him think. “Hollows are a nasty a piece of work. These monsters are some of the most dangerous beasts out in the wastes. They don’t sleep, they don’t eat. All they ever do is hunt and kill any living thing they come across. Although they aren’t much of a threat alone, a pack of them could easily tear a person apart.” He spoke slowly and deliberately. He wasn’t just answering a question, he was giving a warning.
​
​Twilight’s throat went dry at the thought of a horde of these things, with their jagged claws and gnashing teeth. “How do you stop them?”
​
​Daniel put back on his glasses and stood up over the Hollow. He placed his left foot on its head. He slowly pressed down with all his weight. Twilight could hear the shattering noise it made as Daniel crushed the head. “You either destroy the head, or you keep hitting them ‘till they don’t get back up.” Daniel turned back to look at Twilight. “It’s safe to come over now. Let’s get this door open.”
​
​Twilight came to Daniel’s side, careful to step over the still Hollow. “Do you think the guards might be in there?”
​
​“I don’t know, but it would make sense. Maybe they holed themselves up in the room when the Hollows attacked.” Daniel reached for the handle and tried to turn it. When it wouldn’t budge, he shook the handle. It did nothing.
​
​“Crap, it’s locked.” Daniel looked down at the keyhole. “Maybe if I had a screwdriver and a few bobby pins…” he muttered to himself.
​
​Before Twilight could say anything, she heard a rustling noise. It came from the front door. Daniel was aware of it too and motioned for Twilight to duck behind the counter. “Get rid of your light and stay quiet,” Daniel whispered. Twilight quickly dissipated her light spell. Daniel grasped the grip of his pistol with both hands. His index finger hovered near the trigger.
​
​The front door swung open and three figures stumbled inside. One of the figures, a woman wearing a flight jacket with a yellow-black badge, whipped around and slammed the door shut. In her hands, she held a lever-action rifle. The second person was a man who was dressed similarly as the woman. He was clutching his side and taking in deep breaths. The third person was a young girl, probably 15 to 16 years in age. She was holding up the injured man. The girl gently propped the injured man against the wall. The shoulder she was using to hold him up was stained with blood.
​
​“Holy hell,” the girl said out of breath. “There must have been… a dozen of them. What… are we gonna do?”
​
​The woman looked back at her with a determined look in her eyes. “We’re gonna hole up in here and wait until they’re gone. If we’re lucky, the storm will have blown over by then.”
​
​The girl raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what you tried to do last time?”
​
​“Yeah, but it’s not gonna be like last time.” The woman turned her attention towards the man. “Reynolds, how are you holding up?”
​
​“Oh, don’t worry about me, just suffering from a minor case of bleeding out.” He responded laboriously.
​
​“Alright, so smartass here can still talk. Ceilia, head into the back room, there should be a first-aid box we could use.”
​
​“Well, I’ll need the key first.”
​
​As the woman was fishing her keys out, Twilight whispered to Daniel, “Should we show ourselves? They look like the guards of the outpost.”
​
​“That is exactly why I’m afraid to do that. We would look like we were trying to steal their supplies while they were gone. They might just shoot us on the spot.”
​
​“But if we don’t show ourselves, they’ll find us hiding back here anyways. That would not help our case either.”
​
​Daniel sighed in hesitation. “Alright, we’ll do it your way.” Daniel holstered the gun in his side pocket. “We’ll go up together and I’ll talk to them, okay?” Twilight nodded. “Okay, then.”
​
​Both Daniel and Twilight stood up slowly. Daniel’s hands were raised in the air. “Please do not shoot us; we are friendl- AH CRAP!!” Daniel yelled as the woman fired her rifle. The bullet whizzed past Daniel’s shoulder and buried itself in the wall behind him.
​
​“I said don’t shoot!” he snapped.
​
​The woman cocked the lever of the rifle in a flash. She aimed the barrel directly at Daniel. Her steely eyes burned into the intruders. “That was a warning shot. Do anything stupid and the next shot goes into your chest. Now, what are you doing here?”
​
​It was Twilight that spoke next. “We were travelling down the highway when the storm hit. We came here to find shel-.”
​
​“Bullshit.” She turned the rifle onto the unicorn. Twilight’s heart was pounding against her chest. “You’re raiders and you came here because you thought it would be easy pickings. Well, I’ve been having a really shitty day and I don’t have time for lies. I suggest you start telling the truth. Now.”
​
​“They are telling the truth.” Everyone turned their eyes to the girl named Ceilia. Twilight inspected her closely and noticed that the girl’s face was thin and her ears were pointed. “I mean, look at them, do they really look like raiders to you?”
​
​“No, but we can’t trust them. They’re complete strangers and they were hiding out in our outpost, probably trying to grab whatever scraps that were left.”
​
​“Listen,” Daniel calmly interjected. “When we found this place, it was deserted. We weren’t trying to take anything; we were looking around to see if there was anyone left. We found the dead Hollow in the back.”
​
​Twilight remained tight-lipped, but she noticed the guardswoman had lowered the barrel of her rifle slightly.
​
​Ceilia was looking at the woman with her bright green eyes. “Right now, we need to focus. Your friend needs to be treated, and there is a horde of Hollows heading this way. If you want proof that you can trust them, let them help us fight off those monsters.”
​
​An uneasy silence settled in the room until the woman finally lowered her weapon. “Fine, they can help.” The woman spoke to Daniel and Twilight. “I… apologize for how I acted. My name is Amber, and the other two are Reynolds and Ceilia.”
​
​Twilight gave a nod to show that she accepted the apology. “My name is Twilight, and he’s Daniel. Tell us how we can help.”
​
​"I need to patch Reynolds up and get him into the back room. It has an exit and is probably the safest room here. All three of you need to barricade the windows and the door. Use anything that ain't nailed down."

​Without a moment's rest, the four began their tasks. Amber went to Reynolds side and hauled him into the back room. Daniel, Twilight, and Ceilia worked together to shove the shelves and desks into place. Soon enough, the makeshift barriers were in place.

​"Alright," Daniel said. "I'm gonna head to the back and get ready. You two be ready to go when its time."

​As Daniel went to the back, Twilight turned to Ceilia. "Thanks for talking her down. Things would have been bad if you weren't here."

​"No problem. The last thing we need to be doing is waving guns around and making accusations. Besides, I figured we could use a few extra fighters against the Hollows."

​Twilight cocked an eyebrow. "Are you going to help us fight? I have my magic, and Daniel and Amber have their guns. I don't see any weapons on you."

​Ceilia smiled mischievously. "Don't worry, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." Ceilia raised her and it became engulfed in electric green sparks. Tiny bolts of lightning arced between her fingers.

​Twilight's eyes widened. "You can use magic?!"

​Ceilia shrugged. "Of course I can, how do you think I've made it this far?"
​
​“You two get back here,” Amber called from behind the counter. She was loading her rifle with a few more rounds. The door was closed behind her. Twilight assumed that Reynolds had been moved to the back. Daniel was next to her, inserting more bullets into a few spare clips he had laid out in front of him.
​
​“Daniel, I want you on the right side windows, keep anything from getting in.”
​
​Daniel nodded and scooped up his pistol clips. He moved to his spot and positioned himself.
​
​“Ceilia, Twilight. Both of you are going to cover the left side windows. I’ll get the front door. Remember; don’t attack until I give the word.”
​
​Twilight and Ceilia hastened to their spots. Amber moved forward to the door and cocked her rifle. Everyone stood ready in front of their makeshift barriers. No one made a single noise. The only sound that could be heard was the downpour outside and booming thunder.
​
​For a moment, nothing happened, but then Twilight spotted a shadow move through the opening in their defenses. It was there only for a second before it vanished. Twilight held her breath as more shadows appeared and disappeared. Each one was followed by a scraping noise, like pieces of glass scratching against pavement. Her muscles tensed and her heart raced. She was finding it increasingly difficult not to let loose a spell.
​
​“Wait,” Amber whispered.
​
​The scratching noise had escalated into the sound of wood being torn apart. Twilight watched as the planks of wood were ripped off the windows. She could see the tips of black crystal claws tearing away at the defenses.
​
​“Wait.”
​
​One by one, the planks were torn away, revealing more and more of the creature on the other side. Twilight swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She could see its spiny arms and barbed torso. When the last plank fell, Twilight could finally see its horrid head. It had empty sockets for eyes and razors for teeth. It opened its mouth and released a high-pitched shriek.
​
​“Now!”
​
​Twilight summoned up arcane energy into her horn, and unleashed a violet blast. The bolt raced into the mouth of the Hollow and severed its head clean from its mouth. As soon as the Hollow fell, two others leaped onto the window and clawed away at the barricade with lightning speed.
​
​In an instant, the room became filled with gunshots and spells. For each Hollow that fell, another two came to take their place, shrieking their guttural cry. Bullets flew and spells blasted onto the Hollows created showers of exploded crystal. The storm was drowned out by the battle.
​
​Twilight shot spell after spell at the oncoming wave of Hollows. More and more began to stack up on her window. She kept casting her magic bolts at them, always aiming at the head like she had been told. Even as more fell, others joined in to take their place. Soon enough, there was simply too many at her window. The horde managed to tear through a good portion of her defenses. Their teeth was gnashing hungrily.
​
​Twilight ducked as a claw swiped at her head. It missed her, but it snagged the straps of her saddlebag. When Twilight realized what had happened, she jerked back against the Hollow. She could not lose the saddlebag no matter what. It was no use and the Hollow pulled back violently. Twilight’s head crashed into the barricade. It sent her ears ringing and pain shot through her skull as the Hollow kept pulling. She was being choked by the strap and could not bring herself to scream. She watched as more claws came through the window and tried to grab her. She was only barely able to dodge their attacks, but it would only be a matter of seconds before she would be pulled through the window and into the horde.
​
​BANG! BANG! BANG!
​
​After the gunshots had ended, the Hollow that held her went limp and Twilight was free from its grasp. The unicorn turned around dazed and saw Daniel standing over her, firing his pistol at the crowd of Hollows in front of them. More Hollows came crawling through the window.
​
​Twilight shook herself out of her daze. As Daniel was loading in another clip, he yelled, “Amber, we have got to go! There are too many here to hold them off!”
​
​“We can’t run, Reynolds is injured! He won’t be able to keep up!”
​
​“Don’t worry, I’ve got an idea.”
​
​All four of them dashed into the back room. Just as they made it to the backroom, the horde of Hollows came swarming into the outpost. Slamming the door shut, Amber grabbed the desk in the room and shoved it in front of the door. It would buy them precious minutes.
​
​“Oh hi guys,” Reynolds said slumped in his corner. He waved his black Beretta at the backdoor. “I believe we have guests.”
​
​Ceilia sprinted forward and shoved the door open. The Hollow on the other side was knocked back. Ceilia leaped up onto its chest and clasped her hands around its head. Electric green magic sparked around her hands, and the Hollow began to shake violently. Its head popped like a glass balloon. Everyone stared at her in surprise. They had not expected her to act so quickly.
​
​“Get out here!” Ceilia yelled back.
​
​Daniel grabbed Reynolds by the arm and leaned him against his shoulder. “Ow, take it easy. I just got stitched up.”
​
​As they all stepped out into the rain, Daniel raised two fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. After a few seconds, Ulysses came barreling around the corner of the outpost, trampling a few Hollows on the way. Daniel and Amber stepped in to help Reynolds onto the saddle.
​
​“Now, I suggest you hold on tight, it’s gonna get bumpy. And you,” Daniel was talking towards Ulysses. “You be nice to the man and take it easy on him, understand?”
​
​Ulysses neighed in confirmation. “Alright then, now go!”
​
​Ulysses galloped away from the group and onwards down the highway. “Once this is over, we’ll meet up with them further up the highway.”
​
​“Well great,” said Ceilia. “What do we do now?”
​
​Daniel turned back to the group. “We run.”
​

​***

​
​The worst of the storm had come over them. The sky was lit up with lightning bolts and rain came slamming down. Wind whipped their faces as they ran down the highway. They dodged and zigzagged around the rubble and wreckage of cars. Amber and Daniel would turn around quickly to fire their guns at the approaching horde, hoping they could take out as many as they could.
​
​Twilight’s ears were pounding against her skull. Her lungs were on fire and her legs threatened to give out on her. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep this up. The mass of Hollows were getting closer by the second. It wouldn’t be long before the group was overwhelmed.
​
​Twilight had to think. There was no way they could just outrun them. Surely she had a spell or something that she could use. Looking up into the storm clouds, a light turned on inside her head.
​
​“Daniel, we need to stop right now!”
​
​“Are you crazy?! We can’t just stop!”
​
​“I think I’ve got a spell I can use to stop them.”
​
​“You think?!”
​
​“Just trust me on this one. It’ll take some time, so I need you to protect me.”
​
​Daniel looked at her cautiously. He finally gave in. He told everyone to stop and take up positions to defend. As they took cover behind a few cars, Daniel said, “Whatever you got to do, do it quickly.” Daniel then turned and fired upon the Hollows. Amber followed suit and Ceilia began to cast arcs of lightning at the monsters.
​
​Twilight closed her eyes and blocked out everything. The gunfire, the Hollows, and the wind. The only thing she focused on was her breathing and the storm. The spell she was trying to cast would require a great amount of concentration. One distraction and the spell would backfire with grave consequences.
​
​Twilight imagined herself in the heart of the storm. She stood in the center of it. The wind howled around her and lightning crackled along the clouds. She needed to take control of the storm. Just a piece of it, just enough to defeat the Hollows.
​
​Twilight allowed the power of the storm to enter her. She could feel the electricity run through her veins. It ran from her hooves to her horn. In the pit of her heart, the power burned inside. It was like a flame, and Twilight felt it as it spread rapidly. She was losing control of it, and it threatened to consume her, to burn her up.
​
​No. I need to control it.
​
​She thought of what was at stake. She thought of the lives that depended on her. She thought of the promise she made to Samantha. She thought of home, her friends, her family, and her mentor. Most of all, she thought of Spike. He needed her. Nothing would keep her from getting back home to him.
​
​She felt the power surge through her. Twilight opened her eyes and let loose the full fury of the storm onto the Hollows.
​
​A great wall of lightning crashed down on the horde. The bands of electricity ripped and shredded the Hollows. The explosive power of the spell melted the creatures. They were reduced to ash as waves of lightning came smashing down upon them. Shrapnel went flying from the resulting explosion. When the dust settled, not a single Hollow remained.
​
​Everyone was wide-eyed at what Twilight had accomplished. In mere seconds, she had utterly decimated the horde. Silence had fallen upon them. They were too baffled to speak. What they had witnessed was like an act of a god.
​
​Finally, Ceilia spoke up. “Holy shit, that was awesome!”
​
​Twilight’s body stiffened. The color in her face was flushed pale. Her heartbeat increased as well as her breathing. A cold sweat broke out on her skin. She had never used so much magic before. Her legs felt wobbly. Her head began to feel light, and everything was fuzzy.
​
​Daniel rushed towards Twilight. He had seen how unstable she became. “Twilight, are you okay? Talk to me.”
​
​Twilight looked into Daniel’s icy blue eyes. She could think of only one thing to say to him. “I’m sorry,” she croaked weakly. Daniel caught her as she blacked out.
​

​***

​
​Twilight felt like she was adrift at sea. She could feel the swaying motion under her. When she opened her eyes, Twilight could see the orange-purple light of the evening sky. Large, puffy clouds drifted like whales in the ocean. Faint little stars began to blink into existence. It was like a dream, but Twilight could feel something under her, something holding her up from the ground. She looked up and saw the figure cradling her.
​
​ “Daniel?”
​
​“Twilight?  Oh thank God, you’re awake!” Daniel sounded surprised, but Twilight saw how his eyes lit up and knew that he was relieved to see her.
​
​“Wait, Twilight’s awake? Let me see her.” It was Ceilia that had spoken up. She bounced over to Twilight. “Hey there sleepy pants, how are you doing?”
​
​“Uh, fine I guess. Thanks for asking.”
​
​“It’s amazing that you can feel anything after that spell you did. That was crazy; I’ve never seen anyone use magic like that before. You have to show me how to do that.”
​
​Twilight was slightly blushing. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say.”
​
​“Come on Ceilia,” said Amber. “Leave her alone, she’s been through a lot. Besides, you got to help me keep Reynolds awake. We don’t want him slipping off the saddle.”
​
​“Ugh, just give me a few minutes, that’s all I need. I’ve been through a lot too,” Reynolds whined.
​
​As Ceilia left, it was just Daniel and Twilight left following the group. “How long have I been out?”
​
​“Oh, about three to four hours. Ceilia told me that you were recovering from that spell you casted, said it must have drained you of your energy or something like that.”
​
​“So, have you been carrying me this whole time?” She asked. “I remember you caught me before I passed out.”
​
​“Well, not exactly. We all took turns carrying you, except for Reynolds for obvious reasons. Thankfully, nothing else crazy has happened so far. Right now, we are still following the road up to Baltimore.”
​
​Twilight watched the clouds as they drifted by. She noticed out of the corner of her vision that Daniel would give her an occasional glance before looking away.
​
​“Is there something you want to ask me?”
​
​“Yes there is. I’ve been thinking back to what you did back there. I had never seen magic used with such power or cause so much destruction before. Heck, I didn’t even think it was possible to do.” Daniel took in a slow breath. “Something like that must have cost a lot of energy. It was really pushing the limits. What I’ve been wanting to ask you is; would something like that hurt you or… or kill you?” Daniel’s voice went dry saying those last words.
​
​Twilight remembered how she felt using that spell. She remembered the burning inside and thought she would burn up to. Twilight sighed heavily. “Yes, if I didn’t control it or I didn’t have enough power in me, it could have been bad.”
​
​“Twilight, I understand we were in a really messed up situation, and I’m thankful that you saved us. But I don’t want you to do anything like that again. I can’t risk you dying. I need this job to go right. Just promise me you’ll not put yourself at risk like that again.”
​
​Twilight listened to what Daniel said. Although she wanted to protest against him, he did make a good point. In order for this job to go well, she needed to live. Killing herself would accomplish nothing, and she would never see her home again. “Okay, I promise.”
​
​They continued on in silence. The wind was soft and chilly. The deep orange sun arced into the west and began to rest. Twilight found it comforting when she could hear the chirping of birds return. The night birds filled the sky with their songs.
​
​“Uh, Daniel?”
​
​“Yeah?”
​
​“You know, you can put me down now,” Twilight said smiling.
​
​“Oh, really? I’m, uh, I’m sorry it’s just that… yeah, I’ll just put you down.” Daniel carefully set Twilight down back on her hooves.
​
​“Thanks.” When Twilight looked up, she was stunned by what she saw next.
​
​The highway carried on until it hit a large wall. The wall was as tall a four-story building. It stretched east and west indefinitely. It was made of concrete with watchtowers lining the top of it. A large stone gate stood where the road ended. The sheer size of it was baffling. Peeking over the wall in the distance were the tops of buildings.
​
​“Daniel, what is that?”
​
​"That is the city of Baltimore."