Shade of A Crystal Empire

by igotastewgoing

Journey In The Dark

Chapter Three
Journey In The Dark

It was unusually cold for this time of year.

The chill breeze coming down from the snow-capped slopes high above the city slinked through the streets and alleys of Canterlot, winding its way to the open air hallways of the royal palace. Wisps of frost bit at those ponies unfortunate enough to be outside, creeping around their shoulders to their necks and then sliding down their backs, chilling them from the outside before sliding into their lungs to do it from the inside as well. The fat city squirrels and birds found the smallest, coziest place they could to hide. The flowers that could bundled up on themselves, and the ones that couldn't seemed to ache as a faint shimmer of frost began to cling to them. Even the snapping of the flags and banners in the wind in the marketplace and all over the city seemed harsh as they cracked with the coldness. Despite winter having been wrapped earlier in the year, in Canterlot spring had not yet fully taken hold. At least not tonight. Tonight winter had returned to pay a visit.

The moon shone through the archways of the long passageway connecting the living quarters of the east wing of the castle to the main keep. The moonlight was only made more intense by the frozen air, leaving bright pools of pale white beams laying on the floor as they lit the way down the hall like ice columns stabbing down from the sky.

Twilight Sparkle could see her breath in the air. As it left her mouth, the faint cloud hung before her, caught by the coldness before it slowly unraveled itself and vanished. Another one soon appeared to take its place as she exhaled the frosty air. There was something odd about those little clouds. As they would fade, the twisting shapes that made it up seemed to form into something familiar. Was it a face she saw in there? A place? Or was it her imagination?

She exhaled heavily and thought she saw eyes staring into her. A shiver not entirely from the cold went down her spine. Holding her breath for a moment, she closed her eyes and composed herself. She started walking, leaving the clouds of breath behind her.

The hallway went on forever, vanishing into its own shadows. Her hoof steps ringing out on the stone and the whistle of the wind were the only sounds to be heard in the otherwise deep silence of the castle as they echoed ahead of her to be swallowed in the blackness.

As Twilight proceeded down the hall, she gazed to her right to look out the windows. Canterlot was still and dark. The mountain loomed up like a giant wall, casting a great shadow over the city as it blocked the moon, which had just recently crested the summit. She noticed that there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The stars were shining razor sharp and indifferent.

Something was strange at the peak of the mountain. She saw that there were some clouds in the sky, but they were all gathered thick and heavy around the summit, obscuring the view of the top. They slowly rotated around it, roiling and heaving but never drifting away. A soft rumble of thunder drifted down the jagged rocks to Canterlot, rolling through the empty streets.

She turned away from the eerie weather to look down the hallway again. The end was still nowhere in sight. The darkness was too overpowering outside of the spotlights the moon was sending down. She stayed in the light as much as she could. The dark spaces between beams seemed to grab at her as she walked through them.

Behind the sharp clack of her hooves, the high pitched gasps of the wind and the groan of the thunder, Twilight Sparkle thought she heard the dripping of water. She stopped. As the echoes of her walking faded, sure enough she heard the faint tapping of water on stone. It was coming from up ahead somewhere.

She started walking again. The further she got down the hall, the louder the sound got. The incessant dripping seemed to cry out with need somehow, as the water was tried to say something. But what? The sound started digging into her ears.

As she passed through one of the shafts of light, and her eyes readjusted to the darkness after the veil of brightness lifted from her vision, she saw Applejack leaning against the wall in between one of the arches. Her form was silhouetted against the next beam of moonlight behind her, but there was no mistaking that easy-going country lean, or the big hat tilted back casually on her head. Her voice rang out in the hallway, her twangy cadence bouncing around the walls to hit Twilight from all sides as they ricocheted around in the darkness.

"Whatcha doin' out here at this time of night, sugarcube?"

Twilight stopped in her tracks.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Shoot, I'm just takin' in the sights."

The mountaintop in the distance gave another rumble.

"You should prob'ly go back to bed, I reckon," Applejack continued. "T'ain't nothin' for ya here 'cept the cold."

The dripping of the water was still pounding in her head. Somewhere inside, deep down in the bottom of her stomach, something stirred and started giving what felt like little kicks. She fidgeted and shifted, trying to work out the feeling of unease that came sliding out of it.

Applejack's shadow tilted its head at her.

"Ya'll look a might antsy," she said.

"Do you hear that?" Twilight asked, focusing back on the dripping water. "Where is that coming from? It sounds like water. It's so loud—"

"I ain't heard no water," Applejack cut in. "And furthermore, I don't reckon I know why we're even here. Or why you're so uptight, anyhow. This whole magic malfunction stuff seems a might silly thing to get upset about. It's not like it's important."

Twilight felt another round of fluttering inside.

"Gee, Applejack. Thanks for that."

"The others think so, too," Applejack continued. "And as much as we fancy bein' in Canterlot castle, did you ever reckon that maybe we had things to do ourselves? I live on a farm! I tend an orchard! Ya'll have any idea how much work that is? Course you don't. I got chores from here to next year, but do ya'll see me doin' 'em? Nope."

Were those claws she felt in her stomach? They were climbing higher.

"I ain't doin' nothin' 'cept followin' Twilight Sparkle on another one of her crazy, paranoid, uptight journeys to the Land of Overreactin'! And I don’t appreciate being dragged along every time some little thing happens, you open up an ol' dusty book, and get some confounded worst-case-scenario stuck in that over-read head of yours!"

The water kept pounding in her ears. They were anvil strikes now, each one left a high-pitched ringing floating behind it, only to get drowned out by the next one.

Twilight felt close to tears, but she was too angry at the moment to cry. Applejack had never said anything like that to her before. How dare she! She may not know anything about magic (in fact her knowledge was laughable, bordering on dangerous ignorance), but anypony with eyes to see could understand the issues at hand. The Alicorn Amulet was powerful. Therefore it was dangerous. Therefore it needed protection. Easy math!

But on the other hoof, Twilight was worried about being paranoid. She did things like this all the time, and after so many situations she'd gotten herself and her friends in, perhaps they were tired of always having to come to her aid and do all these crazy things with her. Maybe she didn't always need to go out and try and save Equestria at every turn, dragging her friends with her. After all, was that what a real friend would do?

And honesty was Applejack's strong suit. It was her element. Maybe she was telling Twilight the hard truth that she desperately needed to hear.

"Am I really that bad?" she asked.

"Yup. Pretty much."

The claws scratched again.

"And don't think I'm alone, neither," Applejack jabbed once again. "Everypony else thinks the same way, too! We've all had enough of your malarkey!"

Twilight shook her head.

"I can't believe that," she said. "You're lying!"

"Twilight, you know me. I always tell the truth."

Twilight could almost see the smirk in the shadows.

"Well, I guess next time I won't bother asking you for help, then."

She shouldered past Applejack, leaving her in the darkness to be cold by herself.

The thunder rolled again as she continued down the hall. The clawing was getting more frantic.

Twilight was still fuming over the harsh condemnation she had just received. Soon the anger would lead to tears, she was certain, but right now she was just mad. Even though she had a point, it was never an easy thing to hear that you were a terrible friend. Especially when it was coming from somepony as close and honest as Applejack.

And that water was somehow still getting louder. At this point it sounded like it had become a steady stream instead of a drip. She had to be getting close to the source.

She was so numb from the experience that it took a minute for her to notice two other shapes ahead of her, further down the hall. They were coming from the other direction, talking to each other in hushed tones. As they moved closer, the moonbeams caught the familiar poofy, dark pink mane of Pinkie Pie, and the elegant and flowing lighter pink locks of Fluttershy, injecting some sharply contrasting color with the blacks and deep blues of the castle at night.

"Oh, girls," Twilight called out, her breath still floating in front of her in the cold. "Applejack and I just had a terrible fight!"

Pinkie Pie looked down and gave the stone floor a casual kick with her front hoof. Fluttershy shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, here's a change of pace," Fluttershy said with a sneer. "Twilight is upset about something. What a shock."

Twilight felt the floor fall out from underneath her.

"Fluttershy," she said. "What's…what's going on with everypony?"

"Gee, I don't know, Twilight. But right now seems that I'm freezing my tail off up in the mountains in the middle of the night because you suck at magic now. That's what's going on with me! Thanks for that. You're a great friend."

Twilight felt the claws starting to scratch at the back of her mouth. Her throat had gone dry and she could barely swallow. It was getting impossible to think straight.

"But my magic isn't…isn't," she stammered, "It's going to get better, I just…I just know it! There's no need for everypony to—"

"I'll bet that once magic is gone, it's gone for good," Pinkie Pie said, voice flat and uncaring. "I'll bet you've got a disease or something. Nopony's probably ever heard of it before, neither. What do you think the chances of finding a cure to a disease nopony's ever heard of is?

"About as good as the chances of Twilight being Celestia's star pupil anymore are," Fluttershy scoffed. "Hey, everypony I've got a great idea! Let's continue teaching magic to the unicorn who can't get her stupid horn under control! I'll bet that'll be the first thing Celestia does: Give top honors to the one who would probably end up burning down Canterlot five minutes after being taught a spell to light a match."

That was a step too far. Twilight's magic may be having issues, but she wouldn't stand here and have all the talent she had and the hard work she put into it be insulted!

"I'll have you know that low-level pyrokinesis is taught as early as the second year of magic training!" she snapped at Fluttershy. "I knew how to light a match with my magic when you were still figuring out what the ground was!"

"Better not light one anytime soon," said Pinkie Pie. "You'd probably end up causing a lava flow in the throne room at the rate you're going."

Fluttershy's face twisted into a show of rage that was so foreign on the normally serene pegasus that it didn't seem possible. As she fumed, a dimness began to creep from the shadows and spread through the rest of the hallway, taking the shafts of light and lowering their brilliance until they were merely suggestions.

"Are you looking for a fight, you little loser?!" she sneered. "You've always thought that I was a push-over but I promise that if you say one more word I'll rearrange your face!"

Thunder cracked louder than before on the peak of the mountain. The waves of sound slammed into the castle walls like a physical force, pushing back the air in the hallway and leaving the ponies swaying as the sound reverberated around them. The night sky around the summit had begun to glow slightly in hues of purple rage as the lightning crackled within the swollen clouds as they spun faster around the mountaintop. A renewed gust of wind followed the sounds, making the blackness even colder.

Twilight stood in silence as she and Fluttershy glared at each other. Looking at her friend's slightly hunched posture and twitching muscles, Twilight had no doubt that the pegasus was ready to spring at her given the slightest provocation. Fluttershy's wings flared out slightly, snapping in the freezing air as they flicked in anticipation.

It was Pinkie Pie who broke the silence of the standoff. As she walked past Twilight to go further down the hall, she paused and leaned close to mutter in her ear.

"Looks like you're running short on friends, Twilight."

She kept walking. In her wake, another stream of darkness followed, drowning the little remaining light behind her.

With a tear breaking and running down the side of her face, Twilight closed her eyes and shuddered. Whether it was from the cold or sadness, she couldn't tell. The sound of the water stream had now become a small roar, as if the walls were hollow with a river flowing through them, just out of slight. It penetrated her mind until all that was there was that sound.

She started walking. Without opening her eyes she made her way around Fluttershy, giving her a wide berth. She kept her eyes closed, not being able to bring herself to look at the one she used to call friend. After a few moments of walking, she opened her eyes again. The hallway was nearly pitch black, with only the barest hints of pillars and walls to be seen. Willing herself to, she turned around to look behind her, to see if Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were still there. But when Twilight looked, the corridor behind her was empty.

When she looked forward again, where there had been only blackness, there now stood the online of a closed door. A deep blue light behind it shone through the edges and the gap in the middle, struggling to get out. As she neared, the scratching claws in her throat found their way up to the back of her mouth, gripping at her tongue.

She was only feet away from the door when it opened by itself. The sharp creaking of the hinges snapped and split, cutting through the roar of the water that rose dramatically in volume as the great doors swung wide. A gust of moist air washed over Twilight. There was a damp chill to the breeze, but it was still notably warmer than the wintery bite coming down from the mountain.

Inside was a great cavern. The ceiling rose high above into the blackness until it was lost to sight. The walls were slick and obsidian, curving up and out to form a cylinder like the ribcage of a great beast. Interspersed throughout the walls, clinging to them like parasites were clusters of spiky, black crystals glowing with a faint purple radiance coming from within. They were everywhere, lining the walls and everything else like thorns on a bush. In the center of the cavern was a lake of swirling and frothing water. An island of hard, slick stone sat in the middle, a giant cluster of the same dark crystals rising from it, pulsing with a dark energy.

The cluster of crystals was massive—the size of a great tree. Branches of the dark gems grew from the base to rise up towards the ceiling. As Twilight looked, she could actually see the crystals getting larger as she watched. Pulses of the purple energy flowed out to the appendages, causing them to swell and grow, stretching even further out. The crystals moaned as they grew, but not in a voice that anypony could hear with their ears. It was more something that was felt.

The entire cavern was lit with a blue glow coming from the back wall, far back in the distance. There, instead of rock or crystal, stood an impossible wall of solid water. Waves lazily crept upwards from the bottom to slide towards the ceiling, splashing on the roof of the cave before falling back down to the lake below. Even from this distance Twilight could see small globs of water hovering at the base of the wall, lazily drifting upwards and growing larger as they collected the drops that fell from above.

It was this logic defying wall of water that was providing the roar that now throbbed in Twilight's ear. Once in the cave, the roar was mixed with what almost seemed like moans and screams, like the water itself was in pain. The crystal pillar in the middle only grew larger the louder the screams became.

"Magnificent, isn't it?"

A voice from behind startled Twilight into spinning around. Rarity was standing behind her, staring ahead into the vast trove of crystalline eeriness. Within her purple eyes lay the glimmer of lust. Twilight tried to speak, but stopped herself before she could. The claws were in her mouth. If she opened it to speak, she would release them. Whatever was in there was frantically struggling for her to do so.

Rarity seemed to take no notice.

"Think of all the riches in this cave! All these wonderful crystals!" she said more to herself than anypony else. Twilight wasn't even sure the other unicorn knew she was even standing there.

"Why it's more than I ever could have dreamed!"

As Rarity stood there marveling, Twilight desperately tried to fight the claws back down so she could speak. She had to say something! Rarity had to help her. She must! She tried swallowing hard, but the claws merely reached out and firmly grabbed the sides of her mouth, and stayed where they were. It was all Twilight could do to manage even a cough as her gag reflex reared up.

The sound of Twilight's coughing was enough to draw Rarity from her reverie. Snapping her head to look straight at Twilight, her eyes lost their soft dream-like haze and took on a hard, steely glare.

"What, Twilight?!" said growled. "You don't think they're mine? You don't think I deserve it, do you? Who are you to always be the one in charge? Who do you think you are?! Do you think you can boss me around and take it all for yourself?!"

As she growled her words through gritted teeth, Rarity advanced on Twilight. A dark cloud formed behind her, blocking the last light of the dark hallway behind her from view and spreading across the ground like a thick liquid. Rarity's eyes burned with rage.

And as Twilight backed up, she saw the same clouds in Rarity's eyes, swirling around to cover the beautiful purple shades of her irises and turn them black. Twilight still could not speak for fear of what was in her mouth.

"You're not going to get away with taking what's mine, you parasite!" she spat. Before Twilight could do anything else, Rarity grabbed hold of her around the front legs and spun her around with a surprising and unnatural strength before releasing her, spending her flying through the open door. As Twilight was still headed towards the ground, Rarity gave one final cry, full of venom and spite.

"IT'S MINE!!!"

Before she hit the cold stone of the hallway, the claws in Twilight's mouth finally forced themselves out. Everything moved in slow motion as a torrent of pitch black night erupted from her mouth, pouring out in great torrents as the sharp talons and claws within it whipped out to strike at the air. As the blackness grew as more was expelled from her, it began to twist around and funnel around her in a whirlwind of snapping and snarling. Soon it enveloped her surroundings completely, until all she could see nothing expect it all around her.

She hit the ground hard. Air came racing out of her lungs in a gasp at the moment of impact. Opening her mouth wide and drawing a breath back in, she found herself relieved to be rid of the invading force inside her, but as it had ripped itself from her, she felt part of herself leaving as well. She felt hollow.

The world around her had gone completely quiet. The only sound Twilight could hear was the pounding in her temples.

The sound of the door slamming behind her breaking the silence caused her to look back to where Rarity had thrown her from. There was no longer a door there. In its place was the wall of water, floating in space and still far away, but as she watched it began to move closer. At first Twilight thought it was an optical illusion, but the speed with which it was moving began to increase until it was clear that it would be on her soon. The roar of the water was slowly returning, starting from a soft hum and growing until the sound was the entire world. Twilight had never experienced such sound. She buried her head in her hooves, trying to block the sound without luck.

As the water approached with a mighty force, Twilight saw from the corner of her eyes a tableau of color that stood out like a beacon in the dreary place she had found herself. She raised her head to see Rainbow Dash sitting not ten feet away, looking at her.

"Rainbow," Twilight pleaded weakly. "Help me."

Rainbow Dash looked back at her with no expression.

The water was very close now.

"Rainbow," she said again, reaching a hoof out. "Please!"

There was still no reaction on the face of the rainbow haired pegasus. Her wings slowly unfurled themselves to their full spread before they crisply snapped open. They gave a few powerful pumps, buffeting the air around them and raising Rainbow Dash off the ground. There she hovered, looking down at Twilight.

The water was nearly upon them.

Twilight gave one last pleading look to her friend. Rainbow Dash still had nothing to say. With a final flick of her wings, she turned around and sped off into the darkness above.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight cried out into the night, "Please don't leave me! Don't leave me! No! Please!"

There was no response. She could feel the spray of the water approaching her.

"Rainbow Dash!!!"

The wail reverberated in her dark little world as her own words came back to beat at her as she collapsed to the ground, sobbing.

And she lay on the ground awaiting the wall of water to hit her and end her suffering, Twilight could only weep. All of her friends. All of them had turned on her. She was abandoned. She was alone.

Then, as the water should have reached her, she heard a gentle but firm voice call her name.

"Twilight Sparkle," it said. "Rise."

She looked up into the stoic face of Princess Luna, who reached her hoof out to her, and smiled.

"It is time for you to rise, Twilight," she repeated. "Rise from this darkness. And awaken."

Twilight's hoof shook as it touched it to Luna's. Strength emanated from the princess, and Twilight felt it flowing into her as the darkness around her began melting away, along with the roar of the water and the cold.

* * *

It was still pitch black outside. The spring night was cool but pleasant, and the flowery scented air wafted in through the open windows in Twilight's bedroom. Near the horizon, the moon glowed full and bright in the cloudless sky. The still forms of Spike, Rarity and Fluttershy lay in their beds, oblivious to anything except a pleasant sleep. The soft breaths and light snores of Spike were the only things that could be heard.

Twilight raised herself to sit upright in bed. Her sheets were tangled up around her and were soaking wet. Her mane was a mess, askew and matted with sweat. Her teeth were aching. She must have been gritting them in her sleep. Despite the fact that she must have been dreaming for some time given how late it was, she was sore and thoroughly unrested. She felt like she had just run a marathon. Putting a hoof up to her head to push some of her mane out of her face, she found that it was soaked with tears.

"It was a terrible nightmare that you just had, Twilight Sparkle," a soft voice whispered from her bedside. "I am sorry that you had to experience it."

Wiping the sleep from her eyes and turning her head, Twilight saw Princess Luna standing there. The princess of the moon and dreams looked upon the young unicorn with an expression of both respect and pity.

"Princess Luna," said Twilight. "It…it was so real…"

"I know. The worst of them always are."

Coming back more into consciousness, Twilight reflected on the dream. All her friends had acted as nearly opposite versions of themselves. Applejack had been spouting poisonous lies, she and Fluttershy had nearly come to blows, Pinkie Pie was nothing but downbeat, and Rarity had turned on Twilight in an instant the moment her selfish paranoia took hold of her. And Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash had just abandoned her without a word.

They had been through something like that before when they had battled Discord. He had used his chaotic magic to turn all her friends against her, and it had been one of the most difficult experiences that their friendship had ever been though. She had no intention of reliving anything close to that again. That dream had been enough for another lifetime.

Twilight felt tears forming once again. She had to walk around and sort her head out. Moving her sheets aside, she slowly slid out of bed.

"Excuse me, Princess," she said as she walked past Luna. "I need some fresh air."

"Of course."

As Twilight reached the door and opened it with her magic, Luna gently whispered once more.

"You've done very well you know. The dream has illuminated much. When you are ready, rest. In the morning we shall speak of it more."

Twilight nodded.

"Thank you, Princess."

She walked out of the room and into the hallway. It was strange to see the same passage that she had been endlessly walking down in her dream now in the real world. The soft spotlights of moonbeams that lay on the floor were a bit too familiar, although the shadows were blessedly not as dark. She walked a short ways down the hall to the room holding the rest of her friends. Stopping in front of the door, she slowly opened it.

In the dim light she could see the lumps of the forms of her friends in their beds as they slowly raised up and down, breathing softly. Applejack's hat was hanging from the bedpost, and between soft snores the pony gave a small kick in her sleep, most likely harvesting apples back home. Pinkie Pie's bed was a tangle of sheets, giving away the fact that Pinkie was a notorious toss-and-turner, not staying still even in her sleep. Despite her efforts in hiding them, her fidgeting had kicked up the candy wrappers that she had smuggled to eat in bed, with some laying on the bed and others on the floor.

But Rainbow Dash's bed was empty.

Twilight looked around the darkened room, but could see no trace of the pegasus. Her sheets had been unceremoniously tossed aside, although judging by the fresh dent in the pillow, she hadn't been gone for too long.

Walking back into the hallway, she started searching for her. Looking through the windows into the sky, she checked the clouds to see if she was sleeping on one of them.

It wasn't long before Twilight found her. Rainbow Dash was sitting in between one of the arches further down the hallway. Perched on the railing, she was absent-mindedly kicking her hooves over the edge without any kind of trepidation and heedless of the fact that just inches away was a drop of hundreds of feet. If there was one place Dash was without fear, it was among the dizzying heights. Her gaze was wistful as she stared up at the peak of the mountain.

Twilight approached her, and glanced to where Dash was looking. The mountaintop that had been so ominous in her dream now looked serene and majestic. Twilight envied her friend that she could look at it with clear eyes.

Hearing her friend approaching, Rainbow Dash turned and smiled at Twilight.

"Hey pal!" she called. "Can't sleep either, huh? Yeah, I hear ya. This place has got way too much going on for me to get any kind of rest."

Twilight smiled back.

"Doesn't seem like too much is going on now, though."

"Hmm. Maybe not," Rainbow admitted. "But soon it will. Look up there."

She pointed up to the summit. Almost imperceptible from this distance were thin, delicate golden hoops on massively tall poles strung throughout the mountainside. On top of each were pairs of small red flags flapping wildly in the breeze. Looking around, Twilight counted at least a dozen of them stretching up the peak and down. It looked to her like an obstacle course with no clear path or reason until she realized that the course was in the air.

"That's where they'll be in just a little bit," she said more to herself than Twilight. "The Wonderbolts. They'll go out for their morning flight. You gotta practice flying at all times of the day, you know. Flying at dawn here is important 'cause with the track they run here, the sun'll be right in their eyes as it comes up. But they still gotta fly perfectly! That's how good they are!"

Twilight didn't say anything. She just kept looking at her friend as Dash's thoughts drifted up to the clouds and aspirations of glory. After the loneliness of the nightmare she had just had, simply being in Rainbow's presence was soothing. And yet, she still couldn't shake that feeling of emptiness.

"I'm going to be one of them someday, Twilight," Dash said to her friend. "Someday soon. You can bet everything I will be. I just know it."

"I'm surprised they haven't taken you already, Rainbow," Twilight replied.

Dash turned again and practically glowed.

"They're just enjoying their last few moments of me not showing them all up!" She shot Twilight a toothy grin and a wink.

Twilight never wanted to lose the sight of that smile again.

"Rainbow Dash?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask a favor?"

"Name it!"

It was difficult to form the words. There was so much to say to try and cram into a single question or statement. Finally, after a few awkward moments of chewing on her lip, she managed to wrestle the words out of her mouth.

"Promise that you'll never leave me."

The look on Rainbow Dash's face lost its playful nature. She tilted her head to the side, as if trying to get a better read on the question by looking at her friend at a different angle. Then, seeing the sadly serious look on Twilight's face, Rainbow hoped down off her perch. Walking over, she stood in front of her, and for a moment didn't say anything. She then raised her hoof.

"You couldn't find anything on the ground or in the sky to take me from you, Twilight Sparkle. You're my friend to the end. And you're stuck with me. I promise."

A tear found its way to Twilight's face. She had shed plenty of them in her dream that night, but this time it was tear of happiness. And it was one she was glad to feel on her cheek. Lifting a hoof to Dash's, they stood there for a moment, arms locked in a sign of friendship. Then Rainbow Dash came forward to give her a hug. Twilight returned it. It was the first time in days that she had felt like she was standing on solid ground.

On the horizon, the first rays of sunlight began turning the eastern sky a subtle shade of pink.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Have you ever considered submitting this story to Equestria Daily? You can find out how to do so here.

[igotastewgoing]

3061577
I hadn't thought of it yet, no. But thank you for the vote of confidence! It means a lot! I may do just that eventually.

[ancientdragonduelist]

Too much too say here. I'd much up all the epicness if I tried to sumrise it. :)