Within and Without

by Cloudy Skies

Chapter 19

Twilight slept until the early hours of morning the next day. The sleepy unicorn did not immediately open her eyes when she woke, instead opting to lay entirely still for a while, simply listening to the sounds of the city. Outside the open window, Clopenhagen was gearing up for a new and busy weekday, entirely unimpressed by her woes. Carts rolled by with an uncaring clatter of wheels on cobblestones. Ponies conversed and shouted, oblivious to Twilight's turmoil.

Snapping fully awake, she gave a mighty snort. When had she become so inconsolably morose? It was ridiculous in the extreme. Twilight rubbed her eyes and rolled out of bed to stand, trying to be quiet about it. She had no desire to wake anypony else, though she was a little surprised that she was the first to rise. Well, except Luna. Of course. The princess was nowhere to be seen. The fact that Twilight woke unhindered by Luna's spell, her magic at her beck and call, it all seemed like a very meager consolation now.

Twilight had to resist the urge to slap herself on the face to keep from succumbing to the gloom that threatened to overtake her. She wanted nothing more than to laugh it off, but somehow, she didn't think one of Pinkie Pie’s giggles could dispel the cold lump that Luna's admission had left in her gut. She looked over at the relentlessly optimistic earth pony where she lay and wondered how she did it, how she always found the strength to smile.

Pinkie Pie lay nestled up against one of Fluttershy's sides, opposite of Rainbow Dash. The pink party pony somehow managed to grin broadly at life itself even as she slept, and Twilight decided that she would draw strength from her. That was what friends did, right? They supported each other, sometimes even without words. Friends inspired each other and Pinkie Pie was just that; an inspiration.

As were they all. They had come a long way in the past weeks, an awful long way in a very short time, Twilight thought. She walked between the beds that the Clopenhagen Plaza had arranged for them. The relatively small room had three such beds, one of which was decidedly not native to the suite. This raised the interesting question of whether or not the hotel carried spare beds, or if they'd robbed other rooms to accommodate them.

Fluttershy looked so peaceful as she slept, surrounded by two of her best friends. Twilight knew how much it had taken out of the quiet and shy pegasus to speak what she considered her darkest secrets. The bookish unicorn let her eyes wander over to Rainbow Dash, who even in her sleep seemed to vibrate with unspent energy. She was her old self again, unburdened and as loud as ever together with Pinkie, but Twilight knew they would ensure that Fluttershy had a place to be. They all had each other, all six of them.

Twilight resolved to visit Fluttershy's cottage soon after she got home. She didn't spend nearly enough time with her. Perhaps she'd see about taking the hot air balloon up to Rainbow Dash's house one day, too? That would surprise her. The mental image of a flabbergasted Rainbow Dash alone was enough of a reason for Twilight to promise herself to do just that.

On the other bed, side by side, lay Rarity and Applejack. As ever, the two were contrasts, despite how well they got along these days. The white unicorn lay on her back, perfectly still. It was probably just wishful thinking and her own mood, but Twilight imagined she could sense the fashionista's strength just by looking at her. Twilight had meant every word she'd said to her. Rarity was stronger and more independent than anypony had a right to be, even if she needed a nudge to realize this. Twilight could only hope to one day be half as strong, just like she wished she was as brave as Rainbow.

And then there was Applejack. Twilight regarded the farmpony who lay in a tangle of sheets that was an unintentional yet complete revolt against the neatness regime of Rarity opposite of her. She was a rock, implacable and dependable, yet yesterday, she had moved. To Applejack, Luna was finally a friend. Just like Twilight was to Luna. Friends. The thought sent a lance of pain through her.

Exasperated with her unruly mind, Twilight sat down between the two of the beds occupied by her friends, her eyes drawn to the third, empty bed. At some point, Applejack stirred, the earth pony's body attuned to the rising of Celestia's sun after so many years of tending the farm. Twilight noticed Applejack hopping off the bed to stand at her side, but did not move.

"You okay there, sugar?" Applejack asked, yawning.

"No," Twilight said, looking over at her and trying to smile. "But I will be, I think."

The door to the room creaked, and Luna quietly entered, trying not to disturb the still-sleeping ponies. She smiled at Twilight and Applejack, but the latter of the two did not so much as look up. Applejack was still fixed on Twilight, the very image of neutrality.

"She hurt you?" the orange earth pony asked. Twilight's ears burned. Luna could clearly hear them, and the princess looked a little discomfited all of a sudden.

The answer was of course not an easy one. If anything, Twilight blamed herself for getting her hopes up. It hurt, but it was probably her own fault.

"No," Twilight quietly muttered, hoping to avoid a scene. Applejack's gaze had a way to unnerve her even though she knew her friend only wanted what was best for her. In fact, perhaps it was because she knew Applejack wanted what was best for her. Twilight was getting a sneaking suspicion that what she wanted was decidedly not good for herself. Applejack nodded and leaned in to nuzzle Twilight, saying no more.

Luna cleared her throat. "I just came back from the city council's offices," she told Applejack. "I have arranged for transport home for the five of you by sky chariot tonight, but if you wish to stay in the city for a little longer, you may contact Dappled Blossom of the royal relations office."

The farmpony shrugged, looking at Twilight and Luna both. "Y'all are going through with this then? You sure you don't want me or anypony else to come with? Ain't like Ah expect you'll be in trouble, but you say the word now, y’hear."

Twilight felt a sudden surge of affection for Applejack. She knew how much her friend must be aching to return to Sweet Apple Acres, and an offer or a promise made by Applejack was always sincere. She shook her head and smiled. "No, I'll be fine. We'll be fine. Back home before you know it, right?"

"If you say so, Twi'," Applejack returned, clearly more confident in Twilight than the purple unicorn herself. "You thinkin' of leaving right now?"

"Expediency is something I would appreciate, but I do not feel I am in a position to ask or demand anything of you at this point," Luna admitted with a self-deprecating snort. Before Twilight could call her out on that, she raised a hoof to forestall any comments. "Let us eat breakfast in the cafeteria downstairs and take it from there?"

Twilight nodded. "Breakfast, and then I'm good to go," she said, resolved. A sudden, childish impulse urged her to glare at Luna as she spoke her last words, but she ignored it. "I just want this to be over, too."

After rousing their friends from slumber and waiting the obligatory five minutes while certain more fashion-conscious elements of the gang gussied up, they all headed downstairs together. The Clopenhagen Plaza was a beautiful and grand hotel where every hallway was decorated with the same care - and budget - that others might use for a study. Twilight had hardly been in a position to appreciate the grandeur last night, so the effect of waking up in the most luxurious hotel in Clopenhagen was quite staggering.

The cafeteria was no different. Beautiful yet uncomfortably cold stone floors played host to ornately carved tables and the softest of pillows for seating. Many of the patrons of the hotel were already having their breakfast, and the soft noises of muted conversation mixed with the occasional soft tink of glassware on stone enveloped them.

After a brief conversation with a waiter who had a hard time reconciling a meeting with royalty with the posh air he was no doubt paid to affect, they were seated at a long table made for eight. Luna took a seat at one end, and Twilight repressed an impish impulse to take the other end seat. For the second time in fifteen minutes, she wanted to slap herself across the face. How could she have been so stupid? And why was she being such a foal about it?

"Aw, the party is over already?" Pinkie Pie asked when they had all visited the buffet and the table was a mess of empty plates. The ponies all looked a little saddened at Luna and Twilight’s explanation that they would be parting ways. Ever the first to speak, Pinkie was pouting.

"You are free to stay in Clopenhagen for as long as you wish," Luna said, repeating what she had told Applejack earlier. "The hotel room is paid for, but if Twilight agrees, I would like to make for the Everfree as soon as possible."

"It's awfully sudden, no?" Rarity added, arching a brow as she levitated a napkin to dab at the corners of her mouth.

"Perhaps," the princess agreed, pushing an errant plate a little further in the table. It was an almost distressingly mundane gesture coming from her. "I do not remember if I told you, but I have always known my goal with this journey to be resuming my duties. You six were my primary focus, of course, but it is something I knew that would wait for me at the end. I am, ah, eager to get there."

"S'not unreasonable, considerin' all you've done," Applejack said, thumping her chest, eliciting a burp that earned a glare from Rarity. "Pardon."

"Hey, I thought you fixed the whole dream, memory, whatever," Rainbow Dash protested. "Aren't you okay now? I mean, you look fine."

Luna gave Dash a half-smile. "To speak plain, yes, I could probably raise the Moon in my current state. I have always had the ability to do so, and while I am relieved, it still feels, ah, unfinished. Going back to Canterlot as it is, it would not feel right. I want to make sure nopony else makes the mistake Trixie did."

"The ponies in Grey Hollows," Fluttershy muttered quietly.

"Yes, well, there is that, too," Luna sighed. "I suppose. Them and what they represent. I would head straight for the Hollows, but I am not sure the problem is one that can be solved quite so directly, nor so quickly."

Twilight felt a pang of pain at the sadness in Luna's voice. The princess would try to avoid showing any emotion in public, but she could swear she felt it all the same. "Right, well, um," Twilight said, unsure how to begin. "I guess we should be going. You guys tell Spike that I'll be right home, okay?"

"Can do," Applejack chuckled, but she suddenly looked a bit uncertain, looking at the others arrayed around the table. "Er, we are heading home first thing in the evenin', right?"

"As much as I'd like to stay and see the sights, as they say, I am positively brimming with ideas I want to put into practice," Rarity replied. "And I do miss Sweetie Belle," she added quietly.

Fluttershy nodded, hanging her head. "I think I would like to go home, too, please. Angel must miss me so much, and with winter coming, the poor little animals need me."

Pinkie gave a short-lived little pout as she glanced out the large glass windows onto the street beyond with its many wonders. It took her all of two seconds to break into a grin as she nodded. "I haven't had a chance to bake for so long, we should totally head home so I can throw us a welcome home party!"

"You can't-" Rainbow Dash began, but she caught herself and shook her head. "Of course you can have a welcome home party for yourself, what was I thinking? Yeah, sure, let's head home, whatever," she agreed with a shrug. “I don’t remember if I told the rest of the weather patrol that I was going on this trip, so I guess they’re pretty mad or something.”

"Shall we?" Luna asked, getting up on her hooves, stretching.

Twilight got up and went around the table, offering each of her friends a hug each before she stepped up to Luna's side. "I expect Ponyville will still be standing when I get home," she said, grinning. "I'll miss you guys."

"Oh, off with you. We'll see you soon enough, darling," Rarity said with a smile and a shake of her head. The others waved and and offered parting words, but it was harder than Twilight had thought to turn away and follow Luna towards the lobby. After so much time together, shouldn’t she be looking forward to some time away from her friends? Perhaps even want some time alone? She felt none of that. Twilight missed them the second she and Luna rounded a corner, her five friends lost from view.

"You all share a very special connection," Luna said, as if she could read her mind. The princess turned a sharp right as they hit the lobby, making for a large and opulent staircase. It took a second for Twilight to catch up. She had been heading for the door.

"That's friendship, right?" Twilight asked as she followed. "Where are we going?"

"It is friendship and more. If you think it is normal to be this close after having known each other for such a short time, then you are quite the idealist," Luna grinned. "Not that there is anything wrong with that. It is in fact an enviable trait."

"Wait, you are saying this is another effect of the Elements?" Twilight asked, the inquisitive majority of her brain blindly latching on to the scent of distilled knowledge.

"Oh goodness, no," Luna said, glancing over her back to fix Twilight with a serious look. "I am not going to diminish what you all have by suggesting it is the work of the Elements of Harmony. Never. The Elements came last. Your connection first."

"Oh," Twilight said, not quite sure how to take that. "Where are we going, though? These are the stairs up, you know. It's probably among the top three most inefficient routes to the Everfree Forest."

"I read your report on how you all got your cutie marks, too," Luna said, her voice distant. "It reminds me that some forms of magic are forever beyond the grasp of even us sisters. Chance and love. They can never be reproduced or fooled."

"Uh huh," Twilight said, a little louder now. "Mind telling me where we are going?"

"Oh, the roof," the princess said. "Naturally."

"Naturally," Twilight repeated, rolling her eyes at the oddly distracted goddess' back. "My real question was 'why are we going to the roof', possibly with an added 'when I thought we were heading to the Everfree'."

Luna stopped, turned, and tilted her head. "Did you think we were going to walk all the way there, Twilight? Granted, the Everfree is not too far away, being directly between us and Ponyville, but it is a journey of a week or more on hoof."

Twilight opened her mouth and caught a snarky comment before she could voice it, moderating herself somewhat. Regular mild annoyance would have to do. "I guess we're not doing that, then, but I'd love to know what you've planned."

"Magic, of course," Luna said with a shrug before resuming her ascent up the apparently endless staircase.

"Of course," Twilight muttered. Luna glanced back at her once again, this time looking either hurt, disappointed, or a mixture of both.

"I am... sorry, I was not trying to be difficult, I simply thought it was obvious, given that we are only two, now," Luna said, and Twilight swallowed, feeling terrible all of a sudden for her tone.

"I didn't mean-" Twilight stammered. Her back was tingling unpleasantly. She had hurt the princess again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound angry."

"I-" Luna tried, but whatever she meant to say, it died in her throat. The princess nodded and focused on the stairs, one step at a time, and Twilight did the same. In the cloying and confused silence, their ascent became an almost timeless thing, and Twilight was tempted to think it had in fact been mere seconds, muddied by their little exchange.

She had been wrong, she realized.

When they had entered the Clopenhagen Plaza last morning, every single pony in the entourage had been exhausted. Rainbow Dash had practically collapsed in the street, and Fluttershy insisted that they let her carry the exhausted pegasus. Twilight had only noted that the building had been tall, set on finding a bed and disappearing to a dark corner of her mind.

The Plaza was the tallest building in all of Clopenhagen. There had been a lot of stairs. Sure enough, Twilight had lived in Canterlot, a cityscape built in the face of the mountain, but it was hard not to appreciate the view here. The purple unicorn trotted up to the edge of the flat and unassuming roof, scanning the hundreds of tall buildings that warred for the second prize in the "Clopenhagen's Tallest Building" competition.

Past the city and the farms that surrounded the city again, the golden plains and verdant forests of southwestern Equestria spread out in all their glory. Lake Joy dominated the view to the southeast, and far to the south, tall and stark mountains rested. Princess Luna's gaze was fixed on something on the very edge of Twilight's vision to the northeast. A splotch of dark green.

"The Everfree?" Twilight asked, craning her neck as if though it would help her see better.

"In all its glory, yes," Luna said, frowning. "You can teleport by memory as well as vision, correct? I believe Celestia said your technique was not quite perfect for long distances."

The frankness and the business-like tone made Twilight stiffen a little. "I guess, only short distances by vision though," she said, trying not to sound too defensive.

"Not good enough then," Luna muttered, still staring into the distance. She was squinting, now. "I was thinking to show you where to go, somehow, but we will have to use an alternate method, then. Magical wings, perhaps? You have mastered at least one spell for it, no? I believe Rarity mentioned something to that effect."

"Yes, but I, ah," Twilight hesitated. "I never used it on myself."

Luna turned and looked at Twilight as if seeing her for the first time since they got up on the roof of the building. She looked driven. Determined. The princess nodded. "Very well then, get on my back."

Twilight stared as the princess turned her back, lowered herself to the ground and spread her wings all in short order. She could not move for the life of her.

"What is the matter?" Luna asked. Did she sound impatient?

"I- I can't ride you!" Twilight protested. "That doesn't even, just- no!"

"Oh come now," the princess snorted. "Is it worse than disobeying a direct, royal order?"

"No! Wait, yes! Yes it is!" Twilight said, her ears and cheeks burning. There were a million ways in which this was wrong, and one way in which it was right while being even more wrong.

Luna did not move, still lying on the ground, expectant. "Twilight, if you have no desire to accompany me, say so, that I may teleport there this very moment and stop wasting my time. Otherwise, get on my back."

It was true. The princess could no doubt simply teleport there in less than a second. She would have a myriad of other ways in which to make the distance to the forest a complete non-issue, yet here she lay, ready to carry Twilight on her back. It was terribly confusing, but Twilight slowly realized that this must mean that if nothing else, the princess would really like for her to come. If they were truly friends, then she owed Luna this.

Reluctantly, Twilight walked over and climbed atop Luna's back. It was a terribly awkward affair that involved more scrambling and shuffling than she'd have liked, but she eventually managed to get aboard, wrapping her forehooves around Luna's neck. It was a slightly uncomfortable position, and a tremendously uncomfortable situation. At the same time, it was so terribly, horribly fantastic. She almost didn't dare breathe because she would smell Luna's mane.

"Hold on tight," Luna said. Twilight nodded, and a second later, all of her thoughts were left back on the ground along with her stomach and other assorted bits that Twilight was certain were essential to her function. The princess launched herself off the ground with a hop and a series of strong wingbeats. Twilight gripped Luna so tightly she worried she would strangle her.

"Oh my gosh," Twilight breathed. She didn't quite understand why she was surprised. G-force and acceleration was absurdly simple, conceptually, but experiencing it all first-hoof was quite a different affair. The sky chariot rides she’d taken were nothing. The griffin rides felt like leisurely strolls in comparison to this mad dash. It felt like her mane and tail would simply fall off, both standing out straight behind her. The hairs of Luna's mane played with her face, and the wind roared in her ears until she pinned them flat against her head.

One quick glance below them was enough to convince Twilight to shut her eyes tight. It was an irrational and stupid impulse, but not only was Clopenhagen gone, the detail was fast fading from the world below. She had flown before, and she knew she was safe, but she couldn't convince her brain. The logical-minded unicorn hated every moment of this defeat. She feared that if she opened her eyes again, she might see the curvature of the planet.

Foregoing her vision, of course, was a horrible mistake, yet one she was loath to undo. Suddenly she was made keenly aware of how her body felt against Luna's. She lay almost entirely flat across Luna's back, pressed down by the wind. Twilight could feel the muscles Luna used with each and every wingbeat. When she realized this, she couldn't stop herself. She became aware of each and every point of contact between herself and Luna, from the way her neck strained against her forelegs to the stretch of skin against her own underbelly.

From there, the mental leap to what had happened that one night in the mill was a short one. Rather, to what had almost happened. She flitted back and forth between every memory of her and Luna in the past month. “I would be a fool not to love you for what you have done for me,” the princess had said yesterday. It was very close to outright saying those three words. Three words she had always been taught were magical. Words that were supposed to be absolute. It was an admission or an allusion to it, but yet again, it refused to be that simple.

The word "duty", though, did seem absolute. It was conclusive. It was easy to admit something to herself now that she knew it was impossible; she might love Luna. It was just made a complete non-issue because duty both was and had always been Luna's goal. Who was she to argue with an immortal goddess who had celestial objects to shift about? A curiously stubborn bookish unicorn who stuck her snout where it didn't belong?

Flap. Flap. Flap. Strong and steady wingbeats rolled the bases of Luna’s wings against Twilight's sides. The wind had died down at some point, but Twilight kept her eyes shut. It was getting cold. She tried burying her head in Luna’s mane to shut her own thoughts, but it was about as useful as taking a snow bath to cure a common cold.

A mere unicorn filly too afraid to say what she wanted. Was that all she was? Was that all she aspired to be? A tiny nagging voice in her head was asking questions, and she thought it sounded a little like Rainbow Dash. They were of course her own words; Rainbow would never use a word like 'aspire', but the sentiment was simple and brave. Twilight did not have a whole lot to lose, so she passed the time with one of her favorite activities.

Planning.

---

Twilight had eventually worked up the courage to peek down at the landscapes that drifted by, far below, and she instantly wished she had done so sooner. She wondered what she had missed. Luna drifted along lazily now, barely working her wings any more. The air was noticeably thinner, and the world below was an almost shapeless mass of colors. Equestria seemed so small compared to the sky above, Twilight imagined she could reach up and touch the sun.

It was impossible to gauge their speed this far up, but it was barely past mid-day when the darkly verdant blob that was the Everfree ceased to be a dark green patch far below and began dominating the view. While the Everfree wasn't terribly large as far as forests went, it was made twice as intimidating given how rapidly it was approaching now. Twilight held on tightly as Luna set the angle of their descent.

Luna wasn't heading over it. Rather, she was going to land at the very edge. Any protests or questions Twilight might have had were made useless by the roar of the wind which had returned with renewed force. The ground hurtled towards them, and the rush was unlike anything Twilight had ever felt before. Her heart pounded and she dared not even blink, frozen. On top of all this, she was grinning.

Suddenly, Luna arrested her descent. The force nearly made Twilight fall off the princess’ back, but she quickly scrabbled back on, steadying herself with a burst of magic. With an impossibly ginger landing entirely at war with the rest of the flight, Luna alighted on the ground in the shadow of that mythical forest that seemed dark and foreboding even in daylight.

Twilight shakily slid off Luna's back and staggered, trying to keep herself standing with all her legs numb. She was still feeling cold, and dearly wished she had brought her cloak. Cloak and saddlebags both were back in Clopenhagen with her friends right now because Luna had assured her that they would need nothing. Twilight found herself disagreeing vehemently with that right now.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked, brow raised in concern for the unicorn who was trotting around trying to restore life to her limbs.

"Why here?" Twilight asked, her horn shimmering to life as she cast a simple warmth spell. The blast of hot air was was woefully insufficient.

"I, ah. I could have flown to the castle, I suppose," Luna admitted with a glance at the forest. "But it would not have felt quite right."

"Oh," was all Twilight managed. It made sense. To Luna, this was not a forest. It was the effects of her actions a thousand years ago. It was, Twilight thought with a shudder, a massive graveyard.

"Sorry, I should have realized," Twilight muttered. Luna made no reply, taking a few experimental steps towards the unnaturally sudden treeline. The purple unicorn refused to let herself go soft now, though. She had made a plan, and she intended to follow it. "Are you a fool?" Twilight asked.

"No," Luna said. The princess turned and regarded her with a long stare, her face partially in the shadow of a tall tree. "No, I am not."

The fact that the princess did not even ask what Twilight was referring to was encouraging. Did this mean Luna had been thinking about the exact same thing? Were those exact words that had lodged themselves in Twilight's mind also at the forefront of Luna's thoughts? If so, why hadn't she spoken up about it? One answer, multiple new questions. It was pretty much the norm. Luna slipped in under the canopy of the Everfree, and Twilight followed on an invisible tether.

"I love you, Twilight Sparkle," Luna suddenly said. The words were spoken with a callous lack of passion. Twilight felt only surprise, and very little else except disappointment at how casually the words were treated. No tingle. No heartthrob. "I love you, and I will not cheapen what I feel for you by lying and pretending it is nothing more than that which I feel for each and every one of my subjects. It does not change the fact that my sister needs me, however."

"Why can't you do both? Why do you have to choose between me and her?" Twilight asked, trying very hard to be rational about this. Her plan, her imagined conversation tree for this exchange had fallen by the wayside in less than twenty seconds.

"Because Celly has ruled alone for a thousand years, Twilight," Luna calmly explained as she picked her way between the darkened trees and the slimy undergrowth. "I have a lot to catch up on. Please understand that I do not feel any less for you because of this"

Twilight laughed. It sounded ugly even to her own ears, and none of it was because of the eerie and unnatural echo it acquired thanks to the Everfree. Suddenly, this reminded Twilight all that much more of a poorly written romance novel Rarity had lent her.

"That's a terrible excuse or a lie, and I don't know which," Twilight accused.

Luna made no reply, eyes straight ahead. The anger Twilight had worked up left her the next time she exhaled, and a pit grew in her stomach. Her earlier resolve to try to force an answer from Luna faded. She'd thought she could try to pin the princess with arguments or logic, that there was a declaration of love to be found inside of Luna somewhere. She'd found the words, but they were empty. It was hard not to despair.

"So it is me, then. It is an excuse, because there is something wrong with me, something lacking," the purple unicorn muttered.

Luna stopped, hanging her head. The princess' mane fell and hid her face as she began whispering to herself, and Twilight strained her ears to listen. “How many more times”, she heard the princess say in a quavering voice.

"I'm sorry," Twilight said. She had no idea what she was apologizing for, but the words passed her lips before she started to think.

"No," the princess declared in a steely voice. She was still obscured by her mane, unmoving. "You will not apologize. You will believe me when I say I love you, Twilight Sparkle. You will believe me and trust me."

Twilight took a step back. There was no dark power at work here. No magic. Luna did not even sound angry, only frustrated beyond belief.

"Most of all, you will let me fail this once. You will let me take it upon my own shoulders and blame me for the fact that I am simply not strong enough. Not this time," the princess spat. Without waiting for a reply, she set off down the narrow path they'd found, moving at a brisk trot. The Everfree had never quite seemed so harmless as it did right now, with Luna in it.

It was impossible for Twilight to leave it at that. She followed, quickly catching up and cutting through ferns and bushes to trot at the princess’ side. "It's about the Elements," Twilight guessed. Once she had said it, without even looking at Luna, she knew it was true. It fit. "It's about the previous bearers of the Elements."

"Twilight, what will it take for you to let me have a shred of dignity left?" Luna asked. Her voice was strained, so forcibly neutral that Twilight suddenly felt a tingle of fear. No mute threat hid behind the tone, but Twilight was once again afraid for Luna, not of her. Her neck prickled unpleasantly as the princess went on.

"What do I have to say to you to make you leave it alone? What must I do to have a single piece of me to myself? If it is begging, I will do that. I will stop here and get down on my knees in the muddy ground begging you if you so desire. Say the word."

"I..." Twilight began, dumbstruck. She knew the answer, and she knew she meant it, but the words felt weak. It ceased to be an explanation and became a pathetic excuse for tormenting a pony she thought she might love. "I just want you to be okay."

"I am okay enough, Twilight," Luna retorted. "Please. Will you leave it? Can I ask that you ask no more questions about this? I will answer any other question, I promise. I am grateful to have you along. I owe you a debt that can never be repaid, and I am anxious to be done here, but if you persist in asking me this, I will take you home and do this myself. Consider for a second how easy it is for me to do that."

It was the calm with which the words were said that convinced Twilight. She did not doubt the princess would make good on her threat. However curious she was, Twilight forced herself to nod, digging up a pair of well-worn words to go with the sinking feeling that seized her. "I'm sorry."

"Think nothing of it," Luna said, though it sounded like a formality more than an earnest statement. "We should be at the castle in a few hours at this pace."

---

The southwestern reaches of the Everfree Forest was exactly the same as the northeastern, Ponyville-facing parts of the forest, it turned out. That is to say, it was completely the same in that nothing was the same. It was utterly unpredictable and behaved in a way no forest had a right to behave. The fact that the word "behave" was used with regards to a forest was of course only scratching the surface of the problem.

It was all too easy to assume that such things became trivialities when the pony you travelled with had a horn and wings both. Luna, however, was not entirely immune to getting lost, sidetracked, and on one notable occasion, falling into natural ditches. All the while, Luna insisted she followed a pull that could not be fooled. Even so, it would have to be an interesting way of looking of things to count off "a few hours" and arrive at the castle in the dead of night. It must have been past midnight when the pair stood at the edge of a ravine looking at the scattered ruins in the distance. Below, a thick fog shrouded the bottom of the drop, if there even was solid ground to be found anywhere beneath at all. The moon was waxing, unhelpfully muted.

"So," Twilight said, looking around. She knew there was a rickety bridge at the other side, but here, no such luxury was to be found. Looking at the area with the knowledge of what happened here, the signs were obvious and terrifying both. The very earth had torn itself asunder.

"I think we take wing again, here," Luna said, lying down and spreading her wings.

"Ah, I can blink across," Twilight protested. Did Luna truly think so little of her abilities?

"We are not going over, we are going down," Luna explained. "Celestia's unit sealed up the entrance Trixie used. No sense in wasting their efforts. There is another way in nearby."

"How do you know that?" Twilight asked as she reluctantly clambered atop Luna.

"Because I listen," Luna replied with a level of crypticism that Twilight thought she'd shed long ago. The princess trotted up to the edge and spread her wings, simply letting herself glide down into the depths below without fear or hesitation. The fog greedily swallowed them up, and Twilight held on as tightly as she dared.

They flew blind for no more than a few seconds before Luna's hooves clattered against stone. Twilight still had a hard time making out details, but it was obvious they had landed in the mouth of a cave embedded in the side of the ravine. Luna walked on before Twilight could even dismount, something for which the unicorn was grateful. All was grey and black still.

They walked like this for long minutes, the fog gradually thinning. Twilight could see the cave walls now. They seemed odd, with weird formations at almost perfectly regular intervals.

She understood why, suddenly. Twilight knew why the floor was so even, too. The fog dispersed a little more just as the princess halted and let her slide off her back. "Welcome home, Luna," the princess muttered joylessly to herself, lighting up the scene with her horn.

Comments

[Frankie]

Five more sections left! I hope Twilight and Luna find a way.

[Kapuchu]

Luna for BUCK sake!

Just admit it and let your feelings free!
You have your duties, and so does Twilight, but that is no excuse to keep it locked away!
Dash, Pinkie & Fluttershy found a way, you can too!

[Wickedjr89]

"Welcome home Luna" Wait...what? And BUCK Luna will you just admit it and let your feelings be free! Only a few chapters away from the end!!! :)

[JetstreamGW]

Man, I forgot how much of a whining martyr Luna was in this. It really does get pretty tiresome after a while. Good thing it ends shortly 'eh?

Martyrdom is only useful if you go out doing something useful, Lulu.