Twilight's hooves beat hard against the dry, cracked, burning ground of the endless desert before her.
She didn't know where she was going, or what she was desperately galloping away from, but she knew she had to get away. If she didn't get away, bad things would happen to her.
Terrible, unspeakable things.
She whimpered and panted as she continued to gallop for all she was worth, heedless of the fact that she had gained no ground whatsoever.
Heedless of the fact that no matter how fast or how desperately she galloped, it was always there... like a shadow.
That horrible monstrous thing with all its horrible fangs and claws that snapped at Twilight's heels, making her scream and gallop faster.
Yet for all her struggles she did not make it any farther.
And so the two were caught in an endless cycle of flight and pursuit. It felt like she had been galloping for days, but despite this, the filly never once dared to look back at what was chasing her.
If she did, she was certain she'd go insane.
No, she refused to look... but that didn't stop her from hearing the vile, incomprehensible thing as it growled and shrieked and gurgled and oozed and hissed and snapped at her.
Always a hair's breath away.
Always chasing.... always fleeing.
Never slowing down or falling behind.
Never noticing the dark being that gazed upon the never-ending tragedy of the hunter and the prey like an intangible, invisible, and unfeeling sentinel of stone.
No escape from the endless cycle of flight and pursuit.
Something has changed... this... was not meant to be...
It was a feast to remember!
It was a feast to end all feasts, a grand spectacle of delectable delicacies the likes of which Tartarus had never seen before! Yes, they all lined up to the table with empty growling bellies and drooling mouths, eager to dig into the meal that sat before them.
It was a feast to remember!
A wonderful feast of fur and flesh and blood and bone!
It was a feast Starlight Glimmer wanted nothing to do with, yet it was a feast she could not simply excuse herself from, for it was a feast she herself had prepared.
As the host, she was made to watch as the dinner bell was rung, and the demons partook of their long awaited meal. The air was soon filled with the chorus of raucous laughter, tearing flesh, snapping jaws, cracking, slurping, chewing, and belching.
And then there was little Starlight, sitting at the head of the table, not taking a single bite. Little teary eyed Starlight, who could not, and would not, partake of such delicacies, for they were not meant for her.
She was to simply look on as Firelight, Sky Diamond, and Sunburst were devoured with all the zeal of a starving creature—their bones picked clean in only a matter of minutes.
The bones.
Not even the bones escaped the voracious appetites of the demons sitting at that table. Poor Starlight Glimmer could do nothing but watch in horror and despair.
Little did she know that a new guest had arrived to watch the sickening scene of gluttony on display.
It seems there is yet more work to be done, Vengeful One... I wonder what you will do once you find her... I wonder what she will do...
A wicked grin split the face of the dark creature and a low, malicious chuckle cut through the gruesome cacophony.
A light—as dark as midnight and as cold as the Frozen North—shined forth from the unseen creature and expanded until it bathed the entire world in its glow.
I cannot help but anticipate the outcome... in the meantime, however...
A bright flash, and all was reduced to blackness and silence.
Both Twilight and Starlight jerked awake with a scream.
Their hearts pounded in their chest as they looked around frantically waiting for something to lunge out from the darkness... but nothing happened.
Instead they found themselves safe and sound in their bed. A single lamp on the table was lit, casting a dim glow over the stone walls of the nearly empty bedroom in which they slept.
Their eyes swept over the room, and eventually landed on one another. Matching looks of panic soon gave way to relieved sighs and shaky chuckles.
"I guess I wasn't the only one that had a nightmare then," Starlight said, trying and partially succeeding at a smile, "figures... after what we saw..."
She shivered and turned to stare at her hooves.
"Y-Yeah," Twilight replied after a moment, "it was... some kind of nightmare... I'd rather not remember it... or what happened before."
She fell quiet and for a long while, the two fillies just sat there, trying to stop the slight shaking and collect themselves. It proved a rather difficult task as images of what they had seen and heard assaulted their minds, but eventually, Starlight looked up and around once more.
"Hey," she asked with a puzzled frown, "how did we get back here anyway?"
"I don't know," Twilight replied as she also looked around in bemusement, "I guess Aeon brought us back?"
"Aeon," Starlight growled out in a bitter tone, "I... I can't believe she did that!" she turned to Twilight with fire in her eyes, "I told her! She knew what happened to me! What I went through!"
"I know, Starlight," Twilight replied quietly, a troubled, yet thoughtful expression crossing her face, "I don't like it either... but—"
"But?!" Starlight cried indignantly as she whipped around to face Twilight, "there is no 'but'! What she did was... it was... unforgivable!"
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again and sighed. She wrung the blanket in her hooves for a moment, unsure of how to tell the angry filly what she was thinking.
"You know what?" Starlight continued, throwing off the blanket and hopping out of bed, "I'm gonna tell her to take her stupid lessons and—"
"Starlight, wait!"
The light pink filly stopped just as she was about to reach the door to their bedroom and turned back to Twilight with an angry but expectant look.
Twilight paused.
She had Starlight's attention, but what did she say now? Starlight was too angry to listen, but she had to say something before the irate filly did something the both of them would most likely regret.
"Look, I... I've been thinking," the lavender filly began hesitantly, "a-and I think... I think Aeon and Tirek have a point... a-about what we've been through, I mean."
Starlight said nothing for another long moment. Her ear twitched once and she gave an agitated flick of her tail before slowly turning back around to fully face the other filly.
"What are you getting at, Twilight?" she asked warily, "are you saying we should just completely forget about the fact that both our families are gone? That we should just... sweep all that under the rug and say 'oh well, I guess that's that'?"
Twilight winced at the ice in Starlight's voice, but pressed on nevertheless.
"That's not what I'm saying at all, Starlight," she replied with a shake of her head, "I'm not saying we should just forget about... about what happened, but... I'm tired of feeling so terrible about it all the time."
She lowered her head and sniffed.
"I don't want to keep feeling the way I do, a-and I'm pretty sure you don't either."
Starlight said nothing in response, though her angry scowl faltered slightly as Twilight's words hit home. Twilight wiped her eyes and turned back to Starlight, her gaze somewhat more steely than it had been.
"When I... when we were out there, at the end just before we... blacked out... I realized something," fully awake now, Twilight shifted towards the edge and slipped off the bed as she spoke, "I realized Aeon was right... whether she's there or not... whether she's teaching us or not... this is gonna be our life now."
She trotted up to Starlight, who took a step back. She scowled harder, but Twilight could see the uncertainty and contemplation building behind the facade.
Just a bit further... I just need to push a bit further...
"Aeon thinks we're some kind of 'prodigies' or whatever, but that doesn't change the fact that we're still just foals, Starlight—smart foals, powerful for our age, but still just foals."
Twilight shook her head and stepped back before sitting on her haunches. She gave Starlight a level stare as she continued.
"We can't survive out here on our own," she scoffed, "you saw the city! You saw what it looked like! What everypony was like... we wouldn't even be able to survive in town, let alone out there in the desert, and that's exactly where we might end up if you go yelling at Aeon."
"But... nothing attacked us while we were out there before," Starlight argued, though it sounded weak and pitiful in the face of Twilight's impassioned plea, "a-and... nothing attacked me while I was living in the cabin..."
"Maybe we just got lucky," Twilight replied, completely undeterred, "maybe there was secretly somepony looking out for you... maybe your parents were protecting you and didn't tell you."
Starlight glared at Twilight and was about to say something, but Twilight verbally barreled over her, too caught up in her speech to stop now.
"I don't know why we weren't attacked back then," she continued, shaking her head, "but I think it would be a stupid idea to just rely on what was probably just luck on our part."
Starlight tried to look angry.
She tried to look indignant and upset that Twilight had brought up her parents like that... but she was losing steam, and she was losing it fast.
The lavender filly had made too many good points for Starlight to refute, and before she even realized it, she had sank to her own haunches in defeat. Now all she could do was wait for Twilight to finish her speech.
"I know what she did was wrong, Starlight, believe me," Twilight said, her tone becoming softer as she wrapped her tail around herself and looked away, "I hate that she did that... that she made us go through that... but it doesn't matter in the end."
When she looked back to Starlight again, it was with a determined frown that spoke of the absolute certainty she had in her own decision.
"It hurts, what she did, but she's just trying to teach us to survive," Twilight said with an air of finality, "I don't wanna die out here, Starlight, and if we're gonna live, we do have to get over what happened to us."
Starlight sighed and gave Twilight a tired, defeated smile.
"Yeah... when you put it like that, I can't really argue," she chuckled bitterly, "I don't like Aeon... but I don't wanna die either... and if we go out there without her or Burning Comet... we're not gonna make it far."
Twilight's hardened gaze melted into a hopeful look.
"So... does that mean..."
"Yes, Twilight," Starlight finished with a roll of her eyes, "I'm not gonna go flying off the handle at Aeon... but I'm not gonna forget what she did either."
With that, she turned and made her way over to the exit.
"Now, I'm starving," she muttered, opening the door and stepping outside, "I don't even remember the last time we ate now that I think about it... hopefully we can find something to eat around here..."
Twilight smiled and followed after Starlight, relieved that she was able to get through to her friend and hoping it wasn't too early in the morning for breakfast.
It was rather hard to tell the time of day with no windows.