Twilight awoke with a start, or more specifically, a shriek. Her body quivered under the hard glare of the morning sun, drying away her free-falling tears or relief. She gasped for air, shakily glancing around her, only to realize in light horror, that Fluttershy wasn't there.
Her mind was bustling, running her gaze across the blue, appalled; but the alicorn rose herself up to a sitting position.
The air was damp and still, this morning, and the birds were singing nonchalantly. It was as if nothing was wrong in the first place, although the unsettling feeling from the previous night perched on her neck, bristling her fur. Twilight shuddered, craning her neck over to view the two rivers, leaving her to sigh in relief.
The crystal-like streams glistened in the sunlight, trickling past the stones and roots freely, droplets of water dotting the blades of grass. And the grass was a normal, pale green, waving in the daylight. Birds chirped; no hooting owls, just a normal morning routine of nature-- the wild. Yes, it seemed, everything was normal.
"Hey, what're you doing out there?" a familiar voice called.
Twilight glanced up, her ears drooping at the sides of her head. Wolf, followed by Danny, emerged from the shadowed territory of the woods, both appearing not-as-unusually restless.
"Oh, I got up early, is all," she bit her lip. "How'd you sleep?"
The two exchanged a glance, before Wolf groaned, "Didn't much, honestly. Something was keeping us both up last night, and if I was crazy, I'd say--"
"No, no, please," Danny held up his hands, "Not this again,"
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Again?" She tilted her head, "What am I missing here?"
The werewolf snarled, rising his head. "A lot, seeming as you were never there in the first place."
The mare opened her mouth to argue, but left her jaw hanging, mouthing words that just didn't come out. She stared for a moment, before a rough rustling through the river bushes snapped her back to reality. Eyes flickering between the wolf and the ground, and then to her hooves, she finally glanced up in acknowledgement.
"H-how did..."
"Didn't I just mention we'd been up the majority of the night?" he lowered his head, back to eye-level. "At first... it looked as if you were... were ditching us,"
"Ditching you?" Twilight echoed, "Why on earth would I do that? We've gotten so far already; I wouldn't just..."
Wolf bit his tongue, eyes wide, as he stared down incredulously. "No, I didn't mean..." he shook his head, "I didn't mean it like that, It was just... an assumption."
Her face darkened, as she studied them both. Shaking her head, she swiveled around, trotting down the path again, back into a shadowy patch of trees. Glancing back, Twilight motioned to the trail.
"Come on, we're burning daylight."
"So," Twilight breathed, the light morning breeze running through her mane had suddenly felt to ease the tension. "What was it that kept you two up all night?"
For a moment, there was no reply, or any notification that the mare had even simply opened her mouth in the first place. And for a second, she swore she heard the wolf miss a step.
Shaking it off, Twilight glanced over her shoulder, eyes tracing back to the beginning of the path where a bright ray of light glistened on the stones scattered about the trail.
She raised an eyebrow, before Wolf lifted his head with a sigh.
"Nothing... to be concerned about..."
"You telling me not to be concerned is already something to sweat over."
"It's nothing, though, trust me. We just had poor luck last night; there's no lore or paranormal thing behind that, is there?" Wolf lowered back his head, seeming to swallow back his words.
"I... don't suppose so..." The alicorn hummed, returning her gaze to the path ahead of her. "But I'm still curious; A-about what you brought up this morning?"
"...."
"It's not likely of you to stay so quiet, Wolf. Something's off, isn't it?"
The mare's change of tone triggered the rising of both their heads, as Danny and Wolf exchanged glances, "I wouldn't say something's off... more like..."
A heavy gust of wind blew, sending a sudden chill up their spines. Twilight furrowed her brows, glancing up at the cracks of light that seeped through the spaces between the treetops and the flittering autumn leaves.
"Strange... I thought that storm blew over...."
"Listen, Twilight." The werewolf snarled, "Nothing is off, you're just being paranoid, as usual. You know everything's fine, you know you're just making a hell of a deal over nothing. So quit your worrying and pick up the pace;"
His golden eyes paled, as he leaned his snout behind her ear,"We're burning daylight."
Before the mare was able to reply, a huffing muzzle nudged her along the path, deathly close to toppling into the sunset shade of autumn leaves. Twilight bristled in frustration, scampering ahead of the two in an annoyed silence.
Ears splayed back, the alicorn mare trudged her way ahead of the pack, biting back at the sting of the wind. Focusing on the literal path ahead of her, the cold seemed to calm, as she dove back into her own thoughts. Twilight sighed, eyes tracing over the trees that covered the horizon and, just about everything else. The sun shone... duller today, yet it's rays still cast a silvery shine over the land.
She opened her mouth to comment, but shut her mouth with an audible snap, before briefly glancing behind her, noticing her distance from the two.
Just leave them be. You know well enough it's for the best.
'No... It doesn't feel.... right." she murmured, briskly nodding her head to rid of the voice.
Since when has your conscience never been right?
'I... I'm not sure how to respond to that..'
Do what the voice tells you in your head. Do what I say.
And so she did.
Granted with the sudden rush of adrenaline, Twilight breathed, lightly unfurling her wings before scampering down the path, kicking up the remnants of leaves behind.
The breeze applauded, as it throbbed in her ears, the chill of fall sunk it's teeth through her skin. But it simply felt right.
She shut her eyes, not allowing herself to stop, as she devoured the wind itself, now slinking back, out of the mare's path. She ran faster, as the force seemed to grow stronger, deaf to the sounds of her hooves clamping into the earth, and blind to the world. It wouldn't stop, it held her down to the earth, as if pulling her in. Pulling her into the fantasy that didn't exist on land.
And it was tugging her in by the pelt with a clawed hand.
Her eyes only closed tighter, ducking in her head, as she swallowed back the bitter taste that formed in the back of her throat.
And it was gone.
The flickering of heat was like a fresh fire, as it started, burning away reality, and leaving an open burrow that lead to another land. She lost her breath, as if It existed no longer, and then she was free.
The path narrowed, thickets and twigs closing in on her body, clinging to the alicorn for a ride. But they fluttered off as her flaming energy caused every grain of dust to flee, and trampled beneath her fire, leaving the burnt path behind.
It was all clear now, as the cold melted to hot, and the darkness of her vision lit with a new fire. She was the arson-- the arsonist, catching fire to everything in her midst. Leaving her mark of flames and ashes as she went.
And she went on.
And she could see the luminescent glow of her body, engulfed in the white, flickering flames, in harmony with the darkness.
No!
No.
No...
She was not the fire.
She was not the arsonist catching flames to the woods, nor the cities, or the past. She wasn't in harmony with the shadows, that swallowed her memories, and ate up portions of her past like a virus. She wasn't the cold, nor the wind, or not what the breeze feared.
Why did you stop? Go again, go again! It makes me so... pleased...
'No...' Twilight swallowed, as the burn died away, 'No it doesn't-- I do NOT feel pleased.'
Listen to yourself. To me; you. It makes you happy. It warms your soul, doesn't it?
'I told you... to leave me... be... Get OUT of my head.'
Oh, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. I am your conscience, after all.
She bit her lip, squeezing her eyes tighter,"Then shut up. I don't want... to hear.. this.... this..."
I can see your soul, Princess. It's like a stone, a precious one.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up..."
It just BURNS with a passion, doesn't it?