//------------------------------//
// The Game of Light and Shadows 
// Story: The Darkest Hour 
// by Anemptyshell 
//------------------------------//

The exit was just as Shining said, a path hidden in a thicket on the other side of Canterlot Mountain. A cozy little oasis in greener pastures. I really hoped Shining and Chrysalis were okay. They were fighting the good fight. What would have constituted dawn had barely drawn as we gathered outside the hidden exit and sorted what little goodwill we could. We were drowsy, musty, confused, and not sure how to take the last hour or so as a whole. Thorax was living off the high of outwitting an alicorn, an ego boost he earned in total. Blueblood was eying his charts and maps, muttering to himself as he did so. While he planned our new route.

Bright had sat down and started jotting in a notebook. I could guess what he was using for inspiration. I swear to him and his fantasies. Spade had carved flowing flowery prose of fighting even in overwhelming odds. It made me smile, even if the subject at hand was a tad too soon for writing ballads of the dead. Sabre, he stared out at the open valley and hills below. A compass in hoof pointed due north. Our destination, one we knew little about and had to pray, Nightmare hadn't already fully sussed out. 

A thought then hit me, one I'd thought about a few times, but now, it could be problematic if left completely unparsed. That thought atop the rest of my frayed nerves, I took a deep breath and turned to Bright. 

"Hey, Bright, question."

"What's up?" Bright asked, never looking up from his writing. 

"Flying, and my lack thereof."

I could see the neurons firing as Bright slowly placed his pencil down and turned to me. The growing grin on his face was regret enough for me. I felt myself press my back into the tree behind me and braced myself. 

"Yes."

"Would you?" I asked. 

Bright leaned forward. "Yes?"

"Could you teach me how?" I asked. 

"Ha Ha, Yes!"

Bright, to emphasize his glee spread his leathery wings and hovered several meters off the ground as he grinned like a mad pony down at me. This earned the attention of our group and the ire of Sabre. I had a feeling he'd been waiting for this. 

"Get down, stay low and out of sight." 

Sabre hissed and swiped at Bright, who shrugged, still grinning, and promptly fell back to earth none the more concerned. He offered a wink to Sabre, whose left eye was a twitch. 

"What was that about?" Spade asked.

"Flying, and my inability to do it."

Spade looked back to Bright and Sabre, who'd ended up in a hushed argument, Thorax somehow playing mediator. 

"Could've asked me, you know?"

"Yeah, true," I agreed. 

"Could have asked Throax too."

"Well, yeah, I mean." I trailed off. 

"Face it, Star, you trust Bright, and you trust him to teach you. If anything, I doubt me or Thorax would have just sat there and let Bright put you in danger."

"Dang, Spade, you make it really hard to regret my actions, you know that?"

Spade nodded once and looked up to the tree line. "My Dad would beg to differ."

"I'm sorry?" I added. I shuffled in place, trying to process Spade's propensity for dark jokes and weighing them against harsh realities.

"Don't be. It wouldn't change his mind either way."

"Will you two act your age? This spat has gone from stupid to vitriolically obnoxious in no time flat. I mean, get it together," Blueblood had decided Sabre and Bright's disagreement had gone on long enough and looked about ready to beat them with the nearest tree branch. 

"Now, come on, I know tensions are a little high, but taking it out on each other isn't going to solve anything."

Thorax flittered between the three upset, or two upset and an amused Bright Pitch, stallions castling looks at one another. Spade and I simply watched and let the trio burn themselves out. This might be the only respite we get for a while, so let them get it all out of their system while they can. 

"You ever get the feeling you're surrounded by idiots?" I asked. 

"Every day," Spade said with a sigh. 

"You know what, you're right. We better keep moving. No telling what patrols are out. The mountain is compromised, and we don't have time to sit on our flanks and wait for Nightmare or Cadance to hunt us down."

Sabre walked back to where he'd placed his bags and, in a single flick of the hoof, had them over his shoulder. "We're moving out. You have a coarse, Blueblood?"

Blueblood rolled his eyes. "I do, not that. That would have stopped you from marching us into who knows what, all the same."

"Glad, we're on the same page."

"This is going to be one heck of an adventure, I can just tell," Bright said, tossing his own pack back on. He looked over at me. "We'll start Flying lessons next time we find a hole to hide under. You have too much to catch up on."

"Great, sounds fun."

I listlessly tossed my own bags back on, and one by one, our five stallion squad slowly made our way forward. Sabre and Blueblood taking the lead. Everything aside, I couldn't get the feeling it was darker than I recall. The sky seemed a little less bright, the shadows a little bit heavier, and the crawl on the back of my neck a bit less my imagination.

"So, oh brilliant navigator, what's the timeline looking like?" Thorax asked. 

"Trepidacious, there are quite a few factors I can't account for. If things went perfectly, they won't, but if they did. We're looking at three to five full nights and or days if one wants to use language that doesn't leave you with a migraine."

"That's not bad," Bright said.

"The more likely pace is a week at best."

"Still." I offered. 

"Seven days, we're also being hunted," Sabre said flatly. 

"So, should I start on our gravestones now or wait until we're mane deep in manure?"

Nopony responded. There wasn't one to be had. Two whole weeks of dipping and dodging everyone we came across. It wouldn't be long before every night guard across Equestria was looking for us. That meant towns and cities were more or less entirely out of the question. That also meant supplies were whatever we could forage or lucked out on. I already missed my bed, my sweet, soft, beautiful bed.

"So, do we have a destination for tonight picked out?" I asked.

"My Queen!" 

Thorax had stopped mid-stride and, with the exuberance of someone not on the run from a psychotic despot, shouted to no one in particular. His cry made the group stop dead in our tracks and look about like we expected our untimely demise to rain down upon us from every direction at once. 

"Chryssie's here?" Bright asked, sliding up beside Thorax and looking at the same apparent nothing Thorax had his gaze fixed to. 

"If she is, I don't see her," Blueblood said, joining the other two in looking into the night. 

"No, not here. She was. Sorry, I guess none of you would really know. She's talking to the Hive. It's in our minds. It keeps us all connected. It keeps hope alive."

Thorax rejoined us in reality and scuffed a hoof through the dirt in mild embarrassment. That only earned him a side hug from Bright Pitch, who seemed enthralled by the idea of a universal hivemind. It made sense. It wouldn't be the first time the changelings seemed to space out for no reason. They really were bug ponies, and here I thought that'd be insensitive. I hadn't thought to ask about it back in Canterlot. It was hardly the most significant thing on my mind.

"Makes sense," Spade said.

"If what I managed to learn back in Canterlot was any measure, there's far more to it than a simple means to communicate long-distance and silently."

Sabre had known because, of course, he did. Sabre was also right when it came to the usefulness of the mind speak. He was all for learning what tactics and intel were fresh on the platter in the ruins we just left.

"So, she's okay?" I asked. 

"Queen Chrysalis and Sir Armor are both well. The attack was less an extermination and more a distraction. That's what she thought, anyway."

"Three guesses as to whom they were really after."

"It doesn't make sense. Why waste so much effort on the five of us? Why are any or all of us worth so much effort? We're missing something. There's more to this than petty vengeance or pride. Nightmare Moon is many things, but she isn't stupid."

Sabre was not happy. His questions didn't stop there. He wasn't wrong either. There was an angle to all of this. Nightmare would want us caught, but to waste so much effort and so many lives on nabbing a hoof full of runaways. It seemed everyone was thinking the same thing. Did it have to do with Cadance, or was she just a pawn. No, she was more than a single disposable piece in whatever game Nightmare was playing. 

"So, back to my question. Did we have a destination to reach before we all collapse, or were we just bee-lining it straight for the border?"

We'd have time for conjecture later. We needed to keep moving. Blueblood seemed to agree as he started off without so much as looking back. "Less a final destination and more a distance measured. The more ground we make, the less we need to make later."

"Fair enough."

So we were off again. The fact Thorax could keep tabs on our friends and keep them in the know on where we've trotted off to was all the better. For once, the endless night was also an advantage. The magically gifted and Thestrals who might be on the hunt may be able to see in the dark, but the rest were as blind as the rest of us. The further north we made it, the thinner the forces at play would be. If we were lucky and Nightmare hadn't completely sussed us out, the easier it all be as we went. It all spun round and round in my head. It was all what-ifs and here's hoping. Dipping from one cluster of trees to another, hopping from shrub to shrub. The hours seemed to slow to a crawl as the tension had time to weigh in the back of my mind. 

The company was the only thing keeping me from falling entirely into a panic. I had a feeling I'd have gone out even if it was me alone, in the end. The dreams were compelling, and the voices they call to me as much as they spoke to me. I just wish they'd actually tell me what they wanted and stop with the mind games.

"Six hours, we've been walking for six hours, and it feels like we've gone nowhere at all," I groaned. My hooves were killing me. At that time, Bright and Spade had given me a basic run down on the flight, which was pleasant enough. It wasn't exactly a practical lesson, but knowing something is better than knowing nothing at all. 

"Six hours, really. You're positive on that?" Blue asked. 

"Yep."

"And how might that be, I wonder?" Blue was grinning at me.

"The stars, I mean, that was kind of the point of me taking tutelage under the prince of maps and lin measurements." 

Blue seemed nonetheless smug all the same. "Lessons that clearly paid off. You're welcome for that, by the way."

"Still, it's useful all the same," Thorax said. "I couldn't tell the time without a watch or moon dial. The fact both of you are so talented really is amazing."

"Careful, Thorax. We don't want to feed their egos, lest we swell their heads."

Sabre met Blueblood's gaze, who'd gone from smug to dissatisfied in less than a breath. The change wasn't lost on Thorax or me either. It was a tentative line between confidence and anguish for or navigator. The fact Thorax could taste the changes even before they became apparent was only just faster than one could see it in his eyes. 

"Right, of course," Blue muttered and returned to reading his maps. 


The glare Thorax affixed Sabre with was flinch-inducing. It was sharp enough that I doubt Sabre's blade of choice could cut deeper. The soldier was left to retreat and look elsewhere. That, while amusing, showed just how tough Thorax could be when he needed to. In the days we'd been in Canterlot and the pieces I'd picked up about Pharynx and Thorax's past. 

It was a tale as old as time. Pharynx was strong and dutiful, a pillar of the Hive. A changeling Thorax looked up too and strived to stand beside. Then well, Pharynx was still only mortal. Those were shoes few would wish to fill, and yet, all the same. Even if it was against his will, he thought himself so unworthy. Thorax was placed in his brother's position. A position no one believed him worthy of, no one but Shining and Chrysalis, who refused to replace him when he begged to be relieved of his new responsibilities. He wasn't the only one who said as much either. Yet, here he was, still standing, even with others who might crumble under such intense pressure. 

"Sorry, Sabre, but it is impossible. So long as Thorax is here, humility is the flavor of the day. He might beat us like Cadance, should we fall out of line."

I nudged the changeling, who blush might not be the right word. It was the closest thing I could articulate, though. Bug anatomy is weird. It did seem to bring the mood up a notch or two. I even caught Blue smiling behind his papers again.

So day one on our journey came and went. The fact we kept clear of roads meant we saw near to no one as we went. That was a small blessing considering what we escaped hours earlier. It made sense, though. It'd have taken as long to have those under Nightmare's thrall to learn of us. Tomorrow, however, would be a whole other story. We made camp in a small clearing wrought with thickets and briars. The natural deterrents could at least give us some warning if something came bumping in the night. We planned rotations for lookout. A system that had Bright and Sabre on the first watch. The former because his blood might as well be espresso and Sabre because he wouldn't allow any other order. 

So while I lie under the stars. I found sleep a harsher ordeal than facing down Cadance. Perhaps it was my desire to hear the voices in my dreams again. I was so wound up that I couldn't find it in me to rest. Yet, the dark came for me all the same. It was less falling asleep and more being consumed by it. I was confident that whatever it was, it wasn't natural.

"Keep going, little pony. The shadows await. If you fall, Luna will follow."

Oh great, now there are three of them. I was about ready to change course to the nearest asylum. This new one sounded a second from cracking up. Then there was this Luna, a pony, a metaphor. I had no idea. As I thought before, it wasn't natural.