//------------------------------// // Hollowed // Story: Little Keys // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Rainbow was dripping wet by the time she finally touched down in front of the library. She wasn’t sure how much of it was rainwater versus how much of it was sweat from her exertions. The storm had come quickly - far more quickly than she had expected, and it had been fierce. The winds had thrown more than one of the newer pegasi on duty out of the air, forcing her to order them home for their own safety, if nothing else. It had been an arduous process, swallowing multiple hours of her time, but finally, finally, it seemed like the storm was starting to come to an end. At the very least, the worst of it passed, and Thunderlane had insisted that she head home and that they could handle the rest without her. She knew he was probably just trying to encourage her to go back to Twilight and relax for what little was left of their waking hours, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel slightly offended. She wasn’t an employee of the weather teams, after all, she didn’t have to follow his orders. She outranked him by several orders of magnitude. In the end, though, she had relented. She did want to cuddle with Twilight, after all. And so, with a few mock grumbles of dismay, she had flown home. It was only now as her hooves were slogging through the mud for the front door that she realized just how worn out she was. Puffing out a tired grunt, she shouldered open the door and stepped into the dry warmth of the library. “Yo! I’m back!” she called out as she entered, resisting the urge to shake herself dry then and there. Twilight would never let her live it down if she got the books wet again. “I need a towel over here!” The tell-tale clicking of Spike’s claws on the ground signaled his approach. Rainbow turned to see him emerging from the steps to the loft, a towel already in his hand. He gave Rainbow a surprised look and quirked a brow. “You’re late getting back. Did ya get recruited for weather duty or something?” Rainbow nodded, staying still on the doormat. “Just me,” she said, gratefully accepting the towel and quickly clearing out the worst of her dampness. “Phew. It’s really putting down out there.” Spike hummed, approaching a window and peering outside. A moment later, he turned to Rainbow and put on a curious smile. “So, how was the visit?” he asked, leaning against the wall. Rainbow finished drying herself to the point she wouldn’t be dripping everywhere and tossed the towel back to Spike. “It was good. Lyra and Bon Bon are a thing, now, so that was fun to watch.” Spike’s eyes widened. “Wha- really? Wow! I can’t really imagine Lyra being in a relationship with anypony,” he mused, rubbing at his chin. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “To be fair, you knew her when she was still a kid at mom’s school,” she pointed out. Spike shrugged. “Eh, fair. I bet Twilight had fun. Speaking of which…” Spike’s brow suddenly furrowed. He leaned to one side as if to look past Rainbow, visibly confused. He then turned and looked out the window “Where is she?” Rainbow frowned. “Huh? What are you talking about? I sent her home ahead of me. She shoulda been back a while ago.” Spike shook his head. “She would’ve told me if she was back,” he said, an edge of concern creeping into his voice. Rainbow grimaced, an uncomfortable feeling starting to pool into her gut. Midnight must have gotten to her again. At least, that was the only explanation Rainbow could think of. And the last time that had happened… “She’s probably just upstairs,” Rainbow said before lifting into the air on her wings and flying up the steps before Spike could get a word in. To her surprise, however, she found the door open. She set herself down in the doorway and peered at the bed. To her growing concern, Twilight wasn’t there. The bathroom door was also open and the light was out. Twilight wasn’t there either. A deep discomfort settled into Rainbow’s stomach. She shifted on her hooves, her wings twitching with nervous energy at her sides. This wasn’t right. The rattling of the rain against the windows suddenly sounded far louder and far more ominous in her head. Spike came running up the stairs behind her, panting for breath. Looking past her, he wilted on the spot and slowly shook his head. “Not here either?” he asked quietly. Rainbow pursed her lips tightly together, one hoof scraping idly against the floor. “No. She’s not.” Spike shuddered, his claws wringing themselves together over his chest. “Do you… think she’s okay?” he asked, mirroring the question pounding through the forefront of Rainbow’s thoughts. “Maybe she just took shelter from the rain with one of our friends?” Rainbow shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t make any sense. Twilight could easily make something to keep the rain off of her. I’ve seen her do it. And even if she did duck in with one of our friends, it wouldn’t be for so long that I’d beat her here a couple hours later. Besides, she can do that funky magic teleport thing.” Spike fidgeted in place, letting off a low groan of discomfort and worry. “So, what do you think could’ve happened?” he finally asked, looking up at Rainbow in hopes of an explanation. A moment later, Rainbow shook her head. “I don’t know…” She muttered, turning her eyes to the window at the far end of the bedroom. She wanted to just jump through it, fly out into town and start looking for Twilight. But it was still dark out. Combined with the rain and the wind, she would have basically no visibility. She’d be more likely to get blown off course and break something than actually find anypony. She let out a low growl of frustration, the feeling of helplessness once again creeping up into the back of her mind. She forced herself to take a breath, to try and calm her fraying nerves. She was probably working herself up again, letting herself get overprotective. She had done it before, after all. But still, she couldn’t help but feel concerned. “If she’s not back by the time the weather team clears this up, I’m gonna go look for her,” She decided as she started back down the stairs.  At the promise of definitive action, Spike perked up, walking alongside her. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll come with you,” he volunteered without missing a beat. Rainbow nodded, not saying anything else as she got comfortable in her favorite chair and picked up the Daring Do book she’d been working on. She tried to distract herself, or at least pass the time until the rain outside stopped its relentless assault. But she just couldn’t. The rain pounded against the window, mocking her, taunting her, promising her that something was terribly wrong and that yet again, she was powerless to do anything about it until it was too late. Hollow. That was the first thing Twilight felt as consciousness slowly came back to her. She felt hollow. Empty. Like everything inside of her had been removed, leaving an empty shell of skin and bone. The next thing she felt was cold. She was frigid, freezing, and if there had been any strength in her body, she might have shivered. Her mind was a tortured mess, foggy and indistinct, and every attempt at thought invited a surging rush of dull, throbbing pain. It was made worse with every pound of her pitifully flailing heart. She tried to recall what had happened, but it was all a jumbled blur of fog and fire. For a moment, she felt a spike of panic, a concern that, somehow, she had lost her memories again. But the mere fact that she recalled losing them before helped chase away such a notion and grounded her thoughts. She tried to breathe in. She regretted the decision immediately. Foul-tasting water flooded into her mouth and throat, sending her into a spluttering, coughing fit. Adrenaline pumped into her veins, sending her shooting up and doubling over. Her senses came alive from the sudden movement, and she realized that it was pouring rain. Mud clung to her fur and her coat. As her coughing began to subside, she wiped the mud from her face and opened her eyes. Her hoof came away partly covered in something that wasn’t mud. It was red. She shivered, a wave of nausea and dizziness coming over her. Her sense of balance all but disappeared, and before she knew it, she was toppling weakly over into the mud again wit ha wet plop. She kept her eyes open, pivoting to land on her back so she could get a look around. The sky overhead was as black as pitch, occasionally illuminated by stray blasts of lightning. Thunder rumbled over her like the snarling of a hungry wolf, sending her bones quivering in her chest. Every so often, Twilight could see an indistinct shape zipping this way and that through the sky. She realized a moment later that they were pegasi, frantically trying to get this wild storm under control.  “Ponies.” If there were ponies, Twilight could get help. She tried to sup up once again, but the strength just would not come to her. Groaning, she focused on her horn, intent on shooting a pulse of magical light into the air to serve as a beacon. Somepony would see, and they would be able to help. She grit her teeth and focused. But there was nothing. Twilight’s eyes widened in spite of the rain. “What…?” she choked, her voice an almost inaudible rasp. She tried again, and again there was no response. Her horn stayed cold and dark. Lifeless. She felt none of the tell-tale swirling of her magic answering her call. It was then that she finally recalled the glowing yellow eyes of her attacker. A horrible realization swept over her, and she was unable to contain her mortified whimper. “My magic…” she croaked in despair. “He… he t-took my magic…” How could it be possible? She didn’t understand. Magic was an integral part of every pony - of every living being. It shouldn’t have been possible to rob a pony of their magic without killing them. And yet, here she lay… empty. Hollowed out and cast aside like a banana peel. Groaning in pain, her head screaming in protest at every movement, Twilight tried once again to stand. In the darkness of the storm and the night, without her magic to light the way, she had no choice but to grope with her hooves for something to pull her up. She eventually found a wall, and she realized with some small relief that she was still in the alleyway. Bit by bit, she pulled herself up to all four hooves. Her legs trembled weakly beneath her, burning from the strain of supporting her weight. Her wings hung limp and lifeless at her sides, a pair of useless dead weights. She tried to pull herself along for the alley’s exit, her every step bringing a surge of agony. She wasn’t even sure where she was going, or what she was going to do. She just knew she had to move. Some part of her was confused, however. Why wasn’t she dead? That centaur, Tirek. After robbing her magic, he stomped on her head, declaring he had no more use for her. Maybe he hadn’t gotten as much strength as he had thought. Or maybe something forced him to flee and leave her for dead. Or maybe he had simply thought she was dead but neglected to make sure. He was in the middle of Ponyville, after all, and it would not do to get caught standing over the body of a freshly murdered mare. She shook her head a moment later, dismissing such concerns. What mattered was that she was alive, and she needed to get home. The silence was starting to eat at her, though. As she emerged onto the streets, she huffed impatiently. “Alright. Go ahead,” she snarled at Midnight as she went, desperate for something to speak to and focus on. “Make fun of me. Mock me. Insult me. You were right. I should have listened to you, and I didn’t.” She expected Midnight to tear into her with gusto, to go on a long-winded tirade about how big of an idiot she was, to criticize her every decision since waking up that morning. She expected Midnight to appear in front of her with that smug smirk that she so hated and verbally rip her apart. All she got was a blast of thunder. A lump formed in Twilight’s throat. “...Midnight?” she asked in a low whisper. “I know you’re there. Say something.” But there was nothing. Twilight leaned against the wall of the house she was using as support and turned her senses inward, trying to find the malignant parasite that had been such a thorn in her side for so long, for once actually wanting to hear its voice, hear what it had to say. She found only emptiness. An empty alcove in her mind. Midnight was gone. Twilight froze, barely daring to even breathe. She should have been happy. She should have been jumping for joy that she was finally rid of that monster. Midnight was her enemy, and just about every major decision Twilight had made since getting her memories back had been done to refute, counter, or just spite Midnight. This was supposed to be a victory. But instead, all she felt was alone. Alone and scared. Twilight’s chest suddenly tightened as she realized just how much Tirek had taken from her. Gasping for breath, she fell away from the wall and collapsed onto the muddy street. She tried to inhale, but it was like her lungs were rejecting it. She felt numb in her hooves, and her heart was pounding so hard she feared it may burst. “H-help!” she tried to call out to the pegasi overhead, or to anyone who might hear her. “S-somepony, help me! Please!”  But her words were lost to the wind and the rain. And without her magic to create a light, none of them would be able to see her, especially when they were so focused on the storm. She would receive no aid from above. “Focus, Twilight!” she thought to herself, putting a hoof to her chest. It was hard, it was so hard to breathe through her own panic attack. Her every effort to inhale was stifled by her own gasping and the pounding of her heart. Images flashed and cycled through her mind until she saw Rainbow’s face staring back at her with that signature cocky grin. She latched onto it for all she was worth, and finally, she was able to take in a breath. She recalled those days when she was first learning to fly when Rainbow had reminded her of the breathing exercise Cadance had taught her when she was little. She filled her lungs, focusing on the feeling, and slowly pushed it out with her hoof pointing away. Slowly but surely, her panic began to subside, and a clear goal fixed itself in her thoughts. Rainbow. She had to get to Rainbow. She had to warn her. If Tirek was still at large, then everypony was in danger, and Rainbow had more power to do something about it than anypony else in town. Stifling another whimper, Twilight forced herself back to her hooves. She wobbled on her hooves and tilted to one side, her shoulder slamming into the wall of the house again. She grunted, shivering from the cold and her own weakness, but was able to stay standing. With a groan, and keeping her weight up against the wall, she started inching down the street, bit by bit, slowly but surely. She hadn’t been too far from the library when she found Tirek. She knew the way. All she had to do was get there. “Just keep walking,” she whispered, panting for breath. Rainbow paced around the room, her ears flat and her teeth grinding together in agitation. It had been a while since she had made it back, and the storm was still raging outside. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been, but there was still next to no visibility out there. But worse than that, there was still no sign of Twilight. Her mind was buzzing, racing with countless imagined scenarios about what may have happened, and each was more upsetting than the last. She knew she was probably working herself up into a frenzy and making things worse in her head than they probably were, but she couldn’t help it. This wasn’t normal! Spike was sitting on the stairs to the loft, cupping his chin in his palms and watching Rainbow pace. He hadn’t said a word since she’d gotten up, and she knew he was just waiting for her to give the word so he could go get his raincoat. Rainbow made another lap of the room.  “That’s it,” she decided, coming to an abrupt halt. “I’m sick of waiting. Spike, grab your raincoat. We’re headin’ out!” Spike jumped up and threw a sharp salute, his face clearly relieved at not having to wait around anymore. “Aye aye, princess!” he said before turning and scrambling up the steps. Rainbow watched him go, pleased by his enthusiasm, then turned to the closet to fetch her own coat. Knock knock knock! Rainbow froze mid-step, her heart skipping a beat. She turned to the door and waited, holding her breath. She heard the handle fiddling, and could see it turning and rotating, but not far enough to open. A moment later, the knocking came again. Rainbow practically threw herself at the door. She reached out and tore it open, hoping to see some good news. What she saw almost made her heart stop in her chest. Twilight stood before her, but she was clearly in a bad way. She was caked in a thick layer of mud running in thick rivulets down the side of her body. She was sopping wet, shivering horribly, and sagging in place. Her wings hung lump, and her legs trembled as if they barely had any strength left in them. The worst part was her eyes. Where once Rainbow would have expected to see two bright, intelligent purple orbs staring back at her, all she saw were grey circles that disappeared into despairing darkness. Rainbow recoiled, her ears pinning back in shock. “Twilight?” she asked in disbelief. “R-rainbow…” Twilight murmured, taking one step forward. That was the last straw. Her legs gave out under her, and she fell forward. “Woah! Tw-twi? Twilight?!” Rainbow exclaimed, reaching out just in time to catch Twilight. She felt brittle in her hooves, fragile like glass, and she was shaking like a leaf. Twilight crumpled limply, and Rainbow felt a surge of absolute panic. She looked Twilight over, searching for some sign of injury or some clue of what happened. When her eyes drifted over Twilight’s flanks, she felt her heart skip a beat. Twilight’s cutie mark was gone. “SPIIIKE!” she hollered at the top of her lungs, pulling Twilight inside and out of the rain. “Spike, get in here right now!” She heard something crashing upstairs, but she could not care less. She tried to help Twilight stand, but the alicorn had fallen unconscious. Swearing under her breath, Rainbow knelt down and quickly moved Twilight onto her back just as Spike was emerging into the room. “What the- TWILIGHT?!” he shouted, and Rainbow heard his raincoat falling to the floor. “Towels, NOW!” Rainbow shouted, already turning for the couch. “She’s shaking and cold!” Spike stayed rooted in place. “W-where’s her mark?!” he exclaimed, taking a step forward. “Rainbow, what’s-” “SPIKE!” Rainbow snapped, giving him a hard glare. “Towels. MOVE!” Spike yelped, backpedaling from the ferocity in her voice, then quickly went to obey. Rainbow felt guilty for only a moment before moving on. She needed to focus and keep him focused. They could ask questions later, once they were sure Twilight would be alright. She carried Twilight over to the couch, doing her best not to jostle the whimpering mare on her back. “Since when was Twilight so light-weight?” Rainbow wondered as she set Twilight down on the couch. She knelt beside her and ran a hoof over Twilight’s mane. A moment later, Spike came running in, an eclectic collection of towels and blankets torn from the bed upstairs dragging along the floor behind him. “I was gone for five seconds!” Spike said in a trembling voice as he passed them to Rainbow. “What the heck happened!?” “I dunno!” Rainbow replied, quickly moving to dry Twilight off, moving gently so as not to damage her. “She just knocked on the door. I opened it up and found her like this. She passed out on the spot.” “What could have done this?” Rainbow shook her head. “No clue…” A moment later, Twilight moaned softly before opening her eyes just a crack. “Rainbow…” she whimpered, lifting a hoof out to her. “Twi,” Rainbow said, quickly taking Twilight’s hoof and squeezing. “Don’t say anything. Y-you’re gonna be okay. We’ve got ya. You’re safe.” Spike, however, had other ideas. “What did this to you?” Twilight winced, hissing in pain through tightly clenched teeth. Her eyes screwed shut for a few seconds, then slowly opened again. She stared into Rainbow’s eyes, and the pegasus could see the gravity behind them. “Tirek,” Twilight breathed. “H-his name was Tirek… Stole my magic… t-tried to… kill me…” “Twilight, stop talking,” Rainbow urged gently, giving Twilight’s hoof another firm squeeze. “Please. Save your strength.” “Still… out there,” Twilight continued, her voice growing weaker and weaker with every word. “Not… safe…” “Twilight,” Rainbow urged, leaning in. Twilight, however, had nothing left to say. She let out a quiet sigh and settled limply into the cushions of the couch. Her hoof in Rainbow’s fell slack, and for a fraction of a second, Rainbow feared the worst. Twilight was still breathing, though, and her fear dissipated. Without a word, Rainbow gingerly tucked Twilight’s hoof close to her body. She leaned back, frowning in discontent. Beside her, Spike shifted on his feet, clearly uneasy. He looked up at her, uncertain. “W-what do we do?” he asked. Rainbow’s frown deepened. She stared down at the exhausted, pale, bruised face of the most important mare in her life. She recalled the name Twilight had uttered. Tirek. Rainbow had no idea who this ‘Tirek’ was, but if he did this to Twilight, then one thing was certain in Rainbow’s mind. She was going to make him pay. But first thing was first. “Spike, send a letter to my mother,” she instructed, rising to her full height and once again sliding Twilight onto her back. “Let her know what’s happened.” Spike stood up and dutifully ran for the nearest desk. He stared after Rainbow as he ran. “What about you?” he asked as he picked up a quill and a sheet of parchment, his eyes lingering on Twilight. Rainbow made her way to the door and pushed it open before looking back at him over her shoulder. “I’m taking Twilight to the clinic,” she said simply. “She needs help, more than we can give her here, and I’m not waiting for a transport. I’ll come get you once she’s safe.” She didn’t for Spike to answer. She simply turned, unfurled her wings, and jumped into the air as fast as her wings could carry her without throwing Twilight off of her. She felt Twilight stirring on her back, and she could just hear the afflicted mare whimpering over the wind and rain rushing through her ears. “Just hang on, Twi,” Rainbow said through grit teeth as she shot through the rain, kicking up a strong enough wind to part the rain around her as she flew. “I’m not letting you down. Not this time.” Thunder boomed overhead, and Rainbow vanished into the darkness in the direction of the Ponyville clinic.