Intension

by MadMan

Miseria Cantare

Twilight lay on the wet, unsympathetic ground after tripping and falling for the umpteenth time that day. She lay face down in the thick moss, lacking the motivation to even lift her head. Twilight thought about continuing to lay there until the moss grew over her and sucked the nutrients from her flesh and left nothing but a yellowing skeleton, but a hoof nudging at her side interrupted her daydreams. Winter's voice floated down from somewhere above her and to the side.

"Come on, Twilight. We're nearly there. Come one, just a bit further."

Twilight growled to herself softly as she allowed Winter to help her up. Every inch of her body hurt, from the explosion at the wall as well as the two snap teleports afterwards. Teleporting multiple times wasn't hard, but doing one instantly after another required exponentially more energy than two separate ones. Twilight groaned again as a fresh wave of pain rampaged through her head, threatening to dump her on the ground again. She leaned against Winter's side a little more, and Winter leaned back, keeping her upright. Step by tortured step, Twilight led the trio in what she was sure was vaguely the right direction to the ruins of the capital of Equestria of old.

The sun was nearly directly above them when Twilight caught a glimpse of the high spire of the once majestic castle above the treeline. Tumbling through an especially thick clump of plants, they found themselves on an old stone road that led straight to the base of the spire. The road was wide and had been built very thick, so even a thousand years after the abandonment of the city, the road still cut a clean swath through the encroaching forest. The trees stood tall on either side and some of the stones along the edge had been disturbed by their roots, but there was still a clear line of vision from where the tired trio stood all the way past the gates to the crumbling palace. Ahead of them was a cluster of short towers, but none were even half as high as the monstrous spire that was centered behind the gate. Twilight allowed herself a small smile as she beheld the ruins. Nightfury took the lead as the three tired travelers walked down the green corridor to the castle.

The portcullis had long since rusted away, leaving just holes that threatened to trip Twilight as she walked through the gatehouse. They continued straight on, heading for the main doors of the main hall. The doors were made of thick iron so although they were heavily rusted, they were still intact. As they neared the doors, Twilight could see obvious signs that they had been forced open recently, as one hung open just wide enough to admit a pony. Squeezing inside, they followed the corridor they were now in until they came to a set of large brown doors, some that Twilight recognized immediately. Rushing past Nightfury, Twilight pushed open the doors.

Beyond was a room Twilight thought she'd never see again. It was long and oval, the ends curving in towards the door at one end and a raised dais on the other. Eight pillars stood along the sides of the room, or in some cases, what was left of a pillar. However, unlike last time, the room was occupied. On top of the dais sat the Black Berets and Luna, clustered around a campfire. As Twilight, Winter and Nightfury entered the room, they all rose as one. Smiles began to adorn some of the faces before they realized that there was one less pony in front of them than there should have been. Silence followed, deafening and accusing. Luna was the one to break it, fluttering her wings enough to fly across the room and land in front of Twilight. They wrapped in a tight hug, and Twilight realized that there were tears drying under Luna's eyes. Twilight noticed her own eyes were fairly moist, as well. After what seemed like an eternity of burying her face on Luna's warm coat, Twilight was finally released from her embrace and saw Nightfury and Winter in similar situations. The rest of the Black Berets were silent, until finally, the dreaded question was asked.

"Where's Wildfire?"

Twilight felt her heart skip a beat as she looked at Winter and Nightfury, hoping, praying, that one of them would answer. She saw them both looking at her with blank faces and knew it was down to her. She cleared her throat and spoke haltingly.

"He's..... Dead. He died so we could escape from a patrol that caught us. Without..... Without his heroic actions, we would all four be...... Dead."

More silence greeted her words. She looked at each of the Black Berets, meeting their eyes in turn. She was expecting anger, accusation, or animosity. Instead, all she saw was sad acceptance. Most eyes cast to the ground, some to the ceiling. Most had tears, glittering in the fire's light. Nightfury spoke softly, but all could hear him in the silence. Twilight could tell he wasn't used to speeches, but his words came from the heart.

"Wildfire took a risk, going back to Canterlot. We all did. He knew what he was getting into. His selfless acts deserve the utmost reverence. I owe him my life, as do Twilight and Winter. When this is all over, I'll see to it he gets a memorial. I.... He was the best Sergeant we could ever ask for."

Nightfury lowered his head and walked away, going to stare into the fire. Twilight followed him, but the other Berets stayed by the entrance, and Twilight heard soft conversation start.

"Remember the time he got drunk and tried to braid Winter's hair?"

"Ha, yeah. That wasn't a good idea."

"I remember that one time when we were down in the badlands and we found that wild dog."

"Oh, that poor thing. I was sure Wildfire was gonna ask to bring it back with us. He fed it half his rations."

"Yeah. You know he actually secretly named it?"

"No way!"

"Yupp. I heard him talking to it, after he thought the rest of us were sleeping. Called it 'Vera."

"He always did like animals."

The reminiscing went on for hours, until the sun had set. Luna stood at that point, having sat silently beside Twilight, a wing over the depressed unicorn. When the sun had disappeared, Luna looked up, but Twilight saw her make no motions to raise the moon, choosing to instead sit back down. Twilight looked at Luna questioningly.

"Luna, aren't you going to raise the moon?"

"No, Twilight. It is a night of mourning. No moon shall shine this night."

The Black Berets heard Luna's announcement, and all conversation died down. They slowly scattered to their own corners of the once grand chamber, sitting in silent contemplation. Twilight lay her head down and tried to quieten her mind enough to sleep. After a time, when the silence was absolute, a single voice rang clear. A beautiful song was sung. It was a song of loss and infinite sadness, and Twilight loved it, even though it brought tears to her still closed eyes.