//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Coming Back // by bats //------------------------------// The gentle mulberry glow of Twilight’s horn punctured the darkness of the tomb. As they circled the staircase the illumination threw the ten foot by twenty foot room intermittently in sharp relief and heavy shadow. Deep sigils covered the stone walls, excised from the rock with the impossible care of stoneshaping magic. Every inch was covered in complicated glyphs. The symbols carried a vague meaning to the learned unicorn, but they had no grounding. Phrases abutted each other at obtuse angles; lines wavered and overlapped, spiraling across straight sentences in a discordant flurry of marks. At the center of the tomb rested a raised slab. The mummified remains of a large pegasus was set on the sigil-laden surface. Twilight hopped lightly to the ground and sent an orb of light to the ceiling. His Majesty Agmundr Vilmar’s remains had been placed on the slab with reverence. Wide, powerful wings stretched from corner to corner behind the fallen emperor, the thick feathers crumbling to powdery dust. His forehooves were crossed over his desiccated torso. A patchwork of ancient scars crisscrossed his stretched hide; the barest remains of grayed fuzz giving way to pockmarked skin. A horned helmet rested on his skull over brittle and dusty mane, scarred and dented from countless blows and a stone ring circled the end of his right foreleg, loose against the taut, dry flesh. His tarnished sword and scepter cutie mark stood in sharp relief on his flank; the image bold and clear. The heady aroma of exotic spices permeated the enclosed space. Fluttershy was the last off the staircase, stepping gently to the glyph coated ground. As her hoof left the final riser, all the symbols lit up at once. A heavy red glow hanging in the air, the mares’ manufactured entry point sprung upwards, rewinding itself and fusing to the ceiling. A collective gasp emanated from the five as the red light flowed into the sigils coating the former staircase, the ceiling smooth and seamless once again. “T-Twilight, wh-what happened?” The haze of burgundy faded from the walls as Pinkie glanced around, hooves tremoring. The purple unicorn chewed her lip fitfully, wide eyes scanning all surfaces. “These symbols are wards…But they don’t keep ponies out…” Her ears drooped as she returned her attention to the four mares in front of her. “They keep ponies in.” Applejack felt her chest tightening. She struggled to take slow, steady, deep breaths. This was no place for a farm pony; she needed a whole orchard to gallop through, the sky over her head, the wind in her mane. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Can ya get us out of here, Twi’?” Fear slowly edging its way to terror blanketed Twilight’s friends. Her hammering heart fought valiantly against her inquisitive mind. She desperately wanted to panic with them, if only to excise the adrenaline overflowing her system, dumped into her bloodstream by the treacherous organ. The unicorn’s brain would have none of that. “Yes, I should be able to,” she stated flatly, her eyes narrowing and becoming hard analytical tools. “Ward magic is passive; without a power source it’s simply a matter of disrupting the latent energy and redirecting it out of the spell vessel.” She scanned the complicated runework racing erratically along a wall. “I can break this, given a little time.” The four sighed in relief. The enclosed walls, which their nerves seemed to have shrunk to a stifling two foot box, had expanded back to their original dimensions. They began exploring the room with some unease. Twilight was absorbed with the markings, plotting their eventual escape. Rarity, unnerved by the glowing runes, turned her attention to the dais. Applejack stuck close to the unicorn, not really looking at the entombed ruler if she could help it. Pinkie and Fluttershy briefly eyed the walls with paranoia before approaching the slab. “Well, Twilight dear; we’re here. Where would we find the Element?” Rarity’s voice carried some disappointment; she had been hoping to strike a vein of inspiration drawing from long forgotten fashion styles, but a patina-dulled helmet and hoof bangle were not cutting it. Snapping out of her scheming, Twilight shook her head and cantered over to the slab, chuckling at herself. “Yes, I suppose first thing’s first.” Her horn flashed and she scanned the room. The inky blackness of Agmundr’s stone ringlet stood in sharp relief to the brightly glowing shapes of the four ponies and pulsing wall sigils. A rough, rectangular seam in the shape of a doorway was etched into the wall behind Vilmar’s head, briefly catching her eye. She dismissed the anomaly alongside her extrasensory sight. “It’s that stone band on his hoof. That’s the Element of War.” “So, uh…do we just take it?” The earth pony’s orange muzzle wrinkled in distaste. “’Cause I don’t really wanna touch it.” Twilight giggled and opened her saddlebag. Purple light surrounded the simple ring, floating it off the dried limb as slowly and carefully as possible. As it passed the tip of his hoof, the gentle light of Twilight’s magic vanished. The unicorn’s eyes went wide as the band levitated higher into the air, spinning slowly. The five stepped away from the slab, watching Tyr’s Hoof hover above their heads. In a sudden burst of speed, the Element slammed into a perfectly round sigil on the back wall. The symbols began to glow crimson again, the rough outline of a doorway Twilight had half-noticed slowly burning into sight. They huddled against the far wall away from the new door. Its interior was lazily consumed by the light like lit parchment. Fully illuminated, it vanished. A darkened hallway took its place, the red haze of the room dying away. The near silence, punctuated with fast, shallow breaths from the five mares, was broken resolutely by a low growl. The green, reflective flash of nocturnal eyes peered from the darkened doorway. Soft, padded steps drew closer. The ragged, shaggy head of an enormous arctic wolf entered the light of Twilight’s orb. White fur, grayed with time and dust to match the granite walls, hung limply around the beast’s face and neck. Patches of bare skin shone through the thin coat, a sickly pale yellow. Angry red lined its eyes and snout, coagulated fluids crusting its orifices. Fangs, yellowing to brown, jutted out of its snarled mouth from inflamed gums. It padded into the room, its whole form thrown stark in the artificial light. Stone rods were imbedded throughout its body. The smooth cylinders poked out alongside major muscle groups, blackened necrotic flesh puckered around the exit points. Its thin chest heaved fitfully as the growl transformed to wheezing pants, a blistered tongue lolling from its mouth. Fear was replaced by curiosity in the group of ponies as the wolf sat back on its haunches and wagged its sparsely-furred tail. The circular sigil containing Tyr’s hoof flashed blinding crimson and the stone band shot from the tiny alcove. The ring dug into the center of the wolf’s spine soliciting a keening shriek from the beast. Red energy lanced from the glowing walls into the many granite rods. The cry turned to a howl; the canine’s muscles bunching and expanding in rippling waves, filling out its shoulders and chest. The walls dark, a vibrating red clung to the ends of stone jutting from the now hulking beast. It lowered its head slowly from the upturned howl, a corona of magical fire dancing from its eyes. Its muzzle bunched back in a snarl of menace as an otherworldly roar rumbled from its broad chest. “T-Twilight, get us outta here!” Applejack’s green eyes pled desperately into the unicorn’s violet. “Can’t; I need time and quiet to break the ward!” her eyes never left the wolf, its deliberate stalk taking it around the dais. Her mind held back the alarm that threatened to overwhelm her, formulating a quick plan. She opened her magical senses to scan the creature. Its base aura was very faint; the white currents of energy looping through its body barely brighter than inert soil or air. The barely living aura was being twisted by an outside source. Angry red power flared from the many rods running straight through the canine’s body. The crackling energy dug into the gently glittering aura, winding through blood vessels and flesh, staining the white every place it touched; pink through the arteries, stark crimson in its enlarged muscle tissue. The jagged tendrils wrapped the beast’s heart and lungs, pumping and bellowing the organs. A circle of complete blackness encased two vertebrae halfway down its back. Satisfied that she had confirmed this was actually a wolf, she kept her extrasensory perception active and began scanning for weak points. “Fluttershy? That’s definitely an animal.” “On it.” The pegasus’ voice had a hard, determined edge that shocked the rest of the mares from their cowering. They stood together as the butter yellow mare glided in front of the wolf’s face on gentle wing beats. The rolling growl died in the beast’s throat as its glowing eyes locked with Fluttershy’s teal ones. “Hey, there,” she said soothingly, “It’s okay…” The wolf sat abruptly, its jaw snapping shut. A shudder of gratitude ran up the creature’s spine as a soft hoof stroked its head. “You don’t want to hurt us; you’re just in pain. We can help you, boy. It’s okay.” A doggy grin spread across its muzzle. The red light from its stone body modifications flashed, a yelp escaping its throat. Snarling again, it lunged for the floating pegasus. Fluttershy’s cerulean eyes narrowed. Twilight watched an eruption of white power explode off her timid friend. Her unassuming aura, so like any standard pony the unicorn had examined, swelled to a tremendous level rivaling Twilight’s own and leapt from her airborne body, completely enveloping the wolf’s enhanced signature. Twilight’s mind snapped shut, her vision returning to a normal view of the shy pegasus hitting an animal with The Stare. “Now you listen to me, young man! We're your friends, we're here to help, and you will do as I say. Right. Now.” Her tone invited no discussion. The creature was frozen mid-strike. As it stood, one paw raised and jaw half open, the red energy animating its implants grew brighter and brighter. A whine of hate and pain escaped its throat. The beast tore its eyes away from Fluttershy’s gaze and reared back, a tremendous howl pouring into the room. The cacophonous echoes still reverberating, its raised paw swept through the air and slammed into the hovering mare. Fluttershy cartwheeled through the room over Agmundr’s slab and smashed into a rune-covered wall in the back corner. The air knocked from her lungs, she collapsed to the ground in a wheeze. “Fluttershy!” the four mares cried in unison. The downed mare struggled out a rough reassurance, saying, “I’m okay,” through strained breaths. The wolf’s head pivoted sharply; its angry gaze falling over the group. Their fear had been replaced by fury. A bolt of blue energy struck the beast between the eyes. Its surprised bark was cut short by Pinkie Pie, the earth pony ramming a foreleg with her shoulder. Orange hooves met the other at the joint, slamming the creature to the ground jaw first, teeth clacking together in a loud snap. Purple energy seized the wolf around the middle. Twilight’s shout of anger ricocheted off the walls as she hurled the canine back down its dark hallway. Before they could collect their thoughts, the wolf leapt back into the room. Twilight watched helplessly as their foe sailed over the slab, paws extended and jaw open, and landed on top of Rarity. The two skidded back to the wall, beast firmly on top, and its open maw clamped down onto the white unicorn’s back. A blur of orange thundered past the lavender mare and slammed into the wolf’s shoulder. Applejack whirled onto her forehooves, face contorted in rage and dismay, and slammed her hind legs into the animal’s face. Countless trees worth of practice, muscles honed through rigorous training and nutrition, and the innate magic of earth ponies drove her hooves with explosive force. A piercing crack filled the air; the wolf’s muzzle shattering, its jaw dislocating, and its neck breaking. The beast sailed limply through the air, its hip striking the slab and sending it tumbling to the back wall like a rag doll. The wet smack of it landing headfirst spelled the end of its flight and it lay still. “Rarity! Rarity! Speak ta me!” Tears traced down Applejack’s cheeks. She cradled the white mare to her chest, her entire body trembling. Twilight and Pinkie Pie galloped over as close as they dared. In a daze, Rarity shook her head and fluttered her eyes open. “Oh, Applejack, you’re my knight in shining armor,” she breathed weakly, “That dreadful mongrel only got my jacket, thank Celestia.” Pinkie and Twilight breathed shuddering gasps of relief. Applejack’s shaking grew worse. “Rarity, sugarcube. I was so worried. I thought that—and you—and I—and if—” the mare inhaled sharply, her shudders ceasing and her voice growing strong again. “Ah, ta heck with it!” An orange hoof around violet mane, Applejack pulled the white unicorn’s face to hers. Amethyst eyes widened in astonishment as Rarity found her lips pressed to the soft, warm muzzle of the farmpony. In the first few moments, the unicorn noted several things. The earth pony’s strong, muscular legs and chest against her own felt luxuriously fleecy and snug. The comforting scent of growing trees and fresh grass clung to the mare miles away from Ponyville. Applejack’s lips were even more gentle than the rest of her. But the primary mental note she made was that every single one of her wild fantasies about being swept off her hooves started with some minor variation of this exact scene. Rarity melted into the orange mare’s embrace, eyes drifting shut and alabaster hooves snaking into blonde mane. Twilight’s bewildered gaze met Pinkie Pie’s grinning face. “Finally!” Pinkie’s shout startled the two mares out of their kiss. “Erm, Applejack darling—” A grinding snap from across the room drove the white unicorn’s jaw shut. “Later,” she breathed, getting back to her hooves. She cast a rueful look over her shoulder at the shredded remains of her coat before facing the wolf. It was back on all four paws, its head hanging obscenely to the side on a shattered neck. Its tongue slid inside its mouth; the mandible re-hinged back into proper alignment. The jagged peaks of its broken muzzle straightened and lengthened, a crackling ripple of sound like a slowly shifting sheet of ice reaching their ears. In one swift motion, it swung its head sharply back into place, a gunshot bark discharging from the reforming bone. “The heck is that thing doing back on its paws?” Applejack’s eyes were narrowed venomously, flexed muscles ready to spring. “Those rods have got to be keeping it alive,” the purple mare reasoned, gathering focus and magic for some defensive spells. She was not letting the wolf get that close again. “That kick must have only paralyzed it instead of killing it.” “Got a plan?” The party pony’s voice was calm and serious, her effervescence replaced by complete determination. Twilight turned her head to answer, taking her gaze away from the wolf for a split second. Crackling beams of red energy bolted from the stones studding the wolf, striking all four mares at once. Electricity raced through their muscles, bunching and seizing, driving them to their knees. The wolf stalked closer to his paralyzed prey. The girls watched helplessly as he began to round the dais, passing by the spot where Fluttershy had fallen. Throats seized and jaws clenched, none could exclaim in shock when the bubblegum-maned mare leapt onto the beast’s back. The pegasus’ mind was in a flurry of indecision. She had seen inside the wolf’s heart with The Stare. Angry and violent animals were often twisted by fear or pain; this creature was consumed by it. For two thousand years it had been kept alive, fed nothing, unmoving in a dark tomb with the sole purpose of guarding its treasure. The wolf could have been broken or corrupted into a tool, but it had not. It was still there, still present within the mutilated body, wanting to rejoin its long dead pack. There was no fight in it. The corrosive magic was forcing the attack. The poor thing was as much the victim of circumstance as the manticore had been, but it wouldn’t stop, it wouldn’t be allowed to stop, until she and all of her friends were dead. It would soon paralyze her as it had the rest, and then it would be all over. She didn’t know what to do. The image of Rainbow Dash, shrouded in liquid flame, shone brightly in her mind. Rainbow had found the resolve. Despite everything, regardless of the consequences to herself, Rainbow had done what she had to do to protect her friends. The quiet pegasus would do the same. It was the only way. “I’m sorry,” Fluttershy whispered through a veil of tears, her voice growing smaller and smaller. One forehoof clutched the beast’s chin, the other pressed at the base of its neck. “I’m so sorry I can’t save you.” The wolf reared on its hind legs, failing to buck the mare from its back, red power gathering in the many cylinders. “But I have to save my friends…” She screwed her eyes shut, grip tightening. “Please forgive me.” Her hooves, hooves designed by fate for healing, twisted sharply. The motion itself could heal; bears from all over the Everfree could attest to it. Fluttershy felt as if her heart would explode as she pulled past the point of rejuvenation and into the realm of destruction. A horrible snap filled the room, louder than anything that had come before, the stark echoes serving as the signal flag for a terrible silence. The fiery corona surrounding the wolf’s eyes and implanted rods guttered out. The cylinders exploded in a shower of ashy powder as the wolf collapsed to the floor under the yellow mare. The four galloped around the dais. Fluttershy had rolled off the dead canine’s back and lay curled in a ball, her whole body wracked with desperate sobbing. The broken beast’s body was rapidly disintegrating; two thousand years bleeding away in seconds. A single immaculate stone band remained in the heap of dust. A red glow overtook the room. The Element of War lifted from the pile with delicate slowness. It swam through the air languidly and slid gently into place. The stone fell still around a quivering butter yellow hoof clutched over a tear stained face. The glow of the room faded abruptly, a low, dying hum filling the air. Twilight’s staircase slowly re-descended from the ceiling of its own accord. The pegasus’ wails of anguish never stopped. “Come on.” Twilight’s voice shook as terribly as her knees. “Let’s get her out of here.” Rainbow Dash was getting tired of waking up to the sound of her own throaty complaints. She knew immediately that consciousness had found her more quickly than after the last gladiator match; the pain in her eye and side were pounding. She gingerly pulled herself up onto her forehooves, biting her lower lip as jagged glass raced up her left side. Sweat broke out on her brow from the effort under the tightly coiled bandage wrapping her head. Thick gauze circled her crown and looped under her right ear, completely encasing her right eye. She carefully began removing the long strips, wincing whenever she moved her left side too vigorously and careful to not snag the remaining cloth. A thick pad of cotton was being held in place, covering the entire socket. The mare slowly and deliberately pulled it away, ready to put it back the second fresh pain lanced her face, but the pad came away easily. She softly ran her hoof over the closed orb. The dried blood caking the socket had been wiped away before she was bandaged and the wound across her lid felt old and stable, the faint itch of growing skin tingling under the scab. Breathing steadily to keep her nerves in check, she closed her left eye and tried to open her right. The lid was heavy and sluggish, almost glued in place over the organ. With painful slowness, her eye opened. A cloudy swirl of hazy darkness floated in front of her. The eye was dry and sticky; barely responding to her mental commands of movement. She looked in every direction, seeing nothing, finding nothing. The heavy, marred lid sunk shut again. Rainbow Dash began to shake. It wasn’t fair. She was the best flier in Equestria, a future Wonderbolt, the pegasus that could shatter the sound barrier like it was nothing, race to mach five in seconds and push the very bounds of magic to their breaking point. She knew that hypersonic flight was many things. What it wasn’t was something that could be done with poor depth perception. For a long time the mare mourned the loss of her eye and her dreams in silent shudders. Glittering moisture ran down the left side of her face, pooling on her chin to drop in spatters to the stone floor. Her right eye remained dry. She curled up on her pallet and rocked herself in her hooves. ’I wanna see Twilight,’ she thought miserably. ’I don’t want her see me like this,’ she argued back. ’But I wanna see her more.’ The pegasus knew better than to argue with herself when she was right. Finding the familiar strand of purple, Rainbow Dash raced the majority of her consciousness along the filament to see her friend. Fluttershy needed to be carried from Agmundr’s tomb. When she had gained the presence of mind to notice the band around her right hoof, she flung it across the room with a shriek and collapsed back into sobs, refusing to stand. Applejack settled the crushed pegasus on her back and climbed the staircase, a quiet Rarity close beside her. Pinkie Pie did her best to comfort their heartbroken friend as they climbed. Twilight collected Tyr’s Hoof and set it next to the Leaf in her bag. The group retraced their steps in silence back to the large receiving room they had camped in the night before. Shaken and broken, they set up their tents to call it a night, no strength left to start a fire for a warm meal. Fluttershy refused the cold rations each pony in turn tried to offer. She slunk on trembling hooves into the cupcake tent. Pinkie said good night and followed her in, prepared to spend a sleepless night with her wounded friend. Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight ate together in silence; the muffled sound of the party pony’s ministrations the only background noise. Eventually the fashionista could stand it no more and broke the quiet. “So, uh, Applejack…” The earth mare paled. “Was that a, uh…heat of the moment sort of thing?” Twilight sputtered a series of coughs and quickly excused herself for the indigo tent. “Erm, that is ta say, uh…” Applejack bit her lip, desperately wanting Twilight to come back out and save her. The white unicorn slid closer. A white hoof traced along her orange jaw line. “You know, dear, I’d always harbored the suspicion you didn’t like me very much.” Applejack grew quiet as Rarity’s head rested against her well-muscled shoulder, a hoof wrapped around her middle. “We’re so different, you and I. I remember that first sleep over at the library…” the unicorn laughed at the recollection, her hoof squeezing the earth mare closer. “We were at each other’s throats! But I gained a strong admiration for you that night, Applejack. If ever there was a pony in Ponyville who threw as much of themselves into their work as I do, it’s you. Listen to me; I sound so immodest saying that!” She shook her head slowly, her lilac-scented mane brushing slowly against Applejack’s face. The alabaster mare lifted her head and cupped the farmer’s face in her hoof, gently bringing their gazes together. Her voice lowered. She spoke with honest sincerity and conviction. “I hadn’t really thought much about there being something between us. But then that day after we told our sisters we were leaving…I thought perhaps you were intending to kiss me before Twilight arrived.” The faint glow of heat on orange cheeks dispelled any lingering doubt. “It is perhaps a good thing we were interrupted, so the idea had the chance to mature.” The small smile gracing her white lips made Applejack’s heart speed up, the flutter of long lashes stopping her breath. “I’ve had the opportunity to think. Applejack, I’ve been waiting my whole life to meet the right somepony and be swept off my hooves…” her eyes drifted closed. Leaning closer with delicate care she whispered, “…I could not have asked for a better knight.” Applejack’s lips met with the unicorn’s for the second time and her worries dissolved in a torrent. She leaned into the embrace and held the gentle mare close, craving the delicate warmth of contact. The euphoria receded quietly when their kiss ended, forehead to forehead and muzzle to muzzle. Green eyes met half-lidded blue, holding them in place. “I shoulda done that ages ago. I always thought ya didn’t like mares.” Rarity’s lyrical giggle delighted Applejack’s ears while it confused her brain. “You don’t know much about unicorns, then.” The earth mare sat up abruptly, brow creased. “Come now, Applejack. Unicorns have been having foals magically for five centuries. Gender preference went out of fashion generations ago.” The earth mare nearly went cross-eyed. “But you’ve always been goin’ on about your prince charming.” The unicorn’s smile grew thoughtful, her gaze centered on something off in the distance. “I am rather fond of the grand, sweeping romance, and those stories always feature a rugged stallion.” Her eyes returned to the pony. “But a stolen kiss after a daring rescue from a rampaging beast by a courageous mare seems just as befitting. I can’t say gender really ever entered my mind when contemplating romance.” The pony brought an orange hoof to her face. “And here I thought RD and I were the only ponies that swung that way, now you’re tellin’ me Twilight does too?” Her green eyes went wide. “Ah heck, I just broke a Pinkie Promise tellin’ you that about Rainbow.” Rarity giggled again, a warm smile on her face. “Well I can’t speak for our dear librarian. It’s not common but certainly not unheard of for unicorns to, ahem, ‘swing’ a specific way, but I promise Rainbow Dash’s preferences will stay between us.” Applejack smirked, playfully jabbing the white mare in the ribs with a hoof. “Pinkie Promise?” The two shared a laugh, finding themselves wrapped in each other’s hooves as the mirth died away. As they sat in each other’s embrace, the farmpony’s voice lowered to barely above a whisper. “…It was that sleep over where I started to figure it out. You can be a real pain in my flank, Rares, but there’s somethin’ about you.” She chuckled at the mock-offense the unicorn affected. “You’re about the hardest workin’ mare around. Aside from me,” she winked. “You’ve always been there for me.” A bloom of red spread across her muzzle, her green eyes darting around the unicorn’s face. “Not to mention how beautiful ya are.” She shook her head slowly at Rarity’s chuckle. “I’m still no good with words, Rarity. But you mean the world ta me.” The ivory mare leaned in close, their muzzles almost touching. “Dear, I believe I can blather on well enough for the both of us.” “Howdy Spike!” The bell over the library door jingled as three fillies burst into the tree, the last few rays of the day’s sun still peeking through the windows. The little dragon performed a fast about-face that would have been elegant if it hadn’t toppled the stack of books he was carrying. “Gah!” Spike staggered up from the heap of fallen knowledge and dusted himself off. “Hi you three, I guess we’re technically still open...What can I do you for?” The dragon felt a forehead vein begin to throb as he watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders climb random shelves, knocking assorted books to the floor. It had been so quiet lately, too. “We’re looking for some books on martial arts!” Scootaloo flitted across the room from one set of shelves to another, upending the large bust on the round reading table. “Whoops. We’re gonna get our cutie marks in Brayzilian Jiu-Jitsu, or maybe Ap Yeog Do.” “Didn’t you already try karate?” The little dragon was beginning to sweat, rushing around the large room catching books and bracing shelves threatening to topple on the oblivious trio. “Applebloom did, but now it’s super important! We gotta be ready for those bulls in case our sisters don’t get back in time!” Sweetie Belle, clinging to a shelf with her forehooves and kicking books to and fro from a lower one with her hindlegs, was magically pulling books from the top shelves of cases at random with a concentrated effort, bringing them down to scan the titles. Getting them down from the shelf was easy, but putting them back was slightly beyond her. Spike groaned as ‘As’ mixed with ‘Gs’, ‘Ls’, and ‘Xs’ on the floor. “Alright already! The self-improvement reference books are over here, anyway!” The baby dragon stomped over to an as-yet untouched set of shelves and pulled a clawful of self-defense courses and guides out. “Yay!” they cried in unison, leaping from their perches and snatching the proffered stack. “Thanks Spike!” In a whirlwind they were gone, the frantic buzzing of the little pegasus’ scooter and a surprised scream from an unsuspecting pony down the block spelling the return of peace and quiet to Spike’s library. Several abused shelves gave way at once, a thundering avalanche of tomes littering the floor in a dusty heap. The dragon held his face in his claws. “Some things never change…” As Spike got to work cleaning the tremendous mess, he didn’t notice the brief flash of pink coming from a slim crack in a cupboard. The flawless butterfly gem on the Element of Kindness twinkled in the spare light. Twilight was in her sleeping bag looking at nothing when the familiar pull of Rainbow’s presence settled over her mind. Relief showered over her jangling nerves. She let her eyes slide shut and watched hazy blue settle into the shape of her friend. Rainbow Dash was sitting on her haunches in profile. Twilight could see the left half of the mare’s face, a forced neutrality set hard through her features. A fresh, bloodied bandage wrapped the tiffany blue pony’s chest. The greeting died in her throat. After a long and heavy pause, the pegasus broke the silence. “…It worked. I stopped time, broke Vilmar’s connection to the dead thing he had me facing, and killed it without fighting.” She breathed a slow, weighted sigh, her head drifting lower throughout the exhalation. The Element of Inaction seemed to be drooping sadly from its normal perch. “But I didn’t listen at first. I got caught up…I wanted to know if I was the fastest…” Rainbow turned her head to look at the unicorn. Twilight felt fresh tears waver her vision. A jagged wound scraped its way down Rainbow’s forehead, forked just below her mane and ending at the bottom of her upper eyelid. The shaky ‘Y’ skipped down to the top of her right cheek, curling away from her muzzle to the outside of her sky blue face. Her right eye was half open. The vibrant, dancing light the unicorn knew so well was gone; the magenta grayed and shine dulled. The pupil stared at her, unseeing, a cloudy grey circle. She felt her heart break again. “…The magic’s gonna heal the cuts, but I think it leaves behind scars on purpose.” She raised her right foreleg, the triplet lines standing bright pink against her celeste coat. Twilight’s gaze never left the darkened orb in the mare’s face. “I can’t see out of it anymore. Which means I can’t fly my fastest. And it’s all my fault.” “Rainbow…” her voice was barely a whisper, her timid hoofsteps closing the gap, “Maybe I can heal it. I don’t know that I can, but please. Let me try.” Rainbow Dash’s reaction was measured excitement. With a monumental force of will, she kept her hopes and expectations low. She nodded gently, her left eye sliding shut. Twilight inhaled deeply. She poured her magic into her horn, every fiber of her being directed towards reversing the pegasus’ shattered dreams. She sunk to her knees, then her belly, sweat rolling down her face and teeth grinding together. She poured everything she had into the spell. With a gasp, the magic alighted on Rainbow’s damaged eye and Twilight wavered to near unconsciousness. Rainbow Dash held her breath. From the hazy smoke, a purple blob took shape. The undulating splotch sharpened with delicate slowness. The amorphous lavender finally resolved into Twilight Sparkle, dragged up to a sitting position, an exhausted but hopeful look on her face. A tear ran down the cyan mare’s right cheek. The unicorn was pulled into a desperate embrace. “Thank you, Twi’.” Rainbow’s voice was impossibly small. “Thank you so much. You’re always there for me. I can always count on you.” Twilight lifted her sore and fatigued hooves to return the hug, endless relief driving her to quake. She rested her tired head against chromatic mane and allowed herself to be held. She had nearly fallen asleep when the pegasus’ whisper reached her ears. “…I almost didn’t make it. I came really close to giving up. But you were there with me, Twi’. You gave me the strength to hold everything together.” The mare sniffled softly, slowly pulling back. Her face was turned away, hiding her damaged right side. Slowly, she turned to face the unicorn. “So, uhh…” a blemish of red entered her muzzle, a foreign shyness overtaking her brash voice, “How do I look?” Twilight’s gaze traced the mare’s features. It had been so haunting to see that beautiful eye turned dark and empty. Light had re-entered the orb; the same jittering energy as her left. The rusty mark held the lid half down, not enough to impede vision but far enough that it rendered the organ in a perpetual state of cocky laziness. The rest of the scar held a roguish energy, reflecting the pegasus’ cutie mark in a dangerous, playful way. The unicorn mentally pictured it as healed skin rather than crusted scab; the image even more alluring. “It…suits you, actually.” Why was her face feeling warm? Rainbow Dash snorted. “You’re just saying that.” She turned her face back to the right, hiding the eye. A lavender hoof caught her chin. “I mean it. It’s…Dashing.” She smirked, a bit of energy returning after the magical drain. “Looks good on you.” The sky blue pony rolled her eyes, the motion oddly hypnotic in her half-lidded right, but did not turn away again. “So why don’t you tell me what happened, Rainbow. And, uh, then I can tell you what happened.” The two mares sat and shared their previous exploits. Twilight listened quietly through Rainbow’s story, offering assurances that she understood how the daredevil could get caught up racing, and designing experiments in her head with barely contained excitement after Rainbow explained how she had broken the magical connection. She kept needing to force herself to focus, rather than linger over the mare’s right eye. When finished, Rainbow took in Twilight’s story with alertness. She interrupted the unicorn when she was explaining the damage a stoneshaping unicorn had wrought in the aftermath of Agmundr’s poisoning. “Vilmar did that, not a unicorn.” Her voice carried a resolute finality. Twilight’s brow furrowed, her head cocking to the side. “But…he was a pegasus…” “It’s the Element,” she explained, standing up to pace. Neither mare realized she was instinctively copying Twilight’s lecture-walk. “It controls rock. His whole castle here is controlled by him. He can make and get rid of doors in smooth wall, make these collars that can keep me from doing stuff…” She touched a hoof to her bare neck. “Oh yeah; forgot those don’t show up here…” she resumed her pacing. “Anyway, this wound on my left is from some stone knives he willed out of the ground to throw at me. Heck, the really powerful dead things I’ve been fighting all have stone bands on their left forelegs that he controls ‘em with.” She stopped her pacing and faced the sitting unicorn. “He was the one that killed all those ponies, not a unicorn. An angry stallion’s dying revenge.” Twilight swallowed, nodding gently. “No wonder every dictatorship wanted to control Tyr’s Hoof.” She cleared her throat and continued, describing the tomb and their fight with the wolf. Rainbow Dash had to restrain herself from trying to sonic rainboom her way through the void to get to Fluttershy. Knowing she could do nothing, she sunk back to her haunches, her heart going out to a hurt, dear friend. “…So the Element of War floated onto Fluttershy… What does that mean? Is she the bearer now?” Twilight rubbed her chin in thought. She felt much more grounded in herself; sharing the tale had been an emotional exorcism and she felt whole again. A doubt in the back of her head told her she always felt like this after seeing the celeste mare for any length of time, but she ignored it. “If I had to make a hypothesis, I’d say she might be the new bearer of the Element of War. But there’s not enough evidence to say one way or the other.” Rainbow nodded slowly, frowning. “…It would make sense if she was. Sid said an Element of Strife is a burden to its pony...” She shook her head as she came to terms with the notion. “Poor mare. Being still’s tough for me, but Flutters and War?” Twilight nodded sadly, her gaze drifting to her hooves. “…If she is the bearer, that might mean all of you are s’posed to get one of ‘em, too.” Twilight’s chewed on her lip, mulling the idea over. “…Maybe. We are all connected by the Elements of Harmony; it might be the same for Strife. We can’t assume that’s the case, though. We don’t know how any of this works.” “Yeah…” The pegasus drew inward, her brow furrowed with concern. “…Twi’, could you tell Fluttershy something for me?” “Of course, Rainbow.” “…Tell her that no matter what she’s going through, no matter how she feels, she can always count on us. You four and me, too.” Her eyes were set and hard, the determination underlined by the now-flaking scar. “Nopony has to go through something like that alone and we’re all here to help her carry the load.” She smiled sadly. “Even if I’m not right there with her.” Twilight nodded solemnly, committing the exact words to memory. A sky blue hoof had found its way over one of her lavender ones. She held the appendage in both and squeezed. “So what happens now? We got War…do you know what’s next?” Rainbow Dash slowly shook her head. “Sid could only tell me about the hoof. He didn’t know the rest. But I’ve got a plan.” The unicorn perked up, holding the blue hoof tighter. “Vilmar’s magic is getting easier to break through. He might just be sloppy, but I’ve been practicing using the Leaf almost constantly. It took me days to talk to you after gettin’ locked up, but it’s nothing anymore. I couldn’t fight him directly, but I don’t think that I need to.” She pursed her lips, thinking. Her other forehoof settled on top of Twilight’s. “He won’t let me talk, but maybe I can make him listen.” “...Well, I guess in the meantime we’ll go to the Crystal Empire. Once we know where we’re going for sure, we can take a train from there, and it’ll be a good place for everyone to recover.” Twilight sighed. The day was really catching up with her. Rainbow Dash looked at her hooves entwined with the purple limbs of her friend. She had no idea how they’d gotten that way, but had no desire to move them. She understood why other ponies said that hoof holding could be comforting. She normally hated when anypony touched hers, though. She looked back at the lavender mare sitting next to her. A wave of gratitude struck her again as her right eye took in the unicorn’s soft face. Not quite sure why she was doing it, Rainbow slid herself shoulder to shoulder with Twilight on her uninjured side and wrapped a hoof around the mare’s back. Maybe hugs were cool. “…So you told me about Fluttershy…what about the others? Everypony else okay?” Rainbow was surprised to hear Twilight snort. “Well, when I had the girls write letters Applejack’s kept asking for advice about something she didn’t want me to directly know, and uh…” A fit of giggles interrupted her. She struggled to keep them down; it wasn’t that funny. She was beginning to feel lightheaded from sleepiness. “But, I think her problem’s pretty well resolved now.” “Alright, she finally made her move on Rares? About time.” “Wait, you knew?” Twilight blinked rapidly, not quite willing to sit up from Rainbow’s chest. “Yeah, she kept askin’ my advice about it for months before I died. I’d always say TALK TO HER, but that pony’s skull is thicker’n mine.” Twilight chuckled, snuggling into Rainbow’s soft chest. “Not sure why she asked for my advice, though. I dunno the first thing about relationships.” She glanced down at the top of Twilight’s head before resting her chin on indigo mane. “So how’d that go? Those two lovebirds now?” “I think so, but I’m uh, not sure,” she mumbled, pressing her face into soft, blue fur. “AJ kissed Rarity during the wolf attack, and I bolted when they started talking about it afterwards. Seemed sorta private. But based on that kiss, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re together now.” The two shared a chuckle. Twilight’s brain was starting to shut down from the long day and intense spell work. She couldn’t understand anything going on in her own head. Why did her face feel so warm? It wasn’t from what happened with her friends. She leaned back, still in Rainbow’s embrace, her eyes meeting with the pegasus’. Her face burned brighter, seeing that half-lidded pool of magenta. Before she could say anything, Rainbow’s attention drifted elsewhere, snapping back to the unicorn with a sense of urgency on her features. “I can tell Vilmar’s comin’ to see me in the cell. I’ll talk to you soon, Twi’.” Twilight whispered, “Good luck,” as the swirling mist of Rainbow Dash cascaded away and left her feeling cold and incomplete in the void. She laid her exhausted head on her hooves, eyes drifting shut. The vacuum shifted to dreams, all featuring a laughing pegasus with a striking facial scar. The majority of Rainbow Dash’s mind returned to her body as heavy hoofsteps grew closer. Agmundr Vilmar approached the mare’s cell and sat on his haunches, a heavy sigh escaping his muzzle. The insanity had left his eyes, to be replaced by oppressive shadow. His head hung low, his gaze centered on nothing, taking in nothing. Rainbow pushed herself up and waited for the stallion to speak. Eventually, the pegasus lifted his head. One of the two skeleponies guarding Rainbow’s cell stepped into view. “…You are a mystery to me, mare. I don’t like mysteries. I would very much like to simply kill you. But…something happened in the world of the living. And I believe you might hold answers.” He stood, flaring his ill-kept wings to their full span. “I am going to let you out of this cell, mare. You are going to repeat your method of disrupting my connection on this grunt,” a casual flick of his ear pointed at the shade. His voice was flat and even, an affectation of boredom the celeste mare saw right through. He was frightened, angry, and…hopeful? “Then…I will permit you to speak.” The bars sprung aside. Rainbow Dash remained sitting. She attempted to raise her right eyebrow, but found she couldn’t thanks to her nearly-healed scar. She lifted her left instead which felt unnatural and proved to be surprisingly difficult. That would take some getting used to. “…Why?” His voice grew terse, temper edging past his fear and overpowering his mask of disinterest. “Hold your tongue. Do it now.” The cyan pegasus’ eyes narrowed. She lowered her front into a half-crouch. ’Stop fighting him, stupid. He wants to talk.’ The voice in her head sounded mysteriously like a certain purple bookworm. She shook her head and slowly got to her hooves. As she stepped from the cell, her collar expanded out into a small dome encapsulating herself with the dead pony. “Do it.” Rainbow Dash turned her back on the stallion and opened her mind. The shimmering connection was difficult to see in the glare of Agmundr Vilmar’s aura, even facing away. Lifting on her hindlegs, the mare gripped the strand of energy and in a sharp twist, she broke it. As the lifeless bones tumbled to the floor amidst the screech of the exploding stone band, the dictator took several frightened steps back. “Y-you’re a demon…” The small dome contracted around Rainbow’s neck, pulled with unseen force against the stone wall of her cell. The impact sent bolts of pain along her left side, a sharp hiss forced from her mouth. The bars of the cage leapt back into place, separating her from the shaking stallion. His bright eyes overflowed with mania. “An assassin! You want the hoof and my kingdom for yourself! I will destroy you.” The mare could feel the haze of red energy from her collar clamping on her voice box as the band itself grew smaller and smaller, her muscles seizing, her mind growing cloudy. Any intention Agmundr had to let her speak had been consumed by madness. In his rage and fear, she would have the life choked from her body and be left to join Sid in the Tree. ’I need your help, Twilight.’ With two lavender hooves around her neck instead of a shrinking collar and gentle breathing in her ear to replace the dictator’s gibbering accusations, Rainbow’s will sharpened to a blade. A shriek rebounded through the room. The collar exploded in a shower of gravel and dust. She fell limply to the floor, nearly all of her energy drained. Agmundr had fallen silent. The sadism had left his eyes again, replaced by only fear and confusion. In the tense silence, the mare dragged herself up on all four hooves and spoke, her voice raspy and strained. “My name is Rainbow Dash. I’m not a demon, I’m not here to kill you, and I don’t want your damn kingdom.” She sat heavily on her cot and fell forward, head landing on her forehooves. Her eyes were heavy and her mind sluggish. “I just wanna get back to my friends.” The stallion cowered while darkness threatened to overwhelm Rainbow’s awareness. After several minutes of wavering near a black-out, the mare returned to her hooves. “Please,” she said, her voice still raw, “Let’s just talk.”