Time to go
Chapter 16
Hearts and Skulls
The dark in the cave was suffocating. Light had never dared touch this far down in the earth, making it a perfect place for all things black. There was noise however, the creatures of the cave had learned to get around by making their various noises, and using the noises of others.
Living in the dark didn't really have any requirements for beauty. In fact, even the noises the creatures made were ugly, but they weren't as ugly as the pony that inhabited the caves. Skull Trap. This 'pony' was as black and misshapen as his heart. It seems inconsequential to try and describe somepony whose never been seen by light, let alone ponies.
He stood at the end of a round cave hall, stirring a cold muck in a cauldron. He had labored feverishly these many years, building up his powers, waiting for the perfect time to strike. No “pony” would be able to stop him, and after assimilating the powers of a few hundred ponies, not even Celestia would be able to stop him.
He stirred the muck, before bending down and grabbing a random creature from the cave floor, snapping it in half. He dumped the contents of the now dead creature into the muck, if anything was visible in the cave, the muck would have gone from brown to an even darker black.
Skull Trap seemed to be able to tell the difference, despite the complete lack of light. Skull Trap was not blind, he just didn't have to use his sight to get around. Long ago his master had brought him to this cave, when he was just a baby. His master had taught him many things about magic, including how to preserve his eyesight. His Master also taught him to hate the outside world. They had banished his master here, forcing him to flee into the caverns of the earth.
Anger and resentment boiled up inside him, the cauldron somehow copied the effect, and was soon at a rumble, bubbles breaking at the surface. His master had known that he could not take revenge himself, so he had raised Skull Trap using the darkest powers at his disposal. Skull Trap enjoyed the powers that his master had taught him. He could always feel the darkness rushing around in his blood after learning another spell.
The muck turned pink. A disgusting pink, but it was too dark for anything to notice. His master's revenge would be taken, and it would bring swift justice to those who had killed his kind. The muck that he had been stirring carefully for a whole year was almost complete. Just as soon as...
The cauldron suddenly froze, frost covering the sides, and the boiling stopping suddenly. The muck seemed to empty out of the cauldron as the level sank.
“Perfect” Skull Trap thought to himself. He reached into the cauldron and grabbed the small black rock, that the muck had compressed into. To anyone else, it was a simple rock. To Skull Trap, it was the laboring of a whole year of dark energy, a token of growing power. The time of his revenge was near. Skull Trap opened his mouth and ate the rock, sliding it down his throat without issue.
His dark power grew immensely, he could feel the dark in his veins again, his powers had risen to their limits, and further. He was the darkness, and soon he would descend upon Equestria, just like the Nightmare Moon of old, except this time, there would be no moon. There would be no light.
He turned towards the exit of the cave and cast a small spell. The power that left him was insignificant, and not even noticeable. Instantly the noises of the creatures in the cave ceased. Skull Trap felt his power level balance out again as he absorbed the essences of the creatures he had just eliminated.
It was almost time, his Master's revenge would be sweet, and his dark rule would begin soon.
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Hunter and Rainbow Dash panted, laying on Hunter's front porch. They had decided halfway through the race that it would eventually end here. Their houses seemed like the place to end, considering that the sun was lower in the sky, and they had nowhere else to go.
They had tied again, and they had tired each other out. “Care for a drink?” Hunter asked between huffs. “I would kill for some water right now.” Rainbow Dash said, “my throat is super dry.”
Hunter and Rainbow Dash continued to lay there, their breathing returning to normal on the soft clouds.
“The sky is beautiful no matter where I go,” Hunter said quietly, turning his head to look at Rainbow Dash next to him. “I guess that's thanks to you isn't it.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Hunter, his eyes a deep green that she had never had the time to admire before. She stood up before he started thinking she was staring at him, “Sure is!” She pulled Hunter up off his porch. They walked inside the house. It wasn't dark out yet, but there wasn't much in town they could do at this hour.
Hunter went to the kitchen and found two big mugs. He filled one with apple juice, and the other with water. He brought them into the living room, where Rainbow Dash was already sitting on the couch. He handed the water filled mug to Rainbow Dash, before sitting down and drinking from his own mug of apple juice.
They sat in silence for a moment. It wasn't awkward, it was peaceful. Hunter broke the silence, “So how does Roid Rage power that viewer, I have a feeling it would be the same as my Xbox, and my T.V.”
“Cloudsdale is covered with panels to power all kinds of machines. They gather energy from the sun, I don't know what people call them other than panels.” She said, sipping her water before continuing, “I could get some installed on your house, it's cheap, but most ponies don't really have the need, so it's always available.”
“Most ponies aren't gamers.” Hunter said, “Just add it to my tab.” Hunter chuckled.
Rainbow Dash laughed lightly at how much debt Hunter had already compiled in his few days here. Then she pulled out her cell phone and pressed redial.
“Heya boss,” Dash started, “I have another favor to ask you. I need some panels installed for your newest employee. Yes it's made of clouds. Get me a good deal would you? Alright thanks.”
She ended the call and put her phone away. “That should take care of that.” Rainbow Dash said.
“I'm going to need a cell phone eventually.” Hunter said, “Seeing as how I take care of myself I better get a reliable way for others to contact me.”
The pair of fliers finished their drinks, and Hunter took the mugs back to the kitchen to refill them. Rainbow Dash spread out on the couch, leaning her head over the back of the couch so that she could see Hunter in between the gaps of the cupboards.
His mane was awesome in this light. She shook her head, dispelling the thought. “So what now?” She sighed.
Hunter filled up the glasses, and returned to the living room. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could respond they heard noises upstairs. Rainbow Dash's ears perked up. Hunter thought it was the cutest thing.
They walked up the stairs to the roof to investigate. When they reached the top, they saw a group of Pegasi, wearing hard hats, and tearing up Hunter's roof.
“YEAH!” Hunter heard a familiar voice yell from nearby, “Same hour service!”
Hunter turned to see Roid Rage, directing his workers to work on the roof. “That must be the fastest construction service I've ever heard of.” Hunter said, impressed. "Especially considering how late it is."
“He's always a reliable boss.” Rainbow Dash said, “You better start marking your house, put an x wherever you want your outlets to be.” She took a marker from one of the workers, and handed it to Hunter.
Hunter remembered something, “Do you think it's possible to put these panels on Twilight's house?” Hunter asked.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, “She doesn't need them though, she has some magical lightning rods and batteries that power her testing machines.”
“Oh,” Hunter said, “Well I have to go down there anyways, be back in a little while.”
“Well, I might as well go with, nothing I can do with these guys, and there's nothing else to do here.” Rainbow Dash said.
Hunter went back into the house, Rainbow following closely behind. Hunter put a couple x's on the walls of the living room. That should leave enough plugs for all his appliances. He put one in his, and Michael's rooms so that they could have viewers installed later if they wanted.
Rainbow Dash took her phone out to keep tabs on Hunter's debt. Hunter went to his room and grabbed the computer, it was heavy, so he wasn't going to be able to carry it to Twilight's library. Hunter put the computer in the living room and placed the marker on the coffee table for a worker to pick up later.
“How do you propose we get this to Twilight's place?” Hunter asked.
“We could get some workers to help us?” Rainbow Dash suggested.
“No, they're already busy enough.” Hunter said. He thought for a moment. “Got any really strong nets?” Hunter asked.
“I got a couple I guess,” She said, she kept a few just in case of another para sprite invasion. Couldn't be too careful.
“Could you go get them?” Hunter said.
“You could come with me.” Rainbow Dash said, “It's no problem, and you'll just be standing here while I look for them anyways.”
“If you insist.” Hunter said with a smile. He hadn't gotten the chance to see Rainbow's house, despite the proximity.
They flew back up to the roof, where the workers were reassembling Hunter's house.
“Hey Rainbow!” Roid Rage said, getting her attention. “Here's that picture you wanted!”
He handed her a framed picture of herself from the side, with Hunter only barely behind her, going over a finish line.
“That was fast too.” Hunter said.
“Quick service is what I do.” Roid Rage said, before returning to his work.
They made their way to Rainbow's rooftop with a quick glide, and entered the stairway after opening up the trap door. They descended the stairs, and Hunter saw that her house was built like his, or rather the other way around, except that Rainbow Dash had plenty of pictures and things on the wall. He saw lots of Wonder bolts posters, and some family photos. Then when he got to the living room, and saw that, where his T.V. Would sit, he saw a giant picture frame. It was a picture of Rainbow Dash and her friends. This was the pose that Hunter remembered from the opening sequence of the show.
He stared at the picture for a moment, he had seen it plenty of times before, but it never seemed like much. Until now. He looked at the picture and it wasn't just the opening to a cartoon show, it was real. Actual sentient beings had posed, and had someone take their picture. It was real.
Hunter's emotions were kept in check, but not before letting out a sigh. “What's wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked, wondering why Hunter had stopped by her picture and was staring at it.
Hunter snapped out of his trance, “Nothing.” He said quickly. “Let's get those nets so we can get over there.”
“Right.” Rainbow Dash said, “the nets.”
They walked into the what would be the second bedroom in Hunter's house, to find Rainbow's storage.
There wasn't much, just a couple... few... There were actually a good number of Wonderbolts carved in various materials of many sizes in the room.
“Now where are those nets?” Rainbow Dash asked herself, as if there was nothing strange about her many statues.
“These are of beautiful workmanship.” Hunter said, admiring the statues. There were some of granite, some of wood, there was even a tiny one made of soap.
No matter the medium, they seemed to capture the moment the Wonderbolt seemed to be in. Flying, racing, a couple even looked like they were speaking.
“Thanks.” Rainbow Dash said, “I make them myself.”
Hunter just froze. His eyes wide. He couldn't remember how to breathe. She made these herself? He had thought for a moment that he had found what Rainbow Dash had spent all of her money on, but that, he never expected that. Maybe she spent her money on the materials.
“Holy awesome.” Hunter said to himself.
“What?” Rainbow Dash said.
“I'm just saying how freaking amazing you are.” Hunter said, “I didn't know you were good at sculptures!”
“These are just things I work on when I'm not working, or napping.” She said, reveling in the admiration of another fan. “Ah here it is, one net, perfect for heavy lifting.”
Hunter just stared at her. He knew that she was beautiful, but her magenta eyes looked even prettier when her brow wasn't furrowed in determination. Rainbow Dash stared back at him. Considering that he was the one staring, she could take this chance to stare back at him. His mane seemed to glow slightly in the dimly lit room, giving him an aura. Then she was drawn back to his eyes. They reflected any light they could get a hold of. They shined a deep green, just as always. She suddenly thought of herself surrounded by trees, flying through them, not a care in the world.
“Right.” Hunter said, snapping them both back to reality, “We should get to it.”
Rainbow Dash tossed the net, trying to trap Hunter beneath it. Hunter was surprisingly hard to capture however, and tossed the net back, trapping Rainbow Dash instead. Rainbow struggled against the net, but fell to the floor, tangled in the ropes.
He walked over to her, chuckling. She watched from the ground as he approached, trapped underneath the net. She was helpless, if she moved around, she would just get more stuck. Hunter walked straight up to her, putting his face right next to hers. She blushed, realizing that he could do anything to her in this moment. She kicked herself for getting into a situation like this with a stranger.
Hunter chuckled some more, sitting on the ground, and leaning in close to her. Then he reached in and tickled her. His attack was ruthless, she was helpless to defend herself under the net. He tickled her until she couldn't breathe, before he stopped. She took a minute to stop laughing.
“What was that for!?” She yelled half laughing still.
“I saw an opportunity, and I took it.” Hunter said, “Besides, you looked so cute and helpless I just had to.”
Rainbow blushed a little bit. “Will you get this thing off me?”
“Sure thing.” Hunter said, unwrapping the net.
Hunter folded the net and held it in his arms. Rainbow Dash stood up, still slightly sensitive from the intense tickling she had just received. They left the house, and went back to Hunter's place. The workers were now inside the house, wiring within the clouds.
They wrapped the computer with the net and grabbed onto it. Lifting it above the ground. They carried it out of the house, and off to Twilight's house.
Rainbow Dash said nothing on the fly over, but she kept looking at Hunter as he chuckled to himself. She had gotten her, and she decided that he was an okay prankster after all.
When they arrived, they set the net down carefully, and Hunter picked up the computer tower, letting Rainbow Dash knock on the door. Spike answered it. “Hey Rainbow, Watcha need?” The dragon asked.
“Tell Twilight, Hunter is here to see her,” Rainbow said, going back to help carry in the monitor.
The pair carried the whole assembly into the tree, and set it down while Spike went to get Twilight from her studies.
“Hey,” Michael said from underneath a book fort. “How was your day?”
“Not as fun as yours apparently.” Hunter said, “How do you even do that?”
“Spike has lots of time to make book forts. He called this one the 'fort of the flies'.” Michael said, chuckling.
Hunter put his face in his hoof at the pun. What were the odds that a pony would write a book of the same title.
“I went and met the rest of the mane six today.” Hunter said, trying to look inside the fort. It didn't have anything inside, but it was dark. No gaps or anything.
“Mane six?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“Oh, It's what you and the rest of your friends who resemble an element of harmony are called by humans.” Hunter explained. He looked at the books that made up the fort. They were mostly non-fiction. Spike must have not wanted to ruin the good books.
“Humans watching our lives and giving us names,” Rainbow Dash scoffed, “Seems a little creepy to me.”
“Yeah,” Hunter agreed, “I'd have to agree with that I guess.”
Spike walked back into the room. “She's busy with her books. Anything I try to say to her, just goes in as static, and comes back as a grunt or a “hmm?” Spike rolled his eyes, and walked over to the fort. Michael stood at the entrance. “None shall pass.”
“What?” Spike asked.
“The black knight always triumphs.” Michael replied.
Spike looked confused and Hunter just laughed.
“I'll go talk to her.” Hunter said.
He walked into the room and saw her as Spike said she was, studying.
“Hey Twilight.” Hunter said.
“Hmmm?” Twilight responded, not turning away from her book.
“Nice flank you got there.” Hunter said.
Twilight's eyes widened and she blushed furiously. She turned towards Hunter, using her tail to hide her rump. “What!?”
“That got your attention.” Hunter said, “Now come here I have something to show you.”
Twilight scoffed as the red left her face and hopped down from her seat. She walked into the main library room and saw the computer sitting on the ground.
“You finally brought it by did you?” Twilight asked, “Well plug it in, and lets get cataloging.” She clapped her hooves together at the idea. “Oh, but bring it into my study, that would be a better place for it.”
Hunter and Rainbow Dash carried it into the room, and placed it onto a desk, and Hunter plugged it in.
“I think my favorite thing about Equestria is that the outlets are the same.” Hunter said.
He started up the computer and logged into his profile. A familiar screen popped up. He instinctively opened the internet browser. It opened and started loading. He realized what happened, and groaned as he knew he would have to wait for it to realize it wasn't connected to any internet before he could close it.
Then google appeared.
“What?” Hunter said, more of an exclamation of doubt than a question. “What? What!?”
“What's wrong?” Twilight asked.
“My computer is still connected to the internet.” Hunter said, still staring at the screen.
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked him, looking at the screen as well.
Hunter clicked on the URL and typed in the address for facebook. It loaded quickly, and Hunter was still signed in.
“No. Bucking. Way.” Hunter said. His jaw hung open.
“How is that even possible?” Twilight asked, just as confused.
Rainbow Dash didn't even try to understand what they were doing.
“I don't know, but it's awesome.” Hunter said. He created a new user account for the computer, called “Library” and logged out.
He signed into the account, and set up an indexing program. “Well here you are. You can start any time, it allows you to mark books as borrowed and returned. You can add as many books as you have.” Hunter said, stepping up from the computer.
“Thanks a lot Hunter, this should make running this library even more efficient.” She went back to her books, “But before I do anything like that I need to finish my studies.” Soon she was back in her zone.
“Right,” Hunter said, “Let's go, there's not anything more to do here.”
“How'd you get her to pay attention to you anyways?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I complimented her flank.” Hunter said nonchalantly.
Twilight's tail moved itself to cover her rump again, and Hunter left the room. A giggling Rainbow Dash in tow.
“Michael.” Hunter said, calling him out of the fort.
“Yes?” Michael said, crawling out of the fort with a paper hat on.
“The internet still works in Equestria.” Hunter said.
“What?” Michael said in the same manner Hunter had just moments before.
“I know.”
“What?”
“I know!”
“What!?”
“I know!!”
This went on for a while before Hunter just straight up grabbed Michael and put him on his back. They dashed out of the building.
Rainbow Dash followed them as soon as she knew what was going on. She flew into the sunset sky looking for Hunter in the red.
“Yeeeeehawwwwww.” Michael yelled from behind her.
Rainbow Dash swiveled around to see Hunter flying straight towards her. Before she could react, Hunter did a nosedive, flying underneath her before leveling out again and going higher into the sky.
Rainbow followed him. They soon were flying closely. This wasn't a race, and so they didn't go very fast. Hunter led her through twists and turns, loopy loops and sharp turns. Hunter flew them back to the houses in this manner, as the sun started descending below the mountains.
Hunter dropped Michael off on the roof, before continuing his flight. Rainbow Dash continued to follow his movements. Had it been any other pegasus, she would have just been in the way of his graceful dance through the sky. Hunter danced, and so Rainbow followed suit.
She didn't know why she thought she should follow him. It just seemed right, and whenever Hunter flew around, doing moves at high speeds, she thought that she should be there. Just to make sure that she could always keep up with him.
Soon Hunter was grabbing her hooves and spinning her in the air, as if on some ballroom in the sky, and was dancing the waltz with the rainbow pegasus.
Rainbow hadn't been to a fancy dance since the gala, and she hadn't even danced then, so dancing wasn't exactly her forte. It didn't matter however, there was no floor to stumble on, and Hunter was leading her perfectly.
Hunter had never danced the professional waltz in his life, he led her on, doing whatever felt natural. Soon she was spinning and he was catching. He would throw her higher into the air, and she would stop from flapping her wings for a moment, so he could catch her again.
Before they knew it, the moon was gazing at them over the mountains. Hunter threw Rainbow Dash higher into the air, she did a front flip or two, and then dived towards the ground, extending her wings without flapping and putting her front hoof forward. Hunter copied the motion and he flew up towards her. The moon was behind them and Michael took a picture. He had retrieved Hunter's Ipod, just in case something amazing happened.
The picture turned out amazing. A real work of art, captured on a low quality Ipod camera. Hunter grabbed Rainbow Dash's hoof, swinging her to his right and flying to his left. Soon they were spinning towards the ground. They flapped their wings and broke the link, flying away from each other with a double back flip.
Then Rainbow Dash started flying towards the moon, and Hunter flew in front of her, their faces towards each other, headed towards the brilliant moon. They rotated in the air, as if on the edges of a cylinder, but they always stayed in formation. They started accelerating, and soon cones were forming around them.
When the cones broke, the two waves combined, creating a rainbow inside of a green circle. They immediately flew upwards, The gold line parallel to the rainbow one. Soon they were no longer parallel as they crossed, creating another cylinder, the pegasi looked at each other, mimicking the same motions they had done just moments before. This created a wonderful cascade of colors, gold and rainbow, gold and rainbow.
They got closer and closer as they flew higher. Eventually they were face to face. Then they flew away from each other, creating a heart shape as they descended. Half the heart was made of pure gold, and the other brilliant rainbow.
Michael took another picture.
They slowed as they reached the bottom of the heart in the sky. They neared, ending their trails, and Hunter grabbed Rainbow Dash spinning her one last time as if still dancing, and then pulled her back, letting her fall into his arms. Rainbow Dash lay in Hunter's arms, staring up at his face. The white in his golden mane shined brightly in the light of the moon.
Hunter stared down at the mare in his arms. Her rainbow mane was absolutely beautiful in the moonlight, and her magenta eyes looked red, full, like roses, and made him think of romance.
He had realized the romance of the situation long before he had looked into her eyes, and he stood motionless in the air, except for his wings flapping. He breathed slowly, and she didn't move a muscle, content to stay in his grasp for however long he wanted her too.
This was the most awesome flight she had ever taken. The way Hunter and she had synced their movements was awesome. What usually would have taken, even the Wonderbolts, days or weeks to practice, they had done in an instant, with no forewarning. Hunter's flying skills were impressive. So were her's of course.
Hunter had always been fond of Rainbow Dash, but never really from a romantic stand point. As he realized that his emotions had changed while they were locked in their cage, he continued to fall in love with the pegasus in his arms.
Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves around Hunter's neck, getting a feel of his silky mane, and pulling him towards her slowly.
Hunter had no objections, and himself moved his face close to hers, bringing her closer with the arms he had already been holding her with.
Hunter landed on his rooftop and with impact of a sudden landing, Rainbow Dash was pushed up suddenly.
Their first kiss was exactly what they had hoped it would be. Full of emotion, wonderful, romantic, and with somepony they thought was totally awesome. Hunter held her, hoping that a moment like this was one to last forever.
Hunter got his wish, as Michael took another picture.