//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 // Story: Shadow of the Sun // by Starwin //------------------------------// Shadow of the Sun By Starwin Chapter 21 Applejack, Luna and Spike were still in the shadow of Canterlot, even after hours of walking. The massive base of the mountain seemed to dominate all of the northern sky and stretch west far into the distance. High above, the lingering Sun still hadn’t moved. Only the Moon, which half eclipsed the Sun, kept the intense rays at bay. Under the shadow of the Moon the heat was much less intense — to the point that Applejack hardly even noticed that it was slightly warmer than normal. However, that would change all too soon. The Sun was not fully eclipsed. At some point they would reach the edge, where the wrath of the Sun waited for them. Relatively speaking, the group didn’t have far to travel when compared to where their friends were going. The Galloping Desert was roughly the same distance as Ponyville, not more then two days away. Unlike the other two groups though, they weren’t moving under magical means. Rarity, Trixie and Pinkie were being carried in a magic rocket-powered steam-engine which was not actually being powered by steam. Twilight and Fluttershy were vanishing from one location and instantly relocating some place further away. And Applejack, Luna and Spike had to walk. Although Applejack wasn’t complaining. The task ahead of all of them was surely fraught with danger and hardship. If the first three elements had been any indicator than all of her friends were headed for difficult challenges. Gradually, the mountain moved past and then fell behind as they walked on. Applejack was so lost in her own thoughts and of the task ahead that she hardly noticed the changing of the scenery. They had been walking for what must have been hours. The brown grass cracked beneath their hooves as they trotted on. The land around them had small rolling hills, and little else. As they were making their way over one of the hills, the earth began to shake. Applejack stopped dead in her tracks. Spike let out a cry of surprise. And Luna just stood there, looking slightly nervous. “Not again!” exclaimed Applejack. Her eyes raced upwards, towards the Moon that hovered in front of the Sun. The last time the ground had shook so violently, the giant white orb had been racing across the sky. However, that was not the case now. The Moon stayed right where it was. The shaking stopped and the three companions looked at one another. “What was that?” asked Spike. “I thought, I thought it might be the Moon moving again,” explained Applejack. The two looked towards Luna. She shook her head. “No, I would have felt the Moon move,” said Luna. She glanced upwards. “I do not know what it was, but it seems to have passed. We should continue on.” Applejack nodded in agreement and they continued on their way. The rolling hills stayed with them for a long ways. As the land began to become flat once more it also started to dip into a shallow valley. Running through the center of the valley were the banks of a wide river. The water ran quick and deep, flowing south-west, away from Canterlot, towards… “I know this river,” said Applejack as she approached the water. She turned her head and looked down the band of blue that cut through the countryside. “This flows past Ponyville. We crossed over it on our way here.” “Did we?” asked Spike. He moved up beside Applejack and put his claws into the water. “I don’t remember crossing a river.” “It was all dried up,” said Applejack. Spike’s expression changed. “Oh yeah!” cried Spike, flinging his hands into the air and splashing cool water on Applejack. “Sorry. But this can’t be the same river, can it? I mean, this one isn’t all dried up.” “Which means it’s either blocked or diverted further down stream,” said Applejack. The earth pony looked ponderous for a long moment then turned to Spike. “How far off course would we go if we followed the river?” asked Applejack. “Hold on let me check,” said Spike. He wiped his claws against his scales to dry them before he produced the fragment of the map that Twilight had given him. The moment his claws touched the paper, the map came to life, glowing with shiny green lines. His small sharp eyes examined the route. “Well, it does go west,” said Spike. He traced the rivers path with a claw. The river was a long thin line snaking down from Canterlot to Ponyville. Applejack touched the map and the orange-gold dot flared to life. She didn’t need Spike to tell her the next part, she could already see it. But he did anyway. “But it looks like it will take us way off course.” “I know,” said Applejack. She removed her hoof and the pulsing dot faded. “Look. I think we should go find whatever is taking the water outa this river.” Luna spoke up for the first time since they had reached the river, her voice calm and reasoned. “That problem could be all the way down in Ponyville,” said Luna. “Such a path might take us two days out of our way.” “I know,” said Applejack again. She let her head drop. “Look, Ponyville is in bad shape. I’m sure they need water and this here river is the best source there is. If it’s blocked up though, we should find out why and fix it, if we can. We have to, please…” Rarity and Trixie had their hooves wrapped around each other, holding on for dear life. When the train had launched off, the jolt had knocked them to the floor. Their screams echoed in unison as the train shook violently around them, speeding uncontrolled down the tracks. Pinkie had her head out the window, also screaming, but with excitement, rather than terror. Pinkie was still waving to their friends back at the base of the mountain, although she could no longer see them. At last, when even the little dot she thought might be them had vanished, Pinkie pulled her head back into the train. “Hey,” shouted Pinkie, trying to be heard over the clamor of the train and the wails of her friends. They continued to scream. “HEY!” Pinkie shouted again. This seemed to get their attention and they finally stopped.. “Are you guys gonna hug all the way there? If so, do you have room for one more?” Rarity and Trixie looked at one another and promptly pulled apart, both looking slightly embarrassed. “We aren’t dead!” exclaimed Trixie in surprise. She ran her hooves over herself to ensure no parts were missing. “Nope,” answered Pinkie. “But we are going really, really, really fast!” As if to emphasize this point a loud metal screeching noise echoed through the air and the train swayed uncomfortably to the side as the track curved. “How far do you think this, uh, spell, will take us before we have to do it again?” asked Rarity. Pinkie shrugged and Trixie did not answer. “Well, I guess we don’t have much to do other then wait.” “Maybe we could play twenty questions?” suggested Pinkie Pie. “Or,” suggested Trixie, retreating to a corner of the train. “We could just sit in silence and not talk to each other unless we absolutely have to.” “The staying quiet for a really long time game?” asked Pinkie. “My Mom used to play that with me all the time! I was never good at it though. Now Fluttershy! She is like the champion of it! Rainbow once told me that Fluttershy holds the world record for being the quietest for like five years straight!” Trixie glared at Pinkie, but the pink pony did not take the hint. “I think we are starting to slow down,” said Rarity. “It looks like we will have to recast the spell.” “Not yet,” said Pinkie, hopping back up to the window and looking out. She watched as the flat landscape rushed past. “Why not?” asked Trixie. “If we keep our speed up we will get there sooner.” “Faster isn’t better,” said Pinkie, climbing back inside the cabin. She examined some of the dials on the engine, tapping one with a hoof. “If we go too fast, the train will jump off the tracks.” “How do you know?” asked Trixie. “When did you become a train expert?” “Oh, a while back, right before I moved to Ponyville,” replied Pinkie, missing the sarcasm in Trixie’s voice. “I love trains! And I was totally thinking of becoming an engineer. I got all the way through the training… hehe training… get it? And well, that was the problem, nopony else did. They were always all so serious. So I went into baking instead, which worked out a lot better!” Both Rarity and Trixie looked at each other uncertainly. “But you already had your cutie mark at that point?” asked Rarity. “You knew that your true calling was making other smile, right?” “Yep,” answered Pinkie happily. “Then why in Equestria did you want to become a train engineer? What does that possibly have to do with ponies smiling? Baking I can understand, but trains?” asked Rarity in confusion. “That’s easy,” answered Pinkie. “I was going to ride the party train from town to town! Bringing smiles to ponies everywhere!” Trixie groaned. “But, well, like I said it didn’t work out and I found myself in Ponyville. “Anyhow, I think you can recast your spell again. It looks like the train has slowed down en-nough-ouf-ouf-ouf.” Rarity and Trixie looked concerned and Pinkie suddenly began to shake up and down. Trixie took a step away like she was afraid she might catch whatever Pinkie had. However, it did not last much longer. Just as suddenly as it had started Pinkie stopped shaking. Her eyes suddenly looked panicked. She rushed forward and grabbed the break leaver, pulling it down as hard as she could. The wheels screeched in protest and both Rarity and Trixie were tossed from their hooves a second time as the train lurched to a sudden halt. “What they hay!” exclaimed Trixie in annoyance. Pinkie however didn’t have time to explain. This time, the whole train started to shake and wobble around them Rarity let out a wail of terror, while Trixie spread her hooves out to keep from sliding around during the shaking. Pinkie just stood there, waiting for it to pass. The shaking didn’t last long and soon the world was still once more. “There, all done,” said Pinkie. “We got lucky we weren’t going all that fast and I could stop us in time.” “Seriously! How do you keep doing that!” cried Trixie working her way to her hooves. Pinkie shrugged. “I dono, I just do,” said Pinkie. “Twilight didn’t get it either at first. Anyhow, you guys can cast your spell now.” Rarity and Trixie slowly moved back towards each other. They were about to put their hooves together when Trixie suddenly stopped. She looked seriously at Pinkie. “If this spell was about to make us explode… you would tell us, right?” asked Trixie. “Of course!” said Pinkie. There was a long pause in which Trixie waited for Pinkie to comfort her and say they wouldn’t explode. “Well?” asked Trixie when Pinkie said nothing. “Aren’t you going to tell us if we are going to explode or not?” “Oh, I have no idea,” said Pinkie. “I don’t control it, it just sort of happens, usually before things are about to happen. Only a couple times after…” Trixie looked uncertain once again. “Don’t worry dear,” said Rarity. “I’m sure we will be just fine.” Trixie nodded somberly. Slowly, they brought their horns together. Magic swirled as the two horns attempted to create one spell. They had chosen a simple spell to propel them, levitation. “Wait!” shouted Pinkie, suddenly holding up a hoof. Trixie instantly pulled away and the spell died. Pinkie wrinkled her nose and sneezed. “What does that mean!” cried Trixie in alarm. “Does that mean we are going to explode!” “I think that means she had to sneeze,” said Rarity a little irritably. “Okay, I’m good now, I just didn’t want to miss blasting off!” cried Pinkie happily. With a slight grumble, Trixie and Rarity brought their horns together once more. Magic flickered in around them. A loud crack split the air. The train lurched sharply forward and all three ponies were tossed off their hooves by the sudden motion. Pinkie let out a squeal of delight, while Trixie gave a grunt of discomfort and Rarity a cry of distress. After a moment, the sensation of rapid acceleration eased and the ponies were able to get back up. “We really need to find a better way to do that,” said Rarity. Teleporting more than one pony at a time was tricky. Plotting a single landing site thousands of hooves away was difficult enough, without having to ensure that a second body came with and didn’t get lost along the way. Twilight had done shared teleportation before. Her first experience had been with her mentor, Princess Celestia. The experience had been, for lack of a better term, magical. One moment the two of them had been standing on a balcony, outside of Celestia’s private study, overlooking Equestria below. The next moment, they were out on the beaches of Los Pegasus, watching the Sun set. It was a memory that Twilight hoped never to forget. While not quite as good as her mentor, Twilight had preformed shared teleportation once before, getting Rarity, Rainbow, Spike and herself out of danger when they had been chased by dragons. However, that had been only a short distance and only once, not over and over again. The distance she could teleport was also limited. Like all magic, the more you practiced it, the better you could become. Princess Celestia had been teleporting for a long time before Twilight had even been born, before even her parents had been born, before even their parents… Celestia’s skill was so great she could move from one side of the world to the other. Twilight, on the other hand, was pretty good at it. Not, other side of the world good but still, pretty good. All of these thoughts ran through Twilight’s head as she moved herself and Fluttershy through time and space. The worry of shared teleportation. Her memory of the first time she had shared in it. Her own attempts and successes at it. Her own limitations. Her awareness of Fluttershy, sliding through the æther beside her. And, most importantly, her focus upon their destination. While the other thoughts helped her, the last one was critical. Without focus and planning, teleportation, shared or alone was dangerous. If a unicorn didn’t know where they were going to land or couldn’t visualize it properly, then many unpleasant things could happen. Twilight had to force herself not to recount all the things that could go wrong. Twilight could feel their destination rapidly approaching. Except, something about it was wrong somehow, fuzzy, out of sorts. She couldn’t tell what was wrong with the location. It was like the destination was… moving? That couldn’t be right. With a crack and a quiet scream of fright, Fluttershy and Twilight popped back into existence. They had arrived upon the top of a small hill. It was part of a series of hills that made the land around them seem like a wavy ocean. Except, this ocean was made of dead, brown, grass. Behind them, still tall and not too distant was the looming shape of the mountain upon which Canterlot sat. They were only a few hours walk from it at best. Twilight felt her face fall slightly and turned her head to look forward. This wasn’t the hill she had meant to teleport to. Her target was a few hills away. Something odd had happened right before re-materialization. But for the life of her, Twilight couldn’t figure out what. “That was terrifying!” cried Fluttershy, collapsing down to the ground and trembling with fear. “I felt all stretched out, like I was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.” “I’m sorry,” apologized Twilight. “I should have prepared you a little more for what was going to happen. We have to do it again.” Fluttershy looked up her eyes wide. “Can’t we… um… just walk instead?” asked Fluttershy. Twilight shook her head. “It’s too far, we would spend four or five extra days getting there,” said Twilight. “Teleporting is the only way.” Fluttershy almost looked tearful as she got back to her hooves. “I guess it can be a little strange if you aren’t used to it… but, was it really that bad?” “I felt… never mind…” whispered Fluttershy. “Fluttershy,” answered Twilight, her voice soft and reassuring. “Tell me what’s wrong.” “No, it’s alright, it doesn’t matter,” said Fluttershy meekly. Twilight stood there for a long time, looking at her friend. Fluttershy kept looking else where, her eyes flicking back every now and then to see if Twilight was still looking at her. “We should keep going,” said Fluttershy at last when neither of them had spoken for almost five minutes. “Not just yet,” said Twilight. “I need a minute or so more to recover.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” apologized Fluttershy, as she usually did whenever anything might slightly be her fault. “If you want to rest, we can stay here as long as you like.” “Well, we can’t actually,” said Twilight. “We have a long way’s to go. But this should be enough of a break. Okay, I think I’m ready now.” Twilight took a deep breath, closed her eyes and focused. She could see her next destination in her minds eye. Another small hill, with a wilting tree upon it. “Here we go.” Magic engulfed the two of them a second time. Fluttershy let out a small cry of fear as they vanished from existence and slipped into the world unseen. Here, in this space between spaces, distance and time did not matter. Teleportation was not so much about moving from one spot to another but changing one spot into another. The outward appearance was that a unicorn could instantly vanish from one location and reappear a great distance away. But that was a crude interpretation. In actuality, Twilight and Fluttershy weren’t moving at all. They were staying perfectly still, while the world raced past around them. A small, but important distinction, as much of magic tended to be. Twilight felt their destination arrive beneath them and she pulled them out of the æther. The two reappeared with a pop and a breathless wail. This time, Twilight had hit her mark dead on. The mountain was now very distant behind them, a half a day away. Before them the hills ended into low flat land that became a forest of leafless trees. “How many more times do we need to do that?” whimpered Fluttershy. “Only twice more,” said Twilight. “Do you see those cliffs over there?” She held up a hoof and pointed ahead of them. Beyond the forest, across a lake, hardly visible from where they were, distant cliffs were not much more than a faint line on the horizon. “That’s where we are going. But it will take two more teleports to get us there.” “Why…” asked Fluttershy, her voice faulting slightly. “Why can’t we just go there?” Twilight’s face fell a little. “I’m sorry, should I not have asked that?” “No,” answered Twilight, trying to recover and appear more confident. “No, it’s alright. It’s just, well, hard to explain to a non-unicorn. Let me see… if you had to fly all the way there, you would be pretty tired, right?” “Actually, I would prefer to walk,” said Fluttershy. Twilight gave her friend an odd look. “Um, if that is okay with you?” “Fluttershy, this is a hypothetical situation, I’m not actually asking you to…” said Twilight. She shook her head. “Never mind. Okay, if you were to walk there, you would be kind of tired by the time you arrived.” “I guess so, that is a long ways away,” answered Fluttershy. “Now, if you galloped instead, you would be really tired,” said Twilight. “Oh my, I’m not sure I could gallop that far,” said Fluttershy timidly. “Well, teleporting isn’t much different, just, faster,” said Twilight. “The further I go, the harder and more tiring it is. And it’s like I’m doing the walking for both of us.” “Oh, I’m sorry, do you want me to walk?” asked Fluttershy. Twilight shook her head. “No,” said Twilight, knowing that her friend wasn’t understanding. “What I mean is, I can’t do it in one go because… well, it’s just too far. I would be too tired. So I am getting a little more distance by only going a small way and resting between them. Don’t worry, once we reach the cliffs we’ll take a long break.” Twilight’s horn began to glow again and with a pop, the two vanished. Applejack wasn’t sure how long they had been following the river now. She knew it had taken them pretty far off course, she just didn’t know how far. While the magical map showed Equestria, as well as the location of the element, it did not actually show where they were on it. And this section had very little in the way of landmarks. “We might be here,” said Spike, tilting the map slightly. “I think that rock over there looks like this one on the map. “That is a boulder,” replied Luna, her eyes turning from the rock Spike had pointed to, back onto the map. “The Horns of the Bull, is a mountain peak. Also, it looks nothing like the image on the map.” “It does if you turn your head like this,” Spike tilted his head so that he was almost looking at the rock upside down. “It’s just a rock!” said Applejack, her voice slightly irritated. “Now put that map away. We are following this river till we find out why it’s stopped flowing ta Ponyville.” “I must once again state my objection to this course,” replied Luna. Applejack rolled her eyes, but Luna, trotting along at the back, could not see. “We are wasting valuable time we do not have.” “Time all of Equestria doesn’t have,” muttered Applejack. “What?” asked Spike. “Nothin,” answered Applejack. “It’s nothing. Come on, lets keep moving.” “Uh, Applejack, we are moving,” replied Spike. “Well, move faster! With less chit-chat!” shouted Applejack. Spike and Luna shared and uncertain glance. Since they had started down this river course, Applejack’s mood had become more and more foul. She had been snapping whenever Luna or Spike said anything. And she wouldn’t listen to reason. It was almost another hour later when Spike found the courage to speak up again. “Applejack,” asked Spike timidly. “What! What in tarnation is it now!” exclaimed Applejack. She spun around, anger in her eyes, which were locked on Spike. The whole group came to a stop. “Did you find another rock? Or maybe a tree shaped like a saddle?” “…” Spike’s small voice was barely audible. “What?” shouted Applejack in annoyance. “Why… why are you acting like this?” repeated Spike. “Why are you so angry?” “I’m not… I…” stammered Applejack. She was taken aback by the question. At last she realized how much her bad mood had come through. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so rough on you. I’m just… worried is all.” “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find your element and make it back to Canterlot and fix all this,” said Spike, trying to sound strong and reassuring. But Applejack just shook her head. “No, not about that,” said Applejack. She looked away. “Twilight said I should keep it quiet, that saying it would just worry everypony. But it’s been eating me up inside and I don’t reckon it matters keeping it a secret from you two anymore.” Applejack took a deep breath, preparing herself for the truth she had been holding back for so long. “There aint enough food,” said Applejack a little sadly. “Duh, we already knew that,” said Spike. “That’s why we’ve been in such a hurry.” “No,” said Applejack shaking her head. “You don’t understand. I mean, there isn’t enough food to feed everypony once this is over. Our stores were already low when this started and my apple orchards were dying even before we left. “Even if we fix this, get the Sun moving again, bring Celestia back… we don’t have enough food to last us through the months of waiting for new crops, let alone through winter.” Both Spike and Luna were silent, shocked by Applejack’s words. “Twilight asked me not to tell nopony. She said it would just make everyone worry.” “No… no food…” said Spike. His tummy grumbled at the thought. “Spike, you eat gems,” reminded Luna. “I think that those will be unaffected by the heat.” “Oh, yeah, right,” said Spike. “So what are we going to do for everyone else?” Applejack looked away. “I don’t know,” said Applejack. “I’m not sure there is anything we can do… But I know that if we can fix this river, we can at least get water to Ponyville, and Oatsfield and San Donkey. So that’s what I’m gona do.” The train continued its uncontrolled careen down the tracks. For the third time, Rarity and Trixie had recast the spell and propelled them forward. The three ponies had braced themselves against the back of the compartment. While the acceleration was still unpleasant, it didn’t toss them to the ground. “SO BORED!” cried Pinkie, who had taken up a spot near the front of the compartment. “This isn’t as fun as train rides normally are.” “We aren’t exactly here to have ‘fun’,” pointed out Trixie. The light blue unicorn had taken up the spot furthest away from both Rarity and Pinkie. “We just have to endure it,” said Rarity. “Being in this filthy cabin is not my ideal travel situation either, but we don’t have much of a choice. At least we don’t have to actually shovel coal into the engine.” Pinkie let out a snorting laugh. “What? What is so funny.” “Picturing you shoveling coal,” said Pinkie with a smile. “I don’t think your white coat and tiny black sooty lumps would mix. Besides, these trains don’t run on coal, they haven’t for a hundred years now.” “They… they don’t?” asked Rarity in confusion. “Nope,” said Pinkie with a shake of her head. “They did, at first, but it was all yucky.” “What… what do they run on?” asked Trixie, unable to contain her curiosity. “Uh, magic, of course,” said Pinkie rolling her eyes. “The boiler is enchanted with a heating spell. This lever,” she pointed to a lever with a red handle, “makes it hotter when you push it forward and cooler when you pull it back.” “Wait, are you telling us we don’t need to keep… keep blasting this thing?” cried Rarity. “We could have just pushed a lever and moved the train?” Pinkie laughed again. “Of course not silly!” said Pinkie with a playful roll of her eyes. “The boiler is empty. No water.” She tapped a gauge. Rarity couldn’t make out the numbers on it from across the cabin but the needle appeared to be pointing to what might be empty. “Also, the enchantment is gone. I tried it back before we went up to Canterlot.” “Gone,” asked Trixie in confusion. “What do you mean gone?” Pinkie shrugged. “Just that, it isn’t there anymore,” said Pinkie. “I didn’t think that could happen. At least they never covered it in training… hehe training, I never get tired of that.” “That is because it can’t happen,” said Trixie. “Enchantments don’t just vanish. It takes a really powerful spell to break them. You must be reading it wrong.” “Nope,” answered Pinkie. “I double-uble-uble checked it.” “Impossible, let the Great and Powerful Trixie take a look,” said Trixie moving forward importantly. “Magic is a job for unicorns anyhow, not earth ponies. Only one such as I, The Great and Powerful Trixie can…” “Can you please give that a rest!” interrupted Rarity. “Excuse me!” cried Trixie, stopping halfway across the cabin. “Is it really so hard to just say ‘I’ or ‘me’? Must you insist on always proclaiming your silly title whenever you say anything?” asked Rarity, her voice agitated. “Yes,” said Trixie. “The Great and Powerful Trixie must always proclaim herself. Least the common ponies forget they are in the presence of The Great and Powerful Trixie!” Rarity’s eyes flickered with anger, while Trixie shot contempt back at her. “All you seem to think about is yourself,” snapped Rarity. “Because that’s what’s important!” shouted Trixie. “It’s not like I have any friends!” Silence fell over the train. Trixie’s eyes suddenly widened and she turned away, realizing she had let slip something she shouldn’t have said. She turned away from the other two, trying to hide her face. “Is that… do you really believe that?” asked Rarity kindly. “Of course,” said Trixie, not turning to look at the other two. “I don’t have any friends. No pony has ever wanted to be my friend. I came along with you guys, but I know you don’t really want me here.” “But we are friends,” said Pinkie. Trixie let out a humorless laugh. “We are,” insisted Rarity. “If you want us to be.” “You don’t have to pretend,” said Trixie quietly. “I know that behind my back you all despise me. The moment you don’t need me anymore you’ll send me away… just like always.” “We wont,” said Rarity. Trixie felt a hoof lightly touch her on the shoulder. “When this is all over, you are more than welcome to come and stay in Ponyville and be our friend.” Trixie turned her head slightly, looking at Rarity and trying hard to read her expression. There was no malice, no dislike, no lie that Trixie could see. “I… I would like that,” said Trixie, a slight smile coming to her face. Suddenly she and Rarity were both smashed together as Pinkie grabbed them up in a crushing hug. “And we can have parties, and cake, and sing…” cried Pinkie, tightening the hug further. “She’s joking about the singing part, right?” asked Trixie. It had actually taken three more teleports to reach the distant cliffs, rather than the two that Twilight had anticipated. Long range teleportation wasn’t something Twilight did very often and having a passenger along made each one more difficult. However, they had at last reached their destination. With a flash, Twilight and Fluttershy popped into existence. They had only appeared a few hooves from the edge of the cliff. Fluttershy had let out a tiny shriek of terror before leaping into Twilight’s forelegs. Or, at least she would have, if Twilight had been prepared. Instead, the two ponies collided. Twilight was knocked to the ground and Fluttershy sat atop her, looking embarrassed. “Oh my… I’m so sorry Twilight,” said Fluttershy in her ever bashful voice. “Usually, somepony is always ready to catch me.” “It’s okay,” answered Twilight, her voice slightly exhausted. “If you could, you know, get off me, that would be great.” “Oh, sorry,” apologized Fluttershy again. She hopped off Twilight. The lavender unicorn slowly worked her way back to her hooves. It seemed to take a great effort. “Are you alright?” “I’ve been through worse,” said Twilight with a slight stretch to ensure nothing was broken. “Just, try to warn me the next time you decide to do that, okay?” “Oh, um, okay,” said Fluttershy meekly. Twilight gave an involuntary shiver. She suddenly felt cold. At first she thought it might be from a chilly breeze, yet the air here was still and silent. But the air was simply icy cold. The sensation boggled Twilight’s brain. Turning, Twilight glanced behind her. In the distance was the mountain on which Canterlot sat. It was still prominent on the horizon but much smaller than a few hours ago. They had traveled a good distance so far. Twilight shivered again. She turned her attention forward, to the path still to travel ahead of them. From this point on there were no forest, or hills, just flat, cold, tundra. Far off in the distance, were the peaks of the Crystal Mountains. The tiny points were little more than gray shadows against the cloudless sky. The mountains weren’t actually made of crystal, they were made of ice. One massive glacier extended from ocean to ocean. It was tall enough in places to be a mountain and many mistook it for snow covered rocky peaks, although Twilight knew better. For some reason, she had almost expected them to have melted away completely under the intense heat. While it was impossible to tell from this distance if the Sun had had any affect on them. Twilight could still certainly feel the chill in the air. She had no idea it extended so far out. “We should rest here for a few hours,” said Twilight. Her eyes turned down to the sandy ground, broken up by small patches of cold gray stone. “Then I can teleport us the rest of the way.” “Um, shouldn’t we just keep walking?” asked Fluttershy. “I mean, if it’s okay with you?” Twilight smiled a weary smile. It was getting hard to stand, let alone to keep talking or walking. “You might not be too tired, but I just moved us a days worth of travel in a few hours,” said Twilight. “I’m not sure I could really walk any further.” “I could carry you,” suggested Fluttershy with a slight blush of embarrassment. “Really?” asked Twilight, a little surprised. “Well, I probably could,” correct Fluttershy, looking away timidly. “I mean, I’ve carried lots of hurt animals before, although none quite as big as a pony.” Twilight thought for a long moment. With Twilight teleporting them as far as she could, and Fluttershy walking them as far as she could, they might reach the element even faster. However, Twilight shook her head. “I wouldn’t really be able to rest,” said Twilight. “While we might go a little further now, we wont go as far later. No, I think it best to just stop for a bit.” “Um, okay,” said Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus lay down on the dirt beside Twilight. She let out a little shiver, as though feeling the cold for the first time. “Oh my, it really is cold here, isn’t it?” “Yes,” agreed Twilight with a nod. “The closer we get to the mountains, the colder it will get.” Twilight let her eyes close. She felt the edge of sleep calling to her, beckoning her into dreams. “Twilight,” asked a soft voice that kept her lingering at the boundaries of sleep. “Um-hum,” answered Twilight, more just agreeing to her name than truly responding. “It’s not your fault, and I don’t blame you for it,” said Fluttershy. Twilight half opened a sleepy eye, not really following what Fluttershy was on about. “And, I’m sorry to ask you, but I have to know… do you think Rainbow Dash is okay?” Up until those last words, Twilight hadn’t really been listening to Fluttershy. But the mention of their lost friend pushed Twilight firmly back into the waking world, with all thoughts of sleep fading from her mind. “I honestly don’t know, Fluttershy,” said Twilight. The yellow pegasus looked a little put-out by Twilight’s less than reassuring words. “I know it isn’t what you wanted to hear but no pony, in the history of Equestria has ever faced anything like this before. I just don’t know if we can win against this.” “Oh, okay,” said Fluttershy, visibly drooping and curling tighter on herself. “It’s just that… that I…” Fluttershy looked away, her cheeks turning suddenly red with embarrassment. “You just what?” asked Twilight. “Nothing, it’s not important,” answered Fluttershy, refusing to look at her friend. Twilight got up from the ground and crossed the short distance to where Fluttershy was. Carefully she lowered herself down beside the other mare. “What, what’s wrong?” asked Twilight seriously, her eyes locked on Fluttershy. “I could hear her,” said Fluttershy softly. Twilight’s expression changed to puzzlement. “Hear… her?” asked Twilight uncertain what her friend meant. “Rainbow Dash,” explained Fluttershy. “I heard her voice, every time you teleported us, I could hear her, calling for us…” Twilight’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, yet no words seemed to come out. “You probably think I’m being silly…” said Fluttershy looking away. “No,” said Twilight quickly. “No, I don’t think that at all. Did you really hear her?” For a moment, Fluttershy hesitated then she nodded, ever so slightly. “Rainbow really is a tough girl. She came back once and I know we can bring her back again.” “But what if she can’t come back,” asked Fluttershy. “What if by the time we find her it’s too late to save her and she is stuck that way forever? What if it’s too late for everypony…” Fluttershy suddenly broke down into sobs. Twilight put a hoof around her, and Fluttershy turned her face into Twilight’s chest and cried. “We are who we are,” said Twilight quietly, almost to herself. “No spell can change who we really want to be. Only we can decide that. Magic might make us look different on the outside, but it can’t change who we are inside.” Twilight looked down at Fluttershy who was still crying softly. “I know Rainbow is waiting to come back, that she wants to come back. We just have to show her and the others the way… somehow.”