//------------------------------// // 17. Balance // Story: Radiance // by flamevulture17 //------------------------------// [Balance] North of the fishing station, Rainbow Dash sat motionless on the ledge of the highest peak she could find, one that had a good view of the entire region. It was good to revisit the cliffs, having snuck out earlier to find them. She could see everything from that elevation, towering over the vista that rose out of the ocean blue, surrounded by the most soothing winds and fantastic landscape she has witnessed so far. Rumors of places like these on Equestrian shores spread as long as there had been ponies to hear them, but never she had the opportunity to go out and experience them for herself. I was like a dream come true. There was only one problem. This was definitely not Equestria. Worse yet, it was not home. Still, the blissful scent of the churning currents crashing into the continent blow filled Rainbow with a peace known only to her, a kind of nostalgic repose that she longed for the second she left home. Her real home. It reminded her of her days with her dad. The days that—until very recently—she wouldn't admit she had. Days cuddling in the soft embrace of her father while watching the sun dip below the western edge of the world. The only thing that could make the splash of vibrant colors of the sunset better was the one pony able to make her feel at home. He was her home. Wherever he may be, she hoped he was okay. This place, however; this mysterious place, way off the map, beyond the horizon, was the kind of frontier she set out to look for. She always wanted to travel—especially as a member of the Wonderbolts—showing ponies of Equestria her skillful moves and unique stunts. Though, there were times where she thought of slowing down. It would have been nice to just see the world on a more personal level, with her father by her side. She had already begun that journey long ago, but was never able to finish after deciding to leave home. She closed her eyes in brief regret. Rainbow's complexion stayed as neutral as possible when she thought about her past, her sleek body and spectacular hooves planted on the rock that locked her in place. All that moved was her tail and mane fluttering with the breeze and her feathers ruffling for the same reason. The series of islands east of her position were quite alien to her. She had seen no such display of weird rock formations in her life, not even in pictures. If there were books about them, she hadn't read them. It was close to stealing the spotlight from the rest of the scenery, but upon finding the full view of the encompassing bay and countryside from her present location, it came a close second. The yellow glow of the sun captured the land so perfectly, it adorned the earth with its divine protection. She thought of who to thank for raising the sun in the human world, assuming humans controlled the celestial body that gave them glorious light and life. Such beauty tempted her to frolic in the sunshine, fly high and free, and forget the world. Life called out to her, one whisper at a time. She angled her head downward, peering over the edge of the sheer hundred-foot drop to the cluster of sharp boulders below. Just beyond that, poking out like a needle, was a long wooden pier stretched out into the bay. Beyond that, a small town, about the size of Ponyville—if not a bit larger, and a river flowing out into the sea from the mainland. The settlement was probably populated with a bunch more humans. A sigh left the blue pegasus. It reminded her yet again of the past, only this time of her friends. The five ponies that lit up the void inside her with their brutal honesty, demure delight, hyperactive antics, charming glamor, and brisk genius. They were her new home now. If only she could find a way to let go of her old one to make room for a little more. Since separating from her best friends, she started to miss every one of them, even Twilight. The purple unicorn hardly gave her credit for anything. Everything Rainbow did here only upset the mare even more, and she got yelled at a number of times for it. Yet, the athletic pegasus could only handle the scrutiny for so long that her pride was beginning to deteriorate right in front of her. It was a battle between captive compliance, and lawless liberation. She was somewhere in between; fighting her instincts, keeping it together, and suppressing the guilt. Despite not seeing eye to eye, she and Twilight were lost in the wilderness together, stolen from the rest of their friends by an unknown force for Celestia knows how long. News of their disappearance would no doubt reach the other Elements of Harmony. They were probably searching Ponyville at that very moment. Pinkie Pie was most likely leading the hunt, tirelessly digging through every crack and crevasse to find her missing friends. It was the logical thing to assume from the illogical party pony. The loyalties she shared with her friends was stronger than ever, or at least, thus far. If she had her Element with her—the shiny red necklace—maybe have her chance at proving her worth and help with the drive to find a way back to Equestria. Although, on second thought, the Elements never worked individually, but as part of the whole. That wish didn't make her feel any better. Rainbow felt useless, having to sit by idly and have Twilight and Cadence do all the work. This did not suit so her well in their current predicament. If anything, she wanted to help. Even the humans were more productive the she was; letting go of past wrongs, correcting most of their mistakes through compromise, discovering problems largely overlooked—one of which causes collateral impairment to unicorns—and proposing solutions to said problems, all in good nature. They proved to be fierce towards each other, sure, but they also revealed to have a soft side. Ponies weren't so different, but in the humans' case, it seemed to affect their behavior far more deeply than in equines. As ascribed in her own personal assessment, humans were interesting indeed. Wicked and complex beings lacking in magic, but strong at heart. The female one, Kate, trapped within the body of Princess Cadence, handled the change well. She fought to keep her hysteria at bay—even if some screws were loose—and persisted under the weight of distress. Vanquishing fear for a more collected inner state of mind, recognizing that it was best to stay relaxed under desperate circumstances. She held on, refusing to fall. Most of the time, she was quiet, admiring the godlike equine form that took her life by surprise. Good thing the power of magic didn't corrupt her. The older one, Lucas, unofficial de facto leader of the group, was the most dignified and translucent. That's more of a compliment than an insult. She didn't know much about the man, only that he always knew what do every time something came to bite them in the flank, or threaten to tear them apart. He did his best to solve the overwhelming issues while holding the group together. When all was well and done, he'd move on, only glancing behind as a means of advice for avoiding future calamities. That couldn't be any more true when he started to rant about power and magic and fantasy and emptiness and hurt and the misfortunes of man. Whatever was going on in that cryptic head of his, he actively tried to dispose of the negative thoughts that grew like a cancer. He was the only one Rainbow could not sympathize with. As for Stanley, a man bravely seeking for a new life, he took the longest to befriend—even though it had only been less than a day since their first encounter. He constantly saw her as a ruthless demon who was sent to punish him for his disregard for authority and did everything to make his life miserable. As exaggerated as that might sound, such caricature applied to herself in a way. Whether negating nefarious resistance or doubling its effects, it didn't matter, both of them unstable... to a certain point. It took but one tall tale to find out he wasn't evil, just misunderstood. Yes. All just a big misunderstanding. She and Stanley had a lot in common as it seemed, and were rather emphatic about their respective histories while up on that hill, but kept the matter confidential. That conversation felt so long ago. Shortly afterward, it's like it never happened, saved as a tactic of emotion to boost moral spirit. Yet again did it remind her of her father. But with Stanley, it made her nearly cry about it. She wasn't about to be turned into a sap by a human. Though, in all honesty, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If her friends knew what she told Stanley, they'd show far more acceptance and empathy and strain themselves everyday to help her through rough times if and when they affected her, perhaps even help her search for the truth about her dad. No. She couldn't to go through with it. She couldn't. She needed to stop thinking about it. It's all just a distant memory. Weeping about it would get her nowhere. Telling her friends would only cause further hurt. But would it? They were her best friends. They'd understand. Right? She didn't want rejection. She refused to step over the line she set for herself. Sometimes it's best to keep things to herself. Sometimes. Someday she'd free herself from the pale clouds clogging up her mind. The mist was thick. The repercussions returning. The hunger rising. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and waited. Her ears flicked on occasion. She yawned. She hadn't been able to get a good nights sleep in days, that much she could tell. Though not in vain, her body was quite versatile. Though, she could only go so far. The hype of adventure to the Crystal Empire kept her from slowing down, and now, after the storm of wild surprises and into a bittersweet daybreak, she became so much more aware of her weaknesses. Too many nerves in her body wouldn't allow her to take a break, denying her comfort and security. She vowed to protect her friends at all costs, but failed at every turn. Her thoughts coiled in on themselves, senses drowning with the unbroken wind all over her body, and a distant thumping sound boomed in between each heartbeat. ...wait. The rapid thumping sound made her eyes shoot open and sent her ears swiveling and flicking reflexively. As soon as she heard it pound in on her ears, she quickly determined that it was not a figment of her imagination, but from an external source that compressed the air molecules together in short bursts, orbiting a single point and vibrating the hairs all over her body, soaking as far into her skin. Any pegasus could have felt it. Rainbow Dash snapped up, her brain revving into overdrive. What is that sound? She asked herself. She began slicing away at the landscape before her. She saw nothing. She quickly turned around. Still nothing. Then where is— The moment she looked towards the blue sky, a small shiny object sped in her direction at blazing speeds. She could clearly see that object getting closer. Upon closer inspection, it had the shape that resembled one of Pinkie Pie's strange contraptions with thin metal blades spinning so fast, all that could be seen was a perfect circle, creating strong pulses, ferociously slashing the air it swam in. There were other blades on the tail jutting from the rear of the craft, though much smaller and less noisy. Maybe this was the airplane Lucas warned her about. Although Pinkie called her crude machine a chopper, aptly named for the way if chopped the air on each rotation. How exactly such a craft worked, Rainbow would never know. It seemed like a redundant gimmick; a useless gadget, serving no real purpose for pegasi. As she thought about what it could be, it flew closer. She had nearly forgotten about why she was up on the cliff in the first place. She was supposed to stay vigilant, but her mission took advantage of her gloomy state and slithered away unnoticed. What was she out here for again? Upon realization, her eyes melted in her sockets, irises nearly vanishing, and head spinning in circles. Oh no. Immediately, Rainbow Dash flared her wings and took the air, blowing dust off the cliff and creating a large cloud. She had no time to worry about subtleties. The others needed to be informed on the impending company. Rainbow was about two miles from the station, having to traverse over the green mountains and untouched fields of trees. She picked up the pace, flying as fast as her wings could take her, but the sound and metal aircraft continued to pursue the azure pegasus. Whatever it was, it was fast. But not fast enough. Flying at maximum velocity; fast enough to blow clouds apart, but far short of a sonic Rainboom the coastal valley and beach finally came into view. A pegasus' sleek shape depended to their breed and muscles. Not all pegasi were equally aerodynamic. Pitching her body right, Rainbow Dash banked and quickly descended to the wooden structure below, a long rainbow streak tailing in her wake. *Thud* *Thud* *Clunk* *SMASH* A series of loud noises, followed by tiny distinct pings and rattles, ricocheted throughout the room to create a cacophony of unpleasant sounds. As the bright light eased its intensity; Lucas, Stanley, and Twilight Sparkle had their eyes shielded behind their hands and hoof respectively. Stitching their eyelids shut was not enough. Soon, the light died to safe levels and the sounds ceased splintering their ears. Each of them froze where they stood like they were paralyzed by the blast of intense light and sound waves, too afraid to discover the lounge in complete disarray. It was the right assumption. Those crashes were unmistakeably the sound of two bodies violently hitting the floor and shattering glass/ Lucas was the first to lower his arm from his face. A gasp slipped up. What he found was what he expected. Complete chaos. Paper was everywhere, the sofa tipped over, thousands of glass shards sprinkled on the floor, and worst of all... Lying motionless on the floor, on opposite ends of the room, was Kate and Princess Cadence. He quickly determined that the deafening sound wave proved to be a little more physical than anticipated. The woman was pushed back, violently enough for her body weight to knock over the large sofa on its back, while the alicorn was thrown clear across the room, narrowly missing the couch behind her and smacking into the wall, creating a jagged hole of rotting wood older than the building itself. A cloud of dust swallowed the alicorn. When Stanley and Twilight finally recovered from their temporary immobilization, Lucas ran to the pink mare's aid, picking up her head up and pulling her away from rubble that continued to crumble. When all was made sure that she was clear of the debris, he brushed her pink and gold mane from her face and free of dust, giving her clean air to breathe. He tried shaking her awake, but she would not come to. The captain fought the urge to slap her again and instead opted for alternatives. He had some ideas, but would not leave Kate to endure it alone. He also held back the mist that began to seep into his eyes. No tear would be shed just yet. Of all the horrible disasters that could happen, this was the worst possible one, and just as things were looking up, magic came to strike them down without mercy. She appeared to mostly unharmed, only a few bruises and cuts. Nothing the alicorn couldn't handle. Her state of mind, however, was a totally different story. She remained unresponsive to his touch and attempted to joggle her mind from the abyss that ripped open beneath her, trapping her in the dark yet again. Lucas whispered in her ear. “W-wake up,” he quietly said, shivering. “I need you to come back. Don't do this. Don't leave us leave again.” He seriously hoped things wouldn't go from worse, to downright heartbreaking, if not tragic. The man pulled her closer to his chest and hugged the sleeping pony's head, careful not to poke his eye out with her spiral horn. The captain could feel the weak thuds of her equine heart, making an effort to keep the pony alive. A true sign of life. He looked down and smiled, slightly relived. “You're gonna be okay.” It was then that Stanley slowly took a few steps closer, having watched his cousin quiver with Kate in his arms from a safe distance. It was crushing to think how unexpected moments like this can really bring a person to their knees. In Lucas' case, this prospect was literal as it was figurative, but he wasn't the only one affected by it. “Is she alright?” Stanley said softly. His cousin glanced at him, waiting a few seconds to respond. The man blinked irregularly, studying Stanley's composure. Lucas nodded. “She's fine.” The navigator desperately wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but those two very words were usually a disguise for the dread churning inside to cover up an obvious lie. He placed a hand over his mouth and rubbed his cheeks. His breathing was silent, laced with that nagging feeling of doubt, hoping—no—begging it wasn't true. On the other side of the room, Twilight drowned in a similar state. She attended to Cadence, flipping the human on her back. She lit her horn and detected no broken bones or internal hemorrhaging that greatly affected her health. Fortunately enough, she was still alive. The type of magic involved from the resulting blast was anypony's guess. After her brief scan, she ran a hoof through her silky brown hair and looked at her sadly. There was nothing she could possibly do to make the guilt go away for putting her the loving alicorn—her dearest foalsitter—into such a position. Ever since using the mind spell the day before, it has caused nothing but trouble, and to have it end like this, Twilight wouldn't consider thinking about the possibilities. With a rueful expression swallowing her whole, she was oblivious to the footsteps approaching from behind. “How is she?” Stanley asked a few feet away. Twilight slowly turned to face him, keeping her composure fixed on staying hopeful. “She is stable,” she said. “She has no major traumas to her body or any visible abnormalities. She is, as you can see, unconscious and her clothes mangled, but otherwise she is fine.” There go those words again, Stanley secretly complained. “How did you manage to figure that out?” “I used a rudimentary medical examination spell.” She smiled proudly. Stanley looked unsure of her quick thinking. “Really? So what about her... mental state? Did that weird magic affect her in some freaky way? Again?” “We can't be absolutely sure until she wakes up.” Twilight grimaced. “I hope not.” “Now what do we do?” Stanley generalized. Lucas and Twilight both glanced up at him. They couldn't see each other from their level, but through Stanley's solemn demeanor did the uncertainty transfer in full. They were quiet of a second. None dared to continue thinking about the harm done to their friends. All that could be heard was the crackling of glass dust beneath Stanley's think shoes as he paced and the hum of the outside howl filling their ears. Each of them were secretly panicking about the consequences of tampering with untold powers of magic conflicting with their lives, Lucas especially. Even Twilight was speculating whether magic was highly unstable and extremely dangerous in the human world. Some theories adhered as such. In Equestria, most magic was controlled by ponies, for ponies. However, there were certain things that exist; callous things, morbid things, mysterious things, things that were only found in specific areas designated as hot zones of cryptic and dark dwellings. Most famous to the residents of Ponyville was the Everfree Forest, filled with danger and haunted by nothing but nightmares. Princess Celestia had taught the prodigious unicorn to overcome her fears of the unknown, but it wasn't until her friends came along that she truly realized how much she valued the strength of courage. In doing so, she managed to successfully defeat her greatest horrors and immortal enemies, including the evil of Nightmare Moon and the corruption of Discord. As for Chrysalis and Sombra, she had Cadence to thank for that. And now, the pony that saved her life twice, needed saving. It pained her to be responsible for ripping her consciousness from her own body and implanting it in the identity of another. Nothing could describe it better than the simple act of betrayal, intentional or not. It was a cold feeling, the shivers diving deeper. She snapped out of her self-conscious contemplation when the inharmonious noise of glass clinging together rippled in her ears louder than she could think. She followed the sound to find Stanley in the process of sifting through the mass of broken pieces of the table for something. At first, she was confused on what he was doing, but suddenly remembered the cause of this mayhem. Twilight levitated a pillow from the floor and slid it under Cadence's head for comfort. Reluctant to leave her side, she stood up and carefully walked around the sofa, stepping over each glass shard that pinched the bottom of her hooves. The young man was crouched in the middle of the room, pushing handful after handful of glass out of the way in search for the small Crystal Heart. Created out the same material, it was a challenge identifying the Heart buried within all the individual fragments. The only thing that remained intact were the silver legs that once supported the unified slab of glass that used to be the coffee table. About half a minute into the search, Stanley finally found what he was looking for. He paused for a second, staring at his find for a moment. Sweeping the surrounding glass away from the figurine responsible, encircling it in the chaos it created, he was careful not to lay a finger on the ornament for fear of suffering the same fate. Stanley turned to Twilight. “I take it this wasn't supposed to happen.” “No,” she regretfully admitted. “Not at all.” “And you're not the one to blame?” He said, catching her by surprise. “I— ...what?” “Don't get me wrong, I know it wasn't your fault directly, but if this magic followed you here, who knows what else it will do? For all we know, it could blow us all up if it wanted to. Hell, it could even spread across the world and reek havoc.” Twilight tripped over words to refute that. Magic itself, no matter the kind, was not a living entity. It could not think. It could not feel. It had no benevolent or malevolent intentions. It was not capable of rationale, no more than a rock having no feelings of love and hate. Whatever the case, this incident had to be something far more prominent than a simple spell and arbitrary magic. “W-well...” the unicorn began. “Come on, man,” Lucas cut in, now standing behind the couch. “You know that's ridiculous. That can't happen... well... at least I hope it won't happen, but we can't just go on saying we're all doomed.” “I strongly agree.” Twilight lifted her head high. “Magic does not run rampant whenever it wants like smoke. It is contained within all living creatures, like me for instance, and sometimes even inanimate objects, like the Elements of Harmony, but I don't know how magic affects the physics of this world. It is unpredictable, yes, but we must stay cautious of the risks and remain resilient and on task.” “Yeah,” the captain nodded and grinned. “what she said.” Stanley felt like the center of scrutiny, picked apart by logic and obscure information about the supernatural, two ideas that weren't always mutually exclusive. The silence made him feel smaller, their stares boring down at what's left of his dignity. Eventually, he gave in. “Okay okay, I get it,” he muttered. “But what about this thing?” He threw his hands at the glass heart. “If it's not a curse, than what happened?” “I don't know.” Twilight twirled her head at both at the embodiment of Cadence and Kate, then at the real Kate and Cadence respectively, hoping to formulate theories by doing so. It was the first time that she forgot who was who. It took only her guilt and another look to serve as a reminder. Stanley grunted. “Well, then what can you tell us about magic? Is there something else we need to know that you're not telling us?” Lucas frowned and leaned closer to Twilight. “Don't answer that.” “Dude, we know nothing about anything regarding magic.” “And maybe it's best we don't.” “You can't be serious?” Stanley was almost ready to burst. He then beamed at the purple mare. “Please tell me!” “I'd rather not take sides.” Twilight backed up slowly. “That's enough.” The captain left his post and walked around the sofa for intimidation purposes. Luckily, with less contempt eating Stanley alive, his cousin did not explode into a fit of rage. It wouldn't have been a pretty sight. “You need to calm down and back off.” Stanley plotted down on the last sofa standing and crossed his arms, grumbling to himself incoherently. Lucas left it at that, unable to find the right words to say. Another argument would get them nowhere, speculation said nothing about what was true or not, and switching topics was just a waste of time. They were tight on time as it is. He started pacing back and forth, praying for a miracle. His plead was answered, but not all components of his request were entirely accurate. He could hear faint whoosh outside, zeroing in on the station. Unfamiliar with the sound, it could be a number of things, but only two came to mind. Before he knew it, Rainbow Dash came blasting through the door, skidding to a stop after sliding halfway across the room on the carpet. Her expert feat of acrobatics landed her just shy of the wall at the other end. Without taking a moment control her rapid breathing that took hold, she shed her body from head to hoof from a thin layer of dust, then opened her muzzle to speak. “There's an 'airplane' thingy coming this way.” She panted dizzily. “And fast!” “Okay, NOW we're screwed.” Stanley immediately threw his arms in the air, emphasizing his hysterical vexation. Lucas quickly sprung into action and ran back over to Kate, lifting the alicorn's head. He ignored the pain it may inflict on her and shook her more vehemently, desperately needing the madness to end. “Come on, Kate. You have to snap out of it. Come on. Come on.” If he payed any attention to Rainbow Dash, he'd find her ears flat and mouth hanging open in absolute shock. Actually that's exactly what he did, heeding to her silent cries after receiving no response from Kate. A single drop of sweat trickled down her left temple. “Whoa, what happened in here?” she shrilled. Lucas stirred upon hearing her exorbitant squeak right in his ears. He shook out the ringing in his ears and considered executing his emergency plan. “There's no time for that. Here, I need you to hold her head up.” He gently lowered the Kate's head. “I need to get something.” Before Rainbow could ask him to specify, he was already halfway to the hallway door. “Where are you going!?” Stanley yelled as he disappeared out of the room. Twilight promptly attended back to Cadence. All she could do was wait for their existence to become known to more humans, no telling what will happen when that time came. A sliver of Stanley's paranoid ramblings and absurd conjecture about the Coastguard made it's way into her subconscious as she began to feel the same sort of anxiety that would have been appropriate for the situation. But she knew better. Rainbow circled the room, examining the discorded state of the lounge wide-eyed, leaving no sight unattended. Everything was left in nothing but shambles. There was glass everywhere. The only thing not entirely broken were the windows, holding steady with minor cracks near their hinges. It was almost too much to look at, but she's seen worse. She joined Twilight, brushing up against her shoulder. “What happened here?” The unicorn did not respond. Only her fixed gaze on the female human at her hooves. “Uh, Twilight?” Rainbow waved a hoof in front of her face. Twilight blinked and looked at her friend, using only her sadness to transmit her message. “Is she...?” Twilight said nothing. “No way. There's no way.” Rainbow raised her voice only slightly louder than a whisper. Twilight finally opened her mouth to reply, but the creak of rusty door hinges interrupted her train of thought. Lucas had returned from wherever it was he went, carrying a metal bucket in his hands. By the way he was holding, it appeared to be filled with water. This confused her greatly. The captain waddled over to Kate, dragging his feet along the carpet. As he reached the alicorn, towering six feet over body, he pushed the bucket above his head and pour the water out, dumping it all over Kate's face. As soon as the ice cold liquid bombed onto the unconscious pony, she immediately jolted off the floor. Wiping the water from her soaked fur with her dry hooves, she flipped over on her stomach and lifted herself off the floor. Quickly shaking away stray droplets from her mane, she activated her horn with ease, ready to fight the assailant who assaulted her with water. “Easy there, Kate,” Lucas said, slowly lowering the bucket, gently putting it on the floor. “It's just tap water.” The alicorn swiveled around to face the voice from behind. Upon sighting the man, she eased the flow of magic shooting into her horn and pointed it somewhere else, backing down. “I'm glad you're awake, we've got a major problem,” he continued. “The Coastguard is here and we're out of time. Do you remember what happened a few minutes ago.” The mare noticed Lucas' height compared to her own. He stood taller by a couple feet, all while standing in a comfortable posture. She looked down, discovering a familiar sight before. Pink hooves and long ethereal mane of gold and violet. Crossing her eyes even more, a short muzzle protruded from her nose. It didn't take long, not long at all, for her eyes to light up gleefully and recoil like a spider crawled up her face. She gasped. “I— I'm—“ Her smile intensified. Stanley and Lucas were exchanging confusing looks, unsure of what to make of her shock. Whether she was thrilled or mortified, they stood frozen in place. “I'm me again!” she exclaimed, jumping up and down. It was then that Twilight Sparkle rushed over and stopped short of the sofa, doubt crossing her mind. With the alicorn as happy as Pinkie Pie on a normal day and her instinctual display of magical self-defense, there was only one explanation. “Cadence?” She chimed delicately, taking a step forward. “Twilight! How did this happen? How did you do it?” The mare's enthusiasm was positively swelling through every muscle in her virtuous body. “Are you really you?” Twilight sang skeptically. Cadence cringed at the unicorn apparent disbelief. She realized how out of character she was behaving. It wasn't like her to be overexcited. Adjusting her footing, planting her hooves firmly on the floor, she closed her eyes. Once she was in the proper position, she bent her knees she inhaled and brought a foreleg to her chest. After being absent from her body for nearly a full day, she held in the breath longer than usual to ensure an inner sanction of tranquility. Breathing out and completing the hoof gesture, she slowly opened her eyes to find the lavender mare frowning. It was long shot, but Cadence had another—more personal—skit that hit closer to home. The pony flexed each of her legs, bowing her upper body, and began skipping in place. “Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake. Clap your hooves—“ “—and do a little shake.” Twilight slowly completed the rhyme, only voicing the words and standing still, eyes sparkling. With no time to spare, she hurled herself at the graceful alicorn, nearly tackling her. “Oof.” Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Cadence's neck in tight embrace, a single tear leaving the corner of her eye. Burying her muzzle in the back of the pink pony's mane, sniffling. The hug lasted a good while, a few more sniffles and heartbeats ensued. For the longest time, Twilight longed to share warmth with her oldest friend. Of all the times that she was at the brink of losing a friend, this ranked among the most devastating. She'd do anything to keep the fellowship that had been built since she was a little filly. Twilight finally pulled away, rubbing her eyes. “Oh Cadence, I'm so sorry for what happened to you. I promise it will never happen again.” “I know you didn't mean it, Twilight. I do caution you the be careful next time.” A smile, a gentle smile, curved upon the true Cadence. During their short reunion, Lucas casually left the room and returned yet again with another bucket of water, pouring the load on Kate. The impact was quite painful as water splashed every which way, drenching the woman's skin and clothes. Kate didn't react as strongly as Cadence, choking on the water that raided her throat. She sat up on her elbows, coughing painfully. Several moans and globs of saliva flew from her tongue, spitting the burning irritation on the roof of her mouth. Her voice shivered with every breath. Every second from that second on, the pain began to slowly subside, but still strong enough to leave her crippled. “Ugg...gumph.” She brought a hand to cover the excess drool that accumulated in her mouth, fighting the urge not the vomit on the spot. Upon the short contact between her hand and face, she stopped moving, a spark igniting in her brain on the salient sensation. Opening her stoic eyes, the blurs splattered her vision with dull colors. The first thing she saw after her eyes sight slowly improved was the dismantled state of brown hair dangling from her head. Beyond that, the sofa obscured the rest of the room, begging the question of how and what. Suddenly she felt the intimate contact of another set of slender arms lifting her up from behind. It gave her quite a scare. “Welcome back, Kate.”