Rarity was completely exhausted.
It had been only three days since the pair had left on their adventure, and she already felt like it had been two months. Her hooves ached, her legs were tired, and she didn't even want to know what the state of her mane was in, but if it was anything like her tail... well... lets just say she was glad she had lost her mirror on the first day. More than anything else right now, she desperately needed a shower... or maybe a week at the spa.
Instead, the days were spent getting up as soon as the sun rose to its lofty peak. The two packed up their camp, then spent most of the day walking. Lunch was on the road, and the pair only stopped when the moon came out, where they would set up camp, set up light, and Twilight would insist that they continued to practice Rarity's technique with her sword. Twilight seemed to find immense pleasure with the practices, whether it was because she saw Rarity getting better, the fun in learning a whole new skill, or maybe it was because Twilight was having way too much fun throwing rocks and dirt clods at her.
Right now, she felt that the last guess was the most accurate.
“Come on, Rarity! You were doing so well and learning so fast! Now you are doing worse than your first day! Focus!” She heard Twilight fussing at her, several clumps of dirt slowly orbiting the lavender mare's head.
“Well excuse me if I'm a little tired after walking for several days.” Rarity closed her eyes as she flipped her mane to the other side of her head, “I think that with a day of rest, I could manage to d-”
She felt herself cut off by a clod of dirt smack her in the face.
Shaking the earth from her face, she noticed that Twilight was grinning at her, one of the clumps of dirt now missing from the lavender unicorn's magical grasp, “Not only are you letting your guard down in the middle of battle, but closing your eyes? That's not a good idea.”
Rarity gritted her teeth, “Twilight. I'm going to make you pay f-”
Twilight threw another clod of dirt towards her.
Rarity was ready this time, and stepped to the right, dodging the mass of dirt heading towards her. Just as she finished her movement, another projectile came towards her from the left. Dropping down, she ducked the second shot as it sailed over her head, missing by mere inches. Sensing a magic aura above her, she noticed that a third attack was coming from directly above. Rarity had no time to spare as she, much to her displeasure, rolled over, allowing the missile to slam into the ground where she stood only a fraction of a second before. After getting back upright, she looked around to gather her bearings, and realized she was now in a very bad position.
To her right, the second clod of dirt that was thrown at her before was floating in the air. To her left, the first was also waiting for the lavender unicorn's command to strike. Glancing upwards, she saw a new clod of dirt had replaced the one that impacted the earth. Behind her, there was another dirt clod that her opponent had somehow gotten behind her without her realizing.
And in front, there was Twilight, a devious smile plastered on her face.
A purple aura intensified around her horn.
The four object flew towards Rarity.
Time seemed to slow down as Rarity devised her impromptu movements. Igniting her horn, she wrested partial control over the dirt clod above her from her opponent. At the same time, she took her sword, just now being required to commitment, and angled it in an intercept course against the clod to her right. Finally, using whatever ounce of strength she had, she jumped. Just as her weapon and the projectile of dirt collided with each other, a light spray of debris coating her from the block, the clod to her left and the one that she stole from Twilight connected each other, neutralizing both. The one behind her continued uncontested, just barely grazing her as she flipped over it. She then used whatever magic she could muster within her, and pumped as she could into it.
The missile accelerated.
Rarity couldn't see what happened next while in the air, but from an audible squeal coming from her attacker's position, she suspected that she had done what she had intended: scaring the daylights out of Twilight. Rarity twisted in the air, and nimbly landed on her hooves. For a fleeting moment, she wish Rainbow Dash or Applejack could have seen her pull off the flip, knowing full well surprised gaping mouths is what she would receive as responses. That flip was something that she wouldn't have even dreamed of trying three days ago, and now she could normally do it without any trouble. Landing down, she smiled towards Twilight.
Twilight did not appear nearly as excited at the outcome as Rarity was, especially considering that Rarity was more effective at her dodging and magic usage than either had anticipated. Instead of only coming close to Twilight with the final projectile, Rarity had actually slammed the mass right into Twilight's face, and because of the shock and speed, toppled her over onto her back.
“Well... that wasn't what I was expecting,” Twilight groaned as she picked herself up into a sitting position, her head still swaying a little bit in dizziness.
Rarity gasped, “Oh darling, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you! I only intended...” She was cut off by Twilight holding a hoof in the air. Rarity noticed that her counterpart now sported a smile across her face, even with the large amount of dirt stuck to her mane.
“Sorry? Rarity! That was amazing! I knew you were getting better, but I didn't think that you were that athletic... err... no offense.”
“Well, unlike Pinkie, a lady like myself has to keep herself in tip top shape to keep a figure like this,” Rarity smiled as she walked closer, “Besides, having to babysit at least once a week does wonders for one's stamina.”
Twilight giggled, “Yeah. Those three Crusaders are a lively bunch, aren't they?”
“Yes... yes they were...” Rarity sighed, and looked down. The thoughts of her sister coming to her mind. Even if it wasn't her fault, she had abandoned Sweetie. Sure, her parents might have taken care of her after Rarity left, but they were out of town when the whole incident happened. And what about the other two?
She felt a cheek nuzzle her own. “I'm sorry...” was the only thing that her friend whispered.
Putting on a small smile, Rarity nuzzled back, “Think nothing of it, darling. I'm sure they were fine. Besides,” she pulled away to look into her violet eyes, “I can't change what's in the past now can I? We have a job to do.”
Twilight nodded, and turned towards the lake side clearing that they were going to set up camp, “Now, lets see if we can get this place set up now!” Once again, the two unicorns utilized their magic to construct their camp. It only took a few minutes, and when it was done, everything from the tent to the campfire was set up. All they needed was to make some food, and they would be set.
The white unicorn looked into her bag, and made a mental note to use the rest of the fruit that they had as soon as possible, “Well, Looks like we're having pears, apples, and this lime fruit that I made the mistake of picking up. No idea if its good or not,” she spoke as she passed one of each to her friend.
Smiling back, Twilight took the initiative to take a large bite out of the lime like she would an apple. Instantly, her face grimaced, and spat out the offending food from her mouth. “Sweet Celestia that was awful!”
Looking at her own fruit, Rarity decided to play it safe, and tossed it away. “Well, at least we have these,” She spoke as she took a small bite out of the apple. “They aren't nearly as good as Applejack's but I guess they... will... do...”
Rarity looked off into the distance, past Twilight, into the forest behind her. The sun was still up, so she could see the various shades of green and brown that made up the forest, but she still couldn't see past the thick foliage that the forest created. However, even being unable to see what was there, she knew something... important lay in the forest before her. She heard mumbling of a unicorn's voice enter her ears, but it wasn't important enough to drown out her desire for this sensation. This feeling was as if it was calling for her, telling her that she absolutely HAD to go towards it. She got up, and started to walk towards the the edge of the small clearing that the two had set up camp in, transfixed on her target.
She was suddenly shaken out of the hypnotic state by two purple hooves on her shoulders. “Rarity!” She heard Twilight yell, her face was merely a hoof away from her own.
“Huh? What? Yes darling? Must you yell?”
“Rarity, you completely zoned out there. I was calling for you for five minutes, but you just... kept staring off into the trees. What happened?”
Shaking her head, she replied honestly, “I don't know dear. It was as if something was calling for me, and me specifically.” Rarity looked back towards the treeline, the desire to find the source stronger than ever.
“Well...” Twilight thought out loud. Finally, she relented, “alright. Lets go figure this thing out. But lets take it slow, ok? I don't want to be caught off guard by some creature in here.”
Nodding, the pair, taking their saddlebags with them, trekked into the dense forest. The normally chipper talk the two had shared the past few days was sadly absent from their travel. Instead, the two had set into a silent walk, neither knowing what to say to the other. For her part, Rarity not only didn't know what to say, but also didn't want to say anything, for the feeling was getting stronger and stronger. Calling her. A part of her screamed for it. She felt a sudden desire for whatever was calling for her. She wanted it. She needed it.
She had to have it.
Rarity bolted, sprinting away from her friend as she dashed across the forest floor. Here, the ground was mostly clear, but on more than one occasion, Rarity felt a plant scratch her face or her legs, but for once, she didn't care about her appearance. She COULDN'T care. She wanted to find this thing, now a voice in her head, begging to be heard clearly. She needed it. Rarity picked up speed as she ran faster than she ever had before, barely registering a slowly disappearing yelling coming from behind her.
Still too slow, her hooves somehow provided even more speed to her . She swore that Rainbow would be envious of the speed she had obtained. Nimbly jumping over the errant log and dodging trees, she felt herself getting closer. Closer to her deepest desire in the world. The thing she wanted. Oh Celestia she needed it. All she needed was this voice to speak to her.
Suddenly, she hit the brakes as she skidded to a stop. Before her, was the opening of a massive cave the same size as Sarlaka's main entrance. The entrance was seemingly misplaced in the forest. It didn't cut into a side of a cliff, but instead, angled downward into the side of a hill, a simple stone staircase ending at a large iron door just a dozen steps down. The door itself was mostly devoid of any sort of decorative designs, but there were two things that stood out. The first, was the presence of three of the largest diamonds that she had ever seen before. Each was about the size of herself, and looked flawless, an impossibility for all she knew. The second, was the way these three diamonds were laid out. They were cut, and placed perfectly to represent a very particular symbol.
Her cutie mark.
Before Rarity could inspect it more, she was slammed forward by Twilight, who had failed to stop in time. Lurching forward, she was barely able to prevent the two ponies from falling down the short flight of stairs, though they did fall to the ground together. Groaning, Twilight eventually got up, shaking her head.
“Rarity,” the lavender unicorn spoke softly, “do me a favor, and never run off like that again.” Twilight looked up from Rarity to study the iron door that Rarity had discovered a few seconds earlier, “Wow... well... I'm guess we're here then.”
Shooting Twilight a slight glare, Rarity turned back towards the door to inspect it further. Even without the depiction of her cutie mark, it felt oddly... familiar. She approached it, the dim light from outside casting a soft shadow on the portal. Looking at it further, she noticed other than the cutie mark design, there wasn't any real textures or metalworking meant for decoration. Instead, only a few crossbeams crossed the door, giving it added structural integrity.
She lit her horn, allowing a simple light spell to be cast upon the door. A massive pull threw off her balance, a squeak emanating from her mouth as she was pulled closer to the door. While earlier, she wanted nothing more than to be in this spot, willing to abandon Twilight to get here faster, she now wanted nothing more than to get away from this force. Panic started to grip Rarity just as hard as the force which was now starting to yank her into the air. She heard muffled yelling as she was lifted off her hooves, the glow from her horn intensifying . Even with her eyes closed, the light was becoming too bright to handle. Eventually, she heard a loud bang, and just as quickly as it started, she was tossed to the stone below her, rolling down the stairs until her head thudded against the door.
Rubbing her temple, she heard Twilight run up next to her, saying something to her. She couldn't make it out the ringing in her ears, though it was obviously towards her. Something she did notice, once the dots in her eyes started to fade, was that the door was now partially ajar. Eventually, after sitting on her haunches for what felt like an hour, she was able to make out some of the things that Twilight was saying.
“... how the door opened, but I think it reacting to your horn. Maybe it is because the door itself is keyed to you? Though I have no idea how one could do that without having you personally with him or her. Maybe it reacted to the specific resonance of your magic? Though other unicorns could have the same resonance. Maybe your cutie mark? But that makes no sense. Maybe your element? But how can it sense your element without you using it? Ugh. It makes no sense!”
Rarity stood, catching Twilight partially off balance, “Well... there's no point in just standing out here dear, is there? Lets find that thing and get out of this... this... wretched place.”
She saw Twilight pause in shock for a moment over the sudden sternness in her voice, but nodded. Both of them pushed on the metal door, and peered into the darkness. Twilight took the lead as she lit her horn, and the pair descended into the void.
___________________________________________________________________________________
As Fluttershy flew, she heard Rainbow saying something on a cloud ahead of her. She was flying with all the speed she could attain in their long distance travel, but sprinting was something that she learned from Cloudsdale Flight School that was not a good idea to do over the distances that she was traveling. She could hear her flight coaches speaking to her as if it was yesterday. “Conserve your energy. Long, deep strokes of the wings. Coast, don't flap. Now give me twenty, Fluttershy!” Most of these points she tried to take to heart, but Rainbow was a much stronger flier than she was, and the cyan speedster wasn't making it easy for Fluttershy.
Just as Fluttershy was getting close to where Rainbow was crouched on a cloud, she heard her whisper, “Now!” and she darted off into the distance, putting a solid quarter mile between the two in just a few dozen seconds. Once Rainbow was nearly out of sight, her head looked in every direction, seemingly looking for something, before dropping back down onto a cloud, waiting once more.
At first, Fluttershy was sure that Rainbow's antics was because she was bored with flying at such a slow pace compared to the typically daredevil's breakneck speeds. However, over the course of a few days, it became more and more apparent that this wasn't the case. Instead, she had figured that the pegasus was taking things WAY too seriously, even by her own standards, and was treating this as a hostile infiltration into somepony's fortress.
Of course, this meant that Fluttershy was constantly tired.
At first, the trip had gone well. The first two days were filled with the two flying together, idle gossip passed between the pegasi one the first day, but absent on the second, though the silence was not an awkward one. Fluttershy blamed the muted flight on the lack of topics to talk about. At Rainbow's insistence, they flew above the cloud cover, the ground below them now obscured from sight. Before her, an endless expanse of white greeted her. Rainbow made sure to dart below the clouds ever so often to get their bearings, something Fluttershy longed to do, if to only catch a glance of the landscape below.
Now, though, the two hadn't bothered to stop last night. Rainbow had refused to stop, so the two flew through the night, so they could get to their destination that much faster. As a result, the two had been up for well over twenty four hours, and the sheer exhaustion was getting to Fluttershy. She wasn't mad at her companion over the 'forced march'. Instead, she was envious of her pegasus counterpart. Rainbow had so much strength and energy, that it felt like she could go on until she flew off the edge of Equestia and beyond. She, on the other hand, could barely keep her eyes open. Yawning, if she could... just... stay...
Snapping her eyes open, Fluttershy was forced to pick up the flapping of her wings before she fell below the cloud cover. Normally, her wings would be fighting back with excruciation pain at the stresses she was putting on them, but she had already gone through that phase half a day ago. Now, she couldn't even feel her feathered appendages. Fortunately, she found herself next to where Rainbow was crouched.
Fluttershy let herself just fall onto a cloud next to the one Rainbow was crouched on, not even looking to see if she had once again darted into the sky far ahead. Right now, all she could do is lay on this cloud, close her eyes, and pant. She noticed the sun suddenly dropping from the sky, the heat of the sunlight letting up. She also didn't hear anything other than her own breathing, so she guessed that Rainbow had abandoned... no... scouted ahead of them once again. It didn't matter though, she was done. She would just lay here, and let Rainbow go on.
In her labored breathing, she suddenly noticed a body standing over her. Turning her head slightly, she peered through her mane to see that it was indeed Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had come back just to protect her. Fluttershy smiled at the thought of her protector coming to defend her from unseen threats. There was no other reason for Rainbow to come back... right? No, no other reason at all.
Fluttershy's smile started to turn downwards. There was no other reason for Rainbow to stop, other than to wait for herself. Her weak self. They were just...
… stopped...
… and wasting precious time...
“I'm sorry,” was all Fluttershy could mutter, her face pressed into the cloud below her. She felt Rainbow looking at her, the disgust and shame in her eyes. How could she blame Rainbow anyways? The cyan mare was so strong, able to do so much, and Fluttershy was so weak. She shivered at the thought, the frigid air not helping any.
She suddenly felt a warm mass of fur lay next to her. “I'm the one who should be sorry 'Shy,” the heat source said, “I shouldn't have pressed you so hard.”
This was unlike the Rainbow she knew. Before, whenever Fluttershy fell short, Rainbow would yell at her in a friendly way, trying to make her a more assertive mare. Now... Rainbow actually sounded like she felt for Fluttershy in a different way. She wasn't sure how, and she wasn't sure where it came from, but this wasn't the pushy mare she was before, it was more of a... comforting one.
“I hate these clouds,” Rainbow eventually said.
If she wasn't confused before, Fluttershy was confused now. She looked to her left, watching Rainbow as she lay next to her, looking down at the cloud they lay on. She noticed that Rainbow was poking the cloud, as if inspecting it. “What... umm... do you mean Rainbow?” Fluttershy whispered so softly, she almost didn't hear it herself.
“You know me, I normally love clouds. Napping in them is the best thing in the world,” Rainbow said, keeping up her 'inspecting', “But these clouds are different. Remember when Discord first came to Ponyville, when all the clouds were cotton candy, and rained chocolate rain?”
Fluttershy nodded.
“Well, these might not be the same clouds, but they're probably just as connected to Discord as the others, and... I don't know. I just don't like it.”
Fluttershy watched as Rainbow continued her fidgety motions. She had no idea what to say, but she knew what she could do. Scooting even closer to Rainbow, she placed a hoof on Rainbow's hooves, causing the mare to stop her movements. For a few seconds, they sat there, Rainbow looking at the three hooves, two cyan and one yellow, in front of her, and Fluttershy looking at Rainbow's face. Then, Rainbow returned her gaze, relented, and gave the yellow pegasus a smile.
“Thanks...”
The two mares lay next to each other in silence. The cool air that had previously chilled Fluttershy was now blunted by her rainbow maned friend. Rainbow laid her head down on her own hooves, attempting to get some sleep. Sighing in contentment, Fluttershy did the same. With all that had happened, Fluttershy needed to get something off of her chest.
“Hey Rainbow?”
“... yeah 'Shy?”
“... umm... never mind Rainbow Dash...”
“Ya sure?”
“... yeah...”
A/N: There! A chapter I'm much more proud of! Also, hate to say it, but the time between updates will be closer to once a week now; my school and work schedules are kicking my butt.