//------------------------------//
// 18 - Void 
// Story: Gladiator 
// by Not_A_Hat 
//------------------------------//

"Incoming," I whispered into my mic, and froze. The others followed my lead. We stood, still as statues, barely breathing while the shadow oozed past the window. After it left, we all sighed quietly in relief.

We had left the arrival building, carefully marking the position in case we needed to return. We were trying to stealthily explore the city, dodging from house to house, avoiding the random windigo patrols. Thankfully, most doors were open and we didn't need to force entrances.

It seemed the patrols couldn't sense us when we weren't actually fighting. We still kept a careful watch, and hid at their approach. They were easier to spot than I'd expected, since they brought a chill feeling with them. I was currently on lookout, using a shiny piece of crystal as a mirror to watch the street. Rainbow and Twilight were searching through the house for anything useful, especially water. If we were here for more than a day, we needed more than a canteen and a half.

"Twilight!" Rainbow hissed. "Come see this!" I heard Twilight's quiet hoof-steps move towards Rainbow's position.

"Rainbow, what did you find?" I asked softly.

"Hold on, I'll come relieve you. It's, uh, I'm not really sure, but it LOOKS like a pony under a layer of black ice. Captain Egghead is on her way."

A bit later, Rainbow tapped me on the shoulder. I handed her the mirror-crystal I'd been using.

"Go up the steps, first door on the left," she said. I nodded.

I stumbled up the stairs. Ponies used a different ratio for the height-to-width of their steps, and it was easy to trip unless I concentrated. I took a left, and found what had bothered my teammates.

"Woah."

Twilight was already there, horn glowing with a scan. In the corner, curled up on a bed as if asleep, was a lime-green pony. Its color was muted under a layer of black crystal, which folded and flowed over it like water, covering even his nose and mouth.

"Is he dead?"

"No idea. I'm not getting much. That stuff, whatever it is, is a superb insulator. Just guessing from the visual similarities, but I'd say this is a product of the windigos. Well, that and there's nopony else here."

"What's it for?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe if I could take a sample, I could-"

"No. Sorry, but our own survival comes first. Anything you do could alert the guardians, since this must be part of what they're guarding. As fascinating as that could be, our first priority is to find a way out. Once we have a retreat secured, we can consider grabbing things before we run."

"Fine. Then I'm done here, I think."

"Ok." I turned, and led the way back towards the door. I tapped my mic to silence it, and stopped Twilight for a second. "Um, do you have a spell that would make Rainbow's flying less....noticeable?" She frowned in thought.

"Hmm....maaaaaybe. Why do you ask?"

"I...would really like to send her out on a patrol. I'm pretty sure she could out-fly anything here, but... I don't want her traced back to us. Or even noticed, if possible."

"Careful what you ask from her, Wes. Rainbow is very brave, but that doesn't mean she's unaffected. This has been pretty stressful for all of us. If you push her, I'm sure she'd agree to a flight. But that's not necessarily a good idea."

I nodded thoughtfully.

"You're right. I still want to do it, but we'll talk before I do." I tapped the mic back on, and we headed down the stairs.

"We're moving to that house next." I pointed to our target, several blocks down the street. "Let's stick to the drill; skulk, sneak, and stealth. Fall in, here goes!" The two took up position behind me, and I slipped out the door.

"Rainbow, how are you doing?" I whispered, letting my mic carry the words into her furry blue ears.

"A little thirsty, but not tired at all."

"That's not exactly what I meant, Rainbow. How do you feel about all...this?"

"Just fine, Wes! As if this sorta thing could bother me, Rainbow Dash!"

"None of this bothers you at all? Not the creepy emotion-sucking shadows, or the impossibly black sky, or the way the streetlamps have that eerie, green cast to them?" I paused, but got no answer. Well, sharing some trust helped garner trust. "Because honestly? This whole thing has my skin crawling."

"Heh, that's a good expression. Crawling skin." She paused for a second, and sighed. "Listen, don't you ever tell anypony I said this, 'k?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die."

"Fly, dude. Fly."

"Huh?"

"Um...later. Anyways...yeah. I'm a little, teensy bit creeped out. Just a bit."

"It's OK to be scared, you know."

"I'm not scared! Nothing scares Rainbow Dash!"

"Woah, calm down a minute. I'm not saying you're scared. I'm saying it's OK to be scared. Which you, of course, aren't."

"Of course."

"But if you are, it's OK. Listen, this is something my friend Splinter told me. It's important not to deny who you are. Understand, that's not the same as giving in to who you are. Giving in lets your feelings control you. But if you're really trying to be effective, then you can't block parts of yourself off, either. Being afraid isn't a bad thing. Remember in training, how you commented on the way I sometimes guess where an attack is coming from, even if I didn't see it?"

"Yeah. Still think that's crazy."

"This is part of it. My brain, and yours, takes in a whole lot more information than we notice. Small things, but they all add up. This comes out as intuition and guesses, and an important part of that is fear. I can guess attack paths because I'm afraid of being hit. If I denied my fear, blocked that off..."

"You couldn't do that." A sigh came across the channel. I carefully eased the door of the target house open; we'd made it without trouble. We filed inside. Twilight began exploring, but I waved for Rainbow to wait, and started counting till the next patrol passed. They were very inconsistent. I'd suggested it was intended to throw intruders off guard. Twilight thought we just didn't understand the pattern. Rainbow insisted they weren't actually organized. I was beginning to drift towards Rainbows viewpoint, especially since there hadn't been any sort of concentrated effort to find us and any sort of command chain should have noticed their missing unit by now.

"Rainbow, I'd like to send you out on a patrol." I said. "I asked Twilight to think of spells that could hide your takeoff and return, but it's important for me to understand how you're doing, first. So, are you scared?" I pinned her with my eyes. "As your leader, tell me true."

"....yeah, I guess I am." Her ears flattened slightly, and she peered up at me. "I mean, I'm certain that the three of us can get out of here. We're too awesome to let this stop us. But this whole place is creepy, you know?" I nodded somberly. "And, well, I just can't help it."

I steeled myself, knelt down, squashed my feelings, toughened my resolve, and carefully hugged her. She stiffened for a second, and then returned the gesture, wrapping a wing around me.

"That's OK." I said quietly. "Really, it is. Don't wall your feelings off. Don't put up a facade and ignore them. You do yourself a disservice, if you do. I'd be lying if I said I was as sure as you that we'd get out of here. I went into this because it needed to be done, not because I was sure I could do it. Bravery is moving forward despite all that, and no-matter what else you may be, you are brave."

"Thanks."

I rubbed her ears for a second, and then broke the hug off with a sigh of relief. That would take some getting used to. It did seem to help, though; her ears were noticeably less flat. I stood and carefully checked the street again. Nothing.

"Um, guys?" Twilight said softly. "Sorry to interrupt, but I've found water."

"GAH!" I swallowed a gasp. "How long have you been there?"

"Just now. I looked like a nice hug." She giggled quietly.

"Nevermind that," I said. "Water?"

"Yeah. This house has a cistern."

"Good. You get something to drink?" She nodded. "Ok, take over watching. Rainbow, let's go top up."

A minute later we returned, stomachs and canteens full. I pulled out some of my ration bars and we split a quiet meal. They were very similar to granola bars, heavy on the oats.

"We have four days worth of food," I said. "We have water now, so that's not a concern. Twilight, any thoughts on that spell?" She flicked her eyes towards Rainbow, and I nodded slightly.

"Ok, how are you two doing that?" Rainbow interjected. Both of us turned to look at her, eyebrows raised quizzically. "That, that!" She gestured to us. "Twilight, you don't even have a comm. But Wes just gives a wave or two, and you know exactly what he's thinking! When did you two get so....so close? it's like you can read his mind, or something!"

That's an interesting idea.... I thought, wondering if it were possible. I glanced at Twilight but she flicked an ear, waving the notion away.

"You're doing it again!" Twilight giggled quietly at Rainbow's distress.

"Um, Rainbow..." I started, but paused, not sure what to say. We'd explained some of what was going on to Twilight's circle of friends, but we hadn't given them an in-depth or technical overview. Partly because we weren't sure what they would think of Twilight and I 'sharing souls', and partly because I didn't feel totally comfortable sharing, and Twilight respected that.

"It's because of last time." Twilight came to my rescue. "I said it before, right? This isn't the first situation Wes and I escaped from. We worked out some of these signals before."

I nodded. That was true, if not everything. Our sharing some memories, if on a mostly subconscious level, could be ignored.

"Yeah." I added. "Not to mention the bonds of camaraderie that form from being in a life-or-death situation together." 

"Ok, fine." Rainbow slowly nodded. "I'll buy that for now. But you two seem awful close."

"What can I say?" I shrugged. "We're just friends." I finished my bar, and gestured for Twilight to continue explaining.

"Well, Rainbow, I've got a spell that should hide you." She took over smoothly. "However, for real stealth you'll need to fly slow. Your contrail is just too noticeable. Still, it will dampen any noise you make and color you mostly black. If you're cautious, and if the guards don't look up, a slow exploration by air should be fine." She began charging her horn, but I stopped her.

"We're not doing this just now," I said. " We need a better location. If possible, I'd like to find the wall of this cavern. Can't have Rainbow flying into them in the dark." My two companions nodded. I felt a chill march down my back. "Patrol!" We all froze.

"Ok," I said, after the windigo had passed, "We continue heading that way." I pointed down the road. "I still think we're most likely to reach the wall by heading away from the castle. Remember, slow, quiet, and above all, careful." We opened the door, and slipped out.





"So, thoughts?" I stared into the 'wall' of the 'cave', wishing Rainbow would get back so we could leave.

As it turned out, we weren't in a cavern.

We were lost.

In a formless void.

With no way home.

I squashed that depressing train of thought.

We'd reached The Edge, as I now thought of it, recently. The whole city was sitting on nothing. Literally. The Edge was where the road ended, cut off as if by a razor. Beyond was a deep black void.

Lost.

I squashed the thought again.

"What's got you so twitchy?"

Twilight turned towards me. We were hiding in a house sliced clean in half by The Edge. She was carefully researching the phenomena, probing with as much magic as she could spare. I'd cautioned her against using more than necessary, reminding her our highest priority was escape.

<"Apollo 13,"> I answered. She winced, as my words pulled up memories of my childhood. I'd been absolutely terrified of that movie. Not so much from any rational reason, but from the idea that people could be lost in space. Gone from the planet for good. So far from home not even their corpses would return. Drifting endlessly in a lightless void, crackling voices fading one by one on the radio as they lost all hope. Looking back, I rationally knew their situation hadn't been quite that bad... but when I was young, it had given me creeping shivers.

"Hey, Wes, it'll be OK." Twilight nuzzled my arm and I nodded, once again squishing the thought. Irrational fears were irrational. We'd survive, escape. We would. For our sake. For our friends sake. For Equestria's sake! I psyched myself up.

A glance into the black stole my mood, but I managed to keep from despair.

"Again, thoughts?" I asked, wanting a report from my magic expert.

"Well, the space itself isn't anything special. I mean, I don't think you can examine emptiness. Although, the phrase <fabric of space-time> keeps popping up in my head, and I'm going to need to examine that concept later. Anyways, what's really fascinating is the boundary. Look!" She held up a rock, turning it. It was sliced so smoothly the surface showed my reflection. "Whatever did this was operating by different rules than most transportation spells. Teleporting only part of something means it bypassed geometry laws! If I could understand that, imagine what we could learn!" She deflated a little. "It does mean, though, that Sombra is even smarter than I thought. If he did this alone, he's an unsung genius. We might be up against somepony with the sort of knowledge I thought only the Princesses had. This could be very tricky."

"Well, we do have an advantage. With any luck, we'll be out of here before he even notices us."

"I hope."

I leaped to my feet as a black shadow swooped into the room, but relaxed as I recognized the disguised Rainbow. She laughed quietly at my reaction, her red eyes twinkling in a pitch-dark face.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"Flawlessly, of course!" She struck a pose in the air. "They never even suspected I was there!"

"See anything worth investigating?"

"Most of the city is like what we've seen. There are windigoes in the streets, but they just drift around randomly. I still don't think they're organized. The castle, though, does have the statue-things you talked about; faceless crystal ponies. And it is in the center of town. Also, I flew a ways into that-" she waved a hoof into the void, and I shivered at the thought. "It seems to continue for a long ways. Didn't see signs of an end or anything, though I didn't go far. It was a little creepy not being able to tell if I was moving."

"I bet," Twilight said, subdued.

"First off, do not do that again. We have no idea what sort of magic is sustaining this...this pocket dimension, and I do not want you messing with anything connected to that if it can be avoided. That's Twilight's job. Secondly, were you able to find anything with your scanner?"

She pulled out the enspelled telescope, and spun it in a circle. The lenses glowed slightly, brightening and dimming as the barrel pointed different directions.

"Yeah, no matter where I went, it gleamed directly at the castle."

"Well, I'm glad that gamble paid off. Twilight, how's the magic feeling?"

"Only two or three spells left, Wes."

"Blech. Well, that's what I expected. At least it was worth it. It seems that our next objective is the castle. Take a rest, Rainbow, and wrap up your studies, Twilight. We're moving out in a half an hour. If we're lucky, we'll be out of this before tomorrow."