//------------------------------// // 6: Lightning Strikes Twice // Story: New Age of Harmony // by Spirit Chaser //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle was rudely woken by an intense smell assaulting her nose. If she were back home, she would just blame it on one of Spike’s attempts at cooking, but she drowsily realized a second later that she wasn’t home, and that wasn’t really Spike’s cooking. Even if it was, it’s been a while since Spike’s burned anything. She really missed Spike.... She stumbled out of bed before she realized that she’d taken the top bunk of the inn for whatever reason. She hastily glided to the floor, yelling in the process. The combined noise was enough to cause Applejack to yelp and sluggishly roll out of her bunk. “Don’t worry, Granny Smith,” Applejack drowsily mumbled. “Ah’ll take the West orchard today...” “Applejack, get up,” Twilight muttered while she picked herself up, still half-asleep herself. “Something’s burning and it’s not my stove...” Leaning her head forward, she allowed gravity to take over and force her entire body onto the floor. She began to allow Luna to take her off to dreamland again, before the smell attacked her again. Picking herself up once more, she looked around until she noticed the smoke coming from the closed door. Curious at the possible danger, she grabbed hold of the knob with her magic and yanked it open just as she remembered something that she was told long ago. Remember Twilight Sparkle, my dear student, do not open hot doors in a burning building under any circumstances. Oh, now you remember. A torrent of flames washed into the room, intent on devouring them whole. Thinking fast, she magically cast a shield on all six of them at once. The fire lapped all of the shields, but settled for the furniture when it couldn’t reach its desired targets. Her friends all woke with screams of panic, resulting in a slight headache for Twilight. “Girls, calm down,” Twilight shouted over their screams and the roaring flames. “I’m protecting you with magic, but I can’t do it much longer unless you stop screaming!” “W-what’s happening?” Rarity asked, still slightly panicking. “Something or someone started a fire and it’s spread up here,” Twilight answered, observing the situation. “Well, put it out,” Rainbow Dash said, showing off her genius intellect. “Gee, you think?” Twilight sarcastically asked. The fire was running even more rampant now that it’s spread to the wooden room, so Twilight had to keep the shields up as she cast her next spell. Closing her eyes for extra concentration, she summoned a shockwave that would probably put the flames out. Or it would break the weakened shields and burn them all. Normally she wouldn’t risk it and find a better solution, but right now she didn’t even care. Opening her eyes after a moment of keeping them clamped shut, Twilight saw that her shockwave had slowed down the flames considerably, allowing them to make a path for the door. “Quickly, everypony get through the door, but be careful, there’s more where this came from,” Twilight shouted, deactivating their shields. Everything became a chaotic blur as they all hurried out the door and through the hallway, dodging every flame that decorated their path. She was right: there certainly was a lot more where that came from. It was clear by the pattern that someone and not something had caused this fire, and she had an idea of who it was. “Wait,” Twilight said as they arrived at the entrance to the inn, currently their exit. “What?” Rainbow asked, clearly panicking on the inside, and a little on the outside. “Dunno if you noticed, but we’re in a burning building!” “We aren’t the only ponies in this inn,” Twilight stated. “We need to rescue the others, but carefully, this place is unstable.” “Way ahead of you,” Rainbow announced. “This place isn’t that big.” “You guys help too,” Twilight said to the others. “But what about you?” asked Pinkie and Rainbow at the same time. “I’m gonna stop this at the source,” Twilight said, unknowingly summoning a determined look to her eyes. “Are you sure you won’t require assistance?” Rarity asked. “We don’t have time for this!” Twilight shouted over roaring flames. “Just go!” Seeing that she really was determined, and that they were running out of time; the others disappeared into the hallways. Rainbow remained, noticeably hesitating. “Go!” Twilight screamed, unwilling to have a conversation at this time. “Fine!” Rainbow shouted back. “But don’t even think about nearly dying again!” With that, Rainbow also zoomed into the hallways. Twilight chuckled at Rainbow’s comment as she trotted outside. Not because it was funny, but because she was probably about to directly disobey it. Stepping outside, the first thing she realized was that the entire town was in an uproar, and the second thing she noticed, is that she was right about the cause of the fire. “Kuwabara!” “Hello, Princess,” Kuwabara chuckled darkly, an evil look in his eye. “Have a nice sleep? Any good dreams you wish to share?” “What have you done?” “I told you to be prepared when morning comes, Princess. It’s not my fault that Equestrians are rudely unprepared at all times.” “It’s not even morning! It’s probably barely past midnight!” “I decided to start early.” “You’re a monster...” “Compliments will get you nowhere, but since I’m well-mannered unlike you Equestrians, I’ll tell you what exactly I’m accomplishing here...” Kuwabara trotted up to Twilight and looked towards the burning inn, a sight Twilight refused to look at so she turned around. A movement that was proven useless when she was lifted into the air by Kuwabara’s yellow magic and turned towards the direction of the inn as she was dropped to the ground. “You see, Princess,” Kuwabara chuckled as usual. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but I have a small hatred of Equestrians.” “I didn’t even notice,” Twilight muttered sarcastically. Her comment was met with a fierce blow to the back of her head, sending her flying into the ground. She whimpered as little as possible in response to the intense pain in her head to show as little weakness as possible. Getting up from the ground, she decided that she was definitely going to make this guy pay... Wait, I actually just thought that? “As I was saying,” Kuwabara said, continuing as though nothing had happened. “I had no choice but to let you stay in my town for the night after Celestia challenged me once more—” “Challenged you? Once more?” Twilight blurted out. She flew out of the way to avoid the second hit, impressed by her own reflexes. “You learn fast, Princess,” Kuwabara spat, smiling. “I enjoy that in an opponent. Anyway, since Celestia’s challenge lasted for the rest of the day, I decided to deal with you after midnight. That way I wouldn’t be violating the terms of the challenge. Always respect a challenge, Princess.” “And you decided to deal with us by burning down one of your own inns?” Twilight asked, gesturing to the slowly collapsing building. “Not to mention freak out all of your citizens?” “My citizens? Why would I care for them?” Kuwabara asked, staring at the ponies running around behind them. WIthout warning, he lowered his horn and ejected pure lightning out of it. It struck a passing pony in his side and he collapsed onto the ground. Running up to him, Twilight saw that he was convulsing violently. Unable to watch him any longer, she merely turned away. “What is wrong with you?!” Twilight screamed, making the question sound like a statement. “At this time you may be thinking that I’m completely insane,” Kuwabara said, frowning slightly. “But I’m not, I’m a warrior, a title that you appear to be slowly earning.” “What?” Twilight gasped. “I can see it in your eyes,” he whispered, smiling. “You have seen death and you want more. Want to cause more...” “You are insane!” Twilight stated. “Just as insane as burning down a building in the town that you control, but somehow less insane than striking down one of your own residents! You know what? I don’t even care about what happened between you and Celestia, you’re going down. Right. Now.” Twilight gave herself a running start and took to the sky. Kuwabara was powerful, but she was still the one with the horn and the wings. Struggling to avoid looking at the panicking ponies and the burning building, she focused on her target and released a purple beam of light from her head. Kuwabara dodged out of the way, leaving the beam to strike the ground and create a small crater. Grinning darkly, he cast another stream of lightning from his horn. She tried to fly out of the way, but was unable to. The electricity surging through her wings prevented her from flying any longer. Falling out of the sky, she summoned a large magical bubble that would soften her landing. She giggled lightly as she bounced off of it. Upon reaching the ground, she almost collapsed as she remembered the lightning surging violently through her body. Remembering a technique Celestia taught her, she channeled the lightning into her horn and redirected it at Kuwabara. This time he was the one unable to dodge it. The bolt hit him in his side, sending him skidding back. She expected him to show his pain, but instead he raised his head and laughed loudly. “Oh, Princess,” he said, but the electricity made the sentence sound slightly garbled. “You use such defensive spells in battle. Those elementary school charms will get you killed on the battlefield. You need to learn to be more offensive if you’re to survive. Take this little gem for example—” His horn glowed yellow as he raised his head and bellowed. She heard the earth shake and looked down, terrified to see that parts of the ground were highlighted yellow too. Leaping off of the yellow pieces, she watched as they were ripped from the ground and beaten into each other to form a large molten ball of earth being held in the air by Kuwabara’s magic. Unable to move at the sight of his insane magic, she didn’t try to dodge the ball until he had actually thrown it. The ball exploded upon touching the ground and released a large blast of energy that passed over her body, effectively shutting out every other thought except for how much pain she was in. She experienced even more pain when she crashed into the ground a moment later. She attempted to stand, but was rudely pushed back into the ground by Kuwabara’s magic. “Strange, now I actually want to tell you about the history between Celestia and I,” Kuwabara said, grinning over her. “Call it a parting gift, I love giving those. But anyway, let’s get this started.” Kuwabara sat down in front of her, not even flinching when she struggled against his magic. He closed his eyes and rubbed the side of his head as he rose old memories to the surface. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friends leave the inn with a large group of burned ponies galloping out behind them. Once Rainbow’s brain seemed to process the scene before her, she attempted to fly towards them, but was stopped by Twilight’s frantic shaking of her head. She stared into Rainbow’s eyes and tried to communicate her thoughts. The thoughts that said that this was her fight and they should calm down the ponies around them. Rainbow seemed to understand, but it was a gentle shove from Applejack that finally sold her. Nodding once, she led the others away from her and towards the other side of town. “I got it now!” Kuwabara shouted triumphantly. “The day that The Hollow was born...” He cleared his throat as he picked her up with magic and slammed her into the ground again. Groaning slightly, she hoped that this wouldn’t keep happening throughout the tale. “I was serving as King Hollow’s right-hoof stallion at the time of the attack. That is, Celestia’s attack on The Hollow, then known as North Equestria.” “What?” Twilight coughed. “This used to be a part of Equestria? But—” The rest of her sentence was cut off by her being lifted and slammed once more. When her spine collided with the ground this time, she immediately coughed up blood. This was getting serious... “You are so rude, Princess,” Kuwabara spat, frowning darkly, the light from the fire cast a shadow across his face. “Can’t I get through one story without you running your mouth? Anyway, when Equestria was divided into the north and the south, we resided in North Equestria while she ruled over South Equestria, which is now simply called Equestria.” “How long ago was this?” Twilight gasped, steeling herself for another thrashing. “Over a few thousand years ago,” Kuwabara replied. “How old are you?” “Over a few thousand years, obviously.” “How?” “That’s a side story to the main story, speaking of, we should get back to it. Now a few thousand years ago, Celestia committed a great crime that destroyed any bonds the two sides had. After she did this, she came to attack us just to rub it in our faces. King Hollow gave the order for the counterattack and I led the charge. She defeated all of our best stallions, but I wasn’t going to go down without a proper duel. I engaged in a personal battle with her and I was shocked to discover that the graceful princess could fight dirty. As I charged up a powerful attack, she saw an opening and struck my back with a powerful bolt of lightning. Giving me this lovely scar of mine.” “If she attacked you while you were preparing to attack her, then it’s not really dirty is it?” “It’s still dishonorable.” “Are you sur—” “QUIET! Anyway, once she defeated me she effectively won the battle so she allowed King Hollow to rule his side as she went off to rule hers. That was the day that South Equestria simply became Equestria and North Equestria became The Hollow, after King Hollow.” “But what crime did Celestia commit? And why would she attack you for no reason? That sounds nothing like the Celestia I know.” “Oh it doesn’t? Is that to say that she’s told you her side of the story? Do you know all about her past, or anything about her past at all? Or do you have to find out from someone else like you just have?” It hurt to realize that the words that he was speaking had truth to them. After all, she had been having doubts about Celestia for a while now. If his story was true, which isn’t likely, then it would fill in the missing pieces to the one she used to call “teacher.” “You never told me how you became immortal.” “Immortal unless killed in battle, which will never happen to me. Anyway, I was one of the lucky ones who was infused with the Immortality Charm. A legendary spell long since forgotten by time. Only a few ponies still know it by heart, which is now the only way to know it, because the creator died a long time ago.” “So the creator of an immortality spell...died.” “Oh shut up, I realize the irony, it’s just that the inventor was from The Hollow and his death somewhat impacted us.” “How, I mean, I know the caster of an immortality spell is precious cargo, but who was he?” “That’s enough. I’ve already explained my personal feud with Celestia, now it’s time to continue our rather one-sided duel.” Without any warning aside from that, Kuwabara tossed her into the air and blasted her with magic. As she crashed to the ground again, she couldn’t help but feel that this battle actually was one-sided. Which also happened to be what she was right now because that last blow surely fractured a rib. How would she be able to defeat someone who engaged in personal battle with Celestia over a thousand years ago? Perhaps she shouldn’t have told her friends that she could handle it on her own.... “I thought that this battle would give me some nostalgia for my battle with Celestia, but all it’s doing is reminding me of all the times I’ve crushed my enemies beneath my hooves,” Kuwabara spat as he stood over her chuckling. His guard’s down, she thought. This is my chance to get the upperhoof! Quickly preparing a spell so that he wouldn’t notice her horn glowing, Twilight suddenly leapt up and unleashed the blast directly in front of him. The spell exploded upon contact, sending him flying backwards. Going off her adrenaline, she took the skies again, ignoring the pain in her...everywhere. She shot off a few more blasts from the air for good measure. Her opponent was now covered in a large dust cloud. Taking her eyes off the ball of dust, she forced herself to look at the state the town was in. The inn was basically just ashes at this point and the rest of the town wasn’t much better off. Ponies still ran around panicked, and some didn’t appear to be moving at all. Other buildings were also burning down to ashes; did Kuwabara send his guards to do that? She was so disgusted by the display that she almost got hit by the lightning stream. Quickly looking at the dust, she saw Kuwabara with a very angry look on his face. His horn gave off a deadly glow as she felt her body being engulfed in the familiar aura. He pulled her towards him at an alarming speed. As he lifted one foreleg, she saw that he planned to hit her as she came close enough. Thinking quickly, she also waited until she was close enough to launch another direct hit in the form of an exploding orb. As it exploded, she felt herself becoming free from the magic and used the speed to catapult herself into the air. Looking down, she noticed the scar on Kuwabara’s back where Celestia’s lightning struck all those years ago. Forming a devious plan, she gathered all of her magic into her horn. She had no idea how Celestia could manipulate lightning from the clouds, or how she could control it from such a distance, but she did understand how Kuwabara could shoot lightning from his horn. She lowered her head until her horn was pointing directly at the target. Converting magic into elements was difficult and dangerous to do. She had only done it once when she was a filly and that was just to sprinkle water onto the flowers in Canterlot. Celestia had told her to never try it with fire or lightning because transforming it at the wrong time could result in severe damage for herself. But the time for playing by the rules has come to an end. Remembering something that you’ve never learned in the first place was difficult, but somehow Twilight had actually managed to convert her stored up magic into pure lightning. So this was what power felt like. With an uncharacteristic roar, Twilight shot out a stream of purple lightning directly into Kuwabara’s large scar. She didn’t even think someone like him was capable of the scream of pain and terror that he unleashed. The lightning created a miniature purple light show that was difficult to look at not just because it was bright, but also because she knew that a pony was being tortured in the center of it. After the intense light had died down, and the screams stopped, Twilight flew down gently beside the convulsing form of Kuwabara. Blood oozed from his back and side of his mouth, making it hard to look at him directly. “Y-your lightning,” he coughed out between convulsions. “It was...purple. A-and it was p-powerful.   perhaps even more powerful than.... J-just what are y-you?” “I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she announced. “Former student of Celestia, current princess of Equestria. And I’m on a mission to bring about eternal peace.” “Heh, g-good luck with that madness. Eternal peace is t-too calm to exist in this dynamic world we live in. But if you wanna...throw your life away, then allow me to d-do it for you!” With an unexpected amount of remaining strength, Kuwabara tackled Twilight into the ground. He stood over her with one leg crushing her wing, effectively preventing her from escaping while causing her a great deal of pain in the process. With a grin magnified by the blood, he lowered his head until his horn was pointing at the spot between her eyes. “Did you think a v-veteran like me would go down from a l-little lightning? Please...I’ve had enough, Princess. Once I’ve killed you, then I’ll hunt down your friends and see how much they’ll a-appreciate a little lightning.” His horn began charging with power, definitely enough power to kill at that distance. It wouldn’t take him long, but she didn’t need any time at all. He was aiming to kill, but she was aiming to protect. He momentarily let his guard down to cough, but all she needed was a moment. Using her adrenaline-fueled magic, she roughly pulled his head back, causing him to shoot his beam into the sky. He barely had enough time to register what had happened before Twilight’s beam shot through his neck. She didn’t realize what she had done until she forced herself to look at the blood oozing from the hole in his neck. Destroying the monster in the Badlands from the inside had been bad enough, but piercing a pony’s throat in self-defense? Kuwabara lowered his head slowly so that his eyes met hers. The coldness that used to embrace his eyes was now replaced by fear. Clearly it was fear of the unknown that now haunted him. He had probably experienced the last few thousand years thinking that he would live to see his fated rematch with Celestia, but to be killed by her student alone? The tips of Kuwabara’s blood-stained mouth curled up in one last grin. His features relaxed as his legs gave up on him and his body stumbled forward. Twilight slowly stood up, which was difficult on account of how badly she was shivering. She trotted away. Away from the body. Away from the burning buildings. Away from the loss of her innocence. Away. She stared at the ground as she trotted, but it didn’t matter because all she could see was Kuwabara’s last moments playing out in front of her. The horrible sound of her magic drilling through his flesh. The way his eyes reflected his fear perfectly. It looked like she was in for another night of nightmares. “Twilight! Oh thank Celestia,” shouted a familiar voice. The voice sounded distant even though it was right next to her. “I was kind of watching from the sky when I saw that awesome final blow you delivered. Nice one!” Twilight drowsily looked over at Rainbow Dash, covered in ashes and burn marks, who had a large smile on her face and looked as though she was resisting the urge to hug Twilight. “Rainbow?” Twilight rasped, her voice also sounding distant. “The others?” “They’re safe,” Rainbow stated, looking over her shoulder. “Or at least they will be when we get out of here. We tried to calm everypony down, but...well, would you calm down if this was Ponyville?” Rainbow had a valid point: If this was Ponyville, then she would probably be just as freaked out as these ponies. At least until she thought of a plan She knew that the town would never be the same as soon as the inn burned down, but between the multiple burning buildings, the insane panicking and the casualties, including their leader; it was clear that the town was now too far gone. “It’s so sad,” Twilight whispered, struggling to keep her speech free of her uncontrollable shaking. “We did this, all of this. Kuwabara told me that he burned down the inn because we slept in it, and that he no longer c-cared about a town that had Equestrians stay in it.” “Hey, it’s not like we came here with the intention of burning this place down right?” “Right, and because Lightning Dust didn’t intend for us to fall to our death, that made it okay, right?” “Hey, that’s...let’s just get to the others, I think you could use some serious medical help.” It was as if that statement depleted all of her adrenaline and she was suddenly aware of all of her injuries. She didn’t think her ribs were really fractured, but they definitely hurt a lot, and her wing was killing her. “We’ll need more medical supplies,” Twilight said, now struggling to walk through her newly realized pain. “Yeah, we—I kinda raided a clinic and stocked up on that stuff,” Rainbow admitted sheepishly. “What? You aided in this chaos?” “No! The clinic was practically abandoned anyway, so I just took what we needed and...left.” “So after you stole those supplies, you just expected everypony to ‘follow your lead and calm down?” “Look, I’m not the one who refused help from her friends. If you’re just gonna do everything by yourself, then why even bring us along?” “That’s not the real reason you’re mad about that and we both know it.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I definitely am mad that you seem to think you’re alone in this.” “I’m sorry Rainbow, would you have liked to participate in the murder?!” Twilight hadn’t felt the outburst rise up in her chest like most ponies did, she felt the outburst manifest based on Rainbow’s continued back talk and just free itself from her throat. On top of that, she didn’t realize how terrible the fact was until she said it aloud, but now that she had...what had she become? Murderer. That’s what she was now. Sure it was necessary for her own survival, but that didn’t change how she felt about it. Celestia sealed Luna away for a thousand years, and those were the worst thousand years of her life, but the alternative was eternal night. The worst part wasn’t even the fact that she committed the crime. To her the part that bothered her was the fact that she did it without hesitation. “Oh,” Rainbow said quietly. “Uh, sorry, I kinda forgot about that for a second.” “Lucky for you, because I’ll be seeing it in my nightmares every day for the rest of my life.” “Look, let’s talk when we get to our friends; I don’t think burning buildings are very good conversation pieces.” The burning buildings. The ones that they were currently doing nothing to extinguish. This wasn’t like them, in fact nothing about this whole situation was like them. They weren’t soldiers, they weren’t vigilantes and they definitely weren’t killers. Until now. Their friends were resting on the outskirts of the city, looking as tired as she felt. Fluttershy was treating injured ponies left and right, but only some of them were actually getting better. Clearly they had started fighting each other because so few of them were actually burned from the fire. Fluttershy was frantically fixing every injury she could, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t heal them all. Twilight placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder as she walked by her, and her friend seemed to get the message as she responded by collapsing into quiet sobs. They waited for Fluttershy to calm down before moving again. They didn’t know where they were going and it didn’t matter. They would look at the map later, but right now all that mattered was that they were moving. They walked until they came across a spot that would be an ideal spot to rest for the remainder of the night. They had just woken up and were probably wide awake after what they just went through, but they needed lots of sleep for the journey. “We rest here,” Twilight announced, suddenly stopping. “Not for too long, just until morning.” “What if they find us?” Fluttershy asked, both looking and sounding scared. “I think they have bigger problems on their hooves,” Twilight said coldly. “Shouldn’t we go back and help them?” Fluttershy asked, desperate to hear any reason defending her need to help. “That’s not our job, Fluttershy,” Twilight responded, letting her frown show. “But—” “Give it a rest,” Rainbow snapped, setting up her tent. “Just go to bed already.” Fluttershy prepared to respond, but Rarity silenced her with a shoulder tap. Looking defeated, Fluttershy sadly set up her own tent. Twilight nodded her approvement at the situation and set her tent up with telekinesis. The others followed suit and soon all the tents were up, giving off the appearance of a friendly slumber party. Although today it was far from it. “Sweet dreams,” Twilight said, preparing to enter her tent. “Sweet dreams,” came the collective response. As she laid down on her sleeping bag, she was tempted to rest her eyes until her dreams came to her, but she knew that tonight she would only be visited by nightmares. She could use somepony to talk to, but she didn’t want to bother Applejack again so soon after their last talk. She could talk to Fluttershy, but she didn’t want to scare her with the descriptions of the battlefield violence. Suddenly she knew just who to speak with. She waited for a while to make sure that the others were asleep, and silently snuck up to Rarity’s tent. She carefully unzipped it and stepped inside. She was glad that she convinced Rarity to bring along the regular tent and not the tent palace that she had. Upon trotting inside, she immediately realized that like her, Rarity never really went to sleep. “Hello Twilight,” Rarity said, yawning slightly. She was tucked inside her sleeping bag, but with her eyes wide open and her sleeping mask nowhere in sight. “Are you having trouble sleeping? Celestia knows I am.” “I think Luna would be better for the situation,” Twilight chuckled lightly, stepping closer to her friend. “Oh really? And what do we use you and Cadence for?” “Nothing, we’re not goddesses like they are.” “Says who?” Twilight sighed softly as she looked away from her friend. Rarity was stalling with small talk, and normally she would play along for a while, but she was done with games. “Rarity, tell me the truth about The Hollow.” “Whatever do you mean by that, darling?” She had never seen Rarity so calculating before. She meant no offense to her friend, but the state that she was currently in was one that was well-suited for undercover work. “You know what I mean, the way you knew those things when you did, no spa stories could’ve given you that much knowledge about a town you’ve never been in,” Twilight stated. “Don’t just assume that I get all of my information from the spa, talk about rude,” Rarity said, pretending to sound offended. “Rarity,” Twilight said sternly. “Oh fine,” Rarity sighed, giving up on the act. “Look, I don’t know how she did it, but Pinkie accurately guessed my affiliation with The Hollow. I did live in The Hollow before living in Equestria on account that I was born here.” “So you weren’t born an Equestrian?” “Unfortunately no, I moved to Equestria towards the end of my childhood, but before then I grew up in The Hollow. In fact, I lived in the very town that we just let burn to the ground.” “Oh, is that why you’re having trouble sleeping?” “I think so. I suppose I’m happy with the fact that now there’s nothing left to connect me to The Hollow, but at the same, I’m conflicted because my hometown is nothing but ashes and broken ponies. Then again, it’s not like it was much better before.” It was easy to tell just by looking into her eyes that Rarity was in pain, and once again, Twilight could understand that pain. She’d grown up in Canterlot, so when the Changelings invaded, she was concerned more about her hometown surviving than anything else. “It’s okay to feel sadness at the unfortunate destruction of the place where you grew up, Rarity. But, how did you move from The Hollow to Equestria at such a young age?” “Well, my parents grew tired of their miserable life and made plans to escape to a place only talked about in whispers: Equestria. My birth was a temporary setback, one that allowed me to experience most of my childhood in The Hollow, but we fell into a stroke of luck when a once-in-a-lifetime cruise was offered to the residents. Secretly it was actually a one-way trip to some deserted island, you know, King Hollow’s barbaric way of dealing with overpopulation. Well, my parents are much smarter than they seem, they deduced that the ship was on a set path to crash into the island and they jumped off halfway into the cruise. Of course, I had to jump off too, and it wasn’t pretty. They took turns carrying me on their back as they swam away from their own lives and towards Equestria!” Rarity took a dramatic pause like she would if she was recounting an epic tale, which in this case, she basically was. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, she prepared to continue. “It took days, too many days, and very terrifying nights, but it became worth it when we found it. Equestria. We had been swimming for so long that our skin was...icky, and our strength was sapped, so for so long we just laid there on the warm land and laughed. We must’ve laughed ourselves to sleep that night. The next day, some nice ponies found us and took us to their local clinic. The doctor must’ve diagnosed us with so many issues on account of our being in salt water for so long, but we didn’t care, we were finally free. They treated us and gave us a free room in their inn for the night, where we asked them where we could go to live a nice peaceful life. They told us about a nice little town called ‘Ponyville’ and the rest is history.” The first thought Twilight had after the tale was finished was that Rarity was a good storyteller, and once that was out of the way she realized that Rarity had a much harder life than she made out. She couldn’t imagine spending a single year in The Hollow, nevermind most of her childhood! Being so miserable and emotionless, no wonder Rarity had emotional episodes from time to time: she was just making up for all those years without emotions at all. “Wow, Rarity, and I thought my Ponyville story that involved defeating Nightmare Moon was the best. Is that why your parents are always away on vacations?” “Yes, after seeing how great Ponyville is, they decided that they wanted to see what the rest of Equestria was like. Once I was old enough to take care of my sister, they dedicated the rest of their lives to travelling. Every time they come back from their latest vacation, they show Sweetie and I all of their mementos from the trip. Their eyes light up so brightly when they talk about it; I’m so happy for them...” Twilight couldn’t bring herself to interrupt Rarity’s episode of emotion, so she sat quietly and smiled as Rarity rocked back and forth giggling to herself. Eventually Rarity realized what she was doing and coughed lightly; patches of red appeared on her cheeks. “And that’s my history with The Hollow, satisfied?” Rarity asked genuinely. “Yeah, thanks Rarity,” Twilight said. “Since you only grew up that town, does that mean that you have no idea what the rest of The Hollow is like?” “Unfortunately, yes, the most I know is that every town is named after the Major it’s guarded by. The town we just passed through was known as Kuwabara’s town, and whatever town is next will be known by that Major.” “Does any town not have a Major?” “Oh yes, if the town is small enough and filled with enough miserable ponies then King Hollow won’t even bother assigning a Major. I’m not sure how many of those towns there are though, when I left they were already failing. It’s so terrible here Twilight, these ponies need help, they need our help.” “I wish we could Rarity, but we have a mission to do, and we’ve wasted enough time. Besides, as soon as the Heart of Harmony creates eternal peace, The Hollow will become peaceful as well, right?” “Twilight, let’s face the facts; Celestia isn’t even sure if this will work and I don’t even know why we agreed to this in the first place. There’s already been so many casualties and there wasn’t supposed to be any casualties!” “Celestia warned us that it would be dange—” “Excuse me, darling, but I think it’s time you be perfectly honest about how much faith you really have in dear Princess Celestia,” Rarity sneered, eyes squinted dangerously as she did so. Twilight let her jaw drop in shock. She knew that Applejack knew about her doubts, but Rarity did too? She was supposed to be the leader, a symbol for victory and success. If her image was in danger than how much of a symbol was she? Of course there was also the matter of her being seen as a friend to them first so being a symbol was already out of the question. What exactly did they see her as? “How did you know about that?” Twilight asked defensively. “If you wish to keep your secrets darling, then don’t tell them to an honest pony,” Rarity slyly replied. “I thought I was telling them to my friend.” “You were Twilight, but we’re all friends here so secrets don’t really exist, do they?” Twilight merely responded with a piercing glare and a raised eyebrow. “Uhh, you know what? Let’s move on from secrets,” Rarity chuckled nervously. “No, no, it’s fine Rarity,” Twilight sighed, gently rubbing her eyelids. “You’re right, we shouldn’t be keeping secrets from each other. Especially not when the mission’s success relies on our teamwork and closeness.” “Yes, back on that topic, I personally believe that we should set things right in The Hollow before activating the Heart. You know, just in case,” Rarity’s voice steadily decreased in volume as she spoke. “I understand and normally I’d agree but we can’t risk our safety anymore. You really think Fluttershy can handle another one of these incidents?” Twilight asked. “Uhh, I believe that Fluttershy has more pressing matters on her mind to be honest,” Rarity mumbled, looking nervous. “What do you mean?” “Well, let’s just say that you can rest easy knowing that Applejack and I weren’t just discussing your secrets...” Rarity said, chewing lightly on her hoof. “You were talking about Fluttershy behind her back?! If she finds out—” “Twilight it’s fine,” Rarity assured her frantic friend. “It’s nothing too major, Applejack and I just have a theory that our friend Fluttershy may have a teeny tiny little...crush.” It certainly took Twilight a moment to wrap her head around that one. Fluttershy had a crush on somepony? Obviously Fluttershy was very kind and loving but mostly towards nature. She could imagine what a lovestruck Fluttershy looks like, although apparently Rarity and Applejack already knew. “Fluttershy has a crush?” Twilight echoed her thoughts. “How do you know? Does everyone know? Why am I just now finding out?” “Calm yourself, Twilight,” Rarity said calmly. “Pinkie seems to have knowledge of everything going on in her friend’s lives so she probably knows, and if there’s anyone Fluttershy would tell first, it’s Rainbow Dash. But as far as I know, only Applejack and I are certain on the matter. As for how we are certain, Applejack says that she has noticed Fluttershy acting strangely.” “Oh Rarity, that could mean anything,” Twilight sighed in annoyance. “I thought the same thing! Just because somepony wears last season’s clothing does not mean they’re old-fashioned right?” Rarity said confidently. “Anyhow, I shrugged it off at first and continued to do so until one day, Fluttershy came to me for my advice on current fashion. She wanted to know what I thought looked good, Twilight. When was the last time Fluttershy even mentioned fashion? After that whole Photo Finish business, you’d think she would stay far away from the current trends, but here she was, seeking my fabulous approval.” “Look Rarity, I get that this is kind of a big deal, but our mission isn’t resting on the fifty-fifty chance that Fluttershy is dressing to impress,” Twilight stated kindly. “We need to leave this place, these ponies aren’t our responsibility.” Sighing, Rarity mumbled to herself as her horn lit up. Twilight was slightly nervous as to why when her sleeping mask zoomed to her head and slid down onto her eyes. Yawning loudly, Rarity snuggled deeply into her sleeping bag. “Thank you for the chat Twilight, but I really must get my sleep,” Rarity said with a hard edge to her voice. “And I advise that you do the same.” Agreeing to end the conversation, Twilight wordlessly rose to leave. She had just stuck her hoof outside the tent when Rarity spoke up. “And Twilight?” she said. “Don’t forget what you told us when you came back from the other world, about friendship existing everywhere. Because I think these ponies could use some.” Merely nodding in acknowledgement even though Rarity couldn’t see her, Twilight fully stepped out the tent, leaving her friend to her sleep and Twilight to her restless night. Even more so because on the way back to her tent, Twilight thought she saw a yellow streak in the night.... Packing up the campsite the next morning wasn’t a positive experience. Pretty much nopony was in a great mood, even Pinkie’s happy moments were clearly forced. Instead of trying to pin down why, she decided to focus on what their next move was. The region that housed the Heart was known as The Gone, an area that was seldom spoken of. Princess Celestia may have mentioned it a few times, but she mostly knew it because it was marked on the map. According to the piece of parchment, The Gone was just outside of The Hollow. If they kept going east, then perhaps they had a chance of getting there without becoming too involved in the conflict of the hollows. The more they were involved, the more time they were wasting. And more ponies would be hurt. Possibly even worse. She glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who was humorously wrestling with her tent. Which was odd considering that she was usually great with equipment and only struggled when she was nervous about something. After getting tangled in her tent, Rainbow finally spotted Twilight watching her. She gave a weak smile and wave as red spots emerged on her cyan cheeks. Applejack trotted over, chuckling softly, and offered to help her out. Twilight turned away as Rainbow began telling Applejack where she could stick her help. She instead watched as Rarity flawlessly packed away her tent, not even looking at it while she did so. Instead she was furiously applying makeup to her face. Twilight presumed it was because she had bags under her eyes. Rarity seemed to be too preoccupied in looking fabulous to even notice that Rainbow and Applejack had started a (hopefully friendly) brawl as Pinkie and Fluttershy looked on. For a moment, Twilight took the time to appreciate the innocent moment her friends had created. It might be the last one they ever have. Even as Rainbow pulled Applejack’s hat over her eyes and pinned her to the ground, Twilight found it hard to interrupt, but if she didn’t stress the urgency of the mission, who would? “Alright girls, that’s enough,” Twilight said, clearing her throat. “We need to leave before...we need to leave.” Rainbow immediately got off of Applejack and offered her a hoof up and a smile, which the cowpony accepted without hesitation. “We’ll finish that later,” Rainbow sneered, brushing dirt off. “Heh, yeah, with me winnin',” Applejack retorted, flashing a confident smile of her own. “Is everypony ready to go?” Twilight asked. “Yups!” Pinkie shouted, sounding much happier than she did earlier. “I packed Rainbow’s tent while she was losing to Applejack so everypony’s all ready!” “What?” Rainbow exclaimed. “Pinkie, you usually cheer me on, what gives?” “Haha, oh Dashie, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Pinkie replied, happily bouncing beside Twilight. Rainbow merely rolled her eyes in reply while Applejack dabbed beads of sweat off her forehead. Twilight found that odd considering she wasn’t sweating at all during or after the fight, but she couldn’t waste anymore time wondering about it. “Alright, let’s go then, we’ll be travelling east from here on in an effort to save our time,” Twilight explained. “I don’t want anymore...”distractions” and I think focusing on just the journey will accomplish that.” “There we go, Twilight,” Rarity said sarcastically. “Ignore everypony in our way, even if they’re absolutely begging for help, how princess-like.” “I’m no princess here, Rarity,” Twilight responded, marching forward. And so the silence harshly fell upon them once more. Her dark thoughts and anxiety returned with it. Now she knew why she had appreciated the peace amongst her friends earlier, it kept her darkness at bay. The terrible memory of her taking Kuwabara’s life was fresh in her mind and wasn’t going anywhere soon. Of course, she was even more terrified at the possibility of encountering another insane Major, which was why she didn’t want to stop at all this time. Twilight wondered if Rarity knew how badly she wanted to protect her homeland. In Rarity’s mind, she’s probably doing it because it’s the right thing to do, but deep inside her is the hollow who wants to see their birthplace freed. Twilight couldn’t really blame her for that, it must be torture having power and being unable to do anything with it. Unfortunately, using that power would most likely result in all-out war with the hollows, and then where would they be? What did Celestia think about all this? Twilight would have to contact her later and ask her opinion, as well as question her about her past... A loud giggle from Pinkie snapped her out of her thoughts. She glanced over to see Pinkie engaged in a surprisingly quiet conversation with Applejack, who did not look happy. She turned to face Rainbow, who busy keeping eye contact with the ground. “Hey, Rainbow,” she whispered. Rainbow looked up from her staring contest and managed a small smile. “Oh, what’s up, Twilight?” “Do you know what’s up with Applejack and Pinkie? They’ve been acting kinda weird around each other lately, and I’m afraid that it’ll get in the way of the mission.” “Heh, you gotta stop worrying about this mission Twi’,” Rainbow responded, now staring at the sky. “You don’t have to worry about those two either, they just gotta figure out where they stand.” “Where they stand?” Twilight repeated, confusion emanating from her voice. “On what?” “What am I, their public speaker?” Rainbow asked, smiling. “You could ask them but you won’t get anything outta Applejack, trust me.” “Maybe I’ll talk with them later,” Twilight decided aloud. “We all need to be on the same page for—” “For the mission?” Rainbow snickered. “Seriously, it’s not that big a deal. If we’re gonna be creating peace then I don’t think we have to hurry.” “But—” “Nope,” Rainbow interrupted. “Stop worrying Twi’, we got this, we always do.” “Ugh,” Twilight grunted. “Well...I’m glad that you and me are on the same page, Rainbow.” “Oh, we are?” Rainbow asked, craning her head downwards. “Yeah,” Twilight looked up at the clouds, envisioning resting on one. “I think I need to relax too, but if I don’t remind everypony about how important the mission is—” “They get it, trust me,” Rainbow chuckled, glancing backwards. “Well, ok then, I’ll try to relax.” “That’s a relief, while you’re at it, I need to ask—” “Wait,” Twilight stopped trotting. “What was that?” “Huh? What was wh—whoa!” Rainbow’s sentence was lost as she watched a shadow quickly move from one tree to the other. Then another shadow, and another, and another. They seemed to have trotted into a forest of moving shadows. She turned around and saw that the others also noticed their company. Rarity seemed indifferent however, as she stood in place and checked her mane. To her this was probably another opportunity to help the hollows. To Twilight, this was a waste of time. “Okay, show yourselves or I’ll level this whole forest!” Twilight commanded. “Not the forest!” Fluttershy yelped. “No kidding, jeez Twilight,” Rainbow said in awe. “When did you go around leveling places?” Ignoring her friends, Twilight began charging her magic to show that she wasn’t kidding. Of course she couldn’t just eliminate the entire forest in one attack, but if she unleashed a barrage of magic blasts from above, then surely they would show themselves by the third blast. “We should do as she says, remember who we’re dealing with,” whispered one of the shadows. She couldn’t even pinpoint its location, but it sounded like it belonged to a guy. “Yeah, I’d say that’s better than being blown up by a longshot,” whispered another shadow and yet another male. “Fine, I’ll undo the spell, prepare yourselves,” replied a female shadow this time. Twilight backed up into her friends as she slightly lowered the power of the spell. The three shadows flew out of the forest and onto the path in front of them. The lead shadow held its head high. The tip of its shadowed horn began shimmering and with a bright flash, the shadows vanished from their bodies. The unicorn was the female, she had a brown mane done up in a messy bun, brown eyes, a marble colored coat, and a dangerous look in her eyes like she might strike at any moment. Twilight also noticed a vertical scar across her left eyelid. The first pegasus male resembled the female with his shaggy brown mane and a darker shade of brown for his eyes. A darker shade of marble for his coat and a somewhat relaxed feel to him, like he’s always in a sleeping mood. He had no scar, but the tips of his tail appeared to be burned off. The second pegasus male looked nothing like the two with his short gray mane and silver eyes. His coat was platinum, making him like a walking bleak blob. His eyes held a love for adventure, which was impossible for a hollow. He sported a goatee the same color as his mane. They all wore the same type of protective vest that she wore. Were they friends of Trixie? No, that’s not likely. Although, their vests bore some sort of symbol on the front. A large multi-colored capitalized “r” that seemed to be sending a message of some sorts. The female unicorn stepped forward. “I am Sleeping Shadow,” she said, gesturing to herself. “This is my brother, Clear Mind and our ally, Wild Side.” “Ally? Thanks, now I feel like a part of the family,” Wild Side snorted, shaking his head slightly. “He’s exactly like his name says,” Clear Mind stated calmly. “So please excuse him if and when he offends you.” “And thank you for the vote of confidence, C.M.,” Wild Side said, smiling and sticking his tongue out. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, but you’re all rather unusual for hollows,” Twilight said, keeping her guard up. “Just who are you really?” “Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Sleeping Shadow said, edging closer. “We are members of the Resistance, and we all have a few things to discuss, don’t you think?”