A Dangerous Sparkle

by David Silver


30 - Return of Dawn

Twilight staggered forward towards Long Road, "Are you alright?" she asked, fatigue heavy on her voice.

Long Road was quickly pawing over the minotaur, relieving it of a few trinkets and stuffing them away. When he saw Twilight staggering forward, he stopped and met her half way. With a press of a hoof and a spark of light, Twilight felt energy renew inside of her.

"Wow, that felt great," she said with a smile, "But shouldn't we get going? Who knows what's going on with Dawn."

"First rule of adventuring," started Long, but Pinkie leaped over the both of them and resumed taking the downed minotaur's coins. He directed a hoof at Pinkie, "That. If we weren't pressed for time I'd say take the axe." He winced in memory of it crashing against him, "Pinkie, can you help with these?"

Pinkie looked up and trotted to Long's side before petting him across the withers, "Don't you worry your pretty little head. Pinkie's here to make all the boo boos go away." Despite her patronizing tone, her magic was swift, putting the donkey back together again with only stains on his armor to show he had fought for his life.

Spike was ahead of the party, peeking into the next room and looking around from the doorway, "I think I found him."

Twilight cantered up to Spike's side, "WhaaAAAAA!" she shrieked, backing up onto her haunches away from the room. Dawn Event's corpse stared at them with empty eyes, left spread across the floor to gape at whoever entered the room.

Long Road and Pinkie were in the room in an instant at Twilight's yell. Long Road winced at the sight, but Pinkie quickly approached, prodding at it with a hoof. "Pinkie!" shouted Twilight, "What are you doing?"

Pinkie flopped the body onto its back, "It's a fake. A faker fakerooni!"

The thing masquerading as Dawn's body suddenly lurched to its hooves, flesh running free as it became skeletal in short order. Spike was on it in an instant. As resistant as the minotaur was to the dragon's assault, the bones broke easily under the crushing power of his claws and gnashing teeth. It struck the dragon in his belly, forcing him to back up a step, which was all the space needed for Long Road to enter the battle with both hooves coming down. With the sound of scattering bones, the beast was smashed to the ground and stopped moving.

Pinkie easily trotted through the field of bones, ignoring them as she opened the next door, which turned out to be little more than a closet. "Ta da!" pronounced Pinkie proudly, waving at a tied up and unconscious Dawn Event stuffed away.

They hauled the sleeping cleric out, each glad to see him intact. Spike gently slapped him awake, "Come on. We should get out of here."

Scrambling to his hooves, Dawn Event looked around at the carnage, "You've been busy... thank you."

Twilight shook her head, "Shouldn't we find whatever is... doing all of this? I mean, unless it was him." She leveled a hoof at the fallen minotaur.

Dawn shook his head, "We have a mission already, even if the temptation is strong to investigate further. I doubt that fiend was much more than muscle. You did well to defeat it, all things considered." He stepped around the party, moving back towards the room they were sleeping in. "This place is more dangerous than rumored, we should leave quickly." With the others trailing behind him, Dawn collected his things and began down the stairs. When he reached for the door, the old mare was back, blocking it.

"Don't leave me here," she begged, "Don't go until morning, or wizout me. One way or ze ozer."

Long Road stepped forward, "You aren't evil, but I am guessing you are dead. Let us past, spirit."

She stood firm, eyes resolute as she stomped a hoof on the ground.

Pinkie nudged past Long and rustled in her backpack, pulling out a muffin. "Don't be sad. We're not leaving 'cause of you. You're a nice pony, uh, ghost or not." She was uncertain for a moment, but quickly her bright smile returned as she offered the muffin, "We have to go."

The mare looked between Pinkie and her offering before reaching and taking the muffin in her mouth, "You give strange gifts, pink one, but you speak wiz kindness. Go, but I will be punished." She moved to the side, watching them with sad eyes and cradling the muffin between her fore-hooves. She held it like a treasure instead of a snack.

They filed out of the building into the dark of night. As Spike left last, the door slapped shut behind him. Pained groans filled the air from the direction of the house, then the sobbing of the pale green furred mare interspersed with the crack of some whip punctuated by her wail before the sobbing resumed.

Twilight rolled her ears back, "That's... awful. Shouldn't we save her?"

Dawn took a soft breath, "She is already dead, and the evil of this place is beyond the means of us. If you are concerned, make it a point to return when you are stronger, or have stronger friends." He looked up at the night sky, moon hanging high, "Until then, this place is lost to the night, and we should not tarry."

Twilight conjured the horses and flopped onto hers, looking dispirited as they rode away from the... cursed? haunted? manor and its unfortunate door keeper.

Spike drifted alongside Dawn, "Why did we go this way anyway? It's nothing but swamp and ghosts!"

He shook his head, "I was hoping we would pass it before sunset, and that the rumors were grossly out of proportion with reality. It was my error, and one that almost cost me a most dire price."

Pinkie rode up alongside, a grin on her face, "A good thing we returned the dawn, huh?"

Dawn Event glared at her a moment before her infectious attitude became too much and he cracked a smile, "Thank you for that. I know it's late, and you are all likely tired still, but it's important we get back to civilization."

Twilight shook her head, "Strange thing, but I don't feel tired at all anymore."

Long Road raised a hoof, "That would be my fault. When I lay my hooves of healing on someone, it banishes any tiredness along the way, unless they were severely exhausted. I can still feel that fiend's axe, but I'm not tired either."

Pinkie did not complain of fatigue, but if she was capable of being tired, none of her friends were aware of it. Spike let out a soft yawn, but flying remained easy, especially with the horses still powering through the swamp at a slow rate.

The sun rose to greet the party as they moved along the lake. They had broken free of the swamplands and now moved swiftly northwards. "With fortune," spoke Dawn Event, "We should arrive in two days in the town of Turves. They have a rail station there we will take."

Spike huffed softly, "Does that include actually getting some sleep and maybe a breakfast break?"

Dawn glanced up at the rising sun, then turned his horse to the side, guiding the group to a copse of trees that they began setting up camp in. While everyone ate, Pinkie moved over to Twilight and sat herself down.

"So," said Pinkie, "This world. It's kind of crazy, huh?"

"You can say that again," agreed Twilight as she drank eagerly of the flask of water, "It's not all bad though."

Pinkie tilted her head, "The ponies are good, uh, people, but they don't have a Celestia to watch over them."

"Or the elements of harmony," noted Twilight.

"Or that. I think they're doing a super keen job, considering." argued Pinkie.

"Are you telling that to me?" asked Twilight, a hoof at her chest, "Or yourself." She pointed the hoof at Pinkie before beeping her on the nose, drawing a giggle from the pink pony.

"Maybe both!" exclaimed Pinkie. "That mean minotaur wanted to kill Long Road. I could feel his bad vibes from across the hallway."

"We killed him," pointed out Twilight.

"He deserved it," retorted Pinkie, crossing her arms and looking pouty.

Twilight gently nudged Pinkie with a wing, "I'm not arguing that. He was a bad cow."

Spike suddenly appeared between the two, but didn't join the conversation as he finished landing, curled up besides Twilight and was out like a light. Pinkie smiled at Spike's form, giving an almost silent 'awww'. "He has the right idea." She suddenly flopped over, half sprawled on top of Spike and asleep instantly.

Twilight looked over the camp and saw only herself and Long Road were awake. She drew out her spellbook and began to make new notes in the margins, describing what had happened that evening to the best of her ability. She felt a new presence and looked up, seeing Long Road had settled in beside the pony pile.

"Thank you," he said.

"For what?" asked Twilight, one ear perked at him.

"For giving me this chance, even if it is painful. I... am glad to follow my dream, through the highs and lows, and I couldn't ask for better company while I do it." He reached out a hoof, which Twilight met with a soft tap.

"You're quite welcome," replied Twilight. "You've already saved us, I think. I don't want to imagine Spike being... attacked like that, even if he says he's ready for it, and if that thing was in front of me..."

"You would run away," spoke the Donkey with a half smile.

"Buck yea," she agreed quickly, bobbing her head, "I wouldn't even look back. But when I saw you there... taking it on... I had to help. I was so scared, but... I couldn't just leave you."

Long Road shuffled closer and bumped his forehead against Twilight's, mindful of her horn, "That is because you are a true friend. I won't forget it."

They remained together in companionable quiet with only the soft scratching of Twilight's quill against her book to break the silence.


Rested and fed, they made good time across the plains. They left the lakeside and started inland, soon losing it to sight over the horizon as they went. "Be wary," said Dawn, "We are perilously close to gnoll territory. The gem gnolls in particular love to make strikes against pony lands when they think they can get away with it."

Spike raised a scaled brow, "Gem gnolls?"

"Great shaggy creatures," explained Dawn, "Hyenas, two legs. They love gems to an unhealthy obsession and decorate their mangy pelts with them. They're passably intelligent, so they wear armor and use weapons."

The dragon snorted, "Sounds like diamond dogs, and I've shown them a thing or two in the past. They kidnapped a, uh, friend of mine."

Twilight shook her head at Spike, "It was a team effort. We all went after Rarity, though she hardly needed any of our help. She had everything well in hoof."

"Your friend, Rarity, must be a fierce warrior," said Dawn with a curious tone.

Spike failed to hold in a loud laugh, claws over his mouth. Twilight rolled her eyes and filled in for the increasingly confused looking Dawn, "She's a seamstress and a fashionista, but she has a tongue as sharp as a whip when she wants to. She had them begging for her to go, and take the gems with her."

"I don't think the gem gnolls would ever part with their gems for any price short of blood," said Dawn, "But I have heard of them trading them, if the offer is tempting enough, and can get more gems. Release of a hostage is not likely to qualify unless it was in return for access to a mine."

Pinkie joined the conversation, "They're not the same thing, just kinda similar. I bet I could get them to loosen up if I saw any though! Nopony wants to be a meany mean-face, they just don't know how to have a good time."

Neither Dawn nor Long cared to argue with the optimistic bard, and they rode on.