//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15 - In the Dark of the Night B 
// Story: A World Without Princesses 
// by PonyTom 
//------------------------------//

	The night was long, and it was uncomfortable.  That was all she could think as she tossed and turned.  It was annoying at first, but now it had become all consuming.  Earlier, it had been difficult staying awake, but now she could not sleep to save her life.

All she wanted was a little sleep.

Twilight grimaced hard as she finally felt the urge to give up seep in.  She sat up in her bed, and reached to the side, picking up her hat and placing it over her head, situating it just right.  Looking at the nearby curtains, she could tell that it was still dark outside, though there was a small amount of light that made her wonder if the sun was already coming up.  Twilight silently cursed her luck and the undoubtedly harsh day she was looking at at this point.  'Why is fate so cruel? Is sleep so much to ask?'  With a defeated sigh, Twilight eased herself from her bed, putting her blouse on as well as her waistcoat, and taking a moment to adjust her hat to make sure she was presentable.  Confident that she was at her best, Twilight trotted towards the door that lead into the hallway, unlocking it and pushing it open.  Any thought, any course of action she had planned ceased to be in that instant.

Twilight stared in abstract confusion and uncertainty as she beheld the halls of the Apple home; pristine just hours ago, they were now damaged and broken, muted in color and life, as if neglected for a long period of time.  The pictures of friends and family that once hung proudly from the walls were tilted, or had fallen completely from their spots on the wall onto the shredded, detritus covered floor below.  The floors creaked in protest to every step, as if the next one might cause the boards to split on a whim and send her plummeting to the floor below.  Many thoughts raced through Twilight's head, but there was one that quickly became prioritized in her mind.

Twilight had to find out if any of the Apples were okay, and perhaps discover what had occurred.

Twilight gingerly stepped towards Braeburn's door, which was situated right next-door to the guest room she had occupied last night, and held a hoof up, ready to knock, though she paused.  She had no idea what was behind that door, if it was friendly, or if anything was indeed behind that door at all.  Logically, there could be nothing in there, but logically the Apple house should have been in the same condition it was in when she fell asleep.  Slowly, Twilight took hold of the knob with her hoof and turned.  Slowly, gently, she pushed it open and, with no shortage of caution peaked inside the room.  It was empty, however, with only the bed broken, the window shattered, and various odds and ends scattered about that may have hinted a pony might have once occupied this space.  Twilight stepped inside the decaying room, looking it over for something of use; clues, hints, anything that might answer her increasing list of questions.  When she had deemed it empty of anything useful, Twilight stepped back out and made her way towards Apple Bloom's room.  It too was empty, sans the damaged bed, a broken closet, and a few bows laying about the floor.  The same with Granny Smith's room, though without the bows.

Twilight stepped from the Apple matriarch's room and looked towards the last door.  Her heart seemed to beat faster as uncertainty overwhelmed her.  Slowly, Twilight approached Big Mac's room, reaching a hoof to the door.  She was surprised to find that the door was not only not locked, but opened a crack.  Her heartbeat quickened, and she felt her body shake as she slowly pushed the wooden gate open.  What she saw here was a bit different, however, from the previous rooms; the wall was broken out, exposing the room to the elements, a chunk of the floor missing, exposing the floor below, with the broken bed and mattress laying over the damaged remains of whatever had been down there.  Outside, the grass was dark and dead, the sky blotted out by ominous clouds, and all of the trees in the orchards were skeletons of their former selves, black, rotted, and barren of leaves or fruit.  What stood out the most, however, was the words painted on the wall in red paint.


ALL MY FAULT


Twilight's jaw moved wordlessly as she slowly backed out of the room.  This was getting surreal, and she was now very, very worried.  Twilight made her way down the hall quickly, and down the stairs, into the living room.  It was in much the same state of neglect as the upstairs, with the furniture damaged and broken, bits of debris laying about and various nicknacks littering the floor.  As she stepped past the couch, Twilight noticed something in the corner of her vision, turning to see a small skeleton laying on the sofa with a tattered old cover over it, as if to keep the remains from the cold.  Her heart sank at the sight of it, and she backed into a nearby wall, feeling her stomach lurch in protest.  Turning, Twilight made her way out of the house, seeing the outside world once again.  Looking in the horizon, she could see Ponyville.  The gray skies made it seem so much duller, almost forboding at this distance, but she couldn't imagine how it could be any worse than where she was.

Without so much as a second thought, the mare made a mad dash down the dirt path towards town.  Her heart raced in fear and anxiety as she took in the rest of the orchard; the barn was mostly fallen in on itself, the fence was broken in places, and she passed cow bones that seemed as if they had stopped to rest on the side of the road.  As Twilight stepped into the town proper, however, her fears did not wane as she was greeted by crumbling homes with boarded windows, cracked and broken streets, the broken remains of carts and stalls, and the occasional bone.

"Is anypony here?" She shouted at nothing, but nothing answered in kind.  "Macintosh? Braeburn? Pinkie Pie? Anypony?" Silence returned to her.  Twilight started to breath faster, and she shook her head in denial as she hurried from house to house, looking in windows in the desperate hope to find somepony, anypony to break the lonesome.  She was rewarded with more skeletons, bones of dead ponies, many huddling in corners, hiding under tables, or simply laying against the walls, some grouped together, likely families, waiting for whatever end had come to them, or otherwise looked to find the homes empty and damaged as if whoever had lived there had fled in a hurry.

Twilight ran once more, reaching the next stop on her mental list of places to go; Pinkie's bakery.  As she reached the store that was shaped as if it had been made from the very sweets it sold, Twilight knocked on the door frantically, her patience and sanity wearing thin.  "Pinkie Pie! I want in! Can you hear me?" But nopony answered.  Twilight was growing frustrated and worried by the second, and was sure that any moment her heart would give out, so she did the only sensible thing she could think of.  "Pinkie Pie, I'm coming in!" Without further warning, she pushed the door open, stepping into the bakery, and was  greeted by the worn remains of the once colorful walls, which had lost much of their luster like the rest of Ponyville, and in similar fashion was broken, battered and damaged almost beyond recognition.  She hurried, fast as she could, past the broken counter and up the stairs to the second floor, making her way to Pinkie's apartment.  She pushed on the door, expecting it to give in easily, but her efforts were met with resistence; something was pushing back.  Hoping against hope, Twilight banged against the door with her hoof as hard and loud as she could.  "Pinkie!? Pinkie Pie, let me in! It's Twilight! Please, let me in!"

But nopony answer.

Twilight scrunched her nose and pushed once more, but the door would not budge.  Desperate, she pushed harder and harder, trying to place as much of her strength as she could into the door.  She heard a screech, and slowly the door gave way, until finally something fell over and she tumbled into the room at the same time as hearing the crash of a shelf falling over and breaking glass on the floor.  Twilight stood up and dusted her blouse before adjusting her hat, making sure it hadn't fallen off her head, and turned her attention to the room.  Whatever hope she might have had drained as her heart sank at the sight of a pony skeleton, wearing a tattered pink, yellow and blue dress laying on the floor with the bones of a small animal cradled in its arms almost protectively.  Twilight stepped towards the bones, her lip trembling as she tried to process the weight of the situation, though she soon noticed that words had been painted on the walls here, much like at Big Mac's house.


FORGIVE ME


Twilight stared in disbelief at the sight before her, and slowly she backed away from the bones, before quickly turning and fleeing the apartment, the bakery, into the streets of Ponyville once more.  The more she saw, the more she felt herself unravel.  The more decay and destruction she bore witness to, she felt herself die a little inside.  She hurried once more, rushing past houses and buildings, into the noble district.  If the rest of Ponyville was a shadow of its former self, this place was almost unrecognizably so, as once glorious and beautiful homes were now collapsing into themselves in such manners that they were about on par with the Old District on a bad day.  She had one destination in mind, however, one place of refuge.  Things were grim, but hope may yet lie in that place, that last sanctuary.

As she rushed past the broken gates, Twilight set her sights on the aged remains of Rich Manor.  To its credit, it was in better condition than the rest of Ponyville, standing firmly tall as a lord among the dead, despite being in a fair state of disrepair itself.  Twilight pushed the doors open and stepped into the house, having decided to set pleasantries aside for the time being.  "Rich? Rich! Rich, are you here!? What happened!? Where is everypony!?"

Once more, only silence answered back.

At haste, Twilight rushed up the stairs to the second floor, down the halls of the manor, and towards Rich's study.  She pushed the doors open and hurried into the room, but skid to an immediate halt.  There was no sign of Rich in the slightest; the massive window that lit the room was shattered open, books and papers littered the floor, and Rich's various trophies seemed either damaged, scattered, or missing.  What little hope Twilight had left seemed to fade away.  Nopony had been in this house for a while.

As Twilight stepped from the broken mansion, she felt a deep, burning pain in her chest and a profound sense of loss.  The whole world was broken.  It was as if there was nothing left, as if anything and everything was gone or dead, and had left behind only the barest hint that anything had ever been here in the first place.  Twilight took a few tired, weary steps from the house, but her strength quickly left her, and she dropped to her haunches, staring at the skeleton of the world in shock.

"It's all gone..." she said to nopony in particular.  Saying the words out loud made her hurt in ways she could not even fathom.  Her eyes began to burn slightly, and she felt her body tremble at the realization.  The urge to simply lie down and die was overwhelming.  What reason was there to go on?  "It's... all gone...." she said, quietly.

"Not all of it.  Just a lot of it."

Twilight nearly jumped from her skin in surprise, looking in the direction the voice had come from.  Near her, standing in the door to the house she had just stepped from was a strange figure, wearing a cloak that hid her features, though she could tell it was at least vaguely pony-shaped.  Slowly, the figure stepped forward, though Twilight did not move.  She had seen too much as was.  What left was there to lose? "What happened...?"

The figure did not respond immediately, simply turning to look out over the dead and poisoned land.  "At it's beginning? Nightmare Moon happened.  Of course, as with all tragedies, she was not the end.  Many problems arose afterwards, old evils rose from their ancient tombs and prisons, killing and destroying the land, bringing war and turmoil among its population.  Her return simply marked the beginning of the end."

Twilight's stared out with the figure, cold and empty.  Nightmare Moon was not even the big evil? There were worse things at hoof? Did she ever even have a choice? "... Why did all of this happen...?"

"Because," said the figure, her voice calm, gentle, and yet firm, "you died."

This response confused Twilight, and she dared to look towards this mystery creature.  "I... I died...?"

"Yes," said the figure, stepping forward a bit, down the dirt path that lead from the Rich estate, "you died, because you decided you needed to work alone."  The initial shock slowly vanishing and her curiosity peaked, Twilight pulled herself up from the ground and gave chase after the figure.

"But why would my death do this?"

"The path to Hell is paved with good intentions."  The figure paused, looking back at Twilight, who stopped herself once she had caught up.  "And you hold the best of them in your heart.  You intended to leave the Apple home alone the next morning, did you not?" Twilight did not respond, simply staring back at the figure with an empty gaze.  "You did leave that morning.  The fear of the previous days had left you fearful of bringing harm to others, and so you sought to finish the work yourself, facing powers beyond your breadth of knowledge.  Powers that both outrank and overshadow you.  And when you finally met those powers, they wiped you from the board."

Twilight looked from the hooded being back to the broken world.  Her heart raced, but the rest of her did not seem to acknowledge it.  "This is all my fault?"

"No," said the mare in a gentle, sympathetic voice, before turning her gaze off into the distance.  "It is her fault."  Slowly, she lifted a grey, withered hoof, and pointed in the distance.  Twilight followed where she had gestured and squinted.  Just beyond the hills, small enough to miss, but big enough to see, she saw it, on the mountain that once bore her own home, built into the side was a massive, black fortress, dark clouds seeming to form around it as if to give warning of what lie inside, a seemingly endless thunderstorm brewing above it.

"Nightmare Moon," said the figure, her voice tense and on edge.  "She grew in power, in wealth, and amassed an army the likes of which Equestria had not seen in a thousand years, formed of creatures that had long lived in the shadows, in secrecy, and in fear.  An army that she promised a new future, a future without fear, where those loyal to her could walk the streets tall and proud, and only be judged for their loyalty to her."  The hooded figure looked back towards her once more, and Twilight felt her stomach tighten as she returned the gaze.

"... Were any of them....?" She did not want to ask, and worse yet, she feared she already knew the answer.  The hooded figure was quiet for several minutes.  "Oh..."

"They chose what they thought to be the lesser evil," said the figure, solemnly.  "Many blame ancient and forgotten Celestia for their woes and the decay of harmony.  I cannot say I would not understand why many would choose to side with her ancient enemy if she offered them the freedom they so craved."  Twilight did not respond.  She couldn't.  There was so little left in her to do that with, that she feared letting it go.  "There are those who followed your example," said the figure, though her tone did not seem reassuring.  "Ponyville burned for their actions.  The mares who followed you to the castle, the Apple family... almost everypony in Ponyville... all killed with spears and arcane fire to make an example."

"Why," said Twilight, allowing a single tear to roll down her cheek.

"Because," said the figure, "that is where their resistance was.  All your friends rallied together, continuing your mission.  As far as Nightmare Moon was concerned, the rest of the town was guilty by association."  The hooded figure sighed, looking towards Twilight, who could almost feel a sadness emanating from the shadows beneath the cloak, even if there was no visible face to judge that from.  "I'm afraid I have one more thing to show you..."

When Twilight blinked, she was startled to find she was not near the Rich mansion as she was before.  Instead, she was in a grand, dark hall, with purple banners hanging from the walls with a moon emblazoned on them.  Torches that burned with eldritch blue fire lit the area, although it seemed to make the room only more terrifying by expanding the shadows of empty suits of armor.  On the far wall was a painting of a black-coated mare with a massive horn and a grand set of wings.  The hooded figure moved past Twilight, whose attention followed her as she stepped into a random door, and with no other idea of how to continue, Twilight followed the mare.  The two ponies walked a long, dark hall that seemed to exist merely to fill space, and they soon approached a stairway that lead down into a dark sub level of the castle, which they had taken at a leisurely pace.

They came into a room that Twilight could easily recognize as a dungeon from ancient times, complete with various cells and torture implements scattered about.  She scanned the room, seeing almost all the cells were too dark to look into, though the various little sounds suggested there were indeed ponies... or other things... inside them.  As she scanned, she noticed that there was a light cast on a single occupant at the far end of the room who seemed to be hanging from the wall by shackles.  She looked towards the hooded figure, who only offered a nod.  Twilight turned and, slowly, began to make her way toward the mystery pony on the wall.  As she drew closer, she noticed that what was before her was a stallion, and though she could not place it, he looked familiar, although he was thin and emaciated as if he hadn't been eating well, if at all.  His coat was a dull red color, with small bald patches here and there, his mane long and messy, hanging over his face.  As she drew closer, she noticed his body was covered in lines; scars where fur did not grow back, signs of torture and abuse that had not fully healed or had not done so properly.

"Excuse me?" Her voice was quiet and timid, as if afraid he would shout at her, but alas, the stallion did not respond.  "E-excuse me...?"  Still nothing.  Twilight gulped nervously, stepping forward, and bending down, looking underneath all the hair that blocked his face.  At first she couldn't tell who she was looking at, but slowly realization dawned on her.  Twilight stepped back, placing a hoof over her mouth and widening her eyes.  She paused for a few moments before stepping forward cautiously, placing a hoof under the stallion's chin and lifting it, using her free hoof to brush his mane from his eyes so she could see his face.

Staring back at her was a scarred, damaged face with white freckles with milky eyes that seemed vaguely green that seemed to gaze off into the ether.  He was almost hard to recognize through all the damage, but something about him was unmistakable.

"Macintosh," she whispered, feeling herself get a little dizzy.  If he heard her, he did not respond.  In fact, he did not seem to react to her at all.  Twilight placed a hoof over his neck and saw that he still had a pulse, and was still breathing, albeit weakly.  He yet lived, and yet she could see nothing alive in him.

"This poor thing's mind has long since been lost.  To torture, starvation, and the depraved needs of his queen."  The mysterious being stepped beside Twilight, her gaze on the stallion on the wall.  "After you disappeared, he continued to live happily for a while, caring for his family.  He might have lived a full, happy life had Nightmare Moon not begun her conquest."  The mare rose a withered hoof, placing it gently on his cheek and brushing it, though he did not seem to react to her touch at all.  "This brave soul fought her once her darkness came to Ponyville.  He lead his friends... your friends... into war.  He could not find you or the Elements, and so he tried to rebel against her with numbers.  In time, this lead him to trying to challenge her directly.  He fought through many of her warriors, spilling much of his own blood to reach her."  The figure bowed her head.   "He wouldn't have stood a chance at full strength, much less considering he was half dead when he reached her."

"And now, she keeps him as a trophy, tortures him daily, beating him, starving him, and using him for more base desires, trying to break his spirit, trying to make him swear fealty to her, beg her forgiveness... but she will never get it."  The figure looked toward Twilight.   "Not because he is strong, because she had broken this stallion long ago... no, she will only ever get silence, because this poor creature cannot speak.  He cannot speak the words she wants to hear, the words she promises will free him from his torment."  The hooded figure bowed her head, almost solemnly.  "Unable to give her the only thing that would relieve him of his suffering, his spirit and his will disappeared, and all the while, the Nightmare does not realize she has been torturing, violating and starving an empty shell for several months for a response he can never give her."  Twilight's eyes began to burn.  Her mouth moved wordlessly, and slowly, she reached a hoof forward, placing it on the side of his face.  For a moment, his milky eyes seemed to look up to her.  She wondered if anything of him was left, if even a fraction of the stallion still remained.  Big Mac's jaw moved, his lips looking as if they were trying to form words which could not leave his mouth.  Twilight noticed he was saying the same thing over and over, and so she tried her best to read his lips.

'All my fault.'

Twilight stepped backwards and wavered a bit as she watched Macintosh wordlessly mouth those words over and over again, staring at nothing with that sad, empty, soulless gaze.  She stumbled and fell on her haunches, staring sadly at the broken shell of a stallion in front of her.  The hooded figure turned to face her, being certain to not block Twilight's view of Macintosh.  "Just a week ago, he stopped eating what little scraps she offered him.  He no longer even has the will to live.  Soon, this stallion will die of starvation.  Only then will he be free.  Only then will he escape the torment."

Twilight lay down on the floor and curled into a ball, huddling her legs close to her, and began to shake.  It was all too much.  Ponyville, her friends, her family... it was just too much to bear.  None of this was right.  She let loose a rattled breath, squeezing her eyes shut.  "But why...?"

"Many things," said the hooded mare, looking at Big Mac.  "The most recent reason was to avenge the death of his friends and family.  But it all began because of you."  Twilight did not budge from her spot, but continued to listen.  "He blamed himself for getting you involved.  Every time he thought of you, he told himself that had he not brought you that book, you would yet live.  He might have found another way.  He might have saved Equestria without endangering you.  He failed you in his mind, and blamed himself for every failure that resulted."  The mare looked to Twilight.  "The burdens of an entire nation were his fault.  It is something he thought every night before he went to sleep.  And now, it's the only thought left in him, and will be so, replaying over and over again in his mind, without end, until his heart stops beating."

Twilight's chest began to shudder and shake as she drew breath, curling tighter, blocking her ears.  "No more," she begged in a cracked, broken voice as tears trailed down her cheeks.  "Please, I can't take anymore..."

"You are right when you say one pony's life is as nothing to the greater good," continued the figure.

"Please..." she sniffed.

"But one pony's life can make all the difference.  One pony's life can mean the world."

"I'm begging you..."

"This is an enemy the likes of which you cannot face alone.  Only through harmony will the world be saved.  Your friends dying by your side is terrible... but it is a mercy against what they will face if you die alone."

"I said no more!"

Twilight sat up quickly, glaring at a wall of wood.  She paused, and quickly looked around herself, suddenly noting that she was not in a castle, but back in the guest room of Sweet Apple Acres, laying in the bed she had fallen asleep in.  Twilight felt her head to find her hat was not there, and saw that it still sat on a nearby table, waiting for her.  She looked down to see she was wrapped in covers, if only partially so as they had shifted about.  She looked at her pillow to find that it was damp, urging her to bring her hooves up over her face, to find that her cheeks and eyes were soaked.  She panted heavily for a few seconds, slowly asserting that this was indeed real.  Twilight rubbed her eyes, drying the moisture from them.

"It was all a dream," she told herself quietly.

Slowly, she pushed herself up and from the covers and bed and, grabbing her blouse and putting it on, followed by her hat, she made her way to the bedroom door and reached for it, though she paused, her hoof on the knob, but unable to turn, not by force, but by fear.  The last time she had opened this door, she was privy to a world of death.  To horror beyond horror.  Nervous and reluctant, she slowly turned the knob, and pushed the door open.

The halls were dark and empty, and it was quiet, but she could hear the ticking of a clock downstairs, something she hadn't heard last time.  What she could see of the walls were in relatively fine condition, pictures hanging in their proper places, slightly tilted at worst, and none of the wear and tear one would associate with long periods of neglect.  Twilight stepped from the room, closing the door quietly behind herself in the hopes to not disturb or jinx the situation.  She made her way down the hall, and down the stairs, into the living room to see that it too was dark and hard to see in, the rest of the Apples likely having gone to bed to be ready to get up early the next day.  Twilight walked to a nearby oil lamp that sat on a table and lit it up to illuminate the room, which she could now clarify was in great condition, whole, unharmed.

Twilight was silent at first, but let out an involuntary laugh of relief after the realization fully sunk in that everything was fine.  "It was just a dream," she whispered to herself, brushing wetness from her eye, a shudder running through her body from the sheer joy to see everything was fine.  There were no filly bones on the couch, the windows were unbroken, and though it was likely too dark outside for her to see, she was almost certain that if the pattern held true, Ponyville would be there.  Twilight relaxed, feeling as if a grand weight was lifted from her shoulders.

Then the sound of the door creaking open caught her attention.

Twilight turned her attention, slightly startled by the sudden intrusion to see Big Macintosh standing at the doorway.  She cleared her throat, trying to collect herself and to maintain some air of dignity, until she noticed his current state in the lamplight.  The stallion's coat was stained in something dark that seemed to be smeared all over one side, as were his front hooves, his clothes looked slightly messy as if he had been in a fight, and the frown accompanying the slight shimmer in his eyes reflecting from the light of the lantern brought any relief she felt to a halt.  Macintosh simply nodded to her.  "Miss Sparkle," he said in a tired, cracked voice.  Macintosh then turned his attention to the stairs and made his way up to the second floor.

As she watched him ascend, Twilight caught sight of his back, which had yet more dark stains smeared all over it.  The mare stood there silently for a few minutes, alone in the living room, her mind trying to comprehend what was going on.  She wondered if she should follow, if she should see what was wrong.  After all, it was his business, and if it was important she figured he'd say something, right? It wasn't that she was heartless, simply that she had no idea what the context of the situation was.

Twilight considered for a moment to just leave him to his thoughts, but then she remembered just a few hours earlier, how he had been concerned enough to ask her about herself.  'He went insane for you in an horrific dream future.  The least you could do is talk to him.'  Twilight frowned slightly towards the staircase, questions now churning in her head.  'All it takes is one pony.'  With a sigh, Twilight nodded to herself to affirm her choice of action.

Twilight made her way up the stairs after Macintosh.  She moved slowly through the hall, ear pirked, trying to see if she could hear something.  She remembered where the guest room was, and where Braeburn's was.  Deciding to take a guess, she stepped towards the door just past Braeburn's, to find that it was slightly ajar.  Raising a hoof, she tapped on it.  "Macintosh?" Nopony answered.  "Mind if I come in?" No response.  "I'm coming in."  Twilight gently pushed the door to the room open, and the first thing she was was the stallion in question, sitting on the edge of his bed, his face in his stained hooves, his coat hanging from a nearby chair.

"Macintosh...? Are you okay...?"

Big Mac didn't respond immediately.  He let loose a rattled sigh, clearly shaken about something, though Twilight had no idea what.  Twilight stepped closer, hoping she wasn't being disrespectful.  "Lil' filly," he said, his voice weak and scratchy, "got mauled by a dog."  That was certainly unpleasant news, and admittedly only stepped further with Twilight's field of understanding.

"I'm sorry to hear that..." she said quietly, not knowing what else to say to this shaken stallion, who remained silent for a minute or so before shaking his head and huffing.

"She stole apples from me.  Called 'er a thief.  Made friends with Apple Bloom, an' I chased 'er away, forbade my sister from talkin' with 'er."  He lowered his hooves from his eyes, staring down at the ground.  Twilight leaned down to get a better look at his face, but he looked off to the side.  "Caught 'er sneakin' around.  Thought she was up to trouble.  Followed 'er, an' found 'er alone.  No family, nothin'... just a dog."  Macintosh shook his head and let loose a mirthless, sad chuckle.  "Stupid, mangy dog... prob'ly trusted it ta fill a void in 'er life..."  He looked up to Twilight.  He was silent for a few seconds, but she saw his lips start trembling, and his eyes becoming wetter.  "Prob'ly never thought it'd attack 'er for a pie..."

Twilight stared silently at Big Mac, her jaw moving wordlessly.  He shook his head, looking off to the side.  "I-is she okay...?"

"Don't know," he said, his voice starting to grow weaker.  "Got 'er to a doctor.  Did what he could, but..." He shook his head once more, looking off to the side and releasing a frustrated, rattled sigh.  Twilight looked at her hooves for a moment, not sure what to say to him.  This was not admittedly something she knew a lot about, as the most she had ever had to do was comfort Spike after a nightmare or, more recently, after a scare.  She looked at Big Mac again though, and despite his attempts to look away, she could tell it was hurting him deeply.  He looked so tired, so much older than he normally did; he was torn up inside.  Just looking at this stallion, she felt something strange tug at her.  An odd and unusual urge, but one she decided was best to follow.

Twilight took a seat next to Big Mac on his bed, turned so she was facing him, and she wrapped her forelegs around him gently and pulled him close.  He tensed at first, probably surprised by the gesture, but slowly, he eased up, and wrapped his forelegs around her, lowering his head over her shoulder.  Twilight felt his grip tighten, and then felt his body tremble and shudder as he released another shaky breath.   She didn't know what to say.  This was all she knew to do right now.  When she heard the stallion sniffle, she decided maybe it was all she needed to do.  Maybe this was all he needed right now.  Twilight considered her dream for a moment.  How the strange being had told her about how one pony could make all the difference, even if they were only so big in the eyes of the universe.

Twilight had considered leaving that following morning to continue her quest alone, leaving the Apple family, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and even Spike behind so that she could endure the dangers alone.

That had been her plan.  But sometimes, plans change.


TO BE CONTINUED...