//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 - Echoes // Story: Nighttide Star // by Vertigo-01 //------------------------------// “Hey… phew…” Applejack panted against the icy air gnawing at her lungs. “Is that it, Nighttide?” “It is.” Nighttide walked up beside her as she and the others knelt down to rest for a moment. Just a few hooves ahead of them sat Riptide’s airship, glowing in the evening sunlight. The deck and wings were already covered in snow, meaning he must have arrived not long after Nighttide and the others escaped. Rarity had been carrying Spike on her back during the trek uphill, but as she lay down to rest, he hopped off her back and ran up to Nighttide with a worried expression. Nighttide looked down at the baby dragon. “What’s up, Spike?” “What do you think happened to Twilight? It’s not like her to do something dangerous like this.” Nighttide looked over at Applejack. The mare shrugged, no more informed than anypony else was of the situation. “I’m sorry. I’m really not sure.” “Hey, don’t forget about Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie Pie suddenly barked from the back of the group with a tone of frustration. “Well of course we wouldn’t, Pinkie,” Rarity replied calmly as she attempted to work out some of the knots in her mane. “That should go without saying.” “I don’t know… Seems kind of hard for me to tell. All we’ve been doing is wandering around, and we haven’t even talked about going to look for them!” “Didn’t we, though?” Applejack intervened. “Wasn’t it you who said we needed to look for the rest of our friends earlier?” “Yeah, I did, but none of you seem to be worried that Rainbow Dash is still missing!” “Of course we’re worried,” Fluttershy added. “Why would you think we weren’t?” “I just told you,” Pinkie Pie continued, “We haven’t talked about going to look for her!” Applejack stood back to her hooves and faced the pink mare. “Pinkie, why are you making such a fuss over this? Of course we’re looking for her – we’re looking for both our friends! What do you think we’re doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” Spike and Nighttide watched the group go back and forth. Spike was becoming more nervous as the tension rose, and Nighttide couldn’t figure out if Pinkie Pie was trying to start a fight, or was simply shell-shocked from the experience. Hesitantly, Nighttide stepped toward Pinkie and cleared her throat. Pinkie shot her back a sharp glare, which took her a little off guard. Nevertheless, she slowly sat down in front of the pink mare and drew a deep, frosty breath. “Alright, Pinkie. What should ‘go without saying,’ as Rarity implied, is the fact that we’re out here in the freezing cold of a mountain, and two of our friends are lost somewhere out here. Yes, we are in fact actively searching for them. Please don’t think just because we haven’t been talking about it this whole time that it isn’t important. We just trudged through a snowstorm, and we have no idea where to go or what to do next, so we’re taking things one step at a time and working with what we have. Hence why we’re here – and thankfully, near Riptide’s ship.” She looked back over her shoulder at the bizarre contraption. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if he has something to do with all this.” Spike walked back over to Rarity as Pinkie Pie walked up to Nighttide. “Alright then, Ms. Shiny Pants. What would you suggest we do then?” “Take a break.” Nighttide looked over the crowd of ponies now lying in the snow. All of them were visibly exhausted to the bone. “If we’re going to search for Twilight and Rainbow, then we need to regain our strength.” “And waste even more time when they could be in danger?!” Pinkie was growing more frustrated, and yet it was hard for Nighttide not to smirk at her incredibly poofy mane and tail, the product of the snowstorm they had journeyed through. “Listen, Pinkie. If we don’t do this right, then we’ll never get anywhere. We’ll either keel over from exhaustion, or we could get into trouble ourselves.” Nighttide braved up enough to let out a small smile. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be, like, the Element of Laughter or something?” “Um, duh,” Pinkie Pie groaned. “What else would I be?” Nighttide had a thought. She looked back at Riptide’s ship. Nothing seemed to stir either in or around it. “Tell you what. Since I’ve got these fancy legs and stuff, I can go on ahead and peek around the ship, see if anything’s going down, while you all rest up.” “Excuse me, Nighttide,” Applejack interrupted. “No offense, but I hope you don’t think you’re the leader of this brigade just ‘cause Twilight’s missing.” Nighttide’s ears folded back at the sound of her question. Stepping back, she said, “N-no… not at all. I’m sorry if I’ve come across that way.” She paused for a moment to look away from the group before continuing a little more firmly. “All I’m suggesting is that I make use of the resources I have while you guys rest for a moment. I don’t get exhausted as quick because these legs are mechanical, so the effort I put into walking or running doesn’t wear me out nearly as much. I promise, I’m not trying to play the hero here. But…” She turned to Pinkie Pie. “I do understand the severity of the situation. And I honestly believe this would be a good way to go about things.” Nighttide could have picked any number of other words to say in that moment, but they seemed to serve the situation well, as Pinkie Pie turned back to the group. “Okie-dokie-lokie,” Pinkie slowly recited as she walked by her. “But you better not do any crazy stunts. Those are left to me. Got it?” Nighttide smiled again. “But of course. Think you can lift everypony’s spirits while I’m away?” Pinkie Pie returned the smile. “You can count on me.” Nighttide nodded. Nopony else raised an argument, so with everything said and done, Nighttide turned toward the ship and galloped against the frigid air. __________ Nighttide made her way up to the deck of Riptide’s ship via a crudely built staircase that had been cast off the side. When she opened the door leading into the cabin, she noticed the lights that had lit the halls and rooms before were off, and no light from outside could find its way in. Nighttide activated her night vision and continued slowly down the corridors. There were only a few rooms connected to the halls, and each of them had a table set up in a corner. But there was no furniture or items of any sort otherwise. Once she found her way into the large room where her and the others were originally held, she noticed the crates stacked along the far wall were now open and empty. She walked down the flight of stairs and inspected them. Her sensors still on the fritz, she couldn’t scan for any materials, but she did notice an odd blue dust coated inside one of the crates. As she picked up the crate to look around, she found a hardcover book sitting underneath it. Nighttide sat down and held the book in front of her. It was brown, had a thick binding, but only seemed to hold a few pages between the covers. The covers were held together by a strap with a swirly symbol drawn near the buckle. She tried to unlatch it, but it wouldn’t budge, nor was there any other visible way of opening it. “Must be more magic stuff,” Nighttide muttered to herself. She then opened a metal pouch in her suit to carry the book back with her. Her search revealed nothing else of any significance, which left her concerned. ‘Where would Riptide have run off to in the middle of a mountain range?’ But the answer came to her far quicker than she expected when she stepped back out onto the deck and peered across the clearing below. “A cave,” Nighttide whispered as she spotted a large hole in the side of the bigger mountain, only now visible thanks to the storm passing. There were no tracks leading into the cave, but had there ever been, they were probably covered up by the snow left from the storm. Nighttide galloped back down to the group. The others were warming themselves under a series of blankets, and thankfully, Pinkie Pie had packed enough food in her saddlebags to feed the whole group. Everyone was chowing down on an assortment of muffins and cupcakes while Pinkie told a funny story to Spike, although the others were listening intently as well. “Guys,” Nighttide interrupted, “the ship’s empty, but I think I know where to look next.” The others looked over as she pointed off in the distance toward the cave. Just as Applejack was about to speak, Pinkie Pie caught a glimpse of something flying toward them from the direction of the storm. “Rainbow Dash?!” The cerulean pegasus glided toward them, her mane disheveled and streaked with ice. As she neared the ground, her wings fell limp, and she crash-landed into the snow before them. “Rainbow Dash!” Everyone shouted and ran toward the colorful heap. Rainbow Dash slowly lifted her head and gave a small smile, then let it fall flat back in the snow. Fluttershy was the first to reach her. “Oh my gosh! Are you alright?” “Mmfine,” came a muffled voice. Although she was a bit worse for wear, the others could tell she was alright. Her wings were a mess, and Rarity surmised her mane would probably need a day at the spa, but there didn’t appear to be any visible injuries. After a few seconds, Rainbow Dash rolled onto her back and looked up at everypony, muttering off each of their names. “Fluttershy… Applejack… Rarity… Pinkie Pie…” She blinked. “And no Twilight.” “Sorry, Rainbow.” Nighttide walked up to her side and looked down. “We only barely managed to find each other.” “Find… each other?” She furrowed her brow. “What happened?” Nighttide’s head snapped up. She looked over at Rarity. “Now that I think about it, what exactly did happen?” Rarity hung her head as she looked around at the others with a somber expression. “Right… about that.” As it turned out, Rarity had in fact tried to teleport the others. Twilight had all but forced her to learn how to use the spell at one point in the past. While she was never successful at the few times they tried it together, when the balloon began to free-fall, Rarity decided to give it one last shot. “I’m sorry, everyone,” Rarity finished off. “I-I know it was a really long shot, but… I was so scared of what would happen, so I…” Applejack walked over to her with a warm smile and wrapped a foreleg around her. “It’s okay, Rarity. If you hadn’t done what ya did, we might’ve not made it at all. The way that balloon was falling?” She shuddered at the thought. “I think you did the right thing. Thanks.” Everyone else pitched in their thanks as Rarity returned a meager smile, still keeping her head low. “Which makes me wonder,” Nighttide said. “Right before we were all separated, I noticed your magic turned from blue to black. Is that normal with teleportation?” “It did?” Rarity blinked and tilted her head. “I’ve never heard of that happening before…” “Ya think it’s because of that flash we saw?” Applejack suggested. “Oh yeah, that flash!” Rainbow Dash chimed in. “You guys saw it too?” “That’s what busted up the balloon,” Nighttide said. “And I think that’s what knocked me out of the sky,” Fluttershy added. Rainbow Dash finally processed the fact that Fluttershy had gauze wrapped around one of her wings and shot up to attention. “Whoa, Fluttershy, what happened to you?!” “Well, I followed you into the storm, but I lost you pretty soon after that. Then I saw this bright flash, and a gust of wind pushed me back. I couldn’t tell where I was going anymore, so I kind of… ran into the side of a mountain.” She rubbed her forehead as the memories finally made their way back. “I guess I fell to the ground after that.” Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches as she worked out some of the snow in her mane. “Well, it didn’t knock me out of the sky, but it sure did mess with my flight path. Soon as that… whatever, ran into me, I didn’t know which way I was going anymore. I’m just glad I finally ran into you guys.” Without warning, Pinkie Pie dove on top of Rainbow Dash and gave her a huge hug. Apparently, she had been waiting for the right opportunity. “And we’re glad to have you back!” “Y-yeah, thanks for that.” Rainbow Dash squirmed her way out of the hug and shook her head vigorously to clear out some of the snow, causing her mane to turn into a rainbow poof. Everyone snickered a little at the sight. She looked around at the group with a confused expression. “What? What is it?” “Oh, Rainbow.” Rarity walked over to her with a smile, then tried to flatten her friend’s mane as best as she could. “It really is good to have you back.” “Well,” Nighttide spoke up, “warm greetings and poofy manes aside, we should probably start looking for Twilight. Unless you need to rest some, Rainbow?” “Nah, I’m good.” She motioned for Rarity to stop touching her mane. “No snowstorm’s gonna keep me down!” She shot a confident grin to everyone, which made Pinkie Pie especially glow. “Alright then. Who’s ready to go spelunking!” Nighttide shouted with much enthusiasm. Perhaps a little too much, as everypony looked at her uncertainly. “Um… who’s ready to go explore a cave?” This time, everypony cheered. Pinkie Pie gave Rainbow Dash one of her muffins in passing, and after everyone finished gathering up their blankets, the group headed toward the cave. __________ “Wow.” Nighttide looked around with wide eyes. “I’ve never been inside one of these before.” They were now entering into the smooth opening of the mountain. The cave had steel grey walls and a ceiling taller than the Golden Oak Library. Thanks to the cold weather traipsing inside, the stalactites overhead were long and dramatic, like finely honed spears crafted from thousands of years of collected moisture. Nighttide had only ever read about caves in her geology files. Although Twilight was still missing, Nighttide couldn’t help but soak in the moment a little. As they walked through the slowly narrowing cave, Rarity took the lead and lit the way for them using her magic. But Nighttide was a little concerned. She walked up beside Rarity and lowered her head a little. She didn’t want to say anything around the others just in case she was sensitive about the subject. “I’m still not very familiar with how magic works,” Nighttide whispered over to her, “but after what happened on the balloon, do you think it’s safe to do that?” Rarity glanced at her. “I think this should at least be fine. It’s a simple illumination spell.” She then smiled. “But if you see something strange, just let me know.” “Of course.” Nighttide walked alongside Rarity as the rest followed silently. The further they entered the cave, the warmer it became. While Nighttide couldn’t scan the cavern’s walls, her oxygen sensors did pick up a small amount of hydrogen sulfide and methane. She looked back at the rest of the group. “Do you ponies have any volcanoes here in Equestria?” “Not anywhere nearby,” Applejack answered. “Dragons migrate to them once every several years down south, though. Why do you ask?” “I haven’t been around one myself, but if my sensors are right, the air in here has elements of volcanic activity.” She looked around at the smooth grey of the cave’s walls that glistened every so often with the reflection of Rarity’s light. “I’ve never heard of a volcano in the Appaloosan mountains,” Applejack added. “I have some kinfolk that live near here, and they’ve never mentioned anythin’ like that.” “Some volcanoes operate strictly underground, though. At least from what I’ve read… Let’s just be careful.” The rest nodded, except for Rainbow Dash, who just rolled her eyes. After a moment, they found a break in the wall. With no other direction to take, they entered inside the break. Now they were walking down a very narrow corridor that wound in different directions. The ceiling hung much lower than before and was now as smooth as the walls, lined with a faint violet sheen. Fluttershy did her best to keep a brave front as Rainbow Dash walked alongside her. Pinkie Pie kept her spirits up by bouncing every so often at the pace of the group. Spike rode on Rarity’s back at the head of the group while Applejack brought up the rear. They kept this pattern for some time, silently pushing forward, hoping that they would eventually run upon something of interest. But before long, somepony grew frustrated. “Ugh,” Rainbow Dash groaned, “do you guys really think we’re gonna find Twilight in here?” “Well, where else would ya suggest we look?” Applejack asked. “I’m just saying, she could still be outside somewhere! Maybe I should go back and do another fly around now that the storm’s passed.” Rainbow was just about to turn around when Nighttide spoke up. “I’m not so sure. Given Twilight’s weird behavior and the fact that she was headed straight for Riptide’s ship, something tells me this is where we need to look.” “I agree with Nighttide,” Rarity added. “Though at the same time, Rainbow Dash does have a point. There’s no guarantee she’s in here either.” Nighttide nodded as she looked back to Rainbow Dash. “Well, I’m not the leader here. What do you want to do?” Rainbow Dash peered off to the side with a scowl. “I don’t know. Just… all this walking’s about to drive me nuts, and I can’t fly in here because it’s too cramp!” “Whoever said rescuing a friend was supposed to be fun?” Nighttide asked her, half-seriously and half-sarcastically. Admittedly, some of the stories she had heard from Twilight actually sounded pretty fun. “Well,” Pinkie Pie retorted, “whoever said it wasn’t supposed to be fun?” “Point taken,” Nighttide said. A few seconds later, everyone heard a muffled noise coming from in front of them. The group picked up the pace, and soon, they found themselves inside a large cavern. Sure enough, there was a faint sound of running water coming from nearby. Rarity and Nighttide hastened ahead as the unicorn’s horn grew brighter. Once they were a few hooves ahead, they spotted a shallow river running through the center of the cavern. Clear and calm, the river barely made a trickle sound against the smooth rock which it traveled. The rest of the group walked up to the water and peered down. Rarity gasped at the sight. “Sweet Celestia!” Embedded in the bottom and surrounding the river were crystals the color of azure and amethyst. The riverbed sparkled in a most brilliant fashion with Rarity’s light, and the glassy surface of the running water only added to its radiance. Everyone looked down in awe. Spike hopped off Rarity’s back to examine the riverbed. “So… so many gems. I’ve never seen any like these before! They’re… beautiful.” A small bit of drool began to form at the edge of his mouth. As the others marveled at the sight, Nighttide glanced around the cavern. Across the river, she thought she saw a rock shift ever so slightly, but she couldn’t hear any movement. As she continued looking ahead, she saw it again. “Guys.” Nighttide nodded forward as the others looked across the river. In the darkest part of the cavern’s corner stood the faint silhouette of a pony, only barely illuminated by Rarity’s light. Everyone’s stance turned rigid as Fluttershy let out a soft gasp. Nighttide carefully stepped into the edge of the river and called out. “Pony in the shadows, identify yourself.” The silhouette remained still. “Identify yourself, pony,” Nighttide called out again after a moment. As she went to switch over to her night vision, her systems malfunctioned, and her retinal display completely shut off, leaving her with only her natural eyesight. “Dammit, not now,” she grumbled under her breath as she tapped a wet hoof to her head. Then, slowly, the silhouette shifted toward them. Nighttide tried to unlock her weapons, but to no avail. Everyone behind her took a step back as she remained standing partly in the water, facing toward the pony in the shadows. She tried calling out one more time. “Unidentified pony, please identify yourself, or I will be forced to take defensive action.” Nighttide knew she was grasping at straws at this point, but she was willing to try anything to prevent a crisis. Just as she opened her mouth to shout back at the others to run, the pony stepped up to the riverbed, and Rarity’s light revealed… “Twilight?” Everyone let out a relieved sigh as they approached the riverbank, though Nighttide remained rigid. She leaned her head forward and squinted at Twilight. Something was off. “For pony’s sake, Twilight,” Applejack shouted across the river, “What’re you doin’ in here?” There was no response. Everyone grew silent again. They noticed something odd about her eyes. They were sunken, dulled, staring only in their general direction rather than anypony in particular. The river was just shallow enough to walk through, so Nighttide made to approach her. Just as she took a step forward, Twilight’s wings flared, and her horn burned dark blue. It was the most unusual thing Nighttide had seen yet; the blue of her horn seemed to radiate like a blackened light, drowning out Rarity’s white light with its intensity and shrouding the room in darkness. Suddenly, Twilight thrust her head forward and aimed her horn at Rarity, who was now standing beside her. “TWILIGHT, NO!” Nighttide bucked against the riverbed and dove in front of Rarity as Twilight’s magic came straight toward them. As she dove, Nighttide caught a glimpse of the other ponies racing across the river toward the alicorn. Then, the magic hit her square in the chest, and a strange chill surrounded her body. She collapsed in front of Rarity, unconscious. __________ A low hum of different noises filled the air. Familiar sounds of yesteryear. Cars traveling on the interstate. The clank of a cross-bridge closing over the bay-way. A distant whistle which she could only barely remember hearing a few times in her life. “…The freighter.” Nighttide lifted her head up slowly as she opened her eyes to a night sky overhead, just barely dotted with stars. As she sat up to her haunches, she peered out over the orange glow of a city skyline. It appeared she was sitting on the edge of a small mountain, looking down at a large city built near the edge of an ocean. Something felt off, or so Nighttide thought, but she couldn’t place her hoof on what it was. After a second of staring out at the city, she felt an itch on her side and turned to bite it, but when she did, she stopped short and stared at her flank. “Hm… I need a bath.” Nighttide bit into the dull grey coat hairs of her flank to get rid of the itch, then noticed her hooves were unusually dirty. The coat around them was caked in mud, and it appeared she had a cut on one of her knees. At least her mane was still clean, as it was still too short to reach even her withers. The little filly looked back over the skyline and took a deep breath. She still felt as if she was forgetting something, but whatever it was must have not been important, otherwise she figured she would have remembered it by now. As she stood to her hooves, Nighttide looked around and spotted the trail which she had hiked to climb up the mountain. She groaned a little under her breath, then mumbled, “Guess I should go before I get in trouble.” The filly trotted down the trail back toward the city. The scenes around her on the walk down were too dark for her to make out, but they felt familiar. She had been here before, at least a couple of times. The feeling made her smile, and she skipped a little on her way down the mountain. Next thing she knew, she was walking down a sidewalk that passed by one of her friend’s houses. She stopped and looked at the squat duplex, sitting sandwiched between other similarly built homes. Nighttide tapped a hoof to her head and whispered, “What was her name again?” She noticed the living room window was dark, but the upstairs bedrooms were lit. Now she was worried that she had already stayed out too late, so she galloped down the sidewalk and took a right into her subdivision. Four houses down the block, she turned into her yard and trotted up the stoop, then slowly opened the door. The entranceway was dark, even though there was a lamp lit overhead. She couldn’t make out any of the things around her, but as she took a few steps forward, a grey mare walked down the stairs in front of her. Her eyes were violet, and she had a jet black mane that shimmered in the overhead light. But as Nighttide looked at her, she could tell something was different. There was a strange symbol on her flank, what looked like a purple star with smaller white ones around it. They seemed to glisten a little in the light. Nighttide heard the mare speak, though the words were muffled at first. “…I told you to be back by eight!” “I know. I’m sorry.” Nighttide shifted a little in place. “It’s not like I knew what time it was!” The mare tilted her head slightly and gave the filly a stern look. She noticed the mud on her hooves. “You walked to the Ferin Sha, didn’t you?” Nighttide’s ears flicked back. “W-well, I’m a big pony, after all!” She raised her head and puffed out her chest. “I just wanted to go by myself for once.” “For once?” The mare sighed and let a smile break through her serious expression as she lowered her head until it was level with the filly’s. “My little explorer. What ever am I going to do with you?” She picked her up and placed her on her back as she carefully walked up the stairs to the bathroom. Nighttide caught faint glimpses of being in a bathtub and rolling around in a sea of bubbles. A couple of times, she could hear herself laughing as the mare scrubbed her coat vigorously, working out the mud that she collected on her adventure. But before long, she found herself tucked into bed, the mare sitting at her side with a warm smile. Then came the sound of the front door. “Daddy!” Nighttide shouted instinctively, causing the mare to lean back a little and rub her nearest ear. The mare walked to the door and called out into the hall. “Hey sweetie, come help me tuck her in.” Nighttide heard heavy hoof-steps walk up the stairs, then a dark silhouette made its way into the room. She couldn’t make out any distinguishing features, but she felt perfectly comfortable around him. Then, there was darkness, and the low hum of the city around them. __________ “… tide… Nighttide! Please, wake up!” “Wh… wha…” Nighttide slowly opened her eyes to find Fluttershy crouched over her. Fluttershy’s mane dripped cold water onto her ear, which caused her to jerk away. “Whoa!” Nighttide span onto her stomach and looked around. Her eyes were still hazy, but she could tell she was lying on the embankment of the cave’s river, and everypony was circled around her. Including Twilight. Nighttide stumbled to her hooves, almost losing her balance as she tried to adjust to her height. It was a strange feeling, as if she had suddenly grown, but the feeling lasted only for a moment as she looked up at the alicorn. “Nighttide.” Twilight slowly approached her and wrapped her hooves gently around her neck. “You’re alright.” Nighttide breathed hard and fast, confused by both some dream she just had and the current situation. But as she felt Twilight’s warmth surround her, she closed her eyes and rested her head on her shoulder. “Looks like you’re alright, too.” As Twilight pulled out of the embrace, the others gathered around them with relieved expressions. Nighttide then asked, “So what just happened?” “Twilight hit you with some sort of spell,” Rarity answered. “You were out for a couple of minutes.” “A couple… Wait. Then what happened to Twilight?” Twilight ruffled her wings as she looked across the river from where they originally found her. “I’m not so sure myself…” Applejack walked up to the two and addressed Nighttide. “After Twilight shot that weird spell at ya, we raced over to stop her. But Rainbow Dash ran into the back of us tryin’ to get there first and caused us to fall on top of her.” Applejack shot a glare at Rainbow Dash, whose smug expression didn’t seem to fit the story. Applejack rolled her eyes. “Of course, it was probably for the best.” Twilight shook her head, seeming to still be a little out of wits herself, then looked over at Nighttide. “I remember seeing that flash on the ground when I was flying with Fluttershy, but then the next thing I knew, everypony except you and Rarity were lying on top of me.” Nighttide blinked as she finally readjusted to her height again. “Do you know what spell you cast?” “No. I have no clue.” Twilight gave Nighttide a curious look. “Do you feel different in any way? Does anything hurt?” “Um, not really,” Nighttide said as Twilight began pacing around her. “As far as I know, it just put me to sleep.” Twilight wasn’t convinced, but there was little else she could do to figure out what happened. “Okay, but if you notice anything out of the ordinary, let us know, alright?” “Sure thing.” Nighttide sat on her haunches as she mulled over the situation. For a second, she thought she felt an itch on her flank and went to bite it, then caught herself in the act. She stopped and stared blankly at the metal alloy of her suit. Twilight noticed the mare zoning out. “You sure you’re alright?” She didn’t respond at first. Twilight then put a hoof on her shoulder, and she perked back up. “Y-yeah,” she stammered. “Just trying to figure out what’s going on… sorry, I’m fine. Promise.” Nighttide smiled to try to reassure her. For the moment, it appeared to work. “Okay. Just let me know.” __________ Everypony took a moment to dry themselves off from their race across the river. Although the cavern was warmer than outside, it was still much too cold to be walking around wet. Twilight was a little too shaken to risk using her magic to dry herself off, so she pulled out one of her fluffier blankets from her saddlebag and, with a cringe, proceeded to wipe down her coat. As she was drying herself off, Spike filled her in on everything that happened since she disappeared. When he mentioned the lack of a reply back from the Princess, Twilight’s stomach churned. “Princess Celestia… She never takes that long to write back.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what could be the issue. “Do you think we should head back to Ponyville?” Spike asked. Twilight looked around at the others. “I don’t know, Spike. What I do know is something, or someone, led me here for a reason.” She paused for a moment as she tried to remember something, anything, from after she saw the flash. But nothing came to mind. “I’d rather keep going and see what’s in here than turn back now. If Riptide flew to this remote place, then he must have a good reason for it.” Off in another corner, Rainbow Dash tended to Fluttershy’s wing. She still had her own saddlebag and had packed it with a first-aid kit designed specifically for pegasi, with equipment better suited to splinting a wing. As she ripped off the now soggy gauze around the injured wing, Fluttershy let out a shrill yelp that echoed through the cavern. “Ugh, for Pete’s sake,” Rainbow Dash said as she hurriedly pulled off the last strip. “You don’t want to lose a wing, do you?” “N-n-no, of course n-not – I’m sorry,” Fluttershy whimpered as her body shivered from the pain, her eyes now welling with tears. As brash as Rainbow Dash was, she hated to see one of her friends hurt. When she noticed Fluttershy’s tears, she sighed and placed a hoof on one of hers. “I’m sorry. I know how bad a broken wing feels… I’ll be a little more careful, alright?” Fluttershy nodded and returned a smile as she wiped away the tears trying to escape. “Th-thanks. And… I’ll try to be a little tougher.” She did her best to force a confident smirk onto her muzzle as her eyes met with Rainbow Dash’s. “That’s the spirit,” Rainbow Dash said as she started redressing Fluttershy’s wing. Next to the river embankment, Applejack was fussing about losing her hat. Rarity did her best to brush some of the knots out of her friend’s mane, but Applejack kept shifting in place as she continued to complain. “Well, surely you have some more at home?” Rarity asked. “Yeah, but that one was special! Big Mac gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago. And now…” Applejack hung her head as she thought about losing her brother’s gift. Rarity set down her brush and placed a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Applejack. Really, I feel like this whole thing is my fault. If I hadn’t tried to—” “Now don’t you start that again,” Applejack cut her off. “You know that if you hadn’t, we all could’ve been seriously hurt.” Rarity went silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “I had no idea that hat was special.” Applejack turned her head away, trying to hide her emotions. Then, Rarity thought of an idea. “I know I can’t replace your brother’s gift, but how about when all of this is over, I make you another hat, just the way you want it?” Applejack let out a snort and turned back toward Rarity. “I dunno. I need a work hat, not somethin’ fancy.” “Nothing frilly,” Rarity said, raising a hoof. “I’ll make you a hat just the way you want it. A true Stetson if ever there were one!” She smiled at Applejack. “What do you say… partner?” She attempted to mimic her accent with the last word, which made Applejack chuckle a little. “Well, I say that’d be swell.” Applejack smiled and pulled her friend into a hug. “Thanks, Rarity.” Finally, there was Pinkie Pie and Nighttide. Pinkie heard Nighttide’s belly grumble a moment ago, so she offered her a muffin. Nighttide looked the muffin over and sighed. “You ponies sure love your muffins, huh?” “Oh! You don’t like muffins?” Pinkie asked. “No, it’s not that, it’s just—” Before she could finish, Pinkie pulled out a cupcake. She held it in front of Nighttide and gave her a big grin, which seemed to squeak comically with its formation. But Nighttide still wasn’t enthused. “Um… I don’t suppose you have anything that’s… not so sweet?” Nighttide felt guilty for asking. She knew these were the things Pinkie Pie was especially good at making. While she didn’t want to hurt her feelings, all the fruits and pastries had finally gotten to her. “Hmm… let me see here.” Pinkie dug through her saddlebag and pulled out a paper bag. After rummaging through it for a second, she pulled out a delicious looking sandwich, much to Nighttide’s surprise. “How the—” Nighttide peered over Pinkie’s side, trying to look into her saddlebag. “Did you pack a whole deli with you?” “Of course not, silly! That’d have taken a lot longer to pack. And I would’ve had to carry more bags! Or maybe I would have just put everything in the balloon. Or maybe I would have had the balloon carry the food while we hiked to the mountains! Or—” “I get it, I get it.” Nighttide stopped her with a hoof. “You got this down to a science, apparently.” She winked at Pinkie and thanked her for the sandwich. Once everyone was dried and rested up a little, Twilight walked up to the others. “Alright, everypony. We still haven’t heard from Princess Celestia yet. Either we can head back to Ponyville and figure out what to do from there, or we can keep searching through the caves.” “Search for what, exactly?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Riptide. It’s very likely that he used some sort of magic to lure me in here and make me cast that spell. We’re already here, and this was what we originally came out to do anyway.” Twilight looked around at the group. “But I don’t want to do anything that anypony isn’t comfortable with. So, what do you girls say?” Rarity stepped forward. “Is there any reason you could think of why the Princess wouldn’t have replied by now?” Twilight sighed. “None that I’m aware. It also bothers me that nopony has seen the Royal Guard. Knowing them, they would search every square inch of the Appaloosan mountains. We should’ve at least seen them once while we were flying, unless we somehow beat them here.” “Then don’t you think it would be prudent to return home? Especially after what happened to you?” Twilight looked across the cavern’s river. The cave continued on through another narrow corridor on the other side. “Normally, I would say yes. In fact, all logic dictates that we should go home and find out if anything’s happened to the Princess. But…” Nighttide walked over to Twilight’s side and looked across the river. “But you’re worried if we don’t act now, something worse could happen later.” “Exactly,” Twilight said with a nod. Turning to the others, she said, “But this is a decision we all need to make. If anyone here is not okay with continuing on, then speak up now.” Everyone looked at each other. After a moment, most of them nodded, although Rainbow Dash just shrugged with a groan. “Okay then. If everypony’s ready, then let’s keep going.” __________ Once again, Rarity led the pack, illuminating the path ahead of them. This time though, both Twilight and Nighttide walked at either side of her flank as the rest followed closely behind. As they walked through the next corridor, Nighttide could feel a thumping inside her suit. She opened a pocket and found the book she grabbed from earlier. “Ugh, this is what I get for having a computer memory… Yo Twilight, check this out.” Twilight left Rarity’s side and walked over to her. Nighttide suggested to the book inside her pocket, which Twilight carefully pulled out with her magic. She was still nervous to use any spells, but Rarity seemed to have fared well thus far, so she took the risk for a moment. “I found this in Riptide’s ship,” Nighttide said. “It’s got the same pattern as that one book you were reading in the old castle library.” “You’re right.” Twilight flipped the book to and fro in front of her with her magic. She tried to unfasten the buckle, but she too was unable to move the latch. Then, she had a thought. “Hang on, everypony.” Twilight motioned for the group to stop as she set the book down on a crevice of the wall beside them. She examined the pattern of the book more closely, then sighed. “I don’t know if it’s safe to do this, but let me try using one of Star Swirl’s spells.” Twilight closed her eyes as her horn began to spark a little at the tip. Just as she went to cast the spell, click went the latch, and the book flipped itself open onto the rock surface with an echo. Everypony gathered around. “What’s this?” Rarity asked as she walked over to better illuminate the book. “It looks like a journal,” Twilight answered. As she skimmed over the lines written on the first page, she cleared her throat and began to read aloud. “To whom it may concern. If you are reading this journal, then it is by no accident. Only those with knowledge or experience in Star Swirl’s magic will be able to open this book and read its contents. This entry was written in case of an emergency.” “An emergency?” Applejack said. Twilight shrugged and continued to read the entry silently to herself. It took her several minutes to get through the single journal entry. Riptide listed everything off from his history with the Royal Guard, his research and development of negative magic, and details about a mystery student of Star Swirl’s. Rainbow Dash used the moment’s reprieve to take a short nap in the corner, but the others had done their best to read along with Twilight. “Twilight,” Rarity spoke up after a while. “I don’t understand a lot of this, but… do you think this has anything to do with what happened to you?” Twilight wasn’t sure herself. As much attention to detail as Riptide had given to his journal entry, there didn’t appear to be anything specific worth highlighting. “I’m not sure. Honestly, this doesn’t make sense to me either. What exactly would he consider an emergency? And who was he expecting to read this journal?” Nighttide stepped away for a moment to think things over. Since her systems were still out, she couldn’t review the information with her computer. But after a moment, she thought of something interesting. “Wait a sec. Didn’t he mention something about having a dream?” Twilight flipped through the thin pages of the book and found the line. “Yes. Well, sort of. It was about a year ago. He says here, ‘Things were going well enough until one day, when one of my devices malfunctioned. I was inside the ship, writing some figures down from a recent experiment, when suddenly everything went dark. At first, I thought the manalights went out, but next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor staring out into the hallway of the ship. It felt as if I had a strange dream of some sort, but I couldn’t recall any of the details.’” Twilight looked over at Nighttide. “Why, what’s up?” Nighttide closed her eyes and tried to force the memory of her dream to consciousness. It was no use. Nevertheless, she knew she had dreamt something while she was passed out earlier. “I’m not sure what to make of this, but there might be something to that ‘dream’ business. After you hit me with that strange spell, I had a vivid dream of some sort… I just can’t remember what it was about.” Nighttide rubbed her hoof on her forehead, still trying to conjure an image of the dream. Twilight slammed the book close with her magic and walked up to Nighttide with a frown. “Didn’t I say to tell me if anything strange happened to you earlier?” Nighttide backed away at the sound of Twilight’s authoritative tone. “Y-yes, you did! Jeez, sorry, mom! It was just a dream, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal!” “Yeah, well, try telling that to Princess Luna.” Twilight groaned and rubbed between her eyes. “Do you remember anything about it? Anything at all?” “Like I said, no. The only thing I know is when I think about it, I feel… nostalgic. It’s hard to explain.” Nighttide shrugged, only adding to Twilight’s frustration. “I would try using a memory spell on you, but considering how both mine and Rarity’s magic have been acting up, I don’t want to take the risk.” Nighttide nodded as she regained her composure. “Well, do whatever you feel is best.” She turned back in the direction the group was originally heading. “Should we keep going?” Twilight had Spike hold the book for a moment as she walked up beside Nighttide. “Yes. We still need to figure out what’s going on – and the sooner, the better.” Rainbow Dash perked up as she heard the group reorganizing themselves. “Oh, good, is she done?” She looked up at Applejack, who raised an eyebrow at her. “Have a nice nap?” “Eh heh.” Rainbow Dash gave her a cheeky smile as she stood to her hooves. “Did I miss anything important?” “Honestly, I didn’t understand any of it either.” “Great! Then let’s get going.” Rainbow Dash galloped ahead of the others to catch up with Rarity. By this point, she was more than ready to get this whole adventure over with, now that she was forcibly grounded by the cave. Applejack just shook her head at the sight while Pinkie Pie giggled nearby. As everyone set off down the dark corridor, Spike wobbled in place where he was last left, still holding the extra-large journal over his head. “Um, guys? A little help here?”