//------------------------------// // Chapter 37 - Cracks // Story: Denuo Fortuna // by Firecaller //------------------------------// Chapter 37 - Cracks Seated by the dying embers of the campfire as the other slept, Rarity watched the pre-dawn light peeking over the horizon. One side of the clearing where they'd stopped for the night fell away rapidly down a steep slope and was treeless, giving her an unrivaled view of the mountains being back-lit by the yet-to-happen sunrise. The rest of the clearing was surrounded by pine trees, with the odd rhododendron bush growing in between them. Delicately, she poured out the last of the water from the kettle into an un-Rarity like mug, poured in a sugar and stirred it as she watched the subtle changes in shades that were happening in the sky with an expert, and appreciative, eye. The mug floated up but Rarity never took a sip. Behind her, she could clearly make out the sound of something moving around. Keeping her head and ears still, she glanced left and right as far as her eyes would allow. She could see most of the bedrolls from where she was seated, but not all of them. All of the ones she could see were still occupied. The sounds of movement carried on. ‘Keep those ears -still- Rarity. It -could- be one of the girls getting up… but they haven’t called out to me and nopony is due to relive me until breakfast. Okay, turn round on three. Pull all my magic back into horn as I do so and get ready to wake the girls, with a most dignified scream, if needs be. No point in being heroine all by myself about this. Deep breath dear. One, two, thr...’ The glow of magic supporting the mug vanished as Rarity spun round. “..ee.” The mug fell. The cry to wake the girls never came though. All there was was a gasp and a flash of blue magic that caught the mug a mere inch off the ground. * * * Twilight was woken by a hoof prodding her cheek. Opening her eyes, she found that hoof was quickly pressed against her mouth. Twilight gave Pinkie a very flat stare as she looked up at her. Taking her hoof away from Twilight’s mouth, Pinkie held it up to her mouth in a ‘shh’ motion before pointing over to the right of Twilight. Looking round, Twilight let out a muffled gasp of her own before she covered her mouth with a hoof. On the other side of the campsite, with her back to them, was Sunbeam. She was sitting silently at the edge of the clearing, seeming engrossed by a rhododendron bush illuminated in the early morning light. Looking around, Twilight could see all the others were up as well, all watching Sunbeam. Pinkie was bouncing up and down until Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder to hold her down. Pinkie pointed at Sunbeam then to herself. Applejack shook her head. Rarity nodded to Applejack then elegantly stood up. With a brief look at the others, she walked over to Sunbeam’s side. Sunbeam didn’t move or acknowledge her presence, she just kept staring at the bush. Rarity cleared her throat. She still didn’t move. Slowly sitting herself down, Rarity reached over and put a hoof on Sunbeam’s shoulder. She didn’t react at first, then slowly she turned her head towards Rarity. Without a word Sunbeam pointed at the rhododendron bush. Rarity looked at her, then at the bush, then back at her. “You want a flower?” Sunbeam nodded with a small smile. Looking back the bush, Rarity plucked a flower off with magic and floated it over to her. Sunbeam clumsily grabbed for it, the small smile turning into a huge grin as she took hold of it. After several attempts to do so, she finally got the flower to stay in her mane, just behind her full ear. Turning to look at Rarity, beaming, Sunbeam tried to speak, but all that came out was a wheezing sound. The smile became a puzzled frown before she looked at Rarity and pointed at the flower with a hopeful expression. Rarity stroked her mane and said the first thing that came to mind. “Yes, you look pretty with it.” Sunbeam’s beaming smile returned. Leaning in, and much to Rarity’s shock, she nuzzled Rarity. It wasn’t long though before Rarity could feel her head start to droop, it slowly sliding down her chest. “Are you tired dear?” Looking up, Sunbeam slowly nodded, her head still pressed against Rarity. Rarity pointed to her bed roll. Sunbeam nodded. On her second attempt, she managed to stand up and, on unsteady legs, walk over to the bed roll before collapsing onto it. Curling up into a ball, her hoof came up to make sure the flower was still in her mane. With a big smile on her face, she settled down to sleep as the others watched. They all turned to look at Twilight. Twilight shook her head. “We’ll just have to hope that more of her comes back later.” * * * Sunbeam let out a muffled grunt. She’d been awake for the last few minutes now and was trying to get her bearings, while simultaneously trying not to give away the fact she was awake. ‘Okay, this is getting nowhere. I’m on something that’s moving and from the fresh air, outside. Beyond that, I’ve no idea. I’m gonna have to open my eyes sooner or later.’ She cracked her eyes open a tiny bit. Enough to make out she was laying on a wooden floor and beyond that, trees, moving trees. ‘Wooden floor, trees… Outside. Outside on a moving platform. Wagon? Wagon! I’m on a...’ Pink filled her view. Sunbeam instinctively threw both hooves over her eyes and let out a tiny whimper. There was silence. Sunbeam took a deep breath, keeping her hooves over her eyes. ‘Pink… Pink… Offensively pink...’ Sunbeam’s voice was dry and croaky. “Hello, Pinkie.” “Yay! Sunny’s back!” Sunbeam’s one-and-half ears pinned themselves back against her skull at the sudden abuse. * * * They had stopped among the pine trees. Twilight had stood, unnoticed, by the side of the wagon as Fluttershy gave Sunbeam another check-over, this time able to ask her questions about how she felt. Sunbeam had then been told that she needed to rest and she really should stay on the wagon. Sunbeam had just nodded without argument. Sunbeam hadn’t even flinched when she’d been told about the inhibitor ring around her horn. She’d just laid her head back down on the floor of the wagon. As Fluttershy left Twilight watched as Sunbeam’s hoof traced down the length of her horn. She was close enough to hear the sigh and the whisper as Sunbeam’s hoof found the inhibitor ring. “Hello, old friend. Long time no-see.” “It is for your own good you know.” Jumping, Sunbeam looked round at Twilight with wide eyes. Her head fell as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Damn, I’m getting sloppy. Suppose I’ve got a good excuse though.” She reached up and tapped the ring. Twilight nodded. “Extreme magical exhaustion. It’s best if you refrain from all magic for the foreseeable future. As well as physically rest.” Sunbeam grunted and let the hoof fall. “Rest. Flutters was most insistent about that part. She also said you’d fill me in on all the magical stuff later, but she did give me the basics.” She lay her head down on the bed of the wagon. “Magically induced coma. She also indicated that there were… complications. Stuff I really need to ask you about apparently.” She sighed. “Just for the record, every-part of me feels… off. Every time I move something it feels ‘almost’ but not quite right. If that makes any sense. Not to mention my head feels likes it’s stuffed with cotton wool. I’m having to try to remember things that I feel that I shouldn’t have to try to.” She tapped a hoof on the wagon bed. “It like it is all still there, it’s just I gotta pull it out.” She looked at Twilight. “Having to concentrate to do almost everything is kinda frustrating.” “Well, it’s good thing you can still remember… well, anything.” Sunbeam looked away from Twilight. "That's a matter of opinion." “It could be a lot worse. You should be dead you know.” She turned back to look at Twilight. “Your bedside manner sucks Twi. Even Old Silver knew how to comfort a dying pony.” “You’re not dying and I’m being serious here.” “So am I.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m glad to see you aren’t too badly affected by your traumatic episode. Look Sunbeam, I need to tell you a few things and ask you some questions. Some about the spell you used, some about… other things.” Twilight blinked as a hard learned lesson nudged her mentally. “When you’re feeling up to it of course. Do you feel up to it?” She asked a little too eagerly. Sunbeam sighed and looked at her. “Before we get started on all that, can I just say one thing... Greywing. I didn’t...” Twilight held up a hoof and shook her head as her body stiffened. Her voice became curt. “We’ll talk about everything later then. Everything will keep.” Abruptly, she turned and started walking away. Sunbeam closed her eyes. ‘...Mean to. I didn’t mean to.’ “Twilight!” Twilight stopped. She didn’t turn around, but she did rotate an ear towards her. Sunbeam voice was low. “I remember enough… Twilight, I release you from any promises you made to me. Anything you said about letting me stay in Equestria. Y-you don’t have to honor any of it. I… I’ll be moving on after this. To a better… Just let me get a few bits from my house and you can escort me to the border yourself if you want.” Twilight looked over her shoulder at her. “I can’t let you do that Sunbeam.” Sunbeam smiled at her as she relaxed. “Thank you.” Twilight turned her head and walked away. * * * Applejack caught up with Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. “That’s right neighborly of you Twi, all things considered.” Twilight shrugged the hoof off. “Please don’t Applejack. I don’t deserve to be complimented for that. I’m not trying to be friendly, I’m only doing what’s best for Equestria. There’s a big difference.” Applejack took a step back and tilted her head. “As a princess I… I can’t in good conscience let a unicorn capable of that level of... destruction just roam free. When I became aware of her affinity I’d thought it would just be a massive reserve for low-tier frost spells.” Twilight shook her head. “She’d never shown any sort of ability for high level magic, so I’d thought that all she’d be capable of was just some upscaled low-level spells. But the spell she cast in the dormitory... That was a high-level assault spell. And even if it’s only spell she knows, it shows she is capable of them... and that changes everything.” Twilight looked away from Applejack. “All magical users capable of spells beyond a certain level are closely monitored AJ. Especially if they can cast spells that could affect large numbers of the general populous. Even I was under constant supervision when I was younger. True it was under Celestia’s supervision, but make no mistake, that is what it was. She instilled in me all kinds of moral codes to follow so I’d be careful out in the real world… And I still slipped. The Mr Smarty-Pants incident for instance.” There was a long silence before she spoke again. “Powerful magic users can cause so much damage if they aren’t careful Applejack, and Sunbeam has no moral codes to guide her. Well, none that we would recognize as such.” A pained look flashed across her face. “Those mercenaries trained her to kill and I seriously doubt ‘restraint’ featured heavily on their teaching plan.” Twilight rubbed her eyes. “Maybe, maybe if she was stable, we could work something out...” She looked up. “But look me in the eye and tell me you think she’s stable.” Applejack looked down and said nothing. “And think about what Pinkie told us she did after she found out about Greywing. Tell me that you don’t think she could lash out like that again if provoked. Maybe with that very same spell, maybe in the middle of Ponyville’s market.” Applejack gave Twilight a sharp look. Twilight waved a hoof. “Worst case scenario I admit. But would you be willing to take that risk?” There was a sigh. “No, no I wouldn’t Twi. But she meant it. What she said when she went off to get Greywing, the promise about not hurting us.” “I know, and that what’s makes it worse. She didn’t mean to... and Greywing still died. She didn’t mean to… and all those ponies still died. She set off not meaning to... and then purposefully went out of her way to kill all those ponies. You can’t have a pony like that on the loose AJ, not with the kind of power she has.” Applejack’s expression turned carefully blank. “So what do you intend to do then?” Twilight’s ears fell to the sides. “That’s just it, I don’t know. All the options I can see feel wrong in some way. If I let her go, or just ignore her, she’s a potential threat to Equestria in the future. If I keep her here... She could end up a virtual prisoner for the rest of her life.” Twilight looked up at the sky. “And those are some of the best options I can see.” She looked towards the sun. “All I can hope is that Celestia will know the right thing to do. Because I don’t.” * * * Rarity and Fluttershy, herded by Pinkie, all trotted up next to Sunbeam in the wagon. Sunbeam gave them a faint smile and wave. They all returned the wave, with Pinkie wearing the only true smile out of all of the ponies present. “Looks girls, I just want to say…” Sunbeam sighed. “What I need to say…” She ran a hoof through her forelock. “Argh, I…” A puzzled look formed on Sunbeam’s face as her hoof encountered something in her mane. Pinkie beamed as Sunbeam pulled the flower from her mane. “Okay, who put this in…?” Her voice tailed off as she stared at the rhododendron. Sunbeam was very still for a while, before slowly lifting it up to her nose and sniffing it. Her eyes closed as a faint smile flittered across her face for a second. Opening her eyes, she put the flower back into her mane with a defiant scowl. “I don’t approve of ponies putting things in my mane. Especially when I’m out cold. But… but it seems a shame to waste it. I mean, somepony put time and effort to put it there... and it’s not like it’s going to do me any harm to keep wearing it, is it?” Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all nodded in unison, watching her as she tried to keep the scowl on her face. The smiles became less forced. “I’m being nice here. Uh… What was I saying before?” Pinkie bounced up to her. “That you like flowers in your hair.” Sunbeam’s hoof patted the flower again, making sure it was staying in place in her mane. She turned and glared at the still smiling Pinkie. “Hardly, I’m just keeping it there as I’m being nice. And as I don’t want to hurt anypony’s feelings right now.” She reached up and adjusted it again. She lay her head back down and smiled gently. ‘A pine kitchen covered in rhododendrons. I can remember... I can remember the smell.’ Her smile grew slightly as she took a deep breath in through her nose. ‘The smell of a freshly scrubbed pine kitchen decorated with rhododendrons.’ Sunbeam grinned without even knowing she was. ‘Mummy’s favorite flower, daddy would decorate the kitchen with them. He’d even put one in my mane, he’d call me his ‘Pretty Little Singing Flow...’’ * * * Twilight turned to face Rarity as she trotted up towards her and a morose looking Applejack. “What is it Rarity?” Rarity glanced between Twilight and Applejack, trying to work out what was wrong. “Ahem, Sunbeam is asking for you Twilight. She said she’s ready to answer any and all questions you may have.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. Rarity looked down and shifted her hooves. “She looked so happy, then all of a sudden she became very agitated. Started insisting that she wanted to see you, that she wanted you to start asking her all the questions you could think of. ‘The harder she had to think about them the better’ was the quote. When I left she was listening intently to Pinkie.” Rarity shook her head. “You know, I’ve never seen anypony be quite so focused before, at least not on a muffin recipe.” Twilight blinked before rubbing her chin. “Well, I suppose I would like to know more about that spell.” * * * Twilight stamped back and forth as she shouted at Sunbeam. Rarity shadowed her, trying to calm her down as the others looked on from a distance. Twilight stopped and pointed a hoof a Sunbeam. “You overloaded the spell!? No, you went beyond that didn’t you? You forced so much magic into the spell that you actually lost control over it! You forced it to the point where it went critical and started feeding itself off your reserve. You pushed it beyond your control! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is! How much it goes against everything we learn about the proper use of magic?” Sunbeam cringed back in the wagon, her ears folded flat as she watched Twilight rage. ‘Is her mane smoldering? Say something you stupid mare!’ Sunbeam swallowed. “B-but it’s what I was taught to do. You...” Twilight spun around, pointing a hoof at her. “And what imbecile taught you to do that?! I’m disappointed in you Sunbeam, despite everything else, I thought you were smart enough to know better than to overload a spell. Even foals casting their very first magic spell know intuitively when to stop. It’s a survival instinct that’s been passed down unicorn to unicorn over the generations. An instinct that’s allowed unicorns to survive as a magic using species! An instinct that you casually threw aside.” Twilight started jabbing a hoof at her to emphasize her words. ”You! Do! Not! Overload a spell with magic! You do not let the magic start to control you!” She ran a hoof through her forelock, her voice dropping to almost normal. “Even small, simple spells can become unpredictable and dangerous when too much magic is forced into them.” Twilight glared at Sunbeam. “And you went and overloaded an already inherently dangerous, high-yield, area-assault spell.” Twilight shook her head in disbelief. “And not only a little bit, but to the point where it started controlling you. Do you know that Pre-unification, you would have been deemed ‘unable to properly control your magic’ and would have had your horn promptly cut off? Be glad we are not back in those days.” Sunbeam recoiled back, both her forehooves flying up to her horn. Rarity patted Twilight on the shoulder. “Twilight dear, I think you’re going a little over the top here. I believe that Sunbeam understands that you are ‘not happy’ about this.” Twilight sighed, her voice becoming tired. “Of all the irresponsible actions I’ve heard, Crusaders included…” Sunbeam winced at that. “...This is by far the worst.” Twilight slumped “What happened in the dormitory was bad enough as is, but to know that you willingly lost control of a spell to do it… that just makes it so much worse. And that’s to say nothing about the premeditation...” Twilight’s head came up as a thought occurred to her. She pointed a hoof at Sunbeam. “‘Taught’, that’s the exact word you used: ‘Taught’. So by implication, not only you, but other ponies were involved in this… this…” Twilight’s back legs gave way. “I don’t believe it! Other ponies were involved with this travesty? Other unicorns actually taught you to lose control of your magic? Not one stopped to think about what they were doing?” She took Sunbeam’s silence as confirmation. “So they went ahead, doing the very thing you’re not supposed to with spells… Just to make an already destructive spell slightly more deadly? Argh!” She stamped a hoof again. “I don’t know what to say Sunbeam. I’m lost for words at this, I’m speechless… this is all just so wrong.” Twilight was silent for a long while. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet. “All that time and effort spent on it, and for what? Even doing what most unicorns would consider objectionable, it would only increase the effectiveness of the spell marginally. Any extra effect gained wouldn’t show up much against the already destructive nature of the spell.” Twilight rubbed her eyes. “You’d have to increase the power input drastically to get a noticeable effect from overloading. Over and above the linear input-to-output ratio anyway.” She looked up. “And you’d need a pony with a massive reserve... and even then the amount of magic you could put into it would be limited by the time frame allowed before you needed to cast the spell. And lets not forget to mention the inherent danger to the caster as well. Bearing that all in mind, the whole operation is rendered virtually pointless, the net increase being laughably small in comparison to the effort put in.” Twilight paused and looked at Sunbeam. “Unless…” Sunbeam cowered back in anticipation of the coming storm. She could see the cogs in Twilight’s mind turning, putting all the pieces together. Twilight’s words became thoughtful. “Unless… Unless the pony casting the spell didn’t have to use that much magic. That they could achieve the same net results with a smaller, safer amount. A smaller amount that could be cast in the time-frame needed. But for that they would need a pony that was sooo much more efficient in converting magic to real-world effects. Like if they had… had… an affinity.” Twilight exploded. Standing up, she pointed an accusing hoof at Sunbeam. “You! The whole spell is based around you, isn’t it?! Those other unicorns, is that what they were doing? Designing a spell to allow you to use your affinity not just to power… but to overpower that damned spell!?” Twilight’s voice became dull as realization set in. “Of course they did, you’d be so much better at it, wouldn’t you? Your affinity makes you a much better choice than a pony with just a large reserve. You could use a smaller amount in the time frame needed, and still get the same results.” Twilight pointed a hoof at Sunbeam again, but this time a few stray hairs from her mane sprung out. “But why stop there? Why stop at using a small amount? If we use more, we can get an even more destructive result. That was the whole plan wasn’t it? So lets ramp it up, let’s use as much of your reserve as possible and see what we get shall we?” Sunbeam shuffled nervously a bit further back into the wagon as Twilight took a step closer. Twilight’s tone and pitch steadily rose, “We’ve tested you back at the library, so we already have figures on your reserve and your affinity. So, lets consider doing a controlled spike of all your magic and see just how much we can fit in. Let’s see just how much of your reserve we can squeeze into the spell before it's ready to cast.” Twilight tilted her head in thought. “Ah, you’d lose a little at the end, overspill as it were, but about ninety-three point two percent of your reserve could be safely utilized. Which your affinity means you could do with minimal danger to yourself.” She clapped her hooves together. “So, let us put all those figures into the mix and do the math… not forgetting to factor in the overloading effect of course.” There was a pause as Twilight worked this out. She looked up. “And that would give the spell a theoretical upper power limit of…” Twilight blinked. “No, no that can’t be right.” Twilight sat down, a look of shock growing on her face as she quickly re-ran the figures in her head. Twilight pointed a shaking hoof at Sunbeam. “You... You’d… Just for a second… Just as the power peaked before discharge… The spell would have a significant percentage of my total magical power output.” Sunbeam’s eyes darted around, unwilling to look directly at Twilight. Twilight shook her head. “I’d thought about ‘how long’ your reserve would last, but I never once considered it being used up ‘all in one go’ like that.” She focused on Sunbeam. “Just how big would the spell be? You must have some idea.” Sunbeam looked away and mumbled something. Twilight stamped her hoof. “As a Princess, I’m asking… No, I’m ordering you Sunbeam, Icefang, argh, whatever you want to call yourself... I order you to tell me, just how destructive would that spell be!” Sunbeam looked up at Twilight with a glare of her own before her face went blank and she emotionlessly, she recited a passage from memory. “Under caster-innate conditions, a forty to forty-five meter radius of lethality has been observed with another ten to fifteen meters being the drop-off zone. Ponies inside the outer zone would be exposed to varying degrees of hypothermia and/or frostbite, the severity of which would be primarily influenced by ‘position in the zone’ and ‘exposure time’. Secondary influences would be in relation to the health and age of the pony in question. Sixty to seventy percent is the projected overall fatality rate within the drop-off zone itself.” There was a stunned silence. Sunbeam grasped her amulet and closed her eyes. ‘And they were disappointed with those figures. With a working amulet the area would be...’ She shook her head to clear the thought. Twilight’s look of shock had come back “W-why? How could you be… How… How could a bunch of semi-literate mercenaries develop a spell of that magnitude?” Sunbeam looked up sharply at Twilight. After a second she sniggered humorlessly. “Oh, you actually think that Old Silver and his lot could have developed that? Oh heck no, I’d give most of them a fifty-fifty chance of even knowing what a book was.” She shook her head again. “They never knew I could do that… I never told them. Silver would have tried getting me to do that in battle if he’d known.” Sunbeam looked away, reaching up to play with the flower in her mane. “Until he realized just how impractical it is for a battlefield situation. It takes time to power up, its disorientating, I’ve passed out every time I’ve cast it and it leaves me weak and vulnerable for quite a while afterwards.” She looked back at Twilight. “Not to mention: it bucking hurts!” Twilight shook her head, then suddenly looked up. “Wait. If the mercenaries didn’t develop the spell, then who did?” Sunbeam stared at Twilight. Her mouth open and closed several times before she turned her head away. ‘Oh horseapples. I’ve bucked up now.’ “Sunbeam? Please look at me.” Sunbeam rubbed her eyes. ‘Damn it! My minds gone blank. I can’t think of anything! Horseapples, horseapples, horseapples. Say something, anything, you stupid mare! Stall for time… Say anything!’ She looked back. “Please, I’ll need some time Twi. It’s family Twi, it’s all to do with family. There’s a part of me, a tiny twisted part of me, that still thinks of them as family. I can’t just go against them Twi… Not just like that. You understand please, right? I’ll need some time… I just need some time...” Applejack placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder while looking at Sunbeam. “We understand sugar.” She turned to look at Twilight. “You can’t just expect a pony to go against family Twilight. Not just like that. Family is family after all. But she will have to decide where her loyalties lay, and soon, very soon.” Applejack looked back over at Sunbeam. “I know this ain’t a matter to be taken lightly sugar, either way isn’t going to be guilt-free, but consider this: this family of yours taught you to perform a spell of mass destruction... and you left them. Now I think you left them 'because they taught you it', or at least that's a major part of it." She pointed a hoof at her. "I think on some level you know what the right thing to do is.” Applejack turned to leave. “She’s not lying though Twilight, I can tell you that. She just needs some time.” She looked at Sunbeam. “I’d say until just after we got back, at the very latest.” Applejack raised a questioning eyebrow. Sunbeam nodded. ‘Thank you AJ. Must remember to get you a fruit basket later...’ Her head came up as she watched Applejack walk away with Twilight trotting next to her shaking her head. ‘I wasn’t lying!? I said I still considered them family, how could that be? I… I just said the first thing that came to mind! I couldn’t have been telling the truth...’ ‘I couldn’t...!’ ‘I couldn’t...?’ Sunbeam’s head fell onto the bed of the wagon with a thud. * * * Sunbeam lay in the wagon as it bounced along. She’d noticed that all of the girls were giving her a wide berth for the time being. So she was a little surprised when Pinkie trotted up and started keeping pace with the end of the wagon. In the awkward silence, Sunbeam could see just how unusually straight her mane was. ‘That’s not normal. I wonder...’ “How are you doing Sunbeam?” Sunbeam raised an eyebrow at her uncharacteristically serious tone. She forced a smile. “Please Pinkie, Sunny is fine. The nickname has really grown on me and I’d like it if you kept calling me by it. If you want to that is.” Pinkie nodded, a slight curl appearing in the bottom of her mane before she took a breath. “Sunny, there’s a lot of super-important things Twilight still needs to ask you, but after everything, she’s agreed that ‘right now’ isn’t the right time.” She looked down. “We all need some time to think things over.” Sunbeam nodded. “Yeah, we all need some time to work this horseapples out. Swimming lessons might be good idea as well; it’s that deep.” Pinkie smiled slightly at the strained joke. “Twilight has something to tell you as well, something about your amulet.” Sunbeam immediately pulled back, her eyes narrowing as she tensed up, a hoof protectively covering her amulet. The curls left Pinkie’s mane. ‘Dammit.’ Sunbeam forced herself to relax. “Sorry Pinkie, just a little tense about... well everything right now. I’m sorry about that.” She looked away. ‘And I’m especially tense about Mr Sable. Now is not a good time to mention the necromancy on it. Never... never would be best time to mention -that- little thing. Probably best to bury Mr Sable when I get… No! I’m not burying Mr Sable again.’ She looked down and frowned at her amulet. ‘Ugh, my head must still be messed up. It looks different somehow...’ It was Pinkie’s firm tone that made Sunbeam look up in surprise. “No! I’m sorry Sunny! About making you remember all those really mean things. Sunbeam, I didn’t mean to… whatever I did to you, I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what I did, but I didn’t mean to...” It was Pinkie’s turn to look up in surprise. Sunbeam had leaned out of the wagon and had placed an outstretched hoof over her mouth. She also had a horrified expression on her face. ‘Oh buck, does it really sound that bad when it’s said out loud? Do I really sound -that- whiney?’ Sunbeam pulled her hoof back in and tried to force a smile. “Please don’t Pinkie. It wasn’t your fault. It was going to happen at some point anyway, you just gave it the final nudge. It wasn’t your fault, so I don’t blame you in the least. If it helps, It wasn’t that many unpleasant memories that came back. There were some good… A good one came back as well.” Sunbeam settled back down in the wagon. “I think more than a few are still missing, which I feel is a good thing. Whether that’s from my little nap...” She tapped her horn. “Or from me myself repressing…” Sunbeam shrugged. “I don’t know. But please believe me Pinkie. I do not blame you.” A tiny smile appeared on Pinkie, along with some curls in her mane. Sunbeam took a breath in. “When we get back Pinkie I’m going to need some cheering up. Can you throw me a party, Pinkie? To cheer me, us all, up?” “Really? A big party?” The curls spread up Pinkie’s mane. Sunbeam pulled back, putting her hooves up in front of her. “Whoa girl! Only a small one! But yes I want you to throw me a party.” Pinkie grinned. Sunbeam smiled back. ‘Not one of her full smiles, but better than before. Her mane has even got some curls back. See, you can be nice and pleasant. Sometimes.’ She watched Pinkie walk away with a definite bounce in her step. Sunbeam noticed that the wagon had stopped. Looking round, she saw Applejack silently looking over her shoulder at her. She slumped. “Okay Applejack, I admit it, I don’t really want that party. And whatever Pinkie did was probably more than ‘just a nudge’.” Applejack said nothing. Sunbeam looked up at Applejack with a defiant glare. “But I meant it when I said I don’t blame her. I don’t. So you can buck right off with that accusing look.” Applejack gave her a nod and a tiny smile. She turned away and started pulling the wagon again. Sunbeam looked back at Twilight, deep in conversation with Rarity. ‘Damn, forgot to ask about my amulet. But if Twilight did know about the necromancy… that would be it. So I wonder what it’s about?’ Sunbeam’s head slumped down to the bed of the wagon. ‘But tomorrow. I’ll deal with it tomorrow. I’ll deal with it -all- tomorrow.’ Sunbeam settled down, watching Pinkie excitedly chatting to Fluttershy and Rainbow, her mane almost completely curly again. Sunbeam felt her corners of her mouth pull up as she drifted off to sleep. * * * Stopping, Sunbeam looked around, but all she could see was the rolling yellow sands of the endless desert and the deep blue of the cloudless sky far overhead. ‘I know this place. Where do I know this place from?’ Looking back, she could see girls chatting happily as they walked unmindfully across the desert. Sunbeam smiled. With a little jolt she realized that they had got a little further away from her than she expected. She set off at a trot to catch them up. Just as she started catching up they went over the top of a dune and disappeared from view. Sunbeam sped up and a few seconds later she followed them over the top. She immediately found herself sliding uncontrollably down an unexpectedly steep slope. Sunbeam found herself fighting just to stay upright and not start tumbling down the incline. It was a very deep valley, but even as she slid down the slope she couldn't help but notice how dark and cold it was getting. The girls were halfway up the other side by the time Sunbeam reached the bottom. Getting back onto her hooves, grateful she hadn't fallen, she found herself shivering in an unpleasantly clammy cold. Wanting to get out as quickly as possible, Sunbeam started trotting up the other side of the valley. Tried to start trotting up the other side of the valley. The sand kept shifting, with every step she took she found herself sliding back down to the bottom. The girls kept walking upwards and away from her. Steeling herself, Sunbeam tired again, this time galloping up the slope. The shifting sands quickly beat her and she slid back down to the bottom again exhausted. Looking up at the girls, she could see them nearing the crest of the dune. Sunbeam tried to call out to them, her eye's widening in shock when she found she couldn't make a sound. Sitting back on her haunches, Sunbeam frantically started waving her forelegs at the girls. She watched the them disappear over the crest, never once looking back for her. With a muted snarl, Sunbeam went to take a few steps back so she could get a decent run-up at the dune this time. Sunbeam blinked in surprise when she found none of her legs would move. Looking down, she could see all four legs had sunk into sand, up to the knees, without her even noticing. Sunbeam felt her jaw tremble as the first pangs of panic set in. Looking up the empty slope, she finally found her voice. “Don’t leave me!” “Don’t leave meeee!” The screams became whispers as her ears splayed out to the sides. “Please, d-don’t leave me. I don’t want to alone. Please… I’m scared." She looked down. "I w-want my...” There was the noise of a hoof step behind her. Sunbeam let out a sigh as she relaxed. “See, I knew you wouldn’t leave me.” Smiling, she looked around over her shoulder. “I seem to be stuck...” A frost coated Greywing stared back at her with dull, grey unblinking eyes. One of his forehooves shot out and grabbed the top of her horn while the other placed a saw at it’s base. * * * Applejack shook Sunbeam. “Wake up Sunbeam! C’mon girl, wake up!” Sunbeam eyes snapped open, the wild look in them making Applejack instinctively flinch back. “Uh... You were screaming in your sleep partner.” Sunbeam stared at Applejack for a second before both her forehooves flew up to her horn, her breathing becoming rapid and uneven as she clutched it tightly. Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder. “Breathe sugar, breathe. Sounds like you’re about to hyperventilate there.” Staring into the distance, Sunbeam rolled onto her side and curled up into a fetal position. Her hooves never left her horn, as she started to shake uncontrollably. Applejack took a step back. “Girls?” Fluttershy brushed past Applejack as she got into the wagon and lay down next to Sunbeam. Putting a wing over her she made calming noises, the same calming noises she used on her little friends when they were frightened by the thunder. Sunbeam lay there, shivering under Fluttershy’s wing. ‘I… I...' She curled up a little tighter. 'I don’t want to do this anymore.’