The Steadfast Sky

by Greytercakes

LXVI : Friends Together V

The Steadfast Sky : Friends Together V
The Grey Potter
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/11495/The-Steadfast-Sky
http://cosmicponyfiction.tumblr.com

~Luna~

“No!” I cried, “No, that’s doesn’t make sense!”

The past few hours, we ran. Ran and ran and ran, beating a path through the overgrown side roads, charging down the rutted dirt of an empty thoroughfare, ducking into ditches whenever we felt we might be spotted. We didn’t dare go far into the forests. Without a compass, sun, or stars for direction, the only sense of direction we had was from the rain-washed wagon tracks.

Only at some timeless, pitch black point of the night did we finally decide to stop. We buried ourselves in the undergrowth, hidden in the perfect illusion of a tree. The only vision we had around us were tiny knotholes and a skylight disguised in the canopy.

I felt so unsafe, so exposed. I was itching to ask Discord to just bury us in a lifeless bolder, so compact and dark that we wouldn’t even know when morning came.

But even as I pressed against Discord’s side, possessed by fear, winded from our hasty departure, one thing just did not make sense!

“When I used my magic,” I asserted, “I could both hear and be heard! Wouldn’t we have heard… or even noticed a glow if the Element was being contacted?!”

Discord gripped his chin between two fingers, staring steadily at the ground. Face tight in focus, he mumbled, “I don’t know.”

“And doesn’t that mean he could have heard us the whole time?!” I said, “He knew we had Kindness! He could have been listening in, from the very beginning…”

“He didn’t have an Element himself anymore,” Discord slowly replied, “He couldn’t see that bond… Wouldn’t make sense for him to…”

“Exactly!” I nodded, affirmed, “Who was that guy, saying The Shadow Stallion could hear us?!”

There we go! Case closed! We were running these past two hours for absolutely nothing! Whew! Glad that was over! Discord didn’t share in my relief. No. He was still staring at the ground like it held all the answers to a problem that just wasn’t there.

“Then again,” he said, “The griffins…”

“What about them?” I snapped.

“They dogged us all the way to Canterlot. We only lost them near the end…”

“And then we didn’t see a single one as we went down the mountain! The Stallion… he has no idea!” My face was prickling hot, words coming out as I thought them. But they were words that made sense to me. “He’s not listening in, and he doesn’t know the first thing about finding us! He’s magically incompetent, remember?! Bright barely knew how to cast! No wonder he hasn’t found us or sent anything after us! That guy was lying, Discord! He was lying!”

Discord’s finger’s curled a little tighter, frown growing deeper. “Don’t brush The Shadow Stallion off like that. We’ve been lucky. Lucky’s all.”

“We’ve got no reason to worry!” I said, “None! That Magic jerk doesn’t have a clue!”

“You don’t get it. Father, he—”

“Discord—!”

“No!” He snapped loudly. His wings gave an angry jolt. His eyes were still directed down in a terrified rage. “Shut up! Listen to me! Father is not something we can just brush off out of hand! I mean… The Shadow Stallion… Look, you know what I mean.”

I stared at Discord as he huffed and fretted, eyes darting, idle hands now tearing at grass.

“You saw him, Luna,” Discord continued, “Fath— The Stallion. He’s… He’s not Bright anymore. You were there. He didn’t care. He would have killed us. We were lucky. So lucky. It still boggles my mind, even now. And… and you know, the way I see it? The Elements have protected us.”

Discord’s hand shot to his Element, clutching his gem so tightly it flashed silver between his fingers.

“Maybe, in some way, they’ve hidden us from evil. Directed us where we needed to go. Made us lucky. Think about it. How did we pick… the one, random, completely perfect direction… the one that led us not only to Laughter, lost in the middle of nowhere? And then also right directly to Loyalty?”

“Apple lead us to Loyalty,” I said, “He pointed us in the right direction.”

“And if he wasn’t a sympathizer? And what if we had run into the griffins in that city? There was a whole friggin camp above Stringhalt, but somehow, we avoided all their scrutiny?”

Finally, he looked up from the ground. Discord eyes turned to mine, shimmering in the dark. “The only time we’ve ever even come close to danger is when we put ourselves right at the Stallion’s feet. And it took miracles to even get there.”

For a moment, Discord’s statements hung between us, and a million excuses rattled through my brain. Discord’s just got an old fear in him. He’s jumping to outrageous conclusions. We really haven’t been that lucky. We’ve just had a lot of experience running and hiding…

“We’ve laid ourselves at his feet again,” Discord suddenly spoke, voice hushed, “Just stuck ourselves right there, out in the open. A big beacon blazed right into the sky…”

“But it doesn’t make sense,” I replied. I was whispering now too, caught up in… this. “It doesn’t fit in the rules. The spell relied on that bond between us…”

“Butterfly Bright. He had the Element, bonded with him, for nearly a century.” Firmly, Discord said, “He may not have been the best with magic. But with that kind of time, he probably could have figured out his Element backwards and forwards. He has a way. And whoever has bonded with Magic knows it.”

Again, Discord’s words were the final say. All I could mumble was a vague correction, “I wouldn’t say Magic was bonded. It’s just somebody at his tomb. Another Illuminator, probably…”

Things grew quiet again. Discord began rubbing my back, trying to comfort me. The feeling of fingers in my fur was so strange, and right now, I didn’t have the brains to deal with strange. At one point I mumbled an apology for yelling at my friend, and he apologized right back. We were both just so afraid…

I felt hot, overheating. A panicked part of me worried that this was part of the Stallion’s attack, that I had been tagged by some kind of fatiguing spell. But that was just so ridiculous. He couldn’t do that. We have the Elements. We were lucky. We were protected.

But those were just guesses. Boil it all down, and we barely knew anything at all. May as well be fighting over semantics…

I sunk into the grass, and Discord had the courtesy to bloom a pillow under my feet. It didn’t even crinkle at all when I placed my head on it.

I mumbled into the false cloth, “So what do we do now?”

After some thought, Discord spoke, fingers still running up and down my back. “Only two things we can do now. Go get the next Element, or find your sister. And don’t worry. She’s probably not in danger. She didn’t have Loyalty with her.” Discord gave a small sigh. Yeah, thank goodness for that small relief. “But with things how they are, we almost have the entire country to comb through if we want to find her.”

“So, search the whole country, or go directly to a known location where a trap may be waiting.” I dropped my head back down on the pillow, unable to hold it up anymore. Tired. Hot. “Generosity might not even be in its tomb. So many people talking around it…”

“Illuminators,” Discord asserted. “They’ve got to be. So many of the tombs have been protected by Illuminators.”

I sighed, closing my eyes. What a terrible mood to sleep in. “Maybe,” I mumbled noncommittally.

Quietly, Discord said, “We can think about this in the morning.”

“No,” I said firmly into the pillow. “If we’ve got to run, we’ve got to run with purpose.” I set my jaw firm, talking as clearly and calmly as I could when half tired and melted. “The Shadow Stallion knows that the Elements are the only way to take him down. Even now, even if the tombs are swarming with griffins, even if we can’t find a way to use Generosity or Magic, those Elements have to be our goal. Tomorrow, we’re going to… let’s say Generosity.” I nodded into the pillow. “Come hell or high water.”

I felt more than saw Discord nod, and heard him say, just as firmly. “Yes. Tomorrow, we head to Generosity.”

And that was that.

I wondered, just for a moment, if I could teleport there… But the thought scared me. Teleporting halfway across the country to a location I didn’t know, and only had a vague sense about where it was located? No, I didn’t dare.

I wouldn’t experiment like that again…

Slowly, I fell into an uneasy sleep. But one thing still troubled me, making the sleep restless. More than the Elements, more than The Shadow Stallion or the griffins.

Oh why did it have to be so hot out?

~Discord~

Morning. Or close enough to it. That kind of light that lets you know it’s day, but with a storm brewing. That time seemed so much more distinct above the clouds…

I held my breath, and stared past the foliage into the speckled sky. I could hear the heavy beat of wings. Definitely more than two. I could hear one fight loud and clear, maybe the mumblings of more. They wouldn’t see us. My illusions were perfect, as always.

But they’re here. Griffins, flying overhead. They may be hidden from my sight, but it was a whole massive flock of them, from the sounds of things. And while I didn’t know where exactly they were going, I could easily assume they were heading right for Honesty.

The Stallion knew exactly where we were.

And he might even know exactly where we were going.

We had to get out of here. Fast, under illusions and shadows, under a blanket of silence.

As quietly as I could, I shifted over two inches and nudged Luna. The Illusion of a blanket shifted softly under my paw. I could barely even whisper her name before I pulled my hand back, stunned.

She was burning up. My hand was practically stinging after just patting her on the shoulder! Or maybe my own hands were over heating? They were shaking. I might’ve been clutching them too hard. You know. Out of fear.

I ignored the heat. Went to shake her again, mumbling her name as quietly as I could. Her eyelids fluttered heavily, failing to open. She let out a small grumble. I noticed, up close, that her hair seemed to be shimmering with sweat.

“Luna,” I mumbled. “Luna. Wake up. Are you alright. Talk to me. Please.”

“I’zsorta…”

She grunted, burrowing her head deeper into to the pillow. I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I mean, of course she was fine. The situation’s just’s getting to me. That’s it. I don’t have to worry about her…

Quietly, I urged, “Luna. I can hear the griffins. We’ve got to go.”

“Noooo…” She moaned. Her hoof pulled forward, rubbing over her eyes. “I thought… Uhg. Couldn’t sleep at all. Worried… messed up dreams… too hot…”

I smiled nervously. “Yeah, you might have a fever. Crappy timing, I know…”

She grunted. “And your wing, Discord.”

I frowned down at her, confused. “My wing?”

“Your feathers were itching me like crazy last night.”

“Sorry…?”

Crap. After how poorly we slept the previous night, I had actually tried to stay a good distance away from Luna while she slept. Not too far, but… Life, did I roll over while I was out or—

“Wait. Luna.”

“Huhn?”

Slowly, gripping my pounding hot fingers, I said, “Last night, I slept on your left.”

She grumbled, rolling over again in the pillow. “Yeah…”

“So, my right wing would’ve touched you. You know… the bat one.”

Luna sighed heavily into her pillow. And for a quiet moment, she laid still. The blankets shifted a little around her, in a strange way. Was she curled up so tightly that her back hooves could distort the blankets around her middle…?

Luna shot up and squealed, eyes wide. The covers were kicked off. She charged off the bed, slamming into the illusion, making it shake and squeak.

“Bug!” she yelped. “In the blankets!”

“Luna!” My eyes shot to the sky, straining to hear over Luna’s muffled cries. “Keep quiet—!”

“It was big and fuzzy and oh crap, I did not want to wake up to that!”

I felt the heat rising in my face, fingers, palms, wrists pounding. What does she think she was doing?!

Terrified, I snapped, “Luna! Now’s not the time—!”

My eyes widened.

“No! It’s still on me!” She squealed and spun in circles, eyes squeezed tightly shut. “Omoonsun I can feel it moving ewewew gross gross—!” Aura popped to her horn, magic groping for her side. “It’s stuck on! Land leeches?! HEL—“

My fingers had barely tapped together before bubblegum taffy snapped around her snout, squeaking as she tried to shout. She stared down at the bind, then turned to glare at me as I approached.

“Luna,” I said quietly, hand pulsing hot as it dropped onto her shoulder. “Look.”

Her breath heaving through her nose, I carefully reached back to the ‘bug.’ She twitched violently as I touched it, and twisted around to look as I brought it forward.

I held in front of her eyes a pale blue, slightly battered, brand new wing. Fully grown, complete with its pair, and sitting on Luna’s back as if they were naturally supposed to be there.

Luna gave another violent lurch. The wing jerked out of my hand. Her eyes grew even wider. She looked like she was about to vomit at our feet.

“Jeez…” she grumbled. “You know, I won’t say I wasn’t looking forward to this…” She took a deep breath, tried to steady herself. “This isn’t a bad thing,” she said with false resolve.

“No,” I assured her. “It’s not.”

“But this is…” She turned up to the sky, wincing at the canopy. “Phenomenally bad timing!”

I chuckled a little at that, humorless. It was true, wasn’t it? I looked forward to flying with Luna. And certainly, somewhere among all of our other worries, she must have been more excited than me about it. But to gain them now, at the worst possible time?

I glanced up at the clouds, light growing darker and darker. The leaves began shifting in waves, loud and rolling. The wind was staring to pick up, bringing with it a sickly wet smell in the air, like it was about to rain sweat and blood instead of water…

The weather, the wings, the pounding hot pain in my fingers. It made me uneasy.

Suspiciously bad timing…

With barely a thought, I made the illusions all around us vanish, disintegrating into nothing. All that was left was a copy of the canopy, now just light and color hanging in the air. I heard the few first drops of rain fall out of sight. Okay. Maybe that would give us a few more shadows to hide in.

“C’mon,” I said, shifting my bag over my shoulders. “Let’s go.”

Luna glanced up from staring at her wings, sour expression still on her face. “Yes...”

Wings drifting mindlessly at her side, she walked two steps, tried to hop over a tree branch, then failed to stop herself as she stumbled right past her bags and bounced off a tree trunk. She stood stiff, legs spread like a foal who doesn’t quite know how to walk, stunned and staring directly past me.

“Yeah. Actually,” I said hastily, “Let me get your bag.”

I doubted that I could carry two bags, but my fingers flared hot as I began mindlessly constructing a little sled. Crushed undergrowth shouldn’t be a problem if they’re searching from the air… right? And this way, I could tuck Honesty right next to the bag, and there. Easy.

“Thanks.” Luna said, frowning perplexedly at her feet. “Just need a bit to get my bearings... Crap...”

“We can take a bit,” I said firmly. “We may not have much time, but—“

A dark lump fell between us, splattering wetly as it hit the ground.

We both saw it. I leaned over, Luna nearly fell trying to get a good look. It looked about the size of an egg. A fat, rotten yolk. Black, filmy, and oily. Splattered and jiggling wildly on a crushed fern leaf.

Luna’s horn flared to life. A bubble of silence erupted around the two of us. With just one glance between us, we dashed out of the clearing as two more lumps dropped behind us, coating our night’s resting place in dark droplets.

~Luna~

We ran. For a while, I could hear the fat splatters smacking leaves, deeper in the woods. They never came close to hitting us. A part of me wondered if they were even meant to hit us. They just seemed so sporadic and random, a crazy part of me wanted to believe that it was just some garbage dumped out by a floating griffin camp.

Slowly, the splatters faded. It began to rain. A gentle shower, almost misty, but frigidly cold. Each breath was like sucking in a mouthful of ice. Every step, cold seeped into my skin.

But for sky’s sake, for how long we’ve been travelling and learning about ourselves and the Elements, why do we know so little?!

Everything today. The dollops of goop. The cold, the rain. My transformation. I didn’t know what to fear, and what to dismiss! Maybe nothing was dangerous. Maybe everything was! Including the sudden appearance of these wings. The fact that these limbs appeared here, now, with The Stallion on our tail and fever muddling my brain just made me suspicious. Like this was something to slow us down.

Because… that’s all the wings did. Slow us down.

They wouldn’t behave naturally. They twitched, spasmed, and wobbled, sticking out and slapping into trees, catching gusts and sending me tottering this way and that. Discord eventually wove bandages around my middle, tying my wings down so I could just attempt to run properly.

I looked back on myself. My middle seemed swollen at odd angles, twice as big as it should be. My skin pinched and flared hot. And it looked like a skinny elbow was poking up at me, coated in little hairlike feathers.

Strange. Unnatural. I tried not to look again, tried to ignore the bizarre, creeping pinched feeling down my sides.
I couldn’t carry my bags like this. They were too heavy, they pinched and pulled my skin, nearly broke my back with how heavy they seemed. Discord made a few simple illusions carry them for us. I asked, quietly through my bubble of silence, wasn’t that a strain?

But he didn’t, couldn’t respond. All he did was grin, wave my question away, and continue running beside me. He was acting like it was no big deal, but when it came to Discord, acting certainly was a key word…

Discord with energy to spare, unafraid of expending himself. It was either a tremendous boon, or a horrible trick to leave us drained and stranded.

All of this. Everything about it. It chilled me worse than the rain. We were so off balance by these transformations. No way could the Stallion be that clever. No way…

I galloped through the undergrowth, watching for roots, running and stumbling as if I was lighter than air. I found myself almost skipping around trunks and ferns. My contact with the earth was so vague, it felt like I could just float away at any moment. It was just so dreamlike.

I thought, for a moment… was this a dream? A bad nightmare, where you can zoom around freely, and where you’re chased by horrors you don’t even see. Maybe it feels real in the moment, but you know the moment you wake up…

I looked up at the blackened sky, squinting against the searing cold raindrops. I wondered, in this dream, if I could just float up and hide in the clouds.

I hopped over a log, and for a long moment, I drifted on that idea. My new limbs twitched spastically, restrained by the bandages.

And then something yanked at my tail.

My squeal was eaten by the bubble of silence. Unconsciously, I bucked, and both my legs bounced off something! What was behind me what was behind me what was—

Oh. It was just Discord. Of course it was just Discord. He rubbed his chest and giving me a very displeased look.

He let go of my tail. I wobbled around to face him, mumbling silent apologies. Frowning, Discord held up his hand. Three ribbons sat in it, floating off behind him. I gave him a confused look. He waved behind himself. I looked.

Our bags were wrapped up in little illusions, wings jutting out their sides, making them look like overlarge, spherical birds. But the illusion spheres bobbed like half-deflated baloons now, excessively covered in mud and twigs. One of the ribbons seemed to be coming apart, another tangled in tree branches.

I shrugged weakly at Discord. What did he want me to do about it?

He rolled his eyes, giving the ribbons a little tug. The illusions flapped their wings weakly, bouncing on the ground as they were dragged over. The clothlike center unfurled, and Discord picked up his bag, slinging it around his shoulders.

I shook my head. And with the tiniest whisper, I cast through the quiet, “I don’t know if I can carry my bag like this…”

He nodded firmly, and pulled the straining string that held my bag aloft. It crushed a small bush when it dropped. Discord tried to untangle it from the thorns, lifting and dropping the saddlebags it like they were full of rocks. They couldn’t be that heavy, could they be? Was the rain soaking into the canvas…?

I let my aura fill my horn, and reached out for the bag. I thought I could at least levitate it in front of me. Yet, even as I pulled it up, the levitation seemed to falter and waver, vanishing entirely. The bag hit the dirt, crumpling sideways.

No… Is this stupid transformation getting in the way of my spells too?! I squeaked aloud, and heard nothing escape from my mouth. My silence spell is holding up fine! Why not the levitation?

Discord shook his head at me. With a pained expression he turned up his palm and… summoned a little flower? I gave him a confused look. He stared at the flower in his fingers, holding it out in the rain.

The drops seemed to make it flicker a little. No… Each time a drop hit the illusion, it ate a little path through the material, made the entire thing melt like wax.

I stared at it. Discord glanced to see if I understood, then closed his hand around the illusion, grimly satisfied. The dark collected rain rolled thickly down his fist. What an odd weakness for a solid illusion to have. Just water? That’s all?

I looked over my shoulder, back at his illusion of bandages. They seemed as strong as ever. I waved to get Discord’s attention, and pointed them out to him.

He grinned and waved the thought away. Tapped them, and they grew a little tighter and cleaner. Another drop of rain ate a thin strip away, but it was almost instantly replaced. He smiled again. I couldn’t return the look.

He shouldn’t be wasting his magic like this… Not on things for me…

And with that, he heaved my bag atop his own. He strained and struggled to force his wings through the tight straps. I shuffled on my feet, wanting to help, but even the small movements made me nearly topple over.

Discord held Honesty out to me with a smile, unnaturally free of any water, mud, or sticking bits of plant. I huffed at it. Oh, why did the dumb thing still have to be a rock? Why couldn’t it be something simpler to carry? Why couldn’t it just be a necklace already?

I was struck by a dumb idea. I looked down at Laughter, similarly free of water and grime. Then, with a light little joke in my mind, I tugged at the golden band. It stretched and pulled easily, functioning normally.

So I took the big rock of Honesty and I stuck it firmly behind the golden band. Honesty now hung off my neck like the big, dumb rock it was. At least it wasn’t all that heavy. Discord couldn’t stop himself from silently snickering, but what else was I going to do? Hold it between my legs? Balance it on my back?

Working without an aura is stupid.

I turned away, lightly balancing Honesty with my knee as we hopped over a fallen log, continuing forward.

After stumbling further and further through the forest, we finally found the road. After a moment’s silent deliberation, we decided to follow alongside it, still weaving and taking cover in the thickly bunched trees. While it might’ve been a dangerous thing to do, we didn’t have a single inkling of where anything was without a road. We didn’t even know if this was the road we needed to take to Generosity. But without the sun, stars, or a compass to guide us, the road was our only sense of direction. As long as we just stayed right off the shoulder of the path, we should be fine. Not like our pursuers were going to just roll along the road in a cart.

My shoulders and legs were quickly growing numb from the rain. They didn’t ache from all the running, but I didn’t feel relieved about this. The natural aches were replaced with a creepy sort of feeling. Like icy worms wriggling over my dulled skin.

I stepped in a puddle, and it came out coated in frigid black mud. Blech. I slowed, tried to wipe it off on the tree beside me. My shoulders bumped into the bones of my new wings, and oh moon above, that is a bizarre feeling. It was like knocking into a stick stuck in my back, feeling it only because it made the stick pinch your back skin. It was a profoundly gross feeling.

I looked back over my muddied bandages, letting Discord catch up to me. He clutched his chest, panting silently. I let the tiniest inch of sound through our bubble, enough to hear the rain hissing all around us, enough to say a few quiet sentences.

“What if the temperature drops again?” I said. “We could freeze to death out here.”

Discord was silent, dark water rolling thickly around his shoulders and wings.

“We don’t have any spells to keep ourselves warm.”

He frowned, then slapped himself. Letters floated in front of his snout, scrawled in a glowing pink.

U now who has warm spells?

I frowned, confused.

Celestia

“There’s no way we’re going to find her through this. Without a beacon for her to follow…”

I sniffed. On top of everything else, now the icy cold was inching into my heart. I felt homesick. I missed her. So much. Please be safe, Celestia. Please. Just be safe.

“The Elements will lead us true, won’t they?” I mumbled into his ear. “If they’ve been leading us this whole time… then maybe, this time as well…”

He nodded firmly.

We will b OK

“Yes… We’re just so exposed out here. It seems like it’ll just be a matter of time…”

Discord put a hand on my shoulder, trying to smile, to be reassuring, but just looking at frightened as I felt. Sure. We hadn’t seen the Stallion yet. And we hadn’t heard or seen even a single griffin tailfeather. Yet, the whole world felt so dangerous and dark.

“It’s just so hopeless…”

He frowned. Not at me. At the hand on my shoulder.

I gave him a questioning look.

He pulled his hand back.

And a filmy line of black goop followed him back.

I squealed and rubbed at my darkened legs. Goop piled around my ankles, rolled off it chunks, jiggling spastically.

“The rain!” I squealed. Discord slapped a hand over my mouth. It tasted sour, frigid and squirming—

I stared, horrified into Discord’s eyes. His were wide. He knew too.

Smooze...?

Magic shot to my horn and I spat fitfully in dead silence. I shook and I ripped at myself, throwing off cold chunks of oily mud. My hoof caught on my bandages, and they disintegrated cleanly, magic slowly being eaten by twitching tumors of brackish purple muck. My wings tumbled from their bonds, wet and broken looking. I didn’t know what felt worse. The tumors of smooze on my skin, or that feeling of broken, wet limbs tickling my sides.

I felt disgusting. Dirty. Contaminated. I had been breathing that rain! Now I could imagine those disgusting worms working their way inside me. Oh Sky. Oh sun and moon.

Alicorns are supposed to be noble and godlike. I just felt like a mutant freak. This wasn’t my body. It wasn’t.

Magic rippled around Discord’s fingers, flickering in the twitching muck between his toes. A tent flickered above our heads. The rain was stopped only temporarily. We both knew it would only be a matter of time…

Words formed above Discord’s palm.

He nows. Hes gonna suk out r magic. Kill us wile were num.

“Yes. I know,” I hiccupped. “How long can you hold us up?”

Discord thought for a moment. Then the dire words rose from his fingers, carefully drawn out letter by letter.

The Shadow Stallion has the un-dying energy and patience of a god. How long do you think Im going to last?

I took a deep breath, and tried to shake off the cold building inside of me. Clumps of wet goop dripped off my mane and fur. My body was frigid, and my thoughts worse than that.

What if we didn’t make it?

I guess we could… Um…

But what if we didn’t make it?

No! There is definitely a way out. Just have to stop and think…

C’mon brain. Think.

A blob of smooze rolled down my snout, leaving a trail of biting cold behind it.

We’re not going to make it.

“Discord,” I mumbled, “I-I wanna say… if we don’t make it… Oh. What’s the point…”

Discord silently huffed. He gripped his chin between two fingers, staring down as the dully shimmering puddles of jiggling liquid. He was mumbling something, but for some reason, I still thought it was smart to keep the bubble of silence around us. I’ve already poked dozens of holes in it, just to talk. I should probably just let the whole spell go…

Discord slapped himself. And in a moment more his frigid body bumped into mine, pulling me into a frozen embrace. His Element glowed beneath me…

And the air started to get warmer again.

I blinked. The puddles of smooze were rippling, as if there was a gust coming off of our hug. Some of the substance rolled into thick streams, joined by the droplets dropping off our bodies.

Wow! Why didn’t I think of that?

I giggled and hugged Discord back, finally feeling a lot warmer, almost dry! My Element glowed softly with his, and my wings… Jeez, it’s so weird to think of those things as wings. But my two slightly battered wings folded up into a reasonable position by my side, just unconsciously. It was kind’ve like going from a dead, numb slouch to standing up proper and straight.

Yeah, I could totally get used to that. I wonder when they’d be ready to fly!

Discord retreated, and beamed at me. I nodded back.

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s loads better.”

Discord lifted his fingers in front of his smile.

Negitivity gunk, meet ultimat positivity lite.

“Your spelling is horrible!” I slack him lightly in the shoulder. “So. All we’ve got to do is blast our way out with the Elements… Wait…”

I fell silent. Three question marks drifted before my eyes, the both of us looking around. The puddles around us were still wobbling violently, even as the light from our Elements had already faded. And, maybe because we had brightened the patch around us, but the world seemed to be a little darker now. And…

“Um. Discord,” I asked quietly. “Do you think the rain just got louder?”

All around us, the rain had increased to a deafening downpour. Distantly, I heard Discord squeak. Fat droplets of slime dropped from above, having eaten through most the illusion, showering us in splattering, frigid goop. There was a crack of thunder, echo deep, rolling, and bone-shaking. And through the broken illusion of a roof, I saw, directly above us, the sky.
It looked like it had been pierced by a massive shard of shadowy ice, a thin spindle of black, dark energy bubbling and rolling the clouds around it, getting darker and darker—

Discord yanked my shoulder, and I was pulled into a run.

We weren’t messing around anymore. The danger was present, apparent, and very much there. We had to do anything to escape, anything. And Discord, crazy, overconfident Discord, did just that.

We charged down a wooden walkway holding up a slanted tile roof, footsteps muted, but speed increased. The path weaved around tree and cut through underbrush. But even with the path cutting through the rain, the roof could only hold back so much.

I swerved around a thick column of rolling purple muck and hopped over an eaten-away hole in the flooring. Part of the support beam was curling away, the roof starting to creak as it buckled. But by the time it collapsed, Discord and I had already charged past, allowing the illusion to be swallowed by the rain.

It was insane just how quickly I could run. I felt light as a feather, and even the simplest, lightest push flung me forward miraculous distances. I nearly fell into the downpour as the path stopped building before me. But Discord would always catch up, teeth gritted and eyes focused dead ahead.

I didn’t know how far we had to run. How much of the forest was being coated in the smooze? Could we be easily seen from up above, or was the power of the Elements leading The Shadow Stallion true?

Earlier today, I would have been terrified by the thought of the Shadow Stallion, up above the clouds, pursuing us relentlessly… Well, actually, that was still pretty terrifying. But here, now, we weren’t just running scared anymore, jumping at every shadow. There was a clear problem, a clear solution, and, if The Shadow Stallion could only sense The Elements when they activated, maybe we could escape the storm…!

A bannister rose snapped up before me, the path bulging into an octagonal gazebo. I stumbled and skidded on the hard wood, gripping Honesty to make sure it didn’t fly off the railing, finally trotting to a stop. I stared into the rain, downpour lightened into a steady black rain, but far from letting up.

I spun and watched as Discord stumbled into the gazebo and collapsed, breathing muted and heavy, almost crushed beneath the double set of bags.

His fingers twitched, and before my eyes floated warped words.

Cant. Magic gone. Ne]w plan.

“How much do you have?! We’ve almost made it!”

He continued to pant, not even looking at me.

All ways stop befor killing my self.

“Y-yeah. Makes sense. I’m sorry. Um.” I let the spell of silence drop around us. Only then did I hear how wheezy Discord’s breathing sounded. He should have stopped a long time ago. Oh, why did I let him exert himself so far? Every breath he took was like a new stabbing cold in my heart. “Okay, you can talk aloud now.”

“Gaaaaaah…”

“But not too loud… I mean. Sorry we didn’t stop sooner…”

“No. It’s okay. It’s my fault. Was riding some kind’ve. Magic high…” He swallowed a mouthful of spit. “But I. Can only hold this building. For so long. So…” He looked up at me. “Plans…?”

“If we can just get out of this rain, then we’d be home free, I know it.”

“If we go out there. Unprotected…”

“Yeah. It’s a bad idea.” I looked side to side, trying to discern the trees from the black haze. “Maybe if we found a big tree or a barn to shelter under…!”

“Do you really think,” Discord cried, “That hiding under a stupid tree is going to stop The Shadow Stallion?!”

“I don’t know!” I huffed. “Just trying to come up with something!”

I could already hear the roof hissing, smooze eating its way through. No matter how much energy Discord had, we didn’t have much time left at all.

“Okay. Okay, I got a dumb plan.” Discord head himself up, and started struggling out of the bags. “I don’t think it will solve the problem of avoiding The Shadow Stallion. But we’ll get out of the rain. And maybe that will make things easier.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“You got wings now. So. Let’s avoid the rain and fly up above the clouds.”

I stared at Discord as he opened the bags and started rooting through them.

“Wow,” I said, “That is a dumb plan.”

“Yyyyep.”

“I mean, for one, I don’t know how to fly.”

“I’ll steer. All you need to do is flap.”

“I don’t even k now if I can flap these things!” I whipped around, and my wings twitched slightly open in my rage. “And for two, The Stallion is up there! You think we won’t just spot us instantly?!”

“Yes or no. That bit’s kind’ve on you.” He started setting objects aside. Bedding we never used. A bundle of celery. His wrapped packages. His hands passed over the pocket that contained Loyalty and moved directly for my own stores of food. “I’m out of magic. But you still have your sonic spells, your shadows… heck.” He grinned. “If things get too dicey, you could probably drop the moon on him.”

I snorted. “Ha. Ha.”

“Luna, I know this is kind’ve a dumb plan, but… the roof is melting, and in maybe another minute we’ll have no magic, energy, or even happiness to work with.”

I frowned down at my Element, Honesty still tucked firmly in the band. Took a breath.

“I don’t know if there’s going to be many shadows to work with in open sky. If it was night, maybe… But even if it’s not, I’ll do my best.”

Discord looked relieved. “Thanks…”

He dropped the last bit out food out of my bag. Both of our saddlebags were looking practically deflated.

I asked, “We’re not taking any food? None at all?”

“It’ll just weigh us down. We can both scrounge. I mean, neither of us will be a hundred percent happy with that. But we will be alive. And right now, that counts for more.” He wobbled to his feet and reached out his hand. “Give me Honesty. It can probably fit in one of the pockets now.”

I nodded. With my aura finally working, I hovered Honesty out from Laughter and set the stone sphere down. Heavy load of—

It hit the ground. It cracked wide open.

Discord and I exchanged glances of pure horror.

“Oh life. Oh hell.”

I brushed it gently, and it crumbled like talcum powder. I felt a horrible swooping in my stomach. It was a fake! It was an illusion! We broke it! The Stallion broke it! An all-powerful artifact of holy power was turning into dust right before my eyes—

A glimmer shone through. A core, dark and deep as obsidian, cut sharply into a four-cornered diamond. The dust swept and spun away in a nonexistent breeze. The rest of the Element was exposed. It rested in a beautiful setting of star-shaped gold, curled and curved into a bright, ornately carved tiara.

I lifted it with my ankle, gem flashing, even in the dark. It was cold. Not piercingly or bitingly cold. Just no longer beating like a heart or squirming like an eager mouse. No. It was a fully bonded, tiara-shaped, Element of Honesty.

I mutely showed it to Discord. He plucked it out of my hands.

He said, “But we… what have we done today that’s Honest? That’s virtuous? Why now?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But it’s easier to carry now, isn’t it?”

With a glance, I drifted Loyalty out of my bag as well. The orange gem was still dim… but the gold was no longer bubbling and tumorous. It too was carved into a beautiful, pale gold tiara, round gem resting on a radiant, floral setting.

“Looks like a sunflower,” I said.

We stared at the Elements, at each other. The Illusion was hissing all around us, and I could already feel the floor beginning to buckle.

I said, “I wonder what rules…”

Discord said confidently, “The First Gods used each other’s Elements when one had become corrupted.” He returned Honesty to me, reaching out for Loyalty and turned it over in his hands. “This is no different.”

“But my sister isn’t corrupted,” I repeated, just as steadfast, “She can’t be a Nightmare.”

“But she isn’t here either.” He tapped the gem, frowned, and tapped it again. “Dammit. Not reacting to me. And I don’t know if I’ve run out of magic, if it will only respond to friendship, or what other unknown rule is governing these things. But we don’t have time to find out.”

He tucked the Loyalty Tiara between his horns. It looked phenomenally stupid on his gray head.

He said, “This time, we’re winging it.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

I tucked the Honesty band in front of my own horn, letting the combs come to rest behind my ears. It felt like the most natural, comfortable thing in the world. It was like Laughter on my breast. I always forgot I was wearing it, because it was just a natural, magical extension of me.

“You ready?”

I nodded. “I’m ready.”

We strapped on our bags without a word, finagling and wriggling my wings in front of the straps. My bag hung strangely over the backside of my flank, but it was on tight, and my wings being free were what mattered.

Discord, blushing, started beating his wings and drifted above me. His hands tucked under my shoulder and gently, he began lifting me. With hardly a thought my wings fluttered open. They seemed so big on me. Even bigger and longer than my legs, still a little tousled and forlorn. They sort’ve… drifted at my sides, at the ready. But ready for what?
Discord took a deep breath.

“Okay,” he said, “Whatever you can do… Just do whatever you can.”

I gave my wings an experimental flap. We lifted and bobbed in the air. I was stunned.

“Going up in three… two… one…”

The floor vanished. My feet dropped. Smooze splashed up my legs, freezing them instantly. The illusion crumpled around us. Fat wads of leftover color shot up into the air, spinning into a multicolored, stonelike umbrella. We dropped slightly, I panicked as my knees dipped in frigid, clinging, squirming mud—

Then, leaving all my organs behind, we shot into the sky.

Falling. I had experiences with falling. Strong feelings, body swooping and being lost behind me. Rain rushing towards and past us like a solid cone. Sky a dark spread, like a cottony ground rushing towards us. Wind roaring as it plasters my mane back, chilling my necklace and new tiara.

It was like falling, but in spurts. Every time Discord flapped his wings, we heaved our bodies higher. Drifted for a moment, then in another spat we shot up again. It was quick, rapid, and we never completely fell. But my stomach was churning, unable to handle the ride.

My wings flapped spastically at my sides, aching and twinging, bending the wrong way. But each time I executed a perfect beat, we heaved even higher.

As the top of sky grew closer, our little umbrella dissolved faster and faster. Droplets began to rain down on our heads in thick, ropey strings. My wings began to shiver, the numbness not helping my flailing flight.

I’ve been exposed to smooze contained, and now smooze uncontained. The feeling is so completely different. In the sacks of leather, it’s like the effect is dulled. Its touch is numbing, yes, but it’s more like a limb drifting off to sleep. Maybe if you have the bag around your head you get a little muddled, equitable to getting drunk.

But it’s not as profoundly bone-chilling as the substance touching your bare skin. It felt like every drop was a frozen patch of ice under my fur, rubbing and robbing my warmth, never ending. Magic evaporated in the cold. All warm thoughts vanish to its bottomless sorrows. You don’t go numb because your thoughts get a little scrambled. Mental contact with smooze dragged you deep into a blackened well of pure despair.

I wondered where such a horrible substance could have come from. Such an evil, vile, inescapable substance. A dark material only used by the most loathsome ponies…

I shook my head, and tried to resist blasting myself with my Elements. Focus Luna. This darkness wasn’t yours to harbor.

“We’ve almost reached the clouds!” Discord shouted over the roar of the wind. “Brace yourself! We might have to dig through them!”

The sky heaved and rolled above our heads, clouds spinning in shadowy knots. The black dagger was nowhere to be seen, but I had a terrifying feeling that it might burst to life right on our heads, splitting the clouds…

“I’ve got an idea!” I shouted back. “How about I—!”

“Just do it, Luna!” he screamed. “Winging it, remember?!”

“Just keep flying up, then! I’ll get us through the clouds!”

I took a deep breath. Pulled magic into my horn, struggling and tugging it against the splatters of ice on my forhead. I didn’t know if this would work, or was a dumb idea, or what.

But, winging it!

I turned my eyes up to the approaching ceiling. Clenched my jaw. Packed a thick bubble of silence around us two, until the world faded into a tightly silenced mute space, so still and dead that I couldn’t even hear my ears as they popped.

I opened my mouth and released a single note. I didn’t hear what the note was. I could barely feel my own throat as it vibrated. But I knew instantly, from the sudden flare in my horn, that the spell had worked.

The illusion above us was ripped and torn away. Droplets were tossed and thrown into the air, splattering upwards. The clouds shivered and caved when impacted, then ripped upwards, filmy guts shooting into—

The beautifully bright blue sky.

We shot upwards, and instantly the world became blindingly bright and warm. The sun greeted us joyfully, and the smooze collecting on our bodies rolled away into the black mass below. I let the spell drop, and we weren’t even greeted by the pounding of rain or the gusts of wind. All was still, bright, and peaceful.

I smiled happily at that empty blue expanse. Oh, if I could kiss it, I would right now! Hello stupid endless sky! Your princess is back!

I squeaked, ripped forcefully from my reverie and my silence by Discord twisting and sifting in the air.

“Hey! What?!”

"The Shadow Stallion…!” Discord cried.

“What?!” I squeaked. I had almost forgotten! I twisted and turned limply in Discord’s hands. “Where?!”

“I don’t know! Do you see him?”

“I… I…” I looked as hard as I could around the bright world, but the light was blinding, and I could barely see without squinting. So I looked down towards to cloud floor beneath us…

“Discord!” I screamed. “LOOK DOWN!”

“Father—“ His eyes snapped down. “Oh!”

We heaved up and backwards, both sets of wings pumping in panic. Not because we had seen the Shadow Stallion. Oh no. The spot we had cut open had long since closed up, but now the clouds themselves looked like they were boiling. They turned over and over in thick columns, twisting into black, arm-like tornadoes. And they just kept growing thicker, stormier, and more violent.

We flew higher and further away, watching the clouds from a safe distance. They never moved from that spot. Eventually, we drifted so far, we could barely see the twisting shapes rolling and falling on the edge of the horizon.

We stared quietly into the sky, at each other, and down at the clouds. But search all we could, we never did see The Shadow Stallion.

Comments

[vader10001]

Wait, is Luna actually bonded to honesty, or is she just using it for now? I hope it is the latter.

[Mimicry]

Looking forward to more!

[cantaloupes]

A minor thing in your writing that's been annoying me
You keep using "kind've" in place of "kind of"

[Sixpack]

Time for a random question:
Will the next chapter be about Celestia again?

[Greytercakes]

2813566
Definitely

[RoboRed]

Smooze is nasty business...

[Pashoo]

Honestly, smooze is the most depressing substance ever written.

[Greytercakes]

2816981
Substance, possibly. But most depressing thing? Lies. Nothing will ever be more depressing than Marvin the Robot.

[Pashoo]

2817081

[Thegodhand]

I'm wondering why the smooze doesnt seem to show any intellect. It seemed able to talk and show intent when I looked it up.

[FashionablyHospitable]

Keep calm and flutter on better be canon for this.

[Heart of Blades]

Hurray, I'm all caught up! Wow, this was a bit of a bleak chapter, but a lot of new questions have come up and half baked theories are running around in my head, lol. I'm eager to get back to Celestia, but at the same time I hate leaving Luna and Discord, the two stories are both engrossing!

I'm pretty sure Generosity is at the hospital with Celestia and I have my own thoughts on just who Magic is with, what with the clues given back in Canterlot.

[ThatPoemGuy]

2785866
Sort of. It's really a mix of three things.
1) Yes, as you say a call sign, although, it's more of a signature.
2) I do live in Australia, so...
3) It actually originated as a reference to the song of the same name, by GANGgajang. you should check it out.

[Kapuchu]

2866775
I thought it might have been something like that

[corona320]

So overheating means there's a magical transformation...I guess the snooze just cooled her off then . Ironic how that worked out.

[Riverwing]

At first I thought it was just running water that dispelled their magic, but that doesn't happen in your cannon does it?

[FancyFan]

Smooze rain? Well if that's not terrifying I don't know what is.

[Valen]

Calling it now. This place becomes the everfree. Also, I haven't commented before, but I just wanted to say that I really do love how you've portrayed the various characters. It's been incredible seeing how they've evolved from the kids who escaped canterbury.

~DeepShift

[Mini-Joe]

i know this is a long time after writing, but i gotta know. How old are they both supposed to be?

[Ice Star]

7861418
I think that is intentionally left unsaid, but Luna and Discord are both going through puberty and we know Celestia is older, and old enough to be considered for marriage while still being a minor/young mare. This would put Celestia probably somewhere from 15-18 and Luna and Discord 10-14, with Discord being indicated to be the middle age-wise. Though, Luna and him are going through puberty at about the same time, meaning one is a bit of a late bloomer.