A voice in the dark

by EmberLight

Chapter 5: The sun

I woke up with a small yawn, snuggling into my soft pillow. I think this had been the first time I hadn't woken up from a nightmare. There hadn't been any dreams either, so it was a bit of an empty night. I continued to snuggle into my soft pillow, and it responded by snuggling back...

I slowly opened my eyes, coming to the shocking revelation that I had been burying my muzzle in Cloud's wing. I think I might even have squealed somehow. My fur went from orange to pink in a heartbeat, although I didn't pull away, I was still trying to catch up with the fact that I was sleeping in the same bed as a filly.

I heard a loud yawn, followed by the large pink fluffy pillow turning on it's side to face me with closed eyes. I think I giggled a little when I saw her mane. She must have rolled around in her sleep, because it was all over the place. To be honest, I thought she looked kind of cute with her mane spread across the pillows.

My attention was drawn down to a glow just beneath her head. Her necklace was glowing again. Why did she even have it on overnight? Surely it would be uncomfortable.

Her eyes opened slowly and I panicked, should I jump out of the bed? Should I pretend I was sleeping? Should I-

"Hehe, you look funny when you're pink," she said sleepily, making me turn more crimson than pink now.

I was going to say something, but a noise interrupted me. It just occured to me that we hadn't eaten at all yesterday.

"Looks like someone's hungry~" Cloud sing songed, taunting me. Again just before I spoke I was interrupted by another growling.

"S-Speak for yourself," I said, with my fur turning back closer to it's normal shade of orange, but still with a tinge of pink in it.

"Hah, okay," she said. "Should we go down to the kitchen?

"Oh! We could have sun berries!" I said, running round the room in excitement. It had been a while since I had cooked up a meal with those! I never really got the chance to do this since the sun berry only blooms, ironically, only when the moon is at it's highest every year. The moon had peaked last night, and I had forgotten to go plucking them, because I was showing Cloud around, but now they might be

"...Um, what's a sun berry?" She asked.

"WHAT? You've never heard of a sun berry, you know, one of the most delicious things in equestria!?"

"Er... No? She asked cautiously.

oh, right. The sun berry can only grow in the everfree... YES! I'll get to see her reaction to eating it for the first time! This'll be amazing-

"Hello? Fyre? Did I break you?" she said with a giggle, breaking my train of thought.

"Right, sorry. I was thinking about something. Anyway, we could go have some sun berries and I could mix up something with them. Sun berries are sorta like... They're small, round, yellow berries that taste like you're eating a perfectly sweet strawberry, and it gives you a really soft warm feeling."

"...Sounds delicious!" Cloud said.

"They are, trust me. Now let's go get them! The berry bushes are littered throughout the north-western are of the everfree so we'll have to take the western exit..."

---

"Heh... Looks like they're coming this way. Guess I'll stop hiding then. Besides, it's been a while since I got to talk with Fyre, dunno who that filly with 'im is. I'll have to ask 'em," the shadow said. His claw plucked one of the golden berries off the bushes and threw it in his mouth. The shadow rose his head to the sky and lit his horns dispelling the fog around him, allowing him to be seen again.

He was a cluster of chaos. He stood on his two hind legs, one which was a pony's hoof and the other a dragon's foot. The body was again similar to a pony's but had a few brown places where griffin fur would poke out. His right arm was exactly like a griffin's, with a couple draconic scales poking through. His left arm was... Odd. It looked almost like it was a forehoof but it had strange patterns enscripted on it. Finally, the head. It was the same as a pony but had two horns. His eyes were a pale green and looked kind, gentle and sad. It was clear to anyone that he had been through a lot, and would never recover from whatever injuries he had received. He would be a little smaller than Fyre and Cloud when he stood on four legs, but since he always stood bipedal his head would be just a little higher than fyre's.

"I wonder if he still remembers me... No matter. I'm sure he'll still be at least a little weirded out seeing a half-pony half-draconequis... They're here," he finished, jumping to the back of the clearing full of berry bushes.

---

"-the moonlight shines down on them and fills them with magical energy! At least, that might be it. I don't know anything about them so I could be wrong," Cloud said. We had been talking about the sun berries all the way here. Apparently shimmering cloud knew quite a bit about magical energy, and how the sun and moon both have different magical properties.

"Yeah- oh, we're here!" I said, finally realising we had gotten to the sun berry orchard. I ran over to the nearest bush and plucked a bunch of the golden berries off it, holding out my hoof and offering them to Cloud.

"Wow! They're so shiny! Thank you!" Cloud said with a grateful smile, taking a couple of the berries from my hoof and popping them in her mouth. I didn't eat any of mine because I wanted to see her reaction.

"Wow, they're so sweet! And chewy! It's like I'm eating the sun!"

...I had expected a reaction more on the lines of 'AAAARGH THIS IS SOO SWEET MY TONGUE IS FALLING OFF' or 'What is this! I feel like my entire life has been nothing till this day!'.

"Eh, I always thought they tasted a bit more like mint on a warm day."

"...Fyre, why did you suddenly change the tone of your voice?"

"...that wasn't me Cloud," I replied.

"Well of course it wasn't, also I'm kind of surprised you didn't see me when you entered the clearing..."

"Who are you?" I demanded, standing up and getting into a battle ready stance. I had fought off a couple manticores before, I thought I might as well get ready to fight. The voice speaking sounded hostile.

"oh... So you really have forgotten me," the voice said. I think I vaguely recognised it too, but it was so long ago I could barely remember. Maybe it really was him.

"Well, I can't stay in the shadows all the time now. Can I?" The creature said stepping out of the trees. I could feel myself beginning to tear up. It really was him... If he had come back... Then maybe the others have too!

"...Chaio, I can't believe it... You're here!"

Author's Note:

Again sorry if this feels rushed, I've been dragged around all weekend thanks to my sister's birthday so I haven't had much time to write. To make things worse, my internet was down all of yesterday so I couldn't finish this chapter or post it.

Anyway, thanks for taking your time to read this, I really appreciate it!