Darkened Shores

by Silver Flare

30: Nightmares

“Should this vessel still be capable of flight,” Luna breathed, “We suggest fleeing.”

Kelbrri shook herself, and her eyes came back into focus. She flicked a few switches and shoved hard on a nearby lever. Her crest collapsed as she shook her head no.

“It better not be the damned fuel lines. . .” Cloud stepped gingerly towards Luna, as though her ship might shake apart through the slow, powerful groan the sky-serpent made as it approached. She implored the Princess with eyes the color of steel. “I gotta know. . . Is it worth trying? Do. . . Honestly, do we even have a chance here?”

Luna's expression turned gentle, and she pitched her voice over the hum. “What chance remains to us now, we cannot see.” She placed a hoof on her shoulder. Then she turned and walked with stately dignity to the edge of the shattered windows like framed pictures of tormented memories. The colossus eeled steadily towards the grounded airship, its unending moan grating like panic across everyone's mind. Luna turned her back upon the nightmarish vista, her eyes and horn shedding light like a benediction. “But for us, we shall fight until we have breathed our last!”

Cloud nodded. “Good enough for this gryphon. Kelbrri, you're helm in case we get the old bird running. Shade, you're with me.” She turned and flung herself at the door.

Sun Shade offered Rarity a sympathetic hug. “My dearest gem, I'm so so sorry.” With a grimace, she followed Cloud at a trot.

Luna watched them go, then turned to Rarity. “Thou must now protect the bridge. This is paramount. Should it fall, we may be unable to flee even if Clouded Gaze is successful. Dost thou understand us?”

Rarity fought to swallow heaving sobs as fat tears bled from her eyes. “I-I understand, your H-.” And she found herself completely unable to speak.

Luna turned, the dark sky of her mane backlit by the glow of her power, and her wings spread majestically. With a snarl, she launched herself into the air towards the living catastrophe, and the ship juddered with the force of her departure.

Pinkie Pie slunk towards Rarity, concern suffusing her wide eyes. She leaned broadside against her friend, hoping to still her tremors with touch. “I. . . I'm sure we'll find him, Rarity. A-and maybe the Elements can, um, fix him up. Right?”

Another soft form had pulled itself over the sill, something small and leonine. Rarity shoved Pinkie brusquely away and lifted the intruder up with her magic. She spun it upside down and savagely slammed it against the floor several times, making loud, wet scrunching sounds interspersed with faint mewls. Rarity steadfastly ignored her crewmate's cringing and flung the form back into the shadows from whence it came.

Pinkie looked frightened, and not of the creatures. She spoke slowly. “Rarity? Are you alright?”

Rarity didn't give an answer. She didn't have one to give.

Dash's eyes darted around the room. Trying to sound nonchalant, she said, “Stuff's spreading kind of fast, isn't it?”

“Just keep looking at me.” Fluttershy urged.

Dash nodded. “Okay.” She may have blinked a little too much, and was certainly breathing a little too fast. She blew her colorful bangs out of her eyes. “D'you think it'll hurt?”

Fluttershy readjusted her grip on Rainbow's arms, keeping as much of her front limbs against her friend as she could manage. “Yes.”

“Oh. Great.” Dash grimaced. “You couldn't have lied about that? Not even a little?”

The shadows writhed closer, feeling the floor before them. Each one was insubstantial, like an opaque mirage distorting rather than concealing whatever was behind it. But there was also something invasive about them, something that made Fluttershy feel desperate to cover herself. “At the shore, this stuff couldn't harm me. It hurt, but it couldn't get in. I'll try and help you, okay?”

“But that makes no sense to me. What does it feel like?”

“Um, kind of like your life. As though your life has gone wrong, somehow.”

“You know what? Never mind. I'll find out here in a second.”

“Rainbow! Whatever you do, remember to trus-”

Dash drew in a panicky gasp and her pupils shrank to nothing.

“Wait!” Fluttershy cried out. But she didn't even hear herself. The world had been swept away, replaced with ice and desolation. The shadows had closed in, and Fluttershy found herself locked in a silent battle for Dash's soul.

The corridor was silent for half a dozen heartbeats before a dim glow appeared, followed by a lantern, followed by a pair of figures.

Sun Shade scanned the hallway with clear brown eyes before setting her lamp down. “Well.” She remarked drily. “This is a bona fide clusterbuck.”

Beside her, Cloud arched an eyebrow.

“What?” Shade asked. “A true lady knows when it's appropriate to swear.”

“Yeah. . .” Cloud agreed. Standing in the transverse corridor on the lowest deck, their lamp light fell upon nothing but a writhing nest of shadows spreading from an open storeroom door. “So much for repairs. We're taking on evil like it's seawater.” Her hackles spiked. “Let's make sure nobody else is down here.”

Shade nodded sagely. “You start on this end. I'll go get the prisoner.”

Cloud glanced at the encroaching shadows with a revolted shudder. “We've only got a few minutes.”

“Then hurry.” Shade adjusted her parasol, grabbed her lantern in her mouth and launched herself into a gallop. Behind her, she heard Cloud fling open the first door, shouting for survivors. Her voice dwindled behind Shade as she rounded another corner. Near the end, a sliver of light shone through a hatchway which had been left ajar. And it was the very door she needed, of course. Perhaps somepony else had thought to evacuate the lower deck. She thought. Perhaps this one thing might go smoothly. She rolled her eyes at the thought. The way nothing else has this trip. Certainly.

When she flung the hatch open, she nearly stumbled over herself in shock. Clear Sky sat on the floor, and the pegasus cradled an unconscious Applejack, the gem hanging from her neck inert and lifeless. He stroked a muddy-brown hoof along her face with such care that Shade was struck with deja vu. It was only a few days ago Sky had a different mare die in his arms.

They weren't alone. Skan was there too, and he towered over a prone Pin Feather, still looking like his feathered self. And Skan had been shouting. “. . . get this through your damned insect brain!” A claw shot out. “She is one of the Elements! If she dies we all die!”

Pin Feather may have been on the floor, but his voice was strong. “Then let me go.”

“You think you're going to bargain?” The gryphon snarled. “Traitor. You're lucky we haven’t thrown you overboard and left you to rot.” He glanced up to see who had come in. “Miss Shade, thank the forge fires. Maybe you can convince this louse,” For emphasis he kicked the black medical bag lying nearby. “To save an injured pony's life.”

Sun Shade arched an eyebrow. “Oh, I think I can be very, very persuasive.” She strode towards the prisoner. “Nopony on this ship defies orders, Pins.” She reared onto her hind legs, unslung her parasol, and in the same smooth motion spun the umbrella around her neck for momentum and slammed the weighted tip across the back of Skan's head, staggering him.

“Augh!” Skan clutched the back of his skull, black eartufts pinned. He sucked in a breath through his beak. “What was that for?”

“For being dense.” Shade had already twisted a subtle dial and depressed a decorative flower in the handle, setting the tip of her parasol alight with a tiny blue flame. With care, she set it against one of the links of chain holding the prisoner down. “This ship needs its medic, and you're here quibbling about species.”

“But. . . but he attacked Kelbrri and Cloud! He-he broke your wrist! What-?”

A pile of chains clattered noisily to the floor. Shade stared somberly into Pin Feather's blue eyes. The eyes she was used to seeing. “Will you help her? Remember, that's an order, First Medic.”

A small, crooked grin appeared. “Duh. Who do you think I am?” He slung his bag into a skid and followed it, snapping it open with his beak. In a moment he'd produced antiseptic and gauze. “Hey Sky. I need you to hold her just. . . there. Thanks. Ugh, there's dirt in here, but we don't have time to clean it.” The smell of alcohol stung Shade's nose while bandages flew. “She needs fluids, like, yesterday. We've got to get her to the infirmary. Now-ish. I can hook her up to an IV for starters. Where's Flutters?”

“Solid inquiry.” Shade turned to Skan, still rubbing the back of his head and glaring. “Did Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash come down this way?”

Skan suddenly looked worried. Worried and guilty. “They, uh, they were stuck in food storage C a minute or two ago.”

“And you left them there?!” Sun Shade didn't notice she'd brandished her parasol menacingly until Skan cringed a little.

“Hey! We didn't have much choice!” The gryphon squared his shoulders to meet her ire. “You weren't there, okay! If we hadn't hightailed it outta there, we'd all be toast!”

“She promised she would save Rainbow Dash, save us all.” Clear Sky's voice rang like a quiet bell. “Fluttershy. She promised we could all survive. But she made us bring Applejack here. We had to, you see?” His wings hung lifelessly at his sides. “She promised.”

Sun Shade grimaced. “Well, we can't stay here in any case. Th-”

The ship began to vibrate all around them, a massive thrum that rattled Shade's chest and made her hooves itch. And it didn't stop. “Always interruptions. As though I wasn't in the midst of speaking.” Sun Shade muttered darkly.

Pin Feather continued to make bandages fly as he glanced around. “Holy bowls of tartar sauce what is that?”

Despite herself, and despite the situation, Shade felt compelled to ask. “Tartar sauce?”

“This is more than a pickle we're in, isn't it? Don't ask questions, let's just go. Sky, help me carry AJ outta here.”

Princess Luna was appalled to her core. The creature before her filled her vision, the inside of it's maw nothing but a gently ribbed cavern into blackness. Trailing tendrils spaced equally around the outside of the opening were as massive as towers, yet they were thin, wispy things compared to the bulk of the beast. There were no eyes she could see. No head, for that matter. Unless the perfectly circular cluster of ivory-white spines on either side functioned something like eyes. In any case, nothing that presented an obvious target. It simply flew mindlessly forward as though it meant to devour them all. Or crush them to dust beneath its vast bulk.

Luna briefly scanned her long memory, wondering whether or not she'd ever seen anything quite so appalling in her life. There was a great deal to sift through. She and her sister had fought countless battles, faced many strange and dangerous things. She herself had stood at the gates of Tartarus and, under a geas of necessity, walked through. She had bargained with Darkness just like this for the power to stand up to her sister, stop the world's spin, and cleanse this tainted land beneath the glare of an un-setting sun. That was her true purpose in shrouding Equestria in eternal night, after all.

But she'd never seen anything like this before. Even in nightmares.

Luna gathered her energy, her magic, and focused it all into a single point. The glow surrounding her horn condensed into a fine spark of light which she launched through the air. The attack whistled as it arced, small pops as it ignited the air drowned out by the encroaching rumble. It exploded against the top of the great worm's maw in a concussion of fire, but the thing kept coming. Trailing smoke, its flesh rippling a little, it was undeterred.

Luna slowed to a hover, her snarl of determination fading into uncertainty as she fired again and again and again, attempting to make every attack more destructive than the last. She aimed each concussion at the same area, heaping damage upon injury, and all she accomplished was clewing away some of the flesh near the base of a whisker. It drew close enough to engulf her, its bulk eclipsing the world, and in desperation Luna teleported herself above the beast. She pushed her spell, eager to get completely clear of the monster, but she still appeared next to one of the trailing tentacles which lashed towards her with a negligent flick, and Luna's shield barely appeared in time.

The whisker, up close, was a wall of flesh wider than a street. The pale grey was, surprisingly, underscored with hints of vibrant luminescence in sporadic rainbow streaks. Then the whisker smashed into her shield, and Luna was flung like a cannonball. Spinning, she spread her wings and flipped gracefully through the air to reverse her momentum. The worm sailed heedlessly past her, aimed more or less where the Vigil had landed. She was running out of time, and the majority of her spells were rendered useless by the sheer bulk of the thing.

So she tried something she hadn't practiced in centuries. She readied two spells at once. Light shimmered around her entire form as she lowered her head and pushed, shoving with all her might. The serpent's skin shuddered from the blow one split second before a torrent of wind collided with it, veering the creature off-course.

Luna noticed two things almost instantly. First, it was the curse itself, the pervasive patina of evil below that buoyed the monster, kept it afloat. And secondly, the colossus had simply curved back on course, scarcely deterred by her efforts. A cold, hard rock settled into her stomach as she flung herself forward. There had to be more that she could do, there just wasn't enough power here without giving in to the Darkness herself. If only she had time to raise the moon, or to somehow remove the force supporting it. . .

Suddenly, the worm's colossal head angled earthward. Glancing down, Luna watched as the shadows parted in a broad swath, revealing naked stone and rock. The unsettling groan paused for a long, breathless moment before the creature smashed head-first into the ground, a rippling shockwave rolling up the squishy length of the worm, and outwards through the bare ground and beyond.

The thick -CRACK- followed by rolling, resonating thunder was a stunning force. Luna reeled as though she herself had been struck, but it failed to throw off the aim of her spell. She'd already vanished in a flash of light, reappearing between the bulk of the worm and the grounded airship. Aether's Vigil had begun to move as rock slides began all around the crater, waves of debris knocked loose by the impact. Yet at the same time the rest of the colossus continued to fall, its head tucking back underneath it and its immense body rolling towards both her and the airship. To the left and the right, a wall of pale flesh blocked out the sky. Below, the ground disappeared at an alarming rate, and the airship slid inexorably forward.

Luna drew in as much power as she could muster, until her body trembled and her vision blurred, and she struck. She was vaguely aware of another figure beside her, mirroring her gesture. Before her heart beat again the avalanche of worm flesh was blotted from sight by a savage cone of magic, cobalt blue and oil-black. Luna's ears rang and popped, and her hooves singed, but the remainder of the titanic beast began to fall in a different direction, curling away from the airship to collapse in an ineffectual roar of sound. The tail of the worm settled to Luna's left, covering the world in that direction. The smell of burnt, sick meat was overwhelming.

Panting, Luna glanced to her right and recoiled in shock. It was like looking into a mirror, one that turned back time to the darkest point in the Princess's life. It was too familiar: the sleek coat that wasn't so much black as much as it simply denied that color or light might exist. The slitted pupils framed by a dark mane that flowed on ethereal breezes. Luna felt a moment of panic. Had she snapped? Had she tapped into the darkness below without making that choice consciously? Here, history had repeated itself, and Luna swam through a mix of dismay and sickening deja vu and, somewhere deep in her secret heart, giddy exultation.

Until the apparition spoke. “I can't leave you ponies alone for two seconds, can I?”

Only then did details stand out to Luna's eyes. The soft violet glow suffusing the mane and tail. The purple shade of the irises. And, of course, the complete lack of wings. Luna's fractured mind had not yet betrayed her. Her heartfelt sigh was full of relief, for herself and for the soul of the unicorn hovering before her. After all, she'd come back for them.

Even though Luna's ears rang in the silence, she heard a soft hum underscoring Twilight's voice as she spoke. “You should have let me go. You put everypony's lives at risk, and you're just going to get in my way. You shouldn't have come.”

Luna merely sighed and glanced down. All around the crater the rock slides continued, but the airship had stopped, along with most of the debris in a wide swath below them. Luna didn't retort with what she wanted to say, choosing instead what she thought Twilight needed to hear. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” She'd meant it, too. But she didn't answer the accusations. Instead, she tucked her wings and dove out of the sky, back-winging gently through the Vigil's broken windows.

The few bodies on the bridge, at a glance, appeared merely shaken. Kelbrri looked as though she might faint. Rarity stood panting with all four of her hooves splayed in the center of the room, as though their uncontrolled slide might resume at any moment. Pinkie Pie couldn't seem to tear her eyes off of the collapsed sky-serpent filling the view through the windows.

Twilight swept in just behind Luna, riding currents of dark magic, and landed close to her side. She seemed to radiate cold rather than warmth. Rarity gasped, her attention wavering from the floor. “Twilight?” There was more than a little indignation in the word.

The airship shuddered as the rocks resumed their slide. Hooves flailed and wings spread for balance. Rarity muttered a couple of words under her breath, and everything stopped sliding again with a jolt.

Luna's eyes widened, and she spun towards the Nightmare version of Twilight. “We thought Aether's Vigil had been saved by thee.”

Twilight smirked. “Well yeah, it was. But I didn't stop the avalanche.” Twilight's slitted eyes held curiosity as they turned to the pale white unicorn, but beneath her curiosity lurked avarice. “How are you doing that?” She asked. Apparently she saw a power she didn't have, or didn't understand.

Rarity trembled, but her focus didn’t slip as she spoke. “How dare you, Twilight?” Her voice shook almost as much as her legs did.

“You shouldn't have come after me.” Twilight said again.

“Have you any idea how much worry you caused us?” Rarity hurled the words like stones. “You should be utterly ashamed! Why would you leave without telling any of us what suicidal plan you were dreaming up?”

Twilight scowled. “We had all agreed bringing the ship down here would be a horrible idea!” She shouted back. “And nopony would have agreed to let me go by myself even if I did ask!”

“Without so much as a 'by your leave!' And that's not even the worst-”

“Because of you,” Twilight seemed eager to lay the entire blame for the decision at Rarity's hooves. “I've completely lost whatever surprise factor I might have had, and I get to worry about protecting you all from your own stupidity!”

“Is this what Celestia taught you?” Rarity was screaming now, hitting her stride in a full-blown tirade. “To abandon your friends when things become dangerous? Is this” Here she gestured at Twilight's coat and mane. “What she would have wanted for you?!? Is it?” The scree beneath the airship shifted a little.

“Celestia's dead!” Twilight shouted back. “She couldn't protect us! She couldn't even protect herself!” She brought her nose to within an inch of Rarity's. “You don't know anything at all!!! You don't know what power is! You've never stepped out of your pampered little shell long enough to see how dark the world has truly become!” Twilight scoffed. “What have you sacrificed on this trip, hmmm? What has coddled little Rarity honestly lost?”

Pain shone through Rarity's hurt expression. “A friend.” She pushed the words past her teeth.

Into the moment of stunned silence, Pinkie raised a tentative hoof. “Um, so. . . I take it that big thingy-thing out there isn't the thingy we're looking for?”

“Yami?” Luna shook her head. “No.”

“Oh.” Pinkie responded sadly. “How do you know?”

“We're alive.” Luna said.

A voice drifted onto the bridge. A voice that echoed as if from miles away, a voice that was scarcely a ghost of a whisper, “Twilight?”

It was unmistakably Spike.

Twilight spun to face the bay windows, mouth agape. She held one hoof unconsciously off the floor, and her ears pricked, hoping to catch another faint echo. “No.” She whispered to herself.

Pinkie's face lit with hope, and she said. “Oh hey, he's alive!”

Twilight's eyes trailed green and black rivulets of power as she spun to accuse the whole of the bridge. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?!” She thundered. Her voice actually bowled Pinkie completely over, and her hooves left dents in the metal floor as she launched herself back out the windows. As the ringing from her scream subsided, it was replaced by a low grinding noise, a tectonic grumble that thrummed up through the ground.

“Feh. When the rain poureth. . .” Luna shook her head. “The great worm stirs. We will attempt once more to subdue it. Preserve the ship!” And she vanished too.

“Rarity?” Pinkie asked from the floor. “Can you maybe ask the rocks to slide us backwards a ways?”

“What?” Rarity asked, incredulous. “But that's impossible!”

“Then ask them politely!” Pinkie's hooves fiddled worriedly with her curly mane. “Oh, I hope everypony else is okay.”

The shadows crept and pried. They oozed and seeped and whispered. They surrounded her on all sides. But they couldn't get in. They couldn't get in. She just kept telling herself they couldn't get in.

Could they?

The shadows had closed overhead, blotting out the sun with a starless night. There was no moon, either. The meadow spread in every direction, but there was scarcely any light left to navigate by. Even the gentle breeze had stopped, freezing the blades of grass in place as though they were no longer sure they belonged there. Something hung in the air, a threat of some kind. Fluttershy felt a vague panic, as though there was something important she was supposed to be doing, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on what it was.

She couldn't remember which direction she'd come from. She couldn't even remember why she'd wandered so far from home in the first place. She held her breath for a moment, hoping to still her racing heart long enough to remember which way was home. But then she heard voices in the distance, or maybe just one voice, and she suddenly remembered. She hadn't come out here alone. Of course not. She wasn't that reckless. That's not the way her mother had raised her.

Then why couldn't she remember who that voice belonged to? It was so familiar. . . She should have felt more afraid, and instead she felt comforted by the voice as she stretched into a daring gallop. Whoever it was, she didn't sound like a threat. Fluttershy felt a little more of her anxiety slip away.

She came upon a young blue pegasus with a spiked mane talking animatedly with another pegasus, the two of them enjoying a story the blue one was telling. Then they both laughed, rolling around in the grass. Fluttershy suddenly felt a little bit like an intruder, and she held back a little, waiting politely to be noticed.

The blue pegasus wiped a tear from her eye as her laughter subsided, and she caught sight of the filly standing awkwardly off to the side. “Oh hey. . . you. Good to see you. Where have you been?”

“Um, I'm not sure. I guess I lost track of time.” Fluttershy looked around the dark meadow, but she couldn't see very far. “But I'd like to go home now. Do you know which way my cabin is?”

The pegasus laughed again, leaning in towards her friend. “See? I told you she was alright.” Her wide, crimson eyes regarded Fluttershy with a friendly gaze. “And you, you aren't ducking out of this flying session. You need the practice, Sunshine.” With that she pointed towards the nearby cloud bank, where all the first and second year students had gathered under the watchful eye of Cloudsdale's junior flight instructors.

Fluttershy's back hoof slipped over the edge of the cloud and she threw herself forward in a real panic to get away from the fall, gasping and sweating. The ground was so far away!

Of course I don't live in a cabin, I'm not old enough to live on my own yet. Where would I get such a strange idea?

Cloudsdale shone beneath the bright sun; pristine fluffy clouds stretching into the distance, glittering rainbows arcing distantly overhead, but Fluttershy wasn't convinced. She didn't trust the clouds, not really. She never had. She was certain that one day she'd fall right through them, and her wings wouldn't save her in time to spare her from the cold hard ground below. The solid earth haunted her dreams at night, and nowadays she didn't scream so much when those dreams woke her. She'd learned how to stifle herself so she wouldn't upset her mother.

The blue pegasus was already walking with her friend towards the gathering of other foals. Fluttershy was terrified of heights, and the thought of flying lessons made her trembling intensify. But the thought of losing the one familiar face in this crowd was even worse, so she scrambled to catch up.

“So, um. . .” Fluttershy felt so embarrassed. She should have known this rainbow-maned pony's name. How in Equestria did it slip her mind? Hadn't they known each other for a long time? She had the vague feeling they had. “Who's your friend?”

The pony walking beside the cerulean pegasus smiled. Was her mane. . . brown? Or maybe gold? It was hard to tell. But she smiled a pretty smile and nodded. “Hey, I've heard so much about you. I'm-” As the pegasus newcomer offered Fluttershy a hoof she also opened her mouth to introduce herself, but all Fluttershy heard was a low, jarring tone. “________.” Fluttershy, who had been reaching politely for the proffered hoof, twitched away violently as though terrified to touch this stranger.

But she had heard a name, hadn't she? A perfectly normal one too, she just couldn't remember it for some reason. And her reluctance to shake a hoof made her seem terribly rude. A furious blush rose to her cheeks, and she cowered beneath the weight of her shame.

The blue pegasus ignored the exchange, stretching her wings out and cracking her neck. “I can't wait to get up there and show these fillies how it's done.”

The stranger cast a scathing look over Fluttershy, as though not shaking her hoof had offended or disappointed her in some way. But she turned to encourage the blue pegasus. “I just know you'll leave everypony else in the dust.”

Fluttershy knew what she should do. She should keep her foolish mouth shut and stay near the back. That mostly kept anyone from noticing her, and staying out of sight made her feel just a little bit safer. But there was something wrong. Something about the bright sky and the perfect clouds and the gathering of foals that wasn't quite right. And Fluttershy found her voice. “Um,” She tried to place a hoof on the blue pony's shoulder, but her grey-coated (or was it tan?) friend stepped between them, and Fluttershy snatched her hoof back. “I. . . I-I don't think you should fly today.” She said softly.

The brash pegasus had no reason to listen to her. She probably barely heard Fluttershy's voice. But she turned anyway. “I can't back out now.” She said openly, honestly. “This race is my big chance.”

“I'm sorry.” Fluttershy had the impression that she was getting in the way. She squirmed even more, fidgeting with her lanky mane. “I. . . I just have a weird feeling. . .”

“I can't just win, either. I need to really beat these clowns badly if I want to make an impression.” It wasn't a flying exercise, it was a race. The blue pegasus even had a number on her flank. “I can't end up wasting my life away in some backwoods town somewhere. I'm destined for awesome things, you know?”

The stranger beamed. “Of course you are. Your name will one day be spoken in homes all across Equestria, and beyond. You're the fastest flier to ever come out of Cloudsdale, right?”

“And the most acrobatic.” The blue pegasus preened. “Forget spoken. I want my name chanted. Rainb-”

“Oh no!” The stranger shouted, cutting her friend off. “They're starting!”

“Wait!” Fluttershy squeaked. “I'm so, so sorry. I know you're amazing, I feel that's true. But. . . But if you leave me. . . Leave me alone. . .” The stranger turned to face Fluttershy, scowling, but Fluttershy kept her imploring eyes on the crimson ones in front of her. Those were the important ones. And for some strange reason, Fluttershy was important enough to keep those crimson eyes on her. “I don't think I'll be safe, here. Without you.”

Out of the corner of her eye, the stranger's face became long and sad. No. . . no, not just sad, it was actually melting off. A distant scream like an echo of a night-terror rang just behind Fluttershy's ear and she twitched and gasped, shoving her hooves into her mouth to keep herself from screeching in horror and drawing even more stares from the crowd.

But when she glanced at the strange pony she looked completely normal. Pretty, even. The stranger scoffed. “Rainb________.” She said. Fluttershy flinched again, that odd tone piercing straight to the center of her brain. “Is this really a friend of yours? It seems to me that a true friend would actually want you to succeed. A real friend wouldn't want to drag you down and hold you back your whole life.”

The blue pegasus quirked her head in thought. “Hey, yeah.” A note of challenge crept into her voice. “Why are you trying to hold me back, F. . . hmmmm. . . you? I thought you were my friend!” Her voice cracked several times as she glared from beneath prismatic spikes.

You don't remember my name? Flutters__ was crying now. “I'm sorry!” It was true. She was always so weak. “I'm sorry. I just. . . I just felt. . . P-please don't go!”

Somewhere, a starting pistol went off, and the blue filly turned and launched into the air, speeding away. It didn't seem strange to anyone that the blue pegasus was racing alone. As one, all of the other ponies turned slowly to stare at Flutter___, scorn and derision radiating from all sides.

Flutte____ began to hyperventilate. The world began to spin around her. She was wrong, of course she was wrong. Friends don't do that to other friends. She should never have left the house. Her mom had been talking about home schooling, maybe that would have been better. Better for everyone. At least then she wouldn't be stuck in this crowd, singled out for being weak and strange. Flutt_____ was crying heavily now, big, embarrassing, uncontrolled sobs right there in front of everyone. Even the instructors looked on with disapproval. And nobody offered any help.

The stranger smiled.

She'd left her senses open to her friend, to try and keep her friend safe. But she'd left herself open to the shadows, too. Somewhere in the Darkness, a nameless yellow pegasus whimpered.

Twilight sped through the Darkness. “Spike?” She'd opened her senses, but she couldn't really tell where he was. “Spike!” She'd heard him, she knew she heard him. “Spike, where are you?!” This was no place for an innocent little dragon. She had to get him out of here. The world rumbled, the world trembled, but all Twilight could think about was how her friends had left Spike to die, had let him fall from the airship like he meant nothing to them. And she held onto that feeling to keep herself from finding the connection that traced the blame back to her. “SPIIIIIKE!!!”

There. A darker shadow amidst the shadows. A lump of scales curled away from her. And a tiny muffled sob. “Spike?” Twilight approached.

The little dragon turned slowly, green eyes absolutely awash with tears. “Twilight?” His scales were a shiny black, but his features bespoke the same gentle soul Twilight had always known. “Is that you?”

It smote Twilight's heart to see him this way. Even the brutal joy and adrenaline rush of her power seemed to pale, washed away by a genuine pain. Her throat closed completely, and she reached a hoof out.

Spike scrambled backwards as though from a lit torch, and his face crumpled with rage. “Get away from me.” He seethed. “Don't pretend you love me. You never did.”

Twilight gasped, freeing her voice. “Spike. . . I-”

“YOU LEFT ME ALOOOOO-” The whelpling's mouth opened wide, and from it poured a tidal wave of power that smashed Twilight's defenses and drowned out her world.

Comments

[Lelouch Vi Britania]

Nightmare twilight is back in the building!

[ANearPerfectStudent]

great... thanks to them, Spike caused Twilight to crack... Man, they don't think about anything do they?

[SilentBelle]

3521013 I haven't had time to read past the prologue. But if the story's as good as the prologue was, then I think we're in for a treat.

[Chapter 13]

3521241 I was thinking the same thing.

~ Michael

[Silver Flare]

3522088 This made the feature box again? Honestly, I'm with you guys, I thought the feature box was for popular stuff. How'd that even happen? I figured that dark, rambling adventures aren't for everyone, and that opening the story with a batch of OCs might drive some people away. But this story has 2 dislikes and a berjillion likes, and I'm just sitting here like

3521100 I did some poking around, and you appear to be a pony everypony should know, if you'll forgive the phrasing. So, thanks once again for the endorsement and glowing praise. I also feel compelled to write more than I read here, at least until this behemoth is finished, but during my poking around I added more than a couple of your stories to my already-inflated read later list. I'm looking forward to checking out what you've made.

That's something I adore about this fandom: I feel as though I will never run out of amazing, wonderful things to discover and enjoy. There's so freakin' much content out there!

3523966 <.<; Eh, it was supposed to be along the lines of 'Dash saw another pegasus struggling and kind of being picked on so she took her under her wing a little ala Fluttershy in Cloudsdale friendship/protectiveness sort of thing,' but if it comes across as shippy, I'd like to know. Not that I'm against shipping, it's just not what I was going for. Nor do I think those two would hit it off like that. I mean really.

[SilentBelle]

3525605 Awesome, I'll be sure to delve further into this story once November's over But for now I have a word quota to reach.

[whoofian]

The stage is set, the cast is ready... it's time for the climax.

[RDTwin]

Com' on, when's the next chapter?