Book 1 The Darkness: with the darkest of ponies

by Penelope Anne Ink

Chapter Eight

Star.

He made a friend. Unintentionally.

And over time, she taught him what it was like to truly be a friend.

Her kindness, her laughter, the strain on his patience before he finally gave up on letting it bother him. She had stuck by him through everything and was going to see this journey to the end, even though she herself didn’t understand where it was they were aiming for.

“I don’t have to be alone anymore. If there are more ponies like her in the world. I don’t have to live with that anymore.”

The darkness, which had been unconsciously his own doing the whole time. The physical manifestation of his desire to remember. The nightmares that kept creeping up on him every time he went to rest his head. It finally came out to explain itself. And now he remembered how to control it.

With his teeth clenched, he concentrated on erasing the darkness. It didn’t seem to budge for the longest time. He wouldn’t give up. Slowly, the darkness began to fade into an oppressive grey, and in spots it was turning the white of his hair. Soon, the blue of the sky peaked through and the dusty cliffsides could be seen again.

The scars that had been aglow were suddenly their dull fleshy color again.

He let himself relax and found he had been holding tightly onto Starry’s necklace.

He looked around. She still wasn’t anywhere.

Edgy began calling through the gorge. In spite of those monstrous birds or whatever else may be hiding in the gorge. He wasn’t going to let them stop him. If they dared come near he knew he could handle them easily.

It started seeming hopeless when he noticed a blonde plume of hair pop up from the dirt. It wavered a bit as Starry dug her way out and started saying something about the dust storm that they were caught up in. Edgy didn’t want to correct her. With his regained powers he still didn’t know how other ponies would react to it.

“At least it managed to shut you up for a bit,” was all he could say, but on the inside, he was just relieved she was back.

Starry didn’t seem offended, not that he would notice if she was anyway. Ever since the waterfall, she had gone back to her chipper self, and just agreed before beginning to trot off behind him again. They were already at the end of the gorge, and they could see a village out in the distance.

He couldn’t tell, but he felt more relieved. The pain that had once throbbed in the back of his mind was gone. The search for the word ended. He decided wherever he was, he was finally home.