The Fabrication in The Shadows

by RainbowSparkle3

The Confrontation

I sat under a tree for nearly 5 minutes, devastated by Twilight’s sudden news. I was so shocked that I couldn’t even cry. I just sat in silence. Unfortunately, the racing thoughts in my head didn’t allow me any peace. After several painful and long minutes, Twilight found me.

I didn’t notice her until she was right in front of me, and she had nudged me gently. I looked up, a sullen expression on my face. “Sunset,” she began. “My decision was never final. And after seeing how much it affected you, I realize what I have to do.”

My eyes opened wide. I stood up and said, “You don't have to do that. I was just being a brat. You should do what makes you most happy.”

“Don’t you see Sunset?” Twilight asked. “You’re what makes me most happy. I did some thinking while I was out here looking for you. I realized how much I’d miss you if I switched jobs. I know now that I can’t do this, because of you, and because of me.”

I stood still for a while, a blank expression covering my face. Then, I smiled weakly and jumped forward to hug Twilight. “Thank you,” I whispered into her ear. “I don’t know what I did to deserve someone as wonderful as you.”

“Everything,” she whispered back.

We held each other in an embrace for a minute. Then I cheerfully said, “Shall we leave this gloomy forest?”

Twilight happily replied, “Yup!” We held each other’s hands tightly as we strolled out.

By dusk, we were almost at our destination, and we prepared for the night one last time.

We sat around a magical fire as I ate a premade sandwich and heated my tea with a ‘Hot Hand’ spell, by briefly covering the cup with the heated hand. I didn’t bother chanting the spell’s name. Hot Hand was one of the few dozen spell among the millions in existence that can easily be cast silently.

Twilight had already finished her meal and was cleaning her hands with ‘Absolute Purity.’ After that, she yawned and said, “Goodnight, Sunset. I’m gonna hit the hay early. You should too. It’s gonna take a lot of energy to fight that criminal, I’m sure.”

“Alright. Goodnight, Twilight.” She went into our tent, while I finished off my dinner. Then I headed into the tent too. No. I’m sure you’re expecting it, but there’s no spell for brushing your teeth. I was surprised too. With all the complex spells that exists, there should been a bunch of teeth brushing spells.

Anyways, I saw Twilight already asleep, and I settled into the sleeping bag next to her. I closed my eyes, and I soon drifted off into sleep too, all the events of the day making it impossible to stay awake long. (and I do mean that. Spells use energy, so having a spell that increases your energy couldn’t logically exist; and yes, staying awake and casting spells draw energy from the same supply...which I feel like mentioning because random worldbuilding!)

The next morning, I was woken by the sound of Twilight preparing breakfast. I left the tent, and walked over to sit beside Twilight. We both ate a bowl of magically prepared soup.

By mid-morning, we were ready to begin the final leg of our journey. At first, I was kinda worried to meet the person at the end of the road, but at this point, I was just excited.

“It looks like it’ll just take a few minutes to get to our destination,” I said.

Twilight asked apprehensively, “Do you think we’re strong enough to take down the criminal?”

“Of course! We’re both former students of Celestia. One is so talented she became an Alicorn, and one was able to casually take down strong magicians at a time when she barely had any skill. Together, this’ll be a snap.”

I hope you’re right,” Twilight said with slight worry in her voice. “Because,” she gave a slight pause, then finished. “We’re here.”

I looked at the sign, and sure enough, it said “Shining Valley.” Conveniently, the information in the file told us that the criminal had last been spotted right next to this sign. “Well,” I said. I guess we should start looking around for him.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” a silky voice from behind some bushes said. It made both of us jump, and we turned to the source of the voice. Strangely, it sounded familiar for some reason, yet not familiar at the same time.

The man stepped out. I gasped. He had slick, jet-black hair; he was wearing a glossy black coat and pants, he wore a black cape, and to finish off the dark image, he had boots of the same color. Despite that, and the age difference, he was instantly recognizable. The beaten boy in the picture, the person I’d been fighting in the video, and the person standing in front of me right now was...“Shadow Comet!?”