In Reflection, The Same

by Faedelaide

Gehenna

Most of that evening was a blur. Twilight could vaguely trace the memory of her screaming, of the three of them flying as away from the Wall as fast as possible, of Rainbow's subsequent meltdown and Gillian's panic attack. She remembered the relief of reaching the shore, but that relief had long passed.

As the sunset faded into calm night, all of them gathered around a small, pitiful campfire. None of them felt comfortable walking very far into the dark, shadowy forest that surrounded them. Rainbow decided to take any branches within the fire's reach, no matter how wet or green they were. Twilight might have objected, but she didn't care. She couldn't bring herself to worry about anything other than her and her friends' survival.

Gillian attempted to distract herself by scrawling patterns into the dirt, but it only reminded her of one of the Wall's denizens, which only served to exacerbate her anxiety. She hadn't stopped shaking since they'd landed, and her breathing was raggedy and uneven.

Both Gillian and Twilight's anxieties were only worsened by the constant cracking and snapping of the branches above. Every once in a while, Rainbow would toss clumps of fresh, green branches into the fire, each time making Gillian jolt in surprise. After she deposited her kindling, Rainbow bolted back up to the canopy to continue grabbing more branches, despite the fire being more than enough to keep them warm.

"Rainbow, we've got enough firewood," Twilight called out. However, whether she meant to or not, Rainbow Dash didn't respond.

The crackling and snapping of the branches above, now compounded by the roaring fire, caused Gillian to begin panicking again. Twilight flew up to confront her friend. following the sound of cracking limbs, she found Rainbow Dash punching and bucking every branch around her and organizing them into a small pile perched precariously over the bough of one of the neighboring trees.

Twilight slowly flew towards Rainbow, trying her best to not get kicked accidentally. Her friend was facing away from her, so she reached out and grabbed Rainbow Dash's shoulder. The cyan mare whipped around instantly, her face painted with an expression of panic and her eyes full of frenzy. When she noticed who touched her, she calmed down slightly, but her breathing was still rapid and labored.

"Rainbow. Come sit with us. Please," Twilight pleaded.

Rainbow made a face, then opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. She let out a short breath, then nodded silently. The two descended back down to the fire, where Gillian poked at the glowing red ashes with a charred stick.

Rainbow plopped down on the ground next to Twilight, her gaze glued to the blazing fire. For a while, none of them spoke. Twilight stared at the stars above. She watched them twinkle happily in the sky, so far away from the terror of the world below.

She looked back down and noticed her friends beginning to drift off. However, the constant ambiance of the forest was not kind to them. Every time it looked as if they might drift off into peaceful slumber, a twig would snap, a cricket would chirp, or the trees would creak and swish in the wind, causing them to startle awake again.

Tired of watching her friends struggle to stay awake, she walked up to Rainbow and gently tapped her. she turned to look at Twilight, though it was clear she wasn't paying full attention on account of her tiredness.

"Why don't you and Gillian get some sleep, Dash?"

"What about you, princess? I don't want you t'stay up all night for our sakes," Gillian yawned.

"I've pulled more than a couple all-nighters before. I can handle keeping watch if you two want to rest."

"I don't need to sleep, I'll fight anything that tries to... to mess with my f...friends," Rainbow tried to complete her sentence, but the heaviness of her eyes overtook her. By the time Twilight took her seat near the fire, Rainbow was already curled into a ball. Gillian stayed awake a little longer, but eventually, the sweet release of sleep found her as well. Twilight continued watching the fire as her friends snoozed beside her. She watched the roaring pyre slowly dwindled into a small flame, and even further into radiant red embers. Eventually, only warm ashes remained. Twilight was thankful that the moon was so bright, or perhaps Celestia was already rising the sun. Either way, she found comfort in the soft, dull light of the early morning.

She gazed at the forest around her, watching the occasional leaf fall peacefully and slowly down towards the detritus of the forest floor. It was supremely boring, but it at the very least took her mind off of the Wall... and what she had seen within it. She suspected there was something dangerous about the Wall from her first encounter with it, but to imagine it not only hosted such nightmares, but was teeming with them, it terrified her beyond belief.

And now she was thinking about it. Great.

What were they going to do? If those creatures would escape, Equestria, and possibly the whole world might fall into chaos. She had to find a way to stop that ice from phasing away, and considering the rate at which it was dissappearing, she didn't have much time at all. Maybe sending Celestia a letter would be a good idea.

Maybe it's not. Maybe it's a bad idea.

But at the same time, Celestia would definitely want to know about something as dangerous and world-threatening as this.

"Sending Celestia a letter is a bad idea. You think it's a bad idea."

Twilight gasped in surprise at how... audible her thought suddenly was. She turned to see if maybe one of her friends had woken up and said something, but they were still fast asleep. She then turned to the only other option that presented itself.

"Twilice. Twilice, are you there?" She called out in her head. There was no reply.

She couldn't feel Twilice's familiar presence in her head. She was alone in her own mind, and now she was hallucinating. Maybe she needed some sleep after all.