The Titans' Orb: Rising Storm

by Mister Horncastle

Chapter One: The Journey Continues

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Like an icy hook, cold gripped the land. It was the first truly frigid day, marking the beginning of winter. Crossing the moorland and into the forest beyond, the girls and I shivered and chattered, until we could bear it no longer, and set up camp for the night.

After a fortnight of remaining in our camp near the afflicted, blight-riddled city, my wounds were finally healed enough for us to press on. Though the scars on my belly from the dreaded mutant queen’s attack still ached, I insisted that I was fine. As such, we had made our way north, crossing the Pripyat river and pushing on towards Belarus. Twilight had detected the whispers of a strong energy signal somewhere in that direction, and although there were no airports on the map, she was confident that the signal was strong enough to utilise in finding the next Orb fragment. We weren’t far now from the border, and from tomorrow onwards, we would be in Belarus.

“Here we are.” Rarity sang, distributing mugs to all of us, “This ought to warm us up!”

Bringing the mug close, the scent of hot chocolate wafted into my nose, and I let out a heavy sigh. Everyone else did the same, and after thanking Rarity for making it for us, we began sipping away. It was a cloudless night, and the stars glittered above us through the now-leafless treeline. Things had been somewhat turbulent over the past few days, and not just between me and Twilight; the colder weather had been ebbing away at everyone’s merriment, and it had resulted in us all being rather prickly with each other at times. Even now with two Orb fragments in hand, things felt… uneasy. Rainbow Dash had been the worst, snapping constantly and lashing out with bitter remarks. Still flightless, and with an aching leg from her injury in Chernobyl, the mare was nearly as cantankerous as Twilight at times.

As for the aforementioned unicorn, Twilight had been getting worse again. After we had fought together to kill the mutant queen, the two of us had very nearly become friends, putting our differences aside and realising how well we could work as a team. However, after she had suffered from the worst nightmare yet, waking with a scream, she had turned on me again, as though I had been the cause for such a terrible dream. Since then, she had almost entirely gone back to calling me ‘human’ instead of my name, and treating me as an enemy. Though I had tried to remind her of how she owed me respect after her stunt in Brazil, it seemed that she no longer cared.

Still, there were times when it wasn’t so bad, and tonight was one of those times. As we sipped at our hot chocolates, all seven of us finally had a moment of peace. We talked long into the night, mainly about past events. Wishing to learn more on events depicted in the cartoon, I boldly brought up the wedding between Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor, and the Princess of Love, Mi Amore Cadenza.

As it happened, the changeling assault on Canterlot had been a far more horrific affair, with the insectoid invaders doing far more than just capturing the unsuspecting city dwellers. While Princess Celestia did battle with Queen Chrysalis in the throne room, the changeling swarm had laid siege to the capital, feeding on a whole lot more than love. In actuality, love was merely an extension of one’s soul, and it was this that the changelings were truly sated by. Though they could thrive well enough on love, the only real way to fill their bellies was to feast on another’s very soul. As such, when they descended into the streets of Canterlot, many ponies met their end, with their final moments wreathed in terror.

“Blimey…” I murmured, “I never would have guessed it was so horrible, I’m sorry I asked.”

“It’s alright.” Rarity sighed, “I’m guessing your world depicted it as a far happier ordeal?”

Dipping my head, I explained how the cartoon had simply shown the changelings capturing ponies, without anyone being seriously harmed. After that, Shining Armor regained his senses and repelled them all with an overpowered barrier spell, fuelled by Cadence’s love for him. It was the ultimate display of how love was a real, tangible force, and could empower one in mind, body, and soul. After that, the wedding went on as planned. There was a merry after-party, and all was well. In essence, the whole ordeal served as little more than an exciting, climactic, heart-warming finale to the show’s second season.

“I prefer that version.” Pinkie sighed, hanging her head.

The others muttered their agreement, wishing life could have been so simple. It must have been hard for them; to know that such a simplified, trivial version of their own lives existed, in the form of a children’s cartoon. Continuing to tell me what really happened, the girls explained that just as the show had depicted, the wedding did go ahead, though it was more of an act of solidarity, than it was a celebration of Shining Armor and Cadence’s love. To the now-terrified citizens of Canterlot, it was a somewhat religious affair, joining an alicorn princess to a mortal pony in hallowed matrimony.

“It was a way of saying we were in this together.” Twilight clarified, “That against any threat, our divine rulers would stand at our side, and keep us safe.”

“Huh…” I breathed, scratching the back of my head, “That’s really quite profound, actually.”

“I think so too.”

Twilight then let out a pensive sigh, and I asked her what dwelled on her mind. Eyeing me up and down, she contemplated whether to tell me, before finally shaking her head.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Getting to her hooves, she took herself off to bed. Shrugging, I let her go, as did the others. We then decided to do the same, with Rarity extinguishing the magical campfire and collecting our empty mugs. Fluttershy and I went off into our tent, and with how cold it was outside, we took to sharing my sleeping bag, holding each other close for warmth.

After so many nights with the yellow pegasus in my arms, I had to admit that I felt a closeness to her unlike the others. It wasn’t romantic, nor was it sexual, it was simply… close. Our intimacy was one of a totally chaste nature, and one that I thoroughly relished in. Resting my chin on top of her head, I drifted off fairly quickly, and soon enough, we were both asleep.

The next day was far hotter, with the sun making a bold return, as though it wished to bring back the summer for one last hurrah. Enjoying what was probably the final warm day of the year, we pressed on until we reached the border. We were met with a long stretch of wire fencing, though it had clearly not been maintained in the slightest, for it was heavily rusted and swathed in vegetation. It wasn’t difficult to find a break in the line and step through, and then just like that, we were in a new country.

Though it was only the afternoon, we decided to set up camp upon finding a lovely clearing in the woods that would serve us nicely. Besides, with Rainbow’s leg still being a little stiff, we had all the excuse in the world to travel shorter distances each day. We unpacked the camping gear, and upon setting up the tents, Rarity asked where the pegs were to secure them to the ground.

“Shit!” Dashie grunted, frowning.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“I forgot to pack the damn pegs this morning, they’re still in Ukraine somewhere!”

“Oh Rainbow!” Rarity exclaimed, “For goodness’ sake, now our tents are going to be unstable!”

“Oh nooooo!” Dashie mocked, impersonating the unicorn, “Unstable tents! What a tragedy! Where’s my fainting couch?”

“This isn’t funny Rainbow Dash! Just because you don’t care about camping standards…”

“Well, you’re welcome to go back and fetch them.”

At this, Rarity snorted angrily and pointed out that it was Rainbow who forgot to pack them, so if anyone was to go back in search of the pegs, it would be her. Dashie proclaimed that the pegs weren’t that important, which brought on yet another argument within the company. Realising that this molehill was growing into a mountain, I stepped in to intervene.

“Hey, hey! What the hell’s going on here?” I barked, walking over to them “Why are you biting each other’s heads off over some bloody tent pegs?”

At that, Rarity whipped around to me and presumed that I was taking Rainbow’s side. With a scowl, she insisted that with how windy it was beginning to get at night, she didn’t want to be stuck in a rickety tent all night, flapping loudly around her, all because of Rainbow Dash’s careless mistake.

“Jeez, it was an accident, Rarity!” Rainbow spat, “You’re acting like I did it on purpose! Look, I get that it was my fault, but you don’t need to be such a prissy bitch about it!”

With her mouth falling open, the unicorn scoffed and stormed up to the pegasus, planting a hoof on her chest and baring her teeth.

“Oh, I’m a bitch, am I? Did I hear that correctly? I’m a prissy bitch, what, because you’re too boneheaded to remember your one job? Honestly, one would think you haven’t a wit between those ears of yours. It’s no wonder you’re such an easy lay for all those colts back home.”

“What did you just say to me!?”

“I said you’re a simple-minded harlot! Is that easier for you to understand?”

At this, Rainbow Dash raised a hoof into the air, to which I darted forward and grabbed it before she was able to strike. Thrusting myself between them, I broke into an angry shout.

“Pack it in, you two! What the bloody hell is wrong with you both? This is over fucking tent pegs for crying out loud!”

Letting go of Dashie’s hoof, I turned to look at Rarity with a piercing glare, and for the first time in our adventure, the sharp-tongued seamstress was left silenced as I had it out with her.

“I can’t believe what I’ve just heard from you, genuinely, I cannot believe it. The way you’ve just spoken to Rainbow is nothing short of disgusting. You would call your own friend a whore just because she forgot to pack something? How could you possibly say something like that? She nearly died two weeks ago, and here you are with the absolute gall to make such a rancid remark. You’re going to apologise, right now, and then you’re going to put an end to this ridiculous argument!”

Swallowing, the unicorn lowered her head, well aware that she had taken things too far. However, before anything could be said, I whisked around to face Rainbow Dash, ensuring her that she was very much not off the hook.

“And you…” I hissed, “Words are one thing, but you were just about to hit her! Thanks to Twilight, I know all too well what a thrown hoof feels like, and you could have done some very real damage. Don’t you ever raise a hoof to her like that again, do you understand me?”

Gulping just as Rarity had, the pegasus saw the error of her ways as well. Continuing, I told her that it was indeed her fault for neglecting to pack the pegs, and although it wasn’t the be-all and end-all, she still needed to apologise for forgetting them, instead of mocking Rarity’s reaction. I then stood back and let them sort it out, which thankfully came swiftly and soundly.

“I shouldn’t have said what I did.” Rarity admitted solemnly, “It was wrong of me, and I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.” Rainbow grumbled, prodding at the ground with a hoof, “Can we… forget about it?”

Breaking into a smirk, Rarity made her answer known with a far less insulting jab.

“Well, it would seem that forgetting things is the theme for today.”

They both laughed and then exchanged a hug, forgiving each other. They then went off together in search of some sticks that might serve as substitute pegs for the tents. Releasing a loud huff, I couldn’t help but remain stressed from the encounter. Sure, they might have made amends quickly, but this was now the eighth altercation that had required someone else to step in and break up. Be it the weather, or Twilight’s resumed hostility, something had turned the lot of us into a band of squabbling children, without a passing day without some form of dispute between us.

Muttering bothered nothings to myself, I turned around and nearly jumped out of my skin upon finding Fluttershy mere inches away from me. I flinched and emitted a startled grunt, which in turn startled her, resulting in the pegasus letting off a nervous squeak. The two of us giggled over how we had made each other jump, followed by her asking me if I was okay.

“Eh, yeah I’ll be alright.” I replied with a weak smile, “I think all the non-stop walking has everyone’s tempers on the blink. Hopefully we’ll find the source of this frequency soon, and then we can get ourselves on the way to the next Orb piece. Hey, maybe if we’re lucky, it’ll be somewhere warmer, ey?”

{This is where the next piece is in Antarctica.} said the little voice in my head, still bearing the Scottish accent.

Mentally telling the voice to shut up, I was about to head into my tent for some peace and quiet, which was when Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at me.

“You said you’ll be alright, implying you’re not alright.”

“You don’t half pay attention, do you?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

She responded with a toothy grin, and then asked if I wanted to take a walk with her. With it likely being the only sunny day we would see for quite some time, I conceded. Her wings puffed up with excitement and she trotted over to my side, and then we both went off into the woods together.

For a good five or so minutes, not a word was exchanged between us, we simply took in the sights and sounds of the forest. In the distance came a deer call, and all around us was the sound of birdsong, as though all the woodland critters were out to enjoy the unanticipated warmth of the day, just as we were. Though the sounds were comforting, they paled in comparison to the strong smell of tree sap, it was very nearly intoxicating, and left us both borderline drunk from its scent.

A little while later, we heard the hushing murmur of running water, and upon pushing beyond a cluster of ferns, we were met with a serene little glade, with a narrow stream flowing through the middle. The water was a vibrant icy blue, not unlike the shade of Rarity’s magic, though it also carried a faint milky hint, as if it were intermingled with mystifying arcane potion.

The both of us were equally mesmerised by the stream, and so we chose to sit as close to it as possible, plonking ourselves down on some dry yellowy moss.

“So…” Fluttershy hummed, resting against my arm, “What’s going on?”

Looking down, I found myself unable to meet her eyes. After a brief silence, I let out a heavy sigh.

“I just don’t understand, Flutters.” I confessed, “We have two pieces of the Orb, and yet you’d think we’ve found diddly squat. Everyone’s all tetchy, me included, and I can’t fathom why for the life of me. And then there’s Twilight, of course, who continues to treat me like… like…”

“Like shit?” she suggested.

“Thank you.” I confirmed with a nod.

Exhaling through her nose, the little pegasus rubbed her cheek against my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me. She went on to say that although she couldn’t fathom how frustrating it must have been to constantly endure the unicorn’s contempt, she could certainly see how it might bring me to the end of my tether. Clenching my jaw, I groaned over how it was less of the contempt, and more of the endless back and forth.

“I swear, she’s like a bloody yo-yo. One second, we’re getting on, and the next, I’m no better than a changeling in her eyes. She keeps giving me this false hope that things might be okay between us, and I fall for it… every single time!”

Planting my face into my hands, I pulled downwards to stretch at my cheeks and eyelids, massaging them in a bid to circumvent some of the stress that dwelled there. Continuing my lament, I professed that the unicorn’s constant back and forth had caused my depression to flare up more regularly again, with the past few days being nothing short of a miracle that I had found the motivation to get up in the mornings.

“The last thing I want is to sound dramatic,” I told her, “but honestly, if I had the choice, I would happily keep our camp where it is for the next week so I could just sleep.”

“Oh Callum, that isn’t dramatic, it’s just how you feel.” Fluttershy assured me, “Just so long as you aren’t thinking of doing anything, um… silly.”

“Silly? That’s definitely a word for it.” I scoffed, “But no, nothing quite so immoderate. I’ve been down that road before, and I don’t plan on revisiting it.”

From the second the words had left my lips, I realised what I had just done.

“What did you just say?”

{Shit.}

With a wide-eyed gulp, I quickly tried to backtrack, telling her that I was now most certainly being dramatic, and that I had only been exaggerating. Seeing straight through these words, the pegasus shifted her body to face me properly, and with a look of equal parts dread and concern, she asked me a very blunt, and very irreversible question.

“Callum, I want you to be honest with me. Have you tried to… do something before?”

Slowly opening my mouth, I took in a breath of air, which was when she took it upon herself to be even more direct.

“Have you… tried to… kill yourself?”

{Callum, you fucking idiot.} I thought to myself.

{Oh aye.} my conscience murmured in agreement, {You, lad, have just shit the bed.}

Staring into those fretful, glistening turquoise eyes, I knew that answering this question would leave the both of us in a very bitter place, with the poor pony left with the burden of knowing the truth. Every part of me wanted to say no, and insist that I had been overstating things, but with how close I was to Fluttershy now, I could not lie to her. Taking in a shaky breath, I lowered my head and broke eye contact, looking instead at the thicker fur on her chest. And then with a gentle nod, I responded in earnest.

“I have.”

The mare shuddered, and then wordlessly prompted me to go on. Closing my eyes and tensing my muscles, I acquiesced, telling of the time I had tried not once, but twice, to take my own life.

As she already knew, when Inca died and my depression began to manifest, I became more self-aware than ever before, which came as a blessing and a curse. Though I proved myself capable of returning to a more normal school environment, I also fell into a pit of bitterness and self-loathing, which only worsened after my Dad went away. What I hadn’t told her, was that this persistent state of lowness had brought on far worse behaviours than I had originally made known to her. I had begun self-harming, using the razor blade in my school pencil sharpener to cut myself in secret. As I told her this, her eyes trailed down to my wrists, and although terribly thin and faint, she saw the many scars. They lined both of my inner forearms, ranging from the base of my hands all the way to the crooks of my elbows. Seeing the tears in her eyes, I wished that I could stop there, but we both knew this went further.

After I had left school, I was due to go to college, to begin a course in media studies and performing arts. My goal was to hopefully get into acting, or at least voice acting. I wanted to turn my pain into art, and take on the roles of gritty characters and hopefully find my way to success by way of performing for cameras and microphones. But as the depression grew stronger, paired with Janice’s constant abuse, there was only so much I could take.

“The truth is…” I told her, “I was never planning to run away, that was a lie. Shortly before starting college, I went down to the medicine cabinet one night, and I proceeded to swallow every pill that was in there. My mum liked to hoard painkillers, so there was plenty enough to do the job.”

My calm, almost heartless description of how easy it had been, shook the pegasus, and finally her tears began to flow. Pressing on, I explained how I had ended up taking around ninety paracetamol tablets, and over twenty pills of ibuprofen. There had been plenty of other drugs too, though I hadn’t taken the time to read the labels. After that, I went back to my room and put on my favourite songs, and lay there on my bed, patiently waiting to die.

The near-laughable irony was that it had been my mother who had saved me. Getting up in the night for a drink, Janice found the medicine cabinet wide open, along with all the missing pills. She stormed into my room and began screaming at me, before forcing me in the car and taking me to the hospital. What happened after that became something of a blur, for I collapsed shortly after arriving.

“I woke up with an IV in my arm.” I mumbled, staring off into space, “Supposedly, they had pumped my stomach and were now flooding my system with an antidote. They told me that it was a real hit-and-miss whether I was actually going to make it or not. From everything I had taken, well… it stopped my heart.”

Closing my eyes for a moment, I inhaled deeply, before looking at my dear friend with heartbroken sincerity.

“I didn’t just try, Fluttershy. I did take my own life, and the doctors brought me back.”

The poor thing was practically shaking at this point, and in my mind came the iterative begging that that was enough, and that Fluttershy couldn’t handle it any more. But I had come this far, and so if she was going to know what happened, then she was going to know everything.

“It brings me no pride to admit this,” I continued, “but I tried again. In that very hospital. As I’m sure you know as a medical professional, air bubbles in the bloodstream can bring on a heart attack. Well, when no one was looking, I tampered with my IV.”

Unable to look at her, I told her how I had briefly pulled the tube from the bag during a trip to the bathroom, where I had then blown into it, forcing a cluster of bubbles into it. After that, I put it back together and returned to my bed, where once again, I waited to die. Slowly but surely, the bubbles made their way along the tube until they reached my skin, and I genuinely believed that I had succeeded. However, for as many seconds and then minutes passed, nothing happened. It hadn’t worked, and so I simply gave up trying, and went to sleep.

“I spent two weeks in that hospital.” I murmured, looking back up at her, “Then when I was discharged, I went home, and immediately proceeded to prepare for a third attempt.”

{Fuck me lad, pack it in, you’re breaking the poor filly.} my conscience groaned, pointing out how distressed the pegasus was.

Conceding, I chose not to go into detail about the planned hanging, and instead simply told her the following detail that I hadn’t gone through with it. Finally presenting a splash of hope in this all-too-harrowing story, I told her that just before the deed, my attention was brought to one of the My Little Pony posters on my bedroom wall.

“This is going to sound utterly ridiculous,” I confessed, “but it was seeing your faces that stopped me, or rather, to be more accurate, it was… Twilight’s face.”

With trembling lips, Fluttershy listened as I explained that being a brony was more to me than just enjoying some silly show. In an absurd, downright laughable aspect, the girls had been my friends, even in their cartoon forms, and it had been Twilight alone who brought me more comfort than anything else in the world. Thinking about it, this was why the real Twilight’s hostility hurt me as much as it did. She used to be my inspiration, hell, she was my idol to some extent. Going from a friendless loner who sorely lacked in social skills, to forging an unbreakable bond with five strangers, had always fuelled me with the hope that I could someday do the same. Being autistic, I had been in a similar place once, with nary a shred of adequacy in friend-making, or being at all likeable for that matter. I didn’t even want friends; it was only when I got into the show and watched Twilight’s journey that I realised what kind of life I wanted to live.

“In a vague sense, she made me who I am.” I rasped, “And so, when I looked at that poster on the wall, and saw her happy, optimistic, stupid little face… it stopped me.”

Emerging from my unfeeling state, I was beset with a strong wave of emotion, and as my eyes watered up, I looked at Fluttershy and concluded the less-than-merry tale.

“Quite the irony, isn’t it? For all the hate I get from Twilight, that grumpy little shithead’s the reason I’m still alive.”

At last, the dam broke. Breaking into a spluttering wail, Fluttershy lunged forward and hugged me, squeezing me so tightly that I feared she may crush me. I cried with her, and for a few minutes, the two of us whimpered and wept together, holding each other close. This was the first time I had told someone about all this, and I had to admit that it felt good to let the truth be known. Still, I was no fool to think this wasn’t a matter of extreme heaviness, and I knew that Fluttershy would feel the weight of this truth for quite some time. I tried to apologise, only for her to shut me up with a shake of her head.

“Don’t… apologise for this!” she mewled, coughing, “Don’t you ever… ever… apologise for this!”

Burying her face into my chest, she continued to bawl her eyes out, and I didn’t know whether to calm her down, or to just allow the moment to run its course. I went with the latter, and after a good few minutes, the both of us began to settle down. We sat in silence for a while after that, emotionally spent and simply existing for a little bit, thoughtlessly watching the trickling stream and letting the woodland ambience calm us further.

“Thank you.” said Fluttershy, after a fair amount of time had passed.

“What for?” I asked.

“For telling me the truth. I can’t imagine it was easy.”

“Not going to lie, it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” I huffed, “I’m not good at spilling my guts like that, I always feel like I’m being melodramatic, or that I’m doing it for sympathy.”

“Well you aren’t.” she told me, “I asked you to tell me, and you told me.”

Draping a wing around my shoulder, she told me that I was the bravest person she had ever met, to which I scoffed and said that I was the only person she had ever met.

“Okay firstly, that’s not true, because I’ve met your brother, and your friend Bruce.” she reminded me, “And secondly, I meant ponies included, you ninny.”

Rolling my eyes, I tried and failed to take the compliment, professing that I was simply a half-decent fellow with just as many flaws as anyone else. Tutting, she said that I was too modest, and then we put the whole ordeal to bed. Continuing to admire the stream together, we zoned out for so long that we didn’t even notice it was getting dark. We were only brought back to Earth upon the approach of another.

“Howdy lovebirds!” Applejack called out from behind us.

Fluttershy and I both jumped and sat up at the same time, turning around to look at the farm pony who was now laughing loudly at us.

“Oh-ho you guys, you’re jumpier than Winona’s darn fleas! Did I interrupt y’all?” she giggled.

“Um, n-no… you just startled us!” Fluttershy insisted.

“Mm-hmm, if you say so.” she teased, smirking, “Anyway, I came looking for y’all ‘cus you’ve been gone for hours! I’m about to start dishing up dinner, so get your rumps back to the camp.”

Chuckling to herself, AJ turned away and left us to come back in our own time. I stood up and stretched, resulting in a handful of satisfying crunches across my body; had we really been sat out here for so long? It was then that a thought dawned on me, and I looked at Fluttershy with an awkward chuckle.

“What?” she inquired, smirking.

“I’ve just realised, the rest of the group probably think we’re like… more than friends at this point.”

Her mouth fell open and her eyes went wide, with her cheeks very quickly becoming that of a bright red.

“But… But… we’re not-”

“Zzhp.” I commanded, cutting her off, “I know what you’re thinking, so stop it. Yes, I know you’re still fully devoted to Midnight, and no, I don’t think you secretly want to boink me. What we have is platonic, and Applejack’s teasing doesn’t change that, okay? Now cut it out and let’s go eat some supper, crying is hungry work.”

With a relieved sigh, Fluttershy hung her head, thanking me for bluntly setting her straight. Playfully butting me with her head, she trotted alongside me as we made our way back to camp.

“And so, the mighty travellers return from their quest!” Rainbow Dash hollered as we stepped into the clearing.

Rolling my eyes, I chuckled and sat beside the pegasus, who was warming herself by the campfire. Pinkie was by the fire as well, and to no one’s surprise, she was stuffing her face with sugar, despite AJ being on the cusp of dishing up our dinner.

“Want a marshmallow?” she offered with her mouth full.

“Oh, go on then…” I scoffed, reaching over to her.

She retrieved a marshmallow from the bag and passed it to me, only for the sweet treat to be snatched from my fingertips by a feathery cerulean blur.

“My marshmallow, bitch! Quaark!”

“Goddammit Blu!” I shouted after him.

The parrot fluttered over to a nearby branch and bobbed his head up and down at me, before pecking away at the marshmallow. It was then that he realised he didn’t like it, and promptly tossed it away onto the ground. Being the wasteless pony she was when it came to sugar, Pinkie charged over and gobbled it up, totally disregarding the dirt now on it.

“Why must you be so repulsive, dear?” Rarity tutted.

The rest of us laughed, and then Applejack served us our evening meal. Conversation was plentiful, which was when Rainbow Dash finally decided to be the one to say it.

“So Callum, Fluttershy… What’s the deal with you two, huh? Are you like, a thing now?”

With an awkward groan, Fluttershy lowered her head, covering her face with her mane.

“Funny enough, we were just talking about this.” I huffed, more amused than anything else, “We both had a feeling you would all start to wonder, so let me be absolutely clear with you. Flutters and I are not a thing.”

I went on to explain that although we were indeed close, it was completely and utterly innocent in nature. Fluttershy was interested in someone back in Equestria, and as for me, for as much as I adored the girls, I wasn’t at all attracted to them. That wasn’t to say they weren’t good-looking in their own rights, but as a human, I just very simply didn’t perceive them as sexually or romantically appealing.

{Those weird dreams of yours say otherwise.} chuckled the voice in my head, {You know, the ones where you’re a blue unicorn, ploughing mares and stallions alike?}

{Okay, firstly, I can’t control my dreams.} I thought back, {And secondly, shut up.}

“The long and short of it is,” I continued aloud, “Flutters and I are just close friends who enjoy each other’s company, we’re cuddle buddies at best, and that’s as far as it goes, alright?”

{Well, except for that time she tried to shag you in her sleep because she thought you were Midnight.}

{I really didn’t need reminding of that.} I mentally grumbled, {Now for the second time, shut up.}

Obeying, the voice fell silent, followed by the others accepting my explanation without further questioning. With it now being clear to everyone that Fluttershy and I weren’t an item, the air of speculation dissipated, as too did the pegasus’ embarrassment over it. We all talked a little more on other matters, before finally taking ourselves off to bed. Still feeling a bit wobbly from our earlier conversation, I allowed Fluttershy to hold me for once, and not the other way around. Planting my head against her soft fluffy chest, I found myself drifting off in mere minutes, soothed to sleep by the rhythm of her beating heart.

Inhaling deeply, my eyes flared open. I had just experienced a nightmare concerning Inigo Montenegro, the Bogeyman of Brazil. Somehow, he was still alive and had captured me, where he proceeded to torture me again. Swallowing, I slowly came to my senses, which was when I felt Fluttershy’s heavy breath against the back of my neck, paired with a cold, wet, sticky sensation. Moving away and sitting up, I found the pegasus with her mouth open and her tongue resting on her lower lip. I then put my hand behind my head to find that she had drooled all over the back of my neck, to which I slowly shook my head.

“Thank you.” I whispered sarcastically, wiping it away.

Still startled from the nightmare, I decided to go and stretch my legs, and upon emerging from the tent, I was met with the bite of frigid winter air. Checking my phone, I found it to be nearly five o’clock in the morning, with dawn still a good hour or two away. Walking away from the camp, I went for my morning wee, graciously watering the roots of a nearby yew tree, and just as I had finished, I heard the crunch of leaves behind me. Packing myself away, I turned to see Twilight, walking towards me and looking at me with a blank expression.

“You’re up early.” she grunted.

“As are you.” I replied, “Come to make a snide remark?”

“Would you like one?”

Scoffing, I told her to do her best, to which she rolled her eyes. Casting her resentment aside, she asked why I was up so early, to which I answered honestly.

“I had a nightmare… about Brazil.” I sighed, “Inigo was still alive and he was torturing me.”

The mare’s ears flattened to the sides of her head, and she swallowed anxiously. She then studied me for a short while, before saying something most unexpected.

“I’m sorry, that must have been horrible.”

Blinking at her, I wasn’t sure whether to be comforted or concerned. Never before had she uttered words of sympathy so freely, and so I asked if she was feeling quite alright. Trilling her lips, she rolled her eyes and huffed, and then proceeded to make quite the offer.

“The signal we’re tracking, it’s pretty close now, I can feel it. If we were to leave right now, we could probably make it there before the others are even awake. What if we went there, just you and me?”

Continuing, she explained that we could leave the others to sleep while we found the source of the signal. From there, she could cast the gem finding spell and learn of the next Orb shard’s location, followed by the two of us making it back to camp before breakfast. Though I was cautious of her offer to bring me along, it was certainly safer than her going by herself, and so I accepted. At that, the unicorn went back to her tent and grabbed her saddlebag, where she took out some blank parchment along with a quill and an inkwell.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“Just in case anyone wakes up and wonders where we’ve gone.” she replied.

Dipping the quill into the ink, she crudely inscribed the message ‘gone for walk with human’, and then fastened it to Applejack’s hat, knowing the farm pony wouldn’t miss it that way. We then took off, marching off into the woods together at a leisurely, yet determined pace.

Soon enough, we found what was giving off such a strong signal. Emerging from the bushes, we laid eyes upon a large metal building, with an utterly gigantic satellite dish on top, pointing directly upwards. It was a radio telescope, likely an old USSR one at that. As for why it was still giving off a signal, I had no idea, nor did I wish to find out; if there was a surreptitious remnant of the Soviet Union still in operation, I wanted absolutely no involvement with it. Being captive to a Brazilian cartel was bad enough, the last thing I wanted was to find myself in some secret gulag.

“Is this close enough?” I asked Twilight, clenching my jaw.

Much to my relief, she nodded, and it would seem that whatever untold activities were going on here, they could remain a mystery. Closing her eyes, the unicorn lit up her horn and locked onto the electrical frequencies, using her magic to harness them and amplify the spell. And then, just like before, tiny sparks began spitting from her horn, followed by the mare throwing her head back and shooting off an opalescent bolt of energy into the sky. With it still being dark, I was able to watch the bolt break apart once it had gone up by a kilometre or two, at which point it scattered in all directions, fading away into the distance.

“You know that’s about to come back down and hit you, right?” I pointed out.

“Gee, I can’t wait.” she puffed, wiping the sweat from her brow.

Chuckling, I continued looking skyward, until at last the snippets of multicoloured light began to return. As though the spell was being cast in reverse, the beam of light was reformed, and then with a loud crack, it hurtled back down to us, where it thwacked into Twilight with enough force to knock her over. Remaining on her side for a moment, the mare let out a drawn out groan, before she finally got back up to her hooves.

“You alright?” I asked her.

“Never better.” she grunted, her eyes blinking out of sync.

Shaking her head to regain focus, Twilight requested to see my phone, to which I took it out of my pocket and handed it over. Imbuing the device with her magic, Twilight got to work importing what she had learned into the Offline Maps app. She then gave it back to me, and I eagerly reopened the app and zoomed out, moving across to the new marker that had appeared.

“So, where are we headed?” asked Twilight, tilting her head.

Looking back at her with raised eyebrows, I gave her the name of our next destination.

“Portugal.”

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