Applejack stared at the sky where she had last seen Lightning, lost for words. The sudden storm that had erupted from the clear blue sky lingered, but she hardly noticed the gently falling rain. What was going on? What was she going to do? She began trembling, and did the only thing that came to mind. She let out a blood-chilling scream.

Firefly raced through the damp sky, concerned. "Applejack! What happened?!" she cried, landing on the slippery ground and sliding to a stop several feet from her hysterical friend. She ran up to throw a comforting arm around the crying Applejack, trying to get her to talk. Applejack couldn't talk, though, she was crying too hard. Trying to force what she was feeling into words made her cry harder. Firefly noticed the absence of a certain Mountain Boy and scowled. "What did Lightning do to you?" Firefly shouted, exasperated at how insensitive men could be sometimes. "Did he hurt you? Oooooh I'll kill him!" Firefly stomped around in the mud angrily.

Applejack was shaking her head violently. "He— he's GONE!" Applejack wailed, and burst into a fresh batch of tears.

"Gone?" Firefly asked. "He went home?"

"No, no! He's gone!"

Firefly stared at her friend, without a clue what she was trying to tell her. "He was kidnapped!" A little voice shouted from behind her, and Firefly turned to see Spike running toward them, sliding a little and having a rough time in the mud. "A witch opened up the sky and snatched him away! I saw everything!"

"A witch?" Firefly shouted, her temper flaring. No one kidnapped members of her family and hurt her friends and got off scot-free! She went aloft, with every intention of finding the witch and giving her a large portion of her mind.

"No, Firefly, wait!" Applejack cried as her friend ascended into the stormy sky. "We don't even know who she is, or where she lives! Come BACK!!"

Firefly considered those points and dropped back down to the earth. "You're right, AJ. We'll ask Moonstone! She knows all sorts of weird magic things!!"

The three friends ran to find the unicorn, who lived deep in the rooms below Dream Castle. Pushing through cobwebs, Firefly scanned the room, which was decorated arcanely with candles and magic globes and other trinkets and talismans. An owl sat perched in a dark corner, watching them with patient, glimmering eyes. Applejack immediately got the creeps. "Moonstone!!" Firefly called, plunging fearlessly into the room. "Hey, Moonstone!! We need your help!"

An explosion lit up a room in the far back, and a puff of smoke slithered out of the doorway. "Oh wow," Firefly gasped.

Moonstone emerged out of the smoke, blown completely black. Her eyes shimmered out of the blackness and examined the three. "I'm ok, you're ok, we're all ok. What's the problem?"

"Uh—" Firefly began, "Uh, my cousin Lightning was kidnapped by a witch!"

Moonstone rubbed the soot off her face with a towel. "Really?"

"And we need your help to find her!" Firefly concluded.

"What'd she look like?" Moonstone asked, wiping out her ears.

Firefly looked back at Applejack, who looked away shyly. "Long black hair!" Spike piped up, dancing from one foot to the other. "Wearing a long, silvery dress and a shiny silver crown!"

Moonstone looked thoughtful, sneezed heartily, and asked: "What color were her eyes?"

Spike was about to speak but didn't, looking fairly confused. Applejack knew, and this time she wasn't afraid to speak out. "She had no eyes."

Moonstone nodded sagely. “Ahhh,” she sighed. “I believe I know who it is you mean.”

“Well who is it?” Firefly asked, stamping her feet impatiently.

“Shrek, the Blind Queen from the Land of the Dark Skies. Her evil lets her see only the harm she can cause. Otherwise she is blind in whole.”

“And she does evil so she can see, since being blind is so awful to her?” Firefly guessed, and correctly. “The Land of the Dark Skies,” Firefly repeated thoughtfully. “Sounds like a cheery place,” she said blandly.

“Hardly,” Moonstone said, gliding across the cool stone floor to one of her shimmering magic orbs. She ran her hoofs over the orb, and it seemed that clouds swarmed inside it like a tiny hurricane. Firefly, Applejack and Spike huddled close to catch a glimpse.

“There she is,” Applejack breathed, her eyes growing wide and her face blanching. In the globe was an image of a beautiful human with raven hair that shimmered down her back like a fountain. Her skin was fair and smooth, and her waist was slim with a sliver clasp buckled tight. Firefly’s face scrunched up in a dark, hateful scowl. The image turned enough for the three to see her face, and Firefly caught her breath. In the place where human eyes should sit was nothing but smooth pale skin! The three friends shuddered at the sight.

Firefly glanced up at Moonstone. “So how do I find her?” she asked boldly, ready for a fight.

“Follow the light from the Southern tip of Orion. Fly from the sun, for the land lies in eternal darkness. There is no day, nor is there night, only fear by candle light.”

“Oy, poetry. Let’s skip the riddles, ‘kay?” Firefly pleaded.

“Fly until you reach the darkness,” Moonstone continued, ignoring the request. “You cannot go alone. Alone you’ll never fight the dark. Alone the dark will swallow you.”

Firefly tried to get it straight in her head. “South, but away from the sun, which is west in the morning and East in the evening, but down at noon and up at night. But none of that makes sense!!”

Moonstone smiled. “It will.” Using a little unicorn magic, she rapidly faded away.

Firefly looked disgruntled. “Unicorns and their dramatic exits,” she grumbled, and turned to Applejack, who looked just as distressed as before. Moonstone hadn’t done much to set her mind at ease. “Don’t worry, AJ!” Firefly said, feeling obligated to be the optimistic one. “We’ll get Megan to help! She has the Rainbow of Light, remember?”

“Yeah!!” Spike agreed enthusiastically. “Come on Applejack, come on! We’ll find Lightning!”

Firefly put an arm around her friend and whispered: “I promise.”

Quarterback looked at Firefly, Applejack and Spike skeptically. “You want me to help you find a witch?”

“Yeah,” Firefly said, trying to keep her enthusiasm up, at least for AJ’s sake. It was hard to recruit little ponies to go on a mission that had very little direction and very slim chance of success. Most little ponies didn’t know Lightning well and would just as soon leave that hero business to someone else, but Firefly was running out of someones to turn to. The princess ponies were obviously no help. Though they were infatuated with the mere mention of Lightning’s name, the idea of getting dirty and being placed in imminent danger didn’t appeal to their sense of dignity or vanity. Firefly was hoping to get some help from the Big Brothers, who had always claimed to be the biggest bravest ponies in all of Ponyland. She was about to find out if that boast was true. “So will you help us or not?”

Quarterback let the question linger between them, remaining tantalizingly silent for a moment or two. Suddenly he grinned a big mean Cheshire grin and said: “You bet. I wouldn’t let you girls run off by yourself towards certain doom! What kind of Big Brother would I be?”

Firefly and AJ sighed with relief. Quarterback then proceeded to recruit others through the means he knew best: blackmail and mental torment. They all congregated beneath AJ’s apple grove, babbling excitedly about their future adventure. Sundance galloped up to them, Megan riding on her back. “Boy am I glad to see you!” Firefly exclaimed as Megan hugged the pegasus affectionately. “You brought the Rainbow, right?”

Megan laughed and pulled it out from under her shirt. “I would never leave home without it!”

The trek led the little party days into dangerous, rocky terrain, with nothing that assured them they were on the right path. “This is ridiculous!” Slugger shouted finally, hanging back and falling behind the group. They stopped and turned to watch him. “We have been following Orion South for 4 days and we haven’t found anything! This isn’t exactly the healthiest landscape, and I haven’t seen a mountain stream in two days! Our canteens are running dangerously low on water, and nobody is going to last long out here once our water supply dries up!”

Quarterback looked at Firefly sadly and said: “He’s right. We don’t stand a chance out here once we run out of supplies.”

“We are NOT turning back now!” Firefly shouted stubbornly. “I am not giving up on Lightning! He’s my cousin, and my friend, and I don’t know about you but I would NEVER turn my back on a friend!”

“We won’t be much help to our friend as our bones are picked clean by vultures and indigenous wildlife!” Slugger snapped, turning to head back to Dream Valley. A few others followed his lead, after offering apologetic glances at Firefly, who turned her head away.

“You gotta understand, Firefly,” Sundance said, torn, but too scared by what Slugger had said to risk the journey anymore. “We want to help. We can’t.”

“Well I’m going to keep going!” Firefly shouted after them, tears stinging in her eyes. “I’m NOT giving up!!”

“Neither am I,” AJ whispered.

“I’m staying,” Megan assured the two, and Spike did too.

“Well,” Quarty sighed, his eyes twinkling at them. “I can’t just leave you ladies out here in the wilderness alone.”

Firefly and AJ looked at him gratefully. “Thank you, oh thank you!” AJ cried, flinging her arms about his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek. He pushed her off, smiling sheepishly.

“Hey, now. Save that mushy stuff for Lightning.”

The five friends huddled around a small fire, their backs to the cold black night of the barren mountains. There was hardly enough wood to get the fire started, and what little wood there was had nearly petrified under the cold high sun. Quarty rubbed his hooves together and blew into them, then glanced at Megan, who was shivering quietly beside him. She wasn’t dressed nearly enough for the cold mountain nights, with only her soft suede pants and shirt and vest. Quarty pulled her closer and wrapped his soft blue tale around her. She smiled at him with chattering teeth and hugged one of his big blue legs. “We should huddle close,” he told the rest. “That way our body heat will keep us warmer.”

That sounded like a fine idea. And it worked, to some extent. “Follow the Southern Tip of Orion,” Firefly murmured, wistful. “Fly from the sun, to eternal darkness. No day, no night, only fear in candle light.”

Megan sighed at the riddles, which all of them had spent days trying to crack. “They don’t make sense,” she said. “All of it seems impossible to accomplish.”

“Maybe the key is to fly,” Quarty yawned. “Fly from the sun. Maybe we can’t reach it on the ground.”

“Tambelon,” AJ whispered to herself. Quarty glanced at her questioningly. “The city that flies.”

“You can’t get away with this!” Lightning shouted through his cold iron bars. “My friends will come for me!”

Shrek turned to face the Mountain Boy, who shuddered and looked away. “I count on that, my little prisoner,” she smiled cruelly. “For then they will meet the same fate as you.”

The throne room was dark, and lit with a single candle. Shrek had no need for the light that the little pony craved. Light meant little to her; she could not see it. Light was nothing. A thing she had never seen. Her whole life was darkness, and that suited her well. The darkness fit her soul. The single candle was for Lightning, so that he might see her face and fear it, for sometimes that which lies in light terrifies more than what hides inside the darkness.

“Bonyo,” she called mildly, and then shrieked it. “Bonyo!!”

A tiny, ugly little goul stumbled into the throne room to grovel at the feet of the Queen of Darkness. “Your highness!!” He groveled exceptionally well. “Your most majestic majesty! Your most wicked evilness—”

“Silence!!” Shrek roared, and Bonyo cowered back, shivering as her voice echoed throughout the black and empty hallways. Lightning glanced about nervously. “Bonyo,” the blind queen said pleasantly, rising up from her throne. She gestured toward the sound of Lightning’s labored breathing. “I would like you to meet Lightning.”

Bonyo turned his head warily, with half an eye still on the Queen. “Hello, ugly little pony,” he smirked.

“Hello you nasty little freak,” Lightning shot back, his anger perked by the little goul’s rudeness.

“Quiet, you both,” Shrek demanded, and both instantly fell silent. “I have high plans for you two,” she grinned, baring sharp, filed teeth, and both Lightning and Bonyo shuddered at the sight.

The fire had died. It didn’t matter, they were warm enough, and only Firefly was still awake. It was hard to sleep, after everything that had happened. Nights before, her sleep had come easy enough, when she still had the support of all her friends. It wasn’t hard to sleep when you thought you couldn’t fail, because you had those you trusted on your side. But those friends had turned their backs on her, and that left her with a cold, empty feeling inside that neither fire nor the heat of bodies could ever quench. She stared up at the stars that winked high above her, and they seemed cold and distant too. She thought of Lightning, and wondered what had become of him. The Queen had told AJ that she would never see her lover again. Was it a bluff? Firefly wondered. Was it a trap? Or did she really mean what she said? How desolate a thought, how sad an image, when all her cousin had come for was a little fun and a chance at a little romance. Who knew he’d fall in love? And who knew what fate had waited for him, lurking in the darkness….

Why him? she wondered, the spark of anger flaring up in her. Why Lightning? He hadn’t ever hurt anybody. He’d never done or said anything offensive to anyone or anything in his entire life. So why should he be punished? Why not her? Everyone knew she’d played her share of pranks and said her share of mean and spiteful things to her friends and enemies alike. She wasn’t perfect, far from that. She couldn’t even hold the loyalty of her friends. And from they way the path ahead ran, she doubted that she would be able to save Lightning.

“Firefly, wake up.” She was being shaken gently. She popped one eye open and shot up abruptly. Spike reeled back and laughed at his own surprise. “We’re almost ready to go.”

She looked about, disoriented. “Morning already?” she stretched and yawned, and got to her feet. She shook out her tail and glanced around to see her friends making breakfast. She trotted over to the tiny fire they had made. Quarty was roasting something, she couldn’t quite tell what, but it smelled pretty good.

“Morning, sleepy head,” he greeted her with that cute Cheshire grin of his.

“What are you cooking?” she asked, gesturing toward the dripping meat skewered with a skinny stick. His Cheshire grin intensified.

“Don’t ask,” he suggested, “just eat.”

Firefly decided that was good advice and just ate. It was good. With a full belly, she felt less desolate. She could take on the world with…. “Oh come on just tell me what it is.” Quarty just laughed. And after he was done laughing, he laughed some more. She decided to leave it at that.

“Light the way,” Megan breathed, and unclasped the red heart locket. The Rainbow slithered out like a ribbon and danced before her eyes. “Rainbow of light, show the way!” she cried, and the Rainbow grew in size and beauty and shot off far across the jagged terrain and high into the morning air. “Come on!!” she yelled to her friends, running after it. “We have to hurry!”

Firefly got a running start and ducked her head under Megan’s legs, sitting her neatly on her back. She took off into the air, leaving Quarty, Spike and AJ to their own devices. “Wait!” Quarty cried, a shrinking speck below them. “No, WAIT!!”

“Where is it taking us?” Firefly shouted over the roar of the wind.

“I don’t know!” Megan admitted. “But I think it knows the way!”

The little goul patrolled Lightning’s prison like a hawk. An ugly hawk. Lightning had never seen anything quite so ugly as Bonyo, a little beast with a short, puggy nose, pukey green mottled skin and gangly, skinny arms and legs. His knuckles dragged across the cold stone floor, and the Mountain Boy wondered how the flesh wasn’t scraped completely to bone. Bonyo didn’t seem to mind the scraping. Every now and then Bonyo would slink past the pony and turn a frightfully ugly grin in his direction. He had a few teeth here and there, but those were already yellow and jagged, broken. Lightning hoped he’d pace a little closer to his bars, so he could give him a solid kick.

Shrek had dissolved into the darkness, into hallways she knew by touch and mind alone. There were no candles to light her way, and no windows to let outside light seep in. Her fingers lightly brushed the stone walls, and that was all she needed. She came across the scent she was searching for and entered a drafty hall, one lined with walls of prison cells. She chuckled softly as she walked the hall, as the sounds of tortured creatures reached her keen ears. She craved those sounds, the soft wails and quiet whimpers of beasts too afraid to cry out loud. Her lonely prisoners, trapped, as she was, in a life of eternal dark. They knew well the sounds of her footfalls and learned to cower in the corners of their prisons, as far from her wrath and her magic hand as the stone walls would let them.

She chose a prison and clutched the bars, sniffing, listening, knowing what wretched thing cowered behind them. “Mercy,” it begged, its voice a quiet whisper.

“Why do you deserve my mercy?” Shrek mocked the voice. “Who are you to deserve anything from me?”

“I am no one, My Lady.” Years of subservience. There was nothing behind those bars but a soul worn to nothing; no pride, no defiance, and most painful of all, no hope. How long could a soul thrive without hope to keep it strong and lucid? How long before the soul sought out light in a different world, and left this one behind? Those questions intrigued the Queen. The mercy the voice asked for was the mercy of death, to have the soul released again into the light. No, there would be no mercy in her hall. There would never be mercy again.

“What is it you crave, Darshan?” Shrek asked the voice. “What is it that you wish most in the world? What is it that my mercy can give you?”

There was a long, silent pause, and Shrek listened to the sound of shallow breathing. Finally, the voice gave answer. “The light,” it whispered. “I crave the light.”

Shrek laughed. It was a sound that intensified as she reveled in the glee, and deafening echoes traveled the hallways. The creatures in their prisons cowered and cringed, shielding their ears that were so used to silence. Slowly, though, the laughter faded, dying away long after the queen had ceased it. She listened to her own voice die, and as it did, returned her attention to Darshan. “Of course you do. You crave that which you will never see.”

“Your own wish,” the voice said, stronger this time, “is to see the light. And since you never can, you then wish it for no one!”

“SILENCE!!” the queen shrieked, and the wails in the darkness intensified as eardrums were shattered. She protected Darshan’s. She wanted him to hear every word she wanted to say. “You insolent coward! You dare raise a voice to challenge me?”

“My Lady I am no one.” The spirit was broken again. She heard him settle back into the corner, draw his knees to his chest, bury his face in his knees. She delighted at the image: a man completely broken. She softened her voice.

“Oh, my Darshan,” she said sweetly, and he lifted his head in fear of that voice. “A name that means ‘sight,’ does it not? Ah sweet irony that it means a thing you shall never again call yours.”

Darshan lowered his head again. He had no tears left to cry for that sorrow. He had wept them all.

“What does Queen Shrek want with me?” Lightning asked as Bonyo paced by. The goul did a clean about-face and paced back the other way.

It snickered a wet, repulsive laugh, and hissed: “She wants your eyes.”

Lightning sat back, startled by the answer. “My eyes?” he gasped. “What is she going to do with them?”

“Lock you in forever dark,” the ugly thing grinned, pacing steadily. “And see with eyes again.”

Lightning watched Bonyo thoughtfully, his heart racing painfully in his chest. “What does she want with my friends?”

“Their eyes,” Bonyo replied.

The Mountain Boy frowned. “How many eyes does she need?”

“She needs your spirits and your eyes.” Bonyo paused in front of him and stared, his thin lips curling up into a viscous grin. “That is the way the magic works.” He laughed and continued his pace. Lightning shot his eyes down cast, considering what the little demon had told him. Break their spirits and take their eyes, leaving them in forever night…

Shrek had told Applejack, as she was stealing him away, that she would never see her precious lover again… “No…” Lightning breathed, as the implications became clear. AJ would come for him, and when she did…

She would never see her lover again…

A jagged mountain loomed before them, rising high above every other peak. Firefly hesitated, treading air, and the two friends stared up at the stone spires that stretched into shrouded sky.

“Where does it end?” Megan wondered, shielding her eyes and straining to see beyond the veil of mist.

“Well,” Firefly said boldly, gathering up every ounce of her spirit, “there’s only one way to find out!!” she shouted, and shot straight up into the sky. Megan gasped and clung to the pony’s locks of hair. Firefly beat her wings furiously, racing up the straight-razor edge of the black stone cliff.

“Slugger, look—” Sundance was staring off over a small, gently sloped cliff. Frowning, Slugger trotted over to join her there. His eyes suddenly burned bright with excitement, a thing that captured the attention of the rest of the weary troop.

“A river!” he cried, and in fact there was, racing smoothly in the stone valley below. The group of friends scurried down the mountainside, thirsty and eager to fill their canteens. The water was clear and cold, and their bellies protested even though it felt so good in their throats.

“Oh, it’s marvelous,” Moondancer giggled, and splashed some onto Glory, who stood there wet and displeased. Glory bent low and sucked water into her cheeks, then turned to her friend and spit a stream out through her front two teeth. Moondancer squealed and ran off a little.

“Knock it off!” Slugger shouted, not in the mood for frivolous games. Moondancer slowed to a trot, looking disdainful.

“Where do you think this river goes?” Sundance wondered, looking to Slugger for answers. The pony shook his head.

“Wherever it goes, it heads North, and that is the direction I’m headed.” Slugger looked around him for petrified wood, hoping to make a raft. Sundance was staring upstream, looking thoughtful. Slugger noticed, and started feeling apprehensive. “We can make a raft,” he said quickly.

“And some oars,” Sundance added, deep in thought. “Or a push-pole.”

“We can just float downstream, back toward Dream Valley—”

“The river ain’t so rough.” Sundance laughed out loud, her eyes brighter at the very idea. “If a few of us pushed, and took some turns, it’s bound to be easier than walking!”

Others were listening, and gathering round. “We’d have a constant supply of water,” Moondancer said.

“And fish to catch in the meantime,” Glory added.

Slugger stared at them, battling the uncertainty, between common sense and what blazed behind the eyes that watched him. Finally, he snarled at them. “Well?” he growled. “What are you waiting for? That raft’s not going to make itself!!”

They rocketed into the shrouded sky, the dark blur of the mountainside at their bellies. Desperately chasing the Rainbow, who shot ever out of sight but lit the mist like fire. Firefly sucked air through her teeth, beating her wings furiously and realizing her strength was waning. The air was harder to breathe so high above the rest of the world. steel yourself

be strong

“Firefly!” Megan gasped. “We can’t!”

“We CAN!!” Firefly screamed, and broke through the ceiling of clouds into the cold, clear blue sky. The Rainbow shimmered above them, slithering across the sky, waiting for them impatiently. Firefly pushed off against the mountain, easing back through the thin air in order to gain a wider sight.

“Oh—” Megan breathed. The mountain tapered into razor steep spires, with peaks shrouded by the light of a dead white sun. The Rainbow shuddered, twisted into itself and pulled straight. A nervous gesture.

Firefly’s wings battered the air. She was exhausted. But her eyes were keen enough to see the dark within the darkness. “There.” She kicked the air, trying to find something to push her. There were no air currents to lift her. But she ascended to the darkness until Megan saw it too. A cave, a darkness, leading into darkness. The mountain’s face opened up to reveal a cavern, and Firefly landed roughly on the ledge leading into it. she was too tired to do anything else, and Megan tumbled off her back. Firefly grinned her apology.

Megan grumbled her apology-accepted and brushed off her knees. Firefly crawled up beside her, still fighting to catch her breath, and rested her head on Megan’s thigh. “Where do you think it goes?” Megan wondered aloud, absently stroking the bridge of Firefly’s nose.

“Wherever it goes,” Firefly murmured, “we fly from the light.” The Rainbow waited as the two friends rested, then halved in size. Then quartered. A tiny little Rainbow fluttered about before their faces, casting shiny light in every direction, and then shot like an arrow deep into the mouth of the cave. Firefly sprung to her feet. “Come on!” she shouted to Megan, galloping after the residual light dancing off the walls. The Rainbow led them through a winding tunnel, narrow and taller than the eye could see. Creepers and night crawlers scurried across the black stone walls.

“I’m not so sure about this,’ Megan whispered, glancing back over her shoulder. Into the blackness.

“Nonsense.” Firefly managed to lend some enthusiasm to her voice. “The Rainbow knows the way!”

They felt the draft before they saw what caused it. a sharp turn opened up into a vast black cavern, and Firefly nearly tumbled off the edge. The path they ran abruptly gave way to a steep, sharp cliff. Her heart hammering in her chest, Firefly scrambled back, her hooves loosing tiny stones that scattered and fell, plummeting out of sight, deep into the darkness. She listened, peering deep, trying to imagine the sound of the stones hitting bottom. She never heard it. She whistled low. “There’s no end to this thing!” she said, as Megan stared curiously over her shoulder, her hands on her knees. She was distracted by the flickering shadows across her face and glanced up to find the Rainbow, who had journeyed far into the blackness of the cavern. It’s light shimmered off stalactites hanging hundreds of feet, seeping with silent water. Megan expected the screech of startled bats, but instead their ears were assaulted with a stunning silence.

nothing lived, or breathed back here

nothing could, in that darkness

The Rainbow left them so far that they could hardly see each other, but that wasn’t what they were interested in. As the light grew dim around them, it lengthened to show a form that would have otherwise gone forever unnoticed. It hung motionless, dead center, a monstrous form that seemed frozen in time—

“It’s a castle!” Firefly shrieked, and they saw it now, its jagged towers rising high into the darkness. They stared, their eyes wide and white in their faces, and realized that just as there were no bridges to reach it, there were no towers to hold it aloft.

“A floating castle!” Megan said. “Like Tambelon!”

Firefly grinned, feeling the pieces fall into place. “Then this is Shrek’s castle, in Eternal Night. This is where Lightning is!” She leapt from the cliff, spreading her wings and gliding through the damp, dark air.

“No!” Megan screamed, reaching out for her friend. “No, WAIT!!”

She was a tiny thing, against a stone so massive. Swimming in a sense of triumph, it hadn’t occurred to her to wait. Why wait? When everything she had searched so long for was within these walls…

Her eyes flew across black stone, looking for cracks or windows in the Rainbow’s pale light. Finding nothing. Finding—

She thought she heard the sound of water running. Squinting, she let the sound guide her, and gently let herself fall. There

Water plummeted from a round black hole low in the side of the castle. She landed on the lip of the drain and peered at the crossbars that would keep her out. She frowned and gave them a solid kick, solving the problem. She ducked her head and wriggled her way inside.

“I see light,” Bonyo hissed, his fingers tracing the shadows as they trekked across the floor.

“I hear the screaming,” the Queen smiled sweet. Lightning perked in his prison, seeing little and hearing less. “I hear the screaming that will be.” Shrek stood, flicked her flowing gown and sent it shimmering around her ankles. The candle burned bright. Lightning couldn’t look into her face anymore, he couldn’t face the living nightmares. He had those enough already. “Your friends are coming for you, Lightning,” she murmured. “How sweet. How noble. How foolish are the creatures of the Light.”

Quarty, AJ and Spike trudged along the rocky terrain, due West, the way they’d last seen their friends fly. AJ had dissolved into a fit of inconsolable tears as they flew out of sight, which boggled Quarty to no end. He had tried making her laugh, which only made her cry harder. He had tried sympathy, which only made her cry harder. Finally he ran out of things to try and just sat there quietly with her, until the well of tears ran dry. It was good to cry sometimes. It was good to release the anger and the fear, instead of holding it deep inside, bottling it away and masking it with a charming Cheshire grin, only to have it eat away at you from the inside. It was better to cry.

The thought of losing Megan and Firefly like she had lost Lightning was more than AJ’s fragile senses could suffer. She was already at her wit’s end as it was. Compile guilt with grief.

As cold as the nights were, the days were as equally hot. The white sun burned high above them over the dry, tortured land, and they marched across the chalky flats with sweat soaking their skin. Spike was sprawled across Quarty’s back. The poor little dragon wasn’t able to cope with the temperature as well as the two ponies could. Dragons didn’t sweat.

Quarty’s tongue felt swollen in his mouth. He slung his canteen from his back and spun the top off. Dregs of water shifted across the bottom, and he stared inside it, startled. He was out of water.

His canteen was empty.

He glanced at AJ and tightened the lid. He didn’t tell her. She didn’t need to know.

“How far could they have gone?” AJ whispered. Her face was streaked with sweat or tears, Quarty couldn’t tell which. Intuition told him both.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. The flats began to slope gently upward, as the land grew hilly again. They forced their steps one by one until at last they reached the top.

AJ drew a breath.

Quarty raised his head to look at her, then followed her eyes. In the distance, maybe ten, maybe fifteen miles away, rose a mountain higher than any other, and black when all others rose as chalky grey.

“That’s it,” Quarty said, grinning finally.

She squirmed through water and darkness, pressing fearlessly on until she felt a gush of wind stir her mane. She grit her teeth and rammed her head into the grate, sending it into the air. It clattered to the ground, a foot or two away, and she froze as the echo traveled blackened hallways.

Crouched inside the castle sewers, she listened to the sound of her own labored breathing, straining to hear anything beyond that. The sound of guards, or foot soldiers. There was nothing else but running water.

She wriggled her way out into the wide, empty space of the castle floor, which seemed far too wide and far too empty after such close quarters in the sewers. She shivered, wet and cold, and crept along the walls.

There wasn’t a shred of light. No cracks in the mortar, no windows high above, nothing to let in shades of grey. It was just the blackness, an encompassing entity, disorienting in its entirety. She felt blind. She moved slowly, inching along the walls, and tried to keep one thought in mind. Lightning was trapped somewhere within these walls. It was up to her to find that somewhere.

The Rainbows shriveled, and wavered uncertainly before returning to the Keeper of the Locket. Megan looked wretchedly out into complete nothingness. It shouldn’t have surprised her. Firefly was never one to think before leaping on the stone. It was her haste that would lend her trouble, and had, so many times before. Firefly had marvelous luck.

Oh marvelous luck, don’t fail her now…

Megan lowered herself to the cold stone and hugged her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. The Rainbow flickered restlessly. There was nothing else for her to do.

So she waited.

Firefly squealed as an unseen critter scampered across her hoof. She slung her hoof away from the wall, and she heard the creature land off somewhat from her. She stood frozen and listened as it reoriented itself and scurried away. Night crawlers and critters of all sorts squirmed across the cold stone of this damp, dark place, a perfect place for them to hide.

She had seen her share of awful creatures. One could only imagine. Terrible beasts and dragons that had once snatched her friends away, in a time that seemed so distant. Things seemed to go full circle. In her life, terrible things happened, and unfortunately, her friends suffered with her.

It took them days to reach those distant mountain peaks. Firefly had always seen them through the windows of Dream Castle, rising majestic purple above the bright green of her Valley. Shrouded with the most delicate mist, that lingered in the predawn hours before the sun would rise high enough to burn it all away. They were beautiful. She had always wanted to visit them, to walk those distant ridges and see as far as the eye could see, like standing on the shoulders of giants. She had been a little pony then, with wistful wishes and lofty dreams. She didn’t realize how far those mountains were for such tiny little wings.

She’d listened to the tales told about Mountain Ponies, those who made their homes and lives within the dark forests that rose high above Dream Valley. They made their living off the land and built their houses of the trees. They were friends with the deer and the bear alike, and could hear the whispers of the river and the voices of the wind.

Her mother told her one day that they shared blood. Her mother’s brother lived high in those mountains, and had sent word that they’d enjoy their company. And so, with several days’ food and water, little Firefly and her mother flew off to the mountains.

The stories of the beautiful homes were true. Large, incredible houses of wood and stone each housed a family or two. The babies slept in cots stacked high, with ladders to reach the very top. A bright, warm fire roared in the den, and the great cast iron stove in the kitchen was always hot, delivering the most tasty treats Firefly had ever dreamed of. Hot apple pies, blackberry cobblers, sweetberry jams, sourdough breads, soda breads, biscuits and blueberry muffins— anything her heart desired. They gave her frothy mugs of hot apple cider to drink. She thought she might be in heaven.

But the thing she loved most, the single thing that stayed dear to her long after memories of pies and pastries faded, was her little cousin Lightning. Orange as fire and shy as a sparrow. They seemed mismatched, those two, with Firefly as loud and as curious and as nosey as she was. Their parents feared she’d scare him, and wondered if they’d ever get along. It came to be, in fact, that Lightning admired her strength, while Firefly respected his restraint. And so together, they got along famously.

In the weeks that she stayed, they would travel the forests together. He taught her the ways of the land. He taught her to plug a molasses tree, even though it took her three tries to pick the right tree out.

No, that’s a pine. An oak. A hickory. Yes, that’s right! A maple tree. Now tap it gentle. She can feel it in her skin. The syrup is her blood. She offers so much and don’t ask nothing in return. It’s the least we can do to be careful.

She tapped the tree and watched the thick sap ooze into her little bucket, wondering if the tree was crying inside. She couldn’t help but wonder. And silently, she thanked her, the tall, beautiful maple tree.

He taught her to string a net. Knot it careful, big enough to let the little ones out, small enough to catch the big ones. They took the net to the river and laid it perfect, and waited. While they waited, they splashed downstream in the shallower water until their teeth were chattering, then lay sprawled out on the rocks, baking in the warm mountain sun. He taught her to find the flattest, roundest stones to skip across the water. She squealed so loud when she finally got the knack of it that the mountains shouted it back at her.

The mountains listen, Lightning had laughed at her. They hear all of what we say! And if we say it loud enough, they say it, too. They’re mocking you, Firefly. You’re too loud for this quiet place!

She’d blushed, but it didn’t matter. Lightning thought she had a marvelous squeal, and they spent the rest of the afternoon hollering at the mountains.

When they ran back to the river to check their net, it was full of fat, silvery fish. They picked only a few, just enough to feed them and their family, and set the rest free.

Never take more than you need. That way, they’ll always be there when you need them.

Lightning’s father was familiar with the fiddle. It looked an awful lot like a violin to Firefly, but she’d never heard a violin played like that before! Ponies gathered in the large den, and with a roaring fire blazing, they danced all night until there was nothing left but ashes. Ponies stomped their feet and clapped their hooves, keeping time with the merry tune Lightning’s father and his fiddle made. They danced until they were dizzy and laughed until they cried, and Firefly had never had so much fun in all her young life.

When it was finally time for Firefly and her mother to return to their home in the Valley, there were so many tearful farewells, and promises of visits in later seasons. Firefly sat out on the front porch with Lightning beside her, watching the adults say their good-byes. Neither said a word. Finally, Firefly’s mother called her to go, to be on their way before nightfall.

Firefly trudged miserably down the steps. Whispered in her ear were the words

you’ll always be my favorite

and she whirled around, but he was gone. Just like lightning.

She laughed to remember that, then cowered at the sound of it. Barren, wretched sound, echoed back at her in a mocking far less friendly than she got from the mountains. A hollow, empty sound, that might have been a cry of rage or fear. Maybe it had been, manifested as a laugh. As a lie.

The wall that had become her solitary guide gave way, and by a slight draft she could sense she was at a crossroads. She stood frozen in place, and listened, squeezing her eyes shut tight and concentrating hard. Hearing silence.

She opened her eyes, but the image didn’t change. Not a shred of light. She reached out for the wall again, scattering the crawlers, and followed it hard right.

And followed it.

And followed it.

Softly, she began to sing.

well, mother

where is my angel now

Firefly sighed and walked on, her body damp and chilled. It was a cold that was seeping through her skin, ever closer to her core. She began to shiver.

She shouldn’t have left Megan. But she knew it was too late for that. Even if she retraced her every step, she still wouldn’t find that tiny drain she’d crept through. She wasn’t sure she wanted to force herself through the sewers again. Once was enough.

But damn them! All of them, who turned their backs on her when she needed them the most. Ponies she had thought were her friends had shattered her spirits and her trust at a time when she was most vulnerable. A thing she dearly loved was at stake. Of course she would do anything to save him! and no one seemed to understand that. No one. No one had lost what she had lost, a dear friend, beloved family.

Damn them if they lost someone they loved! Maybe then they’d understand the gaping hole that was her heart. The guilt that came with failing. She had invited Lightning down to the Valley. It was the least she could do to keep him safe, and God how she had failed. He had always shown her the greatest love and warmth within his own mountain home. At her first chance to do the same for him, she lost him.

God, she lost him.

And the uncertainty nibbled at her soul. She had no idea what of his fate. Could she even hazard a guess? Could she even hope to dream he was still alive? With someone obviously as powerful as the Blind Queen Shrek, the chances of his survival were slim, nothing. Firefly hated to admit that. She hated it. She hated it and NO it wasn’t fair! But that was life. That was her life. She hated, and none of it was fair.

Shrek told AJ that she’d never see her lover again. Oh, it had taken so long to trek through the harsh, chalky ranges, so long to piece together the riddles. The picture was in place, but she could feel the missing pieces. The gaping holes. It had taken too long. He was already dead by now.

over and over again.

She paused, her heart firing like a shot gun in her chest. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall, fighting back a sudden, hot urge to cry. A tear or two escaped anyway. She promised herself, if she ever made it home, that there were some she’d never love again. And to make that promise hurt so bad.

Purple light swam behind her eyelids. Dancing together, little purple globs. A little amoeba, splitting in 2, splitting in 4, dancing about like a beautiful flower. Splitting in 8. Beautiful thing. 16, 32, and it looked like a tadpole. A pale pink thing with a curly little tail and huge, monstrous black eyes. Swimming in a sea of black, in a bubble of liquid. 4 little nubs sprouted out of its sides. Its tale was shrinking, little by little. Pale pink, transluminated skin, transparent pink that was an open window, little lungs, a little brain. A little beating heart. A beautiful thing, a living thing, we all start out the same.

A little baby. Little ears and a long, pretty nose. Long yellow hair that swirled, shifted in the bubble. A perfect little baby. And oh, it was so beautiful, this little piece of life, this little glint of light. But the bubble burst, shimmering, sparkling as the water shattered out. Like a fountain, and it fell like rain.

And panic. Pressure, and darkness, and confusion. Out of the peaceful suspension into a dark and painful place, a place that was cold, and loud, and far too alien. Tiny thing, helpless and sick. Hair clung to its body in thin wet strands.

But no, there was warmth, and there was light. And there were hands that dried the skin and brushed the hair. Grow, child, into a man. First steps, first words, the first uttering of affection. A kiss, and a dream, and a home of the trees. He was so brilliant, blazing orange, beautiful from the beginning. Beautiful until the end.

They were creatures of the Light. They could not live in forever dark

Firefly trembled against the wall, her knees giving out beneath her. She sank to the cold stone floor and tears escaped her eyes with no effort. There was no use to hold them back. They could not be seen.

“Row row row your boat, gently down the stream!!!”

“Shut up!” Slugger roared, and Glory and Moondancer giggled like two demented schoolgirls. Slugger growled and heaved against the pole, pushing them all up river. “If you don’t stop singing I’ll push you all overboard and let you float down river.”

Sundance started laughing too. Slugger was just way too easy to annoy, which made for way too much fun. Glory and Moondancer could hardly contain themselves, being two of the biggest clowns in the Valley. Slugger pushed harder on the pole, rushing them up river. Far greater than the desire to help anybody was the desire to find Quarty, who had recruited the two nut-jobs, and give him a viable portion of his mind. Maybe his fist.

“Merrily merrily merrily merrily—” they began again, until Slugger maneuvered just enough to tip the raft one way and then the other. Moondancer fell off first, and Glory fell off the other side, each with a delightful squeal. Sundance kept her footing in the center and gave Slugger a little scolding.

“Oh, shame on you!”

He shrugged and pushed the raft upstream.

Moondancer was the first to wink back onto the raft. Glory followed shortly thereafter. They were both streaming with freezing cold water, their teeth chattering like mockingbirds. Slugger laughed. “I like that,” he said.

“That wasn’t nice.” Moondancer shook out her mane and pouted sullenly at the Big Brother. He only shrugged.

“I warned you.”

Sundance was the first to notice the subtle shift in the river. “We’re not heading South.” She stared out at the sky, looking thoughtful.

Slugger’s head snapped over to look at her. “What?”

“We’re heading West. The river’s heading West.”

Slugger leaned against the pole and held it firmly in place, keeping the raft stationary. He glared at Sundance, as if she were the one who chose the cut of the land.

“Oh, Slugger,” Glory started. “We can’t give up now! We’ve come so far—”

“Quiet,” he growled, still staring at Sundance. She stared straight back at him. Trying for the life of her to decide what he could possibly be thinking. A face like his hid every emotion behind a glare and a snarl, and even when he laughed it was fringed with sarcasm. Such a bitter young man. “What do you think? Do we walk?”

Sundance shook her head. “No,” she said. She had no idea what made her say it. It just felt right somehow. “We ride.”

Firefly opened her eyes. She didn’t see anything.

She was alone. Everyone in her life, she had pushed away, and for what? Chasing shadows. Hunting ghosts. Trying to be a hero to everyone, and in the end, impressing no one. She walked on blindly, her head low and her eyes shut gently. What good were eyes that could not see…

And then, what was a thing unseen? In the absence of light, you cannot see the boulder or the tiny stone. If it cannot be seen, does it really exist? With no eyes to know it’s there, no one to touch it to make sure it’s real… Maybe they didn’t exist at all.

Maybe, neither did she.

Maybe, it was all of a dream. The nightmare of some gifted mind, ethereal, unreal. When the sleeper wakes, the dream is over, and dreams always fade in the morning’s light. The harshness fades, the fear, the faces. Into a harmless blur, and soon forgotten as the dreamer drifts on to dream again. A different dream, a different life. Was this their God, then? A dreaming child. And when the child wakes, then, yes, the dream is over. The life is over. That was all there was… a dream…

She wondered how long it had been. There was no way for her to know, no day, no night. The time seemed endless. It was harder and harder for her to remember when she last saw the light. She wasn’t able to imagine when she might see it again.

Never. God, never, the dream would end before then. She prayed it would.

Something penetrated the wall of her thoughts, and her body froze. Her heart thrumming like a jackhammer, so hard she was sure it was audible outside her body. Standing motionless, she concentrated above the sound of her heart to find the thing that had sent it running.

there—

a thin, drawn wail snaked through the castle hallways, echoing off the black, barren walls. Firefly cringed at the sound. It wasn’t the salute of a guard, that much she realized. The cry sounded more tortured, sad. It rose again, and faintly, others rose with it. She followed the sounds. She had no other option.

The moans and wailing came at her softly through the hall, louder as she quickened her pace. Sounding less hurt than sad. As if the only thing they had in all the world was such a hollow, empty cry, and if they were as blind as she was now, perhaps it was. Perhaps, she thought miserably, running now, she would join them.

She felt the hall open, with a blast of sudden air that sent cold prickling along her nerves. She stood frozen at the mouth of a great hall, her nose wrinkling at the smell of it. A dirty, animal smell. God, what now?

She forced her legs forward. She couldn’t go back.

Something slammed into metal close at her left, and she reeled away with a shrill scream. The great hall echoed it back at her as the creatures mocked her cry. They could smell her. Beyond all sight they could sense her, and they pressed up against the bars of their prisons, howling at her with inhuman curiosity. Things reached for her on one side, grabbing hold of her tail. She screamed and jerked away, flinging back against the bars on the other side, where hungry, greedy hands took firm hold of her mane.

“No!” she shrieked. “Please, let me go!” She slammed back into the bars and crushed fingers between them and her body. The thing released a shrill wail and rapidly faded into a corner. It was impossible to keep middle ground in the stark blackness of the hall. There was no walking in straight lines. She felt something touch her flank and she reeled away with a cry. The pitch of the wails heightened, clamoring through the hallways as their excitement peaked. It was deafening. Firefly thought she might go mad.

“SILENCE!!” roared a single, human voice. The air was immediately still, and frozen, and Firefly with it. “Do you wish her to come?” the voice asked of the creatures. “Do you wish on you her wrath?”

There were murmurs of animal understanding.

“Then keep STILL, and keep SILENT.” A young male voice, a human voice. Alone, amidst the mindless creatures.

“Where are you?” Firefly asked, searching for his prison.

He clutched the bars and peered into the darkness, even though he knew he’d never see. “What are you?” he asked her, directly to her right. She was startled. “You are different. You walk with feet of four!”

“I’m a Little Pony,” Firefly said.

“You don’t belong here!” the voice lashed out at her. “Get out!”

Firefly’s temper sparked. “Well I do so belong here!” she stamped her foot. “And who are you to tell me otherwise?”

She heard him sink to his knees against the bars. “There is more danger here than you could know,” he said softly. “Than you can possibly imagine.”

Her anger cooled, realizing his intentions. “I can’t leave now,” she said, coming closer to him. “There is someone here I can’t leave behind.”

“Go, it is too late for that,” the young man said quietly. “If my lady the Queen Shrek has your friend then there is nothing you can do.”

Firefly stared into the darkness, frowning at the voice. “I don’t believe that.”

“You must.”

“I can’t.” She went urgently to the bars, even to the sound of his breathing. “I love him. He is my cousin.”

The young man sighed. “You are a fool.”

“I know,” she smiled. They sat in a brief silence, before she said: “You have to help me.”

His head snapped up. “What?!”

“Get back,” she said, getting to her feet and stretching her legs.

“What?”

“Hurry,” she said, and heard him scramble back just before she back-kicked the lock of his prison bars. She shook out her tail and gave it one more solid kick. The lock spiraled off in a shower of sparks.

Darshan cried out and threw his arms out to shield his face. Firefly nudged open the swinging door, which was rusty on its hinges. It would only open two or three feet.

“Ok this is all the farther it goes.” She fluffed her tail and waited patiently for him. He sat dead still in the corner, his eyes swimming with witch light.

“Wh—what was that—” he stammered.

“What?” Firefly frowned. “The sparks? That was pretty neat, huh? Come on.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it!” the young man whispered. Firefly frowned, the pieces coming into place. Just how long had he been here? Living as if blind. He obviously wasn’t blind.

“Come on,” she said gently. “Come with me.”

He got to his knees and crawled across the floor, feeling for the open door. He grabbed a bar and pulled himself to his feet. Firefly followed him out, nudging him along.

“Go,” she said.

“I don’t know how to help you,” he said, standing overwhelmed in the hall. The feel of it was vast. The sense of being unconfined was powerful, disorienting. “I do not know these paths.”

“Oh but you do,” Firefly grinned, sniffing around, nudging her way back into his broken prison.

He turned at the sound of her voice behind him. “What are you doing?”

She found what she was looking for, and snatched up a strip of cloth. An old, torn thing that had once been a shirt, or a long coat. Ratty, torn and thin. Perfect. “Give me a hand. I need a stick. Something long enough to hold.”

Darshan frowned, and felt along the gate of the prison. He found where Firefly had kicked it. The bar was loose. He grabbed hold and began to work it. “What do you plan?” he murmured, and yanked the broken bar clear.

“You’ll see. Where are you?” He held his hand out and she felt her way to the end of the bar, and wrapped the rag tightly around the head of it. She took it in her teeth and placed it on the ground. Scuffing her hooves against the stone floor, she created a shower of sparks. Darshan watched, mesmerized, and after a few more tries, a spark caught. The flame struggled on the old, damp cloth, but caught suddenly and blazed up brilliantly into the darkness. Darshan cried out and stepped back, shielding his eyes.

Firefly grabbed the torch and held it high, looking at his face. He really was a young, young man, she realized, and that startled her.

“It’s beautiful,” he breathed, staring at it through his fingers. He blinked away irritated tears. “Ah,” he said, and squeezed his eyes shut tight. “It hurts.”

She took the cue and angled the fire away from him. The creatures in the hallway prisons wailed and moaned, hiding their eyes from the painful, alien light. They kept quiet, remembering Darshan’s threats. The young man was able to look at her, when she hid the light behind her cheek. And she was able to look at him, each amazed by the other.

“Your colors!” he laughed, gesturing vaguely at her, not even knowing which colors they were. He reached out, maybe to touch her, and suddenly realized “My hands—”

Firefly frowned at him.

He stared at them, holding them close to his face, turning them over. Holding them thumb to thumb, comparing them. “I had forgotten—” he breathed. “I had forgotten what they looked like.” He flexed his fingers, examining them as if he’d never seen a pair of human hands before.

The wails of the imprisoned creatures were growing louder. Darshan shot stern looks across the rows of bars. “Let us leave this place,” he suggested. Firefly nodded and followed him as he swiftly left that hall forever.

He was amazing. He was so young that not even a ghost of a beard shadowed his face. The hair he had flowed off his head and across his back, long, never once cut. White as snow— amazing in that respect. His hair was whiter than a man’s of a hundred years, even though his face was just a boy’s.

He led her into a quiet, empty place, a strange, barren antechamber with a ceiling that rose high into the blackness.

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