Afterburner (Closed: SteelEagle)

[Hippo]

((This is a continuation from here.))

 

 

The evening had prevailed well, so far. Remington and Moonlight were both in agreement. Each of them was just attracted enough to each other that they both really enjoyed each other's company. It felt too perfect, maybe with too little resistance, and the challenges Remington would face in his composure would test his colthood for the future. But it would be fun, nothing was more enjoyable than exploring the wits and whims of a filly he had just fallen in love with. And with Moonlight's permission, he seemed ready to go to places he had never been before.

 

Remington giggled at the insinuation of the magazines being geeky. "No, no." Remington dropped his smile and looked more serious. He quickly shoved the box of goods down and out. "Listen, let's not worry about this. And, let's not study right now. We can study later." Remington approaches Moonlight and kisses her, a way of returning the kiss she had just surprised him with. "Do you wanna," Remington looked out the lone window in the dorm room. "Do you want to get out of here? Let's get out of here. Let's do something!" Remington quickly opened a few dresser drawers and started tying up spare pillow cases and shirts he thought he would wear but never did. After a makeshift bedroom rope was crafted, he threw open the window and tossed it down towards the ground. He then tied the upper end to a bed post. While testing the strength of the rope, he wore a slick smile and looked at Moonlight. "What do you say, Moony? Wanna go on an adventure?"

[SteelEagle]

She liked this sudden change of attitude from him. He had went from adorkable to honest and then adorkably honest (and honestly adorkable) and now confident in doing something all together different. She always thought she had it him to have a bit of a spine and an adventurous streak and here it was. She wouldn't say it was an incredibly exciting display just yet but considering how excited she had been up to this moment anyway it wouldn't take much for her to continue her level of...engagement. She was already so very happy with the way the night had went. Her first kiss- well, maybe just *her* first kiss- and a closeness with somepony she had always enjoyed the company had made this night very special. She didn't know how much more special it could become but she knew she was more than ready to find out, even if took outside into the cold. As long as she was out there having a good time with Remington, she had a feeling that the inner warmth and fire they shared would keep her plenty hot.

 

"Oooh, talk about a change in personality. I like it. Big adventure!" she giggled as she approached the window. He had hastily devised a rope for them to climb out using. She wondered why he didn't just walk out. It wasn't as if anypony would really stop them. Call it pony privilege or just her mind connecting dots that didn't exist but she couldn't remember ponies being escorted back to their rooms at night. Still, this seemed a scoche more exciting so she wouldn't say no. She tested the rope- seemed strong enough. "Well, big strong stallions first or, like, beautiful independent mares first?" She pondered out loud as she leaned against the wall. She then made the decision for him, grabbing the rope and setting herself up to start climbing down. "If I fall, just, like, make sure I have the most bitchin' funeral dress ever okay?" She said as she slid down the rope with all the grace and flexibility of a cheerleader.

[Hippo]

 

Remington followed after, sliding down with all his weight to his hooves. He could have flown down, but didn't. Once the two were on the ground, Remington took a look around. It was dark outside, with a few firefly lamps lighting up the empty pathways of the campus. Occasionally, you could hear murmurs or commotion from different neighboring buildings, it wasn't that late in the evening just yet. But no students or faculty were venturing in the courtyards. Seems the teaches provided plenty of homework for everycreature to work on. "It's really quiet. It's almost like we're not supposed to be out here." Remington wore a sly look, bouncing an eyebrow up to entice Moonlight to be entertained by the imaginary notion that they were doing something prohibited. Remington pointed into the direction opposite of Ponyville. "We should go this way. I've always wanted to go up the hill from campus to see what it's like up there. Is it just a boring foothill with the mouth of a waterfall, or is there a vast plateau with undiscovered marvels?" Remington took off into a light gallop in the direction of his adventure expecting his newly acquired fillyfriend to follow.

[SteelEagle]

 

 

A giggle faced an early demise as it was buried under other layers of mirth and excitement as they made their way out of the dorm through an entirely too exciting method. She wasn't sure why they had to leave via the window but she knew better than to judge the risk of a situation before fully committing to it blindly. If you did so, then you would likely do very little in life that was worthwhile. She knew that there wasn't anything wrong with walking around the campus at this time. Most creatures were just busy with their own work and not wholly likely to buy into the restorative properties of an evening stroll. She knew that there were few things better than spending time outside with ponies you care about, mostly because her previous shuttered self was forced out into the day a thousand times by her wonderfully, joyfully aggressive farmer cousin. "Well, if there is one thing I know it is, that, like, ya know, we're totally the bad foals in class," she laughed as she put her hoof to her chest, "'oh, how can we ever hope to stop those two crazy ponies?'" she said in her best faux Rarity. Which was pretty good, since she was almost a faux Rarity herself.

 

She then looked where Remington was pointing. That hill outside town? She was fine with it. She didn't think it was a big deal to go ahead and escape the environs of the town. She had one too many adventures and had become immune to the dangers and charms of the wilderness around town. And that hill was hardly the wilderness. "Well, lead the way to like, the mysterious waterfall, Mister Brave. If there is a Craggadile I expect you to take it on one-vee-one, right? Preeeetttyyyyy radical if you do!" she said as she filed in behind him. She didn't know what he had planned but she though it must be something since he seemed to have gotten either a sudden bout of inspiration or had finally refocused. Either way, she was just happy she had agreed to be his study buddy for the night. Perish the thought of having done anything else with her time!

[Hippo]

 

The two started climbing the bluff behind the school. The waterfall directly behind the school ran a stream through the campus and even into the school's irrigation systems, but eventually flowed through the school and out the other end in another waterfall array that spilled into the lake the school fronted on. In order to get on top of the waterfall, one would have to scale the bluff the waterfall sat. It would provide a magnificent view probably. Fortunately, a stone path with steps was fabricated along the bluff side so that ponies could walk up it, but Remington had never seed anypony do it.

 

He began trotting up the bluff, occasionally looking back at Moonlight to make sure she wasn't chickening out. The height wasn't all that high, but some ponies get silly about this sort of thing and lose composure. Before long, Remington had reached the top. He turned around and looked down at the campus. It seemed a lot smaller from this perspective than when you are in it. Looking up the river, he saw a calm river. Not what he expected out of a fast flowing water system. It all seemed to start off pretty tame. Next to the river were large pastures that eventually rolled into foothills and scaled to even higher plateaus. The green plains here were wild, uncut, and unbothered. "Oh wow, I had no idea it was like this up here. Look at all this space." Remington started running into the meadow, knocking over dead dandelions and throwing spent grass into the air. The ground felt soft, his hooves grasping to it like he had never felt. He looked back at Moonlight and started laughing involuntarily. "Haha ha."

[SteelEagle]

She wore a worried expression on her face as she followed him up, though it was merely surface level. She'd been in much worse danger than this before and that was worth no magic and with a prissy unicorn. With a horn and Remington by her side, how could she ever fail? She followed him up the bluff, worried the whole time about all the washing she'd need to do for this dirt and wouldn't you know it, she was happily surprised by where they ended up. It was, in essence, a paradise. Rolling hills, green, and a fantastic scene straight from any romantic projector show, of which she had recently been fed a diet of. And all thanks to her adventurous Remington.

 

Moonlight allowed herself to be sweapt away by the majesty of the surroundings. It mattered less that the environment was beautiful. That wasn't that exciting. Plenty of beautiful environments in Equestria. No, it was how unexpected for it to be here of all places, so close and yet so hidden to a pony like her. Was this a sight that all the winged students had grown accustomed so, so much so that those more restricted were left in the lurch? She could only imagine that was the case because if she had seen this place before you can bet your fetlocks she'd have told others. And held a few parties up here. Okay not a few. Many. "Wow, this place is, like...wow, so totally radical. You have a good sense for the fine things, don'tcha?" She asked as she started to frolic herself a bit, giggling impishly as she she did so. After a few moments she bent down and allowed her hoof to trail deep into the running water, the coolness running through her fine pelt as she let out a relived sigh. "This water is so cool, so much better than the school water, totally. Check it out," she said mischievously, beckoning him closer with cooing words.

[Hippo]

The frolicking between the two reached an interruption as Moonlight took a small step into the running water. Remington bounded a few steps next to her to observe what she was saying. He dipped his own hooves in the river. "The water seems pretty normal to me, but maybe it is a little bit cooler." Remington said sheepishly.

[SteelEagle]

 

She waited for him to get closer because, well, she needed it. And so did he. He seemed to have some plan for the evening and she was very excited to see it through, but she wanted to throw him a little bit of a curveball- did she use that term right? She had heard some ponies talk about a new sport...in any case, he needed to have as much fun tonight as she knew she would. And what better way than to surprise him in a small manner, the way he was surprising her in a larger way. When he was close enough- her smirk was held back by her lip and nothing more- she cupped a some water and forced her whole leg through the water, splashing him in the face and upper barrel as she jumped over the small stream, giggling all the while, her tail behind her bobbing excitedly. 

[Hippo]

 

Remington was splashed efficiently in the face. He winced, the water dripping from his glasses frames. He looked up astonished, and then smiled. "Why you..." Remington pounced after Moonlight, playfully giving her chase as the flirting continued. The river or stream, which sometimes defied width, became an obstacle for which the ponies would jump around, but eventually Remington was able to chase Moonlight away from the water and back into the fields of grass and weeds. Remington could run faster than Moonlight, so it was clear she would not be able to escape, but he would let the chase run for a few minutes before finally ending the game with a soft tackle. Remington brought her down softly onto the grass and held her down for a few seconds until both of their breathing patterns began to slow.

 

Seeing her yield, Remington rolled off of her, except for his head, which rested comfortably on her back legs. Remington began staring up at the sky. By now, the sun had fully set, and the sky was full of stars, no cloud to be seen. The stars danced and twinkled, teasing their identity for small ponies on the ground to wonder about. "Wow, look at the sky. It makes you feel so small sometimes, doesn't it?"

 

Remington gave a long pause, meditating on his life and his place in this world, all while reclining on his new fillyfriend. He began speaking openly, asking Moonlight rhetorical questions. "Do you crave a greater reason to exist?" He looked at her face and stroked a few strands of mane away from her horn. "Have you always known that symmetry is bliss?" He chuckled, looking back at the sky. "I know you see the pattern. Lay in your lap, think of your path. Philosophy don't bother me." Remington stood up quickly and looked at Moonlight on the ground. He then said sternly. "Come back when you're trash." And then he disappeared.

[SteelEagle]

 

The two chased one another with all the gaiety and mirth that was their birthright, echoing the spring of young love in the free laughter and giggles that swept into the night air without shame or care. There was a purity to be found in the hearts of the young experiencing things they had never experienced before, a wonderment that promised new horizons and the nervous energy that came with this promise created an impish, mischievously glee that could never quite be contained or accounted for. She didn't know for how long they pranced about playfully. She did know she didn't care, because it was perfect in that moment and she lived in it, drank it in, and washed herself with it. Yet when it passed into memory it was not missed, because the next moment promised even more. And when it came to this new sensation all she knew was that she was a glutton who could never have her fill.

 

After the vicious brute tackled her to the ground, they allowed themselves a few moments to get caught up in the beauty of the night sky and the slowly developing rhythm of their breathing. It was true that the night sky was indeed shaped beautifully tonight. There was truth to the idea that she preferred Celestia, and more so Twilight, to Luna, but nopony could deny Luna's charms and she was sure that for a devoted Luna fanatic the night sky as it radiated out just then was as perfect a gift as they could ask from their lovely, if distant, Princess. "Yeah. You ever wonder if, like, there are creatures like us out there?" She said, waving a hoof gingerly towards the stars. "Or even what they are, really," she asked as she examined the blades of grass next to her. The moment was so peaceful, so nice. And she was here with a pony she cared about. But if she wanted this to go further, was now the right time to tell him everything? She wrestled with it behind her smile and giggle.

 

It was then that things started to get a little weird.
A little. Weird.
 "Do you crave a greater reason to exist?"
Huh? That was a weird thing to ask. And it implied she didn't have the best reason ever to live: To be herself.
 "Have you always known that symmetry is bliss?"
What did that mean? The brush of her mane from her horn certainly helped settle some confusion, but she was still so...
 "I know you see the pattern. Lay in your lap, think of your path. Philosophy don't bother me."
Now he was just being weird. Then he got up and away from her, staring back at her sternly. Her face was contorted into one of confusion- hard to say anything when you couldn't even pierce it together.
"Come back when you're trash." 
Wait did he just call her trash-
And then he disappeared.
WAIT WHAT.

 

She stood up in alarm and backed away from the spot where he vanished a few steps, her back legs wet by their submergence into the stream.
"...Remington?" She asked with worry before gingerly approaching the last spot she had seen him, pawing at the ground in confusion.
"...Remmy? Where are y-you?" She asked, her worry turning to fear as she turned in position and looked around, her eyes darting around for answers.

 

[Hippo]

After a few silent moments, Remington's voice could be heard overhead, as if it was in the air above Moonlight. His voice echoed hauntingly, and spoke with urgency. "Moonlight? Moonlight can you hear me?"

 

A few moments of silence later, a door opened not too far from where Moonlight was standing and searching. The door was embedded into a foothill, as if somepony had built a small home into the hillside on top of the bluff, but it seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere. Light from inside showed brightly.

 

And then suddenly, the clear night sky was completely enveloped in dark clouds, and it soon began to rain, claps of thunder beginning to warn of the deluge to come.

[SteelEagle]

Moonlight looked around in confusion and terror as Remington's voice echoed facelessly across her whole world. He seemed scared and that only made the situation more desperate, more dire. "Remington? Remington, where are you?!" She asked in a clear panic as she wheeled around, the beatific vision of peace and serenity that had existed atop the world becoming a prison of height and emotion. It was during one of these spins and swings that were draining her of her balance that she saw a white light. She stopped as best she could and gave it a good look, her desperate mind racing for some sense of normalcy.

 

It was a door. An open door. She was too afraid initially to approach it. None of this could be real. This felt like one of those fairy tales or fables she was told in her youth, when Valen tried to be a thing. Was this punishment for sneaking out? The karmic values upheld in those olden tales didn't seem to hold much weight in the modern world but as the weather turned against her in a final act of cruelty this paradise threw her way, she decided that something must be wrong with her because those olden tales held a great deal of weight now. She ran towards the door and the light, and the waterlogged unicorn breached it panting in more fear than exertion.

[Hippo]

After a few silent moments, Remington's voice could be heard overhead, as if it was in the air above Moonlight. His voice echoed hauntingly, and spoke with urgency. "Moonlight? Moonlight can you hear me?" A few moments of silence later, a door opened not too far from where Moonlight was standing and searching. The door was embedded into a foothill, as if somepony had built a small home into the hillside on top of the bluff, but it seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere. Light from inside showed brightly. And then suddenly, the clear night sky was completely enveloped in dark clouds, and it soon began to rain and claps of thunder beginning to warn of the deluge to come.

 

Moonlight looked around in confusion and terror as Remington's voice echoed facelessly across her whole world. He seemed scared and that only made the situation more desperate, more dire. "Remington? Remington, where are you?!" She asked in a clear panic as she wheeled around, the beatific vision of peace and serenity that had existed atop the world becoming a prison of height and emotion. It was during one of these spins and swings that were draining her of her balance that she saw a white light. She stopped as best she could and gave it a good look, her desperate mind racing for some sense of normalcy.

 

It was a door. An open door. She was too afraid initially to approach it. None of this could be real. This felt like one of those fairy tales or fables she was told in her youth, when Valen tried to be a thing. Was this punishment for sneaking out? The karmic values upheld in those olden tales didn't seem to hold much weight in the modern world but as the weather turned against her in a final act of cruelty this paradise threw her way, she decided that something must be wrong with her because those olden tales held a great deal of weight now. She ran towards the door and the light, and the waterlogged unicorn breached it panting in more fear than exertion.

 

Rain kept pouring from the sky, drenching everything as if it had been wet for hours. Before Moonlight approached the door, a dark figure stepped into the doorway from the inside. It took the shape of a pony, but was wearing a cloak and holding a lantern that lit the now dark stormy environment. From just inside the door away from the downpour, the unknown pony figure said aloud to Moonlight in a masculine voice, "You are welcome here but you must come alone. You know everything is everywhere is home." The dark figure moved aside to let Moonlight walk in, posing as inviting, but remaining shadowy and obscure.

 

Moonlight made her way at a gallop as the weather took a turn for the worst. In her way, a stallion? A colt? A figure? Her brain had trouble truly putting it together. All she knew was that it wasn't Remington, whose concerned voice still echoed in the over-active recess of her imaginative mind. The light washed him out only vaguely, as if half-painted with a spotty brush. Nonetheless, she made her way in. She didn't know why she wasn't afraid of this menacing figure, and she certainly didn't know what he was saying, but she did know that she didn't know where Remington was and that was a trite more important. She whipped her mane back and forth to get some of the water out, shivering down her body to do the same as she turned to the mysterious figure with a look of panic only scarcely concealed by an attempt at being authoritarian. "Where is Remmy? What did you do to Remmy?!"

 

The dark hooded figure motioned to Moonlight to follow him into the next room. When they were both in the next room, he held a lantern up and pointed at the wall. The wall was poorly painted, with several chips and scratches in it with seemingly no attempt to repair it. But, also painted on the wall was a black symbol of a theater mask. The floor by the wall was covered in several masks a pony would wear for all different kinds of occasions. Some of the masks looked like they were intended for Nightmare Night, while others seemed to be ambiguous and creatively odd. Without warning, the mysterious pony exited the room leaving Moonlight by herself and asked her, "Do you see it?"

 

The door to the room slammed shut, and the door and all four walls around the room fell away and revealed that the room was indeed a large cage, with vertical metal bars. The dark figure was joined by several other mysterious stranger ponies, all who seemed to have glazed eyes. They approached Moonlight and reached into the cage with their dirty hooves. In unison, they seemed to chant to her, "Prisoner, prisoner, we found you. We feel you breathing. Are you there? Can you hear us calling you? We'll never judge you." The creepy audience seemed entertained by the exhibit, having a cheery and playful tone as they reached towards Moonlight.

Moonlight was a filly of many tremendous talents. The least of those was her patience which was being sorely tested by this strange, weird figure. She was happy to be out of the rain- she seemed to dry very quickly, Twilight thank her coat- but his weird evasiveness wasn't holding her pleasure much. And so, she did the thing she did when she didn't get what she wanted. She whined. Wait, she didn't do that when she didn't get her way, did she? "Whaaaaaat happened to Reeeemmmmmyy?" She whined and stomped her hooves lightly. Gone was her anger, her emotion switching on a dime in an odd fashion. She continued her pleading, because she could so rarely get things done her way otherwise. "Pleaaase, like, just tell me where he is, pleaaass-" she was interrupted by the switching scenery.

 

Gone? The masks that lined the walls and the strange art that her mind could scarcely understand let alone fully appreciate. It was a strange mix that she was not smart enough- she certainly felt stupid- to fully grasp. But instead of that, a cage. A room sized cage. And a bunch of creepy ponies saying creepy things reaching in, creepily. It was creepy. But for some reason, she didn't respond to it with fear. She was being watched from every angle, all of her audience wanting a piece of her. And so she did the one thing she knew to do with a crowd. She posed. She walked up and down a runway only she could see. She lost control and played her part, though she asked at the end of every walk, "where is he?" In a pleasant, inquisitive tone. No anger. No worry. Just a model strutting herself, and vaguely aware that she was here for a reason.

 

Between Moonlight's catwalk turns, the dark figure stood in the way of the unicorn's path. When she approached with her seductive attempt at reasoning, the dark figure paused her with his hoof, and then took his hood off. It was Remington. He appeared as a much older pony, as if he had traveled from the future, adorning facial hair and a posture that lacked the youthful energy students at the School of Friendship are known for. He did not smile, but he seemed pleased to see her. He began speaking words that seemed to be an attempt at making sense of what is happening. But he kept it simple. "Nothing's in a vacuum. Space-time has no value. We're all connected on this wave." Remington held his hoof out, with the intent for Moonlight to lend hers.

 

It was Remington! Her Remmy was not so young anymore, it looked like. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she had entered into this weirdo place looking for him after he...vanished, was it?...but her joy all came back. She didn't know what it was about him, but he was really mature. Maybe it was the utter nonsense he was speaking that totally made sense or maybe it was the fact that the audience left. She didn't know whether or not this was right or wrong. All she knew was that she dug it. She reached out and gave her Remmy her hoof and pulled him into a big hug, then began dancing with him. Something weird and ominous was about to happen of course, but in this moment it was dandy.

[Hippo]

And older Remington danced with Moonlight momentarily, but before long, the floor fell out from both of them, sending them hurling into an unknown abyss. As they fell, Remington become devoured by a shadow that kept him from being seen by Moonlight.

 

Eventually, the abyss below brightened up, and gravity slowed to a halt where it met the ground on the side of the road in downtown Manehatten. Manehatten looked normal, faceless ponies walking around being rude to each other, the light from the sun peaking through the large buildings that towered over the streets. A small pony jump out of a dress store and stared. "Valen! Are you coming in or what? The competition is about to start."

 

She danced with Remmy for some time before it felt like in a moment the scene changed. Manehattan. Loud, ugly, beautiful, striking, distracting, wonderful Manehattan in all of its variations and forms repulsively gaudy and seductively promising. Kind of like Valen, who turned when the other pony called his name. The fashion-obsessed colt smiled, though his brows were furrowed. "Oh, how exciting. Yes yes, I'll be there in a minute," Valen said as she adjusted her mask, "but I'm not Valen," she continued as she made sure the mask fit snug, "I'm not," she said with a deep breath, "I am..."

 

She shook her head. Valen had more important things to worry about than a fraying mask. He had a modeling job, pretending to be somepony while pretending to be somepony was very hard work!

 

Once inside, several young ponies were lined up waiting their turn to walk onto a stage on the other side of a large curtain that spanned the room. They were in some kind of backstage.

 

"Valen! Glad you could finally make it." A filly said sarcastically. Her smarmy attitude stained her otherwise dazzling attire. "We're already for the show." She looked him up and down. "You're going to put something on, right?"

 

Valen would be offended by the attitude but it was the attitude that so many top flight models had that he couldn't begrudge them. She could, but he couldn't. After all, they were all living a lie, weren't they? Of course their masks weren't like her masks. She made sure of that, as she resettled the Valen mask on his head. "Just got caught up looking fabulous," he said with a wink, though the mask didn't move. She moved to examine the dresses. the beautiful, beautiful dresses! "My my, how everything looks so divine. A real shame it is that I'm not Valen. I'm not. I'm..." he continued before picking out a dazzling little black number. "Where's Remington?" She asked nonchalantly as she took her place in line, in avery conversational tone. "I'm beautiful. I'm not Valen. I'm a liar. Oh, look at your mane. You're going to knock them dead! I'm not dead."

 

The cluster of young fillies were getting ready to show off their outfits on a runway ono the other side of a curtain. They didn't pay Valen much mind, seemingly trying to disassociate with him for unknown reasons. And older filly stepped forward in front of the models and looked them over. She nodded patiently. "Ok. Good, good. Everypony get together, Miss Prim Hemline would like a word before the show starts. Oh, here she is now. Listen up, everypony."

 

Stomping sounds grew louder and louder as a pony entered the room. An older fashion pony towered over the young ponies, intimidating to even the bravest of fillies. She stared at the foals, what they were wearing, how they were practicing their poses, and inspected their style. She huffed, and the screamed her demands. "Only bangers from now on! Only angry mental moans!" Prim stooped down and eyed a filly wearing a dress fashioned with cheap buttons that easily fell off. "You foal I'm rich!" Prim tore off the cheap dress and threw it into the corner where a pony skeleton was reclining. "Splattered the bag, emptied the crypt!" Another filly was trying to straighten out her dress, which was heavily starched and stiff. "You foal, I'm rich!" Prim tugged on the dress angrily, causing it to frill up and dance in the artificial wind generated from a fan across backstage. "Flap like a flag, script-ed to flip!" Prim stormed away and waited for the show to start to see the show she predicted would be a disaster to begin.

 

The other older pony spoke up. "This is a very important show, fillies. Don't mess this up." She eyed Valen for a moment, and then walked away. Meanwhile, the fillies were lined up backstage waiting for their turn to walk the catwalk.

 

Valen was used to a number of things. The first, he knew to expect others to disassociate from her. After all, he was always lying to them about who she was. First it was out of a sense of feeing like a failure, then it was out of fear of what they would think if they knew the truth. So he didn't really pay them much mind, and she allowed herself to keep working on making himself look the best she could in the dress. The second was being judged. He liked that. She felt like she did well under judgement so when the sentient fire breather that was Prim Hemline did her thing, he remained confident. And the mask, as masks are, stayed the same, belying any confusion inside as she waited for the show to start. "oooh, maybe Remington is watching and I'm me!" She said excitedly to one of the other models, not that she cared.

 

During the nervous underpinnings of the backstage and before the shows music began, a young filly trotted over to Valen to talk to him in order to express her subtle contempt for him. "Valen, its funny to see you here! Never thought you'd return once I took the spotlight." She eyed him around in a condescending way, inspecting the garb he was wearing. "How long could you keep up with it, before you jacked too many licks and caught something you couldn't kick?" She said with sass.

 

The music started playing and the young models started filing out to the stage one by one. And unfortunately for them, the audience was not receiving them well. Some were booing softly, and occasionally scraps of waded paper were thrown onto stage. The antagonistic filly looked out on stage and smiled back at Valen. With malice, she expressed her desire to see Valen in a tough spot. "It's no surprise you came and begged me for a second chance. Pathetic hat in hoof, now that I'm bulletproof."

 

As the audience continued to display their displeasure for the show, Prim yelled in anguish to the remaining models, "Give me substance, give me something!" Behind the curtain, the young malicious filly got behind Valen and pushed him onto the stage.

 

Valen's blood ran cold as this nemesis of his started to pick at her, every little word and action having some hidden meaning that only now could he imagine. She came in leaden with the sense of impending failure that dominated the mask-wearer, the liar, at all times, hidden beneath whatever front was applied that day whether it was mascara, blush, or a bruised ego. She wanted to respond as he felt one of the strings snap, wanted to respond with some strength, but could only reply meekly and defensively: "You foal, I'm rich..." 

After all, how could she fight the filly who had shown him how far he needed to go to be her true self?  How long could the mask keep up with all of it? The filly pushed the liar and the charlatan out in front of the crowd and he nearly tripped before instinct took over. She was a professional, knew what to show and how to show it. This was the model Valen wished he could have been, before she proved to the world he was a bucking joke, before she had his chance and choked. Before she tried to pull one over on them all. Honestly, he'd always known she'd prevail. It's biology and Valen was born to fail.

The mask's strings broke and Valen's face, long forgotten, started to fall as the model that was Moonlight continued to put on her show. As soon as Valen began walking the catwalk, with his mask and outfit on, the audience paused and stared. They were perplexed by what they had seen. It was a break from the catastrophe before him, but what it would become was unclear. After a long pause, the music stopped and the lights froze. Eventually, a spectator pony in the darkness expressed her viewpoint on the most recent development. "Booo!!!" After the pony yelled her displeasure, everypony else followed suit, and began throwing trash and vegetables at Valen. "Boooooooo!" "Booooooo!" "Boooooooooooo!" The house lights in the auditorium were fully raised, and Prim Hemline was seen standing up and storming out in frustration.

 

From behind the curtain, the young filly who taunted Valen earlier walked up to him. She seemed to revel in his misery, as if she felt slighted by his existence. She felt Valen was a threat to her reality, and thus decided to teach him her dominance. "This is the moment you wish you'd woke, before you proved to the world you're a stupid joke, before you had your chance and totally choked." The filly raised her voice in slight anger. "Before you tried to do me over." The ceiling of the auditorium began to collapse, and panels and lighting fixtures were falling onto the stage, smashing holes into the catwalk and causing damage around them. The rival filly trotted around Valen during the commotion and taunted him more. "Honestly, you've always known I'd prevail." She leaned in and eyed his nether region with a smirk. "It's biology, and you were born to fail."

 

Valen had continued to model for a bit as the trash and vegetables flew in, trying her best to do a good job. She was so good. He was not so good. He was failing. And within moments it all came crashing down just as Valen did, falling on and crushing an orange and laid out on his back as the crowd stormed out. As Prim Hemline stormed out. As Valen was left exposed in the lights for everything she wasn't and he was, mask-less and true while still living a lie.

 

Then she came and turned the screws on him as the auditorium came down around them, the facade that was his aborted career crashing down around him as the sinister voice spoke and spake and let him know the truth ten times over with every word that came venomously out of her. Whimpering, scared, confused, he simply crossed his back legs and tried to stand up, tripping on her fraying dress as the stage itself started to fall away from him.

[Hippo]

The floor fell into blackness, and before long, the blackness lit to a beautiful day. Freshly cut grass could be smelled, distinguished from freshly eaten grass. Birds were chirping, trees were clapping softly in the light breeze, and an occasional wooden crack could be heard from nearby associated with soft clopping applause. There was a wooden bench that other than it's dried and aged appearance, seemed unremarkable. A long hut covered the bench and cheap chain-linked fencing surrounded it with an opening on both ends to the sides. At one end of the bench, a large pile of masks were cluttered together that looked to be designed for protecting the face of a pony who intended to be thrown at with a hard-surfaced ball, perhaps. "You're the new player?" A lightly-colored orange earth pony approached Moonlight. He noticed the pink unicorn filly with her cute stature, but decided to forgo his pleasantries in order to address the fact that she looked completely lost. "You have a uniform on and everything. I'm the manager, First Base, and I think we put you on the bench for the day but we need you to pinch right now. Are you a lefty or a righty? Chipper Pones is at bat right now and I need you on deck."

 

 

The mind reeled at trying to make sense when sense was not being made nor did the mind reel in a way of making sense of the senseless, senselessly struggling, struggles against that which could not be ordered. That brief collapse was wiped away by the warmth of the sun, or what was imagined to be it, and soon she found herself near some sort of game. She wore a strikingly nice little uniform, a bit tight for her taste but considering she didn't know what was happening she'd take it for granted that whatever it was she was wearing, she was wearing it well. It was then that a cutie came up to her and asked if she were the new player. "Sure," she responded for no good reason, "Manager First Base. Did you know that I don't know where Remington is?" She asked nonchalantly as she picked up the weird stick that she saw Chipper Pones play with. She mimicked him a few times before using the circle as a small stage to saunter about in front of a mish mash of faces. Some of them looked like fruits that were thrown at her. She didn't know where she was but she knew that she didn't know where Remington was. What game was this again?

 

"This is baseball. A sport of strategy, wit, and patience. It's also known for its tradition. Well, starting today. Look, all you need to know is that there is one out, it's the bottom of the ninth inning, and we're down by one run. But the bases are loaded and we have a good chance to win this game." Chipper hit the ball softly after it was pitched to him from the mound, and the ball rolled softly to a player where he was tagged out quite easily. None of the runners advanced. First Base sighed. "Make that two outs. Alright. No problem. Just take this bat, wear this ankle guard on your front hoof, and get to the batters box. Just put the ball in play!" First Base lightly shoved Moonlight towards a pony wearing all black with a mask, and a goat wearing a mask and a large glove.

 

The cute manager pushed her into position. Or was she in position? She didn't know. She went to where Chipper was and looked around. Why were they throwing the ball and not catching it? She held the bat with the thick part first. "Are you Remington?" She asked the pitcher as she adjusted her helmet. It had been blocking her eyes and she needed them to see Remington. But then the sun blinded her just as the pitcher started to move his legs in a weird way.

 

The pony on the pitching mound hurled a ball across the plate and into the catcher's mitt, swishing by the oblivious batter who other than her cute batting stance, had no idea what she was doing.

 

"STEEEEERRRIKE," the pony in black behind yelled.

 

"Maaaah," the goat catcher belted before throwing the ball back to his pitcher.

 

First Base from the dugout swiped his face with a hoof and then took a calming breath. "Glitter! You're holding the bat upside down! You can do this! I know you have no idea what this game is probably, but just try your best, you can do it! Facts, just say it! No, you don't need to know! Feels, display them! Everyone's the goat!" As the team of goats in the field began their between pitch chatter, the pitcher began his motion to another pitch towards Moonlight.

 

She stepped out of the batter's box and took a deep breath. Okay, so that wasn't a good thing? Based on voice tone? No, it was a bad thing. She was doing her best but her best wasn't good enough. "Got it, cutie," she said, giving her manager a wink. He was a cutie, after all. And she was not dead. So she stepped back and reversed the bat, thinking to herself that this looked a little better. "Okay, goats aren't moats and moats are totally not floats, I'm not a float, I'm the goat, bah," she said as she stood in the batter's box and assumed the stance.

 

The player on the mound hurled the ball towards Moonlight at the catcher once again, spinning it end over end. It appeared to dance in the air a little but before a pony could count their hooves, the ball clapped into the catcher's mitt. "STEEEEEERRRRIKE TWO," they pony in black behind Moonlight yelled.

 

As it turned out, a zebra was on the mound, and he smiled and lightly shook his head. He held his glove up to receive the light toss of the ball from the catcher. During his swagger around the mound, he seemingly attempted to taunt Moonlight. "Now I'm around the world shredding for an ovation. And you can trash my reputation as you enjoy your long vacation."

 

From the dugout, Manager First Base leaned in and plead with Moonlight. "Give me substance, give me something..." The zebra pitcher cocked his opening motion with his legs and then spun his body around to hurl another ball towards Moonlight as fast as he could to the catcher.

 

Two strikes was bad. You know what? That one wasn't her fault. The ball was doing weird things. She could braid her luxurious mane in the time it took for the ball to do what it did but then she didn't have that time and she spent that time thinking about her mane and how so very wonderful it was, which didn't help her. Then that cute zebra pitcher taunted her and her coach was asking her to do something and she just wanted to find Remington. "Okay! Okay! I'll do it but, like, just tell me where Remington is for the love of Celestia! Tch!" She said in frustration, wiggling her bootie to get into her stance as her eyes slit and she stared the pitcher down. "Okay. Time to swing for the fences!" She turned quickly to the ump. "Do I want to do that?" She turned back to the pitcher, wiggling her way into the stance. "Alright. I got this. I got this."

 

All the uniformed players in the field in front of Moonlight started swaying softly during the pitch delivery, antagonizing the batter's attempt to hit the ball. "Hey batter, batter. Hey batter, batter, batter," they all chanted. As the ball reached the plate, seemingly in slow motion, all the fielding ungulates shouted, "SWING!"

 

And swing she did. She swung as hard as she could swing, so hard that she spun in place and did a full 360 before falling on the plate. Coughing through the dirt, she looked up to see what she had done and took off before she could realize it!

 

Crack! The ball had been struck by the mare's wooden bat, sending vibrations through the mare's hooves before flying away from the batter. Towards the clouds it soared, seemingly not slowing down its ascend into the blue sky. Only seconds later did the ball change its mind, and the mysterious natural forces began pulling the ball back down to the playing field. A goat standing near the wall on the opposite side of the field jumped around before standing still with a gloved hoof up. The surrendered ball fell harmlessly into the goat's glove, where he secured it for the final out of the game. All the field goats bleated and began running towards the center of the field. First Base threw his hat down into the dirt.

 

Aww, did she do a bad job? Did she make an 'out'? What was an out, and was there an in? She didn't really know. She didn't really blame herself though. Why, she felt like she did a really good job. That ball went really far! That was a good thing, right? Did she make a point anyway? She stood up and brushed herself off, admiring herself in her uniform a moment longer. "Hmm, I still look super cute!" She said to the ump before trotting to a visibly upset First Base. "I'm sorry I didn't make more points but I almost sent it over the wall for a three pointer!"

 

First Base rubbed his temples while listening to Moonlight's cutesy response to her failure. It looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't have the overblown temper to lose control of it and kept his words to himself. However, behind Moonlight, the zebra ball hurler swaggered towards her and started bragging. "This is the song you wish you’d wrote, before you proved to the world you’re a silly joke, before you had your chance and hilariously choked." He mocked but then gave a stern face and stared into her eyes. "Before you tried to do me over." The zebra stepped back and began circling Moonlight. "Honestly, you've always known I'd prevail." He eyed her physique rudely side to side and muttered a remark on the fact that her feminine features held her back from competing. "It's biology. And you were born to fail."

 

First Base had apparently unsuccessfully calmed himself down, and started angrily walking towards Moonlight as well. He began shouting obscenities, some which didn't make any sense, but then others that seemed to cut deep had the pony who received it understood the context. "Ditch if fist, phony! Cancel all your fans! They're passed out in the pasture sucking up lifespan! You look just like a pony, but missing all the mare! When life becomes a burden, just do something unfair!" Just as he finished his rant, he and three others started circling Moonlight Glitter. First Base, the zebra pitcher, the mean green filly from the fashion show, and Prim Hemline began chanting around her singing, "You were born to fail," over and over again. They all slowly trotted around her in unison as they sang their evil chants.

What started off as a gentle serenade of awfulness soon started to cascade into seething words of venom that trickled into her from not one, nor two, even three, but finally four different voices of antagonism. Repeating their awful slogans in their awful ways, penetrating the veil between dreams and the veil between feelings. She tried once, twice, three times and more to stop them. The cute zebra colt, the overzealous cult, The Prim Prim, and that awful filly- one into another and four into one, Moonlight's uniform turning into a dress and the field a stage and the stage a void and her hands with a bat. "Stop it! S-Stop it!" She cried out as she turned herself dizzy. "Strike!" The ump called as the handsome zebra colt pushed her towards Prim. "Hey! Cut it you foal, I'm rich!" "Strike two!" The ump called as Moonlight swung her bat at Prim, which phased through as the older mare bent down. "Flap like a flag, script-ed to flip!" She screamed with an angry mental moans that sent Moonlight to the ground, her bat landing on a Valen mask and shattering it in the void. "Ball one..." the vile filly whispered with a giggle, the ump behind her giving the signal. Moonlight tried to get up but fell down, tripping on the bat and mussying up her dress. "Where's Remington?!" "BALL TWO!" The filly laugh-screamed an angry mental moan as she invaded Moonlight's personal space. "It's biology, and you were born to fail!" They all screamed in unison with the force of a thunderclap, it knocked her on her back as she gently wept. "before I proved to the world I'm a buckin' joke..." "STRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIKE THREE-" "BEFORE I HAD MY CHANCE AND BUCKIN' CHOKED!" Moonlight said in unison with the others as she started to weep uncontrollably on the field, on the stage, in the void, in her head, in her soul.

 

The commotion was rich, but also began to fade. The ground around Moonlight began to expand, and her enemies drifted away from her. But with them, the light also faded. When she would turn around, she would find the dugout with a hallway leading into the unknown. Out of the unknown walked a pony. Once the light from the cosmos hit his face, it was obvious who he was. "Moonlight, this way," Remington said before disappearing into the dark hallway again.

[Hippo]

There was a wordless and aimless confusion that cut through Moonlight sharper than any glass as she wandered a wilderness of self-pity. In time her torments and tormentors left her, voiding her of their memories and causes and leaving with her only the drumbeat of savage emotions left behind. But even those were to be lost in the tumult of the moment as a voice called out to her. her eyes darted until she found his voice and her heart soothed itself. She had been looking for him and here he was, safe and sound on the ground! "Remmy! I've been, like, looking everywhere for you!" She said as she trotted happily into the dark where had vanished, momentarily lost in the joys of having seen him again.

 

On the other side of the dark hallway was a bedroom. Not just a bedroom with a bed, but two beds. And not just a bedroom with two beds, but a dorm room! Remington stood there confidently, but then admitted his ignorance. "Moony? Where are we?"

 

It took a few seconds for her brain to allow the room to come in top focus. At first it came together like a painting, then  more real as the moments phased out of memory.  It was her dorm room! Her bed, complete with silken sheets and one too many comforters, was well made and tidy. Her closet was overfilling with clothes- the Professors had all added top her wardrobe and she couldn't help but have an eye for it herself. More than a few sets were draped over a working desk which was, well, organized chaos. Clothes, measuring tools, sewing thread and a machine next to books and books and books and even some of them were school related. The walls were filled with posters. Bands of all kinds, pop stars, fashion icons, as well as some calendars that seemed to stretch on. The underside of her bed had not one nor two but three suitcases of random items that she had brought with yet had not discarded, and  trail of chaos led to the dresser as she had fought herself one too many times trying to decide what to wear. "Oh, this is my dorm Remmy! Have a seat!"

 

Remington looked around him, to his left and to his right. "Um, I think I'll just stand for now." As Moonlight made her way into what was basically her home, it looked like she felt instantly comfortable about her environment. But Remington didn't feel home here, and was apprehensive about the whole room in itself. Not embarrassed for Moonlight's lack of tidiness, but rather wondering if he would be allowed here to begin with. "Should I leave? I don't want to be here if you don't want me here."

 

She raised her eyebrow. "Remmy, of course I want you here! Now sit your cute flank down!"

 

"Um. Ok." Remington meagerly found a spot on the floor not covered in garment and softly reclined on his haunches. He looked around the room, identifying the peculiar artifacts of a filly's bedroom, something he never thought would be as interesting as it was, while at the same time not overly amusing. He also peered through the window, which showed a clear night sky with twinkling stars and a bright full moon. "So. This is your room. Kind of normal." He playfully kicked an outfit lying next to him. "I don't know what I expected."

 

"Sweetie, just sit on the bed or, like, take a seat. On a chair?" She asked quizzically, then dismissed it with a laugh as she tossed her mane back. "What did you expect my room to be like, cutie? I'm alive, you know."

 

Remington stood up in obedience and moved himself to the bed. He climbed on it and lay down forward with his hooves tucked. He took noticed of the view from the window and noticed the stars again. "I don't know. I guess I expected it to be more...  I don't know...  Wait, what do you mean alive?"

 

"Oh, I was not dead earlier so I am alive. I wasn't born to fail, because I'm with you now," she said as she sat down. then, ignoring everything that was said, she leaned in. "So, what do you have in mind, cutie?"

 

Remington was perplexed by Moonlight's explanation, as it was utter nonsense and carried little context. He was going to answer her question, that which he had no answer to anyway, but noticed out of the window that the stars and moon started to move sideways. "Um, do you see that? The moon doesn't typically set that fast or in that direction. And...  is it morning already?" He looked at his watch on his left hoof which had the time indicators spinning out of control. He shook it assuming it might be broken.

 

"It shouldn't be morning," she muttered in annoyed response. She didn't know what she was angry about as she shut the blinds, then opened it up again. Nope, it didn't change. "Le sigh. Moony is all over the place!"

 

The stars accelerated sideways, and as the moon fell out of view, the room began taking on the characteristics as if it was spinning. Centrifugal force of the spin began throwing loose objects to the sides of the room, and Remington started bracing himself on the bed as he felt himself being pulled towards the window. He shut the blinds after Moonlight opened them again, for fear he would fall out. "What is happening?"

 

"I-" she tried to speak as the forces continued to exert pressure on her as she forced herself onto the bed, holding onto a post while her tail reflexively out of fear fell around him. "I-I don't know! This is WAY not cool, moon! Stop it, Luna! You're making this-" she had to choke down some vomit. "-REAL lame!"

 

Remington lost his grip on the bed and began walking the walls as the strange spinning continued to accelerate. "I don't think Princess Luna would do this. It's rumored she hates thrill rides. I think it's fine, I should be able to just stand on the walls." Shortly after, the force of the spin kept him from being about to stand sideways and he collapsed to the wall.

 

He seemed pretty calm considering the room was being treated like some carnival ride. She didn't like carnival rides and she was starting to think he wouldn't either soon enough. After all, he became glued to the wall. She tried to get over there in desperation but the room's vicious spinning took her and she went tumbling splat against the wall- face on the wall, on the stomach and off the ground, upside down. She moved her head with great effort. "THIS. IS. PRETTY. GRODY!"

 

Remington's left cheek was plastered to one side as he reached out with a hoof towards the incapacitated Moonlight. Once his hoof brushed her side, a large ball of light began growing between the two ponies. Some kind of source of condensed energy, the ball lit up the whole room brightly and blinded the ponies from seeing anything. A large powering surge noise was also vibrating throughout the room. What seemed like an hour, but was probably only a few seconds, the ball of light blasted its light before shrinking again until it disappeared, and the rooms spin began slowing down.

 

A rather sudden deceleration, the room stopped spinning completely, and the ponies fell to the floor. A few moments to breathe, and they would be able to react. "What. H-in the world. H-was that? I feel different. Why do I feel so... bitchin'." He walked around room and started picking things up that were knocked down during the spin.

 

Somehow, knowing where everything went seemed natural. There was a moment of clarity and he started to understand what was going on, and began speaking thoughts into existence. "When your apathy's gone sadistic and you've discarded truth, all of your work is worthless and now you're dancing with doom." Several Nightmare Night masks were thrown out of their box from the closet, and so he picked them up and put them back in their box, admiring each mask as he held them. "Your ego runs rampant and tells you you're screwed." His smile fell and worry came over him. He looked over at the full-sized mirror that had fallen down and started picking it up. "So I tried to watch the witness." Placing the mirror straight up, a large crack shattered the mirror, but still displayed an accurate reflection. "And I found out I'm you." Remington looked into the mirror and saw Moonlight. "Like, what is going on, Moony?"

 

The blinded blinded both little ponies, each one lost in the light and blackened by its radiance. In a moment that felt like an eternity there was nothing but that light and that energy, then as quick as it had begun it was over. Leaving them, only them, alone with one another as the room stopped and they tumbled. It took a while for Moonlight to try and move, seemingly paralyzed as she heard herself sing. It was deeply troubling hearing yourself sing, especially when it wasn't you and you were on the ground, and even more so when that cutie sounded distressed.

 

Finally she got up in the foreign room and turned to face herself, who looked aghast at the mirror and then her. Luckily, she had the right answer. "I'll tell you what's going on, Remington," she said as she tossed her blue mane. "We got addicted to the what could go wrong," she bemoaned as she trotted forward, her strong coltish hooves betraying no loss in confidence. "I think I’m livin’ right, if you just play along," she responded as she drew in close. It was weird, how she was he and he was she and how it was not the first time this had happened. Remington's hooves reached out to touch Moonlight's face. "We got addicted to our lonesome theme song-" she began before leaning in..."plans for the planet-" she started in before a loud crash shocked her out of the moment! "-we're done, run!"

 

Destruction started rolling into the bedroom from the doorway. There was some question as to where that lead to, but the question would turn into an urgent request to run in the opposite direction. The hallway back to the baseball field mysteriously missing, the only other way out of the room was the window that had been closed during the room's spin. Moonlight's reflection quickly moved to the window end of the room and threw open the shutters. She looked back at Moonlight. "I think I'm subconscious, speaking from a different part of your mind or heart." Moonlight didn't respond right away with the loud noises now filling the room. "Moonlight!? I'm your prison, won't you listen? Give me back your pride." She jumped out of the window into a nightly abyss, looking back at Moonlight with tears in her eyes. "Don't depend on me."

 

RemLight ran as quickly as he could over the window, tumbling down and through it in a panic behind her better self, his smarter self.  Rem didn't know how he was talking to her subconscious but knew only that behind them was an awful lot of destruction that she couldn't quite see. And i front of her, a love of self like never before asking the other half not to depend on them. And RemLight could respond only as one could, coming to a stop. "STOP DEFENDING ME!" She yelled, her hooves busy below as she ran in place in fear. RemLight pulled Mooington close before daring to look behind in horror! "We'll go down together!" Remlight tried to say before finding themselves running. When outpaced and with destruction on her heels, "Don't depend on me, a let-down forever!" She wept in equal to the tears that had existed before.

 

"Stop defending me. We'll go down together." Moonington responded as the two fell down a vague depth.

 

Before they could count to an imaginary number, the two found themselves in a ball room, both of them wearing fancy dresses in a posh environment with other stuffy ponies who were making small banter with each other and mingling around the hor d'oeuvres. Moonington panicked. "Should we even be here? What will they, like, say about us?" She looked down at her dress. "Does this make my flank look wider than it should be?"

 

 

Now the ball room was way more her scene than the field of destruction and what was happening before. She straightened herself up. RemLight was in a dress and while Remington wasn't one who could normally pull it off, it looked like RemLight was going to look like a million bits, and so was her better half. "No, no. You look great. How do I look?" RemLight said as he or she struck a pose, pulling a drink from a traveling waiter. "When your apathy's gone sadistic," she said as she poured the drink down. "And you've discarded truth..."

 

"Oh your identical dress is more bitchin' than mine for sure. You look too good for this place. Psych!" She giggled. She walked over to the dance floor and called over a pony to dance with. She found a willing stranger and began twirling and stepping to the music. The pony she was dancing with didn't show their face immediately. But they sounded intimidating when they decided to participate in the banter. "All of your work is worthless, and you're dancing with doom." Moonington stepped back as the dance partner revealed themselves to be a more evil looking pony.

 

Moonington looked back at RemLight, who seemed to be enchanting herself with other members of the ballroom. She yelled towards her, almost in a way of warning. "Your ego runs rampant, and tells you we're screwed."

 

"Identical dresses are pretty cool I guess," RemLight said as Mooington wen out to find a new dance partner. Made the ol' Remmy ticker die a little but RemLight knew that there were more fish in the sea and RemLight found one. A pretty mare with the salsa moves to die for and RemLight enjoyed every moment of it as they danced hard and fast on the floor. Then in time it changed and the mare harsher, meaner, and RemLight was being danced to rather than with him. eventually she pushed him and he went tumbling backwards until he turned to face himself yelling at herself, and she RemLight could only respond in fear. "So I tried to watch the witness, and I found out I'm you..."

 

The commotion of the ballroom turned sour as all the ponies stopped their pleasantries to goggle at the two impostors. Their welcome seemed to have expired and they were all waiting for them to be removed from the party so that their celebration of poshiness could continue without the dreamer's presence.

 

Seeing as they were not wanted here, Moonington added to RemLight's refrain her desire to leave. "Yo, like, maybe we should just get out of here." The other patrons began making snarls and grunts. "We're leaving, gosh! Gag me with a spoon!" She grabbed RemLight by the hoof and they exited the ball room. As it turned out, the ballroom was on a luxurious airship, and the yacht was currently traveling above the clouds. It was also nighttime, the moon being the only significant source of light onto the decks of the ship.

 

Moonington tried to assure herself, from herself. "Don't worry. It won't need us right after we've fed. It's enough, let's just hope it's our dad. You think a genius got crap on this lad?" She eyed an open area where many young attractive stallions were mingling. Moonington smirked and perked a look at RemLight, signaling that they should go over there. "Load up the lantern and let there be..."

 

The crowd was mean and vicious and everything and anything that was undignified about the crowd. the two same selves moved away, forced away, by the crowd's growing animalistic fervor. In this RemLight had to be kept safe and Moonington had to be safe and she needed to be sure he was well strapped in with the armor of affection. It was good to know they had each other even if everything else was a disaster, and a dreamboat in the sky was as lovely as one could ask for. Well-earned self affection gave RemLight the strength to fight through the negativity surrounding the pair. After all, when your life was lived in self-deceptive moments it was easy to toss aside negativity since you saved so much of it for yourself. Moments to moments passed by with her lovely self.

 

The pair moved to dance with the stallions and it would have been so nice, two mares alike. As they drew close, he blurted out. "Unconditionally dependent, love is hard to find," as he turned to Moonington and was about to rub herself against her, when all the stallions vanished- leaving nothing but a dress where RemLight once stood. Suddenly, an explosion occurred on the ship, and the blast disintegrated all of the stallions.

 

The airship broke apart, and as a result began falling to its end. The bow started to nosedive and it forced them both to slide off the edge of the railing, hanging on for whatever reality they felt they were apart of. Feeling like this would be a more real end than the last one, Moonington imparted to herself to allow the sacrifice to commence. "Don't depend on me! Stop defending me!"

 

The pony would fall and fall and as she fell and fell the cavalcade of terrible things and emotions overran her. Angry metal moans, biology born to fail, choking. Angry fillies, hot angry studs, angry dancers. Scripted to flip from one to another, the filly dove into the dark as the faces and words and worry about Remington continued to compound. Two in one identity where she discovered she was you and you was she, impending doom, depending, defending, STOP. "BORN TO FAIL! BORN TO FAIL!" She screeched as the voices nodded and the faces roared, "Your ego runs rampant, and tells you we're screwed!" she continued as she flailed about screaming, until the voices in her head were the only ones left. That, and a floating Remington, a floating Valen, a dress, a smile, a thought, a feeling, that she could reach out and touch. "We'll go down together," she whispered until the fall suddenly and completely stopped.

 

The fall was lethal. To what or to whom, it wasn't clear. As the Moonlight Glitter pairs fell, they grabbed each other and started to fuse, another ball of light emitting from their pelts. And after the light cleared, the two were one again.

[Hippo]

 

A red pegasus walked into the room, his name was Remington. He looked at the classroom, which was full of desks, some with faithful students eager to get started, others hovering around the room talking to new or old friends, and even others still nervously inspecting the walls and windows of the classroom. The teacher had not entered the room apparently. Remington looked around for an idea on which desk he should claim as his place to sit, softly minding the students expressions to get a hint for which classmates to avoid and who to greet as new friends.

An older filly sat in the middle-back of the room, her desk tidy and organized. She swept her purple and aqua mane away from her horn, Allsource on today, and her tail flitted about nervously. She was all smiles and easy, quick words of greeting but was otherwise keeping to herself. She had arrived exceptionally early and was among the first to have taken her seat. Maybe she was an ace student or maybe she was simply an eager student, but all who saw her agreed on two things: She was awfully pretty and she was likely very confident and prepared. One half of that was undoubtedly true. She was tremendously pretty!

Remington slowly scanned the classroom for a place to feel comfortable. He needed to find a seat but didn't want to intrude on anycreature's privacy. It was the first day of school, today would be a bad day to make enemies.

As she finished arranging her desk and materials, putting masks away, she ended up looking around, smiling and trying to acclimate like a normal pony would. And she was a normal pony. While looking around she had to do a quick double take when her eyes found an old friend. Is that Remington? It is! He was here and she was alive, she thought happily. She had been friends with that colt when she attended school in Manehattan (amongst other notable differences). He was a fun colt and look at that cute mane! He was Remington and he was here! She shook her head and smiled broadly at him.

He was new here and she was more than happy to see him. She was about to jump up and start talking to him then reminded herself that Moonlight was new to him and that she was born to fail. Oooh. Ooooohhhhh. Okay, she shouldn't do that then. Still, he seemed to be wanting a place to sit himself and what better place than next to her? "Hey! Yeah, you there! I have a seat, like, right next to me open, yeah?" She offered with a wave, hoping to at least have a friend sit next to her. Even if it was like meeting him again!

Remington slowing walked into the sea of desks hoping the other students wouldn't mind him sitting close. He was hoping that a familiar face or a even a pony who was trying to make friends would wave him down and invite them to sit next to them, but no one was giving him any looks. After a moment of hesitation, he curled into one of the desks and sat nervously looking around before resting his head on his hooves.

Huh. That was weird! Remington didn't notice her. That wasn't right. That wasn't to script-ed to flip! She walked over and corrected him. She moved his mouth and mouthed his words. "Hi, my name's Remington. This is my first day, just got off the train from Manehatten this morning. I didn't expect so many other students. Are they all new, too? Are, are you new?" She asked in his voice as she trotted back to her seat and took it.

 

"Yep! All new here! Well, I mean, new to, like, this school and stuff. I think most students in this class are totes new, too. Like, I could be totally wrong but I think this early Loyalty class is for first timers and, like, those who flunk. But I don't think anycreature's flunked so...whatever?" She ended with a friendly shrug as she refocused back on her friend. She hoped that would keep away the angry metal moans of her mental state back into order.

The classroom was very quiet. Many of his classmates were already mingling, and the seats were filling up. Everyone was seemingly having a good time except him. He had no one to talk to, no one to share his first day with. He would hope it would get better, but things seemed to not launch well. He had never had the problem of making friends, but having to move to a new town was different. He had never had to start from scratch like this before, and it was intimidating.

 

The professor flew into the classroom. "Alright everyone! Let's settle down. Time to get to the good stuff! The name's Rainbow Dash...Professor Dash to you guys! Now, who's ready for something fun?" Every creature cheered mildly. "Before I reveal what we're going to be up to...everycreature needs a partner. Try to pick someone you don't know very well!"

 

Remington sheepishly looked around for a partner. He still hadn't noticed her, which made her think she wasn't alive. It made her realize with growing fear that she was not the friend she needed to be before she proved to the world she was a bucking joke. She got up again, her seat making awful sounds as she ran back over to make him say words, though they didn't come as easy. "-I mean not your eyes, I mean if you had glasses. But your eyes are pretty, too," she said as she imagined a blush. She ran back and thought for a moment.

"Oh, my eyes? I mean, like, I guess they're kinda cute. I've been working on a killer makeup routine that, like, will be totally radical. Give me substance, give me something..." she said as she trailed off herself, having got lost in her own words and her own desire for a reaction as the mild applause given her professor was joined with an awkward silence that threatened to extend forever.

 

When RD started up her call for only bangers from now on and that they needed a partner, somepony Moonlight was sure would prevail, Tank came in low and slow, splattering the bag and emptying the crypt. Her eyes were lost in the tortoise as it mouthed, "something you couldn't kick?" which was weird because it shouldn't have been speaking. "Everyone's the goat!" Rainbow cheered her students on as they started to lazily pair off. Then she looked at Moonlight annoyed. "Seriously though, it's biology and you were born to fail," she leaned in and screamed, "NOW PAIR UP!"

 

Moonlight went looking for a mask and found one, trying it on as she desperately sought remington's attention. "Tsssh, this just in. Remington and Moonlight, like, totally ace whatever it is Professor Fast has planned! As if anything else was possible!"

Remington spotted a male kirin on his left. The kirin was standing up panning the room as many others were. When his eyes seemed to meet with the kirin's, he smiled and waved him over. Immediately, the male kirin smiled as well and started walking towards Remington. As he approached, Remington spoke up. "Hi, my name is Remington, would you like to be my part...ner?" The kirin walked right passed Remington.

 

No one in the classroom seemed to care he was there. He knew he wasn't invisible because they would occasionally look over at him with disgust, probably because he was caught starring at them. As he waited for the charity of another lonely class member, or for the teacher to assign him a partner, he slowly realized he was the only one left behind as all the other students made their way outside the classroom and into the courtyard.

 

He quickly stood up and walked out of the classroom. But instead of the hallway, he walked into his dorm room. Confused at first, but then shrugged. "Might as well be here anyway." He jumped onto his bed and looked up at his poster of Princess Luna. "Why is this so hard, Princess? Why does no one want to be my friend?"

Why wasn't he paying any attention to her? Why was Rainbow Dash so weird? Why did her memories fade, whispering invectives into her. Her ego ran rampant and told her that she was screwed, lost as he was, before in time it all faded. She tried to scream after him but instead all that came out was a bitter: "Don't depend on me!" before it all faded to black.

 

The scene seemed to switch to the hallway, which she knew led to Remmy's room. Remington was alive in there and talking. She knew this because she could see it, the walls transparent. Yet no matter how she tried, the door didn't work. Then she found herself outside the window.

"We got addicted to our lonesome theme song-" she whispered, though it came off angry. She tried to enter the window but something prevented her. "You foal I'm rich!" She yelled at it before digging into her saddlebag, looking for a mask. "Give me substance, give me something..." She put on the right mask and then leaped through his bedroom window. "'Tis I, Remington of Manehattan! Flap like a flag! Behold my Glory!" She bellowed in her best impression of the Lunar Princess, her Luna mask held tight without strings to her face. "Now, why have thee summoned me? 'Tis because you, like, have a question for Us?"

Remington stared at the poster. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for but he began to hear whispers that seemed to come from the walls. He looked around but could not see anypony. "Princess Luna?"

 

A figment for a moment, but then accelerated animations started coming from the Princess Luna poster. A two dimensional alicorn began breathing and moving, stepping into the room from its frame, and popping into three dimensions as a pony. "Remington?" She wore a stern, confused expression. She looked around inside the room, and scoffed with disappointment. "Pathetic. You're alone? No friends?"

 

"It's not my fault. I'll get better. I had friends back in the city, I just need time to-"

 

"SILENCE!" The animated poster princess stepped towards Remington angrily. She pointed at the poster which was now evacuated. "You're in love with a poster, a Princess who does not even know you exist. You're just in denial and with the wrong one. Love don't make you crippled or enslaved. You're just in denial and with the wrong one. Job description ain't the one who saves."

 

Several ponies from the school walked into the room from the door, looking at what was happening. Remington turned pale, and looked into his mirror. "I can still see my full reflection behind my new complexion. I just need to be alone." When he saw all the ponies looking at him, he panicked. "Why do ponies stare, are they noticing you're there? Swap me for my clone and don't touch me when I'm stoned."

Madness was something that brewed in the hearts of the distanced and distracted in equal weights, given to little but deadly anticipation of a moment that never came. She wanted to so desperately hear him acknowledge her and again and again he was tossed further into the sorrow of his own mind, increasing hers in equal ways, equally distanced and distracted, in anticipation of a moment that never came. She tried to reach him but found herself driven away from him physically, trotting around his imagined Luna which seemed to occupy a black hole between them until she found himself impossibly behind his mirror as he spoke desperately into it.

 

She tried to reach him, help him, and found the mirror impenetrable.  "I'll be my old self again soon," she promised the mirror and the colt behind it as she dug around for a mask, dropping Luna on the ground. "I just need time to unwind," she muttered breathlessly as she pulled it out, tears in her eyes as she ran out of ideas, in the darkness an angry mental metal moan. She found the Valen mask and started unwinding the too-long straps. "Smash my demons with cold fiction," desperate desperate spoke the one born to fail as she pulled the mask on, held it on, failure failure. "Until they're all catechized," she said hopefully with the mask on, pressing her hoof to the mirror once more.

 

The stranger ponies in the room continued to stare, and their dark silhouettes blocked the artificial light coming in from the hallway. Remington felt trapped by the room, intimidated by his animated princess, and shuttered to his bed. He pulled a blanket halfway across his body and turned, moving to discomfortable feelings of pressure. But he heard something that made his ears perk up. The sound of a familiar voice? A familiar feeling? "Moon-?" He whispered.

 

"Look at where you are!" the animated Princess coldly stated.

 

Remington fell back into bed and talked himself back into submission of his grief. "I need reminded, recognize it, thinking doesn't know. Another night, another night, another night alone. Minimize or dramatize, it stops, it starts, it goes. Another night, another night, and no one even knows." Remington curled in his bed, trying to block anything that might try to hurt or help him understand his momentary curse.

It wasn't working. It looked it was working and then it didn't, it didn't, failure failure failure. He fell back into his own grief and then submitted to it in his bed. She tried to smash and kick the mirror but found it was harder than it should be. As he murmured to himself in sorrow she screamed and growled and failed again and again, the Valen mask shattering instead into pieces and never coming back. "Did you notice I'm normal?" She then took a few steps back and shoulder checked the mirror, falling through it as if it never existed, falling onto the floor of his room. 

"Did you notice I'm normal," she said as she pulled herself up, approaching the bed in desperation. "Take a look babe I'm normal!"

 

While Remington continued his grief of situational loneliness, he felt the presence of another. A companion? A friend? He looked around for the aura that seemed to illuminate around him. But before he could fully acknowledge what or who it was, the animated horror Princess Luna chastised his feelings once again. "You're just in denial and with the wrong one," she repeated.

 

The course correction forced Remington to stand up and walk up to the strange silhouetted ponies, and attempt to greet them as guests in his unfortunate living space. "Uh, uh hi!" He was a fool, he felt. The others wouldn't care about him. Remington looked away. "How do I say 'hi' to another guy when I wanna die? Why!?"

He turned to another pony. "Hi?" The shadowy filly did not respond, and it immediately angered him. "Why don't you say 'hi', we're all alive, I guess that's nice, don't wanna die!"

 

He turned to a third pony. "Hi!?" He put his leg around him. "It's nice to be alive, don't wanna die, you should say 'hi', I won't lie! Ugh! But first, I'm saying 'hi' to say I tried to stay alive."

 

The dark room began to brighten up, and as it did, what was revealed was that the silhouetted ponies were cardboard cutouts of generic pony shapes. On one of the walls of the room, an audio tape reel was rolling. Remington reacted to it in anger. "What!?" As the room seemed to shift in time for a few seconds, he shouted, "Who the heck's recording this, I never gave my full consent. There's sounds I make I can't defend, or show them to my mom." He covered his face in shame, and laid on the floor of the room.

 

"I grapple, I paddle, I clutch," she muttered in defeat as she sat down. No matter what she did he could not hear her. More thinking, more sinking, more mud. She stood up, this time feeling more than a little angry. Not at him, but at everything. "Angry metal moans! Stitch!" She seethed at nothing as she followed him, watching him try and fail at making friends with the cardboard cutouts. It wasn't working. He was sad, lost, alone, afraid, thinking, sinking, stuck in mud. "How many holes have we dug?" She screamed in frustration at the cutouts, kicking one or two of them for good measure. Still, defeated in time, defeated in rhyme, forlorn and defeated did they both retreat. She sat down and looked down, sighing in sorrow. She looked at him as he retreated into his shell. She laid over him, angling her head over his barrel so she could look at his face. Shaking her head all she could say was, "More thinking, more sinking, more mud..."

A violent storm was circling around the room, picking up stray objects and turning them into trash. Over only a few seconds, the storm growled loudly and began rushing out of the room through the lonely window. Everything escaped. Princess Luna's projection was sucked out, the cardboard cutouts and recording reels were tangled and thrown out, too. Like a vacuum, the window removed every piece of substance the nightmare had been brewing, and its cathartic winds drove the clutter out of existence. Remington grunted an exhausted whimper.

 

And then it was silent.

[Hippo]

Remington slowly opened his eyes and looked around. There was nothing. But when he looked behind and above him, he could see a pink unicorn drawing to his attention. He was slightly confused. He whispered, "Moonlight?" 

 

The world was torn and sucked asunder in what was, to Moonlight, a flash, an instant, insight into nothing as the false nature of the world around her died off under the all-seeing, all-perverse eyes of whatever ill-fortune visited them. What started in chaos and sound ended in silence, a dripping of nothingness in a void. Two hearts beating, two ponies breathing, one draped over the barrel of another. Two hearts seeking, two eyes peeking, and the colt asked if it was her. Moonlight opened her eyes and stared at Remington. "Is Remington watching? I'm me. I'm not dead," she said as she buried her head under his. "Where were you?" 

 

Remington stood up carefully and looked at Moonlight. She was saying strange things, but when she hooked her head under his chin, his heart melted. "I'm, right here, Moony." Remington completed a hug by wrapping his front legs around her. He wasn't fully cognitive of his surroundings, but he knew this filly. "But where is here? Why do I feel lost?"

 

She looked up at him, head a fog, heart aflutter. "I think we are where we are," she said as she leaned into the warm hug, "like, and we're who we are, so wherever we are is fiiiiine by me."

 

"I guess." Remington felt so sad for unknown reasons, but he could feel the standard emotion that hung on his mind. "I just feel so lonely." Remington dropped the hug and looked around. He walked up to the door and when he opened it, both of them were standing in a seaport, with several boats departing and arriving at the docks. He looked at Moonlight. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"You know it," she said with a giggle, making sure to maintain body contact until he moved to open the door. The seaport smelled...salty, and rude, and crude, and she didn't like the water anyway, but here they were. "Wherever the tides take us."

 

Remington walked up to an older stallion who seemed to be checking fare tickets for a boat hire. Under his wing, he pulled out two tickets and gave them to the pony. The red pegasus nodded to Moonlight and walked up the plank to board the boat. It was a small yacht, not too glamourous, but perfect for sight-seeing. She stepped on, looking all around. It was a nice boat for nice ponies. They were nice ponies. Moonlight felt something was wrong or right, but she felt something, from the tip of her horn and the strands of her tail hairs. All was nervous energy, she was calm and alive. "So, where to now?" 

 

Once the two hopped onto the common deck, Remington looked around and spotted a dinner table for two. "Come on, let's grab a bite as we set sail." After walking over to it, he pulled out one of the chairs for Moonlight to sit in.

 

By now, she was excited. The filly pranced into position. "What a gentlecolt!" She said as she took her seat. "Whatcha thinking?"

 

After Moonlight was set in her chair, Remington swung around and sat on his. His elbows resting on the table, he rested his head on his hooves as he mused at Moonlight. "I don't know, I guess we order?" He looked around for a waiter or hostess. With little activity from the help, Remington was getting quickly impatient. Eventually, a mare walked buy who was wearing an apron. "Hey, can we get a menu?" The mare seemed to purposefully ignore him and walked by the table without giving a glance.

 

Remington was not having it. He followed her into one of the boat's cabins. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" He used his body weight to shove her to the floor in order to get her undivided attention. "My girl and I would like some bread and sparkling juice, and make it quick! Don't make me come in here again," he yelled, "or I'll give you a hoofprint on the side of your face!"

 

He returned quietly to the table and sat down and continued his amusement with Moonlight. "There's nothing shameful," he explained as he held her hoof, "that I wouldn't do."

 

Moonlight was just so happy to be anywhere but where she was and with anyone who wasn't the mask inside, so much so that she could forgive a lot of unforgivable behavior. She was never a genius and she was never the sort of pony to think she was better than others but she very much didn't think any of that mattered anymore because Remington was alive and she wasn't dead. The mask was on the ground and broken and she kept on sleeping it under the table. It wasn't a thought as she took her seat and opened the menu, her tail bounced up and down. She was content and happy on date, a date with someone who was here.

 

She was almost too engrossed in the menu and the weird symbols and words that seemed to bleed into her eyes to notice at first Remmy's increasing agitation. But that was okay. He was a colt of good passions and sometimes that could take a pony into places deep and exciting as equally as they had no control. Ponies were strange and really that server was not being very good. But she certainly didn't deserve his reaction. His chilling, violent reaction, his anger and his badness which seeped through like a red pulse. She put her menu down and her eyebrows arched in concern. What was he doing? This was not the Remington she liked a lot even when she was alive and not dead. When he came back to her however his words were as sweet to her words as they were concerning. She closed the menu. 

 

Without much time for reflection, a waitress pony walked out onto the deck pushing a snack cart. She hurried it to their table and pulled out sparkling juice and began pouring it into flute glasses. Moonlight looked at the glass greedily, excited to have a nice drink. A nice drink, nice date, nice colt. Well, not a nice colt, but he was her colt, and she was gonna have to figure out why he was acting that way. He probably just needed some TLC and she was good at all sorts of TLC. She was going to talk to him about his behavior before the glass she was going to have was dropped, and shattered. The waitress paused and then fled.

 

Remington stood up quickly in reaction, and immediately shared a scowl on his face. But once he saw all the wait staff watching in fear from behind obstacles, he realized how overly aggressive he was being, and his expression fell. "Moonlight what has gotten into me?" As soon as he finished asking his companion, grey clouds began filling the skies and small rumbles introduced the coming of a storm.

 

He stood up and Moonlight felt her ears pin back as she drew back, his immediate fury catching her not as off guard as she would like. Just as she thought it would get worse, he seemed to snap back. She looked up at him and spoke as the storm came on. "You're not, like, yourself. You sure you're okay, birdboy? Tell me about it!" She asked with thunderous concern.

The ship was not docked. At some point during the wait for beverages, the yacht that Remington and Moonlight found themselves on had departed its port. It was only noticeable how far away from land it had gotten when the boat began rocking back and forth to the singing of the oncoming storm. No precipitation, but gusts of wind and intimidating swells that could be seen off the sides creating a feeling of danger, and for some others, adventure. "Oh, we be hittin' a mighty storm. She's a blowin'!" The captain of the ship was wrestling the wheel as if this yacht was actually some sort of galleon and could even be mistaken as a pirate ship. But maybe the eyepatch on the captain's face only made it seem that way.

 

"Come on!" Remington wobbled his way to the captain and began arguing with him. "Step aside oldie, we need to steer this ship back to port." The captain immediately showed his displeasure and shoved Remington away from him.

 

The yacht dream was quickly turning into a high air adventure. Did she say adventure? She meant nightmare. High storms threatened to upend the delicacy of intimacy, toss aside the sweetness of surrender, and blow away the soft sounds whispered between two ponies. That and it was wet, loud, and scary. Especially scary. She did not want to imagine that this was the best they could come up with but alas, alas, alas, avast ye mateys and up the black sail of nightmares as the yacht was tossed about. Speaking of tossing about, Remington was tossed about by the older captain. "Totally not cool! Grody AF!" She yelled before her horn lit up and she shot a beam at the motherbucker in anger.

Remington tried getting up, but standing up straight was extremely hard for him with the way the ship was moving. When he finally stabilized himself, he saw the captain dodging lasers from Moonlight's horn. After a few misses, Remington tackled the captain and rolled with him across the deck. He quickly got up to brace himself for retaliation, but the captain was unconscious.

 

With the boat continuing to rock violently sideways and every way, Remington found a rope and tied himself to it and tied the other end to Moonlight, with the expectation it would keep them anchored. Remington climbed the helm and tried to stop the aimless spinning to a controlled steer. He looked at the captain and then looked at Moonlight. "I must have killed that bit, we should have stayed in Equestria. Too much I spent, my shape got bent. I'm just a silly stallion. I spilled my beans 'cause I'm a fiend, and I can't fly this galleon." Debris from on the ship started drifting turbulently with the wind. A heavy rope hanging from one of the sails above wacked Remington clean off his hooves and sent him overboard. He splashed into the stormy waves the rope he was tied to going with him.

 

Undertow.....        undertow....         undertow.....      under....

 

To call it all a little overwhelming would be doing disservice to the concept of getting 'whelmed ever, because she was super duper ultra overwhelmed. The Captain was knocked out and Remington took the helm as best he could, having tied the duo as sturdy as he could. Well, at least they would go together. She was pretty sure he was dead, he was dead, she was dead and they were not much alive. If only she had the mask. The mask would keep her safe no matter the trouble, worms and all. He tried his best to steer the ship but he couldn't. She wishes she could have helped him feel better but, well, she was scared. 

He seemed to put it all on him. "The storm isn't-" she began to try and calm him as the ship around them started to fall apart. One piece of debris took him out of the yacht- and, well, she watched the rope grow taut around her as the debris and colt threatened to pull her under as well. She was almost pulled over but skidded to a stop with her back hooves braced against the side, her front hooves trying to pull him out of the water. Her horn was even into it, trying to do everything she could. It wouldn't be enough and with a squeal of terror she was also pulled over the side and into the drink.

Remington resurfaced on the rolling stormy waves, barely able to tread the violent waters. He saw that Moonlight had been pulled into the water as well. He thrashed, expelling his energy to stay afloat, but kept enough extra to scream obscenities to his fillyfriend. "All those thoughts you think don't even matter. Punch yourself, punch you in the face. All those thoughts you think don't even matter. If you don't care, you don't have to say!"

 

Remington falls beneath the waves. The rope tied around him slipped out of him as he sank. He could see Moonlight above him during his descent, which calm and patient, almost like he was content with dying. "So take me for granted. I know I never really meant that much to you. All our memories will be erased. The only way out is forward, as far away as I can get." Remington began to move towards the abyss, the darkness of the waters becoming black, and the void growing endless.

 

The mood whiplash was easily as terrible as the actual whiplash, and she didn't know what to think or feel. Here he was insulting her, and here she was drowning with him. There he was drowning, and there he was talking. The topsy turvy world of chaos and water had been something she could barely, scarcely, understand as the whirling miasma of emotion and water alike strangled any deep thought. Choking, dying, drowning, sobbing, screaming in the water, with angry metal moans. She dove after him and tried to talk, doing nothing but bloating herself up with fear. She tried to dive towards him, her horn flashing red and white and green and blue and pink and black in alarm as she tried to save him.

Remington glanced at Moonlight but then continued floating down and away. "Where to now?" The rope around Remington slipped off of him, leaving him free to of its tether. "What happened to my bucking purpose? I am just a stone sinking, broken, and numb. Where to now? The way you made me, made me worthless. Truth is, in the end we all end up alone." Remington sank to a standing upright position and started walking towards a doorway, and then proceeded to walk through it. On the other side of the doorway was a large theater.

She continued to dive towards him frantically, his words nothing more than bilious illusions alluding to words that the water strangled from her. In time he seemed to grow dark, land on his hooves, and walk. Around that time she lost him into the nothingness that was the future. She tried to ask where he was to make sure they were both very much fine and not dead but alas, she couldn't. Just when she was about to give up she found herself swimming up against a barrier. She tapped it, then pressed against it. After a few moments of effort she heard a pop and found herself floating above the theater briefly before falling down with a "Guuyah!"

 

The theater had a stage and on this stage was a microphone with a guitar on a stand. Remington sauntered over to the guitar and picked it up. He began playing a song that matched the tone of his voice. "Can you feel me, calling your name from the balcony seats you left empty?" A spotlight lit up the balcony showing several seats empty, although all the seats were empty. "Can you feel me, tearing apart everything we used to be." The lights on the theater fell and only left a small light on Remington, showing his vulnerable position. He dropped his guitar and remained silent, waiting for something or somepony to intercept his lonely perception.

Moonlight fell flat on her flank in a seat, flipping over it and her head swimming along with it. It took her a while to understand what was happening or where she was, but her ears were working just fine and she heard Remington sing. It was, as was becoming common, concerningly sad when they should both have been happy to live after everything they were through. And now she had such a seat to such a performance, how grand! Except it wasn't grand. It was sad. When it ended, she pushed through the droves of empty seats and mounted the stage, totting towards Remington and catching him with a hug. Then, she gave him a kiss. "Can you feel this?"

Remington was jarred from his relaxed position to having to stand up to brace Moonlight's affection. When the kiss ended, he stepped back and resumed his pensive stature. He murmured softly a question he presumed to know the answer to. "You don't actually want me, do you?"

She stepped into the space he gave up when he stepped back. "Well, duh. Like, of course I do."

 

Remington whispered, "She'll always want me..."

He sat on his haunches, put his hoof to his heart and then held it up for Moonlight to grab. She grabbed it, then leaned into him and kissed him again, this time pushing him onto the ground with her momentum. Remington laid down for a moment from Moonlight's passionate pounce, but then quickly shoved her off. "Take! All you do is take! Well, you can have it all!!!" Remington's chest began emitting several colors that filled the room around them, the pony's manes whirling with the breeze the expressions seemed to create. He then fell back into a large spider web. He landed in it, and was immediately wrapped in sticky silk. "Caught! In your web, I'm caught! Catch me when I fall!" Remington peered back at Moonlight and acted like he couldn't look away from her. "Stare! Kill me with your stare! All I do is follow!" Remington pulled away slowly from his entrapment and crawled towards her. "Care! Do you even care, if I'll be there tomorrow!?"

Moonlight was becoming more and more convinced that she was in a dream, because this was all vey dream-like. The rainbows were things she would like for her to dream about. Then, it got weird. And undream-like, because it was scary, which made it a nightmare which this could not be since he was alive and she was not Valen. But maybe she was a spider, because of the webs. Or maybe she was a mirror for his own expressions, because he couldn't stare away from her, and as he started to crawl towards her all she could do was roll her eyes. He was being so totally bogus right now! "Like oh my Twilight, I've totally had enough," she said before her expression hardened.

"Flap like a flag! Scrip'ted to flip!" She turned around on cue, looking away from him. "Tssk! Seriously, like, angry metal moans!" She said with exasperation. When he finally reached her hooves she raised the one he touched briefly, as if preparing to kick off some manner of goo. She looked down at him. "This is the moment you wish you'd woke," she said as she waggled her legs free of him derisively, "before you had your chance and totally choked." She said as she trotted into the darkness.

 

Remington was panting. It became difficult for him to breathe. But Moonlight panicked and fled, leaving Remington gasping for breath on the floor. She left a mask behind her that seemed to fall from her face. He clutched the mask and yelled, "A medical dependency to you, there's nothing shameful that I wouldn't do." He put the mask on, and immediately evaporated out of existence.