Twilight peered out from behind the massive oak tree looking out over the chasm. She searched for the rope bridge she had used to cross the first time she had visited this place. She found that they had built a stone bridge in it's place. Small squads of guards were patrolling about the ground on the far side of the bridge. Twilight was surprised when she really studied the castle. The last time she was here, it was a broken ruin, with barely a complete wall left standing. Now the castle was a bunker that seemingly no army could destroy. The walls went higher than Twilight had remembered, guards patrolled the tops of the towering walls. She looked at the door, once a decayed wooden door was now a massive gate of solid steel.

The purple unicorn searched for any way she could sneak into the castle without alerting the guards. An idea came to Twilight's mind. She could just use her magic and teleport herself into the castle. There was no way she could forget the entrance to the castle, it was a crystal clear picture in her mind. All Twilight had to do was hold that image in her mind and cast the spell. Her horn began to glow purple with magic, but then twilight stopped herself. She would need all the energy she had to make it through the fortress once she was inside, getting in couldn't be the thing that slowed her down more than anything else.

Twilight had to find another way in. She knew that her first step would be to get across the massive bridge. Twilight walked through the trees, coming closer and closer tot he bridge with every step, but still keeping her distance as to avoid being detected by any of the three dozen guards patrolling the outside of the castle. Twilight slipped behind a pillar at the end of the bridge closest to her.

Sweat trembled across her face, she knew that she would have to make a break for the door the next time it opened if she wanted to get in. Nothing but fear ran through Twilight's mind. If she messed this up....it was all over. She would have let everypony she cared about down...

No. Twilight perished every hint of worry from her mind. She couldn't let them down, she wouldn't. Twilight took a deep breath as the massive steel doors behind her opened, allowing a pair of guards to enter. Twilight turned and around the corner of the pillar that had concealed her and ran.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Gates walked uneasily through the forest, watching as shadows danced across the forest floor, making him stop and level his weapon each time he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Gates couldn't shake the feeling that he had walked this path before. He knew had never been there but-

His mind flashed back to himself walking alone through the forest, hurt and scared, not knowing what to do...

Gates shook his head, pushing the memory back. This was all bringing back things he never wanted to remember. It felt like he was walking alongside himself. Like he was living it all again. It felt so... familiar. It was a feeling that nopony should ever have to deal with once, let alone again and again.

"Just calm down," Rampart's voice came back to his, at first seeming like a sound of solace to Gates. He was mistaken," it's not like anything will happen to you, Gates."

"You've always been good at taking care of yourself," Lucy assured sarcastically," never mind that you've left all of your friends behind."

"Twilight is more than capable of-" Gates began to attest to his faith in his friend, Twilight, but his old friends went on.

"Don't even try to lie to us, Gates," Lucy cut him off quickly," we know what you know."

"And you know that it's all over for your friends," Rampart added," that's why you left Gates. You left them to save yourself. That's why you sent Briggs off alone, isn't it?"

Gates leaned up against a nearby tree and tried to slow his breathing. His heart was racing. He looked ahead at what appeared to be two ponies standing alone in the darkness. He ran up to see them, but they vanished just as quickly as they appeared. Gates shook his head, trying to clear his mind. They weren't there. They weren't doing this. They couldn't be.

"You... you weren't like this before," Gates said out loud, not bothering to keep his thoughts to himself," you were never like this before."

"Just another way you let us down, old friend," Rampart replied slowly," it doesn't seem fair that you get to decide who we are to you. But you left us, maybe if you would have never left, none of this would have happened in the first place. If you wouldn't have left us, you wouldn't have to worry about any of this."

"But, it's too late now," Lucy added as Gates fell slowly into a tree next to him. His breaths were short and rapid. Gates was filled with anguish, and he couldn't fight it off. Fight it off like everything else. Fight of the fear, anger, and sadness just to keep it away for another few minutes. Just to feel okay again, for the first time in a long time. Lucy went on," now you've let everypony down the same way you let us down."

"I did all I could," Gates pleaded with his friends, talking like they were standing right next to him the way the used to," I never wanted you two to leave. Believe me, I would give anything to go back."

"You say you never wanted us to leave," Rampart said calmly," then why did you force us away?"

"We never wanted to leave either," Lucy added," but you made us leave Gates. You were selfish and you pushed us away. You got what you wanted from us and then you ran."

“No... I," gates found himself choked up. He could barely think of the words to say that would make them understand. Make him understand. Gates got up from the ground and ran. He ran as fast as he could through the trees, trying to escape the memories that were coming rushing back. Gates' heart was racing, he couldn't even feel himself moving across the rugged ground of the forest. It just felt like he was gliding, like he was hanging in the air as he ran. Well, it had felt that way up until her tripped and fell to the ground.

Tears ran down Gates' face. He wasn't crying, but he couldn't keep tears from falling form his eyes. He scrambled back to his hooves and leaned against a tree, trying to hold himself up. He had to focus, he had to get of here. He had to push everything back in his mind.

"I'm sorry..." Gates pleaded," for the thousandth time I am so, so sorry..."

"You're sorry," Lucy replied sarcastically," well if you're sorry that makes everything okay, doesn't it, Gates? You can just say sorry and move on, just forget about what you did to us."

"I really am..." Gates was trembling, he couldn't stand to hear his friends like this. He felt the same way he did so many years ago. This wasn't them, they were nothing like he remembered. Why couldn't he just be left with the memory of what he had. Why couldn't he just move on. Why did it have to haunt him every day of his life.

"I told you, Gates" Rampart was yelling in Gates' mind," you can't lie to us, you know flanking well what you did! You let this happen, you let us down, and you made that choice!"

"Don't try to tell us you're sorry for what happened when you're the one who did it in the first place," Lucy exclaimed, sharing Rampart's tone," you let it all happen."

"I guess you got what you always wanted, didn't you Gates?" Rampart asked angrily," you took what you wanted form us and you left, I guess we just weren't important enough after that, were we?"

"No...I'm, I'm sorry..." Gates barely managed to speak, he knew they were lying. They had to be. His vision was blurring and he could barely tell the difference between his friends' voices and his. He shook where he stood, cold sweat fell across his face while chills ran down his spine.

"You let it all happen, you did this, Gates," Lucy and Rampart both said as everything came rushing back to Gates. The memories he had tried so hard to keep from coming back. They were all coming back at once as his friends said " you did this to us, Gates.”

“You killed us."

Next Chapter: Chapter Twenty Three - Haunted Estimated time remaining: 51 Minutes