The sight that greets me when I reach the top of the hill feels me with sorrow and rage the likes of which I’ve never known before. There are three of them. Three large red wolves that are chowing down upon a dark-blue and red pegasus’s body. I could only just recognize her sky-blue mane due to the blood and dirt that covered it. One of them is chewing on her hind leg, another has her dismembered wing in its mouth, and the last is gnawing upon her throat.

As I take in the display, anger becomes me. When the one chewing on her hind leg starts twisting it, I scream and jump forwards. Something inside me is yelling at me that it’s suicide, but that part is but a whisper blowing into a hurricane, a hurricane that fills me with strength, rage, and blind passion.

I’ll save her or die trying.

One of them turns towards me a second before I reach him. My hoof connects with his jaw, sending him careening backwards. The action surprises the pack as well as me.

I had no idea how strong I could be.

As the one on her hind leg lets go of Nighttide and approaches me, I steal a glance at her body. For a moment, I think I can see her chest rise and fall; it’s more than enough to give me strength.

“You’ll never touch her again!” I shout before jumping forward.

I aim my next hit at the one I just put on the ground. When my hoof connects with its jaw I hear some ugly cracking, then an awful howl from him. Now I have the undivided attention of the entire pack as they start to surround me, I know what’s going on; pack mentality diverts their attention to the greatest threat. That just became me.

While the one I hit tries to nurse its lower jaw, the others approach me slowly with glares on their muzzles. I should feel fear, I should be afraid, terrified even, but there’s only anger, an anger that is empowering me with confidence and strength I never knew I had. The first one leaps at me but I see him coming, it’s easy enough to avoid his attack with a quick jump to the left. As an answer back I buck out with my hind legs just as he lands at the spot I vacated, my legs connect on his stomach and knock him over onto his side.

It amazes me how easy it is. I’m not thinking, simply reacting. In much the same way in which my body led me here, it’s almost as if it’s acting on its own.

I wonder if I could take Vela right now?

That rogue thought costs me. When I hit the second, the third has time to come closer. With a howl he reaches out and his claw and strikes my back right hoof. Pain is wavering through me, numbing some of the anger, but not enough.

Nowhere near enough.

I roll upon my side and leap up, almost as if I’m exploding into the air with the force of a party cannon going off. My head impacts his chest, winding the hound.

“Leave her alone!” I shout the words. My plan is simple; they’re only here because they think Nighttide is easy prey, that she’s an easy meal. I don’t have to kill them; I just have to make the energy of fighting for her more than she’s worth.

At the moment I’m far away from that. The one that’s still nursing his lower jaw comes closer. I can see him, but he seems to be waiting for something. I recognize it too late. They form a triangle, attacking me from three separate directions, leaving me no space to flee.

For a short time I feel panic. When they leap forward I do the first that comes into my mind. I drop down onto the ground, making myself as small as I can. The next thing I hear is an ugly sound as the hounds impact over me in a howl of pain. Still, one of them manages to cut into my already wounded leg, sending the pain deeper into my body. My body answers in reflex, bucking out and breaking something important. While the other hellhounds rise, glaring at me, the one I hit lies still on the ground.

One down, I smile at that. There are only two left, the one with the broken jaw and the last, while he’s uninjured, I can see that he’s growing cautious, they both are. My body starts to act on its own. I know against normal wolves I should be submissive, but I cannot, I have somepony I have to save.

Somepony I will save.

My body acts without thought; I stand to my full height. I push my chest forward, my head is held high. I glare at them with the look of somepony that sees their opponents only in contempt. I forget the pain in my leg, pain is temporary, simply weakness leaving the body. I charge the hound with the broken jaw, a battle cry on my lips.

The action is as unexpected as it is stupid. I know, logically, I’m these things next meal. I’m what they hunt, their food source.

Right this second I couldn’t give a buck less about logic. My heart wills me to do this; it wants me to do this. My body obeys and my brain could take a flying leap off a cliff for all I really care.

The uninjured one looks scared, good. He’s the biggest threat, but I may not have to attack him. The one with the broken jaw lunges at me. He swipes out with a claw across my muzzle. It impacts; a splash of blood stings my eye. I know from experience that it’s going to leave a nasty scar.

I don’t care; it’s not my first scar.

I slam shoulder first into the hound. We’re about equally sized, but I have the greater momentum on my side. I feel a bruise develop on my shoulder and something break.

A smile dawns upon my lips as I realize that the breaking sensation wasn’t from me. I press all four hooves back to the ground, drawing myself back to my full height. It hurts, my shoulder hurts, my hind leg hurts, and my muzzle burns. I don’t care; I don’t care in the slightest.

“Come on!” I shout at the uninjured one. It’s for show, I know that much at least. If he attacked, I may be able to fight him off, but he’d get his pound of flesh. However, I can picture things from his point of view. He’s a pack animal and his entire pack was just defeated.

As if to emphasize this point I slam a hoof down on the hound that’s lying on the ground. There’s a rather satisfying howl of pain from that hound. I’m careful, I don’t stay in range for too long, I remove my hoof before he can swipe at me.

The hound in front of me has fear on his face. I see it and smile. He just needs one more push and he’ll run. I puff out my chest as far as it will go and do the dumbest thing I’ve done today, even dumber than coming into Tartarus all by myself. I start walking towards him.

“You want an easy meal? Why don’t you try me on?” I don’t shout, there’s no need. I stay calm; I let the weight of my words speak louder than shouting ever could.

“I’ll break every bone in your body.”

That did it. The hound lets out one final cry and takes off. The one behind me sees his partner leave and starts scampering away. With one quick look at the third one I see where I had hit it. Or more precisely, I see the damage I caused. Somehow, my back hooves managed to strike it on the back of its head.

I don’t give it a second’s thought. I know I killed it, I know that much, but I just don’t care. Something… something else matters far more to me right now.

“Nighttide!” I yell as I start galloping to her.

Her dark-blue body has another color added to it: Red. Blood red.

I don’t even feel my own wounds anymore. My leg, my shoulder, my muzzle, it’s almost like somepony injected them with morphine, or like they were never hurt to begin with. I slide to a stop right next to her; she’s… she’s….

“NO!”

The shout leaves my muzzle on its own violation. I rip the saddlebags from my back, noting with some disdain that one of the hounds must have scored a lucky blow on them during our fight.

My muzzle digs into them; I pull out some gauze and do what I can for her. I… I’ve never seen this much blood, I… I don’t even know where to begin. I… I...

Did you come this far just to fail now? What about your promise?

The thought is at once mine and not mine. My hooves start working on their own volition, they start bandaging her wing, her hooves, and everywhere else she’s bleeding from. “I came back for you,” I finish my promise. “I came back for you,” I say again.

I’ve come too far to fail now. Grabbing some of the bandages and the spray that should help her avoid infections, I look over her wounds. They are countless and I’m not exactly trained in first-aid, so I have no clue where to start, or any clue which wound I should treat first.

That’s not what she needs; she needs a reason to live.

The thought is at once an anathema to me and makes all the sense in the world. It causes my hooves to stop moving, my brain to stop thinking. It’s ridiculous, stupid, and yet I cannot fault its logic. I pick her up in my hooves and hold her. Her face, I softly move a loose strand of her sky-blue mane from her face.

“I came back for you,” I sob the words as tears start falling from my eyes, they land on her muzzle. “I came back for you. Just like I promised you I would, because… because I love you, Nighttide.”

Thump, thump.

I felt it, or at least I swear I did. Placing her chest to my ear, I strain to listen.

You never realize just how noisy the world can be until you’re trying to hear something soft, something quite.

Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours, and hours became days. Time is meaningless, I know I heard it, I know I felt it. I… I just can’t hear it again.

Thump, thump.

My heart skips a beat as her heart beats again.

“Please, Nighttide. I’m here as I promised. Please don’t leave me hanging now. I need you,” I whisper, gently nuzzling her. I can feel it now, the soft beat of an overworked heart. It’s pumping with more regularity now.

When I feel the touch of her breath upon my fur my smile almost splits my muzzle in half. I can feel her breathing; her chest is softly moving in and out, in and out. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.

I pull her muzzle away from my own and expect to see her eyes staring at me or at the very least her kind smile.

There’s… there’s nothing. Her eyes are shut; she’s alive, just not awake. My sister’s words come back to me; she’s been down here for four days, that’s four days without food and water. She needs fluids.

Once more I reach into my back and pull out a bag of IV fluids. I note with some dismay that one of the bags was torn open. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I see the needle at the end and cringe; I’ve never done anything like this before.

Thankfully, the instructions prove to be more than helpful and I’m done before I know it. The bag is positioned on her chest and I go back to bandaging what I did not get to already. It takes me a long time to clean, spray down, and cover all her wounds with the gauze, but fortunately the more heinous wounds are already starting to close on their own. I see that and smile, all she really needs is time.

Beep, beep, beep.

I look in shock at the watch as it marks the last hour. Considering that I needed one hour to find the place, it was time to head back or we’d miss the portal. It pisses me off; I rip the watch from my hoof and chuck it as far as I can. She needs time and time is the one thing I cannot give her.

It’s now or never.

Grunting, I pick her up and place her upon my back. She’s not the heaviest thing I’ve ever carried and it’s made easier by the fact that I do not retrieve the saddlebags, but still. She’s a fifteen year old mare, or at least her body is. It’s not an easy weight to bear.

Especially as the adrenaline leaves my body and my wounds pick now to remind me that I’m injured. My muzzle burns as the cut makes itself known, my shoulder hurts from the extra weight, and every step I take makes my back right hoof hurt that much more. I grind my teeth together as I ascend the hill.

The trail back is easy enough to follow. Whereas before I was going in an uncertain direction, this time I simply have to retrace my hoof prints. It’s slow going as the weight upon my back shifts, almost causing me to fall down. I know that if I place her down it will be that much harder to pick her back up. My best bet is to grin and bear it.

I follow my trail back, past the remains of the castle and start heading to the black mountains. It’s easier going only by the fact that I have a rough idea of where to go and a trail to follow. I start to mentally kick myself for throwing away the watch. It would be somewhat useful to know just how much time I had left, even if it would have added to my burden. There’s nothing I can do about it now, what’s done is done, or so they say anyway.

Each step is harder than the last. My body fights me every inch of the way. The pain from my back hoof grows as I take the next step, the step after that, and the step after that. I groan as I push through it. Right now it would take an act of God to get me to stop moving.

Or a badly placed rock.

My awareness of it comes after the fact. My body continues the grind forward, but my hoof hit the rock and stops. With the extra weight on my back I don’t have the slightest chance to correct.

My muzzle impacts the dirt followed soon after by the rest of my body. I start rolling down the hill as gravity asserts itself upon my frame. My shoulder stings with each and every tumble, I can feel the scar upon my muzzle rip back open and fresh blood start to pour out. My hind leg screams at me as it suffers under the fall.

However, right this second, I don’t give a damn about any of that. “Nighttide!” I scream as I see her body roll even farther than mine.

The IV bag is yanked from her form as she tumbles down the hill. I force myself back to my hooves, grunting as I try and place my weight on my back hoof. The pain lets me know I sprained it.

I push through it, forcing myself to chase after her. I leap into the air and catch her before she can get any further away from me, we’ve been apart for far, far too long. I never want to let her go again.

“I got you,” I say the words as I pull her closer to my breast. “I’ll never… never let you go again.” Tears fall freely now, staining her muzzle.

As I hold her in my hooves I start looking around. There’s… there’s nothing here, just nothing. The hoof prints I was following just stopped. I do laugh at that. Somehow, I lost the trail home, not that I had a chance in… well, Tartarus of continuing his journey, much less taking her with me.

“I’d never leave without you anyway,” I say to her form. I know I’m going to die here. There’s no way back now. I’ve lost the trail home and without that portal it'll be impossible to make it home.

Oddly, I’m okay with that. I die keeping my promise; I die knowing that I came back for her, that I found her, and that I told her how I felt. I lean down and steal the one thing I want more than anything else right now: A kiss.

Part of me, the more sappy part anyway, expects her to return it. I actually expect this to wake her up. Such things only happen in fairy tales. It was like kissing my own hoof, there was no pressure back, no feelings returned; no nothing.

Still, I enjoy it. If somepony were to ask me right now if this was worth it, if that one kiss was worth all of this, I’d say yes.

My ears twitch as I hear it, the one sound I never thought I’d ever hear again. Looking back, I see the reason why there were no more hoof prints to follow; because this is where I started the journey.

The noise of the portal opening up alerted me to that fact. Directly behind me I see a large purple oval portal open up in the world. Almost as if someone just tore this place a gigantic new one.

My grin does split my face open. Somehow, it worked; I found her and made it back in three hours.

“Taz, you’ve got seconds!” Night shouts from the other side of the portal. I see her now, her and… mom are on the other side. While Night looks like she wants to jump in the portal herself, mom looks calm about it. The only thing that could have completed her look would be if she wore her iconic pair of sunglasses.

With a herculean effort, I pull Nighttide’s body back upon my own. I smile and cry in equal measure as my body struggles under my wounds and the weight of Nighttide upon my back. I did it, my journey is done. Whatever is still wrong with her, they can fix it and me back in Canterlot.

She’s still here.

The thought is both unbidden and unwanted. I know it’s not my thought, I know that. Yet… yet I also know it’s the truth. I just… I just know. I know it with the same certainty that I knew she was still alive, still waiting on me to keep my promise.

Nighttide’s on my back, we’re about to walk through the portal together, but she’s still here. Her body is with me, but her mind is not. Her mind is still in Tartarus. If I left, if I took those next few hoof steps through the portal, I’d be leaving the part of her that counts the most. I’d be taking her body home, but I’d be leaving her here.

I just know.

The thought forces the last few tears I have to shed out of my eyes. I look up at my sister’s confused face. No doubt she wonders why I stopped walking forward. I see the slightest nod coming from mom. Ponies always underestimate her, they always assume she’s not intelligent, but I know the truth, she smarter than most, just in other ways.

“Taz, c’mon!” Shimmering Night shouts at me again. I flash her a warm smile and use my own ability to shut her portal. The last thing I see on her face is a look of horror as it closes.

The portal closes with finality to it. I hope she can forgive me for what I did. However, I made a promise and I intend to keep it. With the last of my strength I place Nighttide down upon the ground.

My body screams at me in protest but I’m not listening to it anymore. This is about something more than physical pain. This is about so much more.

“I promised you I’d come back for you, I promised you I wouldn’t leave without you, and I promised myself I’d take you from here, all of you. After all, why would I want to go back there if you’re still here?” I whisper the words into her mane as I laid down next to her and nuzzle into her mane and breath in deep of her scent. It’s a scent I can’t seem to place.

“He’s a slimy, rotten, arrogant, piece of shit!” I scream as I pace back and forth in my father’s new throne room.

“Ahh… is the little filly Nighttide mad?” Mindsink taunts me from his spot next to the throne.

“Mindsink, now is not the time!” I shout. “Please, give me a reason.”

“A reason to do what, you’re eight Nighttide, or did you forget?”

“Only because of him!”

“Timespire is acting upon orders, just as I do, and just as you do. Your father’s plan moves forward and we all have our roles to play in it.”

“Do you have any idea how wrong this is? I have to make a five year-old fall in love with me.”

“Seriously, you’re worked up over that?”

I pause in my pacing and glare at him, “Mindsink, I’ve never even felt that way before. How in the heck am I supposed to do this?”

He laughs a little at that. “I guess for beings in our position it would be somewhat difficult. Just… spend time with him, hang out with him, and get to know him. Take interest in the same things he likes.”

“So talk about a bunch of boring things that I don’t give a rat’s ass about?” I ask with another glare.

“In a way, yes. Learn to fake interest, Nighttide. Make him feel like the most important pony in the world when you’re around, simply because you always want to hear about him.”

“That doesn’t sound like love.”

“You were never ordered to fall in love with him, just to make him fall in love with you.”

I start pacing again, what he says rings of the truth, but still… “After what happened, he may not want to speak to me again.”

“No one said you didn’t have an uphill fight, Nighttide. Still, you’ve got time to make up the distance.”

“How much time?” I ask, getting to the crucible of all of this. “How long do I have to play this game with him?”

“Until he learns how to master his ability,” Mindsink says with a grin.

“That could take decades, or longer!” I shout.

“Like I said, you’ve got time.”

Fuming, I start pacing again.

“Tisk tisk, Nighttide. I’d figure you’d be happy to be out of the moon, this is the first time you’ve been down here after all. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you wanted to go back.”

Why would I want to go back there if you’re still here?

“The novelty of this place wore off six years ago, Mindsink. I’m only sticking around so I can get my mother back and get revenge on the one that stole her from me.”

“We all have our motivations for doing what we do. I find that revenge is the greatest motivator though,” he says with a smile on his face.

I growl, but say nothing.

“You really gotta start working on that, Nighttide.”

“Working on what?”

“The way you carry yourself. Up in the moon it was just the four of us; down here there is a certain… expectation for a mare, especially if you want to win over a little colt’s heart.”

“Go buck yourself, Mindsink.”

“I’m just trying to help.”

I paused and turn to him, fuming, “You wanna know what you can do with your help?”

His smile fades from his face at that. “I feel I must remind you of something, dear niece.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” I say with a condescending tone in my voice.

“You’re eight.”

Fear grips me as I take in what he means. The green pegasus spreads his wings and takes flight. I see him glaring at me, angrily, “You know dad will be mad if you kill me!” I shout.

“Who said anything about killing you?” he asks back. I feel a knot building in my stomach at that. He knows his limitations and will play to them. I see three spears shoot out from his body directly at me. Before this I could have dodged them; I could have avoided his attack. Now… now I cannot. They each impel themselves into my wings, forcing me to cry out as my body makes contact with the floor.

“Now, about this little thing known as respect, or maybe I should just send you back to the moon until you’re actually needed.”

Why would I want to go back there if you’re still here?

“Buck you in the ass, Mindsink!” I shout out in rage. It’s been years since I’ve last dueled any of them. I could normally hold my own, normally. This isn’t that though, this is a punishment for stepping out of line at the wrong time.

We both know it and he treats it that way.

“Such language, I guess I’ll just have to train my little niece better than that.” Another spear comes up, this one is not a point; it’s loose, almost like a rope.

I feel it before I hear it; It stings right across my flank with the speed only a Demigod is capable of. The crack of it fills my ears less than a second later. I was right; he cannot kill me, or hurt me in any serious way. Sadly, there are a lot of ways to hurt someone.

This was one of those ways. With my wings pinned to the floor he takes to spanking me. Each and every smack lands at a different angle across my flank. I cry out on the second one. I didn’t want to but I couldn’t stop. It hurts; it hurts worse than being branded by Timespire.

“I just want to go home!” I cry out the words.

Why would I want to go back there if you’re still here?

“But dear niece, don’t you know? Home is where your family is,” he whispers into my ear as another crack makes itself known.

It’s not his voice this time that makes me listen. There is something else, something far away, but I just can’t point it out at the moment. However, it is something familiar, something that warms me deep within my heart.

Why would I want to go back there if you’re still here?

The question echoes in my heart, in my soul. I recognize it, even over my uncle’s new punishment. It makes me smile; I smile despite the stinging in my wings and upon my flank. I know the voice of the speaker too. It’s that five year-old colt, yet different. His voice is aged, almost as if he’s been through the ringer and back

It makes me laugh; it fills me with warmth the likes of which I’ve never known. I don’t know why, but hearing that little colt say something like that, even if it’s just in my mind. I… I don’t want to go home, I want to stay here.

“I don’t want to go,” I say the phrase as another smack touches down. The realization of what those words mean causes my eyes to pop open.

I gasp at my new surroundings. The throne room is gone, Mindsink is gone. The pain is still there but not on my flank, it’s on my hoof, chest, and wing. My senses are flooded with different sights and smells. Yet, off all of them, I can only focus on one; the sense of touch.

There’s a pony nuzzling into my mane. One I know, one I could never forget in a million years.

If this is a dream, please let me never wake up.

“Taz,” I say the word as I nuzzle back. I have no idea how he got here, or for that matter, where in Tartarus we are. All that matters is that he’s holding me.

“Nighttide,” he slowly whispers my name as if it were all a dream. Tears are staining his muzzle as he gives me a gaze that warms me in my soul.

“You came back for me,” I cry, I cry harder than I’ve ever cried before, “You… you came back, you didn’t leave me here,” I’m sobbing like a newborn foal and I don’t care.

“Of course I came back for you. I promised it and I keep my promises,” he softly answers as he raises a hoof to wipe my tears away.

It’s a fool’s effort, for every tear he wipes away, three more fall. I don’t care, somehow, despite my weariness, I leap on him. I wrap him in my hooves and bury my muzzle into his mane. “I love you, Taz,” the words leave my muzzle before I can stop them. Almost as if they simply demanded to be set free.

My heart sinks when there is no reply. I can feel him breathing in and out, I can feel his heart racing in his chest, but he doesn’t say anything. I wish he’d wrap his hooves around me, I wish he’d say the words, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t do anything.

Not answering is an answer in its own right.

I pull back. I know how he feels, he told me by not telling me.

A hoof stops me from getting any further away, he grabs me on the back of my head and forces my muzzle to his, our lips connect. Stunned, I’m doing nothing for several seconds before I realize what he did. Closing my eyes, I press in, enjoying the kiss to the fullest.

It’s my first kiss.

I know what it means, I can feel it, I can feel everything he does all in that one action. It’s like his mouth is a funnel in which he pours his very being. I have no idea if I’m good or bad, if I suck or if I’m a great kisser. I only try and return the favor. I press back with all the intensity and passion I can. If I can give him a tenth of a tenth of my feelings right now, I know I’ll have returned the favor.

Far, far too soon for my liking, it stops. I open my eyes to see his magenta eyes looking directly into my own. With disappointment that such a wonderful thing had to come to an end, I pull back, only to be stopped again by his hoof.

“I love you too, Nighttide.”

It feels like my heart wants to jump out of my chest with all the force it can muster. Everything in me burns, but in a good way, it warms instead of hurts. New tears are starting to fall, but they’re tears of pure joy.

My body picks now to betray me. I collapse under the weight of my own frame; my front hooves are no longer able to hold me up. In all the excitement I never realized just how tired I was.

Taz catches me in his hooves. With the gentlest of touches, he lays me down upon the ground, my head is resting upon his lap. It’s only now that I notice the wounds upon his muzzle and hooves.

“You’re hurt,” I say weakly, trying to get up again; just to be stopped by his hoof pushing down upon my chest.

“It’s not important. Rest Nighttide, take your time,” he whispers, smiling.

He can’t fool me. It’s a sad smile, and how he spoke the last part makes it clear that something is really wrong.

“I’m scared,” I say as my eyes force themselves closed.

“What about?” he says, I hear it then, he’s in pain. His wounds are much more severe than he’s letting on. He’s trying to be strong, for me.

“That this is all a dream. That if I do fall asleep I may never wake up, or if I do that you won’t be here.”

“I’m here, Nighttide. I promise you I’ll still be here when you wake up,” he whispers, the confidence in his voice calms me down.

I force my eyes open one more time. I see him then, he’s… he’s happy. He’s holding me in his hooves, he’s lightly stroking my mane, and he’s happy. He’s happy because he’s able to hold me again. I raise my right hoof in an effort to get his attention. He notices and grabs it in his own.

He smiles before saying, “Rest, I’ll be here when you wake up. After all, where else would I rather be than right by your side?”

One more tear falls from my eye as sleep finally claims me.

Author's Notes:

The true test of character is often not how far we will go to achieve our goals, but what we’re willing to give up to keep our promises.