Author's Notes:

I took a bit long with this one, sorry.
I decided to change Sky Twirl spelling to Skye Twirl. I think it looks better and helps to write when she is flying in the sky. Let me know if you like the change. I'll post change the earlier chapters to make it match.

The night grew darker as clouds began to move in. Holding up the few torches they had left to cast their light as far as they could, they cautiously worked their way down the long clearing to the wolf den. With just two litters to carry ponies, they were forced to carry the injured on their backs while the mothers gave their foals over to Grand Vista, to be carried with her on her litter so they could take up the few weapons they had left to ready themselves to defend their young.

Suddenly, Ash nearly dropped his spear when he felt his tail get yanked as he was lifted up and tossed onto Mirage's back. "Okay, you. We are going to have a talk about what exactly just happened back there on the hill."

"Yeah," Mustard added, stepping up beside Mirage. "What was with that weird burning spear of yours, huh?"

Shifting awkwardly, Ash looked between the two as they both waited for him to answer. "Papa told me not to talk about it."

"Really!? My brother told you that!?" Mirage said, sounding angry. "Well. I'll have to have a long talk with him about that later. In the meantime, considering what is happening, I think it will be okay for you to talk to us."

Ash thought about it and decided that she was probably right. "Alright, I guess it'll be okay. You've both probably guessed this already, but I have magic."

"Like a unicorn's magic?" Mustard asked.

Ash shook his head. "No. I don't think so. Mine seems to be more like a thunderstorm full of rage and fury. Rising up through my need to protect others."

Mirage looked thoughtful. "That's both interesting and terrifying."

"It feeds on my love and desire to save ponies I care for," Ash explained. "The stronger I feel for them and the more I want to save them, the stronger the magic is. That is how I was able to kill the hydra with just one hit. I loved Papa that much."

"I could never get a clear answer from the others with what had happened out there," Mustard mused out loud. "All they would tell me was that Dark fought it and we didn't have to worry about it anymore."

"Papa told them not to talk about it."

"That adds something else to talk to my brother about," Mirage said with a scowl.

"I'm sorry for scaring you when I rushed out," Ash apologized to Mirage. "I didn't mean to do that to you. I just acted without thinking."

"I understand. Just don't make a habit of it, okay?" Mirage said looking over at him. "You may have some powerful magic, but you're also just a colt. We can't help but worry over you."

Ash was about to reply when he noticed a change in the air. "They're coming!"

"What!? Where? Mustard asked, hurriedly looking around.

"I can't tell," Ash said, shaking his head. "There's a strong hunger in the air. We need to hurry up."

Mustard gave him a funny look then quickly had them all pick up their pace. Skirting along the edge of the trees, they started to see dark shadows moving through the branches from their torchlight. Fearful murmurs spread through the ponies as they looked about into the darkness.

They were getting close to the wolf den, but with the spiders following with them, they would never be able to cross through the trees to get to the opening. Ash saw only one way to get the ponies to safety. As he prepared to leap off of Mirage's back, she seemed to sense something and her head whipped around to give him a hard look. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to!" Ash pleaded. "They won't make it into the den unless somepony distracts the spiders and leads them away!"

"And you think you will be running in there all alone to do that!?"

Ash struggled with how to answer, feeling like Mirage wouldn't like any answer he might give.

Suddenly, Mirage turned and trotted off towards the woods.

"Mirage! What are you doing!?" Mustard shouted, seeing them breaking off from the group.

"We're going to give you some time! Make sure you get them all to safety!" Mirage answered. Then she glanced back at a surprised Ash, "I won't let you go in there alone, so let's do this together. Hold on tight!"

Ash threw his hooves around Mirage's turquoise neck as she leapt forward. His heart began to hammer in his chest as they approach the dark woods. At the last moment, Mirage swung to the side. "Hay! Bug brains! You want a good meal!? Then try eating this!" she said giving her rump a playful wiggle before bolting forwards at a breakneck pace. Behind them the forest suddenly erupted spiders as they all gave chase.

Ash held onto Mirage tightly as she ran. The night around them was alive with crawling masses of shadows. Without any torches to light up the night, it was difficult for them to make out the pursuing spiders and Mirage nearly ran right into them. Swerving away just in time, they found themselves running right into the forest!

Plunging through the dark trees, they both felt branches brushing across their coats. Terrified, Mirage screamed as something slapped her across the face. "I can't see! Where do I go!?"

Ash could hear scratching all around them as he strained to see a way out. If only they had some light! An idea suddenly came to him. Thinking quickly, he wondered if it would even be possible? He wasn't even sure how he had done it the first time! Closing his eyes, Ash thought back to his spear. Earlier that night, his magic had flowed into it as he used it to fight, making it unbreakable as it burned its way into the spiders bodies. Please let this work!

Suddenly, Mirage's body burst into blue fire! The dark forest lit up around them as they streaked through the trees like a blazing star through the sky! Just ahead of them, a giant web appeared out of the darkness. Unable to turn in time, Mirage screamed as she ran right into it! Instead of being caught in its sticky lines, the webbing burned away the moment it touched her.

Passing through without even feeling it, Mirage suddenly let out a ecstatic laugh. "Is this your magic!?" she asked excitedly. "It feels amazing! It tingles all over!"

Leaping through the branches or scurrying through the undergrowth, the spiders continued to pursue them. Mirage laughed in glee as she wove her way through the trees, staying just ahead of them. More and more webs were appearing around as the spiders attempted to trap them, but Mirage simply ran right through them.

It was like a game. Mirage would run in circles leading the spiders through a merry chase then break away as she wiggled her rump at them. Holding his spear in his teeth, Ash would thrust and slash as they passed, killing those that got too close. It was when they circled around for third time that an unseen spider suddenly jumped off a tree right at Ash, catching him by surprise.

Ash just managed to bring his spear to bear to impale it when its body continued to fall into him, knocking him back off of Mirage's back. The moment he left Mirage's back everything went dark as his magic suddenly left her. Slamming into the ground, Ash felt the wind get knocked out of him as he tumbled to a stop. Unable to see where she was going, Mirage let out a pained scream when she smashed painfully into a tree and collapsed to the ground.

"Ash!?" Mirage shouted out for him. "It's too dark, I can't find you!"

Unable to answer her, Ash writhed on the ground trying to drag a breath back into his lungs.

Skye knew she was in trouble.

She couldn't believe how stupid she was, flying right into a web like she did. At first, she panicked and struggled to get out, terrified that at any moment a spider would be crawling out to get her, but that only trapped her further into the sticky lines. Panting for breath, it took Skye a long, petrified moment to realize that nothing was coming.

Feeling relieved, Skye took an even longer moment to calm herself back down. Looking around, she saw that she was suspended high up between two trees. The webbing she was stuck to was too strong for her to break out of with her meager strength. The tree branches on either side of her were too far for her to reach and calling out for help would most likely bring spiders down on her rather than any actual help.

Feeling cold and scared, Skye did the only thing she could and stayed as still as possible, hoping to remain unnoticed. Her thoughts turned to Dusty. Would she ever see him again? Tears slowly began to drip off her muzzle as she silently wept. Her carelessness had killed him, and all the other ponies she had left behind. She failed to bring them help. At any moment, she'll feel the webbing move as a spider returns to collect its catch.

The night became dark as clouds moved in. She dozed off and on for a time and the sky slowly grew brighter as morning approached. A light rain began to drizzle, soaking her through. Normally, she enjoyed a good rain, but this time, it only made her feel worse. Shivering and soaked, Skye wondered how much longer she had.

Her foal suddenly shifted in her stomach, causing her to gasp. It was such a little thing, a quick twinge that could be mistaken for gas. Such a tiny thing that meant so much. A new life was growing within her. Skye's heart began to beat hard in her chest. She needed to escape! If her foal was going to live, she needed to find a way to get out of the webbing before it was too late!

Looking around in the soft light of the coming morning, Skye spotted something she didn't see during the night. One of the trees had been struck by lightning at some point in the past and the top few lengths of the tree was burned scarred and dead. One of the strands of the web that held her was attached to that section of the tree!

With new hope rising within her, Skye carefully examined the dead tree-top and saw that it was partly rotten. Would it be possible to break it free? It would be dangerous. If it fell, it would drop down through the webbing and instead of freeing her, it may drag her down to her death far below on the hard ground.

As hard as she could, Skye pulled at her attached foreleg. The treetop bent slightly but otherwise held firm. Resting for a short bit, she tried again to the same result. Letting out a whimper of despair after trying for a third time, she saw that it wasn't going to work. Thinking for a bit, she thought of another idea. Instead of just trying to pull it down with sheer strength, she instead began to pull and release in a steady pattern that soon had the tree-top swaying back and forth.

Heartened, Skye continued, and soon she heard some light cracking sounds as it swayed. It was working! As she worked to increase the treetop’s sway, Skye suddenly noticed a scratching sound coming from below her. With her heart leaping up into her throat, Skye realized that a spider had noticed her actions and was now climbing up to get her!

Holding back her panic as best she could, Skye increased her efforts to free herself. The tree-top was now swaying so much, it was causing the whole tree to move. The scratching sound got louder as the spider climbed closer. Suddenly, Skye felt the webbing vibrate under her. Looking down, she saw a spider, a little larger than she was, walking out onto the web, its fangs clicking.

It was only moments away from reaching her! With a cry, Skye yanked down as hard as she could. A deep crack broke through the morning air as the tree-top teetered alarmingly over them. After a moment, it suddenly stopped and hung there, suspended at a sharp angle just above the web. The spider had paused, looking up in alarm at the hanging tree-top. When it appeared that the tree-top had settled, the spider resumed its eager advance on Skye.

Crying in frustration and fear, Skye tried to pull the tree-top down, but the web had grown slack. Seeing a branch, Skye desperately threw her hoof up and just managed to hook the slack web over it. "Please, fall!" she cried out as she yanked down.

The tree-top sagged down for a brief moment, then another crack snapped in the air as it finally broke free and tumbled down. The spider let out a loud clicking hiss as the tree-top ripped through the webbing. Skye screamed as she was dragged down toward the ground. Wrapping her hooves around her belly, Skye tried to protect her foal as she crashed down through the lower branches.

Just as she was about to smash into the ground, Skye was suddenly yanked by the webbing as it snagged onto a branch, feeling her fur being torn off as she was ripped free. Skye screamed in agony as her her left wing was violently jerked back as she came to a stop, dangling a few lengths from the ground by just her one wing.

Feeling like her wing was about to rip out of her body, Skye struggled to free herself from the last strand of webbing. Whimpering with the pain, Skye managed to tear herself free, pulling out a large portion of her wing-feathers in the process. Dropping to the ground, Skye huddled painfully in the dirt, thankful that she was alive.

With tears in her eyes, Skye managed to climb back onto her unsteady hooves. Unable to fold her left wing back up, she was forced to let it hang down along her side as she started to make her way out. She nearly screamed when she came to the spider. It was digging at the soil as it attempted to pull its grotesque body out from under a section of the tree-top that had it pinned.

Looking around, Skye picked up a broken branch and carefully approached the struggling spider. When it saw her, the spider stopped struggling and looked up at her in what appeared to be fear. Hefting her branch up, Skye gazed down at the spider with hard eyes.

"You have taken everything from me," she said down to the spider. Her voice as cold as winter. "You took my flock!" She lifted her branch and slammed it down onto its outstretched legs, snapping them. "You took my mommy!" Lifting her branch, Skye smashed it back down onto the spider's body, cracking its shell. "You took them all and left me with nothing!" Her branch descended again with a sickening crunch. "Now you're trying to take my friends! My mate! And even my foal!" With each declaration she smashed her club down onto the spider's head and body, splattering ichor all over her coat with each impact. "All the lives you destroyed! All the loved ones never to be seen again! This is for them all!" she screamed out as she rained blows down onto it. Finally, Skye paused a moment as she stared down at the twitching spider, her branch held up high. "And this is for me!" With a final effort, she brought her club down as hard as she could, crushing its head in.

Panting from her exertion, Skye dropped her club and slowly staggered away. She needed to make it back and get help. Dusty and the others were counting on her.

"Mirage!" Ash managed to shout as he gasped for breath. In the darkness, he could hear the skittering sounds of spiders as they closed in on them. Desperately, he tried to summon his magic, but he couldn't focus his will enough. Staggering back up onto his hooves, he felt his hoof kick his dropped spear. Quickly snatching it up in his teeth, Ash searched the darkness for any sign of Mirage.

"Ash!" Mirage's terrified voice called out to him from the dark.

Reacting to his intense worry for Mirage, his magic suddenly began to stir within him. Blue flames sprung up along his spear lighting up the darkness around him. Rushing towards where he had heard Mirage's calls Ash found her caught in a web. Noticing movement above her, Ash saw a spider descending down a line. Mirage spotted it and let out a terrified scream as it dropped down at her.

Lunging forward, Ash's spear flared angrily in his grasp as he raced towards Mirage. Leaping up as high as he could, Ash stabbed his spear into the spider, easily piercing its body with his magic imbued spear. Ripping his spear free, Ash slashed at the web, cutting Mirage free.

"Ash. I hurt my shoulder when I ran into that tree," Mirage said in a strained voice. "I don't think I can run. I want you to leave without me! Go quickly before they get here! Go!"

Ash stubbornly shook his head, unwilling to leave her to die. He needed to think of something fast! He thought about his magic and how it worked. He couldn't buck the spiders away like he did with the hydra, there was just too many of them, and he couldn't use his magic imbued spear for the same reason. He needed to do something, but what!? Thinking about how his magic kept his spear from breaking, a realization suddenly came to him. The true nature of his magic!

All around them, spiders started to appear from the dark as they rushed in toward them. They were out of time! Pressing himself close to Mirage, Ash closed his eyes to focused his will on his need and pushed out with his magic.

Ash felt a strange roaring surge rush out of him that caused his head to swim for a moment. All around him, he suddenly heard pained hisses and clicks of spiders as they encountered something they didn't expect. Feeling Mirage quivering against him in terror, Ash slowly opened his eyes. Blue flames completely surrounded them, wrapping around and even above them in a fiery dome that encased them inside!

Looking through the wall, Ash could see spiders recoiling from the barrier as it burned them. He did it! It worked! Ash let out a explosive breath of relief.

Behind him, Mirage whimpered in fear as she huddled away from the flames. "What did you do!? You're going to burn us!"

"It's okay. You're safe," Ash assured her. "It won't hurt you. It was made to protect you."

Slowly, Mirage lifted her head and looked around. "Are you sure?"

In answer, Ash pointed down. "Look, it's not burning the grass. It only hurts the spiders."

Mirage carefully looked around, and even picked up a stick and stuck it into the flames to see if it would burn. Finally convinced, Mirage sat up and looked down at Ash. "So now what? We wait until they go away?"

Ash thought about it as he watched the spiders gather about just at the edge of his barrier with more sitting up in the trees. "I don't think they're going to leave." Already, spiders were weaving webs between the trees to hold them there.

"Oh my..." Mirage said worriedly. "Are we trapped?"

"I think I can make the barrier move," Ash said. "It will take a lot of my concentration, but I believe that I can do it."

Mirage picked him up and set him onto her back. "Alright. Let me know when you're ready." She rolled her injured shoulder with a pained grunt.

Ash thought he had it figured out. It was just a matter of focusing on a center. It turned out harder than he thought. His first attempt nearly tore the barrier apart. After working through what had gone wrong, Ash managed to un-root the barrier from the ground.

At first Mirage had to walk slowly as he concentrated on keeping the barrier from falling apart. The spiders followed along with them, staying just outside the barriers edge. A few times, they came across webbing that had been strung up in their path but they proved to be no problem as they simply walked right through them.

By the time they arrived back at the edge of the clearing, it had started to rain. Suddenly they found their way was blocked as a massive spider moved out of the dark, stopping just before them. It was the same one he had seen on the hill. It was absolutely enormous, standing before them like a small hill.

It stared down at them with unblinking eyes as it seemed to consider them. After a moment, it let out a series of quick clicks and hisses to the spiders around them and they all quickly vanished back into the darkened forest.

Alone, Ash and Mirage let out a long breath of relief. Breaking out of the trees, Mirage quickened her pace into a limping trot that put some distance between them and the forest. Once they were far enough away from danger, Ash's barrier dissolved away leaving Ash with only enough magic to light up the tip of his spear.

"Where is the wolf den?" Mirage asked.

"I've never been there, but I heard that if you continue down the clearing until you can hear the rumble of the rapids, then cut east, into the trees, we should find it a short ways in."

"Right," Mirage said with a nod. "Then let's get going. This rain looks like it's not going to let up for a while."

Mirage managed a rather steady trot, despite her injured shoulder. By the time they heard the sound of the rapids ahead of them, they were thoroughly soaked and shivering with the cold. Turning to the side, Mirage paused next to the trees to give her head a quick shake to throw the water off. Stepping into the trees they carefully made their way through.

Ahead, a small, flickering light appeared. Stepping out of the trees into a small clearing, they found a low burning torch stuck into the ground next to a small opening in a rock face.

"There they are!" Ash exclaimed. "We made it!"

"Oh thank the stars," Mirage said in relief. She started forward but Ash suddenly grabbed a tuft of her mane and pulled back, stopping her. "Ow! Why did you-?"

She stopped when she saw the look on Ash's face. Looking back around, she saw dark shapes climbing down through the rocks of the hill.

"Oh my! They're here!" Mirage moaned.

"Hurry run!" Ash shouted, his spear suddenly erupting into blue flames.

Mirage lunged forward into the best run she could manage. Ahead of them they could see Mustard stepping out to wave at them as they approached. Right above her, spiders were scurrying down the rocks at an alarming rate!

"Mustard! Above you!" Mirage shouted.

Mustard paused her waving to look up. She gave a startled squawk and lunged back just in time as a spider dropped down right where she had been standing a moment before. Charging in, Ash thrust his spear into it as Mirage swung him around. Seeing another one dropping down, Ash reversed his swing, and slashed it to the side.

"Hurry! Get inside!" Mustard shouted from just inside. Mirage didn't hesitate and bolted into the opening. Once inside, ponies began to pile rocks into the opening to block it up.

Ash leapt off of Mirage's back and looked around. Huddled up against the back side of the den, he could see mothers clutching their frightened foals to themselves as they murmured and whispered to them, trying to settle them down. Grand Vista sat over Tranquil Charm, gripping a broken spear in her teeth as she prepared to keep the spiders from taking the young mare. Gravel Biter and the other incapacitated ponies were laid out with the three stallions from his old herd, guarding them with clubs made of picked up branches.

At the opening, Dusty and other ponies were desperately trying to block it up with stones as others held the spiders back with the few remaining spears they had. Seeing the fear and desperation around him as they all struggled to stay alive, Ash felt his magic welling up inside him as it drew on his desire to save them.

Walking to the center of the den, Ash sat down and closed his eyes. The magic within him was stronger the greater his feelings were for those he wanted to protect. Drawing on his love for all the ponies around him, he fed it into the growing storm of power raging inside him.

Blue flames erupted over his coat and his mane and tail floated up with a luminous glow. A bright spot appeared on his chest right over his heart and a small blue colored gem with a bright light shining in its core, rose out to slowly rotate just before him in the air.

Shivering with the strain, Ash focused his will and pushed the magic out. The surge of magic that thundered out of him made him feel like every fiber of his being was about to fly apart. His will began to tear under the pressure and it took a monumental effort to keep his mind intact.

The blue flames just like the ones covering his body suddenly flared out from the gem across the chamber. Ponies cried out in terror as mothers covered their foals from the blast. The wrath of the blue flames touched none of them as it passed through, burning spiders instantly to ash.

Agony ripped through Ash's mind and turned everything white. His will wavered and nearly shattered. The strain of it was almost too much. Suddenly, a face appeared out of the white agony that filled his mind. The image of Celestia smiling at him with warmth in her eyes.

Mirage blinked her dazzled eyes at what had just happened. Looking back at Ash, she saw him sitting unmoving in the center of the den. Floating just before him, a blue gem blazed with power and filled the room with its light. Was that the source of his magic? Mirage wondered, rubbing at her eyes.

"What happened!?" Mustard asked. "What did he do!?"

"Mustard!" Dusty called out from the partially blocked opening. "You need to look at this!"

Mustard, followed by Mirage, quickly rushed to the opening and looked out. What they saw made their jaws drop. "Oh my stars."

The same barrier that Ash had made in the forest now surrounded the entire wolf den!

"There you are," Dove said, finding Celestia huddled into a nook in the wall. "What are you doing here? Strawberry needs you."

Celestia was too ashamed to look up. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"What's the matter?" Dove asked, sounding concerned.

Celestia shook her head as new tears began to form. "I tried to help her. I tried to use my magic, but when I touched her, I felt... The pain I felt inside her was too much." She buried her face into her hooves, "I... I couldn't stand it... I..." she couldn't finish.

Dove let out a light sigh. When she spoke, her voice was soft and comforting. "I understand. The pain of loss cuts deep and wounds the heart terribly. The pain of it is excruciating. I felt this each time I lost a foal. And each time it happened, I had a friend there to help me through the grief. Bell would hold me and let me cry into her until my tears ran dry. She was there for me through all of it, and each time I wept into her, I'm sure she was hurting inside as well."

"She was?" Celestia peeked up at her.

"Of course she was." Dove brushed Celestia's mane back from her eyes. "When a friend is hurting, it hurts them both. It's through this sharing that the true healing can begin."

Celestia thought about what she said and felt a little better. Wiping her messy nose onto the back of her hoof she slowly climbed out of her little niche. "I think... I want to be there for her. I don't want her to hurt alone."

Dove smiled down at her as she wiped her tear soaked cheeks dry with the back of her leg. "There, there. That's a brave filly. It's going to hurt, but just remember to stay strong for her."

"Umm... we want to help too," Misty Glen said, stepping out of the shadows.

"Yeah. She's our friend too," Tulip Blossom added, stepping up next to Misty with Soft Step, Bumble Bee, and Pine Blossom joining up alongside them.

Running to them, they all gathered around her and gave her a collective embrace. Together, they all discussed how they would help Strawberry. Soon after, they all left to gather a few things and quickly returned.

Strawberry looked like she hadn’t moved since Celestia had run away. She was still laying on her mat, staring off blankly at the wall just as she was before. "Strawberry? I'm sorry for leaving you alone. I'm back, and I promise I won't go again," Celestia said, sitting back down next to her. "Look who also came."

"I ah... got you some strawberries," Tulip said stepping forward and setting down a full basket." I know how much you love them."

"And I brought you some honey," Bumble Bee added, setting down a gourd filled with the golden treat. Bumble Bee was the only one the bees would allow to take their honey. She said the reason for it was because they like it when she sings to them. On her flanks was a bee flying around some brightly assorted flowers.

"I brought my comb," Soft Step said holding it up. "If you want, I could brush your mane and tail out.”

Misty quietly stepped closer and set a tall gourd filled with meadow flowers down beside Strawberry, "I thought you might like something pretty to look at."

Pine Blossom hopped in place as she held up her own gourd. "I brought gaming stones in case you want to play."

Strawberry slowly turned and looked up at them. Blinking at them for a moment, she then rolled back over. "Go away. I want to be left alone."

It was the first words Celestia had heard from her all day and the first time she seemed to take notice of others. "Please, Strawberry. They just want to make you feel better."

"I don't want to feel better." Strawberry muttered sullenly. "I just want to be left alone."

Celestia knew that trying to push her wasn't going to help matters. "Soft Step, I can use some help getting these knots out of my mane. Do you mind?" she asked, settling down next to Strawberry.

"Hey, have you ever tried strawberry dipped in honey?" Bumble Bee asked, looking over at Tulip.

"No. Have you?"

"Nope. Lets try it and see!"

Eagerly, the two sat down together. Each of them selected a strawberry and dipped it into the honey.

"Come on Misty. Let's play Foxes and Rabbits." Pine Blossom said, dragging Misty over to a nearby spot to play. "I'll be purple."

Tulip and Bumble Bee both let out moans of delight as they both popped their honey covered morsels into their mouths and slowly chewed. Celestia thought the two were being too obvious with their teasing. She glanced at Strawberry to see what her reaction was and noticed that her ear was twitching. A few moments later, Celestia smiled when she heard rather obvious stomach growl coming from Strawberry.

Meeting Tulip, and Bumble Bees' gazes, Celestia nodded at them to continue. Selecting another couple of strawberries, they dipped them and slid them into their mouths. Giving Celestia a wink, Tulip let out an even louder moan followed by Bumble Bee as the two began to roll on the ground in apparent bliss.

Both of Strawberry's ears began to twitch erratically as her stomach let out another long growl. Slowly, Strawberry lifted her head and looked back over her shoulder.

Celestia was waiting for that. Reaching out, she slid the basket and honey closer to Strawberry. "Would you like to try one?"

At first, it looked like Strawberry was about to refuse, but then hesitated as she licked her lips.

"Here. I'll get one for you," Bumble Bee said. Taking a strawberry out of the basket, she dipped it into the honey before offering it to Strawberry.

Celestia held her breath as Strawberry gazed at it with obvious interest.

Reaching out her hoof, Strawberry allowed Bumble Bee to deposit the sweetened treat onto it. Holding it up, she took a small bite out of it. Chewing for a long bit, Strawberry lips softened as a smile slowly appeared. It was tiny and weak, but a smile none the less. Every filly in the room let out a soft breath at the same time when they saw it.

Finishing off the rest of it, Strawberry prepared another one and ate that one too. One by one, she worked her way through the basket until it was empty. Turning her attention to the honey, she licked the gourd until it was clean.

After that, Celestia and Soft Step moved over to brush her mane and tail while she silently watched Pine and Misty play Foxes and Rabbits against Tulip and Bumble Bee.

"Pine?" Strawberry suddenly said, breaking a long silence. "What was it like to die?"

The odd question caught Pine by surprise and she dropped her gourd, spilling her playing stones across the mat. Celestia and the other fillies all froze in utter shock, surprised that she would ask something like that.

Pine had never spoken of what had happened to her when she drowned. She had always refused to answer when she was asked before.

Pine stared down at her spilled stones, her eyes gazing beyond them. "I remember... being in the water. My lungs staining painfully for air as I grew weaker. Everything around me slowly faded to darkness." Pine stopped at this point. Every filly leaned forward as they waited for her to continue. "It's hard to remember what happened after. I’m sure there was a light. It surrounded me and filled me with... peace. There was... somepony there with me too. Somepony with eyes filled with kindness and love. There were others there as well. I couldn't see them, but I knew they were there in the light, waiting to welcome me among them. The pony with the wonderful eyes spoke to me. I don't remember what the pony said, but I remember feeling really sad because I had to go. The pony then kissed me and I woke up back home. I don't know if what I saw was a dream or not. I like to think it was real.”

Tears slowly trickled down Strawberry's muzzle. "Thank you."

Celestia reached out and touched Strawberry and was surprised when she suddenly let out a cry and whirled about to bury her face into her chest. Wrapping her hooves around Strawberry, Celestia held her as she wept great heaving sobs into her. The other fillies moved in around them to offer their comforting touches as well.

With her cheek pressed against the top of Strawberry's head, Celestia closed her eyes and relaxed, letting her senses open up to her friends. All around her she sensed brightly colored stars pulsing with love and affection for their grief stricken friend. In the center was a red star whose light was dimmed with grief and pain. Even though she knew it would hurt, Celestia reached out and embraced it, allowing Strawberry's pain to flow into her. With a flicker, Strawberry's red star lost a bit of its shadow and brightened.

Suddenly, Celestia noticed that there was another star with Strawberry's. Opening her eyes, Celestia saw Gooseberry Patch, Strawberry's mother, standing just before them. Bending her head down, she kissed Strawberry on the top of her head. Lifting her head back up, she looked at Celestia and smiled. "Please tell my daughter I love her."

A moment later, she faded like mist and was gone. Celestia felt her leaving, her star slipping off to somewhere else. None of the others around her seemed to notice what had happened and Celestia wondered if she was the only one who saw her?

Standing in the doorway, Dove, with little Aurora clutched to her chest, stood next to Meadowlark. "I'm glad she can finally cry."

"Yes," Meadowlark agreed softly, holding Luna up to nuzzle her fuzzy head. "It's heartbreaking, but necessary for her to heal. I am so proud of them."

“Pine’s story about what happened to her in the river,” Dove said. “I believe her. When I was a filly, one of the older mare’s had a terrible fit and collapsed. When she came to, the left side of her face was droopy and she described something much like what Pine had just described. She said she had gone to the stars. The rest of the mares scoffed at her, saying that her fit had addled her mind. She always insisted that it was real.”

A sudden commotion behind them drew their attention to a strange scene. Tiger Lily was marching by with a loudly complaining Journey Stomp clamped firmly in her mouth by his tail.

"You foolish little colt!" Tiger muttered angrily. "I have no idea how you were born without the same sensibilities as Ground and Snap. Seriously. What were you thinking trying to sneak out past the wall!?"

"But, Mama ! I'm not a little foal anymore!" Journey said as he dangled down. "I can fight!"

"Getting snatched by those spiders more likely!" Tiger let out a snort. "I don't know how you convinced Mighty Oak, Glum Drollery, and Toadstool to follow along with this stupidity. You're all lucky that you were caught before making it outside the walls or else things would be going very differently for you right now."

"We were only caught because Toadstool got scared and told on us when he ran away!"

"I don't want to hear it!" Tiger snapped angrily. "You've been running wild for much too long. I've hardly seen you in days and that's going to change right now! For the rest of the day you will not be leaving my side," Tiger said. "And tonight, you will be sleeping with me. It's been much too long since I've had a good cuddle with you."

"But, Mama!"

"But no!" Tiger barked. "There will be no more arguing this, you hear?"

"Yes, Mama," Journey grumbled.

“Meadowlark!” Birch Bark called out as he rushed over to her with Greenhoof following just behind. Meadowlark gasped in horror when she saw what was draped over Greenhoof’s back. “Its Skye! She’s hurt!”