Silence. Shadow. The moon had dissapeared behind the clouds, sending the gorge into darkness. Not a single sound could be heard, even the howling
winds had stopped. It seemed almost as if time had come to a halt.

Dust and Luna were both sleeping, lost in their dreams. Curled up tightly together on the makeshift bed, coated in blankets. Luna on her side, Dust holding
her, pressed against her back with his head resting on her neck. If they hadn't been hiding in a cold cave, hunted like animals, it might have been a rather
romantic, heartwarming sight. The two lovers, being able to relax and feel safe by each others presence.

None of them woke up as a black figure appeared in the entrance to the cave.

It observed the sleeping couple in silence from where it stood, barely even breathing. Carefully, it entered the cave. It's hooves didn't make
a sound as they hit the floor of the cave. The black figure stopped a few feet away from the couple, looking down at their peaceful faces.

An alicorn and a human. Something the intruder never thought it would see.

It lowered it's head to look at them more closely. The princess was of no interest, and the figure ignored her. Instead, it closely examined every part
of Dust's face and shoulders, finaly coming to a stop upon seeing the string around his neck. That was it.

"Sleep well, Carrier." The figure whispered. "The Void spreads."

Dust opened his eyes.

He turned his head to look around the cave. Empty. Of course. Maybe it was just a dream, but he felt someone was watching him. But there was nopony
there except Luna, snoosing loudly next to him.

A smile grew on his face as he looked at her. She looked so pretty the way her eyes moved in her sleep, her mouth slightly open as she slept soundly.
At times like these, Dust forgot everything about the fear they lived every day. It faded away whenever he saw his blue mare. He longed for the day
they could wake up together in bed without being affraid of death every day.

But maybe that day would never come.

Maybe they would just run away until they both got captured, then executed for all the world to see. Maybe they would die from starvation or frostbite.

Or the worst case scenario: that they eventually got fed up with each other. Then all of this would have been for nothing. If their love is defeated, and they
go separate ways, perhaps to the gallows out of their own free will.

Dust didn't care about his own life, but he would not let anything happen to Luna. She was more important than anything else. He wouldn't be able
to live with the knowledge that he caused her death, that he had been a part of the death of the most wonderful mare in the world.

Again.

Rarity. She still haunted his dreams, even though he just wanted to forget. Wanted to move on, become a better man, become a better husband.

Then maybe he could take off this ring as well. Even though he had no desire to take it off now, useful as it was, he still longed for the day he could be rid
of it, be rid of the responsibility.

Dust did his best to push these thoughts aside, they wouldn't do him any good right now. He instead focused on his loved one, thinking about how much
Luna had changed his life these past few days. Even though their relationship hadn't begun like a normal one, she still meant the world to him.

He carefully gave her a kiss on the cheek, and she smiled in her sleep, muttering his name. He layed down his head next to hers again, and drifted off into
sleep.

"You know, you really should try to conceal yourself a bit more." Dust said with a laugh as he walked next to Luna.

"Don't start again, love." Luna answered, rolling her eyes at him.

They where walking through the cold forest. The snow wasn't as thick here, and the sun was getting warmer, a sure sign that winter might be moving on
soon. Or maybe it was just a temporary heatspike, and they where lucky enough to have chosen that day.

Dust was carrying branches and moss between his hands, and some thicker ones jammed between his upper arms and ribs. He'd even managed to find
some edible berries and plants. It wasn't much, but it was something, and a few berries felt like a grand supper when you hadn't had anything
to eat for several days.

Luna had helped him, carrying a few more branches and logs with the help of her magic.

"Listen." Dust said back to her. "I know we're far out in nowhere, but still, your blue coat could be seen from a mile away."

"I told you, it's fine." Luna answered, giving him a somewhat annoyed look. "And your so-called 'camo'.." She gave Dust a mocking grin.

"Well, at least I tried." Dust countered back.

And by god, did he try. He tried using his belt as a collar for Luna, attaching branches and other various items from the nature to it, to try and conceal
her coat. It didn't work, and only made Luna look like a giant hedgehog, something she pointed out several times during his work. So, he tried
just pouring snow on her back instead. Naturly, a failure.

"Yes, and you probably succeded in giving me a cold." Luna replied. "That idea with the snow.."

"I'll warm you up when we get back to the cave." Dust said to her, smiling.

Luna blushed as she realised what he meant.

"And you want to go to bed with me? After you almost turned me into a hedgehog?" Luna said with a smile. "A blue one at that?"

Dust chuckled back at her.

"Not really. Blue hedgehogs isn't really my style.." Dust answered her, leaning in and giving her a quick kiss as they kept on walking. "But I'll take you
anyday, dear."

They both smiled at each other, and Luna let out a shy giggle at his words. They stayed silent for a while, listening to the sounds of the forest.
A few birds could be heard somewhere far off, and the wind had finaly stopped.

"Do you miss her?" Lunas voice broke the silence.

Dust didn't answer. The question took him by complete surprise, and he didn't like it. He wanted to avoid thinking about her as well. He remained silent.
The birds in the distance stopped their chirping, and the only sounds where that of Dust and Lunas feet trampling through the thin layer of ice on top
of the snow. Cracking sounds. The same sounds Dust heard in his head whenever he thought about her..

"Almost every day." He finaly admitted.

Luna looked at him with sad eyes.

"I don't want to think about her, about what I did to her." He continued.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked.." Luna said in a low voice.

"No.." Dust answered. "It's fine. I probably should talk about her.. Maybe that would help me to forget her."

"You'll never forget the ones you love." Luna replied.

"I know." Dust answered in a short voice. "Maybe it's foolish to try to forget. But I just can't stand the memories."

Luna took a few steps to the side, getting closer to him.

"I know how it feels, love." She began, but Dust interupted her.

"Do you? Do you really know how I feel?" Dust stopped in his tracks.

Luna didn't notice it at first, and stopped after a few more seconds. She turned around to look at him.

"Look me in the eyes." Dust said with a sad voice. "Look me in the eyes and try to honestly say that, Luna."

She didn't answer.

"I thought so." Dust said quickly, and began walking again, going right past Luna.

She looked at him, feeling a singe of pain in her heart. Then she set off after him, quickly trotting up by his side again. Carefully, she nuzzled against his arm.

"I'm sorry, Dust.. I didn't mean to hurt you.." She said slowly.

Dust didn't answer, he just kept on walking through the snow.

"Fine, I don't know how you feel." Luna said in a somewhat sturdier voice. "But I want to know, Dust. I want you to talk to me, share your mind with me.
I want to be able to be there for you, to comfort you when you need it. That's something a queen does for her king."

Dust remained silent, but something slowly started to change in his eyes.

"Maybe I'll never understand your feelings, but I know how painful memories can be. Not a single day goes by without me thinking about the moon.
I'll never forget that part of my life, no matter how much I want to. Instead, I've learned to just push it away. Push it into the back of my head, because
there's nothing else to do. You learn, and you move on."

Dust stopped in his tracks, lowering his head, looking at the ground.

"And that's something you need to do as well, dear." Luna said as she walked up in front of him. "No matter what we've done, we have to forgive ourselfs.
Otherwise, you'll just spend the rest of your life dwelling on your mistakes, instead of seeing the good things that lay ahead of you."

Luna couldn't see Dust's eyes since they where covered by his hood, but she could clearly see the tears that ran down his face. Feeling another tug
at her heart, she spread her wings around him in an embrace, putting the side of her head against his chest.

"And I don't care what you've done. What's done is done, and I don't love you any less because of it. I'll always be yours, no matter what."

She looked back up at his face and gave him a soft kiss to show him she was honest.

"Luna, I.." Dust began, but his voice failed him.

"Every night, I look back at Equestria from the moon in my dreams." Luna whispered, tears starting to well up. "But now.. Maybe I wont have to fear
my dreams anymore, with you beside me."

".. I.. I love you so much, Luna.." Dust answered, not knowing what else to say.

He wanted to hug her back, but he couldn't just drop the things he was carrying.

"I love you too, sweetie." Luna answered, and kissed him again.

Dust let the things in his hands fall to the ground. Finaly he could wrap his arms around her and hold her. Pressing her closer, he kissed her as if his life
depended on it, as if they both would fall dead to the ground if their lips parted.

"Such a touching scene.."

A voice reached their ears.

They broke the kiss and looked around to locate the owner of the voice. Luna gasped quietly.

Standing a few meters away was a pony. A unicorn, to be precise. With black coat and a cloak covering most of its face and body, it almost
reminded Luna of Dust.

"Don't stop because of me." The pony said in a mocking tone. "Go on, I'm quite curious as to where this will end."

From the voice, it was clearly a mare. A thin stray of silver hair hung out from underneath her hood. The hood itself had a hole on the top to allow
the horn to pass through it. Dust quessed it also prevented the hood from falling off and revealing the mares face.

"Who are you?" Dust asked.

"And what do you want?" Luna continued.

They quickly tore away from each other, and Dust cautiously placed his hand on the handle of the sword hanging in his belt.

"My name is not important." The mare answered. "I'm merely a Seeker. As to what I want.." She looked straight at Dust. "I'm here for you, Carrier."

"You will not touch him." Luna said in a cold voice, quickly positioning herself between Dust and the mare.

A flash of silver light. A quiet whimper.

Luna fell to the ground.

"Luna!" Dust yelled out, quickly rushing to her aid.

"Don't worry." The mare said as the glow around her horn faded. "She's not injured, only paralized. She can still see and hear everything."

Dust kneeled next to his beloved, gently stroking her face. Her eyes where wide open, but they didn't move. Dust whispered her name, but Luna didn't react.
She just stared blankly at him, looking straight through him. He lowered his head to her face, pressing his forehead against her temple.

"You should.. run.." Dust said to the mare without looking at her. He felt something squirm inside him.

"On the contrary." The mare replied. "You'd better run, or I'll just have to kill you where you stand. Or kneel, as it is."

A stroke of red flashed before Dust's eyes.

Before the mare had time to move, he rushed to his feet, drawing his sword as he did. A split second later he brought it down on the mare.
Dust fell forwards as the sword cleaved through nothing but air. He hit a tree face-first and groaned in pain.

A sparkling sound could be heard, and Dust turned around just in time so see a silver bolt of lightning rush towards him. He quickly dove down,
and the magic hit the tree behind him. He roled around as splinters of wood hit him, and he saw a glimpse of the tree, broken down the middle, falling
to the ground with a deafening roar.

Dust got to his feet as another lightning bolt missed him, and instead burned the snow on the ground. He rushed towards the mare as she charged her
magic once again. But before she could unleash it, Dust reached his free hand towards her, and a blast of red light shot out from it. Five lines,
one from each finger, twisting through the air and creating a small vortex of magic.

It hit the cloaked mare dead in her face. She cried out in pain when the impact sent her spiraling backwards through the air. She hit the trunk of a tree,
then fell silent to the ground.

"LUNA!" Dust cried out.

He ran for her, dropping his sword to the ground as he approached her. In his desperation to reach her, he tripped in the snow and fell to the ground,
landing just next to her. He crawled the last few feet, tears of fear running down his cheeks.

"Luna!" He called out to her. "Luna, can you hear me? Please, answer me!"

In his head, and all too familiar scene played out, and Dust forgot that Luna had only been paralized.

"Come on, wake up!" He yelled. "Luna, don't leave me now, not like this!"

He put his arms around her, hugging her close and sobbing into her mane.

"Please don't be dead.. I can't lose you too.."

Luna saw it all. From her place in the snow, she could see her lover break down over her imobolised body. She wanted to cry out to him, to tell him she
was allright. Dust's tears seaped from her mane down her neck, and her eyes started to well up as well.

When Dust saw the tears in Lunas eyes, his heart skipped a beat. He cried out, almost laughing from pure joy.

"You're alive!" he exclaimed, putting his hands around her cheeks and pushing hes face against hers.

He gave her a kiss, then got back on his feet. She couldn't stay here, she'd freeze. He went to pick up his sword and carefully slid it back into his belt.
Before he went back to Luna, he went to check on the unicorn mare. Luckily, she was still breathing, only knocked out.

Without showing anymore care for the unicorn, he went back to Luna. He reached down, brushed her mane of her face. Then he reached around her and
tried to pick her up in his arms. Thankfully, she didn't weigh much, considering her size. He could easily pick her up and throw her over his shoulders.

Then, he set off back to the cave.

Luna saw snow. Nothing more than snow and Dust's robe flapping around his legs as he ran. If she hadn't been paralized, she might have thought the
situation somehwat arousing, his soft hands pressed against her in a firm grip. But all she could think about now was his heartbeat. She felt it
clearly, growing in pace the longer Dust ran. She counted every beat to calm herself down.

Finaly, the snow gave way to stone. Dust had reached the gorge. He slowed down his pace as he began to descend the rocky mountainside carefully.
A few loose rocks gave way as he stepped on them, and both his and Lunas heart skipped a beat.

Reaching the cave, he sat Luna down outside off it, resting her against the wall. He moved her head so she could see straight.

"Listen Luna, you're going to be okay." he said, looking into her eyes. "I'm going to use my magic on you, just try to stay calm, alright?"

Of course, Luna didn't answer him. But on the inside, she felt both scared and hopefull. She knew what his magic could do, having witnessed the creation
of the swords. But now she had also seen it's destructive force.. She felt Dust's lips press against hers, followed by a quick "I love you."

Dust moved away from her, closed his eyes and pointed his hands towards her. He dull red light started to grow in his palms. Luna watched as it grew
stronger, moving around in his hands. Dust moved his fingers, and the light slowly passed through the air towards her. The moment before it hit her
she wanted to yell out in pain, affraid that it might do more harm than good.

Then she felt the magic surround her. Slowly, a soothing sensation began to spread through her body. She managed to blink one of her eyes.

Dust smiled as he saw her eyes move, but didn't break the beam of magic. But for some reason, Luna had started blinking her eyes more rapidly, almost
frantic.

"What's wrong honey?" He asked her, trying to get her to move more.

But she just kept on blinking her eyes, faster and faster.

Faster and faster she blinked, as she saw the cloaked unicorn mare sneak up behind Dust. She tried to warn him, but could only watch as she came closer.
She wanted to yell out to him, otherwise she would have to watch her only source of joy in life die right in front of her.

The mare was so close now, she could just reach out and put her legs around his throat..

Finaly, Luna could open her mouth again.

"Dust, behind you!"

Dust spun around just as the mare pounced him. She wrapped her forelegs around his neck, closing them in a deadly grip. Dust grabbed them,
trying to pry them off, but it was no use, the unicorn where somehow stronger than him. Luna continued to yell for him while he tried to get the mare
off of him.

When he couldn't budge her legs, he instead tried hiting hos back against the canyon walls. Every time he slammed against the rocks, the mare cried out
in pain, but not for a second did she let go of him. Yet somehow, the magic where still working, and Luna could move her forelegs again. Not that
it would do her any good. Maybe she could drag her self over to Dust's body once he..

"Dust!" She yelled out again.

He couldn't answer. His vision started to fade as the pressing legs around his neck closed his suply of air. He felt life seep away as he fell to his knees
next to the edge of the cliff. He couldn't fight against it anymore. Slowly, he fell backwards. He could see Luna crawling ower towards him as he fell.
He saw the tears in her eyes, the look of pure terror and despair on her face.

Then she disapeared as he fell over the edge.

The mare still clutched his neck as they plummeted through the air. He could hear someone scream at the top of their lungs somewhere close by.
In his head, he could only see Luna. She would be all alone now, without him to keep her safe. He would be dead, but his love for her would live on.
With the last strain of his consiousness, he envisioned his wings in his mind.

A second later, they jolted out through his back. He heard the unicorn cry out as the wings hit her, pushing her off of him into the air. She kept on
screaming, and Dust drew in a few breaths, barely keeping himself awake. The mares scream was cut off as the sound of flesh meatin stone
echoed across the gorge.

Dust managed to flap his wings once, but it wasn't enough to stop his fall. He tucked his wings around himself like a shield.

Then, a loud bang, and pain. Dust drifted off into darkness.

Luna cried the name of her lover as she dragged herself along the cliff. She could only barely move her hindlegs, and they didn't help her get any closer.
He body burned from pain as frozen rocks dug into her skin, but she didn't care. She needed to reach the edge. She had to get to Dust.

She cried out his name once again, hoping for an answer. But no answer came to her. Tears streamed from her eyes, and she didn't care to hide her sorrow.
She screamed out her pain and grief, as if her long lifes enitre sadness made it's way out of her in a single breath. Crying like a baby, the way a grown
up person never should cry. The kind of crying that would make you fall dead from nothing but pure sadness.

When you feel your very soul seep out through your tears.

She finaly reached the edge, and flung her head over it. But all she could see was the abyss, and the river far below. No signs of life. Or death. Nothing.
Her tears fell from her face, making their way through the air to the bottom of the gorge. Her cries echoed loudly, and for a brief moment she wanted
to toss herself of the cliff as well, and join Dust in eternity.

Once her hindlegs worked again, she finaly managed to stand up, but there was no end to her wailing. Still, she managed to hold herself from jumping.
She just had to wait, soon her wings would work again. She could fly down there, she could find him. It was her only choice. Doing something drastic
as killing herself wouldn't solve anything. If Dust had survived the fall, she could find him, save him. They could get out from this hellish place.

Leave Equestria altogether, and live somewhere els, as husband and wife. She wanted that life so badly. Just the two of them.

"Dust.." She whispered. "I'll find you, my love.."

She swallowed down her pain.

"I promise."