The soft click and clack of her own hoofsteps rang gently in her ears as she walked the uneven, uncut stone. No echo was made against the cavern walls. The sound of her presence just vanished, devoured by the shifting shadows of the cave. Tall spires of rock rose from the floor and large spikes hung from the ceiling. Each dripped water from their tips like saliva down the fangs of a monster. Their shadows flickered and moved as if illuminated by candlelight, though there was no source of light down there in the depths.

Sight wasn’t an issue for Fluttershy, though, despite the lack of a light source. She didn’t question it, just like she didn’t question how she got there or what she was doing there. Context and meaning were both forgotten, as they so often were in the realm of dreams.

Fluttershy looked nervously around the seemingly endless cavern, her legs getting shakier with each step. Sweat started forming on her fur despite the deathly cold air and stone around her. Alone, no grass, no trees, no stars… just darkness that she could swear was moving.

Her surroundings gradually changed as she went through her journey into the depths of the earth. Gemstones lined the ground and high spires as the air got warmer. The jewels glittered in the dark like stars in their own right, filling Fluttershy’s vision with pinpricks of light like the night sky.

“Is anypony here…?” she whispered into the shimmering dark.

“Spike… anyone… help me,” it whispered back.

“Rarity?” Her ears perked up, searching for the source of the noise. Before her more lights came to life in a cluster, glimmering in the distance like the fires of Canterlot on the horizon at night. “Rarity!”

She galloped through the forest of stone spires as fast as her legs could carry her. Their shadows twisted and slithered more violently the closer she got to the beacon in front of her, but she paid them no heed. They were only shadows, no matter how much they writhed.

Fluttershy stumbled over herself when the stone floor beneath her turned into the edge of a mound of gems. The sharp edges raked across her fur and skin. Sapphires, emeralds, rubies, garnets, diamonds; all crunching and tinkling under her hooves as she struggled to right herself.

She heard a rasping cough above her. She snapped her head up to see Rarity atop the mountain of jewels, her alabaster fur blackened with soot as she hacked and gagged.

“Rarity, I’m coming!”

Fluttershy scrambled up the slope, sending down a cascade of gems with every haphazard step. She tried to flap her wings, but they were frozen to her side with fear. She didn’t know how far away it was or how long she climbed. All sense of time was gone and Rarity’s distance warped frequently.

As she neared the summit, the tinkle of gems tumbling down the slope behind her turned into a wet crunch beneath her hoof. She gasped and looked down. There were no gems, no diamonds, no rubies; beneath her instead was a mountain of corpses. Squirrels, deer, raccoons, birds… her friends, many she raised from their childhood. She recognized all of them, and the life was gone from all of their eyes.

She screwed her eyes shut and took in shallow breaths, trying to calm herself down. When she opened them again she was greeted by a wave of heat and smoke. The spires of stone were gone and in their place trees engulfed in green flames, bathing the macabre mountain in emerald light.

“Help, please…”

Fluttershy looked back up. Rarity was coughing harder through the haze of smoke that filled the air. She was close enough to see the unicorn’s eyes; Rarity was struggling to keep them open, the light and life in them slowly but surely fading.

The pegasus took a deep breath and continued her trek. She did her best to ignore the squish of lifeless flesh or the snap of bone beneath her hooves, though the sounds echoed in her ears, louder than the roaring blaze around her.

Smoke burned in her lungs. The smell of burning flesh filled her nostrils. Flames licked at her fur. Heat immeasurable washed over her. Still she trudged through her personal Tartarus atop the broken bodies of her friends, every moment feeling like a compressed eternity, every snapping bone another crack in her heart and soul.

At last she reached the summit, a broken and barely breathing Rarity at her hooves atop the heap of bodies. “Rarity, it’s going to be okay,” she whispered, holding her gently in her forelegs. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Fluttershy…?” Rarity coughed and hacked, curling up in pain. With a ragged gasp and a shiver, she fell still, her eyes going dark.

“Rarity? Rarity!” She shook the unicorn, her eyes hazing over with tears. No response; not the slightest stir. Through the heat of the roaring fire, Rarity was as cold as the grave. “Rarity, please!” Fluttershy took in a deep breath and locked her lips with Rarity’s, blowing deep into her to try to bring her back.

The mouth to mouth turned into a kiss when Rarity started pressing back. The heat dissipated. The smell of burning flesh vanished. The smoke dispersed. All there was, all that mattered, was Rarity. The soft feel of her fur against Fluttershy’s; her brilliant blue eyes when they fluttered open; the warmth of her breath in Fluttershy’s mouth. Everything went from horror to rapture in the space of a few moments. She didn’t question why; she didn’t want to know. Wondering might take her back to the living hell she was trapped in only seconds before.

Fluttershy could swear that she saw a winged shadow flit across the corner of her vision, but she paid it no mind. Rarity was safe, and they had each other; among all the terror and heartbreak and pain, she at least had that sliver of a silver lining to hang onto. Next Chapter: Dear Dreamers: Celestia Estimated time remaining: 41 Minutes