Graphite and Sunny trumped their way out of Rossmore and started heading deeper downtown. The areas between there and deep downtown was laid out in a trail - a trail of the ruins of Buckago. There was no gate behind the town of Rossmore, it seemed no pony dared to venture any further into the city. There must have been a wall there, an invisible one that nothing could cross; but the duo managed to push through that wall, using the strength of their ignorance. They were too caught up sharing stories and seeing the sights to notice that imaginary wall between the town and the outskirts. They traveled a while, the tacky shacks and tumbled homes were starting to return to large hotels and long skyscrapers that teased the clouds.

The buildings were ripped and torn, the holes started to encompass whole sections and worse. The rubble piled together on the streets, making entire urban mountains in the middle of downtown. They trekked around the debris, slipping through the rocks and continuing down the same straight and narrow road. The roads in the city were all the same, fortunately; they never had to worry about wondering off a road that stretched in one direction for miles.

They passed a few stores along the way, none of them in any shape to be sorted through. The stores one of few things: they were abandoned, along with anything that was inside; they were empty, someone came in and took everything they could carry out; they were destroyed completely, the insides filled with the floor above or just stuffed with trash and loose objects. The display windows were either shattered inward or blown outward; either way, the glass was scattered somewhere on the floor.

As they traversed through downtown, the buildings just got taller. Hotels were now hotels on top of hotels; the skyscrapers went into the sky and beyond; even the small buildings were big, the smallest one being no less than three stories high. Graphite was used to the urban distopia, having passed through one just like it. Sunny, on the other hoof, hadn’t been outside of Rossmore in the last few years - left re-exploring the terrain of the city. She looked up and down the tall buildings, inspecting all of their details; all of their cracks; all the holes and gaps or even the whole sections that have fallen away from them. She also viewed the skyscrapers that were rearing overhead. The skyscrapers were part of the backdrop back in town, but now Sunny was right underneath them and seeing just how high they climbed.

They moved on further and further, going deeper and deeper into the downtown area. The buildings started shifting from hotels and apartments to stores and small restaurant corners. They passed a few blocks of stores that seemed intact, but just as cleared out as before. The signs that hung above the stores were now sitting on the ground, covered in dust, or blown in two by the blast. They pressed on, Graphite ignored the stores and started focusing on the trail; Sunny’s eyes were wondering back and forth, when she noticed one store with a sign still hanging above it. She faltered away from the trail, the clops of her hoofsteps stepping away caught the ear of Graphite.

“What is it, Sunny,” Graphite wondered, following behind her.

Sunny didn’t respond, her eyes were fixed on this one store with the sign above it. She slowly made her way to the window panel with the display stand behind it; on the display case were two naked mannequins, standing in a pose as if they were trying to advertise their dress that wasn’t there. Graphite came beside her, looking into the empty shop. He placed his hoof on the window, blocking the glare and looking deeper into the shop - empty, without even a shelf to fill the space. Sunny sighed, her eyes locked on the posing mannequin.

“It would have been so nice to have a dress - they just seem so lovely,” Sunny murmured to Graphite.

“I don’t think I’ve seen any real clothes out here in this wasteland; everyone seems to be following the trend of leather or iron,” Graphite replied back.

“Well, there isn’t much else to wear, Graphite.You know, I’ve always dreamed of being in a dress. I guess I won’t be getting that opportunity any time soon...” Sunny sighed again, trotting back to the road.

Graphite watched her go a bit in her sorrow, blowing out a sigh as well. Soon, they both reached each other again, and were hitting the road. They followed the road block after block, the buildings just got grayer - the sun didn’t help with that. The sun was starting to set, the sky morphing from blue to orange seamlessly and without fault. The skyscrapers teased the sun at their highest points, any close and the buildings would scrape the sun. The rays beamed between the hotels and stores and restaurants, shining down on the companions’ eyes. They covered their eyes, and moved on, nothing was going to stop them.

Sunny still was a bit down about the dress, Graphite couldn’t imagine Sunny without her smile, and wasn’t going to see it now, “So, what kind of dress did you want, Sunny?” He asked, turning away from the sun.

Sunny thought for a moment before turning to Graphite, “Well, I’ve always imagined it to be something frilly, but elegant - something lady like. Like something... you wear to one of those big parties they had back before the war...”

“...A gala?”

Sunny clapped her hooves, smiling, “That’s it! A gala! I’ve always wanted a dress I could wear to a gala - but, like I said, that’s not going to happen any time soon,” she dropped her head, losing her smile.

Graphite lifted her chin from the floor, looking back at her eyes, “You never know what you can find out here, Sunny - don’t worry. I’m sure there’s a dress out there somewhere in the ruins.”

Sunny smiled once more, just a tad bit of confidence went through her; but it was enough to lift her spirits, “Maybe we can find you a dress too,” She giggled.

“I’ve never tried a dress on, I might look in it better in it than you,” Graphite joked back.

Sunny knocked Graphite on his shoulder again, “Oh shut it!” She kidded.

They traveled more and more down the streets, there seemed to be no end to this road. The buildings grew larger more, and larger more, and larger more - the city was surely the greatest feet of engineering in Equestria.

“I did have a nice uniform, Sunny,” Graphite stated after the short silence.

“Uniform, eh? Something for the military, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, it was a um... navy blue overcoat with gold buttons and cuff-links. It had our insignia on the upper arm and whatever medals we happen to have received were displayed on its chest. It was very nice and very clean - it was part of the routine to make sure our dress uniform was in pristine condition.”

“That does sound ni-” Sunny was interrupted when Graphite groaned then grabbed his head, “-Graphite, are you okay?” She worried.

He leaned on Sunny, who was keeping him up on his left two legs. He gripped his head tighter and gnashed his teeth, “I- grr- I’m fine, just... a headache...” He grunted.

Sunny pulled Graphite to the curb, letting him sit himself down on the edge of the sidewalk with Sunny’s arm around his shoulder, “That’s a pretty mean headache then, Graphite,” Sunny proposed.

Graphite rested his head in his hooves, blowing out deep breaths as the pain eased away - a memory was easing in where the pain had left.

There was another street Graphite was traveling down, though it was dusk and the buildings lining the street were small suburban houses. His vision shot, blurrier than going through a blizzard. His walk was teetering and tottering, unable to keep a straight line as he marched down the road mumbling to himself. He was wearing his dress uniform, tattered and unfit for service in any corps. He trumped on through the middle of the sidewalk.

Graphite drunkenly trotted with no real direction or destination. His walk took him wherever he swayed, even if it was right into another pony. He was stopped by a wall-like stallion almost twice the height and twice the girth of Graphite. Graphite tilted his head upward, blabbering to him drunkenly, “Watch where ya’ goin’!”

The large stallion looked down to Graphite, his voice booming in his ears, “Whoa there, I think that you better go home before you hurt yourself. I can hel-”

“Shut up! Don’t tell me what to do!” Graphite mumbled, swinging his bottle of beer around as he talked.

“Listen, I’m trying to help you buddy,” The stallion pressed on, going to grab Graphite to keep him falling over himself.

“Fuck you!” Graphite yelled as he pushed away the stallion’s hooves and threw a staggered punch at him. The hit connected with the stallions chin, barely knocking him back even a bit.

The stallion fired back with a hoof out of nowhere. Graphite was in a stupor after the first punch, his drunken memory keeping him from remembering anything of the rest of the fight. Graphite was finished, looking down the front end of an alleyway as the hulking stallion walked away into the dark night. Graphite looked down at himself, blood running from his nose, his arms bruised and sore.

Graphite popped out of the short flashback as a heard a voice, “Graphite, Graphite - are you okay? Answer me!” Sunny screamed, she sounded worried. He opened his eyes and took a look around his surroundings - nothing had changed. His head was still sore, his face was still buried in his hooves, and Sunny still had her hooves around Graphite.

“What, oh- yes. I’m fine, Sunny. I just get bad headaches... whenever... whenever I have memories - it’s a side effect of the freezing, if I remember correctly.”

“Are there any more ‘side effects’ I need to know about before we get going, Graphite?” She said while she lifted Graphite up by his arm.

Graphite got back on his four hooves, dusting his leggings off a bit before he got back on the road, “No,” He stated.

She patted his back, stepping ahead, “Alright then, we can get going.”

“Good, it’s getting late anyways,” Graphite muttered.

They went back on the trail of asphalt and debris, following it with more focus than a cat on the trail of a mouse. They never stopped moving - there was no reason to stop - stopping would just be a waste of valuable time that Graphite and Sunny need to keep track of. The sun had touched the horizon of the town, the duo was going to need to find a good place to camp out soon. Another few blocks, and another few empty buildings later, they reached an intersection. They neared the start of the intersection, when the sound of armor plates jingling came from the left road, right next to them.

They finally found a reason to stop when a gang of five griffons came marching through. All of them wore a set of black combat armor, with a white eagle talon on the chest. He remembered where he had seen similar uniforms before.

Graphite held Sunny back with his hoof, pushing her back gently. The five griffons came up to them, a noticeable stomp in their step as they tried to make themselves look tougher. The leader stopped just a few steps from Graphite, the rest of his followers stopping just before him.

“Well, now... you’re that bastard that killed our guys back at the pharmacy, aren’t you? We’re not going to just let that slide without some proper punishment. Now, if you will just stand still, we can be done with this as quick as possible.”

At his last grumbled word, they all brought their weapons out. The leader pulled his rifle out, a long barreled gun with wood grips that were starting to split; the two griffons behind him equipped shotguns, one double barreled and loaded for anything while the other was a stubby pump shotgun with no stock and only a sling to hold it around the griffon’s body. The two behind them had a short revolver that was held together with some black tape and the other held a blunt machete. Graphite whipped out the only weapon he had for close range - his knife.

The shotgunners came from around the leader, firing both their guns off simultaneously - sending a hail of bullets flying at Graphite and Sunny. Graphite pushed Sunny away with his telekinesis as he rolled away in the opposite direction. The bullets diced through his duster, cut through the seams of Sunny’s saddlebag, and continued to scatter forward until the buildings or the street stopped them. Graphite stopped his roll, his body stopping right on the curb before he flung himself forward towards the first shotgunner.

Graphite jumped just as he pumped his gun, pushing the gun away when the trigger pulled. Graphite tackled the griffon to the road, bring his knife around for the stab.

The second shotgunner turned his sights from Sunny to Graphite, stuffing the shells into his shotgun barrels.

Sunny was on the ground, trying to get her head around on what was going on. She had her hoof to her head, looking up to find Graphite on top of one of the Talons, with the other taking aim for him. She remembered her carbine, swinging the gun around her and holding it against her hip with her hoof. She squeezed the trigger, firing off a burst of bullets.

The crowd of bullets traveled their way to the second shotgunner, hitting his chest twice, and once to the bottom of his neck.

The shotgunner dropped his gun, falling to the floor while he grasped the bullet wound in his neck.

Graphite struggled to land a blow with his knife, when he noticed a shotgun hitting the floor.

The first shotgunner took notice of Graphite’s loss of focus and threw him off his chest with a swift kick using both his legs.

Graphite flew back, landing flank first on the pavement as his target started to pick himself up. The shotgun was still on the ground, so Graphite redirected his focus on the gun. Graphite lifted it up, throwing his knife at the gunner as a distraction just before firing both barrels of the shotgun into the back of the griffon - blowing enough holes in him to turn his torso into mincemeat.

Sunny got up from the pavement, carbine still in tow. The leader of the pack was retreating behind the cover of his last two remaining colleagues.

The mad griffon wielding the machete was rushing passed the cowardly leader and making his way towards Graphite screaming a cry of war.

Graphite was starting to crawl away on his back, trying with all of his effort to reload the shotgun. He picked the shells from the dying owner and popped the barrels down.

The griffon was getting closer, with Graphite not any closer to finishing his loading cycle. Sunny charged forward as well, firing off another round of bursts.

Shots were flying everywhere, the sounds of griffons yelling with rage and screaming in agony, the loud pops and bangs of the guns going off and shell casings dinging and pinging against the street. Adrenaline was flowing through the leader, but his only response was not fight, but flight. He panicked starting to flutter his wings to pick off and soar away.

Sunny’s fire of rounds knocked the marauder with the machete and knocked him to the ground, switching her aim to the griffon with the revolver.

He was in a panic as well, trying to decide who to pick off first. He quivered and flinched wildly, swapping his aim from Sunny to Graphite to Sunny to Graphite again.

Graphite flipped the barrels back into place, lining them with the bamboozled griffon holding the revolver.

He dropped his gun and tried to split the scene, but he was already drained of his blood when the pellets made their way through him.

He dropped down as the leader flew up, overtaking Sunny and Graphite as he zoomed away.

Sunny ran closer, trying to catch him - but it was too late. He was flying off, but she still took careful aim, going for a lucky shot at the leader. She stared down the iron sights, gripping the gun strong and hoping for the best.

The griffon was far and away from his two targets, but then a piercing pain came about him. His wing stiffened, then cringed - Sunny had clipped his wings.

He lost control of his flight; spinning around, tumbling downward, hitting the corner of a building, and hit the ground - making a small plume of dust from his little crater.

Graphite took a seat on the ground, blowing out a deep sigh, “Are... are you alright, Sunny?”

Sunny lowered her gun, panting heavily, “Y-yeah, I’m fine...”

“Nice shot,” Graphite admired, wiping some sweat from his head.

“Thanks,” She said back with a sigh.

The two ponies took in a few breaths of air just before they started picking through the Talon members. They grabbed their guns from the ground, picking them up and stuffing them into their bags. They barely fit, and there was still sorting to do. They filed through the spare rounds, the extra healing potion, some scraps of leftover food, and any thingamajig that looked useful. They dug through all their armour and anything around their belts or in their pockets. Sunny and Graphite stripped them clean, leaving nothing behind except the clothes on their back. When they found they had finished, they looked to the sun - it was just barely peeking through the horizon. They were going to need to find a place to stay the night before it got too dark. After counting their things, and tightening the straps on their bags, they set off in the same direction they were going.

Down the same street again, covered by the shade of the buildings and the ever receding light of the passing sun. They pressed on through the darkness, looking up and down the buildings for a place to stay. They pondered a bit as they marched down the road; the buildings looked like safe place to stay from the outside, but on the inside, there was no telling what lay await inside - or if there was an inside that hadn’t already caved in on itself. The smaller shops were empty, cold, and unprotected from anything such as another gang of raiders or just the natural beasts that probably lurked in the night. They thought it well over - both of them wondering if sleeping outside was safer than sleeping inside.

It was getting late, and the duo was slowing down thanks to their exhaustion. They went ahead and took the next alleyway to appear as their campsite. They found one, just between an old pawn shop and another larger building. The pawn shop was boarded off, there was no way to get inside or even look inside without seeing splintered wood. The building adjacent was no different than all the other collapsed structures that were scattered across Buckago.

The alley was the same just as any other, a dumpster laying at the end, a few extra tin trash cans, some loose litter along the sides of the walls, a layer of grime on the walls, and a finer layer of dust to top it all off. The sun had just set over Buckago, the alley would be pitch black if it wasn’t illuminated by Graphite’s horn. They gathered the bits of trash and dug out some papers and brown bags to create a makeshift fire. They gathered it into a small pile and started the fire with Graphite’s lighter. It was slow to start -- garbage isn’t easy to burn. A few embers and a flicker of a fire later, the fire started. Graphite and Sunny gathered around their small fire as they lied down on the dirty alleyway ground.

Sunny was lying on her back just looking up at the stars, Graphite was on his stomach, grabbing some cans of vegetable soup from his bag and popping them open with his knife. He popped the can open, bringing the rim of the can to his lips, when Sunny stopped him, “Are you going to eat that raw?”

Graphite had the can already tilted and the broth of the soup resting against the edge of the can. He tilted back down, turning to Sunny, “Well, yeah - why not?”

“Why don’t you cook it? At least give the thing some flavour! I know anything from the markets in Rossmore aren’t the best, but that doesn’t mean you have to make it worse.”

“Well, Sunny,” Graphite said, waving the can near the fire, “How are we supposed to cook it?”

“Just put it over the fire for a while and taste it until you think it’s warm enough for you,” She instructed and smiled, “Warmth even helps to bring back the flavour a bit!”

“Seems easy enough,” Graphite replied while he waved the can over the fire - holding it there with his levitation.

Graphite kept his focus on the can, hovering it just above the flames. The can bobbed up and down as Graphite started losing focus to exhaustion and boredom. He was getting impatient; he brought the can over to his mouth, taking a small sip. It hadn’t warmed even a bit, so he brought it back over the fire and groaned. Sunny snickered, turning her head back to the stars. Graphite notice her star gazing and decided to join her. He rolled over, placing his hooves right behind his head and staring upward towards the space bound bodies of light. They twinkled and twinkled well, they were as bright as they could be taking over the responsibility to light Equestria when the sun went down. The stars were a nice sight, but nothing to keep Graphite entertained. He checked the soup again - still cold.

Graphite blew a short sigh before rolling back to his stomach. He paused to think what to do next; he decided to inspect his new found weapons. He pulled the pump shotgun from the bag, wiggling it free from the two guns that were wedged around it.

The shotgun seemed to be in the best condition from all of their new found weapons. He flipped it over and around, twisted and turned, inspecting all the details of it. Barely a scratch or a ding, Graphite was going to keep this weapon around. He grabbed the other shotgun from his bag, this one laid a lot to be desired. The grip was split down the middle, the wood splintered where it wasn’t split. The barrels were rusted and ready to fall off after another shot; but, they would make good scraps - Graphite could use this pile of bits for bits on another gun that needed it.

He gathered the other weapons he collected - the rifle, the revolver, and even the machete. He laid them out in front of him, getting a good view of each part and every detail of the guns. He had never seen weapons so withered and uncared for, there was nothing to be done with these weapons other than spare parts.

Graphite started to field-strip the weapons to see what parts could be used in his guns. Some parts of the firing mechanism from the double barrel shotgun were good enough to replace the ones in the pump action one. It was hard replacing the parts using only his magic, but it seemed like a weapon maintenance kit was very unlikely to survive the storm of balefires. He was left tearing and tugging some parts off the guns, sometimes ruining the piece even more. He sorted through and through again, tossing bits and bobs and screws around.

Sunny was still laying back, when a nice smell swept passed her nose -- It wasn’t the best smell she’s sniffed, but it was certainly better than the rotted dumpster laying behind them. She turned about to the fire, watching as the can of soup was starting to steam. She closed her eyes and let the smell waft in her nostrils and heat her senses. After letting that smell sink in, she turned to Graphite, who was overly preoccupied with his tinkering to notice the soup was ready. Sunny would have grabbed the can herself if she had the magic to grab something that hot; but, instead, she just whistled at Graphite to grab his attention.

Graphite’s ears perked, turning to Sunny like a satellite. He joined his ears as they turned, picking his head from the guns to see Sunny smiling over - her head pointing over to the steaming can. Graphite grinned, bringing the can out of the fire before it boiled over and the two of them would have to start biting down on burnt bits of broccoli and shriveled carrots. Graphite brought the can under his nose, sniffing the steam into his nose and letting the smell abide his senses. He took a sip from the can, flinching a bit when the hot soup touched his lips. He took a quick sip, bringing the can away from the fire and cringing, “Ahg! It’s a little hot,” Graphite humoured as he held his burnt tongue.

Sunny chuckled a bit, scooting the can just a bit further from the fire, “Maybe we can let it cool down a bit?” She grinned, gluing her eyes back on the star field above.

Graphite nodded, “Of course.”

Sunny took a kind bit of enjoyment looking out at the stars, and Graphite couldn’t determine why. He took his time, staring at Sunny herself. He watched her with big, cheery smile; her soft features; and her odd ability to beam joy wherever she was. Graphite took a moment of pause - was he falling for Sunny?

Sunny was simply sunny. Her personality was always upbeat and uplifting. She was as beautiful as a mare could get, the softest features on her face and eyes that brought about a smile if you hadn’t already had one from her jubilant voice. Graphite continued to admire her from a distance, a smile stuck on his face like-

“-Graphite?” Sunny bounded in on Graphite’s thoughts, turning to look at Graphite again.

Graphite looked away, staring as quickly as he could at the twinkling stars, “Um, yes?” He stammered.

“You know, when you look up at the stars, you see there’s thousands of stars everywhere. All of them just scattered across the sky... then there’s you. One star in one point in one sky, surrounded by tens by dozens by thousands stars and more. Out of all those stars up there, there’s one other star for you - but, now you have to find it. You go from one to the other looking for the one. Then, you start to see that all those stars are the same - they’re all just balls of light on the outside. So how do you find the one-?”

“-I don’t know,” Graphite interceded.

“It was a rhetorical question, Graphite, let me finish,” Sunny cleared her throat and continued, “Okay. Well, when you find out that all the stars are the same on the outside, you find that you can only find the one for you is truly bright on the inside.”

“So...?”

“I’m saying it doesn’t matter what you are on the outside, it only matters how you are on the inside, Graphite.”

“Well that makes sense, Sunny - but, what are you trying to tell me?”

She took a deep breath, “I guess I just have something on my mind I wanted to let out...”

Graphite was silent, still confused.

“Have you ever lost someone?”

Graphite turned back to the stars, his heart almost sinking to his stomach. The memory of his parents came up suddenly. Graphite sighed, closing his eyes as the thoughts swirled through his head. He took but a short moment, before answering calmly, “Yes...”

Sunny sighed too, pausing to remember the moments. She turned back to the heavens, “Well, Graphite, let me tell you a story... I was sitting in my home, back in... Southern Buckago. I was just sitting there waiting, waiting with my dog Nerro - a um, black hound I got as a gift - my loved one Sierra was out scavenging together with some other ponies that lived nearby. I was sitting there waiting... and waiting... and waiting... it usually takes about a day- or two at the most, but I was there waiting halfway through the week. With each day I became more and more worried. By the end of the week, I decided to go looking for Sierra myself. I checked with the ponies that did come back from the scavenger team; turned out that they got ambushed in some old office building and they were separated. I set out immediately, wasting no spare time to prepare myself. I grabbed my pistol then went on to the last place the scavenging party was seen. I wondered around the ruins for weeks until I found the building where they last saw Sierra I waded around the building for a long while and eventually, got lost. While looking for an exit, I found a supply closet - a trail of blood leading either to or from it. I trotted to the supply closet, my pistol right beside me. I grabbed the handle, threw open the lockers and inside...”

Sunny stopped, holding back a fountain of tears and expressing her feeling with a single drop down her cheek. She sniffled, then stammered, “In-inside... was Sierra half decayed and stiff laying inside some metal box. The last thing left was a few pills laying scattered across the bottom of the box and a small tin cassette case in the pale hooves. This holodisk was the last thing to remember my loved one by - and I don’t even know how to read it. I don’t have anything to play it with, but I’ve kept it with me ever since that day...” Sunny slid that same holodisk from her saddlebag and showed it to Graphite. It had a bit of rust on the corner, but it still seemed like it would work.

Graphite looked at the cassette, then at his Pip-Buck. It was worth a shot to try and play the recording on his Pip-Buck. he grabbed the cassette from Sunny, who was only slightly resistant in giving it up. He brought it over the Pip-Buck’s screen - to no avail. He peeked down at the case, then turned it over. The screen blinked, turning red and flashing the word, ‘SCANNING...’ A red light was lit up underneath some tinted plastic, there also seemed to be another little red light underneath the same type of plastic on the holodisk. The tapes on the disk began to spin, and the screen on the Pip-Buck flashed green reading out, ‘SCAN COMPLETE’. The holodisk’s light also lit green, and the speaker started transmitting the recording.

A voice came on, muffled by the poor quality recording and the heavy panting that came between every other word.

“O-okay, it looks like I got this thing working. I know that some pony from our family will find this message eventually. When you do, please give this to Sunny. She’ll want to know what’s happened to me.

I got separated from the group when those... things ambushed us. In all of the confusion, I lost my weapon and now- well - it looks like I’m screwed. I did find some painkillers in this supply closet; I have an idea, so those things won’t eat me alive.

We’ve been through some tough times, and I’m glad that we’ve managed to stay by each others side. I’m glad that you’ve always been there to cheer me up. I’m glad you’ve been there ever since we first met back when we were fillies, and when we were together playing with all the other foals... hah... and heh- you always were the sunshine of my life...

I never told you, but... that one nightmare night? On the rooftops? There - that’s when I fell in love with you.

Goodbye Sunny. I love you...”

Sierra sniffled her tears, then the sound of pills juggling about inside a container. The cap popped open and the pills poured out of it. After that, the recording stopped, ending abruptly at that moment. The atmosphere - silent, empty, then sorrowful. Sunny began to cry, sobbing over the recording as she tried wiping away her tears, only to find another river would come back to fill in the wipe. Graphite removed the holodisk from his Pip-Buck, setting it gently on the ground next to Sunny. She didn’t notice, her eyes were too filled with tears to see. Graphite tried to comfort her the best to his ability. He scooted closer to her, patting her back as she wept over her loved one.

He stayed there, rubbing and patting Sunny’s back for as long as she wept. The night pressed on, growing colder underneath the cries of poor Sunny. The tears did die down, but only after who knows how long. Graphite stayed by Sunny’s side until she finally came about. There was still time in the night, maybe a good night’s sleep could help her ease out of the pain of hearing her loved one’s last words. Graphite was getting sleepy, but he had to stay up as long as Sunny did to keep her company through her tough time. Graphite was kept up only by the will to keep by Sunny’s side and the bit of sorrow he was feeling seeing Sunny cry like this. She’s usually as bubbly as a kitten, but now she was just as sad if that kitten had lost it’s owner.

The mare was starting to get sleepy as well, the tears slowly transitioned to sniffles then to a pout, eventually leading into her eyes getting heavy and her body slowly falling down and down. She fell unto Graphite’s shoulder, resting delicately on him - she had cried herself to sleep. Graphite didn’t mind; he just lied down slowly, making sure Sunny wouldn’t fall or slip off his side. He made it to the ground, Sunny still on his shoulder, and closed his eyes - letting the exhaustion take his mind away from the night to sleep.