Sky whimpered softly as she clambered up the hill, bowing her head and walking the path before her by memory alone.

Every year she’d walked this same path, the winding trail through the Canterlot city park that bordered the middle and poor districts. It was an exciting footpath that crossed the carefully tended flowerbeds of the lower park, passed the thick bushes where a thousand youths explored romance for the very first time, a hundred overlooks that gave happy ponies unparalleled views of the city. It was a wonderful trail, and every year, she trod it as a special little ritual, carrying a camera on her back.

However, she had never, ever walked the path alone before. It is something that she’d always done with her little sister.

Every year on Adoption Day, Sky and Shadow made a special pilgrimage together, a yearly ritual that they had never missed, not once. Ever since the day Shadow showed up on Sky’s doorstep all of those years ago, they walked this trail to commemorate the day that the two of them first met, and they followed it to a certain point; the foot of a great hill that dominated the centre of the park. From there they’d leave the trail, clambering up the great hill to the monstrous ancient oak tree that sat atop it. The oak was twisted with age, but Adoption Day was in spring, a time when it was in full blossom. There was something about the way that the leaves caught the sunlight, the soft shade and brisk spring air lending something intangible but wonderful to the atmosphere. In that place, at that moment, Sky knew happiness that she couldn’t recall before she’d met her little sister.

Today, however, wasn’t Adoption Day. The moon shone overhead, rays of pale ivory light breaking through the great oak’s foliage. The little white pony looked like a ghost, even with her grey cloak fastened around her shoulders. She had a shovel strapped to her side and a swaddled pony wrapped in white cloth lay on her back, lifeless.

“I know it’s not Adoption Day today, sweetie,” Sky whispered to the pony on her back, “and it isn’t exactly a sunny day either, but hey, at least we’re going to be able to make this trip together again. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Tonight, Shadow walked with her one last time.

Sky couldn’t cry right now. The shock of the night’s events still gripped her mind like a vice, putting a stopper in her emotions for the time being. She contented herself with walking onward and upward if only to hold onto the feeling that she was doing something, anything. She couldn’t bear any form of inaction right now, not after her inaction tonight had cost her so very much.

“It’ll be okay, Shadow. We’ll get up there and then you’ll be safe, I promise.” Sky whispered to the park at large. The filly on her back shifted a little as she nearly lost her balance. Her legs shook under their combined weight far too much for her to walk straight...or perhaps the shaking was from desperate sobs that simply wouldn’t come.

It’ll be okay, Shadow. I promise, you’ll be okay…

Sky stumbled again and the filly slid off of her back onto the grass beside her. She glanced around at the poor broken body, the white cloth already stained red with her continued bleeding. The victim’s face was wrapped in cloth like the rest of her body, concealing it from Sky’s vision. A poor pony’s coffin for a little filly with nopony else in the whole world to love her and take care of her.

Sky’s ears splayed back again, and she pulled her hood off, as if the sight of her face would bring her back from the afterlife. She nuzzled the little pony for all she was worth, cooing and whispering.

“Please, Shadow...you’re scaring me. Please...please wake up…” Sky whispered, her voice emotionless, dead. It sounded distant as if it wasn’t even her own. She ran her forehoof over where she assumed the pony’s mane was, stroking her softly. Her heart leapt at the slightest movement from the body bag before breaking all over again as she realised that it was only her own touch. The pony didn’t stir and Sky gave a soft whimper.

“You can stop playing now. This isn’t funny anymore…” Sky whispered. “I know you’re okay, sweetie. I was watching your back. I know you’re okay. Stop scaring me, please.” She nearly begged now, scooping up her little sister and holding her like a newborn in her forehooves. Still the tears would not come, her mind fully refusing to accept the reality that she clutched in her hooves.

Once more, the filly in the body bag didn’t move. She didn’t speak, she didn’t whimper or answer Sky’s coos with her own. She merely lay there without a spark of life in her body. It seemed as if she was bidding Sky to hold back her tears while holding back her own. Of course, Shadow would hate to see her big sister cry because of her. She simply wasn’t that kind of pony.

“Shadow, seriously, come on, stop messing around.” Sky whispered, almost pleading with the little filly as she held her. “It’s time to wake up now, sis...please…” She pulled her in closer, nuzzling her obscured cheek, her shoulder, her neck, anything. She even tickled the bundle with her soft forehoof, hoping against hope that it would coax a soft little giggle out of her sister. Yet again, however, Shadow made no noise.

“It’s okay...I know you’re just playing…” Sky whispered, nuzzling her. “It’s not really funny anymore, but I know you’re just playing. You’ll wake up in a second and everything’ll be all right.”

Sky put Shadow on her back again, ascending the hill towards the bright moonlight-wreathed tree once more. It loomed up in front of her, imposing and silhouetted against the light as Shadow’s body had been at Sawblades’s place. Sky whimpered as she staggered towards it. Never before had the world seemed so dark, so hostile, so ominous and scary and big. Something about her little sister’s presence brought the whole world back into perspective, brought courage to Sky’s heart when she had none, brought peace when she was nervous.

It’s okay though, she’s just pretending...she’ll be up and about in no time, and then the world will be back to the way it should be… Sky thought to herself as she carried her little sister the rest of the way up the hill. Perhaps the darkness confounded her footing, but Sky found herself staggering and falling every few metres. This hill had never been so steep, not in all of the years that she’d been coming here.

Finally, she crested the hill, finding herself between two monstrous roots, flanking her like a kind of naturally-formed embrace. It was familiar, something she remembered vividly from her other visits. That familiarity was more than welcome in a time such at this. It was comforting, a voice that affirmed that everything would indeed be all right.

Sky lay her little sister down at the foot of the tree on her back in the grassy path between the two giant roots. Extending a shaking forehoof, Sky pulled back the cloth covering Shadow’s face.

The little filly was laying there in the most peaceful sleep imaginable. Her chest did not even rise or fall. She lay there in total silence, the distant sounds of the city around them not disturbing her one bit.

“You were really brave tonight, you know.” Sky whispered, beginning to dig alongside her. “You shouldn’t have gone after Nightshade by yourself, but...but I don’t mind too much right now. What’s important is that you’re safe and we’re gonna be okay, right? This isn’t the last time we’ll come up here together…” She panted as she drove her shovel into the earth time and again. She couldn’t exactly process what she was doing right now or why she was doing it. She merely kept active because she felt that this was working towards something, in some small way helping make things better. That’s what Sky loved to do; help ponies. Everything she did now was in aid of holding onto that feeling, holding onto who she was...holding onto her little sister.

Sky held on with all of her might, but she was just one weak little pony in a big uncaring world.

“How many ponies would care if you disappeared, Shadow?” Sky whimpered softly. “How many ponies would know that you even existed? I’m the only pony who loves you...and I really fucking love you, Shadow. I’d never forget you if you went away, never forget how you make my life worth living. Nopony else will ever understand how important you were...hell, how important you are. Don’t go, Shadow. Please don’t go. Don’t leave me alone…”

As Sky dug, making sure the hole was good and deep, she tried to pin down exactly what she was feeling, to find some way to describe the things going on in her head and heart so as to more easily come to terms with it, to cope. It was a strange void, a void to end all voids, where there was nothing, no hope, none of the excitement, none of that feeling of safety, no happiness nor comfort nor strength to call her own. As it began to encroach through the numbness she felt, Sky began to panic once more. She didn’t want to be consumed by that feeling.

She threw down her shovel, lowering her head and nuzzling the prone filly. “Come on Shadow, get up, please….please…” She whimpered. There was something very wrong with her.

“You know,” Sky whispered hopefully, “this is about the time you usually get up and ask me if you scared me.” She shuffled her hooves awkwardly. “Um...you...you kind of have...actually, you really have. I’ll tell you what...if you get up right now, I promise not to be mad. I’ll even go easy on the cuddles, I swear.”

She looked across at her little sister with a little smile, fervently hoping that Shadow might hop upright. Her face fell once again when Shadow still didn’t wake.

“Come on Shadow, up!” Sky prodded her with her muzzle again, growing a little more desperate now. “Come on...this isn’t funny anymore! Please, Shadow! Come on!” Her hooves shook, her ears flat back against her skull. The void in her chest was held at bay by sheer panic, but that at least meant that there was hope. Shadow was playing a game, that was all.

Still, it wasn’t a very funny game anymore. It was scary.

“COME ON, SHADOW!” Sky shook, picking up her little sister and clutching her tight. “Get up! Please…we’ve gotta go home…it’s time to stop playing now…”

Finally, as the wave of panic rushed over her, Sky felt something growing within her, something massive, inexorable. The desire to scream. She wanted to shriek at the top of her lungs until Shadow awoke again, until she made some kind of wisecrack about going deaf. They’d argue, Sky would probably bat her around the head for scaring her so much, and then they’d go home.

However, as she opened her mouth to let it out, something caught in Sky’s throat. Perhaps it was the surreal nature of the experience, the way it felt so much like a bad dream. Too much like a bad dream. Whatever it was, the scream simply wouldn’t come, though every fibre of Sky’s being cried out for her to do it. She was silenced, struck dumb by pain and suffering, her body beginning to shut down as she struggled to cope with the very possibility of losing the one pony in the whole world who loved her.

“Sis?” Came a very soft whisper next to Sky’s ear.

Sky pulled away, looking down at the little filly cradled in her hooves. “Shadow?”

“Sis...it’s okay…” Shadow whispered. The moonlight grew brighter, illuminating the two ponies as they hugged each other for dear life at the foot of the great oak tree.

“That wasn’t funny Shadow. You had me so fucking worried…” Sky whispered softly, hugging her tightly and shivering like mad. “Don’t...don’t ever do that again...please…”

“I won’t, sis.” Shadow whispered in turn, nuzzling her sister’s ear. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Her voice was weak and gentle, yet recognisably hers. Sky couldn’t even be mad at her in that moment, holding her close as if to let her go was to let her slip away forever. She’d come so close tonight. She never wanted to feel that way again, not ever.

“I love you.” Sky whimpered, silent tears falling to the ground as she held her little sister close.

“I love you too, sis…” Shadow whispered as the moonlight grew ever brighter. In time it consumed them both, dropping them both into the same bright white abyss as before.

“Sis?”

Shadow waved a hoof in Sky’s face, trying to rouse her big sister from her slumber.

Shit, she’s twitching. She’s having bad dreams again…

Shadow prodded Sky’s muzzle with her forehoof a couple more times before rolling her eyes with frustration.

Dozy fucking cow…

The filly drew back a forehoof, muttering a very unconvincing apology under her breath and promptly punched Sky on the nose.

The mare snorted, wiggling her nose and jerking awake. She glanced around, wide-eyed, before her gaze fell on Shadow. A moment later, the filly was scooped into the tightest hug yet, her big sister nuzzling and cuddling her desperately.

“It’s okay, sis...I’m here…” Shadow crooned softly, allowing Sky unbridled cuddle privileges for the time being. Something told Shadow that Sky needed those right now.

“I know...I know...I’m being silly…of course you’re here…” Sky whispered, sniffling quietly. She was shaking like a leaf, the poor pony.

“Sis...are you crying?” Shadow whispered, ears splaying back.

“N...no…” Sky whimpered, soaking Shadow’s coat and wings in tears as she sobbed unapologetically. She was only fooling herself really.

Shadow’s expression and voice softened and she almost sounded like a five year-old again. “Oh, Sky…” She wrapped her wings around her big sister, rocking her gently. “It’s okay...it’s fine...I’m here, we’re both safe. None of that stuff happened. Just take some deep breaths.”

Sky did what she was told, breathing deeply as she tucked her head under Shadow’s overlarge wings to shield herself from the eyes of passers-by. She sat there, embracing the younger pony, listening to her breathe. Over time the panic dissipated as her brain began to accept that what had happened in the shadow of that tree was nothing more than a dream. Shadow was here. They were together. They were safe.

“I’ll be okay…” Sky whispered. The image of the dream still burned into her mind quite vividly. “Th...thanks, Shadow…”

“Hey, that’s what I’m here for.” Shadow replied, offering a soft little smile. “If it makes you feel any better, I had a nightmare on the way here too.”

“Ye...yeah?” Sky whimpered, drying her eyes with a forehoof and cocking her head.

“Yeah.” Shadow nodded, shuddering. “I was stuck in this cafe and you were singing Flank Sinatra songs about love being a trap or some shit.”

Both sisters chuckled weakly, beaming at one another.

“You wouldn’t do that, though.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Sky grinned slyly.

“Yeah.” Shadow replied evenly, sticking her tongue out. “You can’t sing that well.”

“Cheeky bitch.” Sky sighed, sitting back. Even as she relaxed she clung desperately to Shadow. She couldn’t let go of her, not right now.

The two of them stayed that way until the train pulled up to Manehattan Grand Central Station. Sky and Shadow exchanged a glance, before getting to their hooves. The two of them only shook a little as they pulled their hoods up and trotted out of the compartment and onto the platform.

The city appeared to be far bigger and more crowded than the two little ponies could have possibly imagined. Towering skyscrapers blocked out the sun, preventing any natural light from getting into the terminal. The entire building was lit by monstrous chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

“Blimey...I haven’t seen lights that big since that weird movie about the opera.” Sky muttered.

“You would watch a movie about the opera.” Shadow hopped onto Sky’s back as they tried to make their way through the crowd towards the exit. There were ponies everywhere, commuters and tourists who seemed unable to go about their daily business without inadvertently getting in everypony’s way. One pony even walked headlong into Sky, bumping into her and not even bothering to apologise. She shrugged it off, shaking her head.

“Wow.” Sky commented as they made the way out onto the street. “Everypony in this city’s an asshole.”

“Tell me about it.” Shadow took off, fluttering over Sky’s head and taking a look around. “So where do we start?”

“Well, I’ve got a couple of contacts that hang out around here sometimes…” Sky popped her saddlebag open, reaching into it. “I just need to...wait…”

“What’s up?” Shadow cocked her head, coming in to land next to her big sister.

“Um...my diary’s missing…” Sky’s ears splayed back. This wasn’t good. There was stuff in that book that she never shared with anyone, not even Shadow. “I don’t suppose you…?”

“I didn’t take it.” Shadow shook her head, opening up her saddlebags and letting Sky take a look.

Ha, you did bring perfume. I fucking called it! Sky thought to herself triumphantly, but a different kind of panic tugged at the back of her head now. Shadow didn’t have it, Sky didn’t have it, and that could only mean one thing.

“Did I just get robbed?”