They waited.

For hours and hours, until weariness creeped in and they took turns falling asleep. Until the sun fell and the light was gone, and darkness washed across the land. All that was left were the darkened skies and twinkling stars, but it was so very quiet. Not a sound other than the distant bugs sounding off their night songs.

Agreeing it was time, they used their combined magic to teleport safely out of the crevice. Despite having regained an impressive amount of strength after the turmoil they had been through together, Cadance still gasped after her first step, the limp in her foreleg clear. She hissed, teeth grit as tears stung the edges of her eyes.

Holding her fiercely, Shining promised her safety with a simple, “Hold tight.” He hoisted her onto his back, nuzzling his wife tenderly before he began his slow trek into the dark.

His journey was not long, and his weariness thanked him for finding shelter within so short a time. He ducked under a felled, hollow trunk of a tree, minding Cadance’s head. Setting her down near the open end, Shining proceeded to levitate branches and large leaves by the entrance and exit of the tree trunk. His horn cast a glow that ensured nothing else was in the tree. It was just them.

As his wife had done for him, so too did Shining heal her wounds. Though not as skilled magically as her in healing spells, he knew enough from his days serving as the Royal Guard captain. He knew a twisted foreleg when he saw one, and he mended the muscles, tendons, and bones while hardly breaking a sweat. Cadance sighed gratefully, staring into her husband’s eyes with a deep tenderness the likes of which he hadn’t seen in quite some time. Not since their wedding.

Then, she turned and stared past the branches and leaves blocking the open trunk, gazing out into the deep valley on the edge of the jungle. The aurora borealis filled Luna’s night. The lightning bugs and bioluminescent critters moved throughout the valley. Even in such strenuous times, there was calmness to be earned. There was peace to be found.