>The wind howled as it swept across the balcony, bringing with it a chill that you barely felt, even as the rain seeped through the robe wrapped around your shoulders.
>It was almost comforting, and if nothing else, it was a reminder that you were still alive.
>You still weren't quite sure how you felt about that honestly.
>Sometimes you felt like you were making real progress. That maybe, your knowledge of a world untouched by chaos could somehow make the difference in this one.
>That's what Star Swirl seemed to believe anyway.
>But most times? You just felt empty.
>Taking in a deep breath, you turned your gaze to the horizon.
>The rolling clouds of the maelstrom smothered the sky in a magenta haze, stretching endlessly in every direction as far as the eye could see.
>It was crazy to think that you hadn't seen sunlight in...
>Weeks? No... that couldn't be right.
>Either way, you'd been here long enough to know that time had lost all meaning.
>It made you wonder, about how ordinary things had been.
>How much you missed it.
>Ultimately?
>You just wanted things to be normal again...