Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

First published 10th of January, 2019

In an alternate world of shadow, steam, and danger, the future hinges on six individuals forming a new friendship.

An AU Equestria Girls fanfic.

In an alternate world of steam and gunpowder, the mysterious ruler known as Celestia is dead and the dark god Nightmare Moon has already sentenced half of Greater Everfree to the apocalypse. The future now depends on six strangers uniting before the world either falls into darkness or self-destructs.

Yet there are far greater forces at work than anyone realizes, and secrets far more terrible and destructive than any monster lie deep in the realms of eternal night. As the same power that brought the world to its knees becomes the means to fulfill the dreams of human ambition, what sort of future these six strangers will bring is called into question: a harmony of peace or a far greater cataclysm than the one currently facing the world.

Nightwatch: Prologue - On that Day Eight Years Ago

It was only an hour and three quarters to twelve by the time the steam-powered carriage reached the streets of Hoofheim.

Being above the arctic circle and in the land of the "midnight sun", the sun was still out although low on the horizon. Most of the residents had turned in regardless, leaving only a few still finishing up their extended day's business. Many stopped and marveled to see an honest-to-goodness, top-of-the-line steam-powered motored carriage pulled without the aide of a single horse or any other beast of burden. Only the very rich possessed such luxuries--and that wasn't merely speaking about the very rich in Hoofheim but in all of Greater Everfree. For Hoofheim, a city state whose geographic isolation had kept it free from the wars of the continent at the price of stunting its economy and trade to where only a single paved road ran through the middle of it, it was like seeing a foreign dignitary.

A stiff wind blew through the town and seized a bit of newspaper that had been discarded on the street. It drove it right into and through the one open window on the side of the carriage before depositing it in the lap of the one seated there.

A ten year old girl, dressed neatly and elegantly in a uniform of a fine boarding school, hands and nails washed, shoes polished, and not one hair out of place, reached took it up. It wasn't to read it, but rather to keep it from disturbing a vividly purple and green puppy whose head was currently resting on her lap as he dozed from the rhythm of the steam engine. Once that was done, she looked back out the window and smiled.

"Are you enjoying being home, Twilight?"

The girl turned her head back into the carriage. It was built for a long, comfortable journey. The seats were arranged around the center and were deep and cushioned. The windows were trimmed with elegant filigree and the walls etched with beautiful designs. Special systems kept it sealed from any of the coal vapor so that the air in it remained clean and fresh, and there were even compartments for holding food and drink.

All around her, asleep in various positions, were others dressed just like her aside from some variation for boys and girls. Including her there were seven in all. However, one other individual was still awake. It was hard to make her out with the curtains pulled, but it was an adult woman. Her own outfit was the same style as that of the children, only for a headmistress. Her long hair stretched over her shoulders and flowed down over her garment. Even in the dim light the girl marveled at how it seemed to glow with iridescence. Only in the deepest darkness did its true hue, a pink shade, come out. I've never seen hair like that! That had been her first thought on meeting her six years ago.

Yet the greatest part of her that stood out even now was her smile. That warm, inviting smile... The same one that dispelled all her doubt and nervousness ever since her first day.

Twilight smiled back and nodded. "I really do love Canterlot, but it feels so nice to be back! Look! There's the lightpole I used to tie ribbons around in May! And over there's Big Joe who ran the sweet shop where I got my favorite peppermint sticks! And right there! That's the grating where I found a five krone piece one day and I made a sticky string to fish it out with! Oh!" She turned to the window excitedly. "There's Sea Swirl's dog! She's gotten so big! And there’s the library!"

"You have a lot of happy memories here, don't you, Twilight?"

She nodded back eagerly. However, her enthusiasm soon faded into a frown. “But…it’s so far out of the way, Princ-”

The woman held up a finger to silence her. Twilight blushed.

“Sorry…Headmistress Celestia.”

“And it’s no bother, Twilight. I told you the whole reason for this summer trip was so that I could give every student a nice visit home. That includes you. And look.” She gestured outside. “We’re here right at the Summer Solstice. Even when we came in late, you can still see everything.”

Her face sank. “But all the others are from Manehattan, Cloudsdale, and Fillydelphia. You can get there in just a couple days from Canterlot. You had to go so far northwest for me…”

“It wouldn’t be fair to ignore taking you to your hometown when everyone else gets to visit theirs. Besides, Twilight, you’ve been gone the longest.”

Twilight stayed unhappy looking as she slumped back into her seat. Her hand gripped the newspaper a bit tighter. “That’s not the only thing.”

Celestia glanced down over the newspaper in her grip. While it was a bit battered, it was from that morning. And by now the wonder of telegraphs had sent the news throughout the entire continent of Greater Everfree to where it was a front page story not only on the papers of a backwoods nation like Hoofheim but everywhere.

CONTINENTAL SUMMIT OPENS TODAY

Celestia’s smile ebbed a little. “Twilight, I’ve told you before that I wish you would devote yourself completely to your studies. Don’t worry about things like this.”

“If you hadn’t had to come all the way to Hoofheim, you could be there right now.”

She waved a hand and smiled again. “Oh, there’s no need for anyone from Canterlot to go there anymore. We’re such a tiny nation that Equestria almost doesn’t even know we exist anymore; let alone any other nation. There’s nothing I can do there either. Don’t you fret about it.”

She reached out one of her hands, wrapped with a simple white dressing, and clasped it over the one holding onto the newspaper. It made the girl turn and look up to her. Her smile was so gentle and comforting the girl couldn’t help but feel better just at the sight of it.

“You just worry about taking the next few days off and relaxing with your family.”

“What about you and the others?”

“We’ll be in Hoofheim proper.”

“There aren’t many nice places to stay up here…”

She laughed. “We’ll manage. This country is plenty beautiful to make up for it, and I want to show them around to everything in them. Besides, I’ve stayed in these lands before, remember?”

She smiled a little. “Yeah, I guess I do,” she chuckled. Again, however, the smile faded. Her opposite hand, this one also wrapped with a simple white dressing, flexed slightly. “But…before I do…I was wondering…”

She trailed off as Celestia lightly pressed a finger to her lips. “I already told you, Twilight. The trip first. As soon as it’s over, I’ll answer anything you want to know about it and more. All you need to know right now is this is important.”

Twilight nearly opened her mouth to speak again but rapidly closed it, having long since learned not to mention anything about that to anyone else within earshot. That had been one of Celestia’s earliest lessons.

The two suddenly leaned forward; the tell-tale sign that the carriage was slowing to a stop. It halted soon after and Twilight looked out the window. They were right on the corner of her street. Even from here, the girl only needed to look down the street and up the hill to make out the roof of her house. Stopping awakened the puppy, who shook his head and yawned.

“Here we are. Are you ready?”

Twilight had been ready for hours. She rose now, taking her puppy with her and laying him on top of her bag before pulling up the straps to hold him in. The driver opened the carriage door, letting the midnight sun of Hoofheim spill in. One student stirred a little, but nothing else.

“Now I’ll be by tomorrow,” Celestia spoke as she started to walk to the door, “but we leave in four days. Don’t forget. We’ll be taking a boat all the way back to Mount Eris so we have to make sure to get there on time.”

“I won’t.” She took another step toward the door, but paused, causing Celestia to look up a little.

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s just…well, nothing.”

“No, what is it?”

The girl bowed her head and swallowed. “I…wish you were coming, headmistress. I’m alright with dad and mom and older brother, but…” She winced a little in embarrassment. “Ever since I got to the school…ever since I’ve been there on my own…I…I just…kind of felt like, well…like I…I had a…another…”

She trailed off.

“I mean to say how you used to…to…you’ve kind of felt like my...my…”

Finally, she sighed and shook her head, looking back up. “It’s-”

She cut herself off. Celestia’s smile was gone. She was staring at Twilight with wide eyes and her mouth hanging slightly ajar. The girl blanched. She winced and shook her head. “I…I didn’t mean it! S-Sorry! Forget I…”

She trailed off again, for in that next moment Celestia smiled again. It was far more wan this time. Fainter with an air of bitterness in it. Did she see a twinkle in her eye?

“Twilight.”

The girl straightened. This was the first time she had ever heard Celestia speak in that voice outside of the inner rooms. And it was the first time she had spoken it while smiling.

“Thank you. When this vacation is over, I will tell you everything.”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to let out a gasp, knowing what that meant.

“Now go on. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The girl paused. She almost wanted to press, but the headmistress’ voice indicated the subject was closed for now. With that in mind, she gave a respectful bow, barely restraining from going to one knee even in the confines of the carriage, then turned. Soon she was passing out of the door and setting foot on the cobblestone street.

She stopped only to take a deep breath and then began to the sidewalk. She could see lights in her home's windows. She had been exchanging letters for weeks to prepare for her arrival. She told them she couldn’t wait to show them all what she had learned, to see how much taller her brother had gotten, and, of course, to prepare the house for a puppy.

A puppy…

She slowed to a halt at the realization. Spike’s dog treats. She had made some but they were too gooey so Celestia had them stored near the boiler to hopefully dry them out, and she had forgotten to get them. She quickly turned around, hoping to stop the carriage before it took off again.

“Headm-”

For a brief moment, she saw the carriage in all of its glory stretched out on the road.

A heartbeat later, it was consumed by a fiery explosion.

The force of the blast struck her; throwing her, her bag, and her dog into the dirt-packed side street. Spike landed in a patch of grass while her bag burst open and scattered items everywhere. She noticed none of that roughly skid to a halt on the street. Her eyes were still wide with the image of the fire and eruption. She immediately snapped up again as soon as she could.

All that was left of the carriage was a bit of the metal frame and a smoldering wheel slowly rolling off to the opposite side of the street. Everything else was a pillar of flame and smoke.

Gone. The treats…the carriage…her classmates…

The headmistress…

All gone.

She was unable to move even as the locals turned the lights on in their own houses. She was deaf to the calls for water and numb to the heat, ash, and the scrapes her body sustained. She only stared in apoplectic, abject horror. Her mind couldn’t grasp what she was seeing. She had been talking to the headmistress less than a minute ago… Less than thirty seconds ago… She saw her in her mind’s eye; not just here but all of the times over the past six years, especially in the inner rooms and whenever she tucked her in or read to her—just like her real mother would.

Tears started to gush from her eyes. Her throat tightened and she began to cry. She tore to her feet. Her puppy was forgotten as she wheeling around and dashed the rest of the way down the road. She didn't stop until she was charging up the front steps of her own house, and she made her hands into fists and pounded on it for all she was worth.

It didn’t take long for the door to open. The residents were already awake and the explosion only alerted them further. A middle-aged woman stepped into the frame and looked down, giving a start on seeing Twilight there; her cheeks streaming with tears and sobbing.

“Mom! She’s gone!”

Even as she cried this she dove forward and wrapped her arms around her dress tightly. Before long she heard the sounds of an older man get up and walk over to her as well, but she didn’t care. She kept clutching her and crying for all she was worth. She tried to talk but bitter, choked-up sobs were all that came out.

“What…what happened…?”

Twilight was too distraught to realize that the voice sounded disconnected. “We…we had just…just gotten to Hoofheim…and…and she let me off…and…I tried to go back for t-t-treats and…and…!” Even explaining it was too painful as she winced and began to sob again, once more clutching her mother’s dress and crying into it.

Yet in the middle of all of her sadness she began to realize something. Her mother wasn’t hugging her in support. She merely stood there, as immobile as a statue. Her crying ceased momentarily. Her tear-streaked face grew confused as she leaned back and looked up. Her mother was looking at her in total bewilderment and just a hint of unease. As for her father, he seemed to be uncomfortable as well. “I think she was in that carriage…” he mused aloud. “She must have just gotten out…”

The woman smiled slightly, although it was uncertain and weak, before she lightly put her hands on her shoulders. “Um…there, there, dear. It’ll be alright. Just take it easy.”

That didn’t comfort Twilight. “M…mom? Dad?”

Both looked even more uncomfortable. “Um…sweetie, why don’t you come in for a bit? My son is away right now. You can stay in his room and just lie down until-”

“No…” Twilight cut off, now taking a step back and pulling from her touch. “Mom, what are you doing? It’s me! It’s Twilight Sparkle!”

The man sighed. “Young lady, I think you’re confused… Please, just listen to what she says and lie down…”

The girl's eyes widened in horror a second time. She looked into the eyes of her parents and she could finally see what was running through their heads as they looked at her.

A stranger.

They don’t know who I am.

Her father looked up and behind her. “Over here. She was in that carriage. Somehow she got free. Maybe she was let out right before it happened.”

The girl spun around. A number of townsfolk were now approaching her; ones that had been awakened by the explosion. She recognized each and every one of them. Neighbors. Temple goers. Grocers. Gardeners. People she had shared times and memories with. People who she knew by name. They looked at her and saw the soot and scratches she had endured. Their faces filled with concern or pity or even gratefulness that she was alright.

Not one of them looked at her with recognition.

“That poor girl…she’s the only survivor.”

“Her mother might have been on that carriage.”

“Where did she come from? What is that uniform?”

That broke her. Suddenly she stepped forward and slapped a hand against her chest.

“Everyone!”

Her first word, frantic and desperate, made the crowd go silent.

“It’s me! It’s Twilight! I live here!” She pointed behind her. “This is my home! These are my parents!” She held her arms wide. “This is my town! What’s gotten into all of you? Why don’t you remember me?”

A few seconds of silence passed and everyone stared at her without looking away. Finally, two people turned to each other and began to murmur more quietly while staring at her. Others soon followed. Some shook their heads sadly while others nodded. She overheard a few voices saying things like “confused” and “poor girl”. Yet none of them ever recognized her.

Twilight's heart began to pound with fear. A sick, cold feeling was in her gut. She turned back but the man and woman there, the parents she knew, only recoiled from her slightly.

It was too much. She began to shake all over as she started to gasp. Her tiny hands, one clean and the other bandaged, grasped the sides of her head. She turned her head to the midnight sky in confusion and horror.

What’s happening to me?!

“Lord Torch of the Dragonlands.”

Torch walked into the inner chamber with his usual countenance: frowning and glaring at everyone. By now, everyone knew to ignore it except when trying not to give offense. Glare and glower as he might, it would take more than “saber rattling” to get his way here. Especially since there was more than enough of that to go around.

There had been multiple reasons for setting the Continental Summit not only within Equestria but far in the mountain regions in the proverbial “Castle of the Two Sisters”; one of the country’s most ancient and iconic landmarks. Equestria made up the central and greatest portion of Greater Everfree, so it gave no importance to any of its surrounding nations above another. The castle itself was geographically isolated even with recent advances in steam power and technology. Most of all, it was still the most powerful and yet peaceful of the nations about it; allowing it to retain its historical position of power broker.

And the inner room of the castle, warmly lit with a fireplace and a resplendent chandelier, now served as host to all of the continent’s major powers in what could have been its darkest hour.

At the moment, with all nations contributing equally to the guard throughout the castle, and all equally contributing to the palace guard in what was temporarily declared an apolitical zone, relations were warm and cordial. Even Commander Hurricane was smiling and sharing a laugh with Princess Platinum. Everyone there knew, underneath the surface, nothing was further from the truth. Even when the only squabbles and conflicts were between neighboring nations Greater Everfree had been an increasingly violent continent over the past 400 years. Many nations could outline their history of being nothing more than never-ending feuds between families for certain regions that changed ownership from one king to the next.

Times were changing, though. Steam power was everywhere. Rail lines ran freely across many international borders. The pursuit of land was now being supplanted by the pursuit of wealth. Gunpowder and its associated devices were growing more efficient all the time and the fires of industry were now burning in every corner of Greater Everfree. The “Industrial Revolution”. That was what they had named the past century and it was changing everything. The only thing that hadn’t changed was historical tensions, and with new means available it wouldn’t be long before something boiled over. And everyone knew it would be catastrophic.

That was why mere representatives wouldn’t suffice. It had to be stopped quickly before the next major war broke out.

Lord Torch wasted little time on greetings but rapidly moved to the large circular table in the center of the room. All other national leaders were already seated, letting the light of the large and conspicuous chandelier over their heads bathe each equally. As soon as he joined them, Queen Megara looked up with a pleasant smile from her beautiful countenance. As always, she treated these circumstances as far more happy and cordial than they truly were. “And now that we’re all here, we may finally begin. I’d like to start by thanking you all for accepting my invitation to have this summit, and I hope that we may all remain-”

“I believe we exchanged sufficient pleasantries at dinner, your majesty. I prefer to go straight to the point,” King Grover interjected. He immediately looked further down the table. “Queen Novo, Griffonstone immediately requests that if we are to go to war with the neighboring nations that Mount Eris refuses to allow any shipments from Appleloosa to go any farther west than Griffonstone.”

Several members of the delegation went wide-eyed at the outlandish suggestion, and so early in talks. Commander Hurricane and General Firefly alike both grit their teeth in anger while King Platinum himself was slack-jawed. Chancellor Puddinghead nearly fell out of his chair. “Wh…why King Grover, surely you’re not trying to dictate who we ship our land’s produce to, are you?”

“I don’t recall asking anything of you on the subject, chancellor. Mount Eris’ territory is the only land route to the west that doesn’t run through Equestria, and we’re tired of having to rely on them as an intermediary. Give us a deal on tariffs and we’ll be more than happy to rely on you exclusively for foodstuffs from now on.”

“Completely outrageous,” Platinum snorted. “You’re just trying to control the main agricultural supply routes. That would help you quite a bit in an armed conflict, would it not? Seal off the west from receiving sustenance when you invade.”

“Protecting our interests is all. Besides, if you converted so much of your pasture and cropland into factories to where you can’t even feed yourselves, that’s short-sightedness on your part.”

“Make a move to isolate the trade of Mount Eris, and you can consider that an affront to Cloudsdale,” Commander Hurricane interjected. “We’ll halt any attempt you make to try.”

“Is that a threat for military action, commander?”

“I merely said we’ll halt any attempt you make. If you feel sufficiently strong to see firsthand what that will entail…”

“And I most certainly would never stand for any attempt to restrict our overland trade,” Puddinghead spoke up. “We sell to whom we wish. We would join against any attempt by Mount Eris to construct a blockade.”

“I don’t mean to break up what seems to be a conversation between you men,” the queen spoke up with an edge on her voice, “but I don’t believe I ever consented to King Grover’s desire or refused it.” She turned to Puddinghead. “And I don’t appreciate you threatening me before I have had a chance to say yes or no. On our part, we ask Appleloosa to remain neutral in any and all events.”

He scoffed. “Are you suggesting that we just allow all of you to decide what we do with our land’s own produce, as if we were not entitled to our own fields?”

“You may do whatever you like, so long as you have a sufficiently strong army to assert your dominion. Ours is strong enough to take some of that land for ourselves, if necessary.”

“I’ve noticed,” Platinum spoke up, “which is precisely the reason I am asking Trottingham to cease shipyard lumber shipping to Mount Eris.”

Now it was Novo’s turn to look shocked, while Prime Minister Cobblestone rose in alarm. “What…?”

“We’re a bit concerned of the size of your navy. As King Grover has suggested, all overland routes need to move through you or Equestria to reach the west. There are some concerns a naval blockade might not be far in the future.” He looked up to Cobblestone. “In exchange, we are fully prepared to start supplying you with the latest in firearms. We understand in that capacity you are a bit, shall we say, ‘backward’.”

Novo’s teeth clenched. “How dare you…”

Cobblestone didn’t get a chance to respond as Torch slammed a fist against the table. “Exchange of arms was stated at our last conference to constitute formation of a military treaty, Princess. Does your statement mean you intent to form an intercontinental alliance?”

“And what if it does?”

“Then the Dragonlands might as well declare war on Trottingham right now. We won’t allow a potentially hostile party to take root on our doorstep. Certainly not one that will give Manehattan easy access to a land invasion.”

By now, Queen Megara’s face had sunk. While she had successfully organized the conference, it had only been the first of many. And they were growing progressively less fruitful and more uncivil. The talks had barely begun and all modicums of civility and decorum had already been thrown out the window. She held a hand to the bridge of her nose.

This isn’t going-

Her thoughts were cut off as the ceiling imploded.

A sound like a thunderclap rang from the center of the chamber and the grand chandelier was hurtled down into their midst. It wasn’t alone. The ceiling of the grand castle broke free and was cast down with it, smashing the table under a deluge of debris. Everyone immediately shot out of their chairs, even Puddinghead, and backed away as quickly as they could.

What they saw next was even more shocking. Instead of crashing in with a pile of rubble and dust, the wood, stone, paneling, and décor, to say nothing of the grand chandelier, was smashed completely flat over the ruins of the table. It was like a great invisible piston suddenly ground it into dirt and all in the span of an instant. All that survived was a few broken fragments and flat space around it.

The air gave a second noise. It sounded, strangely enough, almost like an inverted thunderclap. Like the air was expanding where it previously had a void rather than rushing into a newly made one. A ray of blackness slammed down on the flat space that had just been made. Rapidly, it expanded outward into a black sphere, and radiated a moment before collapsing back in on itself. The thunderous noise crackled one last time and vanished.

The entire room was silent and still. Delegates and guards alike were frozen in a mixture of shock and genuine fear. No one had noticed that the blackness had caused both fires to snuff out. There was no light in the chamber anymore save through the new opening. The full moon shone down a pale, silvery light over the flattened area and its new arrival.

It slowly rose to its feet. The sound of interlocking plates of armor rang through the silence of the chamber. At first, it seemed to have a great black cape made of feathers so dark that they looked like a unified mass. On standing, the people let out a unified gasp on seeing it shift of its own accord; revealing itself to be giant ebony wings. The figure itself was clad in armor from head to toe: sharp, gleaming, beautiful, and cold. The shape was distinctly feminine. The helmet was ridged and cruel with a single spire rising up from the middle like a horn. The face was visible, though. Her skin was as black as her wings and her long hair spilled out behind her headpiece. It had points of light within it that gleamed in the wan moonlight, as if it was nothing but a sky of stars.

The figure took in three breaths through her nostrils; each one long, deep, and audible. She opened her eyes and caused those gathered to give another start, for they were not only serpentine but vivid, green, and shone like lights in the darkness. Her expression was emotionless as she looked about the chamber. Her eyes slowly moved over every representative and guard.

Only now did Queen Megara finally find the strength to swallow. “Ex…excuse me…?”

The eyes of the woman flicked to her like a viper that saw the warmth of a mouse. She cringed but somehow she found her voice. “Who…who are you?”

The dark lady smiled. “My name is Nightmare Moon. However…”

The wings extended. Without even flapping them, the dark lady rose into the air as if suspended by invisible ropes. Everyone gasped at that, but more so when the shadow she left behind turned blacker yet and began to etch lines and patterns into the floor beneath her. In moments, it was complete--a black sigil.

She extended one of her hands and each armored digit on them over it. Black flames, like “negative” fires, erupted from the mark.

Nightmare Moon grinned; revealing long, sharp teeth.

“You may call me ‘god’.”

The entire Castle of the Two Sisters, in a single instant, exploded.

A pillar of black, shadowy fire erupted from within the innermost part of the structure; annihilating the room, the surrounding rooms, and all floors up and down. Only the outer walls weren’t instantly eradicated, but they were still blasted apart. Chunks of masonry tore into the outer guard, smashing them into jelly as it rolled over them or ripping them asunder like cannonball fire.

Only the ones on the outskirts set to patrol the woodlands were spared; left to gape at the ghastly horror that was the spire of black flame—knowing their own leaders and comrades had been devoured by it. A shockwave ripped over the mountainside and a deafening boom echoed for dozens of miles. And when all died down, the pillar of black fire continued to burn rising like a furnace from the abyss.

The survivors were left to stare at the warmthless, lightless flame. After some time, one of them, captivated by a mixture of fear but also puzzlement and wonder, felt bold enough to look out from the forest for a closer look. He watched the black flames dance without dying for a moment, but saw no more.

Tentatively, he moistened his lips and stepped closer yet, fully out onto the grass.

An instant later, a creature looking like a twisted shadow of a great wildcat, deformed to the point where it no longer resembled any animal of the world, erupted from the flames. It sailed through the air, straight toward the man, and on landing promptly tore his head off.

The other guards had little chance to be shocked over that death as dozens of similar beasts burst out of the same blackness. Hundreds followed afterward, and thousands after that. Each one sought its mark and killed with one strike. Some were clustered enough together and were able to stop screaming long enough to raise their weapons to defend themselves, but shooting the monsters was like shooting shadows. Bullets and blades alike sailed harmlessly through them before they tore into the survivors. In moments, it was over. All remaining members of the delegations were gone.

The abominations kept pouring out of the fire. The black flames slowly diminished at the price of giving rise to more of them. They spread out and filled the field about the ruins of the castle. At last, the black flames died enough to expose the dark lady again; still hovering exactly where she had stood when she unleashed her death.

Her armored hand extended to the surrounding land.

“Go forth. Kill. Bathe the world in my fires of darkness. Let all be turned to a beautiful, wondrous, complete night. Form the womb for the new world that it may begin to grow.”

The beasts of blackness set out to a one; looking for more prey.

There is a world where a princess and her friends create a land of everlasting friendship and harmony.

There is a world where this same girl and her friends laugh and play as they attend a common high school.

There are other worlds than these, and this is one that has now changed forever.

Nightwatch: A Master of Sorcery

“Starlight!” A pause, before more angrily: “Starlight! Starlight, get over here!”

The sound of panting echoed up the stairwell of the farmhouse-turned-center-of-business. Not long after, a purple-haired woman in a pair of rounded spectacles with a crack in the lenses, a shabby secondhand suit, and an arm band bearing an emblem of a griffon, quite out of breath and nearly stumbling, stumbled to the top. She emerged into the main “office” of the manager for the local branch of the Hayseed Agricultural Company: a rather fancy name given to a mundane business that had somehow managed to live by filling in niches left in the scars of the Lunar Fall.

The office itself was nothing more than an old attic space that had been repainted and paneled, leaving just enough room for a desk, chairs, and a few other office furnishings in front of a circular window. There were two people already in there. One was the head teamster for that branch office. The other was the manager himself. The former of the two had far less enthusiasm about her job than Starlight did, which even then was far greater than the last wage-earning employee had possessed before she quit. The manager, on the other hand, was a gruff, scowling, impatient, and unlikeable man all around. And he gave Starlight the same look he always did when she showed herself.

“Where in the world have you been? I expected you back up here with last month’s records and hour ago!”

The records in question were currently in a sizeable, only semi-organized stack in her arms as she struggled to catch her breath. “Sorry, sir… The last secretary left them in such a mess and I’ve been trying to get them sorted out since-”

“I didn’t ask for your excuses! I told you to bring me something an hour ago and you didn’t bring it! That’s an hour off for today!”

Starlight clenched her teeth, having long since learned that looking shocked about it or protesting was useless, as she hobbled to his desk and set them down.

“Now listen up. Hayworth here tells me that we’re running a deficit of over 3,000.”

“Well, in all honesty, I’m not surprised, sir. I warned you a while ago that if we don’t have all the bookkeeping tallied at the end of each week we were going to-”

“You getting a smart mouth with me, you Griffonstone import?”

Starlight clenched her teeth again but stayed silent. “No, I’m only saying…”

“I didn’t pay you to ‘say’ anything except what I ask for. Get your ass down to the distributors and tell ‘em I want this sorted out now. You get them to drag up every transaction we have and you get that taken care of.”

“Sir, isn’t this the accountant’s job?”

“Pft. That turncoat walked out yesterday saying she was getting a better offer from Golden Harvest. As if anyone could outsell us… Anyway, you’ve seen enough of the books and you lent a hand last harvest season. It shouldn’t be too hard for you to pick it up and take care of it.”

Cheaper too… She nearly muttered. “I don’t even know what her systems were like. This’ll take me a little time…”

“A little time? And you expect me to go to our clients and tell them to just sit around and wait to see if we stole 3,000 dollars from them? Use your head! I thought you were supposed to be smart!”

By now, Starlight was struggling not to quiver.

“You get out there and you get it hammered out and you get it hammered out today! You’ve got an hour to make up anyway now.”

Starlight had to take a deep breath before she said the next part. “Well…technically, sir…since this is something so important, I think it would be best if you went in person to the distributors and explained the situation…”

“You back-talking me now? You want me to get your visa revoked or something, Starlight? Just say the word and I’ll do it today.”

She sighed. She got that threat at least three times a week—the ultimate whip that could always keep her in line. Normally she wouldn’t even bother protesting as much as she had, but it was sundown…

With a very tired look, she straightened out her suit jacket and turned around. “I’ll head out there immediately, sir…”

“That’s more like it,” he snorted as he sat back down and reached for the books. “And by the way, so you won’t have to make this up too, you can just take the trip out of tomorrow’s lunch break.”

It was a good thing her back was already turned, because Starlight’s teeth really did bare this time. “You’re too kind, boss…”

Within five minutes, Starlight Glimmer was making her way out of the front doors and down the road. She had paused only to grab the matching hat for her secondhand suit. It helped her maintain at least some air of professionalism. Goodness knew, with her arm band properly displayed for all in the community to see, she had a hard enough time looking the way.

She walked rather briskly, not so much due to her boss’ thinly-veiled threat but the fact the sun was getting very close to the horizon and she fully intended to stop to grab some food on the way. If she wasn’t going to get to sit down to eat in peace today, she could at least enjoy her stroll. The weather was nice. There were only a scant few clouds in the sky, something everyone in town feared like ravens at an ill man’s bedside, and the sun was shining for now.

So long as it wasn’t inconveniencing them, few people paid much attention to weather nowadays. Fillydelphia certainly didn’t unless it was cloudy. And if they did look at the sky, they, like Starlight was doing now, made sure to keep their eyes away from the Northeast.

It was unusual to see so much commerce in a town so close to the Equestrian borders nowadays; even if prior to eight years ago it had been built up with paved roads, three story buildings, and gaslighting down several of the streets. There were many towns like this near the border that were now empty and left only for the dead. This one still functioned partially due to being one of the last communities on an east-west trade route as well as being close to Fillydelphia proper; only ten miles north of it. If the Lunar Fall had never happened, a railroad would have been built with the township as a major station. All plans for that had long since been scrapped, however. And while many of the residents stayed there (out of livelihood from running the various companies and guilds rather than bravery), the place had changed.

Starlight passed by several buildings that were boarded up and left in a state of indefinite closure and/or disrepair. Signs with guidelines for what to do in the case of an emergency as well as to remember to practice the alarm drills at home with families were posted everywhere. The next block had homes with well-trimmed and tended gardens bordered by ones that had been left wild for some time. Many of the roads had large cracks and potholes in them, even in the more urban areas such as the one that Starlight now walked down, and the gaslighting didn’t work in a quarter of town. On the next block, she saw a large area of the road had been excavated when the residents were forced to fix the city’s plumbing themselves. No public works officials from Fillydelphia would come there now. They always said they would, of course, but always something would come up where they didn’t have budget or were needed elsewhere.

The real reason, of course, was the same reason the manager wasn’t doing this errand himself

As she passed into the main thoroughfare, where horse-drawn wagons pulled goods to and fro, she was sufficiently insulated from the northwest. Many people like her walked in the open and even children felt safe enough to play on the sidewalks. They were even turning on the lights as the evening approached. The far majority, however, especially those who were conducting business or errands, wore the same griffon arm bands. Most of them had far shabbier clothing than Starlight. Two hadn’t had a haircut in a while and were wearing shirts made from sackcloth. Another looked like she hadn’t seen two meals a day in a long time. Even the most diligent of them had a hollow, worn-out look.

They had more reason to fear the Northeast than anyone, and yet they also had more reason than anyone to be there.

“Oh Starlight!”

She looked up and saw a man, donned in a tweed jacket even more worn out than hers with an old, rusted, pressurized tank on his back and a box full of deflated balloons on his front walking down the street, waving at her.

“You’ve got to hit up the store on Maredisan and 2^nd. They got tea in today and who knows when they’ll get it again.”

“Oh really? Thanks for the info!”

He nodded before turning and beginning to call out his balloons for sale, while Starlight slowed a bit in her step. The truth was the township rarely got goods that the various store proprietors wouldn’t get for themselves from cities in the interior and bring back. It hadn’t seen tea bags for sale in close to eight months. She knew her boss was continuously short-changing her, and stopping to eat, drink, or buy would only be more time she’d have to make up later, but the store the shabby man mentioned was closer to the Northeast and night was approaching, which was why it likely hadn’t sold out yet. The chance to get tea again was too much. In the end, she made a turn on the next street.

The area changed again as she walked along. The errand runners gave way to members of Fillydelphia’s military. They were spotty at first, in groups of two marching about on various duties, but it wasn’t long before Starlight was keeping to one side of the sidewalk with her head low as entire regiments of them marched along. A bit further, and not one but two wagons passed her filled with more soldiers. She risked looking up into the back of them when they passed. They were all new recruits. The draft age had been lowered to 15 by the looks of them. And they all looked every part how a kid would who realized they were likely being sent to their deaths. Some of them barely seemed to know what to do with the rifles in their hands.

When she reached a junction, she turned to head to the Northwest instead while the wagons went on to the Northeast. The road was a straight shot, but try as she might not to look at it she caught it in her peripheral vision. A mile from there was the current border of “No Man’s Land”. She had been to it only three weeks ago, despite the prohibition of Griffonstone refugees (even ones from the Sire’s Hollow area).

She saw the blockhouse that had been erected, and beyond it the walls hastily constructed of whatever rubble was available to mortar together; whether it be boulders, building chunks, or even pavement. She saw four different placements for the new rapid-fire guns that used spring loading to eject shells and insert new ones, so that you could just keep shooting with the same weapon and spray the battlefield. Most of all, she saw the forest growing thick just across the barrier and beyond that the darkening skies over Northwest Fillydelphia and Equestria. They said they gradually gave way to everlasting night if you went far enough into it, although there was no way anyone could know for sure. After all, no one had ever gone there and come back alive.

Soon it vanished behind buildings again. A bit further and the soldiers gave way to townsfolk again, and beyond that kids started to come out once again. It was then that she caught something new.

Up ahead there were a number of individuals with arm bands, children, and even a native citizen clustered around the sidewalk. In the current state of Greater Everfree, street performers were far from uncommon, but few came out that close to Equestria. And fewer yet drew in those kinds of crowds at this time of day. Starlight, her curiosity piqued, made out an old crate on the pavement to act as a form of table, and a purple and green dog making the rounds with an old hat in his teeth.

Standing behind the crate was a young woman, dressed in a simple purple sleeved cape made to look like a magician’s over a set of normal clothing. A carved stick that must have been her “wand” was in one hand. As Starlight drew nearer, she saw that she had five cards spread out in front of her.

The dog finished and returned to the young woman’s side. Removing the hat from his mouth, she turned to the others. “Ok! Who wants to volunteer?”

Three different kids raised their hands. She pointed to one. “You had your hand up first, so come on up!”

The child cheered as he approached.

“Now say your name for the audience.”

“Pop Fly.”

“And we’ve never met before, have we Pop Fly?”

“Nope.”

“Alright then, pick a card!”

The boy looked down, carefully considered his option, and finally drew one.

“Now show it to the audience!”

He held it up and showed it to the crowd without letting the girl see, including Starlight. She snorted at the whole thing; having seen many card tricks before and guessing how this would work. Nevertheless, she kept watching as he put it back down with the others.

“Ok, now stand back.”

The boy quickly stepped back and the rest of the audience retreated as well. The young woman smiled and held up her wand.

“Everyone ready?” She held her wand out over the cards and began to wave over them. “Hocus pocus, figgledy fam, arazzamatazz…and alakazam!”

She tapped the chosen card with the wand, and instantly it was incinerated by a spurt of flame. Starlight actually did look up a little at that. Phosphorous paper? She knew of it in professional magic shows. It easily allowed this sort of thing. Most street performers couldn’t afford it, however…

The smoke from the fire endured in the air longer than it should have. It condensed into a thin wisp and seemed to trace in a swirl down and around to the dog, though Starlight quickly figured she imagined it. At the same time, the young woman held out her hand to his muzzle.

A moment later, the dog made a bit of a gyration and then opened his mouth. The card fell down into her hand—whole, entire, and the same as had been chosen.

The audience let out a chorus of “oohs” and “aahs”. The kids gasped in delight. A chorus of applause went out soon after. As for Starlight, her eyes had widened and her jaw hung loose. She actually stopped dead in her tracks.

After a time, she forced herself to look onward and walked again. “That’s…quite the trick. Don’t think I’ve ever seen one like that before…” she muttered to herself.

As a matter of fact, it continued to weigh on Starlight’s mind the rest of the way. She didn’t even look at the town or the people in it again all the way to the store on the corner, or react to the fact that news of the tea had to have gotten out as there was already a line of people out the door there. Even when the town’s naturalized citizens joined the line and ordered her, along with every other armband-wearing individual, to move down so that they could get in front of them, she kept puzzling over it.

The line eventually did wear down, and at last Starlight left the store with her purchases in hand. She was in luck. The sun was touching the horizon and the interior of the unlit store was already getting so dark she could barely see inside. No sooner had she walked onto the street, however, than the city’s clock tower chimed the top of the hour. She winced, knowing it had been half past when she left, and sighed hopelessly. Since she’d be late either way, two more minutes wouldn’t hurt, so she elected to move to a nearby public bench to take a load off. She didn’t mind that the street remained unlit, both from the gaslighting as well as the various windows and edifices. There hadn’t been an attack since the Lunar Fall and that was eight years ago.

As soon as she sat down, she exhaled in relief and began to pull her shoes off to give her feet some small relief.

“Hey miss?”

Starlight looked up, thinking she was the one being addressed, only to find herself looking at the line stretching out of the corner store (somewhat shorter now as various residents gave up with the onset of sundown). She gave a start on seeing that the young woman who performed the street magic was now standing in it with her dog at her side. A local citizen was behind her looking cross and impatient.

She turned to her uncertainly. “Um, yes?”

“Move up the line, already. I need to be done here in five minutes if I’m going to make it back.”

“Move up…?” She saw numerous people still in front of her. “I’m sorry, but…I’m at the back of the line…”

She rolled her eyes before pointing at the arm band on the one in front of her. “See that?”

“Er, yes?”

“Anyone like that you can just push by. You can skip a good dozen spots.”

“I’m not sure I understand…”

She groaned. “What’s there to understand? You see one in front of you, you get priority. You can jump up toward the front of the line.”

“But they were here before me…”

“Who cares? Just get in front of them!”

She looked confused. “Um, isn’t that unfair?”

Letting out a groan of disgust, she shoved forward and the young woman yiped as she shoved her to one side before doing the same to the next few people in line. “Forget it, just get out of my way too. Figures they’d get tea in the same day some nut is crazy enough to come to this town and get in line…”

The dog growled at her, but did no more. The young woman herself was left standing open mouthed, but she looked more surprised when the people shoved aside simply frowned and got back in line. She stared at them a moment before looking at the nearest one. “Um, excuse me, but…didn’t she just cut in front of you?”

“Sure did,” she sighed tiredly.

The young woman blinked. “And…you’re not mad about that?”

“Sure am.”

That only confused her more. “I’m not sure I-”

She was cut off as a sharp series of cracks went off over the cityscape. Yelping again, she cringed and pulled away from the direction they had come from—the Northeast. The dog whined, tucked his tail between his legs, and pressed against the ground. No one else on the street paid it any mind. The line indifferently moved one step forward.

The sounds continued to repeat for several moments before cutting off, but she remained cringing. At this point, Starlight half-smiled. “You’re not used to being this close to the borders of Equestria, are you?”

She looked at her but continued to shield herself.

“Relax. That happens a couple times a day. They’re just putting down some Nighttouched is all. If it was the Light Eaters, they’d sound an alarm all over town.”

On hearing this, she slowly eased and rose. She smiled nervously as she wiped her forehead, while her dog got up more cautiously. “Oh, uh…heh…thanks. I…guess people living this close to Equestria are…kind of used to this by now…”

“You can tell pretty quick who’s from around here and who’s not, although that guy was right. It’s been a while since anyone who’s not from here was dumb enough to come to town.” A pause. “No offense.”

“Er, none taken.”

“What does bring you to this part of the world?”

“Oh, uh…” The young woman hesitated. Her lips tightened as she ran a hand over the back of her neck, before she looked to one side regretfully. “To be honest? I just go wherever I can nowadays…”

“Wherever you can?”

“A lot of towns don’t really care for street performers. And after the Lunar Fall, a lot of them don’t like seeing things that seem weird…”

Starlight scoffed. “Oh, I can definitely understand that. Sure didn’t take much to get mankind superstitious all over again, did it? And I can definitely understand trying to find some place you’re wanted. Those can be a luxury, can’t they?”

She looked up again, only now noticing the arm band on Starlight’s own limb. “Say, what are those things any…” She trailed off. “Wait, that’s an emblem of a griffon. As in the crest for Griffonstone?”

Starlight sighed. “Yup.”

Her eyes widened more. “Then that means…”

“You got it.”

She winced uncomfortably. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“Don’t sweat it. It’s not like Regent Gruff is doing any of us any favors toward getting us home. And honestly most of us don’t have our old homes to go back to anyway. Either way, you get used to it after…what is it now…eight years?”

She kept her head bowed. “I know that’s not true…”

Starlight stared back silently. For a moment, a shadow of pain passed over her own face. Yes, she was quite correct. One didn’t ever get quite used to it no matter how much time passed. However, for her to know that…

“So are you a refugee too? From where? Former Fillydelphia?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Trottingham?”

She shook it again.

“Mount Eris?”

She shook it again.

Starlight’s eyes widened. “Good lord… Don’t tell me… You’re not actually from…?”

She looked up and put a finger to her lips insistently. The spectacled woman paused but complied. From her position on the bench and the young woman’s position in line, to say nothing of everyone having their own issues to deal with, it seemed no one else had heard that. The sun was finally sinking under the horizon and even whispering about things like that after dark was enough to elicit superstition. However, she rose from the bench and moved closer so she could speak more quietly.

“Wow, just…just wow. You…you were actually there?”

She shook her head. “No. I was on a trip when the Lunar Fall happened.”

Starlight eased, looking almost disappointed. “Oh…oh, yes…of course. I mean, obviously.” Seeing that the young woman noticed her expression, she grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry, no offense again. I just thought for a moment that I met someone who actually got out of Equestria after it happened. I should have known there’d be no survivors…” Another pause. “And…there I go sticking my old shoe in my mouth again.”

That last comment had seemed to shake up the young lady quite a bit, but after taking a deep breath she forced out a sigh. “It’s…it’s fine.”

“But still, even seeing someone from Equestria nowadays is amazing. I mean…”

More of the repeating gunfire went off, filling the air with crackling. Starlight sighed and stopped talking, waiting patiently for it to subside before resuming. This time, however, it was followed up by a second round. A third came afterward and kept going until she realized that it had to have been reloaded. She looked up. “What in the world are they shooting at out-”

She cut herself off, as did every man, woman, and child in the township at that moment. Everyone forgot about their businesses, their errands, tea, vouchers that showed a deficit, and everything else in that very second.

The sirens to the Northeast began to blare.

There was a collective moment in which everyone in the town was fully paralyzed at that sound. In the next moment, chaos broke. The children on the street began to scream in terror. The people in the line broke and ran back out into the streets. Starlight and the young woman were far enough to avoid it, but one near the door frame was cast to the ground and trampled. Even that wasn’t fast enough for others in the store, who proceeded to break through the window and pour out through the open frame.

Far up the road, the wagons bearing soldiers were whipped into a gallop to take the rest of the soldiers to the Northeast. However, they barely got up to speed before half of the recruits in the second began to jump out of the back, throw away their weapons, and run as fast as they could. Soon after, citizens and refugees alike, clutching what few possessions they had enough bravery to stop and collect, burst from their homes and ran along with everyone else.

The young woman turned to Starlight. “That’s…that’s that alarm you mentioned, isn’t it?”

She didn’t answer. The color had drained from her face. After a moment longer, she looked back to the young woman as the mob began to rush around them, threatening to knock them over as well. “You need to get moving to the Southwest. Now. Don’t stop for anything. Keep going until you can’t walk anymore.”

She looked confused, but Starlight no longer had time to worry about the life of a stranger she had just met. Leaving the tea behind, she turned and bolted the same way everyone else was. Her old hat flew off of her head but she didn’t even glance over her shoulder. She left it to be trampled by the growing crowds.

With the sun fully down, and every remaining light in the township rapidly being doused, it was hard to see anything. People ran into each other and nearly bowled each other over fleeing. Heaven help anyone who stepped out from their home into the flood. She barely made it a block before she saw the more seasoned recruits of the Fillydelphia military running the opposite way, fighting against the flow to try and join the front line. More gunshots echoed over the landscape. By now, all four of the batteries had to be firing along with the rifles. She made it halfway down the next block when the cannon fire began to erupt. That made the crowd more frantic and run even harder.

Some wardens emerged at the end of the second block and began to direct people, whirling noisemakers instead of torches in one hand and shouting at them over the screams to try and corral them, but it was useless. They were ignored or trampled as frantically as the civilians were. All of the civil drills that had been run, all of contingencies they made to relocate people to blockades and safe areas, all of the secure routes to take—all forgotten.

Starlight was no better. She had seen a Light Eater before… And she and everyone else knew while the survival rate of an attack by Nighttouched breaching a barrier varied from 25 to 65 percent, no one survived the Light Eaters once they saw you.

The crowds began to thin out a bit further from the boundary zone. It kept any further tramplings from happening. Some lights had been left burning here, but all tried to stay out of their glow. It was just as she was getting enough room to run easier that Starlight and the crowds around her heard the first screams. And she, foolish as she was, turned like so many others to look.

A dark haze hung above the crowds a block behind her. She realized quickly it wasn’t smoke. The birds, the ones that had abandoned that part of Fillydelphia so long ago, had returned, but they were no longer the birds that anyone remembered. Their brilliant and colorful plumage had turned to shades of murk and night. Their eyes gleamed yellow like tiny candle fires—the only light in the closing darkness. And she saw as they went down again and again, causing screams from the crowds.

Starlight looked back; panic doubling her speed. The memory of the last time she saw a flock of Nighttouched birds still lingered in her mind. How they acted like one mind as they swarmed over people, pecking and tearing until there was nothing left but bones. The scariest part was that was the desired outcome. No one had ever heard of one who survived a Nighttouched wound, but based on what happened to these songbirds and countless others…

Screaming went off at her sides. The breath caught in her throat as she looked and gasped. The rats of the city, or perhaps a legion from the forest that had infiltrated the drainage channels, were emerging from the sewers. Each one had turned black and their formerly red eyes now gleamed yellow. They swarmed over the legs of the people to the side of her. Screams followed as they faltered, and no one dared help them up again. Like Starlight, they only ran harder and tried to stay in the center of the road.

She didn’t run much farther before she halted along with everyone else nearby. The city was cloaked in blackness for the most part now and that made it easy to see a hoard of tiny yellow eyes in the middle of the road ahead. That was all anyone could see but that was more than enough. No one would risk going through them. And as they surged forward Starlight lost the last of her reason and simply ran away in whatever direction she could as fast as she could.

She wasn’t sure what happened over the next few minutes. Sometimes she would turn, especially if she heard screams (or other noises) in the road ahead of her, but everywhere she went led to darkness. What little lights were still in the city were mostly the eyes of the Nighttouched, and she fled from anything that had the slightest twinkle. Run, run, run…that was the only emotion or thought on her mind. Get away. Get as far away as possible.

It wasn’t until exhaustion forced her to slow that her wits returned and she realized, much to her further unease, that she was now quite alone. She didn’t know how. In the chaos, people could have split off gradually or perhaps met a less wholesome fate. What more, she was in an unfamiliar part of the city. While the sky was clear enough, the moon wasn’t out and she could only make out the vague outline of buildings. Screams, gunfire, and bestial noises continued to echo over the cityscape, but none of them were near her. It was hard to tell if that was a blessing or a curse.

Suddenly, she cried out as her foot caught something and she fell to the ground. Instinctively her hands went out and skidded on pavement, making her wince, but scrapes on her palms were nothing compared to what the monsters could do to her. It allowed her to feel the ground in front of her, and she realized it was the sidewalk stone. She looked up and around again. Very vaguely against the night sky she made out the outline of buildings on three sides. She had reached a cul-de-sac.

That made her more fearful. She quickly got up and turned to go back the way she came, but she skid to a halt on hearing screams from a ways ahead and around a corner. It was too dark. She could walk right into a swarm of Nighttouched or one of the larger ones. Instead, she turned back and stepped on the pavement. Extending her hands in front of her, she reached forward until she felt a building wall. She moved along it until she found the indentation of a doorway and reached for the handle. However, on testing it she found it locked. She swore and tried to find a different opening. Even if this was an abandoned part of town, she had no choice now but to hide.

She had just reached the second door and began to try it when a fiery glow momentarily illuminated the door frame clearly. Rather than feel happy about that she gave a horrified gasp. She wheeled around and saw the source. Mounted ten feet in the air, one of the gas lamps was flickering around the tiny pilot light. Her breathing had slowed enough for her to hear the hiss of leaky gas. Every so often it sputtered and flared up briefly as an illuminating beacon.

Starlight began to shake violently. She turned back to the door and furiously pulled at it, but no use. She wasn’t strong enough. She went to another door and tried that one, but by the time the fire flared up again and remained somewhat steady she gave up. She’d risk running blind on the dark roads. It was safer than staying in the light.

She turned around to run again, but didn’t make it a single step.

Three sets of the yellow eyes were now looking at her, and they were drawing closer. A moment later, the lamp flared again to let her see them clearly. These weren’t the smaller swarming creatures. These ones were deer, or had been at one point. In addition to the dark, muted colors, their teeth seemed to have enlarged and converted to being sharper. Their hooves were twisted and stained with blood they had already spilled from trampling. One of them was a stag, and his horns had grown more, sharper, gore-stained points.

Starlight backed up but soon hit the back wall. She had no weapons or means to defend herself. She could scream, but the gunfire was still going off and everyone was screaming. Even if she called for help, who would arrive in time? She knew it was hopeless. She could watch helplessly as they drew closer.

But as they reached the street lamp, a new sound broke through the darkness. A dog barking.

Starlight looked up as the three Nighttouched turned around. Moments later, one of the does gave out a gurgle as a purple and green dog leapt out of the darkness, clamped its jaws around her throat, and took her to the ground. In spite of its size, the dog was far stronger than it looked, and as soon as it was down he began to sharply twist his head while keeping his jaws clamped on its throat. Blood frothed from the wound as the Nighttouched cast out its hooves madly to try and hit its attacker or free itself.

“Hang on!”

The lamp flared as the other two turned to the voice. Starlight was surprised again as she saw the same young woman from earlier dash forward through the opening that her dog had made. Soon she was in front of Starlight, and stopped there and wheeled to the other too. She gasped and wheezed for a moment, clearly not used to running, before she straightened up. “Just stay behind me!”

Starlight looked at her confused. What was she supposed to do? It was too late to argue, however. The buck lowered his horns and readied for a charge while the remaining doe took off immediately. Her dog, still struggling with the other doe, couldn’t defend her.

A moment later, she held up her stick. Starlight nearly groaned at the sight of it, but was cut off as the young woman began to speak. She quickly realized she wasn’t saying one of the four languages she herself knew, but based on the sound and phonetics of it she realized it wasn’t any type of language anyone knew. Her brow crooked on realizing it sounded like “magic words” and not the kiddie stuff from earlier. The doe didn’t care as it came close enough to rear on its back hooves and try to batter her with its forelegs.

Before it could, she stopped speaking and pointed the wand at the doe. Starlight actually cried out when, to her shock, an actual ball of fire erupted from the end of stick and impacted the creature. Not only did the resulting burst bathe the creature in fire, it generated enough force to snap it back and drop it to the ground. It rose again only to madly run off, still enflamed.

The buck broke into a charge with antlers out. The young woman gave a bit of a start but wheeled to it. She chanted something different this time before pointing the wand at it. Starlight cried out in surprise again as a small bolt of lightning snaked out of the sky and struck it dead center in the skull. It quickly seized and fell to the ground, and its momentum caused its body to keep skidding forward until it was right next to Starlight. The scent of burned flesh hit her nostrils, but it moved no more. That bolt had killed it instantly.

At the same time, the dog gave one final mighty twist and a cracking went out from the neck of the other doe. It went limp soon after and he let it fall out of his jaws. Both the doe and the buck began to change soon after. Their muted, darker colors “bled” out of their skin like water into a sponge, returning their physicality to normal at the same time, before they finally reached one point on their bodies and disappeared—the very same place a Light Eater had made contact with them some time in the past eight years.

The young woman let out a sigh of relief and turned to Starlight. “Are you alright?”

She stared back open-mouthed. “What…what kind of magician’s prop is that?”

“Prop? What are…” she trailed off, suddenly wincing before blushing. “Um…yeah! A prop! Right, of course! That’s what this is right here! Yup! Just a run-of-the-mill, old-fashioned, street performer prop! Yeah, I totally got rid of those two Nighttouched just now by using a common, everyday prop!”

Starlight quickly realized she was the poorest liar she had ever met, which only served to make her more shocked. “You don’t actually mean that’s an actual ‘magic wand’, do you? Or is it some new weapon that Manehattan came up with?”

“Oh, no-no! It’s just, um…homemade!”

Starlight would have normally frowned at the insult to her intelligence, but she didn’t have the luxury as she got to her feet. “Anyway, forget that! We need to get out of here! That gaslight behind us is still on! If we’re anywhere near it, then-”

She was cut off by a whimpering sound from the lady’s dog. Again she looked up, and the breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t even gasp a “no” before her eyes shrank into pinpricks.

What she had dreaded more than anything had come to pass.

It stood out from the darkness when it rounded the corner, giving off some sort of faint, shimmering sheen about its body. It wasn’t so much light as what one might see on a glossy finish. It was as tall as a man and longer than a tiger. It had no concrete shape. While it had four limbs like any quadrupedal creature and a head angled down like that of a big cat, complete with a mouth full of teeth, none of it was from any living creature. It was all very crude and basic; like it had been sculpted out of clay by a child. More of a concept of a beast rather than a true one. But it did have the one feature all of them shared: the eyespots. Shimmering like moonlight on the water, they quickly zeroed in on the flame of the broken gaslight.

Starlight’s heart froze in her chest as she started to shake. She was one of the few on Greater Everfree that had seen a Light Eater with her own eyes and lived to tell about it. Compared to the one she had witnessed, this was nothing. It was a quarter of its size and not nearly as defined. She was terrified of it none the less. No weapon could kill them. No fire make them retreat. No wall barricade them from entry. They had remained confined to former Equestria not due to any effort on the part of humanity but due simply to their own preference—stopping before they could go any farther.

All knew, deep in their heart of hearts, that they were living on borrowed time with them. That every day was just a question of whether or not they would come and kill them. She knew that time had come for her and she couldn’t even find the courage to scream.

The dog backed up until it could growl again, but that returned to a whine when it rounded the corner and began to approach. As it neared, however, Starlight heard the young lady again.

“Phew, it’s just a lesser one… Maybe I can pull this off.”

Starlight was nearly apoplectic as she looked at her. If she hadn’t been, she would have laughed at her hysterically. She had seen a Light Eater be fired on by a cannon from a distance of two feet. Other than leaving an inconsequential hole in the middle of its body that closed itself up again three seconds later…nothing. Bullets, spears, and explosives meant nothing to them. They had no flesh to cut, no bones to break, and no blood to spill.

The young woman called forth the same words she had said last time as the thing moved closer. A moment later, she snapped the wand down and let loose another fireball. It impacted against its right shoulder and burst.

Starlight had to blink at what she saw a few times. Although her brain told her it was totally impossible, she swore she saw the Light Eater actually pause in mid-step for just a moment. However, it kept walking soon after. Of course it did. Why wouldn’t it? It was completely invincible and unkillable. She smirked at herself hopelessly, realizing she was grasping at straws so much she was hallucinating. Soon after, the thing drew close enough that its primordial limbs crouched. Its crude jaw opened. She let out a dazed half-laugh. It was over.

Abruptly, she felt a force seize her by the arm and sharply yank her away from the wall, before she was half-shoved, half-flung to one side along with the young lady. Just in time, for the Light Eater lunged forward, its jaw clamped around the top of the lamp post and snuffed it out, before it kept going and smashed into the side of the building. Its force belied its size as it instantly smashed through the door frame and pounded a hole deep enough into the abandoned edifice for half of its body to sink in, and all just from a casual move.

As it slowly extracted itself, the young woman, Starlight’s twice-savior now, whirled on her. “What are you doing? Why were you just standing there?”

Her smile remained wan and wistful. “There’s no point… It’ll tear through buildings to kill us now… I got away from them eight years ago but I’m going to go out the same way as everyone in Sire’s Hollow… It’s over.”

The Light Eater finished pulling itself out and its eyespots turned again. Now it focused completely on the two of them. Its spectral jaw cracked open wide. The next move it made would rip through the both of them.

The lady aimed her wand again. She chanted something new. This time large, dagger-like ice crystals formed out of thin air about the wand and shot at the thing. They simply passed through its body to the other side, although Starlight once again imagined that they moved only slowly through it. The young lady tried another series of magic words afterward…

One of the Light Eater’s misshapen limbs sliced the air so fast if one blinked they wouldn’t have even seen it rise and fall again. A light tinkling sound was heard as the severed end of the wand fell to the ground. Now she didn’t even have her tricks anymore. Now she was as helpless as Starlight.

She gaped a moment before looking up again. The thing took another step forward, forcing her to back up and push into Starlight. Her dog came over from behind and clamped his jaws on her suitcoat shoulder, pulling her back soon after, but she didn’t react to that either as she knew it was nothing but a delay.

Finally, the young lady let her head bow, and for a moment Starlight thought she had realized the inevitability. Instead, she heard something new from her.

“I guess I have no choice.”

Her arm extended into the air and her hand and palm spread wide. Starlight gave a start a moment later when, again to her surprise, an invisible force etched out something on the back of her hand that glowed as bright as a fire.

A symbol…a hexagon. One of the points on it shone out brighter than the rest, emitting a lavender light like a beacon.

“What the…”

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Master of Sorcery—Starswirl the Bearded!”

Starlight’s ennui broke on hearing the very air shudder at the young woman’s proclamation. The wind whipped up and the air begin to change. Even the Light Eater paused at it. Soon after, she shrieked again when the young lady began to shine all over her body with that same lavender light. It streamed off of her in thin rays and condensed over the top of her body, before it snaked out and etched something like a painting of light in midair. For a moment Starlight saw the image: the figure of an old man with a long, wispy beard clad in a wide-brimmed magician’s hat and cloak, both etched with stars and bells. So real she swore he would come to life…

The image, on completion, broke and melded into a curtain which fell over the young woman. When it did her clothing changed. The robe that was just for street magic thickened and lengthened into a magician’s cloak worthy of legend. The severed wand she held grew, enlarged, and reshaped into a proper oak stave with a jewel fitted inside. A large, wide-brimmed hat landed on her head, and her cloak collar grew so large that her face vanished between it and the hat brim. Only her eyes still stood out. They were glowing too now.

The Light Eater raised its leg again and swung it down upon her, but she easily hopped to one side to avoid the pavement-shattering blow. It whirled around and lashed out at her again with another limb, but she leapt back from this too. It readied itself to charge but before it could she crossed the stave in front of her. She chanted again, far more powerfully this time with new words. Fiery runes wrote themselves on the air in front of her as fire condensed about her staff, forming a new projectile ball of flame that looked like raw magma. It sailed into the Light Eater and burst.

Starlight’s jaw nearly hit the ground at what happened next.

The Light Eater caught aflame.

A horrible, hideous noise bellowed from its misshapen mouth. It was crying out in pain. It had actually been hurt. And the fires continued to burn it, driving it back as it slapped its own crude body against the rubble and the damage it had done in an effort to snuff it out.

The young lady began to chant again, drawing a rune that looked like lightning this time. Before she was done, the last of the flames were doused and the monster gave an actual angry-sounding noise as it lunged. It was as fast as a bullet, but lightning was faster. She completed her spell and a monstrous bolt snaked from the heavens and struck it in the side. Its body was flung out of the sky and cast so hard into the side of the cul-de-sac it smashed another hole into the buildings.

Quickly she brought the stave around and made one final rune; this one an icy blue. The Light Eater was in more pain than before, but that only made it madder and more fearsome. In spite of the fact Starlight could see an indentation in its side that wasn’t regenerating from the lightning blast, and one of its limbs seemed to have partially burned away, it was almost immediately on its feet again and rearing up. A moment later it sprung off to lunge at her…

Its rear legs never left the ground, for she swung her staff forward and ice erupted from the street in long, spear-like shafts. They pierced its body no less than eight times throughout its torso and limbs and anchored it where it was. Something physical…actually holding a Light Eater in place.

It held its mouth open as its aborted cry faded. It remained rigid a moment longer before all of its limbs relaxed. The eyespots slowly faded into nothing. The rest of its body began to disintegrate and fade away as if it had never been anything more than a mist of fog. In moments, it was gone.

A Light Eater had been killed.

Starlight wasn’t sure how long she struggled to comprehend that; gawking and staring at the ice that had previously pierced it. What finally broke her concentration was a long, deep panting from the young woman. She turned and saw her hunched over on her stave. Her new clothes were breaking off of her like the ash of paper in a breeze and fading into nothingness. Once the cloak and hat were gone, the staff itself fractured to nothing but the half of the stick once again. She let it fall out of her grip, now back in her previous appearance, and nearly faltered.

At the last moment, she took in a deep breath and straightened again. She turned and looked behind her. For a moment worry was in her eyes, and not for Starlight’s welfare but rather at what she had just done.

“Are you alright?”

Starlight blinked.

“Are you hurt?”

“You…” she finally managed, “you…saved me. You killed that Light Eater…”

Instantly she turned red and even more nervous-looking. “Well, um…if you want to thank me, how about you do me a favor and forget you ever saw any of that?”

“Forget…? You…you just killed a Light Eater! Do you know what that means? Do you-”

Another stream of gunfire went off, not too far away. The barking orders of a commanding officer joined it not long after. Considering how calm it was, it sounded like a search and rescue group. That meant as bad as it had been they had to have repelled the rest of the Nighttouched.

On hearing it, however, the young lady quickly tensed. “I…I gotta go. I’m glad I was able to help. Stay safe! Come on, Spike!”

The dog released Starlight at last and quickly ran up to his master. She turned and began to run. Starlight only let her get five steps before she held out a hand and shouted.

“Wait! I didn’t even say thank you! At least give me your name!”

She paused. She turned back to her, hesitated again, but finally spoke just as the gunfire went off again.

“So…let me see if I get this straight. There you were, facing off against not only three Nighttouched but an actual Light Eater, and all of the sudden this person just pops out of nowhere, turns into some kind of wizard, and blows away all four of them including the Light Eater? Just like that? Waves their hand and does some hocus pocus and that’s the end of it? Or did they have to get help from a unicorn first?”

Starlight frowned at the facetiousness. It was the next morning and, along with 450 other residents of the township, she was holed up in a temporary refugee camp three miles outside the city’s outskirts while the Fillydelphia military combed it. All in all, 120 soldiers had died the night before along with 37 civilians so far, but already it was clear more would have been spared if the panic hadn’t gone out from the Light Eater alarm. Merely sounding that had made half of the newer soldiers go AWOL and collapsed the proper evacuation procedures.

Nevertheless, the threat had passed. No Light Eaters ever showed up during daylight, and all the Nighttouched grew sluggish and found places to hide. It was the perfect opportunity to finish them off and clean the town. And with a fresh division reinforcing the city, that left plenty of time for things like interviewing civilians as Starlight currently found herself undergoing in a side tent with two Fillydelphia officers.

“I’m telling you, that Light Eater was killed.”

“Right,” she snidely smirked. “Wasn’t good enough of a story that you somehow survived three Nighttouched all on your own. Had to throw in a juicy bit like that to make it really sound good, eh?” She reached out and tapped her arm band. “I guess your original story of how you avoided a massacre back in Griffonstone wasn’t exciting people anymore?”

Starlight frowned, and the other officer gave the interrogator a jab. “Knock it off, will you? Don’t joke about something like that.”

“Hey, she’s the one making up some baloney about seeing a Light Eater get killed. Everyone knows nothing can hurt ‘em.”

“Someone did,” Starlight spoke up again. “And if we can hurt them and kill them, then we need to learn how. Then maybe we won’t have to live waiting for stuff like this happening again.”

“Ah, give it a rest. Everyone knows there was no Light Eater to begin with. Some new guy got jittery and sounded the alarm is all. It was just another Nighttouched surge.”

“I don’t know about that,” the second spoke up. “Iron Tip’s group sighted one charging the barricade. Three eye witnesses. The colonel had us searching the city to confirm it left last night.”

“So he panicked. Big deal. If had seen a real one, he would have lived to tell anyone about it.”

The second sighed. “Let’s just be glad things didn’t go worse in spite of the panic. This isn’t the ‘cleanest’ we ever came out from a Nighttouched raid, but considering how things broke down…”

The tent flap suddenly opened. The head of a fellow officer ducked inside. “Hey you two. You still doing interrogations?”

“You bet.”

“Not anymore you’re not. Wrap up in here and head on out. The division is mobilizing. We’re leaving the rest to the garrison here and heading out.”

“Heading out? What for?”

“A wire just came in. This wasn’t the only attack last night. It happened all up and down the barrier. That means Trottingham or Griffonstone will probably make a move soon.”

He ducked back outside, leaving his fellow officers considerably more tense and less interested in Starlight. The first one frowned as she took up her hat and rifle from the wall. “We’re done now in my book. I heard they got tea in this town and I want to pick out some bags before we deploy again…”

She walked out, leaving her companion to sigh and turn to Starlight. “Thank you for the information. I’ll be sure to include the details in the report to our CO. For what it’s worth, I don’t doubt a Light Eater really was involved last night and something made it turn back. And a few of the soldiers saw lightning flash on that block too.”

Starlight said nothing. She was already frowning and looking to the side. The officer winced before she turned and made her way out as well.

She no longer paid them any mind, especially if they wouldn’t listen to her. All she thought of now was the young lady from last night, the symbol on her hand, the strange power that had come from her, and, most of all, what she said over the gunfire.

Twilight Sparkle…I’ll find you again wherever you are.

Nightwatch: The Strongest of Fighters

The palisade wall was ripped through as if it were no more than a pile of leaves. In its wake, the Nighttouched boar charged through the broken logs. It winced as it emerged into the light of day, clearly not caring for the sunlight, but that didn’t stop it from resuming its run a moment later.

Whereas most people would have fled in terror the moment a Nighttouched showed itself, especially one twice the size of a normal boar with two sets of razor-sharp tusks and a hide already dotted with arrows, improvised wooden pikes, and even a broken pitchfork, the farmers it now faced shouted as one before rushing it. Two with intact pitchforks immediately went for its head--pointing the ends toward its eyes. As maddened as it was, the action had the effect of making it slow rather than run itself on them. Before it could reposition itself to get through them, other farmers bearing shovels wielded like blunt spears fell at its sides. They stabbed out for the neck and hoof region to try and keep it in place while others quickly ran for buckets of oil and rags they had handy.

Unfortunately, they weren't fast enough to enact the next part of their counter assault. The boar gave a squeal and charged forward, swinging its head madly. It ran past one of the pitchfork carriers and bowled him aside. It tried to keep running to drive its tusks into another farmer beyond her, but before it could a pair of lassos snapped out of the air. One went around its head while another went around its front tusks, and both were quickly drawn tight and pulled in either direction. At the same time, a team of four farmers, two on a side, pulled a cord of their own tight to intercept its ankles as it charged past.

It seemed to work briefly. Its head was twisted while its legs got tangled in the line, which served to stun it enough for their companion to get out of the way. Soon after, however, it squealed again and began to thrash about itself. Not only did it rip the four trying to hold it by the ankles off of their feet and drag them about, but the two farmers that had it lassoed were violently snapped to and fro as they refused to let go of the cords; yanking and thrashing them across the ground.

However, spinning around in place allowed more farmers to rush in from the sides bearing long branches sharpened into points, and they plunged them into the sides of the boar. It took two of them to a pole, and they had to wait for it to "help" them by spinning into their thrusts, but they managed to pierce its tough hide. Unfortunately, it did little more than what all previous skewers had done. It squealed furiously and began to lash about, wrenching the poles from the grip of the farmers and carrying them around dangerously to try and knock its attackers aside. For a moment, they were forced to pull back.

That, however, was when the original group finally went on the move. Taking their hoes and rakes, they had wrapped the ends in the oily rags and lit them aflame. Now they were coming in with firebrands on three sides and surrounding its head with them. For a moment, the Nighttouched’s thrashing ceased as it found itself confronted with light and heat.

Only now did the largest farmer in the bunch step forward. Powerful, solid, and standing a good head over all the others, he brandished a large, double-sided, woodcutting axe with both of his powerful arms. As soon as he had it over one shoulder, he charged for the boar from behind. From his path, he was ready to come up around and cut into its neck from behind.

However, just as he was nearly upon it, the boar suddenly reared back and lashed out with a powerful pair of hind hooves. The strong man’s eyed widened as one hoof connected with his arm and the other his middle. A crack rang out, and for all of his size and power he was battered backward as easily as the palisade wall had been. His body crashed into the ground violently, and the boar squealed loudly as it swept its head and body about, battering away the firebrands and wheeling fully on him.

His face was still tight with pain, having dropped his axe and now clutching for the hit arm, when the Nighttouched charged at him. It didn’t trample him outright, but instead got near enough to rear up on its back legs. He looked up in fear as he saw its cruel cloven hooves cut the air before they began to head down…

The blow didn’t land.

A moment before it could, a farmer no more than half of the size of the big one, hair tied into a “work” ponytail underneath a rancher’s hat, clothes fully soiled from a day of hard labor already, had darted in front of him. Both of her hands lashed out and seized the boar by the front legs, and she planted her own and held. In spite of the fact she should have been nothing more than debris to the Nighttouched, she tightened her jaw, dug in her boots, locked her arms and, impossibly, held it off.

Soon after, giving a powerful grunt of her own, she let one of her arms back to heft some of the beast's weight onto her, before she wrenched her body to one side. In an impossibly strong feat, she cast the Nighttouched against the ground. That didn’t serve but to stun it for more than a moment, but she used that same second to twist her body around to one side, raise up one of her legs, cock it back, and then drive it solidly into its jaw. A sound of heel on bone rocked out, and the massive boar that had ignored so much done to it actually snapped its head skyward.

Quickly, she reached out and snatched the handle of the big farmer’s discarded axe. Before the boar had a chance to recover, she was wheeling back around, hoisting it over her own head with both arms, and then burying it in the side of its neck. Inky, corrupted blood flowed forth from the wound as the thing reared up violently again. It shot back to its feet, still bleeding, before it snapped its tusks at her. However, she quickly pulled away, only to make a fist soon after and drive it forward behind its eyeball where the bone was missing. The force was so great, the eyeball popped right out of its socket. Stunned and in pain yet again, it gave her the moment to quickly seize one of the discarded ropes still hung around its neck. Pulling it tight, she quickly snapped around and actually leapt onto the Nighttouched's back. In an instant, she got a length of it, wrapped it around the end of its snout, and yanked upward; forcing its neck upward to open the existing wound on its neck even more.

“’K, now!”

The rest of the farmers, holding back until this signal, rushed in. More wooden poles were driven into its sides. Sharpened tools plunged deep into soft tissue. It tried to thrash and fight, but the young woman on its back was able to restrain its movements enough for it to keep from striking back. Finally, the injuries took their toll. As more blood flowed, it slowed down and began to stumble. Its legs finally gave way underneath it and it went down. A few more stabs, and it gave out one last gurgle before it collapsed to its side; the young woman jumping off of it as it did. Soon after the murky colors on it began to bleed out of its skin, leaving only a boar half of its original size and quite dead.

Most of the farmers were panting, tired, and, in some cases, a bit injured. The rush over, a few of them even looked afraid now. Not the young woman, however, who simply pulled her hat off long enough to wipe her brow before replacing it. “Whoo-whee! That was an onery one!” She smiled. “Now we get pork fer a whole month!” She looked up and around. “Alright, Apples! Let’s take a breather but don’t keep it too long! Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala…y’all get busy fixin’ that fence ‘fore the next wild pig decides ta’ start rootin’ ‘round it! The rest of ya’, that crop ain’t gonna harvest itself!”

She frowned soon after saying this; wheeling about. The big farmer was being helped up by two of the others, but all three froze on seeing her glare.

“And as for you, Big Macintosh,” she snorted, walking right up to the man who towered over her and fearlessly poking him in the chest, “yer lucky yer hide is as thick as yer head, ya’ know that? Ya’ ain’t cut, are ya’?”

“Um…nope.”

“Well thank god fer that, ya’ lucky fool! Maybe you’ll only get laid up with a broken rib or an arm if yer lucky! Ain’t you the one who told me ya’ never try ta’ run up ta’ ah Nighttouched from behind?”

“Er…uh…eeyup.”

“Then what’dya mean by doing the same damn thing?”

He began to sweat, looking more uneasy about his mess up than his injury by now.

“Ya’ ever do that again, you better hope the Nighttouched gets ya’ ‘cause it’ll be easier than what Ah’m gonna do ta’ ya’! Now go get Apple Strudel to patch ya’ up!” She wheeled about. “An’ one more thing. Apple Munchies?”

One of the farmers who had begun to head back stopped and turned to her. She smiled as she walked over to the dead boar, grabbed the broken pitchfork end, yanked it free, then tossed it to her.

“Found yer lost pitchfork head.”

On catching it, she smiled back a moment before looking concerned. “Say cousin, you need anyone to help you drag that back?”

“Nah, ah got it.” Using the ropes still on it, she bound its front legs and hind legs, before seizing both and, with a grunt, pulling them up on her shoulders. In spite of the fact the boar had to weigh nearly 200 lbs, she began to pull it along easy enough.

“You sure we can eat that?”

“Landsakes, Munchies. Don’t act like some baby turnin’ her nose at peas and carrots. Ah’ve been eatin’ these things for close ta’ eight years now. Fine once they’re dead.”

The farmers soon dispersed. For most of them, that meant moving back to the several-hundred-acre apple orchard which stretched as far as they eye could see. Most of it was very well tended and maintained, with large wicker bushels stocked on the end of every pruned row to collect the produce. Yet the northwest boundary of the farm was bordered by the palisade wall, which stretched in both directions for several miles until it vanished from view. On the other side was an adjoining farm that had long since been left to fallow. It was wild and overgrown now; its own produce having grown tall and thick to allow shady spots and shadows to fill it. Considering the fact the very sunlight seemed “dimmer” only a little ways onto that side, it went without saying no one crossed the barrier from the other side either.

The farmers paid it little mind, aside from the fact that all of them kept a tool that could be used as a weapon close at hand or doubled their existing tools for them if necessary. Most of them were buzzing about the orchard. The crop was good that year and they were taking extra care to grab each and every apple they could from the trees. It was a bit easier than one would think as the farm, for as large as it was, seemed to have more than its share of hands. A good hundred individuals were working it. Twenty other individuals were acting as watchmen either along the palisade wall or were tending to the other perimeters of the orchard; tending carefully-planted hedge rows or widening the trenches that had been dug around them. The way it was secured, the only way in or out was a forded pass at the end of the farm that led on to a dirt road. The road itself stretched a good five miles before it reached a main thoroughfare. Until then, it passed numerous other farms--each of which had been abandoned and left to slowly rot and overgrow. By comparison, an additional thirty individuals constantly kept the apple orchard in tip-top shape, from the wagons to the weeds to the paint on the windowsills. The way they went about carefully going through each task, it seemed many of them were looking for things to do.

On the end nearest the road leading out of the farm were the main buildings. While there was a multi-purpose building on a hill further in the orchard, the farmhouse, barn, and summer kitchen were all clustered together along with the vegetable garden. The young woman passed six kids working it together as she drug the carcass of the boar toward the last of the buildings; what was currently functioning as their combination slaughterhouse.

She was nearly to the threshold when she heard the gunshot.

Immediately, she dropped the boar and turned to the farmhouse. She knew that particular sound only came from granny’s homemade rifle; the same one she had gotten from her father. She took off for the house soon after.

She barely had managed to come around the front when she saw the door fly open. Grasping his forearm, an angry-looking young man, one of the Appleloosan civil servants by the dress and haircut, half-stormed, half-fled outside and down the steps. His horse was tied to an old fence post and he made straight for it.

She was actually stunned into stopping. “Notary, what’re you-”

“You know, you’re lucky you and your whole family are crazy enough to live right on the border!” he snapped as he kept walking. “Because even if I call the sheriff to come out here to have your crazy grandma locked up he’ll never head out here! That’s why he sends me to give these government notices instead of doing it himself!”

“Wait, what?” As she said this, she looked at his forearm. She noticed now that red fluid was oozing between his fingers. “Wait, wait…ya’ don’t mean… Did granny-”

“You can take it up with him from now on!” he shouted as he reached the horse, quickly untying it. “See how he likes it when you go about shooting the messenger!”

“Ah…ah don’t…”

The front door to the house flung open, causing her to turn around. She was just in time to see an anxious-looking elderly woman begin to hobble out after him as best she could; a pair of cats trailing her from behind. A piece of paper was clutched in her fist. “Notary! Notary Public, wait just one second, young man!”

“Like hell!” he shouted back as he mounted up. “You think I’m going to wait for that old prune to reload?”

She continued to call out, but it was no use. As soon as he was on, he turned his horse around and took off galloping down the road. A faster pace than folks usually took to get away from Sweet Apple Acres. The young woman continued to look confused between the two of them, but as soon as he out of earshot she turned fully to the older woman. “Aunt Goldie, what was that all about? Did granny actually try to shoot Notary Public?”

“Oh, y’know how your grandmother gets…” she sighed. “Ah reckon she was tryin’ ta’ just fire ah warnin’ shot but her eyesight ain’t been so good. Ah tried ta’ get her ta’ put it down, Applejack. Ah really did. She just got so onery again, though, and ah was afraid she was gonna have a spell. It ain’t no excuse, of course. Ah should’ve tried harder…”

“Nevermind that now,” she cut off. “What was all this about?”

“Hell if ah know, dear. All ah know is Notary rode right up, knocked on the door, asked if he could talk ta’ Granny Smith, ah showed him in, he delivered this here letter,” She held it up. “And the next thing ah know Granny’s goin’ for her rifle. Ah could’ve sworn ah cleaned that gun out ‘cause ah know she always keeps it loaded, but there ain’t no sense in keepin’ ah powder-loaded gun ready to-”

“Can I see that?”

“Of course.” She finished hobbling over to the young woman and passed it over. “Ah sure can’t read it. Not since my reading glasses broke. That’s why ah was tryin’ to chase him down to explain what as the matter, but if Granny wanted to scare him off she sure did…”

Ignoring the rest of the litany, Applejack took the letter and opened it up. She quickly read it over, and as soon as she was done her face twisted in such an expression she looked as if she might have shot at Notary Public herself.

Sheriff Silverstar sighed, both at the angry young woman standing before his desk with hands on her hips as well as the fact his front door was not only off its hinges but practically snapped in two from how hard she had struck it barging in. “You know, I’m already struggling not to charge your grandmother with assault. I don’t need you adding property damage to it.”

“This is pig swallor!” she shouted, slapping the letter down on his desk. All over the top was the official insignia of the Appleloosan government, and on the bottom was the proper seal and signatures by the acting civil authorities.

“I didn’t write it, Applejack! The government did! I’m just going to carry it out!”

“And you can just sit back and do that like it ain’t no big deal? Sweet Apple Acres has been a part of this community since before you were born! Every folk who settled here did so because of us! Our farm practically made this whole town!”

The sheriff sighed before he folded his hands and hardened his gaze. “That’s just it. You and the rest of the Apples still don’t get it…it’s not your farm anymore. And it hasn’t been your farm for three years.”

Hearing this seemed to sting the farmer, making her visibly wince.

“The law is the law, Applejack. When the government agreed to sign the lease, the condition was that they reserved the right to revoke at any time for any reason. It’s right there on paper.”

“But it ain’t fair! Not to us and not to anyone still left in this town! They can’t just come out of the blue and yank it like that! Not when we’re feedin’ so many people!”

“But it’s not out of the blue,” he answered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Her anger ebbed. She raised an eyebrow. “What’dya mean?”

He frowned as he looked one way and another, not trying to meet her gaze. “…The order came in from the governor not to tell any of the locals about it, but seeing as you and your family are right there on the border and you’re most at risk, I’ll tell you. Maybe it’ll get you to go along with this.”

“Tell us what?”

He exhaled uneasily, rubbing his mustache. “Four days ago, Fillydelphia got attacked. The township that got hit had never been struck before and it got hit bad. Not just Nighttouched, Applejack. The rumor they have is some of them spotted a Light Eater.”

She forgot being angry for a moment. “Ya…ya serious? They’re really surgin’ again?”

“Last time that happened we lost the two towns north of here and all of the northwest farms…” he sighed. “If they follow the same pattern, and they say they are going to follow the same pattern, then this town’s done too.”

Applejack’s jaw dropped. He looked back up at her regretfully.

“So you see it really doesn’t matter either way. Either the government pushes you off first or you get overrun by Nighttouched and maybe something worse. I figure the folks down south thought they’d cut their losses…”

She frowned again. “Losses?! There’s ah whole town of folks to worry about!”

“And they would have run off along with the real owners of Sweet Apple Acres years ago if you and your family wasn’t holding their ground, but that was just because they thought the government would back them up if push came to shove. They’re not doing it anymore, though.”

“Sweet Apple Acres is keeping all those fat cats fed in Appleloosa!”

He sadly shook his head. “That’s not good enough anymore. They’ve got new refrigeration houses and canning plants. They can do without fresh produce for a while longer now. Once this harvest season is done, they’re ordering you out. Then they’ll move in and burn down the orchard.”

Applejack stared back in horror. “Burn it down?! That wasn’t in the letter!”

The sheriff wiped his brow. “It’s new policy. Too many folks did what you’re thinking of doing: sticking around once they pull out and defending the land. They figure they won’t stay if there’s nothing to defend. Besides…” He trailed off.

She frowned. “Besides what?”

He sighed. “Besides…no one’s ever taken land back from the Nighttouched or Light Eaters once it’s gone. There’s no sense leaving anything behind…”

“You can’t do this, sheriff! You knew my mom and dad! You knew how much that farm meant to them!”

“What am I supposed to do, Applejack? Either I carry this out or they’ll bring in someone who will. Then I’ll be out of a job on top of everything else. We can’t fight the government.”

“We don’t have to roll over and take it, either!” she snapped back. “Ah thought this town meant something to you, sheriff! I thought our farm did!”

“It did, Applejack. As in it did once, but it doesn’t any longer,” he retorted, surprising the young woman as his own face hardened. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I already sent my wife and kid away six years ago. I would have joined them long before now if not for your family.”

Now the farmer really did look surprised. “Wh…what?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but not everyone is as stubborn as your family and not everyone has their heads in the ground. Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter how strong you are. There’s no stopping those things. Every time the Appleloosan government tried they got massacred for it. You can’t even kill Light Eaters to begin with! We can’t defend against that, but we can let our pride go to our heads and make us stay here and get killed fighting battles we can’t win. And in your case…” He paused, sighing again. “In your case, you’re asking too many other folks to stick out their necks for you.”

She clenched her teeth. “Ah ain’t never asked nobody to stick out their neck for us and you know it! We defended that farm and this town! Us! We never so much as asked you to drop by!”

“And you really think you can do that forever?” His voice had softened. “Your whole family has relocated there, Applejack. The rest of them already lost their own farms. They thought they could stick it out there too and they had to run in the end. Now you got old folks, teens, children… You don’t have fighters. And you don’t have guns either. You may be able to handle the occasional Nighttouched, but what are you going to do when a whole swarm comes down? Your whole family isn’t as strong as you. And not all of them can even defend themselves. They break down that barrier and cut you off, there won’t be any escape. What if you have to leave someone behind?”

Applejack softened again, growing increasingly uncomfortable to hear this. It made her wince and hesitate for a time, but in the end her jaw squared itself again. “Well, that’s our business!”

“And what about the rest of your family? They really want to stick it out? They want to fight the government along with the Nighttouched?”

“Yer damn right they do!” she snapped with renewed vigor. “’Cause home and family means something to ‘em! That farm is the Apple family! We lose it and go to some dirty, smell, soot-covered, cramped town we’ll lose what pride we got left and half of us’ll starve between factory jobs!”

Silverstar’s face grew more sympathetic. He leaned in as his voice lowered. “Applejack, just because something bad happened to her doesn’t mean-”

Now he really did snap back, for Applejack’s fist came down so hard that she punched a hole through the top of his desk. She glared at him with a near psychotic fury. The sheriff didn't move a muscle.

“You ever bring Apple Bloom into our discussions again, and yer first deputy will be bringing me in on murder. Ya’ got that?”

He couldn’t even answer. Not the way she was looking at him now. At any rate, she was done there. Pulling her hand out of the desk, now dripping blood from where she had gashed it smashing through the wood, she turned and walked back out the way she came. On the way, she angrily kicked the remains of the door out of her way.

Silverstar wasn’t able to move again until all sounds of her horse had vanished.

Applejack wasn’t much for drinking, and when she was she didn’t do it on an empty stomach. That night she skipped dinner and went straight to the whiskey bottle. In all fairness, no one really felt like eating. It didn’t take long for word to get around to all of the family, and only half of them even had the appetite for a late supper in spite of all the extra work they had gone through killing the Light Eater. Everyone’s chores went more slowly, especially when she returned and gave them the bad news on her unfruitful meeting with the sheriff. The icing on the cake was that Granny Smith was again not feeling well enough to come downstairs.

She was on the front porch, leaning back in a chair and pouring herself a second shot on the end table when the farmhouse doors opened. She glanced up a little and saw an individual similar to her; right down to the rancher’s hat. He looked to her uneasily. “Hey cuz.”

“Hey Braeburn. How’s Big Mac?”

He winced. “He’s all patched up. Wanted to get back to work but Strudel told him to take it easy. Then he got the news and, well…he said he was going to work alone on finishing up that boar.”

Knowing that he was purposely withdrawing to where no one could see him was all Applejack needed to know about that. She nodded back. She could talk to him later about it.

“So…so that’s it, then?” Braeburn asked. “We’re out?”

“Like hell we are. Ah’ll fight ‘em tooth and nail. Even if ah have to fight them off on one side an’ an army of Nighttouched on the other…the ones they should be fightin’ ‘stead of burning folks out of their homes and turnin’ coward. It’s nothin’ to them if we want to defend our own land.”

Braeburn lowered his head uneasily. “But…it ain’t our land…”

Applejack winced again on hearing that, and downed the second shot.

The screen door opened, causing both to look up. Goldie Delicious poked her head out from inside, but quickly looked at the young woman. “Applejack?”

“Yeah Aunt Goldie?”

“Yer grandmother wants to talk to you for a while. She said to bring the whiskey bottle.”

A minute later, Applejack was in her room. It was still upstairs, no matter how much they all insisted on relocating her to the first floor with her bad hip. In all honesty, it hadn’t been much cause for concern. Granny Smith was well into her senior years, but she had definitely been robust enough to keep up with everyone else.

At least, she had been three years ago. Since then she had lost a lot of weight, and not in the healthy sense of the word. She laughed far less than she used to. Things she used to take pride in, such as heading up the annual crafting of Zap Apple Jam, she now deferred to her with little argument. She spent a lot of time in her room now, and not always because she wasn’t feeling well.

As was often the case, only her bedside lamp was on when she came into the room. She had lain down again, and Applejack had pulled a chair close to her. She liked sitting there. It kept her from being able to see the photograph on the wall behind her, featuring the bulk of the original family. Every time she entered the room, she tried not to look at the part with a brown, long-haired man wearing her own hat standing next to a curly-haired woman with a buttercup in her own hair, while at their feet an unusually lanky boy, a yellow-haired girl, and a baby with a large red ribbon in her hair sat.

Applejack poured herself the third shot and Granny the first. In spite of her age, she took it up and knocked it back. She made an even more sour face than usual on putting it down again. “Dagnabbit…never could get used ta’ the taste of Apple Cider’s corn whiskey. Better off usin’ it ta’ remove paint.” She slumped back against her pillow. “But ah’ll try anythin’ ta’ get ta’ sleep tonight…”

The young woman winced. After a moment, she pulled off her hat--a rare gesture for her. “Granny, ah…ah went ta’ the sheriff. And…and ah tried, but-”

“Oh, Applejack. Ya’ don’t need to explain anythin’ ta’ me,” she waved off. “Yer the most honest girl ah know. If’n ya’ say you tried, then you tried and that’s the end of it.”

“But…but ah couldn’t change his mind…”

“Of course ya’ couldn’t. If it were just Sheriff Silverstar ya’ might have, but once ya’ bring in the politicians all bets are off that don’t end up in more dollar signs for ‘em. Learned that the hard way as ah grew up. Ah hoped you could have gone a bit longer, though. Nah, ah…”

Her face grew melancholy as her eyes lowered.

“Ah just wanted some company for a bit besides Goldie… From whoever’s gonna be the next head of the Apple family.”

Applejack stiffened. “Granny, you don’t-”

“Why, ya’ look as nervous as ah cat in a room fulla rocking chairs. Ah ain’t about to kick no buckets anytime soon. At least not if ah can help it. Although, heh…” she smiled faintly, “I dunno. After hearin’ today, ah kinda wouldn’t mind this bein’ my last harvest season.”

Talk like that did little to comfort Applejack. “We ain’t lost the farm yet, Granny. We’ll think of somethin’. Ah know we will.”

She didn’t answer. She only kept smiling as she leaned back a little more. “Ah reckon ah oughta apologize to Notary Public. Poor young fella…used ta’ always come by and snake some of the Jonathans before dippin’ his hands in the pies. Back in the good ol’ days before all the critters turned nasty. Ah switched him more’n once but the truth is ah always liked him comin’ back for more.”

She looked up again, but it was past Applejack and to the picture on the wall. Swallowing, the young woman kept staring at her without turning to it. She didn’t want to see it now. Granny’s smile faded a little.

“Reckon…ah should be used ta’ losin’ things by now. After this long…” she went on more softly. “Ah still remember my daddy…yer great-granddaddy…tellin’ me how everyone figured your great-great-granddaddy was licked the day they rewrote the law. Went from bein’ one of them landed nobles ta’ being a dirt poor laborer in the span of one day. But he told me…he said: ‘Smith, your grandpappy was the best of all the Knights of Appleloosa. Even when the rest of them forgot about where they came from and how they fought tooth and nail day in and day out, and just sat back and got fat off the taxes, he held true to it. No one could whip him in a fight. Not until they finally brought in the guns and they didn’t even have a spot for him in the army.’”

Applejack remembered those stories. As a child, she loved them. Back when Appleloosa was far wilder and filled with feuding and warring families. They were one of the last countries to adopt use of gunpowder other than for basic bombards. Before those days, no one could beat the Appleloosans in combat. And no one got to be a knight unless they were the best of the best. Those days were long gone before her great-great-grandfather was removed from service, though.

“And that’s why he was the best at farming. Ta’ him, it weren’t never anythin’ other than somethin' else to whip. Scraped by with nothing and got this farm, then worked it with his sweat and tears until he built it up into Sweet Apple Acres. That’s when the farm became our name. We didn’t need none of them fancy crests or standards or titles. We had that land we had taken and made with our own hands.”

Her smile faded as she sighed.

“Nothin’ makes sense ta’ me anymore, Applejack. World’s changin’ too fast for me. Everything’s changin’ too fast. First came that Moon Crash…”

“Lunar Fall, granny…”

“Whatever it was…whatever it was that took Bright and Buttercup… Then all them refugees came in…then came that bad year where we had to sell to those damn city slickers…then Apple B-”

She cut herself off at that. For a moment, her eyes began to shimmer and her face tightened. She turned it to one side, refusing to let her granddaughter see her cry.

“Y’know…ah thought our luck had changed when they put out that Caretaker Law…thought there was a chance ah’d die on our own land same as the rest of the family. But now this comes out. It weren’t Notary Public ah was mad at, dear… I was mad because…well, because…” She swallowed. “Because ah started to wonder if there really was any place for us in this world anymore…”

At once, Applejack put her hand out on top of hers. “There is, granny. You bet there is. And ah’ll make sure the whole family always is here for it. Ah promise you that. Ah’ll get around this. Ya’ see if ah don’t.”

She turned toward her. “Applejack…”

“Have ah ever said ah’d do something and lied about it? Ya’ just leave everythin’ ta’ me. Ah’ll fix it.”

After a time, she looked back up to her. For a few moments, she stared back in her granddaughter’s eyes and didn’t see them waver. She risked a small smile. “Maybe that’s the real reason ah wanted ya’ up here, Applejack. Ah had to tell myself it’s time ta’ stop worryin’ ‘bout these things myself and let the youngin’s handle it. They won’t be youngin’s forever, after all.”

She brought her other hand around to clasp hers.

“Alright dear…ah’ll leave it ta’ you.”

Thirty minutes later, Applejack had moved to the back porch. The rest of the whiskey was sitting nearby untouched. She didn’t feel like anymore since all it was doing was giving her a headache; not actually making her feel better about the situation. She had started drinking when she only had her anger to worry about. After the conversation with Granny Smith, she now had far more on her mind. Now she stared at the forest behind her property. Even with night fallen, it still somehow seemed like “darker” night over the area above Equestria. The stars almost seemed to stand out more.

She finally reached over to fumble for the bottle again. Her fingers slipped and knocked it over. She turned to it, seeing it pouring out now that it was on its side. She nearly reached to pick it up, but finally just turned away and let it drain.

The back door flew open with such violence that it let out an echoing crack against the back of the house. “Applejack!”

The farmer nearly fell backward out of her chair. “For cryin’ out loud, Braeburn!” she shouted in a harsh whisper, wheeling on the door frame. “The youngin’s are headed to bed! Keep yer voice down!”

“Sorry, but…I got good news! I was checkin’ in on Big Macintosh, and he thought of something! Something he picked up from the trader last time he was at the market! It might get us out of this!”

Her eyes widened. “Well, what is it?”

Applejack set the form down rather carefully on the sheriff’s desk, ignoring the hole she had put in it just the day before. Today, she was in a far better mood as she tapped the top of it. “Right there.”

He leaned in closer. “The ‘Home Soil Act’?”

“Appleloosa passed it just four months ago ta’ get more enlistees and get them fightin’ for their homes. So long as at least one member of yer family is in active service, your land can’t get touched by the government. So long as we sign up for the army, we’re in good shape.”

Silverstar looked over the form a moment before he frowned. “There’s some provisions here. First, it’s got to be for front line combat. And it goes out of effect as soon as you’re marked as deceased. Second, you got to report across the country for it to take effect. Damn near where the Nighttouched crossed the border…”

“But so long as one of us stays in the military, they can’t seize our farm. So that’s that. We sign ourselves up for the military and we’re set.”

He sighed. “Now, Applejack…”

“Don’t you ‘now Applejack’ me! Ah just stopped by to set you straight! Ah’m mailin’ in this form tomorrow! Ah whole bunch of us will be headin’ out there! There’s more than enough folks back home to handle the chores and harvest while we’re gone.”

“But you’re going to be using your own family to hold the farm for ransom more or less. And even if you do, this can’t last forever. Those things are just going to keep coming…”

“Well ah ain’t got any better ideas! So long as it keeps us on the land for right now, that’s what ah’m doin’! And ah ain’t holdin’ nobody ransom. Every one of us who goes is gonna volunteer just like me!”

The sheriff said no more. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

Applejack leveled a glare at him. “Ya’ got more on yer mind, ah can tell.”

“Not if you’re going to do what you did yesterday. Trying to talk you out of something you got your mind on is like trying to get a cat to tie a knot.”

“It’s ‘cause ah never gave up on battles ah started.”

“You mean you never knew what battles weren’t worth fighting.” He sighed. “I know you didn’t come here for my blessing. You’ll do what you’ve always done; whatever you felt like. Just…just stop and think about what might be more important.”

She frowned as she shoved her hat down on her head, taking up the form again. “If the Apple family loses this, we got nothing. No place in the world left to go. Nothin’ is more important than that.”

Never one to let the grass grow under her feet, the plan went into motion very quickly. Applejack filled out the form and sent it by post while she brought back the registration to the farm to settle who officially would go. Most of them shared the same mindset as her. Moreover, the family had already been fighting Nighttouched without firearms or proper weapons for years. This wasn’t much of a change for them. Applejack alone was convinced she was worth more than ten of the standard soldier, and no one would dispute her on that. Besides, if war broke out, they might have found themselves fighting humans rather than monsters; and all of them preferred their odds with that.

Aside from her and Braeburn, 18 other members of the family decided to head out. Big Macintosh, who indeed ended up having a broken rib from the incident of the boar, wanted to come, and truth be told he probably could have healed up fast and been the second best among them. Nevertheless, Applejack told him to stay behind.

“Ya’ need ta’ look after the farm, and more important ya’ need to look after Granny. She ain’t gonna like this.”

And, indeed, she hadn’t. Not after the similar situation with Apple Bloom. She gave her an earful the first day and the silent treatment the next two. However, she knew that Applejack wouldn’t have suggested this without being willing to put her own neck on the line. And right now it was their only choice. It took almost until the day they left, but finally she came down to address them all.

“Bunch of young pigheaded idiots… Ya’ all do somethin’ stupid like get yerselves killed Ah’m gonna head out there myself and give y’all a kick in the shin. Ya’ just promise me that no matter what y’all look out fer each other. Y’all stay together, get me? And if’n they won’t let ya’ do that, then ta’ Hell with them. Ya’ come right home. This farm ain’t worth it.”

The morning of departure, the family loaded up a pair of covered wagons with what provisions and belongings they would need. As there was no money for train fare to spare, they would have to go the country route. It was a pretty far trip to boot. There was a deadline for enlistment on submittal of the forms, and to make it they would have to take a roundabout way. Going directly would force them to cross the mountains of the Mount Eris city state, and those routes had long since been closed off. They would have to make it to the river and ferry down to the coast, catch a boat to the tip of Mount Eris’ western side, then work their way back north and into Appleloosa all over again. Ironically, using the river would make it faster, although the trip over land would still span hundreds of miles. Fortunately, none of them had much in the way of possessions.

Applejack herself took only a change of clothes, the ones on her back (especially her hat), some rope, a claw hammer, and the last family photograph they had all felt like taking. It had been about three years ago now, when, in spite of everything, the family was still together and still smiled for them. On the way out of the house, not knowing when she would be back to see it again, she stopped by Granny Smith’s room and looked at the picture with her parents in it.

“Mom, dad…ya’ mind havin’ my back? Not fer me. Fer Granny.”

Not long after that, she headed down and bid everyone their goodbyes, including the rest of the family. After making promises to write as soon as she arrived and to succeed, as well as an admonition to keep the farm going, they headed out. Naturally, she was one of the first to walk. It was only when they left the last bit of their community behind that she began to feel a touch of the loneliness—her vast family crunched onto one farm now reduced to just twenty members nearby. And neither granny nor Big Macintosh around.

Nevertheless, she kept her head high on the road ahead.

The whole farm is countin’ on me. Ah won’t let ‘em down.

And maybe…just maybe…I’ll find Apple Bloom out there somewhere.

Nightwatch: The Bravest of Champions

Author's Notes:

I've headed back to graduate school while I'm working full time, so chapters are going to be a bit slower than I'd like. Warning you in advance.

“Another cider…”

The barkeep glanced over to the stools at the main bar, frowning slightly at a slumped figure splaying her entire upper body over the top of it. She looked away a moment later, smiling and nodding to the only other patron in the tiny, dimly lit, public house. “Thank you very much. Please tell your friends that we have coffee from the Southlands.”

The patron smiled and nodded back, glancing to the figure at the bar to give her a dismissive look, then rose and departed. The barkeep was given a moment to take up the tab for the single cup of coffee that the patron had left behind, and frowned again on seeing there were only three cents in tip.

“Hey,” the slumped patron at the bar sounded listlessly again. “Hey…can I get another cider?”

She sighed as she cleaned the cup and saucer and walked back to the bar. She turned to a glass jar at one side and tossed the three cents into it before she went to the cash register to close the rest of the tab. As it gave a chime to the tune of the register opening, the patron lifted her head groggily.

“Uh, hello? Another cider here?”

She frowned once again as she shut the drawer. “Sorry, Dash. I’m cutting you off.”

“Aw, come on…” she whined. “I’m not that drunk…yet…”

“You also have an outstanding tab that’s over a hundred. And cider isn’t cheap. It’d be one thing if you just wanted beer…”

“Hey, I’m a big-time soldier-of-fortune… Gotta keep trim…” she moaned back half-drunkenly as she shifted slightly. Aside from her rather unremarkable attire that looked like it was either a combination of secondhand work clothes and combat uniform or, far more likely, something she had scrounged from the trash, the biggest feature that stood out was her rainbow-colored hair. While many people had two tones or even three, there were few who had an entire set of seven for the full spectrum. “You know what it’d do to my line of work if I got a gut?”

“I can’t afford any more credit. I’m sorry.” She walked past the rows of liquor mounted on the back of the bar to a rather odd-looking, large, brass machine emitting a bit of steam and pouring its contents into a smaller urn: a giant percolator. She removed the urn and looked into it, only to sigh and roll her eyes. “Just my luck…broken again. No wonder they didn’t want another cup…”

“I can pay you tomorrow…”

“You said that yesterday and the day before,” she called back as she carried the urn around to a cloth curtain. She passed through a moment later, leaving the patron alone in the bar.

She sulked for a moment at the fact she wasn’t getting another drink. Bringing her empty glass to her lips, she sucked it a bit for some last droplets, but she had already drained it a while ago and frowned as she sat it down. She looked up again soon after, her eyes tracing over the bar, before they went to the tip jar. Aside from the three cents, there was a good quantity of change on the bottom and several bills on top. Most of them were propped upright and near the lid.

She raised her eyelids a bit more. She glanced to the curtain and saw it still settling. She looked back to the jar. She moistened her lips a little, looked one way and another, and then began to let her hand drift over to the top of it.

It just began to dip into the lid when she heard a cough. Paling, she quickly shot her hand back and turned to the opening to the back. The barkeep was standing there with arms crossed.

“The landlord would kill me if they knew I was letting you run a tab, whether your name is Rainbow Dash or not. If you don’t want me to kick you out right now for adding theft to it, you’ll pay me something on it right now.”

She grimaced. In spite of her half-drunk state, that was enough to command her attention and she nodded. She leaned up in her chair, slightly unbalanced, and began to feel in her pockets. She started on her vest and into the inner shirt, fishing through each pocket, before moving down to her pants. She produced half of an old train ticket, a bullet, a bent key, and a button. Finally, she slowly and unsteadily took off her shoes. The left one was empty, but the right one she shook over the bar. A single coin worth one dollar tinkled out.

The barkeep sighed as she snatched it up, scattering the rest of the pocket filth along the way. She went over the register and quickly began to check it out. “Some days I think you purposely try not to have any dignity…”

“Hey, safest place for it,” she shrugged as she replaced her shoe before leaning back down on the bartop.

She finished up and shut the drawer. “Congratulations. You now only owe me 117. And you’re not going to make up that tab lying there at my counter.”

“Eh, I’m saving myself,” she answered with a half-asleep hand wave. “There’ll be plenty of jobs soon enough. Always are. Especially for the ‘Sonic Rainboom’...”

The barkeep didn't respond as she walked back to the tip jar and plucked it off the counter. Turning around, she looked up to the top shelf of the wall of liquors. She ended up reaching for a box of imported Cherries Jubilee Brandy. Taking it off and setting it down on the counter, she opened it up, revealing a sizeable amount of cash in there, and dumped the jar's contents inside.

Dash's half-lidded eyes raised a bit on seeing the money. “Y’know, you could hire me if you want that tab settled. You’re sure good for it…”

“Not as good as you might think.” She shut the lid again, picking it up and replacing it on the shelf before restoring the tip jar to its former place. She got out a rag next and began to clean off the now-dirty counter. She succeeded until she got to Dash’s head and shoulders. However, as she pushed the rag in, she wouldn’t move it. She frowned again as she began to clean around her body instead.

“Besides, it not like you need to do that kind of work. Any time a local comes in and sees you leaning on that counter, they say they got a job you can do…”

“Eh…none of that’s for me. I’m a fighter…”

The way she said that sounded far more like an excuse than a matter of principle, but there was nothing else for it. She finished cleaning up as best as she could, but at the end Dash still hadn’t moved.

Sighing, the barkeep put the rag to one side and leaned over the bar. Her face grew more concerned. “Look…I’m serious. Forget the tab. You shouldn’t spend all your time here.”

“Why not?” she idly answered with a yawn, waving her hand in the air again. “I love it here, Berry. Great atmosphere and cider…”

She would have said more, but the door to the public house suddenly opened. While Dash went back to lazing on the counter, Berry looked up, and watched as three men walked in over the threshold. She immediately began to tense on seeing them. Based on their looks, they were travelers rather than locals, but that was neither here nor there in this part of the world. The town itself was nothing more than a crossroads or waystation for about a third of its residents at any point. What she didn’t like was the kind of travelers they appeared to be.

All of their clothes were dark and subdued colors--perfect for doing things under the cover of darkness. They were various sizes but all were strong-looking. Guns were at their hips with brass cartridges for ammunition strapped alongside them, but the first one also sported a pair of knives on the opposite side, the second had a rifle slung over his back, and the third balanced a shotgun over one shoulder. Aside from waltzing in bearing weapons, the main thing she didn’t like was their faces. Their eyes were calculating, their faces set, and their lips curled into a bit of a smirk.

Not the look of someone who just wanted a drink.

“Public house is closed to non-guild members until 6 o’clock.”

“Well, I guess we’re in luck then,” the lead one answered, reaching into his traveling coat at the same time as his companions. Moments later, they came out bearing small brass badges in the emblem of a pair of chamber-loaded single shots.

She tensed a little on seeing them but didn't budge. “I thought the branch office wasn’t issuing those anymore.”

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve looked around the world lately, but there’s a bigger need for licensed Huntsmen now than ever,” he half-chuckled, prompting his friends to do the same. The whole while, they drew closer to the bar, and reached it just as they finished laughing. “Besides,” He gestured to Dash. “Looks to me like you’re already letting the local drunks come in. Why not us?”

“She happens to be a guild member too,” the barkeep answered with an exhale. “Alright, what can I get-”

“Wait, wait, hang on,” the man cut off. He jabbed his thumb in Dash's direction. “She’s a Huntsman?”

The smallest of the three snickered. “You’re kidding. Look at her. Looks like she washed up the river. And she’s half passed out already.”

The third and largest one merely chuckled along; clearly not the “brains” of the group.

“Man, they must really be desperate for membership if they’re handing them out to shrimps like her…” the first muttered before looking back to the barkeep. “Three of the hardest stuff you got. We’ve got to hit the road soon. Latest news is the Nighttouched are making another move and there’ll be a lot of folks who need protection when they head south.”

The barkeep said no more but went behind the bar for some glasses. The second of the three moved over to Dash and looked her over as she lay there unmoving. He snickered a second later. “Aw man, I can practically hear her snoring. Who’d have thought some broad like this would be such a lech? She looks younger than my sister.”

“Hey, check out her hair, Hoops,” the third spoke up. “How long you think it takes her to dye it like that?”

“Pft, who cares. Looks like some little brat’s fingerpaint…” He trailed off, realization striking him. “Hold on a sec. There’s only one Hunstman out there that has rainbow hair…”

As Dash didn’t react, he moved over to the side of her. Reaching out, he placed his hand on her head and pushed it up enough to reveal her face. Her eyes were closed and she let out a snore, before slowly cracking them open and seeing herself being stared at.

Immediately, “Hoops” burst into a grin and snickered. “Heh, well look who we have here. It is her. A local legend right here in the flesh, boys. And looking every bit a national hero…smelling like a bar bathroom and covered with cider stains. If it isn’t ol’ Rainbow Crash!”

The other two immediately started to snicker at her as well. While her eyes were still glazed, she frowned. “Rainbow Dash…”

The barkeep winced at the exchange as she quickly got out a bottle and poured the drinks, but they went ignored now that focus was on Dash. “Well, well…you’ve certainly gone up in the world, haven’t you? Passed out in this hole in the wall, Little Miss Ace Flyer? And in the Huntsman Guild too? I guess you fit right in with the jobs chasing after crying chickens, eh?”

The three shared another laugh. Dash kept frowning at them, but simply turned her head face down again.

“Hey, don’t be like that,” Hoops snickered, reaching for his own drink. “Here’s a toast to the Last Wonderbolt! Have a drink on me!”

At once, he reached over and dumped out the contents on her head. She immediately snapped up in alarm and sputtered while they laughed again.

“Oops. Guess it’s a drink on you.”

Berry frowned as she went for a towel, while Dash slowly pushed herself up the rest of the way off the counter. She didn’t even look at Hoops as she slowly wiped at her eyes and hair.

“Heh, you really are all washed up, aren’t you? I heard there was a time you’d pick a fight with anyone for even looking at you the wrong way. Now look at you.”

“So you’re not only gutless, you’re just a has-been too,” his friend joined in mocking. “Look at her. She probably couldn’t even put on a set of Steam Wings, let alone fly ‘em. Maybe they gave her that award because they felt sorry for the little sot.”

The third one laughed a bit at the jokes, then blinked and looked between the two men. “So, uh…who’s Rainbow Crash again?”

The second one rolled his eyes and glared at him. Hoops groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Dash began to ring out her hair. “Alright, listen up,” Hoops finally spoke up. “I’m only gonna explain this once.”

Smiling darkly at Dash again, he walked closer to her. She didn’t even seem to notice as she kept wringing her hair out, and as a result was off guard when he kicked out beneath her for the stool post. The chair was knocked right out underneath her, and she was knocked free and sent to the ground; smacking her chin painfully against the bar edge as she did. The pain on her face was evident as she landed on her rear end and the two laughed again.

“This dirty drunk on the floor here used to be Rainbow Crash. She was one of Cloudsdale’s Steam Wing Air Corp: the Wonderbolts. Their big time elite forces. Once upon a time, they even say she was somehow one of the best if not the best. You ask me?”

At this point, she had slowly begun to rise from the ground again, and Hoops took the moment to lash out and kick behind her leg. At once, she fell on the floor again, sprawling out this time.

“I think she just got lucky. Shouldn’t a Wonderbolt be able to see a little kick coming?”

She didn’t answer, just paused a moment before slowly pushing her way up again.

“Anyway, I’m sure you all remember the Farmland War a little while back, right guys? Fillydelphia ended up trashing Cloudsdale good. Real good. They say there’s only a couple hundred of them left in the world now. All of them civilians. That last big push, they got all of the military. Every last Wonderbolt? They gave everything they got and fought right down to the end until they dropped… All except Crash right here.”

She had pushed up by now and slowly began to rise.

“Couple days later, after all his dirty work was done, the President of Fillydelphia decides to be a magnanimous butcher and grants amnesty to all the survivors, and even goes so far as to give a special award to Crash right here and honorary citizenship. How about that, boys? Crash here…”

She was standing by now, and Hoops reached out to “pat” her in the form of a rough shove, sending her back and slamming against the wall before falling onto a side stool.

“Hey!” Berry finally interjected.

“…ran away and hid until all her comrades were feeding worms, leaving them to die to save her own skin, and then she got an award for all of it! How does that sound?”

Dash remained seated there, stunned from the shove, but kept her head bowed. However, hearing this made her jaw clench. She muttered.

“Huh?” Hoops grinned, putting a hand to his ear. “Something to say, Crash? Care to set the record straight for some adoring fans? Don’t want any tarnish on your hero record?”

“I said…” she quietly muttered, “I never ran away.”

He sneered. “Yeah right. All the rest of the Wonderbolts got massacred but you weren’t even hurt from what I hear. The whole Cloudsdale army went up in smoke but you came out smelling like a rose. If that wasn’t running off like a gutless coward, I don’t know what is. I say you’re a yellow has-been…and looking at you now I think you’re more like a never-was.”

He stepped forward, grinning and puffing out his chest, until he stood and towered over her.

“Unless you wanna get up and change my mind?”

Dash raised her head slightly, but after a moment lowered it again. She remained in the seat.

“Thought so. You are gutless. You’re not even worth the time. There’s only one thing you are good for…”

A solid sound of flesh on flesh rang out as Hoops slugged Dash across the face with enough power to knock her out of the chair and to the floor. His friends laughed again, hooting and hollering, as he beamed over her.

“Now I’m famous for knocking out the big hot-shot Wonderbolt hero, ain’t I?”

Dash wasn’t, in fact, knocked out, but she remained sprawled on the floor barely moving. Scoffing at her one last time, Hoops turned away as if she wasn’t worth his attention.

The barkeep, however, had enough. “That does it. Guild members or not, I don’t need you coming in here and attacking my customers.”

“Don’t tell me that pile of apple cider puke on the floor actually had two bits to rub together, let alone pay you,” the second chuckled. “You should thank us for taking out the trash.”

“Just pay your tab and get out of here.”

“Well, you see,” Hoops answered, smiling as he leaned forward and put his elbow on the bar, “that there’s the thing. Like I said, we’re all on business. We’re headed up northeast. Lots of money there to be made. But getting there is a bit of an issue. One of those classic ‘you gotta spend money to make money’ deals. So we had kind of a business proposition for you. How’s about you lend us some cash and we’ll give you 25 percent of the fees and bounties we get, just like you were an equal partner. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?”

“I think it sounds like you can’t pay your tab. In that case, get lost now.”

“Hey now,” the second spoke up, smiling as well and moving in closer, “don’t knock that deal. 25 percent is more than you’ll make here in a week. We’re doing you a favor, really. Won’t you reconsider?”

Berry hesitated, noticing that the tone among the men was changing. As well as the fact that all three of them were moving to the bar to face her now. She swallowed a little. “I think you three need to leave before the local magistrate stops by for his hourly visit. I’m not interested in your business proposition.”

“Well, that’s a real shame…”

At once, Hoops and the second pulled out their firearms and aimed them at her, while the third lowered his shotgun and aimed it.

“Because now that you’ve been so rude, it’s more of a business transaction.”

She swallowed, realizing they had seen right through her bluff. In that part of the country, you never went without having a firearm of your own, but hers was well under the counter and from the looks of the three men they were just itching for her to make a move toward it. Her hands slowly went up and her palms opened.

“Now how about opening the cash register?”

Swallowing, she kept her hands up as she slowly inched over to it and away from her concealed weapon. The big one of the three moved around as she did so that he was behind the bar with her, and he quickly took note of her own weapon and how far it was from her before pressing his gun into her ribs. Once at the register, she lowered her hand just long enough to punch “No Sale” and it popped open. The third man immediately dug inside and began to pull out the bills, only to frown. “Aw Hell, Hoops.”

“What’s the matter?”

He held it up to him. “This is all she’s got. There ain’t even sixty here.”

“Yeah right,” the second spoke up. “I cased this place before we walked in. She had a tip jar set out with more than that, and I don’t think there’s any banks around here she could have stuffed it in.”

Hoops wheeled back to Berry. “Alright, you heard him. Where’d you stash it?”

She hesitated nervously for a moment. “I…I don’t have any…”

She winced as a gunshot rang out, shattering one of the bottles behind her.

“These brass cartridges can get real expensive, lady. I can’t afford to take many warning shots. Where?”

Berry was shaking now. “Look…I…I don’t have much…I’m having to use everything in tips just to pay my landlord… After the last time the Nighttouched advanced traffic almost dried up…”

“Well that’s your problem, not ours.” The gun barrel moved up to her head. “This is the last time I’m asking…where is it? Or would you like to have to pay for a busted-up bar too after we have a look around?”

“Hoops…Hoops…oh yeah…”

The three men turned to the floor. Dash was still lying there, still in the same position, with only one change. Her head was to one side and she was grinning a little.

“Yeah, I remember a Hoops… Way back when I joined the Wonderbolts, there was this brown mop-top in the group. Thought he was pretty hot stuff… Talked a lot of trash about the newer recruits… Had two friends with him too. A little one who always talked big but couldn’t stay on a set of Steam Wings if he was bolted to ‘em…and a big one who was too dumb to know which end was up…”

Hoops’ smile faded, as did that of his companions. The second, in particular, began to frown while the third seemed to be too dense to realize what the comment was about. “And here I thought you had enough…”

Dash turned her head up and opened her eyes, still grinning as she started to push up slowly. She seemed considerably more sober than she had a little while ago. “Now how I remember all that going down is, sure enough, the big one took off and landed right on his thick head while the little one got ten feet in the air before he tossed his lunch. And as for Hoops? Well, he thought he was pretty tough stuff, and I imagine he was back in whatever corner of Fillydelphia he came from…which meant he must have felt pretty bad when he came in dead last in every evaluation.”

Now Hoops was frowning as well. He forgot about Berry and turned fully to her. “If you don’t want another trip to the floor, you washout, you better keep quiet.”

“You know,” she went on as she got her feet tucked underneath her, “I heard he and his buds ended up joining the infantry instead. After all, they weren’t bad. Even the big one could act as a meat shield if nothing else. And the little one was so loud he’d draw fire real easy. Yet something just doesn’t seem to add up about that… You see, it’s just like you said. During the Farmland War, the whole military got wiped out. All of them. Anyone in a uniform and holding a rifle. But somehow, you three are here.”

Hoops began to bristle as Dash finished slowly pushing herself up, wavering a little, but still grinning.

“So the way I figure it, the only way there’s three fine young men from Fillydelphia still standing in front of me is that you three had to have deserted. Dropped your guns, lost your uniforms, and then ran off with your tails right between your legs. And since the line was already unbreakable a good month before the hammer fell, that meant you have to have deserted before things got out of hand. And between your duds and your guns, I'm guessing the only kind of jobs you can get at the guild are ones where you escort some dumb banker or businessman across the country to safety, and you wait until you got them in the middle of nowhere before you take 'em for every cent they have while never coming within 20 miles of a Nighttouched. It’d explain why you look so clean.”

She smirked and chuckled.

“That’s funny…you called me ‘gutless’.”

By now, even the third one had picked up on the insinuation, and all three were beginning to look angry although only Hoops had turned fully to her. He was now glaring. Before he only had fun at her expense; now he was clearly irritated.

“Well, you got one thing in common with the ol’ Rainbow Crash… She never knew when to keep her big mouth shut either.”

“And you got one big thing in common with the Hoops I remember. At the end of the day, the only thing he ever really was good at was pushing other people around. Guess you just stuck with what you were best at, eh?”

He cracked a sneer across his lips. “Alright, that did it. I was willing to let you go with just smashing your face in,” He began to raise his weapon to her. “But if you’re gonna-”

He got no farther.

At once, Dash’s remaining inebriation and sluggishness vanished. In an instant, all of the muscles in her body tightened like steel cords. Her foot lashed out while Hoops was still talking, hooked upward, and kicked the gun right up and out of his hands. As the firearm sailed into the air, his face tightened from the pain of his finger being wrenched out of the trigger lock, but he soon had far worse when Dash finished extending her foot only to bring out the heel and swing it down; nailing him right in the carpels and breaking the first two. Crying out now, he yanked his hand back just as his gun descended again; at which point Dash nimbly cocked her leg back and thrust it forward. It was knocked right out of the air, turned into a projectile, and sent flying into Hoops’ forehead butt-first. His head snapped up as he staggered backward.

The second caught this and took his gun off of the barkeep to wheel it on her, but he was far too slow. The woman moved like a blur as she seemed to simply vault across the bar area. His eyes widened before she brought her knee up and smashed him in the throat. She was still throwing herself at him in the process, causing him to not only gag in pain but shove him backward. He idly dropped his gun and seized his neck with his free hand as he staggered, and Dash used the moment to plant her feet, seize his extended gun arm, twist it up, and then drive a fist into the pressure point under his arm. Half of his body went flaccid from the pain, leaving him helpless as she twisted around and smashed her opposite elbow into his face. The rest of him went limp after that, letting her easily wrap an arm around him, hoist him up, and drive him head first into the floor. It wasn’t enough to break anything, but the impact left him down for the count.

The third one finally reacted here; snapping his shotgun around and aiming it right at Dash before squeezing the trigger. However, she was already on the move twisting to one side by the time the shot was fired. From that distance, a couple of shells from a shotgun should have had the same result either way, but, almost impossibly, she was still able to dodge to one side to evade it. Immediately she went in, taking advantage of how the recoil of that gun would stun even a man of that size and leapt into the air. Her leg came forward and, in a rapid blur, lashed out and slammed his head one way and the other.

That wasn’t enough to stop someone that big, but it did hurt him enough to anger him into dropping his gun and lunging at Dash himself. One of his arms swung out for her head but she simply ducked under it before delivering two rapid punches into his gut, both aimed for the pressure point, before following it up with a bone-jarring uppercut. Somehow, in spite of the blows both staggering him and leaving him in pain, he let out a grunt before he managed to surge toward her and swing again. This time she sidestepped and brought her knee up and into his stomach while reaching over and seizing him by his shoulders. Not only did she drive a blow into him but she flung him forward, narrowly making him skid by the tables before dumping him face first into the floor. Cracking her neck a little, she advanced up to his upper body at a more casual pace just as he began to raise his dazed head. A quick iron palm to the back of his skull that sent it colliding with the tile again was enough to drop him as well.

She rose and turned around just as Hoops, bruised and advancing on her in rage, drew one of his knives with his good hand and slashed for her head. One of her arms snapped up like a bar of steel and intercepted him at the wrist, and the moment she stopped him she seized him by the palm with the other hand and quickly twisted. He cried out as his hand snapped open and dropped the knife, and she proceeded to reach up with her original blocking arm, seize his trigger finger and middle finger, and twist again. Two more cracks went out as they bent the wrong way, but he hardly had time to scream before Dash bent that arm behind his back and seized him by the back of the head. She twisted him over and curled up her leg at the same time, essentially throwing him head first into her own foot. Half-throwing him back up onto his feet, she let him stand there dazed only a moment before making her hands into cups, swinging them around, and boxing him on the sides of his head with so much force his eyes nearly rolled back in his head.

Dazed, in pain, and beaten, he began to fall to the floor. He only got halfway before Dash reached out and seized him by the collar.

“By the way, only one person in the world gets to call me ‘Rainbow Crash’.”

She punctuated that by driving her head into his skull, instantly causing him to go limp. She let him collapse a moment later. Two teeth toppled out of his hung-open mouth on landing.

“What do you know? Now the Tooth Fairy will spot you for your trip,” she chuckled. That done, she immediately began to look lethargic again. She took a deep breath as she held her arms over her head in a stretch, lacing her fingers together and cracking her knuckles. “Man, now I really wish I had some cider…” She turned to Berry soon after. “Sorry about the bullet holes. At least I kept from smashing them into any tables or chairs though, eh?”

She was honestly dumbfounded at what Rainbow Dash had just shown off. “Oh…uh…um…yeah.” She hesitated momentarily before she finally calmed enough to nod to her. “Th…thank you.”

“Heh, no problem. But I’d keep your gun on them until I get the magistrate. Not sure how long that thick-headed one will stay down, although Hoops here won’t be using his guns again for another couple months.”

Snapping out of it, the barkeep quickly went to the opposite end of the bar to fetch her own rifle. As soon as she had it out and began to check it, however, she spotted that Dash was already turned around and headed for the front door.

She hesitated a moment, swallowing. “Hold on.”

She turned back. Berry exhaled once before she turned around, reached up for the Cherries Jubilee Brandy case, and set it down on the counter. “If they had busted up my bar, I would have been in the hole a lot more than just the cash register and what I’ve got in here. I know guild members normally work for fees, and…well…I know you’re broke, so…” She ruefully opened the lid and pushed it forward. “And…and your tab’s clear.”

For a moment, a gleam lit up her eyes at the sight of the wads of bills. She smiled a bit more and took a half-step forward. However, she stopped there and looked to the barkeep…how she was already wincing at the thought of losing the contents of that box…how the already barely-clean bar now had fresh damage to it…how her mind was struggling to think how she was going to make the next end meet…

It made the smile on Dash’s face fade all together, but only for a moment. She smirked before she scoffed at the gesture. “Aw, come on. Like I could take money from a friend. This one was a freebie.”

The barkeep looked up in surprise. “R…Really?”

“In fact,” she smirked, “I think as soon as I’ve dunked my head under the pump out there and gotten sobered up, I’m gonna go on and head northeast myself. I’ll collect a big wad of cash and not only will I come back and settle my tab the right way, I’ll take care of your payment problems on top of it. Consider it a ‘thank you’ for spotting me all that cider.”

Now the barkeep really was stunned, nearly dropping her impromptu cash box. “Are…are you serious? I…I mean, I can’t…I don’t…”

She grinned. “Heh, I’ve been hoping for weeks to get you tongue-tied, Berry Punch. Keeps your lectures to a minimum.”

“I really…I mean…are you sure? You don’t have a cent to your name. How are you going to get there?”

She shrugged. “Same as always. I’ll improvise.”

“Well at least let me spot you a train ticket for handling these three…”

“Pft…these guys?” she snorted dismissively, turning around and resuming her walk to the door. “They were hardly worth a fee to begin with.”

As she walked along, she held up her left hand and glanced over the hexagonal symbol etched on the back of it, with one point standing out more than the other five.

“Didn’t even have to use this…”

Nightwatch: A Wondrous Beauty

In the nicer corners of Manehattan, ones that, even in the current state of the world, managed to stay somewhat insulated from the ever-present calamity and therefore continue some form of lifestyle similar to what was present before the Lunar Fall, lovely dining establishments were not uncommon. Real silverware and porcelain flatware, crystal glassware, fresh flowers, staff that dressed in ties and buttoned shirts, and a chamber orchestra playing even at lunchtime were luxuries still available to the upper echelon of the city. And among them all, the Hilltop Terrace stood apart in that it had private rooms accessible only via one of the new steam-powered elevators. Here on the upper floors, the patrons were able to see above the grimy haze of the smoggy, sooty streets below and enjoy a wonderful look about the whole of the ever-ascending Manehattan skyline in the light of day.

As lovely as the view was, however, a far more pleasant view alerted several of the guests when the door to the dining area opened. Several found themselves staring at the new arrival; more so of the male variety than the female, much to their chagrin.

The woman was tall, prim, and dazzling to behold. Her face was that of a sculptor’s angel. Her hair was as shimmering as silk. Her makeup and coiffure had been done so perfectly that not even a single strand was out of place. Even more eye-catching was her attire--the very latest, sharpest, and most elegant in stylish women’s suits, and her wide-brimmed hat was tipped just right such that only one of her lovely eyes was visible. Not just beautiful, but sophisticated and graceful.

Her manners only reinforced that as she thanked the waiter for ushering her in before passing over the threshold. She strolled with grace and poise toward a two-person table close to the main window tucking a case under one arm. While she didn’t “milk it” for all she was worth, she clearly was aware of her fashionable, eye-catching style and wasn’t afraid to let everyone get a good look.

A blond-haired man in glasses with a suit of his own was seated there. Although he caught her as soon as she walked in, he didn’t seem quite as receptive as the others. Nevertheless, he rose from his chair as she neared. As soon as she reached him, she held out her hand, which he immediately accepted.

“Miss Rarity.” He planted a kiss upon it. “You’re looking as radiant as always. I’ll suppose that’s another one of your new designs?”

“Oh, this old thing?” she laughed. “Perish the thought. It was simply the first halfway decent thing I could find in my closet before heading out. You’re looking smashing as well, Mr. Tartan Top. That shade on your coat suits your eyes just perfectly.”

He smiled slightly and nodded back. The waiter, meanwhile, pulled her chair out. She smiled appreciatively back at him as he sat. “Thank you, sir. I always tell all my friends and associates that service at the Hilltop Terrace is without peer, and you did not disappoint on this occasion either.”

“Thank you, Ms. Rarity,” he answered as he seated her. Tartan Top resumed his own seat as soon as she was down. “Now, may I start you with your usual Sauvignon Blanc?”

“Oh, today is a special occasion, garcon. I believe I will be a bit different and have a Chardonnay.”

“Very good, madam. Shall I list the ones we have available?”

“Oh no, dear. I trust your judgment implicitly.”

He smiled and nodded back. “And for the gentleman?”

“I’ll have a bottle of the specialty Viognier.”

The waiter paused. “May I remind the good sir that the specialty Viognier is 100 dollars per glass?”

“Oh, that won’t be an issue,” Rarity spoke up. “I’m covering the bill for today. We have a great deal to celebrate.”

The waiter hesitated again, but in the end nodded to both. “Very good, madam and mister.” He turned and departed.

Rarity was left to give Tartan Top a beaming smile; bringing her case on her lap and opening it up. “Now I do so hate to start off with business before we had a chance to catch up, but since today is to be something of a celebration I figured it would be best if we had something to celebrate.” The case open, she pulled out three separate sketches of detailed uniforms that had been written over pre-drawn models. “Now then, I spoke with both the Major General as well as the member of the Finance Committee on Monday and they absolutely love this design. And when I mentioned that we could make them at only 120 a uniform, they immediately said they’d authorize the order for 500,000 in two weeks!”

In spite of her ladylike demeanor, she barely contained her excitement as she drew out another slip of paper; this one a contract.

“This is the big order we’ve both been waiting for! Carousel Couture becomes the primary outfitter of the Manehattan Armed Forces, and Tartan Top Textiles becomes one of the biggest fabric companies in Manehattan! So…” She pushed the contract forward. “If you’ll just sign on the bottom like we agreed, everything will be well and we can spend the rest of this lunch passing the time drinking to our success.” She folded her hands and beamed at him expectantly.

Throughout the entire speech, Tartan Top had shown little to no change. That didn’t stop as he sat idly in his chair and looked down at the contract, not lifting a hand toward it. After a short while he looked up again. “Actually Rarity…I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

The lovely, smiling woman continued to sit there, still as a statue, for several seconds. She blinked at last. “Oh, um…pardon me, Tartan Top…I think I must have misheard you just now. I could have sworn that you just said that you decline…”

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I’ve reconsidered my options,” he calmly explained, straightening in his chair. “I recently discovered that I could be netting 60 per uniform instead of 40. An extra 50 percent is an offer that I can’t ignore.”

“Fif…fifty?” Rarity responded, her smile still present but her arched eyebrows starting to shrink. “Why, who could possibly afford…I mean, who in the world…excuse me, I mean who would be offering you such a deal?”

“Suri Polomare. I’m sure you’ve heard of Polomare’s, right?”

A twitch momentarily broke Rarity’s pleasant look. “I…may have heard the name in some of the darker corners of back alley seamstresses…”

“Well, she’s moving up in the world quite a bit, and that sort of offer was music to my ears. I’d be slapping the shareholders in the face if I snubbed it.”

Rarity’s fair smile began to fracture, alternating between her lovely countenance and a shocked look. “Well…well, ahem…Suri Polomare doesn’t have an order for 500,000 new uniforms to be paid by the Manehattan government.”

“Oh, but she will in two weeks.” He smiled a bit wider.

Rarity’s pupils turned into pinpricks. “Excuse me?”

“She’s already secured a quote with Chancellor Fancy Pants himself. 500,000 new uniforms at a price of 180 each. She initially quoted 200, but knocking off 20 per uniform made him all too happy to come on board.”

“But…but he’ll definitely sign with Carousel Couture once he hears we can save him an additional 60…”

“But you can’t give him that price without me, and I’m going with the garment company that’s giving me 60 off of each. And since that officially makes Polomare’s deal the cheapest on the market, it seems as if Tartan Top Textiles will indeed be the major fabric producer in Manehattan. We just won’t be doing it alongside Carousel Couture.”

Rarity was speechless. Her eyes stared out into space as she sat frozen with her mouth hung open. After a moment, the waiter, bearing a silver tray with a glass of wine and an empty glass with an unopened bottle arrived. As soon as it did, Tartan Top rose from his chair before he could say a word.

“Now that I think it would be improper to take any more of your good will, I will take what is mine and bid you farewell, Miss Rarity.” At once, he plucked the unopened bottle from the tray with one hand while he took up his hat with the other, placed it on his head, and tipped it to her with a smirk. “Thank you for the wine. I wish you continued success on your boutiques…especially since that appears to be all you will have to your name for the forseable future.”

Without another word, he turned and left with the bottle slipped under his arm. Rarity herself stared at his now-empty chair unmoving; her eye periodically twitching.

One hour later, Rarity’s well-groomed features and lovely countenance were quite different.

She was back in her office/workshop on the upper floors of Carousel Couture. Not wanting to risk her work space being disturbed, cluttered, or stained, she was in the stylish meeting lounge that preceded it, half curled up on the couch. Her afternoon tea had been ignored on the table, which was just as well considering how many tears sullied with her mascara she had put into it, although she had grabbed the “biscuits” from the tray and periodically paused in her airy sobs long enough to stuff one in her face. The doors were shut, the windows drawn, her face and hair were disheveled, and she was in the perfect spot to wallow in depression and misery.

A knock rang out on the door, and a moment later it cracked open. An auburn-haired woman, looking like she took almost as much care of her appearance as Rarity did, poked her head inside. “Ms. Rarity?” she called in a light Trottingham accent. “Ms. Pommel downstairs informed me you requested your ‘Stress Tea’ this afternoon. Is everything alright?”

Not hearing any answer immediately save for more sobs and biscuit “noms”, she pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped inside. She took one look at Rarity’s mascara-stained face and went wide-eyed. “Ribbons and ruffles, Ms. Rarity! Pardon my saying so, but you look terrible! What in Greater Everfree happened?”

Rarity took a moment to sniffle and compose herself, grasping for her pocket handkerchief and giving a quite unladylike snort into it before straightening. “It…it…it’s Tartan Top, Sassy… The…the lunch meeting today went…simply awful!”

Sassy moved in to the couch nearby and sat down, smiling at her supportingly. “Oh bother, Rarity. I’m certain it wasn’t nearly so bad. Remember the time Sapphire Shores changed the order from wanting a backstitch to a topstitch when all the dresses were already assembled? You reacted the same way and we still made the order with time to spare.”

“He dropped out of the contract!”

Sassy’s jaw instantly dropped in horror. “He did what?!”

Seeing her reaction, Rarity’s lip began to quiver again.

Sassy gave a start and shook her head at once. “I mean…I-I-I’m certain it’s nothing we can’t bounce back from!” Her smile was as transparent as the strain in her voice. “Right…?”

“Maybe if we made it mandatory for ten hours of unpaid overtime and expected the workers to get by on only twelve meals a week…” Rarity dismally answered. “Otherwise there’s no way we can undercut the offer that Polomare’s is making…” Face tightening, she finally threw herself back on the couch, laying a hand over her forehead, and cried an exaggerated wail. “Oh, let’s face facts, darling! We’re doomed! Do-oo-ooomed!”

“Now, now, Ms. Rarity…” Sassy went on, even if she was trying to bolster her own sagging spirits in the same breath. “I’m certain it’s not as hopeless as it seems…”

“I know! It’s even worse! This is all my fault! I put everything into changing my parents’ last three boutiques into a national-scope outfitter, and look what it got me! Mountains of debt and 500 new employees I won’t even be able to pay thrice! I sank everything into this venture, Sassy! We’re fin-ni-ished!”

Sassy looked rather uncomfortable at the bleak outlook of affairs, but she pushed on. “Well, if there’s anyone who can get us out of this mess, it’s certainly you. You almost single-handedly not only salvaged this business after the Lunar Fall but you kept Ponyville from becoming a waystation for every vagabond and highwayman from here to Trotheim. And you did that when you didn’t have a fraction of the means and experience you had then.”

Rarity continued to recline for a moment more, sniffling and moaning, before she drew her head up at last. She let out a tired exhale. “I suppose you’re right. And it would be one thing if this was just for myself, but considering everyone else who’s invested in this business, and not just in terms of capital…” Sniffling one last time, she wiped away for her eyes. “I think I do owe them a bit more effort than just my tears. But I’m sad to say the situation is rather bleak. The most utilitarian and economic uniforms in the world mean nothing without the materials to make them.”

“Well then, our only problem is finding a new supplier, isn’t it?”

She sighed as she sat up fully. “Yes, but one problem is quite enough. The next cheapest supplier who was willing to sell to us wanted 80 per uniform—twice what Tartan Top initially offered. I’m afraid without a reputation behind us, no supplier is willing to risk a discount on Carousel Couture.”

“We’ll just have to start again. A fresh round of telegrams to every branch supplier in town. The contract is practically signed already. Certainly that makes us more appealing than before?”

Rarity didn’t look too optimistic. “We’ve been trying to square things away with suppliers for four months, Sassy. I’m not sure how much better we can do in two weeks from scratch. But…” She held her head up higher, forcing a mild smile on her own face. “We won’t know unless we try, and I’m not doing the business any favors lying around eating Chevalese pastries. Let’s head downstairs and get to work.”

About five hours later, Rarity’s initial dismal assessment of the situation was still being confirmed. She immediately commissioned telegrams to fourteen separate suppliers she had previously contacted attempting to secure a deal for the uniform contract to Manehattan. On the suggestion of her factory manager, she included information that the deal was as good as done if they could incur a materials cost of only 40 per uniform, operating on the idea that a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.

Yet the other suppliers in Manehattan were just as business-savvy as Rarity and, in many cases, far more cutthroat. They knew full well it would be far better to sink her current deal and pair with different designers for a slightly higher bid to get themselves more out of the arrangement. And in a town where textiles were so aggressive, it was far better to let an up-and-coming company sink to avoid future competition than to make a tidy profit in the short term. She had scarcely begun to look through their records for whatever additional suppliers they could contact when telegrams began to come back declining her offer. Half of them had been rejected by the time she began to send additional ones out.

Within three hours Rarity and Sassy had exhausted all of their original options. They had little choice after that but to look into smaller fabric companies that had offered solicitations. These ones were even bigger shots in the dark than before.

Rarity sighed as Ms. Pommel brought her a cup of afternoon coffee, thumbing through one sheet of a potential contact after another. “No…no…no…certainly not…no…a thousand times no…” She paused and held up one, frowning. “This one appears to be the kind of fabric we need, but they won’t go lower than 75…”

Sassy held up one. “Ms. Rarity, what about Plaid Practical? They’re offering as low as 35.”

“Yes, and it most certainly shows in their product,” she answered with a frown. “The swatch they sent us was the most threadbare and miserable excuse for a textile that I’d ever seen in my life.”

“But we are rather desperate at the moment…”

“Not desperate enough to sacrifice quality,” she answered, turning her nose up indignantly. “I’m sorry Ms. Saddles, but I won’t match our price if the uniforms we produce are made of such shoddy materials. Not only would that do irreparable damage to our own reputation, but the client would be left with a marketed all-weather uniform that would only be fit for cleaning rags.”

Two hours later, however, with still no success, Sassy at least was clearly beginning to wonder if high quality would be worth the price of them all being without means to feed themselves, and even Rarity was beginning to lose heart all over again. Her coffee had been drained and she had worked so steadily that she was now half-hunched over a cluttered table with one contact after another marked “NO SALE”. She had to blink several times at her own slips to make sure she wasn’t looking over the same ones twice.

“Is there any way we could possibly reduce our portion? If we can’t cut the cost one way…”

Rarity sighed. “No, that’s impossible. If we hadn’t expanded we might have had a chance, but we won’t be able to cover our debt payments and continue our expansion at any cheaper. A few dollars might be workable but not enough to be competitive. I’m afraid this is all but hopeless.”

“Well, it’s…” Sassy looked outside, only to frown regretfully. “…nearly sundown." A pause, before she made her voice more upbeat. "But we still have more time. We have all of…" Again, her voice dimmed. "Thirteen days…" She smiled again. "And a place like Manehattan is bound to have a surplus of supply…or…" Again, her face turned downcast. "It would have eight years ago before all of this mess happened…” A pause. “I’m afraid I’m growing inclined to agree with you, Ms. Rarity.”

“Ms. Rarity! Ms. Rarity!”

By this point, both women were so discouraged they didn’t even look up when Rarity’s assistant/apprentice designer came running back into the room, waving a letter in the air. “Ms. Pommel, I think we’re both ready to call it a day on putting in any more rejections…”

“Oh, but this isn’t a rejection! It came in the evening mail!”

Both of them looked idly up as she placed the letter in front of Rarity. Sighing a little, she adjusted her reading glasses and took up the envelope. “‘Fabrichique’? I’ve never heard of them before…” She reached for her letter opener, broke the seal, and opened it up, producing not only a letter but three different swatches of fabric. She focused on those first, blinking a little in surprise at them.

“Oh?” She took up one sample and examined it more closely. “Interesting weave… Nice choice of fibers…” She picked up another, rubbing it between her fingers. “Smooth feel, but not silky…” She grasped it with her other hand and tugged. “Just the right amount of give too…” She took up the third one and held it up to her table light. She ‘hmmed’ as she kept examining it. “Why, this is almost as good as Tartan Top’s. In fact,” she took up another swatch and held the two at once. “if they could make an intermediate between these two, I’d say it’d be just what we were looking for.”

A bit more pep in her voice now, Rarity took up the letter and began to read it over. By now, Sassy had straightened in her own chair while Ms. Pommel waited to one side. It took about a whole minute, but at last Rarity’s face lit up.

“Oh my… I don’t believe it! It’s like a miracle!”

“Well buttons and bobbins, Ms. Rarity! Don’t keep us in suspense! What does it say?”

She held up the letter. “It’s a new fabric company soliciting designers! And they’re offering us a generous starting price! At this, we could make each uniform at a cost to them of only…” She quickly looked back, ran over the numbers, and did some calculations in her head. “…42 dollars each!”

Now Sassy lit up. “Why, that’s wonderful! An extra two dollars would make us have to scale back a little and tighten our belts a bit more, but compared to having no contract at all it’s a small price to pay!”

“Yes, that’s what I thought!” Ms. Pommel chimed in. “Um, except for one small thing…”

“Oh, that’s no bother at all, Sassy,” Rarity waved off. “We only need this deal to break Carousel Courture into the Manehattan garment industry. The plan was always to have this be our first big sale. With our feet in the door here, we can contract with Fillydelphia next and then attract enough investors to start putting out domestic lines.”

“Of course,” Ms. Pommel tried to speak up again. “But I’m afraid…”

"I only hope we can attract enough on this first deal to make a big enough 'splash'..."

“Don’t you worry about a thing about that end, Ms. Rarity," Sassy reassured. "As soon as we have this deal signed I’ll make sure every fashion periodical and advertiser in this entire town knows about it! I’ll go door to door like a salesman if I have to!”

Rarity smiled back appreciatively, and looked again at the letter. “This is simply wonderful! This little miracle may have saved the entire business! Ms. Pommel, let’s get a wire out to Fabrichique to send their representative at once to Manehattan so we can have a new contract signed immediately, and then I’m taking out all three of us to dinner! It will make up for that abysmal lunch! Although…after that abysmal lunch, I’m hoping you won’t mind if we eat some place that’s a little less than five-star. Perhaps a three or two even…”

“Ms. Rarity!”

Both Rarity and Sassy snapped up as Ms. Pommel finally shouted loud enough to command attention. That done, she exhaled once before looking regreftul. “I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but before you think of closing the deal, perhaps you should look at the address on that envelope more closely.”

She blinked once before looking back down at the table, finding the envelope, and bringing it up in front of her again. She read for a moment before her eyes widened a little. “Oh my… Ap…Appleloosa?”

“Not just Appleloosa, I’m afraid. The Macintosh Hills part of Appleloosa. Not only is that out in the country, it’s very near…” She swallowed at the thought. “…the Equestria border.”

Sassy cupped a hand to her mouth. “Oh dear… Rarity, have you been reading the papers?”

She looked uneasy. “I’ll admit I have been a bit preoccupied the past few days…”

“The latest word is they believe the Nighttouched may be making another move soon. Everyone’s in a tizzy. Fillydelphia, Griffonstone, Mount Eris, and Appleloosa are all bracing themselves either for a surge of those monsters or one of the other countries to react. Or worse…that Trottingham or the Dragonlands will try to use the opportunity again.”

“By now they have to have already commandeered all of the telegraph lines for emergencies…assuming that the Macintosh Hills even had one… And since their company is so new, they don’t have a representative outside of Appleloosa yet,” Ms. Pommel sighed. “That letter was postmarked a month ago. It’d take at least that long to send a response, and probably a lot longer with what’s going on. We only have fourteen days.”

Rarity began to look dismayed all over again. She bowed her head and silently thought about this for a few moments. Sassy sighed as she slumped in her own seat. “Oh, linens and lace… This was our ray of sunlight in the clouds and now it’s gone dark again. Now I really do wish Manehattan would have tried to build airships of their own…”

Suddenly, the young woman looked up again. “I…don’t suppose the rail lines would still be open, would they?”

Both Sassy and Ms. Pommel looked up so fast one would think they had sat on a tack. Rarity herself looked a little nervous at her own suggestion, but looked them both in the eye.

“Excuse me, Ms. Rarity?”

“Would they?”

Ms. Pommel stammered a moment. “I…I suppose they would be, because they need to allow evacuation, but-”

“And it’s my understanding that there is an express line that runs from Manehattan to Appleloosa, is there not?”

The jaws of the other two women dropped. “Ms. Rarity,” Sassy began to speak, “you…you can’t possibly…”

“I…I don’t see why not, Ms. Rarity, b-b-but…”

“So, in theory,” she drew herself up, taking in a deep breath, “a representative of our company could take a rail to Appleloosa, walk into Fabrichique in person, negotiate the deal, get the contract sighed, and come back with a signature on a piece of paper guaranteeing that we can get materials for that price and thereby allow our own government contract to be valid, and present it for signature on the desk of the Military Budgeting committee within the two week deadline, correct?”

“No, Ms. Rarity!” Ms. Pommel nearly cried. “You can’t do that!”

“I agree with Ms. Pommel wholeheartedly! That would be an act of madness!” Sassy concurred. “Besides, the Macintosh Hills are so close to the border there’s a good chance they would get hit by another surge forward, whether it be those monsters from Equestria or armies from Trottingham! Even if they didn’t, those rail lines they’ll be using to get us the material might end up commandeered or worse!”

“None of that matters!” Rarity insisted. “All we need is a slip of paper with a signature on it that guarantees we can get that price and our own contract to the Manehattan government is valid! We can claim production delays or wartime expenditures later if need be, but the bottom line is they’ll have already signed the binding contract, we’ll already have our capital, and we’ll be past this giant hurdle and dealing with much smaller and more manageable ones!”

Ms. Pommel wrung her hands nervously. “But taking a trip out there is…is suicide! If you’re caught out on that train line when…I-I mean if the Nighttouched break through, you’ll be stranded out in the country with no escape! And that’s not accounting for all the criminals, bounty hunters, looters, and robbers that will be clogging the train lines looking for marks from refugees!”

“Ms. Rarity,” Sassy said more quietly yet insistently, “no one here says you have to do this. We all know you for being a generous spirit, but there comes a point when some sacrifices are just too much to make. It won’t do Carousel Couture or Ponyville any good to lose both you and the contract if the worst should happen.”

She hesitated on hearing these responses. Her eyes drifted to the ground and she bit her lower lip, wavering for a few moments. Finally, however, she closed her eyes, tightened up, and lifted her head again. “As you pointed out before, Ms. Saddles, there is more at stake here than myself or even the employees of this company. After what happened last year, this business is now the only thing I have left and it’s the only thing still stable in this world a lot of others have left. Because of that, I simply cannot stand to one side and pretend I don’t see this last opportunity in front of me.”

She lifted her nose into the air again. “I’m sorry, ladies, but my mind is made up. Ms. Pommel, if you would be so kind as to leave a bit early today for the Manehattan Station to purchase a ticket for the next train to Appleloosa. I will be down myself as soon as I have finished packing a few things and I wish to depart at once. Ms. Saddles, I believe I can count on my manager to keep things running smoothly while I’m gone?”

The two hesitated, neither liking this, but also unable to argue. They both slumped a little in the end. Ms. Pommel finally nodded. “Of course, Ms. Rarity… I’ll leave right away,” she answered quietly before turning to leave.

“Certainly, Ms. Rarity,” Sassy answered even more quietly.

“Thank you both, darlings. Now…I need to head off as well. It will take me a good twenty minutes just to pick out an outfit perfect for making a business deal on the first day of meeting face-to-face…”

She rose from her own seat at her assistant/apprentice designer cleared the threshold of the room. However, she barely began to step out when Sassy spoke up again. “Shall I let everyone know the news tomorrow?”

Rarity gave a panicked start. “Oh, merciful heavens, no. I wouldn’t want to ruin morale when there’s no cause to. Just…” She paused to breathe. “Tell them I’m on a business trip looking for a better supplier for the uniform textiles. That’s technically the truth…”

Her manager looked uneasy. “Are you certain that you don’t want the employees to know because they might also try and talk you out of it? I can’t keep this company afloat without you, Rarity. None of us can.”

She laughed airily, although it sounded a tad forced. “Oh, Sassy…you and Coco are just being pessimistic. Thousands…or…at least hundreds…of individuals make this sort of trip all the time and don’t run into any trouble. A quick trip to Appleloosa, a few hours for a signature, and then a quick trip back. I shouldn’t even need a whole week, let alone two. I’ll be back before you know it. After all,”

She calmly shrugged.

“What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?”

Nightwatch: The Miraculous Healer

“Tweet tweet! Tweet tweet!”

With the dark confines of the cellar, a woman with long, pink hair slowly opened her eyes. They focused only a moment as her awareness came back, before the pupils shrank. A cold shiver ran down her spine.

Morning had come again.

Sunlight was streaming through the cracks of the floorboards over her head, just enough to make out the bottom of the cellar. What was once nothing but dug earth and floorboards had been set up with crude bits of furniture and hastily-made wooden shelves, which in turn were filled with items of bedding, litter, fluff, and other nesting materials. No less than thirty separate animals were crowded into that dark space. Many of them were small—rodents and birds. A pair of foxes was in one corner. A trio of raccoons was in another. Most conspicuous was an adult bear actually taking up the side nearest a wooden staircase that he could hardly climb without breaking. On the other side, on an old mattress covered up with down pillows, blankets, and a curled-up white rabbit, lay the woman.

She had woken up as soon as the lark in the cellar had begun to sing. Now she lay there trembling. Like a frightened child, she pulled the covers over her mouth and nose. The other animals began to rise but they all stayed exactly where they were. Not one dared move. Slowly, she looked from one corner of the room to another. All was still. All was silent. Not the slightest speck of light—natural or otherwise.

After some time, the covers were slowly pulled away. She slowly and silently extruded herself from beneath them and slid herself onto the floor. She reached her hand out for a thin chain dangling from the ceiling to the floor and grasped the end. After hesitating long enough to swallow a lump in her throat, she pulled.

On the floor above her, the chain grew taut around an old metal cylinder fashioned into a hood. It drew upward, allowing a lit candle underneath it to be exposed. Ever since moving into the cellar, she always waited for the sun to rise and for silence before emerging from it every day. She realized two months after she started that this was insufficient. Something could have broken in and taken refuge in the shadowy areas of the upstairs, as something had on that particular day, and when she emerged it promptly killed two chickens and a box turtle she had taken in. The candle she had exposed served to “draw them out” if they were taking shelter in the dark places above her. Even if hiding from daylight, they seemed to always hate unnatural light enough to try and snuff it.

She waited patiently. One minute passed. Two minutes passed. On the third minute, she finally relaxed. Letting out a shaky exhale, she eased her arm and lowered the hood again. She rose to her feet, no longer trying to be quiet. The other animals followed suit and began to get up from their respective positions. That included the rabbit she had left on her pillow. As for her, she moved to the wooden staircase and ascended it a few steps, so that her head touched the floor of the room overhead. She placed her hand on it and paused again.

Fears ran through her heart. After all, even with her precautions, there could always be a way something got missed. Taking in one deep breath, she pushed it open.

Nothing but rays of sunlight from her windows and her empty house greeted her.

She smiled in full relief, relaxing completely at last, and moved to one side. Moments later, the birds flapped out and the rest of the animals rapidly climbed the stairs to join them in the main room.

The “house” the woman lived it had been abandoned along with the land on it well before the Lunar Fall. The terrain surrounding most of the area was rocky with poor soil and not suitable for any sort of development and all claims to it either relaxed or abandoned. After the Lunar Fall, Mount Eris declared the strip of land she resided on “No Man’s Land” for miles in both directions as a buffer zone to Equestria. There was no one left to molest her for squatting.

The structure's roof had fallen in and the stones that made up the walls had begun to bulge outward as it sagged. It was overgrown with a mixture of moss, vines, and one old tree pressing into it as it grew. It was hard to even make out the house from the surrounding country from a distance. Repairs had been done in the form of rags or mud to patch as many holes as possible, setting up old discarded iron rods or bits of timber to prop walls, and nailing strips of wood over the roof holes.

Inside the house was a bit different. It had been made into something of a home, using discarded and secondhand furnishings, old yet suitable rugs and drapes, and collections of reclaimed flatware and cooking apparel around a tiny, wood-burning, iron stove—the biggest the owner had been able to bring in and put in the house under her own power. Nevertheless, it was just one giant room, and to account for all residents it too had many places for birds and mammals to recline, perch, or eat. There were more places for animals inside than there was for its sole resident.

The woman herself was moving around in it now. She was changed from her simply one-piece nightgown to her day clothes. She had no shoes but had dressed herself in a simple dress made from basic fabric she had scavenged and hand-stitched, and she had taken time to brush her long hair until the tips curled. With the sun out and the various creatures roosting, fluttering, or running about her, she was in a far better mood. She smiled pleasantly and sang to herself as she worked.

She eventually came up to an empty feed bowl. A piglet with a tiny purple splotch about the size of a pencil eraser head on her shoulder blade stood in front of it, looking up at her and grunting.

“Sorry, Olivia, but you already had your breakfast,” she smiled back. “You’ll just have to wait until lunch.”

The piglet grunted again, lowering her head and looking almost unhappy, as the woman moved on to a crude shelf nearby where numerous smaller creatures were dwelling. She leaned in closer to it. “Hello, little friends! It’s tidy time! Everyone together!”

As one, the creatures on the shelf looked up to her, before each one turned about and began to work in their nesting space. A squirrel with a little dark blemish behind one ear quickly picked up rinds of walnuts and other shells and placed them over the edge of the shelf, letting them fall to the floor. The woman immediately swept them up. “Thank you, Nutmeg!”

A pair of mice, each sporting a small discoloration on a different spot on their body, quickly worked in tandem; one of them picking up their newborn children one by one while the other rooted in the litter underneath for bits of old seed husks and dirty straw and placed them over the edge. She quickly swept this up as well. “Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Pawsworth!”

On the next spot, a chickadee whose wingtip was darkly discolored quickly flitted about the air, nimbly sweeping over her nest to pick out bad materials and place them in a neat pile on the floor, finished up just as the woman arrived. The songbird landed on her nest and sung proudly; causing the woman to smile more as she cleaned. “Thank you, Carolina! You’re always so neat!”

She continued to make the rounds until each occupied space was cleaned up. Once she had all the dirt and refuse swept, she took up an old metal lid she used for a dustpan to gather it together and began to move over to an iron drum that served as a garbage can.

She reached for the lid only to freeze where she stood. A pair of snakes, both the venomous variety, were coiled up on the lid. As soon as her hand neared them, both reared up and hissed at her.

She didn’t look scared though. Instead her face flushed red in embarrassment. “Oh my…I’m so sorry, Sylvester… Sylvia… I wanted to get started on cleaning so soon I forgot all about you two.” Putting the dustpan to one side, she reached nearby for one of the floorboards. One in particular had an old knothole that had come loose but had been plugged again with a large piece of cork. With some effort, she grasped it and pulled it free, and as soon as it was both snakes calmed down and quickly slithered off the bin and into the hole one after the other; showing off a dark spot on either one's scales as they did. The woman would not allow either snake to eat any of the other “residents” of the house, so instead that served as a route under the home to the stream where they could move south and eat their fill of wild rats and voles.

No sooner had she finished letting them out when the back door to the house creaked. She turned to see the white rabbit that had slept with her rushing in. As soon as it reached her, it came to a stop and reared up; only then exposing a purple splotch on its own inner thigh. It let out a series of squeaking noises.

“Oh, the chickens are getting impatient? I’m sorry, Angel. I got carried away this morning. How many eggs today?”

He raised one leg and thumped it against the ground six times.

“That many? I’ll make sure to get them before I head out today. We’re out of corn and I think I can still get a few carrots.”

The rabbit curled on himself at that and let out another cry.

“Tomatoes?" She looked a little uncertain. "I don’t know… It’s a bit early in the year, and the patch is so far away…”

The rabbit cried again, louder.

“But I was going to go with Barry to look for huckleberries today.”

He cried yet again, almost sounding like a whine, and stamped his feet. The woman winced uncomfortably, but after holding out a bit she broke.

“Well…I guess I could take a look… Just so long as we leave soon…”

This seemed to satisfy the rabbit, as he calmed soon after and looked up hopefully. The woman herself quickly dumped the dustpan and set both it and the broom against the wall. “Just let me grab my basket… Now where did I leave it?”

A loud bird squeal went off in response. She looked and spotted a jay perched on the chair to her “dining room table” (nothing more than a small table with one chair) pointing to another shelf. It was lined with dried foodstuffs, not just for human consumption but animal as well. The basket was set idly on on the second rack from the bottom over a few sacks. The piglet was rooting around one that was empty.

“I’m sorry, Olivia, but we’re fresh out of truffles. We can go hunting for more tomorrow.”

The piglet snorted unhappily as she pulled herself out.

The grounds around the home weren’t much better farther away than when they were up close. There were a few grazing animals living there that kept the immediate grass on the property trim, but other than that there was little but an open, uneven field spreading out between rocky hills leading to the mountains on either side. Aside from the stream that ran from south to north, past her property and into the woods beyond, there was nothing more than an old path wide enough for wagon traffic running in the same direction.

On exiting the house, the woman did what she normally did most days: tried her best to ignore anything to the north of her property. She tried to avoid even catching it in her peripheral vision. Her focus was on a small outgrowth building adjacent to the slumping structure she lived in. At one point, it had been a wood bin, but she had converted it into a chicken hutch. Most of the time the chickens slept in the cellar with everyone else, in spite of the smell, but during the daylight hours they roosted in there. She now had her basket and was reaching into each nesting box, pulling out the fresh eggs one after another.

Most of the other animals were out and running around now. The sun was fully up and none of them feared the long shadows any longer. The area about the slumped house was filled with the sounds of foraging and birds singing. It was a cheerful spot in the No Man’s Land, because for miles in all other directions the land was silent. The animals that had resided there had long since left--willingly or unwillingly.

As she pulled out her sixth and final egg, she rose and turned to go inside. However, she halted whens he caught sight of one of the adult raccoons running up to her as fast as it could. As soon as he saw he had her attention, he reared up on his hind legs chittering furiously.

“Hmm? What is it, Smoky?”

The raccoon chittered louder, gesturing about with his small hands.

“Something’s wrong with Smoky Jr.? What is it?”

He balled his hands into fists and opened them wide in an “erupting” gesture.

The basket of eggs fell out of the woman's grip as she gasped. On landing four of them were smashed, but she didn't care. Her eyes had shrunk into pinpricks. “Oh no! Hurry! Show me where he is!”

The raccoon spun around and took off. She quickly followed behind. Fortunately, they didn’t have to go far. Simply running around to the front of the house was enough.

Several of the animals were already gathered around, whimpering and whining. That included another adult raccoon standing near a juvenile currently curled into the fetal position and spasming as if sick or in pain. The woman ran toward him as soon as she caught sight of him, and she let out another frightened gasp as she got close. A good portion of his back had been “stained” a dark blue, causing the fur to grow wild and scraggly compared to the rest of him. Worse yet was that it seemed to be spreading out before her very eyes, slowly crawling along the rest of his body and staining more of it.

She didn’t waste a moment. She learned the hard way with Mrs. Beaverteeth a year ago there was no time to waste on words. Once it “flared up”, you could have anywhere from fifteen minutes to fifteen seconds before the animal was past the point of no return. Soon she was on her knees at Smoky Jr.’s side.

His face was stretched and his teeth bared. It was no longer a sign purely of pain but of loss of sentience. She swallowed as she reached down for his head.

She cried out and pulled back a moment later as Smoky Jr. instinctively snapped at her hands. She cringed a moment, trembling not only in fear of what was happening but the danger to her that was rapidly increasing. Yet she clutched her cold, sweaty palms for a moment before reaching down again; faster this time. Before he could snap again, she placed her hands around his head and held firm.

“Look at me, Smoky.”

Smoky Jr. didn’t react beyond his fit throwing. Yet the woman pulled his head up so that that juvenile raccoon was looking her straight in the eye.

“Look at me.”

The raccoon fought a little, but his eyes cracked open and caught hers. The moment they did, they locked into them. She saw traces of a yellow light far back in the pupils, and her focus locked onto those.

In moments, the raccoon’s body began to relax. He stopped stiffening and resisting and eased into her hands. When he did, her own grip became gentler. She began to move her fingers slowly and comfortingly, gently petting the sides of his head as she continued to stare. She ignored her surroundings. She thought nothing of the rest of the raccoon’s family, the surrounding animals, the eggs, or anything else. Everything vanished into black about her except the young raccoon’s eyes. Her own body began to go flaccid, even numb, as she stared deep and long into them.

She saw only the yellow light. Knew only the yellow light. And as she stared on at it, she felt herself imagining a candle wick being quenched. One of the bits of yellow went out at that, but the rest remained. Yet her mind kept imagining wicks going out, and soon another bit went out. And another after that. In a few moments, all had disappeared.

The woman let in a gasp as dizziness came over her, and all truly did fade to black for a moment as her senses left her completely. It lasted only a few seconds, however, and soon reality fully returned. Her vision became a light blur again before focusing sharp enough to see the house and the animals around her, and she could once again feel sunshine and hear birds singing. Her hands had released Smoky Jr. unwillingly and she herself had almost collapsed to the ground, but her senses had come back in time to push back her lingering dizziness and straighten up.

The young raccoon was standing on the ground, looking quite normal and shaking himself off, before his mother and father came up and happily nuzzled him. Best of all, to her relief, the large patch of dark fur on his back had receded to only a small dot once again.

She smiled a bit weakly at the whole thing, in spite of how she felt. The other animals began to cry and chitter happily about her. None of them realized that her smile was forced. She had again driven back a flare up, but again the spot remained. Just like it did on all of them. She couldn’t even look at the other animals without having her eyes zoom to that spot on them some days. And there they would remain for days, weeks, months…two years was her personal record she had seen…before something like this would happen again.

And next time she might not be fast enough.

After a while, she finally got enough strength to rise to her feet again. There were more chores to do.

There had been a number of farms as well as townships before the area became No Man’s Land. The fallow fields served most of the woman’s needs as well as those of the animals. When the sun was high and there was plenty of daylight left, she did what she did most days and traveled to them. After seven years, most of them were highly overgrown and no longer productive, but they stayed fresher and viable longer than most. After all, there weren’t any pests around to eat from them.

Up and down through old fields of wheat and rows of corn she went; looking over one old ear or stalk after another and stripping it of kernels or seeds if necessary. She wore a large bushel backpack specifically for that, as grains made up the bulk of both her diet as well as that of all of her friends. After the hour it took to even walk to the field, she devoted three to filling it up. That done, she spent the next hour going for other vegetables. This was a more random bet. She didn’t know where all the fields in the area were yet, but often when she toured a new field she found nothing but a ruined, blighted crop. Every so often, however, she found one that was still viable. The carrot patch she had been tending for months was one, although at this point she had to pull three bad carrots to get a good one. She nearly headed back afterward before she remembered Angel’s insistence that morning, and devoted another hour to traveling to the tomato patch she had picked out and back.

By the time she saw her home again, the sun was still up and would be for hours yet, so she didn’t mind that her trip had taken longer. As soon as her feet touched the wide path alongside her house, she started thinking about how she needed to get lunch out before she could do a good cleaning of the dishes, and still wanted to gather some huckleberries before she needed to worry about dinner and setting things up for another night.

She was still thinking about it when she reached the house and began to put down her bushel and vegetables when she heard a tell-tale thumping along the path. Soon after, she saw Angel come around the corner and quickly rush up to her. Seeing his speed, she blanched. She remembered how fast Smoky had come running to her earlier and began to fear a similar event was taking place. If it had started sometime after she left it might already be too late…

“Angel? What’s wrong?”

The rabbit stopped and began to furiously stamp around and squeak at the same time.

“What?”

He even more insistently made the same gestures.

“Please, slow down! I can’t understand you when you’re talking so fast!”

The rabbit paused to take a breath before squeaking more slowly.

She blinked. “Olivia? What about her?”

He squeaked a bit more, and the woman looked shocked.

“What? By herself? But she knows better than that! There aren’t even any truffles around here to sniff out! Where would she go looking for them?”

The rabbit gestured again, this time up the path.

“Wh…what?!”

As scared as the woman had been earlier with Smoky Jr., now she went white as a sheet. About the only thing worse the piglet could have done aside from walking right up to a Light Eater was what Angel had just said.

The woman began to tremble as her eyes drifted up past Angel to the path. The forest that it vanished to north of her house led right toward the very reason this land was now abandoned. It sat on the borders of Equestria. Even now, no matter what time of year or day, she saw the darkness that hung over it. Not very far away at all, in eyesight in fact, the path went straight into the woods. And she knew from experience that one didn’t need to go inside more than twenty feet before it started getting darker. That had been purely by accident once, and ever since she had sternly warned all of the animals to never go anywhere near it. In that place, no birds ever sang, no bees ever buzzed, and the only life was the Nighttouched.

Olivia, however, was young and tended to think with her stomach. She may very well have been walking along the forest edge and caught the whiff of a truffle...

She stood there paralyzed for several seconds. Fear seized her heart. It took all of her courage even to make it through each night living out here. She wouldn’t have walked a hundred feet inside that forest for all the money in Greater Equestria.

This wasn’t about just her, though. It was about Olivia.

She had to take not one, not two, but three deep breaths before she finally felt stable enough to command her body to straighten. She continued to shake uncontrollably as she looked back down at the rabbit. “Angel, stay here and keep an eye on everyone else.”

The rabbit, as much as was possible for a creature like it, looked surprised at her saying that, but she didn’t give a chance for her resolve to waver. Commanding her legs to move, she began to walk down the path toward the forest. Angel squeaked back loudly, but she didn’t answer. Someone had to go in after Olivia and it might as well have been her. She heard his protests stop eventually as she kept walking, and she took yet another deep breath as she forced her feet onward.

She didn’t get much farther from the house and closer to the woods before she began to feel more nervous. The woods' edge was thick with undergrowth, and combined with the dark shadow looming over it night and day, she shook harder the nearer she grew. What started off as a forced walk was now a much slower stroll that was quickly turning into a creep. It grew quieter the closer she came. She wasn’t able to hear the slightest sound from her homestead or the others. The silence of the forest ahead seemed to swallow it up before she even stepped inside.

She came to the “threshold” of the forest entrance and paused. She saw the path stretch a short ways where the daylight still came through the canopy, but after that it began to look dimmer before the path turned. It was like staring into a basement or old building rather than a forest; the way the shadows encroached within. While in the light, the Nighttouched would remain hidden, but not far inside they could move freely. Especially with all of the shadows of trees to move around in.

Teeth chattering a little, she slowly opened her mouth. “O…Olivia?”

Her voice was practically a whisper. If Olivia had been right next to her she would have barely heard it.

“Olivia?” she called again; somewhat louder.

Still nothing.

“Olivia!”

That last one managed to have some volume, but it was no use. The forest was dead silent. She swallowed again; realizing there was only one option left. Cupping her hands to her chest to try and quell its fierce beating, she commanded her body to move. A moment after she slowly began to walk into the woods.

Even in the light portions, she was scared. It was too quiet and still. Everything seemed stuck in time. Yet the light portions quickly dimmed. Just as she remembered, she didn’t have to go far before the light around her seemed to fade. It was like the sun itself was an oil lamp that was slowly being turned lower. Even though the path was nothing but packed dirt, she could hear each one of her footsteps and each panicked gasp through her lips. As the path soon made its first turn and afterward continued to twist and curl, she realized that she wouldn’t be able to see the way back behind her…which meant she would receive no comforting look of sunlight and her home until she was nearly out again.

She tried calling again, but this time she couldn’t manage more than a whisper. She didn’t want to call out in here, especially as the shadows lengthened with the closing darkness. Shadowy patches began to fill the woods around her and she knew Nighttouched could be in them. She told herself Olivia would have broken off earlier in the path, staying in the light portions. However, she corrected herself soon after that. She knew the piglet was smart enough to stay in open spaces rather than wander off the trail. Besides, she would have heard her before if that was the case.

Finally, she reached a point where the light faded so much she was having a hard time seeing. At that point, her resolve began to ebb again. She tried to open her mouth to call out one more time, but she no longer had the bravery to speak. She didn’t want anything to hear her. Realizing she was getting nowhere, she resolved to turn around and head back…

The forest was so silent she heard the oink up ahead quite distinctly.

“…Olivia?”

She cupped her hands to her own mouth. The forest was so still that even speaking it was like shouting in a closed room. Yet there was no mistaking what she had heard. That had been a pig. There was a question of whether it was Olivia or something else…but before the thought could scare her too much she pushed herself to walk again.

Now the forest truly did grow dark. The last trace of sunlight vanished overhead. Normally this would have made the area beneath the canopy completely opaque, but the blackness was so great that stars and the moon began to come out. More of them came as the darkness deepened, and in spite of the unnatural night about her she could still see. That was a good thing, because soon the trail began to grow hilly and uneven as well as winding. Combined with the darkness, it was almost impossible to see where she was going. Her foot suddenly caught on a stray root, and, once again, she gave an involuntary cry as she stumbled. She managed to get her feet underneath her before falling but she froze at her own cry, listening around her. Only when she confirmed no reaction did she move again.

She made it for a few more twists and turns before she was forced to stop again. Although she could barely see it through the canopy and the moonlight, the trail ahead of her suddenly blanked out and gave way to rougher terrain. That confused her momentarily, but as her eyes adjusted she managed to make out signs of a massive washout ahead. The big rain from three years ago must have swollen the creek into spilling forth and rubbing out the trail. She could proceed no further unless she went into the newly made ravine.

However, stopping also revealed something else. The forest was no longer silent.

She could definitely hear sounds now. It was faint but distinct. Something was moving up ahead. She wasn’t sure what, for it didn't sound like any movement she had ever heard before, but it was definitely there and, more importantly, not far from where she was.

Before her terror could make her turn back, she heard a short squeal. Her head snapped to it at once as she realized it wasn't far from where she now stood. No more than fifty feet ahead in the woods proper. The only problem was it was closer to what was moving. If she had stopped to think any longer of getting closer to that sound, the fear would have locked her up. As it was, she made her hands into fists and actually closed her eyes before charging forward for the trees.

She made far more noise now as she ran into the undergrowth; her feet crunching plants and ruffling through leaves. The sound of the movement grew louder quickly but she kept pushing. She wasn’t able to keep her eyes closed long before forcing to open them again to see around the trees in front of her and avoid collisions, but she didn't stop. As her ears began to make out individual smaller noises on the movement, she forced her eyes open wider and looked to the forest floor.

No signs of anything but darkness, but no signs of small lights either. She kept her eyes open as she continued to run. Her toes stubbed another root, and she nearly faltered again as her bare foot stepped on a sharp rock, but she still kept moving.

Finally, in the pale moonlight streaming through the canopy, she saw a splotch of whiter color. Growing nearer, she made out the shape of a piglet. Olivia was cringing and trying to hide as best as she could in the undergrowth, but as soon as the woman was close enough to hear she wheeled around and spotted her. Giving a panicked squeal, she ran up to her as quickly as she could.

As soon as she reached her, the woman dropped to her knees and the piglet jumped into her arms. She quickly hugged Olivia tightly to her chest, both out of relief as well as protection. She nearly rose again, meaning to turn and not stop running until she was out of the forest.

Instead, she straightened up only a little before she stopped again.

She choked a horrified gasp.

The washout ravine was just ahead of her. It was filled with thousands upon thousands of tiny yellow eyes—the result of thousands of Nighttouched. They had to be things like mice, lizards, and other small creatures to be so clustered together so densely. They were all going the same way; clamoring over and under each other. There were so many that it looked like a living stream of yellow lights.

The air caught in her lungs. She didn’t know whether to run, rise, or even breathe.

Suddenly she heard the trees begin to creak before her, as something struck the ground so deep and heavy it shuddered. The sound of branches breaking rang out soon after, followed by another shudder…this one closer and more forceful.

Sweating now, shaking almost uncontrollably, she looked up into the forest to see the cause.

Her words were drowned out by Olivia’s squeals.

"Oh my..."

Nightwatch: A Ray of Hope

“La-la-la-la-la!”

The pink-haired girl sang to herself happily as she bounded down the crude, unpainted, unfinished wooden stairs two at a time. She even made a little game out of it; picking a different way to hop down each set. She skipped down one, hopped with both feet down another, and tiptoed to yet another. The whole time, a cheerful, energetic smile was on her face and a glow radiated about her.

Her sunny personality was matched only by the way she chose to groom herself. Her clothing, while handmade and inexpensive, was full of bright colors and pastel hues. A sharp contrast to the gray, dull hardness of the house she was in. Even more shocking was her thick, voluminous mass of pink, curly hair that seemed to bounce up and down with her descent. It would have caught anyone’s attention from a block away if her own enthusiastic behavior didn’t first.

As soon as she hit the bottom, she merrily skipped across a dull, bare, and somewhat rotting floor for the back swinging door. She nearly broke through it at her full speed, but stopped herself at the last second and opened it carefully; minding the fact it was barely holding on by one hinge. As soon as she was out, she basked in the sun and took a deep breath, focusing entirely on the blue clear sky and not on the dismal, dead environment about her.

The “house” she had just exited was really a three-room shack on which two small rooms had been stacked on top of a third. It was meant originally only as a staging area for the stone quarry it was located smack dab in the middle of, but that had been before the Lunar Fall caused the workers there to pack up and leave. Now only the Pie Family lived there.

The matriarch of the family, an older woman with a bun in her hair and spectacles on her nose gathering dirt, was currently working up a sweat at the site’s water pump. The reservoir had nearly gone dry long ago so she was having to heave especially hard to get water to flow into the refining trough, but aside from showing a bit of discomfort from the strain she patiently kept at it. The pink-haired girl cheerfully bounded up alongside her.

“Hi mom! Where’s dad?”

“Your father is speaking with the social service official,” she answered in between slight expressions of strain. “The new moon is upon us and we have been given three new quotas to fill.”

“Okie-dokie! Tell him I headed over to the Cakes!”

The older woman closed her eyes and sighed tiredly. “Do have a care, Pinkamena.”

“You bet!” she cheered back before heading off. Her cheerful skipping soon took her past an assortment of abandoned pieces of equipment and digging sites. While the quarry seemed to have been quite active in past years, now it didn’t look much better than abandoned. The massive chasm it was in had lines for several different stone cutting and dressing sites that could have supported hundreds of laborers, but most of those had been left in favor of just one nearby the shack. And rather than a large team working it, only two gray-haired young ladies were going about the arduous task of loading up a single intact cart with finished stonework. Considering it was only two of them and that most of their equipment was old and falling apart, it took them both quite a bit of effort to move just one piece using a hand-powered crane and pulley system.

It didn’t help that the one with long hair covering one eye looked particularly shy while the other had a perpetually cross look on her face. “Pull harder, Marble! You want this slab to land on my foot?”

She meekly hummed a “uh-uh” as she pulled the rope a bit tighter, lifting up the slab enough for the other to get it over the cart. They slowly sat it down a moment later on top of another stone, and both paused to catch their breath as the pink-haired girl came up to them.

“Hey Limestone! Hey Marble! Just letting you know I’m heading over to the Cakes for the day!”

“Eh, who’s stopping you…” the cross one, Limestone, muttered, although the other one, Marble, looked more anxious just at the mention of that. “Just make sure you stay out of trouble, alright?”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!”

Limestone paused for a fraction of a second before looking up to her. “And I don’t care what mom and dad say. You don’t let anyone know you’re from here and you sure don’t let them know you’re a Gaiatian, you hear me?”

Her cheerful mood ebbed a little as she sighed; having heard this before. “Alright, Limestone…”

“I mean it! You could make trouble for the whole family!”

“Sheesh, ok… I’ll just swing by Maud real quick then I’ll be off.” She began to bounce along, but shouted over her shoulder as she went. “I’ll bring you all back cookies!”

Limestone frowned and turned back to her work while Marble winced once before doing the same. Undaunted by either reaction, she began to hum to herself cheerfully as she skipped along.

The path leading out of the quarry was fairly straightforward, making a series of turns up and out until level ground was reached. Many of the trees around the area had been cleared years ago and the main path, still looking like a main road even after eight years, went south and around a stretch of uneven, wooded country to get to town. The pink-haired girl ignored that completely, however.

Her attention was on a small work area near the foliage for more formal dressing of cut stones. Another gray-haired girl was there with a composed, if not dull, look. She slowly but methodically went about chipping away at her current stone; looking almost identical to how she looked the day before.

In spite of her virtual lack of emotion or acknowledgement, the pink-haired girl ran right up to her and waved excitedly. “Hi Maud!”

“Hello Pinkie,” she answered in monotone, continuing to work. “I got you those hazelnuts you wanted.”

She gestured to one side. Pinkie gasped in delight to see a burlap stack filled almost to bursting with hazelnuts. Moving like a flash of lightning, she snapped across the yard and was right in front of it, pressing her nose into the bag in delight. “Oooo! You got so many! Thank you, Maud! The Cakes are going to love these!” She wrapped her arms around the sack in a big hug and clutched it tightly to her. “We’re going to make this fantastic faux chocolate pie and I’ll bring you the first one out of the oven! Hey! That’s a great name! ‘Fantastic Faux’! I should call it that! Or wait! If we could put four different kinds of hazelnuts into it, we could call it a ‘Fantastic Four Faux’!”

“Pinkie.”

“And for short, we can call it the ‘FFF’! Nah…heh, that’s silly. Sounds like someone can't remember the name. Oh, oh! How about the Triple F?”

“Pinkie.”

“No wait! Maud, since you got us the ingredients, we’ll name it after you! Instead of a Mud Pie, you can pick up a Maud-”

“Pinkie.”

Maud’s very slightly higher inflection on her voice was somehow enough to make Pinkie stop in her diatribe. She turned and saw that the woman had stopped her work and was looking her in the eye.

“Pinkie, I think it would be better if you didn’t go to Sugarcube Corner.”

Her happy look deflated slightly. “Huh? Why not?”

“I have a bad feeling about today. If you still want to go, I won’t stop you, but I will tell you to be careful. You should listen to what Marble told you. And if anyone starts asking you about being a Gaiatian, you need to come home right away.”

“Aw…” she whined, “but it gets so boring here on the quarry…”

“Today it’s too dangerous. There are men from the capitol in town,” she answered as she returned to her work. “Dad was trying not to show the family he was scared when he left for the vouchers this morning, and you should be too. And remember what I told you if you run into any trouble.”

Pinkie kept frowning but unhappily nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I remember…”

“You better get going now, then. I’m sure the Cakes need the hazelnuts, and the earlier you get there the longer you can stay.”

She perked her head up. “Oh yeah! That’s right! Bye Maud!”

She turned and took off, not for the main road but rather straight for the forest. A footpath entrance poked just between a pair of trees. Day or night, most people in Greater Everfree wouldn’t be caught dead in a forest this close to Equestria anymore, but Pinkie merely cheerfully sang again as she hopped, skipped, and jumped right in.

Even with the sack over one shoulder, she didn’t have much trouble making her way along the narrow trail. She didn’t seem the least bit scared of how many shadows were in it, how rough and uneven it was, or how far away from any scrap of human civilization it was either. To her, it was merely a shortcut, and she was scared neither of the quiet parts, the dark parts, nor the silence as she cheerfully made her way along. The quarry was soon left far behind her, although it was impossible to tell before long as nothing but empty woods came around her and stretched in front. Yet as time went on and she still ran into nobody, none of it removed the cheerful spring in her step.

Seemingly out of nowhere came a break in the woods ahead, after she had gone a good two miles from the quarry. The open road lay just beyond it. Still humming to herself, she bounded right for it and though it…only to nearly run right into an older man on the road sporting a sour look, a shotgun under one arm, and a crude black hair piece over a bald spot.

He cried out in alarm at her suddenly popping out, and Pinkie herself went wide-eyed before stopping herself so abruptly it almost looked like she halted herself in midair to keep from running into him. Nevertheless, he still staggered back and fell on his rear end in shock, while she planted her feet soon after.

A moment later, she broke into a smile. “Oh, hi Cranky! Fancy running into you here! Or maybe that’s ‘fancy almost running into you here’!”

The old man frowned and grumbled a little to himself. “Hello Pinkie…” he half-muttered. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you don’t use the road like everyone else either… You best stick to it today though, if you know what’s good for ya’.”

“Oh?” she asked inquisitively, even as she reached out a hand to him. He took it and allowed her to help pull him to his feet. “What’s special about today? Is there going to be a parade? Or a circus? Or International Show Love for Your Roads Day is today and I forgot?”

“Rabid dogs,” Cranky retorted.

She looked confused. “That doesn’t sound very fun. Not many people are going to take the road for rabid dogs.”

He sighed. “Not on the road. Some folks have been seeing a big dog foaming at the mouth wandering around out here. That’d be enough trouble for the youngin’s in town, but nowadays all we need is for it to wander to the borders of Equestria, run into a Light Eater, then come back as a Nighttouched. That makes ‘em more than twice as bad. I heard there was one over in Appleloosa that damn near wrecked half a town. I’m out here trying to put it down.”

“Really?” Pause. “Wait…how will calling it names help stop it?”

Cranky frowned again, before holding up his shotgun and gesturing to it.

“Ooooooh…” she cooed in acknowledgement. “Well, good luck with that Cranky! I’ll catch you on the way back!” She began to happily bounce along again.

“Stay on the road next time!” he shouted after her.

“Hey there, Coconut Cream!”

“Hi Pinkie! What’s in the bag?”

“Oh, nothing…but maybe you ought to tell your mom there’s gonna be a whole lot more faux chocolate at the bakery today!”

“Wow, really? Alright!”

“Hi Marigold! The new orchids come in yet?”

“Not yet, but I’m going to give them another week before I uproot and try again.”

“Stop by Sugarcube Corner on Friday! We’ll have more mint pudding!”

“Oh! Thank you!”

“Hello Matilda! How’s school going?”

“Harder and harder the closer summer gets, I’m afraid. I can barely get the kids to sit still a half hour before recess. Are you going to be making any more shortbread today?”

“A fresh batch of the soft baked tomorrow! I’m making it ‘specially for your birthday!”

“You’re so thoughtful, Pinkie!”

Considering the number of greetings that she exchanged as soon as she caught sight of the first resident of town, it took Pinkie another forty minutes after she finally arrived in the city proper. It too even longer to make her way through the streets to the urban area and, shortly thereafter, to the brown, yellow, and pink pastel “frosting themed” shop of Sugarcube Corner. It stood out as a bright spot among most of the surrounding buildings, as the new paint job had been applied after the first major war four years ago had left much of the surviving districts of Braystol stained with either smoke, dirt, or gunpowder haze—leaving it the only building in the main urban area not a muted gray color. She didn’t bother with the cupcake-styled front door but walked around to the back entrance and right in.

She emerged into the small yet well-equipped baking area. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were as busy as they were most days and, as a result, had brought their twins down and set them up in their crib in the hall connecting the baking area to the shop floor. From the looks of it, the large steam-powered mixer had broken down for the third time that week, and Mr. Cake was forced to use the hand-powered mixer to make his latest batch of dough (much to his overworked chagrin). Mrs. Cake, on the other hand, was working up a sweat trying to pull double duty for them both in getting everything else ready.

However, both looked up from what they were doing on her walking inside. “Oh, Pinkie Pie!” Mrs. Cake announced, before her eyes went to the sack. She nearly gasped. “Is that really…?”

“Yup!” she cheered as she walked to the counter and set it down; five of the nuts bouncing out of the bag when she did. “I told you Maud and I would get you all the hazelnuts you need!”

“Pinkie, you are such a lifesaver! Let’s get started on shelling them right away!”

The girl happily obliged by going to the nearest cabinet for a big bowl, and balanced it on her head as she grabbed a pair of stools and nutcrackers and brought them over to the counter. Mrs. Cake quickly worked to finish her current preparations as Pinkie sat down in one and began to dig in. “Ever since that embargo drove the price of cocoa up so high there’s no way we can keep chocolate in anything at a price anyone can afford. Thanks to you and your sister we’ll be able to make enough faux chocolate for a good long time. It looks like there’s two weeks supply here!”

“Well if you need any more, we have plenty around the quarry! Lots of trees that are both nutty and hazel-y!”

“Oh…oh no, I couldn’t possibly… It worries me sick that you even cut across that forest to get to Braystol. By the way, how much do we owe?”

“Oh, tee-hee!” Pinkie laughed, waving her hand at her. “No charge!”

This actually made Mrs. Cake pause in her work. “No charge? It had to have taken a while to get all of these hazelnuts…”

“Mom and dad said so long as I get to work for you, that’s payment enough!”

Now, Mr. Cake hesitated as well; both him and the missus looking uncomfortably at one another while Pinkie continued to happily fill the bowl with fresh-cracked hazelnuts. After a while, they smiled and looked back down to one another. “Well, we truly appreciate it, Pinkie. We’ve very grateful. This is a tremendous help to us.”

She giggled. “I know! That’s why I suggested it to Maud in the first place! If it helps you out, then it’s all worth it!”

“Let me just get this filling done and I’ll get the pans ready… Oh! The turnovers!”

About thirty minutes later, Mrs. Cake had finished her own tasks: removing and packing a fresh batch of blackberry turnovers the fire chief had ordered before finishing mixing a large batch of filling for the first third of a considerably large order of strawberry tarts. It was delayed longer thanks to the failure of the mixer, but Mr. Cake was busy combining the dough and filling for their larger oven by the time Pinkie had filled up the bowl with shelled hazelnuts. Three separate trays were loaded with them and put in the smaller oven while Pinkie and Mrs. Cake finished readying another three.

“Alright, this will do for now. Let’s get out the chocolate and start melting it on the stovetop.”

“Okie-dokie!” Pinkie cheered as she began to go for the saucepans next.

A hand-bell ringer sounded from the front of the shop. Mr. Cake looked up in a rather frazzled state. “Oh no, don’t tell me they’re early! We don’t even have the first batch in the oven!” He winced as he rapidly pulled off his apron, rose from his stool, and ran out of the kitchen for the front.

“I sure hope they aren’t early…” Mrs. Cake fretted. “I was hoping to sneak one more feeding in before we had to start packaging the first part… Pinkie, I may need you to finish off the faux chocolate.”

She had hardly finished setting the saucepan down when she wheeled to Mrs. Cake with a surprised gasp, before she lit up again. “This is the first time you’ve ever let me make the faux chocolate by myself! My first real batch! Oh…now I have to think of how I want it to be like! Do I want it block-like or a spread? Do I want it thin or creamy? Do I want it smooth or fluffy? Ah, so many things to decide!”

As Pinkie’s smile began to turn into anxiety at the choices she had to make, Mr. Cake reentered the kitchen. She wasn’t looking at him at the time, and therefore didn’t notice he was walking much slower, and that although his face was still anxious it was no longer in a rush.

Mrs. Cake was too busy with her own task to look up to him. “Was that Ms. Ruby?”

“Actually…” his voice was quiet, hesitant, and a bit stilted, “it’s…Mr. Brown again.”

Mrs. Cake slowed down in her own work. Her expression became much the same as his.

“He…brought a friend this time.”

For a moment, Mrs. Cake nearly cupped a hand to her mouth; barely stopping herself. Pinkie remained oblivious to all of this, still fretting over her first faux chocolate recipe. The older woman looked at her nervously and paused for a moment before she moistened her lips and forced a smile. “Um…Pinkie?”

“If I make it too dark, they’ll think it’s burnt! But if I make it too light, the customers will think we skipped on the chocolate, and they’ll go nuts! No…hazelnuts! Huh?” she abruptly looked up; her train of thought broken.

“Could you…deliver the blackberry turnovers to the fire chief?”

“Oh, sure!” In a flash, she abandoned her current work and shot over to the prepped boxes, easily scooping them up and balancing them on her poofy hair. “But are you sure? It’s just a block away…”

“Oh, but you know…we really shouldn’t be calling the chief away from his duty. And take your time while you’re at it! Say hi to some folks!”

“Hmm…” she rubbed her chin, “I’m pretty sure I already said hi to everyone on this side of town, but I’ll bet I missed one so ok!” Beginning to sing to herself, she started to walk toward the hall leading to the front.

“Oh, oh…the back door, please!” Mr. Cake quickly cut off, moving himself physically in the way. “You know what I told you about Mr. Brown! He gets nervous about new faces, heh!”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie cheered before spinning around and heading out the back.

This wasn’t the first time that Pinkie Pie had been sent off to deliver an order whenever Mr. Brown came to place one, although it did occur to Pinkie that day that she always seemed to be sent off to make a delivery every time Mr. Brown came by. However, this was the shortest one. Normally she’d be sent to deliver whatever order was as far away as possible out of all the current queue. However, even accounting for the time she spent looking around the neighborhood for anyone she hadn’t yet said “hi” to coming into town, it simply didn’t take that long. Within five minutes, she was already walking back to Sugarcube Corner.

As she neared it, she placed a finger to her chin and thought aloud. “Hmm…y’know, I’ve never actually seen Mr. Brown before. Maybe if I did and introduced myself, the Cakes wouldn’t have to be worried about me scaring him off! Maybe I can catch him while he’s walking out!”

Changing her path, she steered away from the back door and began to walk to the front. However, just as she reached the edge of one of the store-front windows for the bakery, she froze.

“But what if he’s still in there and I scare him off?”

She puzzled about this for a moment before she lit up with an idea. Reaching into her hair again and fishing around, she emerged with a cracked half of a compact she had picked off the ground last year while walking into town—specifically the mirror portion. Holding it out to one side of her, she angled it toward the window and looked at the reflection.

It took a moment to get the right perspective, but she soon spotted the front counter. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cake were there, still looking stressed and anxious. Mr. Brown and his “friend” were also there. They were rather imposing, dark-looking men in bowler hats and suits; definitely not the kind of person Pinkie was used to seeing in Brayton. They didn’t look too friendly either. Their eyes were stern and cold as they spoke.

“Hmm…they should have placed their order by now… I wonder what they’re talking about?” She thought again for a moment, before she snapped her fingers with another idea. Reaching back into her hair, she emerged this time with a small drinking glass. She smirked at her reflection in the mirror.

“Pinkie, you’re such a genius!" She told it, before she 'answered' for herself'. "I know!”

Placing the glass against the window as close as she could get without revealing herself fully, she put her ear against it and listened.

“…really thought about it.” It was Mr. Cake talking. “I mean, she and the Pies have lived in Trottingham for years. Before us even…”

“That wasn’t what I asked you.” A new voice spoke--one that Pinkie assumed was Mr. Brown. “Again, does Pinkamena Diane Pie currently have her legal residency documents?”

“We…” Mrs. Cake’s voice spoke up. “That is…we had a friend who knew another Gaiatian and sent her to apply for legal residency, but they told us she wasn’t eligible because she didn’t have a national enrollment card. And all Gaiatians are forbidden from receiving one of those because they’re declared non-citizens…”

“So the answer is ‘no’?”

“It’s…it’s just that the way the system is set up there’s no way for her to become a legal resident. In fact, it sort of looks like the government is making sure she can’t. Especially since…since our friend told us that there were people at the City Registrar who looked like they would arrest any Gaiatians who tried to apply…”

“If you have an issue with national ordinances, Mrs. Cake, the correct response is to contact your local governor; not to decide for yourselves whether or not you should obey the law.”

Pinkie’s brow furrowed. That didn’t sound like they were placing an order. In fact, it sounded like they were talking about her.

“For the third and final time, does Pinkamena Diane Pie currently have her legal residency documents?”

A long pause, before Mr. Cake quietly replied. “No, she does not.”

“Alright. Are you aware that no non-citizen who lacks legal residency documents is eligible for employment, local government assistance, charity, education, or medical care, and must remain 100 yards outside of all city limits for urban areas that contain a minimum of 500 residents?”

“She’s…she’s not an employee, officer…”

Pinkie’s eyes widened on hearing that last word. The same word that her father, her mother, Limestone, and Maud told her to avoid each and every time she went to town and to flee if she heard one was coming.

“She works here and collects a daily wage, does she not?”

“I’m only teaching her how to bake,” Mrs. Cake interjected. “There’s no harm in that. And may I ask who accused us in the first place of employing a Gaiatian?”

“I’m asking the questions here, ma’am, but suffice to say anyone who reports a Gaiatian violating federal law is insured anonymity. So you do not pay her formally or informally?”

“No, she doesn’t earn a wage.”

“That would be an example of formal. What about tips or off-the-books payments?”

“No, never.”

“What about charity? Charity is also illegal.”

“We’ve never given her so much as a penny, officer.”

Pinkie began to look uneasy, as she knew full well all of those things were untrue. She had worked there for a while and the Cakes had paid her every day out of pocket in cash. Yet she remembered how many times Maud had warned her never to tell anyone she “worked for the Cakes” or “worked for Sugarcube Corner”, and to definitely never tell anyone she had been paid by them.

“This is ridiculous, though!” Mrs. Cake cut in again. “Since when is giving charity to someone illegal?”

“Since the Amendment to the Homeland Act was enforced two months ago, ma’am. Now I take it that news of that might not have reached Brayton yet. As such, no previous violation of that amendment is considered a criminal act at this time. However, be advised, now that you are aware of it any future violations will be considered criminal activity. Among those is the association clause. Any individual who is found to be assisting a Gaiatian in the realms of employment, local government assistance, charity, education, or medical care and does so knowingly and willfully will be subject to a fine of up to 5,000 pounds and imprisonment for anywhere from 18 months to five years.”

Pinkie gasped. The Cakes themselves were rendered mute. The silence lingered for several seconds.

“I don’t think you two are being straight with me, so keep that in mind. We’ll be monitoring this business regularly from now on and interviewing some of the locals. It’ll be much easier for everyone involved if you simply comply with the law. Good day.”

Soon after, “Mr. Brown” and his “friend” left the front of the shop. It was a good thing they didn’t look to the side of the building where Pinkie was hiding, because at the moment she had slumped on the ground. The glass she had been holding against the window had been left to fall to the ground and out of her hands. She herself was on her knees with a hollow look on her face at all she had just heard. Even her hair seemed to have flattened somewhat and her pallor lost some of its bright “glow” about it.

She wasn’t sure what the Cakes did next or how long they stayed in the front of their own shop, or what they decided. She simply sat there for ten full minutes in that same position, before she finally let out a great sigh and rose again. Ignoring the shop completely, she turned around and began to make her way back home.

Pinkie’s trip back was a marked contrast to her one out. She didn’t skip or sing this time. When people greeted her, she acknowledged them with a half-hearted response, but didn’t call out to anyone new. She hardly seemed to notice them or anything else as she left the city and headed down the road back to the trail, and once she was back into the forest the trip took even longer. Where before she would have merrily skipped and hopped over any logs or dips in the path, even without the presence of her sack of hazelnuts her whole body felt heavier and slower. She only very gradually picked her way over each one. Her head remained bowed the whole way.

After a while, she weakly smile in a vain effort to cheer herself. “Well…being forced to leave the bakery under threat of arrest isn’t so bad. I mean, I always got the quarry. Yup…nothing but fun, fun, fun at the quarry. And we got all the rocks a girl could ask for. All sorts of things we can do. We can dig for rocks and cut rocks and sculpt rocks and sit on rocks and…load rocks on wagons…yeah… We even got rocks that…that…”

She winced and sniffled.

“Look like…hazelnuts…”

She sniffled again, wiping for her eyes as she entered a dip in the valley. She kept walking along a bit further, before she heard a growl just up ahead. In spite of her sad state, she slowly looked up to what had made the sound.

Not more than fifty away was a rather large dog. It had to have been one of the bigger breeds, but even one who wasn’t familiar with the largest dogs would realize something was off about this one. It was gyrating in short spasms while foam and drool dribbled from its mouth, which itself was hung open and baring all teeth. In addition, one of its forelegs was grossly misshapen and deformed, and the hair on it had turned into dark clumps. One could almost hear a creeping sound as the discoloration slowly spread up and over its shoulder joint.

Pinkie regarded the whole scene dully. “Oh. You must be that rabid dog Cranky was looking for.” Her voice was practically as monotone as Maud’s.

The rabid animal, obviously, didn’t respond; save to look at her and begin to growl in its throat.

She idly glanced at his leg, then back up again. “It looks like you went too far north and into Equestria too, just like he was afraid of.”

The canine’s growl became a snarl as it started to turn toward her.

She sighed. “And by now I guess you want to tear me to pieces or whatever…”

As the dark color crept into its back and torso, the snarl became more monstrous and distorted. It took a step toward her.

Pinkie glanced to one side and through the trees. She could tell just about twenty yards to one side of her the forest opened up. “Well, the road’s just over there, but I don’t think anyone’s around to see or hear anything…”

The beast dug its nails in as it reared back, ready to lunge right for Pinkie’s neck.

She looked back and shrugged. “I guess that means Maud won’t mind if I ‘show off’.”

With a monstrous roar, it leapt at her.

About twenty minutes later, Pinkie, looking a little better than before, emerged out of the woods into the quarry. She began to walk back down the hairpin turns; a little of the spring in her step back although still looking a bit downcast.

It didn’t take her long to reach Maud, who was still shaping rocks. It almost looked like she was still shaping the same one. She looked up and quickly assessed the girl based on her appearance. “What happened?”

“Oh,” she answered quietly, coming to a stop next to her, “nothing. Just…I don’t think I can go to Sugarcube Corner for a while…”

Maud was quiet a moment. “Did policemen come there today?”

“I think so… The Cakes told me to go make a delivery, but when I came back I overheard them say they’ll punish them if they let me keep working there… So I left and came home without going in.”

“You should have at least told them you were leaving, Pinkie. They care about you.”

“I know…I should have. I’ll go back and do that tomorrow. It’s probably best that I stay away for the rest of today, though…”

“It won’t be forever, you know. They're good people and you're their friend. They wouldn’t do that to you.”

She looked up and smiled slightly. “Yeah…I know it won’t be forever. I finally realized that coming back home. I just kinda wish forever was right now and not a couple weeks from now…”

Maud turned back to her rock. “Did anything else happen?”

“Oh, I ran into a Nighttouched on the way back. Well, he was turning into one anyway.”

The older sister paused. She looked back up at Pinkie and glanced her over. She noted there wasn’t a mark on her.

“…No one was around, were they?”

She smiled wider and shook her head. “Come on, Maud. You taught me better than that.”

“What…what the…?! What in b-b-blazes…?!”

Cranky, unfortunately, couldn’t express any better response than that an hour later when he finally found his quarry. The rabid animal or, more appropriately, what was left of it was inside out, folded in half, and left hanging from a tree limb at the side of the road by its own broken hind legs tied into a bow.

Author's Notes:

Well, things have been kind of slow with all of these introductory chapters and my lack of time for writing, but it's almost done.

Yup, I said "almost" done. There's still one introductory chapter to go.

Who you may ask? Haven't forgotten this is an Equestria Girls fanfiction, have we?

Nightwatch: The Rising Sun

The gavel smacked down hard on the table top, emitting a resounding clack.

“The 14^th Trottingham Interim Congress is now in session,” a woman with dark-purple hair, pronounced glasses, and a rather joyless look on her face stated as she set the gavel down. She was seated at the head of a wide, long, rectangular table in a rather ornate and well-maintained room. Between the room's style, with high ceilings and large windows, the choice of décor, and the older, warmer-looking furnishings of wood and cloth rather than iron and padding, it looked like it was set in a royal palace rather than the more colder, utilitarian types of rooms that modern society embraced.

Stretching in front of her, all the way along either side of the table, were an assortment of people who looked about as mirthless as her. They were a mixed variety, and some of their dispositions were less friendly and casual than others, but all were dressed in suits or other attire of state. The ones closer to her were of a different sort than ones seated further down, however. They seemed to be more of the secretarial or bureaucratic type.

She adjusted her glasses before taking up a pen and looking at a ledger open in front of her. “Let’s start with role call. Lady of Mancanter?”

“Here,” one of those at the table spoke up.

“Lord of Braystol?”

“Here.”

“Lady of Oxenford?”

“Here.”

“Lady of Portssnout?”

“Here.”

“Lady of Derby Downs?”

“Here.”

“Lady of Swan’s Sea?”

“Here.”

“Lady of Trottin’-On-Tees?”

“Here.”

“Lord of Reinbridge?”

“Here.”

“Lady of Whinnychester?”

“Here.”

She paused for a fraction of a second. “Lady of Queen’s Lynn?”

Silence from the table. For a moment, the woman’s eyes looked up and drifted to a seat on her right far at the end. It was vacant--the only seat at the table that was so.

She let out a muted sigh, as this was something she was used to. Making the final note in the ledger, she placed her pen to one side. “As always, we shall start this Congress with matters of defense and military. Afterward, we shall move on to-”

“Regent Cinch.”

The woman went silent; her eyes narrowing a little at the interruption. She looked up and down the table to find one of the ladies on the far side looking back at her just as sternly, if not more so.

“I believe we should start this Congress with discussing matters of the interior. In particular, the economy. I have some findings I believe you will find very interesting.”

The older woman gave her a stony glare for several moments. “I tend to believe that matters of defense, considering the fact that they determine not only our nation’s sovereignty but survival, should take the most precedence, Lady Swan’s Sea.”

“Lord Speaker, I tend to believe we won’t have much to defend or to provide for defense if we ignore the wealth and livelihood of the nation.”

The silence over the table was palpable. The other members looked intently back to the Regent, waiting to see how she would respond. For a long time she didn’t move, just stared at her fellow peer, before she simply adjusted her glasses.

“We have our precedent schedule, and we are in a time of war. Furthermore, I am Lord Speaker, and therefore I shall set the agenda. You will have to wait, Lady Swan’s Sea.”

She didn’t look away or change in her expression, but she slowly eased back into her seat. The Regent looked to one of the individuals nearer to her. “First and foremost, how goes the war effort?”

He cleared his throat. “The ground forces remain at a stalemate at the border. No new pushes were made from the Dragonlands on the infantry front in the past month. The admiral reports continued success on our attacks, but there have been increased reports of buildup along the borders of defenses. We’ve having to push higher and higher to launch our own sorties and refueling is becoming an issue.”

“And to the Southwest?”

He looked uneasier. “The general does report that, following the last reported incident of a Nighttouched attack, that Appleloosa is being stretched thin. Nevertheless, he said that we cannot hope to carry out an offensive with only two divisions. They are poorly equipped, poorly fed, and twenty percent of the trenches are riddled with disease. At the bare minimum, he requests airship relief.”

“Every last man, woman, and child in Trottingham is having to tighten their belts, minister.”

“With all due respect, Lord Speaker…that’s the same answer we’ve been giving him for five months.”

She barely suppressed rolling her eyes as she exhaled, before turning to the speaker’s fellow minister. “How likely can we satisfy the general’s request?”

“Completely impossible. All four shipyards are understaffed and suffering from resource shortages as it is.”

“How about the armors?”

“Right now 90 percent are guarding the No Man’s Land between Trottingham and the Dragonlands. We might be able to pull some away, but if they notice…”

“New armors then?”

“We’ve sunk most of the treasury into the shipyards. Even if we did have new armors, we wouldn’t have the manpower to use them.”

“Not unless we issued a draft of the girls along with the boys…” the Lady of Oxenford muttered with an eye roll.

The Regent sighed and adjusted her glasses. “How about training existing soldiers?”

“Half of the soldiers are so raw they’ve seen less than two years of service as infantrymen. Running our larger armors is a task that requires a trained engineering crew…”

“Ugh...I don’t mean to interject,” the same representative spoke up, loud enough to get everyone’s attention, “but it looks like all we're doing is the same thing we’ve been doing for nearly eight years now: seeing if we can find any more rocks to squeeze blood from.”

“And I don’t think I need hardly remind you that we’ve done quite well with that policy you so dismally assess,” the Lord Speaker responded coolly. “Far better than Cloudsdale and Mount Eris, to be sure. Innovative Independence has carried us past the aftermath of the Lunar Fall to be on the cutting edge of technology.”

"Oh right! We've been doing just absolutely fantastic!" the Lady of Mancanter spoke up in a perky, cheerful voice, before it instantly reverted into a sullen scowl. "If by 'absolutely fantastic' you mean we're so broke we can't afford anything."

“The Regent talks of technology and her ‘Innovative Independence’ policy as if they are practically constitutional values to uphold," the Lady of Swan's Sea spoke up again in a bitter monotone. "Frankly, I think over the past two years almost every pound sunk into our innovation has been misapplied. In my district we had a major project to build mass refrigeration. Eighteen months later, we have warehouse-sized compartments that can keep hundreds of tons of produce fresh, and no produce to fill them with. We invest millions into upgrading the shipping industry and docks and we haven’t a single partner in Greater Everfree with which to trade. All it’s gotten us is an unprotectable set of shipping lanes for black marketeers to bring in every good we can’t provide.”

“And it's getting worse,” the Lady of Portssnout spoke up. “We've been getting by eating cereals and sugar beets for three years now. People will pay 20 pounds apiece for things like melons, spices, and even potatoes by now. Not to mention we can't get decent cloth, porcelain, or tea anymore now that we can't import it. This Innovative Independence thing may have kept us going after the Lunar Fall, but now it's kind of worn out its welcome.”

The Regent paused for a long time before she folded her hands in front of her and straightened in her chair. She now had three of the representatives staring hard and critically at her, but the others were also keeping their eyes on her intently waiting for her response.

At last, she focused fully on the Lady of Swan’s Sea. “And I suppose you believe you have a solution to all of this that you wished to share and that you’re simply not wishing things were better?”

“I do,” she readily answered. “Trottingham need to increase its wealth at once. We need trading partners.”

“Oh, we do now.” Her voice was measured, as if humoring a child...not too much of a stretch considering the Lords and Ladies were less than half her age. “And who, might I ask, is there to seek a partnership with? Appleloosa? The ones who placed soldiers on their borders when the Dragonlands made their first move to ensure we wouldn’t be pushed into their land? Mount Eris? Perhaps there are some survivors yet in the rubble of the capitol who have nothing better to do than sign contracts. Or the Manehattan-Fillydelphia alliance, perhaps? The very ones who stand the most to see us torn apart by Dragonlord Ember. Perhaps we should share our innovation secrets with them upfront so they have even less reason to humor us.”

The representative frowned, clearly not liking the push back. “If we cannot trade with the major parties, we can trade with the lesser ones. Ones like Hoofheim. Or across the ocean-”

"Ah," Regent cut her off with a smirk, "so that is your grand solution to our current dilemma. Simply trade with whoever we can. Why not? I’m certain Appleloosa and the Manehattan-Fillydelphia alliance will think nothing of us sailing through their waters to Hoofheim and anywhere else to grow rich and more powerful at their expense. And across the ocean, you say? You’re thinking of trading with the Zebralands, I take it? Well, why not?” She snorted. “What’s the current exchange rate for ‘wampum’ and bushmeat? Please, don’t stop there, representative. Are there any other remote possibilities you can think of that we haven’t dismissed long ago?”

The Lady of Oxenford stiffened her jaw and straightened in her chair. “There are much simpler routes to take to get to trade partners. Ones that don’t need rely on the sea.”

The Regent's smirk vanished. “I don’t believe I follow you.”

“We have the means to take roads that no one else can use…”

The older woman's look grew dark as her own lips pursed. “That is an option completely off the table. Our defense needs all the airships we can muster with that capability if not more.”

“Then I think we should put some of the technology that has been used exclusively for the military to more domestic matters.”

At once, the Regent's face tightened and she slapped a hand on the table hard enough for the nearest ministers to pull away. “Absolutely out of the question. This technology is a matter of national defense and I will hear none of it.”

“And what good does that do if we collapse from being poor and starving? We've got an edge that no one else in Greater Everfree has!”

The Regent’s face remained firm as she leaned back in her seat. “That’s enough, representative.”

“Why shouldn’t we use it? Why should the Military’s Research and Development hoard everything to themselv-”

“I said that’s enough.”

The sharpness of the last word was enough to render the whole room silent, although both the Lady of Oxenford and the other representatives continued to look at her darkly. Some of them even looked frustrated. However, she remained calm as she folded her hands again.

“As I have stated time and again, due to resource limitations and the need for secrecy, all Military Research and Development will be kept to the strictest of need-to-know conditions. I myself am not privy to the secrets behind this technology so I am in no way less in the dark than the rest of you, but I trust our developers and I trust them when they say they cannot risk these secrets getting out.”

Two of the representatives eased a little at this, although the others remained terse.

“I don’t think I need remind you all that Trottingham possesses, and will continue to possess, a unique status. We are the only nation on Greater Everfree that has nothing to fear from the Light Eaters. Now then, this Nighttouched attack as of late…” She turned back to the ministers. “They believe this is a sign of a greater attack coming, do they not?”

There was a moment of hesitation, before the minister nodded. “Yes. All indications point to another surge. This one on Appleloosa.”

“There, you see?” She turned back to the representatives. “It is simply a waiting game. We let Appleloosa and the other nations weaken, identify their most vulnerable spots, and then strike. And with the routes we possess we can always outflank them. All we need is a little patience, and with any luck we can seize the Dodge Peninsula. And once we have it, all of our agricultural production problems will be solved.”

Silence from the table. More of the representatives eased back into their seats, as this seemed to pacify them, until only the ones from Swan’s Sea, Oxenford, and Portssnout remained. After a time, the latter of the two joined the others, although both of them still looked hesitant. Finally, never ceasing from staring at her darkly, the Lady of Swan’s Sea leaned back.

“Now as I said before I was interrupted,” the Regent went on, “we shall start with military business…”

Four hours later, the Regent had removed her glasses and was rubbing the bridge of her nose as she walked down a different hall of the Royal Palace of Trottingham. This one still had the decorations of suits of armor, coats of arms, and portraits of the past kings, queens, and princes--every last one of them quite obsolete but an indication that the hall hadn’t been converted to an official purpose yet. While there were three aides flanking her from behind and members of the guard at every end and turn, it was far more private here and therefore an easier place for her to collect her thoughts after such a tension-fueled meeting.

Her thoughts were still brooding over what had transpired when she turned the corner, but as soon as she did she slowed in her step so much her aides looked puzzled as they were forced to do the same. She didn’t notice. Her eyes were on the end of the hall.

She had been headed toward the door to the royal study in order to properly unwind. However, as soon as she saw it, she noticed a familiar figure clad in official ornamental armor with a gleaming, brassy finish. An equally archaic spear was posted to his side, and his eyes were set perfectly forward from underneath his brushed galea.

He was the only member of the mostly-disbanded official Royal Guard who still subscribed to official dress. And wherever he was, she was never far away.

“Leave me at once,” she spoke to those behind her without turning. “I’ll call you when I need you.”

The aides had heard this request before, especially when the Royal Guard member was there. Not only did they immediately comply, but the other guards posted in the hall left their stations and withdrew as well. Only the man with the spear remained standing there. It wasn’t until all others were gone that the Regent drew herself up, smoothed out her attire and hair, and walked the rest of the way alone. Her eyes glanced at the Royal Guard member, but he kept his own forward the whole time.

On reaching the door, she exhaled once before opening it up. She quickly stepped inside and shut it again before looking forward.

It was the warmer time of year in Trottingham and she hadn’t started a fire that day. Nevertheless, the fireplace in the study was blazing brightly. Seated in one of the two chairs nearest it, turned almost into a shadow by the glow, was the figure of a woman with voluminous, flowing hair, a custom-tailored uniform of the Trottingham Aerial Navy that incorporated a good amount of black leather, and her head turned toward the fire. On the arm table nearby was a drink she had helped herself to and largely finished. Her legs were crossed, one idly bouncing up and down on top of the other.

“Have a good meeting, Regent Cinch?”

The casualty of the tone made her visibly stiffen before she began to walk forward; far more slowly than before. “I expected to see you there. You are the Lady of Queen’s Lynn now.”

A light chuckle. “Now don’t tell me that you actually wanted them to see more of me in the palace.”

“If they knew you were here and you didn’t attend, you would undermine my authority as Regent. Especially if you were here the whole time sipping tea and curled up in an armchair.”

“Just enjoying some of the perks of my position, Regent. After all…”

She slowly turned away from the fire.

Cinch slowed on seeing her vivid cyan eyes in the dim light. Framed against the fireplace, her hair’s equally-fiery-colored tone appeared to radiate. The woman’s lips curled into a cool smile.

“You know all about enjoying the perks of a new position. And the Lunar Fall was kinder to both of us than most, wasn’t it? I’d even say,” Her teeth flashed in a grin. “We both came out further ahead for it, didn’t we?”

Cinch said nothing, although her jaw clenched just a little. She finished walking in silence over to the chair across from the young woman and sat down in it. “Someone in your position and title has certain obligations to the head of state. Failing to do so is a sign that my authority is undermined. That’s the last thing I need right now.”

She snorted. “And this is the thanks I get after all I’ve done for you?”

“Done for me?” she scowled back. “You haven’t lifted a finger to help me with the current economic crisis. Or with the Dragonlands.”

“You don’t really expect me to clean up every one of your mistakes, do you? I gave you security on the border to Equestria from everything except the occasional Nighttouched. I gave you the power to traverse Equestria itself without fear. I even gave you a handful of magical weapons. What else do you want from me?”

“What you promised!” Her volume rose as she snapped. She took a moment afterward to reassert her self-control, then continued in a more measured voice although her face remained tightened. “I need it now more than ever. The representatives are breathing down my neck.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” she coolly responded, reaching into her outer jacket. She emerged with an envelope on which the seal had already been broken and casually tossed it into Cinch’s lap, a bit to her surprise. “Read that at your own leisure, but I’ll summarize. Three of your representatives requested that I join in with them on a coalition to start overriding your authority; leaving the option open to depose you through a vote of no-confidence.”

Cinch went wide-eyed. She snatched the envelope up, nearly ripped the letter inside out, and quickly glanced over it. She scowled even further as she set it down. “After everything I’ve done for them, this is how they respond. Stabbing me in the back.”

The young woman shrugged as she reached into her jacket again, coming out with a cigarette tin and flipping it open. “Perhaps you should be thankful I didn’t attend today’s Congress. You’re right in saying you’re running low on time, but you did dig yourself into this hole. I only gave you technology. It wasn’t my idea for you to poke your nose in where it didn’t belong in the Farmland War and turn every country left on Greater Everfree against you.”

“That was the only decision that could be made,” she snapped bag with a hint of anger. “Dragonlord Ember wants to see me destroyed and Trottingham with me. The world is a different place after the Lunar Fall. Now it’s every man and woman for themselves. I wasn’t about to risk letting the world think we were so weak and staggering that they could just sweep in and finish us off. I was not going to let what happened to Cloudsdale happen to Trottingham. I’m trying to make decisions that ensure our sovereignty and those children of dead nobles in that Congress are complaining the people can’t get potatoes.”

“I don’t really care for your reasons one way or another, Regent. I just know that you stayed in power and now the economic condition, to say nothing of the military one, is in your hands and on your neck.”

“And I expect you to help me do something about it. I expect you to keep up your end of our arrangement. I’ve helped you in every way you’ve requested. You have your position in the military, the lands and titles of the deposed Lady of Queen’s Lynn…which I might add I also helped in…your personal resources, your ability to come and go as you wish… Even those very ‘magical weapons’ you pointed out belong only to those under your command. I expect more back.”

The fiery-haired woman had a cigarette in her mouth by now and produced a match to light up. Cinch’s nose wrinkled in disgust, obviously not caring for her smoking, but not able to say anything about it as the younger woman took in a long drag and blew the smoke directly in the Regent's direction. “And what did you have in mind?”

She took a moment to waft the smoke away before glaring at her again. “Something. Anything. Applying your technology to commercial airships. Enhancements for our armor. More magical weapons. Whatever can give us an edge on the military or recover the economy.”

“Heh, I had no idea I was your genie all of this sudden,” she took another drag. “Besides, you’re lying. That’s not what you want.”

Cinch raised an eyebrow. “Oh, it isn’t?”

“No.” Her voice lowered as she looked Cinch straight in the eye. “What you want is what I have, and you want the ability to use it and give it to anyone you please. That’s what you wanted ever since I demoed it and offered it to you, isn’t it?”

Cinch’s face eased. Her expression grew a bit more uneasy just at the thought of it, but also with a hint of a covetous gleam in her eyes. She spoke in a whisper; both for a desire for secrecy but also with a note of reverence.

“Magic.”

The young woman nodded. “Magic.”

“Real magic.”

“Not a fairy tale. Not a children’s drawing. Not a parlor trick or a magician's sleight of hand. Power to change the world. Power to direct the world.” She smiled wider. “I told you from the start that this wouldn’t come cheap.”

Cinch’s momentary reverence broke, her frown resuming. “And exactly how many more price tags do you expect me to pay before you share with me those secrets?”

“Patience.”

“I’ve had patience for six years!” Cinch snapped, again losing control of her temper.

Before she could continue, the young woman held up a hand to stop her. “I’m serious this time. First, however, I need to know something.” She leaned back in her chair again, taking another drag. “There was another attack recently, wasn’t there? That’s what has the western half of Greater Everfree all abuzz?”

Cinch looked even more vexed that she was changing the subject but she forced herself to be calm and leaned back yet again. “What of it?”

“There’s a rumor going around,” she idly answered, looking at the fingernails on one hand while she took another puff. “Rumor that an actual Light Eater came through with this one. Rumor…”

She paused a moment, turning her hand over. It wore a leather, studded, fingerless glove over it, but her eyes focused on the back of her hand for two full seconds.

“…that something killed it. Or rather someone.”

Cinch raised an eyebrow. “As a matter of fact, that rumor has been going around. At first I dismissed it as nothing, but apparently something happened if such an outlandish claim is circulating. Personally I find it impossible to fathom.”

“And…is there any other information about who this person supposedly was?”

The regent hesitated. In spite of the young woman’s normally smug and confident look, she picked up that this was clearly a subject of interest to her. And as she thought of it, she began to realize something else...

“It’s just a rumor that it happened in the first place. You can’t expect any hard facts from hearsay. That being said, the more detailed ones mention a young woman. It occurs to me…” She folded her hands in front of her. “If there was any young woman in the world that would be able to destroy a Light Eater single-handedly, I’m looking at her.”

The fiery-haired woman was quiet for a fraction of a second, but then smirked once again to herself. It took her a bit longer to turn back to Cinch. She took another drag as she straightened up. “Well then…I believe I am ready to make good on my word to you. That is…after I receive one last favor from you.”

“And what favor that would be?”

“In addition to the Rising Sun, I’ll need two fully outfitted airships and two additional battalions.”

The regent nearly sputtered. “Two more airships? And battalions?”

“That’s not all. I’ll be needing your leave for International Operations. In other words, I use our routes through Equestria to come and go into other nations as I please.”

“To what end?”

“Mass assassinations.”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Cinch shouted, no longer able to contain herself as she snapped forward again. “As strained as I am you want me to not only give up resources but give other countries reason to have grievances with me? The audacity of asking for two more airships and crews is more than enough! To take them across the border for covert military operations? I’m still trying to find an excuse for giving you your own private airship!”

She shrugged indifferently. “Well, it is your decision at the end of the day, regent.” She took another puff as she leaned back, flicking her cigarette ashes off the arm rest. She didn't care at all that they landed on the carpet. “But I know what you’re thinking right now. You’ve thought I was, more or less, unique until a little while ago, but you know full well the only way anyone could kill a Light Eater would be if they were someone like me. And you know, if there are more like me, exactly what that means for your plan to be the only one with magic in Greater Everfree.”

Cinch eased a little at that, her angry look giving way to a grimace.

“I can give you all the magic you could ask for and more, but it won’t do you much good if your latest ‘innovation’ is copied by every other country. The world can’t be directed by more than one steering wheel. If you want to be the only one with magic, then I’m afraid you don’t have any choice but to make sure there aren’t any other individuals out there who have it…one way or another.”

She smiled slyly.

“And here I am offering to do the job for you, just so long as you give me the means to carry it out. Who else should it be besides me? Someone who not only is almost a ghost in Trottingham to begin with, but has the power to make sure the job is done right?”

Cinch didn’t answer, although she leaned fully back into her chair. Her former angry look had also faded. Her eyes turned to the crackling fire and stared as her mind ran over this.

The fiery-haired woman patiently waited, with a look so confident it had to already know the answer.

It wasn’t until the main hatch of the Rising Sun was sealing behind them, and the scent of metal and oil and the sound of boilers and steam were about them, that the Royal Guard addressed the fiery-haired woman at last.

“How did it go?”

“Exactly as I knew it would,” she smugly smirked as she kept leading the way. “People are easy to predict when you know exactly what they want. Control only requires a little more effort at that point.”

The two continued to walk down the service corridor toward the bridge area. The lower deck was filled with various engineers and soldiers under the fiery-headed woman’s command. Each of them stopped what they did and saluted her when she came; often with a burst of speed indicating anxiety or fear. Normally she would have relished in that, but today something far better had put a smile on her face from ear to ear.

She did, however, react when she passed by two individuals in particular. A pair of higher-ranking soldiers, yet still in the “grunt” class, had been coming down a horizontal hall and nearly run into her when they froze in their tracks. Neither appeared to be too terribly intelligent. One was tall but lanky and the other was solid but squat and rotund.

She slowed to a stop and looked at them. “You two. You made sure those letters I wrote will be ‘found’ by the proper members of the Regent’s staff, right?”

Both of them smirked and saluted. “Aye-aye.”

“You can count on us, Sunset!”

Her smile waned as her eyes narrowed.

“Uh…Lady Sunset!”

She didn’t smile again as she reached into her pockets and came out with a small set of lumped clay halves. “Souvenirs from our little stop at the capitol. I made the clay mold while I was in the regent’s study.” She tossed it to them, causing the squat one to fumble as he caught it. “Have it cast and use it to seal the letterhead I already gave you. Make sure those inquiries into dissolving the council get placed in the right departments.”

It took the two a moment to get what this meant before the two smirked devilishly and went off to do the task. Sunset continued to lead the Royal Guard forward.

“You got what you want, my lady,” he spoke up again after a few steps. "Is that necessary?"

“I’ve been working them for a solid four years. Why stop now?” she smirked again. “I thought you of all people would look at the world and see the best way to come out ahead is to make sure everyone else is too busy fighting among themselves. Besides, it doesn’t matter to me anymore if Cinch and the representatives eat each other alive and burn Trottingham down in the process. I’ve got what I want.”

Beneath the visor plate of his helmet, the Royal Guard grimaced but kept following.

A minute later, they were emerging onto the spacious, glass-windowed bridge of the Rising Sun. Framed in the view were the aerial docks of the main city of Trottingham, and beyond it the cityscape lined with smokestacks and soot clouds for another busy day. Beyond that, however, the sky was clear and the setting sun had turned the day red. Most of the crew was already there on stand by, and as soon as Sunset came in they all quickly snapped to life, especially the one nearest the entrance. He quickly stood tall with chin high.

“Captain Sunset Shimmer on bridge!”

As one, everyone quickly rose to their feet and faced her at attention. She kept her confident smirk as she strolled up to the staging area for the CO. She ignored the seat for the moment and instead grasped the bracing rail surrounding the front of it.

“We’ll be assembling into a fleet formation with the Prodigy and Legacy. As of now, I will be acting as Fleet Commander. Make all preparations for departure immediately. We will be setting a straight course for the Fillydelphia-Equestria Border. All ground units should make necessary preparations for combat. The day we’ve been waiting for is here.”

The crew scrambled to execute the order. She smiled wider as she took her own seat, holding her hand in front of her again. She flashed her teeth as she looked at the back of it.

“It’s finally time to get what I should have received eight years ago…”

Nightwatch: An Itch to Scratch

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long wait on a new chapter. In addition to this being long (I couldn't find a way to split it in two without leaving a boring chapter), I've dealt with the triple-whammie of my full time job, my part time grad school (with projects), and, most recently, my bout with influenza. Frankly I've been spreading myself so thin I needed to get sick to experience what it's like to wake up in the morning without the aid of an alarm clock. Thank goodness Spring Break is just around the corner...

“Alright, there’s the signpost. Which way do we go?”

Braeburn began to tense up. “Uh…”

After a few moments of nothing but that mutter, Applejack began to slowly look away from the road and to him. “…Braeburn?”

“Uh…um…”

She groaned. “Golldurnit, Braeburn! If ya’ wanna ride shotgun, ya’ got ta’ keep on the map!”

“I’ve never been ta’ Mount Eris, coz! I ain’t got a clue ‘bout this map! It’s older than dirt and it’s got applesauce stains all over it!”

“It ain’t like we’re goin’ so fast you can’t use the map, Applejack…”

“If ya’ ain’t drivin’ the wagon, keep yer mouth shut, Apple Tart! Braeburn, gimme that map…”

As Applejack moved her hands around to half-take, half-snatch the map from her cousin sitting alongside, the rest of the Apple family along for the trip either sighed or grimaced uneasily. The road since leaving home had been a rather long one and they still weren’t to their destination. They arrived just outside the port town of Seaquestria two days ago and had ended up held over longer than they wanted. In retrospect, it was a bad idea to try ferrying down the river and cutting through Mt. Eris; something Applejack hadn’t considered before leaving. Obviously, the remains of the neutral country didn’t like the idea of Appleloosans moving through it. Fortunately, as they weren’t enlisted, they were able to get by on a technicality after the layover.

Now they had to make up for lost time, and in their rush it was becoming increasingly likely that they had taken a wrong turn. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing but open fields and spotty forests as far as the eye could see on a dirt road that looked about as well-traveled and maintained as the common path to their homestead.

They had just passed a signpost after hours of traveling on a winding, unbranching path increasingly wondering if they should turn around. It was long-since faded, but it indicated a turn was up ahead at least. Of course, now it was a matter of which choice, if any, would get them to where they needed to go and which would get them more lost.

Applejack pointed at the map so hard she nearly put a hole through it. “There! Stay north! Clear as day!”

“But…but coz, are we even headin’ north now?”

“Sure we are! Sun’s on one side and not the other, ain’t it?”

“But that signpost only had two ways, east or west…”

She paused. “Well, uh…then, um…we’ll head east, of course. Back toward Appleloosa.”

“Ain’t that gonna take us back into the foothills?”

“Well we ain’t going west and inta’ Equestria!”

“The road kinda looks like it turns to the north, though…”

“Lemme see… I don’t see it.”

“Right there. We turn north at the next town.”

“Ya’ sure that ain’t a bit o’ apple core? Over there’s ah big road goin’ north.”

“Coz, I think that’s somethin’ one of the youngin’s scribbled on it…”

Applejack gave a cry of disgust and nearly ripped the map in half as she looked up, then paused.

The crossroads up ahead had a single person standing at them: a younger woman with lavender hair and a pastel pink streak, and a purple-and-green dog and traveling case at her side.

At once, Applejack smiled and crumpled the map up before tossing it over her shoulder into the wagon; hitting Apple Brioche right in the face. “Eh, who needs ah map? We’ll just get directions from that woman up ahead. She looks like she’s on the road, same as us. And from her duds she’s ah city folk, so I’ll bet she knows her way around.”

Braeburn didn’t look entirely convinced, as well as nervous at how Applejack damaged the already poor-conditioned map, but he held his tongue.

It didn’t take long for the procession to reach her. She looked up as soon as they neared, seeming as if they were the first people she had seen in hours. Applejack pulled the cart to a stop just as they reached the crossroads and tipped her hat to her.

“Howdy.”

The young woman looked a tad surprised that she was being addressed at all. “Oh, um…hello!”

“Ya’ happen ta’ know which way it is to get ta’ Fort Chestnut? We’re all in a hurry ta’ get there.”

“Did…you say Fort Chestnut? You mean, in Appleloosa?”

She nodded. “Yup. That’s the one.”

“Oh, what a coincidence! I’m actually trying to get there myself!”

She beamed. “Great! So, ya’ know how ta’ get there?”

The young woman was quiet momentarily before blushing. “…No, actually. I was kind of hoping, um…someone who came along could point me in the right direction.”

A chorus of groans came from both in the wagons and outside them. Applejack instantly pounded her fist against the canvas. “Pipe down back there, Apples!” The young woman herself recoiled slightly at the reaction before the farmer groaned loudly and turned back to her. “Alright…how ‘bout this? The road we’re on now leads ta’ Seaquestria. Which road did you come down?”

For a moment, all she did was blink. “Seaquestria? I ended up all the way in Mount Eris…?”

Applejack quirked her brow. “Eh? Come again?”

The young woman blanched as if she had just leaked a secret, and quickly shook her head. “I mean, uh…um…sure! Yes! I came from Seaquestria myself, so…I’m sorry, I don’t know which way to go!”

At once, Applejack leveled a hard stare against her. It was enough to make her actually shrink back a little.

“If there’s one thing ah can’t stand, it’s lyin’."

The young woman swallowed.

Soon after, however, the farmer shrugged. “But it ain’t none of my business, so I guess I can let it slide. Alright…” She looked up and to either road; sighing at last. “Now we all know if we were ta’ go on west we’d eventually run right smack into the ‘tail’ of Equestria, and there sure as Hell ain’t no more roads that go thataway. On the other hand, if we head east we’ll run into the mountains before we hit Appleloosa. So I reckon the road going west must be the one that turns up north at some point or it’d be closed, so we’ll take that one.”

There were a few mutters, but of ascent. That logic was as good to everyone else as any.

“Alright then.” She turned back to the young woman. “Ya’ can head west too if ya’ wanna, but in any case ya oughta head on back ta’ yer own caravan or whatnot. It’s gettin’ late.”

“Er…late?”

Applejack had begun to turn back to the reins, but paused to look back at her oddly. “Ain’t ya’ ever been in this part o’ Greater Everfree before?”

She looked uneasy. “Um, no…”

“This here is right in the ‘crook’ of the tail of Equestria. Equestria’s to the north and west. That’s why it fell so quick after the Lunar Fall. Ain’t nobody out here now except robbers, Nighttouched, and other unsavory types. Single city girl like you, runnin’ out by yerself on an abandoned road, all by her lonesome? Yer the first kinda mark one of ‘em would take.”

Now the young woman looked very uncomfortable and afraid. Even her dog seemed to whimper and cringe a little.

Applejack nearly turned to get the horses going again, but paused once more when she saw her reaction. She stared at her a while, her own face growing a little uneasy. After a moment more, she turned back.

“How’s about I give you one more chance?”

She blinked. “Huh?”

Her eyes leveled on her. “Ya’ didn’t really come from Seaquestria, did ya’?”

The young woman hesitated, looking uncomfortable again. However, she seemed to realize she was caught and bowed her head, grabbing one of her arms with the other. “…No.”

“Alright then. Where did ya’ come from?”

“I…” she half-stammered, “I…I can’t tell you that. And that’s the truth.”

Applejack sat silently and studied her a moment, seeming to assess if that was the case. After a time, however, she nodded back. “Alright then. Not tellin’ the truth ain’t quite the same as lyin’, ‘least not always, so that’s good enough. In that case…” She smiled. “Long as yer headin’ the same way we are, how ‘bout taggin’ along with us?”

The young woman looked up in surprise. However, probably the only thing that seemed to make her more surprised than Applejack’s offer was the fact that almost every member of the Apple family she could see appeared to agree with her. The only exception, unseen by Applejack at the moment, was Braeburn, who looked slightly hesitant. “You…I mean…really?”

“Why sure! Apples ain’t the type ta’ leave folks stranded, an’ travelers could always use a little more company.” She turned to the group. “Ain’t that right, Apples?”

A murmur of assents, some louder and more boisterous than others, sounded out. Braeburn leaned in a little. “Um, coz…”

The young woman didn’t seem to notice him. “I…I don’t know… I don’t want to impose…and, well…” She began to look even uneasier than before.

“Aw, shoot. We don’t mind more company. And it’ll be safer for ya’, ‘specially if ya’ don’t even know yer way ta’ the nearest town.”

“Coz…”

“Ya’ can hop right inta’ the wagon ol’ Great Uncle Apple Strudel’s drivin’. Give yer legs and yer dog’s legs a rest fer a bit. What d’ya say?”

“Cousin Applejack…”

Again, neither the young woman nor Applejack seemed to notice Braeburn’s mild protest. The traveler thought about her offer, looking around the countryside and seeming to silently evaluate her options. Finally, she looked back and took a deep breath. “Well, I…suppose it’d be faster and safer to get to Fort Chestnut like that…”

“That’s the spirit!” Applejack cheered back. She held out her hand. “Name’s Applejack.”

The young woman hesitated again before she tentatively reached out and shook. “Twilight Sparkle.”

“Welcome to the Apple family, Twilight! Just hop on inta’ the wagon and we’ll be on our way. Come along now, we gotta make apples while the sun shines!”

The cheery attitude and smiling, friendly faces seemed to be at least somewhat infectious, as the young woman finally managed a weak smile as her anxiety ebbed. “Alright. Thank you.” Taking up her case, she beckoned to her dog and started running toward the back of the second wagon.

“Give me a holler as soon as yer in!” Applejack shouted behind her.

“Cousin Applejack!”

At once, the farmer wheeled on Braeburn with a much angrier look. “Golldurnit, Braeburn! What was up with ya’ givin’ the cold shoulder back there? Ya’ know Apples don’t treat stranded folks like that!”

“But coz, how’d she get out here if she doesn’t know where the nearest town is?”

“She’s a city folk! They don’t know nothin’ ‘bout travelin’! You ain’t suggestin’ she’s a bandit and is trying to ambush us, are ya’? Her against twenty of us? She ain’t even got any meat on her bones!”

He sighed and looked forward again. “I know, but…but…”

“But what?”

“There’s…I dunno…somethin’ about her that just doesn’t sit right with me. I just got a gut feelin’…and one I’ve never felt before ‘bout anybody… It’s just not right deep down inside me…”

“Aw, maybe it’s just yer stomach actin’ up. There ain’t nothin’ to worry about. Just relax.”

“Well…alright…” he half-muttered. As he turned in his seat, his left hand absent-mindedly shifted to his right and scratched the back of it.

Applejack’s logic seemed to work out. The road did eventually turn north a bit later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, they never reached any other towns, houses, or other signs of civilization the rest of the day. And when the sun went low, even the party of twenty plus one had a harder time keeping noise and spirits up out in country none of them had ever been in. And as no one traveled in the dark anymore, they were forced to pitch a camp for the night.

They started early enough to get a fire going and then burned to coals before they cooked their meal, so that only the faintest glow was still visible by the time night finally fell. It was a warmer time of the year, but everyone huddled in around the coal pit they had made when suppertime came regardless. No one wanted to sleep that far apart. Even Twilight, who had been rather quiet and shy the entire trip, seemed to huddle in closer to the rest of the Apples along with her dog.

Fortunately, they had bowls to spare along with a bit of extra food, so Applejack served her up the same as the others, a bit to her surprise, by plopping one of those bowls with a wooden spoon in her lap. “There ya’ go. Apple family recipe’s own apple-maple flavored beans.”

Twilight looked a bit taken aback by the name, and by the time she tentatively took her spoon and began to pick at it the farmer had already taken a seat alongside her. Not nearly so shy, she began to dig right in.

Rather, she would have if, just as she was about to spoon some into her mouth, she didn’t frown.

“Braeburn, would ya’ stop itchin’ already?”

Applejack's younger cousin was seated across from her and sandwiched between two larger Apples. He hadn’t touched his own food yet and nearly dropped his spoon on being accosted. “Oh…oh, s-s-sorry coz… I just…just keep doin’ it.”

“Ya’ look like ya’ve had a ‘bout with poison oak, is what.”

He frowned but said nothing, before turning his eyes up and staring at Twilight again. Twilight herself was too preoccupied with her food to notice, but Applejack frowned at the gesture. He had been continuously staring back at the second wagon all afternoon, and ever since they stopped he kept looking at Twilight. Not the kind of look one would expect from infatuation either…

A distant wolf howled. Twilight dropped her spoon into her bowl and went rigid as her dog perked his head up. Applejack looked to her and smirked. “Sheesh, yer awful jittery. Ain’t ya’ ever been on the road before?”

“Uh…all the time, actually…” she hesitantly muttered as, shaking a little, she went back for her spoon. “Just usually the more well-traveled ones. Are…are we going to be safe out here if we can’t build a fire?”

“Aw, shoot,” she chuckled, “ain’t nothin’ out here, Nighttouched or otherwise, that can lick a team of Apples. Ain’t that right?”

A chorus of assents from around the fire.

“You ain’t got nothin’ ta’ worry about.” She spooned her first bite of beans in. Twilight calmed a bit more before looking to her own bowl. She stared a bit longer, before she finally took a much smaller spoonful and somewhat nervously put it in her mouth and swallowed.

Her eyes widened a little. “That was…pretty good. I don’t even normally eat beans.”

“Heh, ya’ don’t have to act so surprised, ya’ know,” Applejack joked as she elbowed her…perhaps a little too roughly as it almost knocked Twilight into the Apple on her other side. “Homemade with fresh Apple family apples. Granny Smith’s own recipe.”

Twilight smiled, a little weakly, back as she leaned up again and had another bite.

“So, now that we’re all hunkerin’ down for the evenin’, what’s takin’ ya’ to Fort Chestnut?”

The young woman paused momentarily in mid-bite, looking caught again. “Oh, um…well…uh…” She swallowed her current mouthful. “I’m…just moving on, I guess. I’m a street magician by trade, you see. Never stay in the same place twice.”

She snickered as she had another bite of her own bowl. “I can understand that, but why Fort Chestnut? Don’t imagine many folks there are interested in street magic.”

“Well, I don’t either. It’s more of what I’m getting away from. I was in Fillydelphia last.”

Applejack let out a whistle. “Say no more. I imagine a lot of folks wanna get the hell outta there. From what I’ve heard, they’re expectin’ the next big Nighttouched surge to come in ‘round there somewhere.”

“But you and your family are headed north to Fort Chestnut.”

“Durn straight, we are. We’re gonna link up with the Appleloosan Army and enlist. Soon as we join in the fightin’, our home’ll be put under the Home Soil Act and it’ll be ours. Then the government’ll let us stay on it ‘til Hell freezes over, just so long as someone in the family is still out there fightin’. And if we can lick any Nighttouched that come up on the farm, we can take anyone from Griffonstone.”

This seemed to confuse her. “Wait, Griffonstone?”

Applejack gave her a bit of a puzzled look in response. “Well, yeah. Maybe Trottingham, although they got their own problems to worry about and this ain’t gonna bother them. Somethin’ wrong with that?”

She still looked confused. “No, it’s just…I thought you were all getting together to fight the Nighttouched surge.”

“Well, we may be ‘fore this is all over,” she whistled. Seeing that Twilight still looked confused, she raised her eyebrow. “Ya’ don’t really know how things work on the borders nowadays, do ya’?”

“I, um…suppose I don’t…?”

“Don’t know where ya’ve been…” she muttered to herself. “Fact of the matter is once the Nighttouched come across it don’t matter if ya’ throw an army and every cannon in half of Greater Everfree at ‘em. Once the Light Eaters show up, there ain’t no way to fight ‘em so ya’ gotta pull back. They’ll end up takin’ more land, and so whoever lost land is gonna try and take it from somewhere else, and whoever lost land last time is gonna try and take it from whoever got the worst of it. So dependin’ on where that surge comes across, we gotta be ready to fight off whoever comes after it.”

“Oh…” She quietly answered, going back to her beans. “That makes sense, I guess…”

“Ya’ sound almost disappointed.”

“I mean…I thought it would make more sense to try and fight the Nighttouched, but what you said makes sense…”

She half-chuckled. “Well, don’t ya’ remember right after the Lunar Fall when all them folks did try takin’ back Equestria?”

She winced a little at that. “Well, the truth is the day of the Lunar Fall was…well…a really bad day for me. I’m guessing I’m probably the only person in Greater Equestria who was having such a miserable time she didn’t notice what was going on for a couple weeks.”

“Whoo-whee…that must’ve been some bad day,” Applejack whistled, turning back to her own beans. “Just the same, fightin’ back did no good. All it did was send a lot of folks to an early grave…” Her own upbeat and friendly demeanor waned a little as she said this. Her eyes flicked to one side. “A lot of Appleloosans among ‘em…”

Twilight looked up at Applejack, before wincing a little. “Oh…I’m sorry.”

“Ah, don’t be,” she waved off, her tone picking up again. “At this point there ain’t nobody who ain’t lost somethin’ ta’ what happened after the Lunar Fall. The way I reckon it’s like a twister. Ya’ can’t hate it…it just is what it is. Ya’ just gotta deal with it and move on as best ya’ can. ‘Sides…”

She turned to her.

“Ta’ be honest, I almost wish we were headed out to fight the Nighttouched too.”

“Really?”

“I can’t stand any onery Griffonstone or Mount Eris folk thinkin’ they can mosey on over our border, ‘specially when Mount Eris folk think they’re so high and mighty and Griffonstone folk are all mean sons-of-bitches, but I know they ain’t the real problem. This is all just a waste o’ time and kickin’ the can down the road. So long as Nighttouched keep comin’ out, we’re all just scramblin’. We’re stuck makin’ the best of a bad situation and…well, it stinks, ta’ be honest.”

She smirked once again as she set her bowl down, reached behind her, and pulled out her claw hammer. She showed it to Twilight. “See this?”

A bit confused as to what the significance was, she only tentatively answered. “Yes…”

“This was my pa’s. Day after the Lunar Fall we all saw our first Nighttouched come on the farm. He went right for it and buried the head of this right in its head. I know it ain’t much of a real weapon, but I kept it ever since to keep a bit of pa with me.” She shrugged. “And ta’ tell the truth, sometimes I daydream of what it’d be like to knock the block off a Light Eater with it.”

On hearing that, Twilight looked at the hammer with a bit more appreciation. There wasn’t much to it. It was, at the end of the day, just a sturdy work hammer worn around the handle. Yet Applejack handled it not only with an air of familiarity but even ease and comfort.

She shrugged and put it back. “Anyway, enough yappin’. If granny were here she’d be yellin’ that our food is gettin’ cold. Let’s eat up so we can sleep fer our watch.”

“Um…‘watch’?”

Twilight found out the hard way that one of the things expected of her if she was traveling with the Apple family was that she’d take a turn of her own staying awake to keep watch during the night. She didn’t complain and managed to stay up for it, but an hour before dawn she still ran into trouble when she was found still curled up near the coal pit with her arms around her dog like a big stuffed animal. Apparently she wasn’t used to early mornings nearly as much as the rest of them, considering everyone else was already alert and getting things ready to move.

Applejack, never being one for subtlety, used the toe of her boot to poke her in the middle. “Hey down there! Rise an’ shine!”

Her voice was so loud and resounding that, combined with the clamor of the rest of the family, she let out a moan and cracked her eyes open. “Wh…what?”

“Up an’ at ‘em! Yer gonna miss breakfast ‘fore we head out! Traditional favorite for travelin’ Apples: apple-flavored flapjacks!”

She let out another moan and rubbed at her eyes. “This…this early?”

“Early? Heh, why shoot. It’d still be dark back at the farm. We actually slept in a mite.”

Twilight let out a moan as she let Spike go, who was more than happy to run off. As for Applejack, she leaned back up and turned to the others, who were already getting fresh coals turning and setting up the hot plate to start churning out the flapjacks as fast as possible. “Apple Bumpkin, ya’ can drive the wagon today. I’ll walk alongside. Red Delicious, hurry up with that batter! We got time ta’ make!”

The Apple family member immediately doubled his whisking speed while the others quickly got about setting things up, but Applejack’s eyes soon drifted to one member in particular. Braeburn, who had been tasked with tending the horses, was off to one side scratching furiously at the top of his palm.

Applejack frowned as she walked up to him. “Landsakes, Braeburn, ya’ got chiggers or somethin’? Either go down to the creek and get that washed up or get back to feedin’ the horses. We got a long way ta’-”

Abruptly, Braeburn snapped up from his itching and moved forward and past Applejack toward the sack of oats they had brought. That alone wasn’t what cut Applejack off, though. It was how he not only did it without a word, and not only pushing past Applejack in such a way to nearly push her aside (something he hadn’t been bold enough to do since he was a youngster), but the look on his face. She only caught a glimpse of it, but his eyes were focused, his jaw was clenched, and his mouth was turned down.

He looked angry.

It was enough to make Applejack stand still for a few moments as she watched him silently go about feeding the horses; staring at him. Braeburn was one of the more good-natured Apples in the family. He rarely lost his temper over anything. Yet even if he wasn’t, what in the world would have gotten him so upset?

She soon pushed that away and began to get angry that he had just shoved by her without a word instead, but rather than try and chew him out about it she decided to let it slide for now. As much as they tried to deny it, the trip was a change for all of them. It made sense some of them wouldn’t be acting right.

“Sure wish he’d quit itchin’ himself…” she ended up muttering as she turned to her own chores.

Braeburn’s behavior hadn’t improved by the time they set out, or for the rest of the trip that morning. In spite of Applejack’s preoccupation on getting them to Fort Chestnut as soon as possible, she couldn’t help but fixate on that. Braeburn was easily one of the more talkative members of the Apple family. She often had to practically cover his mouth to get a word in edgewise. That day she didn’t hear a peep from him. He just sat in his corner of the wagon or walked silently.

The only time he registered anything was when Twilight got near him and he gave her a look. At this point, it was no longer just a benign stare but almost, to Applejack, a cold one.

Even a hateful one…

At any rate, they did eventually reach a town that morning. It was more of a village than anything, but it did have people living in it to ask for directions. They only went a short distance into it to find many were already making ready for a potential armed conflict by stockpiling and barricading their respective homes. Although Applejack was walking alongside the wagons, she still took the initiative to ask one passerby about their road. She was pleased to find that her intuition had been right—the road would indeed continue north and eventually turn off to the east back for Appleloosa once the hills broke, and from there to Fort Chestnut.

“Got any other news ‘bout what’s happenin’?”

“Not much,” the local answered. “Most of the news out here comes from train, horse, or occasionally carrier pigeon. Nearest telegraph is still all the way in Seaquestria. Been a lot of travelers like you on the road, though. They keep saying the next surge is going to happen around the tri-country area. That’ll drive three different nations wild at once.”

“I’ll say… Any idea where?”

“Not a clue. The last surge was in Fillydelphia, though.”

“Yeah, I heard that much.”

“There’s this real wild rumor going around though.”

“Oh?”

“A fistful of folks say they saw a Light Eater come across on this latest surge. There’s a rumor someone killed it.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ya’ mean some group of the Fillydelphia Army killed it?”

“No-no…the rumor is it was just one person. Had some kinda crazy new weapon. No one saw what but it made a bunch of light.”

She frowned. “Sounds like pig swallor ta’ me. The kind I don’t like. I lost too many family members to them bastards to have a taste fer it.”

The caravan moved along soon afterward, but in spite of Applejack’s dismissive reaction she couldn’t fully loose the idea from her mind. While she thought it was a load of nonsense, most people in Greater Everfree continued to entertain the idea that somehow, even after eight years of failure, some new weapon or science would come up with a way to hurt or even kill Light Eaters. She was no stranger to tall tales and she knew when to avoid most of them, but this particular one tickled her interest in a way few other stories had.

Enough to where, at last, she moved over to Twilight and Spike while they were walking along and fell in next to them. “Say Twlight?”

“Yes?”

“Ya’ said ya’ came from Fillydelphia, right?”

A pause, in which she looked slightly more uneasy. “Y-yes…”

“Did ya’ happen to hear any rumor ‘bout anyone actually killin’ a Light Eater by themselves?”

Two shades of color drained from Twilight’s face. The air seemed to catch in her throat for a moment. “Uh…I…that…that is…um…”

Applejack frowned. “Shoot, Twilight. What got inta’ ya’? I was just askin’ if ya’ heard ah rumor.”

“Y-y-yeah…yeah, I know, but…I mean…that is…no,” she stammered. “I mean…heard a rumor? No, I haven’t heard any rumors…”

Applejack reminded herself never to peg this traveler for a poker partner, because there was no way she wouldn’t give everything away from her facial expression. It was abundantly clear to her that asking Twilight had upset her in some way, although she had no idea why it would. What would it matter to her either way?

“Ya feelin’ alright?”

“Wh…what? Me? Sure! I feel fine!”

“Well, ya’ sure seem shook up over that.”

“It’s…well…it’s just…I…” She paused. “Um…it’s another one of those things I…don’t like to talk about.”

She shrugged. “Alright, I can appreciate that. A lot of folks don’t even wanna hear people joke ‘bout killin’ Light Eaters. Not after what they’ve seen…”

“Yeah…”

While the caravan did spot one other village in the distance in early afternoon, by the time the evening approached they were once again out in the middle of nowhere. It was a bit worse that day than the one before as the road took them through a stand of forest. Forests were, as a general rule, things to avoid. Aside from being hard for watches to look around in, they provided lots of shadows and crannies for potential Nighttouched to hide. Yet after riding an extra hour to try and get clear from it and only having it get darker faster as a result of being deeper in the forest, Applejack finally groaned and called the team to a halt.

“Alright, alright…might as well stop here fer the night.”

“You sure about that, cousin?”

“It’s gettin’ too dark, Apple Tart. We don’t set up camp now in half an hour we won’t be able ta’ see enough ta’ set up at all.”

Once again, the Apples began to dismount and start setting things up for the evening, including by bringing out their bits of gear and food for the night. Some of them went to tend to the horses while others tried to find a good spot for setting up the fire pit. Applejack herself took off her hat long enough to wipe her brow before putting it back on her head, then turned for the back wagons.

Twilight herself stood to one side with her dog, looking uncertainly from one way to another at the Apples moving around. “Um…excuse me?”

Applejack looked at her.

“You all have been nice enough to let us tag along and feed us, so…is there anything we can do to help?”

She smiled a little. “Sure thing. How’s about you grab yerself one of the lanterns and get it set, then ya’ can help Caramel Apple find us a creek bed to fetch some water.”

“Ok.” She began to get up from the side of the wagon.

“Be quick about it, now,” she called after her. “Once the sunlight starts goin’, we ain’t keepin’ any more lanterns lit, and we don’t want anyone breakin’ their legs comin’ back from the creek.”

As Twilight moved off to the back of the first wagon, one of the men, an uncomfortable look on his face, walked up to the farmer. “Hey cousin?”

“Red Delicious, what ya’ doin’ lollygaggin’ around here? It’s yer turn to chop up some bits for some coals!”

He winced, looking anxious, and gestured over his shoulder. “Braeburn’s got the axe right now.”

“Well, get it from ‘im!”

Now Red began to look afraid. “I…I couldn’t… Applejack,” He swallowed, his voice lowering. “Braeburn’s…actin’ real funny. Somethin’ ain’t right…”

That only made her frown. “Aw Hell, this bull has gone on long enough.” She half-growled, pushing her hat down and walking past Red. “I’m gonna set him straight like I shoulda this mornin’. Boy must have cat-scratch fever with the way he’s itchin’…”

“Ap…Applejack, I’m warnin’ ya’… He don’t look right…”

“I’ll handle it. Just go find us a dried log ta’ chop up.”

The axe was in the back of the second wagon, so Applejack didn’t have to go far. Yet even before reaching it, she soon noticed Red Delicious wasn’t alone in his reactions. All of the Apple family members, both younger and older, were shying away from the back of the wagon. Two of them looked nervously over their shoulders as they did. It didn’t help that, the way the sun was setting, the shadows were growing long in that direction. By the time Applejack reached the backside of the second wagon, she couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy herself.

Especially since the only Apple left standing there at that point was Braeburn, back to her and the others, and brandishing the double-bladed axe in his hands.

It was enough to render her mute for a moment, but only a moment. She frowned soon after. “Braeburn, I don’t know what’s gotten inta’ you today, but we’re settin’ up fer the night and we need some coals for supper, so hand over that axe.”

Silence. Braeburn didn’t move.

She frowned a bit more, pushing down a hint of unease rising in her own gut. “Braeburn, I’m gettin’ sick an’ tired of this. Quit messin’ ‘round and give me that axe.”

Finally, he turned his head. This time, Applejack couldn’t help it. Her own look became uncomfortable when he stared at her. That look in his eye was nothing she had ever seen before. Braeburn didn’t have a mean bone in his body, but this was something else. It was more than a reaction she had never seen out of him.

It was like there was someone else completely behind those eyes.

It was a full two seconds before she spoke: “Braeburn…”

His eyes suddenly looked to the side. At once, the pupils shrank and his eyelids narrowed. He looked like an animal zeroing in on prey.

“You…”

Even the voice didn’t sound like him. All of his normal softness and upbeat tone was gone. On realizing he was looking at someone, Applejack turned to see who.

There stood Twilight, lantern in one hand and rooted in her spot on seeing Braeburn staring at her.

A moment later, Braeburn turned fully around and began to advance on her.

“Braeburn!” Applejack called out. He didn’t stop or look at her. He fully focused on Twilight, and he hefted the axe as he did. “Braeburn, stop right now!” She shouted. While her voice remained firm and cross, inside she was now starting to feel scared. Braeburn was doing more than not acting like himself. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong. And with the look in his eye and the axe in his hand…

She reached out and seized the axe handle, meaning to yank it free. “Brae-”

She cut herself off with a cry a moment later as he twisted his arms sharply, actually wrenching her arm to tear the axe away from her. She stepped back a moment, but as she did her eyes glanced over and saw the hand he had been itching.

It looked like scratches had been made it into it at this point, only they weren’t from regular itches. It almost seemed like a symbol. Worst of all, though, was there was one spot on it that stood out.

It gleamed like a burning hot coal.

Seeing what was going on, the other Apples soon reacted. As Twilight began to nervously step back, Apple Brioche stepped forward in Braeburn’s path. “Now coz, what d’ya think her doin’ with-”

He was cut off as Braeburn, never looking away from Twilight, reached up and forcefully shoved him to one side. That was no small feat in itself as once Brioche planted his feet it was hard for anyone to push him around, but he was shoved away so fast that he was thrown to the ground. Quickly, Red Delicious stepped up next.

“Braeburn, would ya’ just-”

Without a word, Braeburn removed a hand from the axe, made a fist, and backhanded Red Delicious across the face with such violence that his head snapped one way and smacked into the side of the wagon. He instantly fell to the ground in a limp pile, and the surrounding Apples gasped in alarm. Twilight’s dog began to bark at Braeburn as she began to back off quicker. In response, Braeburn hefted the axe higher and picked up his pace.

This was the last straw everyone needed to know something was wrong, and Applejack quickly moved. In a flash, she ran up behind him and slipped her arms under his to put him into a full nelson. For a brief moment, she yanked back and pulled him off his feet, stopping him cold. “Someone get that damn axe away from him! And help me hold-”

Applejack was cut off as Braeburn swung his head back into her face so hard he nearly broke her nose. As it was, it felt like a mule had kicked her in the face, and her lip instantly split. If she wasn’t so dazed, she would have been stunned that Braeburn had managed to actually hit her that hard. Her grip loosened just as two of the other Apples reached him. One managed to grab the axe handle, but he twisted it free and smashed her in the face to knock her away, before, to everyone’s horror, he actually swung the blade out at the other. Thankfully, she managed to pull back, but even so the end of the blade sliced open her overalls. The other Apples quickly pulled back, seeing as he was now actually using his weapon, and now free he quickly barreled in a full charge to Twilight.

The young woman gasped and quickly turned and ran just as he reached her, swinging the axe out for where she had been. The blade whizzed past her fleeing body and sank into the ground instead. It took him a moment to pull it back up, and in that time Spike let out a snarl and seized him by the wrist, digging his teeth in. Braeburn’s face twisted, turning not only cold but angry now. Yet he didn’t even seem to notice the dog biting him hard enough to make him bleed. He simply removed a hand from the axe and punched him in the head. Spike was knocked off of him and sent for a slide and a whimper, and Braeburn quickly took up the axe in both hands again and charged for Twilight at a speed faster than any of the Apples had ever seen him move. He caught up to her as she was at the side of the first wagon and swung the axe out for her again.

This time, there was nowhere for her to run, and she cried out as she dropped to the ground. The axe whizzed over her head and embedded in the side of the wagon so hard it sank in to the shaft, but as a result it was wedged there a moment, and he struggled to yank it free.

The Apples leapt on him again. Three were brave enough to try and dogpile on him, reaching over to seize his arms to try and wrench them off of the axe and pin him down. For a moment, they seemed to have the upper hand, as he couldn’t pry the axe loose and fight them off. Then, giving an angry grunt, he swung his head around and smashed into the head of one of them, knocking them limp, before lashing out with his boot to kick another one off and elbowing another aside. Twilight tried to scramble back in the meantime, but when her eyes caught a glimpse of Braeburn’s hand she froze--staring at it in wide-eyed, immobilized shock.

Braeburn just began to pry part of the blade free, however, when Applejack, lip bleeding down her chin, charged in and swung her fist out for the side of her cousin’s head. It connected solidly enough to jar it right into the side of the wagon, smacking it a second time after the first impact. At last, it was enough for him to loosen his grip on his axe, giving Applejack the moment she needed to wheel around and seize him by his collar.

“Alright, ya’ sonnuvabitch! Ya’ wanna lickin’? I’ll give ya’ one!”

Applejack’s fist smashed into Braeburn’s face with three resounding cracks. The first two barely moved his head back, but the third had all of her might put into it and finally dislodged his grip off of the axe handle and sent him falling back onto his rear end. By now, there weren’t any Apples around to try and jump on him, though. They were either injured from previously or too afraid to get on him. At any rate, he got back on his feet in a snap—his eyes now locked on Applejack.

The farmer’s look stayed hard and fearsome, but inside she couldn’t help but feel increasingly nervous. There wasn’t a member of the family she couldn’t drop with one punch. Even Big Macintosh. Braeburn was from the side of the family that tended to yell “uncle” as soon as she made a fist. She had just hit him with the kind of force she reserved for Nighttouched boars or bears and other than knock him off balance a moment it only seemed to tick him off…

“It’s happening at last…”

Hearing Twilight say that, Applejack turned her head. “What now?”

That was a bad move. Braeburn charged her a moment later bare handed, which was more than bad enough. She felt the air get knocked out of her as he smashed into her gut and ripped her off of her feet, then continued to carry her and tackle her by smashing her into the nearest tree. Strong as Applejack was, that was pushing it even for her. She coughed violently from the impact as pain radiated throughout her back. The trauma was nearly enough to render her limp, yet somehow she forced herself to let her dangling arms go over Braeburn’s body. Gritting her teeth, she laced her fingers together and tightened to form a double-fist, then raised it and smashed it down on Braeburn’s back. It was much weaker than her last blow, but she hoped it let him know she was still a threat.

Somehow through the struggle, she saw Twilight slowly getting back up to her feet, but her eyes were to the ground and a hand was at her temple. “She told me this would happen… She said to use it…”

“Ugh…” Applejack growled. “Just run, will ya’?”

Braeburn surged forward, smashing her into the tree again. It wasn’t as hard as before, but she wasn’t as strong either and this time she went flaccid. Her arms slid off of his body, and he began to peel away from her.

“That spell…what was that spell?” Suddenly, Twilight’s head snapped up to her. “Keep him busy!”

“What in tarnation ya’ goin’ on about…?” she groaned through clenched teeth. Just as Braeburn was about to pull himself free, she took in a deep breath and forced her body to life; throwing herself back on top of him. As he turned around, she put her arms over his back again, and this time brought one arm around his neck. She grasped it with her other and tightened while her legs went up and laced around his middle. She pulled as hard as she could, trying to put him into a sleeper hold.

“I can stop this but I’ve got to remember how! I need to think!”

Applejack had no idea what Twilight was babbling about, but at the moment stopping Braeburn was first on her mind anyway. She kept pulling tight, hoping that it would be enough to knock him out. Unfortunately, it was a simple matter for Braeburn to swing his body backward and against the same tree. The farmer managed to hold on for the first blow, but the second one made her cry out as she felt her ribs bruise. After that, she went limp and second time and fell off of Braeburn all together.

Twilight was backing off and away from the axe, but Braeburn was no longer bothering with it. He tightened his own hands into fists and walked straight toward her. One of the remaining bold Apples took up one of their cast iron skillets and ran up to the side of him. Using both of her own hands, she swung it about and smashed it into the side of his head. He actually did bend over a little at the hit, but unfortunately that was all. A moment later, he snapped up, reached out to seize her by the face, and half-flung her away and into another tree trunk before snapping back to Twilight.

She wasn’t running off, but rather was trying to move around in a circle in the general area; trying to remember something based on the look on her face while she did. Braeburn again moved toward her, but was stopped again as Spike once more got up and this time went for his ankle. Rather than seize his pant leg, he was digging in to try and bite down on the tendon. He seemed to work for a moment, as that made Braeburn falter on his initial bite. Yet he hardly had time to dig in before he wrenched his leg out of the dog’s mouth and kicked him even harder than he had struck him last time. The dog let out an even louder yelp when he went flying after this strike, and on landing he didn’t get up immediately. As for Braeburn, he now had a limp in his walk, but as a result of that he only went a few steps before he stopped trying to walk after Twilight. Instead, as soon as she didn’t look where she was going and got herself stuck in a position between a fallen Apple and a tree, he broke into a charge and reached out to seize her.

Applejack, through her own spinning senses, saw that no one else was available to get up and try and stop him. As a result, she once again bit back her own pain and soreness and forced herself up to her feet. Half-staggering and half-lunging, she forced herself into Braeburn’s path and reached out to seize him by the wrists just as he reached Twilight, then used her own momentum and unbalance to yank him off of his feet. Both went to the ground and into a sideways tumble, rolling over each other several times before stopping with the worst position Applejack wanted: her on the bottom and him on top.

Whatever had gotten ahold of him was again focused on her, and in an instant he wrenched his hands free of hers and seized her by the throat. They turned into iron vises as they crushed inward. Applejack didn’t even have time to gasp as he throttled her hard enough not only to cut off her air but her blood vessels. Her eyes widened in shock. Even if she was at her best she wouldn’t want to be in this position. She wasn’t strong enough to throw him off of her, and he could easily kill her like this. She tried to seize his hands and work her fingers underneath them, but it was no good. He was too strong for that. And in his position, there was no way to roll him either. He was already getting on top of her chest to make sure she couldn’t. She had to think fast. Things were already starting to get fuzzy…

Through it all, though, she felt the hard lump at her back side…

One of her hands left Braeburn’s hands and shot down to her hip. An instant later, she pulled up the claw hammer. For a brief instant, the idea went through her mind to use the head on Braeburn, before she swept it around and laced the claws underneath his fingers instead. With a prying motion, she ripped them off of her neck--letting a rush of blood and air come in. As soon as she had it, for lack of any better option, she swung the claws around and drove them into his upper forearm. It wasn’t meant to be a serious or crippling blow…just enough to wound him to let her get free. The prongs sliced through her shirt and tagged his arm on the other side, opening a gash. While Braeburn was barely reacting to pain, it seemed to be enough to loosen the arm's hand, and quickly she used the moment to raise both hands and brace the shaft of her hammer across his neck. With another cry, using up most of her remaining stamina, she shoved his head back and forced him up and to one side.

As his body rolled one way and she managed to get leverage over it, for a moment she thought she had him…

Suddenly, he let out an angry grunt of his own and kept rolling over, going with her motion all the way to fling her back to the ground and put himself back on top of her again. This time, however, he didn’t try to throttle her. One hand reached out and seized her by the skull in a clenching grasp while the other reached out and seized her hammer. Applejack’s eyes widened as she realized what he intended to do, especially when he tried to twist it free a moment later. She braced herself for it, but weakened as she was and with his strength it was almost too little. Her wrist felt like it nearly sprained from the first twist alone, and soon she had to bring her other hand up just to keep it from being pulled fully free. The two struggled for a moment, but he responded by pushing her head down harder and grinding it against the dirt as if he was trying to crush it. Her grip rapidly began to loosen as he pulled and twisted harder.

Finally, the hammer snapped free from her fingers and he raised it into the sky. His eyes focused on hers with a cold, murderous glare. Her air caught in her throat…

An instant before the hammer could fall, Twilight’s body came over hers. Her right hand was out, the first two index fingers extended and placed together, and they rapidly formed a pattern of straight lines, points, and curves in mid-air. It took the span of less than a second, before she drove both fingers forward and slammed them against Braeburn’s forehead.

To Applejack’s shock, light like purple electricity traced through the air. It was like Twilight had been drawing an invisible symbol in thin air, and now something had caused it to ignite like a match on kerosene. As it blazed forth, Braeburn’s own eyes went wide. The same purple light resonated within them as it lost all hardness and coldness, instead just staring blankly forward. The pupils enlarged; focusing on nothing and seeing beyond the sigil, Twilight, the forest, and everything else.

A moment later, the light died out, and with it so did Braeburn’s strength. His eyes glazed over as his muscles relaxed, and a moment later he moaned once before he simply collapsed and fell off of Applejack all together.

The grove was silent save for the sound of Applejack and Twilight’s heavy breathing. Spike gradually picked himself up and began to move over to his master, and the rest of the Apples slowly started to rise as well. Only about half had seen the actual incident take place, with the other half incapacitated for one or more reasons. Applejack herself stared at the space above her, replaying what had just happened in her mind a few times to determine if she had actually seen that. No one moved much for a full minute, at which point people didn’t know whether to stare at Braeburn or Twilight.

The lavender-haired woman herself finally leaned back and off of Applejack, allowing the farmer to lean up. She stared at her, but Twilight showed nothing. Her hand lowered and she bowed her head. Her face was like someone caught in the act of stealing, but she showed nothing else and said nothing else. At last, Apple Brioche came over to Braeburn’s side. He leaned down next to him for a moment.

“He’s breathing, but he’s out cold.”

“He’ll be fine.”

Everyone looked up to Twilight when she spoke. On realizing all eyes were on her, she shrank back a little more. “He…he just needs some time to wake up…at least he should…”

“What did you do to him just now?” Apple Tart called; her tone slightly accusatory.

She nervously exhaled and ran a hand through her hair. “You won’t believe me if I tell you… Just…know that he won’t act crazy like that again.”

“What d’ya mean he won’t act crazy like that again? What in tarnation just happened anyway? And how did-”

“She’s right,” Applejack suddenly spoke up. “He won’t act like that again.”

The Apples turned to her next, even more confused. However, Applejack’s eyes were now resting on the top of Braeburn’s hand. She could clearly see the markings on it now. Just as she had thought earlier, there was some sort of symbol on top of it etched in his skin. She doubted he had done that by scratching, though. Even carving it in with a knife wouldn’t have been that precise. However, the one marking that had gleamed like a red coal was gone.

A moment later, Applejack turned back to Twiilght. “What just happened?”

“I…I don’t know…”

“Bull,” she spat. “I heard ya’ back there. Ya’ said ‘it’s happenin’ at last’. What’s happenin’?”

She looked twice as nervous on realizing Applejack had heard her. “I…I can’t…”

“What just happened to my cousin? Come on, spit it out!”

“Look…I don’t know why Braeburn suddenly started to act like that. All I know is someone once taught me something to make someone ‘sane’ again.”

She frowned. “Now that don’t make no sense. How’s about-”

“Listen, I’m serious about this!” Twilight suddenly spoke up, in a rare show of force that was enough to make Applejack back down. “The less you know about this the better off you’ll all be, but I’m telling the truth when I say I don’t know why he started to act like that. Look…” She paused to take in a deep breath. “The same person who taught me how to do what you just saw told me one day lots of people everywhere around the world were going to start acting like he just did. One of the last things she taught me to do was how to stop them using that binding sign. She also told me the more people know about how this can happen, the more people it will happen to.”

“Say what? Are you tellin’-”

“Look!” Twilight cut off. She paused to stabilize herself again. “If…if you all don’t trust me or you’re suspicious of me, just say so and Spike and I will leave, but that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

The family was quiet for a moment. Applejack herself kept her glare leveled at Twilight. It didn’t sit well with her that she knew more about this than she was letting on, even if it wouldn’t explain exactly what had happened to Braeburn.

She finally straightened a bit and looked around. “Alright…let’s get everyone bound up and get this camp back in order.”

More than a few surprised looks turned to her. “Say what, coz?”

“Yer just gonna leave it at that?”

“Twilight says she don’t know why Braeburn started actin’ like that an’ I can’t do nothin’ but take her word. Reckon my head would look like a smashed apple now if she hadn’t done what she jus’ did, so I’m willin’ ta’ give her the benefit of the doubt fer now. At least ‘til Braeburn comes to and tells us his side o’ the story. The way I figure, ain’t none of us were gonna stop ‘im if it weren’t for whatever Twilight did jus’ now, so that means we all owe her.”

While everyone may not have liked it, Applejack’s logic did make sense. Twilight herself looked rather surprised that the farmer was backing her up so easily. However, she had another reason for doing so. Twilight did know more than she was letting on, and Applejack had never seen or heard of anything like what had just happened happen before. The only way she was going to find more about it was by sticking with the traveler; not driving her off.

“Come on now, it’s gettin’ dark. We still gotta find a creek.”

Somewhat reluctantly, and with no small number of uneasy looks toward both Braeburn as well as Twilight Sparkle, the group began to pick themselves up. Caramel Apple herself made sure Red Delicious was starting to come around, and not long after Apple Brioche started to get under Braeburn. Twilight herself gave a nod of thanks to Applejack before she started to get up; no longer worrying about helping with chores as she went for Spike. The farmer continued to watch her for a moment from her own spot on the ground.

She finally frowned and got up as well; not noticing that she began to absent-mindedly itch the top of her hand.

Nightwatch: Hired Help

Author's Notes:

Finally I got it out... I apologize again for the delays. In addition to normal real world issues, I'll admit I did try to get caught up on my gaming by playing the Resident Evil 2 remake and Kingdom Hearts 3 (Folks, if you feel like complaining that MLP:FIM has rushed redemptions, then I've just got to say... (deep breath) ok, no spoilers...if I keep going I'll revert into Carl Mode).

It also ended up being longer than I wanted, but a lot goes on in this one.

By the time Rarity had gotten to the train station, she only had time to prepare, what she considered, the “essentials”. That included changing into a stylish traveling dress complete with hat and accessory parasol, rearranging her hair style, retouching her makeup, and packing only two bags with enough clothing and accessories for four changes at the most. Nevertheless, her faithful employees had gotten the train ticket and she was soon off for Appleloosa.

The earliest train that she could get was seats only without sleeping arrangements or even private compartments, and the displeasure on her face from trying to sleep in her seat that night was more than evident, but she made the best that she could of it knowing that beggars couldn’t be choosers. On the good side, the train was only half full. Not too many people were wanting the line she was taking and even fewer would risk it at a time like this. She had a whole seat row to herself the entire trip.

The next morning found her mostly in the same neat, prim, and proper state she had been in that day before. She had one of her small books of poetry open and was reading it over as she waited (and hoped) that she would be able to catch breakfast by the time they arrived. Missing meals was terrible for her waistline and she preferred to be at her best before discussing business.

Yet as she kept reading, she became aware of the train slowing down. She thought little of it at first, figuring it was a narrow turn, but it slowed further than that, and was soon running the slowest it had been since they left the station. By the time she lowered her book and removed her reading glasses, the train was just about to halt. She looked outside at a rather simple, wooden, and run-down station as the locomotive gave out a hiss of steam to signify it stopping.

She blinked in puzzlement as the door to the front opened. The conductor walked in. “End of the line, folks. All off.”

Most of the other passengers in the car seemed to be common laborers or homeward bound. Many of them gave grumbles or sighs as they slowly began to stand up to get their things. Rarity alone remained seated. It was true she rarely took these smaller lines; definitely preferring the more luxurious expresses when she could afford them. As a result, she didn’t know exactly how they worked. She glanced outside again at the sign on the station and looked confused, and turned back to the conductor; who was already hurrying people out so he could join them.

“Um, pardon me sir, but…I couldn’t help but notice that the sign on the station out there read: ‘Neighagra Falls Station’.”

“That it does, miss,” he answered without batting an eye.

She blinked once. “But, you said it was the end of the line…”

“And so it is. On that note, you need to get your things and clear out.”

“Um…please forgive me if I’m mistaken, but…I heard that this train was going all the way to the Macintosh Hills…”

“That was before the latest telegraph from the Appleloosan army. We were passed the message when we crossed the last waystation. They believe the next wave is going to come somewhere through the country ahead. Effective immediately, all rail and road traffic this close to Equestria between here and there is shutting down. This is the last stop.”

Rarity’s pupils turned into dots. She was nearly struck dumb. “L…Last stop?”

“Yes ma’am. Please get off. We have to get this to a rotary station to make it back to Manehattan.”

“But…but-but-but it can’t be the last stop!” she half-cried. “I have to be in the Macintosh Hills and back in six days! How far did we still have to go?”

He shrugged. “Seventy…maybe eighty miles.”

“Eighty miles?!”

“Sorry, lady. Happens all the time this close to Equestria. Now are you getting off?”

By this point, one of Rarity’s eyes was twitching and she was looking progressively more disheveled. Taking a moment to compose herself but still rather frazzled, she began to get out of her seat. “Um, good sir…I don’t think you quite understand. When I said I have to be in the Macintosh Hills and back in six days, I meant I HAVE to be in the Macintosh Hills and back in six days. Is there any way, any way at all, you could make an exception?”

The conductor frowned. “Look missy, I already told you this train is turning around. The government is shutting down these tracks. It’s completely out of my hands. You’ll just have to deal with it.”

“How am I supposed to deal with it?!” she hoarsely cried, before she quickly composed herself again. “I mean…that is…are you certain there’s no other way to get to the Macintosh Hills?”

The man looked like he was getting annoyed with this conversation, but he sighed again. “Why don’t you get out and see if you can hire a Huntsman to take you? There’s plenty passing through the area.”

“…‘Huntsman’?”

He frowned. “You must be from Manehattan… The Huntsman Guild. Mercenaries that act as hired hands. Officially licensed in most countries so long as they’re prohibited from committing federal crimes. For the right price, one of them will do whatever you want. Are you going to disembark or not?”

“Just one more question…where would I find these ‘Huntsmen’ around here?”

“Good grief, Rarity. What have you gotten yourself into?”

The station at Neighagra Falls looked empty enough, but it wasn’t long after huffing and puffing her bags and parasol off of the train that she saw such wasn’t the case. The entire surrounding area was rapidly filling up with refugees from the East and stopped passengers from the West. Not just people, either. Farm animals, wagons, one or two steam-powered carriages, and entire freight cars worth of cargo. It was a mad house and she found herself bumped and jostled several times as she made her way through it. Not the most pleasant of experiences, because in addition to being a dusty and underdeveloped part of the country lacking the niceties of plumbing, gaslighting, or even paved roads many of the people in the area were rather unsavory looking. Several tried to intentionally “bump” into her to relieve her of her bags, and many others gave her none-too-pleasant leers and stares.

She was grateful that the Huntsman Guild had set up a temporary waystation not far from the platform because she wasn’t sure how far she could walk between the crowd, her load, and her heeled dress boots. Amid a large pile of scattered freight from train cars piled high almost in a series of walls or pillars, a large banner had been set up with the emblem of a pair of brass single-shot rifles. According to the conductor this was the spot.

As she wandered in, in spite of the thinning of crowds she didn’t feel much better. The various Huntsmen, each one wearing badges matching the banners and lazing about on crates, standing around in small groups chatting, or making the occasional deal with another citizen, were all rather unpleasant, dirty, and rugged looking. Definitely not the kind of people she was used to dealing with and, in many cases, worse than the crowds she had just pushed through. It didn’t help that a lot of them had weapons on them.

She had to take a deep breath before she walked into their midst. Considering that she was dressed clearly better and cleaner than all of them, she garnered many stares. One Huntsman in particular, a hunched over, wide-mouthed one with a sickening green tint to his eyes, gave her a leer she wasn’t at all comfortable with. She made straight for the nearest group that looked reasonably clean, although she balked a bit when they looked up and spotted her coming.

“Pardon me,” she managed as she came to a stop. “I am looking to hire a Huntsman from this…fine guild.”

The nearest guild members continued to stare at her without expression. The green-eyed one continued to leer.

She cleared her throat. “It’s for a trip to the Macintosh Hills. Starting today. I need to be there and back in six days.”

Several of the guild members broke out in snickers at that. Others rolled their eyes and turned away. In moments, the rest were going back to their tasks, whether it be cleaning weapons, chatting, or simply lounging.

“Please, it’s very, very important!” she immediately insisted. “I’m willing to pay handsomely!”

“Lady…”

She turned, seeing one of the guild members—a thick-jawed and intimidating one with tinted lenses on his glasses—nearly covering her with his shadow as he addressed her.

“You’re asking someone to take you across country to the Macintosh Hills without transportation right when this part of the country is about to either get overrun by Nighttouched or, barring that, Griffonstone soldiers. Maybe Trottingham ones if they decided to join in. Right now, everyone is moving away from here, not toward it. The Macintosh Hills are on the other side of the off-limits zone that Appleloosa set up. No one’s crazy enough to try and go against three governments and a hoard of monsters just to take you 80 miles.”

“But I simply have to! It’s a matter of my company’s survival!”

Hearing that only made the big man snort and turn away, while a few others muttered and moved away from her to try and drown out her requests. Not giving up, she continued to look around imploringly. “If I don’t get out there and back within this week, I’ll be ruined! I thought I heard that a Huntsman will do anything for the right price!”

No response from anyone. Most were back to their own little worlds.

She nearly let out a cry of agony. “Isn’t there anyone willing to help a desperate young lady in her time of need?!”

“None of these joes.”

Rarity looked up on hearing someone respond, but on glancing around herself she saw that no one was paying attention to her anymore. Nevertheless, the voice called out again.

“They’re all just interested in the ‘easy’ jobs.”

Realizing it was actually coming from above her, Rarity looked up.

One of the towers of freight containers was nearby, piled up in a tall stack. Lying across the top of it, arms behind her head and legs crossed, enjoying the air and breeze, was one of the shoddiest-looking Huntsmen she had seen yet. Nevertheless, she could make out the badge on her loosely clad, old jacket, and her rainbow streaked hair stood out shockingly from the rest of her.

Her eyes were closed but a smirk was on her face. “Now, me, on the other hand… I’m what folks like to call the ‘best of the best’. Kind of a celebrity around here, really. I do the jobs no one else will do with a smile. Your little trip to the Macintosh Hills? Heh. Easy peasy, cider squeezie.”

Rarity blinked. “Um, excuse me, but…who are you?”

She grinned, eyes still closed. “Who am I?”

To Rarity’s surprise, she uncrossed her legs, kicked them up in the air, and then used the reverse momentum to swing herself up and onto her feet. As she landed, she pumped a fist in the air with bravado and at last opened her eyes to beam down on the lady.

“Only the fastest, toughest, and most dependable Huntsman there is! Who laughs at danger, sneers at doom, kicks peril in the balls, and leaves hopelessness naked and running home crying to its mother! You’re looking at the one, the only, Sonic Rainboom!”

At once, she leapt off of the top of the crates, causing Rarity to gasp. However, the woman did a nimble forward flip three times over herself while twirling through the air, before sinking to the ground in a straight dive. Rarity quickly pulled back in alarm, but right before landing, the Hunstman snapped around one final time and touched down in a perfect squat, lowering to put one hand to the ground and smirking dangerously the whole time.

She held there for about three seconds, leaving the Manehattanite in total awe, before her smile faded as she turned a little green. “Ugh…” she moaned, rising much more slowly and unsteadily and putting a hand to her head. “Still hung over…” She got to her feet, only to immediately stumble backward and into the crates. She was soon leaning on them to support her weight. “You can call me Rainbow Dash, though…”

For a brief moment, Rarity stood a little perplexed at this sudden turn in behavior, but what she had said soon made her forget all about that. “Pardon me, but just so that I’m perfectly clear…did you just say that you were willing to take me to the Manehattan Hills?”

It took Dash a moment or two, but she finally stood up and, with a bit of effort on her part, smiled once again. “You bet. I’m your Huntsman. I’ll get you where you need to go along with my personal guarantee: I never quit a job until it’s done.”

Rarity sighed in relief and began to smile. “Oh, what a lifesaver… Thank you. Thank you ever so much. You truly are a godsend.” She began to draw herself up, readying to go. “Shall we be off? Like I said, I am really pressed for time…”

“Uh,” Dash held up her finger. “Just one sec… You said something else a little while ago too, didn’t you? Something about being willing to ‘pay handsomely’?” She shrugged. “Not like I do this just for the money or anything, but I got bills to pay just like everyone else.”

“Oh…” her smile ebbed a bit. “Yes, yes, of course. I’m a businesswoman myself. I understand perfectly.” She set her bag down and began to reach for the side pocket of it. “Now, how much will it be for your services?”

“Mmm…about fifteen.”

Rarity blinked, then let out a small airy laugh. “Oh, come now, darling. I appreciate you understanding my plight, but there’s no need to knock off so much from the price for that. Surely your services are worth more than fifteen dollars.”

Dash crooked her eye at her. “I, uh…didn’t mean ‘fifteen’ dollars. Huntsman Guild members charge a bit more than that.” She held up her hands and pinched her fingers to her thumbs, creating a pair of zeroes in midair.

Now Rarity’s smile really did fade as her pupils began to shrink again. “Fifteen hundred dollars..?”

Dash, looking a bit uneasy about how this was going herself, shrugged. “Well, I only got two hands…not four.”

Rarity’s jaw nearly unhinged. “Fif…fifteen…fifteen…” her voice suddenly turned into an overwhelmed cry. “Fifteen thousand dollars?!”

Another shrug. “Hey, I don’t like it much myself, but it’s supply, demand, and I unfortunately got a lot of debts to pay.”

By now, Rarity was clasping her mouth in horror; not only at the price tag but the fact she realized she shouldn’t have yelled that last amount surrounded by mercenaries. Several were staring at her now, so she quickly stepped up to Dash. “I don’t have fifteen thousand dollars on me!” She whispered harshly. “Just because I dress in style doesn’t mean I’m silly enough to bring that much money on a trip to the countryside!”

“Oh, no problem. You can owe me,” she coolly answered. “Just so long as you come up with 10% up front. Standard Huntsman Guild policy.”

“Sta…stand…?!” Rarity was nearly aghast at this point.

“You said you have your own business, right?”

“I can’t come up with that much money!”

Dash shrugged. “Sorry then. Can’t take you.”

Rarity suppressed the urge to scream. “I have to get to the Macintosh Hills! This is a business deal! If I can secure this contract, I’ll be able to pay whatever ridiculous price you want! But I have to get there first!”

“Well, I’ve got to see fifteen hundred first. I’m broke myself. Take it or leave it.”

Rarity flustered a moment, extending her hands in a gesture as if she was ready to strangle the rainbow-haired woman in front of her, before she relented and groaned. “I suppose it’s too much to ask if you have an account with the Manehattan Exchange that I can wire my business to transfer the funds to, isn’t it?”

Dash stared at her puzzled and scratched her head. “I’m not even sure what you just said.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. Listen…” She bent down next to her bag, unzipped it, and pulled out her handbag. She soon went into it for her fountain pen and checkbook. “All I have at the moment is 300 dollars for food expenses and the train ticket I planned to buy to take me back to Manehattan. I can write you a personal check for your fee and then-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Dash put her hands up. “Uh-uh. I don’t do checks. Way too much trouble for a Huntsman Guild member. Cash only.”

“Oh, come on!” Rarity half-whined. “This is all I have!”

Dash shrugged yet again. “Guess we don’t have a deal then. Later.” She turned back to the tower of crates, and after a moment moaned and scratched her head. “How did I get up there again…?”

“Well…well…” Rarity stammered, trying to think of some way to salvage this. None of the other guild members were giving her the time of day. “What if I made it out for the whole amount…?”

Dash ignored her as she reached up and tested the edge of one crate. She half-pulled herself up before she moaned, looking dizzy and going back to the ground. “Ugh… Last night must have been really wild…”

Rarity winced anxiously, trying to think of something. In the end, only one painful idea came to mind. She closed her eyes and half-choked out: “I’ll make it out for twenty thousand!”

Dash stopped trying to climb the crates. She slowly turned around to Rarity, looking in a bit of disbelief. “…Really?”

She sighed as she pinched her temples. “I am desperate to get to the Macintosh Hills. My business will be sunk if I don’t secure this contract. Right now, I don’t care if armies, Nighttouched, or even Light Eaters stand between me and there. I have to sign. I’ll do anything for you to get me there. Will you please accept my offer?”

The Huntsman turned fully back to Rarity and crossed her arms, looking her over and seeming to consider it for a moment or two. Finally, she smiled. Her arms uncrossed and she put out her hand.

“Ma’am…you gotta deal!”

Rarity sighed in relief, although not nearly as much as she would have if she had not just lost twenty thousand dollars she truly hoped she’d have after the contract was finalized, and put out her hand to take Dash’s. After a moment of hesitation, on seeing the exposed parts of her fingers were rather dirty and grimy, she maintained politeness and shook before trying to locate a surface to wipe it off on.

“Just need to get a thing or two and we’ll be on our way. Macintosh Hills, here we come!”

She instantly ran off into the guild crowd, almost immediately tripping and falling on the first crate that was in her way, but picking herself up soon after and running on with undiminished enthusiasm. As for Rarity, she let out another strained sigh and reached for her pocket handkerchief to dab her brow.

She barely had it out when she heard a mutter from nearby. “Poor dumb out-of-towner…”

She turned her head, and saw a number of guild members with their backs to her in a small group. However, they were speaking loud enough for her to overhear.

“She must be from the city if she didn’t hear about the ol’ ‘Sonic Rainboom’ before she got here…”

“Going east? I bet this time she gets her client killed and eaten by Nighttouched…”

Rarity’s look grew uncomfortable all over again, and she began to dab her brow a bit more rigorously.

Rarity may not have been nearly as tough-skinned as the people around her, but she wasn’t so out-of-touch as to think she would somehow be able to get away with dragging her bags eighty miles. With a heavy heart, and having serious doubts as to whether she would ever see them again, she left all but the bare essentials for the contract (transposed to a handbag) by the layover office at the station. However, that didn’t stop her from being woefully underprepared. Both sets of shoes she had brought had some form of heels, and her “traveling dress” was more for the traveling aesthetic than to actually be practical. She was already trembling at the thought of the dirt stains when she finally met up again with Rainbow Dash.

The “thing or two” she had spoken of apparently wasn’t getting any sort of luggage at all save one item…assuming you could consider it. She had fetched a rather large flask and, after making the rounds about several of her fellow guild members (many of whom, at least to Rarity, appeared to chase her off), she finally managed to talk up to the green-eyed one into filling it up from a large jug. Again, Rarity wasn’t so separated from lower social classes to not know liquor when she saw it, and the fact that by now she realized Dash had been hung over when they met began to make her wonder if she had hired an alcoholic. That did nothing to comfort her growing unease about this arrangement.

“Are…you quite sure that is all the, ahem, luggage you require?” she asked when she met back up with her.

“Ha!” she laughed, patting the flask. “This is just a little something for the road. Don’t need all that heavy gear weighing me down. A real Huntsman knows how to get by with nothing but the clothes on her back. ‘Sides, it’s only eighty miles! Not a problem!”

Rarity rolled her eyes at the thought of “only eighty miles”, but said nothing. She gave a bit of a start a moment later as Dash clapped her on the back roughly.

“Now come on! We can stick to the road for a little bit, but then we’ll be roughing it across country!”

She took off, leading the way. Rarity glanced behind her one more time, seeing the green-eyed Huntsman grinning at her, and quickly gulped and turned to follow.

Dash was right about them not staying on the road for very long. There was a fairly well-maintained path running right along outside the station parallel to the tracks, but they didn’t spend more than a half mile on it, still well within the ranges of crowds surrounding the station, when they saw the roadblock up ahead. It was maintained by a tank, of all things, as well as a garrison. From there, Dash turned and led them off the road. That was bad enough as they went right through a drainage ditch for starters, permanently ruining Rarity’s boots. She moaned at the thought of what the next few days would be like.

An hour later, and Rarity’s feet were already killing her. She made a mental note to herself to definitely emphasize practicality in future footwear purchases. The worst part was that they weren’t even in a particularly rough part yet. Dash had led them to side roads for the most part, until they were finally forced to cut across already-abandoned farm fields. Rarity had expected that they would be as even as she always saw them from trains, only to realize that they were full of soft soil and quite ridged from plowing on reaching them.

“Corn certainly looks flatter from the rails…” she moaned aloud as they kept walking. “Um, excuse me, Ms. Dash?”

She was ahead of her, taking the whole thing rather casually. “S’up?”

“How far would you say we’ve gone? Five miles? Ten?”

“Huh? You kidding? Maybe three.”

Rarity moaned.

“I hear that,” Dash echoed back. “Nothing but boring country around here.”

She looked up. “Pardon me, but did you say ‘boring’?”

“Yup. Nothing exciting out here. None of the bandits or highway robbers have moved in. A bunch of farms with no wild animals around. Country’s nice and open. Don’t worry, though. We’ll be getting into much rougher territory before nightfall.”

She grimaced. “Rougher?”

She spun around on her, smiling almost devilishly as she walked backward. “Oh yeah… Some real rough stuff. Just a few more miles ahead and we get to the forests. All sorts of animals in those. Some of them rabid. Some of them maneaters. And some of them? Nighttouched hiding out while the sun is up. You step in one wrong shadow and a Nighttouched’ll pop out and bite off your leg!”

She gulped.

“And get outta that alive? That’s where the roaming bandit gangs have moved in. They’re the ones who eat their victims do they don’t leave any traces.”

The color drained from her face.

“Then the country gets rough. Got to watch out for twisting your ankle, cutting yourself on rocks, putting your hands on nettles or poison oak, and of course all the spiders, snakes, and big bloodsucking horseflies! Wouldn’t even matter if you had repellent. You just sweat it right off! All the bites lead to so much blood loss you get loopy and start losing your way. And the humidity? Oh, it’s a killer! Like you’re drowning in a swamp!”

Rarity wasn’t sure which she hated more in that statement, but her mind kept turning to thoughts of her white traveling dress permanently stained a sickly yellow…

Dash grinned further. “And then comes night. That’s when the Nighttouched come out roaming…stalking…looking for the teeniest, tiniest bit of light…and as soon as they find it, it’s all over!”

Rarity swallowed again. “Yes, and…on that ‘cheerful’ note…what precisely will we do if we happen to encounter a Nighttouched? I happened to realize you didn’t seem to have a weapon with you, Ms. Dash…”

“Weapon? Ha!” She made a fist and flexed her arm. “I am a weapon! Trained by the best! I’ll have you know the ‘Sonic Rainboom’ is the one and only Hunstman in the guild who can take apart a Nighttouched with her bare hands!” She swiveled around. “I only hope we run into a nice big one so I can show you how awesome it looks…”

“I think that’s one lifetime event I can wait a few more years on to check off my ‘bucket list’…” Rarity muttered under her breath; glancing around as she did so as to not let Dash hear it directly. However, on looking about, she stopped in midstep.

Dash noticed she had halted and looked behind her. “S’up?”

She didn’t answer at first. She looked behind them, into the fields of corn they were moving through. Her face was uneasy.

“Nothing, I suppose… I just…thought I saw something. Or someone.”

“Heh, let ‘em come. I’ll set anyone straight who tries following us.”

“Yes, well…what if they have a firearm?”

“Huh? Oh yeah…that might be a problem…”

The Manehattanite moaned as she trudged along.

Unfortunately for Rarity’s feet, the country only got worse as they left the farm fields behind for meadows of open country. That’s when the insects started to buzz and bite, making her uncomfortable all over. Around midday, she got another shock when she asked if there was any chance they could stop for lunch as she hadn’t had breakfast. She expected Dash to show her fishing, trapping, or maybe picking some wild berries.

Instead, she found the nearest rock and pried it up, revealing multiple insects interspersed with fat grubs.

“Perfect! Lots of protein in the big green ones. I once lived off of those for three weeks!”

Needless to say, nausea soon caused Rarity to lose her appetite.

In early afternoon, the two reached a forest planted on the edge of a township and began to make their way through. The way was worse than ever now. Rose vines with hook-like thorns that tore the hem of her dress and deep, rough ravines cut through it, and Rarity was soon mumbling to herself about the “things she did for her profession”. Worst of all, however, was that she kept thinking she saw things behind them every time her head glanced around.

“Eh, relax,” Dash waved off her latest one as she reached for her flask. Taking it up she began to unscrew it. “Nothing to worry about so long as you’re with me.”

Rarity frowned uneasily as Dash took a swig. “I’m not quite sure it’s late enough in the day to start drinking…”

“What, this? Ah no…I never get real sauced on the job. This is just to ease the hangover a bit. Plus I can never say no to cider season.”

Rarity sighed again but kept walking. She only got a few more steps before Dash called behind her again. “So, you’re headed all the way out here for your job, huh?”

She exhaled as she stepped over the latest root in her path. “Yes.”

“I have to say you’re the first person I ever saw who thought getting killed by Nighttouched was worth saving some clothing store.”

Rarity quite visibly frowned at that; although Dash couldn’t see it. “First of all, it’s not a ‘clothing store’. We are a large scale outfitter. We provide custom designs of the latest and most artistic fashions on both the individual and large-scale level. We ran one of the bigger establishments local to Manehattan proper, but recently we expanded to try and go throughout all of the province. However, the upgrade cleaned out our bank accounts. We need to secure this contract in order to keep our business afloat long enough to woo new investors and to gain legitimacy on the market.”

Dash scratched her head and looked behind her. “Making some deal with some Podunk farmer out on the east side of Appleloosa is going to keep some shop in Manehattan afloat?”

She was incensed yet again at how Dash blew off her establishment, but she held it back and remained calm. “This is a deal with a material supplier. We need their fabric to secure the real contract, which is to be the outfitter for the Manehattan Armed Forces.”

This actually got Dash to turn her head around more. “Wait…are you saying you’re going to make uniforms for the Manehattan army?”

“Why yes,” she answered, feeling a bit pleased for the first time now that she had opportunity to boast. She reached into her handbag soon after and pulled out a folded up sketchpad. “These are only my earlier concepts, but some of them approach close to the final design. Have a look.”

Dash finished stopping her flask and put it away, then walked over as Rarity cheerfully showed her the designs. For a few moments, she merely looked them over.

Yet after a bit, she saw Dash’s lips curl up. They pursed as her cheeks grew. She snorted once or twice before she burst out laughing. And not just a little. She actually grabbed her middle and staggered back all the way against a tree trunk laughing her head off.

Rarity was rather confused and even just a little uncomfortable. “What…what’s so funny?”

“Aw man! I should’ve known! Look at that ridiculous getup!” she roared. “That’s just perfect for someone from Manehattan!”

That last part actually struck a bit of a nerve in Rarity. “Excuse me?”

“What’s that on those shoulder pads? Or up and down the middle? And those hats? They look like they belong in a marching band, not an army!”

Rarity’s jaw tightened as she took a deep breath and held her head higher. “I’ll have you know this is just the dress uniform for officers, and that I take immense pride in making sure that my designs are not only fashionable but durable and motile for the customer’s needs. Furthermore, this design was approved by the Manehattan military heads themselves. The trim on the right shoulder is seventeen tassels, representing the-”

“Well of course they would,” Dash snickered, cutting her off as she leaned up again. “They don’t plan on fighting in those uniforms. Everyone knows that Manehattan’s a bunch of gutless cowards.”

Rarity’s eyes widened. She nearly let the sketchpad fall from her grip as she forgot what she was saying.

Dash crossed her arms behind her head and casually went on. “I mean, look at you. Rest of the world is scraping by with whatever they can get, while Manehattan lets Fillydelphia deal with everything so folks like you are free to wear fancy dresses like that and worry about dumb stuff like clothes.”

Rarity’s eyes stayed wide, but one of them began to slightly twitch.

Dash closed her eyes and shrugged. “I mean, I don’t judge. If you think some fancy, schmancy uniforms you’re making for your sewing shop are worth going over some war zone that’s gonna be flooded with monsters pretty soon, so long as you’re paying me I don’t care. It just cracks me up how Manehattan’s living in a different world from the rest of us.”

At once, Rarity’s jaw tightened. Her hands balled into fists. She began to stomp right up to Dash as she continued to casually stand there. “Alright…that is enough!” she shouted with a surprising lack of previous restraint. “Just because an outfitter and the livelihoods of those associated with it clearly mean nothing to you…who, I might add, is hardly in a position to judge considering the leather rags she’s wearing…does not mean that I don’t take a great deal of pride in my work and my business!”

Dash just kept standing there, eyes closed and smirking. It only made Rarity more livid.

“I may not be a fighter or mercenary or suffer from an incredible lack of tact and cleanliness, but I do my job incredibly well and I’ve worked incredibly hard to get it where it is! Considering that this ‘sewing shop’ is what’s going to be paying your exorbitant bill, I would show a bit more respect!”

Dash still didn’t change. Nearly turning red-faced, Rarity got right in hers.

“And furthermore, you haven’t the slightest right to accuse me of being detached from what’s going on in the world! You don’t know anything about me or what the Lunar Fall has done to me and my family! Who do you think you are for daring to suggest such a thing? At this point I’m almost tempted to walk the rest of the way to Macintosh Hills by myself! If you still want that money then you are going to have to apologize this instant! Do you understand?”

Rarity’s last word slowly echoed through the forest. There she stood, glaring daggers at Dash, and there Dash stood, still smirking, still eyes closed, and still standing there.

At long last, it broke. Dash let out a long nasal snore.

The designer recoiled; anger turning to puzzlement. “What?”

A moment later, Dash completely collapsed to the ground like a puppet that had its cords cut. It was so abrupt, it made her leap back and cup a hand to her mouth. Yet she hardly had a moment to think about what just happened when she heard a twisted, high-pitched snicker behind her.

“Hee-hee…stupid Fillydelphian!”

Rarity snapped around in fright. She really did gasp soon after.

Directly behind her was the green-eyed Huntsman from before, looking just as hunched over and creepy as last time. He had two friends with him that were taller but didn’t look much better. They likewise were grinning as they approached.

“She’d take drink from outhouse if say it’s cider!” the one on the green-eyed Huntsman's left cackled.

Rarity didn’t have time to put two and two together. She was exclaiming in fright instead as she saw the woods around her come alive with an entire squad of goons. Each one was ugly, smelly, heavily armed, and unpleasant to look at, but apparently all had been hiding in ambush waiting for just this moment. Cringing, she began to step back, but there was no escape. Even if she could run in her current footwear, they had been planning on the two coming this way and had them surrounded on all sides. Now all were closing in at once.

Her only hope was Rainbow Dash, but on spinning around and looking at her she saw she wouldn’t be helping anyone anytime soon. The smirk was still on her face as she snored away on the forest floor.

“Time for your nap too, pretty lady!”

The designer heard the voice of the biggest of the three right behind her, but didn’t even have a chance to turn around before something heavy and hard struck the back of her head and all went to black.

“Uh…”

It was the sound of her own voice that awakened Rarity some time later. She was brought fully back to her senses, however, by realizing she felt rather constrained and in pain at the moment. And not just from the soles of her still-throbbing feet. A rather radiating and tender pain was in the back of her head, but she pushed through it and slowly opened her eyes up again. It took some time for her vision to clear and for her brain to remember where she was, but as soon as she recalled her last memories her vision revealed her situation had not improved.

They were still in the clearing, only now she found it filled up with the rough men from earlier. They were so dirty and uncouth the area actually stank from them crowding together in it. The three she had initially spotted were ransacking her handbag while the others looked on with weapons exposed. As for Rainbow Dash, she was still snoozing away against the trunk of a tree nearby. She hadn’t gotten there of her own accord, however. They had actually chained her to it.

And it didn’t take her long to realize she wasn’t in much better condition. Just inhaling a bit deeply made her feel a pain across her chest, and on looking down at herself she saw she was similarly tied to a tree. They had only used ropes with her, but they had tied her hands behind her as well as bound her chest and waist separately. Her anxiety immediately began to rise. She gave her bonds a pull, but even if she was the sort of person to put real effort into a struggle she couldn’t have budged. They were far too tight. Furthermore, she only got to try for a moment before she heard an angry yell. “Bah!”

In alarm, she looked up and spotted the green-eyed Huntsman throwing her bag to the ground in disgust. “No money! Stupid Manehattan woman only have paper book!”

The bigger of the two others, the one who had apparently knocked Rarity out, spoke up mildly. “You mean checkbook?”

“Checkbook like money,” the third one shrugged.

“Fool!” the first snapped back. “Paper can bounce!”

The two stared back at him curiously, neither quite grasping what he was saying. After a moment, the smaller of the two reached out, took up Rarity’s checkbook, ripped out one, crumpled it into a ball, and then dropped it to the ground; as if indeed expecting it to bounce.

The first hissed before smacking him over the head. “It mean not worth anything! Stupid Manehattan have no money and no jewels! Waste of time!”

“That not true,” the third one spoke up again. “Got rainbow-headed girl. And Manehattan woman real looker, right?”

The big one glanced at her. Rarity let out a gulp on seeing him stare, but he did nothing but evaluate her a moment before turning back to the others. “She don’t see better than us.”

The third growled. “I mean she get good price!”

The first thought this over for a moment, then began to smirk. “Yes…Manehattan woman is very pretty. Good shape too. Maybe worth more than money.”

“Maybe…” the third one ventured, sounding almost hopeful. “We get to use her first? Goods only…slightly used?”

The other two stared at him in puzzlement. He winced.

“Er…low damage? One size fit all? Two hands?”

The first one smacked him again. “Stop saying stupid words!”

Rarity, by now, had more than the gist of what they were saying, and she was completely aghast to hear it. She would have thought of telling off the conductor for ever getting her involved with these mercenaries if she wasn’t petrified about what they were talking about doing to her.

In spite of this threat, however, her mind couldn’t help but pick up on other details.

One was that the three men who were currently arguing seemed to hold some sway over the others in their group, who were doing little more than standing around and staring at them as they argued.

What more, based on their near infantile level of speech and accents, they were from a variety of the smaller city-states and provinces that had been overrun from the Lunar Fall, but most of them didn’t speak the languages of the others. They were having to rely on the Manehattan dialect for commonality and none of them were that well versed in it. And the fact they were so easily being confused, and even more easily getting irate over it, meant to her they weren’t exactly that intelligent.

Finally, she glanced to Dash. She had put enough together at this point to realize the only reason the green-eyed Huntsman gave her any cider was to drug it for the sole purpose of ambushing them once they got there and that was the reason for her passing out. However, she was no longer snoring. As she looked at her now, her nose wrinkled once; perhaps catching the scent of the men around her.

She had no idea if all of her boasting was nothing but idle words, and even if it wasn’t how that would do against chains and a dozen men, but the very fact she was chained instead of tied meant they had to fear her. With that in mind, Rarity decided on her gamble and hoped it paid off.

She looked back to the three men, trying to think of this like any other affair where she had ever had to deal with someone “difficult”. “Ex…excuse me? Gentlemen?”

The three turned to her in unison, although only the leader seemed to realize what “gentlemen” meant.

“I couldn’t help but overhear just now… You don’t truly mean to sell me into some sort of slave ring, do you?”

This made the lead one grin wider. “No…no slave ring. They not pay nearly as much as underground bath house…”

Rarity felt her blood curdle a little at that, but somehow managed to keep her normal business demeanor as she looked a bit astonished. “I don’t suppose I could persuade you to rethink this, ahem, business transaction, could I? I mean, I am someone of means and I have connections in Manehattan. I might be able to make letting me go free more worth your while.”

The biggest one snorted. “No lady! A bush in the bird is worth two in the hand!”

“Quiet!” the first one snapped back, having looked immediately intrigued by the proposal. He quickly grabbed the big one by the ear as well as his companion and spun them around. As soon as he made sure Rarity couldn’t see him, he began to mutter loudly to the others, but even if he hadn’t had to eventually raise his volume so high she could get what he was saying she knew full well they didn’t plan on releasing her. However, they clearly thought the possibility of even more money shouldn’t be discounted either. No doubt the green-eyed one overheard the price she sounded out earlier and thought she was loaded.

They finally wheeled around. “Ok, Manehattan lady. You pay us.”

“Oh, thank you. I’m ever so grateful we could make that arrangement,” she answered properly. “Now then, just how much do you believe my freedom is worth to you?”

“Everything.”

She looked puzzled. “Excuse me?”

“You get us all your money, Manehattan lady,” he answered with a wide grin. “Or we find other way to get more from you.” He licked his lips at this part.

Again, Rarity was forced to suppress her revulsion. She glanced to Dash but saw no other change. Sighing mentally, she nodded. “Well, I suppose if that’s the way it has to be, then that’s the way it has to be. If you would be so kind as to give me my checkbook-”

“No paper!” he cut off with a sharp sneer. “Paper bounce!”

“Um…paper not bounc-”

“Stop talking, fool!”

Rarity was quiet a moment before making a fake sheepish smile. “Oh…oh yes, of course.”

“And if you only have paper…” he began to respond, grinning again and holding his hands up as he advanced toward her.

“T-T-Then again…I could always telegraph my associates back in Manehattan to wire you the funds!” she quickly interjected, getting him to stop again. “I only need to write down some proper authorization and you could take it to the nearest telegraph operator and you’d have your money in less than twelve hours!”

That was, of course, blatantly false, as none of the ruffians had a bank account linked to the Manehattan Exchange to get the money, but as Rarity had guessed they were too stupid to know any better. After a moment, they looked to each other hopefully. Rarity cast another glance at Dash but saw, other than another nose wrinkle, she was still out and suppressed a sigh.

“Fine, Manehattan lady,” the lead finally spoke up again. “You write telegrams.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Um…” she paused, before wriggling a bit in her ropes. “I’ll be needing my hands free…”

He narrowed his eyes at her a moment, but fortunately looked to the big one among them and nodded. Soon after, he came stomping over, went behind her tree, and unbound her hands. Her upper and lower torso remained tied, but she got enough room to let her fingers flex and move again, as well as was able to hold them in front of her. However, after that, she paused while the thugs stared at her.

“I’ll…also be needing some paper of some sort.”

The lead huffed and looked to the third. He, of course, was clueless. He had to make the rounds to all the rest of the thugs searching them for any paper they could find. All the while, Rarity continued to look at Dash but saw little improvement. It wasn’t until one managed to turn up a book that one of the lesser thugs had swiped, even though he couldn’t read, that she noticed Dash wince again, this time a bit more strongly than before, but slumped idly soon after.

As the book was presented to her, she looked up once more. “And…a pen?”

The leader yelled in frustration before they began to rummage among themselves again. However, when he yelled, Rarity managed to catch Dash momentarily wincing again. Apparently, as smelly and rough as the ambushers were, they were being at least quiet enough for her to continue to sleep undisturbed. If they were to make a bit more noise, however…

Rarity’s own pen from her handbag being nearly thrown into her chest interrupted that thought, and soon the shadows of all three main ruffians were hanging over her.

“Now write, Manehattan lady! Now!”

She hesitated again before taking up the pen. She quickly glanced around one more time, looking over those in the group and mentally counting that there were a dozen even. With that in mind, she smiled slightly and took up the paper to start writing.

“Yes, yes, of course… Now then…” She began to start scribbling. “I have 130 thousand available to dole out, and I see one, two, three… Oh dear.” She put the pen to her lips in a thoughtful expression. “It seems we have a problem. There are twelve of you and 130 thousand simply doesn’t divide that easily.” She looked up to the leader.

“It would be an absolute beast to try and split across all of you. My associates at home would never understand what I was getting at. How about I write out ten thousand to eleven of you and whoever deserves it the most will get twenty thousand?”

None of the thugs, as expected, paused to challenge this assumption. Their minds focused only on the twenty thousand versus the ten thousand. It only took moments for their leader to smirk. “Easy. I get twenty thousand. All my idea.”

At once, the third one frowned. “Hey! My idea to use drug cider! You have to deal with rainbow head if not for me!”

“Bah!” the lead sneered back, jabbing at his own chest. “I’m the one who give stupid rainbow head the cider!”

“I also follow them out here!” the third protested further, stepping forward toward the lead. “You get lost at first tree!”

“You not even be here if not for me!”

“Hey,” the big one spoke up mildly, “I bring chain…”

The first snapped to him with a glare. “So?”

He frowned back. “I tie stupid Fillydelphian up!”

“She asleep, fool! Your chain don’t matter!”

“I tie up Manehattan woman too! I do all the work!”

“Bah! Any one of blockheads could tie up!”

Several of the group around the three clenched their teeth at that insult.

This made the third one grow thoughtful. “Hey…why all them get ten thousand?” he muttered, gesturing around. “They do nothing! They just spares!”

Now the group around them truly got incensed. “What you say?”

The first one ignored them, looking up. “You right! They not need ten thousand! Five thousand good enough for them!”

“One thousand good enough for them!” the third corrected.

That was the last straw. At once, several of the other thugs began to snarl and step forward. “You try to cheat us!”

“You don’t get ten thousand for no work! You just follow us! You all get one thousand…” He wheeled on the big one nearby. “You get two thousand…” Finally, he turned back to the third. “And we decide what to do with rest!”

“Sound fine by me!”

The other thugs began to close in now, and the big one growled. “I have to pay for chain and rope! You pay me back what I owe!”

“Idiot! Chain and rope only cost-”

He was cut off as the big one shot out a hand and seized him around the neck. His other hand went out at the same time and seized the other by his own neck. The big one’s teeth clenched as he began to look very angry.

“You pay me ten thousand…or we going to have to dig two holes.”

A chorus of clicks rang out soon after that--the sound of caplocks. The three looked up and around and saw six of their former companions now had their respective firearms up and were aiming at the three of them. The rest were drawing whatever hand weapons they had.

“You pay all ten thousand…or we going to have to dig three holes.”

The big one was surprised by the move and let his hands loosen. The other two seized that opportunity to snap free. At once, the leader drew a couple of glaives with hook-like claws from his sides, while the third pulled out a pair of caplock pistols. “Put guns down now or I claw throat out!”

“Nobody backstab me!” the third yelled.

The second, now recovered, flexed his muscles—not even bothering with a weapon. “I take you all down!”

“Ugh…what’s all this racket…? Can’t a girl sleep off a hangover…?”

Everyone in the thug’s group froze simultaneously, while Rarity rolled her eyes and sighed in a gesture that could only mean “finally”. They all turned and looked and saw Dash’s head was up again. She was wincing and groggy, but her eyes were cracked open. She blinked and looked over herself.

“Aw man…did I get in trouble with the Appleloosan magistrates again…?” She moaned once more. However, after blinking a few times, full awareness of the situation and how she got there seemed to come back to her. She looked up and her eyes zeroed in on the green-eyed Hunstman.

“Rover…” she groaned. “I should’ve known… Never got over me taking the Baltimare job from you, did ya’? After I beat your butt black and blue, I thought you’d have learned.”

The green-eyed Hunstman snarled. “Still don’t sit right…” He grinned soon after. “But ha! Now you in trouble, rainbow haired fool! You chained this time instead of roped! Big contract out by rivals on you! You going to pay me back with interest!”

The big one scratched his head. “Interested in what?”

The third one smacked him over the head this time.

Dash, still seemingly a little out of it, smirked and snickered. “You went and made a contract with someone to take out another Huntsman’s Guild member? Now that’s against the rules, Rover. Not only are you out of the guild, I’m in my rights to take you down right now…for good, if you get my drift.”

“Ha! Twelve of us, one of you! And you can’t get free!”

Dash looked again at her bindings idly. She pulled against them a moment, showing some discomfort, but other than rattling them didn’t get very far. She gave up after a moment. Taking that as a sign of defeat, the gang began to grin and snicker at her.

A moment later, she closed her eyes and sighed.

“Well nuts…I got a client, which means I gotta use it again…”

Her eyes opened, and she looked past the grinning, cruel faces to Rarity.

“I wanted to do this at a really awesome moment so it’d look cooler, but…this is gonna have to do. I can’t get out any other way.”

This made Rover frown. “What you saying?” He looked between the two of them. “What you telling her? You passing code? It not matter! Nothing save you now!”

For a moment, Dash leaned back, her smile growing wistful.

“An old friend might.”

She extended one of her hands out, spreading the fingers wide.

“Come on out, Captain Spitfire!”

The last two words she spoke almost didn’t even sound like Dash’s voice, but something more powerful that actually shook the air and surrounding trees. Immediately, and to the surprise of everyone present, Rarity included, a blue aura began to radiate from all around Dash’s body. From beneath one of her gloves, a light burst forth like a wire frame that had been heated. It traced the image of what looked like some sort of hexagon, but with one of the points on it gleaming bigger and bluer than the rest of it.

As Dash continued to glow, faint rays of light, like sunbeams, streamed off of her body and formed over her into some sort of cloud or mist. Rarity couldn’t tell what it was exactly; although, for just a moment, she almost thought she saw it start to take shape into something. It broke before it could, but further changes came around Dash. Her shabby clothing suddenly tightened and mended slightly, becoming more form fitting and less baggy. Her hair, normally wild, was caught up in a wind that came forth from the blue light, and for a moment it looked like it tried to style itself in a different way. However, that too aborted soon after, although Dash was still left gleaming.

She didn’t seem to mind. She was now looking fully alert and, more than that, grinning dangerously. She took in a deep breath and tightened both hands into fists as the alarmed thugs continued to look on in surprise. Then she yelled out a sharp cry and flexed. With just the slightest resistance, the chain around her broke in four different places.

In an instant, Dash snapped up to her feet, and with a sharp turn of her heel brought her legs together and her hands up into a fighting stance; never stopping smiling.

She didn’t stay there long, though. She was off in a snap, and Rarity's jaw dropped at her speed as she shot right into the midst of three of the lesser thugs and buried her fist in the center one’s face. The sound making contact was practically a small thunderclap. His two companions didn’t even know she was there until they saw their friend, blood streaming out of his nose and eyes rolling back in his head, collapse like a ton of bricks. Just as quickly, her other arm’s elbow snapped out and drove itself in under the sternum of the thug on the left. Another resounding smack rang out, joined by what sounded like a rib breaking, and that thug gagged and bent over before falling as well. Finally, she snapped her first fist up by rotating her upper arm and let the upper knuckles embed themselves into the third’s forehead. Rarity almost swore she saw them sink in as he was knocked away head first and spread on the ground.

"Three down, nine to go!"

Still grinning, Dash’s eyes flicked up to the next nearest group. They were stunned at her sudden display of speed and power, but quickly began to get their weapons ready. Abruptly, she flung herself forward in a half-roll, half-leap, hurling herself into the air and spinning around on her own axis right into their midst. One of them gaped in astonishment at her sudden move, and as a result failed to defend himself as she came down, extended a leg, and slammed it on top of his head. The impact was so hard it was like a giant with a hammer had treated him like an oversized nail when he slammed into the dirt. She touched down a second later, but barely stayed put before she shifted weight to her other leg and swung her opposite one backward. Her timing was perfect. She caught the axe that one of the thugs was wielding as he tried to come up behind her and knocked it clean out of his grip into the air.

His partner drew a long knife of his own and quickly tried to bury it in her chest at close range. Dash responded with a snicker. Rarity wasn’t able to tell what happened next; only seeing the ruffian spasm in pain before dropping his knife and then the rest of him to the ground. In truth, Dash had moved so fast one of her fists went in just as the thug was readying his knife and punched him in the underarm. That stunned him long enough for her to give a second blow to his head to put him down. While he was still falling, she snapped her body around and faced the thug she disarmed; still dumbfounded at watching his own axe in midair. Her hands came around and powerfully boxed him across the ears, and while he was still rearing to gag from that her knee came up and struck him in the jaw. His head snapped upward, and soon after the rest of him sank to the ground in a heap.

"Gotta keep paying attention in this game, buddy!" she mocked as his axe finally clattered to the ground at his feet.

She turned her head to the others, at some distance, but hesitated for a fraction of a second. The next three all had their guns still out and were aimed right at her.

Yet rather than charge or dodge, she snickered again and simply faced them. “Never pulled this off from this close…” she muttered as her hands glowed a little more brightly.

All three gunshots went off one after the other. Rarity nearly looked away on seeing Dash standing right in their path, but the Hunstman herself responded by extending both arms and moving them even faster than she had before. It made it look as if her hands had been painted on a canvas and then blurred before the paint had a chance to dry. It lasted only a moment, until the last echo of the final shot had gone off.

Dash was still standing there; her hands extended but now clenched into fists. She chuckled again as she opened them up. Rarity gasped again on seeing three rifle bullets fall out of them.

“Don’t make bullets as fast as they used to, huh?”

Two of the thugs, the smarter of them, immediately threw down their weapons, turned, and bolted in terror. The third foolishly began to try and reload in spite of the fact he was still using a powder charge.

Dash ignored him, instead nimbly slipping to one side and right past the two swinging claws of Rover as he cried out, giving his position away, and tried to slash her from behind. The pistol-wielding one had also been taking aim at her back and fired at the same time, which wasn’t the best move in the world. She easily ducked and swiveled her head to one side to avoid one shot, but Rover’s shoulder had gotten right in the path of the other one and a small eruption of blood resulted as the bullet tore into it.

He cried out as that arm faltered and whirled around in rage. He began to rant at him, but Dash used the moment to advance. Her arms nimbly went out, braced against his good wrist with one, and then swung down powerfully with the other. The blow had such power that it snapped all three blades off of the glaive on his good arm and wrenched his wrist into a sprain. He wheeled around to her in shock and pain, and saw her right in his face.

“Didn’t your mom teach you not to run with scissors?”

Two rapid blows flashed out and batted Rover’s head around like a punching bag on a chain, before she drove a palm into his middle. All of the air rushed out of his lungs and his green eyes bulged from his head as he was flung away from Dash like a kicked tin can.

She spun around to the pistol-wielder, who was totally at a loss. His pistols were single-shot, so now his small brain couldn’t decide which to dump to free a hand to reload the other. He never got a chance to decide as Dash lashed out with one foot, hooked it under a loose rock, and knocked it into the air. She leaned back, raising one of her legs, and as it came down she kicked the rock and sent it smacking into the pistol-wielder's head. Another stunned cry later, and he went down as well.

As Dash straightened herself, the ground around her shook a little. She turned her head and saw the big thug approaching. He had taken the moment to rip his shirt off and show his muscle, which was considerable, and was lacing his fingers together and cracking them as he neared. He towered over her by a good nine inches when he finally pulled back his dominant fist as far as he could before taking a swing at her.

Her smile faded into a bored look as she easily caught the fist with one hand, and held without buckling despite the fact it was twice as big as hers. “Why is it you big meatheads never know how to do anything but punch?”

Sighing, she threw a single, non-frills punch into his middle. In spite of that, his eyes bulged even more than Rover’s had, and his mouth hung open and gagged for air as his strength left him. She simply released his hand and took two steps back, letting the rest of him slowly collapse to the ground.

She dusted her hands for a moment afterward. “Let’s see, is that everyone? Wait, no…one more.” She turned and looked to the last thug, who had only just managed to start putting powder into his rifle barrel. He was so nervous by now he was making a total mess of it and getting it everywhere. He continued to fumble with it as Dash simply rolled her eyes, walked right up to him, and snatched it right out of his hands.

“Seriously?” she asked as she crossed the metal barrel over her knee and, with another rapid move, drove it upward sharp enough to bend it at the middle.

Dropping his powder, the thug turned and took off after his two friends; yelping like a panicked dog the whole way.

Dash laced her own fingers together and stretched them over her head. Her glow died down and her clothes resumed looking looser and shabbier as her hair went wild again. “Man, what a waste… Wouldn’t have needed it if it wasn’t for those dumb chains…” She turned fully around and grinned at Rarity. “But that was still pretty awesome, right?”

The woman was still dumbfounded. She gazed around at the aftermath unblinking. “How did…? When did…? You just…? But…but…?”

“Speechless, eh? Well, the Sonic Rainboom does have that effect on people, so don’t feel bad about it.” She strolled over to Rarity’s side and bent down to begin untying her.

She was halfway through it before Rarity got enough of her bearings to speak coherently. “I…I never saw anything like that before… Did you, um…well, pardon me if being rude, but…did I just see you, ahem…glow?”

She shrugged. “I guess so. I kind of always see myself glowing in the middle of a fight, y’know?”

“That’s not what I meant. I could have sworn I saw something glowing beneath your glove bright enough to see through it… And that name you said… It was a ‘Captain Spitfire’…?”

Suddenly, Dash stopped in the middle of her untying. Rarity, puzzled, looked over to her, and saw she was staring back at her with total seriousness.

“Ma’am, as we have a contract I’ll stick with you no matter what…but I would really prefer if we don’t talk about what just happened again, alright?”

It was very subtle, but Rarity thought she almost heard a word of warning on that voice. Considering what she had just seen, it was enough to unnerve her just a bit. And considering the fact she was still tied, she silently nodded soon after. “Very well.”

Dash stared at her a second longer before going back to untying her. As the last of her ropes came off and she let out an exhale of relief, she seemed to become her old attitude again. Rarity herself got up and began to pull at her dress. “If any of those ropes caused a run in this blouse, I’ll be just beside myself…” After giving it a careful inspection, she turned to start recollecting her handbag, only to freeze on seeing most of the thugs were still there and writhing or moaning.

Dash picked up on this. “Eh, don’t worry about them. They won’t be causing any more trouble. When I hit someone, they keep feeling it a week later.” She raised her head a bit to the thugs. “I thought that would have scared someone like Rover off from trying a stunt like this, but apparently not, eh?”

Rover let out a weak snarl; all he could manage from the air he had recovered.

“By the way, fellas, don’t think I won’t forget about this when I hit the next guild branch. I’d start applying for new jobs, if you get my drift.” She turned to Rarity. “Just pick up your things and we’ll get going. Sorry for this ‘detour’. We got time to make up now.”

Rarity ignored that part as she quickly went around and gathered her items. As she was putting the last in her bag, she looked at the Huntsman uncertainly. “Is this…all that we’re really going to do with them? Just leave them here?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s already mid-afternoon. As soon as they can walk they got to worry about getting back to Neighagra Falls or they’ll be out in the dark in country that could get surged any moment.”

Rarity glanced to Rover, who in the middle of his pain and breathlessness spared every moment he could to glare at Dash angrily. “While I can see your point, that one over there seems as if he has a vendetta for you and isn’t quite wise enough to know when to leave well enough alone…”

She shrugged. “Well, if he tries to attack me again, I’ll just have to beat him up again.”

“Yes, but…what if he gets the drop on you again? Or if he does another trick like he did with the cider but with poison-”

“Lady,” Dash suddenly cut off, her tone sharper as she crossed her arms, “what are you trying to ask me? Are you telling me to kill him so he won’t bother us anymore?”

Having it put out so bluntly took Rarity aback. “N-No! No, I mean…perish the thought! Sure, I am a little worried about him coming back to haunt us…er, you… I would just prefer if there was some way we could be sure he wouldn’t cause any more trouble. For us or anyone else.”

That only made Dash roll her eyes. “Look Rarity…I don’t know if folks in Manehattan are so out-of-touch they don’t know what’s going on, but Greater Everfree is kinda in the ‘Last Days’ right now. The Light Eaters are taking over the continent. Maybe only a mile one year and maybe a hundred on another, but they’re coming and nobody’s stopping them. As far as I’m concerned we’re all going to die pretty soon. Part of the reason I use my fists is I don’t really feel like saving them any trouble, get me?”

She spoke with such sudden conviction and force compared to her earlier devil-may-care attitude that it caught Rarity all over again. It even made her feel a bit ashamed for suggesting the thing.

Dash paused a moment before waving her hand, turning, and beginning to walk. “I’m not stupid enough to think the world’s all sunshine and good feelings, but you better stop and think the next time you want someone out of the way just to make yourself ‘feel safer’. Coming?”

Rarity hesitated. This last part made her pause and her expression turn a bit darker and more uncomfortable. “Yes…yes, of course.” Drawing herself up, she took off in a more rapid pace to catch up.

Nightwatch: Campfire Tale

The grove was empty, quiet, and deserted. The half-full moon provided some illumination through the thinner branches, but it was still largely dark and covered with shadows. Crickets chirping filled the air. An owl hooted.

Celestia stood just within the tree line, concealed by branches and underbrush, and took a deep breath. She looked down to her hand, ignoring the hexagonal symbol and instead focusing on a gold bracelet with a single sapphire mounted into it. She looked up again, steeled herself, and began to walk out.

Nothing immediately responded as she emerged, but she continued to look one way and another. None of the shadows or the shapes within them moved. She heard nothing, but knew full well this was the spot and this was the time.

“I’m here, Sunset,” she called, breaking the silence at last.

No answer. Celestia’s face grew uncomfortable, and she looked around a bit more as she continued to walk to the center. Her step gradually did begin to slow at the continued lack of response, and her hand bearing her symbol and her bracelet began to raise in anticipation.

The sound, familiar to her, of magical runes being activated rang out around her. She saw light rise up nearby and quickly wheeled to it. However, she saw nothing ahead of her. For a fraction of a second she hesitated before she looked at her feet. A series of circular symbols were lighting up right beneath her. Gasping at the realization of her mistake, she quickly brought her other hand around to grasp her bracelet…

Too late. The runes completed and burst into full golden light, and in response the sound of chains whipping through the air erupted. A pair of shackles burst from the edges and tagged her wrists right before she could touch the bracelet, and with a sharp tug that made her cry out yanked both of her arms back. Two more quickly lashed against her ankles while another large shackle shot up beneath her and tethered to her waist. Those along with the wrist shackles began to both stretch her and yank her down to her knees.

She opened her mouth and got out three arcane syllables before another shackle clamped around her neck; yanking her down like a dog on a leash. She gagged, but when she recovered enough to speak again all chains and shackles binding her began to burn, forcing her to call off her spell before she could speak it. Soon she was stretched, bent, and barely able to keep herself from being ground into the dirt by the golden chains.

Celestia struggled against them, but all in vain. Her bonds only grew tighter and more painful for her attempts to break free. She was allowed to struggle for a full minute, in particularly to use the shackle on her wrist to push her bracelet off her hand, but to no avail. It was too tight to squeeze over her thumb.

A smug sounding voice came from the shadows. “So it’s true what your book said…”

Celestia paused in her struggles, looking up into the shadows to her right. They parted enough to reveal Sunset Shimmer. In spite of her homeless status, the teenager seemed to have done very well for herself since she had last seen her. Her face and hair were clean, her clothes were new, and she looked twice as arrogant.

“Chains made of adamantine can bind even a god.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “Adamantine?! That’s impossible! There’s none to be found outside of Canterlot!”

That only made Sunset smirk more. “Let’s just say I borrowed a little more than what you had in your private library before I ‘dropped out’. Getting enough brass to make a look-alike chain wasn’t easy, but obviously you never bothered checking to make sure.” She took a few more steps forward. “I take it by now you’ve realized I didn’t have any interest in ‘talking’, although I thank you for being stupid enough to come just the same.”

Celestia’s surprise dimmed as her eyes narrowed. “What do you want, Sunset?”

She frowned. “You know exactly what I want, princess. What you promised me. What I earned. What I deserved. What I was born to be.”

“And did you think chaining me would change the answer I gave you last time?”

“No,” she smiled again, “but fun fact: the Adamantine Chain wasn’t the only thing I swiped from your relics.”

She reached behind herself and emerged with a bizarre, eighteen-inch-long dagger. It took seemed to be made out of stone, but it gleamed like bronze with a long, tapered, and spiraling tip. The quillon guard splayed out and fit over the top of the wielder’s hand.

On seeing it, Celestia’s pallor turned pale.

“Oh? You recognize it? I thought you might,” Sunset grinned as she quickly walked up to her side. Celestia actually struggled a little more, but the teenager took her time as she knew by now it was futile. “Rare as adamantine is, I doubt there’s any orichalum anywhere else in Greater Everfree or under it. I can see why you had this locked up. It’s such a nifty little relic. Now then…”

She reached Celestia’s side and quickly lashed out and seized the hand with the hexagon. She tried to wring it free, but even for a teenager Sunset’s grip was strong--driven with the passion of a madwoman. She looked Celestia right in the eye and seemed to relish her anxiety, for she simple stared at her for a moment.

“What’s the matter? No lectures? No morals? No ‘Sunset, please stop’? ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’? I’m actually disappointed. I’ve gotten so used to hearing your nagging I actually miss it. But I’ve already waited two years too long for this, so let’s just get on with it.” She reared up the knife.

“Stop!” Celestia finally shouted.

Without hesitation, Sunset drove the tip of the dagger halfway through Celestia’s palm right at the edge of one of the hexagons. Immediately, it gleamed like it was an iron, starting at the tip, and Celestia yelled in agony as a light within her hand erupted. Sunset nearly recoiled at the sight, but forced her grip to stay steady and kept the tip in even as the light traveled down the blade, over the quillons, and into her own hand. Her own eyes widened in pain and she had to grit her teeth to keep holding on, but hold she did.

A ball of light gleaming more radiant than the rest of the dagger separated itself from Celestia’s hand. The mere act of it manifesting itself caused a small tempest to whip around them within the grove. Slowly, it passed over the blade and the hilt and finally into Sunset’s own hand.

Finally crying out herself, she snapped back and let Celestia’s hand go. Blood was pouring out over her palm from where she had been stabbed, but Sunset herself winced and gasped at her own hand which was now smoking. Nevertheless, she held it up and looked at the back of her palm.

Until a few moments ago, it had a hexagon of its own that was empty. Yet now, she saw a single larger rune etched over one of the corners.

Her eyes lit up with an almost mad gleam. She gasped in delight before she began to laugh out loud. “Yes, yes, yes! Finally! One of my own! Ugh…it sure hurt like Hell, but it was worth it! I feel stronger already! This is what I’ve been missing? It’s incredible! I can’t wait to try it out!”

After gushing over it for several moments and letting the pain subside a little, she turned back to Celestia. Her own teeth were grit, both from agony as well as horror and regret at what had just happened. Sunset smirked at her.

“I’m really tempted to just keep this one and get used to it, especially with how much that hurt, but…I came here to ‘finish my education’ tonight. I think I can bite through five more. Let’s keep it going, shall we?”

“Sunset, don’t-”

Celestia was cut off with a scream as Sunset nearly dove on her hand this time, seized it, and drove the dagger into the second corner. The same scene repeated. Sunset screamed as well this time, but it was one of wild, resounding, masochistic joy rather than anguish.

She nearly staggered back as the second spot was etched into her hand, out of breath with gasping and nearly dropping the knife. Yet she held her hand up and marveled at this one too, more ecstatic than ever. “Now this is power! I didn’t think I’d get such a rush from just two of them!”

Celestia, on her part, was now bleeding freely from two places with her fist tightened in pain.

“Don’t worry, princess. This is hurting me too, after all. Just think of it as needing four more of your teeth pulled…” With that, she drove the dagger in again.

Three more times the scene repeated, and each time Sunset couldn’t help but laugh and practically dance with each new emblem etched into her hand. Celestia, on the other hand, was being tortured both by the strain of her chains and the bloody wounds being left in her hand. It was dripping into a puddle on the ground at this point and slathered all over the back of her hand. Through her pain, however, she began to hold her palm upright; letting the blood slide back over her bracelet…

As soon as Sunset finished marveling over the fifth emblem on her hand, she looked back to Celestia yet again. “You’ve been oddly quiet, princess. I honestly thought you’d have more to say.”

The woman didn’t answer. By now, she was having to breathe rather hard to stymie her own pain.

“Come on now. Anything to say to me before I leave this mortal body behind?”

It took Celestia a moment, but she finally managed to raise her head and look into Sunset’s eyes. Her gaze wasn’t angry, anxious, or fearful.

It was, of all things, sad.

“I’m sorry I let you down, Sunset.”

For the briefest instant, Sunset’s smile ebbed and her wild glare softened slightly. However, it just as quickly reverted as she snorted. “Thought you’d be above begging and appealing to pity, Celestia, but apparently I was wrong. Oh well…” She walked up to her again and once more seized her hand with a smile. “I’m feeling particularly happy today, so I just might let you live after this is done. It’d do you some good to live like the rest of the non-magic mortals. Here we go.”

Taking the tip of the bloody dagger, she drove it into the sixth and final corner of the hexagon.

Nothing.

Sunset’ s smile faded, replaced with confusion. She drove the tip in again, making Celestia wince, but no good. Beginning to look cross, she drove it in again, this time making Celestia cry out as it went all the way through to the other side. Still nothing. Half-scowling, she ripped the dagger out and rose from her side, walking away and holding up her hand again. There were only five larger runes on it. The sixth corner remained empty.

“What’s going on? Why am I not getting the last soul?”

Celestia, in the middle of her fresh agony, held her hand up. She began to let the blood flow down over her wrist again; this time enough to pool on it. As soon as she had what she felt was enough, she held it down and began to furiously move her fingers.

“Is it this knife? Does it ‘run out’? Damnit, I’m this close to being complete! Don’t run out on me now you damn…”

She paused. Celestia, noticing this, worked even harder. It took some effort, but as she held her hand down and the blood slid back over it, the bracelet slowly began to inch over her thumb muscles.

“Wait…” she wheeled around on Celestia, who immediately paused in her work. The bracelet remained half slid over her hand. “I don’t even sense it anymore in you. And you didn’t have this knife. That means…”

Her eyes widened in realization.

“You passed it on. You gave it to one of your brats before you came out here. You probably gave it to that one...”

She stood there silently a moment, before her hands tightened. Her teeth clenched. New fury came over her.

“You gave what was mine to someone else!”

In an instant, Sunset stormed over to Celestia and bent down. She seized her by her iridescent hair and yanked it back, nearly pulling some out. The knife went up and pressed against her chest enough to start drawing more blood. Sunset was so focused on her she didn’t see Celestia hold the hand with the bracelet down and the accessory continue to slide over it.

“Tell me who! Tell me who you replaced me with! Who has it?” The tip pressed in a bit more. “Or will I just end up taking yours instead?!”

Celestia winced and moaned in pain, but her hand kept working, and slowly the bracelet finished sliding over the fattest part of her thumb. She shook her hand sharply, finally getting Sunset’s attention. She looked over and, as she did, the bracelet fell totally off of her hand and began to fall to the ground.

Before it could, Celestia’s hand reached out and seized it and quickly moved her thumb over the jewel. Sunset’s eyes widened, realizing what it was, and tried to shout a protest. Celestia's thumb pushed the jewel off, and immediately it burst in a flash of diamond light.

Celestia’s agonized body seemed to be swallowed in that same light, until it became an outline of the same diamond dust in midair before, like the sapphire itself, it was blown away into the night. Sunset stumbled forward as her grip on Celestia’s hair and the resistance of her chest to the knife vanished. The chains slumped to the ground, no longer holding anything, and soon after the golden sigil disappeared along with them. In just a matter of moments, all that was left was Sunset, the knife, the grove, and a small pool of Celestia’s blood.

Sunset slowly picked herself up and looked around but saw nothing. As angry as she had been before, her anger soon tripled as she screamed obscenities into the night. Her hands made fists and tore furiously at the ground, wrecking her runes as she fumed and ranted. In between her endless curses toward Celestia, only two coherent phrases were screamed out.

“It was mine! All of it!”

She continued to rage and rant for a full minute, before she finally relaxed. She sat there on the ground, knees bent, catching her breath. She stared forward expressionlessly save for lingering hate and anger.

It didn’t last much longer, though. She finally let out a weak chuckle before smiling.

“Alright Celestia…that’s how you want it?” She shrugged to no one in particular. “Ok. That’s how it’ll be.”

She slowly began to pick herself off of the ground. Once standing, she looked to her hand and smirked again.

“I got a decent consolation prize, and I need the practice anyway. I’ll go do that now.”

She turned and began to walk the way she came.

“And after I’m done, I’m going to hunt down and kill each and every one of your students until I find the one who has my final spirit.”

Sunset stared at the back of her ungloved hand as she reclined in her seat. After eight years, it still bore a hexagon with five sigil points, and always her eyes focused on the one empty spot that still remained. On this particular voyage on the Rising Sun, she almost did nothing but stare at it, although her face didn’t turn cross or irritable as it usually did. She only smirked every now and then.

“Lady Sunset?”

She looked up at the bridge. The navigator had spoken.

“We will be crossing into Fillydelphian territory within the next ten minutes.”

Sunset looked at the windows. Even if they weren’t flying over Equestria it would have been night at this hour, and they were shrouded with nothing but darkness all around. The only lights came from the sky in the form of the stars and moon, in spite of the fact they were nearing inhabited territory. That made sense. Following the last attack, Fillydelphia doused its lights up to a hundred miles from the border every evening. However, that’s what navigators were for.

She straightened up in her chair. “Put us down in the outskirts, just outside their barrier. We’ll go on foot from there.”

Several members of the crew looked a bit uneasy at that, but none of them defied her. As for Sunset, she rose completely and began to replace her glove.

As Sunset and her accompaniment made their way across the Fillydelphia border, the signs of the last movement of the Nighttouched were all too clear. In the darkness, they had to somewhat carefully make their way around large divots in the ground from cannon fire along with the occasional split tree trunk, and on passing that made their way through several torn, shattered, or simply abandoned barricades. The stench of both gunpowder and ash was still thick in the air, the former from the fighting and the latter from the pyres that cleaned up the remains. Blood still stained the ground, much of it not from Nighttouched, although it was impossible to see clearly at that hour.

They reached the boundary wall not long after. It had been breached but had since been temporarily patched with palisade stakes until a more formal solution could be made. It offered only a momentary barrier, as there was an iron gate being used as a temporary opening while work continued outside the wall during daylight hours. Nighttouched, after all, weren’t quite smart enough to deal with something like that.

On passing through, Sunset took note of the abandoned cannon batteries, one having been completely destroyed and torn apart, as well as the lingering signs of damage. The fighting had been the heaviest here. Large piles of rubble waiting to be drawn away had been organized everywhere, and the entire first line of homes beyond it were either ruined from the attack or abandoned.

She also noticed a number of armed Fillydelphian troops were waiting for them. Not surprising. On a dark night like this, they had to have seen their airships coming. Considering how dark it was, it was impossible to make out the full number, but at least three times the number she had in her own group.

She only advanced until everyone was within the wall before she held up her hand to signal the others to stop. They did so, with the royal guard stepping up to her side and tightening his grip on his spear. She, on the other hand, was far more casual. She crossed her arms and smiled.

“Hi.” Her voice was almost overly friendly. “It seems you had a bit of a rough time lately, haven’t you?”

“You are currently in violation of the Standing Cessation, Trottinghamites,” a rather cold, sharp, and much-less-friendly voice retorted. “Throw down your weapons and get down on the ground.”

Sunset made no move whatsoever to do so, although when her own group began to raise their own weapons she uncrossed her arms and once again held out a hand to stop them.

“No need for all of that. I’m just passing by. Looking in on the situation. After all, Nighttouched surges are everyone’s concern, not just who gets hit by them. I’ll be out of your hair before you know it. I just wanted a handful of questions answered.”

In the shadows, she saw numerous shifts of shoulders as firearms were aimed at them.

“I ordered you to throw down your weapons and get on the ground. Everyone here is on edge. We aren’t going to waste bullets with warning shots. This is your last chance.”

Sunset smirked on hearing this. It was good that the soldiers couldn’t see her face clearly or they may have noticed a rather cruel grin forming. She shrugged casually.

“You know…I like a good evening outing as much as the next person. Especially this close to a nice, big, spacious forest. But if I’m going to be having a conversation at night, you know what I like more than anything?”

One of her hands performed a few gestures with its fingers as she whispered out some arcane words. In response, like kerosene lit up with a spark, a ball of fire materialized over her open palm in midair.

The Fillydelphian soldiers were illuminated only to show expressions of shock and alarm at what she had done and they recoiled in surprise. That was exactly the delay she needed. She snapped her hand out to a rubble pile between her group and the soldiers the fling the fireball into it. On striking it, it instantly ignited in a burst of flames.

“A campfire.”

The group of Fillydelphian soldiers, now well illuminated, didn’t remain shocked by the fact that Sunset had made fire out of thin air for very long. They focused instead on the fire itself, as if a wild bear had suddenly popped in front of them. They rapidly began to look nervous. Several of them looked away from the intruders and to the forest; seeing if anything was reacting.

Sunset kept smirking at all of it. “There we go. A nice big fire so we can call get a good look at each other and see all around us. A little fire sure does go a long way. Did you know that the threshold for human sight is so potent that in totally dark conditions one can actually see a single candle flame from ten miles away? Of course, most of the creatures that are out at night can see much better than that. They have to.”

By now, at least half of the soldiers were looking past the group to the forest, and their lead officer was sweating. Some were beginning to back away and lower their weapons.

“You heard about how Whinnyapolis got turned into a graveyard six days after the Lunar Fall, right? The whole thing was caused because one little old lady insisted on lighting up an itty-bitty oil lamp to read by. Flames weren’t much bigger than a candle. But this? Much nicer.”

The confidence and decorum of the lead officer began to crack. The others around him were breaking far faster. The fire flashed in Sunset’s eyes and traced her wicked grin as she took a step closer.

“You know what’s even nicer than a small campfire, though?”

She held her hand out, fingers extended and palm upward. She slowly began to move it upward. As she did, the soldiers gasped on seeing her small fire quickly build in intensity and raise higher, going from a few feet high to six feet to ten feet to fifteen…

“A bonfire. A nice, big bonfire that the whole forest…heh, I mean town can see and enjoy. How’d you like me to leave you with one of those so you can see just how exposed and vulnerable your broken wall is at the moment?”

One of the soldiers suddenly dropped his gun, turned, and bolted for it. Three more looked moments from doing the same, while others were growing fearful and starting to murmur among each other. All looked quite panic stricken by now.

Sunset let it linger a moment before turning her hand over. “Or…” She slowly began to push down. In response, the bonfire began to diminish again. It shrank past the flames it was before and lowered to only a foot high, with the edges diminishing all the way into embers. “If I don’t have reason to stick around, I could extinguish this little blaze and be on my way.”

She stopped her hand, letting the fire keep burning but softly. The nervous soldiers kept gazing at the flames fearfully. Like she said, even a candle flame was a serious danger.

“But I came here for information, and I won’t leave until I get it.” She fixed her eyes solely on the lead officer. “There’s a rumor going about. A rumor that there was a woman in your town who killed a Light Eater. Perhaps even a rumor that she could do something like this.” She gestured to her own hand. “That rumor wouldn’t have made it all the way to Trottingham unless there was some truth behind it. What happened?”

“Look, I don’t know!” the officer nearly sputtered, not able to contain his anxiety. “I don’t know anything about it beyond what the other lieutenants pass around!”

“Really? And what are they passing around? Talk fast. I’m feeling a little chilly.”

“A dozen or so people say they saw some street magician actually use some new weapon or something to fight the Nighttouched!” he shouted back. “One person said she even killed one of the little Light Eaters!”

“She?” Sunset echoed back. “And a street magician? Good. We’re getting somewhere. Where is she now?”

“I have no idea!”

“Hmm…let me get a bit more light so I can have you look me in the eye and tell me that…”

“I swear I don’t know! I wasn’t involved in the search!”

Sunset’s eyes raised. “Search?”

“When enough people started passing around the rumor they notified the road patrols and gatekeepers to be on the lookout for street magicians!”

“And have they turned up anything?”

“I said I don’t know!”

Sunset sighed, looking around to the rest of the fearful soldiers. “Does anyone else know? Think hard before you answer. When people make me mad, I tend to do things out of spite…”

“I had a buddy who was a guardsman on the Eastern Road!” one of the soldiers immediately yelled back. “He knew a guy who knew a guy who said they spotted a street magician and a dog traveling eastbound! They tried to stop her and she bolted for it! They almost got her but then he says there was this big flash of light and she got away! Now put out that damn fire! Please!”

The woman stood quietly. She looked thoughtful for a few moments. Her free hand tapped its finger against her hip a few times. Finally, she shrugged and lowered her hand the rest of the way.

The fire dimmed all the way down, but some glowing embers were left behind from the flames. However, that was enough to make the soldiers immediately spill forward. They ignored Sunset and her group all together and instead frantically began to do anything they could to snuff out the rest. Kicking dirt, dumping their canteens, or even stomping on the still-hot coals with their boots.

Sunset on her part turned around and motioned to the others that they were leaving. She took two steps before she paused and looked back over her shoulder.

“By the way…if I so much as imagine I hear a cartridge being loaded, I’ll set the entire edge of your town on fire and watch as every Light Eater for five hundred furlongs eats you alive.”

Turning away, she resumed walking back the way she had come.

It wasn’t until they were back at the Rising Sun that the guard addressed her. “Are you sure that was enough information to go on?”

“We haven’t the time to go around the town trying to shake a physical description out of them. We have everything we need for right now anyway,” Sunset replied as she headed for the open loading ramp. “We’re looking for a female street magic performer who has one of these,” She pulled off her glove and showed the back of her hand to the group around her, now that they were in a more well-lit area. “On her hand, except where I’m missing a sigil she’ll have one and only one. I know you all have seen this emblem enough times to recognize it. You may find other people who have emblems on their hands without the sigils. So much the better. I was planning on getting rid of them eventually anyway, so go right ahead and handle them when you see them.”

The stout soldier looked uncomfortable. “But…Lady Sunset…this one sounds like she has your kind of powers…”

“She even killed a Light Eater…” The lanky one added nervously.

Sunset froze and snapped around, shooting both of the soldiers a glare. Instantly, they and everyone else around them halted, although the two of them shrank back a little.

“Would you rather deal with someone who only has one sigil, or would you rather deal with me and my five?”

They instantly withered and gulped. “Um…one, ma’am.”

“I gave you all magical weapons. Use them. Just remember: she gets taken alive. Kill any others.”

“We still don’t know exactly where she went,” the royal guard pointed out.

“She’s gotten too much unwanted attention, apparently. She wanted to go east, and there’s only two ways she can go further east without crossing country: the river or the trains. I’ll take the Rising Sun and follow the tracks. You lead the other two ships up the river. We’ll work our way along both routes until we converge in Appleloosa. If we haven’t found her by then, we’ll move to the central highland bluffs to regroup and then formulate a new strategy from there.”

“The whole country is going on military alert. They’ll be mobilizing-”

“I want that woman; not complaining or whining. Just get it done.” Spinning away again, she began to make her way up the ramp. “I’ve already waited more than long enough to get the last part of my inheritance. I’m not letting it get away this time over something so trivial as starting a war.”

Nightwatch: There in a Fortnight

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long delay. I originally intended this to be one chapter but it ran far too long, so I had to split it in two.

“Durn it, coz… Feels like someone tried ta’ split my head open with ah fryin’ pan…”

“I will split yer damn fool head open the next time ya’ don’t stop when I tell ya’!”

“But I told ya’ I don’t even remember that!”

Two days after the incident, Braeburn had resumed alternating his position as shotgun, although he spent a lot time cowering from dirty glares whenever he wasn’t walking off injuries. While the beating he had gotten two nights earlier hadn’t seemed to stall him much at the time, now he was in more pain than any of them. He was also quite clueless about the entire event.

The Apples weren’t traveling nearly as easily as they had been before. Some of the family members, especially the ones he had hurt, continued to give Braeburn uneasy looks. However, Twilight got the worst of it. Although it had been their relative who had gone mad and attacked, all of the Apples seemed to think the mysterious girl, by stopping it, was somehow responsible or at least holding out a crucial bit of information on them. Applejack herself leaned toward the latter, but nevertheless not only continued to give her a berth but made the other family members do the same.

She had done her share of walking alongside the wagon over the past two days, but was now back in the driver’s seat along with her cousin and able to talk more intimately. By now, they weren’t too far from their destination. They had crossed through Hill Valley and the road had not only gotten bigger but had signs directing them to Fort Chestnut. Unfortunately, neither Applejack nor any of the others looked too thrilled in the wake of what had happened.

She looked up and behind them. Nervous and somewhat drawn in on herself, Twilight walked alongside her wagon and struggled hard not to notice the stares of the surrounding Apples. However, she was also out of earshot.

Turning back to her cousin, she spoke quietly. “Awright now, come clean, Braeburn. What happened that night?”

“I already told ya’ I can’t remember! All I remember is wakin’ up feelin’ like apple mash!”

“That don’t help none! Do ya’ remember tellin’ me that you didn’t feel good ‘round Twilight?”

“Well yeah, I remember that much…”

“Ok then…what do ya’ remember from then until wakin’ up?”

Braeburn hesitated, thinking over that question. “Well…it’s really odd, cousin. After I said that to ya’, I couldn’t stop thinkin’ ‘bout Twilight. And not inna elementary school way or nothin’ neither. I just kept thinkin’ ‘bout her and gettin’ angry…”

“Why?”

“That’s just it; I dunno why. I just got real angry…and then I got hateful… Got to where I couldn’t think ‘bout anythin’ else. Started forgettin’ my chores…forgot to be neighborly… I think I thought at one point I couldn’t even remember where we were goin’ an’ why, and I had to work ta’ even care we were headin’ for Fort Chestnut. Even when I tried thinkin’ of somethin’ else, I kept seein’ her. And then…”

“What?”

“And then…here’s the real weird part…I didn’t want ta’ think ‘bout anythin’ else. I almost feel like I wanted ta’ just get angrier and angrier at her… And…and, well…” He grimaced and lowered his voice. “The last thing I remember is real weird like… Ya’ know how sometimes when yer havin’ a dream you find yourself thinkin’ things that you’d never think if you were awake? That’s kind of what it was like. Like…like…”

He again trailed off. Applejack leaned in close and pressed it. “Like what?”

“Like…someone else’s thoughts were in my head and bein’ thought of…if that makes any sense.”

She looked rather uneasy at the entire thing. Again she turned her head back and glanced at Twilight. This time, unfortunately, she was looking up and saw her glance back to her, but Applejack was the sort of person who didn’t care too much about potential rudeness at a time like this, and looked back at Braeburn soon after. “Is that it? Nothin’ else?”

“Nothin’ else…’cept maybe one thing.” He held up his head a little, looking uneasily at the mark on the back of it. “I don’t remember this thing poppin’ up on my hand, but I sure as heck remember itchin’ and itchin’. Got to the point where all I could do was just sit there and itch and not even know I was doin’ it. And it itched real funny-like too, so I was scratchin’ all funny-like as well…”

“Funny like how?”

“Funny like…” he looked up and thought a moment, drifting his eyes back over to Applejack. Suddenly, he pointed. “Like that.”

Applejack was confused for a moment about what he just said, until she looked to where he was pointing.

The back of Applejack’s hand was exposed, and her other one was methodically itching it. She hadn’t even noticed, but she realized as she had sat there talking she had been absent-mindedly itching the back of her hand the entire time. Not only that, but she realized her fingers were itching around her hand in a pattern in six different straight lines.

Outlining a hexagon.

It took a lot to startle Applejack at the worst of times, but at that moment she nearly jumped where she was and tried to throw her own hand away like it was a piece of filth. It was such a start that all of the nearby Apples turned to her, but quickly she stifled it and sat down again. It didn’t change the fact she was now sweating nervously.

At that moment, it seemed to click with Braeburn. “Um…say cousin, you ain’t…I mean, you-”

“N-No!” she nearly shouted back, before quickly reining it in. “I mean…I…I…I put my hand in some poison oak lookin’ for firewood last night! That’s all!”

Braeburn looked at her a moment uneasily, then to her hand, then back to her. Applejack, on her part, was already grasping the reins and keeping her eyes forward on the road again. “Ya’ sure?”

“Sure I’m sure! Let’s…let’s just focus on makin’ good time! We’ll be at Fort Chestnut tomorrow!”

Her cousin continued to look apprehensive a few seconds more before looking forward. As for Applejack, she bit the inside of her lip and spent the rest of the afternoon glancing at her hand repeatedly. Every so often, she had to consciously keep from scratching.

While the Apple caravan had made their way past the hills and back into more populated country, it hardly mattered at this point. This close to the border, most of the countryside had cleared out or taken refuge in the cities with walls. The next small town they came upon was practically abandoned; assuming there was anyone there at all. While in more modern times, the tradition of letting travelers stay in the town square had gone by the wayside, rules had become more lax in the post Lunar Fall world. As a result, the Apples set up on the grassy patch there for a somewhat more secure evening.

Twilight, as on the night before, had not settled down that well. While on the first night the Apples invited her to lay down among them, the following nights it had been clear none of them wished for her to be that close, and so she drew off with her dog in her own well-worn sleeping bag at a distance. Even then, she lay awake longer than most of them, feeling the eyes of a few family members on her. It made her nervous but eventually they all nodded off. Only then did she finally roll over and close her own eyes.

An hour later, however, and she was still fully alert and restless. She had tossed and turned several times, disturbing Spike more than once, but still kept her eyes shut trying to get to sleep.

And as a result of this, it only took her moments to react when she felt a hand suddenly clamp over her mouth.

Her eyes shot open, but she couldn’t make out anything in the darkness. Only that there was a figure standing over her. She tried to flail out, but not only had Spike relocated, unable to sleep with her own shifting around, the figure quickly put its other arm around her and began to forcefully drag her out of her sleeping bag. She tried to shout, but the hand was clamped over her mouth too tightly. Normally the slightest noise would be enough to get Spike’s attention, but either she was having bad luck or the dog was more tired than usual, for he didn’t stir.

Suddenly her upper body was pulled off the ground and she heard a sharp whisper in her ear.

“Keep yer voice down or you’ll wake the whole family!”

Twilight stilled at that, recognizing Applejack’s voice, but the farmer didn’t waste time. She quickly yanked her all the way to her feet and, once there, quickly half-pulled, half-dragged her back with her while keeping her mouth covered. She didn’t get far before it occurred to Twilight to try and struggle, but physically she wasn’t the slightest match for the woman. She was being pulled back so forcefully that she realized Applejack could sling her over her shoulder and drag her the rest of the way if she wanted. Not only that, but who exactly would she call for help? Spike couldn’t take the entire family.

As a result, she soon found herself drug all the way to the edge of the square. There was a large, public outhouse there that had been used for special events at one point, and Applejack pulled her right inside. Only once she was in, the door was shut behind, and she was whirled away from it such that Applejack now stood between her and the exit when she released. Simply getting free made her stumble a bit, but now she was in total darkness and stuck in there with the farmer.

“What are you-”

“I said keep yer voice down!” Applejack harshly whispered back. A few moments later, sparks came out from a bit of flint and steel. It lit up a bit of tinder, and soon after the flame went over and lit up a candle. Twilight soon realized why she had been drug inside there—to avoid exposing the light. Now that she could see she quickly made out Applejack’s features and saw that she was sweating and looking nervous. Almost frantic. Between her rough way in which she had gotten there and the look, Twilight began to look uneasy as well.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s goin’ on?” Applejack echoed back as she set the candle down nearby. A moment later, she advanced right in Twilight’s face, almost making her back up to the nearest stall. Yet before she could, the farmer thrust the back of her hand right in her face.

Although the shadows spilled over it, she could make out a hexagonal symbol.

“That’s what’s goin’ on! Yer explainin’ whatever the hell this thing is and yer doin’ it now!”

Twilight was so caught off guard she had to blink a few times to even recognize what she was seeing, but on doing so she gave a sharp exhale and cupped her hand to her mouth. “Oh…”

“Yeah, I know! Now what is it and how do I get rid of it?”

Twilight nearly stammered, still cringing in on herself. “I…I…”

She nearly leapt back as Applejack shoved a finger against her chest. “And none of that bull about not bein’ able ta’ say nothin’! This is the same weird symbol Braeburn had and you saw what happened ta’ him! He’s still got his! Now what is it? Spill yer guts!”

“I…I can’t!” she finally spat out. “I told you I can’t tell you!”

“And I’m tellin’ you I wanna know!”

“But this is what I was talking about before! I was afraid something like this would happen if I told anyone about it! Now you have one too!”

This made Applejack hesitate, and some of her anger abated. However, after only a moment or so she stood her ground. “Well, it don’t matter how I got it…what matters is I got it. And I reckon it can’t get any worse fer me now. It’s just the two of us in here.”

“Applejack…”

“I wanna know what happened to Braeburn and what’s gonna happen ta’ me! I wanna know if my whole family is gonna be in danger ‘cause I could go crazy like he did!”

Twilight was silenced by that. The way Applejack spoke wasn’t the voice of someone angry or demanding, but someone who was quickly growing afraid and desperate. Her face, previously tight and furious, was now softening with fear for her family’s safety.

She looked Twilight in the eye more imploringly. “Please.”

That last word softened something in the lavender-haired girl. She stared at the ground for several seconds, clearly torn. Her eyes closed and she sighed.

Idly, she shifted one of her hands over the other one and began to rub against the back of it. Applejack saw something come off as a result, as if it was some form of foundation-like cosmetic. She rubbed for only a few moments before Applejack gasped. A hexagonal symbol just like the one on her hand was revealed…only, like Braeburn’s from the day before, there was a larger sigil on one corner.

She held it up for Applejack to see clearly. “This is called a Promethian Sigil. Only some people in the world can have one, and even fewer of them actually have it develop. What it means, more or less, is that your own body and spirit are capable of housing and using spirits or souls that aren’t its own.”

Applejack’s jaw hung. “Wait now…what? What’dya mean I can ‘house’ souls that ain’t my own? Or ‘use’, fer that matter?”

“Like I said…the more I tell you the more risk there is, but aside from that I don’t fully understand it myself either. My old teacher was just starting to tell me about it when…” She paused, looking uneasy. “…when something happened to her. She did tell me, however, that there would come a time when people around Greater Everfree would start seeing these appear all over the place. And when that happened, she warned me that most people who would get them would lose their minds and they would try and attack other people with these sigils, including me. That’s why she taught me the Household Seal only a little while before she died along with a handful of other spells. She said that one was the most important because it’s the only way to stop someone who goes crazy like Braeburn did without killing them.”

That last part really stunned Applejack, realizing what that would have meant last night if Twilight hadn’t been there. She swallowed once before she quickly put her hand forward. “Alright then, do that seal thing right now on me.”

She winced. “I-I’m sorry…I can’t.”

“Why not?!” she nearly shouted.

“It won’t work right now. The spell only works if the sigil starts to manifest itself like it did with Braeburn.”

Applejack reared back and nearly threw her hat on the ground in frustration. “Damnit! How the hell did this all end up happenin’ ta’ me? And what’s all this damn fool talk ‘bout ‘spells’ in the first place? Ya’ ain’t a witch or somethin’, are ya’?”

“No! I mean…” she paused and thought. “Well…not exactly… I mean I don’t think… Er…”

“Aw, to hell with it!” Applejack cut off. She put her hands on her hips and fumed for a moment in thought, before finally looking up to her again. “Awright, here’s what. Ya’ gotta stick with us from now on.”

Twilight looked surprised. “Huh?”

“At least until I start acting loopy! Then once ya’ seal me, ya’ can move along.”

“But…that might take a long time! Not everyone even has a reaction! I could be waiting the rest of your life!”

“You could be wait-?!” Applejack began to shoot back, more alarmed than ever, before she groaned and let out an expletive. “Look, just…stick with us fer now, ok? At least until I figure out what I’m gonna do!”

“But I really can’t stay!” she protested. “I mean, it’s been nice traveling with you this far, but I was going to move on once we hit Fort Chestnut!”

“Well, what for? The whole country’s in a tizzy and that’d be safest!”

She hesitated; her voice growing softer. “I don’t want to stay in any one place too long.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

Twilight grimaced, realizing she had said too much, and began to bow her head.

The farmer groaned. “Yeah, yeah, ya’ can’t say. But could ya’ at least spare me a couple days? I planned this whole dang trip because I meant ta’ save my farm, and right now I don’t know if I can even afford to stay with my family, let alone in the army.”

She hesitated, once more staring at Applejack and thinking this over while the farmer looked back at her imploringly. She finally exhaled.

“Alright…I’ll try to spare you a couple of days, but I can’t make any promises. If something comes up and I have to run, then…then I’m sorry, that’s the way it is.”

Applejack frowned, but realized she wasn’t going to get any better than that. She looked again at the mark on her hand and scowled. “Dagnabbit, why do we even have these things? Why did I have to get one?”

Twilight let out a sigh. “I wish I knew…”

She looked up puzzled. “Wait…ya’ don’t know?”

“I think my old teacher was going to tell me, but she never got the chance. She said to watch out for when they started to appear on more people though…” She looked up again. “And on that note, remember what I said. You have to keep this quiet, or it’ll get worse.”

Applejack kept frowning. “There’s one member of my family who deserves to know all this…”

“So we’re stuck with these weird…I dunno…tattoos? And you could go crazy-like any time?”

Applejack leveled a frown at her cousin. It was the morning after her brief evening ‘chat’ with Twilight. In spite of how much more annoyed she was at her situation, the farmer realized now that the only way she’d be safe would be to keep Twilight around, and so she had gone out of her way to not only be more welcoming again but to try and encourage the rest of the family to do the same. After that, she waited until it was her and Braeburn’s turn to head up a wagon again (the second this time) before she spilled her guts.

“I really don’t like thinkin’ ‘bout that part, Braeburn, but that’s how it is. Now remember…keep this quiet. Don’t know why I got mine, but if Twilight’s right and I got it ‘cause she blabbed ‘bout yours, then the less of the family that knows this the better.”

Braeburn looked down at her hands. Today she had elected to wear her work gloves, keeping anyone from seeing she had a newly-emerged symbol identical to her cousin’s. He also noticed one hand was grasping the reins while the other was holding onto her hammer.

“Ya’ really think ya’ got that jus’ cause she told ya’ a bit ‘bout mine? That sounds kinda off ta’ me…”

“Well, me too, but I don’t wanna take any chances. ‘Specially when I don’t know anythin’ ‘bout it.”

“I hate ta’ tell you this, coz…but…” He winced and pointed. “You’ve been holdin’ onto that hammer most of the day.”

“Aw, come off it, Braeburn,” she snorted back. “I ain’t been plannin’ on beatin’ anyone in the head with it all day, if that’s what yer thinkin’. I may be a bit upset at Twilight, but that’s only ‘cause she still ain’t comin’ clean. ‘Sides…”

She looked down at it, shifting her grip a little.

“To be honest…I feel kinda better hangin’ onto it.”

“Huh?”

“I’m serious. Last night I couldn’t sleep a wink. Kept thinkin’ ‘bout this thing comin’ out on my hand, and after that everythin’ Twilight told me. Got so frustrated I just grabbed my hammer with that hand to try and put my mind off of it and…and…”

She paused, her face softening.

“It’s…it’s real weird. I always liked this old thing ‘cause it’s somethin’ I have of pa’s, but…now it feels like more than that. I feel less antsy somehow. Like…like pa’s right here pattin’ me on the back and tellin’ me I’ll be fine.”

“Really?” Braeburn answered. “Huh… Wonder if I would’ve been fine if I had somethin’ from-”

He cut himself off and winced, pulling into his seat, as another wagon being pulled by a pair of galloping horses shot by on his side. He was so alarmed he nearly fired off the shotgun in sheer shock, but even after it passed the dust and wind continued to blow up around him and the other Apples walking alongside. He quickly adjusted his hat and closed his eyes until the dirt settled, then looked out and behind them to see the cart wagon speeding away.

“Now what in tarnation got that those folks racin’ away so fast?”

“I dunno, but I ain’t sure I wanna find out.”

Braeburn turned back to Applejack, who was now looking ahead with a worried expression.

“What do ya’ mean, coz?”

“They came from the direction of Fort Chestnut.”

That wasn’t the last wagon the caravan saw race by. Before giving up, Apple Tart called out twenty passing them by going the opposite way. There were a few more wagons, but some of them were simply riders on horseback in teams. The family was more nervous about the latter, especially on seeing their faces. The fact they were riding away without any loads and not even stopping to say why didn’t bode well.

The road eventually widened and became a bit better maintained, and a few miles later the caravan, at long last, saw Fort Chestnut up ahead. It wasn’t a terribly old fort, and considering the terrain and placement most would consider it an odd place for one, but that was only because the Lunar Fall had required all the countries bordering Equestria to rapidly rethink their defensive emplacements and structures like this had to be built. One of the larger railroads in Appleloosa ran nearby, with a single waystation set up behind it. About ten miles beyond it, across a broad stretch of prairie, were the thick forests of Equestria. Just like back home, the caravan could see the shadows hanging over it even in broad daylight.

The fort itself was built like a grand semicircle, with the flat portion facing the tracks. The circular portion had “spikes” emerging from it that protruded out all around with gun emplacements on top, designed to cover and attract the bulk of attacking forces. Those nodes were the most well-protected, with earthworks dug around them to provide trenches and uneven terrain and a double-layer of timber making up the palisades around it. The rest of the layout was similarly bordered with palisade wall reinforced at the base with stones and mortar. They weren’t cut but rather gathered from the landscape, leaving them rough and sharp in places. The wall surrounded it all about, but the central blockhouse’s second tier rose just over the wall enough to be visible.

Even as they approached, they saw the main gate, currently closed, start to split open. It didn’t get far before the sounds of gunshots echoed over the flat landscape. Soon after, the gates closed again.

Applejack didn’t need to be in the military to know that someone had just been stopped from deserting. Permanently.

Everyone in the family felt a bit more on edge as they approached.

When they finally reached the front gates, a number of Appleloosan soldiers came out on the wall. Each one was armed and looked over the side, but they didn’t draw the weapons on them. Unfortunately, they didn’t look too friendly either, or, as far as Applejack could see, in the best shape.

“Halt there!” one finally shouted.

Obediently, the Apple family caravan brought their wagons to a halt and looked up.

“State your business!”

“We’re volunteering for armed service! The whole lot of us!” Applejack shouted back from her own wagon. “There’s twenty of us here who can fire a gun and trudge through a muddy field with the best of them! Heard they were accepting volunteers here at Fort Chestnut!”

Silence from the wall. A few of the soldiers actually looked just slightly confused. The one who had shouted down to them, however, looked older and more seasoned. He eyed them a few moments before turning inside and disappearing over the edge. The group was left to stand and wait. Applejack, from her position on the second wagon, didn’t get as good a view of the people as those in front of her, but she did see that many of them looked rather tired and dirty to say nothing of anxious. Something was definitely up there.

Finally, the sound of wooden timbers being moved off of the gates began to ring out. As soon as it did, all those on the wall leveled their gun barrels—not at the Apples, but rather the inside of the wall. Remembering what she had heard a little while ago, Applejack swallowed as the gates were slowly drawn aside, and soon led her wagon in alongside the rest of the caravan. As she passed through the threshold, she looked behind her to see if all of the Apples were making it. She noticed that Twilight hesitated, seeming to not like the idea of being shut up in there, but eventually she obliged.

As soon as all were in, Applejack heard the loud creaking of wood as the doors were shut and barred behind them. She tried not to think about that as she led the carts in a short distance. There were several buildings erected inside the fort for various purposes, all surrounding a large square that looked like it had been set up as a staging area for the new volunteer recruits. Key word: “had”. It was a disheveled mess now. It had been run over by wagon wheels and horse hooves several times over and lay in unused disarray.

There were a lot of people inside the fort as well. Only a small number of them were Appleloosan soldiers, although all the ones who were soldiers were armed and studying everyone who came in. They, on their part, could have been volunteers, but a quick look around showed that wasn’t the case. For one thing, the other wagons that were currently crammed into the inner walls of the fort weren’t for transport with minimal supplies but loaded with all the belongings one could carry, and many of the “volunteers” had the elderly and children with them. It was clear that they had come for refuge, which made a number of the Apples nervous.

Trying not to pay it any mind, Applejack and Apple Strudel led their respective wagons to a good spot and parked them. Soon after, they all began to dismount. Applejack, on her part, had hardly set foot on the ground when she noticed a small troop of Appleloosan soldiers walking right up to them headed by an older officer with a broad, gray mustache and a weather-beaten look.

He halted in front of Applejack just as she was stepping out, giving her a nod along with all the others. “Folks, first things first. I’m going to have to ask you to turn over any weapons you have.”

All of the Apples, Applejack included, looked puzzled. They glanced to one another before looking back. “Pardon me?”

“If you’re really meaning to volunteer for the Appleloosan Civil Defense Corps, we’ll be happy to arm you closer to nightfall. Right now, however, you’re going to have to turn them over.”

“Like heck am I turnin’ over this shotgun!” Braeburn complained. “It’s my aunt’s! She’d whoop me if I came back without it!”

“And I trust my carbine over whatever musket you plan on putting in my hands!” Red Delicious shouted.

Applejack frowned as well. “Look, we brought some of our own weapons and ammunition along. What’s the harm in lettin’ us use what we’re familiar with?”

The officer frowned. “You came in here wanting to enlist. If you want to join up, the rule is you turn over your weapons. You may not be military folk, but I’m not in the mood to argue. Hand them over.”

Applejack frowned more. “And if we refuse?”

“We’ve got to save all the cartridges we can for the Nighttouched,” he answered back rather coldly. “Don’t make me waste any more than I’ve already had to today.”

The way he said that was dead serious enough to send a cold chill over the entire Apple family. The soldiers with him were just as stony-eyed, and all of them had such a tight grip on their own firearms it was clear they weren’t kidding. Applejack didn’t care for it, but realized this was one fight they weren’t going to win. Frowning, she turned and gave a nod.

Regretfully, and in some cases angrily, the Apple family handed over their respective guns, hunting knives, and pistols. When that was done, the officer still wasn’t satisfied and forced them to hand over their cooking knives, axes, and some of their tools. Twilight, currently roped in with the rest of them, earned a few stares on how different she looked, which in turn earned a few growls from Spike, but nothing else came of it.

When almost everything that could be used as a weapon was handed over, the officer noticed Applejack’s hammer. “That too.”

She ground a foot audibly into the dirt. “Ya’ ain’t gettin’ this.”

“I told you all to hand over all weapons.”

“It’s a hammer, fer cryin’ out loud.”

“A claw hammer. That counts.”

“This here hammer is the only thing I brought of my pa out here with me,” she retorted. “I swear I won’t use it, but if ya’ want it, ya’ better get yer powder ready. ‘Cause yer only takin’ it from my cold dead fingers.”

Her threat may have been ill-placed, considering the fact several of the soldiers began to raise their weapons to take her up on that, but the officer, who by now was eyeing Applejack rather intently, held out a hand to stop them. Apparently, he wasn’t willing to spill any more blood over a hammer. The rest of the weapons were handed to the soldiers and they took them away.

“Right now we got to keep weapons to a minimum. A lot of folks in this fort are starting to lose their minds and we don’t need people like that brandishing guns until they need them. Now then,”

He gestured to one of the structures.

“That there is building E. Right now, it’s mostly vacant, so pick yourselves out a bunk and set up there. You got about thirty minutes, and then we’ll start getting you all set.”

Without another word, he turned and began to walk away. The rest of the troop followed after him.

The Apples were left standing in some puzzlement. Applejack in particular may not have been too familiar with the military, but from the looks of the place, who was currently residing in it, and the brief interaction with that officer, to say nothing of the trip there, she wasn't satisfied with so brusque and introduction. She watched the lead officer walk away for a few seconds before she turned her head slightly to one side.

“Braeburn?”

“Yeah, cousin?”

“You and the rest of the family go on and do as he said and settle in. I’m gonna have a bit of a talk first…”

Adjusting her hat, she began to walk after him.

She didn’t try to “chase him down” in a sense. She had a feeling that would be going a little too far in a place like this where she was surrounded with soldiers. However, she did follow at a fairly rapid pace as he left the courtyard with his troop and marched toward one of the buildings made of more sturdy materials, where he ordered the soldiers to store the weapons. Some of them stayed to do so and others broke off with him for one of the stairwells built against the wall, allowing those stationed to walk to a gangway built around the top to patrol the palisade. At that point, he was temporarily by himself, and Applejack quickly seized her moment.

“Uh,” she called as she rushed in, “’scuse me, um, sir?”

“Since you haven’t officially joined the Appleloosan Civil Defense Corps, ma’am, I can’t reprimand you for not obeying my directives,” he answered as he kept walking without looking at her. “Instead you’re still a civilian, which means I’ve got nothing to say that concerns you and you’re in the way. Please wait at building E.”

Applejack didn't care for his dismissive tone, but she kept following. “I just wanted…I mean…I just was kinda curious ‘bout what’s goin’ on in the fort at the moment.”

“What do you mean, ma’am?”

“I mean…it’s all mighty unusual. The looks on people’s faces…how disorganized everythin’ looks… And I heard gunshots on the way in-”

“Have you ever been inside a fort before, ma’am?”

She paused, a bit taken off guard by that question. “Uh, no sir.”

“Then how do you know what’s unusual and what isn’t?”

Applejack, rather than be abashed by that as most might have been, frowned in response. Before she could say a word, however, he spoke again.

“It’s my understanding that you came to Fort Chestnut to join the Appleloosan Civil Defense Corps. Is that correct?”

“Well…yes sir, but-”

“Then you should know you won’t last long in this corps talking back to superior officers. Just because you’re a civilian doesn’t mean we tolerate insubordination or interjecting with stupid questions.”

Now Applejack really did frown, but she held it back this time. The officer’s comments had reminded her why she was there in the first place, after all. She couldn’t protect the farm if she got herself and the family kicked out over having a chip on her shoulder knocked off.

“That being said, the Nighttouched have been active over the past couple nights,” he finally answered, still walking. “Nothing too special. The whole reason that this fort was set up in the first place was because they tended to come out of the nearby woods at night. But since we’re expecting the next surge around here and last night was bad enough that the cannons went off a couple times, a lot of folks are on edge and a lot of locals have relocated here. It’s more likely now than ever that a surge will break on this fort, but it’s by no means certain. Odds are we’ll have need of you and your family soon enough, including the members who are overaged, but I’m not going to be working anyone up into a needless panic and I won’t let anyone else do the same. I’ve been out here for years and most of you haven’t. If that’s all, please head back to building E.”

Applejack slowed and fell back at that, as the officer quickened his pace and left her behind before passing into one of the larger buildings. This one was flanked by soldiers standing guard at the entrance, so she realized she’d get no further. Instead, she stood there and frowned for several moments before simply muttering to herself and turning around to head back.

She had barely gotten the length of two buildings when she heard a shout. “Hey, hey! You down there!”

She perked her head up at the sound of a soldier on the wall shouting, but quickly found out she wasn’t the one being addressed. She traced her eyes to the voice and saw one of the men near the gate shouting below it. She got a bit of a surprise on seeing a stunned Twilight standing there with Spike.

“Wh-what?”

“Gate’s closed! Stand away!”

“I…I’m just wanting to let him out to do his business!” she protested nervously. “I’ll only be a second…”

“He can do it on the yard! Stay inside!”

“But I…”

“Gate’s closed! Stay inside!”

Looking a little nervous but also relenting, Twilight turned away and began to walk back to building E. Applejack, on her part, eyed this situation with some suspicion. While she was initially a bit cross on seeing Twilight was headed for the gate, as it brought to mind thoughts of her trying to leave before she had performed the seal, she also noticed that the soldiers seemed rather adamant about people staying inside…

As tense as she was about this, she didn’t want to leave the family alone any longer. Still eyeing Twilight, she headed back the same way.

Considering the dire straits the Apple family had been in, Building E was almost an upgrade even if it was little more than some old barracks. They already had to share with another forty or so volunteers. A quick round of hellos revealed that they were mostly locals and, not surprisingly, volunteering under the Homestead Act as well.

In thirty minutes exactly, the officer walked in again, introducing himself more formally as Lt. Colonel Burnt Oak. Applejack noticed that a few of the older members of the family looked up a little at that, but they had little time to wonder as he jumped right in with evaluation. They had to go out to the yard to receive it. At this point, with so much ground to protect and a surge and/or invasion on the horizon, the Appleloosan Civil Defense Corps really couldn’t afford to be choosy. Nevertheless, Apple Strudel was in his mid-60s and two other family members were in their 40s, so he said the best those three could do was support duty.

The others, however, were brought in readily. Considering how strong the Apple family as a whole was, they more than passed any physical trial they had to go through. Only about half of them had experience with firearms, however, and at a time like this they couldn’t really afford target practice. He ended up splitting the family into two companies. One would need to at least be drilled with unloaded guns first. The second would start being drilled on proper conduct in the military.

Applejack was in the second group, and couldn’t say she cared for it. Even expecting this all along, she wasn’t the sort of person who liked being ordered around by someone who wasn’t an older family member. Fortunately, there wasn’t much to go over before it started getting late. Just the basic rules. They had to line up for inspection every morning, speak when spoken to, answer every question “yes sir” or “no sir”, and generally do whatever the lt. colonel ordered them to do. As they were only Civil Defense rather than Army, the rules and discipline wasn’t quite as stringent, but they all had to act as one when necessary.

By then, it was nearly sundown, and so the group got a basic rundown of rules in the fort before they were adjourned for the night. Each was allowed to hit the mess hall before they would need to turn in so they could be up an hour before dawn. The hours were nothing to Applejack, as she was more than used to them back home, although she didn’t care much for the mess hall’s fare compared to Apple family cooking. What she did dislike, however, was how they were re-armed at sundown. Rather than get their old weapons back, they were passed Appleloosan stock-issue rifles with only three paper cartridges apiece. Worse yet, the family members not accustomed to firearms were not given any. Applejack was rather disgusted by that and wasn’t alone. She actually complained that they get their old weapons back, but the comment was dismissed and they were stuck with it.

The only good side about all of this was it got Applejack’s mind off her current problem and focused on the issue of being in the military, and as she disobeyed yet another first day command and stepped out to get some air she began to wonder if this was going to work out at all. Even then, however, she knew she was more well off than the others because she still had her hammer. With the sun going down, she had actually taken time to loosen up even more. Her gloves came off and, for the sake of familiarity, she actually had a bit of rope from the wagon tied at her hip. The hammer, however, was the biggest godsend of all. As the sun finally dipped under the horizon she felt more at ease than ever to have it at hand. Just keeping it out and hefting it made her feel more secure than any gun or palisade wall.

She didn’t try to go far once out, though. Like everywhere else in the country, the fort had lights out well before dark. As unfamiliar as she was, she knew she’d easily get lost even among the few buildings if she wandered around, and in the dark she wasn’t eager to offer an opportunity to get shot at. She confined herself to pacing around behind the back of building E for a bit before she decided to head back in before she could get the ire of anyone on the wall.

Yet just as she was turning around, she heard a voice call just above a whisper. “Applejack!”

She turned back and saw a shadow advance on her. There was still just enough light to make out Twilight’s hair style.

“There ya’ are,” she sounded on seeing her. “Where you run off to? Settlin’ in with the rest of the townsfolk, I reckon?”

“Applejack,” she continued as she came to a stop, lowering her voice. “We need to leave this fort as soon as possible.”

The farmer looked confused. “Wait, what?”

“We never should have even stopped here. If I had known I would have told us to move on…”

“What’re you talkin’ about?”

“This place isn’t safe!" Her voice raised, showing its anxiety. "Not for anyone! And if what I heard is true, I’m not sure if we can even afford to stay here tonight!”

“Now just hold on!” she almost shouted as she held her hands up. “What in tarnation is all this? What’s safer out here than a fort?”

“Any fort other than this!”

Applejack groaned. “Ya’ ain’t makin’ any sense!”

Twilight flustered a moment before she spoke quieter again. “Come here…”

She turned and beckoned. Applejack rolled her eyes and sighed again, but couldn’t let her get far before she’d lose track of her in the growing darkness, so she followed. Twilight led her straight up to the fort’s wall and began to walk alongside it.

“I asked around and heard that the Nighttouched have been running around in the countryside lately. But when I talked to the people hiding in here, they said they’d been running around the fort walls at night.”

“So? Jus’ means they couldn’t get in, right?”

Twilight paused and suddenly hit her fist against the side of the palisade wall. Since the timber used to make it was so solid, it was akin to her hitting a rock, but she simply moved along afterward and hit it again a bit further on with the same result. She continued to do so as she led Applejack on.

“Early after the Lunar Fall, there was a town south of Hoofheim that tried to take the ‘fight’ to the Nighttouched by using mortars to shoot firebombs into Equestrian territory. Not only did it not work that well, but the bombs flushed out something worse.”

Applejack crooked her eyebrow. “Worse?”

“Most of the Nighttouched we see are the ones that were corrupted recently. They hang out near the edges of the forests and can tolerate looking at dim light. Older ones that were corrupted earlier, though…they’ve changed a lot more. They don’t even look like what they were originally anymore. That one town ended up flushing out some kind of insect swarm that got heavily altered into things we called ‘Parasprites’.”

“What the hell is a ‘parasprite’?”

“I’ve only seen the remains of one but I've heard all about them. They’re a swarming creature that buzzes around like a fly but has a mouth like a termite. The good news is they don’t seem to eat anything organic that isn’t dead…you know, like people. The bad news is they eat almost everything else. They seem to change their diet at a whim. They devastated that town. They destroyed all the buildings and left it open to attack from another swarm of Nighttouched.”

Applejack admitted she didn’t like the sound of that. She had experience with pest swarms as a farmer, and the thought of pests that were Nighttouched were even worse. “Awright, but what’s that got ta’ do with this fort?”

“Like any Nighttouched, you can only make out their eyes. The people here couldn’t see what they actually were. They only said they kept seeing them going around. What if they weren’t going around? What if they were just seeing random ones looking up? What if most of them were right where they wanted to be?”

“I don’t follow…”

“This is an open field in the middle of nowhere. A good distance from the forest. So if anything wanted to eat wood, this is the only place to get it.”

Applejack frowned. “Sounds like a lot of supposin’ ta’ me. And the last thing anyone needs is ta’ be worked up over nothin’. I don’t suppose ya’ got any evidence at all ta’ back this-”

She cut herself off. At that very moment, Twilight drove her fist into a new location, and she watched as she punched a hole into the supposedly solid log as if it was made of nothing more than dried out crackers. Her jaw dropped as she pulled it back out, revealing flimsy, eaten-out bits of wood that tunneled deep into the wall.

She turned fully to Applejack and pointed at it. “There’s my evidence. Who knows how much of these walls look like this now?”

She took only a moment to compose herself, swallow, and readjust her thoughts before she quickly fell in accord. “Awright…I’m with ya’ now. How ‘bout you run back ta’ the barracks and tell the others while I rustle up that lt. colonel and-”

For the second time, Applejack was cut off. This time, however, both she and Twilight went rigid, and soon many other people in the fort, both civilians and soldiers, did the same. Over the wall, at what had to be some distance, a loud horn suddenly grew in volume and blasted out a long note.

The response was fast. The soldiers on the wall instantly began to shuffle about. Those on the ground perked up before quickly rushing to the palisades. Orders were shouted out calling for the gunnery teams as rifles were drawn.

“What in tarnation was that?”

To be continued...

Nightwatch: The Bastion of the Fields

Author's Notes:

Remember that gore tag I put on this story? I'm going to make use of it this chapter...

"What in tarnation was that?"

Twilight turned back to her tensely. “I think it was a screamer.”

“A what?”

“A spring loaded mechanism designed to create air-pressure differentials when snapping loose trip wires-”

“I asked ‘what’, not ‘how’!”

Twilight sighed. “Since everyone has to fight Nighttouched in the dark, they can’t use flares or even lights on fortifications. Instead they set out these ‘screamer mines’ on the fields around them that emit sirens every time a Nighttouched sets one off to know where they’re coming from.”

By now, all of the civilians were up, especially when a second ‘screamer’ joined the first. Most were emerging from their various buildings. However, by now most of the soldiers had jumped to the walls and the voice of the lt. colonel sounded out over the entire square.

“Everyone remain calm! Stay indoors and let us handle this!” He turned to another part of the wall. “Gunnery spikes northwest and north, train your barrels on those sirens! Do not fire until I give the order!”

The sounds of hand cranks moving to reposition the large cannons began to clatter and clank while the soldiers on the wall lined up and got their rifles at the ready. Yet while they were still taking aim, another siren rang out. Another quickly followed, and so did another after that. Soon they were beginning to sound out over each other and grow into a din of unintelligible noise.

And as they did, a slight tremor rippled over the ground and up the palisades.

“I…could be wrong, but…those alarms sound like they’re getting closer quickly…” Twilight muttered nervously.

“Alarms nothin’. I used ta’ help out ma’ aunt on a ranch…” Applejack answered, looking at the ground as it quivered and beginning to sweat. “I know what causes that…”

Before Twilight could ask what, the order was given. “Open fire! Open fire!”

A chorus of gunshots erupted. The men on the wall immediately began to reload, but the deafening gunfire was quickly drowned out in the interim by the sounds of more sirens and increasingly strong tremors. As the men on the wall more frantically put in their next cartridges, both Twilight and Applejack heard the sounds of hooves slamming against the ground begin on grow distinct the other side of the palisade.

“Cannons! Hurry up and open fire!” The lt. colonel shouted; his voice getting louder as the soldiers quickly fired again. As another round of gunshots went off, the wooden wall right in front of Twilight and Applejack suddenly exploded.

Both women cried out and pulled back as a form with pale yellow eyes smashed a hole through the palisade. In the light of the flashing gunpowder, they were just able to make out the head of what Applejack assumed had once been a cow. It was larger and distorted now, taking on almost pig-like features as the horns grew broader and more curled. With the wall weakened from the parasprites, its charge had enabled it to smash its head right through the logs. And now that it was there, it gave one heavy grunt before beginning to twist around madly, trying to push itself the rest of the way in.

Applejack was immobilized in shock for just a moment. Yet as the Nighttouched bull began to force its way forward and splinter off more rotted wood, in a snap she hefted her hammer and acted on impulse. With a fierce cry, she drove it forward and brought the head down right on top of the bull’s skull. While it was tougher than it would have been normally, her strike hit true and bludgeoned it. It gave out a pained snort, but she quickly struck two more times, pulling back blood and scalp with the final strike. It went limp forever soon after.

Breathing a little hard, she hesitated a moment before quickly pulling back, yanking up her boot, planting it on the remains of the bull’s head, and, using her power as well as leverage, started pushing it back out the way it came. She only shoved it about three inches when loud noises struck the rest of the wall about her: the result of other Nighttouched slamming their heads into it as well. More quickly followed, and splinters and spurts of rotted wood began to erupt all over it. The body of the bull was shoved back forward into the opening by something striking it from behind, bulging the palisade even more and forcing Applejack to stagger back momentarily. As she quickly stumbled and regained her footing, she readied herself to shove back.

Before she could, a pale blue glow briefly illuminated the smashed bull’s head out of nowhere. She froze in her spot and gaped soon after as ice crystals followed it; forming out of midair around the head and quickly thickening and expanding. In moments, an amount of solid ice had sealed the hole using the dead bull’s head as a stopper.

She couldn’t believe her eyes, but the wintry chill she felt coming off of it was all too real. She nearly reached out to touch it in disbelief, before she started to think of who could be the source. Only knowing one person, she turned around. Twilight was still standing there--one hand holding flat while the other finished a gesture. The light about her hands was the same color as the pale blue glow.

Applejack stared dumbfounded as she lowered her hands again, while Twilight, on her part, looked nervous at being “caught in the act”.

“Ya’ got any other tricks ya’ didn’t tell me about?”

Twilight didn’t have a chance to answer. She yelped instead as cracking went out all over the palisade. Applejack swung back around and saw four new holes had just been punched into the wall, along with the heads of four new Nighttouched. One of them had shoved forward enough to actually get its shoulders through as well, and it was furiously snorting and snarling as it tried to wriggle the rest of the way in.

“Ferget ‘bout that… Any way ya’ can do that trick again and…uh…faster and bigger?”

Twiilght winced and was silent for a moment. She glanced about herself once, looking nervous, before she finally slumped and sighed. “I guess I really don’t have a choice. Just…please try to not make a big scene out of this any more than I already will…”

She turned back to her. “What are ya’-”

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Master of Sorcery—Starswirl the Bearded!”

Now Applejack almost felt her eyes roll out of her head as Twilight erupted into such a lavender glow that she could make out all of her details even in the dark. The soldiers on the wall, who by now had not only fired a third time but discharged their cannons once, for all the good it would do to enemies already at the palisade, as well as every soldier and civilian who was still on the ground likewise turned and gaped as light streamed over her head and briefly formed the image of what looked like an old wizard before breaking over her. Moments later, the wind picked up and Applejack staggered back as she saw Twilight’s clothing morph into a wide-brimmed hat and cloak as her eyes began to shine.

As soon as it was done, she quickly stepped forward, bent down, and snatched up one of the loose rotted timbers the Nighttouched had knocked out. The aura spread over it once it was in her hand, turning it into, for lack of a better phrase, an elaborate and well-crafted wand. She quickly performed a different gesture, this time drawing a glowing icy blue symbol on the air. In response, everyone around the wall could feel the cool breeze as massive ice crystals erupted along the breaches: freezing the bulls in place within the very holes they had punched into the palisade.

She lowered her wand once it was done and looked around her. Both the guns and the cannons had gone silent. The hoard of Nighttouched were practically forgotten as all eyes were now on Twilight. Although almost all of her features were hidden, she still lowered her head and let her wide-brimmed hat cover her face all together. From her angle, however, Applejack could see not only a high amount of embarrassment but also fear.

She gaped as much as any of them, but in the end she turned and looked back to the wall; now mixed with ice. The Nighttouched that were trapped weren’t dead but wriggling even in their half-frozen state. More impacts continued to strike it. Some hit the solid parts but others were breaking more pieces loose.

Finally, she clenched her jaw and looked up and around. “What the Hell is the matter with y’all? We got a hollowed-out wall ta’ defend! Stop gawkin’ an’ get back ta’ fightin’ them monsters ‘fore they break in!”

There was nothing but silence for a moment as only half of the people seemed to even hear her, but fortunately one person in particular responded.

“Get the cannons reloaded and keep firing!” The lt. colonel shouted. “Palisade company, clear the breached area and look out for more weaknesses while returning fire! Square company, mount up and get ready to shoot anything that starts to break in!”

That was enough to shake the rest of the soldiers out of it, even if some were reluctant. They returned to their defenses. As for Twilight, she looked up soon after. Considering how her eyes almost looked like a pair of candles in the darkness given her current attire, it was a bit unnerving to have her look at her, but Applejack bore through it.

“Thank-”

“Save yer thanks ‘til we get through tonight alive. If ya’ got any more of that magic or whatever in ya’, keep usin’ it!”

Even as she said that, the wall began to buckle in any places that weren’t already broken. Snapping back to it, Twilight winced a moment before she quickly made more gestures to generate additional ice crystals. Even then, the Nighttouched already frozen in the wall continued to fight madly to try and break free. It wasn’t long before they were breaking through the ice around them and starting to wiggle loose.

Applejack wouldn’t let them. Quickly, she dashed to the nearest one and swung her hammer down with another fatal strike. She did the same to another nearby. She was working on the third when the guns went off on the wall again, followed by a pair of cannon shells. As soon as it died, she heard another yell.

“Cousin Applejack!”

She wheeled around, just in time to see a team from the square company with rifles at the ready begin marching toward the wall breaches Twilight was struggling to seal. They were standing a bit off, however, in light of seeing, for lack of a better word, a wizard casting spells. However, Applejack's focus wasn’t on that but rather the outline of Braeburn and several Apple family members running up behind as well.

They held off on seeing Twilight as well, but Applejack quickly dashed past her and up to them. “Braeburn! What in the Hell are ya’ and the kinfolk doin’ out here? There’s Nighttouched cattle out here! Get the family and the rest ta’ a building with an upper floor!”

“Coz, they’re breakin’ in on the wall over yonder!”

Applejack froze before turning her head to where she saw Braeburn’s shadow gesturing. Unfortunately, that part of the wall was shrouded in darkness. Over the noise of the mounting battle it was impossible to see or hear anything. However, a moment later a flash of gunpowder ignited in that direction. For a brief moment, she caught the outline of Apple Strudel’s signature hat firing his rifle, and with it the monstrous head of a Nighttouched breaking through the palisade.

She swore and wheeled to the incoming soldiers. “Durn it, get over there!”

The company was a bit surprised to hear the civilian giving them an order like that, but they didn’t stall long. They caught a glimpse of the same monster, and half of them broke off and quickly rushed over. They were obviously used to this kind of fighting, because in less than five seconds they were lined up, taking aim, and opening fire. Rifle bullets tore into the Nighttouched’s head. The rest of them nearly turned to the ones still poking through Twilight’s wall.

“One’s breaking through over on the west side!” a voice screamed in between cannon shots.

At once, the remaining company members and who seemed to be their lead officer hesitated. She stopped and looked about, and saw the rest of the corps stationed in the square were already splitting up to handle other wall breaches. That left them. She clenched her jaw, but finally sighed and looked back uncertainly to Applejack and Twilight; especially the latter.

“Can you two…handle this spot?”

Twilight was too busy casting spells to do much more than stammer, but Applejack tipped her hat. “Got ya’ covered. I can wrangle a couple bulls.”

The soldier didn’t look too convinced, but at this point the attack was growing so severe that even the veterans were starting to break and she didn’t push it. Quickly, she motioned the others to run to the west side and handle the breach.

Applejack winced as the cannons boomed again, then wheeled back to the wall and bludgeoned a fourth one. “Ya’ holdin’ up?”

“Yeah!” she shouted back as she finished her final casting. As one last ice crystal grew, she wiped her head. “I can’t do this forever, but I think this end is good…”

“Great! I’ll finish up here! You go and start pluggin’ up-”

She suddenly cut herself off.

“Now what in Sam hill…?”

Being the closest to the wall, Applejack heard it first, but it wasn’t long before Twilight as well as any others nearby began to pick up a new noise. Amid the gunpowder and struggling of beasts and men alike, there was a scratching, crunching sound coming from the wall. Much like the sound of the stampeding hooves had, it rapidly began to grow louder, until Applejack realized it was coming from within the wall and right next to her. Quickly, she moved back and brandished her bloody claw hammer; facing the wood and waiting for what came through next.

A moment later, in the faint flashes of gunfire going off around inside the wall, she saw the wood in front of her seem to erode. It looked like foam being rinsed away by water as the beam in front of her disintegrated before her eyes. A hole emerged beyond it, and from it came the sounds of a multitude of cheeping noises followed by the rustles of insect wings. Soon after that they pushed their way in.

Applejack couldn’t make them out clearly, but she could see their tiny, beady, glowing eyes as a dozen of them pushed their way in, before a dozen pushed those out of the way to move in, and another two dozen pushed those aside. Not only that, but the little monsters were working their way into the wall like termites from Hell. They were eating it away right before her eyes.

“Oh no…” Twilight moaned.

The wall erupted in another spot soon after, followed by three more after that. Hundreds were pouring in now, quickly growing to thousands. Applejack looked about in shock and disgust. “What the…? What the hell are they?!”

“Those are parasprites! There’s a whole swarm of them now and they’re starving! They’re going to eat the wall away right in front of us!”

Applejack was left immobilized a moment, staring at the sickening site of them pouring all over the palisade devouring as they went. Pieces of it were beginning to fall off from their voracious appetites, threatening to make the whole thing come apart. Finally, gritting her teeth, she stepped toward one that had fallen off and was scurrying on the ground.

“Here’s how we deal with varmits like this back home…” she snorted before stomping her boot down on it with a loud crunch.

“That won’t work!” Twilight shot back.

“Huh?”

As she said this, she pulled her boot back, further disgusted on seeing bits of material from the crushed bug pull back and off with it. It almost seemed to rise from the dirt when she did. However, no sooner had she stepped down again when she realized it wasn’t her boot. The pieces were rising. Specifically, the two crushed halves of the creature swelled and protruded off the ground right before her eyes, before expanding their severed halves outward to reform the other half of their bodies along with wings. Moments later, both new parasprites fluttered their new wings once before flying up and to the wall to rejoin the hoard of now-thousands.

Applejack’s jaw hung loose. “How in the…?”

“You can’t kill parasprites like that! Any time you do, two more grow out from ones you kill!”

“Well that’s just fantastic!” she yelled in exasperation. “Whatda we do? Once they eat this wall we’ll get ripped ta’ bits by those cattle!”

Twilight thought a moment before holding up her hands again. “Get back!”

Applejack quickly complied. Moments later, Twilight performed a new gesture with a new word at the end of it, before she made one of her palms flat and put her impromptu wand on top of it at a right angle. A sigil as bright as fresh fire erupted in it, illuminating both of them, before, to the farmer’s surprise, a jet of flame erupted from her hands like she was a living incinerator. She quickly moved up to the wall and laid into the parasprites.

The insect swarm screeched in agony as hungry flames rolled over them, lighting them up in a mere flash. Many of them scattered and tried to fly, but she swept the fire over them and engulfed them before they got far. Their wings were dissolved in moments and their flaming bodies left to fall to the ground and writhe in misery. Soon they stopped moving forever as they were fully consumed. She continued to sweep the flaming jet over them all, hitting each and every place they tried to emerge. Soon the majority were on fire, and the few that weren’t enflamed quickly retreated to save themselves.

She cut off the spell soon after, panting harder now as she stepped back. Thousands of flaming insect carcasses were left in its wake.

In spite of her unusual power, Applejack couldn’t help but whistle at Twilight. “Whoo-hoo! Ya’ sure licked ‘em good! Why in the world didn’t ya’ start with that?”

Twilight’s face sank as she sighed hopelessly. “Because I probably just doomed us all…”

Applejack blinked. “Say what?”

At that moment, the wall they were guarding was slammed with such force that a massive breach was instantly punched through it. Three Nighttouched bulls burst forth through the hole with a dozen more pushing them from behind. Applejack gasped as the monstrous animals immediately bore down on them; only realizing at that moment that Twilight, in saving them from the parasprites, had created the brightest light for miles. Every last Nighttouched was now attracted by the sight of the flames through the hole in the wall to attack that one spot.

Quickly, Twilight brandished her wand and cast another spell so fast and intently that she actually cried out in a bit of pain from the effort, but the fragments the parasprites had knocked loose immediately were enveloped in a purple aura along with the broken shards of the wall before sweeping back and toward the very breach that had just been made. Two of the monstrous bulls were caught up in it and pushed back out before the debris covered that part of the wall and held; maintaining its purple light.

One of them, however, managed to dash forward enough to get free before it could be swept out. As Twilight struggled to hold on, it charged right at her, lowering its horns to gore her…

It didn’t get the chance. Realizing Twilight was struggling to hold the barrier, Applejack leapt into action. Charging as fast as she could, she crossed in front of the bull in a mad move even for her and seized it by the horns, yanking it to one side as she pushed back. It was enough to deflect the bull away from going straight into Twilight, but it instantly snapped its head up and tugged Applejack into the air with it. Her arms were wrenched so violently she thought they would dislocate, and her body was freely flung into the air as it kept charging.

In spite of the vertigo and pain, Applejack grit her teeth through it and twisted in midair, such that she ended up landing on the back of the rampaging Nighttouched instead. Instantly, she was in for the worst rodeo of her life as it furiously tried to buck her off; more violently than she had ever been flung before in her life. Even holding onto the horns, of which she only had a good grip on one, was pain for her as she was jostled about. Somehow, through the chaos and attempt to rattle her loose, she kept her other hand on her hammer and brought a blow down on the head of the thing.

Now that she was being bucked around, it was too much for her to land a solid hit. She ended up giving glancing strikes instead until, by sheer luck, she nailed it around the eye socket. Breaking it was enough to make the monster pause, and she quickly buried her hammer head in its skull. That made it only go madder a moment, but she followed up with three more strikes to get it to stop, and one more after to finally get it to fall. She drove it in two more times for good measure before being satisfied it was dead.

She got off the bull as quickly as she could after that, but not as quickly as she liked. Her body was sore and strained now. She had no time to rest, however. No sooner had she gotten up and turned around than she found a second steer had already broken through Twilight’s ramshackle barricade. This one went right for her. Before she could react, it was already slamming its head into her midsection.

Applejack had fought with charging Nighttouched before, but even she had a hard time remembering the last time she had been hit so hard by one. The only thought she managed before the agony overcame her was a hope that she hadn’t heard ribs snap as the wind was knocked totally out of her. Her hands went flaccid and the hammer slid out of her grip as the monstrous bull took her off of her feet and barreled straight for the nearest building. She was still managing her first gasp when it slammed her against it, sending more pain radiating through her back and head. It was only due to the fact her body ended up in between its horns that she didn’t get her chest compressed. As it was, the thing angrily swung to one side and flung her across the yard.

The woman tumbled several times before landing, and she considered it impressive even for her that, after doing so, she somehow managed to push herself on to all fours. Her entire chest felt like an open wound with the blows she had just took and any sane person would have said for her to stay down. Through the pain, however, she not only forced herself to become aware but saw she was missing her hammer. She tried to look for it, but before she could the Nighttouched tore out to try and trample her. It was all she could manage in her state to roll to one side and let it shoot by. Fortunately, the thing was so mad that it kept right on barreling in a straight line until it reached another building side, then smashed itself right in before it stopped.

As people taking refuge inside screamed in panic and the monster began to yank itself free, Applejack quickly fumbled around her waist for her length of rope with somewhat sluggish movements. After a moment she got it out and quickly unfurled it to the ready as she glanced about. By the time the Nighttouched fully yanked itself out and spun around to her, she managed to catch a glimpse of the fallen hammer, head down and shaft in the air, in the light of the flames.

Quickly, she whipped her rope up as the bull broke into another charge. She snapped the end out, seized the hammer by the shaft, and snapped up as it lowered its head right for her. Gritting her teeth, and wincing through the pain to her back, she snapped it around like a ball on a string. The hammer sailed through the air and embedded itself, claw first, in the side of the bull’s neck. Still wincing, she stepped to one side as the monster charged past, letting it just tear her shirt with one horn, and she quickly pulled tight on the end of the line.

A wet squelch was heard soon after as the claw tore right through the side of its neck, opening a gaping, and mortal wound. As it cried out and stumbled, going into its death throes, Applejack yanked the rope back to snap the hammer up to her, then snatched it by the shaft out of the air.

No sooner had she regained her footing and looked back to the wall when another part of it began to pry loose. She glanced back at Twilight, but she was now audibly grunting and visibly sweating as she struggled to hold the barrier together. She couldn’t spare any more power. In moments, another monster began to push through. Panting herself now, Applejack wiped her brow before she half-ran, half-stumbled forward. As the steer put its head and shoulders out and tried to wriggle the rest of itself through the new opening, she swung her hammer around to try and stop it before it could.

The hammer connected, but she was too tired and too sore. It did more to enrage it than anything, and a moment later it violently snapped its head around at her. This time, the tip of the horns slashed a gash across her arm before the rest smacked her away and back to the ground. Grunting angrily, the Nighttouched began to splinter the wooden palisade and yank itself forward more fiercely.

As for Applejack, she looked in visible pain on slamming into the ground, but letting her own ferocity and temper dictate her actions, she glared at the Nighttouched, grit her teeth, and shot back to her feet. As its front hooves came through, she surged at it again, seized it by one horn, and then drove the hammer down on the back of its skull. This time, it sank in enough to blind it, and instantly it threw a fit as it pulled itself the rest of the way through from nothing but agonized rage. Applejack felt the muscles in her arm nearly tear as she was yanked after it before her body was dragged alongside of the monster, dangling by her grip on one horn.

Crying out herself now from the increased trauma, she forced her other arm up and around and drove her hammer into the side of its knee. With a wet crunch, it bent inward and the monster faltered and collapsed to one side. She barely yanked herself free of the falling monster before its bulk slammed down into the dirt, but as she landed on her own knees at its side she put both hands on the hammer shaft, raised it high, and drove down a more powerful blow. This time it hit true.

Panting, mottled with cattle blood as well as some of her own, dirty, and exhausted, she wiped at her nose. She wasn’t used to trying to take on so many big Nighttouched at once and alone. She looked up and around, but her heart sank at the sight. Twilight’s wall was quickly coming apart. At least three more were breaking in at the moment and the entire barrier looked moments from collapse. Applejack doubted she could take out even one more. No one could help them, for they were busting in other walls all around the fort. One was already inside and soldiers were furiously shooting at it to try and kill it before it trampled half a dozen people, while those on the wall were desperately struggling to stem the tide.

Twilight glanced to her, seeing her pitiful state, but other than look afraid and nervous could do nothing. Her own strength was giving out. The farmer realized it was hopeless.

Nevertheless, she tightened her face in a defiant look. Gritting her teeth, she clenched her hammer more tightly as she started to push up from the ground again…

Something happened when she did. No sooner had she re-solidified her grip on the hammer when a ripple of light emitted from it. Stopping in mid-rise, Applejack glanced at it just in time to see a faint light start at the tip of her hammer and run down it, like a sunbeam shimmering on water.

What would have truly surprised her, however, was what she never saw. At that moment, her own eyes did the same thing in synchrony.

“Huh…?”

“No way…”

Applejack looked up, hearing Twilight speak again. In spite of her struggling to hold the wall together, she had noticed the same thing the farmer had seen. And while it had surprised Applejack enough, she looked even more so. In spite of the fact she seemed to have turned into an actual magic-using wizard, she was the one gaping now at Applejack and the hammer.

“It can’t be… Can it? I mean…I guess it was possible, but…”

“What’re ya’ talkin’ about?”

At that moment, the Nighttouched charged into the wall again, knocking loose several timbers that Twilight was holding. Two more joined the three already shoving through to start pushing past it. Twilight and Applejack both looked to the wall and realized it had less than a minute. The former stared at it a moment, biting her lip and thinking, before she finally spun back to Applejack.

“Alright, listen to me!”

She spun to her. “Huh? What-”

“There’s no time to argue! I have no idea if this is going to work, but you have to just do it and not ask any questions!”

“What in tarn-”

“I said no questions! Just do it! And believe in what I tell you to say!”

The farmer was overwhelmed. “What’s goin’ on now? Ya’ tell me ta’-”

“Just do as I say!” she practically screamed. It was so fierce, so insistent, and so desperate that the stubborn woman was actually silenced. “Hold that hammer in the air right now!”

Applejack stared back in puzzlement a moment, but considering the fact Twilight had apparently known more than a few things she didn’t, and made that abundantly clear over the past couple days, she decided to go with whatever was going on. Frowning a little, she held it over her head. “Like this?”

“Now say this exactly, and with force and belief! ‘Valiant spirit, my household opens its doors to you!’”

She lowered the hammer and gawked at her. “The Hell? ‘Household’? ‘Doors’? ‘Spirit’? What’s-”

“Do it!”

Sighing, Applejack half-heartedly held the hammer in the air. “Valiant, uh…spirit…my, um, homestead opens up its doors to ya’…”

The wall surged again. The heads of the Nighttouched pushed through and zeroed in on the two of them, snorting and fuming. “Applejack, I can’t hold this much longer…”

She groaned once, looking a bit stubborn, but held the hammer high again. Taking a deep breath, she spoke more boldly. “Valiant spirit, my household opens its doors to you!”

Applejack remained frowning for only a half a second longer before gaping in shock all over again, for at that moment the entire hammer lit up with the same shimmer that it had before. She nearly dropped it in alarm, but what happened next froze her in her spot.

A voice, a familiar one, sounded forth from the hammer over her.

“I, Bright Macintosh, Bastion of the Fields, pledge myself to the House of Applejack.”

The woman nearly paled. As weakened as she was, her knees almost felt like water. It wasn’t just the voice, but the actual feeling coming from the hammer now. Emanating from it like a warm fire and washing over and down her arm. Almost breathless, she whispered one word.

“…Pa?”

“Finish the incantation!” Twilight shouted back to her. “‘The binding is done; may our souls be as one!’”

Applejack couldn’t answer. She was too stunned. She blinked in only half-recognition.

One of the bulls, with a mighty grunt, finally broke through and, once in the square, instantly went into a charge. The wall, weakened as it was, quickly allowed two more to follow behind it.

“Applejack!”

She startled once, then found herself only half-consciously saying it.

“The binding is done; may our souls be as one.”

At once, the same light that radiated from the hammer erupted from not only Applejack’s eyes but from her entire body. Stunned and still trying to wrap her brain around what had just happened, she could do little but gaze in wide-eyed marvel as, just as it had with Twilight, an aura came out from around her and began to shoot off streaks of light. The only difference was hers was a burning orange as opposed to lavender.

And just as hers had done, the lights emanating from Applejack streaked over her head and traced out a pattern that looked like a man. This time, it wasn’t an old man with a long beard, but a much younger man, long haired, roughed by a country living and a rural life style, and wearing the very same hat that was on Applejack’s head. Recognition painted Applejack’s features, but she had little time to respond before it burst and flowed over her.

The effect was instantaneous. On touching her, a wind whipped up around her which carried her hat off of her head before stripping off the top and turning the rest into a simple length of cloth. Her hair was swept up and tied back by it, before it lashed around like a headband to keep it that way. The rest of her simple clothing thickened and hardened while tinting into new colors, until instead of farming attire it had morphed into a breastplate with pauldrons and faulds. The rest became lighter yet rough and durable cloth, save for a pair of vambraces leading to rough, boiled leather fingerless gloves. Her boots became heavier and thicker, while expanding outward in grieves to cover her shins. All turned the same reddish color: the color of the old knights of Appleloosa.

The light died down, and Applejack was left standing there as still as a mannequin. It took her a moment to blink before she recovered enough to look over herself. Fortunately, her change had caused its share of distractions. Not only did many onlookers turn to her in surprise, but the same Nighttouched that were charging were momentarily distracted on seeing another new light next to the one that Twilight had made. The farmer herself held up her hands and turned them over, seeing herself now armored. She reached up for her head, and almost winced on feeling her hat was now changed into a headband of sorts. However, from the way she moved and now held herself, she realized something else that was not so readily apparent. She wasn’t panting anymore, and she wasn’t nearly as sore now.

The Nighttouched recovered, and giving out a snort they began to move again. However, they had halted once now, and it took them a moment to get going. Their hooves stamping the ground caused Applejack to look up to them again. Now far more composed and ready, she instinctively held up her hand bearing her hammer, only to give another start. Gone was the claw hammer from before. Now she was wielding a heavy war hammer with a curved spike on one end of the head, and weighing a good twenty pounds. Yet in spite of the beating she had taken, she noticed she was hefting it easily in one hand.

Not looking the gift horse in the mouth, her eyes went up to the approaching Nighttouched. Her brow creased and she frowned before she took off for it. Despite the armor and heavier boots, she was on it just as fast as when she started. Shifting the new hammer so that the handle was now in both hands, she swung it behind her and brought it around, swinging it to meet its head as it came.

Applejack always knew she was stronger than most of her family, but even she nearly dropped her weapon in alarm as the hammer connected and nearly snapped the Nighttouched’s head clean off of its body. The sheer power was enough to flip the monster to one side and spread it out on the ground.

“Holy…!”

In spite of the blow, the other Nighttouched were undeterred and kept charging. Their attack caused Applejack to snap out of it, and as another came in she quickly hefted the hammer and instinctively swung it around to smash into it headfirst. She gasped again on seeing how easily she pulverized its skull. The third quickly moved in at her side, but this time she got enough of her bearings to try something different. Swiveling the bloody hammer around, she produced the spike first, and then swung around and buried it into the side of the mad bull. Rather than keep tearing into it, she used it as an anchor and dug her feet in. The Nighttouched before was strong enough to snap her around like a toy, but this time her feet planted into the ground and held, and she proceeded to guide the charging monster around in a semicircle before letting it go and to charge right back into its coming companions. The force was strong enough to make them collide with a bone-crunching noise, and stop the flow of the incoming monsters for a few brief seconds.

At this, her surprise finally faded. Instead, Applejack began to grin. “Now that’s more like it!” Hefting the hammer, and without the slightest fear, she charged right at the discombobulated herd.

Seemingly tirelessly and twice as strong as before, Applejack laid into them. She shifted her hammer to one hand and swung upward at the next one to charge at her, shattering its jaw and knocking its head skyward to snap its neck in the same strike. She shifted her grip to both hands to strike down two more on either side as she barreled in. A fourth managed to charge into her, but she saw it coming, planted her feet, crossed her arms, and, to her own surprise yet pleasure, actually managed to stop the monster in its tracks and fling it to one side. Once on the ground, another blow from her hammer finished it. At one point, she actually decked one of the monstrous cattle in the face with nothing but her newly-gloved fist, and she still found herself knocking out one of its teeth. And the more she fought, and the more she saw how easily she was taking them apart, the more enthused and furious she became.

The battle quickly shifted in the fort’s favor. With the fires still burning, most of the attacking cattle tried to pour in through the breach on Twilight and Applejack’s side. Applejack dealt with most of them, and the few that managed to attack her did little other than stun her temporarily before getting a fatal blow. When they swelled to become too much for her, Twilight, no longer needing to hold the wall together, shifted to use new spells. Bolts of lightning snaked from the heavens and struck them down one after the other. The light attracted more Nighttouched but, for once, that seemed to be an asset rather than a hindrance as they funneled through the bottleneck to Applejack’s waiting hammer.

Eventually she did begin to huff and tire, and as bulls kept charging her fatigue and pain started to mount up, but by then the rest of the defenders had gotten a hold on their own defenses. Many of the holes were timbered up and soldiers freed themselves to double-up on other breaches, until at last the square was secure save for the major break. The cannons continued to thunder along with the rifles of the wall defenders, and those in the square fell in behind Twilight and began to fire at the remaining Nighttouched trying to pour inside. None could pass between them and the two defenders.

At last, the herd thinned out. The cannons ceased and the wall protectors fired a few more shots before quitting. A mound of dead cattle, reverted back into their original forms following their death, now formed a new ghastly barricade. Only three remaining beasts had managed to get inside, and a new volley of gunfire tore one apart. The remaining two charged Applejack together.

By now, she was panting and sweaty, and had a few more bruises and cuts, but from the eager look on her face it was clear she was still feeling great. She charged toward the closer of the two to meet it, bracing the shaft of her hammer in front of her and driving it right into its mouth. She kept pushing and used that to wrangle it, forcing it backward. She kept her eye on the other as it came, and just as it moved in to strike she snapped her arms one way to cause the right horn of the monster she was grappling with to jut out. She gave a grunt, planted her feet, and sharply twisted her body to shove the head of the monster to one side and drive her attacker’s horn right into the neck of its partner. It pierced in several inches, causing it to spasm and gurgle before it fell to the ground flopping.

Still pushing, Applejack used its falling leverage and kept twisting to snap her attacker’s horn clean off its head before flinging it to the ground on top of the one it pierced. It struggled to get up again, but she gave one last yell as she yanked her war hammer back and swung it down one final time. With one last sickening thud, audible over the now quiet cannons and rifles, it fell forever.

Aside from the sounds of heavy breathing, a few flame crackles from dying embers, and the bits of wall settling, the fort was now silent. Applejack herself slumped a bit, using the shaft of her hammer to support herself, and wiped her brow again with a tired whistle. She looked up and behind her to Twilight, and saw the woman looked ready to fall over. She was barely holding onto her footing and had already dropped her wand so she could plant her hands on her legs to steady herself.

After a moment of composing herself, Applejack looked up and around. Every last person in the entire fort had now emerged, and they were all staring at the two of them. Some looked fearful. Others looked suspicious. All looked astonished. It was growing dark again, but she couldn’t make out a single set of eyes that blinked. The entire fort was silent.

Adrenaline fading, Applejack’s look began to grow uncomfortable, especially on realizing she had transformed just as Twilight had, and that she had no idea how or what exactly she had done to trigger it. Twilight herself looked more uneasy than ever; like she wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and hide.

She nervously exhaled. “I…guess they’re all going to want a more detailed explanation…”

Applejack let out a half-snort. “What d’ya’ mean they?”

Nightwatch: Street Performance

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to The Force for doing edits on this chapter.

As soon as the Huntsman pushed aside the last few branches, the country opened wide in front of them again. Just ahead was a road that started being paved a kilometer ahead, and beyond that were the first few rows of an Appleloosan town. Unlike all the other ones that they had passed, this one still had smoke from a few chimneys, dust down a few roads, and the distant sounds of steam engines and wagon wheels.

Dash stepped out the rest of the way grinning and wiping her brow. “There we are! No sweat! Heh, told ya', I'd get you here!”

An instant after, looking a bit dirty, torn, and with her excellent coiffure half-fallen apart as well as her makeup worn off in several different spots, Rarity tiredly staggered out of the forest in a half-limp (due to one of her heels being broken), looking like she had been through more physical activity in the past few days than she had in her entire her life combined. After taking a few deep breaths, she got enough of her bearings to look forward and see the same sight.

She sighed massively in relief. “Oh, thank heavens…the Macintosh Hills at last!”

“Huh?” Dash echoed back, before chuckling. “Oh, we’re nowhere near that yet. This is just Flaxonville, but we should be past the bad leg of the trip.”

Rarity took this in for a moment but then nodded back. “Well, that will do. So long as it is a town that’s still inhabited, then I know there is at least one thing we can get…”

“A stagecoach?”

“I was going to say ‘a bath’… We look wretched after the past two days.”

Dash frowned, looking at herself. She lifted an arm and smelled under it before shrugging. “No problem to me. My last one was only about two weeks ago.”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “T-T-Two…?” Quickly composing herself, she shook her head and smiled uneasily; now making sure to shy away from Dash a little. “Let’s…let’s just head into town.”

The trip into Flaxonville was reasonably uneventful, especially on the road that Dash and Rarity had emerged on. The roads on the north side of town were a different story. While they had reached the other side of the blockade that Appleloosa had erected, they were still so close to it that the town was rapidly filling up with people fleeing in the opposite direction.

As such, on entering the main streets, Rarity found it to be about as cluttered and bustling as the stop she had made where she met Dash. Fortunately, as this was a real town, it was a bit more organized. There was a garrison of Appleloosan soldiers-turned-magistrates deployed there who were helping keep everything under control, and aside from large crowds standing around outside various stores with general goods and services involved in food and travel, to say nothing of many traders and merchants being forced to leave large stacks of their crates on every road and street corner, it wasn’t that bad.

Things grew a bit thicker the deeper they got into town, however. The town’s population had swollen so much that the public square looked like a busy fairground, with many crowds spilling over into the streets. Rarity found the journey little better than the forest as she was forced to push through and around people in her struggle to keep up with Dash.

Finally, it got to be too much for her. After the third time of nearly losing her in the crowd, Dash led them over to the nearest corner where they could pause for her to catch her breath and gain their bearings. Unfortunately, as Rarity soon found out, the only place where she was free to have a front step to sit down on was directly across from a rather loud and obnoxious sight.

A good part of the sidewalk nearby was taken up by a sizable theatrical cart that had deployed a small stage off the back of it. A white-haired and rather smug-looking street magician with a wide-brimmed hat and cloak covered with stars was on it; peddling her trade to whoever would listen in a rather loud, obnoxious, and booming voice.

“Come one! Come all! Shock and be amazed at the Great and Powerful Trixie’s amazing feats!”

She punctuated the statement of her name (rather frequently, as Rarity had not heard her use the “I” pronoun once since sitting), by firing off a chain of fireworks. While bright and colorful, they were also quite loud and on a narrow street. Not only did they spook several horses nearby, they deafened Rarity before dumping eye-burning smoke everywhere.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie,” on the other hand, only grinned all the wider. “Behold! A straitjacket from the finest sanitariums in Manehattan! Absolutely, one-hundred percent, guaranteed to be escape-proof! Now, if I could have a volunteer from the audience…”

Rarity groaned at the trick. It was the first one she had seen on sitting down, and the street magician had tried to escape from it within the span of a single smoke bomb usage. However, that had failed, and she had used a second while the first one was still burning her eyes. She turned around to Dash. “I think I am quite ready to get on my feet again. Shall we head to the train station?”

She shook her head. “Sorry, no can do. The train station is the first place that’ll be booked solid. I'm sure they already jacked up the prices and are loaded up like an oversized cattle car. We want to get out to Macintosh Hills, we'll have to do the last leg by stagecoach.”

“Well, so long as it keeps me off my feet, I won't mind. Where do we go for that?”

“Eh, I'll handle it,” she shrugged. “You take your time and get that bath you wanted, then meet me back on this corner in about three hours.”

Rarity blinked, looking nervous. “This is my first time to Flaxonville… I am not so sure I can find my way around…”

Dash stared at her dully, before jabbing a thumb in the magician’s direction. “You really aren’t going to be able to hear her from anywhere in this city?”

“…Fair point. Three hours it is.”

Dash nodded and turned to head off, and Rarity, ruing getting on her broken shoes again, rose as well. She glanced around for a moment before she picked a direction that seemed less crowded and started walking away.

As she did, she passed a pair of other travelers watching the street performer and chatting to one another.

“I think her greatest power is going onto a crowded street and making her audience disappear…”

“Y’know, there is a rumor going around that out west this one magician killed a Light Eater?”

“Pft. Yeah right. What's your point?”

“You don't think…?”

“The people out west are a lot denser than around here. City folk will buy into anything.”

Rarity rolled her eyes at the very idea as she walked past. “The day that braggart kills a Light Eater is the day I turn into one…” she muttered.

Luckily, the crowds thinned out close to the outskirts of town, where residences and buildings became fewer and farther between. Rarity had a moment to enjoy the surroundings and countryside, which, despite all of the chaos going on in the world, was indeed rather pleasant. It did not offer too much to satisfy her current desires, however, until she managed to run into a local that pointed out a place of interest. A bit farther and she finally came upon her destination.

Down one of the older roads in town, where enough trees were growing to turn the skyline of the central part of Flaxonville into just an outline, there was a three-story building. Not quite enough to be one of the larger urban structures from Manehattan, but still far too large to be simply a grand house; although the outside looked that way. As Rarity came up to it, she saw an arched arbor placed over a footpath leading to the front steps of the building and read off the name: “Emerald Coast’s Inn and Breakfast.”

She paused, thinking aloud. “Now where have I heard that name ‘Emerald Coast’ before…?”

After a moment, she shrugged it off and walked up the path.

On reaching the top of the steps and crossing the threshold, she was greeted by a foyer done up with a mounted front desk and a twisting stairwell leading to the upper floors, as well as side openings leading to a hall and a dining room. It was very cozy and quaint. Between the rugs, the crackling fireplace, the vases with fresh flowers, and the small waiting table and dish cupboard, it was almost like walking into someone’s house, and one would have mistaken it for such if not for the ledger and rack for keys over by the mounted desk.

Considering how crowded the town was, Rarity thought it was odd that not only was the front foyer empty but some of the keys were still hanging on the rack. Nevertheless, she approached and tapped the handbell.

As quiet as the inn was, the chime traveled easily. However, after several seconds, she heard nothing and chimed again. She waited longer this time, but still, there was no answer. On the third one, she heard an angry voice from a back room. “I'm coming; I'm coming!”

Moments later, an older woman, somewhat hunched and slow-moving and with a scowl and all-together unpleasant look that made Rarity wince a little, made her way out and to the front desk. She leveled a glare at her as if she had done something wrong. “All right, who are you, and what do you want?”

Rarity was taken aback by that sort of greeting but coughed. “Um, yes, …as you can probably tell, I have had a rather rough trip. I'm just passing through town, and I was wondering if I might use your bath or shower.”

“Did you see anything on the sign outside that said this was a public bath?” she half-snapped back.

“Er, no…”

“If you want to use the showers, you pay for a room like everyone else.”

“I am a little short on money at the moment, and I don't think I can afford a whole room…,” she nervously answered. “Maybe if I could pay by the hour…?”

“I don't charge by the hour; I charge by night,” she retorted even more angrily. “Now if you're done wasting my time, get out of here.”

Before Rarity could say another word, the woman wheeled around and began to return to the back room. She was already there before Rarity could even begin to stammer at what had just happened. Nevertheless, after hanging her jaw a second, she nearly concluded that she was out of luck when a voice called from the stairwell.

“…Rarity? Is that you?”

She turned and saw someone had begun to come down the stairs but had stopped in mid-descent. A middle-aged woman with rose-tinted purple hair in curls, her bag in one hand and a hand on the banister with a bandage over it, was staring at her. Rarity herself paused as her eyes widened in recognition.

“Ms....Ms. Cheerilee?”

The older woman broke into a surprised smile. “It is you, isn’t it?” she laughed, beginning to descend the rest of the way.

Rarity smiled in turn and quickly moved to meet her. “Yes, and I imagine quite taller than you remember,” she laughed back. Both met at the foot of the stairs and put down their own bags long enough to hug each other.

“Oh, it's so good to see you again! I never imagined I would see you this far outside of Manehattan!”

“I could say likewise! Has it been at least…what? Five years?”

“At least!”

The two hugged a bit longer before parting but continued to smile at one another. “Whatever are you doing out here?”

“Oh, I live in Appleloosa now. Southeast of here. I wanted to live someplace quieter after…” A shade passed over her face momentarily, before she shook her head and brushed it off. “Well, you know. However, what about you?” She looked the younger woman over; her smile turning a bit uncomfortable. “Pardon me for saying so, Rarity, but you look awful.”

Even at the worst of times, that was pretty much the phrase Rarity hated to hear more than anything considering the tradtional amount of care she gave her appearance, and it took all of her effort to weakly smile in response. “I've…had a few…bad days. Let's just say I am on a business trip, and it has not been going as well as it could have.”

“I can imagine…” She looked up, brightening a little. “I overheard what you were saying downstairs. I'm sorry about Emerald. I'll tell you what…” She quickly glanced to the back room, making sure the proprietor was not in earshot, and then leaned forward and whispered. “I haven't checked out yet. Why don’t you use my bath to clean up?”

Rarity’s glum attitude evaporated. “Oh, could you? You would be an absolute godsend…”

“It's no problem. Let's head back up before Emerald notices.”

Rarity felt like a new woman by the time she was out of the shower. Between the lovely, homey interior of the inn and the feeling of clean water, soap, and towels on her skin, it was almost enough for her to forget the more unpleasant parts of the trip so far. The only part that made her cringe was that she was forced to keep wearing the same outfit, especially when she felt how stiff her undergarments were from her sweat.

Nevertheless, when she emerged from the bathroom into the main room where Ms. Cheerilee was staying, she got yet another pleasant surprise. She was holding out a pair of old yet casual shoes to her.

“I noticed we were about the same size. I might be a little bigger, but I imagine it would be easier to walk on these than a pair with one broken heel.”

Rarity almost felt like crying in gratitude. “You don't have to do that…”

“No, it's quite all right. I've had these for years. They'll do you much more good than me.”

“I don't have any way to pay you back a fair price right now…”

“It's fine. Just take them.”

After holding a bit longer, she finally accepted the footwear, then walked over to the bed to sit down and start changing her shoes out. “If you ever make it to my boutique in Manehattan, anything you want is on the house.”

“So, your business is doing well?” Cheerilee answered as she moved to the room’s desk chair.

“Well, more or less at the moment, but better than it was five years ago.”

“I'm glad to hear it,” she answered as she sat down. “Your parents would be happy.”

“That is what I keep telling myself some mornings… Although the business might be in trouble if I cannot get to the Macintosh Hills and back fairly soon.”

She continued to remove her old shoes for a moment until she realized that Ms. Cheerilee had gone silent. She looked up and saw her looking uneasily at her. “Rarity…you know about what has been going on in the country lately, don’t you?”

She exhaled. “Yes, yes, I know…”

“It's just…well…I won't say anymore. You know what I'm implying-”

“Yes, I do.” Her voice had turned a bit sharp. “And I thank you for your concern, but this is a necessity. It is not just my livelihood but the livelihood of my employees and my hometown.”

Ms. Cheeriliee opened her mouth briefly but shut it again.

“Enough about me,” Rarity brushed off as she pulled on a shoe. “How have you been? I haven't heard anything from you in ages.”

“Oh, me? Still teaching.” She punctuated with a short laugh. “Much smaller classes too, which has been a big help. I'm not as young as I used to be. I can't quite chase after the small ones like I did ten years ago. Although, to be honest, I have been considering retiring.”

She looked up. “Retiring?”

“Well, perhaps that's a strong word. More like…a new career. Trying to do something else.”

“Really?” She smirked as she went for the other shoe. “It's funny… I don't think I've ever pictured you as anything other than a teacher. Then again, I was one of your students. I'm pretty sure I feel that way about all of my teachers. It probably wasn't until I was high school age I stopped to think that they go home rather than wait for children to come back at the end of summer.”

Ms. Cheerilee laughed. “Yes, I think I've had my share of students who thought that. I haven't fully decided yet although…I will say I'm leaning toward it. Being in such a different part of the world changes your perspective. I'm so used to steam engines and smokestacks. Out here, so many things are still done by hand and with horses.” She snickered again. “I'm shocked at how far some of the students walk to get to class.”

“I think I could quite do without thinking about walking long distances for a while…,” she sighed. “Especially if I knew how rough the hospitality was in this part of the world. Although I suppose I can't blame the inn proprietor. With all of the types coming through town, she must be at her wit’s end.”

“Oh?” Ms. Cheerilee looked up again as Rarity finished tying one shoe. “You mean Emerald Coast?” She held a moment; her face turning a bit downcast. “Well…try not to mind it. She's not at her best at the moment.”

Rarity paused as she was about to tie the other. “That's so strange… There it is again: Emerald Coast. I know I've heard that name before somewhere…” She looked up. “How do you know her?”

“Oh, Emerald and I go way back. We knew each other in grade school, although she came back here after she was done. That was back when it was more normal for everyone to go abroad if they did higher education. I ended up heading out to Manehattan and never left, while she stayed in her hometown and ran the family inn. She never did much more than that. I'm guessing you may have heard of her family, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you ever heard of Sapphire Shores?”

At once, Rarity sat bolt upright. “Have I!”

This surprised the teacher in turn. “Oh? You do know her?”

“Why, Sapphire was the client we had that helped the boutique get back on its feet after what happened to mom and dad! I was working on posing a new jewel-themed dress right there in the main foyer that I had just made trying to get my mind off of everything, and she walks right in; looking twice as fancy as everyone in the entire neighborhood. I can barely say a word, but she takes a long look at that dress, and then she finally says she had been looking around the smaller designers in town trying to find a newer style to suit her next performance, and she thought mine was perfect. I…that is, my business…ended up covering her next two tours. We were going to do a third but she canceled, but between how handsomely she paid as well as her reputation it helped us get through the next eighteen months until we could get new clients.”

By now, Rarity was smiling a little, but she leveled off soon after. “It has gotten progressively harder to keep in touch with everyone…but are you saying Emerald Coast is related to her?”

“I would say so. She was her mother.”

The one word caused Rarity’s smile to fade, and a pale look came over her.

“…‘Was’?”

Rarity couldn't recall the last time she had been to a cemetery; mostly because she lived in a big city. This one, however, was very pleasant. It was surrounded by trees with birds singing. It was calmer here. The echoes from the city could not reach it. The parts where the grass was growing were quite green and soft for that time of year. The only problem was there was not as much grass there as there could have been considering the number of plots.

One tombstone out of all of the others stood out—not for its size but the response it garnered. It had to be several months old by now as the dirt had settled, but it still was almost buried under flowers. That was even more unusual considering the writing on the stone. The date of death was about five years ago now.

Both women stood before it somberly for some time, with Ms. Cheerilee letting Rarity take it all in before she finally spoke. “Fillydelphia finally started to act on an arrangement to transport some of the non-citizens who died in Cloudsdale back home. At least the ones who…” She winced. “The ones who could still be identified. She was one.”

Rarity continued to stare at the stone. “It was only her manager who sent the letter… I…I thought it might have been her, but I knew the tour would not start for at least a month…”

“Emerald told me she made a quick visit to plan the concert because it was a new venue, and it was at the wrong time. Since many people knew who she was, they were able to bring her remains in about three months ago and have her buried here. I heard Emerald has been like this ever since.” Her head bowed. “I thought it would have brought some closure to her life, but…it seems it was more like reopening an old wound.”

Rarity advanced a few steps, looking down over the flowers. There was an arrangement of sorts there, likely whatever mourners found to be pretty, but half of them were her favorite blossom. The same she picked her signature colors from. She reached out and touched one, staring at that particular color she had tried so hard to match.

“I never knew…”

“It would have just been one more mourner Emerald didn't know if you had. I know her business meant a lot to you, but ‘dress-maker’ probably was not very high on what she would have considered one of her friends.”

Rarity said nothing to that. She only felt the fresh petal and looked over the tombstone.

Ms. Cheerilee walked forward to her side, putting a hand on her shoulder. Her look grew dark as she stared at the stone. “I think if one of my students were here, he would say it best: ‘it's not fair.’” She was quiet for a moment after that. “I have a hard time not saying that myself some times. She lived through the Lunar Fall, the Nighttouched, the Light Eaters, and everything else. What ends up causing her death?” She frowned. “Other people.”

Rarity still said nothing. She kept staring.

Ms. Cheerilee squeezed her shoulder before pulling off. “I'll be over there. It's only been about an hour and a half. You have time.” Without another word, she turned and began to walk back to the footpath; giving the two of them their privacy.

She continued to stare at the tombstone for a while, still reaching out and feeling the petals. After things were quiet for some time, she pulled her hand back and smiled wistfully at it.

“Been a while, hasn’t it Ms. Shores?”

The silence was the only response.

“To think I didn't even know the truth…or thought to look into it. Just one more thing I have to regret now, isn’t it?”

She took a deep breath.

“I guess both of us learned to be more scared of people than monsters, didn’t we? Maybe that's the reason I wasn't scared to come out here. But as for you? I didn't think anything ever scared you.” She smirked. “Except maybe clashing colors. I guess that is why you weren't afraid to visit Cloudsdale not once but twice.”

She exhaled as her smile faded.

“I am sure most of the flowers here are from admirers. I wish I had some of my own to give to you right now…because I guess I'm one of them. I'm not sure if for the same reason, though… No matter how much the world changed, you always stayed the same. You kept treating it like another day. I know some people thought that was callousness or frivolity, but…” She exhaled. “You knew. You knew full well what was going on. You just wanted people to act like how it was before. When they weren't afraid to turn on the lights at night or looking for what weaker country they could gobble up next…or maybe before we all realized, sooner or later, we're going to join you wherever you are.”

She smiled again.

“You helped me think that way, and it helped me when I needed it. I don't know if I was ever anything more than a hired hand to you, but…to me, that made you a friend.”

She paused a moment, before leaning over and touching one of the flowers. She plucked off a single petal.

“Please don't mind, darling,” she said as she brought it back and put it in her pocket. “I want to make sure I don't forget you so easily again. I will pay you back in full the first chance I get. I promise.”

Taking one last look at the tombstone, she turned away and back to the path. Ms. Cheerilee was standing there, waiting for her, and she began to approach.

She only got a few steps before a louder noise echoed over the landscape, coming from the sky. She had heard that noise many times before living in Manehattan, but hearing it out here caused enough puzzlement for her to look skyward. Sure enough, she saw that an airship was not only passing overhead but was descending on the town.

“Very odd…,” she remarked to herself, looking away without focusing on its colors or standard. “I didn't think there were any landing areas in this locale. Perhaps they wanted to move people along faster…”

As she mused this last point and reached Ms. Cheerilee’s side, she crossed her hands in front of herself and absent-mindedly began to itch the top of one.

The two were still catching up when they reached the busy parts of town again, although Rarity hardly noticed it this time with her improved footwear and an old friend to walk with. Nevertheless, it did start to get noisier and harder to hear, not to mention harder to ignore the banter of the city folk as they ran by.

Two people, in particular, walking past them caught her attention.

“Hey, did you see that street magician?”

“Kind of hard to miss with those fireworks… What about her?”

“She’s claiming she’s the one who took out the Light Eater over in Fillydelphia!”

“Do you believe everything you hear on the street? That didn’t even happen! She probably made up the rumor to look good!”

Rarity rolled her eyes and groaned at the thought of that performer exploiting the situation. Many people didn't care to hear someone joke about being able to kill Light Eaters, and she was one of them. She tried to ignore it as she turned back to Ms. Cheerilee. “We're almost to my corner. It's just another block this way. Thank you for walking with me.”

“Oh, I am happy to, dear. Nothing else to do but see if I can find a coach to take me west or at least southwest.”

“That reminds me… I do not think I heard why you are traveling yet.”

Ms. Cheerilee hesitated. Enough for Rarity to notice and turn to her. After a moment, however, she held up her bandaged hand.

“I'm...sick with something.”

This piqued her curiosity. “Sick with something? With what?”

“That's just it...I don't know. Nobody locally can tell me either. I was walking around one morning, and something showed up on my hand.”

Rarity’s eyes went to the bandage as she continued.

“It's really strange, whatever it is, but word went around that two other people had gotten these as well. One of them…” She winced uncomfortably here. “Ended up going wild and attacked several people. He…he actually killed two before he was shot to death.”

Rarity let out a small gasp in alarm, immediately covering her mouth afterward as she realized the connotation. “Oh…Ms. Cheerilee, I-”

“It's all right,” she cut off, forcing herself to smile again. “I feel fine right now. I just...just need to figure out what caused it and why. I am hoping doctors in Manehattan know better.”

Rarity continued to look regretful. “This isn't why you're thinking of giving up teaching, is it?”

“Oh no. I will admit I have wondered about whether I would be a danger to students, but I could say the same for anything I ended up doing.” She shrugged. “No, it is just that…that…” She trailed off soon after, looking forward again. Her smile once again faded away.

“Just what?”

She silently walked forward a few more steps before exhaling.

“I think I'm a bit of a coward, Rarity.”

She blinked. “A coward?”

“I saw Sweetie Belle and two other students the day they left. Wished them goodbye. And when I got the news…that's when I packed up and left Manehattan. That's when I moved out here. And for a few years I felt better. Things were good. That far away from the border, I almost forgot that there was even a problem with Equestria. But it only lasted until I saw my first class I had out there get old enough to join the military. And then…”

She slowly exhaled, and silently walked forward a few more steps.

“And then that's when I realized there is nowhere to run from it. Whether it's Nighttouched or other people, in the end, it's always the same thing. The same feeling.”

Rarity looked at her more intently. “What feeling?”

“The feeling that all I am doing for any of these children is letting them play make believe at having a life before they die.”

The designer winced, but Ms. Cheerilee’s face remained somber and looking forward.

“What point was there to my being a teacher if that's how things ended up for them? What's the point…of anything, really? That shadow is growing. Maybe it will take ten years, or maybe it will take a hundred, but it's not going to stop. And one day, it will cover everything…”

“Ms. Cheerilee…” Rarity tried to interject, not knowing whether she was trying to comfort her or stop her from mentioning the fact that everyone was trying their best to not think about.

However, she sharply inhaled and shook her head before turning and smiling at Rarity. “Oh, don't mind me. Just getting more pessimistic in my old age. I'm just really happy you're still moving forward, Rarity. It's important for people like you to be in the world. It's important…”

She trailed off and looked forward, spotting something. Rarity turned as well and was surprised to see Rainbow Dash quickly approaching them.

What surprised her most of all, however, was that this was the first time she had seen her looking nervous.

She didn’t stop, but put a hand on Rarity’s shoulder and began to turn her around. “We gotta go. Now. Right now.”

Rarity resisted for a moment. “Wait what? What’s going-”

“Talk on the way. Move.” She said as she forced her to turn and began to walk alongside her.

Ms. Cheerilee blinked. “Rarity, who is…?”

“Oh, this is Ms. Dash. We're…” she tried to call out, but could not get out anymore as she was forced along and pushed to leave her old teacher behind. She looked back to the rainbow-haired woman with a frown. “Ms. Dash, that was rude. I was just about to intro-”

“I said talk on the way! Pick up the pace!” she said as she pushed harder. “We need to be out of here!”

At last, the insistence in Dash’s voice made Rarity start to realize she was truly afraid about something. After a moment, while continuing to let Dash lead her on, she spoke more quietly. “What's going on?”

“Didn’t you see that airship land?”

“I saw an airship, but I thought it was strange. There is no place around here for them to land-”

“Trottinghamites make their own places to land.”

Hearing the name of their nationality made Rarity pause; some tension flowing into her features. “Wouldn’t the local magistrates or even the army respond to them landing?”

“Who says they didn't? You do not know very much about what happens when they decide to waltz into a country, do you?”

“What…what would they want here?”

“Who knows? But whenever they come around, they always take it. And nowadays, they usually get it. Especially if I recognize that ship…”

She blinked. “What…what's so special about that ship?”

“It doesn't matter. All that matters is we get out of here. The stagecoach is ready to go. We need to get there before…oh no.”

Before Rarity could ask what she meant by that, she ground to a halt and pulled her along with her.

The crowded street in front of them was parting. People were readily backing up to make way for a group coming down the street. Even without immediately recognizing their emblem and colors, it would have taken very little for Rarity to realize she was looking at the very individuals in question.

Living in the better parts of Manehattan had almost entirely isolated Rarity from ever having to look at a modern Trottingham soldier, but she knew enough that conventional weapons and arms had been eschewed for their new line of “steam soldiers.” Most of the individuals in the group were wearing gear that looked like a combination of old armor and technology, particularly around their arms, legs, and bizarre weapons they were holding. They didn't look like any standard rifles she had ever seen. They didn't even look like they were meant to shoot bullets.

The biggest standouts were the two in the lead. They were clad from head to toe in armor that had a compact steam engine built right into their backs. From the way they were shaped, one seemed thin, tall, and lanky while the other was short and squat, but it was moot considering the fact both looked and sounded like they were made of iron as they stomped down the street looking from left to right through their visored helmets. They were quite intimidating to behold despite not having any visible weapons on them. Their armor was menacing enough, especially since the forearms on both were severely enlarged. Definitely meant for something more.

As the splitting crowd made their way to Rarity and Dash, she suddenly yelped as she found herself dragged away to one side with them. As soon as Dash had her back, she whispered sharply in her ear. “Don't draw any attention to us. Just let them pass, and we'll get out of here.”

Rarity didn't argue. Most of the other people soon did the same; pressing up against her and keeping quiet too.

The group continued to march forward, giving the crowd dark looks but also searching them. Rarity realized they had to be looking for someone. As luck would have had it, they stopped almost directly perpendicular to where she and Dash were standing when the squat one let out a groan. “Man, I hate walking around in this thing… This town looked a lot smaller from up in the air!”

“Say Snips…,” the lanky one spoke up. “You don't suppose we're gonna have to search every town like this one, will we? ‘Cause that'll take a while…”

The squat one groaned at the thought. “Enough of this!” He helmet swiveled around, scanning the crowd a bit before he singled out one person. “Hey, you!”

The man recoiled at being put on the spot. “Wha…wha, me?”

“Yeah, you! Have seen a magician around here?”

“A street magician,” the lanky one added.

“Yeah, yeah, a street magician!”

By now, Rarity had a hard time believing half the city had not heard that ruckus from Trixie, although she was wondering why in the world these people would be interested in her. At any rate, the man was so fearful and put on the spot he was only able to stammer. “I, uh…uh…um…uh…”

The squat one groaned and looked to the next one. “Ok, what about you?”

“Who…who me?”

“Naw, your cousin Patty! Yeah, you!”

“I…um…I think there was one…closer to the center of town…”

“Ok, then, which way is that?”

“Uh, Snips?” the lanky one interjected. “I think we're in the center already…”

He wheeled on him. “What are you talking about? If we were there, we would have seen her!”

“But what if she left?”

“What if she…GAH!”

“Hey!”

The two armored Trottinghamites turned forward again. As they did, the ones behind them quickly raised their weapons and aimed, for while the two had been talking a pair of magistrates had come out from the crowd. Rarity imagined them either very brave or very foolish, because they freely brandished their pistols on their hips although they didn't reach for them, and they squared their jaws and stared them down.

“What do you think you're doing here?” one of them shouted. “You can't just cross the borders and come into Appleloosa wherever you like!”

“Eh, pipe down, Granny,” Snips snorted, waving his hand at her. “You ain’t even worth the effort.”

She didn't back down. “Think just because the army is not breathing down our necks you can waltz in here like you own the place? Well, the Appleloosan 16th Division will be making the rounds to Flaxonville within the hour so if you know what's good for you the lot of you will pack up and clear out of here unless you feel like starting a war!”

This seemed to catch the squat one’s attention. He slowly turned toward her until he faced her fully. “Oh? Izzat so?” His voice grew more challenging with a darker edge. The soldiers with them kept their weapons up and drawn. A moment of silence passed.

“Say Snails?” he spoke up before he pointed at the one alongside the magistrate. “What's that on that deputy’s shirt?”

Caught off guard by that question, the magistrate turned and looked at her partner.

She caught only a glimpse of her before a bolt of electricity, looking almost as broad and potent as a bolt of lightning itself, snapped out of the barrel of one of the Trottinghamite’s weapons and smacked her in the chest. Her body was instantly electrified, smaller bolts erupting from her hands and legs before it was sent flying like a missile into the surrounding crowd. Between both the attack and the impact of her body smashing into the onlookers, several people, Rarity included, broke out in a scream. Some were rooted to the spot in terror while others turned and fled for it.

The magistrate herself looked wide-eyed at what had just happened, seeing black smoke now coming from the semi-cooked body of her partner before she began to wheel around. A hand went onto her pistol stock…

She froze on seeing Snips standing right in front of her, his arm extended, and a very long and curve-tapered blade extended from his gauntlet and hovering near her throat while emitting a humming noise.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” he sneered in a snarky voice.

Sweating a little now, the magistrate removed her hand from the weapon and slowly raised both it and her other one.

“Hey, you're smarter than the bunch we torched who tried to impound our airship!” he laughed. “And since you're so smart, hows about you help us out? We're looking for a street magician. Tell us where she is, and we'll be on our way.”

The magistrate stared back silently; her mind was racing.

Snips advanced and pressed the weapon a bit closer. On simply touching the lapel of the magistrate’s uniform, it seemed to cut of its own accord.

“Think hard, granny. Because our boss is gonna be here soon. And trust me …you would rather deal with us than her. If you know what is good for your whole town and everyone in it, get my drift?”

She let out a shudder but finally spoke through clenched teeth. “She was performing in the street without a permit. She's at the station by now getting fined.”

“Station, huh? Sounds great. See? Nice and easy.” He pulled the blade away from the magistrate, who quickly backed off, and turned to the others. “All right, boys and girls, we're heading to the station.” He turned back and began to take one step when he suddenly froze. “Now…where is that anyway?”

He paused before his fist clenched in frustration.

“Damnit!”

“Uh, Snips?” his lankier friend suddenly spoke up.

“Not now, Snails! I am tryin’ to think! Wait…what am I doing?” He began to look back to the crowd. “Hey! Granny! Get back here!”

“Snips!”

Growling, he wheeled to the other. “What?”

“Look over there!”

Rarity gave a start a moment later, for she realized that Snails was looking and pointing right at her. Snips turned and looked as well, causing her to cup her hands to her mouth in alarm. She looked to her right and left, but already other people around her were backing off from her and Dash. “Uh…um…are you referring to me?”

Snips turned to his friend. “Yeah, what about her?”

“Look at her hand, Snips.”

“So? Big deal!”

“Didn’t Lady Sunset say she wanted us to knock off anyone who had one of those symbols on their hands?”

Snips turned and looked again. He paused a moment. “Oh yeah…yeah! I knew that!”

Rarity blinked. “Pardon me, but…but did you say…” She swallowed. “‘Knock off’? As in…?”

“And yeah, she's got one right on her hand! All right, then!”

Rarity swallowed again on seeing the rest of the soldiers turn to her and begin to shift their weapons. “I…I beg your pardon, but…you must be mistaken… M-My friend here just injured herself in a, um…hiking accident and-”

“Ha!” Snips cut off. “Think we're dumb? We ain’t talking about your friend, lady!”

Now she really did look confused. “Who...m-me? Why...why, that's ridiculous. I mean, I certainly do not…”

She trailed off. She had been turning her hands over as if to show herself that she had nothing on them, but she went rigid as soon as she did.

The very hand she had been itching on walking away from the cemetery had changed. There were now, unmistakably, deeper lines etched into it. Not the result of just her scratching alone, and as straight and angled as if they had been drawn with a ruler and compass.

“But…but-but…that’s …that's not possible… I just… I…”

“Ok fellas, you know the drill,” Snails announced as he stepped back. The weapons raised toward her.

Rarity was too baffled to speak or react. She could only stand there, stammering in confusion and shock. As the arms raised and clicked their barrels, fear began to snap her out of it. She held her hands up defensively. “Wait…wait! I…I don't know what's going on, but…however, I assure you this has to be some mistake!”

“Let her have it!”

“No! No, wait, ple-”

She was cut off as she felt her body pulled back by the shoulder. An instant later, Dash stood in front of her as a human shield. All of the soldiers hesitated at that.

“Get lost, you walking scrap piles,” she sneered confidently. “You want my client; you go through me. Also, you pull a gun on my client, and you got to the count of ten to turn tail before you never eat solid food again.”

Snips snickered. “I got a better idea, rainbow-head. You run out of there and go get yourself a pot of gold to point to, ‘cause otherwise, we're gonna shoot right through you to get to h-”

He couldn't finish his sentence. With a dozen weapons pointed at her, Dash wasn't waiting for them to get the first shot. While Snips was still issuing his threat, she took off right for the nearest soldier. She panicked on seeing herself charged and nearly raised her weapon to fire, but before she could one of Dash’s arms was swinging out and knocking her barrel skyward before driving her other fist into her face.

The soldier still managed to squeeze the trigger as she crumpled under the blow, but the shot went high. It didn't fire lightning this time but instead a bright, searing ray of heat. It sailed right over the heads of the crowd and impacted the masonry on one of the buildings beyond, but on touching it the bricks and mortar gleamed like pieces of magma for a moment before they exploded. Immediately, two more of the soldiers swung around to shoot at Dash, but by now her first target was on the ground so she ran forward over her. The shots fired where she had been instead, one rifle singing the ground with another bolt of lightning and the other shooting a blue ray that caused razor sharp icicles to erupt along the ground where it touched. As soon as they did, Dash pivoted and pushed off the ground with one foot to drive her leg into another gunner’s side. Despite the battle gear, his body still twisted around the blow.

The other soldiers quickly readied their weapons, but as Dash moved in and quickly knocked out the lights of the injured one before running to another, they hesitated. Rarity couldn’t see exactly what happened next because, at that moment, the crowd around her broke and fled in a panic. The missed shot was sending bits of flaming rubble falling to the ground, pushing tension to the breaking point. Rarity herself was swept up into the mess as people ran all around her. Even if she had the presence of mind through her shock and bafflement at what had happened to her as well as the soldiers attacking, to say nothing of Dash jumping at them, she couldn’t have gone anywhere. When the crowd finally parted, Dash was putting out the lights of a third soldier, but still they hadn’t fired at her. Enough of her wits registered to realize why; their weapons were too strong. If she was going in head-to-head, they couldn’t risk shooting.

Snips noticed this as well and produced a whine-like growl. “Bruisers! What’re ya’ waiting for! Get in there!” He wheeled to his partner next. “Snails! Get ready!”

Rarity didn’t pay much attention to what they were doing next, instead watching as half of the soldiers broke off from the ones who were shooting and began to rush right at Dash. Their own firearms were still stored, but they drew long combat knives instead and shifted them into underhanded grips as they advanced. Rarity also noticed that their weapons seemed standard, but they looked a bit better armored in gear than the others. Dash turned to the nearest one as he rushed at her. A moment later, she ducked under his knife swipe at her head and gave him an uppercut.

For a brief moment, Rarity saw what seemed like the space around the man’s chin seem to actually bend inward a little before the hit connected. To her surprise, it did almost nothing to the soldier. His head barely shifted, and Dash had to quickly recoil as he brought the knife back around. It got worse a moment later when another soldier moved in from the side with a stabbing gesture. She twisted her body around it and slammed the back of her hand into her face, but, once again, the space bent a little and the soldier wasn’t even stunned before she swept the knife back. This time, she cut a gash in Dash’s clothing with it, before both began to advance on her together. When a third came from her other side, she was forced to deflect the blow downward with one hand and again tried to attack, this time using that arm for leverage and pulling herself up to give two kicks to the side of her head, but to no avail. Instead, the first two soldiers before drove their weapons at her together and nearly caught her in a scissor grab. To escape from her precarious position, she had to throw her body back and out of the way before either blade could stab her in the eye; making her lose her balance and fall to the ground.

The three quickly advanced as she snapped on all fours; scrambling back in a crab walk. By now, Rarity saw the tension on her own face on seeing her attacks doing no good. It lasted only a bit, however, before she grit her teeth and hissed. “Having to use it twice in a week…” she sighed before raising her own marked hand. “Captain Spitfire!”

It was just like last time. Once again, her symbol lit up, along with the same light around her.

“What the…?! She’s one too!” Snips shouted. “Hurry up, Snails!”

“I’m trying!” he yelled back, banging away on his own gauntlets. “I think it got stuck up!”

The encroaching soldiers also froze in their tracks, looking just as surprised as everyone else as the aura broke over Dash and again made the changes about her. Yet while they were still forming, she snapped back up to her feet in a flash and charged at them. Crying out, she drove her palm straight into the chest of the first one. There was a momentary rippling of space, before her hand went all the way through and smashed into part of the device strapped around his chest. His eyes widened a moment as he watched it be crumpled like a tin can before the rest of his body was cast violently away.

Quickly, both of the soldiers on either side struggled to drive their knives into her, but she answered by snapping both of her arms out and catching both by the forearms. For a moment, she was perched in between the two, holding both steady as they both were stunned at the speed of her block. Before they could get their bearings, she quickly dropped to the ground and swung her leg out, catching one by the side of their knees. She cried out as she was immediately dropped to the ground, allowing Dash to snap back up, swing her head to one side to avoid the falling knife, and then drive her head forward, through the barrier she protected herself with, and into her forehead.

“Graa!” Snips finally shouted in frustration. “Enough!” Brandishing his own weapon, he left the struggling Snails behind and charged right at Dash. As soon as the third soldier was dropped, two of the gunners risked taking shots at her. The weapons they fired shot the electric bolts from before, forcing her to snap back and away to evade them. Unfortunately, that put her right in the path of Snips, and he greeted her by driving his blade forward for her chest.

Without time to react to anything else, she quickly snapped back and away, narrowly evading the tip. However, he continued to advance on her, not going for her chest again but driving the blade out for her knees and upper legs. As bumbling as he had seemed before, it was a good move; forcing her to keep moving back and never getting the leverage to counter. The gunners again were forced to hold off, but the remaining ‘bruisers’ quickly got ready to move in when they could.

As she kept moving back, Dash stepped over one of the discarded rifle barrels. Quickly, she lashed out with her toe to hook under it and knock it into the air. She meant to use it to deflect Snips’ blade away, but she got another surprise when the metal of the barrel easily sliced apart against his gauntlet-mounted weapon. The blade, apparently, was enhanced to split anything it touched without force. She winced afterward as Snips used her momentary distraction to snap his sword up and slice out for her neck. Her eyes widened, before she quickly snapped into a backward cartwheel to avoid him following up with a killing strike. Even not knowing much about swordplay, Rarity gasped on seeing it. The squat one might have been foolhardy, but he was definitely not a slouch with those blades.

Things got worse the moment Dash snapped out of her cartwheel, because the other bruisers used the moment to move in. She heard one of their heavy footsteps and spun around just in time to see one slicing out for her face. She quickly pivoted to one side, but that only put her right into the path of another, who aimed an upward slice across her neck. She quickly sidestepped this one too, but the third time was a charm as another soldier dashed in and quickly belted her across the face with an iron knuckle. Rarity gasped again on seeing her head snap back and she staggered nearly into the path of Snips’ blade. He quickly rushed forward and aimed a slash at her, but just as he brought it around she regained her footing and dodged to one side, letting the weapon slice by. Quickly she backpedaled to the other side into an opening on the street. She was trying to get clear for her next attack…

At that moment, however, Rarity saw Snails was done fiddling with his gauntlets. He raised them up and pointed at Dash, only now revealing there were some sort of tubes attached to them running to his back.

“Ms. Dash!”

She looked up from her fighting, but the warning came too late. All it served to do was make her stand still for the moment Snails needed to fire. Unlike the shots from the rifles, a stream of viscous liquid shot out. Rarity gasped as it hit its mark and pasted Dash across the back; thinking it was acid, poison, or any other of a host of terrible things. However, something much different happened instead.

Dash reacted to being hit by it…very slowly. She stumbled forward very slightly, and then only slowly turned her head around to look over her own shoulder. When she spoke, Rarity was surprised to hear her voice. “WWWhhhaaattt iiisss ttthhh-?”

She was silenced as Snails, who had taken off as soon as he was done firing, ran at her and smashed her in the face with one of his gauntlets. Her head snapped and she was knocked backward, but she nearly fell over completely as her legs only slowly got underneath her to brace her. And once she was on her feet, she only slowly seemed to realize she had even been struck, which in turn nearly left her open as the three bruisers were already moving on her. One was already slicing out for her neck, and while she tried to move out of the way it was slower than before she even called on whatever power the symbol on her hand gave her. This time, the blade sliced not only through her clothes but Rarity saw a trickle of blood fly up from her chest.

The other three quickly moved in, slashing and stabbing at her again. She managed to pull away and dodge them, but Rarity could see her movements were slower this time. She realized whatever that stuff was she had been tagged with it somehow was slowing her down. Whatever power she had that allowed her to move like a blaze before was now only making her move slightly slower than she had before she used it. She dodged two different slices at her head only to get another stab slicing across her forearm. She tried to deflect another knife moving in from across her, only for her slowed counter to not have enough power to block it fully. As a result, she barely got her head out of the way to avoid a knife that went for her eye, and had to wrap her arm around to intercept another knife headed for her ribs. That, however, just left her open for another punch, making her stagger back again.

And as she kept staggering and struggling against the three attackers, Snips snapped his other arm to side; causing a second blade to pop out and join the first. After that, he quickly began to move in behind the others…

Rarity cupped her hand to her mouth and shook all over. She glanced about, but whatever people hadn’t already fled were cringing and holding back. The only edge at the moment was all of the soldiers that were still up had their weapons trained on Dash, but none of them were firing as she was in the midst of their comrades. None were looking at her. She held fearfully a moment more, before she looked at her hand. That symbol was still there, and looked a bit more complete than it had minutes ago. She glanced back up to Dash and back to it.

She may have barely known her, but she had saved her life twice now…

Thinking she had to be insane, she helplessly shrugged to herself and held her hand out. “Um…er…Captain…what was it…Captain Spitfire…?”

No reaction. Nothing changed around her.

“Cap…Captain Spitfire? Captain Spitfire!”

Still nothing.

Dash suddenly cried out. Rarity looked out and gasped again. While she had been struggling to throttle one of the soldiers, another had moved in. She had tried to twist her body out of the way but was too slow. The knife had plunged into her side.

Agony was now painting Dash’s face along with beads of sweat. Her clothing was rapidly being stained. Somehow she managed to throw the one she was throttling off of her, but as she staggered back the soldier ripped the knife back out. She gave another aborted cry, and Rarity, for a moment, thought she would drop dead on the spot. She had no idea how deep the knife had gone in but she definitely saw more blood fly as she pulled back, and immediately one of her hands went down and clamped it as tight as she could. The soldiers kept surrounding her but didn’t move in. They knew Snips was coming in behind them, and they instead began to part out of the way to let him move.

Rarity’s eyes were pinpricks as she gasped in fear. However, she knew there was no other way now. She held off a bit longer before she finally took a deep breath and made her dainty hands into fists. Then, she took off right for Snips. Just as the soldiers finished parting and he raised both of his weapons, she tried to think of the most serious, strongest blow she could possibly imagine. Something that could really knock him for a loop.

In the end, she gave a mild cry as she lashed out with her boot and gave him a tiny kick to the ankle, causing an almost imperceptible “ding”.

Between her charge out and pathetic attack, all of the soldiers stopped and turned to her instead. That included Snips, wheeling around to her with both blades still humming. It instantly made her step back, especially since she was now close enough to see his eyes through the visor zeroing in on her.

There was a moment of silence as Rarity’s small resolve disappeared. Cringing, she took another step back before smiling sheepishly. “I’m…sorry…?”

She heard a click from her side. She didn’t even need to look; remembering Snails was standing there. She knew what was coming. Instead, she quickly backpedaled. Sure enough, she saw two streams of the thick liquid shoot by where she had been, but she cried out none the less as she tripped and stumbled on some pieces of road broken by the earlier attacks. She was still stumbling when Snips waited only long enough for the streams to die down before slicing out at her with one of his humming blades. Crying out, she stumbled off her feet all together and landed on her rear.

She hardly had time to catch her breath from the surprise when she heard the humming draw near her head. She looked up and paled; seeing Snips already aimed his weapon at her nose.

“Thanks, lady,” he snickered. “When the rainbow woman jumped in, I almost forgot you were the one we wanted ta’ start with. Good thing you reminded me, huh?”

Rarity could only gulp, petrified with fear at seeing the tip of the sword dancing an inch in front of her head. Her panicked mind tried to think of what to do as he pulled it back…

“Hey, who are-UGH!”

The sound of Snails crying out made both Rarity as well as Snips turn around, but the latter got the worst of it as a woman cried out before smacking him alongside the helmet as hard as she could with an iron pipe. The blow was solid enough to jar it askew part of the way, revolving around the squat man’s head. As a result, not only did he stagger back but was left blind and stumbling. He stumbled confused for a moment before he tried to reach up to his head, only to find his blades were still out and preventing him.

“What…? Uh…ugh! Snails! Do something!”

Rarity glanced and saw that Snails wouldn’t be helping anyone at the moment. The first blow from the pipe had knocked him alongside his own head with enough force to send him to the ground and he was still dazzled. However, most of her attention focused on her savior standing fierce and brandishing the pipe like a spear. Her hand, unbandaged, was blazing along the lines of a rune similar to Rainbow Dash’s.

“Ms....Ms. Cheerilee?!”

“They’re coming out of the woodwork!” one of the gunner soldiers yelled, snapping his weapon up. “Kill her!”

Several others quickly did the same, causing her to snap to them. She hesitated; the look on her face showing she had mostly acted out of instinct and panic. However, a moment later, she gave a cry and flung the iron pipe like a missile for the soldier who had shouted. Rarity doubted this was the intention, but as it sailed at him he instinctively crossed his weapon in front of him to protect himself, and as a result the pipe pierced some sort of tank on the side that must have been used for ammunition or fuel of a sort. As soon as it did it erupted in a splash of liquid-like flames. The soldier himself was engulfed and cried out in agony and shock; dropping his weapon and running for it. Yet the resulting splash bathed the area around where he had stood in raging fire; causing the other gunners to pull back.

The three bruisers, however, were still on the other side and spun on Ms. Cheerilee. At that point, however, Rarity finally got enough of her wits to act. She looked around herself frantically for a moment, trying to find any weapon she could, and noticed that, not too far from her, one of the gunners Dash had disabled had dropped their weapon. Not knowing what it did exactly or how to use it, she nevertheless forced her panic down and threw herself forward at it. She seized the gun, yanked it up, pointed it as best as she could at the three as they neared her old teacher, and pulled the trigger.

It ended up being another lightning one, and it snaked out a bolt that narrowly missed hitting Ms. Cheerilee before hitting the nearest soldier. Instantly, her body went rigid as portions of her skin singed from the electricity coursing through it. Rarity actually gasped at the sight and released the trigger, letting her fall to the ground limply. Fortunately, it did the trick. The two remaining bruisers, seeing she was armed with one of their weapons, glanced at her once before turning and running for cover. A good thing too, because she wasn’t sure if she could have done that again.

She remained on the ground panting hard and still holding up the weapon as Ms. Cheerilee took a moment to catch her bearings, before spinning to Dash. She was still conscious and holding onto her side, but blood was oozing around her fingers and she didn’t look capable of standing. She could only give out a ragged gasp as Ms. Cheerilee crouched at her side. The older woman extended her hand to take up a shard of cobblestone, then reached around her back. At first Rarity thought she was trying to pull, but after a moment, as Dash began to move a bit faster, she realized she was wiping Snails' material off.

“Get up…get up…we have to get out of here…”

She shook her head. “Just…just get her to the edge of town… Stagecoach’s waiting…”

Ms. Cheerilee didn’t answer as she started to pull with the arm around her back instead. Her other hand went out and pressed itself against Dash’s own bloody hand, making her wince. “Come on, get up… You can do it…”

She shook her head as she grit her teeth. “I can’t…”

At that, and as Rarity finally got enough of her own wits to try standing, she got another surprise. Ms. Cheerilee pushed her hand in harder, closed her eyes, and began to murmur something. She couldn’t make out what it was at first, but the result was unmistakable. After only a moment, Dash stopped gritting her teeth. She still looked in pain, but the agony seemed to lessen. A moment more, and she was breathing easier. After that, she began to lean up.

By now, Rarity was on her feet as well and moving toward them. Only then did she hear her.

“All better, all better, all better, all better…”

The woman’s brow quirked. That was only something she used to say to small children whenever they got a scrape or a bump. She remembered her saying it to her before, and it had no special power other than that which children gave it. Yet it seemed to be actually working now…

As Dash began to get up, Rarity looked back to the flames. They were still burning steadily and blocking a good part of the road, but the panic that had driven off the soldiers was subsiding. Several of them were regaining their bearings and trying to counterattack. What more, with two loud “shiks”, Snips managed to retract his blades. He was reaching for his head now to try and spin the helmet back. She realized they had to run…

“Rarity!”

The sound snapped her out of it and back to Cheerilee and Dash. The latter was still being somewhat supported, but was getting her feet moving as she ran over to her, beckoning for the weapon she was holding. “Give me that!”

The woman flustered a moment before nervously extending the barrel out to her. “Do you, um, know how to use that?”

“No idea,” she answered as she seized it and brought it over in front of her. “But I’m hoping it does something like the last one did!”

With that, she held a knee up and slammed the weapon down on it around the base, snapping it in half. It started to snap and sizzle, but she flung it in the direction of the bruisers to the side of the roaring flames. Soon after landing, it began to snake out bolts of electricity all over the area, staining the ground black and shooting out with enough force to melt glass on a nearby building window. The gunners and bruisers alike began to recoil from that, leaving that end of the street effectively blocked.

“Now run!” she shouted back, spinning around pushing on Rarity’s shoulder, and forcing her away. “Go!”

With as much adrenaline as was coursing through her now, it didn’t take long for Rarity to comply. Dash picked up speed as Cheerilee slowly removed her hand from her back to run with them. While the street around them was quickly getting torn up, there was a narrow alleyway just ahead. Even if they could push free, the soldiers would be able to only follow single-file. The three of them would have an easier time getting ahead. If they could just make it…

Rarity’s feet touched the sidewalk, and she was only a few feet from the alleyway, when she heard another noise. Out of the corner of the eye she saw someone suddenly fall behind.

Freezing in place, she spun back around.

Dash was pushing on forward, but Ms. Cheerilee, her own eyes widened in surprise, seemed to run in slow motion. Behind her, Rarity could see that Snails had just got enough of his bearings to raise one of his weapons and shoot, and he had gotten her in the back. Unlike Dash, who had the benefit of her faster speed, the older woman was now moving like she was wading in gelatin.

Rarity gasped, taking a step toward her. “Ms. Cheerilee!”

Dash’s hand seized her by the trailing wrist and yanked her back. A good thing too, for Snails had tried to fire at her as well and the liquid barely missed. As for Cheerilee, in spite of how slow she was moving, she saw what happened. For a moment, her wide eyes locked with Rarity’s. Her face, tightened with her own adrenaline and panic, was motionless. Rarity looked back at her. It was only a moment, but it felt like an entire minute passed between them.

Finally, she mouthed something slowly.

Just run.

Rarity stammered. “No…no, Ms. Cheerilee…!”

She was so focused on her she didn’t already see what was happening. Ms. Cheerilee’s body was acting as a shield now, blocking Snails from getting a clean shot, but he was getting up. Snips finally adjusted his helmet, and now looked angrier than ever. Both of his blades deployed again. Meanwhile, more shots went out, and the flames began to subside nearby; the result of the gunners that had ice-based weapons using them to clear a path. They’d be on them soon.

Rarity felt herself being pulled back by Dash. She resisted, but the Huntsman, even injured, wasn’t taking no for an answer. She yanked her back enough to put an arm around her and then pulled her body.

“Ms. Cheerilee!” Rarity shouted back. “Ms. Cheeriliee!”

She saw, even slowed down, the woman’s face change to a smile as Dash pulled her into the alley. After that, she saw her turn around, moving to face the others. As soon as she did, however, Snips was on her, and he brought the blade across.

A splash of red. Gravity overcame Cheerilee’s own speed as she fell to her knees. The last Rarity saw was his other weapon rise again before she was yanked around the corner.

Rarity’s cry was smothered by the sound of a second Trottingham airship arriving at Flaxonville; coming in for a landing.

Nightwatch: Getting the Scent

Author's Notes:

Once again, a big thank you to The Force for editing this chapter.

Celestia raised her head on hearing her door open. The moment it did, she caught Sunset Shimmer walking in, almost with a strut to her step, making her way directly to the chair across from her desk. As was normal now, she no longer wore her full uniform. She had swapped out her tunic for a looser coat and changed out her footwear for newer shoes; both despite the fact she should have had no access to getting new attire. Her hair was no longer tied back in any of the academy styles but was far looser; accentuating her flame-like coloration.

When she reached the chair, she practically reclined in it and crossed her legs, as if Celestia's office was no more than a lounge. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Celestia stared at her a moment. “Sunset, I believe the academy rules clearly state you are to knock prior to entering the Headmistress’ Office, but nevermind that.” She leaned back in her chair. “Do you remember when I called you in four weeks ago?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

The casual, dismissive tone made Celestia’s eyes narrow momentarily. “Yes…well, in that case, I suppose you remember full well what we discussed. About your behavior, both in terms of your treatment of other students as well as, frankly, your attitude.”

“I don’t understand what the problem is. I’m just trying to push the other students along.”

“And how exactly did hanging one student by a tree branch 30 meters in the air help ‘push her along’, as you say? Or trapping three students in a corner surrounded by flames?”

She shrugged. “They should have mastered telekinesis and freezing spells by now, right? I’m just giving them a bit of real-life experience.”

“What it sounds like you’re doing, Sunset, is being a bully.”

Sunset’s casual smirk turned into a frown as, to a bit of Celestia’s surprise, she leaned up in her chair. “I’m not being a bully…I’m being bored. I’m tired of being in the same classes as them. I surpassed them all over two years ago, yet I'm still stuck with kids who can barely pull off cantrips on command. I’m afraid I’m going to start forgetting the more advanced spells the longer I’m in there with them.”

“I see. Well, just because ‘you’re bored’ doesn’t give you an excuse to treat other people that way. Especially not in situations that could have gotten them hurt or left them feeling humiliated or scared.”

“Then how about you do your job and challenge me with something new?”

The sharpness of her voice, to say nothing of the insubordinate tone, was enough for the headmistress to break her position-of-authority appearance for genuine surprise. “Excuse me?”

“I’m tired of relearning lessons I have already mastered. I’m sick of acing every exam and practical. I’m doing nothing in this academy but wasting my time. You told me I was meant for more. I want more. What I’ve learned so far can’t be anywhere near it, or I wouldn’t still be here. Where’s the real magic? Where’s the material you really want me to master? How much longer am I going to have to make-believe being as pathetic as the others?”

Celestia stared; her mouth slightly ajar. Sunset stared right back without changing her expression. The clock in the room slowly ticked away a few seconds.

Finally, the headmistress closed her mouth. Taking a moment to compose herself, she resumed her previous appearance as she touched a series of papers on her desk. “That’s actually part of the reason I brought you in here today. I’ve had some plans on what direction you should take your next semester.”

At this, she pushed the papers across to Sunset. Her eyes flicked down upon them. As Celestia leaned back, she reached out and held them up to start looking them over.

She only got a page before raising an eyebrow. “A semester abroad?”

“I think you’ve been working a little too hard at the academy. You say that this material is a waste of your time, and I keep telling you that you aren’t grasping the true nature of the lesson.”

Sunset didn’t answer. She continued to slowly flip through the papers. They included tickets, brochures for fancy hotels, pictures of lovely cities and monuments, and just about everything one could possibly want in a long excursion across Greater Everfree.

“I think you’re missing the forest for the trees, Sunset. You’ve been focusing so much on your normal routine of studies that your thinking has locked in. You haven’t even set foot outside of Canterlot in years, and this will be a great opportunity for you to both broaden your horizons as well as refresh yourself. It will all be paid for, of course. You’ll be staying at some of the nicer cities in Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Cloudsdale, Mount Aris… You’ll even have a chance to see some of the outlying places of the world. Ones that are wilder with more interesting people. You could learn a lot from all of this. More than you’d be learning here for-”

“What is this?”

Celestia froze. Her face had been growing warmer and smiling until now. Now it was immobilized, and slowly lost its enthusiastic look. Sunset, on her part, regarded the papers with the same look one might regard an unusual crack in a slab of pavement. She glanced back up to her.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“This. What is it supposed to be?” Sunset answered, her tone a bit sharper.

A pause. “It’s exactly what I said. A semester of studying abroad. Practically a continental vacation.”

“Alone.”

“Well, as you said, Sunset, you are the top student at the academy. I thought you were just saying how you didn’t care about the company of the rest of the students.”

Sunset’s look remained the same. After a moment, she blinked and leaned back in her chair. Her arms crossed.

“Is it not to your liking?”

“It’s a bit confusing.”

“How so?”

“You’ve been giving me nothing but lectures on how I’ve been treating the other students, being antisocial, and acting insubordinate every time I don’t wait for you to spoon feed me something. Now you’re practically rewarding me with a trip? Not to mention, this isn’t exactly what I asked for, is it?”

Celestia’s own eyebrows narrowed a little. “Well, you didn’t exactly ‘ask’ just now. You sounded more like you demanded it…”

She groaned. “The bottom line is I don’t see how this is supposed to make me better at magic. Or using the Promethian Sigil. I thought by now you’d be teaching me how to get an Anima Viri…”

Celestia closed her eyes and exhaled as she rose from her seat. “I’ve told you many times that there’s more to using this power than just being skilled at magic.”

“Yes, and at this point, I’m wondering why you just won’t tell me what’s so important…”

“That is the reason for this trip.” She began to walk around her desk. “Getting away from school might help you realize what when you’re not surrounded by books and lessons. When you’re back in a world without magic. The world where all of this is still fairy tales.”

Sunset looked to one side and frowned. “I still remember it well enough. Dirty, noisy, smelly, hard, cold, and covered with soot grime.”

Celestia reached her side and rested one of her hands on her shoulders. Sunset didn’t look up.

“This is important, Sunset,” she spoke more quietly. “I know you don’t always believe me when I tell you how valuable these lessons are, no matter how commonplace they might seem, but they are. You’ll see at the end of this.”

Sunset sighed. “This isn’t the first time you’ve told me that…”

“Please. Just try this out. Take some time to relax, and come back to us a new young woman.”

The girl kept staring to the side for a bit longer. Her eyes then glanced back to Celestia’s hand on her shoulder. She looked at it a moment before looking back to the papers. With a long exhale, she finally reached out and reluctantly took them from the desktop.

It was impossible for anyone in the hidden room to not hear the sounds of the stone pillar rotating from within the study. No security measure of any other kind would have been necessary as the seemingly immobile stone masonry swiveled about, opening a passage within the granite blocks that led into a descending spiral staircase. They would know someone was coming. Nevertheless, Celestia didn’t show any anxiety as she readily stepped into the opening and made her way down.

She saw a light at the bottom long before reaching it; flickering across the old, somewhat-warped, stone floors and walls. It looked like half of the lamps had been lit. It grew cooler yet, surprisingly, neither dirty nor musty despite lack of use. The only sound was the crackling of the tiny oil flames. On reaching the bottom at last, she turned to the threshold and walked into the chamber.

Being an interior room, the ceiling was much lower here. This part of the castle’s secret chambers was supported by numerous columns, which themselves acted as furnishings by having stone shelves mounted into them. Both them and the walls were surrounded by books. Most of the volumes, however, were nothing more than conventional literature and basic science. A precaution Celestia had taken long ago to help obscure the truly valuable ones.

One of the special ones, however, had been withdrawn and was open at the reading table in front of the fireplace. The fire itself was out, as the smoke in the chimney would have been a dead giveaway, but two oil lamps were placed on the table over it.

And standing behind it at her chair, looking not only unapologetic and unafraid but even angry, stood Sunset Shimmer.

Until that moment, Celestia's face had been hard and firm--the picture of her more authoritative and disciplinarian side. Yet the moment she saw the book and recognized its shape and volume, realizing exactly which book it was in her collection, her face momentarily flushed in true panic. In a snap, her hand performed a gesture, and she let out a quick spell from her lips. A golden sigil later, and the book instantly snapped itself closed and flew through the air right into her waiting hand.

“Nice to see you again, headmistress,” Sunset practically spat; ignoring her move.

“What did you just read from this?” Celestia instantly retorted; her voice cold, grave, and serious.

She snorted. “Why should I tell you? Why should I ever be honest with you again, when you were hiding so much from me?” Her eyes narrowed. “After you didn’t even have the decency to try and throw me out of the academy yourself? That you tried to trick me into walking out and changing the Glyphkey?” She crossed her arms. “I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I never left to begin with. I’ve been keeping an eye on things here for the past month. It’s great to see how things work when they’re not worried about being hidden behind my back.”

Celestia stiffened a moment, taking a few breaths to maintain her composure before she slowly set the book down on a shelf nearby. “You have no idea what danger you just put yourself and everyone on this entire world in by reading from this book just now… I need to know how much you read.”

“I think you’re going to answer my questions first, Celestia. For once. Why did you try and get rid of me?”

The older woman took in a deep breath, forcing herself to calm further. “I didn’t. I meant what I said. The trip would have been good for you-”

“You tried to change the Glyphkey. You did the moment I left. I saw it.”

Celestia was silent at that--her face that of one caught red-handed.

“And that’s not all I saw. I’ve been listening in on you. You’ve been looking over the other students. You’ve been trying to find a ‘successor’…a new ‘star pupil’. And it sounds like you found one too. I even overheard you saying some of the same little nuggets you used to feed me.”

Celestia stiffened further, pursing her lips. As for Sunset, her teeth began to clench.

“So which is it, ‘headmistress’? Did you betray me? Or did you just feed me lies all along?”

The chamber was silent for a moment. Celestia closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and slowly released. “No…it was never a lie.”

“Oh, I learned that much,” Sunset sneered back, uncrossing her arms. “Right from that book. You were preparing me for great things. Things that would change the world forever. Having me actually be a god. And then what did you do when it was time to take me to the next step?”

Her eyes blazed with anger as her hands curled into fists.

“You lied. You held me back on purpose. This book…all of this!” She gestured around. “There’s no telling how many secrets in here you still haven’t shared with me! After all the work I’ve put into this! After all the times I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me!”

Celestia exhaled again. “Sunset…”

“Haven’t I always aced every challenge you gave me? Haven’t I passed every bar you set higher? Didn’t I prove I was the best at magic? That if there was any power in the world out there for me to discover that I could handle it? You knew all along what I was meant for! What I was born for!”

“Sunset…”

“But you wouldn’t give it to me! And not only did you hold me back from it, you tried to drive me away! You tried to keep me from ever getting what was mine! What I was born to have!”

Celestia began to quiver.

Sunset started to step around the desk and toward her. “And on top of all that, you tried to replace me! You tried to cheat my own fate and have someone else take it from me! After everything you told me! Everything you promised me! You tried to take my life…my birthright…and throw it in the trash! You tried to ruin me!”

Suddenly, Celestia’s eyes snapped open, her face tightened in anger, and she wheeled on Sunset.

“Yes! I did!”

The girl was stunned into silence by the sudden retort, recoiling. Celestia’s eyes continued to blaze into hers.

“Do you want to know why I did? Because you test out control and torture charms on your classmates. Because you threaten and browbeat every student who starts getting grades close to yours. Because you tease and humiliate your peers in front of crowds. Because, to you, there are no other people in the world. There are only potential threats you need to grind down under your heel. I have no interest in your ‘birthright’, Sunset. I don’t care about what your destiny says. I care about what you are going to choose to make yourself. And as the years have gone by, I’ve watched as I’ve seen you twist and curl up inside into a coward and a bully who needs to be the biggest person in the room so that she feels good about herself. And while I blame myself, and I’m even angry at myself for letting it happen, it doesn’t change the fact that it has happened.”

Sunset’s anger began to return here; her body stiffening again.

“You mastered magic and power, but you never mastered anything that truly mattered. Empathy. Loyalty. Humility. Mercy. Simply seeing someone’s…anyone’s…welfare as more important than yours. That’s why I sent you on that trip. I thought there was a chance that maybe if you weren’t so focused on just getting better at using your power and instead focused on other people that maybe you’d learn to appreciate them more than yourself. That maybe you’d learn what the real purpose of your power was meant to be. You could have had that destiny you wanted, but you don’t deserve it. You haven’t earned it. And if you had fully understood what was in that book, you’d realize that’s why I can never let you have that power.”

The silence, far more tense and even cold this time, hung in the chamber. Celestia stared firmly at Sunset, whose own rage continued to build. Her face slowly turned into a sneer as her entire body tensed up. The Promethian Sigil on her own hand slowly began to gleam.

“Well, if that’s what you wanted, then you made one big mistake, Celestia,” she slowly growled as the sigil gleamed brighter. Her hand began to raise. “The fact that you tried to secretly get me to leave without just throwing me out means one thing: you’re scared of me. I think it’s time for me to show you just how much I've learned.”

Celestia’s face remained stony. Her own hand began to rise; her own sigil with all six emblems gleaming as well. At once, Sunset crossed her arms in front of her and began to trace them; performing what Celestia recognized as a defensive spell.

She simply shook her head at it. “No, Sunset. You’re the one who made the mistake. I honestly hoped that you wouldn’t ever reach this point…”

Only a single finger of her own moved.

Sunset’s casting was interrupted as she heard a ripping of fabric from her pocket. She looked down, but it was too late. There was already a hole in it. Shocked, she snapped her head forward just in time to see her Glyphkey sail right into Celestia’s waiting palm. She started to gasp on seeing the headmistress’ fist begin to gleam.

“But for some time now, deep down inside, I expected you to.”

Sunset’s eyes shrank into pinpricks. “Don’t-”

She was cut off as, with one last show of power, Celestia’s cast energy flowed into the Glyphkey and shattered it into a thousand pieces.

Sunset’s mouth still hung open, her hand reaching out in vain in front of her, when she found herself no longer anywhere in the study but in the middle of an empty forest. She blinked a few times, her mind getting her bearings as the close, cool feelings of the basement were replaced with those of an open, hot summer night. The silence was broken by cheeping of insects, and the moon shone down above through the tree branches.

She finally snapped around, looking about herself. There was nothing to see. Nothing but woods, grass, and rocks. She turned all the way about and saw she was on a bluff. She actually ran forward a few steps at that, trying to get through the tree line, but she stopped as soon as she saw a clearing. She truly hadn’t gone far at all. She was on the ridge that overlooked Canterlot Castle. Only there was no castle there now, nor signs there had ever been one. She saw it the same way everyone else in the world now saw it--as nothing other than what its master wanted them to see.

She stared at the empty valley for half a minute. Feelings of betrayal, hurt, and, more than anything, rage painted her features. Hot, hateful vengeance filled her eyes. Her teeth gnashed and her face tightened in fury.

At last, she arched her head up and screamed as loudly as she could at the valley; loud enough to echo for miles.

“I HATE YOU!”

Out of all five magistrates that were still conscious, only one of them wasn't huddled in terror. That one looked out defiantly and hatefully at Sunset as she stared at her. It brought a somewhat sad smile to her face at the memory it had elicited. As if she wondered if she had once looked the same way. However, she soon turned her attention away from that.

Sunset, her knight, and her retinue of steam soldiers had taken over the small jailhouse of Flaxonville. Most of the magistrates were lying in smoldering or frozen piles throughout the various rooms, having been systematically put down one after the other when they stormed in. The front doors of the building were gutted with fire, as were several of the doors inside the building proper. While one or two soldiers were treating themselves for grazing bullet wounds that had gone off and looked somewhat stressed, Sunset herself, as well as her knight, showed no signs of exertion.

She smirked as she placed her hands on her hips, gazing down at the current object of her full attention. She was standing just inside a holding cell; the bars of which had been melted into slag and were still gleaming. Cowering rather pathetically at her feet was a white-haired street magician. Sunset's mood seemed to be somewhat improved on seeing her cringing.

“So,” she smirked, “I hear you’re the one who killed a Light Eater over in Appleloosa. At least you’ve been bragging about that all day, haven’t you? The ‘Loud and Obnoxious Trixie’, wasn’t it?”

She could do nothing but take the insult as she swallowed. “Act-actually…it’s…th-th-the Great and Powerful…”

“I see. So, Ms. Great and Powerful…” She held up the palm of her hand. Beneath her glove, her sigil gleamed once before a ball of fire materialized into it. “Why don’t you show me some of that power you used to kill that Light Eater? Judging by the fact you look about to wet yourself, you got a good long look at what we can do when we came in here.” She snickered. “But that’s nothing to someone who killed a Light Eater, right? How about you teach me a lesson?”

The woman swallowed. The fireball began to grow larger.

“I’ll give you to the count of three to make the first move. One…”

She got no farther. “Ok, I admit it! Trixie is just a street performing magician!” the white-haired woman practically shrieked in panic. “I got really jealous that this other street magician was doing so much better than me and making my usual crowds get bored! I heard that people were saying they saw a street magician kill a Light Eater so I went with it to try and get more business! That’s all!”

The fireball dimmed a bit, but didn’t go out. “Oh? So you didn’t kill a Light Eater?”

“Of course I didn’t!” she screeched. “How in Greater Everfree would I kill a Light Eater?! With fireworks?! Nobody can kill a Light Eater! Come on! If I could kill a Light Eater, do you think I’d still be stuck pulling my own show cart all over the country trying to drum up whatever spare change I can get?!”

Sunset turned her head slightly, seeming to study her while enjoying the desperate, fearful look in her eyes.

“Well,” she finally admitted, “you certainly look weak and powerless. Not really capable of amounting to anything other than some loudmouth nomad. I’d say completely pathetic in every way.”

She could tell Trixie hated hearing that, but she could do nothing. Only wither under her gaze and take it.

After a moment, she snapped her hand and dismissed the fireball. “Of course…I don’t really need to be chasing red herrings. There’s always a chance you’ll take up boasting again and make things harder on me. Maybe I should just get you out of the way right now…”

Sunset grinned on seeing Trixie begin to shake like a leaf, drawing further into herself. She relished it for a moment before her hand suddenly snapped out. The magician cried as she found her hand roughly seized and snapped up, so that Sunset could get a clear look at the back. She almost snickered on seeing nothing but smooth skin.

“Then again, you’re really not worth the effort, are you?” She cast the hand aside like useless garbage. “There’s only one thing you’re good for now. This other street magician you mentioned.” She turned her own hand over and pulled her glove up slightly, so that Trixie could get a good look at the back of it. “I don’t suppose she had a symbol like this on her hand, did she?”

Trixie, just now getting relief at being spared, could only blink and stammer for a moment. “Well…I, uh…that is I think she kept her hands covered… At least I think so…um…” She began to look thoughtful. “Did I see a symbol like that? I thought I’d seen it before. Maybe I’m only thinking of one of my tarot cards…”

Sunset’s smile ebbed. She lowered the glove, then turned her hand back over to raise her palm.

“B-B-But she was about your height!” Trixie quickly cried. “And she wasn’t nearly as boisterous or impressive as Trixie! She had purple eyes and long, purple hair with just a streak of pink in it! She ran around everywhere with a dog! That’s all I know! I promise!”

The smile returned. “I believe you.” Looking into her eyes the whole time, Sunset reached over, plucked up the magician’s star-covered, wide-brimmed hat, and pushed it down on Trixie’s head enough to go over her nose. “That’s why you’re going to live to be loud and obnoxious for many other audiences for many years to come.”

She rose to her feet and turned around, not giving the magician on the floor another look. Instead, she began to walk for the exit, raising a hand and snapping her fingers to her group as she went. They quickly fell in behind her, especially her knight at her side.

On leaving the cellblock and entering the main room beyond, however, she saw several members of the other airship group. Among them, helmets off and looking both ashamed and afraid were Snips and Snails. Sunset's smile immediately faded on spotting them. She walked up to them both, causing either one to look down and take a nervous step back, before crossing her arms and frowning.

“I suppose I should have known better than to trust you two idiots with something; even if it was so simple,” she nearly sneered.

“S-S-Sorry, Lady Sunset…” Snips whimpered.

“At…at least we got one person who had a symbol on their hand, right?” Snails ventured with a hopeful smile.

“After letting two others get away and after getting a beating from a sigil-bearer who didn’t have a single Anima Viri to her name!” Hissing a bit, she rubbed her hand against her forehead. “I don’t know why I bothered giving you two those weapons. It’s like trying to teach pigs to sing…” Putting her hand back at her side, she looked up to both of them. “You two just make sure those descriptions of the two of them are spot-on so that we kill them on sight next time we see them. From what you said about the one with rainbow hair, she does have an Anima Viri. And if you two couldn’t get rid of her when she didn’t even know how to use it properly, she’ll crumple you up like a pair of tin cans once she finds out.”

“Um, yes sir…er, ma’am!”

“You bet, Lady Sunset!”

She glared at the both of them as they stood there, both saluting and staring at her. Her sneer returned. “Well, what are you two doing standing around here? Get back to your ship and keep heading toward the rendezvous!”

Both gulped together, and quickly put their helmets on so fast that both of them put them slightly askew. Neither seemed to notice as they turned and ran for the doorway.

As it turned out, they barely managed to make it to the threshold when another soldier came in the opposite way. They ended up waiting for her to pass before rushing out, only to squeeze themselves in the opening. As they struggled to push through, the new soldier quickly ran forward and saluted.

“Lady Sunset, we have a group coming to the station right now. I don’t think we can make it back to the Rising Sun before they get here.”

She crossed her arms. “Is it the Appleloosan 16^th?”

“No. It looks like the mayor and another group of magistrates.”

Sunset paused a moment and thought this over before finally smirking. “Well, that’s handy.”

The soldier was confused at that. “Ma’am, we can wipe out this entire group without a problem if they try anything-”

“Get back out and tell your group to hold their fire.”

The soldier now seemed very puzzled, but only opened her mouth slightly before closing it again. She knew full well not to argue with her, and quickly turned to go and do as she was told; pushing Snips and Snails through as she did.

The knight turned his own helmet toward her. “You’re standing down?”

“This mayor is either being bold or foolish by trying to stand up to us after all we’ve done. I think rather than any more unnecessary doctor visits and potential corpses, we can make him work for us.”

Without another word, she began to stroll toward the entrance. The knight hesitated a moment before following in her footsteps, and the rest of the soldiers inside quickly began to form up and follow suit.

Crossing the outer threshold and descending the entrance steps of the sheriff's station, Sunset passed back onto the main road of the town. There were a few traces of melting ice crystals, flames, and a handful of spots stained black that had an almost burnt-fish-esque smell — the result of needing to disperse crowds when the local magistrates tried to stop them from walking in. Most of the people out there were her soldiers, rapidly lining up to either disembark (including Snips and Snails) or awaiting her command.

However, the group in question that had been announced was rapidly approaching. In true Appleloosan fashion, they were brandishing their weapons, squaring their jaws, and marching up boldly as if daring one of the soldiers to take a shot at them. They at least had a size advantage now. About 30 of them were all together, being led by an older man in glasses who already had his own revolver drawn—just enough to make them outnumber Sunset’s own group.

She never lost her smirk as she came down to meet him. They both halted about twenty feet from one another in the middle of the road. Sunset was bold enough when she stood there alone, but it wasn't long before the knight was at her side and shifting his lance to the ready. The rest of her force fell in behind her soon after. As for the older man, who she assumed was the mayor, he glared at her while the others behind him aimed their weapons, although they held their fire.

“Trottinghamites…” he practically growled. “If this was your attempt to start a war, you should have brought more soldiers. I don’t know why you thought you could just come in here and do what you want in our town, but if you thought we’d just roll over for you then you didn’t learn much from the last war. We’ve already got messengers running out to spread the word to the military. Your regent will be hearing about this very soon and you better believe Appleloosa will make her pay for everything you’ve done here. Now throw down your arms and get on the ground before we put bullets in your heads.”

The soldiers behind Sunset tensed at that, beginning to raise their weapons. However, neither Sunset nor her knight flinched.

After a moment more, however, her smile waned as her face grew innocent and apologetic, and she wrung her hands together. “Oh…I’m so terribly sorry. I know this doesn’t quite make amends for this, but we, and the entire government of Trottingham, apologize terribly for this entire fiasco. Please, this entire situation got terribly out of hand. While I will admit we overstepped our bounds on the current treaty, I strongly urge you to reconsider. None of us wants another war to start over this misunderstanding.”

The mayor’s eyes widened incredulously. “Mis…misunderstanding?! Is that what you call this? A ‘misunderstanding’? 28 people have been seriously injured and one is dead! Misunderstanding…did your little lap dogs just ‘accidentally’ take off that woman’s head? And who the hell are you anyway?”

“Oh, forgive me… Captain Sunset Shimmer of Trottingham, Lady of Queen’s Lynn,” she introduced, even throwing in a small curtsy on top of it. “And I do most sincerely apologize for what transpired. I specifically ordered my subordinates to not use their weapons on anyone unless fired upon first, although it has come to my attention that some of those under my command disobeyed. Rest assured, they will be dearly punished for such a casual attitude toward safety of civilians.”

By now, Snails was looking up from his group and appearing confused. He nearly said something, but Snips quickly elbowed him before he could make a sound.

“As for the victim who lost her life, am I correct in saying that she was confirmed to not be a citizen of Appleloosa?”

The mayor, caught by that, hesitated. “Well, no, she wasn’t…but citizen or not-”

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page before I started to explain myself. Didn’t want any misinterpretations,” she answered, throwing in a half-snicker. “Anyway, as I was saying, this was an important mission from our government. Normally I’m not supposed to let anyone in on matters of state, but, seeing as your citizens have been hurt and you’ve confirmed that the one responsible was not of your government, I suppose it’s only appropriate to let you know.”

She folded her hands again, looking just a tiny bit anxious.

“You see, over the past two years we’ve experienced insurgent attacks. Very large and very deadly ones. Ones that have claimed lives. Dozens of lives in some cases. And always committed by the same individuals: ones who bear this symbol on their hands.”

At this, Sunset leaned down to the ground. Some of the magistrates stiffened, but none of them did more on seeing her simply poke her finger into the dirt and debris on the road. She drew a hexagonal symbol on it, matching the one on her still-gloved hand.

“I don’t suppose you’ve seen this symbol on the hands of any of your citizens, have you?”

The mayor regarded it for a moment, but kept his jaw tightened. “Maybe I have and maybe I haven’t. Why should I tell you either way?”

“Oh, it’s not for our sake I point it out,” she innocently answered as she rose again. “People who have symbols like this? We’ve noticed random citizens with them in our country for some time, but no one thought to speak up about it. That is…not until they started going insane.”

The mayor crooked his eyebrow. “Insane?”

“Until they started killing everyone around them in acts of pure bloodlust. Then we all noticed them. Especially since those who tried to hold them down ended up having their heads smashed in or their throats ripped out. Especially since they ignored the bullets we tried to put into them. Especially since they did things that make all this…” She gestured around her to the damage all about. “Look like a missed catch breaking a window.” She shrugged. “We’re not really sure why they started showing up. Only that it seemed to happen around the time of the Lunar Fall. Our going theory is they might be related to the Nighttouched.”

A few of the people around looked uneasy, although most of them regarded Sunset with continuing suspicion and distrust. The mayor was one of them. “And what does that have to do with what happened here?”

“Well, while that was the going theory, another one was that it was some sort of new weapon. That somehow our neighbors had found a way to turn people into living engines of destruction, and were sending them back into our country to wreck havoc as insurgents. So we were sent to find out. Now, I believe if you examine the body of that woman more closely, you’ll find she was the only one we cornered. However, two more that we located escaped, and they’re nothing compared to the one we’re trying to track down.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember what I said about dozens of lives? There’s one in particular who did just that. Completely leveled an entire town as well as the regiments we sent in to stop her. We found out she got away by masquerading as a street magician and fled the country. We thought she might have made it into Appleloosa. By now, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors?”

The mayor paused; some of his composure cracking. “What rumors?”

“The ones that are streaming out of Fillydelphia, last I heard. About how someone supposedly killed a Light Eater by themselves? Supposedly a street magician? Sounds like it fits our description to a tee. Believe me, after seeing what she left behind…” Her face grew anxious as she shook her head. “There’s no one else who could have done it. That’s why we’re using all of this latest weaponry. We developed it specifically to handle the kind of threat these individuals represent. Anything less? Doesn’t stand a chance.”

Now the unease was visible on the group’s faces. Even the mayor was beginning to break. As for Sunset, she raised her hands in an almost pleading gesture as she stepped in closer, and by now the people didn’t react to her as before.

“I truly am very sorry for all of this, and I’ll make sure that whatever compensation you want for the damages, both to people and properties, is relayed straightaway to Regent Cinch as soon possible. However, if Appleloosa isn’t responsible for these people but you had them in your territory, then my guess is whoever is putting them out will soon be attacking your country as well. It’s very important that we find out who and where before then. So important that I’m afraid I’ll have to be departing by your leave or without it.”

A moment of silence passed over the group. Sunset never broke her pose as she looked back at the mayor.

“How did you know they’d let us leave like that?”

Sunset, her face having returned to her sly smirk now that they were nearly to the Rising Sun, let out a small chuckle. “If they had really thought they had the upper hand after what we had done, they would have just killed us. They wouldn’t have tried to get us to surrender first.”

The knight walked on silently after her a moment. “That makes sense. I know you normally keep everything you know about whoever has those symbols silent, though, even though those were half-truths at best. Do you think he’ll believe them?”

“It doesn’t matter. Only that word starts going around, and people act on it. One way or another, they’re going to realize that Trottingham wants people with that symbol on their hand. Either they believe what I said and start doing our job for us, or they don’t believe me but start rounding them up into more obvious places until they find out what we want with them. Either way, their make our lives easier.”

“I should have known better…” the knight muttered. “That sort of trick has you written all over it.”

“The last group in Greater Everfree that tried to act ‘honorably’ to their enemies had their country wiped out overnight. I’ll stick with what works. All that matters to us right now is we have two fugitives on the run and now we have a description of our likely real target. We need to hurry on to the rendezvous and hopefully knock out those two while we’re at it. And unfortunately after the mess that those two oafs made, we’re going to have to be just a little more discrete about it. Just because I want these people taken out doesn’t mean I want to have to blast through several countries worth of armed forces to do it.”

The two reached the gangplank and began to walk up and into the airship’s interior. The knight’s head lowered. “If even one was enough to give our forces some trouble, I’m not sure we’ll be able to take out two without causing more of a scene.”

“With those two handling it? I’d have to say you’re right.”

She turned to the knight with a wide smile.

“But who said I’m going to be relying on them?”

Nightwatch: Photo Finish

The door handle creaked, causing Applejack to instantly look up from her spot against the wall and see it start to swing open.

She quickly pulled up to a stance. “Hey there! Wait just ah minute! How long y’all plan on-”

She couldn’t get anything else out. The door had barely opened before a pair of trays bearing simple rations and water were shoved in through the doorway, so fast that half of the water was shaken out of one of the cups, before it nearly slammed shut again.

Applejack made a fist and growled at the now-closed door. She advanced on it a moment, looking like she meant to smash her fist against it, before she relented and spun around. “How’d ya’ like that? We go an’ save their necks last night and this is the thanks we get? Treatin’ us like we’re criminals!”

Twilight Sparkle, seated on the floor, knees drawn up to her chest and looking rather dismayed simply sighed. “I told you that more people knowing about this only causes more trouble…”

Applejack frowned and pounded her fist against a support. They were in one of the smaller buildings now. It had been used for storage but was mostly emptied except for a few smaller boxes of minor supplies, but it only had one door and high windows with bars to prevent anyone from stealing from it. Following what had happened with the wall, the lt. colonel had been at a loss about what to make of the two of them for some time, as had everyone else. Even some members of the Apple family were hesitant; not sure whether to be appreciative or fearful. At last, the lt. colonel asked if they could come to this building and wait until they had a chance to talk this over. Applejack had been upset at that, especially the insinuation that they had somehow done something wrong by saving the fort, but reluctantly complied. Now it was noon of the next day and getting hot, yet still no word.

She pulled her fist back and looked at the back of it. Following the fight, her new clothes, weapon, and, most importantly, power had disappeared fairly quickly. One new thing remained, however. She now had an emblem on one of the points of her hexagon just like Twilight. Looking closer at it, she could make out it was a bit more detailed and intricate than a spot, but right now she was just sick of new things popping up on her hand without her say-so on top of everything else. She winced a little as she started to walk back in the room. Her abilities had simply faded of their own accord shortly after the fight ended, but what really got her now was the fact that all of her bruises and soreness from before she gained that power were now back with a vengeance. Even sitting around was painful.

She finally looked up again to Twilight. Her dog Spike had been allowed to be in the room with them, as the people seemed as uneasy about him as the two of them, and he now lay at Twilight’s side along with her. “How much longer ya’ s’pose they plan on keepin’ us in here? I reckon after last night, I could just punch my way right through these walls if need be…” She grimaced after saying that, looking at her fist. “If I could figure out how that damn fool thing worked… Don’t s’pose you could tell me how?”

Twilight put a hand to the bridge of her nose. “Right now, we don’t know what they think of us. But if we try to just bust out of here by smashing through a building, we’ll definitely get on their bad sides.”

“They ain’t really thinkin’ we’re some kinda monsters ‘r somethin’, are they? I mean…sure, that was pretty crazy last night, but we defended the fort!”

Twilight looked to one side. “Nobody thinks too highly of anything unusual ever since the Lunar Fall… They may think it’s all got something to do with the Nighttouched, the Light Eaters, or anything else. Especially Appleloosans.”

Applejack frowned. “Now ya’ take that…” However, in the middle of speaking up, and even raising her fist, she cut herself off and frowned. She sadly lowered her hand soon after; clearly knowing it was the truth. She put her hands back on her hips and stood there silently. Twilight continued to look at the floor without moving.

Applejack finally looked back up. “Reckon at some point they’re gonna come in here and ask us ‘bout what happened.”

Twilight sighed again. “You’re probably right.”

“So…what exactly did happen?”

Twilight looked up at her, spying Applejack staring back with narrowed eyes.

“An’ please…none of that pig swallor ‘bout needin’ ta’ keep it a secret. Least not to me. I figure at this point I’m in it ‘bout as deep as I’m gonna get, and seein’ as I lent you a hand last night I think I deserve the full truth.” She crossed her arms. “Figure maybe if I know everything I won’t go blabbin’ nothing you don’t want me ta’ say ta’ the lt. colonel.”

Twilight hesitated, thinking that over. Finally, she slumped and exhaled, seeming finally resigned. She patted her side. “Sit down.”

Applejack crooked a brow.

“You want to know the whole truth or at least everything I know about it? Start by sitting next to me.”

The cowgirl stood still a second longer, but finally uncrossed her arms and walked over to her. A moment later, she was plopping down next to her on the floor.

“Hold your hand out. The one with the Promethian Sigil.”

Applejack was confused a moment before she remembered that was what Twilight had called it the other day. She did as she was told. Twilight, in turn, began to uncover her own hand. “Do you remember what I told you about this sigil the other day?”

Her confusion grew a bit more; her lips twisting. “Uh…um…somethin’ ‘bout spirits, souls, and somesuch?”

She groaned a little. “That it’s a symbol that your body can house spirits and souls that aren’t its own and use them. What do you remember about last night when you transformed?”

“Easy. I got bigger, stronger, all them fancy duds, and had a big hammer I could swing ‘round like it was nothin’.”

Another groan. “Do you remember something before all that?”

Applejack thought a moment. “Wait…yeah, I do. I remember…” She trailed off, pausing as the full memory came back. “I…I remember Pa. Ya’ told me ta’ call his name and say them words and…” Her pupils shrank. “That’s right…I thought I heard him call back ta’ me…”

“You didn’t think anything. You did hear him.”

She looked alarmed. “Wait…what? But…that ain’t possible. He’s been dead fer years!”

“I saw you holding that hammer the other day. You almost didn’t put it down after we talked. When you were holding onto it, you felt like he was nearby, didn’t you? Like he was somehow right there with you?”

Applejack’s jaw loosened. “How’d…how’d you…?”

“That’s the real power of a Promethian Sigil,” Twilight cut off. “That hammer of yours was your father’s, wasn’t it?”

“Well, yeah but-”

“It was his favorite tool, wasn’t it?”

“Y…Yeah…”

“And that’s why you keep it now, isn’t it? Because it reminds you of him?”

As uneasy as the conversation made her, Applejack nodded. “Yeah.”

“What happened when your father died is he imparted a piece of his spirit onto it. People do that sometimes with things that they had a strong attachment to in life. Usually it impacts places, but sometimes it impacts common objects. Once your Promethian Sigil appeared on your hand, it gave you the ability to resonate with those pieces of spirits. Last night, I saw your hammer start to glow. Your father’s spirit was reaching out to you. After that, all I had to do was tell you the words for the Binding Ceremony.”

She reached over and pointed to the new spot on one of the points of her hexagon.

“That symbol right there? That’s your father’s. His spirit is now bound to you.”

Applejack’s jaw hung lower. She held up her hand, staring at it and especially the point. Yet now, she grew even more surprised. Impossible as it was, even though she couldn’t read the symbol at all, something funny was happening to her. Just looking at the symbol and the strange emblems on it…somehow seemed to fit her father. Like it suited him in some way.

She blinked and turned back to Twilight. “But…what’s that mean?”

Twilight leaned back and took a deep breath. “The true power of a Promethian Sigil is that it allows its bearer to unite their own soul with that of others. When that happens, not only does the essence of the spirit flow into them along with their power and knowledge, it acts as a multiplier. Both the bearer and the spirit become stronger than they ever were on their own when it’s used properly. The bearer also takes on their own Role.”

“Er…roll? As in…rollin’ a log or rollin’ out a barrel? Or a dinner roll?”

Twilight grimaced a little. “No…Role. Here…look at this.”

She held out her own hand next to hers, so that the symbols were adjacent. “What do you see?”

Applejack looked them over and shrugged. “A pair of six-sided things with a point standin’ out.”

“Really? Look closer.”

She leaned in a bit more and looked them over. After a moment, she began to make out other details. The points weren’t exactly the same, the symbols weren’t turned the same way, and some edges were emphasized more over the others. After looking for a bit longer, she began to see how they might have been identical at a glance but were really quite different when one studied the details.

“They…ain’t quite the same,” she finally admitted.

She nodded. “That’s why we both looked different when we united with the respective spirits. They had something to do with it, but so did we.”

Applejack scratched the back of her neck. “But I didn’t do no fancy magic like you did. I just felt bigger and stronger.”

“That’s because your sigil is that of the Warrior,” Twilight explained. “Mine is that of the Caster. That’s why my teacher tried to teach me how to do spells even before I got my Anima Viri.”

“Uh…beg yer pardon?”

“It’s…another word for one of the souls you can use. That’s the easiest way to think of it. Anyway, she tried to teach me so that I’d be able to use my power more easily and safely when I got mine.”

The farmer leaned back against the wall when Twilight finally finished. She looked to the ceiling and thought. For several minutes, she simply sat there thinking about everything she heard.

“Y’know,” she spoke at last, “until now I was thinkin’ this here sigil was somethin’ spooky or nasty. But hearin’ all this and after last night?”

To Twilight’s surprise, she suddenly sat up and turned to her with a grin.

“Well, yee-haw! Ain’t this sure somethin’!”

The other woman recoiled in surprise sharp enough for Spike to look up. “Wha…huh?”

She gave another start as Applejack slapped her on the shoulder. “I mean, think about it Twilight! Last night, the two of us took on a whole hoard of Nighttouched by ourselves! Sure, I was plum tuckered out afterward and I kinda feel like gum under a shoe, but that was my first time! I reckon if I get better at it and we work together, why…I bet we can rid all of Appleloosa of them Nighttouched fer good!”

Twilight was rather alarmed at the suggestion, yet after staring at Applejack only a moment her face began to sink.

“Why, I’ll bet we can even take back the land they took!” She looked skyward and slapped her fist in her hand. “We can finally drive ‘em out! Well…or at least keep ‘em from ever comin’ back. The two of us ‘r as good as a whole gang of soldiers. This here sigil thing might be jus’ what we need! Heh, the funny thing is ‘til now I kept thinkin’ this might be some sort o’ curse, but after last night? Well then-”

“It won’t work.”

Applejack’s grin faded as she looked back to Twilight, seeing her head bowed low and rueful.

“Huh?” she echoed back, rather confused at her dismal response. “Well, why the hell not? I mean, look at what we did last night! That was nothin’ I’ve ever seen before!”

Twilight grimaced. “You really don’t think we can take on every last Nighttouched in Equestria, do you?”

She paused. “Well…I, uh…well, I’m sure it won’t be easy and it won’t be done in one night, but-”

“You saw those parasprites last night and what they did. Those are weakest of the fully transformed creatures in Equestria. There’s things a lot bigger and deadlier than them in there.”

Some of Applejack’s enthusiasm died. “Er…really?”

“And you’re not forgetting the Light Eaters, are you? So long as no one kills them, no one can take any territory back from Equestria. You know things like swords, bullets, cannons, and even hammers don’t hurt them, right?”

Now Applejack began to look uneasy as well, but then looked hopeful again. “Say, you don’t suppose that magic of yours…”

Twilight cut her off with a sigh. “I can kill little ones with it so long as I only have to fight one at a time…but there’s ones that are stronger or even gigantic. We have no idea how many of them there even are. Even assuming that you can find a way to hurt them too, only two of us against dozens? Or hundreds?”

Applejack winced, but snapped her fingers a moment later. “Wait a sec…Braeburn! And not just him! You said more people would turn up with these things! Maybe it’s a sign! Maybe-”

Twilight grit her teeth, beginning to look exasperated. “I already told you!” she nearly shouted, cutting the farmer off again and starting to sound angry. “Most of the people who develop the Promethean Sigil go crazy! And when they do, you either have to kill them or seal them! I sealed Braeburn, so that means he can’t possibly get an Anima Viri of his own or use his sigil in any way! So either way, whether they end up dead or sealed, other people can’t help! And Anima Viris don’t just pop out of the blue! There’s only a handful of them in the world and only a fistful of ways you can get one to join with you! I was shocked to see you resonate with one last night because that’s the first one I’ve seen since I got mine!”

Applejack was stunned into silence now, not only at the response but more so Twilight’s sudden surge of emotion. She glared back at the farmer a moment before moaning and turning back. She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. Her voice grew quieter but also sadder.

“Do you think I haven’t tried thinking of a way to use my power to actually put a stop to all of this? I can’t even put a stop to it when they surge across the borders. It’s just no good. We’d need an entire army of us to be able to stop this, and the one person in the world who was trying to make one got wiped out the same night that the Lunar Fall happened. Now there’s no hope.”

The last part confused Applejack. “What’dya mean…”

She trailed off, though, before she could finish the question, and looked to the wall with a frown.

“What the hay…?”

Twilight, hearing the change in her voice, snapped out of her momentary funk. “What’s wrong?”

“Jus’ listen.”

Twilight was puzzled herself a moment before leaning her head closer to the wall. In truth, the walls weren’t the best at being soundproof and there had been a good deal of noise that day. The army was scrambling to resupply and the sounds of rubble moving and hammers pounding rang everywhere as they did their best to repair the gaping damage in the walls of Fort Chestnut. Yet now that they stopped and listened, they found out there was much more. The sounds of voices and moving about were drowning out the sounds of construction. A whole multitude seemed to be muttering.

The two continued to silently listen for several minutes, and they only heard the noises get closer and louder until they became a rather resounding din. Some of the sounds got so near they began to hear them directly through the walls, indicating whoever was saying them was standing right up against the wall of the structure. It started to move around them soon after, and judging by how many were there it became clear that it wasn’t just the resident population of the fort.

Applejack nearly questioned what this meant, when she heard the door turn again. This time, both women and Spike turned to it. It opened soon after, nearly knocking over the food that had been set inside, and swung wide enough to show a pair of Appleloosan soldiers.

Both still seemed a bit nervous to spot the two of them, but after a moment they beckoned on.

“The lt. colonel would like to talk to you two.”

If the two women had been meant to be escorted under armed guard, that fell through rather readily. Even a basic escort soon proved impossible. The two had scarcely stepped out of the building with the dog when they saw that Fort Chestnut was now fully overcrowded. More civilians than ever had poured into it, these ones looking even more hurried, dirty, and confused than the first batch. Most of them looked like they only had time to bring food and weapons, if even that, for some of the children were still in their nightclothes. They were crowded everywhere with more arriving all the time. It was all the current soldiers could do to watch over them while struggling to continue to repair the walls of the fort, which weren’t even fully barricaded yet.

Fortunately, Applejack knew the way to the officer’s barracks from yesterday, because they soon got separated from the soldiers and nearly separated from each other. She desperately scanned the crowd looking for anyone from the Apple family, but there were so many different people of so many different kinds it was impossible to make out anyone. There was one group that looked like a pair of families from the hills that seemed to be ready to kill each other just for being forced to occupy the same space. And somehow, over all of the noise and the din, there was what looked like a photographer, her assistants, and an entire wagon load worth of equipment compressed into a ten-foot-by-ten-foot square with her yelling out audibly over everyone as she struggled to get pictures of the entire event. (It didn’t work too well, considering how thick her accent was. Applejack couldn’t place the city-state.)

At one point, she yelled out something to what Applejack thought was her assistants, but with her volume it easily could have been anyone in the overcrowded fort. She turned to Twilight. “Uh…did she say somethin’ ‘bout ‘magic’ just now?”

“I think it was ‘magics’…but at any rate I don’t think she meant the stuff I do,” she answered shrugging.

“Applejack!”

The farmer looked up on hearing a far more familiar, and quieter, voice shouting through the crowd. She was just in time to see Braeburn, a hand clamped on his hat to keep from losing it, pushing forward toward her.

“There y’are!” he yelled as soon as he got up to her. “The rest of the kinfolk have been wonderin’ what happened ta’ ya’ all day! Uh…” He leaned in closer. “Ya’ do remember what happened last night, right? ‘Cause…”

She sighed. “Easy, Braeburn. I had my head the whole time.”

“Phew…saves a lot of explainin’. A few of the folk ‘r a bit nervous, but...ta’ be perfectly honest, cousin?” He suddenly burst into a grin. “That was amazin’! Whoo, I always knew ya’ could send any Nighttouched back packin’, but last night was somethin’ else! How did ya’ manage-”

“Uh, Braeburn,” she cut off, holding a hand in his face, “I’d really like ta’ catch up on that right now, but the reason they let us outta that there shack was ta’ see the lt. colonel, and we’re kinda in a hurry.”

He blinked twice before growing sheepish. “Oh…oh yeah, sorry ‘bout that. But…just hurry back real quick, ok? The family’s all wonderin’ how yer doin’. Or how ya’ pulled that off last night. Um…”

His eyes glanced behind Applejack for a moment, but she only needed to turn her head a bit before she realized he was looking at Twilight. He leaned in closer. “She, uh…she didn’t happen ta’ have anythin’ to do with it or nothin’, did she? Cast another one of them spells ‘r somethin’…?”

Even over the din, Applejack could hear the unease in Braeburn’s voice. She knew why now, but she didn’t answer immediately. She glanced back at Twilight, and saw her looking right back at her. Maybe she had heard Braeburn and maybe she hadn’t, but she thought about how she herself hadn’t trusted her until too long ago. And how she might still not have trusted her if she had been the only one who jumped in last night, in spite of what she did…

After a moment, Applejack’s face tightened, almost looking a little upset, as she looked back at Braeburn.

“Twilight’s totally on the level, Braeburn, and she helped save the fort jus’ as much as me last night.” Her voice didn’t have the slightest waver or give in it.

It made both Twilight and Braeburn alike look up in a bit of surprise.

“Now I’ll be along to see the rest of the family soon, but until then, you run on back and you tell them the same. Ya’ hear?”

Braeburn was put on the spot a moment, but nodded. “I…I hear, coz. Sure thing!”

He turned and began to push his way back into the crowd. Twilight, on her part, came up to Applejack’s side now that she was stopped. She stared at her a moment, before she finally ventured a weak smile. “Um…thank you.”

It took Applejack a moment, but she half-smiled back. “Well, I reckon I owe you my life after last night, and jus’ ‘cause this trip’s been one burr in the saddle after another don’t mean you haven’t been tryin’ ta’ help us through it. Sorry I didn’t act that way sooner.”

Twilight smiled a bit more at the encouragement, and soon the two were off again.

It wasn’t too much longer before they were able to push themselves to the officer’s barracks, although due to the thick crowds they had somehow lost Spike. Twilight seemed alright with it for now, and so was Applejack as they would be headed indoors soon. By the time they arrived, the soldiers were already there, but they simply framed the door and told the two to walk right in. As they reached the door and pushed inside, it was a surprising relief to them both to be back inside an enclosed shack. It beat being pressed on and having to almost shout to talk to each other. However, the inner room was nothing more than a few longer tables with chairs at them; obviously for multi-purpose with the officers. Two more soldiers were at the back at another door, and looked to both of them expectantly. As they both approached, they tensed a little, but in the end pulled open the door for them.

Inside was probably the only private room in the fort—the inner chamber or office for the lt. colonel or whoever was the CO at the time. A map and some markers were out on his desk, and the room had been cleared to make space for others to come in. It seemed there had been a lot of activity in it not too long ago, which only figured given last night. However, Burnt Oak was the only one in there now. He looked up as soon as they arrived.

“Come in. Have a seat.”

The response was neither too friendly nor hostile, but that in and of itself was an improvement over the other day, and so both stepped inside. Applejack turned back on seeing the soldiers shut the door behind them, but looked back more easily soon after. Twilight herself went for a chair, but the farmer stayed standing as she moved up to her, squaring her gaze on the older man.

He moved around the front of his desk and leaned back against it. He focused his eyes fully on Applejack, which the farmer wasn’t sure was a sign of hostility or not. He was quiet a moment before he finally spoke even more quietly.

“You’re Bright Mac’s kid, aren’t you?”

This caught her by surprise. “Wha-what?”

“I thought I noticed something about you yesterday. Didn’t see it clearly until that little lightshow you put on last night. You got to be his now that I’m taking a good look at you. He only ever wore that one hat.”

Realizing what this meant took her further aback. “You…you knew pa?”

He nodded. “Sure did. Lived only three miles down the road from him growing up. Pardon the pun, but it looks like the apple don’t fall far from the tree. You look just like him and Pear Butter smashed together.”

Applejack was astonished; struck mute for a moment on seeing one of her father’s friends right there in front of her. “Well…how come I ain’t never seen ya’ ‘round the house?”

“My family was in the firewood trade, but there weren’t places to cut it around where you lived once I got older. Besides, I wanted to see if I could find a different future for myself outside of just chopping logs. I ended up enlisting. I got out eventually but…” His mouth swished wistfully. “Between the Lunar Fall, everyone starting to use coal and boilers for heat, and it not being safe anymore to stick around forests chopping wood, I had to go back in. I’ve moved up since then, as you might have guessed.”

He frowned.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t in town for the funeral proper. I was stationed at another fort just like this one. I came by a month later to pay my respects, but I only managed to talk to a few of the older folks. Never got a chance to say hi to you, Big Mac, or Apple Bloom, and…”

Applejack’s own look dimmed. “Yeah…I know. We were too busy really to think about guests when the whole family started to move to the farm and we still had a harvest that had to get in…” She frowned as well. “Looks like everyone’s gotta be accommodatin’ for that damn Lunar Fall nowadays…”

Burnt Oak looked at the ground a moment before glancing back up. “Well…nothing for it now. At least we finally got a chance to meet up. Though I’m kind of wondering what you’re doing out here to begin with. And I’m sure you know it goes without saying that everyone is wondering what the hell that was we saw last night.”

Applejack paused. She glanced back to Twilight for a moment. The woman was wincing uncomfortably, saying nothing as she wasn’t the one being addressed, but giving the farmer an anxious look. Applejack, in turn, stared for a short while, looking likewise hesitant, before she finally turned back.

She exhaled. “I’m sorry…but for now, I can’t tell ya’. The important thing is we can do that trick and that we did when we needed to, and that’s all I can say.”

Burnt Oak looked a bit surprised at that remark, but Twilight even more so on seeing that Applejack followed her advice.

“As for why we’re here, well…” she grew more uneasy. “It’s the Homestead Act. They’re gonna push us off our farm. Say it’s too dangerous to keep protectin’. Figured if a bunch of us enlisted, we could not only keep it but keep it safe to boot.”

The lt. colonel eyed her a moment. It seemed he had picked up the order Applejack answered those questions and her attempts to cover her evasion of the first. “Well,” he finally spoke up, “I’d prefer a little more to go on than that, but seeing as you went and saved the fort I can’t really complain so I’ll let it slide for the moment. I don’t suppose you two could do that again if need be?”

The last question was unexpected by both women. They looked to each other a moment, then back. “Um, sorry, but…did you just ask if we could do that again?” Twilight asked. “As in…you’d like us to do it again?”

“If you can, I’d be mighty appreciative, and I’ve got a feeling the rest of my company would too even if they ain’t showing it at the moment. Fact is after seeing what you two did last night I can’t afford to ask too many questions or be too cautious. We need all the help we can get.”

The sound of that didn’t settle well with either woman. “What’dya mean?”

“Your farm isn’t the only place in danger of getting overrun by Nighttouched. Not anymore. You’ve gotten a good look outside, haven’t you?”

“Sure did. I can still hear that one photographer from in here…”

Burnt Oak straightened up from the desk uneasily. “That attack we went through last night wasn’t all of it. Thanks to you two, we managed to hold down the fort. We barely started trying to repair the walls this morning before we got a message courier on horseback. At least three other towns got hit last night along with another outpost. All of them are gone.”

Applejack went white. Twilight sat up and gasped. “Wait what? Did…did you just say three other towns? Plus an outpost? And all last night?”

Burnt Oak frowned as he looked back at his map. “We haven’t seen a surge like this in a dog’s age. Not since the first Lunar Fall. We were right at the head of the push, so the fact that we were able to hold them back here might have actually helped. Otherwise even more towns would have gone down. Now, most of them were evacuated already, but of those who were fool enough to stay behind, well…” He sighed. “We got what’s left of them holed up here now. There were more of those giant mites in the attacks and they got rid of any other shelter.”

Applejack remembered that all too well from the night before. “Landsakes…” she half-muttered to herself.

“Wait, not only were there more Parasprites,” Twilight interjected, “but you’re saying they intentionally destroyed any other shelters?”

Burnt Oak looked up. “Now, I never said that. Nobody’s got any clue what drives the Nighttouched. They always just seem to run out every now and then whenever a Light Eater’s ahead of them.” He frowned and crossed his arms. “Only there wasn’t a Light Eater with them this time, but they had those giant mites or whatever you called them headed out with them at the front. I’ve been blowing up these things for almost ten years. I’ve never seen them act like this before…like they knew what they were doing…”

“Wait, wait…knew?” Applejack echoed. “I’ve been fightin’ these things as long as you and hand-to-hand. They ain’t got a lick o’ sense between the lot of them. They’re just like big wild bulls. They ain’t never had any plan save trample in and attack.”

“I don’t think that’s true anymore.”

Applejack looked up to Twilight as well, and saw she was growing more uneasy.

“Lt. colonel, sir…I’ve seen parasprites once before, and they should be deeper in Equestria unless something drove them out. If it didn’t and they’re appearing on their own, not to mention if they were circling your fort for a few nights on purpose and trying to weaken the walls, then…” She swallowed uncomfortably. “Then things have changed for the worse. They know what they’re doing now. Or at least they’re getting the ability to make some sort of rudimentary plans.”

“That’s kind of what we’re afraid of…” he answered. “Appleloosa never really had much of a telegraph system even before we had to start shutting down. Following these attacks, it’s likely most of the country doesn’t even know about this yet. All morning we’ve been trying to spread the message via relays, but we can’t afford to wait. This fort is the only real protection for eighty miles in either direction.”

“We’ll lend a hand!” Applejack immediately volunteered. “Won’t we, Twilight?”

“Uh…um…” she fumbled.

“I don’t think even with your help we can keep the fort standing with all these folks in it.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a watch. Flicking it open, he looked at it a moment before collapsing it again. “We got about seven and a half hours until the sun goes down. Before that happens, I’m going to try and get a message out to the army that we need to risk lowering the blockade long enough to move one more train through. We got to move out most of these people. It’s the only way we can do it in the span of a day. Hopefully, we’ll start shipping them out before evening. Once they’re gone…” He exhaled. “We’ll see if we can still hold Fort Chestnut.”

“You’re going to stand your ground here?” Twilight spoke up again. “Even with the fort as damaged as it is?”

“Got no choice,” he grimly answered. “The army’ll reinforce us soon enough once they get the message and they find out what we’ve been finding out—namely that the Nighttouched are trying to push through here. Until then, we have to hold.” He leaned back against the table again. His eyes lowered and his voice dropped a bit. “Who knows? Organized or not, last night might have just been one of their normal surges. They may not come back at all, in which case we’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Neither Applejack nor Twilight looked comforted by that. It was true that surges usually happened only on one night and then not again for months, but Applejack remembered how Twilight had informed her that she heard the parasprites had been encircling the fort for a few days.

Before anyone else spoke again, though, the wood of the door to the room resounded with a rapid knock. All three looked up. “Come in.”

The entrance swung wide a moment later, with a tense-looking officer poking his head in. “Sir, we’ve got a problem.”

“What is it?”

“One of the civilians has gone wild. She started pushing into the crowd and attacking anyone who got in her way. I sent four men to stop her and she threw them off like rag dolls. She’s trying to push through eight of them right now to get to here.”

Applejack and Twilight alike both tensed up. They exchanged a glance with one another, then looked back to the officer.

“One of her hands doesn’t happen to be glowing, does it?”

The soldier turned to Twilight, rather puzzled she had addressed him at all, but after a moment he looked more confused. “Y’know, come to think of it, I thought I saw something on one of her hands like a hot coal, but I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me…”

Now the two really looked anxious. After swapping an even more nervous glance with one another, Applejack spun back to Burnt Oak. “Bur…I mean, lt. colonel, I know this is gonna sound freaky, but…ya’ got ta’ let me an’ Twilight handle this.”

He leveled a more probing stare at the two. “Why is that? What’s going on?”

“We really ain’t got time ta’ explain, but if ya’ don’t let us yer gonna be in big trouble,” she answered hurriedly.

He was quiet, and now gave the two a more critical look. Clearly, he realized this had a connection to what happened last night, and didn’t like that he was still in the dark about most of it. Applejack swallowed and shrugged.

“I mean, if she’s throwing off your men, then I’m the only one strong enough to hold her down anyway, ain’t I?”

“Sir,” the soldier spoke up again, “we got to do something about her soon, because we got other problems. The western watch spotted some-”

Burnt Oak didn’t let him finish. “Alright,” he stated grimly, “but after this, I’m not going to let everything slide anymore. I’ll want to know what you two know about what’s going on.”

That wasn’t what either one wanted to hear, but it was good enough for Applejack. She turned and went for the door, seizing Twilight by the wrist and pulling her along as she did. “Come on, now!”

“Wait, but…!” she yelped before following. In moments, they pushed past the soldier, through the door, and were moving through the room on the other side.

Since the soldiers that had previously been posted there were gone, Applejack started talking right away. “This is one of them crazies you were mentionin’ earlier, isn’t it? Like Braeburn was acting?”

“Y-Yeah…” she muttered as Applejack kept pulling her, “but…”

“Ok then. Just like before. I’ll hold her down and you do your mumbo-jumbo and everything’s fine.”

“Well, hopefully it’ll be that easy…”

Applejack stopped in her tracks. She wheeled to her with a critical look. “What’dya mean ‘hopefully it’ll be that easy’?”

She winced. “It’s just that…Braeburn was one of the weaker ones I’ve seen going wild…”

Her eyes widened. “Wha…‘weaker’? He almost killed me!”

“Let’s just see before we jump to any conclusions.”

Rolling her eyes and groaning, Applejack turned back around and led Twilight onward. Soon they reached the door and pushed it open. On stepping outside, they almost were pushed back as the crowd was already rapidly making an open space in the middle of the yard with the violence breaking out, and a furious scuffle was going on just ahead. Both women had to brace themselves and then push back through the widening group to look forward. Nevertheless, both forced themselves through the group until they got a clear view.

At that, Applejack jaw dropped. “Ya’ gotta be kiddin’ me…”

The photographer was currently surrounded by eight soldiers. Three of them were latched on to her but didn’t seem to be doing much good. Most of her clothing had been torn or roughed up by fighting already, which was shocking enough as she looked to be at least twice the age of the Appleloosans upon her. It was impossible to make out most of her features or where she was looking as she was wearing large glasses with tinted lenses for the sun, obscuring much of her appearance, but Applejack assumed her look was as soulless as Braeburn’s had been. And sure enough, as she seized one of the men grabbing her and flung him off by the back of his neck, the farmer made out the burning hexagon on her hand.

Twilight herself only looked a moment before also looking skyward, to the west. She reached out and pointed. “I think that’s an airship incoming. Maybe that’s what he was trying to tell the lt. colonel…”

“Forget ‘bout that, I’m more worried ‘bout what’s right here in front of us,” Applejack retorted. She reached behind her for her belt and, a moment later, pulled out her claw hammer. It had reverted along with her body the night before, but none of the soldiers were bold enough to try and take it from her. She held it in the air soon after and opened her mouth…

Only to close it and look back to Twilight. “Uh, do I gotta say that big long bit like last time?”

She rolled her eyes. “No. You can do it the same way I do it now that the binding is complete.”

“…Which is?”

She groaned. “‘Member of my house, I command you to come to me.’ Then you call on his title and name.”

She nodded, hefting the hammer again. “Member of my house, I command you to come to me!” Again, she opened her mouth, but was quiet. Her look began to grow anxious again. “Uh…”

Twilight slapped herself in the face with her own palm. “He said it last night! ‘Bastion of the Fields’!”

“Oh…oh! Right, right! Bastion of the Fields – Bright Macintosh!”

Everything immediately came over Applejack again. The same orange-hued light, the same transformation to her clothes, and the same feelings of her father being there with her. In moments, she was once again standing there in the full Appleloosan armor and hefting the warhammer. Exhaling, she lowered it and crossed it in front of herself, a bit overwhelmed at the second transformation, but then glanced about. Most of the crowd was now focused on her, including two of the soldiers trying to restrain the photographer, and they all now rapidly began to back away.

She grinned a bit sheepishly at them. “Heh…sorry ‘bout that folks. Shoulda warned ya’… Anyhoo…”

Setting her sights on the photographer, she broke into a charge right at her. It was good timing, for she was throwing off the last two soldiers just as she did so. Her head was pointed straight forward; what Applejack took to be a challenge. Nevertheless, she left her hammer in her lesser hand and readied her dominant one into a fist. As she broke into the clearing, she quickly started to build to full speed.

Yet she ground to a surprised halt soon after when the photographer began to mutter something and took a step toward her. At once, a whole “group” of photographers, each one identical to her, stepped out from her wake and quickly fanned out. Applejack blinked in astonishment, now seeing five different ones all breaking into a run at the same time.

“What…what the heck is she doing?” she called behind her.

“Oh no…she must be a Magician Role!”

“Well what in Greater Everfree does that mean?”

“It-”

Twilight’s explanation was aborted a second later as the photographers reached the two of them. Applejack was further ahead and braced herself as one barreled right at her, but the moment she struck her she simply disappeared like light on layer mist. The others quickly ran past her and into the crowd, and three of them instantly did the same on striking other random onlookers. The last, however, was quite solid and seized Twilight by the throat. With a grunt, she actually threw her to the ground and got on top of her, struggling to wrap her other hand around her neck as well while starting to choke her.

Applejack snapped out of her daze and looked back around; stunned to see she was already on Twilight. Quickly she turned and ran over to her, practically diving on the photographer on reaching her side. She seized her by the wrist before she could bring it around Twilight’s neck, then grit her teeth as she tried to pull her back. Even with her added strength, and the fact this woman didn’t seem quite as strong as Braeburn had, it was a struggle. Nevertheless, she managed to keep her other hand free, move it under her arm, and wedge it under the hand on Twilight’s throat. With some help from the lavender-haired woman’s own struggles, she managed to pry her fingers off and start yanking her arm back, causing the prone woman to gasp for air.

As soon as Twilight was free, however, the photographer spun about and began to claw for Applejack’s face. Even though the farmer was fortified by her new strength and constitution, the assailant was strong enough to actually hurt a bit as she scraped, and she explicitly scraped out for Applejack’s eyes on spinning about. That caused her to loosen her other hand, which now lashed out to try and seize Applejack’s own throat. That stroke was enough to leave the farmer fed up. Swinging her weapon arm around, she braced it against the woman along with her free hand, and in a lunge that forced her own body back to her feet she lifted her off the ground and flung her backward into the yard.

She landed roughly enough, and for a woman of her age that should have stopped her, but she almost immediately began to scramble back to her feet. Twilight was still gagging, coughing, and pulling herself backward along the ground away from them both.

Applejack risked glancing back to her. “Was that a spell just now? I thought ya’ had to learn ta’ use magic!”

Twilight rubbed for her neck as she tried to get her other hand up. “Do you want me to try and explain how it works right now or stop her first before… Oh no, don’t look at her!”

Applejack was puzzled at why she had yelled that, before a blinding flash went off from the photographer’s body. The farmer had still been facing Twilight the whole time, but nevertheless slammed her eyes shut and cried out as, in spite of that, the light radiated so powerfully that it hurt her eyes even not facing the source. Fortunately, it cleared soon enough, and as it dimmed she blinked and opened them again.

Twilight was now using her free hand to grasp her eyes, seemingly in pain. Not only her, but the rest of the people in the crowd were also crying out and clutching their faces.

“What the…? What in tarnation happened now?”

“She used a blinding spell!”

“A wha-”

Applejack was cut off yet again as she saw the photographer rush right past her from behind, dashing straight for Twilight while she was stuck on the ground. The woman couldn’t even see her coming, apparently, for she didn’t react, and neither did the rest of the crowd around her. Fortunately, Applejack snapped up to her and reacted in a flash. She reached out and seized her by the shoulder before she could fully run by.

Pain radiated through her face a second later as the photographer responded by driving her arm back and smashing her elbow into her face. Had she not been using her own spirit, Applejack realized the power would have been enough to make her lose some teeth. As it was, it made her angry enough to yank the woman back and spin her around toward her. Yet without missing a beat, the photographer snapped her other hand around and belted the farmer across the face.

While it wasn’t enough to put her to the ground, it still hurt and stoked her anger further. She quickly took a swing of her own, only to watch her fist go straight through the photographer’s head before her image broke into nothingness, much like when she split into copies. An instant later, much to Applejack’s surprise, the air right next to her seemed to do the same thing; only this time making her body appear out of thin air. An instant later, Applejack suffered a second blow from this one; strong enough to actually split her lip.

Gritting her teeth, Applejack finally used her other arm and snapped out the end of her hammer in a wide arc about her. It caught the woman and flung her back again, but this time it wasn’t enough to force her to the ground. She simply slid back several feet before planting her footing and quickly rising again.

“What’re ya’ waitin’ for?!” Applejack shouted behind her. “Do that bindin’ trick again!”

“I can’t! She blinded me! Until my eyes clear I can’t even see where she is!”

She groaned. “Great…” A moment later, she crossed her hammer in front of her. “Guess I’ll jus’ have ta’ knock the fight outta her…”

“Wait!” she instantly shot back. “Go easy on her! With how much power you have now, you could kill her if you’re not careful!”

“What the… ‘go easy on her’? You nuts?! With her comin’ at-”

For the third time, Applejack cut herself off as the photographer muttered again, before splitting into ten copies of herself. Each one of them began to rush at her. The farmer let out a curse; realizing by now that the goal was again going to be distraction and keeping her busy. Quickly she snapped forward to meet them. She drove her fist into the nearest one, but it simply vanished. She quickly snapped around and swung the back of her hand into another, only for it to disappear too. Grunting, she charged forward and leveled her shoulder into a third, but went right through it.

By now, several of them had already passed her and were still going. Realizing this, rather than try to deal with any of the others, she looked up and behind her. At least three of them were headed right for Twilight, whose eyes were open now but clearly not seeing yet as she wasn’t even trying to shield herself.

Applejack grit her teeth a moment but finally made a move. Snapping her arm back, hoping that she was aiming for the “right” one, she hurled her warhammer in a spinning arc for the legs of the nearest copy to Twilight. The timing was a bit close, but she couldn’t afford to wait any longer or the hammer would have sailed on past and into the lavender-haired woman. As it was, the spinning shaft went about several times before meeting the legs of the photographer. This time, they got jammed up in her ankles, and a moment later she stumbled down onto all fours. As soon as she did the other images of her vanished into vapor.

“That’s one way of doing it!” Applejack shouted as she quickly dashed at her. Spreading her arms open wide, she leapt into the air. Her intent was to slam herself on top of the woman and leave her pinned until Twilight could finally finish.

Yet as soon as the farmer came down, all she did was hit bare ground before getting a mouthful of dust. She was surprised only a fraction of a moment before she realized she forgot about her other trick. Sure enough, a moment after landing, the air to her side again rippled before the photographer emerged, having rolled just out of the way. She quickly lashed out with one of her heeled boots and smashed Applejack in the face. The blow was solid enough to dazzle her even in her current state, and the power was enough to send her rolling onto her own back, before the photographer quickly began to scramble to her feet. Again, she was charging after Twilight.

“Damnit, fight me ya’ crazy idiot!” she snapped, before kicking her heels up, digging them into the ground so strongly that her boots cut into the dirt and packed it down like an angular springboard, and leapt off again. The photographer nearly reached Twilight when Applejack seized her by the middle in a tackle, and both of them tumbled into the ground over each other in a violent tussle.

Even then, Applejack could feel her writhing and struggling against her grip, so as soon as they came out of one roll she gave another yell before flinging her away. Between the momentum and Applejack’s own power, the photographer was thrown aside hard enough that she went flying into the crowd, which parted in shock in her wake, before smashing against a side of one of the damaged barracks. Her impact fractured the ramshackle fixes even more, knocking several poles being used as temporary supports loose, before she again fell to the ground.

Applejack quickly tried to get to her feet, but she was still rather dizzy from the roll as well as the few blows she had taken to the head. The photographer, at least, seemed somewhat slowed. It took her a bit longer to rise this time. However, she still beat Applejack to her feet, and as soon as she was standing she snapped out and seized one of the support poles she had knocked loose. Taking it up, she swung it down over a knee and snapped it in two; making a pair of sharpened stakes. She discarded one as she started to advance again.

As the farmer finished getting to her feet, she saw the photographer’s lips already moving. Before she could react she split again. This time, to Applejack’s great displeasure, one copy of her after another poured out until twenty of them were gathered. And the second the last one came out, each one hefted their respective stake and barreled forward for both her and Twilight.

Without her hammer, getting sore with all the running around, and her temper now getting the best of her, Applejack clutched her hands into fists and stomped forward as angrily as she could. “Aw come on!”

It ended up being a better move than she thought. Not knowing her own strength, she smashed her foot down so powerfully that, with her enhanced power, she sent out a small tremor over the entire courtyard. Several of the nearest onlookers cried out as they stumbled and fell back, but far more importantly the ripple instantly evaporated all nineteen false images of the photographer…leaving only the true one stumbling and trying to regain her footing. Applejack was surprised at her own accidental move, but only for a moment. Seizing the opportunity she charged for the woman again.

While she was still coming forward, however, the photographer regained her footing. She looked again at Applejack, and this time held up her unarmed hand and chanted again. The farmer nearly stumbled in her step, wondering what that meant and trying to think of everything she had pulled so far. Yet her more “bull-headed” nature wouldn’t make her hesitate more than a moment. Rationalizing that she was trying to pull off another illusion move, she simply closed her eyes, spread her arms wide, and yelled a war cry as she barreled forward even faster and tried to catch her before she could move far.

That, as it turned out, ended up being the better move, for a moment later a blinding flash went out from the photographer’s hand—another attempt at a blinding move. Yet Applejack, in her fury to try and push herself faster, had kept her eyelids shut. While it was still blinding and glaring, it didn’t stop her from continuing to move forward until the glare died down. She opened her eyes again and, through the beams of an after-image, just noticed the photographer crossing the stake over to try and impale her.

Before she could succeed, Applejack lashed out and grasped the weapon, then forced it back with her momentum across the woman’s neck before tackling her to the dirt. As soon as she slammed down, she moved quickly. Her feet tucked up and pinned themselves on either of the woman’s arms while her own limbs slammed the shaft of the pole down on her throat. As mad and painless as she was, there was nothing the photographer could do to free herself from that. It didn’t stop her from trying, however, by wiggling like mad.

“Ugh…ya’ ready yet?!” Applejack shouted behind her.

“Right here!” Twilight shouted back. A moment later, she came running up to her side. It took her a moment to spot the woman’s head directly, but then she quickly dropped to her knees. The photographer seemed to go even wilder when Twilight got that close, enough to where Applejack had to struggle to keep her still again, but in moments she performed the gesture, drew the sigil on the air, and then slammed it into her forehead.

The photographer instantly went rigid beneath Applejack; the sigil on her hand flaring one more time before it rapidly dimmed. After it did, she finally went limp. The farmer sighed in relief as Twilight pulled back, slowly pulling herself off the woman’s neck and taking the precaution to remove the stake from her and toss it to one side. Once there, she tried to grab for her hat to wipe her brow, only to find the headband there from her new attire; causing her to frown mildly.

Nevertheless, she looked over the photographer a moment. Braeburn had taken some time to recover but, then again, they had given him quite a beating. As it was, it was only a moment before she let out a mild moan. Her head lolled slightly from side to side.

“Vat…vat…” she murmured. “Vy am I being sat upon…?”

Applejack gave a relieved sigh as she rolled back, finally stepping off of the woman’s wrists. She continued to lay there confused as she stood up from her. “Think that settles it, Twilight. Now we jus’ gotta worry ‘bout explainin’ all this…”

No response.

“Uh, Twilight?” The farmer looked up, only to realize that most of the crowd in front of her was no longer paying any attention to them. They were looking skyward. She turned around to Twilight herself, and saw that not only could she apparently see again but she was looking very nervously at the sky. Her dog had finally pushed through the crowd to join up with them only to start whining. Lastly, Applejack began to realize she was hearing the sound of rather large steam engines hovering overhead. Finally, she looked to the sky as well.

The airship they had spotted before had gotten closer. Much closer. It was now hovering no more than 200 feet above the fort. Fort Chestnut was built to deal with the threat of Nighttouched crossing into Equestria. Even if they hadn’t been so disheveled and disorganized with then onset of the civilians and the damage from last night, to say nothing of the photographer’s rampage just now, they wouldn’t have been able to do much to keep it from approaching. The guns didn’t even go high enough. What soldiers hadn’t been distracted had been powerless to do much except try and sound an alert. They might have very well done so while the two of them had been trying to stop the photographer, for all the good it did in the scuffle, but it hardly mattered now.

For a moment or so, Applejack saw nothing but its bulk rapidly passing overhead, while the crowd went silent; allowing the noises of numerous gun clicks and the gears of artillery struggling to reposition now that the airship was low enough rang out. She could see the airship not only had the colors of Trottingham on it but all of its own cannons were deployed. The beginning of an order began to be shouted…

When a bay on the bottom of the airship opened and a pair of cylindrical objects fell from it. Before Applejack could fully realize what those were, its cannons erupted.

She wasn’t exactly sure what happened in the next few seconds. Deafening booms went out over her head along with gusts of hot wind followed by fire and the sounds of the structures around her breaking. Then came screams of over a hundred people, right before a wave of light and heat burst in front of her with enough power to almost knock her back in spite of her strength. Flames towered to the sky, and the assault on her senses was too much. She covered her eyes and staggered back as the chaos around her rose to full momentum.

The sounds of the engines of the airship overhead picking up, men and women shouting, and firearms erupting among the screams brought her back to her senses. She uncovered her eyes and saw everyone scrambling for cover now save the military. They were fighting back scores of people who were practically trampling them as they fled for cover. Wooden debris was raining down around them from the remains of two of the cannons. The other two were already being rotated to return fire, but again they were too slow. The airship was accelerating and hovering away past the two destroyed guns; an opening it had just made.

Most of all, fire and ash was roaring right in front of Applejack. One of the two cylinders, obviously bombs, had landed right in front of them while the second had hit another one of the one-story buildings. That building was now in flames while the ground before them was towering in fire and smoke. It had to have been an incendiary bomb. To her horror, she saw at least seven people were partially enflamed in its wake. Another five hadn’t survived the initial eruption.

One of them had been the very photographer they had been trying to save.

The farmer was aghast as she saw several people running while enflamed, as a few of the soldiers got out enough from the crowds to return rifle fire against the ironclad ship swerving over the fort perimeter. That snapped her out of it enough to look back down and spot the nearest person with their arm on fire screaming toward her. She nearly stepped in at that.

Before she could, however, she heard another noise behind her. She spun to it, just in time to see Twilight, now fully in her robe and hat again, and having converted the very broken stake Applejack had cast aside into a staff, take aim at the flames. A moment later she chanted and drew a symbol with it in mid air, causing a hailstorm of bitter cold and ice crystals to pour out of the end. She quickly swept it over the people, dousing their flames, before moving it to the fire and crater. It took several moments, but soon it was out.

Seeing that she was no longer needed to extinguish anyone, Applejack instead spun to her. “What the blazes was that?!”

“A Trottingham airship!” she shouted back as she began to move over to the flaming building, aiming at it with her staff again.

“Well what’d they want ‘round here? This fort’s in the middle of nowhere right ‘longside Equestria!” She turned back to the remains of the first fire, and the sight made her grit her teeth angrily. The charred remains of the people who had been initially hit were still there. The photographer likely never even knew it had been coming…

“About face!” a soldier’s voice cried. “Against the East palisade!”

Applejack looked up again, seeing most of the soldiers breaking into a run for the eastern fortifications. They struggled to urge people to do the same, but most of them were panicking so much they were fleeing inside the buildings or trampling each other to get to the main gates; not realizing neither route was safe. She wondered why only a moment before looking skyward.

The steam engines of the airship were blasting full tilt, but not the propulsion ones. The reverse propellers were now rapidly causing the ship to halt and bank around, turning its broadside against the fort. Applejack winced, thinking for a moment that they were going to rip the wall apart. She quickly looked around, spotted her hammer, and kicked it up into her grip to brace herself…only realizing after doing so that neither that, nor her own power, would likely protect her from something as strong as cannon fire.

However, Twilight quickly stepped to her side, drove her staff into the ground, and traced out a new sigil. An instant later, the broadside cannons erupted just as a small tempest formed in the area in front of the two of them, rapidly splitting into two miniature cyclones. The cannon shells sailed toward them, but the fury of the wind was enough to disrupt their path enough to spread apart any that sailed straight at them. Nevertheless, a second later Applejack quickly moved behind Twilight and spread her body over hers.

A good move, for even though the shells missed a direct hit, they still exploded upon landing around them. Fire and shrapnel was sent up in their way. The farmer grit her teeth in pain as she felt several pieces strike her, but she had bet that with her improved body her constitution was enough where even they would have a hard time piercing her skin. Fortunately for her, the assessment was right. Whereas any one of those pieces should have been a bullet to her body, instead they only opened a half dozen light gashes across her unprotected parts.

Applejack, still wincing a little, pulled off of Twilight soon after. She looked back up to the airship, which was already gunning its engines again and ignoring the attempts of the bullets to strike it. The surviving cannons, meanwhile, were finally nearly about to have their target, but it didn’t wait. As it moved forward, it simply slid back out of range again. Its broadsides remained aimed below.

“Cowardly sons of bitches!” Applejack yelled as Twilight used the lull to move over to the house and try to extinguish it. Looking around for a moment, she saw a fairly good-sized hunk of stone rubble from one of the blasts. Quickly, she snapped her hammer out and knocked it skyward toward the airship. It was a rather pathetic gesture. Even with her power, her trajectory was far off, and the stone had lost more than enough power to fall to the ground before making impact. The airship sailed up along the southern side of the wall, prompting another call to the soldiers to move as the cannons struggled to reposition. Soon, however, it started to slow again.

“Twilight!” Applejack shouted.

Only half of the flames were out but there was no time. She stopped and ran back into the previous position alongside Applejack. This time, the farmer winced on seeing several people were nearby and had only a few wooden walls or wagons for protection before she quickly shielded Twilight. An instant later, the cannons thundered again.

This time, one managed to hit the dirt right at the base of the tempest before going off. Both Twilight and Applejack alike cried out in alarm as the explosion burst. This time, the power was too much for her to withstand and both were swept off their feet. For a moment she thought that was the end, that she’d be torn apart by fire and debris…

Yet she landed a moment later on her rear end, and Twilight let out an oof of her own as she landed practically in her lap. Both were a bit sore and slammed around from it, but their respective spirits seemed to have protected them. A quick glance at the fires around them from fresh blasts indicated others weren’t so lucky.

Gritting her teeth, Twilight got back to her feet as quick as she could and drew an electric symbol. A cloud quickly massed in the sky before a bolt snaked out and struck the airship, but it didn’t even react on impact as it gunned its engines again. The last volley had destroyed another fort cannon. Now only one was left vainly trying to target it.

Twilight groaned at her failure. “Should have known… It’s an airship. It has anti-lightning measures. Anything else I got is too slow to hit it when it’s moving this fast from this distance.”

“Gutless polecats…” Applejack snorted as she got to her feet. “Can’t hit ‘em from down here! Why the hell they shootin’ up common folks anyway?”

“They aren’t.”

Applejack turned to Twilight briefly when she said that, but before she could argue the point, she noticed the area around them. They were surrounded with flames and dust from the two broadside volleys, but now that she looked at them she realized they were almost all clustered around them. A few buildings about them had gotten damaged, but aside from the shots aimed at the cannons most of the fort about them had gone untouched. The broken walls were almost still entirely intact.

A moment passed, but then it clicked. “They’re tryin’ ta’ hit…us?”

Twilight began to tense up. “I think so.”

“That don’t make no sense! Why would they want us?”

Twilight looked back at Applejack, straight in the eye. She, in turn, looked at the both of them, then back to the square. Especially at the remains of the photographer. Her eyes widened at the realization.

“How do they-”

“I don’t know, but somehow they do!”

Applejack looked back into the sky. The airship was already repositioning itself to ready another broadside volley. Once it fired this one and destroyed the final cannon, nothing would stop it from dropping more bombs to turn the entire fort into ash and everyone in it. Including her family members.

If Twilight’s assumption was true, there was only one thing they could do now to help them.

After a moment of hesitation, Applejack finally shifted the hammer to one hand, spun around, and grabbed Twilight by the wrist. She yelped a bit as she found herself being dragged along with her straight for the nearest wall. “Whoa...! What…? What are you-”

“You say they’re targetin’ us, right? Then we’re gettin’ outta here!”

“What?! There’s nothing but fields all around us! We’ll be sitting ducks!”

“There’s gonna be nothin’ but a field in here and a lotta corpses pretty soon if we don’t split now!”

Twilight didn’t protest any more, but Applejack hardly gave her a chance. She heard Spike start barking as he ran up behind the two of them, but she kept going until she reached the wall. Remembering how strong she was last night, she targeted a part that was already mostly damaged, hoisted her hammer, and drove it against it as she came. The blow connected and smashed out two of the logs. She dashed through it, not letting Twilight go until they were both out. A moment later, Spike scampered through after them.

Sure enough, the airship abandoned its attempts to fire another volley. Instead, it quickly stowed its guns on that side and picked up speed again, swinging its way wide and away from the fort to avoid the path of the final cannon. The result bought them a few moments, and Applejack used that to get away as fast as she could.

Twilight was less than enthused as she reluctantly ran after. “Well now what are we going to do?”

“Er…still thinkin’ up that part…” Applejack admitted.

She groaned, but kept running a bit farther before stopping and spinning around; prompting Applejack to do the same. They hadn’t gotten that far from the fort, but they could look back and see that the airship had gained enough distance from the final cannon to come about and angle straight at them. It started to pick up speed afterward, meaning to fly right over them and, no doubt, use its bombs again.

As soon as it became that straightforward of a target again, however, Twilight drew another symbol on the air. It was a fiery one this time. However, unlike before, she didn’t stop with the first symbol. Rather as soon as it was made, she swept her staff over it, seeming to “wipe” it from the sky and collect the traces of the sigil into the end of her staff. As the airship continued to get closer, she quickly began to draw another symbol slightly different from the first; all while her staff now gleamed with the same fiery light.

Applejack tensed on seeing the bottom panels on the ship open again, when Twilight finished the second symbol and drove her staff into it. The power of the first one emerged and combined with the new, and the farmer was nearly blown off her feet yet again as a blast of searing heat erupted from the stave. She gaped on seeing a small ring of fire ripple out from the front of Twilight before a ball of flame the size of her body shot away toward the closing airship. The way it was coming, it couldn’t pull aside in time. The blast struck the bow an instant later.

Applejack actually heard the sound of the fireball explode before bathed the entire front of the airship in fire. At once, the ship pulled to one side and gained altitude. Twilight’s hat was nearly taken off and Applejack shielded herself as the force from the propellers blasted over the both of them, but it kept sailing right by, picking up more speed as it went higher. When the wind died, the farmer turned and looked, but saw it continuing to ascend as flames and smoke continued to emit from the front of it.

“Whoo-hoo!” she hollered. “Ya’ got it!”

Twilight sighed as she lowered her staff at last. “Hardly… That was mostly smoke and mirrors. All I did was spread a fire over the front of their ship. They’ll think they’re in worse shape than they are after that, but once they realize they aren’t that hurt and snuff those flames they’ll be back around.” She turned to her anxiously. “Any ideas?”

Applejack hesitated. She glanced around the field a moment. Plenty of craters and scorched earth from yesterday, but nothing they could hide in from an aerial assault. The fort was still the safest spot and that wasn’t on the table. However, after looking a second longer, she spotted one other possibility.

She pointed to the trees. “In there!”

Twilight’s eyes seemed to nearly fall out of her head. “Are you crazy? That’s the way to Equestria!”

“But it ain’t right on the border! Some of it’s still in the light! So long as we stay in there an’…an’ not accidentally walk on a Nighttouched in a shadow somewhere…we’ll be fine!”

“That’s the direction last night’s attack came from!”

The farmer was caught at that. “Well…I know the two of us can handle at least a bunch of Nighttouched, which is more than we can do ‘gainst that airship.”

Twilight hesitated, realizing the logic in that. She turned and looked back to the sky. The airship was slowing but hadn’t turned around yet. The fires, however, were rapidly going out. She looked back to the forest and winced yet again, but finally rolled her eyes and groaned.

“Fine! If that’s all we can do!”

“Let’s hurry ‘fore they recover!”

Applejack quickly took off for the woods. Twilight groaned a second time before calling out. “Come on, Spike!” Soon, both she and the dog were running in the same direction.

By the time the airship was ready to turn about, its two targets were only fifty yards from the tree line. It gunned its engines and aimed it fore guns, but by the time it drew a bead they were already vanishing into the woods. The airship continued to pursue them regardless, chasing their path all the way to the tree line before slowing. Once there, however, it fired the retros again and slowed rapidly. It was practically in a hover after a few moments, staying at the edge and looking into the woods.

After about twenty seconds, it rotated to its unused broadside and fired a volley across the tree line for a good five hundred feet in either direction. Trunks were snapped, branches and leaves went flying, and fire filled a considerable distance into the woods. However, as the echoes of the blasts slowly died out again, there was nothing but silence and stillness. No sign of life or movement from wildlife or anything else.

The airship hovered a moment longer before, with a series of clicks, its guns retracted. Moments later, it began to turn and ascend in the air to proceed to its original destination.

Nightwatch: Something in Common

Rainbow Dash woke up to realize rather quickly that her situation hadn’t changed much from how she had left it.

She could still feel herself jostling and shaking from the rhythm of the stagecoach she was in, and the pace had quickened once again; no doubt due to the fact that, as a glance at the door’s window showed, the sun was on its way down. It was that quicker pace that had actually awakened her—for it drove her side into more pain that she struggled to bite back.

Moreover, Rarity was the same as how she left her. Seated across from her and crying into a handkerchief.

Dash winced at the sight, not only at waking up to it but the fact that Rarity’s own weeping and sobbing didn’t seem like that of anyone she had ever known but more like the kind one would see in a stage play or performance.

She mildly groaned as she sat up. “So, how far from the stop?”

Rarity didn’t answer, save to let out another cry into her handkerchief.

Giving her a bit of a deadpan look, she next rapped her knuckle on the back of the stagecoach wall. “Yo!” she called, wincing as raising her voice made her side hurt more. “We almost there or what?”

A loud scoff came from the driver’s seat. “You young people… The moment that second airship landed I should have left you both behind but I stuck around long enough for you both to get in, and since then the only things you’ve said to me are ‘drive now’ and ‘we almost there or what’. How about a ‘thank you’?”

“Ugh…we’re paying you, aren’t we?”

Another scoff. “Bartering again… And what am I supposed to do with this…this thing anyway?”

“Sell it to your government. They’ll pay top dollar, believe me…” Dash shrugged before leaning back against the seat and looking at Rarity. “We’ll have to hang out at the stage stop tonight. They don’t like it and it’s not the best in the world, but it beats the ground or being out in the dark. We’ll be at the Macintosh Hills tomorrow.”

Rarity didn’t respond. She continued to sniffle, even throwing in a bit of a hiccup.

Dash winced. “Are you still crying about that?”

This got Rarity to pause. A moment later, her handkerchief lowered so she could glare at Dash through red, puffy eyes.

“If by ‘that’ you mean the fact I saw my old elementary school teacher and friend get decapitated right in front of me, then yes I am!”

“Well, can’t you dry it up at least? It’s going to be hard to lay low or finish this trip if you’re going to be sobbing like this every step of the way.”

Rarity stared at Dash in open-mouthed surprise a moment, before her jaw clenched and she slapped her handkerchief down on the seat next to her. “How…how dare you! If that’s not the most callous, rude, and insensitive thing I’ve ever heard in my life! I would have died in that town if not for her! And you would have too, for that matter!”

“Well, moping about it isn’t going to help you or me now, is it?” Dash retorted; her own volume rising. “And it’s definitely not going to do her any good!”

Rarity sputtered before growing more incensed. “Alright, I take it back…that was the most callous, rude, and insensitive thing I’ve ever heard in my life!”

“Oh, give me a break!” Dash lashed back. “Until we arrived in that town, you didn’t even know she was living there! You hadn’t seen her in…what? How many years? You could have been back in Manehattan when it happened and you’d never have known one way or the other! Or cared for that matter!”

Rarity let out a mild gasp, leaning back in her seat like she had been struck.

“So your old teacher got killed. I hate to break it to you like this, but you know what? Big deal! Maybe it means something if you’re safe and making piles of money in Manehattan to have some grade school teacher of yours bite the big one, but out here if most people got as worked up as you over something like that they'd never be able to live! There’s a lot worse things you could lose! And a lot of us have! Why don’t you try showing some of us some respect by not rubbing it in our faces with your waterworks?”

Rarity had been caught at first when Dash lashed back with her accusation, but as she went on, her look began to grow furious all over again. Nevertheless, she held until the Huntsman had finished saying her piece, and by then she was quivering. In spite of this, she somehow restrained herself as she spoke in a forced, measured tone.

“Yes, well…I’m terribly sorry that I am apparently not in the category of a ‘lot of us’, as you so put it, and therefore have somehow not ‘earned’ the right to be sad when someone I knew passes on. Please forgive me for such an affront. But I suppose,”

Her tone grew sharper.

“That after I lost both of my parents on the same day and had to fish our family’s company out of bankruptcy, after a few years later I got the news that my little sister had also been killed and I couldn’t even attend a funeral or leave work for one day on learning I was the only member of our family still left in the world, and after I arrived in Flaxonville only to find the one client who almost single-handedly saved my business had died without me even knowing about it, and not from Nighttouched or Light Eaters but from regular people invading Cloudsdale,”

Tears were now flowing from her eyes again as her teeth gnashed.

“That seeing yet another person who had been important to me die right in front of my eyes tends to get me a little emotional!”

Rarity didn’t break into sobs again, but she did slump back in her seat, look at her lap, and continue to let her tears flow. Dash, however, had changed. She had looked a little cowed at Rarity’s long tirade, but one part seemed to have struck her more than the rest.

“Your friend…died when Cloudsdale fell?”

Rarity sniffled and, in a rather unladylike manner, wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

Dash’s head lowered. Her own look became regretful. “I’m…sorry about that.” Her voice was so quiet it was almost a mutter. “I should have…should have done something…”

Rarity scoffed as she leaned back, still not looking at Dash. “Oh, now you’re just being petulant. What could you have done about that?”

“More than I ended up doing. I was there when it happened.”

The designer’s anger broke and she looked up at Dash again. The rainbow-haired woman was still sitting there with head hung. She met Rarity’s gaze, but her look was no longer bold or daring. She hadn't looked so pathetic and small since they met.

“You’re looking at the last Wonderbolt. The last of Cloudsdale’s best defenders.”

Rarity straightened in her seat. “You?”

Her eyes fell to the floor. “Sole survivor. Lucky me, huh?” Nothing but shame hung on those words. “Everyone I ever really cared about…everyone I ever called my friends…they all died that day. I couldn’t help them. I couldn’t save any of them.” She frowned. “I couldn’t even die alongside them. All I could do was survive…”

Her hands clenched.

“Captain Spitfire…she could have made it, but she wanted to save me. Me, of all people. She was ten times the person I was, but she’s dead and I’m here. Here with this…”

She held up the hand with the hexagonal symbol on it.

“This thing that showed up that same day, reminding me each and every time I’m about to bite the big one I have to call her to save me again.”

Rarity’s face had eased; most of her earlier anger forgotten. She looked at Dash far more gently. She finally exhaled and leaned forward. “I suppose neither of us have the right to belittle the other… We’ve both lost those we care about, the same as everyone else in Greater Everfree I suppose…” After a moment, she reached out and put her hand on the Huntsman's knee. “It’s not your fault what happened there, Rainbow. You can’t blame yourself for surviving.”

“I dunno… I think I’ve managed that pretty well so far.” She took in a deep breath and looked up again. “But…just because I don’t like getting hung up on people I’m not getting back doesn’t mean I should have given you a hard time for doing it. I know your teacher saved you and that she saved me too back there. And I really do appreciate it. I’m sorry if it sounds like I don’t. It’s just…”

She winced, nearly looking down again.

“Just I don’t like thinking of someone else dying I couldn’t save…”

Rarity was quiet for a time. Finally, with a bit of effort, she smiled again. “Well, I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to think that way. And…well, if that was an apology just now, I accept it.”

Dash stayed looking morose much longer before she made a weak smile of her own. “Thanks.”

After a moment, Rarity exhaled and leaned back. She dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief again, but had stopped crying. She looked to her own hand instead. It had changed again since initially appearing. While it was at a different point than the one on Dash’s hand, a larger spot-like symbol had appeared on one of the edges.

She sighed as she held it up. “I suppose this is something else we have in common now…and that we shared with Ms. Cheerilee. The question is what in the world is it?”

“Beats me,” Dash shrugged as she leaned up. “I’ll tell you one thing though…those Trottinghamites didn’t like ‘em.”

“No, they certainly didn’t…but that reminds me. You wanted us to leave in a hurry as soon as that airship landed. Did you happen to…?”

She frowned back. “If you’re saying if I knew they were going to try and kill us for having these things on our hand, nope. I keep mine a secret ‘cause I don’t like people asking questions about it and I like keeping that ace in the hole. But…” She leaned back, crossing her arms. “There’s a lot of rumors kicking around in the Huntsman guild about Trottinghamites who do whatever they want whenever they want, and it’s never pretty. Most of them are over on the border with the Dragonlands, but there’s this one story about this one ‘noblewoman’…”

“Who?”

“Dunno. Never paid much attention. They just say she’s got a mess of hair like a fire and this real nasty attitude. A big bully, more or less. Goes around doing what she feels like, and sometimes it involves a lot of fire and people getting hurt. Even killed.”

“Well, that incident certainly fit the bill…” Rarity winced. “That sort of behavior would cause an international conflict though, wouldn’t it?”

Dash waved her hand. “Trottingham thinks it’s such a big shot now that it can actually fly over Equestria without getting torn up by flying Nighttouched that it can do whatever it wants. That being said, this is kind of extreme even for them. I mean, all the other times were just rumors, but there’s no way this didn’t happen. I think it’s probably best that you do what I do from now on.”

“What’s that?”

“Keep it a secret. Don’t offer out any more reasons to stick out.”

Rarity sighed and slumped in her seat. “I suppose you’re right. After this business trip is over, I’ll never want to set foot outside of Manehattan again.”

“Y’know,” Dash spoke up more casually, “I’m not about to raise too much of a stink about it so long as it’s footing my own bill, but you must sure love money a ton if you’re risking all this to get that piece of paper signed. I thought you’d have turned tail by now.”

Rarity frowned a little as she looked back up. “I’ll have you know that this isn’t about lining my pocket. If I can’t get that contract signed, then my company misses out on making those new uniforms.”

She shrugged. “Big deal. You really think that’s worth your life?”

Rarity looked indignant. “Aside from the fact that the fashion industry is my passion, my art form, and my life, this has nothing to do with my own petty pleasures. I…” She suddenly caught herself, looking a bit nervous. “That is…well…I…”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Rarity looked to one side. “You see…um…er…”

Dash frowned. “Come on. Spit it out.”

Finally, she groaned. “Alright…the truth of the matter is I’m not a native of Manehattan city proper. I grew up in a much smaller rural community. My family always operated out of Manehattan for greater clientele as well as those who would appreciate our business.”

“I can get that. More people with more money, right?”

Rarity frowned again. “The point being is after the Lunar Fall business dried up in my hometown quickly. Almost every small business was bought out and most of the younger residents went to the cities looking for work. One local establishment after another was shutting down. I had the idea to put most of the city’s displaced workers to work for Carousel Couture and relocate many of the operations there. That way I could help keep the town on its feet.”

Dash raised her head, now seeming honestly interested. “Really?” A pause. “How is it working out?”

“That’s just it… It might not work out at all. Not if this deal doesn’t go through. And if it doesn’t, not only do I lose my business but my hometown loses out as well.” She grimaced, wiping at her brow a little for the mere thought started to make her sweat again. “And if that happens, everyone who was living there loses out along with it.”

The Huntsman was silent, staring at Rarity as she continued to slump in her own seat. After a time, she finally leaned back and tried to relax as well.

“Let’s just worry about getting there for now. We’ll cross the next bridge when we get there. ‘Til then, though…” She tapped her symbol. “Let’s keep these a secret.”

Rarity sighed. “I knew I should have packed my traveling gloves…or at least a strong foundation…”

The old man was still looking taken aback, and even sweating a little, when he finally managed to sit down. “I must say, Ms. Rarity, when I thought of the day in which we would finally have a chance to meet face-to-face, this…isn’t quite what I expected.”

Rarity forced herself to give a minor chuckle, hoping it hid her embarrassment. “Yes, well, the feeling is certainly mutual, but these aren’t quite the times I expected either.”

Following one of the more back-jarring nights Rarity had ever been forced to endure, sleeping in total darkness on a hard wooden bench at a stagecoach waystation, she and Dash were up bright and early the next day and walking the last part of the trip to the Macintosh Hills. Rarity was the faster of the two that day, and while she wished it was merely due to her improved footwear she knew part of it was the fact Dash was still sweating and holding her side the whole way. It became clear to both of them that Ms. Cheerilee’s strange move had only partially healed her and she definitely needed rest. She wouldn’t admit it, however, and even after noon she kept herself going.

They arrived at the community soon after and got a wagon ride out to the Fabrichique plantation. She was impressed at the sight of it. Very new, very modern, and just as shiny and upscale as a Manehattan establishment only smaller and in a far more rural area. They definitely took their craft seriously, however. On arrival at the front gates, Dash went off to what Rarity hoped was some rest as she herself tried to ignore the fact she hadn’t had any food for close to 24 hours and stumbled up to the front gate.

Even now, in the cushioned chair she had drawn (and was immensely grateful for along with her legs), she was repressing the urge to stuff her face with a few tea cakes that had been placed between her and Colonel Cotton Gin, the owner of the plantation. Goodness knew it had been hard enough to even get her foot in the door. She nearly got chased off of the property when she introduced herself as Rarity of Carousel Couture, and it took a great deal of convincing to three separate individuals before they finally would let her in.

“I honestly didn’t know whether we’d ever get a response to our solicitation, let alone one that would bring you in person all the way out here at a time like this,” Cotton continued. “Haven’t you heard the news?”

“I, heh, tend to normally keep up on periodicals, but I’m afraid I haven’t had the luxury over the past four days…”

He gestured to the window out in one direction. “The latest surge of Nighttouched is happening on the border that way. They think it’s going to cut off the northernmost railroad route. Maybe as early as this evening. A third of the military is an uproar. Several settlements have already been wiped out overnight.”

In spite of her own concerns, Rarity couldn’t help but go wide-eyed. “Oh my… Are they serious?”

“That isn’t the half of it. Trottingham has been making moves of their own. Just yesterday they hit Flaxonville. I don’t suppose you heard of that one on your way here?”

Rarity suppressed a swallow. “I might have heard a whisper or two…”

“Well, something new came out of that one,” Cotton frowned as he helped himself to his own teacup. “Now the government is telling folks to be on the lookout for anyone who has these weird six-sided symbols on their hands.”

It was a good thing Rarity hadn’t managed to grasp her own teacup when Cotton had said that, or she might have shattered it. Instead, she nearly went rigid as a rail before she caught herself, quickly turning her palm over. In the end, the best she had been able to do to hide her own mark was pretend that her hand was bandaged from an injury, but she didn’t dare even give an inkling of it now. “Wh-why…what a strange thing to suggest! Er, that is, a strange thing for which to be on the lookout. I don’t suppose they mentioned why, did they?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. Something to do with terrorism, supposedly. They say to report to the local authorities as soon as one gets spotted, though.”

Rarity paused only a moment before quickly seizing her teacup and downing a drink to swallow the lump in her throat. “Oh my,” she fanned herself a little, “I’m afraid I’m not used to these Appleloosan summers at all. It’s terribly warm. Anyway, I’ll be very careful. Now then,” Putting the teacup down with a touch of a jingle, she reached for her handbag next. “We’re on the verge of a deal with the Manehattan government that’s worth a considerable sum. If I can just get your signature confirming your willingness to sell to us at your proffered price, we’ll both stand to do very well with our respective businesses.”

“Oh, I’m very much hoping for that,” Cotton smiled as he straightened in his own chair, reaching for his pen. “I was hoping that an up-and-coming designer like you and your company would be willing to help us break into the Manehattan market. And with the way things are going, I hoped to get a signature soon before the next crisis had a chance to break out.”

“Oh yes,” Rarity nervously chuckled, “I can imagine that feeling…” Soon after, she produced the document and placed it on his desk. “Please peruse that to make sure that the arrangement is to your liking. I don’t want to sound like I’m pressuring you by any means but I’m somewhat in earnest to close this deal today…”

He accepted the contract and fixed a pair of spectacles on his nose, beginning to look it over. “I’m sure it will be. I must thank you again for this opportunity, Ms. Rarity. This means a great deal to our emerging industry. Right now, everyone in the industrial portion of Appleloosa craves some stability. Some means of a consistent income. Manehattan’s location offers the best chance at that. And with an upcoming contract like this…”

He trailed off as he continued to look over the document. Rarity’s anxiety, which had just been starting to fade, resurfaced. “Is…is there something wrong?”

“Oh, no, no…” he half-mused, even as he continued to look over the rest of the document. “It all seems fairly well and good…” He trailed off, swishing his lips. “Except for this one detail right here. I’d like to make a proviso, if I might, before I sign.”

She struggled to keep up her business appearance. “What sort of…proviso?”

“I would like this to be amended that this contract is not binding if the deal with the Manehattan government collapses.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, the truth of the matter is that we received a rather generous offer from another Manehattan company just this morning. One that didn’t quite meet our original quoted offer, but offered us insurance in the case of a national collapse and offered to absorb a portion of the costs of missed shipments. As we’re shipping halfway across Greater Everfree, you can understand why this is so valuable. In fact, most of our local competitors already signed on.”

Rarity’s jaw slowly began to slacken. “Pardon me, but…did you say ‘most of our local competitors’? As in this same company has contracted with multiple suppliers…?”

“However,” Cotton went on, patting the contract, “I may be getting started late in life on my own business, but I like to think I know a thing or two about the market. And I think being guaranteed as an exclusive supplier for a contracted major client is a bonus worth the momentarily lax social security. So that’s why I opted to hold out for a better deal and, lo and behold, here you are.”

Rarity sat there stiff as a board, almost twitching in place.

“…Is something the matter?”

Shaking her head, she snapped out of it. “Oh…oh, of course not, sir. And yes, don’t worry. We’re guaranteed for that contract so long as you place your signature on that slip of paper.”

“Well then, we’re all set,” he smiled back, leaning over and beginning to write in the edit. “I look forward to our business future together, Ms. Rarity.”

She forced a smile. “And I…am quite hopeful about it myself, colonel.”

In spite of how many tea cakes she had, Rarity was still wobbling on her feet as she half-stumbled down the road about an hour later. Her eyes stared at the dirt path in front of her wide-lidded; her mind ablaze with all new thoughts and concerns in addition to the ones she had from the disastrous trip there. She barely even noticed where she was walking, let alone how the day was getting late by then.

It wasn’t until she slowly made her way closer toward her scheduled meeting point with Rainbow Dash that she noticed the area around her had changed. She heard the sounds of horses coming down the road and, on looking up, noticed several members of the Appleloosan cavalry running into town. She was a bit nervous at first, putting her bandaged hand to her side and moving out of the way, but soon more followed afterward at the next road. Two different teams came down the road after that; making her increasingly suspicious. She found herself looking skyward and listening for sounds of any airships as she continued.

However, the local clock tower was just chiming seven when she caught a glimpse of Dash with a paper parcel in her hand turning a corner, spotting her, and then moving up to her as quick as she could. She was still trying hard not to wince or grasp for her injured side.

“There you are!" she called on reaching her and moving to her side. "Get your paper signed? Come on…let’s walk and talk.”

Rarity felt a bit stunned to be pushed along, but didn’t question it; especially in light of the current situation. She patted her handbag. “It’s right here.” She sighed soon afterward. “For what it’s worth…”

Dash looked confused. “Huh? What do you mean? I thought that was the whole goal of this trip?”

“I just found out that someone is trying to corner the market on textiles,” she frowned. “And considering how Cotton Gin was eager to get a start in Manehattan, and that I had my own deal pulled out right from under me with Tartan Top, I can bet it’s Suri Polomare. With all this recent business it seems she’s looking to corner the market.”

This puzzled Dash even more. “I’m, uh, not really up on how these things work… Like…she’s going to get the market into an alley and threaten to beat it up or…?”

Rarity sighed. “She’s trying to move up on the Manehattan market. It’s still the biggest garment purchaser in Greater Everfree, and she must be using the latest surge of Nighttouched.”

“How does a bunch of Nighttouched attacking mean her, um, ‘moving up’ in the market?”

“…You really don’t understand macroeconomics, do you?”

Dash only gave her a blank stare back.

She grimaced. “Manehattan may be the bigger garment purchaser in Greater Everfree, meaning they’ve got the largest market share, but many of their textiles come from abroad. With this latest Nighttouched surge affecting the northern part of the country, it’s going to either increase material costs by forcing countries like Appleloosa to go around on a longer train route or get cut off entirely. Are you with me so far?”

“I think…”

“So she’s sequestering all of the smaller suppliers. The ones who need to break into the market and are trying to be alternatives when this happens. By tying them up with contracts of her own, she’s keeping all of her competitors, like Carousel Couture, from being able to make any headway. Normally this would be risky for her as she couldn’t afford to keep all these suppliers, but when the normally-expected deliveries get cut off by the Nighttouched, all of the major suppliers will take a major hit. She’ll be the only one in a position to pick up the slack and won’t leave anything behind for the smaller companies. It’s an aggressive power play, but it could certainly pay off.”

Dash had to take a moment or two to fully absorb this before she looked a little stunned. “And I thought Dragon Folk were cutthroat…”

“And that only adds a higher stake to everything,” Rarity moaned. “I already knew my company would be in trouble if I didn’t get this deal made, but now there’s not even a hope of coming back if I can’t get back in time. Gin forced me to add a provision to the contract that it’s null and void if my main contract with the Manehattan Armed Forces doesn’t go through.”

“Well, what’s the big deal?”

“The ‘big deal’ is I still have no way of getting a wire back to Manehattan, and it’s taken me so long just to get to this point that I only have three days to get back and close the deal or everything will have been for nothing.” She slumped hopelessly. “There’s no way we can be in Manehattan in time. I feel like I’m going to collapse tomorrow even trying to make it back as it is…”

The Huntsman let her sag a moment before looking skyward. “Well, I think I might have that taken care of.”

Rarity looked up somewhat lazily, clearly not in the most believing of moods. “Unless that little paper parcel contains an airship, I’m not sure I trust you.”

“Not exactly…but I do have some good news, some more good news, and…er…just a touch of bad news.”

She exhaled. “Alright, what’s the good news?”

She began to open the paper parcel up. “I managed to get us a bit of food for free. Hope you like ham and cheese.”

She revealed some slabs of both inside. It definitely wasn’t anything out of a five-star dining establishment, but merely looking at it made Rarity’s eyes gleam. “Oh…oh thank you ever so much, darling…” she sighed nearly breathlessly. “I wish I could have saved some of the tea cakes for you but I was afraid I’d look rather uncouth if I shoved the whole tray into my handbag…” She nearly reached for it, but then paused and looked up. “Um, on that note, since I had a little something, you should eat first.”

“Nah, don’t sweat it. Already had my share. I was saving that for you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

She smiled back. “Ms. Dash, you can be a real gem.” She reached up and took the slabs, held them together, and then took a bite. Her eager look almost immediately diminished, and she struggled to keep from losing her grateful smile as she slowly chewed up and swallowed. After she was done, she moistened her lips once, put a hand to her throat, and then smiled again. “Aheh…quite an interesting local flavor. It would seem just a tad…gamey.”

“Huh? Not a chance,” Dash waved off. “It got thrown out no more than two days ago.”

Rarity’s pupils shrank into pinpricks. Her grip on the ham and cheese began to loosen. “T…two days…?”

“Well you don’t think there was someone out here just giving away fresh food for free, do you? Relax. I’ve eaten stuff two weeks old before with maggots and mold to brush off.”

For a moment, Rarity’s cheeks bulged before she lowered her hands. “Heh, as I said…I already filled up on tea cakes, so I’ll save this for a bit later.” She barely managed to say as she started to sweat all over again. “Now then…as to your second bit of good news?”

“Oh yeah. I checked in with the local Huntsman Guild. Found someone I knew there with some hot tips and, well…” She grinned a bit. “I just might have found a way for you to make it back to Manehattan in time for your contract.”

Rarity, forgetting about the rotting food, lit up in delighted surprise. “Really?!”

She leaned in closer, looking about a bit to make sure no one was out who could possibly overhear, before whispering in her ear. “I got the latest news. That big Nighttouched attack? It was so big that almost all the survivors fled to the one fort out there that’s still standing. They’re having a hard time getting messages to and fro, and this is apparently a big secret they’re trying not to let anyone in on, but they’re going to try and run one last train out there to pick them up and take them to the other side while the lines are still open. It’s an emergency so they’re running it tonight at sundown. We get that far; you can hop a train back to Manehattan no problem.”

Rarity nearly gasped in delight. “That’s…that’s marvelous news! Oh, Ms. Dash, you really are a lifesaver! I’ll be giving you a bonus for all of this, rest assured! You’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty! Let’s not waste another moment! Let’s get there at once!”

Dash leaned back at that, her smile fading into an anxious look. “Uh, yeah…about that… Remember that bad news part?”

“What do you mean you won’t let us on the tra-aaaaaaaaain?!”

At her wit’s end, Rarity couldn’t help but degenerate into an almost childish whine as she stamped her feet in front of the almost statuesque Appleloosan guard. For all the good it did. Neither he nor his partner gave an inch as they stood posted in front of the narrow entryway leading to the platform. Just beyond it, the train bound for West Appleloosa sat there, already steaming and being loaded. The tool to her salvation just out of their reach.

“Ma’am,” the soldier on the left calmly addressed, “I’m going to have to ask you to calm down and step away from the platform.”

Rarity, looking almost frantic, nearly gave another desperate response before she remembered herself. She took a few deep breaths to compose herself in the most lady-like manner she could afford before speaking again. “Good sir, I understand that you have a responsibility and I am very impressed at how well you are at keeping it, but this is a matter of grave importance. Is there any way I could negotiate with a higher authority to possibly secure a place on this train?”

His jaw twisted into a hint of a frown. “Ma’am, this train is bound to lift hundreds of Appleloosan refugees who got driven out of their house and home last night by Nighttouched to safety before the next surge strikes. So unless you have something more important than that, I suggest you stop wasting my time.”

“But this is important!” she cried, before quickly composing herself again. “I mean…this is important as well. The livelihood of every employee for my business depends on this as well as the survival of my hometown. If I don’t get back to Manehattan they’ll all be out of work. I’ll sit on top of crates or even in the luggage racks if I absolutely must, but I’m desperate.” She paused a moment, before smiling innocently and batting her eyes. “Couldn’t a kind-hearted, devoted man of the military like yourself see it to help a stranded woman in an hour of need?”

His frown only widened into a scowl. “I’m not about to give an inch of ground on this train, or any train, just to help some Manehattanite line their pockets with a few more bucks. Stranded or not.”

“And if he did,” his partner suddenly spoke up, scowling at Rarity as well after her latest attempt, “I’d have him reprimanded for violating a direct order because some pretty lady asked him to and I’d have you thrown into the stockade. Get lost now. I’ve pulled my rifle on people for less than this.”

Rarity’s innocent look turned into a defeated frown before she turned away. Soon after she started to walk back to Dash; waiting just a short distance away. “Another thing I dislike about Appleloosa…the servicemen and women here are far too chaste…”

The Huntsman could only hopelessly frown back. “If it makes you feel any better, you made out better than I did.”

Before she could say a word in response, she heard one of the soldiers behind her. “Hey there.”

Stopping in her tracks, she turned and looked back. One of them was eyeing her with a hint of suspicion. “How’d you get that injury?”

For a split second, Rarity was confused as to what that meant before she realized she was talking about her hand dressing. As best as she could to not miss a beat, she smiled innocently again. “Oh…that. A bit of a mishap with one of those new sewing machines is all.”

The soldier was silent for a full second. “If you head over to the field infirmary, they can take a look at it. Tell them I sent you.”

A cold shudder ran down Rarity’s spine as she quickly smiled and shook her head. “Oh no-no! I wouldn’t dream of inconveniencing you! I’ve already taken enough of your time! Have a good day!” She quickly turned around and hurriedly walked up to Dash, falling in alongside her. “Let’s get out of here at once. Away from any more of the authorities…”

“Yeah, that’s gonna be a bit hard…” Dash muttered as she looked around. Sure enough, soldiers were pouring in by the troop. Already another dozen had arrived since they had first gotten to the train platform, and now they were setting up everywhere. And that was to say nothing of toward the outskirts of the city, where they were all but erecting a base camp. The few civilians still about, whether on business of running the station or desperate to get on the train like the two of them were, were looking increasingly uncomfortable as some soldiers took positions while others started loitering about the premises. Since all had their weapons, it was nerve-wracking. “This has got to be serious. I’ve never seen so many before outside of a war…”

“Well, we get to share in their misery now,” Rarity sighed, raising her volume as soon as they were far enough away from the two guards, “because now there’s no hope at all of getting back to Manehattan on time. I don’t suppose there’s any way we could at least get to a telegraph?”

She frowned. “Even if we could, do you have any money left for one?”

The designer grimaced back. She reached into her pocket and fished around for a moment before pulling her fist out. She opened it up to reveal three cents.

“I don’t think is even enough to pay the operator to write ‘STOP’."

“They really can’t give you any break at all? Even knowing what you went through to get this contract?”

“With that proviso I was forced to put in, that contract won’t be good for much in three days. I had to get that deal. And we had to get stranded out here halfway across Greater Everfree starving, thirsty, tired, and barely having escaped twice now with our necks.”

Letting out a massive groan, Rarity finally formed a fist, craned her head to the sky, and exclaimed so loud it made Dash snap back in alarm and several surrounding folks stare at her.

“This is, without a doubt, the absolute worst! I feel like I’m cursed by fate! After coming this far and finally getting that signature, everything’s now hopeless! My staff and I had better just get used to limping through dirt and eating garbage because that’s all we have to look forward to in three days! My business is ruined! My hometown’s ruined! Everything’s ruined! Ruined I tell you!”

By now, Rarity’s drama was attracting about a quarter of the people’s attention. Dash herself winced and looked around at all the stares they were getting, before she quickly leaned in. “Well standing out in the middle of public bawling about it isn’t going to help anything!”

“I am emotionally distraught without any sort of outlet, creative or otherwise, to vent my frustrations! And my feet are absolutely killing me! At this point, if my only decent option is to lie down in a gutter and rot, I can at least not suffer in silence!”

Dash moaned and slapped her hand against her face. “This is why I hate Manehattan clients… Look, things aren’t as bleak as they seem. We just have to get creative!”

“Darling, I know all about creativity in my line of work, and this doesn’t need creativity. It needs divine intervention! No one is going to give us any transportation for a hundred miles if the Nighttouched are involved!”

“Well, we can’t just throw in the towel yet! If you said your employees are really counting on you and so’s your town, we got to do something! Maybe we can get horses! Or try stagecoach! Or just something that can get us as far as the Appleloosan mountain range-”

“Excuse me?”

Both woman stopped their respective tasks, Dash talking and Rarity throwing the back of her hand against her forehead, and looked nearby.

A uniformed man was standing there, rifle shouldered and pulling off his hat. He was rather firmly built, but he had a kind, if not somewhat uncertain, face as he offered a smile. Definitely not who one would expect for a soldier type, and totally different from the other Appleloosans. In fact, as they looked over his uniform, they soon saw that was indeed the case. His uniform was for an entirely different country; not a style that Rarity was familiar with.

Both were put on the spot for a moment before Dash gave him a more critical look. “Hey. Can we help you?”

“Oh, sorry. I guess I was a bit too forward,” he answered, blushing a bit as he realized how awkward he had come up to the two of them. “It’s just that I overheard what you were saying from over there.”

“Oh, did you?” Rarity asked. “So sorry. I didn’t realize I was being so loud.”

Dash leveled a stare at her. “…Seriously?”

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I just happened to hear that you sounded like you were in a bit of trouble. I mean…just about everyone is nowadays, one kind or another. You said something about your business shutting down, though?”

Dash continued to look a bit suspicious, but Rarity eased up and faced him. “Yes…yes I did. I’m afraid we’re in a horribly tight spot. If I want my company to survive until next quarter, I absolutely have to deal this new contract. But I couldn’t unless I first came out here to-”

“Uh,” the Huntsman suddenly cut off, actually extending an arm across Rarity to keep her from saying more, “I can see where you might have overheard a lot, but that’s still eavesdropping. Who are you again?”

“Oh, sorry again,” he apologized, looking over himself, “I hope this uniform doesn’t throw you. Right now I’m not too far removed from a civilian myself. I hail from Hoofheim. Part of the national guard there. Since most Nighttouched don’t come up that far, we have a deal with the Appleloosan government to do ROTC down here where there’s more of them. And I didn’t mean to overhear but the thing is I think I can help you two out.”

Rarity immediately pushed Dash’s arm down. “Oh, really?”

Dash frowned and stepped forward again. “Sorry buddy, but pretty sure that the only way you could help us is if you could get us on that train.”

“That’s just it. I think I can.”

Dash’s jaw dropped while Rarity beamed. “Really?” they both spoke in unison.

“They canceled our training tour and they’re sending us home. They want us out of the way if they’re going to be conducting major operations. Especially if a war could break out in the aftermath. They actually found room to ship us out before they shut down the rail lines, but I ended staying behind with my bunkmate because he came down with influenza.” He began to reach into his jacket. “Just this morning they came in and gave us a couple of passes to get on this train instead as it’s the last one out, but my buddy’s still not back on his feet yet. He told me to take the train without him but I didn’t feel too good about it. No one thinks the Nighttouched will come anywhere near this far anyway…”

He pulled his hand out, grasping a pair of typewritten slips of paper in his hand with an Appleloosan government seal.

“So I figured I’d pass it off to someone here who could use it better than me. You two sound like the best I’ve seen so far.” He held the slips higher, allowing them to see both.

Both Dash and Rarity leaned in closer and looked them over. Sure enough, everything on them was in order. The print looked perfectly legitimate, but more so was that the seal was official for Appleloosa.

After a moment, Dash quirked an eyebrow. “Alright, what’s the catch? What do you get out of it?”

“Seriously, there’s no catch. I really can’t use these right now. Not without leaving my bunkmate behind.”

“But you could get out of here no problem. And you just said you think this place is safe enough, right?”

He winced, running his free hand through his hair. “Yeah, well…it might be safe for right now, but once they shut down these tracks, I don’t think anyone’s going to be going anywhere for a while. And if Trottingham makes a move when the country is split, then he’s going to be in trouble.”

Rarity looked uneasy at that. “Yes, well…as very much as I hate to sound like I would decline such an offer…which I wouldn’t, just to be clear…if what you’re saying is true then you should really be on your way.”

“Like I said, I’m not leaving my bunkmate behind. If I did get out of here, what then? Appleloosa is out one more person who might be able to help. But you said that you’ve got a whole bunch of workers who could be out a job.” He frowned uneasily. “Take it from me. I’ve seen what depression can do to people. That’s all Hoofheim’s had ever since the Lunar Fall. I had to get into the military just to keep my parents fed. This means a lot to me. Please,” He pushed the passes forward. “Take them. I’ll just have to find someone else otherwise, but seeing as this train leaves at sundown…”

He glanced to one side at the sky. By now, the sun was only about three widths from the horizon.

“I don’t think I’ll find anyone.”

Dash held only a moment more, but then finally shrugged. “Well…that’s good enough for me. We got no other options, and if you’re not wanting anything I’m not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.” She nearly reached to take them.

However, this time it was Rarity who reached out and stopped her. “Are you quite certain you don’t want anything for these? If you were to give me your name and address, I’m sure I could find a way to pay you back for them. I know at the moment, considering this is the only train possibly for weeks, these passes are priceless, but I’d be sure to give you something for your troubles.”

He simply smiled back. “Really…if you want to pay me back, then pass it on to the next person in trouble. Otherwise, just make sure you get back to Manehattan.”

Rarity waited a bit longer, but all he did was smile back; not showing any hesitation. Seeing that he wasn’t going to renege or was at all reluctant, she finally smiled back as well. “Thank you, sir.” She reached out and took them from his hand. “Thank you. Fifty times. A hundred times. You have no idea how much this means to me and everything that we’ve been through. I’ll never forget this.”

After a moment, Dash smiled as well at last. “Yeah, you really bailed us out. I owe ya’. Hope you and your friend end out alright.”

“Yeah…and on that note, I should probably head back,” he spoke up nervously again. “If I’m not heading out of here, I think the Appleloosans will start asking what I’m doing on this platform pretty soon. You two have a safe trip back.”

He began to turn to leave, and the two women almost turned a well, when he suddenly stopped.

“Oh! One more thing.”

Both women stopped as he looked back at them. After glancing to either side, he leaned in and whispered to Rarity.

“Walk with one hand folded over the other. The dressing won’t stick out so much.”

The smiles on the women’s faces vanished. Both froze in place. However, the soldier merely smiled and put his hat back on his head, tipping it, before turning to walk back. Rarity had enough presence of mind right before he did to look at his own hands, only to note that his uniform had gloves. It was impossible to tell one way or the other, and soon his back was to them and he was walking away.

She blinked twice. “You…you don’t suppose he…?”

Dash put her hands on Rarity's shoulders and turned her around. “Like I said, no gift horses. Let’s just get on the train and get out of here.”

Nightwatch: Derailed

Author's Notes:

This was originally part of the previous chapter, but it was too long and I ended up splitting it.

The Appleloosan soldier kept frowning as he looked at the pass, up to the two women, both now smiling innocently, and back again. He looked to his partner, who did much the same, but in the end shrugged. “It’s a reserved spot. Already had six or so come by with passes like this.”

The engine gave a loud whistle. Finally, he sighed and handed the passes back. “Third car from the end. Hurry up. That was the one-minute warning.”

They practically snatched them back and quickly pushed themselves through. “Thank you very much, have a nice evening!” one called before they both ran to their designate car, flashed the passes once more to the soldier at the entrance, and slipped in.

The two soldiers remained standing and frowning at one another, but then turned to resume their former positions.

A second later, one of them blinked. Her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward; looking toward one of the nearby buildings.

“Hey,” she began to call out, “do you see-”

A sharp crack suddenly echoed through the air, like a firecracker or gunshot. As a result, not only both soldiers but several others in the area instantly put their weapons at the ready. However, over the sound of the train engine and other hustle and bustle it didn't resonate far enough to locate. Those in earshot looked around for a moment, but saw nothing.

Her partner finally eased down. “That was weird. What were you saying?”

The soldier looked back to where she had been staring a moment before, but now saw nothing but an empty roof.

“Just thought I saw someone up there for a moment…”

Somewhat more ill at ease, she went back into position. Less than a minute later, the train whistled one more time as it began to depart.

“When he said they got him a spot on the train, ugh…I wonder if it was supposed to be for his luggage…”

Rarity said nothing back, but her face showed she quite clearly shared the same sentiments. The first train she got out of Manehattan was hardly luxury accommodations, but considering that their “seats” amounted to a hard metal bench mounted into the wall of a windowless car, crushed and practically buried behind a wall of crates of supplies, with only a slight lane worth of open space to walk to the end of the car, she could hardly disagree. It didn’t help that now that the sun was down both women were plunged into absolute darkness as they were squished together on that small seat. She was quite glad she wasn’t claustrophobic or she would feel as if she had been buried alive.

The train was at least moving now, although that made things only a bit worse on them. They were already pressed together so there wasn’t much wiggle room. At that moment, they hit a sharp bump in the tracks, and Rarity found herself shoved into Dash.

“Urk!”

She turned to her immediately. “Oh…oh dear! I’m terribly sorry! I couldn’t stop myself!”

She heard a sharp inhale through her companion’s teeth. “Don’t…don’t worry about it… Just…just hard to…to stretch out…”

Rarity didn’t like the sound of that. The fact was Dash had been breathing hard ever since they had sat down. Her side was hurting her worse than it had been earlier. All of the walking around had to have agitated it.

“Is there anything I can do to make things more comfortable?”

“Nah, nah… Like I said, don’t worry…”

“But…your side…”

“What, this? No…no problem… I’m tough enough to shrug just a little scratch…”

Rarity didn’t believe that for an instant, but there was little to nothing she could do about it. She wasn’t a doctor after all. And she didn’t have whatever strange power Ms. Cheerilee had…

A thought occurred to her at that. She looked down at Dash’s direction for a moment, moistened her lips, and finally made her move. She put her hand out and touched her.

“Huh? What?” Dash instantly spoke up.

“Er…all better, all better, all better…” Rarity began to half-heartedly mutter.

“Um…what are you doing?”

“...Trying to help heal you faster.”

Pause. “By…chanting ‘all better’? I don’t think it works like that…”

Rarity frowned and pulled her hand back. After a moment, she did the only thing she could do to give Dash a measure of relief. She got up from the bench and gave her some more room.

“Hey! What gives?”

“Just stretching my legs a bit, darling. I can’t stand these cramped accommodations… I think I’ll head to the end of the car and peek out the window and see if there’s any starlight with which to look around by.”

“Well, don’t go much farther than the door. Keep in mind there’s still some Appleloosans on this train and, pass or not, we don’t need to give them a reason to toss us off. Definitely not now if this train’s trying to get some place being hit by Nighttouched.”

Rarity winced. “I shall keep that dreadful tidbit in mind…”

It took a bit of maneuvering and bumping her shins more than once, but Rarity managed to work her way to the end of the car. That window normally afford a view of nothing but the short connection point between train cars and a look at the other entrance. It made Rarity grimace a little to see there was not only just enough starlight to see that the car across from them was a normal passenger one, but also totally unoccupied at the moment. None of the train’s own soldiers were present, but even if she could sneak into the next she knew they’d toss her out as soon as they spotted her, although since they were running dark she considered hiding if it meant a chance to lay down.

She also turned her head to the sides of the car. She could only get a small view of the surrounding countryside, but mostly all she could see were hills and shadows to the south and the forests to the north. Even now the tree line hung close to the tracks, and she knew much of it was bordering Equestria…

Suddenly she spotted something. “AAH!”

“What’s wrong?” Dash immediately called from the other side.

Rarity herself had gone white, not that anyone could notice, and quickly pulled back from the window. “Yellow eyes!” she half-cried, half-gasped. “I saw a pair of yellow eyes in the forest alongside us!”

“Oh…” Dash nearly groaned. “Don’t worry about that… You always see a stray Nighttouched or two this close to the border…” Another sharp inhale. “It’s only a problem if a bunch of them gang up and come out…”

Rarity, still shaking and nervous, slowly pulled herself up and looked back out the window. She nearly yelped again on seeing another pair of yellow eyes a bit down the track. “But…but what happens if they do that?”

“Eh, we’ll worry about that when it happens… Nothing we can do now… Live out here long enough, you always take it one step at a time…”

If Dash could have seen Rarity, she would have seen she looked anything but comforted by that. She straightened back up after a moment and looked down over herself, just making out her own outline in the darkness. However, in the process of rising, she noticed her hand and just faintly the edge of the bandage over it.

She stared at it silently for a little while, thinking it over. She looked back out to the forest again. Nothing this time, but she knew she’d see another Nighttouched eventually. She looked again to her hand, frowned a bit, and finally held it out.

“Captain Spitfire!”

“What?” Dash nearly shouted on hearing her call. “What’d you just say?”

Rarity wasn’t really paying attention. She was frowning at how she once again didn’t have a reaction. “Oh, dash it all… How does this work?”

“Hey!” Dash shouted again, getting her to look up and back this time. “I just asked you a question! What did you just say?”

The tone was almost accusatory, but Rarity didn’t notice. “I just figured that since I have a symbol like yours on my hand that maybe I could do the same thing you do. I’d certainly feel safer with speed and strength like yours…”

Dash snorted back. “Well, you’re not gonna get it by throwing around the name of my old CO…”

On hearing that, Rarity hesitated. She remembered back to what Dash had said earlier. About how she had gotten that mark herself and under what circumstances. For a moment, her look grew thoughtful about what that might mean…

Before she could voice it or think further, a much brighter, fiery light suddenly radiated through the window. It was so strong that, for a moment, she saw the interior of the car itself illuminated. Most shocking of all was that it seemed to come from over the train, as if crossing the top of it. She snapped to the window again in alarm.

“What was that?” Dash called. She had seen it too even from the back of the car and was already getting up.

"I...I don't know... It was like a rocket just went over the train..."

"If they were getting in a fight, they'd have a lot more than one rocket..." Soon Dash had limped up to Rarity's side and looked out the window as well. However, the light was gone and there was no sign of anything else. Nevertheless, she stared for a bit longer to make sure.

Abruptly, both women shifted forward as the train car lurched. At the same time, from the opposite window far on the other side of the passenger car in front of them, a flash of light went out. Rarity and Dash hardly had time to notice it before they stumbled to regain their footing, but then both quickly looked out.

"What in Greater Everfree was that?"

Dash frowned. "Nothing good..."

Rarity looked around a bit; her brow starting to quirk. "Do we seem to be...leaning to you? And the train sounds a bit different..."

Dash looked around a little herself before she frowned even more. After that, she looked at the door. Keeping one hand on her side, she reached out and felt along it before finding a handle, and with a sharp tug she popped it open. Rarity nearly gasped as a rush of wind and air from outside whipped in. "What...what are you doing?"

"Doesn't matter if the soldiers spot us now...the cars back here just got uncoupled from the rest of the train. We're slowing down."

"Wh-what?!"

She beckoned forward as she stepped into the threshold. "Come on. Let's go check it out."

"You want us to go out to whatever that light was just now after it just separated us from the rest of the train?!"

"Either that or wait for it to come to us, 'cause we got nowhere to go now and we'll be dead on the track soon."

Rarity let out a small whine but she realized that was the truth. Uneasily, she followed Dash as she stepped out the door.

The train was still going at a good clip as the two crossed over the very narrow walkway spanning the two cars, so Rarity ended up making the trek much slower than Dash in spite of her injury. She especially didn’t like that she saw not one but two more sets of eyes in the forest to the north of them. She nearly focused more on that than the other car when they arrived at the door. With a bit of a grunt and a jimmy, Dash seized the handle of this one and popped it open as well. Rarity quickly followed her inside.

It was indeed a passenger car, with nothing but rows of empty seats. Because it had wide open windows on either side, it was possible to see a bit better from the starlight and partial moonlight, but there was little to find. No sign of anyone, whether they be an Appleloosan soldier or otherwise. Rarity and Dash glanced at them only for a moment, then looked ahead and to the back at the rear door. The other train cars were already starting to grow smaller in what they could see through its tiny window. Dash stared at it a moment while Rarity swallowed and moved close behind her. The two began to move toward it, slowly and carefully.

Halfway across the car, it erupted in brilliant light as a bladed tip of a spear suddenly thrust through the wall. It was sparking with white electricity, sending off a dazzling gleam that illuminated the entire interior. Rarity yelped and cringed behind Dash. She herself planted her feet and tightened up, but began to sweat and not just from personal pain. Especially when she saw the bladed tip suddenly rake across the back, slicing right through the door frame and the door itself. The bottom immediately fell out as a result. A moment later, the spear tip yanked back, only for its shaft to lash out and knock out the upper half.

In its wake, an imposing figure, dressed entirely in the armor of an archaic royal guard, stepped through the opening and into the aisle. A device somewhere on his suit, similar to the ones on the Trottinghamites from Flaxonville, was chugging along. Every so often, another small bolt of electricity snaked out of the tip of his spear, sending another white gleam that served to make his intricate armor look almost hellish.

Dash stared at him for a brief moment. Her eyes narrowed.

“Rarity.”

The designer, nearly petrified at the sight of the man, looked up.

“Get back to the other car and as soon as the train is slow enough, get off and run.”

She nearly gasped. “Are you mad? Once I've seen a design, I know it anywhere! That’s a suit of Trottingham royal guard armor! He has to be with the ones who attacked Flaxonville! That means he’s behind the ones who killed Ms. Cheerilee and-”

“Just get back! You’re just going to get in the way!”

Rarity almost looked indignant at that, but it didn’t last. She realized it was the truth. It didn’t stop her from being hesitant and looking rueful when she finally broke and began to back up the way she came though.

The royal guard continued to walk forward, sending out more sparks, as Dash leveled her good side at him and primed her body for combat. While Rarity was still backing off, she held up her hand. “Captain Spitfire!”

The royal guard didn’t break stride as the blue aura once again fell over Dash, but once it was finished working its power she was able to draw herself up far better than before. At that point, Rarity was at the end of the car. She looked back one more time, but finally opened the rear end and stepped out.

Dash forced a cocky smirk even as a few beads of sweat gathered on her forehead. “Y’know, I was just thinking a little while ago that the ol’ fire-headed brat from Trottingham might be behind this, and look who shows up? You must be that little lap dog of hers the gang at the Huntsman Guild mentioned. What’s your name again? Flash Guard or something?”

“There’s only two options open to the two of you right now,” he spoke back, ignoring her comments as he readied his spear, “the easy way or the hard way. Don’t make it more painful than it has to be.”

“My, you’re thoughtful,” Dash snickered. “But I think I got a third option.”

In a snap, her body turned into a blur. A split second later, she was kicking off an aisle seat and launching herself at the royal guard’s unarmed side. Her leg cocked back to drive her foot into his neck.

Suddenly, his armor ignited in the same light that the spear tip had; only this time rapidly expanding to the rest of his suit and obscuring it in a blinding flash. Dash’s cocky look turned into surprise in mid-strike as she saw her foot sail into the electric cloud, only for it to evaporate into nothing but air.

She barely managed a “huh” before, to her astonishment, she realized the royal guard was just to the left of it and now watching her body sail by. At least, he did for a moment, before his gauntlet and spear shaft moved. His hand seized her airborne body, the shaft of the spear braced across it, and a moment later she was snapped out of the air and slammed down with a thunderous ripple against the floor of the train.

The look on Dash’s face on impact showed the pain that resulted, but she barely lay flat before she snapped her legs up and swung them about, trying to catch him off his feet. In response, he snapped back just as rapidly, hopping off of her and taking his spear with him. It gave Dash the moment she needed to spring up and back up to her feet, but even with her enhanced speed that was all she had time for. No sooner had she landed than the royal guard was on her, driving the end of his spear for her head. She quickly dodged it to one side, but even then she had to step back for he rapidly closed on her, and in moments he yanked the spear back and drove it for her middle next. She got around that only to quickly backstep from repeated stabs for her feet. Each one gave off sparks and punctured the floor, and in moments she found, to her astonishment, she was already backed up half of the way to the rear of the train.

As he went for a forth jab, however, she squared her jaw and advanced instead, hopping over the stab and planting one of her feet on the shaft of the spear. The royal guard’s helmet snapped up, realizing he was pinned, before Dash used the moment to drive herself forward and aim a pair of kicks for his middle. Quickly, he snapped back the instant she laid off and crossed his shaft in front of himself, blocking first one and then the other, but Dash didn’t stop. As the strain and agony on her face leaked through the edge of her grin, she snapped her body forward and progressed in performing one thrust kick and flying roundhouse after another, forcing the royal guard to step back and guard just as rapidly as she had to backpedal.

She managed to nearly push him back to where they started when his armor sparked again. Dash was so intent on applying her speed she noticed it too late, and was unable to break her momentum as he suddenly lunged at her. She tried to meet his face with her boot, but again she struck an electric cloud that faded into nothing. She was just in time to feel a physical presence behind her before the royal guard, now standing back to back with her, snapped around and swung out with the back of his fist. A solid blow connected with the base of her head; sending her spilling forward and sprawling on her face.

She didn’t even bother to look behind her again on landing, but focused entirely on pulling herself up and tucking into a forward roll--just in time to avoid the royal guard’s spear tip puncturing where her body had been lying. Once again, she sprang back to her feet and spun around, but the royal guard didn’t let up. Quickly he advanced again, this time swiping the end of his blade tip at her. Each one was charged with electricity, slicing easily through the railings and seats on either side as he forced her to continue to backpedal. Soon she was sweating and panting freely under his relentless assault.

Finally, after one slice, she snapped forward again; not in a direct forward charge but to a vertical support rod for the railings. She seized it with both hands and moved forward for another kick. Quickly, he halted and braced his spear to support himself, only to learn too late she was feinting. Rather than attack at first, she swung her body around the shaft once before flinging herself at him; after he had already lowered his spear again. A solid two-footed kick smacked into the side of his helmet, letting out a resounding clang and snapping his head to one side. The result forced him to stagger back.

Grinning again, Dash quickly landed on both feet, bit back her pain again, and moved in another blur. While the royal guard was still trying to get up, she snapped right in front of him and drove a palm for his middle. It nearly connected, but at the last moment he managed to recover enough to cross his spear shaft in front of him and deflect it. He began to step back again, but Dash quickly moved in another blur, this time chopping for his neck. He quickly had to wrench his arms upward to block that blow. She blurred a third time, this time aiming for his ankle with another powerful kick and forcing him to half-stumble back to avoid having it sprained or broken.

At that point, his armor began to spark again. By now, though, the Huntsman knew what was coming. She appeared oblivious, however, starting off by preparing for another strike, when suddenly he vanished in a burst of electricity. However, Dash instantly answered by launching into a rapid set of backflips, once more entering a blur in order to pull it off. The royal guard reappeared and swiped his spear out, only to see Dash was not only already out of range but continuing to flip back.

A split second later she planted her feet as she came out of her latest flip, then launched herself in another blur right at him. He readied his spear to thrust at her as she came, but she responded by launching herself into the air and for the side aisle again. Expecting another move that would use that as leverage to attack from his unprotected side, he quickly moved to block, only to snap his helmet around again on seeing her launch herself across the aisle instead and kick off from that side, to where he was open.

Having no other defense, he could only swing the blunt side of his staff out almost erratically, hoping the move would at least force her to abort her strike. Yet whether by luck or his own instinctive skill, Dash wasn’t expecting it, and the end struck against her exposed side.

The Huntsman’s eyes seemed to nearly bulge out of her head as her strike aborted, and she instead collapsed to the ground. The inertia sent her forth in a tumble so sudden and shocking that the royal guard stepped out of the way for fear it was a new move; letting her slide right past. She stopped herself soon after, but only by going onto three limbs. Her eyes were watering, her teeth were clenched, and she gripped her struck side in agony. Try as she might to get up, all she could do was hiss and lay there for a few seconds.

The few seconds were all the royal guard needed to understand. He saw the pain she was in, and where he had barely glanced her with a blow. Soon, he shifted his spear back down into an offensive position and squared himself at her. He nearly moved again, but held on seeing how long it was taking her to spring back up. Finally, Dash was able to bite it back enough to get to her feet in another snap, but she stumbled and, in spite of her best efforts, kept clutching her side with one hand while keeping her other in a fist.

“You have to see you can’t win now.”

“Guess I’m just that thick…” she slowly choked out; her grin now nothing more than a pure bluff.

The royal guard sighed before lunging at her.

Rarity nervously paced back and forth at the end of the storage car as she stared at the back window of the passenger one. It was still slowing down, but she wasn’t waiting for her chance to flee. Her attention was fully on the continuous flashes of light she was seeing from the other vehicle and how she was standing there powerless to help.

At last, she stamped a foot and made her hands into fists. “Confound it all! I cannot simply stand here doing nothing!” She held up her hand again and scowled at the symbol. “Good for nothing skin blemish! Can you do anything for me besides just make me a target for homicidal Trottinghamites?!” She snapped her hand into the air and called out again. “Um…power on! Razzle dazzle! Save the queen! Hocus pocus! Make with the magic!”

Nothing resulted.

She groaned. “Alright, so it’s not Captain Spitfire that does it. Who else is dead that I know…? Commander Hurricane? Chancellor Puddinghead? Do I have to sound out the deceased until I get lucky?”

She nearly flustered as she saw yet another flash of light from the window. She thought she heard Dash cry out at that point, in spite of the fact she had to be using her own power. But on thinking of that, she paused. She had been so flustered when all of this broke out that the idea she had come up with had slipped her mind. She remembered what Dash had said…

Captain Spitfire…she could have made it, but she wanted to save me. Me, of all people. She was ten times the person I was, but she’s dead and I’m here. Here with this… This thing that showed up that same day, reminding me each and every time I’m about to bite the big one and I have to call her to save me again.

Her eyes widened in realization. After a moment more, she looked back to her hand, held it high, and spoke out far more firmly and forcefully.

“Daisy Cheerilee!”

Her eyes widened even more as she watched her sigil blaze to life, especially the point on the six-sided figure. Soon after, the same aura that spread around Dash when she made her own call formed above her, only her hue was a darker blue closer to an indigo. She scarcely noticed; only staring slack jawed as she watched it seem to form a hint of a figure a moment before the light broke and fell over her.

Soon, she was gleaming with a bit of the same power, just like Dash. As such, she could see a few changes. Her clothing seemed to have fixed and cleaned itself a little. She couldn’t be sure if it was a trick of her eyes or not, but she almost thought she saw the hand-me-down boots look a little neater and more “chic”, and a trim on the edges of her clothes emboldened the way she liked it. Aside from that, she realized she didn’t feel nearly as tired or worn out as she had before. She didn’t feel like she could throw a punch or a kick as fast as Dash, though. And she didn’t feel like she could move in a blur either.

However, she placed a hand to her temple. There was something new running through her head…

Before she could concentrate on it, the door to the car suddenly smashed inward. Yelping in alarm, she turned and saw it swing wide before Dash’s body fell to the ground just in the threshold. She was sporting some new bruises now, and looked like she was in more agony than ever. Worst of all, on landing she could only groan; unable to snap up again.

Still cringing, Rarity saw the royal guard had hit her so hard he had knocked her out of his car and almost into her own. By now, it was slowed enough to hop off, but there was no way Dash could escape now. And by the look of the sparking lights from the other car, it didn’t look like their assailant would let her try.

Nervous, realizing she still wasn’t as strong as she needed to be in order to help, Rarity began to look around frantically for something she could do or use. Thanks to the soft light emanating from her body, she didn’t have to look far. Her eyes fell on one of the nearest crates and saw what was labeled on the side…

As much as Dash tried to force herself up, it wasn’t possible anymore. She was in too much pain. Her side felt like it was on fire; possibly internally bleeding now. The rest of the injuries she was taking were also costing a toll. When she finally managed to crack her eyes open, she saw her aura was starting to flicker and fade. She couldn’t maintain it much longer.

Finally, she managed to force her head up enough to look back to the other car. The royal guard hadn’t come at her again, having just used another one of his “lightning flashes”. However, he was still advancing and keeping her spear ready. He kept doing so for another step or two, before he suddenly crouched and broke into a run. She began to writhe and get her arms underneath her in a last ditch effort to stand, but it was no use. The pain only increased and he’d be there before she could get halfway up anyway.

“Aah!”

Rarity’s cry from behind her caused her to look up. She saw just a flash of her arm extend before an object was flung out of it; one she recognized as an Appleloosan grenade. She saw it fly through the air a short distance, right through the door of the passenger car and into the path of the royal guard.

Instantly, he began to plant his feet to stop himself; recognizing it as well. His armor began to spark…

Dash saw no more a moment later, save for an eruption of fire and smoke before she was slammed back against the train bottom and forced to shield her eyes.

It agonized her a bit more, but that was nothing compared to a moment later when she felt a grip go under her shoulders and arms and suddenly pull her back. She cried out at once as it agitated her wounds even more.

“Sorry! Sorry!” she heard Rarity apologize. “Just need to get you back! Just a moment!”

In seconds, she was inside the train car as the fire and smoke continued to subside from the grenade, although she was in too much agony to notice. She barely picked up on Rarity bending down at her side, not even realizing she was glowing by now. Right after, the woman pressed her palm against her side, causing her to wince and hiss yet again.

“Please let this work this time… I think I’ve got it…”

Dash tried to croak a reply, but before she could she heard the same chant as before.

“All better, all better, all better, all better…”

Another groan. “Seriously…? You’re trying that ag-”

Dash cut herself off and opened her eyes wide, realizing she was able to talk again in spite of her trauma. She realized a moment after it was because her pain was rapidly subsiding. She blinked a few times, then looked over to Rarity again. This time she noticed her aura. Not just on her, either. A stronger glow was now concentrated around the hand placed over her side as she chanted. Her pain didn't leave her all together, but the crippling nature was disappearing.

After a few moments, she managed to sit up. In alarm Rarity removed her hand and stopped chanting, but in spite of her lingering injuries Dash felt much better than before. For a moment, she sat still shocked not only at her change but what she had managed. It only lasted a moment, though, before she smiled again.

“Hey, what do you know? You pulled it off!”

Rarity couldn’t help but blush, partially out of modesty and partially out of relief it had worked. “I…I just tried it out… I thought, maybe if Captain Spitfire worked for you, then if I said Ms. Cheerilee’s real name-”

Loud sparking sounds cut Rarity off. Both women looked forward and gasped, for at that second the royal guard suddenly lunged out of the fire and smoke, not looking any worse for wear, and had his spear tip out and aimed for them both once again. Not wasting a second, Dash quickly shot to her feet, shoving backward as she did. Her arm swept out, caught Rarity, and unceremoniously pushed her away as she herself sprang back, again narrowly missing the spear tip.

However, the royal guard seemed to have noticed she recovered, and was attacking swiftly and powerfully again. In spite of the tighter corners, he slashed out with his spear tip for her again, forcing her back as he cut through crates on either side of them. Dash quickly backed up, trying to regain her footing and focus, but he wouldn’t let her as he sliced out repeatedly. Finally, however, he snapped his spear back to try and slice for her head; only to wedge the shaft of it in a crook between two crates at his side. He tried to come back but was halted; his spear barely moving as it pressed against the space it was now nestled in.

He looked up to see what had happened, and Dash seized the moment. Quickly she shot forward, braced one hand against the spear shaft, and drove her other fist deep into his side. The blow should have been enough to dent the armor and possibly even break a rib. Yet as soon as the armor began to give, she got a nasty surprise. A large spark erupted from the point of contact, and she yelped as her hand, now jolted numb, shot off it again.

The royal guard quickly twisted his helmet around and swung forward; smashing his armored head into hers. She snapped her neck backward from the impact, stunned again, and he followed up by yanking his spear free and swinging the nearest end upward as quickly as he could. The blunt side ended up catching her under the chin. Once more, one of his impacts was enough to send her sailing backward and to the floor, but not before sending her body sailing by Rarity and leaving nothing between her and the royal guard.

She looked alarmed at Dash for a moment, before turning back to the royal guard. He, on his part, gave a bit of elbow grease to fully snap his spear loose and aim it forward again, causing her to swallow.

“Alright…if that trick worked, then…surely I’m capable of more… Um…er…uh…” She held her hand up, but muttered and stumbled as she tried to think of something. “Er…light beam? Sparky-sparky? Pointy knives? Hertz doughnut?”

The royal guard’s spear began to spark again.

“Ah! Oh…!” Getting frustrated, she finally shoved her hand forward. “Fireball-fireball-fireball-fireball!”

As she desperately cried out the words, a few sparks of indigo light emitted from her fingertips before her hand suddenly glowed. Moments later, a ball of fire materialized from her fingertips, about the size of a marble, and sailed right for the face of the royal guard. It successfully impacted his visor a moment later, erupting in a small flash of flame. At once, he grasped for his eyes and shook his head, as if momentarily blinded.

“Yes!” Rarity shouted. “I mean…no! I mean…that will do!” Quickly, she spun around and tried to run for it while he was still stunned.

Unfortunately for her, it didn’t last nearly as long as she would have wanted. He jerked his head back to her as his vision cleared enough to see her running, then raised his spear and aimed the tip at her. This time he didn’t break into a lunge or dash. Instead, the tip gleamed and snaked out bolts of electricity before a finely focused one erupted out of the end in a sustained charge, tagging Rarity on the back of the right calf.

The designer instantly cried out, not only stumbling but falling flat on her face from the crippling jolt. The royal guard continued to shoot for a moment before cutting off, leaving her rear leg smoldering with a few wisps of smoke. Wincing and cringing in fresh pain, Rarity’s aura quickly faded into nothingness as she drew herself in and looked to the back of her limb. It sported a decent sized burn, and from the look of misery on her face it was clear she wasn’t going to push herself up again soon.

The royal guard kept his spear aimed out, the end still sparking and aimed at the woman. Before he could perform another attack, however, he heard a loud whistle. “Hey buckethead!”

Quickly, he snapped his spear up to the source of the voice, nearly letting out another bolt, before cutting it off as quickly as he could.

Standing again just behind Rarity was Dash, only she had found another grenade and now was idly tossing it up and down in her good hand.

“Ah, ah, ah…” she scolded. “You know what lightning like that could do to a room with tons of little explosives mixed in with it, don’t you?”

He didn’t answer. Dash smirked even wider.

“What do you say you find out and tell me?”

Popping the top off, she flung it forward. Instinctively, the royal guard stepped back and guarded himself, only to watch as the grenade sailed right past him and into the same box that Rarity had broken into for the grenade she had used.

Dash, whose own aura was still burning, moved in a blur as soon as the grenade was cast. She was at Rarity’s side in an instant, putting her arms underneath her. In spite of the renewed pain it gave her, she yanked her to her feet. A moment later, she flashed again. The royal guard snapped his head back, but only saw the door to the rear of the car still swinging open idly before a blur vanished through it. He began to spark to try and follow…

The grenade went off before he could.

The previously dark night was lit up rather brightly in moments. At first, only a few explosions went off at once from within the supply car. Other than breaking out the rear window and sending out clouds of smoke from the interior, they accomplished nothing. However, one of those explosions, in turn, triggered a cluster of other grenades, and their resulting blast blew out some of the covered panels where windows had been on the sides of the car, but more importantly triggered two other boxes of undetonated munitions. When they went off together, part of the roof blew off in a column of fire while the rest of the panels blew open as well. The entire car rocked violently on the tracks and sent out a resounding boom for miles.

When the noise died down, flames began to rise from the new openings; slowly gaining in strength. There was also a new clatter as debris and remains of crates were violently flung out of windows and pushed out of the end of the train, before the royal guard forced his way out to one end and dismounted onto the tracks. Aside from a touch of smoke, he still looked undamaged. His visor turned up to where the two women had run.

Nothing but darkness. Appleloosa had cleared the trees on their side of the forest bordering Equestria for most of the track length, but here was a spot where more of them were allowed to grow which prevented an easy sight line through bent grass.

More than that, however, was the fact that a steady light source was now right on the border. He only searched for the two for a moment before he looked northward. Two dozen sets of yellow gleaming eyes were already gathered there, with more slowly emerging from the woods and drawing nearer. After a few seconds, though, something suddenly spooked them and they scattered in all directions.

Moments after, a much larger pair of moonlight-colored orbs began to emerge. In moments, he started seeing a glossy shine about them as a misshapen, clay-like limb began to poke out from the woods.

Unlike how most would react when they realized they were looking at a Light Eater, he stayed calm. He turned and glanced one more time out in the direction the two had fled before he put his spear to one side. He used a hand to reach into his pocket, emerging with what looked like a tuning fork with a relief of a bell etched into the bottom of it. He flicked the end, and, about seventy yards away, he heard a bell chime in response.

Giving neither the Light Eater nor the Nighttouched, which were now beginning to gather behind it again, any more mind, his armor coursed electricity again before, in a flash, he was gone.

Nightwatch: A Shout in the Dark

The student, her face covered with sweat by now, held her hand out and tried another gesture with new arcane syllables. However, it had no more impact than the last. In fact, the effect that was rapidly spreading up her body seemed to speed up temporarily; making her gasp.

Nearby, Sunset kept her arms crossed as she smirked at the whole thing. Unlike her normal satisfied smile, this one seemed to have just a hint of maliciousness…even sadism…in it.

“Oops, try again.”

By now, one of the other students was beginning to frantically check her own book. The others were growing increasingly fearful as they watched the effects of the petrification curse continue to spread up their classmate’s body. It was over her navel and to her ribs. She was holding her arms up, trying to keep them from being petrified as well, but was so panicked that she couldn’t even think of another spell.

“Better hurry up,” Sunset casually went on. “Once your arms solidify, it won’t really matter if you remember the counter-curse, will it?”

“S-S-Sunset…” one of her classmates spoke up. “I…I think you’ve made your p-p-point…”

“What?” She casually shrugged. “She boasted she read the whole chapter on deathly curses, so I’m sure she knows how to undo one. Isn’t that right, Moondancer?”

She could only gulp, continuing to watch the petrification. With shaking, trembling hands, she managed another cast, but this one did nothing either.

Sunset snickered. “That was only a cantrip for undoing wilting. You’re really crumbling now.”

“Sunset, stop it!” another classmate shouted. “Come on! This isn’t funny!”

“Just take off the curse!” another one shouted, sounding as scared as Moondancer was.

She shrugged. “Hey, if you don’t know how to remove gradual petrification in a tight spot, what was the point of learning the counter-curse at all? Maybe you’re better off made into a fountain sculpture.”

Moondancer began to whimper as she saw the stone almost reach her underarms, but before it could get any nearer an older and more experienced voice quickly called out a different set of arcane words. At once, the stone froze in its spot and then fractured. A second later, the fractures gleamed from underneath before shattering, as if they were no more than a coating of plaster, revealing Moondancer's intact and unpetrified body beneath

She didn’t look much in the way of relieved. She quickly grasped herself, as if to make sure it was truly flesh and bone, and then quickly backed away from Sunset as fast as she could. The other students looked up and to the source, immediately wincing and cringing. Sunset herself, having recognized the voice, lost much of her cockiness, but ultimately frowned as if she had been forced to stop a game rather than looked afraid.

She turned around and, sure enough, saw the grizzled, one-eyed, and frowning face of Professor Inkwell looking down on her. Her one good eye seemed to almost burn into both of her intact ones.

“Young lady, I think a visit to the headmistress is in order.”

Inkwell came from an earlier time than most of the school’s professors. As such, she didn’t have much patience or belief in being “gentle” or “considerate toward feelings” when it came to discipline. Hence, Sunset had braced herself well for a lecture as she walked along.

“I know I don’t need to remind you about how it’s explicitly against school rules to use a curse against another student, especially a higher level one you aren’t authorized to be using in the first place. Don’t think just because you’re the princess’ pet that I won’t argue for her to have you thrown out on your ass for this.” She snapped her head to her as she kept walking. “I’ve half a mind to turn you into a statue for a few days first so you know what it’s like.”

The days when Sunset would have balked at such a threat were gone. Instead, she smiled back. “That’ll be hard. Unlike Moondancer, I learned the counter-curse.”

Some of the professors would have actually looked uneasily back at her at that, but Inkwell’s one eye narrowed. “I had a feeling you were rotten ever since you got here. And don’t think I give a damn if you tell Celestia that’s what I said about you. I’ve known her much longer than you. She can teach you herself from now on, as far as I’m concerned.”

“It might make the lessons less boring…” Sunset muttered aloud back. Inkwell, however, paid her no more mind. She turned forward and kept leading her on.

After a time, they reached the passage to the headmistress’ office. It was rather grandiose in and of itself. The hallway that led to it had posted Canterlot guards, and even when they passed through that door it led simply to another hall; this one flanked with high windows letting in the light of the sun and the beauty of the gardens. It stretched forth a short distance before it went up a small staircase, right before extending to a set of large and beautifully etched doors, where two other guards were likewise posted.

The end of the hall closest to the entryway doors expanded a bit, allowing some space for standing. Inkwell led Sunset there before spinning on her. “You wait here.”

Sunset didn’t complain but stood to one side as instructed. Soon after, Inkwell marched up to the doorway. Before she could pass, however, one of the guards held up a hand. He said something, but it was too soft for Sunset to hear. She only saw that it made Inkwell stand to one side and wait.

The girl crossed her arms and tapped her foot, waiting for her turn to come. It was only about a minute before she heard something at the end of the hall from the other side of the door. While the office was mostly sound-proof, that was only to normal conversation. Someone was shouting. It was enough for her to look up, only for her to hear another shouting back. It actually intrigued her, because it sounded like Celestia’s voice. She had never heard her shout before.

It went back and forth for another few minutes, but eventually died down. About two minutes later, the door finally opened.

The figure who emerged immediately caught Sunset’s eye. She had never seen anyone like her at the school, or at the palace for that matter. She was older and taller than any student, but her attire, she realized, was the same as that of any Canterlot official. Grander, even. Most of all was her hair. It was a dark blue unlike anything any other. So dark it was almost like a picturesque night sky. As she descended the stairs, she could have sworn she saw a sparkle from it now and then; like a twinkling star.

Her face was anything but friendly, however. As soon as she descended, she practically marched back to the entrance Sunset was standing at. By now, the fiery-headed girl was staring at her, and as she passed her eyes flicked to her. They met very briefly, but then parted. The woman kept walking, passed through the door, and let it shut behind her.

Sunset looked forward again, but Inkwell had already vanished inside. There was nothing for her to do now but wait as well.

She ended up pacing around for about 20 minutes. She heard more yells from the door, but this time they were all Inkwell’s. At long last, the door opened again. Inkwell stormed out, clearly irate, and giving Sunset a much dirtier glare before she walked past and almost threw open the doors.

She had moved so fast that the doors to the headmistress’ office hadn’t had a chance to shut by the time she was already gone. As a result, she clearly heard Celestia’s voice, already sounding both tired and disappointed. “Come in, Sunset.”

The girl turned away from the rear doors and came forward, walking up the stairs, and through the double doors.

The office itself was a rotundra, with custom-made curved shelves to account for the headmistress’ personal collection. In addition to being as elegantly decorated as all of the rest of the finer points of the castle, the furnishing were comfortable and old-looking with a rather spacious amount of space to spread out in. A clock that had been built right into the masonry, with a large hourglass no less, was on one side while a fireplace was on another. Perched on one side of the desk was Celestia’s fiery pet bird, one that even Sunset had never managed to identify, and the headmistress herself was seated at the desk—eyes firmly focused on her as soon as she walked in.

The doors were constructed in such a way to close themselves behind her, so as soon as they had Celestia beckoned forward. “Have a seat.”

Sunset stepped forward and did so. She sat upright as she always did; still showing the attentiveness she used to when she was far younger. Celestia, however, didn’t have one of her normal warm, encouraging smiles for her this time. She exhaled tiredly as she sat back in her chair.

“Professor Inkwell tells me that you used a Level VI gradual petrification curse on Moondancer. Is this true?”

She nodded. “Yes, but-”

“She also told me that you refused to use the counter-curse on her even when the other students were begging you to. Is this true?”

“Well, they weren’t exactly begging but-”

“Is this true, Sunset?”

She clammed up and sighed. “They asked me to stop, but-”

“But you refused to.”

“I already learned the counter-curse. I wanted to see if she mastered it. What good is knowing a counter-curse if you can’t use it in a pinch?”

Celestia sighed. “Sunset, there is a reason our curriculum is broken into distinct levels. I continuously try to discourage students like yourself and Moondancer from reading ahead in the literature because they haven’t had the proper background in it to start dabbling in it.”

“If she had read ahead, she should have known even if she ended up totally petrified the curse isn’t permanent for a week-”

“Provided you cast it properly,” Celestia sharply cut off. “That’s what I just warned you about. If you don’t cast the spell properly, it could either fail to work or it could go to the opposite extreme and be unbreakable.”

“I had it correct!” Sunset insisted, leaning up out of her chair now. “And I thought I’d be giving them some help! If they learn how to do magic as well as I can, maybe I won’t have to keep waiting for them to catch up!”

Celestia folded her hands. “And when you saw Moondancer clearly looking scared and not able to think of the spell, you didn’t think that maybe it was time to perform the counter-curse yourself? Or at least try to guide her through it? You instead thought it was a good idea to leave her terrified and to upset the rest of your classmates along with her? To show off your own power at their expense?”

“The rest of them could have jumped in! Minuette had the textbook!”

The headmistress stared back without changing her expression. She was silent for a few moments. “I’m sure you are aware of this, but Professor Inkwell asked that I remove you from her class.”

“If she really wants me out of her class, I’ll be fine with going back to private lessons,” Sunset responded; her tone actually picking up in a touch of hope. “I think I was making a lot more progress just with you, headmistress. I’m ready for whatever spell you want me to master.”

Celestia’s face didn’t change. “It took me a great deal of convincing, but I managed to talk her into letting you stay.”

Sunset’s face sank a little. “Really?”

The headmistress’ eyes narrowed slightly.

“But I’m not learning anything new in there! That’s why I started dabbling in the Level VI textbook to begin with! I’m bored! Can’t you at least give me a new spell to work on mastering on the side?”

Celestia’s eyes closed as she exhaled tiredly.

“Alright, alright…” Sunset groaned. “I promise I won’t ever use magic on the other kids in the class again. I’ll apologize to Moondancer today.”

“Sunset,” she spoke wearily, straightening in her chair and lowering her hands again, “you’re missing the point. If you aren’t seeing why it was a wrong thing to do in the first place, then you still haven’t understood the reason I placed you in the normal classes.”

“Well, what is the reason?”

Celestia placed a hand on her forehead and shook it. “I can’t just tell you that.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I do, you won’t learn it.” Her voice had turned sharper. “You’ll only do what I want you to do and act the way I want you to act for a high mark or a grade, and nothing will have changed.”

“What do you mean nothing will have changed?”

“It’s…” she started to say. However, she merely sighed tiredly again and shook her head. “It’s nothing. Just…do what you said. Apologize to Moondancer and don’t let me see you in my office over this again.”

That answer was clearly unsatisfactory to Sunset, and she showed it as she started to rise. “Headmistress, this isn’t fair! You said you had more to tell me! Why not-”

“Sunset, I don’t have time for this right now,” she cut off, opening her eyes and looking back at her. “Something very important needs my attention and I have a lot of decisions to make in the near future. Just stick with Professor Inkwell’s class and I’ll see what I can do about getting you some extracurricular work on your next evaluation.”

Sunset, however, keyed in on that first part. “Important? What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing that need concern you. Not right now, at any rate.”

“Is it something that had to do with that woman who came out of your office when I got here?”

At once, Celestia leveled a firm glare on her. Her eyes radiated with a power she hadn’t seen since that night last year. And just as on that night, the power in her eyes and the ferocity with which she stared at her was enough to not only render her mute but conveyed one central idea.

Do not ask about that again.

Realizing she was getting nowhere else, she dropped it and nodded. “Very well, headmistress.”

For the first time since she had met her, she saw Celestia take a slow, deliberate effort to calm herself down again, before she managed a small nod. “Very well. Good day, Sunset.”

Naturally, Moondancer not only hadn’t accepted Sunset’s canned apology but had shrunk away from her silently when she tried to give it, and the rest of the class kept their distance from her the rest of the day as well. Not that she cared. Her mind was still ablaze with what she had seen and heard in the office that day. Even when she finally turned into her dormitory room for the night, she continued to lie awake and think about it.

It went without saying that Sunset did not have the same level of “hero worship” she used to possess for the princess on arrival at her academy, but even so she still held her in very high esteem. More so than anyone else at the academy. She had never seen her looking so distraught or tired before that afternoon. She didn’t think it was possible for the princess to be so worked up. Nothing ever seemed to get her down.

The only other time she had come close had been the night Sunset went to the Northern Keep…

As the night slowly wore on, Sunset thought more about that night. For many months afterward, she had nightmares about it. Celestia’s look and reaction, to say nothing of what she had actually heard that voice say. Yet as time passed and her experience and talent grew, all horror was replaced by curiosity. It occurred to her that night that whatever was in that place was the only thing she had ever seen upset Celestia, and that, as far as she knew, nothing had been done to remove it.

In the end, in spite of the stern warnings, even commands, and her own remembered fears, she decided nothing was for it but a second visit.

Around midnight, she slipped out of bed, quickly put on her clothes and shoes, and began to make her way out of the dormitory. If she had managed to slip out undetected a year ago, now it was so much easier to walk around the watchmen, locks, and other defenses. She knew, however, that ever since she had snuck into the Northern Keep Celestia kept a guard posted at the only gate all night every night.

Fortunately, she had ways around that too. The first was to hide her approach. She did that by not leaving the dormitory through the normal pathways on the castle grounds that would have made her approach obvious, but instead got only to the second floor before moving out to the laundry area and exiting through one of the windows adjacent to the gardens. She emerged not only on an unprotected side but near the gardens. After that, she stayed with them and managed to make her way to the Northern Keep, drawing very close to its eastern side in the process.

From her position in the forest, she spotted the two guards. She managed to get so close under the cover of night that neither of them even glanced to her when only a single wall of foliage concealed her. Unfortunately, she could get no nearer, and she knew full well they could handle basic magic. Anything more advanced would trigger an alert. Instead, she tried another Level VI spell she had wanted to use for a while. It took her a good solid ten minutes of preparation; staring at the other side of the gate behind the two guards and trying to focus on where she wanted to go, but finally she performed the chant. In a flash of fiery light, she disappeared.

The two guards were alerted, but it didn’t matter. As they ran to inspect the bushes, Sunset had already reappeared within the gate on the other side. She felt a massive headache and her body felt a bit stretched, but luckily it only kept her down for a minute—well before the two returned. Drawing herself up, smiling at her first successful teleport, she advanced.

Even though it had been a year ago, Sunset remembered the path only too well. In no time at all, she had navigated through the secret passages, lifted the magic locks, and worked her way around the labyrinthian keep until, at long last, she reached the third sublevel again. In spite of her curiosity, she couldn’t help but feel nearly as afraid as she had the first time on stepping into it. It seemed to have grown even danker and clammier. And as she walked over the moss-and-slime covered masonry and rocks, past the old, rusted, chilly dungeon gates, with only a soft fireball of her own making for light, she began to uncover unpleasant memories. She started to recall it wasn’t only for Celestia’s command that had kept her away, but rather the thought of the thing that was all but buried alive in the place.

As she neared the final stretch, the one last stone staircase that seemed to descend straight down forever into the darkness, she suddenly thought of something that made her hesitate. What if Celestia wasn’t there? What if only the thing was? The keep was deathly silent. Any sound she made would be heard. And if it was, and the thing heard her, what if it started to address her? Or what if it somehow could get loose and roam the keep at will while Celestia was away?

The thought almost melted her resolve. She only managed enough courage to reach the foot of the long staircase and, very reluctantly, look down. Had she seen nothing but darkness, she would have turned and run right then and there.

But no. Just like one year ago, far down at the end of the stairs, seemingly in the bowels of the world itself, was a flickering of light. And just as on that year, there were shadows.

It was down there, and so was Celestia.

Sunset swallowed, but she could hear nothing even in the silence and cold of the keep. Again, the thought occurred to her to turn around and leave. Remember the promise she made Celestia and never come there again. However, her curiosity wouldn’t let her. She had come that far. To turn around with nothing would render it in vain. Forcing her feet to move, she commanded herself to proceed. Moving painfully slowly, not making a sound, she stretched out a foot and placed it on the stairwell. Soon she stepped down again.

At this rate, it would have easily taken an hour to get all the way down the stairs, but she didn’t intend on going that far. And she didn’t need to. She only descended about six steps before she stopped, hearing a noise from far below. In moments, she felt her blood curdle as she repressed the urge to gasp.

It was the thing again.

And this time, it was laughing.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. Trembling, she managed one more step, but could go no lower. At that moment, it laughed even more high pitched and wild than before. It was a horrendous, twisted sound. Like something that didn’t know how to laugh or even what a laugh really was, and somehow mistook some bizarre form of scream for it. She could almost swear she heard it getting louder.

After a minute more, the thing locked down there gave a hideous, whooping cry in which it spoke out in a voice both dripping with madness and twisted with malevolence. It was even more of a horrible sound than Sunset remembered, and hearing it brought back all the frightening memories from before. Even as she stood there a teenager, it only took that one phrase to reduce her to a child again.

In a snap, she turned around and ran back up. She kept running back through the passages of the keep all the way to the castle grounds, and it was only a miracle that the guards had stopped to talk to the sentries about any intruders that she wasn’t caught on running back out. She hadn’t the presence of mind to try and teleport again. She plunged into the garden, charged through it, went back through the laundry room window, ran upstairs, and threw herself into her room before locking the door.

It wasn’t until an hour before dawn that she finally calmed fully again, and while she was unusually quiet the rest of the next day it was a welcome change for all of her classmates. However, long before that happened, she finally relaxed enough to think about the words that she had heard from the thing chained in the bottom of the Northern Keep. She would continue to think of them progressively more often from that day forth.

“You made a mistake with her, didn’t you?! Now you wish you’d never brought her here to begin with!”

The rendezvous point had been a good choice. It was a distance from not only any city or settlement, but also isolated from any of the spots where the Appleloosan military had deployed in response to both the surge of Nighttouched as well as the chaos their own forces had caused.

The Rising Sun had been put into a “hover dock” about 500 feet above the ground, left to wait for the others to arrive. The Legacy was likewise docked, and the helmsman had notified her a little while ago an airship was approaching flashing signals indicating it was the Prodigy. However, Sunset had taken her spot on the upper deck, heedless of both the wind and the threat of a stray flying Nighttouched, so that she could look out for one other arrival in particular. Not long after, it came.

A strange metal device born along on a jet of flame, elongated like an armored rocket, shot up from the ground and straight for the lower bay on the Rising Sun. Mounted across it was an armored man; the only one capable of driving it after Sunset had finished modifying it. He road on it like one would a horse, only using a set of handlebars rather than reins, and driving with such skill one would have assumed it was no more than a trained beast to him.

Five minutes later, as the Prodigy was coming in to dock alongside the Rising Sun while the Legacy was already mounted, the dorsal hatch opened and a soldier dressed in Trottingham royal guard armor walked onto the upper deck. Sunset looked over him for a moment, catching a whiff of ozone.

“Have any trouble?”

“None at all, my lady.”

“Then I guess neither of them were the one we wanted after all?”

“I couldn’t tell.”

Sunset’s perpetual smug smirk ebbed. She turned fully to face him. “What do you mean you couldn’t tell?”

“They both escaped.”

Her smile faded all together as her pupils narrowed. “Really.” She took a step in his direction. “And you talk about almost as if it’s something to be proud of.”

“They both have an Anima Viri now, and both can partially use them.”

“Which is why I sent you to deal with them in the first place.” Her tone was growing increasingly irritated. “Because I thought you would be able to handle two at a time. Now you’re starting to make me wonder why I bothered giving you that armor and chariot to begin with if you just let them escape even with it.”

“This only works out to our advantage, Lady Sunset.”

“Oh, does it now? How do you figure that?”

The royal guard held his spear upright and struck it against the ship’s deck, drawing Sunset’s attention to it. “I tagged one in the leg with the tracer dye.”

Sunset hesitated, but still looked critical. “I see. But we wouldn’t really have had to track them down later to begin with if you had done away with them now.”

“But my lady, I thought after our last stop you were trying to drive the Appleloosan government to round them up? Now if they get picked up and gathered to others, we’ll be able to strike them together without having to hunt each one down individually.”

She paused. She was quiet a moment as she thought this over, but she calmed quickly at the realization of that fact. Once the Prodigy was also docking and the Legacy had crossed over, she finally eased. “It seems I should give you a bit more credit, Flash. Well done.”

He immediately crossed his arm about his chest and dropped to a bow. “Thank you, my lady.”

“Just don’t get sentimental on me in the future. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but chivalry died out long before the Lunar Fall.”

With that, she turned away and looked forward. The commanding officer of the Legacy approached while Snips and Snails came forward from the Prodigy. She stepped up to both of them.

“Alright, let’s recap where we’re at. Our own ship managed to track down six in all; all neutralized. Snips, Snails,” She gave them a sour look. “I’ll spare you the embarrassment of disclosing how you only managed to eliminate one and let two more escape. Suffice to say it’s unlikely that either of them was the main target. What they did manage to do, however, is get us a description to go on.”

She turned back to the other officer. “We’re looking for a street magician. My height. Purple eyes and purple hair with a pink streak. Has a dog following her around. Alright, how’d you do?”

“We eliminated three, Lady Sunset, but I think you’ll be more pleased by the other news we have to offer.”

She crossed her arms again. “Really now. Why’s that?”

“If that description is correct, we’ve found her.”

Sunset was immobile for just a moment before she broke into a wide smile. “Well, that does make me happy, but I’m taking from the fact that you aren’t giving her to me right now that you didn’t actually manage to capture her?”

“Unfortunately no, my lady. We encountered her, but she managed to escape by crossing through the Greater Everfree Forest. She’s headed west, though. There’s only one route she can take, and one place where she can emerge.”

She nodded. “That there is. So, what can you tell me about her?”

“She definitely has a full grasp on her power. She used it to turn into a figure with a wide cloak and a pointy, wide-brimmed hat. Also what looked like a wand or stave.”

“Caster role, eh? How quaint. Makes sense.”

“More than that, though. She has another one with her who also has a full grasp on her Anima Viri. This one had combat armor and a warhammer.”

This gave Sunset pause, intriguing her. “A Warrior role? And paired with a Caster. Huh…” She raised a hand and put it to her chin. “So they offset most of each other’s weaknesses. Especially if they got away from you.”

She grinned wide enough to show her teeth.

“I might actually get to have some fun with these two. If I take them personally, they might actually make me break a sweat.”

“What are the orders now, my lady?” the royal guard spoke up.

She uncrossed her arms, laced her fingers together, and cracked her knuckles. “From here on in, it’s the easy part. We know which way they’re headed. You can track your group, and all I need to do is wait for them to use their Anima Viris again and I’ll be able to track mine.” She glanced to Snips and Snails. “You two and the Prodigy are with us.” She turned to the other commanding officer afterward. “You keep up the good work and arch downward through the country. Make sure no one from Appleloosa disturbs our trip as we work our way west and take out any more folks with the Promethian Sigil you can find while you’re at it.”

All three bowed to Sunset, and then turned to go back to their respective ships. She herself turned and began to walk toward the hatch leading below deck. As she passed the knight, he rose and quickly fell in behind her.

“We’re causing quite a bit of trouble and right in the midst of a Nighttouched surge. The largest one in years. Cinch could have us all hung for this.”

“Flash, as soon as I’ve claimed that Anima Viri from our little runaway, neither Cinch, Trottingham, or anyone else will ever have anything to say about what we do again.”

Nightwatch: A Kindly Host

Author's Notes:

If you've been keeping up with this story, you're probably starting to wonder when the heck Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are going to show up. Well, wait no longer.

I also apologize for a chronic misspelling until now. It's Mount Aris, not Eris. (Eris would be the IDW Comic villain. )

Hours had passed since the two had plunged into the forest as deep as they dared. They had slowed only briefly before the shots fired into the woods from the pursuing airship caused them both to run as fast as they could through the now-uneven terrain for miles beyond. Even when their respective transformations faded they kept going, and hours after that Applejack and Twilight were both feeling it. Their bodies were sore not only from last night and lack of sleep but now from the actions of that day.

Applejack was used to this trudging when necessary although she didn’t like it, but Twilight was practically collapsing on Spike as she limped along by now. She was tripping over tree roots once every five minutes and she was making a lot of noise each time—a fact that Applejack wasn’t too happy about as the day grew later and the shadows in the forest lengthened.

Finally, she huffed, pulled her hat off, and gestured. “Alright…I guess we better start headin’ out.”

Twilight was so exhausted it took her a moment to pick up on that. “Wait…what? We can’t do that! If the country is still wide and flat, that airship could see us for miles! Especially if it’s still looking for us!”

“I’d rather be out there with an airship than in here much longer…” the farmer muttered back.

Twilight was reluctant, but a glance toward the direction of Equestria and how many black patches were showing up made it clear that was best. The three worked their way back to the forest edge. On hitting the tree line, they looked out but saw no sign of any pursuing airship. Soon after, they stepped into the open fields beyond and kept walking.

Unfortunately, both of them knew this wasn’t much better. It might not have been getting dark that quickly, but the landscape had nothing else but other stands of trees and fields; both natural and farmland. Neither was useful to them.

“We gotta find some shelter somewhere…and fast,” Twilight groaned, looking to the sky. “The sun will set in an hour at the most.”

Applejack frowned while glancing about. “Most of these fields are abandoned and left ta’ fallow. Not only does that mean most folks ‘round here are gone, it means they packed up and left ‘cause the Nighttouched are real bad. Don’t know ‘bout you but I’m exhausted. Don’t think I can fight another one without some sleep… Any ideas where ta’ head?”

Twilight uneasily looked at the forest and the field. “We could start walking away from the forest and hope we come up to something. That’d get us farther away from the Nighttouched at least. But we still have to worry about that airship. Maybe we should walk alongside instead so long as we’re in an area that is…or at least was…settled. We can duck back in the forest if we need to.”

“Ain’t gonna find the forest safe much longer…” Applejack muttered as she looked into the woods; searching for yellow eyes. She kept watching as she began to walk and Twilight soon followed.

The two found the way easier now, but that only made them pick up the pace. They found they were indeed in the rural part of a country but it was long since abandoned. They risked calling out once or twice for people every time they came to a spot that looked more well-traveled, but that soon stopped. There was no one around and, as night continued to near, they knew it would only attract more Nighttouched when the sun fell. Applejack kept looking into the woods as the shadows deepened; her nervousness growing as her stamina continued to lessen.

After a while, she looked behind her to Twilight. Seeing how far back she was, she called out. “Don’t fall behind now. No sense walkin’ next ta’ this critter-infested forest if we both can’t duck inta’ it in a hurry.”

“Sorry…” she said between pants. “Been…a while since…I’ve done this much cross-country…walking…”

Applejack waited a second or two before frowning and continuing to walk. “This don’t make any sense ta’ begin with. Why in the world would some airship from Trottingham want ta’ risk causin’ a war just to hit us?”

“I have no idea… I’ve never seen…”

Applejack walked a few more steps before she realized Twilight had trailed off. “Seen what?”

“Nothing.”

Noticing how hurried that was, Applejack turned her head back to her, crooking an eyebrow. Twilight, still poor at hiding her emotions, was already wincing.

“No, what?”

Twilight hesitated a moment, before realizing it wasn’t going to help to hide anything anymore. She exhaled and slumped. “Remember what I was saying earlier about the one person who could have stopped this?”

“Yeah.”

“She was my instructor. The same night the Lunar Fall happened, we were on a summer break and doing a tour across Greater Everfree. The rest of the students and I were being taken to our respective hometowns to say hi to our parents for a night or two. When we arrived at my home, I got out of our carriage, and moments later…” She stiffened.

“What?”

Her face shook, her eyes staring at the ground with a hollow expression. “Moments later…something blew up the carriage with the princess and the rest of the students in it.”

Applejack was surprised, but also caught one word. “Wait… Did you say ‘princess’?”

Twilight shook her head, pushing away the bad memory. “That…that doesn’t really matter… All that matters is that night, something or someone tried to get rid of both my headmistress and the rest of the students she was teaching about magic, the Promethian Sigils, and what was going to happen to this world. I never found out who and…and…” She began to look fearful and uneasy again.

“And what?”

She grasped one of her arms and rubbed it uncomfortably. “To tell the truth, I’ve been scared to find out.” She looked up, and the farmer could see the fear in her eyes. “Whoever killed my headmistress and my classmates that night would have killed me too if they had been ten seconds faster. And believe me when I say that anyone who could catch the headmistress off guard like that is not someone to underestimate. That’s the reason I don’t stay in one place. I’ve been scared over the past eight years that they’d find out they…they ‘missed one’…”

Applejack frowned. “Ya’ mean ta’ tell me there’s other folks out there after the heads of anybody who’s got one of them symbols on their hands?”

“No! I mean, I don’t think so! Or…or at least never until now! But…based on what happened at Fort Chestnut…” she trailed off before wincing. “This is why-”

“I know, I know…” Applejack sighed, “this is why it was better ya’ didn’t tell me nothin’… Ain’t nothin’ for it now. Just tell me if ya’ think them Trottingham ones are the one who got yer headmistress.”

“I’m sorry,” she sighed, shaking her head. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve never seen anyone actively trying to target me until today, so maybe. Whoever killed my headmistress was secretive, though. No one…” she paused, grimacing a little, “no one in my town saw anything.”

Applejack noted the pause, but wasn’t in the mood to press more. “Well, it can wait ‘til we got a place ta’ rest our heads.” She looked forward again. “And we gotta make do pretty soon. We… Hey wait! Over there!”

The farmer stopped and pointed. Twilight and Spike walked up further and looked where she indicated.

Up ahead was a field where the grass had been kept low, either due to cutting or grazing. At the moment, some domesticated and wild animals alike were moving about in it. Their posture and mannerisms indicated they were looking for a spot to relieve themselves. However, presiding over all of it in a long, simple, one-piece dress was a woman with long pink hair. She was too far to hear clearly, but she seemed to be calling out to them as if she was their handler.

“Somebody’s up there!”

Twilight quickly moved to her side. “Oh, what a relief! If there’s someone here, that means they must have a shelter nearby!”

“I better get ta’ her ‘fore she has a chance ta’ run off!”

“Wait, don’t do that! You might scare-”

It was too late. Applejack immediately took off in a rush, seizing her hat off her head and waving it while shouting. “Ma’am! Ma’am!”

The shouting went all up and down the valley, and several of the animals perked up, spotting someone charging at them, and then broke into a run and scattered. In moments, the pink-haired woman looked up as well. However, rather than do as Twilight feared and break for it, she simply stood there and looked a mixture of fearful and nervous. She cringed, folded her hands, and turned her head down to the side; like a mixture of a shy child and a cornered animal.

Applejack ignored that as she finally came up to her and slowed to a halt, as well as the fact that, while the other animals had run off, a single white rabbit still stood there like some sort of sentry. “Howdy, ma’am,” she spoke hurriedly, “the two of us have been in a real peck of trouble and now we’re lost. Can ya’ tell us where the nearest town is?”

The woman merely stood there in her semi-cringed posture. She had let her long hair fall over the side of the face facing Applejack, and used that as a shield for her vision even as she kept looking at the ground.

Applejack was puzzled. “Er…ma’am? ‘Scuse me? Ma’am?”

She glanced up to Applejack, but then away again; even more nervous than before.

This began to annoy the farmer. “Can ya’ at least look at someone when they’re talkin’ to-”

“Sorry! Sorry!” Twilight quickly cut in, only then finally managing to catch up with Applejack and fall in next to her. She let out a short, nervous laugh between fresh pants. “Didn’t mean to startle you, ma’am! We’ve just had a really, really rough day and we’ve been walking for a really long time. We’re not bandits or thieves though; just travelers. We’re not even armed…uh…unless you count a hammer. So there’s no reason to be afraid of us.”

The woman glanced up again once, but then looked back down again.

Applejack frowned. Twilight looked uncomfortable, wondering if the woman had even understood that. “Well, um…as I said, we really don’t mean you any harm or trouble and we’ll be out of your way soon as we’re just passing through. So there’s no reason to be scared of us. Ok?”

She kept looking away. Her lips parted, but spoke so softly that the two only heard a quiet mumble.

“Ex…excuse me?”

She looked up once briefly before mumbling even quieter than before.

Applejack’s teeth began to grit. “Dagnabbit, this is a waste of time… If ya’ ain’t gonna talk ta’ us, can ya’ at least point us to where the nearest town is?”

Her voice was so booming that the woman cringed a little more, letting out a feeble noise that almost sounded like a whine. Twilight gave Applejack an annoyed look. “Could you talk a little quieter? I think you’re intimidating her.”

“Well, at this point I’m startin’ ta’ wonder what in tarnation she’s doing out here in the first place so close ta’ the Equestrian border if two people passin’ through make her clam up tighter than a river muss-”

“Oh…oh my! I’ve never seen a dog like you before!”

The two women stopped and looked back to the lady; both a bit surprised to suddenly hear her speak. They got another surprise to see her previous shy and fearful demeanor had vanished. She was now crouched on the ground and greeting Spike happily.

“What a beautiful shade of fur!” she went on as she pet his belly. “And it’s so soft too! Who’s a good boy? You’re a good boy!”

Spike, naturally, not only accepted all of this praise, but it only took a few seconds before he got down and rolled over to allow the woman greater access to his belly. As for Twilight and Applejack, they were both a tad dumbfounded at the difference in demeanor. They looked to one another, before Twilight decided to risk using it. Forcing a new smile on her face, she crouched down next to Spike as well.

“So, um…you like my dog?”

“Oh, he’s your dog?” the woman spoke up, finally addressing them clearly. “He’s so handsome! I didn’t know dogs came in a shade of purple and green. What’s his name?”

“Spike.”

“Well hello there, Spike! You’re a cute boy! Where was he born?”

“I’m not exactly sure. I got him in Canterlot Castle.”

The moment she said that, Twilight’s own eyes widened and she nearly covered her own mouth. Applejack perked up again on seeing her slip, but the pink-haired woman seemed not to mind so much. “Oh my… I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Canterlot Castle. Are there many animals like him there?”

Twilight sweat a little, but quickly evaded the issue. “I, um…couldn’t say. I was only visiting… But anyway, like my friend was saying, the two, I mean, three of us are really in a whole lot of trouble right now. We, uh…got stranded from the rest of our group and some…bad people chased us into the forest on the Equestrian border.”

The pink-haired woman looked up, cupping a hand to her mouth. For a moment, it seemed as if she would be petrified again, but fortunately the dog had gotten her to open up. “Oh no! Little Spike didn’t get hurt, did he?”

“‘Spike’?!” Applejack retorted. “The dog? What about-”

“We all came out of it ok,” Twilight quickly cut in, “but we’ve been running half the day and we’re exhausted, and the sun is going to be down soon. We really need to find shelter fast. Can you please show us the way to your town?”

“Town?” she echoed back, before looking away again. “Oh…oh dear… You see, um…I don’t live near any towns. I haven’t even been to any towns in about two years now, but the last one I passed through was at least eight miles southwest of here.”

“Eight…eight miles?!” Applejack echoed in shock. “We’ll never make it that far before sundown! Not even if we could run the whole way!”

Twilight hesitated a moment before smiling a little more at the woman. “Well, in that case, I don’t suppose, um…possibly…maybe…you would be willing to let us…”

She trailed off. Her eyes suddenly widened.

Applejack noticed the pause and turned to her. “Twilight, come on. Spit it out. Ya’ were gonna-”

“Excuse me,” Twilight quickly cut off, before she snapped to her feet and went in alongside Applejack. The woman didn’t seem to notice, continuing to pet Spike; now tickling him and making one of his legs kick. At once, Twilight’s tone turned sharp.

“Applejack, we can’t stay with her.”

“Beg yer pardon?” she answered at full volume, making Twilight wince again. “Why in tarnation-”

She reached out for her chin and turned her head. “Look.”

Applejack found herself forced to look at the woman again. She nearly protested, until she realized Twilight was indicating toward her hands.

On taking a closer look, and seeing her now petting Spike, she noticed a six-sided emblem on one.

“She’s got a Promethian Sigil!” Twilight sharply whispered. “She could go crazy during the night and try and kill us!”

Applejack almost rolled her eyes. The pink-haired woman looked about as solidly built as a tower of feathers, and as intimidating as a butterfly. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Just look at her.”

“Well, look at her now… But if her mood changes…”

“It’ll be fine,” Applejack waved off. “If anything comes up, it’s two of us on her and we’ve both got our…our…whatever ya’ called ‘em.”

“But-”

“Ma’am,” Applejack spoke up again, far more composed this time. She actually pulled off her hat as the woman look up to her. “We’re stranded out here right now so I don’t suppose ya’ could trouble yerself ta’ let us shack up with ya’ for the night, could ya’? We’re willin’ ta’ do whatever chores ya’d like ta’ earn our keep, but we’re really in a tight spot. If ya’ don’t help us out, the three of us’ll end up sleepin’ under the stars.”

“Oh dear…” the woman softly answered, leaning up and looking down on Spike anxiously. “This is far too close to the forest… I’d hate to think of what might happen to poor Spike during the night… He could be bitten by a Nighttouched rat or bat, or clawed at by a Nighttouched owl, or even run into a wild Nighttouched raccoon or dog…”

“Uh…we wouldn’t care fer any of that stuff ta’ come ta’ us neither.”

She nervously wrung her hands. “I…I don’t normally have guests…but…” She looked back up to them. “If you’re really sure you wouldn’t mind, then…I guess I could let you stay at my home tonight.”

“Heh, right now we’re a couple o’ the least-choosin’ beggars you’ve ever seen,” Applejack half-chuckled.

“We certainly wouldn’t mind. Thank you very much,” Twilight added.

“Well…alright, if you say so…” she timidly answered as she began to rise. “I don’t live far and I was about to get the animals in for the night anyway… We better hurry.”

About fifteen minutes later, both Twilight and Applejack were, somewhat hesitantly, “settling in”. It turned out the shelter that their new host was offering them was an old cellar underneath an even older, half-broken down shack. It probably would have been a bit more appealing to them if they didn’t find they were sharing it with almost an entire farm worth of animals jam packed everywhere they could be, leaving them barely any room to stretch out on the floor.

Both women glanced about repeatedly at the walls of chickens, mice, turtles, lizards, squirrels, raccoons, birds, rabbits, and more. Twilight noted that many of them seemed to have a purple or dark-colored splotch on them, while Applejack frequently looked at the woman’s rabbit; who, at this point, was not only down there with them but seemed to be eyeing them cautiously. He wasn’t touching his own food, but Spike, lying nearby, was digging into his own. Their host had made sure to feed them first, and now the ceiling above them creaked as she moved about.

After a time, Twilight somewhat uneasily moistened her lips. “So…” she called up above, “Missus…uh…um…?”

“Oh…I’m Fluttershy,” her voice softly called back.

“Fluttershy. Do you really live out here all by yourself?”

“Well, with all of my friends. I left town a while ago and came out here. I saw this building was abandoned and I moved in. I, um…don’t really care for towns that much. I tend to…get a bit shy around people.”

“I can imagine…” Applejack muttered before looking up again. “Looks like you an’ the critters all cram down here every night?”

“Oh yes. I can’t really barricade the house against any Nighttouched, especially the small ones. So we hide down there every night. Don’t worry. I always make sure everyone does their business before heading down.”

Both Twilight and Applejack winced. A single whiff of the cellar informed them that Fluttershy had clearly gone “nose-blind” to the animals after two years. “I…think there might have been an ‘accident’ or two down here at one point.”

“Oh dear…well, animals will be animals.”

A few moments later, she appeared at the top of the cellar door, holding a small, warped pot and a few bowls. She began to make her way down the stairs. “I apologize in advance for supper. I wasn’t really expecting anyone and I had to put out the fire before it got too late so…it might be a bit undercooked.”

“Well, I’m hungry as a horse so I’ll take whatever yer offerin’, ma’am,” Applejack answered as she reached the bottom. As soon as she was down, she moved over to Spike’s side, pausing to pet him as well as her rabbit again, before setting the bowls down and beginning to use a spoon in her pot to scoop something into them. Twilight soon spotted it was rather gray, lumpy, and paste-like, with numerous dark spots in it.

She tried to suppress her displeasure. “So, um…what are we having?”

“Oh, my own special recipe for oatmeal. I made it up myself when I moved out here.” She smiled a bit at that last part in self-pride.

Soon she had served up the bowls and passed them out along with some old spoons. She immediately went right into her own, offering a little to her rabbit at the same time. Applejack tried to dig into hers, but her spoon seemed to be adhered to it. She frowned and pulled at it a bit, almost needing to shift her grip, before it came up and she began to eat. Twilight noted her expression blanched a moment before she was able to put down a bite. Nervously, she went for a spoonful from her own bowl.

“The best part about it is that it’s made right from the same food I gather for the animals, so they can have whatever is left over.” Fluttershy added happily.

Applejack paused; giving her own food a glance. Reluctantly, she forced herself to keep eating. Twilight was far more nervous as she pulled up a spoonful of her own. “Really now? And…what kind of food is in it?”

“Well, oats of course. But I also coarse ground some kernels and seeds, and I even throw in some mashed up grubs, beetles, and larva. They really give you a lot of energy, you know.”

Twilight flashed a shade green. Applejack herself moved even slower, now seeming to rue each bite, but she also leaned over and elbowed Twilight. “She’s givin’ us a free meal no matter how bad we think it is…and we ain’t gonna get nowhere tomorrow without some food in our stomachs tonight.”

At long last, wincing one more time, Twilight took up a spoonful and put it in her mouth. She looked slightly more nauseated each time her tongue touched one of the more “gritty” parts, not knowing if they were seed kernels or insect exoskeleton, and trying not to think about what each unusual blob of material her tongue touched was. At last, she managed to force it to her throat, and soon after winced as she tried three separate times to swallow.

After a time, Applejack leaned in again. “It’s a bit easier if ya’ chew it first.”

She winced again as she forced it back up to chew a little, seeming almost ready to heave each time, before she finally swallowed a bite. At that point, looking as if the sick feelings in her stomach were worse than hunger, she set the bowl down. “Ms. Fluttershy…” she went on again, trying to get her mind off of it, “you’ve really been living out here for two years? This close to the border to Equestria? By yourself?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say all by myself. I do have all my little friends here.”

“But as dangerous as it is you’ve still managed to stay out here?”

She folded her hands in her lap momentarily. “It does get a bit dangerous from time to time…but I’m used to it by now. I’ve worked out a good system for being able to avoid any Nighttouched or Light Eaters. I even have a special hood I used to make sure none are hiding in the house in the morning before I get up. And I’d still rather be out here than in a town.”

Applejack frowned. “Ya’ might wanna rethink that. We just got away from a whole hoard o’ Nighttouched comin’ cross the border. Not more than half a day’s walk from here.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, before she cringed a little again. “Oh…oh my… Really?”

“Worse’n that. They got some special ones that eat right through wooden walls.” She nodded to the ceiling. “That cellar door ain’t gonna mean squat to them if they decide ta’ break in.”

“Oh dear…” she winced a bit more. “That does sound bad…but…” She looked up and around herself, at all the rows of animals currently in the cellar. “Oh…I can’t just up and leave all of them behind. They still need me. I’m the only one who can help them.”

“I’m sure that if you could corral all of them, you could relocate them to a forest or abandoned lot in a safer town south of here,” Twilight offered. “It’d be safer than living here.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, it’s not that. Here…” She turned to the side as she put her bowl down and patted her lap. “Angel, could you come here a moment?”

The rabbit looked up and then, a bit to the bewilderment of the two ladies, did exactly as she said and hopped over to her. He soon lay out on her lap, and she began to pet his head, but also gently manipulated him through her petting to get him to roll over. Once he did, she moved out and held one of his rear legs. She stretched it out while still stroking him and exposed the other side.

The light from the single lantern in the cellar was faint, but the two could make out a tiny purple splotch on his inner thigh.

Twilight looked curious. “What is that? It almost looks like the same color as…”

She trailed off; her eyes widening in realization.

“You…you don’t mean…?”

Fluttershy bowed her head a little sadly. “Angel showed me that he was out trying to dig up a tuber in the woods about two miles from the border when it suddenly got dark out, and soon after he saw a long, prickly Light Eater come out like a cobra and try to strike him. He tried to jump, but he got poked on the inside of his thigh by one of its spines. He ran and ran until he went out of the forest and right up to me, and he was so scared and panicked he jumped right into my arms. That was about six years ago now…”

“Six…six years?!” Twilight cried; loud enough to make Angel and Spike lean up and Fluttershy cringe.

Applejack shrugged. “What ya’ yellin’ about?”

She snapped to her. “Didn’t you just hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Her rabbit got injured by a Light Eater six years ago!”

Her own bowl of oatmeal dropped to the ground. “Wh-what?! And…and ya’ mean…” she spun to the rabbit, who had calmed now but seemed to almost stare at the two of them angrily at upsetting him. “Ya’ mean…he ain’t…ain’t tried to bite yer throat out or nothin’? He’s still actin’ like a rabbit and not like some little pit demon?”

“I might have phrased that a bit more gently…” Twilight moaned.

“Oh…oh no, it’s alright,” Fluttershy answered as she began to lean up again. “I know what you’re saying. And you’re right. He should have turned into a Nighttouched in less than a day.” She looked up and around, gesturing around her. “They all should have.”

“All?” Twilight echoed back, before looking up and around. She gave another start. “You mean…those little splotches on them…?”

“They’re all gonna turn into Nighttouched?!” Applejack cried; almost getting up.

“Oh no, it’s fine,” Fluttershy reassured. “You see, that’s why I need to be here. Their spots aren’t getting any bigger. I’ll admit they do act a bit unusual… They seem to know everything I say to them and they walk around and act a lot more ‘person-like’ than normal animals would, and none of them seem to get any older. They’re not in danger, though. You see…every time their splotches start getting bigger, I found out all I have to do is look them straight in the eye and stare while I hold onto them. When I do that, the splotches shrink again.”

Both Twilight and Applejack were still rather tensed up, especially realizing they were basically surrounded by future monsters. Yet they paid attention to this, and when Fluttershy was finished they turned back to her incredulously.

“Seriously?”

She smiled and nodded back, but lowered her eyes again and frowned soon after. “But I can’t make the splotches go away all together… I’ve tried as hard as I could, but it’s no good. I can only shrink them, and after a while they always start to grow again. That’s why I have to stay with them.”

The two were quiet, rather surprised to hear this news. Even Twilight had never heard of anything like that before. However, she shrugged after a moment. “Well, even if you can’t find out a way to make the corruption go away completely, you can still relocate them somewhere safer.”

She shook her head. “No…I need to stay here in case I can pick up any more animals that end up getting attacked by Nighttouched. And if I’m not right next to the border, I’ll never see them…”

“Well, that’s just plain nuts,” Applejack snorted. “All ya’ need is a Light Eater ta’ walk right cross this border and there goes yer animals and yer homestead. And after that big surge we saw last night, I think that’s gonna be sooner rather than later.”

That made her turn a shade white, even in the dim light. “Oh…oh no, I couldn’t…” she meekly answered, shrinking in a bit further.

“What’s there ta’ be scared of?” Applejack frowned. “Twilight an’ I spent all day walkin’ right in the edge of the forest and didn’t run into a scrap o’ trouble. Everywhere else has gotta be safer.”

Fluttershy actually winced and looked at both of them in sudden terror. It was enough to make them both start.

“You…you actually went…through the forest…?”

Applejack blinked back, then shrugged. “Well, yeah. Ain’t like it’s right on the border where things get dark. You gotta know that livin’ this close, right?”

Fluttershy didn’t answer. She curled in on herself, placing her hands around Angel, and began to tremble. “Oh dear… Oh dear… Oh dear…”

“Um,” Twilight spoke up again, “is there something wrong?”

The woman didn’t answer. She was quiet for a long time, seeming to rock on herself and only saying “oh dear” like an attempt to self-soothe. Eventually, however, she looked up to them again. “You two don’t know how lucky you are. You can never set foot in that forest again.”

“Well, why not?”

Fluttershy again had to pause to compose herself, holding Angel up higher to her chest like a teddy bear. She looked again to the floor, letting her hair dangle over her face. Applejack was getting rather impatient when she finally spoke.

“A few days ago…Olivia ran into the forest. I tried to run after her and…and I ended up going…pretty deep… Where the sun stopped shining and…and I saw yellow eyes starting to come out… Only it wasn’t just a few of them like at night. It was hundreds…thousands of them…all moving through an old creek bed…”

She swallowed. After about a minute, Applejack and Twilight thought that was it, until she spoke up again.

“And then…then I saw…” Another swallow as her voice shrank to a near whisper. “Then I saw…it.”

Twilight, looking the more intrigued of the two, leaned in. “Saw what?”

Fluttershy’s eyes went lower as she muttered in a near whimper.

Applejack frowned. “Landsakes, we’ll never get it out of her now…”

Twilight didn’t give up. “A Nighttouched?”

She shook her head.

“A Light Eater?”

She nodded.

“A big one?”

She nodded again.

“Like…the size of a wagon?”

She shook her head.

“The size of a house?”

She shook her head.

Twilight began to look uneasy. “A…building?”

Another head shake.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Uh…is Twilight gettin’ farther away or closer ta’ how big it was?”

The lavender-haired woman swallowed a little herself now. “A…hillside?”

A long pause, before she nodded. Twilight actually let out a small gasp as she leaned back. Applejack blinked twice, her jaw beginning to hang.

“No way…that ain’t possible. No Light Eater gets that big…” She paused, then glanced at Twilight. “…Does it?”

“Not one I’ve ever seen…” she uneasily answered.

“Well, if one was that big, there ain’t no way it would have let Fluttershy go…” Seeing the pink-haired woman cringe, she quickly held up her hands. “Er, no offense.”

“I don’t know. If it was that big and she wasn’t too far from the border, it might not have been able to get closer without seeing some sunlight. The only thing the Light Eaters fear is the sun. Of course…” she winced. “Light Eaters tend to bring darkness with them wherever they go… If it was really that big, maybe she was too small to notice…”

She trailed off on seeing Fluttershy was looking more and more petrified. “Er, sorry,” she quickly apologized. “Do you remember anything else about it? Was it a corporeal form?”

Applejack quirked her brow. “Was it a what-now?”

Twilight sighed. “Did it have a form other than a cloud or a blob? Like it was taking the shape of a creature?”

“I’m…I’m not sure…” Fluttershy meekly answered. “All I remember was seeing four legs bigger than the trees around me walking by. They looked almost like a horse’s legs… Oh dear.” She set Angel down and began to rise. “I’m afraid I’m scaring myself a bit too much. I’m going to shut up the cellar now and then I’ll have to put out the light for the night.”

Quickly, she turned around and began to head up the stairs to close the cellar. Applejack continued to wince at the news, but also kept her eyes on Twilight.

She too was looking at the floor now, although her expression was far more thoughtful.

In spite of the cramped accommodations, smell, the wealth of new concerns and fears on her mind, and the food turning her stomach a little, Applejack was nevertheless so tired that it didn’t take her long to get to sleep. She wasn’t sure how many hours went by, but it was still pitch black and silent when she felt a hand set on her shoulder with a light shake.

“Applejack. Applejack.”

The voice was in such a faint whisper that she never would have awakened from it alone. However, the feeling of a hand on her as well as the light shake got her alert fairly quickly. After a few calls, she suddenly snapped up and nearly seized the hand, causing a tiny yipe from Twilight as well as several animals rustling. Only then did she recognize the voice.

“Wh…wha…Twilight?”

“Ssh!” was the sound that came back. A few moments of silence passed, as the animals eased again. Applejack felt her leaning in closer to her. “Keep your voice as low as you can. I wanted to wait until Fluttershy was asleep to talk again, but I’m sure a lot of these animals can hear us.”

“Animals ain’t what ya’ got ta’ worry about…” Applejack somewhat grumpily whispered back. “It’s some Nighttouched wanderin’ inta’ her house and hearin’ us down here.”

“So you don’t want to talk about what we’re going to do next when she’s not listening?”

The farmer paused, and then sighed. “No…I do. And right now, the first thing I’d like ta’ do is head back to my kinfolk.”

“Wh…what?!”

“Relax…keep yer voice down…” Applejack sighed back. “I said that’s what I’d like ta’ do. Not what I can do. I’ve been thinkin’ most of the day and…well…” She groaned. “Dagnabbit…I don’t know what them Trottingham types want, but if they’d blow a whole fort just ta’ get the two of us, then I’m a bigger danger ta’ them now than I ever was with this damn Promethian Sigil thing…”

“Well…we definitely can’t go back East,” Twilight groaned. “That just gets us closer to Trottingham and wherever that airship came from. And we can’t go any further North, either. That’s leaves South or West.”

“Ain’t no Apples that live in either of those parts…not anymore. Ta’ be honest, I’m outta my element out here. Ain’t never gone far from home. But no matter where we go, those Trottinghamites could show up. Any ideas?”

“Yes. West, toward Fillydelphia and Manehattan.”

Applejack nearly leaned up. “Ya’ outta yer magic-slingin’ mind? Not only is that on the other side o’ the Hyperborean Mountains, but it’s a third of the distance across Greater Everfree! ‘Sides, what’s so great ‘bout bein’ with all them stuck-up folk from Manehattan and them sneaky SOBs from Fillydelphia?”

“The fact that neither of them will let a Trottingham airship fly into their interior without shooting it down is a good start.”

Applejack found herself tongue-tied at that.

“If we head South, all we have is open country and sparse towns. All of the Appleloosan military is trying to guard the border from the Nighttouched surge according to Burnt Oak. Since Trottingham can hop over the border to Equestria whenever it likes, there’s no way they’ll be able to cover for us if they catch us out in the open.”

“Well, that’s assumin’ they can find us ta’ begin with. And walkin’ ‘longside the Equestrian border doesn’t really keep us safe from a surprise attack neither.”

“Except they can’t see through the trees, and while they may fly over it they’re not going to risk landing to look for us. I’ve taken this route before. We only need a couple days to travel West then we’ll be able to hit one of the major roads to the Shell River, then we just ride it down to the Seaquestria Port and cross right over. So many people travel down that river that they’ll never pick us out.”

Applejack frowned. “We still ain’t sure how they found us at Fort Chestnut…”

“They had to have gotten lucky. Passed by just as they saw us using our Anima Viris.”

The farmer wasn’t so sure, but she had to admit West was slightly better than South. She sighed. “Fine, fine… West and stuck-up cityfolk it is. Just so long as it means I can get a letter back to my folks and a newsstand to find out what happened ta’ Fort Chestnut. ‘Course, we got another reason ta’ not be so eager ta’ head West…assumin’ Fluttershy didn’t jus’ get spooked by some trees.”

Twilight paused. “I’ve…actually been thinking about what she said a lot.”

She snorted a bit as she leaned back down. “Tall tale, if ya’ ask me. If there were Light Eaters out there that big, Greater Everfree wouldn’t last a month…” Her face softened soon after. “Although, I gotta admit, the thought of one of them near here… I mean, they ain’t never figured out what caused the Light Eaters ta’ show up ta’ begin with…”

In spite of herself, she found herself cringing a little more and looking up at the darkness more uneasily.

“Don’t suppose…it might’ve been a big one…” Pause. “Ya’ think?”

“I…actually wonder if I’ve heard of it before.”

“Beg yer pardon?”

She heard Twilight shift as she leaned back on the cloth Fluttershy had lain out for them to use as a makeshift mattress. “There were a lot of things I learned in that academy, but there were a lot more things that I never got the chance to learn. And there were even more things than that which the headmistress didn’t want us to learn… There was one book, though, that I looked in that was in Celestia’s office. I was trying to ask her a question about a new spell and I was waiting for her, just sitting in that chair being bored, and it was lying on a stand that was already open and I knew it was a book I had never read, and so…I walked over to it and took a look. And I saw it was full of creatures I’d never seen before.”

“What kinda creatures?”

“Not…good ones. Most of them didn’t look like any animals I had ever seen. And a lot of them…” Her voice lowered. “Seemed to be monsters. I barely had a chance to flip through more than a couple dozen pages, and I read even less, but in that book I saw a Light Eater for the first time.”

Applejack sat up even more. “Say what now?”

“It was a long time ago now and I wondered if I imagined it… A lot of my memories in that school early on are unreliable. I think I was too overwhelmed by everything I saw. The more I thought about it, though, I’m almost positive that’s what I saw in that book. I think I didn’t believe it for so long because the book called it something different…”

“Ya’ mean ta’ tell me yer old schoolteacher knew ‘bout the Nighttouched long ‘fore they showed up?” She paused soon after saying this. “Uh…just outta curiosity, what did the book call them?”

She could hear Twilight swallow in the darkness. “Nightmares.”

“Uh…nightmares? Like bad dreams or…?”

“The whole name ‘nightmare’ comes from mythology to begin with…the idea of an unwholesome spirit tormenting people while they sleep. Calling them Nightmares is about as fitting as calling them Light Eaters.”

“Well, alright…but what made ya’ think of that?”

Another swallow. This time, Twilight paused before her voice grew quieter yet.

“When I turned the page, there was a picture of a much larger Nightmare. As big as a mountain. Spreading pitch blackness and death with every step it took. This one looked like some sort of giant, starry, black horse with a spire-like horn. I didn’t get a chance to read much, but this one wasn’t called a Nightmare. The book called it…a Tantabus.”

The ghastly reverence with which Twilight spoke the monstrosity’s name was as if whispering it would cause it to appear. The description of its picture only made her more uncomfortable. As a result, Applejack found herself involuntarily cringing a little. “How’s it different from the other Light Eaters? I mean…aside from bein’…so damn big…”

“I didn’t have a chance to read any more than its name,” she spoke a bit louder. “But ever since Fluttershy talked about what she saw and I remembered it, I got to thinking again. Everyone knows that Light Eaters themselves spread permanent night and darkness. But every record I could find indicates it normally takes a lot of them gathering to pull it off. Some researchers think that’s why they slowed down in their frequency of attacks as the years passed. They’re spreading themselves thin and they can’t muster up enough numbers in one spot to take over large tracts of territory anymore.”

She half-laughed in her faint whisper. “I actually hoped that was true, because it would mean they’re finite. But it also made me remember that the bigger they are, the more darkness they can spread. And it grows geometrically. And it made me start thinking about what a Light Eater that big could do if it was real… It would be enough to take the remainder of Mount Aris overnig-”

“Let’s…let’s talk ‘bout somethin’ else besides silly picture books,” Applejack cut in. There was no way Twilight could see in the darkness that her expression showed she had heard enough. “Like what we’re gonna do ‘bout Fluttershy here.”

“Huh?” Twilight asked; snapped out of her own train of gloomy thought.

“We both think that the reason they were after us was ‘cause of the Promethian Sigil, right?”

“Well…yeah, right…”

“So don’t that mean if they come by lookin’ fer us they’re gonna spot her too? Not ta’ mention…I don’t know if ya’ noticed, but I think she’d crack under an interrogation before they even asked the first question.”

“Oh…” Twilight remarked with a half-groan. “I didn’t think about that… Any ideas?”

“Just one. We take her with us.”

“What?!” This time, it was Twilight who upset the animals, and more than Applejack. She quickly clamped her hands over her mouth and leaned back down for several minutes until they all relaxed again. “Take her with us?”

“Well, what else we gonna do? We can’t leave her behind ta’ tell ‘em we were here if they come lookin’, assumin’ they don’t jus’ blow her up too.”

“But we can’t just take her with us! What is she goes crazy like the photographer did? We barely stopped her!”

“Have ya’ taken a good look ‘round here at all these animals? Somethin’ tells me if she can keep ‘em from turnin’ inta’ Nighttouched, then she’s the last person we got to worry ‘bout losin’ it. Besides, a person like that might be handy ta’ have around. Maybe she can make people stop bein’ crazy like too.”

“Oh…” Twilight groaned back. A few moments of silence passed before she sighed. “I don’t like it, but…she did help us. And you’re right about her own power. Plus I’m kind of interested to know if she knows anything else about whatever she saw…especially if it’s a Tantabus… Do you think she’ll even want to come though?”

“We’ll just have to explain things bright an’ early when she wakes up. Then I think we best get out of here and on the road ourselves. Between them Trottinghamites and the Nighttouched, even stayin’ the night in a cellar is startin’ ta’ look unsafe…”

Applejack had intended to tell Fluttershy the situation with Twilight the night before, but bright and early, as soon as the sun was up and they finally left the cellar, the street magician headed outside saying she’d be back. Figuring it was to avoid eating any more of Fluttershy’s homemade oatmeal, which she immediately started cooking, Applejack got tired of waiting and finally spilled the whole story.

Needless to say, by the end of it Fluttershy had forgotten the now-burning oatmeal and looked as if she wanted to go hide in the cellar again. “Oh…oh my…oh my…”

Applejack winced uncomfortably. “Yeah…it ain’t the best news in the world, but the bottom line is ya’ ain’t safe here. It’s better if ya’ tag along with us as we head out west.”

“Oh…oh, I don’t know…” she half-whined, fretfully putting her hands on her cheeks and staring at a spot on the floor. “It’s been so long since I’ve been around towns…I get so nervous…” She looked up. “I’m not sure you and your friend would really want me along. I don’t tend to get along too well with other people, and I’m sure I’m not worth any trouble you’d run into on account of me. Maybe I should just stay here and hide if things get too bad…”

The farmer frowned. “That might work, but then again it might not. These fellas we ran into didn’t care nothin’ ‘bout blowin’ up a whole fort and everyone in it just ta’ get ta’ us. They have a reason ta’ shoot at you, they ain’t gonna care ‘bout sparin’ no critters.”

“Oh dear…”

“An’ ya’ may have gotten lucky tonight, but if any more of them Parasprites come out with the next gang o’ Nighttouched, yer gonna be in deep trouble. There ain’t no way outta yer cellar once somethin’ finds its way in.”

Fluttershy paled a little and cupped a hand to her mouth. “Oh dear. I never thought of that…”

She actually began to shift in the direction of the cellar at that, causing Applejack to sigh and quickly get in her way. “Now look…you’ll be much safer with the two of us. Not only can we stay on the move, but these here Promethian Sigil things…well, we just about got the hang of ‘em. We can beat up most anythin’ that tries ta’ tangle with ya’.”

“Oh, but I really don’t want you to go to all that trouble. I’m really not worth it.”

Applejack winced at her latest self-depreciation before cutting in. “Really. It ain’t no bother. So what d’ya say?”

The pink-haired woman hesitated. She put a finger to her chin and thought. “Well…I’ll admit it’s getting harder to find food around here. And I know one day the shadow over Equestria will come out this far. And…and…” She swallowed. “I really don’t like the idea of airships with big guns or Nighttouched that eat wood coming here with all the animals at risk. I guess I could…”

She looked up.

“But…on one condition.”

Applejack wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that. “What is it?”

Applejack’s teeth were nearly gnashed. “So much fer keepin’ a low profile…”

She was outside again. The sun was higher than she wanted, and illuminating what almost looked like a caravan worth of animals. Every single last one under Fluttershy’s care had come out and arranged themselves in a troupe. The bigger ones seemed normal enough, but when it got to the level of squirrels, turtles, songbirds, and even mice standing in neat rows, it not only seemed excessive but was also highly noticeable. Even Spike seemed to be displeased with the entire display. Nevertheless, Fluttershy continued to fuss over them and speak with them. The only good side seemed to be that she was in a better mood now that she was arranging them.

The farmer crossed her arms. “Ya’ really sure we need ta’ bring all yer animals?”

She looked up just long enough to turn to her. “Oh, yes! Of course! I have to make sure to stay close to them in case any of them start to turn so I can treat it.”

She frowned. “I’m just not sure they’ll all keep up…”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m already arranging for Smoky and Cynthia’s families to take turns with Sheldon and Royce’s group. They’ll work in shifts to make sure that no one falls behind and we can stay at a good pace.”

Applejack repressed the urge to throw her hat to the ground in frustration.

“We’re almost ready to go, but where’s your friend?”

“Her name’s Twilight Sparkle…and that’s a good question,” Applejack answered as she spun around. “Just finish up and I’ll go look for her.”

Fluttershy didn’t dispute as the farmer began to walk away from the clear space in front of the slumped building and glance around, looking for the nearest outhouse. She assumed that she would be there trying to rid herself of last night’s oatmeal. However, she saw nothing of the sort, and as she moved on from that to start looking around behind the shack she still didn’t see any sign of her. She soon walked a good distance from Fluttershy and looked out to the surrounding land, but still saw nothing.

As she began to near the remains of an overgrown trail that led into the forest, she rubbed her hand against her forehead. “Now where did she get off to? Maybe she can talk her inta’ leavin’ behind most of those critters…”

“I’m here! I’m here!”

She suddenly raised her head, hearing Twilight’s voice at last, but soon more surprised to find herself looking at the old trail. Moments later, the woman came rushing out of the forest onto it, and, panting yet again, quickly ran up to Applejack. “I’m all set!” she exhaled as she slowed to a stop. “Let’s go!”

Applejack didn’t move, staring dumbfounded. “What…you were…what…” Her brow creased. “Ya’ don’t mean ta’ tell me that you were in that forest the whole time, do ya’?”

Twilight immediately began to look uncomfortable. Her eyes went to one side. “Uh, well…not exactly. I found a place to ease nature first…”

“That’s what you were lookin’ at?” Applejack nearly shouted. “Runnin’ off into the forest right next ta’ Equestria? Even my strongest kinfolk were never that dumb!”

“I just wanted to see if there were any signs of what Fluttershy was talking about!”

“What the-” Applejack flummoxed, before looking twice as upset. “You were tryin’ ta’ find that thing?!”

“M-Maybe…” she offered with a sheepish grin, before turning to her and looking insistent. “It was my only chance to see the effects of one!”

“I don’t believe you! Here I let you talk me inta’ leavin’ my family behind and followin’ you on everything, and now you do this!”

Twilight groaned. “Look, I know it was risky, but if Fluttershy really saw a Tantabus, that means there’s one out here right on the border and it could do a lot more damage than any other swarm of Nighttouched every did! Something like that could destroy an entire major city by itself! I wanted to at least make sure we weren’t going to walk right into its path!”

Applejack scowled, finally leveling a glare at her. “Now answer me this and give it to me straight… You ain’t leadin’ us West just so you can try and follow in that thing’s footsteps, are ya’?”

“No! No, of course not!” Twilight instantly insisted, before wincing a little. “I’ll admit it’s kind of a ‘fringe benefit’ because I really don’t think it’s a good idea not to know where it’s going…but I still think going West is best.”

“Well that better be the only reason,” Applejack finally huffed as she turned about. “’Cause we don’t just got Fluttershy along fer the ride but a whole mess o’-”

She cut herself off and suddenly turned her head to the sky. She wasn’t alone. Twilight did at the same time.

Until then, the morning had been rather clear and quiet. They weren’t around where any birds or insects dared to tread, after all, and the only noise all morning other than their own movements or Fluttershy’s tending was a breeze.

At that moment, however, they heard something just over the hills. Something that sounded like the breeze carrying the sound of an airship turbine.

The two looked to one another; their uneasy expressions immediately showing that neither had imagined the noise.

“Let’s…let’s just get on the road. We’ll argue there.”

“Good idea.”

Both quickly moved to get back to Fluttershy.

The end of the curved blade went out and shifted the old rug aside, revealing the cellar door of the slumped shack. A moment later, the blade retracted and its owner quickly squatted down and felt for a handle. It took him a moment, but he grasped it and pried it open to reveal what was beneath. He looked over the edge, but quickly scowled.

“Aw man! Nothing but a hiding place?” He leaned in closer, getting on all fours and looking inside. “No salted pork? Preserves? Apple cider?”

“Hey Snips!” the armored man’s taller comrade shouted from outside the shack. “What’d you find?”

He winced for a moment on hearing that, actually put on the spot. “I’m, uh…still lookin’!”

“Ok. For a moment, I thought you hadn’t found nothin’ like I said you wouldn’t if we stopped here, and that we’d only be wasting time and fuel, and that Lady Sunset would be really mad at us if we really did let anyone else get away because you wanted to stop and see if whoever lived here had abandoned their home and left any jewelry or food behind…”

“Ugh, I get it, Snails!” he shouted back as he angrily began to look for a lamp to light up the cellar.

Outside, Snails didn’t seem to recognize the anger in his voice as he went back to idly looking at the nearby forest. Nearby, the Prodigy had come in for a “hovering dock” on the nearest wide open field to the shack, although aside from a pair of sentries standing by below it the rest of the crew was inside. Snips and Snails alone had gone forward, the former of the two saying they had officially stopped to look for signs of the escapees.

Now as Snipes moved into the abandoned shack to rummage for anything of value left behind, his companion looked around the area. He noticed the more recent patches of dirt, and the signs of three separate sets of footprints in them as well as numerous animal tracks.

“Say Snips?” he called in again. “If you’re still thinking that they may have passed through here, I think you’re-”

An angry yell cut him off. “Don’t bother me now, Snails! Can’t ya’ see I’m searching? I mean…looking for signs of ‘em?”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why-”

The sound of a head hitting a board rang out. “Ow! Dangit, stop bothering me!”

He shrugged. “Ok, suit yourself.” He resumed idly looking down, staring at the tracks again. Having nothing better to do, he started to look around and try and trace them. When they got too far for him to see, he started to follow them.

He didn’t have to look too far. He was able to watch as they went around the shack and toward the side, where they moved onto an old, mostly overgrown trail. He walked right up to the side of it and then looked down, toward the country, tracing it as it went along and out of sight.

“Hey Snips. Maybe we should follow…”

He trailed off, turning his head.

By the side of the road there was a tall clump of grass, seemingly growing around an old tree root or a hollow. For a moment he thought he had seen something in it, and now turned fully toward it. His eyes rested on a dark patch right underneath the grass, like a small hole, but saw nothing else.

Curious, he walked up to the small dark spot, and once he was close enough he knelt next to it. From there, he could see something unusual. The dark patch wasn’t due to the position of the old tree root or a hollow at all. Rather, it seemed to just be a dark, black spot. Like it was in total shade, only nothing was covering up. Just a patch of night right there in the open.

Beneath his helmet, he looked puzzled. Slowly he stretched his armored hand out and extended two fingers. He poked them into the dark spot until he felt something, and then pulled them back. A touch of the dark seemed to come with his fingers as it came back, and on turning it over he saw his fingertips were dipped with a black, oil-like substance; only glittering very faintly. Almost like…

Stars?

“Snails!”

“Huh?” he snapped out of his focus on the substance, looking back to the shack. A dirty, sore-looking, and upset Snips was standing there.

“Quit wasting time poking around here! We need to get back to the Prodigy and get on the road before they go any farther!”

“But you’re the one who-”

“I said move it!”

“Ok then,” he answered as he started to rise. As he did, he started to put his hand down, but noticed the substance still on it. “You might want to look at this for a second th-”

“Ugh, I don’t care about whatever junk you found ‘round here!” he snapped back as he turned around. “Just get back to the ship so we can find their trail!”

“Alright, but actually I got something on that too. I think these tracks-”

“Gah! Stop talking and move it!”

“Alright, Snips,” he answered, shaking the black material off his fingers and taking off after him.

Nightwatch: Over and Under

About two miles south of the Trans-Appleloosan Railway, there was a pullout for passing trains. Nothing as sophisticated as in the bigger cities. Simply a flat stretch of ground to draw a train aside if need be. Aside from the old, underused tracks that led out to a pile of logs blocking the end of the line, there was only a single small booth scarcely larger than an outhouse on a platform that looked like it was made from an old barn wall. The glass was boarded up and the door was shut.

Yet as soon as the first few rays of morning light shone through the old, weathered cracks, the door to the booth suddenly fell open and a pair of bodies tumbled out.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash, dirty, tired and sore, slumped out on the ground like they were sacks of potatoes. Both looked exhausted as their eyes lolled around in their sockets, which only made sense as both of them had been forced to sleep back-to-back on the single, uncomfortable wooden stool in the shack while propped up against each other’s backs. It was the only way both could fit.

After a moment of lying there, Dash craned her head to the sky, spotted the sun, then weakly smiled. “Heh…we made it. We’re alive.”

Rarity moaned as she slowly began to uncompress herself. “If I am ever forced to sleep on a hard wooden chair sitting upright again, it will be too soon…” She finally rolled off of Dash and plopped on the ground with a pitiful sigh. “How close did we get to Manehattan?”

Dash cracked her neck and shoulders and pushed herself up. She looked around and spotted a large mountain range that began only thirty miles away from them. She gestured. “See those mountains?”

The designer weakly looked up.

“That’s the Hyperborean Mountains. We’re on the east side of ‘em.”

“And…where is Manehattan?”

“About a hundred miles away from the west side of them.”

Rarity’s eyes bulged. She stared at Dash and the mountains for several seconds of silence. One of her eyes began to twitch, and a violent quiver came over her jaw as her body seized. Finally, she could take it no longer.

Smashing her fists against the ground, she let out a scream so loud it made Dash jump and recoil from her.

“Alright… That. Is. It! That is, absolutely, without a doubt, the very last straw! I have had it! Ever since I left Manehattan I’ve been waylaid, extorted, threatened, kidnapped, hijacked, disrespected, insulted, chased, shot at, stabbed at, electrocuted, and had my best traveling dress and boots ruined beyond all repair! I’ve been marched across country like a combat trainee, harassed like a common thug, watched my childhood teacher beheaded, been branded like a cow across my back leg, and forced to run across country in the dark to take refuge in a glorified outhouse to avoid being eaten alive from a hoard of Nighttouched groundhogs! And now…now after having endured all of that…I am still an entire mountain range away from the nearest telegraph!”

She snapped up and glared at Dash with such ferocity she nearly looked wild. She violently tore a loose thread from her dress and waved it in front of her.

“Do you see this? This is my wit! And do you know what? I’m at the absolute end of it!” She flung the thread to the ground, put her arms in front of her, threw her head on top of it, and began to break out in wailing. “It’s over! It’s hopeless! I have absolutely nothing left to give!”

By now, Dash was looking almost uncomfortable with Rarity’s overreactions. “Ok, ok…look, just chill out…”

Rarity raised her head. “Chill out?”

In a flurry, she was back on her feet at full height, and glaring down on Dash so furiously the mercenary actually recoiled.

“Chill out?! What, pray tell, do I have left to take out for any kind of chill at this point? Those train passes that we got last night were my last hope of getting back to Manehattan, and now we’re stranded in Appleloosa with no money, no transportation, no food, no water, and a scrap of paper that we might as well use for toiletries for all the good it is going to do us!”

“Hey, relax!” Dash quickly got to her feet again, wincing only a little at her side. “I got another way we can get back!”

Rarity groaned and ran her hand along her face. “At this point, unless you have an airship stowed somewhere, it doesn’t matter. On foot it will take days to cross those mountains.”

“Not if we went under them.”

Rarity slowly pulled her hand off her face. “I beg your pardon?”

Dash looked to the sky, but then around. She spotted a pathway leading away from the station, so she turned and began to head for it. “We better start moving now if we’re gonna make it. I’ll tell you on the way.”

Rarity stood there a moment or two; feeling hungry again and still sore and stiff from yesterday. However, having no other alternative, she groaned and began to walk after her. She caught up just as they reached the main pathway, which Dash quickly began to take for the nearest road.

“It just so happens that yours truly knows this area. I also happen to know of some associates nearby.”

“More Huntsman Guild members?”

“Eh, not these guys. Not quite as ‘savory’, but don’t worry. I can vouch for this one. They’re smugglers, actually. And they smuggle all types, including people. Especially during wartime. With the rails down, they’ll be getting lots of requests to get people under the Hyperboreans.”

Rarity began to look uneasy. “Did you say…smugglers?”

“Yeah.”

“Of…people?”

“Well, uh…occasionally.”

“Um…voluntarily?”

Dash sighed. “Look, do you want to get back to Manehattan or at least a telegraph in time to give that contract or not?”

Rarity realized she didn’t have a rebuttal for that. “Just one question. It’s my understanding that smugglers demand payment for their services and, after that jaunt on the train, all I have other than the clothes on my back is that slip of paper.”

“I…might have a way around that,” Dash responded; a bit more hesitantly than Rarity liked. “First things first, we gotta get there. I think I know the area but it’s still a long walk.”

Rarity made a firm decision that once she got back to Manehattan she would never walk anywhere again so long as she could afford a coach or steam taxi. Having to go on yet another rough, cross-country trip again hungry, thirsty, and still stiff and sore from the night before was reducing her to the point where she felt like she would collapse. She might have if today hadn’t been so different.

One factor that was that Rainbow Dash had them stick to the roads this time, so the going was more even and easier. Yet they had only been walking about an hour when they began to see others walking down the road, and going the same way they were. Soon they were more than a random occurrence. Many of them, and mostly in large groups, continued to pass them by. Some were on horses or in wagons, but all looked as dirty, sore, and distraught as the two of them did. Some even more so. A few of them had crying children, while others walked along as if in a distracted, hollow daze. As time went on, the road grew so thick with them that it was impossible to miss them, and several of them began to threaten to push the two off the road all together.

As the two kept walking along, Rarity gradually began to look at each one as they passed. Finally, she spotted one group consisting of an older man leading a horse that had a woman his age and one child on it. Another one walked on the other side.

She waved to him. “Excuse me? Sir?”

He glanced up.

“May I ask what all of this is?”

“Another Nighttouched surge last night,” the man darkly answered. “Took two more towns. Had ones bigger than anyone had ever seen, from what I hear. That wasn’t all, though. Trottingham airships attacked another town. Everyone says they’re taking advantage to invade. Whole military is up in arms.”

Rarity looked rather uneasy. “Oh my…”

“That’s not all. They got some sort of new soldiers running through Appleloosa now. Ones that got these weird tattoos or something on their hands. They’re attacking other cities too, from what I hear. Northern Appleloosa’s going to hell. I’m getting my family out before it gets any worse.”

Rarity slowed down at that, letting the group pass. Dash did much the same, before she dropped in next to her. “Let’s take that as our cue to keep the symbols hidden, got it?”

She said nothing; just pulled her sleeve down lower over her already-bandaged hand.

By the time noon had passed, Rarity was so tired and hungry she was getting dizzy. Dash, however, kept them moving forward as the land began to grow wetter and, as a result, more overgrown. The road became more maintained, but it also grew so thick that they were surrounded on all sides by civilians moving out. There had to be hundreds or even thousands by the time they reached that point. Rarity eventually began to see buildings up on the horizon up ahead, no more than a mile or two from the foot of the mountains. More than that, she saw planted hedge rows and basic stake palisades stretching both north and south.

She saw little more than this initially, however, for the caravan suddenly came to a stop. She and all those around her were forced to halt. Scarcely had they done so when Dash tapped her against the shoulder and gestured off the road. “Come on.”

Rarity felt a bit out of sorts doing this, but did as Dash indicated. Not too many people seemed to mind as they left. It was a bit of a hard walk as by now there were deep ditches on either side, but they got through and started trudging through marshy, insect-filled grass beyond. The two kept walking away from the road until Rarity could look back and see, much to her surprise, it stretch for two miles with no end in sight.

“What in the world…?”

“We’re at the Mount Aris border. And unlike Appleloosa, even this far north they got enough people to not only build a fence all along the border but folks to watch it too. And the Hippogriff Legion isn’t about to just let a bunch of Appleloosans flood their borders at their weakest spot,” Dash explained. She gestured up and down the horizon. “This here used to be a mining village before the shadow over Equestria got too close. Now it’s just an outpost. But that’s perfect for us.”

Dash continued to lead the two of them on away from the road for another three miles north, until the line of wagons trying to gain entry shrank into a thin ribbon before nearly vanishing. Only then did Dash turn around and began to trudge for the border again. Even from this distance, Rarity could still see old buildings and streets on the other side of the fence, but these ones were abandoned and left to rust and rot.

“Now, something really important…” Dash spoke up as they walked. “You don’t let anyone in there know you’re from Manehattan.”

“Wh-what? Whyever not?”

Dash winced at the sound of her voice. “You’ll see when you get there, but trust me. Huntsmen Guild members take whoever, but smugglers are more choosy depending on who you go with, and they don’t like Manehattanites. On that note, try and lose that city accent. It’s a dead giveaway.”

“Of all the…” Rarity began to fume, but finally bit her tongue. “Oh, very well.”

“And try to act more…I dunno…cool. You’re too uptight.”

Rarity’s face fell, her teeth gritting. “Well, do y’all want un I should act more country like?” she spat sarcastically; heavily exaggerating the accent.

“Eh, that’s too much. Tell you what…just don’t talk for the next day or two and let me handle everything.”

The designer nearly fumed, but didn’t answer. The two of them walked the rest of the way to the fence in silence. In spite of not looking too terribly formidable, it had one very important aspect. There was a manned guard actually patrolling it every several hundred feet. Rarity looked one way and the other, and in addition to one guard directly in front of them she saw one posted on either end of the fence barrier as well. She realized they must have had one all up and down the line, with a way of signaling others. Small wonder no one had bothered leaving the road.

The two finally approached the fence and went straight to the sentry. She spotted them and quickly turned to face them. Her weapon was shifted across her chest, but she didn’t try to take aim. Not that it mattered—it was more than enough for Rarity to stiffen and shove her marked hand further behind her.

Finally, the two reached the fence and halted directly across from the guard. She stared at them both with a hard-set jaw. “You can’t cross here. If you need to get into Mount Aris, cross at the customs post like everyone else.”

Dash merely half-smirked back. “We’re on an emergency for Old Knick-Knack.”

The guard paused. She glanced at Dash a moment, then to Rarity, then back to her. After a moment, she glanced in either direction, seeing how far she was from the nearest soldiers, then back to her. “200 up front for the both of you.”

Dash kept smirking and shaking her head. “Uh-uh…you know that’s not how it works. You get the cut, same as everyone else.”

“Times change. Haven’t you noticed the border?”

“Times change, huh? Then you won’t mind us checking the next couple guards down and, once that doesn’t work out, come back here, huh?”

The guard frowned, but finally reneged and stepped to one side. “Get over here already.”

Dash nodded and readily hopped over the fence. Rarity, on her part, moved up and more awkwardly inched over one leg at a time.

“The code name is Sour Peach. Got that? Sour Peach.”

“Yeah, yeah…got it…” Dash grumbled as she reached out to help Rarity the rest of the way. “Come on, let’s move.”

She went ahead and held her hand to pull her away quickly from the fence to the nearest abandoned building; only letting her go to walk normally once there. Rarity looked behind them as the soldier resumed her spot and tried to look innocent. “That was a Hippogriff Legionnaire, wasn’t it? I recognize those gharish uniform designs anywhere…”

“You bet.”

“Why did she let us pass?”

“Nowadays, being a soldier is the easiest way to getting your throat ripped out by a Nighttouched in five years. A lot of them will take whatever pay on the side they can get, including looking the other way for a nice big smuggling ring. All you got to do is make sure they get their cut. That’s why she passed on that fake name. We tell it to the ring, and they make sure they get their percentage.”

“And, once again,” Rarity said with a groan, “the topic of money comes up. I don’t think I need to remind you we still can’t foot the original bill, let alone give that woman a ‘cut’.”

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Dash answered, leading Rarity to sigh as she kept walking.

They didn’t have to go nearly as far this time. There was nothing to see in the abandoned city but rubble and ruined buildings—ones that Rarity honestly couldn’t tell were due to Nighttouched attack or warfare. She was hoping for the latter as there were a lot of shadows there, and even more as clouds began to roll in. Yet as they neared the foot of the mountain, most of the larger buildings gave way to smaller homes and finally shacks, before spacing out and revealing sets of abandoned train tracks. They passed a large station soon after before nearing the edge of town.

As they came close to that, Rarity finally noticed that there were several wood framed entrances forming openings in the foothills. The dirt around them was rather packed and rocky, even after so many years of being abandoned. At this point, Dash put a hand on Rarity and pushed her up against one of the last buildings before the mountains. She did the same but inched forward and looked out to the closest foothill. Her eyes focused on one building that seemed to be built right into the side.

“What’s-”

“Ssh! Like I said, quiet from now on! Don’t talk unless I talk to you first, ok?”

Rarity frowned but clammed up. Soon after, Dash moistened her lips, inched forward a little, and waved her hand out. The whole time, she stared at the windows of the building. Rarity looked as well, but it was dark and she couldn’t make out much. Dash waved again soon after, and continued to do so for almost a full minute. Only then, however, did Rarity think she caught a glimpse of a light in the window.

She turned to her. “We’re in. Stay behind me.”

She stood up and started walking again, with Rarity falling in behind her. Only now did the woman truly begin to feel a bit nervous, suddenly realizing that in a town full of ruins she could be rather exposed to many people lying in wait while she herself was clearly visible. They crossed the dirt patch to a small stoop and walked right up it to the building. However, they didn’t have to knock. The old yet functional door gave a click and opened wide, and the two walked right in.

Dash strolled through the threshold easily enough, but Rarity nearly gave a gasp and a start as soon as she stepped inside. Not only did the interior stink and was caked in grime and filth, not just from disrepair but continued poor usage and maintenance, she was faced with a pair of dirty, smelly, shabbily-dressed, and, judging by their expressions, foul-tempered individuals. It didn’t help that both were brandishing rifles and had both sidearms, bullets, and knives strapped to their hips.

Evidently she stared too long because one of them sneered. “What’re you looking at?”

“Uh…um…er…” Rarity stammered, nearly responding but then remembering not to speak.

Quickly, Dash grabbed her hand and pulled her further. “Ease off. This is a paying client, so you mess with her you mess with me.”

She snorted and looked away. “Not like I have much to be scared of with some has-been drunk, but whatever. Don’t want to spend the rest of my day cleaning your blood off my knives. Especially for nothing.”

Dash frowned but kept pulling Rarity. They made their way across the filthy room, but only to arrive into an equally filthy one on the other side. It was larger, however, and arranged in such a way that Rarity assumed, at one point, it had been a loading point for mining carts. There were no carts there now, obviously. Just another rather unpleasant looking person giving them both the stink eye and a set of tracks leading straight ahead into a dark tunnel. Far ahead, she could see someone had lit an oil lamp. Dash walked them past the third guard, who actually fingered her own sidearm a little as they went, much to Rarity’s unease, and led them both inside.

They passed into somewhere damp, clammy, and filthy; clearly an abandoned mine. Rarity didn’t care much for it either, or the fact that no sooner had they reached the torch than the path already split up and branched. However, Dash led them straight on and started to weave them through the caves, always knowing where to turn each time.

“Nice gig they got here, huh?” Dash chuckled as she rapped her knuckles against the wall. “This old mine got ditched during the last war because it was too close to the border of Equestria. They figured they’d lose it anyway on the next Nighttouched raid, only it never came this way. Now this mine goes all the way out to the main train tunnels leading under the mountains. So anyone who comes in here can slip right through and come out in Griffonstone.”

Rarity looked over her shoulder, making sure they weren’t being followed. “I couldn’t help but notice that, um…those folks didn’t seem to be from Mount Aris.”

“Oh them? ‘Course not. This ring is run by a group from Griffonstone.”

The designer went wide-eyed. “Griffonstone?! But…but…how is that possible?”

She shrugged. “Smugglers don’t exactly have national loyalties. The fact they’re from Griffonstone just means they know their way in and out of the country better. Besides, there’s a general rule about people from Griffonstone…the shortest way to their heart is a quick buck. And they got plenty of folks nowadays who need things moved around where no one will notice. Anyway, quick lesson over. Look sharp up ahead.”

Rarity went quiet again. The two wound their way through a few more passages, but eventually the tunnel widened into a junction and staging area. When it did, more torches arose and the two got a better view of the operation. Several other people were gathered there, either milling about or seated against old benches near the shaft walls, in addition to a number of other people that looked to also be from Griffonstone. The first group she assumed as their clientele, being civilians and travelers like her. However, most of them didn’t look to be the savory type either, and when they caught her staring at them it didn’t take long for them to give her the same look the ones from Griffonstone did.

This seemed somewhat appropriate from the various goods that were arranged into separate piles through the middle of the chamber. They ranged from decent sized loads to amounts that would fill an entire wagon, and while one looked like textiles and another looked like exotic fruits and vegetables, most of them were tightly covered with canvas and lashed down with ropes. The more tightly covered ones were practically guarded by their own handlers, some of whom were armed. Needless to say, in spite of this area being more active and with a murmur of talking, Rarity didn’t feel much safer there.

Once inside, Dash stopped, looked around, then turned back to her. “Ok, I need to go talk to one smuggler that owes me. You just sit tight in here until I get back.”

Rarity winced, looking around a little at her grimy surroundings and grimier-looking people. She fought the urge to protest but it was clear as the nose on her face.

“Eh, don’t worry. Besides…” Dash leaned and put a hand to her mouth as she whispered. “You got the same trick I have, right?” She pointed to Rarity’s hand.

Rarity had, in fact, quite forgotten about it. However, now that she remembered both it and last night when she managed to use it, she realized she might, in fact, actually be strong enough to punch at least some of the people in the room out—as barbaric a thought as it was.

“Just keep it a secret. I won’t rule out some of these guys are bounty hunters.”

Rarity nearly responded to that, but Dash was already turning and rushing off. She took a step after her before pausing, but then frowned, glanced about, and finally found the nearest and most out of the way bench that was open. She stepped over to it and sat down before trying to look as small and unnoticeable as possible.

Several minutes ticked by, Rarity growing more uncomfortable with each moment. At some point, a smuggler came out and conversed with one person trying to transport the textiles. Another came out several minutes later with two other smugglers that looked more in the “muscle” department to talk with another about their covered shipment. She didn’t see much as staring at anyone or anything for more than half a minute garnered some rather dark stares. At last, she was forced to look into her lap as time kept passing; wishing Dash would come back more quickly.

She finally reached into her dress and came out with the crumpled, somewhat-dirty contract that had been the cause of all of this. She sighed tiredly as she remembered all of the trouble she was experiencing and was still in the realm where it could be for nothing…

“Oooooo!”

Rarity snapped up in surprise to hear a voice right next to her, but jumped a second time on finding, seemingly out of nowhere, a young woman in a dress made from bright-colored fabric scraps, “traveling” gloves that were nothing other than old farm worker’s gloves, and a mess of curly, poofy pink hair had appeared over her shoulder.

“You’re smuggling a piece of paper!” she cheerily pointed out, before ducking back behind her. Rarity gave a third jump when she immediately jumped up again, but this time in front of her. “That’s amazing! I mean, I’ve seen a person smuggling a cart full of wine, a person smuggling some exotic birds, a family smuggling another family, a person smuggling wood, another person smuggling furniture made out of wood, two people smuggling a whole wagon of tobacco, four people who looked like they were smuggling something that was a lot worse than tobacco…” She abruptly leaned in and grinned. “…if you get my drift, wink-wink…” She leaned back. “…and a whooooole lot of people smuggling a couple wagons of gunpowder and bullets, but I’ve never seen anyone just trying to smuggle a piece of paper before! Wow, it must be a reeeeeally important piece of paper!”

Rarity recoiled as she poked her head over her shoulder and glanced over it a moment. She quickly pulled the contract away and folded it, but the young woman leaned back in glee. “I was right! It has ink and writing on it and everything! Even printed! Ooo, swanky!”

The designer was rather caught off guard at the way this strange woman had interjected herself, and was even more confused now that she was done but still standing in front of her and grinning. “Oh, um…uh…thank you…?” she finally answered, for lack of a better phrase.

This made her nearly bounce in one spot, seemingly overjoyed. “Oh wow! Do you know what just happened?”

“I’m sorry, I’m…afraid not?”

In another instant, she was again at her side and leaning in with a smile. “You just won the prize for being the first person who’s said anything to me since I started waiting! It’s an informal award and more of a title, but eh…it’s the prestige more than anything.”

“Oh, um…” Rarity almost fumbled, again at a loss for words. “Thank you again…?”

“You’re welcome! Soooo….” She quickly zoomed out in front of her again. “Where are you taking your important piece of paper to?”

Rarity paused; assessing the individual. She was definitely a marked contrast to the rest of the room, which seemed rather dour and unpleasant. It was honestly a bit stunning and even overbearing. However, compared to the unfriendly and hostile stares, this unexpected burst of perkiness was a nice relief and actually made her feel more at ease. Reasoning that she meant no harm and that, despite Dash’s warnings, this individual wouldn’t be put off by her accent…

“Well, I’m taking it on to Manehattan.”

“Wow! Me too! Um…the going to Manehattan part, not the taking your piece of paper to Manehattan.”

“Oh really? Well, um…what are you, er, uh…smuggling?”

“Me!” she exclaimed in an excited squeal. “Crazy, I know, right? I don’t even have a cart to carry myself in!”

“I’m sorry, but…did you say yourself?”

“Uh-huh! Maud told me the only way a Gaiatian can get across Greater Everfree now is to use a smuggler, so here I am!”

Hearing that name, Rarity paused and looked the woman over, noticing how her clothing was scrapped together from leftovers and that her shoes were nearly falling apart, to say nothing of just a hint of an accent on her voice around certain words. At once, it clicked to her.

“You mean…you’re a Gaiatian.”

“Yup!” she perkily replied, nearly jumping again at that. “I’m heading out from my holdtown to go to Manehattan and learn how to be a baker! Maud told me there’s lots of places there that will let Gaiatians work without any papers at all!”

“‘Holdtown’? Don’t you mean…hometown?”

“Nope! My hometown got smashed to bits by Nighttouched bears, and once my family fled to a different country the government there put us in a hold-you-there-in-a-poorly-lit-badly-heated-no-plumbing-shack-forever-with-no-chance-of-ever-being-able-to-leave-town instead! But that’s too much to remember, so I just call it a holdtown for short. Pretty catchy, right? I would have much rather wanted to just get the papers and keep working there, but Limestone told me that the government made a big mistake with all that.”

“Oh…? Um, what mistake was that?”

“They went and made one law saying no Gaiatian could work without legal residency papers, but then they passed another law saying that no Gaiatian can ever be eligible for legal residency papers!” She giggled a bit harder. “And then they went even crazier and said any Gaiatian that’s seen outside of their residential zone without legal residency papers can be arrested on sight! So even if you could get the papers, you’d be arrested the moment you tried to get them!” She slapped her knee and laughed. “Isn’t that the silliest thing you ever heard? It’s like they want it so that no Gaiatian can ever become a legal resident!”

Rarity felt rather uncomfortable to hear all of that, but seeing as the young woman was taking it as a joke she decided to risk a small smile and minor chuckle as well. “Oh, uh…heh…yes, that was quite…obtuse of them.”

The woman stopped laughing and turned her head. “Say, are you feeling ok? You look like you’re a bit down?”

“What, me? Oh…oh no, darling. It’s just, I, um…have never met a Gaiatian as…enthusiastic as you.”

“Ooooooh…that’s what this is about. Yeah, I know. You were expecting me to be all…” Instantly, she rolled her eyes upward, squared her jaw, and spoke in an exaggerated monotone. “Thee needeth to get thee hence of sleep chamber and start churning butter ere dawn.” She giggled as she broke. “Tee-hee! I know! My family thinks I get to be just a little bit too much too, but I can’t help it. When I came in here and started waiting and I saw everyone looking all grumpy and tired and frowny I just wanted to start spreading some smiles! So I thought I’d try and cheer everyone up! But, um…”

She leaned in a second time, going into a whisper so loud half the room still had to be able to hear her.

“Just between you and me? I don’t think these smugglers really care for people singing. Unless they cheer by shooting their guns in the air and the one who shot needed to lift her gun a lot higher.” She gestured to her own poofy hair and shifted it, giving Rarity a start when she saw that there seemed to be a hole that wasn’t due to a curl right through it.

She was again left trying to find a word to say when a whistle went out. “Hey you.”

Rarity looked up again, spotting Rainbow Dash as she walked out of a different mine tunnel. Following closely behind her was another one of the smugglers. This one seemed a bit dirtier than the others, wearing a mining lantern on her head and with bits of other tunneling gear strapped to her sides. She didn’t have a rifle but still had a handgun and a pair of knives alongside a pickaxe. Her hair was shorter with the top swept over her head, sticking up in the front almost like a tuft while still keeping her eyes covered. Her look seemed very slightly friendlier than that of the others on her approach.

However, on stepping into the chamber her eyes focused on the pink-haired woman and her teeth bared. “I thought I told you to stop bothering the rest of the clients! I’ve had six-year-old sobbing brats get drug through this cave before that didn’t make half as much noise as you!”

The young woman stared back a moment before leaning into Rarity, once again whispering more than loud enough for the new arrival to hear. “Oh, you got her too? I don’t think she’s quite as grumpy as the others, but you might have a hard time telling the difference.”

Hearing this all clearly enough made the smuggler nearly hiss. “You’re just lucky we’re on a budget or I’d ask Greta to take another shot, and this time make sure it isn’t a warning.”

By now, seeing the reactions between the two had clearly made Dash nervous. “Um, so…Rarity, this is Gilda.” She gestured to the smuggler, who looked away from the pink-haired woman but only to cross her arms and frown at the designer. “She and I go way back, and she’ll be the one we’re hiring for this trip.”

Gilda scoffed and rolled her eyes. “‘Hiring’. Real nice choice of words, Dash.” She turned about while snapping her fingers at Rarity. “You. Her. Me. Back in my ‘office’.” She nearly turned all the way around to keep leading, before she paused, looked back to the pink-haired woman, and stiffened as she grew very reluctant. “You too Thumbkin or whatever your name is…”

This only made her giggle again as she stood up. “It’s not Thumbkin, silly! Remember? It’s Pinkamena Diane-”

“Just get moving before I cough up the money for an extra bullet myself!”

The young woman got up easily enough afterward, which was more than what Rarity could say. Between the cold, mean attitude and the almost casual way she talked about dealing with the client, the designer was rather nervous to be around Gilda. Dash, however, seemed normal enough and beckoned her on, and so she reluctantly rose and followed the two of them back into the tunnel. The pink-haired woman was right behind them, and Rarity was again puzzled on seeing her seeming to happily skip along; completely unmiffed by both the hostility and the threats.

“Gilda and I go way back,” Dash casually began to explain once they were a good distance from the main cave but still worming their way through other lit mine tunnels. “All the way back to when they still would let Griffonstone citizens train as cadets in Cloudsdale. Those were the days, eh?”

“Guess I should be grateful that I wasn’t actually in Griffonstone when the first Light Eaters crossed the border,” Gilda casually shrugged. “Missed the worst of it being a displaced refugee. Of course, it didn’t matter when the Farmland War hit a couple years later…but at least I got plenty of contacts to set this business up. Maybe being in that glorified scout camp was worth something after all.”

Rarity looked unnerved on hearing that, again forgetting Dash’s warning. “Oh my…you were in Cloudsdale as well when…?”

“I think I had a bit of a rougher time of it than Dash over here,” she added, slyly smirking at her over her shoulder. “No free pardons for me. Had to start finding places to hide like abandoned mines. Not that I mind. Especially since it means I still got it while those cushy Huntsman jobs have been letting ol’ Dash here grow soft.”

“Heh, you wish,” she snickered back. “Give me shoving a couple wagons a month under a mountain over needing to guard a herd of 500 cattle from twenty guys on horses as they go across country eighty miles.”

Both smirked and snickered before Gilda turned and kept leading them on. They wound their way through a few more passages until pretty much all the noise from the other caverns had faded to nothing. Only then did Gilda take them to the end of one cave that actually narrowed to the width of a doorway, before an old door and frame was set right in front of it. It was bulging and gapped, but it seemed to have transformed at least the end of one of the tunnels into a somewhat private room.

At here, Gilda snapped back to the three again. Rarity almost recoiled, fearing that the wrath was meant for her, but instead she jabbed out a finger as sharply as a knife and poked the skipping, pink-haired girl in the chest. “You wait out here. I don’t need to try and hear myself think over you cracking another lame joke about this abandoned coal mine.”

“Ooo! That reminds me! What’s the key that people who dig for coal like to sing in? A mino-”

“I said shut up!” Wheeling around in fresh irritation, Gilda threw open the door and stepped inside. Dash readily followed while Rarity, again a bit unnerved at Gilda’s sudden violence and the young woman’s continued obliviousness, walked after them. As soon as both were in, Gilda nearly slammed the door behind them in spite of the fact it looked as if it would break it to splinters.

The interior was rather cramped, poorly lit, had only a single chair (which Gilda immediately walked up and took), and, worst of all to Rarity, was extremely dirty with coal grime. There was no way she could avoid pressing into the walls and wincing as it irreversibly stained what was left of her traveling dress. At any rate, no sooner had she and Dash come to a stop and Gilda sat then she squared them both in her eyes.

“Ok, ‘princess’,” she flatly addressed Rarity, “Dash explained your situation to me, including where you’re from and what you do for a living so here’s the deal. Five thousand apiece as soon as I get you into Manehattan, meaning ten thousand all together.”

Rarity’s jaw almost hit the ground. Since Gilda knew the truth, she forgot about holding her tongue. “T-Ten…thousand?! I…I had no idea it would be that much!”

“Well it is, and if you want back to Manehattan in time for your business deal, that’s what you get.”

“I don’t have that kind of money readily available!”

Gilda scoffed. “Yeah right. Dash already said you were paying her twenty.”

Rarity wheeled on her, but Dash could only anxiously blush. “Uh, well…you really can’t keep any Griffonstone’s attention unless you bring up money pretty fast.”

She fumed at her a moment, but then let out a pitiful moan and turned back to Gilda. “Ma’am, I’m sorry but I’m really not sure I can come up with that amount. I’m already not sure how I’m going to find the twenty-thousand to pay Ms. Dash.”

“Wait what?!” Dash instantly shot back, wheeling on Rarity just as fast as she had wheeled on her. “You were planning on stiffing me the whole time?!”

Rarity grit her teeth; at this point more frustrated than embarrassed. “I would have done absolutely everything in my power to get you the money as quickly as possible but, no, I’m not sure I would have had it available to me as soon as I got back to Manehattan. I’m sorry to say that, contrary to popular belief, Manehattanites do not sleep on piles of money stuffed in mattresses and light our cigarettes with 100-dollar notes, especially when we are trying to keep our company’s afloat.”

“I’ve been nearly tagged by bounty hunters, stabbed, knocked through train cars, and almost killed and you weren’t even going to get me my money on time?”

Rarity spun on her. “Don’t you dare begin to think this whole thing has just been on your head! I have been with you every step of the way and dreading every hour that I’m going to end up dead in a gutter with a worthless slip of-”

“Both of you shut up!”

As the two were inching into each other’s faces, they froze and whirled back to see an equally angry Gilda glaring at both of them.

“I don’t really give a damn about your little business deal or sob story getting here. All I care about is that if you want to get your asses over to Manehattan, the price tag is a firm ten-thousand for the both of you, and I had better get it as soon as we get there.”

Dash turned to Gilda and scoffed. “Come on… I can’t believe you’re actually charging us. After I ran those rum runners through here that one time and got you that bonus, too!”

“You should know trying to use friendship as an excuse for a discount doesn’t get you very far with me. Especially not when you’re always broke. I’m already thinking I’m an idiot for waiting to get paid until after I do the work. That being said,” Gilda straightened up. “You two better not get any ideas talking to any of the other smugglers about trying to get a better deal than mine. It’s not going to go very well with you.”

Dash crossed her arms, but Rarity didn’t like the way she said that. “How so?”

“You must have been on the run if you haven’t heard the news. Appleloosa’s almost turning itself inside out right now. Rumors are shooting around everywhere, and they’re getting worse all the time. First there’s the Nighttouched crossing the border.”

“Big deal,” Dash shrugged, “Happens all the time.”

“Not like this. These ones are new. Meaner. They don’t even really act like animals anymore. Practically the whole Appleloosan military is going on alert. All signs point that the next big push is going to be right into half of northern Appleloosa. They’re saying they could lose up to a quarter of the land if the Light Eaters join in.”

Dash uncrossed her arms, looking as stunned as Rarity. “Merciful heavens…” the latter muttered.

“That’s not possible,” Dash answered, even though her voice sounded unsure. “They haven’t made a move that big since they first showed up eight years ago.”

“You two better believe it, because Appleloosa does and so does Trottingham. They already made several attacks. Most of them have been on the northern border but one went into the central area. Everyone’s saying they’re going to invade Appleloosa once it’s reeling from the Nighttouched. And guess what? It gets even better. Now they’re saying there’s an infiltration.”

“Infiltration?”

“Folks showing up with weird powers causing all sorts of hell. Burning, blasting, and leaving ruins behind. Some think it’s new weapons from Trottingham and spies disguised as normal civvies are using it. Other folks say it’s actually something Trottingham cooked up that got loose and is trying to escape, and that’s why they’re here…hunting them down. Some say it’s a new kind of super Nighttouched that’s actually disguised as people. In any case, one thing’s in common…these folks all look like normal people until the moment they start using these powers. After that, they go on a killer rampage.”

She shrugged.

“Well, that and the fact that they got the same kind of symbols on their hands you two have got.”

“Wha…?”

Before Dash or Rarity could react, Gilda snapped forward and, in the same motion, pulled out one of her long knives from her side. It swung out so fast that Rarity squealed, thinking she had just been cut right into as the blade swept across both women. Rarity recoiled in shock while Dash snapped back at the ready and made a fist on instinct, but Gilda, smiling cockily, leaned back in her chair and calmly put her knife away.

Both paused a moment before looking where she had cut, but looked even more uneasy on seeing she had sliced through Dash’s glove and Rarity’s bandage. Their hexagonal symbols were both on display.

Dash, in the end, simply frowned and crossed her arms again. “I figured that secret would get out someday…”

Rarity, on the other hand, was left stammering at the move Gilda made. “H-h-how…how did…?”

“I’ve got more going for me than being a smuggler. I’m also quite a great thief…among other things,” the smuggler smirked back. “Point is…you two likely saw the roadblock on the way in. There’s no way you two are getting to Manehattan without a smuggler now. Especially not since just this morning the Appleloosan government put a general warrant for people with those symbols on their hands.”

She leaned forward.

“I’m a bit more on the up-and-up than those greenhorns out there. I keep my ears open. But they’ll get wind of it soon enough and they’ll realize those same people will be coming through here trying to get out of Appleloosa while they can. And once they figure it out, they won’t be taking you two anywhere you want to go. They’ll likely hang onto you here for a while until the government starts offering a bounty, and then they’ll get their money out of you in that way.”

Dash eased her fist but grit her teeth uncomfortably. Rarity looked far more worried, especially realizing that Dash’s speed and talent hadn’t helped her just now. Her thoughts toward Gilda grew more uneasy.

“Now,” she went on, “normally I wouldn’t even give anyone the time of day about this. In fact, to be honest, if I could I’d love to cash the bounty in on you, princess. Dash and I go way back and I don’t love dollars enough for that, but you? No problem at all. I’m only giving you this special one-time offer on a few provisions. One is that Dash here is asking me and I did make some money off of that job of hers that went bad. Two is that I couldn’t get a bounty on you anyway. So right now I’m your best bet of getting back with your precious little contract. Deal?”

Rarity swallowed. She was over a barrel and Gilda knew it. She didn’t dare say no to this agreement now. Not when she was right in a lion’s den with no defense. She slumped and sighed. “Alright, alright…”

“Oh, one condition,” Gilda added as she leaned up again, frowning a little. “By now the two of you have noticed Ms. Pinkamena Diane Pie out there. She’s got me so annoyed that I’m practically praying that the Timberwolves make a visit and take her off my hands…”

While Gilda was idle enough about this, Rarity’s head snapped up. Dash actually shifted back on seeing her face. For a brief moment, a violence and anger that she didn’t think the designer was capable of flared in her eyes.

Gilda didn’t notice as she was idly looking about at the time. “But it just so happens, whether she fully knows it or not, she’s got the same issue the two of you have under those miner’s gloves she’s wearing.”

Rarity’s anger turned to surprise. Dash uncertainly jabbed her thumb behind her. “Miss Cotton-Candy-for-a-Haircut actually has one of these?”

“Blabbed the whole thing to me without me even asking. She did, however, have a ton of cold hard cash on her to pay for her passage.” She grinned. “That’s what I love about Gaiatians. Since neither of you can give me a down payment, she’s going to end up being it. She comes with.” She sighed as she turned back. “Who knows? Maybe the two of you can keep me from bludgeoning her to death en route…”

“Uh…we have to go…with her?” Dash asked uncomfortably.

Rarity was likewise uneasy, but only partially due to Pinkamena’s unusual demeanor and cheerfulness. It was more of the fact that she realized Gilda would now have sole custody of three people with those hexagonal symbols. Not only did it make them an even more appealing target to someone like the man in armor from the night before, but if Appleloosa really did offer a bounty then Gilda would have it all to herself.

She finally put her foot down. “And how, pray tell, are we supposed to have any confidence other than your word that you won’t turn us in to the authorities?”

“I never said I wouldn’t turn you into the authorities,” Gilda retorted. She raised her own hand afterward, showing off a glove similar to Dash’s own. Soon after, she unstrapped the bottom, pulled it off, and showed it to both.

Dash’s jaw dropped as Rarity was caught off guard yet again.

Another hexagonal symbol, and this one with one of the points enlarged just like both of theirs.

“I said I couldn’t. Get why I’m the only smuggler here you can trust yet?”

The door to Gilda’s “office” opened up, and she immediately stepped out with Dash and Rarity in tow; the latter of the two not looking entirely comfortable. Nevertheless, the young woman immediately leapt to her feet gleefully.

“You’re back! All done discussing and bargaining and yelling-at-each-other-so-loud-I-could-hear-you-through-the-door-so-I-just-hummed-to-myself-because-it’s-none-of-my-business?”

Gilda gave her a sour look. “I’ll take that five thousand from you right now.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” A bit to the surprise of Dash and Rarity, she reached right into her own poofy hairstyle, rummaged around for a moment, and then, astonishing them both from an act that seemed more for a magician than anyone else, actually pulled out a small, weathered, leather bag with a clasp. She opened it up as Gilda extended her hand. Soon she was rapidly pulling out 100-dollar notes and counting them out into it. “Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineteneleventwelvethirteenfourteenskipafewfifty!”

Gilda frowned at that last bit, but held up the money and quickly recounted it herself. Seeing it all there, she tucked the bills inside her vest. “We’re leaving right now,” she flatly stated, pushing her way past the pink-haired woman and none too gently shoving her aside with one elbow before walking down the shaft. “Keep up. Fall behind and you get left behind.”

Dash, taking that threat very seriously, soon rushed in behind Gilda. Rarity took a bit longer to follow suit, but as soon as she did the pink-haired woman lit up and began to cheerfully skip alongside her—a bit difficult in the tight mine tunnel. “Ooooo! You’re coming with us to Manehattan? Yay! It’ll be just like when me and the family moved! Only hopefully less Nighttouched and people with guns!”

“Yes, um, perish the thought,” Rarity uneasily answered, squeezing alongside her, and finally offering her hand. “My name is Rarity and my companion is Rainbow Dash, Ms. Pinkamena.”

She took the hand and immediately gave it a vigorous shaking, but after it was done she snickered. “Oh, Pinkamena’s just the name my parents call me. You can call me ‘Pinkie Pie’! Or just ‘Pinkie’! Or ‘miss’! Or ‘you’! Or nothing now and then, like when you need to say something like: ‘Do you want ice cream?’ or ‘Run! Fire!’ or ‘Help, stop this bear from chewing my head!’ Hey!” She grinned as she bounced along. “Now that there’s four of us, it’ll make a game of I Spy much more fun! I spy, with my little eye, someone from Griffonstone!”

Dash looked over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. “Are…you talking about Gilda?”

“You got it right with the first guess! Wow, you’re a natural!” Pinkie cheered. “Let’s go again! I spy, with my little eye, someone with a piece of paper in their pocket!”

Dash groaned and turned back around. “We deserve a discount for this…”

Author's Notes:

I understand some people may think I'm being "over the top" when it comes to the treatment that Pinkie/Gaitians are getting in this story, but the truth is I was inspired by the current situations impacting groups such as Christians in Laos and the Rohingya Muslims. In both cases, the governments are prohibiting certain people of an ethnicity or religious denomination from participating in society in some fashion unless they meet some legal requirement...and then simply make it impossible for them to ever meet that legal requirement.

Nightwatch: Nightmare as a Child

The sound pouring from Celestia’s teapot into the porcelain cup usually had such a ring to it that Sunset would smile. Today, the girl barely managed a more upbeat look as she accepted it and sank into the easy chair across from the headmistress. This wasn’t lost on the woman as she finished filling her own cup, but she didn’t call it to mind right away. Bringing the cup to her mouth, she blew on it a bit before taking a sip.

“Are you alright, Sunset? Usually you seem so much happier during our teas.”

“It’s nothing,” she answered, although she kept staring at her cup without drinking.

“Do you not want to do this anymore? If you’re feeling embarrassed, then-”

“No, no, it’s not that,” she quickly cut off, looking up again. “I’ve actually missed them ever since I joined the regular class. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

She frowned; her eyes drifting to her armrest. “Moondancer got a better score than me on the levitation exam.”

“Well, she has been doing it a lot longer than you, Sunset.” She took another sip. “You’ve only been in the class a month. The fact you got second-highest is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“It’s been a while since I was competing with other students…” she half-muttered.

Celestia lowered her cup. “Don’t look at it as a competition. These are other girls your age studying magic just like you, and with a Promethian Sigil just like you. You should learn from them so that you both can get better together.”

“They don’t have the destiny I do though,” Sunset muttered again before finally sipping her tea, causing Celestia to grimace ever so slightly. She glanced back to her hopefully. “Can we go back to one-on-one lessons? I was learning so much faster that way…”

“Sunset,” she answered more “teacher-ly” as she set down her cup, “there’s more to your education than just learning spells. Part of this is interaction with others. Taking classes with other students will bring out things inside of you that you never knew you had.”

The girl sighed, sinking back into her chair. She set her tea down and took up a cucumber sandwich instead, munching it idly.

“Please give it just a little longer. I’ll tell you more if you do. You’re about ready to learn about the Anima Viri.”

Sunset raised her head; her gloom vanishing at the thought of learning something new. “What’s an-”

Celestia cut her off with a smirk and one finger. “Two more months. Then you’ll learn all about them.”

Sunset frowned with a mixture of anxiety and pouting, but sighed in defeat. “Alright…” She crammed the rest of the cucumber sandwich into her mouth and went for the chicken salad croissant next.

“And, as a matter of fact, I do have a new assignment for you.”

Forgetting the food, Sunset leaned up in her chair excitedly. “Really?”

“It’s an essay.”

She slumped back into it just as quickly. “Ugh…”

Celestia couldn’t help but smile wider. “This one’s going to be a bit different from your usual writing assignments. I want you to answer a question for me in essay form.”

She reached for her desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a slip of typewritten paper. As she passed it over to Sunset she recited its contents aloud.

“You and several other passengers are on a cruise ship that sinks in the middle of the ocean, hundreds of miles from any other land or boat. You end up being in charge of a single lifeboat that contains yourself and seven other passengers. There is only room for two more on board the boat, but two of the passengers are so large that they are taking up two additional seats. Ten other passengers are in the ocean and are in danger of drowning. There are no other means available to you to save any of these passengers other than entry onto the lifeboat. What do you do and why?”

Sunset sat there silently, staring at Celestia, for several moments. She glanced down at the sheet she had passed her. Finally she rubbed her chin. “I…guess I could try using a levitation charm, but on so many-”

“You can’t do that, Sunset,” she answered, causing her to look up again. “It says there’s no other means available. Including magic.”

“Then…breaking up the boat into a raft?”

“No other means, Sunset. Just letting them into the lifeboat.”

She glanced back at the paper, more confused than before. She read it and re-read it several times. Finally, she lit up. “Oh, I get it! It doesn’t say that there aren’t any other lifeboats but mine. So I take two on board and-”

“Sunset, it may not say that, but the implication is that there is only one lifeboat out there. There are no other boats.”

She looked confused again and stared at the sheet of paper longer. “I don’t get it… Can I get a hint?”

Now Celestia looked puzzled. “Hint?”

“There’s got to be information missing here. Are some of the passengers mages? Do they have rafts or floatation devices? Do they know how to swim and can dangle on the side?”

“Sunset, do you think this is a riddle?”

She looked up. “Well, I can’t figure out any other way to solve this problem.”

“Sunset, this isn’t a math problem or a new spell. It’s an essay.”

“But…but I don’t see any way to save all the passengers.”

She shrugged. “Then you can’t save all the passengers.”

The girl looked surprised. “You mean…that’s the right answer?”

“Sunset, there isn’t a right answer. This isn’t that kind of question. This is an essay about character and ethics. It’s not important that you find the right answer. What’s important is the answer you choose and why you chose it. It shows what’s important to you and what you value.”

The girl hesitated; looking over the assignment again. She winced uncomfortably.

“What’s wrong?”

“You…I mean, it’s nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Celestia stared at her a little longer, clearly not quite believing, but finally eased up and took her teacup up again. “Alright then. You have a few days, so don’t stress about it right now. Let’s just spend the rest of the time catching up, alright?”

“Alright,” she finally said, although it was some time before she was able to take her own teacup again.

As midnight came, Sunset found herself still seated at the desk in her room, although she had let the lamp burn out. There was more than enough moonlight pouring through the nearby window for her to see the progress on her essay, or lack thereof. Namely, that it had just the following sentence fragment: “When faced with this choice, I would choose”.

Her pen tapped at the part where the rest of the sentence should have ended, but with no change other than what she had done for hours: frowned at it.

In Sunset’s mind, the headmistress never gave an assignment with the intent of getting an ambiguous answer. There was always an answer that would be the best. One that would garner praise. One that would lead to more advanced magic and more explanations. She puzzled over that now, but as she read over the assignment again for the 400^th time, she still couldn’t find out what exactly it was. She would have given up and hit the sack two hours ago if she wasn’t to the point in her education where she prided herself on getting assignments done the next day. She had to crack this.

Letting out a sigh, she wiped at her face. The room was getting rather warm and she felt like some air. With that in mind, she stood up and reached over to the window to unfasten it, but on seeing outside she paused.

Sunset’s room just happened to have a splendid window view (aside from a large tree from the surrounding gardens encroaching on the main quad) of the Northern Keep. She had seen it many times before. In fact, she found her eyes often drifting to it after the first incident that had made it catch her attention a year and a half prior, although it wasn’t the building itself that had done that. In the entire year and a half, the building had never changed. It was never decorated for special dates. It was never lit up no matter the time of day. In fact, try as she might, she had never seen anything but darkness in whatever windows on it that weren’t shuttered.

And yet, almost every single night, around this very time, she saw the same thing.

The headmistress, her hair seeming to shimmer even in the night, her grace and poise seeming to let her attire drift in a floating motion behind her, crossed over to the building, paused at the gate for a moment, and then passed inside.

Sunset wasn’t sure what it was about that night. Ever since the first time she had seen it, her curiosity had done nothing but grow as she knew there were many things that Celestia had yet to tell her. Perhaps it was the essay combined with the timing of the change in classes turning her demeanor, but for whatever reason she decided tonight was the night. Almost on a whim, she elected at that moment to get up and go.

Celestia was the kindest and most understanding of headmistresses, but she was as immobile as a mountain when it came to the rules she se--which included that no students were allowed to leave the dormitories at night. To that end, she had set up multiple safeguards to ensure no student ever did anything other than go to the restroom.

Sunset, however, had been testing the safeguards for a while.

By now, she knew when the night watchmen would make their normal rounds, and how lazy they had gotten about checking which corners. It was a small matter of ducking out, waiting down the right corner in the right shadow, inching past when he walked by on her stocking feet, hiding again in a new corner until he came back the other way, and then slipping to the end of the hall.

From there, one of Celestia’s own trained birds sat in a cage, ready to squawk the moment a student tried to pass through loud enough to wake the dead. Sunset, however, had acclimated herself to the bird some time ago with bits of birdseed she purloined on her visits to Celestia’s office, until the animal expectantly waited for a bit of feeding whenever it saw her. On satiating it, she moved on to the stairwell.

The stairs themselves were another trap. Celestia had fitted each one with a magic rune to set off a colored flare above the dormitory alerting all the faculty and castle staff. It would take all night to undo them, or longer given that they came from Celestia, but Sunset bothered with none. Instead, she opened the window at the top of the staircase, let herself out, and began to shinny down the side of the brick wall. It was sheer enough to be quite frightening and impossible to most, but Sunset had practiced and broken it down into the short small drops to each protruding bit of masonry and window ledge, and even without a rope she had managed it. Once on the ground floor, she slipped back into the window; knowing from one mistake (that she had to rapidly blame on a misfired teleportation attempt) that touching the grass would set off another flare.

From here she went to the commons area, the farthest she had ever gone. She had to take some time to examine her surroundings, but her scrying practice apparently had paid off as she was able to not only detect the magical lock on the front door and two more alarms, but also the fact that the watchdogs out front had had charms placed on their barks to alert higher authorities even if they were muted. Realizing unlocking the front door would likely trigger them, she used a different approach. While she had only managed to combine spells once or twice before then, by combining the mute spell with the unlocking incantation she was able to spring the door silently, and before opening it muted herself. Sure enough, both dogs had laid down and nodded off some time ago, and while normally the slightest sound would have been enough to awaken them, with everything silenced she was able to slip right by.

She had a grin on her face at her first completely successful attempt to escape the dorm that lasted her all the way to the front gate of the Northern Keep. Evading any groundskeeper guards was far easier than leaving the building considering the shadows and close-packed structures keeping many areas out of the realm of visibility, and as soon as she was in front of the building she was halted by the lock. Another scry revealed that it was not only a very powerful charm, it was likely one that would trigger and alert if she tried to force it with her more basic level of magic. However, Sunset knew now from experience that the headmistress rarely relied on her own magic to undo these; else she would have to constantly replace the charms. Rather, the incantation would usually break with the proper password.

She leaned into the lock and whispered.

“Crystal imperium.”

Nothing. Sunset frowned. She knew she had overheard Celestia use that word before on a special chest in her office when she was waiting outside to come in. (The headmistress likely would have disapproved if she knew, but Sunset certainly didn’t let on to that.) She had hoped she would use the same password for all of her charms, but apparently not.

“Philomena?” she tried next.

Nothing.

“Promethian Sigil. Anima Viri.”

Nothing and nothing. Sunset suppressed a groan for fear of the watchdogs. Celestia had to know hundreds of terms that she had never brought up to her before. Any one of them, or none of them, could be the incantation. What could she do?

Sunset thought for a few moments, closing her eyes and trying to remember what she had heard Celestia say before. She came up with nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet as her hand traced down over her body and her fingers ran across the scar in her side, feeling it through her thin nightclothes, a few sparks of memory stirred. There was that one phrase…the one she thought she heard…or perhaps only dreamed she heard…without ever knowing what it was. Before she even knew what she was saying, it spilled out of her lips.

A heavy thunk rang out as the lock undid.

Sunset stood surprised, honestly stunned that had actually worked. She had no idea what the meaning of that phrase she dreamed had been, only that she swore she heard Celestia say it once. It didn’t matter, though. Her way was open, and taking one last look around she slipped inside and shut the door behind her.

It was dark, which only figured. Sunset risked a small fireball spell and, holding it in her palm, used it as a candle to illuminate the interior as she walked in. It had all the trimmings of the architecture and design of the rest of the castle, but unlike the other structures this one was quite abandoned. The furnishings were old and worn, making it look like the keep was being used for a storage chamber. They were also covered with dust and old cobwebs. The entire place smelled musty and unused, and with the shutters in place and only moonlight for illumination, everywhere was cloaked in shadows. The ceiling was high, like most of the castle, but that only gave it a darker, emptier feeling. The silence of the chamber around her along with the coolness and staleness were a stark contrast to the rest of the castle, and it made her visibly unnerved.

The girl began to walk inside, looking around but seeing nothing but junk and old furnishings. She worked her way into the foyer and around furniture, a bit nervous about traveling through the dark and quiet place but also wary of alerting Celestia, before she reached the back. The rooms in the keep were smaller than in most of the rest of the castle, and combined with the storage they were a tight squeeze. She ended up making circuit about the entire first floor, ignoring the stairs for she had seen no movement in the upper floors from outside, but on passing through all of them she saw nothing save clutter and age; not to mention done a fair share of jumping at shadows.

She didn’t give up though. On returning to the foyer, she looked at the ground and held the light lower. It took a bit of time, but at last she spotted parts of the old carpeting and hard floor where the dust had shifted. Her own path had muddled it a bit, but she was still able to track it to a room in the back that looked like a rather inconspicuous storage area built toward the keep’s interior. Once there, she looked about until, after eight minutes of relentless searching, she noticed a stone against the wall that looked unusually smooth. Thinking it to be from finger oil, she risked touching and pushing it. As she hoped, it depressed beneath her and, with an unlatching sound, the seemingly solid stone wall in front of her swung open.

The air, however, was colder and a bit fouler coming from that way. It led to a spiral staircase that went down under the ground, where no natural light at all was available anymore. It gave Sunset pause, but she had come this far and so she swallowed and pressed on down the shaft.

Thirty minutes later and Sunset had made her way though at least seventeen different barriers, a combination of both magical and physical. By now, she was descending to a fourth sublevel. Whatever the headmistress was hiding here was something she definitely didn’t want anyone to find.

As Sunset went deeper, however, she began to think less of Celestia doubling back and thought more that there might be a good reason for that.

Each level she descended was as cluttered as the first floor, but was also damper, danker, colder, and dirtier. She eventually started seeing rather ugly bugs living in moist spots and carcasses or skeletons of mice and rats, and always it grew stiller and quieter. The air was more stagnant than ever now, but with a coldness that brought a chill right down to the bones. Some of the masonry looked hand cut and, in spite of how dark it was, moss or perhaps mold was growing over much of it. Eventually her path was barred not by doors but by iron gates, all of them rusty and making rather loud noises when she swung past them. This wasn’t a place Sunset would have normally ever wanted to go, and in truth she was growing more frightened the farther along she went. The look on her face gradually changed from bold and curious to hesitant. Had the keep descended one more level, she might have turned back.

That was when she finally saw light up ahead.

By now, the keep architecture was so basic that it seemed to be nothing but a collection of crudely mortared stones; far more ancient than the upper levels. Right at the end of the current hall she saw a simple entryway, just big enough for one adult at full height, opening into what looked like nothing but more masonry. Venturing a bit nearer, she could see that the bottom dropped out. She doused her own flame and stepped closer yet, until she was right at the edge and looked down.

The opening descended into a long stone staircase, just old and crude enough to look slightly twisted. The stone masonry on either side was just rough enough to have a jagged feel. Far at the bottom she saw a light flickering—a torch or a lantern. It was coming from within some sort of barred window that she assumed was on a door to a chamber at the bottom of the stairs.

That wasn’t all though. A new foulness on the air. It was neither cold nor dank. Truly, Sunset couldn’t tell what it was. All she knew was it wasn’t pleasant. It reminded her of the feeling she got when she was younger when she thought she heard a noise in the house during a thunderstorm, or dreaded the shadows of forests or the stern words of a disciplinary parent. It was wrong to call it dread though. It felt more like the rush one got from fear; the final surge of adrenaline one had when faced with the object of their terror.

Right before…

It took all of Sunset’s courage to finally begin to step down the stairs. Even the first step made her heart race. In the darkness and silence, she could almost hear her blood coursing through it. On forcing herself to take a second, the feelings began to rise around and wrap about her; stifling all other emotions. The third step down she paused and held her breath, listening for anything. The flickering of the lights far below seemed much closer than her few steps should have taken her, but still silence.

She hesitated at the thought that Celestia wasn’t there. Even if she wasn’t, maybe nothing was down there. Just a private study. A secret book or talisman. She swallowed as one of her legs began to lift, almost inching backward.

“Let me out of here! Let me out you filthy, rotten bitch! LET ME OUT!”

Sunset froze in midstep. She went totally white. The voice that came from below defied description. She couldn’t tell if it was male or female. She couldn’t even tell if it was human. It sounded like it was wrapped in a mixture of unholy rage and unmeasureable madness. It was both high pitched and twisted as well as warped hideously. The girl didn’t know anything that lived was capable of making that noise.

The only thing that shocked her more than the hideous voice and the rattling of what sounded like no less than two dozen heavy chains, many of them snapping taut, was the viciousness of what she heard bellow from its mouth. It let out a stream of obscenities and foulness so vile and disgusting that it used every profanity that Sunset had ever heard in her young life as well as all others she had yet to hear; mixed together in the most murderous, disgusting, and hideous threats imaginable. She actually felt sickened as she heard the ghastly thing scream at the top of its lungs about how it was going to kill its captor in ways so horrifying that those vivid descriptions alone would have filled Sunset’s mind with nightmares for a month.

It didn’t tire as it went on. On the contrary, its voice grew louder and more booming. Enough to where Sunset swore she saw the very masonry begin to tremble. She could almost hear the chains snapping a bit looser with each rapid tug and the glow of the flames grow more unstable from what had to be the thing fuming a bit closer to them each time. Yet her body stayed petrified, unable to move. Trapped in a dark hole with it.

Through a mixture of panic and desperation, she finally forced her foot up and back to the step above, only for it to miss and scrape against the masonry. Her heart froze as she heard the single loud scoff resound more audibly than she ever thought possible, and right when the thing was in between threats.

The chains instantly went silent. The horrible screaming stopped.

Sunset stopped breathing. She almost thought she willed her heart to stop beating. Icy terror clutched her chest.

It had heard her.

Her mind dared to think, somehow, that it would just ignore her and resume its tirade. That hope was swiftly crushed.

“Who is it?”

The voice wasn’t nearly as full of anger this time. Rather, it had mixed in its madness with a hint of saccharine sweetness. The fact it had said “who is it” as opposed to “who’s there” only made Sunset more terrified.

“Who iiiiiis it?”

It spoke even more high-pitched that time; a grotesque parody of a cheerful mother asking who was at the door. Sunset began to shake like a leaf in a storm. She didn’t even notice a new set of footsteps suddenly moving.

“Ans-wer me pleeeeeease… Pretty, pretty pleeeeeease…” it sang. “I…can…hear…your…breath… You’re just an itty…bitty…girl…aren’t you?”

The girl tried to scream at herself to run, but she was too terrified to make any more noise.

“Say something…”

She finally covered her mouth, trying to stifle her breathing.

“Saaaaaay something…”

A noise was at the door fumbling with it, but Sunset could only hear the voice of the thing.

“If you do-on’t…”

Every last chain snapped taut so loud it was like a thunderclap.

“I’LL TEAR YOU INTO ITTY BITTY PIECES!”

Sunset’s mouth snapped open, but she was too horrified to scream. The door flew open, and in her terror she imagined seeing nothing but a black shadow coming out. She imagined it coming up the stairs and engulfing her in blackness and teeth. Yet she couldn’t scream. Try as she might, she was too scared to make a sound…

The fantasy faded from her mind’s eye readily in an instant, but a shape still came up the stairs. One with flowing, iridescent hair, a headmistress robe, and a kind, known face. Only it wasn’t calm or composed this time. It wasn’t motherly or caring. It was filled with shock and terror on seeing Sunset there. Sunset hardly had time to know what was going on before she swept her arms around her, and instantly began to force her up the stairwell again.

“Get out!” was all she heard Celestia nearly whisper. “Get out now! Hurry!”

Sunset didn’t hear if she said any more, for the thing was screaming again as it rattled the chains.

“I’LL GET OUT ONE DAY, ITTY-BITTY! AND WHEN I DO I’LL FIND YOU AND GOBBLE YOU UP IN BIG, BLOODY, GOOEY BITES!! WAIT FOR ME-EEEE!!”

In spite of how old Sunset was now, the headmistress scooped her up and moved back through the secret doors and charms so fast that she had to be running the whole time. The sound of the hideous thing finally vanished as soon as they entered the second sublevel, but Sunset’s eyes stayed wide open and fixed behind them; gazing into the darkness. She stared without blinking. She didn’t dare close her eyes even once. She feared if she did she would open them again and see the thing right behind them, mouth open wide, tongue wagging, and eyes on her. It wasn’t until the first sublevel when, still running, Celestia hugged her tightly to her chest and put her head next to her ear.

“It can’t get out, Sunset. It can’t get out. It can’t get out…”

She kept soothing her with that that all through the final sublevel, only going quiet once they reached the main floor. At the foyer, Celestia dropped into a walk, so that when they exited she had calmed her breath just enough to look perfectly normal as she stepped onto the ground still carrying Sunset. Even when the heavy double doors and gate locked behind them, Sunset kept staring at them. Gradually, the light of the moon and the wall torches, as well as the warm, fresh, familiar surroundings, eased away a small measure of her fear. Enough to where she was at least able to think again.

Celestia didn’t stop until they were in her room. Sunset hadn’t been in there in three years, when she got “too big” for the headmistress to offer her comfort for nightmares. She had never felt so good to be sat in her easy chair and covered up with one of her soft blankets. Celestia said no more the entire time. It wasn’t until she had almost finished brewing a fresh cup of tea for both of them that Sunset finally began to cry. She couldn’t help it. And she kept doing so when Celestia brought her the tea and put her arm around her and began to comfort her. She said nothing about the keep or what was in it, only reassuring words as she let her cry and hugged her tight. It took another hour before she had calmed enough to stop. Even then, the words still rang in her head and the fear was still in her heart.

At long last, the headmistress guided her over to her own bed, pulled aside the covers, and helped her in. As she did, she took her hand and grasped it warmly and tightly.

“It’s ok, Sunset. You’re safe.”

The authority and power in her voice had returned. Only now did Sunset realize it had fully come back somewhere on the run between the fourth sublevel and now. And just as always, it was enough to ease her just a little bit as she sank into the bed.

Celestia covered her up and gave her a brief comforting smile.

However, for once, it faded soon after.

“I’ll be right here, Sunset. But before you go to sleep, there’s something you have to promise me.”

The girl was still getting over her fear, but what she heard commanded her full attention. The headmistress almost always trusted Sunset at her word or said something expecting she would do it. Including keeping secrets about what she had shown her. This was the first time she had heard her ask her to promise her something in ages.

“Sunset…” she leaned in closer, and her face grew more serious than during the sternest lecture she had ever received. “This is very, very important. You need to promise me that you will forget tonight ever happened.”

The girl looked puzzled. The sound of her own voice sounded almost odd to her after being quiet so long. She never realized it was probably the first time she ever truly questioned her.

“What…?”

“Tonight did not happen. Do you understand? Tonight never happened.”

Sunset’s hands on the top of the covers began to ball. “But what was that thing-”

At once, two of Celestia’s fingers came out and pressed themselves against her lips.

“There was no thing. There was no basement to the keep. You never went in the keep. Nothing is in the Northern Keep besides old furniture. You had a bad dream and you came to spend the night with me. Promise me that’s what happened. Do you understand?”

Sunset began to look a little uneasy again, especially since Celestia’s fingers remained pressed against her lips.

When she hesitated, Celestia grew more serious yet.

“Sunset…what you dreamed of tonight…and only dreamed of…is something that you must never, ever see, hear, or touch. It’s something no one should ever know exists. People must not speak of it. People must not even imagine it could be real. People must not even talk about it as a fantasy. So long as that happens…it will only ever be a bad dream. So long as you promise me what I said, it will only ever be a bad dream. The only way it will ever be more than that is if you break your promise. Now…”

Her fingers removed from Sunset’s lips, but at that point Celestia wasn’t the kindly, motherly teacher that had brought her to the castle. All of her power and royal authority radiated through her as she looked down into Sunset’s eyes.

“What do you have to say to me?”

Sunset lay there silent for ten full seconds. She swallowed and took a deep breath.

“There was no thing. There was no basement to the keep. I never went in the keep. Nothing is in the Northern Keep besides old furniture. I had a bad dream and I came to spend the night with you.”

“And you promise me that is exactly what happened?”

A pause, then a nod. “I promise.”

A moment passed before some of Celestia’s kinder appearance came back. She reached out and brushed some loose hairs from Sunset’s face before smiling. “Now go to sleep. You have another busy day in class tomorrow.”

The girl closed her eyes soon after. She nestled into the pillow a little, but it wasn’t quite as comfortable as she was used to. Neither were the blankets spread over her. And in spite of knowing the headmistress was right at her side, on that night she felt not quite as safe or secure as she was used to…

“Sunset? One last thing.”

The girl opened her eyes.

She gaped in horror on seeing a ghastly, twisted face hovering inches from her own with saber-like teeth and flaming eyes.

“DIDN’T I TELL YOU I’D GET OUT?!”

At last, Sunset was able to scream.

“Nnnyah!”

Sunset sat up like a bolt in the command chair of the Rising Sun before looking around in a panic. All she saw, other than the bridge, were the members of the crew looking back at her with surprised glances. She stared at them all for a few moments before she finally eased.

Once she did, however, she grit her teeth angrily. She rubbed her eyes as she realized she had not only nodded off but nearly screamed in her sleep, and it made her angrier to feel a healthy amount of cold sweat on her brow. Apparently, this was what happened when she refused to rest until they found her target. As it was, it took her a full minute of calming herself down to make sure she wouldn’t be seen shaking before she was bold enough to look up and call out.

“Status.”

Her question was directed mostly in front of her, to one area in the center of the airship that had been custom-designed to her own specifications. It consisted of a strange podium of iron, gears, and some crystalline material which was poised and presented in the center. However, right now it had an additional usage. The royal guard stood there with his spear driven right into the center of it, and his hands were both clasping it as small bolts of electricity formed a moving arc with the shaft and the podium surrounding it.

He was already looking at her before she spoke. “My lady, are you alright?” The voice had an uncharacteristic level of tension.

Sunset frowned again. “I don’t recall asking you how I looked. I said status.”

After a pause, the guard slowly turned his head back. “The trail was growing dim for a while,” he answered far more smoothly, “but we’ve gotten close enough to pick up on it again. They’ve ended up going under the Hyperborean Mountains.”

Sunset nodded. “So they went with the Griffonstone smugglers after all. Fantastic. We know exactly where they’ll emerge.”

The guard turned his head over his shoulder again. “By now, Grifftham City has to at least gotten word of us, to say nothing of the Nighttouched. They may have an agreement with Trottingham but there’s no telling what they’ll do once we cross their borders, or how ready they’ll be for a fight.”

“Griffonstone doesn’t have a cannon in service that shouldn’t have been retired six years ago. I think we have enough power to launch one raid on Grifftham City, if need be. What do the others report?”

“The Endeavor checked in an hour ago,” the Rising Sun’s first mate joined in. “They say their sweep is clear so they’re flanking us. The Prodigy checked in thirty minutes afterward. They’re following the river south. Ma’am, I…”

Sunset smirked. “Trying to save face by bagging at least one Promethian Sigil bearer, huh? Whatever. Just so long as they cover the river route.”

“Ma’am,” the first mate continued, “I think you need to take a look at this.”

The woman rose from her seat and began to stretch a little. “What is it? Are the Appleloosans changing targets?”

“No, ma’am. It’s…well…”

“Spit it out, already. If things are going well, I might try to catch some sleep while I can.”

“I think you should see for yourself.”

Sunset frowned a bit more, but turned to the first mate. This late at night, there wasn’t much in the way of lighting on the bridge save for the royal guard’s arclight and a few candle-like flames mounted in glass at key consoles, but she saw enough to notice she was posted at the ventral periscope station. Stepping around the various stations and railings, she made her way over to it. Taking a moment to push her hair back, she leaned forward and placed her eyes on the goggles. “And what is it that I’m supposed to see?”

“The edge of the Equestrian border where it meets the Hyperboreans. We pulled in for a hover here after you…” She swallowed. “…about an hour ago.”

Sunset’s lip curled at the reminder of how she fell asleep but kept looking.

The view was scaled back for the highest panorama; designed to capture the most amount of land. From their position, Sunset could easily make out the northern edge of the mountains themselves, before they gave way into the inky black forest of Equestria. She saw nothing at first and nearly asked what the issue was, when she caught something odd.

An entire section of the forest suddenly shifted one way. Seeing that the rest of the forest stayed solid it couldn’t be wind. Before she could conclude it was a rockslide, however, she realized that the part of the “forest”, almost an entire hill on its own, was not only still moving but moving forward.

She looked closer and soon made out more than that. There were teeny, tiny lights, thousands of them, trailing behind the moving hill. And the hill itself wasn’t entirely black but had little specks inside it. Almost like looking at…stars.

Spotting that, she realized just what it had to be. “What in the world…?”

“It’s staying away from us just like the smaller ones, but…but…”

Sunset leaned up from the periscope and looked around the bridge. The crew had been startled when she first woke up, but now she saw they were all looking on edge. Including the first mate. “My lady, we’ve never seen a Light Eater that big even when we flew over the interior of Equestria. There’s Nighttouched and smaller Light Eaters right behind it too. Thousands…tens of thousands.”

Sunset looked into the periscope again. She stared at it for several more seconds.

“Should we notify the Regent?”

“At this point, we abandon this mission for nothing,” Sunset flatly responded, still staring at the periscope. “We’ve come too far.”

“Then…what should we do?”

Sunset pulled herself away from the station, turned, and glanced at her; raising an eyebrow. “‘Do’?”

The first mate, put on the spot, began to look uneasy. “It’s…it’s just that we’ve never seen anything like this before. Not even in the initial surges. It could…they could…they could be trying something.”

“And you think it’s our responsibility to stop it? Is that what you’re asking me, officer?”

She began to sweat. “N-no, ma’am…yes, ma’am…I mean, no ma’am, but I thought…well, I just…”

Sunset snorted with a smile. “You just thought that all of humanity should ‘drop everything and work together when Light Eaters are involved’, huh?” She scoffed and shook her head as she turned back to the royal guard. “Really, commander. If you still think chivalry is a thing, you need to take a good look around Greater Everfree. Flash?”

The royal guard, in spite of focusing on his staff, faced Sunset as best as he could. “Milady?”

“Get your chariot ready to go and head off the ones going under the Hyperboreans. We’ll use the Grover Peak entrance. Deal with them now. It won’t do me any good to lose the one I need to the Light Eaters and Nighttouched, and from the looks of it every cavern in those mountains is going to be flooded with them soon.”

Without the slightest expression of fear or hesitation, the royal guard bowed to her; even though many of the rest of the crew gave Sunset a surprised, and uneasy, glance. She, on her part, simply kept her smirk as she headed back to the captain’s chair.

“I suggest you hurry. The big one is moving pretty fast. It won’t be long before your neck will be in as much trouble as theirs.”

Author's Notes:

Just out of curiosity for those reading, any theories on who, or what, that thing Celestia locked up is?

Nightwatch: Short-Lived Pleasure Cruise

“Road closed! Check in or move along! Road closed! Check in or move along!”

Twilight frowned at the Appleloosan National Guard member shouting this same refrain, beckoning people along on the road. Just ahead loomed the Hyperborean Mountains. A deep ravine cut through this part of the landscape, made by the Shell River running from north to south. There was a Mount Aris port city stationed on just the other side of it, and Appleloosa was connected to it via a rather large bridge.

Unfortunately, the Appleloosan end was currently closed and blocked off by a large number of national guard members. The previous customs post they had was replaced by much stronger barriers and even a touch of barbed wire, as well as far too many guns for Twilight’s taste. Nevertheless, there was already a line stretching half a mile long off to one side of the road leading up to it; mostly individuals with large wagons or parties who couldn’t afford to stay on the road any longer.

Far more people were walking by, perhaps groaning or cursing but obeying the directive to keep walking. These types had quickly gotten impossible to avoid when her group reached the main roads, and they were growing more numerous all the time.

Finally, she began to walk back to her own group. The animals Fluttershy had insisted on bringing with her were seated to one side and, apparently, enjoying a bit of snack time in the form of nuts, grains, and vegetables the woman had brought. She herself was looking uncomfortable as Applejack was practically in her face.

“Can we pick up the pace just a mite? The Nighttouched’ll be here ‘fore we even get on a boat! Or the airships!”

“Oh, but Eustice was getting a sideache. He never was that athletic and at his age he’s doing so well to begin with… I didn’t want to make him feel bad by letting him think he was dragging the rest of us behind.”

“He is draggin’ the rest of us behind!”

She gasped, quickly leaning in and looking back. “Don’t talk so loud! You’ll hurt his feelings!”

“Hurt his…ugh! Which one is he, anyway?”

Fluttershy, after making sure he wasn’t looking, extended a finger and pointed to a mouse gnawing on corn kernel.

Applejack nearly fumed. “Ya’ gotta be kiddin’ me! I could carry that varmint in my breast pocket!”

She gasped a second time; this time covering up Applejack’s mouth. “Don’t say that! We don’t use that language in my house!”

The farmer rolled her eyes and twisted her way free as Twilight approached. “So, what’s the story?”

“A bad one. This road is blocked, so there’s no chance of getting into the port city here.”

“Ya’ ain’t scared of a few boys with guns, are ya’? Ain’t like we’ve done anythin’ illegal.”

Twilight stared deadpan before holding up her gloved hand. “You haven’t forgotten about these, have you? Take another look at the custom’s post.”

She looked and, this time, Fluttershy looked with her. In particular, they watched where people were being let in. It seemed to be taking a while, no doubt leading to the pile up, but after only a moment she noticed two of the soldiers were going along and looking at each person in the line. Their hands in particular.

Her eyes widened in realization. “But…but why would…?”

“I don’t know, but if I had to guess it probably wasn’t so much what we did the other night as either those airships looking for more people like us or more people acting like Braeburn and that photographer. And with the Nighttouched also getting ready to come across, the military is going to be so on edge that I don’t think we should try and show our sigils off that much.”

“Oh my…” Fluttershy remarked.

Applejack frowned and crossed her arms. “Fine. We’ll just head down the river to the next port.”

“That won’t be for another seventy miles, and these crowds might already have them taken up. Thousands of people already have to have been turned away. Even if they aren’t, do you think they’ll let Fluttershy’s animals take up so much space for passengers?”

“Well, what other choice we got?”

Twilight’s shoulders slumped. “I’ve been asking myself the same thing… We don’t even have any money to get on board a ferry in the first place.”

“Don’t that just beat all…” Applejack groaned; snatching off her hat and scratching her head. “I’ve been nervous as a cat in a room fulla rockin’ chairs all day thinkin’ every odd sound I hear is another airship, and now we gotta worry ‘bout the national guard too if they do show up. ‘Til yesterday I’d have loved ta’ stay in Appleloosa the rest of my life, and now the last place I wanna be in is in it and gettin’ out on foot ain’t gonna be the way ta’ do it.”

She frowned as a bit of shouting came from their surroundings. “It’d be a helluva lot easier ta’ think if that fella over there’d quit yellin’…”

Twilight looked puzzled at the comment and glanced up. There were a number of groups like theirs stopped alongside the road—no doubt due to seeing their way shut and reassessing their situation. Most of them were talking and many of them were yelling. However, there was one in particular louder than all.

A rather stocky giant of a man with a drooping hat was perched on an overturned broken wagon, cupping his hands to his mouth and yelling at the top of his lungs.

“Vet! We need a vet!”

Twilight perked up. Moments later she turned and began to move over to him.

“What…? Where ya’ goin’?” Applejack called as she ran off, but she didn’t stop. Sighing, the farmer looked behind. “Fluttershy, jus’ stay here with Spike and yer critters.” She muttered before taking off after her.

Even going against the flow of the people, it didn’t take long for Applejack to catch up to Twilight, but it took the latter even less time to run up to the feet of the man and hold her hand up waving until she got his attention. “Excuse me? Sir?”

He glanced downward.

“Did you say you needed a ‘vet’?”

“Sure do,” he grumbled back, although based on his look there more than a little worry on his voice. He motioned behind him. Twilight, and Applejack now arriving behind her, looked and saw twenty to thirty head of cattle grazing idly on the grass by the side of the road with various ranchers fussing about them.

“All that’s left of the ranch after the Nighttouched came through last night. Got ta’ herd ‘em south as soon as possible. The owner’s got a friend with a boat he uses as a ferry to move them down the river, but one of the bulls is lookin’ sick and one of the heifers is pregnant and just about on her last legs. It’s bad enough after losin’ everything else we may lose the mom and the calf, but that’s the prize bull. The owner doesn’t want to put him down if he can avoid it but if he gets the rest of the herd sick it won’t be worth it. It’s a long shot but we need a vet real bad. Know one?”

Twilight, put on the spot, held a moment. “Um…well…”

The man picked up on her hesitation, and quickly spoke again. “Ma’am, if you know a vet, we’ll be happy ta’ take him or her down the river on the boat too. ‘Bout all we can offer up right now.”

Twilight stared back a few seconds before her look grew thoughtful. “Could you excuse me a moment?”

She turned around. Applejack was about to say something, but Twilight immediately advanced on her, took her by the arm, and began to lead her back toward Fluttershy. She looked at her confused. “What?”

“You heard what he just said, right?”

The farmer frowned. “Fat lot o’ good it’ll do us. Don’t look at me ta’ be able ta’ take care o’ no sick cattle. Sure, we had a couple livestock back home, but it was always the older folks who-”

“Not you.” She pointed ahead. “Her.”

Applejack looked up. It took her a moment to realize that she was indicating Fluttershy. She nearly questioned why she would choose her but, before she could, her mind clicked and she came to the same realization. She ended up holding her tongue all the way back to the pink-haired woman.

As soon as they arrived she turned to both. “How did it go?”

Applejack didn’t split hairs. “Fluttershy, ya’ think ya’ can cure a sick bull and help a heifer push out her calf?”

She went wide-eyed. “Wh…what?”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight joined in, “that man over there is some sort of rancher. They’re trying to move their cattle down the river but some of them need help from a vet. Since you’ve taken care of all of these animals, we were wondering if you could do the same for him. If you do, he’ll take us all down the river along with him.”

“Oh…oh my…” she swallowed. She immediately began to nervously cringe again—much to Applejack’s chagrin. “I’ve…I’ve never done anything for animals that big before… I’m…I’m not sure…”

“But you handle the rest of these animals so well,” Twilight added. “And you’ve cared for all of them when they were injured. Besides, if they have a boat that’s big enough to let a whole herd of cattle on, they might be the only boat around that could take all of your animals as well.”

“That’s true…” Fluttershy quietly admitted. “It’s just…well…um…” She nervously wrung her hands together, playing with a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. “Did…did he happen to say how many people are going to be on the boat?”

“How many…fer cryin’ out loud!” Applejack groaned. “Yer gonna blow a prime opportunity like this ‘cause yer still scared of folks?”

“I just…don’t get along with other people that well…” she softly answered, looking again to the ground.

Twilight’s face looked like it felt a little of Applejack’s frustration, but she stayed level-headed. “Please, Fluttershy. This might be our best way out of Appleloosa. Besides, you saw how the military is starting to look for people with symbols on their hands. The longer we stay in this country the more thorough they’ll get. Can you please try?”

Fluttershy remained timid and quiet for a few moments, but she finally placed a hand to her chin.

“Well…those animals do sound like they need help. And if I’m really the only one who can, then I really can’t ignore it…”

She hesitated a little longer before finally looking up. Taking a deep breath, to assert her own bravery, she stood. “Alright. I’ll help.”

Twilight sighed in relief. “Thanks a lot.”

“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Applejack answered, before spinning around and waving her hat in the air to get the man’s attention. “Hey over there! Got yer vet right here!”

The arrangement took very little time to work out. There were seven ranchers in all including the one who had been calling out, and they took Fluttershy right to the affected animals. In spite of her tension and anxiety, to say nothing of the fact that she refused to work until everyone stood at a distance, she knew her stuff as Twilight had hoped. It took about a three hour delay, but not only was Fluttershy able to help deliver the calf but, seemingly miraculously, the sickness on the bull left him after she tended to him long enough. The ranchers were able to get the cattle moving soon after, and, true to their word, they invited them along.

“We’re much obliged for the help, ladies,” the first rancher said as they moved along. “The truth is a lot of them got bites and scratches from the Nighttouched last night we were worried might get infected, but we weren’t gonna try and deal with all that when we had stuff that could cost the herd. Once we get on board, we’d be mighty appreciative if your friend would tend to those too.”

As it turned out, Fluttershy ended up agreeing far more readily. Tending to the first two cattle had seemed to make her more amiable in general, although she remained shy and withdrawn and stayed close to Spike while keeping Twilight and Applejack between her and the ranchers.

The group explained the boat was going to dock at a simple local pier two miles down from the crossroads, and both the three women as well as the ranchers and what was left of their herd plus Fluttershy’s “herd” all headed that way. Halfway there, Applejack leaned into Twilight.

“Smart move back there. Didn’t think ta’ see if Fluttershy could fit the bill, and even if she could she seemed like she’d never be able ta’ pull it off.”

“I knew she’d be fine,” Twilight quietly spoke back, so that only the farmer could hear. “I got a good look at her symbol. It’s the sigil for the Healer.”

“What? Healer?”

“Remember how I said you’re a Warrior and I’m a Caster? You were good at fighting and strong before you used your Anima Viri. The same with me and magic. Fluttershy must have the innate ability to heal too. That’s why she’s able to keep her animals from turning into Nighttouched.”

Applejack looked to Fluttershy and her herd. An idea popped into her head. “Say…ya’ don’t suppose, if she could get her hands on an Anima Viri of her own, that she’d be able ta’ actually stop Nighttouched cold? Turn ‘em all the way back? Maybe even…even do somethin’ against Light Eaters?”

Twilight sighed. “The thought did occur to me, but even if Fluttershy was brave enough to do that, Anima Viris don’t just grow on trees and even when one arises it’s hard to get. If she really is a recluse, I’m not sure how many souls would resonate with hers to begin with.”

The farmer frowned. “Got a point there.”

“My main worry right now is the Tantabus and the airships. Let’s get away from them first and then we can focus on what comes after.”

A mile later, they reached a point where the ravine edge had worn down enough for them to descend next to the bank of the river. The group made their way there and soon came to a stand of two buildings. Both were weather beaten, old, and unused, but there was a small personal pier that had been built there. There were also about twenty additional people already gathered; most of them looking akin to the laborer ranchers. However, they also looked in much worse shape. Several of them had dressings and were limping or moving stiff. Some of those dressings were bloodstained. Nevertheless, they picked themselves up as soon as they saw the group coming in.

“Who are all of these people?” Twilight asked.

“Other families who got hit last night,” the big rancher grumbled back. “Much as I hate that we lost all but twenty-six cattle, at least we ain’t ruined. Unlike the rest of these poor bastards. Owner figured the least she could do was get the rest of them out. Once the Light Eaters move in, there’ll be no gettin’ that land back.”

Twilight said nothing, but Applejack herself frowned while Fluttershy cringed at the thought.

The ranchers didn’t take long moving the cattle onto the boat, and as soon as they were all loaded the people came on next, in spite of the many awkward stares Fluttershy got as she loaded her own animals. Luckily, the ship had enough room for all of them. It truly did seem to be an older livestock ferry, and while it bore a resemblance to a barge or overgrown pontoon with mostly just a large, wide space on one deck, it got the job done. Soon they were all on board, pushing off, and making much better time as they accelerated the boat to a steady 25 miles per hour.

The rest of the day was a welcome reprieve. Nothing but slowly heading down the river, passing by the occasional port town or dock on either side. Naturally, many other boats were preparing to make way as well, but as everyone was going roughly the same speed things never got crowded. The ravine gradually leveled out completely, but as the Shell River ran right alongside the Hyperborean Mountains they never escaped their looming shadow.

Twilight and Applejack spent most of the day on deck, although the latter of the two seemed nauseated any time she looked over the side. A few ranchers hung out there as well but, for the most part, they kept to the single large cabin adjacent to the helm, which only figured as many of them looked rather injured and didn’t want to be up or about. Fluttershy, on her part, spent all the time with her animals or the cattle.

After a few hours, Twilight got up and began to make her way to walk around the deck. As the helm and cabin were a bit recessed into the ship, it was actually possible to walk around behind the cabin and see the river in back as well as in front, but other than the landscape there was little to witness. While the road they had been told to go along ran alongside the river, the large crowds and caravans on it had gradually diminished into nothing. They had to be in the area below where Appleloosa had ordered the evacuation, or at least the minimum safe distance the people believed.

After searching the skies for about twenty minutes behind the boat, Twilight finally came back around and moved to the front again. At this point, the sun was starting on its way down, and the cabin was casting a lengthening shadow over the deck. No sooner had she reached the front when she saw Applejack coming up to meet her. She had something in her hand and was waving it.

“Bit o’ bread and a tiny slab o’ smoked beef. All they brought ta’ eat, but they said we could have some for all the help.”

“Thanks, but Fluttershy did all the work. She should get it first.”

“Don’t worry none ‘bout her. I ran some out already. She only took the bread. Apparently she’s one of them er, uh…vegetariables.”

“I think that’s ‘vegetarian’.” Reaching Applejack, she reached out and accepted a piece of both from the farmer. She immediately began to eat it and cleaned up in no time. (It wasn’t until she was actually chewing on the food that she realized just how hungry she was.)

“See any airships?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, but they can turn up pretty fast. Especially Trottingham ones. They burn less coal and don’t leave as big smoke trails. And I’m still nervous about the time. It’s only an hour or two until dark.”

Applejack gave her a look at that. “Uh, ya’ know we’re well south of Equestria now, right?”

“Huh?”

“We’ve got to have gone at least a hundred miles since we got on this boat.”

It was a moment before it clicked. “Oh…oh yeah. Heh…forgot about that…”

Applejack was quiet a moment, and leveled one eye at her. “Spend most of yer time near the border?”

“I guess you could say that… That’s where the road usually ends up taking me, but…well…uh…I just happen to like to stay close to Equestria and…”

“And I don’t suppose hangin’ ‘round the border so much’s got anything to do with the fact that you’ve realized this Promethian Sigil thing seems to be great at killin’ Nighttouched?”

Twilight was quiet for a moment, before she exhaled. She crossed a hand over one arm and looked out to the passing river. “I guess I never really gave up all hope of using my power to put a stop to this…”

Applejack frowned and lowered her own head. “Guess that’s nice ta’ hear…although ever since ya’ chewed me out ‘bout it I realized the sense in what you were sayin’. Not like two of us can take out somethin’ that tore up most of the armies in Greater Everfree if we can’t even deal with one airship takin’ pot shots at us. ‘Specially if most of the other folks who got these marks are like…”

She trailed off, quickly pursing her lips. Twilight looked up and saw why. At that moment, Fluttershy, looking rather dirty and her slip no doubt stained with something that probably rendered her clothes uncleanable walked up to both of them with Spike and Angel in tow. Spike went right up to Twilight while the rabbit stayed at her side. “Alright everyone, I’ve taken care of all the animals. They should be good until we get them to a nice new ranch to graze on.” She smiled at Twilight. “I need to thank you. I would never have been brave enough to speak up that I could help, but I’m really glad I did.”

“Oh, uh…heh…don’t mention it,” Twilight answered as she bent down and pet her dog.

Fluttershy smiled a moment more, as Applejack inched away from the bit of the stink her clothing had. Soon afterward, her face turned to concern. “So, I just realized… I talked to Clyde again, and he says that we aren’t going to stop until we hit the junction to Grifftham City. I don’t think we’re going to reach that until after dark. And…we’ll be out here…” She gulped and looked around. “In a boat…without any protection…or shelter…” She began to cringe again as her eyes looked skyward. “Oh dear…”

“Eh, relax,” Applejack waved off. “Like I was telling Twilight over here, we’re leaving the border of Equestria way behind us.”

“Uh, technically, that’s not true.”

Both Fluttershy and Applejack turned to Twilight as she pointed to the Hyperboreans. “The middle range of those mountains are actually all Equestria. The territory has mostly just been claimed by Griffonstone and Mount Aris. Before it was, Equestria almost split them in half except at the bay to the south.”

Now Applejack stiffened. “Ya’ mean ta’ tell me that Equestria is right over there? And we’re sailing down alongside it?”

“I…I thought all of Equestria was taken over by the Light Eaters…” Fluttershy whimpered.

“But like Applejack says, that’s no reason to worry,” she reassured. “This part is nothing but rough peaks and impassible mountains. Even the Nighttouched didn’t venture into those.” A pause. “At least, I don’t think they did. And if they did, nothing’s come out in eight years.”

She looked to the two girls, quickly seeing that neither of them looked terribly comforted by that. Now Applejack was glancing at the mountains uneasily.

“I mean, boats go down this river all the time and not one of them ever got an attack, so…”

Still nothing. Twilight winced uncomfortably.

“Hey Fluttershy!”

The three girls snapped out of it and looked, just in time to see Clyde run up from the rest of the livestock. He went straight to the pink-haired woman, who, once again, instinctively shrank back a little.

“The cattle are lookin’ great. We’re mighty obliged to you.”

It took a moment, but she eased and straightened again with a smile. “Oh, you’re welcome. It really wasn’t any bother at all. They’re so pleasant and well behaved. And I was so happy to see the look of joy on that mother’s face at her new calf.”

Clyde looked a little perplexed at that, considering how expressionless cattle generally were, but he let it pass. “Anyway, you’ve already done so much for us, but I was wonderin’ if you might do just one more favor.”

“Oh certainly. What is it?”

He pulled off his hat and held it closer to him. “You seem to really know what you’re doing with animals, so…we were kinda wondering if you might know a thing or two about people as well. You see, one of the little boys in our group got his leg broke. The wagon wheel came loose, he got toppled out, and the whole side fell right on it. He’s been in pain ever since. Mind comin’ in and havin’ a look at him?”

Fluttershy’s smile immediately went away. Applejack and Twilight had both seen her nervous before now, but never this much. Some of the color drained from her face as she began to cringe again. “Oh…oh my…” She spoke even more quietly than before; almost in an inaudible whisper.

Clyde looked confused. “Somethin’ wrong, ma’am?”

“Oh, I just…I…I’m sorry. Tending to animals is one thing, but…but I don’t try and take care of people. Especially children. It’s just…just…I…I don’t do well with children.”

“You sure? He’s a big boy. He won’t cry or nothin’ if it hurts a bit.”

“I-I-I’m sorry…but I’ll have to say no…”

Clyde frowned, but he saw she wouldn’t change on this. Finally he gave in. “Alright…I’ll let his folks know you just know how to treat cattle, not kids. We only got about two or three more hours on the river anyway…” Turning away, he began to head back to the one cabin.

As soon as he was inside, both Twilight and Applejack gave Fluttershy an uncertain look. “You know, people aren’t all that different from animals. Especially those cows,” Twilight suggested. “If you could make them feel better, I’m sure you could do the same for that child.”

Fluttershy stood a bit more, but only to shake her head. “No, I don’t think so. I’m really no good with children at all.”

“What’s the matter? Somethin’ happen?” Applejack asked.

She didn’t answer, only bowed her head to let more hair fall over her face before she bent down, took up Angel, and then turned away to head back to her animals.

Once she was gone, Applejack crossed her arms. “Like I was beginnin’ ta’ say, I ain’t sure how much good she’d be to most folks the way she is.”

“Well, nothing for it now, but once we’re away from these people and the rest of Appleloosa I’d like to talk to her a bit more about her power. And yours for that matter,” Twilight answered. She turned and began to head over to the cabin herself, not to go inside but to find a bit of wall to lean against. “Let’s just hope we get there alright first, and that by using the river and going this far south we can get away from anyone who might be looking for Promethian Sigils.”

“Fine by me. After no real breakfast for a few days, I could really go for some eggs. Maybe I’ll head over to Fluttershy and see if I can’t talk her…huh?”

Twilight was just about to lean against the wall when she looked up. “What’s the matter?”

“It seem…a bit darker out to you?”

She stood up once again on hearing that, and looked around. Sure enough, the light around them was much dimmer than a moment ago. It had been late afternoon, but now it seemed more akin to the evening.

Applejack turned her head. “We go past a mountain? Sun shouldn’t set for a while…yet…”

She trailed off as she looked to the sun. It hadn’t moved. It was still in the sky in its late afternoon position. Nevertheless, it had dimmed. It was as dark as it would be if it was just about to set under the horizon.

And it was getting dimmer.

The two women stiffened as the realization hit both of them. It didn’t take long for the same realization to travel over the rest of the ship. Although they couldn’t see inside the cabin or helm, the sound of the engines on the boat revving from the boiler being stoked soon started to roll out. As more smoke poured from the chimney, the sun grew dimmer yet. Although it was still in the sky, it grew so faint that both women could look at it without being blinded. The stars began to come out as parts of the sky tinged from orange to purple, and then darker yet.

“This far south?” Twilight exhaled aloud in a panicked whisper. Her eyes went to the mountains and began to scan them nervously.

“Fluttershy!” Applejack called out, as loud as she dared. “Fluttershy! Get up here! Get to the cabin!”

The sun began to fade from sight all together as the sky transitioned fully into darkness. The engine chugged louder as the boat was pushed up to thirty miles per hour in spite of the danger of driving in the dark. Applejack reached for her side and pulled out her hammer. She nearly spoke the chant right there, but stifled herself on realizing she emitted a light whenever she did. Instead, she began to look around herself fearfully too.

“See anything?” she called to Twilight.

She looked about a moment longer at the newly formed night, then suddenly pointed. “Look!”

Applejack turned. For a moment, she only saw the fading outline of the top of the Hyperborean Mountain Range. Yet a cluster of stars suddenly seemed to arise from it, and in moments she realized she wasn’t looking at the sky but what appeared to be a moving mountain peak itself rising over the top.

In spite of her bravery in the face of the otherworldly monsters, Applejack’s jaw dropped. It was clear she hardly believed Fluttershy’s description until now. She was only looking at the backside of the thing, and only the mountains were large enough to conceal it. It had to be several stories tall easily. She would have suspected she was imagining things or not seeing it properly when its body suddenly slammed down. In spite of the rushing river sounds, she heard a dull whump far in the distance, right before specks of what looked like starry dew flew from it. She realized it had just taken a step, and it shed out small bits of itself when it did. Soon after, it raised again only to drop once more. Again, more splashes of starry dew, some of them almost erupting from it.

Applejack nearly stammered. “Good…good lord…”

Twilight said nothing at first, transfixed on staring at the massive Light Eater as it took another step. While she did, a light pitter patter rang out on the boat as Fluttershy finally walked up to them.

“E-E-Everyone…I don’t mean to alarm you, but…it started getting really d-d-dark and spooky all of the sudden and-” She froze on seeing the Tantabus. She couldn’t even muster the courage for an “oh my”. She only whimpered.

“S…stay calm…” Twilight stammered.

The farmer wheeled to her. “Stay calm? Stay calm? If that thing comes over here, it’s curtains! This river ain’t nothin’ but a mud puddle ta’ somethin’ that big!”

“But it’s not coming over here!” Twilight harshly whispered back. “From that far, it can’t even hear us! And it’s taking big steps but we’re faster than it! We’ll leave it behind!”

Sure enough, with the boat still accelerating to 35 miles per hour, the rising and falling motion of the giant Light Eater was slowly fading into the distance. Nevertheless, each time it stepped down it continued to give off more bits of itself. And on its next step, the pieces launched so far it was like a firework had gone off. All three women saw bits fly for a mile in all directions easily. On the following step, in spite of gaining ground, the three saw one starry bit in particular shoot off of its body, arc through the heavens, and begin to descend right for their position on the river.

“Uh-oh…”

“Hang on!”

Applejack’s warning, however, proved to be unnecessary. They watched the starry bit as it got closer, seeing it was easily the size of a rainbarrel, but it didn’t land on the boat itself. It fell down in the area behind the main cabin and a loud splash sounded.

Twilight and Spike immediately took off for the other side of the boat to see the impact. Applejack followed suit and Fluttershy, quickly realizing she was being abandoned, trembled once before forcing herself to follow.

The three rounded the cabin quickly and went to the edge. The river had already smoothed out whatever disturbance had been made by the splash, but even without it the three spotted the after effect. A large black spot, like a mass of tar, was on the water now and slowly spreading outward. It slowed as it did, but it did leave a patch of darkness even deeper than the night they found themselves plunged into in its wake.

Twilight sighed in relief. “That was close. Only about fifty feet short…”

“What d’ya reckon would’ve happened if it hit us?”

Before Twilight could answer, the fur on the back of Spike’s neck rose. He barred his teeth and started to growl at the water.

“Um…everyone?” Fluttershy nervously spoke up.

The two girls looked back and saw what was changing. In the wake of the dark spot they were leaving down the river, small yellow orbs were appearing beneath the water. Soon they began to scatter away from the initial spot and run through the rest of the river, moving at speeds fast even for strong river trout.

Moments later, two more splashes went out further up the river as two more of the starry droplets struck it.

Applejack’s eyes widened. “Them bits of that thing… They’re turnin’-”

“Nobody panic!” Twilight quickly whispered loudly. “They can’t hear us over the river underwater, and there’s no light sources for them to target on the deck of this boat! We just keep going downstream a bit farther and we’ll make it!”

“Uh…everyone?”

Applejack, nervously looking at the river, groaned. “Yeah, yeah, we see it, Fluttershy…”

“Um…that’s…that’s not… Um…er…”

Applejack frowned. “I said we see it! What’s wrong with ya’?”

Twilight turned to Fluttershy as she began to cringe and fold her arms, but she also noticed she was trembling far more fiercely than before.

“I…I just wanted to say…um…that…” Her voice lowered. “That’s…not what I was scared of.”

Applejack, and even Spike, looked up to her. She covered her eyes with one hand and pointed to the mountains.

The two looked, and saw the Tantabus was falling farther and farther behind. However, coming out from the cracks between the mountains, emerging from caves, or perhaps protruding from old train or mine tunnels, were hundreds of Nighttouched. They poured out like living streams of blackness; their yellow eyes burning fiercely in the newly-created night.

Twilight’s own jaw was agape now. She looked at it for several seconds, before finally taking a deep breath. “Ok…I still say it’s best not to panic. We’re outrunning them and so long as we can keep a good distance on them and keep accelerating, none of them can possibly catch up.”

Scarcely had Twilight finished saying this when a small eruption of the smaller Nighttouched burst out of one of the holes; the result of something behind it suddenly breaking loose. All three women gaped again on seeing a much larger shape come barreling out of the cave, only to unfurl great, high-speed wings and give a mighty flap to quickly shoot itself out the rest of the way and into the night sky.

None of the three had ever seen a bird like this before, but based on the fact it stood as large as two of them put together and could still fly meant it had to have been warped from its original form by the Nighttouched. Its wings and tail were built for high speed, like a falcon, but its beak was broader and a tuft of hair on top of its head indicated almost a peacock. Its yellow eyes seemed particularly burning and vivid. While the boat did indeed begin to leave the rest of the emerging Nighttouched behind, this one had scarcely emerged before its head turned fully to the boat, and soon it changed its path around to make for it.

“Twilight…um…no disrespect, but…it sure looks like it’s comin’ this way…”

“Just…s-s-stay calm…” Her voice was growing progressively more anxious. “It can’t key on us without light…”

“Um, what…what about the fire rising from the coal boiler? Couldn’t it, um…maybe…possibly…see it from the sky?”

Twilight’s pallor turned a shade wan, just as the Nighttouched bird collapsed its wings and went into a diagonal dive right for their boat. As it neared, its thick beak opened wide, and the three were surprised to see a third light coming from inside of it.

Moments later, it strafed over the boat, but as it did a jet of flame erupted from its throat and blazed a line of fire straight across the rear deck. Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy all reared back in alarm, but kept from bolting as they saw the fire was aimed on the opposite side of the boat. Nevertheless, it quickly ignited into a burning blaze across the wooden structure, and in moments the darkness was broken by a fiery glow.

And once that happened, the three saw the yellow eyes scattered throughout the river rapidly turn toward the boat before beginning to approach it in unison.

“Alright…” Applejack moaned. “Now can we stop bein’ calm?”

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

This was originally one chapter but it was sprawling too big, so I decided to split it into two. Y'all will have to wait until then for the violence.

Nightwatch: Phoenix Familiar

Twilight winced once more before she pulled herself together. She glanced to Fluttershy for a fraction of a second before she sighed apologetically.

“Sorry, but there’s no way around it now.”

She glanced around at the deck before she found a loose stick one of the ranchers had been using to shoo the cattle on the boat. She quickly snatched it up and held her other hand skyward. “Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Master of Sorcery—Starswirl the Bearded!”

Fluttershy yelped as Twilight’s aura began to surround her, but jumped again soon after as Applejack yanked her own hammer out. “’Bout time! Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Bastion of the Fields—Bright Macintosh!”

Both of their respective auras flared about them a moment before both had transformed into their respective “battle attires”—Twilight clad in her wide-brimmed hat and cloak and Applejack in her armor and warhammer. Both couldn’t afford to waste much time. The first of the new Nighttouched reached the back of the boat a moment later.

With a tremendous splash, a fish three feet long, meaty, and with glowing yellow eyes and a monstrous jaw filled with jagged teeth burst from the water. It curled around in midair and seized the edge of the boat. Wood ripping and wrenching noises came from its jaws as it began to savagely tear into it. Two other fish soon leapt out and began to do the same, before a fourth leapt out on the deck itself, snapping viciously for Spike. The dog quickly recoiled to let it fall to the deck, snarled, and then leapt at it. It tried to rear up and bite him only for Spike to bound over it, spin around, and seize it by the neck before digging in.

Applejack, brandishing her hammer, dashed forward and swung out. The first swing snapped one of the attached fish almost in two. The second got a lighter blow but was still sent flying back into the water. Before she could get the third, however, three new fish lashed out. Two of them reattached while the third sailed straight for Applejack’s face with mouth opened wide. Shocked, she quickly dashed to one side and let its shoot by, its teeth scraping against her shoulder armor, before it flopped to the deck. Vigorously, it twisted itself around to try and angle itself at her for another snap, but she buried her hammer into its head as soon as it did.

Twilight quickly made a more direct move. Snapping her newly-made wand out, she began to chant and manipulate a symbol in the air before pointing to the sky. The night turned darker yet as clouds rapidly formed and coalesced right over the back of the boat. Thunder rumbled as lights flashed from within it, and as soon as it did she snapped her wand downward. A large thunderbolt snaked out and struck the water with a sizzling crackle.

Moments later, at least a dozen of the yellow-eyed fish went flaccid and began to bob to the surface. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the completely desired effect. Not only did many of them survive the blast, but upstream the fish that had been turned from the other two starry blobs were now rushing down river. Many of them were leaping out of the water and snapping viciously and hungrily as they came.

She took aim at them for another blast, only to hear a shout from Applejack. “Look out!”

Twilight looked skyward, before crying out and ducking to avoid another jet stream of fire from the airborne Nighttouched. While the flames missed her, it kept strafing the boat and firing as it did. As a result it ignited a blaze along the side of the boat stretching almost all the way to the animals. The livestock rose and began to panic, but they didn’t have time to worry about them. On looking back at the river, they saw a large portion of the Nighttouched fish divert course and start swimming to the edge of the ship—drawn to the newer, stronger fires.

“Damnit! One of us has gotta take out the one in the air!”

Twilight turned to her nervously. “Can you handle all of these fish by yourself?”

Applejack hefted her hammer as she smacked the last of the currently-attached fish off the back of the boat, although it took a bit of boat in its jaws with it. “Just don’t take too long!”

Twilight nodded back and turned to the third person with them. However, Fluttershy was almost paralyzed right now. Her eyes were open in horror at the river, especially how many fish had been killed already, and she was practically hyperventilating.

“Fluttershy!”

“Those…those fish…those poor-”

“Fluttershy!”

The yelling was enough to jar her away and look to Twilight.

“Get to the cabin! Tell anyone who can to get out here and try and snuff these fires and everyone else take cover! Can you do that?”

The pink-haired woman hesitated. She glanced to the dead fish again and back to the cabin. “Y…yes…”

“Alright, then go!” Twilight swept around and began to make for the front of the boat. “Spike, help Applejack!”

The dog, which had been rising to follow after her, quickly snapped back, planted its feet, and growled at the incoming hoard. Fluttershy continued to glance at the Nighttouched and the fires, but finally forced herself to start walking to the cabin. Applejack readied her hammer and seconds later the next assault began.

The fish didn’t bother chomping against the ship this time. Like deadly, living missiles, they shot out of the water one after another with their jaws snapping for both the farmer and the dog. Gritting her teeth, Applejack shifted her grip down on her weapon and advanced to meet them, smacking them away and back into the water as fast as they flew at her. One was knocked in horizontally while another had its jaw broken off as it was hurled into the air. One managed to land on the deck, but Spike quickly dove on it and ripped its gills out. As soon as he killed it, he looked up and saw another land on deck and try and drag itself up to Applejack’s exposed leg. Quickly, he barked an alarm. She snapped down, spotted it, and leapt back to avoid a snap before the dog lashed out and tore into it.

Twilight dashed out onto the front deck as the sound of terrified moos as well as other animal noises burst from Fluttershy’s group. She looked to the sky, confirming the bird was still flying away, before she angled her wand down and performed another gesture at the nearest fires. A sharp, biting wind came forth around her before a hail of tiny ice crystals were carried along with it and deposited on the blaze. Unfortunately, she only had a chance to snuff part of it before she saw the Nighttouched arc back around and begin another approach. Immediately, she shifted her wand to the air, drew out a more advanced symbol, and then pointed at it. The tiny ice crystals still in the air halted right where they were and gathered together; growing into much larger, sharper, and deadlier shards. They resumed their movement and sailed right for the bird just as it exhaled another blast. It managed to tag part of the boat with its flames, but it quickly aborted and changed its flight path as the ice crystals ripped past it.

As Applejack and Spike continued to fight off the swarm, the door to the cabin snapped open again as four of the more able-bodied and braver ranchers came out. As best as they could, they started to whip at the fires with their tougher leather clothes or stomp on them with their boots, as going to the side for water was impossible at this point. Twilight, however, kept her eyes on the bird. It swung around in another attempt to make a dive to compensate for its aborted one, and she quickly generated another ice hailstorm to try and pierce it. Unfortunately, not only did it also fly over this one, it adjusted and got off another jet of fire this time. Twilight yelped as she realized it was aimed for her, and quickly she changed the spell to its lesser variant to snuff out the flames before they could singe her. Unfortunately, the bird kept on flying past, and her target was lost again.

Applejack began to work up a sweat as she kept battering away the fish. Through the vigor and swinging, she began to realize after a short while that some of the fish she was smashing had bloody bruises and welts alongside their bodies. That was all the indication she needed to see that, strong as she was swinging the hammer, their solid muscles were absorbing most of the blows in most cases. Some of the fish she knocked away were recovering and coming right back for her.

Suddenly, two fish leapt out at once for her. Applejack quickly smacked away one, but there was no way to stop the other before it latched onto her arm and clamped it jaw down like a steel trap. In spite of the fact her body was more durable and the vambrace absorbed some of it, it still hurt enough to make her yell. Clenching her teeth angrily, she quickly brought the pommel down on its head. Not only did it hang on in spite of the bludgeoning, another fish leapt out for her face again. She quickly dodged to one side, but this time it dove in so hard that it sailed past her and broke partially through the wooden wall of the cabin. Another landed on the deck to her side and quickly began to snap for her legs.

Cursing, Applejack swung her pommel down two more times, this time splitting off half of the jaw of the thing attached to her. As it fell to the deck, she brought the hammer down to crush it. She nearly turned to the one going for her legs when she heard Spike barking again. She looked and saw him running to the side of the ship, where a dozen monstrous fish were attached. To her shock, they were already ripping away one of the planks off the side of the boat and going for more. Sighing in exasperation, she quickly dashed over there to join him in defending it even as more fish flew on deck.

As Twilight’s third attempt to pierce the Nighttouched bird failed, this time the monster was able to fire enough to ignite a third line of flame on the deck. She nearly groaned as it passed again, and paused to try and think of a new strategy. It took her a few moments of looking around before she zeroed in on the water about the boat. She made a note of the Nighttouched’s current flight path before aiming her wand at the river. With a few gestures, the surface of it broke off and began to rise into a fine mist; nearly invisible in the darkness. She kept gesturing with her wand, rising it up until it hovered right in the bird’s way. Once that was done, she quickly began to form her ice spell again.

The Nighttouched once more went into a dive, and once again Twilight sent her ice crystals flying at it. This time, however, one of them lingered behind hovering right over her left shoulder. As on the previous occasion, the Nighttouched evaded the strikes and opened it jaw wide. Fire burned in its gullet and blazed forth.

Yet before it could project it, it suddenly aborted and clamped its jaw shut—for on opening its mouth to fire again it immediately saw a second Nighttouched identical to it, also readying flame, flying right at it. The instant it was distracted, Twilight snapped her wand down. The final ice crystal left her shoulder and sailed at the monster, and moments later embedded itself right in the Nighttouched’s breast.

As the creature gave a yell and curled up on itself in midair, Twilight grinned and pumped her fist in excitement. Her water reflection spell had worked perfectly in making a mirror image of the Nighttouched, distracting it long enough to land the fatal strike. Now it dropped from the air like a stone, looking to plunge right into the river.

Only it never made impact. Suddenly the entire bird burst into flame as if it was soaked in oil. Twilight let out an alarmed gasp as fire rapidly spread all over it. Moments before its body could touch the water, it suddenly split apart and broke away into molten fragments…allowing an identical bird, untouched, to burst from the remains and soar back into the sky. Quickly snapping down and around, it dove right at the raft without missing a beat and exhaled another burst of fire along the opposite side of the boat.

Twilight stood there stunned, but not just from what she saw. For a moment a faint light of recognition came over her.

“Twilight!”

Applejack’s shout was enough to get her attention away from the bird, and she turned and saw both the farmer and Spike fighting a losing battle against the Nighttouched on the side of the ship. They had nearly torn away enough of the edge to bring it down to the water level, and for all the hammer swinging and tearing the two were doing it wasn’t enough. More fish were coming up to replace and surpass the previous ones, not to mention they were now jumping at the two of them again and forcing them to defend themselves. Ten new fish were attaching themselves to the back of the boat and digging into it fiercely as well, now beginning to rip off that portion too.

Suddenly the door to the cabin opened once again. A panicked-looking Fluttershy stumbled out and looked at Twilight fearfully.

“Th-they’re…th-they’re coming through the bottom of the boat!”

As if perfectly on cue, a section of the deck snapped upward as if struck from beneath right next to her. She yelped and recoiled onto the deck. On spotting it, Applejack abandoned the side and ran up to it. Just as the fish below pushed its head up enough to snap, she swung the hammer down and knocked it back beneath the boat.

Cries began to go out from around the ship, and not just animal ones. Twilight looked around and saw the ranchers who had come topside were now recoiling, for enough fish had jumped on deck to start targeting them too. And there were still more in the water attacking. Three sides of the boat were now aflame, and the Nighttouched bird was rising for another dive as more fish rose to try and cling to the latest side.

“Twilight!” Applejack shouted as she bludgeoned another. “We’re in trouble!”

She nervously looked around before finally turning toward the helm. Even in the darkness she managed to spot the rancher driving the boat. “We’ve got to dock!”

“We don’t have time for that!” she yelled back. “I’ll have to run her aground but I got to wait at least for a good shore!”

Twilight winced again. She saw the Nighttouched bird was beginning to come around, but they were being swarmed by fish at this point and she couldn’t help defend against both. Leaving either one would only get the ship sunk faster, which became clear already wouldn’t take much longer as two more holes were knocked through the bottom near where Applejack had hammered out the first.

Yet through this all, Fluttershy put her hands on her head and cringed in terror. She ran toward the back of the ship to hide, but it offered no relief. No sooner had she gotten there when she gasped and saw a dozen fish attached to it and ten flopping on deck, who quickly fixated their beady eyes on her and began to snap toward her. The Nighttouched bird fully turned and began to go into a dive as more threw themselves on the boat or grasped the sides.

She looked at them for a moment, gripped with terror. As she kept staring, however, she saw that many of them were bloodied from Applejack’s blows. Some had broken bones but were still forcing themselves onward. Their faces were horribly twisted and swollen by whatever force had enlarged their jaws. Although their glowing yellow eyes showed no emotion, from this close she could look at them and see if they had their minds they would be in agony from how warped their bodies had become. Even the ones that were chewing away pieces of the boat were piercing themselves with splinters to do so. Yet whatever force had them mindlessly pushed them to keep biting…

When that happened, Fluttershy’s fear lessened. Her hands lowered as she looked at the closing creatures.

“Stop…”

The fish kept snapping viciously for her. One threw itself out of the water onto the deck right in front of her. Snapping like steel blades, it wriggled closer.

“Stop…”

Behind her, the Nighttouched bird opened its jaws. Twilight braced herself to defend. Applejack cried out as a fish latched onto her leg, but she quickly smacked it off with her hammer. She quickly went for her rope at her waist.

Seeing that they wouldn’t stop, no matter how much pain they were in or misery, no matter how broken their bodies became, Fluttershy’s last bit of fear momentarily faded as she fixed as many of the fish with her gaze as possible. Her fists tightened.

“I said…”

Yelling loud enough for everyone on the boat to hear, her voice resounded.

“Stop!”

Every one of the boat defenders suddenly felt as if they had momentarily been rooted to the spot by the sheer power of Fluttershy’s yell. Twilight aborted her casting while Applejack froze just as she brought her hammer to her rope, and all of the ranchers likewise paused where they were.

That, however, was just the beginning.

For a brief moment, all of the jaws of the fish went flaccid as the light in their eyes dimmed just a little. Those attempting to bite into the boat or tear it apart slipped loose and fell into the water, and those on deck became limp and simply tried to breathe through their gills. The Nighttouched bird suddenly went rigid. Its jaw closed again as it glided for a moment without trying to force itself along. It ended up sailing right over the boat before it spasmed once and began to flap again.

The moment passed soon after. The fish on the deck began to flop around again angrily, but not before Applejack and Spike realized that they had an opening. The dog quickly tore into another one while the farmer quickly finished tying her rope around the end of her hammer and converted it once more into an impromptu “hammer and chain”. Snapping it out, she began to rapidly smack and slap as many of the fish as she could out of the way and fight her way to Fluttershy. The ranchers quickly went back to work snuffing the fires where they could and actually shoving a few of the fish that were slow to recover back off the boat.

Twilight alone stood there stunned for a moment, realizing who had just shouted and what the end result had been. She did finally snap out of it and joined in with the others after a few seconds. Taking out her wand she quickly aimed it at the fires closest to the animals, which looked about ready to break into a stampede on deck or charge into the water, and quickly began to douse them.

She was still working on it when Applejack finally came back around the cabin, holding Fluttershy by one arm (who was looking fearful all over again) and nearly gesturing for her to go inside again. Before she could, however, the Nighttouched bird, fully recovered and flying again now, had come about from the rear and was opening its mouth again.

Gritting her teeth at it, Applejack quickly snapped her hammer out twirled it around like the end of a lasso several times, then flung the end at the approaching creature. It tried to lift itself up, but the farmer’s aim was true. It smashed it right into the head with a sickening crack, and as its beak snapped skyward the rest of its body sank and crashed with a heavy thud right on top of the cabin.

“Yee-haw!” she shouted as Fluttershy cupped her hands to her mouth in horror. “Nailed that sonnuvabitch!”

Her joy quickly evaporated as a pillar of fire suddenly ignited on top of the cabin. The monster, which had sprawled out limply on impact, burned away into ashes and revealed a new Nighttouched bird monster beneath. It quickly took to the sky again, but it left its flaming remains behind. Now the cabin itself was on fire.

Applejack revelry turned to stunned astonishment before she let out an angry curse. “What in blazes is up with the Nighttouched ‘round these parts?! None of these damn critters do this back home!”

“Applejack! Fluttershy!”

Both women looked and saw Twilight beckoning them.

“Over here! Quick!”

Applejack quickly began to lead Fluttershy over. Hearing her call out like that, Spike likewise turned and ran up. Some of the fish were leaping back onto the boat at this point, which clearly made Applejack nervous, but she let it slide for the moment as she ran up to the magic-user. Twilight herself looked back to the cabin again.

“Can we get this boat off the river?”

Just barely through the glass, she saw the person at the helm point. “Right there!”

Twilight looked back around as the girls approached. About a mile down the river she saw a large, wide, sandy shore. Not only that, but the night seemed just a tiny bit brighter in that direction, indicating that they were near the limit (at least for the moment) of what the Tantabus had brought. Unfortunately, the fires by now were spreading too fast even for Twilight to put out if she could focus all of her attention on them, and even if she could the ship was slowing…no doubt from taking on water.

Taking all this into account, she looked to Applejack and Fluttershy. “Alright, both of you. The boat’s going to run aground and we’re all going to get off, but it’s not going to make it if it takes much more damage and we’ll be sitting ducks for the flying one. We have to kill it.”

“Yeah, how the heck we gonna do that?” Applejack retorted. “We both hit it and it just burned up and came back to life!”

Twilight visibly stiffened on hearing that, looking uneasy for just a moment before pushing it aside. “We can stop it if we can kill it before it has a chance to use its fire to be reborn.”

Applejack gave Twilight a puzzled look, while Fluttershy herself looked at her strangely. “What’dya mean ‘’fore it has a chance to use its fire to be reborn’? Ya’ mean ya’ actually know what that thing is?”

Again, she grimaced, but swallowed it back and spoke more sharply. “I think I might, but that’s not important right now. What is important is stopping it. It takes it a moment after you kill it for it to fully ‘die’ and then ignite. If it drops into the river before it has a chance, it won’t be able to catch on fire. That will kill it for good.”

Applejack was still fixated a bit on what Twilight said, but she likewise pushed it away and rubbed her chin. “Might work, but there’s only one problem. Only takes that critter a second or two to light up again, and it’s always in the air ‘cept when it’s flyin’ over the boat. It’ll always burn up ‘fore it can land in the water.”

“Not if we hold it in one spot close to the river.”

“Oh yeah? How we gonna do that?”

“We aren’t.” Twilight turned to Fluttershy and pointed. “She is.”

The pink-haired woman paled again. “Wh-wh-what…me?”

“We saw what you did a moment ago. You managed to stop all the Nighttouched for a second by just shouting.”

“But…but…I don’t know how I did that! I’ve never done that before!”

“What about your staring? You said that you heal your animals when you look into their eyes and concentrate on them, right?”

Fluttershy winced. She looked uncertainly to the side. “Well, yes, but…but it’s too late for…”

“I know, I know. But have you ever tried looking into the eyes of a Nighttouched that’s turned before? Did you at least make it stay still?”

Fluttershy kept cringing, but rubbed her hands together uneasily. “Well…um…yes, but…but those were all things like little squirrels and songbirds…and this is a big…scary…fire-breathing bird…”

A rush of flame lapped over the heads of the women. Fluttershy yelped and cringed as Twilight dove over her, just as fire lashed out and singed the top of the deck. Before it could enflame it, however, Applejack cursed and swung her hammer and rope at the Nighttouched again. It was enough to abort its strike and send it to the heavens again, but as it flew away she gnashed her teeth. “Damnit, this boat’s ‘bout to burn up with or without that bird hittin’ it again, so we gotta do something soon!”

Twilight, sweating a bit herself now, leaned back up and looked at Fluttershy as she kept cringing against the deck. “Fluttershy, right now you’re the only one who might make it stand close to the water.”

She kept trembling. “But…if I want it to look me in the eye…I have to stand out in the open and…and…let it look at me first…when it could shoot more fire…”

“Please.” Her voice began to grow more desperate. “If you don’t help now, I don’t know how many of us are going to make it out of this…whether it be us or your animals.”

The pink-haired woman was caught by that last part. She winced a bit longer, still looking uncomfortable, but when she glanced to the panicking animals and the spreading flames she finally swallowed. “Al…alright… I’ll do it.”

Twilight nodded back. “Alright. I’m going to try and help get the ship to shore. Applejack, you have to hit it when it gets close enough. Remember, it has to be over water.”

“Well hurry up and get to it!” she shouted as she swung her hammer out to knock another fish that had just latched on. “It ain’t gonna be but a few more seconds ‘til this boat is swarmin’ with ‘em all over again!”

As she and Spike went off to fight again, Twilight rose from near Fluttershy and extended her wand to the ocean. She concentrated a moment, remembering an older spell, and then began to wave the stick around at the river. In response, the current picked up around the edges of the boat, but rather than propel it the water it radiated away from the sides. As she kept concentrating, it grew in size and power until small waves were cascading off of it. While some of the water lapped into the boat and doused a bit of the fires, she didn’t dare get any more in it while there were holes in the ship. Instead, she forced a water wedge at the prow of the ship, not only forcing as many of the Nighttouched fish back as possible but creating a potent force in front of it. The rancher at the helm didn’t question the move. She turned the wheel about as the shore came closer and aimed it straight for it.

Fluttershy was left alone in the center of the deck. Nervously, she slowly stood up and saw the Nighttouched bird spin about. Soon it was aiming at her, standing on the only intact portion of the ship, and began to fly in.

While it was still far off, Angel suddenly hopped out from the midst of the animals. Making deep whining noises, he began to approach her.

“No, Angel!” she called out, holding her hand to him. “Stay with the others! Make sure they get out safe!”

The rabbit hesitated, whining again and stamping a foot.

“You have to! I’ll be fine, but you need to stay back!”

The rabbit whined a third time, but, while still looking at Fluttershy, slowly turned around. After a moment, it hopped back to the others.

Fluttershy herself swallowed and looked up to the sky. Her eyes sought out and met those of the bird Nighttouched, but it was too far away to clearly see into her own; assuming it was even looking at them. Nevertheless, she tried to concentrate and open her eyes wider…

She was interrupted as the thing gave out a shrill screech before exhaling a smaller jet of fire. Fluttershy yelped in alarm and jumped to the side, just missing a blaze igniting where she was standing.

The ship continued to near shore, but began to groan. Two more holes were punched in the deck. The roof of the cabin creaked, and, while still burning, suddenly collapsed in partially. Applejack tensed up when she heard it; quickly ignoring the attacking fish and running to the door of the structure. Twilight began to sweat profusely as she tried to increase the power of the spell. “Fluttershy! Hurry!”

She wasn’t nearly as durable as Twilight or Applejack, and was now scared all over again on top of everything else. Even falling down had caused her a rough landing. Nevertheless, she swallowed and put her hands down and slowly forced herself to her feet. By then, the Nighttouched bird had already begun to sweep around. This time, it wasn’t going for the boat.

At the rear of the ship, Applejack smashed the door to the cabin with one powerful strike of her hammer. She quickly beckoned everyone out as fast as they could, and soon people began to file out from the burning structure. They ran toward the front of the ship—the part still staying the most above water and where the animals were. But they could only get out so fast with some injured, and now the Nighttouched bird aimed at them. Soon it came above and dove for the group.

Applejack noticed it coming, just as the couple with the boy with a broken leg began to try and help him out. She looked up at it just as it opened its jaws wide. Sweating, Applejack quickly extended her rope to try and swing it around to nail it, but with how it had dodged she had no idea if she could before it struck. It flew in closer as the flame in its throat gleamed…

“Wait!”

But before it could unleash a new blaze, Fluttershy ran in between the two of them, stopping right at the edge of the boat, and held her hands up.

“Wait!”

The Nighttouched bird instantly changed its focus to her, but when it did its own yellow eyes met hers. It snapped its jaws shut but kept diving until it was nearly in striking range of her, then quickly went into flapping hover. It snarled and snapped, flashing out with its talons, but also staying well in the air above the water. As the family got free, Applejack turned to it and nearly made her move only to realize it was too high to guarantee a kill.

“Stop this! Please!” Fluttershy cried as she kept staring into its eyes.

The Nighttouched screeched back so loudly it made Applejack, Fluttershy, and everyone else wince in agony. Yet as soon as Fluttershy was done cringing, she stared into its eyes again. Her voice remained pleading but also grew more composed.

“I know it has to hurt! It has to be nothing but pain and misery!”

The thing screeched again, but was a bit quieter this time.

“But I know you can’t want to do this! You can’t want to hurt these people and animals! You just don’t know what else to do, do you?”

The creature let out another screech, but this time it was little more than a loud caw. Fluttershy continued to grow calmer. Her face became softer. Her eyes seemed to grow larger, deeper, and more beautiful as she kept staring. Her hands went from reaching out and straining to more relaxed and gentle. Rather than straining for the bird, they turned to kindly offering themselves to it.

“Show me. I’m right here with you. Just keep looking at me.”

The Nighttouched clicked its beak once more, but the light in its eyes began to dim. Soon after, its flaps lessened more and it began to slowly lower toward Fluttershy. Applejack nearly swung right then and there, but now she found herself staring at this display. The monster had been vicious and bloodthirsty moments earlier. Now it was so calm…

The ship reached the shore at last. The water, growing too shallow to allow the Nighttouched fish to jump in, finally grew calm as they searched for other prey. Not a moment too soon as water began to bubble out onto the deck. Twilight kept the water wedge going as the ship rolled in, and she used it to plow a wedge-shaped earth “dock” into the sand of the shore; gradual enough to grab the ship and slow it down. It still caused a mighty lurch that nearly knocked everyone over, and part of the ship’s hull could be heard cracking, but it managed to slide to a stop in spite of the boiler chugging away. As soon as it was somewhat anchored in, the ranchers ran forth and quickly started to get the cattle and their families off the prow.

Twilight lowered her hands, and turned back. “Ok, that’s done. What about…”

She went quiet. Soon she too was staring, although for a much different reason.

The Nighttouched bird was almost in front of Fluttershy now, yet still hovering over the water lapping at the rear end of the boat. Nevertheless, it had grown so docile that the instinct to strike had left Applejack. The lights in its eyes were so dim now that they were barely faint glows, and yet they grew dimmer than that. Slowly, as the two women watched, they faded all together.

When that happened, the blackness in the feathers seemed to recede a little, like ink drawn through a cloth. It didn’t leave it all together, but it did peel away from the bird’s head. When it did, many of the black pinions that were not affected fell off all together and faded away. As they kept falling the head of the creature began to shrink. On reaching the deck, it didn’t keep flapping but reached out and perched on the remainder of the back of the boat.

The feathers kept falling, until, like layers of an onion, the monstrous, black, twisted body was topped with a much smaller head of a beautiful bird with feathers like a warm, fiery flame—the first look at the creature’s original form and size.

Twilight let out a gasp on seeing it. The bird, however, continued to look in Fluttershy’s eyes as it gave a cry. It was far closer to a normal bird cry now, but far more mournful. Sadder than any creature any of them had ever heard.

It caused Fluttershy’s own face to clench, as tears began to well in her own eyes. “You lost everything…just like so many others, didn’t you? She was so special to you, wasn’t she?”

The bird gave another pitiful cry.

The tears began to roll down Fluttershy’s cheeks. Her throat tightened.

“And…you don’t want to hurt anyone anymore either, do you? You just… You just…want to go see her. You want it to be over…”

The bird’s head began to lower, but even that small gesture caused some of the “ink” to sink back into its feathers and new plumage start to regrow. Before it got too far, it looked back up and into Fluttershy’s eyes again; stopping it.

Fluttershy sniffled, before her voice began to break up. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I can’t stop it… I wish I could…”

The bird cried out again.

She shook her head. “N-n-no…no…I…I can’t…”

The bird cried more softly. Its own eyes enlarged. To Applejack, who had lowered her hammer by now, it was something she had never seen before. The bird seemed to be pleading.

Fluttershy let out another sob. She sniffled again.

Finally, she nodded.

“Ok…ok…”

She reached out and touched the side of the bird’s head. For a moment, its eyes squinted as it felt fingers against its uncorrupted plumage for the first time in eight years.

“You won’t hurt anymore… You won’t hurt ever again.”

The bird looked back into Fluttershy’s eyes. Applejack stood almost immobile for a moment, but then she clenched her own jaw. Taking up the hammer, she undid the rope from the end and hefted it. For a moment, the way she stared at the bird as she moved up to its side looked like she too would falter, but in the end she readied her weapon with both hands. It raised into the sky.

Fluttershy, through her tears, forced herself to smile.

“Go fly with her now.”

Applejack, for the first time since she was seven years old, closed her eyes on bringing the hammer down.

The talons instantly loosened and the Nighttouched spilled backward into the water. For a moment, the edges of its feathers began to smolder, but it was doused as soon as it sank into the deep. The last Fluttershy saw of it was its feathers turning back into their fiery golden color as it sank into the deep river, before it vanished from sight.

Fluttershy cupped her hands to her mouth and began to cry freely. Applejack, her eyes open again, stared at the water to make sure it was gone, before she looked up to the pink-haired woman. Seeing her continuing to cry, she winced herself a moment before she put her hammer in one hand and reached out to grasp her by the shoulder in an attempt to be encouraging. She looked up and out to Twilight as Fluttershy started to lean on her for support.

On looking up, however, she noticed Twilight was still blankly staring where the bird had fallen.

“Twilight? You alright?”

She blinked, then turned to the farmer.

“Come on, we gotta get off this boat. It’s still sinkin’.”

“I knew her.”

Fluttershy sniffled again, but looked up and back to her on hearing that. Applejack was confused. “What?”

Twilight was now looking not only still stunned but with a growing somber expression.

“I knew that bird. Her name was Philomena. She was Headmistress Celestia’s bird.”

“What in tarnation you-”

Applejack was drowned out by a roaring sound overhead, only this time it wasn’t of any monster or Light Eater. It was the sound of a massive steam engine. Moments later, she was bathed in light along with most of the rest of the boat. She, Fluttershy, and Twilight all looked up to the heavens for the source.

For a split second, they saw the frame of a Trottingham airship hovering there.

A heartbeat later, and its cannon fire ripped what was left of the boat in half.

About fifteen minutes later, the remains of the boat, its passengers, the cattle, and Fluttershy’s animals were a good mile upstream, but the nearest civilization was still miles away. The night had continued to lessen, but natural night was replacing it and so one could still scarcely make out the shore or the surrounding countryside. The water had gotten more violent and rapid not far from where the boat had beached itself, but here on the river it was finally calming again.

And at that moment, a large splash burst from the surface as Applejack surged out of the water and flung herself onto the muddy bank. She was coughing, choking, and trying desperately to hold onto her hat with one hand while clutching Fluttershy, who was coughing and choking twice as much, to her with one arm. Her power had faded and now she was covered with bruises from having been washed down the river, but she managed through undulating her whole body to wriggle herself and the woman with her onto shore. As soon as her head was well above water, she finally freed the hand to cling to the silt and mud and drag herself, and finally the two plopped out completely on dry land. They sprawled out and began to pant for air.

They were so out of breath that Applejack never thought to look at the sigil on Fluttershy’s hand once; especially the new point on it that had formed while they were being washed downstream.

However, while the pink-haired woman was still trying to catch her breath, the farmer forced herself to lean up. “Where’s…Twilight?”

Fluttershy was still too busy gasping, but weakly looked up after a moment. Between the fading light and rough country, it wasn’t possible to see much. However, after a moment they spotted something in the river splashing around and angling itself to the shore. Pushing past her pain and soreness, Applejack forced herself to stand for a better look, and realized it was Spike. His jaws were clenched around Twilight’s shirt, and she, also reverted back, was still in it although she had clearly gotten too worn out to keep swimming.

In spite of her own exhaustion, Applejack forced herself to move back out until the water was nearly to her pelvis to grab on to both of them. With some hauling, she managed to finally drag her to shore.

Once they were there, Applejack went back into the sand, sprawled out, and panted again. Twilight herself spread out on the ground and struggled to catch her breath, and Spike laid down nearby and let his tongue wag.

As soon as she could speak, though, Twilight looked up again. “Is…is everyone…alright…?” she panted.

“Aside from really hatin’ Trottingham’s rotten guts…sure…” Applejack groaned. A moment later, she snapped her head up. “Wait…them folks were still gettin’ off the boat! So were the animals!”

“They were almost all off…” Twilight gasped back. “At least…I think they were. I’m sure they would have run as soon as they saw the ship fly low…”

She didn’t sound entirely convinced herself, and she soon turned and looked to their third companion anxiously. “Fluttershy, I…”

However, she shook her head as she finally pushed it off of the ground. “Oh…don’t worry. I told Angel to look after the others. I’m sure they’ll be alright. He knows to meet us in Griffonstone.”

“Really? You think so?”

“Sure! I mean, it’s probably likely…” Her optimistic look began to fade as she thought about it. However, she shook her head before she could get too down. “No…I am sure. I bet we’ll run into them in no time on the way there. No…no need to worry.”

Twilight stared on at Fluttershy, watching her look grow more uncomfortable the more she brooded on it. She was beginning to stare at the ground and cringe once again. Before it could go much farther, Twilight smiled and nodded. “You’re right. Angel’s really smart and so are the rest of your animals. I know they’ll find their way back to us.”

Speaking like that got Fluttershy to look up again, seeming just a bit more optimistic, but Twilight didn’t have time to dwell on that. She looked up to the sky and around. There was no sign of the airship and no sound of engines, but considering what had happened it was quite likely they thought that shot had killed them.

“How in Greater Everfree did they find us?” she finally remarked aloud. “We haven’t seen head or tails of them all day... They couldn’t have been tailing us from the ground…”

“Beats me,” Applejack groaned as she felt around in her belt loops. Fortunately, her hammer was still tethered there from when she had shoved it in after going into the river. “Seems they manage ta’ pop up every time that we bring out these Promethewhatsits…”

As soon as she said that, she paused.

“Y’know, that is somethin’. Fort Chestnut was full o’ all types of people, but they knew ta’ take aim at us once we turned in order ta’ take down that crazy photographer. Even if they got a real dead eye on that thing that couldn’t be easy to spot. And they didn’t show up again until we had to defend the boat and used it again…”

She turned to Twilight, who by now was looking up and staring right back at her.

“Ya’ suppose…they’re somehow findin’ where we are every time we bring out the sigils?”

Twilight looked uneasy, but shook her head. “No…no, that’s impossible. I mean, obviously our sigils give out some energy, but it’s not like you’d know it unless you were standing right there and watching when our auras flare. And it’s not like I go around advertising it. No one would even know to look for it-”

Abruptly, her pupils shrank into pinpricks. Her mouth hung open silently.

Both Applejack and Fluttershy saw the change come over her. Their own looks grew concerned.

“Uh, Twilight?”

She kept staring a moment more before she placed a hand to her own head and slowly pushed back her own wet hair. “I don’t believe it… I never thought of it. Not in eight years. But…it makes sense…” She looked back to the two. “I think you’re right, Applejack. I think whoever it was did track us based on our powers. Which means they had to know about the Promethian Sigils. That can only mean one thing. Whoever is leading those Trottinghamites…whoever is trying to kill us…went to the same academy that Princess Celestia ran.”

Fluttershy looked perplexed at all of this. Applejack wasn’t much better. “What’re ya’ sayin’, Twilight?”

She lay there a moment longer, before her face tightened and she started to push herself up. “We have to go. Right now. We have to get to the southernmost point of the Hyperborean Mountains.”

Applejack frowned as she began to force herself up. “Well, we’re in luck, ‘cause that’s where we were headed anyway…Grifftham City. Why we suddenly in such a hurry, though?”

“Because after what I saw on the river, I’m convinced that’s exactly where the Tantabus is headed. And when it gets there, if my theory’s correct, everyone in Greater Everfree could die.”

Nightwatch: Cats and Rats

“Ok, ok! I spy, with my little eye, something ha-”

“It’s a rock, isn’t it?”

“Ha-ha! You got it again! But how about this? I spy, with my litt-”

“It’s another rock.”

“Wow! That’s 217 in a row!” Pinkie cheered, having not lost the slightest bit of perkiness or energy since they started. “You’re a real champ at this, Rainbow Dash!”

The Hunstman ground her teeth together so tight Rarity could swear she heard them clench together, but that was far better than their guide. At this point Gilda was now walking about fifty feet ahead of them to try and minimize having to listen to her. Rarity, on her part, was sticking next to Pinkie near the rear to avoid facing the wrath of another outburst from the Griffonstone native.

“Ok, I’ll get you this time! I-”

“Say, you know what?” Dash cut in. “How about I pick the next game we play?”

“Ooo! That’s a great idea! And the biggest winner of this game gets to pick the next one! So what game are we going to play?”

“The quiet game,” she flatly retorted. “Next one to speak loses.”

“Oki-” Pinkie’s eyes widened, and quickly she slapped her hands over her mouth as she continued to bounce along.

Rarity sighed in relief as she walked on through the mine, but it wasn’t even a full minute before she began to miss it. At least with Pinkie Pie being continuously perky, happy, and chattering endlessly, unmiffed by her surroundings, there was some semblance of normalcy. Now that it was quiet she could only focus on the mine itself.

The prelit torches had given out long ago, in what seemed to be a couple miles back. Ever since then the only light had been a lantern in Gilda’s possession as she led them down through one turn after another. Some of the passages widened into broad areas with places for cart tracks, but many of them were narrow and twisted. All of them were pitch black and silent as the grave, and Rarity actually preferred it that way. Lost in this darkness far underground, it was only when she heard something down one of the inky black tunnels that she got truly nervous.

“So we’re passing right through Mount Aris to Griffonstone going this way?” she had asked early in their trip.

“Not quite,” Dash answered. “We’re cutting across Equestria.”

“E…Equestria?!”

“Relax,” Gilda responded. “This is just one little part of it that goes through the middle of the Hyperborean Mountains. I’ve been running through these tunnels for years. Never found anything in them aside from a bat.”

Nevertheless, several hours later, Rarity was still quite nervous at the thought that they were actually going underneath Equestria itself, even if it was an area that hadn’t been claimed by the Nighttouched. As she kept walking through the mines, the constant fear leapt up within her that Gilda would walk a little too fast and leave them behind, and they’d end up spending the rest of their short lives lost in the dark labyrinth either starving to death or waiting for a monster to appear and slay them.

On the topic of starving, Rarity was getting quite dizzy from the constant lack of food and, at this point, water. The caves weren’t terribly hot and were mostly damp and moist, but it didn’t change the fact she hadn’t had a real drink or meal in quite a while. Her arms and legs were trembling from weakness and she found herself tripping often on the uneven parts of the mine path.

She wiped her brow. “Excuse me, Ms. Gilda, but how much farther is it?”

“Uh-oh, Rarity lost!” Pinkie called, before looking surprised. “Oh no! I lost too!”

Gilda rolled her eyes at both of them. “Should’ve known you Manehattan people would be too soft to make the whole route in one go. We’ll take a break up ahead, but if you fall behind again I’m leaving you behind.”

Rarity was too tired to be offended. “Yes, but might I ask what we are going to do when we get out of the mine?”

“You’re going to find a way to get me my money. I thought we were clear on that.”

“Yay!” Pinkie chimed in. “Rainbow Dash wins again!”

Rarity frowned and slumped, but Dash fell back a bit to lean in to her. “Try to ignore it. Pretty soon she’ll take us to the main train tunnels. We follow those straight across into Griffonstone, and then we hop a train from Feather’s Ford to Manehattan, or maybe an Railless Engine. Simple.”

“I hope so…” she sighed.

Gilda turned around one more corner and shouted behind her. “Up ahead. Take a load off.”

The travelers went around and found an old bench mounted against the tunnel, no doubt reserved for the previous miners. Rarity nearly collapsed on it. Dash herself rather tiredly sat down, but also winced a bit. Apparently her injury still wasn’t fully healed. Pinkie eagerly hopped over and sat down; apparently no worse for wear. Gilda set her lantern down, leaned against a cave wall, and crossed her arms.

Rarity reached for a pocket handkerchief only to frown and realize she had lost her last one two days ago. Instead, she fanned her face with her palm. “It’s…very impressive that you’re able to find your way through these tunnels, Ms. Gilda.”

She shrugged. “Eh, not much to it. Just gotta know the tricks to finding your way around, and it’s a piece of cake.”

“Ooo! What kinda tricks?” Pinkie grinned.

Gilda glared at her. “If I told whoever came along how to get through these tunnels, how would I make money as a smuggler?”

“Oh, oh!” she excitedly answered, raising her hand as if Gilda had just asked a riddle. The woman sneered and ignored her.

“I’m guessing this gig isn’t going to last much longer for you, though,” Dash spoke up as she leaned back. “I mean, if you got that mark just like us…”

Gilda slumped. “You got a point. Much as I hate the idea of hanging around in Griffonstone, seems I’m gonna have to head home next. You can bet they’ll sell guys and gals like me out the second they can make a buck on it.”

Rarity winced. “Your home country would really sell out its own people like that? How horrid…”

Gilda snapped her head up and fixed Rarity with such a sharp glare that the woman cringed and swallowed.

“Real high-and-mighty talk from some Manehattan socialite. At least people from Griffonstone don’t try to hide that this world’s all about dog-eat-dog now. You Manehattanites would just get someone like me to scrub your toilets and shine your shoes. Fillydelphians would shove me back into some labor camp like they did after they steamrolled over Cloudsdale. There was no amnesty for me. Trottinghamites will just want me so long as I can kill people for them or until their wallets run dry. And Appleloosans?” She sneered. “They’ll just plain hang me as soon as they get a mob together that doesn’t like my face.”

Dash winced a little. “Gilda…she was just trying to be nice…”

Her teeth grit. “Manehattanites always try to ‘be nice’ by talking down to you when most of them don’t even know what a Nighttouched looks like. Little princess over there thinks she’s had such a rough time because she’s spent a week on the road. Meanwhile, the world’s gone to Hell in a handbasket and she makes dresses for a living.”

Rarity was a little taken aback by Gilda’s tirade, but after the past few days she wasn’t ready to sit and take it. She frowned and nearly lashed back, but was stopped when Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up in her face again. “Wow! I didn’t know you were a princess, Rarity! Why didn’t you tell me that when you introduced yourself? Oh wait…oooooh!” She grinned. “I get it! You’re incognito!” She winked and leaned back. “Got it, Ms. Not-Princess Rarity.”

Rarity was so caught off guard that she was stuck mute for a moment, during which Dash quickly interjected again. “Yeah, but you’re not thinking of staying in Griffonstone forever, are you? I mean, if things do spread to there…”

Gilda sighed and shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll join up with the Huntsman Guild. They seem to make good enough money and I’d be a nice fit for it. Keeps me from being tied down to one place too. That’s worked out pretty well for you.”

“Heh, yeah!” Dash laughed back, although Rarity could see it was a bit forced. “Pretty nice having a life of freedom…”

“It’s not like I got any family or friends waiting for me in Griffonstone or anywhere else.” She smirked. “We’re kind of like two peas in a pod when it comes to that, Dash. Maybe it’d be better if we did hang out. You watch my back and I watch yours, eh?”

Dash looked a bit more uncomfortable, but she kept forcing her smile. “Heh-heh, yeah! Sounds…pretty awesome.”

Gilda picked up on her hesitation. “Come on, you aren’t wanting to keep those big fees all to yourself, are you? Speaking of…if you think I’m taking less than fifty percent just because I’m a journeyman to the guild, keep dreaming.”

“How are you at baking?” Pinkie cheerfully asked. “Maybe you can become a baker like me! I could use a tall, dark, somewhat-grouchy assistant with a dark and mysterious past!”

She frowned. “I don’t think it’d be too good of an idea to go legit and then commit murder my second day clean.” Leaning up from the cave wall, she stretched her arms a bit. “Ok, rest period over.” She bent over and took up the lantern. “Just a bit farther and we’ll hit one of the main train tunnels. Only thing we have to worry about from there is taking the right branch at the fork.”

“Almost home free, huh? Great,” Dash responded as she rose and cracked her own neck.

Pinkie was back to her feet in a second and bouncing happily in place again, and Rarity, groaning at the thought, started to rise only to pause soon after.

Seeing her hesitate, Gilda grit her teeth again. “Come on. I said up and at ‘em.”

“I say…did any of you feel that just now?”

“Feel what?” Dash asked.

“I could have sworn I felt something shaking…”

“Oh, I felt something shaking!” Pinkie cried, still hopping in place. “Oh wait, no…that was just my hair bouncing up and down. Tee-hee!”

“It’s nothing,” Dash answered, reaching a hand out. “Come on and get…”

She trailed off. Rarity looked surprised again.

“There it is again!”

“I think I felt it that time too…” Dash muttered. She turned to Gilda. “It kind of felt like a tremor.”

Gilda frowned. “You’re both nuts.” She made a fist and smacked it against the wall. “Solid as a rock after eight years. I’ve been through here a hundred times. Never so much as let loose a single peb-”

She cut off as a faint tremor sounded off just loud enough to echo through the surrounding caverns. This time, it was joined by the echo of a few tiny stones breaking off the ceiling and clattering to the ground from down the passage they had come from. Now she looked as on edge as the others.

Only Pinkie continued to look cheerful. “I felt it that time too! Yay!” A moment later, her smile faltered. “Wait, no… Don’t those sorts of things usually happen right before something like an earthquake or a cave-in?”

“If an earthquake or a cave-in was going to happen, it would happen all at once,” Dash nervously answered. “This is more like…”

Another tremor, slightly louder than before.

“…big footsteps.”

Gilda looked to the ceiling. In spite of her attempts to look bold, unease was beginning to leak into her features. “Maybe…some airship is flying low overhead…or something…”

“Really? Do you think the airship can make lots of itty bitty crawling sounds too?” Pinkie asked.

“Excuse me?” Rarity responded, but there was no need for Pinkie to explain. In that same moment, all four women began to hear it.

Through the stone walls of the caverns there was a rushing sound. At first it was mistakable for some form of fluid, but as they kept listening they realized it wasn’t the sound of water but what seemed to be hundreds or even thousands of tiny footsteps.

“What…what in the world is that?”

“Sounds like it’s coming from the tunnel beneath us…” Dash remarked.

Soon after, a similar sound began to ring out overhead. She swallowed.

“And above us…”

Gilda tensed a bit further before she turned and began to lead the way. “Alright, let’s get moving. The train tunnel’s just a bit farther.”

She took the lead just as the cave shook again from another impact. This time, it didn’t take but a moment for all three women to fall in behind her, although Pinkie’s enthusiasm remained. Rarity and Dash, on the other hand, grew increasingly unnerved as the sounds of the feet in the tunnels above and below them increased, and soon both were looking over their shoulders into the darkness that was behind them.

“Rainbow Dash…so you think now might perhaps be a good time for us to…you know?”

“Actually…I’m not really sure how much good it will do us if there’s as many as I’m hearing…”

“Keep it down back there!” Gilda hissed in a harsh whisper as she picked up her pace. “Not that I’m saying there’s anything to get too freaked out about, but if there is you don’t want to let it know that we’re here!” A pause. “Just the same…keep your eyes open behind us.”

“You bet!” Pinkie chirped at full volume, before spinning around and skipping after them backwards.

The four continued to pick up speed, but the sounds didn’t get quieter. Each new stomp shook the caverns a bit more, and they grew especially nervous when some of them began to make the wooden beams supporting the tunnel creak. Eventually, one stomp actually caused a larger rock that Gilda passed to crack in two.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I dearly hope we are at that tunnel soon…”

“It’s just up here. Look.”

Pinkie flipped back around to look forward with Dash and Rarity, just as the lantern illuminated a slanting branch in the path up ahead.

“We just head left and it’s a straight shot to the train tunnel. We’re almost home free.”

Dash tightened her own fists up. “Let’s just be ready in case something’s in that one or the one going the other way.”

Gilda didn’t argue. She drew one of her pistols instead with her free hand and cocked back the hammer. The others quickly gathered close to her in case of a need to run. The sounds continued to get louder above and below, but they couldn’t hear anything in front or behind them at least.

Finally they reached the junction. Gilda went first and immediately snapped her pistol in front of her on their route ahead. As they others arrived, she confirmed it was clear and looked the other way.

On doing so, the gasp she gave out was so sharp and horrified that they all looked that way as well. Each of them immediately did likewise—including Pinkie.

The light from the lantern seemed to sink into oblivion save for a patch of some substance that seemed like a starry night sky. The moment the light hit it, it spun about on crude yet taloned hexapodal limbs, before a faint head-like shape with two rows of vague teeth in huge jaws aimed at them. Faint pale spots for eyes formed out of the mass and focused on the lantern.

A Light Eater.

A split second later, Rainbow Dash snapped to the group. “Everyone run!”

In a heartbeat, all four of them turned about and ran down the tunnel. Rarity felt her hand seized by Dash before she yanked her along with her to pull her faster, but everyone else charged as fast as their legs could carry them. As exhausted and hungry as they were, terror now forced new strength into their limbs.

Far at the end of the long shaft was a small bit of light, where Rarity could just make out their passage opening into a new chamber.

“Get to the train tunnel!” Gilda shouted. “There’s an opening for sunlight! It can’t follow us there!”

Behind them, Rarity heard the sounds of rocks being dislodged and the walls being scraped. She glanced behind and gave a shrill cry on seeing the Light Eater was not only moving after them but was breaking into a full run with its six limbs. The monster itself didn’t make a sound although its tooth-filled head pantomimed snarling and roaring, but its body clawing at the rocky tunnels did. The only good part was the tunnel was so narrow that it seemed to squeeze it a little, keeping it from reaching full speed.

Gilda snapped around as she ran and aimed her pistol at it. “Get to one side!”

“No, wait!” Dash yelled.

Too late. The hammer snapped and a deafening gunshot went out through the tunnel. Rarity, Dash, and even Pinkie (a little) all clutched for their heads in agony from the deafening echo that went off in the small space. Rarity herself felt like her eardrums nearly burst and almost tried to pull away from Dash to raise both hands to her ears. As for the Light Eater, the bullet sank into it like a pebble in a pond. Its body rippled, but then quickly stabilized a moment later. It didn’t even slow down.

“Don’t try and hurt it!” Dash angrily retorted. “Just run away from it! Get to the end as fast as we can!”

“Um…I don’t think they’ll move even if we ask them nicely!”

Hearing Pinkie shout, Dash looked and saw her pointing in front of her. She looked and in spite of the very real threat behind them, to say nothing of how they had been slowed by the gunshot, they nearly stopped again on seeing a mass of Nighttouched pouring out of a tunnel on the right light a living flood and right into their same passage. Fifty of them were in the tunnel in moments with more still coming, and each one on spotting the group of four took off to meet them.

“Oh, great!” Dash yelled. She looked back to Gilda. “What do we do now?”

She tensed for a moment, clearly thinking over her options, before she began to put her pistol away. “Change of plans! We’re taking the scenic route! Turn right at the next tunnel!”

There was no argument considering how they were moments from being sandwiched. As soon as the next tunnel was reached, all three turned and followed Gilda down it. She began to reach into her clothes as she kept the lantern aimed forward, but this tunnel was not nearly as smooth and even as the previous one. As she bounced along it was hard to see, and it was only moments before Rarity cried out on scraping her arm against a jutting wall before she hooked her toes and nearly tripped; bringing Dash down with her.

None of them looked back again, but they soon heard the scraping and crunching follow them into this new passage. It was keying in on the lantern light. Before it could gain much distance, though, Gilda led them down another tunnel. To Rarity’s displeasure, not only did it only lead into more darkness, there were a pair of monstrous Nighttouched rats the size of housecats running up to them from the opposite way.

Rarity shrieked. “Two of those horrid things are coming!”

“Deal with them, would ya’, Dash?” Gilda snapped as she finally grasped something in her jacket. “I’m doing three things at once here!”

Releasing Rarity’s hand, and forcing the designer to quickly struggle to keep up under her own power, Dash ran to Gilda’s side. The rats gave hideous squeals, but she used what little ceiling space there was to run forward, leap, and drive both heels down on the first one’s head. A crunch went out as it fell limp. The next one quickly opened its mouth to bite her leg, but she answered by lashing out with a hooking kick and snapping it up and away. Its body was impaled on a more jagged section of wall a second later.

She glanced back to Gilda as she resumed running, and caught her just as she tucked something into the corner of her arm and went back into her pockets. On looking it over, she noticed it was a red stick with a long fuse.

“Is that…?”

“Always keep something like this for emergencies… Just keep moving!”

The two charged down this next corridor. It was empty, but as they ran on it was only a few seconds before they heard a large crash against the mine walls behind them; the thing obviously chasing them and not making the turn sharp enough. It was closer than before, but none of them could run any harder. Rarity was already to where she could only gasp for air, and even Dash was starting to breathe hard.

Gilda got out what looked like a lighter and clenched it in her fist as she turned another corner. “Alright, at the end of this one is a junction, and-”

“Squirrels!” Pinkie chirped.

“What?”

“Squirrels! Three of them!”

Gilda nearly hissed, but Dash looked at the ceiling. Sure enough, hanging upside down and scurrying toward them were a trio of yellow eyed monsters with bushy tails and foaming mouths.

Before Gilda could say or do anything, Dash shot her hand out, seized her other pistol from her belt, and snapped it upright. “This is gonna hurt your ears so brace yourselves!”

Rarity cried out again in agony soon after as three more gunshot rapidly erupted out. Gilda herself nearly staggered and dropped her dynamite and lighter, but somehow kept running. As for the squirrels, one after another they fell to the floor of the cave and their bodies were summarily trampled.

“Glad I can still shoot one of those things!” she shouted over the dying echo. She shoved the weapon back at Gilda’s side. “You were saying?”

She still looked dizzy from the echoing, but she forced her thumb to start flicking the lighter. “As soon as we get down at the end of here, head south and don’t stop! Just keep running!”

“Which way is south?”

“Just run where the light is! And hope they aren’t already cutting us off!”

She flicked the end of the lighter one more time before the flame came on. Quickly, she held it to the fuse and moments later it began to spark and burn. It was doing so far faster than Rarity cared, but all she could do was keep running.

Gilda reached the end and exited the corridor into the wider passage; the same one they had started at. Here, she stopped and turned about, quickly identifying a place in the framing of the tunnel and rushing over to jam the stick of dynamite into it. Rarity kept running along with Dash and Pinkie, but as she looked back she almost shrieked again in spite of her lack of air on seeing the Light Eater was right on their heels, and the corridor behind them was nothing but a sea of Nighttouched. Not only it, but at least two of the branch tunnels had them flowing out through it as well.

Yet they could also see the light from the main passage at the end of the tunnel, and it was stronger than ever now. Pushing themselves on, the three charged inside this last stretch one after the other: Dash, Rarity, and finally Pinkie. Gilda quickly snapped around and rushed after just as the Light Eater shoved itself into the end of the mine tunnel. Luckily, it did so crooked, trying to go straight for the lantern’s light, and ended up jamming itself in the opening momentarily. Gilda quickly threw the lantern away at the thing before reaching back for her sides for her metal talons…

Suddenly, part of the flood coming out from the tunnel burst; allowing a black, warped, vicious-looking fox Nighttouched to come forth from an eruption of its smaller yellow-eyed fellows. Like the crack of a whip, it lashed out for the nearest person: Gilda. It opened its mouth and snapped loudly as it dove into her legs. The force with which it slammed into them, mixing the fact she was running, caused her to immediately hook a foot over its body. With a loud cry, she spilled over and fell flat on her face.

The cry alerted Dash, who immediately stopped and snapped around. Her eyes widened on spotting her. The fox itself yanked itself free of her legs, ignoring biting at her ankles and boots and instead snapping for her face. In response, she grit her teeth and swiped one of her metal talons up; instantly slicing through half of its jaw and neck. Blood splattered as the fox fell to the ground and spasmed in violent death throes, but she shoved it off and yanked her legs up.

Before she could stand, however, she saw the Light Eater breaking the edges of the tunnel to push through, as well as the length of fuse remaining…

She paused for a heartbeat before she snapped back around. She scrambled onto all fours and rushed to the nearest tunnel to her right as she glared at Dash. “What are you gawking at? Get out! Now!”

“Gilda!” She shouted back, advancing a step back toward her.

Rarity, however, ran into her with a shoving motion soon after, not having the energy to try and argue or do it gently. She ended up pushing her back further. Dash kept staring as the Light Eater began to extend one of its monstrous claws through and Gilda, with a grunt and a strain, threw herself into the tunnel—right before the dynamite went off.

All the three of them could hear in moments was a painful ringing in their ears as light, heat, and dirt fragments shot at them like bullets. In the chaos, Dash cried out and snapped her head away as some of its struck her eyes, and she was left powerless as Rarity half-stumbled, half-charged herself along and pushed her away. Pinkie ran in behind her and acted to force all of them onward. Moments later, a cloud of dust and dirt swept over them, blinding and choking them and forcing their eyes and mouths shut. Feeling nothing but pain inside and out and lost in a cloud, they could only keep pushing forward; bumping and banging along the rock walls and stumbling over cracks as they went.

Finally, the light around them cleared as the space opened up, and through their shut eyelids they could sense the darkness giving way to a red glow. They kept running until they were further from the dirt, but then Dash and Rarity lost their footing all together and fell to the ground. They instantly began to choke, gasp, and cough violently. Pinkie herself remained on her feet only long enough to walk to the nearest decent boulder and sat on it, finally breathing heavily as well. For several minutes, that was all the three of them did.

Yet as soon as Dash was able to do more than gasp, she did her best to blink to clear her dirt-covered eyes and looked up and back. “Gilda!”

The tunnel they found themselves in now was much larger. Big enough to accommodate not only two sets of train tracks but wide enough to switch off the main track to service or dismount them as necessary. On top of that, part of the rock wall that made up the tunnel was so thin it had been removed and the early evening sun was free to shine down on the three of them. They themselves were now facing the mine opening they had just escaped.

However, there was nothing to see there save for clouds of dust still rolling from it. There were no more sounds of Nighttouched or Light Eaters, but echoes of large rocks and boulders still falling from what had to have been a cave-in rolled out. No other sound or word of life.

“Gilda!” Dash half-coughed, before she started to force herself up.

Rarity was still gasping as she pushed herself up from the ground, wincing again at her further ruined appearance, but then turned fully to Dash and the mine entrance. However, one look at it was all she needed to know the truth.

Her face twisted uneasily. “R…Rainbow Dash…there’s no…no way we can get back…”

“No!” she cried, getting her feet underneath her and rising. “I saw her get in the tunnel! She had to have-”

“‘Rainbow Dash’.”

The woman cut herself off and looked to her left on hearing her name.

“You need to worry more about yourself right now.”

The Huntsman’s eyes widened, but she was barely on her feet and unable to react any further. Soon after, a sharp electric crackle rang through the air before a bolt of electricity smacked Dash back down to the tunnel floor.

Rarity gasped and Pinkie sat bolt upright. Both looked in the direction it came from, before Rarity yelped again and rolled onto her back before scrambling away from it.

The man in royal guard armor was walking down the main tunnel with his lance tip still aimed forward and snaking with electricity.

“Hi there!” Pinkie waved. “What’s your name? Wait…um…I think the fact that you just shot Dash means you’re not here to be friendly.”

“You!” Rarity cried. “How in Greater Equestria did you find us?!”

“I never lost you, to be honest,” he answered coolly enough. He shifted his spear upright as he walked forward, while Dash herself was still smoking and writhing on the ground. “When I shot you last night, I used the magic my lady imbued into my armor and spear to tag you with a metallic tracer in a special pattern. As it turns out, everyone’s body has a bit of ‘lightning’ in it, and I figured out a while ago how to use it as a conductor along with the tracer symbol. After that, our airship tracked you down.”

He glanced over the group for a moment as he came to a stop.

“Just the three of you, huh? And none of you are the one she wants. In that case, I have no choice.”

He began to ready his spear again.

“Um, yeah…he’s definitely not friendly,” Pinkie muttered.

Rarity herself was panic stricken again and drug herself back further. “Why are you doing this to us? What did any of us ever do to you?”

“This isn’t personal. My lady said she wanted you dead. That’s all there is to it,” he answered; just a hint of regret in his voice as he aimed his lance at her.

Rarity began to tremble. She eyed the sizzling tip of the lance, petrified and unable to speak, move, or even breathe. However, the fatal shot didn’t come. The royal guard continued to stand there like a statue.

After a moment he spoke again. “Do it.”

Rarity was so terrified she barely registered that. “I…I…beg your pardon…?”

“Call out your Anima Viri. Hurry it up.”

She blinked and stammered. The fear was still clutching her too tightly to really process what was going on, but her senses came through enough to be confused at what she was hearing. “I’m…sorry?”

“I won’t kill you all simply outright. The least I can do is give you a chance to defend yourselves. I’m not going to wait forever, though. You three don’t know it, but there’s a Light Eater as big as a mountain crossing over right now. It’s blotting out the sun and once it gets here we’ll all going to be food for the smaller ones and Nighttouched. I need to be gone before then.”

It was too much new information for Rarity on top of the shocks. She didn’t know what to be more scared of. Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long.

“Heh…giving us a ‘fair chance’, huh?”

The royal guard looked up and saw that Dash, in spite of still smoldering and clearly in pain, was back on her feet. She was glaring at him furiously with her fists tightened.

“That’s gonna be the last mistake you ever make, because you got me at a really bad time!” she snapped. “Captain Spitfire!”

Her aura blazed to life again, which, in turn, prompted the royal guard to ignore Rarity all together and face her. He planted his feet and readied his lance, but in spite of his lack of facial features he didn’t seem nearly as tense as last time. Dash, on her part, was soon ready, although it took only a moment for everyone to see she still was unsteady on her feet and her look was far more unhinged.

“Fair warning,” the royal guard called out. “You might not be in as much pain, but I can tell you’re tired and weakened. And I know how you move this time.”

“Shut up!” she snapped. She took off and launched herself straight at the royal guard. This time, she looked so furious that it didn’t seem to matter that his armor would likely guard him. He, however, kept his footing and waited for her; not even shifting weight. His armor began to spark and sizzle as she neared, readying to use the move he performed last time, but Dash didn’t care. She looked ready to dig through the discharge and hit him anyway as she leapt in the air and cocked back her foot to come around to his head.

A blinding flash went out as the royal guard disappeared, but Dash’s face broke in surprise when she saw him reappear in the exact same spot with one difference. His lance was now propped upward with the point aimed right for her body’s midsection.

Since she was in midair, she as powerless to do anything but abort her attack and twist her body to the side; but he was waiting for that. In a snap, he ripped his spear upward and swung the shaft completely around, and buried the pommel right into her exposed midsection before letting her own momentum drive her onto it. The sound of air rushing out of Dash’s throat echoed through the cave as her body crumpled about the metal shaft, right before he let out another charge. With a monstrous crackle, Dash’s body flew off of the end of it and made a solid impact against the tunnel wall.

As her body slid off, the royal guard gave no mercy. He quickly ran after her. She had barely touched down on the ground when, in spite of the pain and agony she was now in, she grit her teeth, forced her head up, and lashed out with a fist to try and meet him. In response, he snapped his lance around and aimed right for her right eye. Again, she had to abort her attack, but had nowhere to go. She ended up wrenching her body to one side and protruding her shoulder; and the royal guard used the moment to swing his lance about, bring up the shaft again, and then come down with both hands on top of her shoulder joint. A loud crack resulted as that arm slumped, and Dash’s pupils shrank before she screamed in pain.

The royal guard pulled back momentarily, letting her cry, but even then she wouldn’t stop. As that arm hung uselessly to one side, she forced her pain into fresh anger, looking viciously at him, and drove herself forward and swung at his face with her good arm. He quickly sidestepped and let the blow shoot by, only to seize her by the outstretched limb. A moment later, he yanked her forward while bringing up his knee to slam her already injured middle across it. The life drained from her face as she sustained another horrible blow, but he didn’t stop there. He twisted his own body around, brought her and his knee down, and simultaneously slammed her into the rock tunnel floor while bringing the weight of his body down in his knee on top of her stomach. This time, all she could do was gag. Bloody spittle came up from her lips as her whole body went flaccid.

He quickly rose off of her again, and looked up a split second before Rarity shouted it. “Daisy Cheerilee!”

He saw her own aura ignite and quickly squared himself fully against her. Nevertheless, he kept his spear at his side until the change was complete, only then beginning to advance. Rarity herself tensed a moment before she did all she could think of. She held her hand out at him. “Fireballfireballfireballfireball!”

A bit larger than before, her aura glowed about her palm before peeling off and forming a ball of flame that was flung toward the guard. This time, however, she was surprised to see him simply twirl his lance in front of him while advancing. The ball struck the spinning weapon and instantly burst into nothing more than embers.

“Um…er…” She quickly held both hands up. “Fireballfireballfireballfireball!”

Two spheres shot off this time, but were annihilated just as easily.

“Oh dear, uh… Icicleicicleicicleicicle!”

The aura changed colors to a blue this time, but rather than produce any form of solid ice small amounts of snow squished into vague icicle shapes came out of both hands. He simply lowered his lance to his side for this one, letting them burst into slush against his armor as if they were no more than snowballs. He aimed his lance end at her next. It crackled once before snapping out another discharge.

Rarity cried out as her body was both wreathed in pain and flung violently backward along the ground, all the way to a bit of switchout track adjacent to the main track. Her body halted there, now smoldering as well, but she continued to gaze wide eyed and agonized from the shot.

“Not only do you not know how to use your Anima Viri, you don’t even know how to cast a real spell. Those words your mumbling aren’t even as good as Lady Sunset’s cantrips,” he called as he advanced on her again. “The only reason it worked last time was your fireball hit me in the visor and blinded me.”

Rarity moaned and raised her head, but her whole body was in pain now. She couldn’t rise again. She looked up and saw Dash was still in a heap, and at any rate the royal guard was much closer to her now and between the two of them. Besides that, Dash’s own aura had faded and, much to her displeasure, her own was rapidly failing too. Another hit unprotected by it would likely kill her. And this time there was no environment or hand grenades to bail her out.

Before she could panic too much or the royal guard could get any nearer, however, both of them were distracted by the sound of Pinkie bursting into giggling.

Both of them looked just in time to see her happily hopping off of the rock.

“Tee-hee! Rarity, Rainbow Dash! You’re so silly! You’re trying to get into a fight with this big mean armored guy and you’re not even using your Magic Circley-Circles the right way!”

Rarity, still coming out of her own shock, could barely respond. “Ex…excuse me?”

Pinkie answered by beginning to stretch out. “Don’t worry! I’ll stop the big meanie for you! I know my big sister will probably get mad that I’m showing this off, but since you two have Magic Circley-Circles too, maybe she won’t mind! Now…”

The royal guard turned to her. “What are you-”

“If you want to use them the right way, you do something like…” She held her hand with the Promethian Sigil to the sky.

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Sage Geologist—Maudileena Daisy Pie!”

Rarity let out a gasp as a much more powerful aura than the one she had seen on either Rainbow Dash or herself erupted from Pinkie. It was enough even to make the royal guard put a gauntlet to his visor and recoil; both from the wind that emanated from her as well as in genuine alarm. This time, the strands of light from the aura didn’t just form a vague humanoid shape but, to Rarity’s astonishment, formed a complete image of a young woman with straight bangs, heavy eyelashes, and a hard if not somewhat indifferent expression. It lasted only a moment before bursting over Pinkie.

Immediately, Pinkie’s clothing became expertly tailored and far more flamboyant, but also closer to her body. The boots became higher and better for travelling, pants emerged on her that fit comfortably but also made of a much smoother fabric, a durable vest came out over a short-sleeved shirt as ribbons and fingerless gloves grew over her hands, and a loose sash tied around her waist. To top it off, a small amount of her pink, poofy hair was swept back so that a long bandanna could be tied around it as a form of cap.

When it was done, Pinkie’s own aura remained just as it did with Rarity and Dash, only burning more strongly and steadily. She also seemed happier and more energetic than ever as she pumped her fists.

“Yay! It’s been waaaaay too long since I got to do that! Alright-y!”

She turned to the royal guard.

“So…you want to try to hit me first, or should I?”

The royal guard didn’t answer. His armor began to spark instead. Rarity gasped on realizing what it meant. “Pinkie, watch-”

Before she could say more, the guard instantly vanished in a crackle of electricity, only to reappear right in front of Pinkie with the end of his spear thrusting forward. Rarity nearly screamed on knowing she had to have just been impaled, but a second afterward she was struck dumb instead.

Although the royal guard had moved in an instant, Pinkie was even faster. She now stood right alongside the spear, smiling with her hands folded behind her—just far enough away for it to miss its mark completely.

“Missed me! Try again! Tee-hee!”

Rarity was stunned. She hadn’t even seen the royal guard move. Or Pinkie, for that matter. The royal guard stood there for a brief second, before his spear crackled instead. In a flash, he twisted his lance around and swung the shaft out for the top of her body.

As easily as if she was made of rubber, Pinkie bent her legs and arched back just long enough to let the spear shaft sail over her head before standing upright again.

“Missed me again!”

The guard hesitated only a fraction of a second before advancing on her, using both hands to swing his lance about in a combative figure eight. The spear tip and the shaft swung down and at her again and again. Yet without even breaking a sweat, Pinkie coolly stepped backward and made just the right movement each time to let both spear shaft and tip sail right past her. He couldn’t even get close enough to slice off one of her pink hairs.

He finished off by snapping back and driving his shaft forward, but Pinkie answered by instantly performing a backflip—one that kept her in midair just long enough for the spear tip to lash out and hit absolutely nothing. When the royal guard drew it back, she landed again, giggling all the while.

“Missed me! Missed me! Now ya’ gotta kiss me! He-he-he!” she giggled, before blowing him a raspberry.

The royal guard didn’t respond; only began to attack her all over again. From close range, he couldn’t use his lance’s ability to shoot lightning, but as soon as it charged again he attempted another lightning-fast move. Yet even as close as he was it was as useless as the first. For a moment, Rarity was transfixed in awe. Pinkie was as nimble and loose as a dead leaf on the wind, and all of the royal guard’s attempts to hit her was like trying to hit the air itself. She never even broke her smile.

What shook Rarity out of it was the feeling of the ground shaking. She snapped away and looked up, only to feel it again soon after but stronger. She realized it had to be whatever the royal guard had mentioned and what they had seen before. And where it was, she knew the rest of the Nighttouched had to be close by. The sun was already on its way down and had nearly cleared the tunnel opening that was allowing the light to shine inside. They couldn’t stay here.

She looked up and about for a way to escape, and soon rested on one. The switch-out track that she was currently on led back to the walls of the tunnel and right toward a small cavern opening. Just inside was a handcar. She was too exhausted to get that far on it, but it was the best they could hope for right now.

As much as it pained her and made her dizzy, she forced herself to get up while Pinkie kept the royal guard busy. As soon as she was on her feet she began to stagger and stumble over to the handcar. It would barely have enough room for the three of them on it, but she had to worry about securing it first. She reached the tunnel and began to grab for the handles to pull herself on top.

Suddenly, the rock wall behind the cart partially burst. Rarity shrieked and fell back again as the monstrous claw of the hexapodal Light Eater emerged from within and swiped at her. She quickly drug herself away, but the rest of the monster didn’t follow. Its limb continued to lash out viciously none the less and she clutched her arm to herself; panting fearfully at how she had nearly been scratched by it.

Yet as she calmed she realized that claw was now keeping her from getting any closer to the monster. Worse than that, the sun was still setting…

For a third time, the royal guard vanished in a flash of light. This time, he reappeared behind Pinkie before thrusting forward. She again slipped to one side, but the spear tip sailed out and just barely ripped a tiny tear into her outer vest as she moved. Quickly he tried to follow up, but she answered by nimbly backflipping three times to gain distance from him.

On planting her feet, she looked down to her side and spotted the tear. “Ooo! You almost got me that time! You are fast!”

The royal guard didn’t answer. He quickly began to charge his spear for a shot instead. Pinkie, however, laced her fingers and gave them a crack before smugly sticking her tongue outside the corner of her mouth and staring at him.

“Guess it’s my turn to make a move.”

In a flash, she took off straight for the royal guard. He looked up slightly in alarm, but then quickly braced himself against his spear. He kept aiming at her as she drew nearer before finally, at only a distance of four yards, he fired a shot.

Even from that close, Pinkie sidestepped so fast that she was actually able to dodge lightning. The very move was so stunning that the armored man was left stunned while Pinkie kept on running right by him. It wasn’t until she was already shooting past that he finally snapped out of it. Quickly he spun around, expecting an attack, but only saw her standing there calmly.

One of her hands lightly tossed a cylindrical object up and down.

“This looked important!”

The royal guard stared a moment longer before he suddenly realized what it was, about the same time he realized that his lance had stopped conducting electricity. He glanced down at it and, sure enough, the entire pommel section that served as the capacitor for the weapon was gone. He snapped back up in disbelief on seeing she had taken it right off of him on passing by.

Rarity, meanwhile, lay on the ground for a moment unsure of what to do. The claw continued to swipe out viciously for anyone, but still the Light Eater wouldn’t come out any further. At least not while the sun was still bearing down. If it went any further it would be in its rays.

That, however, gave her an idea. Quickly she felt about herself. Most of her jewelry and accessories were either left at home or were the worthless type, but she still had her necklace with a glass jewel on it. She quickly pulled it off and held it upright, right into the path of the nearly-vanished sun. Just as she hoped, on striking it beams of sunlight were scattered against the tunnel side. She quickly aimed one of the rays of light on the Light Eater’s claw.

She was almost shocked to see part of its translucent, star-like surface actually swell and bubble like gelatin that had been left to burn. A hissing sound went off as the limb spasmed, before quickly ducking back into the hole.

She dropped the necklace in stunned shock, hardly able to believe that worked, but realized she had little to rejoice about. The giant stomps were getting closer and beginning to shake off bits of dirt and pebbles around the tunnel. Worse than that, the sunlight suddenly vanished. She looked up and saw not only had it ducked under the tunnel opening but the light was rapidly growing dimmer. Just like how it normally did when the shadows over Equestria surged forth…

Terrified as she was, she forced herself up again. Glaring fearfully at the hole in the tunnel wall the whole time, dreading that either the Light Eater or a Nighttouched would flow out at any moment, she swallowed her fear and forced herself to run and crawl onto the top of the pushcart. She grasped the handle and put all of her weight on top of it. As a result, she just barely managed to overcome the inertia and force the pump down. Very slowly the wheels began to turn, and the cart crept out from the opening and into the tunnel.

Pinkie, at the same time, tossed the cylinder aside, aimed herself, and ran at the royal guard again. He dashed out to meet her with his lance swinging. She, in turn, calmly forward flipped once to land on her legs, sprung off of them to avoid the tip while gracefully vaulting over the royal guard’s head (reaching out to playfully tag him on the helmet as she hurled through midair), and landed on his opposite side.

He quickly whirled around and lashed out with his spear again, but she forward flipped one more time to get clear. As soon as she landed, she held up some metal fasteners. He stared at them a moment before looking back to his armor. The right breastplate was now hanging loose from it.

“Huh…this one’s not as much.” She shrugged and tossed it away too. “Ah well!”

She spun around just as the royal guard lunged at her, swinging fiercely and furiously at her. It bore no more successful fruit than the previous occasions. Without ever losing her smile, she nimbly and easily backpedaled to avoid each and every swipe. Nevertheless, he continued to go at her, for he was backing her up toward one of the tunnel walls to hopefully pin her there long enough for a strike.

Yet no sooner had he finally forced her back against it when she ducked instead of sidestepped and ran past him. This time, he heard a large hiss from his side. Before even looking at Pinkie, he glanced down to his hip and saw one of the lines for the armor was gone, and it was now jetting out steam like a deflating balloon.

He looked back up to Pinkie to see her excitedly hopping while holding onto a bit of piping. “Oh! Oh! This one was!”

The royal guard hesitated. He glanced down at the latest damage he had incurred, and then looked up at the tunnel opening. The sunlight was gone and it was rapidly getting darker. The tunnel was now rhythmically shaking. Finally, the echoes of the Nighttouched were beginning to come up from other side tunnels along the way. He looked back down at Pinkie, who was grinning hopefully back at him.

After a second more, he finally rose to full height and shifted the lance to his side. He snapped around and took off back up the tunnel the way he had come.

The pink-haired woman slumped. “Awww! I was having fun!”

“Pinkie!”

“Hmm?” She looked up, just in time to see Rarity struggling with all her might as well as all of her weight to pump the handle on the handcart. It was only rolling at about two miles per hour, but it slowly got onto the track. “Oh, hi Rarity! What’cha doin’?”

She grimaced a little at her obliviousness, before she gestured ahead. “Do you think you can get Ms. Dash onto this?”

“Noooo problem!” At once, she turned and happily trotted over to the Huntsman. Rarity could see she was starting to come around, but considering how hard it was for her to keep pumping the handcart she had to devote all of her focus to that. She heard Nighttouched noises from the cavern where she obtained it, and she began to see little yellow eyes arise from the growing darkness.

Fortunately, Pinkie, whether due to enhancement or her own strength, easily picked Dash up, put her over a shoulder, and skipped back to the handcart. She set her down on top before bouncing onto it herself.

Dash’s eyes cracked open as she winced. “G…Gil…da… We…we can’t leave her…”

“Rainbow Dash, there’s no way for us to get to her,” Rarity ruefully answered as she struggled to pump the handle again. “And if we stay here any longer, none of us will make it out of here! We just have to hope she could find her way!”

Dash still looked back at the collapsed tunnel. She reached out a hand toward it briefly, but could only wince and stare at it anxiously. Finally she let out a curse and let it fall before she forced her head to look away. The anguish Rarity saw on her face was stronger than any she had seen come from her physical pain. It made her uncomfortable, but she had no choice but to keep pumping.

Pinkie herself looked behind her. The darkness was reaching night levels now and, as a result, the first few small Nighttouched began to come out of the cavern where the hand cart had resided. She looked back forward. “Hey Rarity, need any help pumping?”

Rarity grit her teeth as she tried to push the handle up again, but almost rolled her eyes at the question. “Yes, any help would be much appreciate-eeeeEED!”

Her sardonic comment turned into a squeal as Pinkie cheerfully grabbed on and began to pump as if the handle was nothing more than a jack-in-the-box crank. She went so fast that Rarity found herself pried loose, right before she cried out again as the force of the handcart taking off threw her on top of Dash’s legs. She looked up in astonishment, for in no time at all Pinkie had propelled them up to a good 40 kilometers per hour. They were soon leaving the Nighttouched behind and racing down the tunnel fast enough to feel wind in their faces.

Alarmed, Rarity looked forward at the path ahead. It seemed clear, but she was just in time to see them roll up to and through a switching station. As they went past, she saw one line of track sharply break off in one direction while they stayed on the current one.

A memory of what Gilda had said came to mind, and she looked anxious for a moment. In the end, however, she only sighed and laid back as she realized there was nothing else for it.

All she could hope for now was that this cart was taking them far away from the Nighttouched and wherever the giant Light Eater was going.

Nightwatch: A Bad Cup of Tea

About five seconds after the bell tower finished sounding its last chime across the castle courtyard, the doors to the chapel swung open. A group of children in uniforms began to file out in a pair of neat rows. As they made their way down the front stairs, their teacher came out behind them; already being forced to shout to those in front to “walk please” before they could burst into a run and shove past anyone on the courtyard walkway as they headed to the gardens to play.

Once the last of them were out, the other attendees began to leave at their own rate. Most of them were adults or very small children with their families, but mixed in with the rest was a fiery-haired girl also dressed in a uniform. However, neither the teacher, the other students, or anyone else involved with the academy gave it any mind as she went down the steps; keeping her head low and not making eye contact with anyone.

Nevertheless, by the time she reached the walkway, the two rows of students had already broken off and dispersed. One group of three girls remained behind, chatting with each other, until they spotted her. “Hey Sunset!”

The fiery-haired girl slowed in her step but didn’t stop and looked up to them.

“We need another player for badminton! Want to join us?”

“No thanks,” she answered in a rather distracted away, before lowering her head and resuming her former speed.

It wasn’t long before she had left both them and the chapel far behind and was walking more or less alone across the courtyard. She glanced up to the clock tower and noted the time, but sighed to herself soon afterward on remember that the last day of the week was a free one. She’d have the library more or less to herself, though, considering none of the other students would be there. With that, she took the path that crossed directly across the courtyard to minimize her distance.

It didn’t take long to see the library building up ahead, even while it was still rather far off, thanks to the open space in the middle of the castle grounds. However, she only walked a short distance before her eyes drifted to toward the largest structure on the grounds.

Although the royal palace stretched out farther and ultimately took the most space in Canterlot, the great spired structure right in the center stood the highest above the whole of the courtyard. Towering a good 450 feet in the air was the Canterlot Cathedral. Majestic, expertly crafted, without the slightest sign of moss or cracks upon it. It was in many ways more picturesque than the main palace itself. Sunset remembered how the headmistress told her that all of the Cathedrals of Harmonia were made such that they would be representations of Divine Perfection; a vision of the halls of paradise. Sunset had seen many pictures in books of them and the other great cathedrals of the world, but this one stood far above and beyond them. The architecture was not only majestic but of a style that she had never seen anywhere else. Not only art, but a truly unique work of art.

It was for that very reason that Sunset often found her eyes looking to its front doors, which stood padlocked and chained shut that day as they had every other day since she arrived.

She stared at it a short while before continuing to the library.

The headmistress used only one finger to draw a small symbol in the air, before she extended and flexed her hand. In response, the stack of circular cards flew up of their own accord and across the practice chamber like a flock of birds. As soon as they were a good distance from her, one after another they began to flip vertically and show their colors.

Sunset twisted her mouth a bit in concentration, but also smiled with a look eager to rise to the challenge. Bracing her casting arm with her opposite one, she quickly began to rattle off spells. The first card was red; her favorite element. It took less than half a second for her to conjure a fireball to turn it to ash. The next was green. It took her a bit longer to get off the whirlwind spell, but it succeeded and crumpled it up in its tempest. There was another after that followed by another red, both of which she dealt with far more easily.

Blue came next. Last time she had seen this, she had ended up using the wrong spell, but since then she had been practicing. Rather than performing the icicle formation, she did a bit of water conjuration to fling a sphere of liquid at it and soak it to the point of deterioration. Another fireball after that, then a tan card. This one was the hardest. It took her so long that the next color (green again) was shown before she dealt with it, but she forced a rock to break off from the floor and to strike it. Following the next green came a light blue, and this time she hit it perfectly with an ice crystal.

Twenty more flowed outward from there, and Sunset dealt with each and every one. She broke a sweat and was breathing a bit hard toward the end, especially so close to afternoon tea, but she held on and forced the spells to keep coming.

The third to last one, however, was yellow. And no sooner had it turned than the next one afterward did the same, exposing another yellow, and another after that for a third yellow. Three lightning cards. No doubt meant to push her to her limit. Lightning magic was hard to control even at her best, and hitting three targets one after another would push any student at her age.

Almost any.

Sunset grinned even wider before clenching her jaw. She grasped her spell arm even tighter and let out just one small grunt before she performed a far more complicated gesture. Her skin strained a bit as she felt something inside her being “pulled”, but she stuck with it.

As a result a single bolt of lightning projected and broke into three different branches: each one hitting a target simultaneously. All three were taken out together.

Sunset exhaled a deep breath and let her hand fall afterward, but she nevertheless lit up again on hearing the headmistress. “Oh my!”

She turned and saw Celestia marveling over her.

“That was amazing, Sunset! I didn’t think you would be ready for a move that advanced for another half of a year! Very well done!”

Although she felt a bit dizzy, she smiled again. “Heh…no problem for your star student…”

Celestia saw how exhausted the girl looked, and cracked the corner of her mouth wider. “Oh really? In that case, I’m guessing we can skip tea and go straight into the next lesson?”

Sunset’s smile fell, turning to anxiety. “Actually, I didn’t eat a lot for breakfast, so…I think I’d like just a tiny break.”

The older woman laughed as she patted Sunset on the shoulder. “Of course. Besides, even if you’re still feeling up for more, I think I could go for a bit of a rest this afternoon.”

She raised her hand and gestured around the rotundra. The fragments of the targets that Sunset had destroyed were rapidly gathered up in a whirlwind and carried away to a waste container at the edge of it, before a few more gestures gathered up the remaining targets and tools they had used. Another spell afterward took the pieces of the room that had been damaged, replaced them, and quickly patched them. After that, a final spell sent a thin wave of water to gently glide about the room; cleaning it from top to bottom. Once all was in order, Sunset had caught her breath and both she and Celestia walked to the side of the chamber. It seemed to be just into an ordinary wall, but on reaching it she spoke a word of power to it. At once, it separated and opened wide into a concealed door. The two exited and it automatically shut again behind them, sealing their private practice chamber once again.

A minute later, both were back in the headmistress’ office. Sunset lit up on seeing one of Celestia’s attendants had already brought the cart with their usual three-plate “tower” for tea time. The aroma was a bit different today, but still smelled wonderful. She had to suppress the urge to hop into the comfy chair across from Celestia’s own seat. As soon as the headmistress levitated the tea trays over to them, she was so eager that she took up her plate and nearly jumped right in.

Celestia gave her a look as she did that said “mind your manners”. She froze where she was, then grinned bashfully as she leaned back in her seat and calmly unfolded her napkin across her waist and set her plate down on her side. Only then did she draw herself up and ask. “May I?”

She nodded. “Yes you may.”

Much more calmly, Sunset took her helping of a scone, jam, butter, cucumber sandwich, salmon sandwich, and chicken salad croissant. As for Celestia, she took up setting the teacups in front of her and raised the teapot to pour.

“We’ll be having something a bit different today. This is a ‘white tea’. It tastes a bit lighter and it has citrus inside it.”

“What’s citrus?”

“Things like oranges and lemons.”

“Oh! Sounds neat!”

She finished pouring Sunset’s cup. “Sugar?”

“Two lumps, please.”

“Really? You don’t want to try it without it first?”

“Nah, I like candied oranges.”

Celestia chuckled before giving her two lumps and passing it over. She stirred as Celestia finished pouring her own cup. Only when both had their teacups in their hands and had looked to one another for confirmation did they both take a sip; studying the other’s reactions the whole time.

On lowering her own cup, Celestia turned her head to one side and thought over the flavor. Sunset herself swished her mouth a little.

“What do you think?”

“I can’t taste that much lemon or orange.”

“It’s nice, but I don’t think I’m ready to give up my Roasted Chestnut.”

“I like Trottingham Breakfast better.”

Both set their respective cups down and went to work. Sunset, as she usually did, dove right into her cucumber sandwich while Celestia went to work buttering and jamming her scone. As always, she was so precise and delicate that not a single crumb was spilled. Sunset always made a mess of it whenever she tried.

“So, any questions for me today?”

Sunset nodded around a bite of sandwich but waited to swallow before speaking. “Can only people who have a Promethian Sigil do magic?”

“The short answer is yes, but it’s far more complicated than that. The truth is not everyone who has one can do magic either. It has to do with the role. Remember how you told me you noticed that my sigil wasn’t quite the same as yours?”

“Uh-huh.”

“That’s because your sigil is for the Caster. Mine is for the Healer.”

Sunset paused in her eating, glancing down at the symbol on her hand before looking up to the one on Celestia’s. “What’s the ‘Caster’ and ‘Healer’?”

“The best way to think about it is what role someone has innately. What they can do without pushing themselves in any new direction or trying to be more than what they are already.”

“Role?”

“Think of that like an occupation. A job. Like a baker or a singer or a mason.”

Sunset looked again to her symbol and Celestia’s.

“And…what does a ‘Healer’ do?”

“Healers are wielders of the forces of creation and harmony.”

“And…a ‘Caster’?”

“Their opposite. A Caster wields the forces of destruction and chaos.”

The girl looked unnerved to hear that. Moments later, she looked at her hand again and began to grow uncomfortable. “But…does that…that mean that I’m supposed to destroy things?”

Celestia caught this, and immediately put her scone down and focused entirely on the girl.

“Isn’t that…bad?”

“Sunset.”

She looked up to the headmistress. She was fixing her on the spot with her scholarly look, but her eyes remained kind and gentle.

“If you were in a shipwreck but you managed to swim to shore, and you were soaking wet and freezing, what would you do?”

The girl was a little puzzled by the question, but shrugged. “I…I guess I’d build a fire to keep warm.”

“And then what?”

“Find something I could eat…”

“And then?”

“Um…build a shelter?”

“Really?” Celestia’s voice turned into a tone of faux surprise. “Are you telling me you’d willingly cause a fire, rip apart plants and animals, and ruin trees by killing them and cutting them into smaller pieces? You’d destroy all of those things so recklessly, Sunset?”

The girl was struck mute. Yet as she sat there silently she began to realize what Celestia was saying.

“Creation and destruction, harmony and chaos, are both necessary for proper balance of the world, Sunset. It’s never just a matter of one or the other. It’s not enough to practice harmony and call yourself good or practice chaos and call yourself evil. If a tyrant establishes harsh laws that reduce people to slavery and oppression, he’s created harmony. If a hero comes along who breaks those same laws to free slaves and incite people to overthrow the tyrant, he’s created chaos. It always comes down to how you choose to use what you have.”

Sunset leaned back and thought about that for a time. After a minute she began to nibble on her sandwich again and looked up to Celestia once more. “But…I’ve seen you do the kind of spells I use before.”

“Healer is only my base role, Sunset. As I told you, it only represents what I am innately. I’ve grown past that original role by now. And one day, I expect you to do the same.”

Sunset smiled at that, although she honestly couldn’t tell if it was with a touch of anxiety or pride. She finished the rest of her sandwich and washed it down with a good amount of tea. Soon after, she subconsciously straightened in her chair. Perhaps she had pushed herself too hard, but her midsection was feeling uncomfortable. By then, Celestia had returned to her scone.

“Headmistress?”

“Yes, Sunset?”

“What’s the cathedral in the middle of the courtyard?”

She smiled as she finished dressing her scone. “My great, great, great grandparents were very devoted to the Harmonium faith. They wanted to build a Cathedral of Harmonia, and so they ended up building that same one in the courtyard. They named it Coronam De Caelesti Nuntio, but they never lived to see it past the foundation. It wasn’t until my grandparents were old men and women that the final stone was laid.”

“I noticed…we always go to service in the castle chapel. We never go in there. It’s always locked.”

Celestia nodded as she took a bite. “That it is. It’s been locked ever since it was finished. Locked since before I was born.”

Sunset shifted in place uncomfortably. She definitely pushed herself too hard. “But why? Why build a cathedral and not open it?”

“Simple. It’s not ready yet.”

“Not ready?”

“It’s still waiting for the right time.”

Sunset’s face began to tighten. It was getting a bit harder to focus on the conversation. “What right time?”

“When my family made that cathedral, they didn’t just intend for it to be like the others. They meant for it to be a palace. A throne. While everyone who follows Harmonia worships in chapels or their own cathedrals because they represent the heavens, my great, great, great grandparents intended for this to be used when the ones who dwell in the heavens finally came down.”

Sunset didn’t really hear the last of this, for by now she was clutching her side. Her face was twisted and wincing. There was not only a distinct pain in her side now, but it was growing stronger. Sharper. More like a knife…

Celestia set down her scone. “Sunset? Is something wrong?”

“It just…it…” She cut herself off, for the pain was growing so strong that she was having to regulate her breathing to subside it. It only grew hotter and stronger yet, though.

“Sunset, what’s the matter?” She began to rise; not that the girl noticed. “What’s happening? What’s hurting?”

She tried to speak, but it was too late for that. All that came out was an anguished moan that quickly turned into a cry. She could feel burning and throbbing, like a hot coal was in her side, and it blocked out all other senses. She tried to get up, tried to call for Celestia to help, but she couldn’t take it. All she managed to do was inch forward in her chair, but that only made the pain more intense.

With one more yell, she spilled forward so suddenly she smacked her head against the edge of Celestia’s desk, and then darkness.

Sunset wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she finally heard the familiar ticking of the clock in her room. All she knew, as her senses came back to her, was that she was far from Celestia’s office. She felt the familiar comfort of her own bed and sheets, and the darkness about her indicated it was night. Nevertheless, a faint glow was on her right that had to be from her nightstand oil lamp.

Her memories slowly returned, but when they did she recalled the intense, crippling pain she had felt before oblivion. It was gone now though. She felt fine, aside from the fact that she was rather sweaty.

Why was that…?

“Sunset?”

Hearing a kind, familiar voice caused the girl’s eyes to open even as she tried to remember what could have made her so hot. She turned at the same time and found Headmistress Celestia seated in a chair near her nightstand. Her clothing was looser and a bit disheveled, and she had a basin and a cloth nearby. It took Sunset only a moment to realize she had been tending to her.

She leaned in as soon as she was up. “Are you alright? How do you feel?”

Hearing the concern in her voice puzzled Sunset a little; not thinking it had been that bad. She had only strained herself too much, hadn’t she?

“I’m fine. I feel fine. What are you doing here, Headmistress?”

At first, Celestia smiled in relief. “That’s great to hear. You looked like you were having a terrible nightmare. And you got so hot I was afraid you had gotten a fever from infection.”

This confused the child even more. “What…fever? Infection?” She began to look around. “How…how long was I asleep? Have I been here since two o’clock?”

Celestia’s expression became rueful. “Sunset,” she spoke more solemnly, “I’m afraid it was a bit worse than that. You collapsed in my office at tea time three days ago.”

Immediately she turned back to Celestia—shocked at what she just heard.

“Sweetie, you got very sick, very quickly. You had something called ‘appendicitis’.”

She was almost too nervous to ask. “What’s…appendicitis?”

“You have a little organ inside you called an appendix. Sometimes when you’re growing something happens that causes it to get very sick, which is when we say it got an infection. When that happens, it starts to hurt very, very badly, and it’s in danger of breaking open. If it does that, whoever has one could get very sick. Even die. That’s why it’s very important that someone who gets sick like that have their appendix removed. The castle surgeon had to operate on you right away as soon as we found out what was wrong with you.”

The girl looked even more nervous at that. The thought of an operation was enough to make her shake all over. Especially one she didn’t remember.

“It’s ok, it’s ok,” Celestia soothed. “Everything went just fine. You won’t miss it at all. Did you feel any different when you woke up?”

Sunset paused. While her mind was conjuring all sorts of fears now, she had to admit she hadn’t felt any different aside from the sweat and lack of pain on waking up.

Celestia reached out and pulled back her covers enough to touch alongside her abdomen. “See?” she asked as she ran her hand along it. “You can’t feel anything. I healed you up myself as soon as it was out. You won’t even have a scar. It’ll be like nothing ever happened.”

Sunset, as disbelieving children tend to do, reached out and felt for herself. However, there was nothing. Her skin was just the same as always and she felt fine. Nevertheless, she remained shaken up on hearing all of that.

“But you were tossing and turning a lot while you woke up from the operation. I was afraid something else had gone wrong.” She reached over for the cloth. After putting it in the basin again, she brought it over and wiped Sunset’s forehead. She had to admit it felt very good, and just listening to the headmistress and knowing she was there began to ease her fear. “Were you having a nightmare?”

Sunset leaned back into her pillow. She looked back at Celestia for a while, not only still uneasy but thinking it over. “I…I think I was, now that I’m trying to remember.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “I can’t remember what it was about. Just that I had one.”

“What do you remember?”

Sunset paused. She closed her eyes, but just like any other nightmare the memory was fading fast. And this time, it had gone away so quickly that she hadn’t even realized she had one until Celestia suggested it. However, there was one thing that stood out in her mind.

“This…place…with all these rough blocks put together…like a dungeon… People were talking…”

She shook her head.

“I can’t remember any more.”

Celestia replaced the cloth. “Do you want me to stay here with you until you fall back to sleep?”

The girl nodded. “I’d like that. Thank you, headmistress.”

She smiled and nodded back before leaning back in her chair. She dimmed the lamp again, and all was quiet. Sunset exhaled and began to ease back into bed.

Her brow furrowed.

“Headmistress?”

“Yes, Sunset?”

The girl remained quiet. She lay there silently a few moments.

“…Nothing. It’s nothing.”

She closed her eyes and exhaled. The unsaid question lingered on her lips a few moments more before she let it fade. She assumed that she’d forget it by morning and that would be that.

However, she still remembered it the next morning, and continued to remember it every day afterward.

“What’s an ‘Angra Mainyu’?”

“…Excuse me, ma’am?”

Sunset looked up from the window on hearing the voice of the first mate. She turned and looked, and saw her staring back in puzzlement.

She gave her a sour look. “Nothing,” she half-muttered before turning back to the window.

The first mate resumed going about her task, while Sunset looked to the cigarette in her fingers. Burned almost down to the tips. With a frown, she tossed it on the floor and crushed it under her boot before getting out another one. Ever since she had started this ‘mission’ she had been zoning out from time to time; a fact that made her visibly more irritated every time it happened. She almost angrily jutted the fresh cigarette in her mouth and lit up, before she took an especially long drag and blew it all out through her nostrils.

Dawn was still a few hours away but there was plenty to see outside. The last flyby they had made showed the giant Light Eater wasn’t deviating from its path in the slightest. Nevertheless, unless one had an airship and happened to be flying near the mountains like they were, there wasn’t much chance of spotting it. It was keeping right to the middle en route to its destination at the bay to the south; right through the east side of Grifftham City according to the navigator.

They were much further south now; where the mountains began to narrow. The giant Light Eater would be there by the time the sun rose, most likely, but for now Sunset was using the location for its view of Griffonstone. Even she was reluctant to open fire in there, considering the tentative partnership with Trottingham. Getting the regent into fights with established enemies was no skin off her nose, but firing on Griffonstone would likely get a fleet of Trottingham airships dispatched with orders to shoot the Rising Sun down. And from this high, far above the smog and filth of the country, she could see she was not alone.

Griffonstone was so narrow at this point she could see clean across for miles to the former border of Cloudsdale. She counted at least four sets of lights in the air at her elevation, obviously Fillydelphian airships. They were likely looking right back at her and had heard the news from Appleloosa about Trottingham airships attacking. Likely the Griffonstone territory was the only thing keeping them from getting closer.

Things were definitely heating up.

However, they weren’t her only concern either. It had been hours since she had dispatched her greatest asset, and he still hadn’t returned. While it was possible he had been waylaid, it was also very possible he was dead. Either way, the indication was that his quarry had likely escaped, which made Sunset rather upset at this point.

Not the least because they had picked up another Anima Viri being used to its full potential within the mines, meaning that she could have been among them…

“Lady Sunset.”

She looked up again to the bridge; spotting one of the crew on the voicepipe.

“Monitor reports spotting the Endeavor on the Starboard. They’re signaling.”

“Well, what are they saying?”

“Stand by,” she answered before pressing her head to the voice pipe. “Operator is translating.”

Sunset fully turned to her and crossed her arms; her impatience showing a bit more as she took another drag and exhaled. It took some time before the officer was finally able to pull away.

“My lady, the Endeavor identified your primary target on a beached cattle barge moving down the river along with at least one other individual bearing a Promethian Sigil.”

Sunset’s irritation evaporated as she nearly dropped her cigarette. “And did they capture her?”

“Unfortunately no. One of the ship’s gunners got too antsy and fired upon the boat.”

For a brief instant, Sunset’s face stared back blankly; right before twisting in absolute rage.

“They did what?!”

Everyone in the bridge stiffened at their consoles. Not only had none of them ever heard Sunset yell that loudly or sharply, but in that instant the temperature in the room suddenly rose ten degrees. Their leader herself looked about ready to set the entire place on fire. It took all the crewmember on the voicepipe had not to cower.

“And here I thought that crew was supposed to be the smart ones! How many times have I told you all that I wanted her alive?! What’s so complicated to understand about that?!”

“She survived the attack!”

Sunset’s face remained wrenched in fury, but eased slightly. The officer at the voicepipe herself was sweating quite a bit now, for their captain looked moments from “shooting the messenger”. Seeing her hesitate, she swallowed and kept speaking quickly.

“They report she survived and was washed down the river! They followed at a distance to avoid her spotting them again and saw that she surfaced downstream! They weren’t able to follow her from there but she has to be headed for Grifftham City! It’s the only way she can go!”

Sunset continued to stand there with her face incensed. She studied the officer as if still deciding whether or not to take this out on her.

After a few moments, she finally eased. Calming herself fully she rose again. She took a deep breath and exhaled, then raised her cigarette for another drag. As she slowly blew out the smoke, she became calm again and tossed the rest of the tobacco away before smiling.

“Alright then, this will work out. Send them this message and make sure we pass it along to the Prodigy once we reach it: we’re all headed for Grifftham City. And as soon as we arrive, dismount and deploy. We’re finding everyone with a Promethian Sigil and taking them with us. We’ll sort them out later.”

No one on the bridge moved. A few crewmembers swallowed.

Sunset didn’t react at first, but several seconds passed with no change. At that point, she put her hands on her hips as her smile vanished again. “Was I not clear that what I just said was an order?”

“My lady,” the first mate spoke up, “Grifftham City is right in the path of that Light Eater. There could be hundreds of smaller ones with it, and hundreds of thousands of Nighttouched-”

“Y’know,” Sunset cut off, crossing her arms, “I’m getting the impression that all of you are rather scared of the Light Eaters in spite of the countermeasures I personally built into these airships. Perhaps more scared of them than anything else.”

The bridge was silent. The crew looked at Sunset attentively but uncomfortably.

Her eyes narrowed as she began to raise her hand. The first of the five runes on it began to blaze.

“Maybe I need to remind you all who you really need to be scared of. Or maybe you need to remind me why I recruited you in the first place when you can’t even do what I say…”

In a snap, the crew whirled around to their controls and went to work. Soon she could hear the sounds of the engines humming and the course being laid in.

Sunset smirked as she lowered her hand. “That’s better.” Spinning around, she looked out the window again. “Oh, spotlight operator?”

“M-Ma’am?”

“Send another message back to the Endeavor. Tell the captain not to bother punishing their gunner. I’ll handle that once we’re done in Grifftham City.”

Author's Notes:

Shortest chapter in a while. If only I could discipline myself enough to make them all this short...

Nightwatch: Smog of War

Author's Notes:

Oh boy...not only is this one gigantic, it should have been even bigger. All my chapters with Twilight seem to need to be split, so I had to cut this one in two. It's one of the biggest action sequences so far.

Big milestone is coming soon, though, so I wanted to get it all out.

“Durnit, can’t you two go any faster?”

Twilight didn’t dignify Applejack’s shout with a response. At the moment, she was pressed so hard onto the back of the horse she was on that she looked as if she was trying to bond herself to it. Fluttershy, riding a bit behind her and falling further back, was a different story. While her own horse was taking his time, she seemed to be pleasantly enjoying her more leisurely canter.

Nevertheless, when she heard Applejack shouting from the back of her own horse, she leaned over to her mount’s head. “I’m sorry, Clark. I know you’re doing your best to make this a comfortable ride, and you’re doing a wonderful job of it, but we kind of need to be at Grifftham City soon. Would it be too much trouble to go a bit faster?”

The horse let out a bit of a whinny before increasing his speed. Seeming to pick up on Fluttershy’s talking, the horse bearing Twilight quickly sped up as well—much to her chagrin. She clutched her even tighter than before as she went into a faster gallop.

“Thank you so much!”

Applejack rolled her eyes but didn’t question it. As much as she wanted to show herself the superior rider, the horses they had “borrowed” were being far more accommodating for Fluttershy than her. As soon as they had learned the news from Twilight it became clear they didn’t have time to walk the rest of the way to Griffonstone. Fortunately, as they went down the road they spotted what Applejack hoped was an abandoned corral and Fluttershy, who admitted she could manage animals better than had been affected by Nighttouched rather than “normal” animals, nevertheless managed to tame a trio of horses and, according to her, got their consent to help them. The only problem was they had to leave Spike behind as he couldn’t match pace with the horses, but Twilight assured them that he would catch up as soon as they stopped.

Most of the country they had run through was either abandoned or uncultivated. Yet as the sun began to rise (something they were all grateful to see), they saw the land gradually cleared and turned to sparse grass and scrubland. The sky rapidly filled with a thick haze that had to be industrial smog from a major city. The road they were on gradually widened and switched to wagon tracks.

Finally, as the country flattened out, they saw it. Sprawled along the horizon in the distance was what had to be Grifftham City. Most cities in the world had long since been turned into grimy, metal eyesores by modern industry, but even among the worst offenders it stood apart. It seemed to be wreathed in fog even this early in the morning, although all three of them knew full well it was the various factories and businesses pumping out coal vapors. The engines and machines that filled the city had to all be a good ten years out of date, but none of them had been replaced or even well-serviced. What buildings they could make out in the haze were stained black wherever they hadn’t turned red or green with rust and oxidation. Applejack and Fluttershy, both used to much cleaner country living, began to cough even on the approach.

“That city stinks…” the farmer grumbled.

Twilight, who by now was forcing herself to push up from her mount this close to their destination, wrinkled her own nose. “It definitely is worse than anywhere in Fillydelphia or Manehattan, but that’s not important right now. It’s going to be much worse than this pretty soon.”

Drawing closer along the road, they soon spotted the actual boundary between Mount Aris and Griffonstone. It wasn’t hard to miss. Unlike with Appleloosa, both sides had built up their respective defenses on a strip of land that acted as a boundary. However, while Mount Aris continued to rely on their simple palisades, Griffonstone had made use of the rubble it had accumulated over eight years of periodic wars to construct a more formidable stone wall topped with jagged rocks stretching all along the border in both directions.

A small watch tower was posted at a wide iron gate, long enough to block the entire road. As soon as they came around, they saw several Griffonstone soldiers materialize both in front of the gate and from the tower. Mount Aris soldiers, on the other hand, were nowhere to be seen, but that only made sense as most of them had to be to the northwest expecting the next Nighttouched surge.

The three didn’t even manage to make it all the way to the gate before they saw the soldiers, six in all, begin to ready their weapons and take aim. One picked up a megaphone and shouted. “Halt!”

Applejack yanked her reins to bring her horse to a halt. Fluttershy, on her part, managed to simply tell her own horse to stop. Twilight was a different matter entirely. She was soon screaming in panic as the horse kept going right past Applejack and straight for the gate; only getting wilder when the border guards answered by leveling their guns at her.

“Oh dear…” Fluttershy muttered, before putting a hand to her mouth. “Tony! Could you please stop? I think we’ve arrived!”

The horse instantly planted its feet to halt, nearly throwing Twilight out of the saddle. Fortunately, she was grasping the pommel so tightly that she merely did a brief hop out of it before settling back in. Nevertheless, for a moment she could only stare forward blankly and struggle to regain her wits.

The guards didn’t wait long. “This crossing is closed to all foreigners!” the one on the megaphone shouted. “Clear out now!”

“Wait…wait!” Twilight managed to yell back, finally composing herself enough to raise her hand. “You have to let us in! We have to see your mayor…council…governor…whoever is in charge in Grifftham City! It’s extremely important and there isn’t much time!”

“I said the crossing is closed! All Arisians are barred from entry! Get out of here now!”

“Listen to us!” Her voice began to firm up as she regained more of her composure. “This city is going to be torn apart in just a few hours! Maybe less! There’s over ten thousand Nighttouched headed right this way!”

A few of the border guards lowered their weapons at that, but only to scoff at the three of them. The one with the megaphone actually snorted, lowering it long enough to turn to the others and mutter something before holding it up again. “What kind of prank are you trying to pull? The shadow of Equestria is over a hundred and fifty miles from here and every wire in Greater Everfree is saying the next hit is gonna happen in Appleloosa! Think up a better story than that if you’re trying to smuggle your way across!”

“Ya’ thick-headed sons of bitches!” Applejack shouted, spurring her horse to draw closer to Twilight’s side so she could be heard better. “Unless ya’ve been up north, don’t tell us ‘bout where the next surge is comin’! We just saw it ourselves and we almost got burnt ta’ a crisp ‘cause of it!”

Fluttershy winced a little at the exchange, but slowly pulled her own horse forward. “Um, ex-excuse me…but my companions really are telling the truth. I saw it last night too, so…um…I’m wondering if you might…make a little exception.”

Even if the border guards had heard Fluttershy, which was severely unlikely considering even Twilight and Applejack hadn’t heard her from a few yards away, they didn’t look ready to change. “Are you three deaf or stupid?” the one with the megaphone snapped. “I said the border was closed to foreigners! Now you can either turn your horses right around now or-”

“Hey! Marshal!”

The sound of her companion calling her made the border guard growl as she lowered her megaphone. “What is it now?”

The guard pointed. “Check out their hands!”

Not only the marshal but the other guards took a look. Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy all flashed a shade pale. They had been so busy dragging themselves from the river and worried about having a good grasp on the reins of the horses they “borrowed” that they had all, at one point or another, left their hands uncovered. Their Promethian Sigils were all clearly displayed, and while they may have been far enough where they weren’t noticeable at first, now attention had been drawn to them.

Applejack quickly crossed her opposite hand on top of her first and Fluttershy flat out crossed her arm behind her. The fact they tried to hide it only made it more obvious.

“They’ve got those things on their hands the Appleloosans are squawking about!”

“They’re trying to break into Griffonstone!”

Twilight began to wince. “Uh, you know what?” She began to grin nervously. “You’re right. We shouldn’t be here. We’ll be on our way-”

All six guns aimed at her the moment her hand moved to the reins.

“Get off the horses! You three are coming with us!”

“Don’t try anything funny!”

Twilight cringed. She turned and looked at Applejack and Fluttershy, but they were no better. They were caught now. If they tried to use their respective sigils, they’d be shot before they could finish the incantations. Applejack could only wince and sit there at a loss of what to do. Fluttershy began to sink lower on the back of her horse and whimper.

“I said get off! Now!”

Twilight started to sweat. She looked back, trying to think of what to say or do. Applejack swished her mouth, one of her hands itching to go for her hammer. Fluttershy almost began to cover her eyes.

Before she could, however, she looked up and to the side. A bird was tweeting loudly, and a moment later it flew out of the smog and gloom and swept past her. At once, her face lightened up again.

“Oh, it’s Meadowlark! She made it!” she called happily. “That must mean Angel and the others made it here too!”

Distracted, Applejack turned to her. “Huh?”

Suddenly, a swarm of mice, squirrels, and other large rodents popped right out of inconspicuous holes in the ground near one of the guards and attacked. He cried out as they immediately bowled him over and crawled on top of him clawing and snapping. A flock of birds, angrily chirping all the way, quickly fell upon another at the same time; surprising her and sending her stumbling over herself in a panic.

A third guard turned to her partner being assaulted, only to find a hissing, spitting trio of raccoons jumping on top of him and biting and scratching at his face. The fourth, the marshal herself on the small tower, heard her comrades crying out and tried to run to the edge to see what was going on, only to have a pair of foxes dart out from around the edge of the upper platform and cross in front of her feet. The end result was her crying out and tripping, falling right over the railing and nearly going off the tower all together. It was only by releasing her gun and megaphone that she was able to seize the railing at the last moment, but she still ended up dangling in midair over the side.

The last two border guards turned their weapons to counterattack, but they didn’t get farther than lifting them up. One found a bear on its hind legs standing one foot in front of him. It stared him down for a moment, immobilizing him in fear and rendering him unable to move let alone fire, before it casually swung out and smacked his gun out of his hands so hard that it bent in half. The last one found the end of her gun barrel slapped away from its target by a white rabbit jumping up and batting it with its feet. A second later, the same ball of fluff leapt up again and drove its legs right into the guard’s throat, hitting hard and gagging her. Shocked and in pain, she spilled over; leaving her at the perfect angle for the bunny to leap and drive its feet repeatedly against her head with the force of a small power tool. One last kick actually sent her sprawling back onto her rear end.

Twilight and Applejack were left stunned at the pained, shocked, and struggling guards in the wake of the animal assault. Fluttershy, meanwhile, smiled and clasped her hands in delight. “Oh, you’re all ok! I’m so happy!”

The guard who had been faced by the bear, now finding himself unarmed, quickly turned and ran for it. The bear didn’t give chase, but instead moved over to the edge of the iron gate. His huge jaws clamped down on the lock and disengaged it, before he began to yank it open. At the same time, the marshal grunted as she began to pull herself back up on the tower platform. She soon had her upper body over the edge, and Twilight spotted she was trying to pull herself closer to a switch. Judging by the fact that cables strung from it to the top of the tower, where a pair of loudspeakers were perched, she guessed it was some sort of alarm system.

Applejack spotted that as well and spun to Twilight. “What d’we do?”

She exhaled tiredly. “I guess we don’t look a gift rabbit in the mouth… Go in!”

Applejack shrugged hopelessly and spurred her horse on. Fluttershy seemed a bit standoffish, but realizing there was no choice quickly had her own horse follow. As for Twilight, she brought up the rear as she had to spur her own horse several times, and by the time she was riding through the gate the marshal had reached the alarm. A bell was soon ringing loudly over the city skyline as they rode straight into Griffonstone.

The moment had been in panic, and so for a few moments the group simply charged right down the streets. At first, all it afforded was another dingy look of its factories and workshops. Each one was so run down and outdated it was impossible to tell which ones were the ones in use, which ones hadn’t been fired up, and which ones were outright abandoned. The horses were soon in more danger of tripping and breaking their ankles on the broken, fragmented, and ground down roads than they were on the dirt paths leading through Mount Aris. The smog became so thick that even the street lamps, still lit although it was morning, barely helped. The three could barely see fifty feet in front of them.

Unfortunately, it was just their luck that the one thing that seemed to be working in the city was the local law enforcement. The bells of the siren resonated down the streets they were running down, alerting more authorities, and soon they heard shouting and yelling around them as either the local magistrates or border soldiers, either of which was equally likely, charged out of the surrounding roads and ran after them. It didn’t help that they were impossible to avoid, for between their dull, shabby clothing and the dingy surroundings none could tell who was a shocked local and who was an officer until they were nearly on them.

Things only got worse when they hit the main roads. It was then that they were forced to halt in their tracks as they were nearly run down by one of the massive, loud, noisy, and inefficient “trackless engines” Griffonstone was famous for: a tank-like, steam-chugging bus that shot right in front of their path. As soon as it pulled away, they were faced with a squad of six new soldiers running at them shouting and hefting firearms.

“Aw shoot!” Applejack shouted. “Follow me!”

Quickly, she turned her horse to one side and barreled off on it. Twilight grimaced as she couldn’t even get her own mount to run forward when she wanted, but fortunately Fluttershy called out to both her own horse and hers to follow Applejack, and she took off in pursuit whether she liked it or not.

Things only got worse from there. Another one of the “trackless engines” soon came the other way, seeming to form right out of the smoky gloom, and forced them to barrel off in another direction. This, in turn, almost led them right into a whole gathering of rather irate and poverty-stricken Griffonstone vendors who not only shouted at them but began to try and drive them away with rocks and bits of bottles. Applejack ducked in an alley to try and evade them, only to find another group of soldiers coming up that way. These ones actually fired a warning shot before they turned about and barreled back into the street. They tried to run across, only to nearly get flattened by three more engines going in either direction.

By the time they crossed the road, they heard additional hoofbeats coming out of the gloom along will alarm bells ringing. Applejack halted them just long enough to see twelve more magistrates manning what had to be a law enforcement wagon running down the street shouting at them.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Applejack whipped her horse around and led them in another gallop. “This blasted city! Ain’t a fit place for anyone to be livin’ in, let alone ridin’ a horse around in! Can’t even see the signs on buildings!” She looked over her shoulder to Twilight. “We’re either gonna get caught or run the horses out long ‘fore we find anyone ta’ tell ‘bout what’s gonna happen! And that’s if they even listen ta’ us! Now what?”

Twilight didn’t answer. She looked around as she struggled to think of any options. Thanks to the cluttered road ahead of them, the magistrates were able to stay hot on their heels. Most of the soldiers they had passed were trying to run in from the sides too. On looking ahead, she saw more shapes coming out of the fog. They were going to try and cut them off again.

Before Applejack could try and lead them away, she shouted out. “Stop the horses!”

“Wh-what?” she cried. “You’re crazy!”

“It’s the only way we’ll get to talk to anyone in authority! We have to give up!”

Applejack let out another swear and grit her teeth. She held out until the soldiers began to emerge from the fog, shouting all over again, but before any of them could try firing another shot she reluctantly pulled on her reins and brought the horse to a stop. Still following suit, Twilight and Fluttershy’s mounts quickly did the same.

It took only moments for them to be surrounded on all sides. The soldiers in front quickly moved in; shouting not to move and keeping their firearms aimed at them. Their left and right were filled in with the other magistrates they had managed to evade before the wagon pulled in behind them and blocked a rear escape.

As the Griffonstone authorities continued to bark at them angrily, the three reluctantly began to raise their hands in surrender.

With a resounding clang, the iron bars to the cell slammed shut. Twilight reacted with slight unease, Applejack reacted with a sour frown, and Fluttershy yipped and leapt a little.

The jailhouse for Grifftham City wasn’t any better than the rest of the city and was, honestly, worse in most ways. The main reason the three stood in front of the bars wasn’t to plead their case but to stay as far away as possible from the clogged toilet and the bedbug-infested mattress, to say nothing of the oily stains on the floor. The rest of the building outside the cell was slanted, with cracked plaster, chipping paint, and only three functional gaslights out of six. Normally that wouldn’t matter for the sunlight, but sun was hardly a factor in the dingy town.

Four rather angry-looking Griffonstone magistrates were glaring at the three of them. Fortunately, none in Griffonstone knew the full scope of the Promethian Sigil’s powers, and so the main concern at the moment was how much of a chase they had led them on. They continued to do so for a good fifteen minutes before the front door of the jailhouse could be heard opening, followed by a loud, hoarse coughing and angry grumbling.

One lone magistrate, a teenager by the looks of him but also seeming irritated to be there, led in a much older man. Definitely a product of the Griffonstone times. In addition to coughing and hacking on what had to be half a lifetime of inhaling the fumes of the city, his uniform, or at least the jacket (which seemed to be the only piece he wore) was stained five shades darker than everyone else’s and even had an old patch on one elbow. A long scar across one eye left only a dead, pale orb in its wake, and he seemed so casual about his position he didn’t mind wearing a fez instead of the normal hat of a head magistrate.

“Alright, alright…” he grumbled as he stepped into the room. “Let’s see what was so much of a bother it had to drag me out of bed this early…”

He glanced up, but didn’t get another step. He saw the three women in the cell and stared at them a moment; then turned to one of the officers nearby.

“What…this is the big deal? You couldn’t just handle this yourselves? What’s with you young people nowadays…”

“Constable, look at their hands!” one of the magistrates shouted while pointing. “They got those marks on them! Just like Appleloosa’s going all nuts about!”

“Eh?” He looked again and took a few steps closer. Enough to where he could spot at the symbols with what was left of his good eye.

Twilight didn’t try to hide it, but she did begin to raise her other hand. “Um, excuse me, sir? Er, constable? May I-”

“Oh yeah, sure as hell do, don’t they?” the old magistrate interjected, sounding like he hadn’t even heard her. “Three of them in one go, eh? All trying to sneak across together, huh?”

“Sneak nothing,” another magistrate snorted. “They ran right across on horseback after they sicced a bunch of trained animals on the border guards. I think they were trying to storm the city. Break in just like I hear they did in Appleloosa.”

Applejack actually looked angry at that, but Twilight quickly spoke up. “That…that’s a bit of a stretch, but that’s not important right now. I’ve-”

“That so?” the constable snorted, before he finally looked up and squared Twilight in the eye. “So, you three of some of them troublemakers from over the border, eh? Alright then, come clean. What’s your angle? More Trottinghamites working under the table? Spies? Terrorists? Some secret society? One of those damn fool cults or something?”

Twilight sighed. “Mister…I mean, um…uh…”

He finally seemed to hear this part. “Constable Gruff. The folks here call me ‘Grandpa’. Now spit it out.”

“Constable Gruff, you need to immediately get a message to the mayor to start evacuating the city and then get everyone from the Griffonstone military ready to fight, because there’s a Light Eater the size of a small mountain headed right this way.”

The room was silent for a moment as the other magistrates quirked their eyebrows. Gruff himself stared back incredulously for a second or two before he could answer. “Hold on, did I just hear you right? Did you just say there’s a Light Eater the size of a small mountain headed here? To Grifftham City?”

“Yes! We saw it on the way here! That’s why we had to break across your borders! We were trying to warn people!”

Unfortunately, at this point the magistrates began to frown again. Gruff was no exception as he crossed his arms. “Oh really? You might want to try thinking up a better story than that, young lady. You think I’m a fool? The nearest place the Light Eaters are lurking is over a hundred and fifty miles north of here, and the farthest any of them ever went after the Lunar Fall was ten miles in one night. And if there was a Light Eater that big, you really expect me to believe it’d go this far south and we wouldn’t have heard a peep from anybody in Griffonstone, Mount Aris, or anywhere else?”

“You wouldn’t if they were all distracted by that surge over in Appleloosa. Or if all the armed forces had their eyes on the border waiting for them to cross. If it came right down the middle of the chain, no one would ever spot it unless they were watching for it.”

Gruff stared back incredulously. “Are you actually trying to tell me that all those things up north that act like oversized rabid moths somehow got smart enough after eight years to actually plan this?”

“Well, they were smart enough to hit Appleloosa at the point where they were spread the thinnest, weren’t they?”

He snorted. “Bah…just bad luck. I’ve seen five Nighttouched surges into Griffonstone. They don’t know their own bippies from a gopher hole. Just go wherever they see any light.”

Applejack, looking incensed at Gruff’s casual dismissal, suddenly stepped forward. “Listen here, you! I’ve seen more’n my share of Nighttouched too, and over the past couple days I’ve killed more’n them than I care ta’ count! Last night I saw this Light Eater with my own two eyes and ‘fore it was done I nearly got drowned, burned, blown up, and had my face bit off by demon trout! Not ta’ mention I’ve seen my family, my friends, and lots of folks just unlucky enough to be in the way nearly get torn up on account of all that! I don’t appreciate after ridin’ all night ta’ get here to warn folks bein’ accused of bein’ a liar!”

Gruff paused again, easing a little, but his sour look didn’t change. “Alright, missy. Let’s say there is a Light Eater that big out there. That doesn’t explain why you’re so sure it’s gonna come all this way. Grifftham City’s so dark most of the time you can’t see a block away even with every light in the city on. Why would it go all that way just to stomp on this town?”

“Because it’s not going to attack Grifftham City,” Twilight answered. “It’s only going to destroy the part it has to walk through on the way to the seashore.”

Now he looked confused. “Come again?”

“When we saw it walking across the mountains, pieces of it were coming off. Anything one of its pieces touched got…I don’t know…corrupted or something. But when it landed in the water of the river we were coming down, it turned a whole mass of fish into Nighttouched at once. Do you know what that means will happen if that entire thing gets in the ocean?”

“Uh…”

“It’ll turn the entire bay into Nighttouched! It might do worse than that! It could spread the shadow over Equestria along the entire shore of Greater Everfree! If it does that, there’s not even a chance of escaping! They’ll sink every boat and leave no survivors! Everyone will be trapped on the continent until the Light Eaters take it over completely!”

In spite of the clear air of skepticism, several of the magistrates at least hesitated on hearing that. Twilight grasped the bars and pressed her face against them.

“It was right behind us when we got off the river! I’m not sure how much time you have before it reaches Griffonstone but it’s going to be today! You may have hours…you may have minutes!”

“None of that makes any sense!” Gruff finally retorted. “Why now? They’ve been coming at random for years! Why all of a sudden would they do something clever like this?”

“I dunno, but right now that’s not important!” Applejack interjected. “Ya’ got ta’ tell your mayor to get people the hell outta here! Hunkerin’ down ain’t gonna help! They got a whole swarm o’ little ones followin’ after the big one! Real nasty ones! All them towns that got razed in Appleloosa was on account of them having ones that eat through wood like nobody’s business!”

“And…um…I hate to interject,” Fluttershy spoke up humbly. “But…there was one last night that could breathe fire…”

“And once everyone’s out, you need everyone who can fight to try and stop it!” Twilight added. “Call in Trottingham or even Fillydelphia or Appleloosa if you need to, but no matter what happens that Light Eater can’t hit the ocean! Everyone depends on it!”

Unfortunately, the magistrates were frowning again after this. Constable Gruff himself crossed his arms and looked at the three sourly.

“Alright, you three…I ain’t heard a peep about what any of that has to do with those funny tattoos you got, what’s been going on with you in Appleloosa, or how, if that big cockamamy story you just told me is true, the three of you somehow managed to survive this long when I’ve never met a person in all my life who ever even saw a Light Eater face to face and then lived to tell about it… But let’s say that you are tellin’ the truth about all of this and there really is a Light Eater on its way here as big as life and twice as ornery that’s gonna trample most of Grifftham to bits getting into the ocean and leaving us surrounded by Nighttouched sharks and whales. My last question to you is what the hell do you expect us to do about it?”

Twilight was caught off guard by that question. Applejack and Fluttershy were likewise dumbstruck.

“So we get Trottingham, Appleloosa, and Fillydelphia along. Heck, throw in the Dragonlands, Mt. Aris, and everyone else. Then what? Everyone knows every last bullet and bomb in Greater Everfree can’t kill one Light Eater. What are we supposed to do about a giant one?”

“Uh…well…” However, nothing else came out. Twilight didn’t have an answer for that.

Gruff frowned again. “Now I don’t know about any of all that stuff you just said, but I do know everyone on the borders is getting ready for another war to break out if Appleloosa ends up ceding a ton of farmland to that shadow of Equestria, and I further know that they’re going wild over folks with those weird tattoos on their hands and everywhere one of them pops up things go to Hell. Well, that ain’t gonna be happening in Griffonstone, and it definitely ain’t gonna happen in Grifftham City. So you three are gonna sit tight right here while I relay my message to the mayor—namely that we got a trio of troublemakers in town and we’re gonna get to the bottom of what they’ve been doing in Appleloosa and what they plan to do here one way or another.” He pointed a finger so sharply at Twilight she recoiled. “I suggest you start coming up with the truth while I’m gone.”

“But…but that was the truth! Could you at least have someone keep watch on the mountains?”

He grunted. “Keep watch? You’ve looked outside lately? I haven’t even seen a sunrise in twelve years!” Grumbling, he began to turn around. “‘Keep watch’… Of all the tourist things to say…”

“Y’all are crazy!” Applejack snapped. “Yer gonna wish you listened ta’ us in just a little while! Yer gonna get half the people in this city killed! Even if that big Light Eater doesn’t squish ya’ inta’ jam, this whole town is gonna get eaten alive by all the Nighttouched runnin’ along with it!”

“Yeah, yeah, just keep it down,” one of the magistrates retorted. Gruff, on his part, was already almost to the exit. The others turned to follow him out. “You don’t want me to move you to the bad cell.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “There’s…one worse than this…?”

“Please! You have to listen to us!” Twilight kept insisting. “You’re all in danger! Everyone’s in danger!”

The magistrates ignored her. The rest filed out and the outer door was shut. Two of them remained posted, but soon they heard the front door open and close again. Realizing it was futile, Twilight slumped against the bars.

Applejack crossed her arms and frowned. “Well, so much fer lettin’ ourselves get captured… Now all we got is stuck right here in Grifftham City ‘til the manure comes runnin’ down those mountains…” She looked up to the window. “Uh, speakin’ o’ which, anyone tell which direction that’s in?”

Fluttershy moved a bit closer and patted Twilight on the back. “There, there…it’s ok. You tried your best, Twilight.”

She groaned and leaned up. “My ‘best’ isn’t good enough! Not only is Grifftham City going to be destroyed, but the rest of Greater Everfree could be doomed along with it!”

“I hate ta’ say it, but he had a point back there,” Applejack spoke up again. “The best we could hope for was warnin’ the people. Ain’t nothin’ we can do to stop that thing once it gets here, or anyone else fer that matter.”

“We can try!” Twilight shot back. “Even if no one’s ever been able to stop one before now, if they don’t try this time there’s nothing left! There won’t be any place left to run!”

Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“Huh…that don’t sound like the Twilight I met a couple days back.”

The spellcaster looked confused. “What?”

“Back when I first met ya’ and ya’ started talkin’ ‘bout all this mumbo and jumbo, you seemed dead set on just about throwin’ in the towel on the whole thing. Just wanderin’ ‘round doin’ yer magic act. Told me ta’ keep all this stuff a secret and pretty much put my head down. Now ya’ sound like yer ready to go down swingin’.”

Twilight paused. She stood there silently for a moment. Both Applejack and Fluttershy looked at her, until she finally straightened and wrung her hands.

“Well…it’s just…just…” She closed her eyes and exhaled. “Alight, I admit…over the past eight years, ever since what happened in Trotheim, I haven’t exactly had a lot of hope in anything… Especially when I saw what we were up against. I thought any chance of saving the world died with Headmistress Celestia.”

She opened her eyes again. They were much grimmer now. Sadder.

“I remembered what she told me to do, but…I didn’t honestly think there was any way to pull it off. I figured everyone else was gone, so I might as well just fade out too and wait for the end. I still had some interest, but there was nothing else I could do.”

“And…what about now?” Fluttershy asked.

She looked up. “It’s just been me and Spike for the longest time… But hanging around with both of you, seeing what’s been going on with other people, and…and actually doing something about it, really doing something, taking a stand and saving people…I’m starting to wonder. Celestia warned me that most people with Promethian Sigils would be a danger to others, but…” She looked between the two of them. “Here we are. A Caster, a Warrior, and a Healer. Even at school I never worked alongside any of the other students. And I’m starting to realize even just three of us can do a lot more than one of us can, or what we could do separately.”

Applejack uncrossed her arms. “Twilight…are ya’ absolutely, positively, 100 percent sure ya’ don’t know a spell that might actually kill that Tantawhatzit?”

She sighed and slumped. “I’m sorry… Like I said, my spells can kill the small ones, but the bigger ones are-”

She stopped as a noise from the window began to peel out: a siren. Unlike the bells from earlier, this was a much louder continuous note. Both Applejack and Fluttershy looked outside, for it was loud enough to echo through much of the city. And soon other sirens began to join with it to pass it along to other areas.

“Oh…that doesn’t sound like the one the magistrates made when they were chasing us.”

Applejack began to look uneasy. “That’s ‘cause I reckon it ain’t…”

A loud clamor arose from the front of the jailhouse. The three looked and saw that the two remaining magistrates were both scrambling to their feet.

“What the heck…?”

“You got to be kidding me! This far south?!”

“Um, excuse me?” Twilight called. “What does that siren mean?”

The two magistrates glanced back at her, but their expressions were now rather fearful. Neither one of them moved for a moment, then looked back to each other.

“You don’t think…”

“They weren’t actually…?”

“Telling the truth…were they?”

Applejack winced as she realized what they meant. “Uh, Twilight? I think that’s the siren fer when the Nighttouched are attackin’…”

Twilight’s eyes widened. Fluttershy whimpered again. As for the magistrates, they looked at the two a bit longer. Then, without a word, they both turned and abandoned their posts as fast as they could. In moments they had left the jailhouse door swinging open to the foggy streets and were gone.

“At least let us outta this cell, ya’ durn yellow-bellied chickens!” Applejack shouted angrily. “How ya’ like that?! First they roll their eyes at our warnin’, then they leave us fer dead! Nevermind them!” She began to look around. “We gotta get ourselves outta this cell! Damn it all, they took my hammer and Twilight’s wand!”

Twilight blinked and snapped out of it, shaking her head. “Those don’t matter. Anything will work.”

“Huh?” Applejack turned to her. “Come again?”

“It’s not the tool in your hand. It’s the power of the spirit in your Promethian Sigil that makes a weapon or stave. That doesn’t matter though…” She looked around the cell. “Unless we can make a weapon out of a bar of soap…”

“Um, Twilight?”

Applejack cursed and nearly threw down her hat, only to shy away from putting it on the filthy floor. “Forget a weapon! I’ll just call out my pa and then I’ll tear these bars ta’ ribbons!”

“Er, Applejack?”

Twilight winced. “I wouldn’t do that… Griffonstone isn’t exactly the best at construction. There’s a good chance this gate is load bearing. We might bring the whole cell block down on us.”

“Um, you two?”

“Well I ain’t gonna stand ‘round this cell waitin’ for a Griffonstone rat the size of a bulldog ta’ come in and gnaw my face off! Just get behind me and I’ll bust through-”

“Hey!”

Fluttershy’s abrupt yell was enough to cause both to be quiet, and they turned to her. Immediately, she winced and covered her mouth at her own volume.

“Oh…oh my…I didn’t mean to yell so loudly. I just wanted to let you both know…” she pointed outside the cell. “Spike caught up with us.”

The two looked through the bars. Sure enough, Spike had walked right in as soon as the jailhouse door was left open.

Better yet, a ring of keys was in his teeth.

By the time the three got out of the jailhouse themselves, panic had already settled on Grifftham City. Most of the residents were screaming and fleeing into the streets. Unfortunately, with the sirens blaring everywhere, and the smog hanging low over the town, it was impossible to tell which way the Nighttouched were coming from. Even knowing that they were coming from the mountains was of little avail to the three of them, as it was impossible to see the mountains or the seashore. Worse yet, half of the law enforcement and civil authorities had fled in self-preservation. Whoever was left was getting trampled and shoved aside as they struggled to try and knock out the lights.

Applejack herself nearly got tackled by a hysterical man and quickly pressed herself back against the door. Fluttershy cringed behind Twilight as a shield. “Well, don’t this just beat all! Like a bunch o’ mice in a corncrib! And we don’t even know which way it’s comin’ from!”

“Um…maybe we could ask someone?” Fluttershy suggested.

Everyone, even Spike, gave her a deadpan stare as the most rational person on the road at the moment was running like they were being chased by a wasp swarm.

“Or not…”

Twilight frowned and nearly looked back, only to pause. Her eyes fell on Fluttershy’s hand grasping her shoulders, and in particular on a spot on it. Her eyes widened as she pointed at it. “Fluttershy! When did that appear?”

“Hmm?” She looked at her hand and spotted the rune on her sigil. “Oh… I didn’t notice that before. I don’t know when that showed up. Although…” She paused looking up for a moment. “Now that you mention it, I know I didn’t have it back on the barge. I wonder if it appeared after we got knocked into the river… Or after I talked to Philomena…”

Twilight hesitated, taking that new info in, but shook it off a second later. She turned back to the busy road and glanced about, trying to find a direction but spotting nothing.

“We’ll just have to look for a signpost!” She shouted over the din, before wincing. “But how are we going to move through this crowd without getting trampled to death?”

“I got it…” Applejack answered, hefting her reclaimed hammer and her symbol. “Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Bastion of the Fields—Bright Macintosh!”

The crowd was too panicked to really even glance in Applejack’s direction as she fully donned her armor and warhammer, but that just served them better as there was no way to avoid making a scene now. As soon as she was turned, she braced the weapon in front of her and looked to the others. “Both y’all get behind me and stay close!”

Charging forward, Applejack plunged right into the mob. Twilight quickly seized the back of her armor and Fluttershy seized the back of her shirt as they went after her. Spike, unable to follow, could only bark a few times before he went off to find his way around.

The crowd was violently pulling one way and another, and both soon had to cling to their partner’s waists in order to keep from being torn apart. Applejack, however, stood as immobile as a rock. If anyone ran into her, she merely brushed them aside and kept walking without losing her footing once. Keeping her hammer in front of her, she used the top of it to weave her way through the crowd slowly but surely. She gradually pushed her way to a direction where everyone was flowing one way, and the three followed it.

At last, they managed to push themselves to a junction in the road. It had the normal street sign, but it also had a signpost mounted a bit higher. The three worked their way near and Twilight read off the top.

“Grover’s Cape! It’s to the left! That way is the ocean!”

“Awright, so which way’s the mountains?”

Twilight began to look around, only to hear a blood-curdling scream. The three looked up the street to their right. The crowds were still running down it, but at this point they were all unifying in one direction…which could only mean one thing.

Sure enough, it was only a few seconds before other screams joined the first, and, in spite of the fog already rendering things quite dim, they noticed the day growing darker yet.

“I t-t-think it’s that way…” Fluttershy muttered.

“I don’t feel any big footsteps yet…” Applejack answered as she hefted her hammer. “’Course I can’t hear much over all this racket… But I’m guessing that means it’s the rest of its friends…”

Another scream, and this time all three stiffened on seeing the shadow of what looked like a body being thrown up into the air. After that, the crowd rapidly began to thin out around them; with most of who was left quickly splitting and running for whatever buildings or cover they could manage. Soon after, a new shadow with gleaming yellow eyes began to come out of the fog.

On spotting it, Twilight quickly stepped out from behind Applejack while Fluttershy ran to the side of the street. The former quickly tried to look around for an object to use but, on not finding one right away, instead held her hand skyward. “Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Master of Sorcery—Starswirl the Bearded!”

As soon as her own transformation finished garbing her as a wizard, the street grew clear enough that there was nothing between the two of them and the shadow. It walked forward a bit more, clearly showing itself to be bear-sized, and a low growl came from its head region. Applejack readied her weapon to attack.

However, as it drew a bit nearer, she lowered it again. “What in blazes…?”

The thing was not only unlike any animal any of them had ever seen, it didn’t even look like an animal to begin with. Rather, it was bits and pieces of things. Sticks, bones, twigs, and lake pebbles mixed together like it was a sculpture of a creature rather than a real thing. It was moving just like a real monster, however. And the shape it happened to have been made into was that of a wolf—only far larger than any flesh and blood lupine.

As soon as it emerged it zeroed in on Applejack. It cracked open its jaws, and in the yellow of its eyes she saw a wisp of what looked like green vapor. It snarled as if it truly did have lungs, although it made a bony rattling noise when it did, and then took off. Its jaw, lined with teeth made out of sharpened rocks, snapped and hissed as it barreled at her. Tensing up at the sight, Applejack quickly readied her hammer and braced herself. Moments later, it took off in a lunge and lashed out for her throat.

In an instant, she swung out her hammer and smashed into the side of its shoulder as it came. The power was enough to knock it clean out of the air and send it careening into the nearest building. On impact, it instantly shattered into a pile of its constituent pieces.

Applejack whirled on it, expecting more, but saw it broken down into bits. She looked a bit puzzled. “That wasn’t too hard…”

As if in response, the sticks, rocks, and bones of the thing began to click and clatter together. A moment afterward, she got a surprise when she saw them actually moving of their own accord to arrange themselves and stick together. It didn’t take long for them to join enough to start making more complicated moves and piecing themselves against one another, such that within ten seconds the thing had fully reformed. It instantly snarled at her.

“Aw great!” she yelled. “Another one that don’t die!”

The thing charged forward and readied itself to leap at her again, but she didn’t give it the chance. She took off to meet it early. The move seemed to surprise the Nighttouched, and she used that to swing her hammer around and smash it down on the top of its head.

Instantly, it was driven into the pavement and obliterated. The yellow eyes were snuffed out, and Applejack peeled back in disgust a moment later as the same foul green odor was released all at once. However, the rest of its body immediately broke apart as well. This time it remained in a pile on the ground.

She whistled as she peeled back. “Phew-ee! Worse than a rotten skunk!”

“Don’t get too comfy!” Twilight shouted as she quickly ran up to the side of its remains, taking up a stick as it did. She pointed back down the street. “Look!”

Applejack turned, realizing at that moment that the latest scream she was hearing was from just up ahead. Four people were tearing down the alley as quickly as they could. Two more of the monstrous “timber wolves” were right on their heels snapping and snarling.

She quickly readied her hammer, but Twilight had beat her to the punch that time. Wielding the stick, her aura morphed it into a fresh wand and she quickly gestured at the two monsters. In response, some of the brickwork masonry on the road abruptly erupted right beneath either one. It connected with their middles and shattered both; causing their bodies to explode violently.

The four Griffonstone citizens caught a glimpse of what had just happened, but were too panicked to stick around. They quickly tore past the three of them. Twilight and Applejack readied themselves for more combat, especially as the screaming was getting louder and was spreading around them as it kept getting darker.

Suddenly, the gaslights in the street went out; one after the other. The two of them were all but dropped into darkness save for their auras.

“Huh? What gives?”

“They must be cutting the gas lines to the lamps! They’re trying to kill the lights!”

“Yeah, but we’re in a crowded city and now I can’t see nothi-”

An eruption of multiple sources of gunfire from the next block over cut Applejack off. Fluttershy yelped as the farmer and spellcaster looked over to the side, and over the rooftops and down the alleys they saw bursts of light from the fog.

“Sounds like some of the Griffonstone armed forces are fighting back!”

Applejack winced. “Then hold onta’ yer hats…”

She turned to her puzzled. “What? Why?”

“If they’re cuttin’ inta’ them, that means they’re gonna drive ‘em this-”

Suddenly, the window of one of the buildings adjacent to them exploded. The sound of crashing glass was pierced also by a monstrous growl and a man screaming in pain. Both Twilight and Applejack turned to it just in time to see a man being taken to the ground, one of the giant wolf constructs having its jaws clamped around his arm and looking to try and tear his limb off.

It gave a violent wrench, and a snapping sound was heard. The man screamed even louder.

“Hang on!” Applejack cried even as she ran toward it. Bellowing in fury, she swung her hammer down around right on its “spine”, snapping the creature in half. The lower portion immediately broke away while its jaws loosened around the man’s arm. In the dim light, she just barely made out a copious amount of blood around its teeth, before it whirled on her and opened its jaws wide. Gritting her own teeth, she swung her hammer again to send its shattered remains flying down the alleyway.

She didn’t even have time to check on the man when she heard a chorus of growls and snapping. She looked back into the building and saw at least five new sets of yellow eyes all staring at her. A moment later, they barreled at her, and she gasped as she realized all five were going to attack at once.

Just as the nearest was able to leap at her, however, a sharp crackling went through the air. In an instant, thick ice grew up in the window frame and rapidly congealed; catching the first leaping wolf construct and instantly immobilizing it. The others smashed themselves into the icy barrier, but merely crumpled against it. Applejack risked a look behind her, just in time to see Twilight lowering her wand.

The creatures didn’t stay long. Snarling, they all turned and scattered, looking for another way around. More snapping and snarling came from the front of the alley, as well as more screams and gunfire. Tensing up again, she looked down at her feet and saw the man still moaning as he clutched his bleeding limb. She couldn’t see how good it was, but considering the monster it could have easily compound fractured it.

Luckily, Twilight seemed to read her mind. She quickly moved forward and took the man by his good arm, then began to drag him back. “Sorry about that…” she apologized to the semi-conscious citizen, before looking back to Applejack. “I’ll take care of him. Can you buy some time?”

Applejack looked back up the road, just as new pairs of yellow eyes emerged from it. She whistled and hefted her hammer. “You bet.”

“Thanks.” Quickly, she continued to drag him backward. Applejack, not waiting for her to get away, ran forward to meet the latest incoming wolf constructs. Seconds later, her hammer was coming down and scattering them again.

Twilight, on her part, kept yanking the man back; all the way to where Fluttershy was currently cringing behind a public garbage can. She looked back to her as she came. The woman peeked her head out for a moment, but then quickly poked it back inside again.

“Fluttershy!”

A pause before she tentatively put her head out again. “Oh, um…yes?”

“Come over here! I need you to heal him!”

The pink-haired woman stared back in shock. “W-W-What?”

“Come on!” she shouted as she finished dragging him to her side, causing her to recoil a little. “Heal him up! At least enough to stabilize him!”

“W-Who…me? But…but…but-but…”

“You healed those animals back on the boat, didn’t you?”

Fluttershy paled; looking even more nervous than before. “Oh…well…I…yes, that is, but that wasn’t much. I was just talking to them and trying to keep them calm… I’m sure they weren’t really that sick if that was all it took…”

“No, they were sick, and you made them better. I told you already…you’re the Healer role. If you knew how to do it better you could use healing magic, but even without using spells your role lets you heal people faster.”

“Oh…oh dear…” Fluttershy began to cringe again, once more letting her hair fall over her face. “I…I really don’t know… Animals are one thing, but…but people? And I…I…I don’t really feel that powerful…”

A crash of glass sounded out in front of them. Twilight and Fluttershy both looked up, and saw Applejack, in the midst of fighting the wolf creatures, suddenly get tackled from overhead as one of the trapped beasts leapt out of an open window for her. The others snarled and snapped and quickly rushed in to try and join on her as she went down.

“Applejack!”

Twilight nearly got up after her, but before she could Applejack flung the one that attacked her into its companion, shattering them both. She quickly snapped up and swung her hammer around to shatter a third before making the others back away.

Twilight winced and looked back to Fluttershy. “What about back on the boat? You made Philomena stop and you also made the fish stop biting! It’s your power, Fluttershy! You have an influence over the Nighttouched!”

If anything, Fluttershy seemed to go whiter yet. She cringed so much at that she looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. “Oh my…”

She winced on seeing Fluttershy grow even more withdrawn at that, realizing that was the wrong thing to say, and so she tried to speak more calmly. “Look…could you just try at least? There shouldn’t be much to it. All you have to do is talk to him like one of your animals, and you should naturally start healing him.”

“I…I don’t…”

“Please! I have to help Applejack, and even if I didn’t I can’t heal like you! He could bleed to death if you don’t help!”

She continued to shake all over like a leaf, but slowly raised her head up again. She swallowed but finally looked to the road. “I…I guess…it wouldn’t hurt…to t-t-try…”

Very slowly, she began to move over to the man. After a moment of hesitation, like she was shying away from a burning stove, she reluctantly extended her hands and placed them on top of him, taking care not to be anywhere around the wound.

“Um…er…uh…there, there. It’s alright. Who’s a good boy? I mean…who’s a good man? I mean…just take some nice deep breaths and it’ll feel better soon.”

Twilight didn’t have any time to see if it would take any longer. Quickly, she sprung back up and began to run out to Applejack again.

Two more of the wolf monsters jumped from two new windows, but this time Applejack darted back and evaded them as they sailed to the ground. By now, however, two of the wolves she had already shattered were back together again and running at her to try and bite her from behind. She snapped around and quickly swung out her hammer to shatter them; this time making sure to crush the head of one, but that allowed three more to try and rush her from her previous front.

Before the nearest could bite, lightning streaked from the heavens and struck it. It shattered in an instant, and the thunderclap made both of its companions recoil in pain. Applejack looked up alarmed and wondering what had caused that, only to see Twilight rushing out into the street. Two more of the monsters ignored Applejack and turned to her instead in a full sprint. She answered by quickly performing a new symbol on the air to generate a small whirlwind right in front of her.

She swept her wand around it, and the cone shape broke off and reformed into a sphere, which launched itself at one of the constructs. On impact, it blasted it apart and sent its bits and pieces flying up and down the street. She quickly generated another to slap aside the other, before following up with one more lightning spell.

Right in the middle of smashing apart a new wolf, Applejack looked up and saw three of the rebuilt constructs were trying to rush her from the front. This time, she braced to intercept them, but it turned out it was unnecessary. Once Twilight finished her spell, a bolt of lightning streaked from the heavens. A moment before impact, it split apart into three prongs and struck all three wolf constructs at once—shattering them like porcelain dishes.

Applejack was surprised not only at the spell but the finesse. She turned to Twilight as she ran up to her side, grinning smarmily. “Heh, Headmistress Celestia was pretty impressed when I pulled off that move a whole half a year before she was supposed to teach it to me.”

“Well, so long as it helps turn these sons of bitches into kindlin’ faster, I’m for it,” Applejack grinned back, bracing herself for more.

However, the remaining wolf constructs, surprisingly enough for a Nighttouched, were holding back. They continued to brace themselves and snarl but made no forward move. As for the freshly shattered remains, any that didn’t have their skulls cracked were beginning to shift.

“Heh, we actually got ‘em runnin’ scared?” Applejack grinned.

“That’s weird… I didn’t think Nighttouched could get scared…” Twilight muttered.

The sticks and bones began to rejoin again. Soon they slid over and united into their normal limbs before inching to one another to link up. However, they continued to do so for longer than ten seconds this time. After twenty, they were still aligning. At thirty, Applejack began to look uneasy.

“Uh, they don’t normally take this long…”

Twilight looked even more uncomfortable. “ Is it just me, or do those limbs look a bit bigger than what they came from?”

The two looked a bit longer before they finally realized it. While there had been the remains of several of the monsters, they were now forming one body. One big body. The limbs, each one now taller than the two of them, finally began to connect and come together to make something different. A much larger wolf monster than before slowly began to tower over them. Its yellow eyes were like a pair of floodlights now. Its teeth and claws were big enough to slide off a head. The stench and putrid odor coming from its mouth was so vile it actually dripped from its jaws.

As the colossal monster finished forming, it began to move as a real wolf again. It looked down on both of them, snarled for a moment, and then roared angrily. An instant later, it snapped up its paw and swung for them.

To be continued...

Nightwatch: One if by Land

Both ladies cried out, splitting away from one another right before the deadly limb not only raked the ground where they were but smashed a hole into the street. It snapped out for Applejack a moment later, and it was only because she had leapt back and kept her posture that she was able to backpedal just out of reach of its teeth. Still roaring, it snapped around and lunged for Twilight next, swinging its paws again. She screeched, not having her own footing, and went back so quickly that she fell on her rear end. A good thing too, for the paw swiped just past where her head was on the follow-up strike.

Applejack quickly emboldened herself and dashed for it. Taking aim at the ankle joint, she brought the hammer back and slammed the head against it. However, aside from a few bits of twigs being knocked loose, nothing else was done. The limb remained mostly intact and Applejack was left gaping in astonishment as the wolf monster looked back to her and snarled. A second later, the paw snapped up and collided with her.

The farmer’s body crumpled around the limb before she was ripped off her feet and flung away from the monster so hard that when she smashed into the brick façade of the surrounding buildings she actually knocked them in a bit. She fell out and flopped to the ground in a sprawl; the blow having clearly taken something out of her. She moaned for a moment, weakly trying to get her bearings back, but the monster wasn’t waiting. It snapped and charged at her. She raised her head feebly, and quickly regained her wits on seeing it coming with jaws open wide. As best as she could, she rolled herself to the side just in time to avoid its first snap. Even so, the street was raked open by its teeth before its head smashed into the building she had struck.

Applejack struggled to get up to counter, only to freeze. Her hands were both empty. She looked and saw that her hammer had fallen from her grasp, and was hovering right underneath the head of the wolf monster still embedded in the building wall. She hesitated for a fraction of a second before she made a move to go for it.

The hesitation cost her. She had only started to reach for it when the wolf thing tore its head back out and fixed its yellow glowing eyes on her. She tried to stop herself, but was thrown in shock and pain a moment later as it snapped its body around and seized her entire body in its jaws. She was instantly yanked into the air before the monster began to violently snap her one way and another like she was nothing more than a chew toy. Its teeth clenched tighter yet, causing her to cry out as she felt its stony teeth push into her armor and slide toward the joints for her softer flesh beneath. It was trying to bite her in two.

Yet a moment later, its jaw snapped all the way open and Applejack found herself unceremoniously dumped to the ground. Still in pain from the bite and rattled from the shaking, she merely topped onto the street and lay there a moment before she was able to look up. The monstrous wolf construct was now roaring in agony. Its entire rear end was on fire and the flames were rapidly expanding across the rest of it. Its body was so dry it didn’t take any time at all to turn into a flaming brazier in the smoggy darkness.

At a short distance away, she saw Twilight pulling her wand back and recoiling from the flaming monstrosity.

Soon it began to prance about madly, smashing itself against the nearby buildings as it went into death throes. Quickly, Applejack forced herself onto her feet, dashed over just long enough to grab her hammer before it could stomp her with a flaming limb, and then backed off to Twilight. The smaller wolf constructs turned and bolted for it when the big one began to stagger near them, especially as it started to give off molten fragments of itself. Finally, its legs gave out beneath it and it toppled to the ground. It went limp soon after.

Applejack wiped her brow and tried to shake off her soreness. “Whew…nice one. How come ya’ didn’t start with that?”

Twilight grimaced. “Because this city is being invaded by Light Eaters and Nighttouched.”

Applejack froze; realizing what that meant. Sure enough, echoing howls began to come down the road. First one, then another, and then an entire chorus. The sound of rushing wings that could have been birds, bats, or insects started to fill the sky. On the other side of the blaze, the two saw black shapes coming out of the alleys and scurrying out of the gutters. More actually broke through windows and began to flap about in the sky.

They didn’t wait to see anymore. They turned and began to run back to their companion. “Fluttershy!”

Luckily, due to the remains of the burning construct, they were able to see well behind them. The man who had gotten bit was sitting up and holding his injured arm, but it had stopped bleeding and seemed more manageable. Good for him, because he was still stricken with panic—even more so now that Fluttershy had miraculously healed him. As soon as he could, he staggered to his feet, turned, and bolted for it. The pink-haired woman didn’t seem to notice as she got up herself.

“Oh look! I was able to do it after all. You were right, Twil-”

“Come on and move!” Applejack cut off, grabbing her with her free arm and pulling her the rest of the way to her feet before taking off with her in tow.

The three at first tried and go the same way the man had run. However, they didn’t get nearly as far as he had before the sound of the wings rushing came flapping over their heads and moving in behind them. Looking up above, they saw the foggy night being pierced by dozens of gleaming yellow eyes. They were pinching off the opposite side of the fire in a move to surround it.

Twilight glanced about a moment, before she looked to where the gunfire was coming. “That way!” she shouted, before running into the nearest alleyway leading in that direction.

Applejack quickly pulled Fluttershy along with her, and not a moment too soon. Scarcely had she entered the alley when Nighttouched birds descended and began to swarm around the blaze in the street. The three quickly picked up the pace.

“Why we headin’ this way?” Applejack shouted as they ran.

“If there’s other soldiers up here, then maybe we can get through to them to try and-”

At that moment a new scream resounded…right from the street they were headed to. Others soon followed. All three women slowed and nearly stopped, looking to each other anxiously. They looked back the way they had come, but saw that not only were the birds now flocking around the flames but the sewers had burst to let out the Nighttouched mice, rats, and cockroaches on their side of the road too. They had no choice but to keep moving now. Bracing themselves for the worst, they forced themselves onward.

The screams continued to get louder, and the gunshots began to fade out as they kept coming. Neither of those things set well with them, but what got Applejack and Twilight nearly cringing as much as Fluttershy was as they reached the last building in the alleyway. Some of the screams turned into a sharp, aborted noise that none of them had ever heard before…but definitely didn’t sound pleasant.

Finally, the three rushed out into the street, and on doing so halted where they stood. Fluttershy gasped once before ducking behind the two of them, but even Applejack could only manage: “Holy…”

The street was littered with bodies. Most of them were swarms of Nighttouched that had been cut apart by rifles, but at this point a number of Griffonstone soldiers had joined them. What soldiers were left were either panicking and running or firing desperately at one target in particular: a shadowy entity of starry matter shaped into a vague animal form.

A Light Eater.

This one might not have been the Tantabus, but it was twice as big as the one Twilight had run into in Fillydelphia. Its crude body had elongated, bent rear limbs and stubbier front ones, as well as a massive, cavernous mouth under its pale “moonspot” eyes. In other words, the form of a giant frog. Its body rippled repeatedly as bullets continued to strike it, but it ignored all of them and instead snapped it head around and opened its mouth wide—shooting out a length of its own material in a thick, rope-like whip. A “tongue”, obviously. Another soldier cried out as the end struck her, and a wet cracking rang through the air as she was snapped in two from the force.

Particularly desperate, two soldiers ran on it. One tried to pierce it with a bayonet on her rifle, while another seized the flaming ruins of a broken gaslight pole and tried to drive it at the monster. It ignored both attacks; with the bayonet moving through it as if it was made of water and the fire doing little other than agitating it to snap its head around and slap the soldier aside while snuffing it out. Another cracking, followed by a sickening splatter, resulted from the impact. It did the same to the other; nearly crushing that one with its massive bulk.

Yet the most horrifying thing happened soon after, when it lashed out with its tongue again for a fleeing soldier. This time, it didn’t crush her on impact, but adhered to her like glue. As soon as it did, it snapped back and began to recoil her to its waiting jaws.

The Light Eater obviously had no internal organs, but a look at the grotesque state of some of the bodies around it indicated this wasn’t the first time it had made that move…

“Twilight!” Applejack cried on seeing the soldier moments from death. “You’re up!”

She paled a moment, beginning to sweat again on seeing how much bigger and more formidable this one was, but she shook it off. She began to rush to it as she held her wand up again. As for Applejack, she turned to Fluttershy and motioned. “Come on! Let’s see if we can help ‘em get outta here!”

Fluttershy was practically covering her eyes at the sight of the bodies, but Applejack quickly seized her by the hand and led her over to the remaining soldiers struggling to hold their ground. As for Twilight, she generated a fireball spell and flung it at the monster just as the soldier was nearly inside its mouth.

The action caused it to release her, but unfortunately did no more. Its attention was instantly drawn to the light of the fire, and with a ground-crunching noise it suddenly leapt into the air on its massive rear legs. Not only did it shoot right over the fire, it opened its mouth wide and flew toward Twilight to try and engulf her whole. Stricken with panic, Twilight rooted herself on the spot and screamed before she performed a panic move. Out of instinct, she sent one of the “air balls” she had used on the wolf constructs at the thing. While it was too minor to possibly hurt or kill it, it did make physical contact and shoved it forward just enough to where it crashed headfirst into the street in front of her instead. She shrieked again as the impact ruptured the pavement and virtually catapulted her backward and again off her feet.

The Light Eater seemed momentarily stuck in the street from the attack, and quickly began to degenerate and reform its head to melt free. Twilight, stunned from what just happened, sat there a moment before she cast another spell. Ice crystals erupted from the ground beneath the entity, but unfortunately it was too late. The Light Eater leapt again just as they rose to impale it. It landed soon after and she quickly got up to try and attack again, only to cry out once more as, as soon as it touched down, it snapped its tongue out for her again. She quickly dove to the side as it whizzed by with the force of a cannon shell, pounding a slab of brickwork out of the road. She had no time to rest or recover, for it quickly snapped back and lashed out again at where she had been. After that she had to break into a run to evade it as it snapped out a third time.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Fluttershy reached the soldiers. At first, they were astonished to see Twilight jump in and even more astonished to see her power. Yet after a few seconds they decided not to question it, and by now they had resumed shooting at the thing.

The farmer ran forward and quickly swung her hammer to knock the rifle clean out of the grip of the nearest one, causing her to wheel toward her in alarm. “Stop that shootin’! With all the lights out, your guns are what’s making all the light ‘round here now!”

At this point, the soldiers were so overwhelmed they could do little more than just stare in puzzlement at the mildly glowing woman in armor for a moment, before one started to stammer. “Who…what…who are you?”

“That don’t matter right now! Just get back while you can! There’s a whole mess o’ Nighttouched one street over that’s gonna be comin’ here as soon as they’re done snuffin’ out what’s left of their big buddy! Anyone round here down who’s still tickin’?”

The Griffonstone soldiers were left stunned a bit longer, not the least because several of them were now staring at Twilight’s battle with the frog Light Eater, but finally one of them got enough bearings to point. “Gail and Gavin got caught under that wall when that thing knocked it down! I don’t even know if they’re still alive!”

“We’ll handle that! The rest of ya’ get outta here if ya’ wanna tell your grandkids ya’ actually saw a Light Eater and lived!”

Some of them hesitated, but at this point their courage was already strained to the breaking point. One by one they began to turn and run off. As for Applejack, she wheeled around and motioned Fluttershy over to where the soldier had pointed.

As for Twilight, the Light Eater readied to snap its tongue out again, but she reacted by errantly swinging her wand toward it. In response, the ground ruptured in front of it and sent bits of rock flying upward. Out of sheer instinct, the thing leapt out of the way again, giving her the moment she needed to stop and right herself. She used it to prepare another spell and quickly cast it as soon as she got a bead on where it was landing.

Unfortunately, she could only see so well in the dark, and the Light Eater itself, not bound by normal constraints of physicality, leapt off again as soon as it touched down; right as another burst of razor-sharp icicles fired upward. However, this leap wasn’t as good as before, and as it landed one of its legs sprawled out. The starry dew that seemed to make up its body was ragged and flapping along that limb as if it was a torn flag.

It didn’t last long, however. The fragments quickly condensed themselves and reformed, right as it leapt in a horizontal launch for Twilight again. She had been moments from being ready to shoot another fireball, this one intended to go down its gullet, but quickly aborted and dashed to the side on seeing the thing nearly touch her. It slammed into the ground again in her wake, and the impact again knocked her off her feet yet again, this time sending her sprawling face forward. Without missing a beat, it quickly pulled itself out, snapped around, and began to snap its massive mouth for her. All she could do was scramble away. She avoided its first two jaw snaps before she tried to get up again, but it lunged for her with its third snap and, although it missed, the impact sent her falling back on her face. It opened its mouth wider and rose to try and devour her again…

Straining enough to start sweating again, she quickly cast another spell out of panic. In response, another lightning bolt streaked down and hit it in one of the moonspots. It must have been the closest it had to a vital, for it staggered back at that. Twilight quickly got her legs underneath her, pushing around her robe to try and rise, but was still on all fours when the thing, apparently enraged, did a leaping lunge toward her again. She cried in alarm as she was nearly bowled over, and was forced to scramble away as it lashed out even more frantically after her.

Applejack and Fluttershy, at the same time, found the wall. It was in a bit of recessed road, but what tipped off the former that this was the right place was seeing the head and shoulders of a soldier sticking out from underneath it; face tight in agony and blood mottled about her mouth. She quickly glanced to Fluttershy, who was looking pale again, but kept a hand over her eyes as she ran in close.

Applejack was at the side of the collapsed wall a moment later. It was four rows of brick thick, and looked rather heavy and formidable even for her. She ended up setting her hammer down nearby and then reached out and felt for a lip. She called to the soldier as she found a grip. “You alright?”

She didn’t change her expression, but moaned through clenched teeth. “Ga…vin… Help… Gavin…”

Tightening her muscles, Applejack took a few deep breaths before putting her legs beneath her and lifting. Even with enhanced strength, she strained and struggled under the load, but she slowly pulled it up. Very gradually, the brickwork left the top of the fallen soldier, and a space formed underneath. The bricks began to crumple and fall under her grasp but she held it tight. “Fluttershy!” she called through her own clenched teeth. “Get under there! Pull him out!”

The pink-haired woman swallowed, but nodded before she got down on the ground. Very uneasily, she looked down in the space Applejack had made and, after a moment, began to inch her way under it nervously.

However, she only had her own head and shoulders underneath before she stopped. Much more slowly, she pulled out again. Applejack was confused a moment, until she saw the look on her face and the horror in her eyes.

“He…he didn’t make it…”

Applejack shuddered under the weight of the wall as the fallen soldier looked horrified, but she motioned on. “Just get her out, then!”

Fluttershy nodded and moved to put her hands under her arms. “I…I have to try what I did with that other man first… I don’t know if her back’s broken…”

Back with Twilight, the Light Eater attempted to snap at her a few more times before it stopped, instead cracking its mouth open and swinging its tongue out at her again. This one was a much nearer miss, and while Twilight ducked her head to one side to avoid it the impact still struck the road so powerfully that fragments of bricks were sent into the air. One sliced across her forehead while another shard nearly got in her eye. Crying out again, she covered her face and began to run full speed errantly, just trying to get distance on the monster. As she heard the sound of it retract its tongue, she again spun about and threw three fireballs at its direction wildly.

In spite of it being another panic move, it ended up being effective. Two of the spheres landed on either side of it, clear of its body but igniting enough to make it pause in indecisiveness. This was all the third one needed to impact against another forelimb. At once, the limb ignited and began to degenerate into molten fragments, causing it to rear up and recoil as best as it could on its three remaining legs.

Knowing it still had its tongue, Twilight quickly snapped about and kept running to gain more distance. Unfortunately, she only got a few more feet before halting. She was facing another alleyway into the road, but it wasn’t empty. Dozens of yellow eyes were in it and running down into the main road, and they were nearly to her. She was so stunned and surprised she didn’t even have time to think of a spell, and before she even thought to move her wand they broke out into the open and began to hiss and spit right for her…

That was, right before the first two were immediately taken down. A purple hued dog quickly dashed across and tore into the throat of one, while a white rabbit seemed to come down from the heavens so powerfully that when it planted its feet down against the Nighttouched’s head it crushed its skull.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Spike! Angel!”

The two weren’t alone. As soon as they turned to other Nighttouched, a flock of birds and swarm of mice rushed in and began to assault the attacking creatures; pairing in small groups to lay into them individually. The smaller creatures quickly took out the ones on the road, before Fluttershy’s bear inserted itself at the end of the alleyway. It growled and swung out with its paws, knocking back all of the others as fast as they could come.

Twilight was a bit stunned at her saviors but didn’t question them. She whirled back around to the Light Eater. While it still only had three limbs, it had recovered enough to rear back and prepare to use its tongue again. This time, however, Twilight quickly shifted to one side; away from the animals, and readied another spell.

The tongue snapped out soon after, but she quickly ducked to evade it. As it struck the ground behind her, she shielded her eyes with one arm from debris and cast her spell with the other. Ice crystals appeared again, but this time they rapidly condensed and solidified around the end of the tongue. The thing tried to pull it back only to find it anchored right where it had impacted.

With the Light Eater’s mouth open and immobilized, she used the moment to generate a more potent fireball spell and sent it flying down its throat. An instant later, it burst and filled its jaws with flames. The thing’s tongue was soon melted clean off its body, instantly degenerating into nothingness on breaking loose. The rest of it staggered back and thrashed about, but the magic flames quickly consumed what was left. It only managed to stumble a short distance before it was fully engulfed. With one last move it collapsed to the ground and burst into mist. The fire was snuffed as it faded away into nothing.

Twilight wiped her brow, but didn’t stay there long. She looked about herself a moment before she spotted someone. The soldier that had been snagged but dropped was still there, and sorely rising to her feet again. She cupped her hand and shouted to her. “Hey!”

The soldier, looking in shock from what nearly happened to her, nevertheless turned and gave her a vacant, hollow stare.

“Are you alright? Did it only get you by your clothes or did it touch your bare skin?”

She stared back blankly; barely seeming to process words.

“Did it touch your bare skin?” The second time was more insistent.

Finally, she blinked, and with a dazed look shook her head.

“Alright, then get out of here! Hurry!”

The soldier was still overwhelmed both at her experience as well as who was talking to her, but she finally turned and began to run off again as she had when she was caught. Twilight rubbed her face and looked back to where the animals were dealing with the Nighttouched, but gasped again at what she saw.

The fight had attracted company.

Another Light Eater, this one taking the crude likeness of a 6-meter long lizard, was inching its way down the side of a building and into the street. A third one, this one looking like a crude form of deer on stilt-like legs, was coming out from the side street. Their pale pool-like eyes turned and focused on her dim aura almost immediately. Spike, Angel, and the other animals, who until now had been standing their ground against the incoming Nighttouched, were now pulling back. Spike himself was letting out a canine whine.

Back at the wall, Applejack was getting progressively more red-faced as Fluttershy continued to talk soothingly to the soldier, which wasn’t easy as she was now distraught on hearing about the death of her comrade. Nevertheless, she finally got enough for the woman to reach under her arms and began to pull her free. As soon as she finished yanking her feet out, she called to the farmer. “Ok, she’s free.”

Applejack grunted as she let the bricks fall again; breaking them to bits on dropping them. Fluttershy quickly put her arm underneath the woman’s shoulders and began to help her up, while Applejack exhaled once before reaching around for her hammer.

Twilight, seeing the incoming reinforcements, shouted to the animals. “Get back! All of you!”

Luckily, they seemed to at least understand her voice even though she wasn’t Fluttershy. All of the animals including Spike turned and began to run away from the closing monsters. Twilight herself snapped around and began to run; opening her mouth to call out as she did. “Apple…”

She gasped again.

“Applejack! Look out!”

The farmer looked up just as she grasped her hammer; neither she nor Fluttershy nor the semi-conscious soldier noticing what had happened. Namely that a one-meter Light Eater walking down the side of the building on spindly, long, insect-like limbs had lowered itself right down to her level, and was now raising one of the appendages and curling the end into a claw to try and pierce the “light” that was emanating from her.

Yet in her surprise, and completely by accident, Applejack hefted her hammer off of the ground and brought it over her shoulder just as she called out: “Huh?” And in the course of doing so, the “teeth” on one end of it curled out and slid themselves right into the end of the Light Eater’s extended limb.

The moment it happened, the thing snapped its limb back and cradled it against the rest of its crude body. Twilight’s horror reverted to surprise and shock on seeing it react like that.

It was in pain.

Applejack hearing its movement overhead, turned and looked skyward. Fluttershy did at the same time, and instantly gave a shriek as she nearly dropped the soldier. The farmer, however, in spite of knowing full well it would do nothing, did the same thing she did every time she was panicked by an opponent. Out of pure reflex, she hefted her hammer and swung out at it. The head of the weapon cut through the air and smashed into its head.

And the thing, like an oversized bug that had been swatted, was ripped off of the wall and taken all the way to the road before its “skull” was crushed underneath the hammer.

In spite of the further monsters closing in behind them, for a moment all three women were stunned. Fluttershy pulled her free hand to cup her mouth. Twilight’s jaw nearly hit her chest. Applejack barely held onto her now-descended hammer as if she wasn’t believing that either it or her limbs had done that, even as she slowly watched the Light Eater degenerate into blackness before fading away into mist.

“I…I killed it…”

A beat passed, before a grin burst across her face. Her surprise turned to ecstatic joy. She yanked her hammer into the air with one hand and began to bellow loudly in jubilation.

“Whoo-hoo! Did y’all just see that? I killed one! I killed one! That’s fer every last apple tree ya’ spoiled, evert last acre you overran, and every last member of my family ya’ got killed, ya’ rotten son of a bitch! Jus’ you wait! I’m gonna put the rest of ya’ into holes in the ground too!”

“Applejack!”

Still cheering and shouting, the farmer looked down. Twilight, although still stunned at what she had just seen, had snapped out of it enough to keep running toward her. “Cheer later! We have to go!”

On spotting Twilight she was able to see behind her. Not only were the two other Light Eaters, much bigger than the one she had just smashed, still coming, but others were joining them along with fresh swarms of Nighttouched coming down both their original alley, the one that Twilight had faced, and the others along with them.

“Er, right!” she shouted back, some of her enthusiasm turning to shock, before she turned around and quickly got under the soldier Fluttershy was helping from the other side. Soon after she took off, nearly dragging them both with her. Twilight fell in alongside as the rest of the animals came up, and the entire party soon picked their way over the broken street to the more intact portions before breaking into a full run.

None of them looked behind as they rushed out into more open streets, but somehow they managed to keep ahead of them. That or they simply found other targets in the city to attack. At any rate their running kept them in the clear. The streets remained dark, a sign the gaslighting had been cut to this part of the town as well, so it was likely whatever fires had been set in the attacked portions were distracting them for at least a bit longer. However, the truly encouraging sign was that the sky began to lighten and turn gray the farther they went. They continued to hear gunfire from surrounding blocks, but no further screams.

At this point, Applejack finally turned to Twilight. “Did y’all see that back there? I crushed that Light Eater inta’ applesauce! Why didn’t ya’ tell me I could do that, Twilight?”

“I didn’t know you could! I didn’t think you could even hit them! I’ve been just like everyone else and tried to make sure they don’t touch me!” A pause. “But…now that you mention it…whenever we use a spirit our bodies start lighting up like this… Maybe it’s acting as an insulator or some covering that make it possible for us to interact with them physically…”

“Well, now we know I can kill ‘em too! So what now?”

Twilight’s answer was cut off by the sound of a heavy engine rolling up ahead. In the emerging light the three saw a large shadow in the fog. It soon parted it, revealing it to be another one of the trackless engines. This one had an old, weathered marking on it indicating its use by the military, which was all but confirmed by the fact it was carrying a field gun on a limber behind it. Fortunately, by now it looked as if there was enough light where one couldn’t make out the glows around their body. They did, however, seem to recognize they were carrying a soldier with them, and as a result they heard the large engine begin to slow as it chugged forward.

Twilight quickly waved to them when they did. As the two entities met, the engine came to a stop. The side opened and a few Griffonstone soldiers hopped out, regarding the incoming group with puzzlement. Yet before they could say a word, Applejack and Fluttershy rushed up to them with the fallen soldier and almost threw her into their arms.

“Here! Take her outta here and get yerselves out while yer at it!”

The dumbfounded soldiers looked over the gathering, including the unusual attire and the fact a whole troupe of animals were running alongside them. They almost seemed to forget the attack for a moment. “Who are you people? Some kind of circus? And what were you doing…”

The soldier trailed off as a light tremor went off down the road. He and his fellow soldiers looked stunned, but Twilight and her group went rigid. Especially when another tremor soon followed after it. The three women looked to one another briefly.

“Oh no…”

“It’s here…”

In a flash, Twilight spun back to the soldiers. Seeing her radiating eyes for the first time, they recoiled in even more alarm. “Which way is the coast from here?”

“Wh-what? Huh? What’s going-“

“Where?!”

“Well, uh…” he motioned with his hand to the left of their current path. “That way’s to the boardwalk…”

“How far?”

“I…I don’t know… A couple miles maybe?”

“Alright, thank you! There’s Light Eaters and a swarm of Nighttouched right behind us! Fall back if it starts getting dark!”

“Wait, wait!” the other soldier spoke up. “Just what’s going on here and who are-”

However, once again he cut himself off, this time not from the tremors but the fact that he spotted something down the road Twilight’s group had come. A moment later he raised his weapon. The other soldier looked as well and quickly did the same. Twilight risked a glance back the way they came and saw, much to her astonishment, the swarm of Nighttouched were still coming. The two opened fire and began to pick them off, but there were a hundred right behind them.

Realizing they couldn’t stick around any longer, Twilight turned and began to run again. Applejack and Fluttershy quickly fell in behind; leaving the soldiers to deal with the rushing horde.

“What in blazes is goin’ on? It’s light out here!” Applejack shouted.

“Um…I…think with all of this smog, that it’s kind of dark enough for the Nighttouched at least…” Fluttershy suggested.

“Great…” Applejack sighed. “That means they’ll be everywhere! And now that Tantamawhatzit is here too! And we only got a couple miles between it and the ocean!” She turned to Twilight. “Please tell me ya’ got a plan.”

She didn’t answer right away. She looked about as they kept running. By now, much of that part of the city was abandoned, and there weren’t many other soldiers left to keep running to the front line. Most of them, unaccustomed to dealing with surges, had broken for it along with the citizens, and all that was left were either abandoned and broken vehicles or homes and buildings that were left to rot or were being used as shelter. All of them were also darkened, making the fog of coal fumes even more absolute over the city.

She looked at the gaslights as they ran past, staring at several of them.

“I have the start of an idea, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“Seein’ as it’s better than what I got, which is nothin’, I can’t complain. What is it?”

“First, we need to find one of the gas mains for these street lamps.”

Fortunately, it didn’t take the three long to find one. The city was continuing to desert, making it easier to move around, and the Nighttouched were keeping their swarms to the blackened portions. Only smaller groups were moving out in the rest of the foggy town, and were easily dealt with by Twilight and Applejack when they got near. And fortunately for them, the technology was so outdated in Griffonstone that they hadn’t moved their major gas lines under the ground. They found a large one right in the middle of an intersection at one of the roads at the ruins of where a pedestal had once stood.

As soon as they reached it she called out. “Alright, Fluttershy, stand back with Spike and the others for a moment! Applejack, get over here!”

Now that Fluttershy had finally stopped, Angel took the moment to hop into her arms as she stepped away; leading the other animals with her. Applejack came up to the main itself as Twilight stood at a distance.

“Alright…knock the top off of that valve right there!”

Applejack gave her an odd look. “Uh…I may have spent most of my life on a farm, but even I know that’s a bad idea.”

“Just do it!”

She winced, but finally shrugged. Looking back to the largest valve on top of the main, she exhaled before raising her hammer. For once, she made a “delicate” swing, not wanting to cause a spark. As a result, she managed to knock the valve right off the top of it. At once a hissing began to spill out and the air over the top of it rippled from gas fountaining up into the air.

“Good! Now stand back with Fluttershy!”

Applejack whistled as she readily did so. “Sure hope ya’ know what yer doin’… Be careful ‘round that. One wrong move and you’ll blow it sky high.”

Twilight waited until Applejack was far enough away, then raised her wand. She performed a gesture, painted a fiery sigil, and sent a fireball over the nozzle.

Moments later, part of the main was blown completely up as the gas ignited; scattering half of Fluttershy’s animals and knocking both her and Applejack off their feet. In its wake, a towering pillar of burning flame emerged like a giant torch blazing into the heavens.

As Fluttershy struggled to corral the critters, Applejack got back up and glared at Twilight. “Are ya’ outta yer mind?! You couldn’t blown us to bits! You trying ta’ start a gas fire?”

“Yes!”

Applejack’s shock turned to confusion. “Uh…come again?”

“They’ve turned off all the lights in the city in the path of the Tantabus! It has nowhere to go now but straight into the ocean like it wants!” She pointed to the now towering fire. “Now, this is the biggest and brightest light in the city! If it works like any of the other Light Eaters, it’s going to come for it before it heads to the ocean! Even in the worst surges, the Light Eaters always look for the closest source of light first!”

Applejack hesitated, looking at the towering flame, then back to her. “Ya’ mean…ya’ want it to come this way?”

“If it leads it away from the ocean, you bet I do! This will at least keep it from poisoning the coast!”

“But a fire like this is gonna bring every last Nighttouched and Light Eater here for blocks! And what do we do when it gets here?”

Twilight paused before she grinned sheepishly. “Well…I did say it was only the start of an idea.”

Applejack frowned.

“Well, what else can we do? At least this way we can keep it from the ocean.”

She rolled her eyes and groaned. “Awright, fine. Just one problem. If this city’s smoky enough ta’ keep these Nighttouched out in the open, then there’s no way that big one’ll see this from here. It’d have to be in a hundred yards or even closer.”

“That’s where the second part of my plan comes in. You’re going to have to hold the little ones back while I do this part.”

By now, Fluttershy had finally calmed down the last of the animals again, but their surroundings were already filling with the noises of Nighttouched screeching or calling. From the shadows about, an occasional pair of yellow eyes were emerging. Applejack saw them and let out a sigh. “Alright…guess if we’re gonna tangle with that big one, these little ones shouldn’t be a problem…” She hefted her hammer and began to step out.

As soon as she got on the move, Twilight looked right at the other woman with them. “Fluttershy!”

She looked surprised to be called to again. “Who…me?”

Twilight began to walk toward her. “This is very important and we don’t have a lot of time, so please listen carefully. With all of this smog over Griffonstone, there’s only one way that the Tantabus is ever going to see this signal fire, and that’s if it clears up. The only way I can clear it up is if I generate a wind spell powerful enough to sweep over all the city blocks leading up to it…which, at the moment, I can only guess is somewhere around that way.” She waved her hand in the direction they came from.

Fluttershy held a hand to her mouth. “Oh dear… Can you really make a spell that powerful?”

“No, I can’t. I’ve already used a lot of my mana but even if I hadn’t I’d run out long before I’d have all that I need. That’s why I need you.”

Now Fluttershy truly did look surprised. “What…what…me?”

Applejack gave a cry, momentarily distracting the two of them. They looked just as she finished flattering the first Nighttouched that emerged, but another one was already running out. Twilight quickly looked back to Fluttershy, holding up her sigil.

“You’ve seen how we use these in order to call on the spirits bound to us, right? If you were able to fully manifest your own seal, as a Healer you’d be able to regenerate my mana while I’m casting. Not sure if it would be enough…especially since you don’t have any experience with your own power…but it’s the only shot we’ve got. I have to get you to do it.”

Fluttershy shrunk a bit on herself. “Oh my… I…I’m not sure I know how to do any of that…”

“I’ll show you how,” she spoke more insistently, “but you have to do exactly what I say.”

Applejack crushed another Nighttouched, but now two were running out together. She swiveled her hammer once to scatter the blood and readied to meet them. Meanwhile, Fluttershy gulped, but then set Angel down. He looked back up to her, almost seeming concerned, before hopping just a short distance away. Standing up with trembling knees, she spoke to Twilight in a near whisper.

“Ok…”

“Now, you told me that you noticed that,” She pointed to the rune on her sigil. “after we got knocked off the boat.” She grimaced. “I’ve honestly never heard of an Anima Viri coming from an animal before…but that bird was very precious to Headmistress Celestia, and if anyone would have had a pet that had an Anima Viri it would have been her. So I’m thinking…or hoping…you got the symbol from her. If that’s the case, you have to do what we do. She’s already bound to you, so…”

She held her hand up. “Put your hand up like this.”

Fluttershy hesitated, then raised her hand halfway.

“All the way.”

Another pause, but then she extended it all the way.

“Now, you have to shout this in a commanding voice. ‘Member of my house, I command you to come to me. Little Sunshine—Philomena.’”

Fluttershy lowered her hand, looking confused. “Um…‘Little Sunshine’?”

“It’s what the headmistress called her. I’m hoping that’s the right title too. Now do it. And remember…commanding.”

Fluttershy stared silently a moment, then raised her hand again; once more halfway. “Um…member of my house, I command you to come to me. Little Sunshine—Philomena.”

Twilight stared blankly at her. She was standing two feet away and barely even heard her. “Fluttershy…I said commanding.”

“Oh, sorry…ahem. Member of my house, I command you to come to me. Little Sunshine—Philomena.”

If that had been any louder, Twilight hadn’t noticed. She began to groan.

“What in blazes ya’ doin’ over there?!”

The two looked up and back, and saw Applejack was now fighting off four at a time, all of which were clawing for her legs to try and get up to scratch her eyes. Six more were coming out and running up along the street.

“I can’t kill every last durn Nighttouched in this city! Hurry up!”

“Oh…oh, I’m so sorry…” Fluttershy apologized, turning back to Twilight. “It’s just, um…I don’t sound very commanding…”

Twilight nearly flustered, but she managed to keep her calm and looked more imploring. “Fluttershy, if we don’t do this soon it’ll be too late. The Tantabus will make it into the ocean, and then it’ll ruin everything. No boats will be able to leave the continent, we’ll be surrounded by night so nothing will grow, thousands of people living on the coast could die, the sea will be filled with Nighttouched fish and they might gain the ability to come on land-”

“Wait, you mean…the Tantabus could turn all of the fish in the ocean just like the ones on the boat? Those poor creatures that were in so much pain?”

Twilight paused, realizing she had just hit something. “…Yeah. And not only them, but the sea lions, the turtles, the…um…sharks, the, uh…aneomes…”

“Oh no!” For a moment, the woman’s knees stopped knocking. She looked down to her feet a moment, but then straightened up and took a deep breath. Steeling herself as much as she could, she held her hand all the way up. Although her voice still barely registered at a light shout, she called to call out with as much power as she could muster.

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Little Sunshine—Philomena!”

A second later, Twilight lit up in delight while Fluttershy herself yelped on seeing her sigil ignite. As it had with Twilight and Applejack before her, her aura lit up and streamed out above her head. This time it formed an image of a bird, but not the one from yesterday. This one was a resplendent beauty—a mix of falcon and peacock as iridescent and majestic as a flame. Even Fluttershy, after her initial shock, was left staring in awe at it before the light broke over her.

Her dress thickened and lengthened before being dyed into a white with bold color trim and seam. It swept over her arms into long sleeves before splitting in front to become a full length robe. More durable shoes came over her feet while gloves tipped each of her hands, and an inner garment with a sweater-like neckline filled in underneath. Finally, a thicker white hood grew out of the neckline with a design emblazoned on the edge. Her hair swept forward over her shoulders before it raised up and covered the rest of her head.

The light dimmed but maintained its soft glow, and Fluttershy was left looking over herself. "Goodness... I wasn't expecting that..." She reached up and felt the robe, smiling a little. "Well, it might be a little warm for the summer, but it's definitely soft. And look." She reached up and felt the hood. "I can pull this down over my eyes whenever I need to."

"Fluttershy?"

"Hmm?" She looked up, seeing Twilight staring at her. "Oh...oh yes, what do I do?"

With one last yell behind them, Applejack smashed the head of the latest of the attacking Nighttouched. She looked up afterward, quickly brandishing herself for more, and nearly taking a swing...

However, she froze when she saw what was rushing on her wasn't Nighttouched but more civilians. A hundred of them all together, and so panicked and desperate to flee that they didn't even react to her as they ran by. For a moment, she stood befuddled as they passed her one after another. As soon as the last one had gone, though, she looked back to the empty street they had come from and blanched.

A flood of Nighttouched were running down the street. These ones weren't just regular animals that had been transformed, and they weren't the wolf constructs from before either. She saw they were led by much larger creatures the size of covered wagons. As they parted the gloom and got closer, she saw that they were maned, four-pawed, and moving like giant lions. At least six of them had taken the lead, and even from a distance she could hear their growling.

Applejack grimaced as she hefted her hammer. "Hey Twilight, we're gonna have to move soon!"

"Alright, here's what you need to do." Twilight turned around and put her back to Fluttershy. "Put your hands on my shoulders."

She ventured forward and slowly did so. "Like...this?"

"Great. Now, close your eyes."

She obeyed. Twilight raised her wand and looked to the sky.

"Ok, here's hoping this works... What you need to do is to just visualize a stream running through inside you."

"A stream...? Like a creek or river?"

"No, no...it's like energy inside you."

"Energy? Like...in my muscles?"

"No, it's not that either, it's...it's..." She sighed, realizing how difficult this would be as a crash course. "How about this... Do you feel different right now?"

She turned her head, thinking it over. "Now that you mention it...I guess I do feel a bit stronger."

"What else?"

"Hmm...I almost feel...more...energetic? Almost like...like there's something inside me... Something warm..."

"Yes, that's it! Concentrate on that! Focus on that! I want you to see it flowing from you into me! Imagine...like...like you're a warm cup of tea and I'm something cold, and that all that golden, warm heat inside you is sinking into me and warming me up. Can you do...ooo!"

Twilight went a bit rigid as Fluttershy took it too literally, moving forward and putting her arms around Twilight before pulling her into a hug. "Like...this?"

"Uh...er...well..." she stammered. "Your hands would have been fine, but..." She flushed a shade red, before shaking her head. "Whatever helps you to visualize that. Keep visualizing it, like you're sending that into me, and don't stop for a second."

She raised her wand to the sky again. She took a deep breath and began to trace a new sigil. This one was a pale green, but it was also far more elaborate than the previous ones. She was still drawing it after several seconds, her eyes narrowing and her focus increasing. Her face already began to tighten by the time she finally finished and began to sweep her wand around. In response, a breeze started to blow through the square. It began gentle, but in moments it became stiffer. The gas fire started to whip around a bit along with bits of trash and debris, but Twilight continued to generate it.

Applejack took a step backward as the Nighttouched neared, for she could not only make out the outline of mouths far larger than those of normal lions but what looked like segmented tails with stingers were in their midst. On top of that, the sounds of the earth-shaking footsteps were getting louder and stronger. When she took another step back, however, she began to feel her hair being pulled. She looked up, noticing the growing wind.

By the time a stiff breeze began to whip around the square, Twilight was already sweating freely. She started to grunt with a bit of the strain as she forced her wand to keep moving around. Fluttershy's hood was ripped back, and she instantly closed her eyes and pressed herself tighter into Twilight as she tried to concentrate. The spellcaster's legs began to wobble as the wind grew strong enough to start moving debris around, and sweat started to fall like bullets from her chin. As her knees began to give out all together, Fluttershy clutched her even tighter and kept her held up. Her teeth bared as a visible gale began to circle the area. The flames of the gas light grew taller and more towering from the wind pattern, and a distinct roar echoed around them. Twilight started to cry out as moving her arm became as strenuous as lifting weights and she was nearing the breaking point.

Applejack began to crouch to the ground, as she was nearly being blown over by the power of the wind. The rest of the animals clung to one another and dragged themselves closer to Fluttershy and Twilight to avoid getting blasted away. Still it continued to grow. The smog around them was caught up and the air cleared as it was turned into a smoky twister about them. Yet still it grew stronger, and still Twilight cried as she forced herself to keep moving. Her nostrils flared as she breathed harder and Fluttershy felt a wetness as Twilight’s robe became drenched with her own sweat. Finally, it was all she could manage. With one final gesture, she snapped the wand up and aimed it skyward.

Applejack was blown clean off of her feet and flung against the nearest building as the full force of the wind blast took off. Two dozen windows were shattered and blown in and half the shingles blasted off of the nearest rooftops. A thunderclap ranng through the sky as the wind ascended skyward, and Twilight nearly collapsed in Fluttershy's arms as she alone was able to look up.

She watched as the smog surrounding the city broke like it was a wave rolling in reverse. A huge curtain of gray matter was swept right out of the sky. It wasn't high enough to let the sun shine back in, but it rolled away a good portion of the gloom and mist all across the skyline.

As Twilight weakly looked up and cracked her eyes open and the rest of the animals risked looking as well, they finally saw the clearing sky go far enough to turn black from the Light Eater influence. It continued to sweep from there but they couldn't see how much farther. All that was left was an empty area of the sky; running clean from the gas fire all the way into a sea of darkness.

Applejack stepped away from the walls and looked up with the others. Twilight and Fluttershy continued to search for a moment before they finally saw it.

Very faintly, a pair of moon-like spots formed in the distant darkness and slowly turned to face the direction of the fire. They focused directly on it. Soon after, a series of stars began to emerge from the blackness, encompassing an entire third of the visible skyline. It quickly began to grow brighter as the rhythmic tremors began again, and the moonspots slowly began to grow bigger.

Twilight couldn't help but swallow. The thing was so huge she couldn't even make out its full form. One thing was abundantly clear from the sky beginning to darken about them again, though.

They had its attention, and now it was coming.

"Alright...we distracted it," Twilight half-exhaled. "Now we've got about five minutes to think of what to do now..."

"Less than that, Twilight! Look!"

Still dazzled and weak, Twilight looked up to Applejack. She was pointing down the road, and on looking down it she saw the same swarm of monstrosities stampeding for the square and the fire. Clearing the sky had momentarily let more light in, causing them to become sluggish, but in the wake of the approaching Tantabus and its darkness they were fully active once more. They were so close already she could make out their snarling faces.

Twilight began to sweat again but not from exhaustion. Nevertheless, she forced her legs back up and to step away from Fluttershy. She started to aim her wand forward. Applejack readied her hammer anew. Fluttershy cupped her gloves and sleeves to her mouth, but Spike, Angel, and the rest of her animals prepared themselves for another fight. They watched the things cross past another building and charge into the last crossing. They passed it soon after, and now there was nothing but an alleyway between them and the group in the square. They braced themselves for this new fight...

When, suddenly, Twilight looked up with a puzzled expression.

“Does…anyone hear what sounds like a trackless engine?”

An instant later, a roaring, flaming engine burst out of the alley, raking through the walls on either side, before smashing itself into the building across from it. The two Nighttouched in the lead were tackled by the engine and obliterated against the building façade, smashed deep into it and crushed utterly when the entire side of the structure collapsed on the flaming engine. The rest of the iron vehicle halted at once as the flames on it continued to spread. It now formed an effective barrier blocking off the road.

The women looked up in a mixture of shock and dumbfounded surprise. Applejack nearly dropped her own hammer and gaped at what had just happened. The square was silent save for the sound of the collision slowly dying out and the flames crackling. No one moved or said a word.

A clanking noise finally came from the engine as the side bulkhead was rotated, and a moment later the door swung open only to groan once before snapping off of its hinges all together. Twilight and the others watched as three individuals stumbled out. A figure dressed only in light clothes for high mobility and to show off muscles, a lightly-clad woman in a bandanna who somersaulted out like an acrobat, and a flashing, debonair fencer dressed in elaborate finery like a royal musketeer.

They stared at Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy as soon as they emerged, and the three stared right back.

Twilight and the fencer spoke at the same time.

“Who in Greater Everfree are those people?”

Nightwatch: Reaching the Summit

Author's Notes:

Ugh...another chapter that ended up running so long I decided to split it in two, but it makes sense as, like the last one, this kind of covers two separate incidents. I probably could have gotten another formula entry out of it...

I'm worried that now that I have Pinkie Pie in things, my tone is becoming uneven. I'm trying to keep everyone in character while in a grittier, darker environment, and it's kind of hard with who's personality is that of a cheerful pony.

“Oh look! The track goes downhill again!” Grinning, Pinkie took her hands off the pump to hold them in the air. “Wheeeeeee!”

Rarity grimaced and tried not to retch as the cart once again went down a vertical slope of track at three times its normal speed, hurtling down the tunnel fast enough to derail at a sharp enough curve. This hadn’t been the first time it happened, but so long as they continued to get farther from the monstrous footsteps, the Nighttouched, and the Light Eaters, she couldn’t complain. She simply had to hold on for dear life for several moments until it leveled out again. As soon as Pinkie laughed and began to pump again, she held her hands back on Rainbow Dash and repeated a tired mantra. “All better… All better… All better…”

It had to have been hours since they escaped. Not all of it went as fast as the downhill runs or even their initial pumping. A lot of times they had to pump uphill, which was enough to slow even Pinkie down. That in itself was surprising. She didn’t seem to tire for a minute during the entire trek. During that time, whenever Rarity hadn’t been nervously checking for monsters behind them or clinging to the cart, she had been keeping her hands on her trying the same trick as before. There was no telling how effective it was being, however. Dash didn’t move once.

“Oh, look!”

Rarity paused in her healing at Pinkie calling. She pointed to the ceiling as she easily pumped with one hand. There was another break in it just like earlier, but now it was letting in faint gray light.

“The sun’s come up. Thank goodness…”

“Oh, and look at that!”

Rarity looked at the tracks as Pinkie pointed ahead. A sign was coming up fast. It was hard to make it out due to lack of lighting, but there was just enough of a glow to make out a warning that the track aborted in one mile.

She sighed in relief. “Let’s hope it comes out close to a city.” She looked back down at Dash, who still wasn’t moving. However, she didn’t seem to be sore or in pain like earlier. With that in mind, she tentatively reached out and put her hand on her shoulder.

“Dash…are you awake?”

“Yeah.”

Rarity was a bit surprised at the ready response. It didn’t sound groggy or slow at all, meaning she had been awake for some time. However, it was also rather monotone and unenthused.

“Oh, that’s…that’s good. How are you feeling?”

“Like crud.”

Rarity grimaced again. The way she said it, she didn’t think she was referring to her physical condition. “Well, we’re less than a mile from the end of the track. We made it. After everything that happened, we’re nearly at the end.”

She didn’t answer. Rarity kept looking uneasy but turned her head forward again.

It didn’t take much longer before the same gray light appeared at the end of the tracks around a bend. It was the mine exit. At last, they passed out of it. Rarity expected a welcome feeling of fresh air and light. Instead, she got a gray haze as they ran right into a foul-smelling fog, and in moments she was wrinkling her nose before coughing and hacking.

“Ugh,” she nearly retched again as she nearly covered her mouth, “what is this ghastly stench? I’ve seen less fumes from the pipe of a coal stove!”

“Oh, look Rarity!” Pinkie cheered again. “They’re congratulating us for making it out of the mines by putting a big sign on the track!” She looked closer. “Huh…kind of looks like a big red X and a lot of logs.”

“Wh-what?!” Alarmed, she looked ahead. Coming out of the gloom was a large reinforced palisade barrier. One they were running into at full speed.

Quickly she reached out, eschewing her lady-like traits for a change, and seized the brake; pulling it back with all of her might. A loud squeal followed by a shower of iron sparks erupted from the front of the cart; so powerfully even Dash looked up idly. Pinkie, seeming to take this for another joke, stopped pumping, giggled, and tried to scream out loudly along with the brake squeal. It was rather tight, but the car’s natural inertia plus the brake slowed it down quickly, and they managed to grind to a halt a mere eight feet from collision.

Rarity nervously exhaled before slumping on the cart. It took her a moment to recover. As for Pinkie Pie, she hopped right off. “Whee! That was fun! I hope there’s another dangerous, rickety, old push cart between here and Manehattan!”

The designer glanced to her and, to her surprise, noticed something. In spite of the fact that she had operated the push cart all by herself for hours, she was back to her former clothing. She puzzled for a moment over how that had happened before letting it slide and slowly inching herself off the cart as well. She grasped her lower back at how stiff it was, before she took a look at their surroundings.

It seemed they were up high on a mountainside, right on a level patch where a tunnel terminated. Perhaps it had been intended to eventually connect all the way down the mountain but construction had halted with the Lunar Fall. At any rate, the old switchback trail that would have led workers up to it was still there, although it didn’t go too far down the mountain before it vanished into a large amount of industrial smog. Far below them, like the surface of a foggy lake, Rarity could just make out the layout of a large, dirty city. Old smokestacks were everywhere pumping coal fumes, and the distant sound of large engines churning echoed up from it. Perhaps not the best-looking city in the world, but a city none the less.

“Alright…first things first. We need to get out of Griffonstone and into Fillydelphia. Then we immediately find a telegram and wire to Manehattan about the contract, and then we get there as fast as we can.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Dash begin to laugh. Both she and Pinkie looked back to her, but she was still lying on top of the mine cart. Worse than that, the laugh was far from jovial or excited. It was empty and hollow with a wistful grin on her face.

“Um…Dash?”

Leaning her head back, she idly raised her hand and pointed. “Look.”

Rarity followed where she was pointing and noticed a sign mostly obscured by the surrounding fog. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but on taking a step closer she was able to make out the lettering on it.

It was mostly covered with graffiti insulting the town below, but she could just make out in bold lettering its actual name: Grifftham City.

Rarity’s pupils began to shrink. “Griff…Griff…Grifftham…”

“Yup, that’s right,” Dash said with completely mock enthusiasm. “We took the wrong track. Even straight as the crow flies, we’re a good 120 kilometers out of the way. Even if we could pump that cart back the way we came and didn’t run into a mountain worth of Nighttouched, it’d take a whole day to get to the city we needed to be in. And guess what? There’s no telegrams to Manehattan from here.”

Rarity stood as if she had just had a stroke. She stared blankly at that sign like it was a criminal sentence. A very cold feeling sank into her stomach. For several moments, she was silent as a corpse. Dash alone rolled over onto her stomach but did no more. Their somber moods were enough to even get Pinkie to stop bouncing. Her happiness turned to concern.

“Um…are you two ok?”

Rarity’s head fell to her chest, staring at the remains of her borrowed shoes and the dirt. “We…we can’t make it. After everything…everything we’ve been through…everything that tried to kill us…we can’t make it. This…this was all…all for…”

In spite of her exhaustion, she felt her eyes beginning to mist up. It wasn’t one of her more dramatic moments either. She no longer had the strength for that. Thinking of everything that had happened to get that far, only for it all to fail, only left her with the bitterest of tears.

Dash let out a tired humph. “Yup…” she muttered. “Now you see why the great ‘Sonic Rainboom’ isn’t good for anything except littering bars…”

In spite of her own state, Rarity looked up to Dash along with Pinkie.

“The big Wonderbolt…letting someone down again. Seems to be all she’s good for ever since Cloudsdale. Gets by on her glory days of when she was a somebody instead of a lazy has-been. Talks big about how she’s going to bail out all the people who gave her booze and a roof over her head when she never has two bits to rub together. Sells herself as the best of the best and this is what happens.”

She slumped.

“Not only did I not get you back to Manehattan, I didn’t get you back with that contract. Now you’re broke, your business is sunk, and your employees are going to be livin’ out of trash cans and old cider just like me pretty soon. I’m supposed to be protecting you and your teacher ends up biting the big one bailing me out. And now? Now one of the last friends I had in Cloudsdale is probably having her skull gnawed on by an oversized rat and I couldn’t do anything about it except get smacked down by a guy wearing an antique. If that wasn’t enough…”

She jabbed a thumb behind her at the tunnel.

“Any minute now we’re going to start hearing those things we got away from either tramping over this mountain or rolling down that tunnel, so I couldn’t even keep you safe, let alone anyone else.” She let her hand fall. “Some hero, huh? At least you don’t have to pay me my fee now. That means you got your money’s worth…”

Rarity didn’t answer. She didn’t like the sound of what Dash was saying, but she had no encouragement to give. She was too mired in her own failure to lift the rainbow-haired woman out of hers. She turned back to the dark city. Nothing but grayness, bleakness, and disuse. Not a single light or shining spot visible in any of it. After everything they had gone through and who had helped them get this far, this was the end of it.

She reached into her pocket and slowly pulled out the wrinkled, sweat-stained, dirty, near rag that was the contract. They had given everything they had to get it back to Manehattan, and now it was worthless. In another moment, she would have crumpled it up and flung it over the side of the mountain.

“Aw…”

Pinkie’s voice caused her to look away. Dash didn’t glance up, but it was impossible for her not to hear her. The pink-haired woman was bouncing again around before both of them, looking energetic again.

“Cheer up, you two! Things aren’t as bad as they seem!”

Dash let out a bitter snort.

“I’m afraid I share Ms. Dash’s sentiments…” Rarity dully responded. “This is it. Things couldn’t possibly be any worse.”

“Oh, sure they could!” she happily answered, immediately zooming to her side. “You’re both still here, aren’t you? You’re both still walking and talking! And this wasn’t all for nothing, silly! You got two big somethings out of it! You both got two new friends!”

This was puzzling enough for Dash to turn her head to Pinkie, although Rarity looked quite confused as well. “Ex…excuse me? Who are you talking about?”

She giggled. “You and Rainbow Dash are friends now, aren’t you?”

The two glanced to one another, blinked a few times, then looked back. “Well, I’m not sure I would go so far as to say that…”

“Yeah…” Dash added uneasily. “I mean, look at her… She’s all prissy and proper… Although I admit she comes in handy in a fight every now and then.”

“And she’s completely rough around the edges, but…” She shrugged. “I do find a sort of charm to her energy and bravery, I will admit. And I’m grateful that if I was paired with a Huntsman that it would be one who knew firsthand about…well, this.” She held up her symbol.

Dash smirked. “And if I was going to stuck with some sheltered Manehattanite, it’s nice to be one who thinks about someone else over her own pocket. You must be someone special if a woman who hadn’t seen you in years was willing to do that for you in Flaxonville.”

“Oh ho…I wouldn’t say that. Not in the least…” Rarity answered with a bit of a nervous exhale, before looking back. “Yet after seeing how much of a scoundrel a mercenary from Griffonstone can be firsthand, you can’t be that much of a disappointment if Gilda did that for you in the mines.”

Now it was Dash’s turn to hold her head down nervously, but she raised it again soon after. “Wait…who’s the other friend?”

Pinkie giggled. “Why me, silly!”

“Uh…we just met you yesterday.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends right away! Maud always told me that the way of a Gaitian is to be kind to everybody, and to me that means make friends with everyone I can! And seeing how much you two help each other out makes me want to be your friend too! It’d be great to have two people who care so much about their own friends being my friends!”

Rarity and Dash were speechless, and both failed to realize their moods had brightened up considerably.

“And you kno-ow…” Pinkie half sang, folding her hands behind her and leaning in close. “If you really, reeeally, reeeeeeeally want to help a bunch of people,” She pointed down at the city below. “I’m sure there’s tons of people down there who could really use someone telling them that there’s a whole mountain full of monsters coming this way. ‘Cause seriously? I don’t think they can see anything in this smog.”

Both realized that for the first time. They glanced back to the mine entrance. It was still quiet for now, but neither of them doubted what Dash had said. Any moment they’d start hearing the echo of the Nighttouched. And in the foggy surroundings it didn’t matter that day had broken. They looked back to one another afterward. For a few moments, they stared quietly.

“I will admit, I’ve never really pictured myself as being big on heroics.”

“Same here…uh, unless there’s a paycheck involved.”

Rarity paused. She looked at her symbol.

“Just the same…these things are quite powerful.”

“Yeah…”

“And this way, the trip wouldn’t have been in vain after all.”

“I’ll admit…it’d feel nice to save the day again for once.”

Another pause, but both looked up a bit more. Their faces were more energized and even optimistic.

Dash smirked. “Y’know, you do this, you’re gonna get awful dirty.”

“Oh, pish-posh,” she smiled back with a hand wave. “I’m already quite dirty. Besides, knowing that I made sure Ms. Cheerilee’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain, doing something for Gilda’s home country, and even not letting that generous man’s tickets go to waste is worth a little soot.”

Pinkie grinned from ear-to-ear. “Does this mean we’re gonna make our first official friendship get-together be the 1^st Annual Friendship Saving of a Major Metropolitan Area from an Army of Darkness, hmm?”

Dash and Rarity looked at each other and smiled a little wider. Dash sat up, hopped off the cart, and began to rotate her cuffs. Rarity smiled back at Pinkie. “I suppose it does.”

“Yay! Aw…I should’ve brought a batch of my special surprise Annual Friendship Saving of a Major Metropolitan Area from an Army of Darkness cookies!” She snickered before lowering her voice. “The surprise is I haven’t invented them yet!”

Dash snickered once, then motioned her head along to the trail. “Alright, we aren’t going to save this city sitting around here. Come on. We gotta move.”

She immediately took the lead. Rarity took off after her, picking up the pace as Dash went into a jog. Pinkie Pie cheered and began to skip happily after them. In moments all three were running down the dirt and gravel trail to begin the long descent down the mountain.

“Alright then. Now that we’ve decided we’re going to save Grifftham City, I would love to know how we plan to do that.”

Dash turned her head over her shoulder to face Rarity. “First things first. We got to let everyone know trouble’s coming. Then the people can start getting out and the army can get ready to fight back.”

“Smashing, but…how do we do that?”

“Heh, that’s the easy part. Look.”

They rounded the first hairpin turn at that moment, and Dash pointed ahead through the fog and gloom while still looking behind her. Rarity had to look for a moment, but as they got nearer she gradually began to see a metal spire emerging from the smog. It looked as if it had some sort of megaphones mounted on top of it.

“Bingo. Maybe coming out this far from the city wasn’t such a bad thing. That there’s an alarm station. It’s supposed to sound whenever there’s a Nighttouched threat, and all the other stations around the city will sound out too and spread it everywhere. We’ll set it off for starters.”

Rarity thought for a moment. “That’s all well and good, but wouldn’t there be someone from their military already stationed there?”

Dash snickered. “You don’t know how things work in Griffonstone, do you? They never do anything they think they don’t need. Since all the Nighttouched attacks are north of here, there won’t be a soul at this station. Good thing we’re here though, right?”

“I suppose so, but if no one is monitoring this station, who in the world are they?”

“Huh?”

Dash looked back and, sure enough, at this point there were multiple man-sized shadows all up and down the road up ahead. Rarity could only make out the silhouettes herself. The Huntsman, on the other hand, could see more clearly.

As a result, she halted in her tracks. “Get off the road! Now!”

“What did-”

An eruption of gunfire went off, only it wasn’t conventional bullets. To Rarity’s shock and horror, she saw jets of fire, ice, and lightning crack through the fog and stream toward them. It was only because Dash snapped around, seized her by the wrist, and dragged her aside that she wasn’t hit by it. Even so, they were stuck on a mountain switchback path with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. To their left was only a cliff drop off to the next tier, while to their right was the rock wall. Opting for the latter, Dash yanked Rarity over to it as the magical gunfire continued to shoot at them. Part of the cliff bulged out just enough for an outcropping, and she quickly shoved Rarity behind it before she followed. Pinkie bounced after them, and all three inched away from the edge as several other lightning blasts ripped pieces of rock away from it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen bullets like those…” she mused.

“Those Trottingham creeps who shot up Flaxonville!” Dash sneered.

“How in Greater Everfree are they here, though?” Rarity cried.

“That jerk in the armor must have tipped them off that we were heading into the mountains! They just waited for us at the exits! Or maybe he even led them here! He said he could track you though that thing on your leg, right?”

Rarity groaned. “This is why I think tattoos are horrid…”

The gunfire cut off. The three were silent and still. They heard the sounds of movement and reloading, but no footsteps. Dash moistened her lips and pressed herself to the side of the cliff, inching toward the edge as near as she dared, before turning back to Rarity. “Got a mirror?”

“More or less,” she sighed as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a shard from a former compact.

“It’ll do,” she answered, plucking it from her hand and holding it up angled around the path.

“What do you see?”

“A dozen of them at least… I think two of them are the big guys from before.”

“What the-?!” a voice suddenly yelled from the unseen crowd. “You all didn’t hit one of them?!”

“Uh, but Snips, you said to shoot as soon as they saw somethin’, so they didn’t have time to aim.”

“Ugh! Snails, why didn’t you shoot?”

“I did. Mine doesn’t go that far.”

Dash frowned. “Ok, now I know the guys from Flaxonville are there. I can just make out the shack for the alarm behind ‘em.” She lowered the mirror and frowned. “They got a bead on us, so I don’t know how I can get out to beat ‘em all up.”

“I’m not sure we have time for that even if we can,” Rarity nervously answered. “At the moment, if the Nighttouched come they’ll either attack us here or cut us off. We need to get past them and trip that alarm then get away.”

“Alright. But that still leaves the question of how we’ll do that when they can shoot me as soon as I pop out. I’m still sore from buckethead in the mines. I don’t think even my symbol will let me do it.”

“Oh, oh! Pick me! I can do it!” Pinkie cheered.

Both women turned to her, looking a bit dubious. “I appreciate the volunteer, dear, but I don’t think you can outrun these kind of, um, bullets.”

She snickered. “Who need to outrun bullets when you only need to outrun trigger fingers?”

Both Rarity and Dash were perplexed by that, but Pinkie didn’t stick around any longer. She stuck her hand with her symbol into the air. “Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Sage Geologist—Maudileena Daisy Pie!”

Rarity and Dash both pressed themselves back in alarm at the eruption of the white aura, nervous about what it would mean to touch it. Again, the same visage of the woman formed before it spilled over Pinkie and turned her into the same roguish character as before. She giggled once, then darted right out from behind the rock wall into the open.

The guns began to fire off again almost immediately, causing Dash to snap back just as she was reaching out to try and stop her. Pinkie, however, went into a graceful cartwheel and easily slipped past it completely. She giggled again as they changed their aim and fired once more, but easily spun around the first few shots before somersaulting forward to avoid the others. She actually sang a little song as she got up and gracefully began to “serpentine hop” toward the crowd.

With her drawing their fire, Rarity and Dash looked out in astonishment to see her easily weaving around the deadly attacks blasting holes and craters all along the mountain path, but not so much as putting a speck of dirt on her.

“Sheesh, how is she even doing that?”

Rarity was about to stammer that she didn’t know, when she paused and cupped her hand to her chin. She remembered what Pinkie had said back in the cavern…

Before she could voice it, Pinkie, still giggling and laughing, nearly reached the front line and was still dodging even at point blank range. At last, the attackers ran out of ammunition and, to their visible frustration, they frantically tried to reload while they could. She kept bouncing a bit closer, before a loud squish went out. At once, her nimble flipping and hopping slowed to a crawl.

Dash was puzzled before she looked down to the ground. It was hard to make it out from here, but a trail of whitish goop was streamed along it. At once, she remembered the one called Snails saying he had fired, but that it hadn’t gone far. “Oh no…”

“Aw…!” Pinkie frowned, almost pouting at how her body was now moving in slow motion. She tried to begin another move, but it was like her body was passing through molasses. The agility she had before was gone. Seconds later, the soldiers had reloaded. They took aim and Rarity cupped her hands to her mouth on the thought it was over.

Before any could shoot, a squat shadow among them yelled. “Stop!”

The soldiers held their fire, although their guns remained aimed. A pair of swishing sounds rang out as the shadow deployed his blades from either hand, confirming him to be Snips. He advanced on Pinkie, still in a mid-air skip, and held his weapons to either side of her neck.

“Alright you two!” he shouted. “Get out here right now or I’m taking her head off her shoulders!”

“You idiot!” Dash yelled back. “You’re going to kill us all anyway!”

“She’s got a point, Snips.”

“Shut up, Snails!” His voice got an edge on it. “Alright, have it your way if you want. You can either try to go out like a hero and save your friend, or you can just stay back there like a big chicken and let her croak without a fight. You got thirty seconds to pick. Start countin’, Snails!”

“Uh, hang on. It’s hard to get my pocketwatch out in this.”

“Just count!”

“Ok. 1, 2, 3…”

“I meant count down from 30!”

“Oh, ok. 30, 31, 32…”

“I said down!”

“Oh, ok. 30…” A pause. “Uh, what comes next?”

“Gah! Someone else count!”

A sigh from a soldier. “30, 29, 28…”

Rarity and Dash both pulled back in and looked at each other nervously. “We can’t just sit here and let her be decapitated!”

“Yeah, but those soldiers will be waiting for us! And even I can’t go fast enough to dodge them all!”

“And I certainly can’t do anything.” She began to fish around in her pockets. “I’m not sure I even have a reasonably pointy object to throw at them at this point…” A moment later, she yanked her hands back out, revealing only a clothing pin in between two fingers. She slumped. “I don’t think hemming their trousers is going to help very much.”

“20, 19, 28…”

“Great…” Dash groaned as she rubbed her nasal bridge. “Normally I can’t stand using this power, and the one time I need it it’s not enough…”

“Wait… That’s just what I was thinking about. Remember what Pinkie Pie said?”

“Huh?”

“She said we weren’t using our symbols correctly…or something to that effect. I think you have to say something like what she was saying.”

Dash crooked her eyebrow. “You kidding? You actually want to take her advice on something?”

“It’s not like we have many other options, right?”

“12, 11, 10…”

Hearing the count getting dangerously close, Dash winced, and finally sighed. “Alright, alright… Couldn’t hurt. I’m going to have to make a run for it either way.”

Rarity looked a bit concerned. “Um…I don’t suppose you know what title she had, do you?”

Dash wistfully smirked. “Sure do. There was only one title for her.” She took a deep breath as she held up her symbol. “Here it goes.”

Steeling herself, she turned her head skyward as the count reached six.

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Leader of the Wonderbolts—Captain Spitfire!”

Dash’s own eyes bulged in shock along with Rarity’s as the symbol resonated, and her body began to emanate light just as Pinkie’s had. It wasn’t the white color, however, but blue this time. And as the light streaked forth to create a visage over her head, it wasn’t of the woman from before either.

Instead, both Rarity and Dash saw a woman who had a more youthful energy in her eye, but also a ferocity and boldness to her features. A wry smirk was on her face, as if she was inviting or even daring danger to come for her. Her wild hair was cut in such a way that even swept back it looked like a flame trailing.

And for a moment, Dash’s mouth hung open at seeing her.

“Spitfire…”

The visage and light broke and swept over her. Her already loose clothing mostly vanished, leaving her only with a light vest, a collared necklace of beads, and loose pants with a sash. Her socks and boots were gone, leaving her only with bare feet, and only a few bands of cloth acting as bracers along her arms were left behind. Her own wild rainbow-colored hair was tied back by a much simpler bandanna than Pinkie’s, being only a strip of cloth. Her muscles, however, which had already been powerful enough, instantly tightened, toned, and solidified even more strongly. While her overall frame remained the same, in moments she looked like she was made practically of marble.

The glow dimmed to a faint aura and Dash looked over herself in amazement. Rarity was likewise awed; definitely not expecting that.

“Good heavens…” she breathed. “I don’t suppose…you feel strong enough to possibly make the run, do you?”

In a snap, Dash looked up at Rarity with a smug grin.

“Just watch.”

“3, 2-”

Dash spun around, and Rarity let out a gasp for she was instantly gone. She saw only the faint sign of a blur before she was left staring at open air. A second later, the one counting stopped doing so to the tune of the sound of air rushing out of their lungs. Alarmed, Rarity went back to the side and looked.

She was awed on seeing how fast Dash had moved; having already stopped and poised right in front of the soldier who had been counting. The soldier herself was completely bent around her fist, her tongue hanging out and nearly looking as if the Huntsman not only knocked the wind out of her but almost everything else with it. And that was with the same protection measures they had been using back in Flaxonville.

Her speed had left the group too stunned to even fire. As for Dash, she had never grinned so wide before.

“Now this is awesome!”

With a move so fast it cut the air, she swung her foot up behind her. The end of another soldier’s gun barrel was hit hard enough to spin skyward, and she followed up by snapping around and driving her foot into her head. Her helmet was shattered from the impact and, once again, the device she was using for protection was no help as she snapped backward and dropped to the ground.

With Dash in their midst, their larger and more errant weapons were no use, and so the nearest soldiers fumed as they dropped their guns to the ground and snapped their knives free as they had in Flaxonville. They advanced on her as soon as they were able, starting off with two from either side swinging for her head and her middle respectively. Still smirking, Dash planted her feet and snapped both of her arms out, one going high and the other going low. They ended up smacking against the flat of the swinging blades and blocking both.

The soldiers quickly repositioned as another one leapt at her with a stabbing motion from behind, but moving just as quickly she changed her posture and, while blocking the two of them again, bent forward and let the third knife sail over her head. A fourth one jumped in for the next slice, leaving her fully surrounded, but she merely twisted her body around, balanced up on one leg, and dodged one before letting her three limbs deflect all the others.

“Heh, here! Have a free hit on me!” she called. As the soldiers leaned back to rush forward and stab again, she lowered her leg and planted her feet, flexed her arms, and stayed right in that position. The knives all darted inward for her exposed skin and muscles…

Only to glance off of her body as if she herself was iron.

The Trottingham soldiers recoiled in shock. Other than leave a few scratches on her skin, she had taken the blows. Glancing back to their knives, they were surprised to see two of them had actually dulled.

Dash herself snickered once more before she dove for one and drove two of her fingers into an underarm pressure point. The soldier cried out, spasmed, and let her knife fall uselessly to the ground as her arm went limp. She snapped around and jabbed another in the face, then used the moment he was stunned to wrap her arm around his neck, bend him over, and bring her foot up and around from behind to smash into the top of his head. He dropped to the ground uselessly a moment after. The third tried to stab for her eyes, but he barely made it half way before her arms reached out, clapped along his arm and wrist to snap the knife free, then drove in for another hit to his own underarm to immobilize him from a pressure point strike. She followed up with a more solid blow to his head to drop him. The final one tried to drive her knife into her side from the back, only for Dash to whip out her arm, snare her, and then drop and sweep kick her legs while simultaneously twisting her arm behind her back. With a sharp cry, she not only fell to the ground but was left lying on it face first with the Hunstman pinning her. One more sharp blow to the neck put her down as well.

“Hey Rarity!” Dash yelled as she stood up, seeing Snips, now furious, advancing on her with his humming blades. “Hurry up and get Pinkie and then sound the alarm!”

Rarity had been so in awe of Dash’s enhanced ability she had almost forgotten about that. “Oh…oh yes, of course!” She nearly stepped out right then and there.

However, she paused before going too far. She looked back at herself, thought a moment, and then shrugged as she held up her own hand.

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me!”

She paused, and her face began to look uncertain.

“Um…Wonderful Teacher—Daisy Cheerilee!”

While the aura did light up around her again, Rarity was dismayed to see it was the same as last time. She winced.

“Er…uh… Member of my house, I command you to come to me!” She swished her mouth. “Let’s see… Great Instructor—Daisy Cheerilee!”

This time, no change at all. Her faint aura remained the same.

“Leader of the Classroom—Daisy Cheerilee!”

Still nothing.

“Mistress of the Chalkboard—Daisy Cheerilee!”

Again nothing. She opened her mouth to try again.

“Rarity!” Dash’s voice yelled. “Quit wasting time and get over here!”

She groaned and sighed. “Coming, coming…” she muttered as she ran around the edge.

At this point, Snips gave his own war cry and advanced on Dash. Much as he had last time, his squat appearance and seemingly limited intelligence belayed a competent blade user. However, Dash looked sharper and stronger than before too. She easily evaded the first two swipes, and it wasn’t until he advanced and cut for her middle that she was forced to step back. She raised her arms to block the next blows but, on seeing how the blades were humming, ended up lowering them and backpedaling for the next strike.

“Ha!” he mocked. “You may got fancy feet and tough skin, but not only do my blades cut anything, you ain’t gonna get anywhere near me when I got a long reach and you just got your-OW!”

The armored soldier suddenly snapped back and hopped up and down on one foot painfully; the end result of Dash darting in and dropping her heel on his boot. Despite being armored, his sabaton was now dented where she landed.

“Heh, don’t need to when you keep leaving yourself open like that.”

Snips fumed, before furiously swiping his blades again. Dash backstepped to avoid the first swipe, then backstepped for the second, but by now her opponent was attacking out of anger. He overextended himself, and she used the moment to dart in and give him a blow to the side and to the helmet. In spite of his armored protection and how light the hits were, he still spasmed in visible pain from both. He yelled again and swung back out for her, but by then she was snapping back already. Angrily, he swiped out vertical slices next, but she merely sidestepped while pivoting backward for each one. As soon as he got into a rhythm, she waited for a key moment then stepped forward and gave him a smack in the nose.

His head snapped, forcing him to take a step back that time, before lowering it again with a fresh yell. However, he hesitated at that point. A second later, he advanced in a stabbing motion, and Dash quickly backstepped to evade it.

Yet she didn’t stop there. She had noticed the hesitation even with his face covered, and responded. She kept backing up even more, before she snapped around and drove her fist straight out…and into the face of Snails.

“Eh?” he managed to get out, right before her palm knocked his helmet partially off of his head. Both of his arms had been aimed to fire his paste again, but now he not only found himself jarred backward but blinded by the mid part of his helmet going over his eyes. He staggered and reached for it blindly. “Darnit, this helmet’s still a size too big, Snips!”

Snips fumed yet again, but this time he wasn’t alone on his attack. The remaining four soldiers had discarded their weapons and were advancing with their own knives.

At the same time, Rarity continued to puzzle over the right name, muttering to herself, as she dashed over to Pinkie. She had landed on the ground again, but had immediately begun to hop once more and was currently still stuck in midair. As she approached, she grinned at her. “Hey Rarity! Check this stuff out! It makes everything super slow! Any way we can save some for later? This would be really great for picking fruit from really tall trees or washing windows, or making sure you don’t hurt yourself if you fall off a really tall building…”

The designer merely sighed on reaching her, looking dismally at her own dress. “I suppose I was going to cut this into rags anyway…” she moaned as she tore off a strip. She went up to Pinkie’s foot and used it to wipe the material clear. As soon as it was gone, Pinkie immediately descended to the ground at normal speed, landing a bit awkwardly and wobbling.

“Wh-whoa!” she quickly waved her arms out and stopped herself. She turned to Rarity with a smile. “Tee-hee! Watch that first step! It’s a doozy!”

“Um, yes…quite. Now let’s get go…”

She trailed off. Two of the soldiers hadn’t pressed their attack on Rainbow Dash. Instead, they were now advancing on the two of them with their knives at the ready.

As Pinkie looked to them as well, Rarity swallowed. “Um…er…Masterful Scholar? Elementary Professor? Teacher of Children?” She frowned. “That last one wasn’t even that clever…”

The nearest one went for Pinkie, stabbing out for her middle. She didn’t look too worried. Still smiling, she promptly began to dodge and sidestep the knife without even needing to step backward. The other one, however, dove at Rarity soon afterward.

Cringing and shrieking, she did the only thing she could do and backed up. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, her heel caught when she did, causing her to spill backward onto the ground but also letting the thrust of the knife sail over her head. Now on her back with the soldier looming over her, she did the only thing she could think of and frantically kicked out for him for all she was worth to try and keep him at bay.

The blows struck at his limbs, but with whatever device he was using protecting him all they really served to do was tangle him up momentarily. He struggled to bat her legs down long enough to get in a stab.

As for Pinkie, she dodged the latest knife swipe from the soldier only to shoot forward and move past him. He spun around to her, but when he did he saw her holding up a belt and giggling as she waved it to and fro. “Look what I found!”

The soldier was surprised a moment, before the weight of his utilities suddenly yanked his pants down. He looked at it in alarm and struggled to move, but his legs got caught and he ended up stumbling and staggering. Just as Rarity’s soldier finally managed to get her legs down and readied to stab, Pinkie’s lost his balance and fell right into him. He cried out as both were bowled over.

Rarity quickly swallowed and began to step to her feet. Pinkie went ahead and bounded forward, before looking back and beckoning her on. “Come on, Rarity! The way’s clear now!”

The designer finished getting to her feet, huffing once, before quickly running past the two soldiers as they struggled to untangle themselves. She cast a glance at them quickly to make sure that neither of them were going to be following soon, then turned back to Pinkie as she turned about and began to skip to the shack.

She was just in time to see one of the soldiers Rainbow Dash had knocked to the ground but not fully out suddenly spring up, brandish her own firearm with her knife attached to the nozzle like a bayonet, and drive it right into Pinkie’s midsection.

Rarity froze on the spot and gasped in horror. From the angle she was standing, Pinkie’s back was to her and obscured her view of the attacking soldier. Yet there was no way she could have avoided it. She saw the knife flash on the end of the weapon, she saw it thrust true, and she even saw Pinkie halt and back up a little. It had to have hit.

And yet, Pinkie didn’t move after halting. She simply stood there silently and motionlessly. For a moment, Rarity thought the realization of what just happened was settling in on her.

Then, most suddenly, she looked up to the soldier still driving her weapon forward and giggled.

“Excuse me? I think you forgot this!”

She held up one hand. To Rarity’s shock as well as the soldier’s, she was holding the knife-turned-bayonet. She let it fall to the ground casually soon after before raising her other hand. That one held an ammunition cell for one of their weapons.

“And this!”

She let it fall as she reached down and popped back up with a trigger mechanism.

“And this!”

She let that fall as her other hand went back and came out with bolts for fastening a barrel down.

“And this!”

She soon was popping her hands down and pulling out more gun pieces, as well as straps, buttons, fasteners, and ammunition of all kinds. “And this! And this! And this! And this! And this! And this! And this! And this! And this!”

The soldier was still stunned at her initial recovery, but now looked around in utter bafflement as her gun suddenly fell apart in her hands before her armor, metal harness, and even uniform fell off afterward…leaving her crouched on the ground in nothing but her underwear. She could only gape, clearly not knowing whether to be aghast or embarrassed, and clutch for her own military brassiere as Pinkie giggled and skipped right by.

Rarity kept staring in bafflement, knowing what she saw just then. Even with her angle, she found it almost impossible to believe that knife hadn’t gone in… However, the fact the other soldiers behind her were still rising snapped her out of it as she rushed after Pinkie. They both reached the shack together, Pinkie opened the door, and Rarity ran inside.

It was completely dark and there wasn’t even a window for visibility. The only light came from the glow of the open doorway, but old, rusted machinery arranged around the tower’s central pole was within along with an old chair and some rotten food tins. She frantically began to look around. “Switch, switch…there has to be a switch in here somewhere…”

She kept looking until she saw what looked like a box with cables on it that had a conspicuously large lever. Assuming that was it, she reached over and grasped it. She frowned on realizing that it was rusted tight, even with her added power. Nevertheless, she clutched it more tightly and struggled to bring it down.

A small jingle went through the shack as she started to pull; the sound of machinery shaking. She stopped where she was, not moving an inch. A moment passed where the only sound was the ongoing fighting outside. Then she heard another jingle, a bit stronger this time. She also felt a small tremor on the ground.

Her face paled. “Oh no…”

Dash continued to back away from Snips as he and his companions swung again at him, while only half of those Dash had knocked down were even moving, let alone trying to get up again. Yet just as Snails finished putting his helmet back by banging his own head against the rock cliff, the ground shook enough to dislodge a few pebbles. That caused both sides to slow. Another impact went off that dislodged a bit more.

Everyone stopped at that point. They looked to the sky.

Dim as it already was, it was growing darker.

Dash’s smile finally disappeared. “Oh crap…”

“Wh-what was that…?” Snips spoke up nervously.

“Uh, Snips?” Snails called out. “Ya’ think it might be that big Light Eater we saw on the way here?”

He didn’t answer. Another tremor went out, and this time they heard a creaking with it just on the mountaintop above them. It sounded like a tree being broken by twisting in half. At that point, they began to hear other things. Wings flapping. Scurrying. Claws and scratching echoing down the tunnel over their heads. Another tremor, this one much closer. The sky darkened further and one of the soldiers pointed.

“Look!”

Everyone who could see up the mountain did so. Through the smog and closing darkness, a very large shape was slowly rising. It got a bit closer with every tremor.

Rarity, not seeing any of this but hearing the group outside, snapped back to the handle. She clutched and pulled at it, but it still wouldn’t give. Gritting her teeth, she grasped it desperately with both hands and strained herself. The rust began to grind but still it held.

Another tremor went off as the shadow loomed larger. This time, smaller shadows became visible around it, and they quickly grew bigger. Soon after, they parted through the smog and revealed themselves to be massive droplets of inky blackness that gleamed like stars; scattering from the footsteps of the big one on impact. Most of them flew everywhere along the mountainside with the ever-growing noises of things around them. One of them, however, splattered on rock cliffs right next to them. It gave a horrible wet, squelching sound, and as it spread out it left that area of space as dark as night.

The rush of wings suddenly changed pitch, and on the tier above them a cloud of darkness erupted from the train tunnel—darkness with hundreds of yellow glowing eyes in it.

Dash whirled to the shack. “Rarity, we got to get out of here now!”

Snips and Snails alike seemed to forget about their quarry as they nervously started to backpedal. Most of the soldiers still standing with them turned and began to run. Only one or two brave ones held back to try and get their comrades to rise up. The light dimmed further as the massive shape lumbered closer and stepped again, not only making things darker but casting its own shadow over them.

Crying out, Rarity lifted herself up and put her whole weight on the switch. With one final groan, it snapped downward. Gears and springs went off within the machinery, and in moments the tower over her head rattled a few times before a siren slowly began to blare over her head in a single long note. Rarity gave it a brief smile of relief before turning and bolting.

As soon as she stepped outside, she was nearly knocked off of her feet as another tremor went out. The strongest yet. Nevertheless, as the Trottinghamites began to scatter, with those who were down but conscious trying to drag themselves for it, the two trying to drag two of the unconscious ones away, some of them running, and others panicking and freezing in the wake of the oncoming Nighttouched and giant monster, Dash rushed over to both her and Pinkie. Although both of them ran to meet her, she quickly reached out and seized them both by the hand and pulled them away from the shack. She glanced up several times as she yanked them toward the next switchback.

“We got to get off this mountain! Start running!”

Another tremor went off as the sounds of two more trees being snapped loose echoed. Dash looked skyward again and only paled even more. “Go! Move!”

She tugged both her and Pinkie along to get them started, and Rarity quickly increased her speed into a run, but as she did she looked up and back too. She gasped on seeing the starry droplets for the first time, once more being shed off of the monstrous shadow looming over them. One of them landed only a short distance ahead of them with a massive splatter, causing Dash to quickly force them to one side to get around it. The others, however, splattered all around the mountain, both up and down on the side.

All save one.

In the midst of the soldiers either frozen or scattering, Rarity spotted one of them suddenly snapping around and going into a full run. He wasn’t fast enough. With a whistling sound like a falling cannon shell, the droplet came down and struck him, splattering him and engulfing him.

He was immediately forced to the ground as the black tar-like material covered him from head to toe. Yet he didn’t stay there. Almost immediately, he snapped his body back up and began to scream. Rarity had never heard such a horrible scream in her life. Before Dash could yank her away, she caught one final glimpse of him.

In spite of the fog and darkness, she could have sworn she was seeing not only his armor and clothes melting off of him…but his skeleton seeming to push its way out of his skin…

As Dash forced heron and dragged her down and around the hairpin, even in the midst of the Nighttouched and the massive shadow, she heard one of the Trottingham soldiers call to her comrades.

“Kill him! Hurry!”

Rarity’s heart caught in her throat as the weapons thundered behind her. She nearly gagged, and if it wasn’t for Dash dragging her down the next tier of the mountain she would have frozen where she stood. Only when they were another hundred feet down, she looked back at her. “What…what happened to…to that…man?”

“Forget him,” Dash stated quickly as she kept yanking her on. “Nobody can help him now. I just hope they did kill him before he got too far for his sake and ours.”

Rarity had far too much on her mind already, and couldn’t afford anything else distracting her. She left it at that and forced herself not to give what happened back there another thought.

For the next several minutes, all the three did was run down the mountainside hoping that they were actually gaining distance on the monsters pouring down it. Rarity had the worst time of it, as both Dash and Pinkie seemed to now be able to at least ignore their hunger and exhaustion. Her own was barely dulled and Dash had to pull her along. It gave her the opportunity to look around though as they headed down the switchbacks. Looking up the mountain, she saw Nighttouched continuing to flow out of the tunnel until they finally went too low to see it any longer, but she kept seeing them popping out in patches of one, a few, or a couple dozen from other parts of the mountain.

The bulk of them, however, seemed to be heading down the slope directly across from the tunnel. That included the massive Light Eater. In doing so, it looked like they were going to miss going right through the center of the city along with the three of them, but they were still going to trample through most of it. At one point, she thought she heard the sound of an airship engine and assumed it was the Trottinghamites, but she didn’t really care so long as it meant they were staying away from them.

Suddenly, a long-legged shadowy creature, like a horrendous goat, trampled across the trail in front of them. Dash halted and stopped the other two as Rarity gasped. Two more soon joined it, but all three of them just kept going right across and down the mountain on the other side. As soon as they had left, Dash looked up to make sure the way was clear. As for Rarity, she looked around, and shrieked again on seeing a group of what looked like tailless rodents with incisors the size of her finger run behind them in much the same way.

“Relax, relax!” Dash quickly shouted, before pulling Rarity on again and getting Pinkie to skip after them.

“R-Relax?! We’re surrounded by Nighttouched!”

“Only a few of them! And it looks like they don’t even want us! They must see the lights down the mountain from the city!”

Rarity seriously had her doubts, especially with the smog, but as the three of them ran along and continued to see periodic Nighttouched rush past them, she couldn’t argue with it. Even as the sky grew darker they continued to only come sporadically as they ran down two more tiers, eventually seeming to stop all together. By now, the giant Light Eater was reaching the foot of the mountain, but was still heading slightly away from them. The shadow it left in its wake, however, didn’t move; making them all realizing this was a true surge. All the way down to the end of Griffonstone.

Finally, as they reached one of the last hairpin turns, Dash stopped for a moment and looked over the edge. Although she was completely out of breath and rather dizzy, Rarity couldn’t help but call out as Pinkie bounced next to her. “Why…are we…stopping?”

“Trying to see what we’re getting into. Look down there.”

Rarity glanced that way. In spite of the closing darkness of the giant Light Eater, they were now close enough to the foot of the mountain themselves to get a much better look at Grifftham City extending beneath them. They could see tiny shadows running off the mountain and flowing into it on the edges and scattering through the streets. Just faintly, Rarity could hear the sounds of screams below, before they were answered with sounds of gunfire. For a few moments, she could make out the nice, ordered lines of gaslights up and down the streets. However, they rapidly began to get snuffed out, leaving the city behind in darkness.

“Merciful heavens. Are those monsters doing that?”

Dash shook her head. “They aren’t moving that fast. They must be shutting off the gas lines. Leaving the place dark so nothing attracts them. Now their own army is moving in. They gotta keep these things back until the people get out.”

Rarity looked to her nervously. “And…can they?”

Dash winced. “I…think so… They’re all going to run for the gunfire if it’s the only light out there. So long as they can draw them in one big bottleneck, they can keep them pinned in one spot…at least until that big thing or any smaller Light Eaters get there. Just need to lead them to a wide street or something…”

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie piped up, pointing out to the cityscape. “Will that big bridge do?”

“Huh?” Dash looked that way. Far along on the edge of the city, where lights were still it, they could make out a canal that went from one end to the other; nearly splitting the city in half. Only one large bridge served as a crossing point from what they could see. She shook her head. “Nah, not that one. They got to keep that open if they’re going to evacuate this half of the city.”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Pinkie frowned, before gesturing below. “‘Cause a bunch of Nighttouched are already headed that way.”

“Wait, what?”

Both Dash and Rarity looked. About a quarter of a mile to the right of them, there was a cavern in the side of the mountain that looked like a natural spillway. It drained down a broken-down passage into the canal itself. At the moment, a flood of Nighttouched of all shapes and sizes were running out of it like they were living water. As a mass of them gathered, they began to rush down the canal and inevitably in the direction of the bridge.

Rarity cupped a hand to her chin. “Oh dear…”

“Great… Without any light to distract them, they’re just going to go blindly in the path of least resistance. It’s going to take them right to that bridge and into everyone going across it!”

“Really?” Pinkie chimed in, looking over their shoulders for a moment, before looking back at them and grinning. “Ok then! We know what step two of saving Grifftham City is now! Stop them from reaching that bridge!”

Dash and Rarity looked back at Pinkie, then back to each other.

“I…don’t suppose you have any ideas?”

“Maybe… Come on!”

She took off into a run again. Rarity had scarcely finished catching her breath, but sighed and began to run after her. Pinkie cheered before bouncing along after them.

To be continued...

Nightwatch: Runaway Train

“I haven’t been to Grifftham City in a long time, so look around down there! See if you can find anywhere that’s got a whole bunch of Steel Lions!”

“What’s…” Rarity shouted back between pants. “A steel…lion…?”

“Ugh…trackless engines! I thought the yard for them was on the edge of town! They don’t want anyone stealing them!”

“I see ‘em! I see ‘em!” Pinkie shouted again. She pointed down the mountainside once again. The three looked as they ran down the trail. Rarity had a hard time making it out in the dimming light, but she saw what looked like a large number of oddly smooth train engines haphazardly arranged in a square-shaped yard. However, her companions had better eyesight, and soon Dash grinned.

“Great, we’re in luck! They must have set up the yard right here from when the tunnel was still under construction! Here’s the deal! We’re gonna grab one of ‘em and use it as a tank to smash through this city to the bridge!”

“Er…smash…?” Rarity nervously answered.

“Yippee! I always wanted to go for a tank ride!” Pinkie cheered. “But, uh, you think they’ll mind?”

Looking again at the yard below them, the three noticed that there were several dark shadows looming over them already. A good eight Nighttouched were already flocking around the yard. One or two of them looked rather big.

Dash kept grinning as she cracked her neck. “Nothing to it! I feel way tougher now! Just get them in front of my fists and I’ll take care of it!”

She continued to lead the way to the final hairpin turn and beyond. As they ran back one last time, this time headed straight for the yard, they finally left the gravel trail and descended onto the dingy, cracked streets of Grifftham City itself. By now, it was practically pitch black out, but that only spurred Rarity to run on faster. She could hear the sounds of Nighttouched darting to and fro everywhere, but none of them tried to set upon the three of them right away and she wanted to make use of that as long as she could. At any rate, they were still in isolated numbers for the time being. Most of them had to be charging across the rest of the city.

There was just enough light left to see the gateway to the yard up ahead. Dash apparently was right about the vehicles being used for tunnel construction, for large amounts of long abandoned materials and tools were piled up haphazardly just outside of the gate. She halted for a moment on seeing the first set of yellow eyes moving about in it, and ducked behind the materials for cover.

As the two fell in behind her, she turned to them. “Alright, here’s what’s gonna happen. Me and Pinkie are going to go right in there and bust some heads. Rarity, since your, uh…um…‘glowing gal’ isn’t working as good, you find a working Steel Lion while we’re covering you and start it up.”

“Wh-wh…me?” she retorted. “I haven’t the slightest idea how to run one of those engines!”

Dash shrugged. “Well, neither do I. Pinkie?”

“Nope!” she answered, happily shaking her head.

“So we’re all gonna have to do this on the fly. How hard could it be? Folks in Griffonstone use ‘em all the time and most of them never even went to school.”

“Oh dear…” Rarity sighed, before quickly looking about herself. After a moment, she spotted an old barrel with several old tool handles protruding from it. She walked over and winced as she looked at them, nervously withholding her hand all the while. After a moment, she grit her teeth and drew one out delicately.

Dash gave her a look. “Uh…what are you doing?”

“If I’m going to be charging into the jaws of death, I might as well be armed. I only enrolled in one quarter of fencing as an elective, and I found it far too sweat-inducing for my tastes, but hopefully I can remember some of it.” She hoisted what looked like the remains of an old fire poker that had been discarded in the trash, grimacing all the while. “Ugh…must everything in this town be caked in rust and soot?”

“Alright, alright,” Dash called out, whirling back around, “let’s not make ourselves a Nighttouched target any longer… Time to be awesome!”

Without another word, she barreled straight for the main gate. Pinkie let out a cheer before skipping after her. That left Rarity, who reluctantly grasped her poker with both hands and ran after them.

There were two Nighttouched visible as soon as they neared the gate, both appearing to be twisted, oversized versions of groundhogs. They whirled to Dash as she approached, let out a violent chittering noise, and ran toward her. Fighting any wild animal with nothing but skin and fists was normally ill advisable no matter how strong you were, but she didn’t balk in the least. She ran right up to one and, barely even pausing, brought her foot up and dropped the heel down in an axe kick. The skull was split right open in her wake.

“That’s one!”

The other reared up and gnashed it teeth as she approached, but she nimbly stepped and pivoted before swinging her foot out and smashing it across the face. The creature was snapped up and flung across the yard, before smashing into the side of a half-dismantled trackless engine with a bone-crunching noise.

“That’s two!”

A screech went out over her head. Dash looked up and saw a bat the size of a large stingray swooping down on her. Its claws were oversized along with its teeth, and it spat out foam as it dove on the unarmed woman. However, her only reaction was a smile. Crouching a bit to store power, she waited for it to get closer then sprung up. As she leapt to meet the bat, she drove her fist skyward in an uppercut. The blow connected in its middle and another crunch went out. The broken creature collapsed to the ground before Dash landed a moment later.

“Three down, five to go!”

By now, Pinkie had bounced up to Dash’s side and braced for anything else, while Rarity, huffing and bringing up the rear, finally passed the gate and began to look around. After a moment, she staggered toward the first engine that looked intact, while Dash bellowed a war cry. “Come on, you creepy crawlies! I know you’re out there! Come get me!”

No sooner had Dash finished shouting that challenge when a deep, thundering roar erupted from around one of the ruined engines so loudly that her ears hurt.

Dash’s smug confidence quickly began to wane as deep, rhythmic tramping echoed through the yard. A shape about half the size of one of the engines slowly walked around it. The yellow eyes alone that zeroed in on her and Pinkie were as big as a human head, but the shape of the monstrosity drew far more of their attention as it was the figure of a gigantic male lion. It drooled so much from its massive jaws she could actually hear each small splash hit the ground along with the sounds of its claws raking the dirt.

Worst of all, however, was as it came around it swished its tail behind it, only it wasn’t a normal tail. It was segmented and long like a scorpion’s—complete with a large barb. As it turned its head to Dash, the tail curled around once before casually flicking to one side and into the engine behind it. With a massive clang, the entire engine block shifted slightly from the force.

“Uh…” she muttered, taking a step backward. “On second thought, stay there. I’ll come to you.”

The thing let out another roar so booming that Dash’s hair actually blew back, and then took off in a charge right for her. Quickly tightening up, she dove to one side just as it reached her; sailing right past and smashing into the side of another engine. The headfirst impact was enough to dent in its side, and for a moment its legs faltered beneath it as it stalled. Dash nearly tried to seize advantage of the moment, but before she could she heard a smaller yet still-fearsome roar, like that of a jaguar, behind her.

She turned about, and yelled in surprise as a much smaller cat-like monster, this one seeming to be the distorted and engorged remains of a real cat, leapt at her with claws outstretched. Worse than that, two more were right behind it wanting to join in. She managed to sidestep the first, but the two others quickly leapt and swiped out for her neck, forcing her to duck and go into a forward roll to evade them. By that point, even she was blanching at having to fight four Nighttouched at a time. Especially as the biggest one pulled itself up at last, spun around, and charged at her again. Scarcely out of her dodge roll, she rose up only to see it nearly on her. Wincing, she relied on a more unconventional move and turned herself to the side before diving back at the giant monster. Just barely, she managed to slip in between its outstretched claws and under its massive jaw, letting it continue to charge by. As for her, her sideways dive landed her on the ground for a moment. The other three monsters spun about to take advantage of it by pouncing on her together.

Yet just as they were about to spring, Pinkie Pie, singing a little to herself again, performed a spinning cartwheel right in front of them. The sudden shift of something in front of their target caused them all to miscalculate their leaps, and they ended up aborting them early and touching down at the wrong spot. This allowed Dash to quickly get to her feet again and caused the three monsters to hesitate on landing. A second later, two went for Pinkie while the third went for Dash’s throat.

Unfortunately for the beast, Dash had already shifted targets to it and quickly ran forward to meet it; leaping into the air at the same time it did. Yet as it extended its claws to her, she snapped her body around in a twirl and brought both feet down on its head. The first slammed the skull into its own lower jaw, and the second resulted in a snap from its neck. The monster went limp and crashed into the ground.

“Tag, you’re it!” Pinkie cheered as she blew a raspberry at the two headed for her. “Nyah-nyah!”

The twisted cats hissed and lashed out for her, one of them pouncing and the other running forward and swiping at her. She whistled and dodged the claws from both before springing backward, flipping in midair to land on her hands, and then flipping off of those as the first monster tried to slash at her again. She giggled again before she took off her own bandanna and brandished it like a bullfighter’s cape, taunting both monsters further. One growled and lashed out at her, but she merely let it flow underneath the cape. She swished it around for the next and it dove at her as well, only for her to snicker as, instead of passing through the cloth to the other side, it ran headfirst into a metal panel of a nearby engine. The impact was so hard that it ended up knocking itself senseless.

She put her bandanna back and got ready to brace herself against the remaining one, but stopped on seeing that the much larger Nighttouched had whirled on her as she was the closer target. Nevertheless, she giggled again when it reared up a paw and slammed it down for where she was, simply hopping back to evade it. It did so again a second later, but she not only nimbly leapt back from this one as well, but swiveled her body backward to let the second feline Nighttouched shoot by in front of her in a failed pounce.

This made the big one growl. Its segmented tail curled once before it snapped out like a gunshot. Even Pinkie wasn’t able to do more than shift weight before it came about and smashed into her with an audible noise. Dash halted in midstep trying to attack the monster from behind on seeing her turned into a pink blur before she was driven deep into the side of another Steel Lion; enough to leave an impression with her body.

While she gasped at that, what was even more shocking was that rather than being turned into a smear Pinkie merely looked a bit dizzy and dazzled.

“Ok…” she half-moaned. “I’m it…”

Rarity, at the same time, was quickly abandoning one engine after another trying to find a working one. It wasn’t helping that every so often the big monster’s gestures would ruin another engine through a missed strike. Finally, she spotted one that looked mostly intact and wasn’t in immediate danger of being struck, and quickly ran across the battlefield as the remaining monsters turned their full attention on Dash. She reached the side, undid the bulkhead, and quickly entered.

Fortunately, the engine room was right in front and not sectioned off at all. She ran into it and looked about, and saw that the controls didn’t look that old either. Unfortunately, beyond that, she didn’t know what to think. The various valves, levers, doors, and the like made about as much sense to her as a book written in Olde Ponish. Scratching her head a few times, she finally recognized a door at the front. She opened it and saw an assortment of half-burned black rocks inside it.

“Alright, that’s coal…and I’m pretty sure it needs to be aflame…” She looked around a bit more, before she spotted a canister a bit like a watering can hanging up near the front. She took it down and removed the lid, grimacing at the contents. They seemed like some sort of oil or tar. She looked around a bit more and found a strange device hanging near it. It was a lever holding two pieces of metal together like a set of tweezers. She took it up and gave it a squeeze, and saw it made a small flurry of sparks. Realizing this was some sort of starter, she looked back to the door to the coal and opened it wider before nervously getting to work.

Dash wasn’t nearly as nimble as Pinkie was, and found herself forced to backpedal further as the remaining feline Nighttouched and the lion-like one continued to attack her together. The smaller one continuously leapt and pounced at her, while the bigger one alternated between smashing its paws at her, snapping its jaws, or, worst of all, using the scorpion-like tail. Every time it whizzed by Dash felt it cut the air so strongly it almost yanked her off her feet even with enhanced strength, and each time it missed it punctured steel or ripped against the ground.

The assault was forcing her back to where she didn’t want to go: a small cul-de-sac made from several ruined engines. Once she was there, she knew she’d be pinned with no out from their attacks. Yet as she neared it, she glanced behind her once and got an idea. Moistening her lips, she continued to let them drive her into it rather than escape.

The big one snapped its jaws at her again, and she used the moment to backstep twice, putting herself at a distance from it but well in the surroundings of the wreckage. The smaller one quickly dashed forward and yelled before pouncing again. She sidestepped, but the monster was all too ready to shoot by her. As soon as it had, it landed on the side of the wreckage that now surrounded her and used that as a springboard to pounce and try and get her from behind.

Unfortunately for it, that was what Dash was hoping for and quickly dropped into a duck where she was as the larger monster stomped forward. The feline shot over her head and ended up landing in front of her as the giant Nighttouched brought its paw down. With a bone-crunching noise, the smaller Nighttouched was flattened.

Dash grinned. “Heh! Missed me!”

The beast roared on seeing its failure and immediately snapped its tail out again. However, Dash was waiting for this as well and moved as soon as she saw it begin to coil its appendage. It lashed out a moment later right past her and into the metal barrier with a resounding crunch. The barb blasted out some of the metal wreckage while embedding itself in the rest.

The Huntsman hoped that the monster would have destroyed the blockade for her, but much to her pleasure when the Nighttouched tried to bring its tail back, it shifted the metal a bit but remained stuck. It snarled and pulled harder, but it stayed anchored. After a moment, she grinned again on seeing it immobilized. She quickly whipped back her fist and started to advance, meaning to inflict a final blow…

A loud screech interrupted her. She looked skyward only to cry out as a second bat dove on her with claws outstretched. She had to bring her arms up to deflect them before it could scrape for her eyes or face. However, the flying Nighttouched didn’t stop at one attack. It continued to swipe and slash out for her, screeching all the way. And as she struggled with it, the larger Nighttouched slowly began to yank its tail loose.

Rarity, meanwhile, to the tune of a rather pungent odor, had managed to get a fire going inside the engine. Quickly shutting the door before it got too hot, she began to look around more frantically than before now that there was a light source to attract more Nighttouched. Unfortunately, most of the controls and levers were still a mystery to her. She tried to trace a few of them with her eyes, before she finally shrugged and reached for one. After hesitating a moment more she gave it a pull.

The sound of a sharp clang, like something had just fallen off, came from the back of the engine. She went a little wide eyed, before backing away from the lever as if it had just bitten her.

“Come on, Rarity… It can’t be harder than a steam taxi, and you take those all the time…although you try not to stare too long at the drivers…”

Dash kept trying to form a fist long enough to drive a blow into the bat, but not only was its angle making it impossible to aim a killing stroke but it was battering away at her too hard to get ready. She had to constantly smack its talons aside as she couldn’t simply block it, or it would cut up her hands while she was trying. And, much to her displeasure, she was still struggling to deflect it when the monster finally yanked its tail free of the metal debris.

She struggled to face it, but the bat chose that moment to reach out and seize her wrists in its surprisingly strong grip. It leaned over and attempted to bite for her face, forcing her to reach up and seize it by the jaws. She managed to hold it back, but couldn’t get free, and soon she began to panic on seeing that lion-like Nighttouched open its mouth wide enough to engulf half of her and ran forward.

“I’m coming, Dashie! Wheee!”

While the big monster kept bounding toward her, Dash turned on hearing Pinkie’s voice. To her surprise, she had straddled the stunned feline Nighttouched from earlier. While it had recovered from its blow, she was now yanking it by the ears and directing it toward the Huntsman as it struggled to dislodge her. On spotting her, the smaller monster seemed ready to pounce again on her if it couldn’t get Pinkie off its back.

Dash spotted it, then glanced to her other side and saw the big Nighttouched still coming. An idea came to mind. Smirking, she let both keep getting closer as she held back the monstrous bat, and finally at the last moment she let her feet go out from underneath her while forcing the bat upward.

The feline Nighttouched leapt at the same time and Pinkie, seeming to know what she was going to do, leapt off as well. As a result, the cat sailed through the air, missed Dash entirely, and clamped its jaws around the neck of the bat instead. The thing screeched and let Dash go as it was carried through the air and right into the waiting jaws of the lion-like Nighttouched. Better yet, the two didn’t merely land in its mouth but continued to sail in until they plugged the thing’s throat.

Dash quickly backward rolled to avoid the charge of the monster, but it planted its own paws a second later to grind to a halt and retched. Soon it began to spasm and twist while holding its mouth open; choking on its own companions. Its deadly tail flicked about behind it randomly, but offered no more threat.

The Huntsman got to her feet and, seeing the thing temporarily stunned, grinned again and tightened her fists. “My turn!”

Breaking into a short charge, she leapt into the air, enough to go over the monster’s head, and then came down. The thing looked up to her, but was helpless to do anything but see her fist smash into the space above one of its eye sockets. There was no bone there, and as a result one of its eyes was partially dislodged from her punch. Its head snapped downward, and Dash quickly landed and unloaded. Her fists went off like thunderclaps, first driving into its lower jaw and splitting it along its mandibular symphysis, then smashing its entire head to the side in spite of its size and power, before driving her hand in and smashing it in a pressure point at the neck joint. In spite of its colossal size, the Nighttouched was left stunned and partially immobilized, allowing Dash to advance on it and pound her next blows as hard as she could right into its snout. More bones breaking echoed and two teeth fell out as it actually staggered back.

Finally, it bellowed again and reared up, bringing its broken and bloodied face away from Dash, flashing its claws, and ready to slam down on top of her. However, she kept on smiling as she put her arms at her sides. As the beast came down, she let herself fall onto her back. In spite of its efforts to slash and crush her, the monster missed her entirely and positioned is chest right over her body.

Immediately she swung both of her legs up together and drove them hard and deep into its sternum. Multiple cracks went out as the bone was dislodged from the rest of the rib cage and went inward, crushing the heart and lungs.

The already-choking monster heaved out the remains of the other two Nighttouched, but it only gave a wet gurgle afterward. As it staggered, Dash quickly rolled free, before it sank to the ground a moment later. As it went still, the black material began to slough off of it…signifying its death at last.

Dash quickly sprung to her feet as Pinkie came over, pumping her fist. “Yeah! And that makes eight!”

Pinkie made an excited squeal and nearly answered, before her face fell. Dash turned and saw that she was looking past her and actually looked a bit frightened. “Um…you don’t suppose we did enough to scare that Light Eater over there into not attacking, do you?”

Dash’s own smile disappeared. “What?”

She wheeled around and saw it. Sliding and gliding over the top of one of the wrecked engines was a glistening gleaming entity of blackness, shining all over like a starry night. As vague as it was it was hard to tell if it was imitating a snake or slug, but it hardly mattered. All that did matter was its dim moonspot eyes were focused on the two of them and the auras they were emanating. And now that it had them, it quickly began to pick up its pace.

“Uh, Rarity?” Dash called out; her own voice breaking in fear. “I think we need to get out of here!”

Misinterpreting that as a need to hurry up, the designer made a tiny fist and smashed it against one of the consoles, only to cry out and hold it back on hurting it on the rough metal. Nevertheless, she scowled at it. “This is ridiculous! I’ve had to take apart and put back together a Harpist-brand sewing machine to finish an overnight deadline and I can’t figure out this outdated contraption?” She groaned. “Oh, let’s face facts… I’m no sort of engineer.”

She stood a moment, but then drew herself up indignantly.

“But pish-posh to that! I just have to dig deep to that time we learned about steam engines. Ms. Cheerilee even brought that one in she cobbled together from…”

Rarity suddenly looked up. Her memory triggered.

In her mind’s eye, she saw back to when she was a little girl at a desk. She watched Ms. Cheerilee walk in one day; holding in her arms a rather clunky and odd-looking contraption. She explained how she would be talking about steam power that day and set it on her desk for all the students to see.

And when she had, she knocked the embroidered frame over that she said one of her first students made for her. It had been so flattering that she kept it there not so much as a title but a personal motivation to give her best every class session. Day after day, Rarity had seen that walking in and coming out of the school. All of her students had for years. She could see her setting it back up, and she could see the stitched lettering on it.

Ms. Daisy Cheerilee—a guide to a child’s inspiration.

She thought about that a moment longer before she raised her hand to the sky.

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Inspiration’s Guide—Daisy Cheerilee!”

Rarity cried out as her aura immediately flared to full life. Just like with Pinkie and Dash, the light came forth, although this time hers was a purple or lavender. It traced out a visage over her head, and for a moment she found herself looking up and seeing Ms. Cheerilee smiling down on her; the perfect picture of her health in the prime of her life. Just how she remembered her as a child. She would have tried to touch her if she hadn’t still been crying in shock, but before she could the image shattered and fell over her.

Rarity actually shut her eyes for the next part, as she could feel power and vitality seeping into her. She could also feel the fabric of her clothes lengthening, altering, and changing form into something new. She continued to hold until she stopped feeling it, then opened her eyes and looked herself over.

She was quite surprised.

Her attire had not only fully mended, but had improved dramatically. She was now clad in a splendid coat with great showy buttons and an intricate trim. Her dress had been replaced for looser pants with tall, freshly polished boots, and her hands were covered with long black gloves. Over the ensemble she wore a high collared cape with a white scarf, likewise trimmed gold. Finally, her hair had been cleaned, combed, and restyled before being topped off with a feathered chapeau tilted ever so alluringly over her brow.

Rarity took a moment to inspect herself. “Hmm…” she muttered as she looked over her shoulder. “A bit outdated, but also quite stylish and charming. I dare say I feel like the lead in one of those new age operas.” She held out her hand and turned it over, admiring herself a bit more before smiling. “Although I could get quite used to it.”

“Rarity!”

Hearing the cry, she quickly snapped out of it. “Oh, right, right…” She reached for her poker, only to grimace again. She looked at her glove regretfully. “It’s such lovely new suede… It seems such a pity to stain it already. Well, such is life…” Sighing, she plucked up the tool.

She nearly dropped it again as not only was it far easier to lift, but her aura quickly spread down over it next. In moments, it transformed too. No longer was it a rusty poker but an elegant rapier with a blade and hilt that gleamed like silver, complete with inlaid gemstones.

“Oh-ho! Much better!” she smiled before turning and running for the hatch. It took her only moments to reach it and charge out. “Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie! Take a look at...AAAH!”

Her momentary joy at “using her symbol properly” was smothered on seeing the long, snake-like Light Eater coming their way. Dash and Pinkie were already backing up. Neither of them risked getting anywhere near without even having a weapon to their name. However, it was so long it was spreading its body out widely from side to side as it kept closing.

Dash looked behind her for more room to back up, only to glimpse Rarity. “There you are! Why didn’t you come out when I shouted the first time?” She paused, looking her over. “Don’t tell me you were changing your clothes this whole time!”

Pinkie looked around at her next and smiled again. “Ooo! Rarity’s using her symbol the right way too!”

The Light Eater, on its part, picked up its speed now that it had three light sources in front of it. Rarity stiffened a moment, but then swallowed and steeled herself. “Well…if everything else about you two is stronger, maybe I can manage something better.” She held her free hand out and aimed for it.

“Don’t try and fight it!” Dash yelled. “Just run this way before it cuts us off! You can’t hurt-”

“Fireballfireballfireballfireball!”

Just as she hoped, the power she had used before not only came to her but came to her faster and stronger than before. Her entire hand lit up like an ember before a fireball the size of a cantaloupe snapped out for the Light Eater. Dash groaned as she ran over to grab Rarity by the extended arm, meaning to drag her on.

Before she could pull her, the fireball struck part of the Light Eater’s lengthy body and burst into a campfire-sized flame on it. At once, the Light Eater stopped slithering forward and began to writhe over itself like a worm that had been pierced by a hook.

Dash froze where she stood. Rarity, who only now had enough presence of mind to realize what she had just done and how it should have failed, stared in open-mouthed surprise.

“Did…did that…?”

“Did that just…?”

Pinkie herself looked amazed, watching as the Light Eater kept squirming until it pulled itself off the rapidly dying flames, but even then it seemed to need a moment to recover. During that time, she began to look curious and calmly started to walk toward it.

Both Dash and Rarity spotted her, becoming even more surprised. “Pinkie, what are you doing?! Stay away from that thing!”

“You can’t let one of those beasts touch you!”

She ignored them and kept walking until she stood only a foot away from it. The thing continued to calm, and finally smoothed itself out and began to turn to her. Before it fully did, however, she simply pulled back her foot, stayed standing on one leg for a moment, and then swung it forward and kicked the side of the creature.

The foot connected, and it winced and recoiled. A moment later, it reared up before its amorphous head split open and revealed a face full of long fangs. Before it could strike, however, Pinkie let out a loud and exaggerated gasp. She turned around and ran back to the others just as the thing snapped for where she was.

“Dash, Rarity, you won’t believe this! But I think this magic shiny glowy stuff around us actually lets us hit Light Eaters without getting hurt!”

Both stood there dumbfounded. After eight years of living in terror of things that were considered anywhere from demons to living nightmares, it was hard to just accept that. However, they did part from one another. As for the Light Eater, it reared back up and drew itself even higher. A moment later, it spun to all three of them and cracked its mouth open wider. Both Dash and Rarity looked up to it, prompting Pinkie to turn as well, before it hissed and struck for them.

Out of a mixture of instinct and risk-taking, Dash winced, closed her eyes, and swung out her fist for it as the head came down.

A smack rang out as its head was snapped to one side and its jaws clamped on nothing.

Dash opened one eye, looking nervously back, but then opened the other on seeing nothing happened. She pulled her hand back, looked it over, but it was unmarked. No stains or defilement. “It…it worked… Pinkie’s right! I just punched that thing and I feel fine!”

The Light Eater shook its amorphous head, before opening its jaws again with even more teeth. It drew more of its body around and reared up yet again. Before it could go any further, Rarity, also acting mostly on panic, advanced and drove her newly-made rapier forward. Remembering her one quarter course, she found herself instinctively yelling: “Thrust!”

The blade pierced right into and through the middle of the creature, causing droplets of its material to shed and deteriorate into black mist. Once again, it went into a violent fit, causing Rarity to rip her sword out and back up with the others for a moment. Yet as it continued to spasm, she realized she had indeed hurt it. And on that note, she winced, cringed, and finally dove forward to swipe out again. This time, her rapier sliced right through the middle of its body.

The Light Eater’s two halves toppled to the ground. They flipped and flopped on the ground a moment, but then went still. Soon after, its starry material bubbled and dissolved into black mist before their eyes.

The three were left staring in dumbfounded shock; slowly realizing what they had just done. The lot was silent for a few moments.

Finally, Dash burst into a smile.

“We are…sooooo awesome!” She yelled, suddenly reaching out and wrapping her arms around the two of them. Pinkie grinned back enthusiastically while Rarity was still left stunned. “Did you just see that? We just killed an actual Light Eater! Get that? An actual Light Eater! We’re, like, the only people in the world who can do that! Do you know what this means?”

“Oh, oh, I know!” Pinkie shouted enthusiastically. “It means we’re going to get to kill a lot more of them in a couple minutes when every last one of them is attracted to all the light we’re giving off so they all come running at us together!”

Rarity’s look reverted to dread. Dash’s own face became far more uncomfortable. “Uh…good point. Let’s celebrate how great we are later.” She spun fully to Rarity. “Did you get the engine running?”

She hesitated. “Well…in a manner of speaking.”

The three were soon back inside the engine’s main compartment, much to Rarity’s relief. The light they were giving off did indeed start attracting more Nighttouched, and she knew now Light Eaters wouldn’t be far behind. Even if they could touch them safely, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t fight back. And the three of them couldn’t kill every last one of the monsters in Grifftham City.

She gestured to the controls. “I started a fire in that coal compartment, but I haven’t the foggiest idea what to do next.”

Dash looked around for a moment before looking at a gauge. An indicator was on it, and it was slowly building up. At the moment it was moving out of a zone marked in yellow and black, but beyond that was a long green zone before a yellow and finally a red one at the far end. She gestured to it. “I think this is for the boiler. It’s building up steam. We should be able to go in just a bit. Good thing they built these things after they made the quick-starting engines…”

“Thank goodness,” Rarity sighed. “Greater power or not, I don’t want to risk getting bitten or clawed by one of those monstrosities again… Now we might be able to find a way to stop that flood before it reaches that bridge, though.”

Dash looked up to the can and lighter that Rarity had used to start up the boiler. She still saw some gunky tar caked around the nozzle.

She smirked as a thought came to her. “I think I might help with that…” She turned back around and started to head for the hatch. “Come on.”

Pinkie bounded after her, but Rarity was aghast. “Are you mad? We’ve been lucky so far, but we don’t want to attract any more of those things!”

“We’ll only be out long enough for the boiler to finish building! Remember all that equipment they had for tunnel building we ran past?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Heh, I got an idea…”

Three minutes later, the fence to the engine yard was knocked down as the trackless engine burst through like a living battering ram made of metal. It immediately began to fishtail one way and another as it wavered and skid toward one of the roads.

Within the control area, Rarity shrieked at Dash’s steering as she seemed to randomly turn the control wheels. She clung to Pinkie in fright, who, in turn, took it all as a game.

“Tee-hee! I like screaming on a fun ride too, Rarity!” She put her arms back around her and cried out too. “Wheeeeee!”

“Would both of you cool it?!” She shouted behind her. “I’m just getting a feel for her!”

“You’re about to run us into that building!” Rarity shouted back.

“Oh…whoops!”

She quickly snapped the wheel around again, making the engine lurch so hard one way that it nearly spilled over completely. However, just barely, they scraped by the building before it swiveled back onto the road. While it took out a pair of street lamps along the way, it slowly got back onto the main drag. After that, Dash smirked as she pushed it up to as high as the throttle would allow given their steam buildup.

“Alright, we’re off! Full speed ahead! We got a lot of ground to cover!”

The truth was even the three minute delay was too much for both them as well as the people running across the bridge to the east. Rarity’s worst fears had been justified as more Nighttouched began to arrive. With their new enhanced abilities, they were able to take out the first few with ease, but larger and deadlier ones soon followed, and this time they brought much bigger and deadlier Light Eaters with them. To be honest, none of them wanted to risk attacking one again for fear the first one had somehow been a cosmic fluke. However, Dash insisted on grabbing one particular wagon and attaching it to the back before taking off.

Now they were driving a tankard full of tar used for railroad track paving behind them, plowing down the streets of Grifftham City. Most of the crowd that had been gathering behind them had been left in the dust, but ones that could fly or run particularly fast were still coming after them. None of them could catch up or stop the engine, however. And whenever they came across an abandoned bit of debris or wagon ahead of them, their engine just smashed right through it or rolled over it barely losing speed.

“Alright, so which way to the canal?”

Rarity swallowed, fanning herself a little. “This garment may be fashionable, but it’s definitely a little on the warm side…” Once composed, she looked out the side window, and gestured. “Hang a left at this next intersection.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure! This will run us alongside the canal perfectly! I saw it from the mountainside!”

“You only got a glimpse of it, though!”

“Darling, if there is one thing I possess, it’s an eye for patterns. Trust me.”

Dash exhaled. “Alright. Hang on then!”

She swung the steering wheel sharply once again, this time flinging both Pinkie and Rarity to one side. Pinkie giggled the whole time while Rarity muttered a silent prayer, but although the engine scraped up part of the curb they managed to straighten out again and keep going. On steadying it, while Rarity was still getting her bearings, Dash looked out the window to the right.

“Hey, whatd’ya know? You’re right!”

Rarity clutched her chest as she inched over to the window and looked. There was a row of buildings still blocking their view, but in between the gaps she could look out and see the canal. More importantly, she could see the thousand of eyes scurrying around inside it all moving their way along.

“My word…” she nearly gasped. “I’ve never seen so many of them moving together…”

“Oh, I have!” Pinkie chirped. “Right over here!”

Rarity looked up and saw her pointing at the other window. She glanced outside. It took her a second or two, but eventually enough wide alleys went by where she managed to look past to the adjoining street. Much to her surprise, she saw not only collections of yellow eyes over there as well, but several of the shapes in the lead looked like the massive lion creature they had fought before. This time, however, there was a whole “herd” of them.

“Oh dear…” She looked up. “Rainbow Dash, I think we have a bit of a problem.”

“You’re telling me!” she shouted back. “We’re starting to get right into them!”

Rarity puzzled about what that meant, until she suddenly heard a knock against the metal chassis of the engine. She looked up, only to hear another soon after. A third came not long after that followed by a fourth. She glanced again to the window, but this time looked forward. She winced at what she saw. The Nighttouched from either mass were starting to spill out into the adjoining streets, including theirs. Every so often one would crawl out of an alley, a doorway, or a gutter and rush toward the engine. They ground each one that tried to bits, but she knew right away that if too many of them massed even they couldn’t smash through them.

Nevertheless, that was only part of the problem. She looked back to Dash. “I meant to say that there’s another stream of those monsters to our left!”

“What? You’re kidding me!” she shouted back angrily, before groaning. “Forget them for now! Let’s deal with the original problem! Both of you get to the back!”

Pinkie immediately began to move that way, but Rarity paused. “Wait, why?”

“I need you to open up the rear hatch, then Rarity…you use your little magic trick to light that tar tank on fire!”

“Wh-wh-what?! Are you trying to set us on fire?!”

“Trust me! Pinkie, as soon as I yell back, you cut it loose from the back!”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” she cheerfully answered, not questioning in the least. Rarity was left aghast and staring between the two a moment, but realized they didn’t have the luxury of questions. Groaning, she turned and headed for the back of the trackless engine herself.

They soon reached it, where another bulkhead for another hatch was waiting for them. Rarity grimaced a little at the thought of hearing those periodic knocking sounds on the Steel Lion, making her think that it had to be more of those monsters trying to force their way in, but nevertheless she simply held up her sword and braced herself as Pinkie grasped the handle and gave it a spin. With a hiss of hydraulics, the hatch slowly opened up, and the two of them were confronted with the bleak Griffonstone air and the sound of a dirty engine chugging as they watched the city fly by. Much to Rarity’s displeasure, she could see at least five sets of eyes behind them still following them.

Nevertheless, she swallowed one more time before raising her free hand. She had to force herself to say it, but finally she chanted. “Littlefireballlittlefireballlittlefireballlittlefireball…”

On the fourth repetition, a tiny ball of flame no bigger than her thumb popped off of her outstretched hand and sailed onto the tankard. It was hardly enough to burst it open, but the small flame was enough to set much of the gunk residue around the opening on fire. It quickly ignited into a decent sized flame and began to spread over it. Rarity immediately grew uncomfortable, realizing it wouldn’t take long for the fires to penetrate it and risk an eruption.

However, she soon had something far more immediate to worry about, for the new light soon diverted the attacking Nighttouched. The sounds of them striking the sides of the engine cut off, only for them to fly to the rear and begin hovering over the trailing tankard. Rarity cried out on seeing several more of the giant bats along with giant birds beginning to descend, especially when some of them spotted the two women. Screeching, they readjusted their pattern and moved in.

Rarity nervously brandished her rapier. “Pinkie, if you have any manner of weapon on you, I suggest you produce it!”

“Weapon?” Pinkie echoed, before giggling. “Rarity, that’s just silly! Gaitians are pacifists! We only fight when something’s about to attack us! I don’t have any weapons on me!”

“Wait, what?” However, she had no time to follow up that comment, because one of the birds pitched into a dive and shot for the hatch opening. She shrieked before quickly swiping her blade out at it, managing to tag it and take off a wing. Unfortunately, the rest immediately moved in and mobbed her together. Some dove while others flapped in and clawed, but soon she was swamped.

Rarity managed to drive her rapier point into the next one that came, but as it fell it weighed her sword down. That enabled the others to quickly move in on her while unprotected. Two large bats reached out and clawed and tore at her immobilized arm. She tried to wrench it free, but they held fast and started to tear into her coat sleeve.

Her eyes widened, then creased in anger. “I just got this brand new coat!” she fumed, and pointed her free hand in their faces. “Icicleicicleicicleicicle!”

Not one but three razor sharp darts erupted from her fingers, much sharper and stronger than before, and pierced the bats like deadly knives. Neither was killed but both screeched and fell back. That only allowed more to flow in behind them, though. They extended their beaks and claws as they tried to sweep into the hatch opening, and she responded by quickly raising her sword and slashing at the air in front of her. Two of them reached for her only to get lacerations across their digits, causing them to abort and flap back, but they continued to swarm—trying to hook around her swiping blade or get a peck in edgewise.

Just as Rarity was beginning to feel her arms tiring, a flurry of white granules suddenly flew over the entire flock. The bats hissed and spat as it fell into their large eyes and nostrils, forcing their flights to abort and to fall back. The birds, on the other hand, had the granules slip in between their wing feathers, and as a result they began to falter and fall out of the sky all together. Rarity was suddenly in the clear, and, puzzled at what had just happened, turned and looked behind her.

Pinkie, who had seemingly produced a small bag of salt out of her poofy hair, was now shaking it out and letting the wind around them blast the creatures with the material. She snickered as she closed up the bag and stuffed it back inside. “I knew bringing ma’s special seasoned salt was a good idea!”

Rarity was a bit dumbfounded, but could hardly argue. She looked back outside, raising her sword and waiting for more attacks. However, although Nighttouched were still in pursuit, her main concern was the fact that the fire had spread across the entire tar tankard. It could burst at any moment, and when it did both she and Pinkie would be covered with the flaming gunk.

Before she could worry any longer, however, the homes on one side of them broke, and she saw nothing but the canal, as well as the flood of Nighttouched coming down it, just as their own vehicle managed to inch in front of the leading edge. At that moment she heard Dash yell. “Cut it loose!”

“You got it!” Pinkie answered, heedlessly going right to the edge of the engine and actually stepping out of the hatch. A moment later, she reached over, grabbed the bolt securing the trailer to the rear of the engine and simply pulled it out.

At the exact same time, Rarity was flung to the ground as the engine took yet another sharp turn. She heard the gears whine and the wheels squeal as they dug into the road enough to rip off some of the pavement. She cried out in alarm again as she saw the world swing around behind them, and their engine go one way while the flaming tar tankard was left to go the other. She was still being flung for a loop as it rolled to the edge of the canal and over the side…

A loud, gooey pop went off a moment later, sending out an eruption of flaming tar bits everywhere. She quickly yanked herself inside as many of the enflamed fragments came their way, and she saw several smack on top of their trackless engine before Pinkie Pie, ignoring this entire calamity, simply hopped inside and pulled the hatch down again before shutting it. Swallowing, Rarity forced herself back up again and pressed her face against the rear window.

The flood of Nighttouched were blocked. She was just in time to see them all begin to halt on finding the canal filled with flames. Using it as a barrier was perfect. If stopped any other way the monsters might have fled or tried to get out of the canal, but faced with a light source all they could do was encircle it.

Rarity risked a shaky smile before she pulled away from the window. Both she and Pinkie ran back up to the front and moved on either side of Dash. “It worked! We stopped them!”

“Alright! Now let’s see if we can stop that other group. Look out and tell me what you see!”

Rarity and Pinkie moved to either window, with the former of the two taking the one closest to the Nighttouched gathering. She grimaced again on seeing how many of them there were and how ferocious, but she also managed to look ahead further along the road. She blinked a few times before leaning in her head closer.

Her eyes widened. “My word…”

“What is it?”

“I think there’s been a gas fire! There’s a pillar of flames right down the middle of that street on our side of the canal!”

Dash scowled. “Fantastic! What idiot did that? It’s going to attract every Nighttouched and Light Eater in this town that gets close enough to see it through the smog! And it’s right along the main road to the bridge! It’s practically lining everyone up for an execution block!”

“Hey, I got it!” Pinkie chirped. “Let’s set another big fire and get them to go running away from everyone!”

“We can’t do that now! We only had the one tar tankard! We’ll never be able to make a fire big enough!”

“Not to mention what fire we are making probably isn’t what’s preferable,” Rarity moaned. “Rainbow Dash, I don’t know how to tell you this, but that last explosion ended up being a bit too severe. I’m pretty sure several pieces of flaming tar landed on top of the engine.”

Dash straightened. “Wait…” she spoke much more quietly. “Did you just say we’re on fire?”

“Yes!” A pause. “Why are you sounding like that’s somehow a good thing?”

She didn’t answer, only smirked wider. “Both you and Pinkie better hold on tight. I got another idea!”

“Wha-aaaaat!” Rarity’s question was cut off as the engine suddenly made another sharp turn, courtesy of Dash swinging the wheel wildly again to the side. In response, the trackless engine made a sharp lurch over to the left, moving it closer to the stampede of Nighttouched. However, she stopped short of turning it completely around. Instead, she looked out to the controls, and finally reached and grasped one they identified as the steam boiler release. She quickly cranked it up all the way, and Rarity and Pinkie were both thrown to the floor as it accelerated even faster.

“What are you doing? We’ll run out of steam like that!”

“Just need to crank it for a bit farther! Long enough to get ahead!”

Rarity didn’t argue. Instead, she reached out and grasped for whatever she could find that was solid enough to hold her steady. Pinkie, on the other hand, leapt up and cheered at the acceleration. The engine itself sped up to 55 km per hour and then blasted past that to 65 and finally 75. The streets began to fly by far more rapidly, but still they could see the Nighttouched running alongside them and so Dash kept pushing it. The train tore through any other creatures that tried to attack it, going so far as to smash one deer Nighttouched that ran in front of it into ground beef. Going as fast as they were, they lost some speed each time but still managed to go faster than the stampede.

Finally, as the burning gas line up ahead got much closer than any of them wanted, they finally reached the head of the column. Dash kept letting them chug onward beyond that, even as the boiler began to hiss and whine. She looked out the side window as she kept driving the engine, glancing at the passing buildings while they kept plowing forward. A large metallic snap went off from one side of the engine, and a fierce rattling went out soon later. Rarity stiffened on realizing the engine finally pushed itself too far and she feared in moments they’d lose more than whatever broke loose.

Yet that fear was soon compounded as Dash swung the wheel about in the sharpest manner yet. This time, the engine kicked up enough to go onto half of its wheels, and Rarity screamed while Pinkie laughed as the whole compartment lurched enough for her to slide against and onto one of the walls. She thought for sure they would tip over, until the entire engine smashed hard into a building side. Rattling pounded against the engine as it gouged a rift into the brickwork, and it lost so much speed that it seemed if they didn’t fall they would still smash the engine completely. Again, however, by some miracle, the smash into the building instead acted to shove the engine back and right it; leaving it free to keep chugging forward again.

That last move had taken something out of the Steel Lion. A high pitched whine came from the main engine. The steam boiler had to have cracked. Another whistle like a loud kettle joined it soon after, indicating more damage. The rattling on the wheels below them increased as well. Yet none of that was nearly as intensive as the sounds of scraping that burst out on either side of the engine soon after.

“What in heaven’s name are you doing?!”

“Driving this hunk of iron right down an alleyway!”

“Have you completely lost your mind?!”

“Just get ready, because we’re gonna smash this thing up in a few seconds!”

Rarity didn’t even bother crying out this time as the engine around them continued to whine and deteriorate. She only moaned before cringing into a ball and putting her hands behind her head and neck and shutting her eyes.

“Hey, keep ‘em open!” Pinkie shouted to her. “That’s the most fun part of a ride!”

Dash grit her own teeth and braced herself as the engine kept going. It lost more speed as more parts of it snapped and broke loose, but for the most part continued to chug forward far faster than any of them could run. Excess heat began to pour off of the controls, and a smell of burning wafted through the air. She risked looking out the window, but for several more seconds all she saw were buildings flying by; most of them getting damaged by the engine as it struggled to squeeze through the narrow space.

Finally, it broke as the engine burst out into a street…just as a pair of the lion-like Nighttouched rushed into the engine’s path. The vehicle slammed into both of them with its remaining momentum. It was hard enough to break bones on its initial impact, but assuming they both survived they would find themselves swept up in front of the train and brought along with it. Moments later, the trackless engine smashed them along with itself into the side of the building across the street so hard that half of the side of it collapsed on top of it.

The three occupants of the engine were rattled about like beans in a can, tossed to and fro and into controls, seating, panels, and assorted other irregular metal objects. Even at the low speed of around 55 km per hour at that point, if they hadn’t all been enhanced by their mysterious symbols they would have been suffering far more serious injuries and broken bones themselves. As it was, all three were left sore and in a disheveled pile on the ground when they finally settled, including Pinkie.

They lay there for several moments as the machine around them hissed, sputtered, and slowly let out the rest of its steam. The sound of fire burning on top of it slowly became more audible. At last, Pinkie raised a hand.

“And that’s…step three.”

“Yay…we’re awesome…” Dash half-muttered.

Rarity groaned and finally started to move. “Let’s just get out of here. Between this engine burning and that fire up ahead, they’re going to be on us in…”

She trailed off, and the other two went still as well. As they lay there, they realized they felt a light tremor. After a moment they felt another one. And then another after that, a bit stronger, soon afterward.

All three began to look fearful.

“Uh-oh…I remember those giant footsteps…”

The three scrambled to their feet, fueled by fresh anxiety. Soon all three were rushing to the intact side hatch. Rarity reached it first and quickly grasped it and gave it a sharp rotation, undoing the hydraulics and popping it open. She filed out with Dash right behind her and Pinkie bringing up the rear.

Fortunately, their engine was now forming an effective, burning roadblock against the Nighttouched that would have otherwise flooded the street; leaving them with an open road ahead leading into a square at a junction between two roads. It took them only moments to realize this square was the very same source of the fire they had seen. The broken gas main was just up ahead belching a pillar of flame into the sky. In fact, the sky looked like it had actually cleared up enough to where the same fire could be seen over half the city.

However, that only held their attention for a few moments. What truly caught them was the fact that three individuals were standing their ground and facing them now. A woman clad in a white robe with red trim cupping her hands to her mouth, a more dangerous-looking woman hefting a warhammer in light armor, and a woman in a black cloak and wide-brimmed hat brandishing what looked like a wand in their midst.

All three of them were emanating the same soft glow as Rarity, Dash, and Pinkie. They seemed to recognize the same thing as they stared right back at them.

Rarity and the wand-bearer spoke at the same time.

“Who in Greater Everfree are those people?”

Nightwatch: Through the Fire and the Flames, Part I

In spite of the still-approaching threat of the Tantabus, both Twilight and Rarity reared back on hearing what each other said.

“Who are we?” Applejack echoed. “Who are you? And how are y’all glowin’ like us?”

Dash frowned back and crossed her arms. “Might ask you the same thing.”

Twilight blinked and raised the brim of her hat, looking a bit closer at the three across from them. “All three of you have Promethian Sigils? And you’re actually using them?”

Rarity looked confused. “What in Greater Equestria is a ‘Promethian Sigil’? Are you talking about those symbols that appeared on our hands?”

Pinkie lit up. “Oh! So that’s what the Magic Circle-y Circles are called! That’s…” Her face fell after a moment. “…actually pretty hard to remember. Can we just keep calling them Magic Circle-y Circles?”

“Oh…they appeared on you too?” Fluttershy spoke up mildly. “Oh dear. I don’t suppose…um, well, that is…uh…have you three happened to notice anyone from Trottingham following you around?”

Dash and Rarity gave the white-robed woman a deadpan stare for several seconds. Rarity’s eye began to twitch, and Dash slapped her palm across her face and ran down it as she grit her teeth. “Are you kidding me?!”

Before anyone could say another word, the sounds of cannon fire burst from the part of the city already claimed by the Nighttouched. All six turned and looked. The fires from the ruined Steel Lion engine were beginning to rise higher and spread to the buildings around it, but it still served to keep the Nighttouched at bay. Nevertheless, the monstrous Light Eater was still closing, and at this point enough of it had emerged into the newly-cleared skies that they could make out its shape.

Just like the smaller ones, it took the vague form of a real animal. This one was a horse, only with a wild, flowing mane, smaller manes on its tail and legs also flowing backward, and a long, spired horn protruding from its head. In addition, the space around where its snout would be parted occasionally, revealing a mouth full of crude teeth.

The noise they had heard was from a single cannon deep in the city. It fired off another shell after the first, but the six saw both shots simply sink into the Light Eater’s body and ripple out the other side. Even if they hadn’t, the thing was far too big to be stopped by just a few shells.

Twilight grimaced. “Don’t know why I really expected anything different…but it doesn’t matter how big it is. The Tantabus is still just a giant Light Eater which means nothing can hurt it.”

“’Cept us,” Applejack spoke up, hefting her hammer again. She looked at the three in front of them. “Whoever y’all are, ya’ best clear outta here and let us save this city.”

Rarity turned her nose up. “Excuse me, but we will not be ‘clearing out’ anywhere. Not when we’re here to save this city.” She paused, suddenly realizing what she had just heard. “Wait, excuse me?”

“If you’re gonna try and save this city, do it somewhere else!” Dash interjected. “Some idiot set a gas fire that’s gonna be a signal beacon to that thing!”

“Oh. We’re the idiots who did that,” Fluttershy quietly answered, before wincing at what she said. “I mean, we’re the ones who did that.”

Dash and Rarity’s eyes bulged. “Are you nuts? Why the hell are you trying to bring that giant monster right over here into the middle of the city?!”

Twilight let out a sigh. “Because we’re trying to keep it away from the ocean!” she nearly cried back.

“That’s just nonsense! Why in the world would you rather it trample through the center of a major metropolitan area instead of…” Rarity trailed off in the middle of her scolding, suddenly realizing something. “Wait a moment…” She turned nervously to her two companions. “Ms. Dash, do you remember what was coming off of it when we came down the mountain?”

Applejack gaped. “Hold on now…y’all actually went over that mountain chain? When that giant son-of-a-gun was walkin’ over it?”

Dash ignored Applejack’s comment, but shrugged to Rarity. “You mean those big black spots that came off? What about ‘em?”

“What do you suppose would happen if that monster polluted the ocean with them?”

It took her a moment, but Dash began to look as nervous as Rarity. Pinkie swallowed anxiously as well. “I think that’d mean no one is going fishing again until, um…never.”

“Unless we stop it right here and right now,” Twilight answered. “I don’t exactly know how we’re going to do it…only that Applejack and me are the only things I know of that can actually hurt Light Eaters. So you three really need to get out of here before it gets here.”

“And…how do you plan on stopping it?” Rarity asked.

The mage winced before nervously looking away. “I…I don’t know. I’m trying to think of something now, but…but we can’t defend anyone else while I’m doing that.”

Dash snorted. “Who said anything about defending us?” She grinned and pumped her fist. “I don’t know what a Promethian Sigil is, but I know the three of us can all hurt Light Eaters too. We killed one just fifteen minutes ago at the most. If you need more ways to hurt that thing, then you need us.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie chimed in. “The more the merrier!”

Rarity looked uncomfortable at being volunteered at first. However, when she glanced back at the Tantabus, she sighed and looked ahead again. “I really, really don’t care much for heroics, but seeing as I know my rapier and magic tricks seem to be capable of doing some damage I don’t have the luxury of opting out. You can count me in as well, dear.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ya’ say ya’ managed to kill a Light Eater, but I only see one of ya’ with a weapon.”

Dash grinned wider. “Heh, I got all the weapons I need right here.” She hefted both fists.

“It’s true, madame,” Rarity added. “Ms. Dash here punched one across the face not just a little while ago. It seems whatever these auras are that we’re radiating, it’s protecting us from being infected by these ghastly phantoms.”

“Wait…what did you say?” Twilight suddenly exclaimed. “You’re saying you actually made physical contact and nothing happened? Are you sure?”

“Sure we’re sure!” Pinkie added. “I kicked one too! I’m not sure if that’ll help that much against the big one, though.”

Twilight hesitated. She bowed her head and began to think aloud. “I…suppose it would make sense. When you don a spirit, it fills your entire body. So if it has the ability to alter the nature of my spells so that they can harm their bodies, that same energy wavelength has to be permeating us. That would explain why Applejack’s hammer was able to hurt that one. It might actually shield us too so we could grapple with one if necessary…”

“Uh,” Dash spoke up, “if you got any ideas over there, ‘Witch Hazel’, how about sharing them with the rest of us? Make it quick ‘cause that big thing is getting closer.”

Twilight looked back up. She glanced over the three new arrivals for a moment. “Looks like…a Rogue…a Disciple…and a Magician type… They’d at least give us more options. But…”

Applejack saw her hesitation, and finally frowned and shrugged. “Hell, Twilight, they got my vote. We’re more than a little short-handed as-is. We only got two of us to begin with…although I guess with what they’re saying, Fluttershy might be able ta’ jump in if we could get her a weapon.”

“Um…we, uh, don’t really have to find out if we don’t need to…” she quietly muttered.

Twilight looked up again and saw that the Tantabus had closed half the distance since turning toward the gas line. By this point, they could see its massive limbs tearing smaller buildings apart to walk forward. She stared at it a little longer, her mind racing, before she finally took in a deep breath and let out a long exhale.

“Everyone…including new folks…gather around. I only have time to say this once so you’re going to have to go with most of it.”

Applejack and Fluttershy readily stepped up, although the latter was a bit nervous. Pinkie also had no problem happily moving in. Dash and Rarity hesitated, but of the six of them that were gathered the mage was the one who spoke with authority and know-how, which was more than the rest of them could say. As a result, they moved in too.

“If we try to outright kill that thing, I don’t think we have a chance of stopping it,” she began. “But I’ve noticed a lot of odd things about it that I’m starting to think about. First…the Light Eaters leave our world in a state of permanent night, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a Light Eater, gigantic or otherwise, take the initiative. Every other time they’ve always made their surges during nightfall, and the world stays permanently dark the next morning. This one actually looks capable of ‘bringing night with it’.

“Second…I noticed that the Light Eaters actually made a move that required planning this time. They staged a fake surge in Appleloosa so that none of the armed forces would be ready to leap on the Tantabus now. But think about that for a moment… Why? You just saw cannon shells go right through it. It was like Constable Gruff said. Even if everyone was fighting it, it should have just been able to walk right through it without stopping or slowing.”

The women looked intrigued. They had been so busy trying to fight and stay alive none of them had really paused to think about that.

“Third…it’s occurred to me that there seem to be two natures to Light Eaters. Like I said, just now we saw cannon shells go right through it. Along with bullets, blades, fire, and anything else that tries to hurt them. It’s like nothing physical in our world can interact with them. And yet look over there.” She pointed to the approaching monster, just as it stepped again and tore the edge off another building before flattening an abandoned trackless engine. “It’s interacting with this city just fine. It might have to in order to even move itself forward. More than that. All of that stuff it keeps shedding off of it has a physical quality to it that stays.”

“You’re right,” Rarity suddenly spoke up. “Back on that mountain, I saw…” She hesitated, swallowing a lump in her throat. “I saw someone get struck by the material. It knocked him off his feet and to the ground. It wasn’t just ‘darkness’ but something tangible.”

“And because of all these things, I have a radical theory,” Twilight spoke up again. “There’s a chance it’s actually straining itself to keep itself moving. That it actually takes a bit out of it in order to make part of it ‘solid’. That’s why pieces of it keep breaking off every time it takes a step. If that’s the case, then I think part of the reason it crossed the mountains and is moving in through Grifftham City is because it couldn’t risk a whole armed force trying to hurt it. If enough things were shooting at it, it would have to become so amorphous that it would deteriorate and fall apart because it wouldn’t be able to keep moving and negate everything.”

“So what does that mean for us?” Applejack spoke up.

Twilight took a deep breath. “I think if we can pin it in one spot long enough while Grifftham City is powered down, with all of its gas and steam engines cut off, the smog will dissipate and the sunlight will start shining down on it again. Even when we ran into it on the river, the sun was already headed down and it had the shadows of mountains to hide in. Here, it either has to blot out the whole sky or it’ll face the early morning or noon day sun. And I don’t think it can for long. Not without straining itself to the breaking point.”

“Do you really think so?” Rarity asked.

Twilight winced a little. “If you’re asking if I know for sure…no. Maybe it can blot out the sun no matter what time of day. I’m making a ton of guesses and crossing my fingers.”

That wasn’t the most comforting note to end on, and all of them shared that sentiment as they looked to one another. No matter who they were, they were working with three strangers they had just met against a monster that no one had ever faced.

In the end, Applejack exhaled. “Got nothin’ better, so I’m in.”

“Same here. Better than any ideas I got and you seem to know what you’re talking about more than me,” Dash added.

“Very well,” Rarity sighed.

“Ok…” Fluttershy nearly whispered.

“Yipee!” Pinkie finally capped off.

Twilight stared at them a moment. “…I’ll take that as we’re all in. Right.” She turned to Dash. “Um…who are-”

“Rainbow Dash, the Sonic Rainboom.” She smiled and pumped her fist at that last part.

“…Right, Rainbow Dash. You and Applejack pick a spot near that thing’s ankle and start attacking it every chance you get. There’s no way we can reach the main body and even if we could if it’s anything like a Light Eater it doesn’t have any vitals, but it’s limbs should be a true target. If we can lop off two of its limbs that should mostly cripple it like any real animal.”

She turned to Pinkie next. “Alright, um…”

“I’m Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!”

“Er, Pinkie…you don’t have a weapon or any way to attack, so what you have to do is run a diversion. Since you’re a Rogue type, you should be able to outrun it and dodge it so long as it can’t move any faster than it does now. If you can’t get its attention, try to distract anything else that might come up and interrupt us.”

She turned to the white robed woman. “Fluttershy, you may be a Healer type, but without any spells the only way you can help us is either by accelerating our mana regeneration or natural healing, or by trying to exert your will on the Tantabus itself. You have to jump on any of us the moment we get hurt if we get hurt so we can get in and keep swinging. Don’t go out of your way to try and work your will on the Tantabus, though. Save it for any incoming Nighttouched and Light Eaters, and get Spike and the rest of the animals to help out if you can.”

“Um…excuse me,” she spoke up nervously, “but…what did you mean by ‘the rest of the incoming Nighttouched and Light Eaters’?”

“There’s going to be more of them coming to this fire along with the Tantabus. You’ve got to work to keep them off us so we can focus on it.”

She sank a bit more into her hood. “Oh my…”

Finally, Twilight turned to the last person. Before she could say a word, the designer sighed. “Rarity, darling.”

“Rarity…um…what spells do you happen to know?”

Rarity thought for a moment. “Well, I can hold my hand out at something and say ‘Fireball’ four times, and a little fireball comes out. Or I can hold out my hand and say ‘Icicle’ four times, and a few icicles come out. Oh! And if I hold onto someone and keep saying ‘all better’, they heal faster. Now let’s see…I think I managed an electric spark once…”

“Those are your spells?!” Twilight nearly cried. “Those aren’t spells! They aren’t even cantrips! They’re things that students back at the academy used to do by mistake on their first day!”

Rarity frowned. “Well, I haven’t foggiest idea what academy you went to, dear, but last I looked it is not part of the standard curricula in Manehattan to learn magic tricks.”

“Ugh…a Magician who doesn’t know a single spell…perfect…” Twilight groaned. “Just…just do what you can. Aim for the same spot everyone else is hitting or use your sword or…or something.”

She almost huffed at the insinuation that there was nothing for her to do, but she hefted her blade. “This is a rapier, dear, and I can assure you that I can handle myself better than you think.”

“Alright then. Let’s head up the side street or we’ll run into the mass that got blocked on the road. Try to go around from the side and avoid everything you can but the Tantabus.”

Twilight finally exhaled, turning around and readying her own wand. By now, the Tantabus had closed another quarter of the distance. Its massive head was lowering closer to the emerging pillar of fire. They didn’t have more than three minutes before it reached it.

With that in mind, she held up her wand and shouted. “Everyone…attack!”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash broke into a full charge, although between the two of them, and much to the former’s astonishment, Dash quickly took the lead. Twilight did her best to run up from behind, already beginning to manipulate her wand and chant her first spell. Rarity ran alongside, keeping pace as she held her own rapier at the ready. Fluttershy beckoned the animals on, causing them to fall in behind her, and Pinkie laughed as she skipped off into the fray.

The side street was mostly clear, just as Twilight hoped. All of the remaining Nighttouched and Light Eaters were being attracted to the fire of the engine or the gas main. What few Nighttouched did get into Dash’s path she readily punched or stomped on to clear away, and whatever ones escaped her soon came across Applejack’s hammer so that Twilight and Rarity had smooth sailing the whole way.

There were still airborne ones, but Pinkie quickly took care of that. As soon as she found the nearest fire escape, she leapt up and easily scaled it all the way to the top and onto the roof. From there, she ran across and nimbly leapt from one building to another until she approached a flock of Nighttouched hovering over the area. For a moment, they spotted Dash and altered their flight path toward her.

Before they got too far she cupped her hand to her mouth and shouted. “Hey Nighttouched! I got the bestest candy in the world, but I’m not sharing! Nyah!”

It was unlikely that they actually cared about what she said, but the fact she was loud caught their attention and confirmed to them she was a closer target. They quickly swooped around and went after her, but she merely laughed and began to hop away across the rooftops. The sound of her laughter plus spotting their companions turning to her caused the others wandering below to spin around and go after her as well; giving those below even more breathing room.

Soon after, Dash spun down an alley and into the main road, just as the Tantabus’ massive limb, easily the diameter of a building itself, smashed down on the street with pavement-fracturing force. It was so intense she actually had to hop into the air to avoid the impact knocking her over, but even then she found herself slowing in her step a bit on finding herself staring at a seemingly unbreakable pillar of starry blackness. Before she could lose too much resolve, she grit her teeth and charged right for it. As she reached the thing, she vaulted forward and leapt into the air with a flying roundhouse for her opening move.

The side of her foot smashed into the edge of the leg and raked across. Like it was made of nothing but black goo, five gallons worth of its body were broken off and splattered to the ground; leaving more of the dark stained space around it. Dash herself landed a moment later and glanced at her leg, making sure it was good. Fortunately, what pieces of the material had landed on it were fizzling away like water on a hot burner. Nevertheless, she quickly had to backstep as the colossus lifted its foot forward a moment later and nearly swept her away.

By the time it touched down again, Applejack was breaking out. Yelling a war cry, she barreled straight at the leg with her warhammer behind her head and unloaded on it far more ferociously. Three huge swings went out one after the other, smashing away huge chunks of black material with each strike. She tried to swing a fourth time, but by then it was moving again and forced her to back up.

As soon as it landed again, Twilight and Rarity came out. Twilight was still generating her own spell even now, but Rarity moved away from her and aimed her own hand at it. “Icicleicicleicicleicicle!”

She was pleased to see four darts came out this time and shot into the appendage, slicing out a cup full of material with each swipe across it. Applejack, on her part, gave Rarity an odd look on seeing her smiling at the move.

As for Twilight, she finally stepped forward and aimed her wand, lighting up an icy blue sigil around her. Rarity’s satisfied smile turned into a frightened shout as she saw a monstrous, jagged icicle the length of a Steel Lion erupt from her own wand and shoot like a javelin into the Tantabus’ ankle region. It pierced in deep, shedding even more of the blackness, before it erupted in an even larger collection of ice shards that tore and lacerated into it. An entire tankard worth of its black goo spilled out from it.

Only that final attack, however, had made a noticeable mark on its body. And as the leg stood there, the rest of its matter that constituted it rose up in inky tendrils to link together and reform the injury within three seconds.

Dash groaned in disgust. “You got to be kidding me! That’s all we did?”

“Well, don’t give up yet! If it’d be easy, it wouldn’t be so damn big!” Applejack shouted as she hefted her hammer. “Just keep chippin’ away at it!”

“Um, I don’t mean to alarm anyone,” Rarity nervously spoke up. “But has anyone noticed that it’s stopped moving?”

The four went quiet. Sure enough, the Tantabus was only standing there motionless now. They watched it for a second, wondering if their attack actually had an effect after all.

Twilight finally spotted something. “Up there! Look under its belly!”

The others did so. Something was happening to it. The surface was rippling without anything striking it. Bubbling, even. And it continued to get stronger for a few moments and protrude more from its body.

Finally, a large piece of it bubbled off entirely and fell the long way to the ground. It landed there a moment later, but it didn’t splash or scatter like all the others did. Rather, as soon as it landed, it compressed and coalesced like a lump of slime momentarily, before it drew itself up, poked out six misshapen limbs, formed a head with pincers, and grew a pair of moonspot eyes. In moments, a new Light Eater had formed and began to scurry toward the four of them.

Seconds later, five more plops hit the ground and began to grow into Light Eaters themselves, one with wings, one like a rat, one like a giant millipede, one like a starfish, and one like a land-crawling shark. More droplets quickly began to fall off as well, and as it kept shedding them the Tantabus started walking forward again.

“I think we got its attention!” Rarity shouted anxiously.

“Don’t stop attacking!” Twilight shouted as she quickly began to prepare another spell. “If we weren’t a threat to it, it wouldn’t be trying to stop us!”

“That or it’s just swattin’ the flies bitin’ it!” Applejack shouted back as she ran right up to the insectoid Light Eater and greeted it with the claw of her hammer as it reared up to meet her. “But I’ll take that chance!”

The rest of the newly forming Light Eaters quickly moved out, and the four responded. Dash followed Applejack’s lead and ran right into them fists swinging. She dove on the one with wings before it could take off and immediately put her fist through its body, then ripped it out and swept around to slice off three limbs from the millipede one with the force of her strike. Twilight struggled to keep her wand aimed at the Tantabus, but with more Light Eaters coming off and rushing to her she couldn’t finish the whole spell. She was forced to break off and send her next icicle through the body of the rat Light Eater to kill it. Rarity on her part continued to mostly stab and slash errantly, but it got the job done by slicing off pieces of the starfish Light Eater as it tried to crawl toward her.

Dash finished breaking the millipede one into pieces and tried to run past the new ones before they could fully form, making a beeline for the Tantabus to keep attacking. Yet just as she was about to snap free of the crowd, the shark Light Eater suddenly snapped its body toward her. Before she could realize it was coming, it formed crude teeth and clamped down on one of her forearms.

She cried out in pain and wheeled around to it, seeing blood already oozing freshly from where it had bitten. Not having time to tense about if it had corrupted her, she instead made a fist and smashed it in the nose as hard as she could. Bits of black material flew from the wound, causing it to angrily snap its head around and cast her violently aside with it. Her body slammed into a stack of garbage cans before hitting a building wall a second later.

She only lay there a second before knocking the cans off of her and trying to rise, only to cry out in pain. She looked to her forearm and, although it wasn’t stained in any way, several free-flowing bloody wounds were gushing out of it from where she had gotten bit.

“I’m coming, um…uh…Rainbow Dash!”

She looked up, just in time to see Fluttershy, who seemed to have been cringing in an alley before now, pop out and run up to her. Several of the animals followed behind her, including Spike, Angel, and her bear. As soon as she reached her, she clamped her hands down over the wounds and began to speak so softly that Dash couldn’t hear her over the din. Yet after several seconds, she looked up and ahead of her.

“Uh, you can’t do that any faster, can you?”

Fluttershy glanced up and let out a panicked whine. Six of the “timber wolves” had focused on the two of them as the easiest targets and were moving in. However, now that they were close enough, they each snarled and ran at them both.

The animals with Fluttershy quickly rushed to her aid. Spike ran up and charged right at one construct, causing both to topple to the ground and fight. The bear snarled and came forward, causing two of them to latch onto his arms. They made him roar in pain, but mostly anger as he began to slam them around on the ground to beat them apart. Angel tapped his foot a few times before rushing forward and launching himself at the fourth one like a furry bullet. On impact, he shattered it into bits.

Unfortunately, all that was left for the final two were a couple mice and a woodpecker. That didn’t stop either of them from leaping into the fray, however. The mice dashed forward and onto the legs of the closing creature, then quickly ran up through its body and to the glowing yellow orbs set in its head. They gnawed frantically on both, causing the monster to howl and stumble to one side just before it could hit Fluttershy and Dash. Finally, the woodpecker did what it did best and hovered to a wooden part of the monster’s skull before pecking away furiously at it; hard enough to knock up wooden chips. The thing stopped, snarled, and tried to swipe and snap at it, but it merely flew out of the way a short distance before returning and pecking further.

Soon the bear and Spike had finished their own opponents and turned to lend a hand with the others. For a moment, Dash risked a relaxed sigh. “Nice. Those critters of yours really bailed us out.”

Fluttershy, who had been hiding under her hood again while helping out Dash, looked up only to tremble all over again. While the wood constructs had been torn apart, three of the newly formed Light Eaters had seen the two of them and were beginning to shift and lumber toward them.

The animals turned to face them, but then immediately backed away as well. All of them seemed to have the intelligence to realize they were no match for them. While they tried to look threatening and at the ready, they were forced to back away as the three slid in closer. None of them wanted the animals, however. They saw the light coming from Fluttershy and Dash and were zeroing in on it.

Tensing up, the Huntsman turned to her. “Let me up! I’ve got to try and stop them, arm or no arm!”

Fluttershy didn’t move. Instead, Dash heard her audibly gulp, before her head snapped up and stared at the three of them with sudden ferocity. “Stop right there!”

The surface of the three Light Eaters actually rippled and their moonspots contracted. As if pushed by an invisible force, they all slid back a few feet before stopping. They began to approach again, but Fluttershy kept staring at them and, as a result, they moved at a snail’s pace. She had more than enough time to hold onto Dash for a few more seconds before finally releasing. The Huntsman, a little surprised at all of that, looked down to her arm. The bleeding had stopped and the wounds had all scabbed over and healed partially. Enough to keep going at least.

“Heh, you are handy. Thanks a lot!”

Smirking again, she ran forward and put her fist through the first still-mostly-immobilized Light Eater.

On the rooftops, Pinkie continued to happily bounce along singing a song; heedless of the flock of Nighttouched struggling to peck and claw at her from the air above and the ones below struggling to crawl up the building side to get her. One particular dog-like one managed to bound up a fire escape to the top, and took off for her snapping and snarling. She cheerfully bounded over him; letting him sail right by and off the opposite side of the same roof. The flock pursuing her gathered for a dive, but just as they moved in she dropped into a roll, somersaulted to the edge of the current roof, and then leapt off onto the lower, adjoining one. The monsters shot by and hit nothing but air.

Pinkie spotted a bit of the flaming tar on her current roof and grinned as she ran over to it. She passed a weather vane along the way, and reached out to pluck off two of its arms. Holding them in either hand, she ran up to the tar, dipped them in, and pulled out a bit of fire on either end. After that, she spun around and began to run backward. “Come on, everybody!” she sang, waving them around in different maneuvers. “Come catch me!”

The flock of birds and bats massed up together and attempted to charge again, but as they gathered Pinkie ran over to a clothesline with several linens hanging from it. As they dove, she quickly darted behind it. The Nighttouched were moving so fast and recklessly that after only a few passed by, some of them got hung up on sheets or the line itself. As a result, they caused a logjam that quickly led to far more getting tangled up within it.

She giggled at her ingenuity, but even with them temporarily incapacitated she didn’t have much time to rest. An entire group of Nighttouched began to crawl their way to the top of this lower roof, and as soon as they were on it they tore straight for her. The first was a fox-like one, which she simply matched leap-for-leap to get away from. Another was a hissing raccoon-like one, but as it swiped out for her she answered by holding her now flaming batons out near its outstretched claw, and the heat made it recoil in pain. Another dog-like one charged for her as she bounded back toward the edge of a roof. However, she simply did an extra tall leap to go off of it and onto the next one along, while the dog ran right off the edge and crashed into the alley below.

She laughed as she hopped back along this roof a bit more, still swinging her batons at the Nighttouched massing on the other roof and readying to leap over. “Don’t stop, everybody! Everyone come and join along on the Pinkie Para-”

Pinkie’s voice was drowned out by the sound of one of the monstrous lion creatures, just as it shot up and over the top of the roof in a massive leap, opened its jaws wide, and clamped them down on top of her enough to swallow half of her body whole. The rest of its momentum crushed down on her body and smashed her right through the top of the roof—sending them both into the building below. As a resounding calamity continued to rise from the hole, the other Nighttouched roared and snarled before leaping over to the roof and going down the same opening after her, just as the flock gathered and swept down and into it as well.

The fate of their companion went unnoticed by the group on the ground below, who were still struggling to get whatever hits they could on the Tantabus against an ever-rising tide. Applejack, gritting her teeth and breaking a sweat as she smashed her warhammer through Light Eater and Nighttouched alike, struggled to dig her way through the flood coming at her. As she finished flattening the nearest one, she finally got an opening to go for the leg.

However, she only managed two steps in its direction before a scorpion barb lashed out and smashed her in the face. Even with her fortitude, she was slapped into the street so hard she ground out several bricks of pavement. As the lion-like Nighttouched responsible sneered and began to stomp forward, trying to get a better view of its quarry, she had to lie still a moment before she could look up again. When she did blood was oozing out of her nostrils but her eyes were fiercer than ever.

The thing growled and swung its tail at her again, but she quickly shifted to the side. The blow still struck where she had been and sent up pieces of stone everywhere. She crossed her arm to block her face, but one still struck her in the shoulder and caused her to wince in visible pain, yet she used her free hand to swing her hammer around and latch the teeth into the joint of the tail. When the monster yanked it back, it found out too late it was pulling Applejack up and to it at the same time. Before it could react, she used both her own momentum plus that of it yanking her to it to swing the solid part of her hammer into its skull.

A few seconds later, she touched down on the ground again, groaning a bit and dizzy, but the lion-like monster fell as limp as piece of dead meat. She took a deep breath or two as Fluttershy pushed through the crowd to assist her.

Twilight was having no luck whatsoever. With a constant stream of Light Eaters coming at them now, she had no opportunity to gather any real spells. She constantly threw fireballs at the ones that were emerging, engulfing them and trying to use their resulting flames to attract the others. Unfortunately, more kept constantly pouring out. In frustration, she finally held her wand skyward and painted a yellow, gleaming symbol. The sky thundered and sent out a large bolt of electricity which split as it neared the ground. Most of the bolts hit encroaching Nighttouched and Light Eaters, but one loose bolt managed to strike the limb of the Tantabus. It let out another few gallons of its body at that, but it didn’t slow.

Dash, furiously pounding away at anything that came near, saw it rapidly getting near the gas fire. With that in mind, she looked above the crowd of opponents and focused on all of the Light Eaters that were going airborne. Gritting her teeth, she suddenly ran forward in a lunge and leapt as one slashed for her middle. She ended up not kicking it but landing on its head and using it as a vault to launch herself onto a slightly taller one. From there, she leapt again on top of a low-flying one, and then proceeded to use them as stepping stones to quickly cross over the crowd of enemies until she was clear to the Tantabus again. Tightening herself up, she vaulted off the last one, twisted around, aimed her heel out, and sailed for the limb.

The resulting blow struck almost as powerfully as Twilight’s spell, knocking off nearly as much of its body. However, on touching down Dash couldn’t follow up. Two of the lion-like monsters had just arrived from the adjoining street, and on seeing her apart from the other Light Eaters and Nighttouched bellowed and began to charge for her. Dash had just finished straightening when she spotted them coming, and risked a moment to glance at the Tantabus again.

It had hesitated just a moment, but then regenerated and resumed walking while still producing more Light Eaters.

“Aw, come on!” she yelled. Groaning, she ran to meet the first lion monster.

Rarity continued to furiously swipe her rapier away at anything and everything in front of her. The only good side to this was that, single minded as the monsters were, they mostly ran themselves right onto her blade. Nevertheless, it was all she could do to get a hand free and point at the Tantabus. “Fireballfireballfireballfireball!”

Another melon-sized ball of fire shot out and hit true, resulting in a small fire that lasted perhaps all of four seconds before dying out.

“This is ridiculous!” she bellowed as she sliced her way through another Light Eater. “‘Magician’ my foot! What’s my power, pulling rabbits out of this fetching hat?!”

At that moment, Fluttershy, who was still struggling to heal up Applejack, gave out a yipe as one of the Nighttouched squirrels leapt on her back and began to claw through her robe to the woman beneath. Panicked, she closed her eyes and shouted. “All of your monsters stop!”

Just as before, the Light Eaters rippled before halting for a second, and the Nighttouched actually backed down. For a moment, the field was clear and gave the women a much-needed breather.

Rarity, however, had another plan in mind. At once, she clenched her jaw and barreled forward through the crowd straight for the Tantabus.

Twilight, panting from overuse of mana but still struggling to cast another spell, looked up in alarm. “R…Rarity! What are you doing?”

“I’m not going to slay this beast throwing birthday candles and snowballs!” She brandished her rapier as she ran. “This will be far more effective!”

“You’re not as strong as Applejack and Rainbow Dash! That thing only needs to shift to crush you!”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures!” She held her blade aloft. “For Manehattan!”

Finally reaching the side of the Tantabus’ leg, she took only a moment to ready herself for a proper move before thrusting her blade all the way to the hilt into the monster.

Almost immediately, the area around the weapon began to smoke and bubble. It started off small but swiftly built in intensity, like water on a burner. Rarity continued to look fierce for a moment more before her look turned to puzzlement and finally a touch of anxiety. She began to more tentatively hold the end of her rapier as she saw what was happening…

Suddenly, the space around her blade began to melt away and shot out in a jet of oily black liquid, spraying all over her.

“GAH!” Crying out in a mixture of fear and disgust, Rarity quickly backpedaled in alarm. She frantically wiped at herself while shrieking. “Ghastly! Horrid! Wretched! Putrid! Oil-based!”

She continued to throw a fit just as long as it took for her to realize the substance that landed on her was rapidly dissipating into nothingness from closeness to her aura. And as she calmed down, she glanced back to the Tantabus.

It now had a gaping and free-flowing wound around where the rapier had pierced. At least, it did so for a moment. Then the rapier suddenly reverted back into the dull, iron poker it had been before, and as soon as it did it fell through and out of the monster as if it was no more than thrown into water. The wound rapidly closed itself up and the Tantabus resumed its trek.

Rarity was left staring dumbfounded. As for Applejack, she finished tearing herself away from Fluttershy just in time to grapple with what looked like a Nighttouched bull. She dug her feet in and crossed her arms in front of her just as it charged, bracing it with her hammer and struggling, but also looking back up to the giant Light Eater. “Damn it all, don’t anythin’ make it stop?”

Suddenly, a light went off in Rarity’s eyes. She spun around. “Keep striking it for a few moments, won’t you, darling?” she shouted before she quickly ran to the side of the street and began to look around.

Applejack gnashed her teeth as Fluttershy quickly ran back to help the rapidly-weakening Twilight. “What’dya think I’ve been doin’ this whole time?!” With one final surge of strength, she flung the bull to one side. Not stopping to finish it, she took off in another charge for the monster. This time, she kept on running after pulling her hammer back, and swung it around in a great whirling arc as she reached it. Bits of the starry material flew everywhere in the wake of her assault, but for all she knocked off it wasn’t even enough to get it to pause.

Still scowling, she planted her feet only to get her lasso free, tied it around the end of the hammer, and once again produce her “bolo” weapon. She swung it around several times and then lashed out with it, punching out a large section of the Tantabus’ leg. Still for nothing. It was simply too big and recovered too fast. She snapped her hammer back and got ready to fight again, only to feel herself pounded in the back and launched into the air by the Nighttouched bull. No sooner had she slammed back into the ground than it whipped around, aimed its horns at her, and dug her off to try and gore her death. Soon she was forced to focus entirely on grappling it.

Twilight, on her part, was sweating beads as she struggled to conjure a big enough spell to leave a serious mark, but even with Fluttershy reaching her and struggling to help her out she saw there were dozens of Nighttouched and Light Eaters still coming and at the ready. By now, there were enough present where any one of them would have to deal with a half dozen at once at minimum. Still she struggled for all she could to try and at least squeeze off one more good incantation.

Yet as she tried to take aim, she hesitated on seeing that the Tantabus had stopped moving of its own accord. Over the force of monster combatants, she looked down and saw it was right next to the gas fire. Its massive head region was staring down right at it.

It was still for a second before lowering its head further. Its great shadow seemed to make its surroundings darker yet, and the gas flame itself visibly dimmed and diminished just from it drawing nearer. It paused once its moon spots were nearly touching the reduced fire and it held for several seconds more.

Then, it raised one of its massive, tower-like limbs and planted it on top of it like it was no more than a snuffer for a candle. Metal groaned in its wake. After a few seconds, it pulled back, and revealed the fire and light was now gone. The pipe was bent in half.

The Tantabus slowly rose from it and then turned its head another way…back toward the ocean shore. After a moment longer, it slowly began to pick up its huge feet and walk toward it again.

“No…no!” Twilight shouted. “It’s going back to the sea! We have to…!”

She trailed off. Monsters were closing in on her again even as she struggled to maintain her spell. Fluttershy was sporting several claw marks and scratches and her resolve was fading. Applejack was finishing pounding away at the bull that had charged her, but she was starting to slow. Dash had somehow managed to kill one of the lion-like creatures, but she was struggling to stay alive against the other. She couldn’t even see Rarity or Pinkie.

On seeing all this, her pupils shrank as the realization slowly came on her. She had said herself that a small group of them would never be enough. That they’d need a hundred. Now it looked like it was true…

“I say…tally-ho!”

In the face of her growing despair, however, Twilight heard Rarity’s voice. She looked up and saw a rather bizarre sight.

Barely managing to do so, she was propping up what looked like a Griffonstone flagpole with a pointed tip and rushing clumsily at the Tantabus like she was a knight on horseback. It seemed like the most reckless and ineffective thing she could have done. At least…for a moment it did.

That was when Twilight noticed her aura was spreading to it just like any other article-turned weapon. It began to glow with the same light, and soon solidified and lengthened into a long, resplendent, silver lance. Using all of the enhanced strength she had to muster, Rarity grit her teeth and forced it up at an angle, and then for all she was worth plunged it into the leg of the Tantabus. She drove it in until a good fifteen feet of it was left embedded in the Light Eater’s limb.

The entity, surprisingly enough, actually slowed a little. That limb seemed harder for it to move now, and soon it was clear why. Rarity kept clinging to the end and embedding it into the thing, and as a result its body was hissing and melting around it. Soon huge amounts of it were pouring out from the wound as its substance peeled away from the weapon like paper to a flame. Yet she left it in there and held for all she was worth, and as a result the wound would not heal. Its attempts to regenerate it only caused it to shed more of its body.

When Twilight saw that, she understood. “Of course…”

Fluttershy, in spite of her fear, risked a look up. “Wh-what?”

“Our weapons! Anything we touch becomes…I don’t know…‘insulated’ like us! Anything we hold onto and in it becomes a weapon!”

Before the monsters could get any closer, Twilight quickly snapped her wand around and finally discharged her spell. It wasn’t as powerful as she wanted, but it still made for quite a monstrous and massive thunderbolt. This time, it struck completely in the area where Rarity had opened a wound, and gouged a major rift right out of the extended limb.

The Tantabus, just barely, actually faltered on that limb. The other three of its tower-like appendages halted where they were. It was forced to stop again. Soon, the regenerative efforts around Rarity’s spear doubled as it struggled to put itself back together again enough to get away.

“Rarity, keep holding it there!” Twilight shouted, before quickly doing the first wind spell she could manage to force the encroaching attackers back long enough for her to do something better. “Everyone else, hit it in the wound!”

As Twilight gave a shout, back on the adjoining street at the building that Pinkie, the lion creature, and the fifty other odd Nighttouched had crashed into, the doors suddenly swung open wide. The pink-haired woman walked out. A bit of loose fur and feathers were on her clothes, which she promptly dusted off, before she looked to her shoes. Seeing a touch of red liquid on them, she took a moment to wipe them off as well before perking up and looking around again. “Ok! Got to get back to Rarity, Twilight, and the others! Um…” her look grew confused. “It was easier to find my way around when I was on the rooftops… Oh well!”

She immediately began to skip out into the street, looking one way and another for any indicator of how to get back to the main battle. She began to make her way to the sounds of the most commotion, glancing down the alleyways as she did. She passed the first one easily enough, but after passing the second, she froze where she was before skipping backward and looking again.

Abandoned in the middle of that street, apparently by the Griffonstone army when they realized that Light Eaters were involved, was a fully primed, oiled, and ready field gun. It even had a few spare shells of ammunition next to it.

Pinkie gasped in delight. “A cannon! A real honest-to-goodness cannon! I’ve never seen one up close!” She quickly shot to its side and began to marvel all over it. “Oh, there’s the wheels! There’s the barrel! There’s the fuse! There’s the long fluffy rod thing you use to clean gunk out of it!”

She paused, then lit up. “Say, I bet this would help out a lot against all those Nighttouched!” She grinned a bit, but then paused and suddenly looked downcast. “Aw…but Ma said Gaitians can’t own firearms for any reason. Even when I just wanted a little cannon to shoot off at parties… I know what she’ll say…”

She looked over to a nearby puddle, just shiny enough to barely reflect her face as she impersonated her mother. “Absolutely not, Pinkamena Diane Pie! Thou knowest we spurn all implements of warfare!”

She looked anxiously back at the puddle. “But…but…it’s for a really good cause!”

“Now, Pinkamena, thou knowest what the road to damnation is paved with, do you not?”

She half-sighed, half-whined. “Can’t I make just one teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy exception just this one time?”

“Certainly not! The Pies have forbidden to have anything to do with engines of destruction, and we never shall! Thou can not have a cannon!”

“Aw…” she whined again, looking to the side for a moment. Suddenly, she lit up again. “Buuuuut…what if I only borrowed someone else’s cannon?”

At once, the reflection smiled and nodded back to her. “I like the cut of your cake, Pinkie.”

“Why thank you, mud puddle!”

To be continued...

Nightwatch: Through the Fire and the Flames, Part II

Back on the road with the Tantabus and its accompanying horde, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were hardly in much of a position to seize the opportunity. Dash was against the ground, struggling against the jaws of the lion-like creature as it tried to simultaneously bite her in two while stabbing for her head with its long tail. Applejack was doing her best to cut her way through the remaining monsters, but she was halted as a Nighttouched stag burst out and charged for her. Again she braced herself, but this time her strength was slipping and she ended up only able to block it. Even so, it pushed her back slowly but surely, and kept her pinned while other Nighttouched began to clamber for either side of her. The only good side was the Tantabus had stopped making more smaller Light Eaters as it focused on trying to heal itself, but none of them could seize the opportunity.

As Applejack felt a weasel-like Nighttouched suddenly bite her leg and a hawk-like one tear into her shoulder, she struggled to summon her strength to overpower the deer and fight back…

Several loud gunshots made her eyes snap back open. She was just in time to see the blood splatters from the body of the deer Nighttouched fall before it slumped to one side. Another gunshot caused the hawk to screech once before it went limp. Shocked, but also freed, Applejack seized the moment to crush the weasel with the end of her hammer before looking for her saviors.

Much to her surprise, as well as the others who had been alerted by the gunfire, they saw a squad of about thirty Griffonstone soldiers quickly taking position and aiming at the Nighttouched.

Even more surprising…Constable Gruff was at the head brandishing an ancient, rusted, commerative sword.

“Those freaky women can actually hurt those inky sons of bitches, so we’ll take ‘em in once they’ve gotten rid of that big one!” he shouted to the soldiers around him. “Until then, fill the rest of these ugly bastards fulla lead and give ‘em room!”

The Griffonstone soldiers instantly opened fire en masse. Their bullets simply zinged right through the Light Eaters as if they weren’t even there, but they began to cut down one Nighttouched after the other. Ten of the soldiers discharged their weapons into the lion-like one pinning Dash down. While it didn’t do anything much other than annoy it, it did divert its attention, which was all the opening she needed to drive her fist up and rip right through its hard palate into its upper jaw. It reared back and off of her, and she quickly sprung out from under it, leapt into the air, did a backward flip, and slammed her heel down on top of its head. It wasn’t strong enough to be fatal, but a breaking sound did ring out and the monster fell to the ground. She left it to be dealt with by the Griffonstone soldiers as she spun about to the Tantabus.

Twilight didn’t risk preparing another major spell. Instead, as Fluttershy clung to her and kept healing, she readied her wand and sent out one eruption of icicles after another to embed into the Light Eaters. She slung out spells as rapidly as she could, struggling to thin them out into nothing and leave the two fighters be so they could focus entirely on the Tantabus.

It wasn’t a moment too soon. Suddenly, Rarity let out a shriek as the monster managed to lift its limb slightly. Not only was she pulled off the ground a little, but the lance almost slid out. “I could use some help here!”

“Ya’ got it!” Applejack yelled as she rushed up to the side of the monster. She quickly began to hack away for all she was worth at the base of it, pushing herself to swing more forcefully again. Unfortunately, she was well below the point of greatest impact, and aside from knocking off a few bits that easily regenerated she was achieving little. She seemed to realize that as she kept swinging, much to her frustration. Nevertheless, she kept hacking away in hope of success.

“Hey you!”

Hearing Dash shout behind her made her stop. She turned around just as she saw her arrive at her side and clap a hand on her shoulder. Her opposite hand went out and clutched her free limb. “Need a lift?”

Before she could say anything else, Dash suddenly seized her, twirled her around once, and then used her own super strength to fling Applejack into the sky and at the Tantabus’ limb. Shocked and stunned, the farmer cried out in alarm as she found herself sent sailing over and above the major wound area on the giant Light Eater. However, her senses kicked in quickly, and she realized where she was and what she was doing. As she shot toward the gaping wound, she steeled herself, readied her hammer, and swung it down just as she landed.

A geyser worth of dark substance burst from the wound as Applejack dug her in; seeming to almost tunnel through the monstrosity. The thing was immobilized again as she kept smashing. A practical creek worth of its starry dew flowed out of the damaged area as it was torn open larger and deeper than before. Unfortunately, Applejack was still off center. When she finally cut all the way through, the limb was still connected to the rest of its body by a little less than half of its material.

As for Applejack, she righted herself and landed on the ground soon right next to Dash. The Huntsman smirked back at her, and, after a moment of frowning, the farmer smirked as well.

Right before she reached forward and clapped her own hand on her shoulder.

“Your turn.”

Dash merely grinned as she found herself hoisted off the ground and flung straight into the wound. She purposely put her arms to her sides and became a living missile, and as soon as she was within the damaged area her hands came out and began to beat away inside of the thing like jackhammers. The flow of black fluid running out of the wound intensified, and more and more pieces of it were knocked loose and free.

She kept tearing away as much as she could, struggling and determined to sever the limb. The amount of material still connecting the foot to the body shrank to a third. Then a quarter. Then a fifth…

Suddenly, the regeneration halted. Rarity gave another yipe as the Tantabus suddenly yanked its body forward so fiercely that it pulled her off of her feet and to the ground, but also knocked her already weakening grip on the lance loose. At the same time, by not healing itself, it allowed its fluid to freely flow off and into Dash; rushing into her like a mudslide, catching her up in it, and pushing her out of the wound. She was left shocked and flailing as she slid right out of it and fell back to the street. The Tantabus itself continued to bleed as it moved that limb away from its attackers as quickly as it could, and even for its slow pace it only needed to take a step or two to leave them dozens of meters behind. Applejack, Rarity, and Dash, as soon as she landed, realized it was trying to get away and quickly broke in pursuit, but even they couldn’t match its stride. Soon it was a good enough distance to start closing the wound again.

“No!” Twilight cried as soon as she finished incinerating the last of the Light Eaters. She struggled to aim her wand, but even with Fluttershy’s help she was too dry. “We were so close!”

Still uncontested, its body rapidly started to rebuild itself. In only three seconds, the limb was already back to one quarter of its previous thickness…

When the roar of a cannon went out, and an explosion instantly destroyed the thinned part completely. With a tremendous wet squelching sound, the lower half of its limb broke off and slammed into the ground before melting like gelatin in the sun. Soon it was splattering fully and disintegratng into nothing but blackness. The Tantabus was left standing with only three limbs.

Applejack, Dash, and Rarity halted where they were, and they along with Twilight and Fluttershy gaped in shock.

“Was that…a cannon?” Fluttershy meekly asked.

The five of them turned and looked, along with several stunned Griffonstone soldiers.

They saw a grinning Pinkie slowly pushing out a still-smoking field gun onto the field; only gleaming with her same aura. “Hey everybody! Guess what? I thought, ‘hey, if Rarity can make a flagpole into a lance just by touching it’, I wonder if I can make a cannon work if I hold onto it when it shoots! Pretty neat, huh?”

Four of them continued to stare in amazement at Pinkie, but Twilight only glanced at her a moment before looking back at the Tantabus. Its stump of a limb was dribbling the starry dew like blood, but no new Light Eaters grew from it. Its massive head looked down to it, as if pondering that injury. It continued to stand still as the others also turned and looked back to it.

After a moment, it finally raised its head again.

It focused its moonspots fully on the six of them.

Applejack couldn’t help but swallow. “Well, congrats, Twilight…I think we officially got it to think we’re the biggest threat to it.”

Rarity clenched her sore hands and sighed. “It took us everything we had just to remove that leg. I don’t know if we can deal with the rest of it…”

“Oh…” Fluttershy half-whimpered. “Just as things were starting to look brighter…”

Twilight looked up a little when she said that. “Brighter…?”

She glanced up and around herself. By now, the gunfire of the Griffonstone soldiers had died down. It hadn’t been due to being attacked, however. It was the fact that, in spite of being a light source, their weapons weren’t attracting any more Nighttouched. She could see why. Even with skies choked by smog, the air was a bit brighter over the intact city. The sun had raised higher yet, and there was a good chance the thinning smoke and increasing light was driving them into hiding. Furthermore, the Tantabus wasn’t making any more Light Eaters of its own, and its one limb remained missing as she hoped.

Quickly, she shouted to the others. “Everyone! Don’t get discouraged! It’s working!”

Everyone turned to her. The Tantabus began to shake the ground as it turned around toward them, but she kept speaking louder.

“Look! It’s not able to spread its darkness as much now! It can’t spit out any more Light Eaters or stop oozing from that limb! We’re bringing it to its limit!”

“But it’s already spread darkness over half of this city, Twilight!” Rarity called back. “Even if it loses its power, the smog can still cover it all the way to the ocean!”

“I’ll take care of that!” Twilight shouted as she swept her sleeves back and raised her wand. “I’m going to make another wind storm! This one to clear the smog all the way to the heavens! Keep attacking it! Get it weak enough to where it can’t produce any more darkness of its own, and this will finish it!”

Fluttershy swallowed, but then began to advance and reach out to Twilight.

“No!”

She suddenly stopped on hearing Twilight shout at her, and saw her staring back at her.

“Get the animals back! Keep anyone from touching that blackness! We’re the only ones who can hurt it without getting corrupted by it! Once they’re away, worry about helping them when you’re not trying to concentrate on it! If you can even just slow it down that’ll help!”

“But…but can you make that wind storm by yourself?”

“This one won’t be as big as the last! The smog’s clearing up on its own from all the industries being shut down anyway! But you have to help the others keep it in one spot! I only have enough power to do it once!”

Everyone heard that last part. Spinning back to the Tantabus, they saw it finish turning about. In spite of missing a leg, it began to move back toward the others.

Dash held her fists up. “Alright, you heard the lady!”

“Keep on pushin’ ‘til it drops or you do!” Applejack shouted back.

As Twilight began to start chanting and making another sigil, Applejack, Dash, and, after taking a moment to pluck up a broken iron grating bar to turn into a new rapier, Rarity began to charge at it. Fluttershy ran back to the animals and started to call out to them as Pinkie grunted and moved the cannon closer.

When Dash reached the monster, it didn’t idly this time. As she tried to go for its leg, it suddenly snapped its entire head down. The spire-like horn slashed down and cut into the surrounding buildings and street pavement with scarcely any resistance; slicing a wide gash across the entire road in her path that forced her to stop. Yet as she halted, Applejack quickly charged on past the wake of the cut and ran right at the leg of the monster. With another cry, she swung out and smashed another piece of it loose. In response, it heaved forward so much it shook the ground, forcing her to halt, before swinging its foot out for her to try and catch her.

She halted by quickly grinding herself to a stop and leaping backward, barely dodging it as it swung by and smashed in the side of a building. As it yanked it back, however, Dash quickly snapped forward and leapt into the air as hard as she could after it. With her added power, she managed to sail up several meters before bringing her fist down on it; knocking out even more of the starry material. It slammed its foot down a second later, shaking and fracturing the street before Dash landed, and snapped its horn down upon her. Quickly, she backflipped to avoid the first slash downward, but it quickly drove its horn in the rest of the way into the road and advanced while snapping it up; cutting a wide swath across the street in its wake. Dash was forced to keep backflipping further to evade it, but it kept moving after her—pursuing her with the blade-like horn.

However, by lowering its head to the ground, it brought itself in range of Rarity, who waved her hand and sent out another ball of fire—this time for one of its eyespots. The mark hit true and erupted in a small amount of flame. It wasn’t enough to permanently blind the monster, but it was enough for it to rear back up again. Not losing her resolve, Rarity forced herself to run forward after it just as Applejack charged as well. Since it used its one remaining foreleg to force itself up, it was still holding weight upon it as Applejack swung her hammer into one side while Rarity slices out for the opposite one. Both weapons hit and shed more of its body.

Suddenly, the Tantabus shook its head with such force that the air around it rippled, and reared itself back on its hind legs to raise its hoof and snap it out. Rarity managed to quickly duck and roll to one side, but the flailing appendage caught Applejack hard. A loud smack echoed down the street as she was taken off of her feet and flung headfirst into a gaslight fixture. In spite of being a glancing blow, her head hit hard enough to dent the metal inward, and she slumped completely to the ground and lay there, for the moment, unmoving.

As Rarity scattered from its wake, the Tantabus heaved itself forward to try and finish Applejack with a follow-up stomp. Yet as it put its weight on the leg to try and make the push, the cannon thundered again. A good portion of the leg was knocked totally loose, and with a monstrous crack and groan the Tantabus faltered down to its breast. Pinkie, from behind them all, let out a triumphant yell before she began to reload as quickly as she could.

Applejack’s senses, fortunately, returned, but she was still staggering back to her feet when Dash ran back in. Gritting her teeth and tightening her knuckles, she didn’t bother with the injured limb but instead went right for the Tantabus’ faltering head. To everyone’s shock, she ran straight at it, leapt up again, and landed on the tip of its snout. She kept on running up its face like it was nothing more than a ramp until she reached the forehead, snapped back her fist, and drove her palm in as hard as she could. The entire upper “face” of the monster rippled as part of it gushed out from the eye sockets. She quickly drove it in again and knocked out even more.

She nearly drove in a third, when suddenly it snapped its head violently to one side. She was catapulted off the top of its head and flung hard against a pile of rubble in the monster’s wake. In spite of the speed and power, she managed to right herself in midair, but the best she could do was brace her legs beneath her before she slammed into it; scattering the debris everywhere. The sound of her crying out in pain echoed over the battleground.

The Tantabus began to heave itself up again now that its leg had a chance to regenerate, only to get another spell in the eye; this time of ice. It reared up once again, forced to put its weight on its front leg once more, and Rarity used the moment to charge in and drive her rapier into its leg. She quickly braced her arm against the pommel and forced her body forward, making it gush out in a growing, ever-enlarging wound while she pushed the sword in deeper. The thing tried to move to crush her, but its limb was deteriorating around her attack and it couldn’t bring its body close enough to actually hit her with anything.

Suddenly, it reacted by snapping its entire leg up in a sweeping move. Doing so made it falter again, but it managed to hook part of its intact limb around and up. It caught Rarity beneath the jaw, and her head snapped skyward as her hat flew off from the potent force. Her body spilled back and sprawled on the ground, letting the rapier clatter out of her grip as she now sported a gash across her chin from where she had been struck. She lay there senseless, and the Tantabus struggled to push itself back up to finish the job.

Before it could, howling again, Applejack barreled at it from the side. She was bleeding and bruised, particularly from a wound staining her straw-colored hair a shade of red, and she staggered as she came, but she still managed to swing out the teeth of her hammer and hooked them into the Tantabus. She raked down and tried to gouge it for all it was worth, and the end result was the black body of the thing tearing and gushing out even further. The Tantabus tried to pull the limb away, only for Applejack to cry out from the strain and force her arms back, letting it hurt itself by digging its own body against the teeth.

This lasted only a moment, before it suddenly snapped its leg up all together. Applejack’s cry cut off as she was flung into the air, and a moment later was slammed into the street as its swung its limb back against the ground with her on it. A cracking went out on impact with the already ruined road, which could have easily come from either her armor or a bone. It was impossible to tell which—only that Applejack’s face showed she was agonized as soon as she landed. Rarity, on her part, was barely turning her head by now and far from recovering.

The Tantabus quickly brought its neck back, readying to swing its horn down again on the two of them and slice them apart. It began to sweep around, once more cutting through the surrounding buildings and aiming for the street…

When Fluttershy suddenly ran out into the middle of the road, covered with sweat and shaking, but also looking right into its moonspot eyes and holding her hands up. “Stop!”

For all its size and power, when the moonspots made contact with her eyes and heard her voice, unbelievably, the monstrosity actually slowed. Its horn which had previously been coming down like a sword slash, suddenly dropped in speed to a mere pantomime of the gesture. Fluttershy, in spite of trembling like a leaf in a gale, continued to look into its monstrous eyes and forced herself not to blink.

Applejack, although it clearly agonized her, forced herself back up. Rarity was still blinking and coming around when the farmer pushed herself to one knee, before using her hammer to push herself up higher. Even then, however, she was breathing harder.

“Applejack!”

She paused, looking behind her on hearing her name. Dash was finishing yanking herself from the rubble and was rushing forward again. However, she was no longer going at her blinding pace. One of her legs had a limp on it and bloody gashes were over one of her arms and abdomen. Nevertheless, she nodded up to her. “Give me another boost! I can’t jump anymore!”

Applejack, unable to yell back, only nodded back tiredly before shifting the hammer to one hand. The Tantabus continued to try and bring its horn down, struggling in vain to complete the swipe, but couldn’t overpower Fluttershy’s stare in time. Dash arrived first and Applejack immediately reached out and seized her. Although it hurt her strained body more in the process, she flung her skyward toward the monster.

Dash let herself sail into the air again, before she aimed herself right at the falling horn. Aiming both of her legs out and holding her hands up, she grit her teeth again as she turned her body into a living lance. She aimed at the thickest part she dared and let herself descend down, before striking it with the most vertical she had managed yet. While it made her cry out in pain from her injured leg, more of the black fluid exploded everywhere as the end of its horn was severed completely from its head.

She landed a moment later, crying out again as she instantly stumbled. Unfortunately, the shock of her yell caused Fluttershy to look to her with concern; breaking her stare. Rarity, finally getting her bearings back, began to lean up again, and Applejack, seeing what had happened, looked anxious as she hefted her hammer and readied herself.

Now able to move freely again, the Tantabus, at first, simply reared back and shook its gushing skull from where it had lost its horn. Yet it didn’t last as long as they liked. The eyespots vanished for a moment only to reform, this time aimed below and away from Fluttershy to avoid her gaze. It nearly reared up to try stomping again…

A third shell went off, and struck it right in the face. To the tune of an explosion of black gel, the Tantabus was knocked back off of its front foot and slammed its “rear” down onto the street enough to cause the two buildings on either side of it to collapse. The resulting quake nearly broke Twilight’s focus as all the others save Pinkie were knocked back into the road. As the rubble around them continued to fall and the echo of the cannon shell died, the monster’s face was left smoking and smoldering.

After a few moments, a passing breeze cleared it and revealed what was left. Most of the horse “snout” was gone, and the eyespots had enlarged into deep craters that almost went through its head. Instead of an elongated mouth, it now had a squat one filled with jagged, irregular teeth.

It glared down at the group for an instant, but then began to rise, if possible, even faster than before.

Seeing it still coming, the others struggled to react as fast as they could. Fluttershy steeled herself and tried to rise to look it in the eye again. Rarity got to her feet but didn’t charge, instead throwing every ball of fire and ice she could manage at the rest of its body before throwing in a small lightning bolt as well. Applejack and Dash forced themselves up in spite of being the most injured, then staggered forward for its forelimb, which it was still forced to put most of its weight on. Fortunately, it was still rising when they arrived, and they quickly began to carve away at it again; frantically punching and pounding. In spite of their panic and fury, they noticed that, just barely, it seemed to be regenerating a little slower…

Yet they couldn’t stop it from rising again. As soon as it did, its monstrous mouth opened wide. Ignoring the limb, instead it swept its head down…much more quickly now that it didn’t have a long horn or snout. The broken remains of its original horn flashed across Applejack, and the raw force tore her away and flung her to the side of the street. She yelled in pain as a streak of blood flowed off her chest and painted the sidewalk, right before her body slammed against it. The Tantabus snapped its body around and struck Dash next with its misshapen chin, smacking her away and driving her body through the air and into an intact building. This time, unfortunately, she went shoulder-first, and an audible pop rang out as soon as she hit. When she fell to the ground, she went rigid and clutched for the limb screaming from clenched teeth.

Keeping its fearsome head down, it began to heave forward. Rarity readied her sword, but was still dizzy from her previous blow as well as fearful now that she had faced it. She managed to be brave enough to run forward and thrust for its jaw as it came near, but the colossal creature merely yanked its head down and snapped her to the street with it, before making a casual gesture to the side to rake her along the rubble. The splintered cobblestones beat and slashed through her clothes to bruise and gash her entire front side, knocking what fight she had back out of her and leaving her lying in the street stunned and agonized.

Fluttershy now found herself facing the monster alone. Yet hearing the pain from Applejack, the screams of Dash, and seeing what happened to Rarity caused her resolve to melt away. She couldn’t get the bravery to look it in the eye, and even if she could there was no stopping it now. Finally, she panicked and turned to break for it, and as a result she managed to avoid a direct hit from the Tantabus. As it was, it flashed its teeth out for her, and the sound of her robe tearing echoed as another long yet relatively shallow cut was opened across her back. The force still flung her to the ground harshly and left her sprawled out, but the monster didn’t follow up for the kill.

It was going for the most severe threat.

At the field gun, Pinkie was actually looking worried for once as she struggled to reload it with one of the remaining shells as fast as she could. Yet she was still cleaning the barrel when the Tantabus began to shake the ground so severely that she lost her grip on the ramrod. She turned and saw it coming and casting it shadow over her. Its great foreleg took only one step nearer before it suddenly went back on its hind legs and reared up. As it towered over the entire surrounding city, it hefted its building-sized limb up and above her.

She gulped once, staring at it in genuine fear, but then did something that could best be described as pure insanity. She reached out, seized all three of the remaining shells and, in spite of them each weighing a good hundred pounds, hefted them and held them in her arms with their cones aimed upward. She stared unblinking as the Tantabus’ foot came down like a sound of thunder, and smashed down on her so hard that the road around her and the cannon caved inward two meters.

Only Twilight and Fluttershy had enough of their wits to actually see it happen. Yet as they opened their mouths to shriek “no”, it was swallowed up by another thunderous noise. By smashing the upward-facing shells into the ground, she hit them with sufficient force to fire them up and directly into the middle of its leg…each one still imbued with Pinkie’s own aura. A pillar of erupting fire burst from the inside of the limb, rising higher and higher as the combined power blew into it. Its darkness was splattered all up and down the street enough to paint the surrounding buildings the same night color. The colossal monster reared up again, but this time not of its own volition, as fire and smoke rose in its wake.

As it towered into the sky, Rarity managed to get enough of her own bearings to look up with Twilight and Fluttershy to see the aftermath. A second gushing stump was left where its front leg had been. The thing actually staggered on its rear legs for a moment, before, with another resounding crash that seemed to heave the world around them, it actually fell back and landed onto several of the remaining intact buildings. Debris and smoke flew everywhere as they were flattened in its wake, and yet another cacophony was sent throughout the entire city and for miles beyond.

However, as soon as it was down and the quaking had diminished enough, Fluttershy forced herself up and moved as quickly as she could to the crater it had made with its monstrous foot. Considering it had stomped that hard, and the fact that an explosion had gone off that Pinkie was holding onto, it was an utterly foolish move. There was no way anything would be left, and she began to realize that as soon as she reached the side.

Yet on glancing over the edge, she couldn’t help but give a surprised gasp.

The clothing of the “Rogue” had vanished, and some of her original clothing was now dirty and torn. She herself looked soot-stained and beaten about. And yet Pinkie still lay there; in one piece and not even bleeding.

Fluttershy almost thought she was imagining the whole thing or looking at a ghost. Yet in spite of her doubt of her own eyes, she tentatively and nervously stepped over the edge of the crater and came closer. Pinkie didn’t vanish, however. She only continued to lie there all the way until she reached her side.

Still nervous, she bent down next to her. “Pink…Pinkie? Are…” She hesitated, almost wondering how she could be asking this question. “Are you…alright…?”

Pinkie’s eyes cracked open, a clearly-dazed look in them. “Did you get the number of that locomotive…?” she half mumbled before shutting them again, apparently passing out.

In spite of the fact she would obviously be ok, Fluttershy couldn’t help but stare at her in disbelief. She knew full well what she had witnessed wasn’t possible. Anyone in the world could have watched that and known that nothing should have been left of Pinkie but what could be scraped off of the remains of the street, and yet there she was. Finally, she swallowed, before reaching out and grasping her to try and pull her up.

She didn’t manage to touch her before the area around her shuddered violently, causing her to yelp and recoil. Outside of the crater, Rarity and Twilight both looked as Rainbow Dash and Applejack only now grew composed enough to bite back their pain. Suddenly, more buildings were shaken apart as the two-legged, faceless remains of the Tantabus suddenly heaved and rolled itself over onto its belly, smashing enough of the surroundings to be seen sprawling out by all of them.

Tired and weary as they were, Dash forced her good arm into a fist and with Applejack, who was clutching her bleeding chest with one arm and holding her hammer in her other, start to pull themselves up. They watched and waited for the monster to make the next move.

Eventually it did. Its massive rear legs pushed up its rear, but it didn’t try to heave the front part of its body. It merely pushed its backside up as best as it could on the two legs. It held there for a few seconds.

Then, to the sound of the rhythmic tremors again, it began to drag itself along as quickly as it could. Its upper body was left on the ground and began to scrape it, smashing through whatever was left in its way like a living bulldozer, but it kept pushing regardless.

Away from the six of them…and toward the darkness it had left in its wake and, beyond that, to the seashore.

“It’s trying to get away!” Dash yelled.

“No, it’s trying to get to the ocean while it still can!” Rarity shouted back.

Applejack whirled back to Twilight. “If ya’ got that spell ready, do it now!”

“No, it’s still spreading darkness around it! Look!”

The four glanced back momentarily. Sure enough, the air around the Tantabus was much brighter than it was before, but around the immediate area, extending only a few feet from the rest of its body, an air of “night” remained.

“It still needs more! This won’t hurt it!”

Applejack winced but tightened up, hefting her hammer, and then began to hobble after it. “Just cast the spell!”

“What?!”

Dash, getting what she meant, nodded as she began to limp after it too. “She’s right! Just cast it!”

“We’ll take care of its last defense, darling!” Rarity yelled before she ran after them.

Twilight wanted to protest, but by now she had summoned so much energy to herself, not to mention had to regain it after her numerous distractions, that she couldn’t hold it any longer anyway. She was dripping sweat all over, her legs were weakening, and her arm muscles were on fire. Looking at the Tantabus and praying she was aiming right, she aimed at the sky just a bit ahead of it. Moments later, her sigil gleamed. A fierce gale erupted from it so powerfully that she was nearly bowled over.

The Tantabus, fortunately, couldn’t move as fast as it wanted now that it was dragging itself. Applejack and Dash managed to reach the side of it and, once there, they began to attack it again. Sadly, their assault was almost as pathetic as its attempts to flee them. They were too hurt and exhausted. Applejack could barely chip away with her hammer, and it was all Dash could do to punch at the side of it with her one good arm. It was still so massive that the small blows weren’t phasing it, and the dark aura about it remained whole and intact.

Twilight began to cry in pain again as she kept sending out the titanic wind from her sigil. It shot over the city with enough force to shift loose bricks and bits of iron, but its true power came when it reached the designated spot. Once there, it quickly began to whip up and circle around itself. As the veins and tendons of her body began to grow visible beneath her skin, she started to turn her arm around. The still-emerging wind kept pouring and condensing before it began to spiral, and slowly it started to pick up dirt and debris around it into a dust cloud. The smog far overhead slowly began to get drawn into it.

Rarity, still in relatively good health, reached the side of the Tantabus at last. She brandished her newly-restored rapier and nearly moved in along with Applejack and Dash, but only took a few steps before she slowed. She looked to her tiny weapon, still but a toothpick compared to it. However, she also noticed the beautiful, flawless, shining silver it had been transmuted into. Twilight’s twister was continuing to grow and sweep away the smog. And as it did, through the haze and gloom overhead, a glow of morning sunlight was slowly starting to come through.

She suddenly put her sword to her side and doubled her speed…running right past it and Applejack and Dash. Both tiredly glanced at her. “Where d’ya think yer goin’? The fight’s right here!”

“I have a plan! Just keep it busy!”

“We can barely run, let alone hit it!” Dash shouted back, but Rarity was already long gone.

Applejack tiredly chipped away at it again, heaving and sweating heavily now, but only knocked off a chip of the material this time. “I…I think my glow is…is dyin’…”

Dash looked and saw she was right. The golden aura was starting to dim. The armor she was wearing was starting to look shabbier and more ordinary. The hammer even seemed slightly smaller.

“I think we’re at our limit…” she managed to say back.

“So…what now…?”

“One last try… Run as hard as you can, and when I say so…drive the teeth of that hammer into its side.”

“Yer crazy… It’ll just drag me along ‘til I fall out…”

“Trust me…”

Applejack let out one more exhale, but then tightened up. With all her remaining power, she ran forward as fast and hard as she could. She was soon red-faced and gasping, and seemed to drive herself into more pain with every step, but she pushed herself to go faster than the Tantabus again. She slowly gained more and more on it, passing its hindquarters, its chest, and beginning to reach its shoulders and thick neck region. As she did, Dash ran after her as hard as she could hobble. She noticed her own aura rapidly began to dim, but she ignored it and pushed herself on even harder.

Finally, she saw Applejack begin to stumble. Her gait began to falter. Dash cried out. “Now!”

Still panting, Applejack weakly swung her hammer into the side and drove the teeth of it into the monster’s neck region. She nearly collapsed…

But before she could, Dash seized her body, wrapped her good arm around her, and with all of her own strength dug her feet into the ground. As a result, she forced Applejack to hold firm as the Tantabus kept moving; ripping the hammer into it. With a tremendous shredding sound and another flood of starry material, the teeth cut into it all along and down from its neck and shoulders all the way to its lower torso. The thing visibly slowed as it realized it was gashing itself open, but by then Dash and Applejack could bear it no longer. Both of them stumbled and collapsed.

However, the damage had been done. The black aura shrank to almost nothingness against its body, and the monster itself slowed even more as the ambient glow through the smog-choked clouds about it began to affect it. What more, Twilight was summoning her windstorm, and it was still dragging itself right into its path.

Finally, as she fell to her knees, Twilight pushed out the last bit of the wind and focused only on manipulating it. It at last coalesced into a true tempest, and as she forced it forth the final bit of clouds were removed. Over the skies of Grifftham City, everyone for several blocks all around could look and see a ray of true sunlight spill down for the world below like a beam from Heaven; right in the path of the Tantabus.

At first, the thing only seemed focused on the patch of night that was now only a block away, still lingering even with the fading smog, and continued to push itself toward it in spite of the fact the sunlight was now directly in its path. One of its massive legs raised as its body stopped its latest drag only a scant few feet away, the next push sure to force its body completely into the light…

And halted.

Twilight could barely see from where she still stood, but she just made out the bulk of the Tantabus had stopped moving. She didn’t even have the strength to cry out in anguish at the failure; still focusing everything she had left to keep the tempest together.

The monster simply lay there not moving; patiently waiting for the last of her power to give. Once it did, it would push itself back into the safety of its darkness. The best they could hope for now would be that it would retreat, but in the blackness it might regain enough power to continue to the ocean. Either way they couldn’t stop it. Applejack and Dash looked up weakly from where they lay on the roadside, their own power fading and their clothes reverting. Fluttershy, with Pinkie on her back, was struggling to move forward only to stop and gasp on seeing the final move fail.

However, the Tantabus only was able to lay there idly a moment longer.

A ray of light suddenly swiveled out and touched it in the middle of its head—which instantly began to melt and bubble away like lava on a piece of ice. It quickly began to spasm and flop uselessly around on its front side; showing the first expression that could be classified as pain.

And standing before it in the light, using her own shining blade, Rarity was grinning as she aimed the sunlight’s reflection right onto it.

“Like the rapier, darling? Isn’t it simply dazzling?”

The Tantabus continued to wriggle, desperately trying to push itself out of the deadly light as Rarity kept aiming it at its head. She raked it all up and down along its face, leaving bubbling starry ooze sloughing off in her wake. It tried to move to one side. It tried to push its legs forth to shove it around her and the light and into the darkness. Yet it couldn’t. Pushing itself further forward would expose it to more light, and it couldn’t bear it.

Twilight saw that it was immobilized mere feet from her tempest. She looked to the sky and hesitated. Taking three deep breaths, trying to force her eyes and dimming vision to focus, she continued to aim her wand at it and spin while also pulling back. The pain radiating through her arms almost made them numb. She fell down to her waist, nearly collapsing all together, but somehow she pushed her upper torso up and maintained control.

The smog was slowly stripped away a bit closer, and the glow bore down closer and closwer toward the Tantabus. Just as it finally got its rear legs underneath it enough to try and flop itself to one side, Twilight cried out and dropped her wand.

The spell broke, but not before sending its wind blasting in all directions. Doing so, it was just enough to push aside the smog cover and expose the Tantabus’ entire upper half to pure sunlight.

Not even Twilight had ever heard a Light Eater “scream” before, but some sort of horrible wail came from it as its darkness was pierced by radiant sunlight. Rarity snapped back and dropped her rapier in alarm, and everyone else cringed as they listened to it give that horrendous noise. From all about the city, in every place someone was still holed up from Nighttouched or running from Light Eaters, from the soldiers engaged in street fighting to those manning various airships in the heavens, they heard that monstrous shriek it made and saw it was coming from the gigantic monstrosity.

For a moment, every last one of them thought of a friend, loved one, parent, child, instructor, comrade, or companion they had watched their soulless, unfeeling, unstoppable enemy take from them, and on hearing the sound of one of the same creatures writhing in the same agony it had made them all feel for eight years…a long cold and quenched spot inside them felt a tiny spark.

The monstrous face of the Tantabus turned up into the morning light one last time, still shrieking, before its entire body convulsed. Every last remaining piece of its inky blackness suddenly imploded in upon itself, like all of space was a drain in which it now flowed down. All was drawn in to one single condensed black mass for a split second, and then burst.

The six women shielded themselves as a black mist rolled out and past them, scattering in a potent shockwave throughout Grifftham City and for miles beyond it. From the sky, all airships could see a black ripple of mist blast away and into the heavens. Yet it bore no corruption in it and was soon gone. While all of the places that the Tantabus’ foul presence had defiled remained shrouded in eternal night, much of Grifftham City was still free to the effects of day. The long trail of destruction it had left from the mountains through the city to the ocean, back to the gas main, and finally back around in an attempt to escape were all that was left of it.

The Tantabus was gone.

To be continued...

Author's Notes:

Not done yet. One part left...

Nightwatch: Through the Fire and the Flames, Part III

Twilight’s hat and robe had vanished, her wand arm was still numb, and she could barely walk by the time she finally managed to stagger up to the others. They were in the middle of a street, though one could hardly tell. They were surrounded by rubble on all sides in the wake of the devastation. And with Twilight’s spell gone, the smog had rolled back in. It had lessened somewhat overall, but between the numerous ruined buildings and fires throughout the city, there was more than enough smoke and dust to make up for it. It was practically night all over again when she arrived.

Of the six, only Fluttershy and Rarity still had their Anima Viris. Fluttershy was still moving sorely considering the gash slowing her down, and was struggling to heal Pinkie who was still quite unconscious. Rarity had only taken a few blows but, not being nearly as durable as Dash or Applejack, was wavering around and holding a hand to her bleeding forehead. Dash was lying on the ground and Applejack had barely pulled herself up into a seated position near her.

Everyone was panting and tired. They barely had enough stamina left to stay alert, let alone be enthusiastic about it. However, on spotting her, they nevertheless greeted her with a smile between gasps. After a few moments, she was able to weakly smile back at them. She hobbled only close enough to get to the remains of a bit of brickwork and leaned her body against it.

Dash slowly raised a hand. “I know… I say this a lot… But we…were…awesome…”

“I feel like the cow done chewed me up, swallowed me, spat me back up, chewed me some more, swallowed again, and finally dumped me in a pile on the lawn…” Applejack spoke up wearily. “But…damn. Seein’ that big bastard die was worth it…”

“That…w-w-was quite…something…” Rarity spoke up shakily. Now that things were calmer, she seemed to be realizing just how crazy all of what happened was. She wiped for her forehead. “Right now, I don’t think I ever want to see another Nighttouched or Light Eater for the rest of my life.”

“Wha…?” Applejack echoed back. “We can’t call it quits now… Look what we just did!” She turned her head toward Twilight. “Still think puttin’ all these Light Eaters down fer good ain’t possible after that?”

Twilight grimaced. “That thing might have been big…but who knows how many more of them are out there? For all we know, there could be a hundred of these things in Equestria…”

After saying that, however, she smiled ever so slightly.

“But…then again…we did manage to kill this one. And when most of you didn’t know much about your own Anima Viris or any spells. That does have to count for something…”

“Um, if no one has any problems with it,” Fluttershy spoke up, looking up a bit. “For now, could we just go some place to rest? Pinkie’s still out of it and…um, well…I don’t want to sound rude, but…most of you look terrible.”

Dash grimaced. “Don’t worry, I look better than I feel…”

“Um, don’t you have that backward?”

“I wish…”

Twilight groaned and began to push herself up. “Fluttershy’s right. We need to get out of here. We…”

A rustle echoed down the road ahead of them.

The five women immediately tensed, knowing full well the city was still rife with Nighttouched, Light Eaters, and possibly the local authorities. They looked to the source, just in time to see a brick that had been loosely kicked, apparently on purpose, slowly clatter down the road. In moments, all five spotted both the foot responsible and who was attached to it.

With her hair spread out like a wildfire, and glaring at them with green, glowing eyes, a woman dressed in black stood at the end of the road.

She smiled at the six of them with a ravenous gleam, like a predator sizing up prey. After a time, she drew herself up and began to walk forward. She held up her hands and offered a slow, methodical clap.

“Bravo, bravo,” she cooed. “You know, when I got off the airship, I thought for a moment that I’d have to actually kill that Tantabus myself just to make sure it didn’t kill you first, but you six actually pulled it off.” She smirked. “Considering your rather sad excuse for using your powers, that really is something.”

“Who are-” Twilight began, before her eyes widened. “Wait…what did you just say?”

“Did…did she know what that monster was?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“Who in Greater Everfree is she?” Rarity spoke up.

Dash, however, narrowed her eyes. “I got a pretty good idea…” she muttered, before speaking up loud enough to be heard. “You’re that Trottingham fire witch, aren’t you?”

“Uh, did you say ‘fire witch’?” Applejack nervously asked.

The woman stopped. She put her hands on her hips for a moment, smiling rather smugly. “My official title is Lady Sunset Shimmer of Queen’s Lynn, but that doesn’t matter to you six anymore. I’ve been running around the past few days trying to find you so let’s cut to the chase.”

She shifted one of her black gloved hands over to the other and began to unstrap it.
Her cyan eyes focused entirely on Twilight. The mage recoiled a little to see her grinning at her.

“So tell me, what’s your name?”

Twilight looked a bit caught to be put on the spot. However, she firmed up after a moment and stared back defiantly. “Why should I tell you that?”

“Aw, don’t be that way. We’re both alumni from the same school, after all. Besides,”

She smirked a bit wider.

“Wouldn’t Headmistress Celestia frown on you being so ‘unfriendly’?”

Twilight snapped back as if she had just been stung. The others quickly noticed her reaction.

“Er, Twilight? You alright?”

“Do you know this woman?”

“N…no…” she slowly answered, never breaking eye contact with Sunset and sounding confused herself. “I…I…”

She hesitated a moment longer, but then boldened up and called out to the fiery-haired woman.

“I’ve never seen you before in my life. You couldn’t have gone to the academy.”

“I couldn’t have? Well then, how in the world do I know about magic, mana, Promethian Sigils, Anima Viri, Household Seals, the royalty of Canterlot…” She shrugged. “Need I go on?”

Twilight was struck dumb. She could only stare at the woman in open-mouthed surprise.

Sunset finished unfastening her glove but left it on. “Come on, tell me your name. I’d rather call you by something other than ‘hey you’.”

She stared at her a bit longer. The other women looked between the two of them, seeing the growing tension.

The mage finally frowned. “Twilight Sparkle.”

“That’s better.” She flashed her teeth. “Ok then, Twilight Sparkle. You have two choices. You can either come with me right now…”

She yanked off her glove and bore what was on the other side to the women, who all mutually gasped on seeing a Promethian Sigil with five large runes on five of its six points.

“Or we can see how many of your friends I need to kill before you agree.”

Twilight nearly stammered. “F-F-Five? You have…five?!”

“Things will be a much easier for you if you just tap out now,” Sunset went on. “You see, now that I’ve found you, I don’t need to bother going around killing everyone else in Greater Everfree with a Promethian Sigil on their hand trying to track you down.”

The faces of the others fell.

“You mean…” Applejack began to say, “that woman who got shot up at Fort Chestnut…and all the people who got hit by those cannons…”

“Ms. Cheerilee…” Rarity half-whispered, “is dead because…because of…”

“You… You’ve been going around killing people,” Twilight spoke up in a mix of shock and disbelief, “just to find me?”

“There was one lesson I taught Celestia before we ‘parted ways’, so to speak,” Sunset answered, not the slightest remorse in her voice. “Nobody keeps me from what I want. Looks like you might need to learn the same lesson. And right now?”

She snickered as she began to lift the hand with the sigil into the sky.

“I think it’s almost cruel to even use an Anima Viri the way you six look, but since you somehow managed to kill a Tantabus I actually want to see if you can give me a decent fight. Last chance, Twilight.”

Twilight trembled, not just from the woman’s imposing presence but what she had been saying to her. Nevertheless, Rarity tightened up and forced herself to step up to her side, in spite of the fact she had discard her rapier again. Fluttershy, shaking and cringing but nevertheless realizing that she was still one of the only two who could use her Anima Viri, forced herself to move in closer behind Twilight. Dash and Applejack were only able to pry themselves up and stare.

Sunset snorted. “Have it your way.” She paused only long enough to reach behind her and pull out a small metal object. Once it was around, she pressed a button and deployed a spring-loaded blade. After that, she glanced over her hand for a moment. “Let’s see…who to open things up with…? Oh, I know…”

Focusing entirely on Twilight with a look both of victory and superiority, she held her hand to the sky.

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Wondrous Beauty—Mistmane!”

Much to the dread of the others, Sunset’s own aura erupted as her five-pointed sigil came to light. She seemed to grin wider yet as her aura blazed red before snapping free and streaking over her head. The image that it made this time was of what looked like an elderly, venerable woman, but nevertheless with a fortitude undeniable in her gaze and a vitality, even beauty, that seemed to radiate even through her decrepit features. In moments, it broke and fell over her.

Sunset seemed to relish the sensation as her black clothing altered. Most of it became tighter and clung to her body in a more skin-tight format, only shifting to break in key parts while being fastened with a belt and buckles in other spots. The jacket separated from her sleeves and grew longer, thicker, and swept around her neck. It could be considered a robe, only it swept back over her shoulders to let her body be clearly visible beneath. She held her knife out, and it rapidly lengthened in her grip until it became a long, twisted wand in her outstretched hand. Finally, a wide-brimmed hat, a darker color than Twilight’s own when she transformed and fixed with a crescent moon symbol, swept up and capped the top of her head. Her cyan eyes gleamed with a yellowish tint like a pair of jewels beneath the shadow of her brim.

The aura receded, revealing the new form. While she definitely looked different from Twilight’s own, there was no mistaking she had assumed the Caster role.

The group was quite nervous, especially knowing what Twilight was capable of. For the first time, images of what would happen if that same magic was turned on them began to flash through their minds. They were so petrified staring at her that none of them noticed that Twilight’s face was the most shocked of all. Her jaw hung loose as she began to step back.

“No…” she nearly whispered. “No…it-it-it….it can’t be… You didn’t… You couldn’t…”

“What’s the matter, Twilight?” Sunset sneered. “Cat got your tongue? What’s so scary?” She took a step forward. “My Caster form?”

She took another step forward.

“The fact that I’ve got five Anima Viris to your one?”

Sunset advanced one final step.

“Or maybe it’s the fact that I just used Headmistress Celestia’s own Anima Viri?” She brandished her gleaming sigil. “And because of that you can probably guess what the other four are, can’t you?”

“You…” Twilight half-gasped, taking a step backward. “It’s not… How…? How did you…?”

“And guess what? I only need Starswirl the Bearded from your hand to make a complete set. So while it would be more than easy enough for me to turn you into a soot stain right now, maybe, just maybe, you’ll realize how stupid of a decision it would be to pick a fight with me if I let you take your best shot.”

The others all reacted in surprise. “Wh-what?”

Still smirking, Sunset stood tall and held her arms out. “I’ll go ahead and let you cast one spell totally for free. Don’t think I won’t try to block against it…and definitely don’t think I won’t hit you back…but you can cast whatever you like. I’d like to see if you were half the student I was.”

Twilight didn’t move. Everything Sunset had said clearly shook her up too much. She was almost pale and shaking even more than she had been from her previous exhaustion. In a moment, she looked like she’d faint.

“Twilight!”

The sound of the harsh whisper from her left caused her to turn to it. She found Rarity looking nervously back at her.

“I don’t know who you are or what this woman is babbling about, but I do know she looks just like you do and, from what I’ve seen, that makes this a very big problem,” Rarity nervously whispered. “And I further know that if I was to try and fight you with my little flames, icicles, and oversized static shocks, I wouldn’t get very far, which means I can’t do anything against her. Neither can Fluttershy and neither can the rest of us!”

Twilight looked to her other side. Fluttershy was standing her ground, but was cringing and almost covering her eyes. Behind her, Applejack and Dash couldn’t even get up. While Applejack had yanked herself closer to Pinkie Pie to at least act like a shield, Dash could only grit her teeth angrily at Sunset. They were all defenseless, and while she was hardly any better, they were all looking to her now.

It was enough to make her at least concentrate more on the matter at hand. With that, she turned back to Sunset.

“As soon as it’s time, we’re grabbing the others and running for it.” She exhaled.

“Um, when ‘it’s time’?” Fluttershy nervously asked.

“You’ll know.” With that, she took a step forward closer to Sunset. She took a deep breath and held her hand up, then extended a finger and began to trace in the air.

“Oh?” Sunset laughed. “Taking me so lightly you don’t even think you need your Anima Viri? Or just too worn out even for one spell?”

Twilight didn’t answer. She kept inscribing the rune as she chanted, and the color of the sigil turned fiery red. It was far cruder and simpler than her other sigils, and yet it still seemed to tire her more than ever. By the time she was nearly done, her finger was shaking so much that the rune was ending up sloppy and she began to sweat and waver again, but she completed it none the less.

As soon as it was done, she shoved her hand into it and a rather large fireball, easily the size of her entire body, erupted and sailed toward Sunset. Yet large as the attack was, the others only needed to glance at it to realize it wasn’t nearly as focused or potent as her past. This one was far more diffuse and weaker in spite of its increased size.

Sunset never lost her smirk as she calmly traced a sigil of her own in the air, this one icy blue, and snapped her wand down. An icy wave rushed out and struck the fireball, instantly splitting it in half. The two pieces sailed on either side of her, striking the debris and rubble and instantly catching it on fire. In spite of how weak the attack had been, it ignited fast and quickly lit up a pair of blazing torches on either side of the woman. Not that she noticed as she saw Twilight’s arm fall, numb all over again, and watched her stagger.

“I didn’t expect much from you, especially without an Anima Viri, but that? That was one of the more pathetic things I’ve seen in a while. What did you hope to do with that miserable fireball?”

Twilight staggered a bit more, letting her own tiredness push her back to the others. When she finally regained her footing, she glared back at Sunset and smiled.

Sunset’s own look ebbed, puzzled at this, when she heard a flapping of wings over her head. Before she had a chance to look up to it, a series of snarls went out in the gloomy fog around her, before the ground began to shake with the sound of incoming feet.

“I’m not going to do anything. They are.”

They began to emerge from the darkness a second later. Yellow eyes circling in the air. Yellow eyes on either side of the road. Yellow eyes in front and in back of the group. All of them focused on the fires and the woman shining between them. Soon after, another mix of bats and birds began to descend. Larger, snarling land creatures, including more of the wood constructs, came out on either side of Sunset. The ground thudded and shook as two of the lion-like creatures emerged from either side of the road, growling lowly, and began to approach her.

Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity stiffened soon after as a swarm of Nighttouched rats scurried past their bodies; apparently more attracted to the light around Sunset as well as the glow she was radiating. However, Twilight didn’t wait for the chance of getting their attention. Instead she turned around and hobbled over to Applejack. “Go now!”

The others snapped out of it and sprang to life. Fluttershy moved back over to Pinkie and quickly started to get her on her back again. Rarity went alongside Dash and, although it still took her some effort, managed to pull her off the ground with her enhanced strength and put one arm over her shoulder. Twilight herself managed to get Applejack to her feet, and as soon as they could began to flee down the road.

Sunset herself watched as the scores of Nighttouched approached her from all sides. She particularly glanced at the ones above and the two lion-like ones in front of her, before looking behind her and seeing the wolf-like ones. Finally, she looked forward and saw the six using the opportunity to escape.

The whole time, her face appeared as if she found the whole thing funny.

“Oh Twilight,” she called out, holding her wand up and rapidly beginning to draw a sigil. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you? You play with fire…”

She finished snapping a much neater, intricate, and blazing sigil of fiery red a moment later.

“You get burned.”

Swinging her wand out, a pillar of fire erupted from the end of the sigil and streaked over the encroaching Nighttouched, down the road, over the heads of the six women, and finally arched down and smashed into the ruined pavement with an explosive force. It was so massive it not only instantly blocked off the entire route in a wall of fire, but the flames flared up violently from it and washed over the bottom of Fluttershy’s robe and one of Rarity’s sleeves.

Both women screamed in alarm and dropped their passengers. They quickly recoiled and began to tear and pull furiously at their clothes before the fire could spread to engulf them completely. Twilight was horrified, nearly dropping Applejack herself. She tried to hold out her hand to cast a spell to help, but all she got was a sharp headache that nearly made her collapse for her effort. Fluttershy and Rarity continued to rip and tug at their attire for a moment, before, without warning, it burst all around them into the same fragments of aura that their colors had been. Both women collapsed to the ground soon after. Fluttershy cringed and clutched for her legs, while Rarity held her arm out and writhed.

Their injuries were minor, only first-degree at best, but Twilight quickly picked up on the true reason that Sunset had done that. Neither of them were donned with their Anima Viris any longer. All six of them were now back in their normal bodies.

The flames didn’t stop with the initial eruption. They quickly spread in either direction as if they were alive, racing around the area. Twilight looked and quickly realized that they were making a wall of fire around the area. She was cutting off their escape…

As for Sunset herself, still smiling, she lowered her wand. The Nighttouched were still closing in, but the fresh flames she had ignited distracted them. Many of them were now pausing and looking around at them instead of her. She used that moment to flip her robe back a bit more and hold her hand with the sigil up again. She looked past the monsters and down to Twilight, stared back with growing anxiety.

“Nice try. You even caught me off guard for a second. How about to thank you I show you something I’ll bet Celestia never waved around?”

She held her gleaming sigil up, the point for Mistmane still burning bright.

“Emblem of the Caster, right? Well…watch carefully.”

Her face seemed to grow wild as she held her hand up again and bellowed.

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Bravest of Champions—Flash Magnus!”

Twilight let out a gasp, stricken with fresh horror, on seeing a second rune light up on her hand at the same time. The aura that erupted was so powerful that she was nearly blasted into the fire wall by the wind, while the nearby Nighttouched were all forced back several steps. Even the lion creatures.

Sunset herself held her hand to the sky triumphantly and watched as light streaked out from her in a much more blazing red than before, this time etching the emblem of a bold, young, and fearless warrior in a broomed helmet. Soon after, the light broke and flowed over her, and she changed again.

Her tight footwear became broader and more rugged and padded, for kneeling and heavy-duty traveling, but remained its black color. The rest of her clothing separated from her body slightly and lengthened with a short skirt, gaining a bit of a reddish tint more akin to her hair color. The cape shrunk behind her but the hat remained, losing the brim and steeple to cover the upper part of her head in a hood before brandishing a pair of small wings alongside of it. Her hands became covered in long, thick, durable gloves that exposed the fingers, and the wand lengthened both above and below drastically until it was nearly the size of her, before snapping and bending backward. The collapsing cape suddenly became conical and slung over one shoulder before dozens of shafts with fletching emerged from it, and a tight string attached to either side of what her wand had become…now fully a longbow.

She held her hand out for Twilight to see clearly even from her distance. Twilight wondered why for a moment, before she saw the emblem on her hand shift.

“What the…? That’s…that’s not possible!”

“Maybe for some common student who never got to the advanced courses,” Sunset called out mockingly.

“There’s…there’s no such thing as that role! There’s only six!”

“Didn’t you ever wonder why they were called ‘base’? What’s the matter?”

Her light died down, revealing the newly transformed Sunset standing there radiating more power than ever. With a move as quick as one of Dash’s own runs, she reached behind her, yanked out an arrow, and knocked it in the bow.

“Your first time seeing the Archer role?”

Without another word, she snapped her bow to one side and let an arrow fly at one of the lion-like creatures with the speed of a rifle bullet.

A wet ripping sound went out. The monster froze momentarily before the entire upper half of its head slid off the rest of its skull. The body fell lifelessly to the ground a moment later.

Sunset soon drew another arrow and sent it through the heart of the other lion-like creature. A third one shattered two of the wolf-like constructs in one shot. The fourth one shattered five. At this, the other Nighttouched roared and began to run forward, but Sunset didn’t even shift her footing. She merely yanked out one arrow after another and let it fly at whatever monster was nearest. Not only did each mark kill its opponent, not only did each shaft get fired with enough force to usually vivisect them, but the arrows almost always went on to cut through the ones beyond it as well.

Twilight only had to watch the one-sided massacre for a few moments before she realized that there was no way to fight what Sunset had become. She turned back around, dragging Applejack with her, and faced the wall of flame now blocking their way out. Rarity and Fluttershy had bit back their own minor burns to start rising again, but Dash and Pinkie were still on the ground and only one of them conscious. She stared at the roaring flames for a moment, but couldn’t see any way around them. They were already sealed off and, even if they weren’t, they didn’t dare risk running closer to Sunset now.

Applejack finally shook her head. “No use! Ya’ gotta run through it! Maybe if we break fast enough we’ll only get a little crisp!”

“That’s crazy!” Twilight shouted back. “Even if that’s possible, we can’t run through them when we’re bringing you with us!”

Dash rolled her head back and looked up behind her. “Rarity! You can do those tricks even without being in that form, right?”

Rarity groaned. “There’s no way I could possibly…”

She trailed off on seeing everyone looking desperately back at her, and she quickly realized there was no other choice. Giving a bit of a whine of her own, she aimed both hands at the blaze in front of them.

“Icicleicicleicicleicicleicicleicicleicicleicicleicicle…”

Soon, the small shards of ice and slush began to fly. If it had been only one of them, it wouldn’t have managed more than just a bit of slush on the fire that would have quickly evaporated. Yet she kept concentrating until she too began to sweat, and kept letting the small bits of ice and slush flow. They kept hitting the fire one after another, and gradually they managed to wear away enough of it to hit the ground where it was burning. As she kept going, flames began to slowly get snuffed out and the blaze gradually began to lessen.

Twilight gripped Applejack a bit tighter and braced herself. “Ok, the moment it looks good enough, we’re-”

She was cut off as a man leapt right through the fire, reached out for her, wrapped his hands around her throat, and tackled her to the ground.

Applejack was knocked loose and flung into the dirty road as well, but she scarcely had a moment to look up before a housewife burst through the fire wall and leapt on top of her, seizing her by the head and attempting to get enough leverage to beat it against the street. Rarity looked up in shock and alarm before a twelve year old came out next, grabbed her by the wrists, and with violent force wrenched her to the ground to try stomping on her sides and stomach. A Griffonstone soldier soon followed after and seized Fluttershy, violently wrestling her as he looked nearly ready to bite her throat out, before an apple cart vendor jumped forth and seized Dash by the leg. Much to her shock, he began to drag her toward the flames, not caring that he himself was soon set ablaze by wandering into them. He simply tried to pull her in with him.