//------------------------------// // To Slay the Moon // Story: Leap of Faith // by A bag of plums //------------------------------// “I think it’s this way,” Sunset Shimmer pointed at the next turning, watching the van’s headlights illuminate the road and signposts up ahead. They could still hear the police sirens behind them, but at least they had avoided their sights. Morning Blade nodded, but remained silent as she turned the steering wheel. Sunset watched her with a worried expression. Morning hadn’t said a single word since they left the bureau. Sure, Sunset herself was still shaken and saddened by Frigid Night’s death, but Morning Blade was taking it hard. Sunset Shimmer had also called her friends earlier, first, apologizing for waking them up in the middle of the night, but to also let them know of Velvet Breeze’s supposed plans to eliminate Vice Principal Luna. They had all agreed to meet down at Principal Celestia’s and Vice Principal Luna’s place as quickly as they could; none of them were going to let their favorite vice principal get killed. Perhaps if they couldn’t stop Velvet by conventional means, maybe a little friendship magic would do the trick. Sunset was so busy in thought that she failed to notice Morning Blade had already stopped outside Vice Principal Luna’s place. She looked up and out the window, only now looking at the squarish two-storey house with a brown wooden porch and a dark brown tiled roof. “Oh, we’re here! Yeah, this is it.” Sunset had forgotten Morning Blade would’ve known the location of the place, since she had grown up right here in Canterlot. She looked at their principals’ house, inspecting it for any signs of a break in or anything that would hint at Velvet’s presence. Sunset focused her eagle vision and looked around, unable to see any colors except for the dark blue world all around her. Everyone must have been sound asleep by now. “No sign of anything, Morning,” Sunset told the Assassin. “I don’t think Velvet’s been here yet. Maybe we should wait and see.” Morning nodded her head and turned off the van engines. The night around them grew silent, with the only sounds being the occasional bird call or cough from Sunset. “Does Velvet even know where Luna lives?” Sunset said eventually, opening Frigid’s laptop that she had taken from the bureau. “I mean, the dossier doesn’t give her address.” “I don’t know, Sunset...” Morning said despondently. “But we can’t let her hurt Vice Principal Luna. She’s innocent.” Sunset smiled and patted the Assassin’s shoulder. “Glad you’re talking again. You okay?” “No, no I’m not,” Morning said quietly. “But we still have a job to do, and as an Assassin, I have to see it through, regardless of how I feel.” “Alright…” Sunset nodded her head. “I’m sorry, about what happened to Frigid. I wish I could’ve done something to help sooner.” Morning sighed and looked out the window, resting an elbow on the van’s armrest. “You don’t have to be, Sunset.” Then Pinkie Pie smashed her face against the window on Sunset’s side, scaring the life out of her. The fiery haired girl had jumped to the side, screaming at the top of her voice, but calmed down once she saw the grinning face of her poofy haired friend. “Pinkie… you scared me!” she said as she rolled down the window. Besides her, Rainbow Dash and Rarity had also arrived, the latter looking more than a little harried without her usual makeup. “Sorry!” she whispered. “But I got your attention! So what are you still doing out here? What’s happened? Is Vice Principal Luna okay? Should I kick the door down and rescue her?” “Yeah, yeah, nothing’s happened yet. We haven’t seen any signs of Velvet yet.” “Are you sure she’ll even come here?” Rainbow pulled on her jacket. “What if she knows better? I mean, she came to CHS for a while. She knows Vice Principal Luna.” “I don’t know,” Sunset shook her head. There had been too many things going on in the last few hours to have a good time to slow down and think. “But if she is indeed going to kill Vice Principal Luna, we have to stop her.” “Darn right, Sunset,” Rainbow flexed an arm. “We’re not letting anyone harm our favorite vice principal!” “How did it all come to this anyway?” Rarity said, looking around the street. “Last I heard, Velvet and Dewdrop were going to assassinate that Talon fellow.” Rainbow shrugged, pulling out her phone and bringing up the news on it. “Talon’s old news, Rarity. The Assassins have been really busy with all the others too. Don’t you watch the news?” “Honestly, I haven’t had the time,” Rarity folded her arms and looked away. “Sweetie Belle’s been hogging the TV all week. There’s been this new video game called One Man’s Lie or something. She’s totally absorbed into it. I don’t see what the point of it is. All she does is run around and try to encounter other players.” “Well, if you did watch the news, you’d know that a whole lot of the Board of Education members had been killed in different attacks. The reporters are saying this could be classified as a high level emergency.” “Well, I’d be panicking if the people in charge of education were wiped out overnight too,” Rarity wiped at her head, brushing snow off. “Luckily, it’s a holiday. Things would be in chaos right now if school was still going on.” “Maybe they’d even cancel school,” Rainbow hoped. Just then, a pickup truck pulled alongside the Assassin van, with Applejack waving at the group from the driver’s seat. Fluttershy waved at them from the back, all snuggled up in a large warm winter jacket. “Howdy, y’all. Nice night, huh? So what’s goin’ on, Sunset?” “We have reason to believe Velvet will try to make an attempt on Vice Principal Luna’s life,” Morning Blade said tensely. “I-We can’t let that happen.” “Hold your horses,” Applejack held up her hands. “Anyone wanna tell me exactly why Velvet’s tryin’ to kill Luna?” “Frigid, he told Velvet of her involvement with the Templars…” Morning Blade looked away and out the window. “He told us before he… left us…” “Frigid Night is dead?” Rarity held a hand up to her mouth. “How? What happened?” “That’s why we're here,” Sunset took over, knowing his was a hard topic for the Assassin. She pushed the door open and joined her friends. “After all the recent deaths on the news, we’re not going to let Velvet accomplish this one.” “Luna would never willingly work with the Templars,” Morning said, clenching the steering wheel in both hands until her knuckles turned white. “Velvet has this all wrong.” “We won’t let her, Morning Blade, don’t you worry,” Fluttershy said as she got out and walked over to the van. “Though… can’t we just talk to Velvet? I’m sure she’ll listen to us. We’re her friends.” “Yeah, she trusts us, doesn’t she?” Pinkie was playing with the falling snow. “So where is she now? Taxi? Bus? Plane?” Sunset was about to answer, but then her ears caught something, the sound something swishing through the air like an arrow. Before she could pinpoint its exact location, something smashed through the roof of Principal Celestia’s and Vice Principal Luna’s home, throwing tiles and splinters up into the air around the girls. “What was that?” Sunset looked through the opening in between her arms to make sure it was safe. “Was that Velvet?” Applejack swiped a piece of wood off her hat. “Kinda looked like her, ‘xept she was all glowin’ and stuff.” “I didn’t know she could fly!” Pinkie jumped up and down. “Well, let’s go,” Sunset led the way forward. “Whoever it is, our principals are in danger.” She ran at full speed to the front door, only realizing that it was locked when she tried the handle. Oh, of course it’s locked… What did you expect? “I got this, Sunset,” Morning arrived and eased past her, pulling out her lockpicking kit. Sunset waited to the side anxiously, watching the metal pick move up and down as Morning tried to get in. Soon, the lock clicked, allowing the Assassin to throw the door open, with all of them rushing in, looking for Vice Principal Luna. Then they heard a scream from the second floor, directing the girls to the staircase, with Sunset taking the lead, going up two steps at a time. Just as she rounded the corner at the top of the staircase, a bat had swung out from the darkness and would’ve caught Sunset across the jaw if not for her newly acquired skills. The fiery haired girl dropped to her knees and slid ahead, standing up on the other end in a combat stance, but relaxed after realizing it was only her school principal. “Sunset Shimmer?” “Principal Celestia!” Sunset caught her in a quick hug. “You’re alright! But no time. Where’s Vice Principal Luna? She’s in danger!” “That’s where I was heading when I heard you kids enter my home,” Celestia looked at the stairs, where Morning and the rest of the Rainbooms were standing. “Wait, Morning Blade? Is that you?” “Nice to see you, but no time to talk, Principal Celestia! Luna’s in trouble!” The Canterlot High principal nodded her head. “I heard her scream, that’s why I came out with the bat.” “Then let’s go!” Sunset ran down the hallway, searching for their vice principal’s room. She heard noises coming from the one, second from the end and pushed it open. Inside, Vice Principal Luna was being held by her nightshirt in front of Velvet Breeze, who was aglow like a thousand candles. A pair of ghostly golden wings extended from her back, and her hair was long and in a ponytail. The pair of equine ears atop her head confirmed Sunset’s suspicion: Velvet had learned how to harness the shard’s power. The ceiling above had vanished, opening up into the cold night sky, with snow slowly falling into Luna’s thrashed room. “Please, help! I don’t know what she wants!” Luna called out, struggling in Velvet’s grasp. “Velvet! Stop!” Sunset Shimmer ran across the room, only to be lifted up in an invisible force, keeping her hands by her side. “Velvet, what are you doing? Let me go! Vice Principal Luna isn’t the enemy!” “Sun… set…?” “Yeah, Velvet, it’s me. Come on, stop all this. Vice Principal Luna isn’t a Templar. You’ve got it all wrong.” The rest of her friends, along with Morning Blade and Principal Celestia entered the room, crowding around behind Sunset, whom Velvet released, allowing her to drop to the floor. “Velvet Breeze?” Principal Celestia took a step forward. “What’s going on? What are you doing with my sister?” “I can hear them, Sunset,” Velvet put a hand to her head, shaking it at the same time. “All the Mentors, each and every one of them…” “All the Mentors?” Sunset asked. “What about the Mentors? What do they want?” “They demand I uphold the Creed… by following acting Mentor Frigid’s orders…” Velvet’s free hand flexed, and the golden light spun into a set of claws around it. “The Templars need to die.” “No, don’t harm her!” Celestia ran forward, only to be thrown against the wall by Velvet’s magical force. “Velvet, no!” the Rainbooms yelled collectively. The young Assassin’s glow intensified as a pulse blew out around her, knocking everyone down. “Don’t do this, Velvet,” Sunset sat up and pleaded with her. “Frigid was wrong to give you that information. He knew it himself. He told us, before he died. Don’t go through with this!” “Frigid Night’s… dead?” Velvet paused for a second. “He died trying to save us. Vice Principal Luna’s not a bad person. He was wrong. Put her down, Velvet, please.” “Yeah, you were at CHS, Velvet,” Rainbow Dash added in. “You know she’s not the bad guy.” “You d-don’t have to do this, Velvet,” Fluttershy hid behind her friends. “You c-can trust us…” “Put her down, Velvet,” Applejack joined her friends in a line. “She don’t mean ya any harm.” “Yeah, you partied with us!” Pinkie Pie popped up next to Sunset. “Friends stand up for each other, silly!” “That Sombra’s the one you want to fight, Velvet dear,” Rarity rubbed at her head and got up. “Som… bra….” Velvet clutched at her head as if it were about to burst. Then all of a sudden she straightened up and went still, dropping Luna onto the floor. “Velvet?” Sunset ventured. “Sombra. He’s here.” “What?” Morning Blade looked around, brandishing her hidden blade. “Where?” Velvet’s glowing eyes turned to the wall. “At… the school,” she forced out, as if her voice was failing. “Must… stop him…” Almost as quickly as she had arrived, she flapped her glowing wings, disappearing up into the sky before jetting off in a blink. “School?” Sunset ran over to help Luna up. “Vice Principal Luna, are you alright?” “I’m-I’m fine. Just shaken,” she replied. Principal Celestia had already recovered, rubbing at her head where she had hit the wall. “What’s going on? What happened to Velvet, and who’s this Sombra?” “It’s my fault, sister,” Luna shook her head. “Velvet, she was asking about my involvement with Chairman Wood.” “Involvement?” Celestia raised an eyebrow as she dusted off her hair. “What sort of involvement?” “I did it for our jobs, Celestia,” Luna began to explain. “I couldn’t let you lose your job just because you wouldn’t submit information.” “What are you saying, Luna?” “I did what the chairman requested, sister. I did it to protect both our jobs. I wasn’t going to let him fire you just because you didn’t submit the reports. I’m sorry I went behind your back.” “It’s okay, Luna,” Celestia gave her a big hug. “You did it with good intentions. Though girls, what really is going on here?” Rarity shrugged and brushed snow off her coat. “Just another plot to take over the world, Principal Celestia. We sure get our fair share of having to save the world, don’t we? Uh, no offense, Sunset.” “None taken,” the fiery haired girl chuckled. “Hey, it’s been a while since I’ve had to say that.” “Well, time’s wastin’,” Applejack looked up at the hole in the ceiling. “Velvet’s already gone out there to find Sombra or whatnot. Shouldn’t we head on out to help her out?” “Right,” Sunset nodded. “Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, we’ll explain everything when we have the time, but will you two be fine?” “Don’t worry about us,” their principal answered, tossing a blanket over her sister. “We’ll be alright. Go on. Go save the day. Morning Blade, keep them safe.” “I will,” the Assassin nodded. “I hope we get to catch up when this is all over.” With everything said, the Rainbooms and Morning rushed back to their parked vehicles, with most of the girls scrambling into the van, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash took the pickup truck. “Why is Sombra at school already?” Sunset asked Morning Blade as she got in the front beside her. “They couldn’t have completed the auditorium that quickly, could they?” “Maybe he doesn’t need to,” Morning suggested as she turned the van around. “Maybe he already has what he needs to enter your world.” “What do you mean?” “He doesn’t need the whole building around the statue, does he?” Morning picked up speed and zoomed down the straight road. “I’m sure he only needs a few specific things to get that portal open. Maybe those black crystal spires he has?” “Then I hope Princess Twilight and the others are ready,” Sunset swallowed. “I don’t know if we’ll make it there in time.”