Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky


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.”