//------------------------------// // Nightwatch: Late Night Flight // Story: Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories // by Piccolo Sky //------------------------------// As odd as the stranger’s advice, and appearance, had been, it panned out. They had to run the whole way, but eventually the path terminated into a much larger clearing and the group left the road and moved into the trees. Just up ahead, they saw it. A Trottingham airship was in a “hovering dock”. The lighting was minimal, which was pretty standard for a normal airship this close to the border anyway but apparently the crew wasn’t entirely confident in their defenses. Although the engines were idling, a rather continuous, low-frequency hum was rolling through the air. What lights they currently had on were aimed out to the surroundings, but with large shadows in between, and so dim that the group could see multiple people walking around on the upper deck even from a distance. “Alright, we lucked out!” Dash grinned on spotting it. “Now we just got to get on before they take off…” “Better hurry,” Applejack muttered. “Sounds like they’re fixin’ to take off right now…” “Nah, that humming sound is one of those ‘Morning Glories’. It’s what’s keeping the Nighttouched and Light Eaters back.” “Oh, that’s what that sound is?” Fluttershy spoke up. She looked skyward. “All of those nightjars and bats certainly don’t seem to like it…” “D-D-Did you say bats?!” Rarity nearly shrieked. Her eyes darted to the heavens as she quickly shrank and covered her head. “Forget the bats, we gotta get in there ‘fore they do take off!” Applejack interjected. “Let’s just use our sigils and bust in!” Rarity took a moment to compose herself before frowning. “I don’t know if you’re willing to see if you can survive getting hit by a cannon shell, but after what happened back in that clearing I’m not willing to chance it.” Dash looked over the area. “Well, they’d be more worried about what’s coming at them on the side that’s not facing the forest, so we might be able to sneak along the back… Only problem is if this is like the airships Cloudsdale used to have, there’s no way in back there except what goes right into the engines or ventilation ports. And we aren’t squeezing ourselves through tiny pipes.” “What if we went on really strict diets?” Pinkie suggested. “Even if we did get in, we’d still have to face the whole crew,” Rarity pointed out. “So what?” Dash answered. “Bring ‘em on! We can take ‘em!” “Darling, we’re going on a rescue mission after this, during which we’ll need to confront Sunset Shimmer, and these soldiers are armed with weapons that replicate spells. I don’t think we should be too eager for open combat.” Applejack sighed. “Well, great. They could take off at any moment, so if you want a plan you better think up one mighty quick.” Rarity paused. She looked around the area a few moments before wincing as a shadow flew down low near her head; obviously a bat. However, after doing so, her eyebrows raised. “Fluttershy, dear, does your ability work on all animals?” “It really works best with ones who have been tainted. The best I can do is give a general direction to normal animals.” “Do you think you might do that for all of these bats?” “I…suppose. Why?” The Trottingham soldier stationed on the bow of the Legacy groaned impatiently, shifting her heavy weapon to one arm before rotating her shoulder. “These new guns are too heavy… I can’t keep it aimed out all night long!” “Ugh, are you going to start complaining again?” her companion nearby groaned. “Keep it down!” “Aren’t we ready to take off yet? It’s bad enough that Lady Sunset hates it whenever we’re late, but we’re in Mount Aris territory and this close to the border!” “You’re not seriously scared that the Morning Glory is going to give out, are you?” “Well if you’re not scared, how come you told me to keep it down?” The soldier stammered at that hesitantly. The first snorted. “I thought so. You’re thinking the same as the rest of us. Once Lady Sunset gets what she wants, she leaves the rest of us out to dry.” The second immediately tensed up and jammed her finger in the first’s chest. “Well until she does cut us loose, that kind of talk is going to get you either shot or court-martialled, so keep it down!” The first grit her teeth. “Why don’t you…hey look!” Abruptly, she pointed to the edge of the grounds, nearest the tree line. The other soldier looked, as did numerous other soldiers stationed on the deck. In the dim lights that they were allowing they saw a single figure emerge from the forest and hop up and down: one with a large mass of poofy, pink hair. “Alright there, Trottinghamians…” she paused, “Er…Trottinghameons…uh…Trottinghamites…? Whatever… This is the Mount Aris National…uh, National Watchman’s Bureau for the, uh…Guarding of Abandoned Landing Strips Corporation! We’ve got you all surrounded! The forest all around you is filled with guns! Really big ones that make really loud noises and cause really big explosions! Surrender right now!” The two soldiers stared out somewhat incredulously. After a moment, the second began to go for her binoculars while the other gestured at the intruder. “Is she for real? Between her and that last guy, maybe the carnival is in town…” The second soldier brought the lenses up and looked at her for a moment before lowering them again hurriedly. “I think that’s one of the six targets that was in Grifftham City! They said she’d have a lot of pink, curly hair!” “Oh, is that so?” the first retorted, before moving over to the speaking hole. “Too bad for her we already got the one Lady Sunset wanted, which means we’ve got no reason not to blow her away with the cannons. I don’t think we have to worry now about noise if we’re going to be lifting off…” She leaned down to give the call when the figure out in the field shouted again. “Don’t believe me, eh? Well, in that case…” She held up a hand to the sky. “Fire some warning shots across her nose, boys!” A bit to the surprise not only of the two soldiers, but soon everyone else on deck, an eruption of fire came from the woods before a fireball streaked out of it toward the airship. A moment later, it zoomed right over the prow before sinking into the woods beyond. Not long after, a second one from a different spot also fired; shooting over it a bit closer. Finally, a third shot arced so low that the two soldiers recoiled at the feeling of the heat, right before it hit the ground to the side. On making contact, a fiery explosion went off and blasted a dirt crater into the ground. The tremor was enough to send a ripple through the airship. That, in turn, quickly got the attention of the remaining watchmen. Soon every stationed soldier and watch post was angling itself to the front of the ship and the pink-haired woman standing out there making threats, now looking rather pleased with herself. “What the hell…?!” the first soldier exclaimed. “They have real guns out there?” “You don’t think they’re working with Mount Aris, do you?” the second added. “If they are and they really have been stationing guns out here…” “Ha-ha-ha!” the pink haired woman laughed. “Arr, avast me hearties! Now we’re gonna pillage and sink ya’ to the bottom o’ the briny deep!” The two soldiers, along with many of their compatriots, looked confused. “…Oops! That’s pirate jargon. I meant to say it’s all over! Now come out with your hands up or we’ll open fire!” Hardly had she finished the threat when a voice came in through the speaking hole. “Prow watch, what’s going on out there?” The first soldier leaned in. “We’ve spotted someone! It’s too dark and near the forest to make out how many individuals, but they have at least three artillery units!” “Do we have targets?” “Negative! We can’t confirm how many!” There was a pause on the other end; no doubt from the bridge quickly trying to decide what to do next. It lasted for several seconds before a voice came back. “Belay attacking. We’re taking off and heading to the rendezvous point. Prepare for standard cover fire-” “Emergency!” a voice suddenly cut in, clearly tense and panicked. “We’ve got an emergency in the engine room! Nighttouched are pouring in!” Every last soldier near a speaking hole went rigid. “What…what was that? Engine room?” “Repeat, Nighttouched are pouring in! There’s hundreds of bats in here and more are flowing in through the ventilation slots! The Morning Glory isn’t working! Repeat, the Morning Glory isn’t working! We need to evac the engine room!” The echoes of bat screeches soon began to leak over his voice. “Repeat, we’re sealing off the engine room!” Those on deck hesitated a moment, before one of the watches called out. “Look!” It came from the starboard side toward the rear, but everyone who was near enough to look could just make out what was happening in the dim light. Hundreds of tiny black flying creatures were briefly illuminated as they passed through the beams of the airship’s lighting, and every last one of them was streaming toward the back of the ship. Everyone had moved to the front with the threat of attack, but there was no question they were pouring right into the ship through the tiny vents. For a brief moment, there was a stillness and silence among the crew. Even working with the Morning Glories for so long, they, like all others in Greater Everfree, had learned to fear the Nighttouched. Especially the swarms. They moved like a relentless flood in which they could lose dozens or even hundreds of individuals and still overwhelm everything in their path. No normal swarm of bats would dare get anywhere near the heat of the engine, and even if they would they wouldn’t fly en masse. That only lead to one conclusion in their mind. Feeling themselves suddenly stripped of their protection, powerless to escape, and sandwiched between hostile parties with artillery and attacking monsters, the bridge sounded the command. “Abandon ship! Evacuate and get to cover!” At once, the crew fell into a full panic. Posts were abandoned both outside and inside as everyone scrambled for the port accesses and ladders. Those in engineering ran the hardest and fastest; none of them standing their ground in the face of a swarm of death pouring into the ship. They were soon logjammed by all of the other crew members, especially the younger ones (of which Sunset had mostly populated her crew) with less experience and resolve. The side hatches popped open soon after as the sounds of screeching began to fill the ship’s innards and small leathery-winged creatures began to flap over the heads of those farthest behind. The gangplanks barely had time to deploy before the crew members ran out. While the class of airship that the Legacy was could normally staff a crew of a hundred easily, Sunset trusted herself to only those she personally could confirm and, as such, a mere fifty ended up pouring out of the sides before the airship was dry. They all moved in the same direction—south and away from both the artillery fire and the Nighttouched attack. They made a beeline straight for the ajar doors of an old abandoned hanger; the nearest structure they could take refuge in. As they loosened up and spread out in their mad dash, the first few crew members got within only a few meters of the doors. Yet as soon as they did, a glowing woman in light armor brandishing a warhammer leapt out from within and drove the head of the weapon down against the ground as hard as she could. The first few Trottingham crewmembers barely had time to register what had happened before the force of the impact was enough to sweep them off their feet. The next ten ran into them; the collision tangling them as well. The remaining thirty came to a halt behind them, but no sooner had they registered surprise when a second glowing woman, this time showing off her muscles, shot out with blinding speed. Moving like a streak of rainbow light, she zoomed across the perimeter and quickly hemmed them in; dropping one after another with punches and kicks so fast they couldn’t even see them coming. The one with the hammer quickly rushed in and joined the fray, pummeling the rest with blows. Forty of them were dropped by the dual onslaught. The remaining ten, realizing their mistake, attempted to backpedal enough to bring their weapons to bear. Unfortunately, by the time that happened, the pink-haired woman had joined them and also ignited in light. She quickly moved on them, disarmed them, and left their legs tied up by their own shoelaces. They were easy prey for the other two and soon joined them on the ground. When all was said and done, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie took a moment to stand back and look over the pile of fifty unconscious bodies. Dash grinned. “Whew! That was pretty impressive even for me!” “Yay!” Pinkie cheered. “Great job everyone!” She turned to the forest and cupped a hand to her mouth. “Including Fluttershy and Rarity!” The foilage around the woods shifted for a moment, before both women in their own respective Anima Viris came out with Spike running up behind. Rarity herself removed her hat and dabbed her brow with her pocket handkerchief. “I’m simply glad that they mistook those spells Twilight taught me for cannon fire. I don’t think I could have managed anything larger…” Fluttershy herself held out two fingers. Moments later, a bat glided out of the sky and alit on them, hanging upside down and facing her. “Thank you ever so much for your help! I know you normally don’t want to go into cramped, hot, smoky spaces like that, but we’re ever so grateful! And we’ll get this airship out of here in no time so that you can go back to your evening meal!” The bat screeched once before taking off again. Applejack hefted her hammer and faced the Legacy. “Awright… We took care of these folks, but it don’t really help us get Twilight back, does it?” “Oh, maybe if we put together a bunch of fake dummies of all these crewmembers,” Pinkie suggested, “and we put them all up at their stations and used little strings to move their arms and heads and covered up our voices and said…” She covered her mouth and spoke in a high-pitched voice. “‘Oh, Sunset! It’s so lovely to see you! It’s your old friends: the crew of your other ship! Won’t you come and have some lemonade?’ And then when they get close, we jump out and yell ‘surprise!’ and then ambush them!” “I admire your spirit, dear, but I think we can simplify that,” Rarity answered. “I say we commandeer this ship and go right to Sunset’s rendezvous! It’s the perfect disguise!” “Oh, and if it has one of those Morning Glories,” Fluttershy pointed out, “we could take it straight to the Castle of the Two Sisters without a key. That would make things so much easier.” Applejack crossed her arms. “Uh…only one problem with that idea. Anyone have any idea how to fly one of these contraptions with only five people and a dog?” The five went silent. They looked to one another for a moment, before they all looked to Dash. She shrugged. “What?” “Didn’t you say you used to be in the Wonderbolts?” She blanched, starting to look nervous. “Well…the Wonderbolts were the Steam Air Corps. We didn’t actually fly big airships like this one…” She shrugged. “But, now that you mention it, I think I did get a five day basic operations training when I first enlisted. I think I can jog my memory.” Applejack went wide-eyed. “You serious? You’re gonna pack us all on board this oversized hot air balloon and fly us over Greater Everfree on tryin’ ta’ remember a week of trainin’ from how many years back?!” “Not a week…five days. ‘Sides, with today’s modern technology, how hard could it be?” The farmer began to quiver as intensely as Fluttershy at her worst. “Sunset, you’ve been given a marvelous power. A unique one.” “Unique…?” “You know now that there are other people in the world who have the same power you do, but what you don’t know is that yours is something much greater than that. Unique even among the rest of us. You’re special, Sunset. You have an amazing gift.” She leaned in closer to the child, still smiling at her kindly. “One that could even save the world one day.” “Say Twilight, think you can help me out with something?” The mage looked up from the bench she was seated upon. Sunset again had her face to her barred window, smiling tauntingly. “See, we’re almost to our destination, so that means we’re going to have to move you soon. Except you’re conscious now, so I’m guessing you’re going to make this a bit problematic. I’m trying to decide on how exactly I should keep you in line.” Twilight frowned, but said nothing. “You see, I thought of just bringing out my own Caster form. I’m really interested in seeing which of us is better, after all. Then again, I really don’t want anything to ruin this, so I thought of going with the Archer instead.” She snickered. “But I don’t get many opportunities to use my other forms either. In fact, I’ve never really used the rest of them before. I’d love to introduce you to the Gambler, the Enchanter, or…” She paused, smiling wider. “Well, that last one’s a se-cret, but if you really want to know I’d be happy to show you. What sounds more fun to you? Giving you a fighting chance or crushing you like a bug?” Twilight simply looked away. However, she didn’t stay that way for very long. The sound of the bulkhead turning rang out and prompting her to look up again. “Ah,” Sunset smirked, “it must be time right now. Hurry up and give me your preference, won’t you?” She turned away slightly from the cell, but still left herself somewhat angled at it to keep at least her peripheral vision on Twilight. Soon after the metal door swung open, allowing the royal guard to step in, approach, and salute her. “Lady Sunset, we have arrived. We’re reducing speed for our approach as we speak.” “Great to hear. Are we ready to begin?” He hesitated. “Not quite.” Sunset’s smile began to falter. She turned fully to him. “What do you mean ‘not quite’?” “The Legacy still hasn’t arrived yet.” Her face flushed with irritation. “Are you kidding me? They’ve been waiting for years for me to finally pay up my side of the bargain, and they’re late? This is ridiculous! If they can’t meet at a rendezvous at an appointed time, it’s their loss! Tell the bridge to begin the landing cycle!” “They were right there in Mount Aris territory when we left, my lady. If they’re not here, it might mean something more serious. We should probably take this seriously.” This only made her bristle even more. “I’ve been forced to sit around making one deal and arrangement after another for eight years hoping for tonight! And now that I have the final sigil in my grasp, do you have any idea how infuriating having to wait any longer is?” “You did promise them, so long as they followed your command, and they have.” She hissed as she ran her hand through her hair. “This is why I hate it when I have to rely on other people… You never know when they’re going to do something like this and tie everything-” “My lady! Look!” The sudden yell from the royal guard snapped Sunset to attention, and she spun around only to gasp at her mistake. Twilight had noticed her getting worked up over the airship and, as a result, distracted. Now her hands were up and finishing tracing an advanced sigil as fast as she could while chanting the same incantation. It was more complicated than any basic cast and, to Sunset’s surprise, one she didn’t know she had full command over. She quickly raised her own hand and began to chant a spell of her own. It was too late. Twilight slammed her palm against the sigil, and instantly her body erupted in a purple aura. Seconds later, it ignited in a brilliant flash that blinded both Sunset and the royal guard. Both of them recoiled, but as soon as it died down they unshielded themselves and looked back in the cell. Twilight’s now-disembodied chains finished falling to the floor and the prison stood empty. Sunset glared at it for a fraction of a second, before she gnashed her teeth and slammed her fist into the wall. “Damn her!” The royal guard himself looked bewildered. Seeing the cell empty, he immediately started looking around. “How did she…? Where is she? Did she turn invisible or-” Swinging around, Sunset angrily seized him by the shoulder and threw him rough enough to one side to make him strike the wall. “Of course she didn’t turn invisible, you idiot! She teleported!” The royal guard was more caught off guard than hurt by the shove and rose quickly after her. “Teleported? There’s actually a spell that lets its caster-” “Shut up and stop asking stupid questions!” she cut off as she stomped toward the door. “Just come with me now! She can’t have teleported off the ship! We need to hurry up and find her!” As he fell in behind her, Sunset reached the door and quickly spun the bulkhead again before yanking the metal hatch open. “Once I find that wretched woman, I’m going to cut out her tongue so that she never chants another spell again!” she raged as she tore out into the hall. The royal guard followed closely behind and the hatch closed again soon after. Yet in the middle of her wrath and fury, Sunset had been so wrapped up in her anger that she failed to hear rather tired panting still coming from the inside of Twilight’s cell. The woman was currently leaning against the same wall the door was on, pressing herself against it both to hide as well as to try and regain her bearings from having performed the teleportation. Her wits came back quickly, and she nervously looked at the window and listened in case someone should double back or Sunset should realize her ruse. All she heard was muffled yelling and footsteps; no doubt the crew springing to life and beginning to comb the ship for her. She seemed to have at least a few seconds of freedom. Seizing on them, she forced herself up and off of the wall. Her head was still swimming, but she aimed her hand at the lock on the cell door and performed a new gesture. Fire formed within the lock and blazed hot enough to deform and melt the tumblers out. In moments, the barred door slid free of its frame and popped open. She quickly pushed it aside and exited. By the time she reached the bulkhead leading out, much of the noise had died down but continued to echo deeper in the ship. Nearby seemed quiet enough, however. She swallowed, knowing the risk, but tentatively reached out to grasp the handle and gave it a turn. She winced at how loud the screeching was, pausing momentarily before pushing it open. She waited for a second or two, but no one came and no one yelled. She risked pushing it forward a bit more, but still nothing. Finally, she leaned her head forward and looked around. The corridor was empty. Sighing in relief, she began to step out of the cell only to jump when a loud alarm began to blare throughout the entire airship. She winced in panic for a moment, before she realized that alarm had to be the general one for all crew members. She hadn’t been caught, but she realized that everyone would be looking for her in seconds. With that in mind, she quickly ran out of her own cell and began to look for the most hidden and direct route to the upper deck. “Hey everyone! The ship is rolling back and forth again! Wheee!” As the ship continued to pitch from side to side, Pinkie let herself be carried along with it, cheerfully doing cartwheels. “This is fun! Give it a try!” The other four girls were less than enthused. More like terrified as they frantically tried to keep their footing while moving from one console to another. Rainbow Dash herself was gripping the helm nervously and shouting out. “Rarity, do something about that!” “I’m trying to make out the atrocious labeling on these confounded controls, and your shouting isn’t helping me remember which is which!” she shrieked back, before desperately beginning to adjust them. Suddenly, the ship pitched even more violently one way. The turbines gave a sharp whine, and everyone went white as a sheet. “Rarity!” “Oops!” she cried back as she quickly reversed the control. The ship’s pitch went back just in time to prevent them from rolling over completely. No sooner had they evened-out, however, than the entire ship gave a violent shudder. A massive scraping and groaning echoed from the bottom. Applejack, practically green and using her own station to support herself rather than do anything, looked up weakly to her side. “We hit another tree… Can’t you do nothin’ ‘bout that…?” Dash rolled her eyes. “Fluttershy!” “Oh,” she answered in her normal speaking voice. She was looking over her own station somewhat curiously, one hand on her chin. “I’m sorry. I’m still trying to figure this one out. Let’s see…” She turned to the helm. “Rainbow Dash, was it this one that you showed me that controls the altitude? I’m sorry, it was just such a fast explanation that-” She was cut off as the sound of another tree scraping the hull resonated through the ship. Dash groaned. “Yes, yes! That’s the one! Hit it before we scuttle!” “Alright.” She daintily shifted the control soon after. The scraping dimmed down a moment later as the ship began to rise. “Aw… That was all tingly…” Pinkie moped as the ship evened out. “This would probably be easier if we slowed down a little…” Rarity spoke up. “If we want to catch up to them, then we’ve got to go full speed.” Dash retorted. “We don’t have the manpower or experience on board to slow down and speed up again just like that. We just got to kick it up and run the engines into the ground getting to them.” Applejack retched a bit, but dully looked back at her. “And…what do we do when we get there…?” “That’s easy!” Pinkie cheered, shifting to a pirate-like tone. “We let ‘em have it with the broadsides and send ‘em inta’ the briny deep!” She paused. “Wait, we’re in the sky, aren’t we? We send ‘em inta’ the…wild blue yonder then!” “Uh, about that,” Dash answered uneasily. “We don’t have a crew to handle firing this thing, so we won’t be shooting back at them. And we don’t have a turbine control operator, so we won’t be flanking them. And we don’t have an engineering crew to regular the steam operations, so we won’t be maneuvering in close corners.” “What exactly can we do?” Rarity asked. “Considering it’s just five of us with no experience? Maybe get this ship to the same altitude and bring it into a hovering stop. And once they realize we can’t do anything more than that, they’ll keep their distance and blow us out of the sky.” “Good grief…” “Oh dear,” Fluttershy murmured. “If that’s all, how can we rescue Twilight?” Applejack pried herself off the ground, still looking queasy. “If the cannons are already loaded, can’t we get a shot or two?” “If someone’s down there manning them, then sure. We can’t do any kind of reckoning, though, so we’re going to have to be in close range to hope to hit ‘em.” “Maybe that’s all we need… These ships have gotta have a weak point, right?” Rarity frowned. “One cannon shell against two airships? I’m no sailor, Applejack, but I’m rather good at math.” “And like I said, they’re not going to let us get that close anyway,” Dash griped. “Hey, I got an idea!” Pinkie chirped. “If we can’t open fire with our broadsides, let’s all get on upper deck, go in real close, and then…avast, me hearties! We charge onto their boat and raid ‘em hand-to-hand!” Applejack looked up. “Y’know, aside from the fact it means jumpin’ ship, that is a better idea. Who needs all these fancy cannons and such when we got our special powers, anyway? I bet I could take that ship apart myself.” “It would be playing to our greatest advantage,” Rarity threw in. Dash rolled her eyes. “Uh, hello? Anyone home? Did you not hear me keep pointing out that they won’t let us get that close? None of these ideas will work so long as we have to close in on them!” “Oh, if only Twilight were here,” Fluttershy murmured. “She seemed to always know what to do.” Applejack groaned. “Well, she ain’t. It’s just us. So we better start rackin’ our brains…” “Hmm,” Pinkie thought, putting a finger to her chin as she kept running around the bridge, “looks like what we need to do is get close to the ships in order to do anything, so let’s find out how to get close to the ships!” “Flying definitely isn’t going to work,” Dash answered. “Not with a limited crew and no experience.” “If this was one of my Shadow Spade mysteries, I’m sure she would work the problem from the opposite angle,” Rarity suggested. “She’d find a way to make the other ships come to us.” “Well, that’s just plain nuts,” Applejack griped. “How can we do that? They already got the one thing they want from us.” Dash shrugged. “Maybe we’ll luck out and Twilight found a way to get away from them. Or at least a way to get them to land…” “Not unless they want lots and lots of big scary Nighttouched instead of Twilight!” Pinkie answered. Dash sighed. “They won’t have to worry about that. With those Morning Glories, they’re safe and sound. Let’s just be glad we have one too or we’d already be eaten alive…” Rarity turned to her. “What was that?” “Huh?” “What did you just say?” “What? If they didn’t have these Morning Glories protecting them, the Nighttouched would overrun ‘em by now.” Fluttershy hesitated. She thought about that a moment. “Um…Rarity? If Twilight didn’t know we were coming, how do you think she might try to escape?” Applejack and Rarity looked back at her together. “What makes you ask that?” “Maybe we can do something after all…” It took Twilight some time to work her way back down to engineering. Not only had the search for her intensified as time went on and every misstep she made echoed, but that was the one area of the ship that still had crew members stationed at their posts. Even getting to it was hard enough. She had to spend most of her time hiding, waiting for the crew and Sunset to finish scouring one part of the ship before they realized she had to be in the previous one, and then make her way past them into a more recently-searched portion without being spotted in between. The game of cat and mouse had taken some time, but she had managed to stay one step ahead. She was currently facing a floor hatch leading to her intended destination, having just managed to avoid the latest detection by shoving herself into an alcolve around rather hot steam pipes. However, from there she was thwarted. The hatch was open, but no doubt there were workers down there, and in the confines of the airship there was no way they wouldn’t hear the sound of her echo going down the metal rungs of the ladder. Worse yet, this area was being patrolled. She could only stay hidden for a short while before someone would be around again. She looked around, trying to think of something, before she finally looked to the hot pipe nearby. She thought for a moment more before she held up her hand and performed a small gesture. Very basic and simple, just a mild water charm. Nothing more than a water balloon by most estimations. However, as soon as she had generated it out of thin air, she flung it onto the pipe. A loud hiss came off as the heat began to instantly boil it into steam. She held for just a moment as a noise rang through the air, waiting to see if anyone would suspect anything or react to it. On hearing nothing, she quickly advanced to the metal rung ladder. As quickly as she could she descended it. Sure enough, she hardly began to go down when she spotted a worker nearby in insulated clothing working on a trio of valves. However, the hissing noise from the pipe overhead masked her noise, and his attention was otherwise on his work. The moment Twilight touched down, she looked around quickly to see the way was clear before running around the bend. Once there, she sighed in relief a moment before moving on. Now that she was in there, she kept her ears open. All the way down to main engineering she had heard a dull vibrating noise grow more audible, and now she began to worm her way through the inner workings of the ship to try and find it. She managed to turn down two more corridors, inching her way to the edge and slowly peering around the side each time to make sure the way was clear. Time was against her; the guards had likely searched main engineering once and would return to do it again shortly. On the third turn, however, she snapped away as quickly as she could. She had barely looked around the edge before spotting a pair of engineers working on the wall of pipes nearby. She pressed herself back against the corridor, but fortunately for her both of their eyes and been focused on their work. Moments later she heard them speak. “This gauge is still 20 psi low.” “It’s always low.” “Yeah, great thinking. If the captain comes down here, we’re supposed to just shrug and say ‘it’s always low’. Weren’t you changing the gaskets down here yesterday?” “I told you it’s always low! It was like that before I swapped out the gaskets!” “Yeah, yeah… I’m going to start oiling this joints, and I’ll bet I find a leaky gasket.” Twilight swallowed. She looked back the way she came, making sure no one was coming that way, and then listened near the edge of the turn. Sure enough, the humming sound got louder. She had to go down that passage. She looked around a moment, trying to think, before her eyes rested on a valve nearby. She traced where it went, and saw that it ran around the corner into the hall. She looked back to the valve, moistened her lips, and then shifted her hands down so that her palms were in her sleeves. Moving gingerly, she reached over and grasped the valve and quickly turned it to shut it. The effect was soon and desired. After a short whine, a small burst was heard followed by a rush of steam. In moments, vapor was billowing around the corner. “Damnit! I knew you messed up the gaskets!” “It wasn’t me! That was perfect last I checked it!” “Does this look perfect you?! Damnit, help me lock it down! Where the hell is the cutoff valve? I can’t see anything!” As they continued to shift and fumble around, steam continued to come forth until a cloud was running out from the edge. Twilight inched toward the edge before looking around. Just as she hoped, the corridor was rapidly filling with smoke, but the two engineers were backed up to a broken gasket spewing most of the vapor and entirely focused on it. Between the hissing and the curtain of mist it was providing, she knew that was her only chance. Quickly, she passed into the hall and rushed into the steam and right past them. Feeling her way along from there was a bit more difficult, but soon the mist cleared again and the sound of the humming led her onward. It got louder as she inched around one more corner and then the next following that, the ship growing more “technical” and showing off its gears as well as its steam pipe inner workings, before she finally made her way to one final turn. Once more pressing herself against the wall, she inched forward and looked around. A sealed metal bulkhead was just ahead of her. Unfortunately, in addition to that, two guards were posted. Both of them were bearing the more special weapons and armor that Sunset had provided, but the far worse thing was that both of their eyes had been aimed forward and waiting for the first sign of an intruder. Unfortunately, even Twilight’s small peek around the side failed to go unnoticed. She immediately saw the two guard tense and raise their weapons. She couldn’t afford even a single shot to alert anyone else. Fortunately, she had expected this. She ducked back around the corner, removing herself as a target, before quickly performing a new sigil. As expected, the two guards broke their position and started to run toward her, but as they were still trying to reach the corner she popped back out. Completing her spell, she aimed her palm at both of them before a sharp bolt of electricity snaked out and branched to hit both in the chest. The metal harnasses that normaly would act as armor soon became a handicap as the lightning made contact and conducted throughout their bodies. Both went rigid, only one of them able to give out a hint of a pained grunt, before both of them seized and fell to the ground. Twilight wasn’t sure if they were unconscious or merely incapacitated by the move, but she didn’t wait around to find out. Quickly, she rushed past both of them and up to the door. Giving the bulkhead a quick twist, she pulled it open and rushed inside. Sure enough, as she hoped, the humming was at its loudest here. Right in the middle of the giant inner workings of the airship, where she could see the main axles and pipes chugging about that were working the propellers, there was a raised platform along a gated catwalk. Mounted in a large metal fitting was a lantern-shaped object about three feet tall and one foot in diameter. Whereas everything else in the dimly-lit main engineering of the airship was lit up by gaslights, a light emanated from the center of this one that gleamed like a hot iron with the sun-like gleam. The humming sound radiated strongly from it; transmitting into the rest of the ship from its connection point. By the time she crossed the catwalk and reached the central platform, the noise was almost deafening from how hard it was reverberating, but she none the less toughed through it and reached the object. After a few seconds of staring, she finally reached around it and felt. Fortunately, it wasn’t mounted in with bolts but had release levers. They were tight, to be sure, and she had to struggle and grunt against three on the bottom and three at the top, but in the end she managed to pry them open. She put her arms around the object and, although it weighed a good forty pounds, she was able to pull it free. It was the heaviest thing she had lifted in a while, but she slowly yanked it out of its fitting. The humming around her immediately diminished significantly from it no longer being mounted in the airship, although it continued to vibrate in her arms. Gritting her teeth, she turned around with it, ready to move… And stopped. Sunset, her own Caster Anima Viri out, her royal guard, and eight of her minions with their weapons aimed stood in her path. She gasped before dropping the device. It landed in front of her with a clang, but despite its height her head and upper torso were still exposed. Over the noise of the humming, she hadn’t even heard them come in behind her. “Nice try, Twilight,” Sunset smirked. “Once I calmed down a little, I figured the only move a smart little cookie like you would make would be to teleport into her own cell. Of course, you were long gone by then, but I realized there’s only so many moves you could make. You can’t teleport out of here, it’s too dark for you to see the ground to reach it, and if you try any sabotage you’ll go down with the ship too. So I figured, since I already told you that we’re headed into the interior of Equestria, you’d go for the Morning Glory to force us to fly back out again and buy some more time. Not bad.” Twilight paused before moving her hands behind the Morning Glory. At once, the spear of the Royal Guard was aimed at her and snaking with electricity, while the rest of the weapons aimed as well. Sunset never stopped smiling. “Looks like you may have gotten a little muddled along the way, though. Based on the traces the patrols picked up, it looks like you tried to head to the upper deck first before heading down here. Why was that? Didn’t believe me when I told you we still hadn’t landed?” Twilight was quiet as she kept her arms as steady as possible. Behind the Morning Glory, her fingers quickly went to work while they were unseen. “No…I just needed to get the upper deck as a reference point for another teleport.” Sunset’s smile began to fade. “What?” An instant later, Twilight executed the sigil and let out a stream of arcane language as she seized the Morning Glory with her other hand. She didn’t know if the group fired or not; only that her surroundings vanished in a blaze of purple lighting. It lasted only a moment before dimming again, and once it did she felt cold, moist air blowing all around her with the roars of engines echoing in her ears. She was no longer in the engine room at all, but now on the upper deck of the Rising Sun. She barely had a moment to recognize it before her vision dimmed and she felt dizzy. She hunched over the Morning Glory a moment later, actually using it to keep herself from collapsing on the deck. She retched once or twice but, fortunately, she had something of an empty stomach and that kept her from vomiting. In spite of her need for speed, she couldn’t do anything but try to recover from doing two teleports in one day for almost half a minute. As soon as she had enough strength, however, she held her hand in the air and summoned her own Anima Viri. In moments, she entered her own Caster form; feeling enough strength to move again. Quickly, she raised herself up, grasped the Morning Glory, and dragged it and herself over to the edge of the upper deck. Once there, blasted by the cool winds and struggling to focus, she looked out. They looked like they had entered a cloud or fog bank, for neither moon nor stars were visible. Everything was surrounded with a cool mist. She couldn’t see anything from that side of the ship, even with the Rising Sun’s lights on. Letting out a bit of a sigh, she finally made her move. Tightening her muscles, she picked up the Morning Glory and threw it over the side. Moments later, she watched the device sink down through the clouds and vanish. She rubbed her brow, sweating and not just from tension as she tried to decide if that move was madness or brilliance. A moment later, she turned and looked around the deck. Luckily, there seemed to one be one major hatch. She tried to find something to use for a wand, but on finding nothing she sighed and held her hands up at it. She performed a more advanced gesture and, while it wasn’t as focused as her normal spells, the end result caused the air around the hatch to chill rapidly before large icicles and crystals formed upon it and over it, even going so far as to enter the hydraulic joints. In moments, the entryway was sealed. She sighed again as she let her arms fall. “That should buy me a few minutes at least…” she thought aloud. “Won’t do you no good!” The sound of the mocking voice alerted her, and she turned the rest of the way around. Once more, she hadn’t been paying attention, for some of the roaring wind as well as the noises she was hearing turned out to be the result of the second airship hovering in close to the Rising Sun the whole time. And now it was pulling amidships. Already, its own company of crew was armed and at the ready; including the two fully-armored soldiers she had seen earlier. She tried to raise her arms for another spell but, without a wand, it took more time to focus. More than enough for the taller of the two to aim and shoot at her. Still concentrating on her spell, she didn’t have time to break it off and dodge before some of the gooey paste struck her right in her chest. She pulled away then, only to find her movements turned into a slug’s pace. “Glue…with…a…speed…charm…?” she asked aloud to herself, barely able to speak articulately with how much her speech had slowed. “Yup,” the soldier who shot her answered as he lowered his arms. “Lady Sunset made it ‘specially for me. I thought it was good since, you know, my name’s Snails and snails are slow.” “Don’t interrupt me, Snails!” the other shouted back, before wheeling on Twilight again. “Like I said, it won’t do you no good! We’ve got our own Morning Glory and-” “Oh, hey look, Snips,” Snails interrupted, pointing out to the horizon. “It looks like the Legacy finally caught up to us.” Twilight looked as he pointed. Sure enough, the gloom was parting to allow fresh lights to come through, and they were rapidly growing brighter and clearer based on the speed of the airship. Not long after its entire outline began to emerge. “Not now, Snails!” Snips shouted back, turning back to Twilight. “We got our own Morning Glory, so as long as we’re right next to the Rising Sun we can keep the Nighttouched off both-” “They sure are coming in fast. They probably should hit the brakes or something.” “I said not now! So as long as we’re right next to the Rising Sun, we can keep the Nighttouched off both them and us at the same time! So you’re-” “Uh, Snips?” The armored soldier let out a massive groan before snapping to him. “Snails, for the last time, I don’t want to-” Snails cut him off by reaching out and grasping his arm, before pointing again. By now, Snips had failed to notice that most of the other soldiers posted were no longer focusing on Twilight but up in the sky, and with good reason. Twilight herself looked and cringed as she saw the airship continuing to approach them at nearly full speed with no sign of stopping. It was mere seconds from ramming them. Some of the soldiers, including Snips and Snails, uncertainly began to back up. Others turned and ran for cover; not realizing how irrelevant it was in midair. Twilight merely gasped, too slowed by Snails’ attack to do anything more. However, right as the collision looked inevitable, the retros of the airship blazed to full life. It came up so rapidly that the entire airship whined and nearly stalled in midair, and the sounds of minor steam bursts from over-worked valves and emergency venting broke out all over it. The forward turbines cut out at the same time however, and the rudder suddenly swung one way so that the entire airship arched about into a nearly 90 degree turn. Yet even with the retros still chugging as fast as they could, the entire airship continued to slide forward straight for the opposite side of the Legacy. Snips and Snails both gave a yell as the airship beneath them lurched; the result of the pilot of their ship trying to get it out of the way, but it was too late. Soon, everyone on all decks of both ships were jostled as the approaching vessel was finally halted by smacking it’s own frame into the side of the already adjoined ships. Twilight herself fell to her knees, but even then had to cluch for dear life as both vehicles shuddered violently. She only got a moment to reclaim her bearings, however, before a pair of loud eruptions went out: cannon fire. The frame of the other airship gave a violent shudder, and bits of splinters from wood and twisted metal erupted from near the rear end. Cries and shouts resulted, and over the sounds of three airship steam engines running together chaos began to explode. Twilight looked up again, still stunned, to see the soldiers on the other airship running about in panic. Cries began to come from within the Rising Sun. Through it all, however, she realized that the new arrival had just fired on its partner at point blank range. She realized what that meant… Sunset, freshly infuriated, had been halfway up through the ship when the call came over the speaking holes that the Legacy had been sighted and was heading on a collision course for the Prodigy. On hearing a follow up that the entrance to the upper hatch had been frozen shut, she reluctantly detoured to the bridge. Yet no sooner had she entered it, followed by the same company from the engineering room, when the sounds of cannon fire burst out and the Rising Sun gave a violent rattle. Naturally, this threw the crew into a panic. They were scrambling everywhere; not the least because the new fill-in for first officer didn’t have nearly the experience or cool head that Wallflower had. It only served to anger Sunset more as she finished balancing herself before walking to the captain’s chair. “What the hell is going on out there?!” “We can’t see based on our position, but the Legacy was just trying to ram the Prodigy, then it snapped around and pulled alongside before firing its cannons on her!” “Are you serious?” she yelled back. “What do those idiots over there think they’re do…” She trailed off, realizing the truth before clenching her teeth. “Them. It’s the rest of her little friends!” The first officer and several of the closer officers wheeled to her. “Who?” “It doesn’t matter…” she hissed, half to them and half to herself. “They couldn’t get off more than one shot with just five of them! They’d barely be able to even run that ship!” She turned fully to the first officer. “Get this ship pulled away from the Prodigy! We’ll blow the Legacy out of the sky!” “No!” a voice came from one of the stations. “Belay that order!” The first officer turned around to the officer who had called. Sunset did as well, and she was moments from raging at them for contradicting her. One of her hands actually began to raise and readied to perform a gesture… Before she could, the officer pulled back and pointed to one of the more specialized gauges against her station. “Look at the Day Meter! It’s dropped off to only one quarter in the past few minutes! We’re barely getting any coverage!” “Captain!” another officer yelled. “We’re getting a light signal from the Prodigy! That shot they took split the main resonance bar! Their own Morning Glory is only protecting them now!” The first officer looked up, growing rather fearful. Not only her, but everyone else on the bridge. “She must have destroyed our own Morning Glory…” “That means the Legacy is the only one that has a fully working Morning Glory!” the one at the sensor station shouted. “If we destroy their ship or split their own resonance bar we’ll get eaten alive! We’re at least 30 miles from the Equestrian border!” “Worse than that…” the first officer quietly added. “If they figure out that all they have to do is disconnect it from the resonance structure…” As furious as Sunset was getting, and more so all the time, she managed to keep something of a cool head in the face of all of this information. She boiled and seethed for a moment before turning about. “Flash…” “Already on it. I’ll have their Morning Glory in four minutes.” “Do better than that.” He didn’t waste time with a salute, but turned, pushed through the rest of the soldiers, and quickly made his way out. Sunset quickly glared at them. “What are you doing standing around out there for? Get to the upper deck and get Twilight! I want that hatch cleared off five minutes ago!” She spun back around to the bridge. “The rest of you, get this ship peeled around and attached to the Legacy with the skyhooks! If we need its Morning Glory, then it’s not going anywhere!” Most of the crew, in spite of their anxiety, turned to start executing Sunset’s commands. The soldiers turned and left at the same time. As for the new first officer, he meekly began to approach her. “Captain, we have no Morning Glory of our own and the Prodigy can only protect itself. We should make plans to evacuate onto her while we still can in case the worst-” He was cut off as Sunset seized him by the lapel and yanked him into her face. A violence she had never shown before flooded her features. “Do you have short-term memory loss or something that you forgot what happened to the last first officer of mine who didn’t know how to carry out an order? I’ve been waiting eight years for tonight, and I am not about to throw it all away because you’re all ‘scared of the dark’! I’m getting that last damn sigil if it’s the last thing I ever do!” She nearly flung him away, causing him to stumble back before a railing stopped him. He quickly cringed, but Sunset was already done with him. Spinning around, she held up her hand with five sigils. “Alright, Twilight, if that’s how you want to play…”