Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin
Chapter 23
The metal wheels whined and screeched against the tracks as the train slowed. After sliding for a long while the train at last sat motionless in the empty land. There was little here save for dirt and tracks and train. A hundred hooves ahead the track split in two. One route turned South while the other curved North and neither continued East.
Inside the train cabin three ponies were gathered around a glowing map, closely examining the shimmering lines of light. The map did not show the tracks nor did it seem to have anything they could easily identify.
“I am absolutely, positively, almost, mostly sure, we must be here!” announced Pinkie at last, placing a hoof on the map.
“Pinkie, dear,” said Rarity. “I am fairly sure that cannot be correct.”
“Sure it is,” said Pinkie. “See how these squiggly lines sort of look like that dirt out there?”
“Firstly,” said Rarity, she put her hoof on the map and spun it right side up. “And secondly, no, I do not think those lines bare any resemblance to the outside.”
“So, we’re lost,” interjected Trixie.
“Nuh-uh,” said Pinkie with a shake of her head. “I totally know where we are! We’re in a train!”
“And where is the train exactly?” asked Trixie.
“I have no idea,” said Pinkie with a shrug. Trixie let out a sigh. “The train must be lost!”
“Can’t you just use your crazy sensey thingy and figure out where to go?” asked Trixie waving her hooves around to emphasize her point.
“It doesn’t work like that, I don’t control it, it just kind of happens,” said Pinkie.
“Without the tracks, finding our location on this map seems hopeless,” interrupted Rarity. “I guess we will just have to guess which direction to go. Worst case scenario we simply have to walk the rest of the way. So now the question is, do we go North or South, left or right?”
“I say left!” cried Pinkie exuberantly. “No, no, I mean right! Oh, I can’t choose both sound like fun!”
“How does a direction sound like fun?” asked Trixie, shaking her head slightly. “In any case The Great and Pow… I mean… left, we should go left. That will take us North, towards Manehattan, which is near the ocean.”
“But possibly just as far away from our destination as we are now,” added in Rarity. “If only this map showed us where we were! Or if we had been paying more attention along the way.” She paused for a moment while she considered the map. Her eyes were locked on the tiny silver-blue dot out in the ocean. How were they supposed to get to it, surely they didn’t have to swim!
“Perhaps,” said Rarity after considering the dot. “We should continue on hoof?”
“But we could be days away, maybe even a week,” said Trixie. “Without a landmark, there is no telling how far we’ve traveled.”
“We cannot risk a week of travel getting there, let alone coming back,” said Rarity. “It looks like we will just have to stick with the original plan and continue by train.” Rarity took a deep breath. “I agree with Trixie, we know that Manehattan is by the ocean, so we will at least be heading East at some point. We just need to keep our eyes out for landmarks and try and figure out our location.”
“Alright, sounds like a plan! I’ll go flip the switch!” said Pinkie. With a single hop she bounded out the cabin door and vanished.
Pinkie returned a minute later, still smiling.
“Okay, the track is switched so we’re ready to go!” said Pinkie.
“Let the rocket train roll on,” said Trixie moving towards Rarity. However, before the two could get close enough to cast their shared spell Pinkie suddenly sprung up between them.
“Woah, what are you guys doing?” asked Pinkie, a slightly more serious tone in her voice than Trixie had ever heard.
“We are going to move the train forward,” said Trixie, giving Pinkie a quizzical glance.
“Yeah, but you can’t just launch it forward like you’ve been doing! We’re at a bend in the track, you gotta move slow here,” explained Pinkie.
“Ah, yes, of course,” said Rarity with a strained smile. “But how exactly are we going to move the train? I’ve never tried to move something this large on my own before. Without Twilight…” She gave Trixie a sheepish smile. She hadn’t intended to imply that Trixie wasn’t as good as Twilight, but it had just come out that way. However, Trixie seemed to have hardly heard.
“If we divide the task and each take a set of wheels,” suggested Trixie half to herself, half to the other two ponies, “then I think we can move the train.” She looked at them for confirmation of her plan. Rarity nodded slightly as she turned the words over in her head.
“It sounds difficult, do you think it will work?” asked Rarity. Trixie shrugged.
“I don’t know, this is a first for me,” answered Trixie. “I’ve never needed to work with another pony like this before… or move a train for that matter. I guess we will just have to give it a try.”
Trixie moved to the left side of the cabin, while Rarity took up a spot on the right. Wordlessly, they looked at each other, nodded and began to cast. The train shuddered around them. The wheels groaned then they jolted forward, sliding more than rolling.
Both Trixie and Rarity looked visibly strained by the effort. The train began to move slightly faster, the pace of a trot, as it rolled along the tracks.
“That’s it, keep it up! We are almost past the switch,” said Pinkie, who was looking out the window, keeping an eye on their progress.
Rarity let out a huff of exhaustion and her spell faltered, the magic on her horn extinguishing. Trixie managed to keep her spell going a little longer but without Rarity to help, she couldn’t maintain the locomotion spell. At last the glow of magic faded from Trixie as well although the train continued to roll slowly onwards.
“Okay,” said Pinkie. “We’ve cleared the bend. You guys can make it a rocket train again.” Both Trixie and Rarity let out a weary sigh and looked tiredly at each other. Whether they would admit it or not, blasting the train forward was a lot less work than moving it by conventional magic. “And more fun!” exclaimed Pinkie with a smile.
Landmarks, as it turned out, seemed to be very hard to find, at least along this part of the track. Rarity was paying much more attention to what was out the windows, but it all looked the same, countryside, more countryside and some more countryside.
Very little changed as they rolled along across the flat barren land. At least the track was indeed taking them North-East, but where they would end up, none of them knew.
They finally brought the train to a stop after hours and hours. Both Trixie and Rarity were completely exhausted. Pinkie engaged the brakes and locked them in place. The three ponies spread out around the cabin and one by one, drifted into sleep.
Rarity was the first to awake. She had no idea how long they had slept for but she didn’t feel rested. However, she was sure they could continue on, so she woke the others.
Reluctantly, Trixie opened her eyes, unwilling to rise. After much prodding and ultimately a very loud coaxing from Pinkie Pie, they were on their way once more.
As they sped along the track Pinkie sat over the map. She looked for anything that might give them some clue as to where they were. Yet, the map seemed to lack greatly in any detail. It had a roughly drawn peak for Canterlot, and a squiggly line for the beach, but in-between was little more than blank parchment. As far as maps went, it was severely lacking in detail.
“I think I know this place,” said Trixie as the train rolled along. Out through the windows was a series of small farms and tall windmills that stood motionless.
As Trixie said it, Pinkie noticed that the map began to change. A town was slowly drawing itself onto the parchment, like the map had overheard them and decided to draw what they were looking at. A small name tag appeared below the town.
“I performed here a year or so ago,” explained Trixie. “What was its name…”
“East Bridleden,” said Pinkie helpfully.
“Pinkie, you know this town too?” asked Rarity in surprise.
“Nope!” answered Pinkie. “It just appeared on the map!” Both Trixie and Rarity hurried over, their faces shocked in disbelief.
“But this wasn’t here before!” said Rarity, examining the small glowing representation of the town.
“It is a magic map,” said Pinkie. “Maybe it just didn’t know where we were!”
“That’s nonsense,” said Trixie. Then she looked at the other two. “Isn’t it…?” Pinkie shrugged.
“I have no idea, but it makes sense to me,” replied Pinkie. “Look! There is more, it’s drawing more!” Sure enough there was more. The lines had not stopped with the town. The three ponies watched as more and more area drew itself onto the map.
“Those are train tracks,” said Rarity, pointing at lines racing across the parchment. “But… but that is the way we came from! It’s drawing the route we took! But it isn’t drawing anything new!”
She was right, while the map had drawn the town, it wasn’t showing anything beyond it, save for the already establish ocean.
“It doesn’t look like we are too far from the ocean,” said Trixie. “I don’t know how far it is away, but I remember another town on the…” her words trailed off as the map suddenly began to draw the town Trixie was talking about.
‘Cape Colt’ read the little tagline below the beach front town.
“Oh, oh, let me try!” said Pinkie. “How about… Fort Withers? That’s south of Manehattan isn’t it?” She looked excitedly down at the map yet nothing appeared.
“How odd,” said Rarity. “I’ve never been there but I believe you are correct. I wonder why it isn’t showing up.”
“I’ve been there,” said Trixie, “when I was making my way along… the… coast…” For a second time the conversation died and the three ponies’ eyes were all pulled down to the map. The light was drawing again and a little town, complete with name tag, appeared on the parchment. Fort Withers. Trixie looked at the others in surprise.
“Perhaps, the map requires that you have been there before,” suggested Rarity, “before the map can show it.”
“Oh, that makes sense. How else would a map know where to go if it had never been there?” said Pinkie with a nod.
“What? No,” answered Trixie in shock. “That doesn’t… I mean… why just me?”
“Well, neither Pinkie nor myself have ever been out this way before,” replied Rarity. “It would seem lucky indeed that you came with us. Now, we just need to figure out where to…”
“Oh my gosh!” shouted Pinkie. She suddenly jumped up and leapt across the cabin. Trixie and Rarity shared a strange look with each other, unsure what the pink pony was up to. However, they didn’t have to wait very long to find out.
Pinkie yanked a leaver at the controls and the train let out a loud screech. Trixie and Rarity were thrown forward, toppling to the floor as the train ground to a lurching halt.
“A little more warning next time Pinkie,” said Rarity, looking up at her friend from the ground.
“Why did you stop us!?” demanded Trixie, getting back to her hooves.
“We almost missed the exchange!” said Pinkie, returning to the map. When her hooves had left it the parchment had gone blank. She touched the map again and it redrew, complete with the newly discovered locations. “Look, there are tracks now, and if this is East Bridleden here, then we need to switch tracks just ahead. Come on, let’s go find the switch, it shouldn’t be that far!”
Without waiting, Pinkie leapt out of the train. Rarity and Trixie exited somewhat more slowly.
The two ponies stood at the base of the steps, looking at the desolation around them. This town had an uncomfortable feeling to it. The farms here that had once grown tall green crops were vacant. The fields had turned brown and the plants had wasted away under the Sun.
They also noticed that Pinkie seemed to have vanished. Rarity half expected the pink pony to be bounding along the tracks, hurrying ahead. However, she didn’t seem to be anywhere.
It was Trixie who finally nudged Rarity and pointed a hoof towards the pink pony. Pinkie was standing out in front of one of the farms, her back to them. She had stopped at the gate that bordered the edge of the land and was looking sadly at the house.
“Pinkie,” asked Rarity quietly as she trotted up to her friend. “Are you okay?”
“I used to live on a farm when I was younger,” said Pinkie quietly. “Not like this of course, this farm is for plants. But still, it reminds me of my parents’ home. And it makes me… sad, to see it like this.”
“I’m sure the ponies that were here got to safety,” said Rarity.
“Yeah,” answered Pinkie distantly.
“Come on, we should keep going,” said Trixie, turning and moving on. Pinkie watched her friends as they began to move off. Neither of them saw her tremble as she looked back at the house.
Finding the switch had not proved to be very difficult. With Pinkie’s help they had been able to figure out the strange language of the signs. After changing five or six different switches, Pinkie informed them they should now be headed east.
The whole task was more time consuming than they would have liked. The walk there and setting the switches had taken almost an hour. But the walk back was quick and they were once again aboard the train. Without wasting any more time, Trixie and Rarity blasted them forward once again and they were off towards their destination.
They hadn’t been going for very long when a strange smell filled the cabin. It was the smell of the ocean. While they still couldn’t see it the salty odor told them they were getting close. There was still no breeze but the salty smell lingered in the air.
As they came up over a ridge, the great wide body of water spread out before them. From their vantage point, the three ponies could see the rounded curve of the moon’s shadow stretching across the water in front of them. Sunlight was still visible in the distance but the edge of day was very far off.
Further down the tracks, at the bottom of the small hill upon which the train was climbing over, was a small town, which Trixie identified to be Cape Colt. Pinkie expertly applied the breaks as they crested over the hill and began to roll down the other side. She was able to keep enough speed that they didn’t need to cast the spell again.
They rolled into town, towards the very small train station where the tracks went no further. The engine slowed to a stop at the end of the tracks. Pinkie worked the break to bring them to a gentle stop at the station.
There were no ponies at the station, which was not surprising, although it did feel unsettling. The three of them departed the train and made their way out into the empty streets. The town felt completely abandoned. With the Moon blocking out the Sun overhead, the ponies of the town should have come out by now, yet, there was no one here.
They did not stop to search for others and their talk was minimal as they made their way towards the beach. They reached the water’s edge and could go no further. Pinkie produced the map and Rarity touched a hoof to it.
The area the map showed seemed to have zoomed in. They could make out the town of Cape Colt and they could also see Rarity’s marker. She had not been wrong about its location.
“Oh you must be joking!” cried Rarity as she looked up from the map. Her eyes swept out over the sight in front of her. “This stupid map must be wrong! My element is out in the middle of the ocean?”
“Well, not the middle,” replied Pinkie. “I would say closer to like one, one hundredth of the way to the middle. Not really in the middle at all.”
“But not on an island either,” said Trixie, pulling the map closer to her and examining it. “Definitely not on the shore.”
The three ponies stood in the sand on the shore of a beach. None of them had actually expected the map to lead them right out into the not-middle of the ocean. How were they even supposed to get there, surely they didn’t need to swim? Perhaps they needed to go by boat?
“Hey, look at that!” cried Pinkie, raising up a hoof and pointing towards something out in the water. The two unicorns followed where Pinkie was pointing. Rarity wasn’t sure what she was looking at. It seemed to be some kind of… thing… floating out on the water. It was far enough off shore that the Moon’s shadow didn’t reach it.
Rarity felt a worried expression come to her face. If her element was out in the Sun how were they going to reach it? She and Trixie couldn’t work the shield spell together. Rarity knew she could shield herself and Trixie could most likely do the same, but Pinkie would have no protection against the Sun.
“Come on! Let’s go check it out!” cried Pinkie jolting Rarity out of her thoughts. Not waiting for an answer, the pink pony bounded off. Rarity let out a sigh.
“Where does that pony find all that energy?” asked Trixie. “And how can she possibly bounce like that? Are her legs made of springs?”
“Anything is possible, when it comes to Pinkie Pie,” responded Rarity with a smile. Trixie gave her an uncertain look, but returned the smile. The boisterous unicorn had become slightly more manageable after Rarity and Pinkie had told her that they considered her a friend. Rarity was really starting to warm up to Trixie. She really wasn’t as bad as she’d been in Ponyville when she had come to show off.
“You guys! Hey you guys! You gotta come see this!” shouted Pinkie waving her hooves in the air and bouncing up and down. “You aren’t going to believe it!”
“Do you think she’s found a seashell that looks like cake?” asked Trixie.
“I am hoping that she found my element and that I don’t have to get my hooves wet,” replied Rarity with a playful smile. “But I think we are most likely going for a swim.”
“Half right!” cried Pinkie, springing up from behind them and causing Rarity to yelp and leap into the air in fright.
“Pinkie! I told you not to do that!” said Rarity, her eyes wide with panic and her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“Look! Look what I found!” shouted Pinkie whooshing around the two unicorns and holding her hooves out towards the ocean.
“Yes, the sea, well spotted,” said Trixie rolling her eyes.
“No, look, closer,” said Pinkie. Rarity looked where Pinkie was pointing. At first she couldn’t really see anything. But as she continued to look Rarity could tell something was… odd. She trotted closer to Pinkie and as she did something began to move out of the water.
“What… what is that?” asked Trixie, pointing to the rectangular shaped object jutting out of the sea.
Pinkie moved out to it without caution and put a hoof on it.
“Water,” said Pinkie. “Just plain old, mostly solid, water.”
“Mostly… what?” asked Rarity. Pinkie stepped out onto the block of water and bounced on it. Trixie and Rarity exchanged glances of disbelief. “Pinkie… how…”
“I dono, it feels weird, but in a fun way,” said Pinkie bouncing happily. “Come on, you guys have to try this.”
“I don’t know,” said Trixie wearily. However, she and Rarity suddenly found themselves being pushed from behind. “Seriously, how does she keep doing that!”
“I think the question I would like answered right now is how are we doing this!” cried Rarity, her eyes fixed downwards. Trixie followed her gaze. All three ponies were ten hooves off the shore and standing on water.
Rarity tapped the water with her hoof. It wasn’t solid, but it wasn’t liquid. The almost-solid water rippled at her touch. It was more like gelatin than solid water.
“Look there’s more!” cried Pinkie. She bounced off humming happily as she hopped up and down along the top of the water.
“I find,” whispered Rarity to Trixie as they watched Pinkie defy all laws of physics. “That it is often better just not to ask.”
The water bridge took them outwards into the ocean. On either side of them tall waves rolled past, split down the middle by the bridge. Pinkie led them onwards and Rarity followed right behind, with Trixie stuck in the rear.
There was no island ahead of them, but they were moving ever closer to the edge of the sunlight. Except, the funny thing was, and it was hard to tell, Rarity was sure they should have reached the sunlight by now.
The sunlight hadn’t been that far off shore yet, it seemed to be the same distance away now as when they had started. Perhaps it was just an illusion, a trick of perspective. Or maybe, no, that was crazy, the Moon couldn’t be moving the wrong way in the sky.
Without warning, Rarity bumped into Pinkie’s rump.
“Pinkie!” cried Rarity losing her train of thought. “A little warning please.”
“We’re here,” whispered Pinkie in awe. At first Rarity was confused. Then, she saw it. Towering out of the ocean and glistening in the shadowy light was a castle, made entirely of water. It had see-through walls and towers, windows and doors. While it was solid like the walk way, streams of water flowed down its walls like it was one great fountain.
The group had come to a halt at its front gate, which was closed. Rarity put out a hoof and pressed against the liquid door. It did not move.
“How do we get in?” asked Rarity. “Do we need a key?”
“Pfft,” said Pinkie with a wave. “You don’t need a key when you can do this!” Taking a few steps back, Pinkie charged forward into the door and dove into the castle. Rarity felt her mouth fall open slightly.
“Swim! You expect me to get my mane wet?” asked Rarity indignantly. Pinkie smiled at her from inside the water wall and nodded.
“Or, we could just punch a hole,” said Trixie. Her horn began to glow. Pinkie’s eyes widened and she swum quickly out of the way. A blaze of flame erupted from Trixie’s horn and blasted a hole through the water wall. “See, easy.”
The water poured down in small streams, slowly closing the gap. Trixie and Rarity bounded through and an instant later, the water door had reformed behind them.
“You know,” said Pinkie, her head poking out of the ceiling above them, “you could have just swam through… or swum through…” She looked thoughtful as she pondered the correct word.
“Yes, or, the Great and Powerful Trixie could have just blasted a hole in this fortress of dampness,” explained Trixie with a smile. With a yelp, Pinkie toppled down out of the ceiling, landing on top of Trixie.
“Swum, definitely swum,” said Pinkie absently.
“Get off me!” exclaimed Trixie.
“This place is incredible!” said Rarity in awe. She was completely oblivious to the argument going on behind her. This place simply couldn’t be real. It was like something out of a dream.
In fact, it was almost like she knew this place, like she had been here before. Yet that was silly. She had never been to anything made of water, let alone a castle. Still, there was something familiar in the design.
The group was in a great entry way, complete with a massive, three-story spiraling stairway. Carpet lined the floor, paintings hung on the walls, chandeliers dangled from the ceiling. And all of it was made of water. The only thing it seemed to be missing was fountains, but the small waterfalls that flowed down the walls of the room seemed to make up for the lacking fixtures.
Rarity let out a squeal of delight as a small fish swam under her hooves, tickling her. The tiny fish was not alone. A large school of fish shimmered into view before they turned and darted away, swimming up a wall then vanishing out of sight into the ceiling.
“The element has to be here some place,” said Trixie, finally getting back to her hooves and trotting up beside Rarity. “Even though it’s all made of water, it isn’t transparent. I can hardly see anything in the next room.”
“So we will just have to search for it,” said Pinkie happily. “I call the floor!” She leapt upwards then dove face first into the floor, vanishing beneath the surface. Trixie stood there wide eyed.
“We should start on the ground… uh, sea-level, and work our way up,” said Rarity. Her horn glowed and a moment later Pinkie was yanked out of the floor and back into the room. She dangled upside-down, dripping onto the water-carpet. “And, we should stick together. Who knows what is lurking in this place.”
The downstairs area was huge. It had a ballroom, complete with a water-piano, that, despite Pinkie’s best efforts at playing, only made splashing sounds. It had a kitchen, complete with water food and water stoves, that made actual hot water-fire. The cake sitting on the dinner table had also been made of water. Until Pinkie dove into it head first. She claimed that it didn’t taste salty at all. However, it also didn’t taste like cake.
Rarity stopped to sip one of the remnants of the water-cake. Pinkie was right. It didn’t taste like salt water. She wondered if just the food was salt free, or if the whole castle was. They were out in the ocean, a castle made of water was strange enough to find, but made of fresh water, now that was just crazy!
There was also a library, with water books, that when you pulled them from the shelf, dissolved back into liquid water. A pool, with, well… water, but swimable water. Several guest rooms and a large lounge rounded out the first floor.
Every now and then fish would swim through the walls and Pinkie would get distracted, following after them until they swam out of sight.
As they made their way back to the entry way, Pinkie brought the group to a sudden halt. When they looked down, the enormous shape of a whale moved under them, only a few hooves below.
Once the whale had passed the group made their way up stairs. There were more living quarters, each lavishly decorated, and finally, a throne room. And in the room, atop the throne, was the first thing they had seen, that was not made of water. Made of gold, with a diamond shaped blue gem at its center, was Rarity’s element of harmony.
“Finally!” cried Rarity, hurrying towards her element. However, she came to a stop as the castle wobbled underneath her hooves. “Another earthquake?” asked Rarity in alarm.
“Waterquake!” cried Pinkie.
“WAVE!” shouted Trixie. “NO, GIANT WAVE!” Pinkie turned around and looked out the water-windows. Rolling across the ocean was an enormous wall of water.
“Oh, that’s not a wave,” said Pinkie knowledgably. “That’s a tsunami.”
“Get the element!’ shouted Trixie.
Without waiting another second, Rarity galloped as hard as she could. The floor bounced beneath her hooves and small waves in the floor rolled towards her. Without missing a step, Rarity leapt over the rolling water-floor. But as she landed the castle trembled again and she stumbled, falling down.
“Rarity hurry!” shouted Trixie. Rarity struggled to try and get up, but the shaking floor was making it difficult. Trixie closed her eyes and reached for her magic. Her horn began to glow.
She reached out with all her power, casting it forward towards the wall of water. She felt the spell impact the wave and the magic broke. It was no good. The wave was simply too big, too powerful.
“Try again!” shouted Pinkie. “Both of you! You have to!” Rarity and Trixie locked eyes across the room.
“But we can’t mix our magic!” cried Rarity. “It doesn’t work! Every time we try we make something… explode! That’s it!” Trixie nodded with understanding.
Trixie began to gather her magic once more while Rarity did the same. Together they cast forth their magic. Their combine spell hit the towering wave, holding it back for a brief instant. Suddenly the magic exploded outwards. The wave began to split down the middle and tear apart.
The thundering power of the water began to slow. The wave lost energy and momentum as it slowed and became smaller. The two halves broke away, shrinking rapidly back into the ocean.
“We did it!” exclaimed Rarity. “I can’t believe we did it!”
“Me neither,” said Trixie half to herself.
“Well, you didn’t do it alone,” said Pinkie. “You had each other, and me.”
“Grab that element and let’s get out of here!” said Trixie.
“Right!” agreed Rarity. She hurried forward but stopped as Pinkie let out a strange sound. Rarity looked back at her friend to see the pink pony vibrating and bouncing up and down.
“Uh, that isn’t good… is it?” asked Trixie, taking a step away from Pinkie. The pink pony suddenly stopped shaking.
“Well, it looks like it was no-ah-ah-ah-thi-ing-ing…” said Pinkie as she began to shake again.
“Just grab the element and let’s get out of here," called Trixie. Rarity nodded before moving towards her element waiting for her on the throne
Now that the floor was stable once more she easily made it the rest of the way. She took hold of the element and lifted it to her neck and it snapped into place.
The castle suddenly shuddered again. Trixie spun around, her eyes searching the horizon for any sign of another wave. However, there was nothing but vast empty ocean.
Then a single drop of water fell onto her nose. The water castle around them shivered. Another drop and then another. It was raining, inside a castle made of water.
“Uh-oh,” said Pinkie. “I think I just figured out what’s wrong!” She lifted a hoof and pointed at the far wall. It was turning back into regular water and the side of the castle was slowly washing away.
“I think now is the time for us to get out of here!” said Rarity. The three of them made to go back to the stairs but stopped as a gaping hole opened in the floor. The castle was dissolving around them.
“Dive!” shouted Pinkie. Rarity and Trixie were both suddenly dragged down as the pink pony pulled them into the floor. Trixie gulped in a mouth full of water in surprise as Pinkie dragged her downwards.
They were yanked down before suddenly coming free of the water floor, which had now become the ceiling. The three of them toppled down, crashing into the piano in the room below. The water instrument bent under their weight like a trampoline before pushing back and tossing them off onto the floor.
“Don’t worry,” said Pinkie as the castle poured down around them. “I totally remember the way out!” She turned towards the door but they hadn’t even taken a step before it collapsed into a waterfall. “Okay, now I’m lost.”
“I have an idea,” said Trixie. She stepped forward and lowered her horn. A blast suddenly erupted from the tip. A huge chunk of the castle was ripped away. As the parts of the castle flew through the air, they turned back into normal water, raining down out into the ocean. Where the walls and ceiling had been broken, water streamed down, like the castle was bleeding.
“My mane!” wailed Rarity as water splashed down on them. “Look what you did to my mane!” The castle trembled around them.
“That can’t be good,” said Trixie.
“We have to get out of here!” cried Rarity pushing her mane out of her face.
The three of them began to gallop as hard as they could, back towards the main entryway as the castle dissolved around them. They didn’t even pause this time as they leapt through the front gate, one right after the other.
They galloped away from the water castle as it came apart, cascading back down into the ocean. The bridge back to land was holding for now, but they didn’t dare slow down.
Now all they had to do was get to shore, back to the train, and make for Canterlot as fast as possible.
They were almost to shore when the water bridge collapsed beneath them. The three ponies splashed down into the shallows of the beach. They struggled to shore, out of breath, tired, and soaked from mane to tail.
“We did it,” said Rarity. “I can’t believe we did it.”
“We aren’t done yet,” said Trixie. “We still have to get back to Canterlot.”
“And find the others,” said Pinkie.
“Oh, there is no need to find them,” said a voice that sent a chill down each of their spines. “I want it to be a surprise when I come to take Twilight and Fluttershy. After I am done here I will teleport to them next.”
The three ponies leapt up to find Nightmare Moon waiting for them on the beach. Dark and terrible, burning with black flames the queen of darkness stood before them.
“Impossible,” said Rarity, taking a step back. “You… you can’t be here… We defeated you, we saved Luna…”
Nightmare Moon didn’t respond, instead, she reached out a hoof and pressed it against’ Rarity’s chest. The mare’s eyes went wide as she was suddenly frozen.
“Luna! Stop it!” shouted Pinkie. But Nightmare Moon did not stop, she held her hoof in place and shot Pinkie an angry glance for the name. Rarity gave her friend’s one last fearful look and then she was completely consumed in fire.
Nightmare Moon turned her focus towards Pinkie and Trixie.
“Why! Why are you doing this?” demanded Trixie.
“Because it is the only way we can be free…” said Nightmare Moon, stopping in front of the two remaining ponies. “… from my sister.”