//------------------------------//
// The Fay 
// Story: Shadow of the Sun 
// by moguera 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 3: The Fay

"Ugh!"  Rainbow Dash looked around frantically.  It had all happened so fast.  She hadn't even thought to react as the fog swept over Ponyville.  One moment, she and Soarin' had been stepping out of Sugarcube Corner after enjoying some of the Cakes' confections.  The next, they had been mired in a world of light gray mist, obscuring everything so completely that she couldn't see her own hooves.  The only indication that Soarin' was still with her was the sensation of his wing over her back, his side pressed tightly to hers.  "What the hay is going on?"
The fog surrounding them felt oily and slick.  It wasn't a physical sensation, but something that instead stirred Rainbow's defensive instincts.  There was more to the fog than its mere appearance.  It was threatening in a nearly tangible manner, bringing to mind memories of being threatened by Perlin's razor-edged wings.
"I don't know for sure," said Soarin', seeming quite baffled himself.  All around them, the confused and fearful cries of ponies echoed, seeming to come from one direction one moment, then another the next.  His wing only tightened its hold on Rainbow's back.  "I've got a bad feeling about this.  If I had to guess, some pegasus is behind this fog."
"But why?"
"I don't know," repeated Soarin', "But it can't be good.  Whoever this pony is, she means business.  This fog is practically saturated with murderous intent."
"We have to get out of it," said Rainbow, pulling away from Soarin' and spreading her wings with the intent to take to the air.
"Wait!" he shouted, barely managing to grab her tail in his teeth before she broke contact with him completely.
As it was, he didn't need to make any effort to keep her in place.  The moment Rainbow's hooves left the ground, she was suddenly beset by disorientation.  She couldn't tell up from down.  There was absolutely nothing for her to see, no point of reference she could use.  Only the slight tug from Soarin' told her where he was.  Her wings folded instantly and she dropped back to the ground, trembling.
Soarin' didn't let go of her tail, but slowly felt his way along its length until he found her back.  Quickly, Soarin' wrapped his arms around Rainbow and pulled her tight against him.  "Don't do that.  If we get separated, I don't think we'll be able to find each other again."
"W-what's going on?"  Rainbow was feeling just as frightened as she had when Perlin's feather had been resting against her throat.  It was worse than being blind.  There was no way to tell direction.  Sounds seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.  Without the ground beneath her hooves, she couldn't even tell which way was up.  It was like her own natural equilibrium as a flier had been turned against her.
"I don't know, but I don't like it," growled Soarin', tightening his hold on her.  He could understand her fear.  To make matters worse, he felt just as helpless.  Somehow, he managed to understand instinctively that physical contact was the only thing keeping them together.  If he let go of her, even for an instant, he felt like they would be separated completely.
It frustrated him.  He was second-in-command of the Wonderbolts, trained by Dame Spitfire herself, and yet, this fog completely robbed him of any sense of control, leaving Soarin' feeling as helpless as a newborn foal.  The only thing he could do was cling tightly to Rainbow Dash and hope that something changed in the meantime that would allow them to act.  "Just don't let go.  We'll think of something."  Although Soarin' was at a loss as to just what.
"Rainbow Dash!  That you sugarcube?"  Applejack's voice echoed through the empty, gray void.
Rainbow's head snapped up and she automatically began to move towards the source of the voice, only for Soarin' to tighten his hold around her and keep her from moving anywhere.
"Yeah!  We're over here!" Rainbow shouted back.
"That won't do any good," said Soarin'.
"Hold on!"  This time, Applejack's voice came from a different point in the fog, making Rainbow turn her head.
"See," groaned the stallion.
Then they felt it.  A tiny tremor passed through the ground beneath them.  A few seconds later, another one came, jolting through their hooves.  The tremors came at an even rhythm, like somepony was taking an extra heavy step every few seconds.  A moment later, Rainbow jumped as a hoof touched her shoulder.
"Easy there, it's us," said Applejack, though they couldn't see her.
"Us?" asked Soarin'.
"Hello."  Now it was Red River's voice echoing throughout the fog.
"How'd you find us?" asked Rainbow, "I tried to take off a little earlier, but I couldn't even tell up from down."
"Well, Red River's the one who found ya," said Applejack, "He's usin' some kinda special earth pony magic."
"It's not all that special," protested Red, "But we can have the lesson at a later time.  This is a serious problem."
"Yeah, no kidding," snarked Rainbow, "Somepony's gonna get hurt if this keeps up."
"No.  Somepony is going to die if this keeps up," said Red River, "A pegasus created this fog.  And I know just who it is."
"Who?" asked Soarin', wondering just who in the world could create a fog bank like this one."
"She's an assassin, one of the most dangerous in Equestria, if her reputation is to be believed."
"An assassin," squawked Rainbow, her body shivering, "But why?"
She could practically hear the shrug in the azure stallion's voice.  "I can't say honestly.  There are a number of potential victims here in Ponyville, depending on who acquired her services.  Even you are a potential target."
"But why?" asked Rainbow.
"Cloudsdale," interjected Soarin', "We snared almost everyone involved in Meadowlark's conspiracy, but not absolutely everyone.  Any one of the ponies who escaped us could have hired her."
"Just who is this mare?" asked Rainbow.
"Her name is Willow," said Red River, "This fog is her signature weapon.  It's said to be nigh-inescapable once one becomes snared in it."
"How is she doing this?" asked Soarin', still unable to see Red River, Applejack, or even Rainbow Dash, whom he still had wrapped tightly in his arms.
"Let's talk about it inside.  We don't want to be caught in the open," suggested Red River, "Because you had the sense to stop moving when you were caught, you actually aren't that far from Sugarcube Corner."
"How can we find it?"  Rainbow looked up hopefully, gently resting her foreleg on Applejack's.
"I can guide us," said Red River.
Rainbow felt the brush of Applejack's tail over her face.  "Grab on," she said.
Rainbow clamped her teeth around the orange mare's tail.  "Cme'n Thorin'," she said between clenched jaws.
Soarin' stood next to Rainbow, wrapping his wing tightly around her back as Red River slowly led them through the door of Sugarcube Corner.  The four ponies blinked their eyes, dazzled by the return of anything other than the featureless gray expanse before their eyes as the warm, familiar scenery of Sugarcube Corner replaced it.  Mr. and Mrs. Cake huddled on one side of the shop, their foals wrapped tightly in their arms as they stared out at the fog beyond their windows.
"Everypony okay?" asked Soarin', looking around and finally letting go of Rainbow.
"We're fine," said Carrot Cake, pegasus son resting quietly on his lap, "But Pinkie's somewhere out there in that fog."
"What?"  Rainbow whirled around and made for the door, only to stop abruptly as Red's hoof came down on her tail.
"It won't do you any good going out there on your own," said Red River softly.
"Can you explain now?" asked Soarin', watching the fog intently, afraid that, at any moment, it might come leeching in through the cracks between the doors and windows.
"I am uncertain of the exact mechanics," said Red River, "But she essentially started with pegasus magic to create the fog and shaped it using principles gained from unicorn magic.  The resulting fog almost completely ensnares the senses of those caught in it.  They are unable to see, sound is baffled so that it seems to come from everywhere and nowhere.  Though it looks featureless, there are in fact, subtle patterns and whorls that produce a semi-hypnotic effect that renders sense of direction next to useless so that it's impossible to even walk in a straight line."
"So anypony caught in that fog is stuck wandering in random directions until they run into something or somepony," groaned Rainbow.
"More or less," said Red River with a shrug.
"But why?" asked Applejack, "Just who is this here assassin comin' after?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," admitted the azure stallion, "There are any number of potential targets.  Given their role in the events of Cloudsdale, it could be that somepony has hired her to deal with Rainbow Dash or Soarin'.  It could be some outside effort to eliminate several of the Bearers at once, or even something completely unrelated enough."
"But who is this mare?" asked Soarin'.
"Her name is Willow," replied Red River, "And, to my knowledge, no target of hers has ever escaped."
"Ya know her?" asked Applejack, glancing sidelong at her coltfriend.
"Not personally, but by reputation," replied Red River, "Both Storm and I have been fortunate enough to have never crossed her path."
Applejack's eyebrow went up at the trepidation in Red's voice.  It was unlike the normally confident mercenary to be so worried about something.  "It sounds like ya ain't sure ya can fight her."
"I am afraid that is the case," admitted Red River, "From what I have heard, she is exceptionally skilled in her craft.  And while straight-up battle is one thing, an assassin of this caliber is another."
"What have you heard about her?" asked Soarin'.
"She shrouds the area around her chosen victim in this fog," explained Red River, turning his eyes to the opaque mass outside, "The fog isolates them, driving them away from their guards and protectors, distorts their senses and renders them helpless.  It is said that the only indication that her victims have of her approach is the glimmering of lights within the fog, lights that lead her victims to her, and to their ends as well, the last thing they ever see, just like the malicious fay spirits of folklore, from which she takes her moniker."  Red River turned solemnly back to the assembled ponies, "That is why she is called Willow the Wisp."
Rainbow gulped nervously.  "What do we do then?  Those ponies out there are in danger!"
"Not really," said Red, "Willow is a highly skilled assassin, not an indiscriminate killer.  The only pony truly in danger out there is her chosen target, whoever she may be."
"But who is it?" asked Rainbow, "We can't let anypony get killed!"
Red River tapped his chin.  "Well, there are still quite a few ponies to choose from.  But off the top of my head, I can think of one who is most likely to be Willow's target..."



The foals stared out the windows of the schoolhouse, their eyes wide as Ponyville was swiftly swallowed into the depths of the mist, which extended its tendrils to wrap around the schoolhouse as well.
"What do we do Miss Cheerilee?" asked Sweetie Belle plaintively as she turned to regard their teacher.
"Everypony stay put," instructed Cheerilee as she looked worriedly outside, "I'm sure this is just a slight hiccup with the weather team.  But it's unsafe to go out when the fog is this thick, you could get lost."
"Great, that mean's we're stuck here," groaned Diamond Tiara as she pulled back from the window.  However, that was the extent of her complaints.  Ever since she had been going to the Carousel Boutique for lessons from Rarity, her behavior had noticeably improved.  Perhaps most tellingly, she had apparently given up on bothering the Crusaders.  She especially kept a wary distance whenever Dawn was around.
"Aww, it's almost time to go home," said Apple Bloom, her expression disappointed.  Of the Crusaders, she especially disliked having their crusading time derailed by unexpected circumstances.
Only two ponies in the classroom truly had any notion of what was going on.  Scootaloo backed warily away from the windows, her instincts screaming at her, telling her this fog was a threat.  Next to her, Dawn regarded the wall of gray outside calmly, yet carefully.
"This is pegasus magic, isn't it?" whispered Scootaloo.
Dawn nodded infinitesimally in response.  "Yes.  Whoever did this is dangerous.  Can you feel it?"
Scootaloo nodded.  She didn't even need to touch the fog to perceive the oily sensation of malice inundating it.  "What do we do?"
Dawn frowned, not answering.  He wasn't sure.  The killing intent in the mist was potent to be sure, but it did not seem to have any particular target.  The first step was the figure out what the instigator's goals were and how to thwart them or, at least, keep innocent ponies from being hurt by her actions.
"There's gotta be something," muttered Scootaloo, "My mom's out there somewhere.  Miss Fluttershy might be out there too if she had to go to the market for something.  And what about everypony else's families?"
"We will do no good rushing out without any kind of understanding," said Dawn, "The only thing we would succeed in would be to put ourselves and the others in unnecessary danger."
"But maybe we can navigate it," said Scootaloo, "I mean...we can't see anything sure.  But there's still the wind-sense, right?"
"Maybe," admitted Dawn.  He turned and made his way to the school's door.  "It at least bears testing."
"Dawn?"  Cheerilee moved to stop the colt as he lifted a hoof towards the door.  A gentle push sent it swinging open.  To everypony's surprise, the roiling mist outside did not sweep into the schoolhouse, but remained hovering at the doorway, as though an invisible barrier kept it at bay.
"At least it seems that there are limits to its spread," mused Dawn before closing his eyes and taking a step into the mist.
He spread his wings and immediately let his magic flow into the air around him, allowing him to read its flow and how the shapes of things around it altered that flow.
Two things occurred to him at the same time.  The first thing was that his wind-sense was indeed functional.  The sense of everything around him was as clear and precise as it had always been.  With his eyes closed, he was easily able to tell the location of everything within his usual twenty-meter radius.
The second realization was that, as soon as his magic touched the mist, the aimless killing intent infusing it instantly fixated itself upon him with an intensity so sharp and piercing that it could have been a thrust from Red River's spear.  Dawn's body sprang into action even before his conscious mind registered the change.  A swift backwing and kick off the air with his hooves sent him scudding straight back into the schoolhouse, his body actually flickering into sight a full length back from the door before he flared one wing and used a gust to slam the door back shut.
"Lock it!" he snapped at Cheerilee, the force in his voice so intense that the teacher obeyed instantly, clicking the latch into place.
"Dawn!" exclaimed Scootaloo, rushing to his side, "What happened?"
"Well, I answered our questions and then some," replied Dawn, his voice shaky.
"What's going on?" asked Cheerilee, stepping away from the door.
"There's somepony out there causing this," said Dawn, "And whoever it is is dangerous and came here specifically to kill."  The foals and teacher all flinched at that last word, many turning fearful looks to the gray wall outside.
"What do we do?" asked Scootaloo, looking around nervously.
"Get everypony away from the windows, have them stay together at the back of the classroom."  Cheerilee nodded in response to Dawn's words.  It wasn't like her to take instructions from one of her own students.  But given what she knew of Dawn's skills, particularly in situations like these, it was probably best to follow his lead.
Cheerilee stepped away from Dawn and clapped her hooves together.  "Everypony, we need to be careful, so I want all of you to move to the back of the classroom and stay away from the windows."
Hesitantly, the foals obeyed, moving slowly and herding around Cheerilee's desk and huddling up against the wall below the blackboard.
"Are we really doing what the new kid's telling us?" asked Silver Spoon, slightly miffed to realize that Dawn was the one giving instructions.
"He would know," muttered Rumble, "He was there with Rainbow Dash in Cloudsdale.  I heard he beat up a bunch of those tribalists."
When they had finished moving, only Dawn was left standing in the open in the middle of the classroom.  Scootaloo stood slightly behind him, her eyes on his back, watching nervously.  She hadn't seen Dawn this tense since his fight with Red River and Storm Front.  She was beginning to recognize his tells though.  This was the look of a colt who was involved in a fight that he wasn't sure he could win.  She swallowed nervously as Dawn spread his wings partway, keeping them parallel to the ground, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.
An oppressive silence fell upon the classroom and the foals within.  Even though nothing seemed to be happening, there was a palpable tension in the air, an indistinct threat that put everypony's teeth on edge and made the fur of their coats stand on end.  The foals huddled together tightly while Cheerilee crouched protectively in front of them, keeping herself between them and the door.  In this manner, several long, tense moments passed.
The colts and fillies began to fidget nervously as the minutes clicked by.  Even though they lacked Dawn's refined senses, they were aware of his own nervousness and his sense of caution translated itself to them.  The tense period of nothingness was weighing heavily on their nerves.
And then, just as the tension in the room was on the verge of breaking, at its absolute peak, someone rapped sharply on the schoolhouse door.



It took both Soarin' and Applejack to hold Rainbow back.  And even then, she was on the verge of dragging both of them out the door with her.
"Stop Rainbow!" shouted Applejack as she dug her hooves in and held firm with all her might to keep the cerulean pegasus from launching herself like a crossbow bolt out of Sugarcube Corner.
"Let me go!" snapped Rainbow, "If Dawn's in trouble, we have to help him."
"Are you kidding?" gasped Soarin' as he beat his wings to counter Rainbow's pull, "That kid's stronger than anypony here except for Red.  If there's anypony who can hold his own against this assassin, it's that colt."
"That's not the point," said Rainbow, though she did stop pulling to catch her breath, "Dawn's at school, with a whole bunch of foals.  If they start fighting there, a whole bunch of them could get hurt, including your sister, AJ."
Red River seemed to be thinking the problem over.  "I can't be certain.  But we at least know that Willow isn't the sort to be careless about collateral damage.  She prefers to eliminate her target and only her target."
"Who does she think she's kidding?" growled Rainbow, "Does she think she's some kinda saint for not killing anypony except the one she's been hired to kill?"
"It's simple pragmatism," replied Red River, "Today's bystander is tomorrow's bounty.  You never know what a pony will go on to do or who they might malign enough to earn a price on their head.  From what I've heard, that's her philosophy."
"But even so," said Rainbow, "You've beaten Dawn, but even you're not sure you can handle this mare.  We can't leave Dawn to fend by himself against a pony like that."
"Perhaps, but if there's one area where Dawn's skills exceed our own, it's in being able to perceive his surroundings though means other than sight.  I was able to use a basic skill to map my immediate surroundings earlier to find you, but that only works for objects and ponies connected directly to the ground.  On the other hoof, Dawn has the ability to sense objects around them through the air itself, which gives him a much clearer picture than my skill.  Under these conditions, he has the advantage over me."
"But still..."  Rainbow Dash was far from mollified.  There were far too many unknowns in this situation and Red River was acting almost entirely on knowledge gained second-hoof.
Their conversation was interrupted by a chime of the bell as the door to Sugarcube Corner swung open.  To everypony's surprise, Pinkie Pie bounced through, humming a jaunty tune.  Draped over her back was the limp form of Thunderlane, while behind her tailed Cloud Chaser, holding grimly onto Pinkie's tail.
"Hi everypony!" she squealed happily as she slid Thunderlane's body onto a table.
Cloud Chaser, now that her vision was no longer obscured, rushed to her coltfriend's side.  "Thunder!  Are you okay?"
His only response was a low groan.
"It's okay," chimed Pinkie Pie, "He just bumped his noggin when he tried to take off.  I'll go get some ice to put on that owie of his."  Humming cheerfully, she bounced her way into the kitchen, completely and utterly oblivious to the fact that everypony was staring at her like she'd grown a second head.
"Wha?"  Rainbow had to work to actually close her jaw, which had dropped to hang limply at the sight of the pink pony cavalierly skipping out of the fog as though it hadn't inconvenienced her in the slightest.
Pinkie came skipping out of the kitchen with a bag of ice gripped in her mouth.  She settled it gently on Thunderlane's head before turning an beaming at her friends.  "Hi, we sure have a lot of ponies in here."
"How did you find your way through that soup?" demanded Soarin'.
"Oh, it was no problem for my Pinkie Sense," replied Pinkie Pie, grinning widely, "I've been pretty busy though.  There were so many ponies lost out there, it was pretty tricky getting them to their houses."
Red River looked as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.  However, a hoof on his shoulder prompted him to look at Applejack, who smiled ruefully and simply shook her head.  "Don't even bother sugarcube.  If Twilight can't make heads or tails of that mare, then Ah don't know who can."
"Ugh..."  A groan from Thunderlane drew their attention as the gray stallion began to stir.
Cloud Chaser gently nuzzled his cheek as his eyes finally opened.  "Where am I?"
"We're at Sugarcube Corner," said Cloud Chaser, "Pinkie Pie brought us out here."
"Is it still...?"
"Yeah."  Cloud Chaser pulled back slightly and glared at her coltfriend.  "Don't scare me like that you idiot.  I thought something happened to you."
"This doesn't count as 'something?'" queried Thunderlane, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"With a head as thick as yours it doesn't," retorted Cloud Chaser, gently stretching her head out so that she could rest her neck over Tunderlane's.  She let out a soft and relieved sigh.  "I'm glad you're okay."
Rainbow smiled at the sight of the two lovebirds, but regained a more serious demeanor as she turned her attention back to the outside world, which remained completely obscured.  "That's great and all, but what do we do about Dawn?"
"I'm not sure," admitted Red, "My skills work well enough that I can tell where things are without getting lost.  But tracking ponies in this situation requires a more refined sense."
"And Dawn already has that sense," observed Soarin'.
"He does," agreed Red, "So out of anypony, he may be the one most difficult to catch off-guard."
"But we can't just leave it all to him," said Rainbow, "We have to get out there and figure out how to find him."  She smacked an angry hoof against a nearby table.  "Ugh!  If only there was somepony who could move freely out there!"
Rainbow Dash froze.  Applejack also went rigid.  A few seconds later, Soarin' and Red River likewise went stiff as the notion struck them all.  Four heads moved as one, orienting on an innocuous pink pony munching casually on a snagged pastry.
"What?" asked Pinkie Pie.