Leap of Faith

by A bag of plums


Grave Discoveries

Princess Twilight’s eyes flew open as a particularly violent snore rocked her body. She jerked upright, blinking like an owl in the near complete darkness that she found herself in. The odor of candle wax coming from her left ignited a few neurons in her groggy brain, and the alicorn soon had the bright idea to use a spell and shed some light.

As a soft, lavender glow spread out in a small circle around her, Twilight Sparkle smacked her lips. The inside of her mouth tasted a lot like week-old alfalfa, which by a mental gauge that she had developed on her own after countless all nighters, indicated that she’d been asleep for at least three hours, four at most. There was a crick in her neck as well but that was hardly surprising; sleeping on desks, no matter how ornate, was a poor substitute for a bed.

The princess yawned widely and slid out of her chair onto the floor. Channeling a bit more energy into her horn, she expanded her circle of light to cover her entire workstation. Over the past few days, she had set up an increasingly elaborate space in the Canterlot archives where she had spent every spare moment of her rapidly diminishing time poring over records and census books. With Hearth’s Warming just around the corner, her royal duties were beginning to eat up more and more of her schedule than ever before.

But from the moment that her friend Sunset Shimmer had written to her about a suspicious new student who seemed to do nothing but stalk Sunset around Canterlot High, a niggling seed of worry had planted itself in her brain. And the more Sunset wrote to her about it, the more determined she had become to find the truth and root it out.

Though admittedly, it was proving to be a tougher challenge than even the studious Princess of Friendship had anticipated. Any attempts to find ponies from Trottingham called Velvet Breeze were turning up blanks, and given Trottingham’s population was quite large after accounting for several decades of marginal error, she was only three thirds of the way through them. But no matter how daunting the task, Twilight was determined not to give up. Canterlot High had already fallen under attack twice by ‘new students’, and by Celestia she was not about to let it happen a third time if she could help it.

Twilight gave the mountain of tomes on her desk a look of distaste, reluctant to dive back into their bland depths without at least a proper meal in her stomach and a short flight session to give her wings a stretch.

Swiftly navigating the maze that was the Canterlot Castle library, the princess nodded goodnight to the two night guards that had taken the places of the two Solar guards who had let her in. It wasn’t long before she stood on the threshold of the castle gates, breathing in the cool night air. Soon the unicorn mage’s council would be ready to start winter and cover the capital of Equestria in a thick blanket of snow for winter, but tonight, the night sky was as crisp and clear as the arctic north.

Much like when she had been studying under Princess Celestia’s wing, Twilight looked up at the stars as she took the meandering path back to her old tower, where she had left Spike earlier that day. Despite no longer being strictly Celestia’s student, the princess kept Twilight’s former lodgings well-furnished and cleaned, just in case. She had to remember to thank the princess in the morning…if she could get out of bed by then.

Lost in her thoughts, Twilight was jolted back to reality when her muzzle collided with another pony, knocking them both onto the grass.

Twilight was the first to recover, using her wings to push herself back upright before using her magic to levitate the other pony up as well. Judging from her white coat and golden armor, she had just knocked over one of Princess Celestia’s Solar guards.

“Sorry…” she muttered, straightening her plumed helmet. “I didn’t see… you… there…” Without warning the guardspony sank to her knees and touched her nose to the grass. “Oh, Princess Twilight Sparkle! I’m so sorry, your Majesty! I should have watched where I was going.”

Twilight stood there in an embarrassed silence while the guardspony profusely apologized for the collision, never once lifting her muzzle off the ground. Twilight winced. No matter how many times it happened, she could never get used to ponies tripping over themselves just to adhere to what they believed was how they should behave in front of royalty.

“Uh, miss?” Twilight interrupted once the mare paused to draw breath. “It’s okay. I’m not hurt, and I’m sure it was just an accident; it’s not like I was watching where I was going either. Please stand up.”

Like a young filly who had been caught sneaking cookies out of the pantry, the guard gradually lifted her head and straightened her legs. “A-are you sure, my Princess?”

Twilight nodded in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. “I’m fine. What are you doing out here so late? I thought the Lunar guards were supposed to take your shifts at sunset.”

“Oh, I’m just standing guard out here until my relief comes, that’s all. Can’t leave the palace unprotected, your Majesty.”

“But it’s well after midnight,” Twilight pointed out. “What if your relief doesn’t show up?”

“Then I will stand here until the sun rises, your Majesty.” The devotion in the guardspony’s tone was unquestionable. “Nothing is getting past me tonight, no, ma’am.” She returned to her original spot in front of a nearby stone archway and planted herself at the dead center, eyes flicking left and right like a metronome, her horn shining a spotlight around the immediate area.

Twilight found herself impressed, though at the same time mystified. “Isn’t that the way to the Royal Canterlot Memorial?” she asked. The Memorial was a secluded sub-section of the Royal Canterlot Gardens, where ponies from all over the city could come and pay their respects to guardsponies who had given their lives in the line of duty. Though the aftermath of the royal wedding had forced some additions to the number of tombstones that stood among the crumbling statuary, it remained a mercifully small area.

In short, it was a cemetery. Hardly a place that would require constant surveillance.

The guard threw the princess a crisp salute. “Yes, your Majesty! I’ve been told to stand guard here, and that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

“Um… okay…” Twilight was beginning to feel a little weirded out by this mare’s overzealous nature, especially considering that if she had not moved from this spot which would mean the pony had been standing here for almost twenty-four hours. She decided to try a different approach. “What’s your name?”

“My… name, your Majesty?” the Solar guard shuffled her hooves nervously.

“Yes. And don’t worry,” she said, correctly interpreting the clouds of worry that had begun gathering over the guard’s eyes. “I’m not going to report you for anything. I just want to know your name.”

The guardspony gave a poorly concealed sigh of relief. “Corporal Dewdrop, Solar guard. Your Majesty.” After which she gave Twilight another enthusiastic salute. “Been serving for almost six years now.”

“Really?” Twilight pressed, trying her best to look friendly. “That’s quite a long time; in fact, I think I was still living in Canterlot six years ago.”

Dewdrop’s smile widened. “Yes, I remember. I was just a rookie at the time, but you used to come down to visit your brother after training was done for the day. He was quite proud of you.”

Twilight blushed at that. “I’m glad,” she said simply, making a mental note to buy her brother something nice the next time she went to the Crystal Empire. “You sound like you knew my brother pretty well.”

“Oh, not really. He was our captain, so of course we got to know him just like he got to know us. I’d wager our new captain, Frigid Night could tell you more about him than me.”

Twilight had no idea who that was, but nodded assent all the same. “Thanks for the tip.” Out of things to say, the princess simply smiled at Dewdrop again before taking her leave. “Thank you for your time, Corporal Dewdrop. Good luck with your, uh, guarding!”

Dewdrop bowed one last time. “No, thank you, your highness. Take care.”

Feeling buoyed by her conversation with Dewdrop, Twilight spread her alicorn wings and soared off into the dark velvet sky, quickly shrinking into a tiny dot.

Dewdrop watched her go until the princess was out of sight. Once she was quite sure she was alone, the guardspony wiped the smile off her face and surreptitiously tapped her hoof against the archway three times. Then she waited.

A couple of seconds later, a bush that was half-hidden in the shadow of the castle rustled and a cloaked figure wearing a hood popped out. The mantled pony skulked over to the arch, staying as much in the shadows as possible.

“Sorry for the wait,” Dewdrop whispered, dimming the light from her horn. “Had to talk with a princess. You ready?”

The other pony nodded once, slipping a hoof into her cloak as if checking something underneath.

“Good. I think I can give you about an hour. Is that okay?”

Another nod.

“Okay,” Dewdrop repeated as she stepped aside for her consort to pass, not daring to look back as the night swallowed them. “Good luck.”


Sunset Shimmer’s flailing arm collided with her alarm clock, knocking it onto the floor and silencing the wretched thing. She withdrew her arm almost instantly, returning it to her side in the pocket of soft warmth that the blankets had become.

She lay there, curled up in a ball and still half in the land of dreams for a long while, drifting between wakefulness and sleep before common sense overrode her fatigue. Sunset forced herself to sit up in bed, giving an involuntary shiver as the icy air invaded her pajama top.

Yawning helped Sunset wake up, the chill creeping into her lungs and she left her room. It was still early, but Sunset planned to get a head start today, as uncharacteristic as that might seem to an outsider. As she passed by the window, Sunset paused to rub a hole in the condensation that had fogged up the glass. Thick white flakes of snow cascaded earthwards on the other side of the glass, and Sunset wanted to be able to take a long, leisurely stroll through them on the way to school.

After a quick but hot shower, the only thing Sunset had to do before getting dressed was to make breakfast. In the meantime she threw on a scarf and overcoat, buttoning it securely to ensure maximum warmth.
 
A quick check of her school supplies later, Sunset Shimmer stepped out her front door and into the lightly falling snow, inhaling the frosty but refreshing air on her route to school. Young children scrambled past her, tossing snowballs and chased by their harried-looking parents. Sunset smiled to herself; no matter which world, the first snowfall seemed to herald something magical.

Cheered on by the sight of people just enjoying themselves, Sunset found herself walking up the front path of CHS before she knew it. She joined the throng of bundled up students at the lockers, folding up her coat and carefully stowing it in her locker. Sidestepping a puddle of melted snow, she entered the classroom and sat down, waiting for class to begin.

It wasn’t long before Rainbow Dash arrived. The athlete was holding a newspaper, one with a rather blurry and pixelated picture on the front. Dumping her bag at her seat, Rainbow hurried to Sunset’s desk and unceremoniously placed the paper on its surface.

“Good morning, Rainbow,” Sunset gave her friend a smile, which was returned. “You’re in a good mood today.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Rainbow laughed. “It’s snowing, and my hockey team made it into the finals! Check it out!” She flipped to the sports section and pointed at the chart for the annual hockey tournament. The Cloudsdale Sidewinders’ name was prominently printed at the top of the page. “I even made it home in time to see the winning shot, so no hard feelings about yesterday’s trip.”

“I’d have thought you had forgiven me after you ate my candy bar,” Sunset said sardonically.

“Well yeah, but… this is so awesome! Finals here we come!”

Rainbow soon left to relate her tale to anyone who would listen, leaving the newspaper with Sunset.

Class was still ten minutes away from starting. Out of curiousity, Sunset flipped to the front page of the newspaper and examined the photo, then the headline. Her stomach seemed to drop into her feet, taking her good mood with it.

Fillydelphia Break-In, six dead in suspected act of corporate espionage. Full article on page 6.

The picture was that of a policeman looking down at the street through a broken window, with a censored red patch on the ground that Sunset had a horrible suspicion was a body. She flipped to page six, where the full-page article described in grisly detail how an office at the Board of Education headquarters in Fillydelphia had been ransacked by a mysterious assailant, who had then proceeded to kill five security guards who had rushed in to stop them. A sixth had been found dead in the alley outside a broken window.‘While the police are still looking over the crime scene, we can assure the public that nothing of importance was stolen during the break-in.’ Board spokeswoman Citrus Drops had announced. ‘The Board has been told that the authorities are well on their way to apprehending the culprit and bringing them to justice.’

Sunset had just finished reading when she became aware of a shadow falling over the paper.

“Good morning, Sunset,” Velvet Breeze greeted neutrally. She seemed a bit more awake than yesterday, though the dark rings around her eyes had deepened. “What are you reading?”

Sunset wordlessly passed her the article. Velvet read over it laboriously, taking a far greater interest in the report than Sunset expected. Eventually the white-coated girl blinked and handed it back, her face completely unreadable.

“How interesting. Well, I’m sure it’ll get cleared up or forgotten about soon enough,” Velvet followed this outrageously passive comment with a wide yawn before going back to her spot, completely ignoring the scandalized look Sunset shot her. “Thanks.”


Lunch was among Sunset’s favorites that the school served: macaroni and cheese, with a slice of freshly baked apple pie for dessert. Normally this would have been cause for celebration but when she got to eating, Sunset found herself to do anything other than pick at the food.

“Darling, your pie’s going cold,” Rarity pointed out once she came back from putting her plate away. “Are you feeling unwell?” Her worried expression was mirrored by everyone else at the table.

Sunset mumbled something non-committally.

“You’re not still hung up about not getting the job, are you? I told you ya should have just asked Velvet if they were hiring.”

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow as everyone turned to her instead. “What, you didn’t know? Sunset and I went to see where Velvet Breeze worked so Sunset could try and get a job at Cantermart, but they weren’t hiring. I almost missed the game.”

The worried faces dissolved into a kaleidoscope of looks, ranging from relieved to amused.

“You mean you stalked Velvet after school?” Rarity’s face cracked into a grin. “Oh my.”

“I wasn’t stalking her, I was just… you know, seeing where she worked,” Sunset finished lamely.

Rainbow Dash gave everyone a smug look. “Totally stalking her.”

“Gaah!” exclaimed Sunset, burying her head in her arms. “I was following her, Rainbow, to see where she worked, not for anything else?”

“We spent an hour watching her in the park,” Rainbow added unhelpfully.

“I wasn’t-” Sunset’s rebuke died in her mouth once she realized that the more she argued, the flimsier her case became. “Whatever. It’s not like anything happened anyway.”

“Oh, come now, dear,” Rarity cooed consolingly. “At our age, it’s perfectly natural to be developing feelings for someone else. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Rarity…” the growl coming from Sunset’s throat was enough to shut the other girl up, to say nothing of the dagger-like stare.

Applejack swooped to the rescue. “Well if y’all weren’t *ahem* following Velvet outta friendly curiosity, then what were ya doin’? Come on, Sunset; ya can tell us the truth.” The rest of the girls leaned in, waiting for Sunset to spill the beans.

“Yeah. We won’t make fun of you, no matter what you say,” Fluttershy added as she gave Sunset’s outstretched hand a gentle squeeze.

“Really?”

Everyone, even Rarity, nodded as one. “Really.”

Sunset drew in a deep breath. “Well, okay… I asked Rainbow Dash to help me follow Velvet yesterday because she’s been giving me weird looks all week and bumping into me at strange times and when I try to ask her what her deal is all I get is cryptic answers that don’t really mean anything and I’m starting to think that there’s something seriously wrong with her,” she blurted, face turning redder as a blush crept into her already breathless complexion.

For the longest moment nobody said anything, only exchanging extremely loaded looks. Applejack and Rarity in particular seemed to be having some kind of psychic conversation with their face as the medium. Eventually the farmgirl sighed and turned back to Sunset.

“Sugarcube… Ah don’t know how else to say this, but…”

“I think I may have had it the wrong way around,” Rarity whispered slowly, as though she were on the verge of a scientific breakthrough. “It’s possible that instead, Velvet Breeze may have feelings for you.”

What? That’s the most-”

“Just hear me out, will you, Sunset? If Velvet is indeed acting like you say, with the turning up in awkward places and giving you strange looks, I don’t think it’s too farfetched to say that these may be signs of a budding attraction?”

“We only met this Monday,” Sunset rebuffed flatly.

“Love at first sight, darling!” Rarity tossed her perfectly coiffed tresses, wearing a disturbingly dreamy expression. “Isn’t it romantic?”

Rainbow Dash was far less impressed. “If by romantic, you mean sappy. Come on, Rarity. Aren’t you reading too deep into this? Like Sunset said, they’ve only known each other for a week tops, it’s not like they’ve been fooling around in the bathroom or anything right?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack admonished, a blush rising on her freckled cheeks.

Across the table, Pinkie Pie’s hands were a blur of movement as she adroitly manipulated a balloon, stretching and tying it off until she was holding a bright blue doggie. “Oh come on, girls! It’s not as if Velvet Breeze belongs to some secret organization that’s existed for centuries and is secretly fighting another faction that’s also been around for centuries right under humanity’s collective nose, right?” She bopped the balloon animal over her shoulder and smiled innocently back at everyone’s dumbfounded faces. “What?”

“We worry ‘bout ya sometimes, Pinkie, ya know that?”

The party planner wasn’t fazed in the slightest. “Oh, Applejack. I always knew you cared!”

“Excuse me." A grey hand reached over Pinkie Pie’s shoulder and deposited the balloon dog back in front of her. “I’m not interrupting, am I?”

Mr. Wolfgang had somehow managed to get right up next to them without any of them noticing. Sunset felt his bespectacled eyes wander over her body, not unlike Velvet’s disturbing stares, though somehow Mr. Wolfgang’s gaze felt even more intrusive. Creepy. Were they related?

“I have a message for you, Miss Pie,” continued the inspector in his low, smooth voice. “Principal Celestia would like to tell you that the gymnasium is now ready for you to begin setting up your party decorations.”

“All right! Thanks, Mr. Wolfey!”

“That’s Mr. Wolfgang,” he insisted, an edge of ice seeping into his voice. “And Miss Shimmer, I need you to come with me. We have something to discuss, in private.”

Not liking at all what this might mean, Sunset reluctantly left the table and followed the inspector out of the cafeteria, neither of them realizing that they were both being watched.


As soon as the sounds of students eating and talking had faded away to a tiny buzz, Mr. Wolfgang wheeled around and craned his neck so that he was almost on Sunset’s level. All the while, Sunset made sure to keep her face carefully arranged in a look of polite curiosity, even though she had a looming feeling of dread she knew exactly what this was about.

“Now, Miss Shimmer,” Wolfgang’s face was as impassive as ever, but the rest of his body was tightly coiled like a spring, as if it could snap at any moment. “It’s almost the end of the semester, which means I need to send my report very soon.” He spoke slowly and deliberately, as if to a small child. “So I must ask you, have you any information about the Battle of the Bands or the Fall Formal from Principal Celestia?”

It was at moments like this when Sunset was cruelly reminded that while she was a powerful unicorn who could have blasted a manticore to dust, on this side of the mirror she was just a child who still wasn’t allowed to drink hard cider. A child who would no doubt be blamed for anything that happened to Principal Celestia should Wolfgang’s report go through.

“Uh, well… I tried to talk to her, yeah.” This was, of course, a lie. With her entire fixation on Velvet, talking to the principal about Wolfgang had completely slipped her mind. A decision that she deeply regretted, more so once Wolfgang’s oily smile melted into a frown. “But she just told me she wouldn’t hear another word of it and sent me away,” she quickly added.

The inspector peered unblinkingly over the top of his tinted frames at Sunset, who for the first time couldn’t help but take notice of just how his mouth seemed to have more teeth in it than was natural. It made him look, well, wolfish.

“That’s unfortunate,” Wolfgang said after a good twenty seconds or so of staring. “I suppose it’s not your fault though, if Celestia is too stubborn to do what’s best for herself. Though that does raise another problem.” He pulled a stubby cigar from an inner pocket and examined it with interest before putting it to his lips. “I do wonder that when I was talking to her just now, she mentioned that she hadn’t seen you all week. Now why might that be?”

Sunset Shimmer’s mouth went dry as she realized her mistake. Of course Wolfgang would have spoken to Principal Celestia and asked her about the events. Something must have shown on her face because Wolfgang’s smile grew wider.

“I may be new here, Miss Shimmer, but I know when I’m being played.” Abruptly, the inspector’s arms were on either side of Sunset’s head, pinning her against the lockers with a slam. There was an ominous glow in Wolfgang’s eyes as they bored hungrily into her own. “I want you, right now, to tell me the truth. What is Celestia hiding about the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands?”

        “I don’t know!” Sunset fought the urge to shove Wolfgang away, but it was difficult to maintain a clear head when his face was mere inches from hers. “I really don’t!”

        “I don’t believe you.”

        Wolfgang opened his mouth to say more, but all of a sudden the man was thrown aside in a small explosion of cardboard boxes. The man tumbled onto the ground, cigar flying as the boxes scattered all over the hallway.
        
        “Oh! I’m so sorry, Mr. Wolfgang!” Sunset’s jaw dropped. Her rescuer was none other than a flustered looking Velvet Breeze, who had rushed up to help the inspector to his feet, patting the dust off his pants and sweater. “Are you all right?”

        How did she know I was here?

        Wolfgang waved her away crossly. “Oh, for… what’s the meaning of this?” he snapped as he straightened his glasses. “Can’t you watch where you’re going, girl?”

        “I’m sorry!” Velvet said again, picking up the impressively large amount of boxes that she had no doubt been carrying and stacking them precariously in her arms. “I was just taking these out to the trash for Mrs. Granny Smith, and I thought I’d save time by moving them all at once.” Indeed, by the time all the boxes were arranged, Velvet was pretty much invisible behind the pillar of beige cardboard.
        
        Mr. Wolfgang harrumphed, his glare completely wasted since Velvet could no longer see him. “You watch it next time. I’d hate for you to suffer an… accident.”

        “I’ll keep that in mind,” Velvet chirped as she tottered away, either ignoring or missing the inspector’s threatening tone. “And hi, Sunset. Pinkie says she needs your help with mixing the fruit punch. Right now, I believe were her exact words.”

        Sunset didn’t need to be told twice. Before Wolfgang could say anything more, her fiery long hair was already disappearing around the corner.


When she arrived in the gymnasium, Sunset found Pinkie teetering on the top of three stepladders. Her poofy pink updo held half a dozen reels of streamers which she was in the process of hanging from the lights.

“Hey, Pinkie,” Sunset peered up at the ribbons that had already been hung up, predominantly teal and grey. “It looks amazing so far.”

Pinkie beamed down at her. “Aw, thanks! I thought it’d look good with Velvet’s hair. She keeps it under her hood so much; she should wear it long, it’s prettier that way.”

“I guess,” said Sunset distractedly. “So you, uh, wanted my help with the punch?”

“Punch?” Pinkie looked confused. “But I thought Applejack was helping me with the punch already. Right, AJ?”

At the sound of her name, Applejack popped out from behind a towering pyramid of multicolored balloons, a bottle of juice in each hand. “You called, Pinkie?”

“Sunset wanted to know if you needed any help with the punch!”

“Well that’s mighty kind of ya, but,” Applejack gingerly pushed some of the balloons away to reveal an already filled punchbowl. “I just finished.”

Sunset shrugged nonchalantly, joining Pinkie in hanging up the streamers. “Oh, well. I’m just happy you called when you did; Mr. Wolfgang was getting way too creepy.”

This caught both the other girls’ notice. “What d’ya mean, creepy?” Applejack set down the bottles, giving Sunset her full attention. “He ain’t one of them sickos who’s into little kids, is he?”

“Ew, no! Or at least, I don’t think he is…” The unpleasant truth was, Sunset could easily see Wolfgang being that kind of person. His leering face would be burned into her memory for the rest of the week. “He just keeps pressing me to get Principal Celestia to tell him about what really happened at the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands. I know I have to keep it a secret, but I don’t want to be the one who got Celestia fired!” She gave a small cry of frustration and pounded her fist against the wall.

Pinkie and Applejack looked grim. “‘T’aint your fault, Sunset,” a glass of punch was pushed into her hands. “But Ah won’t deny that this is a sticky spot we’re in… Ah hate to admit it, but I’m startin’ to think it’d be better if this inspector just disappeared or somethin'.”

Pinkie’s eyes brightened. “Ohhh! Why don’t I show him my magic disappearing cabinet trick! We can even saw him in half before making his disappear! And we can do card tricks and pull flowers out of handkerchiefs, and-what’s that smell?”

“What do you mean-” Then Sunset smelt it too. The smell that heralded something that every student at some point prepares for, but never expects to actually encounter. And it didn’t take the clarion of alarms or the stampeding of students past the gym for them to realize what.

“Fire!”


It was, Sunset reflected in what she would later realize was a startlingly casual way, nothing like how they rehearsed fire drills every other time. There was no orderly line up of students by classes. There were no teachers standing watch at the doors to guide their charges into the safety of the outdoors. Nobody just dropped everything and quietly did as they were told.

        Instead what they did get was a mass pile-up at the front doors of CHS with student pushing and shoving each other to get outside and away from the fire as quickly as humanly possible, though Sunset didn’t blame them. The air was full of thick, cloying smoke that suggested a fire of moderate size, billowing out the front doors and wrapping its foul fingers around everyone’s windpipes. The fire alarms were ringing incessantly, adding to the voices of hundreds of teenagers like a discordant opera.  

Stumbling free of the scrum at last, the three girls were welcomed with open arms by Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. They collapsed onto the trampled snow, coughing and hacking as they expelled the acrid smoke from their systems.

“Haahh… haaahh… is everyone okay?” Sunset spluttered once her mouth no longer tasted like overcooked plastic.

A ragged chorus of “Yes”s  rang from her friends. Rainbow Dash’s hand swam into view and Sunset took it, allowing herself to be pulled upright. She blew a lock of red hair from her face, still breathing heavily.

Principal Celestia had taken charge, rallying the teachers and turning the evacuation of Canterlot High into less of a disorganized charge and more of an orderly retreat. Under her watchful eye, the last few stragglers piled out of the front doors just as a bright red fire engine pulled up in the front drive.

“Wow,” Rainbow whistled, patting the snow from Pinkie’s back. “Just wow.”

Sunset knew exactly how she felt. “Well, who’d have thought,” she said with a weak laugh, trying to inject some humor into the situation. “That fire drill last month came in useful after all.”

“Did anyone see where the fire started? I mean, there’s so much smoke, someone must have seen it.” Rarity patted down her skirt, grimacing at the idea of having it dry cleaned if she found a single soot stain. “I bet it was Mr. Discord again, wasn’t it.”

“Actually, no. Flutters and me were just talking to him in the cafeteria,” Rainbow Dash nudged Fluttershy for credibility, but the pastel yellow girl was too busy fumbling with the straps on her bag to care.

With a jubilant cry she unzipped her pack at last, reaching inside and helping out one fluffy white rabbit. “Oh, Angel! I’m so glad you’re okay!” She snuggled the critter up to her face, tears of relief streaking down her cheeks and onto the bunny’s fur.

Sunset’s heart melted as she looked on, the fire shoved aside for the moment while the all too adorable sight of Fluttershy and Angel were memorized for her to look back on later. Perhaps she would even write to Twilight about it. It might make for a good friendship lesson. Sunset unconsciously reached behind her back to retrieve her journal.

The realization hit her like a slushball to the face.

“Oh no…” she breathed, all the peace on her face melting away to form a kabuki mask of pure terror. “Oh, no, no, no.”

She had left the journal inside Canterlot High, where even now a sizable fire was probably making its way toward the gym, devouring everything in its path. The journal may be magical, but Sunset was certain that being fireproof was not one of its many traits.

Without any time to lose and ignoring the shouts from both her friends and the firefighters, Sunset Shimmer ran headfirst back into the burning school.


The thick smoke invaded Sunset’s lungs immediately, filling her mouth with the taste of ash and burning chemicals. Her eyes wept and stung, forcing the girl to fumble along in the smog by touch alone. She banged into a locker, bruising her ribs as they slammed into the metal surface. Picking herself up, Sunset jogged on through the pain, barely noticing how hard it was becoming to breathe.

This is crazy. You’re going to choke to death in here.

Sunset ignored the voice in her head and zeroed in on the one thought that mattered. She had to get that journal back, or she’d have no way of contacting Equestria anymore. Even worse, she had a terrifying notion that if the journal on this side burned up, the magic that allowed Twilight Sparkle to visit whenever she liked would be extinguished. They would be separated once again. It was an idea Sunset could not bear to consider so long as she had the tiniest chance of changing it.

Jets of cold water drizzled from unseen sprinklers above as the school tried to combat the blaze, but all it did was make the floor even slipperier than usual and drench poor Sunset to the bone. Recalling something she had learned back in Equestria, Sunset kept low and pulled her soaked shirt up over her mouth and nose. The smoke was everywhere, but if she stayed down near the ground, there would at least be less of it.

Somewhere in her oxygen deprived brain, a thought was trying to make itself heard, but it was only after Sunset was almost to the gym that it put itself into words.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Here’s the smoke… where’s the fire?

She stopped crawling and listened. There were sirens, the muffled voices of everyone outside, the fire alarm, and even the pattering of water hitting her on the back. But the one sound she was waiting for, that of crackling flames, was completely absent. Odd.

Think about it later! Just because you can’t see the fire doesn’t mean you won’t asphyxiate.

“Heh heh,” she mumbled. “Asphyxiate.” What a funny word. Such a complicated sounding term for what was a pretty simple concept. Oblivious to the fact that her face was no longer covered, she pushed open the gym door and set about finding her backpack.

It took a minute or two of fumbling around in the smoke, but eventually Sunset’s hands closed around the familiar fabric straps of her bag. There was no time to unzip it and check on the journal; she would simply have to take the whole thing with her.

Sunset coughed, grimacing at the taste of blood. The back of her throat felt raw and dry, though for some reason this didn’t alarm her as much as she thought it would. Instead what she did feel was an overwhelming sense of relief. She had done it. She had saved the journal and now everything would be all right.

Leaving the gym, Sunset pushed her drenched hair out of her face and stumbled drunkenly out toward the front door. Strange… was it always so far away? The hallway seemed to stretch out for ever in front of her, the way out becoming a miniscule pinprick of light in the gathering shadows that clung to the edges of her vision.

One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of…

How odd. She had somehow ended up on the floor, gazing listlessly at a puddle of water. There was something she was meant to be doing right now, Sunset was sure of it, but every shred of common sense was now so far buried beneath the black haze that it was too hard to concentrate on them.

Perhaps I’ll be able to remember after a short rest... she thought groggily. The floor wasn’t hard anymore, far from it; in fact it felt very welcoming indeed, and it had been a very stressful day... just a short while…

The linoleum was as soft as a feather mattress as Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.


Twilight Sparkle was furious with herself. The lavender alicorn streaked across the sky like a comet, mentally berating herself for her carelessness. Not only had she left the library without taking her crown, she had left the journal in there too! The crown, that could be replaced, but the journal was a different matter. She couldn’t quite place why, but just before she had been about to push open the door to her tower, a sudden urge to have the journal had gripped her, which had led to the discovery that she had so foolishly left such a powerful magical object unguarded! What would Princess Celestia say if she ever found out?

The wind ruffled Twilight’s wings as she alighted, nay, slammed into the royal library balcony. It was a method of entry that was not strictly allowed, but right now the library was closed to all but Equestrian royalty. Unlocking the expansive Prench door with a tap of her horn, Twilight cantered inside and down the steps into the archives.

Only when Twilight had found her way through the maze of shelves and scrolls back to her makeshift workstation did she breathe a sigh of relief. There was her crown, nestled on top of her saddlebag, just where she’d left it. And there was the journal, the same as ever, open to the most recent page with no new entries. She levitated both over, tucking the book under a wing and securing the jeweled crown on her head.

The Lunar guards at the door didn’t even blink when she trotted out the main door for the second time that night. Twilight admired their imperturbable attitude; from her experience, many Solar guards would have passed a small jest if she had done that during the day, though that was hardly a surprise to her. The Princess of the Night’s entourage were generally a lot quieter than their daytime counterparts.

Speaking of Solar guards… Twilight smiled impishly when she neared the place where Dewdrop had been standing guard not too long ago. She was probably still there; maybe she would walk past her and see how she reacted. The princess slowed to a walk, making an effort to conceal her hoofsteps in the softer patches of grass. Maybe she could even take Dewdrop by surprise, something that not many ponies could claim to have done to a guard of any princess.

However, as Twilight got within a stone’s throw of the arched entrance, she stopped on the spot and furrowed her brow. The entryway to Royal Canterlot Memorial was completely deserted, with not even the ghost of a pony standing guard.

Twilight frowned. What was it that Dewdrop had said? Something about standing there until the sun rose and nothing getting by her? Well right now, even a newborn foal could have gotten into the Royal Canterlot Memorial with very little effort.

Somehow she doubted that Dewdrop would have abandoned her post. There had been that manic gleam in the guardspony’s eye that had unnerved even Twilight, and she had stared into the eyes of chaos without flinching. No. Something was up here, and Twilight Sparkle was determined to find out what.

She took to the air, hovering just high enough above the path to avoid making a sound or leaving hoofprints, then gradually, warily, made her way down into the cemetery.

The moon was a thin sickle in the sky tonight, casting a meager sliver of light down onto the slumbering Equestria. The tombs of guards and soldiers past stood sentinel in rank and file, as solemnly and dutifully as their residents had done in life. Shining Armor had taken her here only three times before, to look at the grave of a friend, or to comfort a fellow guard who had lost somepony close. Either way, not a single visit had been a cheerful one, and this time was no different. It was as though the ghosts of ponies past were wafting around her body, making her fur shiver and crawl.

“...stay here very long.”

Twilight’s ears perked up and she froze, her eyes darting back and forth. Somepony had spoken. Somepony nearby. She slunk behind a statue of Princess Luna and peeked out between the marble legs for the origin of the voice.

There. Two rows down, almost invisible in the shadow of a looming clock tower, two ponies sat before a tombstone conversing in hushed tones.

“I need to get back to my post.” Twilight recognized the voice of the one talking now; it was Corporal Dewdrop without a doubt. “Ponies will notice if I suddenly vanish.”

The other pony was almost featureless. She, if it was even a mare, was covered from head to fetlocks in a nondescript black cloak with a hood. She said something back to Dewdrop, but it was so quiet that Twilight could only catch the last few words. “...visit her again soon?”

Dewdrop was squirming now, clearly uncomfortable. “We’ll see,” she said eventually. “But I need to get back up there, and you have places to be too. You should get going before the sun comes up.”

The other pony nodded assent and nuzzled Dewdrop before taking to the skies on ebony wings, the billowing cloak making her look like a surreal nightmare. The guardspony released a heavy and audible sigh before straightening her helmet and stalking back to her post. Twilight promptly ducked down behind the statue to conceal herself as the unicorn marched past.

Only after counting to forty did Twilight risk peeking back up. It was now as quiet as the grave, with no sign that either Dewdrop or her mysterious companion had ever been there. She could see the light from the corporal’s horn glimmering from the archway now, so she must have gone back to standing guard.

Dozens of questions bombarded the princess’s tired mind. Questions that would need addressing in the morning, but right now the only question Twilight felt like answering was that of how to get up to her tower without being seen. It was an easy question, since the answers were fixed to her back.

She extended her wings and got ready to thrust down but the tiniest flash of white stopped Twilight’s wings cold. She glanced back to where Dewdrop and the hooded pony had been sitting. There was something white on the grave, something that stood out amidst all the grays and blues of the night.

The smell told Twilight what it was a few steps before she got to the grave. The scent was unmistakable, since Princess Luna kept vases of them in her quarters at all times. They were moon lilies, a somewhat rare and pungently aromatic flower that was often seen as Luna’s personal floral emblem. They only bloomed at night, and only when touched by moonlight. Twilight had never tasted one before, but by all accounts they said to be sweet enough to put even the richest honey to shame.

And a bouquet of them had been left respectfully on this particular grave.

Her curiosity aroused, Twilight Sparkle lit up her horn and leaned in close to the carved headstone. Who, she wondered, was buried here that would warrant such a gift?

The blood in Twilight’s veins turned to ice as the words on the tombstone were cast into harsh relief. No. This was impossible. Her mind reeled and she had to clap a hoof over her own mouth to keep from crying out.

This can’t be…

Engraved on the stone were three short lines, captured forever by the mason’s chisel:

In memory of Velvet Breeze

Loyal guard, dependable friend, loving sister

You will live forever in our hearts.