//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 - Wake Up // Story: Nighttide Star // by Vertigo-01 //------------------------------// Beneath the pale moonlight shimmering through thin white curtains, Princess Celestia stirred in her bed. The Princess had waited several hours beyond dusk for a response from either Twilight or her sister before retiring to her quarters. Although she was concerned for their well-being, between her sister, Twilight, and her friends, she believed the matter would be dealt with sufficiently. Besides, she had figured earlier, she would need her rest if she was to handle legalities pertaining to Riptide the next day. Still, the Princess had felt ill at ease since the moment Twilight wrote her of Riptide's actions. And with the presence of a mare from a foreign land, the two events coinciding together had left her, as well as her sister, more than a little concerned. She could only hope that Riptide's affairs did not pertain to what they thought they might. “… mmh.” Rubbing her eyes with a bare hoof, Celestia squinted at the window. The silhouette of the moon sat close to the horizon. Just as she made her way to her hooves, a knock came from the door. With a sigh, she used her magic to open the doors, expecting one of her orderlies to be ready with her morning coffee. Instead, Shining Armor stood in the doorway, flanked by two elite pegasus guards. Celestia blinked. “Your majesty,” Shining began as he and the two guards stepped inside, “pegasi have spotted an unknown airship heading this way from the south. We've already deployed a scout group to intercept and identify its origin and intent.” “An… an airship?” Celestia blinked herself to waking as she stepped into her royal slippers. “But aircraft are not allowed in Canterlot airspa—“ Suddenly, a flash of green smoke appeared in front of Celestia. On instinct, she used her magic to grab and unfurl the scroll that appeared from it. Shining Armor stepped ahead of the other two guards. “Is that Twilight?” As Celestia read through the scroll, her eyes narrowed. She shook her head slowly. “No. It's my sister.” The three guards exchanged glances. A minute passed in silence as Celestia read through the scroll once more. With an audible exhale, she levitated the scroll to a nearby table and looked up at Shining. “Prepare our best Guards to escort the airship to the lower levels of Canterlot,” she said with a strange, knowing tone. “We have an emergency.” Blinking a couple of times at the order, Shining then stood to attention and saluted the Princess, darting back through the hall with the two pegasi in close tow. As the guards disappeared around a bend in the hall, Princess Celestia drew a calming breath. Wandering over to the window, she parted the curtains and looked up at the moon for a moment, then to the cold north that lay beneath it. __________ Squinting against the rush of morning air, an elder Night Guard crouched against the deck of Riptide's ship, watching as the outline of Canterlot grew closer beneath the moon. Beside him crouched Riptide, flanked by another, younger Night Guard. Riptide's horn glowed a dull blue, the only luminance to be seen for miles on end, save Luna's moon and the stars above. “Well,” the elder guard spoke above the wind, his gruff voice resonating clearly, “from what the Princess said, the Royal Guard should have received word by now.” “Notwithstanding the effects of the negative magic,” Riptide commented as he finished adjusting the ship’s course, his horn returning dark. “We can't be sure the drake's magic made it through until the Princess receives a reply.” “That's Princess Luna to you, daylighter,” the younger guard spat back. Riptide glanced over with narrowed eyes at the guard. “Surely we're beyond the whole daytime-nighttime feud by now. If you deign to call me anything, call me traitor. That is what I am, after all.” “Save the guilt trip for Her Majesty's judgment,” the elder guard said. “And be thankful you are under Celestia’s jurisdiction, and not her sister's.” “Really?” Riptide cocked his head toward him. “I wouldn't imagine Princess Luna to be merciless.” “To her royal subjects, no.” The guard peered over him with a knowing look. “To those who would threaten her royal subjects, perhaps.” “Hmph.” Riptide hung his head at those words, though a sad smile crept through his lips. “Well, at any rate, I’m glad to know she’s capable of handling the situation in its current state.” Looking out toward the Canterlot horizon, he said, “My mistake was in not trusting the judgment of the Princesses – of beings who have walked this world for millennia, who would know far better than anypony else how the world works.” He furrowed his brow. “Who’d know how best to protect their land.” “And what would you know of our Princess, daylighter—“ “Hush, grunt,” the elder guard barked. “Save that tongue of yours for the pups you’ll inevitably breed.” Scowling at the old guard, the younger stallion slunk off to another side of the deck, putting the two out of earshot. Soon after, another guard opened the cabin door behind them and whistled to the group. The elder guard waved in return before looking back toward Canterlot. “Seems the drake's magic made it.” Riptide exhaled in relief. “Excellent. When the Royal Guard occupy the ship, I'll relieve control of this vessel.” Smirking, he said, “Going to have to teach the rookies how to do it on the fly, though.” “Mmm.” Flexing his webbed wings against the wind, the elder guard looked up toward the moon. “It is neither my place nor my duty to know what is transpiring here. But I do have to ask, if merely to sate an old stallion’s curiosity…” He collapsed his wings gently against his side, turning to face Riptide. “What exactly would make a Royal Guard want to turn traitor? Especially during these peaceful times?” Riptide gave the guard a tired smile. “To better help protect and serve his country.” The guard scrunched his muzzle. “You would jest with one of your captors?” Riptide shook his head. “If there’s any one thing I would never joke about, it’s my intent behind this whole mess.” “So you believed your intent was benevolent?” “I believed it was necessary.” Looking off the opposite end of the deck, he said, “I’ve long since disagreed with the manner in which the Princesses and the senate handle national security. For all intents and purposes, the E.U.P. is little more than a decorative coat of arms that hangs on the wall of Equestria. Even with the return of someone as infamous in military history as the Princess of the Night, there’s been little in the way of progress toward renovating the Guard.” The elder guard stared at him for a moment, before looking up at the moon. “I assume you are aware of what happened to the Night Guard after Nightmare Moon’s banishment?” Riptide tilted his head. Squinting at the guard, he said, “Well, yes. We understood your natural magic was restrained by Princess Celestia herself after the Longest Night, correct?” The guard closed his eyes with a single nod. “Our magic was directly linked with her younger sister's. One could not banish Nightmare Moon without banishing Princess Luna and the Night Guard as well.” He looked back to Riptide. “But do you know how we were banished?” Riptide raised a hoof to his chin. “That… I’m afraid not, no.” Looking down in thought, he said, “When Princess Luna was brought back to power, the Night Guard’s transition back to active duty was kept separate from affairs with the Royal Guard.” “Precisely.” The guard narrowed his eyes. “Because the transition needed to be kept silent.” Riptide looked up again. “Why would that be necessary?” With a long exhale, the guard stood up straighter, looking down over his muzzle at Riptide. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, he clenched it shut again. With a tired sort of smile, he slowly pivoted toward the Canterlot horizon. “Let’s just say, we’re all a bit older than we look.” Riptide squinted at that. Turning his attention to the horizon as well, they noticed a canopy of dark figures descending upon the ship. The guard sighed. “Looks like they’re here.” __________ “Thank you again, Spike,” Princess Luna said as she stood up, stretching her wings to their full length next to the sleeping figures of Nighttide and Twilight. “T’were it not for your help, I would not have been able to contact my sister post-haste.” “Not a problem,” Spike said as he walked over to check on Twilight, standing on the tips of his claws to get a better look over the table edge. “Pardon me if this is out of line, Princess,” Applejack said as she stood next to the rest of their sleeping friends. “But can’t you and Celestia contact each other with your magic er somethin’?” “Within a limited range, yes.” Luna suggested to her dimly glowing horn with a hoof. “And when we are not preoccupied with casting other spells.” Applejack nodded as she stifled a yawn with a hoof. “Mmph… gotcha. Well…” She glanced back at the pile of snoozing ponies on the floor. “Guess we oughta wake them up soon?” “In a moment.” Princess Luna walked up beside Applejack and looked over her friends with a soft smile. “I figure it best for everypony to rest while they can. I do not know for certain what lies ahead of us upon our return to Canterlot.” Applejack shrugged. “Yeah, guess you’re right.” Suddenly, Pinkie’s tail puffed out, beginning to swish back and forth before taking on a twitching motion. The two mares watched as her tail whacked Rainbow Dash upside the muzzle, who lay behind the pink pony. “Wh-wha?” Opening her eyes and springing upright, Rainbow raised a hoof to her muzzle. “What’s going on?” Both Applejack and Princess Luna lifted a hoof in surprise as they watched Pinkie Pie begin to roll against Fluttershy in her sleep. “OW!” Fluttershy woke with a startle as Pinkie grazed her injured wing. Jumping to her hooves with a wince, she stared down with bleary eyes at Pinkie’s gyrations. Rainbow Dash walked up beside Pinkie as she looked up at Applejack with a worried frown. “Yep,” Applejack said as she returned the expression. “Pinkie sense.” Princess Luna tilted her head at the mare. “Pinkie sense?” Pinkie rolled over the remaining length of the floor into Rarity’s barrel. For a moment, Rarity merely flopped over onto her side, but once Pinkie began flailing her hooves at her, Rarity woke to defending herself. “G-good gracious, what in the world!” Rarity held her hooves in front of her face as Pinkie kicked listlessly at her. Finally, Rainbow Dash and Applejack knelt down beside Pinkie and began shaking her. “Wake up, ya crazy mare!” Applejack shouted. “You’re near ‘bout to beat up everypony in your sleep!” “G-g-g-g-GAAH!!!!” Pinkie Pie sprung into the air with a jolt before landing, softly, on all four hooves. A visible shiver shot down her entire body from the tip of her mane to the back of her tail. “Whoooaaa baby! This is a big one!” Everypony awake in the room stepped back from Pinkie. “What exactly does this one mean?” Rarity asked as she sat down to check her mane. Pinkie took a moment to collect herself as she sat down as well. “I don’t know, but…” She looked over with a furrowed brow at Twilight. “I don’t think it’s anything good.” Everypony in the room directed their attention to the sleeping alicorn, whose wing began to twitch around Nighttide. __________ Twilight fell into the darkness once more, her mind and heart resolute on her mission. Somehow, someway, she would reach Nighttide. She would bring her to waking. The magic of friendship would find a way once more. That was her belief. Much as logic and reason begged her to attend to the questions rising from the dreamscape, she knew her purpose here was much simpler than any of that. There was somepony who needed her. There was somepony who needed to know she would be there for her. Always. Without fail. ‘After all,’ she mused to herself, ‘I already failed her once.’ A tightness formed in her chest. She shook her head in the dark, wrestling with a strange sensation that seemed to emanate from within and without. Something was off again. “Does it really matter, though?” That was a fair point, she surmised. “Nothing seen, nothing heard.” That is, at least, for the thumping of a heart in her ears. “…are you sure that’s the case?” She blinked in the dark. Slowly, carefully, Twilight focused her attention on the voice of someone else. “As far as beta tests are concerned, yes,” a female voice spoke. “The Sarcophagus should have full containment.” “Has it been tested on any current models, though?” a stallion asked. “No. Ten thirty-two will be the first live run.” Twilight felt her hoof bend, followed by a click. A muffled sound reverberated softly beneath her collar. “…Alright. It’s your call, I suppose,” the stallion continued. “You do understand where our concerns are, though—” “Of course, you needn’t explain,” the mare answered. “Ten thirty-two will act as both the beta test and a living execution. The software will report back critical runtime information via secure channels.” The sound of typing followed for a moment. “Okay, we should be set,” another stallion said. “Have the memory parameters been set?” “Yes, everything’s already in the command prompt. Her memories will be filtered or contained based on the list of preset criteria.” “Alright then. You may proceed.” A beep sounded overhead. “Authorization ident: Nephilim. Vessel: LAB-1032, Nighttide Star. Containment engaging.” Something suddenly pulled taut inside her head, and the voice that followed was far more clear in perception. “Warning. Neural conscious network contaminated. Sarcophagus containment in three… two… one…” __________ Just as everypony crowded around the table Twilight and Nighttide were sleeping on, Princess Luna collapsed to her knees. “Ungh!” She reached a hoof to her horn, which now flickered various hues of blue. “Princess!” Applejack shouted as she motioned for everyone to give her space. “Princess, what’s wrong?” Clenching her eyes shut, Princess Luna tried to steady her magic. The flickering began to calm for a few seconds. Then, a dark aura seeped out from the tip of her horn. “AAAAHH!!” Princess Luna screamed with the might of her Royal Canterlot voice as she collapsed to her side, clutching her forehead with her hooves. __________ Outside on the balcony of the ship, the elder and younger guards suddenly collapsed to the deck. “N-no… it can’t be…!“ the elder guard managed to stammer before curling his legs tight against his body, clenching his jaw shut with a visible shiver. Riptide immediately galloped over to the guard. “Sir, what’s wrong? What’s happening?” The Guard’s jaw twitched for a moment as if he might attempt to speak, but it remained shut. Opening a single, tear-filled eye, the guard looked toward the northern horizon. Riptide followed his line of sight, just before it was covered by the canopy of pegasi descending upon them. “Unidentified airship,” a Royal Guard overhead shouted down, “you are in restricted Equestrian airspace! State your intended course and identify your—“ “Hey,” Riptide shouted up, “hurry up and get down here! We’ve got a Princess on-board and two injured Night Guards!” The pegasi overhead exchanged a quick glance between each other, before diving toward the deck. __________ As Princess Celestia walked onto her balcony, a ripple of arcane magic shot through the air. She pivoted to look south in the direction from which the airship was supposed to arrive. For a moment, she stood silent, eyes narrowed as she quietly read the sensation of the magic that carried through the cool night air. With a nod, she gave one forlorn glance back to her palace, before spreading her wings and taking flight. __________ Once the Royal Guard boarded the top deck of the airship, Riptide voluntarily turned himself into custody and informed them of what just happened. The guard he had approached, a young pegasus probably no more than a few months out of hoof-camp, had taken a few moments to process what the stallion said. “So, uh… you’re saying that you’re the bad guy here?” the pegasus asked with a blank stare. “Yes, cadet,” Riptide said. “I’m a criminal aboard this ship, and these were the two guards watching over me.” He suggested to the Night Guard currently writhing on their sides. The young pegasus looked between the Night Guard and Riptide with a furrowed brow. “So, um… was this your doing or—” “No, I just told you! They suddenly…” Riptide face-hoofed. “Look, this ship is currently under my control, but somepony else needs to take over if I’m to be placed into custody. Do you have a unicorn escort with you?” “We’re just a scout group, dude,” the pegasus replied with a shrug. “Can’t help ya there.” With a flat expression, Riptide redirected his attention back to the two Night Guards. Several pegasi were attempting to calm the stallions down, but they continued to writhe violently. “So,” he said, eyeing the pegasus beside him, “are you just going to let me walk around freely, or what?” The pegasus shrugged again. “I dunno, you said you were flying this thing, so I guess.” With a humored sigh, Riptide walked past the stallion and over to the group. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, the doors to the cabin behind them slammed open. Everypony turned their attention to the doors as a grey streak barreled straight toward them. On pure instinct, Riptide threw himself against the deck, allowing the grey figure to shoot past and slam into the group of pegasi. Several Royal Guards were sent skidding across the deck with a sickening crash – some rolled straight over the edge, others slammed into the railings along the sides. Riptide rolled over and spun his head in the direction of the mayhem. Standing over the elder Night Guard was Nighttide, her rotary cannons deployed and quickly spinning to life. Bucking against the deck, Riptide leapt forward and tackled the unsuspecting mare, knocking her onto her left side. Both rotary cannons unleashed their payload with a deafening sound, one into the wooden deck and the other blindly into the air. Suddenly, a dark mist shot out of the hydraulics holding the cannons in place, bringing them to a screeching halt. Riptide scrambled upright and looked down to find Nighttide staring back at him with glowing violet eyes. Pushing her leftmost cannon against the deck, Nighttide threw the stallion off her barrel. Spinning around to face Riptide, the rotaries once more span to life. “Oh no you don’t!” Nighttide spun her head around just in time to be tackled headlong by a Royal Guard. The two ponies tumbled past Riptide, armor and alloy thrashing against the wooden deck. Blinking, Riptide watched as the rest of the Royal Guard sped after the two. Nighttide flipped once, twice, three times before she caught herself on her hooves, skidding to a stop before she fell off the edge of the deck. The pegasus who tackled her rolled to a stop in front of her, still and unconscious. Lifting a single metal hoof, she nudged the stallion behind her, sending the pony rolling off the deck. Two guards immediately took to the air and dove around Nighttide, leaving her to face several more who were now surrounding her. Riptide galloped ahead with the group, racing toward Nighttide as her rotary cannons began to spin. Using his telekinesis, he began to cast a spell in hopes of restraining the mare. Before it could reach her, a blue figure slammed into Nighttide’s side. With a thud of flesh against metal, somepony knocked Nighttide off the edge of the deck, sending themselves and the mare out of sight. Riptide and the Royal Guard approached the edge cautiously. As they craned their necks to peer down, two pegasi came into sight, lifting an unconscious stallion to the deck. The group parted to allow them to drop off the stallion, just as a shout sounded from somewhere beneath the ship. “Damnit, what in Tartarus is going on,” Riptide muttered to himself. Unable to see anything for several seconds, his ears flicked back toward the sound of galloping. Looking over his shoulder, he watched as Applejack galloped out of the cabin, followed closely by Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. “Hey,” he shouted as he waved a hoof, “over here! What’s going on?” Applejack and the others ran up to the stallion. “Don’t know! Princess Luna jus’ started hollerin’ all the sudden, right before that dang metal mare flew out of the room! ‘Bout near burned us all alive with those glowing things, too!” As Riptide opened his mouth to say something more, a grey streak shot upward out of his periphery. Riptide and Applejack looked past the deck to see Nighttide flying straight up, billowing a violet and green vapor trail that was being parted by a steadily gaining blue alicorn. “Princess Luna!” Applejack shouted, grabbing the Royal Guard’s attention to the mares above them. “CEASE AND DESIST AT ONCE,” Princess Luna shouted with her Royal Canterlot voice, though it was clearly strangled by an unusual amount of effort. Her body radiated amethyst hues as her mane and tail sparked with the flow of powerful magic. Overhead, Nighttide’s barrel seeped black smoke, quickly working its way beyond her mane and tail. Once her entire body was covered, the smoke quickly spread across the night sky above, leaving nothing of the mare. “Oh no, that won’t work this time,” Luna muttered through gritted teeth. Glancing down at the airship below, she shouted, “Night Guard!” Across the group of ponies gathered on the deck, the two Night Guards awoke to the sound of their Princess high above. With glowing white irises, the two spread their webbed wings and took to the skies, followed soon by a drove of several more pouring from the ship’s cabin. The Night Guard spread themselves far and wide across the sky above the airship. With a flick of her horn, Princess Luna cast the same spell as before, causing the webbed wings of the Guard to glisten with the aura of their Princess’ magic. Riptide and the others watched as the black smoke above stretched far and thin, but was ultimately contained in what became the sphere of Night Guard surrounding it. Princess Luna panted mid-air as she strained to maintain her magical hold on everything and everyone. Her eyes searched the smoke billowing around her, ultimately landing on a thicker portion than the rest. With a strained grunt, she shot a beam of white light toward the smoke, latching onto it like a grappling hook. Screwing her eyes shut, a second stream of light traipsed out of her horn, flowing lazily toward the ship beneath her. “What in tarnation?” Applejack and the rest watched the stream of light slowly break through the shield above them, before snaking into the cabin of the ship. __________ It took several minutes, but Princess Celestia finally caught up to the second squadron Shining Armor had deployed. Off in the distance, she could see a dimly glowing sphere, glistening beneath the moonlight. The sight immediately brought about a sense of nostalgia to her that was anything but pleasant. With a flap of her wings, she positioned herself over the pegasi beneath her. “Royal Guard,” she called out. “Continue to follow your squadron's captain. I'm going on ahead.” “Princess!” one of the pegasi at the forefront of the formation called out to Celestia above. “We weren't expecting you out here!” “Neither was I,” the Princess said as she kept her focus forward. “Head straight for the airship. Do not bring any harm to anypony unless I or my sister otherwise command. Assess the situation, bring the vessel under our control, and deliver it to Canterlot Underground.” The captain below squinted at the sphere that glowed above a blue speck in the horizon. His lips curled into a frown. “Should we not ascertain Princess Luna’s status before—” “No,” Celestia hastily interjected. “This is not an issue with my sister. I promise.” The captain looked up with a furrowed brow, but eventually shrugged. “Understood. We will proceed to the airship.” With a nod, Celestia gave her wings another beat, flying ahead of the Guard with speed and grace. It didn’t take long for her to close in on her sister’s sphere, given that it was slowly heading northward along with the airship. Casting a glance down at the strange vessel, she spotted most of the familiar colors of Twilight’s friends standing on the top deck. For now, that would have to suffice. Redirecting her attention, she brought herself to a hover in front of the sphere. Celestia blinked. The Night Guard’s webbed wings glistened with the hues of her sister’s magic, just as they had done that fateful night millennia ago. She drew a deep breath, calming a shiver that tried to travel down her spine. Squinting through the haze of magic, she spotted her sister struggling to maintain her connection with the dark aura. Calling on her magic, her horn began to glow with the radiance of the sun as she bathed her sister’s cool aura in a warm light. Within the sphere, Princess Luna cracked an eye open. “S-sister? Is that you?” “Yes,” Celestia called out from her side of the sphere. “Was Twilight able to wake her?” “Nngh… I… I’m afraid not,” Luna stammered as she shut her eyes again. “Th-there’s… something different… about this pony. And the aura… it’s—” “Do we need to seal it?” Celestia interrupted. Luna clenched her teeth as she attempted to peer out at her sister again. “I… I don’t want her to suffer… not like—“ “I know you don’t, sister. I don’t either, any more than I did that day.” Swallowing the lump in her throat, Luna lifted her head with a shudder, examining the beam of light that was now latched onto a fixed point of the smoke. At the end of the beam, the smoke writhed in place, expanding and contracting in a violent manner. “Is Twilight safe?” Celestia called out again. “Why are there two connections?” “The dream realm,” Luna muttered. “Sh… she was locked in Nighttide’s for a moment.” “But she is safe now?” “Y-yes. I’m sending her back now.” Luna gasped as a pulse travelled down the length of the beam back toward her. Shutting her eyes again, she sputtered, “Sister, I don’t want to—“ “We do this now, Luna,” Celestia shouted with a furrowed brow. “I will not lose you like this. Not now. Not ever again.” Luna shook in place. A single tear managed to escape her eyelids as she called upon one more spell. __________ Spike held onto one of Twilight’s hooves, stroking the coat hairs in as slow a fashion as he could. The calming motion served more to his benefit than hers, he figured, though he wasn’t about to let her out of sight. Not considering the chaos that was now taking place. Twilight continued to remain asleep, her one wing that had been draped over Nighttide now lying limp across the table. Fluttershy managed to hobble over to the table on shaky legs, having chose to remain behind due to her injured wing. Neither of them knew what was going on – why Luna had suddenly screamed, why Nighttide just as suddenly woke up. Reaching an unsteady hoof toward one of Twilight’s, Fluttershy’s ears flicked to the side. She turned her head toward the hall just in time to see a stream of light snaking into the room with the faint sound of whistling magic. “Wh-wh-wh-what is… th-th-that!” Fluttershy eventually managed to stammer just as the light began to creep around Spike. “Guaaah!” Spike recoiled from the light, trying to bat it away from Twilight. “Get out of here! Don’t touch her!” To his and Fluttershy’s horror, Spike’s claws passed through the condensed light without it so much as flinching. As it began to arch toward Twilight’s horn, the beam suddenly pulsed a shade of blue. Diving point-first into her horn, the light flickered with brilliance for a split second, then disappeared. Twilight’s eyes flew open with a scream as she jolted upright, knocking Spike off the table she was lying on. “Twilight!” Fluttershy shouted in surprise as she backed away from the alicorn, who stood fully upright on the table with her wings flared. “Nighttide!” Twilight shouted as she looked between the two. “Where is she? Where’s the Princess?!” “Th-th-they all went outside,” Spike stammered from the floor as he stared up in disbelief. “Nighttide suddenly took off while you were sleeping, and then—” Bucking off the table, Twilight dove into the hallway, spun right, and galloped the full length onto the deck outside. Running out into the darker atmosphere, it took a few seconds for Twilight to adjust her sight. After a moment, she looked across the deck to see some of her friends standing at the edge, staring straight up. Twilight followed their line of sight, just as Princess Luna’s aura burst into glowing white shards. As quick as the shield shattered, a solid Nighttide sped through the Night Guard, steel-grey feathers glistening in the moonlight as she barreled toward the north horizon at breakneck speeds. “Tia!” Princess Luna shouted as she hovered unsteadily in place. “It is now or never!” “On it,” Celestia shouted back, diving into formation beside her sister. As the two pursued the mare together, their horns and manes began to glow with ethereal power. On the deck of the ship, everypony watched as the night sky radiated with brilliant hues of blues and violets. As the Princesses magic coalesced, the light transitioned to warmer hues as it became nearly as bright as the sun, causing some to raise their hooves against the light. “Now, sister!” Suddenly, the light above condensed into a single sphere around the Princesses, and with a final pulse, a thick, spiraling beam of blinding white light shot forward from the two – straight after Nighttide. Twilight watched as the beam visibly broke the sound barrier, casting a shockwave across the air above them. Within a second, the wave struck the ship, knocking everypony off-balance. Steadying herself against the cabin wall, Twilight watched as the beam impacted Nighttide from behind, engulfing her in all the brilliance of the sun. Then, as quick as the light came, it faded. Squinting into the darkness, she barely made out the figure of a single grey dot free-falling to the land below. “No… Nighttide! NO!” Twilight galloped as hard and fast as she could across the deck, spreading her wings as she, and a cerulean pegasus, dove off the back end of the ship.