//------------------------------// // Manehattan // Story: Awakening // by punisher143 //------------------------------// “What the hay is this thing? Every predator I’ve compared to it to- manticores, hydras, Timber wolves, dragons- it just doesn’t MATCH! It looks like a pony but it most definitely isn’t one. Even worse, it’s toying with me. Well two can play at that game Carver.” Twilight stirred and opened her eyes to find she was in Cheshire Twilight’s domain. That was the closest name she could associate this place with. At the moment Cheshire was looking between several different panels, all of which had either a predator of some sort or Carver on it. Twilight sat up and stretched. “Hi Cheshire,” Twilight called with a wave. Cheshire’s head snapped backward toward Twilight. Literally. “YOU!” she yelled angrily and her head popped off and floated toward her, her body staying still. Her head grew a body and her body did vice versa. “What do you think you’re doing?!” “W-what?” Twilight said and backed away from the rapidly approaching mare. She didn’t get far before a dark purple tentacle burst from the ground, wrapped around her throat, and lifted her off the ground. “You do realize we’re fighting for our lives here right? That this thing is fully capable of crushing your skull into paste and the only reason it hasn’t is because it can’t reach you when it’s out.” The tentacle tightened around Twilight’s throat, crushing her windpipe and causing her to gag. “Despite that fact, you actually feel comfortable enough around it to taunt it?! What’s wrong with you?!” Twilight was slammed into the ground and bounced a couple of times before settling down. She coughed a little and looked up Cheshire. “And quit coughing, this place isn’t even real anyway.” “Do you two mind, I’m trying to do research!” the other Cheshire yelled at them. “Please tell me my mind isn’t this chaotic,” Twilight said and coughed some more. “Look Twilight, I’m trying my hardest to get us out of this situation, but I need you to cooperate. You can start by not pissing off the monster chasing us. If you can at least do that we’ll be fine.” A tentacle wrapped around Twilight’s torso and lifted her up, “Do you understand?” “Um… I guess?” “Good. You. Can. GO!” The tentacle wound up and threw Twilight into the darkness. Cheshire huffed a little. “That was a little harsh, don’t you think?” “Oh shut it!” Twilight flew for a while before she slammed against something. She opened her eyes to find she was on the cloud she fell asleep on, the sun starting to rise over the horizon, and heard Rainbow Dash groan behind her. “Twilight, what the hay? Why did you kick me?” Rainbow asked. “I’m sorry Rainbow, I didn’t mean it,” Twilight said and then whispered, “I hate her so much.” “Who?” “Don’t worry about it.” Twilight sat up and looked toward Manehattan. “Ok, have you been here before Rainbow?” “A couple of times, but that was only for Wonderbolt shows and the like. I’ve never really looked around the place,” Rainbow answered and lifted Twilight to the ground. “Well, I guess we get to now. I actually have a plan for here.” “What?” “Maybe the library here will have something, I’m going to go there and hopefully find something.” “And if you don’t find what you’re looking for there?” “There are other libraries, and if I have to go to every library in the world to get what I want, so be it.” Twilight took off toward the city, Rainbow Dash following close behind. “So… what are you looking for?” Twilight stood in front of Manehattan’s grand library, Rainbow Dash having left to find somewhere to sleep later. Twilight ascended the steps to the door and walked inside. The sheer size of inside, as well as the number of books, threw Twilight off for a moment before she walked down some of the aisles. She pulled out several books along the way and, once she felt she had enough, set the stack on a table. “Okay, let’s see: A compilation of mythical creatures, The Big Bestiary for all things Beastly, The Complete Compilation of Conundrums, and The Psychological Pass to the Pony mind. Alright, let’s get started!” “I don’t think that’s the right building either. There are too many skyscrapers in this city.” Rainbow Dash was currently searching the city for a building, a skyscraper that was attacked by a giant monster from one of the books Twilight let her borrow once, and failing miserably at it. Manehattan was bigger than she had thought so she settled on one building that looked about right. “Better find a place to stay for tonight. Twilight said hotels are out, so I guess another cloud will do.” Rainbow looked around at the mostly bare skies and waved a hoof, “Ah I’ll deal with that later, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get some clouds together.” With that plan for later in mind, Rainbow took off for the library that Twilight had stopped at. Rainbow didn’t keep track of the time but she was sure it had been at least a couple of hours since Twilight started. She had to have found something by now right? When she got there, Rainbow entered the library and walked to the mare at the front desk. “Excuse me, I’m looking for a unicorn that came in here a while ago,” she said. “Purple unicorn, yells loudly when she gets frustrated?” the mare asked. “Um…yes?” “West wing,” the mare said pointing toward said wing. Rainbow blinked a couple times before walking through the shelves of books. Somewhere in the distance she could hear frustrated groaning and shouting, which led her to a table with Twilight skimming through a book. “No no no! This isn’t helping at all!” Twilight said and set the book aside. She levitated another book up to her and started reading again when Rainbow cleared her throat. “No luck, I take it?” Rainbow asked and sat at the table. “No,” Twilight answered and sighed, “I was hoping that there was something here that could tell us something about Carver, but there’s nothing.” “Nothing?” Rainbow asked and picked up The Psychological Pass to the Pony Mind. “Yeah, nothing. I’ve checked bestiaries and ancient species lists, even old fairy tales, and there’s just nothing on it.” Twilight yanked the book out of Rainbow’s hooves, “And don’t worry about that, it’s just a curiosity of mine.” “Well what about those two legged things in the painting?” “I checked that too, but it’s the same thing. This just isn’t possible, how did we find out about two totally unknown species?” Twilight slammed her head onto the table and groaned into her hooves. “So… try again somewhere else?” Dash asked and picked up one of the bestiaries. “I don’t know Dash, this is one of the biggest libraries in Equestria. The only one bigger than this is in Canterlot, which is the last place I want to go right now.” Rainbow looked worriedly at her friend and thought hard for a moment. “You know, maybe we should just relax a little. We’ve been really stressed lately,” Rainbow finally said and set the book down. “Relax? How exactly are we supposed to do that?” Twilight asked annoyed. “Uh Twilight, we’re in Manehattan? Let’s look around for a bit, enjoy the sights, and if the night is quiet we can maybe go to a club.” “Sorry Dash, but I’m going to have to-“ “Too bad, you’re still coming.” Rainbow grabbed Twilight by the shoulders and flew her out of the library, knocking down a few too many bookshelves along the way. Rainbow Dash’s famous speed made it impossible for Twilight to tell where she was going and once they stopped Twilight felt incredibly dizzy. “Where are we?” she asked. “I have no idea,” Rainbow answered, “but I’m a little hungry. What about you?” “How can you be thinking of food at a time like-“ Twilight stopped as her stomach started growling. She blushed a little and said, “Well, I guess we could stand getting some lunch.” “Yeah, but…” Rainbow looked around at the various buildings, “where can we get something to eat?” “This is a city Rainbow Dash, we’ll find one if we look hard enough.” Twilight led the way down the street, Rainbow following close behind. As it turned out, Manehattan was a little different from what Rainbow remembered or either had heard from Applejack. Mostly in that neither of them were prepared for the various talent they witnessed along the way. “I don’t get it, they’re just…dancing,” Twilight said in regards to a couple of dancers, one of whom was bafflingly dressed like some kind of green dog, “And ponies just give them money?” “I guess ponies appreciate secondary talents as much as special talents,” Rainbow commented. Twilight blinked at Rainbow’s observation. “Huh, that sounds really weird coming from you Rainbow. Where did that come from?” “I’unno,” Rainbow said and focused back on the dancers. One had just finished some kind of elaborate spinning dance. The gathered crowd lightly applauded and started dropping a couple bits into a hat. “Hey, let’s give them a couple of bits.” “Really Rainbow? We’re not exactly bursting with bits right now.” “It’s only two bits,” Rainbow said already opening one of her bags. Twilight sighed and did the same. “Fine, if it’s only two bits,” Twilight said and levitated a coin over to the hat with Rainbow dropping her own in. With that done the pair started walking through the park. “You know, if we ever run low on bits we could just do what they were doing.” Rainbow said after a while of walking. “Embarrassing myself with my dancing just to earn twenty bits? Sorry, but I’ll pass.” Twilight kept walking as Rainbow stopped and started laughing a little. “What?” “I was kidding Twilight, I’m way too awesome to lower myself to dancing for bits. We still have to figure something out though.” Rainbow took flight and started hovering next to Twilight. “We will. I’m mostly curious if these cloaks will last us the winter.” Rainbow landed and said, “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Rarity does know what she’s doing after all. Now come on, I’m hungry.” Twilight laughed and smiled at Rainbow. “Yeah, I can probably eat a whole apple tree right now.” Exaggerations aside, Twilight and Rainbow probably could have done that given how much they ate. Nopony could live off of tinned foods forever after all. After they had eaten lunch and checked their bags, they were once again walking through the streets. “So, where are we going after this?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t know,” Twilight answered, “maybe Trottingham or Canterlot if we’re really careful. What do you think?” Neither Twilight nor Rainbow noticed the ponies they were passing. “Well since you know who can’t get up to the clouds we could go to Cloudsdale for a bit.” “I suppose, but I still feel like I’m forgetting something. We should probably do a review of information soon.” “What more is there to talk about? All we know is-“ “RainbowDashsayswhat?” “What?” Rainbow and Twilight looked back at a white unicorn smiling widely at them. She trotted over to them and pulled Rainbow into a massive hug. “I knew it! It’s been a while since I saw you last Dashie!” she said and squeezed Rainbow harder. “Um… have we met?” Twilight asked. She couldn’t see the mare’s eyes past her sunglasses and the smile didn’t change at all. “Sure, but I don’t think we’ve ever introduced ourselves. I’m pretty good friends with Pinkie Pie and she lets me DJ at her parties sometimes. Come to think of it, weren’t you at that big wedding in Canterlot some time back?” “Um… yeah, the groom was my brother.” “Can’t… breathe,” Rainbow finally forced out. The mare let Rainbow go and laughed a little at Rainbow’s deep breaths. “Yeah, it’s nice to see you too Vinyl.” “Good to know Dashie,” Vinyl said still chuckling. “So, you know Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked apprehensively. “Yeah, we go back a bit. You’re… Twilight Sparkle right?” Twilight nodded and Vinyl walked up to her, “Well I’m Vinyl Scratch, nice to meet ya.” “Yes, it is,” Twilight said. After the two shook hooves Vinyl motioned for the two to follow, since they were going in the same direction anyway. “So, what brings you and Dashie here?” “It’s complicated,” Rainbow said, “and we’re probably not going to stay for too long.” “Really? Well ok, wish you two could stay longer. How’s the pink ball of energy doing?” “…Not too well,” Twilight replied quietly. Vinyl lifted her glasses over her horn and stared at Twilight with magenta eyes. “What do you mean?” “Like Rainbow said, it’s complicated. For now it’s probably best Pinkie doesn’t see us.” “Something you did?” “Kind of, it’s a long story.” “Ah don’t worry about it,” Vinyl said and placed her glasses back over her eyes, “Pinkie is sure to forgive you for whatever it is. It can’t be that bad right?” Twilight and Rainbow’s silence was enough of an answer. “It’s even worse isn’t it?” “Long story,” Rainbow said. “Well it’s going to be a long night. I’m sure you’ll have time.” “Night?!” Twilight yelped and looked up at the growing orange sky. “How is it almost night already? Oh, this isn’t good.” “Whoa, relax a little,” Vinyl said, “you shouldn’t let things like that get to you. Tell you what, I know a good place nearby where you can have a couple drinks and just relax a little.” “But…” “Hey Twi, over here,” Rainbow said and motioned to a nearby alley, which Twilight followed her into. “I think she has a point Twilight, we’ve been stressing about this whole thing a lot. Let’s take her up on this and relax, even if it’s only for tonight.” “Rainbow, getting drunk is the last thing that we should be doing,” Twilight pointed out, “and I don’t want to be in a confined space for any extended period of time.” “Well that’s why there’s non-alcoholic drinks, and if we feel unsafe then we can leave.” Twilight was prepared to argue the point some more but Rainbow said, “Come on Twilight, we need to relax sometime. Remember what happened last time you were stressed out?” “…Fine, but we’re not staying for long.” Rainbow nodded in agreement and the pair went back to Vinyl. “So did you come to a verdict?” she asked. “We’ll go for a little while, but we won’t stay long,” Rainbow said. “Eh, fine enough with me. Come on,” Vinyl said and started walking down the street with Twilight and Rainbow following. Twilight looked back at the setting sun and hoped they could get somewhere safe soon. “Well here’s the place,” Vinyl said as she opened the doors. Twilight gave a soft ‘whoa’ at the sight of the club. It wasn’t outrageous or anything, it was actually pretty low end and simple. The dance floor to their left was crowded with dancing ponies. “I’m feeling really uncomfortable right now,” Twilight said. “Nopony is asking you to dance and I just want to talk.” Twilight looked at Vinyl’s bobbing head, her smile seemingly forced. The three mares went to the bar and sat on a couple of stools. “So what did you want to talk about?” Rainbow asked. “I’ll ask once we get some drinks.” The bartender came up just then and asked what they’d like. “I’ll have the usual.” “Water,” Twilight answered. “I’ll have some cider if you have it,” Rainbow answered. The bartender went to prepare the drinks and Vinyl let out a small sigh. “What exactly happened to Pinkie?” Vinyl asked causing Rainbow and Twilight stiffen up. “We don’t really know,” Twilight said choosing her words carefully, “before we left we heard she wasn’t doing too well.” “So why are you here instead of there?” “It’s complicated,” Rainbow said as their drinks were set in front of them. “That’s crap, my love life is complicated. Why don’t you-“ “You have no idea how much I want to be with her Vinyl, but I just can’t,” Twilight said angrily, “so please don’t question my motives on this.” “I wasn’t saying that. I just wanted to know what’s wrong with my friend.” “Sorry,” Twilight took a drink of water before continuing, “but I really don’t know. We left before we got any real details.” “Hm, I’m gonna have to go see her then.” Vinyl lifted the drink up and looked at the dancing ponies. She was about to take a drink when she noticed something. “Now that’s odd.” “What’s odd?” Rainbow asked and followed Vinyl’s gaze. “The crowd’s not as into it as usual,” Vinyl said and placed her drink down. “What do you mean? They look pretty happy to me.” Twilight took the moment to look too. “I’ve spent years watching crowds and learning how to read them. This one is… apprehensive, they’re not as into it as they should be. Something’s getting to them.” “Like what?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know, I’m not a mind reader. But I have heard some rumors going around lately.” “Like?” Rainbow asked and took a drink of cider. “Eh little things like monster’s stalking the shadows and the like, but I don’t see how that’s any different from what I usually hear about. It’ll probably pass in a couple months, so maybe I’m just looking into it too much.” “Are you sure you’re going to be alright heading home?” “O-of course I will. I won’t even fly, just for you.” The unicorn bartender shook her head at the pegasus’ stubbornness. “Alright, just be careful ok?” “Yeah yeah,” the pegasus muttered and walked out of the bar. This was one of the few things he allowed himself after a long work day, a nice evening of drinking. He stumbled a little as he walked through some streets, Luna’s moon already making its ascent into the sky. Chilled night air entered into his lungs which cleared some of the alcohol from his mind. That was enough for him to recognize crying from a nearby alley. “What’s that? Is someone there?” The crying stopped briefly before returning louder than before. The pegasus shook away some dizziness and walked into the alley. “Don’t worry, everything will be alright.” “Do you really have to go so soon?” Vinyl asked as Twilight and Rainbow stood up from the bar, having finished their drinks a while ago. “Yeah, we have a long day ahead of us,” Twilight answered. “A long day of what?” “Of stuff, do you have any more questions?” Rainbow asked. “Nah, not really. Have fun with whatever it is you’re doing,” Vinyl said and waved at the two mares as they left. “We’ll try,” Rainbow said. Once they were outside she let out an exhausted sigh. “Is she always like that?” Twilight asked. “Yeah she is. I’ve talked to her a couple of times when she was at Pinkie’s parties and I swear she could match Pinkie when it comes to raw energy.” Rainbow yawned and stretched her wings out. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.” “Yeah, I could use some,” Twilight said and climbed onto Rainbow’s back, holding tight to her as she took off into the skies. “So did you find a cloud earlier?” “I can whip something together if you can wait on a roof for a bit,” Rainbow answered. “…Just make sure I don’t fall.” “Rest easy Twilight, I’ll watch over you like always.” Cheshire stole a glance back at the sleeping Twilight, or rather the image of Twilight sleeping, before turning back to the panels floating in the darkness in front of her. Dozens of images floated past her vision with a good number of them showing Carver. Despite all that Cheshire kept looking at one panel in particular. Over the years Cheshire had developed a small habit of ‘saving’ Twilight’s dreams for later study, which usually meant at least one panel was linked to Twilight’s subconscious at all times. At the moment it showed a young Twilight playing happily with her older brother and old foal sitter. “Better than a nightmare at least,” Cheshire said out loud and moved the panel over to see it better. “I wonder where they are now. They’re probably enjoying the married life. I wonder if we can get in touch with them and get some help if we need it.” Cheshire scratched her chin at the thought. “That could actually be a good idea. If we set up a spider web of information all over Equestria, we could potentially get more information than we will just wandering aimlessly. I’ll have to bring that up next time Twilight’s awake.” A flash of black darted across one of the panels before leaving the skyline of Manehattan intact. “What was that?” Cheshire extended the panel to get a better look. Nothing immediately stood out in the image, but after a moment something moved on one of the nearby buildings. “Well, guess it’s time to wake her up.” “Be careful on that slide Twiley,” Shining Armor called up to his little sister. “I will,” Twilight called back. Honestly, the slide was a lot higher than Twilight had originally thought, but as long as Shining Armor and Cadence were down there she could do this. Twilight very carefully scooted to the slide and slid down it with a yelp. She expected to land face first in the sand and was glad to find that Shining Armor caught her. “There you go Twiley,” Shining Armor said and set Twilight on the ground. “I knew you could do it,” Cadence said happily. Twilight smiled widely and started bouncing around the two older ponies. On her second go around a crazed version of Twilight’s head popped out of thin air. “Alright, I know you’re having a ball with this whole dream thing, but I’m going to have to wake you up,” the head said, “So brace yourself.” “W-what?” Twilight asked the head, but it disappeared a second later. Twilight felt a sharp pain in her gut and the world fell away as she fell to the ground. When she opened her eyes she was lying on a cloud in Manehattan, Rainbow Dash snoring away next to her. “Now why did she wake me up at this hour?” Twilight asked and sat up on the cloud. After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she looked around at the surrounding rooftops, finding it difficult to see in the darkness. “Argh, I don’t have time for this! This is the second night in a row that she’s done this.” She heard some kind of shuffling from a nearby building and turned to see a familiar dark shape with red eyes staring at her. She arched an eyebrow at the beast and nudged Rainbow. “Ugh, five more minutes,” Rainbow muttered, “It’s still dark.” “I know that,” Twilight said, “but how far away from the buildings are we?” Rainbow sat up and stretched her wings a little. “25 feet or something like that, why?” “Do you think Carver can jump that distance?” “I don’t know. Do you want me to move the cloud?” Twilight looked back at Carver who was backing up from the edge of the roof he was on. “I don’t think we have the time for that, it looks like he’s going to try.” Rainbow’s eyes snapped open and turned to Carver. He flashed a smile at the mares before breaking out in a full sprint and jumped toward them. “Rainbow fly!” Twilight yelled and jumped at a surprised Rainbow. They fell off the cloud just as Carver burst through the cloud. After a moment of tumbling, Rainbow straightened out of the fall with Twilight hanging off of her. "Jeez Twi, calm down!” Rainbow yelled. She felt a whoosh of air next to her and instinctively flew as fast as she could away from it. A quick glance back showed that Carver was running on a rooftop right behind them. “Fine, I could use the exercise.” “Wait, something’s not right,” Twilight heard in her head, “I don’t suppose you could stop and get a good look?” “Are you insane? We stop for a second and we’re dead!” Twilight yelled back. “Who are you talking to?” Rainbow asked. “Five seconds, that’s all I ask.” Twilight thought it over before she groaned loudly and yelled, “Rainbow stop for a second!” Rainbow looked at her like she’d gone crazy. “Are you insane? Why should I stop?” Rainbow asked. “It’ll only be for a second,” Twilight said. Rainbow groaned and flew higher, but stopped nonetheless. Carver stopped on a nearby rooftop and looked confusedly at them. “Alright, now what’s wrong with you?” the voice in Twilight’s head asked. Carver smiled up at them and started to cringe about something. “What is it-?” Rainbow started but nearly fell when Carver let out a loud roar and something burst from its back. It breathed deeply and looked back at its newly acquired appendages and smiled at the two mares. “Rainbow, you can start flying now,” Twilight said. Rainbow didn’t need any more incentive, as she took off in a steep dive to pick up speed, pulling up just a few feet from the street. Rainbow took a quick glance back to find Carver following on the rooftops. “You don’t suppose those wings work, do you?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t want to find out, just get us out of here!” “No problem, you’re talking to the fastest flyer in Equestria after all. Just hold on tight.” Rainbow took off like a bolt of lightning over the city, the dull thumps of their pursuer following behind. Rainbow decided it might be easier to lose Carver down in the streets and took a sharp dive down. Twilight tightened her grip around Rainbow’s neck even when Rainbow pulled up and flew a few feet above the street. As it turned out, Carver had no apprehension in going down to ground level which he showed by crashing right in front of Rainbow Dash. “Whoa!” Dash yelled and kicked at the ground to launch into the air. The air moved as Carver swiped at her, which pushed her to fly as fast as she could. A crash sounded to her right and Rainbow looked over in time to see Carver jump off of a building right toward them. Twilight couldn’t have prepared herself for what happened next. Rainbow corkscrewed to the left and threw Twilight into the air screaming. The world seemed to slow down for those brief moments in the air. Twilight twirled in the air and looked at Rainbow Dash, her face a set into a look of determination, until Carver darted right between them and time sped back up. Twilight didn’t know what happened but she found herself lying on Rainbow’s back holding on for dear life. “You ok Twilight?” Rainbow shouted back at Twilight. “Don’t do that again!” Twilight shouted. She heard a whoosh of air above her and looked up to see that those wings did in fact work. “Do it again, DO IT AGAIN!” Twilight yelled and rolled off of Rainbow. Not exactly the best choice since she was now falling right toward a building. “Twilight!” Rainbow yelled before having to change directions to avoid the building. Twilight cast a magic shield just in time for her to crash through a window. Needless to say, the couple who owned that apartment weren’t too happy when she did that. “AAH!” “What do you think you’re doing?!” “I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Twilight yelled as she stood up. When she got to her hooves Carver burst through the wall she had crashed through and roared at her, all three ponies screaming as Twilight opened the door and ran out of the apartment. The hallway outside stretched to Twilight’s left and right and Twilight chose to go right. She had galloped down a few paces when the wall crashed open behind her. She didn’t look behind her and focused on finding a stairway. She rounded corner after corner, occasionally passing an open door and curious pony, until she finally reached her goal. Twilight slammed into the door and ran as fast as she could up the stairs and saw Carver trying to squeeze through the door she came through. A quick glance up showed that Twilight was a ways away from the roof, so she decided on trying to teleport up every few floors, which worked in that she had less stairs to climb. After repeating the process of climbing and teleporting a few times Twilight reached the door to the roof. “Oh great, now what?” she asked slamming the door shut behind her. She had reached a dead end and Rainbow was nowhere to be seen. “Go east!” “W-what?” “Go east along the rooftops and you’ll get out.” A loud bang shook the door and Twilight backed away from it. “Go, now!” After quickly checking the stars to find her way, Twilight galloped for the edge of the roof. She saw the neighboring roof and gathered magic in her horn, releasing it in a flash and teleporting to the next roof. Teleporting unfortunately took a lot of energy to do and Twilight wasn’t sure how much longer she could do it. The door on the other rooftop finally gave way. Carver’s roar was all it took for her to get moving. She hoped she had the energy to keep teleporting. ‘Dangit, where are you Twilight?’ Rainbow flew over several buildings and scanned the rooftops for the purple unicorn, but Manehattan was a big place and she didn’t know where to start. “Rainbow!” Rainbow slowed to a hover and looked around for the voice she heard. “Twilight?” Rainbow asked the air. The voice certainly sounded like Twilight, if not a bit rougher than usual. “Oh thank goodness you can hear me. Listen, I’m heading east along the roofs and I think if I continue like this I’ll be right next to a skyscraper with big red lights. Do you see it?” “Hold on,” Rainbow said and looked around and spotted red lights in the distance, “Yeah I see a building like that. It looks like a radio building.” “Great, that’s where I’m heading. Get over there and be ready to catch me when I tell you.” “Catch you? What do you mean?” Rainbow didn’t get an answer, so she scoffed and started flying to the building. “I hope you know what you’re doing Twilight.” Twilight came out of another teleport and stumbled upon landing on the building. She had gotten used to on the fly teleporting, but she was starting to feel the drain from the constant magic. Carver being constantly on her tail wasn’t helping either, but every glance she took told her that it wasn’t used to the wings and seemed to only use them for gliding. ‘At least it can’t fly, that’s a plus,’ she thought and leaped from the rooftop into another teleport onto the next rooftop. Once her hooves touched this rooftop she tripped and tumbled to the floor. “Get up, we’re almost there!” her inner voice screamed at her. Twilight got to her hooves as fast as she could and shook her head as she approached the next edge. “I can’t do this much more, I’m too exhausted,” Twilight said and looked over the edge. There wasn’t any more rooftop left, only a view of the river and road down below. Twilight doubted she could make the jump to the river, and even if she could it wouldn’t be much different than hitting pavement at this height. “That’s alright, we’re right where we need to be,” Cheshire said. Something crashed behind Twilight and she looked to see Carver climbing onto the roof with that horrible toothy grin. “Listen to me, jump off the roof when I tell you to.” “Are you crazy?” Twilight asked and watched Carver slowly walk to her, its large wings flapping twice. “Trust me, you’ll be fine.” Twilight swallowed and backed to the ledge, jumping a little when she hit it. ‘What are you thinking?!’ “Rainbow, are you there yet?” “Yeah, I can see you now,” Rainbow said and watched that black beast approach Twilight as she got on the ledge of the roof. “Ok, when I’m done talking, count to five and dive to me. Don’t slip, ok?” “I won’t,” Rainbow answered and started her count. “Ok, jump!” “Are you sure about-?” “Now or you’ll mess up the timing!” Twilight took a deep breath and jumped. She saw that Carver jumped after her, its massive form nearly on her. Just as quickly as she saw it, it disappeared when something collided into her. A flash of blue and rainbow filled her sight when she realized what happened. “Rainbow Dash?!” “What, did you think I’d leave you hanging?” Rainbow asked and turned so she and Twilight could see Carver fall into the river. “Yeah, not everything knows how to fly immediately dirtbag!” “Come on Rainbow, let’s get out of here,” Twilight told the pegasus. “Alright, I’m beat.” Twilight held onto Rainbow as they flew away from the lights of Manehattan. “You know, you have to tell me how you do that little trick.” “Trick?” “Yeah, that talking into my head thing. You told me where you were going to be and when to get you.” “I did?” “You can thank me for that later Twilight.” “Uh, did you hear that Twilight?” Rainbow asked. “Huh?” “Oh crap, please tell me I didn’t leave that panel ope- yep I did.” “What’s a panel?” “Well Rainbow, um…” “Just… get somewhere safe and get to sleep. I guess I have some explaining to do.” It gasped for breath when it broke the surface of the water. After a quick look it swam for the nearest shore line. It emerged from the river wet, miserable, and utterly angry. It looked back at its useless new additions and retracted them into its black body. It would have to learn how to properly use them soon. There was no sign of its prey in the skies and growled in frustration. It very much preferred when its prey couldn’t fly away.