//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: The Lucky Horseshoe // Story: Lazarus: The Rise of Man // by Immortan Joe //------------------------------// Twilight sat back in her seat, her tired eyes gazing out the window, watching the dark countryside zip by while the train chugged its way towards Manehattan. As the train shuddered, and she saw the handle for a track switch whiz by before a muffled thump broke her out of her tired stupor. Looking away from the sparse landscape outside, she noticed that her novel of interest at the moment was gone from her side table, and was now laying splayed open on the ground. A tired looking book for a tired mare. She gazed at the offending object for a few seconds, before picking it up off the ground with her magic, letting it spin lazily in front of her. Her eyes glaze over the title: Return of the Fallen Race, a fictional novel about the possibility of Equestria’s Forerunners by Winter Dawn. Spike had recommended it to her a few weeks back and she had found the premise interesting enough to bring it with her on this trip. On the opposite end of the car from Twilight was Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus’s head lolled over the side of her bench while her legs laid spread eagle, twitching occasionally as she snored. Her rumbling airways the only thing keeping Twilight from falling asleep. On the other side of the bench, trying desperately to salvage what we left of her personal space,was Rarity. Pressed against the window of the car and eyeing rainbow with a undignified glare. Sharing the bench with Twilight was Applejack, the only other mare who had seemed to be able to to fall asleep during the ride. AJ had her hat draped over her face and, unlike Rainbow, she was able to keep her limbs to herself while she napped quietly. As for Pinkie Pie... Twilight had no idea where that crazed party pony went. When they first boarded the train two hours ago they found their seats, talked for a bit, and then fell silent as her friends eyes started to droop. During that brief moment of silence Twilight found her gaze drawn to the outside window, which must’ve been the time that Pinkie decided to sneak out. The best thing Twilight could think of is that the mare was either in one of the front cars bothering some other ponies, or was back in the kitchen hogging the treats. Either way, it didn’t bother her, but it did give her something to take her mind off the now ever present issue, the humans who had quite literally dropped into Equestria out of nowhere. Though Twilight’s book wasn’t the only book she had brought. Stored in the compartment above her was her saddlebag. Which, among other things, contained the enriched human encyclopedia. She had brought it out earlier, about an hour into their trip after most of the conversation had died down. What she hoped would be a quiet study session had quickly morphed into another social hour, as the book quickly caught rarity’s eye, the rest of the girls following suit quickly thereafter. Twilight had ended up giving a short lecture on what she knew about human history and technology, which then led to explaining why they were going to Manehattan in the first place. Twilight had then shown her friends the letter Luna had received, each of them read it thoroughly before hoofing it back over to her. Which then followed up with a bombardment of questions. Questions Twilight couldn’t understand due to the garbled up words, such as: “What are humans?” or “Are humans friendly” then “Did they come from space?” and “Are they soft?”. The last question threw Twilight for a loop and of course she couldn’t really answer these questions. Not only that, the girls seemed to be a little skeptical when Twilight told them that these new creatures were from a time predating Equestrians as a whole. The girls didn’t fight her, or say that she was wrong, but she could see the small hints of doubt on their faces when she finished telling them. It may have just been paranoia on her part, but it really troubled her. After the last of the questions petered out, and the rest of the girls had returned to their seats, Twilight began to think about their mission. She started to ask herself questions on whether or not this was some kind of prank or setup, leaving her wondering if this was all just a waste of their precious time. Even if it was, there would be no way to find the culprit who had sent the letter, which then raised the question on how they had sent it in the first place. There were only three ponies who had a direct link with Princess Celestia and Luna; Twilight, Cadence, and Shining Armor. A letter from any other pony would have been blocked by the anti-teleportation barrier around the castle, making any trick all that more impressive if it had been a hoax. The train’s whistle snapped Twilight back to reality, and she mentally chided herself for allowing paranoia to lead her down yet another endless rabbit hole. The stress of the last few days must have really been getting to her. Taking a deep breath she looked around the train, noticing that rainbow had fallen off her seat from the suddenness of the whistle blow. Past Rainbow, through the windows on the other side of the car, Twilight noticed that the vast open fields they were passing before had been replaced with large looming factories. They were close to their destination now, entering the industrial district on the east side of the city. Twilight cringed when she felt an ache in her lower half and squeezed her hind legs together, before rising up from her seat and making for the door for the little filly's room in the next car before being stopped by Rarity speaking up behind her. “Where are you rushing off to, Darling?” She asked. Twilight blushed lightly. “I just have some business I need to take care of.” Rarity frowned for moment then nodded her head. “That’s okay, Darling, take your time. I’m sure I can hold the fort here no my own.” The fashionista's eyes glanced over at the others and smiled. Twilight smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry I won’t be long.” She turned and opened the door, stepping out into the hall.Twilight passed by an open room, out from the corner of her eye she just barely noticed a familiar white unicorn sitting across from a stallion. Both in suits and watching her as she trotted by. If it hadn’t been for her urge to urinate, Twilight might’ve been curious enough to ask the mare if she had seen her before. However, as Twilight neared the door to the restroom, she couldn’t help but shake the image of the mare from her mind. ‘Could it have been that counterfeit guard?’ She asked herself as she stepped into the restroom and propped herself on the toilet. She bit her lip and shook her head, ‘It can’t be, what would somepony like her have to do with me?’ She thought back to the other night. ‘Then again, when I asked her about the humans she did react negatively towards me.’ Twilight sat there thinking; mulling the possibilities over in her head. ‘If it is her, which by those chances are very low, could she be after the same thing my friends and I are?’ She shook her head. ‘No there are just too many variables to make that a viable conclusion.’ Twilight stepped off the toilet and flushed it, opening the door she took a step out into the hallway and– “Princess Twilight?” The voice of a curious stallion nearly ripped the mare out of her coat. Twilight backpedaled a bit and turned her head to see a blue unicorn stallion sporting a pinstriped one piece suit and tie. The stallion raised a hoof, his eyes filled with concern. “My apologies, Princess, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Twilight smiled. “Oh no you’re fine,” She said straightening her posture and shuffling her wings a bit. The stallion’s eyes softened and he raised a hoof to scratch his neck nervously. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions, your highness?” Twilight blushed a little bit out of embarrassment, the title of princess still feeling a bit new and intimidating. “S-sure what’s on your mind?” “If ya wouldn’t mind takin’ a seat with me I’ll get started.” He gestured for Twilight to follow him to the same car that the familiar mare was in. “Uh...” Twilight started. “I’m sorry but my friends are waiting on me.” “D-don’t worry about a thing, Princess.” The suited unicorn smiled. “It’d only take a second.” Twilight glanced around a bit before following the stallion, she took a seat across from him and the white mare. “I hope you’re correct about that.” She took a deep breath and put on her best friendly smile that totally didn’t bely her nervousness. Both ponies shared amused look with each other before returning their attention to her, the stallion leaning forward and pulling out a notepad and quill from the overhead compartment. “So if you haven’t noticed,” he pulled off his glasses and revealed his bright green eyes. “I’m Pen Writer, I’m an author for the Manehattan Bugle,” his voice took on an upward, questioning tone, “you may have heard of me?” Twilight shook her head. “I haven’t heard of you.” Pen nodded. “Of course you haven’t, but I couldn’t help but test my luck.” He flashed her a grin of his pearly whites. “Now, if you don’t mind me getting started, I’d like to ask you about the meteor storm that nearly destroyed Canterlot. Were you there when it happened?” Twilight once again shook her head wondering where this was going. “I was back at home sleeping.” Pen pursed his lips and wrote that down in his notebook. “How about the massive U.F.O that crashed outside of Saddleston?” He cocked an eyebrow, his small grin grew into something along the lines of sly. Twilight frowned a bit. “How do you know about that? Celestia and Luna have that entire area blocked off.” Something about Pen didn’t fit right with her, whoever he was Twilight made a mental note to watch what she was going to say. “Every reporter has his connections, Princess Sparkle, you should know this.” Twilight noticed he was repeatedly clicking his pen. “So what can you tell us ponies of Manehattan?” Twilight bit her lip. “I’m sorry but I cannot comment on the subject.” She stood up. “Are we done here?” Pen stood up to stop her. “Please Your Majesty, you can at least give us one thing, right?” “Yeah...” The white mare spoke up, Twilight’s ears twitched at the sound of her voice. The medium, butch tone of the mare’s voice catching her off guard. “What can you tell us about the aliens we’ve been hearing about.” ‘It’s her...’ Twilight though, ‘That has to be the counterfeit guard.’ “Heh, heh.” Twilight felt the sweat forming on her brow. “What do you mean huma––aliens? What aliens?” She ruffled her wings. “There are no aliens, justabighunkofmetal––I really need to go now!” She left the car and stormed off to meet back up with her friends. “Damn...” The mare sat back in her seat. “Scared her off.” The stallion snorted and shook his head. “No.” He smiled. “I think we got her right where we need her.” :[-]: “Is everything alright, Darling?” Rarity asked Twilight when she stormed back into their car and closed the door with a hefty slam. “Huh? Oh, y-yeah everything’s fine...” She blinked and noticed Rarity giving her a skeptical glance, clearly not believing Twilight’s stuttered response. Twilight stared back for a few moments, then sighed. She supposed it was better to let it all out than have Rarity edging her on about the topic for the remainder of the train ride. “It was just some dumb reporters a few cars back, they spotted me and started asking some very specific questions.” “What kind of questions?” A southern drawl asked from behind Rarity. Applejack, clearly done with her little snooze, sat up in her seat as she fixed her hat and raised an eyebrow. “Questions about recent events involving the humans. About the spectacle their vessel caused at it reentered. Among other things.... one of them also looked like that fake guard I saw a few days ago too.” Twilight said, sitting down she sighed and rubbed one of her forelegs with a hoof. “Huh...” Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “I guess we have a spy around here then.” She smiles. “This trip just keeps getting awesomer and awesomer!” “HEY!!” The door shook when Pinkie’s face smashed against the glass, her face was smeared with chocolate and her eyes eyes squished against the surface. Twilight jolted and opened the door with her magic. “Pinkie, are you alright?” Twilight asked the now flat faced mare. Pinkie Pie face-planted the floor and then immediately popped back up into a standing position, her surprisingly malleable face popping back into three dimensions as she pulled a tray of stacked cupcakes out of nowhere. The delicious treats stacked on top of each other to form a perfect pyramid. “So this awesome chef guy a few cars back made these super delicious cupcakes that I smelled when I got onboard and I was like totally gonna have some so I went to his car and decided to stop by there and talk about what he made and he decided to show me his recipe and what he was so awesome that I even got it correct on my first try and the dude was so proud of me that he said that if I went around asking ponies to try his recipe he’d––” Rainbow Dash got up, grabbed a cupcake, and shoved it into Pinkie's mouth. Wrapper and all. “Now isn’t the right time, Pinkie.” Rainbow said and the hyperactive pony quickly nodded her head. “Anifow, fvofoul likfff...” Pinkie tried to speak, then realising the confectionery impediment in her mouth, swallowed. A few seconds later she coughed, and the now empty and very soggy cupcake wrapper landed on the floor. Twilight stared at it for a moment before Pinkie seemed to regain her bearings and continued. “Anyways, would you guys like to try one of his cupcakes?” She held the tray out. The four ponies looked at each other for a moment before nodding. “Yeah sure Ah don’t see why not.” Applejack said, reaching over for what looked like an orange and chocolate cupcake. “What’s this?” AJ asked. “Chocolate pumpkin!” Pinkie smiled. “Chocolate pumpkin, eh?” The orange mare peeled back the wrapping and bit into it, her face lighting up a second later. “That ain’t half bad!” She chewed and swallowed. Each of the ponies took their own cupcake out of the assortment of flavors, Twilight taking the blueberry cream, Dash with her spastic watermelon, Rarity with her... vanilla cupcake. Pinkie took... well Pinkie just took the whole tray with everything left on it and stuffed it into her mane. How that actually worked, well... nopony knew. “The train will be arriving at the Manehattan station in approximately five minutes.” Came the voice of the conductor. “If you could please gather your belongings and return to your seats we’ll be disembarking soon. Thank you.” The five friends shared a glance with one another, looking about they each got up and started gathering their saddlebags and strapping them on. Sure enough, within about five minutes, the train jerked forward as its wheels screeched loudly while it slowly came to a grinding halt in front of the Manehattan station. Ponies in the other cabin rooms got up and slowly started to file off the train in a single line. “Come on, girls,” Twilight said standing up, “stay close together.” The alicorn turned and politely asked the stallion outside their cabin room door if she could slip past. The stallion of course looked at her shocked, he hadn’t expected the Princess to be aboard their train, he quickly nodded and stepped back. Twilight smiled at the stallion before looking back at her friends and motioning for them to follow with a wave of her head. The five mares carefully made their way onto the train platform in grand pony central apologizing each time they accidentally bumped into a pony. Slowly, the herd of ponies exiting the train dispersed, finding their next destinations even as the roar of the station engulfed them. It was deafening, ponies all around them spoke over each other, foals screamed, and the sounds of trains coming and going was drowned out only by the intercom announcing the comings and goings of said trains. Twilight bit her lip as she led her friends through the crowd as politely as possible. Pushing onward, Twilight stepped past a few ponies after muttering her apologies after she accidentally scuffed a mare’s hoof. Suddenly she heard a cry. Ears twitching she swung her head around and saw Pinkie Pie being pushed away by a hurrying family. “Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash tried to take off into the air but their crowded surroundings kept her from extending her wings. Pinkie held a hoof out to her group of her friends. “I’m sorry!” Pinkie called over the crowd, her eyes tearing up. “Go on without me my friends, let Maud know I always loved her–!” The family of ponies stepped around Pinkie and allowed her to slip free. “Oh!” The pony perked up and trotted back to the other four mares. “Well that was a little dramatic.” The four ponies looked at each other and giggled before nodding their heads. Turning they saw the main entrance wasn’t far off, the afternoon sunlight making the open door shine like a beacon for them. The five girls stepped out of the station and trotted down down the sidewalk, still unused to the towering skyscrapers, and an amount of activity that put even the city of canterlot to shame. Taxi carriages and storage wagons tore through the street like harpies out of Tartarus, whistles from police ponies shrieked like banshees, trying to impose order on the otherwise discordant traffic. Bystanders trotted by talking and arguing, while street merchants haggled their wares. Twilight used her magic to open her saddlebag and float out the letter she and Luna received the night prior. “So where to now?” Applejack asked Twilight, her eyes peering over the lavender mare’s shoulder as she tried to read the punctilious scribbling. Twilight cleared her throat and skimmed the letter. “Well it says we need to go to a place called, ‘The Lucky Horse Shoe’.” The alicorn raised an eyebrow and looked at the rest of the girls. “Where the hay is that at?” Rainbow Dash said as she flapped her wings and hovered in front of the rest of them. “Like do you know how many ‘Lucky Horse Shoes’ could be in Manehattan?!” “Well there can’t be that many, Darling,” Rarity said as she inspected her left hoof, “we are looking for a hotel after all, not hoofwear.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well it’s such a generic name, I just thought a lot of ponies would think up the same thing. I think ponyville might have a bar named something like that.” “Well why don’t we just ask around?” Twilight suggested as she folded up the page and stuffed it back into her bag. Pinkie gasped. “That’s a great idea!” Suddenly the pink mare turned around and glared at a young unicorn stallion. “You there! Where’s the Lucky Horse Shoe?!” The stallion yelped and doubled back. “Wh-what?” “Don’t play stupid with me mister!” Pinkie backed the stallion into a wall and slammed the flat of her hoof into it. “Where’s the Lucky Horse Shoe, now answer me because I won’t ask again!” “I-it’s- just- go south down Hoofington Avenue and hang a right onto Wing Street!” The stallion stammered out. “P-please Miss, don’t hurt me!” Pinkie warmed up a immediately and smiled. “Thanks!” She squeaked and turned back to her friends who were looking at her with shocked expressions. “Nice thinking Twilight!” “I-is he going to be alright?” Rarity asked as the stallion curled up into a fetal position. “Remind me not to let Pinkie question anypony ever again.” Twilight muttered before clearing her throat once more. “So, where are we going Pinkie?” Pinkie taps her chin with a hoof. “I think he said we should go that way!” She points down the street. Once again the other four ponies shared a glance with one another before shrugging and letting out a cumulative sigh. “Ah reckon we oughta start somewhere.” Applejack muttered before starting down the road Pinkie had pointed them to. As the rest of the group followed, a creeping thought began to eat away at Twilight. Though it pained her to think of it, she started to wonder if Pinkie was leading them in the wrong direction. For nearly eight whole minutes they walked down the road in relative silence, passing several city blocks without finding a single thing relating to the Lucky Horse Shoe, at least until Rainbow Dash caught sight of a neon painted sign in the corner of her eye. “Hey, look over there!” The hovering pegasus pointed a hoof over the bobbing heads of business stallions and mares. Craning her head upwards, Twilight just barely caught glimpse of a horseshoe dangling off the side of a building. The horseshoe itself was concealed inside a ring, and below the shoe hidden between it and the ring, were the welded-in words: “Lucky Horse Shoe.” “Nice going, Dash!” Twilight praised her friend. “What is it?” Applejack asked, she too stretching her neck to look. “Oh wow, Ah’m surprised y’all caught that, it’s so small.” Her eyes locked onto the small gleam caused by the tiniest slither of light that was able to sneak past the over casting shadow of a skyscraper. Just then the traffic cop blew her whistle, causing all traffic in the street to come to a screeching halt. “C’mon, girls!” Twilight beamed, her nervousness dissipating to the point as if it had never been there. Twilight and friends quickly crossed the road, trotting towards the sign which would lead them to a very small hotel between two, much larger and more luxurious suites. Rainbow Dash’s eyes scanned over the rather rundown appearance of the hotel, a few windows seemed to have been cracked or flat-out broken. The once peach-ish paint was flaking away and the building overall had a rustic appearance. “Wow what a dump...who’d ever wanna stay here?” Rarity nodded her head as the group casually strolled up to the front entrance. “I must say that I too agree with Rainbow Dash’s rather...crude statement. This place really could do for a makeover.” She said as her gaze drifted over the front door. “Even this door is revolting,” the unicorn pulled her head back a bit, acting as if the filthy, decaying wood were carrying any diseases. “I think this place looks great!” Pinkie blurted. “Like look at it, it could make for a perfect haunted house!” She bounced as Twilight pushed the door open and held it for her friends, the four other ponies filing in one by one. Unlike the exterior of the hotel, the inside was a whole other story. The floors were clean and looked to have been freshly polished, the walls were red and nicely decorated with paintings of landscapes, from the start of the door towards the reception desk was a nice red carpet, and off to the side was a single earth pony mare sweeping the floor. “Hmph...” Rarity raised an eyebrow and glanced around. “Still isn’t my kind of taste, but if only the owner would keep up on the outside maintenance.” She sighed. Twilight ignored Rarity’s comment and walked over to the sweeping mare. A rather adorable looking pony she was, her overall frame was pretty small, her coat was a bright yellow and her mane was orange with a few green streaks and her physique made her seem just a little bit chubby, but not to the point of discomfort. “Hello, Ma’am, could you help us?” The mare’s head snapped upwards. “Oh wow! Customers!” Without looking she quickly ran to the receptionist desk, head dipping under, she came back up with a horseshoe hat. “Welcome to the Lucky Horse Shoe...Princess...Twilight!” The mare blinked and blinked again, her eyes repeatedly opening and closing as if she was trying to clear her vision. Twilight blushed a little and ran a hoof across her neck. “We’re just here to uh...to visit a friend. We were hoping you could point us to room 15AB?” The yellow mare blinked a few more times before rapidly nodding her head. “Y-yes, you wish to see Miss Dawn! Who knew that I would have such important visitors at my hotel!” The mare pranced in place, her body trembling with excitement. She motioned with her head. “P-please Princess this way!” Her voice was all giddy and she started trotting happily down the hallway. “Is it just me...or is this mare kinda...nuts?” Rainbow whispered into Applejack’s ear, only to be met with a hoof in her side. “Geh, ouch, okay sorry.” Dash ruffled her wings and grumbled. The mare guided them down the hall towards the room closest to the fire escape. She cleared her throat and reached out to knock on the door. “No need to do that, Ma’am.” Twilight smiled and walked over to her, remembering that she was supposed to use the code. “We can take it from here.” “C-certainly, Princess.” The mare bowed her head before shooting back up. “Oh geez! I should prepare snacks!” The mare whipped a chef hat out of nowhere and replaced the horseshoe on her head, before quickly scampering off. “I just noticed the distinct lack of employees around here.” Rarity stated openly. “No wonder the outside looks the way it is. Poor mare can’t work everything.” Applejack said waiting for Twilight to knock and say the code. Twilight cleared her throat and knocked at the door with her hoof, everypony completely silent. All that could be heard was the faint muffled sounds of the city and what seemed like shuffling from behind the door. With no reply Twilight gulped and decided to say the phrase, “Hello, I’m here looking for gambling advice.” There was a brief silence, only for it to soon be cut by the sound of the deadbolt coming undone. “Always bet on the house...” A low feminine voice replied as the door cracked open, virtually no light came out of the room. From what Twilight could see, the room was pitch black inside. “Please hurry, I wish not to be seen,” The voice hissed. The mare stepped back into the room, shrouding herself in darkness and allowing the door to swing open enough to admit the group inside. The door closed behind them on it’s own accord, cutting off the light from the hall and shrouding the room once more in darkness. That changed when a spark of magic caused a lantern to flare to life, momentarily blinding the girls and causing them to shield their eyes, waiting for them to adjust. Soon after the light began to meander around the room, following the mare as she walked to the other side of the room levitating the lantern behind her with her magic. “I am so pleased to see that her majesty has actually sent some ponies to get me! Let alone the elements themselves!” The mare sounded rather pleased, all hesitation from before vanishing in her bought of renewed vigor. “You stated in your letter you have information about the humans?” Twilight asked following the light, the brightness of it still making it rather hard to make out features on the mare. “Yes, yes, I do. But first you must get me out of here!” The mare said, her horn flashing, a briefcase appearing which she soon started to fill with her belongings. “What’s with the rush?” Applejack asked as she took a step forward towards the mare, her eyes flickering towards Twilight. “Yeah, what gives? You’re acting like you’re gonna miss a train something?” Rainbow Dash landed onto the floor on Twilight’s left and glanced over at her as well. “Heh, if only.” The mare lifted her head out of the case and looked over at the ponies. The light shining onto her face to reveal a deep scar on her left eye, her coat a wonderful snowy white, making her bright green eyes stand out even more. Twilight gasped when she suddenly came to the realization on who they were to talking to. “Y-you’re Winter Dawn!” Twilight gasped her friends looking at her weirdly, Twilight hastily opened her saddle bag and fished out the book she’d been reading. “You’re the author of Return of a Fallen Race!” The mare rolled her eyes as she closed her briefcase and latched it. “Why yes I am, but right now isn’t the time for autographs.” Rarity ran a hoof over the back of her head nervously. “I’m sorry dear, but I don't believe you actually told us what the rush is. Perhaps there is something we could do to help?” Winter nodded and strapped her case to her saddlebag. “Yes...well maybe. I’m being hunted by a group called Monarch.” She made her way towards a curtain covered window, cracking it open a tad she peeked outside. “Monarch?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow and followed her to the window. “I never heard of such an organization.” She glanced out the window with Winter, there seemed to be nothing outside. The street was rather busy and the sun was at its highest point in the sky. “That’s because Monarch hasn’t been around in over three millennia,” Winter said quietly, “At least not in the eye of the public. Monarch was an organization founded by Princess Luna; a research and development team that operated during the Cyclopean War. They were tasked with reverse engineering the Cyclop’s technology, hoping to find a way for Equestria to use it against them.” Winter explained as she floated a document that resembled an old map of Equestria out of a saddlebag. Vaguely reminiscent, yet completely different than the Equestria Twilight knew. Matter of fact, if she had to compare it to anything else at all, it more closely resembled the maps she had seen in the book that the Humans gave Luna. “After the war, Monarch was disbanded. Their work was supposed to be either destroyed or safely locked away in the royal archives. Instead it simply disappeared. A little under a hundred years ago, Monarch was revived by a stallion named Royal Heir. However, the intentions of Royal Heir, and those that aided him in this endeavor, were less than pure. Instead of trying the use the cyclops technology as a way to help Equestria, they plan on using it for their own benefit. A way to gain power.” Winter rolled up the map and stuck it into her saddlebag along with a few other trinkets none of the ponies could recognize. “How do you know all this?” Applejack asked. “Because I used to work for Monarch. It wasn’t until recently I learned what my employers planned to do with this new...Human technology. You see...” Winter retrieved a couple maps and documents written in a language Twilight couldn’t recognize from a nearby table. “One of the only reasons Equestria won the Cyclops war was because of a small branch of Monarch known as the ‘Superior-Wissen’. They focused on the highest of technological pursuits, eventually learning to decode the information stored in what is now called the “Human archive” “Human Archive?” Twilight asked. Winter rolled her eyes and stuffed the items back into the case and closed it once more. “My apologies Princess, but I don’t have time to explain everything right here. The point is I contain enough knowledge in this very room that can change Equestria. No, it can change the entire world forever. Whether that change is for better or worse depends on whose hooves these documents fall into. However, in order to do that, we must leave immediately!” Suddenly the muffled sound of a carriage skidding to a stop caught the ponies off guard. Winter bit her lower lip and glanced toward the window. “Please, all of you, stay quiet!” The mare hissed before trotting towards the window, she pulled the curtain aside slowly with her magic and peeked outside. “What is it? Guests?” Pinkie whispered into Winter’s ear, seemingly appearing out of nowhere right beside her. Winter let off a loud ‘eep!’ and jolted away from the mare. “Don’t do that!” She snapped at Pinkie then shook her head. “And no... no, no, no, this isn’t good!” Winter took another peek. “It’s them!” The mare pulled away from the window and rushed back. “The ponies who are after me!” The five mares looked at each other. “Well then, what do we do?” Rarity looked at Twilight and the others. “We knock the hay out of them, that’s what we do!” Rainbow Dash pounded her forehooves together. “Yeeeah!” Pinkie popped out from behind the couch wearing a camouflaged helmet, she had an unlit cigar in her mouth, and war paint on her face, she was somehow carrying her party cannon on her back, also camouflaged. Twilight gave a sour look at the two ponies. “How is violence going to help us here?” She asked the two of them. “First off we shouldn’t be attacking other ponies, the ones that are coming here haven’t even done anything––” A knock came from the door. “We’re looking for gambling advice.” A familiar voice came from behind the door, Twilight’s ear twitched, that sounded a lot like the reporter from the train. Once again the girls shared a look, Rainbow Dash goes to open her mouth but Twilight quickly casts a mute spell over the pegasus’s mouth, silencing her instantly. This seemed to make her angry, but she backed off anyways. Twilight looked at Winter and gasped when she saw the unicorn brandish a very large knife from her bag. “Wh-what are you doing?!” Twilight hissed. “Getting ready to meet my old employers.” Winter hissed, Twilight quickly casts a barrier over the door, blocking all sound and ponies from passing through. “Okay what in the world is going on here?” Twilight glared at the unicorn and her knife. “It’s like you’re getting ready to kill somepony!” “With all due respect, Princess, that is exactly what I’m doing.” Winter said. “But...” she looked at the pink-ish purple barrier. “With that shield, I guess we have time to pack up the last of my belongings and high tail it out of here.” Winter placed the massive knife away and went back to stuffing the tomes and pieces of paper littered around the room into her seemingly unfillable saddlebags. “What is up with this filly?” Applejack whispered into Twilight’s ear. “Ah can’t make any sense off of her.” “I don’t know....” Twilight gulped. “Should we trust her?” Rarity whispered as she came up between Twilight and Applejack. “If she’s willing to pull a knife on somepony...I can’t even imagine what she’ll try and do to us if we get in the way.” “You know I can hear you guys right?” Winter Dawn said strapping and closing her saddlebag, attached to said bag was at least three brief cases, Twilight and the girls gulped as Winter turned to face them. “Princess, are you able to teleport us out of here?” She asked. Twilight blinked, then shook her head as she took a step forward. “Of course I can,” She said, “Where do you need me to teleport us to?” “Anywhere away from here. Preferably somewhere secure.” A muffled knock came from the door. Twilight looked at the others. “Alright everypony, get close.” She lit her horn and everyone huddled together. Closing her eyes she focused on the area just outside the hotel, taking a deep breath, her horn flashes and suddenly the group was met with the cool feeling of the outside air. “My eyes! My eyes!” Pinkie’s voice shattered the silence and everypony began to panic. “What’s wrong?!” Twilight asked as her eyes snapped open and she looked at the pink mare. Pinkie was lying on the grass and rubbing her eyes. “They haven’t adjusted, it’s too bright!” “Quiet!” Winter hissed and quickly started to head down the street. “We have to go now!” Twilight blinked and looked at the rest of the girls who simply shrugged and began following Winter. “Miss Dawn, where exactly are you heading, the station is the other way!” Twilight said. “I know that Princess Twilight, but those ponies who are looking for me would expect me to head there.” Winter glanced back at Twilight. “And please keep quiet, and I apologize, but I’ll need you to also keep your distance. My employers are all over this city, if they see you with me, that may strike suspicion.” Twilight stopped and blinked as she watched Winter continue on ahead. “O-okay.” She gulped and looked at her friends. “I have a bad feeling about this, Twi.” Applejack said quietly as she came up beside her. Twilight nodded and took a deep breath. “Same here, yet...it does seem like she knows something,” Twilight said as she watched Winter turn onto a busier street. Taking a deep breath she looked back at Rainbow. “Dash, could you get an overhead view of her? The rest of us will follow from a distance.” Dash gave a brisk salute. “I’m on it!” Extending her wings, she gave a powerful flap before taking off into the air and going over to Winter. “Alright, Girls,” Twilight stretched her hindlegs. “Stay close and make sure nothing happens to Miss Dawn.” With one last hurrah, the four remaining girls began to tail behind the mysterious mare. Eighty miles off the coast of Manehattan, a deep rumble could be heard.