Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

Daybreak: Unsettling Questions

“Twilight?”

Practically bolting upright in her seat, Twilight snapped off of the tabletop. She instantly heard Spike lift his own head and emit a panicked yelp. She sat there for a moment, taking in how dark the library was and how only her small desk oil lamp was providing any illumination before she realized what had happened. She had to have nodded off again, and this time done so until after nightfall.

She blinked twice before turning to her side, seeing Fluttershy standing nearby. She had shrunk back in surprise at her reaction. Twilight exhaled and eased back.

“Sorry, Fluttershy. I just got a little startled… Phew. I think I was still dreaming about researching…”

“Oh…ok.” Fluttershy meekly righted herself. “Um…how is it going?”

“Really good, actually. I think if I can get Starlight’s next batch of notes, I might actually have it cracked by tomorrow. And not a moment too soon.”

“Oh…um…that reminds me.”

Fluttershy relaxed a bit more, and at that point Twilight realized she had been clutching a couple of envelopes until that point. She proceeded to hand over the far larger of the two, which looked as if it contained multiple sheets of paper in a stack. “This came in on the latest train from Starlight Glimmer. Also, Shining Armor sent another letter.” With that, she passed over the second, smaller envelope.

Twilight accepted both, although she almost immediately set Shining Armor’s down and began to tear into the first. “Perfect…this is just what I’ve been waiting for. Sometimes it amazes me how Starlight is able to multitask so efficiently…” She grasped the papers and pulled them out, flipping past the opening letter and looking beyond it. She flipped through a few of them before smiling. “Terrific!” She nearly put them down and went right back into her work, when she paused and turned back to Fluttershy. “Oh…has there been anything else? Any more arrivals?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “And no sign of King Sombra either…thank goodness.”

“I hope so…that it doesn’t mean he’s found what he’s looking for.”

Fluttershy paled before shrinking a little. “Oh…”

Twilight rifled through the pages a bit longer before she realized what she had said. “Uh, I…I mean, I’m sure he hasn’t. And we’ll be able to get after him soon. I’m sure of it. A-A-Anyway…thanks for the mail. Um, uh…what’s for dinner?”

The woman blinked. “Um…it’s 10 o’clock. I was about to go to bed for the night.”

Twilight paused, then turned to the grandfather clock. Sure enough, it was a few minutes past now. She had gotten so used to the chiming that it hadn’t even roused her. “Oh…uh…yeah. Well, I’m not that hungry anyway. I’ll head to the kitchen if I need anything.”

“Aren’t…you going to head to bed?”

Twilight exhaled. “I know I’ve been really burning the midnight oil lately, but I’m this close. I’ll never be able to sleep if I stop now. But as soon as I have this cracked, I’ll take a break.”

“Alright… Good night, Twilight.”

“Good night.”

Twilight didn’t look up at Fluttershy again, but she heard as she slowly made her way back to the library doors, passed through, and closed them again. She was left in the silence of the chamber as Spike let his head slump again—the only noise being that of the burning oil of the lamps.

Only a little while longer she set the papers down and took up her pen to start transcribing the notes into her own work. After only working for a few minutes she began to smile. Everything was beginning to come clear now. She could already start to make out the more common words like “park”, “woods”, and “hills”. As she got more into her “groove”, she became more alert and worked faster. In a half hour’s time, she had transcribed four pages, although she didn’t pay attention to the clock again after that. She became too absorbed in her work and too focused…

“Grr…”

Twilight looked up, her concentration broken, and puzzled to hear Spike suddenly growling. She glanced down at him, only to see that he had gotten up and was barring his teeth behind her. She instantly thought that was silly, and nearly scolded him for growling at shadows but instinctively turned and looked behind her.

She nearly leapt in her seat again; this time from true surprise.

Luna was there and standing no more than three meters away.

Her appearance alone would have been startling enough, considering how rarely she made an appearance to anyone, and most people would have left it at that. Twilight, however, noticed other things. She had never heard the door to the library open after Fluttershy left and, sure enough, from here she could see it was still closed. She certainly hadn’t heard her approach either.

But what caught Twilight most of all, and she was unsure if she had imagined it, was that she had seen a momentary look of surprise on Luna’s face—as if she had been caught by Spike sounding off.

She also looked as if she quickly pulled one of her hands behind her…or had she imagined that as well?

It lasted only a heartbeat, if it happened at all, and then Luna was again her normal morose and stoic self and staring at her with those pale green eyes.

“Making progress?” she asked after a long silence.

Twilight was quiet for some time in response, for even after sitting there a short while she didn’t feel much more comfortable. “…Yes. I just got Starlight’s notes and I think I about have the cipher cracked. I think this is the last all-nighter I’m going to have to pull before we can read the maps and books.”

“I see.”

There was another pause. Awkward this time, and a little unnerving. Twilight, at length, began to slowly turn back to her work; even though she felt a sense that maybe giving her back to Luna might not have been the best idea…

“I don’t suppose, if I asked you to cease your research now, you would do so?”

The mage paused, puzzled, but moreover further unnerved.

“Of…of course not. We need to do this to stop Sombra. To stop all of this. I need to learn as much as I can to give us a hope of finding all those Anima Viris.”

“Knowledge can be a curse,” Luna answered, finally breaking her own stance to step over to the table alongside her. Twilight halted in her work again but Luna didn’t bother her. She began to idly look over the books she had collected there. “My sister was burdened with more knowledge than anyone. She thought it entailed a responsibility greater than what was already put on her. Enough to where she tried to do the impossible—change everyone’s destiny.”

“What…do you mean?”

Luna didn’t answer. She looked over a few more books, but then glanced back up at Twilight.

“Where life exists, Twilight Sparkle, death is inevitable. As horrible and grotesque as some things are in this world…in this existence…they are inescapable. Some things, in the end, have to be accepted.”

Twilight frowned slightly back. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m not going to sit idly by and just let this happen.” With that, she looked back to her work.

“You must be my sister’s student. She said the same thing to me once…” Luna mused. “And I suppose your friends feel the same way?”

“Of course they do,” she answered, not looking up this time. “We all do. We’re not going to just let the Angra Mainyu destroy this world.”

Luna didn’t answer, or move. She was quiet and still for a long time. Twilight kept trying to work and ignore her, but she could feel her eyes on her. And the fact that she didn’t move or say anything gradually began to unnerve her.

After a couple minutes, she spoke again in a softer, more inquisitive tone.

“Tell me, Twilight Sparkle…just how well do you know your friends?”

She trailed off in her writing. Her face looked a little puzzled as she turned to Luna. “Excuse me?”

“How much do you know about them, exactly?”

Twilight frowned again. “Well…Applejack’s a farmer from Appleloosa, Rarity’s a clothing business owner from Manehattan-”

“Not that. How did they grow up? What were they like as children? How did they get by from day to day before the Lunar Fall?”

Twilight hesitated, a grimace coming over her face. She only knew the answer for one of them, and she had done her best not to think too much of that ever since she learned it. Instead, she turned the question back. “What does it matter?”

Luna let out a “hmph”. “You have put an awful lot of faith and trust in people you know so little about.”

“Well…” she hesitated, looking a little uneasy. “Maybe…but we’ve had each other’s backs for a while now. They came to my rescue on Sunset’s airship. So…so yeah, I trust them. Just like they trust me.”

Luna didn’t seem too moved by that answer, as she stepped away from the table and turned her back to Twilight, walking over to the nearest bookcase.

“Almost as if you were drawn to one another…?”

Twilight was puzzled at that question. “I…don’t know if I ever really thought about it that way before… More like we were all just in the right place at the right time.”

“And did you ever think for a moment that it was somewhat odd that you have never had to use the Binding Seal on any of them?”

Again, Twilight was caught. She had never really thought of that either and looked down a little uncertainly. “Well…I…that is…I mean, it’s not unheard of. There’s a lot of Promethian Sigil bearers I’ve been around who haven’t…you know…gone wild.”

Luna stopped walking. She kept her back to Twilight for a little longer, before she turned slightly toward her. Her voice turned more inquisitive and probing.

“Between you and Sunset…which one of you would you say is older?”

Twilight was indeed struck by this question; partially because of how odd it was, but also partially because Luna sounded very sincere about it. “I haven’t the foggiest idea. I guess Sunset based on what she told about me…how she says she was Celestia’s student first…”

“Yet you two are so close in appearance, one could easily say you were the same age.”

The mage nearly answered that, only to blink. “I…never really thought about it, but it kind of looks like that. It’s…it’s weird, now that I’m considering it. I don’t remember ever seeing Sunset in any grades, higher or lower, but…we couldn’t have been that far apart, could we…?”

On hearing that, Luna turned fully around. Twilight was shaken out of her thoughts, for her face was suddenly insistent as she looked straight into Twilight’s eyes.

“My face, Twilight Sparkle. Can you ever recall seeing my face prior to us meeting in Trottingham?”

Now the woman was truly baffled. “What?”

Yet before she could ask further, Luna went wide-eyed. As if she had done something, or nearly done something, that scared herself. She suddenly looked away and swallowed. “I’ve said too much.” She turned about and began to walk toward the library exit.

“Hey…wait!”

Luna didn’t hesitate. She soon reached the doors, and this time Twilight clearly heard them open and close as she passed through them. As the door shut again, she was once again left in the silence of the library.

Only at that point did Spike relax and lay back down. Twilight picked up on that and was further confused. He had been calm enough around Luna for weeks. Only now did he strongly react. He normally didn’t do that out of the blue.

Only when he picked up on someone with hostile intent.

Twilight was left unnerved for several minutes. A thought entered her mind that somehow Luna would again enter the library unannounced and appear behind her, and she realized that not only did she feel a sense of foreboding at that but had actually felt relief when she left. At last, however, she shook her head and turned back to the table.

She realized she had forgotten completely about the letter from Shining Armor. Quickly, she took it up, broke the seal, and began to look over it.

In spite of being alone in the library, she couldn’t help but remark aloud.

“What…?”

---

“As welcome of a change as this is, I must say, it is an unexpected one.”

Shining Armor didn’t answer that comment from the grand chancellor. He merely continued to sit alone, looking a bit more tense considering how many people he was surrounded with in the chamber and that he was by himself this time, but nevertheless kept his composure. Most of them regarded him dully, after all—save for Kibitz who showed just the slightest amount of puzzlement. All others that showed any expression were more confused than anything.

Fancy Pants himself, who was still looking unwell and showed it, nevertheless tried to be as critical as possible as he wiped his forehead and leaned in closer, folding his arms in front of him. “As much as I dislike looking a gift horse in the mouth, I would like to know what brought it on.”

“Neither my sister nor I really like the idea of all of this,” Shining Armor retorted. “But…I saw your point last time. We can’t wait for her to target us later. Besides, it’s like you said—we benefit from Manehattan. We can’t afford to break that relationship either. She agreed that as unpleasant as this is, ultimately it’s the best thing to be done.”

“I see. Well, I applaud your sister’s wisdom.” He closed his eyes for a moment, rubbing the bridge of his nose, but then squaring his gaze on Shining Armor again. “However, given our exchange last time, I am still rather curious about why you and your company have accepted this role. Surely Twilight Sparkle and her more intimate companions would be better suited for this.”

“I’m the one who’s the soldier. An officer of Hoofheim. I’m the one who knows how to kill someone in the line of duty. And I’d rather it be me than her. As I said before, she’s currently worrying about the fate of all of us and I don’t want her pulled away from it. Even if she wasn’t, I’d gladly take this for her. If you’re worried about our qualifications, there’s no need.” He held up his hand. “As you can see, I have both a Promethian Sigil and an Anima Viri. I’m more suited than most people in our group up in Canterlot already, and I have three others with me. Two with military experience, if you include the militia.”

A pause. “I suppose I can’t argue with your reasoning. Can I trust your conviction in this manner?”

“I told you, sir: I know how to kill someone in the line of duty. If this has to be done, then I’ll do it. Besides, at this point, it’s too close to the conference to get Twily or her friends down here.”

He let out a half-chuckle as he pulled at his collar, as if warm. “I can’t argue that point at all. I forgot just how long it takes to get messages to and from Canterlot, even by train.”

“I only have one stipulation. I request that Major General Kibitz be appointed as the military liaison for this conference. So that we can continue to confer with him.”

Kibitz looked up at this, but Fancy Pants merely smiled weakly. “Easily done. I had been considering the major general for this position and, while there are others that are more qualified, if it will help this operation to go more smoothly then the decision is as good as made. Very well then. I am glad to have your cooperation. The rail for Mount Aris will be departing early tomorrow, so I won’t detain you any longer. I am sure you and your company have preparations to make.”

“Yes sir,” Shining Armor answered with a nod. He began to rise out of his chair, and Kibitz moved to do the same, when he paused and sat again. “Oh… One other thing, sir.”

“Hmm?”

“Twilight told me to make sure to tell you not to let the admiral know how many Promethian Sigil bearers are in your country.”

There was a lengthy pause. Fancy Pants stared back silently at Shining Armor for a long time, as some looks of puzzlement went over those in the room. He didn’t move a muscle during that time.

“…I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“One of my group, Stygian…he’s very sharp. When you mentioned last time that they asked about how much manpower was being committed to reclaiming Equestria and where the goodwill tours were planned, they were indirectly probing for how many Promethian Sigil bearers were there. I passed that on to Twilight and she agreed that they can’t have anything good in mind, especially if they’re being secretive about it.”

The grand chancellor showed nothing. After a moment, though, he nodded slowly.

“I see. I shall certainly take that matter under advisement. I had not considered it. Thank your sister for her insight.”

“Of course.”

“Please, retire for the evening. Major general, I’d like a brief word with you before you leave, since you are now the appointed liaison for the upcoming conference.”

He said this just as Kibitz was moving to rise along with Shining Armor. Instead, the old man ended up pausing where he was before sitting down again as the younger man walked to the exit and left. As soon as the door swung shut behind him, the grand chancellor turned his tired gaze over to the major general, but focused on him sharply.

“…Sir?”

“Major general, I am sure you are aware of what is expected of you at an international conference?”

He readily nodded. “Yes sir.”

“I will expect you to do the same here with all due diligence, but also to ensure that not only does Shining Armor’s company have everything they need to stay on task, but that they do remain on task.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Good. Now that this is settled…” His gaze grew a little harder. “Have you been sharing any information with his group that I have strictly informed you is on a need-to-know basis only?”

Kibitz looked slightly taken aback, but immediately shook his head. “No sir.”

“Are you absolutely certain of that? What I just heard gives me some reason to doubt.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Have you perhaps not made it perfectly clear to your subordinates that they too are to keep matters of state to themselves?”

“Absolutely, sir. I trust my men with my life.”

The grand chancellor continued to look at him critically. Certainly not trusting. To the point where even the old officer began to look unnerved at the level of distrust. “I understand that this…operation at the conference is well outside of our normal standards, Major General. Enough to where I’m sure you must have some misgivings. But these are desperate times. To ensure any form of stability for Greater Everfree, Trottingham’s efforts must be halted immediately. And this is the most effective and bloodless way to do so for everyone. Therefore, you will use whatever means necessary to ensure that Shining Armor and company carry it out. Do I make myself clear?”

He nodded. “Yes sir.”

“And I don’t want to hear any more of ‘Stygian’s theories’ until after this operation is complete either. Is that understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Then you are dismissed as well. Make sure that Shining Armor and company are on the train promptly at 7 o’clock tomorrow.”

---

“This don’t make any goll durn sense ta’ me.”

Twilight shrugged as she shoved a piece of toast into her mouth; the first meal she had gotten in a while. It was afternoon and she was only getting to breakfast now, but she was pleased with herself and the results of her research. The library was filled. Not only had the other five girls filled in, but they had some additional “guests” along. Fluttershy had Angel in her lap while Gallus, claiming he had nothing better to do, was hanging around Pinkie and Dash although neither seemed to have much use for him at the moment.

If that wasn’t all, Luna had made another appearance, although she was keeping her distance and merely seemed to be putting an ear in on all that was going on.

Twilight swallowed and answered. “I have to admit I think it’s more than a little awkward myself… I figured if there was some sort of meeting that the grand chancellor wanted to have he would have asked us to be there. But…seeing how busy we are trying to stop Sombra, I can’t say I’m too upset about him staying behind.”

Applejack, who Twilight couldn’t recall ever taking a seat since they arrived in Canterlot, was pacing about in light of her recent news. “That Big Mac… He better not stick his foot in his mouth. He may not look it, but once he gets goin’ it’d take a team of mules to get his mouth shut again…”

Dash couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Big Mac? Seriously? I thought he only knew how to say two words…”

“I’m sure Shining Armor wouldn’t have volunteered for this unless he was sure he could handle it,” Twilight reassured as she put the letter back down. “They probably just want them to commentate on what’s going on in Canterlot or something. Besides, he said they needed more time to ask about the refugees.”

“Aw…” Pinkie moaned. “I hope the conference isn’t a party. It’s been too long since I’ve been to a good party! That can be serious, you know!”

“We’ve got something more serious. I think I found what Sombra wants…and where it’s at.”

The five girls immediately looked intrigued. Luna herself raised her eyebrow. Twilight, on her part, turned about, grasped the atlas she and Starlight had been focused on for days, and showed it to everyone. It was opened to a map of Equestria, and she proceeded to point to one of the northernmost regions.

“Sedes Imperii Crystal.”

It was slight, but Luna stiffened ever so slightly on hearing that name. The others simply looked confused. “Sed-a-what-now?”

“‘The Seat of the Crystal Empire’. I remember years ago that Headmistress Celestia had a special password. I…don’t think it was one I was supposed to know, but I overheard her say it once: Crystal imperium. When I started translating the unknown places on the map, I noticed this one and it stood out to me because of that password.”

“I don’t get it,” Rarity answered. “Why in the world would Sombra want a place with that name and…” She looked at the map, grimacing on seeing that it was at a considerable northern latitude. “…that climate?”

Twilight pivoted around and put the atlas back, only to take up another open book and swivel back around. This one seemed more akin to the picture book that had Nightmare Moon in it, and was perhaps of a similar volume. She had it opened to one page and pointed to it.

“For this.”

The girls leaned in closer, seeing the image of a roughly cut and yet regular gem that appeared to vaguely be in the shape of a giant emerald heart.

“Crystal Cor, or ‘The Crystal Heart’. Normally I wouldn’t put too much faith in fairy tales, but considering everything we’ve been through… This isn’t just a big piece of jewelry. According to the text, it’s both a vessel and beacon of ‘light, warmth, and life’; bringing all three to lands of dark, cold, and death.”

“Do you think that this could let him get a body?” Fluttershy asked timidly.

Twilight grimly bowed her head. “I’m not sure, but even if it can’t, the text also says that it has ‘the flame of over 20,000 souls’ inside it.”

Dash looked uneasy. “So…if I was this big soul-sucking monster running around tried to get all juiced up…”

“Oh, oh! I know this one!” Pinkie chimed in. “Then I’d go straight for the Crystal Heart! Yay! Did I get it right?”

Looking likewise uncomfortable, Rarity winced. “I’m…afraid you might have, Pinkie.”

“Apparently the real place this Crystal Heart is supposed to be used isn’t even in Equestria,” Twilight went on. “It’s all the way down in the Southern Hemisphere—almost at the South Pole. Which means that it’s not in a place Sombra would know where to look for it. At least…not initially. Because this place is so remote, there’s a chance he saved searching for it last.”

Applejack frowned. “Makes sense. He’d burn through all his ‘food’ lookin’ around up there…”

“So that means we need to get there first. Once we have it, we’ll be able to bait him.” She sighed as she let the book fall on her lap. “Now the only question is how to get up there. It’s four hundred miles away…”

“Tiberius will take you.”

Hearing Luna speak up caused all of the girls to spin to her, and even Fluttershy recoiled—still not used to hearing her voice. She was looking at them calmly in response, however.

“Excuse me?”

“One of the custom-built academy engines. It was constructed specifically to be strong enough to smash through most debris on tracks.”

Twilight looked puzzled. “We didn’t see any engine named Tiberius at the station…”

“That’s because it wasn’t at the station. It’s at a private yard located within the mount Canterlot is built upon. I surveyed it shortly after we arrived. Most of the engines were in disrepair, but that one is still intact. It should be readily serviceable enough to get you there.”

Dash glared at her for a moment before groaning. “Are you kidding me? We’ve gone through all the hell of cleaning up the train tracks to get back to Manehattan, and we had a whole other train engine that could have done the job the whole time?!”

Luna calmly arose and began to walk toward Twilight’s table. “It still would have required fixing up the service roundabout for that. It’s not on the same course as the regular tracks. Besides, I wanted to keep it for a true emergency. It sounds like its time has come.”

Dash and Applejack alike both fumed, but Luna didn’t seem to care as she reached the table. She leaned over it, staring at the atlas again, and soon held out a finger to start tracing along it. “There are very few rails north of here. Your best bet is to take that rail to here…then here…then here…and finally here.” She traced her way along several junction points before reaching the northernmost one. She tapped the branch on the right. “This route has been out of service since I was a child and it was too far north to repair.” She tapped the one on the left afterward. “This will be your best chance of making it that far.”

Twilight looked at her pointing on the map, but also gave her a somewhat curious expression; more at her behavior than anything else. However, Pinkie hopped to her feet for joy. “Yay! A new train trip!”

Applejack eyed her a bit warily. “Uh, just the same, we only need that track as I reckon. Why can’t we use our train?”

“It will never make it,” Luna answered, turning away and facing her. “Not with eight years worth of growth and debris on those tracks. Tiberius, on the other hand, was designed to move out of a war zone, if necessary. You’ll spend months clearing out the debris otherwise.”

“Well why don’t we just walk, then?” Dash threw in. “Who needs a train?”

Rarity immediately snapped to her. “Pardon me, but I am not marching 400 miles through rough terrain in a wilderness filled with Nighttouched and vulnerable to Sombra at any moment, Ms. Dash.”

“…Oh yeah. All that.”

“You don’t have to take the engine if you don’t want it,” Luna flatly stated. “I already told you how futile your endeavor was once. You’re the ones who insist on moving forward. If you want to reach the Seat of the Crystal Empire, Tiberius is your best bet. Otherwise, leave it.”

There was a moment of silence around the room, but it didn’t last. Twilight exhaled and put her book aside before standing up. “I’m for it.”

“Are you certain, dear?” Rarity asked.

“We’ve been trying to find a way to stop Sombra for a while now, and the Angra Mainyu is still out there somewhere. I don’t want to give it any more time than we already have. We still have to track down five more after Sombra, you know. At least if we stop him, we’ll know it can never be at full power.”

The others hesitated, but finally Applejack let out a swear. “Damnit, I ain’t about ta’ get cold feet over a train of all things. I’m in.”

“Cold feet…an interesting choice of words,” Rarity grimaced. “I wish I had planned my winter wardrobe in advance…”

“Why not? Getting bored sitting around here anyway…” Dash shrugged.

“Oh, Gallus?”

The boy, who had been busying himself tidying up, suddenly looked up on hearing Fluttershy call to him. He turned around only to see her walking forward and holding her unique rabbit out toward him.

“Angel really doesn’t care for cold weather that much, and I know he doesn’t like it when I take him on long journeys. Could you please watch him for a few days until I get back? He may seem a little rough at first, but he’s really a sweetie when you get to know him.”

Gallus stared at her a moment, then down at Angel. The rabbit already was giving his best rendition of a “death stare” at the boy. He tried holding his hand out partially toward him, and as he did the bunny proceeded to bare his teeth and slick his ears back until he recoiled.

“…Really. I think I’ve seen Nighttouched sweeter than him.”

“Oh, he’s just shy around new people. Isn’t that right, Angel?”

Gallus rolled his eyes and sighed. “I suppose it’s not as dangerous as harvesting sugar cane…although it’s probably got a better chance of me losing fingers…”

---

It was a bit of a rush for the group, but with help from the Manehattan government ensuring they were properly cleaned and dressed, they reached the Manehattan Central Station the next day to the tune of a crowd of security and demonstrators. With some pushing and struggling, they made it to the cars and joined the procession to enter.

Delegates and representatives were limited, and their small group had taken up five slots on the allowed number, but even so Sunset only had a chance to glimpse Fancy Pants himself getting on board as he was the most photogenic individual for the reporters. He wasn’t alone. His trophy wife was on his arm, appearing to be close and intimate enough but likely helping him move along into the car. She saw no more than that as they were in separate cars, but that suited her fine. It was even more pleasing to her that they were finally in a train with separate riding compartments for her to stay out of sight, although she did think it was a bit unusual that the train itself had far more cars on it than one would have anticipated. She recalled they had been told this would be a limited affair…

Once they were seated, Shining Armor spoke up to the major general. “Who was the woman with the grand chancellor?”

“The first lady, Fleur-de-Lis. It’s a bit unconventional to bring significant others to private conferences such as this, but considering the stress that the grand chancellor has been going through it would likely help things. It’s a bit of an irony, to be honest. Back when this first started, she was the one who was too ill to make many public appearances…”

Neither Sunset nor Shining Armor cared much for it beyond that explanation, and soon after the train was off.

It wasn’t a short journey. They were traveling for two full days and nights. At this point, it was a bizarre experience for Sunset to be sleeping on a bed car on a train as opposed to being huddled in some corner either fearful for what awaited when she arrived somewhere or recovering after fleeing for her life. And while the accommodations were as comfortable as could be expected for a luxury train, most of the momentary comfort she received was from watching the world slowly go by. Their path took them through the more open and rustic country of Fillydelphia, around the grimier and bleaker parts of Griffonstone’s industrialized areas, and finally began to lead them up the hills into the Mount Aris territory. From there, the train went into the mountains and hours were spent weaving around the rocky and towering cliffs and peaks as they slowly rose higher and higher.

Toward the end of the journey, it grew noticeably cooler and Sunset felt her ears pop before they finally reached plateaus that had dwellings and settlements. Even then, they had to weave through two more series of mountains before they finally reached the valley that led to the main seat of Mount Aris itself. The train fell along a river and followed it all the way through the last leg of the journey until the city itself loomed forward—the most populated high elevation city in the world.

And one, Sunset noted, that was surrounded only by other mountains aside from the well-watched and guarded valley. A fact she had noted back when she still worked with Trottingham—no other entrance and no other escape.

Gradually they made their way more toward the main city, where the terraced cliffs on either side began to rise to show off series of vertically climbing streets and buildings. Other tracks began to converge and they gradually began to slow as they reached the station. It was at that point that they all got around the windows and looked outside. Many different trains were already gathered there. Some of which were in colors and styles they had never seen before.

“I recognize the Fillydelphian and Griffonstone trains,” Shining Armor mused as he looked at one particular one. “But I’ve never seen an emblem like that.”

“It looks even more secondhand and ramshackle than the Griffonstone one, though,” Sunset muttered.

“That one would be from Klugtown,” Kibitz spoke up. “This is a rather big event. Not only do we have representatives of the major nations of Greater Everfree present, but the smaller former nations as well and others from around the world.”

“Really?”

“It would seem, even with the shadow over Equestria gone, matters are now involving everyone in the world. We had better get together. They’ll expect all members of the delegation party to make themselves seen on arrival.”

A few minutes later, the train finished pulling in, and not long after that everyone dismounted. Sunset hated this part, but she had to make herself somewhat visible along with everyone else when they assembled to make the trip from the station to the complex where the conference was being held. The people of Mount Aris had cleaned up the station and the pathway there, leaving it clear and even a bit festively arranged with banners and flowers for the occasion. However, the looks on everyone’s faces belayed a different story. All of the guards and soldiers here were stone faced and dark; not making anyone feel particularly welcome. Their eyes were burning into them at all times, and not so much as a word was spoken aloud aside from the basic exchange to go with the envoy. Worst of all was when they all had to be checked. Even the grand chancellor was vigorously patted down to ensure he wasn’t smuggling any weapons on his person, so naturally Marble Pie was far more panicky when they weren’t shy about feeling up her dress.

When this was finally done, they went up a series of narrow walkways, going well away from the main traveled roads, until they emerged in front of a much larger square. Large enough for hundreds of people, and filled with several gathered groups already. All of this was spread out in front of a towering structure—at least eight stories tall, ornate, and spreading all up and along the mountainside.

“That thing’s almost bigger than the fort Twilight, Dash, and I got stuck in…” Sunset muttered.

Kibitz wasn’t close enough to hear but Stygian was. “That’s the central palace—one of the largest man-made structures in the modern world. As I understand it, it’s more than large enough to host the conferences in one wing while boarding all delegates in another.”

“So it’s basically the perfect place to keep us all under watch at all times.”

“Essentially, yes.”

Sunset frowned and kept approaching. It wasn’t much longer before she was able to start making out the groups themselves. Each one seemed to be a different delegation. Even as world-experienced as she was, she didn’t recognize all of them; but many seemed to be of the more ill-tempered and cross variety. She noticed the Dragonlands delegation seemed as if they were as sore as the day they had to surrender to Trottingham, and they were taking it out on anyone unfortunate enough to cross their paths. However, another delegation with long hair, long beards, and large horned headdresses seemed even more cross. Apparently one of the Mount Aris soldiers had done something to offend them and now they were cowering in their wake, as their head diplomat seemed ready to fling him to the ground and stomp him into oblivion.

However, what really caught Sunset’s attention was when her eyes managed to drift over the FIllydelphian delegation by mistake. She spotted Neighsay speaking with their own envoy and nearly winced on spotting him and turned to hide her face. But before she could, her eyes shot away from him and just happened to make contact with a girl at his side—none other than Cozy Glow.

Once their eyes met, both were stunned for a moment as recognition struck both simultaneously. Cozy Glow’s jaw dropped in alarm. Immediately, Sunset made a curt “sshing” motion with her lips. She quickly clammed up, and made a discrete “my lips are sealed” motion to her before turning back to Neighsay.

“Do you know her?”

Sunset heard Stygian’s question, but didn’t turn to him as she kept walking. “Unfortunately, yes…but hopefully she keeps us quiet.”

Fortunately, the group didn’t dwell long on the square. They proceeded straight to the main building. It was in there that Sunset got another touch of unpleasantness. Whoever constructed it must have had a flair for unique engineering, because it would have been almost impossible for her to find her way anywhere had she wandered in alone. Lots of strange turns and abrupt terminating hallways, and floors that seemed to be “half-floors” in between other floors. They barely seemed to be able to proceed in a straight line. Sunset quickly realized that if some sort of crisis arose, and for whatever reason they would need to get somewhere, including out of the palace, in a hurry, there would be no way they would know where to go without walking into more soldiers or dead ends.

At long last, however, they arrived at a hall of doors that bore the likeness either of an extremely high end luxury hotel or an old line of bedrooms from a bygone age. The envoy led them to one door in particular before producing a key and unlocking it, then presented it to Shining Armor.

“I apologize that we only have one key available. Rooms are arranged with one central area and individual bedrooms on the side. It’s four to a chamber, but we were instructed to place five in this one. It will be a little cramped.”

“That’s just fine, thank you,” Shining Armor immediately answered.

“The lavatory is down the hall. Please do not leave this wing unless on diplomatic business.” The envoy turned to the major general and the others. “If you’ll come this way, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

Kibitz nodded, then turned back to Shining Armor. “Go ahead and get situated. We’ll talk in an hour. This side of the hall is reserved for the Manehattan delegation so there should be no issues, but we are in Mount Aris territory at this point so do as they say and keep your time outside of the room to a minimum.”

Shining Armor nodded back. “We will.”

Giving a polite bow to the group, Kibitz turned and left with the others on to the next room. Shining Armor himself led Sunset and the group through the door, and as soon as they were all in locked it behind them.

It was pretty nice-looking accommodations. One side of the chamber was dominated with a rather large window that afforded a lovely view of the mountainous valley outside, and other than that there were all the comforts in décor and furnishing that one would expect of the peak of country living in the highlands. Their luggage was already arranged in the center of the chamber and the doors were open to show the individual bedrooms with one of the male rooms set up for two.

However, none of them looked at ease or ready to relax. They soon began to fan out into the room and take seats, but even this was done deliberately and not to let a load off. Shining Armor himself took in a deep breath and an exhale.

“Well…we’ve only got a few more minutes.” He turned to Stygian. “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely,” he answered with perfect confidence. “The only question is how the major general will take it. One way or another, we’ll soon find out if he’s truly on our side or not…”

Author's Note:

Phew...glad I'm finally back to posting with some regularity...and hopefully I didn't jinx it by saying that. Inching closer to the climax of "Daybreak", when I'll finally get to explain most of the mysteries that have been going on in the story...