Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

Daybreak: Summit Siege, Part I

“There he is… Mr. President! Mr. President!”

Neighsay didn’t even turn his head to Kibitz and the diplomat. He continued to talk with his young secretary, even when she glanced to both of them. The two didn’t mind—they were just glad to catch him as they ran up to him.

“So I see Manehattan is taking full advantage of the lax security…” he mused aloud, never looking up from the sheet he was reading off of. He folded up the paper and handed it to the girl. “Everything on the itinerary seems well and good. I believe we’re ready to depart.”

The girl looked uncomfortable, but nevertheless accepted the paper and turned to rush off down the hall. The two men immediately began to address Neighsay, but he continued not to look at them as he stood to one side of the hall. “Mr. President, we need to talk. I think we can all agree that the situation…”

She trailed off and Kibitz saw the reason why. No sooner had Neighsay moved to one side than he began to see members of the Fillydelphian delegation moving down the hall. Each one was carrying luggage and/or documents of a sort and was dressed for travel.

“What are you doing?”

“Not looking a gift horse in the mouth and getting out of Mount Aris while Trottingham allows it,” he dully answered, waiting until a few of his own guard had passed him before stepping out and beginning to walk with them…rather rapidly at that…out of the side hall into the main one. “I suggest you and your grand chancellor do the same.”

“We can’t leave now! We have urgent matters to discuss!”

“And what urgent matters would those be?”

“What exactly we can do about Tempest Shadow and the Trottingham incursion, of course!”

“I am doing something about the Trottingham incursion, ambassador. I am returning home to start preparing Fillydelphia for potential war and to find some way to counter whatever power they’re using. And you are currently slowing me down in that regard.”

“Trottingham is a problem for us both,” Kibitz interjected. “We need to make a plan. We need to marshal our-”

“We must do nothing, major general. The two of you didn’t come here to tell me what we must do—the two of you have come here to do what Manehattan always does whenever something threatens their precious pocketbooks. Come crawling on your hands and knees begging Fillydelphia to protect you yet again for pennies in support. Not this time. Find something for your army to do besides march in parades.”

“You cannot be serious,” Kibitz retorted. “With Griffonstone laying down its arms, there are only two major nations still in opposition to a Trottingham advance. We need each other. We need an alliance to stand against this new league of theirs.”

“Is your grand chancellor reversing his punitive economic policy against us?”

“I…I don’t speak for the grand chancellor, but-”

“Then why should I pretend that we are in any way, shape, or form allies? Why should I sacrifice more Fillydelphian money and blood on his whim? You need Fillydelphia, sir. Not the other way around. I will not even consent to a conference with Manehattan unless those tariffs are removed and our debts forgiven. Tell your chancellor to do that before coming to me cap in hand again.”

“Mr. President-”

“Gentlemen, as I have said before, you are wasting my time. Good afternoon.”

Kibitz and the diplomat fell behind at that point, for the delegation crossed into a narrower hallway that led to the staircase to the lower levels. They were forced to halt and watch as the rest passed them by silently without so much as a glance. Soon they were alone aside from the periodic palace staff running about.

“We didn’t even get a chance to mention what was to be done about Tempest Shadow…” Kibitz sighed.

“Nothing can be done. Even if we had the entire square guard here, they’d be mad to try and attack that. She doesn’t even have one of those things on her hand!”

“We can’t simply let her go free now! Trottingham is counting on us just silently skulking back to Manehattan! It’s all the proof they need to know they’ve nothing to fear from expanding even more!”

“It’s hopeless, major general. Even if Tempest Shadow was captured or killed, she’s right. They’d only end up taking everyone here captive. No one can get in or out from here now without their consent.”

Kibitz took in a deep breath.

“There is one thing we have that they don’t.”

The ambassador gave him a flat stare. “You cannot be serious.”

“It’s the only chance now. You have to realize this.”

“You’re asking us to treat with the same people we just threw under the wagon?”

“We have no choice. And frankly I’d rather beg their forgiveness than ask Trottingham for anything.” He sighed. “I will admit it’s not going to be easy. They already think we were just using them for weapons against Manehattan’s enemies and this will confirm it beyond any doubt, but maybe if we could get Mount Aris on board there’s a sliver of hope.”

“This is madness…” the ambassador sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I was never fully on board with making a deal with the eidolons in the first place and I know half of the delegation was opposed. Now we need to convince them that pleading with them is our only chance?”

“No, we need only convince the grand chancellor, who was already predisposed to the idea,” Kibitz corrected. “I am only a military man. I can speak only from that perspective and authority. I cannot tell you what to do in greater matters of state. However, if we are to defer back to the eidolons, ask for their pardon, and then convince them to side with us in frustrating Trottingham’s plans, then the time must be now. Every second allows Tempest Shadow to solidify her grip on the situation.”

The ambassador was quiet. The tension in her face was clear. Finally, she exhaled. “I’ll need to confer with the others immediately. And the grand chancellor will have to be the one to push the proposal forward, illness or not.”

“You talk with them. I’ll go to the grand chancellor directly. I was supposed to be the eidolon liaison, after all.”

“Keep this quiet. If Trottingham finds out that we’re doing this, none of us are getting out of Mount Aris. And more allies of theirs keep popping out of the woodwork…”

“Of course.”

Without so much as a further nod, the two parted. Both of them realized that it would look better if they took separate routes back up to their hall to stagger appearance of what was going on. The major general soon found a side stairwell and began to walk up it. His face betrayed nothing—nothing other than a look of the younger military mind and cunning he had once possessed. A realization that the situation was passing where he would be able to remain a mere advisor or, more appropriately, a glorified secretary. An appreciation that every circumstance that went on now was dire.

He did attract the occasional look from Mount Aris security or other passersby, but nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that indicated they were intrigued in what he was doing. Nevertheless, he had taken this route to evade suspicion. A lesser known stairwell that was off the main route to keep too many people from knowing where he was going. One that wouldn’t pass by anyone else rather than the castle staff.

So, naturally, it was some surprise to him when he reached his destination floor, only to turn a corner and see Stygian, Shining Armor, and Moonshine Flash.

He walked straight into the first of the three, nearly pushing into him, before his eyes widened and he realized what was going on. Yet before he could so much as gasp in surprise, Shining Armor addressed him quietly. “Going our way, major general?”

At the exact same time, he felt a bit of steel poke in under his ribs from Stygian. It might have been small caliber, but he recognized the feel of a gun barrel. He quickly cut off the sound in his throat.

A moment later, Stygian slipped in behind him, making it look like he was walking behind him before the gun barrel pressed against his back instead. Shining Armor moved in to one side while Moonshine Flash quickly hopped in front of him. Now rearranged, Shining Armor nodded forward.

“Keep going. Straight to the grand chancellor.”

As that was where he was intending to go in the first place, the only thing that gave Kibitz pause was what exactly they planned to do when they got there. Yet the feel of the gun reminded him that they were serious and, as calmly as he could, he did as he was told. Soon the party was falling in behind as they stepped back into one of the main halls.

Again, they got a few looks, but the operation last night had been so quiet that no one suspected anything or put a face to his now-captors. As a result they were able to pass along looking fairly inconspicuous.

He swallowed and spoke quietly. “About last night-”

“Save it,” Moonstone Flash muttered behind her.

“You have every right to be upset-”

“Right now, I’m resisting the urge to just take you into a broom closet and beat the stuffing out of you,” Shining Armor cut off. “Especially since we could use you. So don’t push it.”

Kibitz was quiet for a few more moments as they walked on toward the main staircase, until they began to ascend it. “If you’re thinking of getting revenge on the grand chancellor for what he did, then I’ll be forced to alert the guard bullet or not.”

“Don’t tempt us,” Sunset sneered.

“We’re here to save the grand chancellor,” Shining Armor reaffirmed.

“What…save?”

“Did those two agents of yours who captured Big Macintosh happen to ask him what exactly he saw?”

“Well…no, actually. They just said they found him spying in the window of the grand chancellor’s bedroom and everyone leapt to the conclusion of espionage.”

“You should have asked him. You might not have believed him, but he got caught because what he saw scared him.”

“What do you mean?”

At this point, they reached the top of the stairs and were turning for the hallway that led to their rooms. Stygian spoke up. “Where are those two agents now? The specialists?”

“Who…Lyra and Bon Bon? There…there was some sort of confusion earlier. One of them was detained while the other is lying low. There was a crisis in the summit today…”

“There’s a crisis going on right here.”

“What about the rest of the guard?” Shining Armor asked.

“They’ve been redirected. Most of the delegates have left their rooms for a private meeting, but the ambassador is bringing them back right now along with the guard-”

“Good. That gives us enough time.”

“Enough time for what?” he asked, just as they turned the corner to their hall. It was totally empty at the moment save for the room of the grand chancellor, flanked by two of the servicepeople from last night.

Shining Armor leaned in closer. “We need to get in there immediately. Tell them to let us in.”

“I can’t do that. Not without you giving me more to go on.”

“The person who’s killing Fancy Pants is in there with him. If I tell you any more, you won’t believe me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Major general,” Stygian spoke up curtly, “between the two of us, you are the one who betrayed our trust. If there’s anyone here who needs to make a show of faith, it’s you.”

The old man opened his mouth briefly as he kept walking, but then shut it again. He exhaled uneasily, but looked forward and said no more.

In moments they reached the door. It took no time at all for the two servicepeople to note who was with Kibitz, and react with appropriate surprise. However, if either of them were going to say anything, Kibitz beat them to it.

“We need to speak with the grand chancellor immediately. It’s a serious matter concerning the Trottingham ultimatum and we have no time to waste. Kindly let us in.”

The two agents looked perturbed at the unusual situation, and glanced again to the three with him…who gave them nothing but grim and/or dirty looks in response. “Sir, what exactly is going on…?”

“Are you normally in the habit of talking back to a superior officer, ma’am?”

The agent swallowed. “N…no, sir.”

“Then what is the problem?”

“Sir…Mrs. Fleur-de-Lis said that the grand chancellor was feeling severely unwell and not to disturb him-”

“Be that as it may, ma’am, this concerns the future of all of Manehattan and I must talk to him immediately.”

They hesitated a moment longer but eventually relented. One of them nodded and withdrew her key, then turned around and unlocked the door. After opening it, Kibitz gave them both a nod before he felt Shining Armor practically push him forward. He nearly slipped on his footing before he walked inside with the others following him.

They had scarcely crossed the threshold into the room from yesterday when the door to one of the bedrooms opened. Teary, disheveled, half-sobbing, and still in her nightclothes, Fleur-de-Lis came out. She was still sniffling and wiping at her running makeup as she half-walked, half-staggered right up to the three of them.

“M-M-Major general…it’s…it’s awful! My husband! He…he…”

She got no further.

Stygian broke from the group, walked straight up to her, pointed the two-shot pistol at her forehead, and fired.

A resounding bang went off as both bullets were discharged, and Fleur-de-Lis instantly turned into a doll with her head on a string as her face snapped back and her body flopped to the ground.

Kibitz froze in abject horror. “What…what the devil…?!”

The two agents, naturally, ducked their heads inside and gaped. They froze only for a moment before they turned and bolted. Having no firearms of their own, they were going for the nearest Mount Aris guard. But as for Stygian, he exhaled, lowered the weapon, and immediately ran to the room that Fleur-de-Lis had come out from. Sunset, meanwhile, looked behind them to the door.

“They’re not going to be gone long, so we better hope he plays ball with us.”

“You…you…” Kibitz began to stammer. “You just…just murdered…”

Stygian, by now, had reached the doorway. However, only a short distance inside, his face froze. He showed just a hint of a swallow. “I’m…afraid we’re too late.”

Shining Armor looked at him. “I can put on the role of the Healer. Maybe I can still save him…”

“I…would be very impressed with you if you could, sir.”

The older man hesitated. Soon after, he walked over to the room himself. He barely looked inside before he went white as a sheet and stepped back. “Oh Harmonium.”

“I think I’m going to regret this…” Sunset sighed as she walked up to their sides and looked in as well. Not only did she go white, she made a retching sound and grasped for her nose and mouth as she staggered back, bracing herself against the wall before she could vomit.

By now, Kibitz, still struck aghast with horror and confusion, finally began to step toward them as well and the open doorway. “What in the world is going on here? Have you all gone utterly mad? Where is the grand-”

He cut himself off as he looked through the doorway. An instant later, he too had to use everything he could to steady himself or he might have vomited as well.

On the bed lay the grand chancellor…or, more appropriately, what was left of him. Even among the most desecrated and rotten of graves one would have had a hard time finding such a ghastly set of remains that seemed to defy the fact they were once human. If not for the monocle and the thin, pale remains of hair vaguely in his style and mustache one never would have guessed it.

The rest of him looked like it was the remains of a crushed, twisted, dried grape. His skeletal, thin, wispy features were horribly twisted in agony and horror—especially his face. The jaw looked pried extra open, such that it would seem a giant had grasped him in its hand and squeezed until every bit of life and essence had gone pouring out of his mouth.

Kibitz could say no more. He could barely even muster the strength to keep looking at the corpse without going into hysterics. Shining Armor had to take several breaths to steady himself before he turned to the major general and weakly pointed at the body. “That’s what Big Macintosh saw last night. He said he accidentally went to the room of the grand chancellor and looked inside, and he said he saw the first lady with her mouth open wider than it should have been full of sharp teeth…and she looked like she was sucking green light out from inside of the grand chancellor. Like some big parasite leeching off a host. He just sat there with a vacant stare and his eyes filled with green light while she did it, but he could see him getting thinner before his eyes.”

Kibitz blinked twice, finally snapping out of it. “You…you’re saying that the first lady was…was a monster? Impossible… She…she knew him since they were children… Her parents were Manehattan businessmen…” He swallowed. “There…there were only a few who…who knew of this…but she did have one of those Promethian Sigils-”

“This had nothing to do with a Promethian Sigil,” Sunset cut off coldly.

“I would wager it was an imposter,” Stygian spoke up. “She was out of the Congressional Square for some time. With an illness, yes? She could have been replaced at any time by…by whatever that thing was. I’m more concerned with how the grand chancellor’s own onset of illness coincided with his changes in behavior. If that parasite could make him docile while feeding off of him and make him forget the entire experience, it’s reasonable to assume it could control him. If so…then that means the recent changes in his diplomacy were not only not his own idea, but could have been designed to serve a different end.”

Shining Armor looked unnerved. “Like what?”

“I wish I knew.”

Kibitz looked around at the three for a moment, but then finally frowned. “This…this is too much, even for me. The first lady was no Light Eater or Nighttouched. There’s never been any sort of monster or beast that’s done this before. And you claim to me that no Promethian Sigil bearer has been the like either. So what was that thing?!”

Shining Armor grimaced, inhaling slowly. “We…may have gotten luckier than you think. That might have been one of the Anima Viris that Twilight and the others are looking for.”

Sunset looked just as uneasy, but hesitant. “I’m…not so sure. She didn’t seem to match any of the descriptions that Twilight said Luna told her-”

“What a rude boy…shooting an unarmed lady in the head without so much as a warning.”

Fancy Pants was all but forgotten in a heartbeat. The room became as silent as the grave, although, in the heads of the four, that last thing that had been called out behind them still lingered loud and clear.

The voice of Fleur-de-Lis…only far less pleasant.

They slowly turned around, back to where her body had fallen. Only it wasn’t limp anymore. She was very much alive and slowly picking herself off of the floor, no longer sobbing or grief stricken. Rather, her lips were spread in a wide smile—a very cruel and malicious one.

However, she was still sporting a pair of tiny bullet holes in her forehead. Not so much as a single drop of blood came from them. Rather, her skin around it looked cracked and fractured, splitting down in several directions like broken glass. The largest one rolled all the way down along the bridge of her nose before it twisted one way and went across her eye.

As for her eyes themselves, they had lost their former color. Now they were green. Not a lovely or even a “natural” shade of green but a nauseating, sickening shade. Like rot or infection. And they glowed in the dim light of the darkened room.

Stygian shuddered, nearly raising the pistol again before lowering it again. It was empty, after all. Shining Armor shifted to try and stand in front of the others, but was too stunned to even call on his Anima Viri. Kibitz and Sunset could only stare as she bared her teeth, reaching up to flick her hair behind one of her ears.

“Now look what you’ve done… You ruined my chance at a wonderful meal. I’d practically been on a diet feeding off of Fancy Pants. Even draining him dry was a snack at best.”

The pupils of the eyes narrowed…not by contracting but by collapsing on the sides like a feline or snake’s. Saliva began to drip from her mouth.

“You two, on the other hand… You look so nice and juicy with those Promethian Sigils. Maybe you can make it up to me right now…”

Kibitz’s lip pursed, because as Fleur spoke the parts of her broken face shifted and gradually began to get worse. By now, part of it around one of her eyes was peeling and moving away, such that her eye looked like it was half-hanging in her socket and half not. It made him want to retch.

“What the hell are you…?” Shining Armor finally managed to speak.

She let out a laugh, causing the split to widen more and sounding rather cruel and mocking. “You should be asking yourselves what you are. I’m a predator. What do you think that makes you?”

Kibitz turned his eyes briefly to the open door to the hallway. He saw nothing, but he was beginning to hear the distant sound of footsteps. He quickly looked back, trying to maintain a neutral expression.

“You know about Promethian Sigils…and eidolons too,” Sunset finally spoke up. “But you’re definitely not one of the Nighttouched or a Light Eater. Your own sigil doesn’t have any Anima Viris…”

“What, this old thing?” Fleur answered, holding up her hand and spinning it around to show the symbol on it. “Is this what’s confusing you? Let me fix that…”

Without another word, her hand went over, grasped the upper part of her hand, and dug her fingernails in. As if it was no more than tissue paper, her fingers dipped inside, and a moment later she yanked back and ripped the edge of it—leaving the thin skin dangling off of her hand like a pocket that had been partially ripped off. There was no blood left behind.

Rather, there was black, glistening material underneath. Like a shell or even an exoskeleton. It stank, however. Like the most putrid filth any of them had ever encountered.

“There we go. Better?”

Sunset could only cover her mouth before retching. Shining Armor, however, didn’t waste any more time. He held his own hand up and made the call. A moment later, his body exploded in an aura and he donned the role of the Healer. With a new staff in hand, he crossed it in front of himself to make a shield against Fleur.

This only made her laugh louder and more mockingly. “A Healer? Even if you didn’t just spread a feast before me, I’m supposed to fear a Healer? You creatures are as stupid as you are primitive!” A gleam went in her eyes. “Although you’re a real meaty one. I haven’t seen one as juicy as you in a long time…”

Sunset was struck by this again, while Kibitz was just more confused. The footsteps were getting louder, though, and he knew that it would only be a few moments more.

Unfortunately, Fleur seemed to know this as well, because while she kept grinning she began to back up toward the narrow window. Her skin continued to tear around her eye until it began to come out all together, but that only made a different pupil behind it, definitely non-human, stand out even more.

“Enjoy this tiny victory. We’re already among you,” she smirked wickedly. “And there are many more of us than you think.”

Without another word, she turned about and dove for the window. She did so with such sudden power and force that she shattered the glass all together before her body sailed through the opening.

Here was where the truly ghastly sight made itself known.

The windows were already too small for a person to force themselves through without great difficulty. As Fleur’s body dove through it, naturally her clothing and skin caught on the sides. Yet that didn’t halt her. On the contrary…the four were treated to a rather horrific sound of clothing tearing and skin peeling as she shoved herself through unabated. As a result, they watched as Fleur’s skin and hair flayed right off of her body before their eyes—peeling like it was an oversized banana.

In moments it was done, and her remains—as translucent and dead as a molted snakeskin—flopped backward still in their clothes and fell on the floor. Yet whatever had been beneath them kept going. They saw a shadow fall away from the window, before a loud noise like an insect the size of a pony beating its wings echoed in. For a moment, the four saw a shadow pass by the window, and then it was gone. The wingbeats vanished soon afterward.

That left the four standing there in a mixture of shock and horror, looking at “Fleur”’s remains. It had been so sudden and so terrible that they were all silently questioning themselves as to whether or not it had even really happened. If they had just dreamed that grotesque display and the disgusting monster talking to them.

They weren’t sure how long they were transfixed on that, but eventually something snapped them out of it.

“Oh, dear Harmonium…”

The four looked to the doorway. It was still open, and now it was filled with people seeing the ghastly sight. The agents had returned and they had brought whoever they could with them along with the gathering of representatives. Apparently, the diplomat had managed to bring them back just when they were running out. Now they were all beholding the aberration.

After a time, though, the diplomat herself swallowed enough of her own bile to look up to Kibitz. “Ma…major general…where’s the grand chancellor?”

The older man hesitated only a moment before he steadied himself. “…Dead. Killed and…and drained like a grape…by…by…”

“By those three!”

Kibitz reacted in surprise, but that was nothing compared to the shock of Shining Armor, Sunset Shimmer, and Stygian as they looked up in alarm. “Wh-what?”

“They did it! They shot her in the head and then…then they somehow sucked out her insides! It had to be them!”

“And they did it to the grand chancellor too!”

“Now…now wait a minute,” Kibitz began to speak up, holding his hands high. “They had nothing to-”

“So that’s why their companion was looking in their window!” one of the representatives shouted.

“I knew it!” another joined in. “I knew they were nothing but monsters! We should have done away with them long ago!”

“Are you kidding me?” Sunset snapped back.

“We weren’t the ones who did this!” Shining Armor retorted.

“It was the first lady!” Kibitz shouted even more resoundingly. “She was the one who killed the grand chancellor and then-”

“She had one of those things on her hand too!” one of the new agents cut off. “I saw it with my own eyes! The grand chancellor told me never to tell anyone!”

“So they’re eating each other! They’re cannibals!”

“They’re devils!”

“They’re a plague!”

Shining Armor and the others began to tense up as they rapidly saw the mood growing hysterical and angry. Kibitz began to step forward. “Would all of you calm down for-”

“Damnit, someone shoot them already! Doesn’t anyone around here have a gun?!”

“Don’t get near them! Don’t touch them!”

“They’ve got the major general! They must be using him like the grand chancellor!”

“Get those Mount Aris guards in here and blow them to hell!”

“Alright, that’s it…” Sunset spoke up, grabbing Shining Armor by the shoulder. “Can we get the hell out of here now?”

Shining Armor, looking indecisive, turned back to her. “But…but if we run now, they’ll definitely think-”

“You think standing here you’re going to convince them otherwise?!”

“She’s right, sir! We should run!”

“Wait!” Kibitz shouted to them, realizing what was about to happen. “Please!”

Exhaling, Shining Armor braced his staff in front of him. “Alright then, stay behind me! Run!”

With that, he took off straight for the door, with Stygian and Sunset Shimmer rapidly falling in behind him. As he ran, he chanted out one of the incantations that Twilight had shone him, before a translucent, gleaming shell appeared in front of him—a barrier spell. Fortunately, the best impact it had was instantaneous. The crowd-turned-mob, fearful that this meant he was attacking them, rapidly backpedaled in his wake rather than tried to stop him. That left the three free to tear out the doorway, past the crowd, and rush out into the hall beyond.

“So much for the ‘medals’!” Sunset shouted as they left the crowd behind. “We should have run before!”

“That thing was going to go after the people in the dungeon next!” Shining Armor shouted back, still bracing his barrier in front of him. “We need to get down there and get them out of here!”

“Now you really are crazy! There’s no way we can get over 300 people out of here!”

“There’s no way just the three of us can get out of here! With that many Promethian Sigil bearers maybe we’ll have a chance!”

Sunset didn’t have a chance to argue with his logic, because at that point the other end of the hall filled with Mount Aris guards. One look at Shining Armor’s glowing body and barrier was all they needed to immediately brace themselves and, without so much as a warning shot, open fire.

Shining Armor winced and slowed, but only a slight amount. Between his enhanced body and the barrier, the best the rifle bullets could do was give him a scratch. Instead, he kept pushing onward. “Break past them!”

Sunset and Stygian complied at first as they ran up on the guards. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before they had to pause to chamber their next rounds, and the three quickly began to close the rest of the distance. As they did, however, they also began to back up—out of the end of the hall and into the circular hub on the other side. Some weren’t quite fast enough, and Shining Armor reached them and proceeded to bowl into them with his barrier and staff. He pushed them both to the sides, and Sunset and Stygian quickly reached out and managed to yank a pair of rifles from two of them as they went—not so much out of a desire to contribute so much as a need to keep from behind shot in the back. The others, however, quickly got into the hall. Some began to fire again, but Shining Armor grit his teeth and kept toughing through it…

Yet a mere three meters before the end, Stygian suddenly lashed out and yanked him by the robe while planting his feet. “Stop! Stop!”

In spite of the Anima Viri, the man was forced to skip to a stop…fortunately for him. A moment later the Mount Aris guards made it clear why. Only a glimpse of him had managed to get out of the hallway, but at that moment the rest of the soldiers that had been firing on him turned and ran for it. Soon after, the end of the hallway was being torn apart by bullets from different angles—including ones that his barrier hadn’t been protecting against.

Going wide-eyed, he quickly retreated, and Sunset and Stygian followed. The young man pointed ahead. “They were trying to draw us out into that hub all along! Then they can hit us from all sides!”

Shining Armor swore. “Then we have to fall back.”

“Fall back to where, exactly?” Sunset retorted. “This whole hall is a dead end! Even you can’t jump out one of the windows and survive! The only stairs are in front of us!”

Stygian let out a hiss between clenched teeth. “Forts can very often end up as prisons…”

“Terrific… You can’t hold them off forever with an improvised barrier spell! Now what?”

Shining Armor flustered for a moment, looking one way and the other. He looked back out to the hallway, but from his point of view he could only see directly across from him into the hall on the other side. That was where the soldiers had run, but reinforcements were rapidly coming. In fact, by now, all three of them knew that the whole palace had to be coming for them. Having little other recourse, Shining Armor turned toward it and began to ready his barrier spell again.

And then something happened that made everyone in that end of the palace forget almost entirely about Promethian Sigil bearers.

With the sound of a wrecking ball, a tremendous, booming, echoing crack resounded throughout the hub and echoed down all of the hallways beyond it. It was enough to make even Shining Armor and the others crouch and shield themselves, while all of the other soldiers dove for cover. For a moment, the three of them caught a glimpse of the ceiling of the hub tower collapsing partially, but moreover an object descending from it even faster and slamming to the floor of the stairwell. Everyone went silent. All sides alike were left stunned.

The three looked ahead into the hub, but they could no longer see the other side. Nothing but dust from the ruined masonry. However, it looked like there was something there. Rather, someone. And they were currently rising from what to have been at least a 30 meter drop without hesitation.

They were equal parts mystified and nervous for a moment, before they saw it in the settling dust as the figure began to walk forward.

Eyes gleaming with lights.

“No…” Sunset exhaled.

Yet her fears were confirmed. The figure that exited the dust was an armored fighter just like the one that had attacked on the train. This one had a metallic ribbon behind it, and the style of the suit was different, but there was no mistaking that it was of the same ilk.

She hardly had time to announce this before another part of the ceiling caved in—this one closer to one of the hallways around the hub. This time, some of the soldiers cried out, but the other ones were petrified all over again. All save the first metal warrior. The three looked fearfully in that direction for a moment before they heard clicking of metal against the ruined masonry. Soon enough, a second metal warrior emerged. Now Sunset really did let out a gasp—this one was the same from the train, and looking no worse for wear after having been hit by an engine.

The three leapt forward and cringed again a second later, for this time an eruption sounded right behind them. They actually felt bits of dust and debris smack into them before a wave of thick dust rolled by. They were forced to close their eyes for a moment as the worst of it passed, and only with extreme effort and coughing were they able to turn around and look behind them. Much to their horror, a third one was approaching through the smoke and dust.

All three that had been accounted for.

Only this one’s metal face seemed to split, enough to show a hint of light inside the smoke, before it called out in a metallic voice.

“Sunset Shimmer.”

Comments

[cyberpoison]

GREAT！