• Published 10th Jan 2019
  • 1,228 Views, 220 Comments

Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories - Piccolo Sky



In an alternate world of shadow, steam, and danger, the future hinges on six individuals forming a new friendship.

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Nightwatch: Cats and Rats

“Ok, ok! I spy, with my little eye, something ha-”

“It’s a rock, isn’t it?”

“Ha-ha! You got it again! But how about this? I spy, with my litt-”

“It’s another rock.”

“Wow! That’s 217 in a row!” Pinkie cheered, having not lost the slightest bit of perkiness or energy since they started. “You’re a real champ at this, Rainbow Dash!”

The Hunstman ground her teeth together so tight Rarity could swear she heard them clench together, but that was far better than their guide. At this point Gilda was now walking about fifty feet ahead of them to try and minimize having to listen to her. Rarity, on her part, was sticking next to Pinkie near the rear to avoid facing the wrath of another outburst from the Griffonstone native.

“Ok, I’ll get you this time! I-”

“Say, you know what?” Dash cut in. “How about I pick the next game we play?”

“Ooo! That’s a great idea! And the biggest winner of this game gets to pick the next one! So what game are we going to play?”

“The quiet game,” she flatly retorted. “Next one to speak loses.”

“Oki-” Pinkie’s eyes widened, and quickly she slapped her hands over her mouth as she continued to bounce along.

Rarity sighed in relief as she walked on through the mine, but it wasn’t even a full minute before she began to miss it. At least with Pinkie Pie being continuously perky, happy, and chattering endlessly, unmiffed by her surroundings, there was some semblance of normalcy. Now that it was quiet she could only focus on the mine itself.

The prelit torches had given out long ago, in what seemed to be a couple miles back. Ever since then the only light had been a lantern in Gilda’s possession as she led them down through one turn after another. Some of the passages widened into broad areas with places for cart tracks, but many of them were narrow and twisted. All of them were pitch black and silent as the grave, and Rarity actually preferred it that way. Lost in this darkness far underground, it was only when she heard something down one of the inky black tunnels that she got truly nervous.

“So we’re passing right through Mount Aris to Griffonstone going this way?” she had asked early in their trip.

“Not quite,” Dash answered. “We’re cutting across Equestria.”

“E…Equestria?!”

“Relax,” Gilda responded. “This is just one little part of it that goes through the middle of the Hyperborean Mountains. I’ve been running through these tunnels for years. Never found anything in them aside from a bat.”

Nevertheless, several hours later, Rarity was still quite nervous at the thought that they were actually going underneath Equestria itself, even if it was an area that hadn’t been claimed by the Nighttouched. As she kept walking through the mines, the constant fear leapt up within her that Gilda would walk a little too fast and leave them behind, and they’d end up spending the rest of their short lives lost in the dark labyrinth either starving to death or waiting for a monster to appear and slay them.

On the topic of starving, Rarity was getting quite dizzy from the constant lack of food and, at this point, water. The caves weren’t terribly hot and were mostly damp and moist, but it didn’t change the fact she hadn’t had a real drink or meal in quite a while. Her arms and legs were trembling from weakness and she found herself tripping often on the uneven parts of the mine path.

She wiped her brow. “Excuse me, Ms. Gilda, but how much farther is it?”

“Uh-oh, Rarity lost!” Pinkie called, before looking surprised. “Oh no! I lost too!”

Gilda rolled her eyes at both of them. “Should’ve known you Manehattan people would be too soft to make the whole route in one go. We’ll take a break up ahead, but if you fall behind again I’m leaving you behind.”

Rarity was too tired to be offended. “Yes, but might I ask what we are going to do when we get out of the mine?”

“You’re going to find a way to get me my money. I thought we were clear on that.”

“Yay!” Pinkie chimed in. “Rainbow Dash wins again!”

Rarity frowned and slumped, but Dash fell back a bit to lean in to her. “Try to ignore it. Pretty soon she’ll take us to the main train tunnels. We follow those straight across into Griffonstone, and then we hop a train from Feather’s Ford to Manehattan, or maybe an Railless Engine. Simple.”

“I hope so…” she sighed.

Gilda turned around one more corner and shouted behind her. “Up ahead. Take a load off.”

The travelers went around and found an old bench mounted against the tunnel, no doubt reserved for the previous miners. Rarity nearly collapsed on it. Dash herself rather tiredly sat down, but also winced a bit. Apparently her injury still wasn’t fully healed. Pinkie eagerly hopped over and sat down; apparently no worse for wear. Gilda set her lantern down, leaned against a cave wall, and crossed her arms.

Rarity reached for a pocket handkerchief only to frown and realize she had lost her last one two days ago. Instead, she fanned her face with her palm. “It’s…very impressive that you’re able to find your way through these tunnels, Ms. Gilda.”

She shrugged. “Eh, not much to it. Just gotta know the tricks to finding your way around, and it’s a piece of cake.”

“Ooo! What kinda tricks?” Pinkie grinned.

Gilda glared at her. “If I told whoever came along how to get through these tunnels, how would I make money as a smuggler?”

“Oh, oh!” she excitedly answered, raising her hand as if Gilda had just asked a riddle. The woman sneered and ignored her.

“I’m guessing this gig isn’t going to last much longer for you, though,” Dash spoke up as she leaned back. “I mean, if you got that mark just like us…”

Gilda slumped. “You got a point. Much as I hate the idea of hanging around in Griffonstone, seems I’m gonna have to head home next. You can bet they’ll sell guys and gals like me out the second they can make a buck on it.”

Rarity winced. “Your home country would really sell out its own people like that? How horrid…”

Gilda snapped her head up and fixed Rarity with such a sharp glare that the woman cringed and swallowed.

“Real high-and-mighty talk from some Manehattan socialite. At least people from Griffonstone don’t try to hide that this world’s all about dog-eat-dog now. You Manehattanites would just get someone like me to scrub your toilets and shine your shoes. Fillydelphians would shove me back into some labor camp like they did after they steamrolled over Cloudsdale. There was no amnesty for me. Trottinghamites will just want me so long as I can kill people for them or until their wallets run dry. And Appleloosans?” She sneered. “They’ll just plain hang me as soon as they get a mob together that doesn’t like my face.”

Dash winced a little. “Gilda…she was just trying to be nice…”

Her teeth grit. “Manehattanites always try to ‘be nice’ by talking down to you when most of them don’t even know what a Nighttouched looks like. Little princess over there thinks she’s had such a rough time because she’s spent a week on the road. Meanwhile, the world’s gone to Hell in a handbasket and she makes dresses for a living.”

Rarity was a little taken aback by Gilda’s tirade, but after the past few days she wasn’t ready to sit and take it. She frowned and nearly lashed back, but was stopped when Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up in her face again. “Wow! I didn’t know you were a princess, Rarity! Why didn’t you tell me that when you introduced yourself? Oh wait…oooooh!” She grinned. “I get it! You’re incognito!” She winked and leaned back. “Got it, Ms. Not-Princess Rarity.”

Rarity was so caught off guard that she was stuck mute for a moment, during which Dash quickly interjected again. “Yeah, but you’re not thinking of staying in Griffonstone forever, are you? I mean, if things do spread to there…”

Gilda sighed and shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll join up with the Huntsman Guild. They seem to make good enough money and I’d be a nice fit for it. Keeps me from being tied down to one place too. That’s worked out pretty well for you.”

“Heh, yeah!” Dash laughed back, although Rarity could see it was a bit forced. “Pretty nice having a life of freedom…”

“It’s not like I got any family or friends waiting for me in Griffonstone or anywhere else.” She smirked. “We’re kind of like two peas in a pod when it comes to that, Dash. Maybe it’d be better if we did hang out. You watch my back and I watch yours, eh?”

Dash looked a bit more uncomfortable, but she kept forcing her smile. “Heh-heh, yeah! Sounds…pretty awesome.”

Gilda picked up on her hesitation. “Come on, you aren’t wanting to keep those big fees all to yourself, are you? Speaking of…if you think I’m taking less than fifty percent just because I’m a journeyman to the guild, keep dreaming.”

“How are you at baking?” Pinkie cheerfully asked. “Maybe you can become a baker like me! I could use a tall, dark, somewhat-grouchy assistant with a dark and mysterious past!”

She frowned. “I don’t think it’d be too good of an idea to go legit and then commit murder my second day clean.” Leaning up from the cave wall, she stretched her arms a bit. “Ok, rest period over.” She bent over and took up the lantern. “Just a bit farther and we’ll hit one of the main train tunnels. Only thing we have to worry about from there is taking the right branch at the fork.”

“Almost home free, huh? Great,” Dash responded as she rose and cracked her own neck.

Pinkie was back to her feet in a second and bouncing happily in place again, and Rarity, groaning at the thought, started to rise only to pause soon after.

Seeing her hesitate, Gilda grit her teeth again. “Come on. I said up and at ‘em.”

“I say…did any of you feel that just now?”

“Feel what?” Dash asked.

“I could have sworn I felt something shaking…”

“Oh, I felt something shaking!” Pinkie cried, still hopping in place. “Oh wait, no…that was just my hair bouncing up and down. Tee-hee!”

“It’s nothing,” Dash answered, reaching a hand out. “Come on and get…”

She trailed off. Rarity looked surprised again.

“There it is again!”

“I think I felt it that time too…” Dash muttered. She turned to Gilda. “It kind of felt like a tremor.”

Gilda frowned. “You’re both nuts.” She made a fist and smacked it against the wall. “Solid as a rock after eight years. I’ve been through here a hundred times. Never so much as let loose a single peb-”

She cut off as a faint tremor sounded off just loud enough to echo through the surrounding caverns. This time, it was joined by the echo of a few tiny stones breaking off the ceiling and clattering to the ground from down the passage they had come from. Now she looked as on edge as the others.

Only Pinkie continued to look cheerful. “I felt it that time too! Yay!” A moment later, her smile faltered. “Wait, no… Don’t those sorts of things usually happen right before something like an earthquake or a cave-in?”

“If an earthquake or a cave-in was going to happen, it would happen all at once,” Dash nervously answered. “This is more like…”

Another tremor, slightly louder than before.

“…big footsteps.”

Gilda looked to the ceiling. In spite of her attempts to look bold, unease was beginning to leak into her features. “Maybe…some airship is flying low overhead…or something…”

“Really? Do you think the airship can make lots of itty bitty crawling sounds too?” Pinkie asked.

“Excuse me?” Rarity responded, but there was no need for Pinkie to explain. In that same moment, all four women began to hear it.

Through the stone walls of the caverns there was a rushing sound. At first it was mistakable for some form of fluid, but as they kept listening they realized it wasn’t the sound of water but what seemed to be hundreds or even thousands of tiny footsteps.

“What…what in the world is that?”

“Sounds like it’s coming from the tunnel beneath us…” Dash remarked.

Soon after, a similar sound began to ring out overhead. She swallowed.

“And above us…”

Gilda tensed a bit further before she turned and began to lead the way. “Alright, let’s get moving. The train tunnel’s just a bit farther.”

She took the lead just as the cave shook again from another impact. This time, it didn’t take but a moment for all three women to fall in behind her, although Pinkie’s enthusiasm remained. Rarity and Dash, on the other hand, grew increasingly unnerved as the sounds of the feet in the tunnels above and below them increased, and soon both were looking over their shoulders into the darkness that was behind them.

“Rainbow Dash…so you think now might perhaps be a good time for us to…you know?”

“Actually…I’m not really sure how much good it will do us if there’s as many as I’m hearing…”

“Keep it down back there!” Gilda hissed in a harsh whisper as she picked up her pace. “Not that I’m saying there’s anything to get too freaked out about, but if there is you don’t want to let it know that we’re here!” A pause. “Just the same…keep your eyes open behind us.”

“You bet!” Pinkie chirped at full volume, before spinning around and skipping after them backwards.

The four continued to pick up speed, but the sounds didn’t get quieter. Each new stomp shook the caverns a bit more, and they grew especially nervous when some of them began to make the wooden beams supporting the tunnel creak. Eventually, one stomp actually caused a larger rock that Gilda passed to crack in two.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I dearly hope we are at that tunnel soon…”

“It’s just up here. Look.”

Pinkie flipped back around to look forward with Dash and Rarity, just as the lantern illuminated a slanting branch in the path up ahead.

“We just head left and it’s a straight shot to the train tunnel. We’re almost home free.”

Dash tightened her own fists up. “Let’s just be ready in case something’s in that one or the one going the other way.”

Gilda didn’t argue. She drew one of her pistols instead with her free hand and cocked back the hammer. The others quickly gathered close to her in case of a need to run. The sounds continued to get louder above and below, but they couldn’t hear anything in front or behind them at least.

Finally they reached the junction. Gilda went first and immediately snapped her pistol in front of her on their route ahead. As they others arrived, she confirmed it was clear and looked the other way.

On doing so, the gasp she gave out was so sharp and horrified that they all looked that way as well. Each of them immediately did likewise—including Pinkie.

The light from the lantern seemed to sink into oblivion save for a patch of some substance that seemed like a starry night sky. The moment the light hit it, it spun about on crude yet taloned hexapodal limbs, before a faint head-like shape with two rows of vague teeth in huge jaws aimed at them. Faint pale spots for eyes formed out of the mass and focused on the lantern.

A Light Eater.

A split second later, Rainbow Dash snapped to the group. “Everyone run!”

In a heartbeat, all four of them turned about and ran down the tunnel. Rarity felt her hand seized by Dash before she yanked her along with her to pull her faster, but everyone else charged as fast as their legs could carry them. As exhausted and hungry as they were, terror now forced new strength into their limbs.

Far at the end of the long shaft was a small bit of light, where Rarity could just make out their passage opening into a new chamber.

“Get to the train tunnel!” Gilda shouted. “There’s an opening for sunlight! It can’t follow us there!”

Behind them, Rarity heard the sounds of rocks being dislodged and the walls being scraped. She glanced behind and gave a shrill cry on seeing the Light Eater was not only moving after them but was breaking into a full run with its six limbs. The monster itself didn’t make a sound although its tooth-filled head pantomimed snarling and roaring, but its body clawing at the rocky tunnels did. The only good part was the tunnel was so narrow that it seemed to squeeze it a little, keeping it from reaching full speed.

Gilda snapped around as she ran and aimed her pistol at it. “Get to one side!”

“No, wait!” Dash yelled.

Too late. The hammer snapped and a deafening gunshot went out through the tunnel. Rarity, Dash, and even Pinkie (a little) all clutched for their heads in agony from the deafening echo that went off in the small space. Rarity herself felt like her eardrums nearly burst and almost tried to pull away from Dash to raise both hands to her ears. As for the Light Eater, the bullet sank into it like a pebble in a pond. Its body rippled, but then quickly stabilized a moment later. It didn’t even slow down.

“Don’t try and hurt it!” Dash angrily retorted. “Just run away from it! Get to the end as fast as we can!”

“Um…I don’t think they’ll move even if we ask them nicely!”

Hearing Pinkie shout, Dash looked and saw her pointing in front of her. She looked and in spite of the very real threat behind them, to say nothing of how they had been slowed by the gunshot, they nearly stopped again on seeing a mass of Nighttouched pouring out of a tunnel on the right light a living flood and right into their same passage. Fifty of them were in the tunnel in moments with more still coming, and each one on spotting the group of four took off to meet them.

“Oh, great!” Dash yelled. She looked back to Gilda. “What do we do now?”

She tensed for a moment, clearly thinking over her options, before she began to put her pistol away. “Change of plans! We’re taking the scenic route! Turn right at the next tunnel!”

There was no argument considering how they were moments from being sandwiched. As soon as the next tunnel was reached, all three turned and followed Gilda down it. She began to reach into her clothes as she kept the lantern aimed forward, but this tunnel was not nearly as smooth and even as the previous one. As she bounced along it was hard to see, and it was only moments before Rarity cried out on scraping her arm against a jutting wall before she hooked her toes and nearly tripped; bringing Dash down with her.

None of them looked back again, but they soon heard the scraping and crunching follow them into this new passage. It was keying in on the lantern light. Before it could gain much distance, though, Gilda led them down another tunnel. To Rarity’s displeasure, not only did it only lead into more darkness, there were a pair of monstrous Nighttouched rats the size of housecats running up to them from the opposite way.

Rarity shrieked. “Two of those horrid things are coming!”

“Deal with them, would ya’, Dash?” Gilda snapped as she finally grasped something in her jacket. “I’m doing three things at once here!”

Releasing Rarity’s hand, and forcing the designer to quickly struggle to keep up under her own power, Dash ran to Gilda’s side. The rats gave hideous squeals, but she used what little ceiling space there was to run forward, leap, and drive both heels down on the first one’s head. A crunch went out as it fell limp. The next one quickly opened its mouth to bite her leg, but she answered by lashing out with a hooking kick and snapping it up and away. Its body was impaled on a more jagged section of wall a second later.

She glanced back to Gilda as she resumed running, and caught her just as she tucked something into the corner of her arm and went back into her pockets. On looking it over, she noticed it was a red stick with a long fuse.

“Is that…?”

“Always keep something like this for emergencies… Just keep moving!”

The two charged down this next corridor. It was empty, but as they ran on it was only a few seconds before they heard a large crash against the mine walls behind them; the thing obviously chasing them and not making the turn sharp enough. It was closer than before, but none of them could run any harder. Rarity was already to where she could only gasp for air, and even Dash was starting to breathe hard.

Gilda got out what looked like a lighter and clenched it in her fist as she turned another corner. “Alright, at the end of this one is a junction, and-”

“Squirrels!” Pinkie chirped.

“What?”

“Squirrels! Three of them!”

Gilda nearly hissed, but Dash looked at the ceiling. Sure enough, hanging upside down and scurrying toward them were a trio of yellow eyed monsters with bushy tails and foaming mouths.

Before Gilda could say or do anything, Dash shot her hand out, seized her other pistol from her belt, and snapped it upright. “This is gonna hurt your ears so brace yourselves!”

Rarity cried out again in agony soon after as three more gunshot rapidly erupted out. Gilda herself nearly staggered and dropped her dynamite and lighter, but somehow kept running. As for the squirrels, one after another they fell to the floor of the cave and their bodies were summarily trampled.

“Glad I can still shoot one of those things!” she shouted over the dying echo. She shoved the weapon back at Gilda’s side. “You were saying?”

She still looked dizzy from the echoing, but she forced her thumb to start flicking the lighter. “As soon as we get down at the end of here, head south and don’t stop! Just keep running!”

“Which way is south?”

“Just run where the light is! And hope they aren’t already cutting us off!”

She flicked the end of the lighter one more time before the flame came on. Quickly, she held it to the fuse and moments later it began to spark and burn. It was doing so far faster than Rarity cared, but all she could do was keep running.

Gilda reached the end and exited the corridor into the wider passage; the same one they had started at. Here, she stopped and turned about, quickly identifying a place in the framing of the tunnel and rushing over to jam the stick of dynamite into it. Rarity kept running along with Dash and Pinkie, but as she looked back she almost shrieked again in spite of her lack of air on seeing the Light Eater was right on their heels, and the corridor behind them was nothing but a sea of Nighttouched. Not only it, but at least two of the branch tunnels had them flowing out through it as well.

Yet they could also see the light from the main passage at the end of the tunnel, and it was stronger than ever now. Pushing themselves on, the three charged inside this last stretch one after the other: Dash, Rarity, and finally Pinkie. Gilda quickly snapped around and rushed after just as the Light Eater shoved itself into the end of the mine tunnel. Luckily, it did so crooked, trying to go straight for the lantern’s light, and ended up jamming itself in the opening momentarily. Gilda quickly threw the lantern away at the thing before reaching back for her sides for her metal talons…

Suddenly, part of the flood coming out from the tunnel burst; allowing a black, warped, vicious-looking fox Nighttouched to come forth from an eruption of its smaller yellow-eyed fellows. Like the crack of a whip, it lashed out for the nearest person: Gilda. It opened its mouth and snapped loudly as it dove into her legs. The force with which it slammed into them, mixing the fact she was running, caused her to immediately hook a foot over its body. With a loud cry, she spilled over and fell flat on her face.

The cry alerted Dash, who immediately stopped and snapped around. Her eyes widened on spotting her. The fox itself yanked itself free of her legs, ignoring biting at her ankles and boots and instead snapping for her face. In response, she grit her teeth and swiped one of her metal talons up; instantly slicing through half of its jaw and neck. Blood splattered as the fox fell to the ground and spasmed in violent death throes, but she shoved it off and yanked her legs up.

Before she could stand, however, she saw the Light Eater breaking the edges of the tunnel to push through, as well as the length of fuse remaining…

She paused for a heartbeat before she snapped back around. She scrambled onto all fours and rushed to the nearest tunnel to her right as she glared at Dash. “What are you gawking at? Get out! Now!”

“Gilda!” She shouted back, advancing a step back toward her.

Rarity, however, ran into her with a shoving motion soon after, not having the energy to try and argue or do it gently. She ended up pushing her back further. Dash kept staring as the Light Eater began to extend one of its monstrous claws through and Gilda, with a grunt and a strain, threw herself into the tunnel—right before the dynamite went off.

All the three of them could hear in moments was a painful ringing in their ears as light, heat, and dirt fragments shot at them like bullets. In the chaos, Dash cried out and snapped her head away as some of its struck her eyes, and she was left powerless as Rarity half-stumbled, half-charged herself along and pushed her away. Pinkie ran in behind her and acted to force all of them onward. Moments later, a cloud of dust and dirt swept over them, blinding and choking them and forcing their eyes and mouths shut. Feeling nothing but pain inside and out and lost in a cloud, they could only keep pushing forward; bumping and banging along the rock walls and stumbling over cracks as they went.

Finally, the light around them cleared as the space opened up, and through their shut eyelids they could sense the darkness giving way to a red glow. They kept running until they were further from the dirt, but then Dash and Rarity lost their footing all together and fell to the ground. They instantly began to choke, gasp, and cough violently. Pinkie herself remained on her feet only long enough to walk to the nearest decent boulder and sat on it, finally breathing heavily as well. For several minutes, that was all the three of them did.

Yet as soon as Dash was able to do more than gasp, she did her best to blink to clear her dirt-covered eyes and looked up and back. “Gilda!”

The tunnel they found themselves in now was much larger. Big enough to accommodate not only two sets of train tracks but wide enough to switch off the main track to service or dismount them as necessary. On top of that, part of the rock wall that made up the tunnel was so thin it had been removed and the early evening sun was free to shine down on the three of them. They themselves were now facing the mine opening they had just escaped.

However, there was nothing to see there save for clouds of dust still rolling from it. There were no more sounds of Nighttouched or Light Eaters, but echoes of large rocks and boulders still falling from what had to have been a cave-in rolled out. No other sound or word of life.

“Gilda!” Dash half-coughed, before she started to force herself up.

Rarity was still gasping as she pushed herself up from the ground, wincing again at her further ruined appearance, but then turned fully to Dash and the mine entrance. However, one look at it was all she needed to know the truth.

Her face twisted uneasily. “R…Rainbow Dash…there’s no…no way we can get back…”

“No!” she cried, getting her feet underneath her and rising. “I saw her get in the tunnel! She had to have-”

“‘Rainbow Dash’.”

The woman cut herself off and looked to her left on hearing her name.

“You need to worry more about yourself right now.”

The Huntsman’s eyes widened, but she was barely on her feet and unable to react any further. Soon after, a sharp electric crackle rang through the air before a bolt of electricity smacked Dash back down to the tunnel floor.

Rarity gasped and Pinkie sat bolt upright. Both looked in the direction it came from, before Rarity yelped again and rolled onto her back before scrambling away from it.

The man in royal guard armor was walking down the main tunnel with his lance tip still aimed forward and snaking with electricity.

“Hi there!” Pinkie waved. “What’s your name? Wait…um…I think the fact that you just shot Dash means you’re not here to be friendly.”

“You!” Rarity cried. “How in Greater Equestria did you find us?!”

“I never lost you, to be honest,” he answered coolly enough. He shifted his spear upright as he walked forward, while Dash herself was still smoking and writhing on the ground. “When I shot you last night, I used the magic my lady imbued into my armor and spear to tag you with a metallic tracer in a special pattern. As it turns out, everyone’s body has a bit of ‘lightning’ in it, and I figured out a while ago how to use it as a conductor along with the tracer symbol. After that, our airship tracked you down.”

He glanced over the group for a moment as he came to a stop.

“Just the three of you, huh? And none of you are the one she wants. In that case, I have no choice.”

He began to ready his spear again.

“Um, yeah…he’s definitely not friendly,” Pinkie muttered.

Rarity herself was panic stricken again and drug herself back further. “Why are you doing this to us? What did any of us ever do to you?”

“This isn’t personal. My lady said she wanted you dead. That’s all there is to it,” he answered; just a hint of regret in his voice as he aimed his lance at her.

Rarity began to tremble. She eyed the sizzling tip of the lance, petrified and unable to speak, move, or even breathe. However, the fatal shot didn’t come. The royal guard continued to stand there like a statue.

After a moment he spoke again. “Do it.”

Rarity was so terrified she barely registered that. “I…I…beg your pardon…?”

“Call out your Anima Viri. Hurry it up.”

She blinked and stammered. The fear was still clutching her too tightly to really process what was going on, but her senses came through enough to be confused at what she was hearing. “I’m…sorry?”

“I won’t kill you all simply outright. The least I can do is give you a chance to defend yourselves. I’m not going to wait forever, though. You three don’t know it, but there’s a Light Eater as big as a mountain crossing over right now. It’s blotting out the sun and once it gets here we’ll all going to be food for the smaller ones and Nighttouched. I need to be gone before then.”

It was too much new information for Rarity on top of the shocks. She didn’t know what to be more scared of. Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long.

“Heh…giving us a ‘fair chance’, huh?”

The royal guard looked up and saw that Dash, in spite of still smoldering and clearly in pain, was back on her feet. She was glaring at him furiously with her fists tightened.

“That’s gonna be the last mistake you ever make, because you got me at a really bad time!” she snapped. “Captain Spitfire!”

Her aura blazed to life again, which, in turn, prompted the royal guard to ignore Rarity all together and face her. He planted his feet and readied his lance, but in spite of his lack of facial features he didn’t seem nearly as tense as last time. Dash, on her part, was soon ready, although it took only a moment for everyone to see she still was unsteady on her feet and her look was far more unhinged.

“Fair warning,” the royal guard called out. “You might not be in as much pain, but I can tell you’re tired and weakened. And I know how you move this time.”

“Shut up!” she snapped. She took off and launched herself straight at the royal guard. This time, she looked so furious that it didn’t seem to matter that his armor would likely guard him. He, however, kept his footing and waited for her; not even shifting weight. His armor began to spark and sizzle as she neared, readying to use the move he performed last time, but Dash didn’t care. She looked ready to dig through the discharge and hit him anyway as she leapt in the air and cocked back her foot to come around to his head.

A blinding flash went out as the royal guard disappeared, but Dash’s face broke in surprise when she saw him reappear in the exact same spot with one difference. His lance was now propped upward with the point aimed right for her body’s midsection.

Since she was in midair, she as powerless to do anything but abort her attack and twist her body to the side; but he was waiting for that. In a snap, he ripped his spear upward and swung the shaft completely around, and buried the pommel right into her exposed midsection before letting her own momentum drive her onto it. The sound of air rushing out of Dash’s throat echoed through the cave as her body crumpled about the metal shaft, right before he let out another charge. With a monstrous crackle, Dash’s body flew off of the end of it and made a solid impact against the tunnel wall.

As her body slid off, the royal guard gave no mercy. He quickly ran after her. She had barely touched down on the ground when, in spite of the pain and agony she was now in, she grit her teeth, forced her head up, and lashed out with a fist to try and meet him. In response, he snapped his lance around and aimed right for her right eye. Again, she had to abort her attack, but had nowhere to go. She ended up wrenching her body to one side and protruding her shoulder; and the royal guard used the moment to swing his lance about, bring up the shaft again, and then come down with both hands on top of her shoulder joint. A loud crack resulted as that arm slumped, and Dash’s pupils shrank before she screamed in pain.

The royal guard pulled back momentarily, letting her cry, but even then she wouldn’t stop. As that arm hung uselessly to one side, she forced her pain into fresh anger, looking viciously at him, and drove herself forward and swung at his face with her good arm. He quickly sidestepped and let the blow shoot by, only to seize her by the outstretched limb. A moment later, he yanked her forward while bringing up his knee to slam her already injured middle across it. The life drained from her face as she sustained another horrible blow, but he didn’t stop there. He twisted his own body around, brought her and his knee down, and simultaneously slammed her into the rock tunnel floor while bringing the weight of his body down in his knee on top of her stomach. This time, all she could do was gag. Bloody spittle came up from her lips as her whole body went flaccid.

He quickly rose off of her again, and looked up a split second before Rarity shouted it. “Daisy Cheerilee!”

He saw her own aura ignite and quickly squared himself fully against her. Nevertheless, he kept his spear at his side until the change was complete, only then beginning to advance. Rarity herself tensed a moment before she did all she could think of. She held her hand out at him. “Fireballfireballfireballfireball!”

A bit larger than before, her aura glowed about her palm before peeling off and forming a ball of flame that was flung toward the guard. This time, however, she was surprised to see him simply twirl his lance in front of him while advancing. The ball struck the spinning weapon and instantly burst into nothing more than embers.

“Um…er…” She quickly held both hands up. “Fireballfireballfireballfireball!

Two spheres shot off this time, but were annihilated just as easily.

“Oh dear, uh… Icicleicicleicicleicicle!”

The aura changed colors to a blue this time, but rather than produce any form of solid ice small amounts of snow squished into vague icicle shapes came out of both hands. He simply lowered his lance to his side for this one, letting them burst into slush against his armor as if they were no more than snowballs. He aimed his lance end at her next. It crackled once before snapping out another discharge.

Rarity cried out as her body was both wreathed in pain and flung violently backward along the ground, all the way to a bit of switchout track adjacent to the main track. Her body halted there, now smoldering as well, but she continued to gaze wide eyed and agonized from the shot.

“Not only do you not know how to use your Anima Viri, you don’t even know how to cast a real spell. Those words your mumbling aren’t even as good as Lady Sunset’s cantrips,” he called as he advanced on her again. “The only reason it worked last time was your fireball hit me in the visor and blinded me.”

Rarity moaned and raised her head, but her whole body was in pain now. She couldn’t rise again. She looked up and saw Dash was still in a heap, and at any rate the royal guard was much closer to her now and between the two of them. Besides that, Dash’s own aura had faded and, much to her displeasure, her own was rapidly failing too. Another hit unprotected by it would likely kill her. And this time there was no environment or hand grenades to bail her out.

Before she could panic too much or the royal guard could get any nearer, however, both of them were distracted by the sound of Pinkie bursting into giggling.

Both of them looked just in time to see her happily hopping off of the rock.

“Tee-hee! Rarity, Rainbow Dash! You’re so silly! You’re trying to get into a fight with this big mean armored guy and you’re not even using your Magic Circley-Circles the right way!”

Rarity, still coming out of her own shock, could barely respond. “Ex…excuse me?”

Pinkie answered by beginning to stretch out. “Don’t worry! I’ll stop the big meanie for you! I know my big sister will probably get mad that I’m showing this off, but since you two have Magic Circley-Circles too, maybe she won’t mind! Now…”

The royal guard turned to her. “What are you-”

“If you want to use them the right way, you do something like…” She held her hand with the Promethian Sigil to the sky.

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Sage Geologist—Maudileena Daisy Pie!”

Rarity let out a gasp as a much more powerful aura than the one she had seen on either Rainbow Dash or herself erupted from Pinkie. It was enough even to make the royal guard put a gauntlet to his visor and recoil; both from the wind that emanated from her as well as in genuine alarm. This time, the strands of light from the aura didn’t just form a vague humanoid shape but, to Rarity’s astonishment, formed a complete image of a young woman with straight bangs, heavy eyelashes, and a hard if not somewhat indifferent expression. It lasted only a moment before bursting over Pinkie.

Immediately, Pinkie’s clothing became expertly tailored and far more flamboyant, but also closer to her body. The boots became higher and better for travelling, pants emerged on her that fit comfortably but also made of a much smoother fabric, a durable vest came out over a short-sleeved shirt as ribbons and fingerless gloves grew over her hands, and a loose sash tied around her waist. To top it off, a small amount of her pink, poofy hair was swept back so that a long bandanna could be tied around it as a form of cap.

When it was done, Pinkie’s own aura remained just as it did with Rarity and Dash, only burning more strongly and steadily. She also seemed happier and more energetic than ever as she pumped her fists.

“Yay! It’s been waaaaay too long since I got to do that! Alright-y!”

She turned to the royal guard.

“So…you want to try to hit me first, or should I?”

The royal guard didn’t answer. His armor began to spark instead. Rarity gasped on realizing what it meant. “Pinkie, watch-”

Before she could say more, the guard instantly vanished in a crackle of electricity, only to reappear right in front of Pinkie with the end of his spear thrusting forward. Rarity nearly screamed on knowing she had to have just been impaled, but a second afterward she was struck dumb instead.

Although the royal guard had moved in an instant, Pinkie was even faster. She now stood right alongside the spear, smiling with her hands folded behind her—just far enough away for it to miss its mark completely.

“Missed me! Try again! Tee-hee!”

Rarity was stunned. She hadn’t even seen the royal guard move. Or Pinkie, for that matter. The royal guard stood there for a brief second, before his spear crackled instead. In a flash, he twisted his lance around and swung the shaft out for the top of her body.

As easily as if she was made of rubber, Pinkie bent her legs and arched back just long enough to let the spear shaft sail over her head before standing upright again.

“Missed me again!”

The guard hesitated only a fraction of a second before advancing on her, using both hands to swing his lance about in a combative figure eight. The spear tip and the shaft swung down and at her again and again. Yet without even breaking a sweat, Pinkie coolly stepped backward and made just the right movement each time to let both spear shaft and tip sail right past her. He couldn’t even get close enough to slice off one of her pink hairs.

He finished off by snapping back and driving his shaft forward, but Pinkie answered by instantly performing a backflip—one that kept her in midair just long enough for the spear tip to lash out and hit absolutely nothing. When the royal guard drew it back, she landed again, giggling all the while.

“Missed me! Missed me! Now ya’ gotta kiss me! He-he-he!” she giggled, before blowing him a raspberry.

The royal guard didn’t respond; only began to attack her all over again. From close range, he couldn’t use his lance’s ability to shoot lightning, but as soon as it charged again he attempted another lightning-fast move. Yet even as close as he was it was as useless as the first. For a moment, Rarity was transfixed in awe. Pinkie was as nimble and loose as a dead leaf on the wind, and all of the royal guard’s attempts to hit her was like trying to hit the air itself. She never even broke her smile.

What shook Rarity out of it was the feeling of the ground shaking. She snapped away and looked up, only to feel it again soon after but stronger. She realized it had to be whatever the royal guard had mentioned and what they had seen before. And where it was, she knew the rest of the Nighttouched had to be close by. The sun was already on its way down and had nearly cleared the tunnel opening that was allowing the light to shine inside. They couldn’t stay here.

She looked up and about for a way to escape, and soon rested on one. The switch-out track that she was currently on led back to the walls of the tunnel and right toward a small cavern opening. Just inside was a handcar. She was too exhausted to get that far on it, but it was the best they could hope for right now.

As much as it pained her and made her dizzy, she forced herself to get up while Pinkie kept the royal guard busy. As soon as she was on her feet she began to stagger and stumble over to the handcar. It would barely have enough room for the three of them on it, but she had to worry about securing it first. She reached the tunnel and began to grab for the handles to pull herself on top.

Suddenly, the rock wall behind the cart partially burst. Rarity shrieked and fell back again as the monstrous claw of the hexapodal Light Eater emerged from within and swiped at her. She quickly drug herself away, but the rest of the monster didn’t follow. Its limb continued to lash out viciously none the less and she clutched her arm to herself; panting fearfully at how she had nearly been scratched by it.

Yet as she calmed she realized that claw was now keeping her from getting any closer to the monster. Worse than that, the sun was still setting…

For a third time, the royal guard vanished in a flash of light. This time, he reappeared behind Pinkie before thrusting forward. She again slipped to one side, but the spear tip sailed out and just barely ripped a tiny tear into her outer vest as she moved. Quickly he tried to follow up, but she answered by nimbly backflipping three times to gain distance from him.

On planting her feet, she looked down to her side and spotted the tear. “Ooo! You almost got me that time! You are fast!”

The royal guard didn’t answer. He quickly began to charge his spear for a shot instead. Pinkie, however, laced her fingers and gave them a crack before smugly sticking her tongue outside the corner of her mouth and staring at him.

“Guess it’s my turn to make a move.”

In a flash, she took off straight for the royal guard. He looked up slightly in alarm, but then quickly braced himself against his spear. He kept aiming at her as she drew nearer before finally, at only a distance of four yards, he fired a shot.

Even from that close, Pinkie sidestepped so fast that she was actually able to dodge lightning. The very move was so stunning that the armored man was left stunned while Pinkie kept on running right by him. It wasn’t until she was already shooting past that he finally snapped out of it. Quickly he spun around, expecting an attack, but only saw her standing there calmly.

One of her hands lightly tossed a cylindrical object up and down.

This looked important!”

The royal guard stared a moment longer before he suddenly realized what it was, about the same time he realized that his lance had stopped conducting electricity. He glanced down at it and, sure enough, the entire pommel section that served as the capacitor for the weapon was gone. He snapped back up in disbelief on seeing she had taken it right off of him on passing by.

Rarity, meanwhile, lay on the ground for a moment unsure of what to do. The claw continued to swipe out viciously for anyone, but still the Light Eater wouldn’t come out any further. At least not while the sun was still bearing down. If it went any further it would be in its rays.

That, however, gave her an idea. Quickly she felt about herself. Most of her jewelry and accessories were either left at home or were the worthless type, but she still had her necklace with a glass jewel on it. She quickly pulled it off and held it upright, right into the path of the nearly-vanished sun. Just as she hoped, on striking it beams of sunlight were scattered against the tunnel side. She quickly aimed one of the rays of light on the Light Eater’s claw.

She was almost shocked to see part of its translucent, star-like surface actually swell and bubble like gelatin that had been left to burn. A hissing sound went off as the limb spasmed, before quickly ducking back into the hole.

She dropped the necklace in stunned shock, hardly able to believe that worked, but realized she had little to rejoice about. The giant stomps were getting closer and beginning to shake off bits of dirt and pebbles around the tunnel. Worse than that, the sunlight suddenly vanished. She looked up and saw not only had it ducked under the tunnel opening but the light was rapidly growing dimmer. Just like how it normally did when the shadows over Equestria surged forth…

Terrified as she was, she forced herself up again. Glaring fearfully at the hole in the tunnel wall the whole time, dreading that either the Light Eater or a Nighttouched would flow out at any moment, she swallowed her fear and forced herself to run and crawl onto the top of the pushcart. She grasped the handle and put all of her weight on top of it. As a result, she just barely managed to overcome the inertia and force the pump down. Very slowly the wheels began to turn, and the cart crept out from the opening and into the tunnel.

Pinkie, at the same time, tossed the cylinder aside, aimed herself, and ran at the royal guard again. He dashed out to meet her with his lance swinging. She, in turn, calmly forward flipped once to land on her legs, sprung off of them to avoid the tip while gracefully vaulting over the royal guard’s head (reaching out to playfully tag him on the helmet as she hurled through midair), and landed on his opposite side.

He quickly whirled around and lashed out with his spear again, but she forward flipped one more time to get clear. As soon as she landed, she held up some metal fasteners. He stared at them a moment before looking back to his armor. The right breastplate was now hanging loose from it.

“Huh…this one’s not as much.” She shrugged and tossed it away too. “Ah well!”

She spun around just as the royal guard lunged at her, swinging fiercely and furiously at her. It bore no more successful fruit than the previous occasions. Without ever losing her smile, she nimbly and easily backpedaled to avoid each and every swipe. Nevertheless, he continued to go at her, for he was backing her up toward one of the tunnel walls to hopefully pin her there long enough for a strike.

Yet no sooner had he finally forced her back against it when she ducked instead of sidestepped and ran past him. This time, he heard a large hiss from his side. Before even looking at Pinkie, he glanced down to his hip and saw one of the lines for the armor was gone, and it was now jetting out steam like a deflating balloon.

He looked back up to Pinkie to see her excitedly hopping while holding onto a bit of piping. “Oh! Oh! This one was!”

The royal guard hesitated. He glanced down at the latest damage he had incurred, and then looked up at the tunnel opening. The sunlight was gone and it was rapidly getting darker. The tunnel was now rhythmically shaking. Finally, the echoes of the Nighttouched were beginning to come up from other side tunnels along the way. He looked back down at Pinkie, who was grinning hopefully back at him.

After a second more, he finally rose to full height and shifted the lance to his side. He snapped around and took off back up the tunnel the way he had come.

The pink-haired woman slumped. “Awww! I was having fun!”

“Pinkie!”

“Hmm?” She looked up, just in time to see Rarity struggling with all her might as well as all of her weight to pump the handle on the handcart. It was only rolling at about two miles per hour, but it slowly got onto the track. “Oh, hi Rarity! What’cha doin’?”

She grimaced a little at her obliviousness, before she gestured ahead. “Do you think you can get Ms. Dash onto this?”

“Noooo problem!” At once, she turned and happily trotted over to the Huntsman. Rarity could see she was starting to come around, but considering how hard it was for her to keep pumping the handcart she had to devote all of her focus to that. She heard Nighttouched noises from the cavern where she obtained it, and she began to see little yellow eyes arise from the growing darkness.

Fortunately, Pinkie, whether due to enhancement or her own strength, easily picked Dash up, put her over a shoulder, and skipped back to the handcart. She set her down on top before bouncing onto it herself.

Dash’s eyes cracked open as she winced. “G…Gil…da… We…we can’t leave her…”

“Rainbow Dash, there’s no way for us to get to her,” Rarity ruefully answered as she struggled to pump the handle again. “And if we stay here any longer, none of us will make it out of here! We just have to hope she could find her way!”

Dash still looked back at the collapsed tunnel. She reached out a hand toward it briefly, but could only wince and stare at it anxiously. Finally she let out a curse and let it fall before she forced her head to look away. The anguish Rarity saw on her face was stronger than any she had seen come from her physical pain. It made her uncomfortable, but she had no choice but to keep pumping.

Pinkie herself looked behind her. The darkness was reaching night levels now and, as a result, the first few small Nighttouched began to come out of the cavern where the hand cart had resided. She looked back forward. “Hey Rarity, need any help pumping?”

Rarity grit her teeth as she tried to push the handle up again, but almost rolled her eyes at the question. “Yes, any help would be much appreciate-eeeeEED!”

Her sardonic comment turned into a squeal as Pinkie cheerfully grabbed on and began to pump as if the handle was nothing more than a jack-in-the-box crank. She went so fast that Rarity found herself pried loose, right before she cried out again as the force of the handcart taking off threw her on top of Dash’s legs. She looked up in astonishment, for in no time at all Pinkie had propelled them up to a good 40 kilometers per hour. They were soon leaving the Nighttouched behind and racing down the tunnel fast enough to feel wind in their faces.

Alarmed, Rarity looked forward at the path ahead. It seemed clear, but she was just in time to see them roll up to and through a switching station. As they went past, she saw one line of track sharply break off in one direction while they stayed on the current one.

A memory of what Gilda had said came to mind, and she looked anxious for a moment. In the end, however, she only sighed and laid back as she realized there was nothing else for it.

All she could hope for now was that this cart was taking them far away from the Nighttouched and wherever the giant Light Eater was going.

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