Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

Nightwatch: One if by Land

Both ladies cried out, splitting away from one another right before the deadly limb not only raked the ground where they were but smashed a hole into the street. It snapped out for Applejack a moment later, and it was only because she had leapt back and kept her posture that she was able to backpedal just out of reach of its teeth. Still roaring, it snapped around and lunged for Twilight next, swinging its paws again. She screeched, not having her own footing, and went back so quickly that she fell on her rear end. A good thing too, for the paw swiped just past where her head was on the follow-up strike.

Applejack quickly emboldened herself and dashed for it. Taking aim at the ankle joint, she brought the hammer back and slammed the head against it. However, aside from a few bits of twigs being knocked loose, nothing else was done. The limb remained mostly intact and Applejack was left gaping in astonishment as the wolf monster looked back to her and snarled. A second later, the paw snapped up and collided with her.

The farmer’s body crumpled around the limb before she was ripped off her feet and flung away from the monster so hard that when she smashed into the brick façade of the surrounding buildings she actually knocked them in a bit. She fell out and flopped to the ground in a sprawl; the blow having clearly taken something out of her. She moaned for a moment, weakly trying to get her bearings back, but the monster wasn’t waiting. It snapped and charged at her. She raised her head feebly, and quickly regained her wits on seeing it coming with jaws open wide. As best as she could, she rolled herself to the side just in time to avoid its first snap. Even so, the street was raked open by its teeth before its head smashed into the building she had struck.

Applejack struggled to get up to counter, only to freeze. Her hands were both empty. She looked and saw that her hammer had fallen from her grasp, and was hovering right underneath the head of the wolf monster still embedded in the building wall. She hesitated for a fraction of a second before she made a move to go for it.

The hesitation cost her. She had only started to reach for it when the wolf thing tore its head back out and fixed its yellow glowing eyes on her. She tried to stop herself, but was thrown in shock and pain a moment later as it snapped its body around and seized her entire body in its jaws. She was instantly yanked into the air before the monster began to violently snap her one way and another like she was nothing more than a chew toy. Its teeth clenched tighter yet, causing her to cry out as she felt its stony teeth push into her armor and slide toward the joints for her softer flesh beneath. It was trying to bite her in two.

Yet a moment later, its jaw snapped all the way open and Applejack found herself unceremoniously dumped to the ground. Still in pain from the bite and rattled from the shaking, she merely topped onto the street and lay there a moment before she was able to look up. The monstrous wolf construct was now roaring in agony. Its entire rear end was on fire and the flames were rapidly expanding across the rest of it. Its body was so dry it didn’t take any time at all to turn into a flaming brazier in the smoggy darkness.

At a short distance away, she saw Twilight pulling her wand back and recoiling from the flaming monstrosity.

Soon it began to prance about madly, smashing itself against the nearby buildings as it went into death throes. Quickly, Applejack forced herself onto her feet, dashed over just long enough to grab her hammer before it could stomp her with a flaming limb, and then backed off to Twilight. The smaller wolf constructs turned and bolted for it when the big one began to stagger near them, especially as it started to give off molten fragments of itself. Finally, its legs gave out beneath it and it toppled to the ground. It went limp soon after.

Applejack wiped her brow and tried to shake off her soreness. “Whew…nice one. How come ya’ didn’t start with that?”

Twilight grimaced. “Because this city is being invaded by Light Eaters and Nighttouched.”

Applejack froze; realizing what that meant. Sure enough, echoing howls began to come down the road. First one, then another, and then an entire chorus. The sound of rushing wings that could have been birds, bats, or insects started to fill the sky. On the other side of the blaze, the two saw black shapes coming out of the alleys and scurrying out of the gutters. More actually broke through windows and began to flap about in the sky.

They didn’t wait to see anymore. They turned and began to run back to their companion. “Fluttershy!”

Luckily, due to the remains of the burning construct, they were able to see well behind them. The man who had gotten bit was sitting up and holding his injured arm, but it had stopped bleeding and seemed more manageable. Good for him, because he was still stricken with panic—even more so now that Fluttershy had miraculously healed him. As soon as he could, he staggered to his feet, turned, and bolted for it. The pink-haired woman didn’t seem to notice as she got up herself.

“Oh look! I was able to do it after all. You were right, Twil-”

“Come on and move!” Applejack cut off, grabbing her with her free arm and pulling her the rest of the way to her feet before taking off with her in tow.

The three at first tried and go the same way the man had run. However, they didn’t get nearly as far as he had before the sound of the wings rushing came flapping over their heads and moving in behind them. Looking up above, they saw the foggy night being pierced by dozens of gleaming yellow eyes. They were pinching off the opposite side of the fire in a move to surround it.

Twilight glanced about a moment, before she looked to where the gunfire was coming. “That way!” she shouted, before running into the nearest alleyway leading in that direction.

Applejack quickly pulled Fluttershy along with her, and not a moment too soon. Scarcely had she entered the alley when Nighttouched birds descended and began to swarm around the blaze in the street. The three quickly picked up the pace.

“Why we headin’ this way?” Applejack shouted as they ran.

“If there’s other soldiers up here, then maybe we can get through to them to try and-”

At that moment a new scream resounded…right from the street they were headed to. Others soon followed. All three women slowed and nearly stopped, looking to each other anxiously. They looked back the way they had come, but saw that not only were the birds now flocking around the flames but the sewers had burst to let out the Nighttouched mice, rats, and cockroaches on their side of the road too. They had no choice but to keep moving now. Bracing themselves for the worst, they forced themselves onward.

The screams continued to get louder, and the gunshots began to fade out as they kept coming. Neither of those things set well with them, but what got Applejack and Twilight nearly cringing as much as Fluttershy was as they reached the last building in the alleyway. Some of the screams turned into a sharp, aborted noise that none of them had ever heard before…but definitely didn’t sound pleasant.

Finally, the three rushed out into the street, and on doing so halted where they stood. Fluttershy gasped once before ducking behind the two of them, but even Applejack could only manage: “Holy…”

The street was littered with bodies. Most of them were swarms of Nighttouched that had been cut apart by rifles, but at this point a number of Griffonstone soldiers had joined them. What soldiers were left were either panicking and running or firing desperately at one target in particular: a shadowy entity of starry matter shaped into a vague animal form.

A Light Eater.

This one might not have been the Tantabus, but it was twice as big as the one Twilight had run into in Fillydelphia. Its crude body had elongated, bent rear limbs and stubbier front ones, as well as a massive, cavernous mouth under its pale “moonspot” eyes. In other words, the form of a giant frog. Its body rippled repeatedly as bullets continued to strike it, but it ignored all of them and instead snapped it head around and opened its mouth wide—shooting out a length of its own material in a thick, rope-like whip. A “tongue”, obviously. Another soldier cried out as the end struck her, and a wet cracking rang through the air as she was snapped in two from the force.

Particularly desperate, two soldiers ran on it. One tried to pierce it with a bayonet on her rifle, while another seized the flaming ruins of a broken gaslight pole and tried to drive it at the monster. It ignored both attacks; with the bayonet moving through it as if it was made of water and the fire doing little other than agitating it to snap its head around and slap the soldier aside while snuffing it out. Another cracking, followed by a sickening splatter, resulted from the impact. It did the same to the other; nearly crushing that one with its massive bulk.

Yet the most horrifying thing happened soon after, when it lashed out with its tongue again for a fleeing soldier. This time, it didn’t crush her on impact, but adhered to her like glue. As soon as it did, it snapped back and began to recoil her to its waiting jaws.

The Light Eater obviously had no internal organs, but a look at the grotesque state of some of the bodies around it indicated this wasn’t the first time it had made that move…

“Twilight!” Applejack cried on seeing the soldier moments from death. “You’re up!”

She paled a moment, beginning to sweat again on seeing how much bigger and more formidable this one was, but she shook it off. She began to rush to it as she held her wand up again. As for Applejack, she turned to Fluttershy and motioned. “Come on! Let’s see if we can help ‘em get outta here!”

Fluttershy was practically covering her eyes at the sight of the bodies, but Applejack quickly seized her by the hand and led her over to the remaining soldiers struggling to hold their ground. As for Twilight, she generated a fireball spell and flung it at the monster just as the soldier was nearly inside its mouth.

The action caused it to release her, but unfortunately did no more. Its attention was instantly drawn to the light of the fire, and with a ground-crunching noise it suddenly leapt into the air on its massive rear legs. Not only did it shoot right over the fire, it opened its mouth wide and flew toward Twilight to try and engulf her whole. Stricken with panic, Twilight rooted herself on the spot and screamed before she performed a panic move. Out of instinct, she sent one of the “air balls” she had used on the wolf constructs at the thing. While it was too minor to possibly hurt or kill it, it did make physical contact and shoved it forward just enough to where it crashed headfirst into the street in front of her instead. She shrieked again as the impact ruptured the pavement and virtually catapulted her backward and again off her feet.

The Light Eater seemed momentarily stuck in the street from the attack, and quickly began to degenerate and reform its head to melt free. Twilight, stunned from what just happened, sat there a moment before she cast another spell. Ice crystals erupted from the ground beneath the entity, but unfortunately it was too late. The Light Eater leapt again just as they rose to impale it. It landed soon after and she quickly got up to try and attack again, only to cry out once more as, as soon as it touched down, it snapped its tongue out for her again. She quickly dove to the side as it whizzed by with the force of a cannon shell, pounding a slab of brickwork out of the road. She had no time to rest or recover, for it quickly snapped back and lashed out again at where she had been. After that she had to break into a run to evade it as it snapped out a third time.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Fluttershy reached the soldiers. At first, they were astonished to see Twilight jump in and even more astonished to see her power. Yet after a few seconds they decided not to question it, and by now they had resumed shooting at the thing.

The farmer ran forward and quickly swung her hammer to knock the rifle clean out of the grip of the nearest one, causing her to wheel toward her in alarm. “Stop that shootin’! With all the lights out, your guns are what’s making all the light ‘round here now!”

At this point, the soldiers were so overwhelmed they could do little more than just stare in puzzlement at the mildly glowing woman in armor for a moment, before one started to stammer. “Who…what…who are you?”

“That don’t matter right now! Just get back while you can! There’s a whole mess o’ Nighttouched one street over that’s gonna be comin’ here as soon as they’re done snuffin’ out what’s left of their big buddy! Anyone round here down who’s still tickin’?”

The Griffonstone soldiers were left stunned a bit longer, not the least because several of them were now staring at Twilight’s battle with the frog Light Eater, but finally one of them got enough bearings to point. “Gail and Gavin got caught under that wall when that thing knocked it down! I don’t even know if they’re still alive!”

“We’ll handle that! The rest of ya’ get outta here if ya’ wanna tell your grandkids ya’ actually saw a Light Eater and lived!”

Some of them hesitated, but at this point their courage was already strained to the breaking point. One by one they began to turn and run off. As for Applejack, she wheeled around and motioned Fluttershy over to where the soldier had pointed.

As for Twilight, the Light Eater readied to snap its tongue out again, but she reacted by errantly swinging her wand toward it. In response, the ground ruptured in front of it and sent bits of rock flying upward. Out of sheer instinct, the thing leapt out of the way again, giving her the moment she needed to stop and right herself. She used it to prepare another spell and quickly cast it as soon as she got a bead on where it was landing.

Unfortunately, she could only see so well in the dark, and the Light Eater itself, not bound by normal constraints of physicality, leapt off again as soon as it touched down; right as another burst of razor-sharp icicles fired upward. However, this leap wasn’t as good as before, and as it landed one of its legs sprawled out. The starry dew that seemed to make up its body was ragged and flapping along that limb as if it was a torn flag.

It didn’t last long, however. The fragments quickly condensed themselves and reformed, right as it leapt in a horizontal launch for Twilight again. She had been moments from being ready to shoot another fireball, this one intended to go down its gullet, but quickly aborted and dashed to the side on seeing the thing nearly touch her. It slammed into the ground again in her wake, and the impact again knocked her off her feet yet again, this time sending her sprawling face forward. Without missing a beat, it quickly pulled itself out, snapped around, and began to snap its massive mouth for her. All she could do was scramble away. She avoided its first two jaw snaps before she tried to get up again, but it lunged for her with its third snap and, although it missed, the impact sent her falling back on her face. It opened its mouth wider and rose to try and devour her again…

Straining enough to start sweating again, she quickly cast another spell out of panic. In response, another lightning bolt streaked down and hit it in one of the moonspots. It must have been the closest it had to a vital, for it staggered back at that. Twilight quickly got her legs underneath her, pushing around her robe to try and rise, but was still on all fours when the thing, apparently enraged, did a leaping lunge toward her again. She cried in alarm as she was nearly bowled over, and was forced to scramble away as it lashed out even more frantically after her.

Applejack and Fluttershy, at the same time, found the wall. It was in a bit of recessed road, but what tipped off the former that this was the right place was seeing the head and shoulders of a soldier sticking out from underneath it; face tight in agony and blood mottled about her mouth. She quickly glanced to Fluttershy, who was looking pale again, but kept a hand over her eyes as she ran in close.

Applejack was at the side of the collapsed wall a moment later. It was four rows of brick thick, and looked rather heavy and formidable even for her. She ended up setting her hammer down nearby and then reached out and felt for a lip. She called to the soldier as she found a grip. “You alright?”

She didn’t change her expression, but moaned through clenched teeth. “Ga…vin… Help… Gavin…”

Tightening her muscles, Applejack took a few deep breaths before putting her legs beneath her and lifting. Even with enhanced strength, she strained and struggled under the load, but she slowly pulled it up. Very gradually, the brickwork left the top of the fallen soldier, and a space formed underneath. The bricks began to crumple and fall under her grasp but she held it tight. “Fluttershy!” she called through her own clenched teeth. “Get under there! Pull him out!”

The pink-haired woman swallowed, but nodded before she got down on the ground. Very uneasily, she looked down in the space Applejack had made and, after a moment, began to inch her way under it nervously.

However, she only had her own head and shoulders underneath before she stopped. Much more slowly, she pulled out again. Applejack was confused a moment, until she saw the look on her face and the horror in her eyes.

“He…he didn’t make it…”

Applejack shuddered under the weight of the wall as the fallen soldier looked horrified, but she motioned on. “Just get her out, then!”

Fluttershy nodded and moved to put her hands under her arms. “I…I have to try what I did with that other man first… I don’t know if her back’s broken…”

Back with Twilight, the Light Eater attempted to snap at her a few more times before it stopped, instead cracking its mouth open and swinging its tongue out at her again. This one was a much nearer miss, and while Twilight ducked her head to one side to avoid it the impact still struck the road so powerfully that fragments of bricks were sent into the air. One sliced across her forehead while another shard nearly got in her eye. Crying out again, she covered her face and began to run full speed errantly, just trying to get distance on the monster. As she heard the sound of it retract its tongue, she again spun about and threw three fireballs at its direction wildly.

In spite of it being another panic move, it ended up being effective. Two of the spheres landed on either side of it, clear of its body but igniting enough to make it pause in indecisiveness. This was all the third one needed to impact against another forelimb. At once, the limb ignited and began to degenerate into molten fragments, causing it to rear up and recoil as best as it could on its three remaining legs.

Knowing it still had its tongue, Twilight quickly snapped about and kept running to gain more distance. Unfortunately, she only got a few more feet before halting. She was facing another alleyway into the road, but it wasn’t empty. Dozens of yellow eyes were in it and running down into the main road, and they were nearly to her. She was so stunned and surprised she didn’t even have time to think of a spell, and before she even thought to move her wand they broke out into the open and began to hiss and spit right for her…

That was, right before the first two were immediately taken down. A purple hued dog quickly dashed across and tore into the throat of one, while a white rabbit seemed to come down from the heavens so powerfully that when it planted its feet down against the Nighttouched’s head it crushed its skull.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Spike! Angel!”

The two weren’t alone. As soon as they turned to other Nighttouched, a flock of birds and swarm of mice rushed in and began to assault the attacking creatures; pairing in small groups to lay into them individually. The smaller creatures quickly took out the ones on the road, before Fluttershy’s bear inserted itself at the end of the alleyway. It growled and swung out with its paws, knocking back all of the others as fast as they could come.

Twilight was a bit stunned at her saviors but didn’t question them. She whirled back around to the Light Eater. While it still only had three limbs, it had recovered enough to rear back and prepare to use its tongue again. This time, however, Twilight quickly shifted to one side; away from the animals, and readied another spell.

The tongue snapped out soon after, but she quickly ducked to evade it. As it struck the ground behind her, she shielded her eyes with one arm from debris and cast her spell with the other. Ice crystals appeared again, but this time they rapidly condensed and solidified around the end of the tongue. The thing tried to pull it back only to find it anchored right where it had impacted.

With the Light Eater’s mouth open and immobilized, she used the moment to generate a more potent fireball spell and sent it flying down its throat. An instant later, it burst and filled its jaws with flames. The thing’s tongue was soon melted clean off its body, instantly degenerating into nothingness on breaking loose. The rest of it staggered back and thrashed about, but the magic flames quickly consumed what was left. It only managed to stumble a short distance before it was fully engulfed. With one last move it collapsed to the ground and burst into mist. The fire was snuffed as it faded away into nothing.

Twilight wiped her brow, but didn’t stay there long. She looked about herself a moment before she spotted someone. The soldier that had been snagged but dropped was still there, and sorely rising to her feet again. She cupped her hand and shouted to her. “Hey!”

The soldier, looking in shock from what nearly happened to her, nevertheless turned and gave her a vacant, hollow stare.

“Are you alright? Did it only get you by your clothes or did it touch your bare skin?”

She stared back blankly; barely seeming to process words.

“Did it touch your bare skin?” The second time was more insistent.

Finally, she blinked, and with a dazed look shook her head.

“Alright, then get out of here! Hurry!”

The soldier was still overwhelmed both at her experience as well as who was talking to her, but she finally turned and began to run off again as she had when she was caught. Twilight rubbed her face and looked back to where the animals were dealing with the Nighttouched, but gasped again at what she saw.

The fight had attracted company.

Another Light Eater, this one taking the crude likeness of a 6-meter long lizard, was inching its way down the side of a building and into the street. A third one, this one looking like a crude form of deer on stilt-like legs, was coming out from the side street. Their pale pool-like eyes turned and focused on her dim aura almost immediately. Spike, Angel, and the other animals, who until now had been standing their ground against the incoming Nighttouched, were now pulling back. Spike himself was letting out a canine whine.

Back at the wall, Applejack was getting progressively more red-faced as Fluttershy continued to talk soothingly to the soldier, which wasn’t easy as she was now distraught on hearing about the death of her comrade. Nevertheless, she finally got enough for the woman to reach under her arms and began to pull her free. As soon as she finished yanking her feet out, she called to the farmer. “Ok, she’s free.”

Applejack grunted as she let the bricks fall again; breaking them to bits on dropping them. Fluttershy quickly put her arm underneath the woman’s shoulders and began to help her up, while Applejack exhaled once before reaching around for her hammer.

Twilight, seeing the incoming reinforcements, shouted to the animals. “Get back! All of you!”

Luckily, they seemed to at least understand her voice even though she wasn’t Fluttershy. All of the animals including Spike turned and began to run away from the closing monsters. Twilight herself snapped around and began to run; opening her mouth to call out as she did. “Apple…”

She gasped again.

“Applejack! Look out!”

The farmer looked up just as she grasped her hammer; neither she nor Fluttershy nor the semi-conscious soldier noticing what had happened. Namely that a one-meter Light Eater walking down the side of the building on spindly, long, insect-like limbs had lowered itself right down to her level, and was now raising one of the appendages and curling the end into a claw to try and pierce the “light” that was emanating from her.

Yet in her surprise, and completely by accident, Applejack hefted her hammer off of the ground and brought it over her shoulder just as she called out: “Huh?” And in the course of doing so, the “teeth” on one end of it curled out and slid themselves right into the end of the Light Eater’s extended limb.

The moment it happened, the thing snapped its limb back and cradled it against the rest of its crude body. Twilight’s horror reverted to surprise and shock on seeing it react like that.

It was in pain.

Applejack hearing its movement overhead, turned and looked skyward. Fluttershy did at the same time, and instantly gave a shriek as she nearly dropped the soldier. The farmer, however, in spite of knowing full well it would do nothing, did the same thing she did every time she was panicked by an opponent. Out of pure reflex, she hefted her hammer and swung out at it. The head of the weapon cut through the air and smashed into its head.

And the thing, like an oversized bug that had been swatted, was ripped off of the wall and taken all the way to the road before its “skull” was crushed underneath the hammer.

In spite of the further monsters closing in behind them, for a moment all three women were stunned. Fluttershy pulled her free hand to cup her mouth. Twilight’s jaw nearly hit her chest. Applejack barely held onto her now-descended hammer as if she wasn’t believing that either it or her limbs had done that, even as she slowly watched the Light Eater degenerate into blackness before fading away into mist.

“I…I killed it…”

A beat passed, before a grin burst across her face. Her surprise turned to ecstatic joy. She yanked her hammer into the air with one hand and began to bellow loudly in jubilation.

“Whoo-hoo! Did y’all just see that? I killed one! I killed one! That’s fer every last apple tree ya’ spoiled, evert last acre you overran, and every last member of my family ya’ got killed, ya’ rotten son of a bitch! Jus’ you wait! I’m gonna put the rest of ya’ into holes in the ground too!”

“Applejack!”

Still cheering and shouting, the farmer looked down. Twilight, although still stunned at what she had just seen, had snapped out of it enough to keep running toward her. “Cheer later! We have to go!”

On spotting Twilight she was able to see behind her. Not only were the two other Light Eaters, much bigger than the one she had just smashed, still coming, but others were joining them along with fresh swarms of Nighttouched coming down both their original alley, the one that Twilight had faced, and the others along with them.

“Er, right!” she shouted back, some of her enthusiasm turning to shock, before she turned around and quickly got under the soldier Fluttershy was helping from the other side. Soon after she took off, nearly dragging them both with her. Twilight fell in alongside as the rest of the animals came up, and the entire party soon picked their way over the broken street to the more intact portions before breaking into a full run.

None of them looked behind as they rushed out into more open streets, but somehow they managed to keep ahead of them. That or they simply found other targets in the city to attack. At any rate their running kept them in the clear. The streets remained dark, a sign the gaslighting had been cut to this part of the town as well, so it was likely whatever fires had been set in the attacked portions were distracting them for at least a bit longer. However, the truly encouraging sign was that the sky began to lighten and turn gray the farther they went. They continued to hear gunfire from surrounding blocks, but no further screams.

At this point, Applejack finally turned to Twilight. “Did y’all see that back there? I crushed that Light Eater inta’ applesauce! Why didn’t ya’ tell me I could do that, Twilight?”

“I didn’t know you could! I didn’t think you could even hit them! I’ve been just like everyone else and tried to make sure they don’t touch me!” A pause. “But…now that you mention it…whenever we use a spirit our bodies start lighting up like this… Maybe it’s acting as an insulator or some covering that make it possible for us to interact with them physically…”

“Well, now we know I can kill ‘em too! So what now?”

Twilight’s answer was cut off by the sound of a heavy engine rolling up ahead. In the emerging light the three saw a large shadow in the fog. It soon parted it, revealing it to be another one of the trackless engines. This one had an old, weathered marking on it indicating its use by the military, which was all but confirmed by the fact it was carrying a field gun on a limber behind it. Fortunately, by now it looked as if there was enough light where one couldn’t make out the glows around their body. They did, however, seem to recognize they were carrying a soldier with them, and as a result they heard the large engine begin to slow as it chugged forward.

Twilight quickly waved to them when they did. As the two entities met, the engine came to a stop. The side opened and a few Griffonstone soldiers hopped out, regarding the incoming group with puzzlement. Yet before they could say a word, Applejack and Fluttershy rushed up to them with the fallen soldier and almost threw her into their arms.

“Here! Take her outta here and get yerselves out while yer at it!”

The dumbfounded soldiers looked over the gathering, including the unusual attire and the fact a whole troupe of animals were running alongside them. They almost seemed to forget the attack for a moment. “Who are you people? Some kind of circus? And what were you doing…”

The soldier trailed off as a light tremor went off down the road. He and his fellow soldiers looked stunned, but Twilight and her group went rigid. Especially when another tremor soon followed after it. The three women looked to one another briefly.

“Oh no…”

“It’s here…”

In a flash, Twilight spun back to the soldiers. Seeing her radiating eyes for the first time, they recoiled in even more alarm. “Which way is the coast from here?”

“Wh-what? Huh? What’s going-“

“Where?!”

“Well, uh…” he motioned with his hand to the left of their current path. “That way’s to the boardwalk…”

“How far?”

“I…I don’t know… A couple miles maybe?”

“Alright, thank you! There’s Light Eaters and a swarm of Nighttouched right behind us! Fall back if it starts getting dark!”

“Wait, wait!” the other soldier spoke up. “Just what’s going on here and who are-”

However, once again he cut himself off, this time not from the tremors but the fact that he spotted something down the road Twilight’s group had come. A moment later he raised his weapon. The other soldier looked as well and quickly did the same. Twilight risked a glance back the way they came and saw, much to her astonishment, the swarm of Nighttouched were still coming. The two opened fire and began to pick them off, but there were a hundred right behind them.

Realizing they couldn’t stick around any longer, Twilight turned and began to run again. Applejack and Fluttershy quickly fell in behind; leaving the soldiers to deal with the rushing horde.

“What in blazes is goin’ on? It’s light out here!” Applejack shouted.

“Um…I…think with all of this smog, that it’s kind of dark enough for the Nighttouched at least…” Fluttershy suggested.

“Great…” Applejack sighed. “That means they’ll be everywhere! And now that Tantamawhatzit is here too! And we only got a couple miles between it and the ocean!” She turned to Twilight. “Please tell me ya’ got a plan.”

She didn’t answer right away. She looked about as they kept running. By now, much of that part of the city was abandoned, and there weren’t many other soldiers left to keep running to the front line. Most of them, unaccustomed to dealing with surges, had broken for it along with the citizens, and all that was left were either abandoned and broken vehicles or homes and buildings that were left to rot or were being used as shelter. All of them were also darkened, making the fog of coal fumes even more absolute over the city.

She looked at the gaslights as they ran past, staring at several of them.

“I have the start of an idea, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“Seein’ as it’s better than what I got, which is nothin’, I can’t complain. What is it?”

“First, we need to find one of the gas mains for these street lamps.”

---

Fortunately, it didn’t take the three long to find one. The city was continuing to desert, making it easier to move around, and the Nighttouched were keeping their swarms to the blackened portions. Only smaller groups were moving out in the rest of the foggy town, and were easily dealt with by Twilight and Applejack when they got near. And fortunately for them, the technology was so outdated in Griffonstone that they hadn’t moved their major gas lines under the ground. They found a large one right in the middle of an intersection at one of the roads at the ruins of where a pedestal had once stood.

As soon as they reached it she called out. “Alright, Fluttershy, stand back with Spike and the others for a moment! Applejack, get over here!”

Now that Fluttershy had finally stopped, Angel took the moment to hop into her arms as she stepped away; leading the other animals with her. Applejack came up to the main itself as Twilight stood at a distance.

“Alright…knock the top off of that valve right there!”

Applejack gave her an odd look. “Uh…I may have spent most of my life on a farm, but even I know that’s a bad idea.”

“Just do it!”

She winced, but finally shrugged. Looking back to the largest valve on top of the main, she exhaled before raising her hammer. For once, she made a “delicate” swing, not wanting to cause a spark. As a result, she managed to knock the valve right off the top of it. At once a hissing began to spill out and the air over the top of it rippled from gas fountaining up into the air.

“Good! Now stand back with Fluttershy!”

Applejack whistled as she readily did so. “Sure hope ya’ know what yer doin’… Be careful ‘round that. One wrong move and you’ll blow it sky high.”

Twilight waited until Applejack was far enough away, then raised her wand. She performed a gesture, painted a fiery sigil, and sent a fireball over the nozzle.

Moments later, part of the main was blown completely up as the gas ignited; scattering half of Fluttershy’s animals and knocking both her and Applejack off their feet. In its wake, a towering pillar of burning flame emerged like a giant torch blazing into the heavens.

As Fluttershy struggled to corral the critters, Applejack got back up and glared at Twilight. “Are ya’ outta yer mind?! You couldn’t blown us to bits! You trying ta’ start a gas fire?”

“Yes!”

Applejack’s shock turned to confusion. “Uh…come again?”

“They’ve turned off all the lights in the city in the path of the Tantabus! It has nowhere to go now but straight into the ocean like it wants!” She pointed to the now towering fire. “Now, this is the biggest and brightest light in the city! If it works like any of the other Light Eaters, it’s going to come for it before it heads to the ocean! Even in the worst surges, the Light Eaters always look for the closest source of light first!”

Applejack hesitated, looking at the towering flame, then back to her. “Ya’ mean…ya’ want it to come this way?”

“If it leads it away from the ocean, you bet I do! This will at least keep it from poisoning the coast!”

“But a fire like this is gonna bring every last Nighttouched and Light Eater here for blocks! And what do we do when it gets here?”

Twilight paused before she grinned sheepishly. “Well…I did say it was only the start of an idea.”

Applejack frowned.

“Well, what else can we do? At least this way we can keep it from the ocean.”

She rolled her eyes and groaned. “Awright, fine. Just one problem. If this city’s smoky enough ta’ keep these Nighttouched out in the open, then there’s no way that big one’ll see this from here. It’d have to be in a hundred yards or even closer.”

“That’s where the second part of my plan comes in. You’re going to have to hold the little ones back while I do this part.”

By now, Fluttershy had finally calmed down the last of the animals again, but their surroundings were already filling with the noises of Nighttouched screeching or calling. From the shadows about, an occasional pair of yellow eyes were emerging. Applejack saw them and let out a sigh. “Alright…guess if we’re gonna tangle with that big one, these little ones shouldn’t be a problem…” She hefted her hammer and began to step out.

As soon as she got on the move, Twilight looked right at the other woman with them. “Fluttershy!”

She looked surprised to be called to again. “Who…me?”

Twilight began to walk toward her. “This is very important and we don’t have a lot of time, so please listen carefully. With all of this smog over Griffonstone, there’s only one way that the Tantabus is ever going to see this signal fire, and that’s if it clears up. The only way I can clear it up is if I generate a wind spell powerful enough to sweep over all the city blocks leading up to it…which, at the moment, I can only guess is somewhere around that way.” She waved her hand in the direction they came from.

Fluttershy held a hand to her mouth. “Oh dear… Can you really make a spell that powerful?”

“No, I can’t. I’ve already used a lot of my mana but even if I hadn’t I’d run out long before I’d have all that I need. That’s why I need you.”

Now Fluttershy truly did look surprised. “What…what…me?”

Applejack gave a cry, momentarily distracting the two of them. They looked just as she finished flattering the first Nighttouched that emerged, but another one was already running out. Twilight quickly looked back to Fluttershy, holding up her sigil.

“You’ve seen how we use these in order to call on the spirits bound to us, right? If you were able to fully manifest your own seal, as a Healer you’d be able to regenerate my mana while I’m casting. Not sure if it would be enough…especially since you don’t have any experience with your own power…but it’s the only shot we’ve got. I have to get you to do it.”

Fluttershy shrunk a bit on herself. “Oh my… I…I’m not sure I know how to do any of that…”

“I’ll show you how,” she spoke more insistently, “but you have to do exactly what I say.”

Applejack crushed another Nighttouched, but now two were running out together. She swiveled her hammer once to scatter the blood and readied to meet them. Meanwhile, Fluttershy gulped, but then set Angel down. He looked back up to her, almost seeming concerned, before hopping just a short distance away. Standing up with trembling knees, she spoke to Twilight in a near whisper.

“Ok…”

“Now, you told me that you noticed that,” She pointed to the rune on her sigil. “after we got knocked off the boat.” She grimaced. “I’ve honestly never heard of an Anima Viri coming from an animal before…but that bird was very precious to Headmistress Celestia, and if anyone would have had a pet that had an Anima Viri it would have been her. So I’m thinking…or hoping…you got the symbol from her. If that’s the case, you have to do what we do. She’s already bound to you, so…”

She held her hand up. “Put your hand up like this.”

Fluttershy hesitated, then raised her hand halfway.

“All the way.”

Another pause, but then she extended it all the way.

“Now, you have to shout this in a commanding voice. ‘Member of my house, I command you to come to me. Little Sunshine—Philomena.’”

Fluttershy lowered her hand, looking confused. “Um…‘Little Sunshine’?”

“It’s what the headmistress called her. I’m hoping that’s the right title too. Now do it. And remember…commanding.”

Fluttershy stared silently a moment, then raised her hand again; once more halfway. “Um…member of my house, I command you to come to me. Little Sunshine—Philomena.”

Twilight stared blankly at her. She was standing two feet away and barely even heard her. “Fluttershy…I said commanding.”

“Oh, sorry…ahem. Member of my house, I command you to come to me. Little Sunshine—Philomena.”

If that had been any louder, Twilight hadn’t noticed. She began to groan.

“What in blazes ya’ doin’ over there?!”

The two looked up and back, and saw Applejack was now fighting off four at a time, all of which were clawing for her legs to try and get up to scratch her eyes. Six more were coming out and running up along the street.

“I can’t kill every last durn Nighttouched in this city! Hurry up!”

“Oh…oh, I’m so sorry…” Fluttershy apologized, turning back to Twilight. “It’s just, um…I don’t sound very commanding…”

Twilight nearly flustered, but she managed to keep her calm and looked more imploring. “Fluttershy, if we don’t do this soon it’ll be too late. The Tantabus will make it into the ocean, and then it’ll ruin everything. No boats will be able to leave the continent, we’ll be surrounded by night so nothing will grow, thousands of people living on the coast could die, the sea will be filled with Nighttouched fish and they might gain the ability to come on land-”

“Wait, you mean…the Tantabus could turn all of the fish in the ocean just like the ones on the boat? Those poor creatures that were in so much pain?”

Twilight paused, realizing she had just hit something. “…Yeah. And not only them, but the sea lions, the turtles, the…um…sharks, the, uh…aneomes…”

“Oh no!” For a moment, the woman’s knees stopped knocking. She looked down to her feet a moment, but then straightened up and took a deep breath. Steeling herself as much as she could, she held her hand all the way up. Although her voice still barely registered at a light shout, she called to call out with as much power as she could muster.

“Member of my house, I command you to come to me! Little Sunshine—Philomena!”

A second later, Twilight lit up in delight while Fluttershy herself yelped on seeing her sigil ignite. As it had with Twilight and Applejack before her, her aura lit up and streamed out above her head. This time it formed an image of a bird, but not the one from yesterday. This one was a resplendent beauty—a mix of falcon and peacock as iridescent and majestic as a flame. Even Fluttershy, after her initial shock, was left staring in awe at it before the light broke over her.

Her dress thickened and lengthened before being dyed into a white with bold color trim and seam. It swept over her arms into long sleeves before splitting in front to become a full length robe. More durable shoes came over her feet while gloves tipped each of her hands, and an inner garment with a sweater-like neckline filled in underneath. Finally, a thicker white hood grew out of the neckline with a design emblazoned on the edge. Her hair swept forward over her shoulders before it raised up and covered the rest of her head.

The light dimmed but maintained its soft glow, and Fluttershy was left looking over herself. "Goodness... I wasn't expecting that..." She reached up and felt the robe, smiling a little. "Well, it might be a little warm for the summer, but it's definitely soft. And look." She reached up and felt the hood. "I can pull this down over my eyes whenever I need to."

"Fluttershy?"

"Hmm?" She looked up, seeing Twilight staring at her. "Oh...oh yes, what do I do?"

With one last yell behind them, Applejack smashed the head of the latest of the attacking Nighttouched. She looked up afterward, quickly brandishing herself for more, and nearly taking a swing...

However, she froze when she saw what was rushing on her wasn't Nighttouched but more civilians. A hundred of them all together, and so panicked and desperate to flee that they didn't even react to her as they ran by. For a moment, she stood befuddled as they passed her one after another. As soon as the last one had gone, though, she looked back to the empty street they had come from and blanched.

A flood of Nighttouched were running down the street. These ones weren't just regular animals that had been transformed, and they weren't the wolf constructs from before either. She saw they were led by much larger creatures the size of covered wagons. As they parted the gloom and got closer, she saw that they were maned, four-pawed, and moving like giant lions. At least six of them had taken the lead, and even from a distance she could hear their growling.

Applejack grimaced as she hefted her hammer. "Hey Twilight, we're gonna have to move soon!"

"Alright, here's what you need to do." Twilight turned around and put her back to Fluttershy. "Put your hands on my shoulders."

She ventured forward and slowly did so. "Like...this?"

"Great. Now, close your eyes."

She obeyed. Twilight raised her wand and looked to the sky.

"Ok, here's hoping this works... What you need to do is to just visualize a stream running through inside you."

"A stream...? Like a creek or river?"

"No, no...it's like energy inside you."

"Energy? Like...in my muscles?"

"No, it's not that either, it's...it's..." She sighed, realizing how difficult this would be as a crash course. "How about this... Do you feel different right now?"

She turned her head, thinking it over. "Now that you mention it...I guess I do feel a bit stronger."

"What else?"

"Hmm...I almost feel...more...energetic? Almost like...like there's something inside me... Something warm..."

"Yes, that's it! Concentrate on that! Focus on that! I want you to see it flowing from you into me! Imagine...like...like you're a warm cup of tea and I'm something cold, and that all that golden, warm heat inside you is sinking into me and warming me up. Can you do...ooo!"

Twilight went a bit rigid as Fluttershy took it too literally, moving forward and putting her arms around Twilight before pulling her into a hug. "Like...this?"

"Uh...er...well..." she stammered. "Your hands would have been fine, but..." She flushed a shade red, before shaking her head. "Whatever helps you to visualize that. Keep visualizing it, like you're sending that into me, and don't stop for a second."

She raised her wand to the sky again. She took a deep breath and began to trace a new sigil. This one was a pale green, but it was also far more elaborate than the previous ones. She was still drawing it after several seconds, her eyes narrowing and her focus increasing. Her face already began to tighten by the time she finally finished and began to sweep her wand around. In response, a breeze started to blow through the square. It began gentle, but in moments it became stiffer. The gas fire started to whip around a bit along with bits of trash and debris, but Twilight continued to generate it.

Applejack took a step backward as the Nighttouched neared, for she could not only make out the outline of mouths far larger than those of normal lions but what looked like segmented tails with stingers were in their midst. On top of that, the sounds of the earth-shaking footsteps were getting louder and stronger. When she took another step back, however, she began to feel her hair being pulled. She looked up, noticing the growing wind.

By the time a stiff breeze began to whip around the square, Twilight was already sweating freely. She started to grunt with a bit of the strain as she forced her wand to keep moving around. Fluttershy's hood was ripped back, and she instantly closed her eyes and pressed herself tighter into Twilight as she tried to concentrate. The spellcaster's legs began to wobble as the wind grew strong enough to start moving debris around, and sweat started to fall like bullets from her chin. As her knees began to give out all together, Fluttershy clutched her even tighter and kept her held up. Her teeth bared as a visible gale began to circle the area. The flames of the gas light grew taller and more towering from the wind pattern, and a distinct roar echoed around them. Twilight started to cry out as moving her arm became as strenuous as lifting weights and she was nearing the breaking point.

Applejack began to crouch to the ground, as she was nearly being blown over by the power of the wind. The rest of the animals clung to one another and dragged themselves closer to Fluttershy and Twilight to avoid getting blasted away. Still it continued to grow. The smog around them was caught up and the air cleared as it was turned into a smoky twister about them. Yet still it grew stronger, and still Twilight cried as she forced herself to keep moving. Her nostrils flared as she breathed harder and Fluttershy felt a wetness as Twilight’s robe became drenched with her own sweat. Finally, it was all she could manage. With one final gesture, she snapped the wand up and aimed it skyward.

Applejack was blown clean off of her feet and flung against the nearest building as the full force of the wind blast took off. Two dozen windows were shattered and blown in and half the shingles blasted off of the nearest rooftops. A thunderclap ranng through the sky as the wind ascended skyward, and Twilight nearly collapsed in Fluttershy's arms as she alone was able to look up.

She watched as the smog surrounding the city broke like it was a wave rolling in reverse. A huge curtain of gray matter was swept right out of the sky. It wasn't high enough to let the sun shine back in, but it rolled away a good portion of the gloom and mist all across the skyline.

As Twilight weakly looked up and cracked her eyes open and the rest of the animals risked looking as well, they finally saw the clearing sky go far enough to turn black from the Light Eater influence. It continued to sweep from there but they couldn't see how much farther. All that was left was an empty area of the sky; running clean from the gas fire all the way into a sea of darkness.

Applejack stepped away from the walls and looked up with the others. Twilight and Fluttershy continued to search for a moment before they finally saw it.

Very faintly, a pair of moon-like spots formed in the distant darkness and slowly turned to face the direction of the fire. They focused directly on it. Soon after, a series of stars began to emerge from the blackness, encompassing an entire third of the visible skyline. It quickly began to grow brighter as the rhythmic tremors began again, and the moonspots slowly began to grow bigger.

Twilight couldn't help but swallow. The thing was so huge she couldn't even make out its full form. One thing was abundantly clear from the sky beginning to darken about them again, though.

They had its attention, and now it was coming.

"Alright...we distracted it," Twilight half-exhaled. "Now we've got about five minutes to think of what to do now..."

"Less than that, Twilight! Look!"

Still dazzled and weak, Twilight looked up to Applejack. She was pointing down the road, and on looking down it she saw the same swarm of monstrosities stampeding for the square and the fire. Clearing the sky had momentarily let more light in, causing them to become sluggish, but in the wake of the approaching Tantabus and its darkness they were fully active once more. They were so close already she could make out their snarling faces.

Twilight began to sweat again but not from exhaustion. Nevertheless, she forced her legs back up and to step away from Fluttershy. She started to aim her wand forward. Applejack readied her hammer anew. Fluttershy cupped her gloves and sleeves to her mouth, but Spike, Angel, and the rest of her animals prepared themselves for another fight. They watched the things cross past another building and charge into the last crossing. They passed it soon after, and now there was nothing but an alleyway between them and the group in the square. They braced themselves for this new fight...

When, suddenly, Twilight looked up with a puzzled expression.

“Does…anyone hear what sounds like a trackless engine?”

An instant later, a roaring, flaming engine burst out of the alley, raking through the walls on either side, before smashing itself into the building across from it. The two Nighttouched in the lead were tackled by the engine and obliterated against the building façade, smashed deep into it and crushed utterly when the entire side of the structure collapsed on the flaming engine. The rest of the iron vehicle halted at once as the flames on it continued to spread. It now formed an effective barrier blocking off the road.

The women looked up in a mixture of shock and dumbfounded surprise. Applejack nearly dropped her own hammer and gaped at what had just happened. The square was silent save for the sound of the collision slowly dying out and the flames crackling. No one moved or said a word.

A clanking noise finally came from the engine as the side bulkhead was rotated, and a moment later the door swung open only to groan once before snapping off of its hinges all together. Twilight and the others watched as three individuals stumbled out. A figure dressed only in light clothes for high mobility and to show off muscles, a lightly-clad woman in a bandanna who somersaulted out like an acrobat, and a flashing, debonair fencer dressed in elaborate finery like a royal musketeer.

They stared at Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy as soon as they emerged, and the three stared right back.

Twilight and the fencer spoke at the same time.

“Who in Greater Everfree are those people?”

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[FallenFromGlory]

And now the gang's all here.