Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

Nightwatch: Falcon Point

“Cake time everyone!”

The other five girls jumped in their seats. That had been the first thing said aloud since they had loaded into the passenger car on the Manehattan government train two hours ago. Although it had been midnight when the steam carriage came to pick them up, none of them had felt like sleeping since they had arrived at the station and been escorted on board. For the most part, they had simply taken their private seats and sat there, saying nothing and looking out the darkened windows for signs of anything.

That changed now as Pinkie Pie sprang out of her own seat and went for the large hat-bag she had brought. Rarity herself had been rather perplexed when she asked for it while they were packing their things for the trip, as not even she was packing much in the way of luggage. Yet she stunned them all when she unfolded the dining table, set it on top, and opened it to reveal a three layer cake.

Twilight gaped. “You packed an entire cake?”

“Well, duh,” she answered with a bit of an eye roll. “We’re off to save all of Greater Equestria from the Light Eaters and end the eternal night! If that doesn’t call for a party, I don’t know what does!”

“I don’t know if now is really the time to be ‘partying’ or having treats. There’s no telling what all is waiting for us in Equestria or even exactly what we’re up against, but this is definitely going to be the most dangerous thing any of us have done in our lives.”

Dash stared at Twilight a moment before she calmly unbuckled herself from her seat. “Well…sounds like a good time for cake to me, then.”

Twilight looked surprised. “Huh?”

“When you put how bad it’s gonna be like that, I think I’d like some cake to chill out with for a while. Might just be the last one I ever eat.”

“Oh my,” Fluttershy half-muttered. She had been more uncomfortable than any of them since leaving, especially as she had no choice but to leave her animals behind and hope they held out until she got back. “When you say it like that, I should probably have some too.”

“Quite right, darling,” Rarity uneasily added as she rose. “Normally I watch my figure, but considering the circumstances I think I could afford to ‘splurge’ for one day.”

Soon all of them were getting up to get served by Pinkie who, typically, had somehow smuggled a serving trowel in her hair and plates with the rest of her things. When she looked like she was going to go ahead and serve Spike, who Twilight had insisted on bringing in spite of the disdain of the Manehattan government, she ended up getting her own piece.

They were seated again soon after. Unlike the normal rows of a car for large numbers of passengers or the compressed quarters of a sleeping area, this one was lounge like and allowed them to sit around the periphery facing one another, all of them now looking up and each with a plate and fork in hand.

“I’ll admit it’s kinda wild that Manehattan is letting us tag along with this envoy into Mt. Aris,” Dash said in between bites of her own piece. “Haven’t felt this special in a while…”

“Wish we weren’t crossin’ through Griffonstone along the way, much less by Grifftham City, though…” Applejack frowned, picking at her own slice.

“It’s the only way in, though,” Twilight answered. “That bottleneck near the coast means we needed to cross through to get there, and only this envoy is an express that won’t get checked en route. Just remember: we get off separately, and the government for Mt. Aris is only allowing us to head due north to the Equestrian border. Any way east and we violate the agreement.”

“How far north from the dropoff again?” Rarity threw in.

“According to the note? About ten miles.”

“Oh dear. I hope we don’t end up attracting too many stares.”

“Not to worry,” Dash threw in as she finished off her piece. “I’ve been by that station before. That close to the border of Equestria, the place has been deserted for years. By now it’s overgrown with plenty of Nighttouched. Or at least local criminals. Easiest place to squat is in abandoned towns on the border, after all.”

Fluttershy gulped. Rarity grimaced. “How comforting…”

“And we should be arriving at night too,” Twilight threw in. “But don’t worry. Between the six of us, we should be able to handle anything short of a surge, and the ground up to where the station is hasn’t been overtaken by night yet so it shouldn’t be overrun. Getting to the station won’t be an issue.” She exhaled as she looked at her own untouched piece of cake.

“What comes after that is the rough part.”

The train car went silent again. Even Pinkie’s mood seemed to dim a little. Applejack continued to mess around with her piece and Rarity only managed to take a bite of her own. Fluttershy had drawn in on herself and set her cake to one side.

After a time Rarity finally spoke up again. “Well…I must say, I can hardly believe I’m even here right now. A few weeks ago I was just like everyone else. We all accepted that the Nighttouched were just an unfortunate part of life we had to live in fear of. Now look at us. Who would have ever thought we’d be here now? We could end this all. I stopped dreaming years ago that things would ever go back to the way they were. Now they will after this, won’t they?”

“You bet!” Pinkie cheered. “Once we stop the big bad meanie, me and my family will be able to go home! Everyone will get to go home again!”

In spite of how cheery she said this, it wasn’t met with too much enthusiasm. Applejack stopped picking at her cake but only to frown. Rarity started to shift uneasily. Fluttershy let her hair fall over her face. Dash stared at her own empty plate.

“Not everyone,” she half-muttered.

“You mean…if we stop the big bad meanie,” Fluttershy quietly corrected. “Sunset Shimmer was pretty strong when she used two Promethian Sigils and…I’m guessing if this is a person she has…more.”

“First time in my life I’ve ever felt scared ‘bout goin’ into a fight…” Applejack muttered. She almost picked up a bite of cake, but let it fall off the fork back onto the plate as she frowned. “What burns me up is my family still doesn’t even know if I’m alive. Couldn’t get so much as a letter out to ‘em. And if I…” She trailed here, looking up to the others and seeing their own spirits a bit low. “That is…on the off chance I don’t make it back, they’ll never know why or how.”

She picked at her plate one more time before she frowned and simply tossed the plate and cake into the seat nearby, not caring that it flipped over and squished.

“Just like what happened with Apple Bloom.”

This prompted the others to look to her, and they found her leaned up and looking right back at them.

“Listen y’all…I want ya’ to promise me somethin’ right here, right now. Ya’ promise me that if I don’t make it outta this, you’ll let my family know what happened to me.” She grit her teeth a bit. “I always hated askin’ other folks fer favors, but this time I’m tellin’ y’all I don’t think I’ll be able to fight too good ‘less ya’ make that promise.”

Even the thought caused more unease among the group. Twilight shook a little in place, but forced herself to nod. “Sure…sure. Of course.”

Fluttershy swallowed. “Oh dear… Um…Twilight? You seem to be pretty good with Spike, so…um…well…” She trembled. “If…if, um…you know…I don’t suppose you’d be able to take care of Angel and the others, would you? Or…or at least find a way to stop them from turning for good?”

“And I didn’t really want to say this back at Carousel Couture because I didn’t want Ms. Pommel and Ms. Saddles to worry, but…” Rarity paused, pulling out an embroidered hankerchief and dabbing at her forehead and neck. “If…it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’d also appreciate it if…if…” She paled a bit and swallowed. “If someone could go back and at least let them know I won’t be returning. Good grief, now I wish I really had taken that notary public seriously about making out a will… I’d hate to see those two fighting over the company.”

Twilight was squirming a little uncomfortably by now in view of the darkened mood. She looked up and saw Pinkie, however, was getting herself another cake slice, while Dash was leaning back more at ease in her chair.

“Rainbow Dash? I…don’t suppose you’d like to pass anything along to us.”

She shook her head. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Really?” Applejack echoed back. “Sure you don’t got no one ya’ want us to pass along any messages to?”

“I’m not gonna bite the big one up here. Not when I said I still owe so many people money. But even if I do…” She shrugged. “I’ll call it a lucky break. I cheated the reaper back when Cloudsdale fell. Might as well pay up now.”

It wasn’t nearly as comforting as she liked to hear, so Twilight readily turned to the last. “Um, Pinkie Pie? Is…there anything you’d like us to do if worst comes to worst?”

She giggled and waved her hand at it. “Oh Twilight, the worst isn’t gonna happen.”

This answer puzzled a few of them. “Um, it won’t?” Fluttershy asked.

“Of course not! I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and I realized…what are the odds the six of us would have run into each other at just the right time in just the right place with just the right power to stop the big Tantabus in Grifftham City? What are the odds we’d be able to escape from Sunset Shimmer, the Trottinghamites, and Griffonstone? What are the odds we’d have run into Starlight Glimmer to tell us all about Nightmare Moon? Don’t you get it?”

She grinned.

“We’re blessed by Gaia! We’re on a divine mission! We can’t lose!”

Applejack grimaced and leaned back. “Are all them Gaitians this damn thick…?”

Rarity herself sighed. “Twilight, dear, what about you? I hate to be so grim, but…just planning for the possible worst.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m fine.”

“Really? Surely there must be someone you’d want us to talk to. What about your family in Hoofheim?”

She slumped in her seat. “They don’t even remember me. If they never do, it will just be making them feel bad for no reason. And if they do remember one day, then…then it’ll just make things harder on them. Aside from them, the only one I have now is Spike.”

The others began to look up to her again. “Really? There really isn’t anyone you’d tell? Or…anything left that you’d want done?” Fluttershy asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing. Honestly, until a little while ago, when I started finding other people like me who could get sigils without going crazy and finding out there was a chance of stopping the eternal night, I didn’t really have any plans for the rest of my life. Just drifting from one town to another trying to see if there was anything I could do to make a difference…”

“But if this works out,” Dash reminded, “the whole world’s going to go back to the way it was. And there’s nothing you’d want to do then?”

She frowned. “My world won’t go back to the way it was. My family still won’t know me, the academy will still be gone, and everyone I knew in Canterlot Castle including Headmistress Celestia will still be dead.”

“Aw, don’t be like that!” Pinkie chirped. “When ma and pa were forced to pack up the family and move to the quarry, we lost a lot, but we also found so many new things to do! I’d have never have met you or taken up baking if that hadn’t happened! There’s gotta be something you want to do!”

Twilight didn’t answer. She stared at a spot on the floor, but it wasn’t an idle look. She was focused on it and it was clear something was running through her mind. Something that made her hesitate and made her look more uneasy than she had previously.

“There…is one thing…”

She said no more after that. Following a few seconds of silence, Dash shrugged. “Ok…spill it then.”

Twilight only looked more uncomfortable. She clutched the hem of her skirt and uncertainly ground her jaw. “I’m…really not sure I should. Really…really not sure.”

Applejack sighed. “Golldurnit…you ain’t goin’ on again thinkin’ ‘bout how if you spill yer guts that somethin’s gonna happen or go wrong, are you?”

The mage looked up. “This time I’m not worried about a breakout of more Promethian Sigils. I’m worried about something much, much worse.”

The gravity of this voice made it clear this was far more serious than last time, and it was enough to unnerve Applejack all over again.

She looked back down. “When I was a lot younger and just starting out at the academy, my curiosity kept getting the better of me. As soon as I found out that I could do magic, I wanted to learn more about it so I could do even more. So I could live up to what the headmistress wanted for me when she brought me there. Even though I wasn’t from Canterlot or Equestria, from the day I arrived she said I had free reign of the castle grounds. I could go to any building I wanted…except one. The Northern Keep. I figured it was holding a big secret or the more advanced lessons, and…”

She sighed.

“I still don’t know why exactly I did it. I must have wanted so badly to advance, but I snuck out of my room one night and followed her when she went into the Northern Keep. The place was old, abandoned, cluttered, and had one secret door and magical charm after another. I managed to break the charms and find all the hidden doors, and they kept leading deeper and deeper underground. Finally, I got to the bottom and found Celestia along with…”

Twilight’s pallor turned white for a moment.

“…something else.”

The trepidation and fear on her voice was enough to get Fluttershy to grow just as fearful, but the truth was she looked so scared to be saying that phrase that the others were beginning to feel uneasy too.

“Like…what, exactly?” Rarity finally asked.

Twilight closed her eyes, taking a moment to steel herself before shaking her head. “Thirty minutes later, the headmistress made me promise something to her. The first time she had ever asked me to promise her anything. She told me to forget the night ever happened and everything I had seen. Both for my good and for everyone else. She warned me that what happened would only ever be a bad dream so long as I forgot about it.”

By now, the five women all knew to take things that Twilight said in regards to her headmistress very seriously. Hence, all of them began to grow increasingly uncomfortable. After a time, she opened her eyes again.

“Ever since I heard that the Lunar Fall could have been the result of someone actually wanting it to happen, I kept thinking back to what I saw that night. And the more I think about it, the more it scares me. The very last place I want to go in the whole wide world is back into the lowest level of the Northern Keep of Canterlot Castle…but now I know that if we win and we end this night, that’s exactly where I have to go.

“Everyone, what I saw and heard that night scared me so much I have nightmares about it to this day. This is the one instruction of the headmistress that I’ve kept perfectly. Right now, though, I realize that if this night lifts people will be able to enter that castle and that I’m probably the only one still alive who knows there’s something down there that shouldn’t ever see the light of day.”

All of the girls were leaning up now. Pinkie had lost her smile and Fluttershy was trembling.

“If we win but I don’t make it, I want to ask something of the rest of you. Get to Canterlot Castle. Go to the Northern Keep, no matter how it looks or what shape it’s in. Find the way to the fourth sublevel. You’ll eventually come to a stone staircase leading straight down. Do not go down there, but listen for something. Anything. And if you hear anything, no matter what it is, I want you to do whatever means you have to in order to collapse that entire castle on top of it. Whatever’s down there can never get out.”

This new prospect left the group feeling rather anxious. The thought of Nightmare Moon alone was enough to agitate them, but now Twilight was speaking as if she was telling a ghost story that was real. It made the interior of the car far colder and had caused them to lose what was left of their appetites. Even Spike was lowering his ears and starting to whine.

Seeing the reaction, Twilight sighed and shook her head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you all something else on top of everything...”

“You know what?” Dash suddenly spoke up, far more bright. “Pinkie’s right. We got this. We got nothing to worry about.”

“And besides,” Rarity added, “I always tell Ms. Saddles not to get so distraught over the winter line-up that she forgets the fall collection completely. Let’s concentrate on Nightmare Moon.”

“I’d much rather worry about just one scary monster than two…” Fluttershy quietly added.

Twilight hesitated before nodding more readily. “Right, of course. We should worry about her and forget this what-if stuff for now. Let’s just settle in and enjoy the ride. It’s the last rest we’ll get for a little while…”

---

The trip itself took two and a half days, even non-stop. The six had all of their meals prepared on the train and used their passenger car as a sleeper. All in all, it was a pretty comfortable ride. If they didn’t have the pressure of their destination coming upon them, they would have found the whole thing a nice diversion. Instead, they kept the windows drawn for most of the time as they crossed first into Fillydelphia and then beyond that into Griffonstone, eventually passing through Grifftham City itself.

They at least risked a peek outside when that happened. Much of the sky was still clear, but not from Twilight’s spell. Over half the industries in the town were still shut down and much of the city looked just as ruined as it had been when they left. Most unsettling of all was the jagged shadow that lingered over part of it, even if some of it was faded.

“Reckon that’ll go away with the rest once we take care o’ Nightmare Moon?” Applejack asked.

“If the rest of the shadow goes away, then it should, shouldn’t it?” Fluttershy added.

“Hopefully,” Twilight answered. “Here most of all. If another Tantabus comes, I don’t think we’d be able to stop it before it reached the ocean…”

Most of the last leg of the trip took them over unwanted familiar territory, and it didn’t help when they passed into the shadow of the Hyperborean Mountains. The setting sun ensured that they remained in them as they arched around the tip and began to head north again. Whenever any of them looked out, their eyes always went to the tops of the hills—waiting for signs of any shadow or Nighttouched eyes. Nevertheless, when they began to distance away from them again, they still had seen nothing.

The sun was still in the sky but low to the horizon when they finally reached their destination. Falcon Point was so poorly maintained that it looked as if it was nearly abandoned. The station was still functional but the platform was rotting and weather-beaten and the old station house was abandoned. The only reason there was any life there at all was because Twilight saw signs of a Mount Aris company setting out to meet the envoy before they proceeded into the country. At that time, the six finally dismounted. They didn’t go far initially; just enough to leave the engine behind. After that, they waited out of view until the whistle blew and the train pulled out again and they were once more alone.

The six women took a moment to look ahead. The small community that had been at Falcon Point had long since packed up and left; leaving it deserted like so many other towns near the border to Equestria. Every building around them was dark and most of them looted. The one paved road leading north, once picturesque and well-maintained, was desolate and empty as well as starting to overgrow. The hills ahead of them loomed tall and overgrown with trees; with the road eventually entering a forest route. It was likely lovely when the gardens and roads of the countryside were still maintained eight years ago. Now it blotted out the almost-set sun.

Both Fluttershy and Spike seemed to let out a small whimper. Twilight took a deep breath and looked herself over. Aside from her normal traveling clothes all she had was a solid stave to act as a wand. She looked behind her. Applejack’s clothes were mended and her hammer was slung at her hip. Rainbow Dash had a new outfit just as loose as they old one and her tightened fists. Fluttershy had changed into a somewhat more fitting dress with a higher hem to allow herself to move faster and a walking stick. Rarity had switched not only to more practical clothes but had brought a collapsed parasol to turn into a rapier as necessary. Finally, Pinkie was much better dressed and, at Twilight’s insistence, was brandishing a soup spoon as a focal point for a weapon of her own.

She exhaled as she reached into her pocket and produced the crystalline key.

“Alright, we made it. Just one ten mile walk, one last train ride, and we’re there. If anyone wants to turn back, speak up now.”

Fluttershy kept quivering, but said nothing. Pinkie looked eager to go. Applejack pulled out her hammer and hefted it. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Any Nighttouched in there now, they’re only gonna get worse the longer we wait for it to get dark,” Dash shrugged.

Twilight nodded back. “Alright. It’s pretty much a straight shot, even if I was in a coach last time most of the way. Follow me.”

---

The road was quiet and still, but that was hardly a source of comfort. At this time of year there should have been crickets, birds, and buzzing insects, but as soon as the train was gone the area was almost totally silent save for the occasional gust of wind. They managed to leave the former dwellings behind by the time it truly started to get dark, but that only left the forest to grow darker and thicker around them.

“Am I the only one who thinks it would have been a good idea to plan this trip out in broad daylight?” Dash moaned.

“With all this tree cover, I don’t think it would have mattered too much,” Twilight exhaled. “This way, the sun will be up again by the time we reach the Castle of the Two Sisters.”

“Won’t it not matter?” Fluttershy asked.

“Technically…but if the night ends, then it will. And maybe keeping it eternal night requires some effort on her part. If it does, we’ll have her at a disadvantage.”

As night kept falling, the road ahead seemed like a straight, neverending tunnel into progressively more blackness. After walking the sixth mile the road finally terminated. What was left was an old wagon path that was even more overgrown, but Twilight and Spike led them on along that. Two miles later, it was getting so overgrown that they had to push through some grasses and sedges. On the good side, since the place was void of life, they didn’t have to watch for snakes.

Rarity began to look around their sides uneasily. “Are you sure we can’t risk just a small amount of light? If it gets much darker, we won’t be able to even see where we’re going.”

“We keep the light out, and our voices down, for that matter,” Applejack answered. “Less we see, the better.”

She sighed. “One thing is for certain… When this is all over, I’m never going for a ‘nature hike’ again for the rest of my life.”

As they crossed the final mile, the canopy was growing so thick they had to start pushing branches out of the way. It caused a bit of misery when Pinkie pushed one away, still her normal happy and energetic self, and snapped it right back in Rainbow Dash’s face, but other than that the way still remained clear.

“Real quiet and spooky!” she remarked. “Maybe it’s not Nighttouched! What if it’s ghosts? Or ghouls? Or goblins?”

“I said keep quiet!” Applejack loudly whispered back. “We don’t wanna rile any Nighttouched up! I already told ya’ it’s better we don’t see any!”

“I’m…not so sure about that…” Fluttershy spoke up nervously. “Even where I lived, it never seemed to be this quiet…”

“Hey, quiet means no Nighttouched, right?” Dash shrugged.

“Not this quiet. Do you think something scared them away?”

“What?” Dash snickered. “Don’t be silly. What could scare away Nighttouched?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of finding out…” Flutterhy half-muttered.

Pinkie thought about that before letting out a deep gasp. “Whoa…what if there really are ghouls n’ ghosts n’ goblins out here?” She began to frantically pat herself down. “I need to get my spoon!”

“Just relax, everyone,” Twilight cut in. “Spike’s beginning to sniff the ground. We must nearly be there.”

Quieting down once more, the six only went about another hundred yards before the area flattened out again and widened. The ground was still dirt and the forest still grew thickly around them, but the area opened in a small clearing. At this point, it was so dim that it was nearly impossible to see anything other than a faint purple light poking through some tree branches, and none of them could see any signs of human development. Nevertheless, Spike lowered his head and continued to sniff more vigorously. Twilight stuck to him and slowed as they went closer.

A bit further along, the clearing terminated and gave way to thicker vegetation. However, Spike continued to venture forward and passed through the bushes and grass bunches. Twilight followed him to the edge, before halting. She turned and looked back.

“It should be just up ahead. Let me go unlock it first.”

Turning back around, she pressed into the vegetation after Spike; continuing on more slowly.

The other five were left standing in the clearing. Fluttershy continued to look nervous about the situation, and Pinkie continued to look happy and eager, but the other three simply tried to stay calm as they waited.

Applejack turned her head one way and another. “Y’know…it does seem a bit quieter out here than normal. Least compared to where I come from.”

“Well, I’m all for that,” Rarity instantly responded. “You weren’t forced to try and start a train engine surrounded by monsters in Grifftham City. I’m already dreading what manner of grease stains I’ll get from this one…”

“For cryin’… We’re ‘bout to go up ‘gainst some big nightmare queen or whatever and yer worried about stains?”

“I’ll have you know that every outfit I wear is a handmade work of art! There’s a reason it was such a chore to decide which ones to pack knowing they could be decimated!”

“How ‘bout packin’ somethin’ practical instead?”

“Pipe down.”

Rarity frowned. “Oh, practical… Like a wide-brimmed hat in a place that has no sunlight?”

“It’s what I’m accustomed too! I’d feel naked runnin’ in here without a hat! Least ya’ could’ve wore pants!”

“Would you two quiet down?”

“‘Pants’? Oh, please, darling. Only Griffonstone ladies wear pants. Government-issued ones, by the way.”

“Well they sure make more sense than those silly dresses. With all them gears and steam you got in Manehattan, it’s a wonder you don’t get ‘em caught in-”

Both were cut off as Dash stepped back and, as indiscretely as possible, put her hands up and put them over their mouths.

“Could you two cut your yapping?” she hissed in a loud whisper.

Applejack frowned and pulled her hand off while Rarity did so more quickly after a moment. “What’s the big idea?”

The Hunstman’s eyes looked out into the woods around them. “We’re not alone out here…”

---

Twilight kept pushing forward, even though the going was a lot worse now. Moving into the brush and undergrowth had served to block out the last bit of light from the closing night sky, so she was practically bumbling along even with her eyes adjusted. She was able to keep following after Spike, but she tripped on two separate roots, bonked her head against one low-hanging branch, and even earned a yelp from the dog by accidentally stepping on his tail once.

“Sorry!” she quickly apologized, before clasping her hand over her mouth. As Spike took a moment to recover, she glanced behind her. She was about fifty feet in by now, but she could still make out the brighter colors of the rest of the group; particularly Pinkie’s vivid hair. She looked back forward soon after and followed on, but it was only a few more steps before Spike stopped again.

“Oh, come on! I said I was sorry!” she called out to him as she kept approaching, putting her hands in front of her to fumble along. “I won’t do it agai-”

She cut herself off as her hand grasped a bit of hard material. It wasn’t rock, but rather had the abrasive consistency of concrete. Quickly, she felt along it and realized it was at a man-made angle and dimensions. She felt further and made out the edge of a set of steps.

She lit up on realizing she had found the base of the platform, and started to move forward as she tentatively put her feet onto the steps one after another. She managed to touch down and walk up six of them before feeling a flat surface that had to be the platform. She quickly put one hand in front of her afterward and waved it around as she kept moving forward. The other hand reached into her pocket and pulled out the key.

“It’s got to be around here… Just got to keep feeling…keep feeling…” she muttered aloud.

“Need some light?”

Twilight rooted herself to the spot. In a heartbeat, she forgot all about the platform. The voice didn’t wait for confirmation. She heard a single snap of fingers a moment later.

A small light like an oil lamp went off right in front of her, hovering over an outstretched hand. It illuminated the side of the abandoned train.

Leaning against it was Sunset Shimmer, smiling as her green eyes sparkled in the flames.

Spike instantly reared back and growled at her. Twilight herself was too shocked at finding her there. Before she could recover, the woman leaned off of the train and began to approach. The dog snarled and took off for her the moment she did.

Keeping her eyes on Twilight, Sunset held out her free hand and quickly performed a gesture to draw a green sigil and execute it just as he lunged at her. A ball of concentrated air flung out of her palm a moment later and struck the dog in mid-leap. He yelped as he was knocked clean out of the sky with enough force to fling him off of the platform all together.

Twilight recovered at that, but only enough to wheel around to him and gasp. “Spike!”

“Oh, don’t worry. I don’t kill small animals,” Sunset coolly answered. “Your friends, on the other hand…”

A loud humming suddenly bellowed over Twilight’s head. Hearing the noise, her face twisted in horror as she looked to the sky. Only now did lights begin to come to life throughout it; progressively highlighting portions of a Trottingham airship that had been in idle hover right over the platform the entire time.

In particular, she could see the cannons starting to light up…

“No!” The moment she screamed this, she tried to spin around to shout a warning.

Too late. Five of the cannons erupted at once, and after a brief sound of rocket-like whistling, the entire clearing where her companions stood lit up in waves of explosions and fire. The force ripped out the trees nearest the edge and almost blew Twilight backward off her feet even from her distance. She had turned around just in time to see it happen.

Her mouth hung open but she could say nothing. Her eyes shrank into pinpricks. She began to shake violently all over as her limbs turned to water. The horrendous memories came flowing back all at once to juxtapose over this new nightmare, and it was too much for her agonized mind to even comprehend.

She could offer no resistance as Sunset came up behind her, already drawing another sigil.

“And I’m guessing right now you’re in no shape to perform a counter to a sleeping charm, are you?”

Completing the sigil, she touched the back of her head and sent the energy flowing into it. Twilight’s face suddenly turned flaccid before her eyes glazed over. A moment later, with barely so much as an exhale, she went totally limp and collapsed to the platform.

Sunset smiled over her as she dismissed the flame in her one hand. There was no need for it now that the clearing was ablaze. More lights came on overhead as the full airship was outlined and the engines began to fire up again. As it turned on its floodlights, it illuminated the rest of the platform. Soon after, other figures in armor or steam gadgetry, including the royal guard, approached her from behind.

By now, her look had an almost greedy gleam to it as, without looking away from the unconscious Twilight, she leaned her hand up and snapped her fingers. “Get her on board. We’re headed to the rune point immediately on the shortest possible route.”

Her teeth flashed.

“Buckle in boys. You’re about to see some real magic.”

Author's Note:

I wrote this one and the last one at the same time, so I figured I'd post it now.

I apologize in advance for how similar this scene is to one in the MLP Movie. To be honest, I've been a bit upset that Sunset Shimmer has been taking on traits of Tempest Shadow throughout the first part of this story in spite of my attempts to make her a separate character. However, I'm definitely not headed for the same resolution.

Comments

[Djmill]

Lots of interesting character building conversation, here. Pinkie apparently has concluded that they have plot armor. She might be right, but let's hope she also knows that the surest way to lose it is to start depending on it too much. Twilight's parallels with Sunset are starting to seem suspiciously thorough, now. Celestia should have strengthened the security around whatever's down there after Sunset sneaked in unless she actually wants her special top pupil to get through it. If Twilight pulled it off, then either Celestia didn't do a good enough job or she intentionally left them that weak.

No provisions for the journey? Just how short do they expect this trip to be?

I'm guessing it's so creepily quiet near the station because Sunset's keeping everything away while she waits for Twilight. Why, exactly, does Twilight leave the others behind? Does unlocking it need to be done before the first-time visitors will be able to see it, or something?

Well executed and vicious ambush by Sunset. Of course Twilight's friends weren't actually killed by the cannons, it would be a terrible waste of characters, but Twilight doesn't know that. The smart thing for Sunset to do now would be to keep Twilight unconscious all the way until the theft of her Anima Viri is completed, but Sunset's the type to enjoy gloating too much for that. It wouldn't surprise me if Sunset tells Twilight the entire plan in full detail, just to rub her face in what's going to happen and how completely Sunset has beaten her. This would, incidentally, tell Twilight exactly how to take Sunset's Anima Viris by force instead, if she can escape and gain the upper hand somehow.

[Piccolo Sky]

9990142
I definitely see that as a weakness in Sunset's character, but I do think it's part of her character...as opposed to something convenient for the purposes of a plot. It's like Silver Quill pointed out in his video essay: the one trait that Sunset retains both as a villain and as a protagonist is her need to prove herself "better" than her opponents. Victories mean nothing to her unless her opponents admit they were defeated.

[Djmill]

9990286
Agreed; the "wouldn't surprise me" part of my comment was based on her personality, not the needs of the plot. It may also be convenient for the plot, but it's something completely in character for Sunset to do.