Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

Daybreak: Secret Rendezvous

While Rarity had used most of the intact clothes among everyone to assemble her own outfit, there were enough left over for Twilight Sparkle to dress herself in something reasonably clean and neat that wouldn’t attract too much attention. The next morning, after Rarity gave her a quick new hair style in order to obscure her a little more, she headed out with Pinkie before the sun was up. Fortunately, their trip through the woods was uneventful, and the two arrived on the edge of town before dawn. With that done, Twilight spent a little of the pocket change everyone had managed to scrape together to call a steam cab and was off for Manechester.

Approaching the city was a bit of a jarring experience in and of itself. It might not have been quite as filthy as Griffonstone, but considering the fact that the city was still first and foremost an industrial hub that wasn’t saying much. The waterways on the side of the road quickly turned foul, the sky quickly turned hazy, and the buildings began to be stained with soot the closer she got.

Eventually, buildings, warehouses, and factories began to arise on the road on either side of Twilight and the streets began to fill with people. She didn’t like the fact that a fair number of them were magistrates or Trottingham military personnel; more so than in other countries she had visited as of late. There was nothing to be done about it, however, and she merely tried to settle in until the steam cab finally rolled to a stop within the first district of the town. Once there, she paid the driver, dismounted, and began her long walk.

The hours slowly ticked by as she made her way down the streets. She kept her eyes forward and open for spotting any potential trouble, but none of the local authorities looked her way other than a cursory glance. The rest of the civilians treated her the same as any other pedestrian.

Eventually, she began to make her way out of the industrial district toward the commercial one. Once there, the locals became less factory workers and more store proprietors and family members. News stands began to show up, with paperboys calling out the headlines. Twilight paid a bit more attention to this, listening for any news that pertained to them. However, not only was there nothing about the forced relocation, but what news she did hear mostly had to do with Trottingham fortifying itself to occupy Appleloosa while their government was collapsing. Other than that, she tried to ignore the growling of her own stomach every time she passed any form of food or market vendor.

Around the early afternoon she finally reached the street that her destination was on. Turning a corner, she began to walk down it and read the buildings along the way for the address. She ended up nearly counting to the right number when she heard another shout coming down the street; this one not from a news hawker.

“Come one! Come all! See the amazing feats of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

She groaned and grasped the bridge of her nose.

She traveled another city block before she finally spotted her. Standing on top of a public bench that served as her stage was a woman clad in a wide-brimmed hat and cloak that was purple and dotted with stars. She was making one grandiose gesture after another with a stage prop magic wand in one hand and a deck of cards in the other. Several set up yet unlit fireworks were arranged around her. There were a few people pausing to watch her gestures and proclamations, but most of them simply avoided her as much as they could and kept walking.

“Shock and amaze at Trixie’s marvelous mind reading! Gasp and awe at Trixie’s priceless proficient prestidigitation! Wonder and excite at Trixie’s incredibly inconceivable illusions! Step right up and for the low price of only 25 pence you’ll step into a world of magic!”

“25?!” one person shouted. “There’s a magic show up the street for 10!”

“Proper magic costs extra!” the woman shouted back angrily.

Twilight grimaced and moved to the other side of the street before proceeding. Her pace quickened as she tried to hurry past as quickly as possible, keeping her head forward and actually raising her hand to half-cover her face. Nevertheless, she heard the shouting continue to grow louder as she neared—a mixture of more self-promotions followed shortly after by shouting at the audience.

“You there, sir! Care to see if the Great and Powerful Trixie can guess your weight? Or you there, madame! Step right up and see if you can stump Trixie in the cards! Or you there…”

A pause.

“You!”

Twilight’s teeth grit a little, but she kept on walking.

“You! I’d recognize you anywhere! You get right back here this instant, you! First you cut in on my market back in Fillydelphia and Manehattan, and then you nearly get me killed by a homicidal witch and her band of steam soldiers! I’m not done with you! Trixie is going to give you a piece of her mind before she shoves her great and powerful foot up your-”

“Hey!” a deeper, angrier voice called out.

“Stay out of it! This is business!”

“Hey you! You have a permit to perform here?”

“Permit?! Pft! The Great and Powerful Trixie has no need for silly permits with her repertoire! Especially not in the commercial district! Now buzz off!”

“You have fireworks in a main thoroughfare! That’s an ordinance violation without proper permits!”

“Oh for the love of…”

Twilight didn’t hear any more as the woman apparently dismounted the bench to argue, but she kept rushing to get away from there as quickly as she could. Already, her heart was beating faster after hearing what that woman had yelled in public loud enough for a hundred people to hear. She hoped no one paid much attention as she quickly rushed on to her destination.

Only about half a block later she came to the main office of the rail company that Starlight had selected. Lowering her hand at last she took a moment to glance around and make sure that no authorities were nearby…or, at least, not eyeing her. There were a pair of soldiers loitering around the front, but they were chatting with each other in what she presumed was idle conversation instead of anything official. With that in mind she took a deep breath and walked up to the stairs leading to the front entrance, and within moments she was passing inside.

The building interior was simple enough. Mostly a large open entry space with a few benches to one side, but all facing a wide spreading counter in the back with three separate stations manned by three separate clerks. Each one was alert and at the ready. There were other people in the back, but they were busy on other tasks and none of them seemed to be any type of authority.

She settled on the one to the far right. She walked up to him and forced a small smile. “Hello there.”

“Hello ma’am,” the clerk responded, “how can I help you?”

“My company needs a freight delivery. I know this is rather last minute, but we’re hoping to secure an engine by tomorrow morning.”

The clerk paused, a little taken aback. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we have nearly a fully docket as it is. We’re only really available for express orders, and the charge will be extra.”

“Oh, that’s perfectly fine. This is an urgent matter. It’s a shipment for the front line.”

The clerk hesitated again, looking a little caught, before nodding. “Ah, I see. One moment, please.” He turned to one side, reached into a set of small cabinets near his station, and began to withdraw forms from it. It took about two minutes for him to come back with at least ten sheets of paper. “Now you’ll just need to fill these out. And once you’re done, we’ll have a messenger rush out the critical papers to the Manechester Railyard to make sure the proper authorities are notified so we can start getting things moving.”

She nodded back. “Thank you.”

The clerk finished by passing her a dip pen along with a well. Twilight accepted it and immediately went to work. Fortunately, even not accounting for her briefings with Starlight, Twilight had not only been thinking about what she needed to put down since the night before but had experience with writing phony papers in the past. In no time at all, she had finished the first three forms and passed them back to the clerk.

At that point, the door to the office opened. She turned and looked briefly, but found it was just another customer. Ignoring it, she went back to work. She managed to get two more forms before the door opened again. Once more, she glanced behind herself.

A moment later she snapped her head forward and did her best not to look nervous. It was a soldier of Trottingham. Swallowing, she went back to filling out her forms; all the while staying quiet to try and listen for what the soldier might be doing. Unfortunately, she didn’t hear any footsteps or movement behind her—a good indication that the soldier was posting herself at the door and not budging.

It took her a bit longer to fill out the sixth form, but still the person hadn’t moved. She was sweating a little by the time she filled out the seventh. By the eighth form, it began to become noticeable.

“Ma’am?” the clerk asked. “Are you feeling alright?”

“It’s…it’s nothing, heh,” she quickly said, “Just, um…feeling a little too much of this Manechester fog, you know? More used to being in the country, heh-heh…”

The first customer turned and left soon afterward, making Twilight more nervous as she realized she was getting so antsy that someone who came in after her was finishing before her. Soon another customer entered and had gotten his own set of forms by the time she finished filling out the ninth. She had gotten halfway through the tenth when she heard movement at last. The boots of the soldier were clicking against the floor, and they began to approach the counter.

She swallowed again. She stopped in the middle of her writing. She struggled to keep a straight face as she heard the sound get closer. Closer…

And, finally, went to one side.

“Sir, I would like to speak with you outside for a moment.”

“Wha…what?”

“Sir, please step outside.”

“What’s this about? I’m just commissioning an engine.”

“Sir, step outside now.”

A brief pause followed, before the man suddenly snapped around and bolted for the entrance. He didn’t make it far, however. The Trottingham soldier reached out and seized him, and quickly struck a blow at the back of his knee as he tried to push past that caused his legs to falter out beneath him. He sprawled to the ground and the soldier got on top of him to pin him down. Moments later, the doors burst open and two more soldiers rushed in. They quickly helped their comrade to restrain the man and pulled him up and off the ground. Soon they were dragging him out.

Twilight was rather stunned at the whole display, but the clerk looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry about that, ma’am. It’s almost a daily occurrence now. In times like this, we get a lot of smugglers. The authorities have been patrolling our offices regularly but some occasionally still get through and the rest still don’t know well enough to stay away.”

Twilight, trying her best to look normal, smiled. “Quite all right.” A minute later, she finished the last form and pushed it over to him.

He smiled and nodded in reply. After giving a glance over the final page he looked up to her. “This looks well and in order. Just one minute.”

He stepped away and into the back. Twilight was left standing there, twiddling her thumbs and looking around while trying to be inconspicuous. She could hear some scuffling and commotion outside with the arrested smuggler but mostly she nervously waited for the soldier to come back. Although it was several minutes, the soldier was still gone when the clerk returned.

“Your request is on its way, ma’am. One of our couriers is delivering it as we speak. If you would like to come back in about an hour…”

“Oh, oh! No thank you! I’d rather wait.”

The clerk hesitated, but simply shrugged. “That will be fine as well, ma’am. If you would just like to have a seat over there.”

“Oh…sure! Of course!”

With that, Twilight made her way over to the bench and sat down. After that, she drew herself up and put her hands on her lap.

There was a clock just over the counter, and she had to fight not to stare at it for the next hour. It didn’t help that only one more customer came in before the soldier returned and took her post. This time, it was impossible to not meet gazes with her at least once, and after that Twilight struggled to stay calm as she kept fantasizing about her coming over and accosting her at any moment. Other customers came in and left. At one point, there were five of them in total, but eventually the number thinned out again to only one more besides her. All of them elected to leave while their requests were being processed, which only made Twilight more uneasy as that made her stand out.

The hour finally came and went but still nothing. Another fifteen minutes came and went and still she hadn’t been called up. She began to grow concerned. Was she being kept there? Stalled? Were more soldiers massing outside? She got so antsy and worked up that she began to fidget a little. In another few moments, she would have stood up and tried walking to look outside…

“Ma’am?”

The voice of the clerk distracted her just in time. She turned and saw him holding up a slip of paper, motioning to her. After a pause, she rose and walked up to him.

“You’re all set, ma’am. We have your confirmation form and the number of the locomotive. Loading time is 3 AM tonight.”

The sound of the front door opening went off behind Twilight, but she ignored it this time to try and finish up the transaction as fast as possible. She nodded back to the clerk. “Thank you.”

The clerk set the paper down in between them. “I’ll just need you to sign here to authorize billing to your company.”

“Of course.” She once again accepted the dip pen and began to write on it. As she did, she happened to catch the clerk looking up for a moment, seeming somewhat puzzled. That made her tense a little, but she tried to finish up the signature as fast as possible.

A moment later she was passing the slip back. Soon after doing so, she heard the door open behind her again. The clerk accepted the paper and took it back to file it while passing the receipt to her. “Now do you have any last minute changes you need to make to your order?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Are you sure? It looks like your friend was trying to pass you one discretely.”

Twilight looked a little puzzled. “Excuse me?”

“The woman who just walked in. She tucked a note into your back pocket while you were signing.”

Twilight stood there silently for a moment, staring back at the clerk. She then spun around to the door, but it was already shutting again and whoever had opened it was gone. The soldier posted there was looking out the way the woman had come, but apparently hadn’t noticed anything until the clerk said something and only now appeared concerned.

Soon after, she patted her back pocket. A crinkling sound, that of paper that wasn’t in there before, resulted. Looking a bit unnerved, she reached into the pocket, grasped the paper, and quickly brought it in front of her.

It was a handwritten note.

Head to the outdoor café at the corner of Stallion and Heather.

Twilight’s jaw dropped slightly. She looked back up but there was nothing left to see. She stood there a moment, glancing between the clerk and the exit, before she finally reached over and snatched the receipt off the counter. Cramming both it and the note in her pocket and almost forgetting about the soldier by now, she rushed right for the door.

Seconds later, she was pushing it open and stepped over the threshold. She quickly glanced around, looking for any sign of who had left the note behind. The street was busier now. Especially since another group of soldiers was surrounding the street magician the way Twilight had come and were accosting her rather severely. Finally, her eyes spotted one person walking away from her and turning into a nearby alley. The back was facing her, but the person was tall and was dressed in a woman’s traveling coat and hat. Most of her hair was done up and underneath it, yet just before she vanished into the alley the smog and gloom above the city parted just enough for a ray of light to shine through. It struck her hair for the briefest instant, and Twilight saw it.

Rainbow iridescence.

Twilight’s eyes shrank into pinpricks as she gasped. She was frozen to the spot for several seconds of disbelief and shock. Then she ran down the stairs and for the alley as fast as her legs could carry her.

When she reached it and looked inside, aside from trash and a bend further in the path, she saw nothing. She quickly ran through the alley and turned the corner at the end. The area up ahead opened into another street, but there was no sign of the person. She dashed to the end of it and looked out again. This street was even busier than the previous one, and she winced as there were more people to try and look through and around. For several seconds she glanced one way and another, wondering if she lost the person, when she spotted the hat from before far down one end of the street.

Instantly, she took off after that person, pushing her way through the pedestrians a little as she ran. She managed to gain ground on the person for a few moments, but she kept weaving in and out of view behind others around her. Eventually, Twilight reached an intersection, but shortly after doing so she froze. She realized she had lost the person, and right where the path split three different ways. She glanced one way and another, looking desperately for her, before finally she caught a glimpse far in the distance down the left road. She soon vanished behind more pedestrians again, but Twilight turned and bolted after her.

On the chase went. Twilight tried her best to get around the crowded streets and close the distance between her and the person, but every time she gained ground the figure would duck down a new street or a new alley and by the time she figured out where she had gone she would be behind again. It didn’t take long before Twilight lost track of where she was in the city and where she had been, but that didn’t stop her from chasing after the person. Eventually, her more sensible side told her that the hat and coat could belong to any assortment of people in Trottingham. That she might have, in fact, been chasing the wrong person. Still she didn’t give up the hunt.

Finally, Twilight rounded the corner into another alley. This was another one with a bend in the path up ahead and, once again, she saw no one there. She was panting and sweating a little herself by now, but she broke into a full run anyway and quickly went to the turn. She snapped around the corner as fast as she could…

Only to run headfirst into a person coming from the other side.

“Oof!”

The force of the collision caused Twilight to fall to the ground, just before who she had run into did the same, dropping something heavy in the process. Twilight had to take a moment to gain her bearings in spite of her urgency, but soon she had them and began to push herself up again.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I have to…”

As she quickly spat out an apology, her eyes looked to who she had run into…and she stopped again.

“Sunset?”

The fiery-haired girl still looked nervous to even be out in public by herself, though not nearly as much as she used to. She looked more tense that she had just run into someone. She was still rubbing her head before she looked around herself. She spotted a cloth bundle nearby, obviously what had fallen, and began to reach for it when she looked up on hearing her name. Her eyes met Twilight’s and at once she looked like a kid with her hand caught in a cookie jar.

“Uh…um…”

“What are you doing here?”

Sunset winced. She began to look around. “I…that is…I just…I…”

After a moment Twilight frowned. “Please don’t tell me that you ran out to get the cigarettes after all.”

“No…I mean, yes! I mean…I…it’s…”

The mage let out a groan. “I can’t believe it! Are you crazy? There are soldiers all over Manechester! I’ve been getting the eye from them all day and they don’t even know me! They’ll identify you in a heartbeat! After what we said last night, and after how much you’ve been scared to death of getting arrested, how could you do something like this? It’s one thing if you want to put yourself at risk for tobacco, but risking Pinkie’s family along with everyone else for it?”

“I…I…” Sunset could only stammer.

Twilight glowered down at her a moment longer, before her eyes went over to the cloth bundle that Sunset had been going for. She sighed as she reached down for it. “Well, maybe you can share with everyone else who smokes, because it looks like you certainly got plenty…”

“Wait!” Sunset suddenly outburst, reaching for her. “No! Don’t…!”

Twilight didn’t listen. She reached over and snatched up the bundle. However, as her hands grasped the cloth, the weight of what was beneath fell out and to the ground with a loud clatter.

Twilight’s angry look turned into surprise as Sunset winced. There were no cigarettes in the bundle—just an old helmet.

The mage stared at it for a few moments as Sunset turned her head away in embarrassment. She looked confused, and leaned down to inspect it a bit closer before her memory clicked.

“Is this…the helmet that steam knight wore who always hung around you?”

Sunset didn’t answer. She kept her head turned away.

Slowly, things began to connect for Twilight. “You didn’t want to go to Manechester to get cigarettes. You wanted to get this…”

Sunset kept looking away but muttered. “When I was on the run on my own, I hid out in town when I was trying to jump the border. I couldn’t do it, and…and that was weighing me down. So I had to leave it…”

“But why do you have it? Why doesn’t…”

She trailed off.

Sunset twisted her lip. “You said it yourself. I never would have gotten away from the government alone. Well…” She sighed. “Not the whole way, at least…”

Twilight didn’t say any more. She looked back down at the helmet. Separated from the rest of the armor, it looked far simpler. The various dents and dings on it stood out, along with the stains of what could be blood.

“I treated him just as badly as the rest of the people under me. I didn’t care about him any more than the rest of them. But when they all turned on me at last, when I was helpless…he saved me. The only reason I’m alive is because of him. And…and I don’t know why. And now I’ll never know.”

She finally turned and looked back at the helmet herself.

“That’s all I have left of him. He took it off and put it on me when he shoved me away. I couldn’t…I mean…if there was a chance I could take it with me then…I had to…”

Twilight looked up at her. “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”

She nearly scowled as she looked away again. “I’m already pathetic enough as it is without my magic. I didn’t need to let you all know I’m even weaker than that…”

“Caring about other people isn’t weakness.”

Her lips curled. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I didn’t care about him.”

“Maybe you didn’t until that moment, but you do now.”

Sunset’s face eased when she heard that. She stared at the ground but said no more.

Twilight swallowed. She looked back down at the helmet. After a moment, she picked it up as well as the cloth. She wrapped it back up again and held it out to Sunset.

She glanced up at her momentarily, then back down again. After a few seconds, she finally reached out and almost snatched it away from Twilight before putting her arms around it.

“Don’t tell the others.”

“Sunset, it’s-”

“Don’t. Just tell them I went for cigarettes. They already hate me for everything else. What’s one more thing? I’d rather people think I’m selfish than weak.”

Twilight nearly protested more, but let it go. She began to rise soon after. A few moments later and Sunset began to push up as well.

“Forget that. What are you doing out here? Isn’t the commercial district the other way?”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh no…I can’t believe I forgot!” She began to step around Sunset, much to the latter’s surprise, to go running again, before she sighed and slumped. “Oh, what’s the point… She’s long gone anyway. Besides, there’s no way it was her… I had to have just been seeing things…”

“What are you talking about?”

Twilight began to reach into her pocket. “I was at the rail station. Everyone went smoothly more or less. I got the order in and I got the receipt. We’re all set to go tonight. Before I could get it, though, someone came in behind me and slipped a note in my pocket.” She pulled out the slip of paper and passed it forward to Sunset. Shifting the bundle to one hand, she took it up and unfurled it.

A few moments later, her eyes widened.

“I have no idea who it was,” Twilight went on. “I didn’t get a look at them. Well…except for their backside, I think. I don’t know if it was a trick of the light or something, but…but I swear I almost saw…”

“This is…her handwriting.”

Twilight looked up to Sunset in surprise. The woman’s own eyes had widened as she looked over the note.

“You think so too?!” she nearly shouted.

Sunset looked rather bewildered and confused, but she slowly nodded. “I saw it enough times on a chalkboard to know… But that’s…that’s impossible…” She glanced back up and to Twilight. “Right?”

The mage nervously exhaled. “It happened right in front of me. I watched her die that night along with the rest of the class. A lot of things happened that night that didn’t make sense, but I definitely saw that. That’s why I couldn’t believe it. But…it was an explosion…they never recovered all of the bodies as much as I could tell… It happened right there. She never left the carriage. I was looking at her. And yet…”

Sunset glanced back down at the note. She frowned soon after. “It sounds impossible based on what you’re telling me, but even if it wasn’t I’d still not like this. Who would have known you were going to be there at that rail station? And why would they leave you this note? You sure it wasn’t one of the others trying to pass a message?”

She shook her head. “This person was tall…tall like her. It couldn’t have been anyone from back at the quarry.”

“This is too weird to me. It can’t be good.” She passed the note back. “If I were you, I’d crumple that thing up, throw it in the nearest trash can, and forget I ever saw it.”

Twilight looked down at the note momentarily. She bit her own lip and winced. Eventually, though, her face firmed up again. “I’m sorry…I can’t do that.”

“What?”

“I’ve got to at least try and check it out.”

“You have no idea who that person is or what they wanted, but you just admitted to me that it’s impossible that it could be Celestia.”

“Maybe…but I still need to check. If I don’t I’ll hate myself for it.”

“Twilight…”

“If it was the Trottingham authorities, they had more than enough chances to bust me all day. There’d be no need for this elaborate ruse.”

Sunset hesitated afterward, still looking disapproving, but in the end she sighed and shrugged. “Fine. If I expect you to understand me going back for the helmet, I’d be a hypocrite if I wanted to slam you for this.” She looked back down at the note in Twilight’s hand. “Stallion and Heather aren’t far from here, and I need to go that way to head back anyway. We should probably stagger ourselves to make sure we aren’t seen together.”

Twilight nodded back. “Alright, that makes sense. I’ll head out first.”

---

Sunset was right about the location. They weren’t more than three blocks away from the spot mentioned in the note. Now that she had presence of mind back, Twilight made her way there more slowly and carefully, making sure not to cause any undue attention from the local authorities and magistrates.

It didn’t take her long to notice that the area was a bit more dilapidated and old than the commercial district. Nothing run down or indicative of urban blight, but definitely more neglected and from the older parts of the city that people would tend to avoid. Not as many bigger business or locales. Of course, the benefit of that was that there weren’t as many magistrates either.

She finally made it to an alleyway across from the café that had been mentioned in the note in question, but she halted there. The street ahead of her wasn’t as wide as the main thoroughfares, so she got a pretty good look at the outdoor patio with a series of tables and chairs. It didn’t look too terribly fancy. More like the outdoor area had been used in order to save on room in the small building servicing it. It was tea time in Trottingham at this hour and most of the people outside were enjoying it. Many of their heads or faces were obscured, but the ones that Twilight could make out didn’t look too outstanding.

“See anything?”

Twilight let out a small yelp before spinning around to who had spoken up behind her. She found herself face-to-face with Sunset Shimmer.

“What…what are you doing here? I thought you were headed back?”

“I am. There’s an old waterway canal just up ahead. I followed that into town and I was going to follow it back out again. There weren’t as many people at this café before though…”

She exhaled and eased down. “No one saw you, did they?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. If they had, this part of town would be the perfect place for an arrest…”

“Why don’t you try wearing the helmet to hide your hair?”

Sunset stared back at her blankly for a moment. “Riiight…because a person walking around a busy industrial area with a steam armor helmet on is way less conspicuous than my hair color.”

“Er…good point.”

“Anyway, have you seen anything?”

She shook her head and turned back. “Nothing out of the ordinary. As for whoever’s eating out there, I can’t make them all out. About half of them have their backs turned. It’s just…”

She trailed off.

“Hold on…”

She leaned in, looking at the outdoor area again. She stared at it silently for a few moments.

Sunset stepped a little closer. “See something?”

Twilight didn’t answer. After a little longer, she spoke softly. “Hold on…”

Without another word, she suddenly stepped forward and out of the alleyway toward the café. Sunset was a bit surprised, but then instinctively reached her hand out after her.

“Twili-”

She cut herself off, realizing she was coming out of the alley. She withdrew for a moment, nervously looking one way and the other. The street seemed empty enough. There weren’t even any coaches around, and the few pedestrians were all far away. Nevertheless, she nervously hesitated a few moments more before swallowing and stepping out after her.

By that point, however, Twilight had already made it across the street and was on the sidewalk. As soon as she reached it she stopped and called out.

“Spike?”

Sunset caught that name as she finished crossing the street herself. Her eyes went over to one of the tables in particular. A woman was seated there, hair up in a tight bun, back to the street, and reading a newspaper. However, underneath it there was a rather peculiar-looking dog that was green and purple in color.

Twilight had scarcely called out to him when the dog perked his head up and began to look around eagerly. He sounded a bark or two, alerting the attention of the one seated at the table, but when she glanced down at him he quickly got up the rest of the way and barked again. Twilight lit up.

“Spike!”

Although it attracted the attention of several other patrons, it also caused Spike to look straight at Twilight. Immediately, the dog’s tail began to wag rapidly as he let out a happy whine and bark. Soon after, he took off and ran straight through the other chairs and furnishings of the café straight for Twilight.

“Spike, it’s you! You’re alright!” she called back, her own face lighting up. She quickly squatted to the ground and was just in time to put her arms around the dog as he happily began to smother her with kisses. As Sunset watched, Twilight laughed out loud while doing her best to hug the excited dog. She even caught tears welling up in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. Spike seemed impossible to still. He only kept whining happily and nearly jumped up on top of her while barely containing further barking.

Finally, she calmed enough to wipe her eyes and put her hands on him to calm him down. “I don’t believe it! You’re here and you’re ok! Where have you been? Who have you been with all this time?”

Spike, obviously, couldn’t answer except for more whining, so Sunset instead looked up and back to the table.

When she did, she was just in time to see the woman was already standing up. She had been glancing over her shoulder, but on seeing that Sunset was looking at her she quickly spun back around. Taking up a cane, she left her chair behind and began to move for the rear exit.

“Um, Twilight? I think he was with her.”

Twilight gave Spike one more affectionate pet before she stood up. She spotted the woman moving as quickly as she could away from them. She stared at her for a second or two, but then her enthusiasm faded and her attention fully focused on her with a faint look of recognition.

“Hey…hey! Hey you!”

The woman didn’t respond. Only tried to walk even faster.

“Wait! Stop!” she tried ineffectually shouting. When that didn’t work, she turned her head slightly behind her. “Come on! After her!” Immediately after saying this, she began to head around the side of the café patio, trying to cut her off.

“Wait!” Sunset shouted. Again, it made no difference. Twilight was already off and Spike was on her heels, leaving her standing behind with multiple people staring at her. Wincing, she quickly turned her head away and, having no other choice, began to follow after them.

The woman herself made it to the edge of the café and out between the last two rows of tables. She went into the street and began to walk down it at an accelerated pace. That, however, only lasted until she was out of eyesight of anyone from the café. After that, she tried to break into a run or, at minimum, a jog. She didn’t get too terribly far with it. She soon began to hobble, and Twilight and Sunset heard exclamations of pain from her after she overstrained herself. In spite of taking the longer way around, both of them were catching up fast. The woman finally turned down the corner up ahead, going into a much smaller one-way side street. Yet when the two ladies turned the corner, they saw she was still in full view.

By this point, panting now from what sounded like trauma, she turned the next corner she came up to. When she did, Sunset caught a brief glimpse of the side profile of her face. Almost immediately, she showed a few sparks of dim recognition too…

“Hold on!” Twilight shouted again, but to no avail. The woman vanished around the corner soon after. Yet both of them could tell it was into an alley and, from the looks of it, a dead end one. They quickly rounded it after her.

For a moment, the three of them saw the woman continue to try and get away from them, but she only got another two steps before she saw ahead that it was indeed a dead end. She slowed to a halt soon afterward, and both Twilight and Sunset stopped behind her.

“Just a minute…”

The woman kept her back to them. “Leave me alone. If that’s your dog, take him and go.”

“I can’t do that. We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you. Leave me be.” She began to turn around, using her cane again and meaning to push past both of them to go back to the street.

That was when Twilight said it.

“Nightmare Moon!”

The woman froze where she stood. Sunset’s eyes widened. She turned to Twilight in shock, but the mage was staring fully at the woman and not looking away.

After a moment, a long, tired sigh came from the woman. She finally turned to fully face them. She looked very weary. Very worn. Her eyes were dim and almost sunken on her otherwise fair face, which still looked very young in spite of her age difference with the two of them. She looked nothing like the monstrosity that had been in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Not even a shadow of her, in fact.

One detail did stand out, however. Her eyes were normal, just as circular as anyone else’s would be. Yet the retinas were the same vivid green as that night, when they gleamed in the darkness. Unmistakably the same color.

“My name is Luna.”

Comments

[Marebook7]

Wow! Great chapter, a bit short though but hey.