Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

Daybreak: Unfamiliar Comforts

Author's Note:

No folks...I'm not done with this story, although I apologize after the last chapter. That was supposed to be the signal that I'd be updating more regularly, but I soon shifted gears to try and knock out all other projects I was working and ended up trying to put 100% of my effort behind that to get it out of the way for good. However, now this is the only project I have on the burner. So hopefully I can get "Daybreak" done soon...

Double Diamond didn’t even have time to turn to the sound of the lounge door opening before it was followed by a heavy mixture of a sigh and a groan. He spotted Starlight Glimmer walking in, looking tired and half-slumped.

He looked uneasy at that. “Did she say no about the telegraph?”

“I didn’t even get a chance to get that far. She looked at me like she wanted me to get out the moment I walked in as it was. By the time I finished passing along the news I thought I was pushing my luck with just one question.” She ran a hand through her bangs as she reached the table mounded with books that Double Diamond was currently indexing for her. “It’s crazy enough that I’m actually having to ask favors from the woman who tried to kill us all for seven years. I don’t want to risk getting her annoyed enough to follow up on that threat to cast us out…”

He looked a little dejected. “I guess she wouldn’t let us into the academic hall library either, then?”

“You got it. Honestly, if there wasn’t so much to look through from what she was letting us see, I’d be infuriated at the fact we’re living here and over half of it is ‘off limits’. Just the same, I hope Twilight comes back soon. She looks like she’s getting more irritated talking to me every time I come in… About the only thing she is saying is to put out the message that she’ll take in more refugees with Promethian Sigils.” She groaned. “I can’t understand her. First she doesn’t want them around, then when Twilight and Sunset step out she does? What’s with her?”

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get the cipher done if we don’t get more books… And we can barely get any messages to Party Favor and Sugar Belle either…”

“That reminds me…what did the last note say? Anymore more from that place we discovered?”

“Just that it looks more like what you thought, but other than that nothing new. What should we write back?”

She thought for a moment, swishing her lips.

“…Nothing right now. Send a message to Team C instead. Tell them to move to the next phase.”

Double Diamond looked a bit surprised. “Right now?”

“Waiting any longer is pointless. Besides-”

“Hey! You two!”

Starlight immediately clammed up, and both she and Double Diamond snapped around to the entryway to the lounge. They saw a short-haired and unpleasant-looking Limestone Pie staring back at them.

“Sheesh, you two are jumpy. Anyway, you better get down to the station. Looks like Twilight Sparkle’s group is back.”

Starlight lit up at that and immediately began to turn about, but Limestone noted her enthusiasm and frowned.

“I wouldn’t look too happy if I were you. From the look of the train, it didn’t go well.”

For once, Sunset didn’t feel too terribly refreshed even after a bath and a change of clothes. She still felt tired. Her mind wandered and she remained seated in the library lounge staring off into space thinking of one thing or another on all that had happened over the past few days as time passed.

It wasn’t until the door clicked that she looked up, along with Starlight Glimmer seated nearby. It swung open enough to allow Big Macintosh to walk in—his face fairly indifferent and not betraying anything immediately. He looked about for a moment, but on seeing they were the only two there he stepped in a bit more and stood to one side—not bothering taking a seat.

His instincts seemed to be right, as a rush of footsteps were heard soon after before the door opened again—this time letting Shining Armor walk in. His face was hurried and grim. It hadn’t brightened up ever since they had been forced to flee Sombra, and if anything it was more serious than ever. On seeing Big Macintosh, however, he immediately turned to him and walked forward.

“Is Stygian settled back in his room?”

“Eeyup.”

“Did he…say anything?”

“Nope.”

Shining Armor paused, frowning a little. “Did Mrs. Pie go and try and tend to him?”

“Eeyup.”

“Do you know if he spoke to her?”

“Nope.”

He sighed.

“What about our ‘guests’?” Sunset threw out. “What are we doing with them?”

He frowned. “I’m having the two privates keep an eye on them, but really I don’t expect any trouble. Gilda doesn’t even want to be anywhere around Twily…or here for that matter. But they’re stuck here so long as Sombra’s out there. They’re holed up in the groundskeeper’s shed. Not the best accommodations but so long as they stay out of things that’s fine by me.”

He turned about and began to head for the door. “I’m going to head back to the wall and see what I can do with those munitions Manehattan sent us. I might as well try to do something useful with this Anima Viri…”

Everyone could hear the sharpness in that last bit, but no one had a chance to say anything else before he was already through the door and gone. The three were left dumbfounded, before Sunset turned to Big Macintosh. “Thanks a lot for the help, Big Mac. We really appreciate it.”

He smiled and nodded before turning and walking out as well. That left just Sunset and Starlight, the latter of which turned to the former in confusion. “What was that all about? He’s been running around like a chicken with its head cut off since he got back.”

“I think he’s feeling useless…or guilty. All those kids were under his unofficial ‘command’, and only Stygian made it back. He held it together pretty well until it was over and…I guess you have to when you’re leading a military unit. But now I think he’s probably got some survivor’s guilt. It doesn’t help that his Anima Viri really doesn’t let him do anything…you know…offensive.”

“Well, from what you told me, it’s lucky that any of you got out of there alive.”

“No kidding. If he had stopped to try and heal any of them he would have just gotten himself killed. And it’s not like any of us could do anything to make the situation better either. It really wasn’t his fault.”

Starlight paused, giving her a bit of a sideways glance.

“Have you…told him that?”

Sunset caught herself, a little surprised at the question. She actually nearly stammered. “Well…no. I mean, why would he want to hear anything like that from me? After what I did to him and his family, I’m lucky he’s even cordial to me now.”

Starlight winced. “Yeah…you got a point.”

She went silent after that, but Sunset paused before looking down at her lap and becoming even more thoughtful than before.

“Stygian will get over it,” Starlight spoke up again after a moment. “Yeah, I know that’s kind of a callous way to put it…but at this point we’ve all seen so much death I think we’ve all had to grow a bit thicker skinned or we wouldn’t be here. He just needs time.” She leaned closer, growing more concerned looking. “I’m more worried about what Twilight said. Do you think she’s serious?”

Sunset exhaled and nodded. “Trust me. Twilight’s always serious about things like this.”

“Well…even if she is, there’s no way we can pull this off on our own. We need the rest of the ladies here.”

Sunset frowned. “Yeah…now that you mention it, I’m feeling a little more ticked that they decided to up and run their own ‘errands’ in the midst of all this. Some friends… Anyway, I don’t suppose you know when they’ll be back, do you?”

“Actually, the last message we got from Manehattan said they should be on tomorrow’s train. Thank goodness. We need more strong backs. Do you know how much of a pain it is to lug all that junk from one train to another over 50 meters?”

“And…no news from Trottingham either?”

“Nothing the government has sent us. The last message I got from Sugar Belle had something, though.”

“What?”

“She just said: ‘something bad’.”

Sunset sardonically smiled as she slumped back. “Oh, that’s no big deal. We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere in an undermanned, hastily-made fortress run by Nightmare Moon surrounded by Nighttouched and a bloodthirsty ghost with five other souls from hell running around out there somewhere, along with someone who wants to collect them all like poker cards to destroy the planet. Plus most of us are fugitives or public freaks. What’s someone starting a war on top of all that?”

---

Sunset had little reason to be enthusiastic, even if it hadn’t been a severe delay for the others to get back. She might have been getting along better with Twilight but she still felt rather abrasive around the other ladies. It didn’t help that she seemed to be running out there alongside Starlight, yet another person she wasn’t that close to. Therefore her disdain had to be somewhat palpable when the engine finally chugged to a halt in front of the reclaimed platform.

The few people who had been designated the “freight squad” immediately went for the rear cars to see what sorts of things Manehattan had sent them this time, but Sunset and Starlight focused on the first car as it opened up to let the ladies come out.

Their appearances were not exactly the picture of cheerful either, aside from Pinkie Pie, who always gracefully skipped everywhere she went it seemed. Applejack seemed more glad to be back than anything, but annoyed that she hadn’t been able to do anything in so long. Rarity, however, was wearing a new dress that appeared almost appropriate for national mourning or a funeral, and she seemed to be a bit dramatic as she walked. Fluttershy was cringing even more than usual, as if she was nervous about them and their surroundings all over again. Finally, there was Rainbow Dash, who seemed so irritable one would think she was going through alcohol withdrawals.

Starlight, seeing their various temperments, coughed uneasily as they approached. “Well…um…welcome back, everyone.”

“Yeah…” Sunset added as she crossed her arms. “Hope you enjoyed your little ‘vacation’. Don’t mind us. We’ve just been worrying day and night about Sombra coming to kill us all while those recruits they sent us got-”

She cut herself off as Dash, passing her by, held a fist in her face.

“I am not in the mood right now, so if you wanna lose a couple teeth, keep it up.”

Sunset recoiled, secretly having her own temper stoked a bit by that, but wisely realizing she needed to keep her mouth shut. Starlight winced a little at the display herself. “Uh…something go wrong?”

Dash muttered a curse under her breath before pulling her fist back and stomping by. “I’ll be in the kitchen and there better still be something with alcohol in there… I’ve been dry too long…”

Sunset and Starlight both looked after her in puzzlement for a moment, before an unfamiliar voice sighed. “Great. Just leave me behind without even telling me where I’m supposed to sleep.”

The two ladies turned back, only to grow a bit puzzled when they realized there was a Griffonstone boy standing in the midst of everyone else, looking a bit tired and irritable himself.

“Um, who are you?”

“Gallus. Slave, although I think I’ve recently been promoted to ‘indentured servant’ of the rainbow-haired one and the pink-haired one. That’s supposed to be how it works once I set foot in Greater Everfree, right?”

“Wait, wait…” Starlight spoke up. “Slave? As in…they picked you up in Southern Equestria and brought you here?”

“You’re free now, aren’t you? Why are you hanging around them?” Sunset asked.

He frowned as if that was an idiotic question. “Well gee…I wanted to pursue my lifelong dream of being a tosher or chimneysweep and dying of disease before I’m 18, but I just couldn’t bring myself to give up the life of a bed and three meals a day.” Sighing, he pushed past them. “I’ll see if I can get the pink-haired one to show me to where we live before she gets distracted by another cookie…”

Starlight and Sunset were still rather confused-looking as he passed, before turning back and seeing Fluttershy was approaching. Starlight opened her mouth to speak, only to hear her give a small whimper before she could even say a word. She instantly clammed up and the woman ran past as if trying to avoid more ire.

Sunset, at this point, rolled her eyes before turning to the last two. “Can someone say what the hell is going on?”

“Oh…nothing…” Rarity said with a touch of wistfulness. “She’s just still feeling upset after we had a chance at bringing some deplorable hoodlums to justice and ended up leaving them to victimize who knows how many other poor unfortunate souls…”

Sunset gave her an odd look. “…What?” Starlight answered in equal incredulousity.

Applejack let out a massive groan. “We tried to nab a bunch o’ ‘em human traffickers and the big one got away!” she spat out. “And Fluttershy’s upset ‘cause she’s the one they slipped past!”

“Why in the world were you three gone so long trying to stop human traffickers?”

Applejack frowned and jabbed a finger at Rarity. “Ask her. She’s the one who thought it was so goll dang important!”

Rarity scoffed indignantly. “Well, if using our abilities to bring a gang of unsavory, life-ruining wretches to justice is unimportant, then I will wear the title ‘frivolous’ with pride!”

“I don’t suppose you know what Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and, uh…Gallus were up to, do you?” Starlight asked.

“Ya’ think we were wastin’ time? We were just keepin’ busy while they went all the way out to Southern Equestria, of all places! And that spot was goin’ ta’ hell! They hardly got outta there ‘fore the whole thing started to fall apart!”

“Wait…what?” Sunset asked. “What do you mean ‘fall apart’?”

Rarity, composing herself a little, began to explain. “It would seem, according to Ms. Dash, that Fillydelphia has been involved in supporting the locals and encouraging them to start a revolution. And what with the ocean becoming impassable, it was the perfect time to-”

“The ocean’s impassable?!” Starlight suddenly cut in. “When did that happen? Ugh, this is what I get when I can only pass along small messages… I don’t have time to ask about the details!”

“Do you mean to say that Fillydelphia is trying to take over Southern Equestria?” Sunset asked. “That’s…honestly unexpected. Sure, I wouldn’t put that past Trottingham. Especially when I was still with them. But I didn’t think they’d go that low… I knew things were tense between them and Manehattan, but still…”

“Anyway, forget that pig swallor, we got big news for Twilight,” Applejack jumped in. “We saw someone when we were back in Manehattan that she’ll just be itchin’ to know about.”

“Well, you may have to wait a bit longer on that,” Starlight answered. “In fact, we were all hoping you’d get back soon so we could give you the news. We need everyone to head to the library. Twilight may know how to stop Sombra.”

---

“He’s not just going around using Nighttouched. He needs them to live.”

The group was gathered in the library now, which was rather cluttered and disheveled after the sum research of Twilight and Starlight. Twilight herself was near one end of the room and standing near a mobile chalkboard that had apparently been used heavily for note taking. Starlight stood nearby, while the others were seated at the various small tables and chairs. Rarity and Fluttershy looked attentive enough, Pinkie was making a little fort out of some of the piles of discarded books, Applejack’s mouth was already swished in puzzlement, and Dash was already leaning back and falling asleep.

Sunset brought up the rear, still hanging around even though she knew she could help little with this. She was seated against one bookcase in the back.

“Now how in tarnation does that work?” Applejack spoke up. “I thought this fella wasn’t even alive ta’ begin with. He’s just like a big ghost or somethin’ runnin’ around?”

“Yes, that’s true, but I’m theorizing that by basic principle of conservation that whatever psychokinetic energy wavelength he is currently manifesting is somehow fundamentally on a different resonance or physical manifestation than its native innate configuration; somewhat akin to light energy attempting to be captured by transparent glass. As a result, one could logically surmise that there would be a natural dispersion when moving through a medium like ours and that the only thing that could sustain it would be to capture like psychokinetic energy that it can, in turn, assimilate into its own organizational structure. And the most ready supply is the spiritual transformation that appears to have been displaced by Nightmare Moon’s act of magical copying.”

The ladies looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. Applejack’s jaw was hanging slack in an “uh…” expression, while Dash let out a rather audible snore. Starlight coughed.

“Um, Twilight? Perhaps an explanation at the more…elementary school level?”

The mage frowned in a bit of frustration and looked around. Eventually she spotted a pitcher of water that Rarity had brought in. Immediately, and much to her surprise, she ran over to it and snatched it up.

“Oh, um…dear, if you needed a drink, I would have been glad to have poured you-”

She cut off with an exclamation as Twilight went over to the nearest unused table and swept out her foot to knock out the legs on one side, causing it to slam to the floor with a noise loud enough to make Fluttershy wince and Dash to snort and shoot awake.

“I’m up, I’m up!”

A moment later, Twilight grabbed one of the glasses, poured some water, and then proceeded to throw it against the table with a messy splash. It ended up making a wet mess, but also left several large wet spots against it. After that, she got to the higher end of the table with the pitcher, tipped it over, and proceeded to pour out a thin line along the top of it. Soon, droplets of water began to roll down the incline.

“It’s like this. These droplets of water are like him. In order to move down the table, they have to leave something of themselves behind. They keep rolling down and eventually they’ll slow down and run out long before they reach the bottom.”

She pointed out to some of the drops that had done just that, coming to a halt a third or a half down the table.

“Unless they manage to run into these other bits of water. Then, if enough of them gather to it…”

She pointed to one of the wet spots, showing a droplet run into it and join it. She pointed out two others doing the same. On the fourth, however, it became big enough to let another drop start running out the bottom of it.

“It can keep going. That’s what Sombra’s stuck doing now. He looks all big and evil and impossible to stop, but he’s constantly ‘running dry’. Just manifesting himself is draining him. He needs the spirits of others to keep himself going, or he’ll eventually become as inert as the other Anima Viris.”

“I must say, that does raise a few more questions,” Rarity spoke up uneasily. “As dreadful as the thought may be, why would he have not invaded the rest of Greater Everfree as there are plenty of spirits in the cities?”

“That’s what puzzled me for a long time, before I finally realized that’s not good enough for him. We all know that something about the Nighttouched…maybe about Nightmare Moon herself…was ‘tainted’. Different from everything else. That’s why they all turn big and monstrous. I still don’t know what it is exactly, but I think it had something to do with…well…” Twilight winced a little. “Feeling ‘wretched’ or miserable… Being sunk in despair and hopelessness. Maybe what old religions would have called darkness…I don’t know… That’s why he can only primarily use Nighttouched.”

“And…” Fluttershy spoke up meekly, looking nervous at the thought. “Is that why he was trying to make us feel so…bad?”

“Like he’s cleanin’ us up ta’ cook us…” Applejack uneasily added.

Twilight herself grimaced at the idea, but she nodded. “I think that’s exactly what he was trying to do. Our spirits probably are the ‘tastiest’ to him but he can’t ‘eat us raw’, so to speak. I think that’s what happened to the expeditions that were sent north that Shining Armor escaped from. He tried to do the same to them. Fortunately, it looks like he learned something from that. The energy he loses trying to drive even a small group of people into despair is more than what he’ll get back. That’s why he hasn’t tried going after anymore towns or cities in a while.”

Dash blinked, but then shrugged. “So…we’ve got nothing to worry about, right? He’ll eventually burn through all the Nighttouched in Equestria, and then he’ll be toast.”

Pinkie excitedly raised a hand at this. This caught Twilight a bit off guard, as this wasn’t supposed to be a ‘class’, but she pointed at it. “Um, yes Pinkie?”

“But what if he ends up finding this really, really big glass that he can collect his soul in so that it doesn’t run out anymore?”

Dash groaned. “Pinkie, it doesn’t work like that.”

“Actually, I think that’s what he’s been looking for.”

Not only the Huntsman, but the other ladies turned to her incredulously. “Say what?”

“If Sombra could find a way to give himself a body, or even just something to secure his soul to, then I think he can get around the problem of it running out for him to manifest himself. He’ll be able to stabilize it. And when that happens…every new spirit he corrupts and adds to himself will result in a net gain. Then he’ll be able to start going around and really consuming groups of people…”

Her look darkened.

“Then towns…then cities…and finally everything. And when he does, we’ll all wish we were still living under Nightmare Moon.”

The room was quiet for a moment. Sunset herself felt uneasy, especially knowing there was little she could do to help that situation. Twilight exhaled as she set the pitcher down. “Sombra knows what he’s looking for, and it has something to do with the historic monuments of Equestria. He thinks one of them is going to give him what he wants. We have to figure out what he’s looking for and then find it before he can. Not just to stop him, but to bait him.”

“Um…bait?” Fluttershy asked uneasily.

“The original plan hasn’t changed. We can’t just let Sombra fade out into nothing, or the Angra Mainyu will still be able to absorb him. The only way we can beat Sombra is by cornering him and making him use up enough of his own spiritual energy to become capable of being bound to us, but he’s got to be clever enough not to put himself into that sort of position normally. He’ll always leave himself enough energy in reserve to run away and get more Nighttouched…unless it’s what he needs more than anything else. It’s the only thing that will keep him desperate enough to stand his ground and face us.”

Sunset grew even more uncomfortable at that. It wasn’t exactly the most promising-sounding of scenarios, and one that relied on a lot of desperation. She could tell the others didn’t like it that much either. She bowed her head and started to look to one side…

That, however, was when she noticed something. She had been growing so uneasy that she hadn’t noticed that she had subconsciously started petting something. In particular, to her surprise, she found it was Spike. The dog had come over to her and placed his head on her lap, and she had been petting him for at least a minute now.

Immediately she stopped, looking a little bewildered. That dog was fiercely protective of Twilight. Why in the world would he be coming anywhere near her, the biggest threat to her?

Those thoughts were cut off as Applejack sighed. “Ok, Twilight… Ya’ say we need ta’ find this whatever-it-is to bait Sombra. How do we do that?”

Starlight stepped forward. “That may be where I come in. As you all know, I’ve been working hard with Twilight to try and find a way to decipher the older texts in the collection. It’s taken me a while, but I think I’ve finally reached the conclusion that even the older books are written in a language close to one of the older native languages, or at least a precursor version, that used to be used in Equestria. It’s not exactly the easiest language in the world to translate into what we’re speaking, but it is possible. What that means is that if we can hear the language audibly we can translate it, so all we have to do is find a way to crack the alphabet in the older texts and we should be able to read them.”

“And do you think you can do that?” Dash asked.

She sighed. “It’s not like a cryptogram, but more or less it should work on the principle of being a cipher. I’ve got a few characters actually already done thanks to that one illustration in that old book, but all that’s let me do so far is translate a few words. There’s context and the like to worry about.”

“I’ve been trying to help out since I got back, but even when I put on the role of the Scholar, progress has been a little slow,” Twilight admitted. “We’re trying to focus on the maps. That’s our best shot of heading off Sombra right now. As soon as we find something, though, we have to be ready to move.”

Rarity hesitated a moment, but on realizing the mage had concluded she straightened. “Twilight, darling, there’s something we need to tell you. We…encountered a certain individual while we were dining in Manehattan a few days ago. Well…not so much encountered as espied.”

She looked at her in puzzlement. “What do you mean?”

“This person, well…she happened to be tall, fair skinned, and unmistakably had iridescent hair.”

“And she looked just like the lady in the paintin’s of the latest headmistress here,” Applejack chipped in.

Sunset looked upright at that immediately. Twilight herself froze in place. She stared back silently at the two of them for several seconds. “What are you trying to say?”

“I…don’t suppose your old headmistress had any siblings or relatives she neglected to mention, did she? That would explain it…”

“Not to me. That was the gal from the paintin’. I don’t forget faces.”

Twilight was silent again, while Sunset’s own face turned slightly. “…That can’t be.”

“We’re just telling you who we saw, darling. We didn’t have time for more than a glimpse, but Applejack and I both saw her.”

“Um…so did I…” Fluttershy weakly threw in.

Twilight hesitated, looking a little more upset. “I saw what happened to her in front of me. It couldn’t have been her. You had to have seen someone different.”

“Twilight, dear, I have an eye for detail and-”

“Stop calling me a liar!”

Everyone in the room went rigid, recoiling in surprise. Even Spike snapped up. Twilight’s face had suddenly contorted in anger. Sunset could see her teeth bared. The echo from what she said slowly reverberated through the library, and then quietly faded.

The mage eased soon after; relaxing her own face and looking surprised at her own reaction before bowing her head. “I’m…I’m sorry, everyone. But…hearing people claim that Celestia is still alive is the one thing I can’t deal with. No one remembered me when I came back to town. No one believed me when I said I was from there except Shining Armor. Not even my own parents. It got so bad that I started to wonder if I really was crazy. The only thing I had that everyone could agree on was that coach blew up with everyone in it. If it started going around that somehow the headmistress here was still alive, then…then I wouldn’t know what was real anymore.”

There was a few moments of silence longer.

“…Twilight’s right,” Applejack finally spoke up, forcing herself to be firm. “We…we had to have mistaken her for someone else. Right Rarity?”

“Um…er…yes, of course. It must have been mistaken identity. I was rather stressed that evening, after all.”

“Er…I…must have seen someone who just had similar hair…” Fluttershy practically whispered.

Twilight paused, taking a deep breath, and then tried to smooth herself out. “Right… One thing at a time. We need to focus on Sombra. I think I’ll keep lending a hand to Starlight for now to get that cipher finished…”

Sunset still looked uneasy. She had stopped petting Spike at this point, and swished her mouth a little as she leaned back in her seat again. She silently mused this latest revelation before she kicked her head back and looked around…

Only to spot something.

It took only a few seconds, but her eyes fell on the slightly-ajar doors to the library. Doors that she was pretty sure they had closed once everyone was inside. For a brief moment, she caught a glimpse of a vivid green eye and flowing dark hair. Yet it seemed to recognize the moment it was spotted, and promptly turned and disappeared.

Sunset gave a little start at that. She knew full well, out of everyone there, only one individual matched that eye and hair style. And as the door had been closed, the individual in question had definitely been eavesdropping on them. And that put a new wave of unease inside her.

Why did Luna come out from her room? And why was she spying on us?

---

Even late at night, sleep didn’t come to Sunset. Part of it was due to the fact that Twilight was still in the library long after everyone else had gone to bed. While she was adjusting better to being independent, ever since she had spotted Luna looking in on them…she no longer felt completely safe on her own. She couldn’t say why, but she just didn’t. She might not have if Spike hadn’t gone with her. Oddly enough, ever since that incident escaping from Sombra, she was feeling more and more comfortable around him and the feeling was seemingly true in vice-versa.

It didn’t quiet her thoughts, though. Or her endless tossing and turning on her bunk bed.

Celestia…still alive?

That can’t be true. I confirmed it myself after I heard the news. Sure, they never found a body…not one in one piece, at any rate…but Luna also said she’s dead and, oddly enough, I believe her. Even if everyone was lying or mistaken, she would have done something at this point, right?

So…why am I so anxious?

Ugh…get it together, Sunset. You’re so afraid without your magic that now you’re afraid of ghosts. This world is filling up with more real threats all the time and I’m afraid some undead headmistress is going to come to kill me for betraying her.

Or…am I?

I’ve felt on edge ever since the library, but…I don’t think I’ve really been feeling “scared”. I kind of know what that’s like by now. This…doesn’t really feel like it, even if it is making me feel just as uneasy. So what is it?

It couldn’t be-

Sunset was in the middle of those thoughts when they were shattered by the peeling of a rather loud and resounding bell. Enough to make her shoot up in bed so hard that she bumped her head against the ceiling, prompting a curse. She nearly fumed about what the heck that was all about when her mind clicked in realization.

The alarm.

She instantly paled, before leaping out of bed so fast that she narrowly missed Spike before he was able to get up. She threw on only the minimal amount of clothing and her slippers before rushing out with him into the hallway. Other families and individuals were already pouring out as well, most of them headed to the designate safe areas while the few security volunteers, including Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, began to rush for the exits.

Sunset immediately went toward the latter, as crazy as it might have seemed as much as her heart was starting to race. Even if Twilight wasn’t with them at the moment, she knew they were headed toward her. And she felt far safer with the ones with one or two Anima Viris than holed up hoping for the best.

In moments, they were coming out of the dormitory and headed for the wall. However, they only reached halfway there before the bells stopped. Shining Armor called down to them.

“It’s at the northwest gate!”

The crowd instantly headed that way. It became easier to see as the girls began to light up their Anima Viris one after another—becoming new beacons of light. Yet while Sunset went along, she couldn’t help but look a little puzzled. She supposed attacking near the northwest gate made sense, but that route was near the border of Canterlot itself and up a rocky, narrow pass that nearly went up a cliffside. Why would Sombra attack there when it was much easier to come around from the front?

Nevertheless, she kept running with everyone else, and soon they were reaching the wall. Applejack, already in the role of the Warrior, stepped forward and up to the locked gate. Pinkie Pie soon bounded cheerfully forward in her own role of the Dancer, and Rainbow Dash in her own Monk role soon stepped up after that. Whoever didn’t have an Anima Viri quickly got their guns out and at the ready.

Soon after, Shining Armor arrived at the top of the wall, in his own Healer role, and began to descend.

“How bad is it?” Applejack called out.

“Not bad. I only saw six to ten shapes at most, but we need to nip it in the bud. Be careful. It could be a diversion.”

A scuffling was heard nearby. Sunset suddenly found herself pushed when someone else was shoved into her and she turned her head. A new gleam was joining them or, rather, a few of them. In her own Monk role, Gilda came pushing in along with the other two Griffonstone soldiers.

Dash turned briefly to note her…only to snap around and do a take. “Gilda?!”

She frowned. “You didn’t even know I was here, Dash? You really have gotten slow on the uptake…”

“What are you doing here anyway?”

“Your friends brought me here! Probably hoping I’ll go crazy like everyone else in my group who sticks around you long enough! But if that big ugly shadow thing is trying to break in, then I want to face it head on!”

“Everyone quiet!” Shining Armor shouted back. “This isn’t the time! We’ve got to deal with this first!”

Stepping down, he moved up to the bar of the gate. He held a moment, then tentatively reached out and used his enhanced strength to remove the iron rod, before putting his hands on both doors. Tensing up and sweating a little, he turned back to the others to make sure they were set.

“Get ready for anythin’,” Applejack stated as she hefted her hammer. “He wouldn’t be so dumb ta’ send only a handful unless he had a surprise ready.”

“Ooo! I love surprises!” Pinkie cheered. “Everyone, get ready to shout!”

No one else shared her enthusiasm; least of all Sunset. Shining Armor took a deep breath and tensed up. The last of the guards aimed their weapons outward.

“Ready?”

Everyone tensed and primed themselves.

“…Now!”

With a sharp motion, he shoved forward—his strength quickly flinging the heavy iron doors open wide. At once, some of them giving battle cries, the group advanced for the opening with weapons drawn and ready to fire…

And quickly ground to an abrupt halt.

There were no monsters out there. No Nighttouched. No evil clouds with malevolent, grotesque eyes. There were only four adults and four children—all of which looked pale, dirty, hurt, and tired. One was only semi-aware and leaning on another, who himself had an exhausted child draped on his back. The other two had much the same, although their children looked sick or even unconscious. One final child, a bit older, looked like he would collapse any moment.

Nevertheless, suddenly being surprised by a group of heavily-armed people literally appearing out of nowhere was enough to make one of the adults throw up his hands.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! We’re unarmed! Please!”

Confused stares responded. Everyone, Sunset included, looked up and around in puzzlement. There was a chance this was some trick of Sombra’s—some way to try and infiltrate them. However, it certainly didn’t seem that way. These people were too scared. Too desperate. Too terrified both for their own lives as well as that of their children. They were ragged and torn as if they had been wandering the violent forest for days and were at the end of their ropes. Whoever wasn’t so weary they looked ready to fall looked on the brink of despair.

“Um…” Pinkie finally spoke up. “Should we still yell ‘surprise’?”

Slowly, the weapons lowered. It took the eight people a bit longer to calm, but they slowly realized they weren’t about to die. The one in the lead kept his hands up and swallowed.

“Can you help us…? We…we haven’t eaten in three days…”

---

Fortunately, everyone had been awakened by the alarm—including Luna. As a result it didn’t take too long to tend to the new arrivals. She had come down to see them for herself, and by that point there was enough light on all eight of them to show a rather key detail.

Namely that each one had a Promethian Sigil on their back of their hands.

With that ascertained, she allowed them to enter, and they went straight for the cafeteria. There was some leftover bread although the Pie family fired up the gas stoves to make them some stew, and the eight ravenously ate all that was set before them along with a great deal of water. They still looked in miserable shape, but their condition vastly improved as they supped. In the meantime, Gilda and the two with her, after having a brief yet loud exchange with Rainbow Dash, departed back for the groundskeeper’s house while Sunset, the ladies, Shining Armor, Luna, and most of the night watch remained in the cafeteria with the new arrivals.

It wasn’t until four glasses of water and two bowls of stew in that the one in the lead felt enough of his bearings to start to explain.

“We were all in the civil sector months ago. One day, I woke up, and I noticed the itching on the back of my hand. Soon my whole family had the same. We thought it was some sickness at first like a rash or a ringworm but the doctor said that wasn’t it. Then we heard the news from further northeast. How there was someone who was going around trying to find and kill everyone who had these symbols on their hands…”

Sunset looked to her fingers at that, wincing a little, but saying nothing.

“We tried to transfer to the interior along with several other families, including Goldengrape and his family over there. We were still processing when the government came out with that statement on eidolons. We had already spread the news everywhere about our hands when we went to the doctor’s, so management already knew. They said they were going to transfer us to an area where we could service other eidolons exclusively, but it was going to be near the Equestria border. I didn’t like it…none of us did…but it ended up being fine, or so we thought. We lived in a similar house and neighborhood and we kept doing our jobs.

“Then about two weeks ago we got woke up in the middle of the night by someone screaming. Several of the houses were on fire. I ran outside and people were running everywhere. Then this explosion went off and…and I didn’t remember anything else. I came to a couple minutes later and I was bleeding. I was so shaken up that it was all I could do to stay calm as the fire brigade arrived. Chance-A-Lot said what happened later. There was someone…some thing…made of metal with glowing eyes that came into the community. It start ripping up houses and barging inside them, looking for people with these symbols on their hands and shining some sort of light on them. It had done it to me while I was out…”

Several of the girls looked uneasy at this.

“The next day, the Manehattan army showed up. We told them what happened, and they said everyone needed to stay put. More of them arrived as the day went on.” He swallowed. “Armed. And with bigger guns. Some of the people who were more badly hurt the night before needed to head out to the city hospital, but they wouldn’t let anyone leave. We soon found out they were blockading in the whole neighborhood. We all got scared. Rumors started going around about what had been going on in Trottingham and Fillydelphia. Eventually, some of us decided to stay up and watch while others took in the people who were injured. We all settled in and tried to get the kids to sleep.

“Then, around midnight, we heard some people yelling. Then some gunshots went off. And…and everything went to hell. The army moved in on us and they started breaking into every house and dragging the people out. If anyone tried to fight back they started beating them down…or just shooting them.”

He paused to compose himself again, taking another mouthful of water.

“We were far enough away from where they started that we all got the kids up and tried to break for it. There had to be a dozen families. We hit the perimeter and just ran right through, ignoring the guns and just running into the night. We couldn’t go anywhere else. They had fanned out and started searching for us, and the only place left was the forest. I was scared, but…but I just hoped that they were telling the truth that the shadow over Equestria was gone. We all ran in and kept running until we couldn’t go anymore…

“I didn’t sleep that night, but when the sun came up high enough to see I saw my family, Goldengrape’s, and three others. I don’t know what happened to the other families, but we didn’t stay to look. None of us had a compass. None of us knew where to go or how. So we just went into the forest and tried to find a way out somewhere that wasn’t in Manehattan.”

He shuddered and swallowed again.

“There were…still things in the forest. Not as many, but…but I saw their yellow eyes at night. And sometimes they were worse than yellow eyes. Sometimes they looked like animals and sometimes they looked like things from nightmares. The second night they attacked us while they were sleeping. Chance-A-Lot didn’t make it. The next night, they came back and took the rest of his family. There was nothing to eat. Every time someone tried eating anything, it ended up making them sick. We could barely find water. None of us knew what we were doing but we kept moving forward, trying to get away from the border and the monsters.

“Blue Note’s son got bit by a snake on one day. We let him stop, but when the monsters got thick around us that night, we had to leave him behind. Then Orion’s wife got a really bad infection and ran a high fever. We had to leave them too when she couldn’t walk anymore. We were all starving and getting sick, but eventually we found a place where the monsters stopped coming. That’s when Goldengrape said he remembered there used to be a city called Canterlot in Equestria and…and so we tried to get there hoping we could hold up in there at least. And…and here we are.”

He shook his head.

“I don’t know if the others will make it, or if they’ll be able to follow us here. I…I know I probably shouldn’t have left them, but I was scared to death… I…I knew everything horrible that happened seven years ago, but this was the first time where every…every hour…I kept wondering if I was going to live to see the next…”

He trailed off at that point, but the group surrounding the two families was left in silence. Shining Armor himself was frowning. He turned about, putting his back to the families, and walked a short distance away. It was clear to the girls that he wanted to talk more privately and they gathered around him while Sunset and several others got close enough to keep an ear open.

“I thought Manehattan was on our side.”

“It is!” Rarity immediately insisted. “They treated us nothing but cordially when we were there!”

“They had me do a goodwill tour and everything,” Fluttershy added.

“Then what’s up with all of this? This sounds like they’re trying to round up people just like they were in Trottingham and Fillydelphia!”

Dash snorted. “This is why I never trust governments anymore. Say one thing to your face, but behind the scenes? It’s a whole different story.”

“Now hold on, everybody,” Twilight interjected. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Those military men may have been imposters. We have no idea who they were.”

“And for that matter,” Starlight spoke up tensely, “we have no idea who these people are. Luna has made us keep this place off-limits ever since we got here, and the Manehattan government has wanted in ever since then. Those sigils could be fakes…”

“They’re not fakes.”

The group turned behind them. Luna was still there, although she had kept her distance. She had also apparently overheard them.

“And between their injuries, their dehydration, their starvation, their exposure, and the fact that the children are all sick, they would be some of the most convincing method actors I have ever witnessed.”

The group was silent for a moment, considering that fact, but Applejack finally frowned. “Well, even if that’s the case, then that just brings us back to the first complaint. What the hell is Manehattan up to? And those damn metal soldiers are runnin’ ‘round again… If they’re at the border of Manehattan, what if they come up here?”

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie said excitedly. “I got an idea! Let’s take another rail trip into Manehattan and ask Fancy Pants himself about it! We can get some more butter and eggs while we’re at it!”

“I have to admit, I’d like to know straight from the horse’s mouth myself…” Shining Armor added.

“Out of the question!” Starlight practically cried. “You haven’t already forgotten about Sombra, have you? You’ve already all been gone for weeks!”

Twilight sighed. “Starlight’s right. Right now, Sombra’s the more pressing issue. We really need to get that cipher done and find out what he wants as soon as possible, and we’ll need everyone here for that when that happens.”

“I s’pose you’re right, Twilight…” Applejack sighed, “but I still don’t feel right lettin’ this set either. S’pose these folks are tellin’ the truth. The rest of my family is headed straight for Manehattan ‘cause they thought it was safe.”

“And I, for one, refuse to believe the chancellor would do something so horrid,” Rarity retorted. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this, and I would like to hear it.”

“I got to admit…if Manehattan has turned crooked on us,” Dash threw in, “I’d want to break his little monocle while he’s still wearing it.”

“Well, considering the fact that Sombra getting a way to stabilize his soul is everyone’s problem and that it will make things a whole lot worse than anything Manehattan, Trottingham, Fillydelphia, or anyone else is doing, we’re going to have to forget all that,” Twilight responded with a bit of an annoyed tone. “I know we don’t like just letting all of that set, but we really don’t have a choice.”

“Well…not necessarily, Twily,” Shining Armor spoke up again. “Whoever said it had to be just you and the ladies going?”

The six turned to him with a touch of surprise. “Wait…what?”

Shining Armor frowned slightly. “Turns out I wasn’t that good at guard duty around here, or heading up a squad of my own…” He shrugged. “Why don’t I go? So long as I’m representing you all here it shouldn’t be a problem, right? I don’t know if I can get in as far as Chancellor Fancy Pants even if I do name drop you, but if such a big deal is going on then they won’t be able to hide it from me.”

Twilight looked uncertain. “I…I don’t know about that, Shining Armor. I mean, you’re not a native from Manehattan and everyone seems to be watching the borders nowadays. They only let us in because we had the Promethian Sigils, and they still practically arrested us.”

“That…actually shouldn’t be a problem,” Starlight spoke up. “I’ve been acting as go-between with Manehattan for a little while now. I’ve gotten back in contact with Party Favor and Sugar Belle, and they know they’re working with us. So all I should need to do is pass the message along and the two of them should be able to sort everything out and get you in touch with Kibitz.”

“There, you see?”

Applejack shrugged. “It’d make me feel a mite more at ease knowing someone was checkin’ in on things while we’re holed up here.”

“Wait, wait…” Twilight interjected again. “What if things really do end up bad? Or those metal warriors show up again? Even we couldn’t take them down, and all you’ve got is the role of the Healer.”

“Hey! I got an idea!” Pinkie cheered. “Why doesn’t Shining Armor get a group of his own friends to come along?”

There was a pause at that from everyone before he frowned. “If things really are bad, I’d rather not endanger anyone else…but I’m also not naïve enough to think I couldn’t use some help.” He looked up and around. “I don’t suppose there’s any volunteers?”

Almost immediately, Big Macintosh stepped forward. “Eeyup.”

Applejack spun on him in an instant. “Now hold on jus’ a minute…”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Nope.”

“Don’t you dare, Big Mac! I ain’t gonna stand by and let you walk right inta’ what might be the fire!”

“Um, Applejack…?” Fluttershy tensely spoke up. “Aren’t we always walking right into danger? And Shining Armor is Twilight’s brother…”

“Eeyup.”

“Who’s side are you on, anyhow?” Applejack nearly barked at Fluttershy, but then followed up with a groan. “You get yourself hurt, then you better get yourself killed while you’re at it…or I’m gonna do it when you get back!”

“You know who’d be perfect for this?” Pinkie spoke up with an excited cheer. “Limestone! She’s been saying how she wants to get out to see if there are any better rocks around here!”

A scoff came from behind her. “Get real, sis. With you all chasing that shadow and those two gone, I’m going to have to make sure everyone around here doesn’t fall apart the first time a Nighttouched runs past the gate. Send Marble. She’s been wanting to spend more time with Big Mac anyway.”

The big man’s eyes widened in stunned surprise, but Pinkie mere gave a salute. “Sure thing!”

Big Macintosh began to stammer, but before he could say another word a voice called out from the back of the room. “I’ll…I’ll come too!”

The group turned about and got another shock, especially for Shining Armor. Although he still looked unwashed and that he hadn’t changed his clothes since he had come back, Stygian was coming out of the hall and approaching. Knowing what he had been through, most of the people gathered looked at him uncertainly and uncomfortably. Yet as he came further into the light, he only winced a little before standing before them.

“Stygian…” Shining Armor began uncertainly on seeing him. “I…”

He cut him off with a deep inhale. “I’m…I’m sorry I’ve been so unresponsive, everyone. I mean…I…I…that is…” He swallowed. “I’m…still upset about what happened with…with…Little Violet…but we’ve all seen a lot of death in this world and we can’t afford to let it stop us. I know…I know if…” He quivered a little. “If she was here…she’d want me to keep moving forward. I want to help.”

“Stygian,” Shining Armor spoke more quietly, “you don’t have to come if you don’t want. The three of us can handle this. It might be nothing. I don’t want to-”

“It’s…it’s ok. I’ll be ok. Even if I’m not, then…then I have to learn to be that way. I can’t spend the rest of my life regretting that I wasn’t…wasn’t able to save her.”

Shining Armor clearly didn’t like how he phrased that and he showed it. “Listen…you didn’t do anything wrong back there. So you don’t-”

“Sir,” he was finally able to speak in a firmer voice. “I know what you would say to me, but the fact remains that even if you don’t blame me…I blame myself, and I have to make up for it. So if you really don’t think of me as being too weak or falling short back at the ruins, then you’ll let me accompany you and prove it.”

He was standing straight now, and looking Shining Armor straight in the eye. Hearing him put it on that footing made Shining Armor second guess himself. Although he clearly still had his own regrets to deal with, apparently he would have rather proven himself too. And so, he exhaled and nodded. “Alright then. I’m glad to have you along.”

He smiled faintly at that, but said no more.

Twilight, for all of this, only looked more distressed and sighed. “Look everyone, I appreciate you all volunteering to do this…but I’m still going to have to disagree with it. The fact of the matter is there’s too much going on right now that we don’t know anything about, and all of it is seeming to revolve around the Promethian Sigils and Anima Viris. At the bare minimum, I would rather there be someone more familiar with those things coming along, and I can’t do it and Starlight Glimmer is helping me with the translation.”

“Hey! What about Sunset Shimmer?”

While everyone went quiet, and a few people reacted in surprise to that, none did so much as Sunset herself—who at that moment went rigid and looked up like she had been caught stealing. “Wait…what?”

“Her?!” Dash nearly cried, getting the two families to look up in alarm.

“Ms. Shimmer?” Rarity half-gasped.

“S-Sunset…?” Twilight echoed back incredulously. “I…I don’t think that’s going to happen… I don’t-”

“Um, pardon me, Ms. Sparkle…” Stygian spoke up. “But wasn’t Sunset Shimmer also a student of the school here? Wouldn’t she have as much knowledge as you would?”

“Are you nuts?!” Dash retorted before Twilight could answer. “She’s the…the…” She stopped herself, catching her words right before she could spill the beans. “She can’t be trusted!”

“Well, technically,” Starlight shrugged, “I think it’s pretty clear at this point that Sunset doesn’t have any working Anima Viris or a Promethian Sigil, so if you’re insinuating what I think you are…you probably don’t have to worry about that.”

“But…but…” Sunset started to protest.

“Well if I ain’t cozy ‘bout my big brother going to Manehattan, I sure ain’t cozy ‘bout him going with her,” Applejack snorted. “And I’m sure Shining Armor ain’t neither! Ain’t I right?”

The group turned to him. He looked a bit stern and reserved for a moment, glancing at Sunset and taking a long look at her. However, his face never turned hostile. He was simply quiet and in the end he crossed his arms.

“…I don’t mind.”

Now there really were looks of surprise, especially from Sunset and Twilight alike. “Wha…?”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still a bit mad after what she did…but she helped you, Twily. And I’m convinced she doesn’t have any more power. Plus, after what she did on the train tracks, I think I can trust her enough to go with her to Manehattan and back. That’d be the last country in Greater Everfree she’d think of pulling something anyway.”

Sunset was speechless. She just stood there with her mouth open. “But…uh…er…”

Twilight, meanwhile, was still looking hesitant. She honestly seemed uncomfortable with the whole idea. “They might have her picture, but…I’m sure Rarity could do something to hide her appearance… Still…I…I don’t know.” Finally, she turned to the woman herself.

“Well…Sunset, what do you think? Do you want to?”

This struck her silent all over again. She honestly trusted her enough to do this? Even without powers and in Manehattan? Yet she hardly had time to think about that before she saw all eyes were on her. Some were neutral, some were unfriendly, but all were checking on what her answer would be to Twilight’s question. And she found herself rooted to the spot.

Even with how much she had grown accustomed to her powerless existence, this was still nerve wracking enough just to make the decision. She actually looked around herself like an animal caught in a trap.

“W-W-Well…I…uh…”