Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Journey Through the Dark - Part 22

Sleep had come and gone, inside a magical dome to shelter her from the snow and the wind, hidden from sight like she herself was. Not the greatest of hiding spots, with snow clearly not passing through, but the blizzard lowered visibility enough so that no one would notice unless they were right there. Thankfully, as she'd predicted, no one had come close to her.

She'd had some time to think about a few things, as she'd lain down to sleep. Thinking about what would come next, what would come after, and what would come later. At some point, she'd thought, they could try to contact some of those rebels the unicorns had talked about. To bring them too to Equestria, or maybe to help deal with things in that world. Depending on how things played out, of course.

She looked up as she walked through the snow, thinking back on that. She couldn't see the Moon from there, too much snow falling in the way. So she just looked ahead instead as she kept walking. She'd stopped to eat a bit before, and to check her direction again. The blizzard, while certainly magical in origin, hadn't prevented her from using her own magic to find the right way.

It was while walking through the snow so, and thinking about things she'd thought about, that Twilight happened to walk out of the blizzard. Thick as it was, she hadn't realised she was at its edge until the moment she stepped past it and her view finally cleared.

She was not, as she could have expected, at the edge of the Empire. She could see the edge of the Empire, but there was some space between where the blizzard ended and the magical dome wrapped around the city began. About a hundred metres, judging from her position, of uninterrupted even terrain, covered in snow. A seamless mantle of white, running all around the city like a ring. Beyond the dome, stationed at even intervals, armoured guards with black helms overlooked the stretch of empty land.

Twilight did not move a hoof forward. She considered flying, but even the beating of her wings might have moved too much snow. She may have been invisible, but hiding her tracks would have been no easy task. One mistake, and her position would immediately become the guards' target. By the green light shining through the slits in their helmets, she doubted any of them would have any concerns for who they were harming.

She lifted herself upwards with her magic, and wrapped herself into a bubble meant to prevent her own magic use from being detected, then did the same again with a second bubble around the first one. Finally she began to propel herself forward, hanging several metres above the ground and rising still.

She pondered where to enter the city from. There was no apparent gate on that side, but she wondered if one even existed anywhere. Such things were probably made and unmade when the situation called for it. She could go higher, but more guards appeared to be there, in towers placed all around town next to the perimeter. There really didn't seem to be any spot particularly less guarded.

Swallowing, Twilight pushed herself forward towards the barrier.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Remember, Snake, this is a stealth mission. Good luck.

[Saix]

It's good that she's making plans to help this world. She might not be able to save all possible worlds and she should obviously concentrate mainly on her own, but this world is the only one she's found with life in it and while the situation with Nightmare Moon is difficult the presence of rebels and of a functioning society means there's hope for it. Ignoring it entirely for self preservation while the situation in her own universe is currently relatively stable would be too callous, and on the practical side of things there's surely some gain in it as well, with an untapped pool of powerful magic users and different technology. It's also a good position to adopt for their own sake, if there's other worlds out there that make contact showing that her world has a track record of altruistic/cooperative behaviour could lead to them being more likely to pool their resources and research together instead of being wary.