Chapter 12
Shadow of the Sun
By Starwin
Chapter 12
Twilight made another attempt to stand but found that her front legs simply wouldn’t support her. She winced in pain as she put weight on her hooves and tried to push herself up. However, after a moment she abandoned the effort and lay back down upon the ground. Between the pain in her side and the fresh damage inflicted to her forelegs Twilight was in no condition to move, let alone travel.
“I’m sorry-I’m sorry-I’m sorry,” apologized Rainbow Dash rapidly.
“Rainbow it’s alright,” replied Twilight, but her words went unnoticed.
“I didn’t want to,” cried Rainbow. “It wasn’t me out there… well, it was… but I wasn’t in control… well, I was… but not like I am now. I really didn’t mean to. I’m sorry-I’m sor…”
“Rainbow!” interrupted Applejack, finally causing the rambling mare to quiet into silence. “Twilight, what’s wrong?”
“It’s my front legs. It hurts to put any weight on them,” said Twilight. She lifted a leg slightly to show Applejack. The apple-pony frowned at what she saw.
“I’ve seen my fair share of leg injuries, applebuckin an all. Had my fair share of them too,” explained Applejack as she moved around so that she could examine her friend’s legs. “Let me take a look.”
Twilight let out a soft whimper as Applejack lifted one of her hurt legs. Expertly, Applejack moved Twilight’s hoof, stopping whenever her friend’s expression became pained. The orange mare ran a hoof along Twilight’s leg, feeling out the bruise.
“Well,” said Applejack, setting down the hoof and lifting Twilight’s other foreleg. “The good news is that one ain’t broken.” She repeated the process with the other leg. “And neither is this one. But they are bruised up real good. I ain’t no doctor but I don’t think you should be walking on them for a couple days.”
“But we don’t have a couple days!” exclaimed Rainbow. “We need to get to Canterlot as soon as possible!”
“I don’t know what you expect us to do, darling,” said Rarity. “We don’t exactly have another wagon. And it’s not like Twilight has wings that she can use instead.”
“Oh I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “We’ll just carry her to Canterlot!” The friends glanced at each other and finally back to Pinkie Pie.
“Pinkie,” said Applejack, “that’s the craziest suggestion I think I’ve ever…”
Twilight had to admit that, like her friends, she had been skeptical about Pinkie’s plan. Carrying another pony such a long distant seemed like it would be an impossible feat made even worse by the condition of the Sun. Yet, here she was atop Pinkie Pie, while Rarity was carried by Applejack.
Rarity had wanted to walk and reduce the load on their friends. However, this proved impractical. The two unicorns needed very close proximity for the shared spell to work. The height difference from riding to walking proved too far.
The lavender unicorn had never ridden on the back of another pony – except for her brother when she had been much younger – but it actually wasn’t as bad as she had imagined.
Around them, the shimmering shield held against the Sun. Much to Twilight’s surprise, the spell was even easier to maintain now than it had been before. Which was good, because Twilight didn’t think she would have been able to cast it otherwise.
It seemed that two elements together eased the effort significantly, even if Rainbow herself wasn’t doing any casting. This fact was reinforced any time Rainbow moved off from the group. Whenever she went more than a dozen hooves away, the spell was more difficult. Whenever she was near, the magic became much easier.
At Rainbow’s suggestion Twilight had tried putting on her own element. While it didn’t protect her against the Sun — in the same way that Rainbow’s did — it did glow, although to what end, Twilight had no idea.
Hoofington was slowly shrinking away behind them and the peaks of the mountain were growing larger ahead. The road was straight and flat. There was no forest and no hills, just empty, endless, road.
Like before, the road followed the train tracks. Perhaps, if they were lucky, they would find the train waiting for them along the way. Even if they couldn’t get it to run, it might provide some shelter to rest in.
The group was unusually quiet as they walked. Pinkie had started the second leg of their journey to Canterlot with a song. It was something about ninety-nine cups of hot chocolate milk with marshmallows on the wall. However, even she had reached the limit of how much she could sing and walk and carry at the same time. She had halted the rendition with forty two left to go and nopony had complained.
Twilight was starting to worry that this journey had pushed them all far too hard. Her current condition made her wonder how much worse it would get. What good would any of them be if they reached Canterlot and none of them were able even to walk?
The time passed slowly with little variation in the surroundings. There was no cover for them to stop under and no place for them to rest. The water skins they had been given made it so they didn’t have to stop to drink and none of them had much interest in food.
On and on they went. Slowly, steadily forward.
Every now and then Rainbow would race off, scouting ahead. Whichever direction she went – up, forward, left or right – she always returned with the same report. All clear. No sign of anything.
The slow trudge forward began to feel as if they were simply repeating the same moment over and over. The mountain in the distance never seemed to get any closer. Had it been hours since they had left Hoofington or days? Maybe it had only been minutes. It was impossible to know.
Twilight’s body felt sore, not just from the bruises but from the ride. She could only imagine how Pinkie and Applejack were doing. If either were in discomfort from their burdens they didn’t show it. Although Twilight supposed that Applejack was used to carrying such loads. Pinkie on the other hand always seemed to surprise Twilight in the things she could accomplish.
“Woah,” said Applejack coming to a sudden stop. “Did y’all feel that?” asked Applejack, looking down at the ground. The rest of the group stopped as well, glancing at Applejack.
“Feel what?” asked Rainbow, hovering in the air.
“I thought… I thought I felt the ground move just now,” said Applejack. She stomped the dirt as if trying to get the earth to move again.
“I didn’t feel anything,” said Pinkie Pie. “And I’m not getting an eye wink, nose twitch, stomach rumble either.” Her friends looked at her in confusion. “You know, the combo for a ground-shake.”
“Is it still shaking?” asked Fluttershy with concern. She had hopped into the air as if she were afraid of the ground.
“No,” said Applejack. “Nopony else felt that?” The friends all shook their heads.
“Maybe we should take a break,” suggested Spike. All of the ponies looked at the dragon as if he had suggested something ridiculous. “Not for me! A break so that Applejack and Pinkie can rest.”
“No,” replied Applejack sternly. “Until we all get to rest, we aint gona stop.” All of the friends nodded in agreement. Stopping was a bad idea.
The party pressed on, falling back into silence and monotony. The hours or minutes – Twilight couldn’t tell – passed slowly. Or maybe time had stopped completely. It sure felt like it.
The one good thing in all this was that Twilight hardly even had to focus to keep the spell active anymore. It was almost like it was keeping itself up. Her eyes were locked ahead of them on their goal but she didn’t really see it anymore. Her thoughts shifted in and out of focus and her eyes tried to work their way closed.
Fighting in vain, Twilight struggled to stay awake against the fatigue that longed to take her into sleep. Slowly, her eyes drifted shut and she forced them back open. But they didn’t stay open.
Twilight didn’t remember falling asleep but this could be nothing else. The Sun was gone and there was nothing but darkness; moving, churning, darkness. There was something in the shadows, something that was coming for her.
“Twilight!” cried a voice. The shout startled Twilight back into consciousness. It had been Rarity who had awoken her.
“I’m here, I’m awake!” cried Twilight. Rarity gave her an apologetic look, as if she regretted having to wake her friend.
The moment of rest seemed to do a bit of good. Or maybe it was the adrenalin throbbing through her body, but Twilight didn’t have the urge to drift off again; even if she was still very sleepy.
However, a few minutes later Twilight was almost sure she had fallen asleep again. Not only had they seemed to have gotten closer to the base of the mountain, but Twilight could make out a cave ahead of them. At first she was sure it couldn’t be true. Yet, the train tracks led right into the cave. No, not a cave, a tunnel! Shelter!
Holding themselves back from galloping, the friends moved as quickly as they could across the last stretch of land between them and the mountain. Once again time seemed to move unevenly. Before Twilight knew it they were trotting into the shadow of the tunnel. Rainbow halted at the entrance a little apprehensively, but finally made her way inside.
Twilight had never been so glad in all her life to stop casting a spell as she was then. There was talk of food and water and other things but Twilight didn’t hear any of it. The moment Pinkie Pie set her down Twilight passed out.
Shadows danced around Twilight in a night that never ended. There was no Sun and no stars. Only the infinite empty void in every direction. Twilight called out into the darkness, shouting for her friends. Yet she heard nothing, not even the sound of her own voice.
A flutter of panic raced through Twilight’s chest as she realized that she was completely alone. The shadows began to stir, sensing her fear. She could not see them, but she knew they were there, closing in, looking for an opening, waiting to strike.
Twilight took a step back and her hoof bumped against something. Her eyes turned first and her head slowly followed as she looked to see what terrible thing she had found in this place.
However, relief washed over Twilight. It was not some horrible monster nor a creature made out of shadows. It was Applejack. And lying beside her was Rarity, and Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie and… where was Spike? A snore from her back made Twilight shift her gaze to find the baby dragon curled up on her back. Twilight smiled. All of her friends were here with her, though they were all asleep.
Briefly, Twilight debated if she should wake them. However, something stopped her. She looked over her friends again.
“One, two, three…” counted Twilight to herself, pointing to each of her friends in turn. Five, there were only five of them here. Somepony was missing. Twilight tried to think who was absent.
Movement in the shadows drew Twilight’s attention away. She had forgotten about the things in the darkness. In the time since she had looked away, they had gotten much closer.
Now she could make out their terrible shapes running through the night. She could see the black flames boiling into the black sky from the black ponies. They were coming for her. They were coming to feed on her and her friends.
Twilight tried to use her magic, tried to ward them off, but she couldn’t remember how to do it. Closer and closer the things in the darkness came. There was nowhere to run. Her friends were helpless, trapped in their sleep.
Suddenly, out of the dark, a blaze of rainbow light raced past. The things in the darkness hissed and screeched and backed away. The colored light encircled Twilight and her friends. It wrapped around them like a wall… no, like a shield.
“It’s alright,” said the rainbow colored light. “You can go back to sleep, I’ll protect you.”
Twilight didn’t know why, but she trusted the light. With a nod, she lay down next to her friends and drifted into sleep, not at all aware that she was already dreaming.
Twilight was not ready to wake up, yet she did so all the same. It was not the shake of somepony, but rather the shaking of the ground that stirred her. The sudden jarring movement had pulled Twilight out of her empty dreams and back to the waking world. The ground continued to shake and the stone tunnel rumbled.
“What’s happening!” cried Twilight, her sleep weary brain struggling to catch up.
“Another earthquake,” said Rainbow Dash calmly.
“Another?” asked Twilight.
“Yeah, they’ve been happening for the last couple of hours,” explained Rainbow Dash. “That one was the strongest so far.”
“Have you… did you go to sleep at all?” asked Twilight with concern. Rainbow looked at Twilight.
“No,” said Rainbow. “I’m not tired.”
“How long have I been asleep?” asked Twilight.
“Five, maybe six hours,” said Rainbow. “You should get some more rest.” The ground shook again.
“No,” said Twilight. “We should get moving.” She made to stand up but toppled back down, having forgotten about her injuries.
“You’re in no shape to get moving,” replied Rainbow Dash.
“And a few more hours isn’t going to fix that,” answered Twilight. “If these earthquakes really are getting worse then the last place we want to be is in a cave!”
“Oh, yeah, I guess you’re right,” said Rainbow. “I’ll wake the others.”
It didn’t take long to get everypony on their hooves and ready to continue on. Rarity walked to the end of the tunnel, but Twilight still needed to be carried. Once they were ready to go outside, Applejack knelt down so that Rarity could climb onto her back once more.
Together, Rarity and Twilight recast the protective spell and the group ventured out into the Sun once again. They had passed the halfway point of their journey to Canterlot. With luck, it would take them less than two days to climb the mountain and reach city.
Waves of heat churned the air and made the rough ground dance. The Sun beat down upon the six ponies and Spike with all its might, but it could not touch them. Their shield was stronger than before, reinforced by sleep and friendship.
The path they were following had taken a steep climb as they left the tunnel. There was no proper road up to Canterlot from this side. The only path they could take was the one that the train took in its climb towards the castle.
While the train could make the ascent in only a few hours, it was a much longer hike by hoof. This would be their third day of travel, although, as Twilight had pointed out, since the Sun never set anymore day’s hardly seemed to be a good measurement system anymore. They were instead racing an invisible clock that slowly counted down towards doom.
The ponies trotted along the tracks. Spike led the way, with Applejack and Pinkie right behind him. Rarity and Twilight sat upon their backs, maintaining the shield spell and Fluttershy following in the back. Rainbow Dash had still preferred flying instead of walking and was currently hovering out over the side of the cliff.
It was hard work going uphill, more-so when carrying another pony. Talk was sparse and the group trudged along in silence; until they rounded a bend in the mountain. Spike came to a halt, his eyes open wide in surprise.
“No way…” said the small dragon in disbelief. “Twilight, look at this!” cried Spike, pointing to something Twilight could not yet see. For one moment Twilight thought they had reached Canterlot, but that was impossible, they had only just begun their climb.
The rest of the group rounded the corner and Twilight looked out along the sloping tracks that led ever upwards. Her eyes searched back and forth along the ground. Up the tracks, down the cliff side; there was nothing here but more of the same. Twilight opened her mouth to speak but Applejack spoke first.
“I’ll be darned, was that thing always there?” asked Applejack. Twilight redoubled her efforts. What had she missed what had she not seen?
“No way,” said Rainbow Dash, flying forward a little. “It wasn’t there yesterday, uh, well before we went to sleep at least. I’m totally sure, there is no way I would have missed it!”
“Missed what!” cried Twilight at last. “What am I missing?” Pinkie reached a hoof backwards and slightly pushed Twilight’s head upwards so that her eyes lifted from the train tracks and the mountain and into the sky.
It took Twilight a moment to realize what she was seeing. She couldn’t believe it, didn’t believe it.
“The Moon,” whispered Twilight, gazing up at the great silver circle in the sky. It definitely hadn’t been there yesterday when they had traveled from Hoofington. It was not high in the sky, having only just risen. “Luna…” whispered Twilight.
The ground beneath their hooves began to shake again, the most violent so far. As it shook the Moon began to move much faster than it should. It dragged across the sky as if it were tearing at the world below and the shaking became worse.
Above them the rocks shifting. Twilight heard it before she saw it, before she knew what it was… an avalanche.
Rocks tumbled down from overhead. For a moment the five ponies and Spike were bathed in shadow, then the sky of rock crashed down upon them in a heap of dust and rubble and jagged stone.
Twilight wasn’t sure when the shaking had stopped. Rocks were still tumbling down in a terrible echoing clatter above them but the noise had subsided considerably.
Her horn glowed with magic, but she was not the only one, Rarity had also reacted and brought her magic to bear. The glowing force wall held under the strain of the crushing weight of the mountain that had fallen down on top of them.
“Good work you two,” said Applejack as the last of the tumbling rocks knocked together outside.
All Twilight could do was nod but even this effort seemed to weaken the barrier. Yesterday had taken a lot out of her and she wasn’t fully recovered. They may have stopped the falling rocks, but now they were trapped.
Experimentally, Twilight tried to push at the rocks, expanding her magic outward. The rocks didn’t move. She let the shield shrink a tiny bit, and the rocks pressed forward, hurrying to try and crush them.
“No… good,” said Twilight. “Can’t… push… them… off.”
“Did you hear that?” asked Fluttershy. The small enclosed space absorbed her already whispered voice. The ponies fell quiet, listening to the crushing silence.
For a long moment there was nothing. Twilight strained her ears. Then she heard it, a muffled shout from the outside. Twilight couldn’t make out the words.
“Rainbow!” shouted Applejack. Unlike Fluttershy’s whisper, Applejack’s voice was like a booming cannon, it made Twilight flinch and the shield shrunk just a little more. There was another shout from outside, but Twilight couldn’t understand the words. Applejack however appeared to have heard what Rainbow was shouting about. Her face filled with panic. “Rainbow wait! Rainbow!”
There was no response.
“What did she say?” asked Rarity, less breathless than Twilight.
“She’s going to get help,” said Fluttershy.
In a blur of speed Rainbow raced up the side of the mountain. Many other parts of the train track path had been covered in falling rocks. But she had wings and flying to the top would be a breeze, she would be at Canterlot in only a few minutes time.
Then the heat hit her, like a wall of fire. Rainbow let out a shrill shriek and plummeted backwards. She tumbled out of the sky, the fury of the Sun burning her all over. And then the sensation was gone.
Rainbow’s wings flapped hard, halting her uncontrolled descent. Panting slightly she managed to make it to a nearby ledge where the train tracks ran past and the avalanches had not covered.
Had she just felt the touch of the nightmare again, the flames from within? The feeling had been similar, yet, she didn’t think so. It was more like she had slammed into a wall of fire.
She looked up towards the castle still high above, trying to see what had stopped her. However, the air appeared to be clear and she had no idea what had just happened. It had felt like she had been burned, like her whole body had been on fire.
Taking a calming, reassuring breath, Rainbow put her wings back into motion and rose up into the sky, slower this time. She held a hoof out above her. She didn’t have to go far before she felt the touch of flame and pulled her hoof sharply back.
There was nothing there, just air. Yet the air felt like fire here, even if it didn’t look any different. Rainbow flapped her wings hard, gaining some distance from the mountain, and tried again.
At exactly the same height, she felt the touch of heat and pulled her hoof back.
She had reached some kind of invisible fire barrier. There was no way she could fly up to Canterlot, no way she could find help for her friends.
Rainbow slumped in the air, panic and fear and defeat all overtaking her. The element around her neck glowed brightly, although she did not notice. She put her hooves to her face in frustration and screamed. What was she supposed to do now! Her friends were buried alive and she couldn’t help them, she couldn’t do anything!
A glint of red caught her attention on the mountain side. It was a bright red, not the color of stone.
“The train…” whispered Rainbow. “The train!” she shouted. With a burst of speed Rainbow soared through the air. She had seen the caboose of the train, sticking out of the end of a tunnel, safe from the falling rocks.
The train was here! Stopped on the tracks! And maybe, just maybe, there was somepony inside who could help her.
Rainbow hardly slowed down as she banked into the tunnel, her hooves pushing against the side of the train to keep from colliding with it.
“Hello!” shouted Rainbow, her voice echoing in the tunnel as she flew along side the train in the confined space. “Hello is anypony here! Please I need your help!”
Her eyes searched each compartment, but as she passed car after car, the worry began to return to her. The train was empty. There were no ponies on board. Before she knew it, Rainbow was out the other side of the tunnel, having passed the engine.
She looked back, surprised that she had passed the train so quickly. She turned forward just in time to see a pile of rocks racing towards her. With a shriek of terror she spun off the side of the mountain, narrowly avoiding a collision.
Regaining herself she turned back to the train and flew to land beside it. The tunnel in which the train sat was dark and silent and still. Rainbow took a step inside and her hoofstep echoed nosily.
“Hello!” Rainbow shouted again. “Anypony?” Rainbow trotted alongside the train. She couldn’t see inside quite as well from the ground but she could see the cars were empty.
She dropped her head in misery. She had failed her friends. If only she had acted sooner. If only she had…
“Oh a rescue party! Well it’s about time you showed up, I’ve been stuck down here for… YOU!” hissed a voice. Rainbow Dash looked up and felt a wave of shock race over her.
“YOU!” cried Rainbow Dash. “What are you doing here?” Rainbow’s eyes swept across the powder blue unicorn with the silver mane. She had a star shaped magic wand on her flank and was exactly as Rainbow remembered her, minus the hat and the smug smile, the later of which had been replaced with a scowl.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need to explain herself to the likes of you,” said Trixie. “The way you were racing about and shouting, I thought you were are rescue party. But that can’t possibly be true. Nopony in their right mind would send you down here.”
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Looks like Luna is becoming more active with the moon and intervening in dreams. That rainbow light in Twilight's dream was her, right?
Just a small mix-up about one-third in:
Can't wait to see what happens next and I think this
should be sore.
2169204, 2202246, 2202421
Fixed, fixed and also fixed. Thank you for the corrections.
2202483 Moar darn you! Give us MOAR!!
!!!
This chapter has convinced me that Rainbow Dash is invincible.
Good thinking Luna, an eclipse! That'd make things more bearable.
YAY Trixie! I hope she comes out of her showmare shell and actually helps and is nice. She's one of my fav characters. xD
A mix-up, you have it so Pinkie was carrying Twilight, but Twilight is put down by Applejack before going out cold.
2202724
Corrected, thank you
Cool chapter.
"accent" should be "ascent"
And there was "andsShe"
Some misspellings:
*ascent
*and she
*your
2202576
Unless of course Equestria's sun and moon are the same distance away.
Then it might be...sub-optimal.
2203007 and 2203632
Fixed and also fixed, thank you
I am not sure about anything in this story anymore, this is all hurting my brain.
Nice Hitchhiker reference.
I know exactly how Twilight felt when she was sleepy. There are times I was struggling not to nod off only to be reinvigorated by adrenaline, but then found myself drifting off again.
The dream sequence was good. It's making me wonder about how Luna's involved in things. Just what is her endgame?
About the moon sequence, I couldn't really get a feel for that scene. The concept of the moon hanging mere miles overhead is pretty epic, so my imagination helped, but there wasn't much happening in your prose when they were buried. Two short paragraphs, and that's it. Not enough time to work in all the senses and details that would put a reader in the situation and feel the power and danger of being crushed beneath tons of rock.
The end of this chapter was awesome. I may have said this before, but ever since mention of Hoofington, I've had it in my mind that they might encounter Trixie, who happens to be one of my top three favorite characters along with Spike and Pinkie Pie. Can't wait to see what that arrogant attention-hog brings to this.
Was that a yourfavoritemartian reference
This time, I actually searched the comments for a YouTube video (to listen to while reading) first, but none!
*thinks*
I've got nothing. Sorry.
2202246
I'm thinking it was RD. since it was a rainbow colored light. Her nightmares could infect others' dreams, so why not be a shield in a time of need now that she has her element back? RD also wasn't tired at all (result of being a nightmare strapped down by a EoH is unknown), so what else are ya gonna do for a couple of hours watching friends shift uncomfortably in their sleep? You would be surprised how easy words and simple touches can infect a dream with safety
Tgen again, I could be just as wrong.
Woooo Finally Trixie has arrived!
While it didn’t protect her against the Sun — in the same way that Rainbow’s did — it did glow, although to what end, Twilight had no idea.
-Boosting the shield, and/or slowly healing her? They did regrow Rarity's tail in S1E2....
“I thought… I thought I felt the ground move just now,” said Applejack. She stomped the dirt as if trying to get the earth to move again.
-I believe I mentioned, months ago, that Diamond Dogs would be REALLY good allies in this situation. Of course, it might just be AJ's Element calling to her from the Earth. Or her feeling the Earthquake that is the hazard guarding one of the Elements (probably AJ's still).
“I didn’t feel anything,” said Pinkie Pie. “And I’m not getting an eye wink, nose twitch, stomach rumble either.” Her friends looked at her in confusion. “You know, the combo for a ground-shake.”
-Well, probably just Honesty then. I wonder if they will detour to get to it or if it will be in their path like the other two?
Twilight didn’t remember falling asleep but this could be nothing else. The Sun was gone and there was nothing but darkness; moving, churning, darkness. There was something in the shadows, something that was coming for her.
-Luna trying to make contact? Or, given you started this pre-Sleepless in Ponyville, does Luna not have those powers in this continuity (it was fanon before it was canon).
Before Twilight knew it they were trotting into the shadow of the tunnel. Rainbow halted at the entrance a little apprehensively, but finally made her way inside.
-I guess since they haven't seen or heard a train yet, their chances of getting run over are very slim (and even if they weren't it would be a chance worth taking, at least with look-outs). I wonder if a side tunnel will curve around and go back to where AJ felt the tremble.
Suddenly, out of the dark, a blaze of rainbow light raced past. The things in the darkness hissed and screeched and backed away. The colored light encircled Twilight and her friends. It wrapped around them like a wall… no, like a shield.
-Ah, so not only immune to the heat of the sun (or even flame?) but also a... well, not exactly a spy, but certainly a soldier who managed to get into the stronghold of the enemy...
“Another earthquake,” said Rainbow Dash calmly.
-Never was afraid of Earthquakes, even when underground, or has becoming a demi-nightmare rendered her immune to all fear (which isn't necessarily a good thing... she is reckless enough at it is...)? Probably not afraid of them, regardless of setting. It also occurs to me that both of the Bearer's problems near their Elements came out of their Elemental Virtues. Twilight used magic, and Dash was pressed between Fear and Loyalty.
“Have you… did you go to sleep at all?” asked Twilight with concern. Rainbow looked at Twilight.
“No,” said Rainbow. “I’m not tired.”
-That which attacks The Realm of Sleep needs no sleep itself? Quite a change for "Captain Naptime" Dash.
Their shield was stronger than before, reinforced by sleep and friendship.
-Those last two words being for the... more casual readers, and/or those who may have forgotten a few things in between times they caught up on the story during the progress of its publication?
They were instead racing an invisible clock that slowly counted down towards doom.
-Yeah, when all the food plants are dead that would pretty much be game over I should think. And when wooden buildings start bursting into flame, thats going to be "problematic" in many areas.
“No way…” said the small dragon in disbelief. “Twilight, look at this!” cried Spike, pointing to something Twilight could not yet see. For one moment Twilight thought they had reached Canterlot, but that was impossible, they had only just begun their climb.
-Train?
(The Moon, Avalanche)
-So, maybe Celestia went Nightmare with fear of Luna going Nightmare again, and is holding the Sun in the sky against the moon, and... Luna needs to test them each? Or is blindly defending the Elements against all comers, trusting in the strength of Harmony to see the Bearers through her attacks since she can't tell friend from foe at this range?
Then the heat hit her, like a wall of fire. Rainbow let out a shrill shriek and plummeted backwards. She tumbled out of the sky, the fury of the Sun burning her all over. And then the sensation was gone.
-Ah, so the taming muzzle and leash on the beast has a maximum range? Or just the fire immunity? Am I wrong about the source of her extra powers? Twilight seems to... well, her magic is being shored up, and I guess guarding them in their sleep could be seen as Loyalty, but the fire immunity? Maybe it is giving her back the OTHER essential part of herself: her flying.
At exactly the same height, she felt the touch of heat and pulled her hoof back.
-Altitude limit, rather than range limit from the others? Or just a sphere with a huge enough radius it feels like and level ceiling?
At exactly the same height, she felt the touch of heat and pulled her hoof back.
-Take the brake off and hope the crash knocks more rock off of them than it smashes into them? Or are their refugees in the train?
She looked back, surprised that she had passed the train so quickly. She turned forward just in time to see a pile of rocks racing towards her. With a shriek of terror she spun off the side of the mountain, narrowly avoiding a collision.
-So, yeah, active guarding of The Element of Honesty. Is the Element in the train and she is being herded there? Also, so far they have been facing the GREEK elements, water(with some air for the storm, but I THINK cold is more water than air, and besides, the wind-strength was less of a danger than the freezing snow and water) at Magic defeated with fire, Fire at Loyalty defeated with Water, and now Earth... to be defeated with Air? Of course, I don't know of many SIX element systems (some five, but no six, unless you include both Metal AND Void), so I don't think this will hold up.
-Well, unless she's REALLY been working out on her "Ursa Lifting", I doubt she can do much about the avalanche by herself. Of course, she can probably manage the shield spell (walking through flames looks impressive on stage?).
Rainbow seems to have gotten over her claustrophobia rather quickly. Did her element have anything to do with it, or was it just a plot convenience.
There she is!