Sea

Cross hurried Twilight into the back of the shop. She walked over to the front, looking out to make sure nopony was coming in, before drawing the curtains and hanging up a sign that said 'Closed'. With the street sufficiently blocked from view, she walked back to the center of the room and took a small vial out from a display shelf. She tapped it with her magic, and it started glowing a bright orange. She put it down in the center of the room, and turned to face Twilight.

"Come here." Cross said. Twilight obliged, stopping a few feet in front of her. "Sit down." With a confused expression, Twilight obliged. "Now raise your hoof."

"What's going on?" Twilight asked with a hint of fear as Cross drew a small, sharp stiletto. She looked it over, letting the gleam catch her eye.

"Don't worry." Cross looked at Twilight. "This will only hurt a bit." She stepped forward. "Now, hold still."

Twilight felt surprisingly little pain when the stiletto pierced the skin on her hoof. She felt a small trickle of warm blood come out, though; an uncomfortable feeling.

"Right." Cross placed a small, empty vial underneath the flow, filling it about halfway with blood before removing it. Wordlessly, she put the vial away, before lighting her horn. Twilight could only watch as the cut on her hoof healed itself. Cross bore a small smile as she walked off, kicking the stiletto underneath a low-hanging cloth.

"What just happened?" Twilight asked, getting slowly to her hooves. She felt no pain in any hoof; it was almost as if the knife had never touched her.

Cross just smiled. "I just needed to take a bit of a sample," she said. "Come on. Clean yourself up a bit, and find something to cover yourself."

"What's going on?" Twilight asked.

"What else? You're Marked. I have to make sure it's real before I ship you off to the Governor."

"Do you have anything down here I can wear?"

"There's an old set of clothes in the back somewhere," Cross said across the room. "Shouldn't be too hard to find. Now hush! I need to focus."

As Twilight walked away, Cross looked closely at the vial of red liquid. Her horn sparked as she zapped it with a small spell. The liquid began to bubble, releasing a putrid vapor. She quickly capped the vial, allowing a reddish gas to fill it. The gas in the vial grew thicker and thicker until the entirety of its contents had disappeared into a red smoke. She opened it slightly, allowing a small amount of it to escape. It immediately started moving towards the east edge of the room, with great speed. It slammed against the wall, forming the faint outline of a series of letters. She allowed more to escape; then more, then more. Soon, there was almost no gas left in the vial. But, on the wall, in crisp, neat block-letter outline, was one word:

Equestria.

"Twilight, are you dressed?" Cross shouted hurriedly, running into the back of the shop. There was a wooden partition dividing the two halves of the shop, with the rear half generally being devoted to storage and the front half being for sales and display. There was a small arch in the middle of the partition that allowed easy access between the two parts. Cross barreled through the arch, skidding on the wood as she came to a stop. "We have to go right now." She quickly grabbed a pair of old cloth cloaks. "Here," she said, throwing one to Twilight. "So you don't freeze." She put the other one over her back, tying it around her neck.

Twilight just looked at her oddly, as if questioning her sanity, before shrugging. She finished pulling on an old, baggy pair of pants that were slightly too long for her before putting the cloak on and following Cross. Already, the white mare was almost out of the door; Twilight had to jog just to keep up with her walk. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to a group of ponies who'll take good care of you," she said. "Trust me. I know these ponies; I buy my goods from them. If there's anyone in Sunsport you can trust, it's the Scarlet Dawn."

Twilight gulped slightly as Cross led her down a mostly-deserted alleyway. The sun was just peaking over the sea, so while there was a bit of morning traffic the streets were not crowded in the least. This, of course, only served to make it easier for Cross to lead her through a series of twisting, turning alleys that seemed to appear spontaneously out of the sides of buildings and continue on in directions that Twilight swore should have hit a road by now.

Eventually, they came to a small door in the back of a building that looked quite similar to the other four dozen they'd passed. This one, however, Cross stopped at, knocking five times. The door opened a crack, and a sliver of a red face appeared.

"The Prophet has arrived," Cross said, putting her hoof on the door. The door shut, and the loud sound of a bolt being opened reverberated through the door. The door opened, revealing a dark room. Cross walked in without hesitation, and Twilight followed.