NaNoWriMo2015 Oneshot Colletction

Dawn and Sun ran. The castle had been destroyed, the Princesses didn’t seem to be the Princesses, and the very fires of Tartarus seemed to be on their heels. The two pegasi took to the air almost immediately on reaching a courtyard, wanting to get the hell out of the place, hoping their pursuers couldn’t do the same. The fact the unicorns hadn’t yet cast any sort of magic seemed to be a good sign.

They made it into the air quickly, but heard that some of those fleeing weren’t so lucky. Those who were just a little too slow. Sun heard their screams but didn’t turn back. He didn’t allow Dawn to, either. Neither of them were armed and they had quickly seen that direct contact with these fiends was conversion. They couldn’t do anything, so it was useless to turn back now. Useless and only heartrending.

The first stop was Sun’s home to pick up supplies. He had a panic room, but he knew that using it in this situation could very well kill them, as there was no bolt tunnel to go with it. Instead, he packed up the small sky-sled. A sky-sled had a few differences from a sky-chariot in that the sled didn’t have wheels, primarily, but it was also smaller, lighter, and designed to carry plenty of supplies through far more difficult flights than the average sky-chariot. It was also designed better in the three dimensional movement category. It was exactly what they needed. He began to pile lots of dried, freeze-dried, and stasis bagged foods onto the front of it. The stove went into the middle, along with the winder gear, and weapons.  Weapons such as a few sets of wingblades, spring activated combat claws—Sun wasn’t about to risk magic—plenty of arrows and bolts, along with several old fashioned grenades. In the back of the sled went the napalm.

All of it was tied down, with several staves, a trio of swords, and a large tent on top, Sun hitched himself up to the sky-sled and made his way to the door of the room. He took a breath and peered out. Canterlot was in chaos. It seemed in the twenty minutes he and Dawn had been in the panic room, the chaos had spilled out into the city streets and was now reaching further. Sun sighed as he realized the chaos and terror in the streets was unlikely to stop reaching further outwards anytime soon, and glanced to Dawn. “Everfree forest?” he asked his companion softly. He knew how little she was going to like that suggestion, but it was the only one he could think of at the moment. Better the monsters in there—the ones that could be defended against—than this new enemy—one of fire, brimstone, and impervious to the touch of the living.

Dawn nodded. “It… almost seems safer than this place,” she said softly, walking over to the wall of the dojo that made up the front of Sun’s home and putting on a harness. To it, she added several daggers, a shortsword, a morning star, and a short flail, before walking back over to stand with Sun. She danced from hoof to hoof nervously, but showed no signs of backing down.  “Let’s go,” she said softly. “Before I lose my nerve.”

“Just think of it this way,” Sun said, as he began to head towards the back of his house, and an extra set of stairs that ran up the back, big enough to get the sled up. A set he’d originally installed for convenience of take off with said sled. “It’s probably actually more dangerous to stay here. It would take more nerve, and perhaps a little idiocy to stay here with the world in this state.”

Dawn nodded, nervously smiling at Sun. Though he was right, she really didn’t like it. It still meant flying in the open air when the weather was clear. If it was partly cloudy or overcast, it wouldn’t have been so bad. They could have hidden among the clouds. But then again, so could have the enemy.

“We’ll make it,” Sun assured her, leading the way up the stairs. He paused at the landing to the second floor, the area his living quarters were contained on. “But we’ll wait for nightfall,” he said after a moment. “No use risking going out now and getting caught in broad daylight.”

Dawn nodded. If they were going to wait out the rest of the day, though, they’d either have to stay on the stairs or find a way to draw all the curtains in his house. Sun loved the open and air being in the air as much as possible, and, due to that, the curtains in his home were almost always as wide as they could possibly go. Unfortunately, the current situation made that a very big liability for them. Sun frowned once more, before steeling himself. “Call if anything goes wrong or anyone breaks in,” Sun told Dawn, before slipping into his home.

He moved carefully, keeping low as he went from window to window, taking a quick peek out to ensure nopony was watching the houses, and then pulled each curtain carefully, keeping the movement slow so as not to attract attention. Short, jerky movements just tended to catch the eye, and that was the last thing Sun wanted at that moment. He did manage to eventually get all the curtains drawn, even with his slow progress.

Thankfully, due to how little he actually used them, the drapes were big, thick, heavy things that blocked out all light. In the rare instances he did use them, he needed it to be as dark as equinely possible. Now that the drapes were shut tight, all there was left to do was wait out the rest of the day. And hope the sun set on time, otherwise, they would have wasted a lot of time and a valuable distraction for nothing. It was a lot of hope to hang on an event that might not even happen, but Sun knew it would provide better chances than leaving now if night did fall. While it was chaotic, it was in the middle of the day, and visibility was amazing. A great day for flying. A truly horrible one for attempting to escape a city on a mountain when some of the enemy might still retain the ability to fly.

And so, the only choice left was to wait out the day and hope. Hope that night came. Hope that night came with the promised new moon, allowing Dawn and Sun might escape under the cover of the darkness. First to the Everfree, then, with luck, to Equestria’s borders and beyond. Preferably beyond the ocean.

Sun went back to the door and opened it to let Dawn into the house. He gave her a small, comforting smile. She returned it, a small spark of hope igniting in her eyes. They would make it. They would be alright. All they had to do was believe.