Umbral Souls

As soon as the patrol of Moonlink guards were well away from earshot, Pinkie popped her head out of the empty rain barrel on the corner of a presumed vacated homestead. Taking a look and a hard listen for any sounds of shuffling mail or boots on the ground, the coast seemed clear (added with the thought of where such an idiom originated in the first place). As such, it was safe to resume her work. The intention; the perfect distraction.

It was no secret in the least, that if there was anyone in the unfathomable vastness of the multiverse, that if there was anyone more than qualified for ensnaring the attention of others; it was her, or her name wasn’t Pinkamena Diane Pie (which it was). Of course, with the limited window of time and proper resources (despite ample amounts of towels at the inn), rather than the usual idea of people’s desire for a good party; she had to make do with the next best thing: A kaboom.

Under most circumstances she’d had the perfect tool for the job; her party cannon. Of course, she did not have her cannon with her (a notion that still baffled her as to how the writer could have possibly deprived her of something so intrinsic to her character). But she did have magic on her side. Magic, and just the right amount of the equally magical compound known as β-D-fructofuranosyl α-D-glucopyranoside. Colloquially known as sugar.

Indeed, packed up into a small bunch a good ten feet away from her hiding spot was a stack of three packages of sugar, with a line of it running down to her position, where it diverted to another line leading down the street, snuggly confined to a gap running between the cobblestones, which also did well to obscure the trail from onlookers. At the end of that she’d set up another charge in the next alley between the buildings, and yet another further down from that. And if there was anything she’d learned about explosions: You couldn’t make do with only one; that was just obvious. You would require three at minimum.

Clambering out of the barrel, she took one last cautionary look around. “Operation Sweet Release of Boom-Boom is a go-go,” she declared in hushed whispers. Rubbing her hands together from excited anticipation, with a touch of her geode she primed her magic, then with the dab of a finger, the lines of sugar began to fizzle, a spark trailing along just like it was gunpowder. To her satisfaction, it went fast, just like in the cartoons.

As Pinkie let herself be lost in a cackling fit of satisfaction, her fingers gnarling viciously at the giddiness of the moment, all the while she seemed to go wall-eyed in the midst of her laughter. She abruptly ceased when something of importance came to mind: “Ohhh, right: I’m supposed to get away…” As soon as she realized, the ignition line was mere inches away from the charge.

In a wild double take, her body instinctually flung itself back inside the rain barrel where she curled up and covered her ears for the impending detonation. Any second now…

-

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have considered something else?” asked Rainbow as she stood huddled in an alleyway between two buildings near the market square, doing her best to remain out of sight, dreading at the moment when a patrol would spot either of their groups as they awaited for Pinkie’s signal.

Applejack replied with a sharp hush. “Keep it down.”

“Don’t fret, Rainbow, I’m sure Pinkie will pull through,” said Rarity, albeit her tone suggested she wasn’t herself wholly confident on the plan. “I’m more concerned she doesn’t end up blowing half the block… er, street? … Whatever, sky-high with the amount she helped herself.”

“Not gonna lie, that’s also what sort of worries me…” muttered Rainbow. Just then the sound of boots on cobblestones and jingling mail emanated from behind. The three of them knelt down, trying to appear as small and un-seeable as they could. After a pair of polearm wielding guards walked by the entry into the alley, she exhaled in relief. “C’mon, Pinks, what the heck are you-?”

-

“… Where’s the kaboom?” Pinkie asked aloud. “There was supposed to be an ear-shattering kaboom.” Peeking her head out the top of the barrel. There was the impromptu charge tucked away underneath some refuse. The trail of sugar and burned away to nothing, with the odd errant spark spurting from the sugar packets.

How was this possible? Throughout her experience with her magic, Pinkie was certain she could affect any form of sugar, right down to fructose, on account of that little accident in the cafeteria. Did she get salt by mistake? … No, she distinctly recalled tasting it beforehand: It was most certainly pure. Was Equis sugar somehow different? If she couldn’t cause some kind of head-turner for the guards, then the plan was a bust.

Dejected at both her failure and being deprived living out one of her fantasies, Pinkie slouched, resting her jaw against the rim of the barrel, “Oh fiddles-”

-

An abrupt boom tore through the hauntingly still air of Equis, followed immediately by sharp whistles like a flurry of fireworks had been set off all at the same time. Rainbow felt her body freeze in trepidation, seeing who might have been the exact same guards from earlier running back the way they’d come from. From the other end of the alleyway, several more guards in blue tabards and kettle hats came rushing, right into that very alleyway!

When the first two had made their way in, they both stopped upon realizing their positions. Rainbow worked fast, and with two light-speed conks on their heads with the shafts of her cudgels, they were out cold. She saw how Rarity bound a third one’s arms in a ring of gemstones, leaving her open for Applejack to knock her out with the blunt of her axe.

Just when things could get more hectic, another explosion rang out nearby, added with what might have been a building crumbling down.

“Ah’ think that’s our cue!” called Applejack, before springing into action. A few guards were still present, but it was a chance they had to take, to which Rainbow sped out ahead in a blur.

Through her unique perspective when in superspeed, she could see the Umbra-Hunters charging out of their own respective hiding places. Maud came charging out at the front, having shed most of her armor, with only her stone gauntlets and massive dragon tooth club hefted over one shoulder, which she used to ram through a pair of guards, knocking them away like a charging bull. One of them managed to reach out and snag onto her ankle, but much to Rainbow’s amazement, the added heft did nothing to slow Maud down and said guard was soon sent flying away from the momentum. Behind Maud, Scootaloo ran up and knocked the other guard out with an uncanny method of gripping her sword by the blade and whacking him across the face with the pommel. This was good, for one thing they all unanimously had agreed upon; absolutely no fatalities.

Trusting her friends to be able to make it, Rainbow ran farther, entering the wide expanse of the market square. Where once there would have been stands and stalls for the good, free people of Moonlink to go about commerce, the space was largely vacant, save for sandbag battlements and a few carts, and the cages. Three of them, wrought from iron, all of them filled with people, ready to be carted outside the city walls as fodder for the Umbra-Touched to prey on. Many guards had remained. A few too many than she liked, but she knew she could manage.

-

A third explosion tore through the endless night, dozens of guards rushing through the streets to inspect the ruckus, the uncomfortably vacant streets becoming a hive of activity. An entire building had crumbled down to its very foundations, kicking off a cloud of dust and dirt, all the while the guards clamored in questions and shock, when suddenly the building beside had one of its walls come crumbling down on top of the heap.

In the midst of the chaos, they seemed completely ignorant of the rain barrel that went rolling down the street, almost like it was doing so deliberately, particularly when it took a sharp turn northward and continued on its way. Through the entire predicament, not one paid a single thought on the lonely container, nor did anyone have the mind to stop it.

-

The Umbra Hunters continued fending off any pursuers. Maddie took the time to get one particularly burly one into a chokehold, holding the flat of her blade over his neck with both hands while Night Quill socked him across the face with a fist. Another made the grave mistake of carelessly charging at Maud, who was in an almost casual manner leaning against her great mace, only to abruptly stomp on the guard’s toes. Before he could so much as whine, the unusually strong Pie sister (with aid from the Ring of Boulder) grabbed him by the neck of his tabard, and with a double twirl, sent him flying.

“Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!” screamed the guard before plummeting into the canal separating the artisan and market districts of Moonlink with a splash. Maud’s face did not even flinch.

Rainbow watched as Scootaloo led Neighsay onto the platform at the center of the square, where Cinch had seemingly set up a hangman’s noose. All the while Applejack and Rarity hurried over to the cages.

“Stand back, Ah’ll get ya out,” said Applejack, touching her geode to prime her powers. Taking hold of the cage door with both hands while propping a foot against the structure for balance. With a protesting squeal, the farmgirl effortlessly pulled it off its hinges.

Rarity in turn took a more delicate approach: Using her geode she conjured a disk-shaped gemstone with seemingly paper-thin edges, slipping it into the gap between the frame and hatch. With some added force; the gem sawed through the bar within the lock, the door slowly swinging open with a satisfying squeak on its rusty hinges. All the while Applejack was soon over and done with the third cage, tossing its dislodged door aside.

The townspeople set for what might as well have been an embellished execution warily filed their way out of the cages: Men, women, even some who might as well have still been children of many combinations of colors in both skin and hair, some whom Rainbow thought she might have recognized from back home; thinking she recognized the likes of Roseluck, Silver Spoon, as well as Vinyl Scratch (wondering how the naming convention would work here, if she had the same name). Although she could see why Vinyl was one of the prisoners given their version’s propensity for going against rules and regs on many occasions.

Soon the gathered townsfolk began to stare as Neighsay held out his arms atop the square’s platform to gain attention, all the while the Hunters assembled to the side in anticipation of an assault by returning city guards. “People of Moonlink, hear me! I am Archivist Neighsay, service to High Priestess Starlight Glimmer of the Church of the Moon!” he called out to the people. “Like you, I was exiled from our last known bastion of safety by the usurper, Abacus Cinch, in her bid for power. But with the aid of these brave warriors and fellow exiles, our Umbra Hunters, I come to you now, to bring you hope!”

With no urging, Rainbow Dash was the first of the three to reveal herself to the populace, lifting the silvery blue horse-headed helm from her head, unveiling her rainbow-patterned hair for all to see, to which Applejack and Rarity soon followed suit, lifting their own disguises before the gathered crowd. The hushed murmuring of the gathered citizens of Moonlink fell to complete silence, scores of eyes staring up at them in what amounted to a potpourri of disbelief, shock and amazement.

All when a barrel came rolling down into the square, everyone’s focus turning to the container which, against any conceivable form of realism, propped itself up almost perfectly beside the platform. Before nary a question could be presented, it let out a burst of confetti; Pinkie Pie in all her pink puffy glory leapt out, landing on the ground, legs split apart and her arms held out in a grandiose gesture.

“We’re baaaack~!”

-

The interior of the Cathedral of the Moon was slightly less frigid than the cold night air of Equis, what with Sunset having relinquished her shard for the time being for safekeeping over at Apple Hearth Inn, the unanimous decision being its undoubted hampering of stealth. The larder of the cathedral had been unexpectedly better stocked than Sunset had believed, what with the dozens of barrels and numerous jars of preserves. The question of how the people could continue to feed themselves after two years of unending night was not lost on her, all the while feeling a tinge of indignant anger over how these resources were being hoarded by an opportunistic monster like Cinch.

Fluttershy, holding Winifred in her hands, listening to what Sunset could only fathom as directions being peeped by the helpful rat, led them through another door into a room that, while still quite dim, was illuminated, and bore some semblance of warmth, courtesy of a crackling fire. It was a kitchen: Heavyset oaken tables were set up in two rows of three with the odd knife, cutting boards and some other kitchenware like bowls on top, while above wrought iron pots and pans hung from racks clung to the ceiling with sturdy chains. Along the wall to the right from the larder door were wood burning stoves; made up of bricks with heat conducting iron surfaces, while at the adjacent wall far back was a pair of ovens. Lastly, past the rows of tables, opposite the wall of stoves was a great open hearth with a rotary spit set over it. Any warmth was greatly appreciated, though it would not be long when Fluttershy motioned to follow past the hearth to yet another door between that and the ovens.

Inside was pitch dark; but with Twilight’s impossibly bright keychain light, the whole space became illuminated like daylight at night. Fluttershy yelped over how close she came to taking a tumble down the precariously placed flight of steps leading down. Upon their descent, the air down there being musty and earthen: A wine cellar, with great kegs lined up orderly along the walls, a series of crates to the side holding sacks what might have been potatoes, while a great ale keg perched atop sturdy timber frames sat a few feet away from the stairs.

Fluttershy briskly went over to this very barrel, where she knelt down and let Winifred down onto the ground, the rat scurrying into the tight space between the great keg and the wall: A most perfect place for a rat, or a whole family of them, to remain hidden.

“Winifred’s getting his cousin,” said Fluttershy informingly. “She’s been here the longest, so he believes she knows where they might be holding Starlight. If not, there’s his thirty-eight nieces and nephews.”

Sunset did not relish the thought of having to skulk around to thirty-eight different locations, let alone with being in hostile territory. “Greeeat,” she mouthed in false enthusiasm. “Meeting the extended family and all…”

After a while waiting, Winifred, or at least whom Sunset assumed was Winifred, scuttled out from the gap. Only for Sunset and Twilight to be taken aback when not just one, but at least a dozen more smaller rats came scurrying out behind him, their whiskered snouts sniffing about all over, before settling down in a surprisingly orderly line, perching down on their hindlegs, their focus entirely on Fluttershy. At the front of this row of rodents was Winifred and a grey rat roughly his size.

“Hello there!” said Fluttershy eagerly, squatting down in front of the rat assemblage. “It’s very nice to meet you… Gertrude? I hope us dropping in unannounced is no trouble…” The rat squeaked something in response. “Oh yes, I see your point… Yes, I can imagine it being very gloomy with not as many people around.”

Sunset carefully crept up behind Fluttershy, nudging the animal caretaker, “Fluttershy, I’m sure this is very nice for you, and Winifred and his cousin and the rest, but we’re kind of in a hurry here.”

“Oh, sorry,” mumbled Fluttershy sheepishly. “Gertrude, is there by any chance that you’d know if there’s a certain person being held somewhere in the cathedral. Her name is Starlight Glimmer; she used to be in charge here, but she’s gone missing and we’re trying to find her. We need her help to save everyone in Moonlink.”

Gertrude began to let out a series of peeps, which Fluttershy went on to listen most intently. The rodent seemed to grasp at the air, maybe some rudimentary attempt at a gesture, when a few of the smaller rats squeaked in response. “Oh, where can we find William?” To this Winifred peeped out. “Wonderful! Thank you very much, Gertrude,” said Fluttershy, gently petting the grey rat’s head with an index finger. The little rodent clearly approved.

Letting Winifred clamber back onto her palm after he snuggled slightly with Gertrude, who, along with her dozen children, scurried back into their hiding place behind the great keg, Fluttershy stood up, a triumphant smile on her face. “Gertrude says her older son William lives near the storage cellars and that there have been multiple people brought down for the past few years. He should know where they’re keeping Starlight, and Winifred knows how we can get to William.”

“Good work, Fluttershy… And Winifred,” Sunset added hastily when Fluttershy glanced at the brown rat settled comfortably on Fluttershy’s palm. “So, where do we go from here?”

“Back up into the kitchen, out of the kitchen, then immediately down the hall to the left. Come, Winifred knows where it is.”

But when Sunset had managed back up the cellar steps, the distinct shuffling of armor could be heard clear as day: A kettle hatted guard awaited at the end, slightly rotund and what Sunset thought were slightly bucked teeth peeking over his lower lip.

“Hey!” he shouted in a slightly hoarse tone, sounding strangely familiar. “You’re not supposed to be in here!”

Right when the man reached to grab her, Sunset managed to seize his wrist and pulled. The guard screamed as he went tumbling down the steps, Fluttershy and Twilight barely managing to get out of the way. As he lay motionless on the floor, Twilight tentatively brought a pair of fingers to his neck.

“He’s alive; his armor protected him from serious injury,” she remarked, when the buck-toothed guard groaned. “… Wait, isn’t this-”

“You’re supposed to be out in the cages,” came another guard; this one lankier, and had a voice that seemed to indicate everything not being quite upstairs with him. Before he had the chance to say anything further, Sunset drew out her rapier and held it dangerously close to the man’s exposed neck.

“We do not have time for this, nor do we wish to hurt you,” she hissed, keeping a steady hand as the guard stared rather blankly down at her blade. “If you value your life, and the life of your friend, and this city, you will go down there, keep quiet, and stay out of our way. Got that?”

The guard seemed to have to really consider his options and the ramifications of Sunset’s ultimatum. “Okay,” he replied absently. “Excuse me, uh, milady, yea…” he said, before seemingly deliberately tumbling down the steps with a rattle and a thump, falling right atop his comrade. The two of them groaned in great discomfort, the lanky one rolling off his thicker fellow onto the floor.

Sunset urged Twilight and Fluttershy to hurry, no telling whether or not one or the other would make good of her demand. As the door to the wine cellar was closed, Sunset considered blocking the door with something, but her conscience told her better. For all they knew; those two could be stuck down there for who knows how long, whether Cinch was deposed or not, and be forgotten.

“Weren’t those…?” Twilight began asking, when Sunset promptly cut her off.

“Snips and Snails? Definitely,” she said. “I swear, this has got to be some constant with them always falling in with the wrong crowd!”

“This way,” called Fluttershy, leading them out an ajar door on the other side of the hearth. “It’s just down here, and then the stairs down.”

“Alright, let’s hurry and find Starlight,” said Sunset determinedly. “I just hope the others managed alright on their end…”

-

“This is not alright!” cried Pinkie as she threw a palmful of edible glitter into a guard’s face. Despite their attempts at passive resistance, the Moonlink guards had returned with gusto, resulting in her, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, the Umbra Hunters and citizens getting into a brutal brawl with them.

“Will – you – lot – get – a – clue?!” shouted Rainbow in rhythm as she deflected multiple incoming blows from a guardsman’s longsword before socking her across the face to take her out, hopefully without too much injury.

“Please, we implore you!” called Neighsay from the platform, all the while urging any civilian to make their way atop. “You need not follow Cinch! There is still hope; the Scions have returned!” He tried, seemingly in vain as he held out his arms to try and shield the people behind him from any potential assault with fatal intention.

“Seriously, we don’t wanna hurt ya’ll!” yelled Applejack in desperation, parrying an incoming spear with her shield, then seizing the weapon from her attacker and snapping it in two.

Pinkie ducked and wheeled around any attacks that came her way, until to her shock a spear made impact… and was subsequently caught in the endless tangles of her puffy hair. The guard stared in bafflement, all the while trying to yank his weapon back, which only elicited yelps and cries of discomfort from Pinkie, who was in turn trying to pull herself free, but it would seem that both her and her attacker were at an impasse.

“Ow-ow-ow! Oooww!” cried Pinkie, both hands gripping at the shaft of the weapon on her end. “It’s in my floof! It’s in my floof!”

“What the bloody hell is this?!” asked the guard in frustration, all the while yanking harder, which elicited further pain from Pinkie as no doubt clumps of tangled hair were being pulled. The spectacle came to an end when Maud with an uppercut sent the man flying in an arch into the waterway some twenty feet away.

“Whew. Thanks Maud!” said Pinkie, turning to her sister’s counterpart, forgetting the spear shaft still jutting out of her hair, almost striking Maud, but the stoic Pie sister simply blocked it by raising a gauntleted hand.

“Are you okay, Pinkie?” she asked, her face the very vision of concern.

“Yea! Takes more than a spear in the head-fluff to bring down Pinkamina Diane P-”

“Behind you.”

“Huh?” Pinkie turned around, only for the spear shaft to smack an incoming guard in the face.

“My eye!” the woman screamed, stumbling away with both hands to what was undoubtedly going to bruise.

“To your left,” said Maud, Pinkie once again turning to face down her attacker, but like last time, the spear shaft somehow attained enough momentum to smack the kettle helmeted man on the side of the head with enough force to knock him over.

“Whoa!” said Pinkie, bobbing her head, with which the shaft bobbed along with her movements. “This thing’s pretty effective! Hey, girls! My hair is a deadly weapon! Who knew?!” With the realization, she charged into the fray. “Jiyū banzai!” she cried, swinging her head side-to-side, conking multiple attackers down as she went.

-

They went as quickly as they could while refraining from making too much noise from their shoes clapping against the smoothed stone tiles. A distinct feeling of what could be interpreted as disappointment dawned on her, seeing as the cathedral did not seem so grand as she’d envisioned. Granted, they had so far only seen where the clergy’s food was prepared, so they hadn’t the chance, or need it would seem, to explore in leisure.

Fluttershy through Winifred led them down a capacious hallway, giving them a brief glance through a passage along the way towards what might have been the central chamber, which with the multitude of pews and pillars no doubt propping up what would be a grand mezzanine. Their destination came in a staircase located at the end of the hallway. Descending down, they arrived in a lackluster chamber in a rectangular layout, three of the walls, the one in front and to their sides bearing a door, while the space immediately to the right from the stairs had a series of barrels and boxes lined up, as well as a shelf filled with rolls of parchment or vellum.

Fluttershy listened as the rat once again peeped to her. “Oh, another floor down…? Ah,” she nodded, seeing how another staircase leading down opened to the left of the one they’d just taken. “Goodness, this place is even bigger than I thought.”

“In the olden days cathedrals and monasteries would serve as the living space of clergy,” Twilight stated as they descended further, the lighting growing increasingly dim. “The clergy was not only responsible for maintaining the religious laws of towns and cities, but they actually also took part in scientific ventures. In fact, many clergymen have contributed to the advancement of modern science, like Legume Mesquite for-”

A loud, sharp bang rand through the vicinity, spooking all three of them, enough to make Fluttershy let out a scream.

“I hear you out there!” came the muffled sounds of someone, followed by another bang. “You won’t get away with this! Cinch is going to get us all killed!”

They’d descended to a hallway lined with doors on either side at regular distances, counting up to perhaps six on either side. The dimness made it hard to tell, but there might have been another at the far end of the corridor. The man behind one of them kept on shouting and violently thrashing against the heavyset door, second to the left, screaming obscenities at them and Cinch.

“Let us out here you Divines forsaken rats! She’s lying to you! She’s lying to everyone!”

Sunset stepped forth, “Um… Hello?”

“I know you heard me! Let us out!”

“Oh, give it a rest, Sir Soarin!” came another voice across from the first door, a woman this time, her voice carrying with it a distinct air of formality. “They’re not going to just release us, not with your threats of violence and slander. Honestly; why would someone have any inclination of letting you go when you boast about breaking their faces?”

“We’re not Cinch’s men,” said Sunset, “we’re with the Umbra Hunters.”

A moment of silence followed, “For real? You guys are genuine?!” came the voice of the man through the door, sounding strangely less threatening when his mood alternated something more agreeable.

“The Hunters?! Here, in the city!” came another voice from the door beside that of Sir Soarin’s, followed by an intense shout of “Yea!!!”

“Sorry about my *ahem* threats of bodily violence,” came Sir Soarin. “I’m Soarin of the Holiness’ Knight-Centurions. I was imprisoned under orders of Abacus Cinch for “rabble rousing” while out on orders of Knight-Commander Firebrand to acquire volunteers for the Final Brigade.”

A Knight-Centurion? That’s a good sign. “We’re here to free you and High Priestess Starlight Glimmer. If there is anything you know that might lead us to her location, that would be greatly appreciated.”

“Time is of the essence, for our comrades are busy putting on a distraction for us,” Twilight added.

“That’s not good!” came the booming voice of whom was clearly this universe’s Bulk Biceps. “If only I had a dumbbell… Or if they’d given me a bed. I’d have this door down in a jiffy!” The sound of bare feet on stone sounded, followed by the door shaking noticeably, after which came only a comparably pitiful squeal of pain.

“Sir Biceps! For celestials’ sake, you’ve tried that a dozen times. You’ll break yourself before the door,” came the voice of whom sounded much like Octavia Melody. “We don’t know the status or whereabouts of her holiness, but I have frequently heard footsteps. I believe there’s a passage somewhere near you, possibly the basement.”

“A passage?” asked Sunset, looking back the way they’d come, spotting another flight of stairs beside where Winifred had led them thus far. “Yes! There’s a way further down out here!”

“I thought as much,” said Octavia. “Please, if Lady Glimmer is still among us, you must get her out. Snips and Snails have keys; you’ll find them much easier to contend with than other guards-”

“I can pick locks, no need for that,” Twilight interrupted. “I can get you out too, then we-”

“No time! You must get Lady Glimmer out of her first. The people will listen to her; she’s a chosen of Luna herself as priestess.”

“I agree with Lady Melody! Get Lady Glimmer out as soon as possible! We can await liberation a little longer,” said Soarin with equal urgency.

“But it’ll only take a-”

“GO!!!” boomed the voice of Bulk Biceps, enough to make the door quiver amazingly enough.

A series of peeps came from Winifred. “Winifred says it’s exactly where William is.”

“Then it must mean we’re on the right track,” Sunset assumed. “Just hang on, all of you: Moonlink will be liberated, and then we’ll take the fight back to the Umbra!”

“Godspeed you lot!” said Octavia through her door, whilst Soarin began banging against his in some unconventional applause.

Committing their friend’s counterpart’s words to action, the three hurried back and down the next flight. The three could not move further though, for there was no lighting there; not even a measly candle: Thus, the basement was enshrouded in total blackness. When Sunset began to ponder if she’d seen a lantern anywhere on the way, the darkness was immediately abated with the click of Twilight’s pocket-light, the impossibly bright device lighting up the confines as if it were Princess Celestia’s throne room.

“Dare I ask how you did that?” asked Sunset as they looked around to get a bearing of their surroundings.

“Oh, nothing too extreme,” said Twilight. “A bit of rewiring, appropriate led shielding and, of course, uranium…”

Sunset looked at their resident mad scientist in sheer flabbergast. “… You have uranium in there?!”

Twilight grinned sheepishly, “Only a few grams. I mean, I could have used more, but with the lack of space, plus do you know how hard it is to replace the fuel in a button cell, and shield it properly-?”

“No-no-no; how in Princess Celestia’s sunny, rotund backside did you get uranium?!” blurted Sunset.

“Internet, like she does with everything,” remarked Spike.

Sunset could only stare in bafflement.

“Oh, don’t give me that look: Uranium’s been available for purchase by civilians since the advent of the radioactive energy lab kit from the 1950’s,” Twilight rebutted.

“If we weren’t in imminent peril right now, I’d have so many more questions for you right now!” She placed a hand over her neck. “This thing’s not gonna give us thyroid cancer or anything is it?”

Sunset’s inquiry was forced on hold when something sounded near their vicinity. Despite the impossible illumination by Twilight’s (now confirmed potentially radioactive) light. The basement was mostly comprised of a series of support beams, with walled off sections, holding crates and barrels of unknown content. Listening around, the three of them slowly progressed further, the smell of dust and mildew aggravating their sinuses. Further back they came upon a barred-off section, which seemed the source of the sound: A metallic jingling.

Not wanting to shine the light in at the risk of blinding whomever, or whatever was confined here, Sunset peered inside. She could see someone huddled in the back.

“Twilight, shine a bit of that in here, I think she might be-”

She was taken aback when the person confined within came rushing right at her, slamming against the bars. A pair of wild, light blue eyes were staring back at her past the bars, grasped with pale heliotrope hands so stained and unkempt, the nails having grown into erratic lengths, none matching the other. Oily, clumped purple hair, with hints of aquamarine, clung to her gaunt face. She was dressed in absolutely appalling, frayed long coat, or robe.

“Starlight Glimmer?!” asked Sunset, utterly appalled at the state they’d found their friend’s counterpart; seeing the iron shackles around her wrists, connected by a short length of chain, which in turn was attached to a long link tether.

Starlight was breathing hastily, baring teeth as her eyes flitted between Sunset, Twilight and Fluttershy. Incomprehensible vocalizations began to emit from her throat, as she started to slide down the bars down at the floor… She was sobbing, collapsing to her knees.

“Is this your new means to torment me, Abacus?” she muttered darkly.

Sunset knelt down to level with Starlight, “Starlight…? I’m so sorry-”

She was taken aback a second time when Starlight banged a palm in fury against the bars, her sunken-in eyes glaring past them, directly into Sunset’s. “Depriving me of sight and contact not enough for you? Now you stoop so low as to use the illusions of my lost friends?!” She grasped at the bars, a spiteful, demented grin etching on the imprisoned woman’s face. “Is there no humanity left in you, you Umbra-accursed crow?! Just kill me already! You’ve condemned the entire city to its doom, so just get it over with! Isn’t this enough already?! End my suffering!”