In Pursuit of...

Chapter 16: Skywatch

Slowly, they entered the castle, taking care to be as quiet as possible. Mecha took the lead, and Rainbow Dash was about to object, but Mecha quickly silenced her.

“No one knows dark places like I do. I know you want to go out there and kick tail, but we need to put caution over aggression this time. Got it?”

Rainbow Dash nodded, falling back into line. “Why, exactly, do you know places like this so well?” Nimbus asked Mecha.

“Simple,” Mecha answered, “I spent a pretty great deal of time in Hell.”

“Come on,” said Nimbus, “what’s the real reason?”

“That’s it,” said Mecha. “If you want to know more, I’ll tell you sometime.”

“Dang,” Nimbus mumbled, falling back to Twilight.

“There’s a lot of stuff about Mecha that you don’t know,” Twilight said, “it’s all rather complicated, but you learn to live with it.”

“So that talk about being in Hell- he’s actually been there?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, lowering her voice and glancing up at an old suit of armor they passed. “It was a few years ago. Mecha and his unit were called out to investigate some pony disappearances, which they’d attributed to Diamond Dogs. What they found instead was a pair of gates, which they managed to open, in the middle of nowhere. Those turned out to be the gates of… well, you know. Once inside, almost everyone in Mecha’s unit was slaughtered. Mecha spent over two years down there, according to him. How long that really is up here, we don’t know. All we do know is that he became a different pony down there- a force to be reckoned with.”

“Wow,” Nimbus whispered, eyes wide. “I couldn’t hope for a combat record like that!”

“And you shouldn’t,” Mecha said, falling back to Nimbus, “trust me. Nopony should have to experience that.”

Nimbus nodded as Mecha took the lead once again. He was so amazed by what he’d heard that he collided with a small table in the dark, knocking it and several priceless dishes and goblets to the floor, most of which shattered. Everyone froze.

“Er… my bad?” Nimbus said, sidestepping the debris, and hoping Rarity wouldn’t notice. Unfortunately, today was not his lucky day.

“Eek!” Rarity shrieked, looking at the jumbled mess of broken tableware, then glaring at Nimbus. Nimbus grinned sheepishly, shrugged, then continued on, following Mecha, who had just discovered what appeared to be a spiral staircase.

“Well,” Mecha reasoned aloud, “nowhere to go but up.”

Nimbus looked up the staircase. At the top was a faint glow. Mecha was right. They needed to go up. He stepped behind Applejack as they began to ascend.

“Hey, look!”

Nimbus cringed at the sound of Pinkie Pie’s voice. Up until now, she’d been silent. Unfortunately, she’d just completely broken said silence.

“What is it, Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash hissed.

“Look! I found a lever!” Pinkie Pie raised her hoof to a black lever sticking out of the wall.

“What did she say?” Mecha asked from the front of the line.

“Apparently she found a lever,” Applejack answered.

“Oh no!” Mecha said, “not good! Not good at all! Don’t let her pull it!”

“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash called out, “don’t-“

It was too late. Pinkie Pie pulled the lever, and instantaneously, every single step in the staircase slid into the walls, disappearing. Every pony who’d been on the stairs collapsed in a heap back on the floor.

“Great,” Rainbow Dash groaned, “now what?”

As if in answer to her question, the walls began to shake, and a rumbling sound came from underneath them. Before anyone could react, the floor began to rise.

“See?” said Pinkie, “who needs stairs?”

The floor stopped moving at what had been the top of the staircase. As soon as all the ponies stepped off, it shot back down to the ground, and the stairs moved into place. Nimbus turned to get his bearings. They were standing in a massive room, with large windows all around and what looked like a throne at the far end.

“This has to be the throne room,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“Wow!” said Pinkie Pie, “just imagine the party you could have in here!”

“I’m imagining,” said Mecha, “but we’re not here for parties. Where’s the Unifier?” His eyes wandered around the room until they came to rest on a corridor leading away from the room, right next to the throne. “That’s got to be our best bet,” he said.

“How right you are,” said a voice, smooth but tainted with malice behind them. The ponies whirled around. Standing right behind them was Eclipse, and around his neck was a large, green gem attached by a chain.

“The Unifier!” Nimbus said.

Eclipse laughed. “Right again. Unfortunately, you shall never possess it. Besides- you still haven’t found Luna.”

“What have you done with her, you- you-?” Mecha strained forward, held back by Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

“I suppose that’s for you to find out,” Eclipse said, flexing his wings.

“Rainbow Dash, on me!” Nimbus shouted, taking off straight for Eclipse. The Alicorn, however, was fast, flying out a passage to an outside tower.

Seeing Nimbus and Rainbow Dash otherwise occupied, Mecha spoke to the others.

“Come on! We need to find Princess Luna!” The others nodded and followed him as he raced towards the passage, hoping as strongly as he could that his Princess was alright.

…

Outside, both Nimbus and Rainbow Dash were struggling trying to keep on Eclipse’s tail. Both had their sheathes from the day’s sparring, and were prepared to use them, extending them for battle. Nimbus followed Eclipse into a tight turn over the top of the castle, narrowly avoiding a tall spire. As Eclipse dove down, trying to get under the castle, Nimbus saw Rainbow Dash race ahead, trying to force Eclipse to correct his flight path. Eclipse simply rolled out of the way and fired a blast of magic down into the magical field surrounding the castle. The field began to flicker and spark. Nimbus paid the phenomenon no heed, however, choosing to devote everything he had to following Eclipse. They had cleared the underside of the castle again, and were climbing. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen.

Outside of the field, the clouds were clearing away, and Nimbus could see the setting sun breaking through.  “Sun,”  he thought, “wait a moment-“

Anticipating what was to come next, he rolled away from Eclipse. The Alicorn looked back assuming Nimbus to be

disengaging.

“Too easy,” he said. “you would never pass for a Wonderbolt. I should know. I was one of them for a while.”

“Yeah, a fake one!”

Eclipse looked ahead, trying to see who had just spoken, but was blinded by the sun’s light. Without warning, Rainbow Dash plowed into him, coming out of the sun as she’d done during sparring and separating the Unifier’s chain. Nimbus saw the Unifier fall, and dove for it. It was so close. He reached out to grab it- just as it was snatched away by a blue tendril of magic. Apparently Eclipse had recovered.

“You foal!” Eclipse snarled, “did you really think I’d be that easy to finish? Think again!”

Nimbus gritted his teeth, resuming the chase. Rainbow Dash did the same. As they began their deadly dance again, Nimbus wondered if Mecha was faring any better.

…

Mecha raced through the corridor, looking for any sign of Luna. It was pitch-black in the passage, but Mecha had an uncanny sense of direction. Finally, he found what he was looking for- an offshoot. He turned, whispering for the others to follow, then stopped in his tracks.

He was standing in front of an arch, carved in the shape of a dragon. Beneath the arch was a single, long passageway, with large pillars on either side. It was the sight at the end of the passage, however, which captivated Mecha most. On the wall opposite him, Mecha saw a massive shape etched into the stone: a hoof, feather, and horn, all connected by lines leading to a central point- a hexagonal-shaped hole in the wall.

“I think I’ve figured out where they kept the Unifier,” Mecha whispered.

“Whoa,” Twilight breathed, seeing the depiction on the wall.

“Well this is as good a place to start looking as any,” Applejack suggested.

“Yes,” Rarity agreed, “let’s split up and search.”

They ponies began to move off in different directions, searching the room for any sign of Luna. Mecha headed towards the front of the room with Fluttershy. Everyone else moved to the sides, looking for their Princess. Mecha reached the front of the room and placed his front hooves on the wall, looking at the space where the Unifier once stood.

“I was right all along,” he thought, “it does exist. The question is- where’s Luna?”

“Mecha! Come quick! Oh dear, oh dear…”

Mecha instantly recognized Fluttershy’s voice and galloped to her as fast as he could. When he saw what she had found, he stopped short.

“No,” he whispered, looking down at the unmoving body of Princess Luna, “no!  We were too late… She’s gone.”

He knelt by the princess’s side, a tear forming in his eye- something which rarely ever happened.

“Wait,” said Fluttershy, feeling Luna’s neck, “there’s no pulse, true, but I don’t think we’ve lost her yet.”

“What do you mean?” Mecha asked. By this time, the commotion had drawn everyone else around. Mecha could hear their whispers of concern.

“I mean that she’s still warm. By now, she should feel cold, but that’s not the case.”

“Twilight,” Mecha said, “what do you think?”

Twilight closed her eyes and touched her horn to Luna’s, causing the tips of both to glow. After a moment, she moved away and turned to Mecha.

“Her body is still here,” she said, “but her consciousness is gone. Not dead, just gone.”

“Eclipse,” Mecha growled, “he used her to become whole again so he could wield the Unifier. We need to get that Unifier back to separate them and save Luna.”

“Then what’re we waitin’ for?” Applejack asked, lifting Luna up onto her back, “let’s hightail it out of here!”

“Not without Nimbus and Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie’s right,” said Mecha, “let’s get back out there and see if there’s anything we can do to help.”

…

Nimbus was panting. This was turning out to be his hardest “dogfight” ever. Every trick he knew, Eclipse knew how to counter. Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to have any luck either. Eclipse had learned quickly from her earlier tricks. Now they were weaving around, trying to get into a good position for an attack. Eclipse was simply toying with them. Meanwhile, Nimbus also noticed that the magical field’s flickering was becoming more intense and frequent. He didn’t know what it meant, but he had to assume that if Eclipse had caused it, it wasn’t good.

“Nimbus, Rainbow Dash!”

Nimbus looked down towards the voice which had hailed him. Standing on one of the castle’s towers was Mecha, as well as the other ponies.

“We have Luna!”

“That’s great,” Nimbus called back, “but so far the Unifier’s a no-go.”

It was at that moment that Mecha saw the flickering field of magic.

“Oh no,” he said, “we have to get out of here. Now!”

“Nimbus!” he called, stop chasing Eclipse! It’s a trap!”

“Are you insane?” Nimbus responded, “he’s got the Unifier!”

“It’s inconsequential at this point!” Mecha countered. “The magical field’s collapsing, and when it’s done, nothing inside here’s gonna survive!”

Nimbus saw Eclipse stop suddenly, presenting the perfect target. He dove down, disregarding Mecha’s warnings. Just before he reached the Alicorn, Eclipse snickered.

“You should have listened to your friend.”

Then he vanished in a flash of green light.

“No!” Nimbus said, realizing that Mecha had been right all along. Quickly he reversed directions and landed on the tower, where Rainbow Dash had already settled.

“How much time do we have?” Nimbus asked.

“By my calculations,” Twilight answered, “about a minute. Then we’re pretty much toast.”

“No time to lose, then,” Nimbus said, “come on!”

He ran back into the castle, with the others behind, scrambling down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he raced down the corridor leading outside, making it to the chariot at the same time as Rainbow Dash. The two hooked up, and were ready to go as soon as everyone else emerged. As they began to load Luna in, massive sparks began to fly off of the field, striking the castle and crumbling off large sections. Nimbus did a quick check when a piece of stone landed only a few feet away. Everyone was in, he was ready to go, all that was left was-

“Fluttershy!” he yelled to the yellow Pegasus, trying to attach herself to the chariot, “hurry up!’

“I know,” she said, “I’m trying!” Nimbus disconnected himself from his harness and helped Fluttershy with hers. Quickly, he fastened her in, then ran back to his own harness and prepared to take off.

“Not much time,” he called back, “military takeoff!”

He heard Mecha groan again as he surged forward, climbing vertically in a race to escape the collapsing magic field. As the back of the chariot cleared the field, the green magical orb suddenly collapsed inwards, crushing the castle, then exploded violently, throwing the chariot through the sky. The Pegasi lost control completely as the chariot began a slow spiral towards the ground. Nimbus tried adjusting his wings, but it wasn’t enough. Rainbow Dash saw him and joined in, but Nimbus knew that one other element was needed for stability: Fluttershy. He turned to the yellow Pegasus.

“Fluttershy! I need you to help us now!”

Fluttershy was shaking and covering her eyes. At the sound of Nimbus’s voice, she looked up.

“If you can’t help us straighten this chariot out, we’re all gonna crash!”

“Okay,” Fluttershy said, changing her scared look to one of determination, “I’ll try.”

She opened her wings and joined Nimbus and Rainbow Dash in trying to regain control. Below, the ground was swirling up quickly. Finally, Rainbow Dash caught a draft of air, stopping the spin. Nimbus saw the chance and dove, picking up speed and stabilizing the chariot. Behind, he could hear cheers. They were safe. Nimbus pulled up back into the sky and leveled off, horror dawning in his eyes at the sight he was seeing.

“Guys,” he whispered, “please tell me you can see that.”

Everyone looked ahead to where Nimbus was now pointing. The sun was setting at an unnaturally fast pace, and darkness was rapidly falling over the land.

“Eclipse,” Twilight said. “So it’s started, then- Night Eternal.”

“Yes,” said Nimbus, turning towards Canterlot, “and it’s up to us now to stop him. Let’s go!”

The chariot sped through the sky, on towards Canterlot- the center, it seemed, of the spreading darkness. None of the ponies knew exactly what to expect, but most had no idea of just how bad things really were in Equestria’s capital.