The Conversion Bureau: Rays of Starlight

The distant pegasus remained motionless, presumably asleep on the lazy clouds overhead. They were pointlessly far to call out to, so the travellers decided it was best to simply continue with their journey. Slowly but surely, they negotiated the railway as they crossed the broad river that blocked their path. The trains had kept running for as long as they could, until an incident with a wormhole claimed hundreds as a train passed through one. The thought that trains had passed along here recently reassured the two of the soundness of the bridge.

After any risk of falling had passed, the two gathered their wits and courage at the end of the bridge. Looking up at where they’d seen the pegasus, it was clear that the mysterious sleeper had since vanished, apparently having taken flight while they were focussed on the task at hand. Even as they noticed this however, the pegasus reappeared, swooping in from between some buildings up ahead.

He was a light blue pegasus stallion with a grey mane, and the image of a boulder wreathed in blue flames on his haunches. Like most of his kind, he was slender of build but had a frame that suggested wiry strength. He flapped his wings to remain hovering in midair as he greeted the travellers.

“Hello there! You guys trying to get out of the city?”

The two humans looked at each other briefly before answering, “Yeah, we’re on our way out of here. You just enjoying the peace and quiet?”

The pegasus landed as he replied, “Oh, right, you probably saw me napping up there,” he grinned sheepishly, “I’ve been trying to keep an eye out for stragglers, like you guys. The main convoy of refugees is a fair distance ahead of you, but they’re moving slowly because of their numbers.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks for the info.”

The stallion bowed and spoke again, this time in a more serious tone, “The main reason I held you up is because there’s a large number of wormholes in a strange pocket just west of here.”

“Hmm, okay. There must be a high concentration of magic energy,” said one of the travellers, a worried expression crossing his features, “Go on.”

“You can sort of see it over the fence just there, come and have a look,” said the pegasus, who gestured to a fence, visible just ahead.

“We’ll take your word for it,” the other traveller piped up, “Is there another way?”

The pegasus appeared pensive for a moment and tapped his chin with a hoof. “If you head two blocks south, you’ll miss the worst of it. From there you can keep going straight west as the crow flies and you’ll be outta here.”

The pair looked down the road that would take them south. Indeed, the next two blocks had been barricaded off to the west, probably in an effort to stop people rather than wormholes. One of the young men spoke up, “Well, thanks for the warning. We’d best be off so we can cover as much ground as possible.”

“No problem!” the pegasus replied, “The name’s Comet, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Comet. You’re the first other soul we’ve seen in quite a while.”

“Well, if anyone else comes by this way, I’ll be waiting around here to give directions to them tool. Good luck to the both of you,” said the pegasus as he took flight and promptly disappeared between the buildings. The two travellers looked at each other and saw wariness on their features.

“What was that all about?”

“I don’t know, but I just wanna check something,” said one of the travellers as he walked up to the wall that Comet had indicated.

“He said that way was blocked by wormholes.”

“Yes, yes he did,” said the traveller, “Which is why I’m confused by the utter lack of wormholes this way.”

“Oh hell, what?”

“The way is completely clear.”

“Why would he lie to us?” asked the other traveller as his friend climbed down from the fence, ”He was above the area, he would have seen it.”

“He must be trying to make us take that road to the south.”

“I don’t wanna assume the worst, but this has to be some elaborate setup for an ambush.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” replied the other, and they both stopped for a moment to consider their situation, “I don’t see what else it could be. Let’s just think about this.”

“Right. Why would a pegasus be trying to lure us into an ambush, and why here? I can only think of one reason that makes sense.”

“Oh?”

“With all these abandoned buildings, they couldn’t be holding us up because they want to rob us. They must be after us, not what we’re carrying.”

“Shit, you’re right. I don’t think either of us are being targeted as individuals, so… PER?”

“Must be.”

“Wait, if he was PER why not throw potion at us straight up?”

“Maybe… he couldn’t be sure he’d get both of us. I mean, he doesn’t know if we’re armed. If he’s shot, or otherwise killed, they lose one of their own.”

“So he’s just a lookout I suppose. If he’s not acting alone, then why not jump us here?”

“I dunno, too many places to run I guess.”

“We’ve gotta think this through carefully before we get moving again. Then again, if they’re waiting for us down that other street, they’ll come for us if we dawdle.”

“Okay, we decide quickly then. We can’t head south. If we just keep heading straight west, that pegasus is bound to see us from above.”

The traveller squinted, putting his mind to recalling the surroundings. “I know this part of the city fairly well, there’s an underground busway nearby. We head through there, then try to stay out of sight.”

“Alright, then that’s our way out of here.”

Heading through the streets and into the dark tunnel, they use some recently acquired torches to light their way. Though scarce, there were wormholes in the busway, making their journey through the darkness all the more hazardous. It was as dark as pitch, and the sound of their footsteps seemed to be amplified by the tunnel. It was slow going now more than ever, as checking and carefully avoiding the wormholes in the dark was no easy task.

The lack of light made keeping track of time and distance difficult. To them, it began to feel like they’d spent many hours in the darkness. Though they were sure that they’d picked the right way, the tunnel just kept on going. It felt like an eternity to them, but they eventually saw sunlight. The angle of the light suggested that no small sum of time had passed, but not as much as they’d feared.

“Alright,” one whispered, “Let’s stop here for a sec, keep it down. They might know the area as well as we do. After all, they’ve gone to the trouble of laying traps in it.”

“You think they’re be waiting for us just outside?”

“They might be. They could also be following the tunnel to this way.”

“Well, either way, we can’t wait here. If they were following us, they’ll force us into the open. If they’re waiting outside, we’d have to deal with them anyway.”

“Then we gotta keep moving. You keep eyes on the left and ahead, I’ll watch the right and above.”

“Alright, on zero,” he said, and readied himself to move quickly, ”Three, two, one, zero.”

The light blinded them as they stepped out of the tunnel, with the harsh brightness no more welcoming than the dark busway. Their eyes quickly adjusted as they scanned their surroundings, blinking. The part of the city was in the same state as the rest of it, and mostly intact. They quickly found their bearings and made their way to the nearest set of storefronts. As they moved however, they noticed something overhead.

“Ah shit, that pegasus is right above us.”

“Fuck, okay, we gotta book it. You might wanna get that pistol ready.”

They ran until they reached the street-level canopies and stopped outside a café, pausing to assess their situation.

“I have no idea if he’s seen us. If he has, I don’t think we can lose him.”

“He’s bound to have spotted us if he was watching the tunnel exit. I’m out of ideas.”

“Same, let’s just keep moving.”

Continuing down the street, they’re more on edge than they’d ever been, watching out not only for anomalies, but now also potential enemies. Even as they began to wonder if the pegasus had really seen them, they turned a corner and came face-to-face with an earth pony. They both quickly backed up a few steps out of surprise, leaving the two humans out on the road. Along with the earth pony, a unicorn was just down the street but heading towards them, and Comet quickly bore down on them from above.