Starlight Shimmer sighed in relief. She was finally out of the deep snow. There was already a layer of fresh snow on the tracks. Getting in to the station building was going to be a challenge. Well, it was not like it could be worse than wading through the snow. Starlight looked at her watch. It had taken her a little over one and a half hours to reach the train yard but her navigation was spot on. She was just north of the yard and warehouses, close to a station building that was there in the middle of nowhere for some reason. She was intrigued. Hopefully there was something inside that could shed light to the mystery. The thoughts were interrupted by a something on the ground. Starlight's right hoof hit something hard hidden by the snow. Probably something metallic. She inhaled sharply and let out a quiet whine. Cursed snow. It may have been the stress, the fatigue or just the absurdity of the situation but she burst into quiet laugher. She'd just planned to figure out the history of the railway station. That was hardly a priority. She was alone in the arctic night. Her tea and food would only last for some hours. This was no time for history studies. Shaking her head at the silly thoughts, she made her way to the remains of the station platform. As soon as she got a look at it, she could only squint her eyes. Something was off. There was a path leading from the other side of the platform to the door of the station building. That made no sense. The building was dilapidated. The platform was falling apart. Nothing stopped at the station. There was no reason for anypony to be there. If anything, the difficulties made Starlight more paranoid, not sloppy. She hadn't seen anyone flying overhead and it would still take more than an hour for somepony from Ancarriage or Whitehorse to get there.
The suspicious kirin climbed on the platform and cautiously started walking to the door. The raging wind and snow easily hid her from anypony inside. She slowly pushed the handle down and tried pulling on the door. As she had suspected, it opened, pushing snow out of its way. Starlight stepped in and pulled the door shut behind her, just as quietly as she'd opened it. Not that it mattered, she though. Anypony in here would have heard the wind blowing outside. She eyed the dark building. Snowed-over, cracked glass windows, remains of wooden and metallic benches, remains of something that looked like announcement boards bathing in the faint light. She walked forward. The shadows on the floor weren't moving. She was probably alone. The biggest threat was the nature around her. Thankfully the building was in fairly good shape. Surprisingly good really. Through some miracle the walls, doors and windows hadn't given in to the elements. There was no snow inside. It was cold but at least she was safe from the wind. A building like this had to a have at least a couple of fireplaces too. With any luck she might be able to light a fire to keep warm.
Suddenly Starlight raised her eyebrows. Fire. Faint light? Shadows? She face-hoofed mentally. Get a grip, lieutenant! There was light in the building. Probably torches or candles. There was no way she was alone. The kirin's mind went back to soldier mode. She snuck forward and looked around. The small station hall was empty. It was easy to see what the station had been like back whenever it was still used. Wooden benches with decorative metal frames surrounded the large room. There were remains of two large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Decorative crystals still dangling on the rusty metal cast rays and beams of faint orange light around the room. The light was coming from a side room, probably an old office for the station staff. Starlight saw a shadow move. She was relieved and nervous at the same time. She wanted to believe the stranger could help her, but couldn't. There was something very wrong with this whole encounter. The only choice was to keep moving and try to adapt to whatever was waiting for her. Starlight should have called out to whoever was in the room but there was something keeping her quiet and cautious. Years of field experience, she thought with a joyless grin on her face as she crept across the hall in the shadows.
Just as she got a good look into the room, Starlight heard a door open. She instinctively took cover behind a metal bench. Wind was howling outside. Snow was blowing in from a back room behind the office. The door slammed shut as quickly as it had opened. Silence returned to the building. The same couldn't be said about Starlight Shimmer's mind. She took a deep breath, making sure to stay as quiet as she could. Calm the buck down, Starlight. You're behaving like a wild animal. Sneaking around, being literally scared of shadows... The shock is messing with your mind. You're a Night Guard. This is ridiculous. She stood up and walked to the office.
"Hello? Is there anyone here? I had an accident out there and could sure use some help.", she said while looking around. Nopony answered. Whoever left moments earlier was the only one in the office. The large candles around the room were all still lit. Their flame had an unusual bright red glow to it. It had to be dark magic. Normal unicorn magic wouldn't leave those kinds of traces behind. The worry Starlight had just pushed away snuck back. There was the creepy kind of worrisome and the 'someone lit these candles light here using dark magic' kind of worrisome.
"Anyone here, show yourself! The dark magic you're using is unpredictable and dangerous, not to mention illegal! I'm with the Night Guard.", Starlight shouted.
Her voice was absorbed by the wooden walls of the empty building as she went back to the hall and started going through the rooms of the building.
"Enough games! I represent the Royal Court!", she shouted.
She could be reasonably sure mentioning the Court would make anypony still hiding fairly nervous. Nervous enough to make a stupid mistake and reveal themselves, she hoped. There was no sound but the wind raging outside, muffled by the thick walls. She hadn't found anypony in the small building either.
Starlight looked around in the candle-lit office. What the hay was going on? She decided to take a more detailed look at the room. Had the mystery unicorn left anything behind? Starlight smiled again. She was a detective at heart. An hour in the cold night couldn't change that. A whole night in the cold couldn't. At the thought of the dark and cold, her mind wandered back to the forced landing. Her communication stone had been dark, out of touch with the other stones, even Trottmonton Control. She looked at the red glow of the candles. She remembered something she'd heard in comms training. Powerful unicorn magic could sometimes mess with the stones, even interfere with the more robust emergency stones. Starlight looked at her reflection in one of the windows. The emergency stones were still pulsing. The landing may or may not have been an accident but there was something else going on in these plains. She couldn't be sure that Trottmonton had received her message. The mystery unicorn had run away. Would it be safe to wait at the station until morning and then try to flag down the morning train to Kennecolt?
Starlight was confused. The pile of firewood near the fireplace had been bone dry. Any dragon would have laughed at her fumbling with the flint. It took her a good couple of minutes to produce enough of a spark to light the kindling. The chimney was probably full of ice but that was a problem she had to deal with later. She trotted back to the office. There were papers scattered on the desk, and – thankfully – a few brand new candles. She picked up the candles. Just when she was putting them to her flight vest pocket, one of them fell to the floor with a loud clatter and broke to pieces.
"Damn.", Starlight muttered aloud.
She sighed and crouched to pick up the pieces. One of them rolled under the desk when she was trying to pick it up.
"Fan-pony-fastic!", she hissed between her closed teeth and reached further down to have a look under the desk.
She grabbed the piece of candle, but also felt something else. A piece of paper. She pulled it out. It had a few lines of writing on it, Starlight noticed with a quick glance. More acutely, she noticed that she should have been more careful getting back on her hooves. The injured wing hit the side of the desk
"Buck this crap! More of this... bull manure and I'm flying out of here on one wing if I have to!"
After slamming the paper on the desk, Starlight took a deep breath and walked over to the fireplace in the next room. Lighting the candles didn't cause her to trip and fall into the fire like she'd half-seriously feared. The nearly round wooden holders on the candles did make carrying them a challenge, though, and Starlight was worried she'd drop one and start a fire.
"Deep breaths, lieutenant. Remember your training. This isn't the time to unravel. Concentrate. The adrenaline and endorphins will wear off soon. You'll be able to look at this with a clear head.", Starlight reminded herself out loud.
Taking deep breaths and concentrating on what she was doing, she carried the lit candles to the office. Next to a naturally lit candle, the magic candles became even more apparent. She now had almost as many natural candles as magic-lit ones. The emergency transmitter's blink reflected off a window. It was best to blow out the magic candles. They were almost certainly messing with the already messed-up stones. She tried to blow out the nearest one. The flame didn't even budge. Of course. Bloody magic. Starlight trotted back to the fireplace and quickly found what she was looking for: an ash bucket that was still half full for some reason. One at a time, she chucked the half dozen or so candles in the bucket. Not one of them went out. Why do you even need the candle when the flame apparently survives anything? Starlight rolled her eyes. Unicorns. Starlight trotted to the side door. The floor still had snow on it. Why can't ponies be more considerate towards others when using dark magic in the middle of nowhere and running away from the law? Getting the door open took some doing with the wind pushing against it and snow already piling up outside. Starlight threw the ash and candles into the wind. A gust carried the candles, still lit, surprisingly far. Good riddance, troublemakers.
Starlight could only stare with her mouth agape. What the hay just happened? After closing the door and turning back into the office, Starlight couldn't believe what she was seeing. No way this is real. She blinked a few times. Nothing changed. Okay, I'm not hallucinating. That's a good thing I suppose. The office looked completely different. From the open door, Starlight could see the chandeliers in the waiting hall. They were in pristine condition. The black polished metal was shining. In the office itself, the old dusty and discolored desks had been replaced with ones made of lovely cherry wood and accented with polished brass. The candles she'd carried there just moments ago were now in intricately decorated polished brass holders. The whole building, at least its interior, was completely transformed. It was brand new. Starlight had a headache. What the bucking hay is going on here? She sat down on one of the chairs that had just moments ago looked like it was going to fall apart.
"Think. What do you know?", Starlight muttered to herself. "Those candles were lit with dark magic. When I threw them out, this happened. Before, there were magical candles here, now there aren't. This has to be real."
Starlight had loved playing chess since she was a filly. Logical thinking was one of her biggest strengths. There had to be a logical explanation to this. Whoever had run away from this place had used dark magic, for something really mundane too. That's not something you want somepony to see by accident. At the same time, you needed shelter in this climate. An abandoned rail yard was pretty good for that. Add some vanity and you'll easily choose a nice station building over a warehouse. Starlight looked around. A unicorn could easily fire away restoration spells for a few hours and make a small building like the station brand new. The candles seemed to have a dual role of providing light and somehow camouflaging the station's... upgrades from outsiders. After all, train passengers could see in to the building and get suspicious.
"Major Nightbreeze! Sir!"
"What is it, sergeant?"
"Beacon 724 is back. It came back a few minutes ago. Looks like lieutenant Shimmer is still at the train yard."
"Thank goodness. Does the signal still keep disappearing?"
"No, sir. It's been stable since it came back."
"Has anyone tried to send a message now?"
"Yes, sir. We tried twice. No response."
"Keep trying regularly."
"Yes, sir."
The major then turned to face another desk. He only looked at the controller. His expression did the talking and the sergeant answered immediately.
"Both patrols were informed the moment we saw the signal come back, sir. They both report strong, unpredictable winds. They're close but they've had to slow down just like we expected.", the controller summed up the situation.
"Thank you, sergeants.", the major said before cantering out of the situation room. He'd already told the colonel that 724's signal had been lost. She would want to know about this change a.s.a.p. It was still far too early to celebrate.
Knocks on the colonel's door went unanswered. Major Nightbreeze looked at the clock on the wall. It was half past four. It had been a little over one and a half hours since the alert. The colonel usually took a "lunch break", as she called it, a little after three o'clock. That was right around the time she'd been told about lieutenant Shimmer. Major Nightbreeze could bet the colonel had been busy with coordinating with the Royal Guard and the Court since then. He headed upstairs to the mess hall. As soon as he got to the door, he saw the colonel sitting at a table near the side wall. She was chatting with a couple of colleagues, about work no doubt. Their faces were grim and serious. Clearly they assumed a Night Guard officer was now missing in action. A fair assumption, considering how lieutenant Shimmer's locator had just gone dead some distance from the train yard and stayed that way for quite some time. They had no idea what the lieutenant's condition was. There was a good chance she'd gone down hard and broken bones. She could be bleeding. There was no telling what the hastily-thrown-together rescue team would find.
"Ma'am. I apologize for the interruption,", Major Nightbreeze said and saluted. "but there has been a development in the Kennecolt case. Lieutenant Shimmer's locator signal is back. She is at an old train yard. It is likely that she's inside a building. It looks like she is not moving."
The ponies around the table looked at Major Nightbreeze surprised, then each other with obvious relief.
"Thank you, major. This is great news. Is there any chance we could contact her?", the colonel asked.
"At this time, it doesn't seem likely, ma'am. We have tried twice. No response."
The colonel raised an eyebrow.
"I assume we still have no idea what is going on with the lieutenant's comms?", she asked.
Major Nightbreeze couldn't help letting his frustration show. There was a hint of shame in his voice.
"No, ma'am. We have no idea if she's getting our messages. She may be unable to reply.", he said, his whole presence deflating.
The colonel shot a pointed looked at the defeated-looking major.
"Major, you look like you've decided that the lieutenant is bleeding out in the cold. You just gave us evidence of the opposite." The colonel's voice kept rising. "You. Will. Not. Give. Up. Now. We need your head in the game. Lieutenant Shimmer's life could depend on it. Don't let The Guard down. Bring her back safely. That's an order. Dismissed, major."
The major, shocked and standing in attention during the little speech, could only salute and slowly walk away.