There seemed to be less reason to feel motivated when the hardest obstacle had already been dealt with. Or so was the case for Ruby Heart, who was glaring down into the large wooden box her minions had just dumped Starlight Glimmer’s limp body. The pink unicorn had been pumped with so many sedative drugs, a few of the ponies thought they might’ve killed her already. She was bound in thick metal chains, had a small rubber bar lodged between her teeth to keep her quiet, and, most importantly, had a hard metal ring tightened around her horn, rendering her magic useless. Ruby was still riding the thrill of victory, on what had perhaps been her greatest triumph in recent memory.
Still, she was not fully satisfied. The possible threat of the military learning of their plans so early made her especially eager to get their prized asset out of the city as fast as possible.
She was inside a large carriage parked on a Vanhoover street, housing several of her subordinates, who were armed to the teeth in case Starlight should escape. Ruby nodded to one of them to bolt Starlight’s box closed. The pony fastened a series of elaborate locks, the sound of aggressive clicking machinery signaling that Starlight wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. The box was so well-secured, that Ruby had practically no fear that Starlight would manage to break out. But nothing was ever certain, especially with ponies as unpredictable as that recalcitrant unicorn.
“Pike.”
One of the subordinates, an earth pony with a light grey coat and grey, wispy hair, stepped forward, unsure what Ruby wanted him for.
“You know the orders already. The prisoner is to be taken to Ponyville, alive. I’m having you be the one to escort her there. I would come myself, if I didn’t have to make sure our presence here isn’t too compromised. You’ll be boarding the Vanhoover Express to Canterlot, travel the rest of the way to Ponyville. It’ll take less time than carriage. Load the prisoner in as luggage, and keep two guards posted near it. Oh, and for your own sake, do not let her out of there, for any reason, understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Pike responded, slightly overwhelmed by the daunting task.
“Good. Your train leaves in an hour. And Pike, if there’s any incidents, I trust you’ll be able to handle it.”
“Certainly,” Pike responded, though he clearly wasn’t confident in his answer.
Ruby gave one last look at Starlight’s box, which was now shut tight, and hoped her victory would not be undermined. She turned and left the carriage, while Pike nervously checked to make sure the box was still locked tight.
Violet Heirloom had broken into a sweat, dragging Chrysalis all the way down until they exited the mountains.
Chrysalis grunted, her head hitting a rock as Violet let go of the rope once they had reached the grass plains that lay extended past the rocky cliffs of the mountains.
“You can’t stop now, Cadance will be here soon.”
“Would you be quiet? I need a break…” Violet said, sitting down on a rock, panting in exhaustion.
Chrysalis was covered in grey dirt from being dragged across several miles of terrain. She spat out some sort of plant weed that had ended up in her mouth, and grimaced in dismay. She was being treated like a sack of meat, to be exchanged and carried around. She was too close to victory to be stopped now. She hadn’t expected Cadance to find her so quickly, but now that the princess was briefly taken care of, all she had to do was escape these chains, kill that lowlife unicorn, and get out of here.
Chrysalis noticed a shimmering light, peeking out from Violet’s bag. Her eyes widened in shock, when she deduced what it was inside.
“The jewel! You’ve taken it!”
Violet, who had been resting her eyes, turned her head at a mildly impressed Chrysalis.
“There was an opportunity, I took it. That thing’s got to be worth a fortune, whatever it is...And if that princess catches me, it may come in handy to fight back.”
“Don’t be a fool...Its power is too great for any one pony to control. I wouldn’t dare, and you definitely shouldn’t.”
“You know, I’m not a lightweight, Starlight, or, sorry, Chrysalis.”
“You would never have agreed to help me if you knew if I was,” Chrysalis said, defensively.
“You don’t know what I’d do. Now you just sit tight, and keep your bothering to a minimum.”
Chrysalis sat up, struggling due to the limited flexibility in her chains.
“Listen to me, we can still work together...once I can control that jewel, I’ll be the most powerful being in Equestria...And I could get you anything you want…” Chrysalis said, luringly.
Violet laughed at Chrysalis’ attempt.
“You’d kill me in a heartbeat, so...no thanks.”
Violet jumped to her hooves and picked up the rope connected to Chrysalis’ chains, beginning to drag her once again.
Chrysalis grumbled to herself. Violet would be more difficult to persuade than she anticipated. But with a little luck, a chance would come around.
When Twilight Sparkle arrived back in her dearly-missed Ponyville, it almost felt like a different place. Ponies seemed to be distant from one another, cautious to even take a step outside. It seemed that the threat of Chrysalis’ violent rampages had finally shaken up the town, and, to Twilight’s regret, she had little to console them with. The last time she had seen Chrysalis, after all, she was escaping with the most powerful weapon in Equestria.
Not exactly comforting news.
Twilight stepped out of the carriage, and joined the rest of her friends, who were all feeling the same concern over the condition of the town.
“Guess the cheer left with us,” Rainbow said.
“If only we had any to bring back,” Rarity added, beginning to feel guilty over their failure to stop Chrysalis and her goal of world-domination.
“Oh, Twilight, you’re back…”
Twilight turned around to see Mayor Mare, alone, having walked all the way down from Town Hall to welcome them back.
“Hi Mayor...is everything alright here?”
“Oh I suppose...Everypony’s been feeling a little out of sorts. Word of all those tragedies down south finally hit us, got everybody a bit shook up. Especially with you gone. But now we know why...your former pupil, they say is the one behind it all. What was her name again?”
“Starlight,” Twilight said, deciding it wasn’t worth the effort to begin arguing over whether Chrysalis or Starlight was the Scourge of the South.
“I’ve heard about Luna’s run-in with her, did you encounter her at all?”
Twilight was about to answer her question, until she picked up on the first part.
“Luna? Luna’s seen her?”
“Oh my, yes, it’s all anypony’s been talking about. Saddleopolis, she found Starlight there, but she got away. Headed towards Vanhoover, I believe.”
“Vanhoover?”
“Yes, that’s what I’ve heard at least.”
Twilight nodded, as she began to feel hopeful again. If she could just reunite and make amends with Starlight, she would feel a thousand times better.
“Thank you, Mayor…”
“Certainly.”
Twilight walked off with her friends towards her castle, muttering to herself, thinking about every possible way to go about locating Starlight.
Her friends, however, weren’t as enthusiastic about jumping into yet another wild goose chase.
“Twilight, perhaps we should consult Princess Celestia first, before we start running around again,” Rarity suggested.
“There isn’t time…” Twilight argued. She noticed her friends’ resistance to her eagerness for action, and stopped walking to turn and face them.
“I know I’m asking a lot of you...But I need your help. Starlight needs us, and we have to be there for her…”
After brief deliberation, the others all came around, deciding they had an obligation. They couldn’t deny they missed Starlight, despite whatever reservations they had about her in the first months they had to warm up to her. She had made an effort to improve herself, and they found that to be respectable. She was their friend now, and friends had a duty to help friends.
After an entire day of dragging Chrysalis’ body through the wilderness, Violet’s strength was giving out. And, on top of that, her anxiety was constantly growing, the threat of Cadance arriving for revenge looming over her shoulder constantly.
Eventually, Violet found civilization, if civilization you could call it. It was a small town, sitting in what had to be the middle of nowhere. The moon shone down on Violet as she trotted into town, nopony outside to notice her.
‘Where is everypony?’ she wondered, hoping she hadn’t come across a ghost town.
She was relieved to hear the muffled sound of ponies chatting and clanging drinks on tables, emanating from what had to be the local pub, right in the middle of town.
She glanced down at Chrysalis, who was covered in dust, dirt, and small scratches from the rough terrain.
“I’m gonna leave you over here,” Violet said, dragging Chrysalis to a nearby tree and tying the rope-leash to its trunk.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Violet quipped, laughing to herself as she left Chrysalis on the ground under the moonlit shade of the tree.
Once Violet was gone, Chrysalis began bending and buckling with all her strength. She had hoped Violet would leave her satchel containing the Queen’s Jewel behind, though the unicorn happened to be smarter than that.
Eventually Chrysalis gave up, tired and absolutely helpless. She thought about calling for help, but who would willingly help a changeling?
Chrysalis, bizarrely, felt a sting of guiltiness and self-pity, at the thought that not only would nopony in Equestria willingly come to her aid, but that she had absolutely no friends to speak of. Of course, she didn’t find it necessary to have friends, and in fact, she detested the very concept, preferring to trust herself and only herself. Yet, it was a lonely life, and in times of great hardship, such as right now, it wasn’t serving her any benefits.
Violet walked inside the pub, which was packed with ponies. The entire town had to be stuffed inside there, by Violet’s reckoning. It was a warm, jolly old place, ponies singing, dancing, and, of course, drinking.
“Who’s this little old lass?” yelled one pony, standing near a frazzled Violet. Truthfully, she didn’t have enough energy to participate in all of the merriment, and found it slightly excessive. The pony put his arm around her neck, laughing, bringing her over through the crowd.
“Hey, Mr. Mayor, look at this, some newcomer,” the pony said, slurring his words, “She’s right mad to be-to be walking around in the dark...it’s too cold in here, are you cold, miss?”
Violet shook her head, annoyed with the loud pony, whose breath reeked of cider.
“Oh, alright then,” the pony said, getting distracted by somepony else in the crowd.
Violet turned back to the table she was brought to, where, at the end, was a short, mustachioed stallion, with a grey-blue coat and a grey-white mane. He, and the other six ponies seated around the table with him, had all stopped their game of poker and set their drinks down to get a good look at this new pony.
“You’ve got a name, stranger?”
“I’m Violet, nice to meet you,” Violet said, extending her hoof across the table. The mayor shook it, hesitantly, not sure what this pony wanted. He seemed not to feel threatened by her, turning back to his cards, the other ponies doing the same.
“I was wondering if there was a place I could stay, for the night.”
“Talk to Mr. Bell Button, he’ll be the one to get you situated.”
“Oh, thanks,” Violet said, turning to walk away.
“Staying long?” the mayor asked, his voice layered with suspicion.
“I’m...I’m just passing through.”
“From where? Couldn’t be from north, you’d have been met by the gatepony...couldn’t be south, because there ain’t nothing that way but mountains, badlands, and bandits...and it sure as hell couldn’t have been west, because… then you’d have passed through Hayfort, and there ain’t much left of Hayfort, is there, Buckleberry?”
“Burned down to the ground,” one of the ponies at the table, who must’ve been Buckleberry, added.
“Bloody Scourge and her warpath. We were nearly next, then she fucked off to San Palomino or somewhere, or so I hear. Which means you came from the east….Baltimare. Now, Miss Violet, it just so happens that I’ve been expecting some ponies from Baltimare...Ponies I do not intend on treating with much genialty...I expected more than just one pony, but I do find it suspicious. Suspicious that this strange unicorn pops out of the blue in the middle of the night, from an undisclosed location, looking like you just ran ten miles across the country.”
“I came from the south. Not Baltimare.”
“Did you? So what are you then? A thief? Vagabond? Ill-fated drifter?”
“I want to get to Dodge City. I’m just spending the night here, and I don’t want any trouble,” Violet said.
“Mr. Mayor!” cried out a voice from the entrance of the pub.
The crowd got quiet, as a group of ponies rushed in from outside, carrying something with them.
“She was tied up outside like this, Mr. Mayor. W-What do we do?”
The group of ponies, all young rascals who were messing around while the rest of the town was in the pub drinking, had come across Chrysalis, tied in chains and leashed to a tree. Baffled, they grabbed a hold of her and brought her all the way inside the pub.
The mayor glared at Chrysalis, recognizing her as a changeling. He turned back to Violet, who the other ponies were also beginning to be suspicious of.
“Might you have anything to do with that, Miss Violet?” the mayor asked.
“That’s my cargo,” Violet said.
“Cargo, eh? A changeling, I see. You’re a trafficker then?”
“I came across her. I’m taking her into Dodge City, for whatever bounty I can get for her.”
“And what’s so special about one lousy changeling?” the mayor stammered, trying to weed out the truth from Violet, who was cautious to reveal Chrysalis was truly the dreaded Scourge of the South. The townsponies would undoubtedly execute her on the spot, but Violet needed her alive if she was to be paid a ransom.
“Worth as much as any changeling. Worry about your own problems,” Violet said. The mayor took her response the wrong way, rising from his chair, angrily.
“So...a strange unicorn waltzes into my town in the middle of the night, carrying a changeling held down in...royal chains?”
Violet froze, not having expected the mayor to have recognized the specific kind of chain Chrysalis was tied down in.
“Miss Violet, I’m afraid you’ve lost my trust.”
Before Violet could react, she was shoved to the floor, her satchel being stolen from her and searched. Violet tried to grab it back, but was quickly kicked down by the surrounding crowd.
“Stop!” she yelled, angrily.
The rowdy crowd got quiet, when they saw what one pony had pulled from the satchel. A deep green jewel, that bended and transformed the light around it into a fantastic aura, drawing in everypony in the room around its majesty. The mayor was perhaps the most fixated on it.
“A prisoner...and a treasure...a treasure so divine it must’ve been stolen from a secret vault in some secret castle...a liar, and a thief too, it seems.”
“I didn’t steal it! That’s mine!”
“Yours!” the mayor laughed, heartily, reaching over and grabbing the jewel for himself.
“Here’s what I say...I say, that this treasure, that so generously arrived on our humble doorstep, is a gift, for us...all of us, to enjoy. We will never know hardships again, with the wealth this treasure will bring us!”
The crowd cheered in excitement, the mayor holding the magnificent, seductive jewel in the air for all to see.
“Throw the thief and her changeling into a jail...we’ll be rid of them soon enough,” the mayor said, laughing in delight as his eyes stayed fixed on the jewel.
Violet began casting a spell, having grown tired of these ponies’ posing a threat to her plan.
But, before she could complete it, she took a hard blow to the back of the head, by one of the ponies in the crowd with an empty bottle of cider.
The crowd cheered again as Violet and Chrysalis were dragged off, a tremendous fortune left to the town to enjoy.
Attempting to rouse oneself to become a leader, in the midst of major emotional trauma, turned out to be a greater struggle than Dust Bunny had anticipated. She hadn’t really gotten a true chance to grieve Jackpot’s death, nor cope with her own physical abuse suffered at the hands of the ponies who were currently carrying a captive Starlight. Her brain was running at a faster speed than normal, strictly because there were twice as many problems to figure out. Once again, it seemed that everypony in the world was out to get her, except this time she didn’t have Starlight as a form of protection. If Luna came and surprised them again like she did before, Dust saw no way they’d be able to escape.
Dust had only ever seen violence in the forms of childhood scuffles or sports injuries, and even then it gave her a fright. Elodea was always the one to fight Dust’s battles for her when they were kids, as Dust would much rather prefer an unachievable peaceful resolution. Now that she was older and a bit more in tune with the world around her, she knew that peace wasn’t always an available option. Yet, she had no idea just how extreme some ponies were in their disregard for others’ well-being. Having to helplessly watch one of your closest friends be slowly beaten to death, perhaps not surprisingly, puts a clearer perspective on the limits of evil the world can reach. And not only that, but all the things that those same ponies did to her during her imprisonment, the specifics of which Dust had neglected to share with either of her two companions for the sake of keeping the front of dignity, had left a black mark on her heart, a horrible feeling of shame and disgust that she couldn’t quite orchestrate into words. She wasn’t quite sure what to think about anything anymore. The longer she stayed alive on this adventure, the worse and worse the world seemed to be. Her new allies weren’t much for optimists either. Crestfall rarely spoke of anything except what the current plan was, and Elodea usually only had insults or criticisms to dish out. Dust therefore saw that it was up to her to inspire hope in each of them, not unlike the role she considered Starlight to have played before. She had only known the unicorn for a few months, but the two had become fast friends. Dust hadn’t possessed a long list of friends in her life to begin with, so the ones that she did have, were considerably special. The world was crooked, but what was certain, was that those ponies responsible for all of this pain and suffering had to be stopped.
She didn’t ask to be in the position she was in, and would give anything to be out of it. It wasn’t that she was too unconfident to be a leader, but under the circumstances, she wasn’t sure if she could handle it. She didn’t typically look down on herself, definitely not like Starlight always did. She was independent, after all, which meant relying on and believing in herself for everything. That was how she got through school, and how she intended to get through life. But when it came to her social life, being so independent and focused on being a hard worker did her no real favors. The times that she tried to branch out, and make friends, mostly ended up as failures. Each step she took on this adventure was the farthest she had ever been from home, and each step felt like a journey of a lifetime, into a strange new world. The dangers of that world were what frightened her.
Lance Crestfall wasn’t as aware of Dust’s emotional problems at the moment, he was much more focused on the task at hand. This city, which he had never particularly cared for, was now out to get him, much in the same light that Equestria had been after Starlight. He had long wanted to prove himself to this city; to his past marefriend who still lived in the city, to his fellow soldiers, to the commander, but now that the city had finally turned against him, he realized how unfulfilled he still would have been, even with their approval. What he truly needed, was to trust himself, to believe in himself. All those other ponies’ opinions of him, as a disgrace, as washed up, and most recently, as a traitor to the state, amounted to nothing in the end, if he wasn't happy with himself. Living to satisfy the approval of others, who constantly put him down anyways, just wasn’t sustainable.
For some reason, spending time with Dust and Elodea had helped him find his mojo once again. He saw two ponies that had no previous opinion of him, that seemed to be slowly coming around to him the more he got to prove himself. In essence, he had a clean slate, a trial run, before he could regain his honor and show the world that everypony was wrong about him.
“Right up here, there’s the station,” said Crestfall, pointing up ahead on the street the trio was walking on.
“We’ll take that train straight to Canterlot,” Crestfall said, confidently, as if nothing would interfere, “And then we’ll go right up to Princess Celestia, explain what the hell is going on, and enjoy some peace for once.”
“Isn’t Canterlot near Ponyville?” Dust asked, realizing something.
“Uh, sure. Why do you ask?” Crestfall asked.
“Princess Twilight lives in Ponyville, doesn’t she?”
“Does she? Hell if I know. Why’d we want her anyway? I’d rather go right up to Celestia herself.”
“Princess Twilight’s a friend of Starlight’s, I think…” Dust said, forgetting whether Starlight was truly friends with the princess any longer.
“She could help us,” Dust added. Crestfall nodded, liking the idea of a princess backing up their side of the story.
The trio rounded a corner and approached the busy Vanhoover station platforms, packed with crowds of ponies waiting in lines and shambling along with their luggage.
“I’ve never been on a train before,” Dust confessed, adding to the list of new experiences she’d accrued on this journey.
“It’s nothing special,” Elodea said, carelessly.
“I remember the first time I rode a train. Fillydelphia to Manehattan. Fantastic. Heading over rivers, past fields of grass, through mountains,’ Crestfall said, reminiscing.
“I think I’d like to get out of cities for a while,” Dust said.
“Canterlot’s a lot better than here, trust me. That’s where I was knighted, you know. It’s clean. Very clean.”
Crestfall caught sight of the ticket booth, and raised a hoof for the other two to wait.
“I’ll go pay for the tickets, you two stay here,” he said, leaving to go join a line of impatient ponies with places to be.
Elodea leaned against a nearby brick pillar, which stretched up high to hold up a large pavilion that covered the station platform. Dust marvelled at a nearby stationary train, the most technologically advanced thing she may have ever laid eyes on.
“What happens when this is all over?” Elodea asked.
Dust turned back to her friend, confused as to what set that question off.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean...Are you just going to go back to town? Go back to your old job? Your old life?”
Dust hesitated. She hadn’t really thought about what came after this.
“I don’t know...I liked my old life...Maybe not my job...but I liked my friends, and my parents, and...well I guess it won’t be the same anymore...Starlight probably won’t come back, and Jackpot, he’s...you know. I don’t know, El...What about you?”
Elodea smiled, having already thought over the question in her head.
“I want a new start. Somewhere else, somewhere better. I want to be free, and far away…”
Dust recalled Starlight and Jackpot often saying the same thing, and wondered how much of this could have been avoided if they each made different decisions.
Waiting for Dust’s response that never came, Elodea’s smile faded. Nothing in her old life was worth going back to, but then again, her future wasn’t necessarily any better. Not unless she made it so. She knew she had to change, but she wasn’t sure how.
Then something caught Dust’s eye, or rather, somepony. Across the platform, partially hidden by ponies walking by, was an earth pony, grey in color with lighter head of hair. He was leading a group of about five similarly rough-looking stallions, all crowding around a single piece of luggage: a large, wooden box, that resembled a coffin more than any kind of suitcase. The box was being loaded into a compartment of the train, stowed away in a dense city of boxes and cases.
Dust recognized the pony instantly. He was one of the rotten ones, who had dragged her down one of those dark hallways, giggling as he held her down for his cronies to take turns on her, him only getting his chance when the meanest, largest ones were finished. He had a hooked nose, and one eye that was practically bulging out of its socket. She knew him right away, and then it dawned on her what was in that pony-sized crate he was carrying.
“Dust?” Elodea asked, having noticed Dust turn pale, her gaze fixed on something in the distance.
“Dust, what’s wrong?” Dust asked, nervously. It seemed as if Dust’s mind had left her, an empty husk of fear and anguish.
Dust couldn’t stop staring at the pony, her mind consumed with anger, and a desire for revenge. Until, Elodea grabbed a hold of her and spun her around. Dust screamed, startling Elodea, who let go instantly.
“Dust! What’s wrong?!”
“I...They’re here!”
“What? Who’s here?” Elodea asked.
“Those ponies…” Dust said, panicking. She wanted revenge, badly, but faced with her foes in the flesh, she couldn’t quite handle the pressure.
“Those ponies?”
Dust nodded, holding back tears.
“They’re on our train?”
“I think so.”
Crestfall returned just as Dust was wiping her eyes of the tears. Not well enough though, as Crestfall immediately saw what was happening.
“What’s wrong?”
“They’re here.”
Crestfall stood aloof for a few moments before he realized what she meant. A wide, excited smile soon grew on his face.
“This is our chance. Starlight’s here?”
“I think so. They’ve got her in the luggage compartment…” Dust said.
“Are you alright?” Crestfall asked, sympathetically, noticing how shaken up Dust was.
“Ok, soldier boy, what’s the plan then?” Elodea asked, trying to distract him from Dust’s emotional breakdown.
“Well, that depends. Is the unicorn there? Ruby Heart?”
Elodea glanced at Dust, who shook her head.
“I didn’t see her.”
“We’ll take that as a no,” Crestfall concluded.
“W-wait! You have to promise that if we rescue her, you’ll still go with us to Canterlot, and let us talk to Princess Celestia, or Twilight, or somepony…”
Crestfall didn’t answer right away, worrying Dust, though he eventually gave in and nodded his head. It was hard to refuse Dust.
“That’s alright with me.”
“Thank you,” Dust said.
Crestfall raised the tickets and handed one to each of the mares.
“Come on, before they leave without us.”
The trio walked towards the train door, where a line was filing through.
“Now, Dust, you point these ponies out for us...Then we’ll deal with them.”
“Will that involve causing a scene?” Elodea asked, skeptical of Crestfall’s skill with crafting a plan.
“If Dust recognized them, then they’ll recognize us...We’ve got to get the jump on them. Force them to take us to Starlight, and get her loose,” Crestfall said.
“Alright...Just don’t knock yourself out this time,” Elodea said, half-jokingly. Crestfall smiled back, as they made it to the ticket collector pony. Crestfall handed the pony their tickets, slowly, peeking inside the train to try and get a sense of the layout.
They boarded the train, Crestfall motioning for Dust to locate the ponies. From the entrance door, there was another train car directly to their left. Dust looked in both the car they were in and the one next door, and saw four of the ponies they were after, crowded around seats next to the door that led to the luggage compartment.
Dust nodded in the direction of the ponies, and Crestfall quickly led them the opposite way, sitting them all down in a booth near the door, the wall of the car hiding them from the ponies in the left train car. Both Dust and Elodea were confused, but went along with it, as they were beginning to hold up the line.
“Why are we over here, if they’re over there,” Elodea hissed, as she sat down next to Dust, both of them facing a confident Crestfall.
“I told you, we’ve got to surprise them. We’ll hide over here, and wait for the right moment.”
“Why not now?”
“Wait for the train to start...we don’t want too big of an audience.”
Dust avoided taking another look back at the ponies, who she was facing away from. The knowledge that Starlight was on this very train was exciting, and Dust hoped they would all end up alive and together again.
“They didn’t check your bag for weapons?” Elodea asked Crestfall, skeptically.
“Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t...There wasn’t any patrol out today, probably because they’re out there in the city, searching for us.”
“Just what exactly did you do to get the entire police against you?” Dust asked, incredulously.
“I got that file. That’s our evidence for Princess Celestia. Now see, we’ve got two problems to sort out once we get there...Ruby Heart and her band of murdering douchebags, and your dear friend Starlight, who still stands accused of every heinous crime in the book.”
“Fine. She’s innocent, and I can prove it.”
“How’s that?” Crestfall asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Everypony says she’s been off murdering and burning down cities for the past couple months? That’s bull. She’s been living in my old town all that time. I know, because that’s how we met.”
Crestfall raised an eyebrow.
“You think one pony’s testimony is gonna save your friend? There’s hundreds...hell, maybe thousands of ponies in Equestria who could take one look at her and say, “Yes, that’s the pony that killed my family and destroyed my livelihood.”
“Hey, can we talk about this another time? The train’s leaving...We’ve got to get ready,” Elodea said.
Dust glanced out the window, just as the sound of a pumping engine and the turning of wheels signaled the train was beginning to take off. She watched the world outside begin to move on by. She was having the time of her life, though the other two found it completely benign.
“Dust, take this,” Crestfall said, nudging her with something under the table.
Dust backed up in her seat and glanced down beneath the table to see what he was handing her, a crossbow, burnt at the edges, rough for wear.
“That...that’s Jackpot’s…” Dust said, remorsefully.
“I got it from that shack you burned down, Counterfeit’s mate had a hold of it.”
“I...I can’t use this...I don’t even know how.”
“It don’t take much, just squeeze the trigger, load the bolt. Repeat.”
Dust reluctantly held onto the weapon, if only to have a piece of Jackpot’s memory with her.
At a certain point, all three ponies had a mutual feeling: it was time.
But, just as Crestfall began to stand up, he froze in his tracks, as he heard the door at the other end of the train car swing open. He sat back down, and the other two did the same, deciding to wait for a more opportune moment.
Crestfall sighed, annoyed, and then noticed Dust and Elodea’s eyes widened in fear.
“What?” he asked, nervously, turning his head to see what had them spooked.
“Don’t turn around,” Dust said, nervously.
Crestfall shut his mouth and avoided turning, wondering who it could be that had thrown them into such a fuss.
“Soldiers. Three of them,” Elodea whispered.
Crestfall sighed. Of course there had to be a complication.
“Are they coming this way?” he asked, pretending to be reading a two-day old newspaper he had taken from the seat next to him.
“They’re standing around, talking. They’re...I think they’re going through everypony, asking questions,” Elodea said, watching the group of soldiers interrogate a small family at the other end of the train car.
“They’ll get here eventually,” Dust said, “What do we do?”
“We can make it to the next car, and try locking the door.” Crestfall said.
“Won’t we need a key?”
“I’ll get the door locked. You two focus on those ponies, got it?” Elodea said. She was beginning to feel the nervousness too.
The ponies each prepared themselves, before they all stood up at once, slowly. Elodea and Crestfall were both carrying their bags, holding off from revealing their weapons yet.
Across the train car, one of the soldiers, a mossy green pegasus with crew cut and an eager young face, Slick Sleeve, noticed the trio rise from their seat, and, after a closer look, his brain went on high alert.
“Hey!”
The other two soldiers both raised their heads in alarm, and then noticed Lance Crestfall attempting to sneak out through the train car door, hidden between Dust and Elodea. Spice, the light brown earth pony with chocolate brown hair hidden beneath her helmet, was one of the soldiers, and the other, Pink Mist, a young, hot-headed new recruit, pink pegasus with golden blonde hair that wove around her shoulder.
“Crestfall!” Slick yelled, though Crestfall ignored him.
The soldiers all flew into a sprint towards the door, Elodea slamming it closed just in time. She broke off the handle with a hammer from her bag, and began screwing in a makeshift brace using some scrap metal.
Crestfall ignored the soldiers’ pounding on the door, as he and Dust stood tall in the train car walkway. The ordinary ponies sitting in the train, including a few small children, stayed in their seats, confused and afraid.
At the other end, the four ponies all slowly rose to their hooves. The one with the grey hair and light, wispy hair, Pike, recognized all three of the ponies as none other than the escaped prisoners.
“Well well, here I was thinking you had enough already,” he said, laughing. His three companions chuckled along, revealing an assortment of weapons. One little filly in one of the train car seats screamed in fright at the sight of the frightfully large metal weapons in each of the ponies’ hooves.
While Elodea struggled to lock the door as the soldiers tried to force their way inside, Crestfall took out his spear from the duffel bag, letting the ponies at the end of the train car get a good look at it.
“Now...we don’t want to be stirring up some sort of problem in front of all these lovely ponies, do we?” Crestfall asked rhetorically, “So listen to me...Those soldiers, outside, currently trying to get in here? Well see, unluckily for both of us, they’re getting in here eventually. And when they find out who you work for, and who you’ve got hidden away in that room behind you, there ain’t nopony who’s gonna get you out of it...Your unicorn’s not here anymore. So why don’t you just make it easy on yourselves, and get out of the fucking away?”
Dust noticed Crestfall’s energy increase, undoubtedly preparing for a fight, and hoped this confrontation wouldn’t escalate too far.
The four ponies stared him down for a few moments, before Pike burst into laughter, the others following suit.
“Is that right? Pal, it ain’t us them soldiers there are after. No, that would be you, wouldn’t it. As far as we, or they, or anypony here should be concerned, you’re just some lunatic pony on the run from the cops. So go ahead. Spill some blood. That’ll do you some good.”
Just as Pike finished, Elodea shrieked and fell backwards, the soldiers forcing their way through the door. Pike grinned in delight as the soldiers stood their ground against Crestfall, who kept his spear towards the thugs. Elodea stumbled to her hooves with Dust’s help, as she raised a knife towards the soldiers. Crestfall nudged Elodea for them to switch places. He turned to face the soldiers, who were glaring at him with an unbridled fury. He was nervous, but felt a bit more relieved, when he saw that he knew all three of them, decently enough that he may be able to convince them to let him off the hook.
“Spice, Slick, Pink…” Crestfall said, politely.
“Crestfall, it’s over. Drop it. You’re coming with us,” Spice commanded, firmly.
Crestfall heard Dust’s nervous, quick breaths, and he felt even more on edge. Not only were they surrounded on both sides by ponies who wanted them dead, but there was the additional obstacle of fighting them off without harming any of the innocent pony onlookers sitting in the booths on either side. The pony spectators were all silent, most hoping that whatever was happening would end without any need for violence.
“Now, guys, I know you’ve got your orders, but-” Crestfall began.
“But nothing! Drop it! Now!” Pink yelled, unyieldingly.
“Look, I’m in a very unpleasant situation right now, and the least you could do for me, is just listen. Ok? Is that enough?”
Spice, who was standing in the middle of the trio of soldiers, hesitantly loosened her hostile stance.
“The orders are to execute you, do you know that?” Spice said.
“Go figure,” Crestfall said, in disbelief that if he was to die, it would be his own friends, his own partners killing him. “Spice, you’d never do that...” he said, laughing, hoping she wouldn’t.
“I don’t want to, but the orders are-”
“And Slick...how many missions have we gone on together, huh? What’s all that worth?”
“Don’t try and-”
“And Pink! Pink, who took you under his wing, for the love of Luna!”
Pink hesitated too, having been in conflict to begin with.
“Do you really think I’d betray you all, for whatever story Stride’s cooked up?! He wants me dead alright, because I’ve got something he wants…”
Spice’s confidence in going through with Crestfall’s arrest was already weak, but now she was extremely doubtful of his guiltiness, given how strange she had already found Gallant Stride’s unforgiving request.
“Those ponies, behind me? They’re the ones you should be after...Slick, don’t give me that look, just listen to me...They’ve got a pony in that luggage room back there! Alright? Go see for yourself!”
The ponies in their seats all looked over at Pike and his measly trio of unhygienic, brutish ponies, and decided maybe Crestfall was right about them.
“Crestfall, I don’t want to hurt you...But you’ve got to come with us...You can clear everything up at the station,” Spice said.
Crestfall sighed, seeing he had barely gotten through to them.
“No...I don’t think I can do that.”
“Crestfall, you can’t be serious,” Spice said, realizing he was preparing to fight all three of them.
Crestfall gripped his spear and continued holding it towards them. The soldiers were fuming, buried in conflict over whether to go through with fighting him.
Elodea felt Crestfall tighten up behind her, and brought herself into an attack position as well. She glanced at Dust, whose hooves were shaking with Jackpot’s crossbow. Elodea gently grabbed her by the wrist to comfort her.
“El, I don’t know how to-” Dust began, panicked.
“You’ll know what to do,” Elodea said, and indeed, Dust felt like she might.
This was what she needed.
Crestfall and Elodea weren’t liking their odds. Whether they were fighting the soldiers or the thugs, it wouldn’t be an easy fight. Dust was only concerned with one thing, and that was revenge.
Pink Mist attacked first, which Crestfall had expected, blocking her swinging blade right as the other two soldiers lunged towards him.
Elodea nodded to Dust and began approaching Pike and his sore gang of thugs, who weren’t expecting much from the pink earth pony.
It wasn’t Elodea who landed the first blow, however, neither was it Pike. It was Dust, firing a single arrow bolt straight through one of the thugs’ legs. Pike watched his companion collapse to the ground, shouting in pain, while the pony bystanders screamed in horror.
Elodea was a bit shocked to see Dust take such initiative, but there was no time for celebration. She ran straight for Pike, but was tackled by another pony before she could reach him. She slashed her knife across his stomach, throwing him off of her, just as the club of another pony came down towards her head. She threw herself out of the way, and again had to dodge another swing of the club.
While Elodea was avoiding having her skull crushed open, Dust was reloading the crossbow as quickly as she could, while Pike began walking towards her. He grabbed the crossbow and smacked her across the head with it, knocking her to the floor. Elodea saw this, still struggling with the club-wielding pony.
“Dust!” she cried, mustering up some adrenaline to trip the pony, steal his club, and whack him over the head with it. She ran for Dust, but was thwarted again, by the last pony of the four, wrapping his arm around her neck and choking her. Uncontrollably, she dropped the club, now unarmed as she desperately tried to fight back against the pony’s strong grip.
Dust reached for her aching head and drew back some blood, frightening her. She crawled backwards away from Pike, who was smiling as he did what she couldn’t and reloaded the crossbow.
“It’s a shame...Captain wants you all dead...But I’d much rather have liked to keep you,” he said, his lips curling into a wicked smile.
“Oh well. Guess I can always keep the body around. For fun,” he said, snickering, already concocting the scenario in his head. Surely, Ruby Heart would let him keep Dust as a trophy once he made it to Ponyville, once his mission was a success. He would much rather have Dust alive to himself, but Ruby's will came first, and Ruby wanted her, and the other two pests, dead as dirt.
Dust was breathing heavily, completely helpless on the floor as he raised the crossbow towards her.
She fully expected to be killed right at that moment, until a knife found itself in Pike’s shoulder. He dropped the crossbow, yelling in shock. It belonged to Crestfall, who had managed to throw it just in time to save Dust.
Crestfall had his own problems to deal with though, as three highly-trained soldiers repeatedly tried to kill him. Grunting with every block of the blade, he put all his concentration into avoiding being cut by any of his opponent’s rage-fueled strikes. Spice and Pink were attempting to stick him with a spear, while Slick meant to cut him open with a sword. Crestfall wondered if one day they may all laugh about this, that was, if he survived. He was constantly blocking and pushing away the soldiers’ attacks, avoiding making any offensive moves himself. Though, given he was outnumbered, and had already sustained some injuries from the warehouse escape, he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d last.
Pink eventually did make her mark, slashing across Crestfall’s leg with her spear. At last, Crestfall had become fed up, whacking Pink in the face with the butt of his spear, and hammering Spice over the head. While the other two recovered, it was up to Slick to hold Crestfall off, though the disgraced knight wasn’t playing around any longer. He managed to cut into Slick’s hoof, causing him to drop his sword. Crestfall took flight, and kicked Slick into the door at the other end.
Crestfall smiled, triumphant, and tried to turn around to help the others, until Pink and Spice came at him again, distracting him once more.
The pony bystanders would much rather have preferred to have exited this train car, if not for the soldiers having locked the door behind them in an attempt to prevent Crestfall from escaping. Instead, they were forced to watch the ponies try to kill each other, constantly fearing for their own safety as ponies and weapons were thrown around the room. . .
Picking up Jackpot’s crossbow, Dust walked up to Pike, who was leaning against the wall of the train car, Crestfall’s knife still lodged deep in his chest. He was bleeding out, and would undoubtedly meet with his demise soon enough. She hesitantly raised the crossbow towards his head, wondering whether all the pain in her heart would disappear if she could rid the world of this one pony. He seemed pathetic, though, in a puddle of his own blood, and Dust pitied him, despite the horrible things he had done to her. She lowered the crossbow, sighing, deciding she wasn’t a killer, and that it wasn’t right to go through with murder, even for the lowest scum of the world.
“Whore.”
She stared into Pike’s eyes, disgusted with him. She said nothing, and then noticed that Elodea was losing the fight with the brawny pony whose arm was around her neck. Dust knew she had to do something, fast
As Dust ran off to help Elodea, Pike began laughing, which turned into coughing, as he had to accept that his end was drawing near. Even though he was facing a painful end, he was comforted knowing that he wouldn’t have to face Ruby Heart’s retribution.
“Hey!” Dust yelled, at the pony who was currently strangling Elodea. He looked up from Elodea’s bright-red, air-deprived face, and received a quick blow to the head from Dust, who had picked up the club Elodea had dropped. He fell to the floor, unconscious, dropping Elodea, who gasped for air.
“Dust...you saved me…” Elodea said, panting like it was her first breath.
Dust helped Elodea to her hooves, and the two looked back on Crestfall, who had endured several injuries during his fight with the three ponies.
“I’ll help him, you get Starlight,” Elodea said, taking one last deep breath before she could consider herself ready to fight once more. Dust nodded, stepping over some of the downed ponies and reaching for the handle.
Elodea scurried off to Crestfall’s aid, taking on Pink, while Spice switched between enemies to fight. Crestfall was already tired, and was beginning to consider going all out and ending this already, killing all three of the soldiers and getting out of here. But, that wouldn’t be right, and these were his friends, too. Once Starlight was freed, he hoped, things would calm down and make more sense.
Dust opened the door at the end of the train car, and jumped back in surprise, finding a large separation between her car and the one next door, the luggage compartment where Starlight was supposed to be stored. There was a small step that extended out of the train car, and another on the opposite door on the luggage car. She could try and jump, but was terrified of falling.
Her friend’s life was on the line though, which called for extreme measures. Taking a few deep breaths, she backed up and ran straight for the opposite step. She made it, and in fact she overcalculated the length of the jump, smashing right through the luggage car door. The door was unlocked, causing her to tumble directly through it, landed in a pile of suitcases.
She pulled herself out, relieved that she ended up unharmed.
“Well well, look who it is…”
Dust froze at the sound of a deep voice, coming from just a few feet in front of her. It was another of Pike’s thugs, smiling down at her with glee, holding a large spiked club to her throat. She raised her hooves up to surrender, unsure what else to do. The stallion was now joined by another, this one lankier, with large eyes.
“Don’t move, bitch, or I’ll cut your throat open.”
Dust gulped, silent with her hooves raised at chin-level, as the other pony laughed.
“Come to save your little friend, eh? Or did you mean to join her?” the deep-voiced stallion said, laughing.
Dust’s eyes wandered towards the luggage car door, where she could see into the train car she was previously in. Crestfall and Elodea were still putting up a desperate fight against the soldiers, and by now all five of them were becoming fatigued. Both stallions noticed Dust’s change in attention, and turned to see what she was looking at. Seeing her opportunity, she grabbed the club by the shaft and forced it around into the lanky stallion’s leg. He hollered and fell to the floor, crying in pain. The deep-voiced stallion let go, confused as to what had happened, while Dust went to attack him, throwing every suitcase she could lift at him. He was distracted long enough for Dust to run off in search of Starlight, though the compartment was too dark to see much, especially once she had run off from the light of the doorway.
Dust felt around every piece of luggage for something that resembled the coffin-like box she saw earlier, but found nothing.
“Very clever.”
The stallion had her by the neck in no time, hoisting her up in the air, effectively hanging her with his hoof. She grabbed his arm to try and loosen his grip, but he was too strong. He carried her back towards the door, and then threw her to the ground, hard, knocking the wind out of her.
While she struggled to breathe, she gasped in shock at the sight of the lanky pony dead, presumably murdered by the deep-voiced stallion for no apparent reason, the spiked club stuck in his head.
She tried to pick herself up, checking for where the other pony was. She saw him outside the car, fiddling with the coupling link connecting the two train cars. Realizing the others would be stranded, she made one last attempt to stop him, jumping up and charging towards him.
He was waiting for her, however, jumping out of the way just as she dove for the center coupling, which he had just detached. He climbed back into the luggage car, while Dust tried holding onto both car latches as they began to drift apart. The stallion smiled at her as she desperately held on.
“Bon voyage,” he called out, as the car finally came to a slow halt, the luggage compartment and the rest of the train continuing off into the wilderness.
The rest of the train, Dust at the very front, was now stranded in the middle of a large grassy plain, far from any sign of civilization. Dust was greatly impressed by the view, but knew there wasn’t time to go sightseeing. She climbed back into the now-stationary train car, where Elodea and Crestfall were waiting. Elodea had her hoof on Pink’s neck, Slick was keeled over, unconscious in the corner of the car, and Spice was buried in a headlock, courtesy of Crestfall.
“They got away?”
Dust nodded, defeatedly.
Crestfall cursed their luck, throwing Spice to the floor. He wasn’t really choking her, merely holding her still, yet she was still gasping for air, exhausted after a long and wearisome fight.
Crestfall noticed the fearful eyes of the innocent pony train riders, who hoped they all weren’t next on these crazy ponies’ list of targets.
“Everypony, I...sincerely apologize for all this...Canterlot isn’t too far...We’ll all walk there, me and my...associates here,” Crestfall said, kicking Spice in the hip, “Will escort you all.”
Elodea walked up to Dust, who was visibly distressed over having lost Starlight.
“Hey, it’s okay, we’ll find her, I promise...We got pretty close this time, didn’t we?”
Dust sighed, wondering whether that was their last chance, that they had blown it for good.
The ponies began to exit the train car, as did the herds of ponies in the eight other train cars linked behind them, all confused. Crestfall motioned to some of them to help carry the defeated soldiers outside, into the grass.
Spice and Pink were still awake, groaning in discomfort, having taken a severe beating at Crestfall and Elodea’s hooves.
Dust, Elodea, and Crestfall sat down on the grass outside near the soldiers, while the pony travelers stood around, discussing their situation.
“Way to go. You’ve doomed Equestria,” Elodea said, sarcastically, in Spice’s face. Spice glanced at Crestfall, confused.
“Ok...You win...Now tell me what this is all about.”
“It’s highly confidential,” Crestfall said.
“Highly confidential,” Elodea repeated.
“As in, it’s only between the three of us here,” Crestfall continued.
“That’s right, the three of us,” Elodea said.
“So if I’m to tell you...you have to promise to not stab me in the back on the way to Canterlot…”
Slick had woken up from his ache-filled daze, having heard the few last bits of conversation.
“I think you gave me a concussion…”
“Good, it’s what you deserve, you traitorous, filthy animal,” Crestfall said.
Spice rolled her eyes.
“All these ponies here...they’re going to need us to protect them on the way to Canterlot...I want to trust you to help us do that, but I need your word…” Crestfall said.
“Word on what? That we’ll join your little troop of criminals?” Pink spat, disgusted with Crestfall’s proposition.
“I am not a criminal,” Dust said, defensively.
The soldiers all turned to Elodea, who seemed completely indifferent to what they thought of her.
“Oh, no, I am.”
“She is. But I am not.” Dust reiterated.
“Forget all that! Think about all these innocent ponies! Only together, can we save them from whatever dangers lie ahead!” Crestfall exclaimed.
The soldiers, collectively, to their annoyance, saw no other option.
“Fine. We’ll get along until we get to Canterlot. But once we get there, oh boy, you’re in for it,” Slick said.
“Crestfall! What is this all about?” Spice asked again, feeling entitled to an answer.
“You can’t tell anypony else about this…”
“Ok,” Spice replied.
“Alright, see, that...you totally don’t mean that. You’re doing that thing, with your face. When you lie.”
“No I’m not.”
“You just did it again….Alright, whatever, by now I’m done for anyway…”
“Wait, let me say it. You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Dust interjected.
“Does he ever?” Elodea said, smiling.
“Those ponies on the train, the ones we meant to catch...They ponynapped a friend of mine, Starlight Glimmer.”
“Starlight?” Spice yelled.
“Glimmer?” Slick added, equally shocked.
“Ok, look, I know you probably think she’s terrible, but I’m promising you, she’s not...She’s being set up, she isn’t the one responsible for all those horrible things...Those ponies on the train still have her, they took her off.”
“Ok...that doesn’t explain why the Commander wants you dead in a ditch,” Spice said, nodding towards Crestfall.
“Because I’ve got this,” Crestfall said, retrieving the file on Ruby Heart he escaped with from the police station. He showed each of the soldiers the file, each one confused.
“What’s so special about that? Ruby Heart? Never heard of her,” Slick said, unimpressed.
“You might not’ve, but Stride sure has. He wanted me to destroy it, and I elected not to. He’s in cahoots with her, I think. He’s got to be, because boy does he want me dead, and this file here back in his pocket...So, are you with me now?”
“I don’t know…” Pink muttered, the other two similarly skeptical.
“We were heading to Canterlot, before we got sidetracked, to tell all this to Princess Celestia....”
The soldiers all glanced at each other.
“When we get to Canterlot, we’ll sort this all out,” Spice said, bringing a smile to Crestfall’s face. He left the soldiers alone to find Elodea and Dust standing together nearby, comforting each other over their recent loss.
“You guys ok?”
“Are your friends helping us?”
“Maybe...Dust, you alright?”
“I’m ok...Thanks for saving me back there,” Dust said, remembering she had almost been killed today.
“Don’t mention it...I’m glad you’re both ok…”
“How far’s Canterlot from here?” Elodea said, ignoring his concern, though she did appreciate it.
“Not sure...All we have to do is follow the train tracks. Shouldn’t take us more than a day, if all goes well.”
Elodea nodded, and then noticed Dust hanging her head in misery once again.
“Dust...We did everything we could...We’ll find her eventually.”
“Especially when we have Canterlot backing us up,” Crestfall added.
“Right...Everything will be alright, Dust, I promise,” Elodea said, consolingly.
Dust smiled, hoping that promise would come true.