//------------------------------//
// Chapter Fifteen: Royalty 
// Story: Rising Star 
// by Argonaut44 
//------------------------------//

As Twilight Sparkle’s eyes opened after a long nap in her bedroom, and the familiar sights of Ponyville greeted her from outside her window, she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. When she had left Canterlot in search of Chrysalis, she intended on returning home like the hero she had once been thought of as, ponies everywhere cheering her name, celebrating the end of Chrysalis’ reign of terror. Of course, that was just a fantasy. 
Outside the uninvitingly cold walls of Twilight’s castle, Ponyville was cast in a grey misery. Most ponies refused to even leave their homes. What was the point? Any day now, Chrysalis could come and kill them all. It was only a matter of time.
Somehow, word had spread around town that Twilight had failed to catch Chrysalis, and that the dreaded changeling queen was currently on the loose somewhere in Equestria, in possession of a weapon of mass destruction. 
While the town stood still, waiting for Chrysalis’ wrathful arrival, Twilight was in her castle, staring out the window at nothing in particular. She was in turmoil, doubting whether she had ever really been the hero these ponies once thought she was, that maybe she had just gotten lucky all those times. 
But what did she have to be angry about anyway?
She had friends, good friends at that, lived a pampered life in a castle with all sorts of luxuries and conveniences, and had the respect of everypony who knew her name. She was idolized all across the nation, as being flawless, a heroic protector of the realm, a hero. So what could possibly be the issue?
Twilight wasn’t desperate to be seen as a hero. She resented the attention, in fact, and only really cared about ensuring everypony’s happiness and safety. Of course, the way that everypony else showed their appreciation for her was typically in the form of wealth and splendor, which Twilight was forced to accept. Twilight had never been crazy about owning a castle, she much rather preferred the simple house she once had, prior to its unfortunate destruction. She wasn’t much of a fan of the ridiculous ornateness of Celestia and Luna’s Canterlot palace, despite how much it excited her when she was younger. Being a princess was supposed to mean more than owning a fancy castle and living a life of luxury. So many ponies had been killed during Chrysalis’ rampage, and yet Celestia and Luna only decided to officially intervene once the death toll passed five hundred. Twilight knew she wasn’t any better, for letting her melancholy over Starlight’s loss distract her from the lingering threat of Chrysalis. How much was her title, or her reputation, or any of that worth, if she couldn’t even stop one pesky changeling? 
Her descent into madness may have begun with losing Starlight, but it went far deeper than that. All of her responsibilities that she had accumulated after all this time, had overwhelmed her to the point of questioning whether she was worthy of them in the first place. If she wasn’t capable, why was she a princess at all? It didn’t make sense to her. Why should any one pony be idolized to the extent she had been? She was just as capable of making mistakes as any other pony, so what made her different?
What was for sure, was that Equestria was in complete disarray. And whether or not Twilight thought she deserved her responsibilities, she still had to stick to them. She was still a princess, and though the situation was grim, hope was not lost. 
She still had a job to do.

Twilight rounded up her friends, including Spike, to return to Canterlot, to learn of any updates on Chrysalis and Starlight’s situations. All of the ponies were looking cleaner than they had yesterday, finally getting a chance to bathe after weeks of roughing it in the wild. 
“Princess Cadance has probably got her in chains by now,” Applejack said, jovially. They all hoped that was true, though considering how evasive that changeling was, it was unlikely. 
“They might already be in Canterlot waiting for us,” added Fluttershy, slightly nervous about the possibility of seeing Chrysalis again, even if she was imprisoned. Chrysalis carried something with her, something that stunk of death, and everything that made ponies wince in discomfort. 
“Good. I’d like to say a few things to her,” Rainbow said, gritting her teeth, recalling their earlier failed attempt at capturing her. 
“Don’t count on it, if Cadance and Shining Armor have Chrysalis, they’ll still take a while to make it all the way down here…” Twilight said, trying to calm the rowdy Rainbow Dash, who was darting around the air, excited to confront Chrysalis.    
 
The ponies arrived at Canterlot, which was a bit more lively than Ponyville, but not by much. Twilight and her friends were a regular sight in Canterlot, so their arrival wasn’t treated with much fanfare, compared to the no-name towns they had stopped at along their recent travels.
“I need to speak with Celestia,” Twilight said, to a startled royal guard sitting behind a desk near the entrance inside the palace. The guard’s disinterested eyes told her no before he even opened his mouth. 
“She can’t see anypony right now,” he said, blandly. 
“Why not?” Twilight demanded. 
“She’s having a very important meeting with some ambassadors from Yakyakistan, she won’t be available for another few hours, I’m sorry to say,” the guard replied, pretending to be apologetic for the sake of cordiality. 
Twilight sighed, annoyed, and glanced back at her friends, who all collectively motioned for her to continue pressing the guard. 
“Fine. Do you know if Princess Cadance and my brother have arrived back here yet?”
“No, they haven’t. Were they supposed to? I don’t have them down for an appointment…” the guard responded, confused. 
Twilight shook her head, slightly worried that something had gone wrong. 
I shouldn’t have left them to fight her alone.
“What about Luna? Is she gone too?”
“Afraid so...In Vanhoover,” the guard answered, seemingly almost enjoying giving Twilight bad news.
“Vanhoover?”
“After that pony, Glimmer. Princess Luna had a run-in with her in Saddleopolis, pursued her to Vanhoover.”
“Right.”
“You can’t take a train there, though, not to Vanhoover. Incident on the railway yesterday, that’s what they’ve said.”
“An incident?”
“Yeah, an accident. About fifty ponies got stranded in the middle of nowhere. They just sent out a company of troops to escort them a couple hours ago.”
Twilight couldn’t see how the two events, Starlight being in Vanhoover and this Vanhoover train accident, weren’t related. 
“Well, then...Thank you, no need to tell Celestia I was here.”
The guard tilted his head, confused, while Twilight turned and led her friends away. 
“Um, Twilight, where are we going?” Fluttershy asked. 
“You all stay here, I’m going to see what happened to that train...Starlight’s got to have something to do with it,” Twilight replied.
The others all shared a look of concern.
“Are you sure we can’t come too?!” Pinkie asked.
“Yeah, I can keep up,” Rainbow said, boastfully. 
“Just stay here, I’ll be back in no time,” Twilight said. She had to do this herself. 






Violet awoke suddenly, doused with a bucket of ice-cold water. She frantically gasped for air, disoriented and now freezing cold. 
“What the hell!?” she yelled, furious, finding her arms chained together and raised up in the air, her legs locked tight as well. Across from her was Chrysalis in a similar predicament. They were in a jail cell, a large, unhappy dark red stallion standing near them. He tossed the empty bucket of water to the side, and made way for another pony to enter. 
“I’ve got to say, this is a strange one.”
It was the mayor, Violet recalled, the one who had stolen the priceless Queen’s Jewel, the one responsible for their current incarceration. To Chrysalis, he was more or less a stranger. A blue stallion with grey-white hair and a prominent white mustache. His eyes were deep and calculating, and his face was stern with disapproval. 
He walked past the buff stallion, stopping right in front of the two prisoners. 
“I’m in bewilderment....there I was, enjoying a night of relaxation, resting, when I’m introduced to you. A pony of strange looks and of stranger origin. A pony who cannot tell me exactly where she has come and exactly to where she is going. And I say to myself, now this is odd. What would drive a pony to such...ambiguity.”
His eyes dropped downwards, as he revealed the spectacular green gemstone from his satchel, pawing at it with his hoof. The artifact had taken a hold of him, of his mind, just as it had done to Chrysalis. Both felt as if it was destined to be theirs. 
“Hence, my bewilderment...But I understand now,” he whispered, staring into his own reflection in the jewel. 
“You’ll do well to release us,” Violet stammered, unafraid of the mayor. 
“Naturally, you’d be inclined to feel that way. I’d do well to do as I want, and what I want right now...I already have,” he said, a smile curling along his lips as he tightened his grasp on the jewel. He snapped out of his temporary delirium and stuffed the jewel back in his satchel. 
“Of all fates that I thought to beset me, most I thought to be ill. But this is perhaps the blessing and reward I’ve so deserved, at last. I quite like your plan, that will now never come to fruition, as in, you turning that changeling over for a bounty? If she’s in royal chains, she must be worth something...extraordinary. And as for you, my dear, I do apologize, but...you’ve simply worn your welcome.”
The mayor nodded to the other stallion, who raised up a large axe that had been leaning against a wall, and approached Violet, who was shaking uncontrollably in fear. She wasn’t one to typically give into the pressure of a life-or-death situation, but as of now, escape seemed impossible. 
“Wait! Don’t! That jewel, I-I can get you more!”
The mayor raised a hoof, fascinated by the proposition. 
“There’s more than one?”
“Way more.”
“How do you know this?”
“I saw them.”
“And you did not take them?”
“I only had time to get one, I was going to sell the changeling first and then return for the others!”
The mayor stared at her, while Violet prayed he bought her story. 
“Where did you find them?”
Violet laughed, shaking her head. 
“You’ll have to keep me alive if you want to find them. I can take you to them.”
The mayor smiled, seeing value in the pony once again. 
“Very well. We’ll-”
“Sir!”
The mayor sighed, annoyed with being cut off, turning to see a young pony rush in down the prison hallway, catching his breath as he stopped outside the bars of Violet and Chrysalis’ prison cell.
“Sir! They’re here!”
The mayor’s eye twitched, as he was clearly unprepared for this meeting. Chrysalis wondered what this was all about, and more importantly, how soon would she be able to escape.
“Flare, come with me, lock the cell,” the mayor ordered, exiting the cell while Flare, the buff red stallion, followed him, turning to lock up the prison bar door. 
Once they were gone, Violet couldn’t avoid Chrysalis’ humorously judgmental glare.
“Save it. I fucked up, I know,” Violet muttered. 
“All I have to do is tell them you’re lying about those other jewels, and you’re dead.”
	Violet gulped, realizing she had dug herself in a rather deep hole. 
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because if I’m going to get out of here, I’m going to need your help,” Chrysalis said. 
Violet hesitantly nodded, seeing no other option.
“Fine.”
Chrysalis smiled. She always came out on top. Soon the jewel would be hers again, and nothing could stop her from ruling Equestria with an iron fist. 
“You can see out that window, right? What’s going on out there?” Violet asked. 
Chrysalis realized she did indeed have a decent view out of the prison cell window, which led into the street outside. Chrysalis raised her head a little more to get a closer look. She saw a group of ponies, standing on the sandy road outside. It hit her like a brick, when she recognized one of the ponies outside, who was having some sort of conversation with the mayor and his cronies. The pony was a mare, a unicorn with a long, pale red face and narrow eyes. 
“I know that pony,” Chrysalis said to herself, before slumping back down to the floor of the prison cell.
“What’s happening out there?”
“Your new friend is chatting with a pony. She’s got some other ponies with her.” 
“You know one of them?”
“One...Cellestrous, that’s her name. We’ve worked together once or twice.”
“I guess she isn’t friendly then.”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. 
“I don’t believe she’ll be helping us.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s not one for loyalty. And neither am I, so remember this, once we’re free, you’re to head in the opposite direction I’m heading in, and I never want to see you again.”
“Fine with me,” Violet spat back. She noticed Chrysalis’ excitement begin to fade, and wondered what exactly that pony outside had to do with this changeling. 

Outside, the mayor was focusing everything he had into keeping his composure with the pony standing before him, the tall unicorn with narrow eyes, escorted by about eight equally-intimidating ponies. The mayor himself had about six ponies with him, seemingly ready for a confrontation. 
“Shall we go inside?” the mayor asked, gesturing to a nearby building, the tavern he had met Violet in just last night. 
Cellestrous nodded, following the mayor across the street inside. 
Cellestrous and the mayor both sat down, across from one another, while everypony else remained standing, eyeing each other down from opposite sides of the room. 
“We’ve been waiting for you,” the mayor said, pouring both of them a glass of cider, which she politely accepted, though did not drink. 
“In fact, I think everypony here has been almost counting down the days for your arrival...I hope you had a safe trip.”
Cellestrous said nothing, and the mayor began to sweat, hoping this meeting wouldn’t be too unpleasant. 
“I’ve come to repeat my offer to you,” she said, coldly, as if he should’ve already known. 
He smiled and shook his head. 
“I’ve told you, twice now already, I can’t,” he answered, cautiously. 
“It’s different this time...An associate of mine has apprehended a pony of great value. Starlight Glimmer. With her among our ranks, Canterlot will fall.”
“It doesn’t matter who you have...You can’t take on four alicorns, you just can’t.”
“Cadance is lost somewhere in the wilderness, Luna is in Vanhoover...don’t you see this is our optimal time to strike? The crown is weak...Distracted by their arrogance, blind to what is happening in Equestria. A new power is rising, and you would be wise to become a part of it, before it’s too late…” Cellestrous said, the mayor taking her words as a threat. 
The mayor said nothing, sipping at his glass, avoiding eye contact. Cellestrous sighed, having expected him to back down from joining the cause, just as he had the past times she had asked for his help.
“There’s more. A changeling, in this area. In fact, one Princess Cadance is pursuing...She is in the area, my spies have told me. She is the one you refer to as the ‘Scourge of the South’. Fooled most of Equestria, but I’ve seen right through it. Have you seen her?”
The mayor swallowed the last drops of his cider quickly, trying not to react too much to this revelation. Of course, if he was to tell her that he had Chrysalis locked up in his prison as they spoke, she would take her from him, without any compensation. He would be far better off to get the bounty, though that would mean lying to Cellestrous’ face. 
“Changeling? Here? No, I think I’d remember that.”
“Any newcomers? Strangers?”
“Not recently...What do you want with her anyway?”
“Queen Chrysalis...I know what it is she’s after. A weapon of indescribable magnitude. One that would bring us great fortune in our war against the crown. A guaranteed victory. She is carrying this weapon, and she must be found.”
The mayor’s lips were quivering now, as he realized just how important the jewel he had become obsessed with was. 
“So I’ll ask again...Are you sure you haven’t seen her?” Cellestrous asked, staring deep into the mayor’s eyes. He struggled to come up with a response, though Cellestrous didn’t bother to wait for one, when her horn began to glow. 
A large flash of light filled the room, and nopony was sure what had happened, until their sight returned, and they saw the mayor collapse backward in his chair to the floor, a bloody hole from Cellestrous’ magical attack sending up clouds of smoke into the air. 
The mayor’s guards began to panic, raising their weapons, while Cellestrous’ escorts flung themselves at them, beginning an all-out brawl.
While the ponies fought, Cellestrous stood up, poured out the glass of cider onto the floor, and bent down beside the mayor’s smoking corpse. 
“Never a good liar,” she said, reaching into his satchel to retrieve the glimmering green Queen’s Jewel. 
She smiled in awe at it, realizing that with the combined power of the jewel and the newly-captured Starlight Glimmer, Equestria would soon fall.
Cellestrous rose back up, just as her escorts finished off the mayor’s guards. 
“Burn down this disgusting pigsty, we’re finished here.”
“And the rest of the ponies?”	
“See to it they go with the town. Just another fatality of the Scourge of the South’s rampage, is what the rest of Equestria will say. Go on.”
Cellestrous’ escorts filed out of the tavern, lighting torches, not even hesitating to destroy the entire town and the ponies that dwelled in it. 

In the prison cell, both Violet and Chrysalis noticed the sound of ponies struggling, deriving from the tavern outside. 
“Looks like things have escalated,” Violet said. 
“Good. They’re distracted. Now we’ve gotta get out of here…” Chrysalis said.
“What’s your plan?”
“Be quiet, I’m thinking.”
Violet sighed, guessing Chrysalis didn’t have a plan.
I’ve always got to be the hero.
Violet saw the bucket that Flare had thrown the water out of, still lying on the ground nearby. Swinging over with what mobility she had, after six tries she managed to stick her hooves under the thin metal handle of the bucket. 
She raised it as high as she could, and then lowered it, thinking of a way to get it to her arms up above. 
“What are you-” Chrysalis began, watching as Violet kicked upwards, flinging the bucket up into the air, and, just as Violet intended, on top of Violet’s bound hooves. 
“Fantastic. Got anything helpful?” Chrysalis asked, unimpressed. 
Violet ignored her, grabbing a hold of the thin metal handle and trying to twist it off with her hooves. After a few minutes, she succeeded. 
“I’ve got it!”
“Whatever you’re doing, hurry it up…” Chrysalis said, warily, as she noticed Cellestrous’ escorts exit the tavern, seemingly eager to cause some chaos. 
Violet took the loose end of the metal wire handle and began jangling it inside the keyhole to her cuffs. It was small enough to fit inside, and hopefully small enough to pry something loose. 
“There!”
Her victorious celebration was cut brief, when she fell forwards on her face, her arms unexpectedly free. She picked herself up and used the wire again to pick the lock loose on her ankle cuffs. Now free, she went straight for the door to the cage, picking the lock and exiting. 
“Wait!” Chrysalis yelled, angrily, believing Violet to be leaving her behind. 
Violet went for the keys on the rack and undid the ring around her horn, now able to use her magic again. She went back to Chrysalis and undid all of the locks, both of them now free. 
“Come on!” Violet said, pulling Chrysalis to her hooves and running for the exit. 

Once out of the prison, Violet and Chrysalis were shocked to find the town in flames, ponies screaming and running for their lives. 
“What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know...Come on, we’ve got to find that jewel,” Chrysalis said, phasing into a pony disguise to avoid being recognized. 
The duo fled across the street to the tavern, trying their best to be inconspicuous as Cellestrous’ escorts ran amuck through the town, burning down every building in sight, killing every pony they came across. 
“This is excessive, even for me,” Violet muttered, listening to the screams of a young foal be cut short by the blade of an axe. 
Inside the tavern, they found a field of corpses, stabbed and thrown across overturn tables and broken glass. One of the corpses just so happened to be the mayor, his mouth hanging open, his white hair stained red with blood. There was a black hole that went straight through his forehead. 
Chrysalis knelt beside the body and ruffled through his satchel, yet did not find the jewel anywhere. 
“It’s gone…” she said, shocked. 
“What do you mean, it’s gone?”
“She must have taken it,” Chrysalis said, her face growing increasingly angry. That jewel was rightfully hers, she had earned it after all. 
“What now?” Violet asked. 
Chrysalis stood up and walked right out the door, the city red with fire. Through the flames, Chrysalis saw nine ponies, strutting out of the city, content with what they had done. One pony stood out to Chrysalis, Cellestrous, her old associate, now enemy. That jewel was hers, and nopony was going to stop her from getting it. 
“I’m following her. You and I have no more business together.” 
“I want that jewel as much as you do,” Violet said, “You’re going to need my help if you want to get it back. Then we’ll figure something out.”
Chrysalis sighed. This pony just wouldn’t quit. 
“Fine. But the jewel is mine.”
“Like I said, we’ll figure something out,” Violet said. Whatever compensation she could get from Chrysalis, whether that was the jewel or just a payment, would be satisfactory enough.
Chrysalis watched at Cellestrous and her goons disappeared into the horizon, carrying the item that was so integral to Chrysalis’ plans being fulfilled. 





In the middle of nowhere, around fifty-odd ponies were trudging along through grasslands and across rivers, following the nearby train tracks all the way to Canterlot. 
At the very front of the group was Lance Crestfall, who had assumed the unofficial position of leader, which none of the ponies objected to. None of them had any real idea what why they had been put in this situation, but nopony was brave enough to question Crestfall, especially while his mood was sour. 
He would occasionally yell out some words of encouragement at the weary crowd of ponies following him from behind, though most of it went right over their heads. There were a few elderly ponies who had trouble with all the walking, and some foals who kept running off. Crestfall had taken it upon himself to give the old folks an occasional ride in the air to relieve them of the burden, and he would always be the one to go chase down the foals. 
Elodea would be watching him as he constantly checked in with everypony in the disgruntled crowd and made sure they all kept moving. She wondered why he was even bothering. Perhaps it was just her unrelenting cynicism talking, but she fully expected Canterlot to be their final destination. She hadn’t spoken her mind too much about the current plan, mostly because she didn’t want to crush Crestfall’s vigor. Even Dust was beginning to lose hope that they would ever know peace again. Elodea figured that as soon as they’d made it to Canterlot, these ponies, who Crestfall was helping as much as he could, would turn on him in a heartbeat. He’d be tried and convicted for treason, and probably executed, considering all the blame that could be placed on him. And as for her and Dust, Elodea planned on them taking off as soon as they got to the city. She had given into Dust’s desire to save Starlight once already, but now it was officially over. Dust’s safety was her top priority.   
In her experience, Elodea saw no value in doing anything on behalf of others if it didn’t mean helping herself. The world was everypony for themself, that was the only thing Elodea believed. The only other pony who she’d risk anything for was Dust, and now that they were together, Elodea wasn’t as stressed as she had been a few days ago. 
She thought it to be strange then, when Elodea realized she was fixated on Crestfall, and the bizarre decisions he kept making. They could’ve just ditched all these ponies at the train car, and told them to wait for help, but instead, he wanted to be with them, to protect them from the dangers of the wilderness. Dust had no opinion, since she wasn’t much of a fighter anyway and thus had little to risk. And Elodea simply let it happen, deciding that it was Crestfall’s own life he was risking, by trusting these ponies not to double cross them as soon as they got to Canterlot. Friendship, and amiability in general, weren’t concepts that Elodea was particularly familiar with, and she was beginning to wonder what she was missing out on. What would drive a pony to risk his own safety for the benefit of others, who he had no connection to? 
Crestfall clearly understood something about ponies that Elodea didn’t, and it made her itch for an answer. She had long despised cops, as a result of working on the opposite side of the law for a large portion of her life, but now that she had actually gotten to know one, she questioned whether her old mentality of distrust and selfishness held any truth to it at all. 
She was drawn to him, it seemed, because he possessed something she wanted, that being hope for a better life. He was just as miserable as she was these days, if not worse off, yet he insisted that he would pull himself out of it. For Elodea, that just seemed too unrealistic. There was a voice inside her, telling her that any endeavor to help others for the sake of helping others was a waste of time, meaningless, and a good way to get herself killed. But she wasn’t happy with herself, and she wanted to change for the better. Be a pony that others could count on, and love, and care about. Being entirely independent and self-sufficient for so long was good in that she never had to worry about being betrayed, but it also made her heart empty with loneliness. She had nopony in her life except Dust, who she clung onto, because nopony had shown her any real affection besides her, not even her own parents. 
While Elodea remained perplexed over Crestfall doing his best to protect the group, Crestfall was in the air, flying high above the clouds, scanning the area for any potential dangers. He wasn’t sure whether he would be able to preserve his innocence, but if he was going to be screwed over and arrested, he might as well do the best job he could to protect these ponies, while he was still free, and still had a chance to prove to himself that he could be redeemed.

Then something caught his attention, over the edge of the hills towards the north. At first, he believed what he was seeing was just something in his eye, until he saw it grow larger, and larger, and then the realization hit him. There was a new group of ponies, a lot of them, rushing towards the group at full speed. He had a grave feeling that these ponies weren’t their rescue party, and that they definitely weren’t friendly. He waited to get a better look at them, only to confirm his fears. They seemed to be raider ponies, undoubtedly having come to take advantage of the helpless ponies and murder, rape, and steal as much as they could. 
Lance came crashing down to the ground, startling the ponies that he almost knocked over. 
“Spice!” he bellowed, sweating, anxious as he could begin to hear the thundering of running hooves in the distance. 
Spice excused herself through the crowd, adjusting her oversized helmet as she approached Crestfall.
“What?” she asked, cluelessly. 
“I need you to lead everypony across that river there, keep heading east.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Just do it. Everypony! Follow this pony right here!” Crestfall yelled, as Spice hesitantly began leading the group of confused ponies towards a large river bank. She gave Crestfall one last look of concern, until she disappeared ahead of the crowd of ponies, who were shuffling on down towards the river. Crestfall had avoided having to mention they were under attack by a horde of wild murderous thieves, to prevent everypony from panicking. 
Dust and Elodea both stayed where they were, wondering what the problem was. As the crowd cleared, Dust could get a better view of the hills in the distance, and then noticed what it was that had grabbed Crestfall’s attention. Raiders, just like the ones that had attacked her and Jackpot before, except now about twice as many. They were coming towards the group, at full speed, screaming and waving their weapons in the air, to frighten their prey. Slick Sleeve and Pink Mist, the other two soldiers, both still roughed up from their recent quarrel with Crestfall and Elodea, were also staying back, mouths hanging open in fear as the small army of raider ponies continued in hot pursuit. 
“You two, go on with the others,” Crestfall said, commandingly, to Dust and Elodea. 
“No way,” Dust said, firmly, standing her ground. 
Crestfall sighed and marched right up to Dust, trying to scare her into doing what he said. 
“Go. Right now.”
“Not a chance,” said Elodea sticking her head between them.
“You think you three idiots will do much good against them? You’re gonna need all the help you can get,” Elodea said, smirking. Crestfall laughed, wishing they’d have done what he’d asked, but deciding it wasn’t worth it to argue. 
 “Lance, what can we do?” Pink asked, overwhelmed by the imposing size of the approaching horde of ponies. The raiders’ rush towards the remaining five ponies were like chariots of thunder, tearing apart the earth as they stampede their way forward, increasing their speed and ferocity as they went. Their numbers were uncountable, their sanity questionable, and even Crestfall, who rarely admitted to the possibility of failure, saw struggling to avoid accepting that he probably wouldn’t get out of this alive. 
“We can buy the others some time, is what we can do. Dust, you’ve still got that crossbow?” Crestfall asked. 
Dust held the weapon up with shaky hooves, beginning to regret electing to stay and fight as the pack of raiders kept on growing in size. 
“We could try leading them in a different direction,” Slick suggested. 
“That won’t work, they’ll go after the others first...we’ve got to stay here and hold them off,” Crestfall said, determined. If he was going to die, he’d much rather do it in a final stand than by being executed by his own country. 
“Well how the hell do you figure we do that?!” Pink yelled, distraught as the raiders were but a few hundred yards away. 
Crestfall’s answer was to raise his spear up towards the enemy, Pink doing the same, nervously. 
“These ponies will tear you to shreds if it means stealing every bit you have on you,” Crestfall muttered. 
“Oh good, I should be fine then, I’m broke,” Elodea said, drawing her knife. 
The horde of raiders was practically on top of them, when they came to a sudden halt, right before they would have run right into Crestfall and Pink’s waiting spears.  
Crestfall and his defensive line of four ponies stayed as they were, confused as to why the raiders had stopped. They were outnumbered fifty to one, a crowd of ravenous, heavy-breathing, enraged ponies with slashed faces, sharp weapons, and twisted forms began to encircle them. The one raider pony at the front, a large, bearded stallion with a creased face and two differently colored eyes, took one step forward, staring right into Crestfall’s narrowed eyes. 
“You’re royal,” the raider said, in disbelief, poking at Crestfall’s army spear with his own heavy club, which he used to bash ponies’ brains in. 
“What a lucky find, aye, boys? Not just one royal, three,” he said, his laughter being echoed all the way back through the horde, even to those who hadn’t heard what he had said. 
“My my, what’s with that sultry look on your face, boy? If you be offering yourselves up in the middle of this here valley, you’d had best come prepared with more than just five ponies…” he said again, laughing some more, “and you three will make for nice pickings in our lot...Can’t say I remember the last time any of us have been with a royal mare,” he said, a wicked smile stretching along his face, Pink cringing in fear and disgust, taking a few steps closer to Crestfall. If it came to it, she was planning on taking her own life before any of those monsters could grab a hold of her. 
“Wait a minute…” said one raider pony from deeper in the crowd, who began pushing his way to the front, “I know that pony,” he said, pointing right at Dust. 
The leader glanced at the other raider, confused. 
“Do you now?”
“Aye, she was the one, the one I told you about...The one with the Scourge of the South! That’s her!” the raider yelled, Dust too remembering this raider as the one Starlight had spared. 
Crestfall shot a quick glance at Dust, wondering at what point she had interacted with these scumbags before. 
“We gotta get out of here, she’s around here, she’s got to be! It’s a set up!” the pony yelled, frantically. 
While the horde began to devolve into panicked murmuring and nervous shuffling, the leader remained unimpressed. 
“Is that so? Well I don’t see anything. Do you see anything? No, didn’t think so. All I see are five ponies. Five ponies, who ought to be counting their seconds.”
The raiders resumed their excited grumbling, and Dust began her nervous panicking again. For a brief moment there, she thought some sort of miracle was going to save them. 
“So, if it’s alright with you all, I think I’ll have that one first,” the leader said, pointing at Crestfall, raising his club to go in for a strike. 
“Stop!”
Right before the leader’s club could come down towards Crestfall’s head, nearly every raider in the first three rows of the horde fell back to the ground, as did all five of the defending ponies, all thrown back by the force of a tremendous magical blast of energy.
The leader raised a hoof to block the blinding light, emanating from some unforeseen object that had descended down from the sky between the two groups of ponies. He blinked a few times and made out that it was a pony, staring him down with fiery eyes and a sparkling horn. 
“All of you, get out of here, and you’re never to bother anypony again, got it?!” the pony yelled. 
The raider recognized her, gasping in terror-filled shock, slowly picking himself up, careful not to aggravate her any further.
“W-we didn’t mean to-”
“Go! Get out of here!” the pony yelled again, her voice booming, sending the raiders into a state of inescapable fear. 
The leader quickly turned around and began scurrying off in the other direction, the entire horde of raider ponies eagerly following him, attempting to get as far away as possible from that pony. 

Twilight Sparkle turned around at the remaining five, all lying on the grass, staring up at the alicorn, shocked by her unexpected arrival. Dust’s mouth had hit the floor, speechless. This was the pony Starlight had told her about, the benevolent princess of friendship, who had just saved her life. 
“Princess Twilight,” Crestfall said, kneeling before her, Slick and Pink quickly doing the same. They were so wrapped up over Twilight rescuing them, that they had forgotten to pay her reverence. 
Twilight clearly had her mind elsewhere, her eyes frantically darting back and forth between the ponies before her. Dust held off from saying anything, wondering if she was even allowed to talk freely in the presence of royalty. She wanted to say ‘thank you,’ for the rescue, but decided to wait for the princess to speak first. Elodea kept her mouth shut, also at a loss for words. She was thankful to be alive, but was beginning to fear what exactly Twilight wanted with them, considering the last alicorn princess tried to kill them.  
Twilight, however, hadn’t come for conversation. In fact, she was after the same thing that the Dust, Elodea, and Crestfall were after, though none of them knew it yet.  
“Where’s Starlight?”