Rising Star

by Argonaut44

Chapter Thirteen: Hidden Enemy

Descending down a steep rocky ridge were Cadance and Shining Armor, walking together, both filled with a profound sense of triumph and relief at their recent victory over Queen Chrysalis. Both of them had long dreamt of this moment, defeating that wicked changeling for good.

“I hope Twilight finds her friend…” Cadance said, regretting having played into the deterioration of Twilight’s emotional state with her belief that Starlight was truly the dreaded Scourge of the South. Shining Armor, however, had more faith that his sister would recover on her own.

“She was just going through a phase, it’s happened before. She gets so worked up over things, you know? She lets stuff get the better of her.”

“Well, now she’ll have one less thing to worry about,” Cadance said, smirking as she checked her shoulder back at Hardball and Violet behind them, dragging the bound Chrysalis, who was still unconscious.

“She’s going to pay for everything she’s done,” Shining Armor said, recalling all of the ponies who lost their lives to her, and all of the unthinkable damage she had done to Equestria.

Cadance nodded, unable to describe the grief she felt for ponies across Equestria who suffered at Chrysalis’ hooves.

While the Princess and Prince walked together up ahead on the gravelly trail, Hardball and Violet were bearing the burden of carrying Chrysalis, dragging her across the ground using two ropes.

Violet shot a quick glance at Hardball, who was focusing solely on keeping pace with Cadance and Shining Armor. She bit her lip anxiously, waiting for the right moment to make her move. During the skirmish with Chrysalis, Violet had attempted to loosen the metal magic restrictor locked around her horn, however she found no success. It was locked on tight, and, to make things worse, it gave her a raging headache. Still, she knew she had to escape somehow. More desperate measures would have to be taken.

At one point on the trail, she finally decided it was time.

“Princess!”

Cadance stopped and turned around, startled and confused. Violet had rarely spoken for the entire trip, and Cadance had forgotten what the unicorn’s voice sounded like.

“Yes?”

“I’ve done...everything you’ve asked of me...I carried your carriage, I carried your supplies, and now I’ve carried your changeling...Please, can you take this damned thing off my horn!? I can’t take it anymore!” Violet said, doing her best to act pathetic and harmless.

Cadance wasn’t buying it.

“I do that, and you’re just going to free Chrysalis there, and attack us.”

“I didn’t know she was a-a changeling! How could I? You all didn’t even know until today! Please! I won’t try anything! It hurts so bad!”

Cadance sighed, glancing at Shining Armor, who seemed more open to Violet’s pleas.

“I’m not doing that,” Cadance said to him.

“Oh, come on. What’s she gonna do?” Shining Armor said, smiling, “We’ve got Chrysalis, it’s over.”

Cadance said nothing, turning away and beginning to walk.

“If you want to free her, then you’re the one to keep an eye on her,” Cadance said, though she had a feeling she’d regret it.

Shining Armor glanced back at Violet, who seemed absolutely desperate for release. Hardball seemed slightly nervous about Shining Armor going through with it, but before he could voice his concerns, Shining Armor had already cast the spell, breaking off the metal ring around Violet’s horn. Shining Armor stayed watching her with his horn aimed right for her head for nearly a minute, though Violet made no move to attack.

“Thank you,” she said, politely, as she continued pulling Chrysalis’ body.

Shining Armor hesitantly turned his back to her, which was what Violet was waiting for, blasting him right in the back of the head. He fell to the ground unconscious in a heap, completely unaware of what was happening. Cadance turned around just to catch a blast to the face. She crashed to the gravelly ground, knocked out cold.

Hardball had been expecting this betrayal, wasting no time in grabbing Violet by the horn and slamming her head onto a nearby jaggedy rock. She screamed in pain, as he repeatedly threw her head against the rock, each time with the intention of killing her right then and there. As far as he knew, she had just killed the princess, which was enough of an incentive to try and murder the traitorous unicorn. After three face-first meetings with the rock, Violet finally had enough, her horn burning hot to loosen Hardball’s grip. He yelled and brought his hoof back, releasing her. She stumbled backwards, unable to see straight. Her mind was in a whirl, and she believed she might have a concussion. Eventually she regained her senses, just as Hardball came charging for her again. She zapped him straight in the chest, throwing him to the ground, out cold just like the others.

Violet gasped in agony as she felt around her face, which was covered in bloody scratches and bruises. She leaned against a rock, her face burning from the dirt mixed in with her wounds. There was a large gash around her eye, blood flowing down over her eyelid, partially blinding her. She groaned as she stumbled back over to the rope to get a hold of Chrysalis.

“You barely got out of that alive.”

Violet jumped, first believing Cadance had woken up, until she realized it was Chrysalis who had made the rude comment.

“How long have you been awake?” Violet asked. Chrysalis was still on the ground, bound in chains, helpless, but wide awake.

“Ten minutes now. You’re less intelligent than I first thought, I’m actually disappointed,” Chrysalis said, smugly.

“I’m not the one in chains.”

“No, but you will be when they wake up. What’s your plan, exactly? To run away? You can’t outrun an alicorn.”

“They would’ve thrown me in prison if I went with them...But just because they’re no friends of mine, doesn’t mean you're any better. You lied to me...And now, it looks like I’ll be the one to take you in. I’ll get paid more bits for your ransom than I could’ve ever dreamed of, and then I’ll be long gone.”

Chrysalis laughed at Violet’s plan, making the bludgeoned unicorn seethe with embarrassment and anger.

“Your only chance of survival against Cadance is with me.” Chrysalis said.
“I think I’ll take my chances, thanks,” Violet replied, grabbing both of the ropes tied to Chrysalis’ chains.

Violet spat out a bloody lob of spit near Hardball’s head, as she continued dragging Chrysalis down the trail, alone, moving as quickly as she could before the other ponies could wake up.

---

After escaping the warehouse on Forty-Fifth Street, Lance Crestfall, Elodea, and Dust Bunny kept on running for their lives into the urban jungle of Vanhoover, dashing over downed trash cans and shoving past crowds of pedestrians.

Tears fell off Dust's face as she ran, consumed with guilt over leaving Starlight behind. It felt cruel, that she was essentially substituted out of the devilish grip of her captors in exchange for Starlight. Dust had been terrified the entire time she was being held in that cold, dark facility, but not once had she desired for Starlight to take her place. Handling Jackpot’s untimely demise was difficult already. Dust knew she just wasn’t suited for these kinds of things, unaccustomed to life-threatening perils, strange foreign lands, and heartlessly cruel ponies with an inexplicable thirst for blood. What she did understand, was her commitment to her friends, and thus far she hadn’t exactly excelled in that department, with one dead and another in the clutches of a pack of murderers.

The trio eventually halted their sprint beside an alley, in a more populated area of the city compared to the dreary Forty-Fifth Street. Hopefully, here they could find some sort of safety.

Crestfall had a horrendous gash along with back right leg, seeping blood that stained his white coat. He fell against the wall of an alley, slamming his hoof down on the floor in anger.

“I had her! I had her…” he muttered, despairingly.

While Crestfall sulked in his failure, Elodea went over to Dust, who was still pale, seemingly shell-shocked by her recent experiences.

“Dust? Dust, hey, are you ok?” Elodea asked, letting out a soft side she rarely let anypony see.

Dust didn’t even make eye contact as she too took a seat on the floor of the alley, sighing in anguish.

“We have to go back,” she said, her voice quaking with fear.

Elodea hesitated, unsure how damaged her friend’s mental state was. Dust had stray strands of her black hair dangling above her eyes, and was wearing an assortment of red bruises all across her body.

“Dust, we’re not going back,” Elodea said, delicately. Now that Dust was safe, she saw no point in risking their lives anymore.

Dust frantically lifted her head, as if she was about to burst into tears. Crestfall, meanwhile, had already given up. He had Starlight Glimmer right in front of him, and now he’d lost his one chance at reclaiming everything he lost, honor, respect, happiness. What was supposed to be his redemptive big break, had ended up yet another waste of time.

“I hate to say it, but you’re right...they’ll be expecting us this time,” Crestfall muttered, wiping blood from his leg with a rag from his duffel bag.

“They were expecting us last time,” Elodea pointed out.

“No, what I mean is, those ponies, they’ll be shipping out of there. Their cover is blown, they can’t stay there. They’ll disappear again into the map, this time without any trace to follow.”

“I’m sorry, just who the hell is this?” Dust stammered, annoyed with this stranger’s insensitive cynicism.

“He’s just a pig who Starlight thought she could strike a deal with,” Elodea said, her back turned to Crestfall.

“That deal still stands,” Crestfall said, matter-of-factly.

“Like hell it does. Your deal was for Starlight. Now she’s gone. We have no business together anymore. So why don’t you just fuck off, and leave us alone?”

Crestfall lowered his head to the ground and smiled, before rising to his hooves.

“I’d been waiting for some luck to finally come my way for years now. And look, it came, in the form of a highly wanted mass-murdering supervillain. Starlight Glimmer was right within my grasp. Now they’ve taken her somewhere, and maybe it is over. But I’ve got nothing to lose, don’t I? See, I don’t care if they’re taking her across the sea, or to the other end of Equestria...I’m taking her in. And you two are helping me do it, or I’ll consider you both just as guilty as her.”

“Wait…” said Dust, standing up to face down Crestfall, “You don’t really believe all those stories about Starlight, do you?”

Crestfall stared at her, deducing Starlight must have indoctrinated some foolish acolytes to give her a cover of innocence.

“I’ve seen the photographs...I’ve heard all the testimonies. There’s no doubt in my mind, no hope that a pony couldn’t do such things to innocent ponies, children even.”

“It isn’t true....None of it, I’m telling you the truth,” Dust said, firmly.

Crestfall shook his head, unconvinced.

“Well, Miss…”

“Dust Bunny.”

“Dust Bunny, my interests are in preserving the peace. Now, if your friend is so innocent, she is welcomed to prove it to the court...But the longer she tries to evade me...the less innocence she can claim. We had an arrangement, and I intend to stick by that arrangement. We got you out of there, now I need what I was owed.”

“That was the deal? Me for Starlight?” Dust said, shocked.

“Starlight was the one who came up with it,” Elodea said, remembering how she too thought it was a bad deal.

Dust took a few seconds to refocus, slightly deterred by Starlight’s bothersome arrangement with the arrogant knight she had just recently been acquainted with.

“Fine! Fine, Starlight is yours, but you’ve got to help find her first! She’s in danger!”

Crestfall noticed the fear in her eyes, and relaxed his aggressive, interrogative stare.

“What did they tell you?” he asked, suspicious of what those ponies wanted with Starlight in the first place.

Dust sputtered, unsure where to begin.

“There was a group of them...six or so, that had a hold of me. They brought me into that place, and into this room, and-and they all...nevermind... But the one pony, the unicorn?”

Crestfall nodded, eager to find out more.

“The unicorn, she...she just watched it all happen...She let it all happen. And when it was over, she...she came to me, and she talked to me.”

“What did she say?” Elodea asked, becoming increasingly more angry the longer Dust went on.

“She-she was trying to scare me. She said she was a part of an organization, and they were going to use Starlight for something terrible! I think a lot of ponies are going to get hurt,” Dust sputtered, clearly frightened and traumatized by the unsaid details.

“S-so you’ve got to help her! If you don’t, ponies’ lives could be at stake!” Dust yelled, tears jumping out from her eyes, which were red from crying so much.

Crestfall exhaled, turning away to think about what to do next.

“What’s it matter? It’s like you said, soldier boy, they’ll be out of the city by the time we find them. If we find them,” Elodea said, trying to find a hole in the plan to prevent them from rejoining the fray. She had what she wanted, after all-her friend was back, relatively unharmed.

“There are files on that pony, the unicorn, Ruby Heart...I can find them, back at the station…” Crestfall said.

“So you’re with us?” Dust asked.

“For now,” he said, picking up his duffel bag with one hoof and strapping it around his back.

“Where the hell are you going?” Elodea asked.

“To the station. I’m gonna find out everything I can on Ruby Heart, see how large of an operation this is going to be, and just how dangerous those ponies are…”

He turned to both of them, still highly doubtful of their moral quality, given their association with Starlight. Though he couldn’t deny, neither they nor Starlight seemed as bad as he had first assumed them to be.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t go anywhere,” he said to both of them, though he was specifically talking to Elodea, as he trusted her the least.

“Alright,” Dust replied, sitting back down on the filthy ground of the alley. Elodea seemed unwilling to comply, though Dust’s worry-filled shaking made her more agreeable.

“Fine,” she spat.

Crestfall gave them a subtle gesture with his hoof to say goodbye, before walking out of the alley into the city crowd.

Elodea sat down beside Dust, who was staring into space, consumed with dread.

“Dust, look, I know you think Starlight is your friend and all, but...we’ve got to get you home...Dust, whatever’s going on, with Starlight and those ponies, you shouldn't be a part of it...and neither should I. I came back for you, Dust. And now you’re safe, I think we should go.”

Dust struggled to come up with a response, her brain running wild with emotions.

“Starlight was going to give herself up...for me. Who would’ve come for me if she hadn’t? Nopony. A murderer, criminal, all those things they call her, would never do that. She’s a good pony, El. We’ve got to help her…”

“Dust, I know your heart is in the right place, but I’m serious, when I say that this stuff, this life, you’re not cut out for it, Dust. You’re just going to get hurt, and nothing good will come out of it. That guy? Crestfall? He’ll double cross us the second he gets. You shouldn’t be here, Dust!”

“Maybe not,” Dust said, tears forming in her eyes once again, “But I’ve just got to...”

Elodea sighed, Dust clearly resolved in her loyalty to Starlight.

“Those ponies...they didn’t-”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Elodea turned her head to Dust, who refused to look at her while tears fell down her face. Elodea began to understand the full extent of the situation, and decided maybe sticking around a little longer was the right call after all.

“Alright, fuck it, here’s what going to happen,” Elodea said, suddenly invigorated, “We’re going to find Starlight, and we’re going to give those ponies what they deserve, huh? How’s that?”

Dust was comforted by her friend’s change in heart, though even that wasn’t enough to quell the pain. Her two closest friends, who had stood by her during this entire adventure, were gone, and now it was mostly up to her.

---

When Crestfall finally arrived at the Vanhoover police station, he was met by a shocked young mare in royal guard armor sitting at the front desk. She had chocolate brown mane hidden behind her helmet and a lighter brown coat, and was chewing a stick of gum before the battle damaged Crestfall came sauntering in through the station doors. Aside from the bruises and cuts decorating his body, his stubble was more pronounced than normal, and there were dark creases under his eyes from having stayed up all the previous night. His hair however, though still unkempt, had kept its typical shape. The mare behind the front desk wasn’t sure what to make of Crestfall, as he limped inside, grunting every time he had to put pressure on his injured leg.

“Crestfall? Oh, you’re in for it today.”

Crestfall shot her a confused look as he approached the desk.

“What is it?”

“What is it? You were gone all day yesterday! And that shack you were investigating? It sank into the sea! We all thought you were dead!”

Crestfall nodded, having forgotten all about that, as he took a look around the lobby to see if anything had changed while he was gone. It had only been a day, but it felt like a month-long mission. For some reason, he expected to return home as a war hero. He had been in a ditch for nearly a year now, first when he had his heart broken and then when his reputation deteriorated. One too many accidents, and far too many mistakes had cost him not only a valuable, career-defining promotion, but also most of the respect that he once had in the station. Finding Starlight Glimmer was the turn of the tide, or at least he thought, before she slipped through his hooves.

He leaned up against the front desk and shot the mare a smirk.

“You didn’t miss me too much then, did you, Spice?”

“Not in the least,” she responded, smiling back, “You better get up there, Commander’s already come close to tearing the roof off.”

“Fantastic. Can’t wait.”

Crestfall left the lobby, and headed up the steps to the drab main offices of the analytics department.

“Where the hell have you been!?”

It took just two seconds for Gallant Stride to catch Crestfall and give him severe reprimand for not checking back in last night.

“Trust me, you don’t want to hear about it,” Crestfall said, unsure how to avoid mentioning he had come across Equestria’s top criminal.

It took at least ten minutes to explain what he could to the fuming Gallant Stride, whose lumbering, hulkish build stood firmly, bulging with rage.

“Counterfeit led me to something bigger, Commander.”

“Well I hope it’s something fucking huge, since it meant killing an extremely valuable target!!”

Crestfall led Gallant through a doorway into a large room, filled with towering shelves of cabinets.

“He gave me a name, one I recognized, and an address too. I checked the place out, naturally.”

“Without telling any of us?!”

“It was an urgent matter, I promise. I got held up, ok? Give me a break. It’ll pay off when this is all said and done, believe me. Now at this address I went to, I found a whole operation. At least a hundred ponies throughout the place. Probably more at different locations.”

“Let me guess, you got caught?”

“Of course not, I never get caught. Why would you say that?”

Gallant rolled his eyes, while Crestfall found the particular file box he was looking for. After shuffling through the dividing rows, he picked out one file in particular, and raised it for a skeptical Gallant to see.

“This pony, Ruby Heart?” Crestfall said, pointing at the file, which bore a picture of an angry red unicorn, “I saw her, in the flesh. She’s alive. And, more importantly, she’s active. Out and about. Undoubtedly stirring up trouble.”

Gallant stared at him blankly, as if everything Crestfall had said amounted to nothing. Crestfall’s excited grin faded as he noticed Gallant’s unimpressed expression.

“Sir...this pony...look, assassin, terrorist, enemy of the state,” he said, reading from the file, “This is huge, sir! Look at this!’ he said, eagerly shoving the file towards Gallant’s face. Gallant pushed the file away, sighing.

“I’m disappointed, Sergeant, really...We lost our biggest target, and all you’ve got to show me is...this,” he said, loosely motioning at the file in Crestfall’s hooves.

Crestfall couldn’t quite understand why Gallant wasn’t as thrilled about this new lead as he was.

“But, sir, this pony-”

“That pony isn’t real, Sergeant. That file you’ve got there, is a fake...made for analysis training…”

Crestfall shook his head in disbelief, checking the file once more.

“These are real reports, sir! Real signatures!”

“For a fake pony, who doesn’t exist. I can see that these have gotten mixed up with the real ones. I’ll see to it that your file there is shredded, as soon as possible. And Lance, for Luna’s sake, get your head out of the clouds. You’ve made a fool of yourself, once again.”

Crestfall’s mouth was hanging open in shock. He heard Counterfeit say the name, and he saw her, with his own eyes. It just couldn’t be fake.

Whether or not Gallant believed him, Crestfall believed himself. All that he needed was the file, more so than his commander’s permission. So all that was certain was that he absolutely couldn’t let it be destroyed.

Gallant led him out of the room back into the main office area, where several soldier ponies were milling about, most still surprised to see Crestfall alive, given he was the wash-up soldier who was thought to have gotten himself killed.

Crestfall made an attempt to head to his desk, until Gallant stopped him, grabbing him by the wrist.

“Why don’t we shred it now? Get it over with, and move on.”

Crestfall noticed something in Gallant’s eyes, something that reeked of ulterior motives. Crestfall hesitantly nodded, beginning to doubt Gallant’s intentions.

Gallant brought Crestfall right up to the office shredder, in clear view of everypony in the office.

“Go on, boy. I don’t want to be cross with you twice in one day,” he said, resuming his jovial demeanor. However, after several seconds of Crestfall not budging, Gallant eventually dropped his smile and began reaching for the file himself.

“Oh, Spice! For Luna’s sake, don’t go spilling that coffee on the new carpet!” Crestfall yelled, his eyes shifting from the shredder to across the room, behind Gallant, to see Spice walking in the door with a tray of coffee cups, accidentally spilling some onto the floor.

Except, there was no Spice, and there was no coffee, which Gallant quickly found out when he too turned around to see what was happening.

Gallant was confused, as Spice was nowhere to be found, and then it hit him that it was a trick. He turned around, but Crestfall was already gone, having escaped through the nearby secondary exit down the stairs.

Gallant knew he wasn’t nimble enough at all to chase down Crestfall, resorting instead to furious growling and turning bright red in the face. He picked up the shredder and tossed it across the room in his furious fit of rage. Everypony in the office froze, unsure what the fuss was about.

“Somepony! Send a message to lock every exit! We’re on lockdown!”

The ponies immediately flew into a flurry, running around the office to arm themselves and prepare for whatever danger was threatening the station. The lights turned off, replaced by a flashing red light from the ceiling, which drowned a furious Gallant Stride below.

Down the stairs, Crestfall had made it to the lobby, just as Spice, still at the front desk, received the message to lock the front doors.

“Spice! Delay that!” Crestfall yelled, hearing the beeping noise of the newly delivered message.

“What’s going on?”

“I was never here!” he bellowed, running as fast as he can on his injured leg.

Crestfall smiled as he ran straight for the doors, believing escape to be just a few steps away. That belief dissipated completely when he slammed face first into the doors, which had already been locked at Spice’s press of a button.

Crestfall recovered quickly, staggering to his hooves and turning to a concerned Spice.

“Lance?”

“Spice, open the doors,” he said, weakly.

“There’s an order,” Spice began, confused as to what was happening.

“Spice, for Celestia’s sake, open the doors.”

“Is that message for you?” she said, with the tone of a parent learning of a child’s bad grades. “What did you do this time?”

“Spice! Just do it, for me!”

Crestfall heard ponies galloping down the staircase nearby, and fear soon had a hold of him. His eyes locked back on Spice, who was in conflict over what to do. He was panting, heavily now, both due to just running down the stairs and the fear of being caught.

“Spice…” he whispered, desperately.

Spice eventually gave in, sighing and pressing a button to open the doors. Crestfall smiled, waved her off, and dashed off to freedom.

Spice had managed to lock the doors again just as the soldier made it downstairs.

“Where is he?!”

“He went around to the armory!” Spice yelled, pretending to be scared to death.

The soldiers collectively groaned and ran around Spice’s desk through another doorway, unknowingly pursuing a pony who wasn’t there.

Up above, Gallant bitterly strutted towards one soldier’s desk. He had already figured Crestfall had escaped.

“Bright Eyes.”

“Yes sir!” replied a young, inexperienced earth pony working at a cubicle.

“I want you to send a message to every operative in this city...Lance Crestfall is now excommunicado...Should anypony come across him, anywhere, he is to be executed on sight.”

“Executed? Are you...are you sure, sir?” Bright Eyes asked.

“And also, any possessions he is carrying are to be brought back directly to me. Nopony is to examine them before they reach me.”

“Yes, sir,” Bright Eyes said, nervously jotting down every part of the message he’d have to deliver.

Gallant stared out the window to the city street below. This city was large, but to Gallant, it would only be a matter of time before Crestfall was found. He had finally pushed his luck too far.

---

“I don’t think it’s necessary for me to tell you how little value you each have to me.”

Ruby Heart, a bright red unicorn with a mane the color of blood, and serpentine eyes, was standing before a crowd of her own subordinates, all of them having just relocated to a second base of operations, as their previous place had been exposed.

They were in a small room fronted by a family-owned laundromat, a room often loaned out to desperate crooks in need of a place to hide temporarily or conduct shady business.

There were three ponies standing slightly ahead of the crowd, each of their heads hung low, trying not to anger Ruby even more.

“You all had one job. One simple job. Starlight Glimmer was the hard part, and you couldn’t even handle her noname moron friends, now they’ve all escaped...I just don’t see how I can trust any of you anymore after this...Certainly not with anything important.”

“There was an extra pony, ma’am, one more than the inspection team reported there would be. He was a soldier, I think.”

“So what? Are you trying to blame inspection? What am I to make of you? Unable to think for yourselves. Slow to action. Precisely the opposite of what I am looking for. You insult me, with your stupidity.”
“Ma’am, if we could just-” began one of the ponies, before he was quickly silenced by a magical burst of fire and flame, searing a hole right through the pony’s neck. Ruby’s horn had been burning so hot that a few wisps of smoke drifted off of it into the air. Her face was redder than normal in her enraged state. She glanced at the other two, who wisely stayed silent.

“If one of them is a soldier, then we’ve risked involving the military. Far too early for that. We have Starlight, that’s all that really matters. Those other ponies won’t be able to do much to stop us,” she said, smirking. Then she noticed some sort of commotion from the back of the crowd.

“Ma’am! There’s a-a….He’s here to see you!” yelled a young pony pushing out from the crowd, out of breath. Ruby took a breath, anxiously. She nodded at the two ponies standing before her to remove the body of their deceased third companion. They dragged the corpse out into another room, while the crowd began to make way for a new visitor.

“Ruby.”

“Sir,” Ruby replied, instantly after the pony finished talking. He was a tall stallion, dark grey in color with a hard jaw, an unshaven face and sunken eyes.

“Where is she?” he asked, glancing around the room for the reason he was paying a visit. Ruby was standing straight and at attention, as were each and every one of her subordinates in the crowd behind them.

“Glimmer’s in the truck outside, sedated.”

“How long have you had her in your possession?” he asked, coldly, as if Starlight was a common household object.

“Just this morning, sir...I didn’t expect you to come so soon.”

“It’s no small feat, what you’ve done...I wanted to come and...congratulate you, my star student…”

“Thank you, sir,” Ruby said, though she did not smile.

“You had other hostages? Or so I’ve heard?”

“We…” Ruby hesitated, not sure it would be a good decision to reveal the other ponies escaped.

“It was a ruse. They’re all dead.”

The stallion shrugged, seemingly indifferent. Still, Ruby tried to win him over with the positives.

“Starlight Glimmer is ours now, alive, held under every restraint we have... She’s all we need,” she said.

The stallion nodded, satisfied.

“How much does she know?”

“Almost nothing, sir. I thought to wait until everypony was gathered before letting her know of our plans.”

The stallion nodded again, thoroughly content.

“Very good, Ruby. See to it that you’re all in Ponyville in two days time, at the least…” the stallion said, turning to leave the room. The crowd scampered out of the way to make a path for him.

“Ponyville, sir? That’s where the council’s decided?” Ruby questioned.

“Is that an issue?”

“It’s just...That’s where Twilight Sparkle is, isn’t it?” she asked, nervously.

“Not at the moment...She’s been gone on some adventure in the south for weeks now, no sign of returning quite yet, last I’ve heard.”

“Are you sure it’s worth it to risk that, sir? I’d rather not be in such close proximity to the enemy.”

“Then you’re very welcome to leave, but first you are to deliver that unicorn, do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

The stallion turned and stomped out of the room, leaving Ruby more than slightly concerned about testing the likes of Twilight Sparkle.

---

Mostly thanks to Spice’s diversion and not at all to his speed at running, Lance Crestfall was able to escape the company of soldiers chasing him, darting between carriages and dodging passerbys as he made his way through the city.

He returned to the alley where he had left Dust and Elodea, completely out of breath, and then sighed in bitter shock, to find neither of them there waiting for him.

‘They left!’

He crashed to the filthy ground of the alley, facing the sky up above, focusing on breathing. He was still struggling to accept the possibility that Gallant Stride, a longtime friend and mentor, was working with the enemy.

Whether or not that was true, Crestfall knew he was a target of the military nonetheless. He had always wondered what it would be like to be the prey instead of the predator.

He lay on the ground, exhausted and hopeless, now without any allies at all. He still had the file, which would undoubtedly be his saving grace should he be caught. Then again, Gallant would likely do everything he could to paint Lance as the villain, and given how respected the old stallion was, he knew his friends in the station would disappear fast.

“Not a very nice place for a nap, soldier boy.”

Crestfall opened one eye and then sat up, smiling in relief. Elodea and Dust were standing right in front of them, Elodea holding a coffee and Dust a hot chocolate with whipped cream.

“Sorry we were gone, I got hungry,” Dust said, apologetically.

“You look terrible,” Elodea said, smirking.

Crestfall said nothing, lying back down in a heap. The other two ponies sat down on opposite walls of the alley, Crestfall lying on the ground between them.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Dust asked, hopeful for a lead to finding Starlight.

Crestfall handed her the file, which she read through and through. She had decided to commit herself fully to saving Starlight and avenging not only her dearly missed friend Jackpot’s death, but also the cruel treatment those ponies put her through during her imprisonment.

“Sounds about right,” Dust said, disgusted as she caught a glimpse of Ruby Heart’s photo.

“Some of that matches some of the stuff you said...the organization...it’s real,” Crestfall said, mostly to prove it to himself that he was in the right. If Starlight really was innocent, then he was beginning to empathize with her on the grounds of being framed as criminals.

“What now?” Elodea asked.

“We’ve got to get out of this city, is what...Take everything we have directly to Canterlot...They’ll listen,” Crestfall said, hoping the ponies there would be more understanding.

“I thought you wanted the glory all for yourself?” Elodea asked.

Crestfall turned his head to Elodea, unprepared to answer the question.

“This is...this is getting to be too much for me...I was kidding myself...I’m a has-been alright, and now...it looks like I’m just as criminal as you two.”

“What are you talking about?” Dust asked.

“The cops will be after us. Or me, really. Those ponies are probably leaving right now, if they haven’t left already...We might still be able to catch them, if we hurry.”

Elodea and Dust shared a look of confusion, wondering what Crestfall did in the past couple hours to make him into a fugitive.

“What are you doing this for, if not yourself?” Elodea asked, but then regretted it, realizing it made it too obvious that she cared. Crestfall, whose face was worn with the pain of betrayal and the fatigue of running around the city for most of the day, was put off by the question.

“I’ve got nothing left...it was never about the fame, or the glory. I...I just wanted something to my name. I wanted my life back.”

Elodea didn’t quite fully understand, though found it respectable nonetheless.

The ponies all stood up and began gathering their things. Crestfall saw Elodea joining him and Dust, and was confused.

“I thought you weren’t interested? Too dangerous for her?” he said, motioning to a disgruntled Dust. Elodea stared at him, sinking into his sharp, demanding eyes.
“Maybe I just want something to my name too.”

Crestfall smiled, laughing as he led the group out of the alley back into the streets.

Comments

[Pete100]

Crestfall had a horrendous gash along with back right leg, seeping blood that stained his white coat. He fell against the wall of an alley, slamming his hoof down on the floor in anger.

How did he get it?

“For a fake pony, who doesn’t exist. I can see that these have gotten mixed up with the real ones. I’ll see to it that your file there is shredded, as soon as possible.

This man sus.

Crestfall noticed something in Gallant’s eyes, something that reeked of ulterior motives. Crestfall hesitantly nodded, beginning to doubt Gallant’s intentions.

He has to be working for her.

“I want you to send a message to every operative in this city...Lance Crestfall is now excommunicado ...Should anypony come across him, anywhere, he is to be executed on sight.”

So, Lance Crestfall is his full name?

“You all had one job. One simple job. Starlight Glimmer was the hard part, and you couldn’t even handle her noname moron friends, now they’ve all escaped...I just don’t see how I can trust any of you anymore after this...Certainly not with anything important.”

How is she gonna blame them, why don’t she do it herself, then?

The stallion turned and stomped out of the room, leaving Ruby more than slightly concerned about testing the likes of Twilight Sparkle.

Especially in the mood she’s in.

“Some of that matches some of the stuff you said...the organization...it’s real,” Crestfall said, mostly to prove it to himself that he was in the right.

Like what?

“This is...this is getting to be too much for me...I was kidding myself...I’m a has-been alright, and now...it looks like I’m just as criminal as you two.”

What’s a has-been?

“What are you doing this for, if not yourself?” Elodea asked, but then regretted it, realizing it made it too obvious that she cared.

Cared about what?

“I thought you weren’t interested? Too dangerous for her?” he said, motioning to a disgruntled Dust. Elodea stared at him, sinking into his sharp, demanding eyes. “Maybe I just want something to my name too.”

What does that mean?

[titanhades70]

Crystals continues to be a karma Houdini while Starlight continues to never catch a break.

I am really hoping for an Alicorn Starlight by the end of this. At this point, she deserves it after all the sh*t she has been put through.

[the book keeper]

Great chapter thanks for the update I wonder if in the next chapter Twilight and Starlight are going to see each other again. Keep up the great work and I hope you will be able to update again soon

[Shiny Kelp]

I wonder what Celestia is doing during all of this? I mean, she's probably at Canterlot running the country as usual, but how much does she know about what's happening, and what her position on it is?