Days in Vanhoover were long, dark, and miserable. At least, that was the case for one stallion, crammed in a cubicle office that was so small he thoroughly believed it was intentionally done so just to annoy him.
Lance Crestfall was a sergeant in the Vanhoover garrison, leading a measly six-pony detachment in a larger company of disgruntled soldiers. Most had expected to be fighting on the front lines of some imagined grand conflict, not patrolling the smoggy streets of Vanhoover. Crestfall had long gotten past that sense of discontentment, especially during such chaotic times. According to word from some recent transfers, entire platoons of soldiers had been wiped out by the Scourge of the South. Nothing left of them except ash and smoke. It was grim to think about, that had he been sent south instead of north, he may as well be among them. All that he hoped was that the Scourge remain of the South, and not the North.
He had a white coat, unkempt blue-silver hair, and five o’clock shadow. He operated more like a police investigator than as a grunt wandering through the trenches in some foreign land. In Vanhoover, one of the largest and commercially important cities in Equestria, crime never seemed to die down. The underworld of Equestria festered in places like this, murky, cold, and dark.
Crestfall was currently down on his luck, having separated from a long-time partner due to a hot-headed dispute. When he wasn't sulking in loneliness, he was working late hours at the station, or, as he saw it, wasting his life away on work that more often than not amounted to nothing.
In his dimly-lit cubicle, at around 8 p.m, Crestfall was re-examining a recent case he had taken up. Some contraband taken last week at the city customs had raised some new suspicions about a criminal drug trafficking and gambling network that was thought to be extinct. He was studying the case file on one pony in particular, who had long been thought to be dead.
Counterfeit.
They had never met in real life, but Crestfall considered this murderous sociopath to be his arch-nemesis. He knew his history inside and out. Counterfeit was from Manehattan, and came to Vanhoover with a friend some years ago. They got involved in some shady business, and eventually were more than just involved, they were running the show. About a year ago Crestfall had conducted a raid on one of Counterfeit’s base of operations, and in the ensuing skirmish, he had believed he had finally, at last, killed Counterfeit. Though, recent evidence of the organization’s resurgence seemed to contradict this.
Worst of all, it seemed as though Counterfeit’s fake death had given him a chance for a fresh start, to rebuild his organization without as much notice from the authorities. Crestfall had been stuck for weeks now. All he could do was track any suspicious activity he saw, that usually amounted to nothing. This pony was more than just elusive, he was practically non-existent.
‘Maybe he is dead,’ Crestfall thought, though knew that would make things too easy.
“Sergeant.”
Crestfall spun around in his chair from his notes to see Gallant Stride, a middle-aged, gruff pony with a thick white mustache and heavy bags under his old grey eyes. He had a faded blue coat, and wore scars all over his body from decades of service. To Crestfall, he was the top commanding officer in the garrison.
“The disturbances on the dock today. You hear about this?”
“I did. The unit we sent came back with nothing.”
“Think again,” Gallant said, extending his hoof holding a file of documents. Crestfall took it and opened it, and raised an eyebrow after reading its content.
“So what? Blood stains on the floorboards, signs of a struggle. Doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I know that house they’re talking about. It was a trading post, back in the day. You’d know, Captain, you must’ve been around back then,” Crestfall said, unintentionally angering Gallant.
“Watch it.”
“What I mean is, it’s been abandoned for...well at least five years, maybe more. The place is a mess. And the blood? Could be a lot of things...old stains from years past...maybe some kids are pulling a prank…”
“I don’t want to miss any sort of opportunity to catch that cockroach you’re after. This could be our lead to finding him…”
“It sounds like a waste of time.”
“I’m glad you think so. Because you’re the one I’m sending to take a closer look.”
“What, now?”
“Tomorrow. You’ve been waiting for something to do other than sit in that chair all day, right?”
Crestfall conceded to that, reluctantly nodding.
“Alright, I’ll see what I can find.”
“That’s what I want to hear. Now get out of here, you haven’t taken a break all day, you’re making me look bad.”
They both chuckled, as Gallant trotted off, leaving Crestfall in his chair, alone again. The light of his desk lamp illuminated one side of his face, the other cast in the darkness that crept out of his window. He watched the bright colorful lights of the city glare out of the dark city, and wondered if tomorrow would be the day he finally found the pony he could never catch.
Starlight Glimmer slowly lifted her eyelids open after having fallen asleep for several hours. She was still sore from her injuries, both those sustained from Princess Luna and the bruises she received from those ponies earlier that day. She kept expecting to see Dust or Jackpot beside her, but she was alone. The silence around her seemed to be screaming at her, mocking her. She found herself paranoid, and extremely nervous when without her friends near her. Maybe it was because she lacked confidence in her own decision-making, or maybe because she needed constant emotional support. Whatever it was, she could barely calm herself down, sitting in a small river in the sewer tunnel.
She cried softly to herself as the pain of that morning’s events returned to the forefront of her mind. She had promised her friends she would see them through this, alive and unharmed, and she had failed. It felt pointless now, to even bother keep fighting for herself, when she couldn’t even protect the ponies she cared about. She simply sat in the foul-smelling sewer, hopeless.
After an hour of silent contemplation, Starlight had decided that no good could further be accomplished sitting there in the sewer. She felt terrible, both physically and emotionally.
Bringing herself to her hooves, her legs quaked with fear. Whatever road lay ahead for her, she would likely have to walk it alone. Finding Dust would be near-impossible, and even if she knew where to look, she wouldn’t be able to get far. The metal ring those ponies had stuck on her horn was still there, meaning she couldn’t use her magic at all. And, on top of everything, she was still wanted by the authorities. Nopony in this city would help her if they knew who she was. Despite how terrified she was of returning to the fray, there was even less incentive to stay in the sewer, where she had nothing to distract herself from the pain and grief of Jackpot’s death, and Dust’s capture. She walked deeper into the sewer, hoping she could find an exit that led back up to civilization.
Starlight dragged her hooves on the sewer floor, not at all eager to leave the strange safety of the odorous undercity. She had mostly dried off since her plunge into the blue waters below the docks earlier. It was difficult for her to walk forward, as if her grief was physically tugging at her, trying to draw her back into a miserable heap of self-deprecation. She sighed, trying to relieve herself of her guilt. She recalled what Jackpot had told her, to accept herself and focus on moving forward. Still, she wasn’t ready to move on from him so suddenly. It wasn’t fair, and there was nothing Starlight could do about it. No matter what move she made, she knew it would just end in more ponies getting hurt. She considered the unthinkable, of taking her life before she could hurt anypony else. But she knew Jackpot wouldn’t have wanted that, and truthfully neither did she.
At last, she found it. A ladder attached to the wall of the sewer, that led up to a hatch in the ceiling. She tried one more time to pull the metal ring off from her horn, but found it was practically welded on tight. She shook her head, hopeless, as she began climbing her way up.
Pushing the sewer hatch off from the hole, Starlight poked her head up slowly from the sewer. She was in an alleyway, unpopulated, to Starlight’s relief. The less ponies that saw her, the better.
She wasn’t quite sure what to do next. Without her magic, she wouldn’t pose much of a threat to that red unicorn, of whom she despised with a passion. What angered Starlight more than the pony killing the stallion she loved, was the joy the pony seemed to take in it. She longed for their reunion, where she could show her just which pony she was messing with.
She climbed out of the sewer, brushing off as much filth from her body as she could. She stumbled against a wall, still in pain from her injuries. She began walking down a poorly-lit street, trying not to attract too much attention to herself. She saw an unclaimed raggedy blanket on the floor near a building, and, without much hesitation, picked it up, draping it over her head and shoulders to conceal her identity. The blanket reeked of the city, though Starlight was too desperate to care. Starlight’s only plan was to stay alive. The only way to find those ponies who took Dust, would be if they came to her.
After about fifteen minutes of wandering through the city, Starlight was beginning to get tired, and wondered which desolate alley she’d have to spend the night in.
Continuing down the street, the sound of ponies arguing caught her attention. She saw several police ponies, hassling a mare, who was yelling at them about something. Then Starlight’s eyes widened with surprise, when she realized who exactly the mare was.
Starlight knew she had to act, and quickly. She saw the police ponies’ carriage, parked near the curb on a street, that happened to be at a downhill incline. She smiled as an idea came to her. She rushed over to the carriage, and subtly kicked out the wheel blockers. Starlight managed to get away just as the carriage began to fall down the road. The cops took a few seconds to notice, and then flew into a flurry, chasing after the carriage, screaming for ponies to make way. Starlight smiled at her work and slowly approached the mare, who was confused by what just happened.
“Elodea?”
Elodea spun around to see Starlight, who looked half-alive.
“St-Starlight? Wait, was that you?”
“Yeah, it was. We need to get out of here,” Starlight said, quickly.
Elodea stared at her, a bit nervous over how worse-for-wear Starlight appeared.
“Uh...sure thing...Where’s Dust? Why isn’t she with you?’
Starlight wasn’t sure what to say, so tried to ignore the topic.
“I’ll tell you, but we need to get out of the-”
“No...What did you do to her? I-I knew you weren’t as nice as you seemed! You really are that murdering psychopath everypony told me you are, aren’t you?” Elodea said, backing away from Starlight, horrified.
“No! Elodea, I didn’t do anything to her...she’s...they took her.”
“Who’s they?”
“I’m not sure...The same ponies who attacked us back in town...they came back, they surprised us…”
Elodea noticed the ring around Starlight’s horn, and relaxed. It also gave more ground to Starlight’s story, enough for Elodea to mildly trust her again.
“Alright, here...there’s a hotel I’m staying at here, we’ll go there…”
“Ok.”
“Wait...they took Dust...you got out...what about Jackpot?”
“He…” Starlight struggled to finish the sentence, as emotions swelled in her once more. Elodea began to pick up on just why Starlight seemed so distressed.
“Oh...I’m sorry, Starlight…” Elodea said, a bit stunned by the revelation that Jackpot was dead. Elodea embraced Starlight, who desperately needed the warmth of another pony.
“We should go…” Starlight said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Right...Yeah…” Elodea said, letting go of Starlight. “Follow me.”
Starlight walked close beside Elodea down the lamp-lit streets of Vanhoover, wary of any wayward stares. The entire world seemed to be against her, and Starlight was finally realizing just how daunting that really was.
Elodea led Starlight to a hotel, which was nothing too flashy. Once inside their room, Elodea shut the door, making sure they weren’t being followed. Starlight was standing with her head hung low, her heart hollow and her mind cloudy.
“Here, I can get that thing off your horn,” Elodea said, approaching Starlight.
“Really?”
“Sure, those things are common. It’ll hurt a little bit, not too much. Sit down.”
Elodea led Starlight to a table facing the wall. Starlight bit her lip nervously, hoping her horn wouldn’t sustain any damage.
“How’d you get here?” Starlight asked.
“Same as anypony. I walked,” Elodea replied, rifling through her bag for some tools.
“Dust said you got trapped behind?”
“Nearly...I got away from the cops after you all left...I was kinda glad not to have to deal with you guys anymore, to be honest. But...I knew you’d need help...so I came here.”
“Why were those cops yelling at you?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong. They just wanted to pick a fight with me,” Elodea said, scoffing. “Scumbags. They’ll come up with anything to fuck me over.”
Elodea pulled out some dangerous looking metal tools, and brought them over to the table.
“Um...Are you sure this is safe?” Starlight stuttered, nervously.
“I never said it was safe.”
Starlight didn’t find that very comforting.
“These things can only be opened with a specific key...which we don’t have, so I’ll have to go a little old school.”
Elodea picked up one sharp-looking instrument and began digging it beneath the metal ring, bending it upwards. Starlight groaned in pain. It felt as though her horn was being ripped right off.
“Hold still.”
Elodea then took a small metal hammer, and began whacking at the sharp instrument several times, until a distinct cracking noise made Starlight jump, believing it to be her horn breaking in two.
“There. See? You’re fine.”
Elodea broke off the cracked-open metal ring, showing it to a frazzled Starlight. Starlight felt the pressure in her head dissipate, her magic slowly returning. She tried casting a spell, and then screamed in pain, falling to the ground and holding onto her horn, writhing in agony.
“Oh yeah...Don’t try using your magic for a few hours...It needs some time to heal and get back to normal…”
“You couldn’t have told me that before?” Starlight muttered, angry.
“Sorry,” Elodea said, smiling, helping Starlight to her hooves.
“Well, I gotta get clean…”
“I won’t stop you...I’ll be right out here.”
Starlight nodded. She still wasn’t sure whether Elodea was truly on her side or not, but at this point, she would work with anypony she could.
Starlight spent most of the time in the shower crying, the paper-thin walls of the hotel room providing easy access for Elodea’s ears. Elodea winced at the heartbreaking whimpers leaking from the bathroom. She wasn’t typically one to be emotional, though something about Starlight’s plight softened her.
When Starlight finally came out, she fell into a chair, exhausted. She glanced out the window, down to the colorful lights that decorated storefront windows and streetside attractions.
“Look uh, Starlight...I’m sorry about your friend, Jackpot, I really am…”
Starlight shook her head, her eyes still red from crying.
“They didn’t even know him. I think...I think they just did it to get to me,” Starlight said.
“Who are these ponies?”
“I don’t know...They’re not royal or anything…”
Elodea frowned, trying to put together as much information as they could. What she was really after, was Dust’s whereabouts.
“Any names?”
Starlight scoffed.
“Just one...Jackpot’s friend. Counterfeit. He led us right to them, and then he walked off.”
“Ok….must be some Vanhoover guy, because I’ve never heard of him.”
“He is,” Starlight said, bitterly.
“Ok, so then these ponies must be local, right?”
“I think he was just working with them…”
“Do you know how to get to...where it happened?”
“Yeah, by the docks...But we can’t go back there.”
“Why the hell not?”
“I...I can’t.”
Elodea loosened her interrogative stance, as she noticed Starlight begin to get emotional again. Elodea sighed, not one who was too experienced with emotional therapy.
“Look, I know that he...meant a lot to you...I’ve lost ponies too, you know...But he’s gone. He’s gone, and he isn’t coming back.”
Starlight burst into tears, but Elodea pressed on, saying what she thought had to be said.
“But Dust is still alive, right? We can’t save Jackpot...but we can save her. What we can’t do, is just sit here crying about what happened…”
Starlight hated to agree with Elodea, but recognized the value in her words.
She sniffled and rubbed her eyes once more.
“You’re right...we’ve got to save Dust.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll check out that place, and I’ll be with you, and everything will be fine. We’re going to find her, and it’s going to end up alright.”
Starlight nodded, weakly. She was still unsure she could move on from Jackpot’s untimely demise, but knew she had a responsibility to do what she could, and save Dust before it was too late.
Twilight Sparkle was filling her bag with the new supplies the local ponies had given her and her group, mostly water. The pony they had captured, Violet, had answer all of their questions after just a few threats of torture last night, and now they knew everything they needed to find Chrysalis. They’d be heading into the mountains in the north, which were like huge grey canines biting up from the ground. There were no plants anywhere to be found, and only at the top peaks would there be any heaps of snow. That was Twilight and company’s destination, where Twilight intended to rid the world of its greatest pest once and for all.
Twilight walked outside of her small hut to join the other ponies, who had all been gearing up to leave as well. The local townsponies had gathered around them, to see them all off.
“Thank you for all the help,” said Cadance to the crowd, who gave some rowdy cheers in response.
Twilight, who wanted to preserve her energy for the upcoming confrontation, sat inside the mighty carriage they had been traveling with, sitting across from Cadance. Violet was forced to help pull the carriage, and was not to be given any breaks for the entire duration of their trek up into the mountains. They had outfitted her with cuffs around her ankles and her neck, that were all chained to the carriage, preventing her from running off. As one could imagine, she was less than pleased with this arrangement.
The group set out once more, hopefully for the last time in their so-far fruitless pursuit of Chrysalis.
Inside, Twilight was noticeably antsy, unable to sit still in the carriage. She was constantly readjusting herself, and her eyes were often stuck looking out the window for any possible signs of Chrysalis.
“Uh...Twilight…” Cadance said, concerned.
“Yes?”
“I know you really want to find her, but...you’ve got to remember, Celestia and Luna want her alive.”
Twilight glared at Cadance, insulted by the insinuation that she was out of control.
“I’m well-aware of that. We’ll be taking her alive, unless other, more extreme measures end up being...unavoidable.”
Cadance didn’t like that answer, as Twilight obviously wanted any excuse she could to land a fatal blow on Chrysalis.
“Twilight, what if you’re wrong about her? If that really is Starlight...and you try and...well, kill her,” Cadance said, struggling to discuss the possibility, “You could be accidentally killing your friend...Isn’t that why the Princesses wanted her alive? To be interrogated?”
Twilight had to admit that was a cautionary possibility, but was still firm in her belief that it was Chrysalis and nopony else.
“It’s like I said...only if it’s unavoidable.”
Cadance sighed, hoping Twilight could keep her vengeful bloodlust under control.
Starlight barely slept all night, unable to quell her regret over the past and her fears of the future. She had accepted the harsh reality that Elodea had laid on her, that she had to focus on what she could still control, though matter how hard it was to ignore the pain of Jackpot’s loss.
Elodea stumbled out of bed, heading to the downstairs lobby for some complimentary breakfast. She brought bagels back for Starlight, who wanted to avoid being in public as much as possible. The two ponies ate together in their room, spilling crumbs on the ground. Starlight wolfed down her meal, having eaten very little these past few days.
Elodea had finally become fed up with her life in Saddleopolis that she convinced herself to follow Dust to Vanhoover. She couldn't leave Dust to fend for herself again, especially under such dire circumstances. Dust may have been the only true friend Elodea had, and to lose her would be like losing a part of herself.
“So this,” Elodea began, pausing to chew, “this Counterfeit guy....what’s he look like?”
“Earth pony. Yellow….Uh...he had black hair. Maybe dark blue.”
“Can he fight?”
“I don’t know…”
Elodea seemed unimpressed with the pony’s resume.
“Ok...so we find this guy, we shake him around, right, give him the old one-two, get him to tell us where those ponies took Dust, rescue her, and get the hell out of this city…”
Starlight liked the sound of that plan, but, considering her recent bad luck, knew reality would never work as well as she would hope.
When both had finished eating, Elodea stood at her hooves, eager to save Dust as fast as possible.
“Oh, and on the off chance we run into trouble...Cops, or hooligans, or whatever...I can only do so much...Your magic’s working, right?”
Starlight began levitating a nearby alarm clock, albeit while struggling. She dropped it, and began panting in exhaustion.
Elodea stared at Starlight, clearly worried.
“Ok well...we’ll be fine. We’ll be fine! We’ll be fine…” she muttered to herself, heading out the door.
In the streets, Starlight led Elodea to where she believed the docks were located. Elodea did her best to shield Starlight from any possible recognition from pony passerbys. Starlight froze up as they drew closer to the docks. Elodea noticed this and began taking the lead, pulling Starlight down onto the wooden pier, which was filled with ponies crowding about, soon to head off on a large fishing voyage.
“Starlight, which house?”
Starlight raised a shaky hoof to the end of the pier, where the memory-triggering catwalk that extended into the sea grabbed Starlight by the throat and shook her about mercilessly.
Elodea continued pulling Starlight along. Every step closer they took, Starlight became more and more resistant. Elodea was determined, though. To her, Starlight was only necessary in keeping around so she could have an easier time finding Dust. The two still didn’t fully trust each other at all.
When they made it to the catwalk, Elodea checked for any police ponies, but thankfully it seemed to be clear.
“Alright...Are you ready?” Elodea asked, letting go of Starlight’s still-shaking hoof.
“Yeah,” Starlight said, though she clearly wasn’t.
Elodea hesitantly began walking forward, Starlight nervously trailing behind.
The two ponies crept along the wooden catwalk until they made it to the house, the boards creaking beneath them.
Elodea snuck towards the door, and then froze, hearing voices.
“Starlight!” Elodea whispered as loudly as she could. Starlight joined her, and heard the voices too, her eyes widening in surprise.
“We’ve got to get a closer look…” Elodea said, excitedly leading Starlight towards one of the windows. Together, they lifted their head and peeked inside. Starlight immediately came crashing back down. Elodea saw two ponies, one who matched Starlight’s description of Counterfeit to a tee.
“Is that him?” Elodea whispered.
Starlight nodded, her hoof wrapped around her mouth to prevent her from making any noise.
“Who’s the other one?”
Starlight peeked back up, avoiding having to look at Counterfeit’s smug grin as he engaged the other in conversation.
“I don’t know…”
Elodea was amazed at their luck. She hadn’t expected to find the pony this quickly. He worked out the whole plan in her head, eagerly. She turned around, and then her face fell, noticing Starlight had disappeared.
“Oh no...”
Counterfeit was biting down on his cigar, laughing at some old jokes of his compatriot, a short, curmudgeon banker pony named Goldwash. He hadn’t wanted to come back to this house, where his oldest friend, really his only true friend, was murdered in cold blood, yet, as had been the case for most of his life, business came first. Those ponies, who had intercepted some pigeon-sent letter from Saddleopolis, had caught him on a bad day. He had just learned that his lead division in Baltimare had dissolved due to higher police pressure and a decrease in supply. So when those ponies offered him tens of thousands of bits to get them a visit with Jackpot and his highly-sought after unicorn friend, from a business perspective it was a no-brainer. Yet, betraying a friend was never an easy thing to do. He wanted to tell him to run, to warn him of what would happen, but he knew that would ruin the plan, and likely get him killed. These ponies he was dealing with were killers, they made that clear yesterday.
Counterfeit just wanted to forget the entire thing. He had already been paid, and it seemed as though his return to power was finally underway. Yet, there was a grand burden on his heart; the guilt of his betrayal had consumed him, to the point it was all he could think about, in every waking second of the day. He had come here against his will, in fact, as he would rather not relive the painful experience he went through yesterday. But Goldwash, a close advisor of his, thought it would be wise to ensure there was no evidence left for the police to find and possibly link back to his revival. The longer he had to operate without the watchful eye of the cops, the better.
“Seaponies. Have you thought about that? What if they ship in seaponies from down south. They’ll find the body in the sea.”
“They wouldn’t go through the trouble of all that, lazy blokes,” Counterfeit scoffed, pulling the cigar out of his mouth.
“We shoulda dissolved that body, not thrown into the sea for some fishes to munch on.”
“What the fuck do you think I got, tubs of fucking acid lying around? I did what I could with the resources I had, under the circumstances.”
“Threw ‘im in the sea. Brilliant. They’ll never look there,” Goldwash said, sarcastically.
“They don’t even know there’s been any sort of murder, of anypony. Nopony’s gonna report a missing pony-he don’t live here, he’s got no family, and soon he won’t have no friends neither. The only thing they’ve got to work with is that fucking stain on the floor, because apparently we can’t scrub blood off of hardwood.”
“We tried everything. It won’t come out.”
“Did you try the bleach and ammonia I told you about? I heard that gets anything out.”
“You stupid asshole, that’s poisonous.”
Counterfeit stared at him, shocked.
“Well shit...”
Both ponies jumped when the door flew open. They turned around, steadily, Goldwash slowly creeping back to the wall where he left Jackpot’s crossbow, having taken ownership of it following its previous owner’s death.
The wall in front of the door prevented either pony from seeing who it was, though they had a feeling they weren’t friendly.
“You behind the wall! Come out right now!” Counterfeit commanded.
Starlight, whose face was radiant with rage, slowly stepped out from the wall, her horn glowing a blinding blue.
“Oh...shit…” Counterfeit said, immediately flying into a panic, as if he was staring at death itself.
While Starlight was fixated on Counterfeit, who was paralyzed with fear, Goldwash managed to grab the crossbow, raising it to get a shot at Starlight. Before he could, he took a rock directly to the head, knocking him to the floor, unconscious. Elodea climbed in through the window she had just thrown a rock through, after opening it. She had her bag slewn around her back, her hoof raised, ready to pick up another random weapon to attack with. Counterfeit was unarmed and surrounded, Starlight barely able to hold off from killing him right out. Her horn glowed a bit brighter, causing Counterfeit to begin backing away slowly, his eyes darting back and forth between the two ponies, fearfully.
“Now, ladies...I know what you’re thinking, ‘let’s just kill old Counterfeit’...but I’m unarmed, see...I don’t pose no threat. You don’t gotta kill me,” he said, laughing nervously, “You think I wanted to kill Jackpot? He was my friend, my best friend! I begged them not to do it, I did! But they wouldn’t listen. You don’t want me, you want those ponies, don’t you?”
“My friend, is she alive?” Starlight barked.
“The black haired one in the dress? Oh sure, she’s alive! Alive, and unharmed!” Counterfeit said, quickly.
“Where did they take her?” Starlight said, narrowing her eyes, unsure if Counterfeit was telling them the truth.
“Where? Celestia, I don’t know, they hadn’t spoke to me since they left yesterday, I-”
Before he could finish his sentence, Starlight caught him by surprise, a ring of electrified magical energy compressing around his neck, raising him into the air, choking him so hard his neck nearly cracked.
“If you have nothing to tell me, then I have nothing to keep you alive for,” Starlight said, coldly. The sight of the blood stain on the floor where Jackpot had once laid made her even angrier. She had to actively resist the urge to snap the pony’s neck right then and there.
Elodea was a bit frightened by Starlight’s display of power, but went along with it.
“Don’t!” he sputtered, struggling to breath.
“Where. Is she?”
Counterfeit continued flailing about in the air, unable to grab ahold of anything to support himself or fight back with. He was beginning to run out of options.
“They’ll k-kill me!” he choked, his face turning as red as a ripe tomato.
“I’ll kill you a lot sooner, trust me,” Starlight said, tightening her grasp.
“F-Forty-Fifth Street! Th-they’re in one of the business complexes!” he spat. Starlight dropped him to the floor. He landed with a loud thud, and immediately began gasping for breath.
“Forty Fifth?”
“Yes! For Celestia’s sake!” he said from the ground.
Starlight glanced at Elodea, who seemed content with their work. Starlight, however, wasn’t too eager to leave. She stared down at Counterfeit, who almost garnered her sympathy, if not pity, as he raised his hooves up helplessly, completely out of breath, a hot red line imprinted around his neck from the strangling. He was practically whimpering, trying to drag himself away from Starlight, whose fiery gaze sent shivers down his spine. It was as if she was the very personification of the guilt and regret over his actions, who had come to bring him to justice.
Starlight’s horn again glowed brightly, and she was all but a second away from blasting a hole straight through Counterfeit’s face. But, she held off, sighing and backing away, tears again welting up in the corners of her eyes. No matter how much she wanted to kill him, she knew it wasn’t right, and it would only bring her more pain and guilt. She saw Elodea had already exited the house, and she followed, running off before she could change her mind. Counterfeit was left on the floor, his mind fuzzy and disoriented. He wondered why exactly she had let him go, and almost would have preferred he’d been killed, to be freed of his guilt. Consumed by guilt, death seemed vastly preferable to living.
When Starlight exited the house, Elodea immediately slammed the door shut and began bolting it to the exterior wall, locking it up tight. Starlight saw she had already done the same to the window, using a stray piece of plywood lying on the pier floor.
“What are you doing?!”
Elodea finished bolting the door shut, and raised her hoof, holding onto a lit lighter.
“I had a vial of gunpowder...And it just so happens that this house is made of wood.”
“You’re gonna burn it down?!”
Elodea had already dropped the lighter onto her trail of gunpowder that led around the house, setting a small fragment of its rear ablaze. Starlight was mortified, having just gone out of her way to spare Counterfeit, believing it to be morally correct.
“Starlight, if we let them live, they’ll tell those other ponies we’re coming. Didn’t you hear him? He just wants to save his own skin. You’ve already lost one friend. We can’t give them an opportunity to take some more.”
Starlight wished there was another way, but it was far too late already, half the building having already gone up in flames. Strangely, Starlight heard no pounding from Counterfeit trying to escape, and hoped that if he was dead, it hadn’t been too painful.
“Starlight, come on, we gotta go!”
Elodea grabbed Starlight’s hoof and began leading her away from the building. Starlight considered going back to save Counterfeit, but decided not to. A crowd was beginning to draw, ponies screaming about the fire. The duo barely managed to mesh in with the crowd and disappear from the scene, as the house began to collapse under the flames. The fire was beginning to spread down the catwalk, though, as far as Elodea and Starlight were concerned, they were finished there. Starlight wasn’t sure it was right to leave Counterfeit to burn to death, but would rather not stir up conflict with her only current ally. They went back into the city, towards their hotel, to begin planning for their rescue of Dust.
Early in the morning, Lance Crestfall left his downtown apartment, taking a drag of a cigarette as his breakfast. He skipped going to the station for more paperwork-related affairs-today was special after all, he was going to get to do some field work. A change of pace though it was, Crestfall wasn’t too enthusiastic about his assignment. It seemed like a big waste of time, checking out the old abandoned house on the docks that was the site of a recent possible incident. Inspection came back with nothing, and since that wasn't good enough, they needed to send in the big guns. At least, that’s what he told himself, for the sake of self-gratification.
There was a large-crew fishing voyage set to take off that morning, and a crowd had begun to gather to see them off. It was easy then, to slip past the public eye and stroll down the catwalk to the house in question. He hadn’t been to the docks in what felt like years. It was a bit grimier than he had hoped, though considering the grizzly fisherponies who worked there, that wasn't much of a surprise. The abandoned house had to be the worst-looking structure in the entire area. It was barely held together, and stuck out as being built decades earlier compared to the other, more recent buildings.
Crestfall approached the door to the building, soundtracked by the dull chatter and occasional cheers of the crowd back at the docks. He attempted to open the door, and found it was unlocked. He smiled, preferring when things were easy. He carelessly walked inside, not expecting to find anything too out of the ordinary.
Inside, he rounded a corner into the main, single room of the first floor. There was a table, a window, some old battered furniture, little of which could amount to anything evidence-related. He noticed the blood stain on the floor, which had caused quite a stir back at the station. He bent down to get a closer look. Troubling, he could determine that it was fresh, contradicting his assumption that it was an old stain or some kids’ prank. But besides that, there was little to take note of. He saw there was a ladder that led to an upstairs attic-like floor, and decided it couldn’t hurt to take a look.
Upstairs, he found even less. Just boxes of old fishing equipment, some more dusty furniture, nothing out of the ordinary for a dismal abandoned fishing shack. Then he froze in his tracks, when he heard the door below him open. He slowly dropped to the floor, and backed away from the edge of the ladder hole. He was no longer alone. He heard two voices, having a conversation. He couldn’t quite tell what they were saying, as they were still half-outside.
When the two ponies strolled inside to the main room, Crestfall could actually understand them.
“No, no. Hoofburn was in Love In The Afternoon.”
“That so?”
“Telling ya.”
“Hey, shut up for a second...Do you hear that?”
Crestfall held his breath and stood as still as possible. He waited on the two ponies below him, who were standing in the center of the first-floor room, as they paused to listen for any noise.
“The place is empty, chief. Don’t waste all our time crying wolf.”
“I didn’t want to come here at all. Pigs were crawling over it yesterday, no doubt they’ll be back today.”
Crestfall decided to risk everything and extend his head to the edge of the ladder hole, to try and get a glimpse of just who had joined him for a stay in this rusty old house. He could only see them for a split second before he fell back. He could barely contain his excitement. One of those ponies, he didn’t recognize, but the other, he was sure of, even if he had only seen his face for half a second. That was enough. Standing right below him, oblivious to his presence, was Counterfeit, huffing at a cigar and impatiently inspecting the building.
“The cops don’t have much to work with it seems,” said the other pony.
“No they don’t. So let’s keep it that way, did you clean your hooves off?” Counterfeit inquired.
“You saw me do it, asshole.”
Crestfall held off on taking any action as the two ponies below him continued chatting. He wanted as much information as he could get before he’d blow his hiding spot. He only caught a few bits of information. There’d been a murder, and the body was thrown into the sea nearby. Which meant, it wouldn’t take them too long to find that body. After a few more minutes of frivolous conversation, Crestfall decided now would be the time to strike, but just as he was about to, he heard the door swing open again. Counterfeit and the other pony seemed just as taken aback as he was.
“You behind the wall! Come out right now!” he heard Counterfeit yell.
He heard the hoofsteps of the newest visitor to the house as they rounded the corner. Whoever it was, they appeared to be impressive enough to incite fear into Counterfeit. Crestfall then jumped, at the sound of a rock being thrown through the window. He peeked down again and saw Counterfeit’s companion on the ground, a bloody gash on his head, knocked out. He caught a glimpse of a pony climbing in through the window. She had a bright pink coat and red hair tied in a ponytail. He brought his head back, deciding to let whatever confrontation was happening play out, hoping to get some more information.
“Now, ladies...I know what you’re thinking…” Counterfeit said.
Crestfall wondered what the relationship between these ponies was, though soon got a mild understanding of what had happened during their conversation. The pony who had been murdered, who he heard Counterfeit name Jackpot, was a friend of these ponies, and apparently there was another pony who had been kidnapped, still being held by the ponies responsible for Jackpot’s death. One thing was certain, it seemed like Counterfeit definitely wasn’t the mastermind behind all of this, rather just a pawn. Still, this dangerous group that pressured him into helping them remained a mystery. And, before he could learn anymore, the two ponies had left the room. He had heard Counterfeit being choked, and had almost stepped in when it looked like they were going to kill him, but his rasped breaths told Crestfall he was still alive. Once the door was shut, the ponies were gone, and Counterfeit seemed to be barely alive, Crestfall decided now would be a good time to intervene.
He began climbing down the ladder, and about halfway down, he started smelling smoke. He realized a corner of the house was on fire, and started panicking, muttering some curses under his breath.
‘Those ponies are gonna burn us alive!’ he thought.
He jumped down from the ladder, and, just as he turned around, he extended a hoof and screamed, watching Counterfeit stab himself in the chest with his own knife. Crestfall rushed to the pony’s side, grieving a pony who would have been a fountain of testimony for the police. He hated this pony with all his being, and had always wanted to be the one to take his life. He wasted no time while Counterfeit was still alive, coughing up blood, but alive.
Counterfeit, having realized he was trapped in a house set to burn down, had decided to admit defeat, owning up to the guilt of Jackpot’s death, righting his wrongs by taking his own life.
While he was still alive and bleeding out, Counterfeit faintly made out Crestfall, though struggled to understand where he had come from. He recognized the pony, a cop, who had murdered his body-double a few months ago in a shootout.
‘Bastard,’ Counterfeit thought.
“Hey, asshole! Look at me! You’re done for! It’s over! But listen, you still got time to tell me one thing, can you do that?”
Counterfeit glared at him, and Crestfall wasn’t sure if he understood, but continued, knowing Counterfeit only had moments left alive. The house was now beginning to fall apart, ridden with flames from top to bottom. Crestfall was wary of falling debris from the building as the roof started to give. The air was hot like a furnace, as the flames grew hotter and larger.
“The ponies you worked with, who took those ponies’ friend-who are they?!”
Counterfeit’s eyes darted back and forth at the ceiling as bits of wood came tumbling to the floor. He opened his mouth, blood leaking out of his chest.
“Ruby….Ruby Heart….” he murmured, his voice a slur of words. Crestfall understood him loud and clear, and, as Counterfeit breathed his last breath, Crestfall set him down, shocked by the revelation of a name he hadn’t heard for years.
But at the moment, there wasn’t much time to contemplate the significance of that name. If he didn’t find a way out of here fast, he would surely be following Counterfeit on the road to the afterlife very shortly.
He jumped to his hooves, taking the only bit of evidence of the scene worth taking, the crossbow that Counterfeit’s companion had carried in with him.
Crestfall rushed for the door, but found it was bolted tight. He spat at the ground, frustrated, and decided to use his blunt physicality, throwing himself into the weak wooden wall of the house a total of four times, before he finally made it through, landing on the splintery plywood he had pushed out. He escaped the house with only seconds to spare before the entire house collapsed, falling into the sea. Crestfall watched the ponies from the dock frantically arrive to beat down the remaining fires on the catwalk. He watched as the house crashed into the ocean and slowly dissolved into an innumerable amount of bits of wood, some of which were still burning as they floated atop the Vanhoover waters. He turned his head around, and, in the very far distance, past the docks, down one of the city streets, he was able to make out the pony who had climbed in through the window, and beside her who must’ve been the other pony. Still catching his breath, he jumped to his hooves and began running down the catwalk after them, furiously desperate to get to the bottom of this.
Back in their hotel room, Elodea and Starlight barely spoke to each other, as they independently began preparing to rescue Dust. Elodea was sharpening every weapon she had stashed in her bag, sucking on a lollipop as she went. Starlight, meanwhile, was studying one of the city maps she had picked up from the front lobby of the hotel, curiously searching for the location Counterfeit had told them about.
Forty-Fifth Street.
She stared at the map long enough until the image was burned into her brain. The business complexes on that street were all connected, so it wouldn’t take long to find wherever they were hiding Dust. Starlight’s only fear was that Dust wouldn’t be alive when they got there.
She glanced up at Elodea, whose eyes were fixated on the metal sheen of a knife in her hooves, delicately cleaning it. Starlight felt uneasy about letting Counterfeit die. She wanted to say something to Elodea about it, but figured it would be better to focus on the task at hoof.
Both ponies jumped to their hooves when their door slammed over, and in stepped a stallion pegasus, with a white coat, silver-blue unkempt hair and five-o'clock shadow. He was covered in ash and bits of wood, and seemed extremely irritated. Starlight centered herself in the middle of the room, cautiously, her and the stallion glaring at each other. Elodea stepped up beside Starlight, ready for a fight. Starlight couldn’t tell who he was with or what he wanted, all that she knew was that he probably wasn’t a friend. He had a spear drawn in one hoof, and he was completely out of breath. Starlight held off from attacking, first wanting to know what this was about. Elodea, however, wasn’t interested in anything he had to say, lunging at him with the knife she had just sharpened.
In one fell move, he drew back his spear and swatted her in the face with the wooden butt, knocking her to the floor and causing her to drop the knife. He spun the spear around and brought the blade right up to her neck, forcing her to stay lying flat on the ground. She grunted, bitterly realizing she was stuck.
“Let her go. Right now,” Starlight commanded, her horn beginning to glow a bit brighter.
The stallion kept the blade where it was, and didn’t look away from Elodea, fearing she would try and make a move the second he stopped staring at her.
“I mean it!”
“I followed you from the docks...You’re both under arrest.”
Elodea scoffed, and then burst into laughter, glancing up at Starlight.
“Idiot, you messed with the wrong ponies.”
Confused, the stallion turned his head to get a better look at Starlight, and, just as he thought, Elodea reached for her knife. The stallion whacked her in the face, hard, causing her to drop the knife again. She yelled in pain. The stallion walked around her so that he could face Starlight while still holding the blade against Elodea’s neck. He glanced up at Starlight, and for a few more seconds he still wasn’t sure where he had seen her before. Then it dawned on him.
“H-Holy shit….You’re-” he began, his confidence crashing in an instant.
“Starlight, nice to meet you too,” Starlight said.
The stallion couldn’t quite comprehend that he was facing down the Scourge of the South, the pony who had leveled cities and killed hundreds.
“Then you’re definitely under arrest,” he said, in disbelief.
“You know who I am?” Starlight asked.
“Of course, you’re the Scourge of the-”
“Right. Now listen to me, uh...”
“Crestfall. Lance.”
“Lance….If you want to arrest me, we can talk about that, but I don’t want to hurt you, and I don’t want you to hurt my friend either...so why don’t you just let her go….”
“Starlight, Just pop this asshole already!” Elodea yelled from the floor.
Crestfall quickly turned from Elodea to Starlight, worried she was going to do just that.
“I’m not going to hurt you, just….everyone calm down…”
After much deliberation, Crestfall lifted his spear from Elodea’s throat. She again tried to reach the knife, but luckily Crestfall kicked it away just in time.
“Stand over there with your friend,” he said.
Elodea scampered to her hooves, sneered at Crestfall, and retreated back to where Starlight was standing.
“I’ll turn myself in,” Starlight said, firmly.
“What?” Crestfall said, believing this to be either a dream or a trick.
“What?!” Elodea yelled.
“I said, I’ll turn myself in...if you can help us.”
“Help you with what?” Crestfall asked, hesitantly.
“Yeah, help us with what?” Elodea stammered, shocked by whatever Starlight was doing.
“Our friend...is in a lot of danger, with some bad ponies….They’re keeping her somewhere on Forty-Fifth Street...but we don’t know what we’re up against, and we don’t know the layout of this city at all. If we get chased, we’ll get lost, and cornered, and it’s all over.”
“Starlight, we don’t need him, you can just blow everything sky high!” Elodea said.
“We can’t risk hurting any innocent ponies,” Starlight said, defiantly.
Crestfall was beginning to wonder whether this was really the mass-murdering super-criminal he had heard about.
“Well how the hell is this joker going to help us? And just what the hell makes you think you can barge in here like-”
“You’re a cop, right?”
“Yeah. How’d you tell?”
“Because the ponies after us aren’t much for conversations. You know how to get to Forty-Fifth Street?”
“Forty-Fifth Street, sure. Mostly warehouses, factories. Miserable place.”
“Starlight, I’m serious. We can’t just trust this random guy who broke into our room and tried to kill me!” Elodea said.
“Last I remember you came at me,” Crestfall said, scowling.
“Why’d you follow us?” Starlight asked, trying to size him up before employing him for their rescue mission.
“I told you, I followed you from the docks. Counterfeit, the pony you jumped, I’ve been on his case for months. I was upstairs the whole time you were strangling the shit out of him.”
“He’s dead?”
“Killed himself. He told me one thing, before he went, about those ponies who killed your friend...Ruby Heart.”
Starlight and Elodea glanced at each other, neither recognizing the name.
“And do tell, what the fuck is a Ruby Heart?” Elodea asked.
“It’s a pony, is what it is. Don’t know her face, just the name. During my investigation of our dearly departed friend Counterfeit, years ago, I remember I encountered some evidence that suggested he was cooperating with a larger criminal organization. That name came up a few times.”
Starlight recalled that red unicorn, who had so mercilessly killed Jackpot, her sinister smile, her heartless indifference to Starlight’s cries. Now she finally had a name for the face. Ruby Heart.
“So, Miss Starlight Glimmer, may I ask what exactly you’re doing involving yourself with high-profile criminals?”
“They came after us, I have no idea what they want with me. But they have my friend.”
“And say we get your friend, you’re turning yourself in? For all the evil, despicable, horrendous acts of murder and malice that beset your name?” he asked, struggling to see why such a monster would give herself up for one pony.
“So you’re helping us?” Starlight asked.
“I’d be a fool not to. Bringing you in would make me famous now, wouldn’t it…”
Starlight sighed, tired of pretending she was a murderous lunatic, knowing fairly well that she was not.
“I’m not what you think I am, okay? I’m being set up.”
“Not my business to clear that up...And I don’t buy that, even with this ‘I care about my friends’ act...You just burned down a house with two ponies inside, you know.”
Starlight glanced at Elodea, neither of them saying anything.
“So that’s it? We work together?”
“I’m only doing this for Dust.” Elodea said, resentful of Starlight trusting this strange intruder.
“That’s good enough of a reason.”
Crestfall finally relaxed his spear, smiling at how well things had turned out for him. The trio of ponies stood together, reluctant allies for the time being.
“I’m trusting you to help us, got it? Otherwise no deal,” Starlight warned, noticing how excited Crestfall was.
“Oh, Starlight Glimmer, I wouldn’t pass up this deal for the world.”
It had been weeks since Chrysalis had first set out for that ancient treasure, the Queen’s Jewel, of which she occasionally doubted the very existence of.
But now she was at the end of her great travels, climbing the last steps to the highest peak of the mountain range. The air was tight and freezing cold. Her breath became more and more strained the farther up she went.
When she was practically at the very top, she saw nothing of significance, and initially she thought that the quest truly was all for nothing, that there was nothing to be found at this final destination.
Then, she felt a familiar cold breeze, and felt the air and space around her widen and constrict. It was dizzying, and when she got a hold of her senses, she turned to see a magnificent doorway, carved into the thick rock of the mountain, strange symbols adorning the sides.
Chrysalis smiled triumphantly, waltzing right through the doorway into the darkness ahead.
After taking a few careful steps forward through the impenetrable darkness, the room she was in came alive, torches stuffed on the walls of a vast, circular stone expanse. On the other end was another exit, leading into another path of unnavigable darkness. In the center, was a small pillar, and on that pillar, was, what Chrysalis could only assume, the great treasure that she had devoted so much time and effort in finding. The Queen’s Jewel.
It was a spectacular green, a bit smaller than her hoof, and resembled a wide-bottomed pyramid on the lower half and a trapezoidal prism on the top. Light reflected through every facet in brilliant shows of spectacle, that softened even the cold heart of Chrysalis.
Chrysalis stared at it in awe, and approached it, fixated by its beauty and splendor. She extended one hoof, slowly, and, just as her flesh was about to touch it, her hoof shot back, in response to some sort of electric-like shock. Chrysalis grunted in pain and looked around for the source of the shock. She tried again to grab the jewel, but once more found herself receiving another painful shock.
“What is this?!”
“Starlight.”
Chrysalis cowered to the floor as soon as the thunderous bodiless voice called out to her. It was the disembodied spirit once more, though this time it sounded more displeased than in its prior encounters.
“The artifact is not yours yet, Starlight.”
“Why not?! I’ve completed all your trials!”
“You have but one more before the artifact is yours...A test of character.”
Chrysalis sighed, exhausted with these relentless tests.
“Go on then, let me face it. I can defeat any trial you give me!”
“This trial is not by my doing...It seems fate has brought you your own trial to face.”
Chrysalis wasn’t sure what that meant, remaining in her steadfast defensive posture. Until, she heard the stamping of hooves ring out from back in the corridor leading to the room.
Chrysalis turned her head slowly, as Twilight Sparkle exited out of the darkness, her mouth agape and her face red with anger at the sight of Chrysalis in her Starlight disguise. Chrysalis’s eye twitched in frustration, which worsened, when an entire entourage of ponies filed out of the darkness behind Twilight, nervously shuffling around the room, trying to encircle Chrysalis. Chrysalis saw not just Twilight’s friends, but Cadance, Shining Armor, and a host of soldiers, all prepared for a fight.
“Very funny. This is an apparition,” Chrysalis said nervously to the voice, though she couldn’t shake the feeling this was all too real, that she really was surrounded by her greatest enemies.
“It’s no joke, sugarcube,” Applejack said, pressing off of the rock wall, ready to pounce.
Twilight was struggling to keep her composure. The conflict over who she was really facing made her anxious. All she truly wanted was for things to be made right again, for her and all her friends to live in peace and harmony. Killing Chrysalis, therefore, made sense to her, to bring about that peace for good. Yet, Twilight knew it was wrong to seek out death, no matter how alluring it seemed. For the sake of her own moral strength, she held off from giving into the aggressive emotions brewing inside her, staring down Chrysalis from just a few yards away. Chrysalis was completely surrounded, and her confidence was beginning to waver.
“How could you have found me?” Chrysalis asked.
Twilight said nothing, she merely glanced over at the darkness behind her, where out stepped Violet, looking especially guilty. Chrysalis said nothing, as if she had already expected this to happen.
‘I should have killed you when I had the chance,’ was what Chrysalis was thinking, and Violet understood it loud and clear.
“Chrysalis. Enough games. You’ve got nowhere to run. You’re coming with us,” Twilight said, firmly.
Chrysalis laughed, eager for her chance to deceive Twilight further and cause her more mental unrest, hoping her charade would distract them all
“Chrysalis? Twilight, Chrysalis is dead. Long dead. I know, because I killed her. She was the first pony on my list after I left you for good...I couldn’t realize how much you were holding me back, really…”
The others were all beginning to fear that maybe it really was Starlight, and they loosened their offensive posture. Even though Starlight was said to be a mass-murdering supervillain, the Starlight they all remembered was nothing of the sort, and none of them quite had the gall to attack her. They still thought of her as their friend, whether that was still true or not.
“And once that artifact is mine, I’ll be unstoppable.” Chrysalis said, her head held high, as if she had already won.
“I’m tired of your lies, Chrysalis. You’ve become far too predictable too, you know," Twilight said, smugly.
Chrysalis's face scrunched with bitterness. She stood her ground, ocassionally moving her head to check on the ponies standing around her. Cadance was to her rear, and Shining Armor to her right. Those two and Twilight Sparkle would be her main obstacles, the rest she believed could be disposed of easily.
"But it’s over now. Give up,” Twilight said, forbodingly.
“Go on then, do it. Kill me. That way I can’t hurt anypony else, right? Here’s your chance,” Chrysalis said, smirking while Twilight fumed in anger, hesitating on what to do. She was 99% sure she was talking to Chrysalis, but still, if she did accidentally kill Starlight, she could never forgive herself.
“Starlight, she’s an alicorn, just-” Violet tried to say, before Chrysalis cut her off.
“You be quiet. I will not forget your treachery, do you understand?” Chrysalis said, enraged at the audacity of this pony, who she spared from death-something she had never done for anypony-to speak to her now as if she was an ally.
“You’re not going to win against them, just give up!” Violet yelled, trying to do Chrysalis a favor.
Chrysalis, surprisingly, ended up unable to contain her anger, firing a blast of magic right towards Violet. Twilight tackled her out of the way, and, in response to Chrysalis’ attack, the other ponies began their approach towards Chrysalis. The soldiers had their spears drawn, Cadance's horn was glowing brightly, and the others were all ready to use their bare hooves. Chrysalis was unimpressed, flinging them all back against the wall with a tremendous 360 degree blast of magic, with the exception of Cadance, who managed to stand her ground.
Twilight grunted as she tried to lift herself up from the ground, having sustained a major injury from pushing Violet out of the way of the blast. Her flesh was burned right off on one side of her body. It stung like hell, as a result of the filthy rocks and dust she landed in. She saw the others sprawled out on the ground, all either unconscious or disoriented from the unexpected power of Chrysalis’ blast. Clearly, the changeling wasn’t holding back. Fluttershy was close beside her on the ground, blood spilling out of her mouth. Twilight reached over and was relieved to find her alive.
Chrysalis was going for the jewel, until she noticed Cadance was still standing behind her. She turned, and fired a ferocious blast of swirling green energy towards the princess, who blocked with a spell of her own. The two were engaged in a duel, their magical beams battling each other for dominance, bursting into a show of fireworks and miniature explosions halfway between them. Chrysalis noticed Cadance begin to waver, and pushed harder, using all the energy she had to win the upper hand. Eventually, the force of her powerful magic became too much for Cadance to handle. The princess' horn gave out, and Chrysalis' magic hit her like an ocean wave, knocking her back to the ground, hard. She was covered in bloody bruises and dirt, and she felt her mind begin to daze.
While the other ponies were still recovering, Chrysalis went for the jewel, though the invisible field still prevented her from reaching it. Every time a pony tried to stand up, she blasted them again, non-fatally. She wanted to conserve her magic, for her next spell, meant to help her force her way through the shock field protecting the jewel.
“Stop her!” Twilight yelled, struggling to regain her strength. Rainbow Dash had recovered the fastest, rushing right towards Chrysalis, trying to shove her away from the jewel. Chrysalis deflected Rainbow to the side, straight into a nearby stalagmite, headfirst. Chrysalis cackled and resumed her attempt at forcing her hoof through the barrier.
Chrysalis grunted in pain as she began pressing her hoof through, concentrating all of her magical energy into clearing a path for her hoof to slip through and grab the jewel. It was near-impossible, though she miraculously found success, pushing the jewel out from the column onto the floor. She dove for it, just as Twilight finally recuperated, standing up at her hooves. Chrysalis held the jewel in her hooves and was surprised by how heavy it was.
Chrysalis was already aware that she wouldn't be able to use the power of the artifact quite yet. If she tried, it would likely be an overwhelming amount of power, especially since her magic was beginning to become depleted from so many grandiose attacks. She stood up and ran towards the second exit, opposite the way she came through, though she was unsure where it led. Applejack had recovered as well, and had cut off Chrysalis before she could make it to the exit. Applejack stood her ground in front of Chrysalis, who seemed to struggle to cast a spell. Applejack realized she was weak, and charged at her, tackling Chrysalis into a nearby column. Chrysalis grunted and kicked Applejack off of her. Applejack this time tried kicking back at Chrysalis, though Chrysalis was faster, avoiding the kick, grabbing Applejack's legs, and swinging her into a wall. While Applejack tumbled to the floor, Chrysalis again headed for the exit, but this time was blocked by Shining Armor, who aught her in a large bubble of magic, raising her up into the air. Chrysalis writhed as the magical bubble zapped her with electric shocks, that made her lose control of her spasming body. Eventually, through the deep-focus on her anger, Chrysalis found enough willpower to cast one more spell, breaking the bubble apart. Chrysalis fell at least five feet down to the ground, landing with a heavy thud. She groaned aas she lifted herself up on shaky legs. Shining Armor fired another spell at her, Chrysalis having to roll sideways on the floor to avoid them. One of the soldiers had ran at her with a spear, yelling as he went to compensate his fear. Chrysalis grabbed the soldier's spear, and whacked him in the head with it. Shining Armor was gritting his teeth, eagerly waiting for another opening to blast Chrysalis, for as long as she was fighting with the soldier, he couldn't get a clear shot. Chrysalis grabbed the soldier's barely conscious body and threw him at Shining Armor, knocking both to the floor. Chrysalis was panting, exhausted and weakened from the fight. Again, she took off to the second exit.
Twilight shook her head back and forth, and rose to her hooves, watching Chrysalis as escaping down the exit. Twilight began breathing heavily, her horn glowing like a cannon ready to blow. She let out all of the anger and pain that had dominated her for months now, firing a mighty blast in Chrysalis’ direction. Chrysalis, however, had dove out of the way right before the blast hit her.
Twilight's blast flew into the opposite wall of the cave, crashing into the foundation of the rock. The whole room began to creak and shake, as cracks developed along the walls and ceilings. Twilight was horrified, realizing that the rock would soon collapse, with all of her friends inside.
Before Chrysalis disappeared, she left Twilight with a devious, victorious smirk. Twilight’s heart sunk in defeat. She knew that if she tried to go after Chrysalis, she wouldn't have time to save everypony else from the impending destruction of the collapsing cave.
“Everypony! Out!” Twilight yelled, picking up anypony who was unconscious with her magic and fleeing back the way they came. The other ponies, who had by now all realized what was happening, followed Twilight out back the way they came. Twilight gave one last look back, and saw that Chrysalis was gone. Cadance was the last to escape the cave, barely making it out without being crushed as the rock cracked into pieces and fell upon each itself.
Twilight crashed to her knees, sullen and at an all-time loss. She had failed, and now Chrysalis had the jewel.
Spirits were low, as the ponies laid on the rocky terrace outside of the now-collapsed cave. Cadance rose to her hooves first, realizing just how much emotional pain Twilight was going through. Twilight had tears flowing down her cheeks, and she wasn’t sure why. She had been sure it was Chrysalis, but the possibility that it really was Starlight, one of her best friends in the entire world, her only pupil, shattered her heart into pieces.
“That’s not Starlight,” said Cadance, breaking the silence. Twilight slowly turned her head away from the ground to Cadance.
“I know that changeling when I see one...You were right, Twilight. I didn’t want to believe it, but you’re right. Chrysalis has returned.”
Twilight wasn’t sure if she should be celebrating that, but she found it vastly more pleasurable than believing it was Starlight.
“And if that’s Chrysalis...then the real Starlight is still out there…”
“It’s over now...She has the jewel...She’ll be unstoppable...Just like she said,” said Twilight, hopelessly.
The other ponies all seemed just as bent-out-of-sorts, dreading the possibility that Chrysalis would come to be the most powerful being in Equestria.
“No...It’s not over yet. She’s weak, she’s gotta be...You saw her, she was using all her strength to get that jewel, and fight us off...She couldn’t have gotten far. We’ll find her…”
Twilight seemed disinterested, as if it was already all over.
“But this time...We’ll handle it. You’re not well, Twilight. You haven’t been well this entire trip, and if you stay with us, chasing Chrysalis around Equestria, you’ll just get worse.”
“She’s right,” said Rarity, from a few yards away on the ground. The other ponies all murmured in agreement.
“You’re right….I nearly got you all killed….I lost control...You and Shining Armor can handle it?”
“We’ll get her, Twilight, don’t worry,” Cadance said, supportively.
“If Starlight’s out there somewhere, she’s probably missing you. You should find her, Twilight. Leave Chrysalis to me.”
Twilight smiled and rose to her hooves, bloody and beaten.
“You have to stop her,” said Twilight.
Cadance nodded, solemnly. She had wanted to put an end to that dreadful bug for years now. And now, it finally seemed as though she’d have her chance.