“What?” Snowy and Stargazer asked, surprised. They had just passed the border between the Crystal Empire and Equestria, a border which many ponies have tried and failed to cross. But now they stand just beyond the Equestrian border fence and are being arrested. Truly a lucky day!
The female guard gave them a small smile, however. “Don’t worry, kids. It’s all just protocol. We just have to fill out some paperwork, and then we can get you to wherever you need to go.”
“Why should we believe you?” Stargazer asked. Having lived in the Crystal Empire most their lives, trusting guards wasn’t exactly a thing that happened too often.
The mare gave a small sigh. “I understand your concern. I was in a similar position a few years ago when I escaped myself, but I learned, and you will too, that we’re the good guys here.”
“Miss, you escaped the empire?” Snowy asked amazed others managed to do it, too.
“More than that. I escaped the capital,” The mare said with a proud smile, though it soon turned to a sad frown. “I was one of about three that actually managed to reach Equestria.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad,” Stargazer stated as a medic pony came up to inspect his wing.
“We started out with twenty,” the mare stated with a noticeable hint of venom. Both Snowy and Stargazer flinched hearing this, their ears flattening.
Snowy quickly went up to the mare and gave her a small hug. “I’m sorry, miss. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”
“Gah, kids hugging me, my only weakness.” The mare chuckled softly as she ruffled Snowy’s mane. “Don’t worry about it, kid. It’s in the past. I can’t change it, only learn from it and come out a better mare.”
“Hey!” Snowy squirmed under the mare’s hoof. “I’m eighteen, and my name is Snowy, not 'kid'.”
“And mine's Stargazer,” her friend added.
The mare smirked. “I’m Violet Scout. Nice to meet you two. Come on. I’ll get you two a deluxe cell,” Violet started to lead them to an installation in the distance, presumably their base of operations.
The "deluxe cell" that Violet told them about turned out to be more like an inn room than a cell. In actuality, it was just an officer’s quarters that the base had converted to hold refugees from the Empire. There were even two relatively comfortable-looking beds in it.
Violet let the two exhausted ponies into the room, where they almost immediately flopped onto the beds and fell asleep, the adrenaline from the day’s events finally wearing off. Thankfully, it was a peaceful night and neither had any nightmares. Then again, if they did, they were within the range for Princess Luna to come help them.
The next morning, they awoke to find Violet waiting for them.
“Sorry to disturb you two, but it’s nearly noon, and we have to talk about what’s going to happen next.”
Snowy yawned before answering, “And what's going to happen next?”
“I thought you said we were going to be free to go,” Stargazer added.
“You are, but like I said last night, we have procedures to follow. Now, why don’t you two get cleaned up, and I’ll bring you over to the mess hall to get you two fed. I’m sure you’re hungry.” As if on cue, both ponies' stomachs gave a small growl. Violet smirked and chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
The two took turns in the adjacent bathroom while Violet waited for them. After a half-hour, they both were clean and very hungry. Violet led the two down a few halls to the cafeteria. She opened the doors to reveal a quite humble-looking cafeteria, considering the size of the building they were in. In fact, only a few other ponies were in the room. Without giving it any more thought, they got in line and got their food.
After they got their food and sat down, Snowy frowned. She said, "Hey, Stargazer, does this all feel...weird?"
"Weird?" Stargazer looked around. "Now that you mention it, yeah, something feels...off. What do you think it is?"
Snowy followed Stargazer's lead and looked around. At the counter, the cooks were smiling, one even whistling a happy tune. One pony sitting by himself was reading while eating, also sporting a small grin on his face. At another table, two ponies were having a conversation that Snowy couldn't quite make out. Suddenly, they both burst into laughter, one apparently having said something funny.
"Everything just seems so...relaxed," Snowy finally concluded. "Look, everypony's smiling."
"Oh, yeah, they are," Stargazer said. "I guess I'm just not used to that. Everything in the Crystal Empire was so dire. No joy or laughter, and definitely no smiles."
"Yeah. I like this, though. If this is what Ponyville is like, I could definitely get used to it."
"Me, too."
The mystery solved, both ponies turned to their meals.
They each got the same thing: scrambled eggs, some hash browns, and a nice, red apple. While Snowy and Violet grabbed a cup of coffee, Stargazer got a cup of orange juice, having never liked coffee. The food wasn’t the greatest--it was still military grub, even if it looked good--but it was still better than what they usually ate. That is until they came to the apple. They took one bite of the apples and knew at that moment that they just ate the best thing in their lives. Violet was quick to take notice.
“I see you two enjoy your apples. They come from Sweet Apple Acres. The best apple farm in the world, no ifs, and's, or buts. In fact, you’ll be able to see it when we get to where we’re going.”
“Oh? Where are we going? And why?” Snowy asked, still chewing on some apple, thoroughly enjoying it.
“Well, all ponies that make it past the DMZ are required to speak with one of the princesses. The closest one to here is actually in Ponyville: Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship.”
Snowy gasped as she suddenly remembered a purple alicorn smiling at her. She had no clue who it was or how she knew the alicorn, but something about her seemed familiar. She blinked and looked up at the two ponies staring at her. It took her a couple seconds to realize she was on the floor and looking at the ceiling.
“Are you okay, kid?” Violet asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah, I’m fine… What happened?”
“You just kinda zoned out for a second and fell,” Stargazer explained.
“I’m fine, Starry. Just ignore it, please.”
“But Sn- “
“Ignore it,” Snowy insisted, sitting up and receiving a small nod from Stargazer. She turned back to Violet, “So, you said we were going to Ponyville?”
“Uh, yep. We can leave as soon as you two are ready to.” Violet seemed to be taken aback by the whole event, not expecting anything like that.
“I think we’re just about ready. How long will it take to get there?”
“Well, about a day’s travel by train, with about an hour to get to the train.”
“That sounds okay. We were actually supposed to go to Ponyville anyway to see a Granny Smith,” Snowy explained, with Stargazer nodding in agreement.
“Oh? Well, then you two have to go to Sweet Apple Acres. Don’t worry, you can’t miss it. Anyway, if you two are ready, we can go.”
The two nodded and got up from the table, bringing their empty trays and cups to a receptacle. From there, they waited for Violet to sort a couple of things out, and soon enough, they were making their way out of the base and towards a smaller village in the distance.
The only real thing of note in the town was the train station. Violet explained that the village was set up mostly just for the installation and was populated mostly by families of those who worked in the base.
Even though Violet said it would take an hour to get there, the trip into town only really felt like a half-hour at most. Snowy guessed that it was the excitement of finally being safe, or just the lack of ever being bored, as was often a problem for her. She always found something to be interested in, which of course got her and Stargazer into more trouble than she would care to admit.
Surprisingly, there was a train waiting for them at the station. Though Violent explained they radioed ahead and told another installation to send a train, it still seemed to know they would be there at that time.
The train itself wasn’t like anything either of the Crystal Empire refugees had ever seen before. Sure, they’ve seen trains before, but all of them were military trains, black and armored. This one looked almost like a gingerbread train and looked very welcoming and comfortable. The inside was even nicer still. Feeling at ease, they all climbed onto the benches in the one passenger car and settled in for the long ride ahead of them.
Snowy woke up from a nap later that night, having fallen asleep about an hour into their journey. She looked over to see that Stargazer was asleep, having fallen asleep some time after she did. She noticed, however, that Violet was at the other end of the car from them. Curious, Snowy slowly got up and walked over to her.
“You still up?”
Violet gasped softly before turning to look at Snowy. “Hey, you’re up. What’s up?”
“I just saw you over here and was wondering why you weren’t asleep.”
“Oh, you know, just thinking about things. Nothing to concern yourself over, really.”
Snowy wasn't convinced. “It’s about when you escaped, isn’t it?”
Violet’s ears drooped, and she looked out the window. “Yeah. Seeing you two make it brought back a lot of memories. Memories that I’d rather forget.”
“Well, maybe if you talk about it, you’d feel better. I mean, I understand if you don’t want to, but know I’m here if you do.”
“Heh, thanks, Snowy. I’ll probably tell you eventually, but now isn’t really the time, if you can understand.”
“Yeah, I understand. Whenever you’re ready to talk about it, I’ll listen.”
“Thanks. Now, you should go back to bed. Can’t have you meeting the princess looking all tired.”
Snowy smiled and started to head back over to her spot. “Yeah. You should get some sleep, too, Violet. I’ll see you in the morning.”