Return of the Mare

by Victoria


Part IV - Chapter 16: A Daring Escape

Chapter 16: A Daring Escape

As my senses slowly returned to me, I realized that I was lying on the cold floor. I pressed my head against it to abate the headache that was killing me. I opened my eyes and the sun reflected painfully right into them; a groan escaped my lips.

“Sunny, are you waking up?” Ruby’s voice asked.

Holding my eyes shut, I got up on my hooves and slowly balanced myself — something heavy pulled on my neck. I saw Ruby standing before me as I cracked my eyes open; her brows lifted high in concern. I was glad to see her lovely face again — for a terrifying moment before losing consciousness I thought Tenebris was going to kill her.

“What happened?” I asked, touching the metal collar on my neck.

“We got caught,” deadpanned Starlight from nearby.

I flickered my eyes at her — she had a similar collar as me, connected to a ring in the wall, but otherwise she looked no worse than before the capture, though it really didn’t say much, as her mane was still disheveled and half-burned after the fight in the forest. But at least she hadn’t hurt any more after Tenebris easily overpowered us.

Looking around the room we were in, I confirmed that we were still in the castle. The crystal room had been stripped of all furniture. The single addition to the interior was a metal ring with chains, driven into the bare crystal wall, as if in some old prison. I suppose it was a makeshift substitute for one, since Twilight’s castle had no real place to put prisoners in. The very idea of Twilight, the Princess of Friendship, having one seemed laughable.

I let out a sigh of relief seeing Fluttershy in the room along with us. Sturdy Peak was here too and I was glad he was alright. Despite him being a changeling, I had kind of gotten used to him during the month that he was guarding me and didn’t want him to be hurt. Both of them were chained to the wall like the rest, in addition to their wings also being tied up firmly to their bodies.

“Where is Marcus and Spike?” I asked, keeping my voice calm despite my worries. “Marcus was taken for questioning an hour ago,” explained Starlight in a doleful voice. “As for Spike — I haven’t seen him at all yet.”

Her answer only made my worry grow. There was no telling what those ponies could do to my friends. I had to do something, but I was chained like some yard dog. Despite feeling magically exhausted, I tried to concentrate as much magic as possible into my horn to blast my chain apart, but to no avail. It simply refused to obey.

Starlight seemed to notice my struggle. She poked at the ring on her horn and I immediately recalled our experience in Manehattan’s jail. “Don’t even bother…” she said.

I sighed and dropped the fruitless attempt. Trying to cast through an inhibitor ring could be dangerous for a unicorn, not to mention completely pointless. Even the strongest ones couldn’t force it. I ran my eyes over the whole room again, but saw nothing that would help us to break free.

I growled in frustration.

“It’s all my fault,” Fluttershy sobbed from the corner. “If I wasn’t so careless…”

“It’s not your fault,” Starlight assured the pegasus. “It’s theirs.”

I ignored both of them and approached the door instead; the heavy chain stretching behind me. I put my ear to the door, listening to the outside. Naturally, I couldn’t distinguish anything.

Although…

Some heavy hoofsteps with a metal clanking were approaching the door from the other side. I recoiled barely a second before the door burst open and Marcus, led by a lone unicorn in gray armor, walked inside.

We watched silently as the unicorn shackled his neck to the ring with a chain. I wanted nothing more than to beat this unicorn up, but it was a bad idea to try. Even so, the unicorn became visibly uncomfortable under our hostile stares and hastily left, tripping and almost falling by the exit. I chuckled humorlessly.

As soon as he had left, I threw myself at Marcus’ neck in a hug. He patted me on the back a few times and then lowered me back to the ground. “It’s good to see you’re alright, Sundae.”

“Same.”

“Do you know where Spike is?” Sturdy Peak interrupted, in his natural changeling form at the moment.

Marcus nodded. “Yep. Saw him in the Throne Room where they questioned me.”

“Thank Celestia!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “I was so worried that they’d done something to him.”

“Nope, he looked fine to me.”

I was glad to know that Spike was fine too. We weren’t too close, but he was a good little dragon and I would be devastated to know if he was harmed in some way. So far, Tenebris hadn’t killed or seriously harmed any of us, except for the guards in the forest…But it was in the heat of battle. Maybe she had some good side in her.

Starlight asked Marcus what the questioning was about and he told us that Tenebris had been interested in knowing more about him. Naturally, he had explained everything about the portal to her — it wasn’t a big secret anyway — and she had appeared to be interested in Earth and its technology. I wasn’t fretting too much about that; the portal wasn’t working anyway. If Twilight couldn’t fix it, I doubt Tenebris could either.

Soon, our talking died down. No one was in the mood to talk, as the situation seemed hopeless — a gloomy silence settled in the room. The Doctor had finally succeeded in his long-planned invasion of Tartarus. I realized now that it had been his plan all along and that was why he had wanted to kill me all those years ago.

“We can’t just sit here doing nothing,” I said out loud to break the sickening silence.

“But what can we do?” Starlight asked bitterly. “We can’t even use our magic.”

“You unicorns depend so much on your magic,” retorted Ruby, “But we earth ponies live without it just fine.”

“Yeah? Do you have some earth pony powers that would allow us to escape?”

“Well, no…”

“Then shut up,” Starlight snapped.

The two mares glared at each other until I stepped between them. “Arguing with each other won’t help the situation, girls.”

“As long as we’re working together, we’ll overcome any challenges,” Fluttershy supported me.

With a renewed spirit, we crawled all over the room in a vain hope to find some means to escape. Of course, there was no escaping without removing the heavy chains first. We pulled on the ring together, trying to rip it out of the wall, but it held there firmly and didn’t even budge.

We didn’t let it affect our spirit, however. Grabbing the chain, we all gave it a mighty yank at the same time over and over again. I think the ring slightly moved at the last yank. The sound of the door opening made us drop our activities.

Tenebris herself walked in with Morning Bright by her side; the air in the room seemed to cool down in her presence. A few henchponies remained waiting outside. We gathered together in the center of the room, standing side by side, like it would help somehow.

“I am giving you a choice, my ponies,” she began without a preamble, giving us a cold glance. “Join me of your own free will or perish.”

“Never,” Ruby immediately answered for all of us.

I cringed a little at her hastiness — I wouldn’t mind pretending to join Tenebris, since she had already offered it, and then use it to escape later. Though she would probably make me do some evil stuff to prove my loyalty, like they’d show in the movies...

“I wasn’t speaking to you, earth pony,” she looked at Ruby through narrowed eyes. “Loyal unicorns are what I require.”

My heart froze. “Don’t you dare to touch Ruby.”

Tenebris slowly turned her deathly gaze at me and, even without casting the mind spell this time, my knees shook from the threat displayed in her eyes.

“She is no use to me,” the mare said. “You two on the other hoof would be useful.”

“You’re mad if you think we’ll support you,” Starlight answered, stomping her hoof.

Tenebris shook her head in seeming sadness. “I would change your mind if I had the time… But I don’t. Take those three outside and kill them,” she ordered, pointing at Starlight, Ruby and me.

Yells of protest sounded from our friends; even the changeling snarled with his fangs at the two soldiers, who dashed to execute the order. It was pointless, however. Tenebris easily shuffled them aside with her magic, totally ignoring the outcry.

“How do you want them to be killed?” one of the soldiers asked, unshackling the chain off my collar.

Tenebris gave him a freezing stare in return. He gulped.

“I don’t care. Just get rid of them fast,” she said.

The soldier nodded vigorously and they led us outside, shoving me rudely. I had to comply — it would be suicide to start a fight in front of Tenebris. Once we turned to the corridor and left her cold aura, it became easier to think. Even though we were being led straight to our own execution, I was feeling hopeful. Tenebris had made a mistake!

A desperate plan began formulating in my head.

Despite the fact that we still had our collars and inhibitors, there were three of us and just two of the enemy ponies. Our legs were free to use. Sure, they had armor and weapons, but we outnumbered them! That should count for something, right? Maybe if we were lucky, we could take them out fast and escape!

I threw a quick glance to each of my friends, trying to guess if they were thinking the same way, but they were walking with their heads low. It seemed like they’d given up already, but somehow our impending doom only gave me the strength to resist.

Whatever, I was sure they’d still join me if I attacked our captors myself. We had nothing to lose anyway.

But I needed to wait until we got outside — it would be easier to escape on the streets than in a castle full of hostile ponies. I hung my head in a similar way to my friends, staring down on the floor to lull the guards into a false sense of superiority. Soon we were led through the back door to the lake beside the castle and the soldiers ordered us to stop.

They were still behind our backs, so I couldn’t see what they were doing.

“So…” one of the soldiers said. “How do you think we should kill them?”

“The boss said fast, so I suppose we should just slit their throats.”

The first soldier snorted. “Why do you always have to be so boring? We have three young mares in our possession and you want to waste them just like that?”

I flicked my ear nervously, though I had already understood which direction the funny one’s thoughts were going. His hoof caressed my flank, probably to demonstrate to his pal what he had meant. This was my cue to act!

With a furious neigh, I bucked blindly behind me, hitting something metallic by the sound of it. Then I quickly turned around to see the soldier stumbling back, though he appeared to be unharmed by my attack, thanks to his armor. The second one had already drawn his sword and prepared to cut me down in one swing, ignoring his friend’s fun suggestion.

I leaped back, barely avoiding the attack, and it was enough to bring Ruby and Starlight out of their limp state. Ruby quickly stomped on the soldier’s foreleg with the sword, which was stuck in the earth from his missed hit. He dropped it more out of surprise than from pain — his leg armor had protected him from any serious injury.

Ruby grabbed the sword for herself and the three of us backed up from the advancing soldiers. There was murder in their eyes — even the fun one looked at us as enemies that needed to be killed. Ruby’s sword kept them at a distance — even their armor wouldn’t save them from a stab at their unprotected heads.

The fun one unfortunately was a unicorn.

He stopped for a moment to activate his magic and Ruby’s sword appeared to get a life of its own, jumping wildly. While the unicorn was trying to force it out of her hoof grip, his disarmed friend picked this moment to attack.

I charged at him, taking a hit meant for Ruby to my muzzle, which started bleeding immediately. My head rang from his hoof punch, but I remained standing firm. It was totally worth it though — Ruby’s rebellious sword would cut her into pieces if she lost control even for a second.

While the soldier was distracted by me, Starlight jumped at him from the side. Her main attack missed his head and her following hits were pointless against his metal armor. Starlight wasn’t the best fighter without the help of her magic. The soldier turned around and shoved her with enough force to drop her to the ground.

I reared up, swinging my forelegs wildly, but the soldier just took a step backwards, avoiding all of my attacks. Damn it! At least it gave Starlight time to scramble away from him.

The fight felt like it was dragging out for a long time, even though I knew it couldn’t have been going on for more than thirty seconds at most. But even that was too much — the element of surprise was lost and the soldiers were gaining the upper hoof.

Only a miracle would save us at that point.

Suddenly, a rock swooped past my head and hit the unicorn straight in his horn. I cringed slightly, imagining the pain he must be feeling now, even though he deserved it. I looked back to see who’d helped us and saw a brownish pegasus flying straight at me!

“Duck!”

My eyes widened and I fell to the ground as the pegasus flew above, crushing their front hooves into the second soldier’s face. He got thrown backwards from the force of the punch and continued to lay on the ground motionless. I had no idea if he’d survived this, but earth ponies were pretty tough, so I hoped he had.

Ruby, having finally regained control of her sword, dashed to the stunned unicorn and raised her sword for a finishing blow. I watched in shock how she began the strike, but changed her mind at the last second and punched the guard with the hilt instead. It was enough to put him unconscious.

“Follow me!” our savior, a pegasus mare, yelled to us.

There was something familiar in her black mane and rough voice, but I had no time to reflect on that as we hastily followed her, leaving the castle behind. Even while galloping on hoof the pegasus was faster than either of us and we could barely keep up; though Ruby had it easier than me or Starlight.

We passed through Ponyville in a few minutes and stopped to rest only in the hills near the town, where we were out of sight. I dropped onto the ground and tried to take a breath — the fast gallop had exhausted me; Starlight was feeling the same way. Even Ruby herself was winded.

The pegasus mare barely broke a sweat.

“Thank you for saving us,” I said through the heavy panting.

“That’s what I do,” the blackmaned mare nodded. “It was foolish of you to break into the castle. What were you thinking?”

“We had to save our friends,” Starlight said, getting back on her hooves. “Though I admit, it could have gone better…”

“Did that changeling betray you?”

“No,” I stated firmly. “He was imprisoned just like the rest of us.”

“Still, it was reckless of you to bring the creature with you.”

“You kind of look familiar…” Ruby murmured thoughtfully.

Starlight gasped in recognition a moment later. “Daring Do!”

Completely bewildered, I gazed at the mare, who apparently was an adventure series character. Now that Starlight had said that, I noticed the similarities with the pony I had seen on the book cover, even though the mare in front of me had no clothes or even a hat on her and had her cutie mark covered in mud. But I had a feeling that wasn’t why she seemed familiar…

“You look exactly like Rose,” Ruby stated, examining her through narrowed eyes.

Daring Do flatted her ears and took a step back. “R-Rose? What are you talking about?”

It took me a moment to get what Ruby had meant, but then I remembered too. Rose, the mare who had foolishly jumped through the mirror we had found in the old ruins all those years ago and had returned disfigured with no cutie mark. If not for Morning Bright’s skills, she probably wouldn’t have survived. But she couldn’t really be Daring Do, could she?

“You are Rose!” exclaimed Ruby and jumped on Daring Do, tackling her onto the ground and hugging relentlessly. “Don’t you remember me?”

“Ruby?” she asked in surprise, as Ruby relaxed her grip a little.

“I’ve completely lost it now,” Starlight deadpanned, shaking her head at the whole display. “Are you Daring Do?”

I sympathized with her — my head was spinning too, trying to grasp the situation unfolding here. Daring Do was real and was actually somepony I knew from before. That sounded completely bonkers.

“Yes, I am Daring Do,” the pegasus confirmed, finally escaping from Ruby’s bear hug. “Though my birthname is Rose.”

“But Rainbow Dash told me that your real name is A.K. Yearling,” Starlight said in confusion.

Rose, or Daring Do, sighed heavily. “I asked Rainbow Dash not to reveal my identity…”

I drooped my ears. So Rainbow Dash was in on it too and both she and Starlight knew that Daring Do was real and hadn’t told me even after I had read all of her books. Nice.

“Let’s all just stop for a second and get this straight,” I intervened and everypony’s attention turned towards me. “You are Rose, my old friend from the expedition six years ago. You’ve become the famous writer A.K. Yearling and daring explorer Daring Do and had all those amazing adventures I’ve read about in your books, is that right?”

“Pretty much.”

“Wow.”

“Wait, your old friend?” Daring Do looked at me with recognition. “Are you…Sundae? I heard you died or something.”

“The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” I said with a feeling of deep satisfaction, having finally used this particular phrase. I loved famous quotes.

“Apparently,” Daring agreed. “No one really knew what had happened with you though.”

“I knew exactly what had happened,” said Ruby with a note of anger. “But nopony believed me when I blamed the Doctor.”

“The Doctor? Doctor Shade?”

I quickly told Daring Do the story of what had happened to me, skipping most of the small details, and how the Doctor was behind all of this, including his plans about Tartarus. Daring Do appeared interested to hear about Tartarus in particular.

“I’m too late then, damn it…”

“What do you mean?”

“I had learned that something bad was going to happen in Tartarus from my source, so I flew in to investigate,” Daring explained. “I flew over Ponyville yesterday when I noticed some strange armored ponies walking around the town and gathering the citizens in the main square. They looked nothing like the Royal Guards, so I disguised myself and went in to listen.

Then I saw Tenebris, as she introduced herself. She gave everypony a whole speech about how this town belongs to her now and that she’s the future queen of Equestria. After that, she and her friends settled in Twilight’s castle, waiting for something. I recognized her name though — Tenebris was the first pony to ever be locked in Tartarus. I’ve been watching the castle since and intervened when I saw you fighting.”

As soon as she said it, I finally remembered Tenebris. Of course! The infamous first prisoner that Starswirl the Bearded had personally locked in Tartarus a thousand years ago. There hadn’t been much information on her and her crimes that I had been able to find, but what it did tell me was that she had been an actual queen of the old Unicornia, before the founding of Equestria.

That didn’t matter for me at the moment, however. The fact that this pony had imprisoned our friends was my immediate concern. Our first attempt to save them had failed. Even worse — it had gotten even more of our friends captured and we had almost gotten killed in the process. We needed a new plan.

“What shall we do now?”

“Well, first we need to get rid of those damn collars and inhibitors,” said Starlight, pointing at the ring on her horn. “I feel powerless without my magic.”

I attempted to take my ring off, but failed, of course. If only it was so easy…

“How are we going to do that?” I asked.

“Those rings are high-grade stuff,” Starlight explained, drooping her ears. “So unless we get a key, we’ll need the help of a skilled enchanter to break them. Twilight could do that, but that’s not an option right now…”

“The police should have a way to remove those,” suggested Ruby, trying to sound cheerful. “Let’s visit them.”

Daring Do made a weird noise. “I don’t think that’s an option either. Tenebris blew up the police station first thing when she got here.”

It felt like a cold shard had pierced my heart. Of course, Detective Seeker was the only pony from Ponyville PD I knew personally, but she’d been very helpful to us in the past. Well, not really, but she did have the best intentions in mind and to think that she’d likely perished in the explosion, in the middle of the always peaceful Ponyville no less…That was truly jarring.

My friends were shocked as well.

“Does anypony know somepony in Ponyville who would help us with this issue?” I asked, suppressing the negative thoughts. Sadly, no one did.

“I can’t help you with those inhibitors, but at least let me remove your collars,” said Daring Do, taking out a lockpick from her saddlebag.

***

An hour later we sneaked back to Ponyville to watch over the castle. Once again, the ponies seemed to avoid us like the plague. I wondered what their problem was, until Daring Do revealed that Tenebris had threatened in her speech to destroy anypony who’d dare to help Twilight or any of her friends. And after she blew up the police building, the ponies took her threats very seriously.

At least, they were decent enough not to rat us out to Tenebris. That was my hope anyway as we walked through the streets openly, keeping close to the walls. There weren’t a lot of ponies on the streets to begin with — most seemed to be staying home, awaiting for Tenebris to be dealt with, as it usually happened with a threat like her.

“This is the place I stayed in,” Daring Do stopped and pointed at one of the houses. “A good view of the castle from the roof.”

She knocked and an old mare opened the door. Daring Do introduced us as her friends and told the mare we’d be staying in her house too. The old mare didn’t appear happy at the news. In fact, she paled like she had seen a ghost when she looked at us. She would have shut the door in our face if Starlight hadn’t stuck her hoof in the door frame.

“Listen, lady, I understand you’re scared of Tenebris, but if you and everypony else are so afraid to help, how do you suggest we’ll defeat her?”

The mare had no clear answer for that. “I…I just don’t want my house to be blown up…”

I guess I could understand her reluctance to help, but at the same time I was annoyed. When a superior enemy came to your doorstep, everypony should unite against the threat, not let a few threats make them cower in fear. That was the true pony way, not the cowardice I saw before me.

“Believe me, getting your house blown up is the least that will happen if we don’t stop Tenebris,” I said.

The mare sighed resentfully and finally let us in. “Why did do you have to pick my house to stay in…”

We ignored her mutterings and followed Daring Do to the attic. She was right — the castle could be seen clearly from the window here. The house we were in was positioned perpendicularly to it, so we were able to watch both the exits at once. An observer’s spot was set up by the window, with an old mattress and a spyglass Daring Do had left behind when she rushed to our rescue.

“So what exactly is our plan?” I asked her.

“Watch the castle until we come up with a better plan.”

“In the books you would usually just sweep in and kick everypony’s flank,” Ruby smiled.

Daring Do gave her a stare. “I’m not just sweeping in,” she said. “Well, maybe I am, but not without some thorough preparation first. I usually observe my opponent beforehoof to examine their strengths and weaknesses and come up with the best way to deal with them. You just experienced what would happen if you went in blindly.”

“Yeah,” Ruby drooped her ears.

“You saved us with no preparation,” I pointed out.

“Well, yes. Sometimes I make an exception. Like when three innocent ponies are about to be executed.”

I shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if Daring Do hadn’t appeared when she had. We would be dead or even worse. That funny stallion had had much more ambitious plans than just a simple execution…

“Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome.”

***

I had to admit, watching the castle was pretty boring. We spent a few hours in the attic, taking turns in gazing at it through the spyglass, but nothing exciting ever happened. No one got in or out during all that time. The two soldiers we had fought weren’t anywhere to be found either — they’d likely been taken inside the castle.

It was my turn, so I relentlessly watched it, admiring the crystal design of its exterior in the process. The magic behind the castle creation was indeed powerful if it had grown to such a magnificent thing in the matter of minutes. I wondered who had created those ancient spells — it obviously wasn’t a natural thing that would occur on its own.

Suddenly, a Pegasus flying towards the castle caught my attention. It became even more interesting when he landed on the castle balcony and walked inside. I alerted my friends to this new development, who were playing cards to kill the time, and they dropped the game immediately, coming to stand beside me. Unfortunately, Daring Do had only one spyglass and it was my turn, so…

“They’re leaving the castle,” I said after five more minutes passed.

We weren’t quite sure what Tenebris was planning to do, aside from putting fear in the heart of Ponyville’s citizens. She was obviously acting out in the open, so perhaps she was feeling confident enough to challenge the Princesses themselves. The Princesses were likely unaware of the threat yet, so it wasn’t in Tenebris’ interest to stick around Ponyville any longer, giving them the time to prepare.

Whoever that pegasus was, he put Tenebris’ plan in motion. The self-proclaimed queen walked confidently; Morning Bright and Doctor Shade following slightly behind. I noticed the familiar soldier limping behind the group with a bandaged head — he’d survived after all. It made me feel both relieved and disappointed.

The rest of their little group was guarding our captured friends, still in chains. In fact, their limbs had been chained now too, which was likely our fault. We had made the enemy more cautious. Marcus, Fluttershy, Sturdy Peak and even Spike — they looked unharmed so far, despite their sullen appearance.

“We should follow them,” said Starlight.

Daring Do nodded. “I agree, but you all need to wait here for now.”

“What?” Ruby asked, slightly offended. “You don’t think we’re good enough?”

“They’re looking for you,” she explained. “It would be easier for me to mix with the crowd and see what they’re up to. If they’re leaving the town, I’ll learn the direction they’re moving in and come back for you.”

“How can you just mix with the crowd? You’re Daring Do!”

Instead of answering, the mare searched inside her saddlebag and snatched a fake beard that she put on her face, giving her the look of a young stallion. A red cap added to the impression. I had to admit that even though the disguise was pretty simple, it rendered her unrecognizable, which was the whole point.

“What if you get caught too?”

“I’ll be careful,” Daring Do promised and left through the open window.

There was nothing left to do but wait again. I continued to follow Tenebris’ advance through the spyglass, of course, but I’d soon lost them behind the houses. I switched to watching Daring Do instead — she followed the procession, hopping from one roof to another. It wasn’t very inconspicuous, but she was the action hero herself, so I guess she knew what she was doing.

My ear swiveled, hearing some noise from afar. I immediately recognized the sound of the train approaching Ponyville. I couldn’t see it from our position — the station was in the opposite direction, but I doubted the two events were a coincidence.

Twenty minutes later Daring Do returned, confirming my guess.

“They’ve boarded the train,” she said, hovering just outside the window. “It’s going in Canterlot’s direction.”

“This is really bad,” Starlight said. “With all the weapons the Doctor was hoarding, he’s likely prepared a small army for her to lead. We should warn Celestia and Luna somehow. ”

“I can easily outrace the train and do that,” Daring Do stated confidently. “With Tenebris out of Ponyville, you can stay here safely.”

“We’re not going to stay here, Rose,” said Ruby, using her old name. “There’ll be a battle, I’m sure of it. Celestia and Luna are going to need all the help they can get.”

Starlight and I nodded in confirmation, though it was weird for me to hear Luna’s name next to Celestia’s. Her being good was still recent news for me, with all my memories of her being Nightmare Moon and all.

“You can’t use the train and it’s two days of trotting to Canterlot,” Daring Do warned us. “The whole situation will likely be sorted out by then.”

“I certainly hope so,” said Starlight.

***

Daring Do aka Rose raced to Canterlot, leaving us behind. The news about Tenebris’ departure spread fast and soon the ponies ghad athered on the streets. Nopony was celebrating, though — they understood that until Tenebris was defeated for good it was just a temporary relief.

As soon as we got outside, we were recognized and swarmed by a bunch of ponies who demanded some answers. It seemed like they weren’t going to let us go until we spilled the beans.

“Is it true that Princess Twilight and the rest have been captured?”

“Is Tenebris our new queen?!”

“We’re doomed!”

“Quiet!” Starlight finally bellowed; even without magic her voice suppressed everypony else’s.

The whole crowd became silent.

“Yes, Twilight and the rest have been captured and I won’t lie to you — the situation looks grim,” she said honestly. “Tenebris is coming to Canterlot now and she probably has an army to back her up. But all is not lost yet. Me and my friends are going to Canterlot to help and I ask any of you who can fight to do the same.”

Nopony interrupted the speech but as soon as it ended the ponies started to discuss it vividly. At least we were finally able to get past the crowd. With Tenebris out, we wanted to stack on some supplies from the castle before we walked to Canterlot and maybe find a way to remove our inhibitors. Twilight’s laboratory would likely have the tools we needed.

Our hopes were dashed due to such a trivial issue as a locked door.

Before leaving, Tenebris had apparently blocked it with her magic. Ruby bucked it with all of her impressive strength, but it wasn’t even dented. We quickly found a willing pegasus who tried to access the castle through one of the windows, but they were locked as well. The glass even survived a whole round of punches and kicks the pegasus gave it. With teleportation out of the question, the castle was out of our reach.

“Damn it,” Starlight punched at the door.

“I’m sure somepony in Ponyville would lend us the stuff we need for travel,” I suggested, patting Starlight on her withers.

“That’s not it,” she sighed. “I just hate this feeling of helplessness. I would blast this door apart if I had my magic…”

“I know, Starlight,” I assured her. “I feel the same way. But it’s only temporary.”

Starlight grunted in annoyance. Hopefully, at the whole situation, not at me.

We had to do as I said and ask for supplies around the town. Thankfully, the ponies understood the situation well and gave us what we needed for free — we had no money to pay them anyway. I was given a big saddlebag, likely used by some stallion before, loaded full of food and water for the road ahead.

The ponies were so generous that we ended up with more stuff than we actually needed, but at least we had a choice to pick only the most useful items. We intended to travel fast, so we shouldn’t carry heavy loads.

Mayor Mare approached us just before we left. She had an idea to start organizing a small volunteer force to go along with us, but the preparation were likely going to last until the evening as she admitted. We simply didn’t have the luxury of time to wait, though we asked her to send anypony who wanted to help after us anyway. There was only one road from Ponyville to Canterlot, so eventually they’d catch up with us if they hurried.

“Thank you, Ms. Mayor,” I told her.

With no further distractions, we finally left Ponyville.

At first the travel proceeded smoothly, but after a few hours of walking, my hooves became sore. The road we trotted on was pretty firm from all the traffic and it hurt more and more for me to make another step. Some good horseshoes would take care of my problem, but for all my time in Ponyville I hadn’t managed to get myself a set. Mostly because nopony had bothered to point out such an obvious thing to me and without my memories I had no idea I would even need them. Maybe if I’d spent more time walking around the town…

I glanced at Ruby’s legs. She was wearing some horseshoes, of course. They weren’t applied the same way as on Earth’s horses, obviously — a pony’s hoof was far too sensitive for that. I shuddered at the thought of hammering some nails into mine. No, instead a horseshoe was worn like a sandal. The shoe’s steel bow was fixed to a pony’s leg with straps and could be removed at any time.

Ruby stopped, having noticed my attention, and flexed her foreleg. “Like what you see?”

“N-no!” I blurted without thinking, blushing. “I mean, yes, it’s nice... But we kind of have a problem.”

“What problem?” Starlight asked, stopping too.

We were sitting at the edge of the road to get some rest, while I shared with them what was bothering me. Nopony had some spare horseshoes, sadly; I cursed myself for not thinking of asking for them in Ponyville. Now we couldn’t continue our journey at the same fast pace — I simply wouldn’t be able to keep up.

“Here, take mine,” Ruby said, taking off her horseshoes.

“Thank you, but it won’t solve anything,” I shook my head. “You’ll just get this problem instead of me.”

“No offense, but my hooves are much sturdier than yours,” Ruby smirked. “I’m an earth pony, remember?”

“Hard to forget when you point it out all the time,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

“Well, fine.”

I took the shoes that she offered me in my mouth and attempted to put them on my hooves. It was harder than I thought without magic; I had no idea how Ruby managed to do it on a daily basis. In the end, she couldn’t bear to watch me suffering like that and helped.

“Thanks.”

We continued on our path after a quick snack.

I kept an eye on Ruby as we walked in case she had overestimated her hooves, but she looked comfortable so far. We were walking at a pretty good speed now that I didn’t have to hold back. Canterlot’s mountain looked big even from our position, but I knew it was actually still an entire day’s gallop away.

If we keep up our current speed, then we’ll reach the city by tomorrow evening, considering we would have to stop for the night. Each of us was pretty tired after today’s events — getting captured, fighting, escaping — so getting some rest was a must. But the night was still at least an hour away, judging by the sun which was hanging just over the horizon.

Soon, we noticed a pony on the road in front of us. She was still pretty far, but she was moving more slowly than us, so we were catching up. As we got close, she suddenly turned around to face us, wielding a wooden club in her magic. I recognized the mare at once.

“Detective Seeker!” Ruby exclaimed first. “I thought you were dead.”

The red mare recognized me and Ruby as well and lowered her weapon. “Ah, it’s you. Well, as you can see, I’m pretty much alive.”

“We were told the police station was blown up,” I said, looking her over in case of injuries. “How did you manage to survive?”

“I wasn’t inside at the moment, obviously,” Seeker explained and her face fell. “But a lot of good ponies were…”

“Tenebris will pay for that,” Starlight reassured her grimly. “She’s going to Canterlot now and so are we.”

Seeker raised her eyebrows at that. “I’m going there too for reinforcements. I was hiding in Ponyville for a while after she blew up the station, trying to rally some resistance, but those ponies… They’re afraid to do anything against her.”

“They wouldn’t have a chance in a direct confrontation,” I said. “But they’re forming a volunteer force to send to Canterlot now. We figured that Tenebris is going to attack it with her army.”

“Her army?”

I quickly brought the Detective up to speed about Tenebris, the Doctor and all. She whistled at the end of my speech. “We’re in some deep shit.”

“Not if we stop her in Canterlot.”

“Well, count me in,” Seeker stated. “We may as well stick together. But what exactly are you planning to do once we arrive?”

We exchanged a glance. None of us had actually planned anything. We figured that we’d come up with something on the spot, which was smart since we knew nothing about what would be going on in Canterlot by then. Daring Do will warn Celestia, hopefully, but would the Princess have the time to mobilize the Guard before Tenebris and her forces struck? There were too many variables to take into account…

“We’ll just go to the palace, I guess, and report to the Princess,” Starlight shrugged. “Then we’re going to beat Tenebris and send her back to Tartarus.”

“I’m gonna kill her if I have the chance,” murmured Ruby menacingly.

I chose to ignore such disturbing words. I doubted she’d actually succeed with the killing part, even if she by some miracle managed to get a chance. With the kind of power Tenebris had, only Celestia or Luna would be able to defeat her in direct combat. Discord would too, for that matter, but he was yet to make an appearance.

At this point, I wouldn’t mind even his help despite my deep mistrust of the ancient creature. Fluttershy and the rest considered him good enough to allow him to roam free around Equestria. After all, if even Nightmare Moon could be reformed, why not Discord? So after some consideration, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, instead of dismissing the possibility out of hoof as I did before.

That was irrelevant to the matter at hoof, though.

“Will you remove our inhibitors?” Starlight asked the Detective; her eyebrows raised in hope.

“I can try.”

She came closer and cast some spells, examining the ring on Starlight’s horn. She fiddled with it for a few minutes. I knew I shouldn’t get too excited at having my magic back, but I still drooped my ears in disappointment when Seeker shook her head. As for Starlight, she looked almost crushed — she was taking her lack of magic much harder than me.

“I’m sorry, but these are more advanced than what we had at the station,” Seeker spread her hooves apologetically. “It doesn’t look like a standard model at all. If you attempt to remove those without having the special instruments, you can risk damaging your horn.”

“Damaging?” I frowned. “Making a device like that is pretty cruel, even for the police.”

“Our devices are much safer,” Seeker retorted, sounding slightly offended. “I told you, it’s not standard.”

“What else can you expect from the Doctor?” Ruby spit.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll find a way to get rid of those in Canterlot,” I said, watching at the sun setting on the horizon. “But we need to get some rest. We won’t reach it today.”

“There is an inn along the road,” Seeker said. “I was planning to stay there for the night; there is no point in sleeping outside.”

It was a smart idea, though I didn’t mind sleeping another night on some nice grassy field. The feeling of the soft grass tickling my body through my coat was amazing. I could even sleep closer to Ruby — the feeling of her coat against mine was ten times better than the grass… I shook my head, getting rid of the tiredness-induced thoughts and let out a big yawn.

“Let’s find this inn faster, I don’t want to carry this sleepy head around,” Ruby booped me gently and smirked.

“I’m not that sleepy,” I said, batting her hoof away. “Not that I would mind riding you…”

I gasped and covered my mouth, having realized that I said the last thought out loud. Ruby giggled and I felt my face getting very, very red. I hastily trotted past her, staring at the ground in shame, but she put a hoof on my back.

I looked into her smiling eyes and she winked. “I wouldn’t mind that either, you know.”

It was too much for me! I reared up with a neigh and galloped forth as fast as I could, despite feeling so tired a minute ago. It was so embarrassing to make such a slip in front of everypony! I ran for at least a mile before I finally stopped and waited at the side of the road for my friends to catch up.

Some other thoughts took hold of my mind after I calmed down.

So, she wouldn’t mind it either, huh? Ruby was my best friend, no doubt, but lately I was starting to feel something else towards her. Something similar to what I had felt for Marcus once, but much stronger in this case. And I knew it wasn’t just the lingering effects of the heat I had passed through recently.

Despite all of her jokes, I wasn’t sure if Ruby felt the same way about me, so I had been afraid to admit it until now. And I still was. What if I made an actual attempt to get seriously close to her and it turned out she wasn’t being serious? I would die of shame for sure then.

As my friends approached, we pretended that nothing had happened by a silent agreement. There was a serious task ahead of us and everypony understood that. It was neither the time nor the place to talk about our feelings.

But maybe if we found a room to stay for the night…

***

I didn’t know how the others fared, but I was barely able to sustain our pace by this point. I was relieved to finally see some lights in the distance — the sun had set about an hour ago, though the moonlight was bright enough for us to see the road clearly.

“That’s the inn,” announced Seeker.

“It’s so far from Ponyville,” I complained, panting.

“Most ponies prefer to travel by the railroad,” Seeker explained to me. “But there are more inns the closer you get to Canterlot.”

“We’re not going to need them,” Starlight cut in. “Tomorrow we won’t stop until we are in Canterlot.”

I fully agreed with Starlight, despite how tired I felt at the moment. If the train had departed on schedule, Tenebris was already in Canterlot. I had no illusions about our little group’s contribution against Tenebris, however. Starlight was great at magic, sure, but Tenebris was much more powerful. On the other hoof, every bit of help counted.

The inn we were approaching was called Warm Hearth as told by the big glowing letters on the large billboard. As for inn itself — the two-storey building was worn out by time, but was still looking good. Seeker opened the door and walked in first, with us following behind.

Nopony but the sleeping innkeeper was in the room. He lifted his head from the bar table and stared at us sleepily. “Welcome to Warm Hearth, my friends!”

The innkeeper, an old earth pony, looked excited to see us. Considering how empty the place was, we were likely his only clients today.

“We need a room with four beds,” Starlight said, grabbing a small pouch with coins with her mouth and dropping it before the innkeeper.

“Sorry, fillies, I don’t have a room like that,” the older stallion shrugged.

“And we don’t have the money for more than one room,” countered Starlight.

The stallion considered her words for a brief moment. “I suppose I can let you move some beds from the other rooms — they’re all empty anyway. But you would have to put them back in the morning.”

The deal was made and the owner led us upstairs, where the rooms were. Among us only Seeker could use magic, but she wasn’t strong enough to lift the bed all by herself, so we had to help her move it.

After we had finished with the second bed, Ruby suddenly booped me. “That’s enough. Sunny and I are going to share the bed for tonight,” she said with a playful wink.

I blushed, but didn’t argue. I was even glad, though I knew we wouldn’t do anything besides just sleeping. Even if we all weren’t exhausted — there were two other ponies in the room aside from us and I wasn’t into that kind of thing.

“Whatever,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

Seeker pretended to ignore all of this and went straight to her bed. Ruby and I picked one too and settled on it together. The bed was just wide enough for two ponies to lie close to each other, which was a good thing considering the situation. Ruby fell asleep pretty fast, but I couldn’t do it so easily — my imagination was practically running amok, picturing things that made my breath quicken. Was it getting hot?

In the end, though, I fell asleep too.

***

A noise from downstairs awoke me some time later. I untangled myself from Ruby, who had somehow ended up on top of me while we were sleeping, trying to ignore the pleasant feeling of her warm body rubbing against mine. I put my ear to the floor — there were definitely a lot of voices down there. It was likely just some travelers, but considering what had been happening lately, my mind wasn’t put at ease by that explanation.

The darkness outside told me it was still the middle of the night. I suppressed a yawn; I wasn’t feeling rested yet. What normal pony would arrive at such a late hour?

I wasn’t so concerned as to wake the others though, so I carefully sneaked out of the room alone and approached the staircase. A sense of relief washed over me when I peeked from the corner to see the familiar green pony from Ponyville among the small group — it must be the volunteers that Mayor Mare had promised us!

“Hello, everypony,” I descended the stairs, waving at them in greeting.

“Sundae! I knew you’d stay here,” Lyra smiled at me. “We’re all who agreed to go on such a short notice.”

I flickered my gaze onto the ponies — just the six of them, including Lyra. Bon Bon wasn’t here, so she’d likely stayed in Ponyville. It wasn’t a big group, but it was something. Of course, I hoped that it was a false alarm and Tenebris would already be defeated by the time we reached the city, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be that simple.

The ponies were wearing some simple armor that looked like it had been dug out of some old basement. Their armament wasn’t impressive either — some ragtag swords and pointy sticks. I wasn’t even sure if they were sharp enough to hurt somepony. I didn’t know anyone from their group personally like Lyra, but I gave them a friendly nod nevertheless.

“Just to warn you, I don’t have any money here,” the innkeeper said. I glanced around in surprise — I hadn’t noticed him in the room at first.

“Oh no, we’re not the outlaws, we’re the heroes!” Lyra stated cheerfully.

The innkeeper rose out from behind the bar table. “Then I suppose you’d want to stay for the night.”

Lyra, who appeared to be the unspoken leader of the group, put the bits on the table. The innkeeper and I led them upstairs to the rooms that still had beds in them and I returned into my own to finish my slumber. Thankfully, everypony there was still sound asleep, so I easily reclaimed my place by Ruby’s side. The mare mumbled something inconspicuous and I froze, but she didn’t wake up.

I slept through the rest of the night like a little filly and got up along with my friends, feeling well-rested for once. After doing the morning routine, we went downstairs together to find Lyra, who was munching on something, while sitting with her back to us.

“Lyra?” Starlight asked in surprise. Oh right, I had forgotten to warn my friends about the volunteers’ arrival. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, hello!” she turned to face us. “Didn’t Sundae tell you?”

I folded my ears in shame, while Lyra quickly explained her arrival.

“That’s awesome!” exclaimed Ruby after she had finished.

By that time, the other volunteers had descended from the stairs one by one, gathering in the room. The innkeeper had appeared from the side door, having clearly been woken up by all the commotion, and was swarmed with meal orders. Before he could get to work, however, Starlight intervened and ordered him to just make some quick salads — we were in a hurry.

The ponies were saddened by such a turn of events — some were had been hoping for a hot meal — but agreed to it without much of an argument. After all, they understood what was at stake here. Lyra generously paid for us, so we got a portion of freshly made salad as well. The innkeeper was a pretty decent cook; too bad I couldn’t give him a tip.

It was still early in the morning when we left the inn behind us.

***

Even from afar it was obvious that something bad was happening in Canterlot. Tall columns of smoke were rising over the city on the mountain. We exchanged worried glances between one another when we first saw them; my hopes of Tenebris being easily defeated were literally getting smoked.

At some point a giant magic shield sprang to life around the Royal Castle. Lyra’s chatty mood disappeared after that — she shared with us that it reminded her of a traumatic experience she’d had under similar circumstances. There had been an invasion too back then that had required conjuring a shield like that and she had been right in the thick of it, being hypnotized by the changeling queen herself.

By the time we’d gotten close enough for the mountain to loom over us, it was evening again. We’d had a few stops along the way, but overall we had spent the whole day trotting with a steady speed, so everypony was weary. However, I was anxious and kept myself on guard for anything.

“This is a guard’s post,” Seeker said, pointing at the building at the distance. “We can ask them what’s happening up there.”

Starlight nodded. “Of course. Be ready for anything though.”

We walked towards the barrier blocking the road. The first sign of trouble was the lack of the Equestrian flag on the top of the building — there was a vacant flagpole instead. I silently cursed when I saw a couple of ponies in gray armor, standing near the barrier and silently watching our approach.

“Sup, folks,” one of them greeted us, while his buddy continued with his creepy glaring.

“Hello, officers,” Lyra smiled widely, like she had just met her best friends. “What’s up with the new uniform?”

“Haven’t you heard, lady?” the pony grinned back. “New queen in town.”

My heart fell — did that mean Tenebris had won? That was too horrible to contemplate. The other ponies in our group shifted uncomfortably upon hearing the news, but Lyra kept her smile on her face.

“Is that so? What happened to the Princesses?”

The pony glanced up at the city above us. “They’re hiding in their palace, but the queen will smoke them out eventually,” he looked back at us, his smile disappearing. “Anyway, I guess I’m supposed to ask you some questions. State your business in the city!”

“Well, you can say that we’re here to help the Princesses,” the next second the guard fell to the ground, being hit on the head with Lyra’s club.

The other one dropped his weapon after Lyra faced him next — he probably had no desire to go against all of us at once. A pegasus we hadn’t noticed before took off from the roof of the building, flying straight up, but Lyra and Seeker shot him down with their spells. They caught the pegasus before he hit the ground.

We tied the unfortunate soldiers up and carried them inside the small building. Putting the two unconscious ones to the side, Starlight addressed the remaining captive.

“Now, tell us exactly what is happening in Canterlot.”

The pony sighed. “This guy over there has already told you everything. Your Princesses are going down. You and your band are better off if you join the new Queen instead.”

“We’re not a band—” Lyra retorted, but Starlight made her a gesture to be quiet.

“I want to know exactly what happened. Tell me what you did from the beginning.”

“Fine…” the pony spilled the beans without any further encouragement.

At the same time as we had been sleeping in the inn peacefully, Tenebris and the Doctor’s strategically placed soldiers had made their move. The Guard had been mobilizing already, having suspected that something was going on, but most of them were still at their own homes with only a small number guarding the barracks. The pony in front of us was part of the group who had easily overcome their defense and burned the place down, destroying all the equipment they couldn’t take.

He didn’t know how everything had gone in other parts of the city, except for the end result. As the pony assured us, he’d had no idea about what was going to happen at all until this very night when his boss ordered him and his friends to suit up and prepare for the upcoming coup.

“So by the morning we were controlling most of the city, except for the palace, so us three were sent down here to see who approaches the city,” the pony finished his story.

Well, that was definitely bad news, but it wasn’t hopeless. The Princesses were still controlling the castle at least and this guy could be overestimating his side success just to scare us off. Nevertheless, the whole situation looked grim.

Starlight turned to us with a look of determination. “Our plan is still the same — get into the castle and find a way to help.”

“But there must be a reason why the Princesses haven’t dealt with Tenebris yet,” Ruby suggested. “What if she’s too strong even for them?”

“No, it can’t be,” Starlight shook her head in denial. “Sure, she’s strong, but not strong enough to compare against the two alicorns.”

Despite her seeming confidence, I was having a hard time accepting her words. For that matter, I could see that Starlight was doubting them too inside. I was sure she had the same doubts as me — she was there both when Tenebris had captured Twilight herself and when she had captured us. Of course, I had never gone against an alicorn before, so I couldn’t really compare their strengths…

“Oh, I heard the Queen and her elite guards kicked your Princesses’ pretty asses,” chuckled the guard.

“You won’t insult the Princesses, dog!” Starlight’s hoof sent the pony flying to the floor along with the chair he was sitting on.

I frowned upon her harsh way of dealing with our prisoner, but said nothing. The pony had kind of asked for that anyway. But now he was knocked out cold and we couldn’t probe him for more information…

“The main gate to the city is probably guarded too,” Seeker pointed out.

That was a problem indeed. We were lucky this time, but the main gate sounded pretty serious. Its defenses would definitely be stronger, so it was foolish to count on brute force to get past. However, a plan began formulating in my head as I looked over the unconscious enemies. I approached one of them and started to unbuckle his armor off him.

“We can disguise as their friends,” I explained my action to the surprised ponies.

“That could work, I guess,” Starlight nodded. “But somepony else should wear this armor. We both still have inhibitors — that would just look weird. We’re going to pretend to be the prisoners instead.”

“That will work only if they don’t know the ponies stationed here,” Lyra warned us cautiously.

“Why do we need to disguise ourselves anyway?” Ruby asked. “Can’t we just take them out like we did here?”

I would answer the question, but I was trying to untie a belt with my mouth and hoof, which was going rather poorly, so Lyra explained instead. “The main gates are likely closed by them. We can’t just force our way in.”

Then she gently pushed me to the side from my struggling and easily unbuckled the armor herself. Lyra lifted it up in her magic and compared it to herself, but the set was obviously stallion-sized. Good thing we had some of them in our little group — they would have to play the role of our captors.

We got only three sets of armor. The ones who were going to pretend to be the prisoners, took their own armor off and packed them away, but made sure the weapons were easy to reach. We were ready to go now, except for the issue of what to do with the enemy ponies we had knocked out.

“Let’s just leave them here tied up,” I suggested. “Somepony is bound to find them soon, so they’ll be fine.”

“The question is if we want them to be fine…” Starlight slowly said.

I glared at her, but she just shrugged. “They’ve committed treason anyway.”

I understood what she was suggesting we should do, but I didn’t want to become a killer. These ponies had likely made a mistake in joining the wrong side — they didn’t have to die because of it. Of course, they’d get punished by the law later, but we weren’t the law.

The others seemed to think the same way, so we went with my suggestion in the end.

After that issue was settled, we began our long climb to Canterlot. The road went around the mountain, gradually leading up to the city. The railroad was right beside it — how much easier our path would have been if we’d used the train… Too bad the train had been taken by Tenebris.

The higher we went, the lighter the air became. I could see the countryside around the mountain and, if I really tried, Ponyville itself far in the distance. I silently paid tribute to the ancient ponies who’d built Canterlot in the first place — it had taken a lot of work to carry all the building materials so high up the mountain and a lot of magic to prevent the city itself from crumbling.

Finally, we reached the final stretch of the road with Canterlot ahead of us. The sun would be already set by this time, but I could still see it from so high on the mountain. I suddenly realized that the fact that the sun and moon were maintaining their cycle could tell us that the two Princesses were still okay, at least.

“It’s closed as I thought,” Seeker said, pointing at the gate.

I nodded and we continued to follow the three stallions that were leading us. I gazed onto the ground, playing my role, and patiently waited until we got close. A pony in gray armor looked at us from the tower above the gate.

“What in Tartarus are you three doing here, you idiots?” he bellowed at our stallions. “You’re supposed to be our rear guard. Who are those?”

I didn’t like where this questioning was going, so I decided to expand my role of submitted prisoner to a more active one.

“We were just passing by!” I screamed for the enemy soldier to hear me. “But those idiots caught us for some reason!”

My friends glanced at me in confusion and the stallion looked back at me, unsure of what to do. My plan was to lure the enemy into opening the gate for us, but I didn’t have the time to share it with the others. I just hoped it worked.

“No one told you to grab every passer-by” the guard on the tower raged and then added something, most likely an insult, under his nose.

He disappeared out of our view and a minute later the big gate opened up and he, along with a few of his friends, came out to personally punish his dumb subordinates. At least, that what he thought. He had no idea it was a trap.

The bandit seemed to get suspicious when he got close, but it was too late for him. Our ponies grabbed their weapons and quickly surrounded the enemy, forcing them to give up without much of a fight. Each was given a hefty bump to the head to render them unconscious and we rushed through the open gate in case there were more enemies waiting.

Unfortunately, there was one.

Before anypony could react, he dashed at us from behind the corner, wielding a sword and sliced at the first pony he saw — Lyra. She yelped, jumping back, but she already had a deep gash on her side. Flood started to flow out of the wound and Ruby and I hastily ran towards the falling mare. I gaped at her horrible wound in shock for a moment before Ruby snapped me out with a slap.

I could see that most of our comrades were shocked by the sight too as we hurried to apply some bandages to Lyra. The enemy would have used this distraction to his advantage, but an enraged Starlight jumped at him from the side, kicking the sword out of his hooves and punching at his helmeted head repeatedly. At some point, the helmet was knocked off, but Starlight didn’t stop with her relentless assault.

The pony could only back down from such a fury until one lucky hit got through his defense and put him on the ground. Before he could get up, Starlight reared up and landed her front hooves onto his open neck with a sickening crunch. She stared in shock at what she’d done — it didn’t look good for the fallen stallion.

“I don’t feel very good,” Lyra whispered, switching my attention back to her.

I held her still, while Ruby applied the bandage to stop the bleeding. The others surrounded us, watching in concern.

“Damn it,” Starlight stomped on the paved ground. “If I had my magic, that wouldn’t have happened!”

Lyra lost her consciousness now, which was a bad sign in my opinion, but at least we had managed to secure the wound. She was still breathing, but I didn’t know for sure how dangerous the wound was. It ran almost the whole length of her barrel, so it wasn’t just a scratch like some tough heroes liked to claim.

“We need to get to the Royal Palace,” Starlight said. “Take her and let’s hurry.”

We didn’t bother to tie up the surviving enemy troops and just went ahead, leaving the gate wide open. Before we left, I checked the pony that Starlight had fought, and drooped my ears when I confirmed that he was truly dead. I didn’t blame Starlight. In fact, I was even glad that he got what he deserved…

I shook my head to get rid of the disturbing thoughts and looked around for his weapon. His bloody sword was lying nearby and I picked it up clumsily. It was made for ponies to hold in a hoof grip, but I’d never been trained to do it. It wasn’t easy to fight on three legs while waving a sword around. But since I couldn’t use my magic, then the sword would have to do.

I hurried to catch up with the rest, tucking the sword on my saddlebag. Lyra was being carried on an improvised stretcher between the two stallions. The streets were empty, which was weird for a city like Canterlot, even this late in the evening. The few ponies that I noticed quickly disappeared from our view, most likely scared by the gray armor our ponies were still wearing.

Luckily, the Royal Palace wasn’t far away from the main gate. The orange-colored forcefield around the Palace glowed with intensity, making the deep evening seem like it was day. Thanks to that, we noticed the blockade on the street leading to the palace early. It consisted of some broken mess of things thrown in the middle of the road as a makeshift barricade and was guarded by a group of enemy soldiers.

We turned to the adjacent street, but the situation repeated itself there. I realized that each street leading to the Palace was likely blocked. It wasn’t that surprising in retrospect — it was logical that Tenebris would want to confine the remaining resistance in one place, but it raised some serious issues for us. For example, how were we going to get through them?

I was concerned about Lyra’s condition. She was dying while we were gallivanting here on the streets!

“I have a plan,” said Starlight confidently; I looked at her in hope. “There are just five ponies at each post. We’re going to fight our way in.”

My ears drooped at hearing her plan. I honestly didn’t like it. The others’ reactions were similar to mine. However, nopony offered an alternative. If the only way to the castle was through the enemy line, then it was the way we were going to take! I pictured for a moment how I would run towards the enemy and he would easily outmaneuver my weak attacks and stab me like Lyra…

Damn those inhibitors!

But I was ready. Lyra’s life depended on our success, I tried to banish the thoughts that somepony else may get hurt while we fought the enemy. We knew that the situation may be bad in there, so we wouldn’t turn back now when our fears had turned out to be truth.

“That’s a dumb plan,” a horribly familiar voice sounded from behind us. “But I have a better one.”

I jumped up and turned myself in the air to face Doctor Shade himself, who was approaching us with some thin-looking pegasus next to him. There was some unconscious mare lying on the Doctor’s back, but I didn’t know who she was.

I realized inside that it was over for sure now. The Doctor’s henchponies had likely surrounded us and were waiting for a signal. I glanced onto the roofs, seeing nopony yet, but they could be hiding just behind the edges. Despite the odds, I raised my sword and we all prepared to fight for our lives…But the Doctor just stood there with a weird expression on his face.

“I understand that you see me as your mortal enemy, but our goals are similar at the moment,” Shade said slowly.

His words took me completely by surprise. “Our goals?”

“Unleashing Tenebris may have been the biggest mistake of my life,” the Doctor said with a sigh. “She…She’s not the pony I thought she was. I will help you to stop her.”