//------------------------------//
// Chapter Ten: The Reunion 
// Story: Rising Star 
// by Argonaut44 
//------------------------------//

By the time the trio of ponies began taking off again into the wild expanse of grass and desert, Starlight’s wounds still hadn’t fully healed. She could still walk, albeit with difficulty, and would occasionally request a break. The other two were patient, neither of them particularly thrilled about having to sneak themselves into Vanhoover. Jackpot fully expected to run into trouble with the local garrison, no matter how careful they were. And Dust, she was beginning to develop a fear of large cities, in light of the group’s recent near-death experiences at Saddleopolis.
As they traveled, Starlight was lagging behind, her pained emotional state weighing her down more than her injuries. Now she finally understood why Luna, and all of Equestria apparently, had it out for her: Chrysalis. Even when she thought she was safe, far away from the endless mania and conflict that dominated her old life, Chrysalis was still hell-bent on breaking her spirit. She couldn’t quite comprehend her situation. That raider pony said Chrysalis had killed hundreds of ponies, burnt entire  cities down! Starlight didn’t want to believe that it was all true, but given how Luna spared no hesitation in trying to kill her earlier, she figured it had to be. She wondered how in Equestria she could prove she was innocent. The only ponies that she could count on were her two companions and the townsponies back in the northern town. And she knew that wouldn’t be enough to clear her name. 
   Jackpot, who was leading the group, at last made it over a steep grassy ridge, his hooves aching from the long walk. The others soon joined him, taking in the immaculate sight below. Vanhoover, a city of high-rising skyscrapers, appeared to be colored a set of reds and oranges in the morning sunlight. It was at least twice the size of Saddleopolis, pony caravans entering and leaving the city to and fro in every direction. 
“We made it,” said Dust, relieved. She took a seat on the ground, expecting another break.
“Now what?” Starlight asked, gripping her wounded shoulder. 
“By the shore, there’s a way. Just...everypony be calm, no matter what, don’t draw attention to yourselves,” he said. Starlight could tell he was nervous. Though, it seemed he was dreading his own past returning to ruin him, more than the possibility of running into the authorities. 
“Jackpot, you don’t have to go down there with us if you don’t want to…” Starlight said. 
He shook his head, though his eyes told Starlight he agreed with her. 
“I never thought I’d come back here...I’m only doing it for you two, you know.”
“We know. You want a medal?” Dust said sarcastically from the ground. Starlight turned her head to frown at her. 
“It’s a miserable thing, caring about ponies. That city, I despise it. I barely got out of there.”
“We’re with you this time.”
“Yeah….” He glumly turned away from the city and began heading down the ridge, the other two following him down. 

Jackpot led the group down a series of hills to where the grassy rock-laden fields stood over the sea, waves striking the cliffside in uneven intervals. 
They walked along the edge of the cliff, descending down into the rock, into a tunnel path carved right into the rock. Starlight’s horn glowed brightly, lighting up the path as the ponies went along through the dark tunnel.  
“It reeks in here,” Dust muttered. 
“You don’t say? This is where they’d dump dead bodies, you know. Unlucky blokes.”
“Is it ever lucky to be dead?” Starlight said. 
“In this city? Certainly it's preferable.”
They eventually made it to the end of the cliffside tunnel, facing down a solid wooden door that blocked all sunlight from outside. 
“Glimmer, bring that light over here.”
Starlight took a step closer to him and bent down, so her horn was near the door. On the doorknob was a padlock, connected to a brace screwed into the rock. Jackpot flipped a few dials to produce a winning combination, the startling click of the lock signaling them they were successful. 
Jackpot turned back and smiled at his triumph, before opening the door back to the outside. 
The ponies stepped down across a few more dark-colored rocks and weaving paths before finding themselves on a grey sandy beach, the city docks less than a half mile away. 
“There’s where we’ll meet my old mate, over there.”
“The cops don’t know about that little shortcut?” Dust asked, incredulously.   
“If they did, we’d be in cuffs already,” Jackpot said, as they began heading for the docks. 

Starlight was wearing Dust’s former disguise, a trench coat and a black hat, making sure to hide her horn, injuries, and mane, now that she was aware she was a nationally-recognizable mass-murdering criminal. Dust was surprised to see how easily they managed to slip right past a crowd of sailor ponies, as if their mysterious arrival was of no concern.  She heard cheers and merriment in the distance, some kind of party taking place over by one of the boathouses. Jackpot led them past the causeway to a small wooden divot hidden behind some imported greenery. Then, he stopped dead in his tracks. 
“And here I thought you was playing a joke on me.”
Jackpot smiled at the sight of a stallion with a yellow coat, slick jaw, and short dark blue hair. He was huffing on a cigar, stuck in a beard that resembled a small forest of thin hairs. He was laughing, standing up from his chair to embrace Jackpot. 
“I was only gonna give you thirty more minutes, then I would’ve left, you’re slower than you used to be, delivery boy.”
“Don’t deliver shit no more, that’s why.”
“I don’t doubt it. Where’ve you been? North? Smile City?”
“Nowhere special. I’ve been in with some fisherponies, for a few months now.”
“That so? Getting seasick on a smelly old rowboat in the frozen north? You must be more miserable than you look.”
“It’s good actually, I get along there well enough.”
“I’m sure you do, Jackpot, old friend, I’m sure you do. I got your pigeon, obviously, since I’m here. Funny little thing. My friend wanted to keep ‘im, but he flew off.”
Jackpot glanced back at Dust, who was smirking, delighted to see the pigeon plan had worked. 
“So tell me, Jackpot, how your new passion for...fishing made you into an enemy of the state?”
Jackpot nodded back to Starlight behind him. Counterfeit nodded with an open-mouthed smile, stepping around Jackpot to introduce himself. 
“Ladies, I’m sure our friend has already gone on about me, I’m Counterfeit,” he said, grabbing both mares’ hooves for a kiss. 
“I’m Starlight.”
“Dust Bunny.”
Counterfeit’s devilish smile grew as he got a good look at Starlight, pawing at her face. She wanted to back away, uncomfortable with how close he was to her. 
“This little thing is the cause for all this trouble?”
“We just need to lay low, Counterfeit,” Jackpot said, stepping between them defensively on behalf of an embarrassed Starlight. 
“Lay low, of course. I must remind you I don’t happen to run a hotel.”
“Whatever you have, we’ll take.”
“Of course you will. You leave everything we worked together for, and now you come back wanting to-”
“This isn’t about me, or you. This is about her,” Jackpot said, glancing back at a heartfelt Starlight. Dust bit her lip in jealousy. 
“Jackpot, you haven’t changed at all, have you...Any hooker with a sob story and you’d announce plans to spend your lives together. This bird’s no different...what I’m gonna tell you, and, well, I think it's pretty good advice, considering your circumstances...is to leave her to me. She’ll be safe here, I promise. You, and your other friend there, you have no stake in this. Those ponies that are after her, are after her alone. She can stay with us as long as she’d like...Don’t let whatever...feelings you’ve developed cloud your head, Jackpot. I’m trying to do you a favor here.”
Jackpot sensed Counterfeit was trying to tell him something without saying it aloud, but couldn’t quite piece it together. All he knew was that he couldn’t part himself from Starlight, or Dust. Not yet. 
“Wherever they go, I go. I thought you’d enjoy my company,” Jackpot said.
Counterfeit hesitated, and then nodded, a reluctant smile on his face. 
“Right then...And you, Miss...Dust,” he said, nearly forgetting her name, “you’re tagging along too?”
Dust found herself hesitating, to her surprise. On one hoof, she was beginning to get tired of watching Starlight and Jackpot grow closer to each other, but on the other hoof, they were her friends. 
“I’m staying,” she said, without hesitation. 
Counterfeit nodded. 
“Well, then let’s ship off. The boys have been rowdy about getting to see your face again, Jackpot…”
The ponies walked up the wooden staircase to exit the city docks, before heading into the large-scale chaos of Vanhoover. 





Chrysalis rarely spent much of her time acknowledging any doubts she might have here and there. She understood that moral righteousness was tempting, but ultimately foolish.  Time and time again, she had witnessed loyal supporters give in to the blissful allure of friendship and harmony. Chrysalis sought freedom, a world where power was available only for those who had earned it. Her entire colony had forfeited their freedom for a life of moral restriction and simplicity. A life without glory or greatness. Chrysalis found the idea rather dull, and knew she deserved far better. Thus, every time her neglected conscience cried out to her, she simply ignored it. 
And yet, as Chrysalis stumbled along through the rocky cliffs and mountains northwards, she found herself in severe conflict, unsure of her past actions, and even more unsure over her uncertain future. 
This power she had spent weeks in search of, the Queen’s Jewel, would be the single greatest advantage to her quest for world-domination yet, and only one trial remained before it would be hers forever. She concocted a future scenario, where she did indeed succeed in her great venture, finding the artifact and becoming the most powerful being in Equestria. First on her to-do-list would be to overthrow and imprison the princesses, the most dreadful nuisances that stood in her way. She had so many ideas for ways to torture them each, endlessly, without pity or mercy. But for now, that was all just a fantasy. Chrysalis saw the resurgence of her great army, the enslavement of Equestria, and an endless feast of love for her to feed on for centuries. 
Though, the more Chrysalis thought about it, her ideal victory seemed more and more undesirable. She would be ruling, but over what? A population that would never truly accept her, and a rowdy bunch of disloyal changelings that couldn’t be trusted. Ponies everywhere would do all they could to fight back, and there would never be peace. Cycles of war and death until Equestria was nothing but battlefields and graveyards. 
The alternative to this reality was to give up. But by now, how could she go through with that? She would be put to death without question, for all the crimes against ponykind she had committed. Regardless of if she ever renounced her evil ways and freed herself from the pain, her life would be over anyway. Chrysalis had brought herself up as an unstoppable, incorruptible force of evil, and at last her absolutist mentality was spelling out her downfall. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted that jewel anymore, that perhaps she had dug herself into a deep hole already, and that maybe she’d be better off to escape and hide herself away while she’s still alive and free. 
Despite her hesitations, Chrysalis just couldn’t convince herself to break course. She had risked her life numerous times, and overcome so much in search of that artifact, and if she didn’t find it, she knew she would never forgive herself. 
And so Chrysalis powered on through the rocky terrain as she plunged herself farther into the mountains, patiently waiting for her grand ascent to power.





It never seemed to cool down in this village, Twilight thought, fanning herself with one hoof while sweat dripped off her chin. She was sitting in a small one-room house the townsponies had provided for her, resting after days of traversing the jungle. Her group had successfully made it out of the Forbidden Forest, before the sun went down. In town, they reunited with the others, and took up the locals’ offer to stay the night. Savoy had left town as fast as possible, afraid of what the town would do to him when they discovered it was he who freed Chrysalis. While Twilight sulked about inside, considering their mission to be a failure, the others were outside, drinking and laughing with the townsfolk, rejoicing that their endless journey seemed to finally be over. Twilight, meanwhile, had a feeling that things still weren’t right. The consensus of the group was that Starlight/Chrysalis had either fled to the other side of Equestria, or had been killed in the forest. Although Twilight was quite confident it was Chrysalis they were after, she couldn’t help but shudder at the possibility that it was Starlight behind all of the death and destruction. She couldn’t bear to think that it was Starlight who could’ve died alone and afraid in that forest. And if it was Chrysalis as she believed, she knew that Chrysalis was resilient, and definitely wouldn't go down that easily.  
“Twilight!”
Twilight practically fell out of her chair when Spike slammed the door to her room open.
“Twilight! You’ve got to come quick!” Spike said, distressed. 
“What? What is it?” Twilight stammered, flustered. 
Spike was so anxious he didn’t even answer her, leading her out of the room into the streets. There was a festival going on, though it seemed as though the party had died down for some reason. Most ponies were standing in a crowd, gathered around a smaller group of ponies. Spike pulled Twilight deep through the crowd, until she saw what he was talking about.
In the center of the crowd was Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and a few of Shining Armor’s soldiers, holding a pony down on the ground. She was screaming an assortment of curses and threats, though with four ponies pinning her down to the ground, she was helpless. Twilight narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the pony, though she didn’t recognize her. The pony had a bright pink coat, and magenta-colored wavy hair that was tied in the back with what looked like a small plant vine. She had sad eyes, and was absolutely filthy. 
Twilight approached the group, still confused as to what this was about.
“What’s going on? Who is this?”
One of the soldiers, Ditty Bopper, who had a mossy green coat with coarse dark green hair, let go of the apprehended pony to approach Twilight.
“Princess, we found this pony trying to sneak into the local armory, while we were on patrol. We believe she came from the forest...She’s been extraordinarily hostile, she’s already sent four of the locals to the infirmary.”
Twilight nodded, and then knelt down beside the pony, who was flailing about and grunting on the ground, unsuccessfully.  
“Hey, you.”
The pony gave up and sighed in defeat, before raising her eyes up to Twilight. 
“What,” she said through gritted teeth, venomously.
“What’s your name?”
“If you want to have a civil conversation, why not let me go?” the pony spat. Twilight shook her head.
“Do you know who I am?”
The pony seemed unsure. 
“That bruiser grunt of yours called you princess.”
	Twilight spread her wings as evidence for the skeptical unicorn, to confirm she was indeed alicorn royalty. 
“It just so happens I am. And you are being brought into an investigation of mine. And if you refuse, I’m afraid I’ll have to consider you an...obstacle.”
“What do you want?”
“First tell me your name.”
The pony sputtered, clearly not wanting to do so.
“Violet. Heirloom,” she said, furious. 
Twilight checked her memory for any record of such a name, but couldn’t come up with anything.
“You came from the forest. Why?”
“I was just passing through.”
“You snuck into the armory?”
“Tried to. I didn’t know there were soldiers here.”
“For what?”
“To defend myself, duh.”
“From who?”
“Gee, maybe ponies like you, who arrest innocent ponies like me for no reason.”
“Just passing through that forest, huh? Why in Equestria would you go in there, willingly?”
“It was a mistake. We barely made it out.”
“Where’re you going?”
“Apparently prison, thanks for asking.”
“Wait,” Twilight said, realizing something, “What did you mean, we barely made it out?” Twilight asked. Her suspicions were confirmed, when Violet stayed awkwardly silent, unsure what to say. 
“Who else was with you?”
“Nopony! I’m alone!”
“No you weren’t, you were with somepony, weren’t you?”
“No!” Violet yelled, desperately. She had felt lucky that Chrysalis had spared her, and really didn’t want to make an enemy out of her. 
“Tell me right now, or you’ll never see daylight again!”
The pony began to feel overwhelmed, as the entire town stared down at her, angrily. Applejack, whose hoof was on Violet’s neck, pressed harder, trying to force the truth out of her.
“Ok! That pony, the Scourge of the South! I was with her! But I didn’t kill anypony! We were just helping each other get out of the forest!”
Twilight stood up, content with the interrogation. She turned to Backwoods, who was nearby, while the crowd murmured in shock at the news: Starlight Glimmer wasn’t dead. 
“Is there a prison you can stow her in?” Twilight asked.
“Sure, we’ve got some space for her...can’t promise some nutjob won’t break her out like the last one, though,” Backwoods responded. 
“Shining Armor, you can watch her?”
“Like a hawk,” Shining Armor said, grabbing Violet and dragging her out from the crowd, escorted by Backwoods and his entourage of soldiers. Violet gritted her teeth in anger, unable to do anything about her situation. Twilight smiled pridefully and glanced at her friends, who seemed impressed, but also a bit nervous. Having to fight either Starlight or Chrysalis wouldn’t be easy, and now that they nearly had her, they all had to begin preparing for that eventual confrontation. 





Dust Bunny walked close beside Starlight, deathly afraid of them being spotted by the authorities as they crept through the back-alley streets of Vanhoover. Counterfeit was leading them, Jackpot walking alongside, the two catching up without really saying too much. Starlight’s eyes would often shoot up to the sky. The odds of escaping capture, with every soldier and cop, and Princess Luna searching for them, were certainly not in their favor. Starlight noticed Jackpot occasionally glance back to make sure they were alright. Her head was dizzy, the painful weight of discovering she was a national fugitive refusing to release her. Dust seemed to be faring even worse, believing their situation to be at last undeniably hopeless. She didn’t like being in a city. There were too many ponies, too many places to be cornered in. Still, for now, they were safe. 
“‘Round this corner,” Counterfeit said, as they trotted through a filthy street in the dead-end district. 
“That’ll take us back to the docks,” Jackpot said, confused. 
“Right. That’s where my base of operations is. One of them, rather. A small house, by the sea. Figured it’d be alright to stay in for now. Always what we wanted, ey?”
“Yeah…” Jackpot said, missing his own seaside home back in town. He did find it slightly strange that they’d be settling in an isolated building, but went on to think nothing of it. 
“I couldn’t have stayed in that basement me and you were livin’ in forever, you know. Times have been changing,” Counterfeit said, reminiscing about the good old days of their duoship. 
“You can say that again.”
They stepped out of the street back onto the docks, the distinct salty smell of the sea returning. Counterfeit glanced back at Starlight and Dust, who seemed extremely nervous. 
“Sorry about the inner-city detour, dames. Less time out in the open does us all a few favors, I think,” said Counterfeit. Starlight subtly nodded, understandingly. She wasn’t quite sure about Counterfeit yet, though then again she wasn't quite sure about Elodea at first either. 
Counterfeit led them down a wooden catwalk that extended off of the main dock, waves throwing themselves upon the thick beams below. There was a large cement wall that made up the edge of solid land along the docks, large swerve tunnels stuck inside, that would end up below sea level depending on the tides. At the moment, they were above the water, seabirds festering inside. At the end of the catwalk was the aforementioned house, not too large or splendorous, in fact rather quaint. It was a cold day, and the wind made things that much worse. The ponies were eager to get inside, except for Counterfeit, who seemed less and less amicable the closer they got to the door. 
When he reached for the handle, he hesitated, but only for a moment, opening it and turning back to the others. 
“See that? No trouble. Your skins are safe here. Now come on, let’s get out of the cold, why don’t we?” he said, stepping out of the way to make room for the ponies to enter. Jackpot came first, then Starlight, then Dust. 
Inside, the ponies found themselves in a small hallway, where ponies could wipe their hooves of dirt or sand. Counterfeit slowly led them around the corner to the main room of the house. 
In that room, the trio were surprised to see there were at least twenty ponies, all standing around, seemingly with nothing to do. They were all quite miserable to look at, and their grim demeanors put both Dust and Starlight on high-alert. Counterfeit leaned along a nearby window sill, taking a quick glance outside. The room was practically empty, which Jackpot found strange. Just the three windows, a nearby shelf with a lamp, and dirt. The room was grey and brown, and it wasn’t much warmer than outside. It appeared as though this house was abandoned. Jackpot waited for Counterfeit to introduce them to these new ponies, though Counterfeit stayed silent, and neglected to even make eye contact. Jackpot glanced around at the ponies, who all seemed to be staring at him. He didn’t recognize any of them.
“Have you got a new crew? I don’t think I know any of these fellows.”
Counterfeit shook his head, staring out the window with his cigar back in his mouth.
“No, you don’t know them.”
Jackpot grinned, uncertain why Counterfeit had such a dreadful expression on his face, as if he had just condemned his soul to die. Jackpot chuckled a few times, glancing around the room at the forebodingly still ponies, wondering why they were all staring at him with rage-filled eyes. Dust and Starlight stuck together while Jackpot looked around from the center of the room.  
“Well, it seems like they all know me,” Jackpot said, nervously laughing, turning back to Counterfeit. 
“That’s because they do.”
Jackpot’s smile dropped, as he noticed Counterfeit’s eyes drawn to something behind him. He turned around, just as the prickly arrow of a stallion’s crossbow plunged itself deep into his front right leg. He gasped in shock as blood gushed out from his leg. He grunted in confused pain, and then fell back to the ground, as Dust started screaming. A stallion behind her grabbed her by the throat with one arm, pulling her away from Starlight, who frantically began preparing a spell, unable to fully grasp the situation. Before any spell could materialize, she felt a heavy metal object force itself over her horn. She yelped and kicked backwards at the stallion, who had successfully stuck a magic-blocking ring on her horn. The stallion lurched over in pain and collapsed to the ground, Starlight meanwhile trying to pry off the metal ring on her horn. It refused to come off however, and Starlight was caught unaware when two more stallions tackled her to the ground, pinning her to the floor while she screamed in rage and despair. One cheek was pressed on the filthy hardwood floor, her eyes forced to watch as a groaning Jackpot was picked up from the floor and propped against a nearby wall. He was seething in rage, unable to fight with the debilitating wound in his leg. He felt his strength deplete as blood continued to seep from his wound. He saw Dust, screaming and desperately trying to break away from her captor’s strong grip, to no avail. 
Starlight, from the floor, refused to give up, desperately trying to cast a spell to rescue herself and her friends. Yet, the ring around her horn made that impossible. Her arms were pinned behind her back, and at that point at least four stallions were crowded over her to make sure she couldn’t escape. 
“Get that bolt out. Tourniquet the leg,” said a voice from behind the crowd of ponies. Starlight stopped her resistance as soon as she heard the voice. She knew it felt familiar, but couldn’t quite remember. 
Then she remembered, and was consumed with dread, realizing the grand extent of danger of their situation. 
Stepping out from the crowd was a unicorn, colored bright red, with a darker red mane that spiked up at the top and fell back along her neck. Her eyes were still serpentine green, and she was still smirking the evilest smirk Starlight had ever seen. Starlight recalled this unicorn as the one who had nearly killed Jackpot earlier when they escaped town on Windward’s boat.   
“Stop! Stop! Please!” Starlight yelled, as soon as she saw the unicorn, who completely ignored Starlight’s pleas. The unicorn stepped closer to Jackpot, who was guarded on either side by ponies. Another pony rushed out from the crowd, stepped beside Jackpot, and ripped out the arrow from his leg, without any hint of sympathy. Jackpot yelled in agony, red tendons flowering out from his wound as even more blood pulled out. The pony then took a belt and fastened it around his leg, effectively reducing the flow of blood. Jackpot let out a loud, tired groan of pain, before crashing back against the wall. He was breathing deep, furious breaths, as he glared up at the red unicorn. Then his eyes switched to Counterfeit, who had been huffing on his cigar this entire time in his chair by the window, having refused to bear witness to his friend’s plight.  
“You son of a bitch…” Jackpot muttered.
Counterfeit stood up from his chair, stamping out the cigar and dragging his hooves over beside the red unicorn. 
“They showed up before you. I didn’t have a choice,” he said, regretfully. 
Jackpot stared at him in disbelief, consumed with pain-inspired rage and betrayal. 
He grunted as he adjusted himself on the floor, licking his lips, before glancing up at the red unicorn, who seemed to be waiting for his attention. He squinted up at her, and then realized where he remembered her from.  
“You...it’s you...what is it, pissed off you couldn’t do me in the first time?”
The red unicorn didn’t even bat an eye while Jackpot tried his best to keep his spirits. 
“Go on then, do it...get it over with.”
The red unicorn’s sinister smile returned, as if it was the happiest day of her life. 
“Oh no...you don’t get to rush it.”
The red unicorn extended an arm to grasp a large metal club one of the ponies was handing over to her. She gripped it, firmly, excited for a rare chance to go old school.
“Wait! Please! Don’t!” Starlight screamed, breaking into sobs as Jackpot stared at the red unicorn intently. Jackpot winced at Starlight’s heartbreaking cries. 
“Starlight, don’t look. Dust, you neither.”
Dust stared at him with wide eyes, unable to accept what was about to happen. She blinked rapidly, trying to wake herself up from what had to be a bad dream. Jackpot was staring right into the red unicorn’s eyes, unafraid. 
Then he noticed Counterfeit begin to turn and walk away, and scowled in disgust. . 
“Not you. You stay, watch. Do me that courtesy, at least,” Jackpot said, bitterly. Counterfeit didn’t even turn around, unable to face his old friend again. He pushed past the crowd of ponies out of the room, leaving Jackpot to face the red unicorn alone. 
“Fine then,” Jackpot said to Counterfeit, though the red unicorn took it as a signal that he was ready. 
The first swing knocked at least two teeth out, spraying blood all over the wall and floor. Part of his cheek bone was broken, and he found himself more or less unable to speak properly. Starlight screamed bloody murder as the red unicorn continuously brought down her club on Jackpot, bruising his face into pulp, breaking off flakes of bone and scraps of flesh that flew in every which way. She smashed her club into his back, legs, everywhere but his neck, which she figured would kill him. It was far too early for that. 
While Jackpot was being relentlessly assaulted with the metal bat, Starlight’s wails and cries made even the most determined, deadset ponies in the crowd begin to second guess themselves. The red unicorn was undeterred, focusing only on giving this pony the most painfully slow end imaginable.
“Get off me!” Starlight yelled, desperately trying to fight off the ponies on top of her, hoping there was still time to save Jackpot. She managed to push off one, knocking him back with a hoof to the face. However, he was soon replaced by another, and another, and soon enough there were at least eight hovering around or on top of her. The pony she had punched in the face rose from the floor, scowling at her.
“Bitch!” he yelled, landing a kick right in her stomach. She landed another one, which the other ponies found unnecessary, pulling him back while Starlight reeled in pain. 
“You’re dead! You’re fucking dead!” Starlight screamed at the red unicorn, who had stopped her battery of Jackpot’s broken body after one last slam to Jackpot’s head. She felt the glistening blood stains on her club, and stared down at Jackpot’s body with pride. He was unmoving, breathing slowly through rasped wheezes. He was covered in bruises, and his body was universally crying out in pain. He surely had taken some brain damage from the hits to the head, and Starlight wasn’t even sure if he could see or hear her. 
“Let him go!” Starlight continued, fighting with every muscle against the ponies on top of her. 
Counterfeit returned to the room, but stopped for a second when he saw Jackpot. He couldn’t believe how tarnished the pony’s body was, and he was immediately taken over by guilt.  
“We all gotta get out of here, now. This place isn’t sound proof, and with that bitch’s screaming, it wouldn’t matter if they were. Somepony’s bound to have called the cops already,” Counterfeit said. 
“I’m not finished,” the red unicorn said, her eyes fixated on Jackpot. 
Counterfeit stepped closer to her, forcing her to face him.
“You’re done.” he said, firmly. 
The red unicorn paused, and then hesitantly agreed, stepping back away from Jackpot, giving Starlight a full view at the carnage. 
“J-Jackpot, get up…” she said, short of breath. She searched for any possible signs of life. He had to be alive. He was breathing, though barely. 
“Jackpot, fucking get up.” 
Jackpot was unresponsive, his eyes swollen shut, his face a collage of red and purple. 
Some of the ponies began clearing out of the house, most already sick of the sight. 
“Please stop!” Starlight yelled, crying her eyes out. 
Nopony paid her any listening, as Jackpot remained motionless on the floor. 
The red unicorn began raising the club once more, for a finishing blow. 
“Please don’t do this!” Starlight begged, her eyes wide with desperation as the red unicorn ignored her. 
“Jackpot! Please! Get up!” she yelled, as if she was angry at him. 
The red unicorn swung the club down one last time, hard, carving a hole into Jackpot’s head, smashing his skull in. 
“No!” Starlight screamed, her voice raspy from screaming so much, hope fading from her soul the very moment she heard the crunch of the club on Jackpot’s head. 
Starlight broke down into sobs, while the red unicorn tossed the club to the ground, smirking at Jackpot’s unrecognizable corpse. Counterfeit said nothing, biting his lip in frustration as he ushered the remaining ponies out of the house.
Dust had been crying the whole time, though hadn’t screamed at all, fearing she would provoke the ponies to make her next in line after Jackpot. Her mind was in a flurry. One of her only friends, one of her closest friends, the pony that she had considered spending the rest of her life with, had perished right before her eyes, in one of the cruelest ways imaginable. Her heart was heavy with pain, and her face was a sea of tears. But in that moment, despite the pain she was in, she knew she had to focus on the only practical goal left: escape. 
She saw the club that had been used to bash Jackpot’s brains in, lying on the ground not too far from her hooves. She knew what she had to do. Rage swelled inside her, as she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Jackpot’s battered body. If she had just a few moments left with him, she would’ve told him that he was one of her truest friends, that she might be in love with him, and so many things, that she would now never get to say. She needed to avenge him, at the very least, while she was still breathing. 
“You’re fucking dead,” Starlight said between sobs, hopelessly. 
“Somepony shut that bitch up, and let’s get out of here,” said the red unicorn, acknowledging Starlight for the very first time. The red unicorn quickly left the room, while the remaining ponies began shuffling to drag Dust and Starlight out with them. 
As soon as the red unicorn had left, Dust sprung into action, kicking the stallion that had a hold on her, hard in the gut. He fell to the ground, while Dust dove for the club. She actually reached it, to her surprise, and began swinging like mad, knocking a few ponies square in the face.  
Dust’s uncoordinated, passionate attacks were enough to draw more than half of the ponies guarding Starlight to leave and help take her down. Starlight, seeing an opportunity, managed to fight off the remaining ponies holding her down, jumping to her hooves, and attempting to head over to Dust to help her. But, without her magic, she could only do so much. 
“Starlight! Run!” 
Starlight stayed where she was, unwilling to leave Dust behind. She refused to peer down to the floor and look at Jackpot’s body, preferring to keep that image out of her mind. 
“Starlight! Go! Hurry!”
Starlight felt like breaking down, but eventually gave in and ran out the door, leaving Dust to fend off the remaining ponies for as long as she could. Starlight knew they couldn’t fight them all off, so if at least one of them could get away, there might be hope. Starlight hated to be the one to leave the other behind, but knew there wasn’t enough time to consider other options.  
Dust continued swinging violently back and forth while Starlight escaped the building. She hated violence, yet saw no other choice if she wanted to save her only remaining friend’s life. She grunted with each swing, desperate to buy Starlight time. 
Starlight ran out the door of the building, just as a parade of ponies rushed right for her from the end of the dock, having realized what the commotion was all about. Starlight, thinking on her hooves, jumped straight off of the catwalk into the sea. She fell beneath the waves, into the murky blue below. When she surfaced, she wasted no time in swimming towards the docks, or more specifically, towards one of the sewer tunnels, which she decided would make a good escape route. She climbed into the sewer tunnel, as the ponies’ arrows shot down at her from below, one of them piercing her leg just as she pulled it up from the ocean waters. She groaned in pain, but powered through, climbing deeper into the tunnel, to safety. 
When she finally believed she had escaped them, she collapsed to the ground of the sewer and gave out a loud sigh of anguish, her mind foggy with sorrow. She had never felt such a great sense of loss before, and never in such a grotesque, violent manner. It made her sick, both the memory of what had happened, and the thought that she would never see the pony that had helped restore her happiness ever again. He was gone, reduced to a bloody mess on the floor. She instinctively blamed herself, remembering when she had given into her friends’ pleas to let them come with her on this journey in the first place. She wished she had been tougher on them. Now one was dead, and if she didn’t act soon, the other would be too. 
She cradled herself in the tight sewer tunnel that was hidden beneath the city, tears endlessly flowing down her cheeks. Her heart was hollow, devoid of life or joy. She felt empty, and cold, and unsure about her future. All she could feel in those moments was pain, an undefeatable, unsurmountable sort of pain, that beat her around relentlessly. Death had always seemed so far off to her, unimaginable for her or anypony she knew. But right then, it surrounded her. Hope, now more than ever, seemed like a fairy tale.