//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seventeen: Chaos At Ponyville 
// Story: Rising Star 
// by Argonaut44 
//------------------------------//

Pacing in circles in the practically empty throne room of her Canterlot palace, Princess Luna was unable to sit still, due to a raging headache and an intense sense of conflict. Celestia was sitting on the throne, trying to ignore her sister’s panicked pacing and enjoy a rarely experienced moment of peace. 
The news had reached them just a minute ago, a royal guard scurrying through the heavy throne room gates to reveal that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had fled the city, defying a direct order from Celestia.
“Sister, do calm down,” Celestia said, calmly, having become weary with Luna’s incessant worrying.
“How am I to be calm? And why aren’t you taking this seriously?!” Luna stammered. 
“I am taking this seriously. But throwing a tantrum won’t solve anypony’s problems,” Celestia retorted to her distressed sister. 
“What will it look like if we let her carry on with this story of a plot against us? She’ll rile ponies up, all across Equestria! She’s so driven to believe those ponies’ story, she’s risking a state of widespread unrest and panic!”
“She’s already gone, sister. Let her do as she please, she can’t possibly make Equestria more restless than it already is, what with cities being burned and mountains of corpses being stacked all over the south. That is my priority, not whatever Twilight is so afraid of,” Celestia said. 
“Surely you agree, Twilight isn’t a fool, she must believe what she’s doing is for the best. We must consider the possibility that the threat she is so afraid of is real!”
Celestia sighed, disappointed her sister had begun to sympathize with Twilight’s newest endeavor to supposedly prevent the doom of Equestria.
“No, Twilight is not a fool. Not by any stretch of the word. But she is unwell. She’s been unwell, for months now, since her pupil ran off...I don’t know whether it’s Chrysalis or Starlight behind all of this chaos, all I want is the truth. And if it is Starlight, Twilight could never come to terms with it. Of course she sided with those ponies, she’s desperate! She couldn’t possibly admit that it was her pupil responsible for so much death and pain! I sincerely hope Starlight Glimmer has not betrayed us, but I am fully prepared to deal with that situation should it become the reality. And don’t forget Twilight abandoned Cadance on their mission to hunt down the perpetrator, and now Cadance is missing as well, possibly dead!”
“Don’t you find it slightly odd? How could all of these ponies be lying, or exaggerating, or misconstruing this story? I find it all very suspicious, is all, and if Twilight is in danger, we ought to do what we can to help her,” Luna said, slightly intimidated by her sister’s brief spout of anger. 
“I will not entertain this notion that a collective of ponies has been brewing in the shadows for years, waiting to undermine us. It’s preposterous. And besides, no such fighting force stuck in the underground could pose a real threat to Equestria. They would need weaponry of unimaginable magnitude to even stand a chance against our military. And these ponies, why should we be inclined to believe a single word they say? What good is the word of the traitor and his little friends? They got caught for helping Starlight, what did you expect them to do? Admit their guilt? Of course they’d come up with a story, to distract us, to scare us into doing what they say, to go easy on them.. Are we to devote resources to preparing for an imaginary war, while Starlight or Chrysalis is out ravaging Equestria? We already have a real threat to deal with, let’s not fret over baseless ones.”
“There’s something wrong about this all, sister...When I found her, Starlight I mean, back in Saddleopolis, she didn’t seem unhinged at all. She was laughing and talking with those friends of hers...I thought it was strange at first, but I ignored it and kept pursuing her. She was frightened of me, and confused. I tried to kill her...And now we still intend to do so, with or without Twilight’s consent...And that soldier is being executed...there’s going to be so much death. It’s upsetting. Not to mention, how could it be she was stirring up trouble in two places at once? That kind of magic, at such tremendous distances, it’s unprecedented, even for a unicorn as capable as Starlight...What if we’re wrong?”
Celestia turned her head away from her troubled sister, her eyes fixing on the shaded light crawling through the stained glass windows that decorated the walls. She had her own misgivings about executing ponies, as it was an extremely rare practice in Equestria. The last execution hadn’t been for at least two hundred years, probably more, though neither sister could quite recall. Yet, if Starlight was truly the monster everypony thought she was, who better to reignite the practice? 
  Before Celestia could come back with an answer to Luna’s concerns, the throne room doors opened, and in walked Gallant Stride, his thick white mustache bobbing up and down every step. Earlier that day, he had heard about Crestfall’s attempt to head for Canterlot, and so went there himself a bit earlier, to warn the princesses of the threat soon to walk through their doors. 
“Your highnesses,” Stride said, giving a half-sincere bow of respect.
“Yes, Commander?” Celestia said, politely, trying to mask her annoyance. 
“We’ve gone through an extensive interrogation process with the traitor and his companion about this ludicrous rebellion story, and I can’t say I’ve found anything concrete.”
“You were the sole supervisor of these interrogations? Where was the warden?” Celestia asked, confused. 
“I didn’t conduct the interrogations, no. I was the acting chief administrator of the evidence review process, your highnesses, it’s why I’m here now, to report to you.”
“And what? Their stories don’t match?” Celestia asked. 
“Not only that, but they’ve both been referencing ponies that don’t exist. There’s absolutely no record of who they’re talking about. It is my belief that they’ve concocted this entire story, as a ploy to receive a lighter sentence, and paint themselves as some sort of heroes.”
Celestia shot a smug look of content towards Luna, who still seemed skeptical. 
“You’re saying there’s no evidence of any threat?”
“Not based on anything they said, and regardless, I think it’s obvious to all of us that this is just a trick to gain sympathy...They’re afraid. And the traitor most of all, the filthy rat,” Stride spat. 
“And what of the pony you said he was working with?” Luna asked. 
“Counterfeit, you mean...Yes, it’s clear that Crestfall was working with him...I’m afraid that all evidence suggests Crestfall murdered Counterfeit, burned him alive, in fact, before the body was lost to the sea. I’m not sure, but I believe Crestfall intended to take over their operation. His betrayal hurts me terribly, as you can imagine, but I cannot make an exception, even for old friends,” Stride said, putting on an act of grave regret. 
“And when is he due to be executed?” Celestia asked. 
“Tomorrow, your highness. The other pony, the girl, she’s been released, but has been barred from leaving the city until given your permission,” Stride replied
“Very well. That’ll be all,” Celestia said, nodding for Stride to leave them. He gave another formal bow before exiting, smirking to himself as he strutted out of the room.





Everypony in Ponyville was greatly relieved when Twilight Sparkle and her friends returned home. The threat of an imminent attack by Queen Chrysalis was still looming large, but thankfully Twilight’s presence was enough to calm most ponies down. Or at least they were calm, until Twilight gathered everypony together in the town square to give them some difficult-to-hear news. 
“Ponyville is in danger, everypony,” Twilight said, feeding into the town’s anxiety, “There are some bad ponies out there, who want to see our town destroyed, and its ponies bending to their will...We can’t let that happen. But Princess Celestia won’t be helping us, neither will the military! It’s all up to us, just us, to defend ourselves. Our friends, and family, and homes, and livelihoods are all at stake! I know it’s scary, I do...But we’ve all got to be strong, and work together. We’ll come through this, I know we will, and I’ll be with all of you the whole time...But I need your help, I can’t do it alone. So will you help me?!” she cried. 
The crowd replied with a hesitant cheer, most ponies extremely nervous and confused over what exactly they were defending against. 
Twilight sighed, realizing that her beloved town and all these ponies’ lives, were mostly in her care to defend now. It was a daunting burden, made worse by the mystery of the threat she was facing. Only Dust Bunny, who was standing off to the side of Twilight, right next to Fluttershy, had actually met these dreadful ponies in the flesh. To everypony else, they were just an army of unknown size and unknown intentions.

Twilight assigned every able-bodied pony to begin constructing some defensive battlements, a project that would likely take several days. Twilight wasn’t sure whether the enemy would even attack Ponyville, but figured it was better to be well prepared just in case they were the first target. With being in such close proximity to Canterlot, Ponyville was a strategic choice for an occupation. 

Dust Bunny had never been in a village like Ponyville before. It wasn’t anything at all like the smoggy concrete jungle of Saddleopolis, nor the magnificent splendor of Canterlot. If anything, it reminded her most of her own town, with its simple houses and friendly ponies. She had been too preoccupied with staying alive to focus on her homesickness during this whole adventure, but here, in a place so familiar but so foreign, she felt a great longing to return to her parents, to sit on a rug beside a warm fireplace with some hot cocoa while it snowed outside. But as much as she wanted that, she was also excited, thrilled even, to get to see so much of the world in such a short time. She wanted to see more and more, the only issue was that lately her life was constantly in danger. She vowed to make an effort to travel more in the future, hopefully under less strenuous circumstances.

Twilight watched as everypony in town shambled about to prepare the town for battle. They had distributed weapons to each pony who was able to fight, though few knew how to use them. They had established safehouses and rendezvous points as well, to get the elderly and children out of danger as quickly as possible. Twilight was constantly watching the horizon in the distance, expecting an army of ponies to begin creeping over those far-off hills any second now. But the land remained at peace, as if there was no danger coming at all. It made everypony in town uneasy, for things to feel so normal despite that not being the case at all. 
All any of them could do was prepare themselves, and wait for the enemy to arrive.   






Leaning against the dusty rock wall of his Canterlot dungeon prison cell, Lance Crestfall was beginning to wonder what was taking them so long to drag him out and chop his head off already. 
He had been interrogated a few hours ago, though he found the guards to be insufferably disinterested in anything he had to say. It didn’t really matter anyway, as he knew Gallant Stride would ignore or twist his words to suit whatever lie he’s got the princesses sold on. He recalled the day he had encountered his longtime enemy Counterfeit, the same day he met Starlight Glimmer and Elodea for the first time. All he had wanted then was some fame and glory, and most of all, some respect. But after time spent on the run, he had decided he didn’t need all of those things, that what he really needed was his own sense of redemption, and the knowledge that he helped do something undeniably good for once. But his shifting intentions on this adventure were now all irrelevant, because they had all driven him to the same result: rotting in a prison cell, tossed aside by the very ponies he had once called friends. 
“I figured I’d pay you one last visit.” 
Crestfall hadn’t heard the hoofsteps of the pony trudging down the staircase to the dungeon below, so when the pony spoke, he was caught by surprise. It was Gallant Stride, his musty, prideful grin mocking Crestfall from above. Crestfall squinted his eyes past the bright lights hanging from the ceiling, and realized who it was. He wasn’t sure what to make of Stride’s visit, though he knew talking to the pony responsible for his death sentence likely wouldn’t result in any kind of positive resolution. 
“I take it you’re a little upset, I suppose you ought to be,” Stride said. 
“What’d you tell them?” Crestfall asked.
Stride smiled, scratching his chin as he recalled the memory. 
“I told them what is now the official truth. That you’ve been working with Counterfeit from the start, and that you killed him to gain full control of his organization.”
Crestfall laughed in disbelief, mildly impressed with Stride’s creativity with framing him. Stride laughed with him, getting a kick out of his own deception. 
“You could win a fiction award with that one…”
“I’m glad you could be such a good sport about it, Lance, really. I didn’t want there to be any hard feeling between us before you...well, you know,” Stride said, tilting his head and gritting his teeth at the awkward situation. 
“Hard feelings? You’re pinning all of this bullshit on me and you think all we’ve got is hard feelings? Listen to me, you son of a bitch, I had to take shit from you for ten years, and now it turns out you’re some dickless angler working with some murdering psychopaths? The joke’s on me, it’s got to be. You know what, I don’t care anymore. Have it your way, go on and kill me, I really just don’t care. But you know, you’re not as clever as you think you are. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got the princesses fooled, I ain’t. And soon enough everypony else will realize you’re a snake, and then they’ll say, ‘hey, maybe we should have listened to Crestfall.’”
“Lance...You’ve got such a limited view of the world. It’s all coming to a head, my boy. There’s ponies like me all over Equestria, working all sorts of jobs, all waiting for the moment when this administration is done away with, and we can all set our sights on a better future. A future where the strong do not submit to the weak! A future of greatness! I wanted you to be a part of it, Lance, I did! But you just couldn’t keep your nose from where it didn’t belong! You’ve risked years of planning, and I just can’t forgive that. The princesses are too arrogant to think beyond their narrow minds. And apparently so are you. Now you’ll be the first to die, in a long line of ponies to come. Out with the old, and in with the new.”
Crestfall shook his head and sighed, unable to contain his burning desire to try and strangle Stride through the bars of his prison. He would do it too, if it wouldn’t fully incriminate him as a violent maniac. 
“Fine, carry on with your master plan then. You’ve already screwed me over, Commander, I’m not going anywhere. But you could at least do me the minimal courtesy of fucking off. I can’t think of anypony who would want their last few hours alive to be spent talking to you of all ponies.”
Stride scoffed, but conceded, stomping off up the stairs, leaving Crestfall satisfied with his small victory, until he reminded himself of his dire predicament.
He was going to die tomorrow.





Chrysalis had resumed her pony disguise, resting on a grassy hill overlooking Ponyville from less than a quarter mile away. Violet was nearby, leaning against a tree, both of them just beginning to wake up after having both collapsed in exhaustion. They had narrowly evaded Cellestrous’ pursuing guards, finding safety outside of Ponyville. Both were far too tired to come up with a good plan for what to do next, preferring to just enjoy the quiet ambience of nature bustling around them. 
“Have you got a real plan this time?” Violet asked, calmly, “One that doesn’t include knocking me out and stuffing me in a bush?”
“I was protecting you,” Chrysalis said, slightly embarrassed to admit that she didn’t want to see her companion get hurt. If anypony was going to kill that unicorn, Chrysalis wanted it to be her. 
“You’re lucky I found you in time,” Violet said. 
“Thanks for that...Those ponies are a lot more dangerous now that they’ve activated the jewel,” Chrysalis said. 
Violet sat up suddenly, shocked. 
“What?! What do you mean, they activated it? You said it had to be channeled!”
“I did, and they happened to have a device to do it. It seems they were planning on using that jewel for a while now...And we helped them do it,” Chrysalis said, regretfully. She wanted to be the one to bring Equestria’s doom, not the treacherous pest Cellestrous.
“So we’re sticking around then?” Violet asked. 
“Of course. We’ve got to find that jewel, and take it back.”
Violet hesitated, her mind wandering to thoughts of Equestria’s inevitable destruction due to that jewel’s power. 
“Chrysalis...I know there’s no point in me saying anything, but I really don’t think it’s worth it to try and use that jewel to enslave Equestria,” Violet said. 
“We’ve been over this,” Chrysalis said, rolling her eyes at Violet’s attempt at being a moral guide. 
“Look, I’m not a hero, and I’m not any kind of saint either, or even a good pony really, but even I can’t say I’m alright with what you plan to do.”
“All those ponies are only good for one thing...serving me, however I see fit.”
“You don’t even care about anything, or anypony, even a little bit? You’d be ruining ponies’ lives...Innocent ponies, not the ones who have wronged you.”
Chrysalis hesitated, briefly contemplating what inherent value a pony’s life had. She was passionately resistant to even humoring a redemptive transition, however. She sighed, trying to forget she even considered it. 
“We’ll stick around...Worry about what I’ll do with the artifact later, for now let’s worry about getting it out of that wretched pony’s hooves.”
Violet couldn’t disagree with that list of priorities, leaning back down against the tree, resuming her relaxation. Cellestrous and her armies would reveal themselves in Ponyville eventually, and when they did, Chrysalis and Violet would take their chance in the chaos to retrieve the jewel. 
While Violet dozed off again, Chrysalis sat on her thoughts. Her reunion with Starlight had reminded her of the hatred she had felt for ponies, and yet, she also pitied them, for being so persistent in their love and optimism. She was perpetually angry, at the world in general. She was born a cursed life, and now that she was alone without a hive to defend her, she was a single soul fighting against an impossible opposition.  There was so much anger, and hate, and need for vengeance brewing inside her, that it was all she could ever think about. But this pony, Violet, had shown her a different side of ponies to Chrysalis. Perhaps it was that Violet hadn’t despised Chrysalis, even after revealing her true self. Violet was possibly the first pony to not just tolerate Chrysalis, but also to go out of her way to protect Chrysalis. They had saved each other’s lives now on numerous occasions, and it made Chrysalis feel a rarely felt sensation, as if the anger in her heart didn’t matter as much, because she had a pony who looked out for her. The world hadn’t completely turned its back on her, and so she realized that the whole world didn’t deserve her wrathful revenge. The innocent ponies, who lived quiet lives and minded their own business, did they really deserve to die? It was uncomfortable for Chrysalis to think about, given how many innocents she had already slain in her warpath. She had felt so empty all her life, but now, even though she was so close to world domination, she found she wanted it the least. 





As the sun descended out of sight, as did Crestfall’s hope for a miraculous escape from his newly determined fate. Of all the ways to die, this had to be the most insulting. He gazed out the barred window of his cell at the city, which was packed with an exuberant nightlife, as if they were all unaware a pony was going to be executed tomorrow. 
“Nice going, idiot.”
Crestfall spun around, and saw Elodea standing right outside. Or at least, it appeared to be her, but without her typical careless stride. She seemed far more sullen than he was used to.
“You look worse than me,” Crestfall muttered, turning back to the window, trying to make his last sights something else other than the cold dreariness of his prison. 
“I told you something bad was going to happen,” Elodea said, miserably. 
“What, do you want me to apologize? Why are you even still here? Your friend’s with the princess now, she’s safe.”
“I...I didn’t want you to be alone, before…” Elodea said, trailing off, afraid to even confront the finality of Crestfall’s upcoming appointment with death. 
“Well, it’s alright, you can go. Get out of here, before they throw you in one of these cells too,” Crestfall said, exhausted. 
“So that’s it then? You’ve just given up? You made it all the way here, and-and risked your life, and now you’re done? That’s it?” Elodea yelled, frustrated with his hopelessness. She had been admiring his ridiculous sense of perseverance all this time, so much that it hurt her to see him finally stop trying. 
“Yeah. What did you think was going to happen? We’d all make it out safe and sound? And what do you care? Our little partnership is done with, if you couldn’t tell already. This is the end of the road, and frankly I don’t see what you have to complain about.”
“I don’t want you to die, alright? Do I really have to spell it out for you?”
Before Crestfall could fire back another sarcastic comment, he noticed how emotional Elodea was becoming, more open about her feelings than he had ever seen her before. 
“Elodea, I’m done for...Now I’m telling you to get out while you can, forget about me.”
“I’m going to find a way to get you out of here, I promise...It’s not over yet,” Elodea said, determined. 
Crestfall smiled, admiring her effort, though he saw no rationality nor potential in it. Elodea sat down on the ground outside his cell, Crestfall sitting on the bench on the back wall of the cell, facing her. 
“I had to sneak down here, you know,” Elodea said, “I just wanted to see you, make sure you’re alright.”
“Stride came earlier, told me what I already knew, he’s in with those bastards that’ve got Starlight.”
“Well there, we can use that, can’t we?” Elodea asked. Crestfall shook his head. 
“Stride’s respected. A seasoned military stallion. And if you couldn’t tell, the princesses don’t trust either one of us at all…”
“We’ve got Princess Twilight’s on our side, though, what about that?”
“Doesn’t matter, we can’t persuade Celestia, or Luna, and besides, there’s not enough time for that,” Crestfall said. 
They were silent for a moment, neither one knowing how to solve their problem. 
“I’d thought I’d given up a long time ago...I used to have everything I wanted. The girl I was in love with since high school, a well-paying job, friends, respect, I was happy as any go-lucky son of a bitch in Equestria. Then I started slipping, I got too angry, or too distracted, or I was drinking too much. I thought I could get away with it. There was an opening one day, for old Cinnamon Stick’s post, he was retiring. The promotion of a lifetime. That was my future, my gateway into high command. I could’ve been a lieutenant, and everypony thought they’d pick me, but...it went to somepony else. Fleetwood, I remember him, and you know what? He deserved it. More than me, I was reckless, and unfocused, and thought I was already set for life. It crushed me. That was my last chance, I thought, so I got even worse. Then she left me, and I had nopony to come home and tell me I wasn’t a useless fuck. I needed that, desperately, but I didn’t have it anymore.  Commander started giving me cold cases to look at, just to waste my time so I didn’t screw up any important work. I’d given up...And then I found Starlight and you…And since then, I haven’t felt that sting as much. I feel at ease, like nothing can hurt me. If I’m going to die, I’m glad it’s now. I think I’m ready for it.”
“Well I’m not ready for it, and it’s not going to happen,” Elodea said. 
Crestfall smiled and quietly laughed to himself, touched by her insistence on preventing what he saw as inevitable. 
“You never talk about yourself, do you know that?” Crestfall said, catching Elodea off guard. 
“What?”
“You know...I feel like there’s a lot I don’t know about you.”
“I don’t like to talk about me,”
	“Well, consider it my last request then. Talk about you.”
	Elodea laughed, amused, and decided it wouldn’t kill her to open up for him, since he was set to die tomorrow. 
“Um...ok, I don’t know where to start...My parents, they were rich. Really rich. They moved to the town I grew up in, because it was quiet and far away. But I never liked being the rich kid, that’s what everypony would call me at school. So I started acting out and stuff, going out my way to cause trouble. I wanted a different reputation, a bad reputation. It made my parents mad, and I liked that. They were just so...distant with me. Like I was a pet they were showing off to their stuck-up friends. I hated it. Dust was my best friend, and she was even more out of control than me. Like, I had to take the blame for stuff she did...Dust went to college, and I could’ve too, but I didn’t want that. So I ran away, to Saddleopolis, and tried to start my own life. But I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was, and I ran out of food and money pretty quick. I was living in a fucking alley for a little bit, eating food I stole from the downtown market. Then I got in with some ponies, lowdown rats with very little to live for. I thought they were cool, and I was so desperate, I started working for them, packaging crack and delivering it across the city. That’s how I survived, and it sucked. It really sucked. I got out eventually, and I started working a few jobs that never lasted more than a month before the manager would get sick of me or my drug problem...Then one day Dust came looking for me, and I remembered how better my life used to be. But I couldn’t admit that I had thrown my life away, because I was selfish and stupid. I don’t know why I’m even here, honestly, it feels like mostly a waste. But I want to be something more. Something to be proud of.”
Elodea sighed, realizing she had gone on a tangent, and quickly shut her mouth. Crestfall was smiling, however, despite how embarrassed Elodea was to have revealed what she considered to be a rather shameful history. 
“I’m glad I met you when I did,” he said.
Elodea’s worries subsided, and smiled grew on her face too. 
“I am too.”
Crestfall stood up slowly and approached the prison bars, taking a seat right next to Elodea. They were divided by the prison bars, though neither particularly cared, as they took a moment to enjoy being so close to each other. Crestfall acted first, leaning in towards her against the bars. Elodea did the same, but right before they could touch lips, they both jumped to their hooves, when the sound of the dungeon door swinging open shook them alert. 
Elodea darted into the shadows out of sight, while Crestfall stayed where he was, hoping whoever had just entered hadn’t seen Elodea. 
There were three ponies, all royal guards, marching down the stairs of the dungeon, carrying their weapons with them. 
Spice, Pink Mist, and Slick Sleeve filed in around Crestfall’s cell, staring at him with slightly guilty expressions. 
“Sergeant, we uh...we want to apologize,” Pink started.
 Crestfall had been expecting them to bring him out to be executed, so the way this conversation was going was a definitive upgrade. Elodea stayed hidden, unsure whether these ponies were really on their side yet. 
“We’ve been talking, and we think you might be right about the Commander...He’s been acting...weird,” Spice said. 
They waited for Crestfall to respond, though he remained stone-cold silent. 
“And we all think you and your friends might be onto something about those ponies...We want to help. As in, break you out of here,” Spice continued. 
Crestfall snickered, lowering his head in a fit of disbelief-ridden laughter.
“Yeah, Spice, I could’ve used that change of heart earlier today.”
“I’m sorry! We’re sorry, we should’ve listened to you...But it’s not too late, we want to help,” Spice said. 
Crestfall sighed and nodded to Elodea in the shadows to step out. She did, startling Pink, who was the closest. 
“Well then, since you’re officially treasonous rats the same as me, let’s discuss a plan.”
“None of us can get access to the keys, Lance, we’re going to have to wait until they open it,” Slick said. 
Crestfall stared at them blankly. 
“What do you mean? Tomorrow? As they’re dragging me to be executed?!”
“It’s the only way,” Spice confirmed. 
Crestfall shook his head, already doubtful. 
“And you said I was bad at plans?” he asked Elodea, who rolled her eyes. 
“Got any of your own then?” Spice stammered. 
Crestfall thought about it, and then shamefully shook his head once more.
“Right. Look, I know it’s going to be tight, but we don't have any other options. I tried stating my case to the princesses just an hour ago, and Stride wouldn’t even let me talk to them!”
Crestfall sighed and smiled, hoping their effort would pay off. 
“Thanks for coming through...albeit last minute.”
“Keep complaining, that will save your life faster,” Slick said, sarcastically. 





Twilight was becoming anxious. The town was definitely more fortified than before, but it was still extremely vulnerable to an attack. Not knowing what they were up against made things even worse. The townsponies were struggling to stay spirited, what with their utter annihilation seemingly unavoidable.
Twilight was standing in the balcony of her castle, overlooking the town as it succumbed to the darkness of night. She subtly turned her head, after hearing the clacking of hooves along the floor behind her. 
“Twilight,” said Applejack, walking through the doorway and onto the balcony,  “I sent Rainbow to be in charge of the ponies at the gate,” she said.
“Good, thank you, Applejack. Are Pinkie and Fluttershy at the rendezvous points?”
“I think so...Twilight, are you sure all this is absolutely necessary? Everypony’s getting pretty spooked...Apple Bloom won’t stop crying, she keeps going on about how everypony’s gonna die, all that.”
“My gut is telling me it’s real. And if nothing ever comes, then we’ll have nothing to be afraid of. But we’ve got to be prepared,” Twilight said, firmly. She had finally had enough of her constant hesitating and indecisiveness. She had to take action, especially if nopony else was willing to. 
“Right, I just don’t-'' Applejack began, before both ponies ducked to the floor at the sight of a massive explosion, a fiery burst of heat and death, crying a terrifying roar into the night. Twilight and Applejack both jumped back up, shocked and confused as to what had happened. In the center of town, a building had been torn apart, now roasting in a flaming hell. 
“Oh no…” Twilight muttered, realizing the town was already under attack. 
“We’ve gotta get down there! Hurry!” Twilight yelled. 
Twilight practically shoved Applejack along, the two ponies dashing down the castle staircase to the front entrance. 
Running outside and into town, they heard the wails of ponies caught in the blast, crawling through the streets and begging for help. 
Applejack and Twilight shared a look of horror, rushing over to help the injured ponies that they could find. Other townsponies had already done the same. 
“Applejack, take some ponies and bring the injured to the rendezvous, tell Pinkie and Fluttershy to leave for Canterlot, now!”
	Applejack frantically nodded and ran to recruit some ponies to help her, while Twilight desperately searched for the source of the explosion, but saw nothing. Just debris and small flames that refused to give out. 
“Twilight!” cried Rainbow Dash, zooming through the air down to the ground, right beside Twilight. Rarity too, had just ran out from another street, accompanied by a group of ponies. 
“What are you all doing here?! Get back to your posts! They’re here!” Twilight bellowed. 
“Twilight, there’s nopony out there,” Rainbow said, just as confused as everypony else. 
“What?!” Twilight exclaimed. 
“Twilight, I think it came from inside, not outside,” Rarity said, just having formed an undesirable conclusion.
“That doesn’t make any sense, how could they have-” Twilight was cut off, by the sound of another explosion, this one coming from nearby. The crowd of ponies, Twilight at its front, shielded their faces from the oncoming debris and gliding specks of ash and fire. Down the street, through the smoke, one pony in the crowd, Lyra Heartstrings, was able to make out the silhouette of a pony, approaching the crowd slowly. 
“Look!” yelled Lyra, pointing at the approaching pony. 
Twilight jumped to the front of the crowd, who began fumbling with their weapons, unsure whether the pony was a friend or foe. 
Twilight froze in her tracks, as did most of the ponies in the crowd, when they recognized the approaching pony as a former fellow resident of their very town.
“St-Starlight?” Twilight stuttered, praying that Starlight wasn’t really the monster everypony thought her to be.
Starlight's mouth was slightly ajar, her head tilted to the side, and her movements slow and misdirected, as if she was under some sort of trance. Noticeably, her eyes were glowing a bright green, and her face was completely blank. Dust Bunny wanted to call out to her, but something didn’t feel right. She hoped those ponies hadn’t done anything too terrible to Starlight, hopefully not as terrible as what they did to her. 
“What’s wrong with her?” Rainbow whispered to Twilight, nervous about Starlight’s unresponsiveness. 
“Is that Chrysalis?” Rarity asked, her eyes wide with horror. 
“Starlight! It’s me!” Twilight said, taking a step forward, hoping that Starlight would come back to her. After so much time, Twilight had dreamed of this reunion, and yet, it didn’t feel real. As if it really wasn’t Starlight she was talking to. 
Starlight, of course, stayed silent, though her horn did begin to glow, though this time bright green, the same as her eyes. 
“Everypony, get down!”  Twilight yelled. 
The crowd understood quickly, leaping out of the way as Starlight’s magic blast shot right towards them, missing its targets. 
Right as Twilight returned to her hooves, she heard the thunderous stomping of an army of ponies, rounding a corner of the street towards Twilight and the townsponies. 
“How did they get inside?” Rarity asked, confused and frightened by the size of the army approaching them. 
The new group of ponies walked down the street, and stopped right behind Starlight, who was still devoid of any signs of life. 

Twilight tilted her head back to Dust Bunny, who was also in the crowd. 
“That’s them?”
Dust nervously nodded, recognizing a few faces. She felt a familiar touch of anger boil deep inside her, a need for revenge. 

One pony stepped out from the crowd, a tall pale red unicorn with narrow eyes and a pointed chin. 
“Twilight Sparkle, we meet again.”
Twilight subtly cocked her head back, having absolutely no recollection of this pony. 
“Oh, how charming. You don’t remember me? I suppose it was a rather eventful day, wasn’t it? In Chrysalis’ lair, all those months ago? Yes, I was there…”
“What do you want?!” Twilight yelled. 
Cellestrous’ wicked smile grew.
“Twilight, darling, what I want, I already have,” Cellestrous said, turning back to the crowd. Ruby Heart stepped out, presenting Cellestrous with a large black scepter, at its tip a magnificent, sparkling green jewel fixed on. Twilight’s eyes widened, realizing what exactly she had in her possession. 
“The Queen’s Jewel is mine...It wasn’t that hard to find it all really, as long as you know where to look...You know full well the capabilities of this jewel, as much as I do…”
Twilight gulped, their chances at victory having just dropped significantly. 
“It was with this jewel that I now control your dear friend here...Her mind is gone, permanently...replaced only by the compulsion to obey my commands...You will see a similar end soon enough, Princess.”
Twilight exhaled through her nose and gritted her teeth, furious. The townsponies behind her began to prepare for a fight that they all doubted they could win. 
“Rarity, start evacuating everypony out of here. Rainbow, stay with me,” Twilight muttered. 
“What? Twilight, you can’t possibly-” Rarity began.
“Go, quick, there isn’t time to argue...Get everypony to safety, we’ll distract them,” Twilight said. Rarity hesitantly agreed with the plan, rounding everypony up and beginning to lead them out of the city. Before Dust joined the group to leave, she made eye contact with the Ruby Heart, of whom she loathed with a passion. They stared each other down for a few moments, Ruby Heart grinning, as thus far she had come out on top. Dust scowled in disgust and caught up with the group, hoping that Twilight would be able to bring Starlight back, intact and back to normal.  
As they began their escape, Cellestrous decided she was done with their little conversation. 
“Bring the princess to me! Kill the others!” she yelled, the army of ponies crying out in adrenaline-fueled excitement. They began rushing towards Twilight, and Rainbow, who all stood their ground.
Right before they made contact, Twilight sprayed the entire initial line of ponies with magic, freezing them in blocks of purple crystal, completely immobilizing them. This effectively formed a new defensive wall between the trio and the rest of the attackers, who were struggling to get around it. 
“Come on, let’s go!” Twilight yelled, running off with Rainbow and Applejack, taking advantage of their window. Cellestrous raised her eyebrows, impressed with Twilight. The attackers began to spread across the town, smashing in windows and terrorizing everypony they came across. 

On the other side of town, there was mass hysteria, ponies running for their lives, lost in a fiery hellscape, as Cellestrous’ vandals ran rampant through the streets, looting, beating, raping, and killing as they went. But on one street, two ponies were walking down as if there was nothing to be afraid of. Chrysalis and Violet, impressed with the level of damage already done to the town, were carefully making their way deeper inside, hoping to get a chance at reclaiming the jewel. 
A duo of vandals rushed towards them, but were immediately done away with, Chrysalis frying one to ash, and Violet twisting the neck of the other. 
Violet pulled Chrysalis behind some cover, confusing Chrysalis. 
“What?”
“Look,” Violet said, pointing at Cellestrous, who was trotting down the same street, holding the sceptered jewel in her hooves, zapping every Ponyville resident that she encountered. 
“Do we rush her?” Violet asked, seeing their opportunity approaching them at walking speed. 
“She has the jewel, we won’t be able to defeat her.”
“How about you distract her, and I’ll get the jewel,” Violet suggested. 
“How about we switch roles?” Chrysalis proposed, suspicious of Violet trying to steal the jewel for herself. 
“She’ll talk to you. She’ll just kill me.”
Chrysalis sighed, deciding she was right. 
She took a step out from their cover, blocking Cellestrous on her path of destruction. Ponyville was suffering, and Cellestrous seemed to be thriving off of it. But, her state of ecstasy was made brief, when she saw Chrysalis pop out into the street. 
“Chrysalis, I thought you’d have been smart and run away by now,” Cellestrous said, smugly. 
“I couldn’t have missed this. Not for the world.” Chrysalis said. 
Cellestrous’ cocky smile subsided, as she realized Chrysalis was playing some sort of trick on her. 
While she was caught in her showdown with Chrysalis, Violet leaped out from her hiding spot and blasted Cellestrous right in the face. The blast was meant to kill her, though, to Violet’s shock, her attack had absolutely no effect. 
Cellestrous turned to Chrysalis, as if to ask if this pony was a friend of hers. Chrysalis fired a blast of her own, which was definitely aimed to kill, but still, Cellestrous was unharmed. 
Cellestrous broke into a spout of smug laughter, unable to decide which aspect of Chrysalis’ plan was most humorous. 
“Chrysalis, how you ever came to be feared is still a mystery to me…” 
Her horn began to glow, and Chrysalis realized that as long as Cellestrous had the jewel’s power, she was unstoppable. 
Before they were both incinerated by Cellestrous’ magical rampage, Chrysalis took flight, buzzing through the air to pick up Violet in her arms. Cellestrous tried to shoot them both down as they flew off into the night sky, though the sky was too dark to see well, and she missed every attempt.

Chrysalis flew across town, and dumped Violet down to the ground, landing right beside her. 
Violet was out of breath, not from physical exertion, but rather fear, briefly believing she was actually about to die. 
“That was too close,” Violet said.
“I warned you,” Chrysalis said, annoyed she had nearly risked her life. 
“We’ve gotta get out of here,” Violet said. 
Chrysalis nodded, as she resumed her pony disguise and began searching for an exit, but then stopped, when she heard the sound of ponies screaming nearby. She turned around, and saw two vandals beating down a young pegasus, who was helpless as they laid down hit after hit. 
“Chrysalis! Let’s go!” Violet repeated, unsure what had caught Chrysalis’ attention.
Chrysalis wasn’t sure what compelled her to begin marching towards the scene, but she found herself unable to stop herself. She zapped the first vandal with a blast to the head, burning a hole through his head. She turned to the other, who dropped his weapon in fear. Chrysalis was unforgiving though, slicing the pony in half. The victim pony was shuddering on the ground, covered with bruises and sitting in a puddle of blood. Chrysalis sighed, wondering whether it was pity, hate, or perhaps moral obligation that drove her to intervene. She trotted back to Violet, who seemed to appreciate Chrysalis’ unusually kind act. The duo made their way to escape, defeated, but not for good. 





Running through the chaotic swirl of chaos and fear, Twilight and Rainbow were shocked to see numerous other buildings on fire, ponies panicking and running for their lives in every which way, as vandals chased them about, causing as much destruction as physically possible. 
“Hey!”
Twilight and Rainbow turned to see Applejack run up to them, having finished her previous task. The three were silent, struggling to get a grasp on the reality that their beloved home was being ravaged.  
“We have to make sure everypony is out and safe!” Twilight yelled. 
“How does she have the jewel?!” Rainbow asked, still stuck on that issue. 
“We’ll worry about that later!” Twilight said, rushing to help a young colt trapped underneath a collapsed storefront sign. 
Applejack jogged down the street, checking to make sure every house was empty and nopony was in trouble. She was still shaken up over the suddenness of this attack, and was especially stunned when she saw a pony being beaten down by about four of the vandals near a coffee shop. She ran over and kicked two of them square in the jaw, tackling another to the ground. She punched the stallion until his face was pulp, and would’ve finished the job for good if the other pony hadn’t gone in and pulled her off. She swung around and decked him, knocking him back through the glass window of the coffee shop. Applejack helped the assaulted pony to her feet. She was crying, clearly having been taken advantage of prior to being kicked to near-death. Applejack led her back down the street, to safety, while Rainbow and Twilight continued fending off the wild vandals and reducing ponies in trouble. 
After rescuing an old stallion from nearly being crushed by some falling debris, Twilight stopped where she was, making out the distinct sound of a young girl crying out for help. Twilight rushed towards the source of the crying, across the street into a trashed one-floor office building. 
Twilight’s eyes darted back and forth in the office, biting her lip anxiously as she tried to pinpoint the origin of the sound. She walked towards the back, and found the crying girl, hiding underneath a desk propped against a wall. 
“Hey! Hey, it’s ok! Come on! We’ve got to get you out of here!”
To Twilight’s dismay, the filly refused, shaking her head violently back and forth. 
“Please! I’m here to help you, but you’ve got to come out!” Twilight said, unable to reach the filly from the edge of the table. 
The filly shook her head again, bursting into tears, raising a shaky hoof to point at something behind Twilight. 
Twilight turned around, just as Starlight Glimmer’s blast reached her. Twilight cast a circular defensive spell, barely in time to prevent being obliterated. 
Twilight backed into the table, slightly injured from the force of the impact from Starlight’s blast. 
“Starlight….Starlight, please….It’s me, Starlight, It’s Twilight…” Twilight said, panting, outstretching a hoff to the emotionless Starlight. Twilight waited for a response, though figured it was pointless, Starlight now reduced to a husk, a shell meant to carry out the will of whoever controlled her. Or so Twilight thought, until Starlight’s face twitched, her eyes narrowing and her whole body slightly contorting. 
“Twi...light,” Starlight amanged to say, clearly struggling to put the words together. 
“Starlight?! Starlight, can you hear me?” Twilight asked.
“Can’t...con-trol….go...can’t….hold it….long…” Starlight sputtered, her whole face twisted in pain, as if every word required an agonizingly tremendous amount of effort to say. Twilight paused, hoping she’d be able to free Starlight of the control of the jewel, but knew that there wasn’t time. The jewel’s power greatly surpassed hers, though even if it didn’t, Twilight had no desire to try and test that. 
Taking advantage of Starlight’s momentary reclamation of control, Twilight bent back down underneath the table, to retrieve the little filly. 
“Okay! Come on! Please! It’s safe now!”
Finally, the filly rushed out from underneath the table, Twilight grabbing a hold of her and running towards the exit, just as Starlight lost control again. 
Right as Twilight and the filly ran out of the office, the entire storefront burst apart in an inferno of magical fire. Twilight and the filly were thrown across the street, but were caught by Rainbow Dash just before they landed on the hard ground. 
“Time to go, I take it?” Rainbow asked, smirking. 
“Is everypony safe?”
“Everypony’s accounted for, we were waiting on you,” Rainbow said, setting Twilight and the filly down on the ground. 
They all watched the burning office building, as Starlight stepped through the flames, protected by a magical bubble. 
Starlight fired another blast towards them, this time being met by Twilight, who groaned in intense pain, barely able to handle the impressive force of Starlight’s blast, the jewel’s influence clearly enhancing her power. 
Rainbow flew into the air while Twilight dueled with Starlight, and, right before Twilight was about to lose the battle, Rainbow came crashing down on top of Starlight, slamming her into the ground, shattering a few bones on impact. Rainbow landed and backed away, hoping that would be enough to keep Starlight down temporarily. She found herself to be wrong, when Starlight stood back up as if she wasn’t in any pain, aiming her horn at Rainbow. 
Not wasting any time, Twilight concentrated all of her magic into teleporting Rainbow, herself, and the little girl away from this street. In a flash of light, they were gone, Starlight firing a pointless blast towards where Rainbow just was. 

Twilight, Rainbow, and the little filly reappeared at the edge of town, in the back of a large group of ponies slowly making their way out of the town. 
“Everypony! Retreat!” Twilight yelled, rushing the little filly into the crowd, hoping her parents were still alive to receive her. 
“Twilight, we can’t leave the town for those ponies to destroy!” said Rainbow, eager to put up more of a fight. 
“We don’t have the numbers to fight them all...And that jewel is too powerful, we’re lucky to have gotten out alive...We’ll take everypony back to Canterlot, Celestia will have to listen to us now, and take this seriously.”
“That’s our home, Twilight! We can’t abandon it!” Rainbow argued, other ponies in the crowd feeling similarly. 
“I wouldn’t have us leave if we didn’t have to, but we don’t have a choice! Ponies’ lives matter more to me,” Twilight said, as the crowd of ponies marched out into the grassy lowlands beyond, the bright flickering flames that had engulfed at least six buildings in Ponyville casting shadows over them as they went.