Two large soldier ponies, a black one and a white one, walked into the throne room of Black Hole, keeping AppleJack between them. Another maroon soldier pony stood off to the side in the room and followed their movements with his eyes.
"Lord Black Hole, we've brought the mare, AppleJack, that you wanted to speak too." the one on AppleJack's left said.
"Well, isn't it about time that you spoke, my pet?" Black Hole asked AppleJack.
She remained silent.
Black Hole turned around, "AppleJack, you will speak when spoken to. That is an order."
"Ah'm tellin' ya, ya ain't gonna change my mind about Trailblazer," she finally replied.
"Such a stubborn mare you are. Well, let me tell you this again... Trailblazer was a bully to all of us, especially to me. I don't even know why he did, but he was quite mean."
"Oh, get over it!" she interrupted.
Black Hole walked up to her and gave her a sharp gaze. "Well, it looks like we got a little sassy one here. Now, what have I told you about speaking?"
"Speak when spoken to." she replied, rolling her eyes.
"Yes. Now, as I was saying, Trailblazer did all kinds of things to make me miserable. Such as taping me to a flagpole near the top, eating my food and spitting it back out so I could eat the masticated remains... The list goes on, you see."
"Well, Ah've seen him do no such thing," AppleJack fought back. "Ah saw that he had remorse for what he's done, and he even said that he wanted to apologize, too. And if all of those things were way in the past, you can get over it! Yer takin' this way too far!"
"Too far? Let me think here... I ran away from home with such low self-esteem because of him. I tried committing suicide multiple times, because of him. AND, I found out what the treasure is and am seeking it's keys so I can get my revenge. The day that him having peace of mind being less than none is quite soon. Maybe I'll even kill him after I'm done torturing him as much as anypony can take. What do you think about that?"
"And just why exactly did you low-lives have to take me away?!"
"Because... We'll need you when the treasure is ready to be unlocked."
AppleJack grew and looked worried at the thought of being the tool for world domination.
"That, and it's a headstart for his inevitable fate. He'll be crying and begging for mercy, and his suffering will be sweet to me, like candy is sweet... But I've grown bored of winning this argument. Take her back to the holding room," he told his two guards.
"Yes, my lord!" they both said, simultaneously.
"And be sure to take good care of her. She is NOT to be harmed, understood?"
"Understood, sire!" Then the two guards escorted AppleJack away. Black Hole turned to look at the maroon pony.
"Well, SteelHide, since Trailblazer will no doubt try to save AppleJack from us now, it'll more than likely impede our progress at unlocking that treasure. So, I'm sending you out to keep him away.
"Huh, sure thing, Lord Black Hole. You can count on your admin to get the job done! I'm on it!" the maroon pony addressed as SteelHide spoke. He ran away to work on his assignment. Black Hole turned to look at the back of his room.
"I wonder if sending SteelHide alone is a wise thing to do... He's... Out there..." he thought. He turned around again to face the enterance to his throne room. "Sound Wave! Come here!"
An orange pony ran up to him.
"You rang, dude?" he started. "I MEAN, sir? NO, Lord? Lord Black Hole?"
"Shut up," replied Black Hole sternly. "Go get the Shadowcolts for me."
Sound Wave immediately knew that this was no task to be taken lightly, and he became a bit frightened. "But Black Hole... The Shadowcolts... They're, like-!"
"I don't care how you planned to finish that sentence, idiot. Now fetch them for me."
"Gotcha!" Sound Wave left. After a minute of waiting, three dark purple ponies with a dark aura emanating from all three of them appeared from the ground. The one in the front laughed for a little bit.
"So, what is it that you seek from us, sire?" he asked.
"Enough talking, Dark Sun," said Black Hole. "Here's your assignment: SteelHide has been sent to seek out Trailblazer and his friends. I need you three to help him seek him out."
"I see, not at all a difficult task. Would you like him dead, or alive?"
"I could care less about what you do to his friends if he brings them along, but Trailblazer MUST be alive. If he's going to be tortured and get his cruel and unusual punishment, it'll be me."
"Understood, my lord." The one in front, turned to look at his brothers. "Dark Moon! Dark Sky! We have a job to do!"
The other two Shadowcolts agreed and disappeared into the floor with him.
Back in AppleJack's holding room, there was nothing for her to do. It was a simple hotel-styled bedroom with a bed and a nightstand. There was a glass door that led to a small balcony, but there was nothing else in there.
"Just dandy..." AppleJack said with sarcasm. "What in the hey do they expect me to do here? Bore myself as much as Ah can?"
Just then, a white soldier pony flew onto the balcony. It was one of the same guards that brought her into Black Hole's throne room a little bit ago. AppleJack saw him and gave him a rotten look.
"And what do ya think YER doin' mister?!" she asked him.
"I apologize, AppleJack," he said. "I've been ordered to keep survelience on you for the time being." The white pegasus opened the glass door and walked into the waiting room.
"And what's yer beef, pal?"
"I understand that you're angry, but I don't have a bone to pick with you." He scanned the room to make sure that no one else was watching or hearing him. "Actually, I've grown to be more and more disloyal to Black Hole..."
AppleJack thought for a second. "Wait... So, what's your story?"
"I've seen Black Hole's lunacy and what he plans on doing, and I, too, know that he's going way too far with his revenge against Trailblazer."
AppleJack began to think that she had a pony on her side. "Could Ah get yer name?"
"I'm known as White Comet," he introduced. "I'll be keeping surveliene over you for the time being, but I still am against Black Hole's ways..."
"Well, why don't ya just leave?"
"I've already joined his army. It's too late. If I tell him that I'm leaving, he'll take it as betrayal, and I will probably get beat to death..."
AppleJack grew worried about him. "Wow... It looks like yer in a tougher situation than Ah am..."
"I really want to help you, I really do," said White Comet. "But stepping out of line against Black Hole, whether you're with him or not, is asking for a death sentence."
"Now, that there is just plain awful!" AppleJack said. "But... How can you help me?" He looked around. "And where am Ah anyway?"
"I'm afraid that I can't relay that information to you right now. I can't let any pony here know that I'm against Black Hole, never mind, helping you out while you're being held here. So as of now, I want to keep a low profile about it. During my next shift, I may be able to help you."
"Fair enough..." AppleJack said.
The next day after the attack, the remaining five walked up to Trailblazer's house. They didn't hear anything inside, but there was still a gut feeling that told that he was here.
Pinkie Pie walked up to the door and continuously knocked on it. "Trailblazer? Are you in there?"
"Go away!" he yelled.
Pinkie Pie backed off from the door, looking hurt.
"C'mon, Trailblazer! We're here to help," said Twilight Sparkle. She began to knock on the door, and noticed that it was unlocked. It even creaked open on her. Without bothering to ask to come inside, she did. He walked up to the second floor and walked into the bedroom. Inside was a queen-sized bed, and lying over it, was Trailblazer.
"C'mon, we need you here," she said. Despite how uncanny it was, she tried to mother him and stroked his mane in an effort to lift his mood.
"I've been scandalized," he began. "Now all of you know about how bad of a pony I was when I was a filly. And look where it got me: AppleJack has been kidnapped and no pony's going to help me."
"But we've seen you do great things!" Twilight talked back. "And we all saw that you had remorse."
"Yeah, and that was to hide my younger meaner self that I'm not proud of. I'm sure that any pony that remembers me now will remember me as Tethleon's little hell-raiser more than King Gold's right-hand colt who strove to be good."
"But what about those that saw you being King Gold's right-hand colt? Certainly, one HAS to be REALLY good to rise to that status." Twilight continued to stroke Trailblazer's mane, but she saw that he was now giving her a dirty look. Apparently, the mane stroking was irritating him.
"Maybe, but it's just a 'maybe'..."
"...Is this because AppleJack is gone? Is that why you're not feeling well?" asked Twilight.
"It's a part of why I'm in such a funk," sighed Trailblazer. "But it's a part of Black Hole... I wanted to seek forgiveness after I picked on him so much, and I wanted to make it up to him. But he took off before I could. I saw how much of a ruffian I was, and I felt terrible. From that moment on, I became a better pony, which is how I got accepted into the Rising Warriors. Still, it bothers me to no end that Black Hole is hellbent on getting his revenge against me, even though I wanted to tell him that I'm sorry... And now he's taken AppleJack away and plans on taking over the world. But I JUST can't fathom why he needs AppleJack and the Tethleon treasure to do that..."
"Well, lying here isn't going to solve anything," Twilight spoke up. "Let's get you back in action."
"After what all the ponies witnessed last night? Not even in my dreams!"
"I understand that you're upset about AppleJack, and I'm worried about her too. But you got to have faith in yourself!"
"Yeah, and she'll be REALLY thrilled to see me again..."
"Oh, come on! You can't feel sorry for yourself forever! Like I just said, you have to believe in yourself! I don't think AppleJack wants to see 'her little sugarcube' give up like this before even trying."
Trailblazer groaned. "Just give me time to think."
"I would, but I have a feeling that you're going to stick around here, getting nothing accomplished."
Trailblazer got up quickly and grabbed her by her chest, growling deeply at her.
"...Okay, I'll let you go..." an intimidated Twilight said. She left the room and closed the door to his room, and she got back with her friends.
"No luck. He's not moving..."
"This isn't right!" Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"WAIT!" they all heard from inside. They all turned to look at the open door to see Trailblazer standing there. "I was bluffing."
"So, you're not feeling so bad right now?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh, of course I'm still upset," he said. "But I shouldn't have been such a sore loser a little bit ago. AppleJack needs me!"
"So, we're going?"
"Oh yeah, we are! ...But..."
"But what?"
"I don't know where to start..."
Twilight thought for a moment. "Do you think Princess Celestia can help us out with that?"
"She might."
Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed in a strange way. After a little bit of that happening, Princess Celestia dropped down from the sky and landed next to them.
"What is it, my dear student?" she asked after she touched down.
"It's AppleJack. We're going to have to find her and rescue her, but we don't know where to start." Twilight answered. Then she thought for a second. "I think Trailblazer knows something you should know too."
"Urk!" he yelped.
"I do believe that it entails this Black Hole unicorn, correct?"
"Yes..."
"According to him, you're the reason why he wants to take over, right?"
"Yes," he squeaked.
"Don't worry, we all do things that we're not proud of."
Trailblazer didn't know if she said that so he could either feel better about it or quit beating himself up over it. Either way, it didn't work.
"Now, isn't there something that you wanted to tell me?" Celestia asked him.
"Well, yeah... Have you heard of the 2,000 year-old Tethleon Treasure?"
"It was brought to my attention last night, but I knew about it before then," she said.
"Okay, but the thing is... We don't know where it's at. Since you've been around much longer than us, do you have any ideas on it's whereabouts?"
"Well..." Celestia thought to herself for a little bit. "I DO remember this one thing about a big container being kept hidden away in the northernmost part of Equestria... That could be it."
"Yeah... It must be."
"I also remember that there was this big maze-like chamber that it was kept in as well."
"Oh yeah, that sounds even more like it..."
"But I'm not sure as to what it could be. Any ideas?"
"I'll ask the bastard when I find him," finished Trailblazer as he looked north.