A Long Way From Equestria: Going Beyond Our Duty

by Fluttersyke

Chapter 3: Execution

Friendship

It used to be that having a friend meant you had somebody who would stand up for you without hesitation; someone who would lend a hoof when you needed it and help you up when you fell.  But these days, Friendship no longer means quite the same thing. Sure, ponies may decide they like one or two others; they may hang out together on the rare occasions when they have a chance to relax. But given the chance to help their friends when they’re feeling down; asked to lend a helping hoof in return for nothing? Things simply don’t work that way in Equestria anymore.

Friendship, true Friendship, is dead in Equestria; the Celestial Empire has made sure of that. There is no reward for helping those around you, much better to sit on the sidelines and pray your acquaintances are chosen for punishment instead of you; the only thing that matters in your life is the Empire, and how you can benefit it.

There is no point in wasting emotion or interest on anypony else’s life. Because there is no one who will ever stand up to help you, and no one who will ever give a damn how you feel or what you’re doing.

Long ago, having a friend wasn’t a term to throw around without care for its meaning. In the time before the Celestial Empire, Friendship was a powerful weapon that, wielded in the face of neigh impossible odds, almost always prevailed.

Almost.

Then came the shit storm that swept the entire world away. I can’t say I paid much attention to those history lessons, and truth be told, I can’t say I care. I got the gist of them, and that’s all I’ll ever need: Some large number of years ago, something happened that provided me with the sorry excuse for an existence I have been stuck with for fifteen years, the end. Yay.

If I really thought about it, I’d probably go insane. Because I would have an uncontrollable desire to go back and give my regards to whatever asshole had caused all this, along with a large amount of bullets. At high velocity. In his face.

I leapt and spun around on all four hooves, coming back the ground with vengeance and purposefully putting more weight on my right forehoof.

BLAM!

The head of the pony shaped clay statue blasted clean off; in fact the shot actually blew a hole in the wall behind the target.

I did not pause to congratulate myself. In fact if anything, the fact that I hadn’t taken out the entire pony target pissed me off even more. I slammed my hoof against the unforgiving earth, firing off several shots in rapid succession; my burning anger nothing but a slightly warm feeling against the cold, calculating aim of my mental sanctuary.

BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM!

There went the pony up in front, a shot straight through the heart. The pony in the far back was actually blown off its mount, it lay broken on the ground with a hole where its smart assed mouth should be. The last bullet had been fired from a crouched position; it tore clear though the first pony I‘d shot, severing it from its mount, before continuing at an upward angle and slicing through several ropes that held a part of the ‘balcony’ up in the back. The three figures on said balcony toppled downward with their platform, shattering from the force of their impact on the hard stone floor of the range.

Something about the sound of shattering pony statues seemed to sooth my anger a bit. It also brought back the unwanted memories of three nights ago, when I had been awoken from my healing slumber in my one and only friend’s medical center. My teeth clenched in anger at the memory... but really, that night was all I could think of, was all I had been thinking about, for three days.

I remembered the terrible sight of Crystal, bound up like a giant cocooned caterpillar, in the middle of all the other recruits.

I remembered the sudden blossom of pain in my back that had rendered me immobile; paralyzed for almost a full day. And the bark of annoyance as the shadow pony in the doorway behind me dragged me to join the rest of my unconscious squad, removing the poisoned dart from my neck and saying it was my own damned fault for kicking him.

I could still feel the shock as I realized that the seven ponies who had so rudely taken the twelve of us prisoner were in fact the six most talented and coordinated fliers in all the Empire. Firelight nonchalantly mentioned their names in passing when he asked what the ShadowBolts were doing so far south. Which meant that we hadn’t been assaulted by bandits, or taken captive by some unknown enemy shadow race, we we’d been ‘rescued’ by the Empire. And guess what the Empire does not tolerate? Ponies who live outside of its laws. Crystal’s cutie mark had spelled out her fate before she’d even opened her mouth.

The ShadowBolts, and their unicorn Commander, had been closed mouth about their objective; probably because Crystal had still been slightly conscious on the ground next to me. They hadn’t answered any of the innocent sounding questions Firelight had asked them, but I highly doubted the stallion was clueless, he must have seen this coming; how else could he have played Crystal and I so well?

The charcoal coated unicorn was who I remembered most of all from that night. Firelight Sparkle had kept an unconcerned, almost sly smile on his face the whole time. The only time his mask had slipped was when he’d realized I was still alive. I kept expecting him to try to come over and free us, to prove that saving his life, and having him save mine, meant enough to call of this level of betrayal.

I was sadly mistaken. Not only did he fail to so much as look in my direction, he actively helped the ShadowBolts as they set about going through the humble medical center for anything of value. Their commander had looked at him with admiration.

I had once again felt the cold despair of hopelessness descend upon my heart and mind.

If fighting and nearly dying together wasn’t enough, how could Friendship possibly survive in this world?

Once the plotholes had finished clearing out the place, they’d rallied under the black coated unicorn, who was clearly the leader here.

The buck gave me the creeps, even paralyzed as I was; his voice was as hard as his cold blue eyes, and his silvery white mane contrasted eerily with his pitch black coat. He gave off an aura of authority that surpassed even SteelSaddle’s as he ordered the six pegasi under his command to begin throwing down sticks and spilling flammable potions from Crystal’s own supply all over her home. His plan was simple and clever; when the buffalo woke to the fire, they’d assume Crystal had died trying to save her patients.

I almost wish she had.

I knew what would happen to her back in the Empire, what was happening to her right now. She was being tortured for information, any information the Inquisitors could think of asking for. By now she must have broken; if she’d held back at all in the first place that is. Ponies didn’t endure the Empire’s torture for more than a few hours without giving up whatever sad hope they had of protecting their secrets, three days was well past that.

I growled and shook my head fiercely. Forcing myself to think about something else, anything else. After mentally fighting myself for a few more seconds as I stood alone in the Shooting Range, I found my thoughts once again stray to that terrible night...

Once the bonfire was all set up, the ShadowBolts had flown into the sky while the Commander set to work condensing the air into two black masses of clouds floating just off the ground with his silvery magic. He’d then levitated all twelve of us onto the larger wispy platform, which surprisingly held our weight without any discernable strain or reaction. I had been completely at his mercy, I couldn’t move an inch; so I just lay there with the rest of the ponies. I thought I’d heard Crystal awaken briefly, but she stayed silent after that, and I couldn’t talk to her without control of my mouth.

When we were in place, the unicorns leapt onto the other cloud,both of which served as light weight, easily maneuverable airborne platforms called ‘T-Storm12 Transports’. Easy to produce with magic and adequate for flying a small number of ponies across a short distance. The ShadowBolts had surrounded us in a kind of honor gaurd; two of the pegasi flying under the platforms of shadow and lifting them up to the sky. A very frightening ride, let me tell you. But fortunately I wasn’t in charge of my facilities at the time; so I could be sick without any physical problems. Flying in the open air really wasn’t my thing apparently. The ShadowBolts underneath us had then flown to the rear of the cloud and put their wings into moving us north at high velocity; I could just barely smell a hint of smoke as we travelled onward. All six ShadowBolts rotated out with the two pushing us while the other four nudged the clouds onto the right path and covering their comrade’s backs.

Throughout the journey, I could only lay there and think. I could only keep imagining what would happen to me, to Crystal, when we got back. Traitors were dealt with so harshly, it was lucky if they even got a day between the notice of their execution, and the moment they stepped up to the Headspony’s noose. I wasn’t sure what Firelight had told his new friends about the two ponies who’d saved him, but I was fairly sure he wanted us dead. Probably to make sure no pony knew that he had some pretty radical ideas about the Empire himself. Even if they had been nothing but lies, his words could damn him for the simple fact that he was right.

Too bad Crystal had an irremovable brand. Her Cutie Mark would mark her as a traitor no matter where she fled to in the Empire, and I highly doubted the Empress would allow her to escape a second time.

So far, I hadn’t heard anything about my kidnapped companion since they’d taken her to the old town hall for ‘questioning’.

Either they were keeping her around for fun, or she was already dead. I prayed to the Goddess for the second option. I’d barely made it through these last three days, and I wasn’t the one locked away far from home. Right now, it felt as if that whole mission, from the Honesty and the ambush, to the conversation by torchlight and the ShadowBolts, was a hazy dream. It was like the Empire had just decided to forget it, and everypony complied without telling me. I wanted to do something, something to make it all seem real. I wanted to show the ponies here what life was like outside the Empire; do something to honor Crystal for helping me, and to make up in some impossibly small way for Firelight’s betrayal...

Your desires, are insignificant. You, are insignificant. You can do nothing for her; you are nothing. Just a passing speck in this vast Empire.

And then there was that.

Probably the absolute worst thing about returning to the Empire’s lands was that I suddenly remembered just what had transpired as I had stood before that incoming magisile. I’d been frozen, helpless, by this asshole. I had no idea where the hell the voice came from; but as soon as I reentered the Empire in the hooves of the ShadowBolts, he had come back into my mind with a vengeance. His wonderfully uplifting comments came whenever I was feeling particularly sad or rebellious; so we had a fairly constant stream of communication since I was pretty sure my mood for the past seventy two hours or so qualified as downright bucking depressed.

You are alone. You are helpless to aid those who need you most. You are Nothing.

Yeah, thanks for that.

The problem was... I was pretty much in agreement with him, and besides, what was the point in arguing? I vaguely remembered my conversations with Crystal and Firelight, but even then I knew that I had never believed in myself. Any belief that I had power over anything, that the things I did would matter, would make any sort of a difference... eroded away before I could even grasp them. I was an earth pony. In this Empire I was nothing. No pony could stand up against the might of the Empress, nor to her exceedingly large army. It was pointless to even hope.

With a forceful shake of my head, I snapped myself out of such thoughts.  Again.

I took a step back from the fire line and glared around at the empty clearing. I had come here to clear my head... right, like there was anyway I could possibly get rid of the crushing realization that this would be my life for as long as I’d live now. I was no longer even remotely pleased to be in the Battalion, Gamma Squad could go buck itself for all I cared; I just wanted to be back in Crystal’s home, talking by torchlight about making things better for everypony...

Dammit come on!

I desperately forced myself to take in every detail of my surroundings, maybe I could drown out depression with study...

The Shooting Range was a simple design, and a perfectly neutral thing to think about. It involved shooting deadly projectiles at pieces of wood. Safe, and harmless...

The Range was set off of the west side of the Training Grounds and about half a mile away from the central running track. As far from the center of the Ponyville Encampment as it could get; almost right up against the large wall that encircled the entire camp. It was arranged into a sort of cross shape, you entered from the right arm, went to the center, and from there had three different ranges to choose from. Each of the three was covered overhead by shoddy sheets of wood and marked out by large, taught tarps, reinforced by magic to keep the bullets within, on the sides and in back. They were all about a hundred yards deep with trees, foliage, and a few ‘buildings’ where the various different targets were magically positioned thanks to spells woven into their frames.

Using the Range was easy, just step up to a fire line with your weapon of choice and blast away. The three sides were each set up for a different type of skill practice; the right was a simple beginner’s affair, with resin-hardened paper cut outs for targets and points assigned for hitting vital areas and such. That was where I’d tested the day I joined the Battalion. The middle range, directly across from the entrance, was an exercise in hitting moving targets. Somehow the unicorns had magicked the flat resin cut outs to move around in endless, unpredictable paths back and forth, which activated the moment you stepped up to the line. It presented ponies with a true test of firing at a living creature. The final range, to the left of the entrance, was a long, wide corridor of forest on one side, buildings on the other. There was, ahem, had been, a large balcony across the back for practice at shooting opponents from a lower position. The test was simple: hit as many of the twenty fully three dimensional clay targets of various species and size as you could in a set time or in a set amount of shots. Every time you stopped firing for more than a few minutes, unicorn magic would reassemble the statues into new and completely randomized species and locations.

This was where I spent the most time shooting, because these ponies looked most like the ones I really wanted to shoot at... I sighed, and looked around. The small clearing was silent. I was the only pony crazy enough to come out here during dinner time.

With a hiss of annoyance, I brought my hoof down one last time.

BLAM!

The bullet only served to blast one of the shattered ponies apart a bit more, but it gave me immense satisfaction that I could still at least hit out at something.

The sound of trotting reached my ears as a familiar voice shouted, “Bravo, Bravo!”

I spun around, searching the clearing for the source of the comment.

Harlen and two of his cronies were walking in to the secluded clearing from the running track, the brown stallion had a smile on his face and was toting a fully automatic assault rifle strapped to his side. I didn’t even blink, I simply stared at him as if he was the absolute last thing in the entire world I wanted to see.

Oh wait, he was.

He seemed taken aback by the lack of a friendly greeting... or maybe it was the death stare I seemed to be unable to stop from shooting out of my eyes. If only it actually worked.

        “Aw c’mon Harmony, Cheer up! There’s gonna be an Assembly today!” He exclaimed brightly, taking up a position a few yards to my right. His two friends went to opposite side of the Range. He aimed down the barrel of his AR, a weapon created to get as many bullets fired in as short a time as possible. The gun was mounted a little above his shoulder, all he had to do was lay his head against the rest, a specially molded and customized piece of rubber attached to the long barrel, and then bite down on two short sticks positioned in front of the head rest to aim and fire the thing. When the two triggers were pressed together, the weapon fired bullet after bullet wherever it was pointed; when they weren’t, it was a harmless piece of metal.

        “Hmm... I hope SteelSaddle  doesn’t kick your flank for destroying the range. But then again, this much damage with five shots should at least impress him before he kills you.” Harlen took a battle stance, narrowing his eyes and sighting one of the many standing buffalo molds. There were still a lot of the life sized clay molds left intact; in fact everything but the pony statues were still standing. Almost as if some extremely pissed off filly had decided to take out her anger on the only species responsible for it, I couldn’t imagine who would do such a thing though.

Harlen took a deep breath and tried to hold himself steady as he bit down on the triggers.

The noise was almost enough to bring me out of my silent anger and smack him. But, given the fact that his short bursts of bullets blasted into only a few of the biggest buffalo targets up front, I felt the anger he was clearly feeling for me and my nearly impeccable accuracy was just enough to let him continue making a fool of himself. He seemed to be under the impression that firing more bullets equaled more hits; unfortunately in his case the extra shots simply went into the ceiling as he failed three times to hold the jittery weapon steady.

After a few more bursts, and a few less hits, he stopped trying and turned to me. His demeanor was significantly less boisterous.

        “How the hell do you use that rifle? This stupid thing just locks on and fires in the general direction of its target! You’re sniping out the supports of the balcony almost half a mile away!”

I was so very not in the mood for this right now. “Harlen, I just pretend each pony is you, and then I blast away.” I said sweetly. Or at least, as sweetly as my raspy, disused voice could muster. I hadn’t talked much at all since my return.

His face immediately darkened, “Look, I don’t know what the hell happened to you with the buffalo, but you’re back now; you’re safe. You are back where you belong and we can help you get over whatever’s bothering you. Just remember, your real friends will always be here for you... as soon as you decide to stop being so bitchy. It’s not like you’ve got anyone else anyway; try not to take your stupid hissy fits out on us.”

I locked eyes with him, “You have no idea what happened back there. Because you ran to save your own sorry ass when there were ponies who needed your help.”

He actually laughed in my face. “Oh you’re a riot harmony, those unicorns didn’t need anypony’s help. And definitely not a stupid little earth pony’s. You should have come back with me when you had the chance, everything would have been sooo much easier for you. ”

I remembered the buffalo aiming his huge magisile launcher at the Honesty,  “You’re right. Maybe I should have gone with you, that way we all could have died in peace, and ignorance.”

He blinked in confusion, “What the buck are you talking about? At least you wouldn’t have been tortured for three days by those psychopathic monsters if you’d come with me!”

I snorted in disgust. Clearly they had already been told exactly what the Empire wanted them to believe; it would be my word against a nation’s.

“Just shut the hell up, you’re not going to listen to me and you wouldn’t give a damn about what really happened anyway. The only thing you care about is doing what you’re told; you don’t think Harlen. And you sure as hell don’t know the first thing about the world outside the Empire.”

He took a step back from me, looking almost... frightened.

“Harmony, you can’t go around saying things like that. You’re lucky I don’t report you to the Sergeant...” He looked genuinely confused at my outburst. There were several shots from the ponies across from us as they tried to hit the static cutouts with nothing more than mouth pistols. Harlen glanced at them and seemed to regain some of his arrogance, sneering at their failure. He turned back to me, “Harmony, you have a Duty to your country. I did mine; you need to learn when to run away from a lost cause. It’ll be a lot less painful for you in the future.”

With that, the pony who’d been my on and off rival turned his back on me for what was probably the last time.

I looked out over the ruin of the range, in a few seconds, the destruction we had caused would be erased by unicorn magic... I wondered if that was how they did it in real life, simply magicked away any evidence of the tragedies caused by the greed of the Empire and made sure everypony forgot about them. I wouldn’t put it past them.

My resolve hardened further... I couldn’t go back to my old life, I didn’t even want to try. Not with the things I now knew about the Empire.

Your life here is the only one you will ever have. You have no power. No freedom.

I flinched as the mental whisper filled my thoughts once more. This life was the one I’d been born to... but it was no longer the one I wanted, regardless of my power to change it. I hung my head and walked slowly towards the exit of the Range.

Was this thing right? Was my only purpose in this world to serve a country I hated?

The Empire does what it must to ensure the survival of Ponykind. You cannot understand the sacrifices that must be made to keep your race on top.

I actually cocked my head questioningly at that, and was thankful no pony was around to witness my mental debate. But then I thought about the statement, did ponies need to be on top? Couldn’t we all just work together?

Ponykind will never be satisfied unless it is the one and only dominant race in this world. It loved and tolerated only those that aided its goals of keeping the status quo, and smashed to dust those who opposed it.

Could... could that really be true? Was it really possible? Were ponies really that greedy and terrible that they chose this Empire over a peaceful, shared, coexistence with other races?

You have seen exactly what your kind  is capable of. You know the answer.

Did I? I’d seen the cruelty of the Lieutenant, the indifference of Harlen, and the betrayal of Firelight... Ponies who took what they wanted, and dragged down anyone who dared to stand in its way. Were ponies like that the norm? Were Crystal and I really the outcasts, the ones who went against common ambition and desire?

The Celestial Empire keeps Ponykind together in the bonds of Duty. Without it, your race  would shatter apart into thousands of meaningless, powerless tribes, to be extinguished from existence by any of the surrounding enemy species.

Was that true? And even if it was, which option was better? To take away the freedom of ponies in order to give them a future, or to allow them free will, and have the entire population wiped out by the people they have bitterly fought for generations?

I trotted mindlessly around the track, turning that question over and over. Surely there had to be some redeeming value, some virtue, still left among us? Were we truly nothing more than a shadow of the great Equestrians that lived during the Golden Age?

You may not look upon those ancient ‘heroes’ with such reverence if you knew their true nature...

What was it talking about? The heroes of the Golden Age deserved every bit of reverence... didn’t they? Then again,  what did I really know about them? A week or so of almost fatally dull history lessons. Sure, I’d loved the topic, but I hadn’t exactly committed every detail memory. After all, when would I ever need to know who had lived a hundred years ago? But the Golden Age had been a haven of harmony, of Kindness, Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, and Magic; even if I didn’t know much about them, I refused to believe those ponies had a hoof in creating the Empire...

If you’re so sure, ask yourself: where did they go? Did they simply abandon everyone and go somewhere else? Have you ever heard of a different society of ponies?

...No. I hadn’t.

My mind struggled to argue, to find some saving grace... But if a reason existed for the ponies who had kept Equestria safe all those years ago to leave when the Empire formed... I did not know it.

I could find nothing to argue with, there were no arguments left.

How could I possibly to make a difference, when thousands of others only wanted things to stay the way they were? Ponies had made the Empire what it was now. They didn’t want change... I was nothing but an oddity. An eccentric with quaint ideas that no longer held sway in the world I lived in.

A world too fucked up to care about things like ‘morality’ and ‘happiness’.

As soon as I had the thought I heard a faint, dark chuckle. It felt like a spotlight shut off... if a spotlight could make you feel shrouded in darkness. I knew, somehow, that I was now alone.

I let out a long, drawn out sigh. Who the hell cared anymore anyhooves? I’d been doomed to the life of an Empire Soldier for five years, the events of the past week changed nothing. The realization that the ponies I had once thought fondly of, even if I knew nothing more of them a few ancient text book pages, may not have been the heroes I thought them to be changed nothing. Except now I felt even more like shit about my fate.

I’d only made it about half way around the track, bringing me close to the exit of the Training Grounds. I looked down the road that ran straight to the center of Ponyville, lined on both sides by the four pony tents that made up the majority of the west side. This half of the camp was pretty much deserted year round; it was meant for the active members of the Battalion when the army wasn’t involved in a campaign. I don’t think I needed a single hoof to count the number of times in my life that the Battalion had been idle; there was always somepony that needed fighting. The east Encampment was where my own barracks, along with the other squads in training’s buildings, and the latrines, were located. I turned away from the street, my thoughts once again shifting to the fact that I was powerless to do anything here.

I was about to continue for another few depressing laps when an eerie, dark note warbled out from the center of the Ponyville Encampment.

I’d only heard the sound a few times before, it was a very rare occasion when the entirety of Ponyville was called for Assembly.

The mournful bellow continued, rising and falling as a pony with super powered lungs blasted it out. I’d seen the instrument they used to produce the call, a giant horn mounted on a rolling base. It was really useful in getting an entire camp’s attention. I remembered Harlen mentioning an Assembly back at the Range, how the hell had he known?

Speaking of my favorite plothole; the brown stallion and his cronies came galloping out of the Shooting Range at that moment, rushing towards the street. Another glance down said aisle revealed everypony else doing the same; the few ponies living on this side of camp were coming out of their tents and heading in the general direction of the old town at the center of the Encampment.

The three from Gamma Squad raced past me, running down the road as if they were afraid they’d get stuck in the back of the crowd. I narrowed my eyes at the ponies plodding along with their heads down. The horn eventually died out, but its message had been clear, and anypony caught absent from the Assembly would be punished severely. Unicorn magic allowed them to tally who entered the central square, where all Assemblies took place, and who didn’t.

With a heavy heart, I hung my head and marched along with the flow. That bastard was right. I couldn’t even go against a simple instrument. I would be petrified to raise my voice, let alone my hoof, at the Empire.

I was just a simple filly, without the courage to stand up for herself. A stupid filly who had believed that ponies could be good, and would now spend the rest of her life paying the price.

I reached the central square in the last trickle, getting pushed and shoved through the mass of ponies jammed into the square as a familiar figure trotted up onto the stage in front of the herd.

        “Now I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here today.” A voice blasted out, amplified by the dirty white unicorn’s horn.

Lieutenant Spite walked back and forth across the large wooden platform erected in front of Ponyville’s original Town Hall. The Assembly before her filled up the entire square of the ancient village, but of course the soldiers of the Encampment caring nothing for the old buildings surrounding them.

I was near the back of the crowd, on one side of the clear space that ran straight through the middle of the mass of troops. This center aisle was how Spite had walked up to the platform, and how she would leave once she’d said her piece and released us back to our duties. No one would dare to set hoof in that two pony wide space.

Spite stopped pacing and glared around at the people before her. “You are here today to celebrate the death of a very, very dangerous traitor to the Celestial Empire. This agent of atrocity has murdered countless ponies like yourselves in cold blood. She had several of our very own Gamma Squad members in her hooves just three days ago, and was seconds away from slaughtering them as they lay helpless in the Everfree Forest. Thankfully, we have our very own ShadowBolts to thank for freeing those poor ponies and bringing this spawn of Evil to Justice!”

Spite spoke with a rising volume, joyously shouting the last part out. The thunderous pounding of hooves shook the very foundations of old Ponyville as the mob of ponies applauded the capture of a heinous terrorist.

One set of hooves, however,  did not pound the ground. One pair of eyes did not have fierce joy and anger in them as they watched the prisoner being dragged up onto the stage by two earth pony guards.

One voice did not join in the chorus of jeers that greeted the icy blue pegasus mare as she was led, covered in a black hood, hoof-tied with rope, and wing-bound with leather, to the tall pole in the center of the platform.

The one with the long rope hanging off of it, ending at head height right above a trap door set into the floor.

I felt a shadow pass over my mind...

Behold. The Fate of All Traitors.

I was numb, paralyzed by the confliction of emotions that shot through me. On one hoof, Crystal was still alive, she showed several bruises and cuts; no doubt the result of torture and beatings, but she was still standing. I hadn’t ever expected to see her again.

On the other hoof... She had just been turned into a terrifying, murderous monster by one small speech. No pony cared if she had single hoofedly saved eleven of the people in this crowd. Her kindness, compassion, and virtue were nothing to them. She had failed her Duty, and that was far more than enough to damn her.

I was about to witness her death. There were over a hundred ponies between her and I, but they weren’t the thing that prevented me from doing anything more than praying for the pegasus before me.

No, that was the enormous, invisible, and omnipotent threat of the Empire hanging over my head. The knowledge that my Duty bound me to stay in my place. To do what I was told and to forget the things that compromised my Loyalty. That was the force that kept me from even dreaming of helping out this poor pony.

Now you see the future that lies in free will. Inevitably, it comes to this. Far better that the Empire makes such instances as small and meaningful as possible. Less ponies will follow in the hoofsteps of those they see brought down with nothing more than a sentence.

No... please, let her go. It had to know that Crystal was harmless, she only wanted to help ponies. Surely it could tell Spite to call the whole thing off? Tell everypony that this particular traitor had saved the Lieutenant’s own sorry hide, and she was letting her go in payment?

A menacing chuckle bounced around my skull.

There is only one possible response to a traitor; Regardless of their personal merit...

No! Not for her! Not-

Execution.

The crowd roared once more as Spite played them up into a frenzy. The Lieutenant raised a hoof after a moment and calmed them down a bit, enough to move ahead with the sickening show. She gestured at the guard closest to Crystal.

        “And now troops, gaze upon the face of a backstabbing murderer!” She bellowed in her magically amplified voice.

The guard ripped the hood off of the pegasus mare with his teeth. She gasped for breath and frantically looked around, searching.

I felt frozen by the sheer impossibleness of the situation, how had it come to this? Just days ago, I’d been a filly trying to make her way through a brutal training regime day after day.... Now I was attending the murderous spectacle that could only end in the death of my one and only friend.

Crystal’s gaze suddenly zeroed in on me. I had no idea how she could have picked me out among all these ponies, but her eyes locked with mine. I could see the despair, the fear, in her posture. Yet there seemed a certain... hope, in the way she leaned forward, towards me.

But... I couldn’t do anything for her. I was just an earth pony dammit! I couldn’t fight, I was created to obey! How could I possibly help? I had nothing!

Nothing...

Slowly, I glanced down at my side. The rules of the Assembly are simple, you come when you hear the call; no excuses. That meant there was no check point, no security measures. Who’d be foalish enough to make them necessary?

I wondered that intensely as I stared at the gleaming Rifle attached to my side.

You are powerless. What good will a few shots do? You have no hope of survival.

He was right. There was absolutely no way I could even think of using the weapon... The Empire was omnipotent, omniscient. It could not be fought.

You are Nothing, and nothing you will stay. You have no chance of saving her, she is already dead, the Empire demands it.

And my Duty bound me to the Empire. My Duty dictated that I join in the jeering cries of hate and slander that were being hurled at the one mare who was responsible for my survival.

I was nothing against this nation. Nothing to these ponies. I was just a stupid little filly, with dreams that were so impossible, they were crushed before I could even attempt them.

The darkness in my mind seemed to grow stronger and stronger, pushing me further into the depths of depression. There was no hope. No chance of redemption; no way to save the pony before me.

Crystal’s panicked eyes found my dead ones. I saw her mouth a word.

A simple, damning word.

I flashed back to the Medical Center, to Crystal’s words....

If no one helps any pony else, nothing is ever going to get better.

The rational part of my mind kicked in... I was no pony special, what gave me the right to decide who lives and who dies? How could I justify killing other ponies so that Crystal could live? What if the Empire was right, what if we soldiers really were building a better tomorrow?

The Empire chips away at your Spirit... leaves you with nothing left, just a colorless, soulless body.

Firelight’s words, even from the mouth of a backstabbing unicorn, were enough to throw away my self doubt.

This pony had helped me when others would have left me for dead. Hell, she was the reason I wasn’t dead in the first place.

I moved out a little into the aisle down the center of the clearing, where there was an unobstructed view of the entire stage.

This was more than just me. Even I couldn’t believe in myself, I could believe that Crystal would do everything to help if our positions were reversed.

My focus shifted from my helpless friend to the agent of her demise.

If I couldn’t aid her in her hour of need, what kind of a pony was I?

You foalish little filly. Friendship is a long dead power. You have nothing compared to the old Magic it once was; this pegasi is a stranger to you. She deserves her death.

I don’t think so. You aren’t about take my first, and only, friend. You son of a bitch.

Impossible be damned.

I aimed, locking onto my target with a cold certainty.

You have a Duty, pony. Do not give it up. It is the only thing you have to hold onto.

Doubt once again clawed at my mind; Duty sustained the Empire. It kept everypony together, kept us from ever needing anything else.

But sometimes... When every truth around you has crumbled to ash,

When the ones you once called ‘friends’ have become your greatest enemies,

When the very nation you are sworn to protect turns around to destroy all that you hold dear...

Sometimes Duty isn’t enough. And when that happens, when you stand on the precipice of change; a single push can send you plunging over the edge.

I closed my eyes, feeling the courage inside of me assaulted on all sides by the terror filling my thoughts.

And then suddenly, I felt a warm glow emit from somewhere in the recesses of my mind... or perhaps from my heart.

Impossible.

It trailed off, faint. And fading fast.

You cannot... exist....

A strange, amazing feeling coursed through me, bolstering my flagging strength and hardening my resolve into an unbreakable will. I felt the brush of a third presence in my rapidly crowding mind. The newcomer seemed to throw itself against the darkness that filled me.

I felt the two others in my head grapple with each other. Light against dark, good against evil.

I struggled to regain my focus, the new found strength allowing me to push past the mental battle raging in my head.

I had to help my friend.

Could I fight the Empire? I doubted it. But the real question was... Could I afford not to try?

The light seemed to grow in strength, pulsing outward and creating a haven of peace in my mind; one that I had already become very adept at using.

I pulled myself into the mental niche, allowing the duel in my head to fade away.

Spite was now standing on the left of the stage, with one guard next to her and the other walking up to the large wooden lever on the platform behind Crystal.

I glanced around, taking in the rest of the scene. All eyes were riveted on the stage, even the four guards that were positioned on the top of the buildings around the crowd were enthralled by Spite’s drama.

        “Mares and gentlecolts! I hope you all learn a lesson today; Treason never pays!” She boomed, laughing cheerfully as she nodded at the green earth pony, who had taken up a position by the lever.

The guard bit down on the lever and gave it an almighty pull; dropping out the floor beneath my friend.

Time seemed to slow down, a scream froze itself in my throat.

Crystal seemed to move with terrifying speed, the look of terror on her face amplified by the acceptance in her eyes. She knew she was about to die, and she knew that no pony would save her.

The guard yelped as the lever was torn from his teeth with the weight of the pony it was holding up.

Spite reared up, causing many of the ponies in the crowd to do the same, and clopped her hooves together in sadistic glee.

Duty may have kept me going this long... but I knew what had to be done. There was no longer a doubt in my mind.

The right thing to do... became the only thing to do.

The light aura seemed to grow brighter and brighter in my heart. And with one last, terrible cry, the shadow that had hung over my thoughts for fifteen years was blasted away.

I gasped in shock. It felt as if a part of myself had been sheared away. A dark, menacing part of myself. My mind seemed to move at the speed of light.

The Darkness that had pervaded my every thought was just... gone.

In its place was only a calm, supporting glow. Almost like what I’d imagine getting a proud, happy smile from a loving parent would feel like.

It was... one of the best things I’ve ever felt. It made me feel needed, proud.

But it was more than that... for once, I felt right.

There was only one thing in this world that could make me go against my Duty, one thing that could give me the courage to stand up against the Empire and all its power.

Loyalty to my friend.

Maybe I was Nothing. Maybe nothing I did would ever matter. Maybe I was destined to die alone and forgotten before I was even buried.

But one thing I was absolutely sure of; I had to try.

My hoof pounded the ground with what seemed like earth shattering force. The rifle roared, but its voice was lost amidst the cheering of the crowd.

BLAM!
BLAM!
BLAM!

I could say that I reacted on instinct, that I was caught up in the heat of the moment. But I loved this weapon because I could think under pressure, my shots went exactly where I wanted them.

The first severed the rope that was about to kill my one and only friend; Crystal fell through the floor unhindered and landed in a heap. Disoriented, but alive.

The second brought the guard near the lever to his knees; blasting into his left foreleg and taking him out of the fight with excruciating pain.

The third... slammed right into the Lieutenant’s ass.

I did not hesitate. I galloped at full speed up the aisle, ripples of realization were spreading outwards in the crowd. But they were far too slow, I flew out of the mass of onlookers, racing to Crystal’s side under the stage.

With a hiss, my hoof-blade slid out and I sliced through the pegasus’s bonds; freeing her wings and hooves.

        “H-Harmony? You... you saved me! The tears streaming down the mare’s face, and coupled with the obvious abuse she had endured during her stay here; they only added fuel to the fire in my heart.

The contented glow filling my head pulsed in time to my righteous anger with perfect harmony.

“I thought you’d given up...” She said woozily, trying to get her hooves under her.

        “I’ll never give up, not anymore. Now come on Crystal, lets get the hell out of here!” I said, helping her up. We climbed back onto the stage using the fallen trap door as a ramp.

I crawled onto the wooden platform and got to my hooves. Now all we had to do was make a quick escape and- Oh shit.

I had turned to find myself looking straight down a large, round barrel inches away from my face.

Crap. In the heat of the moment, I had forgotten about the second guard on the stage.

I risked a quick glance at Crystal; if all else failed, I would be enough a distraction to let her get into the air. I only hoped she would be able to fly away fast enough.

The earth pony guard sneered at me, “Lay your weapons on the ground and don’t make any sudden moves,” he suddenly turned, bringing the large barreled weapon right up to Crystal’s face. “Or she gets it.”

My face must have given my feelings away, because his grin widened, “Yeah, I figured your friend is worth a little more to you, since you’re committing suicide for her.”

        “What are you doing foal? Kill them! They are traitors to the Empire!” Spite shouted from her position on the ground.

The guard shrugged, and then brought his hoof up, preparing to unload his side mounted shotgun into Crystal’s face.

I heard a faint hissssss, and then an orange ball of fire flew from the crowd and exploded into the guard’s side. The earth pony was sent flying off the stage, he crashed into the Town Hall and lay, smoldering and unmoving, in the dead grass.

I blinked, a grey coated, fiery maned unicorn leapt onto the stage between us and the crowd.

        “If you’re going to kill these ponies for saving your sorry asses, then you’d better be ready to face me too!” The stallion shouted, his horn aglow with a pure yellow aura.

"Firelight! You dare defy your Empire? Your parents will have you flayed alive!" The Lieutenant sputtered, obviously thrown off guard.

"If I die for trying to do the right thing then so be it. But I refuse to stand by while good ponies are slaughtered!" Firelight practically snarled in the Lieutenant's face.

"You are the reason this traitor was brought here in the first place! You served the Empire well by telling us that she held secrets... What do you think you'll gain from this!?" She yelled, gasping from the pain in her rear.

"Nothing... but the knowledge that I can do what's right."

Yeah, right.  I thought,  Of course we believe you Firelight.

Without further ado, I turned and leapt off the stage. Crystal had obviously been having similar thoughts, because she was right behind me. We charged up to the Town Hall. I turned and kicked with both hindlegs, bucking the doors wide open before rushing inside.

        “Do we have a plan?” Crystal asked, panting next to me.

        “Ha! Plan? How about run?! And any direction away from that backstabbing bastard is good with me!”

We sprinted to the other side of the building. I worked my magic on the opposite doorway and bucked it open with another forceful kick.

The night air greeted us, as did the sight of several ponies already running around to this side of the building; many of them hastily getting weapons ready as they prepared to take out the murderous rebels.

I stopped short in dismay; the soldiers were blocking pretty much every exit from the central square. We were trapped dead center in the Encampment.

I cried out as a powerful grip suddenly tightened around my middle, and then squeaked in fear as I was lifted into the night sky.

        “Sorry, but I don’t think we should wait around for them to take aim!” Crystal called down to me, she had wrapped all four hooves around my back and was beating her wings fiercely to get us up over the tops of the village buildings.

        “Give me a little warning next time!” I shouted back, fighting back vertigo as I watched my hooves sail over old Ponyville with nothing but air between me and the ground.

Bang!
Bam!
Woosh!

The weapons went off from the crowd gathered in the square, but the bullets whizzed harmlessly passed. Their firearms no where near accurate at this range and elevation.

Despite the situation that was escalating out of hoof at a frightening rate, coupled with my initial fear of flight, I couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling of the wind in my mane and the certainty that Crystal would never let me down.

We soared above the Encampment; I watched as ponies stopped to shoot and then give up when they realized they didn’t have a chance of hitting us.

I was a little surprised that no fireballs followed us, no matter what Firelight Sparkle said, I had made the mistake of trusting him once. I didn't feel like getting screwed again.

After about five minutes, I noticed that Crystal's wings were flapping slower and slower, I wasn't the biggest pony, but I doubted pegasi were designed to be carrying anyone around. And we still had quite a ways to fly if we were going to make it over the towering walls that encircled the Encampment.

        “Set me down near the Training Grounds! I can run to the south gate and escape before the alarm reaches those guards! You can fly out and wait for me there!” I shouted up to her.

        “I am not letting you get caught, not when I can stay with you and watch your back!” She called back.

I opened my mouth to tell her that I was quite capable of handling myself when a distant Blam! sounded from behind us.

Crystal cried out as her entire body, and me with it, jolted to the right. Her hooves loosened and I suddenly found myself plunging downward, screaming in inarticulate terror.

I opened my eyes blearily... to find darkness.

Dimly, I heard the sounds of hoof beats and the calls of soldiers; the realization hit me that those ponies were searching for me hit a moment later.

I flailed around, discovering that I was ensnared in the large canvas belly of a collapsed tent. I struggled for several minutes, working myself out of the huge mess of material.

        “Argh! Dumb fabric...” I muttered in exasperation as I flung the last piece aside and finally found myself looking out at the cloudy night sky.

Luckily, I had landed in one piece, and my rifle seemed to be functioning as well. Not that I was about to test fire it.

I looked around and spotted another crashed tent, Crystal!

The glowing light in my heart seemed to swell as I pushed all other thoughts from my mind to deal with my friend’s situation.

I threw myself at the mound of canvas, struggling to move the fabric out of the way until I uncovered the icy blue pegasus. “Crystal! Are you alright?” I asked urgently.

She groaned and opened her eyes, then hissed with pain. “They shot my wing...”

I quickly moved the rest of the tent aside and found a bullet wound in her left wing. Luckily it had passed straight through, but there was a sizable hole in the muscle. Crystal stayed as still as possible, but she saw my expression and asked, “How bad?”

I frowned and described the injury. Sighing with relief, she said, “That’s fine, as long as my bones are in place and the bullet’s out, just bandage it up. It should heal fully once we find some medicine.”

I tore off some of the canvas and used it to tie a compress around her injury. We had been taught this thoroughly in the Battalion’s training course, and tying such knots with my hooves and mouth came fairly easily now.

With her wing bandaged firmly to her side, I told Crystal to rest for a few minutes while I figured out where we’d landed.

I knew it was just an invitation for trouble to stay in one place with the entire Encampment on our tails, but Crystal needed a breather. And I figured it would be best to map out a direct path to the nearest gateway out of the hellhole my home had become.

The support frame for the tent I had crashed into was still standing, so I clambered up the canted canvas ramp and got a good view of the surrounding area. We were close to the Training Grounds; they were a few hundred hooves to the northwest. But I no longer had any reason to visit them, Crystal needed to get to the safety of the outside world as soon as possible.

I was about to turn and go back to Crystal when I heard a familiar voice raised in anger, and then saw a flash as a ball of fire exploded in mid air a few rows of tents away.

“Firelight Sparkle! I command you to cut the shit! Whatever game you’re playing, it will not earn you a higher position in the Empire! I’ll make sure you get stuck in the kitchens for the rest of your goddess damned life if you continue this attack!”

“Listen to me Spite! I’m not fucking around! I will set you on fire if you keep this up! Let these two ponies go and we can go back to discuss my future and get you some of your dignity back in peace!”

Firelight... was still trying to help us? But wait, how had they gotten over here?

...Wouldn’t this just be the perfect argument to have to get the two fugitives to come running into the open to aid their traitor of a friend?

“Your future will be over very quickly if you shoot at me one more time! Now listen! Just teleport back to the stage and stay there until we find these traitors and I will pretend that you stayed in your chambers today like you were supposed to. That is my final offer; I will kill you, even if your parents rend me in two for it!” The Lieutenant shouted.

A pause. Then a heavy sigh.

“You have a deal Lieutenant.” There was a flash of light and a strange Pop! sound.

A matching flash of light near the center of the camp.

Well, there went any small, slight hope I had of Firelight coming to the rescue. The Firelight I’d thought I’d known in the Everfree Forest ceased to exist; heck, he’d probably never existed. Just this little asshole, manipulating us.

...So I was a little surprised when I heard a quieter Pop from behind me. I turned to find a grey unicorn in front of Crystal’s tent.

“Crystal? Is that you?” He asked, his horn already glowing with the spell I was sure would end my friend’s life.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

I leapt without thinking. Pushing off the leaning wooden posts of the tent and flying towards the unicorn who had caused so much strife in such a short time.

“I’m sorry abo-OOF!” He exclaimed as I landed on his back. I recovered quickly and pinned him to the ground with my hooves.

My focus was narrowed to his face, and the rifle barrel followed it. Just a few noses from being shoved in his mouth.

Unfortunately... pinning someone to the ground with the hoof needed to fire your weapon didn’t work very well.

“Harmony! It’s me, Firelight! Please don’t shoot!” He said with a whimper.

How had I ever liked this guy?

“Yeah right, shut it Firelight. Or I’ll blow your brains out your neck.” I said as menacingly as possible.

I wanted to shoot him, to make him feel as dead as I had for the past three days... but it was one thing to shoot someone in the ass to save your friend, and another to blow somepony’s brains out in cold blood.

I felt the little light in my mind glow approvingly as I held my anger in check.

“Harmony, listen to me! I’m on your side! I’ve been keeping Crystal alive by telling them what they wanted to hear when they interrogated her! I tried everything I could think of to protect you two!”

“What a load of bullshit! She shouldn’t have ever been here in the first place! You went to that Buffalo village to find and capture her!” I said vehemently, throwing one of the scenarios I’d come up with over the past three days in his face.

“Wh-WHAT!? How does that even make sense!? We were ambushed! We were armed to take out a village, not extract one rebel! I already told you, we don’t have the resources to hunt rebels!” He sputtered, looking at me like I was genuinely insane.

“How should I know what your plan was? You’re the evil mastermind, not me!”

“Harmony, calm down and think! Why do you think I’ve been ignoring you this whole time? I was playing the part of the Lieutenant. If I was evil, you would have been right beside Crystal in that freaking circus show of an execution!” I felt some of my anger leave.

Stupid logic, why must you take away my fury?

“But why did you let the ShadowBolts capture Crystal in the first place? Why did you help them?” I asked. My cleverly thought out reasons for his wickedness were beginning to fall apart.

“Because of her Cutie Mark! They saw it the instant they entered the Medical Center. I only woke up once I heard her struggling with one of them; I managed to convince them that she was worth more alive than dead, so they knocked her out and tied her up.”

I looked straight into the beleaguered unicorn’s eyes. I saw the sadness and despair of the past few days there, but also the glimmer of hope.

Hope that I would believe him and he could alert Spite to our location as soon as I let him up?

Or hope that I would believe the truth; that I would see that he had been fighting this whole time with words and acts to help us just as hard than I had in the past hour.

There was a rustle of fabric as Crystal got to her hooves and walked painfully over to us.

“Harmony, I was just as much against him as you were. But please think about what you have seen, and what you’ve let your imagination fill in for you now. I think he’s telling the truth.” The pegasus said, she walked to stand by Firelight and looked at me levelly.

“But...” But how could I have been such an idiot?

The anger and hatred of the past three days melted away.

I stared in horror at the rifle barrel pointed at the fiery maned pony’s head. I could see now why Firelight looked different than before, his mane and tail had regained some of their true color, he was making steps toward fixing the damage the Empire had done to him.

Just like I was.

I stepped away, suddenly fiercely thankful at whoever had designed hoof-shot rifles. If I had let my anger get the best of me... I shuddered at the thought.

Firelight got to his hooves and looked at me. He must have seen the horror in my eyes, because he said softly, “Lesson number twenty four, always believe in your friends. Never doubt them.”

“Wh-what is that from?” I asked, fighting to hold myself together.

“Twilight Sparkle’s letters to Princess Celestia. My parents have almost all the original copies framed in our house. Even they have lost their color and spirit.”

I nodded and looked him in the eye. My decision, irrevocably, made.

“I am so sorry Firelight... I just- I couldn’t believe you would go to such lengths to protect her, to protect us. I didn’t think anypony could stand against the Empire. I guess we both proved that wrong... Friends?” I asked, sticking out a hoof.

“Friends.” He said with a smile, bumping my hoof with his own.

“Now that that’s over with... I think we should really work on the hay out of here.” Crystal said, listening to the approaching sounds of the searching ponies.

        “That is a great idea! Let’s blow this cupcake stand!” Firelight said, seeming just a little giddy as he gave my rifle one last fearful glance.

We turned and began trotting down one of the many alleyways between the tents, going slow and steady so Crystal could keep up. The route to the south gate was simple, we would get to the wall and follow it until we made it to the portal that lead to our freedom.

The three of us walked for a good ten minutes, hearing the sounds of pursuing soldiers now and again and occasionally switching rows and hiding in tents to allow the ponies to pass us before continuing.

Only a few hundred hooves from the wall, I rounded a corner.  And stopped dead in my tracks.

        “Don’t move a goddess damned muscle. I told you it was stupid to help this unicorn panzy, Harmony. Now you have become a public menace.” Harlen stood in the center of the row before me, sighting cooly down his assault rifle’s barrel at the three of us.

“In fact, you’ve become my personal enemy. I thought you were smart enough to stay quiet and let the big boys handle things. But now you’ve gone and upset the entire Encampment, do you know how much punishment Gamma will get now? I only wish you could be there to bear it with us.”

He clamped the two triggers in his mouth, preparing to fire the disgusting weapon. Even if we could run back around the tent, it would be no protection against his bullets. Somepony needed to distract him so the others could get far enough away. And that somepony would probably not survive.

Good thing I had already made peace with my friends.

“Go, I’ve got this. Don’t look back; you two can make it out alone. You don’t need an earth pony dragging you down anyway.” I said sadly, never taking my eyes off of Harlen. I’d only have one shot before the entire Encampment came down on our heads; they needed to be as far away as possible.

“Harmony no! We are not leaving you!” Crystal said, glaring daggers at the brown pony before us.

I saw Harlen’s face set, the kind of shift that happens when one pony decides to murder another.

BOOM!

I cried out, expecting to feel the pain bloom in full force.

...Nope, not feeling it. Could I have died painlessly for once?

The fact that my eyes opened got rid of that illusion, as did the smoking hole in Harlen’s side.

With a huff and a clopping of hooves, a large grey earth pony stallion walked into view out of the opposite side of the path from Harlen.

        “S-Sergeant?” I asked incredulously.

        “Never thought I’d be able to make a difference against this son of a bitchin’ country. Thanks fer showin’ me the way, Harmony. Hard to believe I caught the H’s about to kill each other...” He sighed, looking at Harlen’s prone form. The stallion was bleeding from the wound in his side, but he was still breathing at least.

Sergeant SteelSaddle turned to look at the three of us fully, “Now listen here you three, yer not outta the woods yet. I can’t help ya after this. As far as anypony else knows, we never saw each other, got that?”

        “But... why did you do that? Why are you helping us?” I asked, confused. this was the pony who’d told me day after day to believe in the Empire, to never lose faith in your Duty.

        “‘Cause I’m sick an’ tired of fightin’. I don’t jus’ wanna retire, I want to stop this whole damn war. An’ the only way to do that is ta show the Empire that we ain’t gonna take it anymore. I’m not about to become a full blown rebel, but jus’ know I’m rootin’ fer you. Now go, they’ll be here any second with that shot.” He said, dragging Harlen into one of the nearby tents to get him out of sight.

I wondered how the old stallion would explain the hole in Harlen’s side to the rest of the Encampment.

My mental glowing spectator seemed to be expecting something of me. Which I realized I had already decided to do anyhooves as I walked up to the imposing figure before me.

I placed a hoof on my old mentor/torturer’s shoulder, “Thank you, I mean it. I promise I’ll never forget the things you’ve done for us.”

His ears flattened back against his head. Blushing slightly, he said, “Aw don’ worry about it Harmony. Ye’ve always been a good kid. Jus’ glad I got here in time to stop this plothole. He’ll come around eventually and then we’ll have a nice long chat...” He gave the tent housing the said plothole an unreadable glance.

        “Take care of yourself, Sergeant.” I said as the sounds of hoofbeats became audible, followed by the shouting of Lieutenant Spite and the rest of her followers.

        “You too filly, all ah you. I wish ye’ luck in survin’ the days ta come.” SteelSaddle said with a tone of finality.

He turned to face the sounds of pursuit, “EVERYPONY FOLLOW THEM! THER’ HEADIN’ NORTH! LOCK DOWN THE GATE! WE’LL GIT EM FER SURE!”

His bellow resounded throughout the entire camp. With one last look at the stallion standing all alone in the center of the path, I turned and led my friends south; towards our freedom.

With the search parties safely heading in the opposite direction, we made it to the south gate in minutes.

Set into the twelve-pony high timber walls, the gate was a simple affair. It was basically a series of straight up and down metal poles crossed at intervals by horizontal rods to form a large, impenetrable square door. There was a large clearing devoid of tents before the gate, which connected with the mane road that cut straight through the Encampment. A long, rickety staircase was attached on the left side of the gate, starting near the small shack there that served as a gatehouse.

Two large chains snaked away from the top corners of the criss crossed barrier through a pulley system, and connected to a large spool in the gatehouse wrapped with enough chain to lower the gate outward to allow defenders a raised platform to fire out from at incoming enemies.

Not that I’d ever even heard a any sort of threat coming this far up into the Empire.

Unfortunately, the gate itself wasn’t our only obstacle; two earth pony guards stood on either side of the barred opening. Even with SteelSaddle’s diversion, they weren’t taking any chances.

Firelight drew us off into the maze of tents before we could be spotted.

        “Alright here’s the plan: if you two can take out those guards, I can sneak into the gatehouse and raise the damn thing so we can leave without any more bullshit.” He pointed a hoof at the small wooden building attached to the wall on the gate’s left.

        “How exactly do you want us to take them out? I don’t want to kill two ponies just because they happened to be put on duty tonight..” I said with a frown.

        “Yeah well my magic’ll do a number on them too. Its pretty and all, but it sure hurts like hell.” He replied.

Crystal turned from her survey of the situation, we had raided a medical supply tent on our short foray over here. Included in that bounty had been a decent amount of experimental healing vials; none nearly as potent as Crystal’s own invention, but together they had been enough to get her wing back into shape.

“I think I know a way... Harmony, if you can distract them for a few seconds, I’ll fly into the cloud cover. Then I can drop down behind them and take ‘em out. I picked a few pointers on hoof-to-hoof combat from the buffalo.” She said with a devious smile.

I looked at her skeptically, “Distract? Does ‘distract’ involve getting them to shoot at me?”

She kicked a hoof in the dirt, “Well... yeah, probably.”

I grinned, “Well sounds like you’ve got the right pony for the job! Just be fast, I haven’t gotten shot yet and I’d rather not start now.”

        “I’ll be as fast as lightning; just try to avoid them after you get their attention, because they’ll probably get off a few rounds.” She said.

        “Alrighty then, let's get to work you two.” Firelight said. He stealthily made his way back into the labyrinth of canvas structures.

I looked to the icy blue pegasus beside me, she nodded and gave her wings an experimental flap. I just hoped she wouldn’t reopen her injury, who knew how strong those potions had been?

I gave her an encouraging smile and then stepped forward, getting a clear field of view of the entire gate.

With practiced ease I slid into my mental sanctuary, only a little distracted by the fact that my mental hitchhiker seemed to be surrounding the space now, as if protecting me.

The rifle slid smoothly to its intended target. I stomped my hoof down almost calmly.

Blam!

The shot sounded incredibly loud in the silence.

It whizzed through the bars of the gate, right through the hole I’d aimed at of course. The thought of shooting the two had never even crossed my mind.

The bullet did the trick though, both the stallion and the mare spun to face me, but I was already sprinting as fast as my legs could carry me to the other side of the clearing. Several rounds pounded into the tents behind me before I leapt to cover unscathed. I only prayed that it had been enough for Crystal’s flight.

I peeked around the tent, and was rewarded with another shot shooting through the fabric next to my face.

Right, fabric does not equal cover...

I was about to make for the next tent when I heard, a soft thump.

“Oof!”

“What the b-” thwack

I peaked around again and found Crystal trotting towards me, the two guards lying in a heap off to the side of the gate.

I galloped towards  the pegasus with a grin and met her in the center of the clearing.

Sighing with relief, I turned to face the gate. We were finally out of here!

...Almost

Six black shapes shot out of the clouds before us. Slamming into the ground and standing in a line between us and our freedom.

“Take another step, and somepony dies!”

The booming voice seemed to echo around the clearing, making it impossible to discern its source. I was guessing a certain black coated Commander was behind it though.

The gleaming barrels of six silenced guns pointed at us. A wall of death.

Needless to say, we froze in our tracks.

“Now take off the rifle and don’t make any sudden moves.”

I couldn’t believe it... we had been so bucking close!

We were literally a few steps away from getting out of here, and these assholes had decided to ruin my life yet again. The six pegasi and their smart assed unicorn master were really starting to piss me off. And not in a good way.

The rifle moved almost of its own accord, training directly onto one of the pegasi in the middle of the ShadowBolts’ barricade. “If you don’t back down now, one of you is going to die. This rifle is sure as hell capable of punching through those rags you call armor.”

“Nopony needs to die today! Put down your weapon and come peacefully, and you will be spared.”

My mouth set in a grim line. Crystal stood by my side, not flinching from the array of weapons pointed in her direction.

“Not gonna happen. Either you step aside, or we go down fighting.”

“You cannot survive this, you will be destroyed, as will the traitor you seek to protect. You have nothing to bargain with.”

I swelled with anger, the little light in my mind seeming to share in my annoyance at Crystal’s ‘traitor’ label. I was the traitor here, she had long since stopped being an Empire pony.

“Then we'll die knowing we did what was right, and you’re going to need a sixth ShadowBolt when we’re through. Just step down, this doesn’t have to happen!”

“There’s no more to say. We will give you one more opportunity to stand down, you have no way out; no chance of survival. There’s no reason for this.”

A small light blossomed from atop the ramparts of the wall.

“You forgot one thing; we have the most powerful weapon of all.”

“And what, pray tell, is that?”

I smiled as the light bloomed and shot towards the ground.

“Friendship.”

My reply was almost lost in the commotion that followed.

“Goddess! INCOMIN- AHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

The Commander must have been aloft in one of those T-Storm things. Because as he had been following the first large ball of fire and tried to warn his comrades, a smaller, much faster bolt of fire flew at him from the ramparts. It set him ablaze; his flaming form fell out of the sky and crashed into a tent, my adrenaline charged mind noticed that the fabric remained unburned.

The suddenness of the shout, coupled with seeing their Commander fall out of the sky, made all six ShadowBolts train their weapons on us and prepare to unleash hell.... just as the first, slower moving Fireball hit the ground in between them and burst outward, a veritable wall of flame rushing towards Crystal and I.

A shield of sparkling yellow energy crackled to existence just before the flames hit, shielding us from the heat that enveloped the six screaming pegasi.

Even if they deserved it... that was a terrible end for Equestria’s finest fliers.

Crystal and I were still looking in mild shock at the bodies when Firelight Poped into existence in front of us.

He turned to look at us and the smile was wiped off his face at our expressions.

“What happened!? Is one of you hurt?” He asked in concern.

Crystal shook her head a little, pulling her eyes away from the corpses, “No we’re fine... It’s just, did you really have to burn them all?”

He blinked, his expression one of complete confusion.

        “Yeah I mean, thank you for saving us Firelight. That was just a little... gruesome.” I chimed in, dragging my eyes away from the pegasi.

        “You do realize that I’m not the kind of pony to cause others needless suffering, right? Remember the lesson we just learned?” He asked. He seemed annoyed.

        “I’m sorry Firelight. I’m not holding it against you, but maybe we should find some non lethal spells for you somewhere...” Our icy blue friend said.

Firelight shook his head, “Gee thanks Crystal, I’m glad you would still hang out with a tortuous, evil pony who likes to set others on fire. But that isn’t me. I’ve had several... issues, with fire before. And long story short, I’ve sworn to never use it as a weapon again.”

I let my gaze sweep over the bodies surrounding him before giving him a questioning glance.

The fiery maned stallion sighed, “They’re not on fire and they’re not dead.  I’ve just learned how to make ponies see and feel like they’re on fire by attacking their nerves and...”

He saw the blank look on my face.

“Well, a bunch of other sciency stuff. I told you I liked to read, spells happen to be one of the few subjects I am fairly sure the Empire left untouched.”

I felt a smile grace my features as I realized all seven of the ponies on the ground were still breathing. Firelight truly was a good pony. I felt a fierce pride for my friend, even if he’d hadn’t actually done anything different.

The little ball of light seemed to share my happiness, swelling with joy right alongside me.

        “Wow Firelight, I’m sorry I ever doubted you.” Crystal said, walking towards him with a smile on her face. I followed suite.

        “I’m glad you know your limits, and your science.” I said with a grin.

The unicorn blushed from the attention to his smarts, “Alright no harm done guys. Now, Let’s get the buck out of this place!” The unicorn said, trotting towards the gate.

With a yellow glow from his horn, the metal barrier cranked upward to reveal the velvety embrace of the open night air.

        “So what’s the plan now?” Crystal asked as we walked towards the exit.

“Well, we’ll have to find a place to lay low for the night; then start putting as much distance between us and the Empire. They probably won’t waste the resources if we get far enough away.” I said.

Both of my friends looked shocked, was it something I said? I thought back over my words... It’d been an honest question.

“Harmony... We can’t just run away! We can lay low tonight, but together we could really do something meaningful! We need to start helping other ponies fight the Empire for the right reasons.” Crystal said, looking pleadingly at me.

“I agree with Crystal, Harmony. We still have a Duty to the Empire; it’s just changed a little. We need to fight to bring peace to this country, we need to show the ponies living here what’s going on outside. I want to stop this madness, it’d be a waste of everything if we head for the hills now.” Firelight said, daring me to disagree.

“You... you guys want to stay near the Empire? To keep running and fighting for the rest of our lives?” I asked.

Strangely, that didn’t seem as bad as it sounded to me... not with these two ponies.

“We want,” Crystal glanced at Firelight, who nodded for her to continue, “To keep fighting the corruption and segregation of the Empire. We want to try and reverse the harm it’s done to everypony... And hell, since we have nothing to lose, we may as well fight with everything we have.”

Wow, that was an incredibly noble picture she was painting... And I found myself believing in it, despite the near impossible amount of luck we would need to accomplish anything like it.

“Alright, I trust you two more than anypony else in the world. I’ll follow you to hell and back; just lead the way.” I said.

Even if we couldn’t possibly pull off our goal without an obscene amount of help... there was no way I’d leave my friends hanging.

“Then it’s settled, now let’s get the hay out of here.” Firelight said, he began the short journey to freedom.

Together, we walked towards the gaping maw of the outside world, almost making it all the way through.

Again, emphasis on almost.

My glowing companion suddenly changed, going from happy, bouncing ball of light; to an armor surrounding my mind. I felt a tide of Darkness beat against that shield.

The clouds overhead suddenly blasted apart. Three smoking trails shooting down to the ground in front of us.

The shadows swirled into more defined forms, three black alicorns took shape before us, their eyes burning red with hatred.

Stupid ponies! I warned you. Now you shall pay the ultimate price for daring to defy me!

The menacing voice was no longer in my head, and it was no longer a whisper. The roar emanated from the dark forms before us.

        “What the fuck!?” Firelight shouted in astonishment.

As one, the three shapes crouched low to the ground, as if preparing to leap straight at us.

        “No!” Crystal shouted in a panic, “Firelight! Shield us!” She cried.

The dark forms shot forward, covering the distance in mere seconds.

Firelight’s magic was faster. The yellow bubble burst into existence the instant before the shapes slammed into it.

You cannot hide behind your Magic forever little unicorn. Just stop fighting, surrender, and perhaps I’ll keep you around for a time.

        “Shove it up your plot! You will not touch my friends!” Firelight shouted at the raging storm of Darkness just outside his wall.

I could see the toll it was taking on him though, he winced each time one of the shapes touched his barrier. Sweat was already pouring off of him from the exertion.

Suddenly I felt an image thrust upon my mind, the first real communication from my new mental companion.

It was a Forest. The Everfree Forest I assumed, although not a part I’d seen during my brief excursion through those woods. I saw an open clearing, surrounded by the iconic dark, scraggly trees that made up the majority of the place. In the center of the clearing stood a homely, two story cottage. It appeared incredibly inviting, giving me a simple, almost silent message through the image; this was our destination.

        “We have to get to the Forest!” I said, frantically looking around at the darkness that surrounded us.

I remembered Crystal’s story; how the shadows following her the night she’d escaped the Empire had seemed powerless beyond the Border.

But the Border was a good five miles or more away from here, with the three of us running against intangible shadows shooting around faster than Crystal could fly...

I didn’t much like our odds.

        “The Forest!? That-That’s Miles away!” Firelight said, groaning from the pressure on his shield.

        “I know! But it’s the only place these things can’t go!” The I said, thinking furiously. I could tell Crystal was terrified of the shadows, she must be reliving that night each time she saw one of the terrifying pairs of eyes.

There was no hope of making it that far on hoof.... We needed another option.

The glowing presence in my head seemed to expand outward, growing beyond my mind and touching my friends.

I felt Crystal’s fear and Firelight’s exhaustion. I felt them flinch from the contact, obviously sensing me and the other as well.

A strange sort of channel opened up between all of us; a shared web of energy that seemed to tie Crystal, Firelight, the glowing presence, and I all together.. An image blasted into all of our minds; the line of trees at the very edge of the Empire, the beginning of the Everfree Forest.

What the hell is this!? I heard Firelight’s thoughts clearly.

I don’t know! But it’s saved me before! I mentally shouted, our thoughts going at the speed of, well, thought.

Firelight seemed to grasp what the strange glowing presence wanted, because he took a deep breath and said, “I sure hope you’ve got enough power to keep us alive!”

The aura of light pulsed deeply, and I could almost see a massive amount of energy enter Firelight. The unicorn gasped in astonishment as he was filled with glowing power.

The shield around us collapsed with a weak fizzle as Firelight’s mind was taken off of the spell completely. The whirling shadows leapt through it, shooting towards us with terrifying speed and fury.

You are Mine!

The shadows swept into us, a howling void seconds away from ripping the three of us apart.

I don’t think so Firelight thought furiously.

A flash of bright yellow reached my eyes the split second before I felt myself torn away from the physical world.

I was swept away feeling stranger than I’d ever felt before. A familiar sound echoing throughout my thoughts.

Pop!

Dear Reader,

Today I learned that even if your friends seem to be doing everything wrong, even if they have done things you cannot, and maybe don’t want to, comprehend; give them a chance to explain themselves before you make assumptions.

If you have the fortune of possessing true friends, don’t ever give up on them. Don’t ever turn your back on them.

Because together, you can keep each other going long past the point where you would have lost your way alone.

Remember: To assume something... Makes an ass out of you and me.

I’m afraid this is the last letter I’ll be writing to you for a while.

Two of my friends have been clamoring to make their own voices heard, and I’m sure you’ve grown bored of watching a silly little earth pony find her way in a bleak world anyhooves.

Your’s Truly,

Harmony

Greetings once again everypony! I hope you’ve enjoyed Harmony and her friends’ struggle against the Empire! But now it’s time to follow a different pony, one who certainly needs some assertiveness lessons!

As always, please feel free to comment, or Message me in anyway possible!

Thank you for reading! Seriously, there’s not much point to write this without somepony to care about this story! :)

Inspiration Credits: Kkat, and Somber & The Project Horizons Syndicate. Also Sweetie Belle!