After the Windigo attack on the train to Ponyville, Fluttershy realized that if Styxon Stones was watching the trains there would no doubt be guards awaiting the runaway ponies at the Ponyville train station. So when they were still a mile from Ponyville, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Thunderlane disembarked the train and traveled the rest of the way to Ponyville on hoof.
In the late afternoon, they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres to find Big Macintosh in the fields as usual.
“Big Mac!” Fluttershy exclaimed and began galloping across the field toward him. Big Macintosh looked up at the approaching ponies and a grin spread across his face. Fluttershy soon reached the red stallion and nearly bowled him over as she leaped up to wrap him in a tight embrace.
“Y’ sure yer the real Fluttershy?” Big Macintosh asked in response to Fluttershy’s uncharacteristic demonstration of affection. He failed to hold back a smile as she continued to hold on to him for several long seconds. Finally, Fluttershy drew back slightly so that her bright eyes met his. Fluttershy smiled and the two rubbed noses.
“All right, y’all,” Applejack broke in, “that’s enough o’ that. We got stuff t’ discuss.”
“Hold on,” Rainbow Dash said. “Where’s Pinkie—“
At that moment, Pinkie Pie appeared at the edge of the field. Upon spotting Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Thunderlane, she crossed the field in fewer bounces than seemed possible and came to a quivering stop in front of them.
“Hiya Applejack!” she greeted them. “And Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and Applejack’s new coltfriend! I missed you so much! Well, maybe except you, Mr. Moderately Attractive Pegasus Stallion. I don’t think we’ve ever been formally introduced! I’m Pinkie Pie! Welcome to Ponyville!”
“ ‘Moderately attractive’?” Thunderlane whispered to Applejack.
“Don’t worry about it,” Applejack whispered back.
Pinkie Pie seemed to pause mid-thought as she remembered why she came to Sweet Apple Acres in the first place. “Oh! I gotta tell you about—“
She was interrupted by another enthusiastic hug from Fluttershy.
“It’s good t’ see ya again, Pinkie,” Applejack said.
“How’s the rebellion going?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“It’s going fantastic!” Pinkie Pie replied. “Mackie here had the idea to stop sending food to Canterlot, to get the unicorns’ attention, you know, so we’ve been packing up rocks and sending those to Canterlot instead! Isn’t that hilarious?”
“Pinkie has connections in nearby rock farms,” Big Macintosh added.
“Wait, you’re withholding food from Canterlot?” Fluttershy surmised.
Pinkie Pie nodded vigorously, biting her lip to keep from bursting into laughter.
“Didn’t you realize that Styxon will eventually find out what you’re doing and come here to put a stop to it?” Fluttershy asked. “Are you prepared to fight back against all of his guards?”
“Of course!” Pinkie Pie replied. “The barn’s packed to the brim with the food we’re not sending to Canterlot. All we have to do is get out our apple-pie catapults and we’re all set!”
Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Thunderlane were silent for a moment, internally debating the feasibility of Pinkie Pie’s latest claim.
Finally Rainbow Dash said, “So what you’re saying is, you’ve been sending rocks to the Canterlot kitchens and storing up food to use as ammunition? Does anypony else find that a little ironic?”
Applejack, Fluttershy, Thunderlane, and Big Macintosh shrugged.
“Well, what else would we use as ammunition, silly?” Pinkie asked rhetorically.
Rainbow Dash stared at Pinkie Pie for a moment and then laughed. “Gosh, I really missed you, Pinkie.”
“Hold up,” Applejack said. “Didn’t ya say you had a message fer us?”
Pinkie Pie thought for a moment and then her face lit up as she recalled her message.
“Yep!” she answered, and pointed across the field toward Ponyville. “Styxon’s back. He just arrived.”
***
Spike wandered through the palace hallways, thinking about Pinkie Pie and Big Macintosh and their rebellion in Ponyville. Twilight had woken up Spike much too early in the morning to tell him that she would be returning to Ponyville with Styxon. Spike could only wonder what Pinkie and Big Macintosh had done to summon Styxon back to Ponyville and hoped that the two earth ponies knew what they were getting into.
Before Twilight said a last goodbye to Spike she had left him with the urgent instructions, “As soon as Styxon and I leave, go to Rarity and find out what she learned from Styxon. We need to find the princesses! Got it, Spike? It’s all up to you!”
“Don’t worry, Twilight,” Spike had responded. “Rarity and I will take of it!”
Spike arrived at Rarity’s door.
“Rarity?” he called. “Are you in there?”
At first, he could hear nothing, but after pressing his ear against the door he could just barely make out a muffled cry of distress. Spike was filled with white-hot anger. What did that evil unicorn do to her?
“Don’t you worry, Rarity!” Spike called. “Spike’s here to rescue you!”
He tried the doorknob and after finding it to be locked, threw his shoulder into the hard wooden door several times, achieving nothing but a sore shoulder. He stepped back, rubbing his shoulder, and glared at the door. His anger continued to intensify until he came up with an idea.
“Stand back, Rarity!” he commanded, and then took a deep breath and unleashed the largest ball of green flames he could muster. Before long, the wooden door blackened and Spike once again rammed the now-weakened door, which collapsed into Rarity’s room in a shower of green sparks and ashes.
Spike stepped through the doorway, kicking aside the smoldering remains of the door, and quickly scanned the room to find Rarity, gagged and tied to the bed.
I knew this day would come, he thought, but I didn’t imagine it would be quite like this.
He hopped onto the bed and ripped the cloth from Rarity’s mouth.
“Oh Spike!” Rarity cried immediately. “I was so scared! He threatened to kill me!”
Spike flushed with anger again as he began to untie the ropes around Rarity’s forelegs. “That jerk!” he gasped. “He won’t get away with this!”
He finished untying the ropes and Rarity immediately wrapped him in a tearful embrace.
“Thank you so much, Spike!” she sobbed. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you!” After a minute or so, she let go of Spike and grinned playfully at him. “Burning down the door?”
Spike shrugged sheepishly. “Well, I—“
“It was a nice touch,” Rarity interrupted and leaned forward to kiss him. Spike’s eyes grew wide in surprise, but he decided that now was not the time for questions. After a couple seconds that to Spike felt like a blissful eternity, Rarity broke away and smiled at him.
“Let’s go find the princesses,” she said.
They stepped off of the bed and began to head for the doorway. Then Spike stopped and said, “There’s something I have to do first.”
He made his way over to the larger-than-life-size portrait of Styxon Stones that hung on the wall and leaned his head back to take it all in. Then without warning, he produced an even larger flame than the one he used to burn down the door and let the green tongues of fire flow over the odious painting until all that was left was an ornate gold frame and a pile of ashes.
***
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Thunderlane followed Pinkie Pie and Big Macintosh to the Ponyville town square and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible by hiding behind the crowd of earth ponies. As the last of the earth ponies gathered in the town square, Styxon Stones ascended the steps of the town hall, closely followed by Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash noticed a hardness in Styxon’s expression that she hadn’t remembered seeing before, even two days ago when she escaped from Canterlot.
“It has come to my attention,” Styxon began, the charm once present in his voice now replaced with ice, “that you earth ponies are withholding food from Canterlot.” He paused dramatically and scanned the crowd, as if waiting for somepony to confess. “Whose idea was this deplorable act of treachery?”
Nopony spoke.
“I have been a merciful leader for far too long,” Styxon continued. “Henceforth I will no longer tolerate disobedience of any kind. An example needs to be made, to prevent any ideas of further uprisings. Which one of you decided to subvert my authority?”
Despite the large crowd of ponies present, the town square was silent.
“If nopony confesses, I will have to interrogate each and every one of you, one pony at a time.” Styxon’s voice began to get dangerously soft.
Pinkie Pie and Big Macintosh both opened their mouths at the same time, but before either of them had a chance to speak, Applejack’s voice rang throughout the town square.
“I did it!” Applejack announced. “It was my idea!”
All eyes turned to her. Rainbow Dash groaned.
“Do you have apples fer brains?” Big Macintosh demanded. “What good is lyin’ gonna do? I could’ve taken the hurt! You ain’t helpin’ nopony!”
“Quiet, Mac. I can handle this,” Applejack fibbed.
Everypony present knew there was no way Applejack could have been the instigator of the uprising, but Styxon didn’t seemed concerned with logic or reason at the moment.
“I knew you’d be back,” Styxon said, regarding Applejack coolly. “I knew our little arsonist wouldn’t stay away for long.” He nodded to a couple Diamond Dogs, who, at his signal, began to drag Applejack toward the town hall. Applejack shook them off, said, “I can walk by myself, thanks,” and proceeded up the town hall steps until she was eye-to-eye with Styxon.
“So you admit to inciting this act of rebellion?” Styxon asked quietly.
“Yeah, it was all my idea.” Applejack lied. “How d’ya like them apples?”
“Then let this be a lesson to you all,” Styxon said, and his horn began to glow.
Before Rainbow Dash even saw Applejack fall to the ground in paroxysms of pain, she found herself flying toward Styxon, all of her reason and forethought replaced by fury. Thunderlane and Big Macintosh followed soon afterward.
Neither of them made it as far as the town hall.
Before she had flown halfway to Styxon, Rainbow Dash was knocked out of the air by three Diamond Dogs, while three more took care of Thunderlane and no less than five took down Big Macintosh. Rainbow Dash tried without success to keep her mouth closed as the weight of three Diamond Dogs slammed her into the dusty ground. Spitting out dirt, she looked up just in time to see a tightly balled fist rush toward her and stop inches from her face.
“Stop!” Styxon barked at the Diamond Dogs. “I want them conscious! Let them see what happens to rebels under my rule.”
He turned back to Applejack, who was breathing heavily as she struggled to rise to her hooves.
“How did that feel?” Styxon asked, his voice once again a deathly whisper.
Applejack glared up at the unicorn stallion but maintained a stoic silence. Styxon’s horn glowed again, and Applejack once again collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.
Rainbow Dash shook with fury. While she strained against the Diamond Dogs that were holding her down, she happened to catch Twilight’s eye. For a brief moment Twilight’s face twitched, and then reverted to an emotionless expression. Rainbow Dash ground her teeth. She had been so sure that Spike would be able to convince Twilight of Styxon’s true nature, but it seemed that it wasn’t so.
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash screamed desperately. “How can you let him do this to your friends? We’re your friends!”
Twilight swallowed but didn’t respond.
Styxon leaned down until his face was just inches from Applejack’s.
“Tell them how much it hurts,” he growled.
Applejack wordlessly returned his piercing gaze.
“Tell them how much it hurts!” Styxon exploded.
And then something strange happened.
Before Styxon could cast another spell of pain, all the color in the town square seemed to fade for a second. The crowd of brightly colored ponies seemed to dim, the grass became less green, and even the sky became less blue. In the split second before the explosion, Rainbow Dash once again glanced at Twilight, whose eyes were now glowing white. Then everypony was thrown back by a blinding explosion of light and color. Styxon in particular was blasted the entire length of the square by a concentrated beam of white light that emanated from Twilight’s horn.
Twilight descended the town hall steps and made her way over to Styxon Stones’s sprawled form.
“Never hurt my friends again,” she hissed.
Then to everypony’s surprise, Styxon rose to his hooves, met Twilight’s gaze, and replied.
“So it begins.”