Chapter Six: Fight or Flight
Twilight was in shock. Not only had innocent little Starfire killed her own mother, she was wearing some sort of body armor.They were running through the palace, hiding from every guard they saw. Finally, they made it to the streets. Running towards the gate, Twilight saw what used to be many of her friends. They were all dead, brutalized and in the center of large pools of blood.
Starfire was crying as she thought of what she'd done. Already, bounty posters were up for for her. Most of them only had a reward for dead. Trinity was no help either, seeing as she had spoken none since the moment they saw Twilight in the dungeon. "Alright, stop!" they heard Twilight yell. Turning into an alley, they rested for a while. Trinity appeared and bowed to the startled pink Unicorn.
'So, you're Twilight Whisperer. Starfire has thought a lot about you. I'm sorry, but i'm pretty sure that I caused this mess. Starfire's mother must have seen me speaking to her after her outburst in the throne room,' Trinity said.
"Wha-what are you?" Twilight gasped. "Are you a ghost? And where did Starfire get that armor?"
'Well, I heard you asked questions, but I thought nothing of it. Well, i'm an AI, or Artificial Intelligence. I was in storage on board a small frigate when we were attacked. I was jettisoned and crashed here. The armor that Starfire is wearing is actually meant for another species, but I was able to modify it for her use.'
"Twilight, the important thing is to find your friends," interrupted Starfire. "My father will no doubt go after them. Where would they go?"
Twilight thought for a minute. "Well, we planned for a potential escape. They're probably in one of the alleys-"
Starfire was suddenly tackled by a white and red blur, and thrown to the ground. The blur resolved itself into a blood covered pegasus, with a straight blonde mane. She was holding a knife in the feathers of her right wing, and had an enraged look on her face. Starfire punched her with as much strength as possible, knocking the mare out. Twilight gasped, recognizing the mare. "That's Surprise! That must mean the others are nearby."
As she said this, Twilight was hit with the full force of her sister, Firefly was followed by Ruby, Poesy, and Sparkler. After the reunion, Firefly came and looked curiously. "Who's this? I've never seen this armor before."
Starfire reached up and pulled of the helmet of her armor and smiled at the group, who all recoiled in shock. "Is she going to turn us in?" asked Poesy.
"Of course not!" yelled Starfire. "I can't go back there anyway, so what's the point of me taking you back?"
'Calm now, Starfire,' said Trinity, a calm expression on her face. 'You haven't told them yet. I understand you're in stress, but infighting won't help us in any way."
"Fine." Starfire responded. "Now how are we getting past the guards?"
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After careful consideration, it was decided that Firefly and Surprise would fly the others out. Starfire, being too young and small to carry any of the others, would fly over watch. Soon, they were all out of the city and on their way. That is, until Ruby asked a question.
"So, now that we're out of there, where are we going?"
The entire group stopped, realizing the truth of that statement. Twilight had planned as far as the alleys, but never had she expected to actually escape!
'May I make a suggestion?' asked Trinity. Starfire looked at Twilight, who nodded the affirmative. 'Great. I was reading through some of your history, and noticed a safe haven that might be suitable. I believe it was called the Crystal Empire.'
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Camazotz walked through the dungeons, still reeling from the events of earlier. His daughter had defended an EQUESTRIAN!!! He closed his eyes, once again seeing the blades of Starfire's armor piercing his wife's neck. He opened his eyes, looking at the door he was in front of. It was marked with an ancient Equestrian mark, specifically from the arcane language. Translated, it meant "Dark Necromancers". The Necromancers were devoted followers of Nightmare Moon, and were descended from the fifty or sixty unicorns who had joined the ancient rebellion. Before Camazotz could knock, the door was opened by an older unicorn stallion. His black coat, once beautiful, was now a dirty grey. Camazotz nodded and spoke: "Greetings, arch-mage Night Haunter. Is your master here?"
"Of course," hissed Haunter. "He has been expecting you."
"Good, then I will not keep him waiting," replied Camazotz, who walked towards the second door. It opened onto a normally dark room, but today was different. It glowed a hue of purple, the same color as a filly sized lump of dark energy. Standing above the lump stood a youthful looking stallion. His coat was also black, but was sleek and shiny. The pony turned, bowing to Camazotz.
"Welcome, my lord. I hope that I can solve the problem with that... assassin who killed your wife."
Camazotz sat. "Yes Grand Master Midnight. I think you can. What do you have for me?"
Midnight gestured towards the pulsing mass. As Camazotz watched, it began to rise into the air gaining limbs and a horn. The glow finally resolved into a grey green filly, with a red and green striped mane. "Well, the assassin ran off like a thief. Who better to steal her back than the best thief known to our kind. And here she comes, here she comes... Starscream!"
Midnight's laughter rang through the castle, spooking all who heard.