//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty // Story: Starlight // by PurpleFire135 //------------------------------// Starlight tilted her head and looked up at the sky. Seven-thirty… She thought then frowned slightly, thinking. five. Seven-thirty five. She rolled over and yawned, looking at the remains of the previous night’s campfire. After Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had joined them, they all had been far too tired to continue trekking through the forest. They had decided to make camp for a few hours before resuming their rescue mission. It was actually a really good thing Pinkie and Fluttershy had decided to come along. Before, when it was just Starlight and Applejack, camping in the Everfree would have been far too dangerous, but with increased numbers, and other ponies to be able to stay up on watch, they had managed to get through the night. Starlight looked up at a very tired looking Fluttershy, who smiled at her. Fluttershy, apparently had taken the last watch. She and Pinkie had alternated all night. Applejack had offered, but Pinkie refused to let her. She had looked a little put off, but had settled down to sleep while muttering something about “fine! More sleep for me anyways!” “We should wake the others so we can get going.” Starlight said to Fluttershy. Starlight was already thinking about how much time sleeping had cost them and how much longer it was going to take to get to Rainbow. Fluttershy nodded and tapped Pinkie lightly on the shoulder. “No…five more cupcakes…” Pinkie murmured. Fluttershy rolled her eyes and tapped her a little harder. After a few more taps, Pinkie rolled over, stood straight up and walked out of the clearing they had stayed in. Starlight gave Fluttershy a questioning look. Fluttershy shrugged. “Good mornin’” Applejack said with a stretch from behind Starlight. Fluttershy didn’t say anything, but Starlight gave Applejack a smile and responded with her own ‘good morning’. “We should reach the edge of the city by nightfall. That is if we get going. Where’d Pinkie Pie run off to?” Applejack said to Fluttershy, who shrugged. Suddenly, Pinkie raced back into the clearing, going full speed and breathing heavily. They all jumped up when she came barreling in. “What? What it is?” Fluttershy gasped, startled. “The rest of the camp!” Pinkie said in a rush. “Come on!” “Wait! Like the ones who got out through the tunnel? They should be no where near this side of the forest.” Fluttershy responded in confusion. Pinkie turned back towards her. “No! The ones the Guard captured! We have to help them!” Pinkie said and prepared to zip out of the clearing. Before she could run off again, Applejack grabbed Pinkie’s tail in her mouth. “Now wait just a gosh-darn second!” Applejack said around a mouthful of curly pink hair. “Let go of me!” Pinkie shrieked and kicked Applejack in the jaw. Applejack tried to hold on but was unable to. She fell backwards and landed with a huff, the air in her lungs knocked out. Pinkie tried to leave again, but was blocked by Fluttershy. “WAIT!” Fluttershy yelled just about as loud as she could. Pinkie stopped and looked at her. “Not you too! I knew she was a traitor, but you won’t help me rescue them either?!” Pinkie said, getting even more frustrated. “I didn’t say that!” Fluttershy protested. “Neither did I!” Applejack chimed in, “We just need a plan first.” “The plan is to rescue them! Let! Me! Go! Do! That!” She said with emphasis on each word, while trying to edge around Fluttershy, who was doing a surprisingly good job at keeping Pinkie from running off. “Pinkie Pie!” Applejack said sternly. “Listen for a second. That line of prisoners is going to be surrounded by no less than two squads of Guards, one pegasi, one earth pony. That is at the very least sixteen soldiers, and could be up to thirty-two. Do you really expect to take on that many all by yourself?” “I don’t care what you say! I’m going after them! They’re part of my camp and I have to protect them! I don’t care about the odds!” Pinkie rebuffed. “Just listen! I’m not going to stop you if you want to try and free them. But if you want a chance to not just get caught yourself and actually free them, you’re going to need help. More specifically, my help. So can we work together on this?” Pinkie sighed in resignation, her hard set composure melting away. “Fine, but you betray us in anyway to those Guards, you will pay for it.” She finished. “Good. Let’s get started.” Applejack smiled and began drawing a plan in the dirt. Starlight looked up at Pinkie and was more than a little surprise to see the ghost of a smile on her face too. --- Rainbow Dash slowly drug herself out of unconsciousness. Every single inch of her body hurt. She tried to roll over, but was stopped by something. She realized with a start that all four of her hooves were tied down. She wiggled each in turn, trying to see if she could slip out of the metal cuffs. Nope. They had even put a brace on her wings; she could feel it digging into her back underneath her. She was about to open her eyes and find out exactly where she was, but just before she did she heard the softest exhalation of breath. She tensed, some pony else was in the room with her. She was instantly fully awake. Her ears twitched, trying to pick up any other sounds. Hopefully whoever was there would think she was still unconscious. “I know you are awake, Miss Dash.” A male voice informed her. Her eyes flew open and she looked around. She was in a prison cell; concrete walls, concrete floor, thick bars on one side, no windows. She was chained to a metal table in its center. A sick feeling of dread rose up in her stomach. She wasn’t just in a regular cell, and it wouldn’t take an idiot to figure out where she really was or why she was there. They wanted information. Her pulse quickened and she finally looked towards the other pony in the cell with her. He was a lean and brutal-looking pegasus. He looked back at her with obvious cruelty in his dark, black eyes. His coat was the dark red color of dried blood. All in all, he sent shivers racing up and down Dash’s spine. She fought down the urge to flinch. “I hope you find our accommodations to your liking.” He said in a calm voice, laced with malice. Dash steeled herself. She needed to stay strong. She needed to not submit to anything he did. Play it cool. She thought to herself. “Oh yes, five star.” She said sarcastically. He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t rise to the jab. “Good, good.” He turned away from her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a small table lined with small objects. She couldn’t really see what they were, but she had a good guess. “Now, I just have a couple of questions for you, Rainbow Dash.” He said, turning back towards her, still calm, still relaxed. She didn’t respond. “You see, we have two options. We can continue being civil, I ask the questions, you answer them. The other option, well, I will get my answers. Whatever it takes. I have ways, you know.” He explained in a detached way. She stayed silent. He pursed his lips. “If I were you, I would choose the first option. It will be a lot more…let’s just say pleasant for you. Then again, if I were me… and of course I am,” He laughed. “I would choose the second option. It sounds like a lot more fun.” He turned back to the table with a smirk. “Going to stay silent, huh?” With surprising quick speed, he turned around and struck. Dash gasped as a line of pain blossomed across her cheek. “So, what’s your choice?” He asked again. Dash bit her lip as blood ran down her face from the cut he had just made. It was only the first. The first of many, she knew would be coming. She had to get through this. She had to believe she was going to get out of this mess. And if she wasn’t, well, she had to make sure those she cared about would stay safe. She couldn’t afford to let any information slip. Besides, she knew how this would end. It wouldn’t matter if she gave him anything or not. At the end of the day, he would still kill her. Nothing short of a miracle could save her now. She took in a breath, preparing herself. Better to go down loyal than to die a coward. “I’m not going to tell you anything.” She told him. “That’s what I was hoping you would say.” He said, all trace of calm now gone, replaced by a savage intensity of malice, and excitement. She met his gaze head on, and their eyes locked for a fraction of a second, black and magenta. His filled with cruelty and hers with defiance; but it only lasted for that brief second. With another burst of lightning speed, he thrust his knife down. Rainbow Dash screamed in pain. --- “Alright. I’m going to go over this one more time, and then we’ll attack. Ready?” Applejack asked. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Starlight all nodded. They all looked down at the drawings in the dirt Applejack had traced with a stick. There was a line, that was the prisoners; and there were little ‘X’s scattered around it, those were Guards, and finally there were four ‘O’s to represent the four of them. Applejack pointed to six of the Xs, spread out farther from the main group. “These are the outriders. If we want to have any chance of getting to the line, we’ll have to take them out first. The two in the front are scouts; the two in the back are the rear Guards, the middle are moving sentries. They all have whistles to alert the main Guards of any danger, if any of them signals, the entire line stops and the other ten Guards, four on each side of the line, and two above” She pointed to the Xs in question. “form a protective circle around the prisoners. We cannot let those whistles sound. Got it?” They all nodded. “Good. So, I’ll take out the two in the back. Pinkie Pie will handle the scouts. Fluttershy and Starlight, can you each handle one of the sentries? We have to be fast and take all of them down at roughly the same time. All six of the outriders have a relay system between themselves as well and if just one goes down before the others, they’ll whistle.” Fluttershy and Starlight nodded. “We can handle it.” Starlight said with a nod from Fluttershy. “Once we take out the outriders, the real fight is going to start. We got lucky. Most of each squad must have been sent ahead, leaving only a small few to guard the line. We only have sixteen to contend with in total, and only ten are actually guarding the line. We’ll need to attack with surprise and efficiency. Our attack will start from above.” Applejack pointed to the front of the line and drew two fluffy-looking circles. Starlight guessed they were trees. “Fluttershy and Pinkie will be concealed in the trees here,” she jabbed at the first fluffy circle. “and here. Pinkie, you’ll drop down in front of the line. Your first and most important targets will be the two leaders. Fluttershy, you’ll try to get the two high Guard pegasi down to the ground. Disable them quickly and move down the line. Do anything you can to take them down. I’ll attack from the rear. If they are in traditional formation, the two squad leaders will be in those positions. I’ll handle them.” “What do you want me to do?” Starlight asked. Applejack nodded and drew another fluffy circle off to the side. “You stay behind this tree until you hear the signal. When you do, still try to stay hidden. Do what you can to help us from a distance. You are our eyes in the sky; help out any of us that you can see get in trouble. Use your magic. Don’t hold back, got it?” Starlight nodded. “Pinkie? How much assistance do you think we can get from the prisoners? You’re the only one who has seen them. How bad did they look?” Pinkie thought for a moment and sighed. “They looked roughed up. You have to remember that before they were captured there was a huge battle. But, I think they could help. They’re a tough bunch. There are nearly twenty-five of them in that line. They should help us even up the numbers, at least a little.” Applejack took that in and looked down again. “Good. I think we’re ready. We need to get into position now. We need to be ready before they pass by. Attack when you hear the signal.” They all nodded. Pinkie Pie took off at a run; she would have to be fast to get into position before the scouts arrived. Fluttershy shot off with a few flaps of her wings and was quickly lost to sight amongst the trees and other foliage. Applejack turned to Starlight. “Stay safe above all else. You’re more important than the rest of us.” Starlight nodded. “Thank you.” She said before Applejack left. “For what?” “For not underestimating me, and not treating me like a kid.” “With that magic of yours, you're probably more powerful than any of us. Use that to your advantage.” Applejack turned. They could both hear the not very far off sounds of marching. Applejack turned and galloped off in the opposite direction. Starlight soon couldn’t see her anymore either. Starlight looked around and then trotted to a tree a few feet away from where they had planned their attack. Applejack had purposely given Starlight the sentry on this side so she wouldn’t have to go very far. She focused on a branch up above her and lit her horn. A soft dark purple aura enveloped her and she felt herself lift off the ground. Levitation was just one of many rudimentary magics she had learned during her time with Zecora. It had taken a little practice to be able to be able to turn it towards herself, but with a little effort, she was soon sitting up in the tree, waiting for the sentry to pass by. The forest was quiet and still for a few seconds and Starlight jittered in anticipation. Her heart raced. Finally, an orange stallion dressed in Guard uniform materialized out of the trees. She looked down on him from above. She powered up her magic and prepared to fire the spell at him. She just had to wait for the signal. Horn tingling, she waited tensely. Where was the signal? If she didn’t fire the spell soon, the sentry would be out of her reach. A high bird whistle reached her ears. It was the signal. She had practiced listening for it all morning. It was a bird call that no bird would make in this forest, but only some pony like Fluttershy would know that, unless they were listening specifically for it. With sudden intensity, Starlight whipped her head down and fired directly at the Guard below her. He fell to the ground with a thump. A few seconds later a snore floated up to Starlight. She smiled. The sleep spell was a new one for her. She liked it. He would be asleep for at least an hour now, hopefully more. With a pop, Starlight teleported to the forest floor. She took off in the direction of the prisoner line. It was time for Phase Two.