“Starlight, it’s time to get up.” A soft voice woke Starlight up from a deep, and thankfully dreamless, sleep. She hadn’t even realized she had fallen asleep, though for the first time in days she finally felt well-rested. Fluttershy smiled down at her, trying to hide the nervous worry written all over her face. “We have an important day ahead of us.”
She was right, though important didn’t seem to cut it. They were just four ponies, actually three ponies and a filly whose magic was just as likely to not work as to work at all. How in the hay were they going to break into the Guard and Council headquarters, the seat of the Uprising and all power in Equestria? Starlight felt a nervous flitter in her stomach. Not like butterflies though, that didn’t cut it either, more like bees or bats.
She took a deep breath. It would be okay, she had to just remember that. They were going to get Rainbow back and maybe she would even be able to call the lost magic. Despite everything, she still felt like the answer was in the city, or at least that’s where she needed to be to really figure out the puzzle. She frowned as the ghost of a memory came back to her.
She felt like something important had happened last night. She remembered having a nightmare…and then something about another unicorn…and then something that had to do with Applejack. She glanced over at Applejack, who was cleaning up camp, along with telling Pinkie that she needed to clean up her sleeping area; which was, for some odd reason littered with candy wrappers.
“They’ll disintegrate! It’s not like I’m littering!” Pinkie countered.
“We have to leave no trace that we were here.” Applejack explained, annoyed. It was not the first time she had told Pinkie this.
“Yeah, but these are special wrappers, new design! They disintegrate when it rains and it’s actually good for the plants and stuff! Like fertilizer!”
Applejack put her hoof to her face. “Please, Pinkie!”
“Ugh! Fine!” Pinkie said and began shoving the wrappers into her saddlebags.
Applejack looked around the camp and nodded. “Alright, let’s get going. We have a long way to go before this is all straightened out.”
They all nodded. Starlight hopped up onto Applejack’s back and they were off.
They only had a short distance through the forest to go. Then, it would be going through the outskirts and suburbs of the City itself, until finally they reached the top of the mountain and made it to Guard headquarters. Starlight took another deep breath.
It wasn’t long before they reached the edge of the forest. They all looked out across the blank expanse of ground to where the outskirts of the City began with apprehension. They all slowed to a halt before Pinkie bounced ahead.
“Let’s go, sillies! The most important part of getting anywhere is actually moving!” Applejack shrugged and followed her, Fluttershy trailing behind.
“You know, maybe we should just go home. It’s not that far of a walk. I actually think it’s, uh, closer.” Fluttershy said, her voice growing softer and squeakier as she said it.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Rainbow Dash is in there. We’ve gotta get her out. You coming or what?” She said.
A look of panic passed over Fluttershy’s face. “Oh, uh, yes. There is that. I guess we better get moving then.” It took all her effort, but she managed what might be called a determined expression, if you didn’t look to close, and walked forward, her wings only shaking a little.
“Alright good.” Applejack said and they all followed Pinkie out of the safety and cover the forest provided. Once they were out of the trees, they were hit full on with a hot blast of sunlight.
Starlight squinted up at the sun. What hadn’t been obvious in the dense forest was more than clear now. The sun was enormous. It took up what must have been at least a third of the sky. The harsh light loomed over them and sent rolling waves of heat through the air.
“Woah! It’s, like, super-duper hot out here!” Pinkie exclaimed, wiping her face.
“Thanks for stating the obvious!” Applejack replied under her breath. She looked up at the sky. “Two weeks my left flank!” She muttered to herself.
“What does that mean?” Starlight asked.
“It means I reckon’ we’re about out of time.” Applejack said and picked up her pace as they neared the edge of the City. Starlight couldn’t help feeling the nervousness that rose up inside her at the sight.
It felt like a long time since she had been in the City. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go back, in fact, she was pretty sure that she didn’t. It may have been the place where she had lived her whole life, and where she had grown up, but it didn’t feel like home.
Home was…Well, home was what Fluttershy’s cottage had felt like, what the camp had felt like. All the places where she was surrounded by ponies who didn’t care that she was different, and ponies who were even more than that. Ponies who were her friends and, maybe even kind of like her family. All the places where she had been with Rainbow, and with the three ponies she was with now.
The places where she had learned about herself, and about her magic. The places where her magic had become strong. Though, the more she thought about it, maybe it wasn’t the place, maybe it was the ponies you were with. They were home. She liked that idea, it made her fell like she had a home. Even if part of that home was missing.
Then she smiled, a small, determined smile. She was going to get that part of home back. They were going to get Rainbow Dash.
---
Making it through the suburbs and outskirts of the City had been no problem. Applejack still basically knew the Guard position rotation schedule by heart, so avoiding the few low-ranking Guards lording over the slums of the City had been a breeze. Now, things were going to be more difficult.
Starlight stared down at the outskirts of the City that sprawled out below them. Up above it all, from the high bridges and streets of what was known as the Upper City, they suddenly looked very small. All of her life, every hidden home, every stolen thing to stay alive, every struggle to avoid the Guard had happened down there, in those small-looking, sprawling streets. It was an odd thought now that she had a different perspective.
She had never been to the Upper City. It was too dangerous. This close to headquarters, there were Guards everywhere.
“There is no way we aren’t going to be spotted now. We have to figure out some way to go unnoticed.” Applejack said quietly to the rest of the group as she peered out around the corner of a building. They were currently hiding in a dark alley, trying to come up with a plan to get to the center of the City without being captured.
“Ooo! A disguise!” Pinkie chirped.
Applejack frowned. “Well, I don’t know if we need a disguise, exactly, but we for sure need to do a few things before we go running through the streets of the City. First, I’m totally recognizable. Second, we have to find a hat or something for Starlight. Third, while most Guard ponies don’t actually know what you two look like,” She gestured to Pinkie and Fluttershy,
“I don’t want to take the risk of a higher ranking official, one who does know what the bearers of the elements look like, being out and about and spotting one of you.”
They all nodded. Applejack looked across the street at a derelict shop. It was rare to find a store so run down in the Upper City, but then again, they were on the edge. She grinned. “That’s our target.” She said and pointed.
Five minutes and one raid of a low-end thrift-shop clothing store later, they were ready to go. Starlight had found a new hat. Unlike her old, wonderful one, this one was a rather ugly fedora and she was quite sure she looked utterly ridiculous. It had been the only hat in the store that was small enough to not completely slip over her face. It still went down all the way to her eyes though.
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy looked no better. Pinkie had found an old pair of glasses and a baggy mumu. After twisting her mane up into a messy bun, she looked like a little pink old lady. Well, if you weren’t looking too closely. Fluttershy had grabbed an old make-up kit and, ever helpful, Pinkie had given her dark kohl eyes, and black lipstick. She had even gone to the trouble to rumple her mane and spike it a little.
“Are you sure we need to do this?” Fluttershy whimpered.
“Of course, silly! We have to make you look as much not-you as we can!” Pinkie said cheerfully while trying to draw a black line through fluttershy’s mane with the mascara.
“I don’t think we need to go that far.” Starlight said, seeing Fluttershy’s unease.
“Thank you!” Fluttershy mouthed at her.
Applejack looked at all of them and put her hoof to her face.
“We are so dead.” She groaned. Her disguise was probably the worst out of all of them. She was in a long, pink and purple dress that looked like it came from the most unfashionable, frilliest, store imaginable. Topping off the ensemble was a matching, and equally hideous hat. She kicked the back of the dress angrily.
“Stop it. You’re going to ruin it! And after I picked it out for you special!” Pinkie scolded. Applejack’s original disguise pick lay in a heap on the side of the alley: coveralls and a cowpony hat.
“There was nothing wrong with my pick!” She argued.
“You’d look just like yourself!” Pinkie countered.
“Yeah, but I would look nothing like the General! Which was the point!”
“Well, now you look like neither!” Fluttershy giggled, breaking up the fight. Applejack sighed in defeat.
“Aright, we’re going to have to go through the City separately. All of us together would draw way too much attention.” She pulled out a map from her saddle bags after struggling briefly with the bow on the back of her dress. She laid the map down in front of them and traced a path with her hoof.
“Pinkie, this is your path. Do you think you can remember it?” Pinkie nodded seriously. “Then go.” She said and pointed to the end of the alley. Pinkie sprang up and bounced to the end and peered around the building.
“Remember, you’re old!” Applejack called. Pinkie nodded and shuffled out into the street. Applejack traced another path. “Fluttershy. Stick to the skies as much as you can. There are less Guards that just wander around up there. You’ll still have to watch out for the patrols though. Take this route and meet us at the rendezvous point on the west side of headquarters.” Fluttershy flapped her wings and took off.
“Alright Starlight, do you think you can go on your own?” Applejack asked. Starlight nodded.
“Okay, stick to the shadows and alleyways. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how to move around unseen.” Applejack explained.
“Nope. I’m pretty good at that!” Starlight told her.
“Good. Follow this route.” Applejack said and traced a windy path through alleys and under overhangs. As she did a trail of purple magic followed her hoof. When she was done the magic lifted off the map and hung in the air for a second before it disappeared. When Applejack looked at Starlight, her eyes were glowing softly with magic.
“Keep your eyes down if you are going to do that.” She advised.
“Obviously.” Starlight said and raced off, ducking around the corner of the building.
Starlight ran along the mapped trail. For her, there was a purple, shimmering line that she just need to follow. As long as no pony noticed her eyes glowing slightly, it was a fool-proof way to get where she need to go. She glanced up and saw a patrol going past. Those were the most important to avoid. While there were Guards just about everywhere in the Upper City, only a few were actually on-duty at any given time. Most of them just lived here. That didn’t make them any less dangerous though.
She whipped into the arch of a door way and waited for them to pass. No problems. She let out a breath and was back on the main path.
“Woah, kid! Where’r ya heading to so fast? Where are your parents?” A deep voice said as some pony put out a hoof to stop her. Starlight hit the brakes, both running and on her magic. The trail disappeared and so did the glow around her eyes. She looked up…right into the face of a Guard pony. She would need to think fast for this one.
“Uh! Yes! Sorry, Sir! I was, uh, just with my…Mom! Yeah, we were out, you know, shopping and stuff and she…well, we…we got separated! So I’m just trying to find her and I’ll just be on my way to do that...” She tried to duck underneath the Guard’s hoof, but he blocked her.
“I see.” He totally wasn’t buying it. Starlight bit her lip.
“Yep! And I don’t want to waste any time, uh… because who knows where she’ll be! So…” Starlight needed to go and she needed to go now. She glanced around for anything that could help her.
“Well, how about I help you find your mom and then we can all have a nice chat about why parents need to look out for--” He cut off abruptly as a huge crash resounded through the street.
“What the?!” He said turning around towards the sound. Starlight took off running without even looking back. She didn’t need to. She knew exactly what happened. A large apple cart had decided at that very moment to mysteriously break an axle, fall over onto a passing cart and create a domino effect that had toppled two more carts, several roadside stands, break a few windows in shops and sent tens of innocent passerbys running for cover.
As Starlight turned the corner onto the next street, the last wisps of purple magic faded from around the axle. She bit her lip. That had been a huge risk. She just hoped that no pony had seen, or if they had, they were too busy trying not to be squished by errant apples or falling carts.