So prominent on the Ponyville horizon was the sinister building upon which Twilight Sparkle found herself gazing. In the decade that had passed since its construction, the ominous facility had gathered significant quantities of rust on its carbon steel siding, and its industrial windows were coated on the inside by dust and grime, as well as a murky brown substance which upon closer inspection (if one didn't know any better) might appear to be dried blood. It was a truly chilling sight.
The facility meant many different things to many different ponies. Those who had betrayed the Equestrian Union and sworn loyalty to the Griffon Invaders saw it as a sign of their strength, and a validation for their actions. Others, however, saw the facility as a scar upon the face of Equestria, a vile souvenir of the day the Griffon race stole Equestria's future.
The sun sat idly, half-eclipsed by the western mountains. Its rays let off a flame-like hue that painted the sky in pastel shades of scarlet. The sky had not changed since that day, save for the moon, which still made its course around the planet in spite of the halted sun. Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes and shed a single tear.
"Soup's on, Twi'," called a familiar voice from behind her, "come on, let's get inside now."
"I'm not hungry, Applejack," Twilight replied, still facing out towards the sun that was forever setting.
Applejack let out a sigh. "Twilight, you'll waste away if you don't eat. Don't you want to rescue the Princess? Don't you want to keep fighting?"
"No!" Twilight shouted. She turned towards Applejack, and her eyes held a fiery rage as the tears welled up and fell down her chin. "Well...maybe I do. But you remember the last time we tried to rescue her, right?"
"Right, Twilight, I remember it as well as you do-"
"I don't want to go through that ever again! I don't want to lose any more friends! I don't need any more enemies!"
"Twilight...calm down. It wasn't your fault."
"Yes it was! It was completely my fault and you know it!"
There was a long and heavy pause. Applejack looked down and kicked softly at the ground. Twilight inhaled steeply before breaking the silence.
"I just need to be alone right now, Applejack."
Applejack looked upon her old friend with concern. She knew all too well what was going on inside Twilight, well enough to know not to mention it.
"I'll save you some in case you change your mind, sugar cube."
The hill fell quiet again, save for sound of the pungent breeze that wafted from the facility.
* * *
Twilight awoke and found herself stiff and cold. She had fallen asleep on the hard ground outside Fluttershy's cottage, which had been a hideout for refugees since the Griffon invasion. It was early morning - she could tell by the position of the moon. Still dead-tired, Twilight struggled to keep her eyes open, but soon drifted back off to sleep.
Don't you want to save the Princess?
Twilight was surrounded by pale, off-white walls stained with bodily fluids. Before her was a cast-iron door, through which the gaps in the metal bars revealed a motionless silhouette of a pony. Suddenly, Twilight found herself staring at her beloved teacher, shackled to the ceiling of a padded cell. Blindfolded, with a steel sheath chained over her horn. Her wings bound to her sides, and her front hooves bound together.
Twilight jolted awake, gasping for breath. She immediately glanced to the moon and found that she had been asleep for nearly three hours. There was a vague sound of hooves upon the dirt path, and Twilight looked out toward Ponyville. In the distance, she spotted three stallions clad in Griffon-mail armor headed toward Fluttershy's cottage. There was a moment of panic as Twilight attempted to right herself and greet the soldiers peacefully. Trouble was the last thing she needed this early in the morning. She felt well-rested and content, but she wasn't ready for any conflict.
"Excuse me, ma'am," the first guard said calmly as he approached, "we received an anonymous tip that this household is being used as a base for rebel operations."
As the other two stallions approached, Twilight noticed that one of them was rather burly, with a red coat and straw-colored mane. A vague flicker of a smile crossed her face. Even underneath all his armor, she could tell exactly who it was. She tried to contain her happiness as she dealt with the first guard.
"I assure you, sir, it's nothing of the sort. But if you like, you can take a look around. I have nothing to hide."
The guard pushed past her and entered the house. With a skip in her step she followed behind.
Twilight knew that the guards wouldn't find anything. True, there was, in fact, a rebel hideout built into the house, but it was carefully concealed. For one thing, it could only be opened from within unless you knew exactly how to unlock it from the outside, a skill which only Twilight and a few others possessed. For another, in order to open the door you would first have to find it. It was inset into the woodwork in Fluttershy's living room, lining up seamlessly with the rest of the wood floor. To anypony who didn't already know the location of the door, it would be impossible to distinguish.
As was to be expected, the first place the guards checked for trapdoors was underneath the rugs.
Nice try, Twilight thought to herself. She stifled a private, confident laugh. A quick glance around revealed the scarlet stallion standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the second level.
"Oy," called the first guard, "you going upstairs?"
"Eeyup."
He paused for a moment. "Take the unicorn with you."
The red stallion nodded, and casually continued up the staircase. Twilight followed, pretending not to be desperately eager to have a moment alone with an old friend.
When they arrived in the upstairs bedroom, the stallion stood by the open window, gazing out into the perpetual sunset.
"You know," he said, "the sun speaks to me sometimes. Yesterday it was burning brighter than usual. I think it might speak to you, too."
As he said this, he silently pulled a ruffled scroll from the folds in his attire where his armor separated.
"All you have to do is listen."
Twilight smiled gratefully.
"I'll have to remember that...sir."
After Twilight had stashed the scroll among the pillows on the bed, the two of them quickly returned downstairs to rejoin the two other guards.
"Anything suspicious upstairs?"
"Nope."
"Good. Now, there's just one issue. The owner of this property is supposed to be a yellow pegasus. Where is she, do you know?"
"I'm looking after the house in her absence. She's in Cloudsdale taking care of her ailing grandfather."
"And I assume she got approval to leave before doing so?"
"Yes, sir. I can show you the paperwork if you like."
"That will not be necessary. I believe our work here is done."
As they motioned to leave, however, the second guard's hoof creaked on the floor. Everypony in the room immediately drew their attention to the place where the second guard had just placed his hoof. Twilight feigned surprise, and shot a confident wink at her old friend. The guards were about to become one hundred percent confident that there was nothing suspicious in the house.
"Nothing to hide, eh unicorn? What's under there?"
"I don't remember," Twilight lied, "I don't believe Fluttershy mentioned it when she left me to look after the house. But if I'm not mistaken, it's probably..."
Twilight's horn began to glow as she magically lifted the door to the hideout. Except, there wasn't a hideout beneath it. Only an old wooden box that was covered in several years' worth of dust. The first guard hastily pulled the box from its hiding place and nudged it open to find a long, curved piece of brass, tarnished by the years.
"Her last remaining heirloom, a hairpin that had once belonged to her great-grandmother. It's very precious to her, and she would be beside herself if it was stolen or damaged."
The guard appeared melancholy as he stared down at the hairpin. He swallowed hard and blinked heavily before speaking again.
"I completely understand. Come on you lot, it's time we moved on. There's nothing to see here."
When the three stallions had left, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. That had gone better than expected. Wasting no time, Twilight rushed upstairs and retrieved the scroll before opening the hatch to the catacomb-like hideout where the Equestrian Resistance kept its headquarters.
The Equestrian Resistance was Twilight's army of skilled misfits gathered for the mutual purpose of reclaiming Equestria's freedom. Many members of the Resistance were also refugees, which made the chambers below Fluttershy's house the ideal place to establish a base camp.
When Twilight reached the halls of the Resistance, she found herself surrounded by countless welcoming faces. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were the at the forefront of the crowd.
"Well? How'd it go, how'd it go?" cried the bouncing pink blur of a mare. Twilight counted a silent four thousand two hundred thirty-three to herself.
"It went perfect, actually," Twilight responded contently, "better than I could have ever expected. We have word from the Princess, courtesy of Big Mac's anonymous tip to the Griffons forces."
Murmurs and stifled cheers ran through the anxious crowd of ponies. Good news was hard to come by, and word from Celestia came once in a blue moon. This was a bright day for the Resistance, even if the sky outside didn't agree. Twilight wasted no time in giving her instructions.
"In one hour, let's all meet in the mess hall so I can read the letter aloud. Gather all Resistance members and get them down here. I shouldn't have to tell you how important this is; everypony needs to hear what's in this letter."
The hall was silent as the eager rebel ponies awaited the words of their beloved leader. A single table stood at the center of the room, and as soon as everypony had filed in, Twilight stepped up on the table and made it her makeshift podium. She cleared her throat and read aloud.
" 'My faithful subjects, this is my final letter to you all. I cannot adequately express my gratitude for your efforts to rescue me, but after all that has happened, I must ask you to stop, for your own sake. I once stood up to protect you all, but now I am in no capacity to do so, and you must save yourselves.
"I am not the only one in Equestria with the power to liberate ponykind. That power lies in each and every one of you, if only you could unite yourselves towards your own good rather than mine. Rather than helping one who cannot help you, I ask that you all help yourselves. The future of Equestria is not lost, it is yours for the taking. All you have to do is reach for it.
"Wishing you the best of luck in reclaiming whatever it might be that you hold close to your heart...Celestia.' "
The silence did not break. It didn't crack or give in, and it certainly wasn't about to shatter. It hung in the air and filled the ears of everypony who heard it. The sound that encompassed them all was the sound of loneliness. It was the sound of despair. It was the sound of an empty promise to oneself being brought to light by the inevitable movement of time. Twilight silently stepped down from the table.
"Well everypony...I guess that's it," Applejack called out to the crowd, "Show's over, move along now."
The deafening silence was soon replaced by the vague buzzing of the overhead lights as everypony - save for Twilight - returned to their business. Twilight put her head down on the table and closed her eyes.
This is all wrong, she thought to herself. It wasn't long before the distant sound of generators lulled her to sleep.