Author Note: Part of this chapter revisits events that happened in the past. To avoid confusion I will italicize the text that refers to them, making it easier to distinguish from the present time.
-----
We had no time to visit Apple Bloom after our encounter with the timberwolves since it was crucial to get back to Canterlot before nightfall.
It was depressing to think of the possibility of never seeing Apple Bloom again. If anything were to happen to me during the journey, I don’t think Apple Bloom and Babs Seed would be able to live with themselves. Death didn’t scare me; I had come face-to-face with it many times in the past and most recently with the enormous timberwolf that could have easily ripped us to shreds. Death was always present although it manifested itself in different ways; danger was hunting me throughout my life, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Canterlot at night was a frightening sight to behold, gang ponies swarmed the streets, waiting for a weaker pony to fall into their traps. Ponies went missing on the daily bases in this once prospering kingdom, Celestia and Luna would be in awe at the devastation to come across Canterlot; surely they wouldn’t let their home dismantle so quickly. Death always lingered in the darkness, it was evident that Canterlot more than any place else in Equestria since it was still habited by ponies, unlike the shattered Crystal Empire.
It would have been more practical to travel back using a train but they had stopped running long ago, loosing meaning as the years passed. Nopony wanted to take a train to Canterlot either way; it had lost its appeal long ago. There weren’t any sites to see, only graffiti and shattered bottles of liquor; one would have to search for meaning between the lines in order to enjoy the lawless, unforgiving empire. Banners promoting Equestrian elections were burnt to the ground almost immediately after they were hung; the ponies here preferred anarchy to democracy.
Our way back to Canterlot would be long and I knew that the journey was far from being over as we charged into the eye of the storm; bracing ourselves for the peril to come. It wouldn’t be long before we were back on our hooves once again, fighting off shadows as they raid the night.
“That was close.” Unity broke the silence as we traveled back to the ruins of Canterlot.
“Too close for me.” Starshard agreed with Unity’s statement as she kept a watchful eye on her surroundings.
Out of the three of us, Starshard was the filly that resembled a colt the most; not physically but the way she acted was strange to say the least to anypony that didn’t know her background. She used to hang out with colts all the time until we met that fateful night years ago.
~
Rain was washing her coat that had been drenched in blood as she laid on the streets of Ponyville; her eyes lost their colour as she stared into mine.
I wasn’t meant to go out on that night but I needed to gather certain supplies for Apple Bloom and Babs as well as getting some much needed fresh air.
If I hadn’t showed up…I don’t even want to think about the outcome.
I had seen the filly around before, hanging out with a few colts that were known for causing trouble throughout Ponyville. She always seemed as if she didn’t fit into the group; the black sheep of the heard.
Tonight everything had changed as the filly found herself gasping for air, holding her chest in unspeakable pain.
“Help me…” Her voice was low and started to fade; I could hardly hear her over the sound of the pounding rain that was striking the ground like shards of glass as Starshard’s life shattered before her eyes.
“Help!” I screeched at the top of my lungs, sending out a petrifying high-pitched squeal, tears rolling down my eyes.
Nopony answered my calls.
At this point, I had no choice. I dropped my supplies as I carried the filly towards a nearby shop that had a sign indicating it was closed. Hopefully the owners were still in the bakery, preparing fresh breads and sweets for the morrow. I pounded on the door but no answer came. I kept pounding and pounding as time froze; my heart racing with new-found adrenaline.
Finally a pony answered my desperate calls. A young filly with a mint-green coat stood before us, surprisingly dry in spite of the unfortunate weather.
“I heard a loud noise coming from here while I was heading for bed. Is everything okay?” The young filly spoke with concern while stealing a quick glance at the pony that was lying on the cold, muddy ground.
“She won’t stop bleeding!” I spoke with panic as Starshard started to close her eyes and drift away.
“Help me carry her to Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom and Babs Seed will know what to do.” I started to calm down as I realized that help had come in the form of an angelic unicorn.
“I’m new around here…I don’t know where Sweet Apple Acres is.” The green filly spoke, starting to panic at the thought of the lunar-manned pony’s death.
Each of us would take turns while carrying Starshard back to Sweet Apple Acres where the farm house awaited us at around one mile away from the bakery.
None of us uttered a word until we got to the farm house; only speaking to Apple Bloom to give her details about the incident and its urgency upon arrival.
Starshard had passed out at this point, Babs and Apple Bloom tending to her needs as she drifted into a deep slumber. They had managed to stop the bleeding and but a blanket over the Starshard to prevent hypothermia from setting in.
“She’s very lucky,” Apple Bloom started. “She’ll live but I don’t know if she’ll ever be the same again…By the way, what’s your name?” Apple Bloom was referring to the mysterious green filly that had helped me out during the terrifying experience.
“Unity…” She replied, her voice drifting from tiredness.
“Well then Unity, you should get some rest, there isn’t more you could possibly do” Babs spoke for the first time that night. “Eclipse has a room that you can sleep in; that is if you don’t mind sleeping with anypony else?”
“That’s no problem…Thank you.” Unity spoke with gratitude, trying not to yawn as she got up and stretched her limbs.
“No problem sweetie. You’ll be able to return home in the morning; I just didn’t want you to wander around the streets so late, especially when the rain has yet to subside.” Babs directed Unity to my room as she trotted past me. “Eclipse, you should get some sleep as well.”
At these words, I got up and trotted towards my room, lying in bed beside Unity. I felt strangely comfortable to have somepony else with me; sleep for once came easily.
~
Starshard had woken up during the night, screeching in pain, Apple Bloom and Babs Seed at her side; comforting the uneasy filly that grinded her teeth in agony.
Disinfecting the wound, Apple Bloom promised her that the pain would soon be over and that things would go back to normal despite her statement the previous night.
But things would never be normal for the street pony that had been wronged in the dead of night as Nightmare Moon watched in delight.
Thank Celestia that I had found her when I did, I couldn’t live with myself if I had arrived at the scene a few minutes later.
The image of Starshard’s body lying on the dirt ground of Ponyville haunted my thoughts since that night.
~
Starshard later recounted her story which was as tragic as the outcome that almost led to her demise.
She had met the colts when her parents decided to move somewhere else; leaving her stranded on the streets to fend for herself. The young ponies had promised her a sense of belonging, something that meant the world to her; who could blame the poor little filly? Everypony wants to belong in this world of uncertainty, regardless of what they say or think. We do everything in life in order to get noticed by somepony, since without the attention that we need, we find ourselves in a deep sadness. Conformity at a certain degree is necessary in a society, this doesn’t mean that everypony needs to be the same but it means that we make compromises in order to please others and there’s no way around it. Like everypony else, Starshard only wanted to fit in but fate had never been kind to her in the past; why should it start to treat her well now?
The night of the stabbing, she had gotten into a tense argument with one of the colts that proceeded by sinking a knife within her abdomen. She had told us that she could see her life flashing before her eyes as the colt retrieved the blood stained knife, promising her death. They skipped town afterwards but not before spitting in her face; tears forming in her eyes as she realized that she had truly lost it all.
Sympathizing with Starshard, Apple Bloom offered shelter to the pony which has taken the wrong path when the fork had been set in the.
“There’s always room for change.” Apple Bloom continued her speech while tending to the wound that had started to heal.
“I’ll be fine.” Starshard replied, despair flowing through her as she spoke this lie.
“You can’t live like this!” It was Babs’ turn to try and persuade the filly that seemed to be unfazed by last night’s events.
“And I won’t. The colts that attacked me left Ponyville afterwards.” Starshard responded flatly.
“How do you know?” I felt her eyes pierce mine as she spoke.
“Because they know what kinda trouble they would be in if I managed to live”
Starshard lived by a simple rule of honour that was almost as ancient as Equestria itself; it was passed down to her by those who had crossed her.
She left a couple of days later but only because she was forced to stay a while longer than she intended in order for the wound to heal.
During that time, Unity had visited us daily to play and share thoughts. It wasn’t long before we became good friends.
Fate had always been tracking us.