Chapter 3
The Searchers
Applejack was woken in the middle of the night by the sound of somepony pounding on the farmhouse door. Pounding very loudly.
"Who in tarnation is that and wha' do they want?" Granny Smith demanded irritably from down the hall. "Tell 'em to take their contarned business someplace else!"
"Is there a sassquash outside or somethin'" Apple Bloom asked groggily.
"I doubt it," Applejack replied irritably, padding down the stairs to the door, grumbling all the while. "If this isn't an emergency, I'm gonna give somepony a piece of my mind." She had to be up early enough as it was without having her sleep disturbed for no good reason.
Whoever it was banged on the door again.
"I hear ya and I'm coming, hold your horses," Applejack shouted, reaching the door and wrenching it open. "Pinkie? Spike? What in-"
Pinkie took a deep breath in. "Applejack! This is an emergency!"
"I woke up and there was this flash of light-" Spike began.
"I woke up and my mane was twitching!" Pinkie yelled.
"...popping sound like teleportation..."
"...got worse the closer I got to the library..."
"...hadn't left a note or anything..."
"...Spike came out..."
"...then I saw Pinkie and-"
"Calm down both of y'all," Applejack said firmly. "How am I supposed to make a lick of sense out of either of you if you keep talkin' over each other? Spike, you go first. What's all this about?"
"Twilight's disappeared!" Spike wailed. "I woke up and there was this flash of light and a popping sound like somepony teleporting. Only it wasn't the same colour as when Twilight teleports, it was like blue I think. And Twilight was just gone, she didn't leave a note or say anything to me. Then I went outside and Pinkie was there."
"Because I'd felt a twitch in my mane that meant one of my friends was in trouble, and the twitching got worse the closer I got to the library," Pinkie cried. "What do we do, Applejack?"
Applejack hesitated, considering. She put her hat upon her head, closing her eyes for a moment. The way she saw it, there were two possibilities: first, that Twilight had teleported somewhere without telling anypony. That was unlikely, since it was the middle of the night and she'd know that they'd worry about her and Twi wasn't so inconsiderate as to just disappear without saying anything. The second possibility was that somepony had taken Twilight, against her will if Pinkie's sense was anything to go by.
She looked at Spike and Pinkie Pie, and she knew that they were waiting upon her words for the exact same reason that they had come to her before anypony else in the first place: because Applejack always knew what to do at times like these. It wasn't always easy, being the sensible one.
"Get everypony together," she said. "If Twilight's missing, I guess we'll just have to find her, won't we?"
She put Apple Bloom back to bed, told Big Macintosh that she hoped to be back by morning, then closed the door behind her on her way out. It didn't take long get Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash together, and none of them complained about being woken up once they realised that Twilight might be in a bad way.
Thankfully, Pinkie's mane was still twitching, and as they approached the Everfree Forest, it got to the point where Applejack could see it moving around on top of Pinkie's head, a clear indication they were heading in the right direction.
"Perhaps she just went to visit Zecora?" Fluttershy suggested, more in hope than expectation. "After all, we haven't seen her in town for a few days."
"At this time of night?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Zecora would be asleep."
"Do we know any unicorns who can teleport, apart from Twilight herself?" Rarity said softly. "After all, it isn't exactly a common ability."
Applejack frowned. "I seem to recall that crazy mare Breaking Dawn teleported to save Twilight from that zebra back in Canterlot, but she got to turned to stone that very night." She sighed. "Well, whoever it is we ain't gonna find the answer standing around here. We'll just have to go in and see what's up."
"Right!" they all chorussed, and followed Applejack as she led the way into the tangled depths of the Everfree Forest.
For ease of movement, they followed the forest track, hoping that Twilight could be found somewhere along or near it. If they had to search every inch of the whole wood, then their task would become so hard as to be impossible to complete alone. The Everfree was just too big, especially considering how impenetrable it was from the air. If they could not find Twilight tonight then they might have to ask Princess Celestia to lend them some Royal Guards to assist the search. Applejack hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"Twilight?" she called. "Twilight, sugarcube, where are you? Can you hear us?"
Everypony shouted out for Twilight, even Spike as he rode on Rarity's back while they continued to follow the track that could take them either to Zecora's hut or to the old castle.
"Twilight?" Applejack kept shouting as they walked between the gnarled and twisted trees, over roots and vines, past thorns and strange, exotic plants. Once or twice Applejack thought she heard movement somewhere in the woods nearby, but nothing emerged to hinder their passage or respond to their constant hails.
"Come on, Twilight, answer us!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
Applejack could see lights up ahead. Fire lights, if she was any judge. She began to head that way, the others following behind her. "Twilight? Where are you, sugarcube?"
And then, in answer, the unmistakeable voice of Twilight Sparkle, frantic with worry. "Applejack! Run, it's a trap!"
Applejack skidded to a halt, the others very nearly colliding into her as a giant, black unicorn appeared out of the trees to bar their way. He looked to be about a head taller than Big Macintosh, with more muscle on him too if that were possible. A silver white mane hung loose above his face, and his red eyes were fixed upon Applejack.
"Good evening, ladies," he spoke surprisingly softly for such a large and powerful looking pony. "May I offer you the hospitality of our camp?"
Applejack scowled. "That's mighty kind of you, stranger, but I think we really need to be on our way." A trap. Twilight's words reverberated in Applejack's mind. They had to get out of here. She had to keep everypony safe.
The black unicorn attempted to smile disarmingly, though the effect was ruined by the fact that it did not reach his eyes. "It is not far, I assure you. We have food if you are hungry, a fire if you are cold."
"Like I said, thanks but no thanks," Applejack half-growled her words.
The unicorn scowled. "I am afraid I must insist upon it, ma'am. Please, I ask you to come with me to our camp."
Applejack crouched down, coiling her body ready to spring. "I don't reckon we will."
The unicorn sighed deeply. "I fear we will both regret this, ma'am. Take them alive!"
With a high-pitched, keening wail, a group of zebras sprang from the bushes around them, their faces wholly concealed behind white masks. One of them descended upon Applejack, shrieking as he prepared to pummel her with his hooves.
Applejack twisted deftly on her forehooves, turning to present her back to the zebra before bucking out with her hind legs, slamming him backwards into a nearby tree with a heavy thud. The zebra crumpled to the ground and lay there, moaning.
"Everypony get outta here!" Applejack yelled.
"But, Twilight-" Rainbow Dash began.
"Go!" Applejack shouted as more zebras began to pour forth like a swarm of angry wasps buzzing out of their hive. "Spike! Warn Princess Celestia!"
She turned, and bucked another zebra back in the direction of the campfires.
"Any of y'all want to go over my friends," Applejack declared. "You better be ready to go through me!"
Rarity ran. Spike clung to her back, his claws entwined with her violet mane, pulling on it as he held on for dear life. Behind her, she could hear Fluttershy panting for breath as she struggled to keep up.
Rarity had lost track of Pinkie Pie. Behind her, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were brawling with the zebras in an attempt to buy time for the others. It was a wrench to leave them, it tore at Rarity to turn tail and run like this, but Applejack was right. Somepony had to warn Ponyville and the princesses about this, somepony had to get help for Twilight, and the others now as well. And so she ran, and did not mind the throbbing of her hooves, the aching of her legs, the fact that her lungs wheezed complaints at their mistreatment. She had never run so fast before, nor had she felt the need to.
"Rarity!" Spike called. "Look!"
Rarity was reluctant to look at first, fearing to do anything that might break her stride. But she realised that a third seet of hoof beats had joined the pounding drums of Fluttershy and herself. A third pony running with them, and she knew it wasn’t Pinkie Pie because Pinkie bounced.
Rarity twisted her head and gasped. The great black unicorn was running paralell to the track, speeding unimpeded through the forest, unhindered by the brush or undergrowth by the simple expedient of crushing everything in his path beneath his muscular bulk. Bushes crumpled beneath him, boughs broke before him, thorns scratched him without eliciting so much as a wince. He was absolutely implacable, and he kept pace with Rarity in spite of the fact that she had a far easier path than he. What was worse, his exertions hardly seemed to be winding him at all, while Rarity felt as though her whole body burned with effort and there was little, or nothing, else that she could call upon.
But then Rarity remembered she had one thing he definitely did not have. Her horn glowed as she wrenched a stout branch off a nearby tree and handed it to Spike. "How's your jousting, Spike?" she wheezed.
Spike, bless him, got the point at once, holding on to Rarity's mane with one hand while gripping the big stick with the other.
"Stay...close...Fluttershy," Rarity gasped.
"I'm...trying," Fluttershy murmured in between deep breaths.
"Surrender, ma'am," the black unicorn called. "It will go easier for you if you do. We are not your enemies."
Rarity did not dignify that with a response. As a lie, she found it less convincing than the time Sweetie Belle had tried to tell her that a stray dog had trailed mud all over Carousel Boutique, despite the marks being quite clearly hoof-shaped. She kept on running. If she could reach the edge of the forest then she could scream for help.
The black stallion began to move sideways, closing the gap between Rarity and himself. He crashed out of the foliage, a low growl burbling up from his throat as he prepared to slam his whole body into hers.
With a yell, Spike brought the stick in his claws down upon the stallion's head. He did not visibly flinch, but it did stay his movement towards her. He retreated a few paces, still keeping pace. He closed the gap again, and again Spike struck him about the head, once, twice.
"Stay away from Rarity!" Spike cried.
The unicorn grinned. "Is there more, little squire? Or have I seen the best of it already?"
He closed in. Spike brought his stout stick down, but this time the stallion did not wait to be struck, retreated. The branch descended upon the empty air and Spike teetered upon Rarity's back, thrown off balance by his weighty blow.
With a triumphant bark the black unicorn dived forward, grabbing the stick in his mouth like a dog and pulling on it as he dug in his heels. Spike yelled in alarm, Rarity cried out in pain as Spike's claws yanked hard upon her mane before the unicorn pulled him off her.
"Spike!" Rarity shrieked as that wicked brute swung Spike - still clinging on to his makeshift club - like he was a conker on a string, beating him against a tree before dropping him to the ground. Behind her, Fluttershy whimpered.
Rarity's eyes narrowed, her face contorting with the fiery rage which she now felt replacing the exhaustion coursing through her body. This pony, this vicious brute, pursued her, threatened her friends, and now he had the gall to hurt her Spikey-Wikey? It was intolerable! It was unforgivable! She, Rarity the unicorn, would not allow it! "I'm going to destroy you, you vile, uncouth savage!"
The stallion looked at her. "Uncouth?" He seemed more upset by that than the fact that she had threatened to kill him.
Rarity hurled herself at him, hooves flying. She lashed out at his face again and again, hammering her forehooves into him. He gave ground before her onslaught, his head turning this way and that as she struck him from both sides, he winced at every blow. Yet he stayed on his hooves, retreating only slowly, and showed no signs of falling any time soon. On top of which, Rarity's hooves were starting to ache as though she had been punching solid wood. She seemed to remember it had taken a lot less to knock out a changeling.
"What are you?" Rarity demanded, her initial rush of rage fading in the face of his mountain-like endurance.
The stallion let her last blow slough off of him like water. "A knight, ma'am, of mighty strength if not great principle." And with that he lunged forward and bore Rarity down, pinning her to the ground beneath legs like tree trunks.
"Get off me! Get off!" Rarity cried, slapping him desperately.
He endured her assaults with the patience of an ox. "I have never struck a lady in my life, ma'am. Please do not give me cause to begin now."
"A pig as well as a villain, ugh!" if Rarity had been a less perfect lady she would have spat in his face as she kept on slapping him.
"Get your hooves off of her!" Spike shouted, hurtling towards the pair of them, claws out. The sight of him charging the giant stallion would have been comical if Rarity hadn't been so worried about him.
"Spike, don't," Rarity said, but it was too late. Spike had already thrown himself upon the self-proclaimed knight, scratching furiously at his leg like Opalescence tearing at the curtains in a rage born of hunger. The stallion shook his leg violently, trying to dislodge the little dragon, but Spike clung on, leaving angry red and bleeding scars up and down the unicorn's leg.
"Get off me and fight with honour, you little animal!" the unicorn roared, flailing wildly with his embattled leg. "This is the onslaught of a beast, not a warrior!" As he squirmed and waved his leg about, he strayed away from Rarity, but she could not run away and leave Spike locked in battle alone.
Spike climbed up the unicorn's leg, striking at his chest and neck, and even swiping with one clawed hand at the stallion's face. The stallion howled as three scars appeared on his lower jaw, and his red eyes blazed with anger. "I am running out of patience, you wretched lizard!" he declared, bearing his teeth.
And then Spike bit him.
The unicorn's head reared upwards, his roar of pain sounding more like a lion than a pony, and he began to tremble with fury as a raging fire consumed his eyes. Yelling wordlessly, he thrashed like a beached whale, hurling himself upon the ground with Spike beneath him, slamming his body into tree trunks so hard they cracked with Spike between the tree and him. He struck Spike upon every hard surface he could see until the dragon, dazed dropped off of him and to the ground.
"That was a mistake," the unicorn snarled, pounding Spike's stomach with one hoof. Spike gasped in pain, a burst of flame erupting from his mouth to dissipate harmlessly over the unicorn's face.
"You think to assail me like an animal?" the unicorn demanded, stamping on Spike's tail so hard that Rarity heard something crack. "To claw me like a cat, to bite me like a dog?" Spike started to whimper and cry as the unicorn pounded on his arms and legs.
"Then like a dog I shall spurn you," the unicorn declared, raising one leg to bring his powerful down upon Spike's face.
"STOP IT!" Fluttershy's shriek was high-pitched as she flew forwards, her wings carrying her above the debris that littered the forest floor. "Get away from him, you monster!"
The black unicorn, his face now more beast than pony, looked up and straight into the Stare.
"I don't know where you get off accusing Spike of acting like an animal," Fluttershy snarled, pressing her face into the stallion's own. "You're the one whose been roaring and growling this whole time, chasing other ponies like you're a timberwolf, grabbing things in your mouth like a dog, why you've got some nerve talking to Spike like that. Spike's always helpful and polite and a good friend. He acts much more like a pony than you do, you big bully!"
The black unicorn's monstrous visage crumbled in the face of Fluttershy's onslaught. He whimpered like a whipped cur, cringing from her words, retreating before Fluttershy and cowering before her.
"Yes, you might well hang your head in shame, mister knight," Fluttershy pressed on. "Who do you think you are, calling yourself a knight, talking about not hurting ladies, when all you've done is threaten Rarity when she's the most ladylike pony there is! What have you done that's brave or noble in any way? You're not a knight, you're just a meanie, aren't you?"
"Please, stop," the unicorn pleaded, his voice soft, tears pricking at his eyes.
“Do you really think that you can hurt my friends, threaten everypony, throw your weight around and act like the biggest hypocrite in Equestria, and I wouldn't say anything about it just because you're bigger than me? Well you've got another thing coming, buster!"
"No more, I pray of you, no more!" the unicorn begged, covering his head with his forehooves and curled up in a ball on the ground. He trembled and whimpered. "Forgive me, mother."
Rarity scrambled onto her hooves and started to run towards Spike. "Well done, Fluttershy. Now we need to get back to-"
A green blur, trailing lightning in its wake, dropped swiftly out of the trees and barrelled into Fluttershy. Fluttershy cried out in pain and fear as the two ponies rolled together across the ground, before coming to a stop. Fluttershy was held securely in the grip of a green pegasus - though most of her body was obscured by the flightsuit she was wearing, which was black streaked with dark blue - with a yellow and gold mane, her amber eyes shining triumphantly as she wrapped one hoof tight around Fluttershy's throat, hovering behind Fluttershy so as not to be exposed to her stare.
"So I thought to myself," the pegasus said. "Shall I go head to head with Rainbow Dash? Or shall I just grab one of her precious friends and threaten them until she gives in?" She grinned like a maniac. "Bet you didn't expect to see me again, huh?"
"I'm sorry, do we know you?" Rarity asked.
"My name's Lightning Dust," Lightning Dust said, her voice sharp and a little hoarse. "I almost killed you with a tornado, remember, wrecked your balloon?"
"Oh, yes, that," Rarity murmured. "Now, why don't you let-"
Lightning Dust revealed her other foreleg, which had been previously hidden behind Fluttershy. She had a gleaming metal gauntlet attached to her hoof, out of which slid a stiletto blade which she placed to Fluttershy's neck. "Uh uh uh. We don't want anypony to get hurt now, do we? Now, do as I say and little miss scary-eyes here won't get hurt, okay?"
"Please tell me this isn't all because you got kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy," Rarity muttered.
"Not all," Lightning Dust replied. "But a big part. Hey, big guy, you okay over there?"
The black unicorn didn't answer, but remained sobbing in a heap on the ground.
"What's up with him?" Lightning Dust asked.
"I've really no idea," Rarity answered dryly.
Lightning Dust shrugged. "More glory for me then, I guess. Now pick up the dragon and lead the way, and nopony gets hurt."
Applejack snarled into the faces of the zebras who clustered all around her, waiting to pounce. She knew that some of them had already passed by her through the woods, but with the difficulties in moving through the forest outside of the pathways, she reckoned the others should be able to outrun them. In front of her, back at the camp, she thought she could see flashes of magic, which hopefully meant that Twilight was making a fight of it with whoever it was behind all this. That was good. Nopony could do magic like Twilight Sparkle, and hopefully Applejack would have some help out here soon enough.
At the same time, Applejack wished Rainbow Dash hadn't let herself get distracted by that pegasus. She would have felt a lot better about Rarity and Fluttershy if Rainbow had been with them.
She had a knotted rope gripped tightly between her teeth, spinning it swiftly in a circle as the zebras crept closer and closer. When one got too close, she lashed out with the rope like a whip, striking him on the nose and then the hoof. The zebra warrior howled in pain, dropping his spear and falling back behind the ranks of his fellows.
To her rear, a considerable pile of unconscious zebras meant that the enemy had learned to fear her rear hooves a little. There were fewer takers than there were for an advance from the front.
Applejack eyed the zebras suspiciously, wondering which of them would be bold enough to try her next.
The ranks of the zebras opened up, and two warriors strode through the press. The first of them was a zorse, striped in front and brown at the back, wearing armour like fish-scales to protect himself from head down to the knees. The second was an earth pony, dark green, his mane style upwards and held in place with an exotic headdress. They were both unarmed, a side-effect of the order to take them alive, probably. Applejack wondered idly why that was so important to them.
The two challengers spread out, circling on either side of her: the zorse going right, the earth pony going left. They moved like predators, as though Applejack were some prey they were hunting.
Applejack scowled, she meant to show them she was a long mile from helpless in front of them.
When the two were each an equal distance from her, they attacked, turning abruptly to rush her from both sides.
Applejack grinned as best she could while still holding the rope. Had they forgotten she could defend herself from both ends?
Since the zorse was armoured, Applejack turned to face the earth pony, her rope whipping through the air to strike him just below the eye. The pony grunted in pain, his charge faltering as as he turned to protect the injured side of his face. Applejack flicked her rope again, hitting him on the shoulder. The earth pony retreated, favouring his other side now. The zorse was nearly on her, keeping his body low, trusting to his armour to protect him. Applejack kicked with all she had in her hind legs. They impacted on the scale armour with a thud. Her hooves ached with the throbbing pain, like having hundreds of needles driven through them, but the zorse made a winded sound and staggered backwards. Applejack pursued, kicking backwards again and again, until the scale armour shattered into pieces, shattered fish scales littering the dirt, and the zorse collapsed onto his knees, breathing heavily, shielding his chest with his head.
The earth pony had recovered a little, and came at her again. Applejack struck with her rope. There was a thwack as she hit him on the jaw, another as she hit him on the knee, and a squelch as he fell onto his side in the mud.
If Applejack hadn't had her mouth full she would have whooped in triumph.
Somepony roared above her, and Applejack looked up to see a cream-coloured pegasus with a tousled brown mane descending on her from above, a spear gripped in his forehooves.
Applejack sidestepped, flicking her rope out to strike the pegasus on the wing. He cried out as his charge became a fall, dropping his spear as he tumbled headfirst into the ground.
Applejack hesitated to see if he would rise again, and in that hesitation, he was on her, barreling into her as they went tumbling through the dirt. Applejack's hat went rolling away. The pegasus hit pretty hard, Applejack felt his blows like hammers on a nail, thud, thud. But she could hit pretty hard herself when she wanted to, and as she squirmed, kicked and bit she flattered herself she was giving as good as she got.
She rolled backwards, lifting her hindquarters into the air to throw the pegasus over her head with a squawk of alarm. Quickly, she turned onto her side and scrambled upright, ready to face him again.
"Give it up, kid," she gasped, reckoning him to be younger than her by a year or so.
The pegasus, breathing as hard as she was, shook his head. "I won't lose," he growled as he tried to stand up. "Not to a pony like you. Not in front of Sunset. I'm going to win!"
"You're too late. This fight is over," a high, nasal voice declared.
Applejack turned her head to see Rarity being held between two zebras... and a vaguely familiar green pegasus with a blade to Fluttershy's throat.
"Surrender now," the pegasus said calmly. "Or Yellow dies."
Shrike sped up in pursuit of Rainbow Dash, relishing the challenge of a first-rate flier. She had heard that this mare could produce a sonic rainboom, something that had been a myth even in Shrike's own day. It would be a joy to bring down a pegasus who truly understood the air.
The cyan mare looked backwards, and Shrike thought she caught a frisson of anticipation in her red eyes, a slight twinkle in the cocky grin she threw Shrike. Here was a mare who appreciated a challenge.
They were well-matched indeed.
Rainbow Dash sped up, the air parting before her as she shot forward. Her rainbow trail burned hot in Shrike's face, forcing her out to one side a little. Shrike grinned. Elementary tactics. Rainbow had just forced Shrike to put a little more distance between her and her prey. Shrike forced her wings onwards: faster, faster, faster. She was going as fast as she ever had, as fast as she could have gone when she training six hours a day, and still she was not gaining.
Shrike was uncomfortably reminded that she was no longer as young as she had been. But youth wasn't everything, and she had experience on her side. Ms Rainbow Dash was putting everything she had into speed, there was no way she could manoeuvre while still going that fast.
Rainbow Dash made a precision ninety degree turn flat out, her trail looked like a brick wall, indicating the utter absence of a turning circle.
Shrike's jaw dropped, and she gulped in an unhealthy quantity of air at high speed before she got a grip on herself.
What was this Rainbow Dash, really?
Shrike turned, in a rather more curved fashion, to continue the pursuit.
"Hey, old timer," the mare yelled. "You tired yet?"
Shrike was too busy gasping for breath to respond. Yet she pressed onwards in spite of the protests of her wings. She was the captain of the Shadowbolts, Luna's confidante and Lady Nightmare's messenger, legacy and inheritor all rolled into one. She would not be beaten by some sunbeam of Celestia's.
Rainbow Dash turned again, this time coming back towards Shrike before diving down towards the forest canopy.
Shrike grinned, for she understood this game. It was chicken, and she was a past master of it. Nopony could hold their nerve the way she could. She dived down in pursuit, zooming towards the green earth which got closer and closer.
Rainbow Dash was going quicker, going as fast as she had at any point in the battle so far. Shrike nearly laughed at the foolishness of youth.
You need to be fast in order to fool your opponent, but you've gone way past the safety line. You're too close to the ground and there's no way you can pull up in time with how fast you're─
Three feet from the treetops Rainbow Dash pulled up, executing another perfect ninety degree turn up again. The leaves rustled at her passing.
What the? No way anypony can make a perfect ninety degree turn three feet off the deck going that speed. There's no way! What is this mare?
Shrike was so stunned by what she'd just witnessed that she forgot she was passing her own safety limit. Desperately she spread her wings wide, pulling upwards, flapping desperately for height.
Too late. Her hind legs scraped upon the branches of the trees, catching in a knot of wood and Shrike cried out as they were wrenched by the sudden stop. She tumbled forwards, her leg yanked out of its socket amidst agonising pain, and she bounced down through the leaves and branches, striking half a dozen outgrowths along the way before landing in a spinning heap upon the ground with a sickening thud.
Shrike moaned. There was no part of her that did not ache, her wings most of all. She wouldn't be flying for a while if she knew anything about the pony body. Worse, she wasn't even sure she could walk at the moment, and it wasn't as if there was anypony around to help her.
Shrike listened very hard, and hoped that rustling in the bushes was nothing more than mice.
Rainbow Dash circled warily, waiting to see if her pegasus opponent was going to reappear. When she didn't, Rainbow reckoned it was a good bet that she was out of it for the time being. She prepared to dive back down into the trees to help Applejack.
"Hey! Wingpony! Look what I got!" Rainbow recognised the voice of Lightning Dust, calling out in a sing-song tone.
Rainbow Dash's heart began to race with fear as she descended through the trees. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw Rarity and Applejack both pinned down by zebra warriors, and worse still, Fluttershy held tight in the grip of Lightning Dust, who was wearing some kind of knife thing on her hoof and was pressing the blade against Fluttershy's throat.
Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground. "Let her go!"
Lightning smirked. "Yeah, ‘cause that's gonna happen."
Rainbow snarled. "Let her go, right now!"
"Or what?" Lightning's tone was triumphant, smug in her superiority.
Rainbow Dash's jaw tightened. A wordless growl escaped her lips. "I swear, if you hurt her then I'll-"
"Talk, talk, talk," Lightning Dust cut her off angrily. "All you ever done is flap your lips harder than I've ever seen you flap your wings. 'I'm Rainbow Dash, I'm the most awesome flier ever! Watch how I coast through life on natural talent, impressing idiots and showing up the less fortunate without ever pushing myself to improve'. 'Look at me, I'm Rainbow Dash, team work is awesome until it stops me from showing off, then its for losers. I'm such a two-faced jerk!' 'You nearly destroyed my friends! How could you you awful, awful pony. I'm going to throw a hissy fit until you get thrown out the academy!' Well now it's my turn to talk, you boring, moralising little pigeon! You don't get to make demands. You don't get to make threats. All you get to do is get on your knees and beg! Beg like a dog, because it's my mercy that matters now!"
Rainbow Dash looked into Fluttershy's eyes. They were afraid, so terribly afraid.
"It's okay, pal," Rainbow whispered. "Everything is gonna be just fine. I'm gonna take care of you, like when we were kids." She bent her knees, and pressed her nose into the dirt. "Please, don't hurt her."
Lightning Dust sniggered. "The power of friendship, everypony!"
Zebras sprang on Rainbow Dash, putting manacles around her legs and strapping down her wings. But Rainbow's eyes were fixed on Lightning Dust, as she released Fluttershy so that she, too, could be put in chains.
"Why?" Rainbow demanded.
Lightning shrugged. "Well, after you got me tossed out of the academy on my flank, I went through a bit of a rough time. That was my dream, you know. I spent my whole life working my flank off for it. I didn't know what to do if I couldn't be a Wonderbolt. Until I got a new offer. A better offer, a better team. I'm second in command of the Shadowbolts, it would have taken me years to get so high in the Wonderbolts, if I ever did. And, they say I'll get to be a big hero and save Equestria as well. So I suppose in a way I ought to thank you, Rainbow Dash, turns out you were the best thing that ever happened to me."
Pinkie Pie hid behind a tree, pressing her back against the knotted wood, and listened to the griffons and ponies crashing through the undergrowth as they searched for her. It was so like hide and seek that Pinkie almost started giggling, before she remembered that this was serious and shushed herself to be quiet.
"Spread out," the griffon captain yelled, his voice deep and gruff. "We need to find her before she leaves the forest."
There were more sounds of heavy trampling of weeds and bushes. Then a whiny voice asked, "What are we doing here, Talon?"
"We're looking for the pink pony, idiot, what do you think?"
"No, I mean what are we doing in this world, this place? First Chevalia, now this. We had a good thing going in Midland, was there any need for all of this world-hopping?"
"It's what Sunset Shimmer wants, Corkus, best not to question it any more than that," the captain said.
"You didn't care what Sunset Shimmer wanted when you left to go find yourself in that mountain village."
"You weren't too sorry to see me go back then either," the captain growled.
Corkus said. "Yeah, well, that was before. Sunset hasn't been the same since you left."
"Being tortured will do that to you," another griffin, with a mellow voice, muttered.
"It isn't that, Judeau, and you know it," the one called Corkus said. "It wasn't the torture that drove her nuts, it was Talon walking out on the company. And now, with these dreams..."
"There's nothing we can do about it now," the one called Judeau said. "For better or worse, we all made the choice to tether our dreams to Sunset Shimmer's. Now let's find that pink pony and get back to camp. I need a drink."
Pinkie pricked up her ears as the griffons fell silent, trying to work out where they were from listening to them. This game was super fun.
She heard a sword being drawn, and her tail twitched. Pinkie threw herself to the ground an instant before a gigantic blade sliced through the tree trunk behind which she had been hiding. The tree creaked, groaned, and fell on its side with an earth-trembling thud.
The griffon captain, his golden eyes ablaze, hovered on the other side of stump, a sword that looked like a solid slab of metal that happened to have bladed edges gripped tight in his claws.
"Found you," he growled.
Pinkie giggled. "You sure did. But I'm not it until you catch me!"
The three griffons exchanged glances.
"You do realise we're your enemies, right?" Corkus asked. He was a scrawny griffon, with tawny feathers and black hindquarters.
"Yep," Pinkie replied. "But when times are tough, sometimes the best thing you can do is wear a smile."
Three griffons looked at each other again. Judeau said, "So, are you gonna run away or something?"
Pinkie Pie cocked her head to one side. "Hmm. It's tempting, but my Pinkie Sense is telling me that you've already captured my friends and I wouldn't want them to get hurt because I was annoying you, Besides, even if I did make it to Ponyville I suppose you'd just follow me there and then lots of ponies could get hurt and I wouldn't want that to happen at all if I could help it. And I already know that Twilight is going to stop all of you, so I think I'll just stay with my friends and keep them happy until that happens."
Judeau blinked, his beak working soundlessly. "She makes a surprising amount of sense."
Pinkie laughed. "That's what everypony says, sooner or later. So, are you gonna take me away or what?"
Twilight grimaced, summoning her magic to the tip of her horn. Her power swelled inside of her, the magic awaiting her command like a mighty river pressing against a dam.
"No more games," she declared. "This ends, now."
"Games?" Sunset demanded angrily. "Games? Unlike you, I have not been playing games for quite some time." Her tone softened. "I regret that we could not be friends, Twilight Sparkle. Just as I regret that we must now be enemies."
"Don't try and take the moral high ground," Twilight spat. "You think I don't see through the way you try to mess with our heads, to confuse and misdirect us? It's not going to work. You won't turn me against Princess Celestia or my friends!"
"So you are willing to doom them all - to doom Equestria - for the sake of friendship?" Sunset's voice was soft, sibilant, a gentle caress upon Twilight's mind. "Surely, a true friend would be willing to sacrifice the pleasures of friendship for the sake of their friends' wellbeing?"
"I said enough!" Twilight roared. "You can put on any mask you want, you can say whatever you like, but I see through you, Sunset Shimmer. You try and guard yourself very well, but every now and then you let slip why you're really doing this."
"I am doing this to save Equestria," Sunset protested.
"The way your dreams told you to? The way this mysterious figure named Creatrix told you to? Have you not thought at all about why you believe her?" Twilight asked. "When any other pony would have dismissed it as a bad dream, questioned the truth of the visions they were shown, asked 'why me?'. You just accepted your destiny on blind faith. Can't you see why that is? It's because you want to beleive it. You want to beleive that you're special, set apart from everypony else, chosen by a higher power, just plain better than the rest of us."
"I am better than you," Sunset snarled, her voice shedding all of its geniality and becoming sharp as a knife. "I am the only pony capable of seeing beyond this illusion of paradise. Equestria is a prison, Twilight Sparkle, a shared delusion designed to fool the credulous while maintaining Celestia's power."
"Will you listen to yourself," Twilight yelled. "You sound like a conspiracy theorist! You're spinning facts to fit the way you see the world, the way you want to see the world. I don't know what happened to make you this way but you need help. Let me help you."
"What happened?" Sunset laughed bitterly. "I will tell you what happened. I had two great friends, friends whom I was sure would never let me down. But when I needed them most they turned away from me, and left me all alone to brave the darkness and the cold. Then later, I thought I had found someone whom I could trust, who would be my strong right hoof, the sword that would help me reach my dreams. But he abandoned me as well, abandoned me to the tortures of a mad king. The things I had to do to survive..." Sunset shook her head sadly. "Do not speak to me of friendship, Twilight, for I have seen with my own eyes that friendship is nothing more than an avenue to painful betrayal. In Grevyia they say a friend is someone who has yet to betray you, and I am proof of that, for every time I opened my heart it was cut out of my chest."
"I'm sorry," Twilight said. "Really, I am. But all that does is prove that you trusted the wrong people. A friend who would betray you was never a friend to begin with. I can help you find true friends, real friends-"
"I have no need of your help," Sunset declared proudly, raising her head high and puffing out her chest. "I am the saviour of peoples and the destroyer of worlds. I am the Captain-General of the Sunset Company, the anointed Voice of the Emperor of Most Ancient and August Grevyia, the Princess of Fortune, chosen by fate to be Equestria's leader in this war. I took Daltrim fortress with five hundred troops though they said the citadel would never fall, I saved Chevalia when all seemed lost. I have no need for the fellowship of country bumpkins and prissy dressmakers to give my life meaning and direction. Now I am willing to accept your help, but I am ready and prepared to go forward without it. So, are you with me or against me?"
Twilight shook her head. "You are mad," she said softly. "You talk about wanting to save Equestria, but you plan to pollute it with war, tear Celestia from her throne, destroy everything that makes Equestria good and worth saving in the process. You cannot defend good by evil means, and now that I know what you think, I don't believe an Equestria ruled by you would be anything more than a tyranny. You're nothing but an overgrown filly, wearing cynicism like one of your mother's dresses even as you throw a childish tantrum. I don't care what your dreams say, a pony like you could never save Equestria!"
"Overgrown filly! Arrogance!" Sunset yelled. "You live in a childish daydream, sheltering from the true nature of the world in case it hurts your feelings, and you call me a child? I saw Arcadia burn, and listened to the cries of those trapped within the temples. I saw Wall Maria break and crumble into dust. I have travelled the dark spaces between dimensions and heard the silence at the heart of the universe-"
"And I feel sorry for you," Twilight said simply, cutting her off in mid-tirade.
For a moment, Sunset Shimmer was silent, as though Twilight's simple admission had shocked her beyond the power of words. Then she began to look as though she would choke upon her own fury.
"You...I..." Sunset's lips worked soundlessly, her nostrils flaring with rage, her eyes blazing. "I'll cram your pity down your throat!"
Twilight readied herself to fight. Her gaze flickered to the third member of their group, who had been mostly silent through Twilight and Sunset’s argument. Seemingly lost in her own thoughts, Breaking Dawn had kept her head bowed throughout, if she had any thoughts on the words of Twilight or Sunset she was keeping them to herself. "Breaking Dawn. I know we've had our differences, but you can't believe what Sunset's saying. You can't possibly think that what she's doing is right. No matter what, you've always been loyal to Princess Celestia."
"Come over to my side, Breaking Dawn," Sunset cooed. "I will see you rewarded as you deserve."
Dawn moved away from Sunset, and stood by Twilight's side. "I won't let you hurt Celestia," she said stubbornly.
Sunset smirked. "If that is your last word, then we're going to have to do this the hard way, aren't we?"
"It's two against one, Sunset, do you really think you can beat us?" Dawn challenged.
"Hmm, let me see," Sunset mused. "Me, a seasoned warrior, against the two of you: a dropout and a pampered princess. You know what, I like my chances."
Dawn snarled. "Why you-"
A magical shield of cerulean blue erupted from Sunset's horn, spreading outwards with the speed of an onrushing train. Twilight spread her wings and leapt up into the air, but she wasn't fast enough to escape the speed of Sunset's shield as it struck both her and Dawn just like Shining Armour's shield had hit the changelings at the wedding. Like the changelings, Twilight and Dawn were borne backwards by the force, skidding along the ground with cries of pain as the shield propelled them thirty feet before its power dissipated.
Twilight had been thrown straight back, Dawn had been pushed to the left, there was now a good distance separating them. Dawn groaned, and rolled onto her side as she tried to get up.
Sunset's horn lit up with a blue aura, and a fireball spat from the tip of it to fly straight and true for Breaking Dawn. Dawn's golden aura shone as she conjured a hasty shield of her own, which shattered under the impact but not before it had absorbed the fireball completely. Two more, smaller fireballs spat from Sunset's horn, to land on the grass on either side of Dawn. They burned for a moment, hissing and fizzling, before resolving into a pair of fiery serpents which slithered towards Dawn, forcing the unicorn back as they lunged for her and breathed out tiny white-hot jets of flame her way.
Twilight was on her hooves by this time, summoning her magic for a beam that would knock Sunset out in one blow. Sunset began to charge for her. Twilight fired, a lavender beam of magic piercing the air. Sunset leapt aside, rolling on the ground and back onto her hooves as she resumed her charge. She conjured a sword out of magic, the blade shimmering sapphire, and brought it down upon Twilight's head.
Twilight channelled her magic into her horn, completely concealing the horn itself beneath blazing magical aura, making it harder, longer, and she used it like a spear to parry Sunset's blow.
Sunset looked impressed. "I wouldn't have expected you to be able to duel classically."
"Don't presume you know me," Twilight growled, forcing Sunset's vorpal blade aside and lunging for her enemy's chest as she wielded her horn like a lance, hoping to strike Sunset and shock her with a pulse of magic. Twilight had studied this ancient Unicornian art for its precision and elegance, never expecting to have to use it, but at this moment she was glad she had.
Sunset retreated before Twilight's assault, her sword parrying Twilight's horn as Twilight pressed home her advantage. The point always beat the edge, and Sunset was struggling. Twilight's form was perfect, her footwork precise, her stances textbook. Soon she would-
Sunset dived under Twilight's guard to deliver a savage kick at Twilight's leg. Twilight yelped in pain as her leg collapsed beneath her and she tumbled to the ground. Sunset followed up with another kick to the face. Twilight moaned as she felt her nose crumple.
"We aren't duelling, Princess Twilight," Sunset declared coldly, her horn lighting up as she swathed Twilight in confining ropes of blue magic. She turned away, to see that Dawn had just about dealt with the two flaming serpents - just in time to get hit by a binding spell of her own and floated over to join Twilight. "In battle there are no rules. Ah, and here come your friends."
"No," Twilight murmured, feeling a stabbing pain through her heart as zebra warriors led all of her friends, even Spike, into the camp in chains. Quite a few of Sunset's followers looked considerably the worse for wear, but Spike looked in a pretty bad way himself. Twilight pleaded, "Please, please don't hurt them."
Sunset chuckled. "And there we have it, fillies and gentlecolts. For all the talk of friendship's power, all it has done is reduce a princess to a beggar." She pressed her face in close against Twilight's. "I could do anything right now. I could tell you to hold still while I flick your face. I could make you play Sunset Says with me. I could make you do anything I wanted." Sunset stepped away. "You should be thankful that I am not so petty. Love is weakness, Twilight Sparkle, don't forget that."
"Who are you?" Rainbow Dash demanded. "What are you going to do with us?"
"My name is Sunset Shimmer," Sunset declared grandly. "Remember that. In days to come children will ask you when you first met me. As for the other: nothing, for now. In time I hope you will accept the righteousness of my cause and lend me your aid. If not, it is no matter. Muttines, have Chrysalis and Trixie brought here."
As zebra warriors hastened off, Sunset turned away and levitated a small wooden box out of her tent. It looked antique, the wood was black with age and covered with swirling carvings, letters in an ancient, cursive script, cut deep into the wood. It was about the right size to hold a chicken's egg, certainly it didn't look big enough to hold anything threatening.
"I didn't want to have to do this," Sunset said, as Trixie and Chrysalis were dumped beside Dawn and Twilight. "But I wanted a last resort, in case you forced my hoof. You see, I cannot brook your interference in my plans. Fate is inexorable, after all."
"What are you gonna do?" Dawn demanded.
"Put you away, somewhere safe, until I don't need to worry about you any more," Sunset said.
Trixie shook her head, squirming furiously. "Please, Sunny, don't do this."
Sunset smiled. "Don't worry, Trixie, it's perfectly safe. Sort of. You might even come out the other side. Or not." She set the box upon the ground, and began to intone heavily in a language that Twilight did not recognise. As she spoke the runes on the box began to blow orange, and the box opened to billow forth clouds of purple smoke such as surely could not have been stored within such a small space. The smoke poured forth, coiling around the four offerings, embracing them, caressing them. Twilight heard her friends yelling her name in panic, heard Dawn and Trixie cry out in fear, then she had the sensation of being yanked forward into darkness.
Then she knew nothing more.
***
Sunset Shimmer watched as the lid of the Labyrinth Box slammed shut, sealing it's prisoners within. As she understood from the Grevyian lore surrounding it, it could not now be opened again until either at least one of them reached the end of the road or they all gave up the attempt. Or died, as the case may be.
A twinge of pity touched her heart for poor Trixie. She was an innocent in all of this, a victim of her past association with Sunset. It was a cruel punishment, unearned by her misdeeds. Yet Sunset had not been given any other choice. Her...friendship, with Trixie could have been used against her, and that she could not have.
Twilight's friends gasped in shock, their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open.
"Twilight..." Applejack murmured.
"Where is she?" Rainbow Dash demanded. "What did you do to her?"
"Sent her on a journey of self-discovery," Sunset replied, and the fact that it was true did not make her tone any less glib. “And now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than bandy words with the likes of you. Take them away, and have the dragon seen to." She looked at Firethorn. "You look as though you could use a rest."
Firethorn looked down at his hooves in shame. "I'm sorry, Mistress. I failed. It won't happen again."
"I'm not angry that you lost a fight, don't worry," Sunset said calmly. "Get your injuries seen too. And where are Shrike and Virtue?"
Lightning Dust smirked. "Shrike got brought down fighting Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy did something to the big guy, looked into his eyes and messed with his head or something, made him lose it out in the woods."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Go find Shrike. I'll get Virtue. Muttines, take care of the prisoners."
"As you command, Most Honoured One." Muttines bowed.
Lighting Dust grinned. "Right on it, boss."
Words cut deeper than swords. So Virtue's mother had always used to say, and if he had not believe it before he certainly did now. He had fought in battles and tourneys, he had been wounded more times than he could remember, yet nothing had ever pained or terrified him like having that tremulous mare bore her gaze into him and ream off his faults in detail.
Nopony had spoken to him like that since his mother died. Nopony had ever made him feel so ashamed of himself since his mother died. He had thought, he had wanted to believe, that he had become a better pony. But now it was clear that he had not. And nopony had had the courage to tell him so, save for that mare. Those two mares, actually, though the white one had been less eloquent in her denunciation. Had everypony back home, all his friends, simply been too afraid of him to speak up? Had they been too grateful for his strength in battle to bring up his faults? Had he never been more than a well-muscled brute at all?
The memory of the little dragon's cries echoed through his mind. Of the two of them, it was the dragon who had acted with more pony honour on this night: Virtue had assailed a lady, the dragon had defended one, Virtue had beaten a weak and defenceless foe within an inch of his life, the dragon had fought one far beyond him in strength and experience. The dragon had done credit to his code, Virtue had soiled his.
"I'm sorry, mother," Virtue murmured, curling himself up in a tight ball upon the ground. "I couldn't be the son you wanted. I couldn't be the knight I wanted."
He heard somepony approaching, but did not look up. Whoever it was, he did not care.
"Virtuous Fury, get up," Sunset Shimmer snapped. "I still have work for you."
That was enough to make him look up, though only a little. He kept his head lowered, his long silver mane falling down to conceal his face. "Mistress Sunset. I regret that you must see me thus disshevelled."
"I've seen worse," Sunset said casually. "What I want to know is what you're doing out here? What happened?"
"The two fair ladies revealed my sins," Virtue murmured. "They reminded me that I was not so honourable as I believed."
"Glad to see you're taking it well," Sunset said.
"You do not understand, mistress," Virtue said sharply. "When I was a colt I was more beast than pony. I was wild, vicious. I would injure other ponies for the slightest provocation. Folk called me darkspawn, said I was demon-touched. Black coat, black heart. One village tried to burn me alive for it once. But my mother, though she never tolerate such behaviour, always believed that I could be more, better. She taught me honour, chivalry, courtesy, the old ways of our people. She dreamed that I would be a great knight one day and everypony would respect and admire me for my virtues."
"You are a knight," Sunset remarked.
Virtue laughed bitterly. "There is much weight in the words you do not say, mistress. When I fought tonight, when the dragon wounded me and angered me, I became that brutal beast again. I was so angry I wanted to kill him. It seems I have learnt nothing, changed not a whit. What do you see when you look at me, Mistress. Why do you desire my services?"
"For your strength," Sunset replied. "Your battle experience. Your fury."
Virtue bowed his head. "Then it is as I feared. I am as I feared."
"What? You've only just now worked out that you've got flaws, so now you're going to sit and mope in this wood until you starve to death?" Sunset demanded angrily. "You think that there aren't parts of me that I don't like? I hate some things about me. But I suck it up, do my best and keep on walking. Because that's the only thing I can do. If you don't like the pony you are, do something about it. Don't sit around whining about how hard it is and how terrible you are like you're fishing for pity. Now get on your hooves!"
Virtue clambered heavily onto his hooves.
"I do not release you from my service," Sunset said. "I do not give you leave to fall. Do you understand?"
"I am your demon, ma'am, summoned here to do your will," Virtue declared. A small smile tugged at his lips. "Thank you, Mistress. I needed that."
Sunset nodded. "Come on, follow me."
"Do you happen to know thier names, Mistress? The yellow mare and the white?"
"Fluttershy and Rarity," Sunset replied without looking back.
Fluttershy and Rarity. Virtue committed the two names to memory, knowing that in them he had found the mares who would draw out the best parts of himself and banish all his flaws. Fluttershy and Rarity would save him.
***
Shrike lay on the ground, every part of her aching and throbbing with pain. She felt as though she had dislocated a leg, and at least one of her wings. The other wing, though it wasn't broken, was twisted and bent out of shape. Her back probably wasn't broken either, it just hurt like it.
None of that was as bad as the damage to her pride. Shrike, Captain of the Shadowbolts, knocked out of the sky by a pony of this peaceful and degraded age. What had she come to? What had her skills come to? Had she gone soft or something?
Shrike head something approaching, and her back protested as she tried to see what it was. If it was a timberwolf, or worse a manticore, then she was as good as dead. She couldn't defend herself and she certainly couldn't escape.
"Hey there, captain," Lightning Dust emerged from through the trees. "I was starting to wonder if I'd find you."
"Lightning Dust," Shrike croaked, her lips dry and cracked from lack of water. "Are you here to help me?"
Lightning Dust raised her gauntleted hoof, the blade glinting in the moonlight. "You know I was thinking about that story you told me, about how you became captain."
Shrike's blood ran cold. She had become captain by killing the previous incumbent when she knew she wouldn't get caught. That blade was starting to look even more sinister than usual.
"After all," Lightning continued. "Who would know?" She stared at Shrike for a moment, then broke out in a fit of giggles. "You should see the look on your face, captain. Priceless!"
Shrike's eyes widened. "You're...you're not going to kill me?"
"Of course not, we don't do that stuff any more," Lightning said, slinging Shrike's injured body across her back. "I just wanted to see if you'd think I would. I'll treasure that moment."
"Jerk."
"Takes one to know one," Lightning said happily as she started trotting back towards the camp.
"I know that you all lost," Sunset said, addressing Shrike, Firethorn and Virtue as the first two lay on thier stomachs in the sick tent. "I know that some of you lost very badly. But I want you all to keep something in mind: these ponies are heroes. They wouldn't be unless they were exceptional. So don't take it too hard. If you start losing this badly to ordinary ponies then, yes, you should be ashamed of yourselves. But not right now."
"What do we do now, Mistress?" Firethorn asked.
"You rest," Sunset said. "Virtue, stay here with Talon's troops and one hundred zebras to guard the captives. I'll take Nahuatl's earth ponies and the rest of the zebras into Ponyville and impress the locals. They're a credulous bunch, very easily swayed. Once I've gotten them on my side, then we can bring the prisoners down there. In the meantime I've already sent to Hanno and Emerald Ray to bring up the rest of the army before we march on Canterlot. The first step to saving Equestria, is to occupy Ponyville."