The Cost of Utopia

by Dr Freedom MLP


Chapter 7

“Comrade, I did not want to kill you. . . . But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. . . . I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony—Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?”
― Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

Chapter 7
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Luna dropped Derpy from her mouth and began wildly casting protective spells over the Library. She knew that Celestia and the guards would be after her shortly and didn't have much time to prepare.

“Princess what are you doing?!” Twilight yelled over the spells being cast. “What's going on? Why are you here? Who’s...”

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE I DO NOT HAVE MUCH TIME!” Luna yelled with the royal Canterlot voice. “I HAVE DONE SOMETHING MY SISTER WILL NOT APPROVE OF AND MAY EVEN BANISH ME FOR! PLEASE GATHER THE OTHER ELEMENT HOLDERS AND HEAD TO THE RUINS IN THE EVERFREE FOREST. I WILL MEET YOU THERE TONIGHT!”

“Yes princess! Spike we’re leaving! Now!”

“Uh, wh- Woah!” Spike was interrupted by being thrown across the young ponies back.

“We have to gather the others and head into the forest!”

“Wait why are we-” The baby dragon’s voice was cut off by the door slamming behind the pair on their way out. Luna now had no distractions and could completely focus on her work.
She closed her eyes and focused. She started laying down every trap and anti-magic spell she knew, from a no teleportation zone to an invisible barrier that would stun anypony who walked through it. A few minutes later she finished and opened her eyes.
Surprisingly the pegasus she rescued was just sitting patiently in a corner somehow un-phased by her near death encounter.

“"Now, we need to get out of here before my sister comes and sends me back to the moon. We could teleport but that will leave magical residue that shows where we went so running or flying is the only option. Are you ready?" The gray pony grinned.

"Let's go!" With that Luna shot up and out of the Library through a window going straight up so as to avoid ground detection. After looking back to make sure Derpy was still following the leader went up a few hundred feet more than leveled out. From the vantage point she could see the guards closing in on Ponyvile. There were hundreds more than she had ever seen in one place before. As the pegasus caught up to the princess she looked down with a smug look on her face.

"Bastards really don't want any news of covert operations inside the castle getting out do they?" Luna thought for a moment. Covert operations... Nopony talked like that unless they were in the military. Then it all clicked, the way she wasn't scared after a near death experience, the way she spoke, her confidence. But at the same time she was disabled. Celestia defiantly wouldn't have let a handicapped pony into the armed forces. Heck she wouldn't even allow them to live.

"Did you used to be in the military?"

"What gave it away?" The veteran replied somewhat sadly.

"You sound unhappy about it."

"I did some things I wasn't proud of alright. I'd rather not talk about it."

"Alright then." Was she injured at some point and that’s why she wasn't in the military anymore? That would make sense, although then her sister’s argument for killing all the ponies would be void since that wasn't a genetic disability.
The two flew in silence for a while until the princess decided they were out of the search range, which was about halfway to Las Pegasus. The princess was the first to break the silence.

"Alright I think this is far enough that if we teleport the residue will disappear before they can find it."

"I agree, let's land." The two slowly descended into the mountains that separated the western seaboard from the majority of Equestria. Most of the area wasn't good for landing since it was sloped. It took a good half hour to find a suitable spot to set down. Once they landed the princess sat down somewhat out of breath. The golden eyed mare just sat there patently.

"Low gravity will make you week, and a thousand years of low gravity will make you a wimp. I worked out for hours every day while I was banished so as not to lose most of my muscle and yet back here I'm week anyways. Just one more minute" There was silence for a moment.

"Staying on the run for so long has kept me in shape, I don't tire out as easy as most ponies."

"I can tell." A few more minutes passed before the alicorn stood up. "Alright, come closer so I can teleport both of us."

The grey pony moved closer, and Luna's horn began to glow with her magical aura, then there was a flash of light and they were in a great hall that had, at one point, been absolutely breathtaking, but now all of the tapestries were torn and the black marble floors covered in a century of grime and dust. There were five sets of hoof prints and a set of claw prints leading up to their respective owners. Unfortunately a certain cyan pegasus was missing.

"There's she is!" shouted Apple Jack, having just noticed the pair's appearance.

"Princess are you ok?" Asked Twilight.

"Yes I'm fine but we have a lot to discuss. Where is Rainbow Dash?!?"

"We searched everywhere and couldn't find her! We finally ran into some guards and had to give up." Pinkie answered. "You would think the element of loyalty would be a bit more dependable. Then again loyalty is all perspective. One pony’s terrorist is another pony’s freedom fighter!" The princess just sighed and lowered her head before addressing the others.

"Then we will just have to assume the worst. She has probably been kidnapped and is being interrogated right now."

“Oh my, Celestia! What can we do?” Asked Spike.

“We need to have someone on the inside, to tell us what is going on inside Ponyvile and possibly Canterlot.” Replied Luna. Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized the perfect candidate.

“Zecora!”