//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: Infamy 
// Story: The Story of Reik: The Communist Revolutionary: MLP 
// by Reik 
//------------------------------//


TWILIGHT CURSED HER quickly fatiguing frame as she ran through Ponyville, stray citizens, street lamps, and other aspects of the village raced by in her peripheral vision as she fled into the settlements center. Only minutes ago, returning from her discussion with the princess and stopping at the apple farm, she had come upon the weakened form of Applejack. Once her friend awoke from what Macintosh described as an accident involving a fallen branch, the orange pony refuted the story as a lie and spoke of an attack, rather than an accident. She related the ordeal in detail to Twilight. The two strangers, the strange conversation, and ultimately, the enchanted stone they had used to strike her. Twilight listened with a grim interest, her hope dropping with each sentence until, upon confirmation that the two strangers were her strangers, she cried out in anguish. 

As Twilight ran through Ponyville, she searched for some kind of purpose for Reik's actions. The details of the attack seemed pointless. What had he gained from it? What was the strange stone, and why was the rest of Ponyville aware of it all? Every other villain that had threatened Equestria had flaunted their superiority, success or some other aspect, but this 'communalist' or whatever he had declared himself to be, was different. Sugar cube corner snapped into view through the cold, its windows burned through the darkness with an orange haze. With lack of any better destination, Twilight was soon upon the door of Sugar cube corner, practically ripping the door from its hinges as she entered the establishment. 

Every pony stopped their conversations, consumptions, and observations when the shivering form of Twilight stumbled thought the threshold. The purple pony gathered herself rather quickly and poked her head outside the door, as if searching for some kind of unseen threat, before slamming it shut. When she turned to face the building occupants, she was faced with a dozen ponies gaping in both confusion and fear. Suddenly conscious of her appearance, Twilight quickly brushed the mud and dirt and advanced into the crowd. She looked among the faces surrounding her for some kind of familiarity. Her small green assistant, Spike pushed between two observers to her side.

"Twilight, calm down. Now tell me, where have you been?" His voice was one of concern and disregarding his inquiry, Twilight spun around, her voice laced with urgency, and said. 

"Spike, where is Pinkie Pie, and Dash, wasn't she here?" Stopping suddenly, Twilight realized how vulnerable they really where, if the attack was in any way coordinated then Ponyville had already fallen, Celestia was right, they would have to endure. Pushing the grim vision of failure from her thoughts, Twilight focused on the young dragon before her. He stuttered as he spoke, obviously confused and concerned.

“They’re both still here, where have you been, what’s wrong?” Twilight quickly moved to one of the buildings windows, scanning the outside world for this unseen enemy, mumbling incoherent phrases to herself. Spike stared at the purple pony, perplexed by her actions. Ever since she stormed out of Sugar cube corner some time ago, things had gone from weird, to just strange. The tremors, the sudden blanket of darkness, and now Twilight’s sudden state of panic. None of it made sense. Spike had tried coming up with some kind of explanation with the few details he had observed but nothing came up. A gleeful squeak from behind signified the approach of Pinkie Pie, flinching slightly at the surprising entrance, Spike turned to the pink pony. Pinkie, a noisemaker poking out the side of her mouth, had a look of positivity across her features, contrary to the expressions of those around her. She looked to Spike, then to Twilight, to Spike again, to Twilight once more, and back to Spike. 

“Hey, why is she all in a rut?” Pinkie cocked her head to one side as she spoke, at an almost unnatural angle. Had he not been used to such oddities, Spike would have been disturbed. He looked at the pink pony with an expression of concern, one she did not share and evidently did not register. “Sooooo, why is Twilight all, um, hello Twilight?” Spike turned around to find a disturbed Twilight standing several inches from Pinkie, their faces virtually touching. She was breathing heavily and blinking inconsistently. Her voice was in a similar state of unease and disarray as the rest of her. “Where is Dash?” She asked, Pinkie cocked her head again, this time at a less extreme angle, hinting that the gravity of the situation was finally becoming apparent to her or maybe not, Spike had given up on determining what floated around in that mind of hers. “She’s over there in the corner, what’s with all the hubbub?” Pinkie responded, motioning to the far corner of the room. Before she could continue though, Twilight moved away, speaking to Pinkie between mumbling. “Don’t move, this is very important, stay put.” She moved through the crowd silently, towards Rainbow Dash. Pinkie looked to Spike, who in turn looked back to her with an expression of pure confusion. Pinkie shrugged and snapped her attention to the front door, her eyes and expression perked up suddenly. 

“Oh look, someponys at the door!”   

SCOOTALOO GRUNTED AS she struck the ground, her two friends Apple loom and Sweetie Belle looking down at her from atop the wooden platform in the dark courtyard she had fallen from. The young ponies still atop the short wooden tower called down to their friend if she had been hurt. The small, orange pony regained her ground and groaned.

“What are we even doing out here, I’m freezing my wings of!” Scootaloo cried out, the words drifting out in between shivers. Apple Bloom grinned widely and responded, her voice almost indistinguishable from the freezing wind. 

“We’re trying predicting the weather!” Sweetie Belle immediately turned on the yellow pony.

“Wait, how exactly do we do that when we’re in the blizzard, and don’t we need some equipment for that?” Sweetie Belled said. Apple Bloom looked to the white pony, taking a short pause before responding. “Well, um, I don’t, err, you can’t go criticizing the plan during the actual plan, you have to wait till it’s over Sweetie Belle.” Sweetie Belle shook her head with a sense of annoyance, speaking after several frozen seconds. “Is it just me, or do we never think these things through?” Apple Bloom responded immediately, speaking quickly despite the cold. “We think these things through plenty, they just aren’t right for us.” The two quickly became lost in argument as Scootaloo looked on from below wondering whether it was annoyance or the frigid cold that had a greater grip on her. 

“Pardon me little one.”

Surprised, Scootaloo jumped slightly and spun around to identify the voice. The orange pony was shocked to see such odd ponies, the shortest of the pair black and cloaked and the larger grey and clad in a sad excuse for armor, but even more so that they were able to approach without her knowing. The large grey pony swiveled his head from side to side, like a weasel sticking its head out of its hole. Scootaloo suddenly became aware that the ponies before her were strangers; she had never seen them around Ponyville, this and other disturbing aspects only added to her unease. The black pony shifted his stance and lowered his gaze on Scootaloo; his stare was one of condemnation and grimness. He spoke again, his tone one of command.

“Where is Sugar cube corner?” He spoke at a brisk pace and his speech was trained, like that of a bureaucrat. Scootaloo froze under his gaze, mumbling and digging her hoof into the ground. The large grey pony stepped forward, leveling his gaze at the young pony as well.

“We are in a hurry young one, where is Sugar cube corner?” His voice was dark and threatening, his intimidation snapped some form of sense into Scootaloo, who responded quickly at the statement. “D-down the street, it’s on the corner, c-can’t miss it.” Her words flowed over chattering teeth and with a grunt of acknowledgement, the grey pony marched away, towards edge of the courtyard and nearing the street, the fallen snow crunching under his hooves. As he did this, the black pony smiled, although the usually kind act only added to the stranger’s unusual theme. After a modest bow, he quickly moved off to pursue his partner, leaving Scootaloo alone to ponder the strange event that had just transpired. The freezing winds lashed at her flank, sudden shivers rocked her small frame. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, their debate concluded, called down to their friend. “Who was that?” Scootaloo took several seconds to register that a question had just been said, instead only standing in the snow dumfounded. Once realizing the inquiry, Scootaloo responded in a near inaudible whisper. 
“I don’t know.” 

*WOW, YOU’D BE great with kids, forget about revolution, and give teaching a try friend*
**Its late, I’m tired, and we will most likely be dead in the next few hours**
*Nah, Celestia would just dump you in a dungeon cell for the rest of your days, where you’d peel potatoes and count the cobwebs*
Disregarding the pointless remarks of the maniac lenity in his subconscious, Reik focused on the reality of the situation. The orange pony had been correct; Sugar cube corner grew as he approached it and Vladimir was already at the buildings front door.  The wind died down for what Reik assumed to be the fourth time. The odd weather anomalies annoyed Reik at the most, and the activity of the talisman, which was now glowing slightly with the elements of honesty, kindness, was what the black pony assumed to be the epicenter of such oddities. 

The wind intensified once more as Reik approached his larger friend, they stopped at the door, silently wondering what move to make. 

“I heard voices, a lot of them, I don’t think a few villagers would be much of an issue but I assume that you would want to avoid a scuffle, correct?” Vladimir asked, moving his head closer to a window, trying to look beyond its frozen outer surface. 
“Yes comrade, scuffles are ill advisable, let me do the talking but if things do turn sour, I will not be felled by a party of villagers.” Reik responded, adjusting his cap and coat into a more presentable appearance. Vladimir nodded but continued. “Talking, is there some elaborate back story I should be aware of?” Vladimir said casually. Reik grinned. “Oh no, the time for ruses is done, I will not hide our cause but if I can talk my way out of another fight, I’m taking it.” Vladimir nodded once more and opened his mouth to make a response but was silenced by the sudden opening of the front door of Sugar cube corner. At first the sudden increase of light blinded the pair, but in seconds their vision adjusted and they stood silently staring at the pink pony standing in the door way. Reik recognized her as the pony Pinkie Pie he had spoken with many hours ago. She stood smiling at the two before extending her head outside the building practically into Reik’s face and said.
“Hi ya, don’t I know you, um, yes, you’re that pony I met today by the river, Twilights been looking for you and-” Her high pitched speech was cut short by Reik. Although already knowing her identity, Reik felt he had to ask the obvious.  More so for principles and showman ship than really for tactical purpose. 
“Would you happen to be, or know a pony named pinkie Pie?” His voice was, like all the other times, calm and collected, like that of a confident predator. Pinkie smiled broadly, her ears flicked up and down in some random pattern and her tail twitched at its base but evidently the act went unnoticed by the pony. She spoke loudly and with a tone of curious positivity. 
“Im pinkie Pie silly, don’t you remember me, but is that tall guy your frie-” Three seconds later, Reik casually stepped over the unconscious body of Pinkie Pie, a smoking talisman held by the grey pony at his side.