//------------------------------// // Don't Call It "Friscolt" // Story: A Glimmer of Hope // by Gordon Pasha //------------------------------// The country road was deserted. The wind was howling as it blew through the trees. Stirring Words wrapped his jacket more tightly around himself as he stood by the road and waited. He had gotten himself settled in Las Pegasus (nice, warm, Las Pegasus) and had finished making arrangements when he had gotten Starlight’s message. Well, actually the griffon in the apartment next store had gotten the message when it came crashing through his window. Explaining magical messages to an enraged griffon while simultaneously coughing up the money for a new window was not something which Stirring ever wanted to have to do again…. Stirring looked up to the winter sky. At least it wasn’t snowing. This far north, it probably should be snowing. But then, the increasingly erratic performance of the weather pegasi of Cloudsdale was becoming something of a national controversy. Stirring had nearly been forced to do an investigative report on it but had managed to get sent to Las Pegasus instead. Fast Facts had probably just wanted to be rid of him for a while, Stirring thought. He had been acting rather strangely ever since Stirring had come back. He seemed to be working on a big story but wouldn’t let Stirring in on any of the details. Stirring felt he was being purposely frozen out. Oh, well, it works to our advantage anyway. Stirring was shaken out of his skygazing by a turquoise flash. He let out a cry of surprise and nearly fell to the ground. “Don’t be that way. It’s only me,” Starlight Glimmer said. “I… I didn’t see you anywhere, ma’am,” Stirring said. Starlight smiled. “I know. I’m increasing the range of my teleportation spell. I got Hope to give me some help. It’s the price of forgiveness for all her lying.” “Do you forgive her, ma’am?” Starlight’s smile became one of amusement, as though she was looking at a child. “Of course not. But I’m letting her think I do.” “From what your message said, I get the feeling that you two aren’t particularly good at keeping secrets from one another,” Stirring said. Starlight’s smile turned cold. “Well, she kept a big one from me. She’s been in communication with the Umbrum this whole time. She says they want something from her, but she won’t say what. Which is fine, because I’m pretty sure it has something to do with Las Pegasus.” “What makes you think so?” “I was always suspicious of why she was so eager to go to that city, out of all she could have chosen. Now I know it must have something to do with the Umbrum. The Umbrum will probably be waiting for us in Las Pegasus.” Stirring’s eyes grew wide with alarm. “Then you can’t go there! It isn’t safe for you.” “Do I look like a pony who cares about being safe?” Stirring lowered his head. “I know your courage, ma’am. But I would feel better if you didn’t put yourself in harm’s way.” Starlight lifted Stirring’s head up so that his eyes met hers. “I know. But, for the cause, we must all make sacrifices.” “But I’m sure you can find another city to lead the cause from,” Stirring said. “It doesn’t have to be Las Pegasus!” “How many papers have you distributed since you arrived?” Starlight asked. “Oh, I can’t even keep count. They’re going faster than they did in Seaddle,” Stirring responded. “And you’ve moved on to the pamphlets?” “Leave them everywhere. Bars, stores, train-stations….” Starlight gave a pleased nod. “Any contact with new supporters for our cause?” “I’ve overheard more than a few expressing interest. I’ve even contacted some of the ones I thought were more reliable. Covertly and securely, of course.” “Of course. We should be able to get them together into some organization or movement soon. And was I right about Hope?” Stirring smiled. “I wouldn’t have thought it, but you are. From what I hear and overhear, not a lot of ponies get the whole 'Equality' message. At least not initially. But there’s so many that just feel so bad for that poor crystal princess and don’t like the lies the government is telling about her.” Starlight seemed on the verge of laughter. “What did I tell you? Hope can be a symbol for the cause in a way I can’t right now.” “Then let her come and lead the cause! You don’t have to come to Las Pegasus.” “If I still trusted her, maybe. But now I know I can’t put anything past her. I’ll have to keep my eye on her at all times. At least until she’s no longer useful.” “And when will that be, ma’am?” Starlight quickly changed the topic of conversation. “And the other thing I wanted you to look into?” Stirring nodded. “I’m in Las Pegasus doing a follow-up to my story about the Empress of Equestria. Aside from the fact that it got me to Las Pegasus, it also gives me access to the ship and what they’re planning for it.” “All very interesting, I’m sure, but none of that answers my question.” “I only brought it up, ma’am, because I learned that they’re going to be hosting the travelling exhibition on Starswirl the Bearded. They figure it will help promote the ship, I guess.” “So what? I’ve been to that. They didn’t have what we needed. Besides, I could use a break from Starswirl for a while.” Starlight let out a little huff and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know,” Stirring said, “but just to celebrate the opening of the ship as a tourist-attraction, they’re sending over several highly-valuable Starswirl artifacts from the Royal Library, ones which have never been shown in public before. My contact at the Empress said that they’re even trying to get some of Starswirl’s spells.” Starlight raised her brows. “I see. You will keep listening in case the one we want is among them, won’t you?” “Of course, ma’am. But I still don’t understand why we need it. How will it help the cause in any way?” “Trust me, I need it.” Stirring bit his lip. “Okay, ma’am.” Starlight smiled wickedly. “That settles it. I am going to Las Pegasus. If there’s even a chance that scroll will be there, I can brave the Umbrum.” “I mean no disrespect, ma’am, but how do you intend to get there? You’re not even at San Franciscolt yet.” “How far is San Franciscolt?” “A few hours. I just came from there.” Starlight nodded. “I see. Good to know. But you’re right. We still need a way to get to Las Pegasus. That’s one reason I wanted to talk to you. Any ideas?” Stirring thought for a moment. “The fastest way would be rail…. Unless, of course, you can teleport all that way.” “Hope says that teleporting can’t be used to go that far,” Starlight said. “Not that I believe her, but I still have so much work to do on it. Rail is completely out of the question. I’m sure Twilight Sparkle has guards at all the railways.” “Not the San Franciscolt railway,” Stirring said with a chuckle. Starlight’s face became serious. “What? Why not?” “Oh, that’s right. You probably haven’t heard. There’s been a dispute between San Franciscolt and the government for a while now about whether the city or the royal treasury gets most of the gold that is mined in the surrounding area.” “Fascinating, I’m sure.” “Well, recently, the dispute turned serious. San Franciscolt is threatening to secede and crown its own ruler if one of the princesses doesn’t come to arbitrate the dispute. They’ve thrown out the guards from the train stations in a show in independence.” Starlight’s eyes danced. “Interesting…. And the princesses have not intervened?” “No. Cadance is in the Crystal Empire, of course. The other three are too focused on chasing you three down.” “So, San Franciscolt is free of any EIS presence?” Starlight asked. “As far as I know,” Stirring said. “Why?” Starlight’s smile turned devious. “I think I know how we’re getting to Las Pegasus!” “Where are the other two?” Stirring asked. “Oh, don’t worry,” Starlight said. “They’re back at our latest campsite.” “Aren’t you worried they’ll escape?” “The doctor can escape if he likes. I have no more use for him. I really only still need Hope herself.” “But what if she tries to escape?” “She won’t. She won’t dare desert me. You can be certain of that.” “Why?” “Because now I’ve finally figured out what Radiant Hope wants.” Stirring tilted his head. “And what’s that?” Starlight let her mouth slowly form the word, so that each syllable came out with added emphasis and weight. “Redemption.” Stirring nodded solemnly. “I can imagine, after what she’s done.” “My mistake,” Starlight said, “was assuming that she was like me. I thought that she wanted to complete whatever she started in the Crystal Empire with Sombra and the Umbrum. Or that she was still upset over never getting to be a princess. I thought that maybe what she wanted was revenge against whoever she blames for all her misfortunes.” “But that’s not like you, ma’am,” Stirring said. “You’re just out to see the cause succeed. You don’t want power or revenge.” Starlight smiled. Images of Twilight Sparkle danced in her head, taunting her. “You’re right, Stirring. I almost forgot that I’m incorruptible. But I too have temptations — I just would never act on them.” She continued, “All along, I was overestimating Hope. Redemption is such an unambitious goal. I was certain she’d want more. But I guess I was wrong.” Stirring shrugged. “Then again, its two sides of the same bit, isn’t it? Revenge, redemption — they’re both about righting a wrong, somehow. It’s just that, with revenge, you blame other ponies, but with redemption, you blame yourself.” “Hope certainly does that,” Starlight said. “But San Franciscolt…. Can you get us in there without being noticed?” Stirring considered and then nodded. “Sure. I don’t think the city will be the difficult part. They’re so anti-government right now that they probably wouldn’t arrest you even if they knew who you were. But once you’re on the train, you’re going to have to stay out of sight at every stop.” “We can handle that,” Starlight said. “Right now, our priority is getting to San Franciscolt. Let’s collect the others and get there as soon as possible.” “We?” Stirring said. Starlight put her foreleg around his shoulder as her horn began to glow. “Of course! It makes no sense for you to go back to San Franciscolt and meet us there when we’re only a few hours out!” “Not to be disrespectful, ma’am, but this isn’t going to end with half of me at the campsite and the other half here, is it?” “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Starlight said as a turquoise flash enveloped them. The San Franciscolt train station was bustling with activity. The railroad was one of the two veins that pumped the blood of life into the city. The harbor was the other, and the blood was commerce. San Franciscolt had been a mere outpost — not even a town — until just a few generations ago, when gold had been found in the surrounding hills. And there were many hills, which meant much gold, which meant many more ponies came to that outpost. That outpost became a town, and that town became a city. The gold mines had mostly all dried up in the previous few years, but not before San Franciscolt had struck the motherlode in quite a different way. The bay and the rail; these two together had made San Franciscolt the center of trade on Equestria’s western seaboard. A visitor to San Franciscolt could sense this immediately, as the whole city seemed to boast of its newfound prominence. Every building, every square, seemed to be an attempt to transmute that prominence into its more elusive cousin; prestige. This city had ambitions; it wanted to be seen as commanding, grandiose, even imperial. And yet, San Franciscolt was still a frontier town at heart. One was reminded of that in every marketplace where older ponies still bartered for goods, in the crowded neighborhoods where travelers from all corners of the world had made their homes, and in the bars and saloons that all advertised that crowning glory of frontier civilization, “Lunch counter free to access with purchase of a drink.” Here and there, among the merchants and other wealthy citizens, one could still often see some dusty old prospector making his way to or from one of the few claims that still produced gold. Or maybe his claim had gone dry long ago but, knowing no other life, he works it still, finding nothing, but undaunted in his belief that there is more gold out there, just a little out of reach. One such exemplar of this noble profession was currently attracting quite a bit of attention in the train station. A red earth pony, he was squat and fat but also seemed the picture of strength. A long beard, gone mostly white with years, hung unevenly along his muzzle, longer here, shorter there. Years in the sun had played havoc with his eyes, as even in the relative shade of the station, he still squinted so much as to make it impossible to figure out his eye-color. He wore an old and worn brown hat — or maybe it was only the layers of dust that made it brown — and a pair of overalls over a shirt that was probably once as red as himself, but had since faded into something like salmon pink. His mining implements, chiefly a pickaxe and a pan, lay discarded nearby. He had no use for them now, as he was standing on a soapbox addressing the crowd. “Yep, that’s right, folks! The gov’ment’s trying to come in, take all our gold!” he said. “They never cared when we was bringing in gold by the score, no siree! But then, when the gold starts drying up and there ain’t enough for everypony, that’s when the gov’ment gets greedy! Trust me, folks, I’m an old miner. Spent my whole life lookin’ for gold and minding my claims, ever since I was a colt! And let me tell you, when the gov’ment starts getting involved, the gold disappears right quick!” The crowd around him was a rag-tag bunch. There were a couple of dragons and a griffon over here, a few other earth pony miners over there, pegasi that looked like they worked down at the docks, and a few rich unicorns standing only slightly apart from the rest. But despite their diversity, they all nodded in approval as the miner spoke. Two other ponies watched from further away. Both wealthy, by the looks of them. One, a slender dapple grey gentle-pony with a finely-shaved black goatee and a dark, three-piece suit, leaned on a cane. The other was dressed in a tweed suit. He was khaki-colored and had beady, brown eyes. His hair was well-combed and he boasted an impressive auburn beard. The pride of that beard was the large, curled moustache that seemed to stand at attention like a soldier on the top of his lip. He was a handsome stallion, if a bit on the dandyish side. He chomped at a cigar. Both of them were too engrossed in the spectacle to pay much attention to brown earth pony and his three hooded companions that were walking behind them. “And I tell you,” the miner continued, pointing his hoof out into the audience, “that the princesses, they don’t care what goes on. They just let it happen.” “It ain’t fair!” one of the dragons yelled, to grunts of approval from the rest of the crowd. “No, it ain’t!” said the miner. “These princesses, they act like they care, but do we ever see it? Where are they? All we ask is one princess to come and see what strains our city is under, why we need the gold. But they don’t come! Why? Maybe they ain’t such good princesses after all. Maybe we should sweep’ em all out and get ourselves a new ruler!” “You mean, a new princess?” one of the unicorns called out, her upper-class accent a stark contrast to most of the others present. “A new princess, sure!” said the miner. “Or a prince! How ’bout that?” His audience was eating it up. They let out several cheers. “Yeah, a prince would do nicely. Or maybe, maybe a king!” Then with a twist of his hoof, the miner exclaimed. “I’ve got it! An emperor!” The tweed-dressed pony stopped chomping on his cigar long enough to say, “What lunatic would want to be Emperor of San Franciscolt?” “I don’t know,” said the pony with the cane, “but I’ll back the first guy who says he’s building a bridge to Oatland. Having to ferry all the goods over is draining my business’ coffers.” Suddenly, the face of a lavender mare whose bouffant hair-do was just visible underneath her hood appeared in between them and said, “Vote Radiant Hope!” Starlight pulled back and kept pace with her companions. “I hope you appreciate that I’m still getting your name out there, Hope.” “I was an Empress once,” Hope said. “I didn’t like it very much.” “Maybe you should settle down here,” said Stirring. “You might actually have a chance of winning a fair election.” “A thousand-year-old pony who masterminded the conquest of her homeland by a race of wicked fiends?” Starlight said. “You really think she’d have a chance?” “Can we please stop bringing that up?” Hope said quietly. “Only in this city,” Stirring responded. “Stirring, my boy, I thought I heard your voice!” Stirring Words stopped dead in his tracks and mentally facehoofed. He looked behind him to see his three companions, all silently asking, almost pleading, with him to explain this away. And behind them was the pony in the tweed jacket, with the cigar. “Get to the compartment, now,” Stirring whispered to the other three. Then he put on a fake smile for the cigar-chomper. “Thought you could sneak by without saying hello, did you?” said the tweed pony. “Not from you, Colonel,” said Stirring. “I just had something on my mind.” “As well you should. As well you should. Have you made the smart choice and decided to come over to my newspaper instead of that dreary Seaddle rag?” Stirring looked over his shoulder as the three cloaks headed away from him. “It’s a big decision, sir. There’s a lot to think over.” “What’s there to think over? The Daily North Equestria is the biggest paper on this coast! It’s an honor just to be considered for a position with us.” “I know, sir, and I’m deeply honored. I am. And I hope that I’ll be able to come to San Franciscolt and accept it soon.” “Look around you, boy. You are in San Franciscolt.” Stirring nervously looked over his shoulder. He could barely see the cloaks anymore. “I know I am, sir, but I’m just passing through. They got me doing a story down in Las Pegasus.” “Las Pegasus? What could you be writing about down there? Sand dunes? Cacti?” “They don’t actually have sand dunes down there. And I haven’t seen that much cactus either.” The Colonel gave a large puff of his cigar, almost making Stirring cough from the smoke. “Still, wretched place. If ponies were meant to live in the desert, we wouldn’t need to drink water!” Stirring looked behind him again. Now the cloaks had completely disappeared. He could only hope that they had made it. But speaking of Hope, maybe this encounter could be of use to the cause. “I heard that guy talking over there,” Stirring said, pointing his hoof at the miner. “Ah, him!” said the Colonel. “Don’t pay much attention to him. I see ponies like him all the time. After a few ciders, they think they have the answers to everything.” “Still, a new ruler for San Franciscolt? Sounds a bit drastic. That can’t be happening.” “Happening? Of course it’s not happening! Celestia controls the sun and Luna controls the moon. One of them could scorch us and the other could change the tides and sink us!” The Colonel puffed on his cigar and thought. “But, of course, we’ll play it up in the papers, make ponies think it’s a thing. Get them riled up. Then, when they start to get over the idea, we’ll say there was a major breakthrough in negotiations or nonsense like that. Should at least double our circulation for the next year!” “That’s a shame, because I hear that there’s a forgotten princess in Equestria.” Stirring pointed to a wanted poster of Hope, half-torn down but with her face still visible. “Maybe she could be a viable candidate.” “I heard about that story,” said the newspaper-pony. “Some conspiracy theory from up north. I understand your boss is cooking up a story. Something about publishing some letter or other. At least, that’s what my spies tell me.” The Colonel let out a ‘joking-but-not-really’ kind of laugh. Stirring mentally kicked himself. So that’s the story he was working on, Stirring thought. No wonder he didn’t want me near it. I’m in big trouble if I ever go back to Seaddle. Stirring reflected that he should count himself fortunate that Fast Facts, a consummate news-pony, had chosen to try for a big scoop instead of turning the letters over to the authorities and thereby revealing to them Stirring’s role in the conspiracy. “You know, I think I might have just become a free agent,” Stirring said. “Excellent, my boy!” the Colonel responded. “Maybe you’ll be able to tell me whether there’s anything to this princess character. You should know better than most what to make of the balderdash pouring down on us from the rainy north.” “I really haven’t had much time to keep track of it,” Stirring lied. The Colonel blew out a thick cloud of smoke from his cigar. “Apparently, she just escaped from a mental ward but the word is, the official story’s a cover-up and that she’s really this princess that got shafted by Celestia.” “I heard she worked at Seaddle Specialist, not that she was in the mental ward there.” The other pony shrugged. “Mental ward makes a better story. Ponies get a kick out of that sort of stuff.” “Sounds like you don’t believe it.” The Colonel dropped some ash from his cigar. “I don’t put much stock in news that I don’t make up. Besides, she’s a crystal pony.” “So?” “Well, they’re ponies and all, but they’re not really like us, are they?” After some more cigar-chomping, he added, “Still, we might roll with it if it gets popular enough. If nothing else, it’ll get another one over on that pretentious oaf Fast Facts; no offence, my boy. Maybe I’ll even have an interview with her. Just pen something in my spare time and say it’s an interview. Ponies will believe anything. She’s cute too. That means we can slap her face on the front page and it’ll sell like cider. A lot of lonely stallions in this town.” “You should do that,” Stirring said. The Colonel, clearly not used to be told what he should or shouldn’t do, raised an eyebrow and gave Stirring the longest, most disapproving look he could ever remember receiving. Stirring quickly tried to save himself, saying as meekly as possible, “I mean, I can’t tell one of the foremost journalistic authorities in Equestria how to do his very important job, but I have a feeling that story’s going to be big. You should get a jump on it before anyone else does. Certainly before Fast Facts and the Stablegraph.” If Stirring had played his cards right, he would succeed in getting Starlight’s preferred story out and perhaps dent any repercussions from Fast Facts’ publication of his letters. Luckily, Fast Facts’ reputation for truth and honesty was only slightly better than the Colonel’s. The Colonel, standing up a little straighter, took a long, satisfied drag of his cigar and puffed out a luxuriant black cloud of smoke. “The foremost journalistic authority in Equestria. You’ll need to remember that if you come to work for me. But I think I will print this story. I can already see the headline now: ‘Celestia Illegitimate. True Ruler of Equestria Steps Forward.'” “Celestia?” Stirring asked, trying to correct the Colonel but not trying to be perceived as doing so. “I’m confused. Wouldn’t it be Cadance? The forgotten princess is a crystal pony, after all.” “So much to teach you, my boy,” the Colonel said as he thoughtfully inhaled cigar smoke. “Ponies care about Celestia. They’ll buy papers when the story’s about her. The pink princess, nopony cares, other than that she’s pretty. But we’re not doing page-three girls.” “And here I thought we would be printing the truth.” The Colonel let out a loud belly laugh. “Oh, Stirring Words, my boy, you do have so much to learn.” Stirring turned his head around one last time. He noticed, in the crowd, a small purple stallion moving in the direction where his companions had gone. For a moment, there was a pang of panic. Wasn’t that the pony Starlight had said had tried to capture them? But no, couldn’t be. What where the odds? “Still, I’ll make something of you,” said the Colonel. “You have the instincts to edge out the competition. And I can use ponies like that, as long as inconvenient things like honesty and integrity don’t get in the way.” But Stirring was no longer listening. All of his attention was on the pony he had just seen. “Yeah, yeah, sure….” he muttered. Then he turned and ran into the crowd, chasing a purple pony that might not even be there. The Colonel chomped at his cigar. “Colts these days. No more respect. You wouldn’t see me doing that to a pony. Lying, spreading rumors behind their back, blackmail, sure. That’s how a gentlepony does things. But to turn his back on me in the middle of the conversation? It’s beyond the pale! Maybe I don’t need a pony like him at my paper after all.” After he once more puffed out a massive cloud of smoke, the Colonel scratched his beard and then twirled his moustache. Equestria’s foremost journalistic authority was in thought. “It’s a good story, mind you, about the princess. I’ll still have to print it. Never let it be said that I don’t know a good idea when I steal it.” “Oh, how I loathe this dreadful city!” Dr. Fie complained as he managed to just weave past a burly pegasus. “I would have thought that San Franciscolt would be just the city for you,” Starlight responded. “How could it? It’s so crowded. There are too many ponies here!” “But they’re your kind of ponies.” “I don’t have a kind of pony, madam. I am one of a kind.” Radiant Hope tried to ignore them both. She was certain that bickering was not the best way to avoid being detected in public, but she also knew that it would be impossible to get them to be quiet. So Hope just pulled her hood down a little more. At the moment, she was thankful that new cloaks were among the things Dr. Fie had felt the need to shoplift. Those, and the blue pouch which she had tied around her neck, just big enough to fit Sombra’s horn. But still, it didn’t make up for the noise the Dr. Fie and Starlight were making. Hope tried to act as though she was only beside the other two by chance, not by design. But maybe there was no need for such caution. Stirring had been right. Nopony cared much about three fugitives from Seaddle. The only thing everypony was talking about was the proposed secession. Earlier, some ponies had even chatted her up about it. Hope had done her best to sound like a pony not on the run from the law and the other two did not once bring up the fact that she was made of crystal. Had she pulled down her hood and said, “My name is Radiant Hope,” she might not have fazed them at all. Hope felt more comfortable then she had perhaps since before the Siege. Maybe this was a place where nopony would care about her past. And then she saw him. It was quick and it was just by chance. Hope had happened to glance over her shoulder, wondering when Stirring was going to rejoin them, and she had seen the small purple stallion with the sword for a cutie mark. It was just briefly, but there was no forgetting the pony that had not too long ago instigated what was possibly the most harrowing night of Hope’s harrowing life. “We’re being followed,” she said to Starlight and the doctor, quietly but with urgency. “Nonsense, dear girl,” Dr. Fie responded. “I see no one. And my eagle-eyes are never mistaken.” Starlight looked back and scanned the crowd. “Hope, who do you think you saw?” “It was that purple stallion! The one with the princesses that night at the inn.” “The one who was calling the shots,” Starlight said, almost with amusement. “I would like to get my hooves on him.” “Please keep your revolting fantasies to yourself, madam,” Dr. Fie said, wiping himself off as though her words had physically contaminated him. For once, Starlight didn’t respond. She was still scanning the crowd. But now her eyes had fixed on one spot. Only for a moment, but just long enough that Hope knew she must have seen something. “He’s back there.” Starlight said, trying to keep her voice calm. “We just have to avoid him. We can do that.” “And what about all the goons he probably has posted throughout the crowd?” Dr. Fie asked. “I don’t think there’s anypony else,” Hope said as she looked around for any signs of ponies moving toward them. “At least not here. And it’s a big crowd. It’ll be hard for them to get to us.” “And, if what Stirring said is right, the princesses wouldn’t risk angering the natives by sending in the EIS,” Starlight said. “Well, they sent in one, didn’t they?” Dr. Fie remarked. Though he would never have believed it, Dr. Fie was wrong on this occasion. Or partially, at least. Swift Strike had been sent to San Franciscolt by the princesses. But it wasn’t to apprehend these three. He was there on quite different business. Somepony had to make sure that the citizens' talk of picking their own ruler was just talk and that there was no real threat to the throne. That was the official story, at least. But Swift Strike was not the type of pony to believe official stories. He had crafted so many that he knew better. He suspected that the assignment was either a punishment on Luna’s part or that Twilight Sparkle had decided he was too inefficient to lead the hunt. He seemed to still have Celestia’s ear, judging by the fact that she had been all set to come to San Franciscolt until he had warned her that the security situation was too dire. But then, maybe Celestia was against him too. After all, she still held enough power to overturn any of Luna or Twilight’s decisions. But she did not. Didn’t that suggest at least a level of approval? No matter, Swift thought. He just needed something that would get him back into the princesses’ good graces. And what could be better than capturing Starlight and Hope? Swift had guessed that they’d try to use rail eventually, so he had been staking out the San Franciscolt train–station since he arrived. Of course, it was always going to take a bit of luck for them to be taking the train from this particular station. But then, today was shaping up to be Swift Strike’s lucky day. Then the fugitives started picking up pace and weaving through the crowd. Swift mentally kicked himself. Despite all of his caution, they must have seen him. Maybe he really hadn’t been at the top of his game since the inn fiasco? No time to think about that, though. Swift Strike picked up his own pace and began to weave more quickly through the crowd. He could still see the cloaks, but he himself would be invisible to them. The three ponies hurried through the crowd. “Where is he? I don’t see him!” Starlight said. “This isn’t going to work!” Hope said. “If we can’t keep sight of him, he’ll catch us before we know it!” “Oh, cruel fate! That Fiddly Fie should escape countless fatal perils only to be finally cut down—” “Quiet!” Starlight said. “I think I have a plan. You two keep running and keep him distracted. I’ve got something I need to do.” In a flash of light, Starlight disappeared. “She really wants to show off how well she can teleport now, doesn’t she?” Hope said. The two kept moving, without any clear sense of where they were moving to. But they successfully managed to weave through the crowd. Hope did it without crashing into anypony. Dr. Fie was not so lucky, knocking a few onto their backs as he pushed through, often followed by an impromptu apology as he went flying past. Hope found herself splitting her concentration between finding her own way and sending out healing spells to whatever pony the doctor had just made contact with. It was a miracle she was able to keep going at all. But at least none of the ponies seemed particularly offended. Apparently, being knocked to the ground in the chaos of the crowd was a common occurrence at train-stations in the fine city of San Franciscolt. “Here, girl, stop!” Dr. Fie said, as he himself stopped and began gasping for breath. “I don’t think I can run anymore! You know what overexertion does to me!” Hope wheeled around and grabbed hold of him. “Dr. Fie, this is not the time!” “And what are we supposed to do? Just keep running forever? It’s not going to work, child. We should try to blend in another way!” “What do you propose?” Dr. Fie looked past Hope. Her eyes followed his. He was gazing intently at a large piece a sculpture. Hope could not make heads or tails of it; apparently it was part of a new enthusiasm called “abstract art,” the chief purpose of which, as far as Hope could tell, was to install eyesores like this in places of public transportation in a desperate bid to make those places seem to possess an iota of culture. A crowd of ponies had gathered around it, not to look at it, but just because it offered a safe rest from the otherwise perilous waves of movement and momentum in the station. “I always said that you needed more culture.” Dr. Fie began to amble and signaled for Hope to follow. “Come along, dear girl. We should take in some modern art!” Hope could only stare quizzically as Dr. Fie seemed to become deeply immersed in a sculpture at a moment when their freedom was on the line. Meanwhile, in another part of the station, Stirring was still trying to catch up. He had lost sight of the purple pony now and was just galloping in the general direction he had last seen him. But it appeared hopeless. He could not see the purple pony or the three cloaks. For all he knew, they could have been apprehended by now. But he still kept running. That is, until, he felt a pony grab his arm and pull him back. The whiplash almost sent him falling to the floor. But then Stirring was surrounded by a turquoise light and set on his hooves again. Starlight was standing next to him. “You’re safe, ma’am!” Stirring said. “Yes, but the others aren’t,” Starlight added. “I have a plan to save them, but I’ll need your help. Do you remember where that miner was earlier? Would his soapbox still be there?” “I imagine so,” Stirring responded. “Take me there.” Dr. Fie wandered around the sculpture, leaning in close and apparently taking in every inch of it. Radiant Hope followed close behind, staring more at the doctor than at the sculpture. But she did glance at it. “What is it supposed to be?” she said. What it looked like was three large blocks stacked one on top of the other. The bottom one was just a plain block, but the middle one had wings, and the top one had a horn sticking up from it. Or it could have been a weathervane. Impossible to tell, really. “It’s about death,” Dr. Fie said. “How do you know?” “These modern art pieces are always about death.” Hope saw a little plaque and bent her head down to skim the words thereon. “It’s called Unity in Equestria, apparently.” “Hmm,” Dr. Fie said. “And what rambunctious Roandin was able to tear himself away from sticking macaroni on paper for mom and dad’s fridge long enough to put this together?” “If you don’t like it, why’d you insist we stop and look at it?” Hope asked. “Oh, dear me. Did I give the impression that I didn’t like it? What I meant to say was that it’s all a matter of perspective. Why, from this angle over here, it looks like it could be one of the friezes from the Percheron. If the friezes of the Percheron were carved by a blind parasprite. A blind parasprite working only with a cheese grater….” Hope shook her head. “Okay, doctor. But why are you making us stop here? That pony could be here any moment!” That pony was here. Dr. Fie saw him, coming through the crowd. “Hope, my dear, I’m counting on it!” Just as their pursuer leapt to tackle Hope, Dr. Fie pulled her out of the way and pushed over the sculpture. It collided with the small purple unicorn and knocked him to the ground, trapping him beneath it. “I don’t know if you should have damaged the sculpture like that,” Hope said. “Even if it is modern art.” “Really, Hope?” the doctor replied. “There are so many dubious things you’ve tolerated. But when it comes to pushing statues over, that’s where you take the moral high-ground?” “I did what I thought was necessary. But dropping the sculpture on him just seemed… mean….” “It was him or us, dear girl.” The unicorn squirmed underneath the weight of the sculpture. Hope’s horn lit up blue. Dr. Fie put his hoof over it. “Don’t do that now, dear girl.” “But he’s in pain. You know I have to do it.” “Maybe, just this once, you could… I don’t know… not?” It did not matter, for the purple pony had managed to wrangle his way out from under the sculpture while the two were debating. A little worse for wear, maybe, but he was still determined on getting his mare. "You ponies have to learn," he said. "Swift Strike isn't so easily beaten." “Oh, dear me. I thought that would have worked better,” Dr. Fie said glumly. “Should we run again?” Hope asked. But there was no need. For soon, another voice was heard, booming throughout this part of the station. Starlight’s voice. “There you are, my fellow ponies!” she said. “There, that little purple runt is the one I was telling you about. He’s here from the government to steal your gold!” Starlight was standing, hood down, in the middle of a large group of ponies. Stirring Words was beside her. “I came here today to talk to you all about how the Equestrian royalty is exploiting you,” Starlight said. “But I am shocked to see them be so bold as to do it in the middle of a public place! That purple pony is a known operative of theirs!” “What, the glowy one with the blue hair?” asked a pony that looked to be a dockworker. “No, not ‘the glowy one with the blue hair’,” Starlight said, her voice lapsing briefly into disgust. “The small one with the black mane. He’s the one who’s trying to bleed this city dry. He’s trying to destroy it!” “Indeed, he is,” Dr. Fie said nervously to the crowd. “Just look at how he unnecessarily damaged this really quite exquisite work of art!” “He is trying to take away everything that makes this city great. And what do we do with those types of ponies?” Starlight asked, her tone provocative. Swift looked at the mob. The mob collectively looked at Swift. For a moment, neither made a move. Then, suddenly, Swift took off at a gallop. The mob let out a collective roar and stampeded after him. The din of their shouts and hooves made the noisy station somehow even noisier. Indeed. Hope, Starlight, and the others had to cover their ears until the mob had disappeared into the distance. “That speech you gave them was really something,” Stirring said, lowering his hooves. “One of your best, if I do say so, ma’am.” “Why, thank you, Stirring,” Starlight said. “I didn’t know you cared so much about letting ponies keep their hard-earned gold,” Stirring said. “I have a bleeding heart like that,” Starlight responded. “That would imply you have a heart, madam,” Dr. Fie said as he and Hope joined them. “It’s a heart of iron, doctor, but it’s still a heart,” Starlight answered with a smirk. “But, if you don’t mind my saying,” Stirring said. “I didn’t hear you mention anything about cutie marks. If they hate what the government’s doing with their gold, won’t they hate being enslaved to their cutie marks even more?” “Foal steps, Stirring, foal steps,” Starlight answered. “They are all like children. We must guide them gently by the hoof if we ever want them to see the truth. We must start with small victories before we go on to larger ones.” “I hope they don’t hurt him,” Hope said, looking in the direction the mob had gone. “He is just trying to do his job.” “No, they’ll probably just tar-and-feather him,” Starlight answered. “I had, I think, eight pegasi volunteering to donate feathers for the effort.” “You are the soul of moderation, dear lady,” Dr. Fie remarked with a sneer. “If I wasn’t, you’d have been dead a long time ago,” Starlight said, “But let’s not stand around and wait for more of them to come. Stirring, get us to our train.” Stirring nodded and guided them onward. The scene with the mob had not cleared the train-station out at all. Ponies and assorted members of other species continued to walk by, utterly unmoved by what had just occurred. Perhaps this was another common occurrence in the fine city of San Franciscolt. The boarding process was uneventful. Both Hope and Starlight had considered teleporting when the attendants when round to punch tickets. However, Stirring was able to engage their attendant in conversation as he provided four tickets and she never even bothered to look at them. This particular car had only three other ponies, and these were all huddled at the opposite end and were paying no attention. It seemed like they were finally safe. Dr. Fie even felt uncharacteristically daring enough to pull down his hood. Starlight no longer bothered with hers. Hope continued to keep her hood up, but that was mostly because she was too distracted to think about it. She was busy looking out the window. Or, not really looking, but just staring in that general direction, lost in her own thoughts. “Oh, you’re not still worried about that nasty little EIS agent, are you?” Starlight said, sitting across from Hope. Starlight focused again on Hope. “Oh, don’t worry! I’m sure he got away. Half those ponies were almost too drunk to stand, much less capture a pony as fast as that. I just sent them after him because I knew they’d keep him busy.” Hope closed her eyes. “What are you doing now?” Starlight asked, mildly annoyed. “Whenever I close my eyes, I see faces. Twisted, mangled faces. And they reach out to me, begging me for help.” “After how long you spent with the Umbrum, I’m not surprised you’re still seeing them,” Stirring Words said. Hope opened her eyes. Even though Stirring had spoken, she focused squarely on Starlight Glimmer. “It’s not the Umbrum.” “Then who is it, dear girl?” Dr. Fie asked. “After the Siege,” Hope said, “I stood outside the city and looked down at all the destruction the Umbrum caused. All the destruction I caused. I watched the smoke rise up from fires nopony had been able to put out and I listened to the sirens of the ambulances. And then I knew. I knew for the first time what I had done. I actually went back. I went back to the city with my hood up and walked around. I heard the stories and watched the reports and saw the pictures. The pictures of all the ponies that had died. I had to. I saw the faces of everypony that lost his or her life during the Siege, during the changeling attacks, after the Umbrum were released, and when Sombra and I were Emperor and Empress….” “Hope,” Dr. Fie said quietly, putting his hoof on her shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault.” “Wasn’t it, though?” Stirring asked. “Time and place, dear boy,” Dr. Foe chided. “Time and place.” “I wanted to do something to make it right,” Hope said. “But you can’t, can you? It's not just the ponies that died, but the friends and families that were left behind after. Just like I was after Sombra fell. Just like I am now that he's gone again. So I left. I just began to wander, until I ended up in Seaddle. But I still see those faces whenever I close my eyes. Not as they were in their pictures, not happy and smiling, but how they must have looked when they died.” Starlight gave Stirring a knowing look. To Hope, she said, “So, you just keep punishing yourself?” Hope touched the porch at her neck. “I have to.” An image appeared in the window, though Hope was certain it was only for her eyes. A familiar image. King Sombra. But he did not look so menacing now, or angry. He mostly just looked sad. Hope put up her hoof to touch the glass where his cheek was. There was a soft rumbling below as the train began to move. Hope though she heard something else among the deep, rhythmic sounds of wheels hitting the track. ”Hope....” “You could do something about it,” Starlight said. “Try to make up for it, somehow.” Hope laid her head against the glass and the vision of her first friend. She closed her eyes. “I want to. Except, I don’t think it’s possible. Not for me.” Hope opened her eyes. The image was gone. But in its place was the golden-green of verdant fields, and the darker green of playfully rolling hills beyond. Ponies worked these fields, cracking jokes and singing songs as they went about their simple work. Further in the distance, the vast ocean shimmered like a great jewel of lapis lazuli in the rays of Celestia’s glorious sun. Even in the cabin of this train-car, the warmth and heat could be felt. Hope smiled and once more faced her companions. She spoke with resolve. “But I can’t add another face to all those I already see. I can’t feel the guilt of one more life lost. That’s why I can’t stop healing ponies. It’s all I have left.” “It’s not all you have left,” Dr. Fie said. “You have me. Never fear—” “She has me, too!” Starlight said, pointedly interrupting Dr. Fie. “Hope, I can help you. Together, we can make up for the damage you’ve done.” “Thank you, Starlight,” Hope said. “But it is something I’ll have to do alone.” Starlight tried to avoid Stirring’s gaze. “Don’t talk like this, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said. “I don’t like the way it sounds.” Everypony fell quiet. The train now picked up speed and soon San Franciscolt and its environs were nothing but a memory. It seemed they were safe at last. There was more silence. And then, without turning back from the window, Hope spoke. “The faces, they’ve been getting less and less pronounced. They’re more like a blur, lately. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m forgetting them. I don’t want to forget them.” Dr. Fie put his foreleg around her. “Of course not, Hope. You’re just moving on.” “Can I move on? After what I’ve done?” “Everypony has to, sooner or later, no matter what they’ve done. I speak from experience.” To Starlight and Stirring’s amused looks, Dr. Fie added, “Not that I’ve ever done anything seriously despicable, anything that I would need to move on from. But I am a doctor, so I know about these things.” “I hope you’re right, doctor,” Hope said. “I hope you’re right.” What had become of Swift Strike? Would the four reach Las Pegasus safely? Read on.