//------------------------------// // Silk (No. 25) Part 1 // Story: The Hitlist // by TopWanted //------------------------------// Previously on The Hitlist... “I’ve been looking for an in-house designer. One that can work directly with me and my students to produce quality fashion.” --- “You were once passionate about what you did. Then that passion got the better of you and you betrayed the ones you love. I suppose in that regard my story is a lot like yours.” --- “What? You thought I was that crazy mare?” --- “Wait! What’s your name?” "Barrel." --- “It’s a little more complicated than that, little miss. Been around as long as I have… everything gets more complicated.” --- "Now do something smart for the first time in a long time, and let me in.” Silk (No. 25) The night before the Summit. Approximately two weeks ago… Shining Armor opened the door to his throne room in the crystal empire and gazed at an empty room. He gave a small sigh and closed the door. Apparently he and Cadence had just missed each other, she heading out on the train before to Canterlot and him coming back. He had been hoping to see his wife at least in passing before the summit. It felt like ages since they’d been face to face. He trudged down the hall towards his bed chambers. He hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep on the train and it was the middle of the night. He rubbed his eye as he entered the large suite he called home and closed the door behind him. “Hello, lover.” Shining spun on his hooves toward the bed and was shocked to see Cadence lying seductively on the luxurious silken sheets. “Cadence? I thought you left already?” He shook his head. “Th-That doesn’t matter you should probably leave now if you want to make the summit.” Cadence merely smiled playfully and rose to her forelegs on the bed. “Oh come on, Shiny. Can’t we just have a little fun before I go? It’s been a while.” Shining had to admit, it had been a while. And he really did miss his wife’s touch, crammed down in that bunker at CRO. But his sense of duty overruled his libido. “I don’t think so, we really need to get you to Canterlot.” Cadence’s face fell and she pouted. “Pity. I wanted to see just how good a stallion that could bag an alicorn was.” Shining raised an eyebrow. “Cadence are you…” He couldn’t finish as the dressers, cabinets, and other pieces of furniture suddenly sprung to life. They immediately jumped on him in a dogpile, spraying a strange silky white substance all over him. “Get off me!” Shining let loose a sphere of pink magic from his horn that pushed the furniture away. They fell to the side, their guises falling as well to reveal a familiar sight. Changelings. Shining struggled to free his hooves from the web that caught him but a pink hoof stomped by his head and stopped him. He looked up into Cadence’s face, though she had an expression his wife would never use, pitiable disgust. “You seriously can’t think of any other plan than pretending to be my wife, Chrysalis?” Shining spat at her from the floor. Cadence’s face now smiled a sharp row of teeth, her eyes pulsing blue. “My sweet Shining Armor, who ever said I was Chrysalis?” Her pink disguise fell away replaced by the same black body of the changeling queen, sans the crown. Also her horn was broken in half and her mane was a neon blue that fell around her in braids. “And whoever said posing as Cadence was part of my plan?” Shining’s eyes widened at this new threat. He tried to power up another attack but a changeling came up from behind eager for retribution and kicked him in the head knocking him out. The changeling that used to be Cadence chuckled and waved a few more of her minions over. “Take him out of the city.” “To where, my queen?” Her eyes grew cold. “Tell my sister I have a present for her. And she’d better not screw it up this time.” --- Silk did a little bow. “Did you like my little performance?” Redwood did not react. This bug had probably been posing as Armor for weeks and he never noticed. That’s just how good she was. “Oh, come on, Rayleigh. I came all this way just to have a little reunion the least you can do is indulge me.” “It was… convincing,” Rayleigh muttered. Silk grinned widely and began to giggle like a schoolfilly. “Oh, stop you’re too much.” “How long?” Silk stopped giggling. “A week? Two?” She stayed silent with a smile. “No, you’ve been planning this for a while. Waiting for a moment when the Elements were divided geographically. It was easy enough to throw off CRO’s trail after that.” He narrowed his eyes and smiled. “The summit. You’ve been posing as Armor since the summit.” Silk did a slow deliberate clap of her hooves. “Bravo, the great Rayleigh Redwood cracks the case. Now let’s see if you can solve the mystery of WHY I’m here.” Redwood’s smirk softened a bit. “Is this about Neighpal?” “Of course, it’s about Neighpal!! You left me to die on that frozen mountain!” “I’d heard about your recovery.” “Then I’m sure you also heard about this?” she viciously pointed to her forehead where her shattered horn protruded. “I had to break my own horn to escape that ice cave!” “Then how apropos that you used a cave to get to me,” Rayleigh laughed. “That is what you used? The mega system that you learned about from your source. Who was that by the way?” Silk didn’t take the bait. “I’ve been posing as Shining Armor for over a month. What makes you think I didn’t just use the information I learned here and sent it to my changelings?” Because there’s a pony here who’s a pretty good stickler about detecting outgoing messages, he thought. “Call it a hunch.” Silk smirked. “Well, you’d be right in this case. Not that I’ll ever share that information with you. I may like to betray and murder but even I know when something is just too juicy to divulge.” She walked forward and leaned on the glass with a seductive grin. “You’ve got a suitor. Someone seriously wants to play with you, Rayleigh. And who am I to deny a gift horse in the mouth. So when I heard about this grand opportunity to find you in a cage, I was on the first boat here!” Redwood’s smirk returned. “So you have me, now what?” Silk tutted and rubbed a hoof against the glass a small arc of magic popping out behind the trail. “If only it were that simple, Rayleigh.” She put both hooves on the glass and her forehead, looking at him with big eyes. “So close and yet so far away. Do you know how infuriating it is to have you here and not be able to tear you limb from limb?” “What makes you think you could?” Silk let out a cackling laugh and tore herself away from the cage. “Oh, I wouldn’t have to, Rayleigh. My changelings would. And I’d watch and laugh as they ripped the flesh from your bones.” --- Pinkie Pie looked up raining sky with worry. She and the Crusaders had been walking through the Everfree close to the entire day with no idea where they were going. Now the sun had set and a heavy rain had come. The thick canopy of trees above them protected against a lot of the water but the ground was not so lucky. Pinkie felt her hoof slip as she stepped in another giant mud puddle. She landed on her chin and let out a loud cry. “You okay, Pinkie?” Sweetie Belle asked as she helped her up. “I’m fine. Look girls, maybe we should call it a day.” Scootaloo was at the front of the group and sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. We’ll set up camp here.” “Camp?” Pinkie raised an eyebrow as the girls all unpacked large blue tarps from their saddlebags. “Wait, you guys were planning to camp out here?” “Well, yeah,” Apple Bloom replied. “We’ve been plannin’ this trip for a while. We’ve found that usually when we try to do things to get our cutie marks we tend to go in half-cocked.” “I said that this is a priority one mission,” Scootaloo interjected. “So we needed to be fully prepared!” The girls began to pull out all kinds of things. Matches. Extra tarps. Rope. Mace. Even extra boots. Sweetie Belle held her boots in front of her and chuckled nervously. “I’d offer them to you but I don’t think we’re the same size.” “Ah told you she’d only be getting’ in the way,” Apple Bloom chided. “No offense, Pinkie.” “Hey, if she’s a pony that wants to get revenge on that nasty monster that hurt Rainbow Dash then I say it’s fine.” Scootaloo began to make her tent again. “Revenge…” Pinkie mulled over the word. “Is that really what you girls want?” “Of course! I mean, someponies got to pay, right?” Pinkie merely nodded half heartedly and looked up at the sky. It was going to be a long night. --- Rarity and Barrel had tipped off the Baltimare police department about the wet changelings in the bay. But not before sneaking one away themselves. The two of them brought their guest to a small unoccupied warehouse on the dock, a good mile from the site where they’d sprung their trap. Barrel had knocked the changeling out and tied him to a chair. Rarity watched the large stallion prepare to interrogate the insect. Barrel picked up a long thin knife that Rarity could only assume was some fishing tool and laid it next to a row of similar serrated instruments. She felt the blood run from her face. “Um, you’re not really going to torture it, are you?” Barrel gave her a conflicted look. “I hope not. My brother was the interrogating type. Could always get the truth out of me. But he did show me some skills.” He pointed to the row of sharp instruments. “This is called an intimidation tactic. Keeping your weapons in row like this infers a structure or routine. The vic… I mean the pony takes away that you have in fact tortured before and will not hesitate.” Rarity looked in Barrel’s eyes, she didn’t see any bloodlust in them. “You’ve never killed anypony before have you?” Barrel looked her in the eye once more. This time he seemed to be looking straight past her, as if to something else. “We need to get information,” he pulled the conversation away. Rarity played along, still wishing she’d gotten that answer. “Alright, so how do we do that?” Barrel grinned again and grabbed a knife to hand to her. “You’re going to torture him.” “Huh?” --- Celestia and Luna flew down from above and landed on the court in front of the Royal Academy. Several sections of the building were on fire but guards worked fervently to quell the blaze. A tall dark blue unicorn with a mint mane and gold armor commanded them as they went. “Vice Captain Trigger Finger!” Trigger turned and bowed as the sisters approached. Celestia was the first to speak. “What happened here?” Trigger grit his teeth. “Changelings, your highness. Hundreds of them stormed through the streets in a black cloud and rammed the door down. It seems quiet inside now but we haven’t seen a single pony leave the premises.” Celestia knew that had to be because they were below ground, in CRO. She looked to Luna and her sister seemed to agree. “Have there been any demands?” she asked. “Not yet. We sent a pony or two in to reconnaissance. Made sure to tie this to them.” Trigger lifted up a small ball of nearly invisibly thin twine. “If a changeling thinks to replace one of them then we’ll know when they come out.” It was a decent plan, but if Redwood was right about the threat then these changelings were a hoof above the danger level Chrysalis posed. “And what of Prince Armor?” Luna asked. “He was in there when those bugs attacked. Don’t know if he’s still alive or not.” Suddenly a window shattered. Everypony drew their attention to the glass and pointed their crossbows and horns, but nothing was there. Instead a pink shell laid on the ground in front of the window. Celestia tentatively walked toward it and picked it up. “Testing, testing,” the shell spoke in a sickly feminine voice. “Can anypony hear me?” Celestia brought the shell to her mouth. “Who is this?” “The Princess? Score for the first try!” the voice replied. “Glad I didn’t have to deal with any of your lackeys. You and I have a lot to discuss.” “Chrysalis’ sister I presume?” The shell was silent, but Celestia thought she could hear the grinding of teeth. “Is that seriously how you know me? That I’m just the sister of that idiot? I infiltrated your organization! Your family! I staged a bucking coup and took control of your most secret of all places! And all you can call me is Chrysalis’ sister!?” Celestia could hear the venom in her voice. Luna was now beside her listening in, a worried look on her face. “Know this! My name is Silk! Queen of Legion! And you will do everything I say or everypony here dies… Starting with this one.” The sound of a distressed mare came over the shell. “Princess! She was posing a-” the pony was cut off by the sound of a wet thud. Celestia closed her eyes in a grimace even though she couldn’t see the attack. “No!” Luna shouted into the shell. “How dare you!?” “That was for your disrespect,” Silk cut in. “And so you know that I mean it when I say that I will kill another one every hour.” She was silent and the crowd stood still. Celestia seethed beneath her mane. “Talk to you again in 59 minutes,” she finished with a chuckle and cut out. “No! Come back!” Celestia shouted but there was no answer. She wanted to throw the shell at the wall in disgust but she didn’t. She handed the shell to Trigger. “Let my sister know the moment she returns.” She pointed to a few guards. “You, you and you! Follow me!” Celestia turned to walk away. Luna looked at her with confusion. “Tia, wait! Where are you going?” “To get some answers from the only pony who can help.” She stopped and gave Luna one last look. “I know this isn’t the time to leave. Especially after I just regained your confidence. But believe me when I say that I would not put the lives of those ponies in anypony else’s hooves.” Luna looked at her with a deep frown but nodded. “At least tell me where you’re going.” Celestia grit her teeth and turned to leave. “Chrysalis.” --- “Everypony stop!” Twilight shouted but to no avail. The rain poured down as the townsfolk continued to punch and kick at each other, each one believing the other to be a changeling. The large amount of rain obscuring everypony’s vision didn’t help. Applejack had to buck a mare in the teeth before she could get her hooves on her. The farmpony wincing as she did. “Sorry! Twi, we need to do somethin’ about these ponies.” Twilight looked at the letter sent from Seek still in her hooves. Rain began to wet it and she tucked it away. “This was a setup. They attacked Canterlot instead. We were only a distraction. Now with this rain it’s throwing everypony into mass hysteria. We got them riled up for nothing!” “Not nothing,” Cloudy zipped past Twilight’s shoulder and rammed into an incoming pony. They went down as the Pegasus plowed her front hooves into their chest. “Cloudy! That pony was wearing a ribbon!” Cloudy raised the pony’s hoof and removed the ribbon revealing that it had now turned red. “I told you I was prepared, Sparkle,” she smirked. “Is that a mood ribbon?” Twilight asked. Now that she looked at the crowd. Many ribbons had turned a bright yellow that she could see through the rain while some were bright red. “Yellow is fear, those are the scared townsfolk,” Cloudy said. “While red is anger. The changelings, I getcha,” Applejack retorted with a sly grin. “Care to help me with a little cleanup?” Cloudy smiled at her. Applejack was surprised by the first appearance of a genuine smile from the mare in such a place but she took it. “It’d be mah pleasure.” The two yelled loudly as they joined the fray taking out everypony with a red ribbon. Twilight let out a small sigh of relief that that crisis had been dealt with, but the changeling’s would figure out the problem soon enough and adapt. “This is awful. We need to find some way to get them all out I the open. What do you think, Fluttershy? …Fluttershy?” Twilight looked around but she could no longer see the yellow Pegasus next to her. “Fluttershy!” --- Fluttershy ran through the streets as ponies plunged into chaotic brawls around her. “Ohnoohnoohnoohno!” She tried to pull two ponies away from each other but one simply elbowed her in the face pushing back. “Please stop this!” She tried using her stare but nopony could see much of anything through the rain. Suddenly, when she was beginning to feel helpless a set of hooves reached out from behind and grabbed her. She screamed silently as they wrapped around her mouth and pulled her into an alley way. She struggled against the pony that grabbed her but the pony simply let her go when they were far enough into the alley. She turned with wide eyes to her attacker and saw a familiar gray coat and black mane. “Fluttershy, it’s alright it’s me!” Fluttershy gave a small sigh of relief as she saw her friend Octavia. The musician had played at several charity functions that Fluttershy was a part of and they had spoken several times in passing. But the yellow mare breathed in a gasp as she took a defensive stance again. “How do I know you’re not a changeling?” Octavia frowned. “I… I don’t know. Look, I’m not entirely sure of just what’s going on anyway. Vinyl tried to get me to stay home tonight, even locked the door from the outside but I needed to see what she was doing. Is everypony like this? You said changelings. Are those things from the wedding here?” Fluttershy nodded grimly still weary of the gray mare. “Y-Yes. With the rain everypony thinks the other is a changeling. We had ribbons to signify them but the changelings seemed to have stolen some.” Octavia nodded. “Okay.” She gave a small groan and rubbed her forehead. “Grr. That stupid Vinyl! Why would she go straight into the thick of this?” Fluttershy shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.” She screamed as a pony was launched at the wall close by the alley and made a hard slam. “W-We should really get going!” “Agreed.” --- Seek sat on the cold floor, a silky rope tied around his forearms and legs. He had watched as the leader of Legion, a tall changeling calling herself Silk, crushed a pony’s head beneath her hoof. She did it without hesitation and remorse. A sick feeling ran through his body. If she found out that he had the dragon lighter in his mane or the fact that he got a message out, he had no doubt he would be next on the insect lady’s list. She had brought nearly all the ponies left in CRO to the warehouse below where Redwood’s cell was. She paced back and forth with an irritated expression as she counted down the minutes. “Where did you get the communautilus?” he asked. Seek saw that he was referring to the pink shell in Silk’s hooves. She had sent a changeling above to deliver another to the princesses outside. “I’d think you’d know, Rayleigh. I had my children pick these off the corpses of your pathetic soldiers.” She brandished the shell in his face. “I must say, this is quite the clever little shell. Each one is grown alongside a group of others and any sound waves collected into one project from its siblings. A nice way of communicating around tapped magical communication networks.” Redwood remained stoic though Seek could see that he was slightly pissed. “So you’re just going to kill everypony here until you get the spell code for the cell?” “That’s the plan,” Silk responded. “And then after you’ve had your revenge?” Silk was silent and gave Redwood a vicious look. He laughed. “Oh, Silk. You’re know all the right moves but when it comes time to finish…” She slammed a hoof against the cell wall and a ripple of magic shot out. “Shut up!” “You have not one but two alicorns waiting for you above.” Redwood continued. “You’re not going anywhere after this.” Silk’s grin returned. “Who says I wanted to go anywhere?” Seek saw Redwood look surprised. “…This is a suicide mission.” “Ding ding ding!” Silk shouted. “Why?” “Why? Because of you, that’s why! It was a miracle that I survived that cave in. If it weren’t for my savior I wouldn’t even be here to exact my revenge.” Savior? “And when they said that all they wanted from me was to come here and kill you? I signed up without a second thought.” Redwood narrowed his eyes. “But they also threatened you, I’m guessing.” Silk stayed silent. “Who? Who are you working for?” Silk tutted and waved her hoof in front of the glass. “Now, now, Rayleigh. Let’s not make this about anypony else but us.” She pressed her forehead against the glass once more and smiled ear to ear revealing an array of sharp teeth. “I’ve come too far and waited too long to have you thinking about somepony else when we finally dance. Minion!” That last word made everypony jump as her demeanor changed instantly. She reeled on the changeling’s watching the hostages. “How many more minutes till we can kill another one?” A changeling next to Seek spoke up. “Ten minutes by your decree, my queen.” Silk’s winced and began to walk over to the captured CRO ponies. “Ooh, the suspense is killing me! I wonder which one of you will be next.” Seek felt his hooves begin to shake and cold sweat begin to pour from his forehead. His eyes widened as he noticed a familiar small object slide a little from his mane. He panicked as it seemed that Silk was about to see it but Redwood acted faster. “ACHOO!” Silk turned to the caged pony with a frown. Redwood simply wiped his nose with a small smile. “Sorry, it gets dusty in here.” He gave Seek a fleeting glance and the green earth pony took the opportunity, shifting his neck so that the dragon lighter fell back into his thick mane. He breathed a sigh of relief. --- Rarity stood just behind the unconscious changeling tied to a chair. Her hoof tapping nervously against the wood planked floor. “I really don’t know if I can do this,” she muttered. Barrel stood a little off to the side in the shadows behind her. “It’s fine,” he whispered. “I’ll be giving you any pointers you may need. Hopefully you won’t even have to touch it.” “But why can’t you?” “Surprise tactic. If somepony you’re not expecting to be sadistic begins to brandish a knife it puts you in a more susceptible mood. Might even let something slip.” “You know I think your brother might have just been bullshitting you,” Rarity shot back. Barrel laughed quietly at the profanity. “Yeah, maybe. Just do it.” Rarity frowned deeply and bit her lip. She took a deep breath and composed herself. Well, here goes nothing. She was about to do something she never thought she’d do in a million years. Torture somepony. Well, not voluntarily. She set her face to an angry mask and slammed her hooves against the sides of the changeling’s head. The insect woke up with a start and yelled with pain. Rarity immediately felt bad but knew not to let it show. “Good, you’re awake.” The changeling looked around in a daze. It saw the sharp tools lined up on the table behind her. Rarity saw it’s eyes widen slightly. “Don’t worry. I’m hoping I won’t have to use these… yet.” “Wh- Where is the stallion?” “He took a break. Now it’s just you and me.” Barrel gave her a nod from off to the side. She was doing well playing the tough act. “And you’re going to tell me everything. About your plan. About what you want from Canterlot. And about your queen.” The changeling sneered at her. “I do not listen to you. I am only one of many. Together we are legion. Legion serves only the queen.” Rarity smiled deviously. “You know I met your queen before. She wasn’t all that tough. She got beat by love, the very thing she was trying to feed off of.” The changeling chuckled. “You speak of Chrysalis. But she is not our queen.” Rarity raised an eyebrow as she darted a look to Barrel. The big stallion merely raised his hooves in a similarly confused gesture. “Okay… So who is?” The changeling was silent for a moment making Rarity think he wasn’t going to answer but then he beared his teeth. “We serve the true queen, Silk. Empress of Legion. Witch of the Web. We are her children for no other chose to accept us.” Rarity’s tough act faltered. “Nopony chose to accept you? What does that mean?” Barrel waved a hoof in a horizontal motion indicating her to stop the line of questioning. But the changeling answered anyway. “We are the lesser children of the great hive. We are flawed. The hive did not accept us and so our queen took us in. Taught us that separate we are weak but together we are strong. We are legion!” Rarity frowned. “Yes, yes, you keep saying that. But are you seriously saying that you’d all give your lives for your queen?” “Without a second thought.” “And what about her? Would she die for you?” Barrel stopped his motion as he now seemed interested in the conversation too. “Silk is our queen. We were born to die for her. Why would one such as she die for us?” Rarity slammed her hooves on the armrests of the chair the changeling was tied to. “Because that’s what a monarch does! A queen must love her subjects. Do you even know if she loves you?” The changeling looked confused by this. “Love is nourishment to most changelings. But we have not tasted love in a very long time. We have found… other methods of sating hunger.” The changeling sniffed the air. “However, you have a scent we have not smelled for many years.” It sniffed again and it’s eyes narrowed. “It is small. Merely blooming. A scent that intoxicates the mind. You smell of love.” Rarity’s blushed and was taken aback. “I… what?!” The changeling grinned its sharp teeth and turned its head. “And you aren’t the only one.” Barrel charged into view. “Get down!” The changeling suddenly shot its insectoid wings out, slicing the ropes and freeing it. However, Barrel succeeded in charging at it, bringing his weight down on the black creature. It thrashed and squirmed under his bulk. “Get me a knife!” He held out his hoof to Rarity who watched with wide eyes. She shook her head and grabbed a small carving knife from the row and gave it to him. The changeling eyed the knife and let out a short but high pitched scream. Barrel and Rarity had to cover their ears which freed the creature up to escape. It flapped it’s wings rapidly and ascended toward the window of the warehouse. “No, you don’t!” Barrel shouted as he flung the knife at the fleeing changeling and it dug itself into its hind leg. The changeling let out a short cry of pain but then smashed through the glass. Rarity helped Barrel to his hooves. “Come on, we’ve got to follow it!” Barrel placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Relax. It’s not going anywhere we can’t track.” He pointed to the window and Rarity saw a trail of bright green blood that seemed to glow in the moonlight. “All part of the plan.” She deadpanned and hit the stallion in the shoulder. “That was not part of your plan!” Barrel chuckled then rubbed the back of his head. “So, what it was saying…” Rarity turned away shyly, rubbing the back her own head. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She peeked a look at him. “Unless you know what it was talking about?” Barrel straightened up and stiffened. “Nope! Can’t say I do.” The two stood together awkwardly for a while until they both spoke. “I’m just gonna make sure we have everything we need to track it.” “I’m just going to the little mare’s room.” They both jabbered at the same time and walked away from the other. --- “When I was a little filly and the sun was going down.” Pinkie muttered the words to her favorite song to sing when one was scared as she sat alone in the Everfree. Sure the crusaders were right next to her but they were safe in their own tents. None of them brought an extra one for Pinkie since she was a surprise guest. The pink mare insisted that she was okay though, saying that she could sleep through a hurricane in a ditch. The crusaders weren’t sure if she meant the hurricane was taking place in the ditch or the pony in question was in a ditch but they let it slide. Pinkie could still hear the rain above tapping against the trees. The ferocity had quelled slightly but ground was still just as wet. She had wrapped herself in some large leaves and leaned against the trunk of a thick old tree in order to go to sleep but nothing seemed to help. Pinkie simply couldn’t get to sleep, which was worrying. “So I can’t sleep. Of course I can’t sleep!” she said to herself. “I’ve got to protect these fillies from any badniks and creepazoids that might pop out. A Pinkie’s work is never done.” “Oh, stop lying to yourself.” The voice was hers and it came from the puddle beside her. Pinkie hesitantly poked her head over the edge of the small basin of water and saw her reflection. “Me?” “Hi, me!” The reflection replied. Now that Pinkie looked a little closer it appeared that her reflection was dry with her patented poofy mane and energetic smile. While Pinkie herself was her slightly dimmer shade of pink with a drooping straight mane combed over her eye. “Or maybe I should say, fake me.” Pinkie frowned. “I’m not fake me. You’re the one that’s not real. You’re a reflection.” “Am I?” The reflection pointed to itself. “I don’t see any similarities. Maybe you’re the reflection!” “But I’m Pinkie Pie!” “No, Pinkie is happy! And fun! And makes ponies smile! You scare them.” Pinkie looked taken aback. “I… I don’t scare ponies.” “Then why did Mr. and Mrs. Cake kick you out, hmm? Why haven’t they come to visit or let you see Pumpkin or Pound?” Pinkie bit her lip. “They’re just… busy.” The reflection deadpanned. “You know that’s not true.” Pinkie was now frowning and angrily glared at her reflection. “Look, just what are you trying to get at?” “That maybe you should just forget about this whole mopey thing and just let me take the reins!” The reflection smiled ear to ear. “I can make everypony happy and then they’ll forget all about that meany feeny bo beeny that tried to steal your life. Let’s face it, being depressed isn’t getting us anywhere.” Pinkie kind of had to admit that was true. “Wait, then what would happen to all these unhappy feelings I’m feeling?” “They’d all go away of course!” The relfection shrugged. “I mean, all that negativity’s gotta go somewhere.” Pinkie frowned deeper. “I don’t know about this.” “Just let it all go. You want to be happy. I know because I’m you!” The reflection now reached out a hoof. Pinkie hesitated at first. She really did want to be happy again. But just letting all these feelings go felt next to impossible. Was it really such a good idea to simply push them away? She tentatively reached out to the puddle. Suddenly a howl shook echoed through the forest. Pinkie shot her head up as the crusaders all poked out of their tents. Apple Bloom wiped the sleep from her eyes and grabbed her bag. “Heads up, crusaders! We’ve got company!” Sweetie and Scootaloo nodded and got their own bags. Pinkie was now paying full attention to her surroundings as she saw the fillies prepare to fight. She glanced into the wood and saw a couple glowing yellow eyes in the dark. “Uh, girls, this is very brave of you but we should probably get going.” The first of the beasts took a step out and they saw a lupine creature made of twigs and bark prowl toward them. “Ha! Timberwolf came first!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “You owe me a soda!” Scootaloo muttered something under her breath. “It’s okay, Pinkie,” Apple Bloom said with a smile as two more timberwolves began to circle them. “We prepared for every contingency. See?” She brandished a large piece of wood with a rag at the end. Pinkie recognized it as an unlit torch. “Now we just need to…” Pinkie deadpanned as she looked at the crusaders. Each one held their torch in one hoof and a match in the other. It was about this moment that each one realized that the rain and moist atmosphere had made the matches too wet. “Uh… got a light?” Scootaloo asked the pink mare with a nervously comical grin. “Run!” Pinkie scooped up the three and ran through the trees. The timberwolves quickly gave pursuit, nipping at their hooves. Why? Why didn’t I just stop them from coming altogether, Pinkie thought. Why can’t I think things through sometimes? Maybe if I was just a little bit more responsible then I wouldn’t even be in this mess. Maybe somepony wouldn’t have tried to steal my life too. Suddenly Apple Bloom stopped in her tracks staring at a tree. Pinkie and the others screeched to a halt, the timberwolves mere moments away. “Apple Bloom! What are you…” “This way!” she screamed. “Come on! Ah know where we are!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle didn’t question and followed. Pinkie gave a small groan of impatience as she took off too. The four of them ran for what felt like an hour but was only a few minutes. They exited the forest into a small open area, a wide old tree in the center. Pinkie immediately recognized this place as well. A door sat embedded in the tree with a small circular window close to it. With no trees to protect them above the rain fell on this place much harder, wetting their manes. The crusaders ran to the door and began pounding at it. “Zecora! Zecora open up! It’s us!” Apple Bloom shouted. Pinkie took a look back at the way they came and saw the timberwolves fast approaching. “Girls, now would be a good time!” The timberwolves finally reached the open area, one of them glaring Pinkie down as it lunged straight at her. The pink mare held up her hooves and screamed. This was it. She was a goner… Any moment now… The bite never came. Pinkie tentatively opened her eyes and gasped as she saw a familiar zebra with a Mohawk and tribal beads spin and kick effortlessly breaking the timberwolves into tinder. One last beast tried to pounce at the children but the zebra was too fast and swung her staff down with a loud thwack. The timberwolf exploded into twigs. “That was awesome!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she rushed to Zecora. “You have got to teach me how to do that!” Scootaloo added. “It’s good to see your smiling face, but what praytell brings you to this place?” Zecora asked with a smile. Pinkie walked forward to respond. “We…” Suddenly the exhausted pink mare collapsed into the mud. The crusaders and Zecora all rushed to her side. “Pinkie! Is she okay?” Apple Bloom asked. Zecora raised Pinkie’s chin to look her in the eye, she seemed unconscious. “Bring her inside and I’ll see what I can do. For right now staying here is not safe for me or you.” --- The lone zebra trudged through the muddy streets, batting away anypony, changeling or not, that got close to her. This wasn’t an attack. It was a clever distraction. Something was off. Twilight Sparkle had received some kind of letter just before the attack as well. Something that made her surprised. The zebra frowned as she continued to think. She emerged around a corner and stopped as she saw three angry ponies surrounding a white mare. It seemed like she was outnumbered so the zebra was about to act on her defense. Until the white mare dropped to her front left leg and spun on the muddied street like a break dancer. Her back legs swired around in a blur of motion and clocked two ponies in the jaw, instantly knocking them out. She landed in a spread eagled pose with her back legs doing an impossible split. The last one’s eyes flashed green, indicating it was indeed a changeling, as it attacked her from behind. The zebra finally ran out of her cover to act, but the white mare simply jumped and twirled in the air, catching the changeling’s head with her back legs and spinning her in the air. She then drove her face into the ground and planted her hoof into the back of its head for good measure. The white mare looked up noticing the zebra for the first time. The zebra saw the mare fully for the first time too. She had a horn with a neon blue mane that sat limply on her shoulders in the rain. She raised her shades to reveal two iridescent red eyes that glared angrily at her. This was Vinyl Scratch. The zebra took a step back. Vinyl’s eyes caught sight of the zebra and she grimaced. Somehow she recognized her. Had she been spotted while tailing her earlier? The white mare got lower to the ground as she began to move diagonally toward her. The zebra reciprocated, knowing full well that she was drawing her into a fight. The zebra only narrowed her eyes at her and she took a step back. Every instinct in her body was telling her that she was an enemy she did not want to fight. Suddenly without warning Vinyl disappeared in a small flash of light. The zebra barely moved in time as her senses told her to throw a block at her back. She spun and caught the white unicorn’s kick as she appeared behind her. The force of the blow pushed her back in the mud, a small ringing going through her ears. Vinyl’s angry glare was replaced by surprise as she held her leg up pushing forward on the zebra’s foreleg block. She grinned, a hint of enjoyment seeping through. --- Celestia flew for close to an hour, three loyal Pegasus guards at her side. She felt bad about leaving Luna to the hostage situation but it was necessary to have at least one princess there to make sure nopony else died. Despite how her sister might feel about her right now, Celestia trusted her implicitly. That’s why she entrusted her with where she was going too. “You have what?!” Luna shouted angrily as she pulled her sister to the side. Some ponies looked back toward them as Luna raised her voice but Celestia merely gave them a look and the ponies returned to their rescue attempts. Luna seethed and rubbed her mane in frustration. “When were you planning on telling me that you know where Chrysalis is?” Celestia was about to answer but Luna held up a hoof. “No, let me answer that. You weren’t.” “It’s a little bit more complicated than that, Lulu,” Celestia assured her. “I’ve kept this a secret from you because Chrysalis and I have… come to an understanding.” Luna raised an eyebrow incredulously. “Understanding?” Celestia lowered her head slightly. “She’s the queen of a race on the brink of extinction. Surely you can see that no ponytarian in their right mind would let an entire species die.” Luna’s eyes widened. “You’ve been harboring her?!” Celestia raised a hoof to quiet her sister. “In the Foal Mountains, very close by so I can keep an eye on her.” Luna looked into Celestia’s eyes. “And I may have given her permission to feed off of the ponies in Hollow Shades.” “What?!” “She’s under strict rules not to try replacing anypony,” Celestia assured her, her face beginning to lose its confidence with Luna’s gaze. “The town is topographically locked in the Shady Forest and everypony there is very kind. I assured her it was a perfect place to feed.” “You sold out your own ponies?” “No!” Celestia retorted. “Look, despite her bravado during the wedding, Chrysalis and her changelings don’t need to hurt ponies to feed off of their love. Proximity is all they need. And if they become the object of love it just tastes better.” Luna let out a long sigh. “You realize this is a lot to take in? I mean, I appreciate your openness but this is something I can’t just overlook. I will have to talk to Chrysalis as well at some point. And I will have harsh words.” Celestia nodded grimly. “I understand. I… I’m ready for us to work together again.” Luna took a moment staring at her sister then groaned. “Alright, fine! I’ll stay here and make sure nopony else dies. Just get back here as soon as you can. However, if Chrysalis agrees to help, she comes in shackles. Agreed?” Celestia took a deep breath and looked her sister in the eye. “Agreed.” They parted as she gave her sister the spell code for the cage, entrusting her to make the right choice. She had actually spoken to the changeling queen on multiple occasions after the wedding. In secret, of course. Though the two disagreed on much, Chrysalis was willing to put away her pride and accept the princess’s mercy for the sake of her hive. Deep in the back of her mind she wondered if Chrysalis and her sister were like her and Luna. They both had different ideas on how to govern. Though Silk was willing to kill. Celestia wished she could say she wasn’t like that. She truly did. The Foal Mountains stood in the distance. She shook her head and got ready to speak to the changeling queen. --- Rarity and Barrel followed the trail of glowing green blood out of the city. Every now and then Barrel would stop at a corner and tell Rarity to hold while he checked ahead, but there didn’t seem to be any threat. When they passed the last of the buildings following the trail became a little harder since they were out in the open with tall grass covering where the blood fell. However, they got lucky when they came to the train tracks and noticed that the trail was steady all the way down it. “Well, at least now we know which way he’s following,” Barrel said. “Yes, but he could be miles away by now,” Rarity added. “Just how do you plan on catching up?” Barrel looked puzzled for a moment, then a train whistle blew. “It’s a train track,” he muttered with a grin. Rarity’s face went red as she turned around at the night train approaching from the distance. “I… I knew that. I just wanted to see if you did.” Barrel laughed and grabbed her pushing both of then down into the tall grass out of sight of the train. He waited until it had almost fully passed them. “Now!” he shouted and they both jumped from the tall grass. Barrel grabbed onto the railing of the caboose first while Rarity missed. She screamed as she almost tumbled from the moving train but Barrel caught her with his other hoof, wrapping it around her torso. “Gotcha!” He pulled her in and they both stood there for moment on the caboose. Rarity smiled at him but blushed as she realized he was still holding her. Barrel quickly removed his hoof and backed away, clearing his throat. “Ahem, sorry about that. Totally inappropriate.” Rarity cleared her throat as well. “Ah, yes quite.” They both turned away from each other, Barrel keeping his head pointed to the ground making sure that they were still following the tail. It was a minute or two before Rarity spoke again. “I… I’ve had fun, these past two days.” Barrel looked at her skeptically. “Seriously?” Rarity chuckled a little and put her hooves up on the railing to survey the receding landscape. “Yes, seriously. It’s been like one of those whirlwind spy novels I’ve read. Action. Suspense. Romance.” She paused and buttoned her lip. Barrel smirked a little. “You certainly have a brighter view of it all than me.” He walked over to the railing to join her. “I’ve been doing stuff like this all my life. My brothers and I… we never really knew our folks. In fact, we actually weren’t brothers. We met in an orphanage where we played around like we were family. Used to say stuff like: ‘Ma, wants you to take the trash out’ or ‘Pa is gonna be so mad when you get home’. It was… our thing. Pretending we had parents.” Rarity lowered her head sadly, she had never considered not having her parents around growing up. What that must have been like. Applejack had her older brother and Granny Smith. But what was it like to grow up with nothing. Barrel continued. “When I was fourteen my oldest brother, Lock, got approached by this big tough looking mare. Called herself Crimson Rush. She saw he had potential so she wanted to recruit him to some special mercenarial task force. Lock said he wouldn’t go without me or Stock. Rush caved and adopted all three of us. That’s when I met Redwood.” “So this is about that criminal,” Rarity said with a slight frown. Barrel gave her a small smile. “He’s a criminal, yeah. But even criminals can be kind enough to let in three homeless brothers.” Rarity looked at Barrel with a disapproving gaze but then sighed and closed her eyes. “I suppose since we’re sharing deep dark secrets you expect me to divulge something about myself.” Barrel chuckled and turned around to lean his back on the railing. “I wouldn’t bother with that, Rarity. I know it must be uncomfortable to you but Redwood already knew a lot about you. I doubt there’s anything you could say that I wouldn’t already know.” Rarity gave him a determined look and took a deep breath. “When Sweetie Belle was five years old, I lost her in the marketplace.” Barrel raised an eyebrow. “I was sixteen and was at the age when I really didn’t want to think about my sister. I even felt jealous of her at times.” She paused before continuing. “So one day my father and mother had to leave early and I was put in the position of foalsitter. Sweetie seemed to adore me but I never really paid attention to it. I had a dream and goal that I wanted to pursue and I felt that having a sister so late in the game was just a distraction. So I was working in my room on some dress designs when I saw that I was out of lace. I nearly left the house alone, completely forgetting about my sister, but as luck would have it I heard her cry just as I closed the door. So I took her with me. Sweetie loved the market. She would stop at every vendor and try to talk to most of the ponies. But all I could think about was that lace. Eventually… we became separated.” Rarity closed her eyes again as the memory began to come back full force. “I didn’t even realize until I’d gotten home. I even called out to her when I entered the house, as if I had really forgotten her there and just left her. Then it hit me. I tried to pretend everything was alright as I walked back to the marketplace, but it was getting late. I eventually ended up galloping through the streets until I made it there. Lots of ponies were gone at this point so it wasn’t that hard to find her. She was curled up in a ball next to a celery vendor. The clerk had been calling out about a missing foal for a good hour, so she really let me have it when I came to find her. I apologized profusely but it didn’t seem enough.” Rarity’s eyes began to water and she wiped them with a sniffle. “I took Sweetie home and she went straight to bed without talking to me. She wouldn’t talk to me for weeks after that. And do you know what I ended up doing?” Barrel was silent. “I started to miss my sister’s voice. The way she’d scream happily when she found something that delighted her. The try she’d try to sing, even though she was young she still had an amazing voice. She was right there beside me but I began to miss my sister dearly.” Barrel finally spoke up, keeping his gaze away from Rarity. “Why are you telling me this?” Rarity took another deep breath. “Because I’m not a foal. I know what it looks like to mourn a sibling. Even though I never truly lost one.” She placed a hoof on his shoulder. “I’m sorry your brothers had to die for me and my friends.” Barrel slowly turned his head to her, his face stoic but his eyes misted over. He bit his lip and pulled himself off the railing. “The trails moving north away from the tracks. We need to get moving.” He stopped at the edge of the railing and held out a hoof. “Well, ladies first.” Rarity smiled but sniffled a bit. “Oh, what a gentlestallion,” she joked and used his hoof to get on the edge of the railing and jump off. Barrel followed. The two of them began to walk northward. The trail leading them in the direction of a medium sized mountain range. Rarity was the first to speak up. “So what were your brothers like?” Barrel was silent for a moment making her think that he wasn’t going to answer. “Annoying,” he finally said. “Stock had this habit of hanging onto Lock like a tick. Of course, I was no better.” He continued to talk and Rarity simply smiled and listened. --- “Time’s up,” Silk hissed through the shell. “Where is that code?” Luna was the one to answer on the other line. “You realize you have no way out of this?” Silk rolled her eyes. “Blah, blah, blah. We’ve been through this already down here, princess. Where’s the tall one? I want to talk to her.” “She has given me the code and is entrusting me with the safety of those ponies you have,” Luna replied stalwartly. Silk groaned. “Fine. I don’t care who I have to deal with. Are you going to give it to me?” She had a changeling push another pony up to her that she caught with her hoof around her head. Seek saw that it was the pony that he’d met guarding the door when all hell broke loose. Luna was quiet on the other end. “How do I know you will keep your word? As I said, you have no chance of escape with Redwood. Not to mention the fact that if you did come here for a suicide mission then you would just kill everypony else because you can.” Silk grinned. “Wow, you’re dark. I think I like you, princess. Then here’s the new deal. I send out a pony, safe and sound as a symbol of good faith. If you give me the code, I’ll let everypony here go and then kill Redwood. After that’s done I’ll surrender my legion.” Luna seemed to consider this. “And yourself?” Silk chuckled. “It’s already too late for me, princess. But I’ll be perfectly fine having the last thing I see be this pony’s blood on my hooves. So what do you say? Either everypony but the ruthless criminal dies. Or just the ruthless criminal.” Luna was silent on the other end again. “Give me a few minutes.” “You have one.” --- Luna turned away from the shell with a look of disgust. What kind of decision was this to make? Kill ten to save one criminal. In the old days, she would not hesitate with such an offer. But things were different. This situation was different. Tia was right about one thing, the world and its monsters have changed, she thought. She suddenly found herself sympathizing with her sister. She had to grow older watching the world she once knew change and evolve into something hideous around her while she desperately tried to evolve alongside it. Luna now saw the pressure one could have against such foes like Silk, the killer mare, or even Redwood. Power alone wasn’t enough in this situation. Sacrifices had to be made. Concessions had to be drawn. It tore her to the core to even consider it though. “Thirty seconds, princess,” a soldier next to her reminded her. Luna turned her head to the sky, her moon was in full sight among the scattered clouds. She could move such an enormous celestial object with ease and yet when it came to saving these ponies and Redwood she felt completely helpless. On the one hoof, Redwood was an incomparable asset to both Celestia and Twilight Sparkle. He knew things about the world that Luna hadn’t even begun to consider. On the other hoof, he was a stranger and a criminal. His life was forfeit the moment he decided to betray his country and become a villain. At least that’s what she should have thought. She brought a hoof to her head and grit her teeth in frustration. “Princess?” the soldier by her asked warningly. Luna took a deep breath and returned her attention to the shell. “Are you still there?” “Tick tock,” Silk replied maliciously. “You have a deal.” “Excellent! Give me the code.” “I need to do it in pony. Tell your changelings to let me in first.” Silk growled on the other end. “That wasn’t part of the deal.” “This is how it needs to go,” Luna said. “I need to deactivate the spell myself. Then you have my word of honor that you can do whatever you want with that criminal.” Silk was silent for a moment. “Fine. But if you make one wrong move, it’s all over. For everypony here.” Luna gave the shell to the soldier by her and proceeded to the Academy doors. The double oak doors opened slowly flanked by two changelings as they let the princess of the night inside. Luna took one last look at the ponies outside before the door swung shut. --- Pinkie’s eyes fluttered open as she groggily awoke. “Wh-What happened?” She brought a hoof to her head and leaned up to see that she was on a bed in a small hut. Zecora’s hut, if she remembered correctly. She turned to see all three of the crusaders snoozing away next to her. Apple Bloom had her head in Scootaloo’s lap with the orange filly snoring on top of Sweetie’s flank. Pinkie gave a small sigh of relief that they were all alright. “It seems you are awake. They promised not to leave your side, an oath they would not break.” Pinkie turned to the cauldron in the center of the hut to see her zebra friend stirring something. The zebra gave her a warm smile. “Why don’t you get out of bed. And let me help you with your head.” Pinkie pulled herself away from the fillies’ grips and got out of the bed. “My head? But I don’t think I hurt that.” Zecora laughed. “I can see it in your eyes. A problem of conscience you try to hide.” Pinkie stopped and rubbed her hooves together. “You can tell I have a problem?” “I have seen many faces in my days. You have the look of somepony in a haze.” Pinkie nodded and walked over to her and the cauldron. “Yeah, I guess I do.” The zebra gave her a friendly nod that she took as a cue to talk about it. Pinkie took a deep breath. “Well, there was this evil pony that looked just like me and wanted to hurt my friends and steal my life and she threatened the Cakes and Pound and Pumpkin and now they’re all afraid of my face so I’ve been in this mopey mood for weeks now and I don’t know when it’s going to end or even if it will and I hate being sad so I thought about maybe just forgetting it all and acting happy. Is that so bad?” She said it all in one breath. Zecora continued to stir the contents of the cauldron as she nodded. “This evil pony, it seems to me, has given you a crisis of identity.” “A what?” Zecora smiled. “At first you were Pinkie Pie. A happy pony with emotions high.” As she spoke a wisp of steam drifted off the cauldron and into the air taking the form of Pinkie, a smile on her face. “Now you’re feeling emotions rare. And you’re confused if you’re here or there.” A second Pinkie appeared in the steam, this one sad looking and straight maned, much like Pinkie was now. “You believe that the first is Pinkie you, but believe me when I say that is not true.” The two Pinkies now swirled together. “Hardships can create confusion, but barring your emotions creates only illusion. Accept your feelings both dark and light, then we will once again see that Pinkie so bright.” The two Pinkie’s now became one, this one’s smile even bigger and happier than the first. Pinkie watched it all with wonder. “So, I need to accept that all these mopey feelings are a part of me?” Zecora nodded. “I… I don’t know if I can do that.” Zecora reached in a ladle and poured a small cup of the brew she was making. “This potion helps one to confront herself. Drink it, face your fears, and you will be in perfect health.” Pinkie took the cup hesitantly. She looked at Zecora with a little trepidation but the zebra merely nodded for her to continue. “Alright. Bottom’s up.” Pinkie put the brew to her mouth and took a swig. --- Fluttershy and Octavia hurried through the streets trying to avoid the violence whenever possible. “Um, Octavia?” Fluttershy sputtered. “Maybe we should find Twilight and Applejack?” Octavia didn’t seem to listen. “I need to find Vinyl first. She went into the middle of this to get into a fight no doubt. When I find her I’m going to kick that mare in the gut.” Her voice depicted anger at her roommate but Fluttershy saw only worry in her eyes. The yellow Pegasus gave a small sigh as she ran to catch up with the gray mare. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her.” --- The zebra and Vinyl Scratch stood mere hooves away, both breathing heavily. Bruises were beginning to appear on her coat as well as a few cuts from when the zebra’s surprisingly well manicured hooves kicked and sliced against her skin. The zebra was not much better off though. For a master martial artist she was certainly having her flank handed to her by what appeared to be a normal thin whitebred unicorn. However, after fighting for nearly an hour the white mare displayed aggressive abilities the zebra had only seen in overseas military groups. Her fighting style was especially interesting since the unicorn seemed to combine her top class magic spells, spells she shouldn’t have been able to display with the recorded level of talent she had, with an array of pugilistic skills that surprised her at every corner. This mare was certainly dangerous. Vinyl’s mouth curved up in a grin once more, signaling she was going to attack again. The zebra barely moved in time to block her back as she expected Vinyl to teleport again. Instead the white mare lunged forward slammed her small frame into the zebra’s chest. Luckily her opponent was no slouch when it came to fighting styles too and she managed to block the charge with a well placed back leg. The leg connected to Vinyl’s hoof and she pushed off again doing a back flip. The zebra righted herself by spinning forward and planting her back legs into the muddy ground so she stood on her hind legs. Vinyl gazed at the zebra’s stance with a little trepidation before digging her hooves into the mud. She lifted onto her hind legs to and even began to hop side to side on them, a display of her incredible balance and agility. At this point Vinyl’s shades had long since been shattered and lay in the mud, her electric blue mane had none of the jagged properties anymore instead falling wetly over her back. To anypony watching, that added to the effect of the heavy rain, made her seem like a completely different mare. “Who is that?” Fluttershy asked as she and Octavia stopped at the end of an alley to survey the fight between the two mares. Octavia merely watched in stunned silence. Vinyl ground her teeth together as she launched forward for another attack, the two mares clashing hoof against hoof in midair. To be continued...