//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Fallout // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Anarchy // by Simply Anarchy //------------------------------// The frenzy finally died down after what felt like an hour. Twilight and her friends were helping any pony that needed help, as a result of the chaotic outburst. At least twenty ponies had been injured. It was a surprise that there weren't more hurt, or even dead. Thank Celestia that nopony had died in the process. Needless to say, Ponyville Hospital was going to be very crowded for a bit. Luckily, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had arrived to help clear up the damage done by Anarchy. Twilight, however, really wished that Celestia didn't arrive before she had time to come up with something to say to explain what had happened. The sun princess turned to Twilight after assisting a pony onto a stretcher. "What happened here, Twilight?" Twilight couldn't look at her mentor. All she could feel was shame. Celestia had given her on job, and she had failed. What could she say? She just kept staring at the ground. She sighed. "We found the pony responsible for the robbery earlier today. His name is Simply Anarchy. He was standing right in front of us!" Twilight's eyes began to water. "Before we could apprehend him, he tossed an entire crate of bits to the crowd, causing them to go berserk." A tear fell down the purple alicorn's cheek. "I'm.... so sorry I failed you." Celestia approached her former student and wrapped a hoof over her shoulder. "Twilight, look at me." the white alicorn stated comfortingly. Twilight was hesitant at first, but she did as she was told. Princess Celestia had a look of concern on her face. "You didn't fail, Twilight." She assured the purple mare. "Nopony could have predicted what he would do. I underestimated him. We should have been here to help you. And for that I am sorry." She then pulled Twilight in for a hug. "What I don't quite understand is why he would go through the trouble of hiring two ponies to rob the Rich family, just to turn around and throw away the money they stole." Princess Luna questioned in confusion. Starlight saw Twilight was still in no state to answer all of these questions, so she stepped in. "He claims that it is his destiny to create mayhem in Equestria." the unicorn responded. Luna looked to her sister in shock, then turned to Starlight. "His destiny? What could he mean by that?" "His cutie mark.... it was the insignia of anarchy." Starlight answered nervously. The pink unicorn's response took the alicorn sisters by surprise. Luna was visibly shook up. "That's.... not possible. Is it, sister?" the princess of the night asked her elder sibling. "I don't know. I have never heard of anything like this happening before." Celestia replies sternly. "But I do know that we cannot let this pony wreak havoc upon our world. We must do everything in our power to stop him." "Pardon my bluntness, princess, but where do we even begin? None of us even saw where this guy went. He just vanished." Applejack intervenes. Princess Celestia appeared just as puzzled as the rest of them, and yet she maintained her composure rather well. "We will have some guards stationed here. We must find him as soon as possible." she stated while gathering her thoughts. She then turned to Twilight. "You and your friends should go door to door to make sure everypony is alright." "Good idea. We will split up in pairs of two. Safety in numbers. Spike and I will take the north side of town." Twilight proposed. "Me and Fluttershy will cover the south side." Applejack proclaimed, while wrapping her arm around the yellow pony's shoulder. "Oh oh! I call dibs on Dashie!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed while constricting the blue pegasus in a hug. "We'll go east!" "Uh.... Pinkie.... I can't.... breathe...." Rainbow Dash managed to utter, while Pinkie practically squeezed the life out of her. "Looks like it's you and I together, Starlight." Rarity chimed. "And I believe that leaves us with the west side of Ponyville." Princess Celestia smiled at how well the friends got along. "My sister and I will go through the archives and see if we can find anything about this Simply Anarchy. If we know more about him, maybe we can determine his next move." Twilight nods to her teacher. "Let's get to it." Celestia and Luna nod to one another and take off to do their part. Twilight turns to her friends once again. "Alright, let's do this. You all know your sections of town. Please be careful, girls." She cautioned. They all gathered for a group hug. Such an embrace had always comforted Twilight. She knew that no matter what lies ahead, there is no challenge they could not overcome together. Their friendship has been strong enough to conquer evil time and time again. From Nightmare Moon to Discord, and even Queen Chrysalis and Tirek. Simply Anarchy is no exception. Right? _______________________ "Sir, Celestia's royal guards are roaming around Ponyville." Anarchy's henchpony stated bluntly. Anarchy smirked at his guard's statement. "Of course they are. So predictable, aren't they? All just pawns in our master plan." "How should we proceed?" the pale pony asked. "Go capture a few of them. We will need them in order to commence the next part of our plan." the villain plotted deviously. Another one of his minions approached him. "Sir, Princess Twilight and her friends are going door to door checking in on the ponies around Ponyville." Simply Anarchy looked repulsed. "Damn. She just couldn't die, could she? I guess I can't say I'm surprised." He then turned his attention to another one of his crew. "Who does this house belong to?" The pale mare turned to a brown pony who was tied to a chair and had duct tape over his mouth. Anarchy approached the bound pony with an almost giddy demeanor. "Now before I remove the tape, I need you to promise that you won't scream. After all, that is an awfully nice tie. I would hate to have to tarnish it with your blood." The stallion nodded in agreement. Anarchy the ripped the tape from his mouth. "Ow! Was that really necessary?" the brown pony grimaced. "No, but it sure was satisfying." Anarchy retorted sounding content with what he did. "Now what is your name, good sir?" "I am Doctor Hooves, and if you ask me you are in way over your head!" the pony claimed angrily. "Maybe I am. But that is what makes it fun!" the evil stallion chuckled. Then he put a new piece of tape over the Doctor's mouth. "And don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. In fact, I'm going to reward you for your cooperation! You will get a front row seat to my next lesson for Princess Twilight." He pats Hooves on his shoulder, which causes him to mumble something indecipherable, due to the tape. "No no. Don't thank me. It's my pleasure!" He looks over the doctor again. "You know, I really do like that tie of yours." _______________________ Twilight and Spike had been going door to door for what seemed like hours, trying to help out in any way they could. The ponies were understandably scared by what had happened. Some ponies needed more comforting than others, but it was all part of the job. Mopping up this mess was never going to be easy. "Alright, Spike. I think we are just about done. Hopefully, the others are making progress as well." Twilight uttered looking very exhausted. Spike also appeared very tired. She rubbed the dragon's head. "Just a few more, and we'll be done. Now, who's next on our list?" Spike sighed and pulled out Twilight's list. Even in times like this, she was still so organized. He found that both impressive and slightly annoying, mainly because he had to do all of the writing. And there were quite a few ponies that lived on the north side of Ponyville. The extent of his claw cramp was getting a bit unbearable. But he never doubted Twilight's organization. After all, it had gotten them through some very dire situations. "Let's see.... Ah ha! Up next is Doctor Hooves." Twilight smiled at her assistant and proceeded to the door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door opened. "Hello? Doctor Hooves?" "Why, hello, Princess Twilight. To what do I owe the honor of you gracing me with your presence today?" the doctor asked graciously. Twilight blushed slightly. "Oh, I uh, er.... I mean, Spike and I were just stopping by to check up on you. You know, after what happened earlier." Twilight managed to say. She wasn't used to getting greeted in such a manner. "Oh yes, such a tragedy that was. Is everypony alright?" Doctor Hooves questioned with his charming accent. The sudden question made Twilight frown. "A few ponies were injured in the process. Not to mention, the bad guy got away, but at least everyone is still alive." she reassured, mainly trying to make herself feel better. "Bad guy? You mean, the pony who was throwing away all of those bits?" Hooves inquired. "Yes. His name is Simply Anarchy. And I can assure you, he is only here to cause trouble." the princess stated bluntly. Doctor Hooves had a puzzled look on his face. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but he was just giving this money away. I mean, sure, he stole the money from Filthy Rich, but it's not like he kept the money for himself. He just gave it to the ponies who needed it more. How does that make him a bad guy?" he quizzed. Twilight could not believe what she was hearing. Was he actually praising Anarchy? "He only threw the money out to create chaos. There was nothing chivalrous about it. He is certainly no Robin Hood." Twilight retorted. She looked over to Spike, who looked a bit mortified at her sudden change in tone. She then took a breath to regain her composure. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. It has just been a long day, and I think he is getting to me a bit." "That is quite alright, princess. I didn't intend to press any buttons. My apologies." the doctor replied sincerely. "You shouldn't be apologizing. It was wrong of me to yell at you for asking a question. I guess, I need a lesson on keeping my composure a bit." Twilight presumed feeling ashamed of her own behavior. Spike patted her on the back, causing her to smile. "I don't think the schoolhouse offers a class on composure." Doctor Hooves grinned. Twilight giggled at his remark. "That's a shame. I guess I'm on my own, then." It felt good to have a laugh after the day she has had. "So are you doing alright?" She asked concerned. "I will be fine. Don't you worry about me." the stallion reassured. "I'm glad to hear that. With that being said, I highly recommend that you stay indoors as much as possible." Twilight encouraged. "With Anarchy still on the loose, we wouldn't want to risk your safety." "Of course. I will try to remain home as much as possible." Hooves stated taking her words to heart. "Thank you very much." Twilight expressed her gratitude. "We should probably get going, Spike. We still have a few more houses to go. Thank you for your time, Doctor Hooves." She smiled and waved goodbye to the doctor. "Allons-y!" Hooves exclaimed waving back. Then, he closed the door behind him. Twilight turned to Spike and nodded. "That could have gone smoother." She murmured sadly. Spike walked up and gave her a hug. "It's okay, Twilight. It happens to all of us from time to time. Don't beat yourself up over it." He said trying to comfort his friend. Twilight smiled a little at his embrace. "Thanks, Spike. I don't know what I'd do without you." _______________________ Twilight and her friends gathered back at her castle. Everyone looked exhausted, even Pinkie Pie. It had been hours since they split up, and they finally have a moment to sit down and comprehend their day. "Ugh.... I'm pooped!" Pinkie Pie moaned exhausted. "You're pooped? I had to drag you all the way home. If anypony is tired, it's me!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed looking like she was about to collapse. "They all looked so terrified. I feel really sorry for them." Starlight sympathized. "Of course it doesn't help that the pony who caused all of this is roaming free." "Hopefully, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna find some sort of information on him in the archives. Anything we learn about him can be used to predict his next move." Twilight postulated. "Until then, it's a good thing that the princess has the royal guards patrolling Ponyville. I feel so much safer knowing that they are watching over us. They will catch that ruffian in no time." Rarity added trying to lift their spirits. Just then, Celestia came into the castle. Twilight rushed over to her teacher anticipating some good news. "Princess Celestia! How did the search go?" she asked anxiously. Celestia frowned at the question. "I'm afraid it isn't going so well. We have searched nearly the entire pony archives. There is no trace of anypony named Simply Anarchy. Which means-" "It's an alias." Twilight finished the princess's sentence. Celestia nodded. Twilight pondered for a moment and then looked back to her teacher. "So, you'll have to go through every pony's file to find his real name." "Precisely." Princess Celestia affirmed. "Which means, this could take much longer than we anticipated." "What do we do now, princess?" Fluttershy asked nervously. The princess looked at the group of friends and sighed. "We will have to hold out as long as we can. We will keep Ponyville under surveillance at all times. Until we can find out who we are dealing with, we will have to move forward with caution." Celestia declared firmly. "Is there anything we can do, princess?" Applejack asked trying to be helpful. "There is." Celestia stated directly. "I want you girls to keep an eye on everypony. Make sure they all stay safe. We don't know what Anarchy's next move will be. Anypony could be in danger." Twilight saw something in the princess's eyes that she had never seen before. Uncertainty. Usually, she had a plan, or at the very least a general idea of what to do. But now she looked almost powerless. Twilight turned to her teacher. "You can count on us. We will do all we can." She imparted boldly. Princess Celestia grinned. She knew that she could rely on Twilight and her friends for anything. "I have never doubted you girls. Now I must return to Luna. There is no time to lose. Good luck to you all. And stay safe." With that the princess of the sun left the castle to continue her mission. Twilight looked at her friends and smiled. They can do this. They just have to work together. "Okay, girls. It's been a long day. We should get some rest. Tomorrow, we will do another sweep of town." she proclaimed diligently. As the girls left the castle Twilight couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Now she was responsible for keeping all of Ponyville safe. What if she failed again? Spike put his claw on her shoulder. It was almost as if he could sense that she was in distress. It reminded her that she was not alone. She brought Spike in for a hug. What was there to worry about? With their combined efforts, they will find Simply Anarchy and take him down. If there is one thing she is certain of it is that good will always triumph over evil. This time will be no different.