Legacy

by Sleep Sonata

Infiltration

The four ponies stared in utter disbelief at the poster. None of them could understand how Starry could have been spotted, or by whom she was seen. Rose was the first to realize that standing in the road wasn’t a good idea. “C’mon, we need to rethink our plan.” She beckoned the rest to follow her back into the woods. “We need to find somewhere else to camp tonight.”

Starry just kept staring. Buttercup had to shake her to get her to follow. “I don’t understand. The only time other ponies saw me was in Maresailles, and I covered my wings the entire time.”

“It was probably your eyes. I know you’re the only pony I’ve ever seen with eyes like that.” Buttercup reminded her of the thin slits for pupils she had noticed in the cave. “Somepony probably noticed it at the library. I’m sorry, I should have thought about that.” She lowered her ears and hung her head low. She obviously felt Starry being seen was her fault.

“It’s not your fault. I should have remembered at least that about myself.” Starry attempted to make Buttercup less anxious, but she maintained her feeble posture.

Honey was still fretting, though. “What are we going to do about food? I only made enough so we could resupply at San Franciscolt.”

None of the other ponies seemed to be able to come up with a plan. Honey couldn’t make any food from the wilderness, and Rose didn’t know of anywhere they could go that wouldn’t be searched by soldiers. Buttercup was hardly able to form a sentence. By now, she was on the verge of tears.

Starry thought about their situation. She was the reason they were there together. Now she had to come up with a solution. “Girls,” She spoke up to get their attention, but they each stayed in their own worlds. She wasn’t angry, but she knew she needed to assert herself now. She spread her wings, and dashed to face the group from the front. They were all surprised at Starry’s actions. “Girls! Worrying isn’t going to get us anywhere. We need supplies and a place to sleep. Right now, it seems the only place to get either of those things is inside the city.”

The other ponies instantly snapped to attention. At this point, nothing could really surprise them. Still, it sounded insane. Rose was the first to point it out to Starry. “Are you insane?! You’re wanted by the military, and you want to go into the place where they are actively searching for you?”

“I don’t want to, but right now, our best bet is to try and sneak into the city. If we stay out here, we’ll either run out of food or get found out. At least in the city, only one of those things can happen.” The rest of the ponies exchanged looks, and eventually, they came to the same conclusion Starry had. “Now the only problem is how to get in.”

The ponies pondered different ideas for getting into the city. Rose spoke up first. “I got it! We all have wings, right? We’ll just fly over the wall!”

“Not everyone, Rosie.” Honey reminded her.

“That doesn’t mean we cant fly over. The three of us can easily carry you over.” Rose turned to Starry. “You think your good to fly, Starry?”

“I can only ever remember flying for a couple of seconds before,” she explained, “I can try again.” Starry flexed her wings, and did a couple of circles around the group as a test. Her landing was tentative, but successful.

Honey again reminded them of reality. “I hate to be the downer, but y’all still have to carry your saddle bags. I know even you can’t do that, Rosie.” The optimism that had been in the atmosphere evaporated.

Buttercup stepped up. “ I might have an idea. But, I’m not really sure about it.” The other ponies instantly turned their heads to her.

“Well, spit it out!’ Rosie demanded. “What are going to do.

“OK,” Buttercup nervously answered. “Here’s the plan...”

The more Starry thought about Buttercup’s plan, the less confident she was in it’s success. Still, nopony else could come up with anything better. “You’re sure this is going to work, Buttercup?”

Buttercup was tying the last of the vines. “I sure hope it will. I really don’t want to let you down again.” That wasn’t very inspiring. “That should do it. Is everything ship shape, Honey?”

Honey was checking the boards. “Fit as a fiddle. We should be good to go. Ready, Rosie?”

Rose was positioned in front of the wooden cart. “Ready to rock!”

Buttercup, Honey, and Starry hopped into their makeshift cart, while Rose began push the cart against the vines. The vines began to pull taught, and the sound of creaking boards increased the already high anxiety of the group. Rose began to strain the farther back she pushed. “I think that’s as far as it’ll go. Hold on, everypony!”

She threw herself into the cart, and as she did so, the taught vines slung the cart forward, faster than any of them had gone before. Starry stuck her head out just long enough to see two startled guards at the gate. “Get out of the way!” The two dove away from the gate, moments before the cart smashed into the gate.

The cart itself held up remarkably well to the impact. It kept rolling down the street, forcing ponies to duck every which way. Buttercup suddenly noticed the cart was headed for an apple stand. “Look out!”

It was too late for them to avoid it. The four ducked down into the cart, and braced for the impact. When the cart hit, it’s already weak form was shattered by the impact, throwing the ponies down an alley. Starry was separated from the rest of the group, and kept tumbling further, until she struck the fence at the far end.

The darkness crept in and out of her vision, but she could still hear Honey calling out to her. “Starry! Hold on girl!” She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn’t support her. She reached one hoof out to them, but suddenly felt herself being dragged away. She tried to kick, but again, her body was non-responsive. She could only see long enough to see the others charging down towards her, then everything faded to black.

“Don’t worry, Princess. You’ll be safe.”

Comments

[Amos Anon]

None of the other ponies seemed to be able to come up with a plan. Honey couldn’t make any food from the wilderness, and Rose didn’t know of anywhere they could go that wouldn’t be searched by soldiers. Buttercup was hardly able to form a sentence. By now, she was on the verge of tears.

Or Starry could make her way around the city while the rest of the group goes through it to get supplies, and they meet on the other side.