Part II - Chapter 3: Aftershocks & Plans
Alicornae: The Legend of Starlit Sky
Part II - Chapter 3: Aftershocks & Plans
/center]
* * *
Cherry Blossom's one employee, the young unicorn barmaid who had served Starlit earlier that day, was pacing back and forth across the floor and chewing her lower lip when the trio burst in through the saloon doors.
"Starlit, come with me," Cherry Blossom directed. "Sun, go stand watch outside; if those low-down snakes are still around then I want to be the first to know."
With a quick nod Setting Sun cantered back out through the still-swinging doors as Starlit was led upstairs. Cherry turned on her hoof and leaned over the railing in front of what had been Starlit's room, now an active crime scene.
"Minuette, go to the farm and get Applejack's little sister, she'll need to know about this sooner or later. Take the small box from behind the counter, and if you see whoever did this you toss that at their hooves and look the other way. We clear?"
"Crystal, ma'am!" Minuette replied. With the sort of speed that could only be honed by working as a barmaid at rush hour she leaped behind the counter and pulled out a small brass box, covered with the sort of lines and striations as the orb Setting Sun had been showing to Starlit. She then rushed out the door, her galloping fading away into the night.
"Cherry, what happened?" Starlit asked. "Did you see anything?"
"'Fraid not," Cherry Blossom answered. "I was just down here, doing the nightly cash count while Minuette organized the back room when I heard a crash and sounds of a scuffle from your room. I got up there quick as my legs could carry me, but when I got there the room was empty."
With a snort of resignation, Starlit turned to enter into her room.
"Now, I'll tell you that it's not a pretty sight in there," Cherry said, placing a hoof on Starlit's shoulder.
"Can't be any better than not knowing," Starlit replied as she pushed the door open.
The room was in complete disarray. Her bed had been flipped upside down, the end table had been cracked in two by a large impact and sat under a shattered window, and her belongings, while all accounted for, were strewn across the floor.
What greatly worried Starlit, however, was the copious amount of blood splattered on the wall and floor. There was a sizable puddle near the destroyed end table, as well as a large splash decorating the wall nearby. It had a thick consistency to it, a sign that it had already started to coagulate.
Starlit breathed heavily to calm herself, but found that the metallic stench of blood caused her to gag. Taking a careful step around the mess she crossed the threshold.
"Looks like somepony put up a fight," Starlit said.
"Yeah, but what matters is who was doin' the fighting," Cherry added as she stepped into the room.
"I'd bet my life that Applejack fought back," Starlit continued as she walked through the room. "She's the only mare I've met here who could crack that table in half, and I gave her my knife before I left for Sun's place; that's probably where the blood came from."
Gingerly Starlit stepped through the room, doing her best not to disturb anything lest a clue be lost in the cacophony. She moved past her armor and her saddlebags, the contents of which were thankfully not covered in gore, to get to where the end table sat in its destroyed state.
"Cherry, if you could keep watch out the window for me I'd really appreciate it," Starlit asked. "I'm going to look under the bed to see if one of the kidnappers dropped anything."
With a sharp nod Cherry Blossom also entered the room, dancing around the blood and strewn possessions to take up watch while Starlit lowered down onto her belly and started shuffling toward the bed. Underneath it lay her weapons, the small sword and the dagger, the latter of which had a streak of blood along its edge.
"Well, it looks like Applejack made good use of the knife," Starlit grunted as she crawled under the flipped over bed. It was barely being supported by the headboard and, fearing that it would crack and fall on her head, Starlit hastily pulled the knife out, getting some of the blood on her hooves as she did.
The next few seconds were filled with sensations that Starlit didn't understand and couldn't find the words to describe. Firstly the amulet she still wore around her neck started thrumming deeply, a low echoing driving through her chest, past her heart, and boring seemingly into her very soul. A sharp jolt leaped from the bloodstained knife, through her hoof and up her foreleg, until it wrapped around her brain. Then she wasn't in the room anymore, or at least not as it currently was.
Starlit was in the room, probably half an hour ago judging by the scene, looking down on it from the far right corner of the ceiling. Applejack was sitting on the bed twiddling the unsheathed dagger around with her hooves and looking somewhat bored until a loud crash sounded. She reflexively took the dagger up in her teeth and jumped back towards the door as a trio of ponies climbed in through the window, one earth pony and two unicorns.
The trio didn't even bother introducing themselves, they simply rushed Applejack. Starlit couldn't make out their faces from her fixed vantage point, but they all wore white and gold regalia emblazoned with an intricate design and half face masks, enough to cover their upper faces and heads. The symbol looked like a long, sharp, red unicorn horn piercing through a similarly colored ring with a pair of orange stylized wings wrapped up underneath it.
Applejack rushed back at them, swinging the dagger swiftly and with careful precision. She caught one of the unicorns in the throat as she drove them back, slitting her from one side of her jaw to the other and sending a familiar splash of blood to the wall and a puddle to the floor. The unicorn mare dropped immediately as her earth pony compatriot redoubled his effort. Swiftly he lunged his cherry red maw forward and got a firm grip around Applejack's throat.
He swung her body around like a rag doll, slamming her into the bed and the table with enough force to flip the former and destroy the latter. He continued doing this for a few revolutions, slamming her into everything within reach until Applejack's body went limp and dropped to the floor. Her breathing was ragged and faint, and her body had sustained numerous cuts and bruises, but she was thankfully alive.
Their mission fulfilled, the living unicorn swung his horn around, letting a deep blue magic coalesce around it. He then shouted a spell that Starlit couldn't hear, followed by a flash of light that knocked Starlit out of the trance.
"Starlit!" Cherry Blossom hollered, shaking Starlit Sky's prone body. "Starlit, please, wake up!"
As the thrumming from her amulet died and she regained control of herself Starlit pushed Cherry away, rolling over onto her stomach. She took in a sharp breath as she rolled over her bruised side, as well as dealing with the splitting headache she currently had.
"Oh, thank goodness," Cherry breathed, holding a hoof over her chest. "You looked like you were having a fit, I thought the bed had fallen on you."
"Are we sure it didn't?" Starlit answered blearily. She noticed that the pair of them were back out in the hall, and the dagger along with them.
"Well, it was supported enough by the headboard for me to drag you out from under it, so I'd reckon that it didn't crush you. That bein' said, what happened to you? One moment you were under there getting your knife, the next you were thumping around like you were having a seizure."
"I... I got some of the blood from the knife on me, and then had some sort of vision, saw what happened to Applejack," Starlit answered, shakily rising to her hooves as she did. "She put up a fight and killed one of the kidnappers, but she got taken."
"Did you see what any of them looked like?" Cherry asked, worry rising in her voice.
"No faces, but there were two unicorns and an earth pony," Starlit answered. "One of the unicorns was a mare, and she's the one that bit it. The earth pony had a bright red coat and was built like a brick wall; he grabbed Applejack by the throat and slammed her around the room until she got knocked unconscious."
Cherry held a hoof to her mouth, collapsing to her haunches as she did, and Starlit felt that pit in her stomach come back as she realized the indelicacy of her speech.
Unable to control herself Cherry started sobbing, long stretches of crying interrupted every few seconds by gulping breaths.
"Oh, this can't be happening," Cherry moaned as she got some semblance of her voice back. "Applejack... she's such a sweet thing; I've known her since she was a little filly, I practically raised her after her parents left, and now... I couldn't... I wasn't... she's gone, and it's all my fault!"
"Cherry," Starlit said as she sat down next to the sobbing matron, "I'm sorry, truly I am, but you have to be strong. Minuette is going to be back with Apple Bloom soon enough, and when she gets here what is she going to see? Hmm? A sobbing wreck, or a pony determined not to let anything bad happen to her, come hell or high water?"
"How can you be so calm?!" Cherry snapped back. "Applejack could be dead for all we know, and you're just sitting here telling me how I should feel?"
Starlit's throat tightened as Cherry continued to rant at her in between bouts of crying. The passion she had was only matched by her love for Applejack's family, that much was apparent, but right now was not the time to be going into hysterics.
With a deft swing of the foreleg Starlit smacked Cherry Blossom across the face. Her raving, and her crying, stopped immediately as a deathly pall fell over the saloon.
"How... dare you!" Cherry said, her light pink eyes filled with malice. She wasn't able to get another word out before Starlit grabbed her face and drew it to within a hair's breadth of her own.
"Listen to me, Cherry Blossom, and listen well," Starlit began, her voice dropping to a low whisper. "I need you to be your best. The reason I'm here dwarfs anything either of us have ever done in our lives before now. I am not exaggerating when I say that the fate of Equestria literally hangs in the balance, and in order for me to succeed I need cooperation wherever I can find it. So you are going to buck up, wipe the tears from your eyes, and pull yourself together. Are we clear?"
"You impudent b—" Cherry began before Starlit violently shook her head.
"Are. We. Clear?" Starlit repeated, digging her hooves a little tighter into Cherry's tear stained cheeks.
A long silence followed, the two mares staring each other down with fierce determination. Starlit hated having to do this, but if there was one thing Twilight had drilled into her head it was the importance of this quest. She wasn't about to let a hysterical saloon matron slow her down; politeness could wait.
After a long while Cherry slowly nodded, not taking her eyes off of Starlit but capitulating nonetheless.
"Good," Starlit said, letting go of Cherry and standing up as she did. "Now pull yourself together real quick and then get to sweeping the room; I'm not sure if any of the kidnappers dropped anything, but it never hurts to look and I apparently can't touch any of the blood in there without going into a fugue state."
"And what're you going to do, oh capable one?" Cherry asked, venom dripping off her words.
"I'll keep watch outside with Sun and wait for Apple Bloom to come back. I have a daughter at home so I should be able to keep her calm, at least enough to keep her from completely losing her resolve. After that, I'm going to need you to give me anything from the room that belongs to me or could lead us to who did this. Sun and I will leave for the palace as soon as that is taken care of."
"Wait, you're going to the palace?" Cherry asked. "That's suicide! You don't have a summons, you'll never make it!"
"I think Sun has that figured out, but you don't need to concern yourself with it. Just get what you can from the room and meet me downstairs when you're finished."
Cherry let off a quick, sarcastic salute before turning around to face the door.
"And, Cherry?" Starlit said. Cherry turned her head back around to face her, a dull scowl affixed to her otherwise pleasant face.
"I'll get her back," Starlit continued. "You have my word on that."
* * *
The moon had just shuddered to an overhead position when Minuette and Apple Bloom trotted back down the main road, and judging by the slump of her shoulders and bloodshot, tear-streaked eyes it was apparent that Minuette had already broken the news to the filly. Cherry was still checking over and reorganizing the room, leaving Starlit and Setting Sun to watch over the door.
"You're sure you can handle this?" Sun asked. "I mean, AJ was the last vestige of her family, she's going to be devestated at best."
"Sun, have you ever had to comfort a crying child in the middle of the night before?" Starlit retorted.
"Not... personally, no," he answered meekly.
"Then why not leave this to the pony that has," Starlit quipped back. She had been unconsciously gritting her teeth for the last ten minutes, trying not to let the stress show through.
"C'mon sweetie, let's get you inside," Minuette said to Apple Bloom as the pair approached, trying her best to be sympathetic. "Cherry'll get you something nice to drink, okay?"
With heavy hoofsteps Apple Bloom crossed the threshold, while Minuette hung back to talk with Starlit and Sun.
"How's she doing?" Starlit asked.
"I'm... not really sure," Minuette answered, peeking through the saloon doors at Apple Bloom. "I tried to be as delicate as I could, and she did cry for a bit, but she hasn't said a word since we left the farm. I think she's in shock."
"Well, can we blame her?" Sun asked. "I mean, she just lost her sister, and after her brother getting summoned two years ago that means she's all that's left of the Apples. Having to shoulder that sort of burden at her age can't be easy."
Starlit could feel her stomach tying itself into knots as she too looked through the saloon doors. Cherry Blossom had just finished with the room and brought out a glass of milk for her. She sat patiently waiting for the filly to take it, but all Apple Bloom did was sit with her chin on the table.
"Minuette, you and Sun stay on the lookout," Starlit said. "I'll go talk to her about this."
"Are you sure?" Minuette asked, a neat mirroring of Sun's earlier query. "I mean, she's known Cherry and I since she was a foal, whereas you're just some drifter that blew through town this afternoon."
"Call it a mother's intuition," Starlit answered, turning towards the door and walking through.
The atmosphere was tense, to say the least; Cherry was trying her best to put on a good face but Starlit and she both knew that it was only a mask for Apple Bloom's sake. Apple Bloom's only acknowledgement that Starlit had entered the room was a quick glance before returning to her blank stare at the warming glass of milk.
Starlit sat down beside Apple Bloom on the floor, getting on eye level with her. Slowly she reached to run her hoof through her bright red mane, only for Apple Bloom to swat her away with nary a glance.
"Alright, we're not there yet," Starlit said. "That's fine, you don't have to talk if you don't want to. But can you listen?"
A long, deafening pause echoed through the saloon before Apple Bloom gave a curt nod.
"Okay," Starlit answered. "Now, I won't say I understand what you're going through right now; I don't, and were this a fair world nopony would have to know what this feels like. To lose family is like losing a piece of yourself."
"Are you just going to humor me with kid-talk," Apple Bloom interrupted, all the joy from that afternoon drained out of her voice, "or do you have a point you're getting to?"
The knot in Starlit's stomach clinched tighter; to see a filly so jaded at such a young age was disconcerting for her. Eclipse was always such a gregarious and outgoing child, so to see one fall this far into despair sent her maternal instincts into a loop.
"I mean," Apple Bloom continued, turning to face Starlit with anger "Minuette gave me the same speech on the way over here, and Applejack gave me a speech like this when Big Mac got summoned. Why can't anypony just say what they mean to me? I might be a kid, but I'm sick of being lied to!"
"Apple Bloom, you're not ready for the tru—" Cherry started before being cut off.
"Horse apples, I'm not ready!" Apple Bloom snapped. "I've been through enough horrible stuff already, but nopony takes me seriously when I say I want real answers! You grown ups always try to tell me what I want to hear, what I ought to know, when maybe you should let me tell you what I want to hear!"
Apple Bloom's voice started breaking as she continued speaking, and fresh tears were already welling up in her sunset colored eyes.
"I'm the only member of my family left, dammit! If anypony ought to know what actually happened to my sister it's me! I just want some answers, is that too much to ask?!"
Finally unable to contain herself Apple Bloom collapsed onto the table, face in her hooves and sobbing in that particular way that only a child can. The milk spilled as she fell forward, dripping down to the floor between herself and Starlit.
Cherry Blossom and Starlit Sky exchanged a glance; both mares were on the verge of tears themselves, only Starlit was better at hiding it. A few fresh tears were already falling down Cherry's face, but Starlit swallowed her sadness and put her hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder. The filly didn't protest this time.
"You're right," Starlit said. "You do deserve to know what happened, and to know what's going to be done about it."
Still hiccuping, Apple Bloom turned her bloodshot eyes toward Starlit. Her sister had had much the same expression earlier that evening, and seeing it again only highlighted how alike they were.
"Applejack was kidnapped," Starlit continued. "She was beaten pretty badly, but she was still alive when the kidnappers disappeared. We don't know who they were exactly, but they had some sort of white and gold regalia on."
Apple Bloom perked up when she heard what they were wearing.
"That's the colors of the Radiant Queen," Apple Bloom cut in, wiping away the tears and snot from her face.
"That's what Cherry and I had figured as well, but it's nice to have it confirmed," Starlit responded. A small lie, given Starlit hadn't mentioned it, but enough to bolster her spirits.
"But... why would the Queen send kidnappers? If she wanted Applejack, she would've just summoned her."
"That part we aren't aware of," Starlit continued, "but she was in my room and had my knife at the time, so chances are good that the kidnappers may have been looking for me."
"Why wasn't I told this bit of information?" Cherry asked.
"Because I hadn't thought of it until about ten minutes ago," Starlit answered. "Sun didn't feel much like talking outside, so it gave me time to ruminate on this."
"But why would they come after you?" Apple Bloom asked. "I know that you're dead set on going to the palace, but word shouldn't have been able to spread that fast."
"I don't know how she knows, but she does, and apparently she isn't happy," Starlit answered. "Whatever the case may be, this is only giving me another reason to get on with this."
"So what're you going to do when you see the Queen?" Apple Bloom asked.
Starlit let out a heavy sigh, looking to the floor as she weighed her options. Apple Bloom seemed smart, moreso than most of her neighbors gave her credit for if her frustration was anything to build off of, but she was going to have to lie about this. The idea didn't sit well with her.
"I'm... not sure yet," Starlit answered, trying her best to mask her uncertainty. "I have a request to make of her — or a series of them now — but how well it shakes out with her will affect how I have to deal with this."
"Do you think you'll have to kill her?" Apple Bloom asked, the question hitting Starlit like a sack of rocks.
"I would like for it to not have to come to that—" Starlit began.
"Why not?" Apple Bloom interrupted.
"Apple Bloom, you can't seriously be asking Starlit to assassinate the Queen?" Cherry asked, doing a much worse job at hiding her uncertainty.
"What if I am? Cherry, that pony took my entire family away, sent her minions to beat up my sister, and left me with a whole life to take care of! I didn't even get to know my parents because of her! Maybe... maybe I just want some justice."
The three of them sat in silence as Apple Bloom's words hung in the air like a thick fog. Starlit had tried pushing the idea to the back of her mind, but now it was thrown front and center in her psyche; she might just have to grievously harm or kill the Princesses if they wouldn't return willingly.
Starlit's mind was running a mile a minute with the very notion. How would she do it? Could she just stab them with her sword? What if they took her weapons away? What if she couldn't just stab them? What if she couldn't even harm them?
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Starlit turned back to Apple Bloom, who was twiddling her forehooves nervously on the table.
"Apple Bloom, I understand that you want vengeance, or justice, or some form of retribution," Starlit said, "but the business I have with the Queen needs to be handled carefully and with a minimal amount of bloodshed. I only have my weapons for self-defense anyway, and can barely use them for that. I'll do my best to get your sister back, maybe even find out what became of the rest of your family, but you have to understand that my goal here may not line up with what you want me to do."
Apple Bloom continued twiddling her hooves as her brow furrowed in thought.
"I guess that's all I can ask for," Apple Bloom said after a short pause. "Just, please bring Applejack home for me; she's all I've got left."
Fresh tears dripped down Apple Bloom's face as she looked back up at Starlit. Behind the sadness Starlit could see just a faint glimmer of hope, and that was enough for her. Calmly she wrapped Apple Bloom up in a gentle hug, letting the filly' tears fall into her chest.
"I promise, I'll get her back," Starlit said, repeating the words she had told to Cherry.
Apple Bloom buried her face further into Starlit's chest, wrapping her forelegs around her neck as she did. Starlit was getting a sense of dejá vu, given that Applejack had done this exact same thing not a few hours prior.
"Sun!" Starlit called, Apple Bloom still clinging to her.
"Ma'am?" Sun answered, trotting through the swinging saloon doors.
"Go home, get whatever you're going to need, and meet me back here in half-an-hour," Starlit commanded. "As soon as you're here we're leaving for the Plains."
* * *
Stats
Page generated in 0.035 seconds
Total duration
965 users online
2,015,851 hits today, 2,073,628 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I have a suspicion the earth pony was Big Mac and if he didn't recognize his sister, that bodes ill.
Can't wait for more!
8071144
We'll see...
Big Mac hurt Applejack?
"The mind control has spread faster than anticipated!"
"Roger that sending reinforcements now."
First one to comment!
8071237
Not saying anything because spoilers but yeah, you hit the nail on the head
Stay tuned!
Out of all the stories I'm tracking this is the one I get most excited about!
8071245 YES!
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/179/018/23d.gif
8071247
That is quite possibly the best piece of praise I've gotten since my first story! I don't try to pretend that I'm some sort of renaissance man when it comes to writing, but if my stories I hammer out at 4:30 AM in a semi-lucid fugue state that I then edit when I'm fully lucid can not only make people happy but be counted among their favorites, then that's enough for me.
You rock!
8071315 No You Rock!
8071334
Thanks so much for enjoying my story, it really means a lot to me to know I'm making my readers happy!
8071483 You're welcome.
Down with Sunbutt Cakeflanks!
8071735
As a proud supporter of the New Lunar Republic, I wholeheartedly support this supposition.
(I'm really more for the United Equestrian Commonwealth, but Luna's my fave so
)
this is a good story even if it is filled with oc.
can't wait for the next update.
8072294
Well, when you get down to it, every story you've ever enjoyed has OCs in, it's just that you came to enjoy them over time.
Glad that I'm the exception and not the rule for ya, though
Stunning, Love it.
8074017
Thank ya muchly! Glad you're enjoying the story
CELESTIA WHY!!!!!!!!
8071144 THATS WHAT I THOUGH
8083276
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely
Do with that info what you will
8083455 IVE KNOWN THAT
HALF OF MY CHARACTERS ARE IN THAT SITUATION
SCRATCH THAT
ALL OF MY MAIN CHARACTERS ARE
Holy Terra...
Celestia, what've you done...?
I really like this part. A little dose of pragmatism never hurt anyone (except for Cherry, that is).
I'm just sad about that poor unicorn mare. She didn't deserve to die.
9968906
It's been years since I wrote this section, but I really appreciate that my older stuff still has the power to affect people. Just wait til you get further in there's some really good stuff here
I love this story
I don’t really ever say that