Lunaris

by Madame Ponka

Chapter VII - The Eye of the Storm

The harsh winds had died down, bathing everything in an eerie silence. The snow continued to fall, small patches of blood staining the frosty blanket it created. The trio of ponies stared down the cave they had just escaped from, nopony saying a word. The sudden rush of cold, the first one in days, brought a wave of shock to their bodies. Wisps of air blew from their muzzles as they breathed heavily. Their limbs ached as they touched the snowy ground for the first time in a day.

Parallax finally broke the silence. “Oh, stars above! We can’t just stand here! We have to help him!”

“I can’t sense his presence. He’s long gone now. Not dead, but they’ve taken him away,” Mythic sighed, struggling to force the painful words from her mouth.

Eventide rolled her eyes. “There’s no sense in moping about. We need to get going. Canterlot’s close by, and they’ll be amping up their security after this little incident.”

Mythic nodded. “Good idea. But first…”

Mythic turned to Eventide and slammed her hoof into her head, knocking her into the snow with a loud thud.

“You pathetic bastard!” Mythic shouted. “If it wasn’t for your little act of ‘courage’, Crimson would be right by our side! If you’re the supposed savior of ponykind, then I frankly fear for this rebellion, and the land of Lunaris!”

Eventide tried to stand up, but Mythic held her down with a strong wave of telekinesis. Eventide spat at her. “I figured you’d be used to this by now, given how long you’ve wandered here.”

Mythic grabbed her mane and lifted her up. Even was struck by a piercing glare from her deep purple eyes. All Parallax could do was watch.

“Who in Tartarus do you think I am? Let me tell you this, hero of ponykind. While you were dicking around wreaking havoc with your mage friends, I experienced things nopony should go through. I’ve fought with ponies and monsters that could crush most ponies in seconds. I’ve seen entire cities get slaughtered before my very eyes. The screams of foals and their mothers as their lives were taken away from ponies like you. I see and hear them every night, and I’ve never grown used to it. You’ve only seen a glimpse of what this awful world has to offer, and at the rate your sorry flank is going, you won’t live to see much more of it.”

Eventide lit up her horn and, before Mythic could retaliate, blasted her away with a bright ray of magic. Managing to land on her hooves, Mythic glared at her, fuming with anger.

Eventide glared back, her horn bursting with rage. “Do you really think that I haven’t suffered too? My entire life is filled with regrets! Tell me, Mythic…” She struggled to force out the next few words. “How many innocent ponies have you killed?”

Mythic took a deep breath, trying to find her center. “The way I see it, nopony is entirely innocent. But… I’ve taken my fair share of good lives. It’s something that most ponies have to do at some point.”

“But do you regret it?”, Eventide asked.

“Even, it’s not as black and white as you think it is. Part of me wants to say yes. That I’ve grown over the years and have learned not to take a pony’s life for granted. But I also want to say no. In this world, it’s only you and your companions. Everypony else is just a pawn for you to use to your advantage.”

Eventide trotted over to her, still recovering from Mythic’s harsh treatment. “A day never went by without me taking an innocent life. It was like a brutal game to me. How many rebels or heretics could I slaughter in a day?” She struggled to fight back tears. “You were out in this wasteland, acting like a morally grey warrior just trying to survive, while I spent all my years doing things I regret with my whole heart. A puny mind-meddler like you wouldn’t understand…”

Mythic stared at her with a hint of familiarity, but it faded as quickly as it began. She shot her a nasty look as her eyes emitted the familiar purple mist. “Why you insolent little-”

“Can both of you shut up for a few seconds!”

The two gave Parallax a dirty look, who barely managed to pull himself together. “Listen… we both have a painful journey to get through, and we’re not going to get through it by hearing you two bitch about your past.”

“Oh great. Now the pansy-ass swordspony is going to preach to us,” Eventide said.

“One more word out of you and you’ll… regret it!” Parallax stuttered. “I swear, you two are acting like bloody foals. If you two don’t stop it this instant, I’m going to drop out of this little clique, march my flank to the nearest village, and settle down there without a hint of regret. You can bitch about this stuff later. Right now we need to focus on not getting murdered in cold blood.”

Mythic sighed, a big wisp of air escaping her mouth. “Fine. Let’s get moving.”

Eventide rolled her eyes. “We’ll settle this later,” she conceded. “Ponyville is close by. What’s the plan?”

“It’ll likely be on high alert due to what just happened. I don’t think we can risk entering the city without getting captured.”

“Any possible way to avoid it?”, Parallax asked.

She shrugged. “We can, but it will take a while. A week at the least, and that’s not counting the Everfree Forest.”

Eventide cursed under her breath. “We can’t afford a week going around the city. Its close proximity to Canterlot means they’ll catch up to us in no time.”

Mythic mused for a second, her brain running amuck with ideas “Perhaps I can work a few illusions to disguise us.”

Parallax’s eyes widened. “Would that really work?”

“I’ve done it before when I was on the run for burglary a few months ago, and it worked like a charm. I bet we can make it work.”

Eventide pondered this idea. “Well, I suppose it’s our only option at this point. What do you mean by disguise?”

“Make us look like completely different ponies, of course! They won’t suspect a thing!”

“What makes you think they won’t be able to see through your illusions?”, Parallax asked. “I’m sure mages have been trained to distinguish them.”

“You’re talking to a psychic who managed to live a month in Canterlot during the Third Griffon War, when the city was in complete lockdown and I had a bounty on my head for allegedly aiding the enemy. I’m sure I can fool those silly farmponies in Ponyville.”

Eventide groaned. “Fine. Let’s do it. You better not make me wear a dress though.”

~

The city of Ponyville is considered to be one of the crown jewels of Lunaris. Responsible for 80% of the empire’s agricultural needs, it played an important role in the stability of the great land. For a town littered with huts and underground farms, it managed to grow into a bustling metropolis over the years. What completed the town was the giant spire in the center, a monument commemorating the spot where Her Majesty returned all those years ago, and brought her leadership and care to ponykind.

Captain Stride hated times like this. For the third week in a row, the city had been placed on lockdown, all because of a silly mage. And here he was, guarding the city gates when he should be off at the pub with a mug of cider and a pretty mare. The intense blizzard rumored to arrive soon didn’t make things any better. He wasn’t the only there one of course. Three others stood beside him, still as a statue, watching for any approaching visitors.

He could faintly make out three ponies in the distance. They trotted through the intense snow and wind. A stallion and two mares.

“Heads up, everypony,” he called out to the rest of the guard, their attention shifting towards the trio approaching them. “We got company.”

The stallion was a grey earth pony, clad in dirty robes, his black mane shaggy and disgusting. He couldn’t make out anything extraordinary about him at all. His ragged appearance led Stride to believe that he was from that nearby village of Ontroto. One of the mares, a unicorn, was wearing a blue cloak, which brought out her blonde mane and purple coat. She looked like an average nightly traveler. The other mare, also a unicorn, wore a fairly well-kept red dress wrapped around her yellow coat, her blue mane billowing in the wind. She had a peeved expression on her face, almost as if she was uncomfortable about something…

“State your name and reason for entry,” Stride said in a stern voice.

The cloaked unicorn spoke up in a posh accent. “I am Storm Watch, a magician from Fillydelphia. I come with my two friends here,” she pointed to the stallion. “This here is Shining Bright, a blacksmith from Ontroto,” she pointed to the other mare, “and this is Twister, a seamstress from Canterlot. We’re stopping here for a few days before we head to Vanhoover to visit family.”

The captain stared at the three with a suspicious eye. “And how, may I ask, did you come here in one piece without an escort? You don’t seem like the kind of ponies who would survive the wilderness.”

Storm giggled. “You’d be surprised what we can do when we put our abilities together.” She winked.

“How charming.” Stride rolled his eyes. “Hand us your saddlebags.”

The three obliged and handed Stride their saddlebags. He fished through them, but all that he found were some old fruit and nuts, and a few thick tomes on Lunarian flora and fauna. He hoofed the bags back to the three.

“Alright, you’re good. Corporal, check for any falsehoods or illusion spells,” he ordered to an older mare beside him. Her eyes emitted a green mist as she mentally scanned over the three. They could feel her entering their minds, scanning them for any hints of deception, but they remained calm throughout the process.

The mare stopped. “They’re good. No illusions nor lies. They may be let in.”

Stride nodded, and with a push of his magic, the large gates into Ponyville opened up.

“I give you my thanks, good sir,” Storm said, the three trotting through the gates. Watching the three enter the city, he felt the psychic tap his shoulder. He turned around.

She nodded at him. He immediately knew what to do.

~

“I can’t believe that actually worked. How’d you even avoid their detection spells?”, Parallax asked, lying down on the inn bed.

Mythic smirked. “I could feel that it was a half-hearted attempt at detecting. Just some simple and stealthy mental maneuvering and she could be fooled easily.”

“That’s great and all, but what do we do now?”, Eventide said, struggling to get her dress off.

“We stay here for a few days and wait out the blizzard,” Mythic said, a sigh of relief escaping her lips, “and then move on west. Las Pegasus shouldn’t be too far away. I can almost sense it.”

“A few days!?”, Parallax exclaimed. “Are you nuts!? There’s no way we can keep the illusion up for that long!””

“Parallax, you worry too much. We’ll be okay as long as we stick together. And Even, I hate to break it to you, but you can’t take that dress off. It’s attached to you as part of the illusion.”

Even groaned, flopped onto the other bed, and let out a string of curses that would make her mother blush.

~

The enormous spire towered over the city, striking through the clouds with the pointy tip. Carved into the exterior were elaborate works of art depicting Her Majesty’s conquering of the land and the establishment of the Empire of Lunaris. Her soul-piercing gaze kept a watchful eye over not just the citizens of Ponyville, but everypony in the empire. Crowds stood at the base of the spire worshipping and paying their respects to the lunar goddess.

The trio gazed at said spire from a distance, marveling at it’s beauty, yet frightful at it’s scope.

“Her Majesty really has a thing for giant pointy towers,” Parallax said, gazing up at the clouds obscuring the tip.

“Feels more like a fetish, to be perfectly honest,” Eventide murmured.

Ponies around them said their prayers at the foot of the spire, and left as quickly as they arrived. A throng of guards was stationed around the spire, keeping a watchful eye over the worshipping citizens. Attached to the walls of nearby buildings, the trio could spot wanted posters with a crude sketch of Eventide on them.

Wanted
For betrayal and treason against the Lunarian Empire
Major Eventide of the Lunar Mages
Reward of 1 million bits and Her Majesty’s eternal blessings to anypony who captures her

Eventide scoffed at the poster. Treason my ass, she thought to herself. They didn’t even get her eyes right.

“The sun will rise again!”

The voice startled the many ponies crowded around the spire. A young mare galloped through the crowd and stood near the base of the spire, announcing her presence to everypony. The crowd hollered insults and curses that even surprised Eventide.

“These days of torment will come to an end! Your horrific regime will stand for no long-”

The mare was quickly knocked to the ground by one of the guard’s blades. She was held down by a strong pair of hooves, the crowd cheering loudly as the pony struggled to escape.

“State your name please,” one of the guards asked.

The mare spat at him. “Why should I tell you lot!? What’re a bunch of mindless slaves like you going to do?”

The guard holding her down sighed. It was practically a daily routine at this point. “Do you recant these blasphemous statements you have made against Her Majesty? If you do, your punishment will be significantly lessened.”

“I will not recant, and I swear that on Her Majesty’s fat arse.” She smirked.

The entire crowd gasped and only grew more agitated. Ponies screamed and expressed an insatiable desire to see the poor mare hung or tortured, but she didn’t show any signs of weakness.

“Fancy yourself a martyr, eh? Alright, fellow soldiers, take her away and execute protocol 48B,” the guard said with a nasty grin.

Mythic flinched as he finished his orders. The other soldiers grabbed the poor mare and began to drag her away.

“You bastards won’t get away with this for much longer! Your reign will end soon!”, she tried to shout, but her proclamations were drowned out by the jeering crowd.

Mythic shuddered, her soul chilled to the bone upon viewing this incident.

“You okay, Storm?”, Parallax asked.

With a great effort of will, she managed to push away the feeling. “Y-Yeah… I’m fine… come on. I think we need to stock up on food for the long road ahead.”

~

The underground farms of Ponyville are some of its most cherished landmarks. It is from here that ponies grow, buy, and trade produce for their journies. The entrances to these extraordinary works of engineering may look odd to the average pony, with it’s claustrophobic stairway into an underground network. However, what’s housed inside is one of the many important sources of life in the land.

Ponies gathered around a darkened window, staring out at the gardens below. A wondrous ball of yellow light hovered above the budding vegetable and fruit, bathing them in its wondrous warmth and rejuvenating them. Even with the dark shield protecting them, the crowd could still feel a wave of heat and an intense light that pierced through their eyes. Nevertheless, they were was amazed by the incredible invention. Every once in a while, a pony wearing pitch-black clothes and goggles trotted in and inspected the plants, the ball of light, and the ceiling for any moisture from up above. The trio, still clad in their illusions, watched closely.

“Even in a world that wants to kill us, there’s still room for little hints of beauty,” Mythic murmured to herself, much to Eventide’s unenthusiasm.

“My mother used to work in one of these back in Fillydelphia,” Parallax said, squinting at the magical light. “Poor mare almost went blind every week.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Even. “Giant balls are great and all, but let’s focus on what we came here for.”

The two nodded, and they trotted over to one of the many produce stands near the garden. An older stallion stood behind the stand, exchanging and bartering food and supplies to nearby ponies for the oncoming blizzard. As the three stood in line, Eventide’s eyes wandered around the underground market, gazing upon the scenery and Lunarian citizens. She could hear one of the bartering citizens at a nearby stand get progressively angry, her face turning red as her offers were turned down. She screamed multiple obscenities that impressed Even. As she stormed out of the farmer’s market, ponies around her began chuckling, which Even couldn’t help but join in herself.

Her joy was cut short, however, as she spotted a few of the familiar wanted posters that bore her name and crude drawing. No… That isn’t me she thought to herself. That old me is gone.

“You alright, Miss?” a voice in front of her asked, making Eventide jump. She looked up and saw the old merchant right in front of her.

“O-Oh! Yeah, I’m fine…” she said, nodding to Mythic.

Mythic cleared her throat. “I’m Storm Watch, and these are my friends Stride and Twister! We’d just like some of your finest produce for the road ahead!”

Eventide’s eyes continued to wander as she let Mythic do all the bartering. She decided to listen in on a nearby couple’s conversation.

“Third week in a row that this is happening. I wish those damn bastards would catch that bloody mage already!”

“Don’t talk so loud, dear! They’ll hear you…”

The stallion sighed. “Sorry, my love. You know how I get when the city goes on lockdown. And there’s a damn blizzard coming. At least this day isn’t uneventful.”

The mare wrapped her hoof around his shoulder and pulled him closely. “You worry too much. Just listen to what the officials said. Get as much food as you need and wait out the storm in your homes. Don’t go out for any reason.”

“What I don’t understand is why Her Majesty decided to send one so soon after the last one. And during one of the biggest crimes of the century!? It strikes me as counterproductive.”

“Everything Her Majesty does is for a reason, even if we may not understand it…”

Even’s mind wandered away from the conversation and quickly focused in on another. She couldn’t bear to hear a bat pony screech about carrot prices to a merchant.

“Mum, what’s happening?” a foal asked.

“We’re just here to get some groceries. We’ll get home soon.”

“But mum, what if there’s no more? What if the big snow comes here? What if that scary mage tries to kill us?”

“Level, don’t worry so much. Her Majesty and her armies will keep us safe. She’ll supply us with all the food we need, and she won’t send the snow until everypony is secure in their homes.”

“What if Her Majesty doesn’t protect us?” The young foal started to whimper.

“Sweetie, don’t speak such blasphemous things! We’ll be okay, I promise! When has Her Majesty ever failed?”

Eventide could think of ten times right off the bat. Perhaps that moment when she failed to provide power to the underground farms for a whole week? Or when the defense shields around Manehattan fell and the city was raided by bandits?

“Twister!” Eventide jumped as Mythic called out to her. “We’re done here. Unfortunately the poor bastard won’t knock down the price of melons for a few extra herbs, but we got something out of the deal.”

Eventide rolled her eyes. “You’re not the only one, I bet.”

~

Uneasiness came over Eventide’s mind as she and her friends trotted through Ponyville. Everywhere she looked, she could see armed guards and wanted posters scattered throughout the streets like specks of dust. The snow around her hooves seemed to seep into them, bringing an icy chill to her body. Here she was, trotting through the jaws of her enemies, yet completely hidden from them. She could see the whites of their eyes, but they could not see through hers. She wanted to scream and let out her fury at her nearby foes, the cold seeping through her body, practically begging her to do so, but she managed to hold back. Now’s not the time. Not yet…

The trio decided to stop at a nearby tavern. After all, when you’re jammed in the heart of your enemies, the least you deserve is a pint of cold whiskey. As they went inside, they were flooded with loud commotion. Ponies downed their drinks like a parched soul to a babbling brook. Shouts of joy and rage rang out as hoof-wrestling contests were held near the back. They could even see a bar fight about to break out near the counter.

“I’ve seen worse,” said Eventide.

Upon ordering their drinks, they sat at a table far away from the commotion and began to whisper and exchange ideas.

“Alright, are we going through the Everfree?”, Mythic asked, taking a sip of her cider. Normally she didn’t drink alcohol, but it’s not everyday that you get a chance to try out a glass of famous Ponyville cider.

Parallax chuckled. “Yeah, screw that. We’d get torn to shreds in seconds. Ultimate truth or whatever is nice and all, but I’m not one to risk my flank because of it.”

“It’d cut down a significant amount of time to take to get to our destination,” Eventide said. “If we get through that shithole in one piece, we’ll be in Las Pegasus this time next week.”

“I’d rather play it safe. Las Pegasus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” Parallax downed a glass of whiskey. “Have you ever been through that horrific place, Mythic?”

“Once, about two years ago. In all honesty, I can’t remember why. Must’ve been a dare or some shit. All I remember is that it was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. I never met any of the monsters there. I only traveled through the outskirts, and even then I felt a sense of unease. Everything was… quiet. All I could hear was the sound of my hoofsteps trudging through the mud. But I felt a horrific dread wash over my mind. I felt like I was about to collapse from exhaustion. I saw ponies that weren’t even there. I felt my thoughts become muddied and sloppy. My senses became washed out and my perception collapsed. I screamed, and yet nopony heard me. I knew I was going to die at that moment. I blubbered like a little foal and tried my hardest to hang on for dear life. Here I was, a pony that tried her hardest to remain calm even in the direst of circumstances, screaming and begging for it to all end. I said my final prayers and passed out.” She took another swig of cider, fighting back tears.

“I woke up later outside of the forest completely unharmed. Not a mark on my body, not even a speck of mud. I felt completely fine. A bit traumatized from the whole experience, but I managed to recover shortly after. I have no idea how I got out of that forest. All I know is that I don’t exactly have a big desire to go back into it.”

“That sounds like a big understatement, if you ask me.” She downed her glass of cider and pushed it aside. “Alright. We won’t go through the spooky tree forest. The ultimate truth probably isn’t worth it anyways.”

“I prefer to speculate anyways,” Mythic chuckled. “We’ll leave this place after a quick nap once we get back to the hotel. Las Pegasus is just a heartbeat away.”

“As long as we don’t get our heart ripped out in the process, of course,” Parallax said.

A young peasant pony suddenly trotted up to their table. “Excuse me. Are you Storm Watch?”

Mythic stared at the pony. “Yes, I am. Why do you ask?”

“One of the owners would like to have a word with you and your friends. Something about a job for you and your friends to do,” the young pony said, feeling a bit intimidated.

Mythic carefully scanned through the young pony’s mind, performing a few mental maneuvers to avoid detection. She couldn’t feel any evil intentions in this young filly.

Mythic sighed. “Alright. Lead the way.”

The young filly trotted towards an old wooden door in the back. Upon opening it, they found a small, yet empty closet. With a flick of her magic, the young filly found a trapdoor in the center that revealed a dark stairway. The trio felt a sense of unease wash over them like a tidal wave, but they moved on regardless.

They entered a dark cellar with nothing more than a few barrels and crates housing old food and alcohol. They were puzzled as to why they were brought to such a strange location. A young stallion suddenly trotted out from the shadows.

“Ah, pleased to meet you three. I’m glad you could arrive,” he said in a warm voice.

Mythic glared at him with suspicion. “What do you want from us?”

“Oh Storm, there’s no need to act suspicious. I’m your friend here. I just have a simple task for you to complete. I’ve had a desire to meet a mage like you for a while, and you strike me as just the mare to help me out. And with your friends, of course.” He smiled warmly at them. It striked Mythic as oddly sincere.

“Alright then. Name your task,” she said.

“Excellent! But first of all…”

The trio heard the sound of three ponies teleporting right behind them. They suddenly grabbed them by their necks and put a dagger to each of their throats. The three could spot the familiar sight of the armor of the Lunar Guard.

The young pony glared at them. “One hint of aggression out of you, and your throat will be nothing more than a fountain of red.” The three could do nothing but watch, their hearts pounding rapidly. “Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.” Green mist seeped out of his body, clouding his appearance. When the mist dissipated, it revealed the familiar shape of General Polaris. He turned to the young filly that led them to the trap. “Her Majesty will bless you immensely for your good deeds. You may go.” The young filly galloped out, full of both fear and pride.

He turned to the captives and chuckled. “Did you three really think that you could evade us with your silly illusion spells? I’m sure you’re smart ponies deep down, but frankly, this is ridiculous, even for you.”

“But… how!?”, was all Eventide could utter.

Polaris trotted over to her, gazing deep into her eyes. “Your illusions were quite impressive, but we’ve improved our illusion-tracking in recent weeks for obvious reasons. We’re always one step ahead. When you three were at the gate, we knew it was you three. We let you enter in order to let your guard down. Attacking you out in the open would simply be impractical and would draw some unwanted attention. By letting you in, we let you think that you were in the clear. All the while, we set this simple plan in motion. And here you all are, falling for an old trick that, frankly Eventide, you should be used to this by now. Trickery is Her Majesty’s specialty after all.”

“You… you bitch!” Eventide blurted.

“Even, please, spare me your whining for later. It gets really tiring. Just because Her Majesty received a vision detailing you overthrowing her, doesn’t mean it will come to fruition.”

“So you say that Her Majesty is wrong.”

“She’s not wrong at all. Think of it as being prepared. Taking whatever means necessary to prevent something. And you’re not alone in this, Even. Many others have come before you, prophecies of overthrowing our empire attached to their names. And each time, they have fallen. You aren’t special, Even. The only difference is that we might offer a speck of forgiveness.”

Eventide could hardly believe what she was hearing. “If I won’t, then somepony else down the line will!”

Polaris only chuckled. “It’s been eons, Eventide. If Her Majesty were to fall, somepony else would have done it by now.”

Eventide wanted to respond, but the dagger around her throat prevented her.

“Now, here’s the thing. Eventide, you’ll be escorted to Canterlot and brought to Her Majesty. It’s unknown what she’ll do to you, but we know that you’ll come out… a changed mare, shall we say.” His smile widened to an almost psychopathic expression. “As for the others, if you don’t repent of your crimes for aiding the enemy, I can assure that you will face a public execution. And I can assure you that Her Majesty will not bless you in the afterlife.”

Mythic rolled her eyes. “Because Her Majesty’s blessing is so important to me.”

Polaris chuckled. “You have such a stoic reaction to facing death. I like that. I take it you do not repent of your crimes then.”

Mythic spat at him, the dagger pressing deeper into her neck. “You and your army are absolutely pathetic! Thousands of ponies working together to create a convoluted plan just to kidnap three travelers! Do you lot even know why we’re doing this!? It’s because you don’t give a damn about your world! Her Majesty only cares about conquering other lands-”

“If you’d like, we could begin your execution now.” Mythic only responded with a nasty glare.

Polaris turned to Parallax, who was quivering in the soldier’s grasp. “And you, the cowardly, yet strong soldier. Do you repent of your crimes?”

Parallax was hyperventilating at this point. “Okay, yes! I repent! For the moon’s sake, don’t do this to me!”

Eventide glared at him. “Why you disgraceful coward!”

Polaris smiled. “A wise choice. Her Majesty will judge you, but your sentence will be significantly more lenient.”

Mythic could hardly comprehend what she was hearing. Her companion completely surrendering to the enemy. It disgusted her and made her feel sick. Normally she didn’t agree with Eventide, but…

“Right then. There’s a carriage waiting for us outside. You’ll be taken to Canterlot and your punishments will be carried out. It saddens me in a way. This silly chase has been brief, but fun. Even, I look forward to working with you again. Soldiers, follow me.”

He led the three out of the cellar, the daggers still pressed against their necks, leaving small, but nasty scars. As they trotted through the tavern, the others jeered at them as they were led out of the establishment. A carriage was parked outside, flanked by a large number of lunar guards. Curses and empty mugs were thrown at the three criminals. The trio didn’t dare respond. They were led outside where more citizens cursed at them.

“Hang those bastards for their crimes!”

“Mount their heads on spears!”

“Execute them in front of the entire town!”

Polaris chuckled at the enthusiastic citizens and raised his voice. “My fellow Lunarians! These rebels have been apprehended and are being taken to Canterlot to stand trial for their crimes! But I can assure you that the mage will soon become like us once again! She will soon learn to love Her Majesty again! Let her story serve as a lesson to those who dare oppose Her Majesty!”

The crowd erupted into cheers at this. Some ponies were even in tears from both admiration and fear. The trio were lead into the carriage, the guards forcing them to sit down daggers still pressed near their necks. Within minutes, the carriage began moving, headed towards Canterlot. The crowd attempted to follow the carriage, but were prevented by some of the soldiers. A wave of pride swept through the crowd as another criminal was finally apprehended.

It was at that moment that an explosion detonated right under the carriage.

~

The first thing Eventide heard was screaming, and the first thing she felt was blistering cold.

The snow under her was stained with her blood. She struggled to lift herself up, her vision blurred and her ears ringing. Through the flurry of snow, she could make out houses burning and ponies running for their lives. Oddly enough, she didn’t even see a single lunar guard.

“Mythic!? Parallax!?”

No response. She picked herself up, her body aching with every twitch of her muscles. The snowstorm only seemed to intensify as she got up. She trotted through the streets at a slow pace, searching for anypony who could assist her. Every step in that cold snow sent a chill up her spine. The citizens didn’t even notice her despite what happened earlier. As her hearing gradually came back, she could make out the sounds of brawling in the streets. Sword clashes and heavy punches echoed out through the town. In the distance, she could barely make out the shape of a lunar mage fighting a pony wearing familiar yellow robes...

“Even!”

She spun around and saw Mythic and Parallax standing in a nearby alleyway, battered and bruised from the recent explosion, and covered in snow. She breathed a sigh of relief as she galloped over to them.

Even spoke in a raspy voice. “Okay, what in Tartarus just happened!?”

Mythic struggles to hear hear her other over the monstrous wind. “The rebellion’s here. They set up some sort of attack here. What we need to do is get out of this town!”

Even’s eyes widened. “The rebellion!? Let’s go join them then!”

“We can’t! They’re not exactly being friendly to anypony, including us,” Parallax said.

“What!? Surely they’d be friendly to a couple rebels like us!”

“They’re not going to take any chances. I tried to explain ourselves to one of their leaders, but all I got in response was a duel that took way too long to finish,” Mythic said.

“Shit! Can we try to escape town?”

“The entire town and the surrounding area is practically a war zone!”, Parallax exclaimed. It’d be suicide for us to attempt to leave!”

“Hundreds of guards are stationed at every entrance and exit, and they’re not in any mood to let anypony go. Plus this blizzard is stretching out for miles! There’s no way we can survive going through the wilderness!”

Eventide racked her brain for ideas. “What about the Everfree?”

Mythic and Parallax stared at her like they just witnessed her slaughter an innocent family. “Are you crazy!?”, Parallax shouted.

“They would be crazier to chase us down in there. Not only that, but the Everfree is protected from the harsh weather. We can wait out the blizzard in there. It’ll be an awful experience, but at least it’ll throw them off.”

Mythic glared at her and sighed. “This idea has a good chance of getting us killed. I know it. But if we pull it off, we could throw the Lunar army off. If we just escape the town like normal, they’ll certainly send a search party after us.”

Parallax wanted to protest, but he sighed in defeat. “Fine, but if we die, this is all on you.”

“Better to die at the claws of a timberwolf than in the grasp of the moon,” Mythic mused.

Eventide pointed to a large set of trees near the edge of town. “Over there! Should we make a run for it?”

“Screw it. It’s close enough. Let’s go,” Parallax said, Mythic nodding in agreement.

The trio took off in a gallop towards the forest. Immediately, factions of lunar and rebel soldiers took notice of the trio and charged at them, sheathing their swords and igniting their horns. A bolt of lightning whipped past the trio and blew up a nearby cottage. Archers shot a flurry of arrows at them, which Eventide blocked with a dome of magic. Swordsponies attempted to ram their blades at them with as much force as they could muster, but were countered by Parallax’s own blade. The Everfree drew closer in the trio’s line of sight. Just a few more gallops, Even thought to herself.

The ground underneath them ignited into flames, scorching the trio’s limbs as they galloped faster. The snow melted into mud and water speckled with ash and drops of blood. As the three finally entered the forest, the flurry of spells and arrows tapered off into silence. The remaining soldiers looked onwards as three infamous criminals dove head first into the maw of the most dangerous part of Lunaris.

Even they prayed for their safety.