Equis

by RavenandWritingDesk

Refutatio

Fluttershy awoke from her bad dream, but when she opened her eyes and remained in darkness the caretaker considered if she was still having it. With a gentle buzz her friend the glowfly emerged and began circling her head, there were various rustles and pokes as her crew reported in "Thank you glowfly, I'm glad everyone is ok". From the dim light she could see she was in some kind of obsidian cave, the greenish insect light glinting off of the polished black surface below.

Getting to her feet, the glowfly perched on her head casting a little light before her, a little emerald circle in an infinity of black glass. Fluttershy began calmly walking into the darkness for which she held no fear, regret and shame haunted her every waking moment but the absence of light was comforting and home to many friends, maybe she would meet some if she persevered. She wandered for what could have been hours or just seconds in the never ending darkness, at first she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her but as she approached a sliver of grey light became part of the horizon.

After much toil the light barely grew and when it started to be cut off from view she suspected a cruel trick until a rough wall suddenly loomed out of the darkness; vertical and made of the same material as the ground, it was rough and sharp obsidian, almost certainly slippery but not insurmountable. Touching the icy cold glass texture, she ran her hands along it until she found a groove with a sharp edge. She hoisted up with her hide shoes wedging into a crack, beginning her slow ascent.

Just as she reached the centre of the climb a whine sounded out of the darkness causing her to stop, somewhere below in that vast expanse a baby was crying out in hunger. She glanced wistfully at the light above before sighing and climbing back down, as she lowered herself into the darkness a voice whispered from the back of her mind, leave it. Fluttershy shook the thought off, it was an inconvenience but to abandon a child to hunger and darkness would be monumentally cruel, she reached the base and rubbed her sore and cut hands that had been lacerated by the unforgiving cliff.

With a flare the baby Phoenix launched out of a small cage at Fluttershy's hip and began zipping about like a comet trying to locate the source of the sound, it flew deep into the cave and began circling some quarter of a mile away, it's not worth it. Again the whisper was dismissed, it was out of the way but the baby needed help. She resigned herself to the long fifteen minute trudge across the uneven ground towards the flicker of light in the distance, as she approached the pool of light she saw a naked creature that shared the rough shape of a human boy but it was unnaturally wiry with sallow grey skin and streaked with a foul smelling effluent, it had strands of limp seaweed like hair in random clumps, sharp needle like nails and a hideous malformed face that seemed permanently drawn in an angry scowl. The child opened its mouth in a petulant wail revealing small needle teeth out of red raw gums.

Not to be deterred by something's appearance she knelt down hushing and cooing and extended a hand to initiate physical contact, in response the creature swiped at her leaving a gash on the back of her hand, Fluttershy recoiled in pain but the child screamed even louder and started kicking its legs in fury. Leave the ungrateful beast, Fluttershy doubled down against the voice once again, If she was cold and alone she would want someone to bring her somewhere warm and safe, the child is clearly scared, doesn't know better and is lashing out against an intruder, that does not mean it deserves to be abandoned.

Affixing her leather gauntlets she reached out again as it clawed futilely at the tough hide, placing a hand on its chest it latched onto her arm which made it difficult but not impossible to get a second hand underneath and lift up the creature. Fluttershy held it to her chest and the little goblin released its grip on her arm and grabbed two fistfulls of her hair instead before yanking sharply down, Fluttershy winced but kept her grip on the now chuckling and guffawing creature. Angel came to her aid carrying a silken sash; Fluttershy gently prodded the child's stomach causing it to release its grip and try to block, at which juncture she quickly wrapped it up to keep its arms and legs out of mischief. Angel tied Fluttershy's long hair back out of the way as she affixed the goblin to her front with its head resting on her shoulder where hopefully it would fall asleep.

During the arduous trek back to the cliff face it did not fall asleep, unable to physically harass her the goblin busied itself barking, screeching and wailing directly into her ear. Why continue assisting such a malicious creature? Fluttershy grit her teeth, because it was abandoned in the dark, if that's how it's guardians treated it no wonder it grew up so unruly, I need to be the bigger person and role model empathy and care if I ever expect this child to learn it.

Reaching the cliff face she paused to regain her breath, removed her gauntlets and grasped the chilled glass again. She was tiring faster this time as she picked her way up the sheer face, the sharp edges re-opening the slices on her hand with a mild burning sensation. The goblin passenger had been oddly silent during the climb until half way up, when it sunk its needle teeth into her shoulder, the leathers offering no protection as the points were driven directly into her flesh.

Fluttershy gave a yell of surprise that quickly morphed into a short yelp of terror as her jerk from the attack slipped free her hands from their holds and sent her plummeted backwards towards the floor, she dropped ten foot onto the merciless flint hard stone. Having enough sense to curl her head in Fluttershy escaped bouncing her skull off the ground, however she still slammed spine first into the sharp ridges of the floor with enough force to drive the air from her lungs. She lay fighting to draw breath as the creature cackled maniacally directly into her ear revelling in her suffering.

Isn't this familiar; your struggling to pull yourself out of a deep dark hole but can't help yourself but stop to offer assistance to another wretched person, only for them to spit your face and knock you back down again, delighting in your misfortune, revelling in that you are lower than they. Don't you tire of carrying the burdens of the ungrateful? Comforting those that curse you and healing those that wound you? Don't you wish to be free from the millstones and truly ascend?

Fluttershy's eyes opened and she waited for the world to come back into focus, Angel fussed around with worry and there was a chorus of chirps, squeaks and hisses about her person. Fighting against the pain she sat up, turned the goblin to face away from her and readjusted the sling, with a groan of pain she stood staggering in place "it isn't about me!"

Fluttershy lurched forward slumping against the wall “They are all waiting; the blinded, the maimed, the men locked in the stinking dark, all wait for me”, her frail hand grasped the sharp rock and with a stab of agony from her bleeding shoulder she hoisted herself up, “children with swollen bellies, hiding in ditches wait”. Her feet pushed and adjusting her grip she was hanging from the wall without support, flashes of white hot and freezing cold exhaustion sent tremors through her quaking limbs, but with slow gim determination Fluttershy scaled the treacherous cliff face once again, with every painful inch the swaddled goblin snarled and struggled trying to disturb her balance, her foot slipped and she hung by her arms over the abyss “The poor, the dispossessed, they all wait!”, her feet found purchase and raised herself the last couple of inches to the top, with a pained growl her hand closed around the lip of the cliff and she dragged herself onto the plateau, panting with exertion she shakily stood cradling the snarling hissing goblin who’s inhuman snarled gave way to a plaintive wail as she carried it into the light “I am their hope! A simple outstretched hand!”

***

Bright moonlight fell directly on Rainbows face, the cold radiance piercing her slumber and its intrusion dragged her slowly to wakefulness; she was in a steel cage with a big red button fixed to one side, outside her cage was a dingy stone basement crawling with mould and with several grates in the ceiling that let in the moon. Directly opposite there was a mirror image cage holding an unconscious Twilight Sparkle. As Twilight started to stir a swirl of ash dropped through the ceiling grate and reconstituted into the form of Nightmare Moon, she grinned wickedly.

"We are going to play a little game, in your cages are buttons. You have one minute to press the button; if neither of you do, you die. If both of you do, death awaits you again. However, if one of you presses the button you are free but the other is imprisoned, permanently. The choice is yours, you have one minute"

Rainbow Dash tried to meet Twilight's gaze but the magus stared at the floor and fiddled with her hands, Rainbow heaved a deep breath and took a step back and leaned with forced nonchalance against the bars. In an instant while still looking away Twilight quickly jabbed the button and turned her back to the speedster, an angry claxton rang out with the light dipping to an ominous red, Nightmare Moon gave a slow clap "Cold, Twilight Sparkle, so cold. Condemn your friend to oblivion without hesitation or even an apology".

Rainbow stood up and hugged herself, her voice wobbled with fear "Yeah, looks like she decided to take up your offer", the nightmare strode up to Twilight's cage running her hands across the bars "Really Twilight? You want to become my Lieutenant? Turn your back on this rabble and take your place as my apprentice?" Twilight stood up straight, Rainbow could not see her face but her voice was clear and determined as she performed the Luna hail "Hail Nightmare, Victrix Ferarum. These people have been an annoying distraction and I wish to return to my studies".

With an indulgent chuckle the night queen flicked her hand causing Twilights form to melt away into the shadows, Rainbow let out a held breath and turned a defiant glare on her captor, Nightmare Moon slowly walked forwards with a predatory grin on her face savouring each second of the condemned speedsters misery. Reaching the cage the nightmare rested her hands on her hips "So, looks like you put your faith in the wrong person, my commiserations". Rainbow flipped off the night goddess with both hands never breaking eye contact "She's just doing what she had to you freakishly tall shit lord, now can we get on with this grandma before you forget why your here, If I’m going down I'd rather not hear a rambling story about your bowel problems first”.
The smile dropped from Nightmares face, she made a two fingered gesture upwards and purple smoke erupted from the ground around Rainbow’s feet billowing vertically, where the fumes brushed against her flesh it became numb and cold like she had been sleeping on it. Darkness closed in around her vision and the scowling face of the nightmare queen slid into the distance as the freezing cold strangled the last of the air out of her lungs.

Then a sudden impact, sprawling face down on a cold marble floor. With a reflexive twitch her burning lungs heaved air into them with a gasp as her sensitive eyes winced in the blinding light as they tried to adjust. The gap in between had been hazy, a half remembered dream of long drawn out hours as the moon wheeled over head, each moment blurring into the next in an eternity of silence.

Rainbow shakily pushed up off the floor, someone had thrown a snow white blanket over her head so she tried to throw it off, but the mass of material seemed affixed to her scalp, it was her hair; her once vibrant and trademark locks now pale as permafrost and hanging around her knees like a massive overcoat. Her eyes started to focus on her hand in front of her, they were spindly and shrunken with age, lined with wrinkles and blotched with liver spots. She raised the quaking limbs up that shook with infirmity as the vast hallway beyond swam into view.

Pale marble as cold as the moon itself had been worked into a grand vaulted hall, devices of stars had been arranged across the walls in the shape of the skies greatest hits formed of enchanted diamonds casting harsh and unforgiving light. Sable banners bearing a reflective disk behind a sapphire cat’s eye hung prominently from an upper horseshoe balcony; an additional larger and more filigreed version hung behind a silver throne in the centre of the gallery, raised above the floor by a dais.

A long midnight blue carpet led up to the dais foot with silver pylons either side holding ropes of cobalt, there was a crowd pressed in behind this barrier and peering down from the balconies. At the heart of it all sat Nightmare Moon lounging nonchalantly on her throne, Unchanged in her finest battle armour apart from a decadent midnight blue cape that sprawled around her. Rainbow groaned as she forced her stiff body up into a standing position, her voice came out horse with disuse and she harangued the monarch “You again, I hoped your nurse would of got your ancient ass out of that Halloween outfit by now.” There was a gasp of shock from the assembled crowd as they pulled away, but the nightmare just chuckled and stood up from her throne “As full of piss and vinegar as ever Snow Dash? I would call you Rainbow but it hardly seems appropriate anymore”, She strolled lazily passed the assembled throng to bent frame of Rainbow that stooped unsteadily on the cold floor “I even brought your dear friend to meet you, my Adjutant Twilight Sparkle, be polite and welcome her back Twilight'', dressed in rich eggplant robes replete with glowing runes and silver embroidery, a scowling and flint faced Twilight stood up “I am sorry majesty, I do not recognise the person in question” she droned dispassionately.

Rainbow scratched herself lazily “So are we done here?”, Nightmare Moon growled suddenly advancing, her menacing form towering over the former athlete casting a deep black shadow, “Is that all you have to say to one who betrayed you and sided with your enemy?” Rainbow was totally unphased and gave a look up to Twilight that was staring straight ahead with a bored and neutral expression “Tell me, is Ponyville safe?”
“It remains unharmed” ventured the nightmare.
“And, is Equis prosperous and flourishing?”
“It only swells in glory under my rule!”
Rainbow snorted up a loogie and gobbed it unceremoniously on the floor next to her “Then I ain’t got no beef with her, by ensuring the safety of Equis and stopping your senile ass from fucking everything up or burning it down in a temper she’s being more loyal to me than throwing away her life in some basement over some bone headed show of solidarity.”
Nightmare Moon stomped her metal boot with a clang like a petulant teenager and gesticulated up to the balcony “She threw you in a dungeon your entire life then swanned off to fame and glory while you were left to rot!”
“Yeah, and I bet that eats at her every day…” Rainbow croaked “...but she knew that I would want to see my friends safe and getting into your good books was the only way to do that, what was I gonna do, throw a punch? I wanted her to press that button”.

Rainbow groaned as she lowered herself back to the floor sitting in a lotus position “Loyalty isn’t something you demand or receive you idiot, it's something you give and have reciprocated in kind. Twilight stood up to protect us from you, so I stood with Twilight against you and when that didn’t work out I laid my life down for her and trusted she wouldn’t just go back to her library or use Ponyville for medical experiments, from what you say and by the look on her face she has swallowed her pride and kept that deal. As long as she continues to fight for what I stood for she’ll always be loyal to me”

There was a gong like a temple bell and the hall was filled with light, the sun rose behind her and the assembled crowd combusted. Nightmare Moon was hit by the light as if struck by a physical impact and skidded backwards leaving grooves in the marble floor, The last thing she saw was Twilights face, an after image as the figure was swept away, winking as all faded to white.

***

The ground shook with a dull impact and there was a rain of pebbles and mud, Pinkamina's eyes slid open; oily brown soil held back by warped and rotten boards of scavenged wood, additional planks floating in a swill of green, brown, black and red underfoot that when the light hit it just right had a rainbow sheen. The grey and heavy sky was obscured by a patchwork work of smoke ranging from choking black, to stinging grey and flesh broiling mustard.

The whine of deafness faded away to the orchestra of war; screams, explosions, wails, gunshots and the occasional roar of a futile charge. Pinkamina slumped down, her rifle in her lap as she squelched into a bolt hole, a layer of filth coating the layer of filth on her mouldering uniform. No matter how far she ran she always ended up back here; first in life, then in dreams, then in conversations and now in living nightmares. The worst bit was the smell; it was a thick meaty smell, a smell you could chew, lightly seasoned with coradite and the stinging horseradish of mustard gas.

I do not recognize this conflict.

Pinkie watched some shadows scurry passed, probably away from another Lieutenant trying to muster up another costly and futile charge "You wouldn't, this was over five years ago, the uprising of the Griffin republic. A couple of Griffin cartels decided they wanted to be a country, so they rounded up an army and rather than go to the hassle of rebuilding their own country, decided to cease some of ours. They annexed Prance, as a protectorate of Equis we had to step in".

Another shadow dashed passed but this time there was a hollow 'pock' noise of a bullet breaching skull, the figure's run devolved into a flail as he slammed into the trench side with a wet splat that became a protracted squelch as they slid across the slick turd brown mud and sank into the ankle deep sewage. Pinkie slunk out of her hole and rolled them over, another young boy just barely eighteen years.

This is decidedly more familiar, I used to grieve over watching so much potential slide into the mud, but really how much worth can they have when the mayflies throw themselves into the flame time and again for naught but greed for the light?

"Hey…" whispered Pinkamina to the corpse "...you needed this deployment like a hole in the head", she gently closed his eyes and pulled him to the side sitting against the dirt wall.
Jokes?
"Always"
Oh really.

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant Pie!" A voice cut through the din, Pinkamina spun to see a blood splattered medic crawling through the trench in her direction, her face scrunched up in anger "Fuck you Luna, fuck you for doing this". The medic staggered over collapsing against the wall heaving and panting, he was wounded himself from the leg "It's captain Blinky, she was clipped by a mortar and it isn't looking good, no one knows where Inky is. Marble, Limey and Maud are all on the other side and cut off".

Pinkie walked dreamily away from him as bullets whizzed passed like flies "Don't bother, Inky's dead. She was with Blinky." She strolled through the ruins of the Western line; every rock and discarded can etched into her memory forever on the slow march to the half submerged hovel of the medical centre, the corrugated sheet metal walls standing in sharp relief to the square void of its entrance. A yawning maw of death that grew wider and darker as she approached.

She wasn't afraid, she had walked this path before, passing through the shadows to the circle of lamplight on the further wall. The wooden table had been hastily cleared of its contents that were crunching and cracking underfoot, the lamps brought from around the room to give the desperate surgeons every chance of a miracle, now forming a shrine around the downed captain. The soft pat of blood as it leaked from the shredded flesh through the gaps in the woodwork to the ground, the shallow pants of a dying body clinging to the fading embers of life and the burning of the tears scalding rivers down her face, yes she had been here before.

Pinkamina was a remarkable soldier, there were many inexplicable things she could accomplish, but this was beyond even her power. The only thing keeping her second oldest sister in one piece was the tattered rags of her uniform and the twisted remnants of her spine. Pinkamina approached cupping her sisters head as she stared blankly up at the ceiling with terror and kissed her forehead. "I'd tell a joke, but you might split your sides", there was a twitch and the dying Captain Blairmorite Pie shifted her eyes to meet Pinkamina, who gave a sad smile "If you thought that was good, the next ones a gut buster". Blinkys breathing shook and gurgled out a watery laugh "T...terr..ble" she managed before shaking with a cough that sprayed blood over Pinkamena's hands, Blinky caught her eye again "Th..nks". Pinkamina hushed her sister "It's ok, you can sleep now, I'm here". Blinkys eyes slid shut and she grew still, then came the long rattling exhale as the soul parted ways with the flesh forever.

Pinke forced a smile onto her face "The Griffin's surrendered a few days later and Equis was more prosperous and safe than ever, it was sad you and Inky didn't get to see it but I didn't let that defeat me and kept on keeping on, helping make life a little bit better for everyone". The scene faded away into featureless dark and Pinkie could feel the presence of the nightmare queen all around.

What's the point of this relentless positivity? You have seen with your own eyes the evil and barbarism that lays under the surface, ready to break free at the slightest provocation. You more than anyone have seen the true face of the world in all its merciless cruelty, what use is levity in the face of that?

Pinkie scanned around trying to find her Inquisitor, she clasped her hands earnestly "a laugh can be a very powerful thing, why, sometimes in life it's the only weapon we have! Laughter carried me through a war and the death of two of my siblings. It helped us find the will to rebuild and not give up, hell if the cartels hadn't taken themselves so damn seriously there wouldn't of been a war at all!" No recipient in sight Pinkie proceeded to hug herself, allowing the warmth and joy of life to fill her like Ice Cream in a Sundae glass.

"You know Lu lu, You sound like someone who's desperate for a laugh; Granny Pie said the night could seem scary because it hides things, but the stars shine down to let us know that there's all sorts of fun hidden about if we are brave enough to find it…" Pinkie leaned on the abyss as if she was at a bar and buffed her nails on her uniform "...not to brag but I know the hottest nightclubs where people party all night long, let's skip out on this and have some fun?"

Silence, worse than that, empty silence. Pinkie stood up and started wandering off in a seemingly random direction twirling her rifle "Well fine, I'ma head out then. But you're missing ooouuuttt…" she teased as she vanished into the distance.

[centre]***[/centre]

A loud metallic slam shook Applejack out of her stupor, instinctively she tried to leap to her feet but binds around her wrist and ankles jerked her back into sitting. She was in some sort of rough wood chair, hard backed and deliberately uncomfortable. Thick iron restraints bound her to the arms and legs of it and its feet were bolted to the floor. She tried twisting to see if the wood could be snapped but it was young and green, so aside from creaking in protest it showed no signs of giving.

She slumped back down, it was dark but she had walked these rectangular granite paving slabs before; the birch boards above were the floor to the town hall entrance lobby and its mouldering boarded walls had long benches pressed up against them. Ponyville had no prison but this was one of two disused cellars under town hall that was used as holding rooms when needed, usually when someone couldn't hold their drink or had smoked some strange plant from Everfree. Aside from her chair someone had set up a desk before her with some sort of lighting device attached to it.

She sat for a while listening to numerous heavy footfalls stomping back and forth across the lobby as well as the muffed indistinct rumble of conversation. Finally someone marched towards the cellar entrance, there was a clunk and the mage light on the table spring to life frying Applejack's night vision, the newcomer marched to the table and sat down officiously, a shadow lurking behind the light.

"Jacqueline Apple, you, your family and your associates have been found guilty of high treason in special sessions and sentenced to execution at the first convenient opportunity." The voice was clipped and dispassionate but more importantly, wholly unfamiliar to the Ranger. Not surprising, no one in Ponyville would go along with this distasteful display, they at least had the decency to look you in the eye while they killed you "So thats tha’ justice of the nightmare tyrant? No trials or speaken' in your defence, jus' tha' chop?"

"Well, until such time as Celestia retakes the throne, Nightmare Moon is Queen. Order must be maintained and we can't have a bunch of rebels running about destabilising things. However, in that spirit I have been authorised to offer you an alternative to execution..." There was a ruffling of paper and a sheet of a A4 with a long and lengthy amount of text on it slid forward "...if you choose to sign this confession and read it publicly, state that the lives lost at the event last night were caused by crossfire after Twilight Sparkle launched an unprovoked assassination attempt against the rightful ruler. That in conversation at the castle of the two sisters you were convinced of her right to rule and have seen the necessary proofs. That you are excited at the new opportunities a change in leadership offers. Then you and more importantly, your family will be free to return to your duties, so long as you continue to play ball of course".

Applejack leaned back in her chair with a look of distaste on her face, she felt physically revolted by the whole affair "what's 'er problem? can't keep tha' rabble in lahn', ain't got no legitimacy so she wants ta' extort mine?", The figure sighed in bored exasperation "Look Applejack, her madgesty doesn't strictly need you assistance, she could do this by force, however your word carries a lot of weight locally and your assistance would make this a lot easier, don't you care about the lives of your family?"

"Oh sure, I'm suppose ta' trust the word of a shrinkin' coward and a faceless fink she sent ta' dangle the lives of mah' kin oer' a fire to get me sell mah' soul for her promise she'll leave 'em alone…" Applejack spat on the floor "...her word ain't worth two squirts o' piss, ahm' offended that she thinks I'd sell mah' honour so cheap". The administrator sighed again and reshuffled her papers, she raised a hand bell and rang it prompting some movement above. "Now we have to do things the hard way, how disappointing".

She could hear approaching struggle, her blood ran cold as the breaking voice of a young teenager protesting and struggling against her escorts was dragged towards the cellar entrance. Applejack glared into the light at the shape of the person behind it "the deepest pit o' Tartarus is reserved for slime like you". The Guard dressed in Cobalt armour hauled in Applebloom, his helmet was fashioned after a bat and covered his face leaving holes for two crimson eyes, the whole army hid their faces in shame it seemed, Applebloom had been stripped down to her cotton and was badly beaten with one eye swollen shut.

The teen looked up at her sister in the chair "AJ?" With a barely perceptible nod the administrator signalled the Guard who stuck his gladius into Applebloom's side, the youngest apple gave a screech of pain that settled into suffering wail as the Guard worked the tip of his blade around in the wound. Applejack strained against her restraints, stress forcing out sweat in rivers as instinct drove her to save her sister. Applebloom started begging and crying from the pain. Applejack was hysterical screaming out the sequence of events as best she remember them "Tha' Nightmare attacked unprovoked! Er' dogs killed those people! For gods sake, leave'r alone!"

With a wave from the administrator her Guard drew out the sword to leave Applebloom to bleed out in a sobbing mess on the floor, the shapeless shadow in the light leaned back "You want this to end Applejack, sign and speak. Otherwise the next strike will be a killing blow and we'll fetch your brother". Applejack openly wept into her lap "Whuts', tha' point, if I sell mah' integrity ta' you to save 'er life, whut kinda o' world she gonna inherent, a word without truth?" The shadow swayed to the side chuckling airily to herself, she lounged in her chair "Oh silly, old-fashioned Applejack; we're beyond such childish notions as truth, we've moved onto larger ideals like order, progress and happiness…"
"Ya' can't have larger ideals if tha' smaller ones get compromised, it's like buildin' a house without a foundation. Without a touchstone that everyone works from all ya' have is conflictin' opinions, it'll be chaos not order. If you ain't dealing with whut' the problem is you can't fix it, so no progress. An' happiness without truth? That's called be'in delusional, jus' cause you ignore the truth don't make it go away, all it takes is one crack in the gossima web o' bullshit for it all to come crashin' down with nothing to hold it up. Whut kinda life is that for anyone?"

The administrator leaned as far forward as she could "You do understand this is your last chance, your very last chance?" Applejack remained stoically silent glaring at the floor, with a nod the Guard drew back his sword "Ahpple JaAaa…" there was as thump and some watery wheezing before the final rattling exhale. The voice of the Administrator piped back up "Was it worth it? The life of your sister for your precious principals?"

Applejack was sobbing under her ratty hair and thumping the armrests, she croaked out "Alone in tha'...huh...tha' dark...sniff… it's tha' only thing of value" she whipped her hair back and from red rimmed and tear stained eye that shone like the fires of hell she peered straight through the darkness causing the Administrator to jerk back "You tell that bitch that she can tear up all o' Equis, but she'll never have tha' last inch o' me! Never!" She hocked a loogie at the shape in the darkness.

Then you are free.

Dawn burst into the chamber and everything turned to brittle glass, her axe reforming in her hand she swung.

***

The bustle of the midnight traders dispelled the black and empty sleep, clawing Rarity back to her cold, aching body. Her eyes slipped open to reveal the alley wall, shivering she pulled the collection of filthy blankets, cardboard and foil closer. The former fashionista smiled: another night bested.

Nightmare Moon had captured her sister and removed her from her prosthesis so they could study it, her mind stored in perpetual sleep, so long as Rarity behaved of course. Her magic blocked, the former fashionista was to stay in this alley without possessions and publicly debase herself for her daily sustenance, wringing what charity she could from the stone hearts of the citizens of Canterlot. The night whore assumed she would be dead within a month and the beautiful mind of her sister could be dumped without her breaking her word but filthy, weathered, scarred and rail thin Rarity the revenant endured, sustained by familial love and the knowledgeable that each day was a further fly in the ointment for her majesty's displeasure.

She rested a moment mustering the energy to move; haveing stared at the adjacent brick wall of the bakery each dusk every detail had been committed to memory; every pock and dent of it's russet bricks, the scuffs and frozen drips of the slap dash red creosote, even the stains and scum marks near the floor. Often she had watched the mage light that streamed in from the furrowfair cast shadows across its imperfections allowing her mind to wander and imagine shapes or scenes in the contrast. Although this wall had been chosen merely to taunt her with the stench of unobtainable food it had probably taught her more about free expression than 4 years in college.

Shrugging off her esoteric musings Rarity began disentangling her begging rags from her sleeping rags, scraps of food wouldn’t wheedle themselves and she hadn’t scored any leftovers in three days since that woman was about to throw away some unwanted chips. Pushing up off the soiled marble slabs of the alley, Rarity staggered the three steps to the mouth as slumped back down casting her eyes about the busy street, most beggars stared into their laps with shame but she had found a spiritual beauty in her begging.

“Citizens of Canterlot, as you go about your daily lives, you that have so much, spare a thought for those who do not. I am not too proud to take the leftovers of the meal you do not want before you waste precious food and save you the trouble of disposing of it, thank you for your consideration”, a couple of furtive side glances for the spectacle but no food, oh well the day is young.

The hours smeared passed as Rarity plied her trade, she was a tad more aggressive as she was undernourished to a degree that any further starvation could mean the end for her, but it seemed word had got around that she was no common beggar and as people were wary of the Nightmare Queen's displeasure they were actively avoiding her. She had almost given up hope when a cartage came barreling past racing the dawn, not a good move on this battered street. The carriage hit an uneven slab in front of her alley jostling the cargo and causing a large red disk to fly out of a side window, hurtling past Rarity's bemused face and smashing into a pile of bins.

"I say!..." ventured Rarity to the rapidly vanishing stagecoach "...oh well, their carelessness is a gift from the universe", struggling her drained form to a stand she shuffled over to the dented cans and strewn sacks, tidying them away she moved the final sack to reveal a treasure beyond gold, a huge wheel of cheese larger than her head, her mouth immediately watered at the prospect of weeks or months of food. She gave an unlady-like cackle, swiftly disappearing into the alley to stash her prize, kissing the rind and praising Celestia.

Hidden under her sleeping rags she tore off a handful and gleefully nibbled it away, her insides unclenching at the prospect of food, with it safely hidden she resumed her post not to arouse suspicion and went about haranguing for left overs with an energy she had not felt in weeks. Fortune was smiling on her today because she even managed to retrieve a quarter of a salad baguette that someone tried to throw away, so she had even bagged some vitamins, she lounged against the alley wall smiling content that she would be around to inconvenience the Nightmare for a long damn time to come. A stray thought forced a chuckle from her, for all her jewels and finery she had never felt richer than for owning a wheel of cheese.

The former fashionista was just rising to movie back into the alley to settle in for the night when she heard a scuffle and raised voices;
"Get out!"
"..but father, what will I do? Where will I go?"
"You should've thought of that before you disgraced yourself!"
"...I didn't mean…"
"Your whoring will not taint our good name!" there was a violent door slam,
"I'm not a whore you selfish old bastard!...I'm not…"

There was a plaintive sob that settled into distressed sniffles, Rarity peered across the way and saw the silhouette of a young girl, clutching a slightly distended stomach with her head bowed. Rarity took a step forward but it was halted by a whisper in her mind, are you insane? She's clearly pregnant, you are really going to share your only food with two more mouths? Rarity ran a hand over her filthy brow, was this really all it took to break her spirit, a little starvation and destitution? As soon as giving became a sacrifice instead of an indulgence her morals shrivelled and she embodied the very vice she had spent the past months haranguing others for.

She took another step, Sweetie wouldn't have been imprisoned for nothing.
Don't be a fool! Your stiff neck and martyrdom complex is going to ruin you once again!
She was here to prove a point.
You can't afford to waste supplies on a dizzy bimbo that put herself in this situation!
It is not only great power that can hold evil in check, but that the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.
She wouldn't do the same for you!
The former fashionista strode out of her alley, her brain howling at her to stop, the girl too lost in her sobbing did not notice the staggering revenant approaching her.

"Come now darling, whatever it is, it can't be that bad…" with a start the girl looked up through watery eyes and started back, "...Yes I know, I am not the best put together these days, but the only ghoul to fear is that obsidian sow on the throne" Rarity weakly shook a bony thin fist at the moon. "What...sniff...what do you want?" The girl murmured as she clutched her stomach protectively, there was a brief pause while Rarity cleared her mind of the voices giving a thousand reasons to leave before her face split into a battered smile "To help you; I have and you don't so I am obligated to do what I can for you, otherwise what the hell was any of it for anyway".

Without waiting for an answer the former fashionista turned and hobbled back to her alley, pausing to gesticulate at the girl who bemused and uncertain, slowly followed her waiting at the entrance, there was some shuffling and tearing of cloth before Rarity returned holding a handful of something wrapped up; she stuck it out in front of her "Here you are…" the girl looked at the package, then back at the door she had come from and finally gently took it "What is it?"
"Cheese Darling…" Rarity gave a little giggle "...enough cheese to get you the Ponyville, if you speak to the mayor there is an old boutique in town that used to be mine, I doubt anyone would risk opening back up but it's got four walls and running water, if you tell the mayor I sent you she should let you have it".

The girl looked flabbergasted, but suddenly realisation dawned "You're….Your Rarity Belle the rebel...I can't take your food, you look almost dead! You need it far more than me!" Rarity took the girls other hand and closed it on top of the cheese "One handful of cheese isn't going to make or break my situation right now, but a little kindness is going to radically alter the life of the child you carry, Beside I've been feeling a bit of a failure sitting here all day and no one is useless in this world that lightens the burdens of another so it's good to be pitching in again".

A range of emotions played across the girls face before tearful acceptance dawned "I...I don't know how I can repay you"
"Don't repay me silly girl, you really must pay attention; Pay it forward! Pitch in where you can, not for ourselves alone are we born dear. I live so long as my flesh sustains me unless my dreams are carried forward, so take my charity and pass it on. Now go, you have a long walk, best start while you still have the strength!"

She shooed the girl off towards the Western gate who kept trying to stop and have a conversation. Rarity would have none of it, eventually she passed out of sight and the former fashionista slumped exhausted against the wall, her resolve crumbled and the voice came back, Now you will starve and your sister will die soon after. Rarity blew a filthy strand of hair out of her face "Maybe, but we aren't going anywhere fast and that child has a real chance of being someone great…" Rarity turned to face a false dawn from the back of the alley, striding into the light "...for all her money and power the nightmare can't bring joy to one person but I can with a hunk of cheese, that's fucking styling darling".