A Long Way From Equestria: Going Beyond Our Duty

by Fluttersyke

Chapter 2: Revelations

A Long Way From Equestria

Book 1: Going Beyond Our Duty

Chapter 2: Revelations

Harmony

Loyalty.

Throughout my life, I have held firm to a single philosophy. The belief that Loyalty should be earned by ponies, from ponies. The Empire had earned my Loyalty when it gave me a purpose in life. Even if I didn’t particularly like that purpose; it was better than nothing. I swore my allegiance to the Empress, I still believe that it is my Duty to stay true to my country.

I went through my training in Gamma Squad believing that even if I didn’t always see eye to eye with the Empire’s actions, the country was still worth fighting for, after all, the enemies out there, across the Border, were savage, deranged, and most importantly, evil.

But so far, I had yet to meet any enemies which fit that description.

I was slipping in and out of a hazy state of consciousness, I couldn’t seem to feel any part of my body. It was as if I was simply suspended in a giant vat of nothingness. My mind was a hurricane of thoughts and emotions, spinning out of control as I tried to cope with the dull, neverending ache that pervaded every single part of my being.

I remembered bits and pieces of the events that had led me to this state: the unicorns’ arrival, our trip through the sky, the crash, the march through Everfree...

But I couldn’t quite make sense of my demise. I had been trying to protect the ponies on the flying machine, about to shoot a buffalo soldier in the road... when a pegasus had slammed into me.

Was that even possible? No pony lived outside the Empire, the Empress made sure to hunt and kill any who dared to oppose it. To rebel, to run, was just another way of throwing yourself off a cliff. There was no hope in surviving on your own, and no chance of escaping the hunters even if you could.

How then, could a pegasus pony be on the buffalo’s side? And for that matter, why did the buffalo not rip her limb from limb, isn’t that what savages are supposed to do?

Loyalty to the Empire was not a choice for most ponies, or at least, they had no choice but to be loyal. I had a reason for my Loyalty, it gave me peace of mind to believe in what I was doing, but in reality, there wasn’t much choice; ponies either stayed true to their nation, or they were obliterated.

That’s what we were taught from the very beginning, that’s what should have been true unconditionally. But the mare was a direct challenge to that fact, she was a pony who went against everything I knew about the world outside the Empire.

She was an enigma, she made me question everything I knew about Loyalty, everything I had been told about the world beyond the Celestial Empire’s Border. How could she survive in the world as I knew it? Could it all be a lie?

I was starting to drift off, sinking back into the folds of true unconsciousness. If everything I knew really was a lie... maybe some ponies could find a happily ever after out there, free of the fear and war that made up life in the Empire, maybe we didn’t have to spend our lives fighting.

But I knew in my heart that I was not one of those ponies. I couldn’t leave my home, the Celestial Empire is where I belong.

***

I kept phasing in and out of reality, I had no idea how much time passed since... since what? I tried to remember the events that had led up to my current state. I remembered the pegasus of course, the buffalo... and the missile.

I remembered falling to the ground, unable to move as the red glare shot towards me. Why had I stayed there? I couldn’t remember, all I knew was I had watched, utterly helpless, as my death drew near.

And then I had come back into consciousness in this dark, senseless void with no connection to the physical world.

I knew the missile had hit me, had exploded right in my face... no pony could survive that, least of all an earth pony like me.

So... this was death.

I didn’t even try to wrap my head around that thought, could I be dead and still be feeling a major headache? I had no idea, theoretically, I should be either completely gone from existence, or, depending on what I felt like believing, with the Goddess in the Sun. Trapped in this horribly aware state of mind was definitely not what I wanted to experience for the rest of eternity, I had far better things to do than be driven insane because I was conscious.

Okay come on... something’s gotta happen now... anything at all.

I was left in silence and darkness. There was nothing. Only my thoughts, and my pain. The complete lack of anything interesting, coupled with the throbbing agony that threatened to send me back into a senseless slumber, brought me to a really simple conclusion...

Death sucks.

***

After what seemed like decades of nothing, I suddenly felt myself drifting... upwards, rising through the darkness of my mind and coming back to myself.

I surfaced in a dark state of semi-consciousness. I hadn’t come back to reality randomly, something had triggered my revival... I could hear voices.

“...You can’t keep this up Crystal. They’re a waste of time and supplies. Besides, it’s not like they’re going to do anything more than try to kill you the moment they wake up.”

“Shut it Doon, I’m working. You know damned well I’m going to do everything I can for them, I’d be dead if it weren’t for this one.”

“Tell it to someone who gives a shit. So she yelled at you, she’s still Empire, they don’t change, no matter how different they seem. She would have killed me if you hadn’t-.”

“I was Empire, Doon. And you don’t see me slaughtering your people. She may be from the north, but she’s different. I just know it, I don’t think she would have killed y-”

The voices cut off abruptly. The pain of trying to hear what was being said was almost too much to bear. My whole body ached, a burning agony present in nearly every part of my physical being, trying to stay conscious through it all was excruciating. I must have moaned out loud from the rush of sensation, alerting the two speakers of their listener and cutting off the conversation.

The talking was what had awoken me from my eternal slumber, the words such a change from the silence my existence had become that they had pulled me stumbling back into my beaten and battered body before I had a chance to fully realize what was happening, and from the feel of it, my physical form definitely wasn’t ready to be inhabited yet.

There was a gasp and a flutter of wings, “She’s awake! Get the hell out of my shed Doon, I don’t have time to argue with you anymore, the answer is still NO.”

“Oh for the love of... just don’t get too disappointed when you wind up with a knife in your back.”

There was a heavy stomping of hooves as the gruff voice drifted away, then the opening and bucking shut of a door.

I heard four hooves alight on the ground near me, and the flapping of wings ceased.

“Here, drink a little of this, it should ease your pain.” Said a soft, kind voice near me. I felt a bowl of some sort pressed against my lips.

I opened my mouth reflexively and swallowed, the liquid sludge tasted awful, but I did feel a little bit of the edge taken off of my headache.

Cautiously, I opened my eyes. The dim light of the outside world stabbed like daggers into my skull, momentarily blinding me and sending me reeling back almost to the point of blacking out again. But I tried once more, peeking out, and adjusted slowly to the gloom, eventually able to make out my surroundings.

I was in a medium sized room, with walls built out a mixture of wood and metal as if they had been cobbled together from the remnants of other construction projects. The ceiling was the only uniform part of the structure, it was peaked in the middle and made out of rippled sheets of aluminum, it seemed high for the size of the building, like the space was meant to be inhabited by extremely tall ponies... or flying pegasi. The dirt floor was home to several rows of cots, spaced evenly and organized to make use of as much of the room as possible. I was lying on a bed near the wall, strapped down to it tightly, but not painfully. In fact, it was a heck of a lot better than my pile of hay back in Ponyville.

My gaze came to rest on the pony before me. She was standing to the right of my bed, a wooden bowl half full of greenish... stuff, was set on the cot beside her. Her tail was a deep, ocean hue of blue with a streak of lighter turquoise down it. Her mane matched the darker hue of her tail, cascading down her neck and kept in check by a cyan headband. Her icy turquoise coat and feathered wings were almost uniform in color... except for a small splotch on her flank.

A hollow maroon circle was colored into her blue fur... naturally, with a ‘Y’ shape drawn in the middle, trisecting the circle and forming an ancient symbol for peace. Overlayed on top of that was a light pink heart, taken together, the marking seemed to fit her concerned smile as she met my eyes, as if she really was as peaceful and loving as her flank suggested.

A Cutie Mark... I had never before seen one in real life. I had joked about them with Harlen of course, but truth be told, I hadn’t even been sure ponies could get them anymore. It definitely wasn’t a common occurrence in the Celestial Empire.
I managed to wrench my gaze away from the Mark, meeting her bemused gaze eye to eye, she was smirking at me, and raising an eyebrow.

“I bring you back to consciousness, and all you can do is stare at my flank?” She asked.

“I- what!? No! I don’t- I was looking at your cutie mark!” I sputtered, trying to grasp the tendrils of thought that seemed to be slipping my grasp, making it really hard to explain myself.

She lost the sarcastic expression, but still had an amused gleam in her eyes, “My cutie mark? I guess that’s kind of interesting, just make sure you keep your eyes up here from now on, alright?”

I nodded hurriedly very eager to change the subject, “I didn’t mean to stare... I’m still a little out of it.”

“Well gee, I wonder why? It’s not everyday somepony warns you to get out of the way of a magisile, and then takes a nap as the thing blows up in her face.” The icy blue mare said, arching her eyebrow again.

“I... I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t move.” I said, still fighting the block in my memory, it was incredibly annoying. I had no idea why I had been paralyzed, why I hadn’t at least leapt behind the tree with Firelight... Wait... Firelight! Had he survived the explosion? Had my efforts to save him been worth it?

“There was a unicorn near me, did you bring him here too?” I asked urgently, cutting off whatever the pegasus had been about to say.

She blinked, giving me a curious glance before saying, “Well, yes. Two of them, actually. But I’m guessing you want the one that you tackled off the road?”

“I-well... I just want to know, is he okay?” I stammered, not entirely sure why the fiery maned stallion seemed so important. It wasn’t like he would care about me, or even recognize me.

“He’s... alive.” She said carefully, “But he’s in a coma.”

“A coma? Did he get thrown by the... magisile?” I asked, using her term for the projectile.

She looked me in the eyes again, dead serious.

“No. He nearly killed himself, shielding you from the blast. You still took a good amount of damage, but the only reason you’re more than a pile of ash is because of his magic.”

I gasped, Firelight had shielded me? Why? And how? He had to have been exhausted from the combined efforts of keeping the Honesty aloft and then fighting off the buffalo. To try and save me after all that... was not something ponies normally did for one another.

It definitely wasn’t what I would have expected from a unicorn, even one as strange as Firelight.

“He... saved me?” I asked, trying to sort out my feelings. “Will he survive?”

“At this point, I don’t know. He’ll either pull through, or he’ll die. I don’t know how to treat unicorns for being magically drained to such a degree, the only thing I can do is treat his physical injuries and hope for the best.” She replied, ruffling her wings and avoiding my eyes. I got the feeling that she hated being unable to help.

“Well, where is he?” I asked, looking around the room for the tell tale fiery mane.

“I have him in a separate room. I’m hoping some rest will be enough to get his strength back, but it’s been three days and he hasn’t stirred.” She said, turning back to me.

I thought about that. There really wasn’t anything I could do for Firelight, I had no magic and no skill with medicine, this pegasus was most likely a far better caretaker, I’d just get in the way.

“I guess you know more than I do... but thanks. For getting us out of the Forest I mean. What’s your name?” I said at last, deciding this mare was worth getting to know.

“You’re welcome, my name’s Crystal Heartwing, resident medical specialist here in Vigil. Can I ask who you are?” She replied, raising an eyebrow.

“My name is Harmony, It’s nice to meet you Crystal... What about a vigil now?” I asked, thrown off by her comment..

“Harmony? That’s an interesting name. As for your question, you’re in the buffalo town of Vigil, close to the Everfree Forest.

“Wow, that sounds... nice.” I said, uncertain how to respond since I hadn’t even known the buffalo built towns...

“Yeah, it’s a nice place. You know you definitely different from most of the ponies back across the Border.”

I frowned at her, “What do you mean? I’m no pony special, and an earth pony anyway. What I seem like doesn’t matter, I’m nothing.”

“What does your race matter? You’re as important as everypony else, earth ponies are just as unique as pegasi and unicorns.” Crystal said, with absolute conviction.

I just looked at her, she was probably trying to cheer me up... which was both comforting and extremely odd, why did she care? I decided the best thing to do was change the topic.

“Right. So you were born out here... with the buffalo?” I asked skeptically, okay, so maybe I was judging... a bit. But still, how could a pony live out here away from the Empire?

She raised an eyebrow, “Uh no, sorry. I was born in the Celestial Empire. Same as you.”

“What? How could you have been born in the Empire? You’re... a rebel!” I said, confused. I had just assumed she had been born outside my home... if you ran away from the Empire, you were supposed to be hunted down until you died from the chase, got killed, or taken captive once again, and then killed. There was no ‘happily ever after’ option with the buffalo. Or even ‘live somewhat peacefully with the buffalo’, you had three choices and three choices only. To do anything else was... impossible. I got the feeling my mind had been running down these paths in endless circles while I was unconscious... And they still didn’t make any sense.

Crystal gave me an annoyed look, I felt I had just lost some serious points with this mare. “Rebel? Let’s figure out who saved who’s butt here, shall we Harmony? As for your ‘question’, the story behind my leaving the Empire is pretty long, I don’t think you would really enjoy hearing it, and I’m not one to torture my patients with my life story.”

I looked her sheepishly in the eye, “I... I’m sorry, I didn’t mean ‘rebel’ in a bad way. I’ve just never heard of ponies actually escaping the Empire before. I’d like to hear your story, really!”

She looked curiously at me, and I’d like to think I gained back some of those points I’d lost. The mare took a deep breath and then said, “Well, that’s new. If you’re serious... then let me start by giving you some background on pegasi life up North.”

She settled in, climbing atop one of the cots next to me and getting comfortable, she was apparently quite serious about the ‘long story’ part.

“Like I said, I grew up in the Empire, Cumulus Station to be specific, that’s one of the four pegasi cities still functioning. I lived with my parents, and unlike most families, the three of us really cared for one another. My mom and dad wanted only the best for me, and they wanted to keep our family together, which is something the Empire doesn’t really promote. They always made time for each other though, and for me, despite their busy days keeping Cumulus up and running as the Station’s senior engineers.”

I was amazed that families like that still existed in the Empire, I had never even known my parents. I don’t even know if that was because they were dead, or because they had simply left me in the Encampment to get rid of me. All the recruits in the Military were taken away from their parents at some point, and fillies dropped off straight after birth were actually better received than ten year olds, we seemed to grow up better never knowing anything but life in under the strict hoof of a superior. Getting away from our families permanently helped us focus on our training, and truthfully, most ponies were fine with that. Our Duty did not encourage family bonding... usually.

The mare continued, “I don’t know how much you’ve been told about pegasi life, but we only have a few jobs we can get into, the biggest one is, of course, our military branch: the Swarm. The others are much less popular, much less dangerous and, much less important. The one I wanted to join was the Celestial Couriers. The couriers get reports and messages around the Empire quickly and reliably, without the problems that come with complicated and interceptable magical messages. They get to travel all around the Empire and really see the world, plus they usually stay out of the fighting.” She said, meeting my eyes to see if I was still paying attention.

I was. I didn’t know much about the pegasi. They were almost never in direct contact with the Battalion, if we fought together, it was through our unicorn commanders, not teamwork. As far as I knew, the Swarm didn’t even have control of itself, they were controlled and deployed remotely by unicorn overseers, and from what I heard, that was literal: they had no free will when in battle. I would think that was something they told earth ponies to make us feel better about how much the Battalion life sucked by showing how much worse the pegasi’s life was, but our feelings weren’t normally something the Empire would care about...

I nodded at Crystal, and she continued her narrative, “Anyway, my parents hoped that I would get a job as a courier. That way I could come back occasionally to visit them in Cumulus. They hoped I would be chosen for anything other than the Swarm really, getting to see them would be nice, but it was my happiness that they were really concerned with, and the Swarm just... takes that away from a pony.”

So, it seemed there was some truth to that story after all. I must have made some outward sign of interest at that, because Crystal paused and glanced at me. I cleared my throat, “Um... I’ve heard about that, does the Swarm really mess with your minds?”

“You could say that. I was never unfortunate enough to experience it first hoof, but my parents told me once... Basically, the Swarm takes something out of you, something that no pony can give back. It-It’s a lot more complicated than that, but suffice it to say, if you join the Swarm in full, you’ll never leave.” Crystal said, extremely unconvincingly. I was willing to bet she knew a lot more than that.

But I nodded all the same, looking her in the eye. She seemed to realize I wasn’t buying her story, and was preparing for my next question with a certain amount of dread. I didn’t think I needed to press the issue, so I said simply, “So, I’m guessing you didn’t make it into the Couriers.”

She shot a look at me, meeting my gaze for a fraction of second before looking away again. The pegasus seemed taken aback, but also relieved. I was pretty sure I’d just earned back some more points in my favor, too bad we weren’t keeping score.

She ruffled her wings again and smiled at me uncertainly, “Ah.. right, I didn’t. When my tenth birthday rolled around, I was all ready to take the flying tests and accept my recruitment into the Celestial Couriers. I got great marks, I had the speed and skill that would make me an excellent delivery pony... but they put me in the Swarm anyway. Something about a lack of new recruits recently.” She sighed, as if preparing for what came next.

“My parents were shocked, they couldn’t believe they were going to lose their only daughter after all they’d done to make sure I stayed out of the army. They were in tears when the news came, I was just confused, back then I didn’t really understand what had happened. All I knew was that I had done well, but still disappointed my parents... It was only when they woke me up that night and told me to pack my saddlebags did I slowly realize it wasn’t me they were upset with, it was the Empire itself.”

Crystal had a lost look on her face, as if she was remembering the sadness and confusion of that day.

“We snuck out of our apartment column, going out the back and quietly trotting through the alleyways until we reached the edge of the mass of clouds that made up Cumulus Station, my parents told me to keep going no matter what, they said it would all be better once we reached the trees. They told me that once we got there we could finally live happily ever after, together.”

My pegasus companion closed her eyes, her voice lowering to a whisper.

“I believed them, they had never lied to me before, I wanted with all my heart for this to be over, for everything to go back to the way it had been before my Recruitment Day. So, when they forced me to go first, making me jump off the edge of the station alone and taking off a few seconds after me, I was confused and more than a little scared. I managed to get my wings under control and started flying south, but I kept looking behind me, to make sure my family was there. Everything went well... until we cleared the outer wisps of the thunderhead that made up the Station. As soon as we hit the open air, I felt a terrible headache, like my mind was being assaulted by some invisible force in the night. I heard my parents cry out too, I turned around, trying to see if they were still flying well enough...and then all hell broke loose.”

Crystal shuddered, closing her eyes against the dark scenes playing out in her mind. I had to admit, this did not sound like it was going to end well.

“The clouds behind my parents suddenly exploded apart, nine dark shadows, vaguely formed like black coated alicorns with fiery red eyes, shot out of them, trailing up and then curving back down to home in on us. I was only a filly, I didn’t know what was going on... I saw the shadows and tried to cry out to my family, but my Dad just yelled at me... he shouted to keep going, and never look back.”

“I kept on flying, but when I heard my mom scream out, I had to look back, three of the shadowy bastards had flown... straight into her, she was suspended in the air in a floating orb of darkness, crying out for my father to help her, and then she just... vanished. Gone.”

Crystal gave a small sob at that, but cut it short and sniffed, clearly trying to hold herself together.

“I-I couldn’t believe my eyes... but then I saw my dad, he was already trying to evade another set of shadows, he caught my eyes with a hard look. Just as forcefully telling me in that stare as if he had been yelling, ‘Keep going, don’t turn around, don’t stop, just keep going’. I wanted to turn around... I should have turned around, gone back be with them... But I didn’t, I did as my dad asked, I kept flying, as fast as my wings could carry me, even as I... even as I heard my father scream... and then the silence... the terrible silence broken only by the hiss of the three shadows as they came after me...”

Crystal was visibly crying now, but she still controlled her heart ache with a superpony effort, I got the feeling she had been bottling this up for a long, long time. Strange, that it took a pony from the very place she had lost her family escaping from to get her to open up.

“I-I never even looked back for him... I never looked to see if he had been hurt or needed my help! I didn’t need to turn back to hear the shadows following me, they cut through the air like ShadowBolts, plowing through the sky towards me way faster than I could go by myself... But I was almost at the treeline, I was so close to my happily ever after.”

“I did the only thing I could think of, I closed my wings and dove straight towards the Forest. My extra speed from the dive, plus the few seconds it had taken them to catch up to me as the others consumed my family and ruined my life forever, had widened the gap between me and those things just enough to let me fly into the Forest a split second ahead of their grasp. Of course, I hit a tree branch on the way down and almost knocked myself out landing in the underbrush, my wing hurt so much I was afraid I may have broken it.”

Crystal stopped talking for a few seconds, shuddered from the memory, she had slowly been regaining her composure after sharing the loss of her parents. She looked around the room for a minute or two, taking in her patients... and getting her mind off that terrible night probably. Then she looked back at me, an uncertain, just barely visible smile turning up the corners of her mouth.

“Sorry. I just needed a moment. I’ve... never really told anypony all this before.”

I grinned kindly at her, “You need to get this off your shoulders, Crystal, it’s not your fault your parents died. I guess... I guess it’s the Empire’s. No pony should have to witness the death of their family, that’s not how justice is supposed to work.” I was thinking out my response carefully, because I’d never really thought like this before, it was a whole new concept for the Empire to be anything but right. And the things I was hearing... they didn’t sound like the actions of a country fighting to make the world a better place.

Those really only had one conclusion, “The Empire is the problem Crystal, not you. It’ their fault your family died, and while I’m not an emotional expert, I think it would be good for you to tell me the rest of your story, you saved my life, the least I can do is listen.”

Crystal nodded and shut her eyes against the exhaustion of the night she was reliving, “Yeah... I guess you’re right. I’ve tried not to think about any of this for so long, but it’s been hard... so hard. Thanks for listening... it’s nice, having somepony who isn’t dug into a hole of tradition around here.”

She sighed, but opened her eyes once more, a newfound determination gleaming in them, then said with a wink, “Well, I’d better finish the rest of my tale, I’d hate to leave you on a cliffhanger.”

The story resumed once more, “I scrambled to my hooves after hitting the ground, knowing I would find the evil, red eyed, shadowy alicorns that had destroyed my family right behind me... But when I turned back, the three monsters were floating just outside the trees, as if they couldn’t set hoof in Everfree at all.”

“My wing hurt like hell, but I was able to close it enough to keep it from breaking more, I took a step back, but the shadowy bastards just watched me. They didn’t move, didn’t say a word, but I felt... something, getting closer, like a huge storm was brewing up North, and it was heading straight for me. The three shadow ponies stared at me silently, they were the creepiest things I’d ever laid eyes upon. I was only a filly, but I knew that I didn’t want to stay in their sight, and that I wanted to get as far away from whatever was coming as I could... so I turned tail and ran. I didn’t look back, not once, I put all the energy I had left into running for my life, deeper into the Everfree Forest.”

The door on the wall to my left slammed inward, cutting off Crystal in mid memory. The pegasus looked up sharply, watching the door.

“Well? Are any of these pieces of filth awake yet!?” Came a gruff, angry shout from the doorway.

This lovely greeting was followed by the entrance of the biggest buffalo I had ever seen.

Seriously, this guy had to squeeze in through the opening that Crystal and I could fit through side by side. He had dark brown fur on his shoulders and tan hide covering the rest of his body, his horns were as big around as my hoof, yet short and to the point. He looked around at the cots lining the room and sneered, then his eyes came to rest on me and his expression grew even darker.

"Finally, your little martyr is up, Heartwing. When were you planning on telling me?" The massive creature said, walking towards us, and simply plowing through the rows of carefully arranged cots.

"When she is ready to coherently answer your questions Chief, she just came around and at the moment I doubt she even remembers her name." My pegasus caretaker said, leaping off her cot and positioning herself been the oncoming mountain and myself. I was about to protest my lucidness when I realized Crystal was probably on my side. I got the feeling it would be best to play the silent patient.

The buffalo,their Chieftain I guess, stopped in front her, drawing himself up to his formidable height and looking down at the tiny pony before him.

"You know I am going to need some answers Heartwing. I cannot sit here while the Empire gathers forces just across the Border."

"I am only asking for another day, she should be better by then and, who knows, the unicorns may awaken as well." Crystal said, holding her ground and glaring up at the behemoth before her. Quite an impressive feat.

The buffalo glowered at her, "Your time is up. But I doubt that sack of manure you’re crying to has anything to help us anyway. So fine, we need to make sure everything is secure in Vigil before we leave anyway. You have one day Heartwing, then these ponies better prove they know enough to help their saviors."

Crystal nodded, and watched as the giant turned and made his way back out the door, slamming it shut behind him with a forceful buck, rattling the walls and ceiling. The icy blue pegasus sighed and turned back to me.

"I had hoped he'd give me more time, he's usually pretty reasonable. But he has... issues, with ponies in the Empire. We really need to get your friend conscious, especially if you don't know why your squad was sent here." She said.

I agreed with her, if anypony would be able to tell the buffalo what they needed to know, it was Firelight.

"Can I talk to him? I was able to hear you sometimes when I was out, he’d probably come around sooner if he has a reminder of why he’s in so much pain." I said, the idea was a long shot. And I didn't really think my voice would bring the rebellious stallion back, but I was fairly sure he believed in the things we had discussed aboard the Honesty enough to want to meet this pegasus.

Crystal raised an eyebrow at me and smirked, "Think he likes you that much do you? ...Well, I'm out of ideas, so why not? Just make sure you don't let anyone see you up and free of your bonds, the Chief would have kittens."

She quickly nudged the releases on the straps circling me, the fibrous binds loosened and allowed me to roll off the cot onto my hooves. Unfortunately, my legs weren't quite there yet, they were still trying figure out how this whole 'standing' thing worked.

They did demonstrate the ’collapse on the floor in a graceless heap’ move quite well though. I fell at Crystal's hooves and groaned.

"Take it easy, your injuries are healed, but strength is only going to back with rest. Lean on me and I'll take you to your friend." The mare said kindly.

I managed to get my hooves under me and shakily stood. I was able to traverse the room, leaning heavily on Crystal, and get through a side door that led into a tiny but cozy room. It was filled with a single cot on the far side, a window, which let in the waning afternoon sunlight still piercing the clouds here and there, to the right, and a table full of various bandages and vials on the left. An unlit torch was set in the wall opposite the window. Resting with his back to us on the bed was none other than Firelight Sparkle.

He was breathing rapidly, various cuts and scrapes, bandaged over, covered his hide. No doubt from the explosion he had protected me from. I took in his wounds and condition as I walked into the little chamber with Crystal, the blue pegasus allowed me to get off of her and lean on the table, I sighed and tried to think of what I could possibly do to help the prone form before me.

“He’s been unconscious the whole time since we brought you here. I’m pretty sure he burnt out whatever magic he had left in him protecting you.” My companion said, checking a few of the grey stallion’s bandages.

“Well... crap. He hasn’t woken at all?.” I said, totally lacking ideas at the moment. Crystal shook her head.

We waited there for a few seconds in silence, looking at the unconscious unicorn before us. And then waited some more... each hoping the other would voice an idea to break the silence.

Crystal finally spoke, “Well... uh, I think I’ll just go and tend to the rest of your friends. I’ll close the door, just don’t kill him , or do anything bad okay? I am trusting you to really try and help your savior.”

I smiled, “Oh come on, what could possibly go wrong?”

She rolled her eyes, but turned and walked out the door, gently nudging it closed behind her. I let out a sigh of relief, as much as I appreciated her help, the only thing I could think of doing wasn’t something I wanted to try with other ponies around. Cautiously, I stumbled over to Firelight’s head, steadying myself against the cot he was lying on.

I looked down at the sleeping stallion, I had come in here hoping inspiration would strike me, but as I stared at the pony before me, nothing came to mind. I found myself remembering all that he had said on the Honesty, how he had refused to give up on Spite when the buffalo took her down, even though she had had nothing but scorn for him. Firelight had stood up for his beliefs, no matter how much people tried to bring him down, no matter how foalish his actions seemed to others.

I didn’t think he was the type of pony who would go down without a fight.

I had no idea what I was doing, but I cleared my throat and started talking, anything to keep away the thought of having the very first even remotely friendly unicorn die in front of me,

“Firelight... this is Harmony, I don’t know if you can hear me. But if you’re listening, then know this: Your magic protected me, you saved my life, and while sacrificing yourself is noble and all, you have a heck of a lot more to live for than I do. You’re a unicorn, if anypony can change the Empire for the better, it’s someone like you. Us earth ponies aren’t going to do anything, we can’t stand up for ourselves, not with the way things are now, we’re too broken. But if somepony like you really tried to help us out, I think we’d get behind you... you would be a rallying point for all of us, and a pony who hasn’t grown up thinking he’s worth less than manure.”

I paused, and almost stopped there, but I knew what I needed to tell him now. I gave it one last shot.

“I don’t know if you can really make a difference.”

I didn’t think it would matter, there was no fighting the Empire.

But I wasn’t about to tell him that.

“But what I do know is that if you die now... nothing will change. Ponies will keep living the way they are, blinded by Duty, forever. So make your choice, Lieutenant-in-training, this little filly managed to pull through with your help, I hope you can do the same with hers.”

I backed away from the cot, stumbling a little and waiting for a few breathless seconds, he kept breathing unevenly, nothing changed.

I waited a little longer, but I wasn’t exactly expecting a miracle, Firelight would either wake up in his own time... or- Nope, not going to think about that.

I was turning away, preparing to tell Crystal that I wasn’t able to help him anymore than she could when I heard a sharp intake of breath.

I spun around, Firelight hadn’t moved, but there was a rigid tension in his body now, as if he was in intense pain, and fully aware of it.

I gasped and rushed back to him, adrenaline and hope overriding the weariness in my legs for the moment.

“Firelight! Are you awake!?” I asked, coming up right next to his head

He sucked in a breath again, “This... had better be worth it...” he whispered, before his body went slack again, I noticed that his breathing was much more regular now however, he must have drifted off against the pain and the exhaustion of fighting it.

I turned and trotted as fast as my beleaguered limbs would allow, pushing open the small door and staggering into the main room. Crystal was fluttering over one of the ponies who had been brought here from the ambush, Lil’squeak. The icy blue mare immediately looked up at me, she must have read the urgency and giddiness in my expression, because she zipped across the room to alighted in front of me.

“He’s up, or at least, conscious. You’ll have to wake him again to get him to talk.” I said.

“How did you.. nevermind, we have to get him some medicine!” She said, pushing past me as I attempted to scramble aside.

She galloped into the small space, making a beeline for Firelight’s cot. The pegasus carefully listened to his breathing, then gently placed a hoof on his shoulder and shook him.

He stirred, but stayed silent.

Crystal shook him a little harder, this time the unicorn shuddered and moaned softly.

“I need you to stay with me... I can help take away most of your pain, but I need you conscious, okay?”

The unicorn groaned softly, but didn’t do much else.

Crystal looked back to me once more, “Can you get the buffalo poulstices on the table in the main room?” She asked, I nodded, but then paused as I glanced at the contents of the table already in the room. Sitting among the bandages and mixing bowls was a small vial, it looked simple, but the red liquid inside it caught my attention, it was one of the deepest colors I’d ever seen.

“What about that?” I asked, pointing a hoof at the bottle.

Crystal saw what I was pointing at and frowned a little, “Oh, that. It’s just a little concoction of my own, I don’t know what it’ll do for him, none of the buffalo ever allow me to use my own brews.”

I frowned and went over to the bottle, “Well, it certainly looks potent, why not try it out? As long as you’re sure it won’t hurt him, what harm is there in trying out your own work?”

“Well... I guess it couldn’t really hurt him... Sure, why the hay not, it’s not like I’ll get any other chances to field test it.” She said, eyeing the vial with a calculating gaze.

I picked the vial up in my mouth and brought it over to the bed, setting it down next to Firelight.

Crystal carefully opened it with her teeth and held it up to the unicorn’s mouth. He registered it and allowed the red liquid to seep in. The icy blue mare allowed only a small amount of the potion out before she pulled the bottle way with both hooves and capped it again.

We waited in silence, watching as Firelight shuddered inwardly. Then his horn lit up suddenly in a dull, glowing yellow. A small spark of fire flew off its tip, then a wave of red-tinged-yellow magic flowed across his body. We watched in awe as the various cuts and scrapes covering his back closed up. It was like somepony had just wiped the slate clean, there wasn’t a trace of his wounds left.

Firelight immediately relaxed, the tension and pain leaving him as the potion shot through him, healing and energizing the battered hero.

Crystal and I looked at one another, mouths agape.

“What on earth did you put into that? I’ve never heard of anything that can heal someone that fast!” I exclaimed.

“I-I just put in some things from the buffalo’s pulstices and a few things I knew the Empire used to heal troops!” Crystal said, utterly amazed at the strength of her creation.

“You didn’t add anything else?” I asked, finding it hard to believe that somepony else hadn’t tried a random mix like this yet.

“Well... I guess in that one I put a few things I found in the Everfree Forest...”

Our conversation was cut off by a violent fit of coughing coming from the bed.

“Ack ah blah ha ha! Will someone please tell me who decided to pour shit down my throat!?” Came a hoarse croak from the cot.

Crystal looked at the unicorn with an indignant frown, “That ‘shit’ just healed every scratch on your body, so get over it.”

Firelight coughed again, then rolled over, cracking open his eyes as he took in the small room .

“Didn’t answer my question... “ he trailed off as he took in the two mares before him, his eyes lit up in disbelief as soon as they met mine. “Harmony? You’re... alive?” He asked, in a strange, distant tone.

I blinked, well, I guess somepony did remember me. “Well yeah... thanks to you.”

“Me... yeah right, I’m glad what w- I, did was enough to save you.” He said, I narrowed my eyes at him, he was definitely hiding something, but at that moment I wasn’t in the mood to pry, I was still disoriented from my three days of recovery, and I could only imagine how he felt.

Crystal stepped forward, cutting off our conversation to make sure our new companion wasn’t about to fall over, “You were really out of it, how do you feel? Are you having any trouble focussing or thinking clearly?”

Firelight concentrated on the icy blue mare, “Actually, I feel great, better than I have in a long time... What the heck did you give me? I should be powerless, and probably dead, after what I did.”

“Ah ha... well see, I gave you one of my own potions. So I’m not entirely sure what exactly I gave you, I didn’t keep the best of notes.” Crystal said, embarrassed.

The grey stallion frowned at her, “You’re own potion? How could you mix up something that good, and not even know what it was?”

“Well it’s only because of Harmony here that I even gave it to you! She insisted I try out my experiment on you, I gave up trying to mix my own things a few weeks ago when I finally gave into the fact that no pony would ever use them.” She replied sheepishly.

Firelight gave her a few more seconds of his ‘are you serious’ look, and then decided it wasn’t worth getting upset over, instead, he changed the topic. “Well then... My name is Firelight.” He glanced at me and then sighed and added, “Firelight Sparkle, who are you?”

Crystal blinked at the mention of his full name, “Did you say... Firelight Sparkle? Your parents mistake you for a filly when you were born or something?” She asked, and while I admit I almost burst out laughing right then and there, she actually seemed to be concerned, rather than cruel, like she was sorry he’d been stuck with that name all his life.

Firelight rolled his eyes and sighed again, “Look, I am who I am and I refuse to hide from it. My name is Firelight, okay? The only ponies who call me Sparkle are allowed to only because they can have me killed in the blink of an eye, so I don’t have much choice in the matter. So, now that we’ve thoroughly discussed my name, can I please have yours?”

Crystal gave him an appraising look, “Well Firelight, since you asked so nicely, my name is Crystal Heartwing, I don’t particularly care what you call me, as long as it has a heart, crystal, or wing in it somewhere. Pleased to meet you.”

Firelight extended a hoof, “Well, it’s nice not to be dead, and since it seems like I have your science to thank for that, the pleasure’s mine.”

Crystal bumped his hoof with her own, “Oh I think you can give a fair bit of credit to Harmony, she’s the one that saved your life on the road after all, and I don’t think I could have fixed ‘shot in the face’, or at least, the buffalo wouldn’t have let me.”

Firelight paused, his smile transforming into a look of confusion, “The buffalo? Where? Did we not kill them all already?”

I stepped in before Crystal could reply to that, “Firelight!” I said tersely, “We happen to be captives of the buffalo right now! Crystal lives with them. And they’ve been kind enough to heal us and not tear us limb from limb, so it’d be great if you didn’t say things like that!”

Firelight Sparkle was at a loss for words for a few seconds, the emotions flickering across his face going from disbelief, to anger, to downright terror.

“Captives!? Of the buffalo? The buffalo don’t take captives! They take snacks!” He hissed at me, completely unable to make sense of our situation.

Snacks? Well now that definitely not what I was looking forward to later in life! Would somepony really be cruel enough to heal us, just to kill us at some point in the future? Probably burned alive? My imagination ran wildly with that single sentence, playing terrifying scenarios one after the other in my mind’s eye.

Crystal put her hoof down loud enough to break through my crazy thoughts. “Enough! Buffalo do not eat ponies! Where the buck did you get that from!? How could I live with them if I was on the menu?”

I looked to Firelight, he slowly raised his head to meet her eyes, his face looked close to furious, “Don’t you even know the things you work for!? We had reports of the buffalo burning and pillaging Border towns coming in all the time in the Capitol! There were even tapes of ponies being savagely ripped apart before their families eyes as the buffalo feasted on prisoners! You may think they’re friendly, but as soon as they get hungry and there’s no more prisoners around, you’ll be next!”

Now it was Crystal’s turn to look downright pissed, her face was a dangerous mask of fury, I could all but see fires burning in the pits of her turquoise eyes.

“Shut your goddess damned mouth! You have no idea how kind these people are! They saved my life! The only reason they fight the Empire is because you idiots won’t call off the war that was started a century ago! I’ve lived here for six years, and never have the buffalo had any intention of hurting me! They gave me the last of their supplies during the famine last winter because I’m a hell of a lot more likely to die of cold they are!” She all but screamed in his face.

Firelight blinked, dumbstruck. He looked at me in desperation, but I had no advice to give, I knew nothing about the buffalo other than they were supposed to be my enemy, and they were really easy to hit with my rifle without having to kill them.

After a few more seconds, he spoke, “B-but... I saw the videos, how can you explain that? Maybe... maybe this tribe doesn’t but...” He trailed off as Crystal’s look dropped from anger to despair with each word.

She ruffled her wings, looking out the window at the sunset, which was almost already over now. “You... you really believe what the Empire says, don’t you?”

Firelight looked at her incredulously, “Of course! The Empire may have some problems, but it exists to protect ponies from the dangers of the outside world, like being on the buffalo’s menu!”

Crystal turned to me, “And you Harmony? After what you saw of the Chief, and me, do you think I’m just an idiot, and the buffalo savage beasts?”

I blinked, and then actually thought about the question, had the Chief seemed like he wanted to rip me apart? He’d been an ass to me of course... but I hadn’t caught any real hatred, just general dislike for ponies, and he hadn’t wanted us here in the first place, he only wanted whatever information we could give him. And Crystal struck as me a smart pony, I doubted she would fight so adamantly for something unless she really believed in it.

I cocked my head thoughtfully at her, “Well, no. I don’t think you’re an idiot, from what I’ve seen. you’re way too nice, and way too good with medicine and persuasion for that. As for the Chief, I think he just wants our info, and then he’s done with us, he didn’t seem interested in me at all.”

Crystal gave me a grateful smile, she seemed incredibly relieved that I hadn’t condemned her and those she cared for as lunatic murderers.

We both turned to Firelight now, it was two against one, and that one was clearly having a crisis of faith. “I-I don’t see how that’s possible... everypony knows the buffalo have twisted into deranged flesh eaters back in the Capitol. It’s... it’s a fact, not a debate, I even read up on them once, after the repeated incidents with settler ponies during the war, the buffalo horde took over most of southeast Equestria before the gaps in history even begin. Their descent into madness is one of the few records that survived the Stellar Wars.”

The unicorn blasted this information out at us so quickly I barely even understood it all, but Crystal seemed to follow every word. “You’re saying that the nation that endures in the condition it does only because it makes the ponies within it believe they need to destroy all other races in the world just to survive, the one that keeps earth ponies and pegasi as little more than slaves in order to make certain they fight without complaint, without free will; you’re saying that that nation wouldn’t have any interest in making sure that the only history its underlings saw was the one that proved it worth the sacrifices to keep up? Don’t you think its weird how a pony like me could survive here and stay on the buffalo’s side if more than a speck of your ‘history’ is true?”

Damn, she definitely knew how to make an argument, I’d give her that.

I watched as Firelight thought it through for several minutes, what Crystal was saying... made absolute sense to me, maybe it was because I had never really taken the Empire’s word without a big helping of skepticism. Or maybe it was because Crystal’s arguments made sense no matter how you thought about them.

Firelight slowly raised his head, there was a dark, scared look on his face, his voice came out in a near whisper, “Do you... really think they could get away with that? Rewriting history? I read everything I could get my hooves on when I was young, especially history books, could-could they have really been lies?”

Well well well, our lieutenant in training was also an egghead, who would have thought? I kept the thought to myself though, clearly, he was on very unstable ground right now.

“I can’t say I’m an expert on history, but with what I’ve picked up from the buffalo... history is written by the victors. And the Empire is winning this fight, no other nation can stand against it that I know of, they don’t have the numbers nor the firepower. That means the Empire can pretty much tell you whatever it wants, and because you believe in the Empire, its words become law.” Crystal had calmed down now fully, leaning against the opposite wall of the room from me and watching her two guests with slightly saddened eyes.

Firelight seemed on the verge of a breakdown, he had built his life on the belief that even if the Empire may be bad, it was still trying to do good. Somehow, I found it hard to believe that ‘good’ involved rewriting history so that a logical race of people were branded as flesh eating psychotic animals hell bent on our destruction. For some reason, that struck as me as a slap to the face of ‘good’, and for that matter, ‘sane’, I just couldn’t see a reason for it.

Crystal was watching Firelight carefully, his thoughts were clear on his face, going from disbelief, to fear, to straight out depression, it looked like his heart had been shattered into a thousand pieces, and no pony’d been kind enough to give him some duct tape.

“I understand why you’re trying so hard to believe in your nation, but think about it this way, if the ponies in it believed they might be able to make friends with species who really did want to see ponies extinct, the Empire could have had serious problems.” Crystal said kindly, walking over to the prone unicorn and putting a hoof on his shoulder.

“What are you talking about? The Empire has no reason to do that! No pony should have to be lied to in order for a government to work! The Empress could just give us the facts and the real reasons we fight! I know everypony would still follow her!” Firelight nearly shouted, making Crystal take a step back and setting me on edge.

“Firelight, she’s just giving a reason from the Empire’s perspective, maybe that is the reason they did what they did. I know the Empire means a lot to you, and you want to try and help it, maybe now you have a way to, show the Empress that you’ll still follow her even with the knowledge of the buffalo and she might be willing to listen to you...” If she has an ounce of compassion left in her after all these years of tyranny... I mentally added.

The grey stallion still had that haunted look on his face, and I could see the turmoil in his eyes, but he sucked in a deep breath and put on a crooked smile.

“You know, it’s not very helpful when a pony who is supposed to be a heartless, uncaring mercenary killing everypony in sight is arguing about how I should believe in the institution that wants her dead.” He said drily, which was encouraging, joking was definitely a good sign in term’s of the unicorn’s mental health.

Crystal smiled at him, “Well, it was either this, or leaving you back at the ambush, which would you have preferred?” the pegasus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess I can learn to live with it. But if I survive whatever the buffalo want with me... I’m going to have a few things to say to the Empire...” Firelight said, the uncertainty in his eyes melting away to reveal an unshatterable determination beneath it.

Crystal frowned, “The buffalo will let you go... as soon as they get the information we need from you. They agreed to let me take care of you because of two things, the first, because Harmony saved my life and yours, and second, they expect you to tell them what the buck a squad of earth ponies and four unicorns were doing flying straight towards Buffalo Territory in one of your advanced stealth ship thingys when there isn’t much fighting going on over here. What were you hoping to accomplish?”

Firelight sighed, “Well, that’s not what I was expecting, since I was expecting to be devoured. But I can give them a little inkling of information, I’m not high up in the hierarchy of the Empire so I wasn’t told anything beyond what I needed to know. I know what our goal was, but I have no idea what we were ultimately supposed to accomplish...”

I perked up at this, I’d definitely like to know what this urgent mission had been about, especially since I’m pretty sure that, had Crystal and the Buffalo not interfered, we’d have done some serious harm to them without even thinking about it. I shuddered inwardly, a few days ago I would have tried to keep casualties to a minimum, but I would do the same with any other animal. I would have felt only a little, personal remorse had I murdered some buffalo in cold blood... I had never thought of other species as my equals. I‘d always assumed they were beneath ponies as a rule.

But... seeing Crystal and the Chief interact, plus her adamant belief in their goodness, I could only balk at the complete lack of concern that I may have become a downright murderer if our mission had gone any further... On impulse, I blurted out, “Oh goddess, the mission... What were we here for Firelight? What were we going to do to these people?”

The unicorn looked immensely saddened by the despair in my voice, “Harmony... maybe it’s best if you don’t know. It didn’t happen, and now we know better than we did before. We can make sure this war with the buffalo is ended, there’s no point in worrying about what we might have done.”

I blinked, and sat down on my hind legs, trying to figure out if I actually wanted to argue with him or not. It was almost full dark now, judging by the quickly fading light just barely seeping in through the window. Firelight’s eyes flicked from mine to the torch set into the wall, and with a soft glow enveloping his horn he lit the dry brush on fire, giving us light as we talked into the night. Obviously that potion really had restored his magic.

Crystal spoke up calmly, “While I might normally agree with you, Firelight, I need to know what you were planning. The buffalo need some information, they’re terrified at what this might mean.”

He sighed heavily, “I guess my life depends on it huh? Alright just... look, I take full responsibility for everything, Harmony and the rest of Gamma Squad had no idea what we were doing, okay? I tried to talk Spite out of it, but she wouldn’t have any of it, said our objective was straight from the Empress herself. Basically, we were going to attack one of the inner towns, Dodge City, and cause as much chaos and fear in as short a time as possible. The Honesty would hide us going in and coming back, it should have been a lightning fast hit and run mission that got us back to Ponyville the next night... But I honestly can’t tell you why we needed to do it.”

Crystal’s eyed him “That’s all? You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m not sure, but that’s what I was led to believe.” He replied.

Crystal was quiet for a time. There was a distant look in her eyes, as if she was imagining just how much damage the ponies she had saved had been on a mission to cause.

At last she broke the silence, “I see. You would’ve caused a panic, the buffalo would have seen it as a sign that the Empire was about to invade for real. We would have rallied to the Border, to either meet your attack in confused defense, still disorganized from the assault on our center, or we would have wasted hundreds of days worth of harvest and countless days of planning on an attack that would never appear. Clever, but terrible... Why do you ponies insist on making everyone else’s life hell?”

Firelight and I shared a look of surprise, that was an impressive mind for tactics our savior had. I would have never thought such a small mission could have such a great impact... and she was right, it was a terrible, but very, very smart plan. I would give whoever came up with it a nice buck to the face.

The unicorn stallion gave Crystal an apologetic look, one that I mimicked, “Well... it’s not that we want to, it’s... our Duty. I’m sorry, but if I had tried to stop her, Lieutenant Spite would have simply dropped me from the mission. I had hoped I could at least try to lessen the damage she would do to the ponies in our attack group, they needed to be protected, not thrown to the wolves to accomplish our goal. Which was her original plan... ” The fiery maned stallion replied.

Crystal sighed and nodded, “I know that, I was born and raised in the Empire. I know how it works, I just don’t understand why it works that way. Surely there must be some ponies up there who try to make peace with their enemies instead of slaughtering them.”

“Oh there are dissenters, among the unicorns at least, every now and then. They make a few outspoken remarks... and are never heard from again. You learn to keep your mouth shut after witnessing a few of those. That’s why I devoted time to reading, much easier to learn than to sit through hour after hour of debates and meetings I felt sick just listening to.” Firelight said.

Crystal looked pretty surprised by his remark, “Unicorns speak out against the Empress? Why? You have everything you could ever want in the Capitol...”

The stallion sighed, “Yeah, everything we could ever dream... except cutie marks, except the things that ponies are supposed to live for, like honesty, kindness, laughter... The rebels try to change things, try to show the Empress that we are not okay with the way the Empire is run. Problem is, it doesn’t work very well when you go hollering blasphemies and insults in the streets, and when more level headed ponies see the Empress's Shadows take the dissenters away.. by force, they realize that the Empress may not be looking for change. Anypony who goes against the Celestial Empire, whether they be unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony, are taken away, swallowed up by the darkness, and never seen or heard from again.”

Crystal blinked, clearly not expecting that unicorns ever had to deal with anything more life threatening than missing a party or getting a moldy salad.

“Here I pictured unicorns were all nice and cozy up in their Capitol while everyone else was forced to suffer for them. I always thought only pegasi and earth ponies rebelled...” She replied, frowning as she had to revise an opinion that she’d probably had since birth... Which, as a matter of fact, was exactly what I was doing at that moment

The unicorn stallion shook his head, “Nope. It’s all planned out by the Empress and the Overseers, they have a unique method for keeping everypony down in every single city. It’s pretty sickening when you realize how much thought they put into it... Ponies are so oppressed by the Empire that they can’t fathom speaking out, they can’t believe in themselves enough to fight back. So like I said, I escaped to my hiding places to read about a time when things were much, much better.”

I looked at him in a new light, he’d been surrounded by shining examples of dishonesty and pretty much downright evil, yet this unicorn was a remarkably level headed character. He did not hide from what he knew was right and wrong, nor did he shy from his Duty to the Empire, even if he had a number of issues with that institution. He just tried to make things better anyway he could.

“The Empress herself actually talks to you ponies? I’ve never heard of her leaving Canterlot.” Crystal said, curious.

“Oh no, I’ve never even seen her. As far as I know, she’s never left her palace up there in living memory. I meant the Overseers go through meticulous psychological study to figure out how to make everypony in every village, town, and camp feel like shit while at the same time keeping them firmly under hoof and obedient. And then they stamp it with the Empress’s approval.” Firelight said, a note of disdain in his voice.

“Well let me tell you, their methods work. You should have heard your earth pony friend here, she thinks she’s worth less than the dirt under your hooves.” Crystal said, smirking at me, and recieving an extremely pissed off scowl back.

“Crystal! I’m an earth pony! I can’t fly and I can’t do magic, it’s a fact of nature, not my self pity!” I said, annoyed that she clearly thought I was being the immature one.

“Harmony, how can you believe that!? Alright, I can guess how... But come on! Think of everything you’ve done in the past few days! You’re the one who saved my plot from the buffalo snipers! You’re the one who managed to make friends with a pony who should have killed us on sight, you have amazing potential, your race has nothing to do with how useful you are!” Firelight exclaimed vehemently, pinning me with the intensity, the sincerity of his words. Somehow, I couldn’t believe he was lying to me.

And he wasn’t done yet either, “Look, I know they make unicorns seem like gods compared to the other races, but the truth is: we have our limits. It takes just as much energy to do something magically as it would for you to do it physically. Granted, we can use spells that can put our energy towards things you actually can’t do on your own, like creating fire or healing ponies. But the point is, every race has its own talents, you just have to learn to use them to your advantage. And beyond that, every pony is unique, some unicorns are as stupid as those wooden targets I saw you shooting at, and some earth ponies could become the greatest tacticians and planners in the Empire if we appreciated them.”

He paused looking at me with sympathetic eyes, “The point is that you may be the greatest heroine in the world, you could have an amazing talent for getting other ponies to listen to you... But if you never lend a hoof, never stand up for yourself or anypony else, you’ll be stuck forever as a useless little filly, doing as she’s told and never knowing how much more she can be. The Empire chips away at your Spirit... leaves you with nothing left, just a colorless, soulless body. But you’d be amazed at what you can accomplish if you just put your mind to it, it’s your choice and your’s alone to do something out of the ordinary, you are the only one who can stand up for yourself and your beliefs.”

I blinked. Firelight completed his impromptu lecture and actually blushed a little at the incredulous looks on Crystal and I’s faces. I’d never even considered myself anywhere near as useful as a unicorn would be in the long run. I had to admit, those were some deep thoughts from a stallion not that much older than me. And despite myself I found that some of his points were... logical, they made sense. They fit the pieces of the puzzle that had been constructing itself in my head since I had woken up here, surrounded by things that should, quite frankly, should be impossible. Since I had seen firsthoof that the world was not what the Empire claimed.

I stared at him in uncertainty. I really had no idea what I thought now... my head was still trying to process the fact that a unicorn was trying to get me to believe in myself.

I felt a gentle hoof on my shoulder, and looked up into Crystal’s gentle smile, “Harmony, Firelight’s right. You are a good pony, no one else would have even thought to do what you did back there, and you did it all on your own. No pony helped you or told you to save Firelight, and you had a mare screaming at you to kill me. But you put yourself in danger to save us, you took risks for nothing in return but your own peace of mind, I don’t think I’ve heard of anypony else ever doing things for the simple fact that they’re the right things to do.”

I looked up at her wide-eyed, “But... I don’t even know why I tried to help you two, and you both have more than paid off any debt you owed me! I’d be a pile of ash without your shield, Firelight, and either dead or delirious in the Everfree without your help Crystal.” I said, in truth, I wasn’t quite sure what had been going through my head when all of this had taken place... it was all a little fuzzy, like I was missing some of the things I’d been thinking about in some memories. “I don’t think I’m any different from anypony else... but why do you care? Especially you, Firelight, why do you even bother talking to me? I’m just an earth pony under your command.”

The fiery maned stallion looked at me thoughtfully for a second, as if pondering that very question himself.

“I don’t really think we’re in a position to be commander and soldier, Harmony... But to answer your question, I care because you saved my life. You threw yourself into harm’s way to get me off that road, I have no idea why; I did nothing for you. You sounded no different from any other earth pony I’ve talked to on the Honesty, yet you did what no pony else would have even tried to do, least of all a unicorn like Spite, who should have been the only pony who cared about me at all.” He was still lying down on the cot, but had rolled onto his stomach, resting with his legs folded beneath him so he could actually look at us without craning his neck.

I had no response for him. What he said was the absolute truth, I had done what none of my squad mates had even considered, I flashed back to Harlen,

Those two are dead! We can still get outta here though. We have a chance!

He hadn’t given the two unicorns about to die a second thought. And then he had abandoned me as well, not even attempting to stop the buffalo wielding the magisile launcher. My only possible friend out of the twenty ponies I had lived 5 years of my life with... and look how well that had gone. What drove me to rescue a completely unknown unicorn from death when the easy way out also involved going back to the ponies and life I was born into?

I had done it... because it had been the right thing to do. Firelight hadn’t deserved to die, he hadn’t been the one to start the fight, he had tried to help everypony else. And when he had needed it most, no one was willing to lift a hoof to save him. I didn’t blame the buffalo, I blamed the ponies who had been my family for half a decade, I blamed the ones who had taken the easy way out, who had refused to acknowledge that there was still some good left in their hearts, despite the kindness Firelight had shown them.

I cleared my throat, “I... I did what everypony should have done. I did the right thing, the normal thing. I went in to save somepony who seemed worth saving.”

There was a pause as they digested that.

Crystal spoke first, cutting off the unicorn, “Harmony, maybe a hundred years ago I’d have agreed with you, but in this day and age... What you did was extraordinary. Ponies don’t think like that anymore, they don’t give a crap about their friends, their families. And they definitely don’t help strangers after meeting them mere hours before. Firelight’s attempt to save you despite the fact he was on death’s door is the same thing, he was returning the favor. You two are definitely different, very different, from any other ponies I’ve ever encountered. That needs to change...because If no one helps any pony else, nothing is ever going to get better.” Crystal looked each of us in the eye, dead serious.

“There are other ponies who think the way we do... But eventually, they’re either corrupted by the Empire, or they speak out, and are gone before their words can impact anypony else.” Firelight said sadly.

“Do you two still want to return? It doesn’t really sound like the Empire will be a healthy place for two rebels such as yourselves in the long run... Maybe you two don’t have to go back... There’s always a need for new help around here.” Crystal said, looking out the window thoughtfully, it was pitch black outside, probably around midnight. Our conversation had lasted alot longer than any I’d ever had before.

Firelight looked at Crystal, his determined eyes giving his words a serious, “I can’t leave the Empire. It may be screwed up, but it’s my home. I don’t know about Harmony, but I have to go back. I have to try it, it’s not impossible, the Empire can change, somepony just has to prove that to the Empress...”

I frowned at Firelight, he was insane to believe that anypony could change the way our home ran itself. But that didn’t alter the fact that I wasn’t willing to stay here either, it would be nice to join the buffalo, to believe in what I was fighting for. But I couldn’t go into battle against the very ponies I had once trained side by side with. I couldn’t go against the Duty that had been ingrained into my very soul from birth. It just wasn’t in me to betray my country like that.

“I don’t know about changing the Empire, Firelight, but I’m going back too. I was born believing in the Empire, I’m still loyal to my home, whether or not I believe in its methods. Sorry Crystal, but I can’t stay here and help the buffalo destroy the thing I am bound by Duty to defend.”

The blue maned pegasus nodded sadly, but didn’t seem surprised in the least. “I was hoping you might consider it, but it takes either a lot of courage, or a lack of virtue, to leave your home. Neither of you have a shortage of courage, but you’re two of the most virtuous ponies I’ve ever encountered.”

I looked at her in surprise, “Then why did you leave the Empire?”

“I left because my family, my home, was supposed to be coming with me.” She said solemnly, gazing out at the blackness of the night.

Firelight looked at her quizzically, “You left the Empire with your family? How?”

I shared an exasperated glance with the icy blue pegasus, “It’s a long story Firelight, and I think Crystal’s had enough of telling it today. All you need to know is they left the Empire together... and only Crystal made it to Everfree.”

Firelight still looked confused and intrigued, but he wisely recognized the rather visible DROP IT RIGHT THE BUCK NOW look I was shooting him.

Crystal turned away from the window, “It’s just... a little too personal right now. Sorry, maybe I just feel awkward around unicorns because my time in the Empire. Anyway, it’s time for bed you two, you’ve had an exhausting three days, and now that you’re conscious, you can actually start to recover your strength. Come on now, Doctor’s orders.”

“I guess we’ll be sleeping here tonight?” I asked, unsure if the pegasus had plans for us once we were fully healed.

“Yes, and I’ll have to bind you both again, the buffalo are letting me treat you, but we’re not here to make friends. Once you’re healed enough, the Chief will question you, and then allow you to leave Vigil... if you still want to.” She said, clearly hoping we would change our minds.

I shared a pained expression with the unicorn on the cot, abandoning Crystal would be the thing I’d regret most about returning... But it didn’t change the fact that I was determined to go back.

“Maybe we can stay in touch... somehow...” I said weakly.

Crystal gave me pitying expression, “Not likely, if either one of us is caught, both the buffalo and the Empire will turn against us.”

I sighed, I knew she was right, but it still sucked to find the first nice pony that didn’t double as my commander, and then have her torn away only a day after getting to know her.

I said goodnight to Firelight and walked shakily back to my cot while Crystal took care of him. She blew out the torch in his room and fluttered into the main space, doing a quick check up on several of her patients before getting to me and carefully rebinding the straps that tied me to my bed.

“Sorry about this... but I should be able to let you up again tomorrow...” she muttered as she worked.

“Don’t worry about it, I understand the buffalo’s fear... especially with most of the ponies in this room. I hope we can talk again before we go...” I said with a faint smile in the torchlight.

She smiled in return and nodded. Once finished with my restraints, she took off again, blowing out the rest of the torches in the large room, plunging the area into a deep gloom, she kept only one lit. It was burning softly next to the small door she disappeared into, which was on the wall to the right of Firelight’s, I guessed she slept here, near her patients.

After a few moments in the flickering light of the lone torch, I closed my eyes, my mind was tired from all this thinking of morals and virtues, and my battered body had gone beyond ‘exhausted’ a long time ago. I literally had trouble keeping my eyes open after I lay down, and after a few minutes, I gave up trying to fight the pull of sleep.

I closed my eyes and fell into one of the most dreamless, and shortest lived slumbers of my life.

***

“...let GO of me! Who the buck are y- mmmmmmRRRRfff!!!!”

I woke with a start. My eyes shooting open as the cry of distress echoed in my mind.

What the hay?

Slowly, I made out a soft rectangle light falling across several rows of flat shapes... cots.

The events of the previous day came back in a flash, I was in the Buffalo Territory! And there were other ponies outside the Empire and... and one of those ponies had just given a muffled scream.

“Wrap her up and then get the rest of these foals as well, we have what we came for. Time to get the hell out of this pit.”

The voice hissed out of the darkness, near where the entrance to Crystal’s room should have been...

Instantly my mind was on full alert. I attempted to roll out of bed and rush to the poor pegasus’s rescue. Unfortunately I was rather rudely reminded of the straps holding me down, particularly as they bit into my sides, firmly holding me in place.

Crap.

I had no idea what I was up against, some sort of bandits? What had they come here for? Arrgh!

If only I was back in the Empire... then at least I would know who was the enemy! Well, at least I’d know who could possibly be sneaking around in the middle of the night and tying ponies up...

If they had had any experience with the Empire, I doubted they would give a second thought about killing Firelight either; Dammit! I needed to help these ponies now!

From the sounds of it, Crystal had either been drugged or knocked unconscious, because there were no longer any muffled grunts or thumps of struggling, just a scraping sound, like something heavy being dragged across a dirt floor. They were taking the pegasus outside!

I heard muffled hoof beats advancing towards my cot in the darkness, they were purposeful, like the pony making them knew exactly where he was going, and what he was looking for.

I held my breath, hoping against hope that they would go away... The sounds stopped right next to my cot. I saw a pair of evil purple eyes glaring down at me, and nearly screamed when I heard the soft hiss of a hoof blade being released.

Whoever this pony was, they could sure as hell see me, and they knew I was the enemy.

I tried to think of something... anything I could do to survive the night. I couldn’t come up with anyway out though.

I was outnumbered, probably outgunned, and had the additional handicap of being tied down to a bed... But I was also about to be assassinated if I didn’t do something!

I heard a sudden whooshing sound and caught the flicker of motion as something stabbed downwards. Not pausing to think, I threw myself against the restraints with all my strength, which was pretty pathetic at the moment.

But I had the element of surprise; I heard a grunt of alarm as the whole cot shoved against my assailant, throwing them off balance.

Then came the burning pain as the hoof blade swept across my side, slicing through my bonds, but managing to make a fairly deep gouge in my flank along with them. I hissed with pain, but I was free! I kicked out with all four hooves, throwing the surprised assassin off balance and causing him to crash into the bed behind him.

Leaping to my hooves, I fought to ignore the pain in my side as well as the blood starting to drip down it, and jumped to the ground, running towards the rectangle of light, I had a pegasus to save!

I burst out into the night air... and stopped; taking in the scene before me.

Crystal was right there, trussed up like she’d gotten on a spider’s bad side, or perhaps several hundred spider’s naughty list. She was surrounded by the rest of her patients; all survivors of the ambush, all part of Gamma Squad. And all equally unconscious, but not dead... so what had that assassin been doing if not killing me?

I forced myself away from such thoughts, which wasn’t too hard with all the conundrums in the clearing before me, I doubted bandits would care much about Gamma, they’d probably just be ransomed back to the Empire.

Beyond the pile of prisoners however, ringing the perimeter of the clearing outside Crystal’s humble medical center, were four ponies who seemed to be cloaked in shadows. Their silhouettes shimmered and blended into the darkness of the night, making it extremely difficult to look at one for more than a few seconds. I shuddered as all four pairs of cool purple eyes turned to glare at me.

But even they were nothing compared to the two ponies in the middle of the space, one was a black coated, richly barded unicorn; who looked at me with a sneering contempt, like I was a disturbing insect he’d just found stuck to his hoof...

But the other, the one looking at the ponies heaped up outside with an indifferent, almost scornful, smile, caused my mind to nearly explode with outrage, confusion, and above all, hurt.

I had to take a step back, which brought me in contact with the pony standing right behind me. I didn’t have to turn around. I knew exactly what I’d find; the assassin I’d kicked and ran away from. I guess I’d be answering for that buck I’d given him.

But my eyes stayed firmly rooted to the center of the clearing, where, standing calmly with the people who had tried to assassinate me and were in the process of pony-napping Crystal, was the one who had stated mere hours before that he couldn’t give up his Loyalty to the country he’d grown up in. The stallion who had shown me that nothing was ever as it seemed in the Empire...

If the fiery mane wasn’t enough, the look of horror on his face as I stepped into the faint moonlight identified the stallion clearly; only somepony as good at lying as Firelight Sparkle could be horrified that another was still alive.

***

End of Chapter 2

Letter to the Reader:

Dear Reader,

Today I learned that things are not always as they seem.

I learned that even though I trust someone, and would put my faith in them on any subject; it’s always good to do some fact checking on my own so that I know I can trust them without a doubt. And so I know why what they say is true.

Your’s Truly,

Harmony

***Author’s Words***

As always, please drop a comment to let me know what you think of the story so far! And any suggestions as to how I could improve it in any way, shape, or form, are more than just appreciated; they are loved wholeheartedly!

Feel free to drop a thumb... er, I mean, please click one of those nifty little thumb-looking buttons down their to state your opinion, power to the people!

Inspiration credits: Kkat, and Somber & The Project Horizons Syndicate. The Internet.

Written, Edited, and Directed by: Fluttersyke

***End of the Author’s Rambling***

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