Starlight

by PurpleFire135

Chapter Sixteen

“Ohmyohmyohmyohmy!” Fluttershy muttered as she frantically looked around at the ponies doing battle around her. She had no idea what to do, she wasn’t a fighter. The doctor and nurse ponies, along with Zecora had taken all the foals, old, and sick ponies out of the compound through an underground tunnel that connected the compound’s basements with an emergency shelter that was about half an hour’s walk away.

At least they would be safe. When they got halfway through the tunnel they could trigger a cave-in that would shut the tunnel behind them in case of pursuit. The ponies of the camp had been expected a raid like this for a very long time and were more than prepared.

“Fluttershy! Do you know how to use this?!” Apple Bloom yelled and tossed Fluttershy a bow, followed a second later by a quiver of arrows.

“Um! Not really, but I can try, if, uh, you need me to!” Fluttershy yelled back as she caught both things in her hooves.

“We need every pony! Ah’m takin’ the archers to the top floor of the main building. Come with us!”

“Okay!” Fluttershy said determinedly and raced after Apple Bloom. The storm was still whirling around them and Fluttershy had to flip her wet mane out of her face to even be able to see. A crack of lightning sounded not far off and the entire ground shook with the thunder.

“Hurry up, Fluttershy!” Apple Bloom yelled as she pried open the front door of the building, but Fluttershy was already right behind her. They and several other ponies rushed up the stairs.
---

Pinkie Pie twisted and turned in a tight, fast circle, hitting and bucking any Guard ponies who were stupid enough to get close to her whirlwind. She stopped as the number of attackers thinned for a moment. She looked around. Her troops were faring pretty well against the Guard. She was proud. It was a moment they had spent countless hours preparing for, and one she had hoped would never come.

However, she knew it would someday, apparently today. Another Guard came rushing at her and without a second though she whipped around and her tail, weighed down by all the water from the rain smacked him right in the muzzle. He fell to the ground with barely a whimper.

“They’ve got reinforcements comin’! Fall back!” She heard Apple Bloom scream from one of the top windows. All the camp ponies that had been fighting pulled back, kicking off any lingering opponents. A few seconds before every pony was clear, Apple Bloom yelled,

“Archers! At the ready!” One last mare rushed behind the camp’s line and without a moment’s delay,

“Fire!” Apple Bloom screamed. Arrows rained down on the new Guard forces, all earth ponies. Only a few were taken down by the archer’s efforts.

“Fire!” Apple Bloom yelled again after letting them reload. A few more of the advancing line fell, but they pressed on, relentless.

“Alright! Outta my way, every pony, it’s time to party!” Pinkie yelled, and she swung her party cannon into the fray, blasting it several times, and taking down at least half of the enemy line. She laughed, just a little manically. She was about to fire again when the cannon let out a chugging sound. It was empty. Her eyes widened in surprise and fear.

Pinkie had done some serious damage, but it wasn’t going to be enough. The wave of Guard ponies slammed into the camp’s line, and the resistors were instantly scattered. Screams sounded throughout the camp as the Guard began subduing their forces.

There were simply too many Guard ponies. Most of the camp ponies had escaped through the tunnel, and the few that were left had put up a valiant effort, but with the combined forces of the pegasi from the air and the earth ponies on the ground, all better trained in fighting than the resistance ponies, it was a losing battle.

Pinkie Pie stood there, in the pouring rain and watched as the camp she had help build and run fell to ruins. Her troops were no match for the brute strength from the Guard. She sighed in desperation as another roll of thunder shook the camp.
---

Fluttershy flew down the stairs to the main floor of the building. The other archers had already gone out to directly enter the fray, but there was something she needed to get before the camp was taken.

“Fluttershy, are ya coming?” Apple Bloom yelled up at her.

“No! I have to get something! I’ll be out in a minute I hope!” She said back. Apple Bloom shrugged.

“Alright! If things start looking bad don’t feel like ya have ta stay! Get out and save any pony you can!” Apple Bloom finished and ran out the door. Fluttershy turned and raced down the main floor hallway. She stopped at a seemingly random door and tried to open it. It was locked. Oh my… Fluttershy thought in dismay. She needed to get inside that room.

A particularly piercing scream came from outside. Fluttershy didn’t have time to waste. OH MY! She thought again and bucked the door. The top hinge wobbled a little. That won’t do at all! She braced herself and took another buck. This time the door crashed down complacently. She rushed into the room and pulled up a floor board.

Hidden underneath was a golden necklace with a blue balloon in the middle. The Element of Laughter. Pinkie had shown her were it was a few days ago in case something like this ever happened. Fluttershy’s own element was still at her home. She had been unconscious when she left and had not retrieved it. That was the first place she would go now that the camp was no longer the save haven it had once been. The elements were too important to lose.

She grabbed the necklace and a saddle bag that was hanging on the wall. She shoved the necklace in and raced back out into the fight and into the storm. She needed to get to Pinkie.
---

Starlight followed the glowing string through the woods as fast as her hooves would carry her. She fell hard as her front hooves snagged on a root. She was up again in seconds though. She had a horrible feeling that something bad had happened. She thought back to the attack on the camp she had just witnessed. Something else bad She amended.

The wind whipped around her, blowing her mane every which way and the rain poured unceasingly. Starlight almost didn’t notice either as she followed the trail with an unrelenting determination.

Suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the area around her, almost as bright as day. When Starlight saw what that light had revealed she stopped dead in her tracks. A group of about five Guard ponies stood, talking in a tight circle. Two of them Starlight recognized, one was the blue Guard pony who had first chased her and Rainbow right when they entered the forests back at the edge of the city. The other was the dark blue pegasus, the one that had attacked Fluttershy.

“Our ground troops just took hold of the camp. They, along with the rest of your squad are just cleaning things up. However, we were unable to find the source of whatever was setting off the sweeper.” A large green earth pony said, looking at the blue pegasus captain.

“Well, tell them to keep looking! We still haven’t even found that unicorn filly.” He looked at the dark blue pegasus agent.

“Agent Rain, we had assumed that you knew the location of both Rainbow Dash and the unicorn.”

“I did! They were together in that camp. I assumed that if you searched the camp you would find her, I have no idea where she has run off to!” She said hotly. He rolled his eyes at the young and impulsive agent, who catching him frowned and huffed.

“Alright. Let’s get this situation cleaned up. At the end of the day we still took down a huge anti-Guard settlement and have most of the trouble makers in custody. Agent Rain did her duty and captured one of the Guard’s biggest offenders. Now we just need to set up a perimeter and do sweeps of the forest. She’s just a filly. She couldn’t have gotten that far.” The large green earth pony said, bringing all the rest of the officers back to the reality of the situation.

A chill ran up Starlight’s spine. Captured? Were they talking about Rainbow Dash?! And what about the other ponies in the camp? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie? Zecora? Starlight suddenly felt very alone. She had thought the camp would win. When she had left they had been doing okay against the Guard’s forces. Now the camp was gone and Rainbow might be captured. Starlight didn’t know what to do and she was running out of options.

Her focus went flying back to the group of Guard ponies when two more ponies entered their meeting, with a third supported between them. Starlight’s heart fell. It was Rainbow. They came up to the others and dumped Rainbow on the ground. She didn’t move and her hooves were tied. One of the ponies who had brought her in, a light green pegasus, said,

“She’s alive, but Agent Rain gave her a pretty good knock to the head. We should be able to get her back to headquarters for questioning before she wakes up. She might have an idea where that unicorn ran off to.”

“Thank you Private Flash. We’ll take it from here. Both of you go see if they need any help rounding up the rest of the camp ponies.” Both she and the other pony who had helped her nodded and flew off.

Starlight’s heart was hammering at the sight of Rainbow. She had a huge bruise on her head and deep gash through her shoulder. In addition, she had tiny cuts and bruises all over the rest of her body. She looked bad. If the Guard pony hadn’t said she was alive, Starlight would have thought the worst. As it was, she was totally still, and only when Starlight really looked could she see the shakiest of breaths being pulled in.

“Agent Rain, you and Captain Breeze take Rainbow Dash back to headquarters. I’m going to make sure the rest of the camp is dealt with properly.” The earth pony leader told them. The blue pegasus, Breeze did a double take.

“Sir, this outfit is as much under my command as it is yours. I demand you send some pony else. I need to stay with my troops.”

“And I need to find that unicorn! I only have half my assignment completed! Do you know how long it will take me to get back on the trail?! With the rain the way it is, I need to be looking for tracks NOW! Not two days later when I get back from the City!” The dark blue agent argued.

“I outrank both of you and you’ll do as I say! Now…” As the green earth pony began to issue more orders, the Guard ponies seemed to forget about Rainbow behind them. To their credit, she was unconscious and all, but their inattention was all Starlight needed.

With a dark purple pop she vanished and reappeared next to Rainbow, double checking to make sure the Guard ponies were looking away. They were as they continued to bicker amongst themselves about who was staying and who was leaving. Starlight looked back to Rainbow; she tried nudging her gently to see if she could get her to wake up. If Rainbow could move, Starlight could probably get them both out of there, but there was no way Starlight could lift Rainbow or teleport them both.

She bit her lip. There had to be something she could do. Then she remembered back to one of her lessons with Zecora. It had been right after Zecora had been tending to the sick ponies in the med tent. Starlight had asked why Zecora put just a touch of magic in every potion and tonic she made. Zecora had told her that magic could act like a spark, restarting the sick parts of a pony and getting their own body to make them well again.

Starlight didn’t know if it would work the same way, but maybe she could wake up Rainbow with the same principal. Glancing over one last time to make sure they still hadn’t noticed her, Starlight let her horn lit up and slowly let her magic flow towards Rainbow. As the dark purple strands reached Rainbow, she gasped and her eyes flew open. She put a hoof to her head.

“Ouch.” She moaned. She seemed out of it for a second, as if she wasn’t quite sure where she was or what was going on. Then her eyes focused and she noticed Starlight standing over her. Rainbow was about to say something when Starlight put a hoof up, meaning be quiet. She tilted her head towards the Guard ponies that were not far off. Rainbow followed her tilt and nodded when she saw them.

“Starlight! What are you doing here?! I thought I told you to stay in the camp!” Rainbow hissed quietly.

“The storm got really bad and I wanted to make sure you were okay, but then the camp got attacked and so did you! We need to get out of here!” Starlight whispered. She went towards Rainbow’s hooves to untie them.

Rainbow tried to sit up but her eyes unfocused again and her head felt like a ton of lead. She blinked tiredly.

“Starlight, you need to get away from here! It’s not going to be long before they see you. I don’t know what they’re going to do to me, but if they can’t find you. You need to go! Besides, I don’t think I’d make it five feet. Trust me, I’m not going anywhere with these injuries. Please, just go; get as far away from here as you can.” Rainbow pleaded.

“I’m not leaving without you!” Starlight cried. “I don’t have any pony else!”

“Starlight. I want to come with you. I can’t. I’m sorry, but you need to go. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if they caught you too.” Rainbow said quietly.

“Get as far away from here as you can. Don’t go back to the camp. It’s too dangerous. I’m sorry I can’t help you more. Just stay safe, and stay out of sight. Never forget that your magic can help you. It’s very strong. Okay?” Rainbow said, her magenta eyes locked with Starlight’s light purple ones.

Starlight sniffed and nodded. Rainbow smiled, just a little, but then she winced and then her eyes closed as she slipped out of consciousness. Starlight didn’t want to go didn’t want to leave, but she could already tell that the Guard ponies had come to a decision. With tears in her eyes she teleported away from Rainbow.

“Alright. Captain Breeze, go talk to your squad. Agent Rain, I’m trusting you and Private Flash to get the prisoner back to headquarters.” Starlight watched from behind a tree and as the Guard ponies picked up the still form of Rainbow, she turned and ran as quickly and quietly as she could. She didn’t have a plan yet, but she was darn sure she was going to come up with one.

Comments

[Rainbooms]

You misspelt "lose" as "loose".
Good chapter, I hope Rainbow beats the crap out of them all.

[PurpleFire135]

2618068 Thanks for noticing! It's fixed now

[Snowfeather]

"Fluttershy turned and raced down the main floor hallway. She stopped at a seemingly random door and tried to open it. It was looked. Oh my… Fluttershy thought in dismay. She needed to get inside that room. "

You might want to change looked to locked.