Starlight

by PurpleFire135

Chapter Seventeen

Fluttershy watched in horror from behind the corner of the main building of the camp as the ponies that lived there were rounded up. The Guard ponies had them cornered up against the wall and formed a circle around them. The fight was over though. There had been a few casualties on both sides, but far more of the camp ponies lay unmoving in the mud. Almost every pony in the clearing had injuries of one kind or another, some more severe than others.

Fluttershy’s heart went out to each and every one of them. However, she knew that by helping she would give herself up, and in the long run, that wouldn’t really help much. Besides, the white, pink-maned doctor mare that had called the rest of them to battle was tending to those with the worst injuries. Fluttershy sighed and looked around.

At least the storm was letting up. While the rain still fell as steady as ever, the clouds had lightened and thunder and lightning no longer rolled and flashed across the sky. The damage from the storm was immense. Fluttershy couldn’t believe the building was still standing. Every tent in the compound had blown over and everything inside was scattered across the camp. There were trees down all over the forest, some had even fallen and breached the camp’s wall. Even without the Guard’s attack, it would have been a dismal day at the camp.

Fluttershy scanned the crowd of ponies that had been captured; there was no sign of Pinkie Pie. She frowned. She needed to get Pinkie and they needed to get out of here and come up with some way to free the other ponies of the camp. They also needed to meet up with the ponies that had escaped and make sure they were in a safe place out of harm’s way.

Suddenly, with an obnoxiously loud battle cry a pink blur leapt over Fluttershy, who squeaked in surprise.

“Come on! We must free them!” Pinkie hollered as epically as she could. Before she could get much farther though, Fluttershy grabbed her by the tail and drug her around the other side of the building.

“Pinkie! Are you crazy?!” She yelled. She would have worried about being quiet, but Fluttershy’s yell was barely more than a whisper on a loud day, much less when she wanted to stay hidden. Pinkie Pie slumped. Fluttershy sighed, softening.

“I’m sorry. You just startled me. We need to go. We need to meet up with the rest of the camp and devise a plan to get them out. If we run in all willy-nilly, we’ll just get caught too!” Fluttershy told her. Pinkie nodded more than a little dejected.

“Okie Dokie.” She sighed and stood up. “Let’s go.”
---

Applejack stood at the edge of the Everfree forest, catching her breath. She had been running alongside the forests outside of the City suburbs for hours and had finally reached the opening to the Everfree near what once used to be known as Ponyville. Now, like every other town and city in Equestria it had been renamed to represent new beginnings under the Guard’s rule. Free of the unicorn names and tyrannical magical influence.

Applejack sighed. She knew the Guard and its policies inside and out. She had basically run it for the last ten years. She still couldn’t believe she had left. She wished she had done it sooner. As she stood, not fifteen miles from the town she had called home for her childhood and most of her life before the uprising, she was filled with regret.

She had thought about stopping by the farm, since she was closer to it than she had been in the last decade, but she had quickly shoved that thought aside. Her brother had let her know she was unwelcome there the last time they talked. It was right after she joined the Guard, and Big Mac had told her it was the wrong decision. She had honestly agreed, but she, unlike him, had seen the family name on the Guard’s black list of unicorn supporters and knew it was only a matter of time, when they, like so many others would be quietly and efficiently dealt with.

Unless she did something to prove otherwise; which meant she joined the Guard. The rest was history, but there was no stopping the thoughts swirling in her head. She hoped her family was still safe, still doing what they always had done. She hoped they had been fine without her. The Guard was stationed in the City, this far away, their influence lessened. Applejack liked to think that life was pretty much the same as she had left it.

She shook her head and looked up. A rain cloud sat right at the edge of the Everfree. She shrugged; it wasn’t like she was afraid to get wet. Just before she entered the forest, she pulled out her Element. She exhaled in relief. It had stopped flashing red, and it had not gone black either. Rainbow Dash was out of any immediate threat to her life, though she could still very well be in danger. Applejack’s stomach twisted. She wondered what it was going to be like seeing Rainbow after all these years, if she could find her that was.

She knew the coordinates that were sent to the squads, so she should be able to get close, but now that Rainbow was out of mortal peril, Applejack wasn’t quite sure what she was doing out her. I’m going to save my friend. That’s all that matters. I don’t care what she thinks of me, I need to make sure she is okay. She thought to herself, though nagging doubts still crowded her thoughts. She thought back to seeing her element light up bright red earlier, it had scared her badly.

It just brought back so many memories. That one event had seemed to snap her back into reality. It was almost like she had been some pony else for the last ten years, but when she saw that; everything changed again. Could some pony even change that fast? She questioned.

Applejack rolled her eyes at her own circling thoughts. She had never been much of a thinker, and she figured now was not the time to start. She was a do-er and right now what she needed to do was make sure Rainbow was okay. With that thought in mind she walked into the Everfree and the rain overhead.
---

Starlight walked through the forest, trying to get some sense of direction to tell her where she was, unfortunately, she was utterly lost. She had been out wandering for hours now. She looked up at the sky, wishing she could get a glimpse of the moon or the sun, or anything to tell her which way to go, but all she was met with was dreary grey clouds that insisted on dumping a constant drizzle down on her. Earlier, she had tried to make a spell to deflect the raindrops around her. It had worked for a while, but now she was just too tired to keep walking and do any sort of magic.

A rustling sounded in the bush beside her, she barely jumped. It was just one more rustle in a long line of rustles. The forest had so many creatures in it and Starlight had given up on being scared of everyone of them. She still had a tingling of fear, thinking about the spider that had attacked her, and with a start she remembered the timberwolf howls from nights past, but she had no choice but to press on through the forest.

Her best hope was to find out if any ponies had escaped from the camp. She knew there was an evacuation tunnel, but she had no idea if it had been used or not. She also had no idea where it came out. All in all, she was lost, but she was even more lost because she hadn’t the foggiest of an idea where she was going. She sat down in frustration, looking angrily at the trees around her, as if they could give her an answer.

Which of course, they couldn’t.
---

“Before we meet up with the rest of your camp, can we go back to my house so I can retrieve my element? I just don’t feel right not having it with me…um, if that’s okay with you?” Fluttershy said to Pinkie Pie as they walked. They were several hours away from the camp and were tracking the tunnel so that when the other ponies surfaced, they would be nearby.

Fluttershy had a good idea where they were and she knew her home was not far off; it would only take them an extra couple hours to go and get her necklace.

“Okie Dokie, but we need to get to them soon. Hopefully, they remembered to bring my cookies! I could really use a good cookie right now.” Pinkie responded and went off to the direction of Fluttershy’s house.

“How do you know which way to go?” Fluttershy asked.

“I guessed! Was I right?!” Pinkie said matter-of-factly, as if she already knew she was right.

“Um, yeah. This is just the way I would go.” Fluttershy said.

“I’m a real good guesser. Maybe has something to do with my Pinkie Sense.” Pinkie shrugged. Fluttershy didn’t feel the need to press the subject and they walked towards her home in companionable silence.
---

“That’s the last of them!” Blue Breeze called to Sergeant Clover, who nodded. Their troops had taken control of all the remaining ponies in the camp and were now set to march them out of the compound and back to the City. With any luck it would only take a day or two. The earth pony troops flanked the line of prisoners on both sides and the pegasi flew overhead to discourage any fly-off escape attempts.

“Well, not bad for you’re first command mission, Captain.” Clover said to Blue Breeze, though his tone implied that he didn’t really mean it. “Lucky for you we showed up when we did. You might have been in some kind of pickle!”

“Yes, Sir, we could have. Though my troops seemed to be handling it fine.” Blue Breeze responded, not letting Clover get a rise out of him. The sergeant had already tried to undermine his authority once and he was not getting caught off guard again.

“Well, just glad we earth ponies were here in time to save your flanks is all. You know pegasi troops, all fine, but if you ask me, they're just a little flighty, in a pinch. Anyway, let’s get this all wrapped up and head home. I could seriously go for a good sandwich right now!” Clover said dismissively. Blue Breeze rolled his eyes.

“Sir?” Cloud Puncher, one of his troops asked. Blue Breeze turned around to acknowledge him. “Is there anything else we need to do here?”

“We don’t want this settlement being used again. We’re sure every pony is cleared out?” Blue Breeze asked. Cloud Puncher nodded.

“Torch the place. Get a wind going to dry off the buildings and light them. We want no evidence left that this place even existed.” Blue Breeze told his troops, who nodded. Sergeant Clover glanced at his troops, a few wordless broke out and lit torches.

Suddenly, a commotion from the group of prisoners interrupted the officer’s conversation; a yellow earth pony burst out of the prisoner line and bucked one of the nearby Guards in the head, hard. He was out instantly and she made a run for it. She stopped when she was just about to hit the trees, as if realizing that none of the other camp ponies had followed her lead.

“Come on! At least go down fighting!” She shouted, but none of the other ponies seemed eager to engage in another, even more out numbered fight against the Guard. It was only a matter of seconds before the troops responded, filling the hole in the line and sending two other guards out after her. Her eyes widened and she turned to run, she was surprisingly fast She even managed to outrun the two earth ponies that had chased her.

Blue Breeze just shook his head and snapped his wings open. He really hated runners. They always thought they could get away. He pulled out his tazer and took off in her direction, flying over the two guards that had taken off after her.

“I got her, go back to the line and make sure she is the only problem we have!” He shouted down to them. He looked down a few seconds later and sure enough, she was right beneath him. He put on another burst of speed and dropped down in front of her, firing his tazer as he landed. She barely had time to look surprised before she hit the ground.

After Blue Breeze had hauled the unconscious mare back and instructed two of the camp ponies to carry her, they were ready to go. Blue Breeze nodded to his pegasi troops and Sergeant Clover did the same to his.

“Well, another case handled efficiently. Let’s move out!” Clover said as the camp burned down behind them and the line of prisoners moved forward

Comments

[Rainbooms]

Interesting, interesting.
I'm expecting an epic breakout soon.
Don't keep me waiting too long.

[PurpleFire135]

2632095 No worries. It's about to get epic.

[Rainbooms]

2634408
Oh good, I realised you have added this to some groups.
Hope to see more people commenting and liking now.

[PurpleFire135]

2636693 Yep, that's the plan