Shades of the Past

Sweetie Belle and her group began to lay the final set of explosives beneath the tracks of the incoming railroad line; the plan being to prevent supplies or reinforcements from reaching the prison. Sweetie Belle finished wiring the final set of explosives to the blasting box, just as a fellow member of her resistance cell came galloping up to her.

"S-sweetie Belle..." The mare said, out of breath.

"What is it, Smokescreen?" Sweetie Belle asked the grey-coated mare, her answer coming in the form of a train whistle sounding. "That wasn't supposed to be here..." Sweetie Belle commented, diving to take cover with the others, taking the blasting box with her. The train approached rapidly, a multitude of possibilities existing as to what it might be carrying. "What's it carrying?" Sweetie Belle asked in the hopes Smokescreen might know.

"I-i didn't get a very good look at the cars..." She replied, readying her rifle as she spoke to Sweetie Belle.

The young Unicorn Mare barely out of adolescence cursed her luck, creeping up to the edge of the irrigation ditch she and the others had taken shelter in. With any luck, she's get a good look at the train. As it roared past, she didn't see any barred windows indicating it was a prisoner-transport train, but on the same side of the coin; it was fairly dark. Still; if these were reinforcements or supplies, it could mean bad things for their plan. Deciding to risk it, she pushed the plunger on the blasting box down...

Explosions tore through the train and tracks it rode upon; the engine exploding brilliantly against the night sky, lighting things up as shrapnel from the decimated engine flew all over the place. The cars, meanwhile, flew off the rails in every-which direction, the train spread across the landscape, craters replacing the track it had traveled on.

It didn't look like anypony had survived the explosions and subsequent de-railing, and once the fires and flying debris had died down, a quick examination of the wreckage confirmed it had been a troop-transport. Sweetie Belle sighed, not liking the idea of senseless violence or killing, but Crimson Sky and her Military had forced her hoof, forced all their hooves. Her attention was then directed to the sound of explosions coming from the direction of the prison, realizing the others had taken this as the signal to begin the attack.

"Come on, we have to help them." Sweetie Belle said, the others following her as they ran towards the complex, hoping all was going well...

A young Pegasus Mare stood on a cliff nestled above the Prison Complex, she and other Loyalist Pegasi having banded together. All of them checked their guns, ensuring they were loaded and ready for the upcoming skirmish. Scootaloo took her rifle in her hooves as she looked down at the landscape below one last time before turning to her own cell of the resistance.

"Alright, everypony; this is it!" She began, the attention of all her comrades on her. "The plan is to hit 'em hard and hit 'em fast. Once Sweetie Belle blows the tracks, we'll be making our move. We can't hold back, if we fail here; all of Equestria is doomed. Stay strong and Celestia will guide us through this, wherever she may be now." Scootaloo said, one of the few who still had faith in the Alicorn Princess' after all that had happened.

Soon after she finished her speech; an explosion was heard and seen in the valley approaching the prison; everypony spreading their wings as they prepared to take flight. "Right'; let's go!" Scootaloo exclaimed, diving off the cliff, free-falling to the ground below as her fellow Pegasi took flight behind her.

Scootaloo fell through the air, her wings unable to allow her to fly through the air like most pegasi, but that didn't make them entirely useless. She spread her orange wings, her speed decreasing as she began to glide down towards the prison, taking aim and firing at one of the guards below. The lethally accurate shot hit the Pegasus in the head, killing him in an instant. Scootaloo lifted the bolt on her rifle, pulling back and clearing the chamber, pushing forward to load another in, and bringing it back down again in a matter of moments, taking another shot at a different guard, hitting her mark once more. She wasn't the only one either, all around her, the other Loyalist Pegasi flew; firing down upon the guards, or tossing bombs down towards them. The attack took them entirely by surprise, some still waking up without their uniforms or weapons, easy targets for Scootaloo and the other rebels.

It wasn't long before the young mare was close enough to safely drop onto the ground, doing so quickly, rolling gracefully behind some crates for cover, bullets whizzing past, explosions and the hail of lead from above wreaking havoc among the Pegasopolis Pegasi, trying to rally and fight back, though the bombardment from the air kept them scattered and disorganized for now, which provided a massive advantage for the rebel forces.

Scootaloo leaned out from behind her cover every now and then, taking shots at the enemy, most of which hit, the accurate pony rarely missing a shot. A shadow from behind caught her attention, however, as a Pegasopolis Guard charged forward with a bayonet at the ready. Scootaloo dodged this barely, firing her rifle point-black at the other mare's chest, killing her. The flightless Pegasus shook her head and shuddered, still uncomfortable with being face-to-face with a pony she'd have to kill. Still, she shook it off, for the good of her cause, as noticed several Loyalist Pegasi had overtaken the gatehouse guards, opening the front gates. On the other side stood Applebloom and an assortment of Earth Ponies and Unicorn, who charged upon having the gates opened.

The remainder of the Pegasopolis Guards found themselves forced back to their barracks, Loyalists tossing bombs through the windows, forcing the minuscule number left to either surrender or face death. Sweetie Belle and her force arrived just as the battle came to a successful conclusion, the complex now lying in the hands of the resistance.

Some ponies couldn't help but celebrate their victory, cheering on their three leaders, others embracing friends and loved ones with hugs, while a couple even started dancing, mostly as a mocking gesture to the Pegasopolis Guards who had survived and were now at the mercy of the rebels.

"Alright, let's get these ponies outta here." Applebloom said, she and about a dozen others entering the cell-blocks. Inside they found many ponies; deserters, political prisoners, other rebels from more unsuccessful groups, all of whom were released and grateful for finally being freed. While Applebloom's comrades freed the other ponies, there was one in particular she was searching for; one her informant said would be here. After searching through all the Cell Block in the prison, she came to the Isolation Rooms; looking through them one-by-one, all empty save for one at the end of the hall.

When Applebloom opened the door, she looked inside to see what looked like a ball of yellow and pink curled up in the corner of the room. Slowly, she approached the mare curled up in the corner, holding out a hoof to touch her shoulder. "Fluttershy..." She said, noticing the other mare had been silently crying. Her ears perked right up, though, Fluttershy lifting her head and turning to look at Applebloom.

"A-apple... jack?" She asked, initially mistaking the younger sister for the older.

Applebloom's eyes went wide, noticing how horribly abused Fluttershy looked, her face alone caked in dried blood, the mare missing a tooth and a particularly nasty bruise around her eye just several signs of the pain she'd endured for seven years. As Fluttershy began to stand, she noticed the assortment of scar and mistreated or untreated wounds all over her body. She looked about ready to break down into a fit of sobbing at any given minute, seeing the sweet, gentle pegasus so horribly mistreated... It made Applebloom angry, sad, and afraid; afraid that her own sister might be enduring such torture as well. "No, it's Applebloom. But don't worry, we'll find her; ah promise." Applebloom said, offering a hug to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy broke down then and there, crying uncontrollably, almost believing this was too good to be true, maybe just a dream? If so, she didn't want to wake up, ever; she accepted the hug, clinging on to Applebloom tightly as the younger mare did her best to make Fluttershy feel safe and to cheer her up.

"Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are waitin' for us outside. There's also a bit of a crowd... You don't mind, do ya?" Applebloom asked, wondering if Fluttershy wanted to be in the company of friends only...

"No, no I don't mind." Fluttershy said, never wanting to let go of her savior; though eventually she did, so happy and relieved they'd managed to rescue her, even when she found herself able to speak again, tears still streamed down her cheeks, she had so much to talk about, so much to let out. She'd been locked in isolation so long, she'd value the company of any pony, even if it was a crowd, which she normally shied away from.

"Right, then; let's go." Applebloom said, walking side-by-side with Fluttershy through the desolate halls of the prison until they reached the outside, where they were met by a good several hundred ponies, all eyes fixed on them as they left the building.

"Everypony; this here is Fluttershy; Element of Kindness and a survivor from Ponyville!" Applebloom said, introducing her friend to those who might have been too young to know otherwise.

The crowd cheered for her, Fluttershy smiling and blushing a little, still living up to her namesake, even if she silently appreciated the attention now rather than fearing it.

"And who do you think you are, able to challenge the mighty New Pegasopolis like this!" One of the guards asked, before getting smacked across the face by one of the Rebels guarding the surviving Pegasopolis Guards.

Applebloom looked over at the mare who had asked that, smiling as she thought of the perfect name for their little resistance group. "We're the Celestian Crusaders; dedicated to fightin' your tyranny and findin' a way to restore the rightful rulers to the throne!" Applebloom replied, the dedication in her tone inspirational to plenty, those still believing in the Princess' cheering, while those who had lost faith produced mixed reactions, though for the time being, religion didn't matter; they were all united by one common goal; to fight New Pegasopolis and destroy the much-hated regime.

"We better clear out soon, I don't think it'll be too long before somepony notices what we've done." Scootaloo said, Applebloom and Fluttershy nodding in agreement.

"What about them?" A Crusader asked, pointing over to the Pegasopolis Guards.

"Let them live." Sweetie Belle said.

"What!?" Scootaloo and Applebloom asked in unison.

"Look at them; they're tied up and defeated, they can't do us any harm. If we start murdering defenseless opponents, how does that make us any better than them?" Sweetie Belle asked, reminding Fluttershy of how soft she always was, even to the worst of enemies.

"You... You do make a point. Alright; they aren't worth our time anyway; let's get goin'." Applebloom said, seeing the wisdom in Sweetie Belle's appeal, though many others still has strong feelings about it. They left the camp behind, taking with them as much food, medicine, ammunition, and weaponry as they could carry, leaving the ruins of the prison behind to smolder until it was inevitably discovered by another train.