The Last Alicorn

Chapter 4: The Rebellion

"..and I've been living here pretty much my whole life..," I sighed, finishing my story to TreeTop.  He nodded, amazement shining in his eyes.

We sat at my balcony, basking in the light of the Eternal Day. After he had apologized and introduced himself, Treetop had been utterly shocked when he realized I was an alicorn. I guess it was a big deal where he comes from.

"I just can't believe I found you! Me! Not Ripred or Spectra! I found you!" he practically giggled in joy. I smiled.

I know what you're thinking. He punches me in the face and threatens to kill me, then all of a suddenly we're acting like best friends? The attack had been an honest mistake. TreeTop had been assigned to an annual patrol through the castle this year, and being the new guy in the rebellion, he was quite jumpy.

He sighed and grinned to himself, but it quickly faded, " I never did get your name..," he told me a bit awkwardly.

My mind went blank. Name...?

'Are you going to listen to us now?' the irritated voice of Celestia said, echoing through my thoughts.

'Fine, whatever, what do I tell him?' I whispered to them.

No answer. I wanted to yell at them.

'You choose a name for yourself,' Luna told me confidently.

Great. More wisdom from the ex-rulers of Equestria.

I couldn't answer TreeTop's question. Looking down at my unusual hooves, I refused to make eye contact with him. I could feel his blue gaze burning into my pink hide. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Do..do you not have a name?" he stuttered.

More awkward silence.

"Well, since you don't have one... I'll just give you one. What about..... Ally?" he inquired. A small smile spread across my lips. Ally the alicorn. So original.

I glanced up at the sun, letting its rays warm my fur. "Sola ...," I murmured to him, " Call me Sola,"

He nodded, " Well, Sola, it is nice to formally meet you,"

A flutter of wings interrupted us. I looked over my shoulder, coming face to beak with the crow that nearly scared the pee out of me earlier. A small roll of paper was held in its shiny beak. " Phantom, there you are," TreeTop called to the bird. At the sound of his voice, Phantom leapt past me and hopped over to him, dropping the note. Giving the bird a gentle pat with his hoof, he unfolded the scroll and started to read aloud.

Phantom returned to base without you, and we can only assume the worse. If you receive this letter, know that General Ripred is to arrive at your location shortly after you read this.

Stay safe.

~Commander Spectra.

"Oh geez..," TreeTop muttered, rubbing his face with his hoof.

'Great... now someone's coming to kill you..,' Cadence muttered to me. I ignored her.

Just then a blinding light suddenly sparked in the middle of the balcony, making me shield my eyes. A light breeze whipped around me before it slowly died away. "Private TreeTop?" came a rough voice.

Peeking between my hooves, I let out a small gasp. A white, muscular unicorn stallion stood tall and proud infront of Treetop, his back turned to me. His mane and tail had several shades of red spattered across its short length, with brilliant gold armor covering him from head to tail. Another non-alicorn!

Treetop lifted his hoof to his head in a salute, his face showing a frustrated expression. "General Ripred, sir," he responded in a formal matter.

I didn't move. This sounded serious, so I tried to melt into the background, not wanting to be seen.

Ripred let of a snort of annoyance, "Commander Spectra informed me you were in need of assistance... but I do not see any creature that may be a threat here... explain,"

Treetop rolled his eyes, "Well, sir, you see, I never called for assistance. I was never in trouble. I sent Phantom back to the base thinking that I was in a situation, but it was a false lead," he murmured bitterly.

Ripred's anger was about to explode, for his mane was starting to spark like a fire, the first sign of a rage-shift. Not wanting TreeTop to get in anymore trouble, I tapped on Ripred's shoulder. "Um... excuse me, do not blame Tre-," a magical aura grabbed my hoof and twisted it away from the unicorn stallion, making me yelp in pain.

What was up with all these unfriendly stallions?

Ripred whipped around, his horn glowing as he continued to twist my hoof. I almost screamed when I saw his face.

An empty eye socket was surrounded by ragged scars, revealing raw, pink flesh. It looked recent, maybe a week old.

His one remaining amber eye burned into mine, as if he was deciding whether or not to snap my hoof off. "Red stop!" I heard TreeTop shout, pulling Ripred's shoulder. Ripred released, letting me fall to the floor, but he didn't take his eye off of me. "What is the meaning of this, Private TreeTop?" he hissed, still watching me.

" Knock it off, Red. You might be a general, but you're still my friend, so shut up with army talk," TreeTop growled, glaring at Ripred. The general flinched at his words. Walking over to me, TreeTop held out his hoof. Taking it, I got up and dusted myself off.

"This, is Sola. She isn't a changeling, Red, she's an alicorn. A real alicorn..... she can help us.. she can stop the war. Red, she's what we've been looking for all these years!" he explained excitedly. Ripred looked at TreeTop, then at me, and back.

'Hey.. Sola.... can you please stop getting yourself almost killed? Being killed once already is fun enough,' Celestia said to me while I waited for Ripred's reaction.

'I appreciate all those years of keeping me safe, but its times for me to take fate into my own hooves,' I muttered to her crossly. Ripred's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Fine. She can come back to the base with us... but if Spectra doesn't trust her.. she's gone. You got that Tree?" he ordered.

TreeTop nodded, grinning at me.

Ripred cleared his throat, " Good, now, you and Phantom fly back to base, I can only teleport so many ponies at a time," he explained.

His wings buzzing to life, Treetop leaped into the sky, Phantom at his side. "See ya there!" he called down at us, then zipped away. I was left with Ripred....

He watched Tree until he was no more than a speck in the sky before turning to me. There was no emotion in his cold eye. "Shall we go?" I asked him somewhat nervously. He shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied simply.

'I swear, if he rapes you-'

'Shut up!' I interrupted Celestia.

Ripred cleared his throat again, "Ahem... I.. uh.. wanted to say.. sorry.. for that whole almost breaking your leg thing.....," he muttered. I was shocked. An apology was the last thing I had expected him to say.

I swung my long tail back and forth, "Its fine, I understand," I told him, forcing a tiny smile.

He let out a sigh of relief, his horn starting to glow, "Good.... and honestly, you seemed far too beautiful to be a changeling,"

What?

With a loud, magical pop, we disappeared.

Commander Spectra Dash sat in the Command Room, several maps of Equestria spread out in front of her. She ran a gray hoof through her colorful mane, hopelessly trying not to stress out. One hundred years. The citizens of Equestria had been fighting this war for one hundred years. Three generations of family fighting for something that was a lost cause. Both her grandparents and parents had died to this war....

Slamming her hooves on the table, Spectra swiped everything off of it. Hopeless! It was all hopeless! The enemy was too powerful, too tricky. She couldn't stand the thought of telling yet another family that they had one less member. Tears began to flow down hers cheeks, leaving dark streaks in their place.

A hand suddenly gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, startling her. Looking up, she was met the the familiar purple snout of a particular dragon. " Oh.. *sniffle* ... Spike. I didn't hear you come in...," she told the large dragon.

Spike was small for an adult dragon. True, he could barely fit into the command room, and a lot of the doorways in the base had to be enlarged for him, but he was still considerably small.

His green eyes met with Spectra's, " ... Spectra, you can't give up. You and the other Mane Five are the only ones keeping this place going," he murmured to her.

Spectra  tried to wipe away her remaining tears, " I just can't do it anymore, Spike. I'm not Rainbow Dash. I'm just her lowly granddaughter that got pinned with this job," she sputtered.

Spike looked at her, his brow creased in anger. "You do not talk that way, Spectra. What do you think that mark on your flank means? Hmm?" he muttered,pointing at her cutiemark. It was a simple lightning bolt, which was bathed in the shades of the color spectrum, placed in the middle of a light blue shield. He didn't give her time to answer, "It means you are a Dash, Spectra. The toughest and bravest of any other pegasi in this world. I knew your grandmother and parents better than anyone here, and I can tell you, you are nothing less of a Dash!"

Spectra still looked unconvinced. Spike decided to give it more more go, " Spectra, like it or not, you are the bearer of the element of loyalty, and right now I'm telling you to stay loyal to this group. You owe us that much!"

Spectra laughed at little, still wiping away tears.

"You're right Spike... I'm being selfish... maybe I need a few talks about generosity with Ripred," she joked. Spike let out a small laugh, patting Spectra's back.

"Shall I gather The Five?" he asked

Spectra nodded, composing herself, "Yes, right away,"

Within seconds, Ripred and I stood in the center of a large, somewhat full, room. The the dirt ceiling arched high over our heads, with muddy walls that were packed tight, but the most amazing part, was all the ponies in the room.

I had never seen so many in my life! Well, actually.. TreeTop and Ripred were the first I had ever met in real life.

They all bustled around the room, paying little to no attention to us. Some were tall, others were short. Some manes were curly, straight, or cut, and they all varied in every color imaginable!

"Welcome to the Resistance Central, " Ripred said proudly, "This is the main room in the entire underground complex, where the main entrance and main tunnels all are,"

'Did he say.... underground complex?' Luna gasped.

'No Luna, he said the Underground Railroad.... of course he said underground complex!' Celestia snapped back.

'Quiet, he's talking again!' Twilight whisper-yelled.

Ripred had taken a few steps forward, looking back at me. "You coming?" he called over his shoulder. I nodded, stumbling after him, my legs a little numb from teleporting here. He led me towards the largest tunnel in the room, probably large enough for a full grown dragon to fit in.

I followed, waving and smiling like an idiot at any pony who looked my way. Only when I saw some pegasi flying across the room did I notice the strange looking lights hanging on the walls. I leaned towards Ripred, "What.. are those?" I asked, gesturing towards the lights with one of my wings.

Ripred didn't even look, "Electric lights, haven't you ever seen those?" he questioned, still walking forward.

I shook my head, "I've never even left the palace before," I told him honestly.

"What?!" he replied, utterly baffled, "but there's not even a crumb of food or drop of water there!"

A loud voiced interrupted us. "Red!" In front of him, a rather young looking mare hobbled towards us. Her body was covered in a skin tight, black jumpsuit, a pair of gold and orange goggles resting on her head. Her mane was unusually straight, compared to some other ponies I had seen, but it was a brilliant, bright white, with a sunny, yellow hide. Her sky blue eyes didn't even glance at me, "RedSpectra'sgatheringthefivesomethingbigisabouttogoon," she rambled at light speed, staring intently at a small device strapped on her hoof.

"In English, Pen," Red sighed. The earth pony looked up at him.

" I said, Spectra is gathering the five. I think something big is about to happen," she repeated irritatedly. I stood next to Ripred, waiting for the teenage mare to notice me. She did.

She stepped towards me, raising a yellow hoof at my snout. Letting it in hover the air in front of me, she just squinted at my face. Her hoof abruptly shot at my nose, giving it a sharp jab. I leaped back, a bit surprised. She looked unimpressed, "That's a pretty lame camo-suit, there's no way the changelings will fall for that. The face is too glittery, your movements are too exaggerated, and the tail is..," she shuddered, " yeah, its... yeah,"

I was bewildered. Too glittery? Too exaggerated? Camo-suit? Ripred stepped in front of me, "Knock it off, PC, it isn't a suit,"

Turning her head to one side, the mare examined me again, "Oh.......eh... cool. Love the glitter, BTW, and, uh..., awesome tail. Very regal, and, hey, you're, like, an alicorn. It totally suits you," she giggled.

I feared for my life.

Red pulled me away. "Let's just go see what Spectra wants," he told me. The mare blocked our way.

"You're not getting away until I get a proper introduction," she paused to clear her throat, "My name is Penelope Cornelia Pie, but most ponies just call me PC. I'm the Head Techie around here, I design most of the weapons and fancy gizmos,"

Most of the words she used were gibberish to me," Oh...., I'm Sola, I-"

"Need to go talk to Spectra. Move it, Techie, lets go," Ripred interrupted gruffly, pushing past the overly excited mare.

" Blah blah blah bleh...," she mocked him quietly, pulling her goggles over her eyes. I snorted and trotted up behind Ripred, PC close to my side.

I needed to make a good impression on Commander Spectra.