Hoof of the North Starby Mister MalthusChapters2 - Defy the Will of the Goddess!? Luna's Terrible Army!3 - The Hooves of My Enemy!? An Unlikely Alliance!1 - A Light in the Darkness!? Bloody Hooves of the Furious Stars!2 - Defy the Will of the Goddess!? Luna's Terrible Army!Not so very long ago, in the magical land of Equestria… War. The seething resentment of generations of segregation and oppression finally exploded into a world-consuming firestorm. The Princesses have gone, their castle in ruins. Nopony knows anymore who or what caused the conflagration, only that nothing matters now but the primal law of strength and might. Those with power prey on the weak, in a wicked and brutal rule of nature ponies had thought was far behind them. But through this darkness walks a light. One pony with the strength and conviction to protect the innocent, and punish the wicked… -Hoof of the North Star- Episode 2: Defy the Will of the Goddess!? Luna’s Terrible Army! As Star sat, staring sullenly at the opposite wall in the cramped backseat of the transport wagon, she wondered whether the stars would consider her oath broken. Working with the Legion… she reflected that today wasn’t the first time somepony had used her filly to make her do something against her will. She would certainly make sure it was the last. She focused on more pressing, less nightmarish things. Cog sat to her left, lazing attractively, the hood of her form-hugging bodysuit pulled back, luxuriating as if trying to remind Star how much younger and more beautiful she was. She arched a perfect purple eyebrow at Star. “I do wish you wouldn’t look so sullen. This arrangement could be so much worse for you.” Her face lit with a wicked grin. “The boys wanted to have a go at your nethers for a while. Call me a traditionalist, but I just can’t see gang-rape as the prelude to a successful business relationship.” Star looked at the other unicorn, her eyes narrowing. “This is not a relationship of any kind. It’s blackmail.” Cog rolled her pretty eyes. “Oh yes, I suppose, if you want to be boringly literal about it-” “I do,” Star interrupted. “But that’s no reason we can’t be civil and treat one another with courtesy and respect.” Star smiled darkly. “I have to make sure at this point in the conversation that you aren’t interested in my nethers.” After a brief expression of mild shock had passed over her face, Cog laughed loudly. She shrugged. “Well. I wouldn’t say no to a poke at them, but that seems completely beside the point.” Star was staggered a bit by that one. “We… haven’t really talked about what you want me to do.” Cog sighed. “Oh, that. I thought maybe we could have some girl time together, but if you insist on talking about such boring things…” Star looked coldly at the lovely unicorn. “The only ‘girl time’ you and I are likely to have will involve your quick and messy death.” Cog threw her head back and laughed with the easy surety of a pony who has another over a barrel. Star couldn’t help but think of the many interesting ways she could maim or kill the unicorn at that point. She burned for her death. Her musical laugh dying away, Cog pouted at Star. “Now, Death-Hooves,” an informal title Star despised, “as I said before, there is no reason we can’t be civil.” A somewhat dangerous glint lit in her eyes. “And were I you I would take care. Offending somepony like me could be an unsafe proposition.” Star’s face was a neutral mask that she had learned early in life. “Is everything I say going to result in a threat on my daughter’s life or virtue? Because I have little respect for somepony who can’t help but point out the leverage they have.” “No no, dear. I love your daughter,” she spoke emphatically, placing a hoof on her breast. “The prospect of hurting her causes me great pain.” She met Star’s eyes, which many ponies feared to do, with an aggressive look. “The prospect of causing you pain, however…” she let the comment trail off. Star’s grimaced. “I have no more patience for this. Tell me what you need of me, so that I can have it done and get my daughter back.” “Very well,” trilled Cog, her airy smile returning. “Do you know of the Hidden City?” Star shrugged. “I’ve heard it mentioned. One of the largest of the Cults of Luna, I believe. They’re supposed to have an impressive army. But I thought nopony knew exactly where it was.” “The Legion has discovered it.” “So what do you want me to do?” Cog smiled wickedly. “We want you to get inside.” Star blinked. “But nopony has ever done that. Not anypony who came back, anyway.” Cog gave a one-shouldered shrug. “You’re resourceful and strong.” Star laughed nervously. “Yes, but I’m not invincible. Those ponies are worshipping something down there. And it definitely isn’t Luna. Call me uninterested, but I’d rather not find out what it is.” Cogs’ eyes narrowed dangerously. “How do you know?” She spat out with surprising ferocity. “How do I know what?” “That it isn’t Luna?” Cog burst out testily. Star watched the mare, whom she was now certain was insane, for a moment, before responding. “The Goddesses have been gone for hundreds of years-” “You don’t know that!” Cog shouted. “You have to admit there’s a possibility that it might be Luna down there.” Star shook her head in confusion. “I… guess. But what do you want me to go down to see the Cult of Maybe-Luna for?” Cog stared at Star for a few moments while she calmed down. “They have some… artifacts down there. We don’t know much about them. Our information is sketchy. But they seem to be fairly prominent in their worship, so they should be easy to find.” “Why would you want them?” Star asked incredulously. “They’re as likely as not to be useless trinkets, anyway.” Cog sniffed primly. “Why we want them is not your concern. We have information you don’t.” Star cocked her head. “How did you get so much information about a hidden enclave into which nopony has ever gone?” Cog grinned, seemingly back in her depth. As she was about to answer, the transport wagon shook violently. Star used her hooves to brace herself, a lifetime of training aiding her balance, and stayed in her seat. Cog, however, was thrown with some force against the right wall of the wagon. Then everything was still but for the sound of raised voices outside. After a few moments, there was a loud rapping on the back of the transport. “Legate Cog!” A stallion’s voice boomed out, “there is a problem!” Cog sighed and trotted down the short aisle to the door, pulling the lever with a flash of telekinetic light from her horn. It swung open, hitting the ground with a boom. A unicorn stallion stood outside, regarding the two mares awkwardly. “What’s the problem?” Cog purred, danger in her pretty eyes. “Uh…” the stallion stammered. “We hit a mine, Legate. Tread got blown off.” Cog nodded. “How long to fix it?” The stallion looked around nervously. “I don’t know that we can, Legate.” “I see.” She looked back at Star, grinning sweetly. “Are you up for walking, Death-Hoof?” - The Legion ponies walked in tight formation, wary of hidden threats in the mountains around them. These mountains had never been hospitable places for ponies, even long before the Atomites’ Great War, if the stories were to be believed. But these days they were haunted with insane cultists of Luna, sleeping dragons, and worse. There were also stories, even if nopony believed them, of strange creatures from before Equestria was born that now walked these hills freely. They weren’t a place, Star reflected, into which anypony -at least any sane pony- should go. She walked at the head of the Legion column, the way she had walked at the head of many a column of ponies as a younger mare and in happier times. Then the ponies behind her had been her friends and even family. Her acquired family, at least, which was all she had ever known. She hadn’t wondered about her real family, about the ponies who had actually given birth to her, since she was just a filly. Now she could feel the leering eyes of the Legion on her. Judging her, viewing her as nothing more than a resource to be used and discarded, and despising her for what she had done to their comrades. Star was so tired of all of this. Beside her walked Cog, who seemed to be leading this unit now in the absence of any high-ranking soldiers, most of whose blood Star had taken a bath in back at Hope village. Her eyes were drawn briefly to the east. She wondered about the prison Bastion, far away. Was Silvercloud really there? She knew now that she needed to see her sisters, even the ones who had gone astray, before she died. Only the Goddesses knew how that would turn out. The sun had not yet set since they had left Hope a few days ago, although here in the mountains its heat was less intense, veiled by clouds and muted by low pressure, the long Daylight continued. Cog walked with certainty and grace, and Star began for the first time to believe that she really might know where to find the Hidden City. Star knew that ability to inspire confidence by nothing more than her appearance to be a valuable quality in a pony whose task it was to lead other ponies. At least in that respect, she supposed Cog wasn’t the worst choice for a commanding officer -or whatever a ‘Legate’ was- that she had ever met. Still, they had been walking for hours. Overcoming her general revulsion with the purple unicorn, Star took in a mouthful of air to ask Cog how long it would be before they found the Hidden City. She paused, noticing something off about the air for the first time. It tasted strange. Like water with soap in it. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but she knew it wasn’t likely to be good. Star cast her eyes around at the undifferentiated rock. Her adrenal glands fired only a brief early warning before a muffled clatter of tin on stone sounded and the explosives detonated. Inequine shouts of fury echoed off the rocks as an unknown enemy fell upon the Legion column. The explosives, Star could see, were mainly meant to create smoke, to obscure sight and frustrate communication, rather than to kill. Still, the explosions, hitting the middle and end of the column, had badly injured a few Legion soldiers, and Star could hear their moans over the frenzied battle cries. Star gasped as an enormous creature lumbered at her out of the thick smoke. It was taller than a pony, standing on two muscular legs and brandishing strong arms the size of small tree-trunks. It carried a shield and a spear made of some odd material resembling an insect carapace. Star thought the creature looked vaguely familiar. She had precious little time to give it serious thought before the strange beast screamed at her with a gurgling roar, flashing a mouth full of small, sharp teeth. Its gray, hairless flesh was puckered and its large, milky, vaguely lambent eyes were empty of any recognizably equine feeling. Without much preamble it shrieked its frothing roar at her and drove its spear down with lighting speed and precision. Dodging lightly away as the spear struck the rock where she had been, Star thrust a forehoof quickly and powerfully into the haft, snapping the spear into two pieces with a sickening crunch, the carapace it was made of harder than wood but more brittle than metal. Backing away from the creature, she paused in the eerie still of her adrenaline rush, a state with which she was all too familiar, and briefly considered her options. She watched the disturbing creature as it stumbled, unable to arrest the momentum from the snapping spear. She got the impression it couldn’t see very well, being clearly a creature adapted for subterranean life. She wasn’t sure its chakras were laid out in any familiar manner, and shuddered at the thought of touching it at any rate, even with her magic. Quite apart from physical unpleasantness, there was a slimy, disgusting magic about the creature, similar to the wrongness she had tasted in the air, with which she didn’t wish to entwine her own abilities. A projectile was the obvious answer. Her wish was granted as the creature, seething with rage, threw the broken half of its spear in a brief but dangerous parabola towards her skull. Seizing it with magical force using one of the more rudimentary techniques of the Starhoof, she gave a small smile as she catapulted it back at the creature. The jagged, broken end of the spear messily penetrated one lambent eye. The creatures’ head jerked back and it let out a terrible gurgling roar before falling heavily back to the stony ground, twitching. Around her, the Legion were beginning to mount a defense, forming into as tight a phalanx as possible considering their numbers and making somewhat surprising progress against the group of creatures. Star looked on with considerable awe. She had never failed to be impressed with a Legion phalanx, even when she had broken them. Pegasi and earth ponies stood in front, wingblades whirling dangerously at those who dared to close distance, stronger earth ponies facing off boldly against the creatures like wrestlers while the weaker ones bore sharp swords or cudgels in their mouths which scythed and swooped through the air with deadly accuracy. She had always been impressed by masters of armed combat who weren’t unicorns. They stood behind, raising barriers to protect the gaps left by their brethren or creating death and confusion among the creatures. It was the perfect synthesis of the three races of ponies for which the Legion was so well-known. Mares and stallions fought alongside, a thing unheard of for many other groups of ponies. Evil, she reflected, but egalitarian evil. The creatures, sensing a stiffer fight than they were prepared for out here in the light of the sun, gathered together and withdrew quickly, keeping tight and in formation like professional soldiers. The Legion, in a similar and even more impressive show of professionalism, made no effort to follow their beaten and clearly retreating foes. Instead, they turned to their dead and wounded comrades. Star couldn’t miss the Legion ponies that the horde of creatures carried with them, some screaming loudly, some unconscious. Cog faded in beside her once the creatures were gone. Small sharp discs, surrounded by sheaths of purple telekinesis, deposited themselves back into her saddlebags. Practically speaking, Star was very impressed with the young unicorn. Both she and her discs were splattered with the black, steaming blood of the strange creatures. Despite her obvious vanity she didn’t seem bothered. The unicorn did have a look of rage on her face. It was directed at Star. “You barely even tried, Death-Hoof!” Star didn’t correct her mispronunciation of the hated title. She shifted her expression to a neutral mask. “I don’t know what you mean.” She snorted. “You’re telling me I’m a more efficient killer than the heir to the fucking Deathhooves Style!? I brought down five of those things. You barely took out one!” Her face was close to Star’s own now, her anger apparent. Star had neither time or patience to point out how large and fearsome the creature attacking her had been. Much larger than the other corpses lying around them. Star arched an eyebrow. “You do have a temper, don’t you?” Faster than she would have given the mare credit for, Cog’s hoof struck her square across the face. It didn’t hurt, of course. But it still made the blood-drenched pony in Star’s mind start screaming about all the ways she could kill the little unicorn. She looked into the obviously-insane yellow eyes, pausing for a menacing glare of her own. “I think you should see to your soldiers,” she said quietly. Not flinching, Cog spat on the ground near Stars’ hoof, some black blood mixed in with the saliva. It happened in close combat, as Star knew well. “Seems I’m the only one who will,” she said as she turned to her recovering ponies. Star shook her head. The fight had been costly. At least five more Legion ponies lay dead on the field, and twice that had been taken captive. The Legion’s strength at the best of times was never in numbers, and Cog’s unit was growing stretched. Star walked over to the creature she had felled and took a closer look. It couldn’t be… “Cog!” She shouted to the mare. A dangerous look in her eye, the unicorn turned to Star. “What?” “I… think that these are… or maybe were at one time… Diamond Dogs.” Cog wrinkled her nose, a very attractive gesture, Star had to admit. “That’s impossible.” She trotted over. “We have treaties or alliances with almost all of the Delver Tribes.” Star looked quizzically at Cog. “Delver?” “That’s how Diamond Dogs refer to themselves. The Atomites might have learned that at one point or another if they had taken the time to speak with them. They are intelligent creatures, you know.” Cog looked frustrated. Star had the feeling she had gone through this same conversation before. Star looked back to the corpse of the strange creature. “You’re an interesting pony, Cog…” Cog looked nonplussed. “Thanks?” Star was also confused by the direction the exchange had taken. “You’re… welcome?” Cog cleared her throat. “Anyway,” Star continued. “I’m almost certain this is a Diamond Dog. It, and probably its ancestors have lived underground for a long time. And somepony used some really hardcore dark magic on it. But at one time…” Finally, Cog nodded. “I think I’ll agree. There are some similarities.” Her expression grew dark. “But I wonder what in the pits of Tartarus could have happened to it?” Star shrugged. “Something unspeakable on at least some level.” “Well, it doesn’t matter at the moment.” The pretty young mare smiled daintily at the older one. “You are going to go find my men.” Star turned to the young unicorn. “What!?” Cog regarded her primly. “Watch your tone. Remember your situation. The Legion never leaves anypony behind if we can help it.” Star looked at the mare -barely more than a filly, really- with undisguised anger. “I don’t care about your soldiers. If I weren’t under coercion I’d kill them myself.” Cog stepped too close, directly into Stars physical killzone, she couldn’t help but notice. Here, she could end the brutal young mare with her own two hooves. “Many of them are fighting for their families, for their communities. Do you grudge them that?” “Yes, I do,” Star said immediately. Cog snorted and composed herself. “What you think doesn’t matter to me, Death-hooves.” With an upraised hoof, she gestured to a group of six Legion ponies, all fairly sleek and healthy. They came over immediately. “These ponies are all excellent trackers. As if the trail will be hard to find in the first place. Bring all of my ponies back alive.” Star bit back another insult. She swallowed it down along with her disgust at all of these ponies. She was mostly disgusted with herself; that she had allowed herself to have a civil conversation with a monster like Cog for even one second. She still hadn’t made up for Hope. She simply gestured to the group of Legion trackers, three earth ponies, a unicorn, and two pegasi, all mares, and headed off with a seething look at Cog in parting. - Cog had been right; the trail hadn’t been hard to follow. It was an obvious trail of blood and filth, leading into the open, gaping maw of a cave. Nothing could be heard from within. Star looked to the Legion unicorn who stood behind her. “Can you light the way?” One of the mares scoffed. “I’d have thought that the great Death-Hooves would be able to muster a simple magical light.” Star shrugged, looking back at the dark mouth of the cave. These ponies were not her friends. “My magical talents don’t lie in that area.” “No,” said another mare, a Pegasus. “You can only use your magic to make a good soldier’s eyes explode.” Star kept her eyes forward. “Actually, I did that with my hoof. Was he a friend of yours?” “You bitch-!” The pegasus made a move for her, but the unicorn, a wiser pony, held her back. “As entertaining as all of this is for me, girls,” said Star, “I can’t see how it’s getting us any closer to rescuing your friends. Isn’t that what you were here for?” With unpleasant sidelong glances, the unicorn walked up, a modestly bright light shining from her horn as they trotted cautiously into the cave. Star kept close behind the her. Unnoticed by the others, she closed her eyes as they entered the cave. I bet I can find you, Silver… she thought wistfully to herself, an unlikely smile lighting up her face. - She was around the same age as Splints when Elder Comet first taught them how to see while blind. She was never as good at it as Thundercrash. Nopony was ever as good at anything as Thundercrash. She ran through the halls of the temple where she had been raised, giggling under her blindfold as she searched with her filly’s senses for her sisters. Comet made it a game, the same as he did with every part of their training that he possibly could. She couldn’t see, but all of her other senses worked even better. They didn’t let her ‘see’ as far as her eyes did, though. Still, she knew the temple well enough in her mind’s eye to know where she was. Silvercloud had already found Gem and Tree. That was no surprise, she thought as she huffed with joy, navigating stairs expertly. Gemstone was always the first one to get found. Of course, she knew as she searched around the hall, it was more the finding than the hiding that was the point of the exercise. What could she possibly have to hide from anyway, she wondered, when she grew up to be a big strong warrior-pony? At that moment she stopped, standing stock-still, a hoof in the air as she listened. A few rooms over, she knew she could hear somepony. Grinning gleefully, she ran as lightly as possible through the open doorway. She thought she was going into the monks’ cloisters, mostly empty these days. That always made her sad. In the third room down the hall, she heard something. At the sound of the gasp, Star knew she had been heard as well. She knew it was Silvercloud already, knew the sound of her sweet, clear, silky voice, of her breathing, even. They had spent enough Nightlights and Daylights together, sleeping or playing, making up silly stories about what their real families were like, or crying after Comet, in response to their insistent inquiries, finally told them what had happened to the world outside of the temple. “Silver?” Said Star. At the same time, Silvercloud spoke. “Star?” They both smiled. Star took off her blindfold and found herself looking into the pegasus’ sweet pink eyes. Star had always been jealous of her sister; she was so graceful and long-limbed. Star felt that she was awkward and stubby, though Silver assured her, in the sweet way she had of making everypony feel better, that she would grow out of it someday. Silver smiled sweetly “I guess we both got found, huh?” “Yeah,” Star pouted. “And here I wanted to try and find Thunder today…” The pegasus cast her eyes towards the ceiling, thinking for a moment before she leaned close. “Well… we can pretend this never happened. Nopony has to know.” Star almost gasped at the suggestion. “Wouldn’t that be breaking Comet’s rules?” Silver shrugged. “Maybe a little bit, but… how much would it hurt anypony, really?” For a moment, Star thought seriously about it, a contemplative look on her face. The thoughtful expression was broken by a sudden smile. “You’re right! It’s so much more fun this way!” She put her blindfold back on, but could still feel the gentle presence of the gray Pegasus. “Did you see anypony, Silver?” There was a pause as Silvercloud put her blindfold on again. “Nope! Nopony in here!” Giggling, the two dashed off in opposite directions, and at that moment, Star couldn’t imagine how there could ever be a day as perfect as this one. - The smell inside the cave was nightmarish. She hadn’t been prepared for the smell, despite the fact that the decaying world the Atomites had left behind was full of more smells more horrible than she could ever have imagined before she had come into it. The smell of burning flesh, the smell of unwashed ponies, the smell of decay or blood… this was worse than all of the most terrible smells of the Wastes combined. Her eyes were still closed, the light of the Legion unicorn’s horn a dull red glow through her eyelids. She could feel each of the six mares around her, almost see them in her mind’s eye. There were other things as well, moving ponderously out in the darkness beyond the light of the mare’s horn. She knew what they were, could smell them and, as a pleasant bonus, could feel the sickening, slimy magical aura that hung around them, oozed off them. Star was certain at that moment that this had been a pointless mission. There were no ponies out beyond the vague light of the Legion pony’s horn. Beyond that light was a world anathema to ponies. She knew the Legion mares could feel it too, heard them breathing hard and whimpering unintentionally. They all knew the same thing; the Legion ponies these monsters had drug into this cave were dead if not worse. She reacted quickly when she sensed the things out in the darkness scuttling forward, shouting a warning to the unicorn mare. She could already tell the mare was doomed, and there was nothing she nor anypony else could do about it. Star simply couldn’t move quickly enough. The other mares cried out as their comrade was dragged screaming into the horde surrounding them, and her screams were cut off with a chilling finality. Star, for her part, threw herself into the darkness, striking out at the figures as she became aware of them, unable to aim for their chakras, but shattering their carapaces and killing or fatally wounding them just as certainly. The monsters, unprepared, hissed and seethed and gurgled their unpleasant surprise. Her hooves caused them catastrophic damage, the rigorous training of the Deathhooves style having made her far stronger than a regular pony. Her senses reeled as she came in contact with them, the slimy magical aura seeming to stick to her, not causing any harm of which she was aware, but filling her with a dull, bleak hopelessness. She focused on the fight, and as she struck out, the creatures died. She winced as she caved in a face with a crushing blow from her hoof. She felt the sticky, warm blood within oozing out. Another she bucked almost in half as it tried to sneak up behind her, spear raised. She was dimly aware of the remainder of the Legion ponies screaming and crying, and could only distinguish three voices remaining. Star shouted as loud as she could. “Legion ponies! Here! Stay close to me!” “Where are you!?” One shouted, sobbing hysterically, just before giving a long, high-pitched wail which was cut off at its’ zenith. “Come on!” She shouted desperately. “We’ve got to go!” Rushing towards the remaining voices, leaping over the sweeping haft of a chitinous spear as she ran, she felt a Legion mare press against her hard and hold tight, weeping and trembling. She could smell blood and sweat from her, as well as other liquids. The little mare was terrified, and no matter what she was or what she may have done, Star swore quietly to guide at least her out safely. As she made her way for the exit, eyes still shut tight, she heard a slow, laborious, grinding noise coming from in front of her. One of the creatures was pushing a boulder over the exit. Her heart sank as she heard it slam to. It was possible to get through it, but not without a moment to focus. She couldn’t do that with a spear in her back. She spun when she reached the exit, bucking the legs out from under the creature who had blocked the door and bringing a forehoof down on its skull, crushing it. She was overexerting herself. The Legion earth pony screamed as she was showered with the viscera from the creature’s rupturing cranium. Star turned to face the crowd in the darkness, immediately pulling up a shield. She was surprised not to hear any projectiles hit it. She sighed, opening her eyes. She looked out on pitch blackness. She tried closing them again. As she had thought, there was no difference at this point. Not with the entrance blocked. Still, the creatures weren’t surging towards her in their inexorable numbers just yet. I may get out of this alive after all, she thought to herself. From out of the darkness a horrible, gurgling voice spoke. It was clearly not used to speaking Equestrian. “Hail. Warrior pony,” it said haltingly, but with surprising intelligence. “You fought… well. Many Moonspears… fallen.” It was a credit to her fortitude that the Legion pony was simply mumbling nonsense under her breath, rather than screaming hysterically. She held Star tightly, her earlier dislike a dim memory. “None who have… ever entered this place have done… so well. We… honor you.” Star had the impression of the strange horde bowing as one. She nodded, keeping her face neutral even in the dark. “A true honor would be to move this rock so that this mare and I can leave,” Star proclaimed to the darkness. A hissing chorus of gurgles went up from the surrounding army. The mare at her side cowered, whimpering helplessly. Although her face was an unexpressive mask, Star was right there with her on the inside. However, she was just about ready. “Pony is not… in a position to bargain with us. And yet… we offer you… such mercy… as we have to give you.” Star was legitimately curious. “Oh?” “Give to us the soldier-pony-” at this the mare at Star’s side clutched her tightly, whining and sobbing pathetically, pouring out variations on the themes of ‘please’ and ‘no’. Star shushed her and nodded to the strange voice to signal her understanding. It continued. ‘Give her… and warrior-pony will be allowed… to join honored guests.” “Whose ‘guests’ do you mean?” Star’s rear legs throbbed with stored power now. But she was curious. She could swear there was mirth in the awful voice. “Goddess… Luna… of course.” Star frowned. They were either insane or… no, on second though, they were definitely insane. She wanted nothing more than to leave this place. Everything about it was wrong. “I’m sorry,” she told them. “But that isn’t happening.” Her eyes flaring white, she lashed out at the massive stone behind her with a supernaturally-strong buck. At the impact, the stone cracked and shattered into many pieces. With some effort Star took the shards in her telekinetic grip, catapulting them as fast as she could into the angry hissing screams that went up in a chorus from the horrific creatures. Then she turned and galloped back out into the cloudy Daylight, which looked to be drawing to a close, as quickly as possible. The earth pony clung to her miserably. As soon as they were in the light and had put some significant distance between themselves and the awful cave, she noticed the filth and black blood that covered both she and the earth pony. “Eww!” she whined. - Cog was predictably furious. “Where are the prisoners!? And the other trackers I sent with you!? You’ve done this on purpose!” Star stood her ground. “You’re a lunatic. The Legion must be seriously slipping for somepony like you to be put in charge.” She momentarily chewed on something she found in her mouth, likely acquired during the course of the close-quarters battle in the cave, before realizing she didn’t know what it was and probably didn’t want to know. She spat it out on the ground and tried not to think about it. Cog fumed. “I send you in with my best trackers to retake a few captured soldiers, and you return with one barely-functioning earth pony? I’m starting to think little Moon wasn’t even worth abducting.” It was at that point that Star nearly lost her temper. It was only the thought of Moon’s safety that kept her from killing the pretty but clearly very stupid Legate. “You sent me and your ponies to our deaths in there. I hope whatever you’re trying to accomplish here is worth it. I’m sick of this. Let’s get on with it.” Cog looked at Star with disgust. “As you say. But fail me so badly again and maybe I will tell them to use dear little Moon as entertainment.” Growling to herself, Star walked away from the situation lest it turn on her. She found a spot removed from the Legion to sit and try not to cry. She wanted to see Moon, go back home, and try to live as gentle a life as she could. She had never felt like the Heir. And she didn’t now. Hearing hoofsteps, she turned her dour gaze on the blood and filth-covered earth pony she had rescued, a pretty young mare with a cream-colored hide, yellow mane, and blue eyes. She was still trembling, but she sat down at a healthy distance and smiled. Her cutie mark was a bloodstained dagger, Star noticed. “What?” Star asked her flatly. It took the mare a long time to get going on that one. She tried to start a few times but kept choking on her own tears. Finally, she got her hooves under her, conversationally speaking. “I just wanted to say… thank you.” Star’s flat, disgusted expression did not change. “Was there more?” “I… I know what you think of us. And you’re right. We don’t deserve your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. I’ve done so many horrible things. Watched so many horrible things happen. And done nothing to stop them. There isn’t an excuse.” She was silent for several moments. “…I guess what I’m trying to say is that you helped me out in there and you didn’t really have to. You probably didn’t even want to. But it means something to me.” Star couldn’t stand herself for being taken in by this ponyshit. But she looked at the little mare and suddenly saw not just a filthy, gore-streaked Legion monster, but a deeply-flawed young pony who maybe hadn’t wanted her to life to be this way. Goddesses knew, she had met many of those. Been one of those, even. Her awkward speech finished, she rose shakily and turned to leave. Star spoke up. “…wait.” The pony turned, still shaky on her hooves, and looked at Star in surprise. None of this, Star couldn’t help but notice, seemed feigned. “I don’t know your name.” The pony smiled weakly. “It’s… Tulip.” Star couldn’t help it; her eyes flickered from the bloody dagger on her flank to the earnest blue eyes. “Ah. My mama wanted me to be a flowerpony.” She looked away in obvious pain. “That didn’t work out.” “I’m Star, Tulip.” Although she wondered about the cutie mark, it was rude to ask. Awkwardly, Tulip looked up at her. “You’re… wondering how I got it, aren’t you?” Star nodded lightly. Tulip sat down again, a little closer, pausing for a long moment before she began. “The town where I was born was… small. Sort of like…” she looked away awkwardly, not finishing the comparison of her town to Hope, in whose destruction she had played a vital role. “It wasn’t as nice, though. Families fought each other over resources. My mama thought it didn’t have to be that way. She knew a lot about books. She could read and write, do math and science. She was the smartest pony in the town. And she always tried to get them to solve their problems without violence.” She smiled vaguely, a sad expression. “They never did, though.” She resumed, not looking at Star. “Anyway, one day while my papa, who was a really strong pony, was away, my best friend’s brother broke into our house. And he…” her face contorted as she tried to say what came next. “Killed my mama. Slow, too. And… he did other things, before. I was there. I saw him do it.” There were small tears in the corners of her eyes. “And when he was finished, when my mama was dead, I knew I was gonna find him and do the same to him. So I took a knife from my papa, and the next time he was sleeping, I snuck into his house and into his room... and I just kept cutting and cutting until somepony pulled me off. That’s when this showed up on my flank.” She sniffled. “I guess it was a few years later that the Legion came through. They…” she trailed off and Star, without much difficulty, filled in the blanks. “And after a while I guess I proved myself to them. And I’ve been doing this ever since. I-” she cut off before she went any further, seemingly abandoning her next statement. Star spoke softly. “I hope you didn’t feel that you owed that to me.” Tulip looked up, wiping her eyes with her hooves and trying to smile. “No. I haven’t really ever told anypony that. Barely remembered it myself. But… thank you.” Star fixed her with her silver stare. She wasn’t sure if she should speak her thoughts, but ultimately she did it anyway. “I think you’re better than this, Tulip.” The earth pony gave one pathetic sob and then swallowed the rest down. “I’d better get back.” She left quickly. Star sat and stared into the undifferentiated gray hills. She was tired. - Cog glared at her as she re-entered the quiet Legion camp. “We need to speak privately,” she said simply, then turned and began trotting away. Star followed. Once out of earshot of the other ponies, Cog sighed and turned to Star, barely-restrained hatred in her eyes. “There’s something I need to say. I would appreciate if you would just let me say it. Alright?” Sitting down, Cog nodded at the young unicorn. She met Star’s eyes. “I know what I said earlier. About… Moon. That was out of line. I don’t like you. I hate you. Pretty sure you feel the same way about me. About all of us.” She flashed a brief smile. “Though I’m pretty certain you’re in with Tulip if you’re in the mood for that.” Star scowled at her vulgarity. “That started off almost politely.” Cog shrugged, her smile fading. “I just wanted you to know that for all practical purposes, you are now a member of the Legion.” She raised a hoof to silence Star’s objection. “Against your will, perhaps, but that changes nothing. And trying your hardest but still failing is never looked on as failure in the Legion.” Star arched an eyebrow and cocked her head quizzically. “Are you trying to give me a pep talk?” Cog rolled her pretty eyes. “No… yes. Maybe a little bit.” She shook her head in frustration. “What I’m really trying to say is that if you go down there and never come up again, there will be no repercussions for your daughter. We will care for her and raise her as well as possible.” Star couldn’t keep the shock off her face. For ponies that methodically raped, exterminated, and dominated other ponies, this was surprisingly decent. “Thank… you?” These exchanges between Cog and herself always seemed to be more awkward than usual. Cog gave another frustrated sigh. “Yes. We’ll do everything we can for her. Though I’d guess the loss of her mother will be a wound that never heals. And I do like your daughter.” She leaned forward, her eyes seething with dislike. “So you’d better do your best to come out of there, Death-Hoof.” Star nodded curtly. “I’m… still not sure what I’m looking for down there.” Seemingly back in her depth, Cog gave a condescending smirk. “All in good time, my little pony.” She beckoned with a hoof as they began heading back towards the camp. Star wasn’t sure what she was planning to do with the 60 or so ponies left standing, but Cog needed to do it quick. If they grew much weaker these hills would consume them and they would never be heard from again. Cog led her to a ridge overlooking the camp and levitated a pair of binoculars from her saddlebag. She gestured with a hoof to a bare rock face about 350 meters from the camp. “Look at that. What do you see?” Star gently levitated the binoculars out of Cog’s magical grip. She was much stronger, even telekinetically, than the svelte young unicorn. Placing them over her eyes, she looked at the bare cliff to which Cog had referred. She studied it for a moment before answering. “Am I meant to be seeing anything?” “That,” Cog spoke proudly, “is the entrance to Luna’s Hidden City.” Star gave her an incredulous look and looked back through the binoculars. “That must be some heavy illusion magic.” “It isn’t magic. That’s a well-hidden gate. There’s another gate beyond it. The city isn’t new. It’s built on -or possibly in- someplace much older. Ruins. Or a crypt of some kind.” “Atomite?” Star inquired. Cog considered as Star kept studying the cliff face. She would believe it was a gate when she saw it. “I don’t think so. Even the Atomites had few if any outposts in these mountains. It’s something older than them.” Star levitated the binoculars back to the Legate. “What, then?” Cog shrugged. “How should I know? I’m not interested in archaeology. Some in the Legion think we need to reclaim some half-imagined ‘glorious past’ in order to have a future, but not me.” She looked out to the bare wall of rock. “I say let it stay buried.” “Strange to hear you say that, given our errand here.” “I’m under orders, Death-Hoof. Nothing else.” Star nodded. “Following orders isn’t always a bad thing.” She looked pointedly at Cog. “Until the orders become insane.” Cog rolled her eyes. “Let’s not fight, alright, dear?” Star just gave a disgusted grimace and shook her head. “So you say that’s a gate. We’ll take that as established for the moment. How am I meant to get in?” With time to focus and probably after a little sleep, Star might have been able to break it, but that would leave her with almost no energy to face whatever dangers she might find inside. Cog just smiled. “I’ve got all that taken care of, Stars.” The young pony looked genuinely excited, her eyes sparkling. “I have a gift for you.” “Oh?” The unicorn’s horn flared, and out of her saddlebag floated a tightly-folded black bundle. She allowed it to unfurl, and Star saw that it was a dark stealth suit like the one Cog had worn when she first appeared. In the dying light of the finally-fading Daylight, a Daylight that had gone on for weeks if Star’s memory served her rightly, she could see that it was laced or embroidered with some kind of elegant tracery, looking like vague but strangely uniform gold veins running somewhere just underneath its black surface. The younger unicorn grinned brightly at Star. Within moments, she blushed, seeming to remember herself and calming down. At that moment, Star wondered just how young she was. “Um, so, Death-Hoof… do you know the magic required to activate one of these?” “N...” The unicorn didn’t let her finish. “No of course you don’t, because my own personal dad...” she stuttered awkwardly for a moment. “…Because the Legion invented them.” Her smile now was self-satisfied. “But I can teach you.” There was an odd singsong nature to her speech at the moment. Is this what she’s usually like? Star wondered. “Put it on,” Cog admonished, still staring at the elder unicorn. Star took the suit lightly in her own telekinetic sheath, looking pointedly for a moment at Cog. When she didn’t seem to take the hint, Star raised her right foreleg and spun it around while it faced downwards, indicating that she should turn around. Cog started mildly and turned. Star shook her head and undressed quickly. “You need to get out of those, anyway,” Cog said over her shoulder. “Those clothes are filthy.” She spoke as though Star could possibly remain unaware that she was covered in a light sheath of unnatural blood and viscera. Testily, Star deposited her worn clothes and saddlebag in a pile, stepping gingerly into the bodysuit, which even had a sheath for her horn. It was tight but strangely snug, and after a few seconds felt sort of like not wearing anything at all. “Done?” Cog asked her without turning. “Yes,” Star told her, getting used to the dimensions of the suit. Cog turned and started, a strange expression on her face. “Wow. Don’t let it go to your head, Death-Hoof, but you actually look pretty good in that. You’ve kept a nice figure for a mare your age.” “I’m not even that old…” Star muttered angrily. “Yes, well.” She looked Star up and down once again. “How are you with spells?” “With some I’m almost perfect. Others… not so much.” Cog nodded. “Well, I can either teach you the spell or cast it on you. It would be best if you learned it, because a variety of things can disrupt it if you’re not careful.” Star nodded. It took about an hour of fruitless horn-sparkings and sullen expressions of dislike passing between the two mares, but Star finally managed to successfully cast the invisibility suit spell. She discovered she didn’t like being invisible much. She felt insubstantial enough already without being unable to see herself. The sun was low on the horizon when she disengaged the spell. Cog nodded, looking tired. “Fine. We should get a little sleep while we have Nightlight. It’s so much easier to sleep when the sun isn’t out.” “It could come out again in an hour,” Star pointed out. “Please don’t ruin my fun, Death-Hoof.” Star smiled a bit in spite of herself. “You mind telling me the plan before we bed down?” She told her. Star blinked. “That’s insane. But I can’t really object, can I?” Cog grinned. She loaned Star a sleeping bag and a pillow, and Star set up apart from the rest of the Legion. She thought for a moment, as she closed her eyes, about finding Tulip and seeing if Cog had been correct. She may not have been into mares, but it would be such a good way of keeping warm. That, she thought as she drifted off, was possibly the very worst thing she had ever thought of doing. - It wasn’t long afterward that she woke, shivering. The stars were out, clear and crisp in the cold mountain sky, the clouds having moved on. It was Nightlight now, and nopony could say for how long. Usually Nightlight and Daylight lasted anywhere from several hours to two or three days. Nightlight, as a general rule, was shorter. However, from time to time, as with the just-ended Daylight, one cycle could persist for weeks or even months. It had been this way for over two centuries, and most native flora had either adapted or died out. Star, for her part, still wasn’t used to it. She groaned as she rose, looked over to see the shape of a unicorn pony walking towards her. It resolved itself slowly into Cog. “Rested now?” Was all she said. Star nodded groggily. She could see the Legion ponies assembling around her, gearing up with hard looks on their faces. They wore the expressions of soldiers who knew they probably weren’t going home. Cog saw Tulip, equipping herself like the rest of them. The earth pony mare gave her an awkward, confused smile, obviously not knowing what else to do. Star returned it in kind. Cog was now back in her own stealth suit, cleaned of the fetid-smelling black blood as best as it could be. She looked towards the supposed gate to the Hidden City. “Nothing now but to have it done,” she said. She looked back to Star. “Meet up at the rallying point once you have… whatever it is.” Star nodded, wiping the sleep from her eyes and focusing. With a flash of white, she was invisible. Cog spoke to the air where she had been. “Good hunting,” with that, she was off. The Legion was efficient. Assembly took no longer than when Star had commanded soldier ponies years ago. She continued to be impressed by their efficiency. Of course, she reminded herself, that was what made them so much worse than any other random group of marauders. As she moved into position behind the column, she noticed Tulip again, now fully-armored and looking nervous. Something hurt inside her when she looked at the small earth pony. She reminded herself of what Tulip was, despite her appearance or her personal tragedy. And discovered she didn’t much care. At heart, no matter what she had done, ponies like Tulip were still innocents. In a place like this, that sometimes earned them death as much as it did the monsters. Star walked near her, wanting to speak but unable to think of anything to say. The march was not a long one, and soon the small Legion force stood before the gate. Star still didn’t know that she believed it was one, and yet she had to admit that the way the topography of the area led up to it was disconcerting. A pegasus stallion stepped forward. Star could feel a sickening, oily sort of magic around her, like the aura accompanying the Moonspears but subtly different. It didn’t notice her, she thought, but she could feel it questing, searching, like writhing tentacles. This was a bad place, she knew suddenly. Worse than she had thought before. Maybe one of the worst places in the entire Waste. The stallion stood before the rock face, looking like he felt silly, and proclaimed in a loud voice: “We are the Legion! We demand that the ponies of the Hidden City turn us away or surrender, in accordance with our own law and with ancient custom!” He certainly knew how to project. Star could feel the strange presence moving around, feeling out the Legion ponies. She watched the bare stone. Nothing happened. For some time, nothing continued to happen. Things were beginning to look awkward. Star waited. She looked around but couldn’t see Cog. Most likely vanished already. After what seemed like a very long time, there was a resounding crack from the rock face, and it began, slowly, to split down the middle. Star couldn’t believe it. The noise of rock grinding on rock was deafening. Even more so were the exultant, hissing gurgles of the Moonspears that began pouring from the entrance as soon as it was open wide enough to accommodate them. The first to squeeze its way, screaming and hissing and laughing, through the fast-opening door was impaled through a bright eye by a unicorn-cast spear. Over that corpse many more Moonspears surged with an insane and terrible din as the gate continued to part. One of the fiercest battles Star had ever seen was joined within moments. The Moonspears were clearly strengthened and fortified by the Nightlight, their lambent eyes blazing, and they no longer feared the stalwart defensive phalanx of the Legion ponies, no matter how many of them it might kill. Star slipped past the raging battle. She hoped the sacrifice of these capable soldiers was worth whatever she would find down there. Moonspears continued to pour out the dark hole, but Star nimbly ducked and dodged around them, finding an alcove in which to hide while they passed by. She was certain the Legion was outnumbered roughly 5 to 1. They were all going to die. Cog, she knew, would escape. She was just that kind of pony. Star would have felt nothing for the others, if not for the slight pang as Tulip’s sweet, earnest face flashed through her mind’s eye. Why couldn’t things ever be simple? When the tide had thinned out, Star nimbly slipped past the remaining Moonspears, further into the black tunnel. Luckily it wasn’t pitch-black as it had been in the Moonspear’s cave. At the end she saw a light. Keeping her frightened breathing to a minimum, she moved towards it, not galloping for the sake of stealth, but moving quickly nonetheless. At length she emerged into a large chamber, the sounds of the vicious struggle outside nothing but a murmur now. The chamber was truly vast, lined with torches in wall-sconces. It had to be at least 200 meters from one side to another. At even spacing small alcoves were hollowed out of the stone. They all contained, without variation, a cot, a bedside table, and a chair. Most were empty but a few contained exhausted-looking ponies, almost all sleeping. To Star’s left and right were yawning pitch-black passages, leading she supposed to the quarters of the Moonspears. She stepped further into the chamber. The vaulted ceiling lay some 20 to 30 meters above her head. It had once been painted with a frieze that was now crumbling and indistinguishable, lost to time and decay. She looked down into the pit. Unidentifiable sounds came up out of it, and there was some sort of commotion far below. She couldn’t even see it. Looking around, she saw that an uncomfortably-narrow path with no railing wound down around the lip of the pit. She moved along it quickly, passing the alcoves, some occupied, most empty, as she went. The sounds of the fight had completely faded now. From below, however, sounds began to grow more distinct as she laboriously walked the narrow path. She could hear laughter and screaming, grunts and moans, weeping and cursing. Every kind of noise a pony could make. When she was ten or so meters above the bottom, she lay on the edge of the narrow path and looked down at the scene below. Ponies were packed onto the floor of the chamber, moving around a central dais, a throne surrounded by stacks of valuable items, most likely given in tribute by the cultists, Star guessed. All around the room ponies were engaged in all manner of what Star could only sensibly refer to as depravity. There was sexual perversion of every variety, some of which Star had never heard of. At one table, several ponies dined amicably from the spread-eagled corpse of another pony. There was an open space before the throne where ponies fought to the death unarmed, biting and bludgeoning. Other ponies stood around the ring, bloodthirsty glints in their eyes as they cheered them on. A group of unicorn musicians played lilting, beautiful music like Star had never heard before. Star tried to turn off the part of her that was revolted, but found it difficult. All the ponies, she noticed, were off in some way. They seemed absent, empty. She had never been more frightened. But none of that compared to the pony who sat in the throne, surrounded by treasures. On the ancient chair of gold, resplendent and lovely, sat the Princess Luna. She looked out on the copulating, debauched ponies with a fond, gentle look on her face, her ancient eyes full of wisdom and kindness, her hair beautiful and light, her coat not too far in color from Star’s own. Star herself discovered that she wanted, almost, to go to her and do whatever the lovely night-blue alicorn might ask of her. But then Star felt the oily, terrible magic brush up against her. And Luna raised her serene eyes up… …and looked directly into Star’s own. The effect was horrible. Even though she was invisible, Star knew that the creature, which she was now certain was not in any way the beloved Mare of the Moon, could see her perfectly. Whatever it really was sitting on that throne was old, Star knew, and insane, and evil beyond anything she had ever met. This was a bad place. Not-Luna cocked her head curiously at Star, the serene expression not changing. Its mouth did not move, but in her mind Star heard a terrible voice, its rasping tones searing her thoughts, echoing and overlapping a hundred million times over. Wilt thou not join us, warrior? Thou couldst distinguish thyself in the battles, thereby winning my favor. Come. Our celebrations shall last forever. Through the pain, Star noticed the stone shards that sat on a dais near the horrible thing. Reaching out with her telepathy, the lasting pain of the mind-searing voice conspiring with her own range limitations to make it difficult, she seized the shards, which she could only hope were what Cog and the Legion wanted, and levitated them quickly over to herself. She dropped them in her saddlebag and rose. Star made the mistake of looking, one last time, at the thing on the throne. Although the serene expression did not change, she felt it scream in her mind, and she screamed along with it, her vision going red with the agony of the awful noise. She could feel blood trickling freely from her ears and eyes as her blurry vision returned. She turned to run as every pony in the pit of debauchery below her broke off from whatever pleasure they were indulging in, turning instead to howl, gibber, and follow after her in a wild, raucous, screaming cacophony. Star did not want to get caught by them, but she heard the awful voice speaking in her mind as she ran. Dost thou think thou canst escape, warrior!? There is no leaving! Only pain and pleasure! Which shalt thou choose? She caught a glimpse, out the corner of her eye, of the creature that had masqueraded as Luna. It was still the shape of an alicorn pony, still the same size, but it retained none of the features of the departed Goddess. Its skin was burnt and twisted, gnarled like a dark tree, and it had no face or eyes, the space where they should have been flat, twisted dark skin and nothing more. She stumbled in pain as it screamed again. Then pain it shall be! She heard the voice resounding inside her brain. Feeling a sudden need to expedite her escape as howling, frothing pegasi closed in on her, Star bent her legs and leaped far across the pit and several levels up. She ran as fast as she could, and the screaming tide didn’t catch her. If this wasn’t worth it, she would make Cog gouge her own eyes out. Star had never wanted to be anywhere less than she wanted to be here. Unable to arrest her own momentum when she reached the top once more, she stumbled and crashed into a wall, her vision momentarily dancing with stars. Struggling to her hooves, she looked down at the ponies surging wildly up after her, many falling from the path to their deaths below. The creature didn’t seem to be with them, but Star didn’t intend to spend much time checking that out. She ran down the tunnel leading out, and was horrified to find only blackness before her. She felt the bottom fall out of her stomach. They’ve closed the gate! She skidded to a stop as her blind sense picked up a thick gate, not even the false wall of rock from before but another, inner gate made of something more durable than stone. She stared at it hopelessly as she heard the gibbering horde closing on her from behind. When the door exploded inwards, burning with a strange blue flame, it was only quick reflexes born of a lifetime of training that allowed her to miss being crushed by one of the double-doors sailing down the hallway, out the tunnel, and smashing into the far wall. There was a light and painful pressure in her eyes, now adapted for darkness, as the bright blue light of the triangular talisman flared in front of her. The black bear Volta was still wearing it, his glowing amber eyes looking concerned. “Come, pony!” He roared. “Bad things down there! We must go now!” “I fucking noticed!” She said, but didn’t argue with his command. She galloped out, managing to keep stride with the massive creature. The orgiastic din behind them had not died out as they emerged into the Nightlight. Star nearly tripped over the bodies of Legion and Moonspear alike. A fierce struggle had raged here. She noticed that Volta’s white claws were stained with blood, both red and black. Once they had cleared the tunnel, Volta skidded to a stop, turning around quickly. She found it fascinating to see such a large creature move so gracefully. She stopped and looked back. “Volta, what are you doing? I thought you said we should go!” Looking back, Volta nodded. “Yes. But cannot let Remnant escape. Would hunt for you. Maybe other ponies. Definitely other ponies.” He looked back, reaching into a satchel he wore on his right side, removing a small wooden tablet with strange letters carved into it. “Quiet please, pony. Need to focus.” Star watched as the great bear muttered in a thick, guttural language. The tablet flashed blue and floated in the air in front of Volta. Volta continued his incantations, the tablet beginning to glow brighter. Star’s mane stood on end as power like she had never felt began to gather to the bear. She could hear the screaming of the creature coming down the tunnel, together with the bloodthirsty howls of the maddened ponies. Star hadn’t wanted to kill them, but maybe it was the kindest thing to do. Their equinity seemed lost. She thought of stopping Volta, but then saw the creature in her minds' eye, burnt and gnarled and featureless and horrible, and simply watched the bear work. His chanting growing in volume, he almost gracefully extended a paw to the tablet where it floated before him. With a great intake of air, he shouted a strange word that shook Star’s blood and rattled her eyes. With a ringing tone, the tablet exploded, and from Volta’s outstretched paw a tide of blue light roared down the tunnel, collapsing it and a large part of the surrounding mountain along with it. Volta stood until the noise of collapsing rock and stone had finally died away into silence. Only when he heard the silence did he seem to relax, sitting down heavily, kicking up a cloud of dust, and breathing deeply in relief. Star walked around to his front, looking into his amber eyes. “Volta?” He raised a paw. “Will leave soon, pony.” He gestured vaguely to the now-destroyed Hidden City. “That… is not as easy as it looks.” She had a million questions to ask him, but knew that this wasn’t the time. Tired herself, she sat beside him in silence. Looking over the corpses of the Legion ponies, she wondered if Tulip had died a quick death, what sort of means had taken her, and where she might be now. Star looked up at the bright white moon as tears, intermingled with blood and soot, began rolling silently down her cheeks. Next Time: The Hooves of my Enemy!? An Unlikely Alliance! Thanks to Damsus Rhee for giving me this idea and to you for reading. Check out his fanfiction ‘Of Hoof and Paw’ on EqD. 3 - The Hooves of My Enemy!? An Unlikely Alliance!Not so very long ago, in the magical land of Equestria… War. The seething resentment of generations of segregation and oppression finally exploded into a world-consuming firestorm. The Princesses have gone, their castle in ruins. Nopony knows anymore who or what caused the conflagration, only that nothing matters now but the primal law of strength and might. Those with power prey on the weak, in a wicked and brutal rule of nature ponies had thought was far behind them. But through this darkness walks a light. One pony with the strength and conviction to protect the innocent, and punish the wicked… -Hoof of the North Star- Episode 3: The Hooves of My Enemy!? An Unlikely Alliance! Star had been trying to figure out how to ask Volta if he had killed Tulip. It was a stupid thing to worry about, she knew. Still, it wouldn’t leave her mind, the sweet earth pony’s face playing about her thoughts continuously, as it had ever since the Hidden City. They had walked in silence since leaving the collapsed gateway, the awful city now far more well-hidden than before, thanks to the bear. Volta was lumbering a bit, his bulk and musculature lurching in an almost drunken way. Whatever magic he had employed to collapse the gate had left him drained. She was tired as well, once again wearing her battered cloak, the hood of the Legion bodysuit pushed down to reveal her head and close-cropped mane. It was the sort of silence she had never known how to breach. Volta relieved her by doing it for her. “You have questions?” His thick accent was heavy and tired. She looked over at him, her brow furrowed. “Can you answer them? Physically, I mean?” The bear gave a slight chuckle, a pale imitation of his more customary rowdy laugh. “Maybe. Maybe not. Is good to try. If I do not speak, maybe I fall asleep on my paws. That would be undignified.” He looked at her, grinning. She nodded. “Well… I guess, first of all, where were you when Hope was under attack?” His ears drooped and his luminescent eyes cast about desperately. “Must pony ask hardest question first? Could not start with ‘what was pony-thing in pit?’” Star smiled awkwardly. “I suppose… if you’d rather.” “Ah,” he waved a giant paw casually, slight frustration in his tone. “Shame I feel will be not lessened by refusing to tell.” Still, he paused a moment, the glowing amber orbs continuing to cast about desperately. Finally he seemed resigned. “I was… drunk.” Star tried not to smile. “Drunk?” A frustrated expression passed over his face. “Spare me from your false courtesy, pony. It does me no honor.” His eyes went back to the path. “I know what you think of me.” “I’m not sure that you do.” She looked at him intensely, mercy in her silver eyes. “You didn’t know what was happening. I’m certain you would have helped if you could have.” He just looked straight ahead, his expression hard. “As you say, pony.” He continued. “Was challenged by five large, strong ponies. You must understand, challenge in Canium is not something lightly to be shrugged off.” Star smiled a bit. “Still, I can’t imagine even you could out-drink five ponies.” Volta frowned again. “You would be right in that, pony.” He looked at the sky, filled now with its vast panoply of stars, as though he didn’t know where else to look. “I see now what they were doing. They would not have wished me to know what they did to you.” He shook his head. “Was stupid of me. Stupid.” She moved on. “So… when did you come out of it?” “Doctor brought me out. You had already gone by then. But we followed you. Legion was not trying to hide their trail.” Star got the impression that Volta was young for a bear, but his voice was hard. “Such ubesh never do.” His barely-restrained ferocity turned Star’s thoughts to Tulip once again, and by extension to her filly. She asked a less fraught question instead. “Ubesh?” The bear looked awkward. “Sorry, Star. Did not mean to use. Is bear word for beast… animal. Creature of instinct.” Star nodded. “I can certainly see describing the Legion that way.” A few paces later, Star noticed the bear was no longer following her. She stopped and turned to see his bright amber eyes regarding her pensively. As he spoke, he seemed reserved for the first time. “Yes… meant to speak with you about that.” Star blinked. “About…?” “Why you were working with Legion. The answer to this... Doctor did not have.” They looked at one another awkwardly for a split-second before the bear continued. “Know before you answer that I am aware of what you did for the little one. And basic decency of that act cannot be erased by later error. Ponies make mistake.” He smiled sadly. “Bears sometimes make mistake, believe it or not. Still, I must know… why?” Star briefly wondered whether to trust him with this information. Almost anypony else she had ever told had seen it as a tool to use against her. Then she remembered the gate of the Hidden City, flying down the tunnel in a blaze of blue flame as the black bear charged to her rescue, and she smiled sadly. “They… have my daughter.” The amber eyes widened in shock. Star avoided his gaze. “The deal was help, or…” Volta quickly raised a paw, his already-deep voice rumbling lower now. “Can fill in the rest, pony.” She felt tears fill her eyes, and couldn’t hold back a sniffle. She looked at the ground, holding back the tide. After a moment, she felt a massive paw drape gently over her shoulder. “Is not weak to weep, pony,” Volta spoke with a gentleness she wouldn’t have expected. Star buried her face in the downy woodsmoke-smelling fur, taking the comfort the wandering priest offered, but refused to allow herself to break. She had no time for it. Not now. “Thank you, Volta,” she said when she was confident of her voice. She stepped back and looked into his lovely eyes. She smiled an earnest smile. “You’re the best pon... person I’ve met in many years.” Volta chuckled, a trace of his earlier exuberance. “You are first pony I’ve met who has not been scared of me, frustrated by me, or both.” He looked at the sky hazily. “Now come. If we stay here on this mountain much longer, I will sleep on feet like pony.” - Star could see the campfire from a long way off. Her brow furrowed. “Volta… you did tell them not to light a fire, didn’t you?” Mild annoyance played about the corners of the bear’s mouth. “Of course, pony.” Star paused, then pointed with a hoof. “So... what’s that?” Volta shrugged. “Is cold. Ponies not as durable as bears. Softer. Thinner. Temptation to err too great for doctor pony.” “I hope it’s as simple as that.” Star had been overjoyed to hear that Splints and her father had both survived the destruction of Hope, but they wouldn’t stay alive for long if they kept drawing attention to themselves like this. Nightlights in White Sand could be long nightmares without end, between the nocturnal predators, mutated by the Atomites’ radiation and adapted to the harsh environments of the Waste, the groups of wild ponies, some feral tribals, some insane cultists, and of course the ever-present threats of the Legion and the Daughters. Lighting a campfire in White Sand was like giving an open invitation to a party with only yourself on the menu. A cold fear took her, and without meaning to, Star began to run, far outpacing Volta, her breathing labored though not from exertion. Her silver eyes were wide and bloodshot as she ran, offering prayers to whatever real or imagined being might be listening that the young doctor and his daughter were safe. One thing at least was good about the campsite; it was in the lee of a large standing stone, casting a shadow to the south, and blocking view of the fire from at least one direction. Star was relieved to see Tourniquet and Splints sleeping peacefully against the stone. The young pony was curled up tightly against her father, a look of complete contentment on her face. Although she was relieved, she couldn’t help but feel sadness. She wondered if Splints and Moon would be friends. Moon was so unlike the little earth pony, so serious. But both fillies had seen unspeakable horrors inflicted by Star’s hooves, she reflected sadly. She heard Volta huffing up behind her. “Pony!” He breathed loudly. “Take care that you do not…” The remainder of Volta’s speech was swallowed up by the clamor of two pegasi mares hitting the sand in front of her hard, both ready to fight. They wore wingblades and short swords in scabbards strapped within easy mouth access, and had hard looks in their cranberry-colored eyes that meant business. Star, for her part, stood still and took them in carefully. They appeared to be twins, their coats green. In the bright Nightlight, their well-sharpened wingblades flashed with the light of the moon. They had one half of a heart-shaped locket on each of their flanks. Star didn’t immediately kill them, because they weren’t clad in either Legion armor or the makeshift uniforms of the Daughters of the Apocalypse. She was certain they were survivors from Hope, after she considered for a moment. She nodded. “Good. I was about to hurt the bear for leaving the doctor and his daughter unguarded.” Her posture relaxed, the dangerous poise flooding out of it. “I’m Star Light.” She smiled at the twins and extended a hoof. Neither of them returned her gesture. “You are a Legion spy,” the one with the right half of the locket spoke. Volta stood just behind Star. “Already told you, ponies…” “Quiet, bear,” said the other. “What does a drunken holy bear know about this matter?” “Yes,” continued the first. “We could have used your claws in the defense of our home. Maybe Hope would still be ours if you weren’t such a drunkard.” Star could feel the bear seething, but he said nothing. Behind the twins, Star heard Splints pule softly in her sleep. “Ladies,” she said, her voice low. “I hate to interrupt, but you’re going to wake the filly.” Twin expressions of consternation passed over their faces and, almost simultaneously, were gone. Star had to admit it was cute. “Quiet, spy,” left half spoke. Star’s eyes narrowed. “I did everything I could to protect your village. I’m not a spy, the Legion just…” she realized she couldn’t trust these ponies the way she knew, after the Hidden City, that she could trust Volta. “…they coerced me.” The bear spoke from behind. He sounded worried. “Um, ponies…” Right locket cut him off. “Coerced!? We saw the remains of the ones you decided should die. At least you weren’t coward enough to let a filly be taken by them. But to pretend that anypony could coerce you…” “If you know what I can do, then I’m curious.” She took a step towards them. “How exactly do you imagine you can stop me?” “Ponies,” Volta went on. “I think you should…” “Maybe we can’t,” left locket spoke with a fierce courage. “But we refuse to let you deliver our friends to the Legion without a fight.” That at least was worth something. They were both young mares, and had just lost their home, Star reminded herself. She sighed and sat down. “Listen, girls, I know it’s tempting to try and find someone to…” “PONIES!” Volta roared at a moderately earth-shaking level. Behind the twins, the doctor and Splints both woke up suddenly and groggily. After jumping at the sharp noise, Star and the twins looked to Volta and spoke as one. “What!?” Volta rolled his luminescent eyes, muttering in his strange language. “Brazni sevai ye shugan…” when they stared at him in incomprehension, he gestured in annoyance. “Look, ponies! Look north!” Looking in the direction of his pointing claw, they saw a great plume of smoke rising up into the Nightlit sky from the north. Star’s heart sank. It was a convoy. In White Sand, you would see a convoy coming long before it arrived. From this distance, it was hard to say how far out they were. Two kilometers or so. The big question wasn’t how far away they were, but who they were. All animosity forgotten, the four adult ponies and one bear around the campfire immediately sprang into action. “One of us should take Splints out of here!” left half proposed in a panic. Almost simultaneously, Star and Volta both barked out a terse ‘No!’ They had time only for a brief and amused glance into each other’s exhausted eyes. Right half looked between them worriedly. “Why?” Volta went to see to the doctor and the filly as Star explained. “Splitting up would seem wise now, but it just creates more problems.” She looked towards the plume of smoke, which showed her nightmarish visions of the past. “Trust me, I know.” Left half looked suspicious. “Like what?” Star sighed. “Finding each other later. Being attacked without backup. Being outmaneuvered by a more numerous enemy. Do I need to go on?” As one, the sisters shook their heads, which made Star smile. “This isn’t my first rodeo, girls. We’ll be alright.” That, she reflected, may well have been a lie. Luckily, it was a lie she had told many ponies before. “You need to hang back and make sure nopony reaches the doctor or his daughter. They may try to climb over the stone as well, so don’t forget to use your wings.” Again synchronously, they nodded. She smiled at them once again. “Hopefully, nopony will get past Volta and I.” She checked the horizon. The lead wagons in the convoy were coming into view now, although she couldn’t see which if any livery was painted on them. When she looked back, left locket had stepped closer to her. “Miss Star, we’re sorry… for what we said earlier. It’s just…” Star interrupted. “I know. But now isn’t the time. Focus on what’s coming.” She trotted over to stand beside Volta, who was watching the approaching convoy. He gave her a summary look. “It could be Legion, Star. Is probably Legion.” “Yeah,” she said without inflection. She could feel his eyes on her before he spoke again. “What do you do? If it is? If they…?” She looked up, meeting his eyes again. “What do you expect me to say, Volta?” Her voice didn’t quaver. Now wasn’t the time. He continued staring for a moment before breaking off. “I trust that you will find the most honorable path. Kyev Unaia.” “What was that?” “By the grace of Unai,” he translated. Smiling to herself, Star nodded, supporting the sentiment. “Kyev Unaia,” she echoed, earning one hearty laugh from the fatigued bear. The thunder of the convoy was all around them now. Splints, Star noted, was surprisingly quiet given all the noise. She looked back to see the honey-colored filly cowering in her father’s hooves, hiding her head and trembling like a leaf in the wind. The Pegasus twins stood near them, their eyes hard, the short swords in their mouths and wingblades at the ready. The wagons began to circle them. With a heavy heart Star noticed the black phoenix on a red field painted on many, the definite indication of a Legion convoy. She was poised to raise a shield against projectiles or even gunfire, although finding intact Atomite weapons was rare. Still, it was better to be prepared. By her count, there were eleven wagons of various sizes, most in some state of disrepair. Odd for the Legion. Their engines, driven by the efforts of imprisoned fire elementals, whirred noisily as they came to a halt in a semicircle around the campsite near the standing stone. One last wagon, the largest, well-outfitted with armor, went straight for the campfire. Star wondered if they intended simply to overrun them. In her current state of fatigue, Star was in no mood to match her hooves against an armored wagon. She smiled up at the bear and shouted over the din. “I don’t suppose you have another one of those mountain-collapsing spells in that satchel?” He shook his head. “Would kill me to use even if I did!” Star nodded. The main wagon drew to a stop. From many of the other wagons, she noticed Legion troops, more rough and ragged than the usual Legion ponies, were filing out. Pegasi took to the air, patrolling high above the camp, like circling carrion-birds. She stole a quick glance back at the green Pegasus twins. They still stood resolute, but there was fear in their eyes. All she could wish for them now was a quick death if she should fail. The sound of a hatch popping open drew her eyes back to the large wagon in front of her. Her heart stopped as a red unicorn stallion she knew all too well climbed out. Star’s left cutie mark flared in an agony that was but a memory of the terrible pain his horn had inflicted on that day. Her vision went red as an unchecked rage and sorrow boiled over and took her in its grasp. Her eyes flared white, lighting up the Nightlight. “SHIMMER!” She screamed, her pure, high voice shaking the air. Volta started away from her in shock. Agony and rage and the pain of a long, festering hurt rang in her magical tones. She pointed a hoof at him. “We have unfinished business, you and I!” The red unicorn threw back his head and laughed, the same as he had when they were foals, when he had done whatever meaninglessly cruel thing he had decided to do to ruin a perfectly good game. “Oh my dear Stubby. It’s good to see you too.” He spoke in his silk-smooth voice, as perfect and handsome as the rest of him. “Come down here.” Her voice was conversational now, but still seething. “You’re going to die in agony. But not before telling me where my daughter is.” Shimmer chuckled to himself as he looked down at her. “Oh, Stubby. You could never beat me. Not when we were foals, not when I burnt you, and not on the day that I took everything from you…” he smiled fondly at that memory. “What in the wide Waste makes you think you can best me now?” “I’ve grown since then,” Star spoke with absolute resolution, her eyes burning so bright most ponies in front of her couldn’t look directly at them. Except for Shimmer. He chuckled. “Yes, I can see. Aren’t you a fine specimen of a mare… I guess calling you Stubby is just for my own sweet sense of nostalgia.” “Come here, or I will come up there. By the…” Shimmer held up a hoof. “You’d best be careful with that silly little oath of yours. As much as I enjoy watching you squirm, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help you.” Her face, lit with the fire of stars, remained neutral, but her voice was disgusted. “What help could you possibly offer me?” Shimmer sighed, casting about as he considered. “Oh, I don’t know. Candy? Sex? Perhaps both?” He looked expectantly at Star, but frowned when she didn’t seem particularly amused. “Or of course, I could tell you where to find your daughter. And help you to get her back.” He smiled at her slyly. Star stepped backwards in shock. “Why would you do that?” The unicorn’s eyes narrowed. “That is not for you to know. But I will help you. And I can ensure you that all of your…” Star turned quickly, feeling the disturbance moving only moments before it took left locket’s life. A gray blur rushed past the mare. Star was certain nopony else could see it, but she saw the dark-maned earth pony eviscerate the pegasus, her hooves trailing light and distorting the air where they passed. The pegasus fell to the ground in pieces. The Bloodfang style. Probably a student of Shimmer’s, she reflected as she leaped at lightning speed to intercept the earth pony before she reached Tourniquet and Splints. Star tried to put out a chakra to paralyze her, but the pony moved with the blow, directing a flurry of distortion-trailing hoof-strikes at her. Star dodged haughtily, disdain on her face. Like most practitioners of the Bloodfang, this one was quick and destructive but out of control. She danced back from the destroying strikes, preparing a two-pronged assault that had brushed aside most Bloodfang ‘masters’ she had ever fought. “STOP!” Shimmer’s voice thundered, bringing Star to a stop just short of killing the shocked earth pony. She had clearly never met an opponent like Star. He closed his eyes, teleporting several centimeters away from the gray mare and unceremoniously smashing his forehead into her nose, which cracked messily. Star stepped back, disgusted at being so close to the red unicorn. He turned to face her. “I apologize for that, Star.” The earth pony lay unconscious and possibly dead on the sand, her face an unrecognizable mess. Shimmer looked down at her. “This is what the Bloodfang has come to. The Deathhooves are few, but those there are stand as proud paragons of their art.” He sneered at the prostrate mare. “But this trash…” he looked to Splints, who was once more sobbing into her father’s hooves. This time the doctor looked just as scared as his filly. “You moved so fast…” the doctor muttered. “I’m sorry, doctor,” Shimmer said. “Screws has… desires… when she sees a filly.” He looked back to Star. “I would never have brought her had I thought it might endanger our alliance.” Star sighed. “Any more surprises?” He shook his head. “Not today.” “Then explain to me why I should trust you.” He shrugged. “I’m back in the good graces of the Legion. Even if they will only give me this army of rejects.” He gestured around him. “I happen to have information on where your daughter is kept. For reasons that will remain my own, I’m going to help you get her back. Star sneered hatefully, the light in her eyes vanishing. “I still don’t trust you.” Shimmer’s face lit with mirth and he gave an expression of mocking shock. “You don’t say?” He laughed. “Is this a chance you can afford to pass up, Star?” He already knew the answer, and she hated him all the more for it. - Amulet, the right half of the locket she and her sister’s cutie marks had formed, was inconsolable over the death of her twin. Star just let her cry. Both Star and Volta had requested that the convoy stay some distance away while everypony rested. She and Volta were keeping watch together now, having both had some sleep. It had been a fight for Star to not set off right away, but she was little good to Moon half-dead. Amulet was lying close to Star, sleeping fitfully, still sobbing heavily from time to time. Volta yawned, an impressive sight, but more a reaction to waking than to being tired. “This is… unusual,” he observed, after a long period of silence once the hysterical pegasus had gone to sleep. He regarded her with mirth. “How is it you always end up working with bad ponies, Star?” She shrugged. “I guess I’m just a popular girl.” Volta laughed lightly, mindful of sleepers. “You do not like this Shimmer, I gather?” Star shifted uncomfortably. “Do you?” The bear shook his shaggy head. “Yet I think your dislike is more than mine. He has… done things to you, yes?” Star just nodded. “May I ask…?” It was several moments before she responded. “Yes. Of course. But... my life isn’t a happy story though, Volta.” Volta grinned his toothy grin. “Give me edited highlights, then.” She smiled back sadly. “Even those are pretty grim.” “I begin with question: what did Shimmer do to you?” “Which one do you want to hear? He killed my husband. He took away my family. My dignity. Hurt me more than anypony has ever hurt me before or since. Left me a husk of a pony who could barely move.” She sighed. “In a way it was my fault. It was stupid to think I could have a family anyway. That’s never been how it works for the heir.” “Heir? To what?” “The Starhooves style.” “What is this?” She thought for a moment. “You know how that pony before, Screws…” she looked down at the tear-streaked Pegasus lying close to her. Volta nodded politely. “Well, she was using an ancient assassins’ art called the Bloodfang. Been around since long before the big Atomite war.” She nodded towards the distant convoy. “Shimmer is the current heir. The greatest practitioner in all of Equestria, and the one to choose who carries on the legacy after he dies. The Bloodfang destroys ponies from the outside. The Starhoof destroys them from the inside.” Volta nodded. “I see. Is how you make ponies die by touching.” “…yes. Though there are other uses.” “And you are heir to Starhoof?” She was silent for a moment. “Yes,” she said quietly. “Honestly though… I’m not very good at it.” “Don’t know about that. I am much bigger than you, and even I get scared when eyes vanish.” She smiled. “I’m sorry. Seeing Shimmer was… traumatic.” “To say least.” “You… sure you want to know?” Volta shrugged. “May as well, while your friend still stalls,” he said, looking at the convoy with a sneer. “Okay…” she said, her brow furrowed. - The young mare had quite obviously never seen such a place as Seneschal. She had learned its name at the gate: the Free City of Seneschal. Neither Daughters nor Legion nor Cultists nor Reclaimers held sway, though all were welcome, provided they followed the laws. She was in a marketplace like she had never seen, dwarfing the small collections of stalls and kiosks that had passed for markets in the tiny villages at the feet of the mountains where she had grown up. Her silver eyes were wide as she saw the vast press of ponies moving through the city, was assaulted by the merry cacophony of their joined voices, rubbing shoulders with more ponies than she had ever seen in one place. She had never smelled such scents; bodily fluids of all kinds, roasting meats and vegetables, jewelry and dresses that she and her sisters would have fawned over endlessly. It was as if the world and everything in it were for sale. She was bombarded by too many sales pitches to count, brushed shoulders with ponies who smelled both pleasant and foul, and looking altogether amazed and out of place. She had never eaten meat, had to admit she was terrified by the idea, but she couldn’t deny how good all the smells of roasting flesh smelled all blended together. She couldn’t remember when she had last eaten anything that wasn’t bland, awful trail rations. Drifting over to the stand whose meats looked the least worrisome, she tried her best to get through the crowd, with polite taps and muttered excuses. She worked her way up to the stall, a small stand with a cloth tented over it to protect it from the sun. She wondered what the market would look like on a Nightlight. A brown earth pony stallion sat at a table taking orders. He was muscular and bore many scars. His cutie mark was a hatchet in a wood block. Like many ponies in the market, he wore a head-wrapping. “How many?” He asked gruffly. Star looked at the earth pony mare behind him, young and red-haired, cooking in a frenzy of flying juices and tossed meat. Star had to wipe a stray bit of drool from the corner of her mouth. The earth pony cleared his throat in annoyance. “How many?” He said slightly louder. “Um… sorry sir,” she grinned awkwardly. “How many what?” The stallion cocked his head. A slow smile came to his face as a realization dawned on him. “Not from the city, are you?” “Oh… no.” She shook her head. He smiled wide now, flashing a not-quite-full set of white teeth. “I meant rashers of bacon. How many do you want?” “Well…” she smiled demurely. “How much is one?” He laughed contentedly to himself. “What have you got?” “Oh yes!” She exclaimed suddenly. “How silly of me…” Her horn glowed as she opened her saddlebags, peering into it to find the pouch of precious stones Comet had given her when she left the Temple. She rummaged around, tossing the rolled-up cloth that held the horrible trail rations aside with disgust as she contemplated the bacon. The pouch wasn’t there. She had a brief flash of somepony’s hoof slipping inside her bag in the crush of the Daylight crowd. Her lower lip began to quiver. “My money…” “Oh…” the earth pony butcher said with disappointment. “You’ve been robbed.” He frowned, his scarred face creasing. She nodded, feeling violated. “Yes, Block… isn’t it a shame they got to her before you did?” A silky stallion’s voice spoke from beside her. Star looked over to see a white pegasus stallion. He was handsome and well-fed, and unlike many other ponies, his head was uncovered, allowing his luxuriant blond mane to shine in the sun. His cutie mark was a red heart. He smiled back at her, his teeth white and healthy, and she blushed. “I will gladly pay you double for the young mare’s meal.” “I…” Block stammered. Star noticed his daughter looking at them with wide eyes. She immediately went back to her cooking when she noticed Star had seen her. Block looked between the two of them. “Of course, Lonely Heart, sir.” Block handed over two rashers of bacon wrapped in thick butcher’s paper, which Star took, mild confusion on her face. As Block handed them over, he spoke haltingly, looking nervously at the pegasus. “Miss, I…” “Butcher,” Lonely Heart cut in, his voice a singsong. “Let’s be careful what we say.” Star looked quizzically between the two of them, but whatever objections were in her mind were fought off by the pull in the pit of her stomach at the scent of the bacon. Lonely Heart put a hoof gently on her shoulder. Star jumped a bit, but then smiled. “Come. Will you eat with me?” “Of course!” She exclaimed exuberantly. “It’s good to meet somepony courteous, sir.” He laughed politely as he led the way to a covered dining area. “You needn’t call me sir, dear one. However,” he added in a sultry undertone, “I won’t try and stop you.” Star laughed lightly as he pulled out a chair and she climbed into it, flushing slightly. She couldn’t remember the last time she had met such a handsome stallion. And he seemed so interested in her. She suddenly had flashes of a red unicorn yelling ‘Stubby!’ at her in an unending singsong as she cried a filly’s tears. She shook her head free of those memories. She wasn’t likely to see Shim ever again, she reminded herself. Gingerly, she unwrapped the rasher, and her eyes widened, pupils sparkling at the beauty of the meat within. She looked up at Lonely Heart, who was regarding her knowingly. She blushed and smiled. “I’m sorry, it’s just… I’ve never eaten meat before, and… I’m a little ashamed of how anxious I am for it. I mean, it’s another living thing.” “Was another living thing, sweet one. No longer. Ponies may once have killed only in self-defense, but those days are past. Now we are restored to the primal order of nature.” He leaned across the table at her, mane falling across his exceptionally blue eyes. “I for one find the forbidden pleasures to be the sweetest.” Star giggled in spite of herself, her flush deepening. “But I do not wish to distract you, dear. Tuck in. I will get us something to drink.” The stallion gave an elegant bow as he left the table, and Star began, tentatively, to eat. She felt like she was floating. When Lonely Heart returned, she was humming happily to herself, just polishing off her own portion of bacon with considerable gusto. He set a mug of clear water before her. She thanked him before drinking long and deeply. Lonely Heart resumed his seat, smiling across the table at her. Briefly, he regarded his own portion, then looked up at Star, his eyes knowing. “Feel free to take mine. I think you are more hungry than I.” “Are you sure?” She said, able to maintain only a modicum of decency at the mere thought of more of the wonderful meat. He slid it over to her with a hoof. She finished it with better manners, quite aware of Lonely Heart watching from across the wooden table, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. Star gave a dainty belch when she had finished, covering her mouth with a hoof and blushing. “Sorry…” “Not at all, dear. Not at all.” He put his hooves together on the table, a businesslike aspect augmenting the charm. “I don’t believe I know your name. I am Lonely Heart.” “Oh I’m so sorry…” she said earnestly. She was making all sorts of gaffs today. “I’m Star Light.” She extended a hoof, which he took gently and bowed his head over. “As beautiful as I would have expected.” He returned to his business pose. “Now… I gather you have come to our fine city as a guest, and have no place to stay. I can help you with this. I own certain properties.” “That’s very kind, but I’m afraid I haven’t got anything to pay with.” Lonely Heart, laughed, an outburst which seemed to Star to be subtly different from his earlier merriment. “I can see you to be an honest pony. You can pay me when you’re able.” For the first time, Star felt a warning in her heart. But she looked at the stallion, and saw a gallant, handsome, kind pony. She smiled. “I’d be very grateful.” - Volta regarded Star pointedly. “You did not know?” “Know what?” He frowned. “What pegasus wanted?” She shook her sadly, staring up at the purple clouds. “Believe it or not, no. I was very young.” Volta stared at her for a moment. “Not certain that is excuse. Legion ponies young too, many of them. Does not excuse what they do.” Star was silent, Tulip’s tear-stained face in her mind’s eye. “No,” she spoke absolutely. “No it doesn’t.” Both shared a brief silence before Volta broke it. “So what happened? Did you…?” “No,” Star said firmly, but with no malice. Volta shifted uncomfortably. “Would hope not. You killed pegasus, I assume?” “No,” she said softly. “He died. But I didn’t kill him.” Yet another pony she had failed to save. “I stayed in the room he provided for a few weeks. There were other mares there. We worked to keep the place running, our meals were provided for us, and we were given ample free time. It was nice. For a while.” - Star was sleeping when a loud knock came on the door. It had been a long Nightlight, which always made normal cycles difficult to abide by. Is it morning already? She wondered to herself as she reached over to check her clock. According to her timepiece, given to her by Comet himself, it was three in the morning. The hard knock came again. Lonely Heart’s voice wafted through the door, singsong. “Star. We need to see you.” We who? She wondered groggily as she rolled out of her bed. Lonely Heart was a frequent visitor to the commune, but not this late at night. And he had always come alone. Star had noticed things that cut through her happiness at finding a safe place. When she was out, she noticed that ponies tended to leave her be. She had wondered if it was associated with the red ribbon she was required to wear round her leg, -one of the only real hard ‘rules’ of the commune- mainly to allow her to re-enter. She made her way to the door. Lonely Heart stood, wearing a purple cape to seal out the cold, smiling his gallant smile. “Ah, Star,” he said conversationally. “Glad to see you. Come with me, please.” “At this time of night? Why?” Lonely Heart gave her a hurt look. “Are you asking such a suspicious question of somepony who’s given you so much?” “Well, no, Heart. It’s just… where are we going?” Lonely Heart laughed. “Oh, just a little thing. It’s time for you to begin paying off the debt you owe me. I’m taking you to your new workplace.” “Oh…” she was confused. “Okay, I guess.” She followed him down the hall, the lamp in his mouth providing light. Outside in the courtyard, she found all dozen mares with whom she had become so familiar in the past two weeks. They looked confused and tired, but their faces softened in trust and admiration when they looked on Lonely Heart. Star went to join her friend Candy, a pink earth pony with a curly blue mane, a multicolored lollipop on her flanks. She smiled at Star. “Isn’t this exciting?” Star said nothing. She nodded vaguely. Lonely Heart cleared his throat, and everypony looked to him, admiration and love in their eyes. “Good morning, everypony.” He smiled gallantly. “Although I’ve enjoyed having you stay here, you were all aware that my magnanimity could not last forever. Now it’s time for you to begin repaying your debt to me. But don’t be afraid. I wouldn’t dream of separating you from the new friends you’ve all made. No indeed. You’ll all be working together to pay off the debts you owe me, and I trust that you will help and support one another, in the same manner as I will be there for you. If you would please follow me.” “I wonder where we’re going,” Candy whispered to her. Star just shook her head. She was worried. Out on the street, mostly abandoned at this hour, she noticed several shadowy figures flanking the twelve of them on all four sides. She didn’t think anypony else saw them. The large stallions wore black bodysuits and hoods, from what she could see. Star only now began to realize the sort of situation she was in. A rage rose in her, but it was quickly cooled by visions of blood and hurt. Hurt she had caused. She didn’t want to be that pony anymore. She didn’t think she could. But what other choice was there? Maybe if she gave Lonely Heart a chance. He seemed earnest, even now. A clear stallion’s voice rang out, interrupting her thoughts. “Lonely Heart!” A handsome gray pegasus stallion landed in front of Lonely Heart. His dark eyes were angry, a sword on his back and sharp wingblades on his glossy wings. His cutie mark was a glimmering silver blade, pointed straight towards the heavens. Two similarly-armed pegasi flanked him. They looked nervous, unlike the lead pegasus, who only seemed angry. A look of disgust passed over Lonely Heart’s face. “Officer Polaris,” he inclined his head in acknowledgement. “What can I do for you?” “You can let these mares go. Now.” There was no chance for compromise in the stallion’s voice. Lonely Heart’s eyes narrowed. Star could see he was afraid of the younger pegasus, but he was also angry at the moment. The anger seemed to be winning. “I pay tribute to the Guard the same as anypony else. You have no right to order me to give up my…” he paused before saying whatever had been on his lips. “Your prospects?” Polaris smiled grimly and looked past Lonely Heart to the mares. “Do you girls know where Lonely Heart is taking you? He probably never got around to explaining that. You’re to work in one of his brothels until you pay back the impressive debts you now owe him.” His hard eyes looked back to Lonely Heart. “This isn’t happening. Let them go.” Uncontrollable rage poured out of Lonely Heart’s mouth as he screamed. “You have no right to do this! I’ve paid my tribute!” There was a brief pause as Polaris considered his words. “I don’t care,” he said firmly after a moment. “I’m tired of seeing parasites like you feed off the weak. We can do better than this. Better than you.” He stood ready to act, facing his fellow pegasus sternly. “I don’t want to be a prostitute…” Candy whispered to Star. “Do you think he’s telling the truth?” Star remained silent. Lonely Heart spluttered, outraged. “You’re a mad fool! You will hang for this!” He looked to the pegasi flanking Polaris. “Do you support your superior in this insanity? You will not be spared blame if you do!” The two pegasi were silent for a moment, their faces continuing to evince the nerves Star had seen on them earlier. At length, the left, blue with a raindrop cutie mark, spoke up. “I support Lieutenant Polaris to the end.” Star noticed a subtle tension in the handsome gray stallion facing Lonely Heart leave him at that. The other pegasus spoke up. “As do I.” Lonely Heart gave an unintelligible sound of exasperation. “You are mad, all of you! I’m not to blame for what may become of you after this folly! This is business! Be it on your own heads!” Polaris stepped closer to the white stallion, who stepped back almost immediately. “Leave the area immediately, or we will use force to disperse you.” “I wash my hooves of this!” Lonely Heart screamed at him, flying away, the guards flanking him following. Star noticed that there were many ponies watching now, awoken or at least drawn by the commotion. The blue Pegasus dispersed them with stern warnings as Polaris approached the confused and frightened young mares, most of them now huddled together. “No need to be afraid, now,” Polaris spoke in a gentle tone much different from his earlier righteous anger. “We’ll take you someplace safe.” A little mare, scarcely sixteen, purple with a bunch of grapes for a cutie mark, spoke shakily. “That’s what he told us.” Star approached, putting a comforting hoof around her. She pressed tight against Star. She looked at Polaris. “Exactly what is going to happen here, Lieutenant? I get the feeling you’ve overstepped your authority.” He shrugged. “Maybe. But I’m tired of seeing ponies hurt and not being able to do anything about it.” Star nodded gravely. She understood. What Polaris didn’t know is that sometimes being able to do something about it was just as bad. Still, maybe the stars had led her here for a reason. “Whatever happens, I’m by your side. He looked momentarily shocked, but then smiled warmly. - “Star,” Volta interrupted, regarding her pointedly. “Yes?” She smiled a schoolmistress smile, welcoming his question gently. “Why did you trust Polaris?” There was vague amusement on his face. Star shrugged, blushing. “He was…” she trailed off ineffectually. “Pretty?” Volta offered. Star scratched the back of her head awkwardly. “Ah… I guess that was…” Volta chuckled, a rumbling noise that Star could feel through the sand beneath her. “Must be careful of pretty, Star. Blade can be pretty, until it protrudes beautifully from your painfully lovely heart.” Star cocked her head. “That’s a bit poetic.” The bear nodded sagely. “Is Canian proverb. Applicable to many things I have seen. And done.” He shrugged. “Is why I did not trust you immediately.” She blushed again. “Are you saying you think I’m pretty?” Now he looked awkward. “Ah… if I cared about such things. Not interested in ponies. As they go, you are quite striking.” Her silver eyes were wide. “Th-thank you.” Another shrug from the bear. “So,” he began, changing the subject whether it wanted to be changed or not. “What happened after?” Star’s expression grew pained. “There were… troubles. About half the guard followed Nail, the captain of the guard, who wanted to preserve the relationships the guard already had with merchants in Seneschal, and the other half went with Polaris. It was, well… war.” “Guessing your side won.” “Eventually, yes. But many ponies died.” Volta nodded gravely. “Always lose many in war. Canium land with rich history. Many wars. Most seem meaningless when looked back on. At least your war was for something.” Star didn’t look so sure. “You may have guessed that Polaris was Moon’s father.” The bear nodded once more. “Things were good for the first four years after she was born. There were skirmishes, of course. Cultists, Daughters, Reclaimers. They don’t go away. Still, I felt like I had found a balance. My duty as the heir.” She shook her head. “I was such a young foal.” “And then…?” Star’s silver eyes looked hatefully at the distant convoy. “Shimmer happened.” - The greatest warriors of Seneschal were at her back as she charged out to find and put an end to Shimmer. Killing her childhood friend wouldn’t stop the Legion from trying to take Seneschal, but she knew from experience that an army lost a lot of confidence when its champion fell. The Legion force he commanded had harassed the walls of Seneschal for months now. They had made little progress, but they had caused the deaths of many ponies, and Shimmer had always eluded her grasp, killing her best and brightest and then vanishing. Today felt like a last press; the city embattled on all sides, its armies bolstered by Star’s fame and Seneschal’s new prosperity, Shimmer moving openly about the field, and almost in her sights, while Polaris, feared by the Legion as the Blade of Light, supervised the defense of the city. If Star had the fortitude, skill, and courage, today might end this once and for all. She could see him from a long way off, his unit in combat with Lord Stalwart’s. She cursed to herself. She had told the griffon to keep back. As brave formidable as he was, he stood no chance against Shimmer. If it came to that, she wasn’t so sure she stood a chance against Shimmer. Galloping ahead of her ponies, she locked eyes with the crimson unicorn. An insane grin transfixed his face. Her eyes flared with the white magical fury of the heir. “Shimmer!” She shouted, planting her hooves and leaping high into the air. This was it, she resolved. She was going to end it today. Coming down on him at tremendous speed, she struck him hard in the face. He leaped back. Grinning at her, he spit out blood and smiled. Star seethed inside. He was always smiling about something. “Good evening, dear Stubby.” “Star!” Lord Stalwart spoke from somewhere near her. “Should we withdraw?” “Just keep them off us! I’m going to end this.” “Yes,” Shimmer said, the air around him distorting with the potent magic of the Bloodfang Style. “Nopony interfere if you wish to keep your lives.” He smiled at Star. “Are you prepared to die in agony, Stubby?” Ponies from both sides moved away from them, knowing from experience what a clash between ponies such as them was like. Her eyes flared. “Enough talk.” Shimmer grinned ear to ear, baring his teeth as he swept a hoof towards Star at lightning speed. Leaping nimbly over the cutting wave that was a signature of the Bloodfang, Star closed with her foe. His eyes still gleaming with glee, Shimmer’s hooves became a whirl of distortion as he sent wave after wave of destructive chi towards her, cutting into the ground around her as surely as they cut down many ponies behind her. They began to flee in earnest from the two terrifying warriors. “Yes, come here, Stubby!” Shimmer cackled gleefully. “You’ve always done better at close quarters, haven’t you!?” Star bared her teeth as she drew almost close enough to strike him. In theory, she knew him to be right. In the real world, Star knew as well as Shimmer that she had never defeated him, whether close up or far away. It ran through her mind as he took the hoof with which she struck at him, using her own momentum to throw her past him. Star set her hooves in the ground below her, skidding to a stop in a cloud of sand and touching her precious magical reserves to throw up a shield which broke the waves of destruction that Shimmer had sent flying after her. Her foe laughed wildly. “You might as well be dead already, Stubby!” Star seethed as she heard cheers of jubilation from Shimmer’s Legion ponies. “Tell you what, old friend,” Shimmer continued. “I’ll let you get close. That way you’ll have a fighting chance! How about it?” There was mirth in his eyes as he stared at her. Star screamed an enraged battle cry as she launched herself across the 20 meters or so that separated them. The cry alone, long and pure and loud, would have took the fight from most ponies. Not to mention the angry mare that went along with it, her eyes and horn blazing white as she somehow flew without wings, a storm of sand kicked up in her wake. Shimmer simply stood his ground and did nothing. Star’s burning attack didn’t even have a chance to connect as Shimmer’s hoof shot into her ribcage, a loud crack cutting off her scream. The pain was painted momentarily in her silver eyes before Shimmer followed it up by bucking her hard in the face. The heir to the Starhoof style landed on the blood-stained sand and was still. Shimmer threw his head back and laughed, his soldiers joining him and sharing in his mirth. Star woke to find a group of leering, blood-stained and battle-scarred ponies looking down at her. “Welcome back, Star,” he said with mocking kindness. Star tried to move, to throw herself with reckless abandon at her hated enemy once more. But she stopped when she felt the searing flame where Shimmer had struck her ribs, in addition to the weight of ponies holding her forelegs spread and her hindlegs down and to the right, baring her left flank. She just glared at Shimmer as he and his ponies shared another laugh. “Although I don’t think your beloved family will be so lucky, it is possible you may walk out of here today.” He grinned knowingly as his horn flared a brilliant red. “If, that is, you can survive what I’m going to do to you.” He laughed insanely. “I’m genuinely quite curious to know whether or not you can.” He knelt close to her face, the red glow from his horn hurting her eyes. “Polaris will see that my love for him burns brighter than yours ever could. Mark my words.” The words were a sharp, desperate whisper, meant only for her ears. He stepped around her, looking at her left cutie mark. “Feel free to scream.” Slowly, he dipped his horn into the flesh over the crowning star in her bear’s paw. Star’s world went white with agony. - Volta looked once more at the convoy, his aspect now contented. “Shimmer was… in love with your husband?” “Presumably still is.” “Polaris did not feel the same way?” Star shook her head. “It was just another unhealthy obsession for Shim. That’s all anything he did ever was.” “You do not think his feelings genuine?” Star stared at the bear. “What are you talking about? “He is pony like you. Who is to say he did not really love Polaris?” Star sighed and shook her head. “Even if it somehow began pure, what it became was an addiction he used to justify whatever awful thing he felt like doing at the time. I have trouble respecting that.” Volta was quiet for a very long moment. Star looked calmly at her face. She had been surprised at how simple it was to read his emotions. They weren’t, she supposed, so much different from a pony’s. During her recollection of some of the most painful events in her life, he had seemed disgusted. And angry. There was a lot of anger. He spoke after a long time. His tone was quiet and measured. “I have not seen your cutie mark.” Politely, the request itself wasn’t there, but it was implied enough that Star smiled. “Enough ponies know about me that I don’t like to flash it around.” Standing and slipping out of her cloak and Legion bodysuit, she bore her untouched right flank to the bear. There was only a brief moment before his eyes went wide in disbelief. “Priey shtati shuna Unaia…” he spoke reverently, his eyes alight. He looked at her once again. “Star… do you know what that is?” Star arched an eyebrow in confusion. “The… bear’s... paw?” “Perhaps that is how you know it here. In Canium it is the Claw of Unai. The most auspicious constellation in the night sky. We believe these Stars are where Unai and his children live.” His eyes reverently studied the cutie mark. “It was fate that I should meet you now…” Star frowned. “Volta…” her tone was reproachful. He met her with an intense gaze. “Can you call it anything else? A righteous and powerful pony, bearing the mark of the Great Bear himself. You cannot possibly know what this means to me.” “Volta… I’m just a regular pony. I mean… I can do some… unusual things... sure, but…” Volta shook his head vehemently. “No, Star. This is sign. I must pledge my fealty to you.” To her great distress, the bear knelt heavily before her and spoke quickly in his thick, guttural language. Star couldn’t seem to find a place in the speech to cut in. When he finished, he looked at her, pride in his amber eyes. “My claws and my teeth, all my power, my very life, are yours to command. If you send me to my death I will go gladly. By Unai.” “Oh, Goddess…” Star groaned. “Look, Volta, I just need a friend, that’s all.” Volta nodded. In the short time she had known him, she had never seen him this happy. “Then that is what we will be.” “But not because some bear in the sky tells you too. Because you enjoy my company. The way I enjoy yours.” Volta laughed earnestly. “Nothing has changed between us, Star. But this means a great deal to me. Whether you find it important or no.” Star smiled. She put her cloak back on, but folded the Legion bodysuit and stashed it in her satchel. “Either way… I’m still glad you’re here, Volta.” He smiled. “As am I, pony.” Behind them, Amulet stirred in her restless slumber. She gave a gentle sob as she opened her red eyes. She seemed confused for a moment, then she looked at Star and Volta with barely-restrained sorrow. “It wasn’t a dream, was it?” She asked despondently. “No dear, I’m afraid it wasn’t.” Star knew the pain on her face well. “What am I supposed to do now?” Her voice was barely held steady. Star looked up into the clouded gloom of the Nightlight. “Two choices. Give up or keep living.” She looked down at Amulet. “Nopony can decide for you.” The young pegasus just stared, her lower lip quivering. Star saw movement out in the dark haze of the unusually cloudy Nightlight. She knew it was Shimmer immediately, knew his shape and his body language. As much as she may have wished it to be otherwise, she had known him for longer than almost anypony except her sisters. Her eyes narrowed in silent hatred as he approached. “What do you want?” Her voice was stern. “Only what you want, Stubby,” he sneered as he emerged into plain sight. “To recover your precious daughter.” Star’s face was hard. “Why are you doing this? Have you truly gone insane?” “Not important. What is important is that this must be executed carefully.” Star sighed. “Fine. What do you propose?” Shimmer smiled. - The Waste provided a pony with few opportunities for a genuine giggle. But Star had indulged a few when she had watched the Legion ponies as Volta climbed into their largest Wagon. Star and Amulet, along with the doctor and his now-quiet filly, were with him. The convoy was on its way to a Legion Fortress where, according to her old enemy, Star’s daughter was being held. Star needed at least a little rest, but between comforting the still-inconsolable Amulet and the stress of wondering what Shimmer was up to, that wasn’t likely to happen. Star looked at Amulet, who stood beside her. Her face was still streaked with tears, but she was at least standing on her own. She stared at the convoy preparing to move out, trembling as she struggled to contain her sorrow. Star spoke softly. “Amulet? I think we should get in.” Amulet didn’t move or look at Star. Her voice quavered. “Why did you have to come to Hope?” Star’s ears drooped. “Amulet, I…” “Why? Everything was fine before you got there. Now everypony I know is dead or enslaved. My friends, my papa. Even…” she didn’t seem able to talk about her sister’s death. “You destroyed everything,” she whispered quietly. Star had nothing to say. She looked down at the shifting sands. “You said I had two choices?” Amulet said after a brief pause. “I’m choosing to check out. I want to die. What is there left for me?” She looked at Star for the first time since the conversation had begun. Star raised a supplicating hoof, her eyes stinging with tears. “Amulet, I…” “Shut up shut up shut up!” Amulet screamed. Star cowered away from the pegasus. “What can you possibly say that makes this better!?” Star was on the ground now, avoiding the angry eyes of the green mare. Amulet loomed over her. Star could see the hate in her eyes. She said nothing. Amulet stepped away from Star, breathing deep. “I wish you luck.” She looked out into the Waste. “I’m… going.” With that she took to the air, flying out into the empty lands left by the Atomites’ pointless destruction. Star stood, watching her go, her tears swallowed as she quietly added another name to the list of ponies she hadn’t been able to save. A familiar voice came from behind her. “You always wanted to help everypony, Stubby. You should know by now that you can’t.” Star didn’t even look at her childhood friend. For an unpleasant moment she allowed herself to imagine that was still what they were, that he was the cheerful Shim she had once known and loved. Without looking at him, she almost believed it. “Only because I wasn’t good enough.” She could hear the breathy chuckle. Hear him shaking his head. “You’re so stubborn. You’re the best, Star. You always have been. Maybe not when compared to me, but… against everypony else, I choose you every time.” She felt Shimmer standing beside her. For that unpleasant moment, she allowed herself to be there. “She chose death, Star. You’ll never save somepony like that.” Star was quiet for a moment. She looked over at him, her face blank. “I can tell you one pony I certainly won’t be saving.” Shimmer laughed, and for once it was earnest and not cruel. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll be waiting.” With that, he walked away. Star smiled sadly as she looked out on the Nightlight into which Amulet had vanished, in which the broken mare was no longer visible even as a distant mote against the sullen purple sky. Next Time: Give Back My Moon! The Fortress of Nightmares! Thanks to Damsus Rhee for giving me this idea and an excuse to write Elizabethan English for fun, and to you all for reading this. Check out his fanfic ‘Of Hoof and Paw’ on EqD. 1 - A Light in the Darkness!? Bloody Hooves of the Furious Stars!1 - A Light in the Darkness!? Bloody Hooves of the Furious Stars! Not so very long ago, in the magical land of Equestria… War. The seething resentment of generations of segregation and oppression finally exploded into a world-consuming firestorm. The Princesses have gone, their castle in ruins. Nopony knows anymore who or what caused the conflagration, only that nothing matters now but the primal law of strength and might. Those with power prey on the weak, in a wicked and brutal rule of nature ponies had thought was far behind them. But through this darkness walks a light. One pony with the strength and conviction to protect the innocent, and punish the wicked… -Hoof of the North Star- Episode 1: A Light in the Darkness!? Bloody Hooves of the Furious Stars! From overhead, the pony struggling through the raging sandstorm looked like little more than a dust mote on the endless white canvas of sand. The merciless Equestrian sun beat down on her, her tattered and threadbare brown cloak offering little protection from its abuses. The howling wind blew fine, hard granules of sand into her mouth and eyes, straining the already-worn fabric of her cloak and worming their way into her gray shirt and trousers. Her breathing was labored, ragged. She tried to remember the last time her hooves had been still, the last time she had tasted food or drank water. She found she couldn’t. All of her thoughts were blocked out by the whirling sand and the howling winds. Merciless sun in the day, cold, distant moon at night. She wondered when the sun would set today. Nopony could tell, anymore. Not since the princesses had vanished and become Goddesses in the minds of ponies. It had been so long ago that only a few living ponies could still remember hearing tales of a time when they had lived and walked among their subjects. She saw herself, putting one hoof in front of the other for as long as she could remember, ever since… that day. She heard her tired, reedy voice heavy with tears, offering futile but earnest prayers to the now-distant Goddesses for their uncertain mercy. Her forelegs slipped out from under her for what felt like the thousandth time, and without preamble she fell face-first into the sand. She hated when this happened. Looking up, she wondered what it would look like this time. Sharp and clear in the air before her, she saw her daughter, screaming and spread-eagled, chains fixed to each of her legs. The bolts locking the manacles together also penetrated the flesh and bone of her legs themselves. The tired unicorn was looking over the shoulder of her daughter’s tormentor, an earth pony in a lab coat, his snout and shoulders painted with Moon Light’s blood, as he worked around in her exposed insides with a sharp needle, testing some arcane theories of perverted science, she supposed. Or maybe just having what passed for fun these days. She looked away from the horrific image, unable to weep any more. Relatively speaking, it wasn’t that bad. She would much rather see such images, pure fictions invented by her fevered imagination, than she would the past. Particularly that day. She had seen more than enough of it. Shaking her head to clear the nightmarish visions, she struggled to all four hooves, her muscles screaming in agony. She knew at that moment that the next time she fell, she would never rise again. She focused. One hoof in front of the other. Trembling with each step, she could see at last that it was almost over. She was shamed by the relief she felt, sneaking in past the sorrow of knowing she would never again see Moon. Luna protect you, Littlemoon, she thought to herself, her dry lips no longer capable of speaking the words, even in a whisper, before she collapsed into a motionless heap. Across the surface of the sand, she saw ponies running, heard shouts and responses. I haven’t seen this vision before… Then darkness took her. - The dark blue unicorn woke up, which shocked her. She could immediately tell that she was lying on a bed, for which she inwardly rejoiced, although it was a thin and uncomfortable bed. Her head was reeling, and her eyes seemed unenthusiastic about focusing on anything in particular. A noise seared her aching skull, stabbing through it like a dagger. She winced and placed her hooves over the throbbing agony in a futile effort to massage away the pain. It took a few seconds before her damaged senses began to resolve the noise into anything but an auditory weapon. She recognized it as a voice, and started to work on trying to resolve what it was saying. She knew now that she was in a room, dingy but well-ordered, softly lit by fluorescent lighting just above her. The cot on which she lay was arranged against a wall alongside several others much like it. Immediately in front of her was a door that she assumed must lead outside, and an arch behind her and to her left led deeper into the building. But for the moment she tried to focus on the painful voice. “…Hello?” She heard the voice clearly now. Turning her eyes toward it and blinking. She watched curiously as the vague shape resolved into a brown unicorn in a lab coat who, for one terrified instant, she mistook for the earth pony scientist from her latest vision. This impression was quickly dispelled by his horn, by the friendly look of concern on his face, by the lack of her lost filly’s blood covering him, and by his stethoscope cutie mark. She returned his smile weakly, feeling better than she had in weeks, which ultimately wasn’t saying a lot. “Oh,” he said when she smiled. “I guess you are feeling better.” The sound of his voice no longer burned her mind like a red-hot brand. “A little. Where am I?” Her voice rasped, and she cleared her throat immediately. “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re in my clinic, in the village of Hope. We found you collapsed outside of town three days ago.” Star’s eyes were drawn to the needle inside her left foreleg, attached to a bag of clear liquid beside the table. “You helped me, I suppose?” The doctor smiled earnestly, and she decided she liked him. “To the best of my abilities, yes.” “Am I a prisoner?” She asked. “I don’t feel like I’m a prisoner.” The doctor looked alarmed. “No, of course not. U-unless you wish us harm,” he stammered. He then grinned awkwardly. “You don’t look very dangerous, frankly.” Star smiled. “No.” She sat up from the not-very-comfortable cot with a vague grimace. The doctor looked alarmed. “You shouldn’t really move yet…” “I’m sure I’ll be fine, doctor.” Extending a hoof, she saw with displeasure the sorry, peeling state of her midnight-blue coat. She wondered what kind of disarray her mane was in. Lucky she kept it short. “My name is Star Light.” The doctor shook her hoof gently. “I’m Doctor Tourniquet. Welcome.” Star stayed on the table for the moment, not wanting to scare the doctor too badly. He gestured vaguely to her flank. “I figured your name would be something like that, what with the cutie mark. What do they call that constellation?” Her face was neutral as she answered. “It’s known variously as the Great Ladle or the Bear’s Paw. The zebras have -or had- some other name for it. Can’t remember what.” She had read up on it extensively when she was a filly, when she had thought that having such an important and auspicious constellation on her flank was just about the coolest thing to ever happen to anypony. It felt like so much longer ago than it actually was. “Yes, that’s right,” he said in sudden remembrance. “Very unusual. Maybe you can tell me how you got it sometime.” She was pretty sure the doctor was hitting on her, which she found very cute. And a bit desperate, given how she must look. Gently but swiftly, Star slipped off of the cot on the right side, so as to avoid the earnest but misguided interferences of Doctor Tourniquet. Her hooves were shaky for a moment after hitting the floor, but once they were underneath her she recovered fairly quickly and smiled happily as she took a few tentative steps. Bending down to her left foreleg, she gently took the IV tube in her teeth and pulled it out. She looked up into the doctors’ eyes, which were wide behind his large glasses. “You seem… very resilient. Are you some kind of warrior?” He averted his gaze. “I… couldn’t help but notice that you do have your fair share of scars.” Star delicately spit out the IV tube. She kept her feelings locked behind her silver eyes, but smiled when she said: “Something like that.” She heard a small gasp from the passage leading further into the building, and looked up to see a filly, scarcely eight she would guess, standing stock-still and staring at her. She did not yet have her cutie mark. Her coat was the color of honey, but her hair was a bright red. Her look of surprise gave way to a big smile. “She’s up already, papa?” “Who is this?” Star gave her most friendly smile to the little filly. “I’m Splints,” piped the filly, bouncing a bit. She seemed to remember herself, and arched her eyebrow at Star. “And you should still be in bed. Right papa?” Tourniquet sighed. “Well yes, but… she seems fine to me, little one. We might make an exception just this once.” Splints nodded. “Okay!” She trotted over to Star and looked up at her with big blue eyes. “After you meet with the Elder, can we play?” She looked crestfallen. “I haven’t had anypony to play with for such a long time.” She looked to her father, suddenly apprehensive. “I’m sorry papa, I forgot to ask. Is she safe?” “Um… I think she’s probably safe, yes, little one.” Tourniquet’s eyes flickered awkwardly towards Star. “We’re going to have to talk about the proper way to have these sorts of discussions.” Star came down to Splint’s eye level, smiling. “I’d love to play later. I’ve got a filly about your age.” There was a small but bitter pang at the mention of Moon. Her eyes wide, Splints gasped excitedly and began launching a barrage of questions about Moon, not even bothering to give her time to answer. This one has been sheltered, Star thought. That should do her heart good. Until she can’t be sheltered anymore. Star smiled awkwardly, not really knowing how to respond. Or even how to process such foalish exuberance. It had never been like this for her and her sisters. And certainly not for Moon. She should probably just stay here, she thought as Tourniquet tried to calm his daughter down. Stay here and forget about the doom on her shoulders, the legacy she had foolishly chosen to accept. About Moon; alone, suffering, and afraid. When it came to that last, she knew that she couldn’t. Tourniquet had just managed to calm Splints, by physically muffling her barrage of stream-of-consciousness chatter, questions, and meaningless anecdotes with a hoof over her mouth. He looked at Star, an awkward smile on his face. “Well, we should probably go and tell the Elder you’re awake. You can come with us if you like.” At that moment there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” The doctor responded. He unmuffled Splints, who had finally gotten the idea and lapsed into a sullen silence. She looked up at him with a frustrated glare. Through the door came three ponies. The first two Star knew immediately to be guards. She had met enough of the breed to be sure of how they behaved. Unyielding looks in their eyes, they entered first and scanned the room. The first was a large yellow pegasus stallion, the second a graceful blue unicorn mare. Moments after, an earth pony stallion entered that Star took, from his age and bearing, to be the Elder. She was immediately certain that he was the second-oldest living pony she had ever laid eyes on. He was coffee-colored and his cutie mark was some kind of flower with which she was unfamiliar. Despite his age, he still bore traces of what looked to have been a truly impressive strength in his youth. He was still attractive in a way, his snow-white mane relatively thick if a bit downier than it might once have been, and his green eyes full of laughter. He wore a light brown robe and carried a gnarled cane which he leaned on lightly with his right hoof. His guards kept a close eye on her but made no unfriendly movements. She nodded at the older pony. “You must be the Elder.” The older stallion inclined his head slightly, and Star returned the gesture. “Yes. Elder Cornflower.” He regarded her with warmth. “We were beginning to think you would never wake up, my dear.” Star stretched her neck, enjoying the feel of her aching muscles stirring to life. “Thanks to you and Doctor Tourniquet, I feel much better.” Her eyes were drawn to his guards. She smiled disarmingly. “Do you fear me, Elder?” The old earth pony chuckled. “Of course not, my dear. But as I am sure you know, these are dangerous times. My guards are merely a precaution. We’ve done everything we can to get you back on your hooves. And look at you now!” Star nodded. “I’ve come not to expect such decency from other ponies. My name is Star Light. I’ve been here three days, you say?” Cornflower thought for a moment. “By my count, yes.” “It seems I’m in your debt then, sir.” The old pony chuckled. “No no, my dear. It is our duty to assist anypony in need. Such is the will of the Goddesses.” At that, a dark and vaguely sad shadow crossed Star’s face, but it passed quickly. She nodded. Her smile now was awkward, a foreleg raised in supplication. “If I may continue to impose upon your courtesy… to say that I’m hungry would be an enormous understatement.” The grandfatherly chuckle from the Elder put her at ease. “Of course, young one. Follow me. I can show you Hope, such as it is, on our brief walk. After all, you should get some fresh-“ he hesitated. “Well, at least some sort of air in your lungs.” He gave an apologetic smile. There was nothing anypony could do anymore about the quality of the Equestrian air. The Atomites had seen to that. Star nodded. Splints burst out anew as they were about to go. “Elder, Elder! Star says she’ll be my friend! Can you believe it? A new-” she was cut off as Tourniquet muffled her once again, grinning apologetically. Her stubby legs waved wildly as she tried to express her glee through gesticulation. Star smiled without meaning to, a rare and pleasurable experience these days. “You’d better leave before she really gets going,” Tourniquet told them. Star gave Splints her friendliest smile. “I’ll come back to see you, Splints. I like having new friends, too.” Tourniquet suddenly spoke up, as though he hadn’t been meaning to. “You could... take your meal with me if you like, Miss Star.” Star thought about it. She looked to the exuberant Splints, still trying to communicate her happiness without the use of words. She doubted she’d be able to eat a bite. The Elder directed an even look at the young doctor. “I am sure our guest would like to eat in peace, young stallion. Here she would be interrupted by a lovesick doctor and a charming but somewhat over-excited filly.” He looked to Star with a slight smile. “Do I guess correctly?” She drooped a bit in embarrassment. “Well… I do think I’d prefer to eat alone.” Splints was momentarily crestfallen, a sight so sad and adorable that it caused Star physical pain. “But I will be back. Just… give me some time.” At that, Splints seemed to shift gears back to super-excited in a heartbeat. As she turned to leave, Star noticed a pained look pass over the Filly’s face. Although she recovered from it quickly, back to foalish exuberance in a heartbeat. Star bent to the filly’s eye level once more. “Are you in pain, Splints?” Tourniquet spoke up quickly. “No no, she’s fine. She was playing on the outskirts with Cloves last week and she took a little fall.” he waved a hoof. “Just some pain. I’m sure it’ll pass.” Star’s brow furrowed. After a week it most likely already should have. I suppose I could fix it. But it’s been years since I used the Starhoof for that. Elder Cornflower cleared his throat. “Miss Star? Is... everything alright?” Looking to the Elder’s kind expression she smiled apologetically. “I... have something to discuss with the doctor and his daughter. In private.” The Elder raised his eyebrows. “A matter between a patient and a physician,” Star clarified, blushing lightly. Cornflower’s expression was even as his eyes shifted from Star to the doctor. He nodded. “Very well.” He nodded to his guards, who stepped out the front door. He looked to Star. “Take what time you need. We will wait. “ He followed his guards. Star smiled to herself and turned to Splints, who beamed up at her. “Miss Star?” Asked Tourniquet. “What is this about?” Star trotted over to Splints, who stood beside her father, exuberance barely contained. She sat down close to the two of them. “You helped me,” she said to Tourniquet. She averted her eyes. “I can’t remember how long it’s been since somepony helped me. Not unless they expected something out of me.” Maybe not ever. She smiled at him. And noticed that he was blushing harder and harder. She frowned. “Doctor! Where is your mind at?” He stuttered awkwardly. “I... apologize, Miss Star. But it’s been a long time since there’s been an unattached mare of my age in the village. But...” he swallowed hard. “If you aren’t referring to... that.... then what?” Splints looked between the two of them in bewilderment. “Can somepony tell me what’s going on?” Star sighed, shaking her head at the embarrassed doctor. She smiled down at the filly. “I can cure your headaches. But it would be much simpler if you didn’t tell anypony about it. Alright?” “Okay, Miss Star!” Splints said immediately. “I... don’t understand,” said the doctor. “How can you cure them?” “Yeah,” said Splints. “My papa’s the best doctor in the world, and he can’t do anything.” Her eyes widened in awe. “Are you a better doctor than him?” “No, little one. I’m not a doctor. Never mind how I can do it. I just need you to relax for a minute, okay?” Splints nodded happily. “You got it, Miss Star!” She sat down and waited with surprising patience, her big brown eyes looking up at Star with the complete trust of the young. Star focused slowly, her breathing even and measured. It had been a long time since she had touched anypony’s chakras for any reason but to cause them harm. She had never been good at using the art of the Starhoof for anything but death. Healing had always been Silvercloud’s specialty. Comet had once said that she had almost discovered an entirely new way of using the Starhoof style. Although ponies in ages past had known that the Starhoof could be used for healing as well as destroying, nopony, as far as any of the records had shown, had ever devoted themselves to it like Silvercloud had. Still, Star was basically aware of how it was done. At least, of how something so simple as this was done. And this doctor and his filly were the kindest ponies she had met in years. He deserved something from her. If only because most ponies would already have tried to take whatever they could. Star had studied the diagrams, memorized the points for so long, that when she looked at the filly’s surprisingly-still body, she could almost see the myriad points of focus along her chakras, like stars shining in the night sky, by which she could paralyze, kill, or do any number of other things. Every pony was like a miniature galaxy of stars, the points in their bodies’ natural rivers of energy where that energy ran over and could be touched by somepony who knew how to do so. By putting out or rearranging those stars with hoof or horn or magic, she could destroy, maim, or heal as she saw fit. Star had only recently realized how terrible and evil a power this was. Only when it was too late for her. Raising her forelegs to both sides of the filly’s head, her silver eyes focused and empty, she took a split-second to search out the points she knew she must rearrange. Quickly but very gently, she simultaneously touched both sides of the filly’s head. She felt a small electrochemical pulse from the misaligned chakra, and then she knew that all was right. She set her hooves on the floor once more and smiled at her. “Do you feel better now, Splints?” The little filly shook her head, sneezed inexplicably, then nodded happily. “No more ouchie!” Star smiled at her. The doctor had a look on his face that Star had seen on soldiers whose eyes had seen too much combat. “How did you do that, Miss Light?” Star raised a hoof, a big grin on her face. “Ah ah ah, doctor. I told you not to ask.” The doctor smiled kindly at her. “But I didn’t promise not to...” They both shared a gentle laugh. Splints was excited by the outburst, and bounced around them in a circle singing ‘no ouchie’. That only made them laugh more. Star realized then that the sound of laughter had become almost foreign to her ears. “Thank you, Miss Light,” the doctor told her when everypony had calmed down and he held Splints fondly at his side. “I won’t tell anypony.” He shrugged. “I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want me to, but... can I ask you one thing?” Star nodded without considering it much. The doctor paused for a moment, but then met her eyes. “Why do you seem so sad every time I look at you?” Star felt a pang. He had no right to ask that. Her expression was more guarded than before as she spoke. “I should go,” she said, trotting quickly out the door, scarcely even registering the exuberant farewell from Splints. She winced as her eyes were once again subjected to the hard, blinding light of the Equestrian Daylight. Star smiled weakly as she joined the Elder and his guards, still uncomfortable in the aftermath of the doctor’s final question. The Elder began to speak evenly. “All is well, I suppose?” Star nodded. “Did you enjoy the company of our doctor’s charming daughter?” She smiled again. “Very much so, Elder.” “It is wonderful to see such exuberance in the young, isn’t it? We have only a few children here, but they are our dearest treasures.” He gestured widely to the town around him with his right foreleg. “Welcome to our village, Miss Light. We are few, but we make a meager living taking advantage of the cultivation technologies left behind by the Atomites.” Star was shocked. “You’ve managed to make the Gardens function?” The old stallion gave a friendly smile. “In a limited capacity, yes. I have heard of it being done before. In the Mountain Fortress Octavia to the north, I had heard there had been some successful exploitations of the Atomites’ lost farming techniques.” Star’s face went blank and expressionless. “Yes, I… heard that as well,” she stuttered, leaving too long a silence. The Elder seemed not to catch it, but she still winced inwardly before assessing her surroundings with the quick efficiency to which she was accustomed. From what she could see, Hope consisted of what had once been four roads but were now little more than dirt paths, arranged roughly in the shape of a pound sign. In the middle of the town squatted the leaning ruins of an Atomite town hall, its careworn façade visible from anywhere in the town. Seeing it, she was shocked it still stood. But many Atomite structures did so, despite what they had done to the rest of the world. They had been strange ponies. The other buildings in the town were pretty uniformly run-down, but many served new purposes nonetheless, whether as private dwellings or as storefronts offering various services. There was a makeshift open-air marketplace around the remains of the Atomite Hall as well. Ponies went about their business, most of them regarding Star and her new companions with open looks and friendly smiles. Star was unaccustomed to such behavior, so much so that she chastised herself for finding it suspicious. Friendliness and decency should be rewarded, she reminded the paranoid little pony inside. The Clinic was on the inner side of the western street. Looking at it from the outside, she could tell that it had once been a garage of some sort but had been re-purposed, like many of Hope’s structures. It now bore the large red plus sign that Star had often seen associated with medicinal pursuits. Elder Cornflower continued. “We face infrequent raids, but we have capable defenders and strong fortifications built on the outskirts. We generally manage to turn them away without too much trouble.” Star arched an eyebrow at the old pony. “You don’t pay tribute to the Daughters?” A hard look on Cornflower’s face gave Star a glimpse of the brave and fierce young warrior he must once have been. His expression was hard. A pony had to be hard to survive in these times. “Certainly not. Those monsters scarcely deserve to be called ponies. We will give them precisely nothing, my dear.” Looking her in the eyes as they kept a leisurely pace, his stony expression resolved into an easy smile which Star could scarce help but return. “That’s… very impressive,” she offered, averting her eyes. Cornflower nodded. He stopped for a moment, a vague grimace on his face. “And, on a personal note... I do hope you’ll forgive our young doctor his discourtesy. He’s a young stallion with all the commensurate needs but little outlet for them. I’ve tried to care for him as much as possible, but there are things I can’t provide.” He smiled fondly. “I’m sure caring for a lovely mare such as yourself for three days was... a difficult task.” Star blushed in spite of herself. “I think you give me too much credit, Elder.” She didn’t want to imagine how dirty and dishevelled she was. “But thank you.” The Elder chuckled. “You’re a stout-hearted pony, Miss Star. Mares like you make me wish I were young again.” Star gave an unintentional laugh. The second such outburst in the same day, she realized. The moment they had been sharing was interrupted by a loudly-booming voice. “Elder!” The voice was thickly accented, deep, and so loud it shook Star’s bones. Star’s bubbling laugh was cut off by a squeak of sudden surprise. The Elder, after starting along with her, gave an uncharacteristically frustrated expression. He looked unpleasant for the first time since Star had met him. Turning to see the source of the booming tones, her silver eyes widened as she looked on a sight that neither she, nor anypony she had ever heard of, had seen before. Towards the two of them lumbered a massive creature; at least two-and-a-half full-grown ponies in height and twice that in length. It moved with surprising grace and certainty despite its size. Although it walked on four legs like a pony, that was where the similarities ended. It seemed to Star to be much more like a massive dog or wolf than anything even remotely equine, but even that didn’t really come close to describing it. The great creature was covered in a thick, lustrous coat of pitch-black fur, on which strange, sharp-edged designs had been painted or dyed, snaking over its entire body. Some of the designs Star could plainly identify as letters, but not from any language she had ever seen. It had a long snout, full of sharp white teeth, with which it was grinning broadly and almost jovially at Star and the three Hope ponies as it approached. The amusement was in its incredible eyes as well. Luminescent pools of amber with large black pupils, they sparkled with a startling and incongruous intelligence. Without the eyes, markings, and other adornments, Star would have assumed it to be nothing more than an animal. A large and frightening animal, but nothing more. Around its thick neck it wore a splendid necklace of large beads, all of them colored in earth-tones apart from the central pendant. That was triangular and had a color similar to Star’s coat. Its thick, muscled legs as well ended not in hooves, but in claws with four digits apiece. Its claws were also painted white, and even from here Star could see that they were razor-sharp. She wondered for a moment what would happen if she were to do battle with this creature. Were its chakras arranged the same as anypony’s? Would its body would react the same way when she struck it? Most equines, she knew, had virtually the same alignment of overflow points. But this creature? It was impossible to know without trying, which she had no reason to do. But a blood-drenched pony inside her craved that knowledge, wanted it with burning intensity, like she had wanted nothing else in her life, except perhaps a lover’s touch. As she always did, she struggled against that instinct, pushing it down into the basements of her psyche with the rest of the things she wasn’t dealing with right now. The Elder frowned and looked at her. “Miss Light, this is...” “Privyat Voltaic Ursini!” The great creature boomed, exuberant. “Pleased to meet you!” With that, the creature embraced her vigorously. His fur was surprisingly soft and downy, and he carried a whole variety of scents at this close proximity. Most of them, she had to admit, were relatively pleasant. The others were… interesting. Mostly, he smelled like woodsmoke. Star could feel the massive reserves of raw power in its -or, she supposed, his- paws. She couldn’t help but fear that the sharp claws might accidentally open her flesh, but he could either decide by some obscure magic when to make them rend flesh or else was accustomed to handling ponies gently. His arrestingly beautiful eyes turned to the Elder with a mocking pantomime of annoyance which might have frightened a less brave pony. The Elder’s guards certainly seemed put off by the massive creature, to put it mildly. “You told me you would inform me when new visitor arrived, Cornflower!” Star spoke up, seeing the indignant look on the Elder’s face. “Good to meet you...” she struggled to remember the odd name. After a seconds awkward pause, the great creature chuckled at her. “Call me Volta! Everyone -everypony, rather- else does.” “If it isn’t too rude, Volta… what are you?” Volta laughed loudly. “Is not rude. How can pony know? None of us left in ponyland, even lesser breeds. I am bear, from land of Canium. Black bear, to be precise. Biggest and best bear of all. If you ask black bears, that is.” He once again laughed raucously at his own jest. Many passing ponies had now stopped to watch the exchange, expressions ranging from interest to fear to distaste. Though Star had never heard of the land of Canium, she still nodded. “Well, my name is Star Light. It’s good to meet you.” She considered extending a hoof, but then decided that the former embrace probably constituted enough of a physical greeting. Cornflower sighed. “Volta is a new arrival in Hope. He came here not two days before you, in fact.” There was annoyance in the Elder’s voice, though Star couldn’t see why. The huge… bear… seemed perfectly friendly. Although she guessed he could potentially be hard to feed… what would such a creature eat, anyway? Star considered his sharp teeth and shuddered inwardly. He turned towards her with a mildly frightening grin. “Have come to tell ponies about Unai. Unai is Great Bear God. Pony Goddesses nice and pretty. Powerful. Respect Pony Goddesses. But Great Bear is simpler.” Star looked up at him. “Oh?” “Yes. What do pony Goddesses do? Raise sun, raise moon… do I forget anything else?” It seemed to be a legitimate question. “Sounds about right,” Star responded. Although they hadn’t raised the sun or the moon consistently for as long as anypony could remember. She thought for a half-second. “I guess... they also watch over us.” If you believed in that sort of thing. Volta frowned vaguely. “Watch over, yes. But is abstract. They come down sometimes, help ponies. Often cause as much harm as good.” He held up a paw by way of clarification. “From my most-likely limited perspective.” Star cocked her head. “So… how is the Bear God Unai different?” Volta bared his teeth in a smile again, and inhaled for a long outburst. “Perhaps this conversation would best be left until later,” Cornflower interjected. “Our guest is very tired and hungry, and I’m sure she would like to eat in peace.” There was a growing impatience in the last word that Star was uncertain how to react to. Volta’s ears (those were enough like an equines, at least) drooped and a look of shame appeared on his face. “I apologize most sincerely. Did not know I was keeping you from food. That is terribly rude thing to do where I come from. Would offer to join you but… ponies and bears eat different things. You would not be comfortable.” He considered for a moment. “Plus, I would probably annoy you terribly.” He laughed wildly once again, drawing looks ranging from fear to frustration to amusement from passing ponies, who were now going about their business once more. Star gave a friendly smile. “You don’t have to apologize, Volta. We’ll talk after I’m a little more fortified, alright? I’ve certainly never met anyp- anyone like you before.” Volta bowed deep, a grand and courtly sight. “I will look forward to it fondly, dear lady.” Star nodded politely and watched in wonder as the enormous bear walked off with surprising grace. “I do apologize for that, Miss Star,” The Elder spoke up after there was some distance between the bear and the four ponies. “He came to town several days ago preaching the gospel of the ‘Great Bear’, whatever that is. And I think you can understand that asking somepony like him to leave would carry with it certain dangers.” Star furrowed her brow at the old pony. “I don’t know, Elder. He seems-” her speech cut short as an audible growl came from her empty stomach. She smiled sheepishly. “Eat first, talk later, I suppose.” The Elder’s grandfatherly smile returned. Star was shocked to be led through the communal hall, where ponies ate and talked in relative contentment, to what appeared to be her own private dining room. For ponies in a small village in the middle of Whitesand, the Hope ponies certainly had laid out an impressive spread. Salad, small hoof-sandwiches made with varying kinds of flowers, soups, and a modest assortment of pastries. She was troubled by how much these ponies had been willing to do for her. She would need to find a way to return the favor, she thought as she sat down and set to. Eating for a pony like her was a benediction. It brought with it memories of other meals, of the ponies she had eaten them with, and of those who were no longer with her. As always when things were quiet, her thoughts went back to Moon. There was the familiar pang of guilt that she was not searching for her lost filly at this very moment. But she had been doing that for days without rest, more than she could count, and all it had earned her was her closest brush with the Deathmare in many years. As she thought about death, she felt the familiar pain rise up from the burnt welts covering the stars in her left flank’s cutie mark. The memory of the day her cutie mark had been mutilated, the worst pain of any kind she had ever felt, had always formed a bulwark for her against most other kinds of suffering. But she didn’t want to think about that right now. She had found a safe place. So she thought about her sisters. She didn’t know where any of them were any more, not really. She had heard vague rumors that Silvercloud was in Bastion, the great prison, but she had trouble really believing that. As for the others, it remained difficult to say. She paused in her reverie. Star blinked. She suddenly felt very strange. She blinked again, and found the normally subconscious act to be difficult, sluggish. Each of her eyes blinked, she noticed, at different speeds, which didn’t seem normal to her. Her surroundings, also, seemed off. She looked around the room, its features blurring and overlapping before resolving into themselves again. It wasn’t until she slipped off the modest wooden bench and fell to the floor motionless that she began to understand what had happened. A raging flame of fury lit inside her. She couldn’t move, speak, or even grunt. She lay on the floor for a few long minutes, frightened and angry. She saw a cockroach crawling by not far from her face, but could do nothing about it. It skittered away as the door edged open cautiously. One of the Elder’s guards, the unicorn, poked her head in and smiled at her position. She spoke, keeping her eyes on Star. “It’s done, Elder.” Pushing the door completely open, she entered, follow by Cornflower, a sad but resolute expression on his face. “I do apologize for this, Miss Star, but it has been some time since a healthy pony such as yourself has passed through our town. Your organs will trade for food and supplies our village sorely needs. Being the clearly quite moral and decent mare that you are, I’m sure this will provide you some comfort.” His eyes closed, he shook his head sadly. “Once again, I do apologize. This is in no way personal, and I assure you it will be done with absolutely no pain or discomfort to yourself.” Star fixed her eyes on him, a silver fury burning in them, and he looked a bit taken aback. She was unable to speak, and didn’t attempt to at any rate. There was no longer anything to say, so far as she was concerned. He looked away from her and nodded to his guards. Straining as her horn flared blue, the unicorn levitated her to drape across the back of the pegasus. “Take her to the doctor,” Flower told them, his face now seeming nothing more than a cruel mockery of the grandfatherly kindness she had seen in it earlier. He looked at her once more. “Ironic that the same stallion who saved your life will now be the one to take it. It’s a bad world we live in, Miss Star.” The old stallion paused for a moment, his expression wavering. Soon, Star knew, a younger stallion would rise up to take his place. He probably couldn’t see it. But they would see the weakness, the irresoluteness, in his eyes. And would destroy him for it. At length, he spoke. “I understand I am in no position to beg your forgiveness, and I will not. However, consider this: before we did what we regrettably must now do, we nursed you back to health and fed you the most lavish final meal we could muster. What we do, we do with as much grace and equinity as possible. I am sorry.” With that, he nodded, and the pegasus walked out the door. Walking through the streets of Hope was different now. For one thing, she could no longer do so under her own power, the horror of that fact slowly sinking into her addled brain. The open expressions and friendly smiles had vanished. Now everypony tried to avoid Star’s seething eyes, kept firmly out of the path of the guards and their unpleasant burden. Star was familiar with the behavior of ponies trying to pretend something unpleasant wasn’t actually happening They took her once again towards the clinic. The guards were having an inappropriate conversation about her flanks (she thought that they probably didn’t share the Elder’s views on the importance of equinity) when she noticed that something was wrong. The guards didn’t seem to feel it. Star had weathered many battles, passed many nights around campfires before storming an enemy stronghold, and fought her way out of more ambushes than she could count. There was a tension in the air that she knew well. It came in the pristine and almost beautiful moments before a fight, when the world seemed to narrow to nothing more than one group of ponies facing another, and nothing else, not ethics or causes or politics, had any importance at all to what was happening. It was the moment where the boring and tedious part of combat suddenly changed into the frantic and bloody part. Something bad was about to happen, and she could do nothing to warn them. She felt no surprise when what she assumed to be an alarm began to sound from the east, like the noise of a hammer on a tin plate. The guards were started from their casual conversation, and looked in the direction of the noise. There was shouting and running, but Star could tell that the fighting hadn’t really begun. If she knew one thing, it was the sound of battle. A middle-aged pegasus mare with razor-sharp wingblades and form-fitting body armor landed on the street not far away from Star and her captors. She stopped when she saw the two guards. “Thrush, Ballpeen, come with me now!” The pegasus stallion with two golden wings for a cutie mark, called Thrush she supposed, looked stupidly towards the clinic. “But… we’re supposed to take this to the doctor…” The older pegasus looked at the burden on Thrush’s back, and her face contorted briefly with disgust. She shook her head. “Leave her! It’s the Legion!” Along with everpony present, Star’s heart sank. No matter what they may have been planning to do to her in that clinic, these ponies didn’t deserve the Legion. Nopony did. She had seen villages that had tried to fight Legion troops once they had finished. The Daughters may have been meaninglessly cruel monsters, but the Legion were methodical. Star could say with absolute conviction that the method was worse than the madness. Thrush dropped her to the ground almost immediately and took to the air with the older, well-armed Pegasus mare, the unicorn Ballpeen following along on the ground after them, moving as one towards the sound of the alarm. Star lay in the street, unable to move, as various ponies from Hope rushed past her, everypony going to the east. She could hear sounds of fighting now, frenzied and high. Had she retained her power of speech, she would have told them they were going the wrong way. She could see the Legion pegasi, many of the larger ones carrying armored unicorn warriors, swooping down on the village from all directions. All of the pegasi carried bundles of ceramic pots, which Star knew from experience to be full of a magically-fabricated mixture that would burn quickly and evenly. They began to drop them all over town, and now Star heard the pitiful screaming of suffering ponies begin. Several unicorns were dropped near her, both mares and stallions, as the Legion pegasi, their burdens shed, took to engaging members of their own species from Hope, in what was more than likely a hopelessly uneven battle for the village pegasi. They were outclassed and unfocused, their attentions split between fighting their own private life-and-death struggles, and seeing, far below them, their village burning, their friends dying. She knew the Legion well. There wasn’t a single weapon, physical or otherwise, that they would fail to use to their advantage. The unicorns newly-landed in the village gave her a quick look, but resolved without much attention that she was no threat. Star knew it was almost over. The unicorns levitated wicked blade and cudgel weapons, sometimes two or three at a time, and began working their way through Hope, mercilessly killing any defenders who failed to surrender. Star didn’t want to see this. But she refused to look away. Earth ponies slowly began to show up, most of them large and impressively armored, all of them spattered with blood, most of it not their own. They were the phalanxes of seasoned veterans that were used to break through the most heavily-hardened defenses. Star surmised that they had just made short work of the ‘fortifications on the outskirts’ of which the Elder had been so proud. She wondered briefly where Volta had gotten to. Surely he would have been useful against the Legion. She wasn’t even certain what he could do, but there had clearly been magic about him. Plus, there was him, and that was saying a lot on it’s own. She looked up, and high above, she saw a pegasus mare circling. Apart from her the skies were empty, most of Hope’s pegasi having been killed or captured. Bring help, she urged the lone pegasi vehemently. Please, leave and bring help or your friends will die. Not to mention herself, if this poison was permanent. The Legion troops now moved freely through the streets of the doomed village. She saw another pegasus, bright with red legion colors, streak in and collide with the one from earlier, and for a moment she couldn’t tell what was happening. The two pegasi, little more than indistinct dots at this range, flew out of Star’s line of sight. In Hope, things were winding down. Star could hear and see only a few remaining tokens of resistance. She knew how the Legion worked, and was certain it would be over soon. An earth pony mare and a unicorn stallion, both clad in the semi-formal red armored uniforms of the Legion, stood near enough that Star could hear their conversation. “That it?” The mare asked, a leering smile spread emphatically across her face. “I guess so,” responded the stallion with little noticeable feeling. “Not the most exciting raid I’ve ever been in.” “Good enough while it lasted,” the mare mused. She leaned slightly closer to the stallion, who Star got the impression didn’t like her much. “Now it’s time for fun.” He nodded. “Business first, though.” An authoritative stallion’s voice boomed from somewhere to Star’s left. “Gather survivors!” There were no dead on this street, at least not that Star could see. The soldiers’ eyes were naturally drawn to Star. The mare grinned uncomfortably. “What’s this?” The stallion rolled his eyes in boredom as the earth pony walked over at a leisurely pace. “This here is a survivor, I would say. And still alive, by the looks of it. Hey Armor,” she shouted over her shoulder to the unicorn. “Found a pretty one for you.” The stallion Armor walked a bit closer, squinting at Star. She could hear weeping and pleading from adjacent streets, and the soft, gurgling gasps of a pony with its throat slit. Virtually all the stallions would be killed outright, she knew. “Why isn’t she moving?” Armor cocked his head as he asked the question, his tone disinterested. The mare shrugged. “Who cares? Look at those eyes. So pretty, and sooo angry. But I’d say this one won’t resist. Drugged. Or paralyzed, maybe.” Armor frowned. “Takes the fun out of it, doesn’t it?” The mare looked at Armor, her eyes a mimicry of mercy. “I have to pity somepony who thinks everything needs to be some kind of struggle.” Armor smiled for the first time, looking Star up and down. “Maybe not everything.” The two shared a laugh. Star felt a shiver of revulsion that didn’t quite make it to her unresponsive nerve endings. “Armor! Powder!” A pegasus stallion landed near them, his eyes narrowed. “Get over here and help with the prisoners! We’ll deal with this pristine little gift after we’ve finished.” “Yes sir!” The soldiers spoke as one, the fierce discipline that tempered Legion ponies making it almost subconscious. Star could see smoke rising in merry little plumes from various sections of the village now. She knew the Legion would contain any fires it didn’t wish to burn. She saw a larger plume from the center, and her impotent fury only grew when she smelled the telltale stink of burning flesh. Star heard movement behind her. She recognized the squeak of the clinic door opening slowly. She heard scared, labored breathing and saw Doctor Tourniquet peering down at her. Immediately she locked eyes with him, much of the fury there for him alone. His eyes darted up and down the street. A syringe full of vaguely luminescent blue liquid floated beside him. He whispered quietly. “I know what you think of me, but you must believe that I was looking out for the welfare of this village, as well as for Splints. Now I want to help you. I don’t care what happens to me, I have to make this...” Dust and grit were kicked up as the older pegasus from before cut the doctor off when he dropped to the ground in front of them. “Hello, doctor,” he said evenly. “What are you doing here? You should have come out. The Legion respects medical personnel.” He grinned unpleasantly. “When we aren’t assassinating them.” He looked down at Star as four more pegasus stallions landed around him. “What are you doing with our prize here?” Three unicorn stallions, one of whom was Armor, joined the pegasi. Powder followed. Star suspected the mare had some kind of attraction to Armor. Star knew it would end badly for her, particularly if Star had anything to say about it. The older pegasus continued. “She belongs to my unit.” The doctor stammered. “I-I only meant to help you. I know winners when I see them. The drug we used to sedate her will soon wear off. You’d rather have her remain compliant, yes? She can be quite fierce.” The pegasus stallion looked into Star’s eyes and smiled broadly. “I can certainly believe that.” He looked to the unicorn stallions and gestured towards the clinic. “Take the girl inside so that the good doctor can work his magic.” His eyes returned to Tourniquet. “Rest assured we will remember this service, doctor.” For the second time that day, Star was levitated against her will. The pegasus bucked open the door to the clinic. Star caught a glimpse of Splints peering at her from behind an overturned gurney. She prayed to both Goddesses and the Great Bear, for good measure, that the filly would remain undiscovered. Young ponies captured by the Legion did not fare well. The unicorns levitated her unceremoniously to a cot and dropped her. The eight stallions began to remove their armor. The older pegasus spoke briskly to Tourniquet. “Do your work, doctor. We’re tired and in need of entertainment.” Tourniquet trotted over nervously, the glowing syringe levitated by his head. “It’ll just be a moment...” he was interrupted by a commotion from the corner of the room, followed by a pathetic, sobbing cry. Star could see Powder come up from behind the overturned cot, holding Splints tightly around the neck with a hoof. “Look what I’ve found!” The filly wailed again, her hooves reaching pathetically for Tourniquet. The doctor, for his part, looked like hope had left his personal world. The scream cut into Star’s heart, her whole being crying out for vengeance. Powder laughed with glee, looking at the heartbroken doctor. “You try anything funny, doctor,” Powder explained, “and the little one loses her right to breathe.” The others sighed and rolled their eyes. “Get on with it, doctor,” spat the captain, clearly frustrated with the insane earth pony. Tourniquet looked into Star’s eyes. She could see the pleading there. She merely looked back at him blankly, trying to reassure him as much as she could. If I regain my power of movement, no Legion soldier in this clinic will leavealive, she thought as she returned his stare. She didn’t know if he understood explicitly, but he couldn’t miss the deadly resolve in the otherwise serene silver pools, nor the fury. He swallowed hard and, closing his eyes as he muttered prayers to the Goddesses, levitated the needle into her thigh and depressing the plunger. Star immediately felt different. She realized only now that she had been quietly despairing, near to hysterical weeping, at the loss of her mobility. She supposed her mind had been sparing her from the trauma to focus on more important things. Now she rejoiced as she felt muscles and sinews coursing with blood and anger again. She was more angry than she could remember being in years. She would spill blood today. But her eyes were immediately drawn to the earth pony mare who held the sobbing filly in a death-grip, a horrendous light in her eyes in anticipation of the brutal and depraved spectacle she thought she was about to witness. Star knew she would have to stun them into temporary inaction if she wanted to be sure that Powder never had a chance to hurt Splints. She thought that the mad earth pony was just within range of her telekinesis. Striking somepony’s chakra by telekinesis was different than doing it by hoof, but not practically speaking. Star had been the only one of her sisters who was really good at it, but she had to be certain about the range and timing before she tried. So she waited. “Armor, you go first,” the captain spoke once the doctor had stepped away. “You distinguished yourself today, soldier, and I’m proud of you.” Star was disgusted at the genuine emotion in the pegasus’ eyes, as though his father had just congratulated him on a job well done. “Thank you, sir,” he said, trotting to the table. Star remained motionless as he climbed atop her. Straddling her, he grinned into her still and emotionless face. She knew she couldn’t hold back much longer. “I want you to look at me while I take you, cunt.” Her eyes flared into a disturbing white luminescence as she considered his chakras. It was an infinitesimal moment, but her mind worked quickly under pressure. Armor’s chakras were the same as anypony’s. Briefly, she studied the options open to her There were numerous less obvious ways she could end his life. But this one deserved something big. Something that would make an impression on everypony in the room. Moving with lightning speed, Star’s right hoof snapped up and struck the unicorn firmly beneath his chin, putting out a chakra that Star knew would have the desired effect. He was dazed but unhurt. For what Star knew were the last moments of his life, he stared down at her in confusion. “But I thought she...” Armor never had a chance to finish his thought, before his eyes swelled grotesquely and burst. His head followed quickly, rupturing in a crimson geyser. Her horn and eyes alike flaring into a burning white light, she used her telepathy to fling the still-jerking corpse into the captain at impressive speed, smashing him against the wall. She turned next to Powder, her eyes wide, as she continued to hold the wildly-screaming filly in a shocked and now-slackened death grip. Star’s horn flared once again as she directed swift hammers of force to overflow points on the mare’s legs and neck. The mare seized up in agony almost immediately, bits of her simply no longer working. Star had put out several vital overflow points, and knew that her death would be a slow agony. As it should be. She dropped the filly and collapsed to the floor in shock. Three more strikes from Star’s magic and the remaining unicorns went down, faces contorting in terrible but brief agony as shut-off chakras flooded their hearts, which exploded inside their chests. Magical enemies took first priority, Star had been taught from a young age. It had been only a few seconds since Armor’s death, but the small room was bedlam between the high, horrified screams of the filly, the blood from Armor’s impressive death, and the shocked cursing of the remaining four ponies, whose impressive scope was was covering just about every part of the Celestial Sisters’ anatomies. The captain had been badly hurt by the crushing impact with Armor’s corpse, but he was trying to get up. Star was more concerned with the three pegasi, who had recovered enough of their wits to begin to mount a desperate defense. Star faced them as they charged her, her terrible eyes devoid of any feeling or color, reduced to nothing but pools of seething, burning white. These three would suffer. The first aimed a quick and deadly wingblade at her throat. Her reflexes a bit better, she ducked just enough to allow it to pass over her head, and struck the base of his wing with her right hoof as he passed, putting out a vital chakra forever. The wing, his left, almost immediately went rigid and snapped in four places. He first gasped in shock and then screamed in agony. His legs came out from under him as the pain rocketed through his nervous system and he went down in a sobbing heap. The second was too frightened in the moment Star had given him to make an attack, before a decisive strike to his right foreleg caused his throat to close up. He collapsed, his mouth working meaninglessly as he tried to force air through his now-shut windpipe. The third, the largest and clearly bravest, attempted to tackle her, a tactically-sound attempt to employ his superior weight. Light on her hooves, she flipped over his dangerously quick approach, striking his back along the spine with three unimaginably swift blows as she did so. Before he smashed into the wall, knocking himself out, his spine twisted into impossible shapes. Had she intended to let him live, he never would have moved again. Landing lightly, Star looked past the suffocating pegasus, past his fellow who was cradling his useless wing as he sobbed, to the captain. He stood across the room, huffing and regarding her with a strange admixture of abject fear, deep respect, and terrific anger. “My… men. You… whore. I had to… fight to get them. And now…” Star walked slowly towards the captain, quickly and efficiently striking the neck of the sobbing pegasus with the mangled wing as she passed, efficiently putting out one of his chakra’s overflows. He barely had time to scream “No!” before his head warped grotesquely and exploded. Star lifted a forehoof to her eyes to shield herself from the resultant deluge. She was covered in the blood of her enemies, and the blood-drenched pony normally buried deep in her psyche reveled in it. She had no time now to fight those instincts. The captain grimaced at her. His right legs were badly hurt, the skin on his head split open. She was impressed by his resolve as he planted his hooves on the ground and faced her solidly. “You think… that you can just kill my boys... and get away with it!?” Her eyes narrowed only slightly. Her voice echoed with magic and an impersonal but still fierce anger. “Your stallions had already died when they entered this room with the intention of violating and debasing another pony. No living creature deserves such treatment.” “BITCH!” He screamed, and came at her. Not looking away from the fast-approaching pegasus, Star seized a scalpel from a tray nearby in her telekinetic grip and drew a red line across his throat in a lightning-fast movement. She brought it whipping around and held it by her head, watching dispassionately as he stumbled and fell, his blood pouring out to commingle with that of his fellow soldiers. She looked on with inequine poise, her unfeeling white eyes burning brightly as he died a pathetic, gurgling death on the blood-soaked floor. After he had quit breathing, she sent the scalpel rocketing into his eye, burying it completely, just to make sure. She pulled it straight out, and it flew over to the pegasus with the broken spine, cutting his throat as well. He was lucky. Unconscious, he died peacefully. She became aware of a sobbing to her right. The searing nightmare-light vanishing from her eyes, leaving the kind silver orbs once more, she looked to Tourniquet and Splints. The scalpel, still levitating near the dead pegasus, clattered to the floor. They huddled together in the corner near the horrifically twisted corpse of Powder. Star couldn’t be sure when she had died. But she could be sure of one thing; it had been an agony. A fitting punishment for her sins. This knowledge left Star deeply satisfied. Splints hid in the doctor’s hooves, shaking like a leaf and sobbing rhythmically. Both were spattered with blood that, thankfully, was not their own, and the doctor’s green eyes were wide and staring. Star smiled awkwardly at them. How else, she wondered, should she follow up on what she had just done? “Goddesses…” the doctor whispered. “It really is you.” Her face revealed nothing. “Do you know me, doctor?” The doctor took a moment to respond, stroking the back of Splints’ head. “I… saw your cutie mark. When I was tending to you. Some time ago, I heard tales of Star Death-Hooves, the heir to the Death-Hoof style. I… heard she had died, but…” his frightened eyes took in the gore-soaked clinic. “…But here you are.” “More or less,” she responded evenly, gazing distantly at her cutie mark, no longer hidden by her cloak. The Bear’s Paw. The word ‘bear’, she mused, had meant nothing to her before today. She then wondered again where Volta had gone off to. She drew tentatively closer, and Splints’ trembling increased. “…Splints? The bad ponies are dead now. It’s just Star. You don’t need to be afraid.” The doctor leveled a neutral gaze at her. If he was angry at her for frightening his daughter he concealed it well. He would have been well within his rights. Even if saving her the Legions’ attentions had been more than worth the price. “I think you can understand how she feels.” “Yes… of course. But I would never hurt you, little one.” She returned her attention to the doctor. “There are still others outside. Stay here and don’t leave. We need to talk after.” She regarded him pointedly. “Can I have your word?” After a slight pause, the doctor nodded. Star looked at him for a moment, painfully aware of what she must look like to the sheltered filly. Then she turned and walked out the door, the wails of Splints still ringing hurtfully in her ears. Of course she was terrified. What pony wouldn’t be? Star shook her head, admonishing herself quietly. Her horn glowing merrily, she shut the door behind her as quietly as possible, scoping out the deserted streets. She headed for the sickly-sweet plume of smoke that rose from the village center. Walking along the path that led to the badly-damaged and almost entirely unrecognizable Atomite statue at the heart of Hope, she beheld a horrific scene. A sobbing gray unicorn stallion lay cradling the corpse of a once-beautiful white unicorn mare, the sight of her pregnant belly only serving to fuel Star’s already-overflowing rage. The unicorn’s glazed, empty eyes stared at nothing, the tears she had wept beginning to dry in the indifferent sun. Elder Cornflower was nowhere to be seen, but these ponies had clearly been higher up in the local pecking order. Those were the ponies the Legion enjoyed targeting the most. Although neither was having a low income any protection from their depredations. Screams and animalistic grunts came through the open door of the Atomite hall. The soldiers around the stallion laughed and smiled as he wept. Anger didn’t touch Star’s face as her eyes flared pure white once again. “That’s enough!” Her voice echoed resoundingly. The soldiers, regarding her in shock and awe, paused from their afternoon’s entertainment only briefly. Soldiers of the Legion were many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. They surrounded her quickly, while keeping their distance. Seeing a pony covered in blood that was obviously not her own clearly invited caution from these ponies. Star stood still and tall. A blue unicorn mare rapped a hoof on the open door frame of the once-proud town hall. “Slab! There’s a situation!” There were dim sounds of movement from within the building, the grunts ceasing and the screams dying down to sobs. Then the most ridiculously huge earth pony Star had ever seen emerged. He was nearly the same size as Volta. His teeth were stained with blood, and several ponies’ heads hung from the armored harness he wore. His cutie mark, appropriately, was a large slab of stone. It was not difficult to notice that he was… excited. “What?” He spoke simply, suppressed wrath in his voice. “I’m busy with this weaklings’ daughters.” He gestured to the sobbing, broken-looking unicorn stallion. Star supposed Slab must be good. This didn’t seem like the sort of pony the Legion commonly promoted to command positions. “I’m not in a merciful mood,” Star spoke in her own ringing tones, augmented by her burning magic. “This town deserves better than you, if not by much. They take advantage of the weak and defenseless for their own gain.” There was a slight narrowing of her flaring eyes, although there was little emotion there. “I doubt even monsters such as you need to be told what fault I find in your own actions.” “I think I miss your meaning, Littlehorn,” said the huge earth pony, drawing out sarcastically the patronymic often employed by the mothers of unicorns. “I give you one chance to leave in peace. Choose to stay and none of you will live to see another day. By the stars, I swear it.” Her eyes flared brightly as she spoke the battle oath of her ancient art. The stars would punish her now, if she broke it. When he heard the deep magic in her tones, even Slab, clearly enjoying himself until then, faltered, a brief look of apprehension flashing across his blood-stained face. He recovered quickly, laughing loudly. He was not joined by his soldiers, all of them wearing grim, reserved expressions. “You will die, bitch.” With that, he turned to the town hall and gripped a jutting wooden support in his teeth. His muscles straining momentarily, he wrenched it from the wall, the front façade of the building finally giving up after centuries of stubbornly holding, and tumbling down with a great gout of dust and debris, cutting off the pathetic sobs and sniffles coming from inside. Star lost sight of Slab, but was unsurprised when he galloped at her out of the dust, murder in his eyes. He moved at the impressive speed that a pony of his size was able to reach. Intimidating in a controlled charge on the battlefield, she knew. But he was all momentum and no control. Leaping nimbly over his surprisingly fast sweep of the formerly load-bearing timber, she sent a small lightning-strike of force into his hindleg as it touched the ground, sending the earth pony tumbling awkwardly, only really stopping when he collided with one of his soldiers, a pink pegasus pony. Star landed lightly and turned to face him, her eyes still impenetrable white pools of fire, his twin mirrors of bloodshot shock and rage. She couldn’t see him with any mercy. Still, she wondered what his life had been like. He had undoubtedly had a mother and father. Had once been an awkward colt like her own daughter. What must he have seen to bring him to this? He deserved none of this consideration, and yet… she looked at herself, at the blood that didn’t belong to her. She couldn’t smell anything right now, apart from the stench of death that followed her. Star was tired of this. She spoke again as Slab struggled up, breathing heavily in his fury. “One last chance, Slab. Please go. I don’t want to kill you, no matter how badly you deserve it.” His muscles straining in anger, he screamed loudly at her past the timber he held in his mouth, rushing forward once again. This one was not used to losing. But he had exhausted his chances. Her face grew blank once more as her horn flared. The magical strike to his neck stopped him in his tracks, causing him to stumble, as Star, with finality, put out a formerly-bright chakra. He slid for a moment before he got his legs under him again, breathing in steaming gouts. “Do you think such a pinprick can stop Slab!? You’ll have to do-” his words drew to an abrupt stop as his body seized up with pain. “I am sorry, Slab. But I gave you a chance.” She turned to the soldiers behind her, not wishing to see Slab’s death. “From the moment you elected to forfeit it, you were already dead. I suggest you use your last moments to contemplate your sins.” She heard Slab’s tortured gurgle, the brief, soft noise as his skull ruptured, and then nothing but a wet thud as his eviscerated corpse hit the ground. She saw the fear in the remaining soldiers’ faces. “And what do all of you choose to do with the chance I’ve given?” There was only a moment’s hesitation. Moving cautiously and slowly around her, the remaining Legion ponies prepared to withdraw. They would be back, of course, but Star intended to be far gone by then. For a moment, she was glad for her own sake that the Legion, and not the Daughters of the Apocalypse, had come to Hope. The Daughters, no matter the odds, fought to the last mare. Star’s burning white eyes twitched imperceptibly. She felt something off. Several yards in front of her, the air shimmered. The Legion soldiers stopped to watch. A lovely purple unicorn mare appeared. Not only lovely, but, unlike Star, in the full bloom of her beauty. She was clad from head to hoof in a black bodysuit, only her pretty face and sparkling blue eyes visible. She wore a cocksure smile. “Star Light, is it? I am Cog. Pleased to meet you. Are you familiar with the name Moon Light?” The bottom suddenly dropped out of Star’s heart. “Don’t worry. Your sweet daughter is in the loving care of the Legion Council. I think that, considering this, you can see how it might benefit all of us to become good friends. Otherwise, she might end up… less than fully safe and whole.” The mare bared her sparkling teeth as Star’s ears drooped. A chorus of unsettling laughter went up from the surrounding Legion soldiers. Next Time: Oppose the Will of the Goddess!? Luna’s Terrible Army! Thanks to Damsus Rhee for giving me this idea and to you for reading.
2 - Defy the Will of the Goddess!? Luna's Terrible Army!Not so very long ago, in the magical land of Equestria… War. The seething resentment of generations of segregation and oppression finally exploded into a world-consuming firestorm. The Princesses have gone, their castle in ruins. Nopony knows anymore who or what caused the conflagration, only that nothing matters now but the primal law of strength and might. Those with power prey on the weak, in a wicked and brutal rule of nature ponies had thought was far behind them. But through this darkness walks a light. One pony with the strength and conviction to protect the innocent, and punish the wicked… -Hoof of the North Star- Episode 2: Defy the Will of the Goddess!? Luna’s Terrible Army! As Star sat, staring sullenly at the opposite wall in the cramped backseat of the transport wagon, she wondered whether the stars would consider her oath broken. Working with the Legion… she reflected that today wasn’t the first time somepony had used her filly to make her do something against her will. She would certainly make sure it was the last. She focused on more pressing, less nightmarish things. Cog sat to her left, lazing attractively, the hood of her form-hugging bodysuit pulled back, luxuriating as if trying to remind Star how much younger and more beautiful she was. She arched a perfect purple eyebrow at Star. “I do wish you wouldn’t look so sullen. This arrangement could be so much worse for you.” Her face lit with a wicked grin. “The boys wanted to have a go at your nethers for a while. Call me a traditionalist, but I just can’t see gang-rape as the prelude to a successful business relationship.” Star looked at the other unicorn, her eyes narrowing. “This is not a relationship of any kind. It’s blackmail.” Cog rolled her pretty eyes. “Oh yes, I suppose, if you want to be boringly literal about it-” “I do,” Star interrupted. “But that’s no reason we can’t be civil and treat one another with courtesy and respect.” Star smiled darkly. “I have to make sure at this point in the conversation that you aren’t interested in my nethers.” After a brief expression of mild shock had passed over her face, Cog laughed loudly. She shrugged. “Well. I wouldn’t say no to a poke at them, but that seems completely beside the point.” Star was staggered a bit by that one. “We… haven’t really talked about what you want me to do.” Cog sighed. “Oh, that. I thought maybe we could have some girl time together, but if you insist on talking about such boring things…” Star looked coldly at the lovely unicorn. “The only ‘girl time’ you and I are likely to have will involve your quick and messy death.” Cog threw her head back and laughed with the easy surety of a pony who has another over a barrel. Star couldn’t help but think of the many interesting ways she could maim or kill the unicorn at that point. She burned for her death. Her musical laugh dying away, Cog pouted at Star. “Now, Death-Hooves,” an informal title Star despised, “as I said before, there is no reason we can’t be civil.” A somewhat dangerous glint lit in her eyes. “And were I you I would take care. Offending somepony like me could be an unsafe proposition.” Star’s face was a neutral mask that she had learned early in life. “Is everything I say going to result in a threat on my daughter’s life or virtue? Because I have little respect for somepony who can’t help but point out the leverage they have.” “No no, dear. I love your daughter,” she spoke emphatically, placing a hoof on her breast. “The prospect of hurting her causes me great pain.” She met Star’s eyes, which many ponies feared to do, with an aggressive look. “The prospect of causing you pain, however…” she let the comment trail off. Star’s grimaced. “I have no more patience for this. Tell me what you need of me, so that I can have it done and get my daughter back.” “Very well,” trilled Cog, her airy smile returning. “Do you know of the Hidden City?” Star shrugged. “I’ve heard it mentioned. One of the largest of the Cults of Luna, I believe. They’re supposed to have an impressive army. But I thought nopony knew exactly where it was.” “The Legion has discovered it.” “So what do you want me to do?” Cog smiled wickedly. “We want you to get inside.” Star blinked. “But nopony has ever done that. Not anypony who came back, anyway.” Cog gave a one-shouldered shrug. “You’re resourceful and strong.” Star laughed nervously. “Yes, but I’m not invincible. Those ponies are worshipping something down there. And it definitely isn’t Luna. Call me uninterested, but I’d rather not find out what it is.” Cogs’ eyes narrowed dangerously. “How do you know?” She spat out with surprising ferocity. “How do I know what?” “That it isn’t Luna?” Cog burst out testily. Star watched the mare, whom she was now certain was insane, for a moment, before responding. “The Goddesses have been gone for hundreds of years-” “You don’t know that!” Cog shouted. “You have to admit there’s a possibility that it might be Luna down there.” Star shook her head in confusion. “I… guess. But what do you want me to go down to see the Cult of Maybe-Luna for?” Cog stared at Star for a few moments while she calmed down. “They have some… artifacts down there. We don’t know much about them. Our information is sketchy. But they seem to be fairly prominent in their worship, so they should be easy to find.” “Why would you want them?” Star asked incredulously. “They’re as likely as not to be useless trinkets, anyway.” Cog sniffed primly. “Why we want them is not your concern. We have information you don’t.” Star cocked her head. “How did you get so much information about a hidden enclave into which nopony has ever gone?” Cog grinned, seemingly back in her depth. As she was about to answer, the transport wagon shook violently. Star used her hooves to brace herself, a lifetime of training aiding her balance, and stayed in her seat. Cog, however, was thrown with some force against the right wall of the wagon. Then everything was still but for the sound of raised voices outside. After a few moments, there was a loud rapping on the back of the transport. “Legate Cog!” A stallion’s voice boomed out, “there is a problem!” Cog sighed and trotted down the short aisle to the door, pulling the lever with a flash of telekinetic light from her horn. It swung open, hitting the ground with a boom. A unicorn stallion stood outside, regarding the two mares awkwardly. “What’s the problem?” Cog purred, danger in her pretty eyes. “Uh…” the stallion stammered. “We hit a mine, Legate. Tread got blown off.” Cog nodded. “How long to fix it?” The stallion looked around nervously. “I don’t know that we can, Legate.” “I see.” She looked back at Star, grinning sweetly. “Are you up for walking, Death-Hoof?” - The Legion ponies walked in tight formation, wary of hidden threats in the mountains around them. These mountains had never been hospitable places for ponies, even long before the Atomites’ Great War, if the stories were to be believed. But these days they were haunted with insane cultists of Luna, sleeping dragons, and worse. There were also stories, even if nopony believed them, of strange creatures from before Equestria was born that now walked these hills freely. They weren’t a place, Star reflected, into which anypony -at least any sane pony- should go. She walked at the head of the Legion column, the way she had walked at the head of many a column of ponies as a younger mare and in happier times. Then the ponies behind her had been her friends and even family. Her acquired family, at least, which was all she had ever known. She hadn’t wondered about her real family, about the ponies who had actually given birth to her, since she was just a filly. Now she could feel the leering eyes of the Legion on her. Judging her, viewing her as nothing more than a resource to be used and discarded, and despising her for what she had done to their comrades. Star was so tired of all of this. Beside her walked Cog, who seemed to be leading this unit now in the absence of any high-ranking soldiers, most of whose blood Star had taken a bath in back at Hope village. Her eyes were drawn briefly to the east. She wondered about the prison Bastion, far away. Was Silvercloud really there? She knew now that she needed to see her sisters, even the ones who had gone astray, before she died. Only the Goddesses knew how that would turn out. The sun had not yet set since they had left Hope a few days ago, although here in the mountains its heat was less intense, veiled by clouds and muted by low pressure, the long Daylight continued. Cog walked with certainty and grace, and Star began for the first time to believe that she really might know where to find the Hidden City. Star knew that ability to inspire confidence by nothing more than her appearance to be a valuable quality in a pony whose task it was to lead other ponies. At least in that respect, she supposed Cog wasn’t the worst choice for a commanding officer -or whatever a ‘Legate’ was- that she had ever met. Still, they had been walking for hours. Overcoming her general revulsion with the purple unicorn, Star took in a mouthful of air to ask Cog how long it would be before they found the Hidden City. She paused, noticing something off about the air for the first time. It tasted strange. Like water with soap in it. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but she knew it wasn’t likely to be good. Star cast her eyes around at the undifferentiated rock. Her adrenal glands fired only a brief early warning before a muffled clatter of tin on stone sounded and the explosives detonated. Inequine shouts of fury echoed off the rocks as an unknown enemy fell upon the Legion column. The explosives, Star could see, were mainly meant to create smoke, to obscure sight and frustrate communication, rather than to kill. Still, the explosions, hitting the middle and end of the column, had badly injured a few Legion soldiers, and Star could hear their moans over the frenzied battle cries. Star gasped as an enormous creature lumbered at her out of the thick smoke. It was taller than a pony, standing on two muscular legs and brandishing strong arms the size of small tree-trunks. It carried a shield and a spear made of some odd material resembling an insect carapace. Star thought the creature looked vaguely familiar. She had precious little time to give it serious thought before the strange beast screamed at her with a gurgling roar, flashing a mouth full of small, sharp teeth. Its gray, hairless flesh was puckered and its large, milky, vaguely lambent eyes were empty of any recognizably equine feeling. Without much preamble it shrieked its frothing roar at her and drove its spear down with lighting speed and precision. Dodging lightly away as the spear struck the rock where she had been, Star thrust a forehoof quickly and powerfully into the haft, snapping the spear into two pieces with a sickening crunch, the carapace it was made of harder than wood but more brittle than metal. Backing away from the creature, she paused in the eerie still of her adrenaline rush, a state with which she was all too familiar, and briefly considered her options. She watched the disturbing creature as it stumbled, unable to arrest the momentum from the snapping spear. She got the impression it couldn’t see very well, being clearly a creature adapted for subterranean life. She wasn’t sure its chakras were laid out in any familiar manner, and shuddered at the thought of touching it at any rate, even with her magic. Quite apart from physical unpleasantness, there was a slimy, disgusting magic about the creature, similar to the wrongness she had tasted in the air, with which she didn’t wish to entwine her own abilities. A projectile was the obvious answer. Her wish was granted as the creature, seething with rage, threw the broken half of its spear in a brief but dangerous parabola towards her skull. Seizing it with magical force using one of the more rudimentary techniques of the Starhoof, she gave a small smile as she catapulted it back at the creature. The jagged, broken end of the spear messily penetrated one lambent eye. The creatures’ head jerked back and it let out a terrible gurgling roar before falling heavily back to the stony ground, twitching. Around her, the Legion were beginning to mount a defense, forming into as tight a phalanx as possible considering their numbers and making somewhat surprising progress against the group of creatures. Star looked on with considerable awe. She had never failed to be impressed with a Legion phalanx, even when she had broken them. Pegasi and earth ponies stood in front, wingblades whirling dangerously at those who dared to close distance, stronger earth ponies facing off boldly against the creatures like wrestlers while the weaker ones bore sharp swords or cudgels in their mouths which scythed and swooped through the air with deadly accuracy. She had always been impressed by masters of armed combat who weren’t unicorns. They stood behind, raising barriers to protect the gaps left by their brethren or creating death and confusion among the creatures. It was the perfect synthesis of the three races of ponies for which the Legion was so well-known. Mares and stallions fought alongside, a thing unheard of for many other groups of ponies. Evil, she reflected, but egalitarian evil. The creatures, sensing a stiffer fight than they were prepared for out here in the light of the sun, gathered together and withdrew quickly, keeping tight and in formation like professional soldiers. The Legion, in a similar and even more impressive show of professionalism, made no effort to follow their beaten and clearly retreating foes. Instead, they turned to their dead and wounded comrades. Star couldn’t miss the Legion ponies that the horde of creatures carried with them, some screaming loudly, some unconscious. Cog faded in beside her once the creatures were gone. Small sharp discs, surrounded by sheaths of purple telekinesis, deposited themselves back into her saddlebags. Practically speaking, Star was very impressed with the young unicorn. Both she and her discs were splattered with the black, steaming blood of the strange creatures. Despite her obvious vanity she didn’t seem bothered. The unicorn did have a look of rage on her face. It was directed at Star. “You barely even tried, Death-Hoof!” Star didn’t correct her mispronunciation of the hated title. She shifted her expression to a neutral mask. “I don’t know what you mean.” She snorted. “You’re telling me I’m a more efficient killer than the heir to the fucking Deathhooves Style!? I brought down five of those things. You barely took out one!” Her face was close to Star’s own now, her anger apparent. Star had neither time or patience to point out how large and fearsome the creature attacking her had been. Much larger than the other corpses lying around them. Star arched an eyebrow. “You do have a temper, don’t you?” Faster than she would have given the mare credit for, Cog’s hoof struck her square across the face. It didn’t hurt, of course. But it still made the blood-drenched pony in Star’s mind start screaming about all the ways she could kill the little unicorn. She looked into the obviously-insane yellow eyes, pausing for a menacing glare of her own. “I think you should see to your soldiers,” she said quietly. Not flinching, Cog spat on the ground near Stars’ hoof, some black blood mixed in with the saliva. It happened in close combat, as Star knew well. “Seems I’m the only one who will,” she said as she turned to her recovering ponies. Star shook her head. The fight had been costly. At least five more Legion ponies lay dead on the field, and twice that had been taken captive. The Legion’s strength at the best of times was never in numbers, and Cog’s unit was growing stretched. Star walked over to the creature she had felled and took a closer look. It couldn’t be… “Cog!” She shouted to the mare. A dangerous look in her eye, the unicorn turned to Star. “What?” “I… think that these are… or maybe were at one time… Diamond Dogs.” Cog wrinkled her nose, a very attractive gesture, Star had to admit. “That’s impossible.” She trotted over. “We have treaties or alliances with almost all of the Delver Tribes.” Star looked quizzically at Cog. “Delver?” “That’s how Diamond Dogs refer to themselves. The Atomites might have learned that at one point or another if they had taken the time to speak with them. They are intelligent creatures, you know.” Cog looked frustrated. Star had the feeling she had gone through this same conversation before. Star looked back to the corpse of the strange creature. “You’re an interesting pony, Cog…” Cog looked nonplussed. “Thanks?” Star was also confused by the direction the exchange had taken. “You’re… welcome?” Cog cleared her throat. “Anyway,” Star continued. “I’m almost certain this is a Diamond Dog. It, and probably its ancestors have lived underground for a long time. And somepony used some really hardcore dark magic on it. But at one time…” Finally, Cog nodded. “I think I’ll agree. There are some similarities.” Her expression grew dark. “But I wonder what in the pits of Tartarus could have happened to it?” Star shrugged. “Something unspeakable on at least some level.” “Well, it doesn’t matter at the moment.” The pretty young mare smiled daintily at the older one. “You are going to go find my men.” Star turned to the young unicorn. “What!?” Cog regarded her primly. “Watch your tone. Remember your situation. The Legion never leaves anypony behind if we can help it.” Star looked at the mare -barely more than a filly, really- with undisguised anger. “I don’t care about your soldiers. If I weren’t under coercion I’d kill them myself.” Cog stepped too close, directly into Stars physical killzone, she couldn’t help but notice. Here, she could end the brutal young mare with her own two hooves. “Many of them are fighting for their families, for their communities. Do you grudge them that?” “Yes, I do,” Star said immediately. Cog snorted and composed herself. “What you think doesn’t matter to me, Death-hooves.” With an upraised hoof, she gestured to a group of six Legion ponies, all fairly sleek and healthy. They came over immediately. “These ponies are all excellent trackers. As if the trail will be hard to find in the first place. Bring all of my ponies back alive.” Star bit back another insult. She swallowed it down along with her disgust at all of these ponies. She was mostly disgusted with herself; that she had allowed herself to have a civil conversation with a monster like Cog for even one second. She still hadn’t made up for Hope. She simply gestured to the group of Legion trackers, three earth ponies, a unicorn, and two pegasi, all mares, and headed off with a seething look at Cog in parting. - Cog had been right; the trail hadn’t been hard to follow. It was an obvious trail of blood and filth, leading into the open, gaping maw of a cave. Nothing could be heard from within. Star looked to the Legion unicorn who stood behind her. “Can you light the way?” One of the mares scoffed. “I’d have thought that the great Death-Hooves would be able to muster a simple magical light.” Star shrugged, looking back at the dark mouth of the cave. These ponies were not her friends. “My magical talents don’t lie in that area.” “No,” said another mare, a Pegasus. “You can only use your magic to make a good soldier’s eyes explode.” Star kept her eyes forward. “Actually, I did that with my hoof. Was he a friend of yours?” “You bitch-!” The pegasus made a move for her, but the unicorn, a wiser pony, held her back. “As entertaining as all of this is for me, girls,” said Star, “I can’t see how it’s getting us any closer to rescuing your friends. Isn’t that what you were here for?” With unpleasant sidelong glances, the unicorn walked up, a modestly bright light shining from her horn as they trotted cautiously into the cave. Star kept close behind the her. Unnoticed by the others, she closed her eyes as they entered the cave. I bet I can find you, Silver… she thought wistfully to herself, an unlikely smile lighting up her face. - She was around the same age as Splints when Elder Comet first taught them how to see while blind. She was never as good at it as Thundercrash. Nopony was ever as good at anything as Thundercrash. She ran through the halls of the temple where she had been raised, giggling under her blindfold as she searched with her filly’s senses for her sisters. Comet made it a game, the same as he did with every part of their training that he possibly could. She couldn’t see, but all of her other senses worked even better. They didn’t let her ‘see’ as far as her eyes did, though. Still, she knew the temple well enough in her mind’s eye to know where she was. Silvercloud had already found Gem and Tree. That was no surprise, she thought as she huffed with joy, navigating stairs expertly. Gemstone was always the first one to get found. Of course, she knew as she searched around the hall, it was more the finding than the hiding that was the point of the exercise. What could she possibly have to hide from anyway, she wondered, when she grew up to be a big strong warrior-pony? At that moment she stopped, standing stock-still, a hoof in the air as she listened. A few rooms over, she knew she could hear somepony. Grinning gleefully, she ran as lightly as possible through the open doorway. She thought she was going into the monks’ cloisters, mostly empty these days. That always made her sad. In the third room down the hall, she heard something. At the sound of the gasp, Star knew she had been heard as well. She knew it was Silvercloud already, knew the sound of her sweet, clear, silky voice, of her breathing, even. They had spent enough Nightlights and Daylights together, sleeping or playing, making up silly stories about what their real families were like, or crying after Comet, in response to their insistent inquiries, finally told them what had happened to the world outside of the temple. “Silver?” Said Star. At the same time, Silvercloud spoke. “Star?” They both smiled. Star took off her blindfold and found herself looking into the pegasus’ sweet pink eyes. Star had always been jealous of her sister; she was so graceful and long-limbed. Star felt that she was awkward and stubby, though Silver assured her, in the sweet way she had of making everypony feel better, that she would grow out of it someday. Silver smiled sweetly “I guess we both got found, huh?” “Yeah,” Star pouted. “And here I wanted to try and find Thunder today…” The pegasus cast her eyes towards the ceiling, thinking for a moment before she leaned close. “Well… we can pretend this never happened. Nopony has to know.” Star almost gasped at the suggestion. “Wouldn’t that be breaking Comet’s rules?” Silver shrugged. “Maybe a little bit, but… how much would it hurt anypony, really?” For a moment, Star thought seriously about it, a contemplative look on her face. The thoughtful expression was broken by a sudden smile. “You’re right! It’s so much more fun this way!” She put her blindfold back on, but could still feel the gentle presence of the gray Pegasus. “Did you see anypony, Silver?” There was a pause as Silvercloud put her blindfold on again. “Nope! Nopony in here!” Giggling, the two dashed off in opposite directions, and at that moment, Star couldn’t imagine how there could ever be a day as perfect as this one. - The smell inside the cave was nightmarish. She hadn’t been prepared for the smell, despite the fact that the decaying world the Atomites had left behind was full of more smells more horrible than she could ever have imagined before she had come into it. The smell of burning flesh, the smell of unwashed ponies, the smell of decay or blood… this was worse than all of the most terrible smells of the Wastes combined. Her eyes were still closed, the light of the Legion unicorn’s horn a dull red glow through her eyelids. She could feel each of the six mares around her, almost see them in her mind’s eye. There were other things as well, moving ponderously out in the darkness beyond the light of the mare’s horn. She knew what they were, could smell them and, as a pleasant bonus, could feel the sickening, slimy magical aura that hung around them, oozed off them. Star was certain at that moment that this had been a pointless mission. There were no ponies out beyond the vague light of the Legion pony’s horn. Beyond that light was a world anathema to ponies. She knew the Legion mares could feel it too, heard them breathing hard and whimpering unintentionally. They all knew the same thing; the Legion ponies these monsters had drug into this cave were dead if not worse. She reacted quickly when she sensed the things out in the darkness scuttling forward, shouting a warning to the unicorn mare. She could already tell the mare was doomed, and there was nothing she nor anypony else could do about it. Star simply couldn’t move quickly enough. The other mares cried out as their comrade was dragged screaming into the horde surrounding them, and her screams were cut off with a chilling finality. Star, for her part, threw herself into the darkness, striking out at the figures as she became aware of them, unable to aim for their chakras, but shattering their carapaces and killing or fatally wounding them just as certainly. The monsters, unprepared, hissed and seethed and gurgled their unpleasant surprise. Her hooves caused them catastrophic damage, the rigorous training of the Deathhooves style having made her far stronger than a regular pony. Her senses reeled as she came in contact with them, the slimy magical aura seeming to stick to her, not causing any harm of which she was aware, but filling her with a dull, bleak hopelessness. She focused on the fight, and as she struck out, the creatures died. She winced as she caved in a face with a crushing blow from her hoof. She felt the sticky, warm blood within oozing out. Another she bucked almost in half as it tried to sneak up behind her, spear raised. She was dimly aware of the remainder of the Legion ponies screaming and crying, and could only distinguish three voices remaining. Star shouted as loud as she could. “Legion ponies! Here! Stay close to me!” “Where are you!?” One shouted, sobbing hysterically, just before giving a long, high-pitched wail which was cut off at its’ zenith. “Come on!” She shouted desperately. “We’ve got to go!” Rushing towards the remaining voices, leaping over the sweeping haft of a chitinous spear as she ran, she felt a Legion mare press against her hard and hold tight, weeping and trembling. She could smell blood and sweat from her, as well as other liquids. The little mare was terrified, and no matter what she was or what she may have done, Star swore quietly to guide at least her out safely. As she made her way for the exit, eyes still shut tight, she heard a slow, laborious, grinding noise coming from in front of her. One of the creatures was pushing a boulder over the exit. Her heart sank as she heard it slam to. It was possible to get through it, but not without a moment to focus. She couldn’t do that with a spear in her back. She spun when she reached the exit, bucking the legs out from under the creature who had blocked the door and bringing a forehoof down on its skull, crushing it. She was overexerting herself. The Legion earth pony screamed as she was showered with the viscera from the creature’s rupturing cranium. Star turned to face the crowd in the darkness, immediately pulling up a shield. She was surprised not to hear any projectiles hit it. She sighed, opening her eyes. She looked out on pitch blackness. She tried closing them again. As she had thought, there was no difference at this point. Not with the entrance blocked. Still, the creatures weren’t surging towards her in their inexorable numbers just yet. I may get out of this alive after all, she thought to herself. From out of the darkness a horrible, gurgling voice spoke. It was clearly not used to speaking Equestrian. “Hail. Warrior pony,” it said haltingly, but with surprising intelligence. “You fought… well. Many Moonspears… fallen.” It was a credit to her fortitude that the Legion pony was simply mumbling nonsense under her breath, rather than screaming hysterically. She held Star tightly, her earlier dislike a dim memory. “None who have… ever entered this place have done… so well. We… honor you.” Star had the impression of the strange horde bowing as one. She nodded, keeping her face neutral even in the dark. “A true honor would be to move this rock so that this mare and I can leave,” Star proclaimed to the darkness. A hissing chorus of gurgles went up from the surrounding army. The mare at her side cowered, whimpering helplessly. Although her face was an unexpressive mask, Star was right there with her on the inside. However, she was just about ready. “Pony is not… in a position to bargain with us. And yet… we offer you… such mercy… as we have to give you.” Star was legitimately curious. “Oh?” “Give to us the soldier-pony-” at this the mare at Star’s side clutched her tightly, whining and sobbing pathetically, pouring out variations on the themes of ‘please’ and ‘no’. Star shushed her and nodded to the strange voice to signal her understanding. It continued. ‘Give her… and warrior-pony will be allowed… to join honored guests.” “Whose ‘guests’ do you mean?” Star’s rear legs throbbed with stored power now. But she was curious. She could swear there was mirth in the awful voice. “Goddess… Luna… of course.” Star frowned. They were either insane or… no, on second though, they were definitely insane. She wanted nothing more than to leave this place. Everything about it was wrong. “I’m sorry,” she told them. “But that isn’t happening.” Her eyes flaring white, she lashed out at the massive stone behind her with a supernaturally-strong buck. At the impact, the stone cracked and shattered into many pieces. With some effort Star took the shards in her telekinetic grip, catapulting them as fast as she could into the angry hissing screams that went up in a chorus from the horrific creatures. Then she turned and galloped back out into the cloudy Daylight, which looked to be drawing to a close, as quickly as possible. The earth pony clung to her miserably. As soon as they were in the light and had put some significant distance between themselves and the awful cave, she noticed the filth and black blood that covered both she and the earth pony. “Eww!” she whined. - Cog was predictably furious. “Where are the prisoners!? And the other trackers I sent with you!? You’ve done this on purpose!” Star stood her ground. “You’re a lunatic. The Legion must be seriously slipping for somepony like you to be put in charge.” She momentarily chewed on something she found in her mouth, likely acquired during the course of the close-quarters battle in the cave, before realizing she didn’t know what it was and probably didn’t want to know. She spat it out on the ground and tried not to think about it. Cog fumed. “I send you in with my best trackers to retake a few captured soldiers, and you return with one barely-functioning earth pony? I’m starting to think little Moon wasn’t even worth abducting.” It was at that point that Star nearly lost her temper. It was only the thought of Moon’s safety that kept her from killing the pretty but clearly very stupid Legate. “You sent me and your ponies to our deaths in there. I hope whatever you’re trying to accomplish here is worth it. I’m sick of this. Let’s get on with it.” Cog looked at Star with disgust. “As you say. But fail me so badly again and maybe I will tell them to use dear little Moon as entertainment.” Growling to herself, Star walked away from the situation lest it turn on her. She found a spot removed from the Legion to sit and try not to cry. She wanted to see Moon, go back home, and try to live as gentle a life as she could. She had never felt like the Heir. And she didn’t now. Hearing hoofsteps, she turned her dour gaze on the blood and filth-covered earth pony she had rescued, a pretty young mare with a cream-colored hide, yellow mane, and blue eyes. She was still trembling, but she sat down at a healthy distance and smiled. Her cutie mark was a bloodstained dagger, Star noticed. “What?” Star asked her flatly. It took the mare a long time to get going on that one. She tried to start a few times but kept choking on her own tears. Finally, she got her hooves under her, conversationally speaking. “I just wanted to say… thank you.” Star’s flat, disgusted expression did not change. “Was there more?” “I… I know what you think of us. And you’re right. We don’t deserve your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. I’ve done so many horrible things. Watched so many horrible things happen. And done nothing to stop them. There isn’t an excuse.” She was silent for several moments. “…I guess what I’m trying to say is that you helped me out in there and you didn’t really have to. You probably didn’t even want to. But it means something to me.” Star couldn’t stand herself for being taken in by this ponyshit. But she looked at the little mare and suddenly saw not just a filthy, gore-streaked Legion monster, but a deeply-flawed young pony who maybe hadn’t wanted her to life to be this way. Goddesses knew, she had met many of those. Been one of those, even. Her awkward speech finished, she rose shakily and turned to leave. Star spoke up. “…wait.” The pony turned, still shaky on her hooves, and looked at Star in surprise. None of this, Star couldn’t help but notice, seemed feigned. “I don’t know your name.” The pony smiled weakly. “It’s… Tulip.” Star couldn’t help it; her eyes flickered from the bloody dagger on her flank to the earnest blue eyes. “Ah. My mama wanted me to be a flowerpony.” She looked away in obvious pain. “That didn’t work out.” “I’m Star, Tulip.” Although she wondered about the cutie mark, it was rude to ask. Awkwardly, Tulip looked up at her. “You’re… wondering how I got it, aren’t you?” Star nodded lightly. Tulip sat down again, a little closer, pausing for a long moment before she began. “The town where I was born was… small. Sort of like…” she looked away awkwardly, not finishing the comparison of her town to Hope, in whose destruction she had played a vital role. “It wasn’t as nice, though. Families fought each other over resources. My mama thought it didn’t have to be that way. She knew a lot about books. She could read and write, do math and science. She was the smartest pony in the town. And she always tried to get them to solve their problems without violence.” She smiled vaguely, a sad expression. “They never did, though.” She resumed, not looking at Star. “Anyway, one day while my papa, who was a really strong pony, was away, my best friend’s brother broke into our house. And he…” her face contorted as she tried to say what came next. “Killed my mama. Slow, too. And… he did other things, before. I was there. I saw him do it.” There were small tears in the corners of her eyes. “And when he was finished, when my mama was dead, I knew I was gonna find him and do the same to him. So I took a knife from my papa, and the next time he was sleeping, I snuck into his house and into his room... and I just kept cutting and cutting until somepony pulled me off. That’s when this showed up on my flank.” She sniffled. “I guess it was a few years later that the Legion came through. They…” she trailed off and Star, without much difficulty, filled in the blanks. “And after a while I guess I proved myself to them. And I’ve been doing this ever since. I-” she cut off before she went any further, seemingly abandoning her next statement. Star spoke softly. “I hope you didn’t feel that you owed that to me.” Tulip looked up, wiping her eyes with her hooves and trying to smile. “No. I haven’t really ever told anypony that. Barely remembered it myself. But… thank you.” Star fixed her with her silver stare. She wasn’t sure if she should speak her thoughts, but ultimately she did it anyway. “I think you’re better than this, Tulip.” The earth pony gave one pathetic sob and then swallowed the rest down. “I’d better get back.” She left quickly. Star sat and stared into the undifferentiated gray hills. She was tired. - Cog glared at her as she re-entered the quiet Legion camp. “We need to speak privately,” she said simply, then turned and began trotting away. Star followed. Once out of earshot of the other ponies, Cog sighed and turned to Star, barely-restrained hatred in her eyes. “There’s something I need to say. I would appreciate if you would just let me say it. Alright?” Sitting down, Cog nodded at the young unicorn. She met Star’s eyes. “I know what I said earlier. About… Moon. That was out of line. I don’t like you. I hate you. Pretty sure you feel the same way about me. About all of us.” She flashed a brief smile. “Though I’m pretty certain you’re in with Tulip if you’re in the mood for that.” Star scowled at her vulgarity. “That started off almost politely.” Cog shrugged, her smile fading. “I just wanted you to know that for all practical purposes, you are now a member of the Legion.” She raised a hoof to silence Star’s objection. “Against your will, perhaps, but that changes nothing. And trying your hardest but still failing is never looked on as failure in the Legion.” Star arched an eyebrow and cocked her head quizzically. “Are you trying to give me a pep talk?” Cog rolled her pretty eyes. “No… yes. Maybe a little bit.” She shook her head in frustration. “What I’m really trying to say is that if you go down there and never come up again, there will be no repercussions for your daughter. We will care for her and raise her as well as possible.” Star couldn’t keep the shock off her face. For ponies that methodically raped, exterminated, and dominated other ponies, this was surprisingly decent. “Thank… you?” These exchanges between Cog and herself always seemed to be more awkward than usual. Cog gave another frustrated sigh. “Yes. We’ll do everything we can for her. Though I’d guess the loss of her mother will be a wound that never heals. And I do like your daughter.” She leaned forward, her eyes seething with dislike. “So you’d better do your best to come out of there, Death-Hoof.” Star nodded curtly. “I’m… still not sure what I’m looking for down there.” Seemingly back in her depth, Cog gave a condescending smirk. “All in good time, my little pony.” She beckoned with a hoof as they began heading back towards the camp. Star wasn’t sure what she was planning to do with the 60 or so ponies left standing, but Cog needed to do it quick. If they grew much weaker these hills would consume them and they would never be heard from again. Cog led her to a ridge overlooking the camp and levitated a pair of binoculars from her saddlebag. She gestured with a hoof to a bare rock face about 350 meters from the camp. “Look at that. What do you see?” Star gently levitated the binoculars out of Cog’s magical grip. She was much stronger, even telekinetically, than the svelte young unicorn. Placing them over her eyes, she looked at the bare cliff to which Cog had referred. She studied it for a moment before answering. “Am I meant to be seeing anything?” “That,” Cog spoke proudly, “is the entrance to Luna’s Hidden City.” Star gave her an incredulous look and looked back through the binoculars. “That must be some heavy illusion magic.” “It isn’t magic. That’s a well-hidden gate. There’s another gate beyond it. The city isn’t new. It’s built on -or possibly in- someplace much older. Ruins. Or a crypt of some kind.” “Atomite?” Star inquired. Cog considered as Star kept studying the cliff face. She would believe it was a gate when she saw it. “I don’t think so. Even the Atomites had few if any outposts in these mountains. It’s something older than them.” Star levitated the binoculars back to the Legate. “What, then?” Cog shrugged. “How should I know? I’m not interested in archaeology. Some in the Legion think we need to reclaim some half-imagined ‘glorious past’ in order to have a future, but not me.” She looked out to the bare wall of rock. “I say let it stay buried.” “Strange to hear you say that, given our errand here.” “I’m under orders, Death-Hoof. Nothing else.” Star nodded. “Following orders isn’t always a bad thing.” She looked pointedly at Cog. “Until the orders become insane.” Cog rolled her eyes. “Let’s not fight, alright, dear?” Star just gave a disgusted grimace and shook her head. “So you say that’s a gate. We’ll take that as established for the moment. How am I meant to get in?” With time to focus and probably after a little sleep, Star might have been able to break it, but that would leave her with almost no energy to face whatever dangers she might find inside. Cog just smiled. “I’ve got all that taken care of, Stars.” The young pony looked genuinely excited, her eyes sparkling. “I have a gift for you.” “Oh?” The unicorn’s horn flared, and out of her saddlebag floated a tightly-folded black bundle. She allowed it to unfurl, and Star saw that it was a dark stealth suit like the one Cog had worn when she first appeared. In the dying light of the finally-fading Daylight, a Daylight that had gone on for weeks if Star’s memory served her rightly, she could see that it was laced or embroidered with some kind of elegant tracery, looking like vague but strangely uniform gold veins running somewhere just underneath its black surface. The younger unicorn grinned brightly at Star. Within moments, she blushed, seeming to remember herself and calming down. At that moment, Star wondered just how young she was. “Um, so, Death-Hoof… do you know the magic required to activate one of these?” “N...” The unicorn didn’t let her finish. “No of course you don’t, because my own personal dad...” she stuttered awkwardly for a moment. “…Because the Legion invented them.” Her smile now was self-satisfied. “But I can teach you.” There was an odd singsong nature to her speech at the moment. Is this what she’s usually like? Star wondered. “Put it on,” Cog admonished, still staring at the elder unicorn. Star took the suit lightly in her own telekinetic sheath, looking pointedly for a moment at Cog. When she didn’t seem to take the hint, Star raised her right foreleg and spun it around while it faced downwards, indicating that she should turn around. Cog started mildly and turned. Star shook her head and undressed quickly. “You need to get out of those, anyway,” Cog said over her shoulder. “Those clothes are filthy.” She spoke as though Star could possibly remain unaware that she was covered in a light sheath of unnatural blood and viscera. Testily, Star deposited her worn clothes and saddlebag in a pile, stepping gingerly into the bodysuit, which even had a sheath for her horn. It was tight but strangely snug, and after a few seconds felt sort of like not wearing anything at all. “Done?” Cog asked her without turning. “Yes,” Star told her, getting used to the dimensions of the suit. Cog turned and started, a strange expression on her face. “Wow. Don’t let it go to your head, Death-Hoof, but you actually look pretty good in that. You’ve kept a nice figure for a mare your age.” “I’m not even that old…” Star muttered angrily. “Yes, well.” She looked Star up and down once again. “How are you with spells?” “With some I’m almost perfect. Others… not so much.” Cog nodded. “Well, I can either teach you the spell or cast it on you. It would be best if you learned it, because a variety of things can disrupt it if you’re not careful.” Star nodded. It took about an hour of fruitless horn-sparkings and sullen expressions of dislike passing between the two mares, but Star finally managed to successfully cast the invisibility suit spell. She discovered she didn’t like being invisible much. She felt insubstantial enough already without being unable to see herself. The sun was low on the horizon when she disengaged the spell. Cog nodded, looking tired. “Fine. We should get a little sleep while we have Nightlight. It’s so much easier to sleep when the sun isn’t out.” “It could come out again in an hour,” Star pointed out. “Please don’t ruin my fun, Death-Hoof.” Star smiled a bit in spite of herself. “You mind telling me the plan before we bed down?” She told her. Star blinked. “That’s insane. But I can’t really object, can I?” Cog grinned. She loaned Star a sleeping bag and a pillow, and Star set up apart from the rest of the Legion. She thought for a moment, as she closed her eyes, about finding Tulip and seeing if Cog had been correct. She may not have been into mares, but it would be such a good way of keeping warm. That, she thought as she drifted off, was possibly the very worst thing she had ever thought of doing. - It wasn’t long afterward that she woke, shivering. The stars were out, clear and crisp in the cold mountain sky, the clouds having moved on. It was Nightlight now, and nopony could say for how long. Usually Nightlight and Daylight lasted anywhere from several hours to two or three days. Nightlight, as a general rule, was shorter. However, from time to time, as with the just-ended Daylight, one cycle could persist for weeks or even months. It had been this way for over two centuries, and most native flora had either adapted or died out. Star, for her part, still wasn’t used to it. She groaned as she rose, looked over to see the shape of a unicorn pony walking towards her. It resolved itself slowly into Cog. “Rested now?” Was all she said. Star nodded groggily. She could see the Legion ponies assembling around her, gearing up with hard looks on their faces. They wore the expressions of soldiers who knew they probably weren’t going home. Cog saw Tulip, equipping herself like the rest of them. The earth pony mare gave her an awkward, confused smile, obviously not knowing what else to do. Star returned it in kind. Cog was now back in her own stealth suit, cleaned of the fetid-smelling black blood as best as it could be. She looked towards the supposed gate to the Hidden City. “Nothing now but to have it done,” she said. She looked back to Star. “Meet up at the rallying point once you have… whatever it is.” Star nodded, wiping the sleep from her eyes and focusing. With a flash of white, she was invisible. Cog spoke to the air where she had been. “Good hunting,” with that, she was off. The Legion was efficient. Assembly took no longer than when Star had commanded soldier ponies years ago. She continued to be impressed by their efficiency. Of course, she reminded herself, that was what made them so much worse than any other random group of marauders. As she moved into position behind the column, she noticed Tulip again, now fully-armored and looking nervous. Something hurt inside her when she looked at the small earth pony. She reminded herself of what Tulip was, despite her appearance or her personal tragedy. And discovered she didn’t much care. At heart, no matter what she had done, ponies like Tulip were still innocents. In a place like this, that sometimes earned them death as much as it did the monsters. Star walked near her, wanting to speak but unable to think of anything to say. The march was not a long one, and soon the small Legion force stood before the gate. Star still didn’t know that she believed it was one, and yet she had to admit that the way the topography of the area led up to it was disconcerting. A pegasus stallion stepped forward. Star could feel a sickening, oily sort of magic around her, like the aura accompanying the Moonspears but subtly different. It didn’t notice her, she thought, but she could feel it questing, searching, like writhing tentacles. This was a bad place, she knew suddenly. Worse than she had thought before. Maybe one of the worst places in the entire Waste. The stallion stood before the rock face, looking like he felt silly, and proclaimed in a loud voice: “We are the Legion! We demand that the ponies of the Hidden City turn us away or surrender, in accordance with our own law and with ancient custom!” He certainly knew how to project. Star could feel the strange presence moving around, feeling out the Legion ponies. She watched the bare stone. Nothing happened. For some time, nothing continued to happen. Things were beginning to look awkward. Star waited. She looked around but couldn’t see Cog. Most likely vanished already. After what seemed like a very long time, there was a resounding crack from the rock face, and it began, slowly, to split down the middle. Star couldn’t believe it. The noise of rock grinding on rock was deafening. Even more so were the exultant, hissing gurgles of the Moonspears that began pouring from the entrance as soon as it was open wide enough to accommodate them. The first to squeeze its way, screaming and hissing and laughing, through the fast-opening door was impaled through a bright eye by a unicorn-cast spear. Over that corpse many more Moonspears surged with an insane and terrible din as the gate continued to part. One of the fiercest battles Star had ever seen was joined within moments. The Moonspears were clearly strengthened and fortified by the Nightlight, their lambent eyes blazing, and they no longer feared the stalwart defensive phalanx of the Legion ponies, no matter how many of them it might kill. Star slipped past the raging battle. She hoped the sacrifice of these capable soldiers was worth whatever she would find down there. Moonspears continued to pour out the dark hole, but Star nimbly ducked and dodged around them, finding an alcove in which to hide while they passed by. She was certain the Legion was outnumbered roughly 5 to 1. They were all going to die. Cog, she knew, would escape. She was just that kind of pony. Star would have felt nothing for the others, if not for the slight pang as Tulip’s sweet, earnest face flashed through her mind’s eye. Why couldn’t things ever be simple? When the tide had thinned out, Star nimbly slipped past the remaining Moonspears, further into the black tunnel. Luckily it wasn’t pitch-black as it had been in the Moonspear’s cave. At the end she saw a light. Keeping her frightened breathing to a minimum, she moved towards it, not galloping for the sake of stealth, but moving quickly nonetheless. At length she emerged into a large chamber, the sounds of the vicious struggle outside nothing but a murmur now. The chamber was truly vast, lined with torches in wall-sconces. It had to be at least 200 meters from one side to another. At even spacing small alcoves were hollowed out of the stone. They all contained, without variation, a cot, a bedside table, and a chair. Most were empty but a few contained exhausted-looking ponies, almost all sleeping. To Star’s left and right were yawning pitch-black passages, leading she supposed to the quarters of the Moonspears. She stepped further into the chamber. The vaulted ceiling lay some 20 to 30 meters above her head. It had once been painted with a frieze that was now crumbling and indistinguishable, lost to time and decay. She looked down into the pit. Unidentifiable sounds came up out of it, and there was some sort of commotion far below. She couldn’t even see it. Looking around, she saw that an uncomfortably-narrow path with no railing wound down around the lip of the pit. She moved along it quickly, passing the alcoves, some occupied, most empty, as she went. The sounds of the fight had completely faded now. From below, however, sounds began to grow more distinct as she laboriously walked the narrow path. She could hear laughter and screaming, grunts and moans, weeping and cursing. Every kind of noise a pony could make. When she was ten or so meters above the bottom, she lay on the edge of the narrow path and looked down at the scene below. Ponies were packed onto the floor of the chamber, moving around a central dais, a throne surrounded by stacks of valuable items, most likely given in tribute by the cultists, Star guessed. All around the room ponies were engaged in all manner of what Star could only sensibly refer to as depravity. There was sexual perversion of every variety, some of which Star had never heard of. At one table, several ponies dined amicably from the spread-eagled corpse of another pony. There was an open space before the throne where ponies fought to the death unarmed, biting and bludgeoning. Other ponies stood around the ring, bloodthirsty glints in their eyes as they cheered them on. A group of unicorn musicians played lilting, beautiful music like Star had never heard before. Star tried to turn off the part of her that was revolted, but found it difficult. All the ponies, she noticed, were off in some way. They seemed absent, empty. She had never been more frightened. But none of that compared to the pony who sat in the throne, surrounded by treasures. On the ancient chair of gold, resplendent and lovely, sat the Princess Luna. She looked out on the copulating, debauched ponies with a fond, gentle look on her face, her ancient eyes full of wisdom and kindness, her hair beautiful and light, her coat not too far in color from Star’s own. Star herself discovered that she wanted, almost, to go to her and do whatever the lovely night-blue alicorn might ask of her. But then Star felt the oily, terrible magic brush up against her. And Luna raised her serene eyes up… …and looked directly into Star’s own. The effect was horrible. Even though she was invisible, Star knew that the creature, which she was now certain was not in any way the beloved Mare of the Moon, could see her perfectly. Whatever it really was sitting on that throne was old, Star knew, and insane, and evil beyond anything she had ever met. This was a bad place. Not-Luna cocked her head curiously at Star, the serene expression not changing. Its mouth did not move, but in her mind Star heard a terrible voice, its rasping tones searing her thoughts, echoing and overlapping a hundred million times over. Wilt thou not join us, warrior? Thou couldst distinguish thyself in the battles, thereby winning my favor. Come. Our celebrations shall last forever. Through the pain, Star noticed the stone shards that sat on a dais near the horrible thing. Reaching out with her telepathy, the lasting pain of the mind-searing voice conspiring with her own range limitations to make it difficult, she seized the shards, which she could only hope were what Cog and the Legion wanted, and levitated them quickly over to herself. She dropped them in her saddlebag and rose. Star made the mistake of looking, one last time, at the thing on the throne. Although the serene expression did not change, she felt it scream in her mind, and she screamed along with it, her vision going red with the agony of the awful noise. She could feel blood trickling freely from her ears and eyes as her blurry vision returned. She turned to run as every pony in the pit of debauchery below her broke off from whatever pleasure they were indulging in, turning instead to howl, gibber, and follow after her in a wild, raucous, screaming cacophony. Star did not want to get caught by them, but she heard the awful voice speaking in her mind as she ran. Dost thou think thou canst escape, warrior!? There is no leaving! Only pain and pleasure! Which shalt thou choose? She caught a glimpse, out the corner of her eye, of the creature that had masqueraded as Luna. It was still the shape of an alicorn pony, still the same size, but it retained none of the features of the departed Goddess. Its skin was burnt and twisted, gnarled like a dark tree, and it had no face or eyes, the space where they should have been flat, twisted dark skin and nothing more. She stumbled in pain as it screamed again. Then pain it shall be! She heard the voice resounding inside her brain. Feeling a sudden need to expedite her escape as howling, frothing pegasi closed in on her, Star bent her legs and leaped far across the pit and several levels up. She ran as fast as she could, and the screaming tide didn’t catch her. If this wasn’t worth it, she would make Cog gouge her own eyes out. Star had never wanted to be anywhere less than she wanted to be here. Unable to arrest her own momentum when she reached the top once more, she stumbled and crashed into a wall, her vision momentarily dancing with stars. Struggling to her hooves, she looked down at the ponies surging wildly up after her, many falling from the path to their deaths below. The creature didn’t seem to be with them, but Star didn’t intend to spend much time checking that out. She ran down the tunnel leading out, and was horrified to find only blackness before her. She felt the bottom fall out of her stomach. They’ve closed the gate! She skidded to a stop as her blind sense picked up a thick gate, not even the false wall of rock from before but another, inner gate made of something more durable than stone. She stared at it hopelessly as she heard the gibbering horde closing on her from behind. When the door exploded inwards, burning with a strange blue flame, it was only quick reflexes born of a lifetime of training that allowed her to miss being crushed by one of the double-doors sailing down the hallway, out the tunnel, and smashing into the far wall. There was a light and painful pressure in her eyes, now adapted for darkness, as the bright blue light of the triangular talisman flared in front of her. The black bear Volta was still wearing it, his glowing amber eyes looking concerned. “Come, pony!” He roared. “Bad things down there! We must go now!” “I fucking noticed!” She said, but didn’t argue with his command. She galloped out, managing to keep stride with the massive creature. The orgiastic din behind them had not died out as they emerged into the Nightlight. Star nearly tripped over the bodies of Legion and Moonspear alike. A fierce struggle had raged here. She noticed that Volta’s white claws were stained with blood, both red and black. Once they had cleared the tunnel, Volta skidded to a stop, turning around quickly. She found it fascinating to see such a large creature move so gracefully. She stopped and looked back. “Volta, what are you doing? I thought you said we should go!” Looking back, Volta nodded. “Yes. But cannot let Remnant escape. Would hunt for you. Maybe other ponies. Definitely other ponies.” He looked back, reaching into a satchel he wore on his right side, removing a small wooden tablet with strange letters carved into it. “Quiet please, pony. Need to focus.” Star watched as the great bear muttered in a thick, guttural language. The tablet flashed blue and floated in the air in front of Volta. Volta continued his incantations, the tablet beginning to glow brighter. Star’s mane stood on end as power like she had never felt began to gather to the bear. She could hear the screaming of the creature coming down the tunnel, together with the bloodthirsty howls of the maddened ponies. Star hadn’t wanted to kill them, but maybe it was the kindest thing to do. Their equinity seemed lost. She thought of stopping Volta, but then saw the creature in her minds' eye, burnt and gnarled and featureless and horrible, and simply watched the bear work. His chanting growing in volume, he almost gracefully extended a paw to the tablet where it floated before him. With a great intake of air, he shouted a strange word that shook Star’s blood and rattled her eyes. With a ringing tone, the tablet exploded, and from Volta’s outstretched paw a tide of blue light roared down the tunnel, collapsing it and a large part of the surrounding mountain along with it. Volta stood until the noise of collapsing rock and stone had finally died away into silence. Only when he heard the silence did he seem to relax, sitting down heavily, kicking up a cloud of dust, and breathing deeply in relief. Star walked around to his front, looking into his amber eyes. “Volta?” He raised a paw. “Will leave soon, pony.” He gestured vaguely to the now-destroyed Hidden City. “That… is not as easy as it looks.” She had a million questions to ask him, but knew that this wasn’t the time. Tired herself, she sat beside him in silence. Looking over the corpses of the Legion ponies, she wondered if Tulip had died a quick death, what sort of means had taken her, and where she might be now. Star looked up at the bright white moon as tears, intermingled with blood and soot, began rolling silently down her cheeks. Next Time: The Hooves of my Enemy!? An Unlikely Alliance! Thanks to Damsus Rhee for giving me this idea and to you for reading. Check out his fanfiction ‘Of Hoof and Paw’ on EqD.
3 - The Hooves of My Enemy!? An Unlikely Alliance!Not so very long ago, in the magical land of Equestria… War. The seething resentment of generations of segregation and oppression finally exploded into a world-consuming firestorm. The Princesses have gone, their castle in ruins. Nopony knows anymore who or what caused the conflagration, only that nothing matters now but the primal law of strength and might. Those with power prey on the weak, in a wicked and brutal rule of nature ponies had thought was far behind them. But through this darkness walks a light. One pony with the strength and conviction to protect the innocent, and punish the wicked… -Hoof of the North Star- Episode 3: The Hooves of My Enemy!? An Unlikely Alliance! Star had been trying to figure out how to ask Volta if he had killed Tulip. It was a stupid thing to worry about, she knew. Still, it wouldn’t leave her mind, the sweet earth pony’s face playing about her thoughts continuously, as it had ever since the Hidden City. They had walked in silence since leaving the collapsed gateway, the awful city now far more well-hidden than before, thanks to the bear. Volta was lumbering a bit, his bulk and musculature lurching in an almost drunken way. Whatever magic he had employed to collapse the gate had left him drained. She was tired as well, once again wearing her battered cloak, the hood of the Legion bodysuit pushed down to reveal her head and close-cropped mane. It was the sort of silence she had never known how to breach. Volta relieved her by doing it for her. “You have questions?” His thick accent was heavy and tired. She looked over at him, her brow furrowed. “Can you answer them? Physically, I mean?” The bear gave a slight chuckle, a pale imitation of his more customary rowdy laugh. “Maybe. Maybe not. Is good to try. If I do not speak, maybe I fall asleep on my paws. That would be undignified.” He looked at her, grinning. She nodded. “Well… I guess, first of all, where were you when Hope was under attack?” His ears drooped and his luminescent eyes cast about desperately. “Must pony ask hardest question first? Could not start with ‘what was pony-thing in pit?’” Star smiled awkwardly. “I suppose… if you’d rather.” “Ah,” he waved a giant paw casually, slight frustration in his tone. “Shame I feel will be not lessened by refusing to tell.” Still, he paused a moment, the glowing amber orbs continuing to cast about desperately. Finally he seemed resigned. “I was… drunk.” Star tried not to smile. “Drunk?” A frustrated expression passed over his face. “Spare me from your false courtesy, pony. It does me no honor.” His eyes went back to the path. “I know what you think of me.” “I’m not sure that you do.” She looked at him intensely, mercy in her silver eyes. “You didn’t know what was happening. I’m certain you would have helped if you could have.” He just looked straight ahead, his expression hard. “As you say, pony.” He continued. “Was challenged by five large, strong ponies. You must understand, challenge in Canium is not something lightly to be shrugged off.” Star smiled a bit. “Still, I can’t imagine even you could out-drink five ponies.” Volta frowned again. “You would be right in that, pony.” He looked at the sky, filled now with its vast panoply of stars, as though he didn’t know where else to look. “I see now what they were doing. They would not have wished me to know what they did to you.” He shook his head. “Was stupid of me. Stupid.” She moved on. “So… when did you come out of it?” “Doctor brought me out. You had already gone by then. But we followed you. Legion was not trying to hide their trail.” Star got the impression that Volta was young for a bear, but his voice was hard. “Such ubesh never do.” His barely-restrained ferocity turned Star’s thoughts to Tulip once again, and by extension to her filly. She asked a less fraught question instead. “Ubesh?” The bear looked awkward. “Sorry, Star. Did not mean to use. Is bear word for beast… animal. Creature of instinct.” Star nodded. “I can certainly see describing the Legion that way.” A few paces later, Star noticed the bear was no longer following her. She stopped and turned to see his bright amber eyes regarding her pensively. As he spoke, he seemed reserved for the first time. “Yes… meant to speak with you about that.” Star blinked. “About…?” “Why you were working with Legion. The answer to this... Doctor did not have.” They looked at one another awkwardly for a split-second before the bear continued. “Know before you answer that I am aware of what you did for the little one. And basic decency of that act cannot be erased by later error. Ponies make mistake.” He smiled sadly. “Bears sometimes make mistake, believe it or not. Still, I must know… why?” Star briefly wondered whether to trust him with this information. Almost anypony else she had ever told had seen it as a tool to use against her. Then she remembered the gate of the Hidden City, flying down the tunnel in a blaze of blue flame as the black bear charged to her rescue, and she smiled sadly. “They… have my daughter.” The amber eyes widened in shock. Star avoided his gaze. “The deal was help, or…” Volta quickly raised a paw, his already-deep voice rumbling lower now. “Can fill in the rest, pony.” She felt tears fill her eyes, and couldn’t hold back a sniffle. She looked at the ground, holding back the tide. After a moment, she felt a massive paw drape gently over her shoulder. “Is not weak to weep, pony,” Volta spoke with a gentleness she wouldn’t have expected. Star buried her face in the downy woodsmoke-smelling fur, taking the comfort the wandering priest offered, but refused to allow herself to break. She had no time for it. Not now. “Thank you, Volta,” she said when she was confident of her voice. She stepped back and looked into his lovely eyes. She smiled an earnest smile. “You’re the best pon... person I’ve met in many years.” Volta chuckled, a trace of his earlier exuberance. “You are first pony I’ve met who has not been scared of me, frustrated by me, or both.” He looked at the sky hazily. “Now come. If we stay here on this mountain much longer, I will sleep on feet like pony.” - Star could see the campfire from a long way off. Her brow furrowed. “Volta… you did tell them not to light a fire, didn’t you?” Mild annoyance played about the corners of the bear’s mouth. “Of course, pony.” Star paused, then pointed with a hoof. “So... what’s that?” Volta shrugged. “Is cold. Ponies not as durable as bears. Softer. Thinner. Temptation to err too great for doctor pony.” “I hope it’s as simple as that.” Star had been overjoyed to hear that Splints and her father had both survived the destruction of Hope, but they wouldn’t stay alive for long if they kept drawing attention to themselves like this. Nightlights in White Sand could be long nightmares without end, between the nocturnal predators, mutated by the Atomites’ radiation and adapted to the harsh environments of the Waste, the groups of wild ponies, some feral tribals, some insane cultists, and of course the ever-present threats of the Legion and the Daughters. Lighting a campfire in White Sand was like giving an open invitation to a party with only yourself on the menu. A cold fear took her, and without meaning to, Star began to run, far outpacing Volta, her breathing labored though not from exertion. Her silver eyes were wide and bloodshot as she ran, offering prayers to whatever real or imagined being might be listening that the young doctor and his daughter were safe. One thing at least was good about the campsite; it was in the lee of a large standing stone, casting a shadow to the south, and blocking view of the fire from at least one direction. Star was relieved to see Tourniquet and Splints sleeping peacefully against the stone. The young pony was curled up tightly against her father, a look of complete contentment on her face. Although she was relieved, she couldn’t help but feel sadness. She wondered if Splints and Moon would be friends. Moon was so unlike the little earth pony, so serious. But both fillies had seen unspeakable horrors inflicted by Star’s hooves, she reflected sadly. She heard Volta huffing up behind her. “Pony!” He breathed loudly. “Take care that you do not…” The remainder of Volta’s speech was swallowed up by the clamor of two pegasi mares hitting the sand in front of her hard, both ready to fight. They wore wingblades and short swords in scabbards strapped within easy mouth access, and had hard looks in their cranberry-colored eyes that meant business. Star, for her part, stood still and took them in carefully. They appeared to be twins, their coats green. In the bright Nightlight, their well-sharpened wingblades flashed with the light of the moon. They had one half of a heart-shaped locket on each of their flanks. Star didn’t immediately kill them, because they weren’t clad in either Legion armor or the makeshift uniforms of the Daughters of the Apocalypse. She was certain they were survivors from Hope, after she considered for a moment. She nodded. “Good. I was about to hurt the bear for leaving the doctor and his daughter unguarded.” Her posture relaxed, the dangerous poise flooding out of it. “I’m Star Light.” She smiled at the twins and extended a hoof. Neither of them returned her gesture. “You are a Legion spy,” the one with the right half of the locket spoke. Volta stood just behind Star. “Already told you, ponies…” “Quiet, bear,” said the other. “What does a drunken holy bear know about this matter?” “Yes,” continued the first. “We could have used your claws in the defense of our home. Maybe Hope would still be ours if you weren’t such a drunkard.” Star could feel the bear seething, but he said nothing. Behind the twins, Star heard Splints pule softly in her sleep. “Ladies,” she said, her voice low. “I hate to interrupt, but you’re going to wake the filly.” Twin expressions of consternation passed over their faces and, almost simultaneously, were gone. Star had to admit it was cute. “Quiet, spy,” left half spoke. Star’s eyes narrowed. “I did everything I could to protect your village. I’m not a spy, the Legion just…” she realized she couldn’t trust these ponies the way she knew, after the Hidden City, that she could trust Volta. “…they coerced me.” The bear spoke from behind. He sounded worried. “Um, ponies…” Right locket cut him off. “Coerced!? We saw the remains of the ones you decided should die. At least you weren’t coward enough to let a filly be taken by them. But to pretend that anypony could coerce you…” “If you know what I can do, then I’m curious.” She took a step towards them. “How exactly do you imagine you can stop me?” “Ponies,” Volta went on. “I think you should…” “Maybe we can’t,” left locket spoke with a fierce courage. “But we refuse to let you deliver our friends to the Legion without a fight.” That at least was worth something. They were both young mares, and had just lost their home, Star reminded herself. She sighed and sat down. “Listen, girls, I know it’s tempting to try and find someone to…” “PONIES!” Volta roared at a moderately earth-shaking level. Behind the twins, the doctor and Splints both woke up suddenly and groggily. After jumping at the sharp noise, Star and the twins looked to Volta and spoke as one. “What!?” Volta rolled his luminescent eyes, muttering in his strange language. “Brazni sevai ye shugan…” when they stared at him in incomprehension, he gestured in annoyance. “Look, ponies! Look north!” Looking in the direction of his pointing claw, they saw a great plume of smoke rising up into the Nightlit sky from the north. Star’s heart sank. It was a convoy. In White Sand, you would see a convoy coming long before it arrived. From this distance, it was hard to say how far out they were. Two kilometers or so. The big question wasn’t how far away they were, but who they were. All animosity forgotten, the four adult ponies and one bear around the campfire immediately sprang into action. “One of us should take Splints out of here!” left half proposed in a panic. Almost simultaneously, Star and Volta both barked out a terse ‘No!’ They had time only for a brief and amused glance into each other’s exhausted eyes. Right half looked between them worriedly. “Why?” Volta went to see to the doctor and the filly as Star explained. “Splitting up would seem wise now, but it just creates more problems.” She looked towards the plume of smoke, which showed her nightmarish visions of the past. “Trust me, I know.” Left half looked suspicious. “Like what?” Star sighed. “Finding each other later. Being attacked without backup. Being outmaneuvered by a more numerous enemy. Do I need to go on?” As one, the sisters shook their heads, which made Star smile. “This isn’t my first rodeo, girls. We’ll be alright.” That, she reflected, may well have been a lie. Luckily, it was a lie she had told many ponies before. “You need to hang back and make sure nopony reaches the doctor or his daughter. They may try to climb over the stone as well, so don’t forget to use your wings.” Again synchronously, they nodded. She smiled at them once again. “Hopefully, nopony will get past Volta and I.” She checked the horizon. The lead wagons in the convoy were coming into view now, although she couldn’t see which if any livery was painted on them. When she looked back, left locket had stepped closer to her. “Miss Star, we’re sorry… for what we said earlier. It’s just…” Star interrupted. “I know. But now isn’t the time. Focus on what’s coming.” She trotted over to stand beside Volta, who was watching the approaching convoy. He gave her a summary look. “It could be Legion, Star. Is probably Legion.” “Yeah,” she said without inflection. She could feel his eyes on her before he spoke again. “What do you do? If it is? If they…?” She looked up, meeting his eyes again. “What do you expect me to say, Volta?” Her voice didn’t quaver. Now wasn’t the time. He continued staring for a moment before breaking off. “I trust that you will find the most honorable path. Kyev Unaia.” “What was that?” “By the grace of Unai,” he translated. Smiling to herself, Star nodded, supporting the sentiment. “Kyev Unaia,” she echoed, earning one hearty laugh from the fatigued bear. The thunder of the convoy was all around them now. Splints, Star noted, was surprisingly quiet given all the noise. She looked back to see the honey-colored filly cowering in her father’s hooves, hiding her head and trembling like a leaf in the wind. The Pegasus twins stood near them, their eyes hard, the short swords in their mouths and wingblades at the ready. The wagons began to circle them. With a heavy heart Star noticed the black phoenix on a red field painted on many, the definite indication of a Legion convoy. She was poised to raise a shield against projectiles or even gunfire, although finding intact Atomite weapons was rare. Still, it was better to be prepared. By her count, there were eleven wagons of various sizes, most in some state of disrepair. Odd for the Legion. Their engines, driven by the efforts of imprisoned fire elementals, whirred noisily as they came to a halt in a semicircle around the campsite near the standing stone. One last wagon, the largest, well-outfitted with armor, went straight for the campfire. Star wondered if they intended simply to overrun them. In her current state of fatigue, Star was in no mood to match her hooves against an armored wagon. She smiled up at the bear and shouted over the din. “I don’t suppose you have another one of those mountain-collapsing spells in that satchel?” He shook his head. “Would kill me to use even if I did!” Star nodded. The main wagon drew to a stop. From many of the other wagons, she noticed Legion troops, more rough and ragged than the usual Legion ponies, were filing out. Pegasi took to the air, patrolling high above the camp, like circling carrion-birds. She stole a quick glance back at the green Pegasus twins. They still stood resolute, but there was fear in their eyes. All she could wish for them now was a quick death if she should fail. The sound of a hatch popping open drew her eyes back to the large wagon in front of her. Her heart stopped as a red unicorn stallion she knew all too well climbed out. Star’s left cutie mark flared in an agony that was but a memory of the terrible pain his horn had inflicted on that day. Her vision went red as an unchecked rage and sorrow boiled over and took her in its grasp. Her eyes flared white, lighting up the Nightlight. “SHIMMER!” She screamed, her pure, high voice shaking the air. Volta started away from her in shock. Agony and rage and the pain of a long, festering hurt rang in her magical tones. She pointed a hoof at him. “We have unfinished business, you and I!” The red unicorn threw back his head and laughed, the same as he had when they were foals, when he had done whatever meaninglessly cruel thing he had decided to do to ruin a perfectly good game. “Oh my dear Stubby. It’s good to see you too.” He spoke in his silk-smooth voice, as perfect and handsome as the rest of him. “Come down here.” Her voice was conversational now, but still seething. “You’re going to die in agony. But not before telling me where my daughter is.” Shimmer chuckled to himself as he looked down at her. “Oh, Stubby. You could never beat me. Not when we were foals, not when I burnt you, and not on the day that I took everything from you…” he smiled fondly at that memory. “What in the wide Waste makes you think you can best me now?” “I’ve grown since then,” Star spoke with absolute resolution, her eyes burning so bright most ponies in front of her couldn’t look directly at them. Except for Shimmer. He chuckled. “Yes, I can see. Aren’t you a fine specimen of a mare… I guess calling you Stubby is just for my own sweet sense of nostalgia.” “Come here, or I will come up there. By the…” Shimmer held up a hoof. “You’d best be careful with that silly little oath of yours. As much as I enjoy watching you squirm, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help you.” Her face, lit with the fire of stars, remained neutral, but her voice was disgusted. “What help could you possibly offer me?” Shimmer sighed, casting about as he considered. “Oh, I don’t know. Candy? Sex? Perhaps both?” He looked expectantly at Star, but frowned when she didn’t seem particularly amused. “Or of course, I could tell you where to find your daughter. And help you to get her back.” He smiled at her slyly. Star stepped backwards in shock. “Why would you do that?” The unicorn’s eyes narrowed. “That is not for you to know. But I will help you. And I can ensure you that all of your…” Star turned quickly, feeling the disturbance moving only moments before it took left locket’s life. A gray blur rushed past the mare. Star was certain nopony else could see it, but she saw the dark-maned earth pony eviscerate the pegasus, her hooves trailing light and distorting the air where they passed. The pegasus fell to the ground in pieces. The Bloodfang style. Probably a student of Shimmer’s, she reflected as she leaped at lightning speed to intercept the earth pony before she reached Tourniquet and Splints. Star tried to put out a chakra to paralyze her, but the pony moved with the blow, directing a flurry of distortion-trailing hoof-strikes at her. Star dodged haughtily, disdain on her face. Like most practitioners of the Bloodfang, this one was quick and destructive but out of control. She danced back from the destroying strikes, preparing a two-pronged assault that had brushed aside most Bloodfang ‘masters’ she had ever fought. “STOP!” Shimmer’s voice thundered, bringing Star to a stop just short of killing the shocked earth pony. She had clearly never met an opponent like Star. He closed his eyes, teleporting several centimeters away from the gray mare and unceremoniously smashing his forehead into her nose, which cracked messily. Star stepped back, disgusted at being so close to the red unicorn. He turned to face her. “I apologize for that, Star.” The earth pony lay unconscious and possibly dead on the sand, her face an unrecognizable mess. Shimmer looked down at her. “This is what the Bloodfang has come to. The Deathhooves are few, but those there are stand as proud paragons of their art.” He sneered at the prostrate mare. “But this trash…” he looked to Splints, who was once more sobbing into her father’s hooves. This time the doctor looked just as scared as his filly. “You moved so fast…” the doctor muttered. “I’m sorry, doctor,” Shimmer said. “Screws has… desires… when she sees a filly.” He looked back to Star. “I would never have brought her had I thought it might endanger our alliance.” Star sighed. “Any more surprises?” He shook his head. “Not today.” “Then explain to me why I should trust you.” He shrugged. “I’m back in the good graces of the Legion. Even if they will only give me this army of rejects.” He gestured around him. “I happen to have information on where your daughter is kept. For reasons that will remain my own, I’m going to help you get her back. Star sneered hatefully, the light in her eyes vanishing. “I still don’t trust you.” Shimmer’s face lit with mirth and he gave an expression of mocking shock. “You don’t say?” He laughed. “Is this a chance you can afford to pass up, Star?” He already knew the answer, and she hated him all the more for it. - Amulet, the right half of the locket she and her sister’s cutie marks had formed, was inconsolable over the death of her twin. Star just let her cry. Both Star and Volta had requested that the convoy stay some distance away while everypony rested. She and Volta were keeping watch together now, having both had some sleep. It had been a fight for Star to not set off right away, but she was little good to Moon half-dead. Amulet was lying close to Star, sleeping fitfully, still sobbing heavily from time to time. Volta yawned, an impressive sight, but more a reaction to waking than to being tired. “This is… unusual,” he observed, after a long period of silence once the hysterical pegasus had gone to sleep. He regarded her with mirth. “How is it you always end up working with bad ponies, Star?” She shrugged. “I guess I’m just a popular girl.” Volta laughed lightly, mindful of sleepers. “You do not like this Shimmer, I gather?” Star shifted uncomfortably. “Do you?” The bear shook his shaggy head. “Yet I think your dislike is more than mine. He has… done things to you, yes?” Star just nodded. “May I ask…?” It was several moments before she responded. “Yes. Of course. But... my life isn’t a happy story though, Volta.” Volta grinned his toothy grin. “Give me edited highlights, then.” She smiled back sadly. “Even those are pretty grim.” “I begin with question: what did Shimmer do to you?” “Which one do you want to hear? He killed my husband. He took away my family. My dignity. Hurt me more than anypony has ever hurt me before or since. Left me a husk of a pony who could barely move.” She sighed. “In a way it was my fault. It was stupid to think I could have a family anyway. That’s never been how it works for the heir.” “Heir? To what?” “The Starhooves style.” “What is this?” She thought for a moment. “You know how that pony before, Screws…” she looked down at the tear-streaked Pegasus lying close to her. Volta nodded politely. “Well, she was using an ancient assassins’ art called the Bloodfang. Been around since long before the big Atomite war.” She nodded towards the distant convoy. “Shimmer is the current heir. The greatest practitioner in all of Equestria, and the one to choose who carries on the legacy after he dies. The Bloodfang destroys ponies from the outside. The Starhoof destroys them from the inside.” Volta nodded. “I see. Is how you make ponies die by touching.” “…yes. Though there are other uses.” “And you are heir to Starhoof?” She was silent for a moment. “Yes,” she said quietly. “Honestly though… I’m not very good at it.” “Don’t know about that. I am much bigger than you, and even I get scared when eyes vanish.” She smiled. “I’m sorry. Seeing Shimmer was… traumatic.” “To say least.” “You… sure you want to know?” Volta shrugged. “May as well, while your friend still stalls,” he said, looking at the convoy with a sneer. “Okay…” she said, her brow furrowed. - The young mare had quite obviously never seen such a place as Seneschal. She had learned its name at the gate: the Free City of Seneschal. Neither Daughters nor Legion nor Cultists nor Reclaimers held sway, though all were welcome, provided they followed the laws. She was in a marketplace like she had never seen, dwarfing the small collections of stalls and kiosks that had passed for markets in the tiny villages at the feet of the mountains where she had grown up. Her silver eyes were wide as she saw the vast press of ponies moving through the city, was assaulted by the merry cacophony of their joined voices, rubbing shoulders with more ponies than she had ever seen in one place. She had never smelled such scents; bodily fluids of all kinds, roasting meats and vegetables, jewelry and dresses that she and her sisters would have fawned over endlessly. It was as if the world and everything in it were for sale. She was bombarded by too many sales pitches to count, brushed shoulders with ponies who smelled both pleasant and foul, and looking altogether amazed and out of place. She had never eaten meat, had to admit she was terrified by the idea, but she couldn’t deny how good all the smells of roasting flesh smelled all blended together. She couldn’t remember when she had last eaten anything that wasn’t bland, awful trail rations. Drifting over to the stand whose meats looked the least worrisome, she tried her best to get through the crowd, with polite taps and muttered excuses. She worked her way up to the stall, a small stand with a cloth tented over it to protect it from the sun. She wondered what the market would look like on a Nightlight. A brown earth pony stallion sat at a table taking orders. He was muscular and bore many scars. His cutie mark was a hatchet in a wood block. Like many ponies in the market, he wore a head-wrapping. “How many?” He asked gruffly. Star looked at the earth pony mare behind him, young and red-haired, cooking in a frenzy of flying juices and tossed meat. Star had to wipe a stray bit of drool from the corner of her mouth. The earth pony cleared his throat in annoyance. “How many?” He said slightly louder. “Um… sorry sir,” she grinned awkwardly. “How many what?” The stallion cocked his head. A slow smile came to his face as a realization dawned on him. “Not from the city, are you?” “Oh… no.” She shook her head. He smiled wide now, flashing a not-quite-full set of white teeth. “I meant rashers of bacon. How many do you want?” “Well…” she smiled demurely. “How much is one?” He laughed contentedly to himself. “What have you got?” “Oh yes!” She exclaimed suddenly. “How silly of me…” Her horn glowed as she opened her saddlebags, peering into it to find the pouch of precious stones Comet had given her when she left the Temple. She rummaged around, tossing the rolled-up cloth that held the horrible trail rations aside with disgust as she contemplated the bacon. The pouch wasn’t there. She had a brief flash of somepony’s hoof slipping inside her bag in the crush of the Daylight crowd. Her lower lip began to quiver. “My money…” “Oh…” the earth pony butcher said with disappointment. “You’ve been robbed.” He frowned, his scarred face creasing. She nodded, feeling violated. “Yes, Block… isn’t it a shame they got to her before you did?” A silky stallion’s voice spoke from beside her. Star looked over to see a white pegasus stallion. He was handsome and well-fed, and unlike many other ponies, his head was uncovered, allowing his luxuriant blond mane to shine in the sun. His cutie mark was a red heart. He smiled back at her, his teeth white and healthy, and she blushed. “I will gladly pay you double for the young mare’s meal.” “I…” Block stammered. Star noticed his daughter looking at them with wide eyes. She immediately went back to her cooking when she noticed Star had seen her. Block looked between the two of them. “Of course, Lonely Heart, sir.” Block handed over two rashers of bacon wrapped in thick butcher’s paper, which Star took, mild confusion on her face. As Block handed them over, he spoke haltingly, looking nervously at the pegasus. “Miss, I…” “Butcher,” Lonely Heart cut in, his voice a singsong. “Let’s be careful what we say.” Star looked quizzically between the two of them, but whatever objections were in her mind were fought off by the pull in the pit of her stomach at the scent of the bacon. Lonely Heart put a hoof gently on her shoulder. Star jumped a bit, but then smiled. “Come. Will you eat with me?” “Of course!” She exclaimed exuberantly. “It’s good to meet somepony courteous, sir.” He laughed politely as he led the way to a covered dining area. “You needn’t call me sir, dear one. However,” he added in a sultry undertone, “I won’t try and stop you.” Star laughed lightly as he pulled out a chair and she climbed into it, flushing slightly. She couldn’t remember the last time she had met such a handsome stallion. And he seemed so interested in her. She suddenly had flashes of a red unicorn yelling ‘Stubby!’ at her in an unending singsong as she cried a filly’s tears. She shook her head free of those memories. She wasn’t likely to see Shim ever again, she reminded herself. Gingerly, she unwrapped the rasher, and her eyes widened, pupils sparkling at the beauty of the meat within. She looked up at Lonely Heart, who was regarding her knowingly. She blushed and smiled. “I’m sorry, it’s just… I’ve never eaten meat before, and… I’m a little ashamed of how anxious I am for it. I mean, it’s another living thing.” “Was another living thing, sweet one. No longer. Ponies may once have killed only in self-defense, but those days are past. Now we are restored to the primal order of nature.” He leaned across the table at her, mane falling across his exceptionally blue eyes. “I for one find the forbidden pleasures to be the sweetest.” Star giggled in spite of herself, her flush deepening. “But I do not wish to distract you, dear. Tuck in. I will get us something to drink.” The stallion gave an elegant bow as he left the table, and Star began, tentatively, to eat. She felt like she was floating. When Lonely Heart returned, she was humming happily to herself, just polishing off her own portion of bacon with considerable gusto. He set a mug of clear water before her. She thanked him before drinking long and deeply. Lonely Heart resumed his seat, smiling across the table at her. Briefly, he regarded his own portion, then looked up at Star, his eyes knowing. “Feel free to take mine. I think you are more hungry than I.” “Are you sure?” She said, able to maintain only a modicum of decency at the mere thought of more of the wonderful meat. He slid it over to her with a hoof. She finished it with better manners, quite aware of Lonely Heart watching from across the wooden table, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. Star gave a dainty belch when she had finished, covering her mouth with a hoof and blushing. “Sorry…” “Not at all, dear. Not at all.” He put his hooves together on the table, a businesslike aspect augmenting the charm. “I don’t believe I know your name. I am Lonely Heart.” “Oh I’m so sorry…” she said earnestly. She was making all sorts of gaffs today. “I’m Star Light.” She extended a hoof, which he took gently and bowed his head over. “As beautiful as I would have expected.” He returned to his business pose. “Now… I gather you have come to our fine city as a guest, and have no place to stay. I can help you with this. I own certain properties.” “That’s very kind, but I’m afraid I haven’t got anything to pay with.” Lonely Heart, laughed, an outburst which seemed to Star to be subtly different from his earlier merriment. “I can see you to be an honest pony. You can pay me when you’re able.” For the first time, Star felt a warning in her heart. But she looked at the stallion, and saw a gallant, handsome, kind pony. She smiled. “I’d be very grateful.” - Volta regarded Star pointedly. “You did not know?” “Know what?” He frowned. “What pegasus wanted?” She shook her sadly, staring up at the purple clouds. “Believe it or not, no. I was very young.” Volta stared at her for a moment. “Not certain that is excuse. Legion ponies young too, many of them. Does not excuse what they do.” Star was silent, Tulip’s tear-stained face in her mind’s eye. “No,” she spoke absolutely. “No it doesn’t.” Both shared a brief silence before Volta broke it. “So what happened? Did you…?” “No,” Star said firmly, but with no malice. Volta shifted uncomfortably. “Would hope not. You killed pegasus, I assume?” “No,” she said softly. “He died. But I didn’t kill him.” Yet another pony she had failed to save. “I stayed in the room he provided for a few weeks. There were other mares there. We worked to keep the place running, our meals were provided for us, and we were given ample free time. It was nice. For a while.” - Star was sleeping when a loud knock came on the door. It had been a long Nightlight, which always made normal cycles difficult to abide by. Is it morning already? She wondered to herself as she reached over to check her clock. According to her timepiece, given to her by Comet himself, it was three in the morning. The hard knock came again. Lonely Heart’s voice wafted through the door, singsong. “Star. We need to see you.” We who? She wondered groggily as she rolled out of her bed. Lonely Heart was a frequent visitor to the commune, but not this late at night. And he had always come alone. Star had noticed things that cut through her happiness at finding a safe place. When she was out, she noticed that ponies tended to leave her be. She had wondered if it was associated with the red ribbon she was required to wear round her leg, -one of the only real hard ‘rules’ of the commune- mainly to allow her to re-enter. She made her way to the door. Lonely Heart stood, wearing a purple cape to seal out the cold, smiling his gallant smile. “Ah, Star,” he said conversationally. “Glad to see you. Come with me, please.” “At this time of night? Why?” Lonely Heart gave her a hurt look. “Are you asking such a suspicious question of somepony who’s given you so much?” “Well, no, Heart. It’s just… where are we going?” Lonely Heart laughed. “Oh, just a little thing. It’s time for you to begin paying off the debt you owe me. I’m taking you to your new workplace.” “Oh…” she was confused. “Okay, I guess.” She followed him down the hall, the lamp in his mouth providing light. Outside in the courtyard, she found all dozen mares with whom she had become so familiar in the past two weeks. They looked confused and tired, but their faces softened in trust and admiration when they looked on Lonely Heart. Star went to join her friend Candy, a pink earth pony with a curly blue mane, a multicolored lollipop on her flanks. She smiled at Star. “Isn’t this exciting?” Star said nothing. She nodded vaguely. Lonely Heart cleared his throat, and everypony looked to him, admiration and love in their eyes. “Good morning, everypony.” He smiled gallantly. “Although I’ve enjoyed having you stay here, you were all aware that my magnanimity could not last forever. Now it’s time for you to begin repaying your debt to me. But don’t be afraid. I wouldn’t dream of separating you from the new friends you’ve all made. No indeed. You’ll all be working together to pay off the debts you owe me, and I trust that you will help and support one another, in the same manner as I will be there for you. If you would please follow me.” “I wonder where we’re going,” Candy whispered to her. Star just shook her head. She was worried. Out on the street, mostly abandoned at this hour, she noticed several shadowy figures flanking the twelve of them on all four sides. She didn’t think anypony else saw them. The large stallions wore black bodysuits and hoods, from what she could see. Star only now began to realize the sort of situation she was in. A rage rose in her, but it was quickly cooled by visions of blood and hurt. Hurt she had caused. She didn’t want to be that pony anymore. She didn’t think she could. But what other choice was there? Maybe if she gave Lonely Heart a chance. He seemed earnest, even now. A clear stallion’s voice rang out, interrupting her thoughts. “Lonely Heart!” A handsome gray pegasus stallion landed in front of Lonely Heart. His dark eyes were angry, a sword on his back and sharp wingblades on his glossy wings. His cutie mark was a glimmering silver blade, pointed straight towards the heavens. Two similarly-armed pegasi flanked him. They looked nervous, unlike the lead pegasus, who only seemed angry. A look of disgust passed over Lonely Heart’s face. “Officer Polaris,” he inclined his head in acknowledgement. “What can I do for you?” “You can let these mares go. Now.” There was no chance for compromise in the stallion’s voice. Lonely Heart’s eyes narrowed. Star could see he was afraid of the younger pegasus, but he was also angry at the moment. The anger seemed to be winning. “I pay tribute to the Guard the same as anypony else. You have no right to order me to give up my…” he paused before saying whatever had been on his lips. “Your prospects?” Polaris smiled grimly and looked past Lonely Heart to the mares. “Do you girls know where Lonely Heart is taking you? He probably never got around to explaining that. You’re to work in one of his brothels until you pay back the impressive debts you now owe him.” His hard eyes looked back to Lonely Heart. “This isn’t happening. Let them go.” Uncontrollable rage poured out of Lonely Heart’s mouth as he screamed. “You have no right to do this! I’ve paid my tribute!” There was a brief pause as Polaris considered his words. “I don’t care,” he said firmly after a moment. “I’m tired of seeing parasites like you feed off the weak. We can do better than this. Better than you.” He stood ready to act, facing his fellow pegasus sternly. “I don’t want to be a prostitute…” Candy whispered to Star. “Do you think he’s telling the truth?” Star remained silent. Lonely Heart spluttered, outraged. “You’re a mad fool! You will hang for this!” He looked to the pegasi flanking Polaris. “Do you support your superior in this insanity? You will not be spared blame if you do!” The two pegasi were silent for a moment, their faces continuing to evince the nerves Star had seen on them earlier. At length, the left, blue with a raindrop cutie mark, spoke up. “I support Lieutenant Polaris to the end.” Star noticed a subtle tension in the handsome gray stallion facing Lonely Heart leave him at that. The other pegasus spoke up. “As do I.” Lonely Heart gave an unintelligible sound of exasperation. “You are mad, all of you! I’m not to blame for what may become of you after this folly! This is business! Be it on your own heads!” Polaris stepped closer to the white stallion, who stepped back almost immediately. “Leave the area immediately, or we will use force to disperse you.” “I wash my hooves of this!” Lonely Heart screamed at him, flying away, the guards flanking him following. Star noticed that there were many ponies watching now, awoken or at least drawn by the commotion. The blue Pegasus dispersed them with stern warnings as Polaris approached the confused and frightened young mares, most of them now huddled together. “No need to be afraid, now,” Polaris spoke in a gentle tone much different from his earlier righteous anger. “We’ll take you someplace safe.” A little mare, scarcely sixteen, purple with a bunch of grapes for a cutie mark, spoke shakily. “That’s what he told us.” Star approached, putting a comforting hoof around her. She pressed tight against Star. She looked at Polaris. “Exactly what is going to happen here, Lieutenant? I get the feeling you’ve overstepped your authority.” He shrugged. “Maybe. But I’m tired of seeing ponies hurt and not being able to do anything about it.” Star nodded gravely. She understood. What Polaris didn’t know is that sometimes being able to do something about it was just as bad. Still, maybe the stars had led her here for a reason. “Whatever happens, I’m by your side. He looked momentarily shocked, but then smiled warmly. - “Star,” Volta interrupted, regarding her pointedly. “Yes?” She smiled a schoolmistress smile, welcoming his question gently. “Why did you trust Polaris?” There was vague amusement on his face. Star shrugged, blushing. “He was…” she trailed off ineffectually. “Pretty?” Volta offered. Star scratched the back of her head awkwardly. “Ah… I guess that was…” Volta chuckled, a rumbling noise that Star could feel through the sand beneath her. “Must be careful of pretty, Star. Blade can be pretty, until it protrudes beautifully from your painfully lovely heart.” Star cocked her head. “That’s a bit poetic.” The bear nodded sagely. “Is Canian proverb. Applicable to many things I have seen. And done.” He shrugged. “Is why I did not trust you immediately.” She blushed again. “Are you saying you think I’m pretty?” Now he looked awkward. “Ah… if I cared about such things. Not interested in ponies. As they go, you are quite striking.” Her silver eyes were wide. “Th-thank you.” Another shrug from the bear. “So,” he began, changing the subject whether it wanted to be changed or not. “What happened after?” Star’s expression grew pained. “There were… troubles. About half the guard followed Nail, the captain of the guard, who wanted to preserve the relationships the guard already had with merchants in Seneschal, and the other half went with Polaris. It was, well… war.” “Guessing your side won.” “Eventually, yes. But many ponies died.” Volta nodded gravely. “Always lose many in war. Canium land with rich history. Many wars. Most seem meaningless when looked back on. At least your war was for something.” Star didn’t look so sure. “You may have guessed that Polaris was Moon’s father.” The bear nodded once more. “Things were good for the first four years after she was born. There were skirmishes, of course. Cultists, Daughters, Reclaimers. They don’t go away. Still, I felt like I had found a balance. My duty as the heir.” She shook her head. “I was such a young foal.” “And then…?” Star’s silver eyes looked hatefully at the distant convoy. “Shimmer happened.” - The greatest warriors of Seneschal were at her back as she charged out to find and put an end to Shimmer. Killing her childhood friend wouldn’t stop the Legion from trying to take Seneschal, but she knew from experience that an army lost a lot of confidence when its champion fell. The Legion force he commanded had harassed the walls of Seneschal for months now. They had made little progress, but they had caused the deaths of many ponies, and Shimmer had always eluded her grasp, killing her best and brightest and then vanishing. Today felt like a last press; the city embattled on all sides, its armies bolstered by Star’s fame and Seneschal’s new prosperity, Shimmer moving openly about the field, and almost in her sights, while Polaris, feared by the Legion as the Blade of Light, supervised the defense of the city. If Star had the fortitude, skill, and courage, today might end this once and for all. She could see him from a long way off, his unit in combat with Lord Stalwart’s. She cursed to herself. She had told the griffon to keep back. As brave formidable as he was, he stood no chance against Shimmer. If it came to that, she wasn’t so sure she stood a chance against Shimmer. Galloping ahead of her ponies, she locked eyes with the crimson unicorn. An insane grin transfixed his face. Her eyes flared with the white magical fury of the heir. “Shimmer!” She shouted, planting her hooves and leaping high into the air. This was it, she resolved. She was going to end it today. Coming down on him at tremendous speed, she struck him hard in the face. He leaped back. Grinning at her, he spit out blood and smiled. Star seethed inside. He was always smiling about something. “Good evening, dear Stubby.” “Star!” Lord Stalwart spoke from somewhere near her. “Should we withdraw?” “Just keep them off us! I’m going to end this.” “Yes,” Shimmer said, the air around him distorting with the potent magic of the Bloodfang Style. “Nopony interfere if you wish to keep your lives.” He smiled at Star. “Are you prepared to die in agony, Stubby?” Ponies from both sides moved away from them, knowing from experience what a clash between ponies such as them was like. Her eyes flared. “Enough talk.” Shimmer grinned ear to ear, baring his teeth as he swept a hoof towards Star at lightning speed. Leaping nimbly over the cutting wave that was a signature of the Bloodfang, Star closed with her foe. His eyes still gleaming with glee, Shimmer’s hooves became a whirl of distortion as he sent wave after wave of destructive chi towards her, cutting into the ground around her as surely as they cut down many ponies behind her. They began to flee in earnest from the two terrifying warriors. “Yes, come here, Stubby!” Shimmer cackled gleefully. “You’ve always done better at close quarters, haven’t you!?” Star bared her teeth as she drew almost close enough to strike him. In theory, she knew him to be right. In the real world, Star knew as well as Shimmer that she had never defeated him, whether close up or far away. It ran through her mind as he took the hoof with which she struck at him, using her own momentum to throw her past him. Star set her hooves in the ground below her, skidding to a stop in a cloud of sand and touching her precious magical reserves to throw up a shield which broke the waves of destruction that Shimmer had sent flying after her. Her foe laughed wildly. “You might as well be dead already, Stubby!” Star seethed as she heard cheers of jubilation from Shimmer’s Legion ponies. “Tell you what, old friend,” Shimmer continued. “I’ll let you get close. That way you’ll have a fighting chance! How about it?” There was mirth in his eyes as he stared at her. Star screamed an enraged battle cry as she launched herself across the 20 meters or so that separated them. The cry alone, long and pure and loud, would have took the fight from most ponies. Not to mention the angry mare that went along with it, her eyes and horn blazing white as she somehow flew without wings, a storm of sand kicked up in her wake. Shimmer simply stood his ground and did nothing. Star’s burning attack didn’t even have a chance to connect as Shimmer’s hoof shot into her ribcage, a loud crack cutting off her scream. The pain was painted momentarily in her silver eyes before Shimmer followed it up by bucking her hard in the face. The heir to the Starhoof style landed on the blood-stained sand and was still. Shimmer threw his head back and laughed, his soldiers joining him and sharing in his mirth. Star woke to find a group of leering, blood-stained and battle-scarred ponies looking down at her. “Welcome back, Star,” he said with mocking kindness. Star tried to move, to throw herself with reckless abandon at her hated enemy once more. But she stopped when she felt the searing flame where Shimmer had struck her ribs, in addition to the weight of ponies holding her forelegs spread and her hindlegs down and to the right, baring her left flank. She just glared at Shimmer as he and his ponies shared another laugh. “Although I don’t think your beloved family will be so lucky, it is possible you may walk out of here today.” He grinned knowingly as his horn flared a brilliant red. “If, that is, you can survive what I’m going to do to you.” He laughed insanely. “I’m genuinely quite curious to know whether or not you can.” He knelt close to her face, the red glow from his horn hurting her eyes. “Polaris will see that my love for him burns brighter than yours ever could. Mark my words.” The words were a sharp, desperate whisper, meant only for her ears. He stepped around her, looking at her left cutie mark. “Feel free to scream.” Slowly, he dipped his horn into the flesh over the crowning star in her bear’s paw. Star’s world went white with agony. - Volta looked once more at the convoy, his aspect now contented. “Shimmer was… in love with your husband?” “Presumably still is.” “Polaris did not feel the same way?” Star shook her head. “It was just another unhealthy obsession for Shim. That’s all anything he did ever was.” “You do not think his feelings genuine?” Star stared at the bear. “What are you talking about? “He is pony like you. Who is to say he did not really love Polaris?” Star sighed and shook her head. “Even if it somehow began pure, what it became was an addiction he used to justify whatever awful thing he felt like doing at the time. I have trouble respecting that.” Volta was quiet for a very long moment. Star looked calmly at her face. She had been surprised at how simple it was to read his emotions. They weren’t, she supposed, so much different from a pony’s. During her recollection of some of the most painful events in her life, he had seemed disgusted. And angry. There was a lot of anger. He spoke after a long time. His tone was quiet and measured. “I have not seen your cutie mark.” Politely, the request itself wasn’t there, but it was implied enough that Star smiled. “Enough ponies know about me that I don’t like to flash it around.” Standing and slipping out of her cloak and Legion bodysuit, she bore her untouched right flank to the bear. There was only a brief moment before his eyes went wide in disbelief. “Priey shtati shuna Unaia…” he spoke reverently, his eyes alight. He looked at her once again. “Star… do you know what that is?” Star arched an eyebrow in confusion. “The… bear’s... paw?” “Perhaps that is how you know it here. In Canium it is the Claw of Unai. The most auspicious constellation in the night sky. We believe these Stars are where Unai and his children live.” His eyes reverently studied the cutie mark. “It was fate that I should meet you now…” Star frowned. “Volta…” her tone was reproachful. He met her with an intense gaze. “Can you call it anything else? A righteous and powerful pony, bearing the mark of the Great Bear himself. You cannot possibly know what this means to me.” “Volta… I’m just a regular pony. I mean… I can do some… unusual things... sure, but…” Volta shook his head vehemently. “No, Star. This is sign. I must pledge my fealty to you.” To her great distress, the bear knelt heavily before her and spoke quickly in his thick, guttural language. Star couldn’t seem to find a place in the speech to cut in. When he finished, he looked at her, pride in his amber eyes. “My claws and my teeth, all my power, my very life, are yours to command. If you send me to my death I will go gladly. By Unai.” “Oh, Goddess…” Star groaned. “Look, Volta, I just need a friend, that’s all.” Volta nodded. In the short time she had known him, she had never seen him this happy. “Then that is what we will be.” “But not because some bear in the sky tells you too. Because you enjoy my company. The way I enjoy yours.” Volta laughed earnestly. “Nothing has changed between us, Star. But this means a great deal to me. Whether you find it important or no.” Star smiled. She put her cloak back on, but folded the Legion bodysuit and stashed it in her satchel. “Either way… I’m still glad you’re here, Volta.” He smiled. “As am I, pony.” Behind them, Amulet stirred in her restless slumber. She gave a gentle sob as she opened her red eyes. She seemed confused for a moment, then she looked at Star and Volta with barely-restrained sorrow. “It wasn’t a dream, was it?” She asked despondently. “No dear, I’m afraid it wasn’t.” Star knew the pain on her face well. “What am I supposed to do now?” Her voice was barely held steady. Star looked up into the clouded gloom of the Nightlight. “Two choices. Give up or keep living.” She looked down at Amulet. “Nopony can decide for you.” The young pegasus just stared, her lower lip quivering. Star saw movement out in the dark haze of the unusually cloudy Nightlight. She knew it was Shimmer immediately, knew his shape and his body language. As much as she may have wished it to be otherwise, she had known him for longer than almost anypony except her sisters. Her eyes narrowed in silent hatred as he approached. “What do you want?” Her voice was stern. “Only what you want, Stubby,” he sneered as he emerged into plain sight. “To recover your precious daughter.” Star’s face was hard. “Why are you doing this? Have you truly gone insane?” “Not important. What is important is that this must be executed carefully.” Star sighed. “Fine. What do you propose?” Shimmer smiled. - The Waste provided a pony with few opportunities for a genuine giggle. But Star had indulged a few when she had watched the Legion ponies as Volta climbed into their largest Wagon. Star and Amulet, along with the doctor and his now-quiet filly, were with him. The convoy was on its way to a Legion Fortress where, according to her old enemy, Star’s daughter was being held. Star needed at least a little rest, but between comforting the still-inconsolable Amulet and the stress of wondering what Shimmer was up to, that wasn’t likely to happen. Star looked at Amulet, who stood beside her. Her face was still streaked with tears, but she was at least standing on her own. She stared at the convoy preparing to move out, trembling as she struggled to contain her sorrow. Star spoke softly. “Amulet? I think we should get in.” Amulet didn’t move or look at Star. Her voice quavered. “Why did you have to come to Hope?” Star’s ears drooped. “Amulet, I…” “Why? Everything was fine before you got there. Now everypony I know is dead or enslaved. My friends, my papa. Even…” she didn’t seem able to talk about her sister’s death. “You destroyed everything,” she whispered quietly. Star had nothing to say. She looked down at the shifting sands. “You said I had two choices?” Amulet said after a brief pause. “I’m choosing to check out. I want to die. What is there left for me?” She looked at Star for the first time since the conversation had begun. Star raised a supplicating hoof, her eyes stinging with tears. “Amulet, I…” “Shut up shut up shut up!” Amulet screamed. Star cowered away from the pegasus. “What can you possibly say that makes this better!?” Star was on the ground now, avoiding the angry eyes of the green mare. Amulet loomed over her. Star could see the hate in her eyes. She said nothing. Amulet stepped away from Star, breathing deep. “I wish you luck.” She looked out into the Waste. “I’m… going.” With that she took to the air, flying out into the empty lands left by the Atomites’ pointless destruction. Star stood, watching her go, her tears swallowed as she quietly added another name to the list of ponies she hadn’t been able to save. A familiar voice came from behind her. “You always wanted to help everypony, Stubby. You should know by now that you can’t.” Star didn’t even look at her childhood friend. For an unpleasant moment she allowed herself to imagine that was still what they were, that he was the cheerful Shim she had once known and loved. Without looking at him, she almost believed it. “Only because I wasn’t good enough.” She could hear the breathy chuckle. Hear him shaking his head. “You’re so stubborn. You’re the best, Star. You always have been. Maybe not when compared to me, but… against everypony else, I choose you every time.” She felt Shimmer standing beside her. For that unpleasant moment, she allowed herself to be there. “She chose death, Star. You’ll never save somepony like that.” Star was quiet for a moment. She looked over at him, her face blank. “I can tell you one pony I certainly won’t be saving.” Shimmer laughed, and for once it was earnest and not cruel. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll be waiting.” With that, he walked away. Star smiled sadly as she looked out on the Nightlight into which Amulet had vanished, in which the broken mare was no longer visible even as a distant mote against the sullen purple sky. Next Time: Give Back My Moon! The Fortress of Nightmares! Thanks to Damsus Rhee for giving me this idea and an excuse to write Elizabethan English for fun, and to you all for reading this. Check out his fanfic ‘Of Hoof and Paw’ on EqD.
1 - A Light in the Darkness!? Bloody Hooves of the Furious Stars!1 - A Light in the Darkness!? Bloody Hooves of the Furious Stars! Not so very long ago, in the magical land of Equestria… War. The seething resentment of generations of segregation and oppression finally exploded into a world-consuming firestorm. The Princesses have gone, their castle in ruins. Nopony knows anymore who or what caused the conflagration, only that nothing matters now but the primal law of strength and might. Those with power prey on the weak, in a wicked and brutal rule of nature ponies had thought was far behind them. But through this darkness walks a light. One pony with the strength and conviction to protect the innocent, and punish the wicked… -Hoof of the North Star- Episode 1: A Light in the Darkness!? Bloody Hooves of the Furious Stars! From overhead, the pony struggling through the raging sandstorm looked like little more than a dust mote on the endless white canvas of sand. The merciless Equestrian sun beat down on her, her tattered and threadbare brown cloak offering little protection from its abuses. The howling wind blew fine, hard granules of sand into her mouth and eyes, straining the already-worn fabric of her cloak and worming their way into her gray shirt and trousers. Her breathing was labored, ragged. She tried to remember the last time her hooves had been still, the last time she had tasted food or drank water. She found she couldn’t. All of her thoughts were blocked out by the whirling sand and the howling winds. Merciless sun in the day, cold, distant moon at night. She wondered when the sun would set today. Nopony could tell, anymore. Not since the princesses had vanished and become Goddesses in the minds of ponies. It had been so long ago that only a few living ponies could still remember hearing tales of a time when they had lived and walked among their subjects. She saw herself, putting one hoof in front of the other for as long as she could remember, ever since… that day. She heard her tired, reedy voice heavy with tears, offering futile but earnest prayers to the now-distant Goddesses for their uncertain mercy. Her forelegs slipped out from under her for what felt like the thousandth time, and without preamble she fell face-first into the sand. She hated when this happened. Looking up, she wondered what it would look like this time. Sharp and clear in the air before her, she saw her daughter, screaming and spread-eagled, chains fixed to each of her legs. The bolts locking the manacles together also penetrated the flesh and bone of her legs themselves. The tired unicorn was looking over the shoulder of her daughter’s tormentor, an earth pony in a lab coat, his snout and shoulders painted with Moon Light’s blood, as he worked around in her exposed insides with a sharp needle, testing some arcane theories of perverted science, she supposed. Or maybe just having what passed for fun these days. She looked away from the horrific image, unable to weep any more. Relatively speaking, it wasn’t that bad. She would much rather see such images, pure fictions invented by her fevered imagination, than she would the past. Particularly that day. She had seen more than enough of it. Shaking her head to clear the nightmarish visions, she struggled to all four hooves, her muscles screaming in agony. She knew at that moment that the next time she fell, she would never rise again. She focused. One hoof in front of the other. Trembling with each step, she could see at last that it was almost over. She was shamed by the relief she felt, sneaking in past the sorrow of knowing she would never again see Moon. Luna protect you, Littlemoon, she thought to herself, her dry lips no longer capable of speaking the words, even in a whisper, before she collapsed into a motionless heap. Across the surface of the sand, she saw ponies running, heard shouts and responses. I haven’t seen this vision before… Then darkness took her. - The dark blue unicorn woke up, which shocked her. She could immediately tell that she was lying on a bed, for which she inwardly rejoiced, although it was a thin and uncomfortable bed. Her head was reeling, and her eyes seemed unenthusiastic about focusing on anything in particular. A noise seared her aching skull, stabbing through it like a dagger. She winced and placed her hooves over the throbbing agony in a futile effort to massage away the pain. It took a few seconds before her damaged senses began to resolve the noise into anything but an auditory weapon. She recognized it as a voice, and started to work on trying to resolve what it was saying. She knew now that she was in a room, dingy but well-ordered, softly lit by fluorescent lighting just above her. The cot on which she lay was arranged against a wall alongside several others much like it. Immediately in front of her was a door that she assumed must lead outside, and an arch behind her and to her left led deeper into the building. But for the moment she tried to focus on the painful voice. “…Hello?” She heard the voice clearly now. Turning her eyes toward it and blinking. She watched curiously as the vague shape resolved into a brown unicorn in a lab coat who, for one terrified instant, she mistook for the earth pony scientist from her latest vision. This impression was quickly dispelled by his horn, by the friendly look of concern on his face, by the lack of her lost filly’s blood covering him, and by his stethoscope cutie mark. She returned his smile weakly, feeling better than she had in weeks, which ultimately wasn’t saying a lot. “Oh,” he said when she smiled. “I guess you are feeling better.” The sound of his voice no longer burned her mind like a red-hot brand. “A little. Where am I?” Her voice rasped, and she cleared her throat immediately. “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re in my clinic, in the village of Hope. We found you collapsed outside of town three days ago.” Star’s eyes were drawn to the needle inside her left foreleg, attached to a bag of clear liquid beside the table. “You helped me, I suppose?” The doctor smiled earnestly, and she decided she liked him. “To the best of my abilities, yes.” “Am I a prisoner?” She asked. “I don’t feel like I’m a prisoner.” The doctor looked alarmed. “No, of course not. U-unless you wish us harm,” he stammered. He then grinned awkwardly. “You don’t look very dangerous, frankly.” Star smiled. “No.” She sat up from the not-very-comfortable cot with a vague grimace. The doctor looked alarmed. “You shouldn’t really move yet…” “I’m sure I’ll be fine, doctor.” Extending a hoof, she saw with displeasure the sorry, peeling state of her midnight-blue coat. She wondered what kind of disarray her mane was in. Lucky she kept it short. “My name is Star Light.” The doctor shook her hoof gently. “I’m Doctor Tourniquet. Welcome.” Star stayed on the table for the moment, not wanting to scare the doctor too badly. He gestured vaguely to her flank. “I figured your name would be something like that, what with the cutie mark. What do they call that constellation?” Her face was neutral as she answered. “It’s known variously as the Great Ladle or the Bear’s Paw. The zebras have -or had- some other name for it. Can’t remember what.” She had read up on it extensively when she was a filly, when she had thought that having such an important and auspicious constellation on her flank was just about the coolest thing to ever happen to anypony. It felt like so much longer ago than it actually was. “Yes, that’s right,” he said in sudden remembrance. “Very unusual. Maybe you can tell me how you got it sometime.” She was pretty sure the doctor was hitting on her, which she found very cute. And a bit desperate, given how she must look. Gently but swiftly, Star slipped off of the cot on the right side, so as to avoid the earnest but misguided interferences of Doctor Tourniquet. Her hooves were shaky for a moment after hitting the floor, but once they were underneath her she recovered fairly quickly and smiled happily as she took a few tentative steps. Bending down to her left foreleg, she gently took the IV tube in her teeth and pulled it out. She looked up into the doctors’ eyes, which were wide behind his large glasses. “You seem… very resilient. Are you some kind of warrior?” He averted his gaze. “I… couldn’t help but notice that you do have your fair share of scars.” Star delicately spit out the IV tube. She kept her feelings locked behind her silver eyes, but smiled when she said: “Something like that.” She heard a small gasp from the passage leading further into the building, and looked up to see a filly, scarcely eight she would guess, standing stock-still and staring at her. She did not yet have her cutie mark. Her coat was the color of honey, but her hair was a bright red. Her look of surprise gave way to a big smile. “She’s up already, papa?” “Who is this?” Star gave her most friendly smile to the little filly. “I’m Splints,” piped the filly, bouncing a bit. She seemed to remember herself, and arched her eyebrow at Star. “And you should still be in bed. Right papa?” Tourniquet sighed. “Well yes, but… she seems fine to me, little one. We might make an exception just this once.” Splints nodded. “Okay!” She trotted over to Star and looked up at her with big blue eyes. “After you meet with the Elder, can we play?” She looked crestfallen. “I haven’t had anypony to play with for such a long time.” She looked to her father, suddenly apprehensive. “I’m sorry papa, I forgot to ask. Is she safe?” “Um… I think she’s probably safe, yes, little one.” Tourniquet’s eyes flickered awkwardly towards Star. “We’re going to have to talk about the proper way to have these sorts of discussions.” Star came down to Splint’s eye level, smiling. “I’d love to play later. I’ve got a filly about your age.” There was a small but bitter pang at the mention of Moon. Her eyes wide, Splints gasped excitedly and began launching a barrage of questions about Moon, not even bothering to give her time to answer. This one has been sheltered, Star thought. That should do her heart good. Until she can’t be sheltered anymore. Star smiled awkwardly, not really knowing how to respond. Or even how to process such foalish exuberance. It had never been like this for her and her sisters. And certainly not for Moon. She should probably just stay here, she thought as Tourniquet tried to calm his daughter down. Stay here and forget about the doom on her shoulders, the legacy she had foolishly chosen to accept. About Moon; alone, suffering, and afraid. When it came to that last, she knew that she couldn’t. Tourniquet had just managed to calm Splints, by physically muffling her barrage of stream-of-consciousness chatter, questions, and meaningless anecdotes with a hoof over her mouth. He looked at Star, an awkward smile on his face. “Well, we should probably go and tell the Elder you’re awake. You can come with us if you like.” At that moment there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” The doctor responded. He unmuffled Splints, who had finally gotten the idea and lapsed into a sullen silence. She looked up at him with a frustrated glare. Through the door came three ponies. The first two Star knew immediately to be guards. She had met enough of the breed to be sure of how they behaved. Unyielding looks in their eyes, they entered first and scanned the room. The first was a large yellow pegasus stallion, the second a graceful blue unicorn mare. Moments after, an earth pony stallion entered that Star took, from his age and bearing, to be the Elder. She was immediately certain that he was the second-oldest living pony she had ever laid eyes on. He was coffee-colored and his cutie mark was some kind of flower with which she was unfamiliar. Despite his age, he still bore traces of what looked to have been a truly impressive strength in his youth. He was still attractive in a way, his snow-white mane relatively thick if a bit downier than it might once have been, and his green eyes full of laughter. He wore a light brown robe and carried a gnarled cane which he leaned on lightly with his right hoof. His guards kept a close eye on her but made no unfriendly movements. She nodded at the older pony. “You must be the Elder.” The older stallion inclined his head slightly, and Star returned the gesture. “Yes. Elder Cornflower.” He regarded her with warmth. “We were beginning to think you would never wake up, my dear.” Star stretched her neck, enjoying the feel of her aching muscles stirring to life. “Thanks to you and Doctor Tourniquet, I feel much better.” Her eyes were drawn to his guards. She smiled disarmingly. “Do you fear me, Elder?” The old earth pony chuckled. “Of course not, my dear. But as I am sure you know, these are dangerous times. My guards are merely a precaution. We’ve done everything we can to get you back on your hooves. And look at you now!” Star nodded. “I’ve come not to expect such decency from other ponies. My name is Star Light. I’ve been here three days, you say?” Cornflower thought for a moment. “By my count, yes.” “It seems I’m in your debt then, sir.” The old pony chuckled. “No no, my dear. It is our duty to assist anypony in need. Such is the will of the Goddesses.” At that, a dark and vaguely sad shadow crossed Star’s face, but it passed quickly. She nodded. Her smile now was awkward, a foreleg raised in supplication. “If I may continue to impose upon your courtesy… to say that I’m hungry would be an enormous understatement.” The grandfatherly chuckle from the Elder put her at ease. “Of course, young one. Follow me. I can show you Hope, such as it is, on our brief walk. After all, you should get some fresh-“ he hesitated. “Well, at least some sort of air in your lungs.” He gave an apologetic smile. There was nothing anypony could do anymore about the quality of the Equestrian air. The Atomites had seen to that. Star nodded. Splints burst out anew as they were about to go. “Elder, Elder! Star says she’ll be my friend! Can you believe it? A new-” she was cut off as Tourniquet muffled her once again, grinning apologetically. Her stubby legs waved wildly as she tried to express her glee through gesticulation. Star smiled without meaning to, a rare and pleasurable experience these days. “You’d better leave before she really gets going,” Tourniquet told them. Star gave Splints her friendliest smile. “I’ll come back to see you, Splints. I like having new friends, too.” Tourniquet suddenly spoke up, as though he hadn’t been meaning to. “You could... take your meal with me if you like, Miss Star.” Star thought about it. She looked to the exuberant Splints, still trying to communicate her happiness without the use of words. She doubted she’d be able to eat a bite. The Elder directed an even look at the young doctor. “I am sure our guest would like to eat in peace, young stallion. Here she would be interrupted by a lovesick doctor and a charming but somewhat over-excited filly.” He looked to Star with a slight smile. “Do I guess correctly?” She drooped a bit in embarrassment. “Well… I do think I’d prefer to eat alone.” Splints was momentarily crestfallen, a sight so sad and adorable that it caused Star physical pain. “But I will be back. Just… give me some time.” At that, Splints seemed to shift gears back to super-excited in a heartbeat. As she turned to leave, Star noticed a pained look pass over the Filly’s face. Although she recovered from it quickly, back to foalish exuberance in a heartbeat. Star bent to the filly’s eye level once more. “Are you in pain, Splints?” Tourniquet spoke up quickly. “No no, she’s fine. She was playing on the outskirts with Cloves last week and she took a little fall.” he waved a hoof. “Just some pain. I’m sure it’ll pass.” Star’s brow furrowed. After a week it most likely already should have. I suppose I could fix it. But it’s been years since I used the Starhoof for that. Elder Cornflower cleared his throat. “Miss Star? Is... everything alright?” Looking to the Elder’s kind expression she smiled apologetically. “I... have something to discuss with the doctor and his daughter. In private.” The Elder raised his eyebrows. “A matter between a patient and a physician,” Star clarified, blushing lightly. Cornflower’s expression was even as his eyes shifted from Star to the doctor. He nodded. “Very well.” He nodded to his guards, who stepped out the front door. He looked to Star. “Take what time you need. We will wait. “ He followed his guards. Star smiled to herself and turned to Splints, who beamed up at her. “Miss Star?” Asked Tourniquet. “What is this about?” Star trotted over to Splints, who stood beside her father, exuberance barely contained. She sat down close to the two of them. “You helped me,” she said to Tourniquet. She averted her eyes. “I can’t remember how long it’s been since somepony helped me. Not unless they expected something out of me.” Maybe not ever. She smiled at him. And noticed that he was blushing harder and harder. She frowned. “Doctor! Where is your mind at?” He stuttered awkwardly. “I... apologize, Miss Star. But it’s been a long time since there’s been an unattached mare of my age in the village. But...” he swallowed hard. “If you aren’t referring to... that.... then what?” Splints looked between the two of them in bewilderment. “Can somepony tell me what’s going on?” Star sighed, shaking her head at the embarrassed doctor. She smiled down at the filly. “I can cure your headaches. But it would be much simpler if you didn’t tell anypony about it. Alright?” “Okay, Miss Star!” Splints said immediately. “I... don’t understand,” said the doctor. “How can you cure them?” “Yeah,” said Splints. “My papa’s the best doctor in the world, and he can’t do anything.” Her eyes widened in awe. “Are you a better doctor than him?” “No, little one. I’m not a doctor. Never mind how I can do it. I just need you to relax for a minute, okay?” Splints nodded happily. “You got it, Miss Star!” She sat down and waited with surprising patience, her big brown eyes looking up at Star with the complete trust of the young. Star focused slowly, her breathing even and measured. It had been a long time since she had touched anypony’s chakras for any reason but to cause them harm. She had never been good at using the art of the Starhoof for anything but death. Healing had always been Silvercloud’s specialty. Comet had once said that she had almost discovered an entirely new way of using the Starhoof style. Although ponies in ages past had known that the Starhoof could be used for healing as well as destroying, nopony, as far as any of the records had shown, had ever devoted themselves to it like Silvercloud had. Still, Star was basically aware of how it was done. At least, of how something so simple as this was done. And this doctor and his filly were the kindest ponies she had met in years. He deserved something from her. If only because most ponies would already have tried to take whatever they could. Star had studied the diagrams, memorized the points for so long, that when she looked at the filly’s surprisingly-still body, she could almost see the myriad points of focus along her chakras, like stars shining in the night sky, by which she could paralyze, kill, or do any number of other things. Every pony was like a miniature galaxy of stars, the points in their bodies’ natural rivers of energy where that energy ran over and could be touched by somepony who knew how to do so. By putting out or rearranging those stars with hoof or horn or magic, she could destroy, maim, or heal as she saw fit. Star had only recently realized how terrible and evil a power this was. Only when it was too late for her. Raising her forelegs to both sides of the filly’s head, her silver eyes focused and empty, she took a split-second to search out the points she knew she must rearrange. Quickly but very gently, she simultaneously touched both sides of the filly’s head. She felt a small electrochemical pulse from the misaligned chakra, and then she knew that all was right. She set her hooves on the floor once more and smiled at her. “Do you feel better now, Splints?” The little filly shook her head, sneezed inexplicably, then nodded happily. “No more ouchie!” Star smiled at her. The doctor had a look on his face that Star had seen on soldiers whose eyes had seen too much combat. “How did you do that, Miss Light?” Star raised a hoof, a big grin on her face. “Ah ah ah, doctor. I told you not to ask.” The doctor smiled kindly at her. “But I didn’t promise not to...” They both shared a gentle laugh. Splints was excited by the outburst, and bounced around them in a circle singing ‘no ouchie’. That only made them laugh more. Star realized then that the sound of laughter had become almost foreign to her ears. “Thank you, Miss Light,” the doctor told her when everypony had calmed down and he held Splints fondly at his side. “I won’t tell anypony.” He shrugged. “I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want me to, but... can I ask you one thing?” Star nodded without considering it much. The doctor paused for a moment, but then met her eyes. “Why do you seem so sad every time I look at you?” Star felt a pang. He had no right to ask that. Her expression was more guarded than before as she spoke. “I should go,” she said, trotting quickly out the door, scarcely even registering the exuberant farewell from Splints. She winced as her eyes were once again subjected to the hard, blinding light of the Equestrian Daylight. Star smiled weakly as she joined the Elder and his guards, still uncomfortable in the aftermath of the doctor’s final question. The Elder began to speak evenly. “All is well, I suppose?” Star nodded. “Did you enjoy the company of our doctor’s charming daughter?” She smiled again. “Very much so, Elder.” “It is wonderful to see such exuberance in the young, isn’t it? We have only a few children here, but they are our dearest treasures.” He gestured widely to the town around him with his right foreleg. “Welcome to our village, Miss Light. We are few, but we make a meager living taking advantage of the cultivation technologies left behind by the Atomites.” Star was shocked. “You’ve managed to make the Gardens function?” The old stallion gave a friendly smile. “In a limited capacity, yes. I have heard of it being done before. In the Mountain Fortress Octavia to the north, I had heard there had been some successful exploitations of the Atomites’ lost farming techniques.” Star’s face went blank and expressionless. “Yes, I… heard that as well,” she stuttered, leaving too long a silence. The Elder seemed not to catch it, but she still winced inwardly before assessing her surroundings with the quick efficiency to which she was accustomed. From what she could see, Hope consisted of what had once been four roads but were now little more than dirt paths, arranged roughly in the shape of a pound sign. In the middle of the town squatted the leaning ruins of an Atomite town hall, its careworn façade visible from anywhere in the town. Seeing it, she was shocked it still stood. But many Atomite structures did so, despite what they had done to the rest of the world. They had been strange ponies. The other buildings in the town were pretty uniformly run-down, but many served new purposes nonetheless, whether as private dwellings or as storefronts offering various services. There was a makeshift open-air marketplace around the remains of the Atomite Hall as well. Ponies went about their business, most of them regarding Star and her new companions with open looks and friendly smiles. Star was unaccustomed to such behavior, so much so that she chastised herself for finding it suspicious. Friendliness and decency should be rewarded, she reminded the paranoid little pony inside. The Clinic was on the inner side of the western street. Looking at it from the outside, she could tell that it had once been a garage of some sort but had been re-purposed, like many of Hope’s structures. It now bore the large red plus sign that Star had often seen associated with medicinal pursuits. Elder Cornflower continued. “We face infrequent raids, but we have capable defenders and strong fortifications built on the outskirts. We generally manage to turn them away without too much trouble.” Star arched an eyebrow at the old pony. “You don’t pay tribute to the Daughters?” A hard look on Cornflower’s face gave Star a glimpse of the brave and fierce young warrior he must once have been. His expression was hard. A pony had to be hard to survive in these times. “Certainly not. Those monsters scarcely deserve to be called ponies. We will give them precisely nothing, my dear.” Looking her in the eyes as they kept a leisurely pace, his stony expression resolved into an easy smile which Star could scarce help but return. “That’s… very impressive,” she offered, averting her eyes. Cornflower nodded. He stopped for a moment, a vague grimace on his face. “And, on a personal note... I do hope you’ll forgive our young doctor his discourtesy. He’s a young stallion with all the commensurate needs but little outlet for them. I’ve tried to care for him as much as possible, but there are things I can’t provide.” He smiled fondly. “I’m sure caring for a lovely mare such as yourself for three days was... a difficult task.” Star blushed in spite of herself. “I think you give me too much credit, Elder.” She didn’t want to imagine how dirty and dishevelled she was. “But thank you.” The Elder chuckled. “You’re a stout-hearted pony, Miss Star. Mares like you make me wish I were young again.” Star gave an unintentional laugh. The second such outburst in the same day, she realized. The moment they had been sharing was interrupted by a loudly-booming voice. “Elder!” The voice was thickly accented, deep, and so loud it shook Star’s bones. Star’s bubbling laugh was cut off by a squeak of sudden surprise. The Elder, after starting along with her, gave an uncharacteristically frustrated expression. He looked unpleasant for the first time since Star had met him. Turning to see the source of the booming tones, her silver eyes widened as she looked on a sight that neither she, nor anypony she had ever heard of, had seen before. Towards the two of them lumbered a massive creature; at least two-and-a-half full-grown ponies in height and twice that in length. It moved with surprising grace and certainty despite its size. Although it walked on four legs like a pony, that was where the similarities ended. It seemed to Star to be much more like a massive dog or wolf than anything even remotely equine, but even that didn’t really come close to describing it. The great creature was covered in a thick, lustrous coat of pitch-black fur, on which strange, sharp-edged designs had been painted or dyed, snaking over its entire body. Some of the designs Star could plainly identify as letters, but not from any language she had ever seen. It had a long snout, full of sharp white teeth, with which it was grinning broadly and almost jovially at Star and the three Hope ponies as it approached. The amusement was in its incredible eyes as well. Luminescent pools of amber with large black pupils, they sparkled with a startling and incongruous intelligence. Without the eyes, markings, and other adornments, Star would have assumed it to be nothing more than an animal. A large and frightening animal, but nothing more. Around its thick neck it wore a splendid necklace of large beads, all of them colored in earth-tones apart from the central pendant. That was triangular and had a color similar to Star’s coat. Its thick, muscled legs as well ended not in hooves, but in claws with four digits apiece. Its claws were also painted white, and even from here Star could see that they were razor-sharp. She wondered for a moment what would happen if she were to do battle with this creature. Were its chakras arranged the same as anypony’s? Would its body would react the same way when she struck it? Most equines, she knew, had virtually the same alignment of overflow points. But this creature? It was impossible to know without trying, which she had no reason to do. But a blood-drenched pony inside her craved that knowledge, wanted it with burning intensity, like she had wanted nothing else in her life, except perhaps a lover’s touch. As she always did, she struggled against that instinct, pushing it down into the basements of her psyche with the rest of the things she wasn’t dealing with right now. The Elder frowned and looked at her. “Miss Light, this is...” “Privyat Voltaic Ursini!” The great creature boomed, exuberant. “Pleased to meet you!” With that, the creature embraced her vigorously. His fur was surprisingly soft and downy, and he carried a whole variety of scents at this close proximity. Most of them, she had to admit, were relatively pleasant. The others were… interesting. Mostly, he smelled like woodsmoke. Star could feel the massive reserves of raw power in its -or, she supposed, his- paws. She couldn’t help but fear that the sharp claws might accidentally open her flesh, but he could either decide by some obscure magic when to make them rend flesh or else was accustomed to handling ponies gently. His arrestingly beautiful eyes turned to the Elder with a mocking pantomime of annoyance which might have frightened a less brave pony. The Elder’s guards certainly seemed put off by the massive creature, to put it mildly. “You told me you would inform me when new visitor arrived, Cornflower!” Star spoke up, seeing the indignant look on the Elder’s face. “Good to meet you...” she struggled to remember the odd name. After a seconds awkward pause, the great creature chuckled at her. “Call me Volta! Everyone -everypony, rather- else does.” “If it isn’t too rude, Volta… what are you?” Volta laughed loudly. “Is not rude. How can pony know? None of us left in ponyland, even lesser breeds. I am bear, from land of Canium. Black bear, to be precise. Biggest and best bear of all. If you ask black bears, that is.” He once again laughed raucously at his own jest. Many passing ponies had now stopped to watch the exchange, expressions ranging from interest to fear to distaste. Though Star had never heard of the land of Canium, she still nodded. “Well, my name is Star Light. It’s good to meet you.” She considered extending a hoof, but then decided that the former embrace probably constituted enough of a physical greeting. Cornflower sighed. “Volta is a new arrival in Hope. He came here not two days before you, in fact.” There was annoyance in the Elder’s voice, though Star couldn’t see why. The huge… bear… seemed perfectly friendly. Although she guessed he could potentially be hard to feed… what would such a creature eat, anyway? Star considered his sharp teeth and shuddered inwardly. He turned towards her with a mildly frightening grin. “Have come to tell ponies about Unai. Unai is Great Bear God. Pony Goddesses nice and pretty. Powerful. Respect Pony Goddesses. But Great Bear is simpler.” Star looked up at him. “Oh?” “Yes. What do pony Goddesses do? Raise sun, raise moon… do I forget anything else?” It seemed to be a legitimate question. “Sounds about right,” Star responded. Although they hadn’t raised the sun or the moon consistently for as long as anypony could remember. She thought for a half-second. “I guess... they also watch over us.” If you believed in that sort of thing. Volta frowned vaguely. “Watch over, yes. But is abstract. They come down sometimes, help ponies. Often cause as much harm as good.” He held up a paw by way of clarification. “From my most-likely limited perspective.” Star cocked her head. “So… how is the Bear God Unai different?” Volta bared his teeth in a smile again, and inhaled for a long outburst. “Perhaps this conversation would best be left until later,” Cornflower interjected. “Our guest is very tired and hungry, and I’m sure she would like to eat in peace.” There was a growing impatience in the last word that Star was uncertain how to react to. Volta’s ears (those were enough like an equines, at least) drooped and a look of shame appeared on his face. “I apologize most sincerely. Did not know I was keeping you from food. That is terribly rude thing to do where I come from. Would offer to join you but… ponies and bears eat different things. You would not be comfortable.” He considered for a moment. “Plus, I would probably annoy you terribly.” He laughed wildly once again, drawing looks ranging from fear to frustration to amusement from passing ponies, who were now going about their business once more. Star gave a friendly smile. “You don’t have to apologize, Volta. We’ll talk after I’m a little more fortified, alright? I’ve certainly never met anyp- anyone like you before.” Volta bowed deep, a grand and courtly sight. “I will look forward to it fondly, dear lady.” Star nodded politely and watched in wonder as the enormous bear walked off with surprising grace. “I do apologize for that, Miss Star,” The Elder spoke up after there was some distance between the bear and the four ponies. “He came to town several days ago preaching the gospel of the ‘Great Bear’, whatever that is. And I think you can understand that asking somepony like him to leave would carry with it certain dangers.” Star furrowed her brow at the old pony. “I don’t know, Elder. He seems-” her speech cut short as an audible growl came from her empty stomach. She smiled sheepishly. “Eat first, talk later, I suppose.” The Elder’s grandfatherly smile returned. Star was shocked to be led through the communal hall, where ponies ate and talked in relative contentment, to what appeared to be her own private dining room. For ponies in a small village in the middle of Whitesand, the Hope ponies certainly had laid out an impressive spread. Salad, small hoof-sandwiches made with varying kinds of flowers, soups, and a modest assortment of pastries. She was troubled by how much these ponies had been willing to do for her. She would need to find a way to return the favor, she thought as she sat down and set to. Eating for a pony like her was a benediction. It brought with it memories of other meals, of the ponies she had eaten them with, and of those who were no longer with her. As always when things were quiet, her thoughts went back to Moon. There was the familiar pang of guilt that she was not searching for her lost filly at this very moment. But she had been doing that for days without rest, more than she could count, and all it had earned her was her closest brush with the Deathmare in many years. As she thought about death, she felt the familiar pain rise up from the burnt welts covering the stars in her left flank’s cutie mark. The memory of the day her cutie mark had been mutilated, the worst pain of any kind she had ever felt, had always formed a bulwark for her against most other kinds of suffering. But she didn’t want to think about that right now. She had found a safe place. So she thought about her sisters. She didn’t know where any of them were any more, not really. She had heard vague rumors that Silvercloud was in Bastion, the great prison, but she had trouble really believing that. As for the others, it remained difficult to say. She paused in her reverie. Star blinked. She suddenly felt very strange. She blinked again, and found the normally subconscious act to be difficult, sluggish. Each of her eyes blinked, she noticed, at different speeds, which didn’t seem normal to her. Her surroundings, also, seemed off. She looked around the room, its features blurring and overlapping before resolving into themselves again. It wasn’t until she slipped off the modest wooden bench and fell to the floor motionless that she began to understand what had happened. A raging flame of fury lit inside her. She couldn’t move, speak, or even grunt. She lay on the floor for a few long minutes, frightened and angry. She saw a cockroach crawling by not far from her face, but could do nothing about it. It skittered away as the door edged open cautiously. One of the Elder’s guards, the unicorn, poked her head in and smiled at her position. She spoke, keeping her eyes on Star. “It’s done, Elder.” Pushing the door completely open, she entered, follow by Cornflower, a sad but resolute expression on his face. “I do apologize for this, Miss Star, but it has been some time since a healthy pony such as yourself has passed through our town. Your organs will trade for food and supplies our village sorely needs. Being the clearly quite moral and decent mare that you are, I’m sure this will provide you some comfort.” His eyes closed, he shook his head sadly. “Once again, I do apologize. This is in no way personal, and I assure you it will be done with absolutely no pain or discomfort to yourself.” Star fixed her eyes on him, a silver fury burning in them, and he looked a bit taken aback. She was unable to speak, and didn’t attempt to at any rate. There was no longer anything to say, so far as she was concerned. He looked away from her and nodded to his guards. Straining as her horn flared blue, the unicorn levitated her to drape across the back of the pegasus. “Take her to the doctor,” Flower told them, his face now seeming nothing more than a cruel mockery of the grandfatherly kindness she had seen in it earlier. He looked at her once more. “Ironic that the same stallion who saved your life will now be the one to take it. It’s a bad world we live in, Miss Star.” The old stallion paused for a moment, his expression wavering. Soon, Star knew, a younger stallion would rise up to take his place. He probably couldn’t see it. But they would see the weakness, the irresoluteness, in his eyes. And would destroy him for it. At length, he spoke. “I understand I am in no position to beg your forgiveness, and I will not. However, consider this: before we did what we regrettably must now do, we nursed you back to health and fed you the most lavish final meal we could muster. What we do, we do with as much grace and equinity as possible. I am sorry.” With that, he nodded, and the pegasus walked out the door. Walking through the streets of Hope was different now. For one thing, she could no longer do so under her own power, the horror of that fact slowly sinking into her addled brain. The open expressions and friendly smiles had vanished. Now everypony tried to avoid Star’s seething eyes, kept firmly out of the path of the guards and their unpleasant burden. Star was familiar with the behavior of ponies trying to pretend something unpleasant wasn’t actually happening They took her once again towards the clinic. The guards were having an inappropriate conversation about her flanks (she thought that they probably didn’t share the Elder’s views on the importance of equinity) when she noticed that something was wrong. The guards didn’t seem to feel it. Star had weathered many battles, passed many nights around campfires before storming an enemy stronghold, and fought her way out of more ambushes than she could count. There was a tension in the air that she knew well. It came in the pristine and almost beautiful moments before a fight, when the world seemed to narrow to nothing more than one group of ponies facing another, and nothing else, not ethics or causes or politics, had any importance at all to what was happening. It was the moment where the boring and tedious part of combat suddenly changed into the frantic and bloody part. Something bad was about to happen, and she could do nothing to warn them. She felt no surprise when what she assumed to be an alarm began to sound from the east, like the noise of a hammer on a tin plate. The guards were started from their casual conversation, and looked in the direction of the noise. There was shouting and running, but Star could tell that the fighting hadn’t really begun. If she knew one thing, it was the sound of battle. A middle-aged pegasus mare with razor-sharp wingblades and form-fitting body armor landed on the street not far away from Star and her captors. She stopped when she saw the two guards. “Thrush, Ballpeen, come with me now!” The pegasus stallion with two golden wings for a cutie mark, called Thrush she supposed, looked stupidly towards the clinic. “But… we’re supposed to take this to the doctor…” The older pegasus looked at the burden on Thrush’s back, and her face contorted briefly with disgust. She shook her head. “Leave her! It’s the Legion!” Along with everpony present, Star’s heart sank. No matter what they may have been planning to do to her in that clinic, these ponies didn’t deserve the Legion. Nopony did. She had seen villages that had tried to fight Legion troops once they had finished. The Daughters may have been meaninglessly cruel monsters, but the Legion were methodical. Star could say with absolute conviction that the method was worse than the madness. Thrush dropped her to the ground almost immediately and took to the air with the older, well-armed Pegasus mare, the unicorn Ballpeen following along on the ground after them, moving as one towards the sound of the alarm. Star lay in the street, unable to move, as various ponies from Hope rushed past her, everypony going to the east. She could hear sounds of fighting now, frenzied and high. Had she retained her power of speech, she would have told them they were going the wrong way. She could see the Legion pegasi, many of the larger ones carrying armored unicorn warriors, swooping down on the village from all directions. All of the pegasi carried bundles of ceramic pots, which Star knew from experience to be full of a magically-fabricated mixture that would burn quickly and evenly. They began to drop them all over town, and now Star heard the pitiful screaming of suffering ponies begin. Several unicorns were dropped near her, both mares and stallions, as the Legion pegasi, their burdens shed, took to engaging members of their own species from Hope, in what was more than likely a hopelessly uneven battle for the village pegasi. They were outclassed and unfocused, their attentions split between fighting their own private life-and-death struggles, and seeing, far below them, their village burning, their friends dying. She knew the Legion well. There wasn’t a single weapon, physical or otherwise, that they would fail to use to their advantage. The unicorns newly-landed in the village gave her a quick look, but resolved without much attention that she was no threat. Star knew it was almost over. The unicorns levitated wicked blade and cudgel weapons, sometimes two or three at a time, and began working their way through Hope, mercilessly killing any defenders who failed to surrender. Star didn’t want to see this. But she refused to look away. Earth ponies slowly began to show up, most of them large and impressively armored, all of them spattered with blood, most of it not their own. They were the phalanxes of seasoned veterans that were used to break through the most heavily-hardened defenses. Star surmised that they had just made short work of the ‘fortifications on the outskirts’ of which the Elder had been so proud. She wondered briefly where Volta had gotten to. Surely he would have been useful against the Legion. She wasn’t even certain what he could do, but there had clearly been magic about him. Plus, there was him, and that was saying a lot on it’s own. She looked up, and high above, she saw a pegasus mare circling. Apart from her the skies were empty, most of Hope’s pegasi having been killed or captured. Bring help, she urged the lone pegasi vehemently. Please, leave and bring help or your friends will die. Not to mention herself, if this poison was permanent. The Legion troops now moved freely through the streets of the doomed village. She saw another pegasus, bright with red legion colors, streak in and collide with the one from earlier, and for a moment she couldn’t tell what was happening. The two pegasi, little more than indistinct dots at this range, flew out of Star’s line of sight. In Hope, things were winding down. Star could hear and see only a few remaining tokens of resistance. She knew how the Legion worked, and was certain it would be over soon. An earth pony mare and a unicorn stallion, both clad in the semi-formal red armored uniforms of the Legion, stood near enough that Star could hear their conversation. “That it?” The mare asked, a leering smile spread emphatically across her face. “I guess so,” responded the stallion with little noticeable feeling. “Not the most exciting raid I’ve ever been in.” “Good enough while it lasted,” the mare mused. She leaned slightly closer to the stallion, who Star got the impression didn’t like her much. “Now it’s time for fun.” He nodded. “Business first, though.” An authoritative stallion’s voice boomed from somewhere to Star’s left. “Gather survivors!” There were no dead on this street, at least not that Star could see. The soldiers’ eyes were naturally drawn to Star. The mare grinned uncomfortably. “What’s this?” The stallion rolled his eyes in boredom as the earth pony walked over at a leisurely pace. “This here is a survivor, I would say. And still alive, by the looks of it. Hey Armor,” she shouted over her shoulder to the unicorn. “Found a pretty one for you.” The stallion Armor walked a bit closer, squinting at Star. She could hear weeping and pleading from adjacent streets, and the soft, gurgling gasps of a pony with its throat slit. Virtually all the stallions would be killed outright, she knew. “Why isn’t she moving?” Armor cocked his head as he asked the question, his tone disinterested. The mare shrugged. “Who cares? Look at those eyes. So pretty, and sooo angry. But I’d say this one won’t resist. Drugged. Or paralyzed, maybe.” Armor frowned. “Takes the fun out of it, doesn’t it?” The mare looked at Armor, her eyes a mimicry of mercy. “I have to pity somepony who thinks everything needs to be some kind of struggle.” Armor smiled for the first time, looking Star up and down. “Maybe not everything.” The two shared a laugh. Star felt a shiver of revulsion that didn’t quite make it to her unresponsive nerve endings. “Armor! Powder!” A pegasus stallion landed near them, his eyes narrowed. “Get over here and help with the prisoners! We’ll deal with this pristine little gift after we’ve finished.” “Yes sir!” The soldiers spoke as one, the fierce discipline that tempered Legion ponies making it almost subconscious. Star could see smoke rising in merry little plumes from various sections of the village now. She knew the Legion would contain any fires it didn’t wish to burn. She saw a larger plume from the center, and her impotent fury only grew when she smelled the telltale stink of burning flesh. Star heard movement behind her. She recognized the squeak of the clinic door opening slowly. She heard scared, labored breathing and saw Doctor Tourniquet peering down at her. Immediately she locked eyes with him, much of the fury there for him alone. His eyes darted up and down the street. A syringe full of vaguely luminescent blue liquid floated beside him. He whispered quietly. “I know what you think of me, but you must believe that I was looking out for the welfare of this village, as well as for Splints. Now I want to help you. I don’t care what happens to me, I have to make this...” Dust and grit were kicked up as the older pegasus from before cut the doctor off when he dropped to the ground in front of them. “Hello, doctor,” he said evenly. “What are you doing here? You should have come out. The Legion respects medical personnel.” He grinned unpleasantly. “When we aren’t assassinating them.” He looked down at Star as four more pegasus stallions landed around him. “What are you doing with our prize here?” Three unicorn stallions, one of whom was Armor, joined the pegasi. Powder followed. Star suspected the mare had some kind of attraction to Armor. Star knew it would end badly for her, particularly if Star had anything to say about it. The older pegasus continued. “She belongs to my unit.” The doctor stammered. “I-I only meant to help you. I know winners when I see them. The drug we used to sedate her will soon wear off. You’d rather have her remain compliant, yes? She can be quite fierce.” The pegasus stallion looked into Star’s eyes and smiled broadly. “I can certainly believe that.” He looked to the unicorn stallions and gestured towards the clinic. “Take the girl inside so that the good doctor can work his magic.” His eyes returned to Tourniquet. “Rest assured we will remember this service, doctor.” For the second time that day, Star was levitated against her will. The pegasus bucked open the door to the clinic. Star caught a glimpse of Splints peering at her from behind an overturned gurney. She prayed to both Goddesses and the Great Bear, for good measure, that the filly would remain undiscovered. Young ponies captured by the Legion did not fare well. The unicorns levitated her unceremoniously to a cot and dropped her. The eight stallions began to remove their armor. The older pegasus spoke briskly to Tourniquet. “Do your work, doctor. We’re tired and in need of entertainment.” Tourniquet trotted over nervously, the glowing syringe levitated by his head. “It’ll just be a moment...” he was interrupted by a commotion from the corner of the room, followed by a pathetic, sobbing cry. Star could see Powder come up from behind the overturned cot, holding Splints tightly around the neck with a hoof. “Look what I’ve found!” The filly wailed again, her hooves reaching pathetically for Tourniquet. The doctor, for his part, looked like hope had left his personal world. The scream cut into Star’s heart, her whole being crying out for vengeance. Powder laughed with glee, looking at the heartbroken doctor. “You try anything funny, doctor,” Powder explained, “and the little one loses her right to breathe.” The others sighed and rolled their eyes. “Get on with it, doctor,” spat the captain, clearly frustrated with the insane earth pony. Tourniquet looked into Star’s eyes. She could see the pleading there. She merely looked back at him blankly, trying to reassure him as much as she could. If I regain my power of movement, no Legion soldier in this clinic will leavealive, she thought as she returned his stare. She didn’t know if he understood explicitly, but he couldn’t miss the deadly resolve in the otherwise serene silver pools, nor the fury. He swallowed hard and, closing his eyes as he muttered prayers to the Goddesses, levitated the needle into her thigh and depressing the plunger. Star immediately felt different. She realized only now that she had been quietly despairing, near to hysterical weeping, at the loss of her mobility. She supposed her mind had been sparing her from the trauma to focus on more important things. Now she rejoiced as she felt muscles and sinews coursing with blood and anger again. She was more angry than she could remember being in years. She would spill blood today. But her eyes were immediately drawn to the earth pony mare who held the sobbing filly in a death-grip, a horrendous light in her eyes in anticipation of the brutal and depraved spectacle she thought she was about to witness. Star knew she would have to stun them into temporary inaction if she wanted to be sure that Powder never had a chance to hurt Splints. She thought that the mad earth pony was just within range of her telekinesis. Striking somepony’s chakra by telekinesis was different than doing it by hoof, but not practically speaking. Star had been the only one of her sisters who was really good at it, but she had to be certain about the range and timing before she tried. So she waited. “Armor, you go first,” the captain spoke once the doctor had stepped away. “You distinguished yourself today, soldier, and I’m proud of you.” Star was disgusted at the genuine emotion in the pegasus’ eyes, as though his father had just congratulated him on a job well done. “Thank you, sir,” he said, trotting to the table. Star remained motionless as he climbed atop her. Straddling her, he grinned into her still and emotionless face. She knew she couldn’t hold back much longer. “I want you to look at me while I take you, cunt.” Her eyes flared into a disturbing white luminescence as she considered his chakras. It was an infinitesimal moment, but her mind worked quickly under pressure. Armor’s chakras were the same as anypony’s. Briefly, she studied the options open to her There were numerous less obvious ways she could end his life. But this one deserved something big. Something that would make an impression on everypony in the room. Moving with lightning speed, Star’s right hoof snapped up and struck the unicorn firmly beneath his chin, putting out a chakra that Star knew would have the desired effect. He was dazed but unhurt. For what Star knew were the last moments of his life, he stared down at her in confusion. “But I thought she...” Armor never had a chance to finish his thought, before his eyes swelled grotesquely and burst. His head followed quickly, rupturing in a crimson geyser. Her horn and eyes alike flaring into a burning white light, she used her telepathy to fling the still-jerking corpse into the captain at impressive speed, smashing him against the wall. She turned next to Powder, her eyes wide, as she continued to hold the wildly-screaming filly in a shocked and now-slackened death grip. Star’s horn flared once again as she directed swift hammers of force to overflow points on the mare’s legs and neck. The mare seized up in agony almost immediately, bits of her simply no longer working. Star had put out several vital overflow points, and knew that her death would be a slow agony. As it should be. She dropped the filly and collapsed to the floor in shock. Three more strikes from Star’s magic and the remaining unicorns went down, faces contorting in terrible but brief agony as shut-off chakras flooded their hearts, which exploded inside their chests. Magical enemies took first priority, Star had been taught from a young age. It had been only a few seconds since Armor’s death, but the small room was bedlam between the high, horrified screams of the filly, the blood from Armor’s impressive death, and the shocked cursing of the remaining four ponies, whose impressive scope was was covering just about every part of the Celestial Sisters’ anatomies. The captain had been badly hurt by the crushing impact with Armor’s corpse, but he was trying to get up. Star was more concerned with the three pegasi, who had recovered enough of their wits to begin to mount a desperate defense. Star faced them as they charged her, her terrible eyes devoid of any feeling or color, reduced to nothing but pools of seething, burning white. These three would suffer. The first aimed a quick and deadly wingblade at her throat. Her reflexes a bit better, she ducked just enough to allow it to pass over her head, and struck the base of his wing with her right hoof as he passed, putting out a vital chakra forever. The wing, his left, almost immediately went rigid and snapped in four places. He first gasped in shock and then screamed in agony. His legs came out from under him as the pain rocketed through his nervous system and he went down in a sobbing heap. The second was too frightened in the moment Star had given him to make an attack, before a decisive strike to his right foreleg caused his throat to close up. He collapsed, his mouth working meaninglessly as he tried to force air through his now-shut windpipe. The third, the largest and clearly bravest, attempted to tackle her, a tactically-sound attempt to employ his superior weight. Light on her hooves, she flipped over his dangerously quick approach, striking his back along the spine with three unimaginably swift blows as she did so. Before he smashed into the wall, knocking himself out, his spine twisted into impossible shapes. Had she intended to let him live, he never would have moved again. Landing lightly, Star looked past the suffocating pegasus, past his fellow who was cradling his useless wing as he sobbed, to the captain. He stood across the room, huffing and regarding her with a strange admixture of abject fear, deep respect, and terrific anger. “My… men. You… whore. I had to… fight to get them. And now…” Star walked slowly towards the captain, quickly and efficiently striking the neck of the sobbing pegasus with the mangled wing as she passed, efficiently putting out one of his chakra’s overflows. He barely had time to scream “No!” before his head warped grotesquely and exploded. Star lifted a forehoof to her eyes to shield herself from the resultant deluge. She was covered in the blood of her enemies, and the blood-drenched pony normally buried deep in her psyche reveled in it. She had no time now to fight those instincts. The captain grimaced at her. His right legs were badly hurt, the skin on his head split open. She was impressed by his resolve as he planted his hooves on the ground and faced her solidly. “You think… that you can just kill my boys... and get away with it!?” Her eyes narrowed only slightly. Her voice echoed with magic and an impersonal but still fierce anger. “Your stallions had already died when they entered this room with the intention of violating and debasing another pony. No living creature deserves such treatment.” “BITCH!” He screamed, and came at her. Not looking away from the fast-approaching pegasus, Star seized a scalpel from a tray nearby in her telekinetic grip and drew a red line across his throat in a lightning-fast movement. She brought it whipping around and held it by her head, watching dispassionately as he stumbled and fell, his blood pouring out to commingle with that of his fellow soldiers. She looked on with inequine poise, her unfeeling white eyes burning brightly as he died a pathetic, gurgling death on the blood-soaked floor. After he had quit breathing, she sent the scalpel rocketing into his eye, burying it completely, just to make sure. She pulled it straight out, and it flew over to the pegasus with the broken spine, cutting his throat as well. He was lucky. Unconscious, he died peacefully. She became aware of a sobbing to her right. The searing nightmare-light vanishing from her eyes, leaving the kind silver orbs once more, she looked to Tourniquet and Splints. The scalpel, still levitating near the dead pegasus, clattered to the floor. They huddled together in the corner near the horrifically twisted corpse of Powder. Star couldn’t be sure when she had died. But she could be sure of one thing; it had been an agony. A fitting punishment for her sins. This knowledge left Star deeply satisfied. Splints hid in the doctor’s hooves, shaking like a leaf and sobbing rhythmically. Both were spattered with blood that, thankfully, was not their own, and the doctor’s green eyes were wide and staring. Star smiled awkwardly at them. How else, she wondered, should she follow up on what she had just done? “Goddesses…” the doctor whispered. “It really is you.” Her face revealed nothing. “Do you know me, doctor?” The doctor took a moment to respond, stroking the back of Splints’ head. “I… saw your cutie mark. When I was tending to you. Some time ago, I heard tales of Star Death-Hooves, the heir to the Death-Hoof style. I… heard she had died, but…” his frightened eyes took in the gore-soaked clinic. “…But here you are.” “More or less,” she responded evenly, gazing distantly at her cutie mark, no longer hidden by her cloak. The Bear’s Paw. The word ‘bear’, she mused, had meant nothing to her before today. She then wondered again where Volta had gone off to. She drew tentatively closer, and Splints’ trembling increased. “…Splints? The bad ponies are dead now. It’s just Star. You don’t need to be afraid.” The doctor leveled a neutral gaze at her. If he was angry at her for frightening his daughter he concealed it well. He would have been well within his rights. Even if saving her the Legions’ attentions had been more than worth the price. “I think you can understand how she feels.” “Yes… of course. But I would never hurt you, little one.” She returned her attention to the doctor. “There are still others outside. Stay here and don’t leave. We need to talk after.” She regarded him pointedly. “Can I have your word?” After a slight pause, the doctor nodded. Star looked at him for a moment, painfully aware of what she must look like to the sheltered filly. Then she turned and walked out the door, the wails of Splints still ringing hurtfully in her ears. Of course she was terrified. What pony wouldn’t be? Star shook her head, admonishing herself quietly. Her horn glowing merrily, she shut the door behind her as quietly as possible, scoping out the deserted streets. She headed for the sickly-sweet plume of smoke that rose from the village center. Walking along the path that led to the badly-damaged and almost entirely unrecognizable Atomite statue at the heart of Hope, she beheld a horrific scene. A sobbing gray unicorn stallion lay cradling the corpse of a once-beautiful white unicorn mare, the sight of her pregnant belly only serving to fuel Star’s already-overflowing rage. The unicorn’s glazed, empty eyes stared at nothing, the tears she had wept beginning to dry in the indifferent sun. Elder Cornflower was nowhere to be seen, but these ponies had clearly been higher up in the local pecking order. Those were the ponies the Legion enjoyed targeting the most. Although neither was having a low income any protection from their depredations. Screams and animalistic grunts came through the open door of the Atomite hall. The soldiers around the stallion laughed and smiled as he wept. Anger didn’t touch Star’s face as her eyes flared pure white once again. “That’s enough!” Her voice echoed resoundingly. The soldiers, regarding her in shock and awe, paused from their afternoon’s entertainment only briefly. Soldiers of the Legion were many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. They surrounded her quickly, while keeping their distance. Seeing a pony covered in blood that was obviously not her own clearly invited caution from these ponies. Star stood still and tall. A blue unicorn mare rapped a hoof on the open door frame of the once-proud town hall. “Slab! There’s a situation!” There were dim sounds of movement from within the building, the grunts ceasing and the screams dying down to sobs. Then the most ridiculously huge earth pony Star had ever seen emerged. He was nearly the same size as Volta. His teeth were stained with blood, and several ponies’ heads hung from the armored harness he wore. His cutie mark, appropriately, was a large slab of stone. It was not difficult to notice that he was… excited. “What?” He spoke simply, suppressed wrath in his voice. “I’m busy with this weaklings’ daughters.” He gestured to the sobbing, broken-looking unicorn stallion. Star supposed Slab must be good. This didn’t seem like the sort of pony the Legion commonly promoted to command positions. “I’m not in a merciful mood,” Star spoke in her own ringing tones, augmented by her burning magic. “This town deserves better than you, if not by much. They take advantage of the weak and defenseless for their own gain.” There was a slight narrowing of her flaring eyes, although there was little emotion there. “I doubt even monsters such as you need to be told what fault I find in your own actions.” “I think I miss your meaning, Littlehorn,” said the huge earth pony, drawing out sarcastically the patronymic often employed by the mothers of unicorns. “I give you one chance to leave in peace. Choose to stay and none of you will live to see another day. By the stars, I swear it.” Her eyes flared brightly as she spoke the battle oath of her ancient art. The stars would punish her now, if she broke it. When he heard the deep magic in her tones, even Slab, clearly enjoying himself until then, faltered, a brief look of apprehension flashing across his blood-stained face. He recovered quickly, laughing loudly. He was not joined by his soldiers, all of them wearing grim, reserved expressions. “You will die, bitch.” With that, he turned to the town hall and gripped a jutting wooden support in his teeth. His muscles straining momentarily, he wrenched it from the wall, the front façade of the building finally giving up after centuries of stubbornly holding, and tumbling down with a great gout of dust and debris, cutting off the pathetic sobs and sniffles coming from inside. Star lost sight of Slab, but was unsurprised when he galloped at her out of the dust, murder in his eyes. He moved at the impressive speed that a pony of his size was able to reach. Intimidating in a controlled charge on the battlefield, she knew. But he was all momentum and no control. Leaping nimbly over his surprisingly fast sweep of the formerly load-bearing timber, she sent a small lightning-strike of force into his hindleg as it touched the ground, sending the earth pony tumbling awkwardly, only really stopping when he collided with one of his soldiers, a pink pegasus pony. Star landed lightly and turned to face him, her eyes still impenetrable white pools of fire, his twin mirrors of bloodshot shock and rage. She couldn’t see him with any mercy. Still, she wondered what his life had been like. He had undoubtedly had a mother and father. Had once been an awkward colt like her own daughter. What must he have seen to bring him to this? He deserved none of this consideration, and yet… she looked at herself, at the blood that didn’t belong to her. She couldn’t smell anything right now, apart from the stench of death that followed her. Star was tired of this. She spoke again as Slab struggled up, breathing heavily in his fury. “One last chance, Slab. Please go. I don’t want to kill you, no matter how badly you deserve it.” His muscles straining in anger, he screamed loudly at her past the timber he held in his mouth, rushing forward once again. This one was not used to losing. But he had exhausted his chances. Her face grew blank once more as her horn flared. The magical strike to his neck stopped him in his tracks, causing him to stumble, as Star, with finality, put out a formerly-bright chakra. He slid for a moment before he got his legs under him again, breathing in steaming gouts. “Do you think such a pinprick can stop Slab!? You’ll have to do-” his words drew to an abrupt stop as his body seized up with pain. “I am sorry, Slab. But I gave you a chance.” She turned to the soldiers behind her, not wishing to see Slab’s death. “From the moment you elected to forfeit it, you were already dead. I suggest you use your last moments to contemplate your sins.” She heard Slab’s tortured gurgle, the brief, soft noise as his skull ruptured, and then nothing but a wet thud as his eviscerated corpse hit the ground. She saw the fear in the remaining soldiers’ faces. “And what do all of you choose to do with the chance I’ve given?” There was only a moment’s hesitation. Moving cautiously and slowly around her, the remaining Legion ponies prepared to withdraw. They would be back, of course, but Star intended to be far gone by then. For a moment, she was glad for her own sake that the Legion, and not the Daughters of the Apocalypse, had come to Hope. The Daughters, no matter the odds, fought to the last mare. Star’s burning white eyes twitched imperceptibly. She felt something off. Several yards in front of her, the air shimmered. The Legion soldiers stopped to watch. A lovely purple unicorn mare appeared. Not only lovely, but, unlike Star, in the full bloom of her beauty. She was clad from head to hoof in a black bodysuit, only her pretty face and sparkling blue eyes visible. She wore a cocksure smile. “Star Light, is it? I am Cog. Pleased to meet you. Are you familiar with the name Moon Light?” The bottom suddenly dropped out of Star’s heart. “Don’t worry. Your sweet daughter is in the loving care of the Legion Council. I think that, considering this, you can see how it might benefit all of us to become good friends. Otherwise, she might end up… less than fully safe and whole.” The mare bared her sparkling teeth as Star’s ears drooped. A chorus of unsettling laughter went up from the surrounding Legion soldiers. Next Time: Oppose the Will of the Goddess!? Luna’s Terrible Army! Thanks to Damsus Rhee for giving me this idea and to you for reading.
