Hoof of the North Star

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.