The Siege of Canterlot

WARNING!

The following story contains language, subject matter, and sexist themes that some readers may find unsettling or offensive. If you are uncomfortable with or triggered by such themes, it is advisable that you do not read this story. This work has no connection to the creators/artists of the "Fall of Equestria" comic, and as such any and all displeasure or complaints about this particular work should not be directed toward them or their viewers. If you see someone expressing offense toward this work in the comments, please do not be snippy toward them about it.

"C'mon bitch! Get moving!" Soarin snapped as he yanked on Rainbow Dash's leash, "I haven't got all fucking day to make sure you get your walk!"

Rainbow growled in anger as she was dragged down the street, her hands and wrists bound tightly behind her so she couldn't hit anybody. Why Soarin had decided to walk her at night still baffled her. Perhaps he just wanted to deprive her of sleep. Perhaps he simply liked the night. Whatever the reason, Rainbow didn't care. All she could see in front of her was the treacherous swine that yanked her feathers out and put her into a cage. She could remember someone saying something about the Crystal Heart and Cadance, but she didn't care. If she got out of these bindings, the first thing she was going to do was slit this bastard's throat.

A creaking sound rung in her ears from above as Soarin yanked her down a side street and into an empty part of town. The town was empty for a reason. Every since the fall, the southern section of Ponyville had been forcefully deserted. Twilight's house before the fall was just off the outskirts of that neighborhood, and not even the caribou dared to go near it. At first, Spike had tried to live in the house with Twilight and Sunrise, but he and Twilight had quickly grown sick with cancer. They moved closer to the hospital as they were treated, but upon moving back it had only returned. Eventually, they moved into the other end of the town, and the entire neighborhood was evacuated until the problem could be determined.

Rainbow smirked. She knew what had happened, and so did Sunrise. Before the Fall, Ascentia had frequently worked with a metal called 'Saronite' and had built the structure for the house out of it. In it's unrefined form, it was incredibly toxic and carcinogenic. And Sunrise had opened the safe while the Fall was occurring. The only people who were unaffected were Ascentia and Sunrise. Ascentia because a long life with the Val'Kyr had left her immune to it's effects, and Sunrise because she had inherited the immunity from her mother. To Rainbow, it was a brief moment of karmic justice.

The creaking returned louder and more pronounced. Soarin looked around, but could see nothing. He shrugged and continued down the quiet street. Rainbow briefly cast a glance upward, and caught a glimpse of a dark figure crouched on a roof above them before Soarin yanked on her leash.

"Eyes down, bitch!" he snapped, "How many times do I have to-"

His rhetorical question was cut off short as the figure on the roof dropped down into the street. Cutting the leash with a dagger, it drove a fist into Soarin's jaw before grabbing his arm and flinging him over it's shoulder. Dazed, Soarin didn't get up. The figure lowered it's hood, and Rainbow stared directly into the face of Lord Ryder.

"Are you alright, Rainbow Dash?" he asked softly as he approached.

Rainbow backed away, glaring, "Get away from me!"

Ryder raised an eyebrow as he probed Rainbow's mind. He could sense distress, fear, paranoia, and some degree of hatred directed toward him. No... not toward him... toward Soarin... and Dainn... and Twilight. She didn't know who she could trust. Especially not a male of a far more powerful race. The mental comparisions to the caribou were far too many for him to count. Setting his dagger back into it's sheath, he kept his feet planted where they were. "I understand you're frightened-"

"I'm not afraid of anything!"

"My apologies," he said softly, "However, I am here as a friend."

"Yeah, that's what this asshole said!" Rainbow snarled, pointing to Soarin.

"Truly," he assured her, "Princess Luna is at our compound at Sweet Apple Acres. As is your friend, Applejack. There are more of my brethren and yours there as well. Come closer, and I will remove your collar. and restraints."

Rainbow eyed him cautiously, "If you take them off... am I free to go wherever I please?"

Ryder nodded, "Yes, but the compound is safe for the moment. There is no risk of recapture. You are free to come and go at your own risk."

Rainbow took a nervous step forward as a light shone down from the end of the street.

"Hey! What's going on here?!" a guard demanded.

Ryder, no longer having time to goad Rainbow, threw his hand forward and telekineticly squeezed the guard's brain, knocking him unconscious. Moving quickly, he snapped Rainbow's collar off her neck and untied her wrists and arms. Breaking the sheaths off her wings, he squeezed the joints at her shoulders as his eyes turned from their former red to a soft green. Within a few seconds, Rainbow's feathers grew back to their former glory and Ryder let her go.

"Fly, you fool!" he hissed before leaping back up onto the roof.

Not needing to be told twice. Rainbow spread her wings and winced at how stiff they felt. Two years of being locked into those covers had left her very little time to exercise. After a shaky takeoff, she had picked up enough speed to soar out over the buildings, looking down to see  Ryder unchaining the public mares in the town square before she was too far away to see properly.

Rainbow couldn't help it. She tried as long as possible, but it was too much to resist. Swooping down, she pulled up and rocketed into a loop, cheering loudly at being airborne once again. As she soared over the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, her jaw dropped at what the farm had become. A large, stone wall was erected around the farm and the fields, two Val'Kyr each standing at spread out points throughout the perimeter. The Apple Family house had another wall surrounding it, and temporary additions from the Val'Kyr. It wasn't a house anymore. It was a keep. Val'Kyr blacksmiths, tailors, armorers and other workers were set up around the keep, with more structures that Rainbow could only assume were barracks were scattered through the open parts of the farm along with a handful of guard towers. How the Val'Kyr had set this up so quickly had baffled her.

Setting down in front of the house, Rainbow nearly fell to her knees. Landing was just another aspect of flying she'd need to exercise. As she was recovering, she felt two hands on her shoulders pull her back up and the glaring, familiar face of Applejack filled her vision.

"What the hay d'ya think you're doin'?" she demanded, "Screamin' like that over the sky?! You're gonna draw attention!"

Rainbow snickered, "Relax, AJ. I just got busted out of prison and got my wings back in the span of five minutes. I was excited and... what are you wearing?" Rainbow looked Applejack up and down with a snicker. She was wearing a black and brown leather tunic and leggings, with dark brown boots. Identical to the tunics worn by unarmored Val'Kyr.

"It's all they had when they started handin' out clothes," Applejack frowned, "The tailors are tryin' ta make more Equestrian stuff but they don't do too well with clothes not made for combat."

Rainbow laughed loudly, barely able to keep on her feet as a Val'Kyr approached from behind her.

"What's so funny?" Tolrah asked with a frown.

"This ridiculous getup that..." Rainbow stopped as she wheeled around to see Tolrah holding out a tunic for her, "...Oh hell no!"

"It's either that or stay naked," Tolrah frowned, "It's all we have for you."

So what was that you were sayin' about a ridiculous getup?" Applejack smirked.

"Shut up," Rainbow frowned, tugging at the tight cloth and leather, "Ugh! Does this have to be so constricting? I might as well be back in those restraints!"

"Are you saying that some tight clothing is equal to being tied down and raped at every possible opportunity?" Luna asked as she and Ryder strode into the dining room of Applejack's house.

Rainbow looked up at her and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head, "No, your Highness..."

"Good," Luna glared as she sat down at the table with Ryder, Tolrah and Phyaun, "Well, Outlander. You set up an entire fortress, broke out so many black collars, and rescued me. I take it you've changed your mind?"

Rainbow's eyes trailed down to Ryder's polished Saronite armor and elbowed Applejack, "The Princess got rescued by a knight in shining armor."

"Yeah Ah laughed when Ah heard it too," Applejack snickered.

"My mind never needed changing, your Highness," Ryder smiled, "Things are simply more complicated."

"Yes, Master Tolrah already explained everything to me," Luna waved him off.

Ryder cast a glance to Tolrah, "So you're Master Tolrah and I'm Outlander?"

"I'm a woman, she doesn't have two years worth of suspicion toward me," Tolrah smirked.

"...Touche," Ryder nodded.

"So does this mean we're killing the King?" Rainbow asked, looking around excitedly.

Ryder, Tolrah and Luna all frowned at her, "Yes, Rainbow. We're killing the King," they all said in unison.

"AWESOME!" She threw her hands up with such force that she threw her chair back onto the floor, "When do we storm the castle?!"

"We aren't," Ryder said firmly.

"What?!" Rainbow sat back up and looked dumbfounded, "Why not?! You guys could tear through the caribou like paper!"

"Because in case you haven't noticed, a good ninety percent of the population is not actively resisting Dainn and his regime," Tolrah explained, "Killing him is like chopping off the very tip of a tree. It will simply grow back."

Rainbow groaned and planted her face onto the desk, "Oh, dammit! Those red-collars ruin it for everybody!" she whined, "Can't we just brainwash them like those jagoffs did?"

"Do you even know how they brainwashed them?" Ryder asked.

"...No."

"Neither do I," Ryder finished as he looked at Luna, "It is clear that the Crystal Heart has a highly influential effect on women as it does on men. But it is unclear on how that effect takes form."

"Takes form?" Rainbow asked.

Ryder looked at her, "Let me ask you, Rainbow. What do you think has become of the men? Were their minds changed completely, or their will to resist taken by the Crystal Heart?"

Rainbow opened her mouth to retort, but stopped. She had not considered this since the Fall. She hadn't ever considered it. One could not blame her. Being enslaved and used as a toy hadn't created much sympathy toward the stallions. No sympathy, if she were perfectly honest. Ryder's question was probably the first time she ever cast a thought toward what effects the Crystal Heart had.

She had heard it. The whispers of the Crystal Heart. Telling her to submit and surrender. But sometimes... when it was quiet enough, she could hear something different. A plea. A call for help. It was quiet. Very quiet. As if the Crystal Heart was in pain and desperate for someone to rescue it. She remembered Princess Celestia saying that when the Crystal Empire was filled with hope and love, that those traits were reflected across all of Equestria. And if hatred and fear took over, the same would happen. Cadance had warped the magic of the Crystal Heart, and it's power to influence Equestria had seen disastrous effects.

"I don't know..."

"It is clear that the Crystal Heart is the center of this entire regime," Tolrah explained, "And given the types of ponies who can resist it..."

She cast a glance to Luna, Applejack, Rainbow and Big Macintosh; who was tending to the crops outside.

"...It's effects on women seem to be entirely persuasive rather than dominating. It's hold appears to only be absolute on the weak minded."

"Are you calling my wife weak minded?" came a cold voice from the doorway.

The five of them turned around and Princess Luna smiled.

"Mrs Sparkle," she said, "How good of you to join us."

Ascentia glared down at them, "Where is she?"

Big Macintosh sat out on the front step of Sweet Apple Acres, looking out at the night sky. A heavy sigh fell from his chest as his eyes cast back to the ground. Before the Val'Kyr had come and turned his farm into a fortress, he had done some truly terrible things. Applejack and three other mares belonged to him. He had made them work on his farm, had punished them in terrible ways, and had violated them beyond all reason. He hadn't done nearly as much evil as any other man in Equestria. In fact, he had gone as far out of his way as he could to keep the four women in his home as comfortable and free as he could. But constant watch from the caribou had forced his hand on a great number of occasions.

Shame. He felt shame. What would Granny Smith have thought of him?

There was a sound of the door opening and then closing again, and the heavy 'chunk chunk chunk' of metal footsteps. He didn't need to look up to know that Lord Ryder had sat down next to him, laying a hand upon his shoulder.

"How are you holding up, Big Macintosh?" he asked softly.

"Ah'm a terrible person," he lamented, looking up at the taller man, "Ah'm no better than any o' them."

"You know as well as I do that is not true," Ryder said quietly, "You protected those women. Kept them out of the clutches of far crueler people."

"Yeah? And? Ah still had to make 'em work like dogs," Big Macintosh spat, "Ah still had to play along with those..." his voice trailed off as he looked out into the orchard.

Ryder looked out to the stars that the farmpony had been watching, "...Did you ever hear the story of Oskar Schindler?"

Big Macintosh shook his head. The name was not only unfamiliar, it's pronunciation sounded alien. Like every Val'Kyr currently on his property. Like every Caribou as well. Equestrians had names like Sweetie Drops, Time Turner and Heartstrings. The Caribou had names like Abukcheech, Beshkno, and Chochokpi. While the Val'Kyr had names like Voxewr, Azhitziu and Tynah. Where did all these strange languages come from, he wondered.

"I would suppose not. It's not a story you would have come across on Equestria," Ryder said softly, leaning back against the deck's braces, "It's an Earth legend."

Big Macintosh looked up at him, feeling skeptical. The idea that a people the Val'Kyr had so easily wiped out could have legends seemed strange to him. If they were so easily conquered in only a few short months, how could any of the humans be legendary?

'Then again, we were conquered in only a few hours and we have legends...' he thought.

"Oskar Schindler was a human businessman during one of Earth's worldwide wars. At that time, a regime not too different from Dainn's began conquering an entire continent. They took millions of people prisoner, and most of them were killed. Schindler, however, owned a factory that employed over twelve hundred of the very sort of people that this regime was after. He was actually of the same nation that started this regime. He used his vast fortune to bribe and stall officials in order to keep his workers safe. He succeeded. However, there were many shortly after the war who saw Schindler as a war criminal. As his employees were registered as prisoners against his will, and it was considered to be buying prisoners to use as slaves."

Big Macintosh's face fell as he looked away. Ryder's story wasn't particularly uplifting, to say the least.

"However, Schindler genuinely cared about the lives of his workers. He spent his entire fortune keeping them safe, risked war crime charges, and eventually lived in poverty for the rest of his life. But his legacy lived on, and he was declared righteous among the nations. He is considered to be one of the greatest heroes of his era."

Ryder stood up and helped Big Macintosh to his feet.

"He was much like you, Big Macinstosh. You can only work with what you are given. You can only fight within your means. And if Dainn had found out about this before we had gotten here, it could have ended very badly for you. You may see yourself as a monster, but you and I both know that it could be oh so much worse. You are a hero to these people."

Big Macintosh looked up in disbelief, his sturdy frame quivering as he looked to the living room window, where Applejack was seated in a fresh tunic supplied by Tolrah, chatting with Cheerilee while Phyaun and Luna tended to Apple Bloom. Where they had found his little sister, he did not know.

"Just because it wasn't as bad as it could have been, doesn't mean it was good."

"No, you are correct," Ryder nodded, "But we must be realistic. Had you set any of them free, they would have been recaptured and put to the most horrible torture imaginable. And you would have likely suffered the same fate. It was not much, but it was the best sanctuary you could provide."

He turned back to him, and smiled.

"And now, help has come."