March Of Three Prisoners (A Hearth's Warming Tale)

December 24,

Who is this Stallion? Why is he asking this town about criminals we don’t even know about? Twilight looked at the village ponies cleaning up the last crumbs of pie, eating the last slices of hash, and pouring the bottom dregs of cranberry juice. And what about their food? Looking around, Twilight noticed that Sugar Belle and the others were thinking the same thing but felt something off when they turned around.

“Where’s Starlight?” Night Glider’s voice quickly evaporated in the heat.

Twilight stared at the house they met behind but she didn’t see Starlight, she was with Raider behind the blind spot. She just had to question the obvious, “Where’s Raider?”

“We’re done with our feast, we should be leaving.” Double Diamond scraped some more food into empty caravan cans as he squinted over at the house in question. The sun marched into the muggy afternoon creating heat waves that made it impossible for him to see if they were finished.

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Daze said irritably but worried.

Sugar Belle answered, “Yeah, we have to help this stallion Raider find criminals in his town and bring them to-”

“-What about us?” Daze yelled in a dull yet overbearing fear, “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know, we’ll think of something.” She knew that Daze or any other pony in the village couldn’t and wouldn’t hope to wrap themselves up and tuck themselves in with her bristly, itchy response.

“You’ve got to think of something, get a hold of those caravaners or we’ll starve.”

“What did you ponies even do about food before Starlight showed up? This place is a desert,” Twilight groaned.

“Starlight was here first-”

“-She purposely built this village out here knowing we couldn’t manage it without her magic and now that she’s reformed, I think we have no choice but to leave this place,” Sugar Belle interrupted.

An off-yellow colored stallion overheard and pitched in. “You know we can’t do that, remember. We searched the outskirts of the village and saw all those trenches if you recall; we’re basically trapped here.”

Sugar Belle answered quickly, “Yes, but Starlight’s reformed now, she can get us past those rifts if we wanted to and...” but just then, a frightening realization dawned on Sugar Belle as it spread across her face, “…No. Starlight made those traps so that if we managed to escape, we would just get trapped out there in the desert and die, am I right?”

“Right,” said Daze and the other stallion.

“But she also built this village for the opposite reason: If she should leave for any reason, then we would all starve in the village, imprisoning us that way.”

Why didn’t she tell me that, thought Twilight. She must not’ve thought about it.

“But if she was really reformed, she would all tell us get out of town, close her canyons of doom, and point us to the nearest city. What about that?”

“I don’t know,” Sugar Belle said flatly.

“And what about the caravaners? How do they get in?”

“It’s common knowledge, Daze; the border is a one way entrance.” Sugar Belle didn’t think her explanation through.

“Then how do they get out, genius?” Sugar Belle looked confused.

“The caves in the mountains, Starlight told me it’s the only exit,” Twilight added.

“That’s not possible, the caravans always come from the opposite direction.”

“They must’ve circled around to make it look like they were coming from the opposite direction.” Sugar Belle was definitely not wearing her thinking cap.

“Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?” Daze’s anger swelled a bit.

“Even if it is true, then why did the caravans begin to appear when she left us? I’m not gonna stomach that coincidence,” The stallion remarked as his belly lurched.

“Starlight told me that she asked some ponies to take care of you while she was gone, but she didn’t know if they would follow through; turns out they did.”

“You seem to know a lot, who’s they?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said, “all she told me-”

Daze slammed her hoof down on the table and glared at Twilight with fiery eyes. “If she told you so much, then she must’ve told you her plan about fixing this food shortage, right? Or did she come over here just to deliver two carts of Hearth's Warming food without any plan in mind? She didn’t have a plan, did she?”

Twilight looked down.

“Did she?” She growled.

“No, she didn’t… but the food she bought was an apology, one you didn’t honestly accept earlier.” Twilight stared back at Daze but she knew that her argument fell flat.

“I accepted her apology,” her darkened gaze and lower tone didn’t assure Twilight that she was honest, “but Starlight’s smart, too smart. She should be doing something to help us out, to make amends. Now look Twilight, it’s not that I’m ungrateful but Starlight should at the very least undo what she’s done-”

“-agreed-”

“-and not go out and hunt for criminals in a distant city.”

“What choice do we have?” Twilight retorted.

“Well it’s, I,” Daze realized that Twilight and Starlight were stuck; it was either the villagers’ eventual starvation or the murder of the ponies in that city, wherever it was. “I don’t know what to say.” Twilight looked at her sideways, unimpressed. “She wronged us personally, you have to admit that,” her anger left completely.

“I do, so what?”

“So… nothing. When she comes back, she has to fix this; sure she gave us an apology, but now she needs to fix the shortage.” Daze stared dully at Twilight silently urging her to realize that the village needed Starlight and her newfound compassion. She didn’t pick up on her hint.

“Fine, but I’m telling you she isn’t hiding anything.”

How do I convince them I’m not hiding anything? Starlight glanced at Twilight, Sugar Belle, and Daze who shot her an angry gaze with an aftertaste of weariness. She turned back to find that Raider was smart enough to keep his distance. Does he expect a fight or something? She turned around again. Why would he expect a fight?

Thankfully Twilight spoke first. “What took you so long, Starlight?”

The escaped ponies were the criminals, Raider has their cutie marks, I don’t know how he got them, and I have to threaten them with my magic to capture them. I don’t even know how they escaped past the border. Oh Celestia, what do I say?

“You don’t look so good, what…’ Twilight noticed her face, she looked mortified, “what did he say to you?” She snarled.

“It’s okay, he just doesn’t trust me is all. I guess my infamy has spread far and wide,” she lied hanging her head.

“But-”

“-Come on, let’s go,” Raider commanded growling in annoyance. Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, Sugar Belle, and her three friends followed behind Raider like ducks all in a row. He travelled north away from the mountains and towards where those strange caravans came from. Shadows of a few mountains rose in the distance but they looked like they grew past the rift. Eventually the village faded behind them in the heat waves as they trudged onwards in the vast desert at the hottest part of the day.

Sugar Belle looked to make sure the village was out of sight before comforting Starlight. “Don’t worry about what Daze said, this is the best Hearth's Warming Eve I’ve ever had and even as a little filly I can’t remember feeling so… aware, aware about the spirit that goes into it. You know, a bunch of ponies told me how absolutely shocked they were when you brought that food for us. They would’ve told you except that… well-”

“-They were too afraid.”

Sugar Belle said nothing, choosing instead to stare at the much more exciting dull-orange ground.

“Daze is right though.”

“She asked you about the food because she was afraid, Starlight.”

“I know.”

“But, as a friend, what do you plan to do?” Sugar Belle asked.

“I don’t know honestly, but I wouldn’t want to force you people to leave for cities you hardly know.” Sugar Belle bought the explanation.

“Yeah, hopefully this all works out.” Sugar Belle looked as skeptical as Twilight did.

“I knew Starlight didn’t have a plan, the whole Hearth's Warming Eve food thing was a last minute idea,” Twilight announced in a matter-of-fact voice before some thought stopped her in her tracks. She felt a brief chill in the middle of the desert. “Raider,” she yelled.

“What?”

“You know we’re headed straight towards the canyon perimeter, right?”

“Yeah, what’s y’point?”

“How did you get past it, I thought, it-” Twilight short circuited.

“-Nothing special, I just scaled down the side of a cliff.”

“Then how do you plan to get out?” Night Glider insisted.

“Starlight Glimmer’s magic bridge, of cou-” Raider stopped himself realizing that his knowledge of Starlight would expose their agreement.

“How do you know who she is?” Twilight guffawed.

“She told me her name after you left, why is that so incriminating?” He lied curtly.

Two pieces of the puzzle snapped together in Twilight’s mind. She stopped walking to stare Raider in the eyes and he froze feeling the anger emanating from her. Fear flooded through his body, she’s a smart one, but when he remembered what his boss said, his own anger, replacing the fear, made him scowl and wrinkle his muzzle. Twilight shouted, “There’s something you’re not telling us; how did you know about Starlight Glimmer and her ability? What was your first plan if what you say about meeting Starlight just recently is true? I think we deserve to know.”

Deserve. It was a foreign word to him.

“Deserve? Ha. I knew about a powerful and magical leader living out here, but I only knew her through talk of the town. Using the description m’boss gave me, I recognized her immediately. Y’aren’t trusting enough, little purple one.”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle and I’m not done here.”

Raider rolled his eyes. “What?” he snapped.

“How do you know Starlight was going to be at the village today? She was gone for, like, forever,” Twilight whined.

“M’boss told me that, I have n’idea.” He lost the tone of annoyance in his voice.

“Your boss sure knows a lot,” Twilight shot a sideways glance at him and the other four echoed yeah behind her.

But Twilight knew she had made a mistake because Raider froze, turned around, reached into his saddlebag, and pulled out a black bandana. Limping over to Twilight, he snapped the bandana a few times to shake out the dust as something made of glass clanked inside his saddlebag. He held the cloth in his hoof over Twilight before quickly tying around his own face to cover his muzzle and mouth. Twilight sighed in relief before she looked up at his eyes; they were the same color as Fluttershy’s but they were not nearly as kind as hers.

“What are you doing, Raider?” Starlight yelled.

His muffled voice resounded, “M’boss knows nothing. H’listens to word on the street and makes his plans accordingly, I’m not that stupid to see that. H’told me that a pony from this stretch of this desert came into m’town looking for a pony named…” His eyes widened as he backed up from her, “Twilight Sparkle. You! Sh’been looking for you.” He turned around to face Starlight who had turned away from the flying sparks. “Last I heard’f’it, you wanted to… to…”

“Destroy her. Yeah. That’s right. So what?”

“Well?” He boomed behind the bandana in anticipation.

“I’m not. I decided not even a week ago that I wouldn’t do anything to her. We’re good friends now, all of us.” Something about what she said irritated Raider.

“Answer her first question, what does this have to do with anything?” Twilight demanded.

“And why did they send you on the exact day that Starlight was here? That’s no coincidence,” Double Diamond chimed in.

“What? No, you ponies are clueless. And it’s not because of this Heat Wasting Evil celebration-”

“-Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“Whatever, It’s, y’see, m’boss, well… I don’t know. M’boss has t’work undercover or else bad things’ll happen. I’m sure he’s… deployed other ponies just like me… wandering around the desert b’themselves. I’m sure they’ve visited y’town like I have.” Raider pranced around the obvious truth as much as possible; luckily for him, they haven’t figured it out yet.

“Nopony like you has ever come to our village before,” Night Glider questioned with harsh eyes of her own.

“Only those Celestia-dammed caravans visit us.” Double Diamond concurred with a sprinkle of resentment.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” It made complete sense.

“They must’ve died when they tried to leave,” urged Party Favor.

“…No… that means all of them, they’re all dead,” Raider paced in front of Twilight shaking his head, “How could have this happened? I didn’t realize you had this much power, Starlight; you’ve killed our sp… scavengers.” Raider leaned in close to Starlight and stared her down with a mix of fury and agony.

“I’ve done much worse, Raider, let’s get going.”

“No, I can’t let you. I can’t let you into my town when you’ve proven responsible for all the disappearances of my fellow spies. I mean my fellow scavengers. They’re all gone… all of them.” Raider turned away from the other six.

Starlight trotted up to him carefully as if he might explode. She whispered harshly, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Raider responded soft enough so that the others couldn’t hear, “keep y’little unicorn horn out of this, I’ll take care of it.” Starlight looked back at Sugar Belle’s friends and a glaring Twilight Sparkle. Raider didn’t seem to notice any of them. He resumed like before, “Y’destroyed them with your magic. It’s bad enough that y’wanted to get rid of Twilight but y’had to create a trap in th’middle of the Desert of Tears. I can’t believe it.” His accent got worse as he angered.

“Stop Raider, let’s just go and get this over with.” Starlight looked at Raider, at the other five, and then back at Raider trying to figure out what was going on.

“You… you… fine. I’ll just, fine. Yeah, okay. I’m sorry Starlight, it’s my fault, I remember you said you were sorry about Twilight. I just got worked up there, that’s all. You’re right, let’s go.” And so Raider’s stage performance fooled the six of them including Starlight. Raider wiped the masks of emotion off his face and trudged on with a blank stare into the distance while his black bandana soaked up the absent tears for his fellow spies that never died in the first place. This is all just hanging by a thread, if that purple alicorn keeps questioning me, I’m horse meat.

Sugar Belle, Party Favor, Night Glider, Double Diamond, and even the ever-questioning Twilight Sparkle trudged ahead trembling as they envisioned the slow death of Raider’s friends. Starlight lingered behind all of them. No. They’re going to find out. Twilight’s never going to talk to me again. She straightened up. If I were still my old self, this wouldn’t be a problem.

The party reached the giant fissure in the ground.

“Starlight, time to work your magic.” The stallions chuckled but everything fell flat when no response came. Twilight turned around to see Starlight way behind. “What are you doing back there?”

“Sorry girls, I fell behind. What is it?” But Starlight only had to look down.

“Do you have enough magical energy left?” Sugar Belle asked.

“Of course, don’t be ridiculous.”

“Can you close the rift for good this time?” Party Favor asked.

“No.” Raider’s jolting response sounded monstrous from behind the bandana. “I mean, she can patch it up later. Come on, we’re losing time.” Starlight initiated the spell as Raider looked on from behind. The dust and silt, like before, built itself up into a beautifully carved stone bridge that spanned the length of the rift. Raider stepped in front of all of them but this time he had to jockey with Double Diamond and Party Favor who now found him suspicious as well.

Twilight tested the stallion’s patience. “Can you close the rift for good after we finish up with our little quest, Starlight?”

“It would take a lot of energy but if I opened it, I can definitely close it again.” Twilight looked at Raider to find the tiniest response but that stubborn stallion just strode staring starkly at the rocks strewn about the desert. Twilight forgot to respond and silence followed.

“I don’t remember those mountains being that close,” Night Glider mentioned. The mountains they saw in the distance earlier were right in front of them. Unlike the cavernous mountains to the south, these had no snow and the peaks of the mountains wore green dresses.

“Water.” Party Favor bounced up and down as he stared with thirsty eyes at the waterfalls pouring from immense cliffs and overhangs; some cast shadows as long as the mountains themselves. Raider lead the ponies counterclockwise around the closest cliff as the land rose beneath their hooves. The red rocks coughed as they scaled the hills at the hooves of the mountains; they were not yet under the comfortable shade of the cliff’s shadow.

“Wait here.” Raider held out his hoof which created a traffic jam behind him. The other ponies looked around, attempting to figure out why he stopped. Starlight noticed a red object in the distance that looked a little too uniform to be a boulder. On closer inspection, the object looked like a solitary red tower… whatever it was, it emanated the nastiest vibes.

Raider didn’t care and as he approached that tower and as he separated himself from the other ponies, he saw a vaguely familiar face trotting out to meet him.

It called from the distance with an accent even more ridiculous than Raider’s. “Back from your mission Raidah? Where’s y’caravan?” None of the other ponies heard him.

Raider thought he remembered that voice but he trotted closer to get a good view of his face. His long tan mane was tied in a ponytail and he wore intricate red face paint on his light blue fur. His darker blue eyes made the whole look terrifying. Sure enough, he saw the most hated stallion in the Summits. “Go buck yourself, Nohchil Ta,” Raider wasn’t one for pleasantries.

“Don’t say that, Raidah; heh, Lord Ayikal’s been keeping information from you, information that even I know.”

“So what?”

“…So, the Muds won’t be trampled on. I know about the criminals and what ponies say about them, and about the lies y’and the others spread about them. We aren’t idiots y’realize Raidah.”

“You’ve spread lies among the Muds, Nohchil Ta, you’re trying t’save those dammed criminals.”

"What are they talking about, can you hear them?" Sugar Belle asked.

"No, I can't even see that far away." Night Glider answered.

“Lies? Ha. Hypocrite.” But this Nohchil Ta character continued smiling and laughing until he spotted the six ponies in the distance behind Raider. “Who are they? Wait, they’re ponies from her village. Ha. You’re playing right into m’hooves, Raidah. When they hear th’truth about the Summits, they’ll free those ‘criminals’ and leave you in the pits.” Raider looked like a caged animal. I knew I needed to bring them along but I didn’t think I would have to deal with this one. Raider growled almost inaudibly until he thought of an idea.

“Well, Nohchil Ta.”

“What?” His smile faded a little.

“I have something that you need desperately, you know what.” Nohchil’s smile faded even more as he glanced from Raider to those six ponies in the distance behind him. He eventually figured out that Raider had the criminals’ cutie marks in his possession.

His smile exploded in fury. “Give me those. I’ll kill you!”

With that, Nohchil Ta sprinted at Raider at full speed ahead. Raider looked for an opening but at that point, he was too late to make a move and he opted to run back to the others. Nohchil caught up with him and kicked him in the side spinning him around and giving him the chance to strike back. Raider lunged in to strangle his neck but he managed to worm himself free and all of a sudden, he twisted Raiders' hooves around and pinned him to the ground.

"I have t'kill you. I don't want t'kill you, Raider Ayikal, but you're too dangerous." He was not laughing.

"You filthy Mud, have y'convinced y'followers to excuse criminals? What's next?"

"Shut up, they aren't criminals. Stop, Raider, please. Remember back when everything was right? Remember back when we didn't have t'fight like this... that mare ruined everything when she built that village, we lost our way of life. Don't buy into what he says."

"The only thing you've done since y'were thrown off the cliff for extortion is lie. Don't y'act out your sob story, I'm sick of it," Raider tried to get up but Nohchil had him expertly pinned. "Help me Starlight, this stallion's going to kill me."

Twilight fired a beam at Nohchil, freezing him and levitating him in mid air allowing Raider to have a quick breather. "You want to let these criminals run free in the streets of your town? You sicken me."

"No, Mrs. Alicorn, y'don't understand. Don't listen to him." Twilight's magic managed to shut him up for a time. Just then, Nohchil Ta witnessed and recognized the face of Starlight Glimmer, the mare from all the rumors. "You. If the Summits would've known better, y'would be dead. You'll die for what you've done and those supposed 'criminals' will go free."

Twilight was furious. "She's changed you... you Mud." She didn't know what it meant but whatever it was, it was insulting.

But Nohchil didn't respond and instead, he thought for a long moment still suspended and frozen in midair. "Is this true?" he asked staring at Starlight.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'll have you know I brought food for the village. Two whole carts worth of food." Nohchil still remained largely silent.

After a few long seconds of silence, Nohchil muttered, "In the name of the Meadows..." more silence followed.

"Nohchil?" Starlight questioned.

"No... No. You have to find the criminals and get them out of Tanner Cliffs."

"You wanted to kill Raider, I can't let that happen." Starlight glared at Nohchil.

"He's lying, they have t'be brought into court, they just can't b'left alone on the streets. Listen Nohchil, you may not know about what these ponies have done since you live in the pits, but mares don't want t'go outside alone anymore. Security is doubled everywhere. They are a threat and Lord Ayikal doesn't negotiate with criminals."

"Strange, that accusation's different from what I've heard from every other pony ever."

"Accusation? They are known criminals. Starlight, please." Nohchil couldn't help but to let out a little chuckle after he said this. Nohchil finally broke free from Twilight's spell after she gave out from fatigue and he went straight for Raider's throat once more.

"Starlight, help me get this weird stallion of Raider." Twilight tried to force him off Raider but he held on like a leach. Both Raider and Nohchil called out to Starlight. She just stood there watching the three of them struggle. I have no idea. These criminals are the escaped ponies and Raider has their cutie marks. I can't tell Twilight about it, I just can't. Those ponies are going to kill me. She looked at Raider struggling under Nohchil's hold. Have they turned into criminals? They don't have their cutie marks. They're gonna kill me. She turned to see that all the sad laughter in Nohchil had been squeezed out of him. They're insane, it's not their fault... is it?

"Starlight, remember what we agreed to?"

"Nothing he says is true, Starlight."

They really should go on trial, it'll be fairer than I've ever treated them before. The tension between the two stallions only grew as she looked on. Help me, Celestia; I have no idea. Don't let the criminals kill me... if what Raider says is true. She momentarily remembered the other stallion saying something about the 'Meadows'... she heard Raider say it too. Wait, I know what I need to do, I can't take the easy way out, I have to face these criminals. Starlight's horn lit up as a second aura of energy surrounded Nohchil and with the combined power of Twilight and Starlight, they managed to throw off Nohchil.

"Both of you get away from each other." Sugar Belle tried to be the reasonable one and, much to her surprise, they listened to her.

Nohchil Ta stared Raider down before declaring, "Well, it looks like w'both have something of equal value." Nohchil then turned around quickly and galloped east away from the mountains and towards where the moon would rise for Pony Clause.

Equal. The meaning of the word was not lost on her.

"What were you doing?" Twilight shouted.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, I just froze up." I can't tell her.

"That's fine," Party Favor assured her.

"No. That's not it. What if what Nohchil says is right and that they're not criminals?" Starlight looked nervously at the five of them and she didn't dare to turn around to see Raider who was already trotting closer to the lonely tower.

Twilight wasn't happy but Sugar Belle spoke up first, "We have to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. That's what we did to you when you arrived earlier today, remember? We don't know anything about these criminals anyway."

"Okay, fine," Starlight yelled.

"Woah, calm down," Double Diamond said coolly.

"No, I can't, I don't want to deal with these criminals anymore, they're going to kill me." Starlight grew more and more hysterical prompting Raider to stop and turn around. He tied up his bandana around his muzzle again.

"Starlight, it's okay, we can use our magic and they can't hurt us. If we managed to throw off that stallion with the face paint, we can stop these three without much effort."

"No Twilight, I can't."

"Why not?"

Raider shot daggers into Starlight's eyes. Don't tell them, you foal.

"I... I... I just can't," Starlight sobbed prompting Twilight to back off and the others to move in to comfort her.

"What are you hiding?-"

"-Stop Twilight, is this how you treat y'friends? Do you always poke and prod for answers with that horn 'f'yours? Just give her a break." Raider narrowed his eyes at Twilight. "It's not right t'know everything about another pony, y'know." Twilight could hear Starlight's voice behind his own.

Twilight looked down.

"Disgusting," Raider spat.

The seven of them passed the lonely tower noticing that it was completely black inside.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" Night Glider scrunched her muzzle to get rid of the stench.

"Never go in there," Raider announced. "That's the prison. Only the lowest of Muds clean out that tower."

Oh, Celestia. Night Glider thought.

"What do you mean by Muds?" Double Diamond said.

"The Muds are slimy creatures who deserve t'work at the bottom of the cliffs in giant mud pits. They build houses and towers, clean streets, and grow tons of food out of seemingly nothing at all; all 'f'it without any pay, as it should be. They serve the ponies living up on the cliffs, including the Ayikal ponies: the Summit ponies who live, naturally, at the top of the cliffs." Raider walked into the shadow followed by the others who hardly noticed a change in the heat. "That Nohchil Ta character that attacked me is a dangerous infidel, he claims t'lead the Muds and, if he had his way, he'd destroy life as we or, should I say, my life as I knew it in Tanner Cliffs."

"Tanner Cliffs?"

"That's the city I come from, it's built on giant cliffs, just look." Raider pointed west.

Sure enough, a sprawling city grew like regal moss on the side of the mountains and cliffs. The red buildings and towers with blue and green roofs were all lit up in the shadows by millions of lights like fireflies in the night. Fire pits hung from overhangs, glowing teal waterfalls churned giant wooden cogs, innumerable stairs scaled the cliffs, rays of sunlight poked through natural holes in the cliffs to light up some humble homes on the ground, and, above all, was a towering red castle that sat on the top of the highest peak untouched by any shadow. For Sugar Belle and her friends, it looked just as regal as Canterlot.

"The center of Equestria," boomed Raider.

"Wait. This place is just right around the corner." Night Glider turned around to see Starlight's chasm in plain daylight and noticed that the city was tucked behind a few mountains. "It's right outside the chasm, how did we not know about this?" She then looked at the lonely red tower estranged from its friends on the cliffs and saw the shadow of the mountains creep slowly up on it as the sun slogged into evening. Did Starlight know about this? It's kind of hard to miss this place. And yet none of them had ever heard about this giant city; it wasn't in any story or legend or anything.

The seven of them forged up more hills that grew steeper and steeper as they went. They weaved their way through gravel streets and in between tiny clay houses where hearth fires roared like it was night already. Scraggly looking ponies milled around the streets; some traded food for money, some washed clothes on wringers outside their houses, and some fillies and colts played soccer off the walls of their parents' homes.

Raider led the gang onto a main street where ponies with carts ran without ever taking their eyes off of the street in front of them. It was just as busy as Manehattan except that they noticed there weren't just ponies, there were all kinds of creatures from all over Equestria.

Double Diamond tried to step out on the road but a stallion came flying by.

"Move it."

"Get out of the way," A bat pony yelled at Party Favor.

"Just wait for Meadow's sake," A griffin had to swerve out of the way.

All of them, except for Raider, looked around confused. There weren't any crosswalks like the ones in Manehattan, it was a free-for-all. Sugar Belle turned back to look at the tiny huts and noticed a small mare strapped to what looked like a dolly. There wasn't anypony around her, she was just by herself tied up in the middle of the road. These ponies look just like the ones back at my village.

"Raider?"

"What?" He had a hard time taking his eyes off the road as well, he was probably looking for an opening.

"Look at that mare in the street over there?" Sugar Belle had to point but luckily the mare didn't notice.

"She's waiting b'the side of the main road for a doctor t'pass by."

"You mean she has to wait for a doctor to come to her." This place was completely backwards.

"Yeah, I bet her family can't afford transportation up the mountain and so the doctor has t'come down to help her. That's what usually happens down here." Sugar Belle reasoned that nopony could really lift her up all those steps. Seriously, that is a lot of bucking steps.

"So, how are we-"

"Taxi!" Raider waved his front two hooves having finally spotted a bright blue carriage riding towards the west. The 'taxi' was pulled by a powerful griffin and the carriage, unlike the ones in the Big Apple, had multiple seats.

"Forty Three sickles," the griffin coughed as he held out his claw, stopping traffic momentarily.

"Ridiculous," Raider shouted before climbing up into the carriage.

Starlight tried to follow but the griffin grabbed her and boomed, "Forty Three sickles each."

"Can I pay you in bits?"

The griffin absolutely lost it. "I will not tolerate that heathenous form 'f'currency, go away and walk up the mountain yourselves."

Raider stepped in, "It's okay, I have t'meet with m'boss first. I'll meet you again in Traza Square, ask anypony, they'll know." Raider then disappeared into the carriage. After the six ponies trotted away from the carriage, a skinny pony near the front whispered something to the griffin.

"Don't you think I know?" He responded acidly. The long carriage lurched forward and Raider was already on his way.

"Now how are we going to get there? My hooves are killing me," whined Night Glider.

"You have wings," Double Diamond looked sheepishly up at her.

"Oh, yeah."

"Don't worry, I can teleport all of you over to the base of that cliff." Twilight looked to see if a taxi that accepts bits might come.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Starlight asked.

"Because of you know who."

"You really don't trust him, do you."

"I trust him as much as I trust Spike to take care of my... place when I'm gone. I don't want to talk about it anymore... the more and more he talks, the more and more I get this bad feeling about this quest, I'm almost at the point where I don't want to do this anymore." Twilight stared at the ground.

"Come on, Twilight, you said it yourself, I have to give those criminals a chance, or was that him that said that?"

Twilight sighed, "I just don't know."

"Let's get a move on, we'll find those criminals out eventually," declared Party Favor whose eager tone helped to lighten the mood. Twilight's horn glowed in its usual magenta aura as a magical dome expanded enveloping the six of them and eventually bursting with a bright white light. Since Twilight didn't fully visualize where they were going, they ended up appearing squeezed between two houses next to a large set of stairs that turned towards the north as it went up. Here, the stairs were just as busy as the road at the bottom of the cliff but at least ponies weren't flying by with carts.

"We have to ask ponies about Traza Square," said Double Diamond.

Party Favor asked a passing bat pony. "Where's Traza Square?"

"Why don't you ask your Summit friends?" She spat.

He asked another normal pony. "Where's Traza Square?"

"Up," he snapped.

"It's not going to do any good, Party..." she couldn't believe her eyes, it was Ahuizotl himself walking casually up the steps with a newspaper in his tail hand, "look."

"What am I looking at?" Starlight asked.

"Ahuizotl, you know, from the Daring Do books?" Twilight couldn't contain her excitement.

"You've only told me like fifteen times in the past three days or so." She remembered something. "Twilight, don't-"

But Twilight was already on her way to meet the character that Daring Do fought in real life. How did he return? "Hey you."

He looked around confused until he saw Twilight charging at him, "What the-" he managed to say before tumbling on the stairs, his head propped up against the stone banister. The lamp mounted on the banister revealed that his face was... off, it wasn't threatening like before.

"You, Ahuizotl, tried to create hundreds of years of endless sweltering heat by gathering the Rings of Scorchero together under the fortress of Talacon. I don't know what you plan to do next but you'll be hearing from Daring Do and myself."

"The only thing you'll be daring to do is to get off of me this instant! I have no idea what you're talking about and besides, rings are forbidden by Lord Ayikal."

Twilight looked confused for a second before yelling, "don't play tricks with me Ahuizotl."

"Ahuizotl? I'm an ahuizotl. M'name's Mayakimil, who are you talking about?"

"Wait? You're not-"

"-Keep your horn out of other ponies' business, you purple... alicorn?" Ugh, why does everypony keep saying that?

"That's right, I'm an alicorn. I'm sorry for tackling you but do you know the way to Traza Square?" Mayacimil rolled his eyes in frustration as he tried to collect his newspapers.

"All stairs lead to it, practically. Will you let me leave now?"

"Fine."

Mayacimil picked up the last sheet of paper and mumbled, "Dammed foreigners..." wait, that pink pony with the purple and teal mane... she matches the description.

"Twilight, there are all kinds of ahuizotl creatures here," Starlight scolded.

"How should I know, he looked just like him," Twilight retorted.

The six of them weaved their way up the wide stairs travelling north and, more importantly, up. They passed under waterfalls and canals, over bridges that spanned nauseating heights, and through tunnels lit up by homes carved out of the cliff itself. Sugar Belle looked down over the banister and swallowed.

"I forgot how much I hated heights."

"Well, we made it this far already," Starlight didn't know what to say, she had trouble with heights the first time she visited this place as well.

"I think I know a way to get there faster." Twilight pointed to a skinnier set of stairs that went up the opposite direction, was noticeably steeper, and had almost nopony walking its path.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you." Starlight pointed up to the smog rising from the neighborhood at the top of that cliff.

"We should give it a try and besides, you've been extremely nervous ever since Raider fought that one Nohchil Ta character." Double Diamond looked at Twilight for assistance.

"It can't be that bad. These are the Summit ponies they keep talking about anyway." Twilight headed up the steep stairs now traveling south before reaching a flat area where the houses were built. It didn't look bad, children ran in the streets and a few ponies said hello as they passed by. Clothes lines were strung from house to house, potted plants grew surprisingly well in the desert, and smog rose from giant furnaces carved in the cliffs.

"Hey, I recognize you." A berry colored mare walked up to Starlight with a quizzical look. "I think some ponies are looking for you, I don't know, I just thought you'd like to know."

"We're kind of in a hurry." Double Diamond successfully separated the two of them. The six of them made their way north again to another set of stairs before Starlight heard a voice from somewhere.

"Hey, you." Oh, come on. Not another pony who recognizes me. The voice came from the left down a darker alley and she felt compelled to take a look for some reason.

"Do you recognize me?" Starlight called out to the stallion leaning up against a wall in the shadows. She noticed her friends weren't paying attention in the background.

"You." He leaned in close to Starlight and ran a hoof through her mane. "You have a beautiful mane, it's so soft." She noticed his other hoof slithering around her body and trapping her from escaping. Her breath quickened. Her eyes widened.

"Y... you know I can-"

"-what? Use magic on me?" He leaned in even closer, his mouth now touching her ear. "They're here, honey. They're gonna kill you. Those friends of yours over there, do they know everything? Do they know who they really are? Do they know about that special label on their flanks? No? That's a shame. If ponies in this town really knew who y'were, they'd kill you without thinking twice, but me? I won't ever do that t'you." He cleared her bangs out of the way and turned her face examining it with those fiery eyes of his. "What a shame," he tightened his other hoof around her body, "y'have such a beautiful face."

"Hey, you get away from her." Night Glider flew straight at the stallion but he had already disappeared in the shadows. Starlight just stood there frozen with here eyes fixed straight ahead. "It's okay." Night Glider wrapped a comforting hoof around her. "Let's get out of this neighborhood and get this over with."

The rest of them agreed and soon they were on their way to Traza Square.

The carriage stunk of Muds and just when the griffin was almost running at top speed, he quickly screeched to a halt for another Mud.

"Eight sickles." What? Raider steamed.

The mare outside the carriage whined, "I only have seven."

"Fair enough." The griffin let her on board and the skinny stallion who whispered to the griffin earlier let her have a seat beside him. Raider knew fighting it wasn't a good idea because the griffin would probably force him off the bus. He leaned back in his chair now wondering if it was a bad idea to sent Starlight and the others into the city on their own; after all, Starlight was in danger of telling the others that he had the criminals' cutie marks.

A familiar force pushing back on him told him that the carriage was now riding uphill on the side of the mountain. Soon enough, the carriage leveled out and slowed to a stop.

"The Summit Castle," called the griffin. Is it my stop already? Raider nevertheless climbed out of the carriage and looked around at his stop.

"Wait, this isn't the Summit Castle, you foal."

"Not my problem, I'm not gonna haul y'up the mountain y'damned Summit, you can do that yourself." The griffin sped up as the others in the carriage cheered loudly.

"Hey, this is grounds for arrest." But the griffin didn't hear him, he was long gone.

"Sir, I told y'not to use public transportation. I have your personal carriage waiting." Raider's own personal driver pointed to a much nicer looking carriage that sat only one pony at a time. Luckily, he was right where he needed to be... as usual.

"I had no choice, I'm already late as it is," he said as he hopped inside.

"That must be Traza Square," Twilight said as she looked out at the vast conglomeration of ponies, bat ponies, griffins, ahuizotls, and other creatures she thought were only legends. All kinds of shops lined the squares, waterfalls fell into a center pool in the middle of the square that ran off towards the edge where it was dumped off the side of the cliff, yellow banners with an emblem of a red mountain flew in the wind scattered throughout the square, and a giant door-thing was carved into the side of a cliff on the other side of the plaza.

Before any of them could focus on anything in particular, a deep ringing sound shook the mountain side without catching the attention of any of the ponies. The bells struck four times. Four o'clock, not nearly as late as it felt.

"This place is huge, even larger than Grand Galloping Station in Manehattan, how will we ever find Raider here?" whined Twilight.

"The pool in the center, ponies meet there all the time and the water from the waterfall's the cleanest there is." Starlight immediately knew she said too much.

"Yeah, water." Sugar Belle and her friends cried out before sprinting to the center of the plaza.

"Just wait a second," snapped Twilight before turning to Starlight, "You sure do know a lot about this place. Raider isn't here to stop me from asking you. What are you hiding?" She narrowed her eyes before realizing another important possibility. "He didn't tell you to keep a secret, did he?"

No response.

"Did he?" Twilight insisted.

"Yeah, I'd like to know. Come on, if you'd just tell us what the matter is, we could get this over with and you wouldn't have to worry anymore." Sugar Belle saw right through her but she didn't see the truth.

"I-"

"-Starlight," a distant voice called from behind them.

"Who's that?" Twilight didn't sever her stare.

"Starlight Glimmer, is that you?" Starlight knew who it was. She turned around to face a nice mare that she met before leaving to hunt down Twilight. Standing behind the counter of a bar and restaurant, she waived for all of them to come over and sit down; it was a nice, familiar relief from the strange characters in the city.

"Let's go talk to her." Twilight's mood changed for the better.

"I don't know, she could be dangerous."

They all looked over at the yellow flower tucked behind her ear, her bright grass-green coat and sky blue mane, and her genuinely cheery smile. "Yeah, I think you'll be okay. If you were just harassed by that stallion not five minutes ago, I think you can handle her," Sugar Belle tried not to sound too sarcastic. The six of them hurried over to the restaurant and took a seat at the bar.

"I remember you, the whole town's been talking about you. I didn't know that a request t'send food would cause this place t'erupt into raging class warfare." She looked over at Twilight confused. "Starlight said something about you as well but I can't remember. Look, I'd watch yourself in this town, ponies aren't happy with you, Starlight."

"How do you know my name?"

"You told me y'name, why does it matter?"

She froze before spitting, "It doesn't matter. I know about these ponies, one Mud tried to-"

"-No Starlight, the Muds are only angry because they're forced to work more and more by the Summits. The ponies y'should really watch out for are the Summits, they're the ones who know about y'plan, they're the cold blooded ones." She shook her head in disappointment.

"Look, we're just trying to meet up with Raider and capture some criminals," Twilight said dismissively.

"Raider. Girls, is it okay if I go by the pool and wait for Raider there? You can stay here if you want," Starlight suggested.

Twilight was about to object but the other four said 'sure' and Starlight was already enveloped by the crowd.

"So y'finally decided to arrive, Raider. What took y'so long?" Lord Ayikal heaved himself out of his throne. He wore a dusty grey coat, donned a sleek black mane and tail and, above all, he was demonstrably fat. The light from the long, thin windows lit the dim palace, the dust floating in air, and the toothy grin of his ugly face. It's like what they say, not all ugly ponies are evil.

"Oh, nothing important, other that the fact that I found the mare from Nohchil Ta's description."

"Good, now we'll be able t'end this class warfare and bring these criminals t'justice. Other spies have seen the criminals on the light side of the cliffs. I'm surprised my guess was correct: she would arrive at the village on Hearth's Warming Eve. If I knew any better, I would've thought that the rest of Equestria would've given up on th'whole Hearth's Warming holiday; what a hoax it is. It's a terrible trick ponies play on each other, believing that a pony 'clause' runs around giving presents and food for free. It's this kind of ridiculousness that's undoing the very structure of Tanner Cliffs." He lugged himself around Raider as he lectured.

"I told them that I didn't know what Hearth's Warming was."

"Good. It's for the better I assure you. I understand the spirit behind Hearth's Warming but it does more harm that good: it preaches generosity but it delivers sadness and pain for ponies who live in a world that doesn't care. With our belief in the Meadows, we can avoid that crippling despair." Lord Ayikal looked down in sadness for a while before a thought perked his ears up. "What do you mean by them?"

"Four ponies from th'village were travelling along with Starlight Glimmer and I as well as a character called Twilight Sparkle."

"Twilight Sparkle?" He roared.

"Y... yes, what about her?"

"You know who told me that it was Twilight Sparkle who was responsible for running her out of town. She destroyed her regime of equality."

"Regime of equality? What? This isn't making any sense."

"You see, Raider; Starlight Glimmer is very powerful. She grew all the food and water those ponies needed by herself and when she left, she asked us to feed them while she was away trying to kill Twilight Sparkle. She didn't want abundance, she only wanted them to... survive. She was a ruthless dictator, Raider, and Twilight Sparkle bucked her out of power. She is the real reason we're having so much upheaval. Convenient that you brought her here."

"What should I do then?"

"Capture those criminals and bring Twilight to me. Her service t'ponykind must be rewarded. Now leave." Lord Ayikal turned around without saying anything else. Raider bowed and left the palace room.

Once Starlight was out of sight, Twilight turned to the mare, "I don't understand, what is going on?" She paused awkwardly. "Oh, and what is your name? Sorry for not asking before."

"It's okay, I'm Vinka and this is my servant Chak Ta," a tall red stallion on the skinnier side waived sheepishly at Twilight and the others, "and I'm surprised that Starlight hasn't told y'about her plan. Last time I saw her, she passed by here on th'way to find somepony and I have t'assume that that somepony is you, Ms., uh..."

"...Twilight Sparkle."

"I see."

"Wait, did you say Chak Ta?"

"Yes, he's the best servant a Summit could ever ask for," he blushed, "why do y'ask?"

"Is he related to Nohchil Ta?" Silence followed warning Twilight that she struck a funny bone.

Vinka turned to Chak Ta. "It's okay," she whispered, "y'can talk to these ponies, they aren't Summits, they're from out of town." She turned back to face Twilight with an apologetic look.

Chak Ta quivered nervously. "No."

"Nohchil Ta tried to kill Raider."

"Raider Ayikal?"

"Yeah."

"That doesn't surprise me. I'm sure that Nohchil Ta pinned him easily." Vinka had a strange look in her eyes.

Twilight remembered the details. "He did until Starlight and I threw him off using our magic-"

"-Y'don't know what you're doing," she announced sternly.

"He would have killed Raider, we couldn't let that happen," Sugar Belle retorted.

"Fair enough, but this whole thing has just gone too far."

"What do you mean?" Twilight leaned back. "Okay, what is going on here, explain everything you know," she demanded.

"Everything was normal in Tanner Cliffs before your friend Starlight arrived. We knew a powerful mare built an outlying village that she managed by herself; the ponies in Tanner Cliffs didn't want anything to do with it. I'm not sure what's come 'f'that village nowadays." Sugar Belle and the others looked like they wanted to interrupt but Vinka forged on with her explanation. "Then Starlight came along and warned me that she was leaving her village and that the villagers would suffer from a famine as a result. I don't know why she came to me first, maybe it's because I run this restaurant but I don't know. After that, I warned Nohchil Ta, who, at that time, was the governor of the Muds, t'petition all of Tanner Cliffs to send food to the village. An overwhelming majority consented and the petition was taken t'Lord Ayikal, the mayor of Tanner Cliffs.

"But that's when things went downhill. Nohchil Ta brought the petition to Lord Ayikal who didn't want t'give food to the village. Lord Ayikal couldn't say no t'a majority and the two negotiated on a plan. They would send caravans filled with food but they wouldn't release their identity or their location so that the ponies in the village would come seeking refuge here. The plan worked for a time but eventually more and more Summits grew tired 'f'sending aid and so less and less food was sent. Nohchil Ta must've noticed this and asked Lord Ayikal t'increase production but Lord Ayikal told him t'go buck himself.

"Now, of course, Nohchil Ta never takes no for an answer and he tried t'kill Ayikal much like he tried t'kill Raider. He was arrested and exile, labeled as a renegade. After that, relations between the Muds and the Summits grew worse and Lord Ayikal sent out spies t'the village to see if Starlight would return t'end all this. Lately, I've heard they haven't sent any food." Vinka took a breather.

"What does this have to do with the three criminals?"

"I don't know, but it sounds like they're used as a scapegoat for th'hatred against the Summits for kicking out Nohchil Ta. The last thing I heard earlier at lunch today was that th'criminals killed a few Muds and are now hiding in the Tsoy district."

"Tsoy?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, it's a weird neighborhood down and south of here. You have t'watch out for the stallions there, they... well they aren't too nice t'say the least." Chak Ta in the kitchen backed up in fear.

"I think I know where that is," Twilight mused.

"So this place has been sending the caravans?" Sugar Belle's mouth hung open in revelation.

"Yes. I, for one, am proud that we send food. After all, it's all in the spirit of Hearth's Warming Day."

"You know about Hearth's Warming Day?"

"Of course, everypony does here, well except for some Summits. I bet some don't even know what it is." Vinka turned to Chak Ta and said, "Can you go take care of that party, I'm behind on the dishes as it is."

He looked up longingly.

"I'm sorry, I said I was going to handle those jerks but these ponies are more important. I'll make it up to you." She turned back. "So you were saying?"

"Nothing." But Twilight thought of something. "What do you ponies mean when you say the Meadows?"

Vinka giggled. "It's the place where just ponies go when they die. Legend here has it that Pony Clause is a stallion who chose to come down from the Meadows t'give gifts to the little fillies and colts on Hearth's Warming Eve... especially after the Windigo Winter. Look, you ponies, I have to get back to work. If you're here t'find the criminals, I'd be very careful; something is going on behind close doors and I don't like it."

"Well thank you, Vi-"

"-It's time to leave. I know where the criminals are," Raider put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"I know, they're in the Tsoy district."

"No, m'boos said that they've moved to the other side of the cliffs entirely." He sensed something out of place. "Where is Starlight?"

Twilight looked down at the counter. She's been nervous this entire time and it might be because of what this stallion said to her... she's hiding something, I know it; but I'll let it go for now. "Don't worry, Raider, we can capture these criminals without her."

"No, well, if we, but..." Raider knew that they would be destroyed without Starlight but he couldn't say it without exposing the truth.

"Come on, you're acting just as nervous as she was." The six of them waved at Vinka before running to the large door-thing. Chak Ta sat down on a crate of ice cream and put his hoof to his head.

"It's okay, Chak Ta, they'll make this right, you'll see." She looked around to make nopony was watching before giving him a little kiss on the temple.

She looked back at the restaurant where her friends were but she couldn't see any of them. Raider's gone. I won't have anypony breathing over my shoulder. It's the best time to confront them. She looked around at Traza Square noticing that it was getting busier as time marched on. Please Celestia, I don't want to do this. She trotted over to the steps where they came from and looked down at the smoggy neighborhood.

Those three are down there for sure.

She gulped before trotting down the stairs. In no time, she faced the dark alley where the stallion had been. Now it was completely vacant. She walked into the shadows. A cold rush of wind bit at her fur. The dingy homes here were stacked on top of each other and some had rope ladders leading to their doors. A few dozen sinister-looking ponies milled around a singular barrel fire.

She recognized him immediately.

"I didn't think you'd have the guts to come back." She couldn't tell if that same stallion was genuinely surprised or not.

"Where are these criminals?" A greenish-yellow coated unicorn stallion with a short tan mane and tail emerged from the crowd along with two other mares, one brown and one blue. All of them were discolored and had equal signs in place of cutie marks. The two mares backed up in fear but the stallion glared at her with a lethal hatred.

"Look at what you've done."

"Wha-

"-We're criminals because of you. You made us insane and we lashed out! You're responsible for killing three Muds because of what you did to us."

"How-"

'-Shut up." A yellowish aura danced around his horn as a beam of magical energy flew straight at Starlight's face. She didn't have enough time to block and she was thrown back against the wall of a house. "I'll kill you." He turned around to buck her but she slipped to the side and slithered down the alley from where she came. The stallion was wicked fast and she had to teleport herself to the base of the stairs to get away from him.

He teleported as well. "You sure know a lot about magic," yelled Starlight as she backed up the stairs headed towards Traza Square once again.

"How do you think we escaped?" He fired another beam but this time she blocked it with a defensive spell. The two stood like this for a while as their energy depleted. Soon enough, they had no more energy to spend on spells and Starlight ran up the stairs knowing that he was much stronger than she was. He sprinted after her following her up the stairs, through the plaza, and onto a long and narrow balcony where some water from the center pool flowed. She ran until she saw the edge of the balcony. She screeched to a halt almost falling to her death. What, there aren't any banisters. That's insane.

She didn't have much time to complain because the stallion wound up for a buck. She ducked as his two hind hooves barely missed her head. She kicked him in the stomach with her front right hoof sending him backwards momentarily. A hoof swung wildly from the left allowing her to have ample time to block the strike. What she didn't see was his right hoof which quickly wrapped around her neck. Ugh, how could I have been so stupid. His left hoof was a diversion. Both hooves strangled her neck as he lowered her head to the edge of the overhang.

Starlight kicked and screamed like a little filly. "Oh, will you shut up. Just shut up." His eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of their sockets. She noticed the other two mares now flanking his sides.

"Please, I've changed."

"Liar!"

"Everything you've said was a lie, why should we believe you?" The blue-grey mare said softly.

Starlight couldn't respond. She stared up at the stallion before a hoof knocked her vision out for good. The stallion stomped on her face and body drawing more and more blood as the mares eventually joined in. Audible cracking sounds reverberated throughout the cliffs but nopony noticed it came from the cracking bones of a mare who had lied to her friends the entire time. The three walked away leaving Starlight's bloodied body on the edge of the overhang, her hooves dangling above the ground hundreds of meters down.

Worst of all, the cutie marks she needed were in the possession of a stallion who had no intention of giving them back.