Revolutionary

“Your vision of a perfect world is twisted and maniacal!” Harra exclaims.

“Clearly you misunderstand the true meaning of harmony and friendship,” Princess Twilight begins. “Unlike you, I’ve discovered the secret behind what encompasses all that is harmony; and with it, I intend on guiding Equestria to a future that is truly harmonious.”

“By ruining lives?! Separating families?! By introducing your ridiculous rules and laws?! Equestria has never seen days as dark as these, and with you at the throne, this land will surely perish.”

Princess Twilight giggles with delight. “It’s funny that you: a simple-minded, ignorant, little doe such as yourself claims to know what’s right for this kingdom. I’ve left you, and your pathetic homeland, to be at peace for such a long time. Now, I can see I’ve let you all get a bit carried away. Perhaps the borders between our countries ought to be abolished.”

“You cannot go against Princess Celestia’s word!”

“And who do you think has taken her place on the throne? Who did she grant all executive power to?” I watch as Harra’s expression grows more furious with every word that comes out of Princess Twilight’s mouth, and the princess is clearly enjoying herself as she talks down to us. “This kingdom belongs to me, and I will rule it as I please. Since you dare threaten our way of life, invade my castle with your fellow heathens, and fail to acknowledge the truth behind what we value most. Perhaps it’s time I teach you.” Princess Twilight spreads her wings as her body glows with a reddish hue. Her body levitates into the air as her voice fills the entire room. “I hereby void the peace agreement between our countries, and the border along with it!”

“You’re making a mistake!”

“Oh no, not me. ‘You’ decided to violate my trust by entering my home unwarranted, and are attempting to escort a prisoner. It appears to me that none of you stand by the values of harmony and friendship. For you cannot have harmony without friendship, and you cannot have friendship without magic. Why? Because, my dear adversaries, friendship ‘is’ magic.” The glow from Princess Twilight’s horn intensifies, and fires off a beam of magic directly at our hooves. The floor before us explodes, sending us flying onto our backs as shards of tile glide along the floor. “Pathetic.”

“Everypony! Scatter!” I advise. Heading my words, we all disperse as Princess Twilight continues to fire her rays of magic towards us. I, as well as the others, gallop crazily around the main hall like insects trying to escape danger with no way out. I attempt to hide behind one of the stone pillars that line the hall to try and catch breath while I assess the situation. I allow my mind to run wild as I examine the room desperate for an escape route. There’s no sense in fighting back, we’ll all get torn to shreds. With the main doors being blocked off by the princess’ spell, our options appear to be very limited.

“Anypony got an idea to get us out of this mess?!” Scrap shouts as he evades rays of magic. “Preferably ‘before’ we die!”

“We’re going to need a distraction to buy us some time!” The creature suggests.

“I have just the thing!” Harra declares as she reaches back into her little bag. She pulls out a disc-shaped seed, and tosses it onto the floor after dropping a couple drips of water onto it. The seed spews a thick, white gas that coats the room in a thick cloud. The room falls deathly quiet, and I stay behind the pillar struggling to see through the smoke. Within moments, Harra, Scrap and the creature regroup with me.

“Okay, that should work for a little while,” says Scrap. “How many of those did you bring?”

“Just one,” says Harra.

“Good, no pressure then. Officer Syrup, what’s the plan?”

“I . . . I need a second,” I say.

“Alright, but we don’t have very many of those left.” The creature nudges Scrap with his elbow, shaking its head. “Okay, I’m done.”

“Officer, there must be another way out,” Harra whispers.

“No way for us to get to at least,” I whisper.

“What do you mean by that?”

“The only other possible way to get out of this room would be through the roof. It’s made of glass, and if there was a way to break through and . . . fly out of here—then there’s no other way we can leave.”

“Well, flying out of here shouldn’t be a problem,” says the creature with a smirk as he glances over at Scrap.

“That’s right!” Harra says with enlightenment. “Scrap, you brought your new contraption, didn’t you?”

“Yeah . . . I did. . .” Scrap ponders. “But I haven’t actually gotten to testing it yet.”

“I don’t think that matters at the moment. I say you get that thing strapped on, and we pray to The Spirit.”

“Now I like the sound of that! Let’s do this!” Scrap cheers as he removes and sets his satchel down onto the floor.

“Wait, wait, wait. . .” I hold out my hoof to them to get their attention. “What ‘contraption’ are you talking about?”

“Oh, you’re going to love it, Officer! I just need a moment to get this thing on.”

“You can’t hide forever,” Princess Twilight’s voice calls through the smoke. “If you all surrender now, I just might reconsider my decision to abolish the peace treaty.”

“She’s bluffing, Harra,” says the creature. “If we surrender now, I can assure you we won’t ever see home again.”

“What you do today will decide your fate. Do the honorable thing: give in.”

Harra shakes her head to try and ignore Princess Twilight’s words. “Are you almost ready, Scrap?” Harra asks.

“Just . . . about. . .” Scrap struggles to say as he lugs a metal device from his satchel. The odd-looking device is circular in design, and is made up of an array of cogs and gears. “Umm . . . if you two would be so kind?” Harra and the creature lift up the device, and help strap it to Scrap’s back.

“Now, how are we going to be able to leave ‘with’ you?”

“Not to worry!” Scrap reaches back into his satchel as we all try to peer inside and see what he’s trying to get. “I’ve got rope!” He cheers with a single line of rope in his mouth.

“. . . And you believe it’ll be able to support all three of us?”

“Eh, it should be fine.”

“. . . Well, we don’t have any other choice.” Harra hastily ties one end of the rope to a metal ring that’s been welded onto the surface of the device.

“Maple,” Princess Twilight’s voice calls once again. “Don’t you want to see your beloved parents again?” I turn my head to listen as the smoke is now starting to dissipate. “Or would you rather leave, and put their lives in jeopardy? You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?”

“Alright!” says Scrap. “Everything’s all set, the rope is tied, let’s get ready for take-off!”

“Splendid!” Harra cheers. “Officer, we must hurry. . ! Officer?” I stand motionless as my mind is torn. I don’t know what Princess Twilight has done with my parents, and I could most definitely be putting my parents lives at risk with what I’m doing. I can’t; I can’t take the chance. My parents mean the world to me, and I would never be able to forgive myself if I let anything happen to them. “Officer! We need to go! The fog won’t be able to conceal us much longer!”

“M-Maybe you three should go,” I suggest.

“We’re not leaving without you. Listen to what Orin said, she’s being dishonest.” I glance to Harra as she along with the others are waiting for me to group up with them, and I turn back to the direction I last saw Princess Twilight. The smoke is no longer as thick as it used to be, becoming more of a mist to reveal more of the main hall.

“Choose wisely, Maple,” says Princess Twilight.

“Officer, please! I beg of you!” My legs are starting to tremble, and my heart is throbbing frantically. I can’t seem to force myself to move either towards Harra and the others, or head to the stairway leading up to Princess Twilight. Despite the amount of hatred in me for the princess, I’m not sure if it’s enough to not believe in what she says. Suddenly, as if I was being brought back in time, I remember the last thing my Father told me back in the dungeon. His voice is so clear in my head that I can swear I’m completely reliving the moment. His voice has guided me for years, and pulled me out of the darkest of times. Whether it was encouraging me to follow what my heart desires, or being by my bedside after a horrible nightmare. Simply listening to this memory puts my heart at ease, and my legs cease trembling. ‘No matter what happens, know that we will always love you. Always.’ Remembering those words fills me with a rush of warmth, and clears my mind of all doubt. I turn back to Harra and her friends as they look to me, frightened and eager.

“. . . Let’s go,” I say as I join them.

“Phew! You had me worried there for a second, Officer Syrup,” says Scrap as he wipes his forehead with his hoof. “Now, I’m gonna need some space. Let’s back up to main doors!” As we follow his directions, walking down the long, red rug towards the doors, Harra looks to me with a sincere look on her face.

“I am grateful to you once again, Officer,” she says. “And I will make an oath to you, that we will reunite you with your loved ones. No matter the cost.”

“You barely know anything about me, yet you’re making me this promise like you’ve known me your whole life.”

“Us deerfolk do not judge by how long we’ve known one particular individual. You and I, we walk the same land, breathe the same air, drink the same water. . . With that, we know all that we need to about one another.” We reach the main doors that are still coated in the black webbing Princess Twilight had cast upon them, and we turn to face the stairway.

“Now, on the count of three, we charge,” says Scrap. “Ready?” The three of us nod our heads as we grab hold of the rope. We plant ourselves firmly on the floor, priming ourselves to dash down the rug. “One. . .” With the smoke nearly diminished, I can now see Princess Twilight still hovering in the air at the top of the stairway.

“Ah, there you are,” she says as the glow of her horn instantly intensifies.

“Two—three—go!” At full speed, we charge towards Princess Twilight. She fires beams of magic that miss, and some that force us to slightly change course to avoid the blast. “Hold on!” Scrap bites down onto a little handle sticking out from the side of his device, and gives it one good yank causing all the cogs and gears to turn like clockwork. From each side, two, elaborately crafted, metal wings burst from the contraption causing my eyes to widen with surprise. Two levers with multiple joints eject from underneath the left and right wings, and fold out near Scrap’s head. The wings begin to flap, growing faster with every beat. Before I can fully absorb what’s happening, my body is begin lifted up off the ground, causing me to wrap my legs around the rope while I—along with Harra and the creature—scream at the top of our lungs. “Ha-ha! It’s working!” Within seconds, the three of us dangle from the rope as Scrap soars through the air towards Princess Twilight who has dumbfounded look on her face. “Think you’re so cool because you’ve got wings, Your Majesty? Well, guess what? So do I! Ha-ha!” Clearly enraged, Princess Twilight fires off another beam of violet magic. Scrap bites down onto the right lever near his face, causing the wings to shift, and us to change course to the right. The beam flies right passed us, as I can feel the extreme heat from the magic.

“You need her to shoot the ceiling, Scrap! Not us!” The creature yells from under me at the bottom of the rope.

“Nothing to worry about my two-legged friend! I’ve got this under control!” Scrap proceeds to fly circles around Princess Twilight as she continues to fire her beams of magic without success. He flies over her head, as she furiously fires a ray of magic up at the ceiling. The glass shatters, and the shards rain down onto the princess and break apart into even smaller pieces onto the floor. I watch as Princess Twilight casts an orb of violet magic around herself, and the shards of glass break apart once they come into contact with it. Scrap hurriedly flies us through the roof and into the storm. Dangling from the rope, I look back at the castle with images of my Mother and Father flashing in my head.

“Mom. . . Dad. . .” I mutter to myself. “I’m coming back. I promise.” Just when I feel like we’ve finally escaped Princess Twilight, I watch in horror as she flies out from the broken rooftop, and is soaring directly towards us. “H-How fast can this thing go?!” I yell to Scrap with my eyes fearfully locked onto Princess Twilight.

“Uh. . ! I’m not too sure actually!”

“Now, that’s reassuring!” The creature shouts sarcastically.

“Just keep flying, Scrap! We need to try and lose her!” Harra advises.

“Oh, really? Why don’t we bring her with us? We can have dinner, and—”

“Scrap!” Both the creature and Harra shout in unison.

“Alright, I’m on it!” Scrap salutes. Scrap flies us higher into the sky, so high that the roar of the thunder pounds onto my ears unbearably so. I reluctantly take a look down as the villages and forests become smaller and smaller, then turn my attention away from the ground as I realize how foolish it was to look. Being up so high almost feels like being in a completely different world. I always wondered what it would be like to be a Pegasus, and now that I’m up here, I dearly wish I was back on the ground. Constantly switching between the two levers, Scrap causes us to fly in a serpent-like motion. Beams of violet magic continue to fly by, each one only coming close to skimming us. In a flash of bright light, a streak of lightning bolts downward from the nearby clouds. Frightened, Scrap nearly loses control as we dip downward for a brief moment, but instantly brings us back up.

“Scrap?! Are you alright up there?!” Harra asks.

“Y-Yeah! Everything’s just fine. . ! I’ve got an idea!”

“What idea?!” Without answering, Scrap flies us upward even further into the dark clouds. It’s hard to look up at him as the rain pelts my face. The wind and rain are so deathly cold that I almost feel frozen onto the rope, but my body is pulsing with so much adrenaline that I barely even notice the cold. I can suddenly feel my heart leap into my throat as Scrap does a loop through the clouds. Upside down, we all shriek as loud as we can, but the intense sounds of the storm surpass our voices. Princess Twilight soars right underneath us at excessive speeds as she irritably looks back at us. Scrap completes the loop, and flies downward from the clouds until the trees and villages below come back into view. “Scrap! We’re getting too close! You need to bring us up!”

“I’m . . . trying!” Despite what he says, and no matter how much he finagles with his controls, we continue our descent towards the forest. “I-I can’t! Brace for impact!” We fly through the tree tops as leaves and branches scrape us, and Scrap nearly flies right into the trunk of a tree. He’s able to just barely steer himself out of the way, but one of his wings busts apart against the trunk. He spins out of control, and the rest of us lose our grip on the rope. I skid and tumble over the forest floor through bushes and the like until I come to a painful stop. With my entire body in agony, I lift my head out from the mud and search for any sign of Scrap, Harra or the creature. I struggle to get to my hooves as my legs quiver from the pain in my knees.

“Scrap. . ! Harra. . .!” I shout.

“Officer!” I hear Harra’s voice cry out from behind me. I turn around and am thankful to see Harra and the creature, but they both appear to be in dire pain as they hobble towards me. The creature has one arm clutching its gut, and the other around Harra as she helps it walk whilst struggling herself.

“Harra, please,” the creature mumbles. “I can walk on my own. Allow me to aid you.”

“You are in no condition to walk, Orin. Just let me help.” I limp over to join them, and they look to me with concern. “I’m happy to see you’re okay.”

“Y-Yeah, same to you,” I say as a sharp pain causes me to stammer.

“Where is Scrap?”

“I . . . I’m not sure. . . Scrap!” I call.

“Scrap!” The other two join in.

“Over here!” Scrap calls out from some distance away. We follow his voice until we find him laying face down on the ground with his wings completely busted up.

“Oh no, Scrap!” says Harra as the three of us hurry as fast as we can to Scrap’s side. “Quick, we need to get this contraption off of him.” Harra and the creature grab hold of the broken wings and lift Scrap up from the mud. I kneel down and wipe some of the mud off the straps keeping the device tied to him, and undo the buckles which allows Harra and the creature to remove the contraption from Scrap’s back.

“Scrap, how are you feeling?” I ask.

“I’m feeling just fine, Officer Pancakes. . .” Scrap says clearly disoriented and in agony. “How about you guys?”

“We didn’t fare too well,” says Harra. “But we’re almost free. We just need to get to the raft.”

“Raft?” I ask. “You live overseas? That would explain why I’ve never seen any of your kind around before. How far away is your homeland?”

“It’s not too far. Once we’re out at sea, you’ll be able to see our island on the horizon.”

“Say, is the princess still looking for us?” Scrap asks.

“No,” Harra looks up to the sky. “I think we’ve lost her.”

“Good. Because I don’t think we’re going to be flying again any time soon.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you can build another.” Harra helps Scrap to his hooves. “I’ll take us to the raft. It’s not too far from here.”

“Thankfully we landed where we needed to be,” the creature comments.

“Yup! That was my plan all along,” says Scrap as the four of us trek through the forest. The shower of rain seems to be easing some of the pain, making it slightly more bearable to walk over this rugged terrain. Harra appears to be infatuated with the trees as she continuously glances around at every tree around us. She appears to be saddened by them and even in a great deal of discomfort.

“Harra, what’s the matter?” I ask.

“This forest. . .” She begins. “It has such very little life left in it.”

“I agree. They’ve been looking worse and worse.”

“Not only that, but can’t you just feel the agony this forest is in? It’s crying out for help, but no one’s been listening. Never have I seen anything quite like this. . . It’s horrible.” I am suddenly alerted by a shadow breaking through the moonlight overhead, followed by the deep sound of flapping wings. I quickly look upward to perhaps catch what it could have possibly been, but there’s nothing. “What’s the matter, Officer?”

“I could have sworn there was something flying over us.”

“Oh, please don’t tell me that nutcase of a princess found us.” Scrap groans.

“I’m not too sure what it was.”

“Yeah, like that’s supposed to make me feel better.” With my eyes still glued to the stormy sky, I catch sight of a winged creature through the towering trees flying under the moon.

“There! Did you see it?” I turn to Harra as I notice she’s turned her attention away from the sky.

“What?” She asks. “What was it?”

“It looked like some kind of bird. . . I haven’t seen a bird around here in quite some time.”

“Perhaps it’s a good sign.” The winged creature comes back within sight, this time appearing much larger than before. However, instead of simply passing by the moon, it appears to be diving down straight for us. My eyes are hypnotically drawn to the creature’s luminescent, golden eyes that pierce right through the darkness. It reveals its sleek, sharp talons as the beating of its wings causes the trees to shake and shudder crazily.

“You call that ‘good’?!” Scrap yells.

“Move!” The two-legged creature shouts as it shoves me away from the winged creature’s path. It, along with the others leap, out of the way and grunt as they hit the ground on their bellies. The winged beast’s talons rip right through the trees and scrape the ground leaving behind enormous gashes in the soil. I listen as many of the trees around us creak and crack as they fall to the ground, and pieces of dirt tap the metal of my armor. Now awoken from my mesmerized state, I watch as the winged beast flies off into the distance. I then turn to the creature as it looks to me in fear, and I realize that it had just saved my life. “Are you alright, Officer?”

“Y-Yes. . .” I stammer. “Thank you.”

“Guys, I know we had a close call there,” says Scrap. “But we might want to hurry up and get to the raft; because I don’t think that thing is quite done with us yet!” He yells and points his hoof to the sky. I look back in the direction I thought it had left to. Only to find it coming back around for another attack.

“Run!” Harra screams. Instantly, we move as fast as we can through the woods as the winged creature decimates a large portion of the forest behind us. Shards of bark and wood fly passed my face, and an ominous wail echoes throughout the woods.

“What even is that monstrosity?!”

“It appears to be a horned owl! Only . . . this one’s about a thousand times the size of what it should be!”

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.” As the enormous owl cries, followed by the sounds of destruction following closely behind us, I can hear the gratifying sounds of the shore. Emerging from the wall of trees, in pain and panic, I spot the raft built from logs of wood resting on the sand. “There she is! Oh, thank Celestia!”

“We need to get it out into the water! Quickly!” All of us surround the raft, getting a grip on its sides as we push with all of our might. My hooves sink through the wet sand, making it difficult to keep myself steady. The cold, icy water of the ocean reaches up to my waist as my body shivers intensely. “Everyone climb aboard!” She orders as we climb up onto the rickety raft. Harra then opens up a sail of sticking up from the center of the raft made from huge leaves that I’ve never seen on any plant that I know of. The creature picks up an oar resting on the uneven surface of the raft, and starts to paddle us further into the water. Freezing from the wind blowing across my damp fur, I turn to watch as we drift away from Equestria, and the owl circles around without a clue as to where we are.

“I think it lost us!” I attempt to yell over the sounds of the storm combined with the ocean’s waves, which are growing more violent the further out we go.

“Last time we thought that, it came right back!” Scrap shouts as he removes and wipes clean his glass lens.

“Officer! Look!” Harra urges as she crawls across the raft pointing her hoof towards the horizon. “You can see our home just over there!” I sit beside her, trying desperately to see what she’s talking about; but the rain makes it difficult to see just about anything out there. Not only that, but the ocean’s waves are forcing our raft to rock uncontrollably.

“I. . ! I can’t see anything!” I shout.

“Guys! It’s coming back!” Scrap panics. Harra and I turn to see the owl is indeed heading straight for us as its cry overwhelms the sounds of the storm, rattling me to my core. “What are we supposed to do now?!” Scrap and the creature look to me, then we all look to Harra unsure as to what to do next. However, as she helplessly glances between the three of us, I can tell that she is just as clueless as we are. She opens her mouth as if ready to speak, but is unable to form words. Her eyes widen as she looks ahead of us, and we all turn around to see the owl spread its monstrous wings as its talons glide along the ocean’s surface, creating a huge wave coming straight towards us. We all scream at the top of our lungs as it barely misses our raft by only busting up the side of it, causing all of us to nearly fall overboard. However, our raft is being lifted high up by the wave, launching us helplessly into the air. I plummet into the icy waters, desperately trying to swim back up to the surface. Everything around me is becoming darker as the weight of my armor is pulling me down into the depths. My heart pounds and my lungs are in urgent need for air as I frantically try to unbuckle my armor. As soon as I get the buckle loosened, I easily slip out from my armor and paddle my hooves to reach the surface. Popping my head up above the water, I take in a much needed breath of air, but also end up choking on a gulp of salty seawater that gets caught in my mouth. Multiple flashes of lightning flash before my eyes before I am engulfed by the sea once again. I find myself unable to swim anywhere as I am swallowed by the ocean’s current. Everything is blackening, and I can feel my energy slowly draining until I can’t bring myself to struggle any longer.