Twilight and the rest of her friends opened the door of the balloon where several other ponies were waiting for them. These ponies were all wearing similar uniforms, grey colored jackets with brass colored buttons, and patches on both sleeves with a six-pointed silver star symbol on it. The sleeves themselves only went halfway down the forehooves, and the ponies also had grey pants covering their other halves.

The ponies were also varied, being a mixture of Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi, and a mix of Stallions and Mares.

Twilight and her friends stepped forward, out of the balloon, and were stopped by one of the ponies.

"We are the negotiating party from Equestria, we are expected." Twilight said, noticing that a few of the pony guards looked a little on edge, with their guns at the ready.

"Yes, you are expected. Follow me closely, and no wandering off." The guard said, motioning to the other guards to stand down.

Twilight glanced back at her friends, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all had stern looks, while the other looked worried, especially Fluttershy, who looked like she was about to cry, until she was comforted by Pinkie. Eventually, the group began to follow the guard into the compound.

As they made their way past the countless ponies on their way to the leader, Twilight began to think about what she learned about Kashmir Valley when Celestia gave her this mission.

Twilight had gone through practically her entire library for all she could learn about the valley. According to what she found, Kashmir Valley existed long before Equestria had been established. It was originally a mostly uninhabited region, mostly made up of scattered farms and pastures. However, after Equestria was established away from the Valley, it became more inhabited by all kinds of creatures like Ponies, Zebras, Griffons, and many others.

However, the really interesting facts she found were from recent books from around 30 years ago, when a group calling themselves the "Order of the Iron" came into the Valley and took control of it. However, for some reason or another, Twilight couldn't find much information beyond that.

The compound was bustling with ponies as they made their way through several corridors, passing rooms carrying bunk beds, some rooms with medical supplies, kitchens, and training rooms. All the while, seeing the six-point emblem everywhere.

Eventually, the group reached a large double door with the emblem on it. The guard escorting the group stopped and turned.

"Go on in, the council will see you now." the guard said, motioning for the group to enter. Twilight turned to her friends, and received a nod from each of them before entering the room.

Upon opening the door, they entered a large room that resembled a conference room. Directly in front of them sat a large table, with 7 spaces on the other side of it. to their right was a large lit fireplace along with a few windows, showing the sun setting over the mountains in the distance. To their left was another door with an emblem on it.

The group walked to the center of the room when a voice spoke.

"Halt. That's far enough." the voice was husky, and sounded like the voice from the transmission. Then, the chair positioned in the center of the table spun around, revealing an old Earth Pony stallion sitting their, the fire to the side casting a shadow across his light grey coat. He wore an eye-patch over his left eye, and he was smoking a cigar.

"Hello, you must be the leader here, correct?" Twilight asked. She then glanced over her shoulder, where she saw the worried looks on her friends faces.

"I am, you may call me, Iron Fist. I am the leader of the Order of the Iron, and ruler of Kashmir Valley. You must be the negotiating party that Sun-Butt sent over her little Zeppelin." Iron Fist said condescendingly. Twilight was slightly taken aback by Iron Fists attitude and foul way he referred to Celestia, she even heard Rarity audibly gasp.

"Yes we are. We are ready to begin Negotiations." Twilight said. Iron Fist nodded and clapped his hooves together, and the remaining 6 chairs at the table spun around to reveal six more ponies, 3 mares, and 3 stallions. "Let us begin the negotiations, shall we?" Iron Fist said.

"First, we need to be sure that everypony who survived the crash is safe, are they?" Twilight asked. Iron Fist removed the cigar from his mouth and placed it into an ash tray on the table.

"I pulled 42 living ponies from the wreckage, and 2 dead ones, both were adult stallions wearing crew uniforms." Iron Fist said.

"Okay, three of my friends here.." Twilight began, motioning to Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, "..their sisters were on that ship, they would like to know if they're okay." Twilight said.

"What were their names?" Iron Fist asked.

"Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo." Twilight said. Iron Fist then nodded to the stallion sitting at the far left side of the table, and he got up and left the room.

"They are all fine, but now, I want to know how much Celestia is willing to give us for their freedom." Iron Fist said as he leaned back in his chair. This made Rainbow Dash furious, and she flew to the front of the group.

"What! Why do we need to give you the bits? Why can't you just let them go? Their innocent in all this!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Iron Fist scoffed.

"They were the ones foolish enough to not heed the warning my soldiers gave them. I've even sent letters to Celestia in the past about Kashmir Valley's restricted airspace, but does she listen, no." Iron Fist said as he stood up from his chair. Twilight placed a hoof on Dash's shoulder and calmed her down.

"We've brought 1,000 bits with us. Celestia said this should be enough." Twilight said, nodding to Starlight, who levitated the bag over to the table and dropped it onto it.

Before Iron Fist could say anything, the door on the left side of the room opened, and the stallion from before entered, escorting a very scared looking Sweetie Bell.

"Rarity!" Sweetie Bell cried as she rushed to her sister and embraced her. Iron Fist then cleared his throat after looking at the bits on the table.

"I'm sorry, but this isn't enough." Iron Fist said coldly.

"What?!" The three older sisters of the group said, with Rarity holding her sister tightly.

"Why? What will be enough for you to let them go?" Applejack shouted angrily. Iron Fist then slammed his hoof onto the table.

"Because, one, this isn't enough to compensate for the damage that your country's stupid Zeppelin caused, and two, I've decided to go in a different direction with the help of you all." Iron Fist explained. Then, from the door behind the group, several guards entered the room.

"You see, me and Celestia have had a long, troubling history, and I've been trying to get her off my ass, and with the help of you all, I could send her a "better message"." Iron Fist said with a smirk. Twilight gulped

"I'll still take the bits though, thank you so much. Now, guards, DETAIN THEM!" Iron Fist commanded. And all Tartarus broke loose.

Twilight turned and saw the guards rush to her friends. She saw a net get tossed over Fluttershy, two guards pull Rarity and Sweetie Bell apart, one guard strike Starlight in the head with the stock of a gun, and other guards overpower the rest. Twilight then attempted to use a teleport spell to get them all out of there.

Her horn lit, and there was a flash, but when Twilight opened her eyes, her friends weren't there, and she wasn't even out of the building. She was in the middle of a hallway. On one end, the doors flew open, and a few guards entered the hallway and saw her.

"Hey, stop right there!" one of the guards shouted. Twilight wasted no time, and turned and ran down the hall, making several turns and passing by several rooms before getting to another pair of double doors.

She busted straight through the doors and found herself in some kind of bedroom, with a pair of double doors leading out to a balcony. Twilight immediately rushed for the balcony and leaped into the air to fly away. But she heard the guards behind her. She heard the guards shouting before shots began to be fired. Then she felt it.

She felt a sharp pain in her right wing, and a squirt of blood splashed onto her face and she screamed in pain. Then then began to plummet, she looked down and saw a river, and her vision began to fade as she fell farther and farther, until finally, she hit the water.

(Here's some music to set the tone.)

Twilight's vision continued to fade in and out as she kept trying to break the water's surface, as she continued to float down the river as the current pushed her.

She had a million thoughts running through her head, what happened? Where were her friends? Why did this happen? How did this happen? All these questions kept clouding her vision.

She kept struggling to keep herself afloat, gasping for air every time she broke the surface. The river turned red with blood from her bullet wound, and she felt herself drifting further and further downstream, and even further from consciousness.

She almost went completely out, until she felt something grab her and pull her ashore onto the riverbank. She felt hooves flip her onto her back and inspect her wing.

"Oh, you poor thing! Don't worry, I'll help you, just stay with me." The voice said. Twilight didn't recognize it, but it sounded like a mare. She then felt herself get picked up, and she lost consciousness.

The Valley

Written by CeasarTwain31

Author's Note

Yeah, if you couldn't see the Far Cry comparisons before, I'll bet you see em now. Anyway, Hope you enjoy! :)