Equestrian War

Along with the borders that kept races from visiting each other, Neighsay had also created a peace agency. These soldiers were trained to keep everyone from breaking the new laws. If they caught anyone trying to pass secrets, then they would restrain them against a post and lash them with a whip. If someone were caught just once, they would only get 20 lashes and have welts. If they were being caught often, then they would get between 30 or 40 lashes.

If they were not stopping, then they would get lashed 10 times with an even worse whip, called the cat-of-nine-tails. This was worse than the original whip because it had sharp pieces that cut the skin. To increase the agony, they would be sloshed with saltwater. If the peace agency caught anyone trying to escape, they would shoot them to death.

After 16 years of watching the residents of the land kill each other, Cadence had had enough. She got together with Shining Armor and Flurry Heart to discuss an escape plan.

“We are getting out of here.” she said quietly one night.

Flurry Heart joined hooves with her mom in acceptance, and Shining Armor began packing survival gear for the three of them. Even if they got out unseen, they still had one major obstacle. Everyone was ordered to have tracking probes put in their front legs. If the peace agents saw any radar signals outside a border, they would open fire to kill whoever was getting away. Shining determined that if they removed the trackers and destroyed them, they could get out without being seen on radar.

The snowstorms came to their close on the day that the three planned to run.

“At last, I can bring them to Sector One.” Neighsay said.

He sent the trains to the Crystal Empire, and everyone was ordered onto the train. The guards noticed there were three ponies missing, which led to the alarm being raised. They began searching for the three no-shows, but they only found the destroyed trackers.

“Admiral, we have rebels. They have removed their trackers and destroyed them.” one of the peace agents reported.

Neighsay ordered a search party to look further for them, but they found nothing. They eventually gave up, assuming that the three ponies had died. Neighsay refused to believe that they were dead and had “WANTED” posters placed. They were wrong of course, because Cadence had led her husband and daughter miles away from the boundary line. Three days later, they had stopped to rest, when they heard the sounds of propellers and a bright light shown on them. Three rescue harnesses came down on cables with a note on one.

“If you seek to stop Neighsay, come with us. Signed Luna and Celestia.”

Cheering, they put on the harnesses and were raised up into the aircraft. During the flight to the base, Cadence nearly fell off the aircraft while over Canterlot. Neighsay spotted her through binoculars and ordered the craft to be shot down. When this happened, Flurry Heart released a smokescreen from the exhaust to blind the gunners. They made it back to the base without any other casualties.