Fire and Shadows

“Gee, how far is it?!” Cozy whines for the umpteenth time. “I thought this was a shortcut!”

“It is,” I groan. “It’s just taking longer because we’ve got all of this stuff with us.” I’m carrying a ton of camping equipment.

“Golly, this is taking forever. Starlight, are we nearly there yet?”

“Almost, and I mean it this time,” she replies.

“Gee, thank goodness.”

We continue walking in silence for ten more minutes - well, we’re all silent except for Cozy, who continues telling us that this shouldn’t be taking so long - then the cavern we’ve been walking through for ages splits off in two directions, and Starlight takes us through the passage to the left.

The passage opens up into a large cave, well lit by magical crystals lining the walls. I wish that the light wasn’t so bright, though, because I can see all of the gruesome injuries each pony has. Cuts from large weapons, burns all over, one colt sitting near me with a wound on his foreleg so deep I can see the bone. There’s a lot of coughing and groaning and crying, and I can hear somepony throwing up somewhere, probably a side effect of inhaling a large amount of smoke.

The luckier ponies are desperately trying to help their loved ones, but don’t have the right knowledge or equipment to do much. I feel a lump rising in my own throat as I watch a mare and stallion quickly throw the remains of a bedsheet over the lifeless body of a small filly, covered from head to hooves in burns. She can’t have been any older than five before she… Before they did this to her and everypony else.

“Oh my Celestia,” I gasp.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” she says, grimacing.

“They… They did this…”

Other ponies begin filing into the cave, and they all react with as much shock as I
did. Even though a few of us here have seen what they can do, nopony expected the Solar Guards to be this brutal to a peaceful village of unarmed ponies.

I walk down the path of sorts in the centre of the cave, trying not to look at the faces of the ponies who need so much more than I can give. Slowly, the villagers realise that they’re no longer alone, and raise their heads to look at us. There are whispers that raise in volume to excited, hopeful chatter, then one filly taps my hoof as I pass to attract my attention. I look down at her with curiosity.

“Are you… the Queen?” She wonders. “Moonlight Shade? From the Crystal Empire?”

I put down all of the bags I’m carrying and take off my helmet, smiling at her. “Yes, I am.”

“Why are you here?”

“Because nopony deserves to go through what you went through, and we want to help put things right again.”

Tears well up in her eyes. I sit down next to her, and she hugs me. Somewhere in the background, I hear a snap snap snap and recognise flashes from a camera. Cozy is very sneaky and happy to monopolise any situation, but if this helps to get the word out, then she can take as many pictures as she likes.

“Guards, we need to sort out everything that we’ve brought with us,” Skywalker orders. “All those capable of aiding the injured, do so. The others that remain, form a defensive perimeter. Don’t get caught and inform of any move the enemy does.”

I get up and help shift some of the lighter items that we can carry. We make two piles: one for the things everypony will need the most in the next twenty-four hours, and one for everything else.

Skywalker and a few others have some basic medical knowledge and try to triage the patients who need it the most. By the time we’ve finished all of that, Sombra is back with a second group of ponies, and this time Radiant Hope and Wishbone have arrived. Whilst all of the guards are busy running around working like clockwork to move all of the stuff, I decide to speak to some of the ponies with the most severe injuries.

I soon find out who was sick when we arrived: Double Diamond, a stallion with a white coat and mane and blue eyes who I remember talking to the last time I visited. He’s having trouble breathing and laying in an unsettling amount of blood too, and Wish goes over to him to assess him.

I walk over to him just as I hear Wish saying that he should be in a hospital. He’s got several deep wounds all over him, including a cut that barely missed his left eye.

“Am I - will I live?” he asks slowly, his voice incredibly hoarse.

“It’s not looking great,” Wish admits as she moves him away from the disgusting pool of blood and vomit and onto a pile of old blankets. “Even in the Crystal Empire’s hospitals there isn’t the technology needed to help ponies in this condition. My main concern is the bleeding, since there’s not much I can do for your lungs without using a lot of magic.”

“What are the chances of me getting through this?”

She starts dipping bandages in a medicine that I’ve seen her use before. It stops wounds from becoming infected and allows them to close quickly. “If you make it through today, you should be fine, but right now I’m not going to say anything.” She wraps a bandage around his head to cover the large cut near his eye.

“Tell me,” he demands.

Finally, she says, “About twenty percent.”

He shrugs. “Not terrible. I’ve known ponies with worse odds live to tell the tale after skiing accidents.”

“Feel free to prove me wrong, Diamond. It would make my day.” She finishes wrapping a bandage around a wound on his hind leg, and moves on to another patient.

“What happened?” I muster the courage to ask.

“Fought a few guards, survived a fire, nothing much,” he tries to brush off my concerns.

“I know, but…” I grab some paper, a quill and a pot of ink from my saddlebags. I take the lid off the ink pot and dip the quill into the blue liquid. “I want Equestria to know the whole story.”

He has a slight coughing fit. I start to panic but he manages to catch his breath. “I was the first pony who heard the guards marching towards the village,” he says. I begin scribbling away. “Starlight’s been worrying about what Celestia might do if she finds out about the Cutie Mark Vault for the last few weeks, so I’ve been staying up late and keeping the windows open. That’s how I heard them.

“I didn’t bother Starlight because I didn’t think I’d need to. Night Glider and a few others were awake, and we met the guards at the edge of the village. They said there were ponies in the village who’d been talking to you, so they’d come to arrest them. They read out a list of names. My name was one of them.”

“What happened then?”

“I tried to run off, but a few armed guards rounded us up. The others walked into the village, knocking on doors. But when everypony saw who it was they didn’t answer. The guards got fed up and I heard somepony say that if nopony would leave their houses they’d force everypony out. That’s when the fires started.”

“Oh Celestia.”

“Night Glider lost it and started fighting the guards who’d captured us. We all earned a few injuries - some idiot with a sword tried to take my eye out - but we managed to get away from them. My house wasn’t on fire, so I grabbed a few scarves so we could stop ourselves breathing in the smoke. I started going into houses to rescue ponies, and telling them to hide in these caves.” He pauses. “I didn’t save everypony though. There was one house that I went inside but I was too late to help. The second one was blown up.” He stops again. “They were good friends.”

“Oh my goodness, I’m sorry.” I stop writing and sigh to myself. How is it that Celestia can ‘love’ everypony in Equestria, but be so cruel at the same time?!

“Please, worry about the ponies you can still save.”

“That’s you as well, don’t forget. You’ve got a twenty percent chance. You’ll survive.”

“You think so?”

I grin. “I need you to. Nopony else will teach me how to ski. If I went to a resort anywhere in Equestria I’d either be kicked out or held there for questioning, and outside of the Crystal Empire the storms are too powerful. Knowing my luck I’d be buried under an avalanche.”

“Good point,” he laughs. He coughs again, but this time it isn’t as bad. I’m still worried about him, though. But wait, what am I doing?! For the past year I’ve been living with ponies who are all experienced in healing magic. I remember Cozy saying something about Grogar creating dark magic so he could use it to become immortal, and I’ve seen Sombra heal some nasty-looking cuts in the past, so if one of us could use the right spell…

“I wonder.” I smile at him. “You don’t mind the idea of me or King Sombra using dark magic on you, do you?”

“Um… Why do you ask?”

“Just thinking about different ways to help you out.” I glance in Sombra’s direction as he arrives with the third and final group of Crystal Guards joining us and wave at him. He trots over to us.

“Sombra, this is Double Diamond,” I say. “Do you happen to know some miracle spell that could help his lungs so he can breathe normally again?”

“I do, but there are a few problems. The first is that Starlight doesn’t want anypony using magic if they can help it. Second, it may look simple, but to cast a spell like that you have to have some knowledge of pony anatomy and how everything should work once the spell is complete. Finally, I am reluctant to use it because it is painful for the patient,” he explains.

He coughs, “Your Majesty, it can’t hurt as much as my lungs giving up on me.”

“And it can’t take that much magic for it to work,” I protest. “And you were taught by Amoré of all ponies when you were younger.”

“Fine, but allow me to remind both of you that I gave you fair warning.” He casts the spell, and for some reason his magic forces him to reveal his purple Umbrum form. Diamond’s eyes grow wide with the pain. He bites his lip in a futile effort to stop himself from yelling. Everypony looks at the three of us in surprise.

“Gah, son of a-”

“And this is how I am rewarded for helping you to breathe again.” Sombra frowns slightly as he finally stops using his magic and switches back to his pony form. “You owe your life to me, and all I receive in return for saving it is a rather unnecessary and rude comment? I wonder why I bother.”

I can barely keep a straight face.

“Sombra, if you’re trying to make yourself look like an idiot, it’s working,” I giggle.

He glares at me, but everypony else starts laughing as they realise that he was joking. He shakes his head. “And Celestia still thinks I am a danger to society.”

“You are a danger to society, Sombra. Just in a different way to what she thinks.”

“Be careful how you speak to me.”

“I don’t need to be, because I know I can get away with it.”

He sighs and rolls his eyes at me.

“Wow, I… Thank you, Your Majesty,” Diamond says to Sombra. His voice is no longer hoarse from the smoke, but sounds full of life.

“You’re welcome. I am glad to help at least one pony through this ordeal.”

I smile at Sombra, all of my doubts vanishing. He’s a kind, caring pony, and I know he loves me. Radiant Hope just doesn’t know where her boundaries are.

Starlight seems upset, so I walk through the makeshift path in the centre of the cave to where she’s standing at the entrance. “Hey, Starlight,” I greet her.

“No no no no no! Moonlight, they’re going to find us! All I did earlier was teleport a few times and they used it to find us! Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Double Diamond’s fine, but if we’re not careful then we’re all going to be caught!”

“Stop panicking, it’s fine. This time there’s a few ponies who can fight. Is this the only way in and out of this cave?”

“There’s two other exits, but only one or two ponies can get through at a time.”

“As long as we can get out we’ll be fine, Starlight.”

“No, we won’t. They’re strong, and fast, and more ponies have arrived since this morning. That spell King Sombra used was powerful, and they’ll be able to trace where it came from. They’ll arrive in less than an hour!”

“I assume there’s a problem, ladies?” Skywalker asks us as he approaches.

“Sort of,” I tell him. “Things are a little slow around here, but Celestia’s sent more of her friends to come and sort us out, so do you fancy going hunting for Solar Guards?”

“Depends,” He answers. “How many of them are there?”

“Probably close to a hundred,” Starlight admits. “And that was a few hours ago.”

“Hmm… how many are our forces formed by?” He turns at me.

“Um,” I say. “Thinking about it, there won’t be enough of us to defend this cave if any of us leave. I’m just worried that we’ll end up stuck in here with no way out.”

“I see…” he murmurs. “You mentioned another two exits, Ms. Starlight?”

She nods. “One goes straight out onto the mountainside, another is connected to a cavern. But only a few ponies can get through at a time. If this main exit is blocked…” She sighs, “You don’t know what you’re up against. They’re brutal.”

He chuckles ironically before a brief cough interrupts him. “Well, you’re talking to an expert here, Ma’am.”

Then, his sight is directed towards the main entrance and two elevated positions on either side of it. “If we position some guards in the main entrance to distract the principal enemy forces, I could get some of our troops up there and set up an ambush.” His head turns at us. “We might not win, but we’ll give enough time for everyone to evacuate.”

“And where do we go after that?” she questions him. “We can’t go back to the village, and all that they’ll keep doing is chasing us from one cave to the next. We won’t be able to run forever.”

“I suggest you go to the tunnel that leads to the mountainside,” The Colonel interrupts. “When you’re there, use a teleportation spell to get to the Empire. Both my second and third in command are ready for anything, they’ll guarantee your people’s safety.”

“There’s enough space for everypony there. We managed to look after a thousand changelings for half a week, so you’ll be fine.” I assure her. “Once the Solar Guards have left, we’ll be able to start rebuilding your village.”

“Wow,” she says. “Maybe I misjudged you.” She facehoofs. “I’m sorry. Even after everything I’ve said and done to try and get ponies to treat each other equally-”

“It’s fine, Ma’am,” Skywalker tells her, smiling warmly. “Ponykind’s nature makes us all commit mistakes; you aren’t the first one to judge a book by its cover.”

“I can imagine,” she laughs, then she looks around at the guards.

Skywalker gives a shrill whistle, and the guards closest to us look at him.

“If we could speak with Their Majesties and the rest of the volunteers, I’d appreciate it.”

All of the guards/soldiers - except for a few who are helping Wishbone and Hope treat some of the most severely injured - plus Sombra trot over to us, and we walk back to the tunnel. Starlight joins us, and I make sure we’re out of earshot of the rest of the already worried ponies before I begin speaking.

“We have to leave. Now.” I explain. “I know we just brought all of these resources here but the Solar Guards are on their way and there’s more arriving every other minute.”

“I see,” says Sombra. “And there is no way of staying on this mountainside? There is potential to not only rebuild the village but also create a fortified military base. It would ensure that the village remains protected and also give us an advantage against Celestia.”

“I must interrupt you right there, sir.” Skywalker interjects. “Our priority is the injured: some are in need of serious medical aid, which could only be given in the Empire. Besides, we don’t have enough forces to establish a provisional outpost, we’re currently low in number, supplies are limited, and as Her Majesty has already pointed out, there’ll be more Solar Guards on their way.” He sighs. “We can always come back, but we’ll need more troops and better strategies.”

Sombra nods. “I understand. So all of the guards will defend this cave whilst the rest of us take the injured back to the Crystal Empire?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Sombra looks at me. “Moonlight, once you are back in the Crystal Empire, I want you to stay there.”

“And miss all of the fun?” I ask, incredulous.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Skywalker replies. “Same goes for you, King Sombra. You both are far too important to be fighting a bunch of Solar Guards; you’ve already risked too much by coming here, so you better go with the others while we distract the enemy.”

I grin at Sombra and watch as his face falls. He was planning on staying behind and fighting as well. I guess there’s always that magic mirror, though.

“So, do we have an agreement, Your Majesties?”

I nod. “Yes. Now, let’s get everypony here back to the Crystal Empire whilst we’re all in one piece. It’s bad enough that not everypony made it through last night. The last thing we need is another group of ponies to lose their lives.”

Cozy hovers above my head, holding a magazine. “You haven’t seen this, have you?”

“First of all, where did you get it from?”

“Starlight dropped it earlier and there wasn’t anything helpful I could do at the time. Not to burst your bubble, but the Solar Guards are going haywire pretty much everywhere. Look.” She shows the front page to me.

Harmony Magazine

********************************

“DEVASTATING”: BAT PONY ALLEGED TO BE KILLED BY COLTFRIEND IS NAMED: GOLDEN SUNSET

A young mare with her life ahead of her, found in a horrifying state at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Golden Sunset’s family are claiming her coltfriend - who currently works in the Solar Guard - is to blame, but we will not know if this is true until the court hearing later this week. An inquiry is being carried out into when and how she died, and the evidence found will decide whether or not the unnamed Solar Guard will be convicted.

“Oh my goodness,” I cry.

My eyes widen as I look at the front page; on it, there is a picture of a sandy-coloured bat mare with a dark red mane. Even worse is the fact that she used to live in the Everfree Forest and I met her by the time I lived there. I didn’t get to know her well, but there had been some exchange of words between us and I also had a bit of fun playing cards with her, and she was only nineteen, for Celestia’s sake! She was still technically a teenager!

I tell the others, “We need to get moving now. But I have a feeling that there’s going to be a lot more ponies looking for our help at this rate.”