35: Hope, Part 2
"Next stop, Canterlot! Canterlot is the next stop!"
The call from the conductor sounded through the train, and as the train pulled into Canterlot Station two ponies watched as a certain orange mare disembarked the train. Both ponies got up and followed Applejack as she navigated her way through the crowded platform, one of them having to stay far behind due to his massive size. The other pony was afforded the luxury of getting closer to AJ thanks to her stealth, but when both ponies saw her bump into a certain stallion they threw away all attempts of remaining covert and ran as fast as they could to save her.
Unfortunately, the two ponies ran right into each other first.
"Oompf! Sorry 'bout tha- Nightshade?" Big Mac asked in surprise.
Nightshade's eyes went wide with surprise that somepony actually recognized her. "Big... Macintosh?" she said slowly, still somewhat in shock
"What're ya doin' here? Shouldn' ya be with Twilight?" he asked her.
Nightshade immediately went on the defensive. "She's in Cloudsdale, so I couldn't go with her. And it's none of your business! Shouldn't you be back on that farm?"
"Shouldn'you be back at Twilight's library?" Big Mac shot back.
Both ponies butted heads, growling in frustration. All the ponies around them backed away from them, a few of them rushing off to alert the guards that a fight was about to break out. However, Nightshade and Big Mac were oblivious to everything around them, their concentration solely on the other.
"Woah, back up everypony! What's going on here- Nightshade? Big Mac?"
Both ponies looked over and saw Shining Armor flanked by two of his bodyguards. "What are you two doing? Big Mac, you're not supposed to be back here." Shining cautioned them.
Nightshade immediately backed down as she recognized the husband of the pony she had previously been tasked to protect, however, Big Mac showed no hints of calming down. As Shining's two guards prepared themselves to take down the larger red stallion Shining stepped forward and placed a reassuring hoof on Big Mac's shoulder.
"Look, Big Mac, I know you're Applejack's brother, but even I can't get you out of trouble again." Shining Armor said calmly. "I understand how upset and worried you are about your special somepony, but breaking into someplace won't help anything."
"We're actually following Applejack." Nightshade interrupted, glancing back at the last place she had seen her. Big Mac simply nodded in agreement.
"Really? I didn't see her get off the train. And why would you two be follow- hey!" Shining Armor exclaimed. As he had been pondering why these two would need to be following AJ, Nightshade and Big Mac had realized that Polaris and Applejack had gone off who knows where, and in a panic rushed off to try to catch up to them.
"Oh for Celestia's sake... let's go!" Shining commanded his two guards. All three of them rushed after Big Mac and Nightshade, hoping to stop them before they did anything that would get them thrown in jail for their actions.
Pushing aside any pony unfortunate enough to get in their way, Big Mac and Nightshade ran at full speed through the streets of Canterlot. They had no idea where AJ and Polaris had gone off to, but their gut feeling told them to head straight for Polaris's house.
They were almost right.
As Big Mac and Nightshade neared their destination, they heard a commotion over on the steps leading to the entrance of Celestia's castle. Their curiosity getting the better of them, they took a small detour to see what was going on, but then charged full speed ahead once they saw what was going on.
"Git off me, ya varmints!" Applejack cried out, bucking a guard forcefully in the chest.
Applejack stood surrounded by almost a dozen guards, some of them looking quite roughed up while the others looked hesitant to take on the mare. Not wasting any time, Big Mac charged in and bullied his way to his sister while Nightshade simply teleported her way to Applejack's side, blade held in her magic grip.
The sudden appearance of the two ponies almost caused Applejack to fall over in disbelief, but her concentration remained on holding off the guards that had her surrounded. Big Mac and Nightshade prepared themselves for battle, but before anypony could make a move a pink bubble surrounded the three ponies, cutting them off from being attacked but also preventing them from escaping.
"That's enough!" Shining Armor said, his horn aglow as he held the shield around the two siblings and Nightshade. Despite him and his two personal guards being out of breath, the Captain of the Royal Guards managed to maintain his impenetrable shield while the two others calmed their fellow soldiers and sent the wounded ones to the infirmary.
"Ah, Captain Shining Armor, well done." a strong voice said. Looking at the top of the stairs, Shining saw Polaris descending the stairs from his position at the top. "I knew I could count on you to stop that vile, dangerous mare and her inbred brother."
Big Mac smashed his hoof on the ground, cracking the stone underneath his hoof like it was glass.
"You see?" Polaris said. "They're dangerous. The mare already attacked me at the train station and managed to break free before I could get her placed in custody."
"That's a doggone lie!" Applejack yelled out. "Ah bumped into him an' he said he'd help find Starshadow!"
Polaris let out a dry chuckle. "Come now, look at what's happened. Sending seven of Captain Shining Armor's stallions to the infirmary, attacking the other guards here, and you're now being detained alongside your two acomplices."
"Shining, ya know me, ya know ah wouldn' lie!" Applejack pleaded. "Ya gotta believe me, this vermin here is responsible fer fillynapping Starshadow! His own daughter!"
Polaris looked at Shining Armor with a look of innocence. "Don't listen to this insane pony. Besides, you know my daughter is named Starsong."
Shining Armor did know Starsong; he had met her multiple times while he worked and trained with Polaris. However, his own sister Twilight had mentioned a pony named Starshadow multiple times, and he knew there was no way Twilight would ever get somepony's name wrong. "Applejack, are you sure you don't mean Starsong?" Shining asked to make sure.
The response he received left little room for doubt. "Ah know ah'm sure, gosh darnit! Ah know who Starsong is, she ain't the one missin', though that hoofscum pony Polaris did also take her against her will."
Polaris scoffed at her claim. "You don't actually believe this crazy bitch, do you?"
Everypony watched as Shining approached the shield surrounding AJ, Big Mac, and Nightshade, and to everypony's shock he ceased his spell and the shield dissipated into thin air.
"What are you doing? They're dangerous criminals!" Polaris shouted.
Despite their guts telling them to go attack Polaris, AJ and Big Mac held their ground as Shining turned to face the angry unicorn. "I know these ponies well. Applejack would never lie about something as important as fillynapping. And Nightshade used to be Cadence's personal bodyguard, I know she would never act unless she was absolutely sure of what she was doing."
Polaris's anger began to show as he gritted his teeth and adopted a defensive stance. "You can't be serious... yes, I rescued my daughter from that dirt poor town that she was attacked in, what father wouldn't? My family's safety is none of their business!"
Before anypony could say anything, Polaris stormed off and receded back into the walls of his mansion. Shining Armor breathed a sigh of relief, and Applejack approached him with an appreciative smile on her face. "Thanks, Shining Armor, ah knew ya'll would do the righ' thing." she said.
The unicorn Captain didn't return her smile. "We're not done here, Applejack. There's still the matter of you attacking Royal Guards. I can't overlook the fact that you sent so many to be treated for their wounds."
Applejack's ears drooped as Big Mac tried to come to her rescue. "Hold on, my sis did so in self defense." he pointed out.
"I'm sorry, but it's out of my hooves. What's happened has happened." Shining Armor said.
Applejack looked apologetically at him. "D'ya have to arrest me?" she asked timidly.
Shining paused as he weighed all his options, finally speaking up just as the two Apple siblings couldn't take any more suspense. "No, I don't, but your only other option then would be to face temporary banishment from Canterlot." he said.
With not much of a choice, Applejack nodded. "Can ah at least find Starsong first?" she asked hopefully.
Shining Armor shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no, you three have to leave immediately. I'll check up on her personally and let her know that you were looking for her. And of course I'll have my patrols keep their eye out for Starshadow."
"Thanks..." Applejack said, disappointed she wouldn't be able to see Starsong.
Without wasting any time, Shining Armor had four of the guards present escort the three ponies back to the train station while he went to go check on his injured ponies. Applejack and Big Mac surprisingly walked all the way to the station in silence, not once even thinking of how to lose their escort and try to sneak back to the Star estate. However, once their escorts had made sure the three ponies boarded the train and they felt the locomotive start moving, Applejack looked around quizzically, finally turning to Big Mac.
"Uh, Big Mac? Where'd Nightshade go?"
Starshadow watched in slow motion as her closest friend fell through the sky, unable to even attempt to save her friend as she found herself being restrained by Cirro Stratus. The small pegasus struggled in vain as she yelled out Sunset's name, tears cascading down her face as her voice went hoarse.
Despite frantically flapping her wings, the missing primary feathers in Sunset's right wing caused her to spiral downwards. The pain of having so many sensitive feather ripped out was gone as Sunset gave up, resigning herself to her fate that was rushing towards her. Closing her eyes, she smiled as she thought back to the short amount of time she had spent with Starshadow when they were fillies and the happiness she had felt during their brief reunion...
*fwoomp*
Sunset slowly opened her eyes as she felt that she had stopped falling. Hitting the ground came a lot quicker than she thought, and definitely a lot softer than she had anticipated. However, her eyes flew open in surprise as she realized she was lying on a cloud and found herself looking at a rainbow maned pegasus who was panting extremely hard like she had just flown across Equestria at top speed. Little did Sunset know just how close she was to being right.
"You... *pant* okay?" Rainbow Dash managed to gasp out.
Sunset could only nod, still in disbelief. Satisfied that she was okay, Rainbow Dash's head snapped up, her attention switching over to Starshadow and Cirro Stratus. Pointing her hoof right at her boss, she glared up at him with a raging fire in her eyes. "I saw what you did! You're dead meat!" she yelled up at him.
Cirro scoffed as he tried calling Dash's bluff, but when the angry pegasus started flying up towards him he realized just how serious she was. Panicking, Cirro shoved Starshadow forwards, causing her and Rainbow to collide and giving Cirro a chance to flee.
"Gah! What the..." Dash exclaimed in surprise as Starshadow was shoved into her. Since Starshadow was still capable of flight Rainbow Dash pushed her aside to continue chasing after Cirro, but by the time the two mares became untangled and Rainbow started her pursuit Cirro was gone from sight.
"No! No nonono!" Dash yelled out in aggravation. "He can't escape! He needs to... to... Rrrah!"
Ignoring Rainbow's screams of frustration, Starshadow rushed down to where Sunset Flash still lay on her cloud. Gently stroking her head, Starshadow broke down as she saw that Sunset was in shock at what happened, still trying to feebly flap her wings to fly again despite the obvious pain it caused her.
"Shh, shh... rest, Sunset. Rest now." Starshadow whispered to her, hugging the trembling pegasus to her. Sunset seemed to finally relax at her friend's embrace and finally, both physically and emotionally exhausted, passed out without another word or thought.
Annoyed that she had lost her target, Rainbow came fluttering back down to where Starshadow and Sunset were. "I'm sorry, Starshadow... I lost him." she reported.
"We need to get help for Sunset, fast." Starshadow said, not caring where Cirro had gone for the moment. "Is anypony else here with you? Where are we?"
Dash looked over to the west. "Well, Twilight and Fluttershy were supposed to be with me, but I kinda flew on ahead. They should be about ten minutes away still." Dash said, peering into the distance.
"We have to get her to the hospital back in Ponyville. Now." Starshadow said.
Rainbow looked confused. "What? But... Canterlot is closer. And their hospital is better." she pointed out.
Starshadow shook her head. "We can't go back there. We need to go back to Ponyville. Please."
Rainbow Dash gave in. "Alright. Leave her to me, I can get her there faster, you'd just slow me down."
Starshadow nodded, knowing Rainbow was right. After helping her break down the cloud Sunset was resting on into the shape of a small bed, Starshadow watched as the rainbow pegasis bolted off into the sky pushing the cloud with Sunset on it. Moments later Twilight and Fluttershy came within sight. They raced over to Starshadow and hugged her tightly with relief, and on the long flight back to Ponyville Starshadow explained to the other two what had happened to her and who was responsible.
By the time the three mares arrived back in Ponyville Rainbow Dash had already dropped Sunset off at the hospital and rounded up all their friends that were still in town. She was a bit perplexed when Granny Smith told her that she had no idea where Applejack and Big Mac had gone off to or why, but a quick fly over the entire town yielded no AJ or Big Mac. It wasn't until she was flying past the Ponyville station to go back to the hospital did she finally see the Apple siblings disembarking a train. She swooped down on them, buzzing by just over their heads before circling back around and landing in front of them.
Applejack was far from amused by Rainbow Dash's aerobatics display. "Gosh darnit, Rainbow, ah ain't got time fer yer tricks an' whatnot!" she said angrily.
Dash smirked, excited that she got to be the one to break the good news to Big Mac and Applejack. "Oh, you sure? Cuz I got something you both want to hear."
"An' what would that be?" Applejack asked impatiently.
Rainbow broke out in a wide grin and took a deep breath, but before she could get the words out of her mouth somepony beat her to it.
"Guys! Guys! They found Starshadow! They found her!" Pinkie exclaimed excitedly, seemingly appearing from nowhere and bouncing excitedly around the three ponies.
Rainbow's smile crashed to the ground. "Oh come on! I was about to say that!" she said in annoyance, but only Pinkie was still around to listen to her complain. Applejack and Big Mac had already run off at full speed, correctly guessing that she would be at the Ponyville Hospital.
The two burst open the main doors to the hospital, sending the nurse at the desk once again diving for cover. They raced by the frightened mare and charged down the hall, slowing down just enough to glance into each room to see if anypony they recognized was inside. However, the room they were looking for was easy to spot as many familiar ponies were loitering outside the room; Rarity, Spike, Vinyl Scratch, and somehow Pinkie Pie.
Everypony remained silent as Big Mac and AJ approached the door, and just as they were about to knock on the door, Twilight opened the door and poked her head out. "There you are. Pinkie said you would be here soon." she said. "The doctor said she can have one visitor, so we all decided to wait until you got here."
Applejack nudged her brother forward. "Go on, lover boy." she said.
Big Mac didn't need a second invitation. Once he was inside, Twilight exited and shut the door behind her to give the two some privacy. Big Mac saw a familiar and sorely missed pony sitting in the single bed in the room, and as he approached his lover smiled back at him.
"Big Mac..." Starshadow said softly. Her heart fluttered excitedly as he finally reached her and propped himself up on her bed, and without hesitation the two ponies leaned in to kiss each other. Big Mac was surprised to feel Starshadow pulling him closer with almost as much force as a pony twice her size, but he gladly moved his body closer to her by climbing into the hospital bed with her.
Both ponies remained in each other's embrace for close to an hour, neither wanting to let go of the other. However, Big Mac finally found the will to pull back and look at his special somepony. Though he was unable to find any words to express his emotions, Starshadow could tell from his gaze just how he felt. "I didn't give in, Big Mac. You're my special somepony." she said.
Pulling Big Mac back towards her, Starshadow wriggled her body free from the sheets on her bed and pressed her body up towards Big Mac, not caring if anypony may barge in on them. Luckily for her, everypony outside had left except AJ, the mare peeking sneakily through the window as she watched Starshadow guiding Big Mac into position...
"Oh, AJ, you're still here."
Applejack spun around and sighed with relief as she found Twilight standing in front of her. "Uh, hey Twi, what's goin' on?" she asked, dutifully pulling Twilight away from Starshadow's room.
"I sent a letter to my brother, decreeing as Princess that Cirro Stratus be arrested immediately and held without bail until I sentence him." she said.
"An' what 'bout Polaris? Ya'll gonna have him arrested too, right?" Applejack asked.
Twilight looked down at the floor. "I... Shining Armor said he'd look into his role in everything that's happened, but the only pony who can order his arrest is Princess Celestia, and she won't act unless irrefutable evidence is presented to her." she said.
"What?!" Applejack exclaimed. "That... he can't..."
"Woah, hold on, AJ." Twilight quickly said. "Look, it's not the ideal situation, but we won't give up on this. Shining and I have a fair idea of his role. Just give us a bit of time and you'll see that he's punished for what he's done."
Applejack nodded hesitantly. "Alrigh', ya better, or Ah'm gonna take things into mah own hooves." she said darkly.
Ironically, perhaps the most grateful pony of all to have the whole ordeal resolved was Nightshade. Though she couldn't put her hoof on why, something about Starshadow's foalnapping really struck a nerve with her. Between searching alongside Princess Twilight and her friends and sneaking out herself to conduct her own investigation into the ponies that had actually made the hit (she had been disappointed to find them all dead by the time she caught their trail), she had found herself more emotionally invested than she could ever recall being.
Then of course there was also that nightmarish day she'd spent trying to look after the Crusaders...
All in all Nightshade had been busier and more on edge than usual for an extended period. When Twilight and Fluttershy returned with Starshadow earlier, it was a relief not only the pegasus was back with her friends and special somepony, but also so she could get back to her normal duties. Throughout the ordeal, she had very rarely slept.
The crisis wasn't completely over she knew; there was still the matter of why that other Blackguard had been involved and if he would return now that his mission was foiled, but these were concerns for another day.
While Twilight was preoccupied in the hospital, Nightshade lay on the rooftop of the adjacent building, her eyes scanning the grounds in front of the building for any danger. The small town was just as quiet as usual though and with no immediate concerns to follow, the weight of the last several days finally caught up to her as she started to nod off in the dimming sunlight.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, her senses kicked in and her muscles tensed, but before she could move she felt a knife pressing into the back of her neck, right in the spot where it would cut her spinal cord should the knife be forced forward.
"Don't even think about moving." Specter snarled.