Starlight gulped as she entered the governor's office.

Sitting at a large desk at the back of the room was a stallion with brown fur wearing a mirror of her current outfit, his jackboots kicked up on the surface of the table, a large wide-brimmed hat sitting on his head. The upper half of his face was covered, making it hard for Starlight to read his expression. A fireplace with what she assumed were pokers rested behind him, which she thought was odd. Appleloosa was in the middle of a desert after all. Keeping it burning during the hot days made no sense to her.

Next, she noticed the large towering wall of a buffalo standing next to him. He was stripped naked with his arms locked behind his back and a muzzle fixed around his mouth. Starlight's eyes widened. She recognized him from stories of Twilight's earlier adventures. It was Chief Thunderhoof. He stood off to the side, growling darkly with a look of pure hatred in his eyes as he stared down the stallion at the desk.

Off to the side, sitting at a table with a game of poker spread across its surface was a group four of ponies in purple imperial armor, who were staring up at her, their game paused. She turned her head to stare at the stallions, catching sight of one of their hands. Two aces, two eights and a jack.

Starlight quickly shook her head and turned back to stare at the governor. She cleared her throat as Sandbar, Twilight, and Blueblood stepped into the room.

"Well well well boys, look who it is." Silverstar said, sitting up in his chair and tipping his hat up revealing a smirk. His voice was cold, an obvious western accent filling his voice. "Ponyvile's esteemed governor, here to visit little old me. What could I do you for ma'am."

Starlight knew better than to hesitate. With a harsh tug of Yona's leash, the Yak stumbled into the room, almost falling over in the process. Yona growled, opening her mouth to speak before Starlight's horn glowed and her mouth was slammed shut, a turquoise aura surrounding it.

"I am aware of your... predilection to bovines, Silverstar," Starlight said simply, staring down Yona with a faux look of disgust. "So I decided to bring you a rather... rebellious yak from my holdings, perhaps you could make some good use of it. Or you could break it for me. Both options are equally preferable."

Silverstar's smirk didn't fade, though he did turn his attention to Yona.

"Now now Mrs. Starlight. You know I'm not one for all them fancy words." Silverstar replied, removing his legs from the desk and standing up. Crossing his arms behind his back, he walked in a circle around his desk, passing Thunderhoof who growled. He came to a stop before Yona, reaching a hand to cup her by the chin. He turned her face this way, then that. His eyes narrowed slightly even as his smirk widened.

"I will say, quite the nice hunk of meat you've found here, I'd say she'd fit in quite nicely with the rest of my cows." Silverstar laughed, turning to Starlight. "And you're just... giving her to me?"

"Myes, why not? I don't have any use for her short of lobotomizing her and leaving her as a dog." Starlight responded, her eye twitching slightly. She couldn't believe those words had just come out of her mouth. "So yes, pet, slave, cow. It d-doesn't matter to me what you do to her.

Blueblood leaned in closer to Sandbar and Twilight and whispered; "She's starting to break, get ready to pounce."

Silverstar meanwhile simply rolled his eyes with a laugh and stood up, snapping his fingers. Quickly two of his guards stood up from their game, slamming their cards down in the process. Including the one whose hand Starlight had seen. They quickly approached Yona and grabbed her by the shoulders. Yona's eyes widened and she let out a muffled grunt as she was pulled towards the Silverstar's desk.

Starlight's eyes widened and she quickly let go of the yak's leash. Yona kicked and squirmed as she was quickly bent over the table, her ass in the air as Silverstar walked over to the fireplace behind his desk, retrieving a white-hot branding iron from the inferno, holding it in the air slightly. It was in the exact shape of Silverstar's cutie mark, a five-pointed star.

It was only then that Starlight noticed the black mark of a star on both of Thunderhoof's hips. Her jaw dropped.

"You wouldn't mind if I were to mark this piece of livestock as mine, do you?" Silverstar hissed darkly, staring her directly in the eyes as he did. He didn't wait for her response as he slowly approached Yona, who started to let out muffled screams as she tried her best to shake out of the grasp of her captors, her rear shaking slightly in the air.

Starlight merely stood there frozen, staring at Silverstar with her jaw agape. She watched in horror as Silverstar arrived at Yona's side and slowly raised his branding iron. Yona's screaming stopped for a moment as she squeezed her eyes shut and then...

A spear soared through the air with a javelin's grace before it suddenly struck the soldier holding down Yona's right side directly in the head. There was a horrific crunch as the guard crumbled over, his head slamming on the desk before he slumped over limply.

All eyes in the room instantly snapped to Sandbar, his helmet on the ground next to him as he panted, his eyes mad and locked directly on Silverstar.

The governor worked his jaw for a moment before hissing. "Just what in Spike's name do you think you are doing soldi-" He started, but he was cut off by a high-pitched scream when suddenly one of Yona's legs kicked out directly into his crotch.

The branding iron fell to the ground with a clatter as the governor fell to his knees with both hands on his crushed equipment. The other two soldiers in the room didn't fare much better as they were both quickly dropped by stunning spells courtesy of Twilight.

Silverstar groaned pathetically as Twilight and Blueblood cast aside their helmets, Twilight approaching Thunderhoof as Blueblood stood over the governor with his eyes narrowing. Sandbar meanwhile rushed to Yona's side, cutting her out of her ropes with a dagger.

"Are you alright?" Sandbar asked as Yona's mouth was freed from Starlight's magic.

"Yona is fine..." Yona responded with a forced smile and a shaky breath.

Twilight went about working on Thunderhoof's restraints, while Blueblood opted to merely tower over Silverstar, his eyes narrowed. He slowly knelt down at Silverstar's side.

"Greetings, traitor," Blueblood growled. "I'm going to keep this quick. Celestia's drydock, where is it?"

Silverstar hissed through clenched teeth, turning his gaze to look up at the prince. "I... Have no idea what you're talking about." he simply replied, a pained smile coming to his face.

Blueblood nodded twice, a smile widening on his face. "I hoped you would respond like that." He exclaimed as he reached towards his belt. Silverstar raised an eyebrow in confusion, but the answer to his questions came quickly when Blueblood grabbed him by the wrist of his right hand.

In a single movement, Blueblood slammed Silverstar's hand on his desk before stabbing clean through it with a dagger, pinning him to the table. Silverblood let out a pathetic scream of pain. Starlight and Twilight instantly gawked as they stared down Blueblood as he started to twist the knife. Sandbar smiled at the sight, while Yona's face remained neutral.

"Ah... damn it.... you!" Silverstar cried between gasps and clenched teeth screams. "You resistance scum! You're the real traitors!"

"Hardly," Blueblood responded as he stared Silverstar directly in the eyes, retracting the blade. Instantly Silverstar pulled his now ruined hand back and screamed staring at the circular hole that went clean through it. "If you don't answer me, I'm going to start chopping off fingers."

To prove his point, Blueblood grabbed Silverstar's other hand with magic, holding his blade directly above one of the governor's fingers.

"Blueblood..." Twilight muttered, as Starlight merely stared on in shock.

"Fine! Fine!" Silverstar whimpered, staring the bloodied dagger down in shock. "It's to the east, bout two dozen or so miles out of town. Near the border with the old Buffalo territory. The empire's done dug it out of the ground and did away with all the secrecy Celestia had so you can't miss it!"

Blueblood slowly pressed the blade of the dagger against Silverstar's finger. "And how can I be sure you aren't lying?"

Silverstar almost screamed; "It's the truth, honest!"

Blueblood nodded darkly before he dropped Silverstar's hand and stood up. "And that's the end of that. Now, normally this is the part where I'd slit your throat to keep you from sending people after us, but I think there is someone else in this room who would prefer the honors."

"Huh?" Silverstar asked, staring up as Thunderhoof stomped towards him, a deep frown on his face as he found his restraints removed. "Oh shit."

Thunderhoof towered over Silverstar for a moment before he turned to Twilight and gave her a nod. "Go. Get my daughter out of here. I will distract the Imperials so you can escape."

"Distract them how?" Twilight asked, as she readied her horn for teleportation, a quick teleport downstairs to grab Strongheart and Braeburn, and then another back to the resistance.

Her question was answered when Thunderhoof quickly reached down to Silverstar, one hand wrapping around his throat while the other went for a leg.

"Now h-hold on Thunder! We can talk about th-" The governor tried to stammer, but he was interrupted when he was thrown full force against the wall of the room. There was a sickening crack as Silver's broken body smashed through the wall before sailing outside. The sun shine into the room as Silverstar let out a horrified scream, equal parts fear and pain as he fell to the ground below, two stories.

There was a crash below, that was coupled with several dozen voices crying out. Twilight decided to hazard a glance outside to see that Silverstar had landed directly in the middle of the busy streets of Appleloosa, surrounded by guards, imperial citizens and slaves alike.

"The governor is dead!" Thunderhoof cried, raising his arms in the air as he stood in the center of hole he had opened in the wall. "Throw aside your chains my tribe! For freedom!"

It didn't take long before the buffalo out in the streets let out a unified cry of defiance, pouncing at their masters and the nearest Imperial soldiers, attacking with horns, fists and hooves as the street descended into a battle, one that the Imperials weren't ready for.

Thunderhoof turned to Twilight and nodded, before he lept from the hole, landing directly on top of a dragon below, smashing him flat with his mighty frame, then he quickly joined the fight using the dragon's cast aside weapon, smashing through a line of Imperial troops.

Twilight was in shock as she watched the combat, before Blueblood grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her slightly.

"Come on, the Buffalos won't last long against the Imperials. They're doing this to give us a chance to reach the airship, so let's take it." He roared.

Twilight nodded in response, lit her horn, and then the five of them disappeared in a flash.