“My assistant, Spike’s, reaction was likely the least surprising event of that evening, though he had quite the reason to take the news as well as he did,” Twilight Sparkle said in her designated announcing voice.

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“WHAT!?” Spike roared, upturning the table, sending his and Twilight’s mugs, as well as a full inkwell flying, though the unicorn expertly caught the liquids mid-air. “Rarity can’t be missing! She just can’t!” the teenage dragon yelled, forgetting the many times he claimed to be over his crush.

“Calm down, Spike. Right now, we only need to worry about who we’re going to bring to Manehattan,” Twilight responded as she sipped her coffee, magically returning all of the disturbed items to their original places. “Who do we have so far?”

Spike looked over the list of names he had prepared at Twilight’s request, anger still present. “Let’s see...Cheerilee moved somewhere a few years ago; Lyra...I think she got put in an insane asylum; Bon-Bon fell into her candy-maker, still in a coma; the Cakes moved after that accident with the cat...” the young dragon read, noting what happened to each pony afterwards.

“What cat?” asked Twilight.

“You honestly don’t want to know,” responded her assistant. “There’s also that DJ pony, the mailmare, the 'doctor', the Crusaders, Sweetie Belle’s parents, the Apples, and a few others,” Spike finished, sliding the list over to Twilight.

"Gotta give me specifics instead of just 'a few others', Spike." Twilight thought for a moment. “Oh whatever...Vinyl could help with morale, if we ever need that; Derpy could carry our messages around...Doctor Whooves I’m not so sure about; and Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and their parents we should bring, at least to keep them safe. The Apples are too stubborn to leave the farm unprotected, so that’s a lost cause,” the purple unicorn said. “We should at least tell them Applejack is missing, and warn them about Nightmare Moon, though.”

“Alright then. I’ll make copies of the instructions and send them out. You should probably get some rest, Twi. You look really tired,” Spike said, worry showing in his voice.

Twilight looked at the clock before nodding in agreement, and heading off for her room. She would have to leave shortly after her rest to avoid the guards that would surely be searching for her.

“Oh, and grab a tablecloth or something. A well-known adult with a cloak on will likely draw less attention than one that lost her cutie mark,” the dragon added.

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“The week had passed, and all the ponies we had gathered met at the bar,” the queen said. “That meeting was the first of many to come, though the last in Canterlot. We all left for Manehattan the next day. It took us only half a day, travelling by hoof, but we had to hurry. We had no idea if we were being followed, and three or more of us were likely being hunted down.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

“Well, here we are, folks. Told ya it was a nice hotel,” Brandy said to the crowd of ponies gathered in front of a majestic building, standing fifteen stories high, with a sign over the front doors reading “Brandy Flats”. “Come on in. I’ll have the top three floors permanently reserved for y’all. Twelve rooms to a floor, each with two beds, two TVs, a bathroom, and a radio,” continued the brown pony, glee filling his voice.

“There is abso-bucking-lutely no way you got this place legally, old man,” Rainbow Dash stated, still standing outside, clearly amazed at the size of the hotel, as the rest of the group entered.

“Missy, don’t you talk to me like that. ‘Old Man’ Brandy don’t like bein’ rude-talked, or called a criminal...even though I am one,” responded an agitated unicorn. “Now get your blue be-hind in here, ‘fore I smack it in here.” Rainbow Dash glared at Brandy, her face a bright red.

“Hey! Don’t you talk to Rainbow Dash like that, you old fart!” shouted Scootaloo, who sped over to stand snout-to-snout with Brandy. Though she had learned to fly years ago, Scootaloo was faster on her hooves than her wings: Something she frequently used to her advantage.

Brandy examined the orange pegasus briefly, before speaking. “You’re one of those ‘Crusaders’, aren’t ya? Look, young lady, I don’t listen to ponies that don’t know what they’re talking about, so why don’t you just go back to blowing up mailboxes, or whatever pranks today's idiotic youth pull?” the brown unicorn responded rudely.

Scootaloo, fuming, roared in response: “I do NOT blow things up, and I will certainly NOT go back to Ponyville, you...you pissant!”

“Firstly, your flank tells me a different story, secondly, you’re of no use to anypony here,” Brandy said, gesturing to Scootaloo’s cutie mark: A brick of plastic explosives with a timer attached. “And finally, if she disrespects me, I WILL return the favor. Same goes for you, tiny,” the brown pony spat the last word.

“Calm yourself, Scoots. Be the bigger - hey hey hey hey HEY!” interrupted Sweetie Belle, magically prying a sign off its post, barely intercepting Scootaloo’s attempt to buck Brandy through a window. “Dumb-flank,” the white mare said, smacking her friend upside the head as she passed.

All Twilight and Pinkie Pie could think to do was stand and stare. “What...what just happened?” the mares asked simultaneously.

“Nothing, let’s go,” Spike nervously said, grabbing the stunned ponies and pulling them into a nearby elevator.

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“The first things we thought to do were set up a base of operations, and a chain of command. Of the thirty-nine ponies and single dragon present, nineteen voted for Sweetie Belle to lead, due to her quick thinking and relative calmness during the...incident; nineteen voted for Brandy to lead, presumably because of his ‘no-nonsense’ attitude; and two voted for Rainbow Dash to lead. I have no idea why.” The queen chuckled. “Our first week in Manehattan, we ran our revolution out of the hotel, though we later opted for a more...private location: The abandoned Manehattan metro system. Afterwards, we had settled on a recruitment system: Pinkie would choose ponies she believed were reliable, and wanted to fight the tyrants. I would test their knowledge of combat and warfare, and decide if they were members of the Nightmare Guard, and finally, if they passed my test, Rainbow Dash would determine if they possessed the skill to fight.”

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As Sweetie Belle paced in front of a line of blindfolded ponies, she inspected each thoroughly for signs of weakness. Rarity’s sister proved herself to be a great leader, and many looked up to her. Her cutie mark was a chain. She called it the Chain of Command. “It’s the chain I go get and beat you with until you learn who’s in command here,” she would claim, to convince recruits not to question her. In actuality, it represented her ability to hold things together, and to stay strong under extreme stress.

“Dismissed...except for you, Wingkins. Come here,” the white mare said, startling a blond pegasus with a brown mane, who slowly approached her. “Hrm. You seem to be the most coordinated of the new recruits,” Sweetie Belle said dryly, noticing a dozen other ponies walking into walls or each other. Taking out a clipboard, she continued: “Report to Rainbow Dash, station 8-E-3. That’s the first station to the west. Keep the blindfold on. If you make it there, give her this,” Sweetie said, slipping a folded piece of parchment into the pegasus’ blindfold.

“Yes ma’am!” Leeroy Wingkins responded, saluting, before galloping down a nearby tunnel.

“Ah, excellent. ‘Wingkins shows excellent coordination while unaware of his surroundings, as well as a mastery over directions, without use of a compass or map. Recommendation: Squad leader or navigator.’” the mare mumbled, scribbling on her clipboard.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie were setting up barricades, so they would have a suitable defense, should their enemies decide to check the metro, as a grey, golden-eyed pegasus galloped up to them. “Twilight! I’ve got a letter for you. It’s from Big Macintosh,” Derpy said, reaching into her saddlebag for the letter. “I saw it stuck to the door, and I recognized his writing,” the mailmare continued, as she gave Twilight a sealed envelope. “The farm looked terrible, too.”

“I wonder why he’d need to send us a letter...and why he couldn’t just give it right to you when you picked up our apples, Derpy,” Twilight responded, magically opening the letter before clearing her throat. All the ponies present at the station that were not blindfolded went over to Twilight to listen. The writing was bordering on chicken scratch, and the parchment was stained with tears,

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Twilight Sparkle,

I write to you with terrible news: Applejack visited us today, though she brought along a half-dozen unicorns in dark armor. She told us the male Apples had two weeks to sign “Nightmare Conscription” forms, and the females were stripped of all social ranking. When Applebloom spoke out, one of the guards smacked her, while another one went behind her. I was held back, or I would have ended that miserable pony’s life right there. The second one made an attempt to lift my little sister’s tail, though was met with a pair of hooves to the jaw, and flew into a fencepost as a result. Applejack told one of the unicorns to keep me still, and another to stand Applebloom against a wall of the barn...she just kept ramming Applebloom into the wall. I was forced to watch until the wall gave, and Applebloom went right through it. After that, the guard let me go. I checked on her...she was laying perfectly still in a bale of hay. She wasn’t breathing.

Applejack killed her own sister, and I want to know why. I’ve spoken with somepony here in Ponyville, and he’ll try and keep her body safe until we can hold an actual funeral, and some of the family from Appleloosa are going to take over the farm for a while.

I’m joining you all in Manehattan in a week. In the meantime, I’m gonna pay some traitors a visit.

-Big Macintosh

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Twilight finished reading the letter, and a long silence followed.

“Applebloom’s...dead?” questioned Scootaloo, breaking the silence. “We’re the only two original crusaders left, Sweetie.” Scootaloo started crying.

“I know, Scoots, but we can’t dwell on this...Come on, let’s go blow something up. That’ll make you feel better, right?” questioned Sweetie Belle, trying hard to hold back her own tears. Scootaloo didn’t respond, but instead, went to her tent. Sweetie let out a sigh. “There’s gonna be hell to pay next time AJ shows up.”

Twilight agreed, noticing Scootaloo leaving her tent and heading for the exit, wearing a pair of saddlebags and her “Hy-Fly” goggles. “Where are you going, Scoots?” called the lavender mare.

“Why do you care?” responded the orange pegasus, before dashing out of the dark subway.

Another short silence followed.

“Ugh, screw this, I’m goin to Brandy’s. Either of you wanna join me?” asked Twilight, magically pulling a cloak over her head. It would be harder for anypony to recognize her if they couldn't see her face, as Manehattan was full of ponies of all colors. Pinkie Pie and Sweetie Belle both nodded.

“Alright scrubs, if you can find the eastern tunnel without taking your blindfolds off, take it down three stations, and stay there,” called Sweetie, as she followed Twilight and Pinkie, the latter of which leaned in.

“Uh, I think we’re the easternmost station in Manehattan...” Pinkie quietly pointed out.

“I know, but they don’t,” the white unicorn said, smiling.

“They both seem to have gotten over Applebloom’s death fairly quickly,” thought Twilight, still quite shaken. “Alright girls, we'll have to start making plans soon. I'm sure Nightmare Moon had something to do with Applejack's behavior. I don't know why, but unless either of you has something to contribute, it's the only thought we have right now,” the purple mare said aloud, as she lead Pinkie and Sweetie Belle out of the metro.

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“The three of us left for the hotel that night, all hoping we would run into Fluttershy, Rarity, or at least Applejack, so we could get some answers. Even though we got our wish, nopony expected anything that happened when we arrived at Brandy’s,” the queen said in a solemn voice.

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