AN: I don't have much to say here, except I hope you enjoy it and I appreciate the time you take to review, favorite, or follow this story.

Punky Print's Log: Day 227

The guards' reinforcements arrived today. I don't know how many of us there are in comparison to them, but everypony in town can feel the extra eyes on us. The guards have begun doing random inspections of our houses to look for anything they've decided looks "disloyal". From books to paintings to children's drawings, anything seems to be fair game. Most ponies hid their journals well, but one house of ponies were not cautious enough.

The guards started the inspection at night, taking full advantage of our curfew. Three ponies came down from the wall and went building to building, starting with our home. One of them was Colorguard, a smug look on his face as he waltzed in to our house. Another was Captain Dagger. Inky, Cursive and I were the first ones to have our home inspected, because ours is closest to the wall. The first thing they noticed, was Cursive.

"What's this?" Colorguard leaned down to stare at Cursive, who was standing on his back paws.

"My pet." He smiled.

"I'm not entirety sure exiles are allowed to have pets." The guards all smiled.

"None of the regulations say anything against them," Inky said, her chin raised as she stared Commander Dagger down. He frowned.

"I suppose not." He stepped closer, moved Colorguard aside, and stepped on Cursive's tail as he stepped around the three of us. Inky and I flinched and reached for our friend, but Dagger cleared his throat and stared at the both of us challengingly. "Exiles aren't allowed to move during inspections," he said with an air of victory. "That is in the regulations, isn't it?" Inky and I stayed silent, aware that we couldn't do anything without being punished. Cursive, however, seemed unaffected by the regulation. He leapt forward and sunk his teeth into Colorguard's ankle.

The guard cried out and tried to shake Cursive off, but he was faster than the guard. He scurried away from the guards and up my hind leg. Commander Dagger snarled at the three of us as Cursive hid in my mane.

"Give me the little pest," he hissed. I felt small under his glare, and I shrank back when he held out his hoof.

"I-i thought we couldn't move during inspections," I said meekly as I tried to hide behind my mane. Colorguard and Dagger's eyes widened in surprise, and as Inky began snickering their eyes narrowed into a glare. When they leave, I fall to the floor with my family in relief. My breath leaves my body in a rush, and I smile at Inky.

"They didn't see a thing," she says. We laugh at that.

As the night progressed, nopony went to sleep. We all stayed at our windows, a light near the pane as we watched each house they entered. As the grey sky lightened, Inky and I saw a hungry orange glow in the distance. We ran out to the door of our house and looked around. Everywhere we looked ponies stood in their doorways, leaning out and crowding their door frames as the orange grew.

We desperately wanted to move. To run to our neighbors' side and fight back against the monstrous blaze that struggled towards the sky. However, standing single-file on the main road an endless rope of gold-covered guards watched every home, waiting, daring us to disobey. Daring us to have them burn our house next. Commander Dagger stared at the doorway of my house, watching my sister and I with untempered pride as we struggled with our consciences.

Morning crawled across the town, and in a bitter moment I thought that Celestia, with all her god-like power, could see our struggle. I imagined she laughed as the sun evaded us.

"Sun's up!" At the sound of Rainy's voice, we dashed from our houses and stampeded to the sight of the fire. The pegasai flew to the cloud barrier and pounded their hooves against our fluffy ceiling until buckets of rain poured down on the single burning house. The guard ponies quickly followed us and tried their best to push us back.

"Under the eighteenth regulation - aiding of any rebellious exiles shall be punished as a direct rebellion - we demand that you return to your homes and await punishment," one guard bellowed before being mowed down. As all of the ponies not focused on putting out the fire fought the guards, I heard a cry from inside the blaze.

"Help! Please, we can't get out!" My heart leapt into my throat as I recognized Coco's voice, weak and coarse from the smoke. I panicked as I looked around, desperate for a way to reach her. As I tried to find a clear path, I heard a guard in the distance, his voice shaky.

"Oh, sweet Celestia, somepony's in there," the guard moaned guiltily. Shocked by the idea that somewhere in the ranks of the faceless guardponies there was somepony as frightened by this as us, I let down my guard. As soon as I did, I felt the sturdy weight of an earth pony tackle me to the ground.

The guard must have lost his weapon somewhere, because he didn't try to stab me. He just raised his armored front hoof and brought it down hard on my face. I flinched and heard a dull thunk as his hoof hit my magic. I hadn't realized that I'd shielded myself, and it surprised me so much that every time he brought his hoof down I still flinched, waiting for impact. I wasn't getting hurt, but the earth pony still had me pinned, I couldn't move.

I looked towards Coco's burning house, her plea ringing in my ears.

Help! Please, we can't get out!

We can't get out! I felt like throwing up, or curling up and dying. I felt tears sting my eyes with the smoke, and as I blinked them away, I almost missed what happened next.

Inky bucked off a guard who had tried to pin and stab her, a nick on her ear from where the exposed blade had caught as the guard fell. She dashed up the ashy stairs and burst through the door. I screamed. My panic went from nagging to debilitating, and every second she stayed in the still-burning building I felt like I couldn't breathe.

When she came out, dragging Coco and her parents out on her back and by their tails, I started crying and laughing at the same time. I don't remember how I got there, but suddenly I was beside my sister, squeezing her tightly.

"Oh, you did it," I said, relieved. "Oh, you crazy little filly, you brave little idiot, you scared me so bad..."

Around us, both guards and exiles were strewn across the ground. Some, we could tell were still breathing, but some weren't. The guards were backing off, and the bittersweet victory filled me with relief. We were alive, and the guards were not trying to change that. In fact, they were leaving, retreating back to the wall with the bodies that didn't breathe. As a guard grabbed the corpse of an exile, one of the dead pony's family members ran up to them.

"No," they said desperately, "no, you can't take her! Don't take my daughter, please!" The stallion broke down pleading, and the guard, shockingly enough, gave him a sorrowful look.

"We're only going to bury them," the guard said softly.

"Will... will we be allowed to see them," the stallion asked shakily. The guard nodded.

"I give you my word."