Rainbow Dash reacted to the exploding door faster than anypony else. She jumped out of her chair, knocking it over in the process. She landed on all four hooves, spread her wings, and lowered her body closer to the floor. In the time it took her to do all of this, Zenith had barely stood from her chair, lit her horn, and stepped back. She didn't drop into a combat stance. The two soldiers had been staggered from the explosion, and were moving to the door, whether to defend the ponies in the room, or aid the attackers nopony knew. Fancy Pants soon joined the two soldiers in moving to the door.
A second later a soldier stepped through what was the doorway, his head shot around, taking in the room. His horn was lit, and he aimed it at the closest soldier to him that had been in the room. A pulse of cyan magic shot out of his horn before anypony could react. The second soldier that had been in the room immediately formed a barrier around himself, blocking a blast from the same soldier. He retaliated, sending two bolts in quick succession at his attacker. The attacker's barrier flared, then broke. He jumped to his left to avoid a third pulse, and another soldier entered the room from behind him. That soldier's amber barrier held against the pulse, and then he retaliated against the second remaining soldier.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Fancy Pants shouted with exasperation. Despite the surprise, and grim situation, his voice held no edge of fear to it, only anger and contempt.
The first soldier turned to him. "You're under arrest for treason." He lowered his still glowing horn, and approached. A second soldier joined him in his approach, without pointing his horn at Fancy Pants.
"Do you know who I am!?" Fancy Pants shouted.
"You're Councillor-"
Rainbow took that as her queue to act. She jumped, using both her wings and legs, propelling herself into the air and over the chair. The ceiling wasn't high enough to give her the maneuverability she needed, but she could work with it. She straightened her wings, then angled them so that she would impact the soldier closest to her.
He saw the attack coming from a mile away. "Captain!"
The first guard turned his attention away from Fancy Pants, and to Rainbow and the soldier that spoke. "Her memories have been altered, restrain her, but keep her alive!" he ordered.
Both Rainbow and Fancy Pants frowned at that. The soldier waited for the last possible second, then ducked and rolled to the side. Rainbow impacted the ground just behind where the soldier previously occupied. She bent her legs as she landed to absorb the impact, then swiveled on her hind hoof to face him. He was already facing her, and she had to roll to the left to avoid his hoof.
The soldier she was facing off with kept his distance after that, and his gaze was locked on her eyes. "Captain, you need to calm down."
"Restrain the others." another soldier called. As if punctuating his statement, Rainbow heard several bolts of magic whiz through the air, both approaching and receding from her general vicinity.
She took a step to the right. "Stand down, soldier." she ordered. As expected, nopony obeyed her command. Instead, she heard two of the soldiers rushing across the room, after a second they entered her vision. They were rushing Zenith. She winced, but otherwise ignored it.
"I can't do that Captain, your memories were altered. You need to come with us, your mission is-"
Rainbow's face contorted in confusion, "My mission? What are you-" She ducked and rolled to the left, then stepped back to avoid the soldier's assault. Rainbow recognized the strategy, talking right now would play into it.
She forgot about the other soldiers who were also in the room. It costed her as one of the soldiers landed on her, knocking her over. As she fell she lashed out with her hooves, and managed to hit him in his chin. It was a solid hit, and even her hoof hurt from the impact. It wasn't enough force to stop his assault however, and he redoubled his efforts at suppressing her. She grunted as another soldier suppressed her arms and wings. She struggled to get free to no avail. The soldier who tackled her slowly started to stand up, and pressed his horn against her.
"Alright we need to sort this out... The Captain was supposed to be here, but who is she?" one of the soldiers- likely their own captain, asked.
"I don't recognize her, but she has had some training. Maybe a scout."
"Captain, please stop resisting or we'll be forced to restrain you further." The soldier with his horn to her neck said.
Rainbow grunted in effort again, attempting to break free. Finally she realized the futility and stopped.
"Right we'll check the registry." Another soldier commented.
One of the soldiers made his way over to Rainbow. "Right now we can't let you go, Captain. Not until after you speak to the Inquisitor and your memory is restored."
Rainbow glared at him. "My memory is fine."
He sighed. "You'll understand everything after your memory is restored and you talk to the Inquisitor."
Rainbow glanced around the room, then caught sight of Fancy Pants. He was lying against the wall, wincing. He didn't look injured, but there was a nice shiny metal ring around his horn, and a soldier standing beside him. Rainbow turned her gaze back to the soldier. "He's here?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, Captain. He's currently engaging Princess Twilight Sparkle. Good job, by the way, she never suspected a thing."
Rainbow's blood went cold at the honesty and warmth in his voice.
"The feeling is not mutual." Twilight spat bitterly.
"I guess that means you're not here to surrender." he stated, "Tsk. I was looking forwards to the celebration that would bring."
"The celebration of my death." Twilight corrected with a vengeance filled glare.
The Inquisitor smiled. "You wound me, do-"
"When I am done with you, wounding you will be the understatement of my reign." Twilight replied sharply. The more she talked, the easier it was to suppress the urge to outright kill him, even if it would bring her a great deal of pleasure. A lot more than it should. It was a good thing that it was becoming easier to not teleport beside him and skew him on her horn, if she killed him too quickly she wouldn't gather any valuable intelligence that could prove useful in the future.
"I wonder what Princess Celestia would say if she saw you now..." he sighed contently. Twilight shifted her wings ever so slightly, and the Inquisitor smiled. "Perhaps you would like to see?"
"They're dead." Twilight stated. Her voice was grim, sad, and filled with hatred.
The Inquisitor raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I assure you they aren't. I am sure they would be very happy to see you again."
"They are dead. If they weren't I wouldn't have their magic." Twilight lit her horn, and it glowed with multiple colors.
The Inquisitor's smile widened. "So you do have their magic." Twilight grit her teeth when she realized her mistake. "That certainly explains a few things... You look lovely, by the way."
Twilight's magic flared to life in the air, and two blades of magic erupted from the air, one at each side of her. She opened her wings, flaring them only slightly, but kept them low, and angled so that she could launch herself into the air if needed. "If you don't resist, I promise it will be quick. Otherwise, I will make it very slow."
"Tsk. You're being a tad dramatic, wouldn't you say?" After he finished, he jumped off Celestia's throne, and made his way to Twilight. Halfway there, he lit his horn, it glowed with a bright violet aura. Twilight prepared to raise a barrier to defend herself, but didn't caste it. Three swords flared to life around him. Twilight eyed the three blades wryly. He moved them in the air, until one was at his left, right, and over his head, and all three angled so that they pointed at Twilight's heart.
Twilight spun her blades around, then angled them at his chest. For several seconds, it turned into a staring contest, to see who would make the first move. The Inquisitor smiled cheerfully the whole time, and Twilight scowled, as if she was attempting to master the stern look Princess Luna could give someone that would immediately cause them to freeze in fear. She wasn't quite there, but not for a lack of trying.
Twilight pushed herself forwards with her hind legs with enough force to crack the marble floor. She angled her wings so that she glided like a dart towards the Inquisitor, her swords kept firmly at her sides, sticking out past her chest ever so slightly. The Inquisitor smirked, and stepped to the side as Twilight neared. Twilight pushed her sword out in an attempt to cut alongside his body, but he rotated as he turned, and one of his swords deflected hers. Twilight landed a second later, and immediately swung around, sword first to intercept the Inquisitor's counterattack. Her sword intercepted the bolt of magic, and absorbed it with ease. Twilight let herself smile. "You cannot hope to match my magic!"
As if to test that theory, despite knowing it was true, the Inquisitor sent three pulses of magic at her in rapid succession. She intercepted one with the sword to her right, and another with her left sword. She switched the sword's positions with the strike, and used a barrier to block the third pulse. Twilight immediately recognized the spell that hit her barrier. It was a spell designed specifically for collapsing barriers, and staggering the target. Her barrier held, but she felt the start of a headache.
"How interesting..." The Inquisitor mused. He took a step forwards, then casually approached Twilight, who remained on guard the whole time. Once he was a little over halfway to Twilight, he broke out into a gallop towards her. Twilight matched his gallop, and then some, and they closed the distance at a rate that would have taken Rainbow Dash by surprise. Twilight swung her swords in a wide arc without hesitation, attempting to decapitate him. He intercepted both of her blades with his own, and then thrust the third blade at her, forcing her to jump back and recall her swords to defend herself.
The Inquisitor pushed her back, sword hit sword, and Twilight kept stepping back to avoid his thrusts, and slashes. Magic sparks flew whenever the swords met, they impacted with such force, but they held, neither pony's magic overwhelming the other, nor weakening. Every time Twilight was too slow to react to a swipe from one of his swords, a barrier flared to life and blocked the blade from piercing her body. After it became apparent that her current strategy wasn't working, she changed tactics.
Twilight stepped forwards into a thrust from the Inquisitor, the blade of magic hit her barrier, and both blade and shield flared brighter. As soon as it hit, she lowered the barrier, swiveled on her front hooves, and spun around with her hind legs extended. She felt them connect with his side, and he was thrown a short ways, and landed on the floor. As soon as he landed, he got back to his hooves, and recalled his swords to him. "That wasn't very princess like, Princess." he commented.
Twilight ignored him, and launched herself into the air, intending to land on him, swords first. He rolled his eyes, and his horn glowed brighter. There was a flash of violet light, and the Inquisitor disappeared. Twilight spun around in the air, she barely had time to react to the bolt of magic flying towards her. She intercepted it with one of her blades, and the bolt of magic was deflected towards the wall. Twilight spared a glance towards the wall as the spell hit, the spell detonated in a flash of light, and an arc of lightning shot out, blackening the wall.
Twilight landed and immediately raised a barrier, blocking out three more of the Inquisitor's spells. Her barrier flared at each impact, but held. Twilight made a quick calculation, then poured more magic into her horn. She channeled it into her barrier, and into a teleportation spell. There was a flash of light where she once was, then a flash of light to the left of the Inquisitor. He immediately threw a barrier around himself. A second later, Twilight's barrier erupted outwards. The magic washed over the Inquisitor's barrier, which glowed more brightly under the strain, but held.
"You don't seem very determined to win Princess." he commented. "You could have leveled this building at the start of this fight."
"I would prefer my capital city remain intact." Twilight venomously replied. "But perhaps I should reconsider and drop an asteroid on Canterlot?" she asked in such a way that was dead serious.
The Inquisitor's smile widened. "My, my, you sound like Nightmare Moon, Twilight. I always knew you had it in you." He jumped back and used his three blades to deflect dual thrusts from her swords.
"What can I say," Twilight began dryly, "there is something to be said for a dramatic victory at suppressing dissent. Nightmare Moon, Luna, and Rarity would have all agreed with me."
"You compare yourself with Nightmare Moon, the princess that became her, and a mare who helped defeat her in the same sentence. You're starting to sound like a tyrant with how dispassionately you spoke of all three."
"Irrelevant." Twilight stated sharply. She poured more magic into her horn, then threw it down, pointing it at him. She released a spell, but before it hit, he teleported away. "Equestria is MINE. Not yours." Twilight spun to the left and stepped back. She used her two blades to intercept all three of his.
He smiled slyly. "That is exactly the kind of thinking from the princesses that spawned my little revolution." he chirped sweetly. He split his three swords up so that they could attack separately. He swung one downwards, one at her left, and the other at her right. The speed of the attack took her by surprise. She intercepted the sword coming down, and the sword to her right, and forced them away, then jumped to the right, using her wing and legs to propel herself. His blade still made contact with her body, and left a nice long cut in her coat. It stung lightly and she could feel her side throbbing, but it wasn't a problem. Her accelerated healing would easily deal with such a shallow wound. It didn't stop her from grunting in distress, however.
Twilight glared at him, and he smiled. "I believe that is your cue to stop holding back?"
Twilight took a deep breath. "I will not be fooled by such measures. You have a greater chance of injuring me again if I rage at you."
"True, but as right now, we're evenly matched." he smirked.
"As if." Twilight scoffed. "I have the magic of five alicorns, and my brother. You cannot even begin to comprehend what I am capable of." she ended in a voice that could easily be mistaken as a threat. "And I'm not even at my full power yet."
He nodded and smiled. "You're still unlocking your full potential." Once again Twilight clenched her jaws. "Arrogance seems to be a normal trait of alicorns, I-" he jumped back just in time to avoid losing his horn. He shot Twilight a disapproving glance. "Tsk."
Twilight stepped forwards and intensified her assault. She swung her swords in a flurry that would have made Nightmare Moon proud. She barely paused each blade as it came into contact with his defenses. Sword met sword, and sparks of magic flew. She started to push him back, and her attacks came at a rate that would have impressed Rainbow Dash. The Inquisitor jumped back as the swords started hammering his barrier. Desperate for an opening, he lowered his horn and released three quick bursts of magic. Due to the close proximity of the pair, Twilight didn't have time to react. All three blasts of magic hit her squarely in her chest, and she was thrown back.
"Your arrogance is very unbecoming of a princess... Not to mention, it will cost you your life." The Inquisitor commented as Twilight staggered back up. She pressed her arm against her chest, clutching it and attempting to cover and protect as much of the wounds as she could. She spread her other hooves out more to make up for the loss of support, and glared at him.
"Perhaps it will," Twilight acknowledged, "but that will not be today, nor to you." Already she could feel her accelerated healing kick in. After a few seconds, she put her hoof back on the floor. The wounds were still bleeding, but her healing had numbed the pain. 'Perhaps that asteroid wouldn't be overkill.' she mused to herself. She stood to her full height, ignoring the pain from moving her wounds, and flared her wings. It was an intimidating sight, and she would use any fear it caused as a weapon, as Luna and Nightmare Moon had. The Inquisitor wasn't phased. "I have fought against evils you cannot begin to comprehend, and won. I am the single most powerful creature on this planet. You will not make a fool of me."
"You're doing a good enough job of that on your own, Princess." he commented. "You're starting to sound more like Nightmare Moon. I suppose going rogue runs in the alicorn family." he said with a sly smile.
Twilight clenched her jaw. He was starting to get on her nerves. "If abusing my power allows me to protect my ponies, and keep them happy and safe, then I will do so."
He smiled. "The road to Tartarus is paved with good intentions."
"You're one to talk." Twilight shot back. She had no idea why he wasn't attacking her. He had an advantage right now,and he wasn't pressing it. She knew he was smart, and that he had a plan. Whatever it was, the longer he waited to attack, the more anxious she became.
"Tsk." he jerked his head to the left, then returned to looking at Twilight. "If Rainbow Dash could see you now." he mused almost longingly. Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, and he smiled. "I suppose breaking you would give me a bit of pleasure... Since you're not getting out of here alive."
The Inquisitor sidestepped a pulse of magic aimed at his head. "You say I'm arrogant." Twilight commented.
He nodded over eagerly. "You are quite arrogant. You came here alone, into the heart of my domain, and attacked me. All on your own. You are outnumbered and outmatched."
Twilight snorted. "If anypony is outmatched, it is you. I could drop a sun on Canterlot." she chided.
"You are in desperate need of some humbling, Princess." he commented. "Allow me to teach you." he said evenly. He launched himself at her, all three blades aiming for her heart. She stepped back, and swatted all three swords away with one sword, then reforged the other into a lance and shot it towards the Inquisitor. He teleported out of the way, and the lance of magic impacted the wall opposite of Twilight, detonated, and left a hole large enough for a dragon to get inside. Chunks of rocks were thrown about, and debris were strewn across the throne room.
The dust was still lingering in the air when a dozen pegasi flew inside. Twilight grunted when she realized they had carried unicorns into the battle. She frowned as she saw another half dozen pegasi fly in carrying something she had never seen before. It was metal, and had three raised rings. The middle ring was larger than the outer ring, and smaller than the inner ring, but it had three prongs, equidistant from the center and each other. She looked the object over quizzically. The unicorns and pegasi all stood between her an the device, and she somehow suspected the device was less than benevolent.
A chill ran down her spine as two more pegasi flew into the room from the hole in the wall, each one carrying a unicorn, who were working together to carry a large crystal shaped like a spike with two points, one on each end. It was a rough oval shape, but pointier. The pegasi landed, and the unicorns hopped off, and levitated the crystal over to the device, then placed it in the central ring. She glanced at the Inquisitor.
"A remarkable device." he stated. His smile widened.
"Care to explain further?" Twilight asked impatiently in an attempt to get more information.
"You see," he smiled as he walked over to the device, "when Rainbow came up with this idea," his smile widened at Twilight's frown. "yes, that's right, she came up with this whole idea."
"You're lying." Twilight stated matter-of-factly. "She's helping me."
The Inquisitor smiled, and for a second Twilight thought she revealed too much information. "Of course she is." he acknowledged in a voice that sounded far too happy for hearing something that you didn't want to hear. Unless he wanted to hear that, or knew. "A spell to suppress her memories, along with another few changes in her mind, and the plan was set into motion. I ordered her, unknowing of the plan, to search for you. I knew one of you would succeed in finding the other, and knew that one way or another, even if she was killed by you immediately, it would speed up your plans."
"So she was helping you all along, without knowing it." Twilight summarized. She smiled. "I will deal with her after I have your head decorating my bedchambers."
He shook his head. "So violent..." he commented sadly.
Twilight frowned. "You started five wars in the past two years, and annexed three nations."
He seemed to lighten up at that mention. "Oh yes, that reminds me. The Dragon Lands will be mine within a week, by the way."
Twilight looked at him in disbelief. "You can't be stupid enough to think you could defeat the dragons in a single week." she said in exasperation.
"Tsk, but we're getting off point here."
"Yes," Twilight agreed, "please continue explaining your plan so I can undermine it because of your arrogance."
He nodded. "You certainly have changed in the past three years..." He rested a hoof on the metal and looked over the machine. After a few seconds, he turned back to Twilight. "It's a shame you became an alicorn." He looked back to one of the unicorns and nodded his head once. That unicorn stepped forwards and pulled out another small crystal, and set it on the metal, out of Twilight's sight.
Twilight channeled more magic into her horn. Whatever that device was, it wasn't good. She prepared several spells, spells that made the spells Nightmare Moon used look like foal's play. If it came down to her life or Canterlot... She could rebuild the city. She waited to strike, she already had valuable information, but he could let something even more valuable slip now. He was certain he would win. More than certain, much, much more than just certain.
The Inquisitor nodded at another unicorn. "Thank you." he said quietly. He turned around, and stepped forwards, passed the soldiers. Once he stood between the device and Twilight, the soldiers started withdrawing, even quicker than they arrived. Twilight felt a sinking feeling in her gut, one single unicorn remained by the device. His expression was even. "It was good to see you again, Twilight. But you've overstayed your welcome."
Twilight launched one of the weaker spells she had prepared. The spell was intercepted by one of the Inquisitor's blades. "The feeling is mutual." she stated as she turned her attention to him. She lurched forwards, swords leading the way, horn glowing brightly and pointing directly at him. She would try to destroy the device, but without knowing what it was, it could be even more dangerous than letting it be used.
The Inquisitor's blades disappeared, and the aura surrounding his horn shifted to something else. Something she didn't recognize. It wasn't dark magic, and it wasn't alicorn magic, but it felt somehow... Familiar. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the large crystal light up, started glowing with a dim blue-green light, and float into the air, then started spinning.
It took a second for the purpose of the device to become clear to her, but she understood immediately as the field activated.