Twilight uses the forbidden power of Blood Magic to save her friends, and in so doing, damns herself to exile or execution.
Twilight Sparkle is a master of all things magical. This is a fact that nopony would argue with, and would be understood to mean "All legal and good things magical." This is not necessarily the case, after all, one must understand the forbidden arts in order to find, and stop their abuse. What happens, then, when a threat that she cannot face herself comes to Ponyville? She must use that ancient last resort, damning her in the eyes of the law and the average pony. Making her an abomination to all the unicorns that don't understand or care about her reasons, and thus, making her exile or executed.
The credit for the concept goes completely to Rated Ponystar
The skies above Ponyville were dark, not because of a storm, but from the smoke of the burning buildings and the wings of the flying serpents that filled them. Nopony had known that the fire breathing beasts had been lurking in the Everfree, much less that they would be awakened by a simple fireworks display, regardless of how large it may have been. Of course, once they emerged from the trees, it was far too late to attempt to negotiate or apologize.
In the middle of the town hovered a purple Alicorn, her horn glowing bright enough to be almost blinding as she blasted out spells both to defend the ponies on the ground and attempt to drive away the enraged serpents. Sweat poured down her form, pooling in the bottom of the shield she had erected around herself. She pulled in the wind to disrupt the flying snakes, and emptied the river to douse as much of the fire as she could. Shields went up to protect the fleeing townsfolk from the incoming bursts of flame and the dive-bombing reptiles, and blasts of arcane energy shot out at the serpents that flew too close. She was holding her own, but she could feel herself weakening. It would only be a matter of time before her magic gave way, and the town would be defenseless. There was no magic that she knew that could stop this kind of attack, or, at least, no magic that she was permitted to use…
“Twilight, I trust you understand the reason I’m teaching you these things.” Celestia looked up at the ceiling of the room. They had gone deep under the castle to get to this magically sealed chamber, but she couldn’t risk someone seeing them, even through scry sensors. Someone even picking up the usage of the dark magics that were being performed in these walls could lead to them learning some of them, though most required more raw talent than most unicorns possessed, or, could only be learned through… special means. She looked back down to her former student expectantly.
“Yes, Princess, I have to know these magics inside and out to truly know how to fight them. I have to be able to understand their strengths as well as their weaknesses, and be able to recognize them in even their subtlest forms. If I had known more about his magic, I may have stood a better chance of beating Tirek, not just stalemating him.” She hung her head at her failure to lay the monster low that had hurt so many.
Celestia put her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, causing the smaller princess to look up into serious eyes, “This is not the time for self-doubt, Twilight. These powers have a will of their own, and showing weakness in their presence can be fatal. Remember, they all work to weaken your will to resist their use, some more than others. This is why you will not be using this next kind, but I will transfer the knowledge into your mind. It is potent enough to elevate a normal unicorn to a level above some of us alicorns, but is powerfully addictive. It relies on, not true magic, but the life blood of a creature, be it the caster, or, if the opportunity arises, an enemy that the caster has injured.”
“Blood magic…” Twilight’s eyes went wide as she grasped the full implications of what Celestia was giving her. The power to drain the life out of the blood was so taboo that even the most heinous criminals wouldn’t dare to touch it. It was one of three crimes punishable by death, and the only one where there was no possibility of grace. This was a law that Celestia herself was not above, and even its practice was enough to damn a pony. The purple princess swallowed hard, but knew her duty was to protect the ponies she held dear. “I’m ready…”
“Good. Remember the severity of this burden, and do not ever take it lightly. We must protect Equestria from whatever threatens her.” Celestia put her horn to Twilight’s, and the knowledge of the blackest art seeped in like a leech into an open wound.
Present Day… No, there were other alternatives, her magic was running low, but most of the ponies would be out soon, and all she had to do was keep them shielded and the serpents distracted until they fled. She had seen some of her friends escorting groups away, so they should be gone soon. A prismatic flash distracted her for a half a moment, but with the number of spells she was maintaining at once, that was all it took. The shields flickered for a brief instant, and Twilight heard screaming as the constant barrage of fire rained through, the shields now trapping the ponies inside the bubbles that had been being hit at the time with the fire that ate the ground they stood on. There was a crunch above her, drawing her attention up. There, she saw a bloody cyan hoof hanging from the mouth of one of the serpents, which then, to her horror, tilted its head back to bring the outlier in.
Her hovering faltered as her magical reserves began to deplete to almost nothing, not even allowing her basic sustained flight. The shields all flickered, and the wind died, all was screaming and burning and roaring, but Twilight couldn't hear any of it as she watched that hoof slide out of sight.
“No! This can't happen, I won't let it!!” She brought her horn down and her foreleg up, and gashed herself. She called on the magic of life itself to do what it was never meant to do. To cause death. She reached forward with a red tendril of energy, grabbing the bloody mouthed serpent by the jaw and pulling down. The joint came loose as she fed the tendril further in, ripping it open like a knife until a rainbow maned Pegasus dropped from its guts. Not wasting a breath, Twilight tugged at the fleeting life in the blood of the dying serpent, and pulled it into more deadly tendrils of bright crimson that streaked across the sky to strike serpent after serpent. Some had their wings ripped to shreds, and others were torn in half, but all of them fell helplessly as the Alicorn of Friendship was held in the grasp of the Blood Mage’s Lust. She raged at those that dared burn the town that had adopted her, that dared hurt her friends, that DARED to take those she loved away from her!
Just as quickly as it had come on, Twilight realized what she had done, what she was still doing, and she stopped her massacre of the serpents, allowing them to make their fearful escape, and turned her attention to helping those in need. The tendrils swooped down, choking out fires and clearing rubble almost instantaneously. She caused the life energy to seep into the injured, restoring their strength and knitting their wounds, though nothing could be done for those that had already passed. Tears streamed down her face as she recognized almost all of her friends among the wounded. She knew that the healing of Blood Magic was a temporary fix, and that it wouldn’t restore enough to get those like Rainbow any more than conscious and stable, but it was something. It also made up for what she had done, and what she had allowed to happen by hesitating so long. They had been relying on her to protect them, and she had almost failed. She looked down at the grey Pegasus colt below her. No, she hadfailed. And she had broken the oldest law in the process.
She landed solemnly, and looked around. Rainbow was trying to stand, but her leg was bent at an odd angle, the bone visible through the bite mark that proved she had seen the belly of a beast. Despite her worn appearance, she attempted a smile at her friend, “Hey, egghead. Thanks for the save. That was you, right? I don’t think anypony else could have managed to rip that sucker open to pull me out like that. Wicked cool, by the way, remind me not to get on yourbad side.” She tried to laugh, but coughed up a little blood instead, “Anyway, did we win? Are they gone?”
Tears began rolling down Twilight’s cheeks as she gestured around her at the burning houses and the gory remains of the mutilated serpents, “Look around, Rainbow. Does it look like we won?”
Rainbow looked closely, the smile slipping away before she stared intensely back at Twilight, “Look, Twi, these are just buildings. Just rock and wood and stuff, that’s not that big a deal. I mean, sure, there’s some stuff in there that we can’t get back, but nothing that really matters at the end of the day. Cause when it really comes down to it, all that matters is us. How many did we lose? If most of us lived to talk about it, then that’s a win in my book. And it looks like you racked up quite the count for them, too. Why didn’t you pull that tentacle thing out from under your wings at the start? That was pretty rockin, from what I saw before I took that little nap after being a temporary breath mint.”
Twilight looked back down to her friend and licked her lips, “I…”
“Please, Princess.” The Princess in question looked up to see one of her personal guards staring at her with tears in his eyes. His name was Solid Foundation, and he made models on the side. She remembered that he had said that he had two fillies, twins. Their mother had passed in the line of duty, and he had taken the assignment to stay close to them. And right then, he was staring at her as though she had just stabbed him in the gut, “Please, Princess, tell me that that wasn't what I thought it was. Tell me it was anything else. I swear I’ll believe you. Just… Tell me it wasn't what it looked like.”
Twilight’s tears increased, “I can’t.” One of the last remaining tendrils of magic snaked forward and solidified into a rope to bind and silence Solid, “Rainbow Dash, I have to leave. Tell everypony that I’m sorry.” And with that, the few tendrils of power remaining flew together to swirl around her before vanishing in a red mist, leaving Rainbow Dash yelling at empty air.
A red mist swirled through the room in Twilight's castle, alerting the cowering purple drake to a perceived threat. He dove under the bed, peeking out to see none other than his adoptive sister and new princess. He quickly climbed out, looking around nervously as Twilight sped around the room grabbing things and shoving them into a pair of saddlebags, "Are they gone yet, Twilight?"
Twilight flinched, but kept frantically looking for things to fill her bags with, "Yes, Spike, they're gone. Now listen, I'm going to have to go away for a while, probably a long time, I need you to be brave and stay here, okay? There should be enough in the emergency stores for the next year, and then the money should last you a while after that, if you're responsible. If I'm not able to come back by then, go to one of the girls, I'm sure they'll help you. Remember to take care of Owlowicious and Peewee, don't forget to brush your teeth every night... and... There's something I'm forgetting, but I don't have time." Tears were forming in her eyes as she hugged the baby dragon, "Remember that, no matter what, I love you, Spike."
Spike had become increasingly worried as she had gone on her list, it wasn't very Twilight like, too disorganized, and not very long, "Twi? You are coming back, right?" He was answered with silence as he hugged the Alicorn back, just now noticing the liquid running down his arm from twilight's face, "Twi, you're bleeding."
Twilight pulled back, and wiped her eyes, "Don't worry about that, Spike. Now, you have to promise that you'll stay with the girls or with the princesses, if it comes to that. You belong where it's safe. Also, don't hate Celestia or anyone else because of what they're going to be doing, they're doing it because it's their duty, alright?" Spike gave her a skeptical look, "Promise me!"
"Al... alright... I promise."
Twilight visibly relaxed, "Now, I have to go." She charged her horn for a teleport, but it fizzled. She growled and ran out of the room, she was still out of magical energy. She looked back and forth, and jumped into a closet, squeezing at the gash on her leg. The tempting thing about blood magic was that it was completely outside of the arcane energy that normal magic used, and therefore increased the magical access that a caster had by however much life blood they had access to, and even a small amount would give them a large amount of energy. It was this alternate energy source that had allowed her beyond her limit, and it was that source that would allow her to escape.
Red energy formed around the cut and on her horn as it swirled around her in a thick mist, hiding the outside world from view momentarily before clearing to reveal the trees of the Everfree. She knew, however, that this would never be far enough. Only one place would accept somepony with Celestia's rare ax above their heads. She ran, using what little natural power she had left to cast a detection spell to keep a lookout against tracking spells, though it would do little if they got Pegasi or Earth Pony trackers. She wanted to hope to Celestia that they wouldn't send them in here, but felt that would be disrespectful in this case. The purple pony looked back towards the town she had grown to love so much, then began her long march, letting a single bright red tear fall from her eye.
Rainbow Dash lay on a mattress that had been pulled from one of the burning houses. It was mostly alright, save for a few burns and ash stains, the same could not be said for Rainbow. Her right wing and front hoof had been nearly bitten clean through, and would have had to come off, had it not been for Twilight’s magic. As it was, she still had nasty gashes and a mangled wing that would be useless for flying for a few days at least.
Right then, however, she was more focused on her five visitors, “So she just took off? Just like that? That doesn’t sound like Twi, she’s not gonna just abandon her friends like that.”
Spike shrugged his shoulders as he helped wrap Rarity’s head. She had been hit when a building had collapsed on the group she was evacuating with, “I don’t know, she seemed kinda nervous, and I’m sure she was hiding something.”
“Do ya think it might have something to do with the squiggly red ribbons she used to be the dragons down?” Pinkie had more or less escaped unharmed, despite having directly fended off several of the serpents. She had only gotten some burns for her trouble, which she barely seemed to notice.
Applejack snorted, her splinted ankle held against her chest, “I reckon that might be it, considerin that she was bringin Tartarus out with em. Surprised none a ya’ll recognized what she was doin, what with her pullin them ribbons from the bloody things. I saw her cut open her own leg afore she started, too.”
Rarity turned to look at the farmer with her good eye, much to Spike’s chagrin, “Now, dear, do be careful what you say. You wouldn’t want to give the impression that you’re… insinuating something that you shouldn’t be about our newest princess; neighbor; and, most importantly, dear friend, now would you? It almost sounds like you’re accusing her of being a Blood Mage, which would be preposterous.” She gave a pointed glare, “right!”
“Wrong, that IS what I’m insinuatin. I saw it, and there ain’t nothin you can do to convince me that I didn’t. She KNOWS what it means. I mean, I know not EVERYPONY knows, but after we started facin off against ancient evils on a semi regular basis, I thought I’d do a bit a pokin around to see if’n I couldn’t find some candidates to be on the watch for. And guess what I found. BLOOD MAGIC. It’s pulled from blood, and the only picture I could find of it was a painting done of the last unicorn that got ahold of the stuff, and it looked like hazy red ribbons commin straight outta the hearts of ponies.”
Fluttershy looked up from the injured rabbit in her legs, Angel had been the only one to stay with her to ensure that all the other animals made it out safely, and when the cottage had collapsed, he had been the one to somehow shove the frozen Pegasus out the window to relative safety, “I’m sure she had a good reason. Twilight would never hurt anything without a good reason, and you know how she is about rules, so I doubt she would have broken one if she had had a choice… right?”
Applejack rolled her eyes, “There ain't a good enough reason, Shy! She took Life, and turned it into Death! It’s unnatural! She coulda found another way!”
“Then I’d be dead.” The room went silent as all good eyes were drawn to the Pegasus in the bed. She had a furious glare on her face and a tear in each eye that she was clearly refusing to let fall. She swallowed loudly before continuing on in a hoarse whisper, “Is that what you’d rather have happened, AJ? That I get eaten alive? I don’t like to admit it much, but I do get scared sometimes. You wanna know the only time I got scared today? When I got smacked in the face with a giant tail and the next thing I see is theinside of a throat!” She punched the mattress with her good foreleg, “When I got ripped out of the snake's stomache, I asked her why she didn’t pull that trick earlier, and she broke down crying. So, AJ, is ‘saving a friend's life’ a good enough reason? Am I a good enough reason?”
Applejack took a step back, her conviction wavering, “Well… she coulda found another way to-“
“Before she lost track of which one of them ate me?! Besides, you saw her shields flickering, that’s why I went to help her to begin with! She was about out of juice, so anything else she could’a done would’a probably made the whole thing go to pot! What did you do to stop those things?!”
“Now wait just a-“
“No you wait! Was that you that held off fifty of the dragons at the school when they first showed up?! Was that you that jumped at the opportunity to get everypony out under a sheild you made?! No!" She coughed as her voice cracked on the last word, but she continued on with her fading voice, “And where were you when I was convinced I was dead? Huh? Or would you have even decided to help? As far as I can see, Twilight deserves a medal! Heck, she deserves as many of em as we can stick on her, maybe a few million bits, and our eternal gratitude! But no, you’re over here content to send her to her death, aren’t you? You know that’s the penalty for what she did, right?”
“Wait, how did you-?”
“Silverblade book seven, ‘The Blood Mage of Equestria’ I didn’t connect the dots at first, cause that wasn’t the best one, so I kinda don’t remember a lot about it. But when you brought up that word, it reminded me. So, are you gonna say she’s just as bad as Crimson River when she killed the town of innocents, or are you gonna maybe admit that she had to do what she had to do?”
“Dang it, Rainbow! I know, and I'm just a bit upset that she basically had to kill herself to save us!” The quiet of the room was beginning to become a habit, but this one didn’t last long, as it was filled with a tearful whisper, “I thought maybe, if I was angry at her for doin it, it wouldn’t hurt so much, but… And besides, there ain’t nothin we can do bout it. She’s gonna get the noose for sure as soon as they find her. So, yeah, I’m mighty glad she saved you, but I just wish she coulda found a way to save herself, too…”
Rarity dantily cleared her throat, “Well, Darlings, if you two are done bickering, I say those of us that can, try to make arrangements for our upcoming travel plans.”
Rainbow looked up skeptically, “Travel plans? How, where, and why would we be going anywhere right now?”
Canterlot castle, five hours after the Ponyville Incident.
Celestia lay in her bed, the letter that Twilight’s guard had sent laying beside her. She had read it over at least a dozen times, and her tears had joined the ones that had already stained it when it arrived. She prayed to her father, her mother, anyone that might hear her that there had been a mistake somewhere. That the guard had not seen what he thought he had seen, but Solid was no fool. He had been hoof picked to help Twilight, and now he had held witness to a most terrible day.
Luna stood steady by her sister’s side, “You Know what you must do, sister. We have no choice.” She dodged a teacup as it flew at her from the tray on the table.
“Why?! Why must I do it?! Twice now I have been confronted with somepony as close to me as family who has done something everypony else has deemed unforgiveable, and twice now I have found another way! I hurled them into another era, whether it be in stone or trapped on the moon, and both of you have returned to me whole and largely unharmed! Why must this time be so different?!”
Luna licked her lips, dreading the side she had to take in this debate. She silently begged Twilight’s forgiveness, hoping that she had somehow developed the ability to hear prayers, “Because, sister, there was no law on eternal night, and our Father did not foresee Discord’s actions to put a sentence down for them. You know we cannot just cast the laws of our parents aside.”
Celestia buried her face in the bed, “Why, Luna? Why did I teach her that spell? Why was I so short sighted? This is all my fault. All-“
She was silence by a slap to the head from a lion’s paw, she looked up into Discord’s mismatched eyes and beheld a serious frown, “Celestia, you know Twilight too well for this. I've only been her friend for a very short time, but you have been more than that. She never would have done it if it there was another way. You most likely saved quite a few of your little ponies, even if it WAS at the cost of Twilight. But, really, it was Twilight that saved them at the cost of herself. Really, I’m just getting back into this friendship thing, and I’m already better at it than you, it seems.” His face softened, then returned to its usual smirk, “So, why don’t you just get off your royal toosh and do your job?”
Celestia dried her eyes for a moment as she looked into Discord’s. Then she saw it, deep beneath that smirk. A spark of a plan was hatching, but what was it? “Very well.” She stood slowly, leaning lightly on her sister, “I shall have the guards search for her, as the law requires, Twilight Sparkle is now Equestria’s Public Enemy Number One. Discord, you are to-“
The chimera held up his hands, “Whoa whoa whoa! You goody goodies may be bound to the frivolous whims of your daddy dearest, but I’m my own me! I do as I please.”
Luna looked at him carefully, “And you are aware of the penalties should you be caught assisting Equestria’s greatest foe?”
“Is it death?”
“No, actually, it’s prison. For a very long time, though.”
“Excellent, I’ll have a matching trio of prison sentences. Do try to get a better pose for it than the girls did, would you? That one gave me terrible cramps.” He brushed his talons on his chest as he walked outside.
Celestia held up a hoof, “Discord…” He turned to look at her questioningly, “Thank you. And good luck.”
Crystal Palace, twelve hours after the Ponyville Incident
Shining Armor paced back and forth in his office. He glanced at the royal missive that had showed up just a half hour ago and frowned. It commanded him to find and bring in public enemy number one, as was his duty. The problem was that he doubted that public enemy number one deserved to even get so much as a slap on the fetlock or a stern talking to. He knew his little sister, and he had a good idea of what had happened, so now he had a dilemma. He could attempt to stop this, though the more personal letter he had received at the same time left no doubt that not even the Princesses themselves could overrule this particular law, and it would most likely end up as nothing more than a delay tactic. Useful in and of itself, but ultimately would lead to the same end result.
He could refuse and throw the missive back in the Princesses face, thus ensuring that he would be dishonorably discharged and lose his dream position, not to mention that he would be potentially facing treason charges. The problem there was that somepony else would immediately take his place and go hunting Twilight in his stead, thus accomplishing nothing. A third, and most unsettling possibility would be for him to do his duty and go find Twilight to bring her to “justice” and a noose, though that possibility made him sick to his stomach. This was his sister, his Twily. He hated even thinking about having to do that.
Perhaps he could find a fourth option. One that didn’t involve his betrayal of someone he cared about, be it Cadance by ending up in prison indefinitely, or Twilight. Cadance would understand, of course, but that wouldn’t keep her company at night or comfort her when she was unable to visit him in his cell. Neither was an option. He would have to find another way, but until then, he would have to play the role of Twilight herself. He would have to spend an inordinate amount of time studying inane details that might maybe come in handy at some point in the hypothetical future. After all, who could blame him for being as prepared as possible when going to face a Blood Mage. And if it took a few days, so be it. He grinned as he grabbed his helmet and headed to the library, he would start on that Silver Wing book Cadance had so enjoyed. It should be insightful.
Carousel Boutique, Twenty-four hours after the Ponyville Incident
The Boutique was mostly in ruins, the top floor had collapsed, but the main lobby was still intact enough to hold a top secret meeting. Injuries were still present on four of the five poinies, but all had healed enough for reasonable travel, thanks to the slow healing started by the blood magic. Rainbow still had her wing in a cast, and Applejack still had a limp, but they were overall healed. The unicorn among them checked the windows and doors with her magic, and then licked her lips, “I assume everypony has the supplies that I requested from them?”
Applejack nodded and held up her saddlebags, “Got plenty’a food for the trip. More than it looks, actually. Twi made these for long delivery trips, so they hold more than they should, so long as it fits through the openin. Figured it appropriate I use it when she needed help.”
Rainbow nodded to the scrolls on the table, “The weather station had maps from all over, and I got the weather patterns for everywhere that I could without it getting suspicious. I think Raindrops figured me out, cause she went and got a couple maps out of her personal collection and ‘left them out’, stared me right in the eye, then left. Weirded me out, but she had some real obscure maps from other countries. I think she had the same idea as you, Rares, cause there’s like four of the Badlands.”
Fluttershy spoke up from her seat, “I was able to get a few bits of my medical kits from my… from where my house was, but not much. I asked Nurse Redheart, but she said that she couldn’t spare any, since the hospital had the same problem and there were so many injured ponies around.”
Pinky stomped her hoof triumphantly, “I’ve already got my chain of friends working to make sure that everypony is talking about Twilight Sparkle the hero! Cheese and Trixie should be able to get that message around almost by themselves!”
Rarity nodded, satisfied, “Excellent, and no worries, Fluttershy, dear. You lost a lot yesterday, I’m simply glad you’re alright, and that you were able to regain even a little bit. I have some friends putting forward stalling tactics for the trial, should they find Twilight before we do. Now, everypony gather their things. Rainbow, Applejack, you two let us carry your bags for you so you can heal faster. We’ll need Rainbow in the air ASAP, and Applejack will be able to walk faster once the magic finishes with your leg. Now, let’s go save our friend!”
Twilight trudged forlornly down the path towards the desert. It had been a long trip, but trains and public commute had been out of the question. Strangely enough, she seemed to be keeping ahead of the news, for the most part. Either that, or Celestia had opted to avoid the panic that openly hunting down a former princess for the ultimate crime would no doubt cause, which was… reasonable. In any case, it meant that she had been able to keep a somewhat low profile, if only because she had stopped to borrow a cloak from Zecora to hide herself, amongst a few other supplies the Badlands wouldn’t easily give her.
The Alicorn sighed deeply, Appleoosa was the last refuge before the Badlands, and it would be the place she would most likely find the work of her brother for the first time. Dodge Junction would have less chance of recognizing her if she had made it her last stop, but she also had heard that it was a popular place for criminals to stop through and had boosted its guard presence. Besides, stopping by to get some apple pie before going out into the most inhospitable and backstabbing place on the entire planet wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
As she walked into sight of the first buildings, she pulled her cloak down a little further, trying to appear to be guarding against the windblown sands from the immense flatness beyond. Unfortunately, her clever and not at all obvious ploy was seen through by the watchpony at the gate, “Woah there! Show yer face!” Twilight swallowed, she could potentially run, but this was a town full of Earth Ponies that were conditioned by living in this harsh environment. She was still low on magic, having run completely dry before and not getting a chance for more than a cursory nap while she was sure she was hidden added up to almost no chance of a recharge, so flying any real distance or teleporting without blood magic was out.
“Hey! Did’ja hear me? Drop the hood!” The Alicorn sighed and did as instructed, hoping that word hadn’t gotten this far yet. “Twilight? That you?” She looked up to see a familiar face, Braeburn, Applejacks cousin. She nodded nervously, the jig was up! She was going to get arrested! He laughed, “Come on in! Good to see a friendly face! Dumplin, you keep watch while I go welcome Twi back, ya hear?” He hopped down and held out his hoof, “I hear congratulations are in order, Princess, though I guess that it’s comin a mite late, eh?”
Twilight took the offered hoof with a wary smile, “I’m still the same old Twilight, not really all that much different. Mainly I can grow my own feather dusters now.”
Braeburn laughed as he turned and lead the Alicorn back into the town, “Good to see you’re still humble around us common folk! How’s AJ and them? Haven’t had a chance to talk to em since the reunion. They still workin hard?”
Twilight cringed a bit, remembering that she hadn’t had a chance to check on the farmers before she had fled, “They’re doing all right.” I hope, she added silently.
“So what brings you around these parts? Come to sample some nice pie? Catch up with old friends?”
Twilight licked her lips, she had practiced the lie countless times, but it still made her nervous, “I’m just heading out to the Badlands for some scientific research. I’m investigating some of the native creatures out there. They survive in such harsh conditions that they may hold secrets to allowing ponies to do the same, and the plant life may hold the same secret for farmers out here.” She figured Braeburn would appreciate that last bit, at least. It would give him a bit to be excited for. The best part was that it wasn’t entirely a lie, as she did plan to use her time in the Badlands for good. Maybe she could earn a pardon if she cured some fatal illness, but she doubted it.
The Earth Pony perked up a bit, “Oh, that’d be nice, make the orchard grow easier. Maybe make a few more apples, so we can have some extra surpluss.”
They were interrupted by a loud gasp as they turned a corner, the two ponies looked to see a small, bright red Pegasus filly staring with wide, wondering eyes, “It’s… You’re a Princess…”
Twilight flinched internally, the more of a stir she caused, the more she would be remembered when the guards finally got around here. Outwardly, however, she simply smiled and nodded, picking up her Princessy Mannerisms a bit, “That I am. And who are you, little one?”
The little filly just turned slightly redder as she wilted shyly, but Braeburn chuckled and answered, “This here’s Candy Apple. Not even outta school yet, and she’s already makin some’a the best candy coatin ya ever did taste.” The filly sunk even lower, much to the amusement of the older ponies.
Twilight smiled down at the little Pegasus, “Would you like to come with us, Candy Apple? We were just going to get something to eat. Maybe you know somewhere good?” The filly nodded excitedly and ran off, forcing the two adults to jog after her in their chuckles. Twilight couldn’t help but think that this was a wonderful last memory of the civilized world.
Sugar Sweet’s Apple Treats confection shop, Two Days after the Ponyville Incident
An Alicorn, an Earth Pony farmer, and a Pegasus filly walked into a confectioner shop. Twilight grinned wryly, if this wasn’t the beginnings of a joke, she didn’t know what was. Sadly, the humor of the situation was lost on the pair of ponies that were behind the counter, clearly the filly’s parents, given the red coat on the Earth Pony stallion and the rarity of the Pegasus mare in the town. The mare whispered something to her partner, then turned a nervous smile back on the Princess in the room, “Welcome to Sugar Sweet’s Apple Treats, is there anything at all I can get for you tonight, your majesty? I have caramel apples, chocolate apples, fudge apples, red candied apples, sour candied apples-“
The mare was cut off by her daughter jumping up and down, getting extra air with little flaps of her wings, “The sour apples are the best! I made some just this morning, too, so they’re still all fresh and a bit gooey, just like I like em.” Candy seemed to have gotten into her element with the introduction of apples of the sweetened variety. Now that she wasn’t cowering, a yellow apple dipped in a green candy coating was visible on her flank, clearly the sour apples in question were without compare.
Twilight grinned at the exuberance, “Thank you for the advice, Candy. I’ll take one sour apple, then. How much do I owe?” She held up her hoof as the mare began the all too familiar dismissing wave, “I insist, I’d feel like I was taking advantage of you otherwise. Besides, I wouldn’t want to just take things for free from the relatives of a friend. That would feel too much like mooching.” She gave a friendly smile to answer the nervous one from the Pegasus. Bits were exchanged, and Candy was sent to get her namesake. She came back with three, one for both guests and one for herself. Twilight’s eyes widened as she bit into it, then one of them twitched, “Wow! That’s…” She coughed, “That’s rough!”
The filly’s ears went back, and the mare behind the counter flinched, “Is it not to your liking, Your Majesty? I can-“
“No no no,” She coughed again, “I just wasn’t expecting it to be so… strong! That’s probably one of the best candied apples I’ve ever had, but when you said sour, you MEANT IT!” She laughed as she took another bite, her eye twitching and her mouth puckering a bit. It seemed to drain the tension that the room had slowly been building from the nervous mare behind the counter, but it instantly built back up a moment later.
“Raiders! Raiders are comin in from the Badlands!” There were panicked screams and yelled instructions as those outside prepared to hide or fight. The ponies in the room looked up at each other, fear evident in every eye.
The mare swung open the gate to the back, “Candy, get in the cellar.”
“But mommy, I-“
Twilight looked out the window, “Do as your mother says, Candy.” The filly nodded and bolted to the back room, quickly followed by her mother.
Braeburn licked his lips nervously, “So, you can just Princess power us free of this, right?”
“I’m sorry, I’ve been out of magic for days, I haven’t had a chance to rest and recharge since… since I left.”
Braeburn nodded, “So it is true, them dragons attackin you back in Ponyville. Thought it was made up, seein as you’re out travelin. Tell the truth, you ain’t headin out to do research, are ya?”
Twilight looked up at the moon as it was rising, “Braeburn, I did something defending Ponyville. Something I never want to do again. I broke a law to drive off the dragons, a law older than the Sisters themselves, but I don’t regret it. I regret that I’ll never see my friends or family again, but not that I saved Ponyville.”
Braeburn nodded, “Good, you shouldn’t regret it, if it was done for good reasons. But, now ain’t the time for talk, now we gots to get down to the Sheriff to help defend the town!” He bolted out the door, Twilight on his heels.
“But I already told you, I’m out of magic!”
Braeburn grinned, his hoof on the door to the sheriff’s office, “The raiders don’t know that, though!” He shoved the door open to find a good number of stallions arming up for the oncoming raiders. They all turned to look at the newcomers, and all eyes instantly went to Twilight, “Sheriff, I brought a tactical advantage for ya.”
The sheriff whistled, “I’ll say ya did. Probly won’t even need to fire a shot with you here, Princess.”
Twilight wilted slightly, “I’m sorry, Sheriff, I’m all tapped out. I haven’t had any rest in two days, so I couldn’t so much as conjure a light show to distract them.”
The sheriff spit in the corner, “Well, that’s unfortunate, but mayhaps ya won’t need to, if we can convince em you COULD blast em from here to the sun… or… whatever it is you’re the princess of. No offence.”
Twilight perked up a little, “None taken. And I hope you’re right…”
Canterlot Castle, Two days since the Ponyville Incident
Shining rushed through the halls, he had discovered something in his studies, already, and he had to find Twilight, and quickly. It had first come up during the final clash of the Silver Wing novel, but he had confirmed it with some further research. He had spent the remainder of that day formulating plans, then getting to Canterlot as fast as he could. It was vital that he get everything set up properly, and each moment wasted was a breath closer to his sister’s potential death.
He rushed past a line of disgruntled and tired nobles waiting to petition the Night Court, and burst through the door, “Princess Luna, I have an urgent request regarding my investigation!”
Luna’s eyes widened, “Everypony out!” She glared as the noble in front of her lifted his hoof, “Everypony!” Her voice pushed him back a few feet on the polished marble before he turned tail and fled the room, her guards immediately, but much less fearfully on his tail, “What, pray tell, is so important, Captain and Prince Shining Armor?”
Shining took a deep breath, it was now time to attempt to fool the goddess of the moon, “I need you to make the nights longer for a short time. It would lower the resource requirements for a search mission into the Badlands, due to the temperature drop. It would also allow us to potentially ambush the… suspect in the dark, I believe.”
Luna looked thoughtful for a moment, “And this wouldn’t at all give Twilight an easier time surviving with the limited supplies she was able to gather and the lack of practical survival experience. Nor would it aid in her hiding from any investigators, would it?”
Shining swallowed, but kept his course, “I believe the risks are outweighed by the rewards, Maam.”
He was rewarded with a smile, “Good, good. I trust your tactical decision in this, of course. I’ll discuss it with my sister. Also, while we are on the subject of your investigation, I know that, as a class S mage, you are generally allowed to be considered a completely autonomous squad all by yourself, I am forbidding you from doing so during this mission.” Shining flinched slightly, “That is why I have already assigned Silver Crescent to be your partner. She will go with you at all times, and you will assist each other in any case that may be required. The Badlands are a harsh place, and you may need her martial prowess to compensate in situations where magic is nullified.”
She stood from her throne and walked down to the guard captain, putting her mouth close to his ear, “And, for future reference, when you are going to blatantly ask my help in assisting your sister, do so in private, and use more veiled language. You may not be mystically bound to the laws of my father, but some of us are not quite so lucky. We can only delegate to those that we know will perform in a way that aligns with what we actually want to happen. Now, I am pardoning you on your first offence, as is my right with this particular law, but Father was very specific with some of these things, and loopholes only work so well. Be cautious.” She returned to her throne gracefully, “Oh, and your partner is not here yet, she was visiting family, so you will not be allowed to leave until tomorrow night, I apologize. Good night, Captain.”
Edge of Appleoosa, Two Days since the Ponyville Incident
Twilight, Sheriff Silver Star, and Braeburn walked at the head of a group of armed ponies to meet the raiders at the edge of town. Twilight marched with a confidence that didn’t reflect her internal turmoil, wings spread and head held high. Tonight, she was a Princess of Equestria, one of the four Goddesses in mortal form that would protect their subjects at all costs. The Raiders drew up more cautiously than they had started once it became clear that they would be facing off with something a bit more challenging than a group of Earth Pony farmers with cobbled together firearms.
Their apparent leader stepped forward, a black Pegasus with a white mane and a black western styled hat atop it. He removed the hat and bowed respectfully, “Well well well, I hadn’t expected we’d be meetin royalty tonight. I’d have brushed up my old tux back at the hideaway. Really sweep ya off yer feet, if ya fancy. The name’s Dark Wind, my beautiful dove. What brings a lovely little lady like yerself out to this here inhospitable spit’o desert? Come to pick you up a pretty cowpoke for yer collection, eh?” He gave a teasing grin as though he were her best friend poking fun at a childhood crush she had.
Twilight gave an indignant huff, “I am, in fact, here visiting good friends. Some of said friends have told me that you have been harassing them lately. Ransacking their stores and abducting their ponies. What have you to say for yourselves?”
Dark gave a friendly chuckle, “I’m terribly sorry, ma’am, we don’t have real school trainin, so we don’t rightly know what most’a them things is. Sad story, that, only learnin I really got was my father showin me manners. I learnt’em right well, though, I think.”
“Well, to put it simply, you’re stealing their things, and taking the ponies that live here. We want you to stop and return the ponies. If you don’t, then I will be forced to intervene personally on their behalf.”
Dark raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder, “Ya hear that? The Princess decided to get her hooves dirty protectin a bunch’o Dirt Ponies. Must be gold stored in these here storage sheds, eh?” There was a rumbling of discomfort from the seemingly nervous bandits, but Dark just chuckled, “I gotta ask, though, Miss Alicorn, what’re ya gonna do if we don’t?”
Twilight gritted her teeth at the disrespect for the honorable Earth Ponies, “Well, Mister Windy, I might have to blast you from here to the middle of the nearest ocean. You smell like you might need the wash.”
Dark threw his head back and laughed a good hearty laugh, “Oh, that’s perfect. Let me ask you one more thing, Princess, do you play Poker at all?” Twilight flinched, “Yeah, I thought not. Listen, you seem smart, you seem nice, and you’re real pretty to look at, but I know what all three of the Alicorns look like, and you ain’t one. I know I may look like some uncultured bumpkin to you, but if you’re gonna cast a glamour to pretend you’re a goddess, at least make yourself look like a real one. Not that you’ll get the chance.” He pulled a pistol with one of his wings and shot, the bullet grazing past Twilight’s cheek, drawing red out like a burning trail of red fire.
Twilight hit the ground as bullets flew out from both sides, the Sheriff and Braeburn putting themselves between the bandits and their Princess. The group was chaos and shouting for several seconds before a small voice brought utter stillness, “Princess! Princess, I came to help you!” Every Appleoosan head whipped around to see the small candy apple red filly running towards the newly christened battlefield. For a split second there was no other movement besides the running hooves of the tiny filly, then there was a crack like a thousand claps of thunder as the tiny form fell and tumbled forward.
“Candy!” Twilight couldn’t tell who screamed the name, but it was more than just her as she ran to the side of the little Pegasus on the sand, one hoof under the little head, “Come on, you’ll be okay. Don’t die on me, Candy, you’re still not old enough to go. You can’t go yet, please.” She pulled on her magic, but found nothing, so she pulled on the only thing she had, the blood flowing from her cheek, as she dared not use the filly’s fading life force. Power flowed into the small body, doing everything it could to heal the bullet through the chest, but Twilight’s scan had told her before she even tried what the result would be. She could feel the rage building, that same red mist that had told her all the dragons had to die was whispering to her again, and she felt that it was justified. These weren’t some mindless creatures doing what instinct told them they had to do, these were ponies, acting on their own, and one of them had aimed far too low to have been shooting in self-defense. She looked up and saw Dark Wind holding a pistol out, a charming grin on his face, and the whispers turned to screaming.
Twilight could feel it, the life pounding in all the ponies gathered around her and Candy, and, more importantly, in the ponies staring with looks ranging from horror and revulsion to amusement and triumph. She stared at Dark as her rage boiled, and she wasn’t even aware that she had stood up and began walking towards her. He held up his gun and said something in a smug voice, but Twilight had forgotten his language. His face turned to a frown and he yelled more gibberish, then fired. Twilight’s mind didn’t register the shot, but her magic did, and a tendril of bloody red shot out to consume the bullet like a viper on a mouse. The tendril recoiled, wrapping itself around Twilight protectively. Dark recoiled and screamed to his men, bullets fired from all their guns, but each of them connected with the newly formed cylinder of red mist that engulfed the princess.
Several of the bandits dropped their guns and turned to flee, but the mist screamed at Twilight that none of them could leave after what they did. Tendrils snaked from the injured among them, striking out like snakes, piercing legs and bodies, leaving each that tried to run crumpled on the ground, howling in pain. Dark watched in terror as his ponies fell all around him to the red ribbons, then turned back to the enraged Princess. He began pleading, but Twilight still couldn’t hear his words. A ribbon sliced his leg, and another emerged from the wound, this one wrapping around his throat. Twilight lifted him off the ground, glaring at him as he choked. She pulled him to her face, staring him in the eyes, and she saw… fear.
The outright terror in the stallion’s eyes broke the trance that the blood magic had over Twilight. Language and thought returned, and she heard the hoarse whisper of Dark begging for his life, talking desperately of a repentance for all previous misdeeds. She flung him bodily to the ground, “You’re all despicable, but Celestia says that almost anything can, eventually, be redeemed. Only the fundamentally corrupted must be disposed of permanently. That’s why I’m here. I’ve done something that makes me worse than you, but just remember. I am not, and never again will be, completely above coming back to finish this. Sheriff, take them away. I have to leave before I do something I regret.” With that, the red mist enveloped her, and she was no more in Appleoosa.
Dodge Junction, Three days after the Ponyville Incident
“What do you mean we can’t go through?! Do you have any idea who I am?” Rainbow stood nose to nose with a royal guard blocking the road, but her heated stare and yelling did little more than ruffle the fur on his snout.
“We are not to allow traffic out into the Badlands for any reason. It is a matter of national security.”
“Horse apples! I know what you’re tryin to do, and I’m not havin it! You just don’t want anypony-“
She was silenced by a blue aura wrapping around her snout, sealing it shut, “I am very sorry for the disturbance, officer, my friend here is just upset over a loss we suffered recently. It’s caused her to be a bit testy. I’m sure you understand. Now, come along, dear, we need to find something to eat.” With a slight nod to the guard, Rarity turned and dragged her chromatic maned friend away, closely followed by the remainder of their entourage.
Once a reasonable distance from the guards, Applejack got in Rainbow’s still silenced face, her voice a harsh whisper, “Are ya crazy?! We’re doin somethin that could land all’a us in jail for the rest’a our lives, and ya were gonna just yell it out to a royal guard? We gotta play this quiet like or we’ll never get anywhere.”
Spike frowned, “Yeah, and remember, Twi said not to get mad at the guards or the Princesses for what they have to do. We gotta help her, but that doesn’t mean we should yell at the guards for doing their jobs.”
Rainbow snorted, her snout finally stopping its glow, “Yeah, well, they should be helping the national hero that saved them all from certain doom more times than she has appendages. Which is saying something since she has as many as a pony can HAVE.”
Pinkie giggled at that, “Well, at least they’re not out there hunting her. Maybe they’re trying to stop ponies from hunting her down?”
Rarity nodded curtly, “Quite right, Pinkie. We need to keep optimistic with this, otherwise we’ll just end up spinning our wheels instead of accomplishing anything of worth. As it is, we need not take the road out of here, as I highly doubt our friend did, at any rate. We should get back and double around, there’s plenty of open desert that we could sneak into.”
Rainbow nodded, ruffling her uninjured wing, “Yeah. Let’s get out there. The sooner we can get there, the sooner we can do somethin useful…”
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Canterlot Castle Barracks, Three Days after the Ponyville Incident
Shining Armor paced back and forth in his old personal room. It had never been refilled, so it was still a private place, and had provided him with a good place to attempt to sleep. He was conflicted, Luna had said that she knew he was subverting her, but had assigned him what was clearly a watch dog to keep him in line. He couldn’t figure out her game, or why she was being helpful one moment and hindering him the next. Then there was the added stress of his baby sister out wandering the world as a wanted criminal. And if the report from Appleoosa was any judge, she had already been attacked by bandits, though the sheriff seemed surprised at the news that she was a wanted criminal herself.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. His ears splayed back and he narrowed his eyes at the offending piece of wood. This was it, he would be meeting the one that was going to be making his life difficult. He turned away to look out the window and took a deep breath, “Come in.”
A dark colored mare walked in, closing the door behind her with a kick of her hind leg. Shining examined her in the reflection in the window. She was a bat winged pony, or thestral, as they were properly called, and wearing the distinctive armor of the Night Guard. Her helmet covered her mane, but her tail was a very proud purple. Her slitted yellow eyes stared determinedly forward, and her lopsided grin was open enough to just show a few teeth, one of which jutted down past her lip in a type of odd, one sided overbite. She was far shorter than was common, even for the unusually lithe thestral race, giving her the look of a pony far too young to be in the military. Overall, she looked rather unimpressive to the point of nearly being adorable, all of the normally intimidating features of the thestral race adding together to give her a feel of something that should be scary, but wasn’t. She stood there for a second before giving a sharp salute, “Major Silver Crescent reporting in!” She looked for all the world like a filly playing at being a guard.
Shining raised an eyebrow at the reflection, “So, I hear you’re my babysitter for this mission. Did Princess Luna promote you specifically for this?”
Silver’s smile faltered, “No, Sir, I’ve been an officer for a while now. I know I don’t look it, but I’m plenty old enough, just a bit on the small side. Also, I’m not your babysitter, I’m your backup. The Princess thought you might need the help, considering the existence of areas of mystic nullification that exist in the Badlands. As you may know, thestrals have no innate magic, so we aren’t affected by them. It was simply a tactical advantage that she thought would be useful.”
Shining snorted, “And it has nothing to do with a lack of trust in my emotional capability to get the job done, I suppose.”
The thestral frowned, “Sir, if I may, we are going after a national hero, and a princess of Equestria. I don’t see why you would accuse me of sabotaging things. She saved Princess Luna, and therefore gave the thestrals hope again. I volunteered for this because I had the distinct feeling that working with you to apprehend your sister would involve a plan to rescue her from her fate, and not just blindly follow the law. If that’s not the case, I would appreciate you telling me now, otherwise, cut me a break… if you’ll excuse my lack of professionalism.” She coughed into her hoof awkwardly as her frustration died down.
Shining raised an eyebrow, turning around, “So, you’re here to help me save Twilight?”
Silver rubbed the back of her head with a hoof as her ears splayed back, “And get her autograph, if possible. I brought a pen and my holographic Famous Equestrians trading cards that feature both her pre and post ascension forms, but I know we might not have time…” At Shining’s incredulous look, she looked around, “WHAT?! How often do you get to meet your idol?! Speaking of autographs, you wouldn’t mind getting your wife to sign something, would you?”
_____________________________
Unknown location in The Badlands, Three Days after the Ponyville Incident
Twilight held a hoof to her forehead, blocking the sun. She had been walking for a full day, and hadn’t seen anything but sand, dry shrubs, and several buzzards off in the distance. She considered this both a good and bad thing. It was a good thing, because that meant that she didn’t have to deal with any of the lawless thugs that populated the deserts. It was a bad thing, because she was running low on water, which she had hoped to be able to restock on at Appleoosa before she left. She sighed as she trudged on through the heat, wings drooping in exhaustion.
“Well well, what do we have here?” Twilight spun around at the sound of the voice to find a pinto colored pegasus standing behind her. His mostly light coloring blended almost perfectly with the patterns in the cracked ground. He raised a hoof, a calm expression on his face, “Easy there, I’m not gonna hurt ya. Not that I think I could actually pull it off, but I’m not gonna try, regardless. The name’s Rogue Justice, bounty hunter and peace seeker. And I believe you would be Princess Twilight Sparkle. What brings you out to this despicable scrap of desert?”
Twilight’s eyes went wide, bounty hunters in the Badlands went one of two ways, the ruthless vigilantes that took the law into their own hooves for money, and the genuinely caring ones that can’t stand seeing criminals get away with their crimes just by going where the law of the land is the strong survive. Depending on his views, either one could end poorly, and regardless of his views, he would have to ignore the large sum that was no doubt on her head to let her go. She licked her already dry lips, “I’m out doing research into various flora and fauna of the Badlands. There hasn’t been enough in depth study on them for my taste, so I was going to look into medicinal uses for them.”
Rogue just nodded, “A worthy endeavor, though I’m afraid you’re in a bit over even your head when it comes to findin your way around this place. If you’d let me, I’d be honored to show ya around. Anythin in particular you’re lookin for? I can show ya some good cacti that I know a few good uses for, myself. Maybe you could find better ones. Besides, they sometimes have water in’em.”
Twilight perked up a bit, “That sounds wonderful, I would appreciate it.” With a bow, Rogue walked off, the alicorn following cautiously behind.
____________________________________
Las Pegasus, Three Days after the Ponyville Incident
The Great and Powerful Trixie stood atop her mobile stage, her fame having skyrocketed again, lately. She was playing things much closer to her illusionist roots, but tonight would involve some extra storytelling, and a risky approach that she hoped would pay off. As her latest volunteer walked back down to the audience, safely back in one piece, Trixie grinned, “And now, faithful audience, The Great and Powerful Trixie will mesmerize you with tales of centuries past. Tonight, Trixie will be taking you into the true story of Red Tide, a unicorn of unspeakable evil.” At the mention of the name, Trixie began pulling the water she had stored beneath the stage into the air as a fine mist, while turning the lights she had trained on the stage into a deep red, “Red Tide was a pony whose only desire was to surpass all others in power. To do this, he harnessed the most forbidden of magics, and became one of the infamous Blood Mages.”
The stallion that had been cut in half raised an orange hoof, “Isn’t that what that new Princess did?”
Trixie scoffed at the interruption, “Knowing and using a small amount of Blood Magic no more makes a pony a Blood Mage than Trixie’s knowing how to make this fog makes her a Water Mage. Twilight simply needed a boost in power for a moment, and used a last resort. Nothing more, nothing less.”
The stallion spoke up again, determination in his green eyes, “But I heard it corrupts the pony that uses it. Makes them go all loopy and crazy!”
This sent Trixie into a fit of laughter, “Oh, please, Princess Twilight is the most skilled magic user in all Equestria, save, perhaps, the other Princesses. Trixie would eat her hat if she found out that Twilight were not capable of controlling something as simple as destruction spell. If you will listen to the story, you would find that it is the sheer power that corrupts, and Twilight already has that in spades. Now, if there are no more interruptions, Trixie will continue her story.”
The stallion sat down and adjusted his poofy brown mane as a smile went all the way to his happy green eyes. It was always so fun to be a plant in a magician’s show.
Edge of the Badlands, Four Days after the Ponyville Incident
The five ponies and one dragon had finally made their way far enough between towns to comfortably make their way through to the Badlands uninterrupted. They were currently making their way through a valley lined with sharp cliffs, Rainbow and Applejack were leading the way, their injuries almost completely gone, though Rainbow still couldn’t get into the air. They were quiet as they walked through the valley, each small sound echoing off the stone walls as they went.
As they approached another corner, a white stallion appeared out of a cave to the side. Rainbow opened her mouth to shout, but he put his hoof to it, and shook his head before nodding back to the cave. He darted back in silently as the five mares looked between each other. Spike, however, darted into the cave immediately and silently. After a moment’s hesitation, he was followed by the others. They all quickly rounded a corner to find the stallion pressed against a wall, one ear to the ground and his eyes closed. After a few minutes of standing around silently, he stood up and whispered to them, “They’re gone.”
Spike nodded, then turned to the other ponies, “Girls, this is Solid Foundation. He was the head of the guards assigned to protect Twilight.” He turned back to the earth pony, “What’re you doing out here?”
“I’ve been following you six, making sure nothing happens to you.”
Rainbow scoffed, “No way, we would have seen you by now. Besides, we were way too sneaky leaving for you to have noticed us.”
Solid raised an eyebrow, “You didn’t exactly hide the fact that you were stocking up on maps of the Badlands, now did you? Also, I don’t think anyone in Ponyville doesn’t know you left. In any case, I know what you’re doing, and I don’t want you to go, though I won’t stop you.”
Spike frowned, “Why wouldn’t you want us to go? We gotta help save Twilight. She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Wrong or not, it’s too dangerous for you to head out into the Badlands, and I can’t go with you myself.”
Applejack scowled, “Why, cause it’d be goin to help a criminal? She saved yer life! Saved all our lives! Don’t that mean anythin to you?”
Solid grimaced, “It does, and I’m grateful, but I can’t risk it. I’m all my girls have, I can’t go out there to either die or get years in prison. They need me.”
Fluttershy nodded, “It’s okay, we understand.”
He sighed, “However, I knew it was possible that you would still go, so I brought a few things.” He took off his saddle bags and opened one side, “It’s filled with survival guides and helpful information, not to mention some additional first aid from the guard’s supplies. There are five potions in there to help you adjust to the heat more easily. Spike won’t need one, but you ponies will have a hard time if you aren’t prepared. I wish you would reconsider, but I know you won’t, so good luck.”
__________________________________
Canterlot Castle Archives, Four Days after the Ponyville Incident
"Blue, have you found anything yet? I'm counting on you for this, please!" Celestia paced back and forth in front of a shelf in the deepest part of the archives, the only light coming from the horns of herself and her nephew as he intently stared at the book in front of him.
Blueblood looked up, frustration and sympathy mixing on his face, replacing the public image he had crafted for himself, "No, Auntey, I haven't found anything of use, yet. I appreciate the company, I really do, but it's difficult to concentrate on these books when you pace like that." He looked back down to the ancient tome on the floor, he had stopped taking them to and from the table after it had become clear that he would be here for the long haul. None of the books had titles or indexes, they were arranged in no particular order, and even the contents were a mishmash of legal notes. These were the laws of the Sisters' father, and the copies that were used in day to day courts were elsewhere. Finding a true loophole in this kind of law, however, required the original texts.
Celestia sighed and visibly wilted, "You're right, Bluey, I'm sorry that you have to do this, but you're the only one I trust to find a way to save her amid all this. I know it's really too much to-"
"I found it!" Blueblood picked up the book excitedly, "Right here, the original wording, while it does outlaw Blood Magic, it doesn't say the penalty is death, but rather, the consequence. It says that the penalty is an indeterminate prison sentence and being kept under watchful eye by a keeper for the rest of their days, but when they transcribed the laws, they must have misinterpreted this second part, it says here that 'All who fall under the power of the Blood Mage's Lust must be culled, not for their crimes, but for their illness, and to maintain their former image in the minds of all ponies.' The translator must have thought that King Cosmos was trying to say that anyone that fell to the temptation to use it was to be culled, but 'Blood Mage's Lust' is a proper noun here, so it's talking about a specific illness! Maybe if Twilight hasn't fallen under the influence of it, we can save her!"
The sound of hooves approached from the darkness, "It's too risky, there has never been a Blood Mage that hasn't succumbed to the magic's influence." Luna stepped out of the shadows, "If we bring her in and she is suffering from it, we would have to put her down, even with that revelation. There isn't even a known cure for it."
Blueblood slammed his hoof on the floor, "But at least this way we have a chance! We could research a cure, administer it before she got here, or postpone her judgement until it's finished, something!"
"It's illegal to research Blood Magic. Don't let me catch you doing so, especially not in the secret stockpile in the Lunar Wing where all of the forbidden texts are kept. All of the texts on Blood Magic are on the back wall, which you shouldn't go near, ever. It would result in an inquiry and jail time, should you be caught. Now, I have duties to attend to." With a grim expression, she turned to leave, vanishing into the shadows again, shortly after, the light tinkling of metal on stone could be heard.
Celestia stared after her sister, "She has always been better at subverting father's rules than me. I just bash my head against the ones I don't like, while she slithers in and about them like a snake through brambles. Also, I believe she dropped her keys. Do be a dear and return them at your earliest convenience, would you, Bluey?"
Discord stood on solid nothing. It had taken him quite a lot of effort to find his way to this “place”, if it could be called that. It was now time to confront the one being that could sway the father of space itself. The being that held the most terrible wrath in the universe, and the most warm kindness. It was time to face Queen Chrona. He took a deep breath and gently knocked on the oversized doors before finding himself sitting comfortably in a plush seat in the middle of a well furnished sitting room. He blinked several times as he looked around. The sitting room was decorated in muted colors, and had several tapestries hung on the walls. There was a gently crackling fire in the fire place, but it looked… off. It took him several seconds to recognize the telltale signs of it burning backwards, the smoke receding into the fire as though being sucked in by a vacuum. He looked around further to find several clocks, all going at different speeds and several going backwards. This brought a smile to his face, he liked it here.
An elderly alicorn with a greyish blue coat sat in a chair opposite him. She sat with the poise of one who had had an eternity to perfect the position and her eyes held the wisdom of all the centuries that have been and are to come, or so it seemed. She nodded politely, “I do hope you don’t mind if I skipped the introductions, they are always so tedious, so I prefer to fast forward to a point where we already know each other.”
Discord opened his mouth to say that he didn’t already know her, but stopped as he realized that a vague memory of a conversation he had never had was there, including a memory of him walking in the door and sitting down, “Oh, you’re good. Isn’t that a bit chaotic for an orderly pony, though?”
Queen Chrona shook her head, “Not at all, everything is still in the proper order, I just chose to ignore a part of it. And seeing as time is what I deem it to be, it ignored it as well. I don’t suppose you simply came to chat with me?”
“No no no, I’m here purely on business.” He snapped his claw and was suddenly dressed in an expensive suit and tie, holding a briefcase. His legs, however, were clad in heart patterned boxers, “I was wondering if there was a way that I could convince you to allow your daughters to look the other way on one tiny little rule. I have a good case for it, I think, I even put aside most of the one liners… okay, some of the one liners, but in my defense, I don’t-“
“No.”
“What? But you haven’t even heard my argument yet. Or even what law was broken. Or by who, which is the important part, I think. Or is it ‘by whom’? I could never keep those two straight.”
Chrona sighed, “Discord, you are being quite kind, I’m sure. I appreciate the effort you are putting forth for your friend, but just know that we cannot be lenient on this. The enchantment is there for a reason, and if we bend it, it will weaken, and that cannot happen. I understand that Twilight Sparkle is a good pony, but will she always be? No, I don’t always agree with the laws that were put down by my husband, but that does not mean that I will permit my daughters to be opened up to more corruption than they need be.”
Discord stared for a moment, then cleared his throat, “What do you mean by that last part?”
“The enchantment they are under is for the protection against all but the most powerful corruption agents. It is rigid in its rules, so that it can withstand the beatings that it has to protect my daughters from. After all, if you are going to build a shield, would you build it from steel or from paper?”
“I’d build it from marshmallows, actually. Then it would-“
Chrona waved a hoof, “I apologize, I momentarily forgot to whom I was speaking. In any case, I cannot help you in your endeavor, you should go on to your next plan, as I foresee it having much better luck.”
Discord suddenly found himself standing outside the door, once again with nothing beneath him in the non-place. He scratched his head, “I guess she doesn’t like goodbyes, either…”
Hall of the Order of the Rose, Four Days after the Ponyville Incident.
Six ponies stood around a table, each shrouded in a colored robe. One red, one yellow, one purple, one pink, one green, and one blue. There were two of each race, clearly, though their bodies and faces were completely enshrouded by the cloaks. The shadows seemed to cling to them, making it impossible to tell even the color of their hooves as they stood in the darkened room. The unicorn in the green cloak spoke first, a deep bass reverberating with concern, “We have to do something, if we sit around for too long, we risk the deaths of too many.”
The Pegasus in red snorted, her scratchy voice disdainful, “We can’t rush into this, Generosity, you know how powerful Blood Mages are. And this is an Alicorn Blood Mage. She is not to be taken lightly.”
The yellow cloaked unicorn coughed, her voice dry with age, “I wouldn’t be too sure, Loyalty, I believe that dear Twilight will likely understand if we were to explain things to her. She may even go willingly, if she understands that it is for the good of ponykind. She is a kind soul, and very understanding, so violence may not even be necessary.”
The Earth pony shrouded in purple shook her head, “It’s too risky to assume that she will be in her right mind, Honesty, she may have already succumbed to the corrupting effects of the magic, and may find herself thinking she is just in what she is doing. There’s no telling if she would even recognize the logic of what you say, even if Celestia herself were to say it.”
The remaining Earth pony in blue sighed heavily, his head sagging, “Is there no chance that she might not be effected, Magic? She is an Alicorn, after all, perhaps she could be immune to it?”
Magic shook her head, “I’m sorry, Laughter, we have no choice. We all took an oath when we took up these cloaks to protect Equestria from the evils of dark magic, wherever it may strike. If we look the other way now and she is overcome by the corruption, there will be death on a grand scale, and there is no guarantee that anyone will be able to stop her. Blood Magic can enhance even the weakest unicorn to the level of a great sage, just imagine what would happen if the most powerful Alicorn in Equestria were to lose control and go on a rampage with that kind of power enhancement. There wouldn’t be a soul left to tell the tale.”
“Fine, then can’t we do something like… I don’t know, separate her from her horn or something?” Both unicorns in the room flinched, instinctively touching their foreheads in sympathy of the idea, Laughter sighed, “I know it’s not perfect, but at least we wouldn’t have to kill her, right?”
Magic shook her head, “I’m sorry, not even that would work. Blood Magic isn’t channeled solely through the horn, but rather directly through the blood. It’s actually possible for an Earth pony to learn it, though there is only one documented case.”
Laughter grunted in frustration, stomping his hoof on the ground, “This isn’t fair to her! She’s saved Equestria from things we were powerless against! She shouldn’t be judged like this!”
The Pegasus in pink spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper, “So we should let her go mad? Suffer as she loses her mind and loses control? What we are doing is sparing her a fate worse than death, and that is the greatest mercy we can give her. I believe we are repaying her by sparing her a fate she does not deserve.”
The room was quiet for a while before Laughter spoke up again, “I’m sorry, Kindness, I forgot that I wasn’t the closest to her. It’s… it’s just not easy…”
Kindness nodded, “Sometimes mercy for those that deserve it is doing something that is difficult for those giving it.”
Loyalty spoke up quietly, “We should start our plan so we can go ahead and get this over with…” The rest of them nodded in agreement as they began their plans.
Badlands, Just outside Turvapaikka, Four Days after the Ponyville Incident
Twilight licked her lips as she slowly woke up. Rogue had told her that they would be going into a village today. He said that they had stopped just outside for the fairly sound reason of "Villagers out here get a little trigger happy at night. That's when the friendlies look a bit too much like the many many unfriendlies trying to look nice. They have a tendency to riddle things with holes and then either burn it or hold a funeral in the morning, depending on who it turned out to be." And so, they had pitched a tent, Twilight using the time to rest for the first time since the serpents, and Rogue played a tune on his guitar.
Twilight woke to the same sound starting back up again, and she looked up to find Rogue sitting in front of the embers of a fire, strumming away. Something was different, though. She could feel something that felt almost like a pulse. As she stared, faint green lines traced their way across his skin and into his wings. She could hear a faint laugh coming from the distance behind her. She turned to see the silhouette of a mountain in the distance, outlined in a deep, pulsing red. The world seemed to blur as the mountain grew. She floated higher and higher as the landscape below her flew by until she was floating above the peak, and down below her she could see what appeared to be ponies milling about in a graveyard. Upon closer inspection, she realized that they were just red mists floating about in a shape that very closely appeared to be ponies. One of them, seemingly the only earth pony among them, looked up quickly, her eyes solidified momentarily enough to convey shock as she darted up to meet the Princess's floating form, "You shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be thinking about this place! They'll draw you in." She looked over the visitor momentarily, "They already are, aren't they... Damnit! I'll help you, but you must not talk about this place, it would break the seal" She waved a hoof, and a part of her red mist coated Twilight's form, "Now wake up."
Twilight woke with a start, a half remembered dream in her mind, the only part she remembered was a graveyard filled with mist. She shook her head and looked over to see Rogue tending to a dying fire, with his guitar sitting next to him. He looked up at the movement, "Mornin, breakfast's almost ready. Hope you don't mind i went ahead and ate mine first. Never been too good at cookin two'a these at a time, and... well, you were still asleep."
Twilight groggily sat up, "Weren't we going into town today? You could have just waited until then." She slipped out of the canvas tent and went over to what she had assumed was a fire, but found only a few glowing coals, "Also, I haven't had that much experience camping, but don't you need a fire to cook things... and... something to cook?"
Rogue chuckled, "Nah, slow cookin this kinda stuff is the best way." He took a stick sitting beside him and moved some of the ash to the side, revealing a small tin box before covering it back up, "Besides, this gives us a chance to talk about why you're really out here."
Twilight was instantly fully awake, "What? Really out here? But I already said why! It was the thing, with the research. We did all that cactus stuff yesterday, which helped, I even took notes for the book!"
"Didn't you say you were doing your dissertation?"
"I did? Well, I mean, yes, of course, but it'll be published, so I-"
Rogue held out a hoof with a crooked grin, "Easy there, don't hurt yourself. It's good that you make such a terrible liar. Besides, a Blood Mage don't really need much medical trainin, as far as I know. Ya just fix stuff."
"How would you know, have you ever seen it done? Do you know how... to... Wow, I just admitted to Blood Magic, didn't I?"
"Ya admitted a lot'a stuff in your sleep, actually. You're not the first one I've come across, though, so I know a thing or two about it. Namely that it ain't all bad, and that a doc that can fix up anythin from the inside is a Ch... a Celestia sent, as you Equestrians would say. Not that she'd actually send somepony like Lymph anywhere but the gallows, but still. Out here, we just keep it kinda hush hush so's the ponies in the shiny hats don't come callin, eh?" He elbowed Twilight a little as he used his stick to uncover the little metal box. The distinct sound of onions sizzling could be clearly heard, "Should be done, if'n ya wanna pull it out by magic, that's fine by me. Means I don't have'ta clean off mah tongs again."
Twilight pulled out the metal box, and was surprised. The little thing couldn't weigh more than a few ounces, but she was having trouble with controlling it. She had never had complete magical burnout before, but she was fairly sure her power should have returned a little more than it had. Rogue went to pack up his little tent into his backpack as she opened the lid. It was a medley of vegetables, though none of them looked like they had been too substantial to begin with. Strangely enough, it included a bit of things she didn't recognize. As she started on it, a thought occurred to her, "Rogue, where did you sleep? I didn't see another tent."
The pegasus was turned around, fiddling with his pack, so his voice was slightly muffled, "Oh, you know, under the stars and all that gobblety gook."
"In the desert? It gets freezing at night!"
"I covered up with stuff, I was fine."
"But-"
"Trust me, Princess, it ain't nothin i haven't done before. Been many a time when my tent gets caught on fire or lost when chasin some crazy mother bucker that's tryin to kill some'a mah villagers. That's where I get most of my money, after all."
Twilight nodded a few times, "Wait, 'your villagers'? Why are they-?"
Rogue chuckled, "Ah see yer Princess'a Questions as well as Princess'a Friendship, eh? Well, just keep in mind that the Badlands is full'a all kinds'a folk that don't like it when someone from the more civilized places barge in and start askin all sorts'a questions. Everyone out here has their secrets and their skeletons, and if you happen to find some, ya better keep yer mouth shut and hope they don't notice that ya noticed. Lots'a good folk in bad situations around here, and just as many bad folk in bad situations. Not a lotta good situations at all, really, and nobody wants anybody else to find out exactly what those bad situations are. My goal ain't to judge no pasts, just the present, and that should be your goal out here, too. After all, if'n we're puttin too much weight on a past, I'd be half way to Canterlot right now to collect a nice tidy sum." He dusted off his hooves as he cinched his saddlebags tight.
Twilight looked down into the now empty box, "How do you know who to trust the present of, if not the past?"
Rogue grinned and lifted his wing, on his flank was an eye, but instead of an iris, there was a weighted scale, "Ya might say I got an eye for these things. Ya might also say I put somethin in your super to make ya talk honest words in yer sleep, but that's up for interpretation."
"You... you drugged me?"
"Nah, it ain't a drug, really, ah don't think, anyhow. More a seerum. Is that how ya say it?"
"You drugged me!"
"Psh, no need tah thank me."
"I... what?!"
"Fer makin sure ya were safe to go into the little hamlet I protect. One'a the safest places in the Badlands." His face became a lot less jovial, "And there ain't nothin I won't do to keep it that way. Ya may be a goddess and a Princess where ya come from, but here, yer just a pony. Don't forget it." His smile came back, "Enough serious talk, though, let's go say 'howdy' to the nice folks in Turvapaikka"
Equestria, Appleoosa, Four Days since the Ponyville Incident
The entire train ride, Shining had brooded in silence. He still didn't trust this interloper with the fate of his beloved sister, and the fact that she had been playing a two player card game against herself hadn't helped his opinion of her very much. It was some trading card game, and Silver had said that what she was doing was called fishbowling, but the he was still dubious about how sane the mare was. Especially when she got either excited or disappointed when she either "Won" or "Lost". Now, though, she was in a much more professional state, despite her diminutive stature. They had come here, as it was Twilight's last known location, and they needed to find her quickly, if Shining's plan was going to work.
Shining tried to ignore the glares he and Silver received as they walked down the streets, but the atmosphere they were creating was as oppressive as he had ever come across. He hadn't expected the outright hostility that they were showing. Some fear, a bit of suspicion, perhaps a bit of confusion as to their presence, but the only pony he had seen outside thus far was the train station attendant, and he had darted off as soon as the pair of guards had stepped off the train. It seemed he had spread the word, and now everypony was glaring at them through the shudders of their houses. Clearly they weren't hiding, but the cold shoulder couldn't have been given more clearly if everypony had lined up and faced away from the center of the street on both sides. Shining licked his lips as he neared the sheriff's office, but he reapplied his confident grimace as he and his companion stepped through the door.
"Well, well, well, can't say Ah didn't expect to see you here. Or somepony similar. Odd seein the day and night guard workin together, but ah guess subduin a hero calls for bringin in the best." A yellow pony in a stetson was leaning against the back wall by a door, a scowl heavy on his face.
"Calm down, we don't even know if that's why they're here." A dark brown pony chastised from behind a desk, his vest sporting a badge that clearly labeled him as Sheriff Silver Star, "Now, how can I help you two fine ponies?"
Shining pulled himself up a bit, "We're here for information regarding Twilight Spa-"
"That's PRINCESS Twilight Sparkle, ya big-"
"That's quite enough'a that. Get out'a here before ya say somethin that gets ya in trouble." The yellow pony gave a last glare as he shouldered his way past the two armored ponies and out the door. The little wooden flaps slammed as they came back together, "Now, may I ask what Princess Sparkle has done to acquire such a... interestin followin? Murder? Arson? Rape, mayhaps?" Silver flinched a little at the last suggestion, "I'm not sure if you're aware, but she stopped a whole buncha all three not too long ago. I noticed you didn't come down here askin about a pony named Dark Wind. He's a bit of what we here might call a Raider, what others might call a... what was the phrase? Unrepentant sociopath? Seems like I read that in a book somewhere, but you know us, simple country folk. I'm sure this here Twilight has done somethin much worse in a way that only you Canterlot ponies could possibly understand. But please, indulge a poor simple pony's curiosity." His expression never changed from the blank mask that he had been wearing when the pair had come in.
Silver answered, "That's classified, Sheriff."
The sheriff raised his eyebrows, but his face was otherwise unchanged, "Well, that is somethin. If'n ya wanna know where she went, she teleported outta here when she left, so we don't rightly know where she went after that."
Shining sighed, "Alright, thank you for your help. We'll just have to go out on our own."
Laughing sounded from the now cracked door to the back, seeming to have opened a bit when the other pony slammed the door to the outside, "You think you can just find something out in the Badlands?"
The sheriff walked over and banged on the wall, his mask falling to a scowl, "Y'all hush up back there!"
"You're gonna need a guide out there, and I can only think of one around here."
"I said hush up!"
Shining put a hoof on the sheriff's shoulder, "Who is that?"
The sheriff turned his scowl into a disgusted grimace, "That is the one I was tellin ya about, the foal murderin son of-"
"We already been over this, Sheriff, I didn't fire that shot, and I already took care'a the one that did. I'm just a pony tryin to get by in a place that wants me dead."
"We need him." Shining glared at the door. He was met with one outraged "WHAT?!" and one triumphant "HAH!"
Silver snorted, "If he becomes a liability, we'll dispose of him as he deserves, but until then, we need a guide to fulfill the orders we're under. Believe me, we're not overly fond of the idea, but I have the distinct feeling that between the two of us, we'll be fine."
The sheriff muttered something under his breath, "Fine, but I ain't gonna release him, and I ain't takin responsibility for what he might do once he gets out." He walked to the exit, "Keys are behind the desk, do the paperwork yourself." And with that, he was gone.
Shining erected a small shield around himself and Silver, who immediately saluted him, "Permission to speak freely, Sir."
"You haven't asked before, but fine."
"That's because I haven't felt the need to insult you before. That being said, are you out of your bucking mind?!? We can't take a liability like that out with us!"
"He shot Twilight. I saw it in the report. Shot her point blank, and he's not getting any attention from the ones that should be putting him in Canterlot Dungeon. I'm going to rectify that, should he not prove useful. And if he does prove to be instrumental, he'll be repaying his debt to her."
"You can't go-"
"I'm in charge here, not you. Follow my lead like you have been, and stop questioning orders." With that, he dropped the shield and picked up the keys in his magic.
Badlands, unknown location, Four Days since the Ponyville Incident
The five ponies and one dragon were panting and sweating profusely. Nopony had mentioned the cold of the night, or how fast the temperature change went. If it hadn't been for Solid's survival tent, they would have frozen to death. Rainbow had complained about false advertising all that night, but her claims that deserts should always be hot had ceased as soon as the sun had gotten a chance to warm things up again. None of them were eager for night to fall again.
"Maybe we should call this a false start? Go back and start again? Perhaps with more sun umbrellas and winter gear?" Rarity had a half note of hope in her voice, though she knew what was coming.
"If'n we turn back now, we're never gonna catch up ta Twilight." Applejack was the voice of despair this time. The suggestion of going back had been voiced every so often since waking, each time by a different pony, and each time with the same answer from a different place.
The only one that hadn't suggested it was Spike, who was the first to discredit the idea, though now he was having trouble himself. This wasn’t what he had envisioned his daring rescue to be at all. He was having trouble keeping on, even with his natural resilience to heat. A purple arm swept the sweat off his forehead as he went doggedly on. Nothing was going to stop him in his search for his adoptive mother. She had helped him his whole life, but this time, it would be him that helped her.
Rainbow spoke up, “Girls… which one of you is growling?”
Rarity huffed, “Dear, none of us would growl, it’s terribly uncouth.”
Rainbow licked her chapped lips, “Well, we might wanna pick up the pace, then, because that didn’t sound too friendly.”
“Ah think yer hearin things, RD. I ain’t heard no-“ Applejack was cut off as she came to the top of a dune, revealing a rather large dip in the sand. Standing in the middle of said dip was a thing that looked to be part lion part pony. Its large, solid mane going all the way around its neck like a collar on a coat, and its long tail ended in a bob of fur. The pony head stared at them as it crouched, its golden eyes locked with their slitted pupils. It stood tall enough that, had four of them stood on top of each other, they may have been able to touch its forehead. The large mouth growled again, baring sharp teeth, causing the entourage to stop, “Welp, that’d explain the growlin noise ya heard, RD… I think I should clean mah ears real quick once we stop the whole runnin for our lives bit.”
Rarity nodded calmly, “Agreed. Good ears, Rainbow, darling. Now, I believe we have kept our newcomer waiting long enough. Shall we?” She was met with muttered agreements and then screaming as the six of them turned to flee into the desert.
Manehattan, Trixie’s trailer, Four Days since the Ponyville Incident
Trixie paced back and forth in her little home, the news spreading hadn’t been going well. Despite her best efforts, the ponies of Manehattan had decided to believe the newspapers’ sensationalizing of the events over her own magnificent performances! She huffed, “This is outrageous! Why do the lemmings do what the lesser show ponies say? It makes no sense! Clearly this is a task that is ill suited for just the two of us, Cheese. We need more varieties of Star Power!” She turned to find her compatriot lying on his back on her couch, “Cheese Sandwich!” He lurched forward and onto the floor, rubbing his head, “Trixie does not appreciate napping on the job! She was trying to tell you of our dilemma!”
Cheese shook his head rapidly, “Sorry. Just a power nap. You are right, though, we should totally get some new ponies in on this. We’re missin some of the bigger groups between just the two of us, ya know?”
“Trixie is aware. This is why we must call in two of her colleagues from the university. You have the humor, and Trixie has the awe, but we need somepony with sophistication and somepony with style. Quickly, we must get to Canterlot! Our assistants await!” With that, she lit her horn and the wagon lurched forward, nearly planting a group of ponies that had happened to have been walking by at the moment.
_______________________________________________
Canterlot Castle, Four Days after the Ponyville Incident
“Sunrise! Sunrise, where are you?! Sunrise Special, I need you!" A frantic white alicorn barreled through the halls of the castle at breakneck speed as she yelled at the top of her lungs. She careened to a stop right behind a yellow pegasus who was calmly sipping his tea and reading the paper, "Sunrise! There's an emergency! We need to take the papers down, they're all saying things about Twilight! Have you seen it yet? It's awful!"
Sunrise put his tea down gently as he turned the page of his paper, then proceeded to flip a few strands of white mane out of his face, "Inspired, is the word that I would have used."
"What?!"
The stallion lamented his suddenly lost tea and ruined paper as he fixed his mane, ensuring the small green stripe was perfectly in the middle, "If you had been paying any attention at all during the meeting we had about this very subject, you would remember that I am currently making you the sympathetic one here. Then, when Twilight is relieved of suspicion, you will be the merciful voice of reason forgiving a repentant hero of a tragic mistake, rather than the mentor blinded by a bias towards a dangerous criminal. I understand that you are distraught, but if you don't concentrate, things will only go downhill. Remember, I will handle the presses, and you just look suitably distraught."
Celestia glared down at her assistant, "Sunrise, you said you were going to paint me as the sympathetic one, not paint Twilight as a mindless killer!" She held up a newspaper different than the one he had just been perusing, open to an article titled "Once A Hero, Now A Monster?!"
Sunrise used his wing to get a look at the cover, "Ah, them. There's nothing we can do about the outlying riffraff, Princess. You must remember that every paper we pull on a subject lends weight to what they were saying to those that think you're covering for your beloved student. Which, might I remind you, we technically are. Panic and yelling will accomplish little else than arousing suspicion, which might make things difficult for the other pieces in this grand chess match we are playing here."
Celestia snorted, "Grand chess match indeed, if only it were so simple. I almost miss the days when politics involved actual backstabbings and espionage. At least then I could have them put in the dungeon for it. Now I have to tip-hoof around my enemies and give them all a polite 'How do you do?' while hoping they faceplant in the punch."
Sunrise raised an eyebrow at the Princess, "Yes, well, it might be wise to remember that the main enemy in this situation is circumstance, which you never would have had the opportunity to put in a dungeon. Now, if we're done here, I need to go get another cup of tea and another Canterlot Times, as mine appear to have combined themselves together." He nodded and walked off in the direction of the kitchens. Celestia, however, walked off in the opposite direction, her appetite for breakfast long since lost to the stress of her ponies judging her student so harshly.
"RD, this was a terrible idea!" Applejack held her eyes shut as she slid down the expansive dune that seemed to go on forever.
"How was I supposed to know it could fly?!" Rainbow herself was focused behind them as the enormous hybrid creature flapped its newly sprouted wings right behind them.
"Really, you two, is this the best time to argue about this? I think a new idea is in order, lest we become breakfast!" Rarity had pulled an umbrella from her saddlebags and she and Spike were in the process of riding it down the shifting sands as she internally lamented the ruined lace edges.
"I still say we should give it candy and hope it goes away." Pinkie was using her tail as a bobsled down the near vertical incline, Fluttershy safely cowering on the pink pony's back.
"We discussed this, dear, I doubt it is in the mood for sweets."
"That's silly, who's not in the mood for sugar?!?"
"Ah say we got nothin to lose, so long as we keep movin!"
"That's the spirit! Wait, is it? I dunno, it sounded kinda wishy washy in spiritudeness. You wanna try that-"
There was a chorus of "Pinkie Pie!"s that caused her to shrug and reach into Fluttershy's mane to pull out several oversized lollipops, "Sorry, Flutters, ran out of room in mine, and you just have so much of it!" She turned to the Sphinx that was beginning to gain on them. "Eat up!" She tossed the candy at the creature, hitting it right in the nose. Several of the treats wedged themselves in its snout, causing it to rear back in surprise. It flailed its forepaws at the irritant as it careened off to the side and crashed into the ground.
Rainbow returned her attention to her sliding as she heard several loud thumps and then silence, heralding the end of the chase, "Well, that was exciting first thing in the morning."
Fluttershy didn't open her eyes, "Let's never do that again."
------------------------------------------
Las Pegasus Stadium, Four Days since the Ponyville Incident
Loyalty looked out at the crowd and frowned. She had voiced her want for justice done during the meeting, but now that the anger of the assumed betrayal had calmed down, she was having second thoughts, "Hey, you think we're doin the right thing?"
Magic sighed, she put her hoof to her head and rubbed her temple, "We're doing the only thing we can. I wish it were as easy as the right or wrong thing, but when black magic is involved, it is usually a matter of the things that must be done. Do I have any doubt that we will be painted as terrible ponies? No, and I honestly hope the Princess is remembered fondly enough that we do. Do I think we are doing what is best for everypony involved, the Princess included? Yes, I think this is the overall best option. I can't say with any certainty that this is the good thing or the right thing, but it is the thing that must be done."
The pegasus frowned as she ruffled her wings. She missed the robe, it made things much simpler when she wore it. She did what her vows said she do, and that was that. Right, wrong, didn't matter. Celestia said they should do it, so they did, "Welp, I got a show to do before we do anything big. I'll see ya after, I guess." She walked out of the private booth, leaving the earth pony alone once more, and down to the prep room filled with blue suited pegasi. She was greeted with nods as she walked around for one last inspection, then Spitfire lowered her goggles, "Everypony ready?"
