Sins of The Past

Twilight was barely done unpacking when she heard a light knock at her door.

"A moment of your time ... please," said a fairly soft voice.

She opened the door and looked for the source of the knock. Her searching gaze found a pegasus staring at the floor. The pegasus had a long, curly brown mane with streaks of rusty orange, wisps of which were falling over her eyes. Twilight took a few steps back in horror; a sharp scar like the stroke of a whip ran across the pegasus' cheek. Equestria had made that kind of punishment illegal eons ago. Obviously the practice was still alive and well here.

"I'm sorry but did you knock?" Twilight asked, trying her hardest to avoid staring at the scar. The pegasus looked up.

"Mhm," she said with a curt nod. "Ah suppose you're Ms. Sparkle?" She struggled to her feet, her wings snapping out to balance her.

"I am, and you are?"

"Autumn Gust." The pegasus sighed and rubbed her head.

"Are you --"

"No relation." Her expression quickly soured; her venomous glare was directed at Twilight. "Come along now. Dinner's ready and Iron Ire doesn't like to wait." Autumn turned abruptly and started off at a quick trot down the hall.

"Just a warning to you, 'cause I'd hate to see an innocent mare abused, Ire's the Barrier of Hatred. The other four Barriers are going to be at dinner. Try not to step on any hooves," she said, smiling at Twilight's terror.

"Five Barriers, six Elements..." Twilight said, finally putting two and two together. "One's missing!"

"Some genius you are," Autumn said under her breath, opening the doors for Twilight.

Inside, the scene was one of chaos. Two unicorns fought loudly in a language that Twilight had never heard before. Iron Ire sat at the head of the table, a pleased smirk curled dangerously around his muzzle. One of the pegasi at the table was slamming back drinks like there was no tomorrow, running his poor server ragged. The other was idly scraping wax off of the candle in front of him, arranging the shavings into lines.

Suddenly, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her. Iron cleared his throat.

"Ah, the guest of the evening has arrived," Ire said, standing up. The other four followed suit and advanced upon the young princess. Twilight took a few cautious steps back and found the doors locked behind her. She screamed.

"Didn't Autumn tell you? You, my dear, are dinner," Ire chuckled, his smile growing.

One of the pegasi spoke up.

"Not without a fair fight, of course. Right, Ire?"

"Of course. What fun would there be in a kill without a fight, Strike?"

The dark coated pegasi nodded, looking at Twilight with deep consideration and then around at the room. He stopped and stared at a stained glass window on the far wall.

The taller of the two unicorns, a brilliantly-colored stallion, was the first to attack; his sharpened horn missed Twilight by a hair. Then, the others attacked, forcing her to use her magic to defend herself. It quickly lost its organization and devolved into a bare fisted brawl, Iron Ire more invested than the others.

Heavy Strike made like he was going after Twilight, but gently wrapped his hooves around her waist, dragging her into the air.

"Try not to kick me. This is going to be a hell of a ride," he whispered in her ear right before he took off like a bat out of hell towards the window. It shattered upon impact; he continued forward, undaunted. Iron Ire chased them, his wings beating quickly to try and catch up with Strike. His wingspan was far too much to clear the window; he fell like a stone when his wings smashed into the walls at full speed.

"Lucky break, there," Strike said, gesturing back. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Twilight asked, wanting to, but finding herself unable, to look at him.

"For you getting dragged into this. It's not your fight. If Celestia knew you were going to turn into a sacrificial lamb, I'm sure she would have taken more precaution..." His dark blue mane flew past her face; the duel tones caught in the breeze, making it hard to tell one from the other.

"Were they really going to eat me?" Twilight asked, a note of horror in her voice.

"Not all of you. You were going to be the declaration of war -- a Princess for a Queen. Using your severed head on a stick as a banner for the diplomacy visit in a few weeks -- well, there's few ways to say 'Fucking bring it,' that are as gruesome and intimidating."

Twilight heaved, narrowly missing Strike's hooves. Why would they do that? Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. With ponies this aggressive, she wasn't sure that friendship alone would be enough.