Equestria Aflame.

     Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity galloped through the sunset back to Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy was still crying as they ran. They made it to the door of Applejack's house and she swung it open and motioned the other two in. They slammed the door after everypony barreled in. Sweetie Belle was crying and asking, "What's going on?! What happened?!" She kept crying and repeating the questions over and over. Rarity sat her down while trying to hold back her own tears, she was still dealing with stabbing a soldier in the eye with her own scissors and seeing Applejack crush a soldier's skull against a wall.

     Rarity tried to calm her sister down, "I'm so sorry you had to see that." Her voice was quivering and she was speaking quickly, "We did what we had to do, Sweetie Belle." She began tearing up, "I'm so, so sorry."

     Applejack called for the rest of her family. As she waited she looked down at her hind legs, they were soaked with blood. Then the reality hit her, she killed another pony. Yes, it was in defending her friend but she still took another pony's life in a very brutal way. Her mental strength was already stretched to it's limits, but she promised herself that she wouldn't break down. She told herself to stay strong to lead her friends and her family.

     "What's goin on here!" Granny Smith came hobbling in to the living room from the kitchen just as Big Mac came inside from working out in the orchard. He noticed his sister's red painted hind legs and a hysterical Rarity and Sweetie Belle, and a sobbing Fluttershy. His face perked up in curiosity.

     Applejack looked and noticed Applebloom was missing. "Where's Applebloom?" Applejack nervously asked.

     "She's uh out playin with that Scootafriend of hers." Granny Smith said, "What happened to y'all?"

     "We encountered a ... problem." Applejack attempted to explain, looking down at the floor. "I just need the entire family to be here, in the house. Big Mac, get Applebloom. Are she and Scootaloo at the clubhouse?"

     "Eeyup." Was all he replyed.

     "Get them both then." Applejack continued. Big Mac went out the door to fulfill his request, knowing that applejack would explain everything when she got back.

     Rarity was still trying to get Sweetie Belle to stop crying, and Fluttershy was curled up in a ball in the corner, quietly sobbing.  Applejack looked very uncomfortable with the blood on her legs and all that made Granny Smith very confused.

     "What in tarnation happened to y'all? Y'all look like you've been through a war!" Granny Smith asked, confused.

     "I'll explain everythin when Big Mac gets back." Applejack said, "Just get me a towel to wash this off."

     "Is that there blood?" Granny Smith asked.

     "Just get me a towel!" Applejack snapped, tears welling up in her eyes.

     Granny Smith immediatly went to get what her grandaughter asked for. Which left Applejack alone with Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy. Rarity finally got her sister to stop crying and they held each other, still with tears in their eyes. Fluttershy was still weeping in the corner.

     "Here ya are." Granny Smith tossed a towel Applejack's way.

     She caught it and immediatly started scrubbing her hind legs. It wasn't coming off as easily as she wanted it to. Soon the towel was stained just as red as her fur was and all the blood still wasn't off. The sight of the blood made Applejack want to cry, it made her want to just give in to the mental pressures. She dropped the blood soaked towel and stared at the floor, she gritted her teeth and held back tears.

     Big Mac came in, quickly followed by Applebloom and Scootaloo.

     "What's goin on?" Applebloom asked, "Big Mac said it was an emergency!"

     "Oh, Applebloom." Applejack was about break down, she scanned the rest of her family. She took a few inconsistent breaths and said, "It's happening again!" Everypony knew what she was talking about, and their faces went from concerned to panic. She began crying and talking at the same time, "The soldiers!...we tried to run!..." She took a troubled breath and paused. She stared at her family before finally breaking down, "I killed him!" Applejack began crying hysterically while repeating "I killed him." over and over again.

     Big Mac stepped forward and Applejack quickly wrapped her forehooves around him and buried her face in his shoulder, still repeating herself. He didn't say anything, he just comforted his sister.

     Twilight Sparkle was taking a walk in the palace garden. The scent of perreniel flowers relaxed her as she strolled. Her responsibilities have given her a very large load of stress and walking through the garden relieved some of it, that and reading in the Canterlot library. Twilight thought about her previous envoys to settle revolts. She thought of them more as convoys because over two hundred soldiers escorted her to the cities. Then they would all point their spears out at the public in a very threatening way; so no matter what Twilight would say, the public would agree.

     Twilight didn't like that way of calming the populace, but what could she do? Whatever Celestia says goes.

     Twilight finished her walk and went back to her room. She had a balcony in her penthouse and she gazed out at the sunset and watched Princess Celestia do her handiwork. The colors of the setting sun put a relaxing and mellowing spirit into the air and Twilight soaked in every moment of it. But, even amidst this atmosphere, something bugged Twilight and her gut told her that something was wrong.

     Rainbow Dash sat in a classroom with twenty-five other recruits. The instructor was teaching them about combat tactics in the air. He then called attention to an object on a table in the front of the class: a helmet. The same helmets that the soldiers wore with their battle armor, only it was sleeker and had shorter blades.

     The instructor then motioned towards the helmet, " This is a Royal Warhelm. It is your defense and your weapon. You will all learn how to fight with one properly, so that if you may go into combat you will emerge victorious from any encounter. You will all be issued your armor and be given practice helmets.

     Later, dash was fitted for her armor and given a helmet. It had wooden, unsharpened blades instead of the actual blades. She would be given an actual warhelm later. She and her company were taken to the practice grounds. The were to first practice fighting on the ground before taking it to the air.

     They were all told to line up until their name was called. The drill instructor called out two names and told them to stand about ten feet apart, facing each other.

     He then instructed the two recruits on what to do, "Your main objective is to use the blades to hit the neck, a killshot. You will fight at the sound of the whistle and will stop when a proper killshot has been made."

     The two recruits belted, "Sir, yes sir!" and braced for a charge, their armor clanking as they took their stances. The drill instructor blew his whistle and the two recruits charged at each other like bulls to a red cape. They wanted to aim for each others necks but they were to scared to fully commit so thier heads clanged together and their blades locked like two bucks fighting over a doe. They both grunted as their heads collided, there was sufficient padding in the helmets to prevent any lasting trauma. The two recruits pushed at each other, their wooden blades rubbing and prying against each others helmets. One finally succumbed to weakness and was knocked over. The victor then brought the "killing" blow and won the match.

     As they were fighting, Rainbow Dash's mind went to the incident with the stallion and how she beat him senseless and left him to die in a burning library. She shook it out of her head, that's a moment of her life that she never wants to revisit again.

     Two more names were called, Rainbow Dash was one of them. She stood poised and ready for the drill. She sized her opponent up: a young, bright orange coated stallion who was slightly bigger than she was. As she was sizing him up, her mind went back to the burning library. Rainbow Dash shut her eys tight and slightly jostled her head.

     'Stop' Dash thought, she took a deep breath. Then the whistle was blown, instinct took over and Dash charged at the stallion. Their helmets smashed against each other. She looked him dead in the eys and saw the accusing eyes of the burning stallion in the library. The wooden blades were locked together. Dash's breath was getting heavier and heavier in the struggle for dominance. The stallion had thought this was going to be an easy victory considering he was facing off against a mare. And he was growing a little nervous.

     Dash's mind raced and she could see the fire surrounding her, the rage in the stallion's eyes and the fear in her own heart. Dash's mind snapped and she bellowed out a bloodcurdling warcry. The stallion's eyes widened in shock. Adrenaline filled her veins giving her superior strength and she twisted her head as hard as she could. The wooden blade on the stallion's helmet snapped off and Dash brought her head back around. Using the top of her head as a hammer, she smashed the stallion across the face crushing the faceplate against his snout.

     He cryed out in pain and fell to the ground. Dash reared back and brought her blade down on the stallion's neck as hard as her neck muscles would allow. He screamed out as Dash repeatedly beat him with her practie helmet and then bringing her armored hooves in to beat him further.

     "That's enough! That's enough!" the drill instructor rammed Dash off of the beaten and bruised recruit, he then yelled "Back of the line!"

     Dash snapped back to reality and saw what she had done. She was shivering from the experience and her breathing was hectic. She looked at the broken stallion and back at the recruits. She couldn't see their facial expressions through the helmets but she could definitely see the shocked and surprised eyes of all of them.

     The instructor scremed out a last, "NOW!" before Dash hurried back to her place.

     As Rainbow Dash stood in line she thought about what happened, she wanted to tell the recruit how sorry she was. But more than that... she wanted to tell the stallion back at the library how sorry she was.

     Applejack sat in her bathtub, scrubbing at her bloodsoaked legs with a soapy wash rag. 'Today was a nightmare' Applejack thought to herself. She remembered hearing the soldiers skull crush and the brain squish. She shuddered, she remembered the warm sensation of the blood splashing her legs. More tears came up and she quietly sobbed in her state of guilt. The blood was washing off alot easier than her previous attempt, but it also tinted the water she was in and she had to continualy drain the tub to avoid bathing in blood.

     Explaining the situation to her family didn't go as well as she hoped. After she stopped crying she was able to briefly account the events that lead them to here. Needless to say, the Apple family was shocked. They still supported Applejack and told her that she made the right decision, even if she did take another life. That put her mind at ease a little more. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle were taken to a guest room in the house. There was no way the Apple family was going to let Scootaloo go back home in Ponyville, she stayed in Applebloom's room. Big Macintosh volunteered to keep watch during the night in case any soldiers decided to march their way to the farm and if that did happen...Applejack didn't want to think about that.

     Applejack finally scruubed her coat clean, although there was just the slightest hint of pink in her fur. She dried off and went to see how Fluttershy and Rarity were doing.

     She gently knocked on their door. "Yes?" Rarity's voice was heard from the other side. Applejack walked in to find Rarity and Fluttershy sitting across from each other on the floor. It appeared that they were having a conversation before Applejack knocked.

     "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt." Applejack sheepishly said while slowly backing up.

     "Oh, you didn't interrupt us at all." Rarity chimed, motioning her friend in, "How are you doing?"

     Applejack walked up and plopped herself down next to Rarity and Fluttershy, "I'm doin a little better. Where's Sweetie Belle?"

     "Oh she's with her friends, I figured it was best to keep them together to get their spirits up." Rarity replied, "Do you want to talk about anything?"

     Applejack looked at the floor in contemplation. She finally said, "Everythin was goin so well."

     "What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked, eyes still red from sobbing.

     "Us. Everypony. Equestria! It was all goin so well, but it all changed." Applejack then turned to her friends, with a face of steel she said, "When Celestia gets wind of this, an army a thousand strong will fall upon Ponyville and tear it apart, brick by brick." Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at each other worriedly. Applejack continued, "My farm..." She paused, "They're gonna destroy my farm."

     Rarity interjected, "They will do no such thing."

     "You saw what they did! Twice!" Applejack shot, "They will burn everythin until Celestia is appeased. And Princess Luna won't be here to stop 'em either."

     "Well, what can we do?" Rarity asked, concerned.

     Applejack looked at the floor again, "I don't know."