War games

It's been two weeks since Twilight's return. During that time, only the Princesses and authorized royal guard personnel were been able to have contact with Twilight. During their visits, both princesses had learned some valuable, if somewhat disturbing, bits of information about just how much Twilight has changed. They have also been able to determine Twilight's relatively new threat level, and it scares both of them. Regardless of her threat level, today is the day Twilight gets discharged from the infirmary. As Princess Celestia escorted Twilight out of the infirmary, she levitated a metal cone out of her saddlebags.

"If I let you keep this, I'll need your word that nopony shall come to harm as a result," Celestia said.

"That IS my property, you know," Twilight half growled.

"I was willing to give you a modicum of trust," Celestia said, levitating the cone back into her saddlebags, "However, it seems that would've been foolish of me. If you want to keep this horn, you'll need to prove that I can trust you with it".

"And what of mana build up?" Twilight asked, "You won't always be there to help empty my reserves".

Celestia took that as her cue and levitated a small, black ring out of her saddlebags and over to Twilight. Twilight knew exactly what was about to happen, and didn't want any part of it. While the ring would, in fact, help solve her problem, it wouldn't allow her to cast any spells, even if she managed to get her horn back, unless Princess Celestia removed it. Knowing this, she backed up, baring her teeth and letting out a low growl.

"I do not want you to get hurt, Twilight," Celestia said, "Please, let me do this".

"That's NOT going to happen," Twilight growled before shifting forward and pushing upwards, throwing Celestia off balance.

Stunned, Celestia didn't have enough time to react before Twilight's right hoof collided with her face, the force of the blow throwing her backwards. Almost immediately after landing, she was pinned by Twilight. As she looked up at her former student, she saw the black ring being lowed down onto her own horn. She recoiled, however slightly, as the ring was clamped at the base of her horn. Satisfied, the purple alicorn then opened up Celestia's saddlebags and pulled out her horn and placed it on her forehead.

"Much better," Twilight said, smiling, "Now, if you want your magic back, you'll let me keep my horn".

Defeated, with no viable alternative, the solar monarch agreed to the demand. Equestria needs her to keep her magic so that her citizens could stay safe throughout the day. After the ring was finally removed, a small guard platoon had shown up. Celestia had waved them off so as to prevent a fight from breaking out.

Twilight sat just off to the side of a rather small dirt mound. Though she felt silly doing it, she had decided to have a mini funeral or sorts for her horn. With it over and done with now, she decided to try and find something to eat. Every single piece of vegetation she passed, however, was wilted and inedible. As her stomach protested louder, and more often, her search grew more desperate. She had never known real hunger before, having grown up in a land of plenty. Unfortunately, there was no edible vegitation anywhere.

As she rounded a corner, she saw the almost completely devoured carcass of a tabby cat. The very sight of it's gory remains made Twilight want to run in the other direction. The stench almost made her vomit. As she started to walk past the carcass, a little fawn appeared out of seemingly nowhere. After nearly jumping out of her skin at the sight of a baby deer, Twilight sat down and tried to communicate with it. Her efforts would prove to be in vain, however, as the young deer leapt at her with it's teeth bared.

Twilight tried to cast a spell, only to have a sharp pain remind her of her lack of a horn. She didn't even register the fawn making contact with her and knocking her to the ground. Only when she felt a sharp pain in her neck did she realize she was in trouble. She used every bit of force she could muster to get the fawn off of her. Hit after hit contacted the small deer, but had close to no effect as it stayed firmly in place. Putting the rest of her strength into one final hit, Twilight finally dislodged herself from the fawn's jaws. She laid on the ground for what felt like an eternity, trying to settle down and figure out what just happened.

After settling down and standing up, Twilight felt safe assuming that she was safe from death. She looked over at the fawn, it's lack of visible breathing signs telling her what she'd done. She started to panic, not knowing what it's like to kill before then. She panicked for a good half hour before the logical part of her brain finally kicked in.

"That was the first time I'd eaten meat," Twilight admitted, "I figured the fawn's behavior was caused by the lack of edible vegitation, and figured my chances of finding even an edible blade of grass were close to none".

"Your first couple of days were rough, weren't they?" Celestia asked.

"First week was the hardest, but I adapted," Twilight said, "My stomach hated me, proper shelter was impossible to find, and threats were everywhere. Cried myself to sleep first night there".

"You like your new room?" Celestia asked.

"Hell yea," Twilight said, "I don't like having to be escorted everywhere, but it's just something I'll have to get used to".

"You know why the escort is necessary," Celestia pointed out.

"Doesn't make it any less annoying," Twilight said.

"The faster you prove I can trust you as I once could, the less time it'll take to walk around independently," Celestia pointed out.

"Sounds like a simple enough task," Twilight asked, smirking, "Tell me, what do you have planned for me tomorrow to kick start this trial?"