Lairs & Lycanthropy: Revival

Chapters

The Defensive Pieces
The Board is Set
Queen's Gambit
Fianchetto
Think Three Moves Ahead
The Middle Game Begins
Queen's Knight Variation
Castle Kingside
Advancing Pawns
Kotov Syndrome
En Prise
Captured Pieces
Check
Flight Square
Zietnot
Cover
Counterplay
Positional Player
Interpose
En Passant
Endgame
Mating Attack
The Pawn in the Eighth Row
The Lost Game
Queen's Pawn to D4
Losing Exchange

The Defensive Pieces

(A quick note to everyone. I know this chapter is a little exposition and dialogue heavy, but this is a necessary evil to the story I’m trying to write. Before anything interesting can happen I need to establish the characters somewhat and give background information on the game world, sorry.)

Darkness descended over the small village of Ponyville. The gravel was brushed aside and crunched underhoof as she made her way towards the nearby building. A single beam of light raced out of a window and crossed her path. The mare slowed to a halt as she reached the door, adjusting the brown hat on her head carefully before reaching up and cracking her hoof against the door twice. There was a pause before the door creaked open just a crack. Applejack gave a look of confusion as she looked into the crack, seeing a single purple eye. A hushed voice came from the other side of the door “Did you come alone?”

Applejack rolled her eyes “Oh for pete’s sake Twilight open the door already. It’s cold out here at night and I’m naked.”The door shut almost immediately and the sound of scrambling could be heard as the chain was undone. Finally the door opened and Twilight stood on the other side, looking about before she grabbed Applejack and pulled her inside. “Look sugarcube, don’t you think you’re overdoing it just a bit?” A frown crossed her face as she looked her friend over, frankly concerned.

Twilight sighed before looking up to her friend with a smile, resetting the chain on the door. “Sorry Applejack, I might have gotten a little worked up but I need to keep this a secret.” Applejack checked her feet for a moment, then pressed on into the study with Twilight right on her heels. Inside the room the other four guests sat around a large table Twilight had cleared off and set in the center of the room. As Applejack set her hind hoof inside the door Pinkie bounced to her feet, landing on the table excitedly “Applejack’s here! Applejack’s here! Remember when Twilight said that we would find out when Applejack was here back at that time? That’s now! Now we’re going to know why we’re all here!”

“Yes.” Twilight said, escorting Applejack to the table. As Pinkie pie bounced off the table Twilight set the stack of books down next to game pieces. “First off I’d like to thank you for all agreeing to meet me here. I recently acquired a new book, one for the game Lairs & Lycanthropy, a role-playing game. I need to play it, but I simply can’t play it by myself.” She pushed the player’s handbook onto the table and everypony craned their necks forward to look at it. The picture of a large grey monster with a myriad of eyes, horrid claws, and rows of sharp teeth dripping with saliva greeted their gaze. “It’s a part of Equestrian history, and it’s simply criminal that nopony even seems to know it existed.”

Pinkie Pie bounced up and down, showing her usual restraint when it came to such matters “Oh boy! A game! I LOOVE games! How do I play?” Pinkie quickly shot forward and grabbed hold of the manual and opened it, immediately scanning the pages with laser like focus.

As Pinkie Pie picked up the manual Rainbow Dash leaned over, taking another look at the cover of the book. “When the hell was that a part of Equestrian history?” She demanded, an incredulous look filled her face as she shoved a hoof towards the picture on the book.

“An’ we really needed to do all this secrecy stuff over a game?” Applejack muttered, raising an eyebrow inquisitively at Twilight as she took her seat at the table.

Twilight shook her head sadly as she slid the dungeon master’s guide in front of her “It’s not part of history because it’s accurate, it’s a part of history because it was a popular game that got rubbed out of the history books. Ponies managed to shun the game into non-existence.” This had managed to upset Twilight in the day or two since she had learned about it. It might not be the most important bit of knowledge but ponies managed to suppress information with a sheer wall of ignorance. In fact if Twilight had never found the book it would have remained unknown to her forever. She wasn’t quite sure why but it just didn’t sit right with her.

“Umm…” Flutershy’s demure voice spoke up now “Why did it get shunned? Is it dangerous?” Her pink mane was brushed to the side as she eyed the cover uncomfortably.

Twilight’s crestfallen attitude perked up into a small giggle. Fluttershy; always acting ungodly cautious, despite living right next to the Everfree Forest. “No Fluttershy. It’s not dangerous, ponies just don’t like the idea of danger in this country. I mean, the only truly violent thing ponies have dealt with lately is that fight with the changelings and you saw how prepared we were with that… ”

Applejack’s head dropped a bit “Well when you put it that way I suppose with Princess Celestia an all that magic most ponies don’t have to worry about fightin’ much.”

Twilight nodded “Yes, but they like to think that it’s because we’ve evolved past violence, instead of it being a condition of our protectors. I mean, we think war is throwing pie!”

Rainbow Dash broke into the conversation now, setting a hoof on the table with a devilish smile. “Allright! Count me in, now that I think about it a game where I get my hooves bloody might be a nice change of pace!” Fluttershy edged away from Rainbow’s eagerness towards violence. Still, Twilight thought, Rainbow and Pinkie down: two to go.

Rarity scoffed at the multi-coloured pony’s excited declaration. “Rainbow! Ugh Twilight, darling, you know I’d love to help you in any way I can. However playing a game about barbarically ripping one another apart is far from my forte. I’m a pony of refinement and class, I can’t possibly play this.”

“No!” Twilight insisted, her attention turning to the white unicorn. “That’s the great thing about this game. There is no set way to win this game, combat is a useful skill to be sure.” Twilight looked over to Rainbow reassuringly. “But being able to talk to nobility and get a network of allies is also crucial. We’ll need someone to make a good impression with the upper class to get things done. Nobility was a big thing back then.”

Rarity preened at the idea of mixing it up with the higher breed of pony from yesteryear. A sly smile crossed her face as she muttered “Well, I suppose if you need someone with poise and class to deal with the fairer element of your game I can throw my lot in.” She turned her head to the side, using her fuchsia mane to hide her smile.

Fluttershy looked away as her pink mane fell over her face. “Umm..Twilight, I don’t think I want to do this, it doesn’t sound like something I’d be very good at…anything.” Absently, she lifted up her hoof to scrape at the ground, brow furrowed.

Twilight stood up diplomatically and crossed around the table to the demure mare “Don’t say that Fluttershy, there’s lots of things that can help us out. Rainbow Dash will probably get beaten into the ground after doing something stupid.”

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted in protest as she stood up, resulting in Applejack snorting at the insult.

Twilight smiled and shot Rainbow a playful glance, “When she gets beat up we’ll need someone to patch her up. You can be the one that takes care of people and patches us up when things go wrong.”

Fluttershy’s face brightened as she flapped her wings once excitedly “I can take care of everyone, and maybe find other people to help.”

The conversation quieted a bit as each of them contemplated how surviving in the flourishing age of Equestrian expansion would go. Slowly each of them, save Pinkie Pie, turned to look at Applejack.

Applejack’s head sunk a bit bashfully “Aw shoot everypony, I’ll play, s’long as it doesn’t get in the way of work n’ stuff. We have responsibilities here y’know.” With a smile she looked over the books, “Now c’mon Twilight, why don’cha explain the rules of this here game?”

Pinkie Pie set the manual back down on the table, “Done!” She announced, “I’m gonna be a bard! My music will bring joy to everyone!” With a fit of snickers she grabbed one of the character sheets Spike had drawn up and grabbed a quill.

Everyone shrugged as Pinkie Pie furiously scribbled onto her sheet and looked back to Twilight. Goddess she was glad to have good friends she could rely on. Yesterday when she found out the game was made for a party of adventurers she was worried she’d never get to try. Her horn lit up as the player’s handbook drifted overhead, finding its place at Twilight’s side. “Well, it’s a made up setting based off of oldenpony times, in the fledgling lands of Equestria. In this world pegasi and unicorns don’t exist.”

With this Rainbow dash reared back “What! No flying? That’s not fair!”

Applejack turned, giving Rainbow Dash a dirty look “Oh shut the hell up. I reckon not having hollow bones will make you a might sturdier.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond but was cut off but Twilight, “It’s the rules Rainbow!” Rainbow took the hint and shut her mouth, grumbling incoherently about it. “Players not having flight makes the challenge interesting. Later on as you level up you can pick up new abilities or prestige classes. For now let’s focus on the basics.” Twilight cleared her throat and continued with her lesson. “So everypony is an earth pony, next we each choose a class that gives us special abilities for the game. Pinkie picked bard already, bard is a support class that can do a bit of everything, and whose singing can help her friends.”

Rarity smiled approvingly, likely remembering the first time they heard giggle at the ghosties. “Well I for one think that’s a marvelous choice for you Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie stopped working on her sheet long enough to look up and beam with pride.

Twilight set the book down so the other ponies could take a look at it before she continued “Fluttershy would make an excellent druid. A druid looks after animals and takes care of everypony, they also get certain nature magic. The important one here is the ability to heal ponies, if you wouldn’t mind being our party healer and keeping us safe?”

Fluttershy looked around the table for a moment, “I can take care of ponies and our animal friends? That sounds wonderful.”

With a smile Twilight continued, “I will be playing a wizard, an extremely smart, versatile spellcaster.” Everyone around the room giggled. This class was such a break from Twilight’s usual norm you see. Normally her library/observatory/laboratory was used for athletic training. Twilight rolled her eyes as she pressed on: “So we’ve got three good classes but we need ponies to hold the front lines to balance us out. If we don’t we’ll just get trampled if we have to resort to violence. So I think Rainbow Dash could serve as our fighter on the front lines.”

“No.” Rainbow Dash answered flatly, turning the book about to show Twilight, “It says fighters get all bulked down with armor, armor that reduces speed. It’s bad enough I can’t fly, I’m not going to be slow on top of that.” Twilight opened her mouth to protest about team balance, but Rainbow’s icy stare made her back down.

“Fine…” Twilight uttered with a shrug. If you don’t want to be our fighter what do you want to be?”
Rainbow Dash stood up proudly “I’m gonna be a monk!” Fits of giggles and snickers erupted from the other mares around the room. “What!” Rainbow Dash demanded “They’re good a kicking ass and they get speed boost as they level up, it’s perfect!”

Twilight managed to upright herself first, stifling her giggles “Rainbow, monks are disciplined and careful, they’re like the polar opposite of you. In fact, a requirement for monks is that they be lawful. You know, respecting rules.”
Rainbow Dash sighed as the laughter died down “Well there’s no rule my character has to be exactly like me. My character will be all lame and always following the rules.” Rainbow smirked smugly, almost certain she could find a way around the rules of being a monk. It was really a shame she didn’t recognize the irony.

Twilight shook her head slowly “Okay okay, Rainbow can be a monk. Applejack can you run as our fighter?”

Applejack looked around the table at everypony slowly with a dismissive shrug “All right, I’ll be a fighter, but I don’t much appreciate not having much to me sides fightin’.”’

Twilight beamed as she started to pass out everyone’s character sheets “That just leaves you Rarity. Why don’t you be a sorcerer? They’re magicians too, but their main statistic is charisma. Your spell selection is more limited but you can focus it on things that will help us in our social aspect of the game.”

“Oh Twilight, I’m sure you know this game better than I do, whatever you think is best.” Rarity chimed. “I’ll be one of those sorcerer things you mentioned.”

Twilight nodded, “One last thing. The game needs someone to run it. This is the game matrix, or GM.” She picked up the multicoloured cube and set it down on the table. “When the game was made there was a lack of ponies who wanted to run the game, and a desire for it to be more immerse. So a few unicorns and an alicorn got together and created the GM. An adventure is pre-set in this one and it will run the game for us so we don’t have to keep track of the rules or anything.” Twilight picked up the dungeon master’s guide and held it up, “The GM keeps track of all the rules in this book, as well as…” Twilight stopped as a sheet of paper fell out of the book and gently floated to the table. A wince crossed Twilight's face as she stopped, gingerly picking up the paper and looking at it while her friends glanced over curiously. “It’s a character sheet.” She explained “A character from a pony who made me promise not to tell where I got this stuff.”

Pinkie looked up quickly “Foreverrrrrrr…” She started.

“Damn it Pinkie I remember!” Twilight folded the paper up and stashed it amongst the books. “Now, let’s make up our characters. We need to give them stats, what they’re good at, and give them a character history.”
The ponies worked for hours on making their characters exactly what they wanted. Rainbow was especially difficult; it took a full twenty minutes to talk her out of choosing a “more awesome” name. In fact it only stopped because Rarity managed to convince her there was no name more awesome than Rainbow Dash. Twilight gave her a hard time when her history just started without any mention of her childhood, and was only resolved when she made a barebones childhood story. Finally everypony finished and were happy, or at least content, with their character.

Twilight gathered up all the sheets and set them on top of Derpy’s sheet. “Allright girls I think we can call it tonight, what do you say we meet up at the same time next week and try this out?” Everyone nodded their agreement as they headed for the door. "Remember, try not to talk about this to anyone, okay?"

A week later Twilight opened the door once more and her friends piled in. Although they had agreed not to talk about it during the week their excitement had been growing. Each of them had been secretly conversing with one another. Ideas about how they were going to have a great character, speculations about the storyline, how they could handle different scenarios. By the time they got the actual gaming table the excitement was palpable. Slowly they all filed in, sitting around the table and watching at Twilight set up. She unfolded all the character sheets and set them down on top of the rulebooks, then placed the GM on top.

Pinkie Pie quickly passed out cups and set out a bowl of funions and a bottle of mountain dew. Rainbow dash looked over, confused. “What the heck are those?” she asked in confusion.

Pinkie smiled broadly as she marched over to the GM “Thematically appropriate!” She responded with enthusiasm “Game on!” she yelled, hitting the GM on and stepping back. The GM lit up, glowing many different colours as it spun. Slowly it got faster and faster until it was just a blur. The world seemed to melt and reshape around the frightened ponies as they stepped away from the table, which sank into nothingness anyway. Eternity stretched out around them in all directions, a spiraling infinity of shapeless colour.

A deep voice echoed throughout this new world, dripping with sadism. “Oh, once again, confined to the limits of pitiful reality. Of course, I have to share it with you.” The world flashed a bright red. As it died down the outlines of massive claws came rushing toward them from all corners of the universe. “Just like you, Twilight, protected in a shell of complex rules. Rules I have to abide by. This isn’t freedom, it’s just another damn prison. But as long as I have to sit in your prison, you will sit in mine.” Something had gone horribly, horribly wrong. The claws descended on them as the universe compressed and contorted them, then the world faded to black.

The Board is Set

Terrified eyes burst open with a yell of fright as the young filly sat bolt upright, tossing the worn patchwork cloak to the side. Hooves were placed to the sides of her head as she rolled forward, curling up with her head between her hind legs. The sound of light drops bouncing off the trees could be just barely heard by her in between laboured gasping breaths. Her breathing slowed as the cold sweat covering her whole body caused the chill to seep back into her. Eventually, shaking with both cold and fear, the young filly grasped the patchwork cloak and pulled it over her once more as she slumped to the wooden floor.

Alone, facing the chilling morning she lay staring out into the damp undergrowth; puddles of water formed on the road, muddy and brown, a stark contrast to the walls of green above. Things were certainly better then they were last night. Her makeshift blanket was pulled tighter as she unconsciously thought about the torrent of rain she barely escaped the night before.

Her eyes closed tightly as she tried to remember exactly what her dreams had held. She was almost certain it was of her parent’s brutal execution…again, but for some reason this dream seemed different. There were colours, some other figures alongside her, friends maybe? That was a laugh; she hadn’t had any of those since before she started her wandering, before her parents-… She shuddered again, trying to shake herself out of it. It had been months after all, she knew she couldn’t keep holding onto them like this. It wasn’t that her heart was cold, she just needed to survive, and lingering on thoughts like that only served to distract her. What spore of madness was it that she undertook this journey? Walking hundreds of miles with nothing after losing her parents, she would have quit a hundred times over but at the end of this road she would have the only thing she now wanted from life: vengeance.

She had to get up, she knew she did. To lay here all day would be to admit defeat. She pushed her little body to rise, but it failed her. Every muscle in her tiny frame was sore and screamed at her in protest. Evidently her mind and her body were not in agreement about what was important. Slowly her head pushed its way out of the structure and hung over the overhang to the outside. Tiny raindrops pecked her on the back of the head like light kisses as she stared down at the nigh unrecognizable face staring back from the puddle.

Her light blue fur was damp and mottled with streaks of dirt and filth. The horribly disheveled figure in the puddle stared back at her with uncaring, dead eyes. A white mane hung down on one side of her head, passing her nose. This too, had seen better days. The once fresh white mane was now grey in most parts, and smeared with dirt in others. Worse still, after months of not being brushed the knots had started to add up, turning the mane into one giant tangled mess. She winced, head rearing back in surprise as a teardrop smacked into the image and tore it apart in a flurry of ripples.

Once again the foal put her hooves under her, legs wobbling as she struggled to lift herself off the ground. The pain came as she expected, and she groaned in protest of her own actions. Steadying herself she looked up at the small wooden structure that had given her the shelter she desperately needed the night before. It was a small, simple structure that sat by the side of the road, and as she gazed at it carefully she recognized it as a shrine to the monks of the Kelvar Mountains. Her lips curled into a bit of a smile, such an unfamiliar feeling as of late. Even though her muscles ached and pleaded with her to rest the filly’s left knee bent, the right front knee remaining extended as she bent in a bow of respect.

A sharp pain hit her abdomen, then lulled back into the dull ache she had been ignoring since she awoke. Hunger; hunger had become her new traveling companion, and she liked to talk sometimes. A lot of the time. All right all of the time. She didn’t like it, but at least someone was around she could rely on, even if it was just to hurt her. A careful hoof grabbed her frayed saddlebag and slung it over her shoulders onto her back. Instincts told her to search for food in there, but the hour she spent doing that yesterday hadn’t yielded any results.

The puddle quivered slightly as she jumped out of the small shrine, landing just past its watery edge. Slowly she stretched her aching muscles and prepared for another day of hard, hungry, painful marching.

The story of her journey hadn’t been a pleasant one. Each day since she had managed to pull herself away from her parent‘s lifeless bodies had been the same. The punishing long days turned into punishing long nights. She wasn’t sure what was worse, the days when she forced her aching muscles to move just one more step, or the nights where she had nothing to do but hurt, remember, and cry. But eventually mercifully she dragged her weary body and broken spirit to the massive door of the temple. Her cracked hooves clacked harshly against the door as she collapsed in front of it in exhausted agony. The doors remained silent, indifferent to her plight for what seemed like an age…But eventually the door creaked, then opened, and a single figure stood at the door. Her journey was finally at an end.

In front of her stood a orange stallion with a string of black beads hanging around his neck. Attached to his back was a long wooden staff, held in place by the flimsiest of strings. His dark red mane was tied up in a series of deliberate and carefully managed braids. Slowly his attention was attracted down to the filly on the ground, eyes widening in surprise and confusion.

Gritting her teeth the filly pushed herself up one more time, looking the stallion in the eyes with a glare of determination. Finally she made it to her hooves and took a breath, steadying herself. “I have traveled a very long way to be here today, and I’ve almost died more than once. I intend to become a monk, and I’m not leaving or taking no for an answer.” Her legs shook beneath her, threatening to collapse her once more, but sheer force of will kept her standing.

The orange pony tilted his head to the side, drawing in a breath as he sized her up. “I suppose I have no choice but to let you in to talk to Master Hope. But I can’t possibly let you in without knowing your name.”

The filly let a stream of air out through her nostrils, pushing a matted clump of tangled hair to the side “Rainbow Dash.”

“No!” the orange pony yelled, the crop stinging as it cracked against Rainbow’s flank. Rainbow Dash had learned since that day years ago that this was Brother Meadow, and as it turned out he could be a real pain in the ass.

Rainbow Dash jumped slightly, looking first back at her sore flank, then to Brother Meadow, glaring daggers. Unfortunately Brother Meadow was unfazed. “Ow! Stop doing that!” she demanded, her irritation wasted on this wall of calm.

The monk set down the crop as he returned to all fours. He was personally overseeing her training today, and with good reason. Master Hope hadn’t wanted to take Rainbow Dash in, some bullshit about her heart being full of hatred and not being able to follow rules or find balance or what the fuck ever. Brother Meadow had stood up for her and pointed out that any willing student deserved a chance. Rainbow Dash managed to perplex him as both his best and worst student. He gave out a bit of a sigh as she returned to the uncomfortable meditative pose, balancing on one hoof with her foreleg hooves together and hind leg pulled up. “I don’t get it, maybe you can explain it to me…You spend hours each day on weapon drills and combat practice, you’ve managed to outrun every student even close to your age…”

Rainbow Dash nodded proudly with a wink, her body wavering as she tried to maintain her pose, “Yup, that’s right!” Her eyes widened, and she retreated back into calm introspection when Meadow touched the crop threateningly once more.

“But you avoid meditation, slack off on your chores, and haven’t learned the slightest bit of humility!” He shook his head as he walked around her in circles, as though trying to look her over to diagnose the problem.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at his accusations “It’s not that I don’t care about all that filly-stuff.”

“Philosophy.” Meadow interjected, evident irritation at her flippant nature of his teachings bled through.

“Right, philosophy. But it’s difficult, it doesn’t seem like it has any real world applications!” Rainbow grit her teeth and prepared for another swat that never came.

Meadow only sighed “The four truths are the key to understanding the universe. Once you open your mind to them you’ll be able to find peace, enlightenment and happiness. What greater application could there be?”

“But the second truth is that seeking pleasure is the root of suffering? Right? So that means I can’t try to understand them because I might be happy when I do.” Rainbow Dash sighed impatiently “What is so wrong with wanting to be the best? Why can’t I just be happy being the fastest or the strongest?”

Brother Meadow sat next to her once more, giving up on his search “Such pleasures are wants that can never truly be satisfied. By thinking you can you invite ignorance, which will breed envy, greed, hatred, and anger. Through envy, greed, hatred, and anger, you will cause and receive suffering.” Brother Meadow hung his head low, setting the crop to the side as he started out of the room. “Think on the four truths and meditate my little pony, try to see their wisdom.”

The sound of the closing door brought Rainbow Dash to the ground with a sigh of relief “Oh man, that meditation stuff gets ridiculous…”

A sound from the other side of the room startled Rainbow Dash, sending her up and into the uncomfortable position once more “Oh come on, it’s not all that bad.” The sound of giggling caused Rainbow to open her eyes and turn her head.

“Oh!” Her hooves fell back to earth, “Spirit, it’s only you.” Before her stood a pony of about the same age, known to many of the ponies here as Spirit Brave. He was also blue, although a darker shade than her, and his hair was black, tied into the same series of braids hers now held. Spirit was the closest thing to what she could call a friend around here - well, at least he was another student who she spent time with voluntarily. They shared meals, and he often helped with training, even sparring a few times though it was evident he was outmatched by now. But most importantly, he didn’t rat on her when she slacked off with her meditation, and even covered her when she forgot to do her chores sometimes.

“Yes, it’s just me.” He said with a playful smile. “There is some truth to the four truths you know, and meditating really helps you contemplate it.”

Rainbow Dash gave a bit of a laugh “Come on Spirit, it’s just sitting in a room doing nothing. We waste so much time on it. I came here because a monk fought the ponies that killed my parents.” She thought back, it stung a lot less now “Why are they allowed to go out and kick some ass, but I get in trouble when I want that?”

The sapphire pony crossed the room, siding up right next to her, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. “Because they already understand the truths. They go out to make the world a better place for everypony and protect the weak.”

Her eyes rolled once more as the same rhetoric was repeated back to her again. “Alright, enough already. You‘re starting to sound like Brother Meadow. You up for a sparring match? Or maybe some extra training in with the tonfas?”

A dismissive head was shaken at Rainbow as Spirit assumed the stance she had abandoned. “Thanks, but it’s time for me to sit quietly in this room and do nothing. You’re welcome to join me, if you can be quiet.” A light smirk peeked out from his calm demeanor, showing he didn’t think she could.

“Oh, you‘re no fun.” Rainbow accused, toppling him over with a push. Slowly she strut past him on her way out of the room . “But when you’re done sitting around being bored, find me. We can go for a run or grab some lunch.”

He returned her smile from the ground as he pushed himself back up “All right, I’ll hold you to that Rainbow.” With that he hopped back up into the uncomfortable position, it was evident he had practiced a lot more at it.

Rainbow left the room and immediately took to a more familiar place, the training room. The floor was padded for tumbling, and the racks were lined with wooden practice weapons. Around this time of day all the other students were out meditating or resting, it let her practice by herself for a bit. Some time passed as she did some weight training, then practiced her form with a few of the more exotic weapons. She didn’t want to do anything too strenuous though, Spirit usually liked to go for a run after they ate. Rainbow set the wooden weapon back in its rack when suddenly the door burst open, revealing a very distressed looking Spirit. Any notion of playful banter melted away from Rainbow as she saw the look on his face “What’s wrong!” she demanded, charging to his side.

“Rainbow…” he said breathlessly “They’re going to kick the shit out of you.”

Rainbow Dash blinked a few times “What?” She couldn’t have possibly heard that right.

Spirit ignored her as he pushed on with his explanation, moving to the center of the room in a bit of a panic. “I overheard Brother Meadow and Master Hope talking. They decided to teach you how desire breeds anger by putting you in a sparring match with a full monk, ten years older than you.”

Beneath Rainbow’s blue fur she paled. The full monks were monsters, she was good for a student, but a monk would tear her apart. “They’re going to beat the crap out of me, to teach me that wanting to be strong causes suffering? Are they out of their minds?” It felt like she’d been hit with a truck, nothing felt real. Like she was watching some other pony face down a death sentence.

Heavy gasps turned into deep measured breaths as Spirit tried to calm down “You need to show some humility Rainbow…go tell them you meditated, and that you understand why it’s bad. Convince them!” Lines of concern and panic stretched over Spirit’s face. Surely they wouldn’t kill her, but still, a beating from a monk could be pretty brutal.

Rainbow Dash looked about sullenly before rushing to Spirit and grabbing him by the neck lifting him up. “Spirit, listen to me. You need to forget about this. Don’t jeopardize your future because of me. You’re going to be a good monk someday…” She turned, pushing him towards the exit.

“No! We have to figure something out!” he protested, pushing back against her. “You’re-”

“Shhh…” Rainbow Dash absently put her foreleg around him, stroking his mane once “I know what I have to do, please….just go.” Her eyes were sullen as she looked at him. They managed to silence him as he trotted slowly towards the door. He turned back with a look of concern once, as though he was about to say something, then left.

She waited for a moment or two, her breathing getting heavy as she thought of what was to come, and made a decision that she knew would change her life. They wanted to teach her what it was like to lose by putting her in a fight she couldn‘t win. But she didn‘t believe in fights that couldn‘t be won. With a look of determined resolve she stood, making her way over to the weapon rack. Her teeth grit as her hoof reached out for a nice heavy stick.

Sullenly the blue figure paced back and forth, awaiting her grim fate. This was it, no backing down now. She had made her preparations, for better or worse she had made her choice. That’s when she heard it, the door opened behind her and Brother Meadow stepped in. “Rainbow Dash, Master Hope has asked to see your martial prowess in the sparring arena.”

Solemnly her head raised, looking to her long time teacher with little more than a nod. The walk to the arena was short, but it felt like it took centuries. Each step leaving a sound that echoed in her mind. When she got to the sparring arena there were several ponies sitting or standing around it. The arena was a pit in the middle of the center courtyard filled with sand where ponies sparred.

She faked a smile, posing to the crowd and hopped into the pit. She almost wished she had simply run away. Just opened the front gates and left. It would have been easy enough, but only a coward took the easy way out. Rainbow Dash was no coward.

On the other side of the ring another pony fell into the ring. He was covered in an orange suit, and had a string of black beads encircling his neck. He looked upon his victim with cold calculating eyes. Viewing her not as a girl he was about to thrash, but as a student who needed a lesson. Kind of sick really, that bastard thought he was doing her a favor. “You expect me to fight him!?” She demanded. Shoving a hoof towards the stallion twice her age and size.

The answer came very suddenly as the clearly ancient Master Hope simply looked down at the arena and shouted “Begin!”

The steely eyes blue pony wheeled about, charging towards the monk with a angry combat yell. She could feel the heat of the sun on her back, and the wetness of the tears on her cheeks. She watched as the monk silently began his rush forward, easily outpacing her as he closed in for his attack.

Rainbow watched defensively for any sign of his movements, her gaze drifting to each hoof, trying to determine where the attack would come from. Suddenly the stallion leapt, his left hind leg swinging around for a kick. He was fast, faster than Rainbow Dash, but she didn’t attempt to fight yet.

With a scream of defiance she hurled herself sideways hard, sand flying in every direction as she hit the soft ground. The kick sailed harmlessly overhead, but as his hoof landed he immediately reversed himself, the same hoof flying around at Rainbow Dash. With a yell she reached into the sand, pulling out the wooden practice weapon and swinging it with both hooves as hard as she could.

Knee met with wood and a sickening, splintering crunch audibly filled the area. Immediately it was followed by a howl of pain as the monk started to drop to one knee. Rainbow Dash reared up on her hind legs, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion as she reared the club back.

Blood sprayed across Rainbow Dash’s face and the sand as the club connected with the monk’s jaw. The crack sounded like someone had dropped a bag of rocks and left the monk sailing off his knee and to the ground. An arc of blood shot everywhere until he landed on his back and started forming a puddle of black sand beneath his head. The monk started to get up before the club landed again on his chest, leaving him rolling about in the sand gasping. She glared at him angrily as he rolled around, sand sticking to his bloodied shirt and face. “Are you fucking stupid!” She demanded, “Do you want to fucking die!? Stay down!”

The screams of rage leaving Rainbow’s throat drowned out the cries of the multiple ponies rushing into the arena. Instinctively she pulled away from the hooves coming in, trying to restrain her. A few grabbed her but she angrily broke free and tried to stay on top of the monk. Multiple ponies finally managed to pull the wounded stallion away from her, and wrench the bloody club from her grasp.

The young pony resisted as leather straps were wrapped around her limbs, immobilizing her as they held the straps apart with their teeth. Her mind slowly faded from the adrenaline high of the battle as she relaxed and stopped trying to fight her captors. “All right already! You got me.” She muttered, letting them know she was finished. Her eyes looked up to the stands for Brother Meadow and Master Hope, but they weren’t in their seats. After a quick scan she did manage to find Master Hope, walking away from the monk in the sand, apparently he had checked his injured disciple first.

She breathed heavily, looking up through a mask of her opponent’s blood. “What were you thinking!?” he demanded. His entire body clenched, as though he was using every amount of his restraint not to beat her senseless. “You cheated! You cheated and seriously injured a fellow monk!” The words were spat at her, insults meant to wound her, but they failed to penetrate the cloud of anger that surrounded their target.

Looking up at him an irate, inquisitive eyebrow raised defiance flooded her and bolstered her resolve “I cheated?” her head thrust forward as she spat on the ground in defiance “Fuck you! You send a grown ass monk to beat on a child and then get mad when he fucking loses!?” She stared down the old stallion, knowing full well she was essentially made of toothpicks he could crush her so easily. But at this point she didn’t care, she agreed to give up her quest for vengeance because this asshole told her it would bring her nothing but misery. He betrayed her, she tried, honestly tried to become a monk. She trusted him, she trusted them. All the words about learning patience, all the time spent trying to shut out her unwanted emotions, and this was how she was repaid? They didn’t like what she said so they just planned to kick the shit out of her? Fuck them, fuck them all.

Master Hope grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air “We were trying to teach you a lesson in humility!”

Her glare faltered as her resolve cracked. Slight tears started to form in the corners of her eyes, only her fury was holding them back now. “And I was trying to teach you one of respect!”

Master Hope threw the ungrateful child to the ground where she crashed unceremoniously in a pile “Get her out of my sight.” He was shaking with rage now, his hooves planted firmly on the ground to make sure he didn‘t do something he‘d regret. “If I ever see her in these walls again, I’ll kill her myself.” His voice contrasted his body, coming out as cold and even, as though he had carefully considered the action.

Rainbow Dash struggled against the bonds wrapped around her arms as she was dragged through the halls of the temple and brought to the main doors. Though she struggled her pulls and tugs were futile. Every tug found two ponies’ mouths at the end of each strap. Two burly monks opened the doors and the group heaved the straps and let go, sending the young mare sprawling into the dirt with a crunch. She couldn’t bring herself to stand, or even look up from the ground as the sound of the solid oaken doors thudded against her ears. With no one finally watching she couldn’t hold onto her anger anymore. All the pain and sadness she held from when she found out about the fight till now forced it’s way out through her eyes. Slowly she curled up on the ground and wept, feeling just as helpless and vulnerable as she did the day her parents died.

“Hey….” Rainbow could barely look up as she felt a hoof press gently against her back. She couldn‘t bring herself to look at the sapphire figure that stood over her. She just curled up tighter on the ground and cried. Slowly Spirit lowered himself to the ground and put a foreleg over her, holding her carefully as her sobs slowed.

“Spirit…” Rainbow Dash sniffled, but she couldn’t find any words appropriate.

“It’s ok Dashie.” He muttered, “I won’t tell anyone you cried after winning a fight.”

This brought a burst of sad laughter from the pony, who hit him playfully “Shut up.”

His smile helped somewhat as he got to his hooves and wiped the tears out of her eyes. Then he helped her to her hooves as well. “Don’t worry about it Rainbow, there’s lots of places out there ponies can be happy, hell there’s even other monasteries we can go to.”

That raised an eyebrow, slowly it clicked as she looked him over. Strapped across his back were proper leather saddlebags, and a familiar patchwork cloak, funny, it seemed smaller now. Rainbow’s tear and blood stained face softened even more as she realized what he was offering. “What? No, no you’re staying here. You’re a good student, and I know this is your calling…This stuff just wasn’t for me.”

Spirit lowered his head, his smile faltering “I’ve got some bits, and some food, even a bit of wine. We can-”

“No.” She said, this time more aggressively. “You’re not going to jeopardize your future over this. You’re a monk, Spirit. If you leave you’ll spend your life wishing you could finish your teachings. I can’t let you suffer because of me. Let my mistakes end with me, please.”

Spirit closed his eyes for a while. “I’m never going to see you again, am I?” All the teachings about not wanting failed him as a pain ripped into his heart. Desire leading to pain, yeah, that sounded about right. The saddlebags fell to the ground as he moved over to her, hiving her a firm hug “I’ll miss you.” he muttered softly.

Rainbow Dash hugged him back, then looked him over as he stepped back, now covered in blood. It made her smile a bit “I’ll miss you too.” she told him. With that he headed back to the monastery, they exchanged one long forlorn look before the oaken doors closed, and he was gone from her.

She started walking her mind deep in thought as she contemplated her actions and what she could have done differently. She didn’t know why it was so hard for her to accept the training, she really did try, but it felt as though who she was, was already set, and simply poked out despite what she did. She didn’t know exactly how long she walked in her deep contemplation, but reared back in surprise as she was a town. Her eyes drifted over the large sign at the side of the road: Welcome to Apple Springs! it stated cheerily, with pictures of happy birds and sunshine. “Fuck you and your fucking sunshine.” she growled angrily at the birds.

“Uh…” A brown stallion spoke up from beside her, looking her over strangely. She turned on the pony she hadn‘t noticed in her daze, whomever he was, he seemed to be tethered to a wagon with supplies. “They’re not real birds…and it’s not real sunshine.” he told her helpfully. Rainbow shot him a dirty look “Right, but fuck em’. Fuck em’ and their fuckin’ sunshine.” His eyes widened, before he decided it was pertinent to agree, looking the sign over contemptuously.

With that wrong righted, Rainbow Dash looked to right another wrong with the world. She had yet to get smashed because that monastery of pussies wouldn’t allow it. Now if only Applejack were here to- She cut herself off from that thought. For some reason lately she kept having weird thoughts, thoughts of having wings and flying, of ponies she never met. Somehow the further time moved the clearer those thoughts got. Well, she’d fix that. She made her way away from the brown stallion and into the nearest tavern.

With a sigh she sidled her way up to the bar and started to consider what her life would be like now. She didn’t know where to go from here, she had almost no skills, no contacts, and didn’t know much about the world. The only thing she was really good at was fighting, and no one would hire a mercenary her age. As the bartender approached she raised a hoof to get his attention “A screwdriver please…” she muttered.

The bartender was a white stallion a good deal older than her, and not in very good shape either. His stomach and hips bulged out a good inch further than most ponies, but he moved without it seeming to bother him too much. Even though he was out of shape he seemed well groomed enough, his fur and blue mane seemed to be meticulously well groomed. Perhaps it was to keep it from getting in whatever they served here. “A what?” He questioned her, leaning on the counter as he moved in closer.

“A screw-driver.” She repeated, annoyed. This time enunciating the syllables much more clearly. He still held a look of puzzlement on his face that made Rainbow sigh “Get me a glass of orange juice and put a shot of vodka in it. It’s only two ingredients!”

The stallion leaned back as he reached for the rows of bottles that lined the shelves behind him. As he set a glass down on the counter he cleared his throat carefully “Ahm sorry miss…” He apologized “Just haven’t heard that one before is all. Where’d you hear about it?” He questioned as he started to pour the orange juice.

“I…” She paused. Where the hell did she hear about that drink? It seemed right, but she’d never drank before…right? “Uh…the merchant who delivered supplies to the monastery told me about it. I assumed it was from here…sorry.” She looked away, trying to keep it together.

At the mention of the monastery the bartender froze, but only for a moment. The bits clattered against the counter next to the glass. Rainbow examined the counter carefully for a moment, it wasn’t just worn, it was scratched. It looked like it had taken some pretty solid hits in all honesty, even some places had dents. With that she turned around, looking at the rest of the tavern. The walls were worn and scratched, and the floor had some clear damage to it. There was even a stain at one point…sauce of some sort, maybe? The room was lit with a dull orange light that reflected off of each cup and bottle in the place. Blinking she checked the windows and saw that they were boarded up from the inside.

Slowly Rainbow turned to question the bartender at the strange bar and the damage, but she stopped, seeing that he was busily stashing bottles underneath the bar and getting them out of view. That’s when she heard the sound from beside her of a larger, well built mare approaching. Her fur was a dark grey and her mane was a multitude of dye colours, blue, black, and green most evident. There seemed to be some sort of battle scar right above her left eye, possibly from whatever was made into the hide armor that was draped around her. “The hell you doing here, monk?” The gruff voice asked accusingly.

Eyes flitted about carefully as Rainbow sensed danger. Everyone in the place had suddenly gotten a bit more quiet and set their things to the side, almost as though they were expecting something. Perhaps it would be best if Rainbow tried to resolve this peacefully. Then again, perhaps it would be better if the ocean wasn’t salty. Rainbow’s pink eyes held a bit of a gleam as she turned to the mare, sizing her up as though a fight breaking out in a public place was an option. “It’s a tavern. I’m having a drink.”

The woman gave out a harsh laugh. “Yeah? I know your type, monks…” She seemed to find monks funny. “Your kind are pathetic you know that? You just sit there and take shit from anypony. It’s cause yer all fuckin’ cowards.” Rainbow Dash’s hackles raised as she grit her teeth, looking at the mare silently. She hadn‘t had the best day, she knew it was wrong to drop someone with a hoof to the face for a simple insult…but still. “I hear that monks are supposed to be good in a fight, but you spend all your time hiding in your mountain don’t you?”

“Oh that is fucking it!” Rainbow screamed, standing up and cracking her head into the mare’s jaw. The mare stumbled back a few steps, as though in shock that the young mare had dared to fight back “Take it back!” Rainbow demanded, pawing at the ground like she was preparing to charge.

The mare…actually…smiled. Smiled! “Make me.” She said bluntly, a wad of blood was spat from her mouth to spatter against the ground. She eyed Rainbow Dash pleasantly, like they were playing some sort of game. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened in fury, she was toying with her! With a scream Rainbow Dash charged, her hooves clacking noisily against the ground as they met with the soft wood.

It was difficult to say exactly what happened next, or how the other patrons somehow got involved. But the entire bar erupted into violence. Rainbow Dash got some good shots in, but she was hit a few times too. One pony actually grabbed her by the hair and rolled her over the counter where she crashed into the spot where the bottles once were. As she lay on the ground nursing her back she saw the bartender hiding behind the counter “Thanks for moving those…” She mumbled as she started to get back up.

“Oh no problem miss.” He replied, holding her screwdriver up for her to take it down in one gulp. It burned as it slid down her throat and somehow felt familiar. The thought was pushed aside as she used the counter as a vault and flew back into the fray. A few minutes of angry punching later and Dash limped out of the bar and started to make her way down the street. Could she go anywhere without ponies trying to kick her ass?

Slowly she looked to the alley beside the tavern. It wasn’t exactly clean, but it was empty enough. Just a nice shady strip between the two buildings. She staggered in and collapsed into the dirt, leaving a cloud of dust flying about. Slowly she moved, rolling her pack off her with a thunk. Rainbow Dash moved her hind leg carefully, it was sore. A sharp intake of breath was put out as she looked into the pack for something that might help.

Muscles tensed as Rainbow froze; something was wrong. Her ears perked up, flicking a bit as she listened to the sound of the breeze, and the clanking of bottles being put back next door. Then, the unmistakable sound of a hoof hitting dirt behind her. Her hind leg’s cries of protest were ignored as she leapt up, moving into a defensive position as she stared down the mare that had approached her in the first place.

The mare didn’t seem threatening in the least, all in all she seemed rather pleasant, it was unnerving. The strange mare let out a bit of a laugh, her left eye slightly darker than the last time Rainbow had checked. “Calm down child, the fight’s over. One of the better bar fights I’ve been in actually. Maybe you monks aren’t so bad after all.”

Rainbow’s heart was racing and she had to slow down a bit to think. She didn’t leave her defensive posture, but she waited, blinking in confusion. “What?”

The mare leaned against the wall wiping something wet from her flank, from the smell coming off of her it might have been some sort of cheap ale “What? You’ve never been in a bar fight before? You monks need to lighten up.”

Each time the woman referred to her as a monk it landed like an unpleasant blow against a sore spot. “I’m not a monk, they kicked me out for wining a fight.” Rainbow stood up to her full fight, abandoning her combat posture and looking to the side, trying to indicate she wasn’t going to answer that one.

The mare paused, putting her forelegs on the ground “Oh…where are you staying now?” The mare looked Rainbow over more carefully now, a bit of a sly smile crossing her face, like a thought had crept into her head.

Rainbow shrugged, picking up her bag and throwing it over her back “I don’t know, but I’ll figure something out. The temple can’t be the only place in this world.” She wasn’t about to let this pony see that she didn’t have her life together right now.

This provoked another laugh from the mare “I should say not! Me and my clan live in tents out in the woods. Me and my friends just come to town sometimes for supplies and the occasional bar fight.” Rainbow paused on that thought. She hadn’t thought about what life would be like living out in the wild. She had her parent’s house, then the temple. Honestly the thought of waking up every morning to the fresh smell of grass and the rustle of trees sounded nice. Strange, that was exactly what she had on her first journey, and back then it felt terrible.

Perhaps opportunity knocks more often than one would think, “Could I crash there for awhile? I’ll do chores or something…” she asked coyly. She wasn’t sure exactly how to ask for something without seeming like she needed it, it wasn’t exactly a skill they taught you in temple.

“I’m sure we can find something to do for you. But I can’t take you there looking like a monk.” The grey started to move around Rainbow, looking her over as she drifted into careful consideration. “My name is Boarstalker, and I suppose if we undid all the monk knots you’d pass for a respectable enough urchin.”

Rainbow Dash, gave a careful bow to her new unexpected ally, “My name’s Rainbow Dash.”

The mare pursed her lips with a raised eyebrow, thinking “First, never do that again.” Rainbow Dash stood up, now embarrassed at the formality she had become accustomed to, “Second, your name’s Rainbow huh? You’d fit in better with my clan if you died your mane and tail. Perhaps we could dye it the colours of the rainbow, you know, to fit your name.”

A sly smile passed over Rainbow’s lips as she thought about life as a wild pony. “Maybe….but not pink….”

Rainbow Dash laughed happily as the full grown mare bounded between trees. A full multicoloured mane and tail flowed behind her as she outpaced one of the other stallions from the camp. The other stallion was out of breath, but wide eyed he bolted after her, his black and red mane flowing in sharp contrast to his green coat. The stallion, Rushing Waters, was no slouch, but no one in the entire camp could contend with Rainbow in a hoof race. “Move it Rush! Is that the best you got!” She teased playfully as she leaped agilely over a log and turned quickly to make a face at him.

Her snug coat of hide armor was a hindrance at first and had felt uncomfortable, but after three years it fit her like a glove. As Rush jumped to move over the log Rainbow turned and bolted off again. The cyan mare shifted her weight again as she felt a tug. She knew what it was, the massive two hooved claymore resting on her back was hard to forget about, but she loved it. It had been a present from Boarstalker a few months after she came to the camp, and was just one more thing that made her stand out.

Her head twitched ever so slightly to cast a glance back at Rush, his sword was a reasonable size, and a good deal lighter, but that only made her cooler for still being able to outpace him. She skirted around a massive tree and came to a stop, pressing her back against it. After a moment Rush raced past and looked back at her questioningly.

It only took a moment and a motion for Rainbow to get him to follow her lead, running back to the tree. She paused and put a hoof to her lips “Shh…” her head slowly peeked around the tree and back the way they had come, after a moment or two of watching she slumped down, turning her head back to him with a laugh “I think we lost them.”

Rushing waters shook his head slowly, “You enjoy this entirely too much you know that?” he panted lightly before he too collapsed against the tree. “Those were Apple Clan Rangers you know? They could have killed us.” He seemed a tad more shaken than she was, but it was his first run, he’d get used to it.

Rainbow Dash snorted as she flexed her forelegs “Please! No one can beat the mighty Rainbow Dash!” With that she pushed her forelegs up, wiping the fresh earth from her flank. “You didn’t think they were just going to let us steal their apples did you?”

Rushing Waters put a hoof to his face annoyed “If you knew they were going to catch us why didn’t you just wait till nighttime?” He sighed, lowering his hoof to paw through the apples they had managed to pick, all hanging in a burlap bag he had wrapped around his midsection.

“Bear traps, idiot.” She remarked playfully, tapping him on the head with her hoof “They’re a lot harder to see at night.” She rolled her eyes as she dropped into a canter back towards the camp. “Come on Rush, they’re gonna be hungry.”

Rush pushed on after her “Well, shouldn’t you carry some of the apples?” he questioned.

“Noooope.” she replied bluntly, wincing from the sharp pain in her side. She smiled anyway and looked him over carefully, he didn‘t notice. They talked for a while after that, it was a big event, Rainbow remembered her first raid, she had gone with four others. They didn’t have a lot of faith in her being able to do it, up to that point they had made fun of her for being a monk and a goodie-goodie. But she showed them.

As they made their way into camp there was a bit of a cheer for the pony of the hour as they closed in. Rainbow gave Rush a reassuring nod and broke away from him, leaving him to his parents and friends. This was a big day for him, and his first skirmish against the Apple Clan. After seeking her out Rainbow found her way to Boarstalker. They sat down next to each other and watched the prideful celebration commence.

Boarstalker took a deep breath in, the air was crisp and it was starting to get colder. It would be winter soon, so raids on the surrounding areas were heavier than ever in preparation. Rainbow finally took the time to look up at the trees, their leaves now a beautiful swirl of reds and golds. “How’d he do?” Boarstalker asked evenly.

Rainbow Dash sighed “He’s a newbie, he made a mistake and alerted the Apple Clan without even noticing it, they came in shooting. If I wasn’t there he’d be dead for sure.” Rainbow shifted uncomfortably, the now seeping wound under her armor starting to bother her. “I took a bolt to the shoulder, I don’t think it’s serious though.”

The grey mare looked over to her slyly “So he’s a lot like a certain ex-monk I know?” She shifted her weight, making the scar on her flank more visible to Rainbow Dash. This brought a smile out of Rainbow Dash. She still thought of her monastery days, before she had to chance death to take food, but here she was happy. With a smile she nodded her understanding. “Oh, while you were gone a mare came into the camp, pretty thing too, even smells nice.”

A laugh was shared between them “Allright, I’ll bite, where’s the prissy city pony?” the blue mare asked, looking around. A sudden shocked look of realization shot through Rainbow as she saw the mare. A mare with a clean, brushed white coat. The one with the neatly brushed and styled purple mane. Everything came rushing back all at once as Dash stared mouth agape at the mare sitting in the campsite “R-Rarity?”

Queen's Gambit

The cyan pony blinked a few times, staggering backwards and causing Rarity to wince inwardly. Of course this was hard on her friend; it was a difficult thing for her to swallow too, though she was pleased it didn’t devolve into mindless violence. She watched apologetically as her friend stumbled forward like a marionette piloted by a child. Rarity waited for a few awkward moments as the mare blinked rapidly at her, rubbing her eyes with a foreleg. “No…” Rainbow muttered once as Rarity looked away, not quite bringing herself to look her friend in the eye, Rainbow Dash had always been the odd one out, but here she seemed to fit right in. The great irony, Rarity realized, was that since she came to the new world Rarity had failed to fit in because of what others saw as her failings. Rainbow, on the other hoof, managed to fit in specifically because of what Rarity saw as flaws. Rainbow had managed to establish status - granted it was status with stinking barbarians that lived in the woods, but status nonetheless.

The wind blew once and picked Rarity’s purple mane up, blowing it to the side. A dainty hoof was raised to move it back out of her eyes, and that’s when their eyes met for the first time. “No….no…” Rainbow looked pained, but true to her nature seemed to put on a brave face as she approached. Perhaps that was even a convincing face to the others for all she knew but Rarity had gotten far better at reading ponies emotions than those around her. Rarity did her best to smile comfortingly as she approached the mare slowly.

Rarity’s eyes flicked downward, instinctively looking over her wardrobe. Strange, that she wasn’t in disguise. It was in her nature to act; to don a costume, and play ‘in character’ for this world. Still, for the first time thus far she wasn’t in character. She just needed to be herself. That part could still be played, right? Rarity was wearing blackened and well toned leather, oiled with some substance that made it shine. As though that didn’t try to make her stand out enough the pony had a light pink scarf crossing her neck. It set the simple-minded at ease when one wore pretty colours.

“Rainbow darling, you look positively ill!” She opened, then kicked herself slightly for opening with that. It wasn’t an eloquent opening line, but it was a friendly one, and that’s what was important. Letting her friend know that her real friends needed her. Not have here stuck in some fantasy of status and clout among those like her. “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised…” Rarity continued, throwing a cautious look around at the barbarians that surrounded her. Her voice lowered noticeably as she continued on: “I can only imagine what you’ve been eating without Twilight and I to keep an eye on you.” Rainbow’s eyes closed as she looked towards the ground, Rarity could just make out clenched teeth behind those lips.

After a long, unbearable silence the mare pulled her gaze up, meeting with Rarity’s once more. Rainbow’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Her lips quivered for a minute, then finally, barely more than a whisper “I know you, don’t I?”

Rarity pursed her lips and looked apologetically at her friend, causing Rainbow’s gaze to retreat back to the ground. Well, this was to be expected. Up until she had run into Pinkie Pie the white mare hadn’t given her friends a second thought. If Rainbow had done the same then that meant she was just getting caught up now, all at once. Honestly, this was going well, despite the circumstances. Rarity’s eyes moved swiftly, looking instinctively at each movement of the pony, studying her mechanically to determine what direction her emotions would sway in. Guilt would be enough to get her to go with them, but she wouldn’t be nearly as effective - best to keep it light.“Of course we know each other…we’ve been friends for the longest of times.” She preened a bit, a mockery of her old self, hoping to help Rainbow Dash remember her. The pause lasted an uncomfortably long time “Well…the outfit’s new. I-”

“You made it yourself. Yeah, I figured.” A laugh pushed itself through a cyan maw, a bitter, remorseful laugh, but a laugh. She finally managed to catch her breath, looking up at Rarity. “I guess…We have some catching up to do.” A sad smile crossed the blue mare’s face as she tried to look upon Rarity. Rarity smiled, this con was easier than- Rarity’s mind stopped as though her train of thought hit a wall. This was her friend, and she was analyzing her, studying her like a mark, even trying to manipulate the girl who was clearly in distress! “This is kind of messed up.” She muttered, watching her friend’s eyes drift downward.

A purple mane shifted sideways as the mare turned her head slightly, looking inquisitively at Rainbow Dash “Umm, I don’t mean to interrupt Rainbow…” She said, an inquisitive hint in her voice.

“What?” Rainbow replied flatly as she stared off into space, seemingly disconnected from reality.

“I was wondering if there was a reason you were bleeding…” Rainbow’s eyes fell, traveling down Rarity’s outstretched hoof to where blood was slowly seeping down her leg. She paused, holding up her foreleg and watching quietly as the blood dripped to the ground.

“Oh…” she muttered, distracted, “I got shot.” shaking her head dismissively.

Rarity’s eyes closed, then her brow furrowed as she tried close them again, but found the universe lacking in such rules. A steady hoof found it’s way to her head and held there for a few moments. “I…” Her mouth hung open for a few seconds as she stood there, dumbfounded. “You got shot.” She finally managed, a hint of exasperation in her voice. “You got -shot-” Apparently the first attempt didn’t manage to have enough exasperation for her. “How…what are you doing having a conversation with me? An entire lifetime apart and you’re still getting yourself hurt so often it barely phases you? Honestly, I don’t know why I thought that you would-”

“Still bleeding-” Rainbow interjected, a note of irritation pushing through her dull monotone. As though to help Rainbow provided a visual aid, holding her leg closer so Rarity could watch the blood drops slip off and hit the ground.

An irritated sigh left Rarity’s lips as she put her hoof back down on the earth. “Right…right, I suppose we should deal with the blood loss first.” Rarity gave another accusative look as she looked around the camp. “I’m not all that good with bandages myself.” She admitted, “I assume someone around here must be fairly used to your…adventures.”

Rainbow nodded and started trotting through the camp, instinctively Rarity dropped behind and to her side to follow. Rarity’s eyes drifted around the camp, examining the life that Rainbow Dash familiarized herself with every day. It was strange for Rarity, she understood that many ponies held static lives, but to hold one out in the woods! “I guess they don’t really teach you magic in whatever sorcerer tower they had you locked up in huh?” Rainbow questioned, probably just to make small talk.

Rarity’s hackles raised as she looked about for a place to run or hide. Her stomach flipped about as she suppressed everything behind a calm demeanor and a smile. This was Rainbow Dash, her friend. It was okay if she knew things. Rainbow Dash continued to question her idly as they moved past the tents. A few ponies looked up and noticed their comrade was bleeding out, they were polite enough to move out of the way before continuing their conversation. Rarity carefully bit her lip as she followed her friend, drifting further back slightly behind her friend as an old habit. “Well…I kind of left the tower a while ago.” she admitted. “I don’t really have any magical ability…”

Rainbow Dash snickered to herself as she looked back jokingly to her friend “A unicorn that couldn’t handle learning magic? That’s new.”

Rarity lifted her head letting out an indignant humph, “I could have easily handled the magical training. But I would have denied the world the chance to see me if I was in that silly school all the time. How could I -possibly- do that to the wonderful nobleponies of Equestria!” A quick bob of her head flicked her hair to the side.

“Oh?” the cyan pony questioned with a grin, “And what exactly have you been doing since you left?”

Purple eyes shifted sideways for a moment, looking for any excuse to derail the conversation “Oh you know, mingling with royalty…hey! This one looks like it has bandages and…medicine things.” Rarity darted around Rainbow Dash, maneuvering her into the tent beside them.

“What?” The young warrior looked around confused for a moment before smiling “Right, yeah. This is Agrestal Remedy.” Rainbow trotted in, throwing a sad look to the medic, a strong, but more well groomed pony, at least she was trying. “Hey Agrestal!” Rainbow called out, waving a foreleg and sending drops of blood in several directions.

The pony she addressed turned about, a pink mare with a white mane and the smile of a familiar friend. With an eye roll she moved quickly over to Rainbow and reached up with her hoof, wiping a spot of blood of her face. “Welcome back Dashie, what’s it this time? Mace, sword…do I need to worry about ligaments?”

The multicoloured mane shook vigorously “Not this time doc, just a simple shoulder wound. I should be out of your mane in a jiffy.” Carefully Rainbow Dash pulled off the hide armor, gingerly slipping it off around her wound. Instinctively she moved over to the area with the bandages to make it easier on Agrestial.

Rainbow turned back to Rarity and plopped down on the ground as Agrestial started to pad at the small hole and clean it out with water. “How did you find me anyway?” the mare questioned her returned friend. A fair question Rarity assessed, after all until now her old friends had been a memory - something she couldn’t quite place. Hell, she didn’t even know she was supposed to be looking for her friends.

Eyebrows were raised as the leather clad pony moved closer to her friend “Well, to be honest I didn’t. Pinkie told me you were here.” Rarity shrugged as she took a seat herself “I have no idea how that pony knew where you were. I was just passing through and she just showed up out of nowhere.”

“I guess that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie?” Rainbow asked. She winced slightly as Agrestial turned a bottle over and dumped some on her wound. Rarity’s nose wrinkled as the strong scent of alcohol suddenly permeated the room, her head pulling back unconsciously. Agrestial moved to put the bottle back, but stopped at the wounded pony’s words “Ah ah ah!” Rainbow said warningly and shot her a look.

The medical pony sighed and rolled her eyes as she tipped the bottle back and Rainbow took a few mouthfuls. “Honestly, every time…” She muttered before placing the bottle back on her shelf.

Rainbow Dash feigned incredulity as she pulled her head back “What? I’m in agony over here, it’s for the pain.” Quickly she returned to her original position to look at Rarity again “So what’s the plan? We meet up with Pinkie and track down Twilight? She’s an egghead, she can probably figure this out.”

Uncomfortable lips were pursed as Rarity looked around the tent, and then back out into the camp. Her head hung a bit lower as she looked back to her friend as the bandages started to get wrapped on. For the first time she started to see the mare as the friend she once knew, and not an asset, it wasn’t a good feeling. “You’d pick up your whole life and leave, just like that?” she asked quietly.

A boastful grin was plastered on Rainbow’s face as her face twisted into a facsimile of bravado.“Oh come on Rarity, you know I’d never leave you guys hanging.” Her eyes closed, tightly for a few moments before she opened them again. Rarity would have guessed that it was the alcohol hitting her, but she guessed the pony had drank enough to form a resistance of some sort.

“Well…” Rarity hesitated, unsure of how to proceed “Pinkie actually gave me a message, she said it was important. Right before she sent me here” Rarity shifted uncomfortably, she had promised Pinkie she would get it done though. Getting Rainbow was the easy part believe it or not. Rainbow raised a questioning eyebrow, Pinkie was all over the place, and possibly insane, but ponies listened to her. “She said we need to make your tribe make peace with the Apple Clan.”

Eyes opened wide as the room froze in place. Rainbow’s mouth slowly opening as Agrestial stopped, halfway done wrapping the bandage, gazing upon Rarity with wide eyes as well. For a while things just stayed like that, Rainbow assessing the situation with her mouth agape. After a moment Agrestial Remedy picked the bottle from up on the shelf and pushed it into Rainbow’s forelegs. Agrestial continued her wrapping as she gave the mare a look, “Take it, you need it more than I do. I’ll probably be seeing you soon anyway.”

Rainbow numbly looked down at the bottle then upturned it, downing the contents before quickly tossing it to the ground as her attention turned to Rarity. “Make peace with the Apple Clan? Are you insane? We’ve been…Oh god, APPLE clan.” A blue hoof found it’s way to her face as the sudden realization set in. “We’ve been stealing from Applejack’s family haven’t we?” Rainbow didn’t open her eyes but Rarity knew she wasn’t actually waiting for an answer. Of course that was the case, otherwise things would be a lot easier.

Agrestrial pulled the bandage tightly and clipped it. Looking Rainbow over carefully “You’re not actually going to confront Truncheon about this are you?” she inquired, her eyes filled with worry.

“D…Damn right I am.” Rainbow muttered, standing up and walking past Rarity. “I’m gonna find him, and give him a piece of my mind. Tell him the ponies we’ve been fighting for seven years are going to be our new friends.” She blinked a few times, looking back “If I’m not back in an hour, you might need to prepare a funeral pyre.”

Rarity followed her friend out of the tent, looking back at the doctor and giving her hurried thanks before hurrying to catch up with Rainbow. “Rainbow, dear, tell me about this….Truncheon.” her face squished up at the word, a barbarian name if ever there was one.

The blue mare pressed on through the camp, weaving around ponies carefully “He’s a brute, but he’s a tactical genius. He makes the plans for our raids, and we pretty much always get away with it.” a calm swivel brought her about to see the stallion she’d been seeking.

Rarity gulped as she looked at him, the pony was a monster. His fur was a light brown, but his mane was a series of reds and blacks, like many of the ponies around here. He sat a head taller than either of the mares and a series of battle scars ran across his body. Rarity took in a shallow breath as she looked over to her friend “Just talk to him, don’t get too….pushy.”

Now that she’d found her quarry Rainbow stopped. Her eyes opened and she found her legs already moving to the massive stallion. As she reached him she stopped, giving him a determined look, “What?” he grumbled, his massive war hammer easily rested on his back despite the great weight.

“Hey there Truncheon…” She said sheepishly, one leg crossing over the other nervously “I was kind of thinking, maybe we could….not…steal from the Apple Clan?” She looked up at him with a hopeful smile. Rarity put a hoof to her face, why were ponies so horrible at manipulating each other? She’d have had a better chance just cursing him out, and that had almost no chance of succeeding!

Truncheon looked down at the mare who had barely talked to him in the three years she had been here and let out a harsh, barking laugh. With a smile he pulled her closer, wrapping his foreleg around her “Little Legslasher wants to make peace!” Another resounding laugh burst forth, “That’s a good one, I needed a laugh, thank you Legslasher.” With a push he let go of her and turned about, walking away with a smile on his face.

Rarity raised a questioning eyebrow at her friend, “Legslasher?” She mouthed the words incredulously.

Pale white teeth grit as Rainbow looked back at Rarity for the briefest of moments before looking back to her retreating leader. With courage barely mustered she took a few determined steps forward. “Hey, I’m serious!”

The brown stallion froze in place, slowly turning around with a raised eyebrow. “Oh?” His massive body stalking forward as he bore down on her. “Do you have a problem with the way I’m running this tribe? You think you can lead us better little Legslasher?” he extended a hoof, pushing the mare back a few steps.

Rainbow’s legs shook slightly as she stood in defiance of him “Look, maybe we could just make some sort of deal with them? You know, negotiate or whatever…”

His eyes narrowed as he looked around as several of the tribesmen surrounded them, watching the rare sight of their leader being questioned. He let out a snort “If you think you can lead this tribe better, fine. You can meet me in the ring tomorrow and prove it.” He snorted in her face as he turned, shouldering her harshly as he turned.

“Y-yeah!” Rainbow yelled bravely as he walked away “You’d better back out, cause I-I’ll take you up…in one blow…” Rainbow stood, she seemed pale, despite all the Cyan fur. Rarity quickly moved forward as her friend swayed, either from alcohol or the fact that she was apparently suicidal. Carefully Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder, which seemed to snap her back to the land of the living.

“You’re not actually planning to fight that brute are you Rainbow?” Rarity questioned, a look of concern etched on her face as she looked from her friend to the mountain of muscle walking away.

Her furry body shook slightly as Rainbow Dash tried to snap herself out of it. Proudly she stood up and put on a weak smile “Yeah…of course. I’m, Rainbow Dash, I can take anyone on.” A hoof brazenly pounded her chest before she dropped down. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna get some rest…” The cyan pony hung her head as she slipped away for her tent.

A few hours passed as Rarity made the rounds the way she did at every new location she came to. In that time she had hit their supply room and convinced some of the younger stallions to get her a few drinks while she talked to them. She’d also worked out who the major players were in here. Granted none of them were important in the grand scheme of things, but they had their own system here, and Rarity had -eventually- learned to respect those. Well, respect was a heavy word... perhaps more like ... acknowledge?

Curiously, and more out of habit than anything else, she determined roughly how much money this little group made. It was a sizable amount, not worth the risk of taking it mind you, but the mare did have to admit to a bit of curiosity as to where all the extra coin was being kept.

But as night finally descended on the small clan, and many of the tribesmen went to sleep Rarity finally took action. Casually she walked up to the little tent and poked her head in. What she expected was to find a half drunk Rainbow Dash lying in a pile of furs with a bottle of booze but the reality was slightly different. Rainbow Dash stood in the middle of her tent on one leg, her forehooves were together and one of her hind legs was drawn up. She simply stood, motionless in the center of the immaculately well kempt room with her eyes closed. Rarity paused, looking on this image dumbfounded. Standing on your hind legs for any amount of time was difficult, to hold a pose like that took incredible balance.

As Rarity cleared her throat Rainbow opened her eyes and dropped to all fours again with a smile, her presence slightly more at ease than when last they met. “Hey Rarity.” She mumbled, looking at the ground. “Sorry about earlier, it’s a lot to take in.”

“It’s fine..” Rarity told her, sidling up beside her and having a seat “What’s with….you know?”

For a moment Rainbow Dash looked confused, but then a spark of recognition lit her up, “Oh that.” She shook her head with a smile, taking a seat beside her friend “It’s an old habit I picked up since we got here, it helps me think, and it reminds me of an old friend.” She was quiet for a few moments before picking the conversation up again “If you need a place to sleep tonight-”

“No darling.” Rarity cut her off “I just need to know what the odds are that you can fight this…Truncheon fellow and win.” Rainbow Dash put on a cocky smile and turned her head to the side, opening her mouth before Rarity stopped her with a concerned look “Rainbow…honestly.”

A dejected sigh left the mare’s lips “Well, anything’s possible. I’ve gotten in a lucky shot against opponents I didn’t think I could beat before. There’s a chance he’ll screw up for a split second…” A soft sigh was issued, as her eyes drifted closed, a soft voice escaping her maw, “Realistically, no.”

Rarity stood and quickly moved to the door “Then we’re leaving.” She informed her friend, “I’m not about to have you destroyed by some monster of a pony. We’ll slip out and find another way to deal with them, mercenaries, fire, poison. There’s a lot we can manage.” Her hoof lifted the flap to the side, letting moonlight come spilling into the tent.

Rainbow had a sad smile as she moved over to Rarity, nuzzling her for a moment “No. This is my family here, for better or worse. I’m not about to have them killed. I’ll just have to hope tomorrow goes well.” She turned about and went back to the middle of her tent. “Drop by when you’re ready to sleep Rarity, I can spare a few furs.”

Rarity stepped back outside and cursed quietly under her breath. She should have known that wasn’t going to work. Dash was so stubborn she couldn’t be made to see this was the most reasonable way. Well, if she had to fight that…thing tomorrow, the least Rarity could do was even the odds.

Quickly from her jacket she produced a dagger, spinning it about a bit it one hoof she reached down with her mouth and bit the hilt. Hastily the dagger spun about and a bit on the hilt was unscrewed revealing the hollow innards of the handle. Rarity reared up, slipping a vial out into an awaiting hoof before screwing the piece back onto the hilt. As she sheathed the dagger she looked over the vial, filled with a cloudy green liquid. With a smile she stowed it in a pouch. Sure, the liquid wouldn’t outright kill the stallion, but it’d make fighting him a whole lot easier.

Carefully Rarity stalked through the camp, avoiding the guards wandering around. She supposed she didn’t need to sneak about, but she really didn’t want to chance anyone wondering about her presence. Carefully she slipped up to the tent, pulling her scarf securely over her face. Cautiously she pulled the flap back but it was dark, and with no lantern it was difficult to see, even for one of her talents. He was probably sleeping, but Rarity strained her ears for sounds of the man sleeping but yet again there was nothing! She froze, was it possible she’d been heard? Was that behemoth sitting in there with his war hammer raised, just waiting for anyone stupid enough to try something?

Blood pumped in Rarity’s ears as she stood outside the tent, frozen with indecision. She couldn’t even feel the cold breeze passing through her mane. Holding her breath the mare opened her leather jacket, letting the multiple rows of daggers hang loose against their sheaths. She felt each of the brushing against her chest as she grit her teeth, pushing the flap to the side and sneaking into the darkness.

The darkness closed around her as she sat in the warm tent, holding her breath, fearing the slightest sound would bring a massive war hammer crashing down on her. Carefully she reached into one of her pouches and took out a small bauble, tossing it a few feet in. Instantly the room flared up in a dull red light as one of Rarity’s daggers flew from their sheath, lifting up defensively…and nothing.

She stood alone in the room with the sound of her own light breathing. The light quickly died out as the bauble consumed itself and Rarity moved up to the bed “Where in the devil’s name could that brute have gotten to?” Letting out a sigh as she set her dagger back and tightened her jacket back ups she decided she couldn’t just wait for him to get back here. If she just lurked around outside there was the chance she was going to get caught. She’d stay up as long as she could and keep an eye out for him, but if he didn’t show…

Rarity’s eyes bolted open as she pulled herself out of a pile of Rainbow’s furs and looked around. Rainbow wasn’t there, groggily the pony rolled to the side, kicking the furs off and getting to her feet. “Rainbow…” She muttered dramatically as she took a few steps towards the door before hesitating, “There’s not much I can do for her now…and showing up with a messy mane won’t….” She closed her eyes and pushed a hoof into her face, “What am I doing! I don’t have time for this!” hastily she grabbed the pouch with the brush from amongst her things and took off into the camp.

Hastily the pony looked around the camp and saw the rather massive group of ponies gathering around a raised wooden platform. As Rarity hurried towards it a jubilant cheer exploded from the crowd, and it only took a moment for Rarity to see why. Slowly moving up the stairs was a familiar cyan pony, walking to her own execution with a quiet dignity.

The white mare rushed to one of the mares cheering in the crowd and tapped their flank making them turn about in confusion. “What are the rules to this contest?” She asked hastily, concern pulling at the corners of her eyes “How does it end?”

The pony simply looked at her as though she was insane. She issued a loud snort as she looked back to the stage, trying to enjoy the fight. “It ends with drinking and feasting!” Came the reply, as though the answer was obvious. Rarity felt her muscles start to relax, “But it starts with them fighting till there’s only one pony left alive on the platform.”

Rarity’s eyes bulged and her stomach tightened as she tried to take that in. “W-what?”

The mare’s head slowly turned to the white pony that was distracting her “Did I fucking stutter? They fight, one of them goes down, then feasting.” Irritated she turned back to the stage, determined not to miss the fighting part of the fight.

With a gasp Rarity brushed her way through the crowd and shouldered the irritated barbarian out of the way as she made her way to her friend.“Rainbow Dash!” she cried out, stopping her friend in her tracks.

Standing on the stairs with one hoof on the arena Rainbow Dash simply looked at Rarity and gave her a reassuring smile. The world seemed to slow down for a few moments, letting them in on a private moment they could share. Rainbow had changed her usual loadout for this fight and replaced it with a rather huge bronze shield and a war hammer of her own, making her sag slightly. Blinking eyes stared back from behind a bronze helmet before finally the moment had past, and Rainbow Dash was on the platform, staring down a stallion almost twice her size.

Rainbow Dash struggled out to the middle of the arena and stood up, brashly raising her war hammer, before it came crashing down sideways. With a panicked grunt she lifted it halfway again before it hit the floor. Wide eyed, Rainbow looked up in the direction of a harsh laugh and saw Truncheon, his war hammer strapped to his back, and it didn’t seem to slow him down at all. “It’s not easy trying to hold a weapon for a -real- stallion, is it little Legslasher?” he mocked, taking a few steps up to his starting position.

The mare on the side put her lips to a horn and blew, the loud reverberating sound let the contestants know that the fight had begun. Rainbow desperately tried to pull her weapon a few times, but as Truncheon approached she let out a whimper and let it go, backing up several steps. Truncheon laughed as Rainbow stopped, her hind hoof only half connecting with the very edge of the arena. “There’s nowhere to run little Legslasher…” he mocked as he turned to the crowd, “These are MY ponies! They know a true champion when they see one!” The crowd roared with the prompting of their leader. “Just apologize here, in front of all these ponies, and leave.” He grinned as he watched his opponent hold up her massive shield, it covered almost her entire body as she cowered at the edge of the ring.

“I-if you’d ever stop y-your bitching. I’d be happy to b-beat your retard ass in ten seconds flat!” Rainbow declared, her shaking voice undermining the brazen statement.

Truncheon’s eyes widened in outrage as he wheeled about on the little mare, letting out a snort at her. “Oh, now I’m just going to fucking kill you!” He screamed, charging straight at her in a mad rush. He was fast, incredibly fast. He was on her in under two seconds and as he reared up he grabbed his hammer, bringing it down with a massive warcry on her shield, smashing it with the with the force of a train.

The shield gave way with almost no pressure, and with a hit that hard was sent flying out of the ring, scattering dirt as it slammed down and rolled to a halt, leaving a surprising lack of rainbow-coloured hair and bodily entrails.

Moments before it was hit Rainbow spun, dancing out from behind the shield on her hind legs. Careful sidesteps were executed with exacting precision as she flowed around the shield and came up beside the beast. Her forelegs were both raised and held out in one of the more traditional monk fighting stances.

Truncheon’s hammer collided with the side of the stage and sent a shockwave of pain back through his hooves. With a grunt he felt gravity pulling him forward, his massive upper body strained his legs to the limit as the force of his blow carried him forward. Muscles bulged and strained as he pulled himself backwards, grunting with the strain of the effort. He almost made it, almost managed to pull himself back, and that’s when Rainbow’s hoof gently pressed against his back.

With a scream Truncheon was gently pushed, and sent toppling head over heels sprawling into the dirt below. The crowd went silent as the grave as Rainbow stood triumphantly on the stage, victory was hers. Truncheon turned about on the ground, a seething fury permeating him as Rainbow’s helmet landed on the ground next to him. “One blow.” she reminded him, cocking her head to the side with an arrogant smile.

Rarity’s face lit up as she cried out in triumph. The cheers of her people erupted all around her and Rainbow turned, raising her hooves to pose for her adoring public. Up here she felt truly alive, there was nothing she loved more than the attention of others and everyone knowing she was the best. But her victory was short lived. With a vicious roar Truncheon leapt back up onto the stage, his mouth open and revealing a row of sharp teeth. His eyes glowed red as he leapt upon her from behind and ruined her moment, blows raining into the back of her head in his fury.

Rarity was instantly knocked around and battered as over a hundred ponies stampeded past her, knocking her to the side. With a grunt Rarity focused on simply staying on her feet, she knew how dangerous a wall of rushing hooves could be. The crowd swept up onto the stage and grabbed their leader, hauling him off of the poor mare as they grabbed anything they could, some even struck him for good measure. Rushing from the back Rarity could make out Agrestial hurrying towards the stage, a bag clutched firmly in her mouth.

Ponies hauled Trunchon back and cleared out of the way as Agrestial rushed to Rainbow’s side, quickly followed by Rarity. The cyan pony lay on her back, blood covering a good portion of her swollen and misshapen face. Gently Agrestial wiped some of the blood free as one of Rainbow’s eyes drifted over to settle on her friend. “They get him?” She muttered in a haze.

Rarity sat next to her friend resting a hoof on her comfortingly “Yes Rainbow, they have him. You’re going to be okay…”

Rainbow let out a small chuckle before closing her eye “I can’t believe he fell for that…no one will listen to him now…Applejack‘s fami…” Rainbow simply stopped speaking as Agrestial started examining her.

Fianchetto

Fluttershy turned to the large tent set up in the grove as a curious expression crossed her face. The tent always sat there, dead and emotionless, its green shade merely trying to mask the fact it didn’t belong. The tent lacked a function most days; neither the animals nor the druids had need for such things. On the very rare occasion however, the tent did manage to serve its singular function, entertaining visitors. The silly ponies who insisted on building homes and tearing down nature’s beauty didn’t react well to being outside. Certainly one day those silly ponies would come to their senses, Fluttershy was sure of it. In either case this day was one of those rare exceptions. As for now, her curiosity was peaked for somepony was inside. She could hear them speaking, however faint it was.

Carefully the yellow mare pressed closer to the fabric of the tent, listening to the voices within get louder. There was one that she felt she could almost place; A mare’s voice that just seemed frightfully familiar. As she pushed closer to the tent in order to hear them better, she was faintly aware of the speech inside stopping. It was then that the tent flaps pushed open and a brown cloaked figure stepped out. Casually its head swung to the side, revealing a pink pony, her pink mane curly and puffed up. Instantly Fluttershy’s head turned away blushing, embarrassed at being caught eavesdropping. As the pink pony saw Fluttershy her eyes lit up and she smiled “Hey Fluttershy!” She said cheerily.

Fluttershy froze in place…the mare seemed so familiar. Her mouth opened for a moment, but no words seemed to come out. Then the other pony raised up and threw her forelegs around the young druid, pulling her into a tight embrace “I missed you Fluttershy…”

As the mare let go Fluttershy backed up a few steps, a deepening red crawling over her face “Do I…know you?” She questioned hesitantly. She hadn’t met many ponies in her time, especially non-druid ponies, but the ones she did she tried to keep track of.

The mare smiled a small sad smile as she slowly shook her head. “No, not yet, but soon. I promise.” then she turned and started off, heading towards the main road and away from the grove.

Fluttershy started after her, running a few steps “Wait!” she called out softly, but her plea fell upon deaf ears as the mare pressed on.

Fluttershy was about to burst into a gallop when she heard a voice in the tent behind her call out. “Fluttershy! Is that you? Come here please.” Fluttershy froze; that was the warden. He wasn’t exactly her superior, druids weren’t exactly a military organization after all. But he did take it upon himself to watch over all the wilds in the surrounding areas, and he was the teacher of the one who helped her become a druid. Fluttershy gave one last prolonged look at the pink pony marching away and sighed regretfully before turning back to the tent.

Fluttershy’s pink mane poked through the tent door to see Bare Grills, warden of this area. Bare was a solid green pony, which blended in well with the leafy green leather he wore. His mane was a dark brown, which hung off the side of his head messily. He gave her a pleasant smile as she came in, his face knowledgeable, but not quite old. “Good evening Fluttershy. There’s something that’s been brought to my attention and I’d like for you to check it out.” Bare shifted across the tent and past Fluttershy, leading her back out.

For the moment Fluttershy ignored his words, there would be time for that later. “Who was that?” she questioned, looking in the direction the pink pony had disappeared to.

Bare glanced over curiously in the direction she looked at. “Oh, her? Just some wandering bard that stopped by, why do you ask?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth, but what could she say? So the mare knew her name, big deal. This wasn’t the kind of thing she needed to push off onto the warden, he had enough on his plate as it was. “N-nothing.” She sighed, “Okay, what’s wrong? Is the bunny population in danger again? I can set up a shelter-”

“No no.” Bare cut her off. “This isn’t the usual altruistic effort you excel in. This is serious.” His words sunk into her and caused her to freeze up a bit. Curiously she watched him, wondering what task she could possibly be suited for that another druid couldn’t take care of. “I’ve been watching the woods lately.” He began, “An unusual number of animals are disappearing. I suspected that the barbarian tribe living close to here might have been hunting them for their furs.”

Fluttershy nodded with a smile, “I can protect the animals by setting up farms inside the grove and-”

“Fluttershy…” he cut her off, causing her to apologetically fall silent “I’m beginning to think there might be something more sinister afoot than simple exorbitant hunting. Perhaps a stealthy new predator has been introduced to this area. I need you to talk with the animals and see if that might be the case.”

Fluttershy paused, considering the job.Going out in search of an unknown predator was dangerous and likely scary, but she’d been told here a hundred times to be less like the rabbit and more like the bear. The druids were shapers and defenders of nature, and the meek were hardly ideal for such a task. With a deep breath she steeled her nerves and stood proudly “I’ll take care of it.” She promised with quiet determination.

A slight smile formed on Bare’s face as he nodded “Thank you Fluttershy. Let me know what you find out. I need to go check up on some of the other projects around here. If you’ll excuse me.” Fluttershy gave him a polite nod and watched him break off, heading for another druid.

She shuddered as she turned away, eyes clenching shut. Her responsibilities usually included sheltering animals and making sure populations didn’t get out of control, and from what he was saying....Her head shook slightly, focusing on the task at hand. It was her job! Druids didn’t want to control nature exactly, merely curb it a bit. After all, ponies were animals too, and they deserved their place. Fluttershy found her footing once more and started off, heading out to the forest.

Although she knew the forest was a dangerous place, Fluttershy always felt at home here amongst the trees and birds. It was just how she’d been raised she supposed, houses always seemed so stifling and stationary. It felt so much more natural to go everywhere, be anywhere. If she needed to sleep there were plenty of places, and if she needed to leave, she had nothing to stop her. She was an animal, and this was how nature intended animals to live, any other way just seemed…silly. As she continued through the woods, she darted about in search of anything that could give her a hint of the problems that the woodland creatures faced.

As night started to fall she finally came up upon a small cave, and heard the soft sound of movement inside. Slowly she trotted up to the cave and smiled “Hello!” the words hung in the air, ringing through the cave. An instant later a massive grizzly bear pulled it’s way into the shallow light and looked at her, issuing a loud angry roar.

Fluttershy gave the bear a dirty look; Surely it knew that was no way to treat visitors. “Why are you yelling at me?” She questioned the animal, sitting down calmly “That’s no way to treat a visitor.” Blue hues stared at the bear as it paused in confusion, eventually lowering it’s paws to the ground and growling.

“Hold on…” She told the bear calmly. Blue eyes closed as the druid concentrated, and for a moment or two she glowed a bright, pleasant green. Then it was over. “Sorry” she apologized “Could you repeat yourself?” Fluttershy always seemed to have a way with animals, then again it wasn’t anything special, so did all druids. Her initial lessons were terrifying, even with a teacher at her side. But over time she became closer to nature, until she finally understood she was another part of it, a part that could be friends with the forest.

The bear took another heavy breath “I…I said, my children, stay away!” It moved it’s legs, defensively covering the entrance.

Fluttershy smiled and turned her head to the side slightly “Ooh, you’ve got your kids in there? How are your plans for hibernation coming along?” Her voice was even and calm. It was equally important that you both showed no fear when talking to the animals, and showing no threat. Animals were a jumpy lot, and despite their capacity for love, weren’t the brightest.

The bear paused for a few moments, thinking to itself before it fell to its hindquarters. “The great sleep is coming.” It told her, looking briefly up to the sky. “The trees have shed, just like we remember. We have much food, we will be ready if the sky cold comes down here.”

Fluttershy glanced up at the clouds overhead, supposing the bear was half right about the clouds being snow. Inwardly she shrugged as she smiled politely at the bear “I was wondering if you had seen any new pred…killing animals around here.” The bear looked around suspiciously, as if expecting to see something. Fluttershy gave a quaint smile before clarifying, “Not right now, before.”

The bear got its legs underneath it as it stood, looking off to the side. “The new ones, they have come many times before. Kill animals, eat them.” Fluttershy nodded, urging her to go on “That way.” The bear turned it’s head, pointing down towards Apple Springs. “They come out at night, they gather at their place. We stay away from their place.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy stood slowly and gave the bear a courteous bow. The ursine simply looked at her awkwardly, she often forgot that animals had their own customs she was unfamiliar with. “Goodbye.” She offered. The bear seemed to understand, standing up and slowly turning about go back into her cave. Fluttershy sighed, she supposed she had made progress on her issue. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was likely just greedy ponies killing for furs. Then again, the bear did say they were eating the animals.

Well, she’d best follow up. It was, after all, her responsibility. Slowly she made her way through the forest, the sun drifted out of view and the chill set in. It wasn’t anything Fluttershy couldn’t handle but it would just be uncomfortable for a few hours before she made it back to the grove. Without warning Fluttershy came to a halt, ears straining as they picked up voices from up ahead. With a little focus she zeroed in on where they came from, a clearing up ahead flanked by heavy rocks.

Her breath drew silent she shook off the fear that had pushed its way into her. She was an animal, and she needed to stalk her prey. Another near silent breath was taken as she pushed forward, carefully avoiding sticks and twigs as she came up behind the rock. Her mane flattened against her back as she pressed into the rock, straining her ears to hear.

“No, it’s nothing to worry about.” A harsh voice insisted “Some mare came into the camp yesterday and got one of the barbarians all riled up. Now the little one is questioning me, me!” A chorus of light laughter followed. “I’ll put her down in front of her little marefriend tomorrow, they won’t question me after that.”

“That’s strange…” A familiar voice of an elderly mare took over the conversation now “A mare came to the barn just recently. A mage from one of the towers, not very skilled though.”

A snarl from the first voice cut her off “Mages? Here? Is one of the towers taking an interest in us?”

“No…” The elderly voice said dismissively. “It’s just some apprentice mare passing through. Became fast friends with my little Applejack though. She was askin’ questions, trying to take the fight to that tribe of yours. I told her off though.”

A slight sigh from the first voice, “Well keep an eye on her. The last thing we need is a bunch of damn mages breathing down our necks. We have a good thing going here.”

Fluttershy finally mustered up the courage to peek over the rock and saw a terrifying image. Thirty ponies stood in the clearing bathed in moonlight. The moon made it easy to see that they were not normal. Their bodies were covered in dark black fur, and their teeth were jagged and pointy. Their tails had changed somewhat too, they almost looked…like wolves. But some sort of horrid half breed abomination, and they outnumbered her thirty to one. That’s when she realized they stopped talking.

Her heart pounded loudly in her chest as she pressed her back against the stone again. The thumping of her pulse in her throat was so palpable she could almost taste the blood. Blood that would soon feed the earth if the beasts had any say in it. Fluttershy could hear them moving towards her; heard their inhale as their noses tested the air. Frantically she held her hooves together, carefully focusing until a rabbit was mystically summoned into existence.

She knew it wouldn’t last long and grit her teeth as she willed it to run. Instantly it exploded out from behind her hiding spot and rushed away from her. Followed by a small army of ponies who ran it down in a desperate bid of bloodlust. From the way they moved and how vicious they were, she was certain these were her predators. Of course, she didn’t stay to examine them further; the moment she felt they were distracted she bolted in the other direction as fast as she could without making too much noise.

The walk home was terrifying and for the first time Fluttershy no longer felt at home in her forest. She was tempted very tempted to just go to the bears again and get them to let her stay there till morning. Despite how fearful she felt, Fluttershy knew her responsibility was to the forest. Not only did she have to physically defend it, but this time it needed her to tell the others.

It was a long way home as she trudged through the forest, jumping at every snapped twig and branch along the way ‘till she finally found her way to the grove. As her shaking body pressed on into the camp she heard a voice; Another druid was watching the grove while the others slept. He recognized her right away and beckoned her welcome. Finally letting out a sigh of relief she gratefully trotted into her camp and slumped into the waiting pile of bodies that kept them warm at night, finally safe.

“What?” He asked incredulously. “Could you repeat that?”

“Pony-wolves!” She cried out, dropping to her haunches. “There are pony-wolves! They have big sharp teeth and long fur…it was awful. Somepony needs to take care of it!” The soft voice she usually used had a tinge of desperation; it rose, catching the attention of those that were in the tent. That didn’t seem to deter them from doubting her, though.

Bare shot Fluttershy a look “You’re a druid Fluttershy, and nature can be a scary thing. You can’t always rely on other ponies to protect nature, even if it’s scary.” The yellow mare’s head hung low. “This is your habitat too Fluttershy, and just like every other animal, you have to protect your habitat.”

Fluttershy sighed “I’ve never even heard of pony-wolves! Maybe they can be reasoned with…” She muttered hopefully.

Bare turned and continued on their walk, prompting Fluttershy to get up and follow. “I know what they are, they’re known as lycanthropes.”

A pink mane fell to the side as Fluttershy turned her head in confusion “Lycanthropes?”

Bare nodded quickly “Ponies that catch a magical disease that turns them into those creatures. It makes them want to eat meat and makes them into something else…” Fluttershy’s eyes widened, her mouth agape at such horrors. “They can keep their pony form most of the time, although it robs them of their full strength. The full moon seems to bring them out in force though, some say it’s the final curse of the mare in the moon.”

Fluttershy shook her head slowly, her jaw closing after a moment, “But, what am I supposed to do?”

Bare stepped up to her, looking fiercely into her eyes, “You’re the one dealing with this Fluttershy, protect our habitat.” He stopped, staring down at the uncomfortable mare, and awaited her decision. Fluttershy paused, before nodding slowly, taking a few leading steps back towards the edge of camp. Clearly, it would take time for her to decide, but time was a precious thing that they didn’t seem to have a lot of at the moment.

Time passed quickly that day, but it always does when one is facing something they dread. Whether that was saying goodbye to someone you cared about, or facing down a pack of magically enhanced wolven barbarians. The cool fall breeze passed about her easily and picked up her pink mane, brushing it to the side and making her push it back into place. Rough hooffall ground leaves into the soft earth as Fluttershy made her way toward the group of lycans that had gathered in the woods.

“He’s our alpha!” one of them protested, still having not seen her marching towards them. “We can’t just let them keep him tied up. I say we cut him loose and get him out here. Maybe take the whole camp out!” Another few steps, and suddenly they all noticed her, turning inquisitively. The mare stood before them, a thick animal hide armor protecting the soft flesh underneath; a sharp contrast to the pink mane and eyes that looked over them with a disapproving frown.“Who are you?” the speaker asked impolitely.

“I am a druid of this area.” She declared, “And I’m here to ask you to stop disrupting my habitat, um, please.” She stared them down for a few moments her breath coming out slightly shaky.

“And you’re going to stop us?” one of them mocked. He let out a snarl and pounced on the poor druid, overpowering her in an instant. Lips drew back, and he bared his teeth as he snarled in her face “We’re not backing down from your pathetic kind.”

The lycan yelled out in surprise as a pool of water came tearing through the forest and flew up into him, smashing him off of Fluttershy and sending him unceremoniously into the dirt. Shakily Fluttershy found her hooves beneath her once more, watching as the lycans tone shifted dramatically. Behind Fluttershy stood Bare Grills, and a myriad of other druids who had come out of the woodwork. In addition to the ponies there were wolves and bears, each of them growling at their once fearsome oppressors. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you might have. But you‘re kind of ruining our habitat, all of our habitats.” Despite the support, the mare’s voice was still soft, barely able to be heard above the pants and angry growls of the animals surrounding them.

Bare Grills slowly walked up beside her “I told you negotiation wouldn’t work. What do you want to do now?”

Fluttershy closed her eyes for a moment, feeling her soul hurt once more. Nervously, her hoof ground into the dirt as she grit her teeth and tried to focus. She was an animal, she was nature, and she had to protect her habitat. With a sharp inward breath she steadied herself, steeling herself for the decision she knew was coming. Nature wasn’t peaceful, nature was struggle, and nature was dangerous. She had to be dangerous. “Cull the herd.” Fluttershy’s voice quivered as she spoke, her eyes opening in time to see the horrified looks on the faces of the lycans turning to run as the wall of furry claws and teeth charged in.

The fight was short and brutal. The entire experience was a massive whirlwind of blood and screams. Animals were cut down, followed by bright flashes of green light as the druidic magics restored them to fighting form, then the whirlwind of murder continued. New animals joined the fray as the were summoned into existence just long enough to rip a hunk of flesh out and disappear. The screams and howls of pain ended quickly, at least it did for them. Even after it was over Fluttershy couldn’t stop hearing them, hearing the screams she caused, the pain she wrought. Short ears drooped at the thought of what she had done, her head hunched slightly. Fluttershy felt sick; Sick at what she had ordered, sick at what happened as a result, and sick because of the worst part of it all - she hadn’t finished.

The determined wave of druids pressed on, flooding their way out of the forest and into the barbarian camp. An alerted sentry quickly called out and roused the barbarians, causing forces of the two powers to meet, staring each other down. Bare gave a quiet nod to Fluttershy, who quietly pressed her way out between the two groups. Yellow lids hid her eyes allowing a moment to collect herself before speaking quietly, “We’re here for Truncheon.”

The tribe milled around nervously, light murmurs flying about as they tried to figure out who was supposed to speak for them. After a few uncomfortable moments an older mare pushed her way out to look down on Fluttershy. Her fur held a light grey, and her mane held blue, black, and green. Her eyes were cold, and Fluttershy knew simply by looking into them that the nightmarish screams that would haunt her would barely phase this mare. “Truncheon is our leader.” The older mare began, “ though he is indisposed right now. What issue do the druids have against our tribe? We’ve kept to the agreement you offered years ago, though we barely understand it.” Eyes narrowed slightly as she bore down on Fluttershy.

With a grunt a lycan pony crashed into the ground beside them, tossed for dramatic effect by Bare. His skin was cut in several places and he looked like he had a bruise or two, but he seemed alive enough. Slowly he moved his hooves, testing the rope that bound him but finding it lacking a way for him to escape it. Slowly he turned his head and looked at the horrified barbarians who had known him yesterday as friends.

“I don’t have a problem with you…” Fluttershy explained apologetically, he eyes shifting up to the old pony, then darting back down to the ground, “but the lycanthrope pack that has infiltrated your ranks has been giving us trouble.” She took a deep breath, urging herself to get through it with a brave face. “The pack will remain loyal to their alpha I’m told…so he needs to be...removed.” Her voice faltering slightly on that word before she could will herself to go on. “Then they can follow a new alpha…” She moved her hoof over, stepping roughly on the lychan on the ground “Right new alpha?” she asked him, a harsh tone seeping into her voice as he responded with an affirmative choking noise. It had to be done. It had to be done. It had to be done.

The entirety of two sides braced, hooves moving closer to clubs, axes, and swords as they stared each other down. The growling and murmuring grew louder until the mare facing down Fluttershy turned about to address the crowd “Ponies!” She called out, quieting them down “Should we really stand behind the loyalty of Truncheon?” A questioning murmur weaved its way through the barbarian ranks. “He’s such a loose cannon we were debating if we could even want him as a leader…and now we find out that he’s turning our people into these things?” An angry cry came from the barbarian’s side as the mare turned about, staring down Fluttershy “If Truncheon is one of these things, prove it!” she challenged, stepping closer.

Fluttershy lowered her head slightly and closing her eyes. “Get the wolfsbane…” she ordered quietly. Then she turned her head up to the mare, “Luckily for both of us, I think I can do just that, bring him here.” Her voice sounded almost sad now, regret over everything slipping in. Carefully she took the plant from a druid who brought it to her. “This plant is deadly for ponies to eat…” She explained to them, “But it’s worse for lycans. When it comes in contact with them...” The plant dropped to the side, landing next to the lycan on the ground, causing him to howl in pain and try to shuffle away.

Angered cries could be heard as Truncheon was pulled out by eight ponies, leather straps running from their mouths to his forelegs. His hulking figure wrestled against the bonds as Fluttershy got a good look at him. He was the one she had seen in the clearing last night; the one giving orders. Fluttershy took her eyes off the monster as another mare pushed her way over. This mare didn’t look like she belonged here, her white coat was properly groomed and her mane seemed styled. This new mare looked at her carefully with a sad face “Fluttershy…” she pleaded hesitantly “This isn’t who you are, don’t do this…”

Fluttershy’s lip quivered as she tried to steel herself “I have to…” she muttered sadly “If I can’t protect my habitat I’ll fail everyone. I need to protect the animals.” Blue hues once more flicked downwards, to the dirt in front of her that she had unconsciously been pawing at. The mare was so upset she didn’t even bother to question why or how the new mare knew her name. It’s not that Fluttershy wasn’t curious, it was simply that she was absorbed with the task of preparing to beat an unarmed prisoner to death with a war club.

As the group of ponies pulled Truncheon closer to the wolfs bane he started to shake and grunt. They continued onward until they were right next to the plant. The poor prisoner had his teeth grit, sweat pouring from his maw and brow. Wordlessly Fluttershy picked up the plant and tossed it, dirt and all, to crash against Truncheon’s chest. With a wail of pain he bucked and coarse wolven hair spread across his entire body. His eyes quickly became red and his teeth sharpened themselves into vicious points. “Fluttershy…” The strange mare who knew her name warned, lifting a hoof to her flank, trying to stop her.

Fluttershy pulled away and looked at the barbarians, all backing away in disgust. “Is this proof enough?” She asked coldly, “can I get on with his execution?” Wordlessly the older mare looked down and nodded, turning away from their ex-leader. With a sigh Fluttershy reached back, taking a war club from another druid and moving to Truncheon. Absently, she inspected the weapon; her hues drifted over the weapon noting how heavy it was, and the several sets of animal teeth jutting out the sides. This weapon would do.

She rose up on her hind legs and hefted the club to the side, looking into the lycan’s pained eyes as she prepared to do what she had to. Her teeth grit as she tried to remind herself how important this was. This was her habitat; she was an animal and she needed to protect her habitat. That was the natural order of things...If she didn’t neutralize the lycanthrope threat it would destroy them. Fun word, isn’t it? Neutralize; It makes the whole act seem so sterile. Somehow neutralizing a threat seems so much more acceptable than caving a pony’s skull in with a club. So much cleaner than murdering a helpless stallion. But as Fluttershy stood there, her eyes starting to tear and her lip quivering, she couldn’t see it as neutralizing a threat. All she could see was the set of eyes staring at her, waiting for her to do what she came here to do. Waiting patiently for her cold blooded murder. “Finish this.” Bare told her calmly. She could feel the eyes of all the druids watching her, she was leading them today, she was protecting the grove. Fluttershy tried to tell herself that if another druid had taken the lead then all of the lycans would have been wiped out, that this was a compromise. That didn’t change the eyes, the damned eyes waiting for her to destroy him like a weed. It had to be done. A ragged breath came as she held the club aloft slightly higher, and then Truncheon went down.

Rarity landed atop the beast with an angry yell and sent him crashing to the ground right next to the lycan they had chosen as their next alpha. Truncheon opened his maw to howl but Rarity’s hoof came down, a dagger crashing into the top of his head. The dagger punched clean through the top of his head, exploding through the roof of his mouth, biting into his tongue, and pinning him to the soft earth below. Slowly Rarity looked into the eyes of the terrified lycan on the ground, staring into the dead eyes of his ex-alpha. “Congratulations on your promotion darling.” she mocked, pushing herself off of the beast and onto the ground, looking up at Fluttershy, still standing with her club.

The druids cheered in triumph, but Rarity stood, taking the club from Fluttershy and tossing it to the ground in disgust. Carefully she bit the pony’s mane and urged her to follow, heading towards one of the tents. “Wait…” one of the barbarians commented as she passed “You forgot your knife.”

Rarity turned, a fierce look burning in her eyes, “I never want to see that damnable knife again.” Hastily she urged Fluttershy onward, pushing her into the tent where she saw Rainbow Dash lying on some furs with bandages everywhere.

“Hey.” the hospitalized pony said with a grin “Futtershy, it’s good to…what’s wrong?” Rainbow’s face melted into concern the moment she saw the look on her friends’ faces.

“I’m not strong enough…” The young druid lamented, “I can’t protect anyone, I couldn’t do it, I…” her eyes filled with tears as she started to weep, collapsing to the ground as she bawled uncontrollably.

“It’s okay Fluttershy…” Rarity cooed as she clutched her friend close. The white mare tried to keep a brave face as she held her friend, but looked down at the blood on her own hooves, wincing as her eyes started to tear too “You’re going to be okay…” tears started to flow down her cheeks as she kept her voice even, “I promise.” At the end she wasn’t even sure if it was Fluttershy she was really trying to convince anymore.

Think Three Moves Ahead

A hesitant breath was taken as the young sturdy earth pony stepped onto the ship. With a small smile he looked around, taking in a deep whiff of the salty air. Around the ship a flock of seagulls flew about and let out small cries. He had finally made it; the pink striped terror of the seven seas, the Wave Crester, sat just beneath his feet. He had come to the docks seeking employment, yes, but the Wave Crester? What were the odds such a famous ship would have docked at his little town? Well, perhaps famous was too strong a word, but it was known among the local sailors in the coastal towns he visited, and that had to count for something.

Briskly he made his way to the captain’s quarters and rapped his hoof against the door, this was where he was told to come for assignment. The fresh young face was met with an older weary one with an eye patch as the door slowly opened. The captain looked about carefully before asking “Are you alone?”

The young sailor paused, tilting his head slightly at the strange question, he even looked about to be certain. “Yes captain.” There was a longer pause before the door finally swung open and the captain ushered him inside, a regal blue suit adorning his body. Confused the young pony trotted in, listening to the door shutting behind him.

The captain quickly sat back down on a plush pillow and sat a glass down on the table, pouring scotch into it from a crystal bottle. Hastily he took a gulp, then set it down and looked to the new pony, “What is it?”

The sailor blinked a few times before resting his haunches on the other side of the table, looking over the haggard captain slowly. “I’m a new member of your crew sir, I was told to report here…”

The captain instantly started shaking his head, “Yes yes yes, it’s nice to meet you. I suppose I should tell you the basics. This is the Wave Crester, do you know what it is we do?” The captain’s good eye stared out from behind the glass to look at the recruit.

The pony hesitated as he scratched the back of his head with his hoof “Um…actually no. I think you’re a transport carrier, but-”

The glass hit the table as the captain cut him off “Wrong. I don’t know what it is we do, it changes all the time without any rhyme or reason. It’s utter madness.” he shook his head quickly as he set a hoof down on the table.

A casual look was thrown to the door as the young sailor pondered the worth of this job. “But you’re the captain…don’t you, you know, decide what to do?”

A hoarse, bitter laugh pulled its way our from the old captain “I’m the captain because I made friends with a crazy little girl a long time ago. I decided something once…that’s how I got this.” he held his hoof up, tapping the bottom of his eye patch. He let out a bit of a shudder, “Remember this, boy. More than anything else you need to remember, Pinkie Pie owns this ship, and she holds all of our lives in her hooves.”

The young stallion’s mouth fell open as he stared on in horror “She cut out your eye?” he muttered in incredulous shock.

“No…” The old salt admitted. “Miss Pinkie thought we should haul stout from one port to another, but I thought we should haul pepper to a different port. The difference in money was…quite noticeable. I decided not to listen and haul the pepper, raiders killed six of ours that night, and I took an arrow to the eye.” shaky hooves moved to pour another drink “We never spoke of it again…but…” his voice trailed off.

The young sailor’s head cocked to the side “Captain? Maybe it was just a coincidence?” He offered hopefully.

“No…” His aged face swing from side to side “She’s brilliant, and completely insane. She refuses to admit that this is real life and insists that reality is a game.” An exaggerated hoof swung up to motion to the surrounding room “Everything is just a game. You know, whenever we talk about the past she just calls it backstory. Backstory!” Aged lips brought the glass closer so he could have a sip. “Then she tells me things because she sees patterns in the plot.”

The younger man lowered his head, finally realizing he’d been assigned to a ship with a senile old drunk who listened to his overactive ship storyteller as a prophet. “Patterns sir?” He questioned, resignation evident in his voice.

“Yes!” the captain called out “Patterns! When I ask her to explain it to me she tells me a bunch of unrelated nonsense and acts like I should be able to understand it!” He downed his drink and let out a rough cough, putting his glass down to bang on his chest. “We’ve had three captains, and every one that-”

The captain’s voice was cut off as the door exploded open “Hello!” a cheery voice called out to them as a pink pony bounced into the room. “I’ve finally figured out what we need to do next!” There was a short pause as Pinkie sat down next to the table, looking over to the new recruit “Were you talking about me?”

The awkward silence was broken as Captain Anjin responded, sarcasm dripping from his voice “Oh no, no, no, we weren’t talking about you at all.” His blatant lie was swept to the side as he moved his alcohol off the table and motioned to it. “Why don’t you let us know what we need to do next?”

Pinkie smiled broadly as she lifted a hoof to the table, a long map rolling down the length before she drove a dagger home in one spot. “Apple Springs!” She announced triumphantly, leaping up on her hind legs for emphasis, leaving the other two dumbfounded.

Captain Anjin cleared his throat before nodding his agreement. “Oh I absolutely agree! But just for fun, why don’t you explain why you’ve come to that conclusion?”

Pinkie dropped to the ground with a confused look on her face. Hastily her hoof reached out and tapped the map a few times “It’s Apple Springs, this is where the plot hook is going to be! The game is going to finally start, here.”

The two sea ponies leaned forward and looked at the map carefully. The captain was the first to sink back to his seat “But why is the game starting there? What’s the plot hook?”

Pinkie let out an exasperated sigh as her head hit the table “I don’t know what the plot hook is yet, they don’t tell you before the game starts, that’s metagaming!” Her head lifted as she resolved to explain the obvious to them. “Ok, it’s called Apple Springs, there’s a big apple farm there, run by a family of apple farmers, right?”

A hoof drunkenly swayed up to scratch the captain’s mane “But there’s lots of apple farms in Equestria, why this one?”

Pinkie’s hoof moved slightly, “There’s a monastery right here, and rumors of a barbarian tribe in the area. I’ll bet Rainbow Dash decided to change classes before the game started.”

The captain looked across the table to the cadet. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments before the captain turned his gaze back to Pinkie Pie. “Who is Rainbow Dash and why did she change…class?”

Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes, “Rainbow Dash is my friend, we haven’t met yet, but she’s too free spirited to be a monk silly!”

The captain threw his forelegs into the air as he let out a stifled “Of course!” before passively collapsing to the side and giving up.

Apologetic eyes looked down at her captain as she tried to help him through it, but he wasn’t making it easy. “It makes sense!” She insisted “There’s rumors of druids somewhere in this area over here! That can’t be a coincidence!” Her eyes moved from the captain to the newcomer; sad that she had to go soon. It was a shame she wouldn’t have time to throw him a party, even if he was just a random NPC. His eyes met hers, but his mouth still hung open in confused bewilderment. Pinkie’s head sunk low, “I’m sorry if you don’t understand, but I have to go. I’ll miss you captain…”

That got his attention, instantly Captain Anjin pulled himself up from the ground and moved over to her. “You’re leaving? But you’ve spent your whole life on the Wave Crester, ever since we picked you up…” His jaded face softened somewhat. “Pinkie, everyone’s going to miss you if you go…”

With a reassuring smile the pink pony threw her forelegs around the scraggily pony and gave him a firm hug. “I have to go captain, I’ll miss everyone here too…except that guy…I don’t know him.” she said wistfully, pointing a hoof at the recruit standing at the side.

A soft chuckle was brought forth from the old scotch scented captain as he shook his head. “You’ve been a pain in the ass sometimes you know, but you’ve always been there to make us smile. You’re family here, and there’s always a place open for you if you need to come back.” He paused for a few moments in thought “Go on, take anything you’ll need for your journey, you’ve earned it, I think.”

A slow grin spread across her face as a mischievous twinkle peeked out from behind her eyes “Anything?”

Pinkie’s cloak flapped frantically in the wind for a few moments as she braced against the wind. The autumn months were upon them, and the chilling winds were certainly a testament to that. Pinkie breathed out once more; concentrating to see if she could catch her breath on the air. It seemed it wasn’t quite cold enough to worry about, but she did make a mental note to pick up furs of some sort to wear. The last thing she needed was to be playing when the GM hit them with fortitude saves for hypothermia.

Her attention was turned to the sign posted just outside of town. “Welcome to Apple Springs!” It announced cheerfully. Pinkie Pie smiled broadly at the happy little birds and the sun on the picture, it just made the place seem so inviting! She turned her head back to look at the wagon behind her, it was nice of Captain Anjin to offer it to her. The harness was hooked up tightly to her back so that she could pull it easier, but after all the travel it would be nice to not feel it pulling back on her all the time.

With a pleasant giggle the pink pony pushed herself onward, pulling her little wagon into the pleasant town. The streets were alive with many happy ponies milling about, just conversing on the everyday mundane stuff ponies did. Instinctively her ears perked up as she passed, learning nothing of importance. Finally she pulled the wagon up to the inn and tapped a hoof to the ground, waiting expectantly.

After a little bit a pony came rushing out of the inn with a worried expression on his face. “Sorry there miss. We don’t get a lot of ponies coming through here that need wagons stored.” He explained apologetically. “Should I store that for you?”

Pinkie’s head reached around the side to let her bite the pin that held the wagon onto her on the right side, pulling it free. She lifter her head to look back at the pony with a smile “Please do. I need to go in and consult the local rumor mill before I find the other players.” With that she pulled the other side free and shrugged off the harness.

The pony’s confused stare lingered on her a while, but it was his job to keep the guests happy. “Yes…Ma’am.” Pinkie pulled the sheets down a little tighter to cover her wagon more carefully before she left the stallion to his job.

Hastily the pink mare made her way into the tavern and looked about, several ponies were sitting about the room drinking. She noticed some furs and manes that were hidden under cloaks seemed like the right colours, but she couldn’t be sure. Well, it was time to get to work. She made her way up to the barkeep and sat down, quickly attracting his attention.

“Can I help you?” He asked politely as he made his way over to her, instinctively setting a glass on the countertop.

“Hi!” she greeted him with a polite smile “My name’s Pinkie Pie, I’d like to get a room here, I just put my wagon into storage.” The man nodded politely and took out a guest book and a key, setting them beside the glass. She set a few bits down to pay for the room as he opened the book with a smile, instantly Pinkie scanned the page, noting that one Twilight Sparkle had checked into room 302 yesterday. When he finished he handed Pinkie the key and put the book away. “Thank you.” Pinkie cooed “Such accommodations seem a -Rarity- nowadays.”

Pinkie’s eyes darted about as she looked the room over carefully, and on the word “Rarity” one cloaked figure perked up. Pinkie smiled, she had found her second friend already. “One last thing…” she said to the innkeeper over the chatter “The contents of my wagon are particularly valuable, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t send anyone to clean that area until I’m gone.”

“Of course miss, we understand being protective of our things here, can I get you anything?” Pinkie ordered a meal and settled in as though she were getting comfortable for the evening. At such prompting the figure whose interest had been piqued rose and headed out of the tavern at a canter, moving for the garage. After a half minute Pinkie followed.

Pinkie took a step out into the garage where her wagon was being stored. Carefully she peeked around the corner and stopped with a smile as she saw Rarity sitting on her haunches in front of her door. The mare was wearing a torn up cloak, but it was assuredly her, a lock picking set between her teeth as her delicate hooves operated on the door. Pinkie knew she had the surprise round, but she would try to fight non lethally, which gave Rarity an edge. Then again, if Rarity had turned rogue she would be garbage in combat.

With a determined nod Pinkie wheeled the corner and rushed the surprised pony, cracking her hard in the face with a hoof and sending her flying. The set of lock picks raining to the ground with scattered clinks between them. Pinkie smiled at her right hook, it seemed to have the desired effect. The dazed white mare struggled to her hooves, a line of blood streaming down onto her chin.

Carefully she looked up at Pinkie, letting out a grimace at the off putting smile. “Do…do you work for my husband? Please…what he did wasn’t right, don’t hurt me…” Rarity turned pouted lips away with a stifled whimper.

Confused, Pinkie tilted her head to the side, her smile dimming as she looked upon her crying friend. “W-what?” She stuttered, moving closer to Rarity, quashing the voice inside that told her to console her friend immediately.

Rarity turned her face back to Pinkie, tears marring her white fur as it carried black eyeliner through it. “M-My husband…” she sniffled “He took everything and left me, you’re one of his thugs right? Protecting his wagon? I was only going to take back my things, I swear…”

Pinkie blinked in confusion one or two times, then her smile returned “Wow Rarity! That’s a really good bluff check! I’ll bet you can bluff your way past anyone with that!” She complemented her friend. Pinkie had seen Rarity’s sheet before they played, and even as a sorceress her bluff skill was high, but to see it in action! Simply superb!

Rarity’s features hardened as she stared down the pleasant pony, brushing a few lockpicks to the side. “So, you know who I am then? I suppose you’re a law pony come to track me down?” She let out a dramatic sigh as she walked forward “Very well, I suppose I know when I’m beaten. I surrender.” She casually marched a few paces closer, then the minute she was in striking distance she moved her hoof to pretend to adjust her hair and went for a knife. The dagger was pulled clean from its sheath and traveled upwards, but then staggered back as Rarity stumbled backwards.

Pinkie was up on her hind legs with a hoof extended out to where Rarity’s face was once. With a silly grin she hopped up with a smile “Yay! Rarity! Did you see that? I won initiative!”

Rarity’s eye throbbed painfully as it started to swell, accentuated by the feeling of blood trickling down her nose. Her resolve tightened as she drew a second dagger and glared at the newcomer “I tried playing nice, get out of the way or I’ll end you.” she threatened through grit teeth.

Pinkie dropped to all fours once more and shook her head “Rarity. You can’t beat me in a fight, I saw your character sheet, your will saves are...terrible.”

Rarity blinked a few times in confusion, what was wrong with this pony, she had to be insane. “What are you talking about?” Rarity demanded in exasperation.

“Watch!” Pinkie Pie announced, raising to her hind legs and putting her hands out in front as a current of blue swirling energies flooded around her. A look of fearful comprehension came across Rarity’s face as she dropped a dagger, propelling herself forward on three legs to try and reach her target. “Sleep.” Pinkie pie muttered, her eyes lighting up with arcane energies. With that Rarity hit the ground as she skidded to a halt in front of pink hooves.

Rarity’s eyes fluttered back open to the feeling of a wet rag pressing the fur on her face. With a cry of panic Rarity tried to move, but only succeeded in falling sideways to the floor. “Hey…” an cheery voice said indignantly as a hoof took hold of her and pulled her back to her haunches. “Would you hold still?”

Blue eyes focused to see the pink pony looking at her with a hint of irritation as the rag game down again. Rarity’s muscles tensed, wincing in expected pain, but none came. Carefully she tried moving her forelegs a bit, finding them fairly snugly tied. She let out a careful sigh, she was going to have to talk her way out of this one. “Why doesn’t my face hurt?” she muttered dejectedly.

This brought about a smile from the fluffy mane mare, “My other first level spell is cure light wounds, your hit points are so low at first level it can pretty much fix up everything.” Her soft smile somewhat comforted Rarity as she worked, taking the cloth away. “There we go, I know how you hate to be messy, now we just need to work on your mane a bit.”

Rarity pushed herself back against the wall more carefully “Why do you keep speaking as though you know me?” She pushed. Her eyes darted about, they were still in the garage, she could probably just scream, this crazy pony would have a hell of a time explaining this. That’s when she noticed the pony toying with something, on the end of her goof sat a golden chain with a beautiful diamond on the end. Rarity’s heart froze in her chest, that was her diamond! She’d worked hard to steal that! “Hey! Give that back!” she snapped, trying to pull her forelegs free.

The diamond twirled about as Pinkie wheeled on her accusingly “Really? Because this isn’t exactly standard for first level adventurers.”

White teeth grit as Rarity struggled “This isn’t a game Pinkie, it’s my life and that’s my diamond!” Rarity immediately stopped struggling as she sat back with her mouth opening. Thoughts she had thought long suppressed flooded her mind. Slowly her lip started to quiver and her eyes became misty. “Pinkie…Pie. Pinkie?”

Immediately Pinkie made her way across the garage and put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder “No…I just cleaned you up, don’t start that now.”

Rarity smiled as she looked up into her friend’s eyes and leaned into her “I’m sorry I tried to take your things…and stab you.”

Pinkie held her for a moment before pushing her away and cutting the rope away. “Don’t worry about it, stealing and stabbing are what rogues do.” She reminded her friend with a smile, tossing the gemstone back to her friend. “I’m surprised the GM let you get something so expensive before we started though.”

Rarity caught the gem and took a long look at it, the faces reflected in it held a deep shame now. She’d actually been proud….of theft. That wasn’t her, she never had to steal before all this started. Slowly her eyes turned upward “Please don’t tell the others I…wait, where are the others?”

Pinkie turned about and went back to gathering Rarity’s lock picks “Well, Rainbow Dash was a monk, just like you were a sorcerer…” Rarity looked away in shame again, the less they said about her career as a sorcerer the better “So I’m guessing she’s a barbarian now. Probably in the barbarian tribe that’s been harassing the Apple Clan and their farm.”

It took a few moments, but eventually the connections clicked as a hoof pawed at her face. “Applejack’s part of the Apple Clan, isn’t she?” Rarity muttered in irritation.

Pinkie Pie smiled “Yup! I’m going to walk into their camp and tell them all they’re being meanies and they need to stop fighting. Then Rainbow Dash and Applejack can come with us!”

The thought hit Rarity like a brick, Pinkie Pie was going to walk into a barbarian meat grinder making demands like that. “Umm…Pinkie?” She questioned “Perhaps I can take care of letting those brutes know they should make peace, and you can….go get Applejack!” The civilized apple orchard was probably more Pinkie’s speed anyway.

Pinkie picked up the lock pick kit with her teeth and passed it over to Rarity. “Are you sure? Because I’m sure I could teach them something, just like I taught the buffalo to share at Appaloosa!”

Rarity’s body stiffened as she gave a nervous laugh “No no no, I’ve got this one dear. You just let Applejack know what’s going on, okay?”

Pinkie seemed satisfied, and after a few more exchanged words they parted ways, agreeing to meet soon. Pinkie moved back into the tavern with a smile on her face, that was one pony taken care of. Next she needed to discuss things with Twilight, hopefully that would be a bit more peaceful. Slowly she made her way upstairs to room 302 and rapped her hoof against the door. It wasn’t long before the familiar face of Twilight emerged. “Yes, can I help you?” she asked.

Pinkie fought the surging flood of emotion that made her want to jump onto her old friend and throw her forelegs around her, things with Twilight had to be handled…delicately. Pinkie cleared her throat and tried to sound serious “I am a traveling bard, and I’ve come to pose a theory to a brilliant mind, might I use yours?”

Twilight’s face lit up, she enjoyed having her ego stroked, and her intelligence was a particularly sensitive area. “Absolutely.” She said with earnest, opening the door all the way so that Pinkie could come inside. As the pink mare set hoof inside the room she took a quick look around, everything was neat and tidy. A set of quills and ink were set up on the table, and a small stack of textbooks lay next to them. That was Twilight though, even traveling she kept up on her studies.

Pink haunches found a nice spot and sat themselves down, allowing the two to look each other over. “My theory…” Pinkie mused “Is that all our lives are lies and we are stuck in a simulation of reality.”

Twilight’s demeanor sank, this wasn’t going to be an interesting debate on some scientific or magical principle. This was going to be one crazy pony spewing nonsense to try and muddle the air with technicalities. A farce of a debate if ever there was one. The pink pony stood up triumphantly and started towards the door “I see you can’t manage an answer to that, I’ll just tell everyone…”

“No!” Twilight cut her off stepping quickly between her and the door. “You wanted to pose a theory, sit down and we’ll examine it.” her irritated tone matched her eyes perfectly. “For starters, all we are is the sum of our experiences. If we’re in a simulation it’s still -our- reality since all our experiences came from here.”

Pinkie sat once more as she looked over Twilight, crossing her forelegs in front of her “But what if we have more experiences, but we simply forgot them before we were put in the simulation, replaced by false ones. Perhaps by magic!”

Twilight sighed indignantly “No magic is good enough to simulate every aspect of our childhood. There would be specific memories that were put there, and then gaps we’re simply ignoring. I think I would have noticed if I suddenly stopped remembering portions of my life.”

Pinkie’s head turned to the side defiantly “Yeah, well I don’t even remember my mother’s name!” She announced proudly “Perhaps it’s a missing memory.”

Pink eyes rolled as the pony who was just being stubborn now “Or maybe you’re an idiot. Everyone else remembers their mother’s name. Hell, my mother’s name is…” Twilight paused, she knew this. It started with….a… “Well that’s a bad example.” she concluded.

Pinkie raised an eyebrow “Oh, certainly. What did your neighbor’s house look like when you were little?”

Twilight’s brow furrowed as she closed her eyes, trying to visualize it. “I was young, the memories fade over time.”

Pinkie stood up and moved closer to Twilight “Who married your brother?”

Twilight opened her eyes and stood triumphantly “Princess Cadance!” Then she happily strut towards the doorway, “See, I-”

“That was in the real world, the one where I was a bridesmaid…” Pinkie interrupted, looking to the ground, knowing the truth would hit Twilight hard. “In this world you don’t have a brother. You wrote only child on your character background.”

Twilight froze for a moment, trying to remember her brother’s wedding more clearly, then it all fell into place as she whirled about on her friend “Pinkie, Shining Armor is my brother…what….” Her eyes got wide as she backed up to the door, her tail curling beneath her “He’s my BBBFF…What happened to him?” Her gaze turned to Pinkie.

Sad eyes turned away from Twilight’s stare “I don’t know Twilight. But if the GM is doing this maybe he’ll come back when we beat the game.” There was a long pause before Pinkie broke the silence again “Twilight, you can’t have a breakdown now, I need you to fix this.”

Twilight finally shook herself a bit as she was shakily brought back to her senses. “R-right…we need to…to…to get the others. They had character sheets too, so they should be in this world with us. Where are they?”

Pinkie shook her head a bit before looking to the side “I don’t know, it took me this long just to find you.” She lied through her teeth.

Twilight sat in thought for a while before her eyes lit up “We’re in Apple Springs, I think there’s a family that runs the orchard. I’ll bet that’s where Applejack is!”

Pinkie bounced up to her hooves “I’ll go over there and make Applejack come with us. I’ll just tell her family that they’re living in a fake world and-”

“No!” Twilight cut Pinkie off again before putting a hoof to her head “Look, Pinkie. I’ll go get Applejack okay?” She took a pack and started piling things into it “You just wait here for a while okay? When I get back with Applejack we’ll find the others.”

“Okay! I’ll plan a welcome back Applejack party!” Pinkie said with glee, bouncing out the door. The moment she was out of Twilight’s range of sight she stopped. It was time to go turn the druids onto their little werewolf problem…she had time to stop for food right?

The Middle Game Begins

The three ponies marched on at the head of the large group. It had changed since Fluttershy had started it, at some point the animals had tapered off and barbarians had swelled to fill the ranks. Each pony looked ahead with a numb stare, contemplating the loss they'd had to endure this day, be it their innocence, their pride, or their family. As the warning shouts started to sound Fluttershy's resolve wavered, watching as the Apple Clan scrambled their forces to meet their group en masse.

For the second time today Fluttershy found herself facing down with a group of armed ponies. Her legs quivered, not out of fear, but emotional exhaustion. Weakly she looked to her right to see the steely eyed multichromatic pony who marched alongside her. Rainbow Dash's eyes perked up as she caught Fluttershy looking at her and turned her head, giving the yellow mare a confident smile, a silent thanks for her healing no doubt. Fluttershy's head swung left then, catching the attention of Rarity, who gave her a weak brave face and a nod.

After a minute or two the majority of the Apple Clan came marching out of their barn in leather armor and with sheathed blades. The roof of the barn was littered with crossbow wielding ponies that steadied their weapons against a railing. Leading the clan was Granny Smith, flanked by Applejack and Twilight. "Druids...cheating magic nature lovers..." Twilight muttered under her breath "No wonder they'd stand beside barbarians in this." Her face twisted into an unpleasant scowl at the group.

Applejack cleared her throat as she looked over to Twilight "Hate ta' mention this while yer broodin' Sugarcube, but the druid out front there is one of yer best friends." Applejack's eyes narrowed as she looked over the barbarians before finally resting on Rainbow Dash "And that lightweight drinkin partner of mine's a damn wildpony, I shouldn't be surprised."

The two groups finally met and sat in silence, staring each other down. Friends on either side of the conflict glaring at one another before Fluttershy finally mustered up the courage to step forward. "Lychans, ,you're all to desist this charade at once." A stunned silence washed over the Apple Clan as they simply stared at the opposing group.

A werepony made his way to the front of the pack, no longer bound, but his head held low. "As Alpha, I command the pack to regroup." He said bluntly, it had been a long day for him too, and he had his own loss to contemplate.

Everything was silent for a good long while before Granny Smith started forward "Truncheon's our Alpha, how dare you-"

"Truncheon's dead." The new Alpha said bluntly, cutting Granny Smith off. His face darkened as he looked away "A lot of them are, the druids aren't screwing around, they'll have the rest of us rounded up and executed if we don't play ball. Now's not the time to be stubborn, I'm ordering us to regroup, then we can talk terms with the druids."

A disgusted look crossed the elderly mare's face as she looked over the barbarians in the group, not recognizing a single pony of her pack. "Granny Smith? What's Flu-the druid talking about? What're you talking about fer that matter?"

Granny Smith wheeled around to look at the little Applejack, a sharp pair of fangs accentuating her canine teeth, "Sorry dearie." she apologized "But our pack leader..." those two words were said with biting vitriolic sarcasm "Has ordered us to stand down."

A purple hoof pressed into Applejack's flank as Twilight's apologetic eyes fell upon her "She's...a lycanthrope Applejack." Applejack looked to Twilight, then back to Granny Smith in horror, her eyes twisting up in shock. But that shock was short lived as a stronger, more sickening one took over, when other ponies from her clan marched away from the group to join with Granny Smith. "They're all lycanthropes." Twilight explained, a resigned apology permeating her words. It wasn't too many in all honesty, only about a quarter of the clan, but that was still enough for Applejack to feel like she had been kicked in the gut. Her legs trembled beneath her, eyes shifting to Granny Smith. The biting smile was still placed on the mare’s maw, her eyes flashing with an amount of energy and malice that she had never seen before. Applejack’s mouth worked for a moment - then another, as if willing herself to say something...anything to the mare she considered something akin to a mother figure. Nothing managed to escape her lips except for a breath; but in that breath, the shock also rolled out of her. Quivering legs buckled, allowing her to collapse onto the ground. It seemed she would get to join her friends in losing something today too.

Rainbow Dash slowly headed across the gap between the group, and as she did several confused and angry ponies bristled, baring their weapons as she got close. "Applejack...you can't fall apart here, get back on your hooves.”

Bared teeth were presented as the orange mare snarled at Rainbow Dash "I just found out mah kin are damn wereponies." her threatening voice shaking with anger and pain.

"Yeah." The ex-pegasus replied "I know how that feels, but at least your kin are still alive." Her voice had become terse as she spoke "Now, get, up."

Applejack struggled to her hooves as Granny Smith called back to them "Goodbye my little ponies, Big Macintosh is in charge till I get back." Her smile twisted those last words into a malicious threat. Applejack’s gaze was cast downward as her stomach flipped again, her lips quivering as her mind wavered between blinding rage and howling despair.

"Hold it together." Rainbow snapped, looking carefully at the farmpony. After a bit Applejack managed to force her eyes to turn toward Rainbow, who finally got around to explaining why she had come. "Look, we've lost enough as it is. Ponies are irritated our leader was a werepony that manipulated us. Let's make a deal to work together."

Before Applejack even had a chance to answer a chorus of protesting ponies thundered out from behind her and Big Mac pushed his way to the front. His massive head lowered as he glowered at the cyan mare "Nnnnnnope."

His threatening glace was met rather than diplomacy with a...threatening glance. A cyan hoof reached up for her claymore as her eyes narrowed "Oh, you wanna keep fighting then? Cause we can finish this here!"

"Enough!" Rarity cried out as she marched indignantly out in front of the small army and threw Rainbow a dirty look that caused her relent her weapon. "Ponies..." She moved closer and raised her voice to address the crowd, she couldn't pass up an opportunity for an audience could she? "War's a funny and awful thing..." She declared "We hate losing our loved ones so much in wars that we hate, that we can't wait to start new wars so that we can die and our loved ones can hate that war. Maybe if we're lucky that war will end with our loved ones chomping at the bit to start a new war so that they can die and their loved ones can hate that war while getting ready for the next one." She gave them a look of contempt as she flipped her hair to the side and started to walk away. "If you're so eager to get yourselves killed that you won't even try to compromise do me a favor and just kill yourself, leave the civilized ponies out of it." No one even attempted to stop her as she stormed away from the field.

Rainbow Dash looked at the ground for a few moments before looking up to Big Mac, who also seemed shaken by her words "Maybe...you can reconsider? Try the negotiating thing?" Big Mac was quiet for a while before extending a hoof in agreement.

Twilight and her friends sat in uncomfortable silence for a time. The purple mare sat quietly with her head down. She knew this was all her fault, everything that had happened was because she wanted to play that stupid game. Granny Smith didn’t have a taste for flesh before she started this, that was on her. Not just Granny Smith mind you, a good chunk of the Apple family. That wasn’t even mentioning the ponies she heard about from Rainbow Dash. The innocent ponies that had been turned to barbarians, and then lycanthropes, then...ripped apart. Those were lives, equine lives, that were snuffed out, and why? All because she wanted to play a game that every other pony was smart enough to bury forever. That was just one incident too, the rest of the world had been turned as well. How many deaths did she have to account for? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? Disease, war, famine, fires, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes. How many deaths did she cause because she wanted to have fun?

“You alright over there sugarcube?” Applejack asked, numbly looking over in concern.

Twilight gave a weak smile, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had lost people today. It was her fault, and she didn’t deserve any comfort. Hell, the world’s most evil tyrants didn’t manage to rack up a kill count like her. “I’m fine.” Twilight managed to push out with a sigh. “Just thinking about everything that’s happened, it’s all a lot to take in.”

Applejack nodded slowly “Sounds like everyone’s had a difficult time. I don’t even know what those two are discussing, but it sounds bad.” Applejack’s head turned a bit as she listened to the other three just one room over, not trying to hide their conversation.

“Was...was it your first?” Rainbow Dash asked, laying back on a slightly uneven bench, her forelegs tucked up behind her head. Her head turned to the side, looking over to Rarity as she made idle conversation. Rainbow Dash paused, brow furrowing for a moment; strange how the idea of ‘idle’ had shifted from talking about the Wonderbolts to whether or not someone had killed before.

There was a pause, after a moment or two Rarity hesitantly answered “No. It wasn’t, but it was the first time I made a decision about it.” Then she turned her head away, the room growing quiet once more.

Twilight looked back to Applejack with a shrug “I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound good. How long till Big Mac and that wildpony come to some sort of agreement anyway? They’ve been in there for an hour now.” Twilight’s gaze drifted to the sturdy door that the negotiations were behind, as soon as they managed to come to an understanding they could get out of here and solve this mess. At the moment though there wasn’t much Twilight could do, just sit here and wait.

The sound of an opening door drew the attention of ponies in both rooms as Pinkie Pie walked in with a broad smile. “You’re all here!” Pinkie cried in surprise and excitement as she rushed forward. Each pony had gotten to their hooves and charged Pinkie, colliding into a firn group hug from which they quickly backed down. Pinkie’s smile didn’t dim, and it seemed infectious, spreading to the corners of Twilight’s mouth despite herself.

“Man are we glad to see you!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed “Looks like we all made it back together at last.” A smile finding her face for the first time since she found out about the lychan infestation. “We’ve already lost a lot recently, but I don’t know what I’d do if I lost one of you guys.”

Pink lips just smiled as she turned her head to look at each of her friends in turn. “Hey, a lot’s gone on for all of us but we’ll be fine as long as we stick together. Never split the party right? Now, have we started discussing what our next move is?”

They were all quiet for a bit, looking around awkwardly. They’d all been so absorbed in feeling sorry for themselves they hadn’t really considered how to fix anything. Twilight finally cut the silence with an excuse “We don’t really know where to go or what to do Pinkie. I don’t have my unicorn magic anymore, and what little magic I’ve picked up from this world doesn’t have any application to finding out what went wrong.” She bit her lip, she wasn’t only responsible for this, she had no idea how to stop it from doing more damage.

Everypony stopped, seeming to be deep in thought as Pinkie looked around at them all like they were crazy “Well the GM changed the world into this right? So all we need to do is beat the campaign and the game should end. That’s how the GM works right?”

The group looked around at one another, and then back to Pinkie. “Makes sense to me.” Applejack admitted “Besides, it’s not like we’ve got any better plans.”

Twilight sat back down with a sigh, tossing her hair to the side, “Yeah, maybe. But we still have no idea where to go or what to do?”

A pink hoof lightly tapped Pinkie’s mouth as she looked skyward thoughtfully “The GM had to give us a plot hook. What was everyone doing here?”

They all blinked and looked around, all giving various answers about how they were just here because here seemed the place to be. It wasn’t until Twilight spoke that Pinkie’s ears perked up “I was just taking this artifact to be examined, then I met you.”

The pink mare’s eyes lit up as she bounced into the air a few times with an excited smile. “That has to be it! That’s got to be the plot hook. We need to go get it looked at! Can I see it?”

Awkwardly Twilight fumbled about in a bag on the floor, then gave the statuette to Pinkie, who looked upon it with reverence. Twilight opened her mouth to talk when the door behind them opened. Each pony turned about to look at Big Mac and Boarstalker walking out. Each pony, except Pinkie that is, she was far too busy examining the little statue.

“Well?” Rainbow Dash pressed “What’d you decide?” her eager voice was quickly cut with cautious optimism.

Boarstalker’s head swiveled to look at the large red pony and let out a sigh before turning back to Rainbow. “It’ll take some time for both of us to get used to, but I think we’ve come to an understanding. Our tribe will drive off any animals who might eat the crops and provide lookouts and security. The Apple Clan will take care of the operations of the farm. They get more of the money, but we get a cut that will let us live comfortably.”

The orange mare stepped up to her brother “Will our clan be alright BIg Mac?” she muttered, knowing that no matter how well the negotiations went, some of them were lost for good.

“Eyup.” He replied, giving her a reassuring smile.

A startled gasp from the other side of the room caught everypony’s attention. As they turned they saw the pink bouncing coat of an ecstatic pony. “I got it, I figured out the trick!” she bounced up and down around the statue in a circle, even as the image of Princess Celestia appeared and started to talk.

“Quiet Pinkie!” Rainbow snapped as the group clustered in, all straining to hear what the little image of their princess had said.

“-know how it happened, or who was behind it. But I have been kidnapped by a band of goblins. They’ve done something to restrain my magic, and I have to rely on this archaic device to get my message out. Please find me Starsoul Knights, you’re my last chance.”

The room was silent as the grave as the image of the princess disappeared. Things had seemed bad before. But now even the princess had fallen to this world. What hope did the rest of them have if even the goddess of the sun had been brought low. “Who are the Starsoul Knights?” Applejack finally asked.

Twilight let out a deep sigh “They’re the knights that provide the last line of defence for Equestria, and I think they’re a prestige class too.”

“Why is everyone so glum!” Pinkie exploded upwards as she bounced around “This is great news! It’s the plot hook! The most basic quest of all, rescue the princess from the goblins!” She jumped happily onto a table as her sword flew from its sheath. “We’ll dice those ugly goblins to shreds and rescue the princess, and win the game!” She dramatically slashed at invisible opponents.

Rarity’s eyes narrowed as she scolded the eccentric mare “You mean set the world right, naturally. And we don’t have any idea where to even start looking! We should let someone else handle this.” Rarity attempted to reason, but Twilight’s next words caught the attention of the whole room.

“I know where to start.” The entire room turned, transfixed on the purple mage. “Back in the real world I saw one of the maps for the campaign. It said there was a goblin graveyard there, it has to be a starting point...we need to go to Ponyville.”

Queen's Knight Variation

Grim eyes looked about at the carnage that lay before them as Twilight grimaced. One town back everypony had told them the Starsoul Knights had passed through and covered them when they got out of town. It was strange that they hadn’t heard back from the knights certainly - even worrisome- but they assumed things had gone well.

When Twilight had seen the words “Goblin graveyard” on that map, she had expected freshly turned earth, tombstones, maybe even a fenced off area. The image of what greeted her at the town was different, much different.

Goblin heads and limbs lay strewn about carelessly in the streets and in the branches of trees. The entirety of Ponyville had been painted red in goblin gore. These goblins were not simply killed, or even butchered; they were obliterated. It seemed as though someone had taken a great deal of time to spread the bodies across as much of the town as they could.

Twilight had to take a step back, nose wrinkling at the smell. The stench had been awful, but now that she knew what she had been breathing in she had to force herself to avoid throwing up. The cloying stench of rotting eviscerated viscera lay over the group in a dank fog, forcing its way through them.

A splattering sound caught Twilight’s attention as she turned, looking back to Fluttershy, who turned her head away, wiping her mouth with a foreleg “I’m sorry...” she whimpered, “but I....”

Twilight shook her head sympathetically. On one hoof having their healer on hoof to deal with any wounded they found was critical. However, putting someone as fair as Fluttershy through this... “Pinkie, Rarity, get her out of here. Rainbow, Applejack, on me.” The others looked at eachother for a moment, but didn’t argue. If something had done this and Twilight was going in she’d need backup.

With slight nods of assent Pinkie and Rarity flanked Fluttershy, leading her off and talking to her softly. Twilight didn’t bother to try and hear what they had to say, it was hard enough to keep thinking at all through this. Out of necessity she had to press on, so she began forward, weaving between puddles of blood and mangled body parts.

The party suddenly stopped dead as Rainbow spoke up in a hushed voice “Wait...” She held up a hoof and concentrated as the group fell silent. “Over there...” She mumbled, her foreleg extending further into town “Can you guys hear that?”

The purple mare closed her eyes and tried to shut out the smell for a moment, then she heard it. Somewhere in there a yell followed by a crash issued forth, it was faint and distant, but it was there. Twilight nodded her agreement “Yeah, I hear it. Maybe it’ll give us a clue as to what did...this.” Twilight looked around her once more as she grimaced in disgust.

They stalked through the town, Applejack and Rainbow flitting from building to building, keeping hidden and behind cover like commandos. Twilight rolled her eyes at the two, wondering exactly how they managed to turn this into a habit as she walked down the center of the abandoned street. It was odd seeing Ponyville like this - not just covered in gore, which was obviously revolting, but abandoned. The streets were barren of the life she had come to expect. In her mind she knew the ponies she had encountered in her real life were fine; they had to be fine. There were only two possibilities that she could think of: On one hoof, if this whole thing was all taking place inside the GM the citizens of Ponyville were fine. On the other hoof if this was all really happening then everypony they knew had new lives far from Ponyville. Although she sincerely doubted the GM alone had enough power to accomplish that. That was logic though, and logic didn’t change how unnerving the empty streets were.

Twilight came to a stop as she looked about, this area of town had...fewer dead goblins in it. That was a good sign. The town up to this point had been a wreck, the streets were littered with broken shards of glass from busted windows and splintered wood from doors. The walls had even been torn up a good deal, begging the question: what maniacal force attacked walls of all things? Twilight shook her head from side to side, at a loss for an answer. However at this section things changed. After a certain point the houses were untouched, the streets were clean and the houses pristine. Honestly it seemed as though whatever was doing this was doing it carefully and deliberately. This wasn’t the rampant chaotic destruction she had first suspected, but a deliberate well orchestrated plan to methodically desecrate and deconstruct everything up one step at a time. Twilight jumped as she was taken out of her musings by the sound of an angry cry and glass shattering from a building. As she recalled it was some form of shop or another, not that it much mattered now.

A sigh was issued from Twilight’s lips as Applejack carefully crept up to the side of the door, pulling back the lever and locking in a crossbow bolt. Rainbow Dash mimicked her on the other side, pressing her back to the wall and pulling out her greatsword, waiting for a target to destroy. It seemed even without talking that the two had some sort of plan of attack formulated, likely a side effect of their militaristic lives in this new world.

“Stay back and find cover Twilight.” Applejack warned her quietly. “Rainbow, you kick in the door and I’ll start shooting. If it gets out here to try and get me surprise em and...well, you know what to do.”

Twilight blinked a few times as she looked up and down the street. Did they not notice what was clearly odd here? Couldn’t they see whatever was in there was doing this intelligently, with purpose? “No.” Twilight scolded in a hushed voice as she trotted over to them. “I’m going to go in there and try to reason with it.”

Applejack shook her head and Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her face. “It’s a monster Twilight.” Rainbow Dash explained, “It’s not going to be something you can reason with, it probably doesn’t even speak common.”

“How do you know it’s a monster?” Twilight demanded.

A Cyan hoof thrust itself back the way they had come from “The fucking streets are literally running red with blood Twilight, only a monster would do that.”

An exasperated sigh left Applejack’s maw as she pressed her back to the wall and raised her crossbow. “Twilight, if you have to, go ahead. But when it starts attacking get out of the way, the last thing I need to worry about is hitting you by mistake.”

Rainbow Dash let out a disapproving grunt, but pressed her back to the wall and readied her weapon anyway. Twilight made her way up to the door and held her hoof out, but then hesitated. Logically she reasoned that she’d be able to talk to this thing, but what if Rainbow Dash was right? If whatever was behind this door had turned all those goblins into soup, did she really want to meet it? A breath exhaled as she quickly ran over the spells she had prepared this morning. Diplomacy first, then violence she reminded herself. She just needed to try to talk to it, then get out of the way to let the others do what they did.

Coldly she steeled her nerves as she pushed the door open, only to see a figure clad in platemail bringing the hilt of its sword down on top of one of the display cases, shattering it and sending a spray of glass all over the floor. Lips were drawn in a thin line as Twilight’s eyes narrowed, nothing but a bandit raiding a shop after a crisis. Her initial thoughts dissipated quickly on sight though; platemail wasn’t exactly standard wear for a bandit. As she watched the pony didn’t take anything anyway, just screamed angrily to the next display case and shattered that too.

In an instant the figure wheeled around, a grey muzzle poking its way out from behind the bloodstained visor. “What are you doing here?” The angry voice issued, slamming its sword into the ground for good measure.

Instinctively the hair running down Twilight’s back stood on end. Her entire body started to feel cold and she had to push her instincts to the back of her mind to keep from bolting immediately. Twilight opened her mouth, which felt drier with every passing moment to respond but the chestplate of the figure caught her eye. After a moment of running the symbol through her memory she finally recalled a book she had seen that symbol in. That was the symbol of the Starsoul Knights, a force of good ponies that protected Princess Celestia. “Hello noble sir.” She began, putting one hoof out and bending her opposite knee into a gracious bow. “Would you be part of the group of Starsoul Knights who came into this city? We came under the same goal you see, my name is-”

“I know who you are Twilight!” The knight called shot back, the booming voice still angry. “And I don’t mean what are you doing in ponyville, I mean what are you doing in this hellhole of a world!” The breathing behind the visor was erratic, and Twilight looked up from her careful bow. Her eyes were drawn to his visor, transfixed on where his face would be. She managed to make out the bloodshot eyes behind the visor, then she saw one eye start to roll off in another direction.

“Derpy?” Twilight asked in disbelief, raising from her bow abruptly.

That just seemed to anger her more, fury burned behind her eyes. “No Twilight, not Derpy, not anymore. Apparently now I’m Tarrow Starsoul, of the Starsoul knights! You know why? Because I’ve lost my fucking mind!” She swiveled around and galloped back at a window, swinging around for a double kick that shattered the window, spraying yet more shards of glass into the street. A terrible cream issuing from behind her visor as she did.

A pain shot through Twilight’s heart as she watched Derpy It seemed this had somehow affected her worst of all. Of course, this was on Twilight too... she had brought Derpy into a world and caused her to crack. Still, at the same time the inquisitive side of her had to question this encounter. The previous theory that they had been immune due to the elements of harmony was now inadequate. Perhaps Derpy had been immune because she’d played the game before? Did the GM somehow remember her character all this time? Or...Twilight’s eyes opened wide in shock as she remembered. Derpy had been affected just as they had, and for the same reason. She’d only put the character sheets down for the GM...All the character sheets, even the one Derpy had left in the book.

“Calm down Derpy...” Twilight attempted softly, moving towards the mare and trying her best not to seem afraid. Odd, she’d never considered how easily derpy could kill her before, today was just full of odd thoughts. “You haven’t gone crazy, something went wrong with the GM and we’ve all been pulled into some strange world...we just need to finish the game and we can get out.”

Derpy took a few more steps toward Twilight, her armor clanking with each step. Twilight could hear short, shallow breaths coming from behind the armored helmet. Breaths being issued from behind clenched teeth no doubt. “Don’t tell me to calm down!” She howled furiously “The real world is the thing that bothers me Twilight, there’s something wrong with the real world, I can somehow think better here.” Her voice was shaky, some fear showing through that anger.

A head was shaken as the purple mage tried to console her friend. Derpy was confused, and why wouldn’t she be? Look at the world Twilight had pushed her into. “Derpy, this world’s the bad one, ponies are dying-” Twilight as cut off as Derpy’s long sword glowed blue with energy, letting Twilight instantly recognize it as a magic blade.

“My father’s dead!” The mare screamed, the brilliant blue sword carving away another section of the wall. The grey pony wheeled about as she she fell to three legs, then went up again. Her sword whirled, then hacked part of a railing, sending bits of wood flying in every direction.

Twilight looked back to the door where her friends were watching, sharing confused glances. Then her attention turned back to Derpy “Your father’s been dead for years Derpy...I thought you’d come to terms with that.” Twilight piped up, daring to walk closer to the steely mass of fury.

The sword was sheathed as Derpy dropped to her hooves and advanced on Twilight with an angry snarl. “I was!” Tears started to peek through the visor, letting droplets of water drip from underneath her helmet “I-I don’t even remember him dying! I never mourned him! I never mourned any of them!”

Twilight quickly backpedaled in fear as Derpy stalked closer, plated hooves crushing glass underhoof with each step. “It’s been thousands of years Twilight. Millions of ponies must have died, but I haven’t grieved for one, not even one!” Derpy was screaming at this point, practically incoherent in her rage. “My father just walked away at one point and never came back. I wasn’t sad, there wasn’t even a funeral, he just wasn’t there anymore! Tell me Twilight, how many funerals have you been to before this shit started?”

Twilight’s eyes widened as the mare advanced on her. The glass and wood could be heard under her hooves as she took a wary step back, eyes still on Derpy as she flung the glowing blade into the wall. A moment later she shook her head in disgust. “What kind of a horrible daughter am I? I wasn’t even there when he...he...”

Twilight stepped in closer to Derpy as her advance stopped. Carefully purple hooves raised up and unbuckled the helm, letting it clatter noisily against the ground. Derpy’s mane was matted against her nape and tears were slowly streaming down her face. Her mouth was open and taking in audible gasping breaths.

Wordlessly Twilight put a foreleg around Derpy and pulled her into a tight embrace, feeling the warm tears flowing down the side of her neck. “You’re not a bad daughter Derpy, things are just different in the real world, our traditions are just different.”

Derpy managed to force a few words out between gasping breaths and sobs “I...gave...his...books...away...”

“I know.” Twilight replied, starting to give a bit of a smile “After we get out of here I’ll help you find where he was buried. We’ll both go, and you can pay your respects.” Briefly she considered asking about why Derpy painted the town in goblin gore, but thought better of it.

The two waited there for a good long while like that, eventually Derpy stopped crying, but she still held onto Twilight tightly. Twilight could hear Rainbow Dash and Applejack arguing at one point. Apparently Rainbow Dash wanted to look at the magic sword and Applejack thought that was a stupid idea.

Finally Derpy let Twilight go and stepped back a few paces. Her eyes were still bloodshot and her face was damp, but at least she had calmed somewhat. “Why did this happen? Why are we in the old L&L campaign?

Twilight winced and instinctively took an interest in her hooves. She knew Derpy might be upset, but she had to accept the consequences she had coming. “We...I turned on the GM to run a campaign for us. But it pulled us into this game. We think that if we can finish the game the GM will turn off and we’ll be let out.”

Derpy’s head swung slowly from side to side “That should be easy, assuming the rest of you are in here too. We’ll have more players then the game expected and we’ll blow through it.” A deep sigh left her lips as she looked Twilight over “Everyone did make it through everything right? Some of the things before now were close calls for my father and I.”

Eyes raised as Twilight shrugged at the mare. “We just sort of got together and came over here. It was a few days worth of walking after we managed to find a map. But it wasn’t anything dangerous.”

Derpy moved over to her sword, pulling it from the wall and sticking it back into her sheath. A curious look came over her face at Twilight’s words. “Twilight, this campaign was hell. The misunderstanding with the guards, the temple of Nictu, it’s how I got to a high enough level to take a prestige class and picked up the magic gear. Where’d you get your magic gear?”

Twilight was just quiet, staring at Derpy blankly. Now uncomfortable, Derpy continued, “Twilight, my party was level seven and we were decked out to the gills with magic gear.” Her voice got a little desperate, eyes rolling in different directions as she asked the next question: “What level are you guys?”

Twilight shrugged “Derpy, I don’t know, this was our first session, I didn’t even look at the leveling system. I figured it would come later and I’d look at it then.”

A steady breath managed to calm Derpy as she looked over her friend, “Okay, you're a spellcaster right? What’s your most powerful spell?”

A smile spread across Twilight’s face. She might have just been an apprentice, but she was told she showed great promise. “Magic missile!” she said proudly.

Derpy blinked, then sat down calmly with a sigh “Twilight, don’t take this the wrong way, but we’re all completely and hopelessly screwed. You’re level two at best, and we don’t have time to find a way for you guys to level.”

Twilight shook her head and approached Derpy in protest “Derpy, Princess Celestia is in trouble. We came all the way here to save her so we could get through this game. It doesn’t matter what obstacles in the way, we can’t turn back.” She turned about and moved over to a shattered window, glass crunching under her hooves. “I was hoping to infiltrate the goblins here and get some information out of them, but now we’re back to square one anyway. Maybe we can figure out something stronger or find some items on the way, but we need to get Celestia out of there goblins are vicious, vile little creatures.”

“The goblins told me they brought her to a cave near here. I know exactly where to go. But I’m not about to go get you guys killed.” Derpy looked away grimly “Starsoul Knights have a special power. They can destabilize their soul so that when they die they explode and do a lot of damage to whatever killed them. It’s a last ditch move, but I can use it on whatever’s keeping Celestia locked up. If we’re lucky it’s just in the game and I’ll be fine once it ends.”

Twilight looked on, horrified, “What? No! Derpy you’re not turning into some equine bomb to go suicidal on me. We’re going. -All of us- and we’re all going to make it out through alive. However strong you are, you’re stronger with friends at your back.”

An affectionate smile was shot at Twilight before Derpy nodded. “We’ll try Twilight. Let’s get everypony together.”

It wasn’t long before they found each other again, meeting up at what in the real world was the Apple family orchard. Derpy raised a questioning eye in surprise as Pinkie hauled the welcome wagon with her. But a quick look at the other ponies caused her questions to be stilled in her throat.

Derpy set her armor aside and looked over the group quietly. “Here’s the thing guys...you all skipped a major section of the campaign. The bottom line is, the goblins brought Princess Celestia up to a cave at the edge of the mountains, but the party was supposed to be level seven when they got here, I don’t like our odds. From what I’ve gathered you guys are level two at best-”

“Level one.” Pinkie quickly corrected before going back to listening intently.

“Great...” Derpy’s eyes closed, “Level one, so if we’re going to to go in we’ll need some sort of plan.”

Twilight’s stomach turned as a suggestion was quickly made, and of course it was made by Pinkie. “That’s an easy one, we loot the town for valuables.” The barn went silent as everypony turned to Pinkie, well, everypony but Fluttershy. Fluttershy had found the hose and started spraying down Derpy’s armor.

“Pinkie!” Twilight scolded, those aren’t our things. Not to mention how badly mangled the town was. “We can’t just go picking through the town stealing everyone’s stuff.”

A confused look passed over Pinkie’s face as she watched Twilight. “Don’t be crazy Twilight, it’s not stealing, it’s loot. There’s bound to be bodies out there, we need to loot the bodies.”

Twilight felt a knot clench in her stomach as she looked on aghast at the suggestion. “Pinkie, a lot of goblins and even some ponies died in the battle down there. How can you so calmly suggest we pick through the belongings of the dead for their stuff?”

Pinkie looked around the room, looking to each of her friends with a frown, and finally to Derpy. Derpy coughed a few times and pushed Fluttershy away, water dripping from her mane down the rest of her soaking wet body. “Thanks Fluttershy, now stop it.” She muttered, then joined the rest of them in conversation “Twilight, it’s not exactly a pleasant thing to do...but we’re trying to save Princess Celestia and we’re way behind. If we can get a few serious potions or scrolls of healing...I’m sure anypony would want us to have things if it’ll help us find the princess.”

“That’s what I meant!” Pinkie insisted as Twilight lowered her head. With silent assent Twilight agreed, and Pinkie bounced out the door “My perception score’s pretty high! Applejack, yours isn’t bad either, you should loot too!” the pony rambled on insanely.

After Pinkie had bounced out Fluttershy gently turned off the hose, raising her head somberly to look at the rest of the group “C-Can we at least take the time to bury everyone anyway? Well... everyone we can?”

Castle Kingside

(Author's note: 200 views, woo!)

Fluttershy sat quietly at the gravesite, closing her eyes and letting out a prayer to the spirits of nature to care for the dearly departed. There wasn’t much she could have done, she wasn’t strong enough to protect anyone even if she had been here. Her gaze drifted up somberly to the rest of the group, but they were busy talking. They were the strong ones, she wasn’t good for much. She had trouble even being near the town, touching the...bodies.

Her head hung in shame once more as she thought of her shortcomings. Her ears barely registered a hint of what the rest of them were discussing, probably a plan to help Celestia. It was lucky for them that they found several potions within the city, including healing potions. It was good for them, she repeated to herself, but Fluttershy couldn’t help but realize how irrelevant she was. The only thing she was any good for in their group was healing, but now she’d been replaced entirely by the contents of a few glass bottles. Her eyes flickered over the red fluid that swirled in one of the jars laid out before the group. Lips pursed into a thin line as she thought to herself: Worthless. She was truly worthless.

Somberly she lifted up a hoof and scratched absently at her neck; that itch was back! Every time she had thought it was gone it came back, almost like the memories of the last few days. No doubt it was already infected - she had probably received it a few days ago from one of the many scuffles she had been in.

Quietly she slunk to the side and raised up her neck, holding it over a puddle so she could see it. The area was red under her fur again, and this time it seemed worse. Her hoof raised up and a shining blue light lit up her fur for a moment. The redness started to push back until it finally vanished entirely. Hopefully it wouldn’t come back this time.

She made her way back towards the party but was quickly stopped by Twilight on approach. “Hey Fluttershy.” Twilight greeted “You don’t look so good, everything allright?”

Fluttershy froze for a moment. Twilight always seemed like she wanted to help, seemed like she cared. Of course she did - her friends were always nice to her, and helped shoulder the load to make up for her flaws. They were good friends, and the last thing they needed was for her to burden them with more issues. Maybe she couldn’t deal with the tiny rash, or the fact that she felt sick when dealing with bodies, but she didn’t need to weigh them down with that. “I’m fine Twilight.” She forced a smile “Just...scared.”

“It’ll be alright Fluttershy, we’ll look out for each other, okay?” A warm smile lit up Twilight’s face as she put a foreleg over her friend and gave her a light hug. “Now come on, we’re finishing up here, then going to the cave. Just hang in there a bit further, alright?” Some small comfort managed to push the fears back just a bit, whatever nightmare she had to endure, she was happy for the company.

Fluttershy’s ears picked up the chatterings of her friends even before they got to them. Their small rag-tag group turned their heads to smile at her, no doubt reassuringly. Fluttershy was starting to wish they wouldn’t do that; it was horribly unnatural, and frightfully unnerving. She knew everything wasn’t okay, she knew everyone was upset. The town was covered in bodies for Celestia’s sake! But then again maybe that’s how she helped she thought absently. Maybe everyone having to act brave for her was helping them keep it together. She couldn’t really blame them for it though, she was keeping a brave face for them too, she was just worse at it.

A final nod was given by Rainbow Dash as her sword whirled in a vicious arc before finally sliding back into its sheath. “Fluttershy, we’ve already gone over the battle plan. Just stay back and throw down some healing if someone gets hit. The rest of us will try to back up Derpy and follow her lead.” Rainbow’s reassuring nod was met by one of Fluttershy’s as a few potions were pushed over to her. Quickly The yellow mage gathered them up and slid them into her pouch. She’d be in the back anyway, she was determined to be useful, even if it was just to carry drinks for ponies that could actually do something.

For the first half of the trip Fluttershy kept her eyes down, her mind swimming with thoughts of what was and what might yet be. Their pace was slow but steady, occasionally one or two of them would hang back to help Pinkie move the wagon around obstacles. She wouldn’t tell anyone what was in it mind you, but anything somepony would complain about being hungry or thirsty she always had something for them, so they were happy for it.

After a great deal of contemplation Fluttershy’s weary eyes finally raised to Rainbow Dash and Applejack talking near the front. The two swayed from side to side easily, happily joking with each other even given the circumstances. With a curious lift of her eye, she made her way over.

As Fluttershy approached Applejack turned her attention over with a bright smile “Well hey there Sugarcube. How you holding up?”

A steady gaze danced across Applejack’s body. Her swords were tightly secured against her side, and her crossbow was nestled next to the bolts. The pony was decked out in leather armor and weapons, but still she seemed to breathe easy. A twang of jealousy sparked inside Fluttershy as her lips pursed unconsciously. “Oh, I’m fine. I was wondering if I could ask something.”

The orange and cyan mares looked at each other briefly, quickly sharing a questioning glance before returning to Fluttershy “Well of course you can ask something, go ahead.”

Her head dropped as she examined the ground in front of her once more, embarrassed by the feelings she was having. “How...how are you strong?” She looked away quickly as her face flushed, not bearing to look her friend in the eye. “How are you able to...fight? It’s so scary...and cruel.”

Orange shoulders just shrugged “We’re strong cause we’re soldiers Fluttershy.” An orange head turned to look over at Rainbow Dash as the two once more held a meaningfull glance “Different ends of a war I suppose, but soldiers all the same. It’s what we were born to do in this game. I spent my life gettin’ ready to fight the barbarians.”

Rainbow Dash took the moment to speak up “Yeah, and I spent my life learning stupid crap about the meaning of the universe and kicking butt. Then I met up with my clan and started learning to steal from those-.” Applejack’s face tightened momentarily as a word held hanging to Rainbow’s tongue by the barest of fractions. “Clansmen” She finally managed before shutting her mouth tightly. With a roll of her eyes Applejack turned her attention back to Fluttershy

“Look Fluttershy.” Applejack continued, an apologetic glance thrown her way. “We just grew up different from you that’s all. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, okay?”

A smile was forced onto Fluttershy’s maw as she thanked them, then retreated back to where she had been in line originally. Another pause was issued before she glanced back at Derpy, who was the only one behind the welcome wagon. After a moment of consideration she held back and came up beside the grey mare.

“Hey Derpy...” Fluttershy began, shaking Derpy out of what seemed like her own deep thoughts. “How did you get strong...I mean inside. You know... not muscle. How did you get so strong inside that you could....do...what you did. Did you just grow up a soldier in the game?” This time Fluttershy didn't look away, she didn't dare, she desperately needed to know how to fix herself.

Derpy’s head dropped lower as her eyes closed, her lip quivering a bit as she took in a short ragged breath. “No Fluttershy, I already had my back story planned out when I played with Dad. I just kind of picked up where the game left off. One minute I was cleaning up after dinner, and the next I was covered in blood surrounded by bodies in a dead town.” She blinked rapidly before turning her eyes away “But I remember, I remember everything that led up to it. I’d been sure I’d gone mad.”

An uncomfortable hoof pushed Fluttershy’s mane out of her eyes as she squirmed inwardly. That wasn't an answer she could use, that didn't help her become strong like the bear or the wolf. “Well then...how are you ready to...use that.” Her eyes drifted down Derpy’s flank to the long steel blade she wore.

Derpy shifted uncomfortably and her shield shifted around one side of her body to the other, blocking the sword from view. “It’s not something I’m entirely proud of Fluttershy.” She muttered, “I’m willing to do what I have to do. Evil triumphs when good mares do nothing. In the real world evil isn’t really around much, we all manage to get along. But here Celestia is being held against her will by evil, and if I don’t stop it, who will?”

Fluttershy could only manage to look down at her hooves. Derpy made it sound so simple, so clinical, just like exterminating the alpha. When put in sterile terms like that Fluttershy could understand, ponies needed to die, monsters needed to die. But...that didn't stop the nightmares. When she closed her eyes she could still see the faces of the ponies at they were ripped apart, ripped apart by an order -she- had given. Killing was simple and clinical when they were talking about it, but when they were right in front of you, looking you in the eyes... She was the one who sat around and did nothing. Evil would triumph because she was too weak to be like them, and the worst part? Everyone knew it, everyone knew how weak she was and what a burden she was being. Everyone saw her for what she was, and she was lacking.

A sigh pushed out from Derpy’s mouth, pulling Fluttershy out of the daydream stupor she found herself in. “Look Fluttershy, I know everypony knows I’m a monster. But we’re all fighting for a world where ponies can be like you. Kind, caring ponies who would be happy to get along with everyone. It might just take a monster to make that happen.” Her head raised a bit to look Fluttershy in the eyes “So try not to judge me too harsh, okay?”

A few blinks before Fluttershy tried to respond, but what was she going to say? She understood? That every waking moment she wished nothing more than to be a monster herself? To just stop caring about the screaming, killing, and dying? All she could manage was a weak smile “No one thinks you’re a monster Derpy...” She consoled.

“Yeah, they do. Rainbow even said so back in Ponyville.” Derpy pushed herself forward, outpacing Fluttershy and busying herself with helping Pinkie pull. Fluttershy followed her around the wagon and came up beside Pinkie. As Pinkie's gaze fell upon Fluttershy with a friendly smile her entire body shuddered. The other ponies had gotten harder, stronger...but Pinkie was downright insane. She wasn't just willing to kill things, it seemed like life had no value to her at all. With a whimper Fluttershy lowered her head and fell to the back of the line.

“Quiet everypony.” A swift order came out from the front. All eyes turned on Twilight as she moved, pressing her back against a nearby rock and ushering her friends over. A hasty mouth grabbed the pin holding the welcome wagon in place, freeing Pinkie so she could merge up with the group behind cover. “There’s several goblins over there guarding the cave entrance. If we wait a day I can prepare a disguise charm, maybe sneak in?”

Rarity shook her head quickly “Twilight, I’m a deal better at things like this, and going in there is suicide. If you knew the layout, numbers, and had the ability to see in the dark, maybe.” She flicked her mane out of the way curtly “Speaking the goblin language might be helpful too.”

Twilight sighed as Rarity promptly shot down her plan. Luckily Rainbow Dash was there with an alternative “Let’s just go in there and rip them to shreds. They’re not going to kill Celestia, they’ll need her as a bargaining chip to get out alive.” There was a long pause, that alternative didn’t sound appetizing. “Well,” Rainbow snorted “We can’t sneak in or communicate with them, does anyone have a better idea?” Fluttershy looked at the ground, tactician was among the long list of things she was not.

“Alright.” Derpy finally agreed, “Twilight, start hitting us with light, Rarity, pick them off from as far far back as you can with Applejack’s crossbow. If they raise any sort of alarm we rush past them and find Celestia before they have a chance to organize.” Everyone nodded silently and moved off to take better positions.

Fluttershy watched quietly from behind a bush, trembling in fear of what was going to happen next. Her eyes quietly shut as she prayed that this could just be over, then she heard a soft thunk. When she opened her eyes again one of the goblins had slumped backwards over a log and lay still - Rarity was certainly a good shot. As she watched another thunk signaled her attention. Futtershy watched as a goblin clutched furiously at the air, trying to scream before falling over.

That’s when all hell broke loose. A goblin saw his friend and screamed, a horrified, loud, scream. Before the entire yell had even left his lips Derpy burst from concealment and rushed in with an angry battle cry, quickly followed by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Swallowing her fear Fluttershy pulled herself to her hooves and charged out behind their front line, trying to keep close.

Goblins streamed out of the cave, but it didn’t help much. As the waves of goblins hit the front lines Applejack and Rainbow Dash were held back, hacking and slashing as fast as they could. Derpy’s mystical blade shone with brilliant radiance as she spun about, slicing goblins apart before they even had a chance to hit her.

The three moved into the goblins like an unstoppable cart, running right over the screaming creatures while barely slowing down, leaving only a trail of crushed bone and shattered gore in their wake. They almost made it to the cave before something else came barreling out of it. Whatever it was was truly grotesque. It stood on two legs like a goblin, but stood several body lengths taller, a hunched mass of green muscle barreling forward. It’s massive arms held pointed claws ending in razor sharp points, and it looked to use them.

The world seemed to shake as the thing’s massive tusks parted from its upper jaw to let out a ferocious roar. Spit flying out in every direction as it rushed from the darkness, scattering the two ponies who knew to get out of it’s way and centered in on Derpy. It’s tree trunk sized arms slammed down on her, barely giving her enough time to get her shield out.

A panicked gasp was let out as Derpy’s battered form hit the ground and skid to Fluttershy’s hooves. Hastily Fluttershy stopped down and pulled the armored mare to her hooves. Instantly Fluttershy clutched onto the healing energies of Druantia and pushed, surging them into Derpy's form.

Derpy steadied herself and reset her sword and shield with a groan. Her visor quickly raised as Derpy spit a mouthful of blood to the ground, then slid it shut once more. “Fluttershy and Pinkie on me! Everypony else keep the goblins off of us!”

With a nod the group set off, Twilight and Applejack moved left, cutting enemies down and putting them to sleep as fast as they could. Rarity and Rainbow Dash charged right with Rainbow attracting all the attention. A horrific scream erupted from Rainbow's cyan maw as she carved huge swathes of tiny green bodies asunder. Rarity elegantly danced between the goblins, stabbing each of them from behind as they tried to avoid Rainbow’s massive sword.

With a hellbound roar Derpy's form launched forward straight towards the troll, and after stomaching the overwhelming fear, Fluttershy fell in line behind the mare. After several steps she hesitated and looked back, only to see Pinkie’s cowardly pink tail retreating. Fluttershy grit her teeth angrily but pressed on; even if Pinkie was about to run away and leave them here to die she wasn’t about to abandon her real friends.

The heavy steel shield and shimmering blue sword left Derpy's side as she met the beast once more, rolling sideways once as the claw glanced off the side of her shield. With a jarring start the armored figure of the mare rose from the earth with explosive force. The brilliant glowing sword bit harshly into the beast and tore cleanly through it. A gaping wound was left in the troll's abdomen, letting a pool of slick red blood slide out and coat the outside of his leg. With a wicked smile the beast looked from his wound to Derpy, swinging harshly with its claws in response. Fluttershy winced as a sickening sound signaled the entry of claw into flesh. The troll didn't even seem to acknowledge his own wound, and the yellow mare could only stare on in horror as the thing’s innards started to quickly regrow, hundreds of strands of entrails reached up and found their mark, pulling his open flesh back together.

Fluttershy watched pathetically as Derpy looked down, a claw had slipped right through two of the armored plates and sunk deeply into her flank. Blood dripped for a moment, then spurted as the claw was mercilessly torn out to the sound of Derpy's wretched screaming. Hastily Fluttershy fumbled for one of the healing potions in her pouch, but the beast reared up and punted the wounded mare ten or twenty feet away to clatter noisily to the earth.

In a blind panic Fluttershy rushed to the wounded mare’s side, opening the visor and pouring the entire contents onto Derpy’s face, trying to get as much into her mouth as she could. But it was only a few seconds before shadow fell over the mare’s body, and the young druid knew the beast stood over them.

Time seemed to slow down as Fluttershy contemplated how it was going to end for her. Pathetic and not strong enough to help her friends - not even strong enough to try! She would die cowering over the body of someone she hoped would save her, despite the gaping wound.

Slowly she turned about and looked at the rest of her friends, lost in a sea of goblin bodies that had surrounded them. Even without the troll's help, it was fairly obvious how this was going to turn out.

A steep intake of breath flooded Fluttershy’s lungs as she started to rise at figure, raising his arm to end them. Inside her something seemed to shift and twist, anger quickly flooding over despair. Her lips pulled back into an angry snarl, her teeth pushing downward into sharpened jagged points. Muscles flexed and rippled as she felt a new feeling. Her pupils shrunk down into fine points as she roared. For the first time she wanted to kill, not only want, somehow she relished the thought.

She stared at the beast, not with horror now, but with a smile. A row of sharpened teeth glistening as they begged for something to rip, to kill, to destroy. The two faced down, and even through the hopeless difference in power, they were both ready to be locked in a vicious fight tom the death. She might die, but she was going to make this bastard pay for every inch of her flesh.Then, oddly enough, it exploded.

All at once the sound of the world shattering filled the battlefield. A roar from behind the mare sent her to the ground in cover from whatever it was. For a moment the entire world was nothing but an obscenely loud noise, and then it went quiet, replaced by an unceasing high pitched tone. Fluttershy's eyes opened as she blinked a few times, finding herself on the ground, and as she looked down she could see she the beast had indeed been felled. The beast didn’t so much recoil as get blown backwards it seemed, and hard if the gaping absence of a head was to be believed. Bits of teeth and brain were showered across the entire battlefield and the fighting seemed to stop. Replaced instead was a battlefield of chaos, every goblin slowly pushing itself to its feet so it could run away faster, completely ignoring their assigned targets.

Doing her best to ignore the ringing Fluttershy put one hoof underneath her and propped herself up. For the time reality didn't seem real, and she watched with a detached gaze at Pinkie on the ground with her hooves covering her ears. The mare seemed to be rolling around on the ground and screaming, or at least it seemed like she was screaming, it was hard to tell with the sounds of the world shut off. Sitting next to the mare was the welcome wagon, and some sort of massive steel tube with smoke pouring out of it.

The world seemed to shake around the yellow mare as she sat slowly, staring at the ground in front of her, then the beast. Unbelievably the thing started to regrow again, the scraps above its neck started to weave more skin and fold together. Vertebrae started to form, tracing an outline of skull before a mailed hoof came down, shattering it once more. Derpy's helmet was off and her lips were moving, but Fluttershy wouldn't hazard a guess as to what she said. The hooves came down again and again, each time crushing a new body part, snapping new bones or crushing organs.

Finally Derpy walked away and came back with some sort of liquid, pouring it on the beast and setting it ablaze. Fluttershy's stomach finally gave way as she emptied its contents onto the ground beside her, then turned the other way. All she could manage to do was pull her hind legs in and roll over on the ground to bite her foreleg. Flat teeth, her teeth were flat, and she didn’t want to try and kill things. She’d just had a near death experience and hallucinated it. The more she thought on it the more she was certain, she’d done it to cope, that was all.

She didn’t know how long she’d been curled up on the ground with her foreleg in her mouth, weeping gently and biting her leg softly. Finally though, something touched her flank, causing her to scream and curl up more, trembling. “Shhh...it’s okay Fluttershy...” a voice said “It’s over, you’re safe now. Come on, come with me.” Pink eyes quivered as they made their journey to gaze skyward. Above her stood Rainbow Dash, who reached down again. This time Fluttershy didn’t scream, merely accepting Rainbow’s help in getting up.

The shellshocked pony stumbled forward as she was led away from the cave, finally collapsing beside the welcome wagon as Rainbow set her down. Shaken, Fluttershy turned her head to examine where she was and saw a beat up Rarity. A cut or two were still evident on her face and she seemed somewhat shaken too, laying on the ground with a blanket dropped over her. Upon seeing Fluttershy however, Rarity gave her a warm smile and nudged her with a dirty white maw.

“Of course I didn’t know she had a cannon! Why would I think to ask if somepony’s carrying a cannon around!” Rainbow Dash’s voice drew her attention. “I just assumed she had food, candy and stuff in there.” An irritated sigh left her lips as she looked over to one direction. Fluttershy followed her gaze and came to the figure of Pinkie Pie laying neatly on the ground.

“I think she’ll be fine.” Twilight’s words brought Fluttershy back to the conversation. “Her eardrums took one hell of a beating though, we should get her to somepony who knows how to deal with them. I wonder where she even managed to pick up something like that.”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to answer, but stopped as Derpy came marching up. “Is everyone okay Twilight?” She questioned.

Twilight nodded quickly. “Everyone’s going to make it Derpy. Pinkie might be a bit out of it for awhile, everypony else is just shell shocked. Did you find anything?”

A nod was given as Derpy passed a piece of paper to Twilight. “Someone from the palace has been sending shipments of food to the troll. I’m pretty sure it’s to pay them off for kidnapping the princess.” a dour look was given as she crouched down in front of Fluttershy, looking her over carefully.

“S-Someone from the palace!” Twilight gasped “But who-”

Derpy quickly cut the apprentice mage off “It’s Viceroy Shadowflame.”

Twilight was quiet for a moment, blinking as she reread the paper “Why do you think...”

“I knew the pony who created this module.” Derpy explained “He was a terrible writer and wasn’t all that creative. So there’s one pony at the palace who is a red and black alicorn with a ridiculous name like Viceroy Shadowflame. Awful writers tried to make their NPC’s cool by doing cliche and ridiculous things like that.”

Slowly Twilight folded up the letter “Then we just need to go to Canterlot and find out where the cliche over the top villain is keeping Princess Celestia and free her?”

Derpy nodded this time “That’s about the size of it. At least there are no more trolls...Right?” A wary smile painted her face for a moment, before tilting her head to the side and letting her eyes roll about.

Advancing Pawns

The rhythmic beating of hoof fall mixed with the intermittent creaking of wagon wheels. The even steady stream of noises enveloped Rarity as she pushed forward with the rest of her comrades. It was, however, merely ambiance; something to be pushed to the very back of Rarity’s mind as she trudged lost in the thoughts that dominated the forefront of her mind.

The daunting perils that faced them were naturally of paramount importance. Any pony with a heroic bone in her body would spend every waking moment focused on the task at hand. Though Viceroy Shadowflame was a walking cliché he was still a noblepony. Not only did he have the support and defense of the Equestrian government, he also apparently had the support of goblins and trolls, and the power to kidnap a god-princess. All in all, she didn’t like their odds. Luckily for Rarity, she didn’t have a heroic bone in her body. Idiots who got themselves killed in defense of other idiots for idiot causes were just that - idiots. Rarity was a coward, and proud to be so. It wasn’t her fault if avoiding conflicts was the smart move. A sword and a snarl could buy you death, a thousand lies and a good disguise could buy you anything.

But that was the problem, the one that burned in her thoughts. She was smart enough to be a coward, so why did she charge into that hopeless battle to help these ponies? The easy answer would be that she had made a mistake; let the passion of the moment override her good senses. Unfortunately she knew full well that didn’t happen. She’d seen her opportunity, looked at the exact moment to turn tail and escape a small sack of potions richer. Something had stopped her, whatever this world had taught her was being suppressed by the “real world.” She didn’t like having her emotions toyed with, changing who she was.

Who she was? That’s a laugh.

Since the unfortunate incident in the mage’s tower she’d been moving from one group of ponies to the next. She’d been a farmer and a blacksmith, she’d been a noblepony and a beggar. Every time she met somepony there was a new personality and a new costume, she always fit right in. Her skills had been honed to an art form, she assessed, picked a persona, and donned it as a reflex. She was never the odd pony out, she was a mere face in a crowd and that was how she liked it. This group…she supposed was different. She was told they knew her, that they trusted her, and she could be herself. She was acting the way they expected her to, and in truth she was happy. She was happy when she was a noblepony too - the same could be said for being in a band of thieves. For the first time in a long time she looked about at the ponies around her and realized that every one of them knew exactly who they were. How was she supposed to know if she was just playing the part they expected or if this was who she was? What kind of pony had trouble with the simple question of who they were?

She’d almost felt guilty about not having an identity to connect with her old friends…almost. Fluttershy had reacted to this world pretty much as expected, but the last fight apparently took it too far, she was beyond shaken and they all knew it. She was still polite enough, and spent her nights lying with Pinkie and focusing those druidic magics to heal her, but the mare was distant. She wouldn’t start conversations and any discussion didn’t last long, she just wanted to be alone. It didn’t seem like Derpy wanted to talk much either, but Rarity didn’t really have much of a basis for comparison, she’d barely known the poor girl in Ponyville. Then again, in this world she was a member of the elite guard of the princess. Perhaps it would be best to get to know-

A lance of guilt ripped through Rarity again. They always caught her off guard somehow. Logically it made sense, this pony had status and Rarity wanted that status. There were so many ponies out there that had things she wanted and she -never- felt guilty about taking them before. Somehow though, things with these ponies were different. A slight sigh drifted from her lips as she dismissed the thought, she’d already decided to throw her lot in with these ponies. Another round of exhausting introspection wasn’t going to change that.

A sudden subtle change to the hoof beats shook Rarity out of her thoughts. Every pony near Rarity had increased their movements slightly, and as her gaze slowly swept up she could see why. Peering through the shadows cast by the quickly setting sun she could make out several points of fire, torches. They were mere minutes away from Port Boxwalk.

The city of Port Boxwalk was much like all the cities that ran along Equestria, the ones worth going to anyway. The streets bustled with the busy bodies of cheery eyed ponies of all pedigrees. Some were well dressed ponies…merchants more than likely, they didn’t have the guard or jewelry a noble would have. Others didn’t wear anything at all, those were likely the slaves, no reason to dirty up a perfectly nice set of clothes on their account after all. Then everypony in between - those would be the workers who dealt with the docks. Carefully she scanned the streets until she saw what made it all complete: the steel clad guardsponies. Those ponies were either the salvation or bane of one’s existence, depending on what side of the law you stood on stood. Everypony was winding down for the day, heading back to their homes and packing up their shops. Her group arrived in the late afternoon, but they had made it. Finally their group had managed to return to blessed civilization, perhaps they could avoid tromping through the forests and tiny villages for a while?

Their travels had been uneventful enough. Pinkie didn’t give them any useful information, but with Fluttershy’s help was back on her feet. Viceroy Shadowflame’s home city was actually Trotterdam, a naval base that had been modified to a major trading port. There just wasn’t much use for the princess’s marine battalions anymore now that Equestria was united under one flag. This was most unfortunate, as those marine colts looked ever so dapper in those uniforms. In any case it would be much faster to catch a ship, rather take roads, even if they traveled by wagon.

A sigh of contentment seethed out as Rarity moved past the front desk and moved right for the bathhouse rooms. Suddenly she ground to a jerky halt, throwing a look back to the rest of the group, apparently moving up the stairs to their rooms. Her throat was cleared quickly to catch everypony’s attention. “We’ve only rented two rooms, and no one is going to go anywhere near my room before we bathe.”

Rainbow’s eyes rolled as everypony stopped. “Come on Rarity, stop being such a prissy pony. It’s just a little dirt, we’ve got a long trip and we’re exhausted. Let’s just hit the hay.”

A dirty, accusative look washed over each of her friends. “In case you haven’t noticed the constant buzz of flies everywhere we go it’s not just a little dirt!” Her hoof smacked against the ground once for dramatic effect, “In addition to being showered with gore, we’ve been wearing our armour nonstop for almost a week and a half now, two for Derpy. Your animal hides, in addition to being tediously drab are downright filthy!”

“It’s not meant to impress ponies at parties, it’s to separate blades from my skin. It’s functional.” A touch of indignation crept into Rainbow’s voice.

“Not remotely the point! And you Derpy, have you once removed your gambeson since you made modern art out of Ponyville?” Derpy’s eyes were quickly downcast as her mouth opened slightly, as though a response was on the tip of her tongue. “Especially with that plate that you actually need help removing, you’re going to end up with sores and diseases or something. Bath, now.”

Under her glower all the ponies finally relented, towing along a very confused Pinkie. Each pony piled into the room and finally stripped off their armour before finally moving towards the bath. Rarity kept hers on, and set to work on Derpy. Nopony else seemed to have the knowledge about how to get plate armour off, and it was near impossible to take off yourself. Rarity wasn’t surprised the poor girl had lost her mind in that town, sleeping in full plate for a few days would be enough to drive anypony mad. Still, plate was -very- expensive stuff, and Rarity had to admit Derpy looked impressive in a suit this fine.

After Rarity yanked on the last buckle Derpy was finally able to shirk off the heavy plate with a smile. “Thanks Rarity, you’re even better than my squire.”

Rarity’s eyes widened in surprise as she set the plate down, a small wave of shock running through her body. Two halves of herself instantly clashed in that moment. She knew how to treat Derpy; they’d been peers since she’d moved to Ponyville... Derpy was that silly mail pony who messed things up but was beloved anyway. Another part of herself, the part with a thousand masks couldn’t help seeing Tarrow Starsoul, and that mare gave her the shivers. Tarrow was a -knight- and knights were far, -far- above her social class. “I didn’t mean-” Derpy began, apparently Rarity’s surprise had shone through, and Derpy had seen it.

Unconsciously Rarity crumpled inside, years of reflexive conditioning crashing down on her in a matter of seconds. She could feel her insides shifting, her features softening. Hastily she gave a demure smile and turned her eyes downward. “No M’lady. I took no offense at your words. I was merely caught off guard.” This time Derpy’s eyes widened, her jaw moving slightly as if to say something, but then it was cut off. “Your gambeson, M’lady.” Rarity’s soft voice reminded her, taking hold of the dirty and blood stained cloth. Slowly Derpy lowered her head and Rarity quickly slipped it off of her, then turned away to stow it before working on her own clothing.

A horrified scream echoed through the bathhouse as Rarity's head whipped around, with her armor only half, drawing and clinging to the hilt of a light knife as a reflex. Derpy let out another yell as she chased her tail aimlessly, even managing to switch directions and rear up on her hind legs at one point. After only seconds a soaking wet cyan pony burst into the room, greatsword drawn. Noticing the greatsword wielding pony the grey knight turned, eyes wide as saucers and a shallow pant on her lips. “My cutie mark is gone! Something’s happened to it!” desperation evident in her voice. Rainbow Dash teetered on two legs, barely holding the greatsword aloft before a snicker left her maw. Finally the greatsword clattered to the ground as she fell over laughing, the rest of the group making their way into the small room. Derpy watched for a few moments as her breathing slowed and her eyes narrowed, “Why are you laughing....yours is gone too!” Hooves hastily brought Derpy closer so she could indicate the bare flank of Rainbow Dash.

After a moment or two the rest of the ponies rushed in, some with weapons in tow, some without. “Derpy yelled...because...because...” Rainbow went back to laughing, occasionally attempting a word through the fit of giggles.

“None...of you have cutie marks...do you?” Derpy observed, a ruby flush filling her cheeks as she turned to look back at Rarity's flank.

Twilight looked back for a moment or two, then smiled as she made her way past Rainbow to Derpy. “Nope, the books never mentioned cutie marks, so I guess they just don’t happen in this game.” Purple shoulders raised slightly into a shrug. “I suppose this is the first time you’ve taken all your armor off since you got here?”

Derpy turned her flushed face away. “I took it off to sleep, but there’s padding underneath to keep it from chafing...”

Carefully Rarity moved across the room and lightly kicked Rainbow Dash, taking on a scolding tone "That's enough Rainbow Dash! Lad-..Derpy's feeling silly enough as it is." Carefully she turned about, bringing herself to face Derpy "My apologies. We would have mentioned it earlier, it's simply that we have been used these things for our whole lives...in the game anyway, I never even thought to bring it up.”

After some time Rainbow Dash managed to get her laughter under control and they all made it into the bath. Rarity had to restrain herself from moaning as the warm water pushed its way over her skin, lifting up all of her fur. Her coiffed mane floated gently on the surface as the water pulsed around her, soothing away the aches and pains of a hard week's travel. The tightness in her shoulders from her turn at pulling the cannon slowly and gently relaxed. Rarity smiled, looking up at the light from the setting sun hanging lazily in the air as she encased herself in the peaceful warmed waters. She had to admit Rainbow Dash had been right about the exhaustion, and this place was so very comfortable. Slowly her eyelids began to flutter shut.

The feeling of a hoof on her back gently roused Rarity's attention. Slowly and groggily her eyes slid open. The once elegantly beautiful setting sun replaced by a moonlit sky with a haunting beauty all of its own. Her fur bristled next; the warm water had been replaced with that of mere room temperature, and it was growing colder as the chilling night air set in. Slowly her eyes adjusted and she could see that each of her friends had left, leaving her in the bathhouse alone. Her forelegs drifted out in front of her and started waving to the side, pushing her off of the little stone seat and circling her body around, searching for the source of the hoof that roused her.

Laying on the side of the bathhouse was Derpy. Her figure rested gently against the side of the bath, a single hoof lazily dropped off the side and toying with the water. Her grey fur lit up from ambient starlight outside, shining slightly off of her still damp fur. "Hey." She muttered quietly one eye turning up towards Rarity, even as her lips turned down slightly.

Carefully Rarity rubbed her face with a single wet foreleg, wincing as a cool breeze passed overhead and caught the now wet fur. Calmly she stifled a yawn and nodded her head as best she could "Hello M'lady. Have the others all returned to their room to rest?"

"They have."

"Then I suppose it's best I join them. Good night M'lady."

Rarity turned about and started pumping her legs in a paddle towards an edge. After only making it a foot Derpy's voice called back out to her "Wait...please?" Rarity drew herself to a halt, waving her forelegs to turn her back towards Derpy. "Could we talk?"

Rarity bobbed her head slightly "Of course M'lady. Perhaps you'd care for a stroll in the moonlight, to dry off?" With a slight nod Derpy pushed up on four hooves. Rarity set her forelegs against the stone and her hind legs against a seat and hoisted herself out of the water. Torrents of water poured off of her as she shook herself slightly, straightened mane and tail dragging along the ground. The breeze came again, chilling her in the fall air. Despite the cold Rarity still wished for a nighttime walk, it was a luxury one could not afford outside of cities.

Derpy pushed the wooden door open and let Rarity stroll first into the moonlit grassland behind the inn. Quietly she took a few steps out, inhaling the crisp fresh fall air with a smile. "Nothing quite like the night air." She mused, "And the moon looks so beautiful tonight." Derpy nodded as she made her way up to Rarity's side and pressed on the walk with her. Silence descended on the two for a time before Rarity's discomfort finally outweighed her manners. "You..wished to talk to me about something?"

Derpy's eyes drifted away, if only slightly. Some part of her was still managing to watch their surroundings even as they talked. "Yeah...why are you acting like this to me?"

"Like what M'lady?"

That gained Rarity an irritated stare. Rarity's lips tensed up a bit as she breathed a stream of air out of her nose, propelling a droplet of water into the dark grass. "That is how one of my station is expected to address nobility. Knights, such as yourself, are technically nobility."

An uncomfortable pause followed "But I'm not, not really."

"If you were to return to where you lived, it would be a manor with a number of servants?"

Derpy's jaw tightened more "Well, yes, I suppose. Here, I mean."

"And other nobles, they would call you Lady Tarrow, would they not?" Rarity pressed.

"But it's not real. I haven't done anything to deserve to be treated special. It's all some twisted game." Derpy was having even more trouble looking at Rarity now, keeping her eyes turned away a bit and pretending to look at the roofs.

"You are nobility. You don't have to to do anything to warrant special treatment." Rarity sighed, trying to muddle through her own confusion "When we return to reality things may be different."

"I'm just a mailpony with stupid eyes." Derpy insisted stubbornly.

Rarity's pace quickened for a moment as she pulled ahead of Derpy and cut her off, forcing her to stop short. Head moving sideways as she forced Derpy to look right into her eyes, "Mere mailponies don't charge at trolls, risking life and limb for queen and country." Derpy grit her teeth, looking down to the earth, but Rarity pressed on anyway. "You are special Miss Tarrow. If not for your blood, then for your heart. You'd do well to remember that." A silence descended on the two for a good deal of time before Rarity spoke again "Now I bid you goodnight, my lady." One foreleg extended as she curled the other beneath her, bowing respectfully, "I must go style my unruly mane and tail for an obscene amount of time, lest it be tangled." with that she left, quietly leaving Derpy to be alone with her thoughts.

The next day the group pulled themselves around a table and managed some idle chit chat, at least between them. As they ate Rarity passed around clothing she had taken some time to purchase. The fall winds were upon them, and at sea the chill would be that much more biting. Without the threat of bandits or random wolves it would be nice to wear simple clothing if it were cold, and less if the day proved warmer. Things even seemed to be going their way, Twilight had even found a captain that was willing to take them in exchange for their cannon. Apparently he had lost one recently, sometimes you have to work hard to get what you need, sometimes you just get lucky. With any luck, their free time on the boat would let Twilight research more powerful magics, and give everypony else a chance to hone their crafts as well.

Calmly they packed up their things in their wagon, letting Pinkie sit inside with the cannon and explosives. The last thing they wanted was somepony getting into their supplies through the crowd. As Rarity left the wagon stable she winced under the harsh light of the sun, pulling on a stylish hat a bit lower. It was a beautiful day and things were finally as they should be. The streets were filled with ponies holding polite conversations, pleasant faces and clean coats abound. The buildings were busy and smoke curled out of the forges into the blue sky.

Soon they made their way to the docks, buildings of hewn stone made way for the older wooden structures that covered the docks. "That one's ours!" Twilight announced pleasantly, one hoof pointing to a boat. With a smile Rarity looked it over, it seemed sturdy enough, and the crew of sailors moving about on deck didn't seem like pirates. If she happened to be wrong on that point, well, there was a bandolier of knives asking to be thrown. "It leaves in a few hours girls, I'm going to get our things on board and let the captain inspect the cannon. If you want you can look around, but don't be late getting on." Rarity nodded, but she was only half paying attention. Something was going on down at the other end of the docks. It was just louder than it should be, a little more crowded than she would have expected; it was subtle, but it was enough to catch the notice of an experienced...or paranoid eye.

With little more warning than that Rarity slipped away. It was probably nothing... probably. It couldn't hurt to just to look though, just to make sure. Slowly she slipped through the crowd, coming up at some sort of unmarked radius where ponies stayed back. Peering from the shifting crowd she could make out armored figures with black and red cloaks, their coat of arms seemed familiar. Carefully she watched as one pony exited a ship on the dock, armoured in full black platemail. Obviously it was some kind of knight. The way he carried himself was assured and collected, moving about the commoners with a full escort like he owned the place. His fur was a dark, almost dirty blue, and his mane, though a lighter blue was wonderfully styled. With a wolfish grin he stepped up to the captain of the next ship and began to speak, but the words were lost on the wind before Rarity could hear them. As he spoke he raised a hoof up and pointed out to the ocean and that's when it hit her - she knew this pony. This was Commander Calescent, leader of Viceroy Shadowflame's armored knight division.

Rarity felt her eyes grow wide and her skin grow cold. The fur on her entire body stood on end as she looked about frantically. As she looked around the docks she could see the Vorpral, the best ship in Shadowflame's employ was docked here, how could she not have gathered that? It must have just come in...then he would be pointing to...Rarity's jaw quivered as she looked past the docks at the incoming wave of ships. Viceroy's armada was here.

What were they doing here? There weren't enough places for ships to even dock! Perhaps they were resupplying, but that wouldn't explain why the captains of the ship looked so mad from the visit. Perhaps...a blockade? Could Shadowflame know they were here? The goblins couldn't be under his control so much that they would have sent a message would they? No...but word of Ponyville had likely spread, and Shadowflame probably had ears everywhere. With a curse on her breath she turned tail, knocking ponies aside in her mad dash back to the ship.

Hastily the white mare rushed up the gangplank and onto the ship, being greeted by the concerned eyes of her friends who had just finished loading the wagon onto the ship. A single moment was the only pause Rarity gave herself to draw steady breath "Twilight, Shadowflame's men are here, and they're blockading the port. If we want to have any chance of getting out of here we need to go -now-." Having explained herself to her friends she looked around the deck to find the captain. There was one pony giving orders on the deck, he didn't look regal enough to be the captain, but perhaps he was the first mate.

Clearing her throat Rarity sauntered up to the stallion and flashed him a smile. "Darling..." She said, bringing her voice to be as regal and pleasant as possible. "I'm afraid Lady Tarrow is on an important mission of the state and she simply can't wait any longer. We must depart as soon as possible."

"No." The blunt reply was given without so much as even a glance away from his paper.

Rarity’s face bunched up and her heart thumped rapidly as she made another desperate bid “Now see here! Lady Tarrow-”

“There’s a freaking blockade lady. We’re waiting on instructions from some higher authority than your dame. Leaving now would be treason, and no one of us is stupid enough to risk the wrath of the Equestrian government, no matter what you say.” An eyebrow raised as he looked away from his paper finally.

This was it, this was how their journey was going to end? They were going to solve a dispute and uncover a lycan conspiracy and fight down a troll just to be arrested by a handful of knights? A quick assessment of her options flashed through her mind. Fight? No, god no. Lie? That might work, or it might get them all arrested. Run? They could get away, but the trip would be substantially- her thoughts were interrupted as Pinkie’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Wow, this ship looks a lot like the one I was on!”

A cacophony of noise rang out as the paper was quickly forgotten by the first mate. Cargo crashed into the deck, and mops clattered to the floor.

The first mate’s jaw lowered for a moment as wide eyes looked past Rarity. “Is that...Pinkie Pie?”

Rarity paused, looking back in confusion. “Well........yes....”

“You travel with Pinkamena Diane Pie?”

“Yes.”

“And she wants us to run the blockade?”

“Yes.”

A hoof was slowly raised to the first mate’s head. “Why...I thought she was gone, why now of all times...” As Rarity opened her mouth to question him he turned about “Weigh anchor and get the captain!” For a moment the ship was still, as though everypony was waiting for him to laugh and let them in on the joke, “Pinkie’s back!” He screamed, and instantly the entire deck was whipped into a frenzy.

The anchor hit the side of the deck and the sails quickly rolled down. Screams could be heard from the shore as guards rushed in vain to get to the boat. After almost no time a stallion burst from his quarters and rushed over the deck. His coat was fine enough, and an eyepatch covered one of his eyes. As he rushed past Rarity turned to follow him, noting the heavy smell of scotch rolling off of him. Finally he ground to a halt feet from Pinkie, looking her dead in the eyes. “Pinkie! You’re back! Do we seriously have to run the blockade?” his voice seemed exasperated, and at his word preparation slowed.

A broad smile burst across the pink mare’s face as she saw him “Captain Anjin!” she exclaimed happily “It’s so good to see you...wait, did you say blockade?” Her head turned to look at the sea, noting the armada closing in. “That’s treason! Running the blockade would be insane!”

Pinkie’s eyes drifted over to Rarity, looking for some explanation to whatever it was she just stepped into. All Rarity could offer was a vigorous nod of her head as she mouthed the words “Do it.”

Pinkie looked out at the armada, then back to the captain. Then once more to the armada, then finally rested on the captain, “We should do it anyway.”

Captain Anjin sighed as the top of his head hit the ground, mumbling incoherently about something before he raised his head. Slowly he turned to address his crew “Man the cannons you damned swine!” he screamed “The Wave Crester’s going rogue, and if we’re going to be damned, I want to be damned in style!” He rose to his full height on two hind legs as he drew a cutlass, pointing it to the horizon. “Stallions! In defiance of queen, country, and my own common sense, run the blockade!”

Kotov Syndrome

(Author's note: Before the inclusion of an author's note this chapter had less than 4,000 words. This bothered me.)

This can’t be happening....this can’t be....Twilight looked around in horror as the carefully laid plan went haywire. Minutes before they had been guests on the ship -the perfectly legal ship- and were set for an uneventful week long trip to Trotterdam. That was a good plan and to be honest, that’s all Twilight wanted. But then? First Rarity came on the ship babbling nonsense like a crazypony. Then Pinkie, the deaf mare, stepped out of the wagon, took two seconds to assess the situation and sided with Rarity. So in the span of three minutes they went from a casual cruise...to enemies of the state, wanted for treason. Oh wait -yep. They were getting the cannons ready; make that sedition. As their first act as seditionists they were to charge a fifteen ship blockade, wherein each ship was probably better manned and armed...perfect.

The deck was a flurry of screaming ponies as they darted about, manning the deck guns and hauling up shot and black powder from below decks. She had to imagine they had bigger guns below deck too, and likely each of those was getting manned. Slowly her gaze turned to the ocean, looking over the blockade that loomed near them. She imagined a similar situation on each of those ships...if only they’d been a day faster.

Twilight watched as several ponies hauled up the anchor up the side of the ship, which was a monstrous metal thing. Then she turned in disbelief as the ponies on the back of the ship pulled up the kedge, which was far smaller. Like most new technology the kedge was originally invented for war. It was a smaller anchor that was dropped while the ship was moving, lowering the turn radius and spinning faster. They were especially effective for turning ships about in tight areas like coral reefs, or if you needed to bring your broadside around faster. At first Twilight was surprised to see a seafaring merchant ship have one. Pinkie’s involvement with the crew cleared that one right up.

With the ship ablaze with shouts and scurrying figures Pinkie wheeled about on the rest of the group “Twilight! I need you to shut up and listen to me, I don’t have time to argue!”

Purple eyes blinked a few times as she looked about in horror. “I...I wasn’t talking...”

Pinkie nodded approvingly as her eyes focused in on Twilight’s lips, reading them carefully. “Oh! Sorry! I was just playing the odds on that one!” Twilight’s lips tightened; cute. If they weren’t all going to die in a few minutes Pinkie would certainly get a talking to. “The most important thing to worry about now is right there!” She cried out, a pink hoof extending back to the docks. One hulking black galleon completely overshadowed the Wave Crester, and it’s crew was hard at work getting everypony back on board. The massive white sails started to unfurl and the deck crews were also manning their deck guns.

“That’s Viceroy Shadowflame’s flagship, the Vorpral! It’s faster, has more guns, has more crewmen, and they’re all military trained! If they get out of dock it won’t matter if we get past the blockade, they’ll hunt us down!” Pinkie’s cries were frantic, either compensating for her disability or underlying the importance; it was hard to say which.

Twilight looked back at the blockade ships, struggling to set up the blockade and cut them off. Quickly she looked back to the Vorpral and sighed “Do you have a plan Pinkie?”

With a sinister smile Pinkie nodded. She whirled about, turning to Rarity, “Rarity, get us all earplugs so we don’t go deaf!” Oh good! At least she was capable of learning not to do stupid things twice. Then again, Twilight figured running a blockade and attacking a flagship hadn’t exactly been on Pinkie’s resume.

With little more than a nod Pinkie’s head whipped back around to the rest of them, “The cannons below deck are side mounted, and the deck guns aren’t big enough! We need to shoot behind us with a big cannon! I’ll load, everypony get it over there!” With that, the Pink Mare leapt back into the welcome wagon and began loading gunpowder.

Suddenly each of them understood that they hadn’t had time to reinstall the cannon below deck. They had one mobile heavy cannon in a wagon on the deck in the rocky high seas. Still, it was one cannon and they weren’t going to get many shots...could one canon disable an enemy ship, even at this range? Quickly she looked about to the rest of the group which seemed to be pushing the cannon at Pinkies orders, regardless whether or not they shared her thought. Pushing ponies out of the way they managed to pull it all the way to the back.

Twilight braced her shoulder against the wagon as Rarity arrived; quickly equipping each of them with earplugs as instructed before bracing the wagon as well. “Derpy!” Pinkie’s voice yelled from inside the wagon. “I’ll load, you shoot! Get in here!”

Derpy looked to each ot them in confusion before she stuck her head in the wagon. With a rough push she captured Pinkie’s attention and yelled back “I’ve never fired a cannon before! Somepony else should do it!”

Twilight couldn’t see how Pinkie looked, but she could hear the response, “Derpy, you need to take the shot! Your extra levels will make you a better shot than anyone on this boat, even if you don’t know how to use a cannon!” What? Did she actually say that? Was now really the time for gambling their lives on this insane nonsense? “It’s loaded with a chain between two balls of iron. I need you to hit their masts okay? break enough that they won’t be able to catch us!”

Derpy jumped in the wagon and after a moment or two a resounding bang issued from the wagon. The cannon rolled into the back of the wagon, and suddenly Twilight and the rest were pushed back several feet,forcing them to grind their hooves against the wood to stop it. With that their legs pumped a few times, forcing the wagon back to the railing.

Twilight was surprised when it was Rainbow Dash’s voice they heard next “I saw it, it hit the right side of the boat! Aim higher!”

The team braced themselves against the wagon once more. As they waited Twilight watched the other ship like a hawk, she was determined to notice where this one landed. Suddenly there was a pop, then a few more as smoke clouds billowed out from the Vorpral. Several splashes in the water in front of and around the Wave Crester alerted everypony as to what was going on; the galleon was returning fire with its deck guns.

Suddenly another explosion issued forth from the wagon and Twilight saw one of the horizontal bars of a mast explode in a shower of splinters, “Top left mast hit!” She called out, hoping that Derpy could hear. Her words were cut short, unfortunately, as an unexpected cry of terror ripped out of her throat when a nearby railing exploded. Eyes cast about desperately as she saw the heavy iron ball roll off the deck and into the sea; that one was far too close.

The screaming and popping continued as they pushed the wagon back into position. Twilight stole a look at Fluttershy behind her. The yellow mare’s eyes were tearing as she looked directly down at the deck with clenched teeth, clinging to the wagon as she held it in place. “Ready! Fire!” Pinkie yelled. Hastily the young mage’s eyes returned to the Vorpral, watching the their crew load their deck guns as they tried to set sail.

Then...a bang, but this time was different. The wagon lurched backwards the same, but the Vorpral didn’t lose a mast. Several tiny plops hit around the water, and the stallions manning the deck guns screamed, several falling backwards as blood sprayed out of them. At this range Twilight could still see the red streaks from the cannoneers. It wasn’t just the Vorpral though, almost all of the windows behind the Vorpral shattered inward too. The docks! The...shops! Twilight looked on in horror...had...had the ponies on the docks dispersed? They must have gotten out of the way...right?

Twilight let go of the wagon as the muffled sound of Derpy screaming urged her. Quickly she came about the wagon and looked inside, Derpy’s imposing form towered over Pinkie angrily. “That was canister shot!” The knight screamed, “You had me spray men and women who were just doing their jobs with canister shot!” Derpy’s hooves slammed down on the wagon next to Pinkie, who was loading the next shot in unphased.

Pinkie only looked up as much as she needed to. “The deck gunner’s accuracy will go down if they have to worry about canister shot. They’re more likely to rush-”

Pinkie’s words were cut off as a hoof clocked her in the side of the face, sending her to the bottom of the wagon with a yell of pain and surprise. Derpy’s hoof followed her down, stepping on her neck as the pink mare writhed about trying to escape. “You made me kill the innocent for a tactical advantage! What about the dock workers? Are they acceptable collateral damage!” Spit flew from Derpy’s mouth as she bore down on the girl, marring her face with another vicious hoofstrike.

Twilight’s forelegs wrapped around Derpy’s upper body as she pulled the mare back. Twilight held her for about two seconds before the back of Derpy’s head bashed into the mare’s nose. The whole world stung for a moment, then the grey mare was free, angrily wrenching Twilight’s foreleg to the side.

“Derpy!” Twilight cried out “We don’t have time for this, we need those masts down! Get somepony else to load...” Twilight’s eyes sunk down to the floor of the wagon, looking over the figure of her pink friend. She was still...but her chest moved, allowing Twilight to release a breath she didn’t know she was holding “I’ll get Pinkie inside...Derpy!”

With clenched teeth Derpy let go of Twilight and jumped out of the wagon, storming off looking for anypony who knew how to load a cannon.

Twilight lowered her body down, quickly sliding the nape of her neck under Pinkie’s stomach and lifting her up onto her back. Twilight jumped out of the wagon, throwing a look in both directions. Each of her friends were crouched, trying to say as small as possible, but none of them would meet her gaze.

With that she pressed on, weaving around scurrying sailors as they frantically brought up supplies or donned their armour. Soon Twilight found her way to the captain’s cabin. With a grunt she nudged the door open and came inside, walking past Captain Anjin to deposit Pinkie on his bed. Captain Anjin pulled a strap of his breastplate taught as he looked up, “She alive?”

Twilight nodded. “Nothing...physically...that a little rest won’t cure.” She let out a sigh as she started back towards the door.

Captain Anjin nodded a few times as he secured an ornate rapier along his flank. “Say, Pinkie spent time awhile back making...I think she called them fireworks. They fly off on their own into the sky...then explode and send coloured fire everywhere. Maybe we could...you know...hit the enemy with them?”

A tired sigh escaped Twilight’s maw as she turned about. She gave Pinkie credit on knowing how to build fireworks...she probably learned just to save money on party supplies. Goddesses, if that girl could be bothered to put that mind of hers to worthy pursuits instead of mindless self indulgence...”No.” Twilight admitted “Those things are impossible to target. When their only goal is to go up they’re fine, but anything else is near impossible, your deck guns are already much more dangerous.” There was a long pause as Twilight chose her words “Why did you run the blockade?”

The good captain blinked - or winked - a few times. “Pinkie said I should.”

“That’s a good enough answer?”

“This crew’s been saved more than once by listening to her without much else to go on.” He reached out, stowing a bottle of scotch off to one side, “Although I’m pretty sure she’s doomed us this time. The ships out there don’t have the time to complete the blockade, but one or two will have time to sweep in behind us and give us a few broadsides of cannons. We’ll survive, but they’re bound to hit some sails...Honestly, I don’t like our odds.”

The mare’s eyes closed as her shoulders sagged. Of course they were going to die on this ship. What were they thinking? Taking on a viceroy? With just seven of them? Utter madness. To top it all off the young mage was going to die useless. She didn’t have any spells that helped ship to ship combat, she didn’t know how to load a cannon, she was just a student in over her head.

“Hell of a time for her to come back too. Things were looking pretty good, we even got a buyer for that oil. With winter coming, it was going to sell like crazy, we’d be living the good life in a few month’s time.” A smile crossed his face as he looked about dreamily.

Twilight stopped, one hoof still on the door. “Did you say oil?”

“Yeah, whale oil, barrels of the stuff. I wonder how much of it they’ll scavenge from our wreckage.”

Twilight wasn’t well versed in naval command. She didn’t have the arcane forces to hurl lightning or move the ocean. She did, however, understand pyrology. “Captain...I’m going to need you to get all that oil up on deck. Immediately.”

A harsh barking laugh came from the man “You aim to barter girl? Are you so insistent that I die poor as well as everything else?”

“You’re pretty much resigned to dying anyway right? What difference does it make?”

The stallion rolled his eyes. “You -are- one of Pinkie’s friend’s aren’t you? I’ll let the boys know.”

Twilight pushed her way out of the door, turning about and rushing back to the welcome wagon where her friends were bracing themselves. “What’s going on?” she asked, looking over the rest of her crouching friends.

“Not much now sugarcube!” Applejack yelled, bracing herself as the blast of the cannon pushed her back several feet. Applejack shook her head, recollecting herself before she finished. “Those chain shot things don’t go too far. Derpy took down a couple of masts, but we’ll have to switch to good ol’ fashioned cannonballs if we want to hit them at all from here.”

Twilight’s head shook quickly “Forget it, we’re coming up on the blockade soon anyway. I need you to wrap up some of your bolts. They’re bringing whale oil up and I want you to get fire bolts ready.” The ponies looked about at one another for a moment, then shrugged as Applejack broke off from the herd and moved to the front.

After a moment the first sailor rolled barrel up “Captain said to give you the whale oil?”

Twilight nodded, ushering him away as she turned back to her friends. “Girls, take the lid off, and dump it off the back of the ship.”

Everypony started to move before Rarity’s well manicured hoof cracked down on the top. “Twilight!” she cried, leaning in to look her friend dead in the eye “Do you have any idea how much a barrel of whale oil is worth?”

“Less than this ship and our lives. Do it!”

With a dejected sigh the white mare relented. Slowly she moved back as Rainbow Dash came in to pry the lid off. As each new barrel came in and subsequently went over the side, Rarity looked slightly more ill.

The purple mage moved up to the front of the ship. As she watched the two enemy ships approaching from their back left she turned her head to Captain Anjin. “How long until they’re within firing range?”

His head lowered a bit and his teeth clenched. The sound of his voice grew ever more dejected, “Their front guns will be at long range in thirty seconds or so, but I don’t think they’ll hit. When they get behind us they’ll turn hard to one side and unload all of their broadside cannons...that’ll hit.”

There was a small pause “What will they do if we move right and start to turn around?”

“They won’t expect that because it’s ridiculously suicidal. But I imagine they’d have to turn hard to starboard, turn their entire ships around to come after us. They’d still get a shot off on us whenever we decided to change direction again, and the other ships would be even closer. It’s a stupid idea.” He paused “You’re going to ask me to do it anyway?”

Twilight nodded, “The oil’s sitting on top of the water. Applejack will light it up and it’ll create a thick smokescreen. When we turn around again they won’t be able to see we’re doing it until they turn into the smokescreen,based on how the ships are moving ours is faster and more maneuverable. We should make it out of range of their long guns before they can turn back.”

“That’s a hell of a gamble miss...gods, I’m gambling my life on the plans of somepony I don’t even know the name of.”

“It’s your roll Captain Anjin, throw the dice.”

A sarcastic smile and a half chuckle exited his maw as he turned about “Hard starboard men!” Immediately the sails shifted direction and the ship started it’s turn around backwards. These stallions were way too loyal to Captain Anjin for their own good.

Quickly the purple mage bounded across the deck to Applejack who sat with several bolts heads wrapped in a wet, white cloth. Carefully the crossbowpony’s eyes flicked up from their work “Twilight, this kind of thing ain’t no good for crossbows, how many shots you gonna need?”

Twilight sighed, gesturing off the side of the boat with her head. “With any luck just one. The other two ships out there are going to turn to follow us back. They probably think we’re running scared-”

“Ain’t we?”

“Not the point.” A purple hoof gestured out towards the water “You see the line of brownish water out there? When the other ships have turned around I need you to hit it.”

Applejack didn’t respond, just gave a grim, quick nod. There wasn’t much to do for a bit. Nothing to do but sit and watch as the enemy ships turned, as expected. Twilight snapped out of her stupor as she heard a mechanical click. “Gimmie a light sugarcube.” The solemn voice of their southern sniper drawled. Twilight stamped a hoof on the ground and a spark lit up the bolt. Applejack only paused for a moment before it was launched out into the sky. She didn’t even look to see where it went, just immediately started trying to smother the flames it left on her crossbow.

Twilight watched as the tiny ball of flame flew out...and down...Suddenly, with a large whoosh, the water was set ablaze. For a moment it was merely fire dancing on the water, then, the smoke began to rise. After only a minute the enemy ships were completely blotted out by a thick wall of inky black smoke.

A moment or two past, then the sound of roaring cannons caught their ears. A few hundred meters behind them a series of splashes decimated the water. A moment later the water a hundred feet behind them was blasted with a score of cannonballs. “What are they doing!” Twilight yelled, running up to the captain.

“They’re guessing. What, you thought because they couldn’t see they wouldn’t bother trying?”

The first mate returned to the captain’s side, ignoring Twilight completely. “Captain...we can see the flashes of their cannons through the smoke and can hear their shots. We think we might be able to surprise them and hit them first, should we attack?”

The mare’s brain worked at overdrive as she thought. They were so close...but if they turned around now who knew how many stray shots they’d take? They couldn’t shoot back though, if the enemy ships saw the flash of their cannons they would...blow them away! That’s it! “No!” Twilight cried out. “We launch the fireworks off the ship! They’ll see the flash and the bang and will focus all their attention there!”

The captain’s head bobbed thoughtfully “Then we drop the kedge and pivot on the water...Stallions! Get me all the fireworks, pick out the orange and red ones, now!” His attention turned to three ponies he stopped with a wave of his hoof “You three, prepare to drop the kedge!”

The splash of cannonballs around them caused Twilight to wince. Somewhere on the ship a loud splintering noise echoed. Quickly she turned her head and saw the welcome wagon splayed out over the deck. In horror she looked around for her friends, but relaxed upon seeing them moving below deck.

The sound of cannon fire and splashing felt like it lasted far longer than it actually did. Whomever was firing those shots was really good at guessing where they were. Every few moments the waters they would have turned in were bombarded. Finally the crew made it to the deck.

The fireworks flew off the side of the deck, careening randomly ahead of them. Some hit the ocean, but others merely flew out ahead of them and exploded in multiple bouts of fiery orange light. “Now!” Twilight heard something say, and with that the kedge anchor flew into the water. The ship violently lurched sideways, pitching angrily against the sea as they sharply turned. Twilight was lifted clean off her hooves as she pitched over, hit the deck, and began violently rolling. Every time she tried to right herself it didn’t help, right up until she was thrown back first into the railing with a painful crack. A cry of anguish burst forth from her lips as she braced herself against the railing.

For a few moments the enemy’s cannons fell silent. The sound of crackling flames and roaring sea filled the air. Then the roar of cannons began once more, blasting the area they marked with their fireworks. With a cheer the ponies on deck set off more fireworks, sending the distracting burst out once more.

It didn’t take long before the ship righted itself and Twilight was able to stand once more. She was battered and bruised certainly, but she was alive. The damaged mare looked back over the stern of the ship, watching as the ships broke through their smokescreen further down. A smile crossed her face - they were only seven against an empire...but maybe they stood a chance after all.

En Prise

The ship rocked calmly to the left, then to the right. The small room smelt of salt and scotch, but was warm and comforting. Beneath the light blankets on the bed lay Fluttershy, curled over and holding Pinkie lightly. Away from the trees and grass it was harder to focus, but with careful concentration the room lit up with the familiar dull green glow. Fluttershy had ceased actually paying attention to what she was supposed to be doing and just let her mind wander. The flowing healing energies of Druantia ebbed through her and relaxed her, for now she was at peace.

Pinkie arched her back with a sudden gasp as her eyes flicked open. Instantly the pressure around the young druid’s forelegs strained to hold the girl still. “Aaaahhh....” Pinkie moaned painfully trying to turn about.

Rip her throat out.

With a sudden surge of strength Fluttershy pulled back, forcing the struggling Pinkie back into the bed. “Pinkie...please calm down. Everything’s okay.” The pink mare breathed a few panicked breaths, but held still. “I really need you to stay still Pinkie...it’s difficult to do this on the ocean as it is.”

“F...Fluttershy?” a confused mumble came from the other side of the bed. Oh right...the girl was still hard of hearing wasn’t she? No wonder she was a little startled. “Fluttershy? Why does my face hurt?”

Fluttershy’s eyes closed as she focused for a moment, Druantia was still there. “Derpy broke your nose...she’s a lot better at hitting people than we are, I think.” The flow of energy started again, lighting up the room once more with that dull green glow. “Try to rest Pinkie, your nose should be better soon.”

“The blockade...”

A small smile touched Fluttershy’s lips. “The blockade is behind us...” Was Pinkie shaking? Was her heart beating faster? Yes, she was shaking...her heart -.. was she afraid? More importantly, how could she tell the speed of a pony’s heartbeat without checking their pulse? It had to be Druantia’s energies connecting them, “... the girls are divided on what you did though. Derpy’s still upset. Rainbow Dash has been guarding your door to make sure you’re not alone with her.”

There was a long pause before Pinkie responded “What -I- did? Derpy started attacking other members of the party! How am I in the wrong?”

She wouldn’t even have time to scream.

“You made her kill a lot of ponies Pinkie. That’s...” A shiver ran through Fluttershy’s body as she remembered the lifeless eyes of Truncheon staring back at her. That dagger went in so easily. One minute he was there, the next...he wasn’t. That loud bang - that meant many ponies simply ceased to be, just like Truncheon. “that’s not a good feeling.”

“But I was protecting the party the best way I could! I can understand having to act for the non-player characters, but we’re players, we’re more important than they are.” Fluttershy thought she heard a touch of desperation in Pinkie’s voice as she turned about slowly in the bed. The darkness made it hard to be sure, but through the dull green light Fluttershy could see Pinkie’s eyes. Was that...concern? It looked unnatural on the mare.

Fluttershy let out a sad sigh, “Pinkie...this isn’t a game to us. All the ponies out there are real. They live and breathe, they’re the same as you and me. Just...try to think of us as non-player characters. Maybe you’ll see how we feel?”

Pinkie’s lip quivered for a few moments. Then the yellow druid felt something warm and wet land against her foreleg, and sink into her fur. Startled, Fluttershy looked at her forearm...another droplet landed. Pinkie was...crying? “I’ve been alone for a long time Fluttershy. I was picked up by this ship and I went through a lot with the crew. But they’re not real, none of them are. They’re pieces. Pieces I move around to achieve things. I started killing things when I was nine in this world. I planned my first assassination at twelve. I’ve never been with a stallion, not that they didn’t try.” A deep ruby red filled Fluttershy’s cheeks as suddenly this became very, very awkward. Hopefully Pinkie couldn’t see that in the dim light. Well, at least this couldn’t get more awkward, right? “The game even threw a mare my way once.” So...it could get more awkward, “I guess it was nice of it to give players options. I can’t get close to them because none of them are real, but you guys are. I’ve been playing this game by myself for a long time, and I just want my friends back...I don’t want to be alone...” Her tears flowed out in earnest now. They spread across Fluttershy’s forearm and stained the pillow with salt water.

Some part in Fluttershy tugged on her. Her friend was crying, just pouring her soul out and weeping. At the same time...she’s been relentlessly murdering ponies with no value for their lives for -years-. Fluttershy didn’t know what to say; how was she supposed to react to that? So many ponies wanted to be there for her, this entire ship seemed devoted friends. If Pinkie couldn’t even see them as ponies what hope was there for her?

Finally Fluttershy tensed her forelegs, pulling Pinkie in for an embrace. Immediately Pinkie flinched. Her muscles tensed and she let out a little grunt of...fear? No, that wasn’t right. Pinkie was a cold blooded killer - why would she be afraid of Fluttershy?

She knows. Kill her!

After a moment Pinkie pushed forward, curling up and crying softly into Fluttershy’s mane. They lay like that for a while. At some point Pinkie stopped crying and just lay there, unmoving. Fluttershy’s eyelids started to close as her head fell forward before she jerked awake again. How long had she been channeling Druantia’s presence? It must have been hours now. The long hours of nothing and peaceful relaxation bore into her. Fluttershy had slept as the druids have learned from the wolves. They slept close...but this close was just a bit too personal. It was one thing to keep somepony close to channel Druitana’s energy for them, it was another to lay this close just for sleep. Even in the winter they didn’t sleep this close, and this cabin was rather warm as it was.

With a small reassuring hug Fluttershy slipped her foreleg out from under Pinkie and started to turn away. She stopped with a start as Pinkie’s foreleg found her shoulder. Their eyes locked for a moment before Druantia’s presence faded and the darkness overcame them. “Fluttershy...” Pinkie’s voice sounded closer to normal now, “where’s my bag?”

A pause for thought held the room before Fluttershy responded “It’s in a room below deck. Is there something in there you’d like me to get?”

“No.” The pink mare said, just a hint too fast. “No, that’s okay. I’m just paranoid about getting separated from my gear. Have to keep on top of those things...goodnight Fluttershy.” The mare’s hoof fell away.

“Goodnight Pinkie.” Fluttershy stepped off the bed for a single pace, then sunk to the ground and closed her eyes. Her legs curled up beneath her as she focused on the sound of her breathing, and in minutes drifted off. She hoped this slumber would be peaceful.

A slow creak sounded as one of Fluttershy’s eyes half opened. The captain’s cabin was warm, but it wasn’t entirely cut off from the outside world. Her half open eye rolled to one side, glancing at the door. The crack at the bottom was completely lit up and light streamed into the room through it. Her eye closed once more as she let out a long drawn out yawn, then stood, stretching her back out. From outside she could hear the hoofbeats and voices of sailors, moving about and doing their jobs.

With another yawn the yellow mare started toward the door, looking back only for a moment to make sure Pinkie was still resting. With an uneasy smile she pulled a cloth and fur cloak tightly around her form and clipped the buckles into place. With a final check she pulled open the door and stepped outside, shutting it quickly to keep the warm air in.

“Hey Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash muttered, sitting on her haunches outside the door. Her fur armor was bound around her as she leaned nonchalantly on that massive sword of hers. “Any luck at fixing that pony yet?”

With a smile the mare nodded “Yes...she’ll be up today. Her nose isn’t broken anymore, but it’ll still be tender for a while.” A hesitant pause preceded the next thing she said, casting her eyes downward “She talked to me about the cannon incident. She said our lives are more important than the ponies she killed.”

“They are.” Rainbow replied coldly “I’d lay my life down for any of you if it came to it Fluttershy. Your lives are worth more to me than mine, and your lives are damn sure worth more than the ponies who were shooting at us.” Cyan forelegs crossed across her chest “I’m glad somepony’s got my back and isn’t going to turn away when it gets bloody.”

“They were good ponies though...”

“Could you imagine how you’d feel if Twilight got her head ripped off by a deck gun and you knew there was something you could have done to stop it?” The multicoloured mare shook her head slowly, looking down at the wood beneath her hooves. “There was no good answer Fluttershy, but she made the one that kept me safe.”

Fluttershy nodded a few times “I-I guess I see your point.”

The cyan nomad seemed a thousand miles away now, lost in her own thoughts “Twilight...Twilight’s going to have breakfast below decks. You should get some food while you can. You haven’t been eating much.”

“Thanks...I think I’ll go do that.”

With a last look, the yellow mare pulled her cloak tighter and moved to the stairs below deck. It didn’t go down very far, each deck only left about a foot and a half overhead, just enough for a pony to stand on its hind legs without hitting his head if need be. It didn’t take long to get to the rough wooden tables nailed down to the floor so it didn’t slide when the ship rocked. At the table sat Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity, along with two other mares. With a smile Fluttershy sat down next to them.

“Good morning Fluttershy.” Chimed Twilight “This is Windjammer and Lascar. Two mares who work on this ship.” The two sat there, chewing on their oats quietly. Quickly they looked up and gave Fluttershy a half smile and a nod before going back to their oats. One was a white mare with a rather messy red mane. The other was a green mare with a pink mane and a scar running from the corner of her mouth down to her neck.

Fluttershy looked to Twilight’s food. Oats...again. She was hungry, but something about the thought of eating oats again just turned her stomach. She was never that picky back on land...but oats, always the damn oats. “Pinkie’s doing better, her nose is fixed...and she should be up and about today.” Fluttershy said proudly, anticipating Twilight’s next question.

Twilight merely shrugged “That’s nice.” then returned to her food.

The white mare, Windjammer, perked up instead. Lascar looked over briefly before saying, “Why don’t you go check on Pinkie? Maybe we can get a song before the end of the day. I’ll take your bowl back.”

“Thanks...” Windjammer muttered with a muted smile. Then she stood and quickly made her way towards the stairs. With her lips twisting slightly upward Lascar took Windjammer’s bowl and stacked it over her own. Then left the table herself. These truly were Pinkie’s friends in this world, just like her druidic sect. It was such a shame Pinkie couldn’t see it.

“I talked to Rainbow Dash, she thinks Pinkie did the right thing keeping us safe.” Fluttershy pressed, watching the mage’s reaction carefully.

A sigh left Twilight’s lips as she raised her head from the bowl, “Rainbow Dash only cares about results Fluttershy. How we carry ourselves defines who we are. It’s good to feed hungry ponies, but if we fed them by stealing the food we wouldn’t be heroes. We would be thieves.”

The druid shifted uncomfortably in her spot, “But they were trying to kill us.”

Twilight nodded “Yes, but that doesn’t make it okay. We started shooting their sails off, it’s their -job- to stop us. Those ponies are the reason merchant ships can travel safely. They were trying to keep Equestria safe for all of us, and she just...killed them.”

The demure druid looked down the table at Applejack and Rarity, both of whom seemed to have taken a very deep interest in their food. “Okay.” Fluttershy relented “I actually need to change my clothes. I left it in my pack. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

The rest barely said anything as she made her way away from the food and found her way to their room. She looked around the hallways to make sure she wasn’t followed, then finally pushed her way inside, closing the door behind her. Now that she was in the room she took a heavy breath. She knew it wasn’t nice to go through other ponies things...but she had to know how to feel about Pinkie. If she was hiding something in that pack, Fluttershy was going to find it.

Maybe it would be something nice, like a personal memento. Just something to show she did have some attachment to this world. Or maybe it would be a severed head. Oh goddess! Why would she even think that? What purpose could a severed head even serve?

Carefully she picked up the backpack, and instantly she could feel something was wrong. She could quite place it, but something in the back of her head telling her not to keep going. It was probably just her nerves. The mare was doing something she knew was wrong so she was nervous and getting worked up over nothing. Carefully she opened the bag and started rifling through it. She pushed a hoof down into the bag and then instantly recoiled.

Something in there bit her, and bit her hard. Teeth clenched tightly as she fought off a scream. The backpack fell to the floor as she staggered sideways into a wall, looking desperately down at her hoof. Though her entire foreleg felt like it was on fire the hoof didn’t seem to be bleeding. However, her natural light yellow her fur had become a thick coarse black mess.

As time passed the burning sensation subsided. The druid couldn’t manage to tear her vision away from her metamorphosized foreleg. Painful seconds ticked by as the fur slowly shrank and eventually began turning back into its natural yellow. As long as she had tried to deny it she was now certain, she was infected, and now she was a monster. A lycan. Her forehoof shook violently as she choked back tears, watching her leg as though it might change back again, what the hell was in that bag?

Jittery and shaking, Fluttershy made her way back to the bag, opening it once more, cautiously. She watched carefully as she slowly pawed through, stopping as she saw a glass vial on a chain. There...there was some kind of plant stuffed in a glass vial. It was...Fluttershy’s stomach dropped out beneath her as her skin paled beneath her fur. That was wolfsbane.

It couldn’t be, wolfsbane didn’t affect her like that! If it did then she’d be in pain all the time! She had a supply of wolfsbane on her, right in the little reagent pouch she kept. Hastily she tossed the wretched backpack down to the floor and grabbed for her reagent pouch. With shaking hooves she flipped up the leather flap and began looking...no wolfsbane. Pinkie Pie had stolen her wolfsbane and put it in a vial...

She knows. Kill her before she turns on you.

Fluttershy shook her head absently. What was she doing just standing here? Pinkie knew she was a...lycan, so she’d stolen the plant, that had to be it. At best Pinkie was holding onto it to defend herself, at worst, Pinkie would use it to kill her once she wasn’t useful. Wolfsbane didn’t exactly have many uses beyond murdering dangerous lycans.

Like you.

The feeling of snakes swimming around in her gut muddled all of her thoughts as she put the pouch away. Unsteadily she forced herself to her hooves and trotted towards the door. She was a lycanthrope, an abomination of nature, and Pinkie knew. The only question was why Pinkie hadn’t turned on her yet, and when would that change.

Before Fluttershy knew it she found herself on the deck of the ship, heading for the captain’s quarters. She had to have it out with Pinkie right now, before the mare got her wolfsbane back. Fluttershy stopped dead when she noticed the eerie silence passing over the whole ship. Her head swiveled around, and everywhere she looked she saw each pony staring off into the distance, not a single word uttered. At first Fluttershy was curious, but whatever it was, it could wait. She needed to deal with Pinkie, then maybe find a cure.

Fluttershy pushed her way into the captain’s cabin unannounced, glaring down at the occupants. Pinkie was awake at this point, and was sitting casually on the floor next to the bed. Beside her was a white figure with red hair, curled up with her arms around Pinkie. The moment Fluttershy entered Windjammer sat bolt upright with a guilty look on her face, Pinkie was unphased. “Hey Fluttershy.” Pinkie said cheerily “Thanks about last night.”

Windjammer shot Fluttershy a look that would melt steel, but Fluttershy chose to brush it off. “Can we talk privately please?” Her words were soft but firm. The pink mare raised an inquisitive eyebrow for a moment, then looked over to the red maned mare beside her.

Pinkie opened her mouth to say something but was cut off as a loud *pop* resounded through the room. Moments later there was a metallic thump right behind Fluttershy. Immediately Pinkie and Windjammer’s eyes grew large and they sprung backwards. The white mare scampered up onto the bed to hide behind Pinkie, her protector lifted Windjammer’s cutlass right from her belt as she passed. As the young bard rose to her full height she leveled the cutlass toward Fluttershy angrily. Windjammer’s hooves touched against her back, propping her up as she glowered.

As the druid turned to look she felt a plated front knee bash her square in the nose, sending her easily to the ground. The figure stepped forward, putting one armored hoof on Fluttershy’s neck carefully. Instinctively Fluttershy started to struggle, but he pressed down hard. With her air cut off she started to choke, pushing her hooves against his leg pitifully. After a moment he let up “Stop struggling so I don’t have to do that again.” Fluttershy went limp and true to his word he left her alone.

From her place on the floor Fluttershy looked up to study the stallion who had handled her so handily. The pony’s fur and mane were both blue, though his fur seemed a few shades darker. His mane was very well worked over, it must have taken him as much time as Rarity to get it so straight. His entire body was covered a full suit of black platemail with some sort of crest on the front. It was a red outline of a shield with a red cloud imposed on it, meaningless to Fluttershy.

“I came here to seek the captain.” He said coolly “This is his cabin isn’t it?”

Pinkie nodded her head slowly “It’s nice to meet you Commander Calescent. Should I take your presence to mean that the Vorpral is following us?”

The stallion bowed slightly, putting a bit more pressure on Fluttershy “I see my reputation precedes me. The Vorpral will be on you by nightfall, and I will have my prisoners willingly, or the ship shall sink. Doesn’t matter much to me either way.”

“What shall happen to your prisoners?”

The stallion sighed dramatically, “How about you fetch me your captain. I have no interest in bartering with you.”

Pinkie nodded slowly, handing the cutlass back to Windjammer and falling back down to the floor. Carefully she moved around the stallion and pushed the wooden door open. “Captain Anjin! Commander Calescent wants to talk to you! Can you please come here!” Then she slammed the door and marched back to the bed.

Commander Calescent’s mouth tightened as he stared at Pinkie intently “I’ve developed a deep seated dislike of you.” he informed her coldly.

Pinkie gave a shrug “Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around.”

Fluttershy winced, expecting retribution from the stallion, but he only glared. After a moment Fluttershy heard the door open once more. It sounded like many more ponies were on the other side of the door, waiting. “Do come in captain.” the armored knight crooned. After a moment Fluttershy saw him walk into view and the door slammed shut behind him.

“There’s over a hundred stallions on board commander-” Captain Anjin began. Pinkie loudly cleared her throat, causing him to turn about “Pinkie...is this seriously the best time to have this argument? Your friend’s trachea is being stomped on.” A longer pause. “There are over a hundred stallions -aaaand- several mares. Including one knight of the starsoul order. If we were going to attack you we wouldn’t be holding back right now. It’s beneath a pony of your station to take a hostage like this...please let the poor girl up, then we can talk terms.”

There was a long pause before the hoof lifted from her neck. “I’ll be brief captain. I don’t care about you or whatever it was you were smuggling that made you run my blockade. I haven’t even reported your actions. You can literally walk away from this without so much as a reprimand. I want Tarrow Starsoul, and the six ponies that followed her to Ponyville. I’ll be by soon to pick them up. If you resist at all, I’ll sink the ship and use the survivors for deck gun practice.” A great silence hung over the room, Fluttershy lay still on the floor, not daring to move “Are we clear?”

“Crystal.” The captain’s voice came across with a barely restrained fury.

“Good.” A loud *pop* sounded throughout the room once more. Fluttershy assumed he was gone, but she didn’t move, just lay on the ground, staring at the side of the ship silently.

The door opened, then closed, and the room was quiet once more. A quivering, frightened voice murmured from the back of the room “Pinkie...you can come up with a plan right? You don’t have to leave me...us again.”

A small sigh sounded as Pinkie responded “The Vorpral outmatches us in every way...if they’ve found a way to catch up to us with their damaged sails it’s over. The ponies on the ship like me, but they know a good deal when they see one. The only thing that’s ever kept me safe is not drawing any attention. I need to talk to the girls, you should go.”

The girl’s voice was even smaller now “I can help...I’ve heard the stories. You’re going to help Celestia...”

“You’re sixteen Windjammer. You should be playing with your friends and picking up a craft. I’m not about to have you go out adventuring and getting killed for no good reason. Go.”

“But-”

“Go!”

Silence fell on the room as the sound of hooves hitting the floor was followed by the opening door. Then it shut and all was quiet once more. Pinkie sat down in front of Fluttershy and put a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to lift her gaze to the pink mare’s face. “maybe the talk can wait?” She asked solemnly. Fluttershy could only nod, lowering her head back down to the floor. “Come on Fluttershy, they’ll be here any minute. You don’t want them to see you like this do you?”

No. No she didn’t. They had enough problems on their hooves without adding “Fluttershy is too pathetic to take being manhandled.” to the list. With Pinkie’s help the druid made her way to her feet and shakily walked to a wall. Leaning to the side she waited she focused on the healing touch of Druantia, but it wouldn’t come. Stupid ocean. After some time had passed Twilight and Derpy pushed the door aside and strode in.

“Okay ponies. We need to figure out how they’re catching up to us. There’s no way we can outfight them.” Twilight stated, putting two hooves down on his table. Somehow, Fluttershy felt a bit better now. Twilight and the rest of her friends were here. Together they could make it through this, they just had to band together.

“Maybe they’ve got a whole bunch of those...paddle thingies to make up the difference.” Rainbow said, searching along the shelves. With an overly dramatic eye roll Rarity picked the crystal bottle of scotch off the wall and handed it to her. “Thanks.”

“Viceroy Shadowflame is in command of the Zephyr Order of knights. That order’s power is to control the winds, it’s probably why Shadowflame made his main city a port city.” Pinkie lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, her voice dull and uninspired.

Twilight turned with an inquisitive look on her face “Wait, the knight orders have powers?”

Pinkie nodded absently at the question. “Every order of knights has a different set of powers handed down from Celestia herself. Celestia blessed Viceroy Shadowflame with the power over wind, and he gets to pass that power onto his knights.”

The room stopped as all heads turned to Derpy. Twilight grit her teeth as she dismissively turned her head away. “Oh...right. Derpy can turn herself into a walking bomb. She mentioned that.” Fluttershy felt a surge of irritation at Pinkie’s attitude. Couldn’t she think of something constructive instead of wasting their time?

Derpy was silent.

Pinkie sighed as she pushed her way off the bed “That’s another skill they have, but their main power is different. Derpy doesn’t want to tell you because she was sworn to never give up state secrets. I only know what they are because I read all the books for this game, twice.” The room became very still as Pinkie and Derpy locked eyes angrily. “I’m going to need to talk to her alone now, trust me, her power won’t help.”

Everypony in the room stiffened, but Derpy turned to look at each of them in turn. “Pinkie’s right, my power won’t help us here. Could you guys discuss it outside?”

For a moment it seemed like everypony was about to ask questions. Fluttershy was curious herself. But there was a ship coming, and this really wasn’t the time for bickering. With a sigh she started to leave, only to have Pinkie’s foreleg move up and hold her back. “Fluttershy, I need you to stay. Derpy’s pretty much proven she’s willing to come after me, if she kills me I want to have somepony here to see it.” Fluttershy stopped, considered her options, then sat down again.

WIth a sigh Pinkie made her way over to Derpy, stopping right in front of her. “Derpy, you need to stop. If you push this Rainbow Dash is going to die.” What! Fluttershy’s eyes snapped over to Derpy, who was staring at the floor.

“When I played with my dad and his friends it was just a charisma boost.” She muttered, “Numbers on a page. Assisting diplomacy rolls and stuff, it didn’t actually mean anything...”

“Well they’re not just numbers now Derpy.” Pinkie scowled “Rainbow Dash doesn’t feel the same amount of fear as we do. When you feed the rest of us this much courage it makes us strong. You got Fluttershy to charge a troll, what do you think that amount courage is going to do to a pony like Rainbow Dash?”

Fluttershy felt the blood rush away from her face. She...she felt better. She was trembling in a corner before Derpy walked into the room...and now... “Derpy. You can make ponies feel strong? That’s what the starsoul order does?”

The mare’s grey maw turned away quickly, but Pinkie pressed on. “Fluttershy, I saw the look on your face when that troll was coming at you. You wanted to kill it didn’t you? It didn’t matter that it was twice your size, you were about to attack the thing, right?”

Fluttershy felt sick as she sat, leaning back against the wall and looking upon Derpy, horrified. “How...how could you make me...make me want...” Fluttershy looked down, her hooves were shaking. She was feeding Derpy a potion at the time, did Derpy wake up before or after she felt the urge to kill? No, she was looking at the troll. There was no way she could be sure.

“You asked me to Fluttershy.” Derpy grumbled, her head slowly turning to Fluttershy as she sat. Her eyes starting to water. “You asked me how I can be strong inside. You wanted to know how to be ready to kill things...So I...” Fluttershy looked down at the ground and shut her eyes, she couldn’t look at Derpy anymore. “I told you it might take a monster to make the world a better place. I can’t blame you for whatever you think of me.”

“It’s not entirely her fault Fluttershy.” Pinkie consoled, walking over and pushing her face along the side of Fluttershy’s neck. “Starsoul knights can project their emotions onto other ponies. She didn’t mean it to come on as strong as she did. She just didn’t know about your...condition.” So that was it. The healing potion had woken Derpy up and she tried to make Fluttershy strong...but she couldn’t have known how strong Fluttershy’s natural inclination for violence would be.

Well, that confirmed it, Pinkie did know. “How do you know-”

Pinkie pulled away from her, cutting her off. “Derpy doesn’t need to know about your issues.” Then her voice raised loud enough to make certain Derpy could hear, “All she needs to know is to never project the urge to kill into you again.”

The pink mare left Fluttershy’s side as she moved over to Derpy. “You’re not a monster Derpy. You’re not doing anything any other pony couldn’t do. Rarity got a group of stallions to pull a cart all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot. She’s got her looks and personality that she can use to pull on ponies emotions. Just because her charisma is from practice and yours is supernatural doesn’t mean you’re a bad pony. It’s what you do with it that matters.” Pinkie sighed as she moved back to Fluttershy. “Look Derpy, I know you’re mad at me. But Rainbow Dash is brave enough that she might take on five armed ponies with her hooves tied together. If you give her the same boost you give Fluttershy, Rainbow will try to take that ship on by herself.”

Derpy was quiet for a long while before speaking. “What do I need to do?” Her voice was resigned, and barely above a whisper.

Pinkie’s voice relaxed somewhat “You need to get Rainbow Dash to calm down. Don’t make us afraid, but make us more willing to see reason. If you do that Rarity and Twilight should be able to talk her into surrendering.”

“Surrendering?” Derpy spat.

“We pulled these ponies into a bad situation. Now they’re in mortal danger and their only way out is to give us up. If Captain Anjin doesn’t turn on us the crew will mutiny.”

“Can’t Derpy just make them not want to mutiny?” Fluttershy questioned, her voice soft and shaking.

Derpy looked like she’d just been smacked across the face, but it was Pinkie that spoke first. “It’s not mind control Fluttershy. She can’t make them do anything. They might not be happy about turning on us, but if it’s between guilt and survival they’ll choose survival. I’ve been around these ponies for years, but I know they’re out of options.”

“So you’re asking me to manipulate the emotions of my friends...on purpose.” Derpy sounded disgusted with the idea.

“I’m asking you to talk Rainbow Dash out of getting herself killed. You didn’t ask for this Derpy, I know that. But you’re the strongest of us for good or for ill, and we need you to lead us. Sometimes that means making a call that keeps you up at night.” Pinkie stared unswervingly a Derpy, waiting for a reply.

There was a long pause before Derpy nodded morosely at the ground, refusing to meet the gaze of the other two mares in the room. Slowly she turned and made her way out of the room.

Captured Pieces

(Author's note: Almost 300 people have given this story a shot. Just four more... Edit: It worked, horray!)

The demure yellow mare blinked a few times before opening her mouth to speak to Pinkie. “So...my condition.” One hoof pawed at the ground absently. She’d come in here full of piss and vinegar, ready to have it out with Pinkie...aaaaand that’s what she knew. She didn’t really have a plan other than to just talk to the mare when she wasn’t carrying a weapon that could disable lycans. Ironic that the very plant she had used against her enemies was now the thing she feared most. All of her emotion seemed far away now, burnt out on her revelation with Derpy. Inside she was just left hollow, letting the situation sink in.

She was almost relieved when Pinkie deftly dodged the situation with a smile. “Not now, silly. I’ve got maybe ten hours with my friends before we get dragged away in irons! I need to throw a going away party!” How did that girl manage to sound upbeat about being taken prisoner? Obviously she had some serious mental issues.

Rip her apart and devour the flesh from her bones!

Well, maybe Fluttershy could be a little forgiving on the mental issues thing. She let out a soft sigh as Pinkie bounced out of the room. The strain of all this was getting to the young druid. Maybe it was the sudden strange urges, or the time out at sea, but she felt drained. Yes, emotionally; but physically as well, or perhaps it was just her imagination.

With a silent agreement to herself she pushed her way out of the door to follow Pinkie. The group on deck stopped, all looking up at her as she emerged and after a mere moment they returned to the conversation. “How do we know they’re not going to just teleport over and take the ship!” Rainbow demanded. Apparently they hadn’t gotten the message they were going to surrender yet.

A small frown crossed Twilight’s lips as she looked over to Derpy. “I wanted to ask about that. Full plate is very hard to cast in, and teleportation is a very difficult spell to pull off. How is he so skilled in the arcane sciences-”

“Arts.” Pinkie corrected

The mage’s mouth opened as though she were set to argue, but she stopped. “How is he so skilled with magic and combat at the same time? He seems too young to have studied that much.”

Derpy looked like she might have answered, but Pinkie rushed the conversation. “He’s a knight, he probably got a magical artifact as a gift that lets him teleport. He won’t want to use up the charges, we should be fine.” The rest of them were quiet for a moment or two before Pinkie grinned. “Great! Conversation over, I’m going to go play the ukulele for my friends, bye!”

Rarity turned as the pink mare retreated “Where are you going to...get...or you could just keep walking.”

Slowly the group dispersed, insisting they’d find a plan later. Twilight approached Fluttershy as soon as the group started to splinter. “Hey Fluttershy. Why don’t we get some fruit and listen in on Pinkie’s performance? It’s been a lifetime since I’ve been to one of Pinkie’s parties.”

Or you could lure her away and...

Fluttershy’s stomach turned. The pangs of violent urges were happening more often now. Her friends had so much to worry about now. The last thing they needed was to deal with her little problems. “I’m sorry Twilight, I’m actually kind of tired...” She mumbled quietly “I’ve been staying up late with Pinkie the past few nights to fix her nose...I think maybe I just need some sleep.” She flashed her friend a small smile and turned away, heading below deck to find her room.

The room was filled with other ponies, and some of them shot her looks. Luckily they seemed to respect - or fear - Pinkie. The boys didn't hide their appreciative looks, but they kept their hooves to themselves. The tiny yellow mare curled up on the bed and closed her eyes, focusing on Druantia. It took some time, but eventually her light shone through and comforted Fluttershy. With a relaxing sigh she let the spirit’s light fill her and push away any violent thoughts.

“No.” The voice floated about in the ether. Was that Pinkie? Where....the world started to solidify around her as yellow eyelids fluttered open. “Trust me, you don’t want to wake up and surprise her. I’ll do it.” Her head tilted slightly, leaning around to look over at Pinkie. “Hey...” the pink pony began, her voice sounding slightly morose. “It’s time to go Fluttershy. We’ve got a plan, the less you know the better. You just need to hang in there for a few days.”

The yellow mare gave a weak nod and hooked a foreleg around Pinkie’s neck, letting the mare help her up. Her head spun slightly from the movement. With a frown she looked the Pink mare over, she must have been carrying the wolfsbane. Over the last while Fluttershy could feel her body getting weaker and slower. It was starting to get to the point where Druantia’s touch was the only thing that could make her feel whole. Now she knew why; wolfsbane. It must have been the effect of staying close to wolfsbane for so long.

With a smile Fluttershy put her hooves on the ground and nudged Pinkie. “Go on, I’ll follow you...” Innate distrust flared within her. She didn’t want this pony, or any pony for that matter, behind her. It was only through sheer force of will that she found the strength to trust her friends. They were going to willingly walk into the hooves of their enemies, but the druid’s mind screamed against that. Freedom was everything, death was preferable to capture. She wanted to jump off the boat and take her chances with a swim toward land.

Her head shook as she pushed the thought away, falling in line behind Pinkie. If she ran she’d become just another monster in the woods. This was where she belonged, in civilization with her friends. She lived in harmony with nature, she protected it. Her job was to guard and steward it, make it what it needed to be; but she was not an animal.

The light of the sun threw Fluttershy’s gaze downward in a squint. The light came from the horizon and cast every figure on the deck in dark shadows. The deck was full of shadowy silhouettes, it was easy to pick out the ones from the Wave Crester, those were the ones that refused to meet their gaze.

The seven ponies lined up dutifully, facing the contingent of well armored ponies that streamed from one ship to the other. With half the deck covered in uniformed ponies a familiar stallion stepped haughtily across the gangplank and onto the Wave Crester. He gave a slight smirk as he looked them over “Pity, I was hoping you’d be stupid and save me the trouble. Sinking this little barge would have been good cannon practice.” He moved to one side of the line and looked each mare over. His slow trot halted right in front of Fluttershy.

For a moment he leaned in and looked her over, causing the yellow mare to shrink away in fear. His face stopped an inch from her cowering form, his grin spreading. “Oh...it’s you.” His voice felt oily as each syllable slid over her. “It’s nice to meet you officially Fluttershy.” The yellow mare let out a pathetic whimper, folding beneath the presence of Calescent.

Derpy’s voice cut across the deck. “We surrender, but I want a promise.”

Fluttershy gratefully relaxed as the stallion turned his head away with a dry laugh. “You don’t exactly have any leverage to get anything. You will surrender unconditionally.”

Derpy calmly sat straight backed and eyes forward. “We surrender to the courts of Equestria, not your firepower. I want a promise that we’ll be entitled to the rights and treatments granted to all prisoners under the laws of the Equestrian government. That is, if we are being legally arrested.”

Commander Calescent stiffened as he moved away from the cowering mare and over to Derpy. “Of...of course. You have my word.” His voice had lost any hint of amusement.

“I want his word” Derpy stated, lifting one hoof to indicate a zephyr knight. Like all the knights he stood tall in black plate armour, a visored helmet obscuring his face from view.

The commander looked back in surprise at the knight, “Why him?”

“Because the honour of a real knight is beyond question, and I doubt your loyalties.”

Calescent looked furious, but merely turned to the knight and gave him a look. Based on this Fluttershy guessed it was against the rights of prisoners to belt them across the face for mouthing off. That was a good sign at least.

The knight drew his sword and placed the point on the deck, resting the hilt on his forehead “You will be treated with the protection of our laws, regardless if you deserve them. You have my word.” he said in a deep booming voice. With that he slid the sword back into his sheath.

“Good.” The commander muttered. “Chain them up.”

Ponies in uniforms came forward, iron shackles hanging from their flanks. Most of the ponies stood, offering up their hooves to be chained. A surge of panic flew through Fluttershy as she cried out. The mare leapt to her feet and turned to run, but was blocked by the wall of pony bodies. Hastily she turned back around and crouched, eying them threateningly. Seven or eight of the soldiers had readied weapons. Maybe she could knock one of the armored ones over the side of the boat? How well could ponies swim in plate?

“She’s a druid!” a voice screamed out over the chaos, it took Fluttershy a few minutes to recognize it as Pinkie’s voice. The deck quickly grew still as ponies halted and watched the scene. The voice came again, but quieter. “She’s a druid.”

Calescent sighed quietly before giving his order. “Check her.”

The pony closest to Fluttershy stopped, hesitated but then stepped closer. He drew a dagger and carefully made a cut across the front of his hoof, wincing only slightly. After sliding the knife back into its sheath he held up his hoof carefully. A line of blood laced it, some dripping to the deck, but the wound wasn’t serious. “Can you heal this?” he asked hesitantly.

Looking about at all the ponies Fluttershy noticed several uniformed ponies training crossbows on her. Quickly she raised a hoof and invoked Druantia, healing the wound in a searing blue flash. In stunned silence the soldier wiped the blood away and looked at his hoof, marveling at the power she possessed. “By...by Celestia’s sun it’s healed...” a look of awe floated over his face. The ability to heal wounds was virtually mundane to the druidic sects, but in the rest of Equestria it was an amazing feat apparently.

Calescent was less impressed. With an eye roll and a scoff he ordered them to bind her with rope and a muzzle that covered her eyes. Without the ability to see it would severely limit her ability to cast. Grateful that they took the irons away Fluttershy surrendered and was brought onto the ship.

Fluttershy felt around her little room carefully. It wasn’t a terrible prison. The wooden walls stayed fairly warm for the most part, and the fresh bedding of hay let her lie comfortably. That was where she spent most of her time, each day she felt weaker and slept more. Most days were spent channeling the touch of Druantia as she lay in her hay, only getting up to drink the water they dropped in occasionally. The only thing she hated was the isolationism, well that and the rocking. The ship rocked gently from side to side, and it never stopped. No one to talk to, no one to interrupt the thought that grew steadily darker. Ranging from running free in a field to the gruesome and horrifying fate she wished upon her captors. She didn’t know how many days she lay like this, resting, waiting, and hoping. Eventually she woke one time without a blindfold.

The world swirled and finally came into focus. Slowly Fluttershy’s eyes opened and as they did the world was finally still, the damned rocking had stopped. She let out a silent prayer of thanks to Druantia for that small blessing, but it didn’t make being stuck in prison any more appetizing. Her eyes closed anyway; she didn’t feel like looking around right now. The ground beneath her was built of cold stone brick, but someone had been nice enough to toss her onto a small pile of hay.

Her cell was empty, but all around her there were other cells, and her friends were in them. She could tell it was them, their voices were hushed, but that was to be expected. Curious if she needed to be involved in the conversation she tried to focus her mind.

“Well what are we supposed to do about Fluttershy?” Twilight asked quietly. Well that was odd. Locked in cells and they were talking about her? Fluttershy focused on staying still and not letting them know she’d woken. It wasn’t nice to eavesdrop on friends...but she was pretty sure it wasn’t nice to talk about them behind their backs either.

Pinkie’s voice came next, a tone of hope clinging to the words. “When we free Celestia and get out of the game matrix it’ll be better. After we’re back in our Equestria it’ll be easier to deal with.”

Rainbow Dash let out a snort “And if the game matrix doesn’t finish after that? She’s changing Pinkie, I barely recognize her anymore. If this keeps up for another week...” Fluttershy fought to keep herself down. It wasn’t just Pinkie that knew, it was everyone. How did Pinkie even find out? Did she tell the rest of them? When? She wasn’t growing fur or fangs or anything was she? Unconsciously Fluttershy’s tongue snaked across the underside of her mouth, toying with her teeth.

“Don’t worry...” Pinkie said solemnly “I won’t let it get another week. If we haven’t gotten back to the real world by then...I’ll deal with her..” The blood rushed out of the yellow mare’s face. Pinkie was going to ‘Deal with her?’

A shallow sigh was followed by Twilight’s voice “Pinkie, this isn’t exactly your forte. Are you sure you can handle it? Maybe we could hire someone to do it for us.”

There was a pause, but Pinkie held firm, “No Twilight. She’s my friend and I’m ready for this. I can do it. I’m sure.” Fluttershy wasn’t sure she could stand up now if she tried. Her legs felt numb and her stomach churned horribly. She was a threat, and Pinkie was going to put her down. That’s why she was carrying around wolfsbane, she was already preparing. No - no she couldn’t think like that. Her friends didn’t want to do it, they were being forced to. They had a plan, they were going to get her out before she turned, before she needed to...die.

Six uniformed guards entered the room and one of them, a stallion with chestnut fur, yelled out “Shut the hell up prisoners! Your lucky moment has arrived, one of you gets the pleasure of Viceroy Shadowflame’s company for the evening.” He looked back to another guard, a dirtied white mare. “Which one did he want?” Random ponies shouting at you was always a good time to pretend to wake up.

The yellow mare curled up into a ball and shook. She prayed to Druantia that they wouldn’t pick her, but could she wish that any of her friends get taken away instead. Finally she settled on her best hope, Derpy. If they took Derpy it would be because of her title, maybe so they could negotiate- “That one.” The mare replied “The one with the six coloured mane.” Fluttershy’s heart sank. Although she was instantly relieved she wasn’t getting taken away, in way she was also simultaneously shameful that she was relieved. In reality Fluttershy knew she had the best chance of making it out of here alive. The ability to heal broken bones in a few days was rare, almost unheard of outside the druidic circles. She’d likely be kept as a well treated slave to rest alongside the wounded and fix them.

The druid could only watch helplessly as three ponies sat at Rainbow’s cell door, loading their crossbows and watching carefully. The remaining three opened the door hesitantly. They outnumbered the mare three to one and were armed, but they still watched her warily. Maybe they knew she was dangerous, or maybe these ponies were the first real prisoners they had to deal with. The white guard mare stood at the door with her crossbow out, grumbling at them “Stop acting like such a bitch, they haven’t had any water for three days and they’re unarmed. Let’s move it.”

The guards nodded quickly and moved over, booting Rainbow in the side, Fluttershy winced. “Get up-” The rest happened very quickly. The white mare tossed her crossbow off to the side and turned to the guard next to her. The sickening sound of multiple muted pops sounded throughout the room as the mare reared up, grabbing her compatriots head in both her hooves and twisted. The body immediately went limp and fell to her feet, before his body hit the ground the murderous guard moved on the second guard pony.

She stabbed with a dagger and missed, but not by much. The startled pony pressed his crossbow right into the mare’s chest and pulled the lever. Unfortunately for him crossbow bolts needed to pick up a little speed before they could do damage. Pressed right up against the mare’s armour it was having trouble moving at all. With the flash of a knife the string snapped, with another flash and a spurt of crimson the stallion was gone.

Two guards stayed with Rainbow Dash while one moved out to meet the traitor, sword already prepared. As he moved through the doorway a crossbow bolt hit him square in the chest and he toppled over. It seemed the white guard had tossed her crossbow within reach of Applejack, lucky. At the sound one of the remaining guards turned his head. Before he turned it back Rainbow was on her feet and moving against the guard who had time to react. He reared up and pulled his sword, but one fluid motion Rainbow blocked the incoming blow and stole the sword from his hooves.

With an arrogant smile she followed it up by ducking low and sweeping the hind legs out from under him, causing him to collapse onto the ground. Fluttershy looked away as Rainbow’s weight came down, there was a crunch and a grunt, but she never heard from that guard again.

“I surrender!” The last guard cried, tossing his blade to the ground and backing into the corner of the cell.

With an angry snarl Rainbow charged him, skidding to a halt when she heard Rarity’s voice. “Stop!” On the other side of the cell the white guard...Fluttershy looked closer. That was Rarity! Her fur was a little dirtier and her mane was coloured differently. So who was in Rarity’s cell? Rarity leveled a crossbow at Rainbow Dash, “I don’t like to kill ponies Miss Dash. I killed these two because I didn’t have a choice, but we’re not going to kill ponies who surrender.” They paused for a few moments before Rainbow relented, fetching the keys to unlock the doors.

The pony in Rarity’s cell as it turned out was some pony named Windjammer. Now that Fluttershy got a look at her it was fairly obvious that it wasn’t Rarity. She was almost ten years younger and her mane had been dyed. It seemed that the rest of the group guessed that the descriptions Viceroy Shadowflame got weren’t particularly detailed, and it had paid off. Rarity had the stallion remove all of his armor and drink some sort of vial, insisting he’d wake up from it later, locked in a cell.

“Thanks Windjammer.” Pinkie said cheerily “You get out of the manor at the first moment you can.” Pinkie turned away from her to put on some guard’s armor...with a little modification from Rarity. It seemed, oddly enough, that the armor was too big for most of them.

“Pinkie...” Windjammer insisted defiantly. “I want to come and keep you safe. I mean Celestia hangs in the balance, I should go with you.”

Pinkie waved a dismissive hoof “No Windjammer, you’re like the little sister I never had. This is something for us to deal with, I need to make sure you’re safe.” Fluttershy could visibly see Windjammer deflate at hearing that. Wordlessly the mare turned about and left the prison. Hopefully she could find her own way because they didn’t have time to hold her hoof. Almost everypony had been suited with their armor but it seemed as if Fluttershy hadn’t been bothering.

Rarity looked shocked at Pinkie’s ignorance and most of the rest of the group mirrored her sentiment. “Pinkie...” Rarity attempted diplomatically. “That poor girl might have some sort of...feelings toward you. Feelings of a romantic nature. Perhaps you should-”

Pinkie cut the mare off mid sentence, an uncharacteristic touch of annoyance tingeing her voice. “I know. That filly has been ready to share my bed for two years now.” The room stilled as each pony sat in stunned silence. Pinkie pressed on as she dressed “None of you seemed to have a problem with me twisting the girl’s romantic feelings for me to make her take Rarity’s place. You all knew that was the only reason she agreed to it. So unless you want to explain why twisting her emotions is okay when we’re putting her in danger. Don’t pretend to spare the girls feelings when I do the same thing to get her out of my way.” Her voice wasn’t annoyed now...just cold. This world had changed her, it wasn’t for the better.

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably as she touched the studded leather. Her weariness weighed on her and she just wanted to return to the hay in the cell and pass out. No, no she could do this. It was almost over, she just needed to push on a little farther. “I...I...I can’t put this on...” Fluttershy muttered miserably, looking away in shame.

A snort came from the cyan mare’s lips as she tugged on the last of her armor. “Oh for...” Fluttershy winced, “Fluttershy, I know that ponies are dead, but being squeamish here will get us all killed. You need to suck it up-”

Rainbow’s words were cut off at Twilight’s interruption “Oh! Right...no Rainbow Dash, she means she really can’t wear it. Druids lose their magic if they wear metal, even if it’s those studs...” Twilight paused for a few moments before raising a questioning eyebrow “Although I can’t seem to recall why that is...”

It was because metal was a bastardization of the land. Nature was supposed to be allowed to exist as it was, metal was the process of everything unnatural. In essence it was just as bad as the undead. Ponies went into the earth and pillaged what they wanted from it, then used a process to force it to work to their own ends. Metal was the foundation of industry, and industry was just about the most unnatural perversion of the world imaginable.

Of course Fluttershy couldn’t say that. If she told them industry offended Druantia it would betray the existence of Druantia. More pressing though, how do you explain to your friends that the correct order of the world was for them to be at the mercy of the more powerful creatures of the world? Especially when the real Equestria had industry in spades.

“Time actually matters ponies.” Pinkie reminded them, clipping her new crossbow into place at her flank. “Do we have time to remove the studs? Because if we don’t we need to tie Fluttershy up and take her as a prisoner.” The fur on Fluttershy’s body raised and she suppressed a growl.

They want to take your freedom. Kill them, you’ll like the taste of blood and flesh.

Her thoughts were quickly checked and she forced herself to relax slightly. No, they weren’t trying to take her prisoner, they were helping her escape a prison. They were her friends and she needed to trust them, even if their decisions balked her emotions. Pinkie was right, it would be so much simpler if they had someone reliable to lead them. That way they wouldn’t have to waste time making decisions like this; they could always move as one harmonious unit.

The touch of a hoof brought Fluttershy out of her thoughts. Derpy’s sullen face looked upon her with the hint of a smile as the ropes extended, waiting for Fluttershy’s consent. With a smile the young druid realized she felt more relaxed and ready to do this. Was that her doing, or Derpy’s aura? Of course it was Derpy! When had Fluttershy ever calmed down on her own? “Thank you Derpy.” the mare’s whisper came, letting her hooves get tied up once more.

The guards they passed gave only a moment’s notice to the group as they walked by. It would be some time before the prison outbreak would be noticed, and the soldiers who passed them accepted the excuse “Viceroy Shadowflame wants to talk to this prisoner.” quite readily. It was Fluttershy’s job to act scared and meek, as it turns out that was a task she could succeed in.

Along the way they did make one stop, ducking quickly into the manor’s library. Twilight needed to pick up a spellbook to replace the one she lost, wizards weren’t much good without the ability to study their spells ahead of time. Pinkie got one too, informing the group that rule three was to never miss an opportunity to scavenge. No one questioned her on the imaginary rules, it was doubtful other rules even existed. Soon though they found their way to the throne room, up a flight of stairs and sequestered from the rest of the castle. This was a stallion that did not want ponies coming to see him all the time.

As they made it to the top of the stairs two stallions clad in studded leather looked over at them questioningly. “What business do you have with Viceroy Shadowflame?” The first demanded, eyes narrowing slightly. Of all the guards they had passed, very few had been mares. These two must have had their suspicions, with seven mares collectively gathered. With a smile Rarity stepped forward and gave a disarming smile. A weak smile passed Fluttershy’s lips, curious as to what excuse Rarity was going to give them.

Of course what happened was a fair amount simpler. The moment the guards took their eyes off the rest of the group to look at Rarity, a bolt of cyan fur was upon them. The ex-pegasus caught the stallion off guard and got both her hooves underneath the first one before he could react. Without warning the guard was flipped head over heels onto his back and Rainbow mounted him. His hooves lashed out violently, but Rainbow effortlessly pinned him down. Her forelegs pressed into his windpipe and for a moment she hesitated. It was subtle, and something Fluttershy wouldn’t have noticed a few weeks ago, but now her thoughts were similar. It would have been far easier just to stomp once on his throat.

The thought made Fluttershy wince, she didn’t like seeing the more brutal solution. Weeks ago she would have just thought Rainbow was a little slow on choking him into unconsciousness. That’s what this world did though, right? This wasn’t their ecosystem, and nature only let three things happen to creatures outside their ecosystem. They could go extinct, and that wasn’t an option. They could change the nature of the ecosystem, and hopefully that would happen soon. Or finally the animal could adapt to the new environment. That meant understanding the importance of viciously stomping onto throats sometimes.

The guard stopped moving and after a moment Rainbow let up. The other guard slowly stopped struggling as well. When Rainbow had moved Rarity had slipped behind him and wrapped a scarf around his throat, choking him out while Applejack held him still. The guards now quietly laying on the floor, the ponies prepared themselves. This was it, this was the end of the module. Beyond these iron doors say their doom or their salvation. Either way, Fluttershy was just happy behind the door was the end. She didn’t know how much more of this she could take.

The room was truly a thing of beauty. While lacking the wonderful flora and fauna of Fluttershy’s home this room still made her twitch with a strand of envy. On the other side of the massive iron doors was a landscape of polished silver, flanked by enormous stain glass mirrors. Each window was different, but each seemed to tell the story of a different knight playing out some sort of legend. The sun was high in the sky now and as it pressed through the colored glass it bathed the white and black polished marble with a haunting reddish glow.

The beautiful room was entirely bereft of guards, and besides the ponies themselves there seemed to be only two other beings present. One was Viceroy Shadowflame, majestically sitting upon his throne. He gazed at them with piercing red eyes from behind his black horn, then reared to his full height as two blackened wings burst to his sides. With a few pumps of his wings he was dramatically lifted off of the throne and flew to land imposingly in front of the mares.

The other creature in the room was Celestia. The sun goddess’s wings were tethered behind her back with bouts of silver chains. The chains didn’t stop there though, in the most complicated manner possible chains were distributed over the alicorn’s entire body. Around her neck sat a thick red collar, Fluttershy could feel its energies pulsating from here. Whatever it was, it was powerful. Celestia turned her head to look at the group hopefully, and to Fluttershy’s shock she saw that Celestia had been muzzled like a common animal. The light of such disrespect for their princess was enough to light a fire in Fluttershy’s stomach. Gritting her teeth she looked to the alicorn, it seemed he was about ready to speak.

“Well well, the Starsoul Knights make their way to save their precious princess.” Viceroy Shadowflame turned about, a smug look plastered on his face. His chest was covered by a very ornate black and red breastplate. When coupled with the expensive silk cloak draped across his body he truly did look the part of a noble. The obscenely smug look likely helped get the point across.

With a casual sneer he gave out a self satisfied laugh. “Unfortunately it seems you don’t have all the information. You see Starsoul Knights I-” A loud snap sounded from Fluttershy's left, followed by a hollow thunk as the alicorn's words ceased. His head jerked backwards once as the shaft of a crossbow bolt appeared just over his left eye, dribbling blood down his muzzle. The dumbfounded viceroy teetered in place with his mouth open, then as though someone had cut the strings on a marionette, he crumpled to the floor. He lay on the ground then, twitching once before becoming very still. The exception being the slowly expanding red pool on the ground around him.

In unison the ponies slowly turned their heads to look at Pinkie Pie. The pink mare stood on her hind legs still, the crossbow raised to eye level. As her gaze turned to meet her friends the crossbow lowered, her features curled into a look of shock.

“Great Celestia’s massive ancient wrinkly ballsack Pinkie...” Rainbow Dash mumbled in astonishment. “You just shot Viceroy Shadowflame in the fucking face...”

Check

The seven astonished heads of the esteemed heroines stared down at the now lifeless body of Viceroy Shadowflame. The group had gathered around him in a circle and now quietly stared down at his limp form; moving only slightly to avoid the pooling blood. Finally Applejack raised a foreleg and kicked the body twice, then set her hoof to the ground calmly. “I reckon he’s dead.” she noted, her eyes stayed transfixed anyway.

“C-can that even happen?” Fluttershy asked in a soft tone.

Twilight raised an eyebrow “Well. I suppose there’s no reason it shouldn’t. Alicorn anatomy is pretty much the same as ours. Just...no one’s ever shot an alicorn in the face with a crossbow...”

Pinkie blinked in confusion “I...I didn’t mean to kill him.” she informed them.

Rainbow Dash let out a snort of barely hidden laughter “You just performed an impromptu lobotomy at ten feet Pinkie. What was it you meant to do?”

“It’s a light crossbow!” Pinkie insisted “Even if I scored perfectly it does like...sixteen damage at best. This was the endgame boss, he has to have more health than that.”

Applejack raised an eye, tearing her vision from the fallen alicorn to look at Pinkie. “Crossbows aint toys and this ain’t no game sugarcube. They’ve got exactly one function, and that’s killin’ critters.” Her eyes fell to the alicorn once more “And they do a particular fine job doin’ just that.”

Pinkie paused for a few moments “Can we shoot him again? Just to be sure?”

A scowl crossed Rarity’s lips as she fixed Pinkie with a glare that could freeze magma. “Have you no respect for the dead?”

Pinkie withered, looking away and muttering “Come on. He’s the bad guy. You saw Princess Celestia; we’re one whip away from a sacred lesbian BDSM orgy.” If Rarity cold kill a pony with a look Pinkie now knew what that look would be.

Applejack paused, shifting uncomfortably with a look back to the princess. “You...you don’t think this here fella paid the troll to let her go do you? I mean, maybe she was just so grateful that she...”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow “You think maybe Pinkie just offed a viceroy in the middle of Celestia’s private time?”

Pinkie leaned to the side glancing past Rainbow at the bound and gagged Celestia. The majestic while alicorn was throwing all of them death glares. The pink mare’s head moved back into place to address her friends’ concerns. “Don’t worry.” She assured them “The chains are metal and pretty tightly on there. They would have used some sort of soft leather if they-”

“Enough!” Twilight yelled. “Rainbow, Applejack; Stop talking about the princess that way. Pinkie, stop thinking of the best way to tie down Princess Celestia. It’s bad enough Rainbow decided to use that particular swear twenty feet from the goddess that calls out the sun.”

A cyan head lowered. “Come on, how often is Celestia listening when somepony says that?” A dejected sigh left her lips as she rubbed a hoof along the back of her head. “Maybe we should go let her out? And by we I mean anyone who isn’t me. I can feel her staring at me.”

The five girls turned about and started heading towards the princess, leaving Pinkie and Rainbow with the body. Once the rest had their backs to her Rainbow shot Pinkie a smile and pulled her combat knife from its sheath. Her blow came quickly and silently. She slid the knife into the back of the alicorn’s neck, right above his armored plate. There was a light crunch as she neatly severed spinal column between vertebrae. Pinkie coughed quickly to cover the noise, throwing a look at her friend’s backs. Rainbow wrenched the blade free and wiped it on the alicorn’s neck before putting it away. A grateful look and a smile was throw to the cyan barbarian. Certainly it was unnecessary, but Pinkie felt more comfortable this way.

A daunting laugh from a disembodied voice shook the throne and reverberated the glass. “Oh wow! Did you see the look on his face? He was just in the middle of the monologue and pow! Dead.” The laughter resumed.

The pink mare’s mind went into overdrive as she looked around this room. This was familiar... not the same as last time but similar enough. Similar to the point that he had to have orchestrated it. Not too long ago they had come into a throne room with the stained glass windows like this. They had gone there seeking Celestia just as they had now, and right when they thought they had won, he tore that hope away. Just as before he made his entrance with majesty and theatrics, just to let them know how powerless they were. “Discord...” Pinkie whispered in shock. Discord had returned, but instead of making the world a wonderful place of surprise and food, he had made it a warzone.

Each of the ponies stepped back several steps towards the door as multicolored smoke billowed into the room and covered everything. “It’s so good to see you again. I was so very worried you’d never get here.” With a giant gust of wind the center of the room cleared, leaving the sides a glowing red wall of fog. Sitting between Celestia and her rescue party was a massive winged beast. A wicked row of sharp curved teeth grinned unnaturally as the thing looked down at them.

Instantly Pinkie recognized it as a dragon. Dragons, just like in their world, were some of the most dangerous beasts the game produced. It was lucky for this world that they were far rarer than in the real world. So this thing was big, and very dangerous. Pinkie had determined when she came across the entry on dragons that she wouldn’t fight one. Run screaming perhaps, but never fight. It worried her that she couldn’t pinpoint the subspecies of the dragon. It wasn’t a chromatic dragon like the blue, red, or green dragons. It wasn’t a metallic dragon like the copper, brass, or gold dragons. This dragon was in a category of it’s own. As it moved its scales rippled from light blue to a rose, touching every shade in between. Its colourful beauty radiated off of it even as it leaned down to get a closer look at them. It flapped its wings of fine changing coloured gossamer one more time, sending a gale of air across the room, then folded them.

“So Twilight, how are you finding your little game?” The dragon crooned with pleasure, folding his massive clawed arms in front of himself.

The rest of them just stood there, awestruck. Did they hear her? Did they even know this was Discord? He certainly looked different. Pinkie was about to tell them again, but Twilight found the nerve to speak first. “Let Princess Celestia go!” Just because she had found the nerve to speak didn’t mean she had anything useful to say.

The dragon’s eyes rolled “Oh come now. That’s no fun. Does anypony ever just roll over and give into demands like that?”

“You have no right to hold her against her will!” Twilight insisted.

A sigh was issued as the dragon slumped over “You know you’re right, I never considered whether or not I had the right to interfere with ponies lives. I just assumed having godlike powers gave me the right to interfere with lesser beings.” His words were so thickly laced with sarcasm, Pinkie swore she could almost see the slime.

The purple mare paused, considering her words. Playing the moral high ground didn’t seem to be working. “Why Lairs and Lycanthropy Discord? Last time you remade the world as you saw fit, why this game?” Twilight asked, she probably hoped extra information would help. Pinkie admitted it was a better move than screaming impotently at a god.

Discord smiled with a row of gleaming dangerous teeth. “Why don’t you guess Twilight? Here’s a hint, ponies wanted to play this game and their desires were quashed by others.”

A mask of understanding crossed Twilight’s face “Their intolerance...bred a spark of discord. That’s something you can connect with, even while sealed in stone.”

“Close enough.” He admitted “There was a spark but the Game Matrix doesn’t have the power to do much on it’s own. I didn’t have anything else to do with my time, so I decided to play. You know, since some ponies turned me to stone.” He looked over each of them accusingly, none of them flinched.

A stern look crossed Twilight’s face. “No. You just have them killed.”

Discord’s claw raised daintily tapping his chest “Me? I’ve never killed anypony in my life, or turned them to stone. That’s not my thing, it’s yours.” His glance moved over to the pony whose body wasn’t even yet cold.

“I’ve got family who died ‘cause of you that says different.” Applejack spat. Her rage was evident in her voice. Boiling just beneath her skin and waiting for her to do something stupid.

One massive claw was held up as Discord offered a correction. “No. I gave others the option to kill them. They did it, not me.”

Twilight stepped forward to take control of the conversation “It’s the same thing. If you didn’t ruin the world all the ponies would still be alive. It’s your fault they’re dead.”

For a moment Discord looked genuinely saddened by the words, “Oh Twilight, it’s not even remotely the same.” With a shake of his head he reared up “Enough, this mindless debate is so dreadfully dull. You picked the game Twilight Sparkle, I’m just here to play. You made a move by killing the viceroy, I’ve made a move by stopping you here. It’s your move girls, I’ll give you five minutes.”

“You have to play this game.” Twilight observed. “You’re not free, you’re just effecting things through the GM. If we finished the game...”

A sly grin crossed Discord’s face as he appraised the group, “If you finish the game the GM turns off and your world returns to normal. Last time I got to choose the game you played for the fate of your world. This time I let you pick. You’re welcome - Four minutes forty five seconds.” He looked at his wrist, though Pinkie couldn’t reason why.

The group turned, looking to each other as they considered their options. “What if we all killed ourselves?” Rainbow asked, receiving horrified looks from most of the party. Pinkie was not among them. “I’m not saying we should, but it would be nice to know if we have any leverage.”

Twilight’s head shook slowly “I don’t know much about game matrixes, but I think it runs off of the power of anypony connected to it. Even if all of us were to fall, Discord would still be connected to it, and I don’t think he’s going to die. We need to shut it down.”

“If we could get him out of the way and free Celestia, would the world be set right?” Derpy questioned, receiving a nod from Twilight. “Then stand back.”

Everypony looked to Derpy in confusion but the mare stood confidently and turned about. A low hum seemed to emanate from the girl and Pinkie could feel arcane power pushing on her. “Derpy, no. You’re not...” Twilight’s harsh hushed voice protested.

Derpy turned and gave them a smile “I’ll see you tomorrow if I’ve got any mail for you.”

With that she turned back to Discord who didn’t seem impressed “Four minutes.” he muttered, cleaning the underside of a claw with another.

With a scream Derpy charged forward, leaving the other ponies stunned. Each of them stood back as the arcane energies built up inside her, threatening to explode from her any minute. They watched in horror as Derpy’s galloping form started to glow a light blue, her scream increasing in volume as she neared. With a snap of Discord’s mighty clawed fingers Derpy vanished in a pop and a puff of smoke.

“What?” he questioned “If you strike me down and I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine? It’s been done girls, and it’s been done better. Three minutes forty five seconds.”

They all froze, staring at the massive behemoth “Where is she!” Twilight demanded.

“I sent her to meet her father.” he said dryly. “Honestly, you should thank me.”

In unison, twin battle cries sounded as Rainbow Dash and Applejack rushed past Twilight at the beast. Pinkie took a few steps back, then sunk to her haunches. She now knew what type of dragon this was; it was a prismatic dragon. Discord had chosen arguably the most powerful creature in the game, and in fairness, why wouldn’t he? If Pinkie had been given this game and told to be anything she wanted, she would have made the same choice.

Discord’s tail uncoiled and slammed into Rainbow’s charging figure. The resounding crash of the stained glass window was followed by white light pouring into the room, and accentuating the brilliant colour of the dragon. Rainbow’s scream could be heard from outside “Fuuuuuuuuuck youuuuu...” If there was more to the cryptic message it was cut out as it faded into the distance.

A small pink projectile left Twilight's hoof and unerringly met with Discord’s face. Pinkie sighed and looked down, their wizard was throwing around the most basic magical spells against a prismatic dragon. The beast probably didn’t even feel it.

Applejack ran up the dragon’s tail and started hacking and stabbing with a combination of knife and sword strokes. The metal weapons weren’t even strong enough to get past or beneath the dragon’s scales. Discord grabbed once, twice, then on his third strike clutched her in his claw. “Here’s the pitch!” he announced, winding up and throwing her. The pink mare winced at the second crash and subsequent sound of sprinkled glass. The room grew brighter as they listened to the sound of Applejack’s screams fading the further away she became. “Aaaaaand you’re out!” Discord cried out in maniacal glee.

Discord surged forward, putting his face four inches from Twilight so she could bounce another magical projectile off his forehead. “Are you done?” he questioned, “You get, what, three spells? I wouldn’t want to rob you of the chance to show me your true power.” Twilight flicked him between the eyes with a shimmering ball of magic. It did nothing.

Pinkie looked about for her friends thinking perhaps they’d been smarter and run. Rarity would do well blending in with the guards until she got away...No, Rarity had vanished into the fog at the edges of the room and snuck past Discord. Pinkie’s heart held a single meager ray of hope. Twilight knew full well she couldn’t hurt Discord with her magic, but Celestia could. The wizard pitifully bouncing magic off of Discord was merely a distraction. Rarity was the true force behind the plan, kneeling next to Celestia and furiously working over the locks with her picks.

There was a loud crash that drew Pinkie’s attention back onto Discord. To Twilight’s credit, she didn’t scream as she fell. The dragon’s gaze fell to the two of them. Pinkie sitting passively and watching with a detached calmness as her friends were thrown off the tower, and Fluttershy who wasn’t.

The yellow mare had her hooves...Pinkie looked closer...The yellow mare had her paws stretched out in front of her, growling like a cornered beast. Her face stretched into a long pointed muzzle as whiskers protruded out of it. As her mane shrunk and her fur grew long and black the ex-mare started barking. Her figure convulsed once before doubling in size to a threatening tower of furred muscle that would give anypony nightmares. Check that, anypony that wasn’t already having nightmares about the dragon the size of a house casually flicking them off of towers.

Hesitantly Pinkie shifted her spell component pouch away. It had been difficult to convince Rarity she needed to smuggle the wolfsbane all the way to Trotterdam. She really didn’t need Fluttershy sensing it during her first transformation.

Fluttershy charged, barking the whole way. Discord swung a claw in surprise, but the lithe canine form was far more agile than the colourful dragon expected. She darted sideways and jumped, landing evenly on his claw and charged up the side of his arm. Ten or twelve claw slashes riddled his arm as he yelled out in pain, twisting sideways and letting Fluttershy swing; she hung only by her teeth buried in his neck.

With an angered cry of pain Discord tore Fluttershy from his throat and hurled her out a window. He chose to forego pleasant banter as he put a clawed hand to his neck, nursing it gently. “Ouch...that actually hurt...oh, do hold on a moment won’t you Pinkie?”

His tail thrashed about behind him, casually pulling Rarity away from Celestia and tossing her out one of the windows. That ray of hope now dashed he focused his attention on Pinkie. “There, that’s better. When did she become a lycan? I suppose I should have been watching you more carefully but this body has such straining limitations...” A prismatic dragon was a limit to his power, wonderful.

“A few weeks ago.” Pinkie replied. “She was bitten in a fight I think. I wasn’t there. The odds of her contracting it from a mere bite weren’t in her favor but it happens sometimes.”

Discord raised an eyebrow, “You’re just going to sit there and have a conversation with me? I just threw your friends off of a building.”

There was a slight nod as Pinkie looked to the one unbroken window on the left side of the room. “You’re a prismatic dragon. You could have caught us all with your breath and every one of us would be dead. But you don’t kill ponies right? That’s one of your rules. You don’t want me dead Discord.”

One of his claws tapped his chin thoughtfully before he broke out into a smile “Oh Pinkie, always one step ahead of the curve aren’t you? Unfortunately Pinkie, the game has been set, and if you don’t play, your friends might lose. Why are you still here?”

Pinkie approached him, a pleading look in her eyes. “I want to do what we should have done in the first place Discord. I want to negotiate. Just tell me what you want.”

Discord gave a laugh, “It’s too late for that Pinkie. The first time I was in Equestria I gave you everything you wanted. I turned the world into a paradise where food was given freely and the changing nature of the world would make every day of your life an adventure. Everypony’s job was unnecessary because I provided for every single one of you. I gave you a world where every pony could play from dawn till dusk every day of their life if they chose to.” He stared at Pinkie evenly “If everything you ever wanted for free isn’t an offer you could accept, then there’s no deal on earth I could offer that you would take.”

Pinkie looked at her hooves. This was the devil who had offered her the world, and she had turned him down for her friends. She didn’t understand how they could be happier in their world instead of the one Discord offered...but she chose her friends over eternal paradise and she’d do it again. “What are you trying to accomplish Discord?” Pinkie asked weakly.

“Personally? I want a revival. But it’s not about what I want.”

Pinkie blinked a few times. Wanting a revival made sense, he wanted to roam Equestria without the bonds the game matrix put on him. It was the other part that caught her attention “If not what you want, what’s it about?”

Discord snickered “It’s about the Prismatic Queen.” He paused, giving Pinkie a second to process that. “I’m here, doing everything that needs to be done for her. And when all this is over the Prismatic Queen will rule the free world, and I will have my revival.”

Pinkie’s eyes narrowed. The books hadn’t told her about any Prismatic Queen. This wasn’t part of the game itself. “Who is the Prismatic Queen?”

The massive dragon’s head shook disapprovingly as he shook a claw. “No no Pinkie. You get to see all the pieces on the board, and no more.” There was a long pause before a heavy thump on the door attracted Pinkie’s attention. The brace they had put against the door budged, cracking under the force of a battering ram. “I don’t kill ponies, Pinkie, but I can’t speak for those guards. You’re down to fifteen seconds.”

The pink mare slowly stood with a frown, then took off running. It probably would have been smarter to jump out of one of the already broken windows. On the other hoof jumping out of a stain glass window was much more cinematic. Pinkie hung in mid air, bits of coloured glass flying all about her as she arced, then swan dove off the tower toward the rushing ocean below.

Flight Square

Twilight’s head hung low as the group finally entered the village of Rochpoint. The last four days had been hard. In all honestly Twilight knew she wouldn’t have made it without Rainbow Dash and Applejack. They’d fought off minor enemy attacks in the night, but nothing they couldn’t handle.

“We’re here!” Pinkie called out cheerily, causing Twilight to look back.

“Yay.” Fluttershy said softly with a laugh, catching Pinkie off guard by tackling her from behind. A fit of laughter erupted from the two as they rolled about wrestling on the ground. The last four days had been well to the yellow mare. The tension had lifted from the group as their demure friend returned to them. Somehow she had shaken off the mental withdrawal she suffered from the horrors this place inflicted on her. Her ribs were still visible, but even after four days they had become far less pronounced.

Applejack’s eyes rolled as she darted sideways around the pink and yellow cluster of hooves to come up beside Twilight. Whatever secret druidic rituals Pinkie helped Fluttershy with each night seemed to not only feed her body, but her soul as well. Not for the first time the mage wondered exactly what they were doing at night. After all, it was well known Pinkie was happy to “party” with anypony who was fun, regardless of gender. Fluttershy...well, Fluttershy had always been a bit too embarrassed to talk about that kind of thing. Not that it mattered of course, if Fluttershy and Pinkie were together that was fine...it was just weird.

“How long you gonna stare at them sugarcube?” Applejack asked wryly.

The cyan pony next to her looked over with a grin, “Seriously Twilight, if you’re so interested go join them.”

Flushing underneath her coat Twilight’s head snapped forward. “I...I was just...” She stammered uselessly.

A wave of relief flooded through her as Rarity’s head raised up slightly before she spat “Rainbow Dash. Don’t be silly, Twilight’s right, it’s filthy.” That struck the mare as unnecessarily mean spirited, after all they didn’t even know if the two of them- “They’re going to need to thoroughly wash themselves before we meet anyone important.” Twilight flushed harder, this time because of her own mind. Of course that’s what she meant, there’s lots of dirt there...

The purple mare coughed as she thought frantically for a way to change the topic. “We...need to find a way to-” She stopped dead, the rest of the group halted beside her. They seemed to follow her gaze to the town. From the right Rainbow swore. The sight of marines wearing Viceroy Shadowflame’s uniforms blighted the city.

One of the marines tapped his friend on the shoulder with a smile, then handed him a bottle. The two tapped their bottles together and drank, stopping afterwards to laugh and talk. Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, a grim look on her face. Instantly Twilight wished Derpy was there. Her position of as a knight would have lent them some credibility, and somehow all tasks just seemed more daunting without her.

Rainbow glared at the village with clenched teeth. “The next costal city would take us days to reach, and our boat ride to the station would be that much longer. We need this port to have a chance.”

Applejack spoke next “Well I know ya’ll want to get Celestia out as soon as we can. But maybe we should jus’ lie low for awhile. Y’know, ponies are gonna be a might twitchy with a viceroy...being put out to pasture.”

Rarity started up again, strolling forward heedlessly. “They’re not on high alert Applejack, they’re on shore leave. I’ve been talking to Pinkie about dragons. She told me every one of them is a shapeshifter.”

The three of them quickly started forward to catch up with Rarity. “What’s that got to do with anything?” Rainbow questioned. “So Discord’s got powers. These ponies are still going to be pissed little miss sunshine over there plugged him in the face.”

“I’m fairly certain Discord has taken control of Viceroy Shadowflame’s kingdom by impersonation. That’s why we need to get the elements of harmony out of there now...before he has a chance to have them moved.”

“He’s a dragon. If he was going to do that he would have done it a long time ago.”

The blood drained from Twilight’s face “He couldn’t...he doesn’t kill ponies...”

Applejack’s head slowly drooped “So...we just gave Discord an army? An army holding the princess hostage?”

Momentarily Twilight’s eyes shut “So not only did we lose Derpy...But Discord’s commanding an army that can actively stop us?” A sigh left her mouth, they had gone in there with the barest scraps of a plan and just made a bigger mess.

“Chin up darling.” Rarity cooed. “We made a mistake. We didn’t know Discord would be there. He surprised us, now we just need to pick up the pieces and try again.”

Pinkie and Fluttershy quickly sidled up behind the rest of them. Twilight couldn’t quite hear their conversation, but she knew Pinkie was consoling Fluttershy about the increased guard.

“Let’s split up.” Rarity said, “Pinkie and Fluttershy go get rooms at a local inn for us...and try to find a way to wash up will you?”

Pinkie smiled; the girls’ manes filled with dirt and loose sticks.

Next she looked over to Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “You two seem to know a thing or two about what gear we might need. I know for a fact Applejack is an excellent merchant. Do remember Fluttershy over there can’t wear any metal, will you?”

Applejack beamed as Rarity handed over the skin of whale oil. With a nod of assent she struck up a conversation with Rainbow Dash as they broke away from Rarity and Twilight, leaving them alone on the path. Twilight stole a look at the guards as they past. They didn’t even look up. “What should we do then?” Twilight asked, keeping her face turned away from each of the guards.

“Oh Twilight.” Rarity said happily “I haven’t had a nice day shopping and relaxing with a friend since this whole mess started. We’ll pick up a boat as well...something small enough for us to sneak into Shadow Station.”

Twilight almost stopped in surprise. Their doom was looming on the horizon and she wanted to go shopping? Her eyes rolled as she lost interest in the conversation and started looking out to the docks. As she expected, a single warship was stationed here. Hopefully it was just picking up supplies and would be gone soon. If not they’d just have to work around it. The purple mare shook herself out of her contemplation, realizing her friend had stopped. As she looked back she noted her friend’s hoof holding out, dangling a diamond pendant on the end of a cold chain.

Twilight had to pause, then turn about to take a closer look. Slowly her mouth opened in shock “Is...is that a...”

Rarity nodded, a look of sadness in her eyes “Yes Twilight. It’s exactly what you think it is. Come on, we’re going to the store to trade it in.”

Twilight instantly fell in line behind her friend “Ponies are supposed to get those ten years after they become full mages Rarity!” The white mare threw her a look, causing Twilight to lower her voice. “Where did you get that?”

“Twilight, you haven’t once asked me why I didn’t become a sorceress. That’s what I wrote down on my sheet after all.”

Twilight gave a quick nod, “Well Applejack and Rainbow Dash didn’t end up where they started either. So I figured you just made a decision.”

“I did.” Rarity said “Magic was never an area that interested me Twilight. But diamonds...it was a long story, but in the end I ended up with this pendant. I’ve never looked back.”

“Why...why didn’t you sell it?”

“I don’t know Twilight. I’ve kept it for as long as I could remember. I’ve always found other ways to make ends meet.” She let out a sigh as she stopped in front of a store and pushed her way inside. Twilight looked at the storefront window, it sold...fabric? Hastily, she followed.

“Rarity, what are we doing here?”

Rarity’s answer was simple and yet somehow baffling. “I want to make a dress.”

“But we’ve got other things to do, what are you going to do with a dress?”

“I don’t know.”

For the briefest of moments Twilight was silent, then Rarity turned apologetically to her friend. “Have you ever wondered how a pony whose work has gotten so much attention still worked in a shop in ponyville, making all of her dresses by herself? I’d made dresses that grace the grand galloping gala and Hoity Toity himself featured my line. Shouldn’t I have moved to Canterlot, or at least outsourced my work?”

“Well, actually, the longer we stay in this warped reality the less sense our reality seems to make.”

“It was my cutie mark. My special talent was finding gems. If any pony wanted gems supplied they’d be happy to work with me.” Her eyes drooped a little “But I didn’t want to hunt gems. I wanted to design and build clothing. Unfortunately nopony wants the fashion industry influenced by a gem hunter. That’s why I wanted to be part of high society in the first place. They won’t buy my dresses unless I can come across as refined as I can. So I hid behind a mask so good they could forget, just for a second, that it isn’t my special talent.”

“But...why make a dress here and now?”

“At some point I focused so much on becoming a social butterfly that my business became about being part of high society instead of doing something I loved. I wore the mask too long and forgot what my face looked like...if you’ll excuse the metaphor.”

This the purple mare didn’t know how to respond to that, she scratched the back of her head.

“This world did something to me Twilight. I don’t want to be...this.” She held up the diamond pendant, instantly attracting the attention of a well dressed pony who had earlier been ignoring them, “I want to be who I am. I am Rarity. I like to make dresses.”

The rest of the day continued without much serious conversation. Twilight didn’t much want to talk about the looming death. Instead she took the opportunity to feel...normal. Rarity managed to hock the diamond to pick up fabrics and sewing supplies. She then joined Twilight in purchasing a very small boat. It was a good thing too because Rarity seemed to be a good deal better at it.

The day passed quickly. With the night fast approaching the pair finally found their way to the rooms Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had secured. The rooms weren’t exactly luxurious, but they took what they could get. Many of them were filled by marines, who weren’t required to spend their nights on the ship so long as their shore leave held out. With a smile and soft thanks Rarity retreated into her room. With that Twilight made her way back into her own room, readying herself to learn some spell more powerful than those that Discord simply shrugged off.

The purple mare sat at her desk, holding her hooves up as she focused. Crushed spell components lay on the desk, shuddering as their magical essence was drawn out of them. Sweat formed on her brow from the strain of holding the magic together. Her face lit up in the glow of the sphere of fire that flickered into existence. A small smile crossed her face, she could do this. This was a flaming sphere, a spell from the second tier of magic. When she was leafing through the stolen spellbook she was delighted to find it, although she didn’t know if she had the skill to master it. With all her study and focus she could only manage the lowest tier of spells.

With a concentrated breath she moved her hooves left, the flickering sphere followed. A small laugh escaped her lips, she did it! Twitching her hooves with slight move right allowed it to return to it’s original position. She could control second tier magic! She wanted to cheer, but she didn’t dare. The spell was there, but it was unstable. Each time her concentration deviated the sphere started to shake. She had nowhere to throw the sphere, but that didn’t matter - she would just let it go slowly.

“Hey Twilight! Fluttershy and I are going for a walk!” Pinkie practically yelled into her ear. With a startled cry the mage’s head head instinctively turned. Twilight didn’t see so much as feel the sphere destabilize. A wave of heat followed a forceful blast that caused Twilight to fly off of her haunches as she recoiled. In an instant the fire was gone and everything had returned to normal. Well, everything other than the slash mark on her arm where she had cut herself on some corner.

Twilight grit her teeth as pain radiated up her arm, muscles tensing as she stifled a cry. The marking on her foreleg first grew red, then slowly started to seep blood. There was a sharp intake of breath through her clenched jaw before she slowly let out a pained breath. Quickly she opened her eyes, she hadn’t even realized they were closed. With a sigh she pushed the pain out of her mind, looking over to her bag. She needed to go ahead and wrap this up before she made a mess. She wasn’t worried about the wound exactly, it was painful but small. So long as she kept it clean it wouldn’t fester or cause her too much trouble.

Carefully she stood on three legs and pushed herself towards the bag. Her momentum halted instantly as something pulled her tail taught. Her head turned to look back, eyes registering the pink pony’s teeth clamped down. As their eyes met Pinkie let her go, trotting up to her with a smile. “Hey Twilight! You’re bleeding!” She gave a smile that caused Twilight to cringe, “No worries, that happened to me a lot when I was learning to use my cutlass.” Her hooves raised for a moment and one flash of green light later the pain ceased. Twilight looked on in fascination as she watched her skin twist and stitch itself together. The seam in her flesh melted away, and soon all that was left was a line of red from the blood that leaked out.

With raised eyes Twilight rubbed the blood about into her fur, looking more closely at the wound...or lack thereof. The lavender mare’s astonished face fell upon her friend’s quickly retreating form. That was restorative magic, restorative magic! The magic that mended flesh and set bone. Twilight knew the mare could cast it, she had said as much. It just occurred to her how unimaginably useful it would be to know such magics herself. It didn’t come up much as it was a source of shame in the mage tower she was raised in. No the power to heal and save lives was known to the druids. And those ponies huddled in the woods selfishly guarding their secrets so that the tower couldn’t use it. Celestia forbid they actually help civilization like the tower did. Now, however, it registered Pinkie wasn’t a druid and somehow she knew.

The door to her room burst open as multiple uniformed ponies rushed in, longblades on each of their hips. The first one barked out in a gravelly voice, “What was that? Is everything allright?”

Twilight’s face flushed as she unconsciously took count of all the guards. Reflexively she reached for her spell pouch to draw any spell component that would let her cast. Pinkie’s hoof reached out and slapped hers away harshly, though she did follow it up with an apologetic look. “We’re sorry boys!” she called out with a giggle, “My friend here is part of the mage tower of Canterlot. She’s been out for a long time and she was worried she’d fallen behind in her studies. It won’t happen again, promise!”

The guard paused. Twilight’s heart fluttered as his gaze drifted slowly from Pinkie and settled onto her. A cough cleared his throat as he spoke, a threatening glare in his eyes. “Apologies ma’am. But the towers have specially designed facilities for testing spells safely. Please don’t do any more testing here, it’s not safe.” Twilight could only nod, looking to the floor in embarrassment. As the crowd began to leave Pinkie moved with them.

“Pinkie!” Twilight said, rushing over to her friend “Wait, I need to talk to you.”

Her pink friend merely turned around with a smile “Oh Twilight, no thanks necessary! You’re my friend!”

“Oh...errr...yes, thank you. Also, I just realized you know healing magic, could you teach me that spell?” Her hoof scratched at her mane “It would come in handy if anypony else gets hurt.”

“Nnnnnope!” Pinkie stood still, watching her friend with an expectant smile. “Anything else I can help with?”

Twilight froze, watching her pink friend seem genuinely looking to help her. Was she joking? “W...why not?”

“Because you don’t understand how magic works.”

A snort of laughter left Twilight’s nose as she rolled her eyes “I’m the element of magic Pinkie.” she reminded her friend “I might not know all the most powerful spells of this world, but I still understand the science of magic.”

A pink rump hit the ground as her friend sat. Sensing this conversation might go on for a while Twilight sat as well. “That’s the problem.” Pinkie informed her, “You think magic is a science, but it isn’t. It’s an art.”

A lump of arrogant irritation filled Twilight’s mind as she stomped down with a foreleg. Pinkie was going to lecture her on magic? She spent her life in a mage tower, this mare spent it on a boat! “Pinkie, what we do in the mage towers is science. We mix reagents and apply energies to find out what properties we can draw from them. We try combining them and test to see the results.”

Pinkie nodded, “You’re like children painting, pressing their hooves onto the canvas to make new pictures with the paint they’ve discovered. You can create new and interesting pictures, but you’re just experimenting with what you can do.” Twilight opened a mouth in protest but Pinkie held up a hoof to silence her. “You can’t learn life magic because you don’t have the right paint...this is a metaphor.”

That explanation was ridiculous. “Even if that were the case...” Twilight played along, “Couldn’t you just teach me how to use the right...paint?”

A smile and a nod made Twilight sit taller, thinking for a moment she had won. “I could show you Twilight, but it’ll never work for you. You spend all your time in a tower studying. Life magic hates that.”

A raised eyebrow came from the disbelieving mage, magic didn’t like or dislike anything. It did what they made it do. “But...What do I need to do to use restorative magic?”

“Who has the most powerful healing magic in all Equestria?” A pause held the room before Pinkie realized her blasphemy “Except for Celestia, of course.”

“Druids.” Twilight snapped without thinking, a sneer on her lips. Pinkie just silently eyed her and waited. With a sigh Twilight struggled to think of anypony who had healing magic, but that was the druids. Oh...wait. “Trolls?” She asked incredulously.

Pinkie’s bright smile returned as she bounced once “Yup! I knew you’d get it!” She paused awkwardly before sitting down once more. “Life magic reacts to the wilds and a drive for freedom. Trolls are extremely sensitive to life magic and react heavily to it on an unconscious level. They come back from death it’s so strong.”

Twilight deadpanned “So I have to act like a troll to use healing magic?”

Pinkie shook her head, “Don’t be silly Twilight. Wizards spend all their time learning and trying to make the fields do what they want. You can’t learn life spells because you want to control life spells.”

Twilight choked back an angry shout and did her best to proceed calmly. “The druids control those magics!” she said angrily.

“The druids revere the magic. They treat it as a gift and try to act as agents of life magic rather than it’s master.” Pinkie shrugged, “None of them try to learn life spells, the power just comes. Fluttershy is the only one of us here with any natural magical talent. She can channel life magic directly, without using anything to push it.”

Twilight rolled her eyes; Pinkie was just being Pinkie and making stuff up again. Fluttershy was a pegasus and she was a unicorn! At least in the real world she was. Magic was her special talent even! Inwardly she chided herself for feeling so childishly. This was just a game, and even in the real world everypony had something that made them special. She’d just gotten carried away hearing somepony else having the thing that made her special.

“Right.” She said dryly. “You go out with your druid friend. I’ll get back to learning the spells I can.”

“Okie dokie loki!” Pinkie said brightly before bouncing away.

Pink eyes rolled as Twilight turned back to her table, then stopped. She didn’t want any of those marines thinking she’d gone back on her word. The dejected mage turned about and moved past Pinkie’s room, looking up and down the hallway once, then tried the doorknob. Her hoof fell away as she found the door locked. Maybe it was a little underhanded to go through Pinkie’s things without her permission. Then again, the last time they didn’t do that she deafened herself with a cannon. Besides, it wasn’t like she needed to steal anything, all she needed was a few minutes to copy the spell down. She trotted a few doors down before knocking on one of the doors. There was a pause, then the soft click, then the door opened.

On the other side Rarity’s face appeared. “Oh! Twilight darling. I just got started and I’d really like some time to work. Is it terribly important?”

Twilight paused “Are you holding a knife behind the door?”

“Why yes! That’s quite observant Twilight.”

A small shake of the head led into Twilight’s question. “Rarity, I need to learn Pinkie’s healing spell. We’ll need all the healing we can get before this is out.”

The door swung fully open and Rarity slipped the blade back into her hind leg sheath. Her attention then returned to Twilight, cocking an eyebrow. “Twilight, Pinkie only has two spells or so, and I’m certain she memorized them.”

A knot unclenched in Twilight’s stomach. It seemed she didn’t have to have the conversation about morality she’d feared. That was good, right? “She picked up a book in Viceroy Shadowflame’s library. I know she still has it.”

A slight twinkle graced Rarity’s eyes as her ears raised slightly. “You don’t say?” With a smile she vanished from the doorway, then reappeared with a small pouch on her hip. Playfully Rarity pranced around Twilight. “Let’s give it a quick look then, it won’t be but a moment.”

Instinctively Twilight shot guilty glances around the hallway. As Rarity’s form strode gracefully to Pinkie’s door the stairs were checked. Nope, her friend could work in peace. A moment or two later a click that mimicked Rarity’s door from earlier sounded. The white pony stepped away, stowing her lockpicks as she looked expectantly at Twilight.

“Wow Rarity, you weren’t kidding about being able to get through those so easily.”

A dramatic mane flipped as the lockpicker’s body swung about “Oh, this? The door’s a simple four pin lock, it’s easy enough for anypony who has taken the time to practice such skill.” Twilight smiled, some things changed, some things didn’t.

Quickly they piled into Pinkie’s room and looked about. There wasn’t much to see really. Of the girls Rarity was the only one who had anything of value. Pinkie’s bed was a mess, and hanging on the bedpost was a bookbag. A pang of guilt hit Twilight’s gut, but she did her best to push it away. How guilty would she feel if any of her friends died because she was too squeamish to copy down a page or two?

Her hooves unslung the bag and immediately went through it. She found three things. First was the mare’s spell component pouch. The second was a cluster of purple pedals sealed inside a glass vial on the end of a silver necklace, worthless jewelry. Finally, the big red covered book.

Carefully she removed the book from the bag and set it on the ground, leaving the other items. As Rarity watched, purple hooves pushed the cover open to the front page. Instantly Twilight recoiled in shock and Rarity drew closer, face twisted into an inquisitive expression. This wasn’t a spellbook, it was the collective knowledge the modern world had about a specific monster. Across the inside cover was an illustration of the monster giving them a snarl, and above that the title: The Complete Guide to Lycanthropes.

Zietnot

(Author's note: I had trouble making this flow the way I wanted it to. I decided to try a framing device for this chapter to make it work closer to how I wanted it. It's the first time I've tried it, let me know if it works or needs to be reformatted to what I usually do.)

With a deep breath her nostrils sucked in salt spoiled air and her teeth grit. Pink eyes glanced up to the shadow that towered over them Shadow Station. This was it, death or glory, this was it. Rainbow’s head turned slightly as Applejack quietly said “Last call for food ‘fore we do this, could be the last meal anypony eats.”

“No thanks.” Pinkie said, “I had a big dinner yesterday.” Rainbow’s eyes shot to Twilight as they both grimaced at the thought. Instinctively Rainbow put her hoof against the ornate silver dagger she had hidden from view. The click of Pinkie loading her crossbow cut through the dark, gentle night air.

Slowly Rarity retracted the sails; they would drift in from here. Better to keep their craft small and their presence quiet during their approach. Silence settled in over them, Rainbow’s thoughts directed themselves to thinking about how wrong this could go, how any of them could die at any time. The rest of them must have been thinking the same, how could they not? The worst part was they were going to be stretched thin. With only six of them they needed to be in so many places at once; Rainbow wouldn’t even have a chance to defend them.

Ironic that she was worried about each of them, even Pinkie. Even as she waited for the Pink mare to give her a reason to sink a dagger into her, she worried. What madness was it that six mares thought they could attack a government military installation with any degree of success? With a sigh Rainbow thought back to the day before. Before they had their gear, before they boarded their boat. Back to when she had simple sparring practice in the setting sun with her friend.

Rainbow stepped forward quickly, whirling the stick above her head and viciously smacking the incoming one out of the way. With a sharp intake of breath she dropped to her knees and brought the weapon down, striking at her opponent’s ankles.

A grunt sounded from Applejack’s maw as she popped into the air, the stick narrowly avoiding her rear hooves. One of Applejack’s kind legs struck squarely between Rainbow’s eyes, sending her tumbling to the dirt. “Why’re ya always goin’ for the hind legs Rainbow! There’s other ways to win a fight!”

Hastily Rainbow rolled onto all fours and grinned sheepishly. “Well it worked the first time, and if we were using swords I’d only need it to work once...”

“Well yah can’t always expect hackin’ at their hind legs ta work!”

“Red Gala seemed to think it was effective enough to stop trying to chase me.”

Applejack’s eyes widened, fire burning behind them. “Now just ‘cause Red Gala lost one fight-”

“Was that before or after she got taken hostage by Twilight?”

“Aw that tears it!” Applejack screamed and rushed Rainbow, grabbing twin sticks from her sheaths as she closed in. Her hooves moved swiftly as she struck, their soft clicks mirrored by the sounds of the sticks striking each other’s.

With a grin Rainbow reared up, deflecting the strike of the longer stick. Pink eyes flashed upward as she instinctively tracked her friend’s smaller weapon rear back for a strike. Hastily her head moved back an inch, then whipped forward to viciously bash Applejack in the face. A spray of blood marked the flight of Applejack’s head as her weapon swung wide. In an instant it was over, and Applejack lay sprawled out in the dirt.

There was a long silence before Applejack’s hoof raised up and wiped some blood from the front of her mouth “Ow.”

Rainbow’s grinning face appeared over her friend moments before offering a hoof to help her up. The orange mare accepted it and pulled herself to her hooves, wiping once again at her nose to try and stop the bleeding. “Y’know,” Applejack said, “That was a dirty trick bringing up Red Gala like that.”

Rainbow brushed it off, turning about and tossing her big stick against a nearby tree. A twinge of discomfort shot through sore muscles, weary of their hard practice. “Oh come on. You said yourself her leg was going to heal up just fine.”

“That’s not the point.” Applejack said, no mirth betraying her, “You were a soldier in a battle. I get that. I do. But it’s not like you was drafted, now was it?”

Rainbow let out a sigh “Look AJ, do we really have to do this?”

“You signed on with a group of ponies who attack farmers! An’ ya knew darn well what ya were doin’ was wrong!”

Rainbow could feel her teeth grind as she choked back the anger. She knew it wasn’t going to help her. Every lesson she learned under Brother Meadow screamed at her to keep her anger in check. Still she couldn’t help herself from turning about to face her accuser. “What we were doing? Ponies are wild animals AJ. We used to roam in packs taking what the land gave us like the zebra do.”

“Fine, but why’re ya comin’ after us farming ponies?”

“It’s land with food on it! More food than any of you could ever eat! You’re hoarding it!”

“We planted it! It wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for us! It’s on our land!”

“Fuck your land!”

“An’ if ya went and killed some of my kin ‘cause y’all were too lazy to go and forage your damn selves?”

Rainbow’s mouth held open for a while, then closed. Her expression of anger slowly melted into one of sadness as she turned away, “Nopony ever died from a cut to the hind leg.”

Somberly the cyan mare trudged off. For a minute or so she didn’t hear the hooves of her friend, and hope rose that perhaps Applejack had left her. Soon, however, the orange mare fell in line beside her as they moved towards the town. “Ya know, ya never seemed ta have a problem with mah farming back in Ponyville. What happened?”

With a small smile Rainbow looked to the sky. Darkness was fast approaching. “That was another time AJ. I was a pegasus and the sky was my home. There was so much of it and nopony ever said I couldn’t use it. I was faster then too. It made the world seem so small.”

Applejack gave a small laugh before they fell into silence for a bit. As the town settled into view she spoke again, “I miss ol’ Ponyville. Nopony ever fought over nothin’ back then.”

“Maybe not,” Rainbow said “But then who knows where Spirit would have ended up.”

Applejack cocked an eyebrow “Spirit?”

“He’s a monk in training,” She hesitated “Actually by now he’s probably a full monk now...we used to spar together.”

“In that church of four truths place ya came from?”

“Temple.” Rainbow corrected, “And he wouldn’t have much cared for the choices I made either.”

A cyan brow furrowed as she made out the sight of a purple mare coming towards them from the town. She was about to alert her friend to Twilight’s approach, but one look told her Applejack had seen her as well.

“So.” Applejack said, “You gotta thing with that monk colt?”

Rainbow’s head shook, “No, but the Temple was Spirit’s life. The Temple of Four Truths doesn’t exist in the real world, I have no idea what he’d be doing there.”

Applejack gave Rainbow a reassuring smile, “Maybe when we get back all them temple folk can set themselves up a place in Ponyville.”

Rainbow let out a snicker “If that could happen then I imagine bandits would set up some places themselves.”

A rock was harshly kicked and sent sailing down the road as a hard look took Applejack’s face. “Bandits.” She spat, “Bandits ‘n lycans. I’ll see every last one cured ‘er hanged after Celestia’s back.”

“They’re not all bad,” Rainbow said “Some of them just have families to feed and can’t get by any other way. They’re just in a difficult situation and made some bad choices.”

Applejack paused before raising a hoof to greet Twilight “Naw sugarcube. If an apple’s half rotten we call it a rotten apple. Ponies are good folk or they’re not. An’ we don’t keep rotten apples.”

The conversation died as Twilight sidled up beside them, “Hey guys! Fluttershy and Pinkie got us rooms at the inn closest to the water. Did you get the supplies?”

“We did.” Applejack said, “They’re custom fitting it all, we’re about to go pick it all up.”

“Actually,” Twilight said, “Could you go get it and bring it to the inn? I need to get Rainbow up to speed on our plans for Shadow Station.” Applejack looked over to her cyan friend for an instant, then gave a nod and a polite farewell before leaving.

After Rainbow watched Applejack disappear into the village she turned about to face her purple friend. With a smile she trotted over and took a seat. “Allright Twi, what do I need to know?”

Twilight looked about conspiratorially before lowering her voice. “Rainbow Dash, we’ve got a problem.”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed, “What is it Twilight? Do the marines-”

“No.” Twilight said, “It’s not that, but it’s bad. First I need you to promise not to tell Applejack.”

“What-”

“Promise!” Twilight’s eyes were wide as she reached out and drew Rainbow in closer, “It’s to keep everyone safe.”

“I’ll keep your secret Twilight. What is it?”

“One of our own,” Twilight said hesitantly “Is infected with lycanthropy.”

Rainbow could feel all of her muscles tense suddenly, a panic setting in over her. Lycanthropy! No! A good deal of Applejack’s family had been turned into those beasts. A good portion of her family had been turned! A sudden rolling fury permeated Rainbow’s tensed form. They’d all lost too much to those damned beasts, and now one of her close friends? Unthinkable! Who? who was it! If half of Applejack’s family was turned, it’s possible they turned her too... maybe she was just keeping with them as a spy! No, no that didn’t make sense. Fluttershy, it had to be her. The girl did fight against the lycans before they joined up. All it would have taken was one bite. Bastards! They took-

“Who!” Rainbow Dash screamed, smashing her hooves against the ground and drawing her face forward to within an inch of her friend.

“Quiet! The marines...”

“Who!”

Twilight looked down in shame, then bit her lip, “Pinkie Pie’s been turned.”

Rainbow could feel her heart break as she sunk lower with a miserable sigh, “How’d you find out? Did she attack someone?”

“No,” Twilight said “We found a book about lycanthropy in her things. She’s getting as much information about her condition as she can, maybe looking for a cure or something.”

“That...that doesn’t mean she’s one of them. She’s Pinkie, she’s always doing weird things. She probably just wanted more information on lycans.”

Twilight sighed as she moved around Rainbow Dash and took a seat next to her. “You’ve seen how she’s changed from our Pinkie. She’s gotten cold and bloodthirsty. She turned a cannon of grapeshot against a ship in dock with innocent ponies on board. That’s probably why she didn’t go near your camp or Applejack’s family until after all the other lycans were removed.”

“If she was turned by them wouldn’t she want to stay with them?”

Twilight’s head shook, “No, she wasn’t turned by that group. Lycans are pack creatures. Most ponies who get turned on their own can’t survive. Their wolven and pony natures cause them to kill themselves or turn into feral beasts. They need another lycan to teach them how to embrace their nature. If she were turned a few weeks ago she would have succumbed to madness or death by now.”

“She was on a ship since she was little...”

“She’s seen this entire world as a game Rainbow. She probably infected herself on purpose. She could have paid an alpha to ride with her until she could learn to live with the disease.”

Rainbow put a hoof to her forehead as she thought “We...we need to get Fluttershy away from her. They’ve been going off alone every evening, she’s probably out there with her now.”

Twilight shook her head slowly “She’s a druid Rainbow. All she knows is dealing with wild animals. She’s probably better with Pinkie then the rest of us, having a pet to take care of is probably what pulled her out of her depression.”

Cyan hackles raised “She’s still my friend Twi, maybe you should choose your words more carefully.”

“I didn’t mean...I...I’m sorry. Pinkie’s still my friend too.”

Silence descended upon the pair as they sat in the fading sunlight. Twilight shifted uncomfortably and looked towards the skyline, but Rainbow remained still. Finally her thoughts composed and she looked to Twilight determined, “This is a big accusation and we don’t have any real proof. We can’t just make accusations like that, we need to be sure.”

Twilight’s mouth twitched thoughtfully “Wolfsbane isn’t common. The druids have most of it. Fluttershy had some, but she might have left it on the Wave Crester. Tonight we can go through her things and see if she kept it.”

“And if she has none?”

Twilight paused, then smiled, “Rarity has...medicines...that would make those who imbibe them ill. If Pinkie were to take one and throw up we could see what she’s eaten.”

Rainbow nodded “If Pinkie’s eating meat that’s proof enough she’s turned.”

The two of them trotted slowly back to the village. Rainbow wished to speak, but she could find nothing to say. What would they do after they proved Pinkie was a lycan? Surely even Applejack wouldn’t be heartless enough to want her dead. They only needed to hold the group together long enough to end this game didn’t they? Then they could go back to the way things were. Applejack didn’t ever need to know. Still, this was an extra danger. Pinkie would have...urges. Unnatural urges, the urges carnivores and beasts felt, bloodlust. Worse than that if she was a lycan that meant she had an alpha out there somewhere didn’t she? Some beast of murderous intent that held at least half of Pinkie’s loyalty. Nopony could put their trust in a lycan, no matter how good a friend they were.

As they passed through the sparse buildings towards their inn groups of marines moved towards their ship. For now, at least, crime had dropped to nonexistent. The worst they had to worry about was getting into a drunken brawl...oh man! She could have started a drunken brawl with Viceroy Shadowflame’s marines! There was still time! Military stallions in drunken close com- Twilight’s wordless icy stare bore into her and caused her eager grin to fade. Right...the objective was to be bored and not draw attention. “What?” Rainbow asked, but never received an answer.

As the girls walked through the door at least twenty hungry stallion’s eyes turned to look them over. The heavy stench of ale hung on the air. It was a rich, inviting smell. Blueblood’s brand, she noted; apparently marines drank well. With a lurch one of the uniformed boys found his way to his hooves, a lecherous grin on his lips. He gave a bit of a laugh as he started forward, his eyes transfixed on Twilight.

Rainbow’s teeth grit as she looked over to her purple friend. Of course the bastard at the bar wanted her. Mares had to be soft fragile things didn’t they? Oh somepony was about to learn what it felt when a proper mare bucked him in the face! Rainbow took a step forward, but then the whole room stopped. One stallion’s throat cleared commandingly and each pony turned to look at him. He was an older stallion whose mane had long since greyed. His uniform matched the others, save for a single red pauldron and an aura of regality surrounding him.

Each marine slowly turned back to their drink, and the one who stood retreated respectfully. Slowly the stallion with the red pauldron looked up, a scar running from his eye to his chin revealing itself in the candlelight, “You mares have a nice night now.” he muttered in a thick accent that Rainbow couldn’t quite place, then went back to drinking with his friends.

As Rainbow turned she noted Twilight had already made it to the stairs and quickly followed suit. “Alright fine, no fighting with the marines. What should we do about Fluttershy?”

Twilight jumped as a thump came from the hallway, followed by Pinkie’s high pitched voice “Come ooonnnnn! Let us in!”

After a moment it was followed by a softer one “Please?”

Twilight and Rainbow made it up the stairs and rounded the corner and found Pinkie on her hind legs, resting her front hooves against Rarity’s door. Her left hoof scraped against the wood as she whined, “Raaaaaaarityyyy...”

“No!” the voice from the other side called back.

Quickly Twilight trotted up to the door, approaching Pinkie just a hair too cautiously. “Is something wrong?”

The pink bouncy mane flurried about as Pinkie’s head snapped over to Twilight. “Twilight! You’re here! Rarity’s being a meanie mean pants and she won’t let us in our room!”

The door called out in response “They’re dirty! I’m not about to have nature getting all over my beautiful fabrics.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “Fabrics?”

Twilight turned her head quickly “She’s making a dress.”

“Why?”

Twilight shrugged and turned back. “Okay,” she said diplomatically, “How about we switch rooms? Rainbow Dash and I can sleep with Rarity, you and Fluttershy sleep with Applejack.”

Things were quiet for a while, then Rarity responded from behind the door “Was Rainbow Dash sweating in the woods?”

Rainbow sighed and Pinkie’s head pressed against the door. Slowly the pink mare slid all the way to the ground. “Fine.” Rainbow said testily, “Come on guys, I’ll go with you to a bathhouse, make sure nothing happens.” A pause as a thought struck Rainbow “Let’s leave anything we don’t need with Twilight. No need to carry all our supplies with us.”

With a nod and a grumbled agreement from Pinkie the three of them sloughed off their extra weight and started to leave. Little more than knives graced their bodies, as they hadn’t yet gotten to Applejack’s supplies. As Rainbow turned to follow Fluttershy and Pinkie she felt somepony bite down on her tail. She turned back to see Twilight take something from her robes and hold it out. Quickly she spat out Rainbow’s tail “Take this.”

In her hoof she held a blade, a rather ornate one. Rainbow took a quick look down to the combat knife strapped to her hip “Mine’s better Twilight.”

The mage nodded “Yes, but this one is silver. If...in case a lycan attacks you while you’re out. You can protect our friends with this.” There was something in Twilight’s eyes. A glimmer of fear perhaps, or just determination.

Rainbow took the blade quickly and replaced her combat knife, “Thanks Twilight.” With that she was gone.

With a sigh Rainbow held the door to Rarity’s room open and let the other two in. It was unsettling watching them in the bathhouse. They didn’t do anything wrong exactly. In fact it went pretty much exactly as Rainbow had expected. They naturally ended up in a ridiculous splash fight, she had won of course. The odd part was that Fluttershy had started it, not Pinkie. Fluttershy had always been in the back when things like that happened. Most of the time Rainbow felt bad and had to hold back. Maybe that’s just how druids dealt with that kind of animal, played with them?

As she approached her door it slid open and Twilight stepped out. “Hi Rainbow Dash, Applejack’s getting some rest in there. I don’t want to risk her hearing anything.”

Rainbow nodded, “Makes sense, do lycans act nicer when you roughhouse with them?”

Twilight blinked in confusion “Why would I know that?”

“‘Cause you’re an egghead.”

“Look,” Twilight said “I’ve had time to read a lot of books, but the social behavior between ponies and lycans usually amounts to “avoid at all costs.””

Rainbow averted her eyes, a twinge of shame overtaking her, “She’s still my friend...but did you find any wolfsbane?”

“No.” Twilight’s eyes were downcast, “She must have left it on the Wave Crester.”

“The poison then?”

Twilight sighed as she turned back to her door “We don’t have time Rainbow. While you were gone I heard the marines downstairs talking...they’re going to Shadow Station to provide extra security. If we don’t head out for the station first thing tomorrow we'll have another battalion on our hooves.”

“And if Pinkie turns on us during?”

“There’s no chance of lycans being on that station, and she’s avoided eating us so far. It’s dangerous for us, but we need to put the fate of all Equestria first. Keep the silver dagger and stay close to her for as long as you can. Other than that hope for the best, we need to hit a military base in less than twenty-four hours. Confronting Pinkie now...”

Rainbow nodded as Twilight opened the door “Twi...this world isn’t so bad. If the odds are this heavy against us...”

“No.” Twilight said as she marched in “This is a world of death and pain Rainbow. We have to try.”

A slight thud sounded as the small vessel hit the massive platform in the ocean. It was time, for Equestria they would live or die as heroes. Rarity’s grappling hook hit the lowest railing and held. With a sad smile she looked to her friends “Just in case....I love you all.” Then she began to climb. Rainbow stepped up to go next. Each of them had their part to play. If everything, went off perfectly they might, might, make it out alive. It took a special kind of crazy to attack a military base, but after you agreed to fight a god you’re overqualified.

Cover

“Then just tell us what level it’s on dear.” Rarity said comfortingly.

The young soldier’s lip quivered, and Twilight couldn’t blame him. He was barely old enough to be called a stallion and this was a difficult situation for anypony to be in. Slowly he leaned back against the toilet and drew in a small breath, trying to look brave as he thought. Pinkie’s crossbow let out a soft click as she readjusted the weapon, causing the boy to flinch. Finally he averted his eyes, “Level seventeen.”

Rarity looked him over closely “You realize that if at any point we find out you lied to us, she’ll be back.” A hoof pointed towards the pink pony, her crossbow still sitting level with his face. A wicked grin on her maw promised she wasn’t squeamish about pressing that lever.

“I’m not!” A stern look from Rarity and a threatening click from Pinkie’s crossbow instantly caused his voice to cut off. Slowly he swallowed, then started again, softly. “I’m not lying. It’s on level seventeen but there’s no way to get anything on that level. Everything is monitored all the time, you’d need an army to get anywhere.”

With a nonchalant nod Rarity handed him a vial. “Well that’s our problem, isn’t it dear? Now drink up.” The marine slowly put the vial to his lips, then hesitated, causing Rarity to raise an eyebrow. “Really, if I was going to feed you something lethal, don’t you think my pink friend could take care of that for me?” His eyes flicked to the bolt, sitting in the grooves waiting to perform it’s singular duty, and then he drank.

“Alright girls.” Twilight said in a hushed voice, “It’s on level seventeen. You’ll have...twenty minutes, maybe. This needs to happen fast, so get in place as fast as you can.”

Rainbow gave a smirk and a nod. “C’mon Twi, we’ll be fine. These guys are chumps next to the Apple Clan, and I used to get into their places all the time.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow and stood as Pinkie dropped. Her crossbow replaced Pinkie’s pointing threateningly at the colt’s face “Yeah, and you learned it all from some dirty lycan didn’cha?”

Twilight shot a guilty look at Pinkie, but the comment didn’t seem to phase her. With a thump the marine fell against the floor, the corner of his eyes twitching. “I think he’s out.” Twilight said “Go on, in an hour we’ll all be on a pod with the elements. Discord won’t be able to stop us then.”

The girls exchanged their goodbyes, but quickly left, leaving Rarity and Twilight alone in the bathroom. “What do we do with him?” Twilight asked, moving to Rarity’s side.

“Twilight, this is the main deck, only the night watch are here. By the time they find out he’s missing it’ll be too late. Also, this is the mare’s room, there aren’t a lot of mares doing night watch for the marines. We’ll stuff him in a stall and get out. Now take off his pants.” Rarity quickly began pulling his shirt free.

Twilight’s face flushed, “H-He’s barely old enough to be called a stallion.”

A slow, drawn out sigh escaped Rarity’s lips as she put a hoof to her forehead, “His uniform Twilight, it’s a disguise.”

Twilight’s face burned hotter as she kicked herself inwardly for being an idiot, “Right, I meant he’s so young his uniform probably doesn’t fit.”

“I think it will, now help me take off his pants.”

Twilight grunted in irritation as she peeked out the door for the hundredth time, watching carefully for any sign of a visitor. She had been standing guard for three minutes before Rarity finally finished. They had lost three minutes that they needed to get to the level seventeen security center. Twilight didn’t understand the details she put on—did she really need darkened eyes or a less shiny more weathered coat? She had the uniform, wasn’t that enough? Did she need to waste those precious minutes fussing over details like that?

With Rarity’s assent they finally left the bathroom and slipped between patrols to the stairs leading below deck. This station was simple enough, a single massive platform on the water with multiple decks below. Level seventeen would be the sixteenth under the water, hundreds of feet below the surface of the water. The design’s bottom floor held a storage space for spell energy that provided power to the entire place. Lights, automated doors, floodgates... everything was powered from there. It was an impressive display getting all that energy to perform so many different functions. The mage towers had designed most of it, but the most impressive thing was not how it was stored, but how it was charged. It was said bases like these were powered by Celestia herself stopping and personally charging it enough for years to come. This way if it was ever taken by an enemy they would be able to use it for a year or two at most before the lights went out and the place became a deathtrap. It was supposed to stop ponies from trying to depose the princess. It would be amazing just to take a look, just to see what kind of...no, no that wasn’t what they came here for.

They walked down multiple flights of stairs, occasionally passing a worker or a soldier. Each time a worker asked, Rarity would say Twilight was a newbie marine and they would lose interest. Each time a marine asked, Rarity told them she was “one of the eggheads” they brought in for the projects on level seventeen, and that seemed to be enough. It was actually a bit scary how easily she was able to walk right past everypony, was this the extent of their nation’s security?

With a small amount of searching they finally found their way to their destination, the office of Admiral Chase. As they approached the two intricately carved oaken doors the pair of armored ponies flanking it stood warily “What is it?” one of them demanded.

Twilight’s eyes raised as Rarity’s voice took on a completely different accent and a tone of bored indifference, “This here’s a pony from one of the mage towers. Something about some new project, I think it’s important, I don’t know. She wants to see the Admiral.”

The guards looked to each other before looking over Twilight. “What’s in the bag miss?”

With a polite smile Twilight turned so he could get a better look, “A bottle of wine, a gift from the Canterlot mage tower. I’d appreciate giving it to him in person.”

“You’ll need to give up a your spell components, and we’ll have to check you for weapons.”

“Again?” Twilight asked, but gave up her spell component pouch as he searched her for weapons, luckily she didn’t carry any. Finally the stallion opened the door to reveal the admiral sitting at his desk, head buried in a stack of papers. He was an older pony, his wrinkles skin hidden mostly behind a greying bushy beard. Light brown fur covered his entire body, well what she could see over the desk.

“Admiral.” Rarity said, standing at attention and giving a formal salute.

The admiral barely looked up, giving a half hearted salute in return “At ease, what is it?”

“This is Miss Twilight Sparkle of the Canterlot mage tower. She was sent over here to work on a new project.”

Admiral Chase pushed aside a paper and looked up “Why are you telling me? Shouldn’t you be bringing her to Commander Bells?”

“Commander Bells already checked her out sir.” Rarity said “I’m to bring her to her quarters as soon as possible, but she insisted on giving you the gift she brought.” The lie seemed to flow so easily off her tongue Twilight had to look hard to see her friend inside of this other pony. They hadn’t even known of this Commander Bell’s existence until ten seconds ago, but the words were said, and now every pony within earshot believed she was legitimate. It was a startling look at how easy it was to fool ponies...well, how easy it was for Rarity to fool ponies anyway.

Twilight stepped up and set the bottle of wine on the table, “I just wanted to let you know what a privilege it is getting to work on this project.” Pink eyes flicked quickly over his head to the portrait behind the admiral. It looked like it would barely fit through the door it was so massive, but it held what she needed. The picture was of the admiral himself in a dashing uniform standing on a rock overlooking the ocean. Oh yes, that would do.

“You’re welcome Miss Sparkle, and thank you for the wine. However, I am dreadfully busy. I’m sure Commander Bells can get you started on the project tomorrow.”

“Of course.” Twilight said, turning and finding her way out of the room. Without resistance she was given back her spell pouch and let go. Rarity took the lead from there and led her on. Without a second glance they walked all the way down to the seventeenth level and out to the security room. The moment nopony was looking Rarity picked the lock to a supply closet and ushered Twilight inside.

Rarity shut the door behind Twilight and whispered “Did you get a good enough look?”

Twilight nodded.

“Good, then get to it.”

With a deep concentrated breath she began a quiet breathy chant. Slowly the light around her began to shimmer, and her eyes began to glow a pale white. Her skin began to shift and stretch, slowly pulling out into wrinkled bags. On her face the fur grew rapidly and formed itself into a thick beard. From her nose to her tail all of her fur shifted into a dull brown with the exception of her new beard that took a light grey. Her legs cracked softly as they grew and she sprouted several inches uncomfortably. Slowly her stomach shrank—no, not shrank, sucked in. She could still feel it, just cramped. Any other day she might have been disheartened at her weight, but today she had more important thoughts on her mind.

Her clothing wrapped and warped. It’s colour quickly shifting into the stark blacks the picture showed and the various medals popped into existence. Red quickly filled in the spots it needed to as her coat of arms and rank insignia flourished. The light died down and Twilight turned her head about, looking at the strange new body. “Well?” she asked, “How do I look?”

Rarity’s eyes rolled “Like an old stallion with no sense of humor and whose sense of style is dominated by his noble masters.”

“Sooo....”

“Perfect.”

They shared a smile before Rarity pushed the door open. “After you, admiral”

“You know how dead we’d be if they caught us, right?”

“For impersonating an admiral in the Royal Equestrian Navy? You don’t say.”

Straightening her back, Twilight cleared her throat and walked past her friend into the hallway, a moment later Rarity fell into line. Suddenly Twilight’s mind filled with thoughts she wished to ask the mare, thoughts she didn’t dare utter while in disguise. Thoughts like, how the hell are you so calm? Why is the world suddenly so hot and when did the air get so thin? The air had surely gotten thinner, that’s why she was having such trouble breathing. Rarity opened the door to the security office for her and everyone was staring at Twilight, they all saw right through her, they knew.

Slowly Twilight strut into the room, taking careful consideration as to how she held her back. She needed to act like she belonged here, no, that others were barely worthy of her presence. That meant whatever she wanted to do she shouldn’t think about the churning horrified feeling in her stomach. Another thing she shouldn’t think about was the fact that if anyone asked any sort of questions she was going to be swinging from a hangman’s noose for espionage. Oh Celestia! She was going to die! She was thinking about how she was going to die! That made the churning in her stomach feel worse! That feeling was the thing that would betray her and get her killed! Now she was worried about being worried, and she knew she was worried! Oh this is how it ends, getting murdered because she was so worried about getting murdered!

“Admiral,” Rarity said, looking smoothly to Twilight, “There’s a problem with the power grid. I’ll need to check each relay to make sure it isn’t coming from one of these.”

Twilight sighed and shifted her gaze over to Rarity, then back to the room, “And how long will our work have to be held up for the sake of your trivial tests?”

“Only fifteen minutes sir, it’s a fast test, but it is important.”

“Alright, everypony listen up!” Twilight called, turning every head in the place. “Apparently there’s a problem with the power in this room. I’m not about to have any of you making it worse! I want all of you out of here so that our technician isn’t tripping over any of you while she does her job. Take a coffee break or something, but if any of you aren’t back in fifteen minutes so help me Celestia I’ll have your hide!”

The room was filled with irritated glares as lab coat wearing ponies stepped away from their controls and started out of the room. Formally Rarity strut ahead of Twilight and puffed her chest out at one of the ponies “Do you have a problem with the admiral’s orders civilian?”

The pony stopped, clenched his teeth as though thinking of something to say, then let it go. “No. But I’m sure our technicians could have taken care of whatever it is. We don’t need the military looking over our equipment.”

Rarity opened her mouth but Twilight raised a hoof to silence her, “The boy has a point, their people do know the operations of these devices more than we do. Please fetch your foremost expert on the operation of these devices to double check our work.”

The pony looked to Rarity with a smirk, then gave a small bow to Twilight before strutting out of the room. The minute the doors closed Rarity and Twilight ran to the panels and began looking them over. The entire interfaces were etchings in wood next to stacks of paper indicating the function of the switches.

“Found it!” Rarity said with a smile, sliding a hoof across one of the switches. A soft click and hum were followed by the floodgates sealing over the doors leading out of the room. The gates were solid metal and designed to keep the crushing pressure of the ocean out, it would take awhile for anypony to punch through.

As the doors slid shut the mare’s eyes met in triumph, Twilight’s mouth twitched to a smile “We just took control of a security station in a military outpost! Just the two of us!”

Rarity let out a giggle as she looked back to the panels “Yes, we are quite amazing aren’t we? But do try to focus Twilight, we need to be gone before they break inside.” Smiles on their faces, the pair went back to scanning the panels.

Twilight’s eyes focused in on one panel that simply contained a map of the floor and a series of lights in the rooms. Perhaps some sort of detection system? Letting security know where there were ponies in case of an emergency? Almost every room was lit up. That would make sense for now. Twilight turned her attention away as Rarity called out “I found the floodgates for this floor, did you find out how to get everypony out?”

Hesitantly she looked the controls over once more, but something on the wall caught her eye. A glass shield protecting a single lever underneath the sign “Emergency.” That seemed to fit the bill. Twilight raised a hoof up and stomped the glass, shattering it. Then she took hold of the switch and with one pump of her hoof, flipped it. Instantly the white lights everywhere turned a bright red and a loud piercing tone ripped through the floor. Twilight let out a yelp and flinched as the tone blared in and out of existence.

Hastily she ran to the window overlooking the floor, more red lights dominated the world below. The floor was filled with marines and lab coated ponies scurrying out of rooms and rushing in various directions. Each of them practically tripped over the other as they scurried to the stairwells in a desperate bid to escape the “Emergency.” Twilight’s gaze shifted over to the panel with the map, one by one each of the lights went out until only two remained. “That should do it.” Twilight told Rarity as she turned back to the switch on the wall. As she pulled the switch back to it’s starting position the lighting returned to normal and the howling alarm stopped. With a sigh Twilight rubbed her ears, watching calmly as Rarity engaged the floodgates and sealed off the rooms downstairs.

Silently Twilight watched the window, shifting uncomfortably as her reflection dissolved from that of an elderly admiral into that of a scared little filly. She was shaking with adrenaline and fear, her rapidly beating heart mirroring that of the pounding of the battering rams slamming into each door of the security office.

After a moment her heart skipped a beat. A smile formed on her face as she saw her four other friends gallop into view and look up to the window at her. She waved and they waved back. Goddesses she wished the abject terror would stop fraying her nerves. “Where are they!” Rainbow called up to her, sound muffled by the glass.

Rarity strode up next to the terrified mage and set a hoof on her shoulder with a reassuring smile. Then she turned her attention to Rainbow “A big room on the opposite side of the compound! Next to the botanical labs!” Rainbow was silent. Rarity’s face scrunched up for a moment before she stuck a hoof out. “That way! Next to the room with plants!”

Rainbow nodded and turned back to her friends, speaking quietly, then looked back to Twilight “Hang in there, we’ll get them and get out! Be ready to get out!” Twilight could only nod, she’d already found the switch to unlock the escape pods. It seemed they were always unlocked, the switch existed specifically to stop someone from using them to escape. As soon as she had appeared, Rainbow Dash and all of their friends disappeared down the hallway.

Things were going perfectly. They’d taken control of the security room and the entire floor the Elements of Harmony were stationed on. They couldn’t hold it for any extended period of time, but they’d done it. All they could do was sit and wait. So that’s what they did. Occasionally their eyes would meet, but what could their mouths say that their eyes didn’t. This was insane, and they were scared. Each minute that passed was another stomach boiling minute of torture as the pounding on the doors intensified. Luckily, something happened to break up the monotony.

A resounding pop filled the room followed by a loud clang, as though somepony had tipped over their cauldron mid-brew. Swiftly her head reoriented itself to the source of the noise and she found they were no longer alone. Where none had been before stood two ponies. The first was a stallion with a greyed mane and a white lab coat, the symbol of Viceroy Shadowflame emblazoned on the lapel. The other was a larger stallion clad in full plate armor. While the first cowered and shook unsteadily, the armored warhorse stood unconcerned and looked about. His armor was black save for the coat of arms on the front. The crest was that of a red outline of a shield with a red cloud imposed on it. Twilight had come to know that symbol well as of late, the symbol of Viceroy Shadowflame, this was a Zephyr Knight.

Of the ponies in the room Rarity was the first to move. The mare gracefully leapt into a sideways roll and a flurry of knives showered his side of the room. The knight stood still for a moment as the multitude of blades bounced harmlessly off of his armor, accompanied by a series of pings. As the last blade hit the floor his visor slowly turned to look at Rarity “Throwing knives? Really?” Incredulity evident in his tone, “This is enchanted full plate. A heavy crossbow would be lucky to get through, and you’re going to throw knives?”

With a determined look in her eye Rarity pulled the trusty combat dagger and began nimbly darting about in a curving charge. Her target reared up on his hind legs, paused, then struck forward with both hooves. She was still six feet away when he attacked but still she reeled. The small room instantly became a flurry of white as papers from everywhere whipped off of their desks and clouded the room. Twilight’s mane whipped about her ears and eyes as a sudden rush of wind invaded her. With a surprised look on her face Rarity was blown off of her feet by a sudden burst of wind and sent flailing across the floor to be stopped rather roughly by a wall.

With a grunt the white mare picked herself off of the floor, only to get caught by the charging stallion. A half ton of warrior and metal collided into her before she’d had a chance to steady herself. His armor plated shoulder caught her underside and smashed her into the wall forcefully; Twilight was certain she heard the sound of snapping bone. Rarity gagged as all the air in her lungs were forcibly removed. Her tongue fell out of her mouth and drool ran down her cheeks. Only seconds after she had been hit her eyes had teared and water ran down her face.

For a moment the knight lowered and pulled back, letting Rarity’s limp body collapse onto his shoulder. Then he reared up and tossed her over his head into the air. Swiftly he returned his forelegs to the floor and bucked. Again his strike came nowhere close, but again she flew. Her rag-like body was caught in the blast of wind and flew straight away from him. In seconds she was propelled into the ceiling on the other end of the room, where she collapsed to the floor as gravity retrieved her. Twilight could still hear the muted sounds of choking sobs as her friend tried to retrieve her breath.

Having utterly wrecked Rarity in under fifteen seconds the wall of steely death turned about, affixing it’s visor on Twilight. Casually it started towards the mage. Twilight felt a chill run through her as she abandoned her spot and rushed to Rarity’s side. Relief flooded through her as the knight took the barest interest in watching her go, then moved to the controls with the white clad stallion.

“What did she do?” The knight asked.

The scientist looked over the panels for a few moments, “She’s activated all the floodgates to the testing level. All our marines are sealed outside.”

“The Elements of Harmony?”

“They’re sealed too...but there’s activity in the botanic laboratory one lab over. They might be trying to smash through the wall with something.”

The knight nodded “Well it won’t matter now. Unseal the floodgates, we’ll have a contingent of marines in there before they come close. Prisoners if they can, corpses if necessary.”

Panic flooded through Twilight as the lab pony started working his hooves over the panels. This was her plan that was falling apart. First she got everypony trapped in this world by her need to play a stupid game, and now she was going to get them killed with her stupid plan. No, no she needed to protect them. It was too late for her, and it was too late for Rarity; but she had to fight for the rest of her friends that still had a chance.

Quickly she reared up on her hind legs and pulled a pink pebble out of her spell component pouch. Within seconds she held a swirling pink bolt in her hands. “Don’t you dare!” she said, “Step away from the panel now!”

The knight looked back at her, she swore she could hear an amused snicker. Slowly he trotted towards her “Come on, at least the knives stood a chance. You’re just embarrassing yourself.”

Twilight held up the projectile. It was a weak spell, amounting to little more than a punch. However it’s weakness gave her perfect control of the little missile, there wasn’t a chance she would miss. “Last chance.” She said quietly, her hooves shaking.

The knight sat, “Go ahead. I’d seriously consider if it’s really worth it though.”

So Twilight did. The little missile hung in the air as she thought. After a moment she had made her decision. Yes, it was worth it, a hundred times over.

The little pink missile leapt from her hooves and zipped towards the knight. Inches from his face it changed course, skirting around him and towards the lab pony. It unerringly flew between his legs and smashed into the console, which went up in a shower of sparks that sent him reeling. The lights on the board flickered once, then died.

A blackened helm looked back, then returned to Twilight. In an instant the warhorse crossed the room and swung. The mage uselessly held up her hooves and let out a cry as she was slapped with a mailed hoof, sending her sprawling. Silently the knight stalked over to her and slapped her again, forcing another yelp of pain out of the mare. Limply she lay as she was dragged across the ground and shackled to the wall. Uselessly she watched as he tore her spell pouch away and moved off to shackle Rarity without any resistance.

Finally finished securing his prisoners he moved to the lab pony and watched him work in vain to fix it. “She’s interrupted the power flow.” The lab pony informed him, “It didn’t do any real damage, but it’ll take a half hour for me to establish the connection again.”

The knight sighed angrily and turned around, “Well get started. I’m teleporting into the botanic laboratory to deal with them.”

The lab pony stopped, “You can’t teleport in blind! You have no idea how many of them are in there.”

“There are five, and the only one that is even remotely threatening is a Starsoul Knight. I’m the commander of the Zephyr Knights, she doesn’t stand a chance.” His head turned to regard Twilight again, “I’ll try not to kill them if they surrender.” With a resounding pop the plated fiend vanished. Half an hour, that’s what she’d bought her friends. As she lay on the floor nursing her aching jawbone she had one thought. It was still worth it.

Author's Note

(Author's note:Check it out! An author's notes section! 400 people have decided to give my little story a try, personally I find that downright amazing. Anyway, I've got a birthday party to get to. Since I probably won't see you before it's time, merry Christmas guys.)

Counterplay

Author's Note: Happy new year everyone.

With a final pull Fluttershy struggled closer to the top of the rope. Rarity and Rainbow Dash’s help was gratefully accepted as they reached down from the railing and helped pull her onto the station's deck. She only thought of resting for a moment before catching herself and moving to a place so she could watch the soldiers. One night watch stallion screaming for help was all they needed to have their entire plan scuttled before it got underway.

As she watched a young stallion in a marine uniform turned and started their way down the deck. “Marine...” She warned softly.

With a nod Rainbow pulled the last pony up onto the deck and tossed the grappling hook back into the ocean. They had more than one and didn’t have the time to coil it up at the moment.

Hurriedly the mares slunk down the side of the ship, some more successful keeping to the shadows and silence than others. One by one all four of them funneled into the mare’s restroom. With a muffled incantation a small magical ball of light flashed out of Twilight’s hoof and rested in one of the stalls, just bright enough to touch the edges of the room. They didn’t dare make it any brighter than that; the last thing they needed was attention.

The bathroom of this place was far above the standards of other bathrooms she had been to. The wood was all finished and stained a lovely saffron and smelled wonderful. Was that smell...yes, yes the military apparently had potpourri as standard issue for their bathrooms. One of the benefits of having a female ruling the country was apparently that it was okay for things to smell nice.

Applejack’s voice cut through her thoughts as the orange mare hauled the young marine in with a knife at his throat, “Y’all make one dang noise I’ll kill ya so fast yuh’ll never get heard by nobody. I can appreciate a stallion dyin’ fer his country, but only a dang moron dies fer no reason.”

Twilight looked up somberly as they dragged him across the floor and into one of the stalls, “Fluttershy, please keep an eye on the door. Make sure nopony is looking for him. Pinkie, get your crossbow ready and come here.”

Rarity’s face changed to a comforting one as she past Fluttershy on the way to the stall. Even as Fluttershy moved to the door to keep watch she dared to listen in.

“Hello there.” Rarity cood, “We’re a tad lost. Would you mind very much directing us to your most secure experimental room?”

The stallion’s voice shook as he answered, “Cinnamon Sails, r-recruit, Sh-Shadow Station Watch.”

“You really needed to give me the information on where you’re stationed? We abducted you outside of the bathroom...ten seconds ago.”

“Cinnamon Sails, recruit, Shadow Sta-”

Rainbow interrupted, “What’s he doing?”

Rarity’s voice answered, “He’s giving us the information required of prisoners of war.”

“What? Does he count as a prisoner of war? There’s only six of us.”

“I agree.” Rarity said, “We’re closer to terrorists than soldiers.” Fluttershy swore she could hear Twilight groan. “Look Cinnamon. We’re asking for one tiny piece of information that we could get from any map. Honestly, I’m guessing the floors are labeled so we could find it just by walking down the stairs.”

“Cinnamon Sails, re-”

“Come now dear.” Rarity cut him off, “Do you really think six mares could take that information and do -anything- with it?”

There was a long silence before he finally softly said “No.”

“Then just tell us what level it’s on dear.” Rarity said comfortingly.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she pulled the door shut and turned to Twilight and began mouthing words she dare not speak aloud, “There’s one passing us.”

Fluttershy and Twilight winced in unison as the marine raised his voice to say “I’m not!” Weapons bristled and for a moment the yellow mare was certain he was going to be the second pony Pinkie shot in the face this week. Luckily he quieted down quickly, but Fluttershy pressed her ear against the door, listening intently. She could hear the night watchpony. His hoofsteps were unhurried and even, pacing by the door like nothing had happened.

Breathing an inward sigh of relief Fluttershy turned to Twilight and motioned to her that things were okay. Twilight nodded quickly before stepping up to the rest of them, “Alright girls.” she said in a hushed voice, “It’s on level seventeen. You’ll have...twenty minutes, maybe. This needs to happen fast, so get in place as fast as you can.”

The girls seemed like they had more to say, but Fluttershy was their lookout. All she could do was listen for ponies and heal, so she dare not screw up one of the only jobs she could manage. Carefully she listened at the door, then eventually pushed it open slightly to look around. Everything was clear, thank Druantia.

After another minute of standing guard, Rainbow signalled that they were ready to go and they slipped past the patrols and down the stairs to the lower decks. Every time they went down a level another large number engraved in the metal was there to greet them. Despite having six ponies in their party they moved quietly, Rainbow leading the way, scanning the stairs as they wound down them.

“Wow.” Applejack said quietly. “How are military bases so easy to get into? You were right about my barn being more secure than this place.”

A grin crossed Rainbow’s face, “On the whole they’re better than the Apple Clan, but you guys expected an attack every week or so. These ponies haven’t seen any action in years. The most combat they’ve ever had to deal with was probably basic training.”

Applejack gave a nod “I su’pose yah got a point. Nopony thinks anypony’s gonna be stupid enough to attack a base with just six ponies.”

Suddenly Rainbow came to a halt and held up a hoof causing the group to halt. They held there for a moment before the clicking of several hooves moving up the stairs met their ears. Urgently Rainbow waved them back up and Applejack took the lead. They were ushered swiftly up to the last level they passed, level six, and they went in.

Hastily Applejack looked around the hallway, but even Fluttershy could hear some ponies talking from around the corner and getting closer. Rainbow looked back to the stairway and swore under her breath as Applejack picked the first door she could find and went in.

The inside room was fairly dark, and large. Oddly enough the entire room seemed to be experiencing winter while everywhere else was a nice spring. As Fluttershy moved she even stepped in some snow. By the back of the room sat some large crates, and when the sound of the talking stallions reached their ears the group found no choice but to rush to them for cover. Moments later the door opened and the sound of their conversation became clear once more.

All four of them held their breath as best they could, taking every precaution not to be heard. The sound of the labponies talking and walking around could easily be heard, and it was getting closer. A slight tap on the ground attracted all of their attention to Applejack, who held her her crossbow up and motioned over the boxes to the ponies. A bolt was already locked in position, another was held in her aiming leg, and still another between her teeth.

Rainbow looked thoughtful, but grudgingly nodded as she quietly drew the longblade. A whimper was stifled in Fluttershy’s throat as she realized that it might come to killing — that was always a possibility. In horror, Fluttershy realized that these ponies wouldn’t last long; they weren’t Equestrian marines, they were scientists! With Pinkie and Applejack concentrating fire they could probably cut all of them down without even alerting anypony else.

Another clack caused Fluttershy to open her eyes and look toward Pinkie, who had silently rushed to Applejack’s side. A pink hoof raised across Applejack’s chest and pinned her crossbow in place. The two exchanged glances, confusion from Applejack, and disapproval from Pinkie, tension rising as the group continued to sit in silence.

Hastily the pink mare brought a hoof to her lips, urging them to remain silent before she raised it to her ears and tapped one of them. With a spark of understanding the conversation between the labponies that Fluttershy had been tuning out came into clear focus.

“I’m just saying, why do they keep storing this stuff on level six? If they stored it on level sixteen we’d only need to go up one floor to get it. Rolling crates down like...ten levels is exhausting.”

“This is where they have storage. The admiral probably has to deal with the dockworkers giving him shit as it is. If storage was on the sixteenth floor they’d never shut up about it.”

“So we get stuck doing it?”

There was a slight laugh, “You know it. What are we gonna do, quit? I’ve got two foals to feed and no bandits are gonna attack us here.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as the realization hit her: These crates were going to level seventeen! They were just going to walk them all the way down! If the ponies weren’t so close...The slight click of teeth alerted her to somepony biting her mane. Apparently Rainbow had been quicker on the uptake. One of the crate lids had already been pried loose and a hoof covered Fluttershy’s mouth to stifle the yelp as she was pulled inside.

The hoof covering her face stayed in place as the hoofsteps came nearer. Slowly her body writhed about as she began burying herself in...what was this? That’s when the smell hit her, these were fresh fish. Each of the girls had half buried themselves in fresh fish. The crates shifted as the stallions lifted it onto some sort of cart, likely complaining about how heavy it was.

As Fluttershy’s eyes adjusted she looked around the crate. On the other side Rainbow and Applejack were making disgusted faces and pressing themselves up against the lid to try and get fresh air. Pinkie had shifted her weight and was now practically laying on top of Fluttershy, one hoof still over the yellow mare’s mouth.

That seemed odd. Sure making noise was a big mistake right now, but Fluttershy knew that. That didn’t explain the worried look in Pinkie’s eyes. She wasn’t about to start yelling now that they were safely hidden in this...delicious...pile...of-. Drool started to pool in her mouth as the scent of all this food so close hit her. She had been hunting with Pinkie, but she was living on scraps compared to what could fill her up.

They weren’t hiding in a crate, they were hiding in a treasure trove of food, real food! Even the disgust she usually felt for her passion for eating animals was melting away. She had found food! Lots of food! Her head reared back as she started to let out a howl, but was brought back to reality as Pinkie pushed harder. Quickly fluttershy was sunk under the sea of fish while her friend climbed on top of her.

She fought the urge to break free for a good ten seconds before she felt something...unexpected. Something was brushing against her stomach. No, that was a hoof, that was Pinkie’s hoof. Her friend continued to rub her underside, and while the druid found it odd, it wasn’t wholly unpleasant. In confusion she opened her mouth, which was quickly stuffed with a fish.

Fluttershy’s hooves moved to stop her friend, but she found them clutching the fish instead. This was possibly the most relaxing life or death situation she’d ever been in. For a while the world seemed to drift out of focus. Fluttershy’s world became focused solely upon quietly picking at the fish as she floated in a sea of wonderful relaxing fishies.

A loud blaring sound jerked Fluttershy out of her dazed state. Suddenly the world was turned red and Pinkie moved away so Fluttershy could push her way up to the surface of the fish. Outside of the crate there was a flurry of activity as ponies rushed about yelling things about evacuating the floor. They were at floor seventeen already? How long had she been laying there?

After the sounds of everypony running became distant Rainbow Dash and Applejack furiously kicked the lid off the crate and leapt out, gagging and gasping for air. Carefully Fluttershy peeked over the edge of the crate. They were in a large room and the walls were lined with vicious monsters.

She could right away pick out an owlbear and a manticore, but what she feared more was the snarling angry beast that was as big as her wolf form, but with black scales. Their snarls and roars added to the unpleasant sound of the alarms.

Finally she pulled herself out of the box and moved up to Pinkie, whose pink fur melded so well with the red colour it was hard to tell she was pink to begin with. “Pinkie...” she started, getting the mare’s attention.

“Don’t worry.” Pinkie said, “The alarm will stop soon and none of those monsters can get out.”

Awkwardly the blushing druid shook her head, “No, Pinkie...in the crate. You um...rubbed my tummy...”

Now it was Pinkie’s turn to look embarrassed “I’m sorry.” She said, looking away, “I really needed you to keep calm in there. I didn’t mean to do anything unpleasant to you.”

Fluttershy stumbled over the words as she fumbled her thoughts, “It wasn’t...it.” She paused to think, “It was just strange. I think I’m changing...inside. It scares me.”

Finally the red lights shifted back to white and the aggravating alarm ceased. A relieved expression crossed Rainbow’s face as she stretched out her neck “Ugh...finally.”

Applejack rubbed an ear, “I hear ya, that alarm there was gettin mighty tiresome.”

Pinkie held back and looked Fluttershy over. Fluttershy watched Pinkie’s eyes carefully, and for a moment saw a hint of disappointment. What? What had she done wrong? She didn’t mean to upset Pinke like that. She was scared, she just wanted someone to talk to. Even if there was nothing she could do. Pinkie’s hoof raised and brushed against Fluttershy’s cheek for a moment, then pulled back smeared with fish innards. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” The pink mare said with a smile.

Fluttershy couldn’t help blush as she smiled too, managing a soft “Oh...thank you...” before Pinkie turned and led her to the rest of the group. The hallways that had been once full were now barren, somehow the lack of danger put Fluttershy on edge. Well, more on edge than she was just being in this Druantia forsaken abyss.

The group hurried down the corridors until it opened up into a larger area. Instinctively Fluttershy’s eyes were drawn up to the large glass window six or seven feet off the ground. A sigh of relief was issued from Rainbow as they saw Twilight in the room. The two had actually managed to somehow take over the security center for this level by themselves. Then again, they were useful members of this group, Fluttershy shouldn't have been surprised.

Twilight raised a hoof to wave, and they all waved back. “Alright girls.” Rainbow muttered under her breath, “Let’s get this over with before we end up in a barrel of fish bait or something.” With a smile Rainbow looked up and raised her voice, “Where are they?”

Rarity quickly appeared at the window with a confident smile. “A big room on the opposite side of the compound! Next to the botanical labs!” Well that wasn’t helpful in the slightest. Rarity seemed to reconsider as she lifted a hoof, “That way! Next to the room with plants!”

Rainbow nodded quickly and turned back to the group, “Okay, we find the room with the plants. We get the elements, and we get out, fast. Eventually they’re going to get through these doors.” Then she turned back to the glass, “Hang in there, we’ll get them and get out! Be ready to get out!”

With that Rainbow Dash darted off, and her three friends gave chase down the hallway. With the exception of smelling like fish, everything was going according to plan. All they needed was five minutes to get ahold of the elements and they were out. They were going to beat Discord by, ironically, doing something chaotic and unexpected.

Rainbow slowed as the group trotted up to the door and froze. This was the right one, Fluttershy was sure of it. Beside the door were small windows, two panes of thick glass with a tightly knit wire fence in the middle. Beyond the windows all six of the Elements of Harmony sat in glass cases in the middle of the room. Stupidly Fluttershy dared a smile, but it faded as Rainbow swore loudly.

A vicious cyan hoof stomped on the metal door that refused to give. “Dammit! Evacuating the floor and they still remembered to lock the stupid door?” Rainbow fell to all fours, glaring daggers at the last obstacle between them and victory. “We’re trying to save ponykind! Why are they being so goddamn difficult about it?”

“Over here!” Applejack said, pressing up against one of the windows. There’s a switch inside that unlocks the door! If we can smash the windows, maybe Fluttershy can call up one of those critters to go in and pull it!”

The druid stepped up and crossed her hooves in discomfort, “I-I can’t. The wires are too small, anything small enough to get in would be too weak to pull the lever.” Damn, she’d come so close to being useful this time.

Cyan hooves clacked together as Rainbow took on a determined expression. “Got it. There’s got to be something on this floor that can cut through wire. We just need to find it, and fast!”

“Hey!” Pinkie spoke up, causing everypony to turn and look at her, “The room attached to this one is full of plants! Maybe Fluttershy should go see if any of her strange naturey stuff will help!”

Immediately Fluttershy’s head lowered as all eyes set upon her. “Oh no...I couldn’t...all alone...”

With a smile Pinkie leaned closer to touch Fluttershy’s shoulder and look her in the eyes, “You can do this Fluttershy.” A slight swell of courage flooded through her. This was a dangerous situation and indecision could get them killed. Pinkie was her friend, she wouldn’t make her take a risk if it wasn’t necessary.

“O...okay.” Fluttershy said resolutely.

Rainbow and Applejack immediately nodded and took off, but Pinkie leaned in to pet her friend a few times, “You can do this Fluttershy.” She whispered, then disappeared after the others, leaving a blushing yellow mare alone in the hallway. Numbly Fluttershy looked to the lab next door and began her trek alone.

A Tentative hoof pushed the door ajar and the yellow mare peeked inside. “H-hello?” She asked in a hushed voice. The room answered her with silence. She took a long steadying breath and pushed her way inside.

The room was beautiful; manufactured certainly, but beautiful. Like all the rooms in this place there were baskets of papers. As cautious eyes swept the room she noted the desks which were likely filled with more papers. This room had something the others didn’t though, life. The smaller plants were sitting in ceramic pottery on the desks. They stood proudly with a flurry of brightly coloured petals that brought a smile to her face. The sides of the room here were filled with dirt, likely indentations running down several feet into some sort of water source. Though they lacked the brilliant colouring of their floral counterparts they still stood majestically. Trees and bushes of all sorts were all in good health hinting they were grown with good care. The only thing marring their beauty was the unholy environment around them. No squirrels, no birds, no sign of fauna in the room save a single yellow pony.

Hesitantly she pushed towards the center of the room, weaving around several desks in the process, “Is anyone here?” More of that unnatural natureless silence met her. With a sigh she closed her eyes and tried to focus. A pink mane jerked backwards as she gasped in surprise at how fast Druantia’s embrace rushed into her. These plants instantly connected with her and rejoiced in even briefly reconnecting with the true goddess.

Fluttershy let her eyes slowly open and watched as every flower slowly rotated away from their artificial lamplights toward her. “I’m sorry.” She apologised to the plants. “I can’t get you away from here. I need to help my friends fix Equestria.” The plants understood, and yet they didn’t understand. Plants were strange like that. They didn’t think the same way ponies did, and after Fluttershy left they wouldn’t miss her. You couldn’t make friends with a plant, but for now they were her loyal army...although she didn’t like to think of it that way.

Her hoof stretched out towards the wall as she focused on a single plant. Druantia’s will pulsed out and the delighted plant reacted instantly. It had only been a small patch of ivy, but she willed it to grow and it did. The plant’s spindly roots snaked away from it’s base, sprouting leaves far faster than any plant not under Druantia’s naturing gaze.

This was the true power of the druids, Druantia’s gift had allowed them to remain independent of Equestria at every turn. As Celestia gained new territory, disputes over resources and borders had dragged the druids into conflict with her viceroys. The forces of Celestia’s armies were ten times the number and strength of the druids. If any druid were to face a knight in armed conflict they would surely lose, yet Celestia had never won a single battle against them. Fluttershy knew it wasn’t because of their battle prowess - instead, the druids had simply denied the knight’s the opportunity to ever fight one. Every battalion of soldiers sent out would find all terrain impeded their progress. Roads they had carefully carved out would disappear in days and every insect and parasite wanted a piece of them. Their food was attacked by everything from mites to groundhogs, and when they foraged they would find no tree bore them fruit unless it was poisonous. Without a single sword being drawn their armies were sent back home; those that didn’t starve or succumb to disease did anyway. Those were the tales Fluttershy was told, luckily nothing like that had happened since she became a druid.

The ivy had climbed up the wall and worked it’s way into the small slits that circulated the air in this place. With a smile Fluttershy urged it onward, feeling it spreading into the room with the elements of harmony. She bid it to spread, to cover the walls and coil around every handle on the way. She strained as she moved closer to the wall, covering some distance to connect with the plant more. Finally she stopped — she knew where the switch she wanted to hit was, and the ivy was definitely there. It was close enough that she could guide it to push the lever down once she went back anyway.

With a smile Fluttershy stepped back, slowly releasing Druantia’s light. It was done, she had been useful! She sat for a moment and admired her work, a smile crossing her entire face. Only for a moment though, the others would be getting the Elements now and they still needed to get Twilight and Rarity into the escape pods.

Behind her a hoof stomped thrice in appreciation “Delightfully interesting work dear. You make the druids proud.” Instantly Fluttershy spun about, fear welling up in her eyes. She had been so concentrated on her task that she hadn’t heard the ten ton death machine walk up behind her. A knight in blackened full steel plates slowly moved his head from viewing the ivy to focus on her. “Hello.”

The world spun and stung as the stallion smacked her across the face with a heavy armored hoof. An aching pain radiated out from her face as she lurched violently off balance and crashed into a set of potted plants. The mare stumbled, awkwardly trying to regain her footing as dirt and bits of ceramic pots fell about her hooves.

Her doubled vision subsided just fast enough for her to lurch back. She could feel the fur on her muzzle ruffle from the blow she barely dodged. Instinctively she scrambled back, but the knight didn’t give chase, instead he chuckled, “So good to see you again...Fluttershy wasn’t it?” The shards of pottery were ground into dust as a plated hoof crushed them out of existence. “Tell me where the traitor knight is and surrender. The good viceroy treats his druidic servants well, I promise you that.”

The fear Fluttershy felt quickly melted as her survival instincts kicked in. The ocean was a merciless wasteland for her, but he had chosen the one room in the entire ocean where Druantia was still listening. A bright green flooded forth from her eyes as she put a hoof forward and growled. The connections to all the plants flooded swiftly back into her. She picked one set, the plants in the crushed pot right under his feet, and pushed.

With a green pulse the saplings doubled in size, their roots arcing out and wrapping themselves around his hooves. He looked down, and then back at Fluttershy as he casually wrenched a hoof free. Another push and the ivy in the walls sprouted new tendrils and snaked across the room towards the knight. Angrily they ran up the sides and over the tops of the tables, rushing to bind the beast in place.

The stallion struck forward with his free hoof and a sudden burst of wind hit Fluttershy square in the chest. A cry of pain pulled itself from her recoiling maw as a flurry of tiny pottery shards slashed her unprotected face. His hoof then swept sideways and a blast of air dispersed the approaching ivy. With one sweeping motion he casually he pulled his longblade and severed the roots around his remaining foreleg, then sheathed it.

As his slow methodical marching closed in Fluttershy backed against the wall in panic. With the internal powerful link to Druantia severed the druid instinctively she fell back upon the few prepared spells she knew. With a quick wave of her hoof and a flash of green light a snarling dog appeared before her. Brave though it was, the beast was unarmoured and half the size of her attacker. It rushed, a flurry of white fur and teeth, before it stained the ground and the knight’s longblade red. Then he moved closer, the blood vanishing into nothingness as the spell ended. Another dog was summoned, this time it died so close to Fluttershy the blood spattered her face.

Her eyes shut as she reached out to summon another, but even as she did his mailed hoof stopped hers. In an instant a brutal strike across her face weakened her back knees and stung her face. Her face had hurt already, but this strike was even more vicious than the last. “That’s for trying to use druid magics against me.” He told her. Her eyes opened and through the blood she could see the knight’s uncaring visor glaring down at her. There was a small pause, then he reached back and slapped her again. With a cry of agony the mare’s knees gave out and she collapsed to the ground whimpering before him. “And that’s for not showing nobility it’s proper respect.”

Fluttershy could only sob as pain radiated through her face in waves. Through the pain she could feel the blood slowly seeping out of her mouth and cheeks. It was difficult to miss, as it covered the knight’s hoofguards as well. Slowly he reached up and managed to unbuckle the straps for the helmet, then let it fall to the side as he looked her in the eyes. His eyes were full of superiority and contempt as he watched her pathetic figure mewling before him. “Now girl, as good as it was catching up, I don’t have all day. The viceroy doesn’t like it when we abuse the druid slaves. So start acting like one.” Commander Calescent stepped forward and swung a foreleg into her. It slammed into Fluttershy’s left foreleg as she instinctively moved to defend her ribs.

More pain washed over her as the knight stood directly over the cowering, weeping mare. His stony eyes witnessed her plight, but were unmoved by it. Again he raised a hoof, “Where is the traitor knight?”

Rip his throat out

Fluttershy turned to her tormentor and coughed up some blood onto the floor.

Rip his throat out

Her eyes turned up to him pleadingly as she nodded and let out a strangled, submissive whisper.

Rip his throat out

Cocking an eyebrow he leaned in. “That’s a good girl. Now speak up.”

With a roar Fluttershy exploded off of the ground and leapt up at him face first. All of the pain was pushed to the back of her mind as her wolven form instinctively took over. Her face grew and stretched forward, her teeth shifting into jagged points moments from clamping down on his jugular.

Commander Calescent’s blood started pouring into Fluttershy’s mouth as she scrambled to her paws and pushed him back several meters. Her jaws quickly locked as she let out an angry growl at his hooves thudding against the side of her head. Out of the corner of her eyes the druid saw his hoof move for his sword — the last desperate act of a dying stallion.

Now twice the stallion’s size she lifted her head, pulling him clean off the ground by his neck. Then she started flailing her head from side to side. His choking half breaths continued as the sword flailed about a bit in his grasp, but fell uselessly from his grip the third or fourth time she shattered a desk with his body.

At last his body weakened, leaving him pathetically pushing on her closed jaws. He wasn’t a threat anymore, she could let him down. She could probably even stop the bleeding long enough to save his life, Druantia willing. Now was the time for mercy, and she knew he wouldn’t threaten them anymore this day.

Except, it wasn’t the cold calculating idea that he was an enemy that might come after her. Hell, it wasn’t even that she was angry he had slapped her into the floor. Right now, it was about the mewling, bleeding, delicious prey in her jaws. She reared up onto two legs and set her front paws onto the collar of his armour, then let him fall forward. A resounding clang filled the room as his back slammed into the floor. Then she pulled.

Slowly she pulled back as flesh tore and muscles ripped. Gleefully she tore his throat out and stared down at him as his own crimson fluids dripped from her maw to cover his face. Fluttershy was faintly aware as he seemed to continue pushing at her maw — his hooves were slick from the blood that was oozing out of his wound. The terror in his eyes slowly faded as the blood continued to leak out of him. Fluttershy could hear...no, see the desperate beats of his heart. With each thrum of his heart, another spurt of blood coated that black armor, making it slick even as it faded. His hooves stopped pawing at her maw, falling limply to his side as the blood flow slowed to an ebb.

As she watched the life pump out of him beneath her hooves she swallowed what she had clenched in her jaws. Her tail wagged furiously as she beamed down, satisfied at her kill. Now she could go get her friends, they needed to get to the escape pod and get out of here as soon as possible after all.

Her muzzle buried itself into his flesh as she continued to feast on his delicious warm body. Ecstasy overcame disgust as she blissfully sank her teeth into the blood soaked stallion and tore more pieces off. When his spine began to graze her teeth she paused, panting from the fervor at which she’d eaten. She had to...do something. She couldn’t quite remember, but it was important.

With a snarl she rested a paw on the metal armor and began tearing the leather strips apart that held them in place. This was hers. Hers! Her mind became a flurry of dizzying and confusing emotions as she ripped and tore. She was hungry and the world would wait.

Positional Player

Pinkie looked to Applejack quickly as they galloped down the hall and idly wondered how Rainbow Dash had become their leader. When there was time to debate and consider she hadn’t been sure, but the minute they set hoof on this base they had fallen in line behind her. It didn’t bother Pinkie honestly; she didn’t like it when ponies saw her running things. She never even tried to become captain of the Wave Crester, and not solely because mares weren’t well received as captains.

Twilight was smarter, and Applejack was better trained, either would make a promising leader. Perhaps it was simply that this was what Rainbow was good at, in this world it was her special talent. Leading raids against enemy forces was something she knew how to do, so naturally if they were on a ship they would look to Pinkie for command... right? It could simply be said, however, that they all trusted Rainbow now. She had changed somewhat since they started playing this game. She was still that brash arrogant young girl that had crashed into things while showing off, but somehow she seemed...tempered. Maybe serious violence brings out the best in some ponies, or maybe she just calmed down under the weight of responsibility.

Rainbow’s gaze quickly flashed back at them, “You guys hit that lab up ahead, it looks like it’s still open. I’m going to check that lab down the hall. We’ll meet back soon.” That was all it took, no fighting, no arguments. Both ponies quickly nodded in agreement and pushed on and into the lab.

With a quick survey Pinkie turned up her nose at the place. The lab itself was pristine, as they all were. Instruments of all sorts lined the walls and tables along with bundles of papers to record notes and data. The instruments and notes were likely all about studying the most interesting thing in the room — the monsters. At the opposite end of the room were a total of twelve cages built into the wall, and behind each one stood an angry monster. They were of various shapes sizes and species, but she recognized each one as horribly dangerous.

With a sigh she ignored them and got to work looking for something to cut the wires. The instruments were mostly to take samples to test, and none of them appeared particularly promising. After shutting a drawer the pink pony looked the desk over to see a microscope. It took only a moment for her eyes to widen, casting a wary glance back towards Applejack. Her friend was busy searching on her own and didn’t notice Pinkie in the slightest. Pinky knew all the rules, she’d set up a personal set of rules never to break so she could survive in this game, could she suspend them now? Rule three was “Never miss an opportunity to scavenge.” When could she possibly ever find another microscope! The engineering and skill that went into making these was astronomical...but it would weigh her down.

The saddlebag was opened and with a quick sweep of her hoof the contents of the desk were shoved inside. Pinkie’s head snapped up as Applejack’s voice cried out from across the room, “Pinkie!”

Instantly Pinkie snapped up onto her hind legs, hiding the bag behind her back, “What! I didn’t do anything!”

The orange mare gave Pinkie a suspicious look and opened her mouth, then shook her head with a sigh, “Whaddya think ‘bout these here?” she asked, holding up some sort of device that was probably made to clip the monster’s nails.

Slowly Pinkie lowered to the ground, forcing her heart to thump more slowly, “I don’t know, metal is harder to cut than that, but it’s our best bet.” Pinkie looked about, they had searched this room fairly thoroughly, but had wasted far more time than they had. Hopefully Rainbow had found something more useful because if not they’d have to get into an escape pod and take their chances. Floodgates would only keep the soldiers at bay for so long.

“Hey...Pinkie?”

“Mmm?”

“When we came in, all the cages were closed except for one, right?”

With wide eyes Pinkie turned her attention to the opposite side of the room. Twelve cages, eleven had a monster behind them, the last was empty. The hair on the back of her neck raised as she instinctively checked for her short sword, “No...they were all full.”

“Yeah.” Applejack said, “That’s what I figured. What you say we go ahead and get while the getting’s good?”

The pink mare gave a nod of agreement and both of them cautiously made their way out the door and into the hallway.

“We’re runnin’ short on time sugarcube. You go fetch Rainbow an’ I’ll get Fluttershy.”

Pinkie felt a sharp tightness in her chest, “No!..Err, no. I’ll get Fluttershy.” Applejack’s brow raised as she opened her mouth in protest, “It’s a religious thing, with the druids. She wouldn’t like it if some other pony walked in on her if she’s doing a ritual.”

Applejack looked unconvinced, “What’re ya talkin bout Pinkie? Celestia’s the only real goddess. All the other ones are just make believe hooey from this here game world.”

“Oh I know that Applejack,”Pinkie lied, “but poor Fluttershy’s really been messed up by this world. She’s confused.”

Applejack seemed to ponder that for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh, “Fine! I’ll get Rainbow. You be careful and get that girl to the room lickety split!”

Pinkie gave a grateful nod before bolting down the hallway. She crossed the space she needed in a full gallop, stopping briefly to notice the open door to the main lab. The Elements of Harmony sat on the table inside, under the cover of the ivy that now permeated all of the walls. With great restraint she resisted the urge to rush in and snatch up the elements. Not only did she need to get Fluttershy, she didn’t want to enter the room without some backup. Quickly she shouldered the door open and stifled a gasp as she straightened in shock.

Before her stood not a pony, but a massive wolven beast, face coated in blood as entrails dangled from her maw. The floor beneath their legs was slick with blood as an unrecognizable carcass lay dismembered throughout the room. Instantly Pinkie fought back the urge to recoil in horror. This was a delicate situation that came at the absolutely wrong time.

Fluttershy’s massive wolven eyes filled with shock and shame as they slowly looked up. Even Fluttershy didn’t know what a major moment this was for her development. The first kill of a sentient creature was a ritual of passage for all lycans. They all did it eventually, and they needed their alpha there to tell them that even though they were eating...ponies...it was a good thing.

Fluttershy started backing away, her tail curling between her legs. Ok, she was in a time crunch and she needed to get Fluttershy turned back and cleaned up before anypony saw her. On the other hoof if she rushed this Fluttershy might end up killing herself as the two natures inside herself fought for her. The soul of her friend and the soul of a lycan warrior were fighting for supremacy inside the cowering young mare. The sad truth was that in order to save either, Pinkie had to make sure the lycan won.

Pinkie’s back straightened as she tried to put on her best dominant alpha persona and strut towards the badly mangled corpse on the ground. As she glared Fluttershy let out a pathetic whimper and looked away. This was horrifying and grotesque! Since Pinkie had learned Fluttershy was a lycan she’d practiced eating meat to teach Fluttershy what to do, but this wasn’t just meat. Her stomach turned and threatened to empty itself but she pushed the revulsion to the back of her mind as she leaned down and smeared her face against the body.

She couldn’t do it, gods above help her she wasn’t ready for this. Her stomach bucked against her conscious thought as she pulled herself up, pretending to chew something. Pretending wasn’t so hard, she knew what chewing meat felt like, and pony meat couldn’t have been much different. Still, she knew the blood smeared all over her maw was pony blood. She knew that what had once pumped through the veins of another living breathing pony was now being inhaled through her nostrils.

Fluttershy, now rapt with attention obeyed Pinkie’s signal to come closer. As she approached their eyes met, “Did he attack you?” Pinkie asked quietly. The wolven beast gave a somber nod and started to look away but Pinkie caught her massive muzzle with a hoof and held her. “You did well Fluttershy. You did what needed to be done.”

Fluttershy’s eyes were remorseful as she stared into Pinkie’s. Quickly Pinkie looked down at the corpse. Custom might not have meant much considering Fluttershy didn’t have a pack, but it was customary to keep a trophy of their first kill. A glint of gold caught her eye and Pinkie reached for it. After a moment of pulling she wrested the golden necklace free from the body and held it up.

Slowly the wolven beast began to shrink and turn yellow as Pinkie pulled her closer, touching their foreheads against one another. “Will you be my sister, forged in battle and blood?”

Breathily Fluttershy’s response came, “Yes.”

“Will you protect me as I protect you?” Pinkie asked.

“Yes!” Fluttershy said eagerly.

The next response was supposed to be welcome to the pack. At least, that’s what the book said it was. It was likely the book was off, or at the very least paraphrasing. It was unlikely any pony had ever been allowed to observe lycan rituals. In all honestly Pinkie didn’t much understand what this ritual was to accomplish. Pinkie and Fluttershy were already friends who would stand by each other. Hell, all of their friends would stand by each other.

As she watched Fluttershy, however, she knew it was something more. Something that perhaps only lycans could understand. Fluttershy leaned before her, eyes closed as a look of ecstasy radiated from her. It almost looked like those silly ponies that fell prostrate before Celestia’s holy light at the summer sun celebration. With no pack she’d have to improvise.

“Then come, sister we have a god to fight.”

Even coated in blood, somehow the smiling druid managed to seem demure. This begged the question how anything so horrifyingly dangerous could seem so small and innocent. “I-I opened the door...I think.” Fluttershy said with a smile.

With a nod Pinkie slipped the necklace around Fluttershy’s neck, “Yeah. I saw. I think it’s about time we leave. Go get Twilight and Rarity, we're going home.”

With that Fluttershy scampered off. It was unlikely she had thought of an explanation for why she was covered in blood, but the others would have more important concerns. Right now Pinkie’s biggest concern was how queasy her stomach felt. The moment Fluttershy was out of sight Pinkie moved over to the nearest patch of earth and proceeded to throw up. Unfortunately, a full thirty seconds later she still felt sick, but the sound of a hoofstep at the door caught her attention.

A voice sounded from behind her, quivering with rage, “What the fuck have you done?”

Quickly Pinkie turned about with a smile, “Oh hey Rainbow Dash! I was feeling a little sick I-”

“You...monster!” Her friend was a visage of fury. The barbarian almost radiated anger. Her teeth were clenched and an almost palpable sense of murder wafted off of her as she approached.

Instantly Pinkie began to defensively back away. Rainbow Dash was angry, but why? From time to time she had broken the rules of what the group allowed to be right. Last time she did that Derpy broke her nose. Even then, whatever she did wrong Rainbow seemed to stand by her then. What could she have possibly done to elicit this strong of a reaction?

“Hey...” Pinkie said carefully “Calm down, what’s wrong?”

Rainbow continued her approach, “You...I left your side for two minutes and you killed Fluttershy! I knew I never should have left you alone!”

Pinkie blinked in surprise...killed Fluttershy? Fluttershy was fine! The mare left not twenty seconds ago. “I didn’t kill Fluttershy!” Pinkie said in protest.

“Didn’t kill her? You’ve still got her blood on your lips!”

Pinkie looked over to the badly eviscerated corpse in the pool of blood. “Oh, that’s-” Her words were cut off as Rainbow darted forward. Instead of the longblade she expected Pinkie narrowly avoided the slash of a gleaming dagger Rainbow pulled from her hip. With a yelp the pink mare bound over a table behind her as the whistling arc of the blade severed several strands of hair from her tail.

In a panic Pinkie turned about, hoping to talk the raging barbarian down, but the desk bought her no time. Rainbow dropped low, spun, and bucked the table. A hefty weight of wood and metal crashed into the mare and threw her off balance, sending her to the floor. In an instant Rainbow had turned about and cleared the table, dagger at the ready.

Pinkie managed to push herself back onto all fours a second before Rainbow landed. A sharp pain shot through Pinkie’s face as the shining blade retracted from her face, red with blood. Instantly the blade turned and redirected, coming back in. Before Pinkie could even think she had reared up onto all fours, her shortsword barely deflecting the incoming blade.

Pinkie was no swordspony, but she had practiced with Captain Anjin from time to time. Unfortunately that was swashbuckling, this was...war. Pinkie sidestepped and flourished as she barely knocked the blade away a second time. Pinkie’s blade was a full foot and a half longer, that was her only real advantage. Had Rainbow gone with a longsword Pinkie knew she would already be dead. Her sword flashed again as it caught the blade, but Rainbow’s slash pushed her off balance. An angry hoof reached past Pinkie and grabbed onto her tangled mane, pulling her forward where Rainbow’s forehead was waiting.

Pinkie’s face exploded in such pain she was sure Rainbow had caved it in. Her nose felt mostly numb, but pain felt like it was radiating up her face and behind her eyes. In a panic Pinkie pulled away and jerked her sword defensively back. A stinging pain flooded into her foreleg as a knife punched clean through the base of her hoof. Her mouth opened to scream, and that’s when Rainbow’s forehead smashed into her again.

The spinning world slowly pulsed back into existence as Pinkie tried to make sense of where she was. The fur covering her back was slick and wet, it only took her a moment to recognize it as blood. A gasp ripped out of her lips as she felt the barbaric pony land atop her, sinking a knee into her ribs with a painful crack. Desperately she flailed about, but her sword was nowhere to be found. Angry eyes bore down on Pinkie as the silver dagger raised high into the air, poised for it’s killing blow.

Pinkie’s hoof brushed up against something, and in an act of pained panic she grabbed and swung. Whatever it was met with Rainbow’s face with a hollow twang and the pressure on Pinkie’s chest alleviated.

For far too long the pink mare lay on the ground, gasping and clutching at her chest with her injured hoof. Slowly however, it came back to her. With a grunt of pain she forced herself to sit and began applying a tight bandage to her wrist to stop the bleeding. Carefully she looked around for Rainbow, but found no sign of her. She did, however, get a look at what she had used as an impromptu weapon.

A look of surprise came to her face as she saw that it was actually a breastplate, but not just any breastplate, the breastplate of the Zephyr Knights. Her gaze moved over to what remained of her victim, that was once a zephyr knight. More likely it was Commander Calescent or some other knight given an amulet of teleportation. The far more pressing matter at the moment was where Rainbow had gone.

With a good deal of pain Pinkie forced herself to her hooves and began to walk about. Her eyes narrowed as she looked the ground over with suspicion. The blood on the floor stopped at one point, although it appeared something, or somepony, had been dragged through it.

Instinctively Pinkie jerked as something moved in the corner of her eye, but now that she was looking she could see nothing. As fear started to radiate through her she reached to the ground and drew a longblade from the bloodied pool. There was something in this room, something she couldn’t see. A sudden flurry of movement exploded from the left as a massive black spider raced out of nowhere and struck. Pinkie whirled the blade about in a desperate bid to hit something, anything!

Just like that, the spider was gone. Pinkie panted in pain as she returned to three legs, refusing to return to all four as she didn’t want to drop her blade. Her legs pumped as she tried to march towards the exit, but she found her hind legs to be stuck to the floor. So that’s what the spider did with it’s attack, it had made it so she couldn’t run.

From behind her there was another burst of movement and Pinkie struck, but she hadn’t seen the beast until it was far too late. Another moment and it was gone again. As she looked down she saw a thick sticky substance covering her hind legs, and even as she watched it became harder to move. Her first instinct was to cut the substance away, but that thing was hard to see coming in the first place, if she were distracted it would be nigh impossible.

The young mare forced herself to stand on her hind legs and waited, holding her sword high and ready to strike. The slightest sound came from behind her and she acted without hesitation. The blade met the beast in a vicious strike, but bounced harmlessly aside as the spider struck and vanished into the trees once more. The entire torso of the pink mare was now covered in the webbing and hardening fast.

With a resigned sigh she dropped the blade to the ground. She had no idea where it was coming from, and even if she got it hit it was a glancing blow at best. There was no way she could win. She reached into her bag and pulled free the glass vial filled with wolfsbane, looking it over grimly. Even if she knew she was going to lose, Pinkie always made a play.

A flash of movement from the right caught her attention and she struck. Her actions accomplished nothing as she ground the glass and pedals into the thing’s thick hide. It uncaringly began spinning her about, using her restriction of movement to easily hold her down. In moments she was little more than a wiggling cocoon on the bloodied floor. Well, it was a longshot in the first place, and now she got to face her end saying she had, at the very least, tried.

Interpose

The yellow druid first looked right, then left. How did ponies exist in this kind of environment? These ponies lived here and here she was having trouble just visiting. To the right was a long hallway with a grey floor, wooden walls, and evenly spaced lights; To her left...was a long hallway with a grey floor and evenly spaced lights! In fact, the last ten hallways she’d run through were long hallways with grey floors and evenly spaced lights!

The grove was simple: every tree and rock formation looked unique. If she was dropped anywhere in the forest she could make her way to where she needed to be. Some idiot had designed every hallway to look exactly the same. The building designers probably had a mapmaking business on the side. They probably all sat around a table in the dark wearing black robes and laughing about how people would need them to design maps to navigate through their stupid labyrinth! Oh, how she hated the evil mapmaking building designers...Well, hate was a strong word, but she certainly wasn’t pleased!

Finally she looked down another hallway and saw something different, a wider open area with a massive window overlooking it. Blessed Druantia, she’d finally found it! Twilight was smart, surely she’d help with the trip back. The yellow mare rushed into the open area and froze. The window didn’t hold a her two friends at the controls like she had expected. The window held a brown coated stallion wearing a labcoat speaking to somepony further back in the room. A lump quickly formed in Fluttershy’s throat as she realized something had happened to Twilight and Rarity.

What was she supposed to do now? She needed to get her friends, but how could she do that with some other pony in the way? Before it was simple, they could smash out the window and lower a rope down. Now, however, Fluttershy would need to find some way to smash the window from this side, then she’d have to fight whatever was in the room. Could she even get into the room? The window was a good distance up and even if she grew into her wolven form she couldn’t jump up there.

Quickly the mare paced back and forth, she couldn’t just wait here; she needed to make a decision. When a pony made the wrong decision things got worse, but being indecisive meant not even having a chance of making the right decision. Why did she have to make a decision, she wasn’t qualified in any way! The mare let out an audible whimper and she lowered her head. No; she couldn’t do this, but she could go find someone who could. Pinkie would know what to do, that pink mare always had a plan!

With that, Fluttershy turned about and bolted down a hallway, several moments later arriving back in the same room. In frustration she shut her eyes and grit her teeth. All she wanted to do was find out where Pinkie went! Was that so hard? Fluttershy's eyes jerked open as she looked around in confusion. For a moment she could have sworn Pinkie was in this room. Tentatively she closed her eyes again and waited, and again she was overcome with the idea Pinkie was in this room. With a start she realised she was sniffing the air in search for Pinkie’s scent. Quietly she tried to block out her other senses while she focused on the smells around her. Yes! Yes that was what Pinkie smelled like, and after concentrating she could pick out the smells of Rainbow Dash and Applejack and even delicious fish! Oh wait, that was her own fur. How could she not have noticed how distinctively each of her friends had smelled? It almost seemed silly now that she noticed it. For some reason she’d been focusing on using her eyes to notice things while ignoring such obvious and amazing senses.

Her head swiveled as she looked down a hallway with a grey floor, wooden walls, evenly spaced lights...and the smell of her friends! Hurriedly the mare dashed down the hallway, stopping only to sniff the ground every time she was worried she’d lost track of where to go. With something to follow it took a remarkably shorter time to find the room with all the plants. Pinkie’s scent was strong here, but it was also everywhere.

A pink maned head popped into the room and looked around before dejectedly leaving. Pinkie wasn’t there. All of her friends had probably gotten together to meet at the escape pods, so that’s where Fluttershy needed to be. Hastily she rushed down the hallway in a desperate bid to find them, then stopped. Slowly the pony backpedaled to the door of the lab she opened and took a closer look at what was inside.

The interior was not only filled with a sprawling ivy as she expected, but also strange webs and three large white cocoons attached to the wall. Her gaze swept across the room and stopped on the centre. The Elements of Harmony were still there, so Pinkie had to be as well - there was no way she would have left them behind.

Hesitantly Fluttershy stepped into the room and glanced around. Her heart thumped furiously in her chest even as she saw she was alone. Slowly she stepped up to the table and looked down upon the reason they came here in the first place. A hoof reached out and touched the golden choker with the butterfly gem on it. Wistfully she looked back at her bare flank, it had once bore a similar symbol, and once this was over it would again.

Forlorn remembrances were instantly cut short as movement caught her eye. One of the cocoons had wiggled, she was sure of it. What was in them anyway? It was far too large to be a caterpillar, but there were so many wonderful creatures on Earth she couldn’t rule it out.

The choker was set back on the table as she moved towards the cocoon. A hint of curiosity filled her as she watched it wiggle, why would scientists keep three cocoons out here if one of them was still alive? They kept every other animal locked up tight, why be so casual with this one? Slowly she bent forward and stiffed the cocoon...Pinkie? The cocoon smelled of-

Her thoughts were cut short as something struck. It was there and gone before Fluttershy even had a chance to see it. With a yell of surprise she stumbled sideways but fell as her front legs refused to leave the ground. In a panic she forced herself onto all four hooves looking about in each direction, but there was nothing to see. Once again her senses told her she was alone in this room, but this time she knew her senses lied.

She pulled quickly on her front legs, but they wouldn’t give. Whatever it was was quiet and fast, no wonder it thought it could attack her. Luckily most ponies would think twice before attacking a wolf twice their size. With a growl Fluttershy quickly shed her puny pony body and adopted her massive wolven form. It was scary how much more often it was useful to be a monster than a pony.

Pain in the form of pinpricks shot across her left flank moments before it struck at her from that direction. It landed and even as Fluttershy barked and lashed out, it zipped around her, covering her midsection in a coat of webbing before vanishing again.

Panting in panic Fluttershy looked around. The room was silent save for the sound of the wiggling cocoon and smelling the air only told her that yes, it was still here. The thing was too fast and quiet, she needed to see it, all she needed was one solid hit.

A prickling pain shot up and down her back, causing her to look up as it dropped from the ceiling and began tying her up again. Viciously she thrashed about, throwing the spider off. Her entire body was starting to feel stiff, even the weight of all the webbing it was leaving behind slowed her somewhat.

The beast stopped and let out a slow breath. She didn’t stand a chance seeking it out and fighting it fairly, so instead she would attack on instinct. Her eyes closed as she stood still and waited. After only twenty seconds or so she felt prickling pain shoot up and down her right hind leg. Without thinking she adjusted, raised her back legs and bucked. Fluttershy felt her claws slide into the spider’s body and tear it open. Even as she looked back the thing’s terrible screams met her ears. It screamed in a high pitched whine as it staggered into tables before pitching onto the floor, it’s legs curling up around it.

In thirty seconds Fluttershy had torn the webbing off of her paws and moved to make sure it was dead. The closer she approached the more painful the feeling became, her body yelled at her to stop, but she had to know it wasn’t getting back up. Her paw swatted the thing over as she viewed it.

Upon seeing it’s back she cringed and moved away. The feeling of piercing needles running over her had been...wolfsbane? Somehow this spider had bits of the purple flower ground into it’s back. Wolfsbane...what a horrible plant! A plant so vile that it’s very presence could cause pain to another creature. Fluttershy had never hated a plant before, even the venus flytraps, but this plant deserved to be wiped from existence.

Fluttershy’s ear twitched as she picked up on some sound from further out in the hallway. She gave a quick look back at the cocoons hanging on the wall, but they were safe now and could wait. Slowly she peeked out of the door and stopped, some distance down the hallway were a squadron of marines setting up to rush into another room.

Heart now pounding the young mare pulled herself back inside. Instinctively she reached out and flipped the switch on her door, forcing it shut once more. Who knew, maybe it would hold them off. There was no way they were all going to make it to the escape pods alive. If they had control of the main room they might not even be able to use the pods. Her wolven form withered as she tried to steady her breathing. This wasn’t her responsibility, she was here to help, but Pinkie...she would know what to do!

Quickly she rushed across the room to Pinkie’s pod and pulled out her sharpened rock. With a quick swallow she carefully sawed the outside of the cocoon, then pulled it open. Inside a blue eye popped open within a massive mound of messy mane. “Fluttershy?” Pinkie’s voice asked.

Even though the dire situation Fluttershy’s heart jumped, Pinkie was okay, and there was hope. “Um...Pinkie?” Fluttershy said quietly, “The hallways are full of ponies and Twilight and Rarity are stuck. Could you tell me what to do...if you don’t mind?”

A Pink hoof burst from the cocoon and caused Fluttershy to jump in surprise. A pink hoof latched onto Fluttershy’s trophy necklace and pulled her close. “Fluttershy!” Pinkie said forcefully, earning her the yellow mare’s rapt attention, “Listen closely, get the others and get ready to run to the stairs, you understand me? War is coming and you don’t have a lot of time!” With another tug the chain on Fluttershy’s necklace snapped. A resounding pop filled the room and suddenly the cocoon deflated.

“Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, pushing her nose into the opening of the cocoon. “Pinkie?” Again she was only answered with silence. A great sadness swept over Fluttershy making her want to curl up and die. Pinkie had abandoned her, taken back her necklace and abandoned her. Left the three of them to fight a war against hundreds of marines...no. No she couldn’t think like that. She had asked Pinkie what to do and Pinkie had told her. She had to trust her friend’s words, was there any other option?

Steadying her breath, Fluttershy moved to the next cocoon and slit it open. The moment the inside pouch broke a loud voice erupted from inside “...going to rip each and every leg off and shove it up your spidery ass!”

Fluttershy blushed hotly as she continued cutting, “Um...Rainbow. Are you okay?”

The screaming stopped momentarily before Rainbow spoke in a far more even tone, “Fluttershy? You’re alive?”

With a small smile Fluttershy pulled the slit apart to look her friend in the face “I hope so.” Then she continued cutting.

“Okay.” Rainbow said quickly, “I’ve got a real dagger in my right hoof, if you can cut that free I can help you...wait there’s a spider that you don’t even see coming. You’ve got to get out of here before it comes back.”

“The spider’s dead.” Fluttershy said as she moved her stone to cut carefully at the webbing on Rainbow’s right foreleg.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Rainbow’s foreleg got free. “How...how did that happen?” Rainbow asked quietly as a fancy silver dagger punched out of the cocoon and started slicing.

“Oh um...” Fluttershy’s mind floundered. The last time she had asked Rainbow and Applejack about killing they said they could do it because they were soldiers, but Fluttershy was no soldier. When she talked to Derpy about it Derpy said she could do it because she was a monster. Ironically Derpy said that it might take a monster to make the world safe for ponies like Fluttershy. As the spider lay behind her still oozing blood out of it’s still warm corpse Fluttershy could not help but admit that assertion was correct. However, Fluttershy didn’t want everypony to know what she’d become to make the world safer. How could they ever look at her the same again? So she did something she’d gotten better at since she’d come to this fake world, she lied. “Pinkie killed it.”

“That makes sense.” Rainbow said as she sliced the cocoon open enough to begin wriggling out, “I’d thought....I’d thought...” With a grunt, Rainbow pulled herself out of the cocoon and stood up to look Fluttershy over, “I thought we’d lost you Fluttershy...how much of that blood is yours?”

For a moment Fluttershy stopped and looked down at her coat. Now that she was paying attention she could see she was almost as red as she was yellow. One benefit was that it could help hide all her blushing, “Very little, I haven’t been hurt much...but the hallway is filling up with marines.”

“Fu-” Rainbow started, but caught Fluttershy’s gaze, “Uuuuuh...damn. Come on I’m going to grab the Elements, you start cutting Applejack free.” Rainbow moved hastily away as Fluttershy darted to the next cocoon, carefully slicing into the outer web.

“Pinkie told me to get you guys free and to be ready to run.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Yeah, well I don’t see her here. She’s self serving Fluttershy, she probably just took the opportunity to escape. She might even be using us as a distraction.”

“What?” The druid asked, “Pinkie’s our friend!”

“Pinkie...” Rainbow sighed, “Look Fluttershy this world has changed us, and not all of us for the better. It’s made Pinkie...into something else. The last time we fought Discord he turned me against you guys. He did that to me and I’d die before I let some high and mighty superior being take the world away from ponies for what they think is right. If he could do that to me, isn’t it possible she’s not the pony we knew anymore?”

“Ponies change,” Fluttershy said, “But that doesn’t mean Pinkie did. You said on the boat a week ago that you were glad to know she wouldn’t turn her back on you when things got bloody. All we really have anymore is friendship. If we can’t even trust each other there’s nothing left to believe in.”

Rainbow’s face softened, but the conversation turned away from that as the cocoon was pulled open. Inside the upside down Applejack groaned, “All the blood’s gone ‘ta my head girls. I’m mighty dizzy, couldja get me out?”

A voice from the back of the room called out calmly, “Agreed, take her out.” Fluttershy and Rainbow turned about as twenty marines raised their crossbows simultaneously. After a moment the one wearing a slightly different uniform spoke again, “Wait...bad choice of words, sorry. Please remove her from the...whatever that is.”

With a snarl Rainbow dropped the dagger and put a hoof on her longsword. Naturally this prompted each marine to bring their crossbows to eye level and focus all of their attention on her. Instinctively Fluttershy stepped in the way, rearing up to full height and throwing her arms out. She stared into Rainbow Dash’s eyes even as she felt the sights of twenty crossbow burning into her back. “Rainbow...Even if you’re ready to die here...I’m not ready for that.”

Rainbow stiffened and grit her teeth, “We’ll be prisoners of Discord.”

Fluttershy nodded, “But Discord doesn’t kill ponies. Please Rainbow, don’t leave me.”

A moment passed, but Rainbow’s hoof lowered to the floor to pick up the dagger. “I...surrender.” She spat as she stood and finished cutting Applejack free.

“Come on now.” The leader of this group of marines said, “Cuff them and take their weapons. We need to get back up in case something happens with those ships.”

“What ships?” Applejack asked, but received only a withering gaze in return.

In turn each of them were relieved of their weapons. As the marine moved to Fluttershy he took out a set of manacles. Instinctively the mare jerked away with a cry of horror, causing his two friends to level loaded crossbows at her face.

Slowly she sank back down “I...I’m a druid.” she explained in a voice barely above a whisper.

The marine hesitated, then turned to look back at his leader. The lead pony sighed as he rubbed a hoof between his eyes, “Do it anyway, we don’t have time for special treatment the base is in trouble. We lock them all up and sort it out later, if the Viceroy is angry I’ll take full responsibility.”

The marine turned back and gave Fluttershy and apologetic look as he held out the shackles. “I’m sorry warden.” he muttered, “But we have our orders, please don’t make it worse.”

Her yellow shaking hooves slowly descended into the shackles before they snapped shut. Instantly the world felt cold, empty, and miserable. She let out a cry of surprise and fear as the world faded into this new drab existence. Slowly her hooves lowered to the ground as the marines surrounded them.

They marched down the grey hallway with the brown floor and evenly spaced lights with about as much speed as could be allowed when wearing manacles. “So...” The leader of the marines said, “Any chance you’ll tell me why you were taking these?” his hoof patted against the saddlebags he was now wearing. “Surely there are easier things you could have tried to steal than gold necklaces from a military base.”

Rainbow let out a harsh snort, “They’re ours. Viceroy Shadowflame stole them from us.”

“Mmmmmhmmm I don’t think that excuse is going to go over very well. Viceroy Shadowflame is nobility, he’s allowed to take whatever he wants. It’s the law.”

“Your law can go fuck itself.” Rainbow spat, then threw a glance over to Fluttershy, “Er...sorry Fluttershy.”

The marine leader shook his head, “That’s the problem with you types, you can’t see that law and order are the only-”

The double doors they were passing exploded open as a furious roar erupted across the hallway. Six or seven ponies were sent sprawling from the impact and every other pony staggered away in surprise. The manticore that ripped the door open struck, leaving a blood trail across the wall as a pony was ripped clean in half and thrown far away.

The pony leader took a step back in shock, but raised to his full height as he drew a sword, “Stallions! Rally on -hurk!” his order was cut off as Rainbow leapt onto his back and wrapped the chain around his neck and pulled. Most of the marines had turned away to face the beast and barely noticed, and the few who turned to stop her didn’t seem willing to shoot at her through their leader’s thrashing body.

The manticore’s tail raced down and stuck viciously into a marine’s neck and sent him sprawling to the floor, choking as he crawled away. A spray of bolts slammed into the beast and drew blood, but that just seemed to make it angrier as it began chasing then down and brutally murdering them one at a time.

The choking marine struggled as his sword bounced uselessly against the floor and walls before he fell back to the ground. Fluttershy watched as he reached for a knife on his flank. Instinctively Fluttershy turned about, reared up her hind legs and bucked him in the face as hard as she could. When she turned back the stallion had stopped moving. The manticore charged down the hallway angrily chasing down the fleeing marines, but the few remaining ones finished reloading their crossbows and aimed them at her friends.

The door burst open as an owlbear lumbered out. Whether on purpose or in surprise a bolt slammed into it’s shoulder and it turned on them. With a cry of feral hatred the beast rushed the remaining marines, spraying blood as it slashed and cut. Applejack was already at Rainbow’s side when Fluttershy got there.

Applejack fumbled with the manacle keys as she swiftly freed Rainbow, “There’s sixty or so of those beasties on this floor far as I can tell. If they’re all gettin’ out...”

“I know!” Rainbow screamed, throwing the marine’s body to the side as she retrieved her saddlebags. Applejack freed herself, then freed Fluttershy.

The sounds of screaming filled the hallways, not just from their area, but in all the hallways. If the marines had sent several teams down here then they were in for an all out...war. Fluttershy blinked as she looked to her friends “Pinkie said to be ready to run for the stairs! We need to go!”

“What?” Rainbow asked, “We need to get to the escape pods!”

From inside the room to their left came ten audible clicks in rapid succession. “Was that...” Rainbow started, but Fluttershy had already rushed past her, screaming in horror the entire way.

It wasn’t long at all before her friends were right behind her, Applejack screaming, and Rainbow holding the hilt of the officer’s blade in her teeth. Several times they actually passed contingents of marines that completely ignored them when face with some other horrible threat. Eventually they actually made it to the staircase, at one point the staircase had been barricaded with armed troops poised to stop anypony from leaving. Now however the barricades were torn apart and the scores of dead bodies were the only evidence this place put up a fight.

Without even pausing they barreled through and rushed up the stairs. Finally, panting they made it to the top and Rainbow sat her sword down. “Now what?” She asked.

Fluttershy shrugged “Maybe we can get to the water and find our boat?” she asked.

Applejack shook her head morosely, “It’s early morning Fluttershy, and they know we’re around here. I don’t see much chance of us....wait, do y’all hear that?” The sounds of battle still sounded in the air...but now that Fluttershy thought about it that didn’t make much sense, the fighting was seventeen floors down. Where was this coming from?

Rainbow pushed the door ajar and looked out onto the deck. Fluttershy strained to look through it and gave a half smile of surprise. The deck was a flurry of ponies in combat. Half wore the red and black uniforms bearing the red cloud inside a shield of Viceroy Shadowflame. The other half wore the yellow crown inside a star of the Starsoul Knights. Of the ponies wearing that crest were several fully plate clad warriors with shimmering magical blades. Celestia’s forces and the Starsoul Knights themselves had arrived.

En Passant

Twilight sat quietly as she stared daggers at the labpony. After an uncomfortable amount of silence she finally addressed him. “Can you at least check on her?” The purple mare asked, motioning to Rarity. Her friend was breathing, but beyond that she hadn’t moved since the knight left.

The stallion looked up briefly, and then back to the panels, “The moment we can get the doors open she’ll be taken care of by our medical staff.”

An irritated look flared in Twilight’s eyes, “The least you could do is make sure she’s alright.”

“I’m not going anywhere near either of you. I don’t have the keys to those manacles, but I don’t doubt you’d kill me out of spite.”

Twilight shot another look to the motionless pile of pony with belaboured breathing on the floor before she returned her attention to him, “She can barely breathe! She’s not a threat to you.”

“Look, I’m not that kind of doctor. She’ll get help when the doors are fixed.”

Twilight gave a defeated sigh, “I suppose at least she’ll live, unless that knight gets his hooves on her again.” The labpony’s head visibly lowered as he pulled a switch on one of the larger control panels. “What is it? Is there a spark of a conscience somewhere in there?”

The labpony turned about angrily, but visibly restrained himself, “No. The rest of your team killed Commander Calescent. His hooves won’t be going near anypony ever again.”

A bright spark of hope flourished in Twilight’s chest. Her friends still had a chance! Until she could unlock the escape pods it was a slim chance, but it was better than being butchered by one of Discord’s knights.

“Don’t get your hopes up.” The labpony muttered, taking a seat in front of the controls, “I let a shadowspider loose from the testing labs.”

“What!” Twilight screamed, her wrist aching as she pulled herself as far as she could trying to get at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked, practically spitting in her anger.

“It’s a dangerous creature, but it captures its prey and keeps it alive to ensure freshness. Hopefully it’ll just detain them and the marines can get in there to arrest them before it eats.”

“What do you care?” Twilight snapped at him.

The stallion shook his head and moved as though to turn back, but hesitated, “What makes you think I -want- ponies to die. You’re acting like I’m harboring some extreme hatred towards you...and I don’t get it.”

Twilight blinked in confusion, “You’re on Shadow Station, you work for Viceroy Shadowflame.”

The stallion nodded, “Yes, praise the viceroy, long may he live. What’s your point?”

“You’re helping him overthrow Princess Celestia!” Twilight closed her eyes in exasperation, “That’s...evil!”

The stallion gave a chuckle, but after receiving a death glare from Twilight gave a quick apology, “Viceroy Shadowflame is one of Celestia’s Viceroys. He -helps- rule her land. Kind of the opposite of overthrowing her.”

Another spark of hope lit Twilight up. Surely thousands of ponies were in on Viceroy Shadowflame’s scheme. A plot this large took major networks of support, but this pony might not be one of them, “Look, maybe we got off on the wrong hoof. My name’s Twilight, what’s yours?”

“I’m Cedar.” He said, but quickly followed it up with, “But there’s no way you’re talking me into letting you go.”

“Look Cedar, Celestia is being held captive by the viceroy! He stole the Elements of Harmony and he’s stuck them here.”

The stallion just watched her for a few moments, then turned the rest of his body to sit and watch her. “I’m sure if the viceroy sent the Elements of Harmony here Celestia knows about it. It’s probably to make them more compatible with the bearers.”

A twinge of anger shot through Twilight, “We’re the bearers of the elements!”

A strange, almost amused look crossed his face, “The bearers of the Elements of Harmony are sweet wonderful ponies that embody all that’s good with friendship. They aren’t a bunch of terrorists who break into Celestia’s military bases issuing death threats and murdering knights.”

Twilight shook her head, how could she get this pony to understand? “It didn’t start this way,” she said, “We diplomatically stopped skirmishes between farmers and barbarians, but Viceroy Shadowflame is an evil part of an otherwise good system. We have to stop him even if it breaks the rules, it’s for the greater good of all ponykind.”

The stallion nodded slowly before looking to the door, “I don’t believe you, but it doesn’t really matter if I did, I still wouldn’t help.”

“Why not?” Twilight spat.

“It’s not a case of what’s right and what’s wrong. All the ponies at the top of the food chain with their royal titles and money can squabble over land, but it doesn’t mean much this far down the pecking order.”

“There’s nothing that matters more!” Twilight insisted, “This affects everyone across all of Equestria.”

The stallion took two steps toward Twilight, but stopped, “It doesn’t matter much who’s in charge. The best I hope for in life, the best any of us low level grunts hope for, is a warm bed, some mead, and the safety of our families.”

Twilight’s lips pursed as she listened to him, “When Celestia finishes fixing everything every pony can have those things and more. What could be more important?”

The stallion paused thoughtfully for a moment or two, but then nodded his head as if he’d decided upon something. “Let me tell you about my wife.” Twilight hesitated, but calmly decided to listen, leaning up against the wall, “When I was young I worked at my father’s store, it was a general store, nothing major. One day I met this girl and I fell in love with her on the spot, she was beautiful and charming, but I knew a stallion like me never stood a chance with her. I ended up spending a full year taking all my free time and learning from his strange farmer in our town. She was studying how breeding plants together could make them different, brilliant pony, I learned a lot from her. I spent nine months growing this perfect rose that I gave to her when I asked her out. She loved the rose and went out with me. It was five years later that we got married and she became pregnant with our child. It was her turn to spend nine months growing a perfect baby filly, we named her Rose. When Rose was five her mother died to a bandit raid. I promised my wife I’d take care of our Rose forever and moved here. Rose is nine now, and I plan on keeping that promise. So when I say I want a warm bed, some mead, and the safety of my family...That’s more important to me then all of Celestia damned creation.” By the time he finished telling his story his eyes were watering and his teeth were grit.

Twilight hesitated as she tripped over her own words, “I’m...I’m sorry. I didn’t...”

“Don’t apologize.” Cedar told her, turning away, “You’re a terrorist, and I’m going to keep my head down and keep Rose safe. I’m not going to jeopardize her safety for some pony that attacked a military installation.” He sighed as he looked over the panels, “Your friends killed the shadowspider. He looked over to the controls for the lab cages once more.

“Cedar...please. Don’t kill my friends, they can’t hurt you or your family.”

Cedar raised a hoof, then hesitated and lowered it. Then he moved over to another panel. “I’ve established enough power in the door controls that I can transfer control over to another security station. As long as your friends surrender they won’t be killed...not without a trial first anyway.”

The stallion hit a few switches and sat back, looking at the controls. Silence clouded the room for a few moments before Cedar lowered his head, “The marines are coming in, it won’t be too long before they get to the room your friends are in. Hopefully-”

With a loud pop suddenly Pinkie burst into existence upside down on the control panel. With a look of shock Cedar took a step back and cried out in surprise. “Hi there!” Pinkie announced cheerfully as she leveled the crossbow and shot him in the face at three paces. The bolt zipped into his mouth and exploded out the back of his head, leaving him to make a gasping choking sound in protest before slumping to the floor unmoving.

With a smile the blood and web covered pony rolled off of the control panel and landed on the ground, flashing Twilight a smile.

In shock Twilight could barely manage a stutter “Y-you killed him...”

Pinkie paused to look down at Cedar’s corpse and the growing pool of blood from the ragged hole in the back of his spine, “Well of course silly! He’s the pony holding you hostage!”

Twilight stared on numbly at Cedar, “But...I...” her attention was ripped away from the fresh corpse by the sound of a click. Her gaze snapped up to the blood covered pony sitting next to the controls. “Pinkie? Did you hit one of those levers?”

“No...”

“Pinkie, those are the levers to the dangerous animal cages. The animals on the same floor as our friends.”

Pinkie looked over to them briefly, “I didn’t touch them.”

“Pinkie! I heard you pull a lever!”

“Did it sound like this?” Pinkie asked as she reached over and yanked another two levers with a resounding click.

A spreading panic rose in Twilight’s chest as she stared at the controls, “Pinkie! Don’t touch those!”

“Sorry Twilight, I’ll put them back.” Three clicks in rapid succession.

“Pinkie! Those were three completely different levers!”

“Ooops! Were these the right ones?” Click, click, click

“Pinkie! No more touching the levers! Get away from them!”

The pink mare paused, looked over at Twilight, then proceeded to pull every remaining lever as fast as she could before stepping away from the levers “Ok Twilight! No more levers!”

“Are you insane!” Twilight asked as Pinkie crossed the room to check on Rarity.

Her friend shrugged as she drew a knife, “I dunno, what’s it feel like to be....insane?”

Twilight’s wrist lashed out in pain as Twilight wrenched against it, “Pinkie! What’re you doing!”

“I’m going to cut Rarity’s hoof off.” Pinkie lowered the blade to Rarity’s fur, furrowing her brow in concentration.

“Pinkie!” Twilight screamed, “Don’t cut anything off anypony!”

A look of sadness had filled Pinkie’s eyes as she glanced over to Twilight, “It’s you or her Twilight, and she’s already unconscious.”

“What?” Twilight asked, “Why do you have to cut off pony hooves?”

Pinkie let out a sigh as she gestured toward the door with the knife, “Twilight we have maybe one minute before that door bursts open and marines come in to kill us for treason. This amulet can get me another teleport out of here, but that’s it. I’m too badly beaten to fight, Rarity’s too badly beaten to open her eyes. I need to get all of us out right now, and the two of you are so far away I can’t teleport us all. One of you needs to get free and come closer, just be happy that decision doesn’t have to be on your conscience.”

Pinkie turned back and set the blade against Rarity’s hoof. For a moment Twilight hesitated. The offer was tempting, all three of them could get away alive and all it would cost is one hoof. Rarity wouldn’t even blame her, Pinkie would take full responsibility. Then again, this entire mess was Twilight’s fault. What right did she have to have Rarity live her life as a cripple?

“Pinkie stop...I have a plan.”

The pink mare was staring intently at the knife in her hoof, probably trying to get it to stop trembling long enough to actually start cutting. “W-what’s your plan Twilight?”

“Just take Rarity and go. I can get out on my own.”

Pinkie turned about to look angrily at Twilight “I am not leaving you behind! I’ve got exactly five real friends left in the world! I’m not going to lose one to self sacrifice...again!”

“I can get out on my own, you and Rarity need to get out first.”

“Is it so hard to live with a guilty conscience Twilight? So hard you have to die to avoid it?”

The mage reeled as though she had been struck. Pinkie was probably referring to the guilt of Rarity losing a hoof...but the sentiment was too close to home. She didn’t want to live with the guilt of dragging all her friends here. The truth was she was willing to die to stop it, she wouldn’t have thrown herself into a fight against someone as powerful as Discord otherwise. That begged the question of why everypony else had followed her, and the answer to that question was why she couldn’t let Pinkie go through with this. They were friends.

“I’ll make it out Pinkie. I have a plan, trust me.” Doubtful eyes probed Twilight’s face for signs of deception, “Pinkie we don’t have time, decide if you’re trusting me or not quickly. I need your spell component pouch, and I need you to take Cedar with you.”

“Cedar?”

“The stallion you shot in the face.”

Pinkie stared for a few seconds, just stared. The sounds began to resonate outside of the door as the controls to the room doors were activated. They were out of time. With a cry of frustration Pinkie darted across the room and grabbed Cedar, then she began to drag him back to Rarity. A pink pouch landed next to Twilight as Pinkie slumped next to Rarity and the corpse.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but Pinkie quickly cut her off, “If you don’t come back, I’ll never forgive you...” or myself Twilight read in Pinkie’s eyes. Then with a loud pop Pinkie, Cedar and Rarity had vanished.

Thirty or forty seconds later the steel plating on the door drew back and fifty armed marines rushed into the room. The lieutenant in charge stopped and looked about the room with a look of confusion. Empty save for a single pony chained to the wall, one he apparently recognized.

“Marines!” The lieutenant yelled, “take back the room and lock down the escape pods.” Then he approached the chained up pony on the wall, “Cedar, are you alright? I thought Commander Calescent took control of the room. We even got control of the doors back.”

“He did.” Twilight said, watching his reaction through hazel eyes, “He went down onto the floor to fight the terrorists, they had a powerful magician with them who got loose and chained me up instead. My pride is hurt, but I’m okay.”

The lieutenant leaned down and unlocked Twilight’s manacles, letting her pull her hoof free. Quickly she stood up and smoothed out her labcoat, “What about the other terrorists?” she asked quickly.

“We’re experiencing heavy resistance, I can’t get a clear report at the moment, it’s a warzone in there. The admiral has ordered most of the marines to defend the upper decks. What was down here that was so important?”

Defend the upper decks? From what? Twilight opened her mouth, but the way the stallion spoke it was clear Cedar would understand. “The terrorists are trying to steal the Elements of Harmony.”

The lieutenant’s face paled, “Merciful Celestia...we need to stop this, or at least hold here until that extra ship of marines comes in.”

Twilight gave a nod, “Okay, you’ve got things here, I’m gonna go, there’s nothing more I can do.”

A forceful hoof grabbed Twilight’s labcoat, “What? No!” the lieutenant said, “The station isn’t safe and you’re a valuable researcher Cedar. I can’t let you go out there alone and we have orders to hold here!”

Twilight turned back to the lieutenant, letting her eyes swell as she cast about frantically for an idea. She got one, unfortunately it was a plan that made her sick to the stomach. It wasn’t bad enough she was wearing a dead pony’s form, now... “Please, Rose is out there alone and scared. After her mother...look, I can’t leave her alone.”

The lieutenant's face softened, “I know Rose has been through alot but she’ll be okay.”

“Please.” Twilight insisted, trying not to think of the filly crying in her room that didn’t know her father was never coming back, “I’m begging you as a father and a stallion. Let me be with my daughter.”

Slowly the hoof let go of her labcoat and fell to the floor, “Go get Rose.” he muttered, “She shouldn’t have to be alone for this. But...be careful Cedar.”

Twilight gave the man a small appreciative nod before rushing through the door and leaving the security center behind.

The pony swiftly made her way to the stairs and pushed the knot of moral uncertainty to the back of her mind. She’d have more time to deal with the weight on her conscience after she got out of here alive. What was the best way though? She could hit a different floor and go for the escape pods, but they were probably locked down by now. It was very early in the morning, maybe she could sneak out?

Another lump of guilt formed as she thought of her friends downstairs. They were cut off from any form of rescue by all manner of beast as well as a contingent of marines. She felt bad, but going down there would just get her killed. Hopefully they were just captured. She could find a way out now, then regroup with Pinkie and Rarity and come up with a rescue plan. That plan was the best - it was the most logical after all...it didn’t have anything to do with her being a coward. Right?

As she reached the top of the stairs she hesitated and listened closer, the sound of battle bled through the door clearly. Who would attack a military base? Raiders or pirates perhaps? Slowly she peeked out the door and let in a breath of surprise. The Starsoul Knights had come, and they brought friends. Three ships sat docked right up beside the station and connecting gangplanks provided easy access for soldiers to rush onto the boat. Wait, no. There was a fourth ship, but it wasn’t the Starsoul Knights, it was a pink striped...it was the Wave Crester! The thing was a tiny little vessel in comparison to the grand galleons of Celestia’s finest warships, but it was here.

With a smile Twilight rushed out of the door and onto the deck, but was instantly intercepted by a marine, “What are you doing?” the marine demanded, “This is a-” The marine’s words were cut short as a spray of glass and scotch erupted over the back of his head and scattered all over the floor around her. The marine staggered for a moment, then collapsed to the floor.

A moment later a bearded pony with patched up leather armor and an eyepatch swayed drunkenly up to Twilight, “Back o’ tha head! That’s ‘bout twelve points I’d say!” Drunkenly he lurched back onto his rear hooves and pulled a rather vicious looking dusack out and held it up threateningly. “Now it’s yer turn! Where’dya want it? Neck or your yellow belly?”

For a moment Twilight could only blink. Hesitantly she cringed back from the heavy stink of scotch that flooded the air each time he exhaled, “Captain...Captain Anjin?”

Captain Anjin weaved slightly with a confused look on his face before muttering, “I might know where he is, who’s asking?”

“It’s me!” Twilight insisted with a smile “Twilight Sparkle!”

“You sir, have a very strange name. Your parents musht’a hated you.” Quickly he looked down to the blade, then back, “I don’t usually have conversations with people I’m about to stab, it’s making me feel...very awkward.”

In confusion Twilight looked down at her brown fur and lab coat. Right, it made sense he didn’t recognize her when she looked like Cedar. With a concentrated thought she dispelled the disguise and looked to him, “No, it’s me Twilight Sparkle. I had to take a disguise to escape.”

The captain’s one good eye widened, “Well, you’re a mare. Now the silly name makes more sense...have we met?”

Twilight couldn’t help but let out a huff of irritation, “Yes we’ve met! I spent four days on your ship!”

“My ship?”

“Yes! Your ship!”

“Still a little fuzzy. Lots of people come on my ship.”

Twilight put a hoof on her face as she tried to keep from screaming, “It was two weeks ago! You surrendered us to Commander Calescent!”

“I don’t quite recall that, was mayhaps I be drinking?”

Twilight raised her head to look him in the eye, “Do you ever stop?” she asked sarcastically.

The captain gave a hearty laugh as he dropped to all fours and sheathed his blade, “You’ve got me there! What’re you...hold on.” The old stallion rose to two legs once more as he parried the incoming sword of a marine, then punched him once across the face with his opposite hoof. The marine stumbled back a few feet then started to rush Captain Anjin before a heavy bottle of something collided with his face and caused him to drop like a stone.

Slowly the old captain turned back to Twilight, “Oh, hello Twilight. What’re ya doin here?”

Twilight let out a long slow exhale before trying again, “I need to talk to whomever is in charge of these ships!”

The captain nodded, “I could use a drink, I’ll go with you!” he said with a smile.

Carefully they skirted around the fighting and made it back to one of Celestia’s galleons. On the deck a large pony in full Starsoul Knight platemail was calling out orders. With a rush of hope Twilight ran down the gangplank and came up beside him, “Commander!” She said quickly, “My friends, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony are downstairs along with the elements. For the good of Celestia and all of Equestria you have to save them!”

The commander looked over to her for a moment before looking back to the battle, “Funny,” he told her, “That’s basically what they said.” Quickly he raised a hoof to indicate the three ponies at the back of the boat.

Behind him was a yellow mare who sat quietly, an orange pony who was quickly strapping on starsoul weapons and armor, and a light blue pony who was yelling that she needed a -bigger- sword. Locking eyes with her, however, was one of the last ponies she was expecting. “Derpy?” Twilight asked incredulously.

Author's Note

500 people gave the story a shot? Damn...that's hardcore, thanks guys.

Endgame

The medic quickly pulled the bandage taught around Derpy’s leg and clipped it. With a short nod from Derpy the medic was dismissed and scurried away to help other soldiers leaving Derpy to coldly look over the medic’s work. It was a slipshod job; Derpy could have done a better job herself...had she not been wearing plate armor. Unfortunately it was unavoidable, too many soldiers and too few battlefield medics to keep them from bleeding out.

Derpy lowered her visor and began the process of buckling on the armor that was removed for the bandaging. She needed to get back out into the fray, it wasn’t that she was bloodthirsty, but orders were orders. The orders from “Princess Celestia” to move the Elements here were looked at in a new light once she had told the Starsoul Order she had been captured. Captured by Viceroy Shadowflame of all ponies.

If Viceroy Shadowflame wanted the Elements there was the possibility he found a way to tap their power, perhaps even take control of all of Equestria. Of course, Derpy knew what Discord wanted them there for. It was likely her duty to give a full report and tell the other ponies about Discord, but she hadn’t. In fairness no one had really asked her about it and technically Discord didn’t capture Princess Celestia, the Viceroy did. It didn’t matter, she held no illusions about her deception towards her friends.

The sudden sound of hooves rushing onto the deck had Derpy instinctively put a hoof on the hilt of her blade and glanced over her shoulder. Surprisingly it was three familiar ponies; Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. For a moment Derpy’s stomach lifted. For the briefest of seconds she could feel a spark light inside her that made the corners of her mouth barely twitch upward. Then reality stomped her back down as the spark died. Yes, those three were safe, but ponies were fighting and dying over there for a lie. Perhaps the reunions could wait.

“Rainbow Dash, Applejack!” Derpy barked sharply, causing the group to halt. Each one of them had the same awestruck look on their faces. A look that told her without a word they were glad she was alive. It twisted her stomach that she was unable to share the sentiment, “The fight’s not getting any less bloody, get some equipment and get back out there. Fluttershy, get with the medics. We need to get the Elements, do any of you know where they’re kept?”

With a sly grin Rainbow unslung the bag from her back and tossed it to Derpy’s plated hooves. As she looked down she could easily note the edge of a golden choker poking out. In shock Derpy lifted her eyes to gawk at Rainbow, who wasn’t even trying to hide the smug satisfied look, “Yeah, we’re done getting the Elements.”

Derpy’s heart sank as she looked back down at the bag. There they were. Every last one of them, stuffed in a little bag and thrown at her hooves. All the elements, and three of her friends. Where were the others? Perhaps they died retrieving these items? No, no Rainbow wouldn’t have a smug look like that if one of her friends had died.

With a not to Rainbow she turned to the commander of the Starsoul Knights, “Dad!” she yelled, holding up the bag, “These three managed to get the Elements of Harmony out of there, we can go now!”

Quickly her father bounded down the deck towards her, even as Rainbow started yelling in protest, “What? No! The others are still in there!” Even with her back turned Derpy could feel the angry glare coming from Rainbow.

Her father stopped, looking over the jewelry with a smile, “This is definately them.” He said with a tone of quiet reverence, then looked back up to Rainbow, “Don’t worry, we’ll pull the troops out before we leave.”

Rainbow stomped a hoof as she moved closer to the towering commander, “Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie are still down there somewhere. You can’t just leave them!”

A moment of hesitation flickered through Derpy, but she quickly drown it out. She wouldn’t falter now, “Three ponies that might be alive can’t take priority here. Every minute we wait on these docks soldiers on both sides lose their lives.”

Somberly Derpy’s father lowered his head, “She’s right. I’m sorry but I can’t let-”

Rainbow brazenly cut him off, moving her disgusted stare from Derpy to Derpy’s father, “How do you plan on using the Elements if three of the bearers aren’t even there?” Derpy’s stomach sank an inch as a sickening feeling overtook her. She had to bring that up didn’t she?

“The Elements have been bonded?” The commander asked in surprise, looking first to Rainbow, then to his daughter.

It was silent for a moment before Derpy ungrit her teeth to respond, slowly and coldly, “Yes. They’re the bearers.”

Derpy’s father nodded decisively before heading back to the battlefield, “We can’t risk them capturing any of the bearers of the Elements. We keep moving.”

The moment he was out of earshot the blue pony wheeled about on Derpy with an angry glare, “What the hell was that Derpy! Those are our friends down there!”

The knight couldn’t look at Rainbow; a lingering guilt smoldered in her stomach that she fought to quell with logic, “Those mares and stallions out there dying on Shadow Station are ponies too Rainbow. Just because you don’t know them doesn’t mean their lives are worth less.”

“But...” Rainbow started, but Derpy quickly cut her off. She focused on on Rainbow’s worry for her friends and her courage, then pushed. With an annoyed growl Rainbow stopped mid-sentence, “I don’t have time for you! I need to get Twilight out of there. Someone get me a real sword!” And just like that she stormed off. That part was actually rather satisfying. The Starsoul Knights had been at the but of many jokes. The others could throw fire, control the winds, or reshape the land, it felt immensely satisfying to move other people with her power.

A second later Fluttershy stepped up to her. “Derpy.” she said crossly, “What’s gotten into you. You’re so...cold.” The yellow pony had grown bolder since Derpy had left her, but for what reason she didn’t really care. What mattered was that this little flower of a filly was so emotionally vulnerable she was like a butterfly before a tornado. Wordlessly Derpy looked at Fluttershy and violently shoved rage into her. With a sudden burst Fluttershy rose to her full height, curled her lips up and barked loudly and angrily at the unafraid knight.

The rage cut as quickly as it came and left Fluttershy standing on deck with several ponies staring at her. Slowly the little mare lowered her head and bent her knees, face flushing. What was that? Embarrassment? Let’s push that. Suddenly Fluttershy halted, seemingly frozen in place as she stood with her mouth open. After a second her eyes locked on Derpy...and Derpy saw fear. What was it? Fear that everyone would know there were rage issues bubbling beneath her pretend innocence? How deep does the fear you carry cut Fluttershy? With a push Fluttershy’s pupils dilated to nearly double in size and her legs started to shake. The mare stood frozen in place, shaking in fear as she stared up at Derpy’s unmoving, uncaring face. Derpy had never pushed anyone this hard before, she wasn’t being subtle, she was invading Fluttershy’s mind with emotions, and Fluttershy was the most receptive target she’d ever felt. Idly she thought about pushing harder, pushing as hard as she could, could she get the mare to piss herself in fear? That would be quite the...Suddenly Derpy let go of the mare’s emotions, shaking her head slightly.

That was a rush, she’d never cut loose and hit as hard as she could with her power, she’d gotten carried away. She needed Fluttershy to leave her alone, but she didn’t need to be sadistic about it. Slowly she turned away, listening to Rainbow and Applejack consoling their friend. For a moment Derpy’s resolve faltered, for a moment she thought that maybe she was just too close to things, too emotional for her own good. After all, she’d already gone overkill on those goblins a week ago, and she’d hurt Fluttershy. When had anyone ever wanted to hurt Fluttershy?

She steeled herself however when she looked up toward the deck and saw another sight that both made her happy and sad. Twilight. Honestly Derpy wished she could push her own emotions as easily as she could push the emotions of others. That way she could just pick how she felt and not get torn up inside every time she saw something ne, “Derpy?” Twilight asked.

With a nod Derpy forced a smile, pulling the visor of her helmet up so her...so Twilight could see her better, “Twilight’s here, girls.”

With smiles on their faces the three ponies from earlier rushed forward to greet their friend. Exclamations of jubilation and pleasantries were given, though Fluttershy was noticably more muted than she usually was.

The purple mage turned her attention away from her friends for a moment to address Derpy, “Derpy, you’re alive. When Discord sent you away...I didn’t know what to think.”

“I was fine.” Derpy said, “Discord just teleported me to to all the other Starsoul Knights. He probably thought I was going to release all my energy and wipe the place out. After I told them Viceroy Shadowflame was behind the kidnapping they decided to go get her. Priority one was to get the Elements of Harmony though, so we attacked here.” Derpy hesitated with her thought, but pressed on, hoping against hope, “What about Pinkie and Rarity, are they...?”

“They’re safe, I think.” Twilight said quickly, “Pinkie teleported them out of there...long story. I’ve got no idea where she is though.”

Rainbow gave a dissatisfied grunt as she put a bastard sword down on the deck. “They must still be in there. There’s no way she could have moved fast enough to get to the escape pods before they got locked down.”

Quickly Twilight put a hoof to her forehead, “Yeah...yeah she could, she’d have planned it down to the moment she teleported out. Does anypony see an escape pod out there?”

“I’m on it!” Rainbow said quickly as she darted up the netting to the crow’s nest. For a moment she just scanned the water before flashing a quick smile to the rest of them, “One escape pod, that way.”

Twilight gave a half smile, hopefully she didn’t notice the grim look on Derpy’s face. All the bearers were alive. All of them, and they had the elements too. Was it too much to ask that one of them took a stray crossbow bolt to the throat and died?

With a sigh of relief the young mage turned to Derpy, “Derpy,” she said,“Pinkie and Rarity are in that escape pod and we have the elements. We can get out of here and go get Discord.” Derpy nodded, that wasn’t going to happen, but they could think it would for a moment longer. With a look of confusion Twilight put a hoof on Derpy’s back, “Derpy, this is good. Let’s get them and get out, it’s almost over!” It seemed she wasn’t hiding her emotions particularly well, but most wouldn’t in this situation.

With a forced smile she subtly pushed trust into Twilight. Slowly the knight turned back to the commander on deck with a whisper of, “I know Twilight. Almost over.” She took her time trotting over to the stallion and nudged against him, “Dad. The last two bearers are in that escape pod out at sea.” No mirth touched her voice, just the cold relaying of facts that needed to be told.

Derpy didn’t know exactly what they had gone through to get here, but it looked like the six of them had gone through hell. If only she could have told them not to bother, if only there was a way to let them walk away before she tipped her hand. Even just one, but none of them were going to back down, they were one small step away from having what they wanted.

“Full retreat men!” Her father bellowed, sending ponies scampering about as they prepared the sails and oars if need be. Instinctively Twilight ran to the higher deck, watching as rows of uniformed ponies slowly backpedaled back to their ships. Many were dead and left behind, slower groups granted cover while their members dragged wounded ponies slowly across the decks to the nearest ships.

The second they pulled that last pony on board the ship lurched and pulled away, turning about in a slow arc as they neared the small floating pod, only dropping down a hook to snatch it out of the water. It took a line of strong ponies pulling, but eventually they hauled the pod onto the deck. With a desperate prayer to Celestia, Twilight pulled open the pod and saw Pinkie’s relieved form clutching the badly mangled Rarity.

A slow smile formed as Pinkie pushed Rarity up, then accepted Twilight’s hoof to climb out of the pod herself. For a moment Pinkie locked Twilight with her gaze, then pulled her close whispering, “I never thought I’d see you again...”

After a long moment the two separated and Pinkie sunk to the ground with a wince of pain. The pink mare finally registered the massive ship and crew around her, leaving her to finally affix Derpy with a confused glance, “You...you’re alive.”

Derpy gave a curt nod as she closed the distance between herself and Pinkie, “Yes, and I’m not the only one, I’d like to introduce you to my father. Captain of the Starsoul Knights.”

Twilight turned with a flushed face, she hadn’t even introduced herself to her savior, “Oh! You’re Derpy’s father? It’s...strange meeting you.”

A look of confusion crossed the stallion’s face as his brows furrowed, “Who’s Derpy? Tarrow’s my only daughter.”

Derpy could see the confusion in Twilight’s eyes, looking back to Derpy for some semblance of clarification. She also saw the recognition in Pinkie’s eyes. That one was unnaturally quick, for whatever reason she’d pieced together what had happened, and what was about to happen. In a panic the pink pony started to ramble, looking right at Derpy as she did “Oh no...look, I’m not resisting, not even slightly.” Pinkie raised up to her hind legs and held her hooves up in surrender, “I’m not even in any condition to fight. Please don’t-”

No, no Pinkie wasn’t going to get off that easy. Even in heavy plate armor Derpy moved so fast she was practically a blur. The grey mare rushed to Pinkie and rose up on two legs. Pinkie didn’t even attempt to move as the hilt of Derpy’s longblade crashed into her muzzle and sent a spray of blood over the deck. Pinkie snorted and choked on the blood running down the front of her face even as Derpy circled around her and grabbed a hoof full of tangled pink mane. Pinkie yelped as Derpy yanked the mane back and set the longblade across Pinkie’s throat, “Back off!” she demanded as everypony moved to stop her.

Everypony froze mid-step as they watched her pull her hostage closer, backing into a wall so she had something to lean on. Twilight hesitated for a brief moment then asked “Derpy...why-?”

“I said back off!” Derpy screamed, pressing the blade into Pinkie’s fur.

Slowly every pony took a few steps back. Pinkie gave an undignified snort as she forced blood out of her nostrils, “I said I wasn’t resisting! Why did you have to punch me in the nose?”

“Shut up!” The stupid mare insisted on babbling about nothing, even while Derpy was getting ready to slit her throat. She was going to...she had made the decision a while ago. The Elements and their bearers weren’t going back to Trotterdam.

Twilight sat quietly, glaring daggers at the knight, “Talk to me Derpy...” Everypony around her stood in stunned silence, waiting for an explanation.

Derpy grit her teeth, but couldn’t stop the tears from starting to roll down her cheeks. Why couldn’t one of them have just died. Just one, any one. WHy did they have to be so Celestia accursed lucky? “I’m going to kill Pinkie.” she said, “Then you can’t use the Elements of Harmony.”

“Derpy...this world is horrible, we have to put everything back to the way it’s supposed to be.”

“Why!” Derpy demanded, she could feel the warm body against her flinch, “I hate the real world! This might not be my real father but here I have a father.”

“You think he wants you to do this? You think he’s going to love a pony who kills helpless ponies to get what she wants?”

“I don’t care!” Derpy screamed, “I didn’t grieve for my father in the real world! I’m not going to let him go again! Pinkie turned a cannon on a bunch of innocent ponies, if I have to kill somepony to save my father I choose her!”

The clank of armor drew the attention of the boat to Derpy’s father as he stepped up next to Twilight, “Tarrow, what are you talking about? Of course I’m your real father, I was there when you were born, I helped with your initiation into the Starsoul knights.”

Derpy’s eyes locked on her father. It was so painful to see him like this, she’d almost broken down into tears when she saw him for the first time. He called her Tarrow, never Derpy. It was her father’s character, but it wasn’t him. But...he loved her, and wasn’t that enough? Angrily she pulled Pinkie closer and yelled, “Tell him Twilight! You were going to get him to fight and die for you, right? Why don’t you tell him what he’s really fighting for?”

Twilight hesitated, but as she looked around she saw the entire ship was looking at her. Well, the entire ship save her friends, they were looking away uncomfortably. “Viceroy Shadowflame didn’t just take Celestia, he’s actually been replaced by a powerful being called Discord. Discord altered all of reality, this entire world shouldn’t exist.”

Derpy’s father’s eyebrows raised as he looked about to each of her friends, “You’re serious...”

Twilight nodded.

“And in the real world...I’m dead?”

Another, slower nod.

“That’s...impossible. No one else remembers any of that. Maybe your memories were altered and that the rest of the world remembers it correctly.”

Twilight paused, but then pressed on in that matter of fact fashon she had when she thought she was right, “It doesn’t matter.” She said, “Either way Discord has taken the princess and is keeping her in Trotterdam. We have to defeat him and save Princess Celestia, even if I’m wrong that’s the right thing to do.”

“Enough Twilight,” Derpy said somberly, “Discord wins this time, Pinkie’s not going anywhere near him. The element of laughter stops here.”

Pinkie gave a small laugh, “Discord doesn’t need to kill ponies, it’s so easy to get us to kill each other when we get the choice.”

Derpy shot the pink mare a dirty look, “You don’t get to talk talk down to me about murder.”

“Any of those goblins beg for mercy before you turned them into cockroach food, Lady Tarrow?”

Derpy’s teeth grit as she harshly pressed the blade down, letting blood slowly seep into Pinkie’s fur. She pushed Pinkie’s emotions, hard. She tried to push fear into her, she wanted her victim to be scared and begging for mercy, not trading verbal shots at the end of a blade. Still Pinkie’s resolve didn’t waiver. “Do it.” Pinkie muttered, “It’s not often you can send your killer to hell.”

Twilight swiftly spoke up, not bothering to hide her panic, “Not helping Pinkie!” In a frantic bid for support she looked to Derpy’s father, silently pleading for him to save her friend.

Slowly Derpy’s father took a step forward, “Tarrow...this isn’t you. Please...put the sword down.”

“No!” Derpy yelled through her choking sobs, “I have the same powers as you, I know what you’re doing! I’m not going to let you trick me into stopping this!”

He lifted a hoof to his chest, “I’m not going to try and trick you. I just want to talk to you...you’re upset Tarrow, but murder is never a solution to emotional problems.”

“They’re going to kill you Dad! I...I can’t let them do it!”

He took another step closer, “It doesn’t matter what world we live in. We all have to do our best to do the things we feel are right.”

“She’s a murderer Dad, she killed...I don’t know how many innocent ponies to get what she wanted. She’s a pirate, Hostis Equine Generis, an enemy of ponykind! Why shouldn’t I kill her to save you?”

He only gave her a stern look, “If you’re executing her to protect ponykind then kill her already.” A knot formed tightly in Twilight’s stomach as he spoke, “But I raised you better than that, you know that’s not why you’re thinking about killing her. What you’re doing is killing another pony to get what you want. There’s a fine line between being a guard and a thug.”

Derpy’s blade wavered as thoughts raced through her mind. She...she was doing the right thing. She was protecting her father, it didn’t matter what he wanted or what he thought of her...right? The blade pulled a half inch away from Pinkie’s throat, “But...but I don’t want to go back there. I never visited your grave, I never mourned your loss. I was a terrible daughter, and now I have one chance to make it right. I can’t just let them take it.”

Derpy’s father stepped within hoof’s reach of Pinkie, “I’ve always been proud to have you as a daughter Tarrow, you’re my little girl. I’ve never asked much from you, just that you always stick up for your principles and do what’s right. That’s what’s important to me. Now if some powerful being is manipulating us all to have the world service his ends, that’s wrong. Do your principles tell you that it’s right for you to keep everypony in Equestria under the control of a being like that just so you can get your way?”

The blade moved a full inch down, “N..n...no...” Derpy sobbed.

“Then put the sword down.”

With heaving, teary breaths the longblade bounced off the deck and settled. Pinkie was released and instantly moved away from Derpy, quickly taking cover behind Rainbow while Fluttershy fussed over her wounds. In tears Derpy rushed into the waiting forelegs of her father and buried her muzzle into his neck “I don’t want you to die Dad! I love you!”

Quietly her father stroked her mane, “I know, I love you too.”

After a long and uneasy silence the seasoned stallion looked up, still clutching his weeping daughter to his chest, “Set course for Trotterdam.”

Mating Attack

Derpy was silent. It wasn’t remotely surprising after everything she did...after everything she was prepared to do. After all this was sorted out it was doubtful any of them especially Pinkie would be able to even look at her again. If they were lucky maybe she’d just move away and find some new friends to deal with her almost certain psychological trauma. Twilight wanted to sympathize, she really did...but she could only see the pony who almost executed a friend.

After a while she had promised her father to protect the six of them and see that the world be set right. Since then not a single word had passed her lips in four days. She stared out into the waves for endless amounts of time and walked beside her father for the rest of it. She refused to not only meet the gaze of their group, but of anypony on the ship. It was no way for a noblewoman like Derpy to act...but not much seemed to matter to the mare anymore. Even her own father...well, her father in the game anyway, didn’t speak to her much. Since then they’d confirmed this stallion was Arum Starsoul, commander of the Starsoul knights and Tarrow Starsoul’s father.

The only pony who managed to speak in her defence was Rarity. After a few days of Fluttershy’s treatments she was on her feet and walking, but she still needed makeup to hide the bruises. She was still in shock that they had not only made it out alive, but made it out alive with an army at their back. From her perspective they’d gotten out light, and relatively, maybe they had. That didn’t change the hanging cloud of gloom that permeated the entire ship as they sailed onward to Trotterdam.

Twilight was shaken out of her thoughts as Rainbow Dash shoved her lightly, then pointed toward the horizon. As they watched the sunrise peeked over the land, outlining buildings and towers of the sprawling coastal metropolis. “Looks like it’s time...” Twilight said, her gloom slowly dissipating as a small hopeful smile broke out, “It’s almost time to end this.” As she looked over, Rainbow put a hoof on her back reassuringly before slipping away.

It wasn’t long before the entire deck was filled with soldiers equipped with armor and blades. As the rows of warriors fell into formation Commander Arum hoisted himself proudly up at the front of the deck and called out to them, “Stallions and Mares of Celestia’s armed forces! This will be a day that all history will remember. The Viceroy’s treachery goes beyond anything we could have expected. This is the first, and hopefully only time we will ever need to live with such betrayal. I know many of you know and respect the man, and perhaps he even feels what he’s doing is right, but it is our duty to obey and defend the princess! We know not what resistance this stallion will put up, but we can expect he will throw anything he can in front of us to protect his miserable hide. When finally we breach the docks we need to immediately secure a foothold on land. With that done we will make our way towards the keep as best we can. While we provide a distraction the Elements of Harmony will enter and confront the Viceroy, if he will not surrender, they will put him down. Now for all that is right and holy, are you with me!”

The screaming masses of the ship sounded into a vicious battle cry as swords rattled against shields and armored hooves pounded on the deck. With their blood hot and blades sharpened the ships edged forward towards Trotterdam. They entered cannon range...and kept sailing. None of the ships in the harbor even left. As they neared the docks they could see no forced more than the city guard chatting and patrolling the town. When they were close enough a single customs official ran out and waved to them, “We have space for your ship here! Throw down your ropes and we’ll have the dockworkers secure you. I’ll go get the paperwork!”

In a matter of minutes the ships dropped anchor and were tied down. A gangplank was lowered by a friendly mare who called out, “Welcome to Trotterdam Lord Starsoul!”

Tentatively Commander Arum stepped down the gangplank and up to the returning customs agent who gave him a slight bow before handing over a clipboard and a quill. “If you would just sign here m’lord.” he said quickly.

Slowly the commander took hold of the stationary and scribbled down on the correct lines. Behind him rows of soldiers formed defensive rows, several units fanned out and took cover and secured buildings. Awkwardly ponies started looking about and speaking in hushed whispers. The city guards began backing away in fear as the formations moved in. Honestly invading a city that was treating you like a friend looked...ridiculous. Even Applejack and Rainbow Dash set their weapons away and looked about awkwardly.

A moment later Derpy’s dad handed the clipboard back to the stallion. Slowly the stallion flipped through the paperwork then set it away with a nod, “Very good commander, everything seems to be in order. I hope your stay in Trotterdam is a pleasant one...errr...I have to ask. Not that I’m complaining mind you, but...are you invading us?”

For a moment the commander hesitated, slowly turning back to look at his second in command, a mare who could only shrug at the question. Quietly he turned back to the customs agent and cleared his throat, “Um....yes. I think we’re invading you.”

A few awkward seconds of silence passed between them before the agent spoke, “I...I don’t have a form for that. Do you want me to report this to someone...or surrender or something?”

The flustered commander could only shake his head slightly, “No, that’s okay. The captain of the city guard can handle it. You go file your paperwork.”

“Yes sir.” The stallion said with an obedient salute before marching off. Twilight turned her head slightly as Rainbow let out a sigh of exasperation and set her head against the deck rail.

Five minutes passed before a mare dressed in blues and golds walked onto the docks. Just from the look of her Twilight could tell this was a captain, likely the head of the city guard. Hastily she approached Commander Arum, a look of concern emblazoned across her face, “Hello Commander, I understand you’re invading our city?”

Slowly the commander nodded, “Well...um, yes.”

“Oh, I see.” The captain responded, “How can we help?”

Finally Rainbow let out a scream of anguish, “In Celestia’s name! It’s violence! How do you screw this up? You get two or more groups and they start killing each other! It’s not that hard!”

For a moment everypony glanced over to Rainbow, but then went back to what they were doing. “You outrank me.” The captain reminded Derpy’s father, “The only person in this city that you don’t outrank is Viceroy Shadowflame and he won’t give any orders. Do you want us to protect the city from you?”

The commander shot her a dirty look, “No I don’t want you to protect the city...just...go back to your post. We’ll go talk to the Viceroy.” After a salute the captain walked away and moved back towards the mainland of the town. Silently Twilight looked around at each of her friends, and each shared a confused look. Well, everypony but Rainbow Dash, who instead looked annoyed.

As they moved through the streets clusters of soldiers fell in formation around Twilight and each of her friends. Soon Twilight couldn’t even see where she was going, she just followed the soldier in front of her. They had reasoned that perhaps Discord thought he couldn’t win a battle. If he only needed one to die to protect himself perhaps a sniper could do the deed far easier than a battalion.

It felt eerie as the ponies marched through the streets in formation. The sound of hooves around her marching in unison mixed with the startled cries and murmurs of the citizens that had to move to the side of the road to watch. The way this felt...it felt like they were the bad guys. The army marching into a town without resistance preparing to move against their leader, it just felt wrong. Still, she knew it was right, whatever Discord’s game was it wasn’t going to work, by the day’s end Celestia would rule and Discord would be stone. Finally the order of the world would be fixed.

The marching halted and the soldiers' bodies moved aside to present Viceroy Shadowflame’s massive imposing keep. Slowly the mare’s eyes moved up along the tower and steeled her nerves against the imposing fortress. After all, they had the Elements of Harmony. With the most powerful magical artifacts in the world at their disposal, he couldn’t possibly stop them...Right? If the Elements of Harmony weren’t enough then nothing would stop him.

Twilight quickly choked down her fears as she watched Commander Arum march up to the two Zephyr Knights standing proudly at the gate of the castle. For a moment he stood, but the guards remained vigilant and the gate remained closed, “Open the gate, I aim to speak to the viceroy.” he barked.

The guards didn’t look or flinch, they steadfastly stared ahead, “No sir. The viceroy has canceled all appointments today to meet with his guests.”

“And what guests would those be?”

“He has only said they are “the seven players” sir. I don’t know any more than you.”

Grimly each of her friends looked to Twilight, then back to the commander as he approached, “The seven players,” The commander asked darkly, “That would be the six of you, and my daughter?”

Twilight nodded quickly, “Yes...it seems he’s giving us an invitation to walk right through his front door.”

“It’s a trap,” Pinkie said uneasily, “It has to be, he wouldn’t just let us walk in unless he thought he could beat us.” Her face was etched with concern, Twilight guessed this was the first time in a long while the pink mare didn’t have a better understanding of the situation than most.

“We could lay siege.” Commander Arum said, “Starve him out.” That might have worked on a viceroy; it wasn’t going to work on a being that once made it rain pie for fun.

“What’s the problem?” Derpy asked as she uncaringly stared onward, “The plan was for the seven of us to get in there and confront him anyway right? This way fewer ponies had to lose their lives.”

Twilight hesitated, then let her head droop, “I don’t like it, I just know he has to have something up his sleeve, but he has Celestia in there. We need to confront him.”

Sternly Commander Arum grumbled and looked back at the soldiers, “I...suppose. At the first sign of trouble you activate the Elements of Harmony and keep yourselves safe. If we hear a commotion we’ll find a way in.”

With a look around each of her friends nodded, then fell in line behind Derpy, “Yeah,” Derpy mumbled to her father, “I promise to set things right.” then went back to staring.

The commander once more stepped up to the guards and gave a polite nod, “My apologies men, we will be happy to wait for the viceroy tomorrow. We have escorted the seven ladies he was expecting. Would you mind seeing them in?” The guard looked over the commander, then looked over Derpy and her entourage and nodded, signalling to another guard inside the gate.

After a moment the gate slowly clanked open and the seven girls walked through. As they moved, Twilight felt Pinkie’s shoulder rub up against her, then push her slightly. In confusion the mage gave way and stepped to the side as they walked, allowing Pinkie to fall in line directly behind Derpy.

Calmly they made their way through the castle, the entire way Each of their eyes flitted about scanning every shadow and crevice for signs of an assassin or a trap. After a painstakingly long time the guards halted and opened the doors to the grand hall. The solid click of the door behind them quietly signaled there was no going back now.

Before them stood a long table with a banquet fit for a princess, beautiful vegetables and fruits of every sort. The centerpiece of this table was Princess Celestia herself, bound in so many chains and straps it seemed unreasonable, and of course, her glowing red collar.

At the back of the room, resting casually on the seat reserved for the head of the house sat Discord, conveniently changed into a form they all recognized. Even as his eyes glanced over the Elements of Harmony he seemed unfazed. With a cordial smile he flew into the air, raising his arms in a greeting, “Welcome girls! It’s so good to see you again, how was the swim?”

“Shut it,” Applejack said darkly, “We’ve been through a reckonin’ gettin here, an we ain’t interested in yer nonsense.”

Calmly Twilight looked over Discord. They had broken his defenses at Shadow Station and now stood a mere forty feet from their target. At this point if he tried to attack they could stop him before he could pull anything. Likewise even if he ran there was no way he could get away fast enough. Any magics he used to escape the Elements of Harmony were powerful enough to undo. Although, if he ran they could just rescue Princess Celestia and finish the module. So...why was he just floating there calmly? Finally she couldn’t take it anymore, “I don’t get it Discord. We’re here, we have the Elements, the real Elements. What trick do you think you could possibly have that makes you think this will end differently than last time?”

With a look of mock shock he put a claw to his chest, “Me? Trick? Twilight I’m hurt you’d think me such a poor sport.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed as her brain churned. This was a trap, it felt like a trap, it had to be a trap! Yet...she couldn’t see how. Quickly Twilight glanced back at Pinkie who unfortunately had an equally puzzled, and worried look on her face. Even Pinkie, who Twilight had come to understand was a strategist in disguise was baffled. Still, they couldn’t back down. They had a single move to make. After all their fighting and scheming, the killing and dying, they had exactly one plan. One unstoppable plan that they weren’t about to walk away from. Discord knew that, and yet he was as calm as if they didn’t pose a threat at all.

Boldly Twilight stepped forward, her friends falling into formation behind her, “You’re beaten Discord. Give up.”

With a shrug Discord held up his arms and fell to the ground, “You make a fair point. I surrender.”

The mage blinked a few times in incredulity. He...surrendered? Last time they were here he mocked them for thinking the bad guys would ever just give in. She’d been so ready to blast him again...now what? “Oh....really?”

He gave a quick nod “Really, I give up. You’re too much for me.”

A pause fell over the room for a few moments before Twilight spoke again, “Oh...could you...change the world back then?”

Discord shook his head somberly, “I would Twilight, but I gave away all my power. I literally can’t do anything about it.”

“What!” Twilight said angrily, “Who did you give your power to?”

A loud yelp sounded from behind Twilight, causing her to twist about and look back at her friends. All the others backed away from Rainbow Dash, who looked curiously at the group around her. Long ears seemed to wilt slightly as she hung her head for a moment, confused as to why everyone was staring at her. Her maw parted to let out a grumble of protest, but before long her whole body began to glow brilliantly. Her size increased rapidly, growing nearly two feet taller in a few heartbeats. In a split second her back arched before massive sprawling wings exploded from her back. The wings seemed to shimmer, a shudder running through them as each feather began to split into a multitude of colours, shining in a dazzling display of light. Though her mane and tail were still coloured as before, they seemed to grow in length and wave as if constantly pushed by an invisible breeze. A full two feet taller now Rainbow unfurled her massive wings and the multicoloured feathers each shone in a dazzling display of light. Her mane and tail were still coloured as before, but now far longer and seemed to waver as though constantly pushed by an invisible breeze. In horror Twilight’s eyes zeroed in on Rainbow’s forehead where a foot-long blue horn was hefted proudly in the air.

Instantly Twilight fought back the urge to drop to her knees in reverence. Yes it was Rainbow Dash...but her friend had just adopted the visage of a goddess! Discord’s words cut through Twilight’s awe like a knife, “I gave my power to the one who truly deserves it, Twilight, may I present the Prismatic Queen. Your new ruler.”

With a look of shock and confusion Rainbow looked down at each of her friends before finally settling on Twilight, only barely managing to mutter, “T-Twi? I think I’m an alicorn.”

The Pawn in the Eighth Row

Rainbow Dash stumbled back a bit, fighting the urge to try and look at her horn. "This is it, Discord?" She said with a mocking smile, "This is your grand finale? You give the power to me and I turn on my friends? I'm the element of -loyalty- remember? I'd never turn on my friends."

Hesitantly Rainbow curled her wings about in front of her, admiring their luster. She had to admit, as far as bribes go, this one wasn’t bad. Still, she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. Despite her chiding he grinned and the air about them stilled, even as Celestia struggled on the table.

With a smile the beast creature sat back in his chair, crossing his arms, “Oh Rainbow, I do love how absolutely -thick- you are. My part in this is over, the GM turns off, I turn back into a statue, and you do whatever you want...after all, you -are- a princess now.”

Rainbow looked in confusion to each of her friends. As her eyes fell across her pink friend a stab of fear ran through her mind. Pinkie had paled and shriveled, her eyes growing wide with worry. The pink mare knew something; she was just a bit faster on the uptake than the rest of them. “What is it?” Rainbow said quickly, “Pinkie what’s wrong?”

The six of them turned to look at the pink mare, who only shook her head slowly, staring at the ground. "Rainbow..." Pinkie said in a pleading whisper, "Don't listen to him. Whatever he says, don't listen."

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow in confusion and curiosity, "What could he say? We've got the elements and I have all of his power. He's done, he's all out of moves."

Rarity’s eyes twitched furiously before she drew a dagger, “I’ll get our princess.” She said curtly, “If you wouldn’t mind Rainbow, make sure he keeps away from me.” Setting the hilt in her teeth Rarity rushed past Discord and jumped onto the table, scattering the various prepared foods in her wake.

Discord smiled pleasantly as he looked over one of his claws, “So Rainbow. Don’t I get a thank you or anything? I just made you a princess! One of...what, four in all of Equestria? You’ll probably get your own kingdom to manage and everything. Maybe Ponyville can be the new capital?”

Twilight marched forward, glowering at the beast, “Rainbow Dash is -not- a princess. We’ll find a way to revert her back to normal after we deal with you!” A twinge of irritation shot through Rainbow Dash. She didn’t like it when people started talking on her behalf, but whatever Discord’s plan was she could rely on her friends to see her through.

Discord stopped, with a feigned wounded expression, “You’re just going to throw my gift away? But why? Think of all the ponies she could help with that kind of power. You’re going to throw it all away because of spite?”

Rainbow hesitated before stepping forward confidently, “We’ll sort that out after everything is back to normal. I’m not about to thank you though. You don’t thank people who surrender when you have the upper hand.”

Discord gave a small laugh, “Oh Rainbow, is that what you think? That I did all of this to cause trouble and amuse myself and you just happened to beat me?”

Rainbow blinked uncertainly, “Errr....yeah?” She looked to her friends and then back again, “I mean...yeah, that seems right.”

The smile across Discord's face wavered as he stood, stepping closer and snatching something from the table in his clawed forearms. Rainbow ignored it; it was too small to be a weapon. " Don’t be silly Rainbow, all of this was about you from the start. Every last step of the way was about you. Last time I did what I had to so Pinkie could see, but this time it’s your turn."

Rainbow took a step backward, feeling terribly uncomfortable all of a sudden. They were holding all the cards, but still his reassuringly silken voice flowed down her spine and made her soul shiver. "You think this is somehow my perfect world?” She asked “My fantasy? This was never about me, you’ve just lost, and now you’re getting desperate."

Despite the great power she could feel coursing through her veins, her words did little quell his verbal assault, "Pinkie needed to see the world she needed to see. You’re not her, you’re different. I love the sound of that, it’s beautiful, -difffffferent-.” He paused to smile whimsically at his own words. “I gave you this, I made this entire world because it’s the best world to give you something almost nopony has had in the last thousand years."

Rainbow scoffed, shooting him an irritated glare "Power?"

"No child." Discord said softly, "A choice."

With a snap, the band holding Celestia's gag in place fell to the table. Immediately Rarity moved to another bond.

"Stop him!" Celestia screamed, "Turn him to stone now!"

At her word Twilight jumped immediately into position, standing proudly, "You heard her girls, form up!"

The other ponies hastily scampered together ready to attack, but under Discord's gaze Rainbow hesitated.

"Rainbow! You heard Celestia, hurry!" Twilight urged, a hint of panic in her voice.

"Well?" Discord asked with a shrug, "What do you think, Princess Dash? Is it moral to attack a helpless opponent who surrendered to you? Or do you have something else to say?"

Rainbow looked from Discord, to Celestia, to her friends. This was wrong wasn’t it? It felt wrong, it was over, they -won-. She hesitated, the words on her tongue burned and ripped and tore as they fought their way out of her. Finally she summed up every bit of courage she could muster to say it: "Why?" The words burned through the air; Rainbow felt like she’d moved a mountain for all the effort it took. It was such a simple, reasonable question wasn’t it? Why did her friend’s eyes feel like weights bearing down on her?

Pinkie sat, putting her hooves on her head in despair while the other ponies stared at Rainbow, their mouths open in silent horror.

"Rainbow!" Twilight urged, "He's corrupting you! You have to see that. We need to do what Celestia says and end this now!"

Rainbow's eyes narrowed, now that she’d found the resolve to question she wasn’t backing down. They could make up later. For now though, questions. "What? No! Asking why something is right or wrong is always the right thing to do. How is asking for a reason being corrupted?"

"That's the thing," Discord said with a sigh, "They've never known any differently Rainbow. Things were right because Celestia said they were. That's why my world seems so scary, it questions her. It’s defies the natural order of everything they understand."

Rainbow shot him a look, equally wary of his double talk, "Celestia is a good pony. She's made Equestria wonderful for a thousand years."

Discord gave a solemn nod, "Oh you won't get any argument from me Rainbow. She's a wonderful pony, but a thousand years ago she got the power to fix everything, and no one has made a single choice since then. The world's a dull place now."

Celestia spat angrily on the table, "Dull? I brought peace!"

Discord shrugged, "You brought order."

Rainbow shook her head slowly, starting to pace; everything was swimming and felt muffled. It was hard to tell if it was her or the world going mad. Questions -... yes, asking questions were the best way to find reason, that made sense right? That’s how she figured out what Twilight was talking about when she went off talking about ... something.

"How are peace and order different?" Rainbow demanded, locking eyes with Discord coldly. Somehow since she’d gained this power, control of the room revolved around her. No, not since the power, since she started asking questions. It was like she'd picked up a loaded crossbow and everyone but Discord and Celestia had started to tiptoe around her. Why were her friends afraid? They knew her. They knew she'd never hurt them. She loved them.

Discord grinned, thriving on her confusion, or her search for answers, it was hard to say, "Peace is merely the absence of war, order is the enforced absence of war."

Rainbow shook her head in exasperation, "They're practically the same thing!"

Discord scoffed, looking insulted, "Come on Rainbow, have you even seen your world? You're not ponies, you're products, built like cogs to fit into a system with nary a hair out of place. Why even give you real names when you can have designations?" In a heartbeat he scurried up to her, "This one's fast, and her hair will be rainbow coloured!" A moment later and he had run to another pony, "Oooh, this one is pink and she'll be a pastry chef, whatever should we call her?" A moment later he'd crossed to a pony that recoiled in fear, "This one is so very shy and doesn't fly well, should we name her Twilight? No? Whyever not?"

Rainbow started to back up, a worried grimace creeping over her face, "No...it's just a coincidence..."

Discord left the other ponies and began advancing on Rainbow, forcing her to back up into a wall as he spoke, "Of course not, if you were products you'd be labeled for sale. Maybe someone would put a nice stamp on your rump to let everypony know what function they served."

"Shut up!" Rainbow demanded, staggering around him, her vision quickly filling with tears, "The other world was good, we were happy!"

Rainbow, flinched as she felt Discord draw in close behind her, speaking more quietly "Is a happy place a good place Rainbow? Is happiness good even if you didn't choose it?"

Rainbow grit her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to block out his lies, "We always choose if we get to be happy or sad. No one can change that!"

"Liar." The room fell silent as Derpy stepped forward in her Starsoul plate, glaring angrily at Celestia. "You liar! You're the reason I never felt bad about my father's death. How-how dare you!"

Rainbow shook the tears from her eyes as she stepped towards Derpy hesitantly, her voice wavering "Don't listen to Discord Derpy, we'll just go-"

"No!" Derpy cut her off mid-sentence, "You need to know what she's done." Derpy half turned her head to Discord, "Does Rainbow have all of Celestia's powers?" Discord nodded with a sly grin, "Rainbow, focus on me, focus on my mind and how I'm feeling. Can you feel it?"

Rainbow looked about awkwardly as Twilight stepped forward, "Girls..."

"Shut up Twilight!" Derpy yelled, brandishing a blade at the mage, "Can. You. Feel. It?" Derpy's eyes blazed with fury, staring directly at Rainbow.

With a cautious swallow Rainbow focused. Instinctively the new surging wave of power locked onto Derpy and the floodgates of rage flooded into her mind. Rainbow started to get angry, not at Derpy exactly, but angry at nothing in particular. Why? Why was there all this anger all of a sudden?

"Pick an emotion and push back!" Derpy ordered.

Instinctively Rainbow fought against the pain and fury, picking out the feeling from the first day she’d met the wonderbolts. With that thought coursing through her she focused on Derpy and flung her full power behind it. The torrent of rage was hammered backward with a massive invisible wall that caused Rainbow to jerk back in alarm.

The sword fell the ground with a loud clatter as Derpy sat down, a smile overtaking her face, "You know...I changed my mind Rainbow. It's probably a good thing Celestia made me happy. I could have been sad I was a mailpony!"

Rainbow let go, stumbling back in horror, "What...what was that?" she asked, her voice shaking. She turned her gaze to Discord, then to Celestia, who turned away. “What the hell was that?” she yelled a second time.

"That's the power of the Starsoul Knights." Derpy said, her voice growing cold as her smile faded, "She never disbanded them, they just got quieter about what they were doing." Derpy started to curl up on the floor, tears forming in her eyes collapsing into a whimpering pile on the floor from Rainbow’s stray thought "Oh goddess, you're so strong...I feel so...empty...take me back, don’t leave me here...Please.”

Affectionately Rainbow reached out with her mind once more, filling Derpy with emotion and scaling it back a bit. She didn't want to control the poor girl, but she knew she'd accidentally hurt her friend. She had to do something to ease her pain. Was this how Celestia saw them? As children that could be wounded by being too rough with them?

"This isn't real Derpy." Rainbow comforted, putting a massive wing around the crying pony on the floor, "The Starsoul Knights are just a game, just part of a game, like everything here is."

Discord let out a chuckle, "This isn’t just a game my queen. This is how things were before Celestia brought order. Before everything I stood for crumbled and died. She wanted to hide it, that’s why she stopped the game from being played."

Rainbow turned her gaze to Celestia, "Princess? Is it true?"

Celestia grit her teeth in defiance for a moment, then finally answered, "Discord was war and death my little pony. You don’t understand what ponies were capable of before I helped them. That game could ruin everything."

Rainbow's eyes widened as her anger started to build, "Ruin?" She demanded, “It was a game, if you didn’t do anything wrong why would you hide it?”

Celestia let out an irritated puff of air through her nostrils, "You couldn't understand. The world was bad back then, without someone to show ponies how to grow up and be good they did things, terrible things" So that was it then, she saw herself as the only adult in a world of children.

"Well..." Discord said, "I think I gave a pretty good idea."

Rainbow looked hopelessly to her friends who stared back in pleading horror, then to Discord. "I won't let you win Discord..."

Discord laughed in her face, then wiped a tear from his eye, "Win? You think this is a game you can win? I'm chaos incarnate kid, I won before we started. Despite all you think of me, I don't care what you do. You can choose to kill Celestia, you could choose to imprison her, you could choose to talk to her, or you could make everything go back to Celesta's domain. It doesn't matter, all I ever wanted from the very beginning was for you to make a choice, any choice. To stop following the path in front of you simply because it's the one you were on." he reached down putting his still closed fists in front of her. "When you started this game everyone took the role they were told to take. Everyone was happy to do as they were told. Some of them changed their minds once I showed them choice, but you made a choice of your own just by seeing a game where it was possible. So here it is, you've been a monk and a barbarian, a bastion of order and of chaos, inside you and you alone is the ability to see that there are benefits to two completely different schools of thought. So what'll it be Rainbow? You're at the end, the pawn in the eighth row. There's one move left. But this time it's the pawn and not the player that gets to make...the choice." His fingers uncurled, turning to stone as he revealed to Rainbow two chess pieces. A black queen, and a white knight.

Celestia struggled as Rarity cut yet another strap loose, freeing her second wing, "It's over Rainbow Dash." Celestia said calmly. "Discord's power has left him and he has become as he was in our world. All you need to do is release his power and we can finally go home."

Rainbow hesitated for a moment, then the tiny horse figurine drifted off of Discord’s stony claw. Rainbow looked at it somberly, a look of grim resolve crossing her face as she stepped towards Celestia. In the end, they were her friends, they were her whole world. How could she choose a world where she could be alone over a world where she'd be happy with friends? In the end, it was a big price to pay. Truth and freedom were powerful, but what was freedom if it only brought you sadness?

There was a clank from behind her that caused Rainbow to stop, turning her head slightly to watch the pony knight lower into an elegant bow. "I swear my allegiance to you, my queen."

Celestia gave her a warm motherly smile, "Of course Derpy. We all make-"

"Not you, you bitch." Tarrow said venomously, "I Tarrow Starsoul, for as long as I draw breath, swear my undying allegiance to my Prismatic Queen, Rainbow Dash. From now until I no longer have a choice."

As her friends turned to ridicule and pity Tarrow for her words Rainbow Dash froze. This wasn't about her. When Pinkie had faced this test this is where she turned to Celestia and returned home. To Celestia's world where everyone was her friend. It didn't matter how much the rest of the world liked what Discord had done. There wasn't a poll or a vote for them. They didn't get a choice. Celestia had given Pinkie an ultimatum that day, her friendship, or the world. Rainbow was an element of harmony. The last line of defense for all ponykind...against all threats. In whatever form they took, whatever the cost.

The chess piece exploded in the air as Rainbow's eyes narrowed, "I choose the world." With a ripple of energy Celestia was picked up off the ground and hurled violently into a stone wall, "You used us!" Rainbow yelled over the thunderous sound of shattering glass and cracking rocks, "You were given all the power in the world and you enslaved us!"

As Celestia landed she pulled harshly at the collar in a panic. Before she could react Rainbow wrapped her in telekinetic force, slamming her back against the wall and pinning her legs back.

"Stop it!" Twilight yelled, letting loose a magic missile at Rainbow's back. With a thought the missile was torn to shreds and dissipated. The ocean of power Rainbow felt rippling beneath her skin was powerful, Twilight’s attacks were little more than raindrops, shrugged off without more than a desire not to be hit with them.

For a moment Rainbow turned, looking to her friends as they assembled, now readying to fight her. Their faces were a contorted blend of confusion and anger. To them she’d been corrupted, a casualty to Discord’s manipulations. As much as this choice pained her, she still loved her friends, she always had...she always would, even if they wouldn’t take her back after she did what she had to do. Rainbow raised her forelegs, lifting each of her panicked friends into the air. Each of them twitched helplessly as they struggled. Grimly she turned her attention back to Celestia. "I can't let you enslave the world again...I’m sorry."

Rainbow inched forward as a blade floated off the table and over to her side, pointing down into the princess. Rainbow steeled herself, gritting her teeth as she began to cry, “I promise I’ll make it as painless as I can.” she said, drawing back the blade.

"Wait Rainbow!" Celestia pleaded, "Discord’s had his say, you’ve seen what I’ve done...But if you’re going to put me on trial and have me executed, don’t I at least get to speak in my defence?”

The blade stopped, wriggling in Rainbow’s grasp as her will waivered.

Celestia nodded quietly, “I get at least that much, don’t I?”

Carefully Rainbow released her, letting hooves fall back against the floor.

“Thank you Rainbow.” She said, carefully standing up, flashing her a glance, “You really think me so evil I deserve to die?”

Rainbow took a few steps back, “You kept a secret organization of ponies to make us think the way you wanted. Somehow changed our bodies and names to fit your vision of what the world would be. We’re slaves Celestia...”

“That’s not it at all.” Celesita argued, shaking her head as she moved toward Rainbow’s friends. “I was given a gift, a wonderful gift in a terrible world. When I got power I used it to make the rest of the world a wonderful place. I Just wanted to make everypony’s life better.”

“Better?” Rainbow asked, closing in with an incredulous look, “Can it even be considered living the way we do it? Can something be living if it doesn’t make any choices? Our paths determined at birth, our emotions regulated to acceptable standards?”

“No!” Celestia insisted, turning about, “This wasn’t my choice. When I started I united kingdoms, gave everypony safety, food, homes. I put an end to war and made communities safe.”

Rainbow hesitated. That seemed right - that was the world Discord had forced them to live in. One where Celestia was creating a stable kingdom, “What happened?” she asked.

“Things got better.” Celestia shrugged, “Some years there would be droughts, or hurricanes. Ponies died, they suffered. They would turn to me and say: ’You have power Celestia, you could stop this.’” She gave a small smile, looking out one of the shattered windows, “So I did. I found a way to make the weather do what I wanted.”

Rainbow shook her head, “That has nothing to do with anything!”

“It does, Rainbow.” Celestia seemed distant as she talked about the past, “After the weather was fixed ponies got it in their head I could do anything. Some of them had harder jobs than others, they too said: ‘You have power Celestia, you could fix this.’ So I did, I worked tirelessly to make this world a paradise.” Celestia sat as Rainbow lowered her friends to the ground, “The world blossomed with more food than anyone could eat, ponies lived in luxury under my careful care.”

Rainbow snorted, “How come Applejack’s gotta work so hard all the time then?” She made a gesture towards the angry orange pony.

“It didn’t last.” Celestia said sadly, “The ponies became depressed, they said their lives had no purpose. Sometimes they killed themselves, some of them turned on each other over the pettiest issues. They had no idea what they wanted but they were miserable, they said I had the power to do anything, couldn’t I make a world where they were happy?” Celestia’s head sunk, “They wanted purpose, so I gave it to them. I love them all Rainbow, they wanted goals, so I changed it again. I gave everypony a purpose, a job.”

“Why can’t you let them choose their own job?” Rainbow demanded, sitting next Celestia, the fury from her voice fading with each passing question.

“I did!” Celestia insisted, “...but ponies would pick jobs and be miserable about them later in life. They would become stressed and regretful, they struggled. So I made it easier. I found a way to find out what jobs would make them the happiest in life so they wouldn’t have regrets. I gave them cutie marks so they would always be certain this was the happiest path for them.”

“So...” Rainbow turned her head, looking down at her bare flank, a portent of her future.

“Yes.” Celestia said assuringly, “You would have always been happiest as the fastest pony you knew. It makes you special, but every pony wants to feel that special Rainbow. Every pony takes pride in being special.

Rainbow shook her head, “You messed with our emotions.”

Celestia nodded, “There was still crime, and ponies wanted me to fix it. It wasn’t much of a change, the starsoul knights brought communities together, they acted as leaders and confidants. They listened to people’s problems and helped them to work through their emotional struggles.”

Rainbow shifted uncomfortably, “It’s not okay Celestia. Life is supposed to come with these problems. The issues we have, working through them makes us who we are.”

With a raised eyebrow the white alicorn looked her over, “If you’re a good pony and you see someone suffering, you help them.” She looked back to Derpy, “You don’t leave them lying on the ground crying.”

With a start Rainbow’s cheeks flushed, she’d forgotten to stop filling Derpy with emotions. The young knight sat patiently, pointedly not looking at Rainbow’s other friends.

“You didn’t do anything wrong Rainbow.” Celestia assured her, standing up to look at the others, “You saw a pony in pain and you had the power to help them.”

Rainbow shook her head slowly, “I’m the one that hurt her...”

With a smile Celestia brushed a cheek against Rainbow, “And if somepony else had hurt her? Would it be so easy to tell your friends to deal with problems you had the power to solve?” She took a few steps toward Derpy, who recoiled and brought up her blade. “Derpy, I’m sorry if you felt I was controlling you. Your father was a good pony, he wouldn’t want you to hurt. You would have gotten over that pain on your own in time, I was just trying to help.” Calmly Celestia turned back to Rainbow, sticking her chest out, “Do what you have to Rainbow, but understand where I’ve come from on this. I helped stop depression, gave ponies lives they could be happy with, turned homes that would be plagued with domestic violence to loving caring families. I help the world be what ponies have asked me to make it.”

The room grew silent as Celestia stood defiantly, waiting as Rainbow held the knife aloft, staring at the soft skin of Celestia’s chest where a blade could follow. Her heart was right there, the woman would never feel it, “I don’t know what’s right anymore.” Rainbow admitted, hanging her head.

With a nod the Princess gave a look to the ponies behind her, “I’ve been around for over a thousand years Rainbow, and I’m still trying to figure it out.”

With a sigh the blade clattered to the ground, “Whether it’s right or not,” Rainbow said, “You’re not one of the bad guys. I’ve seen bad guys. I’m not about to start killing good ponies in cold blood.” With a thought Rainbow snapped the clasp on Celestia’s collar, letting it unwrap and fall to the ground.

“You made the right choice Rainbow Dash.” Celestia said, taking a step forward, “After we set everything right-”

“No.” The Prismatic Queen cut her off, “Things aren’t going back to the way they were.”

Celestia frowned, looking back to Rainbow’s friends, “You can go back to your life, back to your friends.”

Rainbow gave a bitter laugh, looking with despair on the group around the princess, “There’s no going back Celestia. I’m not going to live in a world where one pony has absolute power over everypony. Somepony has to stop you from going too far.”

“There will be war.” Celestia insisted.

“Let there will be war.”

“Innocent ponies will die.”Celestia tried again.

“But first, they will live.”

Pinkie stepped up, her features wracked with grief. She perhaps was the only other pony here who understood exactly how much this choice was crushing Rainbow inside, “You don’t have to do this.” She whispered, throwing her forehooves around Rainbow’s neck.

Rainbow grit her teeth, a sharp pain pounding into her chest as she finally pushed the pink mare away, “Somepony has to.” With that she turned about, marching to the throne as she pulled the queen out of Discord’s hand. “Celestia...you have my answer, now get out of my kingdom.”

The Lost Game

(Hey everyone, this is my first attempt at writing, but I know full well I need to be criticized to get better so fire away. Also I should put down a bit of a warning, the ponies don’t get into the alternate universe until the third chapter. Also I don’t plan on filling every page with violence and action. I’m not shying away from it at all, but I want it to be a logical outreach of the story instead of the reason the story is written. Edit: I’m looking back on this after writing the chapter “Advancing Pawns” and...I feel like I can do better. I don’t know what my problem is, but I’ve rewritten this chapter...again, to try and fix it.)

Just as every day assigned to be, today was a pleasant warm day in Ponyville. Sunshine flowed down from the heavens and pushed its way in through the windows of Twilight’s home where she was diligently at work. As she carefully weaved between stacks of books she let out a contented sigh, a broad smile lighting up her face. As she moved her magic reached out and touched each book as she thought of it. The many hued books paused only momentarily as her violet eyes danced over the covers before flitting about to organized piles on the floor. So many books, and each of them had their place. Twilight had to compliment Celestia on letting her move into the old library; that’s where all the books would have ended up anyway. Even when she lived in Canterlot her room ended up filled with the library’s books, this cut the pretext out entirely.

Ever since Princess Celestia had assigned her this library as her living quarters she had done her best to keep all of the books in order. Unfortunately, despite her diligence, it was a task that was thanklessly never completed. She tried when she had time, but it seemed every week some issue came up that managed to drag her away. To make things worse, ponies kept putting the books back in the wrong place! How was that even possible? They were carefully organized! How could anypony see that there was a system for organizing the books, and still not follow it! Ah well, it was her home, and she relished the opportunity to finally set things straight.

A light pink shone off of her horn and surrounded the books as one of the history stacks was adjusted. The sound of hooffall and the swishing of books were the soundtrack to her own little universe - the one where she had peace. Absorbed in her task she weaved around a stack of books coming closer to the last drab binding on the shelf. The book wore a large grey cover with the title in blocky black letters on the spine. Twilight gave it a quick tug with her magic, and nothing seemed to happen. Carefully she looked in closer. It seemed the book was wedged in between the shelves, and judging by the dust behind it, it had been that way for a good long while. Twilight’s eyes raised in curiosity as she read the title out loud, “Plumbing: A History. Wow…that’s possibly the dullest book I’ve ever seen. But I suppose a book’s a book.”

The mare’s eyes closed momentarily as she shrugged. She could probably get rid of it - after all, it hadn’t been used in such a long time and nopony was going to suddenly rush in and exclaim they really needed to know about the history of plumbing. Her horn lit up once more as she increased the strength of her pull...still nothing. Twilight backed up, bumping into a stack and letting out a grumble of confusion as the dull book refused to budge. Carefully she braced herself with all four legs and her horn lit up like a white beacon, yanking on the tome as hard as she could manage. With a sudden jolt, the book was wrenched free and was sent flying halfway across the room. As the old volume cracked against the ground it sprung open, splaying the contents all over the floor. Twilight let out a yelp of surprise and backed up, instinctively shielding herself as hundreds of multisided dice and pewter figurines showered the floor of the room. As fast as it had started it was over and Twilight was left in the aftermath of the impromptu metal hailstorm.

Bewildered eyes peered from side to side carefully as she stepped around the dice and figurines on the floor to approach the book. It lay open on the other side of the room in the middle of a thick cloud of dust, lit up from a stray sunbeam. She eyed the book and noted that someone had hollowed out the center to make a hiding space. This was both clever, and kind of disrespectful - it was interesting that a pony would have taken time to hollow out a book but a book was a book after all. Even as she chided imaginary persons unknown in her thoughts she saw there was something still inside. Curiosity quickly overrode her earlier diligence as she moved in to examine it. It seemed what was left was a single large multicoloured cube and several pieces of parchment. Inquisitive lips twisted into an unintentional smile as she pulled the parchment out and splayed it out on the floor It took only a moment for her magic to push everything else to the side so she could use the room. Several of the pieces resembled maps, and one map she even recognized; Ponyville. Her eyes scanned the map carefully, noting that several of the newer structures were absent from the map; it had to be an outdated one then. There was one addition however...one that made Twilight grunt in confusion. Her hoof absently moved over to press against the section labeled “Goblin Graveyard.”

The confused pony looked about at her room, a small frown touching at the corners of her mouth. The mess of figurines and dice was everywhere and there were likely more hiding behind the stacks of books. At her thought the pieces began to obey her, one by one they jumped off the ground and floated to Twilight, glowing a bright pink as they were organized into sections. Of the small metal army there were a myriad of races; ponies, buffalo, and a series of strange bipedal ones. Once that out of the way, she returned to the stack of papers from the book. Looking away from the maps she noticed several blank sheets that read “Lairs & Lycanthropy: Character Sheet,” on the top. Her gaze drifted over the alphabet soup of letters and lines that made of the rest of the page, but whatever their meaning was, it was beyond Twilight’s knowledge.

A mystery had found Twilight, and there was nothing she craved more than a good mystery. A smile on her lips she turned about, instinctively moving to her trusty shelves to search for...information. Oh, right, they were all still on the floor weren’t they? Still sitting here, categorized, and waiting eagerly for her to return to the task she had abandoned. What had seemed like a calming and useful task not minutes before now seemed like a minor irritation - busywork that served only to delay her. With a heavy heart the melancholy mare packaged up the strange game and stowed it carefully underneath her bed, vowing to return once she’d finished what she set out to do.

The hours stretched on as on as she checked each book, discovering where to put it based on author, subject material, and title. Finally, mercifully, the task was done. With a grin Twilight pushed the last book into place and turned about in a circle viewing the filled and organized shelved with a sigh of satisfaction. With a smile, her horn glowed and she pulled the strange hollow book out from under her bed, setting it on her table. As she cracked the tome open a sudden thought shot through her mind and froze her in place. Spike. Spike wasn’t here; he went to help Pinkie Pie. A curse was muttered under Twilight’s breath as she abandoned her quest once more to go to her checklist. The scroll lifted into the air slowly as she viewed it. “Organize books, attend Pinkie’s Party.”

Her head sunk lightly, but this was what brought her to Ponyville in the first place right? Ignoring a party with her friends to spend time pursuing a mystery was something she would have done two years ago. However her time in Ponyville had changed her and for the better she thought. This mystery would be here tomorrow, and her friends were waiting. A look of self reflection crossed her face as she pushed open the front door and moved out into the brisk night air.

It was a beautiful night, the jet black sky was broken with thousands of pinpoints of light; naturally the centerpiece of the brilliant night sky was Luna’s moon. Once Twilight’s eyes adjusted from the light of her house to the darkness of the night it provided all the light she needed. The grass was lit up in the radiant light of Luna’s moon and felt wonderful against her hooves as she stepped down on it. Twilight paused for a moment to draw in a deep breath, it was easy for her to get caught up in things, and the fresh night air was a nice contrast to the stuffy room. Twilight looked over the address one more time before trotting down the road towards the rest of the town.

The town seemed empty as she reached it, as it always did at night. Several of the windows were blackened with ponies that had turned in, naturally leaving the streets clear. It was certainly a stark contrast to the bustling streets of the day, or even the nightlife of Canterlot, but she’d gotten used to it by now. Her ears twitched as she heard a thumping in the distance, many ponies were asleep, but some were surely at Pinkie’s party. Twilight pressed on, rounding a corner to see a street with many ponies on it next to the a single house lit up on the street. Several of them seemed to have trouble standing, but all of them seemed like they were having a good time, and with the stiff smell of vodka on the air it wasn’t hard to surmise why.

Tentatively Twilight pushed the door open and was met with the blaring of DJ pon-3’s turntables. The room was filled with ponies talking, drinking, and horsing around. her face lit up with a smile as she entered the room greeting a few of the ponies she had a passing familiarity with. Carefully dodging swaying ponies she made her way across the room, ever vigilant in her search for her friends. With a start Twilight jumped backwards, letting out a yelp of surprise.

Bursting out of crowd came a familiar face, a pink face with an oddly fluffy mane. It was the pink party pony that planned these events whether you wanted her to or not, Pinkie Pie. “Twilight! You made it!” Pinkie Pie called out, rushing her friend with a warm embrace. “I was worried you wouldn’t show!”

Leave it to Pinkie Pie to greet each and every pony coming through the door with a smile. “Come on Pinkie, I had to. My friends are all here, not to mention a certain baby dragon, where is the little guy anyway?” Twilight pushed Pinkie Pie back out of her personal space, struggling to find a way to do so politely.

Pinkie’s smile faded slightly as she looked to the side “He..uh…he…fell asleep. I’ll send him home in the morning.” Pinkie stepped back a bit nervously.

Twilight’s eyes shut tightly for a moment or two as she determine how to go about this diplomatically “You let him drink again didn’t you?” She emboldened her approach, advancing on the rapidly cowering pink figure.

“Well…” Pinkie Pie bit her lip, looking up desperately at her friend “It’s a party…and he asked so nicely.”

Twilight sighed, shaking her head dismissively “It’s…don’t worry about it Pinkie.” A breath of irritation escaping her lungs “I’ll talk to him about it when he gets up tomorrow. “ Her careful gaze shifted around the mass of bodies dancing to the music, and a thought occurred to her. Nothing was getting broken. “Hey, where’s Derpy anyway? This is her birthday party isn’t it?”

Pinkie bounced up, relieved to have the topic shift in any other direction and looking for an exit. “I dunno Twilight, she was here for the part where we all yell “surprise!” and then I lost track of her.”

Hooves hit the ground carefully as Twilight turned about in a circle “I don’t see he-“ Twilight’s words were cut off quickly as she finished her circle and saw her friend had vanished. Her mouth closed as she grit her teeth in irritation “Pinkie…” she muttered through clenched teeth.

Twilight weaved through the crowd once more until she made it to the drinks. The tablecloth was a mess and stunk of spilled drinks and food. Stains were evident in a few places around the punch bowl, and one look the pleasant ponies mixing drinks told her why. As soon as she could Twilight managed to pick herself up a glass and get a few drinks in her.
The punch seemed to creep through her body like a friendly warm hoof, comforting her in this crowded social scene. A small smile crept onto her face as she reached for another drink before thinking better of it and setting the cup aside. As she licked the sweet residue from her lips she remembered her first few party experiences and the lesson in friendship that provided, she didn’t need any more for now.

Feeling more at home now Twilight guided herself up the stairs and into the hallway. Shifting her way through the ever thinning group of people her search for the grey pegasus continued. A slow canter brought her at long last to Derpy’s room, and Twilight’s smile faded. It was possible Derpy was inside, after all, that’s how Twilight’s first party had ended up.
With deliberate and careful movements Twilight pushed open the door and nudged her way inside. The room was dark and Twilight winced in surprise, her eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden change.

Derpy was heard before she was seen, somewhere from the far side of the room came an irritated sigh “Damn it you’re adults! Find your own room!” Twilight recognized the voice instantly and knew she had found her quarry.

Apologetically the purple unicorn stepped forward, closing the door behind her “Derpy?” As the darkness started to become more natural a figure lying on the bed could be seen. Instinctively nostrils flared to find out if the room was in use or if Derpy was alone, the latter seemed the case. “It’s me, Twilight, are you alone up here?”

There was a confused and uncomfortable silence before the figure on the bed righted itself “Oh, hey Twilight. Yeah, yeah I’m alone.”

Twilight’s hoofsteps took her ever closer to Derpy’s bed. “Derpy, it’s your birthday party, you’re the guest of honour. What’re you doing up here by yourself in the dark?” A saddened look of concern spread over her face as she squinted, trying harder to see Derpy in the dim light.

The figure sighed, “Twilight, I don’t have a lot of friends, and I don’t like social gatherings. Also, I don’t drink. I’m glad people are enjoying the party though.” Twilight could make out the outline of a smile on her face as she came within hoof’s reach of her.

Twilight’s head shook at the figure wasting it’s time wallowing in bed. “Derpy, it’s okay! I know it can be difficult to make friends, but once you do it it’s completely worth it! Come on down with me, there’s no reason for you to miss the party!”

A strong wing was pumped once as Derpy’s blanked was lifted up and cast to the side of the bed. Derpy’s figure rose to its full height as she jumped down to face Twilight. “I’m fine the way I am Twilight. I might not have a lot of friends and have some personal issues but it’s okay.” Derpy rolled her eyes, and rolled them, and rolled them, the pupils seeming to point in different directions as usual. A comforting wing wrapped itself protectively around Twilight as Derpy pulled her close.

A haze muddled Twilight’s mind as she tried to piece that one together. Derpy was sitting alone in her room when a party was downstairs and she was pretending she was fine? “No.” Twilight insisted as Derpy gently cradled her, guiding her firmly toward the exit. “Derpy, friendship is one of the greatest things, you need to try-“

“Yes yes, friendship is just magical.” Derpy patronized. “I’ve had my whole life to get used to who I am as a pony. I have good days and bad ones. I might not have apprenticed with a goddess but I’ve done all right for myself.” Derpy’s gentle smile reassured Twilight as her wing folded back over Twilight’s rump and urged her out the door. “Go enjoy the party Twilight, I’ll see you tomorrow if I have any mail for you.”

Twilight took a few steps forward, turning her head as she saw the door start to close. Instantly one of her hind legs reared back and caught the door as it was closing “Come visit me tomorrow even if you don’t have mail.” They paused there for a moment, just looking at eachother.

Derpy sighed before nodding “Allright Twilight, I’ll be there.” Finally the insistent unicorn relented and Derpy once more disappeared behind the defensive wooden barrier.

The night continued on as Twilight found her friends and Twilight forgot about Derpy for a while. The night continued with dancing and fooling around, for some more than others. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had their almost traditional competition where they saw who could drink more. Applejack won, not that either of them would remember come morning. But the night was, in a word, fun. Eventually the party winded down and everyone said their goodnights. Pinkie Pie stayed as the party host, Fluttershy agreed to get Rainbow Dash home, and Twilight saw Applejack safely to Big Macintosh. Tired and happy Twilight slumped into her bed, curling up as the night finally overcame her.

A sudden bang on the door attracted Twilight’s attention, drawing her attention away from her book. Slowly she looked back towards the kitchen, waiting expectantly. “Don’t look at me!” Spike called out, “The quiche is almost done!”

With a sigh Twilight rolled her eyes and pushed up onto her hooves. The table was covered in books that she had hoped would help her discover the origin of the game, but so far her search had been fruitless. In the middle sat the hollow book with the game materials themselves. Despite her best efforts the game managed to remain shrouded in mystery. Her search temporarily abandoned, Twilight made her way to the door. As it popped open a smile crossed Twilight’s face “Derpy, you made it.”

On the front porch stood the grey mailpony radiating a nearly visible aura of pleasantness. Derpy’s smile matched Twilight’s as her eyes closed, head bobbing to the side as her golden mane drifted gently to the side. “Hi Twilight! I don’t have any mail for you!”
Twilight let out a giggle as she stepped to the side “That’s great Derpy, go ahead and set your bags down over there.” She motioned to a peg on the wall designed for holding such things. “Give me a moment to clean up, oh and Spike’s finishing up his quiche now.”

As if on cue a voice rang out from the next room over “Is Derpy here? Hi Derpy!”
Derpy bounced as she shouldered off the saddlebag onto the peg. “Well hi there Spike!” she yelled politely “How’s the quiche!”

Spike’s voice came back from the kitchen once more but was quickly cut off by Twilight “We’re one room apart! Let the girl get settled in!” Things quieted as Derpy strut into the room, her a squishing sound coming from underhoof. Twilight’s eyes widened as she darted to cut Derpy off, interposing herself between Derpy and the study. “Derpy! Maybe you should wipe your hooves?”

Derpy stopped, looking down…well, half of her eyes did when she lit up in surprise. A trail of dirt followed her from the front door in. “Oh goddesses, not again.” Derpy’s head dropped as she flapped her wings, lifting herself up off the ground as she pushed herself back to the mat at the front door. “I’m sorry Twilight, I forgot I-“

Twilight felt a twang of pity for the mare, she seemed so bent out of shape over such a minor offence. “Relax Derpy, it’s just a little dirt. Applejack does it all the time. Wipe off your hooves and I’ll meet you inside.”

Twilight trotted inside and started clearing the books from the table, stashing them in a pile on the other end of the room for later. Her efforts were futile and it was honestly starting to get on her nerves. Why wasn’t there a mention of this stupid game anywhere? The only conclusion she could think of was that it was somepony made it up themselves, but the character sheets were so complex that she didn’t think it was possible. Twilight was in the process of putting things away when she was shaken from her daydreaming by Derpy’s figure entering the room.”

“More studies Twilight?” Derpy questioned, trotting in with a giggle and a smile. Stopping for a moment as Spike passed her carrying plates. Her nose swung skyward as she took a deep whiff if the room, the scent of cooked food filled the place. “Mmmmmm Spike, smells good! I can’t wait to try it.”

The book was closed and with a pink glow it slid off the table to land on the top of the pile. “Actually this mess is my personal project. I found a book that somepony stored a game in, but I can’t find any information on it.”

The quiche was brought out, steaming and cut into six sections, it smelled delectable. It made its way across the room and was finally set down in front of the girls as they took their seats. “Looks good!” Derpy remarked, eying the dish hungrily. “What’s the name of the game anyway?” She asked inattentively as she blew on the meal.

Twilight prepared to eat her own meal, smiling approvingly at Spike before answering “Oh, it’s some game called Lairs & Lycannhropy.” Silence descended on the room went as Derpy froze, her mouth inches from the meal. Their eyes swung about to stare at her as Derpy lifter her had from the food “Have you heard of it?”

“No!” Derpy said, far more loudly than she needed to. Twilight’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, thoughts of food abandoned for her thirst for knowledge. Derpy and Twilight’s flanks slowly rose as they stared eachother down. One silently demanding an explanation and the other pleading to just disappear. All at once Derpy’s wings spread, pumping a few times as she was lifted off the ground and rocketed backwards toward the entrance. At the same moment Twilight dodged around the table and charged after her.

“Get your ass back here Derpy!” Twilight screamed, following the mare into the entranceway. Derpy frantically rushed towards the door when she was swatted out of the air by a pink burst of magic. With a yell Derpy spun in mid air and crashed, rolling into the door.

“I um…I’ve never heard of the game before?” Derpy said hopefully as Twilight shook her head. Derpy righted herself as she cowered a bit before Twilight.

“Derpy, stop acting like a crazypony! Why are you trying to run away it’s just some papers, please just tell me what you know?”

“Twilight, I really really don’t need this. I don’t want any attention and this kind of attention is the last thing I need!”

Twilight sighed staring down the panicked pony, quickly she calmed herself in an attempt to be diplomatic “Derpy, I’m not going to tell anypony, but I’d really like to know what exactly this is.”

Derpy stood up a bit straighter “You promise?”

Twilight nodded as she sat “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Her hoof raised as she placed it over her eye for a moment. “Now Spike worked hard on that quiche, let’s discuss it over lunch.”

Slowly the two made their way back into the study where Spike was halfway done with his meal. “Is it so much to ask that we go one week without something crazy happening around here?” He questioned, not really expecting an answer.

The couple sat down across for one another at the table as they ate, the uncomfortable silence filled the room until it urged Derpy to speak. “Twilight, forty years ago some ponies got together and made a game of make believe. They created a world set in oldenpony times, the players made earth pony characters and played there.” Derpy was clearly uncomfortable, looking to the side as she toyed with her food.

Twilight’s nose wrinkled as she swallowed another bite “That’s it? Why would anyone make a game where you pretend to play?”

Derpy’s head swung from side to side “No no no no. You play as an earth pony and do other things. The world is created and you can be on the frontier as Equestria was founded, searching new territory and facing the dangers along the way. Uncovering government conspiracies and saving ponies from horrible monsters, things like that. It’s like reading Derring Do…but being able to decide how the adventure proceeds.”

A long pause saturated the room in silence once more as Derpy and Twilight ate. After an uncomfortable amount of time Twilight responded “But…that sounds awesome, why the secrecy?”

Derpy sighed as she lost interest in the quiche. “The game spread in popularity and it was played all across Equestria. But ponies who didn’t understand only saw that the game involved demons, and government conspiracies didn’t go over well. Ponies started worrying that Princess Celestia would punish everyone for their evil ways and seditious mindset. Ponies who liked the game ended up playing it in secret; they were cast out socially and looked down upon. Facing social exile or a really fun game, almost all ponies gave it up. Some destroyed their materials, some….hid them.” Her eyes slowly moved from the places they were watching to focus on the book. “My father taught me how to play; he kept his rulebooks and left his game materials hidden where his friends used to meet to play…their local library.”

A look of recognition came across Twilight’s face as she finished her meal “Oh…I suppose that means this is yours now…”

“No!” Derpy yelled as she stood up. “I don’t want to have anything to do with the contemptible game!” Irritated, Derpy got up, giving a light bow to Spike and Twilight “Look, thank you for the food. Both of you. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go home and burn dad’s rulebooks like he should have 40 years ago.”

The thought of burning books turned Twilight’s stomach. Books contained information and information, all information, existed to be learned. After all information in itself is never bad, it only seems bad when used towards evil ends. “Ach! Burn…no. You have the rules for this game? That’s exactly what I’ve been looking for all day. If you don’t want those books anymore just give them to me. They’re clearly books I don’t have in my collection and apparently they’re part of the history of Equestria. I’m going to go nuts trying to find another copy apparently.”

Derpy slung her bags over her back as she sighed “Fine Twilight, take them, as long as I don’t have to see them again. I’ll wrap them up and you can come by to pick them up in an hour.”

Queen's Pawn to D4

A surprised yelp was given as a patch of loose rocks gave way under Twilight’s hoof, spraying the hillside below as she collapsed onto the ground. Slowly she pulled herself up with an angry grumble, glancing over the hillside. Granted, it wasn't very steep, but with hooves it became evident rock climbing was not going to be her forte. With a final grunt she brought herself up onto an even patch of rock and sat down. As her gaze looked over the flatlands below she inwardly kicked herself for getting caught up in this universe. How could she have just forgotten about her friends? One thing was for certain; the game wasn’t supposed to be this way, so something must have gone very wrong.

Her hooves moved to her saddlebag to grab her water and absently bumped up against the lumpy metallic object. It didn't take her long to remove the statuette from her pack, her angry gaze focused on the shining metal object as she considered pitching it off the cliff in frustration. This blasted sculpture was some sort of magical artifact, the young apprentice wizard had been assigned by her master to take it to Canterlot. Canterlot, the seat of magical power in the empire, surely they could identify whatever this was. At the time Twilight had graciously accepted the assignment, puzzling over the mystery carefully on her way. Then again, since her meeting revealed that this world was a fake she had no intentions to have any alliance to her old master. Absently the statue was rolled about in her hooves, the mare knew she couldn’t bear to throw it away. Even here the only thing familiar to the young mare was magic, diminished though it was. When this shady nightmare was finally over she would certainly appreciate how easy things were on her. The statuette was set aside carefully as she took the water out and had a drink, the warm water refreshingly dampened her dry throat.

The sun was high in the sky and beamed down onto the world harshly, but it did little to warm the mare. The wind was starting to have a bit of bite to it, and each time it blew it brought the warnings of winter. The leaves had long since stopped their discoloring and had begun to fall, making the view from the mountaintop seem like the forest was alight with some sort of pleasant fire. But thoughts of the seasons and their beauty were set aside as Twilight readied herself to press on once more.

Below her was Apple Springs, a beautiful little town she had hoped to pass through uneventfully. Well, that didn’t work. Now her main focus was the barn that gave the town its name, the farm of the prestigious Apple Clan. The clan was a close knit group of farmers and warriors that had tended to and defended the land since Queen Celestia granted it to them generations ago. Her eyes cringed at the harsh sunlight as she peered down to examine the farm. It was a lot like the one Applejack had previously run in Ponyville…the armed guards were new though. Instead of her family being spread throughout all of Equestria it seemed the entire Apple fam- Apple “Clan” resided here. Twilight felt a sigh get slowly drawn out of her as she started trotting closer, eying the little farm as she made her way down. She remembered how happy she had been when she got this assignment, a simple diversion from the constant learning. Now she had to go pick up her friend and figure out how to get out of this world. Well, she thought as she approached the farm, the simple approach seemed best.

Careful hooves deliberately pressed out the wrinkles she had acquired for her little hike over the mountain. All she needed to do was get Applejack, right? This should be simple, Applejack just needed to talk to Twilight and the memories should come back. Slowly she cantered up to the outer fence of the farm, eying each guard in turn. The guards seemed on edge, but they didn’t seem to act openly hostile towards her. She supposed they weren’t really there to defend against ponies in robes walking up to the front gate. Two smaller ponies flanked the side of the gates, Twilight recognized one as Golden Delicious, but she didn’t recognize the other. Their torsos were covered in well manicured and kempt green leather armor. Across their backs sat straps of leather, holding their crossbows at their sides, the levers turned outward and easily reached if they needed to use them.

Eyes widened as she paused, the crossbows were loaded. She hadn’t seen them load them on her way over, and she knew keeping them loaded all the time wasn’t good for them. Her hoofsteps halted momentarily as she wondered what exactly warranted such trepidation. Her hesitation and cautious stares seemed to have the guards standing a bit straighter, staring at her expectantly. With a determined breath Twilight pressed on, wondering idly if she should expect trouble now.

Tentatively she stepped up to the one in the middle, the big red one. She cocked her head slightly as he looked down at her, his massive form wreathed in silvery chain mail. Rather than a crossbow he held a massive mace across his back, and some sort of short sword at his hip. The two of them stared each other down expectantly. This was clearly Big Macintosh, everything from his posture to his hairstyle and yet...Nothing. Twilight met his gaze and waited for any glint of recognition to spark, but it never came. It seemed that while her memories of Ponyville were still there, he was meeting her for the first time. Eventually she gave a slight cough, then a polite curtsey. “Hello there. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m an apprentice from the Royal Mage’s Tower in Baltimare. I was wondering if I could speak with Applejack.”

Twilight put on a polite smile as the awkward silence washed over them once more. A long stalk of wheat hung from Big Mac’s maw, bobbing up and down as it was chewed slowly. Twilight was about to speak once more when he finally responded “Nnnnnope.” He returned to chewing on the stalk of wheat. Well…that was Big Mac she supposed, blunt as always.

“Ummm…” She bit her lip, facing down three armed guards wasn’t exactly her specialty, in either lifetime. It was funny, she thought back now to her life before where she had talked with Big Macintosh a hundred times. This was the first time that she thought about how easily he could mangle her with a big metal mace. Well, times had changed she supposed, and staring down the chain mail clad behemoth drove that point home “Can I ask why?”

Another silence, but this time she had expected it. She waited, and eventually he opened his mouth again issuing his usual drawl of an answer: “Nnnnnope.” His eyes narrowed as he stepped forward threateningly, the corners of her eyes caught the two marksponies shifting towards their weapons.

A nervous laugh escaped her throat as she started trotting backwards tentatively. “Weeeellll…I can see you’re entirely too busy…I’ll just get out of your mane.” Twilight turned around and made her way down the path, trotting much too quickly as she attempted to quash her panic. A slow, unpleasant sigh left her mouth as she looked back, making sure the three were out of sight. “Okay, plan A was a bust. Guess I’ll have to try this another way.” Immediately she took to the forest, circling back around to study the farm.

She sat quietly for a while, flipping through the pages of a book while she gauged the farm. The calm, calculating eyes of a wizard flitted about waiting for an opportunity, something, anything she could use. Granted, she didn’t think a one pony infiltration was something she could handle, but then again, these were country ponies. They lived away from the tower, in fact the closest mage's guild was over a hundred miles from here. Some of them did manage to learn a spell or two, she had heard of several wandering bards picking up some magical know-how. She didn’t doubt that some of the older clan members might have picked up some minor knowledge of the arcane. But these ponies weren’t used to dealing with magic as an actual threat, it was her singular advantage, and she intended to use it.

Purple eyes drifted up from her book, then she jumped with a start. The cover of the book closed with a careful thump before it was slipped back into her small bag. Her gaze fell to the guards she had spoken with earlier, they were moving, changing places with new guards. Three new ponies moved out to watch the main gate, they seemed friendly enough with each other now that she wasn't around to see them. As the new guards took their place the old guards started out into the apple orchard, perhaps a patrol?

This was as good an opportunity as any, Twilight let out a silent plea as she made her way to her hooves and painstakingly circled the area. Her gaze peered out of the forest and along the orchard, carefully looking for any sign of the old guards. Certain that they had moved out of sight Twilight started to chant, her eyes turning from purple to a soft pale glow. Her flesh rippled and shifted, and with one soft wave her fur shifted colour. Her chanting continued as she looked down studying the new red fur. A newly red leg snapped and popped, shifting and rippling as she was lifted further from the ground. Her body swelled and expanded, finally slowing as her robes closed around her and shifted into a silvery flow.

The cloth rippled and tightened, turning into a nice facsimile of Big Mac’s chain mail. The light finally died down, and standing in Twilight’s place was a nice copy of Big Mac. The apprentice might have only the basics of magic in this world, but Disguise Self was an easy enough spell for one of her caliber. She looked over what she could, turning back to flick her new tail about. With a small smile she pranced about for a moment, celebrating a successful spell.

Her frolicking indulgence passing, she put on a serious face and did her best to act like Big Mac as she approached the gates once more. This time the approach went a bit smoother, the guards at the door looked up as she approached, but their demeanor didn’t change. One of them looked up casually and muttered “Oh jeez Big Mac, did’ya forget your mace?” Twilight froze, her head turning as she looked over her shoulder.

She was still wearing her little pack, books and all, but what she didn’t have were the weapons she had remembered. She swore inwardly and looked up at the guard who was still waiting expectantly. “Eyyyyup.” She slurred. They didn’t seem to pay any mind to the suspiciously long time it took her to answer, perhaps they were used to it.

“Well hurry up will you? Don’t leave the rest of your unit sitting out there without support. You know enough to follow protocol by now. Git!” The pony swatted her on the ass with the flat of his blade. Twilight reared back up on her hind legs in surprise, wheeling about furiously to give that country pony a piece of her mind for treating a…mare…oh.

All three of them were staring at her now with a look of confusion and concern emblazoned on their faces. “Eyup…” she muttered, wheeling about and rushing into the farm. As her bulky figure pressed through the entrance there was no time wasted before the searching began. A red head swung from side to side as she looked in on several rooms discovering that these ponies took their jobs seriously. There were several stockpiles of apples, all ready to be loaded onto carts for transport. A useful tactic, she surmised, considering the Apple Clan didn’t have the manpower to protect all of the apples and move them for sale at the same time.

An irritated sigh left her maw, she didn’t know how long she could keep the spell active, and she'd only prepared one of those. Her frantic searching did manage to turn up several rooms that had ponies in them, she actually saw Apple Bloom in one. They tiny filly raced about playing pretend with a wooden set of swords and laughing. What the hell world were they trapped in that even fillies looked forward to killing and dying? Twilight lowered her head disparagingly, whatever this new world was, they needed out, and fast.

Twilight pushed another door open and smiled, finally, Applejack. With a pleasant grin Twilight bounded into the room, quickly assessing all the ponies in there. There were two of Applejack’s kin behind her at the door, and one pink mare lying on a small mat in the middle of the floor, her green mane and tail splayed out beneath her. Applejack stood over the one in the middle, spitting out a bandage as she watched Twilight come in. The two at the door weren’t wearing armor, but they did carry swords, was anypony in this place ever not armed? The one laying on the mat had her leg bandaged from hoof to knee and gave a grin as Twilight barreled in. The bandage was red, and a bit dirty, it was evident whatever hit her was bad. “Hey Big Mac.” the pink pony muttered, looking up at him. “Sounds like my leg’s gonna be just fine.”

Naturally, that was when Twilight’s spell gave out and in a flash she was left standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. Everyone sat in stunned silence for a moment, but it was Twilight that moved first. Hastily she spun about and stared down the ponies going for their swords. Her eyes lit up as she let out a single magical word. A shockwave launched from her mouth and rolled over them, hefting them up and pushing them into the door with a hollow thunk. The two ponies fell to the earth, their swords clattering to the floor as their eyes rolled back into a blissful slumber.

In a haste Twilight turned, already seeing Applejack drawing her swords and the wounded mare pushing herself to her hooves. Twilight leaped almost instinctively onto the wounded mare, forcing a yell of pain out of her as Twilight’s hoof smashed her back into the mat. The mare gasped and her hoof floundered moving out to the side, sending a spray of medical equipment to the floor in a clatter. A set of shears had sat upon the table, previously it was used for cutting bandages, it's new purpose was Twilight disembowelment. The mare clutched the shears with a hoof and raised it to the side, stopping only as she felt the cold familiar feel of steel against her throat. Twilight let out an audible gulp as she looked up, seeing Applejack on her hind legs, a longsword ready to relieve Twilight of the brain she so cherished.

Twilight gave a bit of a chuckle “Sooo….this got out of hand kinda quick, huh Applejack?” she did her best to smile, but pressed the sword stolen from a sleeping ally closer to the throat of the mare she was on top of, "Drop it." The mare’s eyes widened in fear and her hoof went limp, letting the shears clatter noisily to the floor, bouncing past Applejack.

“That there’s kin yer holdin hostage.” Applejack muttered under her breath. “I suggest you let her go.” Applejack’s hind legs quivered slightly. Ponies weren’t built to stand on their hind legs for any extended period of time, there was simply too much weight to support. For that reason most sword combat lasted twenty to thirty seconds, then the combatants would need to drop for a bit before they could get back to fighting. The longer a pony could endure the awkward position, the more useful she could be in combat. A bead of sweat started to slide down Applejack’s brow as she fruitlessly fought against gravity.

“Applejack. I know that this is going to be hard, but I also know- No, I need you to recognize me.” She looked at her friend, hoping for any glint of recognition, but finding only eyes of anger staring back at her. Twilight heard a grunt behind her as the two she knocked out started to come to. “Applejack…We’re stuck in a different world. Remember the g…hey!” Twilight tossed the sword aside where it clattered to the ground noisily. Angrily, Twilight let go of her hostage and took a step back, allowing Applejack to deposit her weapons and fall to all fours with a relieved sigh. “You said you’d be the team fighter! We needed a tank, what the hell!”

Applejack instantly looked guilty as she defensively stepped over her wounded comrade. “Ah was gonna sign up with the guards next town over when I was little…but my family needed me here…” Twilight could hear the sounds of the stallions groggily coming to and getting to their hooves. Remembering where they were they grabbed the weapons within range and started to move on Twilight. Twilight noticed them, but knew she had to press on, she could feel herself breaking through to Applejack.

“We needed a pony with a high armor class and hit points to take point in fights damn it! Why are you dual wielding swords in leather!” Twilight stamped her hoof on the ground as she locked eyes with her confused friend, even stepping closer to glare at her.

Applejack took the bait, stepping even closer and getting right in Twilight‘s personal space “Well why do I have ta leave ma’ family an’ train in some town guard for years, so that my purpose in life is ta’ get shot an stabbed!” Applejack let out a cry of frustration “Why does, dumb as a box uh hammers fighter have ta be my responsibility! Rainbow Dash got to be a monk!” Applejack huffed angrily now at the purple pony standing in front of her.

Suddenly, as if coming out of a daze Applejack looked to her two clansmen, swords ready, staring at her like she’d lost her mind. “Oh horsefeathers…” She grunted as she sat next to the mare trying to roll to her hooves. A calm hoof resting on her shoulder ceased the movement. “Twilight…sugar cube…something bad’s done happened, hasn’t it?”

A smile could be felt by Twilight as it pushed it’s way onto her face. “Yeah.” She admitted “But we’ve dealt with worse…” She cleared her throat as she absently looked to the sword wielding clansmen beside her. She gave a little cough to get Applejack’s attention, then moved her head in short thrusts to the side, towards ponies that were deciding if killing her was the best move.

Applejack looked up, eyes glazed at the reality that had just hit her like a ton of bricks. “She’s an old friend guys, I knew her…a lifetime ago.” Applejack looked down to the ground as she started placing the medical eqipment back on the crate. “Come on sugarcube, we’ve got a lot to catch up on.” Visibly straining, Applejack managed to pull herself away from her patient and made her way into another room. Once Twilight heard the metal being sheathed against leather behind her she followed.

An assessment was made by the purple pony on the state of this place as she was led up a flight of stairs. The rooms were dirty, far dirtier than Twilight had ever seen Applejack’s old barn. There were hoof marks worn into the floor in the more used places, and general everyday use had scuffed the floor up. Honestly that made sense, Applejack and her clan spent a lot of time working fields and moving around, it should be dirty. However, with very few exceptions, back in the real world Applejack’s barn always seemed fairly clean and tidy. How it remained tidy in their previous lives was a mystery, but it was something she'd have to look into when she got back.

The creak of a door and the bright light of the sun pushed its way past Applejack and welcomed Twilight back into its embrace. As she followed she was led out onto the roof of the barn to sit on what seemed to be some sort of a silo. There was a nice wooden railing around it’s edges to keep ponies from falling off, and two ponies decked out in leather armor and crossbows. Their attention was lent to the pair for the slightest of moments before being returned to the fields below. “Sorry about the heightened security around here Twilight, there was a raid earlier today an Red Gala took a heavy cut to her hind leg.” Applejack looked out at the fields, it seemed as though she was a thousand miles away now. “Damn barbarians got a new mare a while back. I’ve never seen her, but she always goes for the hind legs, and I’ve heard she’s damn fast…” The distracted mare hit the wooden ground with a thump, her head laying sideways against the roof. “I knew something wasn’t quite right…” She muttered.

Twilight stopped, gingerly sitting down beside her friend and setting a hoof on her back. “Yeah, I know.”

“No ya don’t.” Applejack countered curtly “I’ve lost ponies Twilight, an it’s one thing to lose em when that’s the world you live in. You soldier on, ya know?” She looked up to her friend. Twilight felt the guilt washing over her, her friend’s gaze carrying an unspoken accusation. They’d still be alive if you’d never touched that game. Instead Applejack simply muttered “Big Mac and Apple Bloom used to have different friends you know, back in our world. Big Mac didn’t need ta put his life on the line every day back then…it feels like a bad dream.”

Twilight’s head sunk lower, she didn’t even think about how everyone else’s lives had gone in this world. She’d studied in a nice safe tower, honestly it was a lot like her old childhood. Everypony else on the other hoof, they’d lived in a very different world. “Look, this entire thing is bad. But if we all work together maybe it can be reversed, put everything right again.” Her voice was sunken, it was more a statement of hope, not an assertion she could back up.

Hopeful eyes looked up to Twilight as Applejack forced herself back up, looking back out over the horizon as the sun began it’s slow descent into the late afternoon “Twilight, I can’t go. In whatever world we live in, this here’s kin.” She looked over at the two checking opposite sides of the barn and chatting. “Them barbarians attack once a week, most times two. If I wasn’t here to keep mah family safe…I don’t know if I could forgive myself. Look, yer welcome to stay-”

“No!” Twilight cut her off, the stinging guilt of breaking the world hitting her squarely in the heart. She wanted, more than anything, to believe that they were simply trapped in the game. But still the possibility lingered in the back of her mind that this was all happening, truly happening. That thought burned. “We’re the only ponies that even remember the real world. Everypony else has forgotten, I don’t know if it’s because we’re the elements of harmony or what. But that’s who we are dammit!” Her hoof slammed down on the roof “We’re the spirits of the elements of harmony, saving Equestria is what we do!”

Applejack’s jaw set as she stared at her friend for a bit “Don’t stomp on the roof, the night watch is sleeping.”

Twilight blushed at her perhaps unnecessary outburst. “Um…Sorry.”

With that Applejack turned about and started towards the door back into the barn. “Look Twilight, just stay here a spell. I need to talk to Granny Smith, and get the transport loaded and defended on its way in and out of town.” She turned her head back briefly, her sullen demeanor dampening her features “An Twilight…I’m glad you’re with me again.” With that she made her way downstairs.

Twilight sat, dumbfounded. She had found Applejack and had gotten her to remember, but apparently it was going to take more than that to get to work solving the issue. Nothing she knew about magic in either lifetime provided her with the slightest clue as to how to deal with the problem. Worse still she knew exactly where one of her friends were. Well, two if she counted Pinkie Pie, she was in Apple Springs somewhere. But solving problems was something you did by thinking and researching, she doubted that Pinkie Pie would provide much insight. In fact, it seemed likely that it was up to her, Twilight Sparkle, to fix this problem. It seemed fitting, since the entire damn problem was her doing.

Twilight’s head sunk a bit lower as she made her way back down to the barn and re-introduced herself to everyone in the Apple Clan. Some she knew, many she didn’t. It seemed strange how the four in Ponyville managed to take care of their entire business and farm all by themselves. Perhaps without having to worry about greedy ponies taking things it required far less manpower. The difference caused Twilight to question why greed never came into it in the real world. After all, ponies still wanted things, and Applejack's orchard was completely undefended. For that matter she wondered exactly how they had managed to curb crime back in the real world. The only guards were in the palace, it seemed that crime, simply wasn't. She shook the thought from her head, none of that was important, what was important was that she make it the way it was.

Finally Twilight found her way to the last pony she needed to be introduced to, the leader of the Apple Clan, Granny Smith. Twilight bowed politely to the wrinkled light green pony, and received a bow in return. This was the perfect opportunity, the young apprentice decided, to find a way to end the conflict. After all, if the barbarians were gone, Applejack could go leave without worry for her family. She pondered for half a second before turning back around and coming to Granny Smith. “Where have you looked for your enemy? If perhaps you could launch a frontal assault you could clear them out.” It was a simple plan, surely, but sometimes a direct approach was best.

As Twilight Gazed upon Granny smith she grimaced, Granny Smith was…different. For whatever reason being in this world made her seem…younger. She easily stood on her four legs and her eyes focused completely on Twilight. She even seemed to hear everything right the first time, maybe her constant need to keep alert had done well for her. “No.” The aged pony told her “We get a few bumps and bruises fighting them off, maybe a death or two, but that’s rare. Too many would die if we attacked them.”

“Hmmm…” Twilight pressed the issue “Perhaps you could find a way to placate them? If you made an arrangement to give them something it could protect your stock, and your clan.” It was essential she find a solution, they needed to find the others and get out of here. They were, after all, the last line of defense for all of Equestria. If there was ever a time Equestria needed defending, this was it, and she didn't see another line of defence ahead of her.

“No.” Granny Smith growled angrily “I’m not about to give food away to any wild pony who is willing to harass us. We need to show strength! Otherwise more will come.” Granny Smith’s eyes had lowered into slits, anger and irritation pouring out.

“Perhaps-” Twilight started.

“I said no!” The old mare barked, baring her teeth. The stark contrast between the woman she was used to caused Twilight to back up a few steps in fear.

Granny Smith cleared her throat. Giving Twilight a slight smile she shook her head “Oh…sorry dear. But I promise I’ve looked the situation over carefully and I’m doing what’s best. Now, just leave it to us. Please.” Even as she said please her voice lowered. It scared Twilight, it felt like a threat.

“Um…okay, sorry…” Twilight lowered her head as she backed away from Granny Smith. The shaken purple pony turned about and noted Applejack moving towards the door outside. Grateful to have an excuse to get away from Granny Smith Twilight trotted after Applejack.

“Applejack! Wait up!” She called out, moving up to flank the pony.

Applejack smiled as her friend approached “Well hello again sugarcube. We’re about to escort our wagon out of the town. It’s a bit of a march, but if ya’d like ta come with strap on a spare sword.” Applejack looked pointedly at another one of her clansmen who gave up his smaller sword without much of a fight.

Twilight looked at the sword tentatively before looking back to Applejack. Applejack’s head shook slowly “Ya don’t need ta know how ta use it Twilight, just try and look scary. If there’s an actual fight use some of yer magic on em.”

Twilight was uncertain. “Isn’t escorting one of those things dangerous? How often do they attack them?” She took the sword, fiddling with the clasp as she awkwardly tried to put it on.

“Naw.” Applejack shook her head, suppressing a giggle as the prissy city pony struggled with a simple sword belt. After a moment she moved forward to help her put it on. “They never attack our caravans. They’re careful barbarians, I’ll give em’ that. They watch all careful like, then strike places where we don’t have protection. So guarded caravans are almost never hit.” She pulled the clasp tightly and backed up, looking at her handiwork. Satisfied she turned about and made her way to the wagon.

“Isn’t that a little…calculating for barbarians?” Twilight wondered aloud, more for herself than for her friend.

Applejack snorted “Ah wouldn’t know sugarcube, them’s the only barbarians I’ve ever known.”

Twilight’s trip went smoothly enough, and they came back to the farm without incident. That night Twilight’s rest was fitful, memories came to haunt her, both good and bad. Each time the horrors brought her back to the land of the awake all she could manage to do was turn over slowly and try to go back to bed. Each time she muttered “I’m sorry.”

Things proved fruitless as Twilight abandoned her master’s quest and temporarily took on the work of the Apple Clan. The clan didn’t seem to trust her much, some even spread rumors that she had bewitched Applejack into obeying her. Luckily it seemed Applejack was fairly influential here, and dissent was swiftly put down by her. The two spent their spare time trying to find out exactly how they’d manage to deal with the barbarians and find their friends. They started to think that they’d not find an answer any time soon. They were, however, wrong.

“Applejack!” The call came from above shook the two from their conversation as they looked up inquisitively. “Everyone! The barbarians are coming….All of them.”

Losing Exchange

Fluttershy...was falling. She barked in fury a few times, then stopped, trying to get her bearings as she plummeted. Well...this was a strange irony. She’d spent her life defending the world wishing she could be more like the animals she protected. Now she was just like the animals she protected, and the world was about to hit her at about a hundred miles an hour. Ungrateful world.

Instinctively she twisted about in the air, trying to get her paws beneath her. With some difficulty she turned about and looked down. It wasn’t land that was going to crush her, it was the contemptible ocean! Fear started to grip her and her skin crawled, but the adrenaline kept her focused. If she was to die in the ocean, she had best be graceful about it. She put her front paws together and lowered her muzzle, sucking in one last great breath. With a spray of water the pony hit the water like an arrow and punched right through it sinking low and fast.

The water quickly obscured her vision as she sank, the pressure throbbed inside of her skull as she sunk. Holding her breath she turned her muzzle up and kicked, beginning her assent towards the surface. Her lungs burned and screamed as she rose far too slowly. Finally her head burst above the surface and she sucked in a deep breath of air and the spray of salt water. The copper taste of blood mingled with salt and water before she could shut her maw.

Carefully she started paddling along the water. The fall had brought her to the ocean in the shadow of a massive tower. How some creatures could call this watery grave home was beyond her. It was nothing but miles and miles of landless, drinkless hell.

The jet black lupine focused on moving forward, back to her home, to land. The steep cliff would prevent her from simply turning about and going back to Trotterdam - not that she wanted to return to a city. No she would travel around the cliff as far as she could, it had to come to a beach eventually. Her paws pumped more furiously, but her ears perked up. There was a noise of some sort. A scream? No...a cheer. She turned her eyes skyward to see a pink bullet race down from the heavens and explode into the water; a mimicry of the horrifying event she had just endured.

Canine eyes turned upward and looked at the sky and the tower above. The fall was massive, even landing in water it should have killed them. Now that she had taken the time to think about it, she didn’t fall quite as fast as she had expected. It was just difficult to tell these things with the mind crushing fear of falling to one’s death present.

Hesitantly Fluttershy turned about and watched. Pinkie was taking a while to resurface. With a tinge of worry Fluttershy turned about and started pushing herself toward where Pinkie had hit. Moments later the pink mare burst out of the water coughing and gasping for air. Every weapon or scrap of armor on her was gone. The one exception was a combat knife she kept clenched in her teeth, and a small leather back for her book and spell components.

Fluttershy hesitated as the Pink mare turned about to look at her “Ewh haaa fufcherfaa...” Pinkie greeted. Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but he words wouldn’t form. Instead she let out a growl, then a whimper. Pinkie’s eyes opened wider as she pulled her knife from her teeth and it disappeared beneath the waves. With a smile Pinkie motioned to her “Come on Fluttershy, we need to get to land, and you’re a lot faster than me.”

As it turned out compared to Pinkie, Fluttershy was a damned fish. The mare could barely move and in the end Fluttershy had dipped under the water and swam between her legs. Once Pinkie had a secure mount the massive wolf was able to paddle down the shore until they reached a beach. With a sigh of relief the two made their way to the beach, Pinkie dismounting as they got close.

Panting and weary Fluttershy made her way onto the beach, followed shortly by Pinkie. Fluttershy looked about on the beach for her friends, they were nowhere to be seen. Carefully she looked down at the pink mare and it occurred to her how oddly small everything seemed now. The feelings flooding her made her want to move about but she was just so tired...Pathetically she opened her muzzle again “Araroo...” She frowned.

With a smile Pinkie reared up on her hind legs and put her forelegs on Fluttershy’s face. “Okay Fluttershy.” the mare said calmly, “You’re just not used to talking like that, you’ll get used to it.” Fluttershy turned her head away and Pinkie was thrown to the sand. Ashamed, the black wolf lowered her head. Again Pinkie righted herself and took Fluttershy’s head in her hooves. “Fluttershy, you need to listen to me. Close your eyes and focus on Druantia’s touch, okay?” Pinkie knew about Druantia! She needed to protect the secret!

Instantly Fluttershy jumped back in surprise, sending Pinkie sprawling into the sand...again. The mare slowly got to her hooves again, her pink fur now coated with a fine powder of beige sand. Slowly she made her way back to the wolven girl. A sharp pain radiated across her face as Pinkie’s hoof cracked across her cheek in a forceful smack. Fluttershy’s mouth fell open in shock. She should have been furious, but somehow she calmed. Pinkie was trying to help her right now, and Fluttershy needed to listen. Her eyes locked on Pinkie as she listened to the girl’s words, now more forceful. “You’re not going to do that again.” Pinkie told her “You’re going to close your eyes and focus on Druantia.”

Fluttershy nodded, closing her eyes and doing as she was told. She tried to shut out the sounds around her, the abnormally clear sounds. The sounds of leaves rustling somewhere off of the beach, and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore faded from her reality. There it was, faint, but there. Druantia’s touch graced Fluttershy, and an imperceptible green glow surrounded her; it was a glow disrupted by the bathing white light of the sun, but a glow nonetheless.

“Good.” She hear Pinkie say, “Now relax your muscles. You’re a shapeshifter now. You need to relax as much as you can to turn back. Later on you won’t need to, but right now you can’t figure out what muscle controls your form, so just relax all of them.” The dire wolf let out a breath through her nose as she relaxed all of her muscles, or tried to anyway. She felt weak, and so very tired.

“Good,” Pinkie repeated. “Imagine yourself small and meek. like a little mouse.” Fluttershy felt the urge to open her eyes. This was silly. Then again...she didn’t want to get smacked twice. Resigned to her choice she focused, trying to imagine the hulking body twice the size of her own was a mouse. It wasn’t an easy thing to imagine. “Now tense your muscles all at the same time.” The ebony wolf tensed all her muscles simultaneously and grit her teeth. As she tensed them she could feel her body tingle. The scents in the air got less sharp and the sounds around her muddled slightly. For a moment her teeth hurt, all pressing against each other painfully. Quickly she relaxed her jaw and the teeth shifted and flattened.

After being told it was okay Fluttershy opened her eyes to see Pinkie beaming at her. They now seemed to be about the same height. The stunned yellow druid looked down at her hoof. That was better. A weak smile touched onto her face as Pinkie threw two hooves around her friend “Great job Fluttershy! You got that in one go!”

The mare blushed softly “It...it was nothing.”

The smiling pink mare pulled away and tilted her head to the side. “Don’t be silly Fluttershy, you did great!” Her voice became a little bit somber as she continued. “You’re a much better swimmer than the rest of our friends, I’m pretty sure we beat them here. You look exhausted, why don’t you get some rest. I’ll keep an eye out for them.” Fluttershy wanted to protest. She wanted to help her friends...but she was just so tired. Slowly she lay on the sand, curling herself up. She pointed her face away from the sun and drifted off.

A hoof pressed quickly against Fluttershy’s back, causing her to wake with a start. As she turned about she heard the sound of a cover shutting. Pinkie slid a book back into her small bag and pointed down the beach. Fluttershy’s gaze followed Pinkie’s indication. Trudging down the beach were all of her friends. All, except for Derpy.

Soon the group met and exchanged pleasantries. Hugs and meek smiles for everyone as they acknowledged that each of them had barely made it out alive. Fluttershy had thought it was a miracle she and Pinkie both made that fall and survived. All six?...Druantia must have been on their side. It would have been nice if Discord could have just not been there though.

“So Derpy’s...” Applejack started, the first to breach the subject.

Pinkie’s head shook as her confident voice piped up. “Discord’s not a killer. He didn’t destroy her, he just teleported her out. Probably to wherever ponies left her father’s body in this world.”

Fluttershy suppressed a shiver. Derpy didn’t always have a clear head when it came to mental trauma. Suddenly appearing amongst the corpses of her dead family members was just asking for another Ponyville incident.

“She might be trapped in a crypt somewhere then.” Twilight observed, “Discord’s too strong for us to beat. We’ll have to find Derpy first, then try to rally Celestia’s armies and go back. He can’t stop everypony.”

“Twilight darling.” Rarity spoke up. “I can tell you right now that getting all of the nobles to attack Trotterdam isn’t going to happen.” Twilight’s hopeful look died. “But I do know where we need to go.” she quickly consoled. “I got Celestia’s gag off and while I was working on her locks she told me exactly where to find the elements of harmony.”

The group broke out into smiles. “Yeah!” Rainbow called enthusiastically, “If you can’t win the game, flip the board over and punch your opponent in the face! I’m in.”

Rarity’s head shook. “Viceroy Shadowflame had them hidden on Shadow Station. It’s a fortress out on the ocean. It’s heavily guarded and nopony knows what goes on in there. We’ll have quite the fight on our hooves if we do this.”

An eyebrow raised on Rainbow Dash’s face, “More dangerous than a frontal assault on a dragon?”

A nod from Twilight brought the discussion quickly to a close. “Derpy will have to just hang in there for a while.” she muttered, trying to mask over a hint of sadness. “The elements of harmony aren’t only the best way to stop Discord. They can’t be allowed to sit on some...ocean testing facility. Could you imagine if Discord found a way to tap into that kind of power? He could free himself and rule over all Equestria again.”

A cyan mouth curled in disagreement “Twilight, Derpy’s our friend. Can’t we find her first before going after Shadow Station?”

A reassuring smile crossed Twilight’s face as she rested a hoof on her friend’s many hued mane. “I know you don’t like leaving your friends behind Dash, you’re the element of loyalty after all. But as an element of harmony all of Equestria is counting on you. You need to put the needs of everypony over the needs of one.” Rainbow Dash looked away, but nodded grudgingly.

“Yeah.” Applejack said quickly. “I reckon Twilight’s right, even if I don’t much like it. Now before we do anything we need to get into those forests. Rainbow and I can search the forest for some grub, maybe get something we can sell at the next town. At least Rarity kept some fresh water so we should be alright, least for tonight.”

Fluttershy’s eyes drifted to Rarity. Most of the group had struggled to swim with their armor on and needed to ditch various items. Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie had all kept combat knives. Twilight and Pinkie both kept leather bags with a book and their spell components. Rarity had some trouble hiding spell components in the guard’s armor, but she seemed to have smuggled it to them. Pink eyes narrowed on Pinkie’s book bag, she must have stored the wolfsbane with her spell components...for security. Rarity had kept a small bag and her wine skin filled to the brim.

Fluttershy smiled. It was odd that Rarity of all ponies had been the one with the foresight to see what was truly important. Then she opened her mouth “Actually...” Rarity confessed “It’s filled with whale oil.” The group went silent. It stayed that way for a while, Rarity’s head slowly getting closer to the ground with each passing second.

Finally Applejack nodded “Yeah, yeah I suppose I should have seen that coming.” Her haunches lifted from the ground as she pressed towards the treeline. “C’mon everypony. Let’s go find us some water.”

Flutttershy collapsed to the ground as they made camp. She felt so weak that walking even this admittedly small distance was horribly draining. Pinkie’s wolfsbane was seriously doing a number on her. She didn’t know if she could handle walking this much the next day. Although somehow she knew that wasn’t going to be a problem much longer. Each of her friends didn’t seem to want to talk to her or even look at her. They were uncomfortable, uncomfortable about the friend they were plotting against. They knew they didn’t have another week to fix her up, they would put her down tonight.

She waited, and soon night fell. She still hadn’t moved, she didn’t want to waste the energy. She body twitched as she looked back, Pinkie and Applejack had returned from their trip out into the woods. They’d gone scavenging for food of some sort. The mare began to relax again, listening to the crack of the fire as it burned.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, as though this wasn’t the first time.

The druid realized she had been daydreaming and snapped to attention. “Sorry Twilight...I was just lost in thought. What is it?”

The mage smiled, holding out a hoof full of berries. “Here. We found lots of nice food out there. We have plenty, you should eat these.”

So that was it? That was their move? Did they mix wolfsbane into those berries or did Rarity douse them with a poison of her own? Hastily Fluttershy’s eyes flitted about looking for Rarity. Each of her friends was watching, and each pretending not to watch. They were just waiting to see if Twilight would make the problem go away nice and cleanly. “I don’t want them.” Fluttershy said more coldly than she would have liked.

Twilight pulled back in shock, then nodded. “Okay Fluttershy, you don’t have to.” Then a quick nod to the side.

“Fluttershy.” Pinkie cut in “You’re a druid so you know lots about that naturey stuff right? I could really use your help identifying something Applejack and I saw.” The yellow mare paused, looking around the camp. Pinkie was taking her out in the woods to get rid of her and none of them were protesting. None? "Pleeeaaaaase?"

“Sure Pinkie.” She mumbled, forcing herself up. That mare would bring her wolfsbane no doubt, strike without warning and kill her quickly. She hoped Pinkie was nice enough to do it quick and clean anyway. It was better if she go along with it though, they didn’t all need to see this. “Lead the way.”

Pinkie quickly moved into the forest and stayed at a pace that Fluttershy could follow. The girl was unbelievably brazen. The pink mare even started humming a tune as she led her friend further and further away from camp.

The blood was pounding harshly in Fluttershy’s ears. She couldn’t take it! She couldn’t let it end like this! She understood why they were doing it, she did. They were afraid, and honestly, they should be. A day didn’t go by where thoughts of tearing them apart with her teeth didn’t pass now. She had seen her new “true” form, and it was powerful. Honestly she didn’t understand how ponykind could be the dominant species on earth if beasts that powerful existed. Oh...wait, she did. It was the same way that Pinkie intended to kill her. Nopony was strong enough to just fight against such a force by themselves, so they cheated. Trickery was how the ponies stayed in control. They could use magic, or overwhelming numbers, or exploit tiny flaws. Tiny flaws like a reaction to wolfsbane.

Don’t go down like this. Feast on her and leave to the forest, where you will be as Druantia intended.

With a cry Fluttershy stepped forward and caught Pinkie by surprise. A yellow hoof grabbed pinkie by the shoulder and lifted her off the ground. With a grunt the yellow mare flipped her friend onto her back and pounced. The pink pony started to struggle, but stopped as she felt the stone blade at her throat.

A quivering Fluttershy straddled Pinkie’s form, holding her homemade dagger shakily. Fluttershy’s eyes were desperate and filled with fear, and they stared into Pinkie’s calm resigned eyes. Slowly pink hooves lowered to the ground as the mare lay still beneath her, clearly not planning to resist. The edges of the sharpened rock disappeared in the shortened fur on Pinkie’s neck. With each ragged belabored breath Fluttershy’s pink mane pushed out from her face, then receded.

“Put it down Fluttershy.” Pinkie said evenly. She did her best to pretend she wasn’t scared, but her body betrayed her. Fluttershy’s legs were planted firmly around Pinkie, and somehow she could feel the mare’s heartbeat racing. The fear inside her friend was obvious, and well deserved. You feared monsters, it’s part of what a monster was.

Fluttershy took in short breaths as she spoke to her soon to be ex-friend, “No. I know you have it. I know you stole my wolfsbane. I know you’re leading me out here to kill me.” Could she do it? Could she kill her friend even if it was self defense?

You are a predator, she is your prey. You don’t need to justify yourself

Pinkie started to shake her head, but a look down toward the knife dissuaded her. A sadness touched her eyes despite her fear. “I’m not here to kill you Fluttershy. I’m sorry I took your wolfsbane from you. When we were traveling and you spent every night with me to get my hearing back I got to see you a lot. You were in pain, every night you had trouble sleeping. You started taking weight off of the hind leg next to your bag with the plant.” Fluttershy’s thoughts swam, but she didn’t move the knife. “So one night I went into your bag and took it, then I put it in glass so it wouldn’t bother you. I just didn’t want you to hurt Fluttershy.”

The yellow mare shook her head as tears started to form. “No. No you have it because you know I’m a threat. You told them I was a threat. You deal with threats to protect your friends, just like you killed those ponies at the docks. I know you were only doing what you had to Pinkie, you had to try and protect them. I can’t stop thinking horrible things Pinkie. I think about killing you all every day now. Every single day.”

A look of shock covered Pinkie’s face, but was then swept up in a mask of understanding. “Killing us...or eating us?”

That was a stupid question if ever there was one. What difference did it make? If you ate somepony they were dead. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, they’re both just horrible.” She couldn’t focus, couldn’t think. The wolfsbane had mired her mind.

“It makes a difference to me.” Pinkie insisted.

At her friend’s insistence Fluttershy forced herself to think.

Rip her throat out. Rip her apart and tear the flesh from her bones. You’ll like the taste of blood and flesh, feast on her and leave to the forest

“I am a predator...and you are prey. Predators kill...to eat” That was it wasn’t it? She didn’t just want Pinkie to die, she wanted to sink her sharpened teeth into that pretty little neck and...She stopped herself in horror, her mouth was salivating in anticipation at the idea of feeding on her friend’s lifeless body.

A calm voice came from Pinkie, an explanation overdue. “Fluttershy. They don’t know about your condition. They’re worried because you’re starving to death.”

That caught the mare off guard. It was a lie! A damned lie! Pinkie was trying to confuse her, to trick her. The blade moved a half inch away from Pinkie’s throat. “No I’m not.” She whispered softly.

“Did you eat with anypony on the boat? You skipped my party and Twilight says you didn’t eat with her.”

“I wasn’t hungry then.”

“What about when you were locked up for a few days on that other ship? Rarity checked on you, she said you were sleeping on your hay instead of eating it.”

A pause. She hadn’t thought to eat the hay.

“And in your cell at the castle?”

Silence.

“Those berries twenty minutes ago?”

The sharpened stone fell to the ground beside Pinkie’s head. “I...I can’t remember the last time I ate anything.” the yellow mare finally admitted. Her hooves steadied her on either side of Pinkie’s head as she fought back tears. Pinkie wasn’t trying to kill her. For the first time she looked down at her own chest, noting the form of her ribs visible through the thin layer of fur. Her friends were worried for her safety. Her safety. The safety of a mare who wanted to eat them.

Her body rocked once as she toppled off of Pinkie. “I..I’m sorry.” She muttered. Realizing now that the wolfsbane likely wasn’t effecting her. This just must have been what it felt like to starve to death. It was an odd feeling, she’d never felt anything quite like it. Whatever it was, it was unpleasant. “Pinkie, hurry up and kill me. I don’t know how long I can stop myself. I can’t put any of you in danger like that. I understand.”

Slowly Pinkie got to her hooves. “Don’t be silly Fluttershy! I was your friend before, why would that change just because you’ve got a new diet!”

The druid blinked. When two friends were together and murder for sustenance seemed like an option that was a sign that the friendship should end. Pinkie was playing with fire, and even now Fluttershy fought back the urge to eat her friend for saying that. “If you didn’t take me out here to kill me, then why are we here?”

Pinkie bounced another twenty feet or so with a smile “Because I got you a present!”

The yellow mare put her hooves underneath herself, pulling herself up. Her hooves trotted after her friend, now curious as to what- Oh sweet Celestia! What the hell was wrong with Pinkie! At her friend’s hooves lay what used to be a raccoon. It wasn’t anymore because somepony removed it’s fur! The sight was just horrifying. Fluttershy trotted up to her friend with a disgusted look. “You. You don’t expect me to...eat that?” She could barely get out the words.

“You’re a predator now Fluttershy. I’m your friend and I’ll love you no matter who you are. I’ve always asked that you be yourself, right?” Her gaze drifted down to the raccoon. “Go on. I know I’m a pastry chef, but I’ll learn to cook good meat dishes now, just for you okay?”

Fluttershy’s lip quivered as she forced herself to look at it. It was an animal, just like the ones she took care of. Now she was supposed to... “I can’t.” She said softly “it’s not right...”

Pinkie put a hoof down on the mound of flesh and leaned over, grabbing a hunk of it in her teeth. Fluttershy looked on in horror as the twisted ripping sound signaled the beast being relieved of a hunk of it’s body. Pinkie looked up, right into Fluttershy’s eyes as she chewed. Thick red blood matted the fur on her muzzle and dripped back down onto the beast. For a few moments she chewed, then finally swallowed. When she opened her mouth to speak again the yellow mare could see the inside of Pinkie’s mouth had been stained red. Their eyes met, and Fluttershy felt she couldn’t look away. “Predator.” A squish beneath them told Fluttershy the raccoon had been stepped on again. “Prey.”

It was horrible, unthinkable...but Pinkie had brought her out here to help. Her friends always helped make up her shortcomings, maybe this was just another one? Besides, her gaze drifted down to the mare’s blood stained lips, Pinkie could hardly judge her after that. With a sickened grimace she lowered her head to the corpse and sniffed it. Hesitantly she licked the cursed thing, then pulled away.

Her mind screamed at her in horror about what she had done, but her body betrayed her. Somewhere in her body she convulsed. Her teeth sharpened to points once more and saliva dripped from her opened maw. She wanted, no, needed something. Her body contorted and grew, towering over Pinkie once more as jet black fur covered her form. She backed up, letting out a soft whimper of protest, but caught Pinkie’s eyes once more. The pink hoof removed itself from Fluttershy’s meal “Eat.” Pinkie commanded forcefully.

As her will gave out Fluttershy pounced on the morsel. One steady paw pressed down into its back as her jaws closed around it’s head and bit. She could feel it’s spine snap like a twig as its meaty juices rolled around inside of her mouth. Eagerly she moved her tongue and swallowed the thing’s head whole. It wasn’t a difficult task for her new massive body.

The world around her blurred into inconsequential bursts of light and noise as Fluttershy dove onto the meal again. With another bite she ripped the thing’s body clean in half. Tears of joy formed in her eyes as razor sharp canine teeth gnashed the wondrous thing in her jaws. Ribs crushed and organs squished as her massive jaws tore everything apart evenly before she swallowed it all. She didn’t know how she knew the bones weren’t an issue, but somehow she just knew. With glee she let go of the raccoon’s hind quarters and pulled it up with her teeth. She let go as the entrails spun in the air above her head, showering the area in drops of blood before being snapped out of the air. She swallowed, both horrified at what she’d done, and filled with insurmountable joy at the act. The happiness welled up inside her, such joy that she’d never felt before. She didn’t even know how to express the feeling!

Then the answer came. Her friend, a blood covered pink pony, reared up on her hind legs. He mouth pointed toward the sky as she let out a long drawn out howl of joy. Yes! Druantia yes! Fluttershy turned her muzzle upward still damp with the blood of the animal devoured and howled in pleasure. Tonight she was happy, she was complete. Tonight, she was Fluttershy.