To Do Our Duty

Chapters

Chapter One -- The Gathering Clouds
Chapter Two -- The Ponies Came Marching Two By Two
Chapter Three -- Not all Wounds Bleed
Chapter Four -- Shades of Grey
Chapter Five -- Blood and Tears

Chapter One -- The Gathering Clouds

To Do Our Duty

Chapter One -- The Gathering Clouds

By Sturm Panzer

Ahh, the wonderful sounds of a glorious spring morning. The chirping and singing of birds calling out to each other. The laugher of fillies and colts at play. The murmuring of ponies talking, and even the occasional soft laugh of a joke shared between friends. The jarring crash of things falling to the floor. Wait, what?

Twilight lifted her head up, poking it out from under the light sheet that she'd pulled over herself when she went to bed the night before. “That came from downstairs. Spike?” she said to herself before kicking the sheet off and then getting out of bed.

As Twilight made her way down the stairs, she could hear Spike muttering to himself, the words indistinct at first, then getting more clear. “ 'Who' yourself, Owlowiscious. Don't startle me like that..”

Another few steps and she was able to peer down at the pile of books that ended up on the floor, along with the ladder and one small dragon, who was in the process of picking up the fallen books. “Spike, what happened? Did Owlowiscious startle you again?”

“Oh! Twilight!” Spike exclaimed, turning around suddenly to see her coming down the stairs. “Yeah, he was sitting on the top shelf as I was climbing up to get that book you said you wanted for today and then he 'who'd at me, and... Well, I kinda fell. I'm ok, though. No harm, no foul, right?”

“That's good, I'm glad you weren't hurt, Spike,” Twilight said with a smile, using her magic to help pick the remaining books off the ground and set them into a neat stack beside the shelf.

A sudden rapid knocking at the door came. “Who could that be?” Twilight mused, leaving the books stacked and then magically opening to door to admit Rarity, who came in looking a mix of excited, anxious and a little worried. Hot on her tail was Applejack, wearing a frown on her face.

Twilight was quick to pick up on their expressions, “Rarity, Applejack, what's going on? Is something wrong?”

“Well sure as rain, there's something wrong,” drawled Applejack,” haven't y’all heard the news yet? It's already all over town.” Rarity just laughed softly, tossing her head, “Applejack, dear. Why isn't obvious she's just gotten out of bed. Look, her mane's in dire need of brushing,” while floating a brush over to Twilight.

“Oh, thank you Rarity. Please, Applejack, what's this big news you're talking about?” the half-distracted Twilight said as she started brushing her mane.

Applejack's face was certainly on the dour side, “War, that's what is.”

“Pfff,” was Rarity's answer to that, “War? Oh come on, it's been 300 years since the last battle was fought in Equestria. There isn't going to be a war.”

“Wait? You said a war?” Twilight looked very concerned all of a sudden, her brushing paused and entirely forgotten.

“Hmmm-hmm,” Applejack nodded. “Looks like there's some new Buffalo chief out west of Appleloosa. An he's been pulling all the other buffalo tribes together under him.”

“Well, a unified leadership is good for them,” Twilight mused, resuming the brushing of her mane, “Stronger leadership will make them more cohesive, and then be easier to make treaties with. Not to mention the economic benefits of expanded trade.”

With a quick shake of her head, Applejack went on, “Oh he ain't using words like 'peace' 'talk' and 'trade'. He's using words like 'our land', 'fight' and 'destroy'.”

Rarity simply rolled her eyes as she listened to Applejack, “Oh really. He's just posturing. Trying to talk all tough and macho, so the other buffalo will listen to him. 'Oh look at how big and strong I am',” Rarity mimicked in parody.

“You know Applejack, I think I have to agree with Rarity. The buffalo would have to be crazier than Pinkie Pie to actually think that Princess Celestia would actually let them go to war with us.” Twilight paused for a moment before continuing, “I mean, the Appleloosa problem was nicely settled and everypony was happy. Why would they want to stir up more trouble now? It just doesn't make any sense.”

“You mark my words, there'll be war before this is over. Sure as rain, there'll be war.” Applejack turned to take a step toward the door and then paused, “I heard that the griffins were raiding some of the outlying settlements up near Fillydelphia. Stealing food, tools, petty stuff like that. Word on the trails that the griffins might throw their lot in with the buffalo. If it comes to that….” She just shook her head.

“Oh come now, Applejack, the griffin's are even less organized than the buffalo are. If you put 10 griffins in a room, they would all use a different door to leave,” Rarity joked. “Anyway, I should be getting back to the shop, I have some work to finish up on.”

“The last battle was 300 years ago, the Manehattan 'uprising'. And that was just a couple of dozen ponies having a squabble over taxes,” said Twilight, “so I can't imagine this would be a bigger deal.”

Turning and looking back over her shoulder at Twilight, Applejack just looked at her for a few seconds. “What? The Manehattan revolt was a big deal. Hundreds of ponies. They squared off against the Royal Guard, and they got creamed like corn. If I remember right, there was over a hundred fatally injured in the battle. There's a monument to it in one of the parks, I saw it when I was a filly visiting.”

A rather confused looking Twilight Sparkle looked at Applejack. “Where did you learn that from? It wasn't in ANY history book I read, and I read a lot of them.”

A sardonic smile was quite prominent on Applejack's face. “I guess they tell the story a little different up there. Maybe you should read a history book that wasn't written in Canterlot, and see what it says about it.” And with that, Applejack and Rarity headed out and off on their own business.

Later that day, Twilight was wandering about Ponyville's market, looking at some of the fresh fruits on sale, contemplating dinner options, when she overheard a conversation:

“I got a letter from my cousin in Hoofington this morning.”

“Oh, how is he doing?”

“Pretty good. He was telling me that things are a little tense down there. The buffalo have been acting really weird lately.”

“Weird? In what way?”

“Weird in that they hardly ever come into town any more. And when they do, they never trade any more, they just look around, don't talk to anypony and leave. Ponies over there are getting nervous about it.”

“I bet, I would too. What are they doing?”

“Some are just packing up and leaving town. Rumors that griffins have been sighted near there aren't helping things. My cousin's thinking of packing up and leaving town too, but he said the mayor told him that a company of Royal Guard are going to be dispatched down there, to keep the peace.”

“I think I'd still move…”

On her return home, Twilight paced back and forth a little bit, thinking out loud more than anything else. “Ok, so if the buffalo are thinking of causing some trouble, and they're led by a single powerful chief, then that means the buffalo are doing that under orders from the chief. They obviously think that they don't have anything to fear, but the Royal Guard are a lot tougher than the settlers at Appleloosa. I think that once they see that the Princess is serious about this, they'll quiet down. It's the ONLY logical way to go. I mean…” She laughed softly, rolling her eyes, “They don't seriously think that they'd be able to openly defy the royal authority of Princess Celestia and get away with it, do they?” Then after a moment with her looking not so certain, “Do they?.....” A vigorous shake of her head later, “No, of course not. Princess Celestia is a Goddess. Of COURSE they wouldn't be able to defy her.”

Twilight started sorting through some of the books on her desk, ”Now where did that book that Applejack lent me go? Ahh, there it is…” And she sat down to read a book on history, written by an Earth Pony living in Ponyville.

It was getting well into the evening, Spike since tucked away in his bed to sleep, while Twilight was still up, reading her book. She also had one of the Canterlot books written by a Unicorn beside it to directly compare them together. “It's kind of amazing how different ponies can tell totally different stories about the same event. The 'Summer Sickness' a hundred years ago barely made a ripple in Ponyville, but in Canterlot, it was a huge problem.”

With practically no warning a blue Pegasus pony with a multi-coloured mane swooped in through the open window. “Alright!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, beaming a wide grin as she landed beside Twilight.

“Hey Dash, you're up late, I was just thinking of knocking off for bed.” Twilight set down her book and turned to face her friend. “ And you seem to be in a really good mood, too. What's up?”

Dash strutted around in the room a little, head and tail held high. “Oh nuu-thing,” she said in that proud, boastful voice. “Oh wait! There was this one MINOR little thing….” Her smile getting even wider.

“Go on Dash, don't keep me in suspense,” Twilight had a hard time not smiling at Rainbow Dash's high mood and manner.

“Well,” Dash paused and looked up thoughtfully. “There is this little thing, that maybe.. Juuuust maybe.. I may have received a written invitation to join….. THE WONDERBOLTS?!” Dash's wings unfurled to full size as she stood proud. “They called me a 'hero'! Praised me for my courage! Can you believe it? Me! Me being one of the Wonderbolts! Me, getting invited to go to their super-awesome, super-secret training center in Canterlot!”

“Oh my goodness Dash, that's awesome news,” Twilight beamed. “You've been wanting to join them forever. And now you've finally gotten your chance. Your dream's come true, Congratulations. When are you leaving?”

Rainbow Dash pulled a scroll out of her saddle bag with her teeth, tossing it on to the table with a broad smile. “It says 'immediately', and I just got it, so I'm going right now. Ohmigosh Ohmigosh Ohmigosh, this going to be so awesome!”

“That's great. I hope you'll be flying with them in the Summer Sun celebration, I think everypony would be thrilled to see you in it,” Twilight said, lifting the scroll with her horn's magic and opening it to read.

Rainbow Dash

Your courage and dedication have not gone unnoticed. Your heroic deeds have shown your character and bravery many times. Your dedication to your comrades in arms and compassion are of the highest caliber.

Therefore, by the authority granted to me by Her Royal Majesty, Princess Celestia, you are hereby commanded to immediately appear at The Royal Guard's induction center in Canterlot to be assessed. I have every confidence that you will pass your assessment with sufficient grades required to qualify you for service with Her Royal Majesty's Royal Guard: Special Operations Group, also referred to as 'The Wonderbolts'.

In the service of Her Royal Majesty you will be required to serve a term of service and duty to be determined, with operational directives to be determined.

Her Royal Majesty Expects all ponies to do their duty.

Captain Firehoof

“Oh my gosh!” exclaimed a rather alarmed Twilight. “Dash, this isn't an invitation to join the Wonderbolts! This is a letter of Conscription! Dash?”

Twilight dropped the scroll and quickly looked around the room, and then ran to the window, looking around. “Dash!” The faint smear of colour in the distance being the only sign of Rainbow Dash, as she was already flying high and fast, well on her way.

“Oh Dash…. Please be careful…”

Chapter Two -- The Ponies Came Marching Two By Two

To Do Our Duty

Chapter 2 – The Ponies Came Marching Two By Two

By: Sturm Panzer

Twilight Sparkle stood there at the window, looking out into the night sky, gazing off into the direction that Rainbow Dash had flown when she left. Toward Canterlot. The Pegasus has long since vanished into the darkness, but still Twilight stood there, worry written clear on her face. “Please come back safe, Dash,” she whispered softly into the wind.

It was still some time before she was finally able to turn away from the window, and then make her way up the stairs and crawl into bed. But sleep was a long time coming for Twilight, as she just couldn't shake the bad premonition that had come to settle in the back of her mind.

It wasn't until late morning when she finally woke up, her sleep being fitful, with her tossing and turning much of the night. By the time Twilight finally made it out of bed and down the stairs, she was greeted by a rather surprised looking Spike. “Whoa, Twilight, you look you just came off a 3-day bender. Did you run off to some amazing party after I went to bed last night?

“What? No, Spike,” she said slightly incredulously, and sounding somewhat offended by the implication that she'd be off to some wild party in the middle of the night. With a slight shake of her head, she walked over to her desk, “I just didn't sleep that well, was all. Err, do I really look that bad?” she asked the dragon, magically picking up a small mirror and floating it over to look in it. “Oh, yikes!” was her instant response to the image that greeted her. “I guess I really do look that bad. Have you seen my brush, Spike?”

The dragon's reply was preempted by a knock on the door, along with Rarity's voice, muffled by the door to the library “Oh Twilight, are you up yet?”

“Come on in, Rarity,” Twilight answered, opening the door for her friend, “Although you might not like what you're going to see…”

“Hell-ooo,” Rarity cheerily beamed as she walked in, then immediately got a shocked look on her face before running right over to Twilight and taking the brush from her. “Oh my stars! You look like you just did an all-nighter with the entire offensive line of Canterlot Chargers. You're going to need a lot more than what this brush alone can do,” she stated flatly, magically taking the brush that Twilight had just picked up off the desk. “Now sit down and allow me to get some semblance of style back into that mane of yours, my dear.”

Twilight sheepishly sat down on one of the cushions while Rarity started walking around her, comb and brush starting to work, along with a small bottle of spray from one of Rarity's saddlebags to help undo the knots. “Now what in Equestria were you doing yesterday to get your mane and tail all mussed up like this?”

Twilight draw in a slow breath, then let it out in a soft sigh, taking the moment to gather her thoughts together. “Well. Remember how we were talking about the possibility of war yesterday? I was reading that history book that Applejack lent me, when Rainbow Dash flew in.”

“Oh really? And is she what kept you up all night?” the other unicorn teased, while carefully working a rather large knot out of Twilights purple mane.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight sighed and then shook her head slightly, “Very funny Rarity. No. She came in with what she thought was an invitation to join the Wonderbolts.”

“How wonderful!, I'll bet that she was absolutely thrilled to get that. Hold still, dear, this knot will take a bit of work…”

“That's just it, Rarity. It wasn't actually an invitation. It was a Conscription order! Rainbow Dash was drafted into the Royal Guard. She just didn't realize that at the time, and might not until it's too late for her to do anything about it. And also, the letter called the Wonderbolts the 'Special Operations Group', whatever that is.”

Rarity paused in her tending to Twilight's mane to mull that over for a few moments. “'Special Operations Group'? I've never heard of that before. It does sound kind of.. Ominous? Ok, dear, almost done with getting your mane into some kind of order. Not fabulous, unfortunately, but at least it's much better than what it was like before.”

“Oh thank you, Rarity. Frankly, I'm more than a little worried. If they're starting to conscript ponies into the Royal Guard, then things could escalate into a real war very easily. Ponies will get hurt, or killed.”

Once Rarity had tucked her things away once more, she gave a slight toss of her mane. “Come, let's go get a bit of breakfast. Closer to brunch, really, but I think you have yet to eat.”

“Ok, twist my rubber hoof. Coming Spike?”

The small dragon hopped onto Twilight's back, “Oh you bet. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day.”

With a soft laugh, Twilight led the way out, “Every meal is your favorite, Spike.”

It would be nearly three weeks before more news made it's way to Ponyville, and it came from an unlikely source.

Twilight was up early, organizing some notes for an upcoming meeting with the mayor to plan for a late spring festival when there was a knock at the door. “Hey, Twilight. Mail!”

“Oh, hello Derpy. What have you got for me today?”

The gray Pegasus paused at the door, rummaging around in her bags and finally pulling out a few things. “Your Equestria Daily. Also, the new Canterlot Journal of Magic came in.” she handed them over to Twilight, who magically floated them over to a table. “Your latest from your 'Tome Of The Month Club' subscription. And a couple of letters. That's it.”

Twilight settled everything on her desk and then called to Derpy just as the Pegasus was about to leave,” Thanks Derpy. Say, have you heard anything new about the war? News about it's been kind of scarce and I was hoping you might have heard something in Cloudsdale.”

“As a matter of fact, I did. Over the past few days, a number of Pegasus in Cloudsdale have gotten letters from the Royal Guard Induction Center. I'm guessing they're calling up ponies into service.”

“That's kind of worrisome. If they bring so many of them into the Royal Guard, then the weather control will suffer. There could be crop failures.” Twilight frowned a little as she thought that over.

“That's not all, a few unicorns have gotten them, too. And there's more.” Derpy looked around a little before leaning in closer to Twilight. “I talked to a Royal Guard courier the other day, and he said that there was already some fighting going on between the Royal Guard and the buffaloes. From the sound of things, the buffalo definitely got the worst of it.”

Twilight was a little surprised that there was already fighting going on. “That fast? Do you know what happened to cause the fighting to start?”

“No, but the courier seemed to think the Buffalo had provoked it by having the griffins set fire to one of Appleloosa's warehouses.”

“What?!” exclaimed Twilight. “Why would the griffins do something like that? They had to know it would cause tensions to flare and maybe even cause a retaliation.”

“I dunno,” shrugged Derpy. “Supposedly somepony saw some griffins flying away just after the fire started. Guess they were stealing stuff and then set the fire to cover their tracks? I should get going, I still have lots of mail to drop off.”

“Ok Derpy, thank you for the information. It's a lot for me to think over.”

Once the gray Pegasus left, Twilight brought her mail over to the desk to sort through. “Hmm, 'Tome of Fire Elementalism'. I was wondering when the fourth one in the series would arrive! Hey, what's this?...” One of the letter was addressed to Twilight Sparkle, and was marked as being sent from the Canterlot Royal Guard Headquarters, but the sender's name was.. 'Twilight Sparkle'? Opening the letter, she found it written in a rough scrawl, and it took a moment before she recognized it as Rainbow Dash's writing.

Hey Twilight!

It's Rainbow Dash. We're not really supposed to be writing letters right now. Secret training stuff we aren't supposed to talk to anyone about. So I snuck off and wrote this letter. I had to use your name to get them to actually mail it. I guess being the Princess' pupil gets you some perks, huh?

Whew, training is a lot tougher than I thought. I thought I was in good shape before I got here, it took Spitfire just one day to show me I still had stuff to learn. But now, I'm the one on top of her! They're really trying to pack in as much as they can, so it's basically non-stop training, practice and drills. We're doing stuff all hours of day and night. Actually, there's probably more night flying than daytime, but I'm not sure why.

Of course, I'm doing awesome. Was there ever any doubt? All the other trainees can't even come close to matching my awesomeness. Soarin said that I could be a Flight Leader by the time I finish training. It's gonna be so awesome!

I gotta get going, tell everypony I'll visit as soon as I can, and I miss them.

Rainbow Dash

“It sure sound like Rainbow Dash is doing well,” Rarity commented later that day as the five ponies and single dragon sat in Twilight's library.

Fluttershy just smiled as she nodded slowly. “Oh, I hope she finishes training soon. It would be nice to see how nice she looks all dressed up in the Wonderbolts uniform.”

“Ohh! Ohh! We’ll have to throw a big party when she gets back! We can invite everypony over, and Dash and the other Wonderbolts. With lots of yummy food! Cakes and pies, and especially cupcakes!” Pinky Pie squealed happily, clapping her hooves together eagerly.

“Oh, I'm getting hungry just thinking about all that food, Pinky,” Spike leaned back against Twilight's side, rubbing his belly dreamily.

Fluttershy raised her head up, “um, hey…” she said softly.

“Sure she's doing fine an' all, but it's what happening in Appleloosa that worries me. Sure they've got a bunch of Royal Guard over there, but it sure the hay means that things could go to from bad to worse in a hurry,” muttered Applejack, who cast a look over at Twilight. “Sure as rain, things'll get darker before they get brighter.”

“It's like I said last time, Applejack. This is all just a show of force. The buffalo aren't really going to try to take on the Royal Guard, they wouldn't have a chance,” Twilight took a sip from her tea before adding, “They just want the best deal they can get by making themselves look strong.”

“… Um.. did somepony… hear something?” Fluttershy asked, looking around a little.

“Oh yeah? If the buffalo are so gosh-darn set on peace, then why did they have the griffins light fire to that warehouse?” was Applejack's retort.

“I don't think the Buffalo ordered the griffins to do that at all. Trying to make griffins do anything is like trying to herd cats. I think they just saw it as an opportunity and did it on their own.” Twilight poured some more tea for Rarity and herself. “Besides, maybe the fire was an accident?”

“Pffa!” Applejack snorted dismissively. “They griffins would never have been there if it wasn't for the buffalo goading them. And before you ask, yes, I'm sure that they were stupid enough to set that fire.”

“Oh, does anypony hear that?” Rarity quipped, tilting her head slightly.

With a soft sigh, Fluttershy nodded her head, “I was trying to tell you…”

“Sounds like.. Many ponies marching?” Applejack looked at Twilight uneasily. “And I can only think of one thing it could be….”

The lot of them dashed out the main door of the library, and looked up the road, toward where the sound was coming from.

And coming down the road toward them was a column of Royal Guard marching in double-file, their armor gleaming as they marched into Ponyville. Most of the Royal Guard soldiers were lightly armored Pegasus ponies, with a smaller group of Unicorn ponies accounting for about a quarter of the force, with the unicorns wearing much heavier armor than their Pegasus counterparts.

More striking was the handful of ponies leading the formation. A trio of unicorns, and a single Pegasus, wearing armor that looked much more ornate, clearly indicating their status as officers in the Royal Guard.

Most striking of all was the large unicorn in the very front of them all. His lush golden-brown mane fluttering in the breeze as he led the Royal Guard contingent into Ponyville. All clad in golden armor, which has the marks of battle on it, including a noticeable indent on one side of the chest piece. A grim visage on his face, and the steely look of a determined warrior.

Rarity gasped, causing Twilight to look at her. Rarity's jaw hung open as she stared at the Royal Guard's leader with a look of shock, amazement, and maybe a little desire. It took a few moments for Rarity to find her voice, “PRINCE BLUEBLOOD?!?”

Chapter Three -- Not all Wounds Bleed

To Do Our Duty

Chapter Three – Not all Wounds Bleed

By: Sturm Panzer

It's hard to tell who was more shocked by the appearance of Prince Blueblood leading the Royal Guard detachment: Twilight, or Rarity. Certainly Rarity's memories of him as the self-absorbed fop back at last year's grand Galloping Gala weren't exactly kind, but compared to the confident, battle-tested leader that was walking up the road into town, he seemed like a totally different pony. And there was no denying how handsome he looked in that armour, very much a true prince now as he led his troops.

As the column of Guardsponies made it's way into town, they seemed to be headed directly for the Town Hall, and they were in fact met in front of it by a middle-aged tan coloured pony, “Mayor Mare, for sure”, Twilight thought.

By the time that the they made it over there, the Royal Guardsponies were separating into different groups. Some were entering the Town Hall itself, while others were separating to move out in different directions. The Unicorn ponies were all filing into the spacious Hall along with about a third of the Pegasus ponies. The rest of the Pegasus Guards were heading mostly east, with a few flying off to the north-east and south-east.

Twilight found Prince Blueblood talking to the Mayor, discussing the use of the Town Hall. “The necessary improvements will be taken care of by Her Majesty's workers. Thus the long-term improvements that will be made to the Hall will be quite adequate as compensation for the use of it that we will need.”

“I'm more concerned about the presence of the Guardponies here in town,” stated Mayor, in her typically dignified manner. “Their presence will be disruptive to the residents of Ponyville, as nopony is really used to having armed soldiers patrolling the town at all hours of day and night. Furthermore, there's the question about the weather. With so many Pegasus ponies having been recruited into the Royal Guard, there's not enough around Ponyville for taking care of the weather. We've already seen some problems occurring, and if we get another hot, dry summer, then it will just get worse..

The Prince thought it over for a few moments before answering her. “There won't be that many around in the actual town. Enough to make a show of arms in case the griffins decide to launch a raid down here. Most of the others will be setting up a camp to the east.”

“How long are your Guardponies going to be here in Ponyville? And what do you mean by 'not that many'? replied Mayor.

“That depends on how the war goes. If things go well, 3rd Century, along with 8th Century will be moving east to support the 5th and 6th companies as they advance. If things don't go as well, then we might be sitting here for a while. If things go badly, as if they would,” Prince Blueblood added with a dismissive snort, “Then they will regroup to the east with 3rd Century. In any case, we should be pushing these uncivilized brigands out in short order.”

“That is all well and good, Prince Blueblood, but Ponyville may not be able to supply all your ponies. With the Pegasus shortage such as it is, things are already starting to get a little tighter than usual. If you could spare some of your Pegasus ponies to help with the weather then it would make the citizens happier about having them around, as well as make it much easier to meet the demands of feeding your Guardponies,” Mayor reasoned.

“Hrrmph. Well.. You do make a good point,” the Prince reluctantly agreed. “I suppose I could spare a few of my trainee scouts to help out now and then. Strictly on a temporary, short-term basis, you understand.”

Thank you, your Highness,” Mayor said with a graceful nod of her head.”

“Guardponies stationed here in town?” Applejack looked more enthusiastic by the prospect, “That means more business for the farm! It could mean a lot of bits coming in, which we could use for that new barn we were planning on. I gotta go Twilight, there'll be work to be done.”

“Ok Applejack. What do you think, Rarity? Rarity?” Twilight looked back and saw Rarity was nowhere to be seen. “Pinky, did you see where Rarity went?”

Pinky Pie was looking over the line of Pegasus ponies in armour as they filed past on their way through town. “Oh, she said she had to go back to her shop because there was something she urgently had to take care of or something like that. I wasn't paying too much attention because I was looking at all the shiny stuff those ponies are wearing. So pretty.”

Taking a deep breath, Twilight trotted up to the Prince, who was talking quietly with his four other officers. “Excuse me, Prince Blueblood? I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess...”

“Princess Celestia's pupil,” the prince interrupted her, turning his head to look at Twilight. “Yes, the Princess mentioned that you would be here in Ponyville." Prince Blueblood took a couple of steps up closer to Twilight, who was feeling a little… Well, overwhelmed by his size. The Prince was at least the size of Big Mac, if not a little bigger. And then there was his heavy battle armour on top of that. Up close, Twilight could see the marks of fighting that were left in the plates of his armour. And the scar along his snout that followed the jawline from nose to cheek just made him look even more ruggedly handsome. “The Princess failed to mention how attractive you were, though,” the Prince said with a smile that gave Twilight butterflies in her belly and a warm tingle in her haunches.

“Um, thank you, Prince Blueblood.” Twilight took a couple of steps back, starting to blush, and her confidence thoroughly deflated. “I, um, just popped by to say hello…”

Lowering his head to being it more eye level with Twilight, the prince just made a soft chuckle, “You're quite pretty when you blush.”

Of course this just make Twilight blush even more, with that tingling warmth in her haunches getting a little stronger, she took a couple of steps back, her knees feeling a little shaky. “I, uh. I hear my laundry calling!” she said, turning and kiting back to the sanctum of the Library.

By the time Twilight made it back to the tree that the library was made from, she slammed the door shut behind her and then braced her back up against it, panting heavily and her face flushed.

Spike looked over from where he was sitting at the table, reading a book. “Twilight? Are you ok, what happened? You look all red in the face.”

“I’mfinenothinghappened!I’llbeokIjustneedaminute!” she replied in a rush, dashing past Spike and up the stairs to bury herself under the covers of her bed. “Oh why would Prince Blueblood ever be attracted to me? After the story Rarity told me, I can't imagine ever being attracted to a pony like that. So... So why Is my heart still racing? Ok, calm down Twilight. Just use your head. You got all flustered by him because he's handsome, powerful, AND related to Princess Celestia. Nothing special, right? Right!”

Lifting her head up and looked in a mirror that she floated over to her, Twilight could see the remains of a blush still on her face. “Damn it…”

A few days later, Twilight was on her way to the town hall to talk to the Prince, when she saw Rarity had already beaten her there. The white unicorn pony was all decked out in a simply stunning outfit, “Something she must have spent all night working on”, Twilight thought, and paused to see what would happen, more out of morbid curiosity than anything else.

Rarity was arguing with one of the Royal Guardponies to let her in to talk to the Prince. Eventually, the Pegasus ducked inside for a moment and the Prince was fairly quick to emerge from the hall. “I'm told you wanted to speak with me? Ah, Miss Rarity, he said your name was? How can I help you?”

Bowing her head graciously, she replied, “Oh yes, Prince Blueblood. It's simply wonderful that you remember me. It's been... A while since we met last” she paused, obviously trying not to mention the events at the Galloping Gala.

Instead the Prince ended up throwing her a curve ball. “The last time we met? He paused for a moment before continuing. “I'm sorry but I don't really recall meeting you before.”

Stunned, it took a moment for Rarity to recover, though she hid it well, with only a slight fluttering of her eyelashes. “Oh, well. You really don't remember that time that we met, in the Palace Garden?”

“Technically true” thought Twilight.

No, I'm afraid I don't recall you at all, when did that happen?” The Prince actually looked slightly taken aback, and even a little uncertain. “I'm afraid that ever since my battle injury last month, some of my memories have gotten a little mixed up.”

“Oh my goodness my dear Prince, I dearly hope your injury wasn't too dreadful. What happened to you?” Rarity was playing her role to the hilt, fluttering her eyelashes at the Prince.

Prince Blueblood turned his head slightly, and Twilight was able to see a rather vicious scar that ran along the side of his head, almost from ear to jaw. “It was the one of the first battled we fought. One of those savage buffalo bandits knocked me down, then kicked my head into a tree. Thankfully, my helmet took the worst of it, but it took several days before I was able to recover. As a result, my memory of past events is a little scrambled. So I apologize for not remembering you at all.”

Twilight was simply stunned by the change in the princes behaviour, as a result of his grievous injury. Rarity, however just smiled slightly, and then played her role on. Twilight watched on with even a slight bit of perverse amusement as Rarity seemed to pounce on the Prince with an almost predatory zeal. “Oh my dear Prince, so wounded in protecting all the ponies from those ruffians. And what's more, those terrible dullards even stole from you the sweet memories of the time you and I spent together.”

“Also technically true. With Rarity taking a cake in the face and then spraying it all over the then-pompous Prince.” Twilight thought with an amused smile. Quite willing to let Rarity take the Prince's attention away from her.

Prince Blueblood pondered that for a couple of seconds, then settled his helmet on his head once more. “Perhaps sometime we should have dinner, and see if any of my memories of that come back,” he mused, much to Rarity's pleased expression. “That sounds like a wonderful Idea.”

Twilight shook her head as she trotted away from the Town Hall. Silently kind of thankful that she wouldn't have to deal with the Prince's attention centred on her. But was she really that pleased about it?... Deep down, she actually felt a little envious of Rarity.

I would be nearly two weeks later before things took a sudden turn. Twilight was at a Cafe with Rarity and Applejack when there was a sudden common at the Town Hall. Rushing over to see what was going on, the trio saw all the Unicorn Guardponies and most of the Pegasus Guardponies forming up into a column, in preparation to move out.

After issuing some curt order to the officers, he turned to where Mayor Mare was walking over, Twilight following close behind her. “We're moving out. They need support from us to help with a buffalo counter-attack. I'm leaving 8th Century here to secure Ponyville, and act as a contingency reserve for us, while 3rd Century and 7th Century move out.”

Rarity was slightly aghast, “Oh dear, please be careful, dear Prince!” she exclaimed.

Nodding his head to Rarity, he simply replied. “We are called to do our duty.” Turning to look over his shoulder, he called out, “Everypony.. MOVE OUT!”. And then started down the road at a swift trot, followed by the Unicorn and then Pegasus ponies in formation. A gleaming wall of armour that passed by them.

Barely a week later, some of the Guardponies had returned. Mostly towing carts loaded with the injured and wounded. After asking some questions, Twilight found out that the buffalo had formed some very stiff opposition, but with the added forces the Prince had brought, they were able to decisively defeat them, but not without casualties.

She had also heard from one of the Pegasus Guardponies that the Wonderbolts had been in action in that battle, which only made her worry even more for Rainbow Dash's safety.

The injured easily would have overwhelmed Ponyville's small hospital, so they were housed in the barracks instead, with Nurse Redheart and others taking care of them. In fact, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinky Pie and Applejack all came by to see how they were. Knowing that these ponies were injured while fighting to protect them and everyone else in Equestria made it hard for them to shirk their duties to help them.

It was a few days later that Twilight was walking along back to the Library, just as true night was about to fall. It was a wonderful, warm summer's night, only a few scattered clouds, but a row of grey had been seen on the horizon. “Looks like rain before dawn. Something that the fields and flowers could use. With all the Pegasus ponies that have been drafted, Ponyville’s really short on weather control.”

She opened the door to the library and headed inside. Just missing seeing a group of Pegasus ponies flying overhead in tight formation. One of them peeled off suddenly, spiraling downward toward the library.

Once inside the library, Twilight headed upstairs quietly. Noting on the way that Spike was already asleep on the chair. She paused only long enough to pull a light blanket over him and then continued up, being careful not to wake him.

“I better close the balcony doors, if it rains, then I don't want things getting wet.” But just as Twilight was about to close them, she heard something. A slight fluttering. “Owlowiscious?” she said, stepping over to the balcony.

Instead of the owl, a black pony suddenly entered. It was covered all over by some tight-fitting black body-suit, it's face covered by both a matching mask and goggles. A helmet and hood totally covering the rest of it's head. Even the pony's wings were painted with some kind of black dye, while it's tail was bundled into a sleeve built into the suit. It looked like a pony-shaped piece of shadow had stepped out of a black pit.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Twilight challenged the intruder, her horn glowing as she started gathering some magical energy for a spell.

“Hey Twilight. Is that anyway to greet a friend?” came a very familiar voice, and then one of it's black hooves pushed up the goggles, exposing a pair of rose-coloured eyes with a bit of pale cyan around the eyes.

“RAINBOW DASH!” Twilight exclaimed, running over and throwing her hooves around the Pegasus. “By Celestia, it's good to see you again, I was so worried for you.”

“Hey, I'm doing great, of course,” Rainbow Dash said as she hugged the unicorn back. Though to Twilight's ears there was something distinctly off in the tone of her voice, and an unusual bit of stiffness in the embrace.

“Are you ok?” Twilight asked Dash, with a slightly concerned tone, “It's been two months since your letter, we haven't heard from you, and I was worried.”

“I'm ok, Twi',” Dash answered with an unusual quietness. “Just been really busy is all. Lots of missions that they need me for, I'm a Flight Leader after all.”

Twilight looked in Rainbow Dash's face. Normally, The Pegasus' bright eyes would shine with enthusiasm and spirit. But now Dash's eyes were dull, lackluster, absent of the vitality of spirit that she knew Rainbow Dash had so much of. Dash wasn't looking at Twilight, so much as she was looking through her.

Twilight cupped Rainbow Dash's cheeks with her hooves and looked her straight in the eyes. Her own voice echoed the hurt she could easily feel in the Pegasus. “Oh Dash… What've they been making you do?”

A bit of a tear could be seen in the corner of Rainbow Dash's eyes before she closed them tightly and suddenly pulling her head away from Twilight, and turning toward the balcony. “I.. I'm not supposed to be here right now, “ her voice was tight, the hurt easily heard in it. "Look, I gotta go..” she said before vaulting out the door and into the night.

Running out onto the balcony, Twilight searched the sky for her friend, but it was inky black after the light of indoors. “Dash! Rainbow Dash!” she called out. But there was only the soft whisper of the wind in the tree's branches to answer her.

Twilight thundered down the stairs calling out “Spike! Spike! I need you to take a letter!”

“Wha? Huh?” the sleepy dragon mumbled, starting to sit up. “What, now? In the middle of the night?”

“Yes now!” Twilight urged, floating a pen and a scroll to Spike who was rubbing his eyes. “It's really urgent!”

“Dear Princess Celestia…..”

Chapter Four -- Shades of Grey

To Do Our Duty

Chapter Four – Shades of Grey

By: Sturm Panzer

“Well come on, it's only been a couple of days since you sent that letter. Maybe she's just busy and all.” Applejack commented to Twilight Sparkle.

With a brief shake of her head, Twilight took a moment to look over at the cart that was bringing the latest bunch of wounded and injured Guardponies to the temporary barracks set up in Ponyville's Town Hall. “It's not like Princess Celestia. Usually she replies to my letters right away. I've never seen her take this long to answer, and that worries me.”

Rarity looked over the handful of Pegasus ponies in the cart as they were brought in. Fortunately the injuries didn't look too bad for these ones. They were lucky enough to have all their pieces, at least. “The Princess has a lot on her mind right now, so give her some time to get the affairs of Equestria in order. I'm sure she'll reply as soon as she can.”

Twilight let out a soft sigh, then turned away from the Town Hall and started back for the Library. She'd been coming out here every time some of the injured Guardponies were brought in. Each time, she felt her heart leap into her throat. Each time she silently prayed to Celestia that Rainbow Dash would not be amongst the wounded. And then she felt shame and guilt on wishing some other pony would be hurt instead of her friend.

“Come on, Twi, don't be all down in the dumps like that,” Applejack commented quietly as she nudged her shoulder against Twilight's side, “Look at it this way, Dash was alive and well last you saw her, right? So that means she's been able to take care of herself this long.”

“Applejack's right,” sniffed Rarity, still looking dignified, though she was taking a look over the injured with just as much concern as Twilight was. “Other ponies look at you as a leader, at least of sorts. If you look all down and depressed, others will feel the same way.”

“Thanks. Both of you. I'm… I'm just all anxious about this whole mess.” Twilight let out a soft sigh, opening the door to the Library and then paused at the door. “I'll be ok. I'm going to do some studying. I was reading about a far-seeing spell that might let me look in on Rainbow Dash. I'd at least feel a little better if I knew she was ok right now.”

“All right dear,” Rarity said, looking over back toward the Hall. “I'm going to take a wander back over and see if I can get any information from the Guardponies about what's going on. Come by my boutique later and well have some tea.”

“While you're at it, can you see if they can spare any Pegasus for weather duty? The crops need some more rain, and the sooner, the better.” One of Applejack's hooves lightly kicked at the dry ground. “We're looking at a smaller harvest as is, I don't want to see it getting worse.”

“I'll try asking them, but I don't know how much help they can give us,” commented Rarity as she started walking back toward the Hall.

Twilight had noticed that Rarity was dressing up more than usual, and today's extravagance was in an outfit that would have been more appropriate for Canterlot court than for walking around Ponyville. “Maybe she's just waiting for Prince Blueblood to show up?” thought Twilight. She then ruthlessly suppressed the flash of heat that surged through her belly at the memory of how the Prince has looked at her.

Once inside the Library, Twilight wandered over to her desk, noting that Spike was still not back yet. He was supposed to be out helping Fluttershy with her animals.

The purple unicorn had barely opened the tome she was researching when a loud, piercing cry sounded that nearly made Twilight jump as she was startled. “What?!” looking around quickly, she saw a brilliant red and orange bird perched on the sill of the opened window. Somehow she'd totally missed seeing it when she came in, unless it just arrived…

Twilight blinked at the bird a few times, and it took those seconds before she realized who it was. “Philomena? What are you doing here?”

With a sharp cry the bird took wing and glided across the room to Twilight's desk. She was now certain that it was indeed Philomena, Princess Celestia's pet phoenix. Although what it was doing in Ponyville, so far from Canterlot, was a complete mystery.

Once Philomena had landed on a pile of books, Twilight could see that it was carrying a small bundle wrapped up in green silk, which the bird dropped and pushed toward Twilight with one foot.

“What's this?...” The unicorn lifted up the bundle and carefully opened it. Inside there was another, smaller, bundle, along with a carefully folded piece of paper. Inside the smaller bundle was a small trapezoid made of some kind of pale green rock, and well polished.

To my Faithful Student,

There is much that I need to say, but a written letter is a poor medium for saying those words.

I have not forgotten or ignored your letter. Instead I will give you the answers to your questions in person, since I know you would prefer to hear me give them, rather than read a mere letter.

Philomena has delivered to you a Keystone with this letter. Unlock the power of the Keystone and I will be able to speak to you personally.

Your proud mentor, Princess Celestia

“A Keystone?” Twilight muttered to herself, looking at Philomena, who was perched expectantly on the pile of books still. “I know I've heard of that term before, now where did?......” Turning, the unicorn wandered over to the one of the bookcases, looking up along the shelves, squinting a bit as she looked over the tomes. Then with a soft sigh, a handful of the books floated over to the desk, where Twilight could start reading them. “Ok, Philomena. Let's see what you brought me…”

Twilight was awoken by a loud knocking on the door, followed by Rarity's voice, “Oh Twilight, are you home?”

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Twilight walked over to the door, realizing the sun was setting outside. “Oh, Hi Rarity. I'd kind of fallen asleep while studying. I'm sorry, I forgot all about having tea with you.”

“Oh that's quite alright, dear. You're had a lot on your mind, and I have to say that you seem a little better now than you did this morning. ” Rarity glanced over at the Town Hall briefly, then back. “I heard that Prince Blueblood will be coming back tonight, but he hasn't arrived yet, so I thought I'd stop by and see how you are. What were you studying?”

“Philomena brought me something from the Princess. It's something called a 'Keystone',” Twilight nodded to the phoenix, who was curled up on top of a pillow on a chair and was sleeping with it's beak tucked under one wing. “I haven't figured out how it works, though.”

Both unicorns turned toward the Town Hall as some kind of commotion was happening over there. Then they both left the Library and ran over, to see what was going on.

It only took a few minutes to cover the distance at a full gallop, with Rarity taking a slower pace because of her dress that she didn't want to mess up, and getting left behind by the purple unicorn. But once there, it took Twilight a moment to figure out what she was looking at.

A trio of Pegasus ponies, all decked out in the same kind of black outfits that Twilight had seen Rainbow Dash wearing a few nights ago, were standing around a single griffin, who looked much worse for wear. It had obviously been roughed up a fair bit, and it's limbs were securely tied up. A unicorn officer, along with a couple of other Guardponies were present, just as another black Pegasus came out from the Hall, her mask was off and some of her yellow coat could be seen underneath.

The Unicorn officer nodded to another Unicorn, then toward the griffin. “Take it inside and down to the basement for interrogation.”

The lone black Pegasus nodded to the trio, “Good work,” she said, then softly, “I'm sorry to hear about Bluetip, Dash. She'll be missed.”

Pushing up her goggles, Twilight could see Rainbow Dash's eyes, and the hurt inside them briefly before the Pegasus looked up at the sky. “Yeah, thanks.. She and I.. We went to flight school together, we were in the same class…”

“Dash!” Twilight called out as she ran over to her friend. “Are you ok? What happened? What are they doing with that griffin?”

“Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said, looking a little confused for a moment, then taking the look of a filly that's caught red handed by her mother doing something they know they shouldn't be. “Uh, I just got back here from doing a mission..”

“That's enough, Miss Sparkle,” the lone Pegasus stated flatly. “Dash, take the rest of your Flight back to the forward camp.”

Looking at the other Pegasus, Dash nodded slightly, ”Ok..“ but she was interrupted by Twilight.

“Wait, what's going on? Why are you capturing griffins?” demanded Twilight, looking mainly at Dash, as if trying to divine an answer from her friend's face.

Instead of getting a clear answer, Dash's face took on a haunted look, as if she was witnessing some atrocity and was helpless to stop it.

It was the other Pegasus that spoke first with a commanding tone. “Rainbow Dash. Take your Flight back to the forward camp. I'll talk to miss Sparkle. Now go.”

“Yes, Spitfire.” Dash replied reluctantly, then vaulted upward into the night sky, along with the other two black-clad Pegasus ponies.

Whirling to face Spitfire, who she remembered as one of the original members of the Wonderbolts, Twilight stood form as she faced off with her. “What's going on? Interrogating prisoners secretly? How many do you have locked up down there? Why wasn't anyone told about this?”

Spitfire didn't shy away, instead she took an aggressive pace forward. “Yes. We're capturing prisoners for interrogation. Information is what's saving lives out there. If we have to be rough on a few savages to bring this war to a close, then that's what we'll do.” Turning her head, the yellow Pegasus looked at the griffin who was being carried inside by a unicorn. “Anyway, it's not like they're ponies or anything, so why are you worried about what happens to them? Why should you care if some of them suffer an unpleasant death?”

Twilight was stunned, she couldn't believe what she'd just heard! Standing there with her mouth hanging open, it took her a few seconds before she found her voice, “What?! They're not ponies, but they're still living, thinking creatures, deserving of at least some respect!”

Wrong,” stated Spitfire in a fat, uncompromising tone. “They are dangerous savages, willing to kill us in a moment if they see the chance. The Buffalo are even worse, as they are trying to crush all of Equestria under their hooves until they rule everything. To stop them, I will do whatever is required.”

“No, they aren't like that,” protested Twilight,” we dealt with the buffalo a couple of years ago, and were able to resolve things peacefully. It can be done again, I'm sure of it!”

With a soft sigh, Spitfire shook her head. “Miss Sparkle, I know that you are Her Majesty's pupil, but you have led a far too sheltered life. I guess I have to show you the ugly reality.” The Pegasus paused a moment to muster her thoughts before continuing. “We are the ones that are fighting and dying to protect you from the barbarians that want to enslave us all. War is not pretty, or fun. It's brutal and ugly. It is our sworn duty to serve the Princess and fight for her to protect you all. In the course of doing our duty, sometimes we have to get our hooves dirty, be it mud or blood. We all know that we may not make it back home after this is over. Rainbow Dash lost one of her teammates tonight, she knows very well the price of duty. As do us all.”

Turning around, Spitfire looked over her shoulder at Twilight, “The Princess may have taught you everything about magic, but it's clear she didn't teach you anything about duty and honour. Good night, Miss Sparkle.” And then she headed back inside.

“Why the nerve of her,” Rarity admonished, shaking her head as she came up beside Twilight. “How dare she speak to you like that.”

Twilight just hung her head down a little as she turned and headed back to the Library. “Come on, Rarity. Let's just go. “ Slowly, she raised her head back up, “I need to figure out how the Keystone works, then I can talk to the Princess.”

It wouldn't be until the following day when Twilight was finally able to get a breakthrough with the Keystone. After trying various methods to activate it, her hard work was finally rewarded with the stone lighting up with a soft tone. It floated up into the air, and a trail of small motes of green light trailed down from the sides, forming first an arch, then a doorway. Once the motes touched the floor, a clear, soft chime was heard, getting a startled squawk from Philomena. The space in the doorway turned opaque, then transparent, like she was looking through slightly green-tinted water.

On the other side was Princess Celestia, and a room from the Palace in Canterlot. The Princess smiled as she stepped up to and then slowly passed through the shimmering field and into Twilight's Library.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight Exclaimed. “It's so good to see you again, Princess.”

Stepping over to lightly touch her nose against Twilight's cheek in greeting, Celestia smiled. “It's very good to see you again, my faithful student. I wish it was over better reasons though.” The Princess lifted her head and stepped over to the window, looking out over the town for a moment, then motioning Twilight over to join her at the window. “You have questions that you want answered.”

Taking a bit of a breath, bracing herself for the inevitable, Twilight stepped over beside Celestia, looking out with her. “Yes, and with what happened last night, I have even more.”

Princess Celestia lightly folded one wing around Twilight's side, drawing the smaller unicorn in against the bigger mare's body as she and Twilight settled on the floor. “When Captain Firehoof brought me the list of ponies that he wanted to induct in to the Wonderbolts, I saw that your friend's name was on that list. It wasn't an easy decision to make, in fact I agonized over it for days before I finally gave approval to him to go ahead.”

There was a brief pause as Celestia sighed and then continued. “There was three reasons that I had for allowing Rainbow Dash to join. First, each one of the Wonderbolts are ponies who's loyalty is above reproach. Each one is sworn to serve, no matter what the cost. Rainbow Dash, as the Element of Loyalty, is one who will always be without question in my mind.”

“Second,” there was another pause before the Princess spoke again, “When I met Rainbow Dash for the first time, I saw into her heart, and I knew what she was capable of.” Celestia's eyes closed as she continued, “She's hurting inside, I know. Her spirit is battered and bent, but it is not broken. Her ties of Friendship with you all here in Ponyville are still with her, and held dear in her heart. The memories of the one she loves are all that sustain her right now. Those bonds are so strong, they will not break, no matter how much her spirit bends. She suffers from a grievous wound deep inside her, but it, like all wounds, will heal with time. When she returns back home, she will need all of you to make her whole again.”

The silence lasted for several long moments, both of them just sitting there, looking out the window. Finally, Twilight broke the silence, “You said there was three reasons. What's the third?”

Opening her eyes, Celestia looked at Twilight for a moment. “The third reason is that the Wonderbolts are bring led by my dear sister.”

“Princes Luna?” Twilight said softly, more than a little surprised by that revelation. “Princess Luna's leading the Wonderbolts?

The Princess looked up at the sky for several seconds. “Yes, Luna's leading them. But more than just that, she's taking care of them. She's with them now, giving them the strength to carry on, even when they must do difficult things. And there to be a shoulder for them when they suffer losses. I know that dear Luna's keeping a special eye on Rainbow Dash.”

“Do difficult things…” Twilight said softly. “You mean like torture the griffins they captured?”

Celestia closed her eyes once more, taking a few soft breaths before she answered her pupil. “This is an ugly time for us. To save Equestria, many things must be done. Some of those things are ugly, but they must be done. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

There was another silence that dragged on for a few minutes before Twilight could get the courage to ask what was also bothering her. “Why can't you just end the war?”

Slowly, Celestia's eyes opened and she looked down at Twilight. “It's not that simple, my dear pupil. It's not like I can just wave my horn, cast a spell, and make the war end.”

“But you raise the sun! You're all-powerful! Why can't you just make the buffalo stop fighting? Why can't you…” Twilight choked a bit , tears welling up and running down her cheeks as she found herself astonished that she could ask this of her Princess, “Why can't you just kill the leaders of the buffalo or something, to stop them?!”

Princess Celestia just smiled to Twilight, like a mother would when tending to a young foal with a skinned knee. Using her hair, she lightly wiped the tears from Twilight's cheeks as she explained. “It doesn't work that way, my cherished pupil . There are Rules that even I must follow. The matters of the lives of ponies must be decided by ponies. I am not allowed to directly intervene. Such are the Rules. Whether you think the Rules are fair or not, they are the Rules that Luna and I are bound to.”

“But, Nightmare Moon!....” started Twilight, but was interrupted by the Princess.

“Nightmare Moon did not directly interfere with the lives and affairs of Ponies. She used her powers to control the Night and the Moon, to which she's tied. Her control of the Night would affect ponies, as was her due, just as my power over the Sun and the Day affects them. In both cases, it's not directly. There are Rules even Nightmare Moon can not break.”

“I.. I think I understand…” Twilight said with a soft sniffle.

“This was something I had hoped to shield you from until you were older, but knowing this is more important right now.” Slowly Celestia rose back up and turned toward the portal.

“How long will this war last?” Twilight asked as she followed her Princess.

“Look inside yourself and you may learn that answer. Remember, you have the power within you to be able to see the future,” Celestia said with a smile. “Of the four ponies that can, only you are aware of your potential.”

“But how? I've tried and failed each time! What do I have to do?”

Celestia shook her mane slightly as she walked to the portal. “You're trying too hard. The future is like the truth. Neither black nor white. Both can change, depending on what questions you are asking. When you can finally see the truth for what it is, you can see the future.”

And with that the Princess stepped through the portal, which closed with a soft tone behind her, leaving the Keystone floating in the air, and slowly settling to the floor.

Chapter Five -- Blood and Tears

To Do Our Duty

Chapter Five – Blood and Tears

By: Sturm Panzer

Twilight Sparkle had spent most of the next few days in her library, pouring over the books that she had that covered scrying and distance-viewing, but it was difficult to make much progress. “I don't know, Spike,” she sighed at the end of another frustrating day. “What little information there is about scrying doesn't seem to yield much in the way of results when I try to put it into practice. I must be missing something. If I had access to Celestia's library, then I know I could find something to help me with this.”

“Why don't you just use the Keystone to open a portal to Canterlot, then?” Spike asked as he carried a stack of books back to one of the shelves.

“Because…” Twilight sighed softly. “Because I think Celestia wants me to figure this out on my own. I can't go running to her for help every time I get stuck on something.” She flipped the book closed and set it aside. “I know I'm close! There's something missing, but I can't figure it out. I know there must be just one vital thing that's causing the spells to fail."

Suddenly Twilight sat upright. “Something's missing? Of course!” she face-hoofed for a moment. “How could I have been so sloppy?" She quickly wrote down a few notes on a piece of paper, shoving it into her saddlebags and putting them on. "I need to go out for a while, Spike.” She said, running out the door.

Twilight made her way along through Ponyville, by way of the Town Hall. One of the Pegasus officers was outside, talking to a couple of the other Guardponies. Blueblood still hadn't shown up yet. She'd heard that he was delayed because of some more fighting that was going on. Everything seemed to be quiet there, so Twilight continued on.

Presently, she made her way along one of the paths that led out of town, and to Fluttershy's cottage. Seeing that there was still lights on inside, Twilight trotted up to the door and knocked on it lightly.

“Oh hello, Twilight.” Fluttershy smiled to her after opening the door. “It's getting dark, what brings you out here this late?”

“Hello, Fluttershy. I need to ask a favour, and you're the only one that I can think of that can do it. I'm working on a spell that will let me see what's happening to Rainbow Dash. I'm worried about her.” Twilight pulled the small slip of paper from her saddlebag and showed it to the yellow Pegasus. “Do you think you can help me?”

It only took Fluttershy a few seconds to scan the paper, and then a few more seconds to think about it. “I think I can do that. I mean, it's to help Rainbow Dash, right?”

Nodding, Twilight tucked the paper away once more. “Yes. I'm hoping so, if my plan works.”

It was not quite noon the next day when Twilight found herself outside the Town Hall, talking with Mayor Mare and the newly arrived Prince Blueblood. The prince looked like he hadn't slept in a couple of days, and the Guardponies that had come back to Ponyville with him didn't look to be in any better shape, though fortunately, there was few injuries this time.

“It was probably the largest concentration of buffalo that I've seen so far. And it would have been quite a decisive engagement if they decided to make a full-on attack. The odd thing, though…” The Prince looked back the way they had come when they arrived back in Ponyville. "The odd thing is that they didn't seem to really want to get into a large battle, despite their numbers. Oh sure there was some intense clashes along the edges where their forces and our's contacted, but nothing like the pitched battle we saw back up in Appleloosa. It was almost like they were unsure about why they were there.”

Twilight spoke up, “Maybe the buffalo are getting tired of fighting?”

“I wish it was that simple,” the Prince said, shaking his head slightly. “No, I don't think we've seen the last of the fighting. But for the moment, I think things may be a little quiet. Which is good, we could all use some rest.”

"Prince Blueblood. I've been getting some reports from the farmers.” Mayor spoke, “They need more rain to prevent the possibility of a general crop failure. The problem is that we just don't have enough Pegasus ponies around to bring the clouds in to get the rain they need.”

"I agree with Mayor Mare, Prince," Twilight added in. "Ponyville and the surrounding fields desperately need rain. If we don't get it soon, we could see crop failures."

Rubbing his hoof over the side of his neck, the Prince nodded slowly. “Very well, if things continue to stay quiet, I can free up a dozen or so Pegasus scouts to help with the weather for a little while. Will that be enough?”

“They will be an immense help, your Highness, thank you.” Bowing her head, Mayor Mare backed up and then headed to her house, where the town's offices were now based out of.

“Prince Blueblood, I was wondering if Spitfire was around,” Twilight asked in a mostly casual tone.

“Squadron Leader Spitfire? No, she's… Elsewhere,” the Prince commented, censoring himself. “I can have a message passed onto her that you're looking for her.”

“No, no. that’s ok, Prince Blueblood. It's nothing that can't wait.” Inwardly, Twilight grumbled at being denied a chance to have words with Spitfire. Bowing, she started back toward the Library.

Twilight didn't even make it halfway there before Fluttershy found her. “Oh there you are Twilight, I was on my way back to your Library.”

“Oh hello, Fluttershy.” Twilight leaned in closer to her and asked “How did it go? Any luck?”

The Pegasus nodding, “Oh yes, I think I found exactly what you wanted.” Then produced a small green cloth that was folded up neatly, and showing it to Twilight.

Opening one corner of the cloth with her mouth instead of her magic, Twilight smiled as soon as she caught a glimpse of what was inside it. “I think this is exactly what I need, thank you so much. Can you put it in my saddlebag?”

Carefully, Fluttershy tucked the folded cloth into Twilight's bag, then looked up at the sky. “I hope Rainbow Dash is ok. I'm worried about her.”

“We all are. She seemed ok when I saw her last.” “Physically at least…” Twilight added in her own mind, choosing to keep quiet for fear of causing Fluttershy the unnecessary suffering she knew the Pegasus would feel if she knew how much Dash was hurting inside.

It would be another two days before the sky finally started clouding over above Ponyville. Twilight had spent almost as much time looking out at the sky as she was going over one of the books she had be engrossed in. “Looks like it's about to rain, Spike. Did you finish with the preparations yet?”

The short dragon came over, holding a stone bowl in his hand. “How's this?” he asked as he showed Twilight what was inside.

“That's perfect, Spike. Good work.” Twilight beamed the first real smile she'd felt in days. “The threads of my plan were quickly drawing together. Once it starts raining, then I'll be able to get the final ingredient the spell requires.”

“Speaking of rain,” Spike said, looking and pointing out the window. “It's starting to come down now.”

“Quick Spike, get the bowl,” Twilight said, flipping through the paces of her book to find the one she wanted.

The dragon had already picked up a wide, shallow crystal bowl, using a cloth to hold it, and then headed outside. “I know. Don't touch the bowl, and it needs to be the beginning of the rain. I'm on it.”

“Excellent, Spike. This final part needed to cast the spell is at hand.”

Spike held the bowl over his head, being careful to only touch the light blue cloth that was wrapped around the bottom of the bowl. It helped to keep him dry as the rain started spattering down, lightly at first, but then coming down heavier. “The Royal Guardponies don't know anything about weather,” grumbled Spike. “It shouldn't have taken them two days to get it to rain.”

It didn't take too long with the heavy rain to fill the bowl up enough for Twilight's needs. Spike then brought it back inside and carefully set it on the table that Twilight used as a workspace. “Now what?”

“Ok, now slowly pour in the ground crystal while I stir.” Twilight picked up a short wooden stick with her mouth and started carefully stirring the bowl while Spike slowly poured the ground powder into it from the bowl he'd used to grind it up.

“Why couldn't you use your magic to prepare this stuff?” Spike asked, tapping the bowl to dump the last little bit into the water.

Twilight set the stick aside and watched the swirling water carefully. “Because for the spell to work, the materials can't have even a trace of either magical residue, or even any other pony's contact left in them. That would taint the spell, and it would only let me see myself or the pony that touched it. That's the mistake I was making before.” Twilight was watching the clear crystals vanishing into the water. “Ok Spike, the last part.”

Spike opened Twilight's saddlebag and pulled out the folded green cloth that Fluttershy had given Twilight. Opening it carefully, they both saw a single fine thread curled up. “Not a thread,” Twilight thought, ”a hair.”

The hair was fine and almost prismatic. It was breathtaking how the colour seemed to change as it moved, and as the light hit it from different angles. “I never really took that close a look at Rainbow Dash’s mane before,” Twilight said softly. “Ok Spike, add it to the water.”

Twilight started focusing the magical energy, in exactly the same manner that the book described. When Rainbow Dash's hair touched the water, she released the magic, and the ripples from the hair turned into waves of colour.

The colours swirled around and around, then became a chaotic mess as Twilight focused on them. Then a final ripple spread outward from centre, leaving a clear scene visible in the bowl.

Rainbow Dash was flying along through some low-lying clouds, with another Pegasus close beside her. They were both clad in the same black outfits that Twilight had seen her wearing before, with nothing of her normal cyan showing. They were just black shadows cut out of the clouds. Silently, Dash pointed down at a single griffon that was flying along low to the ground. The other Pegasus nodded, and then they both readied the spears they carried before diving down out of the cloud.

Like silent ghosts of wrath they descended on the lone griffon. Trimming their wings slightly to adjust the speed and angle of their descent. They flattened out a bit from the steep dive to a gliding angle with the pair of them just gliding silently. There was no sound and no warning for the griffon before the two of them slammed into it.

The three of them quickly fell down the short distance to a heavy landing on the grass, with Dash and the other Pegasus being on top of the griffon when they hit the ground, heavily stunning it on landing. Quickly, Dash and the other pulled out some ropes and bound the griffon with practiced ease.

“Ok Red Dawn, I'll stay here while you go get the others, so we can bring this one back,” Dash ordered the other Pegasus and then leaned on her spear, the blunt end of it resting on the ground.

“Got it, I'll be back in a few minutes,” Red Dawn replied, and then leapt up into the air and sped off.

The griffon was just starting to recover from it's heavy landing, and looked over at Dash and then spat out a curse. “Damn you, Nightmare. Why not just kill me and get it over with?”

Dash looked like she'd just been hit by a physical blow as she stared at the griffon, taking a step toward her. It took a moment before she found her voice. “Gilda?...”

The griffon jerked like she'd had an icicle shoved under her tail. “Dash?” she said incredulously. “Is that you, Dash?”

Dash pushed her goggles up, and pulled her mask down to show her face. “Gilda. What are you doing here?”

Gilda took on fierce look as she looked at Rainbow Dash. “Dash, I'm shocked that you're a Nightmare. I would have thought you had more self respect than be a murderer,” she spat at Dash, who flinched from Gilda's verbal assault.

“Gilda, it's not like that.” Dash shook her head, “I'm just trying to stop the war.”

“Stop the war? How many griffons did you kill, Dash?”

“Gilda…” Dash said, the hurt in her voice being clear.

“And those ponies that dared to defy the trade embargo with us? How many of them did you personally kill?” Gilda spat in her anger.

“No!” Dash cried out. “That wasn't me! I wasn't even there! It was…” she choked on her answer with a sob, tears starting to run down her cheeks.

So, now you're going to take me in, Dash?” Gilda's voice was flat and without emotion.

“Gilda. Why are you even here?” Rainbow dash was trying hard not to cry as she clutched her spear. “You should have been up north, far from here.”

“You know the answer to that, don't you Dash?...”

Dumbly, Dash just nodded her head, tears rolling down her cheeks and muzzle.

“How many villages did you destroy, Dash? How many homes did you put to the torch in your midnight raids?” Gilda's words were soft in tone, but stung like acid. “How many griffons did you kill, Dash?”

Dash just rubbed one hoof over her face, wiping off some of the tears. “Gilda…”

“Dash. Do me just one favour. Please?” The griffon looked Dash in the eyes as she said “Kill me.”

“Gilda! I-I cant! You can't ask me to do something like that!”

“Dash!” Gilda snapped back. “You and I both know what's going to happen when the rest of your Nightmares return. They're going to take me off somewhere, and torture me. At least give me a clean death, Dash!”

“I-I can't… What you're asking… I can't do it!” Dash cried out. "Look, I have some pull. I can try to get you transfered to a jail somewhere. Some place safe where you can sit and wait until the war's over..." The words sounded hollow and desperate.

“Dash! Don't you dare wuss out on me this time! If you still care for me at all, then give me a clean death before they come back and take me off to torture me to death.”

“Gilda…” Dash said in a soft voice, lifting her spear up over her head with both hooves holding it.

“Do it Dash,” Gilda said in a flat voice, the look In her eyes showing no emotion. “If you still love me, then give me this release.”

Rainbow Dash blinked several times, but the tears kept singing her eyes and wet her face. “Gilda…” she said softly, gripping the spear over her head tightly. Then in a soft whisper that probably only Twilight heard “I love you…”

There was only a moment's delay before the metal tip of Dash's spear flashed downward in a vicious blur of silver.

“DASH!” Twilight cried out. She jerked violently when she realized what Rainbow Dash was about to do, causing the bowl of water to slide across the table and shatter on the floor. At least that spared her from having to see Dash do the evil deed.

Twilight collapsed to the floor and curled up into a shuddering ball as she battled her emotions, trying desperately not to cry. “Oh Dash…” she said in a soft whimper.

Spike came over and leaned against Twilight, trying to comfort her at least to some degree.

Abruptly, Twilight froze, her head jerking up with the tears still wetting her cheeks. A look of horror was written large on her face as she remembered what Celestia had told her.

“The memories of the one she loves are all that sustain her right now.”