The Battle of Ages

Chapters

What the Future Brings
The Last Night
Not Quite There
It Begins....
Begging the Question
Time Lost

What the Future Brings

Chapter 1: What the Future Brings...

The warm sunlight struck in a radiating manner across the entirety of Ponyville. Today couldn't be more perfect, the birds singing in the trees, the small foals playing games on the streets, and more importantly, today was the day Twilight was summoned by her teacher to help with "something excruciatingly important" and she was happy to oblige. She couldn't help but sing a little tune, stepping past the town hall to head towards the Main thoroughfare. Stopping briefly at SugarCube Corner noticing the store was closed today due to renovations. The bouncy pink pony was right there with the burly stallions helping the renovations and conversing with that typical Pinkie habit. She even caught something about "Gummy's Mid-Birthday Half Anniversary".

The thought of another Pinkie crazed depression couldn't put a damper on her mood, thus she went on out towards the solitary lake the letter had told her to go to this morning. Passing the multitude of foothills on the edge of town, she thought about how Spike had informed her that she had received it the night before. But considering that she had passed out studying the extended effects of magic on the user without respite, Spike decided to let her read it in the morning. Becoming the near embodiment of her studies due to lack of sleep, she awoke to the strain of sunlight on an almost flawless day. The edge of the lake was still and there were no signs of anypony out here. Which in itself seemed slightly strange, with the weather and all. She didn't even see Rainbow lounging on a cloud on her way down. The water was clear and the hills surrounding it blocked out the buildings in the distance from view.

She took a decided glance into the water and made sure her mane was intact. After she had showered twice and brushed her hair into the smooth silkiness she would expect. The reflection was interrupted by ripples coming from the other side of the lake. She look around and noticed that there were a few birds perched by the tree on the side of the lake. But aside from that....Nothing was happening. There wasn't anypony here at all. The way here had been empty and the surroundings echoed that sentiment. Twilight almost decided to give up and go back home and make sure the letter had meant today. But she shoved herself mentally, knowing she had read correctly.

Then she felt the magic growing on the other edge of the lake, followed by a strong wave of wind as two equines appeared out of thin air in a bright flash. There was some adjusting on her eyes' part, but she was fine. Her face even grew into a smile as she saw the two ponies that she respected most. It was Celestia, and her little sister Luna. The both offered her a warm smile, Celestia waving her over.

She scrambled over to them and started babbling, her nerves getting the better of her. "I got your letter and all and I guess I was a bit earlier than I expected and I almost went back home but I knew that you would show up eventually a-..."

Celestia placed a gentle forehoof over her pupils mouth and showed that she understood. The filly blushed and knew she had nothing to worry about. She looked past Celestia and looked at Luna who had taken a riveting interest in the ground, making sure to paw it absent-mindedly with her hoof. "Hey Luna, how've you been since we saw you in Canterlot?"

Luna almost didn't hear her, but was snapped into the realm of the living, thanks to a subtle bump on Celestia's part. "Oh, I have been fine Twilight Sparkle, nothing too stressing or boring I think." She stated with only a slight amount of uncertainty in her voice, still anxious about what was to happen next. Celestia had neglected to tell her the intent of this uncomfortable visit to her sister's student, and Luna herself was not entirely familiar with the small purple filly that seemed as oblivious as she was. Of course there was Nightmare Night, and then when she saw her briefly during her visit before and after saving the Crystal Empire. But not much else. Just the occasional progress report that Twilight loved to give in by her own hoof at the castle.

She decided to voice her concern about the reason she was here, followed quickly by Twilight agreeing that she wasn't aware of what would be happening here today. Celestia took a quick breath and stated, "We are here to test you're magical ability today Twilight, along with you Luna."

The reaction couldn't be more explosive, both of them at the same moment exclaimed "What?!!?"

Twilight was dumbfounded, but not just because of her need to prove herself, but Luna too? The sister of the moon was even more taken aback, not entirely sure what she meant... Considering she was one of the two royal sisters. She stared at her sister who had taken a few steps backwards to separate herself from the two ponies. Already Celestia had forgone her traditional crown, neckware, and the golden horse-shoes that adorned her feet.

"Alright you two, I want you to try to pin me down with magic. It doesn't matter how I just want to see how strong you are." Celestia intoned holding a ready stance.

Twilight couldn't imagine hurting or even attempting to assault one of the most regal and powerful ponies in Equestria, and Luna thought that this was all foalishness. So Luna waited until Twilight had gotten over her shock at the Princess, then proceeded to shoot into the air, reaching towards the heavens in a speed that would have made the wonderbolts jealous with envy....

Twilight watched as her partner 'ran away' in her eyes, and she knew that without Luna's help that there was no way the element of magic had a chance. Celestia was watching the sky her sister had disappeared into, watching as she became a speck then vanished among the altitude. The fearful unicorn took this chance to try a gravity spell on the princess, and for a second it seemed as though it would work. The spell shot across her body and began to tug her to her knees, though it became evident that the fact that she was an alicorn came to her advantage. She shot into the air causing the spell to lose power as she moved. Her powerful wing flaps dispelling the tendrils of magic. The alicorn laughed happily and cast a shield over her body, showing that there were no hard feelings. Then Twilight realized that the princess had no intention of attacking back, just being the target dummy at the moment, so to speak.

Just when she was ready to cast a spell that might cause the shield to break, she noticed the sun grow dull. There was the shadow of a cloud in the sky, casting over the two ponies. Twilight ignored the condition shift and shot a bolt of pure energy at the shield, causing the shot to bounce back harmlessly. She barely had time to hit the ground as her own energy shot back at her. Kicking up dust and dirt behind her as it left a depression in the ground. Now Twilight knew what to do when she saw some of the scenery. She began the arduous process of engulfing a large item in magical glow. As she got a fond magical grip of the object she lifted with all of her might, at first it wouldn't budge, so she applied more magic to her horn. Wrapping it in the first layer of overglow. There it began moving subtly behind the Princess, and once it was virtually on top of her, Twilight let go of the massive boulder she had managed to lift.

Celestia looked up just in time to see the fall of an oversized stone was aimed roughly at her. She quickly shot a bolt of energy to the rock and it obliterated into dust. Twilight took the time that Celestia was preoccupied to compare the strength of her bolt to Celestia's. And the comparison was depressing, her's was several times stronger than her student's and Twilight knew that her mentor could do so much better. Thinking back to when she was bested by Chrysalis. Something else that caught her attention was the fact that the once docile day had transformed in record time into what was the definition of bad weather. The storm banks that billowed above like the hunger of an animal had the blackest coloration that she had ever witnessed. Not to mention the sheer magical pressure she could feel as it blanketed the town and sucked the heat away from her body. This was not natural, nor had it come out of Cloudsdale. Just when she was about to ask Celestia what the hay was going on here, a familiar face shot out of the clouds.

It was Luna, the mare hadn't run away, she had simply been casting some form of weather spell. The amount of magic that would take even in a small scale, would be exhausting. Yet she had crafted an entire storm, and didn't appear to have broken a sweat. The smaller alicorn landed lightly beside Twilight, who was still in recoil at the scary storm.

"Luna! What did you DO?!" She attempted to make herself heard over the noisy thunder, luckily for her though it hadn't started raining.

"Helping the both of us out, she isn't nearly as strong as normal when she's cut off from the sunlight." Luna stated in a calm manner, knowing that the unicorn would likely get in the way if this did get out of hoof. Considering she knew her sister's winning drive, and the small unicorn had never witnessed anything less stern than a talking to from her mentor. "Besides, Twilight Sparkle, we need to make sure that we aren't in any danger of being seen fighting like this. It could raise more questions from the media than is even necessary."

Luna knew that nopony would be hard-headed enough to stay out in this weather even if it hadn't started to rain just yet. What she didn't anticipate however was the rainbow colored tom-colt and orange filly companion in the middle of a fierce competition. They were going to see how long that they, somewhat trivially, could stare at each other. It was the longest contest as of yet, and neither had blinked in a couple hours. The looming storm had aided by taking away then sunlight, but it had inadvertently made the contest a time-bomb.

"Y'all gonna give up 'Dash?" The orange filly said with a smirk, noting the bead of sweat that rolled down the pegasuses head.

"Not in your, dreams, AJ." But she knew that this weather was far from normal, and it certainly hadn't been scheduled. She was more worried than she let on. Her loyalty seemed to vibrate in every cell of her body, she wanted to make sure that all the ponies of Ponyville had gotten inside and make sure that this didn't require Pegasi aid to break up....

Meanwhile there was a certain yellow pegasus that was running through the streets of Ponyville, scared to death of the un-natural temperament of the clouds. And even more fearful of what would happen to her most beloved animal friend. Angel had run away again, and at one of the most inopportune moments. She had to run past several ponies rushing to get back to the safety of their houses. Fluttershy had lost track of the sweet bunny a few blocks back and was holding a frantic scowl. Then she saw him, the animal had taken refuge near Carousel Boutique in one of the bushes.

Fluttershy sighed in relief, more happy that Angel was safe than mad at his running away. "You really should be careful, Angel Bunny. It's not safe out h-EREEE!" Her words transformed into a shriek due to the flash of lightning up high. Rendering her a trembling mess at Rarity's door. The very same Unicorn was actually returning from the saloon early after her "much needed" attention.
Seeing the defenseless filly curled at on her doorstep, she rushed to her. "Fluttershy, Darling, are you alright?" Putting emphasis on the last word to show concern. The pegasus, however, did little more than mumble some incoherent words to her friend. "Well I simply can't let you stay out here in this dreadful weather." She said and managed to wrap her friend in a levitating field, causing little strain to Rarity as Fluttershy was so light.

She barely managed to set Fluttershy on a red reclining sofa before the heavens drenched the world in a heavy deluge. The rain splattered on the panes of the shop; adding to the effect the wind was giving generously to the trees.

I wonder where all this rain is coming from, were we scheduled for rain today? thought the worrying unicorn.

Back in the field, with Luna, Celestia, and Twilight, the mares were all getting heavily soaked. And this was no summer rain, it stung the coats of the receivers. Chilling them to the bone and offering no comfort. Twilight was having alot of trouble maneuvering around the now muddy mockery of ground underneath her. Celestia in the meantime had forgone the joyous mood and was getting down to business with her sister.

Celestia shock arcs of lighting at her sister who barely managed to jump out of the way of the brutal strike. She then threw up a shield at the last second, to stop a bolt of magic that narrowly would have slammed into her chest. She dropped a few feet lower and managed to stop a similar bolt from rendering the small filly unconscious. Twilight answered her savior with a slight yelp, and managed to get out of the way by teleporting behind a nearby tree. Attempting to catch her breath.

I'm only getting in the way....I need something, some way to help....GOT IT! You're a genius Twilight. She let herself get a small satisfactory smile across her lips, before building up the overglow...

Both sisters were still locked in the the same positions; neither one dared to make an advance towards the other, luckily for Luna the purple unicorn had taken cover. This didn't give her counterpart anything to use against her.

"WHY ARE WE FIGHTING LIKE THIS?!" Luna was forced to yell over the cacophonous sound echoing around her, though she didn't need to use the Canterlot voice yet.

"You don't remember? Last month?" Celestia replied with little such manners, using her rare Canterlot voice. Luna couldn't remember the last time her sibling had used it. And thinking back to last month she didn't remember what she meant.

"NO!" Luna screamed back, taking the chance to reverse herself to where she was positioned in front of the lake to make sure her sister couldn't take a premature pass at Twilight who was still doing something back there...

"When I left for Saddle Arabia?"

"YES, WHAT OF IT?"

"There is an invasion being mounted on this land. The emperor of Romanea is coming to seek revenge. And we have to be ready, that's what me and the delegates had to discuss." That statement was more than enough to catch Luna herself off guard. She had no idea that the peaceful land of Equestria was under attack. This was serious news; there was no telling how the subjects of their kingdom would react to this.

"Why wouldn't you tell me this 'Tia!" Luna yelled at her sister, referring back to her nickname picking up her own strong voice. It made her feel left out, like she was not important enough. She was the co-ruler of Equestria for hay's sake, and Celestia had decided to leave out that critical fact.

"I didn't want you to worry... You know that I only have your best interests in mind! Besides, remember when I told y-..."The sun princess was cut off almost instantly because of a large object slamming into her from the side, the weight of which carried her with it until both skidded to a halt in the mud. The oversized tree that had been hiding the unicorn was now resting in all it's glory on top of a surprised Celestia.

The student was nothing but overjoyed at the outcome of her surprise attack, completely unaware of the conversation that the two alicorns were having when she interrupted. She couldn't help but let a smile caress her lips, while Luna went over to examine the damage. Celestia wasn't but minorly phased, but nonetheless had to admit defeat. Her shield had absorbed most of the physical, the weight of the tree kept her there until Luna removed the heavy brambles then scooting the oversized branch to a safe distance. Thus liberating her sister who realized that she had lost to her student.

The wind and rain had picked up to a fierce pitch now, and the sister didn't attempt to say much. They were both more mentally exhausted than physically. Twilight made sure that all was in order with the two royal sisters. And after a large crackle of thunder, offered to lead them to a safer place. They reluctantly agreed and followed Twilight to her house. Luna and Celestia walked in close proximity to each other, so that they were out of earshot of the lead unicorn.

"We'll talk more on it later when we're alone, ok? Make sure that my student is alright, I need to make a couple errands before returning, I trust you'll be fine?" The eldest stated, prepping her wings without pausing for her sister to answer. Luna stopped and saw the contrail of light zipping behind her sister as she broke supersonic speeds, towards Canterlot.

Luna didn't have to watch long before a voice broke the silence, making her leap in surprise. "What did she need to go do?" An earnest voice spoke, showing no knowledge of the weight of what was to come to pass in the future. Or was it now? Luna had no clue.

"She said she had to run some errands, Twilight Sparkle. But we really should keep moving, this rain is...Irritating." Luna tried to stay civil to the unicorn without getting lost in her thoughts. It was a bad habit she had developed during her stay in the moon.

There wasn't much conversation between the two on the way to the library, all they had to pass were empty streets and closed windows. Luna would have liked to go ahead and fly to the old tree, but thought better of it. And after a few grueling minutes of solemn walking and bitter rain, they arrived to the safety of the library.

Twilight nudged the door open and was greeted by a comfy aroma and homey temperature, followed quietly by the moon princess. "Twi~light! Is that you?!" Spike yelled from the kitchen, revealing that he had cooked something scrumptious.

"Spike it smells sooo good in here! What did you make tonight?" She said as she stepped into the messy remains of the room. There were pots and pans and an assortment of other things, scattered about in messy piles. And the baby dragon had his little apron wrapped around him with his chef hat resting crookedly atop his head. Lending to the appearance of an amateur chef. Although Twilight knew quite well that this purple green dragon could cook a meal to match the best Canterlot cuisine.

"Buttered corn, some steamed carrots, vegetable soup, a fresh extra leafy salad, and something that I haven't made before, a dandelion souflee." He answered without really looking up at all. Only to show her that he had indeed been rather busy.

"Do you have enough for a couple extra guests?"

"Yeah sure, who is it? IS IT RARITY?!!" Spike exclaimed dropping a ladle and turning to leave the kitchen only to run straight into Luna who had taken a seat right outside of the door, barely out of sight of the dragon. He bounced off harmlessly but managed to scare the living hay out of a certain blue alicorn.

Mental note to self: Stop letting things surprise you as often, it's not becoming. Luna thought self consciously. Saying out loud "Hello Spike, how are you this evening?" She made sure to give the dragon a little room, and she could tell that he wasn't expecting to cook for royalty. She hated it quite a bit, not Spike himself, just the reaction and special attention that everypony gave her. No matter what she did she could feel the fear and the worry in the eyes of those that didn't know her. Always getting the best from people who expected her to act like a pompous ass. She just wanted to be an equal.

"Oh, uh, L-luna? I didn't...I mean I wasn't...I'll go...kitchen..." The dragon babbled as he left her alone with Twilight. She could also hear the clanging of cookery, ringing around the door frame, followed by a loud crash.

Twilight blushed in embarrassment, and began leading the alicorn to a more peaceful room. Which was the only other room in the tree library, her own bedroom. The filly used magic to pull up a couple pillows for them to lounge on. Then gently closed the door, making sure to make the princess as comfortable as possible.

After all was accounted for Twilight dropped the charade she had been holding. "What was the fight about? Why would Celestia want to test our abilities? Your abilities?" She gushed, knowing that her Mentor had to have some reason.

"You already know why we were fighting, Twilight Sparkle. To test our abilities, as for why....I am as ill-informed as you are." Luna decided to lie to protect her sister. She also noticed the large telescope aimed out of the window, which peaked her interest. "What is that for?" She asked earnestly.

"It's my telescope for star gazing, I love the night sky. It is quite amazing to say the least. I sometimes get lost for hours admiring it..." The student answered getting up to show her the extensive notes she had taken on the astrology of the heavens.

Luna felt herself being taken aback, she had no idea that anyone willingly stayed up at night, for hours, admiring something that she had made thousands of years ago. And after the filly gave her the extensive note collection, she recognized several of the layouts. But then noticed some others that had been missed or mis-marked.

"...That's actually called Minas 5, and there's the Ursa Major, not the minor." She said after she finished her reading. Luna decided to voice her earlier thoughts, about ponies staying up all night for her stars. "I had no idea that my stars were admired so. It makes me glad that somepony enjoys my night, Twilight Sparkle." Luna let out with a genuine smile.

The filly's eyes grew wide as she realized that the stars were indeed crafted by the sister of the moon. She had never heard about Luna having any involvement with the night sky aside from the moon. "You made the stars?"

"Yes. And I also can control the tides, what of it?"

"I've never read anywhere about you doing anything like that..." The unicorn answered skeptically.

"Well, when I became Nightmare Moon many of the books and documents that had anything to do with a second princess were erased..." Luna began answering taking back her seat on the plush pillow. Not minding reciting the story, one she had come to terms with long ago.

"....And many of my duties were taken on by 'Tia when I was gone, and unlike some ponies like to believe, I wasn't actually on the moon. I was in it. I had basically become the moon. My face being carved into it's surface while I was there. It was quite boring and lonely to say the least." She said, stood up, and turned her back to the purple unicorn.

A unicorn that had become rather emotional at the extremely sad tale. She couldn't help but let a shade cross her face, making her seem even worse off. And before Luna could turn around and ask what was wrong, Twilight leapt up and hugged the princess in a tight embrace. She could feel the sobs as the filly wrapped herself around her neck. Luna was caught off guard for the hundreth time tonight and didn't know in the least how to console her. She eventually just wrapped a hoof around the giver's neck until the sobbing subsided.

"I-I had n-no idea...What you went through. Without any real friends...nopony but your sister....I'm so sorry..." She managed to stutter. Finally removing herself from the mare, who smelled strangely of a nice relaxing night. If that could have a smell. The alicorn also detected a hint of lavender in passing as Twilight went back to her seat. Luna had nothing to say back, so she sat in silence.

Both were left staring around the room in awkwardness with nothing to really talk about, until Spike's voice carried in from the kitchen. Supper was ready. Luna's ears perked up and let her stomach rejoice in the knowledge of what was to come. They both rushed more or less into the kitchen to find Celestia seated at a magically conjured long table, with various dishes and foods piled across its surface.

"Hello Twilight, Lullay, Spike seems to have made quite the feast tonight." She said referring back to Luna's nickname, which indeed made her sister take a red tone across her cheeks.

Twilight also noticed the name, and said "You're sister calls you Lullay? That's...." Luna expected several things to leave the unicorns mouth, instead however was surprised when she said "...adorable!" Celestia and Spike shared a laugh and began to load their plates with a myriad of different foods. Little did Twilight and Spike know, Celestia had an appetite to match that of Pinkie Pie with her sweets.

Luna took her seat deliberately across from Celestia and right next to Spike. She took stock of the food that was there and took a hoofull of items and began to slowly eat. The blue alicorn was still stuck on what the unicorn had said. First the hug, now the friendly behavior. Was she actually cared for?

Is this what it feels like to have friends? She thought as she shared in the conversation and revelrie they all shared.

The night went on with more laughter and Luna opening up a bit to her sister's student and her baby dragon. And eventually it had to end, especially when Spike passed out from exhaustion towards one in the morning. Celestia was also quite beat, since she had to sleep at night. While Luna was pretty much wide awake, as she always was at this time. The pony known as Twilight however, wasn't nearly as bad off as the other two sleepy pony and dragon. She had grown accustomed to late nights and strenuous study hours; so this was nothing. Luna left to levitate Spike up the stairs and showed her sister to the only bed in the home. Then tucked the baby dragon in his bed...

Twilight was left with a staggering amount of dishes that needed to be washed, so much so that they weren't able to fit on just one side of the counters. It blended into a mountain of dishes as daunting as anything she been through today.

"Awww, I wish that Spike had settled for less..." Twilight let out with a groan. Levitating the first of the dishes to organize them, and running the steamy water. She let the soap blend into the water and make the viscous bubbles that spewed from the sink. Beginning the arduous process of dishwashing.

Not long after Twilight had started, Luna walked in to tell her that she had to lay her sister down on Twilight's bed. Considering there were no other places to set the slumbering princess.

"That's fine, Luna. I'll find some pillows and things for us to lay on later." Twilight answered without really looking back.

Luna couldn't help but notice the way she hummed while she worked. And decided to do the "friendly" thing and help her out. "Here, let me help you, Twilight Sparkle." Luna said and enveloped several of the dishes in her ethereal grasp.

"Why do you call me 'Twilight Sparkle'?" The unicorn mimicked in an overly exaggerated tone on her name. Scooting over to allow the alicorn room in front of the narrow sink.

"What would you rather me call you? I don't think I follow." She said casting a sideways glance at the filly.

"Well, how about what all my friends call me? Twilight, simple and informal." She said allowing a positive smirk cross her lips.

"We, are friends, then?" Luna dared to ask with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. Not fully aware of the small blush painting her cheeks. Already the two of their combined efforts had conquered one half of the mountainous dish mound.

"Of course, silly filly!" Twilight said using the words her mother had told her when she was younger. She didn't know why she said it, but it felt right. "What did you think we were?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure...Twilight." The princess admitted and smiled as she added the last part. Followed by a giggle by the purple pony next to her. Which the was followed swiftly by the shock of cold water. Luna felt the liquid dripping from her face and from her mane, making her dry it with a towel she conjured. The unicorn had dropped to the floor rolling with laughter at the alicorn's reaction.

Soon, however, she too felt the cold water on her stomach and face. Luna had taken the attack as a challenge, and was now levitating balls of water next to her in little ballon-like magic spheres. Twilight widened her eyes as she saw what she was faced with, and had little time to react as they pelted her in rapid fire. She yelped and shot into the air at the cold tingle, now Luna was laughing uncontrollably. She allowed her guard to be dropped and was then drenched in a continuous jet stream of water emanating from the soaked filly's horn.

This shot Luna into the opposite wall and coated her and it in a thick layer of fluid. Her mane clung to her face and coat as she struggled to think through the stinging cold. She huffed and allowed herself to admire the damage the dining room/kitchen had sustained. The cabinets that had been carved into the inner tree, the wooden floor, and the recently cleaned and dried dishes were all soaking wet.

The purple filly also noticed the heavy soaking, and blushed at letting herself take it too far. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" The unicorn begged as she stepped over the water ridden floor with a towel. As she got close she saw the heaving of Luna's chest and mistook it for crying. But as she got close and moved the mane out of the princesses face, she saw the laughter in her eyes, along with the tears of trying not to burst with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Twilight asked in a quizzical manner. Not sure what was so unbelievably hilarious....

"You're FACE!" Luna screamed in joy, falling over in now released laughter.

"Huh?..." The soaked filly went over to the nearest mirror and saw what was so humorous to Luna. The balls of water the sister had used carried a magical blue dye, and now her coat, mane, and face were all the same blue hue of Luna, more or less. She couldn't help but smile herself, but knew that this mess would be hell to clean up.

"Luna....Look at this mess." Twilight exclaimed, dreading the cleanup that was to come.

"Don't worry Twilight. I'll have it cleaned in a second." She stated and wiped a tear from her eye. She then built up magic around her horn and gathered all of the water in the kitchen into a ball, roughly the size of a bench. And then made it dissappear, along with dispelling the blue dye from Twilight's body. "See, all's fine," She said, "but it is a bit cold in here now..."

Twilight felt herself shiver as well, and thus led them into the main room of the library. Both of them were still drenched so she lit a fire in a fireplace that was quickly revealed. Then conjured a spell to dry herself off, allowing Luna to do the same. Luna then summoned forth a soft underlay for them to lay on. Both of them stretched out and relaxed on the floor, Luna still wasn't quite tired but her sister's student was ragged. They sat in a peaceful, cozy, silence for a long while. Until Twilight broke the quiet.

"L-luna..?" She said after a long comfortable yawn.

"Yes?" Came the simple reply.

"I....love..." She said between breaths, making the alicorn go wide eyed. She looked at Twilight who's eyes were comfortably closed. "........."

There was no further conversation from the unicorn, as she had fallen asleep in mid-sentence. Leaving the solitary Princess to wonder what the hay the small unicorn was wanting to say. But it was no wonder that the warm fire and late time had finished her off. It had to be close to four in the morning now.

The fire was also now close to dead, and as the last embers glowed in the containing box, the warmth died out. Not long afterwards, the small filly began to shiver. Not knowing what to do, Luna attempted to wake the filly. She only succeeded in making Twilight scoot close to her mentor's sister to find warmth, and the sheer amount of cute made Luna sigh and wrap a wing around the child-like unicorn. Making her sigh in comfort, and cuddle tight to the soft, furry, side. And happy dreams ensued.

Leaving Luna to contemplate in solitude what was to happen in the next few months....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, there goes the first chapter, along with a couple hours of awful boredom. O.O'

Anyways, gimme some feedback for my first attempt at fanfics. I wanted to start out light, and then get a bit more dark later on. Hence the M
I of course will be continuing the story over the next few weeks. Maybe it'll be a slight late Christmas-ish gift for you all! :)

(The nickname Lullay came from the song by PonyPhonic, Lullaby for a Princess I believe. Check it out if you haven't already, it pretty badass.)
-SwaggHorse

The Last Night

Chapter 2: The Last Night

The sunlight streamed harmlessly past Twilight's window, eliciting a hearty yawn and a half cracked eyelid. Her dark purple retina scanned the inner workings of the library and wondered why she was in the floor. Upon remembering the night before her lips twitched upwards in a hint of a smile; followed by a red dusting on her cheeks. She almost didn't want to realize that her number one assistant was shaking her violently from the side.

"Whaaaaat Spike?" She managed to utter rolling over to get away.

"You were supposed to be up an hour ago! Remember the report you had to deliver..."

"WHAT!!??!" She shot up with her entire body balanced on her two forehooves, leaning into Spike's smug face. "....There was no report...Great."

I've got to remember that Spike is almost five now. And he certainly knows how to work my nerves. Where's Luna?

The purple mare let the last thought verbalize, as she was led into the kitchen area.

"She left with Celestia this morning, something about 'pressing matters'. I dunno." He replied taking a seat with a newspaper. After cracking it open his stomach rumbled and his mouth ejected a spout of green flame, scorching the section that dealt with the unexplained weather the day before. Landing roughly in front of her the parcel held a dark velvet ribbon tied on it's length.

Twilight liberated the page of it's contents, and was surprised immediately by the length of the scripture within. Or at least how short it was in comparison to any other letter her mentor had sent her.

My dearest student,

Three nights from now you will be faced with a proposition, and it will be a hard choice to make. But trust me when I say that it is for the fate of Equestria. If you accept, you will be put through more hardship than I hate to put upon anypony, especially not you. If you decline, forget this letter and let everything return to normal, for now. If you are willing to listen to the messenger, do what they say without question.

Yours truly, Princess Celestia

The buck?

"What did it say, Twi?" Asked Spike from behind her. "Was it bad?" He corrected after getting a view of her face.

"No Spike... nothing bad at all." She said absently. She made sure everything was in order, only to find that letter was nagging her beyond belief. The purple mare needed answers.

"I'll be back later, Spike! Hold down the fort for me!" Twilight called from the door as she left thirty minutes later.

Three days, she had three days to make a decision to determine the fate of all of Equestria, whatever the decision would be. This was not light news, so she couldn't go flaunting it around wildly. She needed answers, and what better way to find answers than by finding somepony that would give everything at the drop of a pin for her friends. Rainbow Dash.

She didn't have to waste time looking for the speedy mare, as she was lounging on the only cloud floating high above Ponyville. A few minutes walk led her to be right beneath said cloud.

"Rainbow!" She called confidently. The only reaction was for the puffy expanse to twitch slightly, which gave Twilight a slight frown. "Rainbow Dash!!!" Yet again nothing happened, but she could have swore that she saw a head peek out from the cloud for a split second.

Two can play this game.

"Alright! I'll go tell Spitfire that you didn't want to see her right now. Being your trainer and all, I'd have thought you would have cared more. She was also talking about wing ponies? Whatever that is. Maybe she said she'd make you one. Oh well." She called while walking away slowly.

She was instantly tackled by a speedy blur, one that held absolute fear in those magenta eyes.

"Did she really? Come on Twi, are you serious!" Her voice cracked and changed pitch at the last part, and Twilight couldn't hold her composure. A snicker came past her mouth, then the fit of laughter echoed in Rainbow's face. Now she understood why Spike liked to wake her up this way. It was enjoyable.

"I-I can't b-believe you, I scared R-rainbow Dash!" She said wiping a tear away from her face. "Ahh, can you let me up now?"

The entire time Twilight had been pinned to the ground by two strong hooves on her shoulders, Rainbow took that chance to salvage her reputation.

"Me, scared? I've never been scared of anything, I'm fearless!" She said striking a pose a few feet in the air, narrowly avoiding a cart carrying fresh apples as it was peddled past. Nopony paid the pegasus much attention. Her display did catch a couple angry glares however. Apparently some thought that it was her lack of diligence that caused the storm the other day.

"Dash, I need a question answered. If you'll indulge me." The tom-colt dropped back to the ground sensing her friend's shift in mood, she offered a questioning glance only to be pointed across the road at a bench. She followed her friend at Twilight's insistence and both made their way to the bench, stepping over brambles and puddles. As they lay on it's surface, Twilight took a moment to take in the damaged Ponyville.

A few trees had been ripped from their foundations, SugarCube Corner had sustained heavy damage, and there were more than a few broken windows.

"So what is it?" The cyan pegasus questioned.

Twilight didn't respond for a few minutes, keeping the silence alive while thinking of how to phrase her question. "What would you do for those that you care for?"

"What? I don't understand."

"How far would you go to protect them? If they were in danger, what would you honestly do?" She said, leveling her eyes off at Rainbow.

"That's a pretty serious question, Twi. But...I guess I would do anything, you know? Everytime I see somepony in danger I can't help but try to aid them, somehow. Like when Rarity melted her wings in Cloudsdale. I couldn't not rescue her and the Wonderbolts." She said with a chuckle. "Wait, why would you need to know something like that? Are you alright? That seems like a reeaally specific thing to be asking." She finished while returning the hard stare Twilight was radiating.

"No reason. Just needed to hear it is all."

"If you say so...." She said skeptically. "Are you sure? Wait...is this one of Celestia's tests?"

They stayed in silence for awhile, each in their own thoughts. Rainbow mostly worrying over her friend. While the purple unicorn wondered what could possibly threaten all of them so thoroughly.

"Not quite...." The lavender mare looked around to make sure there were no listening ears in the vicinity. She supposed that she could confide in her friend. "I received a letter from Princess Celestia, this morning actually."

She brought the note out of the saddlebag at her waist. She handed it over, allowing Rainbow to look it over. At first she just stared at the writing in a quizzical manner.

She then turned back to Twilight, asking "What's threatening Equestria? This doesn't make sense."

"I know, and I need to figure out what is going on so that I can prepare." Was all she said.

Rainbow couldn't place a hoof on why her friend's mentor would ask her to do something so important without giving her any details with which to gauge.

I guess I have no choice, I'll agree. Who knows. Maybe it'll be just a test. Twilight thought.

She smiled at her last sentiment, remembering railing on Spike due to his classification of Celestia's task all those months ago. Memories of the library shooting high into the air were vivid in her mind.

They conversed on what this could mean for a short period. And Twilight ensured that she would have Rainbow's silence. After an hour or so, Rainbow was called away by Fluttershy and the CMC. One look back by the blue pegasus and a quick goodbye left her alone. It was almost one in the afternoon now, and she didn't have anything but apprehension in her gut.

Maybe I should talk to Rarity, she might have some advice to relieve all this stress.

Twilight caught herself, she had never needed help to escape pressure, she thrived on it. Why was this different? She shook her head and started to walk solemnly towards her home. Deep in thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What was that all about...um, if you know...you don't mind?" Muttered a worried pegasus next to Rainbow Dash. They were all headed out to some of the nearby mountains for Fluttershy to gather herbs for medicine, and the CMC had tagged along at the constant begging and gushing of Scootaloo over her idol. At that moment Applebloom had landed in the middle of a pile of pine needles, which stuck to her mane causing her to laugh vigorously. The other fillies were about to follow suit when a stern stare from Rainbow caused some nervous chuckles and cute expressions.

"I-I'm not sure......But Twilight seemed to be kicking her own flank pretty hard." She lied. Already they had converged on one of the worn paths leading up the face of the mountain in a gentle incline. Fluttershy stopped to observe a cluster of red flowers and then returned with a question on her mind.

"What could get her all wound up like that? You don't think it has to do with one of Celestia's assignments...do you?" Her voice carried a darker tone as both of them were taken back to the Twilight of old times.

"What?! No..that couldn't be it.. She didn't seem all..." At that last sentence she rolled her eyes around a few times and clopped her hooves together. Letting a menacing grin spread over her face. Fluttershy squeaked a bit and hid behind her own mane at the scary look and Rainbow laughed and patted her friend on the back.

"I'm sorry, it was so convincing." She whispered past her pink blockade. The CMC promptly caught up and pulled Rainbow away from Fluttershy to settle a dispute on who would win in a fight. A dragon or an Ursa Major. Fluttershy was left alone and then flitted about the roots of a nearby bush. Sticking a few of the clippings in her saddlebags.

I hope she's okay...I would hate for anything bad to happen to Twilight.

At that moment a bird flew to her and began chirping in her ear wildly. Her eyes grew wider and wider while her irises had collapsed to a pinpoint. Her animal friend had just informed her of a wildfire that was breaking out further down the path around a bend in the mountain. The smoke would be hidden and the CMC and the cyan mare had lost themselves in conversation.

"Wait!!! Girls stop!" She screamed in her sing-song voice. They managed to hear her and stop to wait, allowing their argument to stop. "There's a fire on the other side of the mountain!"

At this, Rainbow Dash's ears shot upwards along with her wings, carrying her higher and higher to assess what was happening. On the far side of the mountain, there was a large wall of fire engulfing the green vegetation, along with forcing all of the animals to flee in terror.

Why couldn't that freak storm have been here now? Thought an annoyed pegasus as she began to search for clouds in the sky.

There in the distance were a few of the white masses. She zipped to them and pulled them up over the black smoke drifting off of the growing fire. It didn't seem to be too large at this point, but unchecked could cause quite a bit of damage. She jumped up and down on the top of the converged clouds, causing a small downpour focused on the torrent.

She repeated this process until what little flickers of flame had died to ash. As she landed to assess the damage, beads of sweat rolled off of her head and down into her mane. The sun seemed to be smiling ever harder to chastise the exhausted pony.

While Rainbow had been extinguishing the fire; the CMC and Fluttershy had been trying to save animals that had been trapped by falling timber. The area of damage was less than a couple hundred meters in every direction, so in all it was an effectively contained catastrophe.

Fluttershy soothed the animals with a light song and began to search for her herbs after few minutes. Rainbow however noticed a pile of rocks formed in a circle, the typical fashion for campers. After a few minutes she voiced her concern to the other pegasus in her company, causing her to ask a nearby bird what had happened. After some convincing the bird led them to a pile of fallen trees.

Trapped under one of the fallen brambles was a familiar blue unicorn. After moving all the wood Rainbow let Trixie lie on a patch of dry ground. Soon after, she awoke to her saviors.

"How long has Trixie been out?" She queried, putting a hoof to her head.

"I dunno, did you start that fire, Trixie?" The cyan mare dropped any pretenses. And Trixie held an indignant stare.

"No she did not! It must have gotten...out of hoof." She explained in her grand way of exaggerating with hoof movements. After a quick exchange of questions and answers, the group of five left Trixie, who had apparently been camping outside of Ponyville for the past few months. Even after all their differences had been settled she didn't feel comfortable in town with all those ponies that blamed her for the Ursa Minor attack and resented her more for the showdown between Twilight and herself.

It was a sad sight, and with her meager belongings it didn't seem like she could be doing very well. A small tent that had escaped the blaze, that had seen better days, and her small bag of belongings. Not much else was said on the way back to town, and even the CMC seemed to have been knocked down a notch at that realization.

As Rainbow took the CMC off of Fluttershy's hoofs, she could see the determination in her eyes. "What's up? Why are you staring like that?" She asked while letting her hooves scrape the ground.

"I have to help her, Dash."

"Who? Trixie?"

Fluttershy only nodded, and looked out towards those mountains in the distance. Rainbow shook her head at her friend's kindness, and offered her the best of luck. She knew that there was no way she could talk an assertive Fluttershy out of her goals.

Already the sun had begun to set on a weary Ponyville, and as Rainbow left she could see Fluttershy heading back to the mountains, this time without her saddlebags weighing her down. The chirp of crickets masked hers and the CMC's footsteps, along with the chattering of the tired fillies. One by one they branched off to head home. All until Scootaloo was left in front of her own door, it wasn't a typical cloud home for a pegasus, it was a two story house on the edge of Ponyville.

"Alright, Scoots. I'll see you tomorrow okay?" She said as she prepared to take to the air. All of the sudden a crash emanated from the house followed by yelling and screaming.

Causing the filly to cower into Rainbow, before she asked "Can I just spend the night with you? Please?" The look of pure innocence reminded Rainbow of her foalhood. This wasn't the first time Scootaloo had asked to stay at Rainbow's because her parents were fighting.

It aggravated her because of the fact that nopony should see their parents argue. More than once the streamlined mare had stepped in to rescue Scootaloo from their accusations and squabbling. And both of her parents had come to her separately thanking her, they both loved their daughter, no matter how much fighting they did.

"Yeah, Scoots, yeah. Come on." She said putting a wing over her back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No, no, no, NO!" A marshmallow coated unicorn cried out. This would not do at all. Her latest order had come from one of the upper echelons of Canterlot, and her inspiration had never taken a worse turn. No matter how she placed the cloth, no matter how she stitched the threads, it wouldn't seem to straighten itself out.

I swear, if not for bad luck I wouldn't have any. She thought to herself as she scraped the cloth to the side.

Taking another glance over the specifications and proof drafts, she came up with yet another preliminary sketch. The coloration had to be an aquamarine hue, it had to be of the utmost elegance, and she couldn't settle for Sapphire Shore's new ensemble. So why was it so very hard? She couldn't remember the last time she hadn't felt the artistic drive chaperoning her every move.

As she passed the mannequin she looked out of the large paned glass window adorning the front of her shop. Already night had fallen, forcing her to rub her eyes and realize she had been working on this same project for hours with no respite. The white unicorn felt her stomach rumble and she felt the dryness of her tongue. So she decided to get something to eat.

After gathering the necessary ingredients from the cabinets with magic, she began to hum a light song while crafting at least one thing right today. A small sandwich with no real aesthetic appeal was enough, along with a glass of milk. She didn't feel it had to be a regal meal, so she brought it with her to the main room. Taking a minute to admire the utter chaos her shop had been reduced to. Or in her mind, it was 'controlled' more or less. Piles of fabric lay in sheets next to her design table; while threads, needles, and accessories were naught but ragtag assortments of the inane.

Conjuring a couch to lounge on she gathered energy in her horn. Not much; just enough to levitate all of the clutter. She then began sorting through it with her magic, letting the objects find their places in her drawers and hangers.

I don't have the slightest idea what I would do with myself if I weren't a unicorn. She thought happily, finishing off her meal.

Not long after having that thought there was a brisk knock at the door, followed by an even harder knock at the window. Rarity checked the time and found it to be almost eleven o' clock.

Who could be here at this hour?

Her mental question didn't go long unanswered as she arrived at the door to find an orange coat, emerald green eyes, and a blond mane hidden under an unassuming stetson.

"Oh good afternoon Applejack, dear. What would bring you to my humble abode?" She asked graciously offering her longtime friend into her boutique. Usually nopony dared to come to the boutique after hours, mostly for the fact that the last pony to do so was greeted with an unhappy scowl and less-than-friendly ladylike talking to. Her sign said "Closed" and she had always adhered to that concept.

"Ah dunno how t' say this Rarity, but ah reckon yer the pony to talk to." Right after saying this she paused, letting Rarity situate them a place to rest next to each other on parallel conjured couches.

"Go on." Rarity offered with a slight smile of encouragement.

"There's this stallion........And Ah think he's a mighty fine hand on the farm. And lately when Ah'm around him, Ah can't help t' feel all...." Applejack signified the gesture with a wobbly head and queasy stomach.

"Oh, this is wonderfully excellent news Applejack, darling! I had no idea you were so smitten!" She said in a high pitched squeal, already imagining the wedding and all the plans. With the doves overhead and the bridal flowers soaring through the air....

"Rarity! Wake up, I need yer help!" This effectively snatched her out of the wonderful reverie she was feeling. "I may have t' sell the farm. Or at least part of it..."

"Whatever for?!" She intoned in horror, her hooves pressing hard into her white face.

"Ah can't keep rebuilding the barn every two weeks, and expect to turn a profit. And if Ah don't sell the part of the farm, all the hired help'll have to go home. Along with...him... And he lives so far away, there's no chance Ah'll ever see 'em again." The orange mare said with growing desperation in her voice, no matter how she looked at it, the walls of bleakness were closing in.

Rarity couldn't believe this. This had to be one of the most romance novel-esque situations she could ever hope to find herself in. And here, the unassuming earth pony had found her true love, and was forced to make a decision for the sake of said love.

"I'll help you." Was all she said.

In her mind though she couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of her friend's situation, but another part of her, generosity, kept her true. She grabbed her scarf, led Applejack out of her home, and began conversing with her friend over what they were going to do....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Applejack awoke to the smell of fresh apple pancakes sizzling in a pan. Her eyes were barely open and her nose led her down into the kitchen, where Big Mac, Applebloom, and Granny Smith were already wolfing down stacks of the delicious treats. Granny Smith was competing just as well as Big Mac in finishing their's first. Applebloom trailed closely behind.

There at the stove, a familiar white unicorn was fixing some more of the food her friend's stomach was rumbling for. Rarity offered a warm smile and levitated another plate full to the table.

"Thank ya, Rare." Was all that was said before the sounds of chewing exerted it's dominance over the space.

Rarity finished making herself two of the flapjacks and sat down to eat in her ladylike manner. Carefully levitating bite after bite to her mouth, unaware that the Apples had already finished and were eyeing her eating habits like a foreign animal.

"What? Have you never seen a unicorn eat? It's rude to stare, you know." She lashed out when she noticed, and all of the gathered ponies left hurriedly except the orange mare.

"So were ya serious 'bout last night? Do ya really think it'll work?" She asked while checking over her shoulder, keeping her voice hardly louder than a whisper.

"I'm positive, besides, what could go wrong?" Rarity replied hardly containing her excitement....

Later that day the stalls had been set up near Town Hall, multitudes of ponies had shown up to do an impromptu party/fundraiser. Pinkie had went out of her way on this one, making sure that the banners flew high and the music was festive, thanks to a blue maned mare by the name of Vinyl. Rarity was helping distribute the pies that they had commissioned from the pink party pony. Rarity was caught up thinking about last night.

That night they had made several stops right after leaving her boutique. First, they headed to Pinkie's to ask if she could set up a much needed town-wide party. And Rarity explained AJ's conundrum, and Pinkie had offered up the idea of cooking and selling, what else? Pie. After that, they went to Rainbow to see if she would write the event up in the sky. Using the clouds to advertise the event.

Rainbow looked more than happy to oblige, and wished them luck with Applejack's love interest. Which surprised the prim mare. The fact that she wasn't laughing hysterically at the thought of true love seemed odd, but welcome. Next, the pair began to head to Twilight's and caught Fluttershy on the way there towards midnight. After explaining what had happened and what they planned to do, Fluttershy couldn't hide her happiness for the all-of-the sudden shy orange farm pony.

Wait why was Fluttershy out so late anyways? Thought Rarity as she recounted that specific event. Oh, what am I thinking? It's just Fluttershy. She giggled mentally at herself. The beautiful mare sold yet another steaming hot confection, allowing a genuine smile to radiate from her flawless face. The blue colt she had given it to blushed a deep red, and hid behind his black mane. Quickly thanking her and running off after some of his friends.

Then after that, they arrived at Twilight's. Her being the last friend they had yet to tell of the good news. They didn't really need anything from her but the two friends thought it necessary to inform the studious mare. After a few minutes of knocking, the lavender colored unicorn came to the door in a mess. Her hair was splayed all over her head, and along with the disorderly state of the library, it lent the look of a severely stressed pony.

The bags under Twilight's eyes were indicators as well, and she denied that something was indeed wrong.

"No girls, I just...had to study. For Celestia. Reaallly important. So if you don't mind, I'll get back to....you know, studying..." She said while practically shoving them out of the library.

"Well, that was certainly not her."

"Ah agree. Should we press it?"

"...No, she'll tell us in her own time. I hope."

"If you say so, sugarcube." Was all that Applejack answered with.

It was already two in the afternoon and there was no sign of Fluttershy or Twilight. Rarity decided to voice her concerns with her nearby friend Rainbow Dash.

"I know what 'Shy is doing. But as for Twilight, I dunno. Maybe she has her nose in a book, I'll go check... Be right back." Was all that the streamlined mare said before shooting high in the air. Darting of in the direction of the library.

"Wait....what is Fluttershy doing?" Muttered Rarity as she returned to the busy line that hadn't stalled as of yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wind brushed through Rainbow Dash's hair as she enjoyed the short flight to the tree located towards the south side of town. Her eyes landed on the lack of activity around the usually bustling Ponyville. Almost everypony had to be at that fundraiser, it seemed strange to her that Twilight, the almost unspoken leader of any activity that involved logistics and keeping order, was absent. She banked slightly and dropped gently on the ground. Allowing herself a bit of grace since there wasn't anypony around expecting her to be the "awesomest" pony ever.

She knocked on the door and called "Hey Twi', are you there? We were wondering if you were gonna show up for Applejack's party thing." Rainbow didn't feel the need to hold pretenses, considering it wasn't private knowledge.

The door creaked open slowly, and a mangled Twilight poked her head out. She looked as if she hadn't slept all night, and the way she squinted at the sun spoke of how she had been shut in all day. But it didn't appear as if it were the crazy Twi that had presented itself over a late lesson all those months ago.

But Still.

"Hey, why are you beating yourself up so badly?"

Twilight didn't answer at first, then said "I'm not beating myself up, I just need to figure out what the hay she meant.... The fate of Equestria my flank" The mare attempted at humor. She attempted to smile but her tiredness kept it from realizing any potential. It ended up seeming as a half-baked try to cover an even less flavorful lie.

"You can't do this. First, you come and ask me some question about Equestria, then you shut yourself in all day. If we need to find out what's going on, we need to do it together." She asserted, pushing past Twilight into the scattered wasteland of books. She hadn't seen the library this dirty since she had crashed into it herself. Spike was over in one section attempting to bring some order to the chaos.

"Oh hey, Rainbow." He said before returning to his daunting task.

"Sup, Spike." She deadpanned, trying to keep from slapping her friend across the face. "Ok, why did you want me to keep this a secret?"

"Because...." Was all the librarian said while looking at the floor. Something was obviously eating her. But what the hell was it?

"TWILIGHT!" Was the athletic ponies brisk reply while picking her friend up and pinning her to a wall. "What's wrong!" She yelled, she couldn't stand not being able to help someone in need.

"Do you really want to know?"

"If it was nothing you would have carried your ass out of the house today. So yes, I do." She wasn't used to cursing but she felt it got her point across adequately.

"Fine." Twilight said, finally putting down her emotional facade. "Spike, could you leave us alone for a bit?"

The dragon nodded and stopped arranging books, he quickly slipped out of the front door. Eager to get away from the oppressive loneliness that the library held.

"I didn't want to....."

"What?

"I didn't want....

"Louder!" Rainbow felt herself being taken back to the day she had attempted to train Fluttershy in the art of cheering.

"I didn't want to get you involved!!" She finally yelled.

"That doesn't make sense, what makes you think we wouldn't be there for you? We're you're friends. I wouldn't be the element of loyalty if I was a terrible friend." Rainbow said as she allowed her brightest smile to the teared up unicorn.

But the unicorn was gone, she could tell from the way her eyes were spaced out, along with the tear that had conjured itself on her muzzle.

What could have caused her to react like that?

"Twi'. Twilight come on." She pleaded. Rainbow let her down from her position against the rough wooden wall. The unicorn, however, didn't seem to notice. Dash didn't know what to do with herself, so she grabbed the teared unicorn and began to rock her back and forth in her lap. She had no idea how long she sat there comforting her, but she could see the sunlight waning in a nearby window. The streamlined mare decided that she might as well leave, before she started crying as well.

Just as she made it to the door, she heard "I was sent another letter by the Princess.....It was about....you all. I wish I could tell you, Dash. I just...I just can't..... Please forgive me......" Twilight said as she looked up, the trails of water had made their impression on her fur. Rainbow didn't see the strong independent librarian she had seen since she moved to Ponyville almost two years ago. And it burned itself into her eyes forever.

Rainbow felt numb. She didn't feel the wind or the vapor of the clouds as she passed, nor the salty tears trailing down her face. Nothing felt right anymore. She didn't even know if she had held her sorrow in front of the unicorn, in that moment all she wanted was to hold her close, caressing her mane and ensuring her that it would be alright.

Why?! What the fuck did that letter say?! She thought, now getting angry at Celestia.

Does it matter? Just forget about her.

Of course it matters! I need to be there for her!

...She'll never feel the same, you know

SHUT UP! Dash gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes harder, hoping to escape from the tormenting voice in her head.

If you insist. Her more sinister side said, leaving her alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight lay in the floor for what seemed like hours. She hadn't moved since Dash had set her down. She heard the tears, she knew it had hurt her longtime friend. But it was necessary. So why did it ache so badly? Her very soul felt torn, and she couldn't form thoughts in her head. Spike had tried to come and comfort her when he returned, but gave up eventually.

Finally the purple mare stood on stiffened joints, most of the library had been cleaned. All but the pile she had been lying on. She could smell the food being prepared in the kitchen, but her stomach held no appetite. Twilight walked to the nearest mirror, and realized she had been crying. It was a strange sight, to see herself like this. She decided to go shower, to get her thoughts together....

She stepped out and cast a water drying spell on her coat. She took a brush and began working it through the tangles, slowly straightening everything out. It seemed to have a cumulative effect on her mind. Slowly soothing her with the monotonousness of it.

I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this. Twilight, this was all for the best, right? Yes. No time to second guess yourself. For Equestria.

The mare skipped dinner that night, and Spike seemed to understand. Twilight simply let herself lie in bed for the entire night, even when Spike came in and laid down in his basket, she continued to stare at the ceiling. The fact that she hadn't slept since she had received the letter the day before didn't seem to embellish the thought of sleep. Eventually she saw the dawn breaking over one of her windows. And she decided that she might as well sleep through the day. Just to get it over with, she cast a sleep spell on herself. And Twilight felt herself fading into the blackness...

Twilight awoke to the tapping of a hoof on the library door. The grogginess she felt as a side effect of her spell didn't want to liberate itself from her sleepy eyelids. She vaguely remembered something important was supposed to happen, something for Equestria. Oh well, Equestria could wait, she was comfy. She turned her back to the noise and snuggled harder into the sheets. Another tap tap tap, but this time on her window.

Would they not give her a break? She turned over yet again, and this time she placed a pillow over her head. She felt her smile breaking over her as the waves of sleep took hold again. The purple mare felt a breeze emanate from said window, and part of her mind went into an alarm state. Somepony was in her house...But that was for somepony else to solve, she was too deeply lost in her own half dreams.

Twilight felt the hoof on her back, slowly followed by a shaking movement. Something was said, whispered. And soon she felt the shaking stop, and the entity that had haunted her room was leaving.

Wait! Wake up Twilight, you stupid filly! The fate of EQUESTRIA, remember? Come on!

"W-wait." She mumbled in her sleep.

The presence stopped, and she could tell she had gotten it's attention. This time it came and shook her more violently.

"Wake up, Twilight. We need to leave, now. I can't stay much longer. Please."

Finally, the purple mare opened one eyelid and turned over. But all she was faced with was a dark robed pony. The only thing that peeked out was the eyes, it reminded her of Zecora. She didn't answer at all for a moment. The entity took that as her answer and began to leave. It had already flown most of the way out of the window...

"Wait!!!" The unicorn shocked herself into reality. The pony stopped and looked back, Twilight had already hopped out of bed and was at the window. "I'm ready, I'll help Equestria in any way I can..."

"Then follow me, we have much to discuss." Said a pony that promptly removed it's hood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Notes are for people with no lives.

Anyways, this was a completely background chapter. To tell what happened in those days, and what everypony is doin' with themselves. And helps with some decisions that are to be made later on etc.

I'm not much for cliffhangers, and I can promise that the next installment will have more answers. Maybe a bit of sexy action sequences, we'll see. I give 'em as I get 'em

-TastyBass

(Oh by the way, you guys who fav'd the story I wanted to thank you all personally but after I realized that there were like, sixty favs in the first day....I kinda gave up, so here's to you guys! Along with those that are watching me, and I especially enjoyed comments. They help me grow.) Have a hoof.

/)(O3O) /)(\ (^.^)(\

(I also make music, you should give me feedback here too VVVV)

http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialDefPwny2013?feature=mhee

Not Quite There

Chapter 3: Not Quite There

A surprised shock spread across the face of Twilight as she stared into the regal face of the Lunar Princess. Here she stood at the unicorn's window, after promptly removing the wall of cloth hiding her face. The student couldn't help but feel her heart skip a partial beat, and she wanted to smile at those teal eyes.

The princess didn't notice as she looked back out of the window down to the waiting guardsmen. She grabbed the gushing mare and began the small glide to the ground, much to Twilight's fear. Since she didn't have any warning and had never been levitated, it lent to a slightly amusing sight for the guards. Seeing a grown mare cowering on the soft dew lined grass. Twilight suddenly looked up at the other black toned ponies present, and grinned sheepishly, hiding partially behind an unresponsive Luna.

Noticing this she said waving a hoof in her face"Princess? Hello? Anypony in there!?"

"I'm not lost, Twilight. I was determining our route. You'll have to ride on sergeant NightSear's back. Seeing as you don't have wings." She said as she adjusted her saddlebags, making sure that everything was in order.

The mentioned stallion walked up and offered his back, kneeling down to account for her slightly smaller stature. And as Twilight walked up she could tell the distinct differences between Celestia's guards and Luna's branch of the military. Her mentor's soldiers were the everyday caste that were around for keeping the peace, and a few elite for her and that was the end of it. Twilight had only read about the NightWatch. They never kept their real names, and they dedicated themselves to work behind the scenes. Along with the coloration of their eyes, it lent a vestige of mystery to them, which was red. A stark contrast from the royal black and blues that they wore.

She accepted and looked over at the other pegasus in their company of four. "What's your name?" She asked in a friendly manner.

"Crimson, m'lady." Came the simple reply. He looked back towards Luna who had taken to the sky, and he along with NightSear began the ascent.

The courtesy had not been expected from Twilight, or at least she had never been reffered to as a lady. It brought an air of confidence to her, even as she looked back and saw the library shrinking into the landscape. The air had a brisk bite, but nothing too serious. In the distance Twilight could make out Fluttershy's cottage as they passed by. There were two ponies walking back to said home, the familiar yellow, and a blue unicorn?

Was that Trixie? She mused to herself silently.

It wasn't long before she began thinking about Rainbow Dash, and what she said.

I had to, there's no going back now. She thought, then started thinking about the second letter. No, there's no time to brood.

She still couldn't stop thinking about it though, no matter how many times she looked at the night sky. No matter times she tried to converse with the seemingly mute guards. Conversation was limited with the wisps of wind grasping her ears, ripping sound away. The small nip in the wind had become her worst enemy as they headed southeast. The expanse of the Everfree melted into the plains and valleys that made up this portion of Equestria. Rolling hills were masked in an evermore state of brilliant emerald green. Which dropped into roiling streams of water that bursted with white rapids and waterfalls tapering off into mist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was no sound, natural or otherwise as they descended. The four had decided to break at the very edge of the border of Equestria. From the sky, they could see the fires burning for the outpost that was stationed here. The reason they halted was because NightSear had voiced his concern for Twilight, as she had no armor or cloak to combat the wind. And they had been flying steadily for four hours now. It was just on the hem of four in the morning. Twilight was shaking as though there was no warmth for miles around. They glided into a clearing only a couple hundred meters from the campsite, which was hidden by the foliage.

Luna walked up to the shivering mare and draped her own cloak on Twilight. There was gratitude in her voice as she thanked her. But it was cut off by Crimson. He put a hoof to his mouth, signaling to be quiet. He had heard something in the distance. He pointed for NightSear to go right while he entered the thicket from the left, heading towards the campsite.

"What are they doing?" Twilight inquired in a whisper. She huddled closer into the warmth that had already come off of Luna's cloak. Expecting not to receive an answer.

"Making sure that the camp is safe, there have been sightings of Romanian raider parties. We can't risk strolling right into the midst of a trap." Luna said as she let a smile cross her lips "Don't worry, I can promise nothing will happen to you. Not if I'm still breathing."

Luna had said and meant the statement, but had said it more out of her sense of loyalty to her subjects. Nevertheless a heavy dusting left Twilight's cheeks. Making her feel a fondness for the alicorn, one she hadn't felt since Celestia. She was even prepared to say something akin to thank you, when the two soldiers emerged from the brush in a calm trot.

"All's well, we scouted the area, then made ourselves known. They are preparing accomodations, and appropriate staff are ready to speak with you." Said NightSear.

The Lunar princess nodded her head and they began the trek to the encampment. At first Twilight wasn't very impressed. A few military barracks on the western edge of camp, along with the central headquarters located in the center of a training field that extended all around it. Towards the east was a mess hall, along with the latrines. But what caught her was the sheer amount of ponies out and about. There had to be at least two hundred in this outpost alone, and it was four in the morning. Meaning more were sleeping to take their shifts later on. There was a simple granite wall seperating the untamed forest from the civilized areas.

Passing through, they were greeted with a hearty salute by those in attendence. Mostly aimed at Luna, but she could see a few of the stares were leveled at her as well. Magical spheres of light were maintained along the only road in the compound that headed towards the headquarters.

When they passed the guards that had been like statues in their passing, Twilight whispered "Why were some of them saluting me?"

Luna almost laughed at the unicorn. "Well, some recognize you as Celestia's prized pupil, I'd imagine. You've never thought about yourself as important?"

"Well, I mean...No. I'm not used to any attention. Except for my friends." She answered honestly, nopony ever really noticed her.

Luna noticed the melancholy in her voice, and used a wing to bring her close. "I know something's wrong, you're an open book. I want to talk about it, but we'll have to wait until later, okay?" Was all that was whispered before Luna broke the partial embrace to greet the captain who looked at Twilight then at Luna, with an odd expression over his face.

And upon reaching a conclusion in his head he said "Welcome Princess, soldiers, miss...?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Miss Sparkle, I am here to tell you princess that while you're here you won't have to worry about being in any danger. The last report of any activity was from the south, and that was days ago. Miles away from here." He said without skipping a beat, leading them to the mess hall. "I'm assuming that you'll be wanting to gather foodstuffs and fill your stomachs, and then you'll want to hit the hay."

The soldiers caught themselves nodding and Luna didn't show a flinch or twitch. She had become the royalty everypony expected her to be. Twilight was amazed at the stallions ability survive the cold indifference that Luna was dripping with. Now she knew why some called her the princess of ice.

Not in front of her face of course. Twilight thought.

He then led them all to the personal quarters that was hidden by the headquarters building when they had come in. It seemed a simple piece, two stories tall, same grey stone as the wall was made of. As they arrived Twilight looked a bit more closely at the stone and found it was a form of granite. Non-conductive, to any magic type.

"And this is where our visiting staff and important personnel are housed. You boys can sleep in the barracks, seein' as there are a few open bunks in the south wing." He took another one of those demeaning looks at Twilight and said. "I'm assuming you two will be bunking together?"

The smack echoed out across the field, causing the ponies that were sparring to halt and look over at the cowering captain. Even the NightWatch were in awe of what they had just witnessed. The outstretched hoof was still in the air, and the pony behind it held a scowl that could boil water. Princess put her hoof down, and flicked back her mane to get a better look at the captain.

"If you ever, EVER, say something that disrespectful and out-of-line again. To me or my friend Twilight. I swear that I will have you castrated publicly...Do you understand me?!" She yelled and threw her head back holding a haughty composure.

"I-I'm s-sorry, ma'am, I mean Princess, it w-won't happen again." He said while picking himself up rubbing his jaw. "What are you looking at?!?! GET BACK TO TRAINING!!!" He directed at the spectators in the distance.

Twilight looked back at Luna, who had defended her honor and said "Publicly castrated?"

"It was the first thing that came to mind..." She replied dropping her princess composure.

Twilight couldn't help but giggle over the princesses behavior, but part of her knew that her reacting in the way she had would definitely put rumors around. And quite frankly she wouldn't mind. Luna went about dismissing the soldiers, telling them that they would be off towards the evening, considering traveling by nightfall gave them less chance of being spotted entering Romanea.

They went inside and found six rooms on the first floor, and there were two rooms on the top. The top ones were meant for Luna, but after consenting to talk, they both headed up and chose a room with one of the comfy beds with a poster board, linen sheets, and more furniture than Twilight expected. Which was a vanity, dresser, closet, and a couch coupled with two chairs. In the corner. The bed was placed on the back wall away from the door, and Luna quickly teleported to its soft surface.

"Not as comfortable as my bed at home, but it'll do." She said as she took off her crown, shaking her head allowed the hair to fall in a natural fashion around her shoulders. "So what was wrong earlier? You mentioned your friends, then seemed distant." The princess said as she took off the neck garment, and gestured for Twilight to come take a seat by her on the bed.

Twilight was in the middle of the hardest blush she had ever experienced, she had no clue why it was. But the fact that the princess was so close to her that she would take off her indicators of authority, along with the fact that she was an incredibly sexy mare, made Twilight have trouble finding the right words.

"Uh, I was...remembering. Well, more thinking about, uhm, something you're sister sent me. It was a...letter about the forces of Romanea, and the risk of letting more than one, uhh, element bearer to leave. Or something. Is it hot in here?" She said as she realized how nervous she was.

Luna however held interest in her eyes, then said "Hot? I don't feel too warm. Are you not feeling well?"

This is my chance to get away. Twilight thought on the fly.

"Uhm, yeah that's it, not feeling well. Should probably go lie down in my bed, you know, in the next room." She lied, and began to back away.

"Oh, I'm sorry are you sure you don't want me to check you out? I know a plethora of healing spells..."

"NO! I mean, uh, no I just need to get some water. I'm thirsty is all." She said as she bolted out of the door into the bathroom at the end of the hall. Flicking on the light, she locked the door behind herself.

She looked in the mirror, thinking What is wrong with you? Why do I feel so nervous around her? Dear Celestia, what am I gonna do?!

'Oh hey I'm Twilight and I have a crush on one of the most powerful mares in Equestria.' She mocked a conversation to the mare in the mirror.

Twilight ran some water and splashed it across her face, then began to dry it with a nearby towel. Despite her nervousness, the water definitely held a rejuvenating quality. She opened the door, and began heading back to Luna's room. She peeked around a crack in the door to find Luna's head buried in a pillow. She appeared to be extremely lonely and old in that moment. Her features washed out by the waning moonlight, her hair billowing lightly in an imaginary breeze.

"Hey Luna, what's wrong?" Now it was Twilight's turn to be concerned.

"It's nothing, Twilight. I'm just incredibly tired is all." She said in a shy voice that didn't fit her at all.

"Do you need any help getting to sleep?" Twilight offered with hope in her heart.

"Well.....no...at least not normally. But...." At the last statement she blushed as she remembered something from long ago.

"But?"

"It sounds silly..." The princess admitted.

"And? Tell me." Twilight said as she approached the bed and lay atop it in front of the sister.

"When I was younger, my sister, your mentor, used to....." The last part trailed out, and Twilight, even in her close vicinity was forced to inch closer to the sister.

"One more time? Please?" Twilight said as she felt the ethereal hair around Luna, along with it's pristine scent. It almost looked as though they were going to share a hug.

"She used to massage my back, until I fell asleep. I told you it was silly, but it's one of the things that I missed that she did. She would humm, rub my back, and no matter how long I prolonged it she would always keep going. Up until I became a teenager, then it just kindof stopped." She said as a sheepish smile came to her face, it was an obviously a secret she had kept for many years.

"Really? Celestia?" Twilight said, not being able to imagine her sister taking the time to do all of that. She was always busy, always in the middle of something. That didn't mean she didn't care or anything, but it just seemed unreal.

"I told you, it was a silly thing to say. I just miss it is all." Luna had halfway expected the unicorn to laugh at her.

Instead, she felt the unicorn stand and move behind the regal princess. Taking a seat to where they were back to front, with Luna sitting facing the door with Twilight resting on a pillow behind her. Twilight had never giving a massage before, but she had seen Aloe and Lotus give the treatment to some of the ponies in their care. So it couldn't be that hard right?

She slowly worked her hooves on Luna's neck, moving the hair and leaning in close. She could feel the resistence and pressure on the muscle attached to her shoulder blades. So the unicorn began to use an old heat spell, ensuring that the heat was only a gentle pulse. It began to ease the princess into an even more relaxed posture. Her wings shot outwards when Twilight had moved down to the actual shoulder blades, causing her to be pushed backward by the force of the swift movement.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" She gushed.

"Yeah, you're fine, princess." Twilight said as she regained her composure.

"You don't have to call me 'princess', Twilight. Call me Luna" She said, mocking her voice much the same as Twilight had the night she corrected the sister on using Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight smiled and said "Alright...Luna"

She returned to her task, making sure to maintain her pace and allowed more magic to engulf her horn in a light pink glow. She began to use not only heat, but waves of soft pressure vibrating back and forth across her body. Coupled with the heat and her circular hoof motions, Twilight heard Luna begin cooing with pleasure. Slowly the regal princess sank further and further into the sheets, until she was lying in bliss. Twilight shifted and sat atop Luna's back to get a better vantage, and kept the process going. She began to throw a third spell into the mixture and started lacing small amounts of a sleep magic into the fur. The cumulative effect rendered Luna a heap of blue feathers and fur.

Twilight beamed at her work, knowing that the princess had been thoroughly satisfied with the treatment, and she had avoided making a foal of herself in front of royalty. She had gotten off of Luna's back and was about to head to the door, when a hoof stopped her.

"Where are you going?" Said a barely conscious Luna. "Stay here, with me, Twilight..." She said as a yawn escaped her mouth.

Already the sun had begun to break over the day, and it had to be at least six in the morning now. Celestia was at the castle raising the sun, in all it's glory. Twilight gave up any idea of leaving once she looked into those teal eyes, so she walked over and drew up the thick black curtains to block the sun. Casting the room in darkness, she could still feel Luna watching her. So she walked up and lay down, giving the princess a fair amount of room. But soon Luna readjusted to lay right next to Twilight, pulling the single cover over herself and the purple mare. Luna lay her head on the pillow facing Twilight, and she could feel the princesses breath on her muzzle.

Twilight could hardly think, hardly breath, nor could she still her heavy and fast heartbeat. Her eyes had adjusted slightly and now she could see Luna's face inching closer and closer. She closed her eyes trying to still her now quivering body. And then their lips connected. It was brief, and it was caring. But to Twilight it felt as thought time had decided to take a hiatus for an hour. Her lips were incredibly soft, almost as though she were kissing a cloud. And it was the best feeling Twilight had ever experienced thus far. More rewarding than passing a test, or aceing and exam. It was on a whole new plane.

As Luna disconnected the kiss she expected some form of shock, reproach, or otherwise. But all she got was an incredibly red Twilight, who seemed as though she were having trouble comprehending what had just occured. She couldn't help but smile at the purple mare, and brought Twilight in for a light kiss on the forehead. Then snuggled in close to her, allowing Twilight's head to rest on her chest. Soon after, the princess left for the realm of the dreamer, leaving a dumbstruck Twilight behind pondering if all of this had really happened.

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!! By dear sweet Celestia, Luna....Ohmyfuckinggosh! Her mind raced onward in a similar manner until Luna's heartbeat finally lulled her into a state of dreamless peace. Considering that that had been her first ever kiss, she wondered why the hell she had not done it sooner. She even thought on other questionable choices she may have made, like not dating when she was a filly. Or spending all her time reading books, but in the end, she decided, it was all worth it....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight awoke to a noise out in the hallway, so she peeked out of one of her eyelids. Luna was gone, and the space she had taken up in the medium sized bed atoned for the sound she heard earlier. The sleepy unicorn let out a lazy yawn, letting a light hint of a smile cross her face.

She could hear the water running in the bathroom and decided to allow herself to take a glance outside. The weather was fair, and nopony seemed to hold any grudges against it's cool feel. The warriors continued to spar in the same uniformed manner as they had the previous night. Twilight lost herself in the neatness of how they fought, the whirl of levitated swords for the unicorns, along with the wing and hoof blades fastened to the pegasi, the only difference in the earth pony attire was the lack of said wing blades.

A particular stallion seemed to be a whirling tornado of flashy armor and clanging swords, already he had bested several ponies while she had been watching. The sun glinted off of his armor as he made a feign for a jab, quickly reverting it into a backwards slash. Using his wings to propel himself forwards, the pony he was sparring with, a unicorn, barely had the time to block before the blade of the attacker slammed itself into his chestplate. The blade seemed to bounce of harmlessly, but the weight of the impact made itself known. He collapsed with an 'I'm finished' expression plastered on his face, evident even from this distance.

The stallion turned around and it was the face of Crimson. He had apparently been enjoying his time schooling the peace-weakened soldiers. Twilight shook her head to herself and turned to find Luna watching her intently. The mare had apparantly taken a bath, and was now noticing what had drawn her attention.

"Is he always...?" She didn't know how to end her sentence, but Luna understood.

"The NightWatch are dedicated to their jobs, not only because of loyalty, but because of the fact that they are selected specifically for their skill. And even then, they aren't gauranteed a spot, considering the rigorous training and background checks. You could say that out of the thirty that they recruit each year, only about two or three succeed." Luna replied, allowing a hint of pride in her voice.

Two or three? That's.... unheard of. I'm glad they're on our side at least.

Twilight could feel a question forming on her tongue, so she asked "What are we going to do when we get there? To Romanea, I mean." The purple mare asked casting a slight glance to her right, confirming that the princess was deep in thought.

"We have to bring it's government down... It's a corrupt and twisted system, as I have seen for myself in the past few days. I took matters into my own hooves after seeing the pain that they are causing to their own subjects...." She said allowing her lips to trail off into silence, her teal eyes glinting at the images in her mind.

"What do you mean?"

"Here in Equestria, ponies don't have to worry over their hardships. Nor do they fret over the thought of war, or if they are even in mortal danger. The last time Equestria has seen even a murder has been in decades, now. There... raiders roam free, the taxes levied against the commonpony are extravagantly high, with which the penalty for not paying is normally death. And even the soldiers that they turn to are as crooked as the bandits, taking bribes and other forms of corruption in stride. The king of Romanea has sat idly by and allowed all of this to happen, with no worries as he lives in lavishness, while the ponies right outside his palace starve in the streets." Luna spat the words out of her mouth as though a bitter taste resided there. She looked directly into Twilight's eyes, searching into the deepest aspects of her being to convey the importance of their task.

"I.....understand....that's...just horrible." The unicorn said as she felt her throat tighten. "But why do you need me?" She said in barely a whisper.

But Luna understood the hidden question there, the implications. But Luna let it hang in the air between them before replying "You are the element of magic, protegee to my sister... and one of the few ponies that I can trust...." She said in earnest truth.

The look the two shared became tense as Twilight leaned forward with her eyes closed, towards the determined princess. As their muzzles inched closer, a sharp rap on the door ruptured their composure. Forcing Luna to stop the moment and answer. As the door creaked open, NightSear was standing in relaxed attention, making it clear he did not want to upset the princess after last night's display.

"We need to discuss packing arrangements and flight routes, m'lady. Along with," he flicked his eyes towards me briefly,"testing Miss Sparkle's combat readiness."

She didn't say anything for a moment then said "That's fine, I'll discuss the plans with Crimson. You do the test." Her head turned back to Twilight as though to add something, but shook her head and walked past the stallion.

As soon as Luna rounded the corner, he noticeably sighed with relief. The two were then dropped into silence as they stared at each other. He had no idea how to address her, and she had no clue how to start conversation.

That being the case, the red eyed soldier eventually asked "Do you know any combat spells?" He didn't say it in an uncaring tone, nor was it overly tense. His smooth voice reminded her of Spike's 'manly' impression when she had once given him a moustache. But not quite as forced, it sounded...friendly? Was that a way to describe somepony's manner of speaking?

"A few, I guess. I've read lots on the arcane theories of kinetic displacement, and am familiar with the transfer of high quantities of concentrated magic. As for actual spells made for specifically for harming another....not quite." She said somehow being embarrased by her lack of knowledge of that specific category of spell.

"Hmmm, then you'll need to learn. Any skill with weaponry?" He said not expecting any relavent answer. Which was well founded.

"...No."

"Hoof to hoof combat?"

"No."

"Self Defense?"

"No."

"Good Reflexes?!" He said getting exasperated.

"N-I mean...Maybe?"

He shook his head and took off his helmet, letting a hearwarming smile through. His coat was grey like Crimson's but his mane was a light blond. A strange contrast in color, when taking in his striking eyes.

"Then we have alot to learn, right? We might as well get started." He said as he led her down to the sparring grounds, his helmet in the crook of his chest while he walked on three hooves.

Not far from the edge of the grassy expanse that was sectioned off from the rest of the compound with a low lying stone wall, Crimson was discussing something with the Captain. He was obviously being conveyed a message, one that was making him increasingly uncomfortable. Crimson looked at our approach and ended any further discussion with a hoof held up. Crimson walked up to the two of us, looking at NightSear urgently.

"One of the raider parties from Romanea has found it's way close to this encampment. The princess had ordered that we intercept immeadiately." He informed in a rushed fashion of speech, his gruff voice proving him the elder out of the two ponies.

"Right now? And just the two of us?" NightSear replied.

"No, all of us." He said pointedly dragging Twilight into the conversation.

"Are you sure that that's the most wise thing to do?" NightSear intervened. "She is in no way combat prepared."

"I'm going by her orders. She's already left to split them up, make them disoriented." Came the retort.

"How many?" Twilight was the one to ask this question, shuffling and feeling an odd feeling in her stomach. As though it were going to reject any food that was present, considering she hadn't eaten in two days now, it was unlikely.

"Somewhere in the realm of thirty or more." Was all Crimson said. "You're to help protect us from unicorns that might try using their magic against us."

Without any further ado, NightSear offered his back to Twilight. She reluctantly got on, and soon they were once again amongst the clouds. But it was immeadiately apparent by the fierce blades attached to their hooves and wings, along with the high speed they maintained that this would be fundamentally different. After a couple minutes Crimson pointed to something in the distance, causing NightSear and himself to bank sharply breaking through cloud cover to assess the situation.

As Twilight stared at the ground, hundreds of meters down, she almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. The once lush green forest looked as though now it were nothing more than kindling for a massive blaze spreading past the undergrowth. Blowing through the forest as though it were a pile of feathers. As they came closer to the ground, the building smoke clouded their vision, limiting them to seeing each other, and no farther than six or seven feet out.

There were the flickers of movement in her peripheral as she scanned her surroundings. The two pegasi landed and seperated on either side of the purple mare. Twilight readied a shield spell, allowing her magic to gather on her horn, emitting a pink glow along it's length. And at first, nothing happened.

Then out of the smoke burst forth a screaming stallion, his skin being seared by the flame sprouting from his clothing. Crimson wasted no time dispatching the poor bastard. And to Twilight the sight was slightly surreal. The way his head contorted in pain as his neck was slashed by a hoof blade. The way the substance splattered across her face, along with the metallic taste of it. The way his body tumbled to the ground in front of her still alive. Quickly finished of by NightSear's own blade.

She saw a unicorn step from the folds of the blackness in her vision, and even comprehended it on some level. But her body wouldn't react, her eyes wouldn't obey. Words failed. And the bolt of lightning struck her. The arcing path ran from her chest across her body, making her teeth clench from the power. Her muscles began spasming, her mind blanking out and coming back just as fast.

Am....I....gonna........die?

Then darkness descended upon the weakened mare. And out of it a memory emerged, one of her mind's fragments at this state. Snippets of Celestia's second message flickering across her eyelids.

I'm sorry.......regret to say.....may not make it.......Friends......danger....better off......Luna........so sorry.......forgive...........
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight's heart was racing. She had woken up an hour ago. But she still couldn't get the nightmare to leave. The thoughts of her death imminent. She was afraid to open them. And the decision seemed out of her control anyways, she had concluded. If there was a reason to open them it would be somepony else's choice to make. So she lay there. Resigned, but aware. This was interrupted by a voice to her side.

It said "Twilight.....?"

It was soft, almost a whisper. Female for sure, maybe someone she knew. Though how many people did she really know? All their secrets, everything? It didn't matter. The voice was back.

"If you can hear me...I'm sorry..." It was on the verge of tears.

Why would they care so much? Over her? She was too scared to open her eyes. What if she was in heaven? Or maybe this was her hell. Not being able to control herself and hearing the worry of another. There was only way to find out. She squinted at the light as it assaulted her features, washing out all of the color with it's pure blinding whiteness.

As her eyes adjusted she was left in a rather bare and clean room, devoid of anything other than sparse furnishing. As she roamed the room, she landed on the other pony present. princess Luna.

"Good morning, Twilight." She said, the red in her face showed that she would rather avoid talking about what the purple mare had just heard.

"W-where am I?" Twilight replied, breaking any pretenses after remembering the fight the day before. Or was it days? She couldn't know.

"....."

The princess didn't immediately answer, this must mean that something was indeed wrong. Her highly alert mind was instantly thrown into an abysmal reaction. Making the response even more hasty.

"Am I dead?!" The unicorn asked in complete and utter seriousness, but the thought that the place felt real enough did little to assure her. This conclusion left the lunar princess, to say the least, confused.

"No....you're not dead. This is the camp, we're back in one of the spare rooms." Luna said, and thought about elaborating further. But at some decision in her mind, she withheld the information. "You need you're rest, little one." Her voice had a soothing quality...almost too soothing. Twilight could feel the laced magic in it. But right now she didn't care, the folds of sleep embraced her heartily.

In her dreams however, her mind was surprisingly lucid. It was as though she were still wide awake. Just without any of her senses, this left her in a bereft state of contentment.

Was Luna crying? Over me? What happened, I wonder. I didn't feel any pain when I woke up... Was I on anesthetic? It would make sense....... I wonder how my friends are doing. I miss them so much, their smiling faces. Just one of them to bring some familiarity to me.

The image of a pony having his throat slashed predominated in her mind, but instead of it being just a thought , it was a vivid memory. Playing out around her with crystal clarity, the chaos of it. All until that unicorn rendered her unconscious....

Anypony.... Anyone.... Anything........................

These were her last thoughts before she fell away into the blackness. A blank and dreamless rest.

Author's Note

Does this even work?

A/N Thanks to Jarlax, Ultra, and PocoRitardo, for verbally assaulting me relentlessly. Have a hoof, guys /]

A little reminiscence and adding a bit of character depth perhaps? Had to take into account that TS has no combat experience, and the fact that she would be missing her friends at this point.

Oh, guys I am probably gonna throw in another tag, Rainbow. Because, lets face it. I wanna bring her in.
We'll also just assume that Monday will be my semi-official release day. Perhaps.
(As for the message, I bet some of you expected some vulgar action. But not yet! Have patience.)
-ClopTrap

It Begins....

Chapter 4: It begins.......

As her memories came back and she lie in a similar way as she had over the course of a couple days. The light that was powered by a generator above her had become the most familiar icon of being awake. It was symbiotic of being aware. Today was different though, her thoughts lingering on the fact. Nopony was around and she had control of her faculties. She lifted one shaky hoof after another onto the wooden floor. Instantly regretting the decision and making sure not to fall on her face.

The edges of her vision were filled with stars, acompanying the feeling of dizzyness. She balanced on the bed and her hooves, using it as a brace to edge closer to the door. As Twilight got closer she could feel the sensation dissipating, replaced with a mild sense of confusion. But before she could reach the door, a slight click and movement opened it. Revealing a pleased guard, Crimson, to be exact.

"Somepony's on their feet I see." He said in an elder's gruff voice.

"How....long?" She asked, even this simple question being hard to verbalize.

"Three days. The princess kept you under a sleep spell."

It didn't feel like three days though. She kept this thought to herself. In reality it had felt like an eternity, leaving her to mull over her thoughts and be left in a perpetual state of boredom.

"It's good you're awake though, I was about to wake you up myself soon. We need to get into your training..." He said as he began leading her slowly down the hall.

"Training?"

"Yes. We can't have another incident like that every time we get into combat." He said with authority. His royal blue armor clanking in the silence. Crimson even seemed as though he were ready to say something else but kept it to himself.

I wonder what they have in mind? Her curiosity getting the better of her as she stepped into the bright rays of sunlight streaming in her eyes. She had been in what appeared to be the equivalent of an infirmary. Her question wouldn't go long unanswered as she could see that the usually hyperactive training field, which she now realized must be the only equivalent to fun that they had, was barren. The rigors of practice taking their minds off of the inevitable boredom almost unoccupied.

There in the center of the field lay dummies lined up, Crimson nodded his head at her questioning gaze. On the opposite length of the grassy expanse, Luna and NightSear trotted in conversation. Soon the two groups came to a stop in front of the the thirty faux ponies.

"It's good to see you're awake, Miss Sparkle." NightSear whispered lightly. The title irked Twilight, it seemed she couldn't help but to correct him.

"It's Twilight!" Came the ferocious whisper, then she added "Why are we whispering?"

NightSear only grinned and turned back to the princess who had taken the lead and was standing with her back towards the targets, facing the three gathered subjects.

She cleared her throat and addressed them, "Twilight, from now on, you are to take lessons in sword combat, self defense, and magic. The armed combat will take place with Crimson. The unarmed, with NightSear. And magic, with me. Do you have any questions?"

"When do I start?" Twilight offered, which elicited a smile from the Princess.

"Now."

Crimson stepped forward and presented his hoof blades, the tip glinting with a brilliance that belied it's purpose. NightSear tapped Twilight on the shoulder an offered his sword, which was held in his mouth. She enveloped it in magic, feeling the weight, finding it surprisingly heavier than she would have assumed a sword would weigh. Though she had seen them, never this close.

"Are you prepared, Miss Sparkle?" He said, the princess and NightSear standing off to the side. The stallion of the two had trouble hiding his grin.

Before Twilight could respond properly, he lunged methodically. Clearly pulling his slash, but even so, it was still to quick to stop it's arc. She had only had time to raise the sword to her shoulder before the point of Crimson's own weapon lay against her neck. Now NightSear was laughing under his breath, and even Luna had a gleam in her eye.

"Again!" He yelled. Before beginning another assault.

This time instead of thrusting, he stepped to the side in a wide sweeping motion. Meaning that Twilight was open to her right and her sword clearly blocking her front, he wasted no time finishing the step with a twirl, flourishing the blade against the back of her head. But instead of finishing the complicated move, he connected with the flat of his blade. Her head exploded in flashes of white as she was thrown forward with the momentum.

"Ow!" She exclaimed as she attempted to pick herself up.

Crimson seemed satisfied, and he allowed NightSear to take his turn in front of the mare. The purple unicorn had little time to let the pain fade to a dull throb before NightSear offered his hoof. After picking her up he kicked the blade away, and the two took opposing stances. Twilight had no idea how to hold herself, so she mimicked NightSear's posture. Relaxed and loose.

"Are you prepared, Mis- I mean, Twilight?" He said, allowing his friendly smile through.

"I guess...." She said, partly expecting him to attack without her comment.

He then calmly trotted up and threw a hoof into the mare's face. The swiftness of the attack threw her off, her cheek smarting after the blow. He didn't show any emotion, just the same smile, except now she could tell that there was a glint in his eyes. Twilight barely had time to react before he issued a short burst of speed, slamming into her hard enough to knock her to the ground. NightSear then offered a hoof to the downed mare.

"Need help?" He said.

"Yeah sure, I also need to be hit in the face." She spat, letting her anger show, she hadn't been hit hard. Hell, Crimson had struck her harder. But the fact that he was still so...relaxed, made the mare want to do the same thing to him.

Without taking the hoof she scooped the sword off of the ground a couple meters away with magic. The unicorn then made a wild slash towards his face, which wasn't there anymore. He had easily ducked away from the lethal weapon, and even had the audacity to smile afterwards. He tsked his mouth, and Crimson looked as though he was about to step in. Luna had adopted a grimace, matching the lavender mare's own visage.

"If you wanted to use a sword, you could've said so. You're getting waaaay too angry." He said as he closed the distance, smacking the levitating sword so hard that it flew off, planting itself in the ground. "And anger, clouds you're judgment." He said as he lifted the mare with his hooves around her neck, using his wings to pull them off of the ground. "And if you're judment is clouded, you can't make the right decisions. Understand?"

Twilight was barely able to nod as she could feel her pulse through her neck, she was impressed by the sheer amount of strength that it would take to do something like this.

How is he this strong? Guess I misjudged him, then again...Why would he be in the NightWatch if he wasn't good at this? She thought, feeling herself being lowered to the ground.

As soon as NightSear let go, she began gasping for breath. He offered another of his friendly grins, and she could feel herself start to hate it. Luna stepped out from the sidelines and declared that they would be taking a break to eat and rest. More for Twilight's benefit than theirs. She called the purple unicorn over and they began to eat some sandwiches that were provided them by an errand colt. The two soldiers retired to the mess hall, talking at length as they went. Probably about how they planned to train the mare.

"That was a foalish thing to do." Luna said as she finished hers, content to sit back and watch Twilight chew ravenously, it had been days since she had had a sufficient meal. The sun was now high above, washing away any shadows lingering amongst the buildings. Twilight reached for another, talking between bites.

"What?" Twilight asked knowing full well what she meant.

"Attacking NightSear like that. I know he has that quality, but if he had choose to......" She didn't bother to finish the sentence, allowing it to trail into silence.

"It's just....his smile....It was, like...Like he was..." She began not knowing what to say exactly.

"Mocking you?" The lunar princess said as she plucked it out of her head.

Twilight only nodded, and Luna understood. She had never personally seen her guardsman mock anyone. But the way he carried himself, the way he had a carefree demeanor did tend to chafe on those not used to his nature. Soon the two were left in a perpetual state of avoiding conversation, looking at the surroundings.

The purple unicorn finished not too long after and couldn't help but feel her mind begin to think about the night Luna kissed her, the sheer oddness of it. Why had the princess done what she did?

Was it a dream? Twilight thought with a bit of fear welling in her chest. There was only one way to find out...

"...Luna?" The mare said with a dash of hesitation, attempting to lace her words in what she hoped was sexiness.

"Yes?"

Twilight leaned closer, looking into those teal eyes she adored. And for a moment it looked as though the lunar princess was going to move forward as well.

Until...."Twilight, what are you doing?" The words seemed to echo in the back of her skull. Making her heart beat so fast that she was sure that every pony for miles around could hear. No sound came to her mouth as she disquised the pass as an attempt to look around the alicorn.

"Oh...I, uh.... Thought I saw....somepony...that....I knew? Yeah, somepony I knew." She said as she sat back on her haunches to a very unamused princess. There was no way she bought the lie. But at that moment the two ever present guards, NightSear and Crimson, came into view.

"Are you ready to do your portion of the training, princess?" Crimson questioned.

"...Yes...Of course. Twilight, follow me." She said as she took one last look at the unicorn before turning to the dummies and taking position. Once both ponies were in front of the dummies, holding both nervous frowns and determined expressions; Luna broke the silence. "We cannot practice the spells I am going to teach you on each other, considering the deadly nature of them. Under normal circumstances, these have been kept secret among the upper echilons of the magical society. And if done incorrectly could result in severe injury or death."

Twilight felt the apprehension in her gut.

"Are you ready?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cyan blur raced through the clouds in a speed that would rival that of two wonderbolts combined. The matter that whipped past her becoming less than smears of inconsistent ramblings on a painter's canvas. Her contrail adding the perfect touch of color to a now unimportant landscape.

There in the distance lay Twilight's house, and she was racing towards it at speeds twice as fast as she had ever traveled in the past. Not even five minutes ago the athletic pegasus known as Rainbow Dash had recieved news that Spike had woken up to find Twilight missing. She was nowhere to be found, none of her favourite stores for supplies. Not even down at the lake. Rainbow had checked personally.

Off to the East, she could see dust being kicked up by an approaching posse of four. Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were all inbound. The mare made a slight adjustment to her flight path and intercepted the ponies, landing lightly in front of them.

"Did you guys hear?!" She said, her voice cracking like a brittle leaf in the Autumn, even more so in her state of panic.

"We sure did, sugarcube. Do ya know where she mighta left off to?"

"I-I don't know! She was....I mean...last I saw her...was with Fluttershy..." The magenta eyes darted everywhere but into the searching green ones.

"But didn't you soar back over there just yesterday, darling? While I was attending the stand, I mean." Rarity intruded, making the pegasus even more nervous.

"Well, yeah....But...nopony answered the door. She just......didn't open it." Rainbow offered with what she hoped was a genuine smile.

"Then why are ya actin' so strange, Dash?" The farm pony queried.

The streamlined mare noticed that she had come off of the ground and was now hovering with her wings prepped for a quick liftoff. She slowly edged back into the ground, and tried to come up with an appeasing answer, but only managed to choke on her thoughts.

"Me and her......weren't....." She let the sentence hang, but the other four understood. Considering Applejack had been around the mare when she had blown them off the first time.

"It's okay, sugarcube."

In the background there was a yellow pegasus trying to get everypony's attention. The pink mane and yellow coat hovering about as she was speaking softly.

"Umm, girls....? If, you would just listen.......for a moment.....I could tell you that....Um, Trixie...saw Twilight heading out of town.....just last night.....and we could find her....."

Spike had walked in on the situation, all of her friends too tied up to notice her soft-spoken nature. He overheard what she was trying to convey and spoke up for the pegasus. "I think Trixie may have seen Twilight leaving town last night, everypony!"

All sounds quieted as they intently focused on Spike, who promptly directed attention to the yellow mare. Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity all egged her on to tell them what she knew.

"Er, well....Last night when Trixie was helping me care for some of the animals... She made a comment on the strange group of ponies heading South...Maybe South-East....."

"How does that help, exactly?" Piped up a till now silent Pinkie Pie, which was completely uncharacteristic of her.

"Well, one...one of the ponies was being ridden....By a unicorn......With pink in her mane....... I didn't think about it that much at first, but when I was told Twilight was missing, I thought maybe.... She was ponynapped!!!" The mare let slip with her iris's closing to pinpoints in fear.

Similar reactions echoed in her friend's faces as they thought over the implications. But the first to do anything was Rainbow. She took to the sky, heading in the exact direction that Twilight should have. Only to be tugged down by a blue overglow, wrapping her tail in it's ethereal grasp.

"Rainbow DASH! Whatever are you doing?" Rarity asked, putting emphasis on her name to show her disapproval.

"WE'VE GOT TO SAVE TWILIGHT!!!!" Rainbow yelled, every fiber of her being twitching with loyalty.

"And where is she then? What do you know about the ponies who "ponynapped" her? Was she even ponynapped? Remember, now, that she had recieved a letter from the princess. And it said that she would be doing something for all of Equestria...." The prim mare explained in a thoughtful manner.

The gears in Rainbow's head were beginning to turn, but she didn't want that right now. At this point she didn't even care how Rarity had figured out about the first letter. All she wanted, was to find her friend. The adrenaline that was pumping through her veins added to a flustered pegasus. Until she looked out across the other ponies gathered, all of them just as concerned as she was, and all even more concerned for her rash actions. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

"Alright. I'm listening. And how did you know about the letter exactly?"

All of the ponies gathered untensed with relief, clearly happy that she wasn't going to go off on her own. The athletic mare realized that they were just as afraid to lose her as they were to have "lost" Twilight.

"Spike, darling. He had seen the the letter, and had given us the 'rundown' as it were." Rarity explained.

The apple pony stepped in saying,"Okay, then. We're gonna need a plan....."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Twilight plopped onto the bed, she couldn't help but feel her sore muscles and weary eyes rest. But even behind her closed eyes she could recall the events of the day. As it was the last day in the peace of the encampment, her teachers had decided to drill her constantly with little respite. All in the name of helping her later on down the line.

The spells were the easy part. The sworplay the hardest. The close combat, dreary. In the end, she could say she had learned how to parry a thrust, jump out of the way of an attack, and how to blow a stuffed dummy to pieces from the inside..... And there were even more techniques she was positive she would never get the hang of. For example, use an opponent's weight against them, or how to gather large amounts of magic into a sphere and then use it as a kinetic displacement shockwave.

These thoughts, however, were compounded by the fact that Luna had shown none of the emotions she had exhibited that night. And so effectively Twilight had been convinced, she began to think it was all just a fanciful dream...

Uhhhhgg, I really don't need the extra worry. "Oh no, what am I gonna do? Luna may possibly not have any interest in a bookworm! But what about the rest of Equestria that lies in you learning all that you can from her? No, silly! I'm to worried about if a princess likes me!"

The mock conversation in her mind left a bitter taste in her mouth, as though she had been saying the whole thing. Then as a head peeked in, reavealing a tentative Luna, she realized that she had been shouting it.

"Um, are you alright?" She said, letting her mane slip past the door. Her face a mask of concern.

"Uh...Yeah! Sorry if I interuppted anything! I just, uh, had alot on my mind...." Twilight replied, knowing that her sentence was hollow and unconvincing.

I really need to get better at lying... The mare put as a sidenote to her thoughts.

Luna let slip a questioning gaze, then decided to step into the door. Twilight's eyes couldn't help but follow from the princesses's eyes, all the way down to her flank. The way her mane revealed a swirling and endless night was breathtaking as always, which seemed to be complimented by the glow of moonlight through her curtains. All of Luna's adornments and other royal attire were absent, lending the look of an average pony. Despite the mane, the horn, and wings. Her cutie mark was now the center of Twilight's attention as the mare walked to lay on the bed.

Never had she thought to look at it for more than a passing second. But now, as she looked closer, she could see it was encircled in what appeared to be a midnight birthmark of sorts, adding a backdrop like a painter's canvas on a mesmerizing, perfect crescent moon shape. After what seemed like ages, she was meet by the beautiful alicorn. And, despite her muscles protest, she moved out of the way to allow her room on the small bed.

"I'm sorry about earlier....." Came a whisper from her blue lips.

At first Twilight was stunned, When was the last time a princess was sorry for something?

Then she said, "What are you sorry for?"

"For blowing you off, I....can't let...ponies...see...." The princess started.

"Why?"

"Well, if my subjects knew...." Yet again the princess was interuppted.

"NO, why me?" Twilight felt her fears in that sentence. She had closed her eyes now, trying to ward off any evil by facing it blind, she expected something entirely different than what she got.

"I....don't know." Luna's voice was so sensitive, and sincere, that Twilight couldn't possibly ignore the obvious plea.

She opened her eyes to find another set looking intently at her. Except the princess's were coated with a layer of tears. They flowed silently, and dripped quickly to the bed. Her heart was feeling as though it were being torn. One of the all powerful rulers of Equestria, here in front of her, crying. And she could do nothing, not a comforting hoof, not a well spoken word, there were no books on this subject. The purple mage couldn't help but feel as though she were the cause of her pain.

"Luna...I....." She began. Only to be stopped with a quick hoof wave by the princess as she got up from the bed.

"No, Twilight. It's not your fault, I just need to....get my head together." She said as she passed through the door frame. Her dark silhouette blending into the blackness of the hallway. She heard the door to the princess's room click shut, leaving the unicorn to contemplate silently on her own.

Eventually Twilight looked over through the curtains, it had to be at least five in the morning now. How long had she lie there? It didn't seem to matter as she drifted into the realm of nevermore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow looked one last time over her saddlebags, not expecting anything to be out of place. She had prepared herself carefully, after they had come up with a plan the night before. "They" being Spike, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and herself. A day had passed since Twilight had been gone, and Rainbow refused to wait any longer.

With the help of a few of Twilight's maps, and aided by knowing the direction they were headed, the six of them had decided that they had to be in any one of five places. Either the cities Hoofston, Little Trottingham, and the ruins of old Manehattan. Or the two military bases near the border to Romanea. The cities were relatively small in population, aside from Little Trottingham, which had nearly ten thousand ponies within it's borders.

And the bases....the bases were last resort. They hoped that they were just headed to one of the centers of population, than some out-of-the-way military compound. Also it had been decided, since Rainbow was the fastest, that she would be carrying out this mission alone. Much to the dislike of the other ponies present, even if it did make sense.

Right now they were standing around her, the midday sun looming overhead. Lending some semblence of normalcy to an otherwise sad day. Nopony wanted to talk, and they had done all that they could to aid her. Rarity providing blankets, Fluttershy giving her provisions for a couple days, and Pinkie handing over a couple uninflated ballons.

Though Rainbow had no idea what to say about the last part, but the mare just said "It's so you won't forget me, Dashie." Not looking like the hyperactive pony she had grown to be accustomed to.

The solemness of the moment strangled any words that might have been said, shriveling under the sun's glare. So without a word, she took off. Not looking back, for fear of breaking down and turning around. And looking back now.....she wished she had told them how much she cared for each and everyone of them. For she knew that if she ever found the mare, that she would be plunged into something bigger than she could ever imagine.

Was I right, to not tell them about her second letter? I mean...I didn't know what was in it either... So there was no point...... Oh, Twilight...... Please be okay..... The streamlined mare thought to herself, seeing the last of Ponyville disappear from under her.

She remembered the layout of the map, and began to head to the closest landmark, Little Trottingham.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the mare stepped into the dusty air, she heaved a heartfelt sigh. Nopony she had talked to had seen anypony close to her description, especially the part of the pony riding another. Night had descended upon Little Trottingham, giving the air a brisk chill. Nopony seemed to notice, however, and went about their business. She had checked every shop that she could, making sure to ask the places that got the most patronage first.

Now she couldn't think of any where else to go, so she decided to stop in front of what appeared to be a rundown motel. The neon sign showing a hoof being slammed into a door, aptly named "The Broken Hoof". As Rainbow entered, she could hear the roar of ponies laughing and enjoying themselves. Accompanied by the staggering drunks, all seeming to be in sync with the raucous laughter.

One such stallion came by and slapped her on the ass, saying "H~ey, babeh! You wanna...wanna have a-good-time?" in a melodic mockery of singing.

At first the pegasus was surprised by this assault of booze stained breath and presumptuous behavior, then she couldn't hide her anger. "Get the BUCK away from me!" She yelled, lifting herself to the eye level height of the tall stallion. Giving him a look that Fluttershy's would be hard-pressed to beat.

"YO! Bronze! Get your drunk ass away from my customer! Or I'll throw you outta here so fast, your head'll be spinnin'!" Yelled what appeared to be the innkeeper/bartender. He was a dark black unicorn stallion, and had yellow eyes.

Dash slowly and cautiously walked up to the confident owner. He threw her a winning smile, and asked "What can I get'cha, hun'?"

"I need a room, one night. I have the bits..." She said as she fished through her bags with her mouth, coming up on a pouch of bits tucked under one of the blankets.

"For a pretty young thing like you? Nah, you can have a night on me! On one condition though." He added, then adopted a serious face. "If you'll have a couple a' drinks too!" He bursted with laughter in his eyes, and a smile on his face.

Dash couldn't help but grin at his demeanor, he just seemed so friendly. "Sure, I guess I can have one or two..."

After Rainbow's fourth bottle of Canterlot Ale, she couldn't feel anything but pure warmth and happiness. She began to joke back and forth with bartender as he tended to the other customers. The mare quickly becoming more and more like the other drunken bastards milling about. The fireplace near the corner across from the bar was where the tables lay, with food coming from the kitchen which added a thick aroma to coat the cozy room.

"And thas, thas when I said to 'em tha' I wahs Rainbow DASH, not, not CRASH!" She said laughing at her own joke. The bartender went along with it, until the mare reached for yet another bottle. He quickly slid it out of the way with his magic, much to the dismay of the pegasus. "Whadja do tha' for?" She exclaimed.

"As much as I love your company, I can't letcha keep drinkin' like that. Against my policy, ya see?" He said as he puffed out his chest a bit.

"I thou-thought, yer policy wahs, to drink let mares like me?" She said in an uncomprehendable sentence.

"Yeah, you're to drunk. Let's getcha to bed, I feel bad for ya in th' mornin'." He said as he levitated the protesting drunk turned hostile. She squirmed and wiggled, making him smile as she found no results.

He went up the stairs and unlocked a door at the end of the hall, away from prying eyes and ears. Nopony would miss him if he were gone, and the pony he was carrying was now a lifeless body, slumped into itself in the visage of sleep. She had tuckered herself out trying to fight him. If he wanted he could have her to himself in the room without anypony noticing..........

But as he laid the peaceful pegasus upon the bed, he shook his head, and berated himself from having those thoughts. He removed her saddlebags and set them down near the nightstand. Then he gently closed the curtains, and left silently. Turning off all the lights as he left the one pony bedroom. Going back down the hall to deal with the rest of his guests in the shadow of midnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Rainbow Dash let her eyes open, she could see nothing but the daggers of white on the edges of her vision. She clenched her teeth, trying to force the pain away. She managed to scope out a glass next to her bed, a clear liquid held within. Next to that, was a tidy note that held the words "Get well soon!" obviously talking about the raging hangover dominating her body. With one swift move, she downed the glass of water, noticing the bitter undertone. Probably an aspirin of some sort.

"Shit........." She said in spite of herself, letting the empty container fall to it's original resting place on the bedside nightstand. She felt around in the dark until she found the door, opening it to stare into the drawn curtains, letting viscous sunlight pour through, burning her eyes like a vampony in the light. She shook her head vigorously, and clamped her eyes shut. Retreating back into the room.

Soon, the pain began to fade, and she decided to take a shower and head out. After the steamy cleaning, she rubbed her head on a towel briefly. Grabbing her saddlebags and heading out of the motel while her coat and hair was still mostly drenched. She didn't see the stallion from the night before, so she couldn't thank him properly. With no scruples, she took to the air, heading to Hoofston.

All the way to Hoofston she only saw a few ponies under a vast expanse of Equestrian green, this was an offshoot of the Everfree. Not as dense, but just as green, lending to the beauty of the landscape artist ponies spent their lifetimes trying to capture perfectly. After only a couple hours of slightly rushed flight, she ended up landing in the town square.

The building layout seemed rather similar to that of Ponyville, and the vibe that the streetside vendors gave off reminded her of the main thoroughfare on a daily basis in Ponyville. It just so happened that the community was just as friendly, after grabbing an apple from one of the salesponies, they directed her to the mare who would know about any strange ponies. It was the mayor of Hoofston, a miss Summer Harvest.

Chomping the last bit of the apple as she entered the office of the main town hall that was located near the edge of the small city, she could see the lush vegetation growing near the windowsills.

I wonder if her and Golden Harvest are related? Thought the mare.

Her question wouldn't go long unanswered as the mayor stepped out of her office and offered a warm smile, waving her over. She had a lime colored mane, the same eyes as Golden, and had a cutie mark in the image of a celery stalk. The only difference that she could descern between the two would be this one's light green coat and mane.

"I've been expecting you, Rainbow Dash? Is that right? I'm sorry if I got it wrong, I'm not that great with names, you see...." Summer rambled, showing the athletic mare into her small office piled with stacks of papers and forms. There was little in the way of decorum, but there was a small photo of her and Golden smiling widely into the camera, holding each other in a friendly, loving manner.

"Yeah, that's right... Why were you expecting me?" Rainbow had to ask.

"Oh, my sister, Golden Harvest? She sent me a letter to be ready for you, and I can tell you that I honestly haven't seen any ponies like she described. Especially a lavender toned one, riding another, or with pink and purple streaks in her mane. That kind of thing seems rather specific."

"Oh....okay. Thank you for your time!" The athletic mare called as she was headed out of the doorway. However the Earth pony was quick to clamp down on her multi colored tail to stop her.

"Yer nowt gnna sty n' eat sum'fin?" She attempted around a mouthfull of tail.

"What?"

"Your not gonna stay and eat something? Have you eaten? You look sooo thin!" She said after letting go.

Rainbow stopped for a moment, realizing that all she had had was the apple a few moments ago, and that was less-than-filling. So she consented and was immeadiately whisked into what appeared to be a kitchen area. Summer left the room for a second, a plate firmly gripped in her mouth. As she returned, the once empty plate was now laden with vegetables of all types. Carrots, vine ripe tomatoes, and other assorted vegies.

It didn't take long for said plate to be cleaned, and she sat back in her chair. A hard task considering how she was sitting.

"So?" Came a happy mare across from her.

"It was good..... More than good..... That was probably some of the best...." A burp escaped her mouth, "Food that I've ever tasted..." Rainbow said in all honesty.

The green mare offered a smile and returned to her duties as mayor. Allowing the cyan pegasus time to settle.

Not long afterwards, Dash told the friendly mare that she needed to be off. And as she left the town, she promised herself that after all of this was over and done, she would most definately be coming back for more of her hospitality. Now the only other place that she could look at that wasn't a military base, was Old Manehattan, and that wouldn't take much more than a quick fly-by. Considering it was uninhabited after a flood from one of the nearby rivers.

After a much longer flight of five hours; she was speeding towards the jutting remnants of towers that clawed out of the ground, as if to say that they were the last survivors of that catastrophe. The pieces of rock that made up most of the ciry were scattered about as she made the first loop, the shadows casting an ominous hue among the empty streets.

It had to be close to seven in the afternoon now, and she didn't have anywhere to spend the night. The nearest city being about three hours away. So after landing and finding an archway that had collapsed on itself, creating an overhang that was out of the way of the street, she inspected it. Finding nothing wrong, she pulled out a blanket and stretched out early, planning to get a headstart in the morning. Soon the darkness of night descended, creating a cacophony of insect noises. The sound was soothing to the athletic pegasus. And even sooner the sound of snoring joined them...

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Author's Note

A/N TIME!!!
If anybody was confused about the time,(even though I would doubt it considering I made plenty of time indicators, I think), Twilight has been gone for five days, and RD's journey is at it's third. So this chapter was basically to catch them up....
(Also realllly sorry for the late update. Been excruciatingly busy.)

Anyways keep dem' comments comin' you guys! I love everybodies input!
-The DeadGraverock
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^(If anyone gets the reference, please comment on it!)

Begging the Question

Chapter 5: Begging the Question

As the wind buffeted the mare; her eyes darted among the landscape. Each rustle and clearing targets for her sight. Seeing as she couldn't be sure if she was any closer to Twilight as she had been a few hours ago. A small rocky outcropping came into view past the rolling hills shortly after.

Rainbow landed on the top of said landscape, and preceeded to catch her breath. She had no idea where exactly the base was. Only a rough idea of where it might be. Her mind however was racing twice as fast.

I've been searching this damned forest for hours! I haven't even seen a trace of her....

The rainbow haired mare let out a sigh and calmed down. She looked as far as she could in every direction. The only landmarks among the forest was the large mountain range to the South, and the abrupt end to that offshot of the Everfree to the East.

I know that an army base wouldn't be in the middle of a grassy expanse. I know that, if anything, they would be at the very EDGE of Romanea. Soooo, that means West it is. She even nodded her head in approval at this thought. Before taking back into the air yet again.

The sun shone overhead as she went West, her scanning continuing, but this time with a hint of optimism. The reason Rainbow knew these things, or at least came to reason them, was because when she was a filly she had wanted to go to the Cloudsdale Flying Academy.......

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"Dad! Why can't I?" Piped up an adolescent filly

"Because, Rainbow! I won't allow you to. I can't have my only daughter joining a military school!" Lightning Dash stated with a sense of finality.

The small multicolored pegasus had wanted to join the Cloudsdale Flight Academy, one of the most prestigious schools that any pony wanting to serve in a branch of the pegasus military could be in. She had thought it through, and knew that she was a fan of speed, speed, and more speed. AND one of the perks was that most of the Wonderbolts had come from that school. She was set on it, but her father was having doubts.

The regiment would be tougher, and the classes would cost many times more than an average school. Another thing, however, was that this was a private school. Meaning she would have to live away from her parents.

"But Daa~d, it's my dream! I wanna be a Wonderbolt!" She squealed, her voice cracking from her being on the edge of tears. All her hopes cracking in front of her eyes.

"I said, NO, Rainbow!" He said, losing some of his composure at her constant begging.

"Rainbow..." A mare stepped out of the kitchen, her dark blue coat and grey mane distinguishing the father-daughter pair from herself. She strode in gracefully, and came to a kneel by Rainbow Dash.

In the filly's mind, her hopes were getting brighter, maybe.... Maybe her mom would let her go?

"Yes mom?" The filly said with the saddest eyes she could muster.

"RainCloud?" Lightning stepped forward as though to stop her. But at a firm glance, he closed his mouth, adopting a passive glance.

"You can't go to the Cloudsdale Flying Academy. Me and your father love you very much, and I don't want to see you go through that. I don't think you would want us to either... would you?" She said in a soft voice, almost so soft that it was a whisper. And the blood pounding in Rainbow's ears almost masked it entirely as she felt the heartache of her wishes being crushed.

"I....I can't.....? I wouldn't want...I mean.... Please......." Said a tearing up filly.

At this point Lightning stepped forward, wrapping his hoof around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Dashie. Are you okay?" Empathy was in his words, but to her....to her it felt like the most bitter slander of herself that she could possibly endure.

And for the first time she could remember, she cried. And cried. And later, when everypony was asleep, she grabbed some of her things and left in the middle of the night. Not intending to stay at a place where her parents "hated" her.

They don't care about me..... They can't see... How much I want this... I bet they'll be sorry if I'm gone! What am I talking about, they probably won't even notice.... They're better off without me anyways..... The filly thought as she grabbed her things and headed to the Academy in the middle of the night, her saddle bags clanking on the way.

When she got to where she was going she set the bags to the side and got ready to fly. She imitated the posture she had seen the Wonderbolts take when they were about to race. Wings in the air, head lowered, breathing calm. And on the cloud obstacle course, her breath was fogging from the chilly temperature. Then....she flew.

She flew faster than she ever had, pretending to be in the middle of a fierce competition between her and then leader of the Wonderbolts at that time, Maverick Sweep. Soon that fantasy became reality, and her body began to feel the tug of G-force as she made each turn, the wind becoming a hinderance to her speeding body. So as she made the last loop around the track, ducking in and out of the cloud pillars, she tucked her wings in after one last burst of speed.

The colors around Rainbow became less than blurs as she came close to super sonic speed. And then, as she neared the finish, she bumped the last pillar. Just hard enough to throw her off trajectory and throw her to the cloud tops. The landing had taken the wind out of her, but aside from that she was fine. As her eyes focused, she saw one of the most wonderous sights she ever would see. There above her, slightly to the right was the face of the very same Maverick Sweep. He was holding an amused smile.

"Are ya okay? That was quite the crash..." He said as he offered a hoof to her.

She took it without a second thought, but there was something nagging her at this point. "What are you doing out here?"

He smiled and turned back to the track, "What do ya see when ya look out there?"

Rainbow's eyes looked over the track, half expecting to see something she hadn't ever seen before. But after the second pass she said, "It's a track." Her face a mask of seriousness.

"Hehe, no, what do ya SEE. When you're out there? Adoring fans? Teammates? The princess watching yer every turn? Do you feel the rush of the wind? Or the apprehension in yer gut? The adrenaline in yer veins? What is the reason ya wanna go fast?" He said, looking directly into the filly's eyes. His green irises reflecting off of the moonlight, his WonderBolt jumpsuit pristine in the night.

She looked once more. This time, she knew what she saw. "I see my uniform, the respect of all the little fillies and colts, I'm a hero to them....." She explained, truly imagining being the perfect role model, much like Maverick was to her.

He smiled broadly, and then looked up at the sky. "Is'at so? That's a fine answer, and might I ask if your going to Cloudsdale Flight School? I'm one o' the teachers there, and I'd love to see ya..."

He couldn't see, but Rainbow had grimaced at that statement. As she tried to speak, she felt her tongue tie, she had come out here to forget the words her parents had said. Now they crept back on her, choking her eyes with tears. "...I don't think I'll be going to Cloudsdale...Flight School..." She said as she stared at the ground.

He looked just in time to see the tears in her eyes before she looked down, and he quickly put a hoof on her chin and made her look up. "Now, now. What's wrong, little un'?"

"..M-my...mom and dad...th-they said...said I couldn't....goooo." She wailed, uncharacteristically, in front of her foalhood hero. But he didn't miss a beat.

He pulled her close and hugged her, shushing and stroking her mane until she stopped her waterworks. "Is'at so? Well, we'll just have to have a talk with these "parents" o' yours. Right?" He offered, making the filly look up. She remembered those caring eyes, and agreed.

"...Right."

"Ya should grab yer things, huh?" He said as they left for her house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A smile caressed Rainbow's face as she remembered that kind memory, one of the best one's she had. The smile was erased, however, when she thought of how he had died in a flying accident. And with nopony to help her with all her lessons, or to aid her with finances, she ended up dropping out. She didn't even go to the funeral, she didn't want to think of him that way. Just happy memories.

These thoughts were cut short, however because of the massive scorch she found under her. The trees themselves had been charred beyond recognition, leaving only ash and smoke in it's wake. There was definitely a battle here, no natural fire could have left pony remains here and there. All of the dead were mostly blackened and decomposed already from the temperatures they would have sustained. And the smoke that still crept from some of the orifices of nearby trees told her that it had only been a couple days since this fire had been started.

Rainbow made a few arial loops, then decided to land and observe these assumptions more closely. There weren't any ponies in the unburned brambles at the edge of the impromptu clearing, so she assumed that there had to have been some form of assault. Concentrated and swift, considering there didn't appear to be any of the assailent's dead.

The ones that were there had paint markings in the places that weren't burned, and there was only one she found that was obviously killed by a slash to the throat. Aside from that, there was nothing else to decipher.

This has got to be the work of the military base, that's the best way to go, it can't be too far from here. She thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight walked past Luna, who was ensuring the last preparations were in order before they set off. This would be the last stop before they crossed the border, and the party of four could not afford to be under-prepared. The evening air was beggining to set in with a chill. The winds from a week ago had returned, apparantly being a common cycle in this part of Equestria.

"Is everything in order, princess?" The purple mare uttered past the clanking of armor and ruffling of cloth.

At first she seemed to be focusing intently on something, but soon her thoughts refocused on them. The princess looked over at the guards and at Twilight, then said, "As well as we'll ever be."

"What route will we be taking, m'lady?" Crimson spoke.

"Direct, they have no clue that we're coming, and they would assume that we would bring an army. I doubt we have anything to fear. Besides, we've wasted enough time already."

With those last words, she took to the auburn sky. Soon followed by Crimson, NightSear, and Twilight. The journey trailed on in silence, each hour melding into the next. With little in the way of landmarks and scenery, considering the fact that the night had taken over. And the moon was completely absent that night, to the will of Luna, she made sure there was no chance for them to be spotted.

Soon, though, the green hills and rolling expanses of livery were replaced with patches of dirt. Then sand, as they neared the border of Romanea. After close to a four hour flight, the night was in full bloom, and they decided to stop over one of the last overhangs before they crossed the borders, to face what lie on the other side.

Twilight got off of NightSear's back gingerly, the ride having taken a toll on her thighs.

He really needs a saddle. She thought.

She followed Crimson's lead to the edge of the cliff, looking side to side along the dry desert below. The dropoff, for the cliff, had to be a steep hundred meter dive. Easily. And the more interesting thing that Twilight noticed, was the emenating magic field hovering over what had to be the edge of the country.

"Do you sense that magical energy? It's like Shining Armor's shield spell that he used over Canterlot. Only.....bigger." She added, chills crawling down her spine. What kind of unicorn could sustain that kind of shield?

"Yes, this is one of the first indicators that something was indeed wrong. No country should be able to produce a spell of that size, unless with the aid of an alicorn." Luna said in her most serious tone. But in it was.....sadness?

"There's alicorn magic at work here?" Twilight gasped as she thought of the implications. Alicorns were meant to control major events for ponies' lives. The sun, the moon, and true love were the only ones she had ever heard of.

What could another alicorn possibly control? And one of this power?

"Much more than that, Twilight. Much more." The lunar princess said, falling into silence as her horn erupted with light, blinding the gathered ponies slightly.

The sphere in front of them appeared as a black cloak; pulsating with raw tendrils of magical energy. There in front of it though, was a hole tearing past the fabric of the spell. Luna was creating an opening in it, causing the earth to tremble as the two forces fought.

Not long afterwords, the group was heading into the country of Romanea, with slightly more apprehension than was in their hearts before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moving at supersonic speeds, was a multi-toned pegasus heading straight for a base that was peeping from the tops of the trees. But as she came closer, specks of gold and white came towards her at matching speeds. Clearly intending to intercept.

Ugh, what do these guys want? She thought irritatedly.

As they neared, both parties came to a halt, the white ponies with golden armor armed and prepared for a fight. The wind was at a standstill as the sun shined slightly behind her.

"State your business here." The lead pony stated, his voice carrying easily over the twenty feet seperating them.

"I'm looking for my friend. Have you seen her?" She asked, looking at their eyes for any reaction.

"What does she look like?" The other pony queried, obviously being the more amiable of the two.

"Purple, with a darker mane that has a purple and pink strip. She has a starlike cutie mark. And her name is Twilight Sparkle." This time there was a definite reaction from them.

"Y-you have to leave. Go back home, there's nopony like that here." The lead pony asserted.

"Yeah, you're better off leaving now." The side pony tensing up.

"Fat chance, I'm gonna find her. Even if I have to go through BOTH of you to do it!" The rainbow mare shouted and dashed in close. Her years of speed training and practice came to her aid as she bucked the lead pony in the chest after a swift mid-air flip. And without losing any momentum she dropped while still traveling at half the speed of sound. Closing in on the tops of the trees as they rushed up to meet her.

A quick flap of the wings and a burst of speed, she was blazing past the canopy, the side pony and lead pony in tow. They were no newbies, and they soon began to gain on her, much like her plan had entailed. With a manuever she had learned from Maverick all those years ago - she spread her wings wide, catching the maximum amount of drag in the wind. Forcing her past the chasing soldiers as she slowed to an abrupt halt, them having to recover with wide arcs to sustain their speed and redirect themselves towards her.

She used this time to head towards the side pony and intercept his arc midway through, he had little chance to block her attack due to the limitations in his armor. Rainbow tackled him, forcing them to drop into the forest, and subsequently the soldier pony was rammed into the trunk of a tree. Crumpling his chestplate inward and ripping a scream from his throat as he broke several bones. Rainbow, however, had let go before the impact and was able to escape the same fate.

His helmet should've kept him from being hurt too bad... She reassured herself. Rainbow didn't want to be responsible for the death of an innocent pony doing his job.

She soared high into the air, becoming aware that she had lost sight of the lead pony. As she turned her head, the lead pony was on top of her. Quickly he turned to the side and gave a wild slash to her side. The pain exploded across her wing as the blade ripped through the skin, forcing her to lose control of her flight path. His assault was not finished, as he took another swipe and managed to catch her lower back. This strike made her lose the altitude she had gained after dispatching that other soldier.

And this time, as she looked up into the eyes of the soldier, he slammed his fist into her face. Blackness followed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow awoke to the clang of her cell doors being opened. She shook her head, and tried to focus her eyes. As the fuzzy mess cleared, she was left in the presence of princess Luna. She rubbed her eyes, and made a hasty bow. Still wondering if all this was real.

"Rise, loyalty. Rainbow Dash, I presume?" The lunar princess offered as she looked around the stone walls.

It was a small cell, and there was little more than ten feet wall to wall on the sides. The windows gave away the fact that it was slightly underground, as it reached up to ground level. She could hear the shouts of ponies training on dummies or each other.

"Yes, princess. Do you.... know where Twilight is?" She asked, looking the alicorn over. It was a little after six, if she had to gauge from the lack of light outside.

She seemed reluctant to answer, but managed to say, "Yes, she is in my company. Why?"

Rainbow noticeably sighed, and said, "That's a relief, we thought she was in danger. That somepony had taken her from us. What are you guys doing all the way out here?" She said in a more lighthearted voice. The pegasus attempted to walk up to the princess, but was hindered by burning on her back and wing. She looked back at her wing, seeing the dried blood and torn skin. Her back fared no better.

The princess only raised her eyes, looking over the damage. A quick spell later, the mare was completely healed, not even a scar was left from the wounds. But before the mare could thank her, she was interrupted by a hoof.

"If Twilight did not tell you her purpose for being out here, then it isn't my place to tell. I have to trust her judgement, however."

"What do you mean? Is it about the 'fate of Equestria'? Because I am not going to sit by and watch my friend do something without me!" She said, her pride echoing in her voice.

"You may not want to... But you will. I won't let you interfere with this mission, it is of the utmost importance that we remain a steady course. And you at least know that we are doing something that involves everpony in Equestria, so you have no place to question or involve yourself." She said with finality.

Rainbow's heart dropped, not being able to help, or even to see her friend....or could she?

"Can I at least see her again? One more time.....then I swear I'll leave." She asked with hope in her heart.

Maybe...I'll be able to tell her how I feel...finally get it out... She thought.

"No. But my guards will release you as soon as we leave. There's no way you'll be able to follow us where we're going." Luna said as she turned to take her leave.

Rainbows insides twisted, but she managed, "Wait! Where are you going? Is...is it Romanea?" She called out.

The princess looked back, and was going to say something but choose not to answer. That gave Rainbow as much answer as she needed. They were headed to Romanea, and they were leaving soon.

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Author's Note

It's been awhile since I've updated this story, which is entirely my fault (^.^')

BUT, I can say that I do have more things in store, and this was just a primer chapter to get me back in to the habit of writing again. I also imagine Maverick Sweep to have an Irish accent, sooooo I have no clue how well that was conveyed....

I appreciate comments, likes, and ESPECIALLY feedback on it

Have a hoof /]

(Also in the last chapter is said DeadGraveRock, the answer was LivingTombstone!)

~PickleBarrel~

Time Lost

Chapter 6: Times Lost

Rainbow Dash paced in her small space, thinking to herself for most of the time after the princess's visit. Each turn and trip around brought more questions, and even fewer answers. Her mane had become dissarrayed from constant fidgeting. She was the picture of disquiet, fears and hopes, plans and contingencies playing out in her head as she looked out of her miniscule window.

Why couldn't I follow them into Romanea? Why couldn't I help? What the BUCK was in that second letter?! Come on, Rainbow! Think! There's gotta be something to help here..... She thought in this way for what appeared to be hours.

But no matter how she tried to rationalize it, she had come to one singular conclusion. She had to find Twilight, whether she had to go to Romanea, chase royalty, or otherwise. The pegasus mare was not going to let one of her friends down.

Right....a friend. Her sarcastic side said.

Shut up! I don't need YOU bothering me right now. The sane part of her lashed out.

You realize she probably won't feel the same way right? She probably doesn't even like other mares.... Or maybe her and Luna....... The cynical part of her asserted.

Shut UP! That's not true!

How can you be so sure? Don't you think that she would have shown some form of affection to you by now? I would think so.

"SHUT UP!!!" Rainbow screamed.

As she came out of the mental conversation she realized that not only had she shouted the last bit, but that salty trails of water were making their way down her muzzle. Each drip seemed to have a cumulative effect, her sadness welling into a pit of remorse. No matter how much she tried to justify her inaction and deny her other side it's satisfaction, she couldn't hide the pain.

The multicolored mare made her way to the bed and managed to collapse in a dreamless state.

Not long afterwords, commotion echoed from outside her window, making her look up to it with sorrowful eyes. She had no ambition to stand and see what it was all about. Until she heard, "Get Lady Sparkle's bags!"

At that, her ears perked up and she made herself stand on sadness weakened knees. She stood on her hindlegs and hoisted herself to the window. Peeking outwards, she saw that Twilight was walking out of the building, heading towards the princess and two distinctive guards. She attempted to call out to her, but her words got stuck in her throat. It wasn't due to the pain from before, it was a spell. Luna was looking right at her, and seemed to be focusing intently.

A silent agreement was reached, and Luna let the spell drop, allowing the Rainbow mare to drop from the window to catch mouthfuls of air for her lungs. Just as she was going to make a witty comment about what Luna could do with her spells, she realized that her mouth would form the words, but no sound would come out.

The whorse casted a silence spell on me! Oohhhhh, if I weren't in this cell..... She thought as she picked herself back up to the window in time to see them head off in what she assumed to be the direction of Romanea.

The clanging of keys alerted her to the presence of a guard with her saddlebags at his side, and a wrapped sandwich levitating next to him. He unlocked the door, dropped her saddlebags and the sandwich in front of her, and told her that she was free to go.

With a civil nod, one that belied everything she wanted to do to this entire military base, she walked out of the building onto the grounds, eating the sandwich to replenish her reserves of strength. The sun was low on the horizon, and Twilight was about twenty minutes ahead of her, and if she wanted she could catch up to them easily. Just as she was about to take off in that direction, three guards walked up to her and informed her that she would be chapperoned to the nearest city.

Damn it, she must have thought that I would follow them.

Soon before leaving, Rainbow attempted to glean some information on their whereabouts. All her efforts were meet with stoic stares and closed lips.

At least I don't have to worry about boring conversation on the way there, right? She mused silently to herself.

The party of four then began to head to the city of Coltsfield. A small village on the edge of the grassy expanse Rainbow had been near the other day. It wasn't large enough to get noticed on the maps Twilight had, otherwise Rainbow would have given it a once over herself. But at a glance at the slow pace and minimal thoroughfare, it was apparant that this was the definition of 'out-of-the-way.'

As soon as they came into town, the lead pony made sure that she had accomadations, and then led his team back to the encampment. By now, darkness had settled over Equestria, and there was little chance that the cyan mare would be able to get to the border of Romanea without the aid of moonlight, which was absent. Much to Rainbow's chagrin and discomfort.

I should stay here til sunlight breaks... But, I can't let Twilight get away again! She adopted a determined visage, and took to the air. The cries of the ponies of Coltsfield left behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The inside of Romanea was absolutely still, the clops of their hooves echoing in a cacophonous manner that made them more aware of their surroundings. No matter where they turned, the desert seemed to stretch on for miles. The sense of dread, however, was the most daunting thing they had encountered. It was like a blanket, and weighed them down just as easily.

If this is what the ponies of Romanea have to live with, I can see why we need to get rid of that King...... Twilight managed to think past the beating of her own heart, which was unnaturally loud in her ears.

Just as she had that thought, she heard Crimson yell from behind her, "It's an ambush!"

She just managed to turn to face him when two ponies shot from under the earth, both bearing wicked curved blades in a crescent moon shape. Body markings were adorned in the shape of painted runes on their bodies, giving them apparent magical immunities and boosting their speed. Each appeared to be rushing to Crimson at a speed Rainbow Dash would have been envious of, considering they were earth ponies.

At a nearly simultaneous moment, to her right and left, two more ponies erupted from the earth and rushed Luna and NightSear respectively. Twilight was the last to be assaulted, and this was by a dark robed stallion with only his red eyes glowing under his visage. He was a unicorn, and he was focusing directly on Twilight, two jagged blades levitating next to him.

The purple mare thought back to her brief training, and pulled out her own sword. There was no way she could do very well on her own, but maybe she could hold him off long enough to keep the princess safe, which was her only concern right now. She ran up to him, with fear in her eyes and the blade levitating right next to her, just like Crimson had shown her how to charge. Point aimed directly to his chest, only the blade length ahead of her, and a firm telekenetic grip on the hilt of it.

The myterious stallion made no moves as she charged, closing the forty feet between them relatively quickly. Just as the point was about to drive home, he stepped to the side and brought down one of the slightly curved scimitars on the sword, shoving it into the ground, leaving her open for the second to come down in an efficient manner. And if not for her heavy saddlebags, she would have likely lost her head to the swipe. On of the belts had, comically, come loose at the last second. Making the mare trip over herself.

She wasn't harmed, but now the saddlebags were out of the way, with the containing buckle being cast aside. Twilight regained her footing in the loose sand, making sure to keep her distance from the stallion who waited for her next move. Her eyes managed to get a look at the fight going on below from the sand dune they occupied, and was relieved to see that Crimson had killed one of the attackers, and was bashing in the other. NightSear had offed his, and had been intercepted on the way to help Crimson by more soldiers. He was currently facing three at once, but seemed to be having an easy time of staying right out of their blades. Luna, however, was seeming to do rather badly.

Right after the first one sprang from his hiding place, another managed to get behind her. She had destroyed the first with scorching rays of flame, but the second had manuevered away, and the princess had been slashed across the chest by the surprise attack. Now, however, she was standing her own against what appeared to be close to eleven of the soldiers at first glance.

Now Twilight focused back on the unicorn who had also been assessing the situation. He pulled his hood back, to reveal the stark image of a haunting pony. All of the soldiers up to this point had been cloaked and hooded, but when she saw what was underneath the cloth, she had to keep from dropping her jaw in shock. First, his entire face seemed as though it had been dragged through barbed wire, the brown color it used to be was just a patchwork of scars and cuts. Second, his face showed signs of severe malnutrition, his eyesockets sunken in and the skin taught on his skull. Third, was his eyes, the milky dull red that belied his blindness. And fourth, his raider-esque hair, which appeared to be a knife cut mess of darker brown strands.

"What....what happened to you....?" She couldn't help but ask. The words slipping out of her mouth without her consent.

He hesitated before answering with, "You talkin' bout moi face? Yeah, it comes wif the territory." He stopped for a quick breath, "I didn't know I was goin' at it wif a girl. I assumed it was an all men battalion."

"How can you see?" She asked, more than happy to engage him in conversation than in combat. Her stomach churned as he spoke, his voice holding a foreign accent and raspy tint. The sound of a pony who had spent hours screaming, probably from torture.

"Magic, love. I c'n see the enire battlefield right now. And whoever that unicorn is over there, is certainly given' moi men the once over." He said, nodding in Luna's general direction.

He must not realize that she's an alicorn, and he also doesn't know that this isn't a battalion of average soldiers. Twilight thought, so there were limitations to what he could do. And that's also why he wouldn't pull his slashes for a green fighter like herself.

"You're losing." She attempted to put as much toughness as she could into it, maybe she could persuade him to give up.

"They may be. But moi battle's right 'ere!" He said as he hurled one of the blades directly at her with no warning.

She managed to duck under it's arc, but soon he was in the air bearing down on her. She rolled to the side, but was slightly late. The result was a nick to her side as the sword struck the sand next to her. The pain wasn't great, but she didn't get a chance to check how bad it was, considering he was back on top of her.

This time he opted for a feign, and as she tried to duck under the slash, Twilight was caught by the hilt of the metal blade. The resulting strike made her see stars, her cheek throbbing from the impact. He wasn't done and soon followed up with a slash to her stomach, luckily for her though, her own blade had been close enough to levitate. She had intercepted it in mid swing, and caught the pony off guard. His sword was thrown away from him and he was left momentarily defenseless.

She was about to bring her blade up into his stomach, when she realized what she was doing.

I...I can't kill a pony. Her mind whimpered, even if it was entirely necessary.

This is self defense, Twilight. Her rational thoughts offered her. But with little success.

Instead the mare used her magic to pick up the unicorn and toss him away, his body flailing and hitting the sand lightly. Soon he was back on his feet, his body taking no damage from the levitation. But the mare hadn't intended to hurt the stallion, merely push him back. Without looking behind her, Twilight began to gallop back to the safety of her group. Unaware of the spell being cast from the horn of the rival unicorn.

As she came close to NightSear, who was dragging his sword upwards in time to block the aim of the harrassing earth pony, a silvery shield was erected in front of her. Forcing her to backpedal to avoid the devastating energy that sparked off of it's surface.

"I'm not done wif you!" He yelled, beckoning to her.

Now Twilight realized the situation she was in. Her sword, as average as it was, lay near the unicorn on the ridge. She was completely unarmed, having forgotten to scope it up as she retreated. The mare took a glance at the nearly finished battle that the others had gone through. Luna was delivering a devastating buck to the last soldier, clearly kicking in more than a few of his ribs. Nightsear was pulling his sword from a limp stallion that hung weightlessly on the heft of his blade. Crimson had already seen the position she was in and had taken to the air, trying to find a weakness in the spell that surrounded her.

"I-I can't fight you....." The purple mage whispered under her breath.

With a grimace she realized that the only way out of this predicament was the death of one or the other. At least until Luna could break the shield spell. So she attempted to engage him in conversation again, hoping to distract him.

"Why are y-" She began to ask, only to be swiftly inturrupted by a savage blast of light.

The light had been conjured out of the stallion's horn, and before Twilight could recover, her attacker was less than two meters away from her. He dashed right into the mare before she could react. The weight of the impact was more than enough to knock the wind out of her. Sending the mare sprawling on a more rocky portion of ground, sending pain into her side.

He casually walked up to Twilight, looking as though he were going to say something. But the words were cut short by the blast of energy that rushed into him as his shield spell collapsed. The magic that hit him had a blue tint and arched sparks of lightning as it threw him into the sand behind where he'd been standing.

"Are you alright, Twilight?!" Luna yelled as she rushed to her aid.

Looking herself over, she responded with, "Nothing that I can't fix later."

Relief washed over the princesses face as she turned to look at the impact crater that the sand had filled in. A glow of her horn revealed that the entire dune was empty. The mage had retreated under the earth. She let the grains fall from her levitation as she took stock of her guards and her sister's student.

Both NightSear and Crimson were tending to some minor injuries, and Twilight had used a light healing spell to seal her wounds. The largest injury out of them was to Princess Luna, who had been attacked from behind, and now bore the a long cut from under her left wing that traced down towards her flank. It wasn't deep, just superficial at best. And soon the party had recovered from the attack.

"We're almost to a place to rest, but for now, we need to keep moving. There'll likely be reinforcements." She said as she began to lead the way.

After a couple minutes of brisk walking, Twilight caught up to Luna.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked in the vein of friendly conversation, but couldn't help but think of what Luna had said to her the night previously.

"I'll be fine, Twilight." She said as she took a glance down to the purple mare and offered a smile. Although there was something that was nagging her.

"You don't look like it.... Are you sure?" She queried again, hoping to coax more out of the princess.

".....No." She offered, then added, "Why did you try to fight that soldier?" Even as it left her mouth it felt more like an accusation than a question.

Twilight noticeably flinched, and attempted to offer an answer, but none were forthcoming.

"I...don't know."

Luna's face contorted with anger for maybe a fraction of a second before, but just as quickly, it vanished. Twilight wasn't sure if she had seen it in the first place and wondered if the night was playing tricks on her. She looked ahead and couldn't discern anything in the distance, and swallowed her misgivings.

"But I had to help, I don't wanna be useless!" She could remember magic kindergarden, only for a second. Before she pressed further, "And I didn't know that he was that good... "

A sigh came from Luna's muzzle, and her next words were soft and smooth. "You're not useless, and I understand that you want to help. But in the future, you should pick your battles more wisely. Oftentimes not fighting can help more than being the greatest fighter. Do you understand?"

The words were sagely, and Twilight understood the wisdom behind them. The purple mare nodded and they continued on in silence for the rest of the trip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Rainbow zipped throught the sky, it was brightened by her rainbow colored contrail. She had broken the sound barrier several miles back and was now racing towards Romanea at a speed that rivaled that of the wonderbolts. In an hour's time she had speed past the same military base, passing the ponies that had escorted her.

They had given chase, and were left far behind after the miniature rainboom boosted her ahead. The cyan mare soon came to what appeared to be the border into the strange place, only to find a dark shield blocking her path. The star's minimal light showed the grotesque tendrils of black that sanctioned the two boundries.

"Awww, how am I supposed to go through THAT?!" Rainbow stomped the ground under her with frustration.

Around her was a small cliff, and some trees that were knarled and sparse from the transition from sand to dirt as Equestria met Romanea. The still night was interuppted by a flash of bright light from within the sphere, blue light that was met with a silvery twin that was just visible through the shroud.

Something was happening in there, and Rainbow got the sinking feeling that it had something to do with Twilight. She looked high into the air, and began to make out the end of the wall of black between the clouds. It wasn't a dome as she had first assumed, but an effectively high wall. Reaching from the ground to the heavens.

With a flap of her wings she soared into the air, the sting of the cold offering no comfort as the pegasus climbed higher and higher into the air. Thin wisps of atmosphere made breathing difficult as she passed what the pegasi called the Atmos Line. It was the portion of sky that was unbreathable and increasingly cold. Nopony usually went higher than three fourths of the way here, and she still had roughly two hundred meters left before she could cross over the barrier.

Her breath became nothing more than ragged gasps and choking struggle as she made her wings give more lift to accomodate the lack of air. Now she only had one hundred meters left, and her body had begun to shut down. Her heart hammered ferociously in her chest, and her vision began to tinge with red. Her wings were crying from overexert, and if not for all her training to be a wonderbolt, she would have given up long ago.

Almost.....there!!!! Her mind screamed from pain.

Her willpower had almost given up on her only a rough ten feet away from the edge, her usual fast flying now slowed to a druding crawl. The only thing that last ten feet happen, was the sight of what was happening far below. What she had seen earlier was a battle, and all around it were the corpses of ponies. But from this height she couldn't distinguish which side had won.

Twilight! She managed with the last of her thought processes, which were muddled by the blood rushing in her ears due to her ever faster beating heart.

That last push propelled her over the tendrils of magic that, as she passed, licked at her hooves. The black tendrils bit the bottom of her fore hooves and left a magical burn as Rainbow screamed in pain. With no strength left, she plunged downwards to the ground....

Author's Note

A/N
WELP, there another chapter be.
I wanted to flesh out RD a bit more and show a bit more fight and a little less whining on Twilight's part. I should also get someone to proofread this stuff, but I am WAAAAY to lazy to make the effort. ^_^'

I love the feedback, likes, and just you guys bein' there!

Have a hoof! /]

~GeneralBangarang~