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.

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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.

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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~