Today. Celestia was coming home today and Twilight wanted to present the wing reinforcement to Celestia. The modifications were made and with the insertion of some glyph marked gemstones and glyph arrays on top of Rarity’s sleek modifications, the things were ready. She would even hazard to call them ‘combat ready’. The magic she had put into Dash’s were to channel energy into arcane wing blades, grant large bursts of speed like an afterburner, and to shield from kinetic impacts like a griffon charging you or smacking into a tree. They were completely customizable, however, and Twilight even got a much larger pair ready for the Princess. Just in case.
She was working off of the modified sketches Rainbow had helped her for griffon wings, just completing a mechanical wing frame in its entirety, when the door glowed black and Celestia stepped through.
“Ah, I was hoping you’d be in here! And you as well, Admiral. It’s good to see you with us again.” The Princess said when she entered and found Twilight at her work and Dash lounging on the rafters in the living area. They both rushed to the Princess. Twilight hugged her while Dash bowed.
“It’s good to be back, thanks to you from what I hear.” The pegasus replied. Celestia smiled and inclined her head as Twilight stepped back. “Twilight, you have something you want to show me. I know that look in your eyes.” Celestia continued, Twilight was almost bouncing in excitement. Dash grinned and spread her wings out.
“Mechanical and arcane reinforcement. She flies better than she used to.” Twilight started as the door behind Celestia closed and opened again to revel the area surrounding Ponyville once more. Dash took a ready stance as a low hum filled the room for just a second before Dash shot out of the door with the enhanced speed boost. She then proceeded to pull maneuvers that could probably get her into the Wonderbolts and demonstrated the other enhancements .
“That’s… your arcane engines are already so advanced as to power that?” Celestia asked, looking at Twilight as they watched Dash fly. The unicorn nodded and they both continued to watch as Dash came back in for a landing.
“My, it would appear that you are once again fit for duty. I specifically remember your applications to my private guard, but before they were approved you had your accident. Are you still interested?” Celestia asked. Both of the two stared at Celestia at that. Celestia noted that both of them seemed almost scared of the idea.
“What?... I mean, I totally am still interested… but… I don’t think I can leave here. If they went after Twilight once they’ll do it again. Not to mention the fact that I’m basically half of her power supply for her experiments.” Dash said after a few moments of silence. Celestia smiled. She had already decided on this with Shining Armor of course.
“I’m afraid I can only trust my best soldiers to defend one so precious to me as Twilight.” The Princess said. She put a hoof up when both of them opened their mouths to protest and her smile widened. “So I wouldn’t dream of putting her safety in anyone else’s hooves.” She finished. Twilight could only let out a sigh of relief while Dash snorted.
“In the meantime, are these very difficult to create?” The princess continued, looking closer at Dash’s wing reinforcements.
“Yes, nowhere near ready for mass production. They’re not too expensive to make, it just takes time and they need to be generally fitted to the pony. Would you like to see yours?” Twilight replied, her confidence waning slightly at the last part. She had no idea how the princess would react. Celestia’s look of confusion almost brought a giggle from the unicorn, but instead she motioned for her to follow and led the alicorn into the workshop proper.
“This morning, in preparation for you coming to visit, Rarity and I made a set for you just in case. The enhancements can be swapped out or inscribed on the spot, and if there’s not enough ambient magic to keep them fully charged you can always overcharge them. I… just want to make sure you’re safe out there.” Twilight explained as she retrieved the much larger frames from their place. “Rarity even figured out the proper way to make them removable! The feathers hide the receptacles to go back in pretty easily.” She continued. Silence fell over the workshop for a few moments as Celestia seemed to be deep in thought.
“What does the process entail? And you said they’re removable?” She asked after nearly a minute of thought. That caused the two to enter a lengthy conversation about the finer mechanics of the things for quite a while.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt, I’m heading into town. I promised AJ I’d help around the farm. Both of you should come around for dinner she wanted me to tell you. Granny Smith would love to have you again.” Dash said after nearly an hour of discussion. Twilight smiled and nodded.
“Ah, that old mare. We always had the most interesting conversations. I’d love to.” Celestia answered her. Dash nodded and shot out of the door. Philomena had joined the ‘party’ since Celestia’s arrival and she was now watching in interest as Twilight carefully fit the reinforcements on her mentor’s wings.
“So, I thought you weren’t exactly together anymore?” Celestia asked not long after Dash had left.
“It’s… kinda complicated. We talked about it and she’s fine with whatever we are as long as we’re friends. It’s nice living with someone, though. I didn’t have the heart to kick her out and we both like having her around.” Twilight explained after a pause. “Hold still, this’ll sting a bit.” She said quickly before the drilling started. Celestia seemed to barely notice it as she continued.
“I Dare say it’d be a trouble getting her to leave regardless. She was one of my most loyal soldiers before, she wanted to become one of my personal guard for so long. Would’ve done anything for it. Not only did she hesitate when I offered it this time, though, but she refused it on the basis of wanting to keep you safe. I’m impressed you’ve inspired such loyalty in her. Especially if you’ve talked about your feelings.” The princess explained. Twilight smiled as the reinforcements were properly put into place.
“Yeah… Speaking of that, I have some ideas about that book. I don’t have anything concrete yet so I’d rather not make assumptions, but it’s getting there. I’d rather not muddle up this day with any more business though, I promised Pinkie Pie I’d bring you over to her place for pastries.” The unicorn said with a smile. Celestia gave her a look, she knew the unicorn was dodging the subject even though she was the one who brought it up.
“Twilight, do remember how that particular subject is a very important matter to me personally and of the nation’s security… “ Celestia started. Twilight nodded and rubbed the back of her head.
“I… Like I said I don’t have anything concrete… but I don’t think Nightmare Moon is a threat anymore.” The unicorn said. Celestia blinked a few times.
“You… You’re sure?” The alicorn asked, trying to process what exactly that could mean.
“No, not yet. Now that the wing reinforcement project is done I’m returning my full attention to it. Dash kinda saw more than I meant her to as well, we may or may not have enlisted the help of the girls as well- though only Dash has seen the book. I also unblocked Spike’s memory now that he’s confident he can keep those secrets again like you said.” Twilight explained. Celestia nodded slowly as the unicorn finished.
“I… would have preferred your new friends not get involved, but if the only other person that has seen what the Admiral has seen is my most loyal soldier then I suppose I can trust her… I’m putting a lot of trust in you, Twilight, and I trust you not to betray that trust… If it weren’t for that dream I don’t think I could believe you but… Nevermind.” The princess explained.
“It was Dash who figured some of it out, actually, I’m just cross referencing and double checking it. Anyways, pastries. Pinkie Pie’s.” The unicorn replied. Celestia smiled and nodded. The alicorn’s legendary sweet tooth would be sated on this day if it was the last thing that pink mare would do.
That night, Twilight sat with Luna, gazing up at the stars together. They hadn’t spoken much, simply enjoying each other’s company.
“So, my rescuer, how dost thou plan to get here and abscond with your princess?” Luna asked with a little smirk, dipping into the old tongue for effect. Twilight snorted.
“Magic.” Was her reply.
“Magic?” Luna asked, an eyebrow raised. Twilight stood and threw open the door to the workshop proper. It had been mostly cleared of all equipment and detritus, and nearly every inch of the floor was covered in arcane scrawlings. A massive glyph array.
“Magic.” Came Twilight’s repeated reply. Luna just stared at it. She traced the lines and translated the arcane symbols to try and figure just what its function was.
“You… You’re… teleporting here?” Luna breathed out. Twilight nodded.
“And the Workshop, I’ve fitted the boilers with some overcharged rubies to replace Philomena for up to a week. I’ve placed air talismans around the place so that I won’t suffocate and my eyes won’t pop out of my head in the vacuum. I’ll be using a significant amount of energy stored in the arcane engines to do it, but a few days of charging them from me and an alicorn should be enough to get us back.” Twilight explained. Luna stayed silent for a few moments, doing calculations in her head.
“And… the nightmare?” She asked. Twilight smiled and nuzzled into Luna’s neck.
“Won’t be a problem.” She said without hesitation. Luna hummed, not sure, but she couldn’t argue with that confidence. They stayed like that for awhile before they both looked off towards the door. It made no sound here, but they could both hear it being knocked on in the waking world.
“I don’t suppose you want to ignore that, do you?” Luna asked. Twilight quickly kissed the alicorn’s muzzle before closing her eyes.
“It’s coming from the palace, so it’s important. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” She said with a smile. Luna’s grumbling was the last thing Twilight saw before she opened her eyes and groaned. Her horn lit up and the door opened, revealing Shining Armor holding two cups of coffee.
“Hey Twily, sorry to wake you up… You two are adorable by the way.” The stallion said as he walked in, noticing Twilight and Dash sharing their makeshift bed.
“It’s comfy. You’re gonna make me get up, aren’t you?” Twilight grumbled, accepting the coffee as it was offered to her. He nodded and she groaned again.
“I’ll keep warm for ya.” Dash grumbled just as sleepily before her gentle snores revealed the flash of consciousness was just that. Twilight smiled before teleporting out of the sleeping pegasus’ grasp so as not to wake her.
“I was having a good dream, so this better be good.” The unicorn said to her brother, the flash of magic waking her up a bit more. He nodded and motioned for her to follow.
“It’s about the investigation. There’s some serious glyphwork we found at the meeting point. That Griffon doesn’t know anything about it but it gives me the creeps. I was hoping you’d be able to figure something out about it.” Shining explained as he lit up his horn for teleportation. Twilight nodded, giving him permission, and they appeared in what looked like a darkened ballroom.
“Miss Sparkle.” A very tired voice greeted her arrival. Twilight had never seen Blueblood so… subdued. Or polite for that matter. He looked like he was genuinely happy to see her here. “Thank you for coming, I hate to have any remnants of this terrorism in my home.” He continued. Twilight nodded and looked at the black scrawlings all over the floor and walls.
“This wasn’t black before I assume?” Twilight asked as she started walking around, reading the glyphs.
“No, they were very well hidden. I traced over them as best I could, it’s flash powder enchanted to cling to magical residue. Once ignited it’ll erase the magic it’s clinging to.” Shining explained. Twilight nodded to signify she heard as she continued.
“From what I’m seeing here these glyphs are designed for observation, transportation, communication… This doesn’t make sense.” The studious unicorn said more to herself. Twilight moved over to look but she waved him off, she was just talking to herself. He nodded and started looking around the room more.
“By the way, I meant to ask you, what made you decide to stay in the palace that day? The Griffon told us that it was the first day they would make their attempt according to orders. Sounded like someone knew you would be there before they did.” Shining asked. Twilight was mumbling to herself, but she suddenly stopped. Shining gave her a questioning look when she stood straight up and looked at Shining.
“They never came for that meeting… I thought… no… This doesn’t… no, it does make sense.” She started thinking aloud again before looking Shining in the eye.
“The council. I received a message saying they wanted to meet with me sometime that night. I slept in my room at the palace for that reason because knocking on the door doesn’t always go through when I’m in the workshop. I assumed nobody came because of the attack but…” Twilight explained. She tapered off as she looked at the glyphs again.
“But it adds up. These glyphs are clearly of Equestrian design. This string here is designed to render the magic untraceable. Normally I‘d still be able to trace it since I practically invented the strings currently in use in Equestria, but these are new ones. I had just submitted them to the university to be forwarded to the council. I don’t know who it could have been, but at least one of the council members is a traitor.” Twilight continued. She lit her horn and the flash powder ignited, erasing the massive glyph array.
“Then we’ll need to start detaining and questioning them…” Shining started. Blueblood nodded as well.
“You should begin with those who have been recorded having Griffon Prejudice, this whole charade seemed to be designed to start open war with the griffons in general again rather than the small rebellion. Give me ten minutes and I can scour some of my records for places to start.” The noble suggested. Shining nodded and the noble turned to leave the ballroom while Twilight quickly cleaned the char from the ballroom.
“Thanks for your help, Twily. I’d keep an eye out and stay at your workshop. Keep it moving even, until we find the traitors it might be dangerous for you.” Shining said, hugging his sister. She hugged him back and smiled.
“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself. And if not, I’ve got some powerful friends now. It’d take an army to beat us.” She said with a little smirk. He nodded.
“I’ll walk you back to the door either way, then I’ll come back here and continue the investigation.” The captain said. Twilight nodded and they quickly made their way back to the astronomy tower. Shining paused a few times to give orders to patrolling guards but beyond that they reached the tower quickly.
Twilight squinted at the sun peeking just over the horizon in the distance out of the workshop’s window, a frown on her face. She smiled as she felt a wing drape over her as the coffee machine to that side started up.
“Find anything?” Dash’s groggy voice asked. She frowned as Twilight gave her the summary and passed her a mug of zebra brew.
“Damn bigots. With all the shit I’ve seen you think I’d be the one hating griffons, these guys probably haven’t even met one.” The pegasus grumbled into her mug. Twilight leaned into her, happy for the comforting presence.
“So… I normally don’t ask about this kind of stuff because I hate war… but… could you tell me about it?” Twilight asked softly. Dash said nothing for a little while, but eventually she hummed and looked down at Twilight.
“You wanna know why I won’t eat meat?” She asked. Twilight half nodded.
“It was the first thing I wondered. Rabenkrahe’s best dish is Bratwurst afterall.” She replied. Dash nodded and sipped her coffee.
“Have you ever had raw beef?” Dash asked. Twilight nodded.
“It wasn’t my favorite but I have.” She replied, a sinking feeling in her gut telling her she wasn’t going to like the rest of this topic. Dash nodded and took a deep breath.
“You ever eat raw pony?” She asked, cringing slightly as she said it. Twilight just kinda blinked and stared for a moment. ‘Eat’ and ‘pony’ were definitely in the same sentence there, that was…
“Because I have. One time when my unit was captured, the sick fucks tore my second into pieces and started trying to force feed it to us. It… wasn’t actually that bad, but you can imagine what goes through your mind when you’re eating a *person*. Especially a person that until five minutes ago you were *responsible for their lives*... I can’t even watch a pony eat meat without wanting to hurl or beat the shit out of them… And my nightmares never let me forget about it.” The pegasus continued, interrupting Twilight’s rapid train of thought.
She looked at the Pegasus again. She looked like she was going to vomit again, so she did the first thing that came to her mind to get rid of the thoughts she brought up. She booped Dash’s muzzle with a hoof, and then caught the pegasus in a quick little kiss when she looked up.
“Hey, don’t tease me like that!” The pegasus grumbled, but her little smile told the unicorn it had worked.
“Luna doesn’t really mind, and I dunno. After that… dream… she might even think it’s hot.” Twilight retorted. this caused Dash to enter a little snorting fit of laughter before leaning into Twilight again. “I brought it up, sorry. Maybe not hte best topic to talk about at the moment..” She continued. Dash pawed the ground a few times before sipping on her coffee.
“You’re the only one I’ve told about that… Even Flutters thinks it’s because I’ve seen griffons eat ponies in front of me before. Which that doesn’t help mind you, but the only person I’ve ever told about it was Princess Celestia when she lead the rescue operation on my unit. That’s when I became a Major, I didn’t crack. Do you know what she told me after that?” The pegasus asked. Twilight shook her head, letting Dash continued.
“She told me about this one time she went to the Griffon Capital for peace talks. They tried to disrupt it passive aggressively by serving meat, but she and her ambassadors weren’t phased. That is, until they were told it was pony meat. Half of the ambassadors started calling for their heads, the other halve couldn’t stop throwing it up. Do you know what Celestia did?” She told. Dash shook her head, she hadn’t heard this story before.
“She finished her meal without batting an eye, gave her compliments to the chef, and pulled out the treaty to be looked over. Stone faced and all. It freaked her people out, it freaked the griffons out even more.” Dash continued. Twilight balked.
“That actually happened?! I thought it was a terrible joke floating around!” She exclaimed. Dash nodded.
“She told me something then that I’ve kept with me since. ‘Sometimes we do terrible things, things we may come to hate later, but you cannot regret them for they were done out of necessity. I did what I did to both intimidate and demand respect not only the griffins, but my own people at the table. You were forced to do what you did, but you did not let it break you. It will not be the only terrible thing you will do in your life, or even this war, but those who know why it was done will only respect you for it.’ She explained to me.
“My whole take away from it is that we do things we aren’t proud of, but when they’re out of necessity for the greater good or something like that then I shouldn’t regret them. If I would have cracked like my guys did our whole platoon, maybe even our whole army, would have been in trouble.” Dash explained. Twilight slowly nodded.
“I guess she’s right, though… If someone did… that… to me then it probably would have broken me. You stayed strong, and while it still affects you it’s not for the reasons it would be. Now I’m kinda worried that I might order something like that one of these days and forget that it’s a no no around you.” The unicorn explained. Dash snorted in response.
“Naw, I’ve gotten better with it recently. Just don’t do it like every day or expect me to eat any of it and you’re fine.” She said. They stayed like that for a little while before Philomena gave what seemed like a very cautious caw. Dash seemed confused but Twilight knew that tone. She stood up and walked to the window.
“What…” She started, almost unconsciously shifting over so Dash could look too. Outside were a fairly large group of armed ponies and griffons. Unless there were some she couldn’t see there had to be at least ten of each. One of them stuck out, though. A pony. A pony she recognized.
“That snake, we trusted you!” Twilight practically growled. Dash didn’t recognize him, but she correctly assumed that he was on the council. Dash turned to her.
“Go back to the Palace, I’ll keep an eye on them. Get to Spike and get a message to the Princess and your brother.” Dash explained. Twilight nodded and turned the knob, but was surprised when it didn’t glow. Her eyes widened and she turned back to the pegasus.
“Only Spike knows how to block it… They must be at the Palace too.” She said. Dash swore and looked out of the window again, but a knock interrupted her sweep.
“Twilight, we know you’re in there. Please, just come quietly. Nobody else has to get hurt.” The pony’s voice came through the door.
“Tell me, Councilor, why are you doing this?” Twilight called back. There was silence for a few moments as Twilight made a few hoof gestures to Dash. The pegasus was a little surprised that her friend knew Equestrian Military hoof gestures but she nodded. they didn’t seem to know that the pegasus was here too and so she prepared to dash out of the door. ‘Hit and Run’ was the sign Twilight gave her.
“The Griffons think they are above us. Even those who call themselves allies. I believe that finishing the war that was started years ago is beneficial to our country, and I’ve been paid a lot of money to make sure the war continues.” He explained as Twilight’s horn lit. More glyphs appeared on Dash’s wing reinforcements as she wove more protective wards into them.
“What have you done with Spike?” Twilight asked. This answer came much quicker.
“He’s being held hostage by griffons in your tower, they tried to get in your magic door but the damn birds can’t figure it out. We don’t want any more bloodshed, Twilight. Not on our soil.” The pony replied. Twilight snorted. She made anothe hoof gesture that honestly surprised Dash.
‘VIP first, no mercy. Ready in 5 seconds.’
She nodded nonetheless and prepared to dash out of the door as soon as it was opened.
“I’m sorry Councilman, but you’ve admitted high treason and threatened my life in my own home. By the authority of my warrior princess and my duty as her student and all of the other titles I have earned I convict you of high treason and give you appropriate sentence. Your mercenaries should run or surrender.” Twilight called out with some magical amplification to get the point across. Ponyville probably heard it too. Then she opened the door. The pony she recognized as the councilman still had almost a cocky smirk as his head hit the ground before his body, the chromatic blur trailing blood out into the open air.
“I don’t want to kill any of you, get the hell out of here or I will kill you.” Dash said, pausing a dozen meters from the small force of armed creatures. The ponies seemed a little unsure, but the griffons looked as if they regretted their life decisions. They all stood their ground, however, and Dash frowned as a few arrows went her way. When she dodged the shot of a rifle she used the momentum of her twirl to slice the air with her wing.
A barely visible wave of air cut another incoming bullet in half, as well as the rifle and part of the griffon’s face that was holding it. Two of the unicorns in the group lit up their horns to try and stop the pegasus, but they screamed in pain as their horns simultaneously shattered after being wreathed in a lavender glow.
“And you’ve forfeited your lives.” Twilight said lowly as the excess wild magic generated by the shattered horns were fed into great lances of magic that then skewered the crippled unicorns into the ground.
She effortlessly grabbed three bullets out of the air and sent them back into the heads of their previous owners without even looking. Dash cut swathes through the griffins and two pegasi that dared follow her into the air as her recently inscribed glyphs repelled spellfire from below and what little rifle fire reached her.
One pass brought her almost dangerously close to Twilight as the unicorn deflected a spell bolt into the ground to kick up dirt as cover. Twilight used her magic to guide her friend around her and the pegasus activated her afterburner glyphs to rocket back towards the casters still slinging bolts blindly into the cloud of detritus. Their focused beams melted off of her as her barriers held and the unicorns were swiftly decapitated.
Twilight ducked under a hammer as a griffin above shot down at her- causing a bit of friendly fire on the hammer wielding earth pony. The pained flinch gave Twilight an easy opening to dig a spike of solidified magic into the stallion’s heart and she used his body to block the second bullet coming in. She shrugged him off of her as the griffin then fell to the ground, part of his face and a wing falling separately due to a chromatic streak passing through it.
Twilight stared down the last two earth ponies as Dash landed on the other side of them, her speed keeping even her wings clean of any blood.
“Well, you’ve yet to attack. Do you want to die too?” Twilight asked. They looked at each other, dropped their weapons, and bolted. Dash sighed in relief before walking over to the unicorn.
“You alright Twi? That was pretty awesome, but were those your first kills?” She asked. Twilight took a deep breath.
“No I’m not alright, yes they were, and we’re going to Canterlot right now to get that part over with before I have a complete meltdown.” The unicorn replied, her horn glowing. Dash nodded and stepped up to her and with a flash they were standing in the astronomy tower.
They teleported right into the middle of a standoff between Shining Armor with his guard and a group of griffins. Both parties seemed surprised, though Twilight and Dash did not attack.
“Where is the dragon.” Twilight didn’t ask, she demanded of the griffins. The one apparently in charge motioned with his head to where the baby dragon was sitting with a little smirk on his face in the corner, three rifles pointed at him just out of reach of what appeared to be scorch marks on the floor. She nodded and turned back to the griffin.
“Was this your contractor?” She asked, holding up the head of the councilman Dash decapitated. He didn’t even need to nod as they all lowered their weapons and bunched up.
“Our contract has been nullified. We did not harm any ponies in our infiltration and I will attest to that one’s involvement in exchange for our lives.” The lead griffin said. Twilight nodded and turned to Shining, placing the head in her magic in front of him, and giving him a quick hug.
“I’m going to go throw up and have a complete emotional breakdown back at the workshop. There were more there. Come get the story in about four hours.” She said softly to him. Before he could do more than nod she was gone, along with Dash and Spike.
Dash followed Twilight into the bathroom and held her close as she emptied her stomach into the toilet and simultaneously bawled her eyes out.
“Hells alive what happened here?!” They could barely hear a familiar farmer’s voice call out through the still open door.
“I’ll take care of them… do you want to see them?” Spike said softly, poking his head in. Twilight just nodded her head as there was nothing left to heave out and Dash gently stroked her mane, disregarding other ponies’ blood now caked in it.
Twilight allowed Dash to guide her to the shower and carefully started cleaning her up as four heads poked in. Twilight was still barely holding back sobs as she practically melted into the floor of the shower as Dash carefully scrubbed blood out of her coat. The pegasus answered the question nobody had asked yet before they could do so.
“Traitors and mercenaries, we took care of them. Twi’s never killed anyone before so she’s a mess right now. We’ll be out in a sec, she needs everyone right now.” Dash explained. They all nodded and everyone but Fluttershy backed off. “Don’t worry Flutters… none of it is hers.” Dash continued. Fluttershy nodded and she too backed out.
As soon as they walked out they were surrounded by their friends. They didn’t ask questions, they simply converged in front of the fireplace and stayed there together.
“Mind if I tell them what happened, Twi? Or would you rather not hear it again so soon?” Dash asked Twilight softly.
“I… barely remember it… go ahead.” Twilight replied, her voice cracking. Dash nodded and told them all what happened. They had indeed heard the enhanced declaration and, along with some of the militia, gathered and converged to see what happened. The militia was already cleaning up, even.
Within the hour, Spike received a letter from the princess congratulating Twilight and expressing her deepest relief that she was unharmed. The civil war in the griffon lands had come to blows so she would be fighting as well, but it meant that the rebellion was down to its last resort and would be over soon.
Twilight didn’t say much for the rest of the day, however once her meltdown was finally stopped she practically threw herself into working on the massive glyph array that was supposed to help her get to the moon. The others helped when they could of course, but some of them came and went as the sun slowly fell.
Shining came by while they were working to find out that after investigating the councilman’s accounts they traced his employer to another councilman who was subsequently arrested for trial when the princess returned. The griffins that ‘captured’ Spike returned to their homelands, having offered their contract to Celestia as a show of trust in exchange for their freedom, and would arrive to aid in the fighting.
“You’ve had a terribly busy day…” Luna’s soft voice told Twilight that she had fallen asleep at her table again. She instantly buried her face into Luna’s chest, the alicorn pulling her into a winged embrace as she wrapped a foreleg around her to hold the unicorn.
“I killed people today. Four griffins and five ponies. I hate fighting and killing. And I did it.” Twilight softly explained, sniffing slightly. Luna lifted the unicorn’s chin and planted a sweet little kiss on the mare’s lips.
“Well I still love you, if that makes you feel any better. Your friends do too. I got the story from Rainbow Dash. Tell me, why did you kill those people? There had to have been a reason when you could have just stayed in the workshop until help arrived.” Luna asked. Twilight sniffed again as she wiped her eyes and leaned a little more into Luna.
“I… I didn’t want Dash to get hurt fighting so many at once… and Spike locked the door’s magic. He’d only do that if it wasn’t safe to come back or he was trying to stop someone from using it. Then he said he was being held hostage and I… I got angry. How dare they come after the people I care about for leverage! How dare they come after me in the first place! I didn’t do anything to them! I-!” Twilight started, but as it started turning into furious declarations Luna interrupted her with another kiss.
“You killed not just in the defense of yourself, but in the defense of those you hold dear. There is no more noble a fight.” The alicorn said. Twilight slowly nodded and leaned her head into Luna’s.
“I will stay with you a little longer, but you need rest. Besides, there are a few nightmares I wish to spread now. When you come for me, we will have all the time in the world. In the waking world.” Luna said after a few moments of silence. Twilight nodded and they stayed like that for an amount of time before Luna slowly let Twilight fade into a deeper sleep.
Now, it was time to look for more traitors. Dream Interrogations used to be easily thwarted, but since the practice faded with her reign it should be easy to get the information she wanted and spook the people she wished to be afraid. Besides, it might even satiate the nightmare for some time.