The room only had one bed, and they were both in it. The concerns about awkwardness or misunderstanding or what have you had gone out the window when the attacks had started. Not to mention... no one was sleeping on that floor or its thin carpet.
Aiden breathed in the scent of Rarity’s mane as they snuggled peacefully together, enjoying the moment. They both knew it would likely be the last bit of peace they’d get for awhile. “We should have done this weeks ago.”
“I did offer.”
He chuckled quietly, kissing the back of her head. “That you did. I had to push through various cultural preconceptions, or something. Besides, I was never quite sure whether you were joking.”
“Mmm,” she intoned quietly, “I wasn’t either. I didn’t expect you to accept so I didn’t think about what I’d do if you did. It probably would have been this, though. ...Is it alright that we’re not talking about everything that’s just happened?”
“Did you want to?”
“Mmph. A little. Aiden… I know how awful it was on Earth when they first came. And I’m worried this is too different. Like… something horrible is about to happen and we’re not ready for it.”
“Well… I can’t disprove that, but… Earth was different for a lot of reasons. We had no magic, no way to interact with it, when they came. Their manipulations of the Field, in potent enough or direct enough manners, caused fatalities… or awakenings in Espers… all on its own. From what we were able to compile later, that caused more deaths than their military tactics, which were always fairly rudimentary. It’s not an absolute, but they wanted to fight more than they wanted to win.”
“And that’s why they didn’t just shoot Earth from space the way they did here.”
“Right. And frankly that does bother me, now that I think about it. We believed they eschewed that sort of tech altogether, for cultural reasons. Even for combat tech, they kept it… I dunno, fair? Short range weapons for the most part, mechs that resembled themselves rather than say… microdrones with high explosives or something. But here… they opened up with orbital bombardment. If Luna hadn’t destroyed their mothership…”
“So… by that reasoning we’ve already struck a major blow. So why am I so uneasy? Because it was too easy?”
“Probably. I mean… pattern recognition is what it is, and lately we’ve been getting curve balls. Veritech… their revenge strike while we were away… Baltimore… every time it seemed things should have been easy... But again, this isn’t like Earth. For one thing… Earth definitely smashed their forces. By the time they finally retreated and left our Solar System, we were almost caught up enough in tech to follow them out. I’m glad we didn’t… I don’t like the idea of ending a war with genocide. But the point is, they don’t have what they had when they came at us. Whatever tactics they use here… it’s more like a wounded animal than something that strolled in thinking itself king of the jungle.” Aiden blinked. “Okay, I just made myself more worried.”
Rarity laughed softly, turning over to be face to face with him. “Really? I feel the opposite. Not about them, necessarily; we will have to proceed very carefully. But… we have those who understand them helping us.”
Aiden snorted. “Yeah, I hate to say it but Garken will be a big help if he’s sincere.”
She kissed him on the nose. “I did say ‘those’ darling. I mean you, too. And what really makes me feel better is knowing you. A veteran who fought them since he lost his family to them as a child, and still didn’t want to wipe them all out when it was over. That’s Kindness, darling, not an easy thing to learn at the best of times.”
Aiden flushed, looking away… though there wasn’t really anywhere to look with her right there, and it got even harder when the side of a forehoof ran softly across his cheek.
“I’ve seen you fight them, the best they had to offer, and come away intact body and soul. We’ll win.”
He chuckled, shaking his head lightly as he caught her hoof and kissed the side of it. “So how’d you end up cheering me up about this?”
“We’re a team. That’s how it works.”
------------------------------------------
Maud was already awake and looking over several crystal samples when the group approached. Pinkie simply hugged her sister while Rainbow spoke up. “Geez, do you ever sleep?”
Maud’s eyes focused on Rainbow while she calmly returned Pinkie’s hug. “Yes.”
Rainbow blinked, then snickered. “Right, right. Never change, Maud.”
“Everything changes, even zircon.” Maud blinked. “Slowly.”
Still grinning, Rainbow hovered down to Maud. They hoofbumped.
“Maud,” Twilight spoke up, “Equestria is under attack, maybe all of Equus. We believe the attackers have left something invisible, and big, near your family’s farm. We’re going to investigate. Will you come with us?”
“Yes.”
Twilight nodded. “Good to hear. I want a small group, so it’ll just be the four of us. Our source tells us there were many of the invaders inside. They’re big, and bipedal like minotaurs. Most of them aren’t as strong as they look, but their leaders are pretty scary. So this isn’t a sortie in force.”
“That would be an attack from a defensive position.”
“Right,” Twilight agreed. “And we won’t be attacking them, just yet. We will make sure your family is safe, and see what we can learn. This is a stealth mission.”
“No.”
“...No?”
“Once Limestone finds out about them, it won’t be. If they’re too close to the farm.”
Twilight grimaced. “Then we’ll settle this without your family finding out… or we’ll use it when they do. Either way, let’s get moving.” Without further delay, her horn lit, and the four of them vanished.
It was a relatively short gallop/flight after they reappeared before Twilight pulled them to a stop. “Uh, Twilight? Just how far can you teleport these days?” Rainbow muttered as they settled down behind some brush at the top of a rise, overlooking the outskirts of the (admittedly broad ranging) rock farm.
“Depends how many ponies I’m bringing along. With four of us… maybe twice that far if I wanted to wear myself out.”
“Why the hay do we even take the train?”
“...I like the train.”
“...Huh. Wait aren’t you at half power, with the other you in Baltimare?”
“She’s not anymore; they’re on their way to Canterlot. Tempest insisted, even though I tried to get them to rest first. That mare has a chip on her shoulder…”
“Gosh, hadn’t noticed. ...Also not my point.”
Twilight smiled at her. “Rainbow, I love you-”
“Whoa, uh… not what I-”
“-But the detailed answer of how that works wouldn’t mean anything to you, and we don’t have time for me to explain it. Can you feel that down there?”
“Whaddaya… oh…” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed as she looked down into the seemingly empty valley between them and the rock fields. “The wind… it’s splitting around…” Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, there’s a big, shielded something or other there, isn’t there?”
Twilight sniffed, nodding agreement. “I’m already doing what I can to diffuse our magic, in case they’re keeping watch for energy fluctuations. But they aren’t hiding their own very well; that’s how I knew about where to go. But… now what? Opinions?”
“Teleport in? Take ‘em by surprise?” Rainbow muttered.
“Rainbow, we have no idea how many are in there or what they’re planning. Luna destroyed their ship by hitting it with the moon. ...They might want to surrender.”
“Then why are they hiding?” Maud asked.
“...Fair point… that was a bit optimistic. Alright… stealth time. Rainbow and I will head in to get a closer look. I’ll be masking our presence as best I can. You two, take a look around the farm and make sure nothing’s out of place, after checking on your family of course.”
Maud nodded once and headed off to take the long way around, out of direct sight of the cliff. Pinkie looked after her a moment, then turned to Twilight and Rainbow. “Be careful.”
“We will. See you soon, Pinks,” Rainbow said, tossing Pinkie a mix between a wave and a salute. Pinkie spun and blurred, heading in the other direction. Rainbow chuckled. “Sometimes I think she should’ve been born a pegasus.”
“Are you kidding? She’s impossible enough already,” Twilight said, grinning despite focusing her gaze on the blank spot below, as though through sheer force of will she could make whatever was there appear.
“Maybe. But… you love her, too, right?”
Twilight giggled. “Rainbow, did it bother you, me saying that? Also, yes, completely.”
“No, just… caught me off guard. You know, like, telling ponies you love them before going off and doing something dumb. ...You wouldn’t be about to go off and do something, dumb, would ya, Twi?”
“Oh please, Rainbow, you know me better than that.”
“Yeah… which is why something feels off here.”
“You’re imagining things. Come on, let’s go take a look at whatever’s down there. I’ve figured out how to slip through the shielding without causing any aether ripples. We might make it through completely unnoticed.”
“Oh yeah, I was gonna mention that. There’s a spot where the wind is uneven. I think their cloaking shield has a flaw or two.”
Twilight’s horn lit dimly before that minor glow, and both ponies, disappeared from sight. “Good, lead us to it; that’ll be the best spot to try what I’m thinking.”
Landing silently just in front of the distortion Rainbow’s senses were pointing out, the two stopped a moment to listen. No sound escaped, but around the distortion they could see within. “Some kind of… tower?” Rainbow whispered.
“Looks like… let me just…” Twilight’s horn lit again, and the cloaking shield seemed to peel outward.
Rainbow could feel the wind flowing the same as it had. The aether flowing through her feathers and mane felt the same as well. “Nice. Bet they didn’t even notice.”
“No way to tell, just keep a weather eye out.”
“You got it.”
Squeezing through the widened gap, the two approached what was clearly a squat tower, perhaps four stories high. It was made of metal and what looked to be glass, but Rainbow doubted it. With the way the ground had cratered under the impact of this thing, that much glass would have shattered.
“Hmph… well, we can either go through the door at the bottom there, or teleport into one of the spaces I can see through the windows.”
“The door is probably a great way to let them know we’re here, but… you don’t think it’s shielded against somepony just teleporting in?”
“One way to find out.”
Rainbow grinned. “Let’s do it then.”
“One sec.” Twilight cast another spell, muttering under her breath as an aura suffused Rainbow before seeming to sink into her fur. “Alright, now we’re good.”
“What was that?”
“A contingency spell, for a worst-case scenario.”
“Just on me?”
Twilight smiled. “I already had it, as part of the enchantments built in to Duplex Crepusculum.”
“Is it me, or are you like… super prepared lately?”
“Between the mass abduction Chrysalis pulled off and the Storm King’s takeover of Canterlot, I’ve been rethinking a lot of things lately. We can talk about it another time.”
------------------------------------------
East of the Canterhorn by a day’s gallop, a flash of light heralded the arrival of two ponies, an oni, and three griffons. The other three had remained behind in Baltimare to help with mopping up the last of the invading force, along with rescue operations for the injured. Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly, recovering magic from carrying them all over the long distance. Garken, in particular, felt much heavier than he looked. It was an effect of his unusual magic, which felt a bit reminiscent of Sombra’s… but there was something else there. Familiar, but Twilight couldn’t quite pin it down.
“I’m a bit angry you can teleport, Twilight Sparkle,” Tempest said suddenly. “Every time we met, you were holding back instead of facing me properly.”
“Well, I did sort of blast one of your soldiers… who conveniently had a beam deflecting shield. The deflection dropped us out of Canterlot… and you know the rest. Besides, I wasn’t aware you were looking for some kind of duel. As I recall, you wanted to petrify all four princesses and let the Storm King use our magic so he’d restore your horn… while turning Equestria into his personal slave pen.”
Tempest winced. “I didn’t petrify you.”
“True… you needed somepony around and conscious to gloat at.”
Garken chuckled. “That brings back some good memories…”
Twilight grimaced, but continued. “Sorry… I have forgiven you, but that’s not the same as forgetting. I don’t really forget… Even if I want to. You petrified my sister-in-law, my teacher, and my dear friend. You were trying to help a monster take over the world for entirely selfish reasons. ...And you gloated about it. You wanted my eyes open? Well, now they are. I’m seeing you, too. Anything else you’d like to ask about before we get to Canterlot?”
“I… yes! Because none of that answers my-”
“Do you really care about my excuses? Do yours really excuse all the pain and suffering you helped cause? No. What really matters is that you make things better now. Which you are. Thank you for that,” she said with complete sincerity.
“I do care,” Tempest persisted, quietly but firmly. “I want to know why you seemed so different then. You were desperate and afraid the whole time. And yet now… look, I’m glad to see another side to you, but this is-”
Twilight sighed, and her cheeks darkened into an embarrassed flush. “Fine. ...I was in estrus.”
Tempest blinked. “You… what?”
“You heard me.” She looked at Garken and the griffons. “Erm… can you give us... some space for a minute? I’d rather not have an audience for this conversation.”
Garken was laughing quietly at their discomfort, but nodded once before about facing. The two lower ranking griffons hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation, but responded to the request. Gareth nodded almost too quickly, a bright blush covering his cheeks as he turned and flew off muttering something about ‘scouting the perimeter’.
With a sigh, Twilight continued. “The change to my physiology when I became an alicorn was a lot more than the wings. The effects of ‘that time of the year’ were amplified, or more like they were just minor for me before. I never really cared about that sort of thing; I could usually ignore it completely. But then when I got these,” she fluffed her wings for emphasis, “suddenly the cycle was much harder to work around, emotionally. At one point I even developed a crush on a high school student, and that didn’t make sense on several levels. I wasn’t even in my own body, sort of, and the weird effects lingered! Another time I was bored in a library! A library!! Cadance told me it happened to her too, and she got used to it after a few years.” Twilight rolled her eyes, and muttered dryly, “I’ll bet she did… But I tried writing a spell to reduce the effect on me. It sort of worked… but unbalanced me in… other ways. I couldn’t really focus and I was highly emotional and irrational. Erratic. I won’t be doing it again.”
Tempest snorted, and then began laughing. She did have a rather cute laugh, surprisingly enough. “So you’re saying you couldn’t really oppose me or the Storm King properly because you were... let’s say… feverish that week?”
“Essentially, yes. Like I said, excuses don’t really matter. It worked out that time, and I’m grateful it did, but I almost ruined everything. This time I don’t intend to have any excuses to look back on.”
Tempest snorted, grinning mischievously. “If you just needed a good roll in the hay you could have said-” she stopped talking suddenly as a bubble of silence surrounded her muzzle.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Twilight said, a small smile tugging at her lips underneath her glowing horn. “Anyway I’ve got my breath back.” She raised her voice to shout, “Everyone, fall in!” drawing them back into a smaller area. Garken laughed loudly at the bubble of magic over Tempest’s face as Twilight continued. “One last jump should put us in striking distance of Canterlot. From there, we’ll do some reconnaissance and then settle in to wait for our reinforcements.”
“That ‘human’ and… the tailor?” Tempest asked as the bubble finally dissipated.
“That’s right, along with two more Griffonstone knights. They’ll be along in a few hours. Between then and now, we can get some food and maybe a nap in for some of us, in shifts. I’d suggest resting here, but I want to be close enough to Canterlot to see anything happening within, if possible.”
“Agreed,” Garken said. “And as to our reinforcements… Tempest, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. When she faced me, Rarity was more than a tailor. I look forward to seeing them both again.”
“...Fair enough, I'll withhold judgment. I'm getting the feeling several of my opponents were having 'bad weeks'...”
Twilight’s horn lit as she laughed lightly, and the group vanished.
------------------------------------------
Rainbow spun, landing a hindhoof in the face of the charging Oni as she flung a table at the other, dazing him before Twilight hit him with a blast of magic that trapped him in crystal. The one Rainbow’d kicked had been flung back and down, cracking her skull against the metal floor hard enough to draw a wince from both ponies. She didn’t move after the impact.
“So, Twi? The room was inhabited.”
“Thank you, Rainbow. Well spotted.”
“Yep. Quick eyes and wings. I’m the total package. What now?”
Twilight turned and blasted the downed Oni, encasing her in crystal as well.
“Is that necessary?”
“It puts them in a kind of stasis. They’re still aware of their surroundings but their bodies are preserved. Her injury won’t get worse. More importantly, they can’t move for a couple hours unless they break the spell. Neither of them are strong enough to do that without help.”
“Twi… we might not be able to go so soft on them all.”
“I know. Come on, let’s get to the top of this thing. If we can figure out what they’re doing here, maybe we can stop it… or better yet turn it against them somehow.”
As they quietly made their way through the halls (stealthily, via Twilight’s invisibility and their wings), Rainbow couldn’t help muttering in her friend’s ear. “Twi… this place looks… pretty advanced. You sure you’ll be able to figure out anything we can do about it when we reach the top?”
“No,” Twilight whispered back. “But I don’t necessarily have to. Other Me can share what I’m seeing with Garken Caedum. He should know what we’re looking at.”
“Ooh, good point. Hey, stairs...”
The stairs went the full height of the tower, and they avoided any further encounters. As near as Twilight could tell, there were only four strong aetheric sources at the top, and one clearly above the others. It was a major advantage that their magic felt so different from Equus’ Field. She could see what Rarity meant about another world’s Field leaving a lasting effect on one’s senses, if even just aliens felt this strange. Interestingly, Aiden hadn’t. He was different, but in a comfortable way. The Oni felt… wrong and, more importantly, distinct.
The door at the top was sealed by aetheric shielding, but it wasn’t beyond Twilight’s power. “What do you think? Through the door, through the wall next to the door, or just teleport in with Sky Render’s Expanding Effervescent Energetic Escutcheon?” Twilight asked, her voice picking up enthusiasm as she laid out the third option.
“Say that five times fast,” Rainbow muttered. “Why the heck is it ‘effervescent’?”
“He used it with knockout gas to subdue enemy strongholds. The interaction with the mixing atmosphere, poison, and shield caused a sort of bubbly effect. Besides, everypony knows alliteration and or rhymes make stronger incantations.”
“Yeah… everypony knows that… alright I’m sold; let’s do that one. Ready when you are!”
“Okay, so, as soon as we-”
The door opened.
“Buck!” Rainbow yelled, turning to try to catch the attack.
“Oh come on!” Twilight muttered angrily as a sword swung down at them. It hit the floor as Twilight teleported them into the room, albeit sans the overwrought shield spell.
Two more Oni turned to attack. One fired a hand weapon of some kind, missing a shot before hitting Rainbow twice as she raised a wing to guard Twilight's face. The impact drew a pained hiss from the pegasus as she took off in spite of the pain and, according to Twilight’s nose, burning feathers and fur. A fourth shot hit her shoulder, but alicorn physiology was in her favor, and the burning projectile had little effect. Before he could fire again, Rainbow had smashed into him, hard. Rainbow-hued contrail hard: he’d been crushed into the wall. Twilight winced. That one wouldn’t need a crystal to pen him in...
The second had grabbed a sword and rushed at her. She caught the blade in a telekinetic grip and tore it away from him. Magic sufficient to lift over one hundred tons easily overpowered the surprised soldier. A shield deflected the doorman’s strike as he joined the fray, but they were outmatched.
Then the fourth stepped forward from the shadows. While the three so far had been taller than Aiden, this one stood nearly two full meters. Numerous horns curled around his head like a helmet of branches, and his grey skin had a pallid, almost dead look to it. But it was his effect on the aether that most chilled Twilight.
He was nothing like the ones she’d seen so far. The sword she’d been holding dropped to the floor, forgotten, as she refocused, staring up at him.
“Welcome, little ponies,” he said in what was a surprisingly high pitch for his size. “I am General Cursus. How surprising, and pleasing, to find you here.” He raised an eight fingered fist, each digit resembling more a spider’s leg than anything on any hand Twilight had seen. He closed the fist, and her shield came under attack by draining force.
She stabilized it, teleporting Rainbow inside at the same time to remove her from the effect, which was coating the room. His own soldiers… “Stop it! They’ll die!”
“They were dead the moment they failed to stop you. We are not all so forgiving. But you… you are a remarkable stroke of luck. An alicorn… one of our primary objectives. And here you are, ready for sacrifice. Seven to go, and this world will-”
Twilight snarled, and teleported the rapidly flagging Oni out of the room. They didn’t need to die here. “Seven?! There are four alicorns… who are your other targets?!”
“You needn’t know. But you saved those lowly failures? Your mercy will cost you… you’re burning magic too rapidly.”
“Hmph. It won’t cost me more than your lack of mercy has already cost you. You’re a monster serving a bigger monster. What happiness does your life give?”
“My enervation will break you… and I’ll leave you conscious to watch your friend die…”
“Yeah that’s what I thought. Any ideas, Rainbow?”
“Uh… teleport him straight down about three feet? I’ve always wondered why unicorns didn’t just do that to their enemies.”
Twilight snorted, pouring more energy into the shield to keep the necrotic effects of the enervation off of them both. “His resistance is too high; the spell won’t grab him. ...And most unicorns can’t teleport much of anything.”
With a nervous chuckle, Rainbow replied, “I sometimes get spoiled by how good you are. And then Starlight comes along and she’s really strong, too. But uh… what do we do right now? Can you get us out?”
Twilight smiled. “Just you.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Wait, don’t you dare!”
The shield shrunk, and a crack appeared along its curved surface.
“It’s a spell I already cast, remember? Just in case. Well, the worst case hasn’t been met, but I can complete it anyway. Rainbow Dash, T.A.C.T., conduso Pinkie Pie, confio.”
“Wha-” Rainbow vanished.
“Impossible. You cannot break through my power.”
“You say that, but she’s gone. Leyline trace to our safe spot where I cast the contingency, and a strong bond of Friendship between her and the target of the Aetheric Conduit I used. This is Equestria… don’t pretend you know how magic works just because you can kill things with it.”
“I can kill you!” Cursus said, showing real anger for the first time.
“Probably, if I sat here at half strength letting you wear me down.”
“You cannot escape! The moment you attempt to teleport my enervating field will collapse your shield and eat away at your essence. Your attempt will fail, and you will be mine!”
“Yeah… about that. Couple other spells you should know about. ...Actually, nah, just one.” She rolled her jaw as her horn briefly lit with a secondary overglow. She chomped down, making a muffled crunching noise. “But uh… thanks for all the information about this place!”
“Anything you learned through your primitive eyes would be useless even if you escaped! And you won’t!” He stepped forward, closing the distance to tighten his focus on her. She dropped to her knees as the shield shrunk to nearly form-fitting.
She looked around, calmly. “I’m in a Spire… one modified to channel the power of a sacrificial victim to a center point, probably in Canterlot. Unlike the usual offensive Spires, this one isn’t set to explode if tampered with. Probably because it’s too important to blow up, since you can’t replace them anymore. That’s kind of sad. Also, and this you’ve told me directly, there are probably eight of them.”
“...How?”
Twilight smiled sweetly up at him. “These ‘primitive eyes’ show all they see to another set of primitive eyes, just like them. And those eyes? Well, they’re sharing with your former Grand Marshal. He’s simply talking Other Me’s ear off right about now. Honestly, you’re lucky I’m such a good multi-tasker or we wouldn’t have even had this conversation.”
“No… no that… you…” in his shock his attack faltered, though it didn’t fully dissipate.
“I know that feeling,” she said sympathetically. “When I realized Starlight Glimmer had reworked Starswirl’s scroll to do something I thought was impossible. ...The smarter you are, the harder it is to accept getting outsmarted, am I right?”
Cursus shrieked in rage, and smashed his fist against her shield, redoubling his enervation and focusing it down to a single point. The shield cracked and shattered.
He grabbed at her horn, lifting her into the air. “Now! You die!”
“Yeah, pretty much. I think I bought enough time for your troops to escape. The Pies and the changeling hive will capture them. They were weak compared to you.”
He spun and flung her into a wall, denting the surface. He followed up with a kick to her ribs.
She looked up at him, grinning. “Applejack kicks so much harder than that. Especially when she’s drunk and not holding back. But unfortunately, you’ll never know the excitement of a rave in Ponyville...”
He snarled, grabbing her horn again, and smashed her head into the floor. “Die!”
“In a minute. I have to metabolize the poison first.”
He froze. Her horn, seemingly stronger than any crystal, had resisted his efforts at snapping it off. Her face scarcely showed any bruising from the numerous impacts. “...You…”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “I don’t really like fighting. Honestly my mind just goes to another place and I don’t want to hurt anyone, really. I mean it happens, but… I blasted the changelings in Canterlot with non-lethal stun beams. I closed my eyes while fighting Starlight. Silly, I know, but it’s hard to be rational in the thick of it. I just keep thinking ‘what if I lose it and become the next Nightmare?’ Killing just… seems so easy. Too easy. Like doing basic arithmetic when the world clearly needs calculus. Oh, except Tirek. Buck that guy in particular.”
“I… you… poisoned yourself? When… you…” Cursus shook her vaguely, looking flabbergasted.
“Uh huh! It’s actually quite tasty; I made it blueberry flavored. I call it Killing Joke. It takes a couple minutes, but… ooooh… there we go…" she purred as her eyelids half shut and a smile graced her muzzle. "Zecora helped me make the pill… in case my false self I needed to kill...” She giggled as blood began running from her nostrils. “There’s no pain at all, nothing to see. Because, well you know… I’m not actually me.” Her eyes went black, and her giggle became higher pitched.
“What is… no… this isn’t possible!” He turned, trying to carry her to the execution chair, to harvest her magic for-
“Wanna see… Clover’s Mortal Coil Recoil? It’s… a blast...” The black eyes shut, and the room went white.
------------------------------------------
Rainbow had appeared at Pinkie’s hooves as she and Maud were headed back from checking on the other Pies, who were safely asleep.
-t do you think you’re gonna…?!” Rainbow blurted as she got to her hooves in an instant, wings snapping open, one of which flung several drops of blood across Pinkie’s barrel. “Dammit!”
“Uh… Dashie? What happened? You’re hurt. Where’s Twilight?”
“I’m fine, Pinkie, just a couple scratches. But Twilight is back there alone with a really scary bad guy! We need to head back and help her!”
“Right!” She replied as she and Maud started to run.
Rainbow took slowly to the air despite burnt feathers and torn flesh. She clenched her teeth as the pain slowed her. Maybe a little more than a scratch… she thought quietly as they made their way back.
It wasn't long before Pinkie spoke again. “...Dashie, why did she teleport you out?”
Rainbow grimaced. Her wing was screaming at her. “Ugh… because the bad guy… uh… 'Curses', or something, was using some kind of weird power that was messing up magic in the room. I’d already been hurt so she didn’t want to risk me I guess… but it’s not that bad! I could’ve stayed and-”
A white light engulfed them, centered on where the tower had been. As it did, Rainbow felt a warmth, like she was being hugged by her friend. “Sorry Rainbow… please don’t be too mad at me. I had a strategy but I couldn’t risk him hurting you before I could finish it up. Next time, we’ll plan better.”
“T-twi… what is…” She gasped as a soft hiss came from her damaged wing. The warm light gently cleansed away the broken flesh and feathers, healing and regrowing in seconds what would have taken days. “Oh… oh Twi, no… you didn’t…”
“Oh don’t be so dramatic. Real me is near Canterlot, 100% now.”
“They’re BOTH REAL YOU! YOU MADE THAT CLEAR TO US, TWILIGHT!”
“...I know. But if you lose a feather, did you die? Everything that’s me is there now… except this little talk, I guess. That’s the fading part that got left behind. Just a feather on the wind. ...Tell me about it sometime, okay?”
“I… Twilight…”
But the presence, and the light, had faded. Rainbow landed stiffly, mouth open in shock. Pinkie sobbed as Maud held her tightly.