//------------------------------// // 262. Escalation II // Story: Azure Edge // by Leaf Blade //------------------------------// Rarity was nervous. Haha, of course she was honestly well on her way to ‘panicked’ but… a lady doesn’t panic, so she was simply nervous. Today she and Rainbow Dash were going to learn exactly what was going on with Celestia an Neighsay’s Pristine Army. They were going to— Rarity’s thoughts screeched to a halt as Rainbow Dash smacked her across the ass, and she jumped up and yelped. “Rainbow Dash!” she said, her face painted bright red. “You looked like you were worried about stuff,” Rainbow smirked like a cat, and if she wasn’t so damn adorable Rarity would likely still be mad. “I’m helping.” “You’re ‘helping’, right,” Rarity said drolly, and she felt like she was becoming more like Twilight. She couldn’t blame Rainbow of course for wanting to get her paws on Rarity. What woman didn’t, after all? And besides that, Rainbow was looking awful enticing herself, perching on the side of the bed stark naked. Rarity pushed Rainbow onto the bed and pinned her down, Rainbow’s ears perking up and her grin stretching further across her lips as Rarity ran her hand through that luscious rainbow mane of hers, planting a fiery kiss on Rainbow’s soft and gorgeous lips. “Stars, you’re sexy,” Rarity moaned as she sucked on Rainbow’s neck. “Yeah, I know,” Rainbow said through panting and gasping. Rarity let herself fall to the floor on her knees, her eye level meeting right between Rainbow’s legs. They still had a bit of time before they needed to meet Celestia, they might as well enjoy themselves a bit. Enjoy each other a bit too. After they were finished, Rarity took to the nearby dresser to get herself properly clothed for the day’s events, taking care not to watch Rainbow get dressed just in case she couldn’t help herself to the pegasus’ lean, muscled body again. Rarity attached her necklace; her memento of the truth about dragons, and an odd nostalgia swirled inside her. “Hey,” Rainbow said, pointing to the necklace, “that’s not the dragon fang.” “It isn’t,” Rarity said, her fingers tracing the beige dragon scale hanging from her neck that she was wearing for the first time today. “It’s the scale I received from Rain Shine. I thought it was far more appropriate than that hideous fang.” “It looks good on you,” Rainbow said with a sincere smile, making Rarity laugh softly and turn away bashfully. “Yes,” she sighed and looked at the scale, remembering the torrent of emotions she had felt after she had met Rain Shine, after she could no longer ignore the truth about dragons, “I suppose it does.” Rarity wasn’t sure what to expect from the Pristine Army. Celestia had been extremely coy about their means and goals, leaving either a void of possibilities or a swirling torrent of anxious nightmares in Rarity’s head. Their first mission was to visit a town on the shore of Luna Bay, one that had been rumored to be harboring dragons within its borders. The Pristine Army’s job was to find these dragons and execute them. It was standard fare for Slayers; Rarity had done the same herself in the past. But the Pristine Army’s methods were far different, and as Rarity watched the group of soldiers tearing the small fishing hamlet apart, forcefully removing ponies from their homes and beating others with iron rods for ‘resisting’, Rarity’s stomach twisted itself apart. “What the hell is this?” Rarity said, horrified and sickened. Rainbow looked equally so, but she was doing a commendable job at holding her tongue in front of the Queen. “Tough love,” Celestia said. “That’s what the Pristine Army specializes in, that is their purpose. Too many times dragons have torn apart Equestria’s towns because we’ve attempted to remove them slowly, delicately. No more. The Pristine Army will enter a town and remove the dragon by force. Anyone that tries to stop them from completing that job will be subject to criminal punishment.” “The dragons aren’t going to be able to tear apart the town if the ponies do it FIRST!” Rarity screamed. “This is madness!” “Do you see any damage to the town, Rarity?” Celestia pointed to the several houses in front of them, none of which had been damaged by the soldiers. Only the ponies. “What does that matter?!” Rarity shouted. “Ponies’ property isn’t more valuable than their lives!” “The Pristine Army doesn’t take pony lives,” Celestia said calmly, though Rarity recognized her steely glare; she was growing impatient with Rarity’s outbursts. “They are trained only to kill dragons.” “You don’t think beating them with batons and stuff might kill someone?” Rainbow griped. “The ponies of this town can stop resisting whenever they choose,” Celestia said coldly. “If they don’t, the consequences are on their shoulders, not on ours.” “This isn’t ‘tough love’, Celestia,” Rarity said firmly, practically begging her mentor to open her eyes to the horror she was witnessing, that she was ordering. “This is outright cruelty.” “Things only escalated like this because the villagers refused to co-operate,” Celestia barked, turning on Rarity and forcing her to take a step back, Rarity’s ears clamping against her head. “Do you think this is what I want?! NO! But I’ve had enough of these monsters burrowing into Equestrian soil like they own the damn place! I want these monsters OUT of my country!” “Even at the cost of your own citizens’ safety,” Rarity hissed, putting her hoof down. “I won’t preserve the comfort of a few dozen,” Celestia growled in return, and seeing the fearsome alicorn take such an aggressive stance against her made Rarity want to vomit and cry, but she wasn’t about to back down, “if it means sacrificing the safety of a few thousand.” “You’re wrong,” Rarity said. “No, I’m pretty sure that math checks out, actually,” Celestia said drolly. “No, Celestia,” Rarity took a deep breath, her entire body trembling with the weight of what she knew she had to say. “You’re wrong about dragons.” “What?” Celestia asked shortly. Her expression was hard to decipher, a mix between shock and rage, though Rarity sensed there might be a hint of betrayal in there too. She hoped there was; she hoped that Rarity drawing a line against Celestia’s horrid bigotry wounded her. “Rainbow Dash told me about what she said to you, before you excommunicated her,” Rarity said, standing her ground before her former mentor. “I agree with her.” Celestia took a step back and said nothing, her eyes wide and scanning the horizon like she had been physically struck. Rarity figured she may as well have been. “Rainbow Dash,” Rarity turned to her partner and pointed toward the village, “we need to stop this. Let’s go.” “Way ahead of ya!” Rainbow nodded and took off toward the village. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Celestia barked, and Rarity paused to look back at her. “Am I under arrest?” she asked. “I—” Celestia faltered. She had nothing to say. “Then I’m going to go do my duty as a Slayer,” Rarity said, clasping the serpent scale around her neck, “and protect these ponies.”