//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Sunburned 
// by Madox 
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The sun had already long risen when Twilight exited the cave system and the guard left her without another word. The hours-long track out of the forest and up the mountain towards Canterlot was also remarkably uneventful. She only encountered one half-asleep manticore while she was still in the forest and the beast didn't even notice her presence. By now Twilight was convinced that the absence of monsters the previous night was a result of them feeling that something dangerous was going to happen, like the return of a god-like being.

The moment she stepped into the castle and one of the guards at the entrance informed her that the queen demanded her presence immediately upon her return she wished to be back in the forest. She had hoped to at least be able to rest for a short time before she had to face her majesty, but apparently, she was out of luck.

During her walk through the castle towards the throne room, Twilight noticed several things that didn't make her feel more comfortable. For one, the guards she passed by looked really nervous, shifting from hoof to hoof. Several servants had looks of fear on their faces and it seemed many tried to get away from a certain part of the castle, the one she was heading towards. It also grew hotter with every step she got closer to her destination.

Twilight gulped as sweat ran down her body when she connected the dots: The queen was angry.

The heat grew in intensity the closer she got to the throne room. It became so intense that she had to rely on a barrier spell to protect herself much sooner than usual. Twilight stopped in her tracks when the great gates of the throne room came into line of sight. They were partly opened, just wide enough to let two ponies enter side by side at most. The golden gates seemed to shine brighter, and Twilight assumed they must have heated up to be burning upon touching them, and giving up enormous heat themselves to their surroundings.

Besides the now open doorway stood the same herald from the previous day, but he was panting and sweating heavily, even with his own barrier in place to fend off the heat. Twilight did not envy the poor stallion that had to perform his duty the entire day under these conditions.

She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, steeling her nerves for the following encounter that very much could be her end. Opening her eyes she stepped up to the herald. He noticed her before she could say anything and nodded, turning towards the open gateway.

"Announcing Commander Twilight Sparkle!"

He turned back as Twilight walked past him and entered the throne room. The heated up gates and general atmosphere of the castle had already been a bad sign, but compared to the throne room they were nothing. The former pristine floor had cracks running through it, with hoofprints burned into the stone in some places. Even with heat protection spells in place, the banner and tapestries were scorched as well or completely burned, one was even still burning, and the room-long carpet leading up to the throne was nothing but a road of ash. The queens' Honor Guards scattered around the room stood as stoic as ever, unfazed by the state of the room or the intense heat.

As Twilight walked along the road of ash she looked towards its end and at the dais. The queen was sitting on her throne, her full attention on her. Her posture seemed calm and orderly as always, but one look into her eyes revealed the pure fury behind the mask.

Twilight reached the bottom of the aisle and bowed down. "Your maj-," she began, but was interrupted by the queen herself.

"All of you!" she yelled at the guards. "Get out!"

As one the guards saluted and walked out of the room. The second the last one walked out the gates closed behind them, leaving Twilight alone with her queen.

The queen rose from her throne, slowly stepping down the aisle towards Twilight who was still bowing and kept her head low. With each step the queen made the gold of the aisle and after that the marble of the floor fizzle whenever her hoof touched down, and when the hoof rose again for the next step a hoofprint was burned into it.

"Commander...," she said in an eerie calm voice. "This entire day I wanted to hear about the incident from last night, and if my fears are true. So far I have heard every excuse and assumption under my sun, but nopony was able to give me an accurate report with proof. You have been the only one of my soldiers inside the forest at the time it happened, so I hope that you can tell me what I need to know." She stopped right in front of the still bowing Twilight, who could only see her front hoofs burning another print into the floor. "I only have one question for you: What happened in the Everfree Forest last night?"

Twilight didn't hesitate with her answer. "Your majesty, I'm afraid I have to report that the dreaded Mistress of the Night has found a way to escape from her imprisonment on the moon. I have seen her with my own eyes."

The heat in the room seemed to rise for another few degrees as the queen shifted her attention away from Twilight to look out of the closest window. "So it is true, my sister has returned. I feared that it was the case, but I still hoped it to be some kind of trick or illusion used by her followers to cause unrest." She looked back at the commander. "Rise, Commander, and tell me everything that happened."

Twilight did as told and recited everything from the moment she arrived in the forest in detail until she reached the moment she was ashamed to admit.

"When the dust settled I could only stare in disbelief at the alicorn that was lying on the floor. I knew immediately who she was, but I still looked up at the moon for confirmation and saw its now unblemished surface." She hesitated for a second. This was the moment she had dreaded the most: the time to lie to her queen to keep her deal with Luna a secret. Not that she had much of a choice, since her keeping it a secret was part of the pact, but it still bothered her greatly. "Before I could do anything else the Night Forces from the camp came rushing into the room and immediately attacked me upon sight. I fought back, but I was outnumbered and got knocked out, presumably by a spell."

Twilight lowered her head in shame. "I do not know how long I was unconscious. I awoke in a cell with a magic suppressor over my horn, but I was lucky. It appears that all the troops in that camp were celebrating their mistress' return, and they only placed a single guard to watch over me. I managed to trick the guard and escaped to report back to you about her return, your Majesty."

"Which was wise, commander," the queen agreed after a few moments of silence. "Until now no one could confirm if she had truly returned or not. Now, I need to plan and prepare for her next move." She took a step forward and spread her wings. "But for now, we will discuss your mission."

Twilight gulped. Has she made a mistake in her story that the queen had noticed? She knew it was a mistake to agree to that pact.

The queen didn't show any notice of Twilight's discomfort as she continued. "Even though you did not manage to capture a member of the Night Forces for interrogations, you found out the reason behind the Night Forces presence in the Everfree Forest and brought back valuable information regarding the return of one of Equestria's greatest threats. Because of this, I see your mission as a success, and you will be promoted to Captain of the Royal Guard!"

Twilight's eyes grew. At one point she had totally forgotten what was at stake for her in that mission during this madness. It had been her goal for several years, ever since her brother's demise she wanted to continue his work. This was what she has been aiming for, but... it felt hollow. Her eyes drifted down to the floor and she frowned.

This did not go unnoticed by the Queen. "Is something bothering you, my captain?"

Steeling her nerves she looked up again. "Your majesty, may I speak freely?" The queen looked at her in curiosity before she nodded. "Your majesty, I can not accept this promotion. Even though I managed to gather the information, I got captured like a rookie. "Always expect the unexpected", that's what has been drilled into me during my training, but the moment something truly unexpected happened I froze, unable to act as necessary. I could have gotten away sooner to report back and maybe return with reinforcements, or I could have tried to capture the Night Mistress while she was on the floor in front of me. Instead, I got captured, and it was only through luck that I was able to escape.

"I don't deserve the title of captain right now. It would be a stain on my honor to be rewarded for such a shameful show of my talents." She looked up into the queens' eyes, determination in her own. "I beg you, let me return to the forest, I know where their hideout is. While I do not believe that they are stupid enough to stay, I'm sure I can find clues on their whereabouts. Let me show you that I do have what your captain needs to have to serve you!"

Silence reigned in the throne room while the queen looked at Twilight. After a full minute, she finally spoke again. "Not a single soul has ever declined a promotion from me before, not even once in the last thousand years." A hint of a smile appeared on her face. "You are truly a very interesting mare, commander, and regarding your record of accomplishments, I will grant you your wish." The smile disappeared. "However, since you wish to retake your mission, your previous one will be seen as a failure, no matter the information you gathered." Her eyes hardened. "You know the prize for failing me. Are you still willing to hold on to your request?"

Twilight lowered her head. This was the question that has been on Twilight's mind for hours; was she willing to pay this price just to meet with Luna? She could simply leave for their meeting and return afterwards, but then she not only would have to face the consequences of lying to the queen, but also for unauthorized absence from duty. If she agrees now she knew what her punishment would be, would be allowed to return to the Everfree, and after the meeting, she could return and explain the truth of what truly happened, and face whatever consequences her majesty would see fit for her.

Her decision made, Twilight looked up again into the queens' eyes with determination and nodded. "Yes, I do!"

"I admire your pride and dedication, commander," the queen said, the small smile reappearing on her face before it disappeared again. "Now, brace yourself for your punishment."

She flared her wings as her horn started glowing, bathing the throne room into brightness. Twilight stood up straighter, her chest puffed out. She slowly closed her eyes and waited for the pain to come.


~*~


Night has long fallen over the Everfree Forest when Twilight came into sight of her destination: the clearing mentioned by Luna for their meeting.

Her way back into the forest has not been as peaceful and dull as when she got out three days prior, but this time there was no need for stealth, no reason to hold back against whatever was facing her. A fact the pack of timberwolves learned very quickly as Twilight used pyromancy to set them ablaze and binded them to the ground to prevent the fire from spreading before she continued on her way, the pained howls of the timberwolve behind her slowly growing quiet.

The manticore was a different obstacle, one she neither had the time nor the motivation to deal with properly. While she was wearing her full armor and weapon this time, Twilight still cast a shield over herself to be safe from the manticore's swipes. Using weak but painful magic blasts against it was her approach, until it deemed her not worth the effort and left.

Those encounters had already left Twilight in a bad mood upon her arrival at the clearing, so when she saw Luna in the middle waiting around a campfire with two other ponies by her side, she was angry. She stopped half hidden in the shadows of the trees and glared at the alicorn. "Who are they? You were supposed to come alone!"

Luna gave no sign of surprise upon hearing her yell and didn't look concerned. "It's good to see you too, Twilight Sparkle, but you are mistaken. I agreed to come without guards," she said calmly before she pointed a hoof at the other ponies. Just like the mage before they were concealed by robes, but while the other one had been a dark blue with stitchings among the hems, those two were of a simple black. They also used the spell to conceal their faces and hooves, but it was clear that both are unicorns and that it was a mare and a stallion. They had been sitting calmly side by side before, but when Twilight called out they huddled together, the stallion wrapping a hoof across the mare's withers. "These two are civilians who came with me to help prove my claims. They mean no harm."

Twilight's eyes moved from the alicorn to the pair and back. "Fine," she said before she stepped closer towards the fire and removed her helmet.

Luna nodded. "Please, take a seat so that we can-'' Luna stopped mid sentence the moment Twilight removed her helmet, her eyes widening in shock. The mare gasped and whimpered while the stallion pulled her closer. "By the stars... What happened to you?"

While obscured by her helmet nothing looked different from the last time Luna had seen Twilight, but now she could see that part of the left side of her face, just beside her eye and beneath her ear, had been burned. The lavender fur was gone in that area, and the revealed skin was scarred.

Twilight tsked. "This? This is what I was willing to pay to keep my life running once I return to the castle without being branded as a traitor for meeting you." Seeing the confused expression on the alicorn's face she continued. "My queen considered my mission a success and promoted me, but I refused for being captured so easily. I begged her to let me return here to find clues on your whereabouts so that I could meet you without being arrested for unauthorized absence. She agreed, but the old mission would be considered a failure and punished accordingly."

Luna kept staring at the mare with wide eyes. "You mean this is a common punishment by my sister?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, only for those missions given by her majesty herself. No one has to take them on, but if you fail and disappoint her trust in you, you will be punished. The bigger the failure, the worse the burn. Among the guards, it's known as the "mark of shame"."

Luna looked down at her hooves. "I had no idea, otherwise I would have never let you agree to those terms." She closed her eyes. "Sister, what happened to you?"

A stomp of a hoof on the ground brought Luna back to the present. "Enough of this, let's get to business!" Twilight growled. "I don't have all the time in the world for your nonsense! The sooner we finish this farce the sooner I can deliver you to her majesty and face whatever punishment she deems worthy for lying to her."

Luna shook her head. There was more time later to lament what had become of her sister. "Very well. Please, take a seat. But before I begin I would ask one more favor of you."

Twilight eyed the alicorn warily as she walked towards the fire and sat down. "What, trying to negotiate with me? We both know it's impossible to change the pact."

Luna shook her head. "No, all I'm asking is that if I can't convince you and go with you that you will not harm my two friends. As said, they are civilians who have gone through enough pain and loss in their lives."

Twilight's eyes shifted towards the pair. They still sat huddled together, the mare crying while the stallion comforted her.

"I see no reason to harm them. They don't seem like soldiers or anything, and the magic of the pact would have prevented you from bringing guards anyway." She looked back towards Luna. "I do not harm civilians, as long as they don't give me a damn good reason to. So as long as they don't do anything stupid, I have no business with them."

"I thank you for your mercy towards them," Luna said with a light bow of her head. "Now, I wish to begin by telling you what truly happened before my banishment. I need to go back a little further than you might think, but I assure you it helps understand what happened between me and my sister."