My Little Dynasty: Kung Fu is Magic

by Goombasa

Chapter 6: Moral Crisis

Trixie didn't know what to do. She lay awake, on the very cozy cot she had been given by the kind mare who had brought them in, and her husband. Next to her, Sunset Shimmer snored soundly, getting what had to be her first really good sleep in ages. But such rest did not come easy to the poor unicorn. To the side, the cape and hat she had been given by the demon was radiating with a soft, magical glow, so subtle that during the day she had barely noticed it. Indeed, she had actually felt the residual magic held within rather than seen the effect it had.
They were sleeping right next to one of the six. Trixie took a deep breath as she recalled the task she had been handed: Eliminate all six. Sunset had been informed of the plan, of course, but she was just as reluctant as Trixie was in performing what had to be done. Trixie had done many things in the name of survival during her life, before and after her career as the royal magician. She'd stolen in the name of eating. She'd scammed just to get a drink. She'd...
She banished the last thought and shivered at the thought. Yes, she'd done a lot of things she wasn't proud of and had lost the most cozy position she'd ever been in for a stupid reason. But killing another pony? She couldn't. She just couldn't.
But if she didn't? Her eyes glanced back towards the cape again. She wouldn't survive long if she didn't do as she was told. But how? How would she avoid murdering a sweet, innocent mare and also avoid the chopping block herself.
Her mind drifted back to earlier in the day, when Fluttershy had so selflessly lent her house to them. They'd been fed and watered until she felt that she would burst. A finer meal she hadn't had in quite a long time. She'd even been given fresh milk. MILK! Oh, she hadn't tasted something so scrumptious since her time in the palace! It might not have measured up to the quality of a noble's milk, but milk was milk after all.
So she and Sunset had talked with her, and her husband. What was his name? Ah yes, Paw Prints, that was it. The veterinarian. They'd been questioned about their time in the wastes, but Sunset had already devised a rather good cover story for them, about how they had been on an exploratory mission with an expedition team. Paw Prints had asked who was leading it, and for a moment Trixie was afraid that they would be found out, but Sunset had been quick to list off a few prominent explorers that she had known during her time as a student of the Empress. Most of them, Sunset had told her later, had passed on already, though they probably wouldn't be well known out here.
They spun a tale about uncovering some sort of strange ruins out there in the wastes, and when they had entered it, there had been some strange hostile creatures in there. The expedition had been scattered and they had no idea what had become of their colleagues. When questioned about the creature that had attacked them, Trixie had been quick to say that they hadn't gotten a good look at the thing when it was so large and hidden in shadows, only that it looked like something she wouldn't want to see again. Both of them were rather accomplished actors, so getting the two of them to believe their lies was easy enough. Trixie got the impression that neither of them were the skeptical types.
Once the conversation had turned away from them, and Paw Prints had offered them a place to stay for the night or two, a few questions had been asked and it turned out that Fluttershy had been offered a chance to go to Xanterlot, but was considering not going because she didn't like traveling alone. For the rest of the day, and now laying here at night, Trixie was turning this over in her head, plotting. Planning.
She rolled over and poked at her sleeping friend. Sunset groaned and curled into the blanket a bit tighter. Trixie frowned and gave her a more forceful poke. “Sunset,” she whispered. “Wake up. We need to talk.”
Groaning, she slowly rolled over and opened one eye, glaring at the blue mayor nearby. “Ugh... what is it?” she grumbled.
“I couldn't sleep.”
“Obviously.”
Trixie sighed. “We need to talk about all this.”
“Seriously?”
Trixie gave her a serious frown and the mare sighed, sitting up. Trixie nodded and pulled the cape over to her. “Look, we already know that this Fluttershy is one of the ones we're looking for. But what should we do now?”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “We follow her to Canterlot and pray we can think of something there.
“I was thinking of that, but what do we tell Nightmare Moon?” she asked, flicking the cape. “She's going to be checking on us periodically. She'll always know where we are. What do I tell her if she asks why we're traveling with this mare? Because if she figures out that we're traveling with her instead of killing her, I guarantee that we aren't going to be around for much longer.”
Sunset nodded and sighed. “Yeah, that's a legit complaint, but think for a sec. We're traveling with an element, right?”
“Yes, we've established that.”
“Well, if she does call us, just tell her that she has info on where the others are, or something like that. She can't tell that she's an element through the cape, can she?”
“Um, I don't think so.”
“Okay then. Just tell her that we heard a tip that there might be some in Canterlot, so we're going there with Fluttershy under the guise of bodyguards.”
Trixie's eyes opened with realization. “So then... we follow her there, while keeping her safe. Since it's such a long trip, we should have plenty of time to figure something out, right?”
“Exactly,” she said happily. “As long as we keep stalling, we should be just fine. Besides, Equestria is a really, really big country, all things considered. Nightmare Moon might be a demon, but she can't be that impatient. She must know how tough it would be for two mares like us to comb the entire countryside looking for six other ponies that may or may not exist, right?”
“Right!” she nodded, smiling happily. She rubbed her fingers together. “Sounds good to me...”
“It doesn't to me,” a growl came from the side.
Both mares tensed and they slowly turned towards the cape, which was now levitating up off the ground. Trixie tried to swallow, but it was caught in her throat. “N-N-Nightmare...” she mumbled slowly, wilting as the cape drew closer, throwing itself open. The visage of the black mare appeared to them. She was glaring, her horn glowing and crackling with magic, her lips peeled back in a terrifying snarl. “How... how much did you hear?” Trixie asked. It was an incredibly stupid question, but the mare couldn't hide her morbid curiosity at finding out just how deep her grave had been dug.
“All of it,” she answered. “Did you really think that I would selectively drop in on your conversations? I hear every single thing that the two of you say, so long as this cape and cap are in your possession, and as I made very clear to Trixie, trying to get rid of it would be a VERY bad idea.”
The cape seemed to come closer and both of them stumbled backwards, towards the wall. “Wait, please... w-we're sorry,” Sunset Shimmer said quickly.
“Sorry?” the demon asked. “About what? Planning to try and string me along? Look for a way out of your servitude?” Her eyes flashed red and Trixie could feel something closing in around her neck, constricting it. She took a quick look at Sunset Shimmer, who was clawing at her own throat, a thin line of red magic appearing over it, right where the metal collars used to sit. “I don't take kindly to my servants disobeying me,” Nightmare Moon continued. “I gave you both direct orders. Use the magic in the cape and hat to find these six, and kill them.” The magic around her throat drew tighter. “I suppose that was just a little too much for you two, wasn't it?”
Trixie whimpered a bit. “B-but,” she gasped out, “Neither of us are killers...”
“There's a first time for everything,” she stated. “And it's either her life or yours.”
“Sunset began to cough as her air was almost totally cut off. “We weren't just plotting! What we said could be true!” she said in desperation.
The demon raised a brow and snapped her fingers. The magic faded from their necks and both of them began to take in several deep breaths. “Explain, quickly.”
Trixie took a deep breath. “If... if these mares are as powerful as you say... doesn't it make sense that they would naturally be drawn to one another? If there power is so great?” She coughed and rubbed at her neck. The magic left no mark, merely a seething feeling of unease and a breathless mare.
Nightmare Moon looked less than impressed by the logistics of their argument. “So, rather than kill one of them now and guarantee that they will be weaker as a group, you are asking to wait until more of the ponies have united, their strength growing, so that they might be more of a threat, and therefore harder to deal with?”
Trixie gave a soft whimper. “Well... there is no guarantee that we'll be able to quickly locate the other five. It was a severe stroke of luck that we were even able to find one of them this quickly.”
“But it is guaranteed that killing one of them furthers my goals, as well as the goals of my companions.” She folded her hands together. “And we aren't going to waste this wonderful opportunity that fate has given us.”
Sunset shuddered. “But... what if we get caught? What do we do about her husband?”
“Run, kill him as well, I don't care what you do so long as she is dead and gone.”
Trixie shuddered and bowed her head, bending low and pressing her forehead against the ground. “Please... I beg of you...”
Nightmare Moon raised a brow. “You are begging me to allow you to let one of the biggest threats to my dominion live?” she rolled her eyes. “I should just kill you now. Perhaps I overestimated your will to live.”
Trixie tensed. “I will,” she said quickly. “But I can't... not now. It doesn't feel... it doesn't feel right.”
Nightmare Moon frowned. “It should never feel right,” she stated. “But it is a necessity.”
Trixie looked up, her eyes locking with Nightmare Moon's for a moment. She saw something flickering in them. Empathy? Sadness? It was gone before she could tell.
“Very well,” the demon said. “I will overlook your traitorous talk this once. I'll defer to your judgement, as you are the ones who must carry out this task. But my kindness ends there.”
Trixie sat up, taking a relieved breath. “Thank you... thank you...”
Nightmare waved her away. “Do not mistake my actions for charity. The deed must be done, and I am putting far more trust in you than I ought to. But know this, both of you.” Her eyes drifted between the two cowering unicorns, “Next time you attempt to stall or disobey like this? I will kill you. And it will be slow, and painful, just as my imprisonment was slow, and painful.”
They both gave a soft nod and Nightmare Moon disappeared from view, the cape returning to its inanimate form and floating down to the ground.
Sunset shuddered and looked towards her friend. “Trixie?”
“Yeah?” she asked, picking up the cape and replacing it with much hesitation back near her pack.
“I think we're doomed.”
“Mhm... we are.”
Knowing that neither of them could begin discussing anything while within earshot of the cape, the two settled down against their cots again. Neither could sleep. They just lay there, staring at each other, worry and trepidation covering their faces. Trixie was close to breaking down herself at the thought of killing anyone, much less a sweet mare like Fluttershy. But, she had to wonder... why had Nightmare Moon relinquished to them? After she had so carefully deconstructed why their idea would never work?
And what had it been that she had seen in Nightmare moon's eye before?

Nightmare Moon cradled her head in her hand, rubbing at her temples as she banished the mirror she had been using to communicate with her hesitant servants. Her mind ached and she felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. She should not have relented.. She should have killed them and then used the magic stored in the cape to destroy that mare they were talking about as well. But she had relented, and she was sure that it would come back to bite her. But... something about the way that Trixie had been pleading... and the time they had spent on the top of the tower together...
The ache in her head seemed to dim as she remembered the previous night, how the mare had sat, gazing like a wide-eyed foal at the intricate formations she had created upon her canvas. The admiration. The wonder. The innocence on her face. Nightmare had felt so much like a puppeteer, entertaining a filly, and felt the same feeling of warmth in her cold, black heart. How strange that a meager failed magician would make her feel something she hadn't felt for... come to think of it, she couldn't remember a single time when she'd felt something like that before.
A chuckle from nearby made her lift her head. “Really, Nightmare, I never knew you could be so sentimental.”
Nightmare sat back on her throne, frowning. “Chrysalis, what are you doing in here? It's not like you to skulk in the shadows. That's Discord's job.” she smirked.
The insect-like pony walked into view, brushing her fingers through her web-like hair. “Did you not hear? Discord left for a while. He said he had a... very pressing matter to attend to.”
“A pressing matter?” she asked, her ear flicking. “What would that be?”
“I know not, nor did I care to question the madman about his motives. Don't worry, he knows how important our preparations are. Whatever he's doing, it's probably just a personal tic of his.”
“Tic or not, the fact that he did not feel the need to tell anyone but you concerns me.”
“Why? Do you not trust me to deliver this information?”
Nightmare Moon smiled. “I trust you as implicitly as you trust me.”
“Of course.” She chuckled, drawing closer to her. “I do wish you had waited on sending those two away. That little blue mare was delicious, and so fun to play with.”
“I'm sure she was, but she is serving a far greater purpose at the moment. She and Sunset are off securing our victory as we speak.”
“And yet you decided to allow them to prolong their search.”
“I just wanted them to stop sniveling. They won't have a choice in the matter next time.” She smiled. “Besides, cruelty wouldn't get us anywhere with them, and now that they know I can hear everything that they say near the cape, I don't think we have to worry about them plotting another rebellion.”
“And yet you gave into them when they were in your thrall.” She tapped her chin, fluttering her large wings, the buzz filling the room.
“I did not give in.”
“Yes, because telling them no, listening to them whimper and beg not to die, or to kill our enemy, and you were only too happy to give them what they wanted.”
Nightmare Moon frowned. “I have no defense against what you say, Chrysalis.” She closed her eye. “But it is early in the game yet. I'm sure that giving them a free move won't affect us too much.”
“Such confidence. Hopefully it will serve us better than our last grab at power.”
“The six are scattered, reincarnated into who knows what, and Celestia has no doubt become complacent as the years have passed. According to what Sunset told us, most of her military might is being placed on defending the border with Griffonia. I believe Sombra was interested in securing an alliance with them. Might prove quite useful in the future.”
“We have no need of his soldiers,” Chrysalis snorted. “Not with what I have provided.”
Nightmare Moon raised a brow. “Oh? Have they hatched already?”
“The first clutch is just about to. Healthy and deadly as they were one thousand years ago.”
“Excellent. Then our first blow will fall soon.”
“Soon,” she agreed. “I just wish we could move faster.”
“No chances will be taken,” Nightmare stated. “Not like last time. We make our plays as conservatively as we can.”
She chuckled. “If you insist, Nightmare Moon.” She leaned against her. “After all, it was your leadership that led us to near victory last time.”
Nightmare smiled, reaching up and stroking Chrysalis' cheek. “And this time, we won't have the six to hamper us. Wherever they are, there's no way they could be gathered and trained in time to stop us.”
They both laughed, the hollow, joyless sound reverberating around the hall.

“Okay, so let me just make sure I've got this straight.”
Twilight's ears folded back and she gave an annoyed sigh, rubbing her temples. “Rainbow, you've tried to 'get it straight' ever since we got out of the carriage.” She looked up at the night sky and focused her attention on one of the brighter stars in the sky. That was odd. The north star seemed... off this night.
“Well, it's a lot to take in,” the light blue mare said. “First, you tell me that four demons from a filly's tale were actually real, and after one thousand years of imprisonment, they've somehow broken free and are going to start wreaking some sort of havoc all over the place.”
“That's right.”
“And Celestia can't just go out and confront them because despite how powerful she is, these demons combined are probably just as strong as her, if not moreso.”
“Correct.”
“So in order to keep a level of subtlety, she's sent her student, you, and a baby dragon,” she motioned to spike, who was drifting in and out of sleep on Twilight's shoulder, “And a wonderbolt,” she raised her head up, a cocky grin coming to her face, “to go and find the reincarnation of six ponies who used to be warriors in a past life who had some sort of special magic when they were together that could defeat them, totally and utterly.”
“Yes.”
“But you don't know where they are, or who they are, and have absolutely no idea where to start looking and have no way of telling who would be one of these warriors.”
Twilight sighed. “Why do you have to say it like that? All negative.”
“For such an egghead, you really don't know how to plan these things out, do you?”
The purple mare rolled her eyes. “And just how do you think I could plan for something that was sprung on me literally just after I woke up in the morning and had no time to plot and prepare for?”
Rainbow opened her mouth to counter, but frowned, tapping her chin. “Um, okay, you have me there.” She gave her wings a few small flaps. “I still don't get why we had to leave the carriage though. I know we're going incognito, but really, are we gonna have to walk everywhere?”
“One, you have wings, so walking isn't an issue for you.” She glared at the hovering mare, who blushed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her head. “And two, even if I'm not recognized as the Empress' student, we could still be mistaken for minor nobility riding around in a nice carriage like that, and the last thing we need is to draw attention to ourselves.” She motioned down to her white robes, purposefully frayed and split to give the idea of worn and aged fabric. Rainbow's tunic didn't need help looking old, since it was already there. “So from here on out, you and I are a pair of traveling almoners. I am Priestess Twinkle, and you are my acolyte, Prism, understand?”
“Prism, huh?” she scratched her ear. “Not the name I would've chosen.”
“Do you have anything better?”
she shrugged. “Not really.” She smirked and toyed with her mane. “But how long did it take you to come up with that brilliant name for me?” she asked with a grin.
She rolled her eyes. “It just seemed like an appropriate name. Not as appropriate as Rainbow Dash, but it works for you I think.”
“Whatever you say. You're supposed to be the smart one.”
“Why do you keep saying that?”
“Well, you're the Empress' star student right? I'm assuming that means you had a lot of really good teachers, right?”
“Of course,” she said with a proud smile. “Empress Celestia saw to it that I was given the best tutoring in as many different subjects as possible. I was schooled in astronomy, geography, martial arts, fencing, tea ceremonies, mathmatics, horse riding, practical magic applications...”
“I get it,” Rainbow mumbled. “Yeesh, a simple 'yes' would have been enough.”
Twilight blushed. “Sorry.”
“No problem. Anyway, if we're not starting the search in Canterlot, where ARE we gonna start looking.”
Twilight reached to a small pocket on the side of her pack and drew out a folded piece of parchment, unfurling it to reveal a simple map of the Equestrian lands. “Well, we don't have any criteria to work off of, so unfortunately, we're just going to have to start by finding out any information that we can about these warriors and their powers. Maybe there's some sort of common thread that we can lock onto that might give us a clue. Now, Celestia already told me that there wasn't much information in the Canterlot libraries, even in her own personal store of books and scrolls. Her knowledge on them was limited as well, so she thought that going to a city that has a long history of military records might have given us a good start.”
Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at the map, peering down at the words written on it. “So, that would be...”
“Seriously?” Twilight asked. “You want to be a Wonderbolt and you don't even know where they were first formed before their operations were moved to Canterlot?”
Rainbow's ears perked up immediately. “No way... we're gonna go to Hoskydo?!” she asked, bouncing up and down like a school girl about to be introduced to her favorite actor. “Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!”
Spike groaned in his sleep and wobbled about for a moment. Twilight adjusted her shoulder to make sure he wouldn't accidentally fall off. He tended to claw at the air when he did that and she didn't need him sinking holes in her fur if that happened. “So you do know about it,” she said with a grin.
“Know about it? My mom used to go there all the time when she was a wonderbolt! They still had a lot of contacts in the city back when I was a filly and she used to tell me about it every time she went there. They have this big museum there that's completely dedicated to recreating the looks of legendary weapons! It sounded so cool!”
“You never went yourself?”
Rainbow shook her head, floating alongside her her friend. “My mom was always too busy to take me. Wonderbolt regulations, fillies and colts aren't allowed to accompany active duty soldiers on business trips, so I could never go with her, and she was always so busy when she was home that we couldn't schedule a trip for ourselves.”
Twilight nodded, folding the map. “I'm sorry to hear that,” she said, hoping it sounded as sincere as she had meant. “But... at least you'll get to see it now.”
“I suppose.” She sighed. “And what are we gonna do when we get there.”
“Go to the weapons and warriors museum.”
“Ohmygosh, Ohmygosh, Ohmygosh!” Rainbow said happily, a big smile on her face.
Twilight gave a light sigh. “Just remember, we aren't going there to sight see. We're there to do research.”
“Right, research, whatever! We're going to Hoskydo! Whoo!” She leaped into the air, pumping her fist for a moment.
“Keep it down!” Twilight hissed. “We don't know who could be listening in!”
“Oh now you're just being paranoid,” Rainbow huffed.
“Paranoid or not,” Spike said with a grumble. “You could at least stop all that shouting, huh? Some of us are trying to sleep.”
Twilight chuckled. “Lazy bones.”
“Guess your dragon isn't really the ferocious type, is he?” Rainbow quipped, grinning.
“He's still young. He'll grow into it.” Twilight pat the drowsy dragon's head.
Spike huffed a little bit. “Just try to keep the shouting down... and I could do without all that scratching.”
“Scratching?” Rainbow asked. “What do you mean? Neither of us are scratching.
Twilight frowned and raised her hand. “Shh.”
“Seriously, what is...”
“SHHH!” Twilight growled more forcefully. Rainbow frowned and dropped down to the ground, remaining still. The purple mare closed her eyes and perked her ears up. She took a deep breath, letting it out very slow and very careful. The world around her became quiet. The only constant was the beating of her head and the breathing of the dragon on her shoulder. But she looked past that, listening to the sounds out in the foliage nearby, the bushes and tall grass swaying to and fro in the soft breeze of the night. Then, she heard it. The gently and rhythmic scratching of a claw against a stone. Far too concise in its pattern to be an animal. Always coming from the same place. The same stone. 'scritch, scratch, scritch, scratch.' Long and shot, long and short, some sort of nervous tic.
Twilight reached down and drew a stone into her hand. She weighed it carefully in her hands before relocating the sound. 'Just remember what you were taught, Twilight,' she thought, 'not every target has to be a bull's eye, and not every strike must be fatal.' She reared back and threw the stone, hard as she could, into the bushes by the roadside. It parted through them perfectly, flying fast as a pegasus in a nosedive. It clattered against something, most likely another stone along the ground, but the sound that accompanied the clatter was far more interesting.
Two loud squawks and several rustling bushes followed the clatter and two black-cloaked figures leaped up, spreading brown-feathered wings as they took to the air.
Twilight gasped and picked up another stone. “Griffon spies!” she shouted. “How'd they make it so far inland?” she asked, throwing the second stone upwards in a powerful arc towards the fleeing intruders. She clipped one of them, the one on the left, hitting their right wing near the base. It gave a squeak of pain and began to spiral down towards the ground, managing to recover enough to make a semi-smooth landing down on the road ahead of them. Twilight frowned, wanting answers. “Rainbow, get up there and get after the one still in the air! I'll handle the one on the ground!” She dashed forward, not waiting for a reply. Spike gasped, jumping off of her shoulder, but nevertheless following after her as she moved towards downed Griffon.
As she approached, the spy let out a snarl, snapping out some sort of warning to her in Griffish. Twilight's grasp of the language was tenuous at best, though, and she couldn't catch what he was saying when he talked so quickly. He flicked his wrist towards her and Twilight's eyes widened as she saw two large knives speeding towards her. Adjusting her course, she twirled out of the way of one and ducked underneath the other, lunging forward to close the distance before he could fling another at her. He still had one in his claw though, so that created a bit of a problem. He took a swipe at her as she lunged, but she leaned back and it flew past her. Pushing forward once again, she gave the fighter one good punch right in the beak. He gave a light snarl and stumbled back, recovering quick and lunging at Twilight. He raised up his claw and tried to bring it down against her face, but she raised her arm up and blocked his strike, raising her foot up and drilling the heel down into his stomach. The griffon stumbled back with a cough and before he could recover, Twilight dove forward, knocking him to the ground, one hand on his neck and the other raised as if to strike him, her horn glowing as well. “All right,” she said with as much authority as she could muster. It was difficult to seem intimidating to someone when you were a full head shorter than them. “What were you doing here?” she asked.
He spat back at her with another harsh sounding phrase in Griffish. She groaned. “You don't speak Equestrian, do you?”
His answer was a small gob of spit launched straight into her eye. She winced, drawing away as the uncomfortable sensation making her shudder, causing a momentary lapse in her defenses. Before she could recover, the Griffon's claw came up and slashed across her face. She managed to lean back far enough to avoid the brunt of the blow, but the business end of his claws still found a mark in her cheek and she rolled off of him to avoid the hooked appendage sinking any deeper into the flesh. She was on her feet just as he was, but before another brawl could ensue, a tiny puff of fire launched itself towards him and caught the long feathers at the bottom of his right wing. He gave another shriek and began to pat out the fire. Twilight smirked, looking past him to see Spike there, breathing heavily after the run he'd had to take to keep up with her. Wiping the spit from her eye, she drew closer to the distracted creature, who, quite fed up with fighting a losing battle, charged her.
Twilight prepared herself for another attack, but it didn't come. Instead, he swirled passed her and began dashing down the road, tucking his abused wings tight against his back. “Hey!” she called after him. “We're not done here!” She turned and tried to follow after him, relatively sure that she could keep up with a grounded griffon. But before she got far, she felt a surge of immense pain running through her foot. She yelped loudly and threw herself down onto her side, groaning as the pain started to work it's way up her ankle. She hissed loud. “AH! Empress preserve me!”
“Twilight! Are you okay?” Spike asked as he rushed over to her side, concerned.
Twilight watched as the spy began to disappear into the inky blackness of the night and she forced herself to a sitting position, pulling her foot towards her and tilting her head to try and see what had happened. “Caltrops,” she said after a moment, observing the small metal star now puncturing the bottom of her shoe. Caltrops were nasty little devices, made from four vicious points and balanced in such a way that, no matter how they were dropped, a single point was always pointing straight upwards. A quick glance at the ground where she had been running revealed that several of them had been spilled onto the road, right behind her as the griffon had fled. How had see missed that? In her haste to secure the spy, she hadn't paid any attention to any tricks he might have had. With a heavy groan, she gripped the caltrop resting in her foot and yanked it out, fast as she could. The resulting pain made her hiss and she summoned a quick light spell to her horn to inspect the damage.
The bottom of the shoe was completely punctured, of course, and her foot was in extreme pain. Even wiggling her toes caused some undo discomfort and, looking at the short spike that had pierced her skin, she gave a heavy sigh. It had gone into her arch, but there had been enough space that it had not punctured deep enough to catch a bone. Still, she probably wouldn't be walking at full speed for a while. It was just fortunate that the griffon had been more concerned with getting away than finishing her off. She realized, with a small churning in her stomach, if he had saw fit to turn around and continue the fight after she had announced her fall to his trip, she would have been at quite a disadvantage.
Tossing the dangerous tool to the side, off the road, she looked to her familiar, giving him a soft nod. “Don't worry, Spike, I'm fine.” She sighed. “But I don't think I'll be walking quite as fast as before, at least for a while.” She took off her shoe, examining the wound. She sighed, wincing as she rubbed away the blood that dripped from it. “Spike, get my pack and pull out the medical supplies. And tell Rainbow...”
Twilight's mind clicked again. “Rainbow! Where's she?”
Spike frowned. “Uh, I don't know.” He started to turn his gaze to the sky. “She took off after the griffon you didn't knock down, into the sky, but I didn't keep track of her. I was busy chasing after you!”
Twilight cursed under her breath and forced herself to her feet, the pain in her foot momentarily forgotten. “Oh no, we've to find her and make sure she's all right!”
“I don't think we'll have to look far... but she sure doesn't look all right!” Spike said, still looking skywards.
Twilight followed his gaze upwards and her eyes widened at what she saw. Rainbow dash was falling. And she was falling fast.

Twilight hadn't needed to tell Rainbow to get after the spy. She'd already figured that was the smart thing to do. She took off into the sky as Twilight ran after the ground-bound griffon. This was her moment to shine. Just like doing acrobatics for pocket change out on the street.
She didn't know what this spy was up to, but then again Rainbow was pretty sure she didn't have to know. She just had to make sure that whoever it was, they didn't get away, and considering the fact that rainbow was (in her own mind, at least) the fastest thing in the sky, the griffon was at quite a disadvantage.
Sure enough, the pegasus made good on her own self-appointed title as she easily closed the distance between her and her target. Reaching out, she grabbed the griffon's tail, giving it a hard yank as she put on the breaks, flapping away.
The griffon gave a loud squawk and glared at her, snarling, irritation clear as day underneath the moonlight. Rainbow just grinned. “Sorry, slowpoke, but you're grounded!” she grinned, giving the tail another yank.
Much to the pegasus' surprise, the griffon allowed herself to be pulled forward, and as she neared Rainbow, she reared back with both of her back legs and landed a ferocious kick in Rainbow's chest, sending the mare spiraling away. Rainbow recovered with a flourish of her wings, grunting and rubbing at her chest. “Heh, okay, so you have some pretty nice kicks. I'll keep that in mind.” She looked up just in time to see the griffon charging her and before she could dodge out of the way, two powerful talons grabbed her shoulders, the claws sinking deep into her shoulders as she was pushed backwards, downwards, towards the earth.
“Think you're so good because you caught up with me?” the griffon asked in coarse but understandable Equestrian. It was a rough sounding voice, though decidedly feminine.
Rainbow blinked. “You can speak my language?” She frowned, realizing that this wasn't the right time to be asking questions like that, especially when she was being forced towards the ground at a rather unhealthy speed. She gave a growl and reared her head backwards. She was going to be regretting this for a good long while, she was sure. Her head lurched forwards, towards the unprepared griffon and their foreheads met with a loud, resounding thunk.
The impact made rainbow's head spin, only for a moment, though the griffon was less well off. She detached from Rainbow, rubbing at her forehead and trying to steady herself. Rainbow smirked and spread her wings, ignoring the pain in her shoulders, reversing her course and charging back at her opponent, placing both fists out in front of her, smashing right into her chest and pushing backwards as hard as she could, both of them rocketing back into the air.
Snarling again, the griffon reached down and grabbed a fistful of Rainbow's mane, bushing her head down and forcing her to cease her charge, if only to keep from launching herself at a new angle as she was pushed lower. The claw held her a moment until the griffon's back leg swooped forward, catching her full in the face. Rainbow spun backwards, covering her face with her hands. Ugh, that had been even worse than the headbutt! At least she'd been prepared for that one, but that was right in the nose. She could feel blood trickling down out of one nostril and growled, throwing her hands to her side. The griffon was charging again, but this time Rainbow had anticipated it. She gave a flap of her wings, sending her up, just above the charging adversary, and then quickly closed them against her back, her feet drilling down into the center of the griffon's back and sending her downwards, towards the ground, the extra weight of the pegasus, preventing her from just flapping her wings to get free. “How's this feel?” she shouted over the rush of the wind.
“Feels like a little gnat on my back,” was the reply. The griffon whirled around, causing Rainbow to lose her footing for a moment. She spread her wings to stop herself form going into a freefall, but the griffon caught her ankle and dragged her downwards, pulling her close, smirking. “This is all that a pegasus can do?” She laughed mockingly, curling one claw into a fist and giving Rainbow a smart blow right to the jaw before releasing her. Before rainbow could recover, the griffon dove at her again, landing on her stomach and grabbing a fistful of feathers on Rainbow's wings. “I was expecting a lot more of a challenge when my sensei told me how dangerous you could be in the sky.” She began tearing out a huge amount of feathers from the pegasus' wings, making her shriek in pain and flail her arms about.
As luck would have it, one of those flailing limbs caught the griffon in the chin, forcing her to break away. Rainbow attempted to stop herself form falling, and managed just that, but the loss of so many primary feathers left her unable to keep control of herself with any certainty. She had to flap hard to keep hovering now. She glared up at her opponent, who was observing her with a grin and rubbing at her chin. “What's your name?” the griffon asked.
“What's it... to you?” Rainbow growled, the pain in her head and shoulders only making her efforts to keep herself airborne even more difficult. “I don't even know YOUR name.”
The griffon laughed. “Call me Gilda. Not that it matters. You won't be around much longer, and I just find it nice to know the names of those I kill.”
Oh, so it was a trophy then? Rainbow snorted, sending a small drizzle of blood down towards the ground from her nose. “Well then, I can't tell you my name, because I don't plan on dying here.”
Gilda frowned. “Have it your way.” She dove at her again, rearing back and chambering her leg.
There was no way Rainbow would be able to dodge the oncoming kick. She couldn't even reliably shift her position to block it. All she could do was tense up and hope for the best.
The kick came down, landing against the back of her head, the force of it causing her to fall. This time, there was no catching herself. Her wings were in no shape to stop herself from falling this fast a second time. Besides, she couldn't really move right now. Her whole body felt limp as she dropped, and her vision was beginning to blur.
“Well, this sucks,” she mumbled, catching a glimpse of the griffon speeding off in the distance. But Rainbow didn't plan on making light of what she had said. She forced her broken wings outwards, managing to flip herself right side up as the blur in her eyes continued to build. With one more burst of strength, she pushed open her near useless wings, wide and straight. She began an uneven glid, down towards the ground. Every now and then, she would falter to the side, but she managed to keep herself level to the point where a fall probably wouldn't be fatal. She knew it was still going to hurt though. In the distance, she could see Twilight's glowing horn and tried her best to aim her failing body towards it. Consciousness was almost gone. Her injured wings finally started to give way and she felt herself flop down onto the ground. She was sure that she was in a lot of pain right now, but she couldn't feel anything past the pounding in her head, and even that was rapidly fading as her consciousness finally gave way. She couldn't do anything about it now. She saw Twilight limping towards her, and that annoying dragon was first to reach her. She'd have to apologize for not being able to catch the spy later. Right now, sleep sounded really, really good. Hopefully, when she woke up, she wouldn't be too terribly sore.

Celestia was pacing. She hated pacing. She also hated chewing on her fingers, but she was doing that as well. She wasn't sure how long she had been doing both, but it had apparently been long enough for her dear attendant to take notice. The mare looked up at her empress with gentle concern in her eyes. “My lady, is all well?” she asked softly.
“No, not really,” Celestia answered with a small sigh.
Dusty frowned. “Something to do with your student?” she ventured.
“I worry about her. I mean, it's only natural right?” she gave a forced smile. “I did just send her out on her own on a perilous journey to locate six particular ponies, with no way of actually locating them, while four demons from my past begin to plot against him and could strike at any time while I also have a war brewing right along our border against the Griffon kingdom.” She took in a deep breath, pressing a hand to her chest and pushing it out as she exhaled. “So yes, I suppose it is safe to say that I am very, very worried.”
The mare tossed her mane to the side and smiled at her. “My empress, you mustn't worry. Twilight is a very capable mare, taught by you and the brightest minds of the entire kingdom. She's a brilliant mind and a tough fighter. Aside from that obsessive compulsive streak in her, I'm sure she'll be just fine.”
Celestia gave a nod, though she still seemed less than convinced. Had she had the option of going out and putting a stop to all of this on her own, she would have, but the sight of the Empress herself on the war path might have caused more harm than good in this instance. Add to it, her worry over her own powers were beginning to overtake her as well. She had stood up to many foes during her exceedingly long life, and overcome them all, but even her powers and perception were limited. If she were to try and take on these demons again, alone, there was no doubt in her mind that she would lose. She grieved once again over her foolish behavior from over a millennium ago, remembering her time with the six warriors. Her best friends during her darkest hour.
But they weren't around anymore, and hadn't been for a very long time. What's worse, she had never thought to search for them again. The ring of reincarnation was an infinite cycle for her little ponies, and somewhere out there, the six still walked this world, in one form or another. Were they even close to the ponies she knew anymore? She doubted it.
Heaving another sigh, she sat down in front of a small table containing a large bonsai tree in need of trimming. She'd been cultivating it for the last century or so and it was growing into a grand, healthy little thing. She picked up the pruners sitting next to it and set to work, determined to keep her mind off of recent events, if only for an hour or two. She could not allow herself to worry. She had to remain strong, and powerful, for the sake of her people.
Dusty drew to her side once again, setting a small bowl of water down near her. “For the bonsai,” she said with a small smile. “It was... looking a little dry.”
Celestia raised a brow and looked down at the soil containing the tree. It was nice and damp, with perfect perspiration for the plant to prosper. “Dusty, if you want to stay, you merely have to say so. I won't just send you away because you have no practical duties to perform here.” She looked down at the mare with a soft grin. “Besides, I enjoy your company anyways.”
Dusty's face lit up with a slight blush and she moved her eyes away from the Empress. “I do not wish to waste your time, Majesty.”
“The time we spend together is never a waste, my dear.” She clipped a few errant branches from the edge of the bonsai, setting them carefully to the side. “And I am always delighted to carry on a casual conversation with you.”
Celestia didn't have to look back to know there was a gleeful smile on the mare's face just then. “Thank you, Empress.”
“You are more than welcome, Dusty.”
“How wonderfully sentimental.”
Celestia froze, the pruners in her hand stopping in mid cut. Her eyes narrowed and she felt Dusty shiver close to her. “Majesty, did you hear that?” she whispered.
The empress nodded, setting the gardening tool to the side, standing up slowly, casting her eyes around the room. He was in there somewhere... watching her. “Where are you?” she snarled, not even attempting to hide her anger at this intrusion.
“Tsk, tsk, Celestia, has your temper grown shorter since last we spoke?”
“I have no patience for relics of the past,” she answered.
“Oh, you wound me, my dear. And to think the two of us used to have such fun together. Don't you remember?”
“I wish I could forget,” she stated. “My biggest mistake was when I trusted you, Discord.”
“And it was folly of me to trust you, Empress,” the voice countered, accompanied by a dangerous chuckle.
Celestia's eyes began to search the area with more urgency. Where was he hiding? What was he planning? She turned towards the entrance to her room, but the door was shut tight, and the bolt had been drawn to avoid disturbance during her worried pacing. Beside her, a worried Dusty fidgeted and wriggled.
Then, she felt a long, gently finger sliding up along her back. It was accompanied by a loud scream from Dusty. She turned back, her hand moving quick as lightning as she struck the arm away. She came face to face with him. After over one thousand years, there he was, sitting in front of her... growing from the top of her bonsai. “Discord,” she glowered.
“Not easy to forget me, is it?” he teased, the look of playfulness on his face disgusting her to no end.
“You have some nerve, invading my personal chamber like this?”
He gave a teasing sigh and wiggled his way out from the bonsai's foliage, hopping down in front of her. She drew back and motioned at Dusty to get behind her, which the attendant dead, eagerly. “Aw, but Celestia, so many memories are contained within this room!” He laughed and slid along the floor like a serpent. She always turned to keep him in front of her. “Please tell me that you haven't grown colder during my time away.” His eyes traveled up and down the length of her body, hidden behind a layer of thick, ornamental robes. She wished she had deigned to wear something more casual now. These weren't meant for fighting. “But I see your wardrobe hasn't changed, at the very least. Or is that just to hide the effects of the occasional cake binge?”
Celestia knew that she should not have allowed such a cheap and paltry comment to get to her, but coming from Discord it was not just an annoying jest but also a bit of a personal attack. Her fists clenched for a moment. “Enough,” she hissed, her voice icy and dangerous. She felt Dusty quaking behind her. Good, she wanted to sound as intimidating as possible. “Why are you here, Discord? If you plan on trying to kill me...”
“Kill you?” Discord gasped. Celestia blinked. He seemed genuinely put off by the suggestion. “No, not at all, my dear Empress. Far from it. This is merely a social call. I haven't seen you in eons after all, and I just wanted to catch up with an old friend.”
“Don't call me that!” she snapped, pointing a finger towards him. “Either you leave or so help me...”
Discord waved his eagle claw towards her in a patronizing manner. “Oh spare me the big booming voice, Celestia, it gives me a headache.” He chuckled. “If you truly don't wish to talk, I will leave, but be forewarned, this is probably the last time that we shall meet as something resembling friends.”
“We were never friends,” she said, taking a step forward.
“No, we weren't.” His eyes hardened and fixed her with a glare that could have stopped a flowing river. “We were far more than that, weren't we?”
Celestia had no wish to revisit the memories his statement brought about and she leaped forward, aiming a calculated blow towards his chest. The demon slithered out of the way, but she pressed onwards, throwing several quick swipes at his writhing form. Every one of them missed, but Celestia had no counted on hitting him. Instead, she just needed to back him up. True to his nature, Discord was not taking her attack the least bit seriously, and acted as though he were allowing her to have her fun. She threw several more punches, and one well timed kick, forcing him into the back corner. As his back touched the wall, her hand shot out and caught him by his long neck, forcing him to stay still. Her free hand crackled with solar magic. It had been a long time since she had conjured offensive spells, but it came back as naturally to her as any simple thought. “I have no time for games, Discord?”
“A pity,” he said. “Because you're in one, Celestia. I and the other Black Stars, you, everyone in your beautiful empire, all nothing but pieces on a great big board.” He chuckled, but Celestia's grip tightened, cutting him off.
“Then this is checkmate,” she hissed, raising her hand back.
Discord rolled his eyes. “Oh, Celestia, you should really know me better than that. You really have gotten complacent during the years I've been away.” He grinned. “You should know that this kind of situation, when it involves me, is more along the lines of a stalemate.” He tilted his head and looked over her shoulder.
Celestia should not have looked. She should have thrown her punch and be done with it, damn the consequences, but she could not stop herself. She craned her head back, and saw that during the fight, Discord's lower body had elongated itself, slithering back across the room as she had been pinning him to the wall. The end of his long tail was now wrapped firmly around Dusty's neck, and tightening.
Horrified, Celestia turned back to demand she be released, only to be faced with discord's open maw. Her eyes widened as she saw the sweltering flicker if fire from within, and before she could mount a defense, he breathed outwards, a torrent of powerful flames spiraling outwards.
Now, Celestia was by no means a naïve ruler, and had taken the time over the years to keep herself equipped with minor shielding spells, as she knew not everyone in her empire would be happy with the way it was run. But these spells were meant for minor things. A low level thunderbolt spell, a dagger in the back, a magic missile. To fully defend herself against the equivalent of a dragon's flame, it would have taken something far more powerful than she had on hand. As a result, while she wasn't engulfed by the flames totally, she could still feel the immense heat, and was well aware that parts of her mane and coat would be singed quite heavily, if she survived this. But the worst part of it all was the pressure. It forced her backwards, and before she knew what was happening, she found herself back against the opposite wall.
As the fire faded, she took a quick glance to the side to make sure that Dusty was still all right. While Discord still had her by the neck, he had dragged her well away from the burst of flames, though she did look woozy from the heat. But a glance was all that Celestia had time for, as Discord's claw was now around her throat. She grunted at the sudden reversal. She tried to resist gulping, but was unable to.
He felt it and chuckled. “Don't worry, Celestia,” he said, his voice growing lower. “Like I said, this was a social call. I'm not here to hurt you, or anyone else.” He flicked Dusty to the side, towards the door.
The young earth pony coughed, rubbing at her neck before she looked up at the scene before her and turned towards the door, screaming for the guards.
“That's quite low, Discord, even for you,” she growled. “Threatening an innocent mare just to make me lose concentration.”
“Indeed, it was quite a devious trick,” he agreed, his lion paw reaching up and stroking her cheek. “Why, it's almost as bad as proclaiming your love for someone and then having them turned to stone for one thousand years, isn't it dear?”
The words made her wince. “I could have had them destroy you,” she said with a frown.
“Yes, I suppose I should be grateful that all you did was imprison me inside my own body and lock me away like some sort of rejected gallery piece.” His claw tightened and she grunted in discomfort, though the claws never punctured her skin. “Do you know what it's like, Celestia?” he asked, his voice finally gaining an edge to it. “To be trapped within your own body like that? To not be able to move, or talk, or do anything other than think? To just sit there, month after month, year after year, century after blood century, praying that someone would do you a kindness and just shatter you so you didn't have to deal with the torment anymore?” He was practically yelling now. “Death would have been a kindness Celestia, especially after you spurned me.”
She coughed and growled under his grip. “I did what I had to,” she choked out. “I am the Empress, and if I deem something a threat to my subjects, my personal feelings cannot enter into any decision I make. She pushed a hand against his chest and he winced, releasing her as he was forced away by a blast of solar power. Celestia dropped to her knees, taking in a few deep breaths whilst holding her neck.
Discord writhed upon the ground for a moment before he pulled himself up to a standing position, rubbing at his chest. “I see,” he stated, his voice soft and sad, as though accepting a truth he had denied for a long time. “Then it shall be so.” He drifted over towards her bonsai again, it's green leaves curled and charred black from the heat of his fire. “Fair thee well, Celestia,” he said, hopping back into ruined foliage and slowly sinking back into it. “Next time we meet, I shall not let MY personal feelings get in the way either.” He grinned at her and blew her a kiss in a mocking manner before disappearing from view.
Celestia quivered as she looked over the space where he had just stood. Her heart was pounding. Her breath was quick. Adrenaline was pumping through her entire body. But none of that registered to her. There was only one thing she could feel right now.
Tears.
The flowed from her as freely as a river did from a broken dam and she could not stop them now. She heard the guards approaching, but as her body began to calm, she felt listless, and tired. Backing up against the side of the wall, she took a deep breath, almost retching at the scent the of ash the fire had left in its way. She could hear Dusty calling out to her worriedly, and the clatter of several armored hooves approaching. Her attention turned to the ruined bonsai and she sighed. In spite of herself, she smiled. “You owe me a new bonsai, Discord,” she joked.
No one laughed. The pain in her heart grew stronger.