//------------------------------// // 4: The Things We Live With // Story: New Age of Harmony // by Spirit Chaser //------------------------------// Not many afternoons go by peacefully in the Badlands and today was no exception as the sound of exploding rock echoed throughout the dangerous desert as Equestria’s newest princess apologized for what must have been the fifth time in the past hour alone. “Oops,” Twilight Sparkle squeaked, blushing as she studied the new hole in the rock hut. “Sorry again, Trixie. Mastering that spell is harder than you made it sound.” “I realize that, but you’re trying to do a simple revealing spell; how do you keep blowing holes in my home?” Trixie sighed and resealed yet another hole. “I don’t know; I’ve always had trouble mastering spells but at least I could cast them. This feels like trying to push down a wall. I just don’t get it.” “Then figure it out,” Trixie scolded. “If you really plan on leading your friends through the Badlands, then you must learn the revealing spell. Otherwise you’ll all be eaten by the Ignis Hydra in a matter of minutes.” “Why can they turn invisible anyway?” Twilight thumped her horn. “They absorb the heat in the air to cloak themselves,” Trixie explained. “It’s a useful ability considering that without it, they would never be able to catch their prey.” Twilight charged up her magic for another attempt at the spell when something Trixie said clicked in her head. “Catch their prey?” Twilight stared befuddled. “What other kind of creatures inhabit the Badlands?” “Everything you see in your nightmares and more.” Trixie looked out to the horizon, as if she was remembering something better left forgotten. “Those spells you taught me,” Twilight said, trotting up beside her. “Are they strong enough to protect me and my friends from those creatures?” “In my hooves they were good enough, in your hooves they’ll be more than good enough,” Trixie reassured her friend. “How can you be sure? I can’t even perfect a revealing spell.” “Because...you’re Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie said happily, shooting her a warm smile. “All this time I’ve been boasting about myself and you’re the one who can do the impossible.” Twilight looked at her hooves as she felt her cheeks turn red. Trixie let out a soft giggle as she continued to watch the horizon. Now that it was morning, the sand glittered it’s proper color. It was much easier to look at; every time she glanced at the ground when it was red, she imagined it was stained with her own blood. The thing is that it still could be. In order to continue their quest, she would have to rendezvous with her friends and lead them through the Badlands to safety. How she would accomplish this considering she hasn’t even conquered the terrible land herself, she had no idea. The spells Trixie knew where supposed to help her, but she just couldn’t understand why she couldn’t cast them. Though she did have a theory.... “You think my friends have entered the Badlands yet?” Twilight wondered aloud. “Only one way to find out, send out a flare. The creatures won’t notice, they can’t even look at the sky; they hate the sun too much.” Trusting Trixie’s genuine smile, Twilight gulped and harnessed her magic. Sending out a distress spell was something that she could still do, considering that she would need to do that often when she was put to Celestia’s tests when she was little. The Canterlot Maze was terrifying at night and she would often call upon Celestia’s assistance to finish her task. She unleashed her magic into the sky, allowing it to form a small comet-like body. The small stream exploded in the sky, emitting a soft screeching sound as it did so. If her friends were anywhere near her, they would surely see her signal. “There, I hope they see it,” Twilight said, staring at her creation. “I’ve never met anypony as dedicated to each other as you and your friends,” Trixie proclaimed. “If anypony could ever find somepony with as little as possible to go on, it’d be your friends.” “You know, they can be your friends too Trixie,” Twilight informed her. “In fact, come with us! If anyone was fit to lead us through this place it’s you. You could even come back to Ponyville with us!” “I knew you’d offer this eventually,” Trixie sighed heavily. “I said I came here to find a fresh start, that’s not the whole truth. Living in a place where I could be killed in my sleep every night is my own personal punishment for myself.” “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” Twilight angrily scolded. “You’ve changed, you’ve learned the error of your ways, you deserve a second chance.” “You what I did with my second chance, Twilight? I enslaved all of Ponyville. Does that sound like an action that could simply be forgiven?” “I’ve already forgiven you.” “But I still haven’t forgiven myself. My past isn’t something that can be forgotten, believe me, I’ve tried. It’s a past that I must live with and learn from; living everyday as a way to bring something positive into the world.” “You’re not doing anything positive by imprisoning yourself here!” “I’m preventing myself from doing something negative.” Even reformed, Trixie was still the most stubborn pony Twilight had ever met. No matter hard she tried, Twilight knew that she would never convince Trixie to come with her. The thought of Trixie living out the rest of her days in the deadliest place in Equestria didn’t sit well with Twilight so she made a promise both to herself and to Trixie. “Listen, my friends and I are on a mission that’ll end with eternal peace. I know it sounds impossible, but it’s possible. I know because I won’t stop fighting until I’ve earned you your freedom. When the eternal peace hits, it’ll purify the Badlands, allowing you to live out the rest of your life peacefully whether you want it or not.” “What exactly are you trying to say?” Trixie shifted uncomfortably. “I’m saying that as a princess of Equestria, I royally decree that I’m going to give you the happy life you deserve, one way or another.” Trixie looked as though she wanted to say something, but decided against it and trotted into her rocky domain. Sighing with frustration, Twilight absentmindedly moved the sand around with her hoof while she let the consequences of her actions settle upon her. Of course she would try to reach her goal, but what if something got in the way? Without Trixie, she would’ve died alone in the Badlands; clearly she couldn’t survive on her own. How would she be able to keep a promise she made against her better judgement if her flaws kept getting in the way? There was no way for her to become perfect, but if she could just overcome her obstacles then things would be a lot easier. Whatever she had to do, she should plan beforehoof instead of making things up as she went along. Trixie had made them breakfast, but Twilight’s anxiety must have absorbed all of her food, because she was hungry again. She couldn’t eat all of Trixie’s food before leaving her, so she refused to eat more of her food. At a time like this, she could really use that cupcake she had. A loud explosion interrupted her thoughts. Caught off guard, Twilight became accidentally airborne again, but because her wounds finally healed it didn’t hurt to stay hovering. She searched around for the source of the sound, fearing that the hydra returned for revenge. She struggled to find out where it was coming from until she looked up and immediately wondered how she could of missed the colorful explosion in the sky. She paused and thought if that was what she thought it was until she realized that a colorful streak was heading towards her at high speeds. “Twiiiiiiiliiiiiight!” shouted the familiar-sounding strip of color as it rammed into Twilight, sending her crashing into the sand. Rubbing her head, Twilight dislodged herself from the cyan blue pony who had knocked her out of the air. “Nice to see you too, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight mumbled as she made sure her teeth were still aligned. “Nice to see you? Really?” Rainbow Dash shouted as she hovered in the air. “I—we were so worried about you! As soon as I saw you get blasted out of the sky I tried to follow you, but that Starpony was stubborn. By the time I fended it off, I lost sight of you. I t—thought I’d never see you again.” Rainbow Dash softly landed and stared at the sand with a sad look that spoke volumes. Twilight could tell that underneath her hard exterior, Rainbow was genuinely and deeply worried about her. Twilight leaned in and gave her friend the wing-hug she asked for yesterday, and was delighted when she returned it. Just through this show of affection, Twilight felt her injured soul repairing itself, as if the traumatizing events of the past day had never happened and they were still reading books together back in Ponyville. “Where are the others?” Twilight asked as she retracted her wing. “Those slowpokes are on their way,” Rainbow scoffed. “As soon as we saw your flare, I got airborne to see if I could find you from the air. Once I did, I think I got a little too excited and performed a sonic rainboom on my way over to you. Hehe, sorry.” “It’s fine, it just startled me is all. Let’s just hope the monsters didn’t hear it or we’ll be in big trouble.” “Monsters?” Rainbow looked around. “I don’t see any monsters—whoa! Okay, maybe I see one.” Rainbow gestured behind Twilight. Thinking that a hydra had snuck up on her again, Twilight jumped and landed beside Rainbow. Once she saw what Rainbow was gesturing to, she smacked the top of her head. “Ow!” Rainbow massaged her head. “What was that for?!” “That’s not a monster, that’s Trixie.” Twilight waved her foreleg at the former trickster who had come outside. “I am Trixie, but I also wouldn’t deny being a monster,” Trixie said coolly, rubbing one of her eyes. “Anyway, I came outside when I heard the crash, and didn’t want to interrupt your reunion.” The thought of Trixie watching them hugging unnerved her for some reason. Embarrassed, she returned to scolding Rainbow, which had become something of a defense mechanism for her. “Trixie is the reason I’m alive and you call her a monster? I think you should apologize.” Twilight expected Rainbow to fight her request, but instead she just looked hurt, making Twilight feel bad too. Was she the one who should be apologizing? “There’s no need to say sorry for expressing the truth,” Trixie continued to defend Rainbow’s statement. “When will you be leaving?” “Soon as the others get here,” Rainbow said harshly, stepping forward. “I don’t think they’ll want to be in your presence anymore then I do.” Twilight gasped at the rudeness of her friend, but Trixie just chuckled softly and trotted back inside. “Huh? That wasn’t like Trixie at all. What happened to he—” Rainbow’s sentence was cut off by Twilight’s intense glare. “Sometimes you really are the rudest pony I’ve ever met.” Twilight trotted away from her, but only got a few feet before she was tackled by a group of colorful ponies. “Twilight!” Collectively shrieked her friends. “Girls!” Twilight gasped as she recovered the air that was knocked out of her. All except for Pinkie Pie got the message and got off of her. She had to telekinetically pry Pinkie off her. “I missed you all so much!” Twilight smiled as her soul fully repaired itself, much stronger than before. “Missed you doesn’t even cover it, sugarcube!” Applejack wiped tears from her eyes. “We thought you were a goner, Ah could barely sleep last night.” “You know, darling, it wouldn’t hurt to have put directions in your letter. Without that flare we never would’ve found in this uncouth sandy land. Lovely vest by the way, even though I would have chosen any other color.” Rarity constantly moved her legs so that she didn’t sink too far into the sand. “Right, I’ll definitely make sure to include a map with my next letter, sorry,” Twilight chuckled uncomfortably. She didn’t want her friends to know that she still had no idea where to go. “Not knowing if you were okay or not was like waiting for a surprise birthday party. Sooner or later everypony would jump out and yell SURPRISE! And here you are!” Pinkie Pie rushed forward to hug Twilight again. “First I was worried, then I was crying, then I was worried and crying, and seeing that you’re okay; I think I might cry again.” Fluttershy softly nuzzled her. Hearing her friends tell her how much they missed her gave her newfound confidence in their adventure. Now that they were together again, nothing would tear them apart again. Now there was just one more thing bugging her. “Girls? Where’s my saddlebags? You didn’t lose it did you? The Elements are in there!” “Calm down, sugarcube,” Applejack laughed. “Are y’all really worrying already? Rainbow Dash took it upon herself to keep your bags safe. She wouldn’t even let us have a turn.” Twilight looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was sitting away from them, staring at the ground, and finally noticed that she did have her saddlebags in addition to her own bags. “Rainbow?” Twilight spoke softly. “Can I have my saddlebags back now?” Brought back to reality, Rainbow sat up and looked at Twilight. The look was filled with emotions that she couldn’t quite understand, but knew that they were strong. Just how badly did her insult hurt her? “Yeah, sure Twi.” Rainbow spoke in a monotone as she removed Twilight’s bags and held them out to her. Twilight levitated them onto her and secured them over her protective vest. Upon inspection, she found that all of her supplies were still there, most importantly the Elements. “Thanks for keeping it safe,” Twilight said awkwardly, giving her another wing-hug, but this time she remained stiff through it. “Ahem, we’ll leave in a second, just let me say goodbye to Trixie real fast.” She could feel the group tense up as she said Trixie’s name. She had told them in the letter that she was staying with Trixie and not to panic, but it seemed that hearing it and seeing it was a different story. As soon as she stepped inside, Trixie said, “You’re leaving now, correct?” “Uh, yeah we are,” Twilight sighed, squirming uncomfortably. “And I—” “You came to say goodbye and remind me of your ridiculous promise, yes, yes; hurry up and go already while it’s still daylight.” Trixie had her back turned to Twilight as she intercepted her sentence. Realizing that Trixie had basically started and finished their goodbye, Twilight headed for the door. As she stepped outside she looked back and said, “Goodbye, friend.” Trixie mumbled something about foolish promises as Twilight left the rock hut for what would probably be the last time. She would have to remember to keep in contact with Trixie through the letter spell. “What took so long?” Rainbow impatiently spat. “Took so long? She was only gone for a good minute,” Applejack reasoned. “Was I asking you?” Rainbow snapped at Applejack. “No, but Ah’m askin’ you to calm down. We’ve got a job to do and we can’t be wastin’ time with pointless arguments.” Applejack’s words rang true, but she also gave Rainbow a look that seemed to exchange something private between them. Rainbow seemed to understand and backed off. Twilight wondered what happened between them while she was gone. “Okay, if everypony is ready, then we have a desert to cross.” Twilight began to trot forward, unaware of where forward would take them. The first few minutes weren’t as bad as she thought, because with her friends for company she wasn’t constantly worrying about her sanity. They asked Twilight about what happened to her while they were separated and she made sure to tell them almost everything. She decided that describing some of her moments with Trixie in detail would make Rainbow Dash angrier than she already was, so she skipped the part about risking her life to save Trixie’s. She did make sure to tell them all about the shadowy mare in her dreams, and if they should worry about being watched. They all agreed that it was strange and that there was definitely more to this than they knew. If anymore lives were endangered because Celestia didn’t feel like sharing a few details, Twilight was going to go completely insane. A few times she joked about how she would have done better with a brave pony like Rainbow Dash at her side, but her efforts to lighten the colorful pony’s mood failed. Her confident friend had been in moods like this before, but this one felt different. It couldn’t have been the insult because she usually brushed comments like that off. It must have been about her spending time with Trixie, but why would that upset her? Perhaps Applejack has the answer. Now that they were all caught up, their only conversation pieces were Rarity’s quips about the sand ruining her hooficure and Pinkie just being Pinkie. It wasn’t long before the eerie mood of the Badlands killed their spirits just as it had killed (the spirits of) so many ponies before them. Even Rainbow’s face had turned more nervous than angry, although every time she noticed Twilight watching, it returned to anger. Terrifying minutes to hours as the unusually peaceful trek through the deadly desert was still getting them nowhere. Every time Twilight sensed that they were going the wrong way, she led them in another direction, telling them that she suddenly remembered it was that way. In truth, she was completely going on instinct and was constantly worried that her friends would discover she was a fraud. Every hour that they were still in the desert was painful as she waited for one of her friends to snap at her. The absence of the predators was probably what worried Twilight the most. Mostly, it was the feeling that a Ignis Hydra was probably watching them at that moment. They should’ve seen hordes of monsters by now, but they hadn’t even heard a peep. What were they waiting for? “It sure is gettin’ dark,” Applejack announced, “shouldn’t we set up camp for the night?” “Sorry, too dangerous,” Twilight responded without stopping. “If we rest in the Badlands, we’ll probably be eaten in our sleep.” “Yeah right,” Rainbow grumbled. “We’ve been trotting for hours and we haven’t seen a single dangerous thing.” “Hey, I’ve been wondering that too,” Twilight agreed. “It’s really weird that there are no monsters around. That’s why we have to keep our guard up, they could attack us at any time.” “My aching hooves could use a break,” chimed Rarity. “This sand has been absolutely dreadful for my hooficure.” “We know!” Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack collectively agreed. “Look, this place is like the pits of Tartarus at night. If we stop, there’s no way we’ll make it out in one piece.” “Did you see it for yourself or did Trixie tell you that?” Rainbow taunted. “And what if she did?” Twilight turned around. “She’s been living here for months and you just got here. Following her advice should be a no-brainer.” “Not if you’re following it blindly!” Rainbow stepped closer. “The only one blind here is you if you won’t listen to some advice just because the person giving them is a jerk!” Twilight also moved closer. “Please, I was friends with Gilda remember? I’m capable of taking advice from jerks.” “Then why are you picking on Trixie?” “Why are you so intent on defending her?! Do you like her better than us? Is that it?” Rainbow’s voice was filled with more pain than what she would’ve expected considering the type of conversation they were having. Twilight was going to comment on it when Applejack stepped in. “Quit yer shouting!” Applejack pushed them away from each other’s seething face. “If those creatures are here then they’ll be attracted to all the noise you two are makin’! Look, we’re all tired right? The way Ah see it, if we do find one of those beasts, we’ll be fightin’ a losing battle if we go in yawnin’. We’ll set up camp, Twilight will set up a magic shield around us, and we’re going to get some dang sleep!” “Good plan, Applejack,” Twilight said. “To ensure maximum safety, I’ll even take watch to make sure we all get a good night’s sleep.” “That’s silly,” Pinkie blurted out. “How are you gonna sleep if you’re up all night, Twilight?” “Don’t worry about it, Pinkie,” Twilight assured her. “If I don’t see anything dangerous then I’ll go to sleep too.” The truth was that Twilight wasn’t eager to go to sleep so soon after encountering the shadowy mare. It was clear that the being had access to her mind whenever she unconscious, and this was a connection that she was eager to sever. One or two nights without sleeping should do the trick. “Is everypony clear on the plan?” Twilight asked to confirm. Each of her friends offered their own way of confirming that they understood. All except for Rainbow Dash who merely shook her head “yes.” Twilight told everypony to stand still as she prepared to cast the force field spell. Her horn lit up as a faint lavender dome flickered and solidified above them. She watched as her friends innocently put up their tents, unaware of the dangers of the Badlands. Twilight preceded to cast charms on them that would allow them to enter and leave the force field whenever they wanted. “Defenses are up,” Twilight informed them. “You guys can sleep now while I go stand guard.” “Okay, but don’t forget to sleep if you don’t see anything scary,” Pinkie eagerly reminded her. “Yeah, I’ll do that,” Twilight chuckled, regretfully lying to her pink friend. Truth was that scary didn’t exist in the Badlands. Terrifying did. As she trotted away from her protective dome, she hoped that the shield would withstand any sneak attacks from a certain race of multi-headed beasts she hated. In a worse-case scenario, Rainbow Dash would probably fend off the hydras long enough for her to arrive on the scene. The problem was that Rainbow probably wouldn’t able to hit something she couldn’t see, so the chances of her actually fighting them off was unlikely. There was also the fact that Twilight still couldn’t cast the revealing spell properly. There was also the fact that— The more Twilight thought about all the flaws in her plan, the less likely it would be that they would survive this. Her train of thought stopped when she heard an unknown noise behind her. It sounded like some sort of clicking, which for most ponies, just meant that they had a bug in their house, but for Twilight it meant that there was a giant monster behind her. When they were done here, she hoped that her problems became as simple as having a bug in her house. Praying to Celestia that this one wasn’t also invisible, Twilight spun around, igniting her horn in the process. The sight of what was in front of her made her activate her magic by accident; sending the energy in her horn flying at her enemy. The enemy in question was some sort of giant mosquito, except much more deadly. It’s black soulless eye orbs were terrifying, but not as scary as the pincers attached to the end of the sticks it called arms; each was as big as her head. It’s rapidly fluttering wings were very insect-like in appearance, but had the sharpness of a knife. It’s head was small, but Twilight herself was proof that sometimes small heads held the most intelligent brains. It’s six frail legs were more weaknesses than strengths given how skinny they were. It watched her for a moment that felt like hours as Twilight wondered how she would defeat this thing should it decide to attack her. Perhaps she wouldn’t had been worried about it attacking her at all if she hadn’t just accidentally launched a spell at it. Whatever she cast, it seemed totally unaffected by it, which gave her hope. Not wanting to start an unnecessary fight, Twilight slowly trotted over to the force field; never letting her eyes leave the flying threat. She was only a few steps away from safety, she was going to to make it! That is, until she remembered how bad her luck really was. Without warning, she was brutally tossed into the air and would’ve landed badly if she didn’t vigorously flap her wings at the last second. Glancing at her attacker, she was shocked to find that the calm mosquito had certainly switched to attack mode. It’s soulless eyes were now filled with rage to match the murderous aura it was giving off. It’s pincers were primed and ready to snap her in half. It’s useless legs were glued to it’s body to avoid getting in the way. Basically, she was doomed. Deciding to avoid now and fight later, Twilight soared into the sky. Relying on her adrenaline to fuel her flight, she flew far away from the mosquito at her max speed. Apparently she wasn’t flying fast enough because the buzzing demon was quickly catching up to her. Just as it began to close in on her, she began a risky nosedive towards the sand. The rapidly approaching sand terrified her more with each passing second. Closing her eyes and hoping for the best, she began to pull up. The light burn on her stomach told her that she cut it way too close there. She looked back to see if she was still being pursued. Luckily, she seemed to be safe at the moment. THUMP!! The tangled body in front of her told her that she may have been safe, but she could still be tried for murder. Rubbing the sore spot on her head, Twilight inspected the thing she accidentally flew into. Upon a closer look, she realized that the cyan pony was Rainbow Dash and hugged her friend out of relief. “Ugh, what the buck, Twilight?!” Rainbow pushed the princess off of her. “I know we’re not best pals right now, but you don’t have to tackle me outta nowhere.” Frustrated and frantic at her current situation, Twilight tried anyway she could to tell Rainbow Dash about her encounter. “Dashed Rainbow,” Twilight stammered out. “Thank Celes—una! We gotta flap flap up to the big bug a-and hit it up and then we hit it down, and, and—” Twilight let out a deep sigh as she tried to calm herself. After a deep breath, she looked at Rainbow’s face and was not at all surprised to see that the daredevil had a look of shock and disgust. “Okay, Twilight,” Rainbow sighed angrily, rubbing her face with her hoof. “Here in Equestria, we have a language called english; I think you should learn it.” Ignoring her friend’s sarcastic comment, Twilight turned to her friends who have either just woken up or never went to sleep. “Girls, I need your help,” Twilight stated. “I’m being chased by this big mosquito thing. I think I lost it for now, but it’ll be back; it had a determined look in it’s eye—eyes.” “Calm down, sugarcube,” Applejack interrupted. “You don’t have to explain nothin’. After you made us feel helpless back on the train, we’ve all been gearing up for some action.” “I’m not,” Fluttershy squeaked behind Rarity. “If it’s ok with you girls, I think I’ll just stay on the sidelines whenever we run into—eep—violence.” “Don’t be silly, Fluttershy,” Rarity said, patting Fluttershy on the back. “We all must do what we can to offer our usefulness. If that means partaking in a little roughhousing, well; you do wish to be useful don’t you?” “Apparently I don’t!” Fluttershy huffed. Remembering something that she packed with her before they left Ponyville, Twilight telekinetically searched her saddlebags. Finding her desired object, she levitated it in front of Fluttershy’s face. “Of course you’re useful, Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she began to explain. “You’re so good at taking care of animals that I figured you could take care of us if we got hurt. This is royal salve I got from Canterlot. If we get hurt, it’s up to you to heal us.” Fluttershy grabbed the container out of the air and studied the contents inside. After a moment of thinking to herself, she nodded with a small smile on her face. Smiling back, Twilight realized that she’d just royally assigned a job to someone. It felt...right, which slightly worried her. She told herself that she didn’t want to become a ruler like Celestia or Luna, but if it felt right, was it wrong? “Big bug at 13 o’ clock!” Pinkie gestured outside the force field. Sure enough, the deadly insect was furiously slashing at the protective bubble with it’s pincers. This gruesome sight alone made her want to curl in her tent and hide, but her friends were expecting leadership, and that’s what she was going to give them. “Rainbow Dash,” Twilight began. “Get it’s attention and keep it. Rarity, you and I are going to capture it in our auras, be prepared. Applejack, I know you brought your lasso; I need you to rope it in once we have it under control. Pinkie Pie, give us encouragement, and lots of it. Every little bit helps. Fluttershy, standby in case anything goes wrong and we need medical help. Everypony got it? Good, let’s do this girls!” With a professional salute, Rainbow Dash flew up behind the giant bug and kicked it hard on it’s back. The impact slammed it into the impenetrable dome, and it was not happy. With a blood-curdling screech, it buzzed after Rainbow, who was much quicker than it. She made sure to fly close to the ground to give her and Rarity their opening. “Rarity, now!” The glow of two horns illuminated the night as the Alicorn and the unicorn encased Rainbow’s pursuer in their magic. The magenta and blue auras danced side by side along it’s skin until they joined together in an explosion of light. Now that they had it in their hold, they just needed to control it. Together, they brought it crashing into the ground, sending sand everywhere in the process. It fiercely struggled against their grasp, but they weren’t the Elements of Harmony for nothing. When it got tired of struggling, Twilight signalled Applejack for the next step. “Go, Applejack!” With a swish of her head, the farmer unleashed her trusty lasso on the monster. With a new prison to escape, it regained some energy to struggle again, but definitely not enough. “Yeah!” Pinkie shouted from behind them. “You go ponies! Capture that creature, snare that serpent, wrangle that rascal!” “Is anypony hurt?” Fluttershy eagerly asked. “Please say no, I mean; I want to help, but not if you have to get to hurt in the process.” With the monster defeated and each of them safe and sound next to each other, Twilight was about to chalk up this mission as a success when Rainbow spoke up. “Now what do we do with it?” Rainbow poked it a little. “What do you mean?” Twilight obliviously asked. “I mean,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “Obviously we can’t keep it like this forever. What do we do with it?” “I could stun it or put it to sleep, I think,” Twilight said, thinking out loud. “I don’t think that would be the best solution,” Rainbow countered. “I think we should...y’know. Put it down.” “It’s already on the ground,” Pinkie laughed. “Silly, Rainbow.” “No, Pinkie,” Twilight said darkly, “Rainbow is suggesting that we kill it.” “Oh,” Pinkie said sadly, her face falling. “That’s not a nice thing to suggest.” “Well, out here it’s eat or be eaten!” Rainbow snapped. “Isn’t that how Trixie survived this long? She knows that there’s no good guys in war. It’s time we also figured that out.” “This isn’t war,” Twilight shouted, “we're the good guys and nothing’s going to change that.” “In Equestria we are, but once we leave the Badlands, once we leave Equestria, things are going to change for the worse. We have to be ready to get used to the kind of things we’re going to see out there, because it’s not going to be pretty. What happens when we aren’t fighting monsters, but other ponies?!” “STOP!” Twilight shouted as she shook her head. Losing her concentration, she felt her grasp on the creature loosen. She tried to reclaim it, but a moment’s hesitation was all it needed to escape. Shrugging off Rarity’s aura, it took to the sky and divebombed them. Moving out of the way, Twilight shielded herself from the wave of sand that washed over her. Shaking off the grains, Twilight flew into the air just in time to avoid a surprise attack. Looking at the ground from above, she was relieved to see that her friends had retreated back inside the dome. All except for Rainbow Dash, who had joined her in the sky. The demonic mosquito was coming back for more and they were ready. Without communicating, they seemed to agree on an attack plan. Twilight flew in with a beam of purple light from her horn emitted straight into it’s side, and Rainbow flew in with a flying kick to it’s other side. Injured from both sides, it flew momentarily stunned for a second, then surprised her again by swatting her out of the sky with it’s pincer. As she fell to her death for what felt like the millionth time, she heard Rainbow emit a pained cry. Hearing her friend in trouble gave her enough strength to catch herself in midair and soar upwards to assist her. Halfway up, however, she realized that Rainbow’s cry wasn’t of actual pain. It was obvious by the way that Rainbow was currently assaulting their enemy that she took no actual pain, then why did she scream? Did Rainbow really shout because Twilight had been injured? Had she already forgiven her? That was obviously a talk for later as even though Rainbow had the lead, she still needed help. Charging up another burst of magic, Twilight got close. This was going to end differently than the fight with the Starponies, but the outcome she had in mind didn’t seem much better. Feeling that the spell was ready, she moved closer to the struggling mass of bodies and was about to tell Rainbow to move when she had a better idea. Soaring towards it hornfirst, she felt her horn pierce it’s skin (a terrible feeling), she unleashed the magic. The explosion that followed was more gruesome than she could’ve ever imagined. As the innards of the mosquito left it’s body and she was blown away from the aftermath of the blast; she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the form of the falling beast. Too much in a state of shock to even flap her own wings, she accepted that she was probably about to die yet again. This time, however, she almost wanted her death. To her, it would be better to die now, than live with the guilt of what she had just done. Closing her eyes, she thought of nothing, because the thought of her becoming a murderer was too much for her mind. She felt her body pause in midair and wasn’t surprised that she opened her eyes and saw Rainbow Dash carrying her safety and silently lowering her to the ground. Setting her down inside the force field, they stared into each other’s eyes for a second; a feeling of understanding due to what had occurred passed through them. Even though her view was obscured by the sight of Rainbow’s unique magenta-shaded eyes, she still saw the horror behind her. The falling mass behind her had finally landed. It squirmed for a horrifying moment, emitting a nightmare inducing cry as it fought for life. After the longest minute of her life, her victim had given up and laid limp outside the force field. A gasp broke the air before she realized that it came from her. Holding onto Rainbow Dash, Twilight arched her head to look Pinkie Pie. “Well,” Twilight choked out, “I’ve seen something scary, I-I think I’m going to sleep now, i-if it’s alright with you all.” Burying her head into Rainbow’s chest, she allowed the tears to fall onto her brave friend’s cyan coat. The last thing she remembering was falling asleep in Rainbow’s forelegs as four pairs of hooves rubbed her back.