//------------------------------// // A small issue // Story: Homecoming // by seeker9709 //------------------------------// The warm room was normally quiet. Cushions and pillows would have littered the floor, surrounded by scented candles or incense. Depending on the mood, sometimes there would be music coming from a record player in one corner of the room. Richly-colored carpets and curtains would be dotted about undisturbed, bringing a new life to the magical little cove. In the center of the room, surrounded by the cushions and candles, still there after all that had happened, was a glowing crystal ball. On the far side of the room was a lone doorway, flanked by several bookshelves that covered the remaining wall space. Once you passed in-between the wooden sentries, you would be greeted by a massive expanse of books large enough to rival any library you might have ever visited. You could spend months inside the great expanse, and still not read every book you found. However, peace and serenity were no longer a part of the magical room's atmosphere. That could be credited to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The main room looked like it had been host to a series of hurricanes. Rugs and cushions were thrown about, books had been violently tossed upon every surface in sight, and the record player lay almost tragically in the corner of the room, broken into pieces. The candles and incense had been extinguished and covered hastily, leaving a musty smell floating through the air. “Nothing in this one,” Luna called out, adding the book she had been scouring to the large pile in front of her. None of the contents of any of the leather bound scraps, journals, scrolls, or memories contained any meaningful or useful information. Granted, Luna doubted she and her sister had been searching for much more than an hour. But that just meant that the size and magnitude of the library in which Luna and her sister currently resided only served as a reminder of their hopeless situation. While this did not fail to escape her, the overwhelming sense of a shortage of time was an even greater burden in both of their minds. Speed was key, but there was absolutely no room for error. Luckily, magic could be used to speed-read and had been quite a handy tool, but still Luna knew that it would take them more than a few hours to find what they needed. Luna occupied a large spot in the middle of one of the long rows of books. The pieces of parchment that she scoured lay either on the floor or held up in the air with her magic. She would fly through the books, trying to absorb as much information as she could before moving on to the next one. As they moved from shelf to shelf, book to book, Luna couldn't help but notice the lack of dust or dirt on the shelves and books themselves. The library was so massive that the alicorn sisters doubted they would finish looking through everything by that night, and yet it was perfectly clean. Luna couldn't detect any active cleaning spells or living broomsticks, which left her stumped. With the amount of books in the massive room, there should have been clumps of dust and cobwebs around every turn. The place was almost as big as the Canterlot Archives, which was staffed by dozens of ponies who took special care of the old repository. How could one mare constantly use, organize, or clean the books so much that there wouldn't be a speck of dust or dirt in the entire room? It just didn't seem conceivable. But then again, it was Twilight Sparkle they were dealing with. Either she had a hunger for knowledge that Luna had never seen outside of her and her sister, or Twilight Sparkle was a complete neat-freak. The alicorn wasn't sure which one was the determining factor, but she had a strange feeling that it was both. Once she got over the initial shock of size and cleanliness, a sense of disbelief and anger began to course through her as she began reading in earnest. At first, the books seemed like normal spell tomes and magical history books, but soon the scripts became something else. Forbidden spells, curses, long lost combat techniques used to cripple and maim, memories of dark unicorns, runes to summon horrible creatures, ways to torture and humiliate, sigils used to inflict pain and suffering, were all laced inside of this library. The list only grew longer and deadlier as Luna read through. As she scanned each page, she felt her anger grow more and more fierce. Many of the books contained spells that were made illegal, or considered too dangerous for normal ponies to use. Or any ponies, for that matter. She even found spells that didn't – or at least weren't supposed to – exist on any script or text. Ones that she and Celestia had created, and quickly learned to never use. Blood magic, necromancy, mind control, spells to twist and destroy, guides on how to mutilate without killing. Diagrams of different parts of a pony's body, and how to target each race according to where they are weakest. Tincture, poisons, potions, agents, chemicals, and medicines. Life draining spells and spells that would match one pony's identity to another's, right down to the smallest difference. Luna was doubly shocked and horrified to see all manner of cures and remedies, capable of removing all manner of sickness and disease, listed right alongside this executioner's log of agonizing and excruciating methods. The damage you could to a pony's body without killing them was terrifically powerful, leaving Luna with a bitter taste in her mouth. She pitied any enemy of this mare. If Twilight ever held a serious vendetta against anypony, there would be no stopping her from exacting whatever terrible revenge she desired. A most horrifying thought came to Luna. After what she had done to Fluttershy, it was no wonder she had all these books. She knew the ins and outs of all three branches of ponykind, mentally as well as physically. She had dozens of books on anatomy, biology, and psychology. She had clearly wanted to know what made them tick, and all of the ways she could destroy them from the inside-out. With ever turn of a page, Luna felt that she was no longer reading into a book. Instead it felt as if she was peering into the fractured psyche of a lunatic. No safe or healthy pony would have content like this just sitting around. It just wasn't natural. Luna was sure that, given the opportunity, Noteworthy would have had a field day exploring the room she and her sister occupied. The young alicorn shuddered to think about the atrocities that had been committed to simply gain the knowledge, much less replicate or repeat it. It was simply monstrous, there was no excuse for owning this type of content. Some things were simply too horrible to do to another pony, good or evil. And yet, Luna couldn't help but think back to the first few times she and Celestia had heard of Twilight. When she had single-hoofedly killed and injured a bar full of criminals, and when she had unseated Render and his men in that northern outpost town. Each and every one of them was a criminal, fugitive, or outlaw, and Twilight had fought each and every one of them, even to the point of killing or seriously injuring some of them. But it was her manner that fascinated Luna the most. In both fights she had fought the other ponies with hoof-to-hoof combat, or with physical weapons and minor aid from magic. If she had truly wanted to kill or harm, then she could have simply used one of the hundreds of spells or tortures that she had kept hidden away in these books. But instead, she had stooped to a lower level. Why? Why would she have taken her time to personally punish each and every one of them? 'That's it.' Luna realized, sitting up in her chair. 'She wasn't just hurting them. She was punishing them.' It did make some sense. Twilight had been tormented for most of her early life. Not just by other colts and fillies, but even by adult ponies. Those who thought THEIR foals were far more important than she was. What a bunch of dullards. Luna and Celestia had done their best to quiet the voices that rose up, but it had been to little avail. Selfishness was simply more powerful than reason. After all, Velvet and Nightlight were some of Luna's Star Watchers, A coalition of advisers and moderators who watched over public intentions, complications, positives, negatives, and overall mood. There was even a name for the section of the Castle they worked in. The Observatory. Clearly, if higher-ranking ponies had been receiving special attention from the Princesses, it was a show of favoritism. If they got to send their daughter to the Princess for help, why shouldn't the other ponies? Her problem couldn't have been that bad. After all, other foal's problems were probably worse in the long run. It's not every day a pony comes down with a “mystery illness” or anything else of the sort. It was simply nonsense, and Twilight had been the focus of all of it. But dwelling on such nonsense would get neither Celestia nor Luna anywhere. Instead, they had to put their heads down and focus on the task at hand, no matter how long it would take. Besides, it was early into the new day, and it would be a long while before it came time for Celestia to raise the sun. They needed to put the puzzle pieces together before Twilight won, but first they would have to find each piece. She could already tell they wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, but that didn't matter to either of them. Luna was still lost as to Twilight's logic in all of this. If she truly wanted to punish each and every pony that she deemed evil, why not use the methods that she had clearly gone out of her way to obtain? Surely, these routes would have been enough to satisfy even the most monstrous of blood lusts. Unless she was saving them for somepony else. All of these spells, tinctures, tortures. What if she was saving them for somepony important? Somepony she truly wanted to hurt. And a much more troubling thought... what if she was saving them for two alicorns whom she believed had failed to help her? If Twilight wanted to leave them dazed, confused, and running around in circles, then she was succeeding quite effectively. Luna rubbed her eyes, setting down the aged text on the table in front of her. The book didn't reveal anything interesting, just a few methods of castration that sounded rather unpleasant and agonizing. Not that the act on its own wasn't... “Luna?” Celestia called, distracting the smaller alicorn from her rambling thoughts. She groaned quietly before responding. “Over here, sister!” She yelled, her voice hoarse from exhaustion. “Luna, I think I found somethings of interest. A bit better than dusty old tomes.” Rainbow Dash walked as if she was in a trance. A dream. Each step in front of her was purposeful and intentional, and yet she felt slow and rigid. Like she wasn't controlling herself. She thought nothing of her own, uncontrolled movements, and was only concerned with what she herself was going to do next. And yet, she knew exactly where she was going. She was going to meet the devil in her own cage, and she wasn't leaving before blood had been spilled. It was going be... What was it going to be? She was abut to say glorious. Oh how she longed to see blood spill from that demented, grinning bitch. She wanted to see Twilight's teeth shatter, and hear her bones crunch beneath her hooves. Rainbow would break off the mare's horn, use it as a toothpick, and then shove it up the unicorn's ass just to make things a bit more fun. Maybe she would get Octavia. She could just imagine the look on Twilight's face as she beat the earth pony right in front of her. Give her a taste of her own medicine. Let her suffer as her friend was beaten to death in front of her, while she was unable to save her. It would truly be glorious, to watch Twilight suffer so. But maybe it wouldn't be. What if she walked in there and simply collapsed? What if she just melted beneath that monster's gaze? What if she became the one who needs help, the one who cries out as she is destroyed? She had so much left to do. So many she still needed to protect, and yet she was scared of a mare in chains. How could she be so weak? No. She wasn't weak. The voice told her so. The voice told her she was strong. She may not have known it, but she was. She was Rainbow Dash, The Fastest Flier in Equestria, The Greatest Fighter Alive, The Most Loyal Pony to Ever Live. She could not be defeated when she was stronger than a thousand moonstone shields. She could not be beaten when she was quicker than one million arrows, or more deadly than a hundred thousand Celestial Steel swords. She was Rainbow Dash, a sister, a student, and a mentor. Not some unicorn who wandered in the snow for 16 years. She looked up for the first time, finally noticing why her legs had stopped moving. In front of her was a white padded door. There were no distinctive marks on it except for small letters in the middle of the frame. Twilight Sparkle, Unicorn, 24 Extremely Dangerous, threat level Black Entry forbidden unless expressly accompanied by or approved by the Alicorn Princesses Rainbow saw past all of that. She didn't see a tall blank door barring her passage. Instead, all she saw was something in her way. She had business on the other side of that door, and nothing would stop her from entering. Which was unfortunate for the two stallions who stood not three feet in front of her. She was so focused on the door, she hadn't even noticed the statue-still ponies whose eyes were zeroed in on her. She walked towards them, right until she could touch one of the stallions with her nose, before she finally saw them. Rainbow crossed her eyes, looking down her nose at the earth pony guard who stood in front of her and mimicked her actions so that he could meet her eye. His partner, a pegasus, stood right next to him, watching the commander of Luna's Night Guard with a worried gaze. “Commander Dash?” The earth pony asked, unsure of Rainbow. She gazed up at him with a blank stare. It was as if she was sleepwalking. “Yes, Strongheart?” She replied slowly. Hearing his name come from her, the earth pony couldn't help but stand up just a little bit taller. “Um, ma'am, y-y-you can't be here. Princess' orders. You'll have to turn around.” He eventually stuttered out, looking down at the Commander's wide, empty eyes. Neither he nor his partner would ever know if their words actually reached Rainbow, or whether or not they fell on deaf ears. In what seemed to them as barely an eye-blink, Strongheart would wake up several hours later with a severe headache and his partner lying on the floor next to him, neither of them remembering what had happened. In an instant, Rainbow had thrown out her wings, launching herself forward. She'd grabbed the two stallion's heads and smashed them together so hard that the spell-reinforced steel dented under her strength. The two stallions then collapsed to the ground on top of each other, both of them out of the fight before there was even the threat of one. Needless to say, this was not a simple task, and the result was one that would leave both of them with rather painful concussions for some time. But her concern was not for the two soldiers she had just left crumpled in a pile. She stepped over their limp bodies as she reached out for the door handle, practically floating off the ground with pent-up energy as she pulled it open with a soft thump. Rainbow felt as if she had been given a gift from a god. The room was bare except for a metal table and three small chairs. Twilight Sparkle lay in a small white bed on the other side of the room. She lay curled up with her head tucked between her two front legs. Her limbs were chained side by side, severely limiting her movement, and it would doubtless have been very discomforting for her if she tried to test them. They were specially made to cause extreme, non-fatal distress if a pony tried to break them. Though, Rainbow doubted that these chains would hurt as much as her hooves connecting with that bitch's skull. Maybe she would let Twilight struggle a bit, just to get that extra amount of hurt in there. After all, she planned on staying for as long as she could. Might as well get as much out of it as possible. She stepped carefully through the doorway, trying not to make too much noise. Once she started on Twilight, the other guards would be on the room in no time. It helped that the doors were magic-proofed, but jamming the door with a chair could only last so long. She estimated that she would have just three minutes to get as much out of the unicorn as she could, before she would have to fight off a few of her comrades. She crept forward, gently picking up a chair and moving back towards the entryway. The door swung shut effortlessly as she took one long look at Twilight. 'The clock starts NOW' She jammed the metal chair underneath the silver handle hard, the sound of scratching and protesting metal instantly awakening Twilight from her slumber. Her head shot up, solid black eyes meeting Rainbow’s furious pink ones. Before Twilight could utter a word or even split her face into that psychotic smile, Rainbow had cleared the distance between them. Twilight sailed across the room, her body colliding roughly with the polished steel table. The wind was knocked out of her lungs during her violent stop. Before she could even raise her head, a hoof wrapped around her throat and she was slammed back into the metal surface. With a sickening BANG, BANG, BANG, her head struck the reflective surface by Rainbow's ruthless hooves. She was lifted up for a moment before being thrown backwards into one of the, thankfully, padded walls. Had it not been, she most likely would have broken her neck or fractured the back of her skull as it slammed into the surface. Blood freely flowed from her nose and mouth, as well as from a cut above her eye. Rainbow wouldn't have been surprised if she could have reached inside of the mare's mouth and pulled out a tooth or four. The demon raised Twilight's head to see her attacker standing above on hind legs, rage in her eyes and hooves clenched at her sides. The anger, instead of causing terror, brought about that smile. That broken, bloody, cracked smile. The one she wore when she nearly killed Dash, the one she wore as she mocked the Princesses. The one she wore when she ripped Fluttershy's wings to pieces. Rainbow, barely controlling herself as it was, couldn't find it in herself to stop the relentless assault. Not when she had to look at that smile. She jammed one hoof under Twilight's throat, lifting the mare higher against the wall. Already, she could hear guards on the other slice of the door, pounding with their hooves. It wouldn't be long until the were here, and they might even have Celestia or Luna in tow. She pressed her hoof deeper into Twilight's throat, close to crushing in the mare's windpipes. Twilight's smile began to waver as the air caught in her chest, unable to escape. Seeing her discomfort brought a gleam to Rainbow's eyes. A small squeak escaped from Twilight, followed by a rasp. “I'm sorry, Ms. Sparkle, does something hurt?” Rainbow taunted her calmly, while Twilight began to claw at Rainbow's hoof. Oddly enough, Rainbow felt calm now. She was in control, and there was nothing Twilight could do to fight back. Not like this. Rainbow pulled her hoof back long enough for Twilight to take a small breath before she reapplied the pressure once more. “I have an idea. Why don't I bring in your little marefriend, the pretty grey earth pony who plays the cello?” She stared into Twilight's eyes, a triumphant smile on her face. “I could just have a little fun with her. Treat her the same way you saw fit to treat Fluttershy. But, she doesn't hake any wings. Hmm. I wonder what I could take from her that would make us equal. Maybe if I broke her front legs, would that make us equal? What do you think, Twilight? After all, an earth pony's legs are just as important to them as a pegasus' wings are.” Twilight's smile still didn't waver as she stared back at Rainbow. She was dead silent, betraying no mood. Rainbow clasped Twilight around her neck, heaving backwards and throwing her once again. She sailed headfirst, colliding roughly with the flooring and tumbling head over hooves for several seconds. Finally, she smashed into the opposite wall, crumbling into a ball as her momentum ceased. “But then again,”Rainbow continued, “it wouldn't be fair to stop there. After all, you did take Scootaloo.” Rainbow stalked towards Twilight, a fire lit in her eyes that she didn't expect to extinguish anytime soon. “So maybe I won't stop at her legs.” Rainbow gripped the fallen mare by her shoulders, calmly sitting her up against the wall. “Maybe I'll go higher. We could start with the legs, but then where do we go after that? Maybe I'll move on to the ribs.” She jabbed Twilight in the chest, hard, causing the mare to groan in pain. “Or I could go for her pelvis. After all, a little paralysis never killed anypony, right?” Once again she roughly prodded the mare's body, inflicting even more pain onto the already injured being. 'Yes. Yes.' The voice coaxed her, its quiet voice urging her to continue Twilight's torture. 'More. Make her suffer. Make her feel the pain she has inflicted on others.' “But this can all stop.” Rainbow whispered, her voice so calm and steady it looked to have surprised even Twilight and, more importantly, the voice. “What?” 'What!?' Rainbow nodded slowly. “I don't need to kill you, I just want my friend back. IF you tell me where she is, I will leave this room without another word. No more pain. No more suffering. It's that simple. Just tell me where Scootaloo is.” There was a pregnant silence in the room, while the voice in Rainbow’s head urged her to continue, almost maniacally begged her to push onward, dumbfounded at her decision. 'What are you doing, you stupid mare? Kill her! Make her suffer! You cannot afford to grant her mercy. Why would you do this to the mare who stole your friend's wings, the one who shamed you in battle, the one who stole your little sister? HOW CAN YOU SHOW HER MERCY!?' 'It's rather simple, really.' Rainbow thought to herself, as the voice fell silent. 'I don't need revenge. She has been captured, and I think I roughed her up well enough. Besides, this isn't me. This is not who I am, kicking a pony while they're down, no matter what they have done. How can I expect to call myself a pony fighting for good, when I act so horribly? That would just make me turn into her, and I will never allow that. That's not Rainbow Dash, and it never will be. Justice will come her way, I guarantee, but it won't be served adequately by my hooves spilling her blood. Everypony has their time, and hers is not far off. 'Besides' Rainbow glanced back at the door. It was rocking as guards pounded and kicked at it, trying to gain entrance to the room. 'I don't have time to waste on waiting for her to squeal. That's what she would want, and I won't give it to her. I don't need you, and I never did. You've caused me nothing but trouble with your sweet words, and I won't have anymore of it.' Rainbow waited for several moments as silence responded to her words. She smiled triumphantly, even as those black eyes locked with hers and the lips of the mare in front of her again cracked into an insane grin. It never wavered, even as the unicorn let out a wave of mad laughter with such gusto that the guards outside the room stopped their assault on the door. Rainbow looked down at Twilight with a smirk as the mare guffawed loudly. She looked at the unicorn like she would a child throwing a tantrum, waiting for her to finish before she could scold her some more. “Tell me, Commander,” Twilight began, her laughing fit finally coming to a close. She met Rainbow's eyes with her wide smile still spread across her face. “Where did this sudden change of heart come from? Do you always show this much compassion to your enemies? You must not be a very good soldier.” Rainbow still looked down on her silently, unmoving from her place. “Hmm, you've become the strong, silent type now? Seems like a con. I can imagine that on the inside, you're shaking like a filly. Should we test that theory?” Twilight began to rise up, only to be pinned to the wall by Rainbow's hoof. She jabbed the unicorn in the shoulder and caused the limb to go numb, nearly causing Twilight to collapse once more. “This is your last warning before you go back to sleep the hard way.” Rainbow pushed even harder into Twilight, threatening to break the mare's leg. Suddenly, her smile disappeared. Her body went rigid and she stopped struggling underneath Rainbow's crushing force. Though her eyes were still black, and her stare still hard and cold, she seemed suddenly different. Off. “Very well, Commander. I see no point in breaking this body. After all, I won't be finding another one as capable as hers.” She said with a sigh. Rainbow's smile grew larger. “Glad you could see it my way. Now then,” she jammed Twilight's shoulder again, “where is she?” Twilight hissed from the pain, still trying to pry away the pegasus' hoof. “A few blocks down the main road, underneath an old factory. An old facility for trading and manufacturing. There is a small slaughterhouse that was used for trading animals to griffons. You'll find her there. Now please, release me.” Despite her earlier statements, this last one came out as a beggar's request. Rainbow couldn't contain her surprise. Slaughterhouses were most uncommon in Equestria. They were only ever used for when foreign dignitaries, mainly the Griffons, visited Canterlot. To have hidden Scootaloo there was an insult. But, Rainbow had made a promise. She pulled her hoof away, allowing Twilight to fall to the floor. Wordlessly, she turned right as the guards kicked in the door and stormed into the room. Before any of them could speak, Rainbow's wings had sprung to life, and she charged through the group. Several guards were knocked to the side, as she sped down the hallway. Finally, she had answers, and now nothing could stop her from rescuing her sister. Not even the pitch of Tartarus itself.