Rainbow Dash was bored. There was very little more to say about it.
Sundown had come nearly an hour ago, and Rainbow wasn't the best at nighttime flying, but she wasn't tired and didn't want to go to sleep yet, or even go home for that matter, so instead she spent the time lazing around on a cloud above the library, watching and waiting until she could actually fall asleep.
It was actually Rarity's turn to keep watch on Twilight this week, so Rainbow didn't need to be their, but since it was also Pinkie's turn to be watching Fluttershy, that meant that Rainbow didn't have anything else she was meant to be doing. Since Rarity couldn't be watching Twilight every hour of the day though she figured there was no harm in observing Twilight in her free time.
By now the group had realized that there wasn't much new evidence to find. Twilight and Fluttershy were still doing the things they had been, but nothing new had surfaced in recent weeks, so instead they changed their tactic to expanding on the evidence they already had. One of the things they had decided to try was recording more information on the different things they had been observing.
This included couriers, one of the things they had almost no information on at all. Meetings were always recorded in great detail, as was the locations and times of semi-frequent trips out of Ponyville, but one of the greatest mysteries remained the cloaked ponies that would show up without warning and deliver letters or even small packages. Nopony could see who they were under the cloaks, and they could find no kind of identification or explanation anywhere.
Rainbows observation yielded no better results. It was about fifteen minutes earlier that she saw somepony arrive with a letter, but she didn't see anything other than that.
Rainbow grew more and more bored with just floating atop the library, and eventually what she thought would be an excellent idea turned out to have been wasted time. Seeing no further point in silently watching, she decided to just go down and bother Twilight for a while. If she was really lucky she might learn something new, and if not anything would be better just watching the building for another hour.
Jumping off the cloud, she glided down to the balcony of Twilight's home and entered directly on to the second floor.
Twilight was absent at the time, but for the moment it didn't cross her mind that Twilight hadn’t actually left the building, and therefor must still be there somewhere. The room was empty, and without Twilight there her attention was caught by an open letter sitting out on her desk.
She made her way over, still oblivious to the lit candles and other numerous signs that said that Twilight was still home, and started reading.
Twilight,
I'm aware that you believe to have the situation under control, and that you will likely turn down our recommendations again, but once again Shadowfall and myself advise that Rainbow Dash be eliminated, as well as Rarity and possibly Pinkie Pie. We also recommend that Applejack be monitored more closely in the near future, especially if you choose to heed our advice.
I know that you have objections to this, but you also don't have very much experience. The situation is under control now, but in the near future there will be a point of impact, after which the situation will be almost impossible to contain.
Silver Wing
As she read on, Rainbow's sense of apprehension grew. She didn't know the exact meaning of the word 'eliminate', but she knew that it couldn't be good, for any of them. Had she actually understood the full implications of the letter she would have grabbed it and ran.
She read through the letter again, and then started to read it again a third time. The contents were startling, and she just couldn't seem to take it in.
Reading the letter through a third time was a mistake though. She was barely past the first paragraph when she heard the door from the first floor creak open. Her head shot up to see a startled Twilight, looking just as terrified as she was.
Twilight fearful expression went completely unnoticed by Rainbow however. Not expecting anypony else in her home, Twilight hadn't gone to the trouble of disguising herself, so all that Rainbow could pay attention to was her menacing, evil looking red eyes, and the sharp fangs protruding from her mouth.
They were both caught, and so standing at nearly opposite ends of the room they simply stared at each other.
Rainbow took a step back and glanced between Twilight and the letter. Twilight picked up on this, and realized that Rainbow had read the letter she received. Twilight levitated the cup of hot tea she had been carrying with her off onto her nightstand as it suddenly became insignificant.
With no clue where to start, Twilight took the initiative by saying, “Hello Rainbow.”
It was an awkward, nervous greeting, and one that Rainbow didn't return. She didn't mean to remain silent, but her curious adventure had caused her to stumble onto one of her friend's darker secrets, and she knew it, and that was what frightened her the most.
Twilight saw that Rainbow was afraid, and for a moment she thought about how Rainbow's strength and confidence fell so easily when friendship failed her.
Clearing her mind of the distraction of how Rainbow feared her right now and focusing on how she should try to alleviate the situation, she said as reassuringly as possible, “You know, I wasn't actually going to take their advice, I value our friendship to much for that.”
Rainbow wasn't completely sure how to react, but in her moment of weakness she wasn't thinking straight, and the rational part of her mind mind was telling her that Twilight had been lying to her and was only trying to trick her and get her to lower her guard.
Rainbow continued to look at Twilight, and seeing no other option than escape, she grew tense and prepared to run for it. Twilight may have had wings, but Rainbow knew that she would still be the fastest flier of the two.
It was a great plan, but Rainbow couldn't compensate for Twilight. If Twilight were limited by being a normal mortal pony, Rainbow's plan might have worked, but she couldn't have possibly factored in Twilight being more than capable of stopping her.
“Please don't run,” Twilight said, both startling Rainbow and driving her into a panic. Twilight could see Rainbow growing tense and preparing to flee, and she tried to convince her to stop.
If she was really desperate, she could have used magic to keep Rainbow there by force, or to override her will and take away her ability to leave, but she knew that that would be no way to get Rainbow to trust her, and if she didn't want to hurt Rainbow in any way, she would need Rainbow to trust her completely.
It wasn't an desperate move though, and Twilight knew that if Rainbow ran, she could stop her before she got to any windows or to the balcony.
It did however work opposite to how it was intended, and the moment she said it Rainbow bolted for the nearest window, not even bothering to avoid smashing through it. Twilight was faster though, and before she had even made it half way Twilight sprinted with unbelievable speed and tackled her to the ground.
Rainbow yelped midway through the collision, and once she got herself upright again her eyes were watering from pain.
“I asked you not to run,” Twilight said, “now look what you've done, let me see your wing.”
Not having much other choice, Rainbow made room and let Twilight near her against her better judgment, not that she could have stopped Twilight if she did anything.
“Well, it's not broken, just dislocated, I know how to fix it, just hold still,” Twilight said after examining her hurting wing.
Causing Rainbow much pain, Twilight spread the wing out, and quickly and without warning snapped it back into place, earning a small cry of pain.
“This wouldn't have happened if you just didn't run,” Twilight said.
Rainbow looked at her again, and then, despite her aching wing, she tensed and prepared to make another break for it.
Twilight, seeing this, said, “Please don't run again.”
Rainbow didn't make her move immediately this time, but didn't back down either. Twilight took note of this, and despite the fact that she knew it would make Rainbow even more afraid she decided to go for a heavier approach and said, “Rainbow, listen to me, you're safe here. Nopony will hurt you, I wont hurt you.
“Rainbow, please listen, you're safe here, but if you leave this library I wont hesitate to have you hunted down and killed. Please, don't run again.”
That caught Rainbow's attention. Slowly she relaxed and breathed deeply. Twilight's tactic had worked and Rainbow was no longer trying to escape, but it also made her terrified and even more distant.
Rainbow tried to calm herself, but she couldn't. Murder was unheard of in Equestria, the last time it had happened had been over twenty years ago, before she was even born. She wasn't quite sure what she had found out about Twilight, but if she was willing to kill to make sure that it didn't get out it had to be incredibly important to her.
Now Rainbow wished she was dealing with a plot to take over Equestria, or some kind of an evil cult, either of them would have been a lot easier.
Twilight felt bad for putting her friend in this position, especially every time Rainbow looked up at her with sad, begging eyes. The way she had tried to make herself as small as possible and was lying on the floor terrified of Twilight painfully reminded Twilight of Fluttershy when she was in the exact same place begging Twilight for her life. Things may not have been as grim for Rainbow Dash, but it was little comfort to Twilight.
Finally unable to stand the silent terror anymore, Twilight asked, “Would you like some tea?”
Rainbow nodded fiercely. She didn't even like tea that much, but she was terrified of doing anything that might anger Twilight, which included turning down her offer. With her death looming over her, both figuratively and literally, at least from her perspective, she was desperate to do anything that might please Twilight.
“Well, come on then,” she said, gesturing for Rainbow to follow her. Rainbow didn't hesitate for a second, but the whole way downstairs she kept her distance.
Twilight led her across the library and through another door. Part of the library doubling as a home meant that there needed to be a kitchen, which was built in a small room next to the main library area. Twilight went around and poured each of them some tea out of a kettle she had left there, having completely forgotten about the tea she already had upstairs.
She turned around and set them both down on the table, and when she did Rainbow saw Twilight from the front for the first time since they got downstairs, and she was shocked by how normal Twilight looked. The fangs were gone, and her eyes were their normal purple. Rainbow wasn't sure how to react to the sudden change, but it certainly didn't make her feel any more safe or secure knowing that Twilight could that easily change her appearance to that of a normal pony.
“Sit down Rainbow,” she said, not commandingly or threateningly but with the same friendly kindness Rainbow had always known, adding more to her apprehension.
Twilight sat down across from her and said, “So, is there anything you want to say, or anything you would like to ask?”
Rainbow remained silent, glancing back and forth between Twilight and her tea. Seeing that Twilight was silently pushing her to say anything, she gathered the courage to quietly ask the one question she wanted answered the most, “Why?”
Twilight, hearing her perfectly despite her almost whispering, replied by asking, “Why what?”
“Why lie?”
“Survival,” Twilight said simply, “We hide, and we're left alone, and if we don't, we're killed. It's a cruel logic, but a simple one.
“And that why we're here now, to make sure that you understand us, and to be sure that you wont betray us. We honestly don't want to hurt you Rainbow, but if we need to we'll kill you to protect ourselves.”
Rainbow remained quiet, trying not to look Twilight in the eye, partly because she didn't want to see whatever expression Twilight had on her at the time, but mostly because she was afraid that if she looked at her again she would have the same horrifying eyes as she did upstairs.
“Rainbow, listen to me, please,” Twilight said, “I never meant for any of you to get involved, not you and especially not Fluttershy, but I need you to trust me Rainbow. I need to make sure you'll keep our secret. Once you understand you'll be free to go, but if you refuse to cooperate then I'll have to force you to understand, and you wouldn't like it if I had to do that.”
Rainbow did her best to hide it, but she was terrified. She felt that if she didn't get out of there as fast as possible, she would die for certain. With only a few seconds to plan she bolted, again not caring if she broke the window and not caring if she got hurt because of it.
It was a hastily thrown together plan, but it did stop Twilight for a second. The table was between Twilight and the door, and if she went around the table she wouldn't be able to compensate quickly enough and would have to either slow or collide with the wall.
Acting without any kind of plan of her own, Twilight launched a spell at Rainbow, not meant to do anything other than deliver a concussive force.
It hit it's mark perfectly, and Rainbow was knock off course and collided with the wall at high speed. Abandoning her disguise completely she spread her wings and propelled herself over the table before Rainbow could recover, and made her way over. She may not have been able to fly yet but she could definitely use her wings to get of the ground.
She didn't sprint over, but she moved fast enough to avoid Rainbow from recovering and escaping in the meantime.
Rainbow was terrified now more than ever before in her life. There was no way she could escape, and in her state of mind she expected no mercy from Twilight.
Desperately she backed away in the little space she had before she hit the wall. “No, please, please I'm begging you!”
It made her feel a little guilty, but she was actually amused by Rainbow's fear somewhat. It was a deeper part of her that enjoyed seeing Rainbow lying on the ground, helplessly begging. It was the same part of her that would enjoy the hunt drawing to a close and knowing her prey was defeated.
“I gave you a chance Rainbow, and you ran,” Twilight said. “I'm sorry Rainbow, but you brought this on yourself.”
That didn't stop Rainbow though, and she continued to beg. “Please, I'm sorry! I'll do anything, but please, don't do this!”
“I'm sorry Rainbow,” Twilight said, closing the remaining distance between them and bring her head beside Rainbow's. Rainbow tried to continue begging but was cut off when Twilight's fangs pierced her neck.
Twilight started drawing blood, savoring the taste. She didn't actually have any intention of feeding off of Rainbow until she died though, in fact she actually took very little blood, knowing that Rainbow would need it for what came next.
Abruptly, Twilight stopped and instead started releasing vampiric essence from her fangs, the exact same thing she had done to Fluttershy, and the first part of turning somepony.
What started off as a burning feeling from where Twilight had bitten her quickly began to spread, moving from her neck through the rest of her body and causing indescribable amounts of pain. Rainbow tried to avoid making any sound, still believing she would die and trying to be defiant until the moment she did. Even with all her will behind it though, she couldn't stop herself from whimpering slightly as she began to loose consciousness.
With the process completed and Twilight's part in it done until she woke, Twilight carried her back upstairs and set her on the bed, and began composing a letter to Silver Wing.
A letter that said she was right, and they had reached a point of impact.