//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Civil War of Harmony // by SC_Orion //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle I looked at the book sitting on my desk, then to the door. Every glimpse at the book made my heart rate spike, it's knowledge could be of great use to me in the months to come. Or, more so to what I had in mind, the weeks to come. It would certainly give me an advantage, and would make it easier to find her. I looked back at the book. Was this ethical? Certainly not. I brushed aside my concerns for ethics and jumped to my hooves. I was treading on a thin line, that much was obvious to me. Treading the line for too long could be... Bad. But crossing that ethical line? It was wrong... But so was war, and that is what this is. It could prove harder to keep myself in check should I do this, but the potential benefit... King Sombra lost himself to dark magic, I would have to make sure I did not lose myself also, and my friends could help keep me in check. I just... Wouldn't tell them about this little... Decision... Of mine. The spell was a simple one, and quite simply forbidden. 'Mind magic is forbidden for a good reason... If I do this... There's no guarantee it will even help me find her. it could be for nothing.' 'It shouldn't hurt her any... I can always wipe her memories of... No, that's going too far.' Would... Would the guards even question me if I went too far? Would they step in, and stand up to me? How far would they be willing to follow me? 'I could make mistakes in battle... It could cost lives...' Would they still follow me if I made mistakes? Are mistakes not the reason I am here? Fighting against Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna? Because they have both made mistakes? 'Would that make me a hypocrite?' Did it even matter to me? 'Rainbow could be in danger, whoever had her could be hurting her, and here I am, sitting around, doing nothing, while she could be in pain...' No. It did not matter to me. Yes, I could potentially go too far. Was I willing to go too far, and then beyond for them? Maybe... But that was something I would deal with when I come to it. 'I already have enough to worry about...' I steeled my resolve, and made my decision. 'Nopony hurts my friends. I will save you, Rainbow. I will make sure none of you come to harm, I promise.' I vowed to myself. I looked around my room, which, for some reason, seemed to grow more extravagant by the day. It was a bit ridiculous, sure, we had money to spare... For the time being... But who thought I needed... 'No, I don't want to know.' I shuddered at the thought. I took a step forwards, followed by another. As I approached the door, I thought I saw a shimmering out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head towards the shimmer of light, to gaze at my reflection in the mirror. But it was not my reflection. I shivered, and blinked. And it was gone. 'Okay... Maybe I should be more careful with dark magic... I'm... I am taking enough precautions, right? It's not... Corrupting me, right?' It would be so much easier if I could just ask Princess Celestia about this. I paused mid stride. 'Could I?' That... Was something to consider. It wasn't like I had actually attacked either of them, and they were both still my friends... At least they were supposed to be... At the very least, they would be concerned about me falling to corruption and how badly that could end for both of them. 'I... Could send one of them a letter... And ask about this...' Of course I could, but there was no guarantee I would get a reply. 'Then again... If either of them suspect I... No...' No letters to them. I shook my head, if I wrote one of them a letter saying that I was using dark magic, it... No. Right, ethics and morality later, interrogations now. I walked to the door and opened it with my magic, and strode out into the hallway. Of the four guards outside the door, two of them fell into step with me as I walked passed the other two. General Spitfire had deemed the escort necessary. I paused mid stride, 'Right, ethics and morality later, interrogations now.' replayed in my mind. I winced lightly. Now that I thought about that, it sounded bad. Really bad. Really, really bad. Like enslave the Crystal Empire bad. I filed the thought away to deal with later, and continued on, pushing towards my destination. The dungeon guard opened the crystalline door for me, and I stepped into the dungeon cell, flanked by my two guards. I found it strange, and honestly quite disturbing that this castle- my home- had a dungeon. And then there was the fact I did not come to know this until recently... Had I know that beforehoof... I shook my head, then watched Bon Bon as I walked further into the cell, the guards remained at the door. I paced to the left, then to the right. "Bon Bon," I paused, wondering what to say next. I didn't really want to have to use that spell... But I would if I had to. "I need to know where she is..." "Who?" she asked. I felt a smile tug at my lip, hoping that she would prove more cooperative today. "Rainbow Dash, you know, bearer of the Element of Loyalty?" Bon Bon shook her head, "I don't know where she is. Even if I did, why would I tell you?" "Because she is my friend?" I asked in the most innocent way I could, hoping to throw her off balance. "Will you let me go because I'm your friend?" she asked, smug smile plastered on her face. 'Touche...' "Alright, I will make you a deal. I will let you go in exchange for her whereabouts." I would hold to my end of the deal- provided the information was accurate. Bon Bon raised a hoof to her chin and tapped it repeatedly, "Hmm... Let me think about that... No." I inhaled, then exhaled. "Guards," I turned towards them, "please leave us. I will call for you if I need you, or when I finish here." The two guards exchanged a glance, and saluted, "Yes Princess." they replied rather quickly in unison. On their way out, they shut the crystalline door. I turned around, and gazed at Bon Bon forlornly. "Bon Bon... I really... Really don't want to do this. Believe me, I don't. But if you don't tell me where she is..." I shook my head, "I need to know. You will tell me, whether it's voluntary or not..." "You said you wouldn't hurt me." Her eyes glanced around the room, they held a certain desperation in them. My heart beat faster, 'I did tell her that... But...' I don't want to be a liar... But I will keep my friends safe... I was glad that I had left my regalia off for this, I did not want any taint from the dark magic to seep into it... Purging the dark magic would be difficult, if not impossible... It would set me back by weeks, a setback I could not afford. Her gaze fell upon me, our eyes met... It was like I was staring into my own soul... I steeled my resolve once more. "Why her?" I asked. "You won't do it... You wouldn't... Everypony in Ponyville knows you, and we all know you could never do something like that." "Ponies can do... Things... When backed into corners, Bon Bon..." I let my expression cool, attempting to intimidate her. I spoke more slowly, attempting to force my words to linger in her mind, "Remember my... Episode... With my Smarty Pants doll?" I spoke evenly. Her expression hardened, "I will not tell you. You can't force me to. You won't force me to. You don't have it in you to torture somepony." I looked down and shook my head, "No, I don't." I looked back up and met her gaze, then ignited my horn with dark magic, "Fortunately, I have other means to make you tell me what I need..." 'Am I really prepared to go through with this?' Wouldn't this be crossing a line? Mind control is forbidden... She will never forgive me if I do this... Could I forgive myself if I do this? I grimaced. 'My friend needs me... I will not fail her.' Would my friends understand? Could they understand? Would they forgive me if they found out? Did it really matter? There were no guards here... No witnesses... I had the power to do whatever I wanted here... Nopony would know, or find out... I would only have to answer to the other Princesses if they won... If they won, Equestria would be doomed though, me would be the least of my worries then... If I did this, would I lay awake at night, unable to sleep? Would my dreams reveal what had happened to Princess Luna? Would I regret this later? Probably... I took a step forwards, and swallowed. "Forgive me..." I spoke, unsure as to who I was asking to forgive me, whether it be myself, Bon Bon, my friends, or the princesses... Bon Bon took a step back, fear filled her eyes... It... Made me sick... Or maybe it was the dark magic filling the room... I lowered my horn, and lashed out with my dark magic. The dark magic struck true, infecting her mind, and fighting her mental defenses. Bon Bon collapsed, grasping her head with her hooves as the magic shattered her will, and bent it to serve the caster- me. She whimpered, the sight brought a pang of guilt to my heart, knowing I, and solely I, was responsible for the pain she was now in. Seconds passed, and her whimpering died down, slowly the tendrils of dark magic began to dissipate. She slowly stood up, her eyes had lost their gleam, looking dull and lifeless... I could feel the dark magic radiating off her mind... It was sickening. "Yes, master?" she spoke lifelessly. Yes, I decided, I would regret this later. "Tell me who took Rainbow Dash." "The princess." she answered immediately, with no emotion, or hesitation. "Which princess?" I asked, fighting through the sickening feeling in my heart. "Princess C-Celestia." Bon Bon answered, slight hesitation evident in her voice. The spell was losing it's hold... She was fighting it. I grimaced. "Why?" A question that had plagued my mind in recent days. "She was... Close to... You..." Bon Bon answered at length. Her mind fought against the spell, if it kept up, it could hurt her... "My other friends are close to me also, why her specifically?" "She was... Close to you... And an easy target..." 'Rainbow wouldn't be happy at finding out that is what Princess Celestia thought of her.' "Where is she?" "She... She is in... C-Ca... Ugh..." Bon Bon's head swayed uneasily back and forth. I bit my lip, her mind was stronger than I expected. "Where is Rainbow Dash?" I asked again, needing an answer. "Sh... I..." Bon Bon fell to the floor, grasping at her head. The spell was wearing off, and I only had some of the answers I needed... She was in pain... 'I... Shouldn't do this...' I lit my horn with dark magic once again, and lowered my horn at her, then released the spell again. The dark tendrils shot forth, and encompassed her body, specifically, her head. She stopped moving, I waited a few seconds for her to move. Nothing. I frowned. "Bon Bon?" I asked. No response. A feeling of dread started welling up in my mind. I purged the dark magic from my horn, and examined her with my alicorn magic. The dark magic was killing her. I swallowed. 'Okay... Don't panic... You can fix this... Just purge the dark magic from her body...' I channeled more magic into my horn, enveloped Bon Bon in my magic, and focused my alicorn magic on fighting the dark magic. The dark magic, not having a source that could compare to my alicorn magic, was losing, and quickly. Bon Bon's breathing became less labored as more and more of the dark magic was burnt away, until eventually nothing of it remained. I felt a smile pulling at my lips when I realized that it would also erase any memory of the previous few minutes here. "Uggh..." Bon Bon groaned from the floor, barely moving. Not wanting to be seen, I withdrew my magic from my horn, turned towards the door, and quickly galloped to it. I lit my horn with a small amount of magic and opened the cell door, then exited and closed it as quickly as I had opened it, then locked it with magic. I hastily made my way to the door back to the main part of my castle, the guards saluted as I approached. I nodded, acknowledging the salute. They opened the door, and I hurried out without saying a word. I lit my horn, and teleported to my bedroom. Once there, I inhaled deeply, then exhaled, practicing the breathing technique my sister in law had taught me. 'She could have died in there...' I realized. I kept practicing the breathing exercise, more intensely than before. 'I went too far... I can't do that again.' 'Nopony knows... Nopony will find out...' I told myself as I slowed my breathing, feeling like I was going to pass out. I paused mid exhale, 'I didn't even find out where Rainbow is...' I slowly lowered my hoof to the floor, and bit my lip. "Well at least I know now that Princess Celestia has her..." I sighed, it would be complicated to get her back. "At least that's a start..." "General." I acknowledged as I walked into Spitfire's office. Spitfire's officer was on the same level my bedroom was on. In fact, her office had been a bedroom, but it was converted into an office. Though sparsely decorated, one could easily tell this room belonged to somepony important. Spitfire had taken several of the posters that had been at her former office, in the Wonberbolt Academy, and they now adorned the otherwise barren crystalline walls. Upon her desk sat countless piles of papers, several pens, a model of a pegasus, appearing to be mid flight, and various other assorted items. Spitfire looked up at me, she immediately stood up, becoming rigid, and saluted. "Princess." "Princess Celestia has Rainbow Dash." I told her. Judging from her confused expression, she had no idea how I knew this. "I... Have reason to believe, anyway." Spitfire looked around her desk, searching for something. Her hooves settled on a piece of paper, and she picked it up. Her eyes glanced over the document, then she lowered it and looked at me, "That... Seems to be in line with the evidence we have. No trace of her reported from the spy's in Princess Luna's ranks... How did you come by this information." "It's not important." I answered quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly... For a second I thought Spitfire was going to call me out, but she nodded her head. "Very well, Princess. Is that all, or did you need something else? I have a lot of work to get through here..." Spitfire grimaced. I felt bad for the Wonderbolt, I had saddled her with a lot of responsibility- most of which would have been mine... "Still no word from the ponies sent to infiltrate Princess Celestia's ranks?" I inquired. Spitfire shook her head, "No. Not yet... They should have reported in by now... I was considering having more operatives dispatched, to see if they could fair better." I nodded. "Is... All that-" I motioned at the papers on her desk, "-really necessary that you do it? Couldn't you relegate some of that to somepony else?" Maybe there was something I could do- just not helping with that. Yeah... 'I have no experience in managing an entire army...' "Really, what you need are more generals." Spitfire answered. "There's only so much I can do at once- not that I'm not happy to help, I am... But I can only be at one place at one time. I haven't had enough time to look for ponies to recommend to a higher position..." "I... I'll get Sparkler to help you organize..." I paused. 'I really should hire more staff members.' "Or somepony..." I added. "I would apreciate that, Princess." "Right... Well, I can see that you're busy... I'll leave you to it." I turned to leave, then walked out the door. I paced around, attempting to occupy my mind. The thoughts of what had happened- what I did earlier occupied my mind. 'It is night, I should be asleep...' Sadly, sleep would not come to me. Between the anxiety, nervousness, and seeing what happened replay every time I closed my eyes... I paused, and turned towards the mirror, "Am I a bad pony?" I asked aloud, I was greeted only with silence. The reflection in the mirror was my own, of that I was sure. I slowly walked over to the mirror, scrutinizing the image I saw. I blinked, and halfway expected the image to have changed, and be distorted. The image was the same, a reflection of myself. It had not changed... 'Is this what it feels like to lose one's mind?' I asked myself. No. I am not going insane, it's just stress... Yes, just stress. 'I need to relax more...' Come to think of it, when was the last time I just let loose and relaxed? It... Had been a while, I guess... I turned my back to the mirror, and looked out the window. The moon was still rising into the sky... The night was still young... 'Perhaps a walk or a flight would help me.' Flight. I grimaced, Rainbow would have loved to go flying with me, even if it was nighttime... I sighed. "Well at least it doesn't prevent me from functioning now..." I noted aloud. Great, now I'm talking to myself...