Post Revolution

by SC_Orion

Chapter 4

Twilight eyed her ally carefully, scanning over her face for any signs of deception. She had known her for years, and she never lied to her. She could tell she was being honest, even if what she said made no sense. She mulled over her words, trying to figure out what the Inquisitor would have to gain from this. 'I don't...' "You're sure about this?" she asked. It didn't make sense to her, but the Inquisitor always had a plan, and his enemies' plans never went how they were supposed to. She could not see what he saw that made this give him an advantage.

"Yes, I am sure about this." her ally responded. "He doesn't seem to be phased by your return." Twilight opened her mouth, but she was cut off, "And yes, I am sure he knows you're back in Equestria. I don't know how he knows, but he does. They have doubled the bounty on you."

Twilight shook her head, and looked down in thought, "I don't... That doesn't make sense. Doubling my bounty indicates that he fears me, but if that's the case, why would he be reducing his forces in Canterlot?" It was almost like he wanted her to come to Canterlot as soon as possible, to spring a trap, but she knew there was no way he could spring a trap for her. She could overpower anything he throws at her, unless she was missing something. "I have to be missing something..." She looked up at her ally, "Thanks... I should get back to the cave, it took you longer to get here than I expected."

"Why did you want me to meet you here in person anyway? I could have told you all this in a letter." her ally asked.

"Easier to prove it's not a lie, being able to see your face when you tell me these things." Twilight paused briefly and lit her horn at the sound of a nearby bush rustling. She turned towards it and pointed her horn at the source of the disturbance. A second later, a rabbit hopped out, and looked at them quizzically before hopping away. "Plus this way I know things haven't gone south, you are still sovereign, and I know that they haven't done anything to you." she spoke simply. She glanced around the clearing, then nodded to her ally. She lit her horn with magic, and disappeared in a flash of light.

---

Rainbow paced impatiently, awaiting Twilight's return with equal amounts anxiety and dread. Even while she paced back and forth, she had her wings spread out, still enjoying the warmth the orb produced. It had been years since she had enjoyed something like it, and she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to enjoy it, even if she was constantly shifting her wings about. "She's been gone for hours." she stated aloud, the second time she had done so within the past five minutes. Twilight had said to wait for her, and that she wouldn't be gone long. Either Twilight had a different definition of 'long' than Rainbow had, or something had happened.

Zenith sighed, Rainbow's patience was wearing thin, and if she was being honest, hers was too. Twilight could take care of herself though, she knew that much. "She will be back. She won't abandon us."

Rainbow's pacing slowed. 'Abandon us...' She and her friends had abandoned Twilight before... Maybe she was... Returning the favor... She turned around and stopped, looking at the lavender barrier blocking the mouth of the cave. Earlier she had tried to go through it. The barrier wouldn't let her pass, but it didn't hurt her any. The magic felt almost like a solid wall, with no give to it, which surprised her. 'No, she wouldn't do that...' she reasoned.

Zenith slowly stood up and walked over to Rainbow's side, "You never did answer my question before." she stated. Rainbow's eyes briefly glanced towards her, then returned to the barrier. "Why are you here? You're the Captain of the Wonderbolts, a living legend, the only pegasus known to have done a Sonic Rainboom." she paused for an answer which did not come, she sighed and looked away from Rainbow. "You... You were one of the Inquisitor's personal guards-" Rainbow winced, the action went unseen by Zenith, "-for a time before assuming command of the Wonderbolts, you obviously were very loyal to him and the Revolution... What happened?"

After several seconds of silence, Rainbow answered at length, "It's complicated..."

Zenith could tell Rainbow was uncomfortable talking about it, and decided not to push the matter. They sat there together for several minutes in silence, both thinking. Neither pony was completely sure about Twilight. Rainbow felt that she needed to stand with Twilight, despite how much she had changed. Zenith felt Twilight had been wronged, and wanted to help her. While she didn't exactly want to kill the Inquisitor, she didn't have any love for him either. If she could help Twilight, then she would.

A few seconds later, there was a flash of light and a popping sound signaling Twilight's arrival. Both Rainbow and Zenith turned around towards the source. Twilight glanced around the cave, then turned around and caught sight of the two, "That took longer than I expected." she stated simply, not apologizing. She briefly glanced up at the white sphere, making sure it was still functional. The cave had warmed up significantly since its creation, and even she would admit it felt nicer than the cold outside of the cave. She looked between the two a few times before her gaze rested on Rainbow. She still looked uneasy, tense... Afraid...

She had mixed feelings about it. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, and she wasn't sure how she felt about not being sure what she felt. The cold bite of betrayal was there, but so were the memories of the good times. She frowned, 'The good times are gone now... They will never return... After he is dead, I will be ruling a country... I won't have time for... Well... Celestia had time for me... Maybe I could make it work. But Rainbow..? She... She represented the Element of Loyalty, and then threw it away with the rest of them, ignoring my warning...' She sighed and shook her head. The cold bite of betrayal wasn't enough that she wanted to kill her, but it was enough that she didn't want to give them another chance to be friends, to give Rainbow another chance to betray her. Rainbow would be useful to keep around, at least for now. Perhaps in time her feelings would change, maybe she would give all of them a second chance, or maybe she wouldn't. Time would tell.

"What took so long?" Rainbow asked, breaking Twilight from her musings.

Twilight looked up from her hooves, which her gaze had somehow shifted to during her thinking, and looked at Rainbow, "It's nothing to worry about." Rainbow shifted uncomfortably, causing her to frown. 'She's still afraid of me...' Which, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. It would help... Motivate her... She grimaced, 'Then again, fear isn't as good a motivator as...' the thought trailed off. "Rainbow Dash... I do not want you to be afraid of me, it is not my intention to scare you." Rainbow shifted uncomfortably and looked away from her. "I don't... After I have the throne, I do not want anypony to be afraid of me. I don't want them living in fear, especially not in fear of me. I... I have issues with you, yes, but I don't want you to be so..."

Rainbow remained looking to the side of the cave, not looking at Twilight, "I... I'm trusting you, Twilight. I'm trying to... It's... So much has changed..." 'Why does this hurt so much?' She turned back towards Twilight, "I'm trying to trust you but I..." She what? She was worried Twilight would kill her? That Twilight would betray her? That Twilight would let her die? That Twilight would seize the throne and take vengeance on her former friends? That Twilight was actually secretly evil?

Twilight clenched her jaw, Rainbow looked distraught. She didn't know what was going through her mind, but the fear and uncertainty were plain as day for all to see. She was caught off guard by it, and didn't know what to do. Whatever was bothering Rainbow was bothering her more than she realize. 'Am I... Do I really upset her that much?' She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped, 'If our not being friends really hurts her that much... She's not my friend, but if I am going to try to be as good a princess as Princess Celestia, I should try to... At the very least I should try to comfort her... What would you say, Celestia?' She sighed, 'You would want me to forgive them, and to remember that friendship is magic... But you... You're not here now, are you? None of you are....'

She stepped forwards and stopped in front of Rainbow, who did her best to avoid looking at her. Twilight looked to her side and stretched out a wing, then wrapped it around Rainbow's back, and pulled her into her chest. She felt Rainbow tense up as her wing fell around her back. Rainbow relaxed as Twilight pulled her into her chest. She looked to Zenith, and extended her right wing, and pulled her into a hug also. It felt strange, both of them were so much smaller than her, it made her feel the need to protect them, as if they were her own foals. The thought struck her as strange, the closest feeling she had in regards to being a mother was with Spike...

She remembered comforting Rainbow just a few days ago, yet... It hadn't felt so hard then as it did now. 'Stress maybe?' she thought, remembering that since she saved Rainbow, things had been more stressful for her. Both... All of them, really. 'Could have been shock at seeing her again too...' "When I take the throne, I intend to be like Celestia was... I will protect everypony... And... I promise I will at least give being your friend again a shot, if it really means that much to you." She knew Celestia and Cadance would want that... All of them would, really. 'I guess that's settled then... If we all become friends again, it won't be the same as before... But I know I could use some friends...'

Rainbow felt better at hearing that, she still had no way to know Twilight was being honest, but she wanted to believe that she was being honest. 'Well, Twilight is smart... And Celestia was her mentor for years... She would have taught her how to be a good ruler. If not... She... She will figure it out... Right?' Twilight would at least try to figure it out, she was sure. That was something about Twilight that could never change. As to whether or not Twilight would be a kind ruler... The Twilight she knew would have been, but this wasn't the same Twilight she knew... She shifted her weight and pushed the thought aside. Still, the thought of Twilight being like Celestia... She smirked, "So does that mean you're going to start calling everpony your 'little ponies'?" her voice came out muffled, but still held it's teasing edge to it.

"I... Don't... Know..." Twilight replied after a few seconds of silence, "I'm not sure if that's an alicorn thing or a Celestia thing." 'I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually though...'

Rainbow winced internally at how despondent Twilight sounded. Once again, she felt pained at the state Twilight was in, knowing that she caused it, yet again. She slowly looked up, purposefully nuzzling Twilight's chest in an attempted to cheer her up as she did so, "What is that supposed to mean?"

She inhaled deeply, and exhaled as she spoke, "It's complicated..." she said slowly. Zenith Star fidgeted beneath Twilight's wing, so she took that as her cue to withdraw her wings from both mares. Zenith pulled back slightly as Twilight's wing left, not quite separating them. She looked slightly uncomfortable, shifting her weight on her hooves ever so slightly, and avoiding eye contact with Twilight. "I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable, Zenith..." She hadn't even thought that doing that could make her uncomfortable, instead she just didn't want her to feel left out.

"No it's just that I wasn't expecting it..." Zenith trailed off. In truth, it did make her a little uncomfortable, for multiple reasons. It wasn't that she didn't like it, but both of her parents were unicorns, so she was unfamiliar with the sensation of wings wrapped around her, and then there was the fact that she wasn't a filly anymore.

Twilight nodded in understanding, though she had a suspicion Zenith wasn't being entirely truthful. She didn't press the issue. "Alright... Well, I talked to my ally. She says that he knows I'm back in Equestria, but that he doesn't know where. Also, my bounty has been doubled." 'Again.' she mentally deadpanned.

Zenith's eyes widened briefly. She inhaled, then exhaled, "He really dislikes you doesn't he."

"The only reason he isn't as bad as King Sombra is because I'm still alive." Twilight stated. She waited a brief second before adding, "Then again, even if he had managed to kill me he would probably still be similar to how he is now... He would probably change things slowly, so that nopony would notice."

Rainbow shook her head, "I don't know how many resources he has wasted on trying to... Capture you..." She still didn't want to believe the Inquisitor wanted her dead. But while she didn't want to believe it, she realized it was true. Nopony would waste as many resources on a single pony as he did on Twilight without wanting them dead. And then nothing worked, so he made her a deal... She shifted on her hooves, pushing the thought that he tried to use her to kill Twilight out of her mind.

Twilight shook her head, "Regardless, it won't stop me. I've been thinking... And I believe the best way to kill him and seize Equestria is to do so as quickly as possible, and with as simple a plan as possible." She looked between the two, "As such, we will be leaving for Canterlot tonight, if you two don't feel able to keep up, I will carry you. As soon as we arrive, I will obtain a safe place for you two to wait while I meet up with one of my allies, then enact my assault on the capital."

Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief, but frowned, "What... Exactly do you mean by assault the capital?" she asked curiously. The way Twilight had said that made it sound less of her going after the Inquisitor, and more attacking anything in her way. Twilight taking on an entire army... It was both something she wanted to see, and something she really wanted to never see. At least she knew she would never be on the side against Twilight. She hoped anyway.

"I will probably have to fight my way to the Inquisitor, unless I figure out a way to teleport long distances without seeing or knowing my destination's layout. I may be able to get to him without fighting, and that's what I'm hoping for. If I can minimize casualties, it would make me look better, and perhaps the Revolutionary Guard would be more inclined to follow my command." Twilight explained.

Rainbow nodded, what Twilight said made sense. At least a little. She doubted the military would be happy that a princess was back to ruling Equestria, but maybe they felt less loyalty to the Inquisitor than she realized. "Let us help you... Let me help you." While she didn't exactly love the idea of fighting against her comrades, she liked the idea of Twilight doing so by herself even less. Besides, there was only so much a single pony could do on their own.

"No, Rainbow." Twilight stated firmly. Rainbow opened her mouth to protest, but she cut her off, "I trust you enough to let you help me-" 'I can at least see how much you're hurting... You wouldn't purposefully betray me again, at least I don't think you would anyway, but... I still remember, I still feel the pain of betrayal... And while I promised to at least give a try to being your friend again, I don't want to be hurt like that again. And if you did hurt me like that again...' "-but this way is simpler, and I won't have to worry about either of you getting in the way." Rainbow winced, "Which is to say I don't want... Either of you to get... Hurt?" She mentally berated herself for her weak delivery. "You already know my plans for after killing the Inquisitor, so I don't think I need to go over that again."

"I still don't like the idea of you replacing the Council as sole ruler..." Rainbow admitted.

"You promised you would help me, and I promised I would give us a chance after this is over. If you're worried that I will go back on my promise, or that I will be too busy to fulfill my promise, I will make time." Twilight's reassurance did little to ease Rainbow's worries. Twilight knew that she would be busy after the Inquisitor was dead. Establishing her rule wouldn't be that difficult, but it would be time consuming, and ensuring the loyalty of the military, along with subjugated states would be necessary immediately after taking the throne. She pursed her lips, 'I will need to reestablish the Royal Guard as well...' She shook her head sadly, the Revolution's Honor Guard just wasn't the same. Balancing establishing her rule with keeping her promise could be a delicate task, but undoing four years of the Inquisitor's efforts wouldn't keep her occupied for that long. And since the ponies as a whole wanted to go back to how things were, it would be even quicker. The most difficult part from what she saw would be reestablishing the infrastructure for her sole rule, as it was with Princess Celestia for one thousand years, and bending the military to her will. Her reign would last longer than Princess Celestia, if she had anything to say about it.

Rainbow and Zenith both watched as Twilight spaced out in thought. Neither of them said anything, not wishing to interrupt her for varying reasons. A short while later, Twilight looked up and glanced between them, then looked passed them, towards the mouth of the cave. She lit her horn and glanced up towards the white sphere, "I know it's not night yet, but I would prefer to leave now, I do not believe he would expect me so soon." she spoke with authority, the glow from her horn serving to amplify the firmness of her command. A beam of lavender magic shot out of her horn towards the sphere, punctuating her statement. The beam of magic struck the sphere, and immediately the sphere started shifting from white, to blue, and then to a shade identical to Twilight's magic a few seconds later. As the color of the sphere changed, so did how it looked, shifting from looking solid to appearing fluid once it finished shifting colors. The heat emitted by the orb died away, but the soft glow remained, bathing the cave in the pale lavender light of Twilight's magic.

The ball of magic soon started shrinking, appearing to flow back into Twilight, her mane and tail seemed to shift and glow slightly the entire time, until finally the sphere was gone. She turned her head towards the mouth of the cave, and closed her eyes. For a brief second, her horn glowed brighter, then the glow died, causing the barrier to collapse as her horn's glow faded. A few seconds later, the cooler outside air started rushing inside, mixing with the warm air, and sapping the heat from the cave. The soft gust of wind it created sent everypony's mane flying for a brief second, and caused Rainbow to shiver. "Let's go." Twilight commanded as she took a step passed the two smaller ponies. She paused briefly to levitate each saddlebag to its owner, then continued on.

Rainbow and Zenith both hesitated a brief moment, then turned and fell in sync with Twilight, both choosing to remain behind the alicorn. Twilight glanced back at them, "Stay close." she commanded. Both Rainbow and Zenith nodded at Twilight command, and quickened their pace, until they were both walking beside her, Rainbow to Twilight's left, and Zenith on the other side of Twilight. As they stepped outside of the cave, Twilight glanced skyward. She estimated about three hours before night fell, enveloping the land in darkness. Until then, they would be easy to spot, and she stood out, and would draw attention.

Attention that she could handle. In the back of her mind, she went over the list of spells she had learned during her absence, but had yet to test in a situation necessitating their use. Some of them were rather benign, while others... Not so much. Many of the spells she contemplated now would have been forbidden under Celestia and Luna's reign, and long since forgotten by everypony. And other spells she had discovered in the dragon lands. She never would have imagined that so much knowledge about magic existed there before she saw it first hoof, but it did exist. If anypony asked her about the origin of her knowledge, she would lie. She couldn't afford to let anypony find what she had found, nopony could know.

Zenith found herself fascinated by the Everfree Forest, she could feel the magic in the air, it was almost tangible. Growing up as a filly she had heard the tales of the dark, mysterious Everfree Forest, where monsters lurked, and nopony dared to tread. She remembered hearing about how six young mares fought and defeated Nightmare Moon in this very forest, restoring Princess Luna in the process. She had heard stories about what monsters made their homes here, and what happens when night falls in the forest... Fortunately, they had encountered none of the foul monsters mentioned in the stories during their journey to, and subsequent stay in said forest.

Zenith had been in the Revolution's Guard long enough to see combat, she had been with her scouting squad for over a year. She had fought many different monsters before, and bandits, ranging from ponies, to gryphons, to zebras. And then she had seen Twilight, something which she would never forget... Even with her experience, she knew she wanted nothing to do with the creatures in the Everfree. Even the most mundane monsters of the Forest could easily outmatch a light scouting party, let alone a single pony. And that said nothing about the magical creatures... But Twilight? The monsters wouldn't stand a chance, she seemed to radiate power and authority.

Twilight easily stepped over a fallen tree, as if it wasn't even there. Rainbow beat her wings to jump over it, and Zenith almost tripped on it. She righted herself, brushing it off like nothing had happened, and then stepped onto the tree, then off of it, and the group continued their journey. Zenith's mishap with the fallen tree did not go unnoticed by the Rainbow and Twilight, the former choosing to ignore it, hoping to save Zenith from embarrassment. Twilight, on the other hoof made sure to keep a closer eye on Zenith, to make sure she didn't get hurt.

As the minutes passed by, Rainbow grew more and more anxious. She had been to the Everfree Forest many times before, but this time was different. She could feel it in the air, something had changed. She never really felt safe in the forest, and anypony who did was insane, but this time... It felt similar to the forest where she found... Were Twilight found her. She tried to brush the feeling away as being something Twilight had done, but it didn't make her feel any more at ease. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw glowing red eyes in a bush, tracking her movement, but they eventually faded away. She glanced to Twilight, who kept looking left and right, as if she was unsure about something. The sight did little to calm her nerves.

Eventually, minutes faded to hours, and as the sun set, the group reached the edge of the Everfree. The group stopped just shy of leaving the treeline, pausing to make sure nopony was around to see them. Twilight turned her head left and right, eyes scanning the land outside of the forest. Twilight paused mid sweep and lit her horn, drawing Rainbow's attention. She followed Twilight's gaze, attempting to find what she could see, to no avail. Twilight lowered her head, and her horn's glow grew brighter, then flashed. She immediately looked back up and stepped out of the forest. She motioned with her wing for Rainbow and Zenith to follow.

After a slight hesitation, both Zenith and Rainbow stepped out of the treeline, in that order, the latter hesitating from memory. As Rainbow stepped out, she couldn't help but remember the feeling of the arrow piercing her side. It was not pleasant. Granted, she knew it could have been a lot worse. She was lucky it was a pegasus that had shot her using a bow, rather than a unicorn using magic. She had fought alongside unicorns before, she distinctly remembered how formidable a well trained, powerful, or skilled unicorn was. And then there were so many options for them to use, making them very versatile if they had the magic for it. Granted, very few unicorns had enough magic to be that versatile, but the fact remained, the elite battlemages trained since they Revolution easily outmatched their Royal Guard counterpart from before.

Twilight paused and turned her head towards her companions, "There are two ponies up ahead. Unicorn and earth pony just behind that hill, heading our way." she nodded in their direction.

Rainbow squinted, attempting to see them. After several seconds, she could make our the silhouette of two ponies coming down a hill, approaching them at a rapid pace. "Why did we leave the treeline then?"

"I have my reasons." Twilight stated, brushing off Rainbow's concern.

Zenith turned to Twilight, "How did you know that? You couldn't have seen behind that hill."

Twilight turned to Zenith, "Life detection spell." she answered. "I'll teach it to you sometime." she smiled, gleeful with the prospect of sharing her knowledge of magic with a younger pony. She turned back towards the two oncoming ponies and scowled. They weren't soldiers, or even guards. They were either criminals or civilians, which made it more difficult to justify. Even if they tried to avoid them, the ponies had obviously seen them by now, which means they would probably follow them. The two poinies were quickly approaching, they slowed as they neared, and the unicorn lit his horn. Twilight stepped forwards without lighting her horn, and slowly looked back at Rainbow and Zenith, as if to say for them to stay put.

The two ponies seemed to slow even more as they approached, seeing Twilight's stature and becoming less sure of themselves. Eventually, they got over the initial shock and quickened their pace, before stopping a short distance away. Twilight looked indifferently between the two, who glanced at each other, trying to figure out who would talk. The unicorn finally relented, "Alright miss... Hand over your saddleb..." he trailed off as he saw Twilight ruffle her wings. A second later, his eyes widened in realization, "P-Princess Twilight Sparkle?" he asked in shock, the glow of his horn immediately dying. The earth pony's head shot towards him, then back to Twilight. A second later, he joined his friend in shock.

Twilight lit her horn, and flared her wings, "I have come to take what is mine." she stated, then took a step forwards. The two ponies took a step back, and cowered at the display. Both Rainbow and Zenith shifted uncomfortably at the sight, and waited anxiously to see what Twilight would do, both fearing they knew what would happen...

"What do you..." the earth pony's eyes widened in realization, "You... You're going after the Inquisitor?" he tentatively asked, glancing to the unicorn, then looking back to Twilight. His eyes held a certain gleam, a mixture of fear and respect.

Twilight lowered her wings to her sides and nodded, "Yes." She looked between the two stallions, they were cowering in fear of her. The sight would have pained Celestia and Cadance to their core, Luna... Under normal conditions, it would have pained Luna, but not under these conditions. She sighed at the sight. "You two are criminals." she stated indifferently, much to the pair's unease. "Enemies of the Revolution... But also enemies of Equestria, and me." The two ponies looked between each other nervously, looking as if they might try to run away.

Rainbow shifted on her hooves and ruffled her wings. She shivered as she pictured Twilight killing them, something which was a real possibility she realized. The thought of Twilight Sparkle, the bookworm nerd she once knew being a killer chilled her to the bone. But Twilight Sparkle already was a killer, she had seen it first hoof. And she had done so with ease, little hesitation, and indifference towards the loss of life. That was not the Twilight Sparkle she knew, but it was the one she had a hoof in making. She wasn't unused to violence or killing, having led ponies into battle, war, really. There was always the possibility she was leading them to their deaths. She learned to cope with the feeling, but Twilight being a killer? That was just too much... She couldn't cope with that for some reason.

Twilight thought for a few seconds before speaking again, "Answer truthfully and I may be lenient. I will know if you lie to me." She had encountered criminals before, while she was in hiding. She had learned to tell the difference between the ones who had no chance of redemption, and the ones who themselves had been wronged, and were lashing out. These two ponies, the way they carried themselves, they fell into the latter category. She looked the unicorn in the eye, "How many ponies have you hurt?"

The unicorn shifted on his hooves, "We-we've never actually hurt any-anypony. They ju-just hand it over without a fi-fight..."

Twilight nodded, they were telling the truth, or at the least being relatively honest. The fact they told the truth, and hadn't hurt anypony badly, at least physically, made her task of deciding their fate more difficult. She couldn't just let them go, they knew her whereabouts, and if she let them go, they might eventually hurt somepony. She couldn't trust them enough to take them with her, and it would slow her down. Killing them... It would be the easiest solution, but then it would be harder to convince Rainbow and Zenith to trust her, not to mention they didn't deserve that fate, and killing them was a slippery slope. Under different circumstances, they would be good ponies, she just knew it. In a way, they were similar to herself, both having been wronged by the Revolution, and both lashing out... She shook her head, she would be lying if she said she never once lashed out...

Putting them into a deep state of sleep, and erasing their memory of meeting her would work. And while she erased their memory of tonight, she could make them a little more... Friendly... They wouldn't hurt anypony again... Twilight made her decision, "I will spare you." she stated dispassionately.

Both ponies relaxed upon hearing her words, both blinked, and then breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank yo-" the unicorn was cut off by Twilight throwing her head down, and firing a spell at him, with less than a second of delay before she fired the same spell at the earth pony. Both immediately fell to the ground, alive but unconscious. Twilight smiled, while they were sleeping, she would at least make sure they had good dreams.

Rainbow tightened her jaw at the sight. Twilight had lied to them, lulled them into a sense of safety, and then killed them. What was to stop her from doing the same to her for revenge? Twilight wanting revenge... That was a scary thought... One that was true, she realized. Twilight wanted revenge on the Inquisitor, even if she didn't call it such... 'Twilight wants revenge on him... After he's dead, what's to stop her from...' she ended the thought, but the implications still made her shiver.

Twilight took a step forwards, and placed her horn against the unicorn's head. Her horn glowed brighter for several seconds, and after a minute, she pulled back, and repeated the process with the earth pony. The second time took only half as long as the first. She turned back to Rainbow and Zenith, both of them looking at her with confusion, shock, and disgust. "They will wake up in about twelve hours, with no memory of what happened here." she stated. She chose to leave out the details of her other changes while in their minds, her companions didn't need to know about that. Rainbow closed her eyes and seemed to relax upon hearing they were asleep, and Zenith just brushed it off and walked over to her. Twilight found Rainbow's reaction strange, but brushed it off as stress.

After a few seconds the group continued on. The rest of their journey that night was quiet and uneventful, leaving each pony to their thoughts.

Author's Note:

This story might need a drama tag. Not sure.

Alright, so I had intended to publish this on Friday the thir-- Oh... Oh my. Anyway, that did not happen, obviously. Life happened instead, delaying this chapter.

I can't help but feel my characterization is all over the place for Twilight and Rainbow. Feedback?

Comments

[Phoenix Nebula]

This story is very interesting. The only problem I have is that the characters hardly talk and it's mostly just the narrator explaining. Despite that I'm still very much enjoying this story.