Up In Flames
“What is THIS?!” A loud bellow rang from a raspy throat. It resonated through the tents and caused nearby nested birds to flee in panic. The shout was followed by a loud SLAM! on the dirt. Needless to say, this woke the ponies up. Twilight poked her head out and immediately learned the reason for the commotion. She was also filled with instant terror that added to the initial shock of waking up in fear.
Outside the tent was a brown stallion radiating with anger. In front of him, laying in the dirt, was the Bible.
“WHAT IS THIS?!?” He yelled once more, causing the dazed unicorn to cringe from the volume. Fluttershy inside hid in her sleeping bag, and Rainbow remained as still as physically possible in hopes of avoiding conflict.
“Aben, I can explain-“ Twilight began to plea as she walked out. But Aben wouldn’t give her any time to speak.
“I should’ve seen this! You deceived me!!” He continued in a frenzy, pacing angrily around the campsite. “I cannot believe you! Do you understand what you’ve done?!”
“Please Aben, just listen-“ Twilight started up again, and received the same response.
“Now I’m a wanted criminal. Now I have a boshed mission. Now I have to deal with this infernal relic! Why didn’t I see it? Right after an ancient tome shows up, four Ponyville residents show up, trying to get to Canterlot! I’ve been escorting TERRORISTS!!!”
“Aben, it’s not like tha-“ She couldn’t get a word to the infuriated pony. He was truly filled with rage; if looks could kill, everything in a one-mile radius would’ve bitten the dust. His wild mane coupled his glare to make his every fiber of his body seemingly beam with unbridled discontentment.
“Look here, terrorist. I don’t care what happens now, but it doesn’t matter anymore. You’re wolves’ heads, and my only way to not be one of you…” he spoke in a sullen tone…
“…I’m going to have to kill you four.”
“No!!” Twilight shouted in absolute panic. She retreated into her tent, while Aben equipped his hoof-blade. With a heavy sigh, he approached the closed tent, which was shaking due to the terrified ponies’ constant shivering.
The zipper began to pull open. Aben prepped for a killing blow. His blade-wielding hoof reared back, and his weight shifted to a lunge stance. With the final zips, the flap fell down, and Aben lunged…
…and stopped with all his might, barely avoiding eviscerating a yellow Pegasus.
The blade edge was an inch away from Fluttershy’s chest. If he hadn’t stopped, she would’ve been impaled. The two met eyes in their positions. Tears were flowing in near-Niagara quantities from the mare’s. Aben’s blinding rage began to slowly fade in the leaking emerald seas of her eyes. It wasn’t long until his began to follow her example.
“What has happened to us?!” He cried out, drawing his blade back. He collapsed where he stood and bawled, and Fluttershy followed suit. The two bawled together for a few minutes. The ponies inside were barely keeping themselves in normal breathing rates after witnessing the (almost) slaughter of their friend.
“Aben…” Fluttershy squeaked through her tears, “…you don’t have to do this. Please…”
“I, I just can’t…” He muttered. Twilight finally walked out of the tent, seing that the threat of death had passed, at least for now.
“Aben, please, let me explain.” She said, trotting towards the two. “We aren’t terrorists. I can explain everything about our reasons for what we did. You jst have to listen to us.”
“NO!” Aben shouted, some rage returning to his voice. “I can’t, and I WON’T!” He shoved Fluttershy aside, who hid her face in the dirt and shivered at the sudden outburst.
“I’ve already had my spirit shattered by betrayal, and I refuse to let it happen again!”
He snatched up the Bible and put it into his bag. “Although I will not slay you…” he spoke as he gathered his gear, “…you will not reach Canterlot on your own. I can not be with you any longer.”
Twilight gasped when she saw him take the maps. It was then that her fears were realized. “Aben, no! Don’t do this!”
He thrusted his blade, stopping a centimeter away from her throat. She silenced immediately and stiffened. “Shut up, you monster. Be thankful I am bound by the guild laws to spare you.I shall turn in this book, and reveal its original owners. You will be hunted down and captured by royal guards. May Celestia have mercy upon you, because I am not currently capable of that.”
With this final statement, Aben Teuer turned and ran. He ran in the direction back to Defte. It took only a few seconds before they lost sight of him. Twilight and Fluttershy, still in tears, watched the stallion disappear.
“Aben…” Twilight muttered, “…I’m so sorry.”
Rainbow had watched the whole scene from inside the tent. She walked out, the atmosphere of desperation assaulting her emotional flesh. It felt just like when they heard the declaration; a feeling of absolute despair and hopelessness.
“Tw-Twilight?” Fluttershy piped up. “What are we g-gonna do n-now?”
Twilight was still dumbfounded. She looked down and watched her tears fall. “I…” she finally spoke, “…I just don’t know anymore.” She solemnly said before subsiding into the dirt. She continued crying, feeling absolute defeat’s burden upon her body and the guilt of deception on her conscience. The sight of her agony caused Fluttershy to burst into tears in a similar fashion.
Rainbow wasn’t as moved emotionally. She sat completely still while her friends wept. She had many thoughts coursing through her head, ranging from ‘what are we going to do now’ to ‘what openings are there in a royal guard’s armor’ and her personal favorite, ‘why the **** am I not chasing Aben’ or something of that sort.
“Girls!” The speedster finally spoke. “This doesn’t change our mission! We still have to go to Canterlot!”
Twilight and Fluttershy rose from their catatonic states. “B-but Rainbow, what can we do now?” The unicorn asked.
“So what if he tells guards it’s us?! We’re already wanted! They’re already searching everywhere! It was only a matter of time!!” She explained to the two. “It just means we have to reach Canterlot faster!”
“But he took the Bible!” Fluttershy pointed out.
“Good! Now we don’t have to carry that frikkin’ book!” Rainbow retorted, appalling her friends. “Let’s get a move on and see Celestia!”
“Rainbow! You’re missing Fluttershy’s point! We need the Bible!” Twilight shouted in frustration. “Get it in your stupid head! Without the Bible, we can’t end our struggles! We can’t offer it up, and now even if we did, we’d be too late! It’s out of our hooves; now all of Equestria knows it’s us! We’re doomed! We might as well die right now!!”
Rainbow couldn’t respond to this. She sat completely thunderstruck. Also, against her will and personality, she noticed her own eyes began forming tears.
“But Twilight, don’t we have eternal-“ Fluttershy piped up, but was immediately silenced.
“SHUT UP!!!” She screamed at her friend, only causing her to cry more. “Don’t EVEN bring that up!! If Jesus and God really loved us, heck if they even EXISTED, would they have given us this fate?! Why would they have brought all this on us! It’s obviously fake! It’s a lie! There isn’t eternal life, there was no flood, and Jesus didn’t die for us!” Her eyes began tearing in her frantic ravings. “We became the fools that I had read about! We pursued a conspiracy, and now we suffer for it!”
Now everypony was in tears. They all cried at their misfortune, for it truly seemed like it now. All hope was lost. There was no safety anymore. Celestia’s infamous (and barely known, due to their precision) inquisition general was bound to find them.
Twilight rose with a sigh so heavy it made the moon feel anorexic. “C’mon girls, let’s go turn ourselves in.” Twilight finally admitted. There was no verbal response, but nopony resisted. They all got up and began walking to open road.
As they walked, Twilight realized how beautiful nature was. Everything seemed so fresh and glorious, absolutely declaring their appearance in a truly magnificent cadence of creation. She thought this because this was (in her mind) the last time she’d ever see nature this close, but she didn’t realize this drive in her thought processes.
Suddenly, something hit her. “Where’s Spike?” No response.
“He was in the same tent as…” Rainbow said and then gasped in horror. “You don’t think Aben-“
“Don’t say it.” Twilight said, failing to maintain her tear ducts at the thought of her assistant’s departure from the mortal realm.
They continued their walk, and they saw a sight that affirmed Twilight’s statement. A pitch-black unicorn was walking on the road. She could tell it was towards them by the stern gaze he had on them. He wore bright white armor with old trims; awfully clean for a captain of the Inquisition of the Royal Guard. He had a sword at his side, and his short white mane was kept without a helmet.
“Well, girls, this is it.” Twilight turned and said before taking a deep breath and laying on the ground. Her friends followed suit. It wasn’t long until the stallion reached them.
“Well, what have we here? You three are the most willing terrorists I’ve ever encountered.” The unicorn cackled sinisterly as he looked upon them. “Usually they put up some sort of fight. This is most interesting.”
“So, you know it’s us. We don’t have the Bible, though.” Twilight said, void of emotion.
The unicorn cackled once more. “That’s humorous. You try to hide it when you’re doomed to death no matter what!” He looked over the three. “Well, it seems you’re the leader, as you’ve spoken on their behalf. So I’m going to kill your ally first.”
He began walking towards Rainbow Dash, using his magic to levitate her sword out. When it was raised, he heard the shivering of a yellow pegasus behind him. He set his sword aside himself and turned.
“What have we here? Afraid, little heathen?” He smirked in a most unpleasant fashion. “Well, fear not. You’re death shall be quick and painless, and I shall save you the grief of witnessing your friends’ executions.”
Fluttershy gasped and hid her face in the dirt road when she saw the black beast walk towards her. He rose the sword slowly into the air. Twilight and Rainbow hid their faces, choosing not to see this gruesome sight.
“Be gone, accursed terrorist!” The unicorn shouted before swinging the sword down. Time seemed to slow as the blade fell closer and closer to Fluttershy’s neck.
-CLING-
The sharp ring of metal clashing was a severe contrast to the expected meaty sound of a blade striking flesh. The sight of where this noise came from was even more surprising.
A familiar brown stallion stood in front of them all, gripped well in the ground. His hoof-blade had blocked the sword. His wild black mane and tail blew slightly in the wind for a nice dramatic appearance effect. On his back was a small purple dragon, who just then blew a fireball into the Inquisitor’s face.
“Gah!” The black colt shrieked in pain while patting flame out of his hair. While their foe was distracted, Spike jumped off Aben’s back and immediately ran to embrace the teary Twilight.
“Spike, where’d you-” The unicorn began to ask before the dragon shushed her. He pointed at the adventurer who was now engaged in combat with the inquisitor.
“By the way, don’t worry.” Spike whispered, pointing into his backpack. Twilight peeked inside and held her euphoria inside a massive smile. For inside this bag, alone and still quite dusty, was the Bible.
Aben fought very hard, and it was surprising to see him hold his ground. The unicorn was using magic to wield his sword, so for Aben to block physically was a great feat indeed. His sword stance was familiar to Twilight; it was a style she had read about in one of her old history classes. Although she wasn’t much of a fighter, the sciences of combat interested her.
Aben was maintaining good ground, easily detecting any sort of intimidation and guarding openings. The unicorn, however, wasn’t dressed as a captain for nothing. His stance was fearless, and he kept his head literally and figuratively in combat. It looked like a pretty even fight, but Rainbow thought otherwise.
“Psst, Twilight, you should shoot a blast at that guy.” She nudged her friend. Twilight returned with a confused glare. “I can tell by Aben’s eyes. He’s losing energy, and barely maintaining not showing it. You need to blast the guard. Something strong enough to give us run away time.”
Twilight nodded and began charging, watching the fight. She wasn’t a perfect shot, and hitting a moving target was difficult. Then add the possibility of blasting your ally. Everything was dependent on this shot, and Twilight wasn’t perfect under pressure.
Rainbow also noticed this, and sprang into action. She flew straight at the guard and tackled him. He dropped his sword in midair, and Spike immediately grabbed it. Then, Rainbow held him up, making a perfect shot for Twilight.
Direct hit! The unicorn flew over a tree before they heard the crash. Aben finally relaxed himself, and Rainbow and Fluttershy helped him run with them back to the camp.
“I’ll, explain when, we, get, to the, camp.” Aben spoke between gasps for air. It was clear he hadn’t fought like that in a long time. “But, I owe, you four, an, apology.”
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Intriguing... why would he owe the girls and Spike an apology now-- after, what, five, maybe ten minutes? What altered Aben's opinion of their "anathema/wolf" standing this quickly?
Next chapter, please!
1382168 I'm already working on it. And, also, there was supposed to be a brief period of time before Aben returned, but I couldn't get that written right. It was either 'he returns pretty fast' or 'it takes a heck of a long time for them to do something, and that inquisitorial pony sure is slow'. I chose the former.
1382190 It's not that I'm meaning to badger you; you just have me intensely curious about why Aben would drop the rage this suddenly. Does he know something the girls and Spike don't?
1382230 Notice this line he says:
1382262 I think I get it... He's been betrayed before, so he, knowing how it feels, refuses to betray anypony else, so as not to put them through the same caliber of pain?
Admirable. I still want to know what the hay is up with this (potentially self-appointed) "inquisition squad," though...! 
1382288 I'll give a brief explanation of my concept for that guy.
You know how occasionally there's that one corrupt general, who you wonder 'how the heck is he in that position?' and such? He's usually not sane, a bit creepy, and doesn't match the crown he's supposed to serve? Sort of overzealous for the wrong cause?
Yeah, he's kinda like that.
1382299 Mm. So, sort of the "My Country, RIGHT!!" type? (never stopping to consider the "or wrong" part of that statement...
)
We really need a "flaming Twilight" emoticon of some sort... some situations "
" is just too weak an expression for... 
1382330 Yeah. Anything Celestia says goes, pretty much. Of course, he might not get all the details in his blind fury...
-ish...
Leading him to be a little
And yeah, we do need a flaming Twilight.
isn't really that good all the time
Terrorist, Monster? What was that guy, talking about? How does even know what that book and have such a visceral reaction to it? All the Mane six have to do is present the book to Celestia and they will all be in the clear. They can talk down their dire wolf status to a fine and be on their way. They are the Elements of Harmony. To attack them is treason.
Well that escalated quickly.