Tales of Eden

by BlackRoseRaven

Arbitration By Force

Chapter Six: Arbitration By Force
~BlackRoseRaven

The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

This wasn't the first time that Twilight had stood in front of these ruins. They had come here, what seemed like a lifetime ago now, pursuing a myth about the Elements of Harmony, in order to stop Nightmare Moon and save Equestria.

In order to pass a test set for them by Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle thought quietly, as she studied the crumbled stonework of the rotting hulk that had once been a castle, and which was now nothing but a shattered ruin on a decaying cliffside, which looked as if it could crumble at any moment into the depths of the craggy canyon it rested beside. If it could escape the grasping branches and spider's web of vines that clung to it, that was: if the Forest had any say, the Everfree would devour the castle long before time had a chance to turn rock to sand and gravel beneath the ailing fortress.

Twilight took a breath, and then she looked back at her friends: they were all here, all of them dressed in cloaks that Rarity had thoughtfully supplied. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were undoing themselves from the tarp-covered wagon. They had insisted on pulling it the entire way by themselves... but at least they had done the work together. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around, Rarity was looking back the way they had come, and Fluttershy was watching the trees.

The purple unicorn walked over to Fluttershy and gently touched her shoulder, and the pegasus gave a small smile before she said quietly: “Something doesn't seem right, Twilight. There's no birds in the trees... the forest is very quiet.”

Twilight hadn't really noticed that. She looked uncertainly through the gnarled, twisting forest as she licked her lips uncertainly: the journey here had been uneventful, and the skies were thick with low-hanging clouds... but the cover was good for them, wasn't it? It meant nothing could be watching them...

Or was she underestimating Lord Black, and his technology?

How could a floating fortress fly higher than the clouds, though? Wouldn't they hear it?

All she remembered was screaming and panic, and the crashing of stone, the boom of explosions. The only noise from the ship had been the guns.

Twilight shivered a bit, before she glanced to the side as Applejack approached and touched her foreleg gently, asking quietly: “Do you think we should unload this thing? Or you got a bad feeling, Twilight?”

But they all knew they were past the point of no return. It wasn't like they could just drag this back to Ponyville and hope that nothing happened if they had been followed, after all: at this point, all they could do was proceed with Twilight's plan. They would be less vulnerable inside the Castle Ruins, at least... or well, that was what Twilight tried to tell herself.

“Let's get it unloaded.” Twilight said finally, pulling the tarp off the wagon with telekinesis to reveal the core's metal casing, which had already been fitted into a simple set of carry bars. Applejack and Rainbow Dash started forwards, but Pinkie Pie smiled and bounced over, starting:

“Oh no, you two, you already-”

Pinkie's tail twitched violently, and then her ears shot up before she looked towards the sky: the other mares followed her gaze in time to watch as something massive dropped down out of the clouds, ponies gaping and staring before Twilight screamed: “Get down!”

But it was too late: the transport jet swept down, cutting low over their heads and battering them with sound and the momentum of its passage, knocking several of the mares flat before it simply stopped, hovering in the air past them: Kirin leapt out the moment it came to a halt, their weapons already trained on them as the transport rose higher into the air, hovering ominously above their heads.

There was no shouting or screaming: the six almost-identical Kirin simply stood with their guns on them, the mares trembling, staring in disbelief as Twilight gritted her teeth and stepped forwards, before she grimaced as the only Kirin with a red badge on his shoulder responded by shifting aggressively towards them, gesturing sharply at her with the gun as he ordered: “Hold your position.”

Twilight bit her lip, but she looked at her friends for a moment before she nodded and halted, letting a slow breath out. She trembled in anger and frustration: she had thought she would be terrified to be in this position, and sure, part of her wanted to be scared, but she just couldn't stop being angry. Angry at how impotent she felt, at how they'd been caught like foals out in the open, at the fact these plastic-looking not-horses were standing there, pointing guns at them and giving orders and taking control like they deserved it...

Twilight gritted her teeth as the Kirin officer took a step forwards, ordering: “Get down on the ground, and place your hooves on your head.”

Twilight hesitated, and her friends looked uncertainly at one another before the mares all flinched and screamed and nearly scattered when the Kirin officer aimed his rifle at the ground and fired a round into the earth next to Twilight, splattering her leg with mud. “This is your only warning. We will not hesitate to use necessary force. Get down on the ground.”

He was cold, ruthless, and serious, and Twilight shifted as her friends slowly lowered themselves one after the other, trembling and afraid. Twilight started to, and then she bit her lip before her eyes flicked up as her anger became something colder, something more focused.

Her sharp mind took the unstructured chaos and put it all into logical steps, and she licked her lips before her eyes flicked coolly to the side as she reasoned out how the moments that followed would unfold, assuming they followed the same order as they had before.

The Kirin officer narrowed his eyes at her, then he quickly approached as he gestured sharply with his head at one of his soldiers, who shifted his aim to her. She could feel the crackle of electricity in the air, the sense of violent magic, and Twilight focused on it: she wasn't as fast, or as strong, or as well trained as these Kirin were, but there was one thing she knew a lot better than they did.

Magic.

The Kirin brought his hoof up to grab her: it wasn't a swing or a strike, so she had to admire that candor, at least. She grimaced as it touched her, her own horn gleaming, and the Kirin officer's eyes narrowed for a moment before they bulged in shock as the voltage he had tried to focus into her rushed back up his own body instead, gritting his teeth and jittering violently on the spot before he fell backwards.

The other Kirin snarled, then stared at his rifle as it refused to fire, something freezing his telekinetic hold. And through teeth grit with concentration, Twilight leaned forwards and shouted as she struggled to keep the Kirin's magic jammed: “Now! Get them now!”

Her friends were up in an instant: Applejack lunged at the nearest Kirin and slung a hoof into his face, and he staggered backwards in shock as his rifle dropped from his telekinetic grip. Rainbow grappled with another as Pinkie Pie danced circles around a third, and Rarity blasted the rifle out of the psychic grip of the last soldier standing.

Fluttershy ran to Twilight as the last Kirin standing flung down his rifle and charged at her, and the normally-shy pegasus gave a little squeal of fury and fear before she flying tackled the Kirin to the ground.

It was chaos, and Twilight's eyes flicked back and forth before she gasped as she dropped her magic, instead clumsily sweeping up a rifle. Her psychic tendrils slid across it before she found the trigger, and she aimed at one of the Kirin as it flung Fluttershy backwards, snarling-

The gun barked, and the Kirin went down with a gasp, light sparking across his armor and blood splattering the ground as he fell backwards. The noise and light shocked the other mares, and the Kirin took the chance to fling their aggressors off or leap away from them, one of the Kirin seizing the wagon as another shouted: “Evac point B, regroup!”

Twilight began to turn, but then something hit the ground in front of her and there was a tremendous blast of light and sound. Everything was blurs and flashes before something hit her hard and knocked her sprawling.

It was almost a minute before she recovered enough to sit up, shaking herself out and looking blearily around for a moment before she gritted her teeth as she clambered to her hooves, rasping: “We have to go after them!”

“Now just hold on a minute, sugarcube, that flyin' machine of theirs is gone and they ran away into the Castle. Rainbow and Pinkie took off after 'em, they'll slow 'em down.” Applejack said worriedly, before she bit her lip, looking at the two Kirin Twilight had...

Had knocked out, Twilight realized: the officer was twitching and drooling, and the Kirin she had shot was breathing shallowly, his eyes mostly closed, the armor around his shoulder dented and damaged. Twilight could smell something burnt lingering in the air, and as she studied the Kirin, she didn't know if she was happy or not that she hadn't killed him.

That was a strange feeling for her.

She looked around, and saw the rifle laying nearby. Her eyes shifted from this, to the Kirin, bleeding on the ground, and her mind clenched as her hooves dug against the earth, and for a moment she considered-

“What were you thinking?” blurted Rarity, and Twilight looked over at her, uncomprehending for a moment. “You could have gotten yourself killed! Why didn't-”

“Because this is what has to be done!” Twilight snapped, and Rarity flinched back. “They can't be allowed to take that core from us! Princess Celestia gave me a job and I'm going to do it, and I'm not going to let Lord Black escape with a second piece of whatever this core is and put anyone else in danger!”

There was silence for a moment, punctuated only by Twilight's heavy, rough breaths, before Rarity said quietly: “Alright, dear. Okay. I'm just concerned for you, that's all. I don't want to see you trade your life away for some silly rock.”

“It's more than that.” Twilight retorted, even as her own misgivings wormed inside of her. But she threw those off and shrugged off the rest of the conversation, instead walking over to the bleeding Kirin.

She looked at him for a few moments, and hated him mindlessly, and questioned what the hell she had done, before she forced herself to check his equipment. His equipment packs were easy enough to remove: a lot of the gear inside she didn't recognize, but there was also a smooth line of rope: more than enough for Applejack to tie up the two stunned soldiers.

“We have to get moving. Fluttershy, I need you to watch these two. We'll be back soon, I promise.” Twilight instructed, and Fluttershy hesitated, but nodded.

Not that Twilight really noticed: she was already on her way towards the ruins. Applejack and Rarity both gave their friend supportive smiles, but then turned and hurried away as well, leaving Fluttershy alone with the unconscious Kirin, nervously hugging a rifle she didn't know how to use as she whispered to herself: “It'll be okay. It'll be okay.”

Twilight led the way into the ruins: it wasn't hard to follow the trail of destruction the Kirin and their pony pursuers had left behind. Applejack swore grouchily when they found a wheel of the wagon abandoned in a corridor, but only glowered as they passed the wreckage of the rest of the transport.

“Gonna have Rainbow's head for that. Bet she was the one who figured it would be a good idea to destroy my harvest wagon.” Applejack grumbled, but it was clear she was trying to keep up a strong face, trying to make this less than it really was, and hide the fear they were all feeling. “That silly-”

“Quiet.” Twilight ordered, and Applejack blinked and Rarity stared at the unicorn, before Twilight shook her head and gestured sharply ahead.

They all heard it, something in the distance, and the mares picked up their pace, hurrying towards the source of the sound. In a great, ruined dining hall, they found two of the Kirin were ineffectively dragging the metal casket that contained the core, as two others harried Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash with blasts of lightning from their jagged horns.

But Pinkie was popping up all around them, running circles around the confused Kirin as Rainbow Dash shot along the roof, occasionally sweeping down to pick up a piece of debris that she would fling at them. One of the Kirin took a rock to the face, stumbling backwards with a snarl before he picked up a rotting chair and flung it uselessly back at the pegasus, but she kicked it into a shower of splinters with a sharp 'ha!'

Twilight's eyes narrowed, but the moment she started to charge her magic, one of the Kirin looked sharply up before he abandoned his duties trying to drag the casket, leaping to the side and shoving one of the decaying tables over, shouting: “Blockade positions!”

Another Kirin grabbed a table, shoving it onto its side, then he was driven to the ground when Pinkie Pie shoved it hard back over on top of him, calling cheerfully: “Nuh uh! That's not how you set up for a party!”

“Go hot!” roared a Kirin, grabbing at his pouch.

“With what?” shouted another Kirin in frustration, for the first time showing more than mechanical obedience.

A third soldier swore, then snapped his horn out, sending a blast of lighting across the table that made Pinkie Pie dive for cover. It blew out a window, Rainbow wincing away from the explosion before she veered sharply back and forth as several more blasts followed her.

Twilight snapped her horn forwards, and the Kirin ducked as they were buffeted by magic: Rarity and Applejack both ran forwards, ducking between the rotting tables and chairs, Applejack hurrying towards the back of the room as Rarity skidded to a stop at the side, shouting: “You ruffians should just surrender now! There's no escape!”

“Status report.”

One of the Kirin flinched, then reached up and touched the communicator on his head, ducking down beside the coffin-like casing as he muttered: “Retrieval operation underway. Currently pinned down by-”

“You have wasted both time and resources. I hereby order a passive retreat. I have dispatched an Adjudicator to clean up your mess.” replied the cold voice, and the Kirin flinched.

“Full retreat!” he shouted, standing up: when the other Kirin didn't immediately react, he added sharply: “Recall to the Queen Mary!”

One of the Kirin cursed, then he reached into his bag and produced a round, marble-like object. He flung this out before he and his companions turned to retreat, and the resounding flash and bang it made distracted the ponies for long enough for the Kirin to reach the unguarded windows to one side of the hall and leap through.

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted, dashing down to the window to glare out after the Kirin, before she did a double-take as she watched the strange, plastic-like horses skating through the air, gliding effortlessly without wings towards the other side of the castle.

“Let them go.” Twilight said, more relieved than she wanted to admit as she hurriedly approached the metal case that contained the stone piece. She couldn't believe it: somehow they had gotten it back from the Kirin and chased them off. Lord Black would know it was here, and it would be incredibly difficult to move it now, thanks to not having a wagon and the support rods for the carrier it had been fitted into being broken, but-

The room rumbled.

Twilight and her friends shifted, naturally forming into a cordon around the metal case.

The room shook, and then the mares stumbled backwards, flinching and staring in shock as a great burst of dirt and tile and stone came blasting down from the ceiling on the other side of the room, concealing the thing that came crashing down for a moment. Dust filled the air, but Rainbow and Twilight both blasted it away with wings and magic before it could settle, the ponies coughing and struggling to clear their eyes so they could see what had happened.

What looked almost like an enormous metal acorn had crashed down through the ceiling: some kind of pod, Twilight thought, feeling her whole body tremble at the sight of it. Was this some kind of weapon? Was it a bomb, or-

There was a hiss of steam before a hidden door slid open on the front of the pod, and a figure slowly emerged. She was tall and long-limbed, her feminine, rosy-pink body beautiful and smooth. Her mane was long, white with the faintest hint of blue, straight and thin as spider's silk: divine, even with the small black horns that protruded from her head, forming a crown alongside her tall unicorn's spire.

A ferocious, draconic mask covered her face, as smooth as the rest of her body, and several crystalline orbs floated around her head, orbiting her silently and eerily. Twilight felt an immense pressure of magic as the pony turned her eyes towards them-

Not a pony. Something else. Something else.

Twilight gritted her teeth, stepping forwards in spite of the fact her breathing had already picked up and her legs were trembling, saying shakily: “I don't know who you are-”

“My name is Muse. I have been sent here to retrieve that anchor piece, Twilight Sparkle, and I would like to avoid any conflict with you.” the unicorn said, almost apologetically, from beneath her terrible steel mask. “It is very important-”

“It's important to you? It's important to us!” Twilight shouted. “Equestria will die without that... w-wait, how do you know-”

The unicorn seemed to smile beneath her mask. “You are not the first Twilight I have met. But you are as brave and as generous as any of the others. I see that. I see that you have suffered. I am sorry for it, Twilight Sparkle. Please let us help.”

“Help? Help!” Twilight barked harsh, angry laughter, even as her whole body shook and her eyes filled with tears of confusion and terror. “Like you helped at Canterlot? Like you helped my friend, my... my family, my Spike? I don't think Equestria needs that kind of help!”

“I am sorry for what has happened. But you don't understand what is at stake, Twilight Sparkle, or what that stone is.” Muse said, very quietly, very seriously, very honestly. “It is not a power source, but an anchor, and damaging it puts not just you and your world, but all of us in-”

“Save it!” Twilight snarled, stepping forwards even as her friends shifted fearfully behind her.

“Wait, Twilight, maybe...” Pinkie started to whisper, but Twilight shook her head, trembling.

“No. Don't you feel it?” Twilight retorted, glaring over her shoulder at Pinkie, even as tears flowed down her face. “That's psychic resonance. She's lying. She's trying to manipulate us with magic!”

“I promise you that I am not.” Muse replied with a shake of her head, bowing towards them politely. “I do not want to resolve this through force. We can talk-”

Twilight lashed her horn forwards, sending a blast of magic at Muse, but one of Muse's orbs shot into the path of the bolt and absorbed it, the ponies staring in shock as the Adjudicator simply smiled beneath her mask before she said quietly: “We can still resolve this peacefully.”

“Yes, well, we... we need time, dear.” Rarity ventured, stepping forwards and carefully grasping Twilight's shoulder. “And this isn't something that we can decide, really...”

“Why did you guys attack us, though? What about those storm troopers?” Rainbow Dash asked sharply. “Those guys were ready to blow our heads off!”

Muse shook her head, answering: “The Kirin are very efficient. There was a... mistake last time, but-”

“A mistake? Killing ponies is not a 'mistake!'” Twilight shouted, shrugging Rarity off before she suddenly ran forwards, glaring furiously at the mare as her horn glowed, as nothing but rage and hate clouded her mind-

Muse stopped her with the same ease that Twilight would stop a child, picking her gently up in a telekinetic grip so powerful it froze her body in place and suffocated the magic she had been charging. She gasped, but could barely breathe, air whistling in and out of her tight throat as Muse said softly: “I apologize. I need you to calm down, however, Twilight: there is no need for any of this.”

Twilight gritted her teeth, and then she focused her magic inward instead of through her horn, cursing in pain as she channeled that power through her body before she released it all at once, and Muse flinched in surprise as the unicorn burst free from her telekinetic grip with a shockwave, the unicorn hitting the ground and stumbling once before she yelled and leapt forwards-

Muse reacted on instinct, smashing her with a telekinetic hammer and sending her rocketing into a rotten table, which exploded into dust and wooden shrapnel. Pinkie Pie immediately dashed towards her, as Rainbow Dash snarled and shouted: “Hey, you can't do that!'

She shot down towards Muse, but the Adjudicator only had to look at the pegasus to gently tilt her to the side, and Rainbow veered wildly off course, flailing her limbs and flapping her wings to try and get back under control as the unicorn said quietly: “Please. We are running out of time. We are operating on a strict schedule and I have to return with this core piece, one way or the other.”

“You ain't leaving with that. Especially not right now.” Applejack said firmly, and then she sharply traced several runes across the floor before she stomped both forehooves down on it, and Muse flinched in surprise as the floor beneath her ripped upwards, soil and rock seizing into her legs and dragging her down into the earth.

She tilted her head back, grimacing beneath her mask, only head and shoulders visible above the ground now as her orbs spun violently around her head. “Yes. I had forgotten. I have never encountered 'artes' before.”

Muse lowered her head slightly, and then Applejack staggered backwards with a curse, her arte circle exploding beneath her hooves as Muse ripped out of the earth and floated into the air, a faint aura of power gleaming around her as she continued: “But they are useless. I am afraid that I will have to take the core now. I will inform-”

“No!” Twilight shouted, shoving Pinkie Pie aside before the unicorn leapt forwards, snapping her horn down, but the blast of magic was easily deflected by one of Muse's orbs, before the Adjudicator's eyes shifted towards her beneath the mask.

Twilight was knocked backwards, sent skidding on her back through the wreckage of the table and hammering into another, and Pinkie Pie shouted: “Hey! That's not very nice!”

Muse tilted her head slightly, realizing the earth pony was drawing her attention a moment too late to react to a blast of wind and lightning that smashed into her, as Rainbow Dash shouted: “Yeah, and now you've had a taste of air artes, too! What do you think about-”

Rainbow gasped as a massive weight pressed down on her, forcing her out of the air to crash to the ground. She stumbled for a moment, her legs shaking under her before she crashed to the ground, gasping in surprise as the weight vanished; but the moment she tried to raise herself up, the pressure on her body returned, forcing her to flop out on her belly as Muse said calmly: “Don't resist. The more you resist, the more pressure I will be forced to apply.”

She paused, then shifted slightly out of the way of a chair that was flung at her by Applejack, before one of her orbs caught a bolt of magic from Rarity. She sighed as the ponies posed as if ready to fight, and before they could shout or resist any further, she picked up the remaining ponies in telekinesis, giving them each a firm squeeze, Rarity gasping and Applejack gritting her teeth as Pinkie Pie squealed, then flailed uselessly.

“Enough.” Muse said, quietly but firmly, and the ponies writhed as they were crushed by psychic force, going limp one after the other as the fight was forced out of them. Then Muse gently set them down before she easily picked up the metal case, slowly drifting down to land on the floor as the heavy casket floated up beside her.

It cracked as Muse looked at it, before she ripped the top of the casing completely off without so much as a twitch, revealing the faintly-thrumming crystal inside. Twilight shuddered as she crawled to her hooves, lethargically stumbling towards the Adjudicator as she rasped: “I am... not going to let you...”

Muse turned towards Twilight, studying her with sad eyes through the tinted lenses of her mask before she sighed and said quietly: “I am ready for retrieval. Are you sure...”

Silence, and then she nodded, ignoring Twilight and her friends entirely as she stepped backwards. Twilight screamed at her, blasted her with magic, but the unicorn, the creature, didn't so much as look at her as her magic was deflected and refracted, instead continuing her conversation in a murmur: “Yes. Yes, I understand...”

Muse carelessly kicked off the ground, floating up towards the ceiling as her crystalline orbs revolved in wide circles around both her and the piece of core she was so easily carrying. As she drifted up towards the hole in the ceiling, Twilight's friends felt the pressure releasing from their bodies, the ponies shaking themselves out and looking up helplessly at the mare as she drifted upwards towards her escape in easy defiance of gravity.

“No!” Twilight shouted furiously, stepping forwards and snapping her horn out, and there was a tremendous rush of energy through the room, chunks of debris flung in all directions from the force of Twilight's blast.

The explosion of magic hammered into Muse, knocking her to the side with a gasp of surprise before she halted in midair. She floated silently, her mane writhing around her before there was a double-tink, one glassy and one metallic, as a cracked orb and a charred metal mask hit the ground.

Muse looked up; she was stunningly beautiful, but her ice-blue eyes had deep black rings around them. She looked both gorgeous and terribly tired, as if she had borne an immense burden for far too long.

And yet she smiled gently, even as she silently rubbed a hoof across a burn on her chest, watching as Twilight faltered and fell forwards. She steadied herself, her two remaining orbs orbiting slowly around her and the core as she firmed her psychic grip on it, and then she looked down at the other stunned ponies, saying almost tenderly: “Take care of your friend.”

With that, Muse flew upwards through the hole in the roof, and Rainbow Dash bit her lip before she traded looks with her friends, then nodded and flew up after the Adjudicator. Her eyes widened in shock as she found Muse sliding comfortably into a hovering transport: Rainbow's eyes could still barely process these small, winged ships, the mare shaking her head before she flinched as Muse said quietly: “Stand down.”

The Kirin that had been aiming at Rainbow grumbled as he lowered the barrel of some much-larger gun attached to the side of the ship, and Muse smiled as she sat on the edge of the jet, remaining calm and neutral, communicating to Rainbow that as long as she did the same, there wouldn't be any problems. So Rainbow swallowed her pride and her anger and her confusion, floating closer and taking a breath before she asked as calmly as she could: “What the hell is going on?”

“We don't have time to talk about everything, Rainbow Dash. But I am sure we will be sending someone to contact you.” Muse said gently, before she reached up and gently touched Dash's forehead, the pegasus wincing and shrinking awkwardly under that contact before Muse reassured: “You are not our enemy. I do not want to hurt you.”

“Okay.” Rainbow said lamely, and then she slipped backwards nervously before she said finally: “I... I don't understand a lot of what's going on. I don't understand why this rock is so important or why you guys attacked Canterlot. Aren't you... the bad guy?”

“There are precious few 'bad guys' in the world where I come from, Rainbow Dash.” Muse said kindly, and then she waved as the transport slowly drew away, then turned and shot up towards the clouds.

Rainbow watched uncertainly as the airborne vehicle flew towards the sky, before she gaped in disbelief as she saw something massive surface out of the clouds: it looked like an immense floating island, and it was only there for a moment, just long enough for the transport to fly into some hidden bay before it silently rose back to vanish behind the cover of the gray skies. The pegasus floated for a moment uncertainly, and then she shook her head before she zoomed back down into the ruins.

Twilight was laying on the floor, half-conscious, dazed: her friends were gathered around her, and all of them looked up as Rainbow Dash landed.

The pegasus hesitated for a moment, then blurted out: “I don't know.”

It wasn't much of an answer, but Applejack nodded grimly as Rarity looked up and gave a small laugh, whispering: “Well, it's clear she could have obliterated us had she truly wanted to. Even Twilight...”

“Fluttershy is probably still waiting for us. Gosh, I hope she's okay.” Pinkie Pie interrupted abruptly, and then the earth pony looked up with a small smile through her gray, strained features. “M-Maybe I should go check on her. You know she hates the rain. And it feels like it's gonna rain.”

“We'll all go, Pinkie. Help Twilight up onto my back Don't think she's hurt bad or nothin'. Just think she used up all her juice.” Applejack said softly, and Pinkie nodded emphatically, brightening a little as she and Rainbow gently lifted Twilight off the ground, Rarity helping steady the unicorn mare.

It was a long, uncomfortable walk back through the ruins, Twilight stirring fitfully every so often, but her discordant murmurs the only strings of conversation between the beaten and uneasy mares. Applejack sighed as they passed her broken wagon, but she supposed if that and a drained Twilight was the worst of what they'd lost, well...

Well, they'd lost the core, too. But everypony here was starting to have questions about that. About what it really was, about what was going on.

They found Fluttershy waiting quietly for them with the Kirin. They were awake, but seemed docile: Fluttershy had removed some of their gear, like their helmets and visors, and loosened their bonds to allow them to sit up, but neither of them had made any attempt to escape.

“They said something about... world-specific POW policy. I don't understand what any of that means, but they've been very quiet.” Fluttershy said with a small smile and a brief shrug. “They don't... they don't seem like bad people. They just seem...”

She gestured at the Kirin. Rainbow Dash was poking one slowly, glaring at him moodily, and the Kirin was only scowling a little, pointedly not looking at her. His body language betrayed a bit of shifting away, but that was it: they were otherwise stony, unemotional, mechanical.

They looked very similar, Applejack thought uneasily for the hundredth time. Too similar. Like they were just copies or something.

She walked over to one, still carrying Twilight on her back, and the Kirin looked up at the earth pony suspiciously until she asked: “Are you gonna cause us any trouble?”

“No. We either wait for rescue, or abandonment.” the Kirin replied with a brief shrug. “Golden rule applies.”

“Treat others as you want to be treated.” Applejack muttered. “So if we treat you nice-like, you'll treat us decent?”

“You literally shot at us.” Rainbow Dash interrupted, glowering at the Kirin.

The Kirin snorted, then pointedly patted his bloody shoulder, retorting: “And I was literally shot. Now let us out of these restraints. We won't cause any trouble.”

“N-No, no.” Twilight muttered, and Applejack winced as the unicorn slipped off her back, her friends all moving to help her, but the purple mare shoving and pushing at them before she stood on three wobbling legs, one hoof pressed to her face as she breathed slowly in and out.

She steadied herself, then looked up at the Kirin, glaring at him as she said in a trembling voice: “You knocked me out, and killed Royal Guard and innocent ponies in Canterlot. You're murderers. Why should we-”

“I am a soldier, miss. I do what I am ordered.” the Kirin interrupted, cold and unflinching as he met her eyes evenly.

The two glared furiously at each other, and then Twilight gritted her teeth before she snapped: “What if what you're ordered is wrong? What if you've been lied to? What if-”

“That's not my place to judge. We were trained to do what is necessary, no matter what the cost or outcome.” answered the Kirin coldly. “Faciam quodlibet quod necesse est. That is our code.”

“What the heck did he just say?” whispered Applejack.

“I'll do whatever it takes.” informed Pinkie Pie, and even Twilight couldn't help but look back at her with a bit of surprise. “What? It was on a neat mug that I gave to Maud one year!”

Twilight shook her head, and then she looked back at the Kirin and asked: “Why?”

“Because that is what I have been told. That is what I have been made to do.” answered the Kirin. “And you should be thankful for it, mare. If I had my way, we would have gone hot the moment we arrived and killed all of you.”

A chill went through the pony, and Twilight gritted her teeth before Fluttershy asked uncertainly: “Then why didn't you? You've been very cordial with me...”

The other Kirin shifted uncomfortably, and the one that had been doing all the talking looked away, as if he didn't want to answer. Twilight started to lean in, but Rarity gently caught her shoulder, whispering: “Allow me, dear. You catch more flies with honey, after all.”

Twilight glowered, but didn't have the strength to resist or argue with the other unicorn as she slipped in front of the Kirin, leaning down and smiling before she flicked her horn, and the Kirin blinked as his bonds came loose from around his limbs. Twilight bared her teeth, but Applejack and Pinkie Pie held her back and quieted her as Rarity asked: “Are you being honest about not hurting us?”

The Kirin grumbled, shifted, but then he slowly, carefully got to his hooves, slipping free of the rope. He stepped backwards, then nodded briefly once before he answered almost reluctantly: “We can't go against our protocols. But if any of you try anything, I'll defend myself and my comrade.”

“Alright. We're not going to hurt you.” Rarity reassured, before she smiled again and asked: “And someone told you not to hurt us, so you can't? That's why you didn't come in... hot, did you say?”

“Yes.” grumbled the Kirin sulkily: another hint of emotion, and the ponies couldn't help but note the way he walked over to his comrade, how he quickly undid his bonds as well. Then he turned towards his equipment, but stopped as he saw several of the mares stiffen, grimacing at them.

Rarity hesitated, then she asked: “Are you going to try and escape if we let you carry some of your things?”

“No.” said the Kirin.

Rarity narrowed her eyes. “Are you lying?”

The Kirin smiled thinly. “We're not allowed to lie on this mission. Our priority is to minimize casualties, so we have to play nice at all times. Units that underperform will be retrained or neutralized by command.”

That finally cut through Twilight's red vision, the unicorn blinking, and the Kirin turned his eyes towards her, saying coldly: “Commander 4-4-5 was terminated mid-mission, and his entire team was summarily wiped. I hope you're happy.”

Bitterness. Anger. A bit of sadness, and Twilight shifted and looked away, unable to come up with a witty rejoinder, or even a cold, hard response like the angry part of her still wanted to.

Instead, the Kirin walked over to his equipment to put his armor back on, saying shortly: “Let's move. I'm eager to get to prison and away from you ponies.”

Twilight didn't know what else to say. She shivered as Rarity picked up the rifles and offered her one, and she hesitantly took it in her psychic grip. But she let the barrel hang low, pointing the death-bringer away from her friends, and the Kirin.

She hated that she believed him.

She hated that everything was upside down, that they had failed, and that she didn't know what to feel.

“Lord Black...” she started.

But the Kirin ignored her, and Pinkie Pie gently slipped up beside her and smiled as she said very kindly, very carefully: “Not right now, Twilight. Let's just get home, okay? We'll have lots of time to talk then!”

“Yes.” Twilight murmured.

But she didn't believe her.

Time, it felt like, was running out.

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Well, I have even less idea of what’s really going on now, so Twilight’s mindset is coming across very well.

[BleuBlooms]

This is excellent.