Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Head Inquisitor Vox

All throughout the kingdom, in the capitol city, small towns in the heartland, and villages near the border, posters could be found plastered on buildings. They were new additions only put up in the last few months and they did not care if they were on homes or businesses or if one was placed right next to another. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, however many were necessary to make sure you could never go anywhere you lived without seeing one around.

Every poster was identical—the portrait of a mare’s face staring at you. Staring deep into your very soul. She was a murky white unicorn mare with red eyes and a pink mane. The mane was styled in an unusual way, with the left side of her head being shaved away completely until it was bald and the pink mane hanging down the right side of her face long and straight.

Ponies that passed by these posters tried not to look at them or at the very least tried to not meet the eyes of the mare.

A lot of the ponies in Hoofica probably wanted to take them down and tear them to pieces but most were too afraid to do so. Officially they were put up by order of the King and Queen, but the common citizen had trouble believing such a thing. Or they would if it hadn’t also been for the black sky and the black bands around their necks that had suddenly appeared around the same time. The posters, the bands, the sky, all were ominous proof of how things had changed in Hoofica. What could the average pony even do? None wanted to take the risk of bringing the Inquisitors to them by tampering with the posters.

So in the end, everypony sadly abided their presence and simply went along with the words written beneath the portrait of the mare on the poster:

NO HAPPINESS

NO SMILES

BE QUIET

OBEY

WE’RE WATCHING

Hoofica had become a darker place in more ways than one. Foals were told to follow along with the posters, or the Head Inquisitor would come and get them. Friends whispered about the Head Inquisitor as they drank away their sorrows together. Families huddled in fear of any pony wearing white, hoping it wasn’t the Head Inquisitor.

Inquisitors and royal guards kept their mouths shut, lest the Head Inquisitor pay them a visit.

All of this fear had been accomplished in mere months. The once bustling capitol city was a quiet den of fear and sorrow, shadowed by the dark castle that lorded above it all. Roads were less traveled, small villages became fearful of travelers and outsiders, friends and families were afraid to do anything besides work. Even the far reaches of Hoofica could not escape the foreboding atmosphere stretching from the castle and were reduced to destitute outposts where ponies lived in fear that maybe one day the Inquisitors would show up there too.

It was something beautiful to the Head Inquisitor as she walked up the long stairway of Hoofica Castle to its tallest tower.

---

Dreamweaver stood alone in his lab, staring at the large curtain that concealed the back half of the room, until he heard a soft knock on his door. His visage briefly transformed into a small frown before a more neutral expression took over again and he turned around.

“Come in,” he said.

The door was pushed open and in walked a lone unicorn mare. She wore the standard pure white Inquisitor suit that made the off-white color of her coat even more noticeable, a pink mane, red eyes, and a shackle Cutie Mark completed her semblance. She was slender and attractive—beautiful even to some—with a narrow face and a charming smile beneath lips adorned with a pale pink lipstick.

But my oh my, underneath it all those dazzling red eyes were empty.

“Hello, Vox.”

Head Inquisitor Vox grinned widely and gave an exaggerated bow, dipping her head low to the floor before coming back up. “Hello, boss.”

Dreamweaver rolled his eyes. “Enough of that. I’m in no mood for any of your foolishness.”

“I can guess why. I heard about what happened with your daughter. What could ever possess her to do something like that?” Vox sarcastically said before bringing a hoof up to her mouth and failing to hold back a series of amused cackles.

"This is your fault you know?” Dreamweaver glared at her.

“My fault? It wasn’t my memory serum that suddenly stopped working,” Vox shrugged. “If it did what it was supposed to do, Wish wouldn’t have remembered anything from that night—or the other times.”

“I’m not a chemist nor a doctor, it was an experimental serum, it was bound to have defects.” Dreamweaver sighed and turned to look at one of his tables of liquid-filled beakers and tubes. “But I didn’t think she’d become outright immune to it after just a few doses.”

“Perhaps in the future you could just not have your daughter drugged at all?” Vox suggested with a snicker.

“It was for her own benefit. She needs to be kept happy and calm, I didn’t want such excitement bothering her or for there to be anything for her to be afraid of or worried about,” Dreamweaver frowned. “Which is why, again, this is your fault. If you had dealt with the pegasus better, or earlier, this could have been avoided.”

Vox snorted in annoyance. “I’m aware I messed up at Gentle Creek, but you only met her for the first time after she was already caught. You don’t know how tenacious of a pony she is. And speaking of which-” Vox got a crazy look in her eye as they twitched and a disturbed grin stretched over her face. “Just let me kill her already. Why are we keeping her around?”

“I’ve told you no,” Dreamweaver narrowed his eyes. “That pony is special. I saw it in her, she’s the key to all of this. She and my daughter, together they can...” He trailed off.

“So your little experiment is still stalled out then?” Vox frowned, looking at the curtain.

Dreamweaver also glanced at the curtain. “Yes. No matter what it just doesn’t improve or grow anymore. It’s a matter of quality, not quantity, now. That rainbow pony down in the dungeon—we have to get it from her. The fire, the hope, the will in her eyes was unlike anything I’ve seen from a pony in Hoofica.”

“Well that’s going to be tough since she still refuses to break,” Vox punctuated with a sharp stomp of her hoof.

“I have good news about that,” Dreamweaver said.

Vox raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I’m working on something that should help with her mental state. It should make it easier for you to… break her down so to speak,” he said as he looked at a table of glass and liquids. “But it’s not ready yet. These serums are all just a hobby for me after all. So in the meantime I have something else for you to do.”

“What?” Vox asked, a measure between annoyed and intrigued.

“My daughter wants a change of scenery. She asked if she could leave the castle and I agreed. So she’s going to take a short vacation out to a nearby town of my choosing and then come back. Of course I can’t have her go alone...”

“So I’m going with her. Heh,” Vox laughed.

“Precisely. It’s not just to watch over my daughter though, although you will most certainly be doing that to the best of your ability,” Dreamwaver adamantly stated. “You’re also going to be taking care of your usual Inquisitor duties.” He glanced at the curtain. “I want to see if maybe we can get any sort of improvement in the experiment, any increase at all. The usuals down in the dungeon may not be providing me with what I need now but perhaps a new subject can. So you’re going to take the device with you, find somepony in the town I send you to that seems like a good subject for it, and then do your usual thing. This thing I’m working on is my dream, Vox. It, my daughter’s happiness, they are my happiness. You understand? I refuse to have things stall out and end here after they were going so well for so long.”

“It’s been pretty fun for me too so I wouldn’t want that happening either,” Vox chuckled.

Dreamweaver glared at her. “Yes, if it wasn’t for me you’d be rotting away in the dungeon or some other cell somewhere. Remember that.”

Vox’s expression darkened and her lip twitched. “I will.”

“And don’t let such a nasty expression come across your face either. I want you to watch over Wish, listen to her, talk to her, try and become friends even if that’s possible for you. And also of course you must shield her from anything upsetting. This must be a nice, happy, outing for her. Is that clear?” Dreamweaver asked her.

“Yeah, yeah...” Vox muttered, looking away.

A touch of golden magic appeared around her chin and pulled her face so she was looking directly at Dreamweaver again.

“Is. That. Clear?” He asked.

“Yes. Sir,” Vox answered.

Dreamweaver released her and immediately smiled. “Good! I knew you wouldn’t have a problem. You’ve truly done an excellent job helping me, Vox. Let’s keep that healthy relationship going.”

“Should I thank the Queen too then?” Vox managed a snarky grin. “You’ve given me a new lease on life but the only reason you’ve managed that is because of how you’ve cozied up to her. Perfect Master Dreamweaver, buttering up the lonely Queen of Hoofica. Convincing her to give you anything and everything you want. How did you manage to get her to melt in your hooves so easily?”

“Being a therapist I’ve worked with many ponies who were living in rocky marriages. It was easy to see the Queen and King’s problems,” Dreamweaver half-answered, keeping away from the bigger details.

“Yes, yes, and I still remember you arriving here at the perfect time. So perfect it was almost suspicious to the former royal guard captain. The Queen’s own beloved physician passing away, and—oh look! Dreamweaver heard about the unfortunate passing and wants to assist the Queen! And you managed to oh so quickly ingratiate yourself with her despite not even really being the right type of doctor to fill in her former physician’s horseshoes,” Vox held a hoof up to her mouth and laughed. “My, what a strange series of events that took place in this castle shortly before the sky went dark and all the fun began.”

Dreamweaver merely huffed. “Believe it or not there was nothing especially strange about what happened, you can keep your suspicions to yourself. All I did was make the Queen happy. And she’s decided to reward me.”

A twinkle in Vox’s eye and an amused grin on her face said she didn’t believe a word of that, but she said nothing.

“Anyways, enough of that subject, I’ve already decided on where you’re going to go with my daughter,” Dreamweaver said.

“Oh yeah?”

Dreamweaver nodded. “New Pasture. A small town southwest of the capitol. Close, but out of the way. It’s a normal little place without anything particularly noteworthy about it. The perfect place for my darling’s trip.”

“I’ll make sure she has lots and lots of fun on her trip,” Vox smiled, batting her eyelashes obnoxiously. “Just oodles of it.”

“You had better. I’d like it if she’s even happier than normal when she comes back.”

“Why not just drug her with some happy juice then?” Vox smirked.

“Because it doesn’t exist and also I would very much like it if my daughter’s happiness was genuine,” Dreamweaver glared at her.

“Fair enough,” Vox shrugged. “When are we heading out anyways?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. Just arrange the transport and every other Inquisitor and servant that needs to come with you on your own. I’m sure you’re capable enough to do that,” Dreamweaver told her.

“Well if we’re leaving that early I should pop in and say hi to her first thing tomorrow morning. Tell her all about the trip and get us some time together to really get to know each other better before we’re stuck riding in a carriage together for the next couple of days,” Vox said.

“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Dreamweaver nodded, the partial sarcasm of Vox’s words flying over his head.

Vox’s lip twitched in amusement as she looked past him and up at the large curtain. “And tonight… I suppose I should pay another visit to my favorite prisoner down in the dungeon. Let her know I’ll be gone for a few days. She’s going to miss me so much. I should probably make tonight a little… memorable for her.”

Dreamweaver frowned. “Vox-”

“Nothing major, I know, I know,” she laughed. “But you can’t take away all of a girl’s fun.”

---

White tentacles wrapped around Wish’s body and suffocated her. They felt rough like sandpaper as they dragged across her flesh, only leaving her eyes uncovered so Wish could stare up at the ceiling and watch the needles descending towards her. Black droplets like oil fell from the tips of the needles. Onto the white tentacles, into her eyes, but her eyelids were peeled back so she couldn’t even close them. Wish tried to scream but her muffled mouth couldn’t as the needles inched closer and closer.

Cackling. Horrible cackling laughter came from behind Wish.

She tilted her head back as best she could and saw the face of a white monster leaning over her, its red eyes and mouth a portrait of sadistic amusement. The red mouth stretched wide, wider than any mouth should be able to open, and sharp pointy teeth ringed all the way around it and even deep down into its gullet.

Wish tried to scream again. She struggled and struggled against the tentacles to the amusement of the white monster. More malicious, mocking, cackling erupted from its throat as Wish fought to escape it.

She managed to get a hoof free but that was it. It didn’t do anything, all she could do was wave it about frantically, try to hit the tentacles binding her. Try to push and knock away the falling needles before they reached her. Before they dug themselves into her skin and eyes. Before the black liquid that filled her with fear was injected into her.

Wish let out a muffled scream as the first needle pierced into her hoof-

She was chained up on a litter, being carried by more phantom white shapes down a dark staircase. The chains were wrapped around her so tightly that she couldn’t move a muscle. Wish opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out again—a wordless rasp. Ahead of her the white monster walked, the phantoms heads were bowed low as they followed behind. Around her the black walls slowly melted and oozed down together into perpetually running slime.

From out of the slime, glinting metal emerged. Needles popped in from the floor, the walls, and the ceiling, surrounding Wish in a tunnel of needles and black slime. She tried to scream and struggle all over the thing she was being carried on but it didn’t help. None of the phantoms seemed bothered, the needles passed through them harmlessly while they carried Wish.

Down. She kept going further down and into darkness. Her eyes could just barely see ahead at a gaping maw ringed by needles, waiting to swallow her up. It was the mouth of a monster, ready to eat her. The phantoms were parading her to it and getting ready to throw her in.

The white monster at the front only laughed harder at the noiseless screaming from Wish. The terror and despair was feeding her.

Ahead—the maw convulsed, its needle teeth chomping at air, waiting for Wish. Despite the filly’s pleading she ended up thrown into it by the white phantoms. The litter and chains were torn apart as needles punctured everything around her and Wish fell into an endless pool of black goo. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t see, she couldn’t call for help.

She was helpless.

Always helpless.

With a thud she hit the cold hard ground and the darkness started to crawl away, allowing her to see again. Iron bars above and around her. The cell of a dungeon. Wish went to stand up but found she couldn’t—a chain was wrapped around her back hooves and kept her tied to the floor. She opened her mouth and screamed.

An ear-shattering wail filled the dark dungeon but it did not come from Wish. The horrified filly looked around her to see cell after cell lighting up, each one crowded with other chained up ponies. They tore through their bars trying to get at her, pleading with her, yelling at her, asking her why.

Wish reached down and tried to tear the shackles binding her off. She had to get away.

She had to get away. It was too much. Laughter filled the world around her as she futilely tried to free herself and-

---

“Rise and shine!” A loud voice yelled as the curtain to Wish’s four-poster bed was pulled open.

“Mmrrph...” Wish grumbled beneath her sheets, the exhaustion of another nightmare taking its toll on her. She shifted about a bit and pulled away at the sheets covering her until she could wiggle out of them and sit up in bed. Taking a big yawn she rubbed her eyes and blinked a couple of times before looking over at Dotty. “I’m awa-”

She paused mid-sentence at the grinning pony standing right beside her bed.

“Good morning, silly filly,” Head Inquisitor Vox said to her.

Wish paled and a fresh sheen of sweat started forming all over her body. Behind Vox, a nervous and distraught Dotty stood by Wish’s dresser. She was shaking and seemed outright terrified to be standing in the same room of the white-suited Head Inquisitor. All the while Vox’s red eyes happily glinted down at Wish and her grin kept growing wider.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” Vox asked.

“I… um… uh...” Wish sputtered.

Vox snorted in amusement and stepped back from the bed. “Didn’t your father tell you that I was going to be accompanying you on your trip outside the castle? I came here this morning to say hi before we left. Is there a problem?”

Wish slowly shook her head, stuttering only just a bit. “No. No problem.”

“Good,” Vox chuckled. “So you’re excited for our trip aren’t you? It seemed like you were really looking forward to it from what your father told me. And the reasons behind that naughty little escapade of yours yesterday.”

“Y-Yeah… I’m looking forward to it,” Wish finally managed something of a normal sentence. “When are we going?”

“Later this afternoon. But before that I’m going to spend aaaallll day with you. Since we’re going to be spending so much time on the road we should really get to know each other better. Isn’t it a shame that despite me and your father working so closely together the two of us have barely had any time to talk or have any heart to heart conversations?” Vox tilted her head and fluttered her eyelashes. “Your father is always talking about you, Wish. You’re the apple of his eye. I truly and dearly want to become good friends with you now, I owe it your father who I’m such good friends with. He’s been very supportive of me so now I was thinking I should be more supportive of you.”

Vox’s pink lips parted as she giggled. “I’m thinking that even after we come back from our trip I should start spending a whole lot more time with you.”

Wish’s body twitched and her breath caught in her throat. “T-That sounds fun...”

“I bet,” Vox giggled some more. “Anyways, we’re going to the town of New Pasture later today. Oh… I’d say four or five hours from now. A number of other Inquisitors are coming with me, along with some servants, and we have to get the wagons packed, not to mention all of your things packed.”

“Okay,” Wish said, tentatively moving to get out of bed. She had woken up from one nightmare and been launched face first into a new one.

Dotty actually stepped forward, probably preparing to help her-

A swift hoof came up and blocked Dotty off. Vox turned to look the startled maid dead in the eye. “I’ll be helping the young lady with her things today. You won’t be needed.”

“B-But I-” Dotty stammered.

“Get lost,” Vox ordered. The smile remained on her face but her eyes narrowed sharply.

Dotty straightened up in fear and nodded, turning away and exiting Wish’s bedchambers in a flash. Wish reached up a hoof and tried to tell her to not go but she found she just couldn’t get the words out. She thought she had seen the shimmering of tears in Dotty’s eyes as the Head Inquisitor ordered her away. Whether that was sadness or pure fear, Wish had no idea.

“Heh,” Vox turned her red eyes back to Wish. She reached her hoof forward and much to Wish’s fright, began to softly brush the locks of her mane. They were frazzled and unkempt due to Wish only just waking up. Vox flicked an errand strand of hair and hummed thoughtfully. “Sooo, just how do you like your mane to be styled?”

Wish made no sounds over the course of the next hour as she now found herself sitting in front of her bathroom mirror with brushes, combs, and scissors levitating in a faint red glow of magic all around her. Wish knew Vox wasn’t really going to use those scissors. She was just messing with her, right? Even Vox wouldn’t do something like that to her. Cutting her mane without her permission? But even though Wish was sure of that, it still scared her to see those sharp blades floating around beside her head.

Snap!

The sudden loud sound of the scissors snapping shut right next to Wish’s ear caused her to jolt in fright.

“Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Vox said from beside her, leaning her chin practically right onto Wish’s shoulder and smiling so Wish could easily see her in the mirror. “Just thinking what would look good on you.”

Wish was shivering, the closed blades of the scissors almost poking against her temple. “I-I just want to look how I always do. I like my mane the way it is now.”

Vox almost seemed amused by Wish actually speaking up.

“Is that so?” The Head Inquisitor giggled as she lifted her chin away from Wish’s shoulder and stood directly behind her. “How boring. I was hoping to give you an all new look to signify our new, budding, friendship. But oh well. If the little lady just wants her straight mane and tail then so be it.”

Vox used her magic to gently guide the combs and brushes through Wish’s mane and tail. She was being surprisingly soft with her touch, better than Dotty was the first time even, but it only put Wish more on edge. The filly was constantly waiting to hear another snip or snap from the scissors, or feel a brush get stuck on a split end and suddenly yank her scalp back, or for Vox to do something else creepy and painful.

It never came. Vox just hummed happily the entire time as she styled Wish’s mane and tail for her. Wish could watch as the scissors twirled around in Vox’s red magic, but that was it.

“Well don’t you look precious. No wonder everypony in the castle fawns over you,” Vox said as she finished and put her hooves on Wish’s shoulders. Together they looked at their reflections in the mirror and Wish did her best not to frown or appear frightened in any way.

What Vox just said cut into her in a way though. She knew ponies were ordered by the Queen and her own father, and intimidated by Vox, to act that way towards her. Vox surely knew Wish realized that as well. She was just saying it to hurt her.

Vox patted her back and had her get off the little stool she had been sitting on. “Breakfast time I think. Then we can get to packing.”

“Okay,” Wish said in reply. She wanted to keep things as curt as possible.

The giggle that came from Vox behind her told Wish that the Head Inquisitor had clearly caught on to her intentions.

---

At least one thing that did put a real smile on Wish’s face this morning was the much smaller breakfast than usual. There was still a wide variety of foods to eat and Wish could finish it all but it wasn’t a gluttonous feast or anything. A bowl of piping hot oatmeal, a few fresh strawberries, some hay cereal, a puff pastry, and orange juice to wash it all down with. That was a good breakfast and she really didn’t feel as bad leaving the rest behind.

Only downside was the Head Inquisitor standing behind her the whole time. Vox smiled through the whole meal and it unnerved all the maids and butlers standing around the table. So much that they were extra swift in getting everything cleaned up and taken away once Wish was done.

“You sure do get a delicious breakfast every morning,” Vox said.

“Mhm...” Wish muttered.

“Now then… anything you want to pack for your trip? I can bring a bag back here later,” Vox said as she looked around the boudoir. “Art supplies? Stuffed animals? Any pillow you need to sleep better?”

Wish thought about it while she fought a cold shudder at being alone with Vox. She didn’t want to have to spend anymore time with her. And truthfully if she was going on this trip she didn’t think she actually did need to bring anything personal. The wagons would have provisions and comfortable beddings, and Wish didn’t want to take a stuffed animal with her and look like a little kid. Not to Vox. There was no great chest of clothes she needed to pack either.

“I don’t think I need anything special,” Wish said quietly.

Vox nodded with a smirk on her face. “That so? Well I suppose in a little bit we can visit the other Inquisitors and see the wagons we’ll be taking. No class for you today obviously. Then we can just get out of here in a few hours and you’ll be on your fun little trip. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Y-Yes,” Wish nodded.

Vox came over to Wish’s chair and patted her on the head, making Wish flinch. The Head Inquisitor smiled down at the filly and winked. “I just know the two of us are going to have a great time.”

Comments

[Lamplighter]

Rainbow Dash flies east... oh, wait; wrong story.
seriously though, this looks interesting. I'll have to give it a read soon.

[redmar]

Dreamweaver isn't all that smart since it should be obvious that Wish is terrified of the psychopathic Head Inquisitor. I doubt they will be able to break Rainbow Dash ever she's way too stubborn and I doubt the coincendences mentioned are coincindences.

[TheCommunistDog]

well well well

In today's chapter: Wish is going on "vacation" to the humble little town of New Pasture.