Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Inquisitor Duty

The rest of the day was a happy adventure for Wish and the ponies of New Pasture. After soccer had finished, she and all the fillies and colts she had been playing with got together for a surprise picnic held in the middle of town. Lots of parents and other adults brought out sandwiches, and a number of the servants that had come along with Wish and the Inquisitors took food from the supply wagons and added to it. Wish spent the whole time talking with the friends she had made while the adults used the opportunity to have their own party.

And at the edge of it all, leaning up against the royal carriage, Vox watched everything.

Wish couldn’t help but glance over at the Head Inquisitor a few times. Seeing her smiling face as she observed the picnic was unnerving to Wish, but at least she wasn’t saying or doing anything.

It was just really nice in general to be eating the same food as everypony else too. She wasn’t getting an excessive, wasteful, feast all to herself. Everypony was just eating sandwiches, or chewing apples, or snacking on something else. She didn’t feel out of place or above any of them. Just like she wanted. This was normal—close to normal at least.

“So um, what do you guys want to do next?” Wish asked the other kids. “I’ve still got tonight and most of tomorrow before I go. Do you do anything else for fun around here?”

“Uhh… we can play hide-and-seek tag in the forest? We used to do that. And we had an old secret clubhouse built there too,” a unicorn filly named Lunar Song said.

“Let’s do it!” Wish grinned, her tail practically wagging like an excited dog’s behind her. “Right after we finish eating here.”

“Young lady, if you’re playing hide-and-seek we might not be able to watch over you well...” a stallion Inquisitor said.

Wish rolled her eyes and frowned at him, at all of them. “Then just like, make a big circle around where we’re playing, okay?”

The Inquisitors still looked nervous and some of them looked back at Vox—who gave a silent nod and a smile.

“Very well, young lady,” the Inquisitor said.

Wish swallowed down the rest of her sandwich with glee as she anticipated what they were all going to do next. It was fun here in New Pasture and it felt great to genuinely get along with these other kids. She asked them about school, their homes, which of them worked on the farms and what their families did. And on the flipside, she really hoped none of them started to try asking about her.

---

The filly from Hoofica Castle hunched down low behind a tree, low enough where the tall grass of the forest crept over her eyes. As the special guest of the Queen—daughter of Master Dreamweaver—she was out of place. But as her old self who used to live in Ashen Birch Thicket, she was right at home again. She was quiet, still, and she kept her ears open to listen in on any approaching ponies. After all, just finding her wasn’t good enough, they’d have to tag her out too and then she’d join in on finding all the rest that were still hiding.

Her heart was racing right now but it was from the good kind of excitement. The way an afternoon spent running around with friends after school should feel. Wish had almost forgotten. She wouldn’t even normally do this too much back at home, but after being deprived of normalcy for so long it was like she was over-indulging to make up for it.

The Inquisitors had done as she said too. They were far, far, out of view right now, all of them standing around the forest.

Good. They just made the other kids in town feel uncomfortable anyways. Wish could tell. Wish didn’t want them to always be right there next to her. She didn’t want them to be like that at all, it was one of the things she talked about with her father. But she knew he’d still at least have them watch over her when she’s out of the castle like this. She couldn’t really complain about that. Much.

It wasn’t as bad as Vox being around but thankfully the Head Inquisitor seemed to just be staying back at the royal carriage. She wasn’t anywhere near the forest they were playing hide-and-seek tag in. Only the regular Inquisitors seemed to be doing the job she had been asked to do on this short vacation.

That was fine with Wish too. That was better than good. Even if she and Vox had something of an understanding now about how they were supposed to interact with each other, that didn’t exactly quell Wish’s fear of the mare. Nothing short of her father kicking the Head Inquisitor out of the castle entirely would.

A twig snapped underneath a hoof and Wish’s ears perked up while she tried to crouch down even lower to the ground. The pony who was It—Lucky Berry—or some other pony who she had already caught was here. While Wish was confident enough in her speed to run off in-case she was found, getting found was already kind of like losing the first half of the game. And if there were already others that were caught it was super easy for them to cut off and catch a single pony.

Wish could hear the grass and leaves on the ground behind her tree being stepped on. Had she left a trail for Lucky Berry to find? Wish hadn’t thought of that. It was possible that some of the grass and bushes she had gone through left a big gap that anypony could see.

Stay still? Or peek her head out and see if she was about to be found?

Wish bit her lip and as quietly as possible she lifted her head and pressed herself back against the trunk of the tree—then slowly looked out from behind it.

She came face to face with a pair of pink eyes on a lime-green face.

“Um, hi...” Wish said.

“Hi… I think I found you,” a small but still happy smile formed on Lucky Berry’s face.

Wish nervously grinned back at her. “Yeah.”

The two fillies stood looking at each other for a second longer before Wish dashed away as fast as she could. Lucky Berry giggled and followed right on her heels. Both of them ran and ran through the forest, Wish darting through trees and over flowers as she tried to shake the pursuer. Lucky Berry was very persistent though and she managed to keep up for now. Proof of her being a farm-raised pony who got up to a lot of activity in the countryside. Wish at one point jumped onto and over a hollowed out log and heard an indignant squeak from inside it.

She looked back over her shoulder and saw Fluffy Cloud stick her head out—right as Lucky Berry was coming by.

“Aw geez,” Fluffy said as Lucky stopped to tag her.

Wish wiped some sweat from her brow as she kept running, aiming for some bushes that she could hide or lose her pursuers in. She just got a brief reprieve thanks to Fluffy Cloud, it would take a second or two for them to come back after her. Of course that meant there was indeed now at least two ponies looking for her. But Wish still planned to last as long as she could, maybe until she was even the last pony who hadn’t been tagged out.

She jumped into the bushes and crawled around to find a spot big enough for her to hide in, and ended up meeting another pony already inside.

Wish nearly gasped but Brisk Hooves shushed her and the two of them sat still inside the bushes, listening to Lucky Berry and Fluffy Cloud come closer. They could just barely look out from some gaps in the leaves and twigs to see the two other fillies get closer in their search for Wish. With any luck they wouldn’t come through this part of the bushes and they’d head on through, thinking Wish went to the trees on the other side. It was even more fun waiting and hiding out like this with Brisk Hooves rather than just sitting on her own.

Lucky and Fluffy both shoved their way through the bushes and Wish had to cover her mouth with her hooves to keep from letting out any sort of snicker. They then heard a yelp of surprise from an unseen colt who must’ve also been hiding somewhere nearby and then the sounds of two giggling fillies as they started to chase him through the forest. The rustling of the bushes and leaves stopped after a second and things became silent.

Wish and Brisk Hooves both let out sighs of relief—it seemed like they were safe for now. They were probably going to have to get out of here and find somewhere else to hide or run off to soon though.

Another rustling noise came from behind the two of them and both Wish and Brisk Hooves froze up.

Five seconds later they were running out of the bushes, hearts pounding in excitement, while a third pursuer chased after them.

“Can’t keep running forever!” Red Berry yelled from behind them.

“Yes we can!” Brisk Hooves shouted back at him.

“Hehehehe!” Wish giggled.

The three of them ran through the meadowed forest over grass, leaves, puddles, and everything else as the game of tag intensified. There were more fillies and colts that had been found out and the hide-and-seek part of the game had pretty much ended. Now everypony was wildly running about and screaming in happiness—either chasing or being chased. Naturally the amount of pursuers only increased as time went on until it was pretty much only Wish and Brisk Hooves left, trying to simultaneously hide amongst the thicker groups of trees and run at the same time. A whole group of other ponies made that difficult though as it was just a matter of time until they surrounded the last two free kids and there was nowhere left to run.

But Wish at least wanted to be the last one tagged out. That would be something she could feel good about. Red Berry had really been looking to chase her down though ever since he first found her and Brisk Hooves in the bushes back there. He didn’t want her to keep evading him until it became too dark out to play, or somepony else caught her first.

Eventually things came to a head a few minutes later when Wish and Brisk Hooves were trapped inside a grove of trees.

All the other fillies and colts she had met and made friends with earlier today circled around the two of them and slowly began to close the net. As soon as they got close enough where there was absolutely no possibility of escape they ran in screaming and practically dog-piled Wish and Brisk Hooves. But at the last second Wish had ducked behind the colt and made sure he got tagged out first.

It was the little things.

The whole group was nothing but a mess of cheers and laughter after that, and Wish went around hoof bumping each of the others in turn.

She looked up at the sky she could see between the trees in the forest. It was dark, obviously, but it wasn’t dark enough to be evening or night yet. They still had time for fun before it got too late for that. At some point the Inquisitors or the Head Inquisitor herself would gather up Wish and take her back to the royal carriage. Or perhaps somewhere else in New Pasture for a late dinner. But not just yet.

Wish was breathing hard when she smiled and looked at the others. “So you mentioned something about a clubhouse?”

If only this vacation could be longer.

---

Wish sighed inside the royal carriage the next day. While she wanted to say she was content with how much fun she had had in New Pasture, she was still disappointed to be leaving so soon. The time spent meeting everypony, playing soccer, tag, exploring everything around town, getting to eat together, and then earlier today when everypony got together with crayons and paintbrushes to make a big collage had filled her heart with warmth. She wouldn’t be forgetting this anytime soon. She would need these memories when she was back in the castle.

But.

She also knew things would be better there from now on too. After she had spoken with her father, after their understanding, and after this trip. Everything would be better.

It was still sad to say goodbye though. Red Berry, Lucky Berry, Fluffy Cloud, they were all sad to see her go too. As were the parents and other adults, though Wish had barely interacted with them while in town. Wish knew why, or at least suspected why. They probably thought they were going to have to go back to how things were before Wish came. Those posters that Vox had told her to ignore… Wish could still see some from the carriage’s window. If that was how things were going to return to being in New Pasture, Wish didn’t blame them for being wary of her imminent departure.

But there was no reason for things to be like this in New Pasture or anywhere else in Hoofica. A smile came to Wish’s face as she told herself she’d talk to her father about it. He could talk to the Queen and Vox and fix all of this. She didn’t know why it was this way in the first place, but her father could fix it.

Wish yawned deeply and relaxed against the comfortable cushions inside the carriage, it had been an exhausting couple of days. Any minute now, Vox should come in and they would be off. She then felt the carriage jolt as if something heavy had just stepped off it and she raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“What was that?” She said as she went to the window and looked outside.

In the darkness of the evening she saw Vox standing by the side of the road while two other Inquisitors carried off the large box that had been put on the back of the carriage.

Wish frowned and popped open the window. “What are you doing? What’s in that box?”

The other Inquisitors stopped but Vox just looked over at her with a smile.

“Just doing some of my usual work. Typical Inquisitor business and all that,” Vox nonchalantly waved her hoof around. “You don’t need to worry about it, just sit in that carriage and I’ll be back in a little while.” She was still smiling but her eyes were really telling Wish that this wasn’t something she should keep pestering Vox about.

“Okay...” Wish said and sat back, letting the window shut.

What did “Inquisitor business” really entail? And that look in Vox’s red eyes… it made her shiver.

---

Despite the fact that there had been a jovial atmosphere in New Pasture until right now, all it took was for the adults to see Vox walking down the streets with her other Inquisitors for them to remember the posters and what an Inquisitor’s presence usually meant. Seeing Wish was no longer with them, they huddled inside their homes, or got out of the way and hid their children behind their legs. Vox’s gleeful smile on her face only unnerved the townsponies further. As well as the strange box the other Inquisitors were carrying with them.

Vox was making her way to one home in particular as she walked down the streets of New Pasture: the previously visited home of the mayor, Onyx Justice.

With each step closer she felt herself getting giddier inside.

Oh yes, Mayor Justice and New Pasture were about to be rewarded for their excellent service in making Wish happy. Vox had been watching it all. This truly had been a great vacation for the silly filly. And it took every ounce of strength inside her to keep from laughing during every minute of it.

It was a bit late in the day so there was nowhere else the mayor should be right now. He’d be in his home either getting ready for dinner or just finishing up with it. Vox knew that for a certainty. She even started to hum to herself in delight as they turned past the last house and were now walking directly towards his front door. One farmer saw her coming and how utterly blissful the expression on her face was and he wisely pressed himself against the wall of the nearest building and shut his eyes in the hope Vox wouldn’t notice him.

After that, Vox opened up the mayor’s door and stepped inside without even knocking. Why would she knock after all?

He dropped the small bowl of salad he had been holding in shock and it shattered on the floor.

“W-What?” Onyx Justice said, flabbergasted, as Vox walked up to him while the other Inquisitors filed into his home behind her. The last one in closed and locked the door and the pair carrying the conspicuously large box plopped it on the floor behind Vox.

Oh that look on his face, that sheer surprise and fear. That honesty. It was so satisfying to her to see. “Hello, mayor.” Vox smiled at him.

“W-Why-” He struggled to say at first, before swallowing and collecting himself. “Why are you all here in my house? What’s going on? I thought you were leaving this evening.”

“We are. But I have some business with you first, remember?” Vox said, chuckling slightly.

Onyx Justice hesitantly nodded. “Yes… you said that if we followed along and the filly from the castle had a good time we would be rewarded.”

“That’s exactly right,” Vox’s eyes flashed with amusement and… something else. “And your reward, Mayor Onyx Justice, is that you get to personally be the subject of my inquisition.”

“Wai-what?!” Onyx Justice backed away in horror from Vox. “B-But, that’s not—you said that-”

“I said,” Vox rolled her eyes and giggled. “That I wasn’t here for typical Inquisitor duty. That if everything went well and Wish had a happy vacation here that you’d be rewarded and that was all that mattered.” She shrugged. “And that was a lie. I was lying. Completely. That was only half of why I was here, this was always going to happen too.”

“B-B-But I… but we’ve all been good. We’ve all done nothing for this. T-There’s no reason for you to be here, for any Inquisitors to be here,” he shook his head as his face paled, trying to reason with her.

Vox outright laughed. “That seriously doesn’t matter. You were just unlucky that New Pasture is the town that got chosen for Wish’s vacation.” She glanced behind herself at the box. “And truthfully, truthfully for real this time, you’re especially unlucky. My own personal inquisitions are a little… different. Because I, or my boss I should say, needs something from you.”

“What are you talking about?” The sweating mayor asked as he looked to the sides, trying to see if he could make a run for it. But he was already practically surrounded by the other Inquisitors. And he’d never make it far.

“There’s a special device inside this box. Oh so very special. It’s going to be used on you,” Vox said, turning her head back and smiling at him. “Because things haven’t been going as well as they should be. So you need to help us out.”

“N-No… I don’t know what you’re planning but I won’t, I refuse!” Onyx Justice said as he backed up far enough to accidentally back into the wall.

And to his growing fear—Vox’s smile grew even bigger at his words.

“I was hoping you would say that. Because now I get to tell you just how serious this is. Now I really get to see a good look on your face. You say you don’t want to do this? That you shouldn’t be the subject of my inquisition? Heh, well, let me tell you what I’m going to do if you don’t change your mind about that,” Vox said and walked away from him, walking through his living room and looking out the front window of his home. “It really is a nice town. It really is. There were so many happy and smiling ponies out there today.”

Vox blinked and walked back away from the window, standing in the middle of the room. “I’m going to kill every single pony in New Pasture.”

Onyx felt himself freeze and even the other Inquisitors turned away as looks of terror and dismay briefly crossed their faces.

“Y-You...” Onyx whimpered.

“I’m not finished,” Vox smirked and walked towards him, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “I’m going to start with the children. I’m going to wring each and every one of their little necks right in front of their parents. And the whole time I’m doing that I’ll be looking you right in the eyes, so you and everypony else knows exactly why it’s happening. Then I’ll take care of the parents. And then the other adults. And lastly, after the inquisition is over, I’ll kill you too.”

“So that can happen-” Vox continued. “Ooorrrr, you can just let me use the device on you right now. And then I can get out of this stupid town and go back to the castle. Either decision you make is fine with me, it’s kind of a win-win in my book.”

Onyx Justice slumped down to the floor in defeat as tears flowed down his face. “Why? Just why?”

The other Inquisitors weren’t even looking anymore, they had all turned away, turned away from reality and what they were taking part in.

Vox raised an eyebrow at the mayor and looked at him with a genuinely flummoxed face. As if the answer was obvious, or should’ve been obvious to him. “Why? Well, cause I enjoy it.” She smiled as her horn lit up red and the top of the box carrying the device was lifted up. “Now then—let’s get to work. So please tell me, when it comes to the new orders to not smile, how we burned half your crops and rationed your food, how your personal items were taken away, how leisure activities were forbidden, how miserable does all of this make you?”

---

Wish yawned and looked out the window of the royal carriage once more, checking to see if Vox and the other Inquisitors were coming back yet. It was starting to get a little late and the stallions pulling the carriages and the other servants that were part of the procession were just sort of mulling around the road without direction. None of the ponies from town were out anymore either and Wish was just bored and stuck alone in this screaming pink carriage.

She sat back on the couch for a bit and rested her head on one of the pillows, a bit tired now. There wasn’t anything much else for her to do really.

At some point she must’ve fallen asleep for at least a moment because soon after she heard a bunch of ponies walking around the carriages outside. Wish felt the carriage shake—something was just put up on it, and a moment later the door opened and Vox stepped inside.

“Ah, hello young lady.” The Head Inquisitor smiled at her. “Ready to leave?”

Wish nodded, she was curious about what Vox had been up to but she knew she wasn’t going to get any answers. “Um, yeah.”

“Good, good. I know you had a great time here but I’m sure you’re still really looking forward to getting back to the castle,” Vox said.

“Yes...” Wish answered quietly. The only positive of going back to the castle was getting to see her father again.

“Well we’ll be off in just a few minutes, as soon as our stallions are ready,” Vox said and took a seat opposite of Wish. She rested her chin on her hoof and stared out the window, looking at New Pasture with a small smile on her face. “They were so happy for these short two days.”

“Huh?” Wish tiled her head.

“I’m just wondering. You saw all those posters didn’t you? Saying not to smile and be happy. And yet the townsponies were having such a good time, smiling and everything. As if they weren’t paying attention to the posters at all anymore. I just wonder what’s going to happen to New Pasture now,” Vox shrugged and sat back, looking at Wish. “Oh well. Nothing you need to concern yourself with, like always. Just think about how happy you are.”

The wheels of the royal carriage suddenly lurched and they began moving, getting on their way out of New Pasture and back to Hoofica Castle. Wish sat inside it quietly as they left, the words of Vox running through her mind.

Comments

[redmar]

It's clear that Vox doesn't like it if others are happy. Dreamweaver must be an idiot if he thinks a monster like Vox could ever contribute to Wish's happiness.

[LunaticBZ]

11301278
I'm unsure of if Wish's happiness is a concern to Dreamweaver because its necessary for the plan, or if he's a terrible pony who's also trying to make his daughter happy.

If he genuinely wants his daughter to be happy he's definitely being an idiot.

If he's just using Wish then I think Vox is a smart choice, as Wish being happy is only useful so long as he maintains control and Vox can deliver on that end.

[TheCommunistDog]

That is something alright.

In today's chapter: Wish finishes her "vacation".

[RoboRed]

...That mare is a complete fucking psychopath.
I can't wait until she gets what's coming to her.