Chapter 6: Rainbow Dash
The trip back to Ponyville had started with Spike pulling something out from a box. "This is for you by the way." Spike then started the boat and off they went.
Twilight had been thoughtful for the whole trip. She had just killed two ponies, sure it was to protect her brother, but surely she could have gone about it differently. She also indirectly killed Gilda, well sort of. She hadn't realized that the one glass had poison in it but she should have guessed. Why she had even switched the glasses, she wasn't sure. The more Twilight thought about it, the more she began thinking that she did know; why else would she switch them? Then there is Blueblood, sure he's a jerk but leaving him chained up; was it really necessary? The entire trip was full of thoughts about what she had just done. 'Is this really what Celestia would want from me?' Twilight thought to herself as the boat pulled up to the docks.
"Come on Twilight, I think Rarity would like to see you this time." Spike then left leaving Twilight in her thoughts.
Twilight walked over to Sugarcube Corner not really thinking of anything but what she would do next. Twilight walked in and Rarity stood there waiting for her. "Twilight, I take it everything went well?" Twilight absentmindedly nodded. "Good, with Gilda gone, well, we're that much closer to ending this. We do have another mission for you however. It's time for you to go find Flim and Flam. They need to be dealt with accordingly. In case you haven't noticed, Ponyville has been separated into sections. Flim and Flam own the biggest section of Ponyville. They have taken Sweet Apple Acres and all in that section. Take out the two of them and we will be able to claim Ponyville again." Rarity then walked off as Applejack walked over to Twilight.
"Twilight, go and rest up, you could use it." Applejack walked away.
Twilight looked into the sky and noticed the moon rising. "She's right, I should go rest." Twilight gladly went upstairs and rested.
The next day, Twilight got dressed and headed downstairs. When she walked out of the sweet shop, the sun shone brightly blinding her for a moment. "You're up, ready to leave?" All Twilight could do is nod still wondering if she is doing the right thing. "Get going then."
Twilight headed toward the boat slowly confused about everything. The only thing that kept her going is what princess Celestia had said. 'Protect my daughter.' To do that, she had to fight those fighting against her and her friends. "Come on Spike, let's go."
"Let's go then and don't forget your crossbow. I kept it last night so that no one would find it and take it." Spike said a little irritably for no real reason.
"Did I do something Spike?" Twilight asked hurt by Spikes tone of voice with her.
"No Twilight, it's just everything that is happening has got me on edge is all." Twilight could understand that well enough. After a completely silent rest of the trip which only took about three minutes, they reached land going into Flim and Flam's territory. "I'll be here when you get back, good luck Twilight."
Twilight got off the boat and looked around. This side of Ponyville looked completely different. Twilight headed up some steps and peaked around the corner. Nopony seemed to be around. She ran off to the right and then froze when she saw somepony just standing around. The pony isn't like the others however; these ponies appear to be citizens but not Ponyville citizens. They didn't attack her as Twilight walked by calmly. It appears that they don't care about her which took some stress off of her. Just then a pony with a sword started talking to her. "Hey you, Rainbow Dash would like to talk to you."
At the mention of Rainbow Dash, Twilight sprinted off toward a nearby door with two guard like ponies. She walked through the door and into the building. She noticed two ways to go about this, Twilight could go upstairs or into the basement. She decided on the basement and came to an open door at the bottom. Twilight walked through the door and found herself in a long hallway. She ran down it and came to another door similar to those in prisons. "Hello, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight called out as she walked further into the small room.
"I know who you are and I know what you did. You killed Gilda and normally, I would be ticked but considering the circumstances." Rainbow Dash wouldn't be mad that Gilda is dead but that it is her friend that killed Gilda. Rainbow finished her sentence there holding onto her side and grimaced. Below her hoof is a big bandage. "Gilda, though no longer my friend, let me get to the point." Rainbow cut herself off in the middle of her sentence. "I need you to do something for me and in return I'll take out both Flim and Flam." Rainbow grimaced again. "Their blood won't be spilt, your hooves will come out clean on this one and mine will come out equally so." Rainbow kept her hand on her side. "So Twilight, what do you say?"
"You know who I am behind the mask?" Twilight asked wondering how she knew.
"Of course, who else would go after Gilda shortly after Celestia's and Luna's death? Ahh." Rainbow grimaced again. "So what do you say Twilight?" Twilight nodded. "There is a potion in the basement of Applejacks barn. Get both it and the recipe on how to make it and then I'll take out Flim and Flam." Rainbow Dash sat down painfully.
"A potion for your injury?" Rainbow nodded. "Sure Rainbow, I'll be happy to." With that, Twilight ran off. Once she is out of the building, she pulled out the heart. A square appeared behind her and up the stairs. Twilight quickly went back into the building and up the stairs following the heart to the rune. She reached the top of the second floor and went into a nearby room. Inside sits the rune on a table. She picked it up and then focused. In front of her appeared the upgradeable abilities. This time she chose to upgrade her blink ability. "This should help out." Twilight left the room, headed back downstairs and out the door. She blinked up onto a nearby building and then heard a raspy noise like a rune is nearby. Twilight looked around and found a bone charm on the ground next to a broken door. She picked it up and then replaced Gutter Feast with the Spirit Water Bone Charm allowing her to drink water from faucets to gain mana instead of eating rats. "That is much more pleasant." Twilight said as she continued on her way toward Applejacks barn. Thanks to her blink ability, she was able to get all the way to Sweet Apple Acres by roof top. However getting into the basement would be much more difficult.
Twilight blinked behind a bush as she watched guards walking back and forth. She couldn't get on top of the barn without being spotted and the last thing she wanted was to cause a commotion. There isn't a way to knock any guards out either, at least not without alerting anypony. Twilight looked around and found a solitary balcony looking out that is reachable without causing too much commotion. A guard walks back and forth on the balcony. 'All I need to do is wait until he turns around and then I can take him out.' Twilight thought waiting for the guard to turn. Once he turned, Twilight made her move up to the balcony just as a pony saw a small glimpse of her. Luckily he didn't get alerted. Twilight knocked out the guard and then walked into the barn and hid the body in some hay stacks.
"Now to get into the basement." Twilight crouched and looked down below seeing four guards and a door leading outside. The guards talked for about a minute or two and then finally went their separate ways. That's when Twilight noticed a secret hatch where all the guards were. The guards didn't stay facing the other way long enough Twilight to get down and go through. Twilight then pulled out the crossbow she was given and noticed two sets of bolts in a box. One reads crossbow bolts and the other reads sleep darts. "Tranquilizers, that could work." Twilight got into position and as soon as the four guards turned their backs, Twilight shot each one in the back knocking each of them out.
Twilight smiled, proud of herself and happy that she didn't have to kill anypony. She blinked down and tried to open the trap door but it happened to be locked. Twilight searched each body and found a key on one of the guards. She picked it up and then opened the door. She looked down and didn't see anypony below and then hopped down. She landed right behind a pony and without thinking, knocked him out. She picked up his body and then set it in the shadows. "Now where is this potion?" Twilight questioned moving around cautiously. There are all kinds of bottles and barrels full of cider. Twilight made her way down further into the cellar and found a room with a guard. Instead of sneaking up to the guard, she pulled out her sleep darts and shot the guard knocking him out. Twilight ran over and noticed a paper with ingredients on it. "Here is the recipe but where is the potion?" Twilight asked looking around and then noticed a safe. "How do I get in there?" Twilight looked around and then found a piece of paper under the guard. She pushed the pony over and picked up the paper. "That's the code." Twilight said looking at the paper. Quickly, she put in the code and the grabbed the potion inside.
Twilight made her way back through the cellar and back into the barn. She blinked up above and onto the balcony where she came in from. Looking around, she blinked her way down behind the bush and then onto a nearby roof. She made her way back the way she had come; her only question was where were Flim and Flam if not in the barn?" Twilight finally made it back to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, I got it." Twilight handed over the paper and potion which Rainbow chugged down.
"Well done Twilight, I'll take care of Flim and Flam for you. Let's see how they like working underground." Rainbow finally felt better and then took off her bandage revealing a scar on her side. "Much better, that potion was something that was taken from Zecora. She made it for rapid healing. Thanks Twilight. By the way, are the others ok." Twilight nodded with a smile. "Good, the next time I see you, I'll explain everything." With that, Rainbow Dash gathered together her loyal ponies and were off toward Sweet Apple Acres.
Twilight, proud of herself for not hurting anypony ran as fast as she could back to the boat. "I'm not even going to bother with runes anymore. There is no need for them if I go at it this way." Twilight said reaching the boat.
"Ready to go Twilight?" Twilight nodded and got on the boat.
A/N: So I've decided to let her rune search end there since you can see where I'm going with this. She really doesn't need the runes. I hope you enjoyed and please review, thank you.