Dodge Junction, Three days after the Ponyville Incident

"What do you mean we can't go through?! Do you have any idea who I am?" Rainbow stood nose to nose with a royal guard blocking the road, but her heated stare and yelling did little more than ruffle the fur on his snout.

"We are not to allow traffic out into the Badlands for any reason. It is a matter of national security."

"Horse apples! I know what you're tryin to do, and I'm not havin it! You just don't want anypony-"

She was silenced by a blue aura wrapping around her snout, sealing it shut, "I am very sorry for the disturbance, officer, my friend here is just upset over a loss we suffered recently. It's caused her to be a bit testy. I'm sure you understand. Now, come along, dear, we need to find something to eat." With a slight nod to the guard, Rarity turned and dragged her chromatic maned friend away, closely followed by the remainder of their entourage.

Once a reasonable distance from the guards, Applejack got in Rainbow's still silenced face, her voice a harsh whisper, "Are ya crazy?! We're doin somethin that could land all'a us in jail for the rest'a our lives, and ya were gonna just yell it out to a royal guard? We gotta play this quiet like or we'll never get anywhere."

Spike frowned, "Yeah, and remember, Twi said not to get mad at the guards or the Princesses for what they have to do. We gotta help her, but that doesn't mean we should yell at the guards for doing their jobs."

Rainbow snorted, her snout finally stopping its glow, "Yeah, well, they should be helping the national hero that saved them all from certain doom more times than she has appendages. Which is saying something since she has as many as a pony can HAVE."

Pinkie giggled at that, "Well, at least they're not out there hunting her. Maybe they're trying to stop ponies from hunting her down?"

Rarity nodded curtly, "Quite right, Pinkie. We need to keep optimistic with this, otherwise we'll just end up spinning our wheels instead of accomplishing anything of worth. As it is, we need not take the road out of here, as I highly doubt our friend did, at any rate. We should get back and double around, there's plenty of open desert that we could sneak into."

Rainbow nodded, ruffling her uninjured wing, "Yeah. Let's get out there. The sooner we can get there, the sooner we can do somethin useful…"

Canterlot Castle Barracks, Three Days after the Ponyville Incident

Shining Armor paced back and forth in his old personal room. It had never been refilled, so it was still a private place, and had provided him with a good place to attempt to sleep. He was conflicted, Luna had said that she knew he was subverting her, but had assigned him what was clearly a watch dog to keep him in line. He couldn't figure out her game, or why she was being helpful one moment and hindering him the next. Then there was the added stress of his baby sister out wandering the world as a wanted criminal. And if the report from Appleoosa was any judge, she had already been attacked by bandits, though the sheriff seemed surprised at the news that she was a wanted criminal herself.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. His ears splayed back and he narrowed his eyes at the offending piece of wood. This was it, he would be meeting the one that was going to be making his life difficult. He turned away to look out the window and took a deep breath, "Come in."

A dark colored mare walked in, closing the door behind her with a kick of her hind leg. Shining examined her in the reflection in the window. She was a bat winged pony, or thestral, as they were properly called, and wearing the distinctive armor of the Night Guard. Her helmet covered her mane, but her tail was a very proud purple. Her slitted yellow eyes stared determinedly forward, and her lopsided grin was open enough to just show a few teeth, one of which jutted down past her lip in a type of odd, one sided overbite. She was far shorter than was common, even for the unusually lithe thestral race, giving her the look of a pony far too young to be in the military. Overall, she looked rather unimpressive to the point of nearly being adorable, all of the normally intimidating features of the thestral race adding together to give her a feel of something that should be scary, but wasn't. She stood there for a second before giving a sharp salute, "Major Silver Crescent reporting in!" She looked for all the world like a filly playing at being a guard.

Shining raised an eyebrow at the reflection, "So, I hear you're my babysitter for this mission. Did Princess Luna promote you specifically for this?"

Silver's smile faltered, "No, Sir, I've been an officer for a while now. I know I don't look it, but I'm plenty old enough, just a bit on the small side. Also, I'm not your babysitter, I'm your backup. The Princess thought you might need the help, considering the existence of areas of mystic nullification that exist in the Badlands. As you may know, thestrals have no innate magic, so we aren't affected by them. It was simply a tactical advantage that she thought would be useful."

Shining snorted, "And it has nothing to do with a lack of trust in my emotional capability to get the job done, I suppose."

The thestral frowned, "Sir, if I may, we are going after a national hero, and a princess of Equestria. I don't see why you would accuse me of sabotaging things. She saved Princess Luna, and therefore gave the thestrals hope again. I volunteered for this because I had the distinct feeling that working with you to apprehend your sister would involve a plan to rescue her from her fate, and not just blindly follow the law. If that's not the case, I would appreciate you telling me now, otherwise, cut me a break… if you'll excuse my lack of professionalism." She coughed into her hoof awkwardly as her frustration died down.

Shining raised an eyebrow, turning around, "So, you're here to help me save Twilight?"

Silver rubbed the back of her head with a hoof as her ears splayed back, "And get her autograph, if possible. I brought a pen and my holographic Famous Equestrians trading cards that feature both her pre and post ascension forms, but I know we might not have time…" At Shining's incredulous look, she looked around, "WHAT?! How often do you get to meet your idol?! Speaking of autographs, you wouldn't mind getting your wife to sign something, would you?"

Unknown location in The Badlands, Three Days after the Ponyville Incident

Twilight held a hoof to her forehead, blocking the sun. She had been walking for a full day, and hadn't seen anything but sand, dry shrubs, and several buzzards off in the distance. She considered this both a good and bad thing. It was a good thing, because that meant that she didn't have to deal with any of the lawless thugs that populated the deserts. It was a bad thing, because she was running low on water, which she had hoped to be able to restock on at Appleoosa before she left. She sighed as she trudged on through the heat, wings drooping in exhaustion.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Twilight spun around at the sound of the voice to find a pinto colored pegasus standing behind her. His mostly light coloring blended almost perfectly with the patterns in the cracked ground. He raised a hoof, a calm expression on his face, "Easy there, I'm not gonna hurt ya. Not that I think I could actually pull it off, but I'm not gonna try, regardless. The name's Rogue Justice, bounty hunter and peace seeker. And I believe you would be Princess Twilight Sparkle. What brings you out to this despicable scrap of desert?"

Twilight's eyes went wide, bounty hunters in the Badlands went one of two ways, the ruthless vigilantes that took the law into their own hooves for money, and the genuinely caring ones that can't stand seeing criminals get away with their crimes just by going where the law of the land is the strong survive. Depending on his views, either one could end poorly, and regardless of his views, he would have to ignore the large sum that was no doubt on her head to let her go. She licked her already dry lips, "I'm out doing research into various flora and fauna of the Badlands. There hasn't been enough in depth study on them for my taste, so I was going to look into medicinal uses for them."

Rogue just nodded, "A worthy endeavor, though I'm afraid you're in a bit over even your head when it comes to findin your way around this place. If you'd let me, I'd be honored to show ya around. Anythin in particular you're lookin for? I can show ya some good cacti that I know a few good uses for, myself. Maybe you could find better ones. Besides, they sometimes have water in'em."

Twilight perked up a bit, "That sounds wonderful, I would appreciate it." With a bow, Rogue walked off, the alicorn following cautiously behind.

Las Pegasus, Three Days after the Ponyville Incident

The Great and Powerful Trixie stood atop her mobile stage, her fame having skyrocketed again, lately. She was playing things much closer to her illusionist roots, but tonight would involve some extra storytelling, and a risky approach that she hoped would pay off. As her latest volunteer walked back down to the audience, safely back in one piece, Trixie grinned, "And now, faithful audience, The Great and Powerful Trixie will mesmerize you with tales of centuries past. Tonight, Trixie will be taking you into the true story of Red Tide, a unicorn of unspeakable evil." At the mention of the name, Trixie began pulling the water she had stored beneath the stage into the air as a fine mist, while turning the lights she had trained on the stage into a deep red, "Red Tide was a pony whose only desire was to surpass all others in power. To do this, he harnessed the most forbidden of magics, and became one of the infamous Blood Mages."

The stallion that had been cut in half raised an orange hoof, "Isn't that what that new Princess did?"

Trixie scoffed at the interruption, "Knowing and using a small amount of Blood Magic no more makes a pony a Blood Mage than Trixie's knowing how to make this fog makes her a Water Mage. Twilight simply needed a boost in power for a moment, and used a last resort. Nothing more, nothing less."

The stallion spoke up again, determination in his green eyes, "But I heard it corrupts the pony that uses it. Makes them go all loopy and crazy!"

This sent Trixie into a fit of laughter, "Oh, please, Princess Twilight is the most skilled magic user in all Equestria, save, perhaps, the other Princesses. Trixie would eat her hat if she found out that Twilight were not capable of controlling something as simple as destruction spell. If you will listen to the story, you would find that it is the sheer power that corrupts, and Twilight already has that in spades. Now, if there are no more interruptions, Trixie will continue her story."

The stallion sat down and adjusted his poofy brown mane as a smile went all the way to his happy green eyes. It was always so fun to be a plant in a magician's show.

Edge of the Badlands, Four Days after the Ponyville Incident

The five ponies and one dragon had finally made their way far enough between towns to comfortably make their way through to the Badlands uninterrupted. They were currently making their way through a valley lined with sharp cliffs, Rainbow and Applejack were leading the way, their injuries almost completely gone, though Rainbow still couldn't get into the air. They were quiet as they walked through the valley, each small sound echoing off the stone walls as they went.

As they approached another corner, a white stallion appeared out of a cave to the side. Rainbow opened her mouth to shout, but he put his hoof to it, and shook his head before nodding back to the cave. He darted back in silently as the five mares looked between each other. Spike, however, darted into the cave immediately and silently. After a moment's hesitation, he was followed by the others. They all quickly rounded a corner to find the stallion pressed against a wall, one ear to the ground and his eyes closed. After a few minutes of standing around silently, he stood up and whispered to them, "They're gone."

Spike nodded, then turned to the other ponies, "Girls, this is Solid Foundation. He was the head of the guards assigned to protect Twilight." He turned back to the earth pony, "What're you doing out here?"

"I've been following you six, making sure nothing happens to you."

Rainbow scoffed, "No way, we would have seen you by now. Besides, we were way too sneaky leaving for you to have noticed us."

Solid raised an eyebrow, "You didn't exactly hide the fact that you were stocking up on maps of the Badlands, now did you? Also, I don't think anyone in Ponyville doesn't know you left. In any case, I know what you're doing, and I don't want you to go, though I won't stop you."

Spike frowned, "Why wouldn't you want us to go? We gotta help save Twilight. She didn't do anything wrong."

"Wrong or not, it's too dangerous for you to head out into the Badlands, and I can't go with you myself."

Applejack scowled, "Why, cause it'd be goin to help a criminal? She saved yer life! Saved all our lives! Don't that mean anythin to you?"

Solid grimaced, "It does, and I'm grateful, but I can't risk it. I'm all my girls have, I can't go out there to either die or get years in prison. They need me."

Fluttershy nodded, "It's okay, we understand."

He sighed, "However, I knew it was possible that you would still go, so I brought a few things." He took off his saddle bags and opened one side, "It's filled with survival guides and helpful information, not to mention some additional first aid from the guard's supplies. There are five potions in there to help you adjust to the heat more easily. Spike won't need one, but you ponies will have a hard time if you aren't prepared. I wish you would reconsider, but I know you won't, so good luck."

Canterlot Castle Archives, Four Days after the Ponyville Incident

"Blue, have you found anything yet? I'm counting on you for this, please!" Celestia paced back and forth in front of a shelf in the deepest part of the archives, the only light coming from the horns of herself and her nephew as he intently stared at the book in front of him.

Blueblood looked up, frustration and sympathy mixing on his face, replacing the public image he had crafted for himself, "No, Auntey, I haven't found anything of use, yet. I appreciate the company, I really do, but it's difficult to concentrate on these books when you pace like that." He looked back down to the ancient tome on the floor, he had stopped taking them to and from the table after it had become clear that he would be here for the long haul. None of the books had titles or indexes, they were arranged in no particular order, and even the contents were a mishmash of legal notes. These were the laws of the Sisters' father, and the copies that were used in day to day courts were elsewhere. Finding a true loophole in this kind of law, however, required the original texts.

Celestia sighed and visibly wilted, "You're right, Bluey, I'm sorry that you have to do this, but you're the only one I trust to find a way to save her amid all this. I know it's really too much to-"

"I found it!" Blueblood picked up the book excitedly, "Right here, the original wording, while it does outlaw Blood Magic, it doesn't say the penalty is death, but rather, the consequence. It says that the penalty is an indeterminate prison sentence and being kept under watchful eye by a keeper for the rest of their days, but when they transcribed the laws, they must have misinterpreted this second part, it says here that 'All who fall under the power of the Blood Mage's Lust must be culled, not for their crimes, but for their illness, and to maintain their former image in the minds of all ponies.' The translator must have thought that King Cosmos was trying to say that anyone that fell to the temptation to use it was to be culled, but 'Blood Mage's Lust' is a proper noun here, so it's talking about a specific illness! Maybe if Twilight hasn't fallen under the influence of it, we can save her!"

The sound of hooves approached from the darkness, "It's too risky, there has never been a Blood Mage that hasn't succumbed to the magic's influence." Luna stepped out of the shadows, "If we bring her in and she is suffering from it, we would have to put her down, even with that revelation. There isn't even a known cure for it."

Blueblood slammed his hoof on the floor, "But at least this way we have a chance! We could research a cure, administer it before she got here, or postpone her judgement until it's finished, something!"

"It's illegal to research Blood Magic. Don't let me catch you doing so, especially not in the secret stockpile in the Lunar Wing where all of the forbidden texts are kept. All of the texts on Blood Magic are on the back wall, which you shouldn't go near, ever. It would result in an inquiry and jail time, should you be caught. Now, I have duties to attend to." With a grim expression, she turned to leave, vanishing into the shadows again, shortly after, the light tinkling of metal on stone could be heard.

Celestia stared after her sister, "She has always been better at subverting father's rules than me. I just bash my head against the ones I don't like, while she slithers in and about them like a snake through brambles. Also, I believe she dropped her keys. Do be a dear and return them at your earliest convenience, would you, Bluey?"