/Hello all! Welcome to the next chapter. Thank you to SkyRider5 for the review! Enjoy the chapter!/

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As soon as we reach the ground I snatch Applebloom from Cadence's back and hold her close. I should have never agreed to let her form a camp with the other girls. I don't even know what I was thinking! She coulda gotten killed! I squeeze her tight as I can to make sure she's really still there.

"Applejack, lemme go!" Applebloom whines.

"Well, sorry if I haven't seen y'all for a year and a half!" I cry. "I may just be a mite happy to see you!"

After wiggling a bit, Applebloom goes limp and hugs me back.

"Alright, fine. I guess I missed you, too, sis."

I let her go and she gets to her hooves. I look around at the base of the cave. Rocks spattered with blood and broken, discarded weapons are scattered round. Behind us, Rainbow walks slowly with Fluttershy's assistance. Scootaloo walks in front of her. Sunset Shimmer places a hoof to a rock and sniffs the blood that comes off.

"It's fresh. This was a recent attack." She says. "An hour ago, at the least."

"Maybe if we track the bloodshed we can catch the scoundrels." Rarity suggests.

"Catching the soldiers isn't going to mean anything if we get killed as soon as we get there," Sweetie Belle counters. "We're going to need a plan."

"Besides, any non-pegasi ponies used unicorn magic to teleport away. It would be useless to try." Scootaloo continues, sniffing the air.

The girls and I exchange baffled looks. I didn't know unicorn magic had a scent. Heck, I doubt any of us knew that, even Twi. It sure woulda been some nice information to have before now, though.

Cadence takes a seat in the dirt and gestures for us all to join her. Rarity pulls the "cleanest" rock in the area towards her and uses that as a chair. Honestly, even during a war that pony can't stand to get dirty! Rainbow drops her face in the dirt. She seems awful distraught about that one word.

"Sweet Celestia..." Sunset Shimmer mutters. "We're not going to be able to get anything done with Rainbow Dash moping like that. Will somepony try to make her feel better?"

Everypony exchanges looks that seem to say "Who's gonna get up?". Pinkamena finally rolls her eyes and gets to her hooves, making her way towards Rainbow Dash. She nudges the pegasus and gets her to look up, then pulls her up so the two are nose-to-nose.

"Listen, Dash." She says. "We did some pretty bad things before you left by pretty much murdering your mom and driving you away. And you did some pretty bad things, too, what with trying to murder us. But they were accidents. You were brainwashed, and it's in the past now. Sure, Scootaloo's blind because of you, but it doesn't matter. She's alive, isn't she? And so are we. So just let it go."

Pinkamena then shoves Rainbow Dash back into the dirt and returns to her seat. Rainbow staggers to her hooves, trembling violently. She takes a shaky breath before speaking.

"It's not just what I did... It's just... There was always a part of me conscious no manner what I was doing. Sometimes it was weaker, and sometimes I could remember things. Like when I recognized you in the Crystal Empire, Pinkie. I was there the whole time. I know everything I did. I just couldn't... I couldn't control myself."

A single tear rolls from Rainbow's injured eye. I feel a few starting to well up in my own, too. I can't even imagine how painful that's gotta be. To be fully aware you're hurtin' ponies, hurtin' your friends, and being completely unable to stop yourself. And she doesn't even get the bliss of forgetting it all afterwards. She's gonna be burdened with the knowledge of what she's done for the rest of her life. I sigh in sympathy and start making my way over to Rainbow, but before I make it, Pinkamena's grabbed Scootaloo and flung her towards the older pegasus.

"Gaah! Pinkie!" Scootaloo cries, whipping her head around.

"You forgive yourself right now, Dash, or else I'll take these bandages off and force you to look at what you did."

"Pinkamena! You can't do something like that!" Twilight cries, teleporting between Pinkamena and Dash.

"Of course I can! And I will!"

While Twilight and Pinkamena argue about morals and mortality, sayin' things like "You're torturing her!" and "She deserves it!", Scootaloo wriggles from Pinkie's grasp and wanders a few steps before reaching Rainbow. She walks the older pegasus away some feet. I follow slightly behind so I can hear what she says.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash," She says. "I'm sorry I made you face something you'd done. Sweetie Belle said we couldn't let you leave, or Equestria would be doomed. It was all I could do to make you stop."

Rainbow lowers herself to the ground and pulls Scootaloo towards her with her balance wing. She nuzzles the smaller pony and another tear rolls down her cheek.

"No, Scoot. If anypony should be sorry it's me. I was in there the whole time. Sometimes I fought and sometimes I didn't, but it's my fault for getting... Brainwashed in the first place. If I hadn't left the girls none of this would have happened." Rainbow whispers.

I glance back at Twilight and Pinkamena, still arguing. The other girls had joined me in listening to Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. Rarity places a hoof on my shoulder and smiles weakly.

"That run-in with your camp, it was one of the times I wasn't fighting the spells. I'd given up, and as soon as I realized what I'd done I was horrified that there was a part of me that wanted to hurt you. The conscious part of me was so distraught that I was obedient for the longest time, re-evaluating my mind."

"Shh. You don't deserve to be tortured by the things you did when you couldn't control yourself. It's okay, Rainbow Dash. I forgive you, and I'm sure everypony else will, too. In time." She glances towards Twilight and Pinkamena.

"But, Scoot... You can't see because of me." Rainbow murmurs.

"And I'm still alive! I can guide myself 'cause the girls never stop talking. I can smell use of magic in the air and I can feel hoofprints in the soil. Nopony can track soldiers better than me, and I'm blind! Just try and tell me that isn't awesome!"

Rainbow smiles weakly and pulls Scootaloo up with her.

"Yeah... I guess you're right." She says. "That's pretty awesome."

The girls and I return to where we were sitting before and pretend to be watching Twilight and Pinkamena argue. Rainbow staggers to a stance between the two.

"Girls?" She says. "Let's start with our plan."

Rainbow then takes her own seat beside Scootaloo and Sunset Shimmer begins to speak.

"If we're going to track down Gilda's soldiers we'll need a plan of attack. Rainbow Dash, who are the most powerful minute mares other than you?"

Rainbow Dash puts a hoof to her chin. I can almost see the gears churning in her head. She chews on her lip.

"From what I can recall, Lightning Dust is pretty strong. Gilda only used her when I was unable to do anything, so now she should be head of the army. Suri Polomare is a field agent, too, and she'll report anything she sees. There are some others, but for the life of me I can't remember their names..."

"Alright. If you remember anything we may need to know, don't hesitate to speak up. The rest of us will formulate a plan."

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/Done! Oh, and if anyone wanted a better idea of what some of the characters look like, here are some links.

Pinkamena: art/Quit-Calling-Me-That-464632541?q=gallery%3AReecez-Piecez%2F49467465&qo=7

Rainbow: art/I-Was-Trying-to-Protect-You-462485128?q=gallery%3AReecez-Piecez%2F49467465&qo=8

The CMC: gallery/49467465/MLP#/art/See-No-Speak-No-Hear-No-502891741?_sid=5686f1e5

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the next will be coming as soon as possible!/