Flight.

Simple, pure, uninterrupted flight.

This is what Rainbow Dash had wanted all along, and despite the events that transpired recently the trip she and the rest of the girls were now making over the vast forest instead of through it brought a small smile to her face.

Even more interesting was the fact that Twilight had worked out how to adapt larger griffon wings to be suitable with her smaller pony frame. Having done that, she was now sporting lavender wings that were only slightly larger than the wings of the average pegasi.

It wasn't completely ideal, and she'd had to consume an actual pegasus for it to work properly, but it was good enough for now.

She had tried to explain the process to Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack with... mixed results. Rarity got the hang of things for the most part and managed to create her own snow white pegasus wings, having consumed actual pegasi already.

Pinkie had somehow managed to turn herself into a thestral version of... well... herself—her only explanation being that the look had 'grown on her' and 'she thought it'd be neato'.

Applejack had the most trouble adapting, as she hadn't consumed nearly as much as the others during any of her battles—the only other one of them having consumed less being Fluttershy, who hadn't consumed anypony at all.

In the end, she had to once again become a griffon to maintain any kind of flight, and somewhat begrudgingly decided to consume more often than she had initially been.

They had been flying for quite some time. Morning had long since given way to late afternoon and they were still no closer to the southwestern edge of the forest.

Becoming somewhat bored, Rainbow Dash lazily flew over to Twilight, an amused grin plastered on her face.

"Sooo... I guess the new wings on top of the horn make you and Rarity alicorns now," she observed with a snicker, "do we have our new Princess of Books? Oh!" she turned back to see Rarity raising an eyebrow in her direction, "or how about the Princess of Fashion?"

"The Princess... of Fashion?" Rarity replied, flying over to the other two. Her bemused look turned thoughtful, "well... I must admit, that does sound like a rather attractive idea.... Rarity Belle, the Princess of Fashion," she waved a hoof dramatically, her eyes practically sparkling, "helping ponies all over Equestria look absolutely fabulous!"

Twilight, for her part, rolled her eyes at Rarity's squeal of excitement.

"We're not real alicorns, Rainbow Dash," she explained in a flat tone, "if I had to put a name to what we actually are, it'd be something closer to pegacorns, as we lack any earth pony traits."

She paused and frowned contemplatively.

"Although," she continued slowly, "since Rarity's consumed earth ponies, I suppose she could find a way to inherit all three traits and become a kind of false alicorn... in fact, you and Pinkie should also be able to do the same, assuming you knew how."

"Seriously? Sweet!" Rainbow cried in excitement. Her glee didn't last long and she frowned before narrowing her eyes at Twilight, "wait... what do you mean 'false alicorn'? If we got all three types of pony in us, then we should be real alicorns, right?"

"Simply having the traits of all three tribes isn't enough, Rainbow," Twilight corrected with a shake of her head, "what makes a true alicorn is their 'aspect'—what they as a magical creature embody above all else."

"So?" Rainbow replied, raising an eyebrow, "like I said, you'd be the Princess of Books, and Rarity would be—"

"That's not how it works, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight growled in irritation before faltering and letting out a sigh, "alright, well that's kind of how it works, but there's more to it than that," she added quickly, "while it has a lot to do with a pony's special talent, there are other forces at work that would need to come into play to become an alicorn."

"Like what, darling?" Rarity asked curiously, "if such a thing as an alicorn ascension truly exists, what would one need to do to accomplish the feat?"

"I... don't know," Twilight admitted hesitantly, "I don't even know if it is truly possible, this is just my theory based on a few things the Princess told me about alicorns when I was younger. But I'm certain it has at least something to do with a pony's talent.

"For example," Twilight explained, turning to her cyan friend, "I wouldn't be the 'Princess of Books'. If I were to become any kind of alicorn, I'd be something like the 'Princess of Magic', and Rarity would be... uh..."

Both Rainbow and Twilight turned to Rarity with questioning looks, their eyes glancing over her cutie mark. Rarity looked between the two with a confused expression before following their gazes to her flank and rolling her eyes.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake," she muttered in exasperation, before speaking in a normal, albeit slightly annoyed tone, "while I consider myself adept at dressmaking, my actual talent lies in sensing, locating, working with, and—if I were so inclined—crafting gems. So if I were to hazard a guess, I'd most likely be the 'Princess of Gems'."

Her irritated scowl once more turned thoughtful.

"You know what?" she mused, "that actually doesn't sound all that bad now that I'm thinking about it..."

"And I can be the Princess of Parties!" came the cheery voice of Pinkie as she dropped in between the other three, "I mean, I know the last couple of parties I've tried to throw have been real stinkers... but I'm not gonna let my mistakes keep me down!"

Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow all glanced at each other worriedly. Pinkie tried to hide it, and she did a decent job, but her friends knew the pink party mare better than that.

Despite the outward appearance of determination on her face, she was hurting. If Pinkie had been her normal self in this situation, she would've more than made those parties work, they still would've been fantastic... but she wasn't her normal self... not anymore.

Her friends knew it, and so did she.

Something had changed, and it was more than just her body.

It made the others wonder if their talents had been affected in a similar fashion.

Twilight absently rubbed a hoof along her horn, frowning worriedly as she thought about how she still couldn't feel the vast majority of her magic.

It was still there, and it seemed to have increased, but only by a small fraction. She tried to channel the mana from her wellspring into her horn and only received a few pitiful sparks that fizzled out almost instantly in return.

She sighed morosely, wondering just what in Tartarus was going on and why she still couldn't use any magic. She was snapped out of her funk when Rarity flew up and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Twilight, dear, are you alright?" the other pegacorn asked with a concerned frown, "is it your magic? It's still not returned?"

"No, it hasn't Rarity," Twilight replied with a single shake of her head, "it's increased a small bit, but it's still largely inactive, and I'm getting really worried about what this means."

"Ah, I see," Rarity replied with a sympathetic smile, "well... it is increasing, if only slightly at the very least. Chin up, darling, you'll get the rest of it back eventually, I'm certain of it."

Rarity's words didn't do much to ease Twilight's worry, but she appreciated them all the same. She gave her friend a weak smile that quickly fell away into a small, sad sigh as she looked away and towards the horizon.

"Thanks, Rarity," she finally said in a low voice, "I guess I'll just have to bear with it for now and hope I can find out the solution soon."

Rarity's reassuring smile dropped into an unsure grimace as she observed her sullen lavender friend, but she didn't push the issue and instead flew over to Applejack and Fluttershy—both of whom hadn't said much since the flight started.

"And how are the two of you holding up?" she asked,slowing down to match their rather languid pace, "I know you aren't terribly keen on flying, Applejack."

"I'm fine," the disguised cowpony grunted somewhat sourly, "once we get back on the ground I'll be a lot more fine, but I can deal with it for now."

Rarity opened her mouth to respond, before closing it and turning to Fluttershy who was eyeing Applejack with something close to pity.

When she noticed Rarity looking at her, she smiled sadly.

"I'm alright, Rarity," she replied softly, "to be honest, I kind of agree with Applejack though. I'd rather be closer to the ground," her sad smile fell, along with her gaze as she looked down at the passing trees below, "I was kind of hoping to spend some more time in the forest."

"You're worried about the creatures that live there," Rarity guessed, nodding in understanding, "I don't blame you, dear. Even I found the lack of any wildlife rather unnerving."

"So you noticed too?" Fluttershy asked in surprise. She winced and smiled apologetically, "not that I meant you weren't observant or anything... it's just... I..."

Rarity giggled lightly and shook her head.

"Think nothing of it, darling," she said with a kind smile, "I take no offense, but remember, I do have an eye for detail, and not even these horrid events have taken that away from me."

She followed Fluttershy's gaze to the sweeping forest of trees and sighed.

"As you know, I'm normally not exactly an outdoor kind of pony, but I at least know that forests aren't supposed to be that quiet, Fluttershy."

A solemn nod was Fluttershy's only response.

"Speaking of wildlife though," Rarity said, frowning as she scanned the forest, "where's Bright Fang? I'm afraid I missed the dear as we we departed for the skies."

"Oh, he's following after us from below," Fluttershy answered, a small smile crossing her face, "since we decided to fly over the forest instead, he offered to keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"I... see," Rarity replied with an impressed raise of her brows, "I must say, he's more... dashing than his appearance would suggest."

"He's just looking out for his pack," Fluttershy replied with a smile, "or at least, that's how he sees it."

"Well," Rarity began, not knowing how to respond to that, "all the same, he's earned my respect, and as monstrous as he may seem, I'm glad he's decided to join our little band of... vicious murderers."

She finished with a self-deprecating chuckle that died quickly. Fluttershy scowled in concern as Rarity looked away and hummed to herself quietly—a troubled expression making its way onto her face.

While Fluttershy appreciated the fact that Rarity of all ponies had accepted Bright Fang for who and what he was, she couldn't help but feel that there had been something bothering the white mare.

She didn't think the others had noticed much, if at all, but Fluttershy had noticed that every so often, Rarity would stare off into the distance with a half thoughtful, half troubled look on her face.

This was most often the case whenever the subject of fighting and killing came up. The yellow pegasus wondered if all of it was bothering Rarity more than she was letting on.

Did the others secretly feel the same way?

Fluttershy took a moment to observe each of her friends as they flew. From Applejack's silent stoicism, to Pinkie's exuberant chatter, to Rainbow's exasperation in response to said chatter, and finally to Twilight's sullen silence.

And then there was Fluttershy herself and her... anger issues.

Each of the girls had changed, and not for the better. It was more than just a simple shift in attitude, it was more than this horrid willingness to kill anypony—or griffon—that stood in their way.

Not even the fact that all of them had technically died was all that important compared to real issue at hoof. The fact of the matter was that they were all unstable—mentally and emotionally broken and twisted into something unrecognizable.

It was blatantly obvious that they weren't the same mares that they used to be, and no amount of friendship was going to fix that.

But even then...

Twilight had said they needed to survive and adapt. They were surviving well enough... but were they really adapting like they should be?

Fluttershy wasn't so sure, and it had been one of the things bothering her since the events in Squawken. If they were all going to make it back home without losing themselves completely, they needed to truly adapt to their circumstances.

They needed to find some stability—some solid ground to stand upon. They needed to find a way to resist the pull of their new instincts... but how?

Unbeknownst to Fluttershy, both Twilight and Pinkie had been thinking along those very same lines, and like Fluttershy, they were no closer to the answer than she herself was.

Pinkie had told Twilight that she needed to find a balance between who she was now, who she had been before all of this happened, but the pink mare wasn't even sure if that had worked.

She could still hear the Voice, always whispering—pushing her to commit more atrocities, and no amount of balance had changed that.

Twilight had tried to come to terms with her more sadistic side, but now that she had some time to really think on it, she had to wonder.

Had she really struck some kind of balance like Pinkie had suggested, or had she just completely given in? Whenever that side of her came out she felt like had some control now, but for the most part it still felt the same as it did back at the facility.

And what of Applejack?

It had been hard to gauge the mare's feelings on the matter. On the surface, she seemed the same as she always did—same old honest, dependable Applejack.

But what lay beneath?

None of the other girls knew, and Applejack never talked about it. Since she seemed to be the most unaffected by it all, none of them had bothered to ask.

The truth, of course, was very different, and Applejack was as much of a slave to these changes as the rest of them. The problem was that the way the virus affected the orange mare made it harder to tell that anything had changed at all.

Rarity was much the same, but again, there were indeed changes. The changes in both mares were far more subtle—much less drastic than Fluttershy's, Twilight's, or Pinkie Pie's.

Whatever the case was, each mare had been affected in their own unique way, and as they all made their way deeper into griffon territory, they could only hope that things would get better.

Even if they and the world around them would never be the same as it was before.

A bit of a breather chapter as the six mares (and Bright Fang) finally make their way out of that area and into... somewhere else. We'll see, I haven't decided yet.

Anyway, apologies for the late update, wanted to finish it last night, but things didn't go quite to plan.