Twilight's chariot ride to the township to the northeast of Ponyville was remarkably long.  Ponies had expanded and settled in several places, though due to slow supply lines and a general contentedness of the population, new towns beyond what was already established very rarely sprung up and often only due to some kind of desperation.  At around the same time Ponyville was founded a few relatively unwise investors spent an awful lot of money to keep expanding into territory that "promised" rich deposits of silver in the mountains, though these never paid off.  What resulted was a collection of barely surviving towns full of ponies that were abandoned in land that was absolutely not surveyed for its ability to produce food, leading to a stagnant population and a general lack of advancement in any form.  With the exception of the mail or a four day bout of road travel, these towns were completely cut off from the rest of the Equestrian empire, making them perfect targets for anyone that had anything to gain from doing so.

Due to the ease of flight, Twilight's trip only took around six hours, but she wasted none of that time looking at the sights.  Literally every minute spent in the air was spent reading something that Celestia had left for Twilight, and it certainly did not disappoint.  Most of the books that the Princess had packed were absolutely ancient, harkening back to the time when Celestia might still have read them with curious innocence.  While most of the old tomes were dense texts full of information about the kind of magic that Iago had been performing, the one piece of literature that really held Twilight's attention was a rather overstuffed journal.  The first third or so of the pages seemed to have been torn out, while the rest were packed together tightly with annotations, scraps of paper, and about a half dozen etchings, but what was there read as follows:

June 27, Reign of Queen Dawn, Year 302,

You'd think my time with the Golden Crows would have desensitized me to death, after all I've seen the souls of hundreds leave their eyes as I held the knife bathing in their blood, but I still felt nauseous after some of the sights I was exposed to today...  The plague continues to spread throughout Canterlot and the doctors have yet to discover anything even remotely close to a cure.  The disease is so lethal that mothers have taken to cutting their foals' throats just to spare them from the suffering that it's so sure to cause them.  I fear for my life every day, knowing that even an unlucky splash from a diseased puddle could infect me, my squad, my queen, or my family, and yet each morning from daybreak until dusk I stand watch outside the castle, under orders to kill anything if it even looks at the keep in the wrong manner.  For fear of sensitive information being discovered, I've removed the first section of this text and hidden it, but in case it's the only history left alive of my people, I'll be chronicling the battle between the ponies and the Rylkar as often as I can.  I refuse to allow such vile rodents to overtake the empire that I've sworn to serve until my dying breath, and I'll be damned if that breath will be a plague ridden wheeze.  

July 14, Reign of Queen Dawn, Year 302,

From what I've been able to gather, the rats that we call Rylkar are of a completely different temperament than any that we've seen before.  This is particularly evidenced by the fact that they lack any semblance of self preservation and seem entirely driven on spreading the disease that they brought along with themselves.  It sounds ridiculous, and at first I thought it was, but then I watched for myself as a rat the size of my foreleg gnawed its own belly open and crawled, dragging its entrails across the ground over which rainwater flows before it irrigates our fields.  Hundreds of his brothers and sisters soon followed until the soil beneath was crimson and littered with tiny corpses.  Efforts to clean the infected soil proved worthless as an epidemic broke out within the city.  Even though we harvested the wheat and hay weeks later, the plague had been spread into the water and the earth itself, polluting absolutely everything that it touched.  Hundreds lay dying in the streets as I scribble this down, while I eat bread and cheese that the Queen had stored for herself and her guards.  Eating while others choose starvation over disease makes me feel like such a fat elitist, even though you can see my ribs too.

Twilight turned the page, fascinated by the journal.  Each page was woefully written, clearly in a shaking hoof that left the impression of the kind of fear that had haunted everyone in those days.  Twilight could see why Celestia had saved the journal; apart from its amazing historical significance and spectacular condition for a book its age, the tome contained a record of every single mistake that the soldiers of the past made.

July 30, Reign of Queen Dawn, Year 302,

We lost two Crows today.  The queen ordered myself and my team to go investigate a storehouse that had been abandoned to the plague.  Since there was reason to believe that the Rylkar had taken up residence in the storehouse and were already using it to multiply, we were sent in to burn it to the ground.  If anyone, and I do mean anyone, reads this; please, for the love of the sun,

DO NOT BRING FIRE TO THE RYLKAR!

Cleansing Flame seems to be the only thing that rids us of the plague, but unfortunately it appears to have actually spawned more of them.  From the reports that I've been able to read so far, there's a single Rylkar beast somewhere at the center of the storehouse, or at least the parts of it that survived the fire, but it appears to actually birth torrents of rats when it's exposed to open flame.  I trust my soldiers and their reports, so I'm afraid I'm forced to believe such a frightening display of supremacy.  The only way we can survive the disease is to burn it away, but that makes more rats.  More rats make more disease...  The more I learn about these things, the more I realize that, frankly, it's hopeless to fight.  We used to hold a day of silence any time a single Golden Crow was slain in battle.  Now we lose them so often that, if we did so, nopony would ever say a word to each other.  We just go about our lives as if everything was already over, and we do nothing to honor their sacrifice.

Twilight read through the journal during the entire trip.  Each mental image inscribed in the pages was something out of a nightmare; killing families infected with the plague and burning their homes to try and fight the spread, seeing entire neighborhoods develop the infection almost overnight, and even being privy to information about a local cemetery buying up plots of land lost to the plague just for the extra ground space.  Paranoia seemed to set in for the author and, whomever it was, started keeping entries in the journal which had the sole purpose of being a reminder of who they were even though it seemed that names were carefully avoided in the text.  

"Miss?"  Twilight's reading was interrupted by the rightmost guard pulling her chariot.  "We'll be landing soon, do you have everything together?"

"It's all here, just drop me where you need me to be."  Twilight, irritated by her interruption, only tore her eyes away from the page for long enough to respond.  Unfortunately for her, a gust of wind howled into the chariot's path and slammed her journal shut.  "Dammit!"  Just that little annoyance sparked a flare in Twilight's temper, so much so that she actually took notice of it.  With her emotions no longer regulated by Iago's presence, Twilight was extremely unstable, but the danger of that fact didn't strike Twilight quite as hard as the feeling of Iago's shackles no longer plaguing her mind.  Only her rational thinking, also freed from its prison, stopped Twilight from flying off the handle.  

The unicorn packed up her reading and decided to just finish it at a later date.  Within minutes of her putting the journal away, however, Twilight spotted a small town rising up over the horizon.  "Is that where you're taking me?"

"No, ma'am, we're taking you a mile outside of there."  Said the leftmost guard.  As if on cue, the two heavily armored pegasus stallions changed direction and rapidly descended.  The two guards covered their faces on their way through the canopy, while Twilight stared blankly ahead.  Branches, pine needles and other debris crunched against the chariot, the guards, and Twilight's stoic face.  Small wounds opened up from the punishment, but the unicorn didn't even notice most of them if they weren't within her vision.  Not a single drop of blood fell, and not a single jolt of pain bothered her.

Once the chariot reached the ground, the guards proceeded to unhitch themselves from it.  Twilight joined them at the front and the rightmost guard removed a sealed envelope from under the collar of his breastplate.  After passing along the note (and subsequently freeing his mouth up) the Guard saluted Twilight and explained her situation a little more clearly.  "This letter was written and sealed by Princess Celestia herself, don't open it until you're sure that you're alone.  Once you're done reading it, destroy it immediately and follow its instructions to the letter.  Time is absolutely of the essence, as I'm sure you know, so we'll be leaving you here.  From what I understand, you're the only one who knows how to fight whatever war we're about to get caught up in even though you don't officially exist."

"Oh, I don't exist?"  Twilight rolled her eyes indignantly as she asked the question, finding the precautions that the Princess had taken to be more annoying than helpful.

"No, ma'am.   Your name is not Twilight, I did not watch you grow and learn in the School for Gifted Unicorns from the Princess's side these past fifteen years, and I certainly didn't attend your funeral four weeks ago.  That letter should answer any questions that you have, but so long as everything goes according to plan, neither ourselves nor anyone else will ever see you again starting now.  Good luck and godspeed, you'll need them both."

Twilight turned to walk away right as both guards produced different colored clay bottles from their belts.  Each one only appeared to be able to hold an ounce of liquid, but both were promptly emptied onto the chariot.  Twilight's senses were deadened so she couldn't identify the rudimentary ingredients, but the instant both liquids came into contact with one another they ignited.  Within seconds, the chariot was engulfed in green fire that reached nearly as high as the canopy, but scorched nothing beyond the chariot itself.  The guards took off through the canopy as soon as their business was done, leaving Twilight alone in the thin woods surrounding the little settlement.  From what she could tell, the town itself wouldn't be any more than a square mile of space to cover.  

As she started the trek toward the town, she examined her letter.  The seal seemed to be a precise and intricate watermark of the sun, however when the waning light of the day struck it, it glittered with a clearly magical essence.  Twilight simply levitated it in front of her face with unicorn magic and touched her hoof to the seal, which then promptly dissolved.  The slip of paper that Twilight retrieved from the envelope had a single word written down on it, although it was in a language that Twilight hadn't ever seen before.  She attempted to pronounce the word, unsure of exactly what the Princess' game was.

"Ré...  Réalta...  Ugh...  What is this moon speak?  Réaltaghrian?"

Twilight's tongue froze as soon as she finished reciting the word, and what happened to her struck a blood curdling fear in her heart.  Twilight felt her consciousness being pulled back away from her eyes, imprisoned once more in a mental cell holding her back from her body.  Twilight fought this treachery, willing it back as best as she could, but only found herself cowering, screaming, and trying futilely to run away.  Eventually, she broke and the feeling washed over her, pulling her into someplace ethereal and still where only a single sense rang through.  It was Celestia's voice, at least that's what it felt like to Twilight.

"Oh good, you received my letter.  I'm glad I can count on my guards to deliver mail in a time of crisis."

"What have you done to me!?"  Twilight screamed, or rather tried to scream; words made no sound, but their meaning transferred perfectly.

"Relax, Twilight, you're not being shackled again.  I've given you a fraction of my True Name, which allows us to speak telepathically with each other from afar.  Unfortunately, since your bond to me is one of servitude, you won't be able to take any action while we commune in this manner.  

"Your True Name?  It's not Celestia?"

"No, and I'm not going to tell you what it is, either.  It took me a thousand years to learn half of it, and it carries the entire weight of my very being.  What I've shared with you is the word regarding my wisdom and mental faculties, hence the connection.  But I didn't bring you here to teach you about True Names, I need you to follow my directions as closely as you can, and this is the best way for me to do that.  Head into town and investigate it for signs of the plague.  Symptoms you're looking for are a high fever, delirium, amnesia, madness, and intense bleeding, both internal and external.  The plague is waterborne, not air, so its transmission can be controlled.  Just destroy any Rylkar that you find contaminating a water source."

"If what you've given me to read and what you've been telling me is accurate, these rats are pretty good strategists and could have a trap set for me.  Do you have any idea how they do that?"

"Actually I do.  Iago controls his warband of rats directly just by being in their presence.  I'm not sure how he does it, though he's always been in control like that and I suspect it to be telepathic in nature.  However, the droves of rats that Iago needs to leave behind to spread his disease are too far away to communicate with him.  Iago personally selects the strongest, fastest, and smartest of the higher species of Rylkar to train in his ways, then makes them a rudimentary officer.  When Iago's not around, the grunt rats defer to those officers.  You'll be able to identify one if you see it, believe me.  Destroy those officers and the remaining Rylkar won't be able to strategize amongst themselves, which will leave them helpless against even untrained farmers.  While you're at it, make sure that any who are infected with the plague are either killed or quarantined until they die.  They have a tendency to go mad and seek out water due to an unquenchable and unexplainable thirst caused by the plague."

"I take it there's no cure?"

"No, it's closer to a curse than a disease, however we've found that if someone's splattered with Rylkar blood or was bitten their chances of infection can be reduced by applying lemon juice to the affected areas.  It's not a perfect solution, but it might save a life or two."

"What then?"

"What do you mean?  You move on to the next town, do the same thing, and continue tracking Iago."

"But what then?  You aren't giving me a plan you're just pointing me in a direction and firing me like an arrow."

"I have a plan, and you'll listen to me when I tell you to do something.  Do not question me, you don't need to know anything more than what I decide to tell you, so go and do it."

"Don't push me, Princess.  The only way you can punish me is by keeping me alive and close to you."

"You'd better quit acting like you have all the power, Twilight, keep in mind I can still take away your free will.  Your behavior as of late has very much tempted me to do so."

Twilight knew she was beaten but didn't want to give the Princess the final word on the matter.  Most of what her mind exuded, however, was pure vitriol.  "Just provide me with enough relevant information to do my job."

"You can count on it."  Princess Celestia's words were condescendingly soft, but before Twilight had any chance to retaliate she was cast out of the void of consciousness and back into her body.  To her surprise, the unicorn found herself levitating about three feet off the ground, twisted into an uncomfortable bent backwards position with small shafts of lightning arcing between her and the surrounding fauna.  As she came back into her body, slowly returning control to each and every part, the anomalous floating lessened.

Once her hooves hit the ground, Twilight crumpled into the floor and gasped for air.  The deep breaths didn't make her feel any more comfortable (or anything at all for that matter), but they at least reinforced the idea that she could control her body.  Once she was done quivering and fighting back the feeling of tears Twilight stood and, directing her rage toward Iago and his ilk, made her way in the direction of the little back-woods town.