Daddy took her up to the manor's roof, to the spot where he told her he used to sit and watch the stars.
They weren't there to watch the stars, it was too early for that; instead, he lifted his hand to the horizon, gesturing at the sun-soaked land around them. She squinted into the sunset, burning almost too bright to look at, and looked over the landscape it painted red, orange, and gold. Trees, grass, and bushes glowed beneath its light, while the Canter to the south turned into a river of fire. The brown and black brick of the manor itself shimmered like it was fresh out of the ovens that baked it.
"No matter how old I get, Rich Gardens at sunset never stops amazing me," Daddy sighed happily.
"It's beautiful," she murmured in awe. "And the view's incredible."
"That's what I told gran when she showed it to me," he chuckled. "I can't count the number of times I came up here after that, just watching the land and sky. I still do, sometimes."
He clapped her on the shoulder, then whispered in her ear, "And I know you'll do the same when you follow me."
She sighed awake from the stupid memories Scootaloo had reawakened. She got that she was only trying to hurt her, to make her feel as upset as she did, but that didn't make poking that wound hurt any less, or any less inconvenient; they were almost on the front lines, she couldn't afford to get lost in her head now. Taking a deep breath, she shoved the memories and worries Scootaloo'd unearthed back into the overstuffed drawer they'd come from and left her mental office for the real world.
Most of the others were already awake, though Sonata lay conked out on the ground. Silver, looking somewhat sleep-deprived, stood munching her morning trail mix numbly, clearly still processing yesterday. Zephyr looked more thoughtful than haunted, but he was clearly processing what happened yesterday, too, and maybe whatever he'd wanted to talk with Aria about.
Speaking of, the waking Siren looked different this morning, and not in a way simply explainable by the change in light. She couldn't put her finger on what was different, but if she had to guess she'd say her scowl seemed smaller, less dragged down on her face.
Looks like she liked whatever Zephyr had to say, she smiled as she climbed out of her sleeping bag. Looked like her people-picking skills weren't as rusty as she'd feared.
Aria noticed her getting up and gave her a curt nod. "Eat," she said. "We'll start heading out in a few minutes."
Not enough time for a proper breakfast, she sighed as Zephyr handed her another bag of trail mix. She reminded herself that Velvet hadn't had time for proper breakfasts while reporting on the Gull Raids, which dulled the disappointment somewhat, but it didn't go away; fruit, granola, and nuts couldn't fill an egg-shaped hole.
"Now, let me be perfectly clear," Aria warned. "We'll be moving into striking distance of the Unmarked today, and as close to where we think Captain Armor's going to arrive as possible. What happened with shorty cannot happen again. If you make any mistakes here, you are almost certainly going to die, and most likely take several of us with you. From here on out, you talk as quietly and as little as possible, you watch your step and make as little noise walking as you can, you stay in shadow and out of sight as much as possible, and you do not try to grab anyone's attention. Until I give the word, we do not let anyone know that we exist. We stay silent, we stay hidden, we stay safe, understand?"
Diamond nodded, as did Zephyr, along with Silver, though she was clearly troubled.
Aria nodded back, then continued, "Unless any of you have any secret survival chops, until we're safe with Captain Armor, I'm taking command. If I tell you to run, you run; if I tell you to stop, you stop; if I tell you to leave someone behind, you leave them behind. I'm going to try to keep you all alive, but that means you have to listen to me. I can't keep you alive if you're trying to get yourselves killed. Am I clear?"
Again, they nodded. (And again, Silver seemed hesitant as she did so.)
"One last thing," Aria nodded. "Unless I tell you to, you are under no circumstances to try to fight. You're all untrained, and out here that'll get you killed. Unless I say otherwise, leave all the fighting to me and Sonata; if we're not enough, run. Do not try to be tricksy, do not try to stage an ambush, do not try to be the hero, just run. Again, I'm trying to keep you alive, but to do that I need you to not try and get yourselves killed."
"We won't," Diamond promised her.
Aria turned to Zephyr, who nodded in agreement, before training her gaze on Silver, who (this time) didn't hesitate to nod. Aria nodded once more, then turned to look at her sister.
"Finish eating and make ready," she ordered. "We move out in fifteen."
Sonata was ready surprisingly quickly (going from snoring softly on the ground to bright-eyed and bushy-tailed within minutes) and in less than the quarter-hour Aria'd given them they were ready to set out on the march again. Thankfully, whatever Zephyr'd said to Aria last night had gotten her to put the rope away, though she kept up the same blistering pace.
They stayed as quiet as they could on the march, partially due to Aria's orders, partially due to the pace keeping them out of breath. The reasons for Aria's softness, Zephyr's thoughtfulness, and Silver's reservation went unvoiced, though she had an idea of the reason for the last one. She just needed to wait for a break, then she could-
Sonata's arm flew in front of them. A clearing lay ahead, two Nocturnes passing through it. Aria dragged Diamond and the others back behind cover then leaned forward to listen to the two passerby.
"Who do you think will break through first?" one of them asked. "Vozhd Armor, Glavny Dappled, or Glavny Coal?"
"I'm with Glavny Dappled, so we should break through first," the other replied. "On the other side, you're with Glavny Dappled, so we should still be trying to find our claws by the time the others have won the day."
A laugh escaped the first speaker. "I've learned from my mistakes, Blunt, don't worry," she said. "The clan will be telling the tale of Vigilance, Bearer of Slipper-Claws, after we return, heed my words."
"Maybe," her companion, Blunt presumably, chuckled. "Whatever deeds you do here, you'll always be Lostclaws to me."
"One time," the first speaker, apparently Lostclaws, snarled. "It was one time!"
"One time that I'll remember forever," Blunt replied. "But view it in another season; at least your name's not Starlight."
"Oh, yes," Lostclaws growled. "A fine name, poisoned by a foul bearer. Liar, murderer, kidnapper, traitor, desecrator; what crimes hasn't she committed?"
"She's committed foolishness, if Gloaming is to be believed," Blunt shook his head. "She has watchers set up, all around Polunochdolina, but no defenses. She'll see us coming and be able to do nothing about it. And armor made of deepstone? Useful as a shield against magic, perhaps, magic which isn't real and which we won't need; it's light enough for her to walk in, so it's light enough to break. And the Unmarked, they're threatening to break, too; four days of waiting has been more than most of them can stand, judging by the fights Gloaming said she heard. Those still loyal to Starlight are keeping discipline, but their numbers rot with every report."
"Ha!" Lostclaws barked. "If only Vozhd Armor was willing to wait, our enemies would win this fight for us."
Blunt's reply went unheard as they finished crossing the clearing, passing back into the forest without a trace.
A few moments after they disappeared, Aria snorted. "Adagio definitely lied, then," she mumbled, almost beneath Diamond's hearing. "There's no way someone that unskilled could be stronger than us. Come on," she ordered the group. "We should be near Hollow Shades' southern edge, we're almost in position."
"I can double-check," Diamond offered, taking her phone out.
Aria's gaze burned her, before briefly cutting off. "Fine," she growled, glaring again, though not as angrily. "But if I hear you talk or see you typing..."
"Don't worry," she replied with a smile as she turned her device on. "You won't. Let me just check to see if I get service..."
Sadly, she didn't, leaving her without her map. This time, though, instead of the all-too-familiar 'No Signal' symbol flashing across her screen, she saw what looked like a... shield?
"What is that?" she mumbled.
"Doesn't matter," Aria shook her head. "The important thing is those two were heading east, not north. They're trying to stay close enough to not get lost but far enough away to not get noticed. Hollow Shades is to the north-east, so since they went straight east, we have to be just south of Starlight's scouts along the hollow's border."
"Oh," Diamond nodded in realization. "I see. They're tracing the wall."
Aria nodded, then ushered them back out and began carefully leading them north, testing her hypothesis. A few moments' walk, a dart of her head through visibly-thin tree cover, and she returned with a nod; she was right. Now she put Sonata in the lead, forging them a path west, flicking occasional glances up north at their enemy.
The silence that fell over them was thicker this time; they knew, and, more importantly, could feel, how close to their goal they were. Aria's knife hand clenched and unclenched eagerly, Zephyr fell visibly deeper into thought, and Silver was almost drawing blood from how hard she was biting her lip.
A twinge of pain jerked Diamond's nose. She needed to nip this in the bud, as soon as possible. She'd already lost one friend to a lack of understanding: she couldn't lose any more.
As soon as Aria said that they were where she wanted them to be, she dragged Silver to the side and quietly asked her, "What are you seeing that I'm not?"
Silver blinked in confusion.
"You saw the defeat I was heading for in the class election," she explained. "You saw what my plan to stop Sunset was going to do to CHS. You see things I don't, Silver, and you look like you are now. So what is it? What am I not seeing here?"
Silver flinched, then looked back at the Sirens nervously. Swallowing, she turned back to her and whispered- or was it whimpered? "Di, I'm really concerned about your choice of allies here. You heard Aria, she's killed, multiple times. Di, please, she killed her own sister!"
She put a hand over her mouth and shushed Silver, not wanting to draw undue attention, and quietly replied, "I know, Silver, I know. I don't think we have to worry about them killing us, though; we-"
"It's not us I'm worried about them killing," Silver interrupted her.
She frowned in thought. "You're afraid that they're going to kill Scootaloo?"
Silver scowled at her, the same scowl she wore when she hadn't seen how poorly she was running her class presidential campaign. "I'm worried about them killing the Unmarked, Di," she replied. "I'm worried that we're helping two dangerous criminals attack civilians. I'm worried that we're going to be accomplices to murder and then help the murderers get pardons. I'm worried that you don't seem to see that murderers and would-be warlords are a greater evil than a group of political whiners. I'm worried that you-" Abruptly, she covered her mouth, horror in her eyes.
Diamond read between the lines. "You're worried that I'm really a monster, aren't you?" she asked quietly.
Hesitantly, nervously, fearfully, Silver nodded.
Diamond took a deep breath. She needed to be careful; treat the subject too breezily like she did with Scootaloo and she might lose Silver, too. She wasn't talking with an underling who only needed to be told what to do, she was talking with a friend who needed to be told why they were doing it.
"Silver," she began. "I know what you're thinking; 'Diamond's ignored the consequences of her actions in the past, who's to say she isn't doing so again? Who's to say she's not letting herself get lost in winning justice against Starlight and ignoring the Sirens committing injustice against the Unmarked?' I get that, Silver, I understand that, and I agree; I can't let myself get tunnel vision again, I can't blind myself if Aria or Sonata commit injustices against the Unmarked. But the thing is, fighting them, even killing them in the course of that, won't be committing injustice; it'll be a natural consequence of the choices they've made. They refused to explain themselves after the Riot, they ran from Captain Armor and the princess, they attacked the capitol and fled the law. Rebellion's the only word for what they did, Silver; not protest, not riot, rebellion. They broke Homestria's laws, rebelled against it, and made themselves the enemies of the kingdom. This isn't just political protesting anymore, this is war, and in war, however much we try to prevent it, people get killed; sometimes by accident, sometimes out of anger or evil, and sometimes because doing so will save more lives in the long run. People died at the Riot, Silver, and you saw what Starlight did to Guilden; how many more need to die before the Unmarked are stopped? I don't want anyone to die, get hurt, but that's not realistic here. Either I try to fight Aria, indirectly helping Starlight hurt, maybe even kill, more people, or I help Aria fight Starlight and prevent her from hurting anyone else. Neither of them is a good choice, but sometimes life doesn't give you any good choices and you're forced to choose the least-worst one. It's us or them, Silver."
Silver's voice dropped almost to nothing, along with the temperature. "Just like it was us or Sunset Shimmer?"
She doubled over, Silver's words a punch to the gut. This is different, she tried to justify herself, but all the air was knocked out of her. Eventually, she managed to recover enough to croak, "Do you have any better ideas?"
"Try to find Captain Armor," Silver whispered, faintly smiling at her success. "If we can talk to him before he fights Starlight, he-"
"-you won't," Aria growled, looming over them. "You're not as stealthy as you think, and I'm harder to escape from than you think. I hunted Starlight across half a continent, I can find you in a few acres of woods."
"Like you found Scootaloo?" Silver snarked.
"I didn't find her because I was trying to keep you alive and on track," Aria retorted. "If I didn't care about you, I'd have tracked her down by now."
"You don't care about us," Silver snapped. "You care about the pardon you can use us to get. We're not people to you, we're bargaining chips."
"And you expect me to believe you care about the Unmarked?" Aria snorted. "You're not worried about them, you're worried about your reputation, about waking up every day with ghosts behind your eyes, ghosts that you can't tell the world about without hurting your precious honor. You don't care that the Unmarked live, only whether you play a part in killing them or not."
"Liar," Silver argued. "I want them to live, just like I want us to; whatever they've done, they're still people, people with the same right to live that we have."
"Where was that right for Adagio?" Aria shot back. "Where was it for Guilden? Why should we treat them like they refused to treat us?"
"Because, unlike them and you, we're not monsters!" Silver spat. "We care about justice, not just how much we can hurt someone to feel better."
"They tortured my sister," Aria snarled. "What can they deserve aside from death?"
"Something more than being meat for a monster like you," Silver sneered.
"Like friendship?" Aria glared. "Redemption? An opportunity to make up for what they did? Where was that for us? Why do my sister's torturers deserve friendship but she didn't?"
"Because they're not hopeless monsters like you!" Silver shouted.
Aria's blade sang into her hand as Sonata and Zephyr rushed over, wide-eyed. "Maybe I am nothing but a monster," she whispered, her voice razor-sharp. "Maybe that's all I ever was, am, and will be. So, tell me," the dagger quivered pointing at Silver. "why should I ever try not to be one? Why should I not be what I really am?"
"Because it's good not to be one," Diamond spoke up, regaining her voice at last.
Aria barked something that might've been a laugh. "Why should a monster like your friend says I am care about being good?"
"Because I was a monster," Diamond whispered. "until I cared about being good. Not being good never got me anywhere; even if I seemed to be making progress, in the end it all just melted away. Being a bully helped me up until third grade, where it started holding me back and the bullying I'd done in the past made that even worse. Being a bad friend to Silver," she looked tenderly at her best friend. "helped me, right until it almost made me lose her forever. Trying to get rid of someone who I thought was a monster..."
Sunset weeping bitter tears as CHS tore itself apart around her...
"... only made me realize that I was turning into one," she clenched her fist. "Being a monster, being bad... in the end, the worst person you hurt is yourself. Look at you," she gestured at Aria. "You and Adagio have both tried being monsters. How's that turned out for you?"
"I've tried not being a monster," Aria hissed. "Your friend made it clear that she'll never see me as anything but one."
"I'll never stop seeing Sunset Shimmer as a monster."
"Never," she blinked back the memories. "doesn't last as long as it sounds. And even if it does... you'll still see the difference. And, speaking from personal experience?" Her shoulders sagged as she remembered. "Life's a lot easier when you're not constantly calling yourself a monster."
Paper and wood turning into a flame, sending her and Sunset's quarrels up in smoke...
"It would be even easier," Aria snorted, glaring at Silver. "if other people also stopped calling me that."
"Aria," Zephyr pleaded. "please, put the dagger away. You can't get other people to stop calling you a monster if you keep giving them reason to."
"I'd be less inclined to," she retorted. "if they stopped making me think it was the only thing I could do."
"People call you a monster because you keep acting like one," Diamond said. "You keep acting like one because people keep calling you one. There's no way out of that, Aria; you'll just keep fighting each other, day in and day out, forever and ever. The only way out is to stop the cycle, to stop listening to it. It's hard, but you need to stop acting like a monster, even if everyone else keeps calling you one; that's the only way..."
"Ask yourself: would the Sunset Shimmer you know--the real Sunset Shimmer, the person I am now--would she do this?"
"... you can get them to stop."
"You call that justice?" Aria spat. "You call that fair?"
"No," Diamond shook her head. "I call it what works."
Aria growled, baring her teeth, but eventually, mercifully, put her dagger away. Turning a glare as sharp as it on Silver, she snapped, "We're still not going to Captain Armor. We can't risk distracting him from Starlight."
"Then what do we do?" Diamond asked before Silver could protest. "Silver's right, we need to stop the monster cycle, not continue it. What else can we do?"
Aria snorted, but furrowed her brow in thought nonetheless. Turning north, she asked, "Sonata, do you remember the story Adagio told us about Hymnos?"
"Hm?" her sister quirked a brow. "The guy who stole Dagi's armor and pretended to be her while she was sick? Only he ended up getting captured, and then Dagi had to rescue him alone without armor, and then when she got him and her armor to safety she ripped out his-"
"Yes, him," Aria cut her off.
"Yeah," Sonata nodded. "Why?"
Her sister began brushing her hair back into a rough approximation of their lost sibling's style. "Time to see whether Adagio told the truth about something for once."