//------------------------------//
// Chapter 25: Leavetaking 
// Story: Harmony Theory 
// by Sharaloth 
//------------------------------//


The bonds between bearers are just as important as the bonds between bearer and Element. Time and again the Elements have reacted to reaffirmations of friendship between bearers, showing a marked increase in the availability of Activated and Passive abilities when bearers are in accord. In fact, this effect can be observed even when the bearers share simple moments of friendship. A picnic, a party, a shared meal. Even as small a gesture as a shared smile creates a sympathetic reaction in the Elements. The force of this effect grows exponentially the more bearers are sharing in that moment.

Of course, the opposite of friendship also has this effect. An argument that comes to blows, an unfriendly competition, a vehement disagreement. Wherever bonds turn poisonous, there is also a corresponding rise in the power of the Elements. This is likely connected to the phenomena of Inversion, which I will discuss later.

It is important to note that that these moments must be shared. A bearer who smiles at another does not create this effect unless that other smiles back. Mutuality is the key. The moment must also be genuine. If there is no feeling behind the gesture, there will be no reaction. I believe this is a precursor or side-effect to the full-fledged Magic of Harmony. It certainly points to the fact that the interactions between Element and bearer are far more complex than they seem on the surface. 

What that says about the nature of the Magic of Harmony, and its effects upon those who experience it, is subtle but important. The Magic of Harmony either arises from or directly creates a high-level synchronization of the bearers. Either way the effects of that synchronization persist in strange and unpredictable ways well beyond and outside of a Harmony Event. This suggests that it is possible to force such an accord, and that what happens to one bearer has a distinct chance of being carried over onto all others.

I do not need to point out the potential for cataclysm in this proposition. Though what is worse is the possibility that it has already happened, and we have simply failed to notice.



-From the fifth section of Harmony Theory by Twilight Sparkle





Chapter Twenty-Five: Leavetaking



Of the many grand rooms that the Court of the Sun boasted, the Solstice Hall was by far the grandest. It was certainly the largest, with two floors of galleries to look down on the long, white floor that led up to the dais upon which the Solar Throne sat. The pillars of the room were draped with banners of past kings and queens, and with the colors of the noble families that stood beside them. The domed ceiling was emblazoned  with an enormous golden sunburst, balconies and perches for pegasi and Griffins hanging between the rays of the painted sun. All available space was full, with unicorn nobles and their retinues, businessponies and religious leaders, servants and diplomats, and one Dragon that had long ago earned his place within the hall, all waiting for the great announcement from their king. 

A fanfare announced the arrival of the Royals, a procession that included more than a dozen winged unicorns who walked with studied grace to take their places to either side of the Solar Throne. Behind them came the King and Queen, whose own measured steps were followed both by every eye in the Hall and also by cameras that were sending their image to the great screens set up for the benefit of the great crowd that had gathered outside the castle. They ascended the dais together, the Queen whispering a few final words in her husband’s ear before taking her place on a smaller throne next to his. Then the King turned to regard his audience, his wings wide and his horn glowing with power.

“May Celestia’s light warm and guide us and all subjects of our Kingdom,” the King said, his voice enhanced by both his own magic and the speakers placed surreptitiously throughout the Hall. The audience stilled as he spoke the traditional opening of court. “Today,” he continued. “We have many reasons to celebrate. Today, I bring you a message of hope, a message of strength, and a message of change. First, I have the honor to welcome to our Kingdom three heroes that have come to us in incredible circumstance. From beyond the mists of the Schism and through strange magics they have come. They were subjects of Celestia herself when the Goddess still walked our world, and she honored them. I present to the Kingdom, before the light of Celestia, the Lady Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack! Come forward and be known!”

On their cue, and with only a little prodding from Star Fall, the three named ponies began their long walk up to the throne. The days since they had arrived had not been spent idle, and they had practiced their part in this ceremony to a polished ease. Rarity had put her free run of the tailoring workshop to good use, crafting an outfit for each of them that spoke to their history and character. She’d had to rein in her more flamboyant impulses, since after seeing some of the outlandish costumes the nobles of the Solar Kingdom were wont to wear she had decided that a more subdued approach would be more unique.

Rainbow Dash took the lead, keeping her wings stiff to hide the trembling excitement of having so many ponies watching her. Her outfit took inspiration from old pegasus military armor, and included a lot of silver that reflected the many colors of her mane. Applejack was to her right, dressed in vibrant reds and greens that reminded Dash of Sweet Apple Acres whenever she looked at them. Her hat, securely on her head, still looked out of place, but Rarity had done her best to make the rest of the outfit work with it instead of against it. Rarity was to her left, and her own dress was a diaphanous blue –the same shade as her magic– that sparkled with sequined gems. She walked with her head high and her poise perfect, ignoring the gathered nobility that surrounded them. 

They stopped before the throne and bowed to the King, who dipped his horn in acknowledgement and gestured for them to rise. “In this time of uncertainty you have come to us, my friends. A light cast into the future by our Goddess, a renewed hope.”

As the King continued speaking, Dash tuned him out and leaned over to Rarity. “He’s laying it on a bit thick, huh?” she whispered.

“He sent us this part of his speech to look over,” Rarity replied. “Didn’t you read it?”

Dash blinked at her in surprise. “Wait, you can read Solar? Since when?”

“Since I decided not to be an unlettered barbarian and learned to speak it and read it at the same time!”

“Would you two quit it?” Applejack growled. “We got lines in this shindig, and I don’t want to miss them and look like a darned fool.”

“I didn’t know we could learn to read fast too!” Dash hissed. “Why doesn’t anypony tell me these things?”

“‘Cause you don’t shut your yap long enough to listen!” Applejack answered. “Now hush!”

Rainbow Dash did as she was asked, listening to the King recite some of the things she and her friends apparently did later in life. He referenced some of the same battles that the Professor had mentioned –Tartarus Dragons, Chrysalis, Celestia Nova– though he didn’t provide any more details on just who those enemies were. She wondered for a moment why he didn’t include their fight with Discord, considering how powerful an enemy he had been. She guessed with all the awesome bad guys they had fought later, one crazy Draconequus who got turned to stone pretty quickly didn’t rate a mention. 

Finally he finished, ending with a call for each of them to step forward and declare themselves. They’d been drilled on what to say at this part, each following the same basic pattern. They each declared their name, where they were born and when, then they ‘proved’ their identities by performing feats that showed they were, indeed, pre-Schism ponies. Rarity went first, displaying some of her magical power by making a dozen ponyquins spin a few circles through the air. Dash showed off some of the more indoor-safe flying moves she knew, leaving a glowing rainbow trail that lit up the Hall. Applejack was given an immense weight to lift and carry, which she did without apparent effort or any appreciable showmareship.

There was applause, though Dash didn’t see how any of that would convince most of the people watching, and the King stood for another part of his speech. “I welcome these three into the Solar Kingdom, to the place of honor that is their due. These three are hope. Hope that the Goddesses have seen fit to give us. And it is a hope dearly needed!” His countenance grew dark and he let his wings droop in exaggerated sadness. “The Shadowed Alicorn walks the Kingdom.” There were gasps at this, and they could hear a great cry going up from the crowd outside. Then the King brought his head up, radiating defiant triumph. “But she has not found us easy prey! I bring you now a message of strength! The strength of our Kingdom! The strength of our Goddess, and the hope she has brought us! Strength enough to confound the Destroyer! I present to the Kingdom, before the light of Celestia, the Lady Fallen Star and Sergeant Astrid Steelwing! Come forward and be known!”

Star Fall and Astrid made their way up to the dais. Both of them wore outfits of red and gold. Astrid’s was clearly military, with medals and ribbons pinned to her breast, while Star Fall’s was a gown that made her look as refined as any of the unicorn nobles watching. They bowed before the King and Dash stepped up next to them.

“These three stand before us as heroes, not of a past age, but of our present need!” the King said. “Some weeks ago, the Destroyer attacked, and it was these three who together fought her to a standstill, and then, defeat!” The roar from the crowd outside could be heard even through the cheers within. “They have shown courage and valor of the highest calibre! They have embodied the strongest virtues of Celestia’s kingdom, and shown us all that the Destroyer is not unbeatable! Yes, her power is great and terrible. We are right to fear her. But we will not be ruled by our fear! As these heroes have shown courage, so shall we all! As these three have shown valor, so shall we all! The Nightmare is strong, but we are stronger! As these three have proven themselves heroes, by Celestia’s light so shall we all!”

The cheers, once again, roared in. Dash, however, couldn’t bring herself to bask in them. Not for this. Fighting Umbra hadn’t been some heroic feat for her, it had been a terrifying rush of narrow escape after narrow escape. Even though they had beaten Umbra in the end, it still hadn’t felt like a victory. Especially not after Star Fall had explained how the Nightmare hadn’t really been taking the fight seriously. She knew the value of a good rousing speech to keep morale up, but to her the King’s words fell flat. They weren’t stronger than Umbra, and all the cheering in the world wouldn’t change that.

The King commanded Dash to come forward, jarring her out of her thoughts. "Kneel before me," he said. She did not remember this part from the rehearsal she’d done. She shot a quick look around, searching for any sign that this was the wrong thing to do, before stepping up to the King and bending her forelegs to him. "For your service to the Kingdom in facing down the Shadowed Alicorn, I grant you the lands of your battle with the Nightmare, and decree that the new lake in those lands is to be henceforth known as Rainbow's Victory, a monument to your stand against the power of a Goddess." There were murmurs that rushed through the crowd like the ripples of a stone thrown into a still lake. "Furthermore," the King continued, a sly smile touching his otherwise stern countenance. "I hereby grant you the title of Dame Rainbow Dash, and raise you to the peerage as a Knight of the Sun." He dipped his head and laid his horn to each of Dash's shoulders in turn, and it was done.

The crowd fell into a hush so quiet that Dash could hear the tinkling sounds of something being dropped to the stone floor. Then the Hall exploded into noise as it seemed like every pony began shouting at once. Dash looked around at Star Fall. Her jaw was hanging wide open before she shut it with a quick snap, her expression changing to a wide grin and her eyes sparkling at some realization. Something big had just happened. 

Dash looked to the King for some direction, and he gestured for her to rejoin Star Fall and Astrid. She rose and returned to her place, taking advantage of the noise of the crowd to speak to her friends. “What’s the big deal?”

“You just got raised to the nobility,” Astrid said, punching Dash in the shoulder. “And that’s giving every horn-head in the room a stroke. Congrats, my lady.”

“What?”

“Dash, remember when I told you that only unicorns were nobles?” Star Fall asked.

“Except you, right?” Dash replied.

Star Fall nodded. “Yes, except a very few ponies in my situation. Well… you’re not in my situation, the King just declared you nobility. He gave you lands and everything! That’s… unprecedented for a pegasus.”

“Can he do that?” Dash asked.

“He’s the King,” Astrid replied with a shrug. “Who’s gonna tell him he can’t?”

“It’s genius,” Star Fall said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Gamma convinced him to do it.”

“What’s so smart about it?” Dash asked. “I’m still kinda lost on the whole ‘I’m now a noble’ thing.”

“I’ll explain it later,” Star Fall promised. “When we have time. Just… don’t be shocked if you can’t keep the title.”

“What? Why?”

“Politics,” Star Fall replied. “You’re the bone he’s throwing to the nobles so that they can save face after what he’s about to do with me.”

Dash frowned at that, but the crowd was quieting down and the King was signalling that he was about to begin speaking again. "Come forward,” he said, his voice booming over the few conversations that had yet to be silenced. “Sergeant Astrid of the Steelwing clan." Astrid marched forward, saluting the King as she came to a halt. She stood at stiff attention, wings high and proud and beak tilted up. "You have proven yourself time and again in your holy duty as a guardian of the Crown and all it holds dear. Your service in fighting the Destroyer is only further evidence of your dedication and bravery. In recognition of this, I hereby promote you to the rank of Captain, with all the duties and privileges that entails." There was some polite stomping from the gathered nobles at this, they had no stake and very little interest in the goings on of the Royal Guard. The Griffins, however, took this promotion with utter seriousness. They threw their heads back and let loose a cacophonous screech in unison, the mixing avian screams making ponies shrink away and lay their ears flat. Dash smiled at it, she heard the note of triumph and acceptance in that cry.

"Thank you, your majesty," Astrid said when the noise had faded. 

"I am placing a great deal of faith in you, Captain," the King told her, his magic lapsing for a moment so that his voice didn’t carry to the crowd.

"I will not disappoint you," Astrid promised, then stepped back to her place.

“And now, at the crossing of hope and strength, I bring my message of change,” the King said. “Come forward, Lady Fallen Star.”

Star Fall stepped up to the dais, keeping her head raised and walking with the high, prancing steps of a pony on display. Dash’s keen eyes caught it when she stole a glance at the Professor, whose own gaze was full of support and love. That made Dash feel better about the whole idea of Star being married off. The Professor, at least, would make sure she was alright. 

The King smiled warmly down at Star Fall. "Lady Fallen Star. I have known you for many years. Both as the beloved daughter of my closest advisor, Professor Twinkle Shine, and as the potent, capable mare you have become. I have always known that you were meant for great things, and in your actions against the Shadowed Alicorn you showed that prophecy to be true. You have always been a light of hope to me, even when all others would doubt. In justifying my faith, you have made that hope manifest. In the battle with the Destroyer you showed courage as great as that of your guardian and your friend, and so you embody my message of strength. So I find that you must also bear the standard of my message of change.”

He took a deep breath, raising his head and slowly looking over the crowd. They had gone silent, many leaning towards him, eager to hear what he would say next. Dash could barely keep from fidgeting as he drew the moment out to uncomfortable lengths, as if he wanted to personally meet the eyes of every pony in the Hall. Finally, he looked back to Star Fall and spoke again. “What I do now is not a reward for your services, even though a reward is richly deserved. What I do, I do because of who you are and not of what you have done." He turned his gaze to his gathered family. "Come forward my son, Prince Regal Stature." Regal stepped out of his place, bowing slightly to his father and walking over to stand beside Star Fall. "My son,” the King continued. “You have been diligent in your studies and attentive to your family. You have been wise in your words, and even-hoofed in your deeds. While you are young, I see in you the character of a great stallion. I wish only that you take your place on the public stage so that all the world may see you as I do. But I do not wish this for you alone. It is my wish that these two great ponies may together show the Kingdom a greatness not seen since before the Schism." He smiled gently and looked at Star Fall. "Lady Fallen Star, to you I give an invitation to join my family, at the side of my most excellent son, Regal Stature." 

The reaction was immediate, the room erupted into noise greater than any of the previous uproars. The King called for silence, but they were beyond listening. The guards stepped in, threatening force if the audience didn’t heed the King’s command, but it still took more than five minutes for the room to quiet, time that Star Fall spent simply remaining still and looking at her king. "What say you?" He asked her as soon as it was quiet enough. "Will you be my daughter?"

She tried to speak, but no words came from her. She looked down, taking a slow breath and letting her wings take one long sweep before snapping to attention again. Then she looked up at him with a determined smile on her face. "Your majesty, I would be honored beyond words."

"Regal, will you accept this mare?" the King asked, though it was obvious he knew what the answer was.

"I will, father,” the Prince replied with no hesitation.

"Excellent." He looked back to Star Fall. "He will make you a good husband," he said, then smiled that sly smile again. "And, in time, an excellent king."

This time the noise was half cheer, half shocked gasp. There was none of the outraged shouting that had happened before, but the kind of surprise Dash was sensing might be worse than indignant rage. Star Fall’s eyes went wide and she stumbled back. Dash couldn’t help but rush forward as it seemed she would fall. She managed to steady herself, though, and waved Dash off with one shuddering hoof. Reluctantly Dash retreated. She knew that look in Star Fall’s eyes: something really, really bad had just happened. She just had no idea what it was. Astrid, however, seemed to know quite well. Her eyes were hard and locked onto Star Fall with an absolute focus. Her claws curled, making little scratches in the stone, and her entire body was rigid with ready tension. She was like a coiled spring, barely held down and yearning to explode into violent motion. 

Star Fall regained her composure and bowed low to the King. It was hard to make out, but Dash was sure she heard her whisper something as her face turned towards the floor. When she rose, the King was holding out a hoof to her, which she took. “Welcome to my family,” he said to her, another private moment, not broadcast to the watching crowds. Regal and Star Fall took places on either side of the King, their flared wings overlapping his in a symbol of his support for their union. “Thus does our Kingdom hear our message! Come, friends! Come, heroes! Come, my family new and old! Let us greet our subjects together!”

He led them out onto the balcony behind the throne. It was a very wide balcony, more than enough space for the entire party as well as a dozen servants who had been coordinating things behind the scenes. When they got outside, the crowd spread out before them roared with approval. They stomped and howled and called out. Dash found herself overwhelmed by the sheer number of ponies standing there. There were thousands of them, probably tens of thousands, spilling out over the courtyard and all through the wide grounds that surrounded the castle.

The Royals waved to their subjects, then made way for Dash and her friends. The King prodded Star Fall into the lead. "Show them, Fallen Star," he said, gesturing to one of his attendants with a wing. "Show them why you are chosen to be my daughter."

The attendant rushed up, clutching a capped tube. He opened it and began pulling out a dozen spell sheets that he set around her. She frowned at the design. "You want me to show off my Talent?" 

"They must see," he answered, his voice low and serious. "Otherwise they will doubt my decision, and it could lead to civil war."

Dash frowned at that thought. She was all for Star Fall showing off what she could do, but it couldn’t be that important. Star Fall actually relaxed at the warning. "Won't they accuse you of using your own magic to pretend?" she asked.

He chuckled. "The unicorns will know, and they are the ones who we must convince to accept your place. Go. Show them your power."

She took a deep breath, studying the spell laid out around her. It looked just like every other spell Dash had seen Star Fall make, which meant it could do just about anything. "As above, so below," she whispered, energy beginning to fill the lines of the pages. "As within, so without."

The sheets flared to life, the ink spider-walking across the pages, even crossing the space from one page to another as they all lifted into the air and began to orbit her slowly. The first spell took hold and Star Fall's aura became visible, a crimson glow surrounding her like fire. She spread her wings and took off, rising to hover ten feet off the balcony, drifting forward over the crowd. The next few spells activated, sending glistening sheets of light out in all directions, in clear imitation of the massive aurora effect she had created days earlier. The crowd gasped in awe at the display of power, many likely remembering that earlier aurora and making the proper connections. The last spells ignited in a burst, sending pulses of magic out in streaks of crimson that exploded into showers of multicolored light. Fireworks to celebrate the engagement. 

Finished, she drifted back to the balcony and set herself down, breathing heavily from the strain of such wide-ranging spells.

"Well done," the King said.

"Yeah, Star, that was awesome!" Dash crowed, hitting her with a body-checking hug that nearly toppled her. "A little short, but it was almost as good as..." Dash trailed off. Her face went slack as she stared out into the crowd. Something was out there. Something that demanded her attention, that she find a way to get close immediately. An image of green eyes flashed through her mind. A voice speaking to her, fast and low. Instructions. She had to get closer, out into the crowd.

"Dash?" star Fall asked. "Are you alright?"

Dash shook her head. "What? Uh, no. Nothing's wrong. What was I saying?"

"You were saying it was almost as good as something and then you just started staring off into space."

"Oh! Right! Yeah, watch this!" Dash shot out over the crowd, leaving a prismatic trail hanging in the air. 

The guards startled, unprepared for the impulsive pegasus. "Dash!" Star Fall called out.

The King held out a hoof, stilling the building alarm. "She is a hero," he said. "Let her have her glory."

Dash raced over the gathered ponies, taking a zig-zag path that left her signature prismatic trail almost close enough for them to touch. She passed over most of them before coming to a sudden stop. She stared, lost in a moment of green light that blinded her to everything else. She shook her head to clear it, looking around at the crowd. She didn’t really understand the impulse that had made her rush out, but so long as she was here she might as well put on a good show for the gathered ponies. So she grinned at her audience and rocketed skyward. She was at the cloud level in moments, taking quick stock of the thin, puffy materials she had to work with. She picked out a few that were good enough and set to work. The eyes of the gathered peoples watched as she became a blurred vortex of motion, spinning around the clouds so quickly that her glowing trail obscured them from view. 

Looking down at the crowd she could see the wonder in their faces. It brought a flare of excitement to her heart that very little could match. She even saw the ponies on the balcony staring at her. She could practically hear Applejack saying: "Now what in the heck is she up to?" 

She laughed at the thought, they wouldn't have to wait long for an answer. She dropped from the clouds just as the shockwave from her supersonic flight reached ground level. As she flew she drew the clouds out behind her, still wrapped in her ethereal trail like it was a solid thing. She dove for the ground next to the castle with frightening speed, causing many of the watching crowd to cry out in fear for her. They needn't have worried, but their reaction just made it all the sweeter. Dash pulled out of her dive a hundred feet above the ground, turning it into a curving flight that shot her in an arc above the castle, dragging the caught clouds into a thin line behind her. Just as she reached a similar point above the ground on the other side of the castle she reverse direction, rushing back along her trail and igniting it into a blaze of light that, for a brilliant moment, outshone the sun. 

People shouted, some fainted, but most just stood staring with wonder. When the glare cleared, there was a moment of awed silence before the crowd leapt once more into wild cheering. Above the castle, shining bright and solid, was a brilliant rainbow.

Rainbow Dash flashed over the crowd, grinning from ear to ear and holding her hooves raised in triumph. The crowd roared all the harder, and she soaked in the adulation. The rainbow she had created began breaking up and fading immediately, and any pegasus from her time would have pointed out how it was really shoddy rainbow-work. But it was a good show-trick for the ground-bound ponies, and in this future that included pretty much everyone. She made one more circuit of the crowd before heading back to the balcony, vibrating from the rush of performing for such a large crowd.

"Huh,” Applejack sighed, looking to Star Fall and shaking her head. “She just had to upstage you, didn't she? Don't you mind, she's always been like that." 

Dash crashed down between them, throwing a wing over each pony. "Now that,” she said, laughing. “Is how you start an engagement party!”


***


Charisma woke with a feeling of deep unease churning in her guts. She had been dreaming of their passage through the Everstorm, always a harrowing experience. Yet there had been something else in the dream, a presence that had haunted her for weeks now. Rainbow Dash. For some reason the other mare had been there in the Everstorm, hidden by the swirling mist and mad lights but there all the same. Waiting.

Charisma stood and stretched, feeling the strain of sleeping on the ground in her stiff legs. Her wings flapped lazily as she limbered up, catching the cold air and swirling it into eddies of icy pressure against her sides. She'd fallen asleep next to a quiet mountain lake, a sleep born out of the lethargy only supreme boredom could bring. Cash had made good on his promise to show her his childhood home, and she had found the experience so far to be less than stimulating. With the way the locals deferred to him, Cash was clearly in no danger. Every authority was securely in his pocket and every spy or undercover police officer had been rooted out long ago. No one would try to attack him here, and that made her presence pointless.

Not that she wasn't feeling increasingly pointless already. With each Element Cash collected his power grew. She'd seen the effects of that power, and the memory of Melody’s wild eyes made her shudder every time she thought of it. She doubted that any but the subtlest of assassins could reach him anymore. 

Yet he wasn't invincible. His actions against the Destroyer showed her that much. He had needed her then. Her mind flashed with the light of a crimson gem. For a moment she was overwhelmed by the memory of flying faster than she had ever thought possible, feeling once again the crushing pressure and incredible freedom of it. Her wings snapped open, straining with an echo of that feeling, that power. 

She would have taken flight then, though she had no destination in mind, but her chest suddenly seized up and she fell to her knees, coughing. The wracking cough ripped through her, taking up her whole body, like every muscle was working to expel whatever had caught in her lungs. There was a sound like spilling water, almost unheard, and the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth. 

She got herself under control for a moment, though it still felt as if there was more to get out, and looked down at the blood-spattered ground before her. She stared for a long moment, her mind blank. That was a lot of blood, as much as she would have expected from a knife wound, but she knew she wasn’t injured. 

"So soon," she whispered, wiping at the blood with a forehoof, smearing it across the grass. There were clots of tissue amongst the blood, bits of her insides torn out by her coughing. "Dammit, Max, this is too soon."

She staggered away from the bloodied ground and over to the still lake. She coughed every few steps, bringing up more blood and tissue and spitting it to the grass. She fell to lie at the edge of the icy water, looking at the glassy surface and seeing her reflection in its almost mirror-clear water. There was blood staining the pink coat around her muzzle. It made her look vicious, savage. Appropriate enough, but hardly presentable. 

She dipped her face into the water and set to scrubbing herself clean. It took some time, but blood always did, regardless of whose it was. When she was finished she was fully awake, and ready to go back to Cash.

The flight back was bracing, the high mountain air reminding her of the arctic training she had done back in the sunlands. Horseshoe Valley was actually fairly high above sea level, which gave it a climate that she didn’t usually see this side of the Storm. That climate, combined with the way the surrounding mountains affected affected rainfall, left the valley very fertile. A fact that made it a prosperous area despite its remoteness from the rest of the Republics. 

The house she made her way to was a large one for the Valley, set on a hill a little ways from a swift-flowing river that rushed down from the mountains. She could see the lights of the main village of Horseshoe Valley only a few miles away. An easy trot for company or supplies, but far enough to ensure privacy. She wheeled around the house, spotting her employer sitting by a stone pillar in the yard.

She landed quietly behind him, folding her wings and watching him for any sign that he had noticed her. He didn’t move, looking at the elaborately carved pillar with a faint smile on his face. Her Talent hissed deadly instructions at her, but she shut it out. She stood there for long enough that it became uncomfortable before he spoke. “You know, they say you can’t go home again. I always found that expression confusing. I mean, here I am, right? Home. Again. What do you think? Am I missing the point.”

She sighed. “As someone who actually can’t go home again, I don’t particularly care.”

He made an amused, thoughtful sound. “Maybe it’s in the details. Can this really be home when the people who made it my home are gone? What about you? If you could go back, would it still be your home if your family wasn’t there anymore.”

“How long are we staying here?” She would not discuss her family with Cash. Not even tangentially.

“I don’t really know,” he said, chuckling. “How long does it take to go from the middle of the southern jungles to Orion City?”

She rolled her eyes. “Max, I’m not kidding. How long?”

“Patience,” he chided, reaching out to lay a hoof on the pillar, just above where two names were carved into its surface. “Sometimes it takes a while to get what we want. Acting too soon only gives everyone else time to figure out what you’re up to and get in your way. I’m not going to let anything get in my way, Charisma. No matter how bored you get.”

“I hate to break this to you, Max, but they already know what you’re up to,” she quipped. “Remember all those people you’ve been telling me not to kill? The people who have personally seen exactly what you’ve been doing and, in at least two cases, know how dangerous it’s making you? They know, and they will tell everybody else. Your best chance is to move now, before they gather their forces and attack us en-masse.”

“It’s always nice to see you doing your job,” he said, turning to face her. “Well, you know as much as any of them do, what exactly do you think I’m doing?”

“You’re gathering these Elements,” she said. “Learning to use them.”

He nodded slowly. “Yup. Then what?”

“Then…” she trailed off, realizing that she didn’t know. “You… take over the world?”

He laughed, as if genuinely amused. It was a casual dismissal that grated on her nerves. “If I just wanted that I could have done it with Loyalty alone,” he said, shaking his head. “Guess again!”

Her discipline training helped her not stomp a hoof in frustration, but it was a near thing. “Fine. I don’t know. If you’re not looking to conquer the world, then what?”

He stepped closer to her, his eyes taking on that strange quality that made it impossible to look away. “Good question,” he said. “But if you don’t know, then I’m fairly sure they won’t either. Do you know what the secret to a really good con is?”

She couldn’t move, but she embraced that paralysis. Her Talent screamed at her to attack, to kick at his ribcage and smash it in until bone pierced his heart. She swallowed the need to strike. “Enlighten me,” she said, her voice shaky and weak, but still defiant.

“The secret to a really good con,” he said, leaning in so that his mouth was right next to her trembling ear. “Is to make sure the marks think they know the game.” He turned away and she sagged as his hold vanished. “Seriously, if you’re so bored, we’ve got a whole valley full of people. Pick a few, kill them in interesting ways, hunt the most dangerous game, I don’t know. Seriously, I don’t care, amuse yourself. We’re stuck here until we’re not.”

She snorted at the idea. “And what will you be doing?”

“Running an empire. Between catching up with my old school buddies and spending quality time with my parents, that is,” he said, sitting down in front of the pillar again. “Enjoy the anticipation. This is the last bit of quiet we’ll get. Once we start moving, we don’t stop until it’s all over.”

“And what happens then?” she asked.

His only reply was a quiet chuckle and a wide, mad grin.


***


The party was held in the Dusk Hall, spilling over into the garden patio where a quartet of ponies provided a chamber-music background to the hushed and hurried political maneuvering being done by huddled groups of the noble and influential. The King and Queen circulated together, making pleasant conversation with their subjects and arguing in furious whispers with each other. Regal Stature had been cornered by his siblings, who were grilling him on exactly how much he had known of their father’s plan. Guards were spaced evenly along the walls, Griffins, their keen eyes watching for any disturbance that might threaten their charges. Between all of these, caught in the spotlight of every eye, were the three mares from the past. 

Star Fall took all of this in, her gaze dancing from one group to another with nervous speed. Her experience with the nobility told her to expect polite smiles and back-hoofed compliments as they schemed to control or remove her. Her training with the Secret Service told her to expect a knife in the back. Either way, the fallout from what had happened earlier would be painful. It was already painful enough just knowing what was coming. She wished she could find the Professor; she needed advice on how to handle it all.

“This is gonna take some getting used to,” Astrid sighed, poking at the captain's insignia she now wore.

“I know how you feel,” Star Fall replied, giving her friend a weak smile. “And I don’t even have a tiara yet.”

Astrid snorted out a laugh. “You are going to be the prettiest little princess!”

“Oh, shut up,” Star Fall said, barely restraining herself from slapping Astrid with a wing, though she was grateful for the distraction. “Shouldn’t you be finding my parents or something?” She immediately regretted that question. Any reminder of what she was going to have to do was like a knife in her chest. 

Astrid shrugged, sobering for a moment. “I’m a captain now. I get to delegate that shit. They'll signal me when they're here. Besides.” Her eyes narrowed and she poked Star Fall in the side. “The King made sure you’ve got a giant, public target painted on you now. You’ll be lucky if I allow you to go to the bathroom without me.”

Star Fall shuddered dramatically at the thought, but managed a genuine smile. “You’d better not.”

“Watch me,” Astrid said. 

“Hey, guys,” Rainbow Dash said, zipping up to them, stalling any further banter between the two. “Do you feel like everyone is staring at you too?”

“They’re not staring,” Star Fall began, then looked around at all the eyes that actually were on them. “Exactly. We are the guests of honor, after all.”

“Yeah, they’re staring,” Astrid said. “And probably up to no damn good. Fucking nobility. I’d compare them to vultures, but at least vultures wait until you’re dead before picking at you.”

“How are you holding up?” Star Fall asked, ignoring her friend.

“Not good,” Dash admitted, her wings twitching restlessly. “Rarity’s doing okay, and AJ’s just kinda waiting it all out, but I’m losing it! Ponies keep wanting to talk to me about ‘council rules’ or ‘taxation grading’ or something. How am I supposed to know any of that stuff?”

“You aren’t,” Star Fall said. “Just be polite and tell them you have people handling it.”

“Do I?”

Star Fall shrugged. “No, but don’t worry about that. Someone will explain it all to you. Gamma will make sure of it.”

Dash hung her head and sighed. “This just isn’t my thing, you know?” Star Fall made a sympathetic noise. “I just need to find… I just need to get out and fly. Do some tricks, practice my routines. We’ve been cooped up in this castle for days, and I need to stretch my wings.”

“What, that giant rainbow-thing you did wasn’t enough?” Astrid asked.

Dash shook her head. “That was a show. I need some me time, alright? No fancy clothes, no crowds, no guards, just me and the open sky.”

“Good luck with that,” Astrid said. “You’re a noble now, at least until the rest of the nobility make the King rescind it in revenge for putting Fall on the throne. You aren’t going anywhere without guards.”

“As if any of them could keep up with me,” Dash scoffed.

“She has a point,” Star Fall said. “But, Dash, if you want to go out, they’re going to insist that you take someone with you.”

“So? What if they don’t know I’m going out?”

Astrid snickered. “Oh, sneaking out of the most well-protected building in the entire Solar Kingdom. Yeah, that’s gonna happen.”

“I’ve done it,” Star Fall said.

Astrid froze, giving her a shocked look. “You what?”

“Years ago. It’s something the young servants do all the time when they want to go into the city without supervision. They let me come along every now and then when the Professor was in an all-night meeting and I was stuck here.” Star Fall smiled at the memory. “It’s in the timing. You have to go right after sunset, when the Griffins are saying their prayers. There’s a whole complicated route you have to take through the gardens, but, Dash, you could just zip across them and into the city. You’d just have to wear something to disguise your mane and not leave rainbows everywhere.”

Dash’s face brightened. “Really? That will work?”

“As long as you’re quick enough,” Star Fall assured her.

“Oh, I’m quick enough. Thanks, Star!”

“Remember the disguise,” Star Fall said. “It can’t be one of the outfits you have, or you’ll be found out.”

“I’ll get Rarity to make me something,” Dash said, turning and starting towards her fashionista friend. “I totally owe you!”

Astrid nudged Star Fall as soon as Dash was talking to Rarity. “You snuck out?”

Star Fall shrugged. “Everyone was doing it.”

“What the hell, Fall! You know how dangerous that was!”

“I didn’t at the time. Besides, it’s not like it actually worked.”

Astrid paused at that. “What do you mean?”

“You think teenagers can sneak out of the castle and no one will notice because they timed it right?” Star Fall chuckled. “No. Gamma’s got ponies watching for this sort of thing. They make sure the servants don’t get into trouble, and tonight they’ll be watching Dash to make sure she doesn’t get into trouble.”

“A bunch of teenagers is one thing, Fall,” Astrid said. “Dash is something else entirely.”

“Which is why,” Star Fall said slowly, scanning the crowd until she found the pony she wanted. “We’ll be giving them ample warning. Come on.”

They made their way between groups of nobles, smiling and greeting as necessary, until they stood next to Gamma, who was herself talking to one of the Griffins. The spymaster dismissed the guard quickly, turning to look at Star Fall and Astrid with a quirked eyebrow. “Whole and unbloodied, I see,” she said. “If this keeps up we might make it through this alive after all. What is it you need?”

“Dash is going to sneak out tonight,” Star Fall said. 

Gamma nodded. “I assume you’re the one who told her how and when? No, don’t answer. She made some excuse about needing to ‘let off steam’ or some such, correct?” Star Fall nodded, frowning as she realized that Gamma was surprised by none of this. “Good. Agent Fall, I have a task for you.”

“Gamma–” Star Fall began, but the spymaster cut her off.

“Until the wedding vows are spoken you are only a princess presumptive, and thus still under my command. I will expect that command to be obeyed regardless of your personal feelings about it. Do you understand?” Star Fall frowned at that, but nodded in acceptance. “Excellent. The Professor will be proposing something to the King in the coming days. I need you to oppose that proposal by any means available to you.”

“I don’t understand,” Star Fall said. “What proposal? Why?”

“The why will be clear when the what is,” Gamma replied. “Neither are subjects I will discuss in a public setting.”

“Why do you need me to oppose it?”

“Because I will not be available to do so,” Gamma said. Star Fall opened her mouth to respond, but found that she had nothing to reply with. “I will be absent for some time. I am appointing you to act in my stead on the Privy Council.”

“What?” Star Fall gasped. “But… I don’t…”

“All necessary intelligence updates will be handled by my secretary, Therese. You will be responsible only for standing in my place and opposing the Professor’s proposal.”

Star Fall shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“You will,” Gamma assured her. Then her features softened and she looked past Star Fall. “Don’t concern yourself with it now. All will become clear soon enough. For the moment, you have more important things to attend to.”

Astrid followed Gamma’s gaze and nudged Star Fall to get her attention. “That’s the signal,” she said. Star Fall felt her heart begin to pound as her wings snapped to attention. “We’ve got to go.”

“This will be difficult, Agent Fall,” Gamma said as they turned to go. “Remember not to let sentiment outweigh necessity. You are making the right choice, no matter how hasty it may seem now.”

Star Fall didn’t respond, sticking close to Astrid as they made their way through the hall and to the door. Once they were out in the halls of the castle, walking quickly towards the servant’s quarters, she allowed herself to take a deep, shuddering breath.

“You doing okay?” Astrid asked her. “Gamma just dumped a ton on you back there, not to mention that the King's gone nuts.”

“No, it’s not that,” Star Fall assured her. “It’s… Am I doing the right thing?” Star Fall asked, wings twitching nervously.

Astrid shrugged. “Gamma thinks you are. How the hell am I supposed to know?”

“Astrid, please.” Star Fall looked up at her guardian with wide, pleading eyes.

“Fine, Fall,” Astrid said with a sigh. “You’re doing the right thing.”

“They’re going to hate me,” she whispered.

“Maybe,” Astrid said, shrugging. “But at least they’ll be alive to hate you.”

“That’s not helping,” Star Fall said, but refolded her wings.

“You’re the one who wanted my opinion,” Astrid reminded her. “Look, Fall, you’re doing the right thing. You know you’re doing the right thing. It’s just like Gamma said: ‘don’t let sentiment outweigh necessity’. You need to do this, right? So why are you so stuck on it?”

“They’re my parents for Celestia’s sake!” Star Fall said. “And I’m going to have them removed like they’re some… inconvenience!”

Astrid stopped, laying a claw on Star Fall’s shoulder and forcing her to halt as well. “Yeah. It's shit, I get that. And you've had all of, what, two hours to come to terms with it? I see you hurting with this, Fall. I know how you work, how you've been picking at this since His Majesty all but handed Regal his crown. I know you're tying yourself in knots trying to see all the damn angles. Well, fuck that. It doesn't matter. There's only one thing here that matters. There's only one question you should be asking: who does this hurt more?” she demanded.

“What?”

“Who does this hurt more?” Astrid repeated. “You or them? In the end, after all the pros and cons of it are weighed, who ends up worse off?”

“I… Astrid, it’s not that simple,” Star Fall said, her head drooping as she stared sullenly at the ground.

“The fuck it isn’t. You want to know if this is right? That’s the question you ask. Does this hurt you more, or them?”

She sighed, shaking her head. “Me.”

“Then it’s the right thing to do.”

“But it will hurt them, too,” Star Fall said, finally looking Astrid in the eyes. “They’ve had to give me up before.”

“So it isn’t anything new for them,” Astrid said. 

"It still feels wrong."

"Its supposed to." Astrid replied. "Don't get so twisted up about it."

"Easy for you to say."

"No. Not easy, and you know it.”

"Sorry, I... I'm just not thinking right. I don’t know what I’m going to say to them. I don’t know what they’re going to say, what they’re going to think. I..." She trailed off, just shaking her head.

Astrid nodded. "I get ya, Fall. This succession bullshit is really messing us up. Trust me, I'm not at my best either. Which sucks, because it's my job to keep you alive."

Star Fall snorted. "You’ll do fine. You always have."

"Not always," Astrid said. "But often enough. Come on, you're exiling your parents, the least you can do is not make them wait."

Star Fall nodded and they once more made their way down the narrow servant’s corridors. They came to the small room that had been set aside for this meeting. She could have chosen to use one of the lavish sitting rooms or throne halls, her status as betrothed to the Prince made her practically royalty already, but both she and Astrid had agreed that if they were going to do this right, they would have to do it quiet. That meant that Star Fall's parents couldn't be seen in the grand halls of the castle.

They paused at the door, a pair of Secret Service agents flanking it giving them professional nods.  "Do you mind... waiting out here?" she asked Astrid.

Astrid nodded. "Take your time, Fall. If all goes well, you won't be seeing them again for a long, long time."

With a few deep breaths to bolster her, Star Fall opened the door and went in.


***


Astrid watched the door close behind her friend, taking up a place opposite it and sinking down to her haunches. She looked to the Secret Service agents that waited to take Star Fall’s parents away, appraising them with a practiced eye. “Green, Case,” she said, identifying the two who had been sent by Gamma to retrieve her, Star Fall and Dash when they had arrived in the capital weeks ago. “I was wondering if I’d ever see you two again.”

“Really?” Agent Case asked, blinking in surprise.

“Nope,” Astrid replied with a smirk. "You guys know the drill, right?"

Agent Green nodded. "No records, no contact. They'll be safe, Captain Steelwing."

"She's in the Service," Case added. "We take care of our own."

Astrid snorted in acknowledgement and settled in to wait for Star Fall to make her farewells. She was more tired than she had realized, though, and her mind wandered as her body relaxed into a simple resting pose. She thought of the things that had happened in the last few weeks, of the hard choices she and Star Fall had been forced to make. She thought of her charge now, having to explain to her parents that, because the King had made one careless statement in public, they had become weapons pointed at their daughter’s back. That the only answer there could be was to send them away. Astrid didn’t pretend to know much about family, but she knew enough to say that no one would be walking out of that room happy.

She was so engrossed in these thoughts that she completely missed the danger loping down the corridor until it was on her. When she did finally see it, it was too late to do anything, he was already there. She was looking at the ground, so she saw his legs first, claws tense, talons sharp and gleaming. She knew who it was just from the look of those claws, but still slowly raised her eyes to take in the whole of him.

He stood a few inches taller than her and weighed half again as much. The armor he wore did nothing to hide the hard, strong muscles that bulked out his chest and sides. It made him look overweight, but that impression was deceiving, and Astrid knew intimately how much power was in his body. The naturally brown feathers of his head and wings had been dyed a uniform red, a color reminiscent of spilled blood. He glared down at her with a mix of angry frustration and the gratitude of finally seeing someone he had been worrying about. 

"Crap," she said, managing to maintain an air of cavalier calm despite tense readiness of her body and the worried pounding of her heart. "Roan. I meant to talk to you."

“Astrid,” he said, his voice caught somewhere between stern disapproval and angry snarl. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

"Look, I get that you’re pissed, but do you really want to do this now?” she asked. “In front of the twitchy spies?" She cocked her head towards the agents who were watching them. The two ponies looked between the two Griffins with wary caution, and she could see the readiness in them to intervene. She gave them a hard look that she hoped communicated her desire for them to back off. If they didn’t get it, well, she wouldn’t be held responsible for any injuries they might take. This was a Griffin matter, and completely out of their jurisdiction. 

"If not now, then when?" Roan asked, his talons scratching against the stone. "You’ve been avoiding me from the moment you got to the castle. I’ve sent messengers, booked formal time. Hell, I waited outside your charge’s room for three hours the day after you arrived!” He strode forward, pushing her back up against the wall until their beaks were nearly touching. “How long will you put me off, Astrid? Until your own body starts eating you alive? Until the Loonies finally attack? Until Celestia returns? When?"

"Fuck," Astrid said with a defeated sigh. She knew he was right. She'd put any conversation with him off forever if she could. "Fine. Let's have it out. You and me, right here, right now. You want to do this the bloody way, or the painful way?"

He looked at her with incredulous amazement. “Are you even going to take this seriously?”

“This is me being serious, Roan,” Astrid replied. “But if you want to be overdramatic, go ahead. Let’s get into it so we can get to the part with the weeping and the gnashing of beaks.”

He snarled and shook his head. "Why can you never just do what you’re supposed to?" He pressed even closer. “Why do you insist on betraying me?”

"Why don't you ever pick the bloody way?" Astrid sighed. She shoved at him, but he was set against it and didn’t budge. "I didn't betray you, Roan. I had a duty to Star Fall. It’s that simple."

"No, it's not," he snapped. "You had a duty to me! To your clan! What about that duty? Why? Why her?"

"She deserves it," Astrid said, her voice softening and her head turning to look at the door behind which Star Fall was facing something much worse than a spurned lover.

"I was waiting for you," he growled. “I was sure you’d come to your senses.”

"You're an idiot," Astrid told him. "And it's too late now. Has been for a while. They've probably got another girl lined up for you, so why wait? Go bug her."

“That’s not what it’s about,” he snapped.

“It isn’t?” Astrid gasped in mock surprise. “Could have fooled me, you know, with the whole ‘duty to you’ crap.”

He snarled in frustration, but controlled his voice. “This isn’t about me. This is about you. About what you’ve done to yourself!”

“I’m fine.”

“The hell you are!” he roared, reaching up to slam his claws into the wall on either side of her head. “I know what you did. Magical healing isn’t safe for large injuries, don’t pretend you didn’t know that. And don’t pretend you don’t know what this means for your breeding potential! Even if the magic doesn’t ever go wrong, they still won’t let you nest again!”

“And I’m fine with it!” Astrid snapped back. “Look, Roan, I get why you’re pissed. I really do. But I’ve been getting the same shit from everybody, and I’m sick of it. And this being big and threatening crap? It might have been sexy as hell when we were teenagers, but it’s winning you no points now, and I’m done with it.”

She snapped her beak out, grabbing his foreleg and wrenching it away from the wall. She bit hard, tasting blood and holding on as he tried to pull the limb away. He shrieked in pain and brought one of his rear legs up to kick her. She reached up with her claws and sank her talons into his shoulders, digging in and twisting her whole body, using his superior bulk against him and throwing him to the floor. She blocked his free claw from slashing at her, but his paws came up to rake at her belly and got a few good kicks in before she managed to spin him onto his stomach. She straddled his back, holding his wings down and dragging his foreleg behind his head, transferring her grip from her beak to a claw. He struggled for a few moments, then subsided. She spared another glare for the agents so they knew not to interfere.

“I expected you to still be a little weak,” he admitted from his pinned position. There was some pain in his voice, but much of the anger had vanished. “Guess I’m wrong again.”

“Magical healing is awesome,” Astrid said. “But that was pathetic. I’ve seen hatchlings kick harder than you. What has the King got you doing? Royal cake-eater and couch-sitter?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Astrid snorted in derision. “The hell not?”

“Because I care about you.”

"Oh, fuck you,” Astrid growled, jerking on his arm to make him hiss in pain. “You want to use that line? What are we now, ponies? Come on, you're a Griffin! Act like one!"

“I’m trying to get through to you!” he snarled. “But I have no idea what you’ll accept!”

“Have you considered talking about it like civilized adults?”

He clenched his free claw and slammed it into the ground. “That’s exactly what I mean! I did try dealing with it like that and you refused to talk to me!” Astrid hissed in anger, but he continued despite the increased pressure she was putting on his foreleg. “You never listen, Astrid! I’m trying to tell you something important, and you will not stop for a moment to hear it unless someone gets bloodied.”

“Well, the blood’s out,” Astrid said. “Start talking.”

“You knew the consequences of getting too close to your charge,” he said, turning his head so that he could look at her with one angry eye. “But you refused to let another take your place! A year. That’s all it would have taken, and then you could have done your duty to your people and gone back to her. A year! But, no. A year was too long for Astrid to be without her Fallen Star!”

“Getting real close to my patience threshold again, Roan,” Astrid said, giving his foreleg a jerk.

“You’re life isn’t the only one you’re ruining,” he said, wincing in pain but refusing to back down. “You’re famous now. You’re a hero! Who dares the Everstorm and walks in the nightlands? Astrid. Who fought Charisma and lived? Astrid. Who battled the Destroyer herself and came out victorious? Astrid!”

She could see where he was going, but she still didn’t want to hear it. “Alright, enough!” she snapped.

He wasn’t done yet. “Who removed herself from the breeding pool just so she could get back to her charge faster? Astrid.”

Astrid swore, letting him go and standing up. He slowly climbed to his feet favoring the limb she had injured. “Fine. So I’m a damned role-model. Celestia knows we’ve had worse.”

“Not at a time like this,” he said. “We need strong Griffins, Astrid, especially with a war coming. We need to be raising all the hatchlings we can get before the current generation is sent to die. Every Griffin who follows your example is a Griffin who isn’t fulfilling that duty."

"We’re not going to die," Astrid scoffed. “And there’s not going to be a war. The Loonies won’t risk it.”

"You haven’t seen what I have,” he replied. “I've been right next to the King as he was getting status reports. They outgun us. Two to one, at least, and they are gearing up for a fight."

"Shit."

"We've got the magical edge, but that won't last. And if we don’t hold them at the Stile Islands it won’t be about a territorial dispute anymore. They’ll be landing an invasion force on our coast and we’ll all be fighting for our lives. The King will have to send us in to hold the line, and a lot of us are going to die.” Roan sighed, leaning up against the wall and working his hurt foreleg. When he spoke again it was with a resigned sadness. “It's... it's going to happen. I was hoping... Before you got hurt I was going to ask you to try again. To make another nest, get away from your charge, let some other Griffin take over. I thought we had time. I just wanted... before I died I just wanted..."

Astrid snorted again, but her own voice lacked the contempt it had held earlier. "Damn, Roan, you really have gone soft."

"I'm staring death in the eyes," he said. "I won't flinch, but I wanted to be ready when she came for me. A lot of us are doing this, now. Securing the next generation, making sure we don’t leave any regrets behind. I wanted you to be part of that."

"Any girl would do."

"No, they wouldn't. We've been meant for each other since we were hatchlings, Astrid. It was always you, only you."

Astrid shook her head. "Roan, I've looked death in the eyes too. Recently. Twice in one day, even. You know what I learned? I learned that there is no time to prepare, no way to get ready. The Destroyer can break anything you build, and Charisma's better than any training can make you. All you can do, all you can ever do, is fight against it and try to survive ‘till tomorrow. You 'putting your affairs in order'? that's not fighting, that's being suicidal. Fuck that. Fight, you stupid bastard."

"I am."

"You are so full of shit. If you really were fighting you wouldn't be so damn upset about me."

"You're wrong."

Astrid scoffed at that. "The hell I am. Roan, I've got three words for you: Get. Over. It."

He let out a weak chuckle at that. "You really are a bitch, you know."

She favored him with a raptor’s smile. "Makes you wonder why you ever wanted me, huh?"

This time he let out a genuine laugh. "No, it doesn't."

"You gonna give me more of this fatalist bullshit?"

"Just because you don't like the attitude doesn't mean the facts aren't there," he said.

"Roan, I stabbed the Destroyer with her own horn, and she doesn't strike me as the type to forgive something like that. Also, I'm probably going to go fight Charisma again whenever we figure out where she is. War or not, odds are good that you’re going to outlive me."

Roan chuckled again. “I’m serious about the other Griffins looking up to you. You’re going to have to say something to them. Even if you don’t believe the war’s coming, that’s still a problem that’s gotta be killed quick.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it,” Astrid said, sighing. “And you and me? Am I going to have to watch out for you ambushing me whenever you miss cuddle time?”

He shook his head. “I just needed you to listen. To try to understand.”

“Yeah, I understand,” she said. “So long as we’re done with this crap.”

“We’re done,” he assured her. “By the way, congratulations on the promotion.”

“Thanks,” she said, poking at her new insignia. “It’s shiny.”

“And another thing. I hear you got your talons into Charisma before she beat the shit out of you.”

“That I did,” Astrid said. Roan held out his claw. She did the same and they bumped fists in celebration.

“Teach her to mess with a Griffin,” he said.

“Yeah, she’s scared now,” Astrid replied, and they both laughed.

Then the door opened and Star Fall stepped out, tears dripping from her face. “Astrid,” she said, her voice a whine of pain. “I need to see the Professor.”

“We’ll find her, Fall,” Astrid assured her. She gave a significant look to Roan, who nodded and loped away. Astrid walked up to her charge and laid a comforting wing over her. “We’ll find her.”


***


"I can't let this happen." Twinkle Shine fretted restlessly, pacing back and forth in front of the mirror. "She's not ready for this, she's too young, too innocent."

"The Student Lost Her Innocence Long Ago," the Nightmare rumbled.

"Not like this!" Twinkle Shine cried. "The way the nobles were looking at her! They're going to tear her apart, sweet Celestia, they'll hound her to death!"

"Then Eliminate Them And Be Done With It!" Umbra snarled. "This Incessant Preoccupation With The Student's Well-Being Threatens What Is Left Of The Plan!"

"She's my daughter!"

"She Is A Distraction!" Umbra snapped, the room shuddering in response to her anger. The Professor stood in silence for a moment as the Nightmare glared at her and the wisps of ash that had escaped drifted to the floor. When Umbra spoke again she had settled into a sullen growl. "She Always Has Been."

Twinkle Shine stared at her reflection for a long moment before speaking again. "I need her," she said, her voice fallen to a  pleading whimper. "Don't make me abandon her."

Umbra snorted. "I Will Not Allow The Plan To Be Compromised Any Further. Too Much Has Been Lost Already, Too Much Unexpected Interference Has Been Allowed To Occur. Time Grows Too Short For Such Loss Of Focus. Even For The Student, I Will Not Brook Further Deviation."

"There has to be a way," Twinkle Shine said. "There has to be something I can do to stop this. To save her."

"No."

"Yes! I will find it, some way to keep to the plan and prevent her from being torn apart by the damn nobility. I will!"

"Professor?" a voice called out from deeper within the estate.

Twinkle Shine's eyes widened. "Star Fall?"

"See To The Student," Umbra said, her glow already fading from the Professor's eyes. "But Do Not Make The Mistake Of Valuing Her Above The Realisation Of My Purpose."

Twinkle Shine nearly spat out a retort, but held back as she heard Star Fall's hoofsteps nearing. "Professor?" she called out again.

"In here!" Twinkle Shine replied, checking herself in the mirror to ensure she didn't have any stray ash from Umbra's presence on her.

Star Fall nudged the door open, stepping into the room and looking at her mentor with blood-shot, watery eyes. "Star Fall!" Twinkle Shine gasped. "What's happened?"

"I sent them away, Professor," she said, taking a hitching breath and scrubbing at her eyes. "I made them go and I'll never... never see them again!"

"Them?"  Twinkle Shine frowned as she tried to understand.

"My parents!" Star Fall sobbed. "I had to... I had to send them away!"

"Oh," Twinkle Shine's ears drooped. "Of course. That must feel like having torn out your own heart," Star Fall nodded. "Well, it was... probably for the best. They'll be safer wherever they end up."

"That's the thing," she said, new tears forming. "I didn't do it for them… I did it for me, Professor. I did it so that they couldn't be used against me!"

With that, Twinkle Shine understood. She stepped to her student and enfolded her in a tight embrace, letting her cry. "It's alright," she said, smoothing her student's mane with a gentle hoof. "It will all be okay."

"Is this going to be me?” Star Fall asked in a hitched whimper. “From now on? Am I just going to be doing things because they're convenient to me?"

"Of course not. You could never be that kind of pony."

"But, what I just did!"

"You did because you had to," Twinkle Shine assured her. "If you left your parents where they were, what would have happened?"

"They... It wouldn't have been good," Star Fall said.

"No, it wouldn't have." Twinkle Shine sighed. "At the very least they would be hounded by the media, their every word and choice scrutinized until they died. Never a moment of privacy. And at worst? Their lives would be used to force you to do terrible things. This was a decision you would have had to make eventually, at least now it was of your own will, and not because some kidnapper forced you to it."

"I know that," Star Fall said. "I know. But.... but it still feels like I betrayed them. It still feels like I'm a terrible daughter."

"You are not," Twinkle Shine quietly insisted. "You are as good a daughter as any parent could ever ask for. They are lucky to have you, and so am I."

"How did you deal with it?" Star Fall asked. "When you became Royal Advisor? How did you deal with sending your parents away?"

"It... wasn't an issue for me," the Professor said, choosing her words carefully. "They died a long time ago."

"Oh," Star Fall's tears stilled. "You never mentioned them before. I knew you were a commoner, like me. I just assumed you... didn't get along with them. Then when I realized what I'd have to do I thought you had hidden your parents too. I never imagined they might be... gone."

"You never knew because I never said,” Twinkle Shine said. “I loved them dearly, but they died when I was so much younger than I am now, I can barely remember what they looked like. I don't even have any pictures of them, anymore. It... hurt to lose them. But I can imagine how much worse it must be for you. Still, you did the right thing, for them and for you. Did you see them?" Star Fall nodded. "And of course they were sad to go, but did they understand?" Star Fall, hesitated a moment, but then shook her head. "Oh. Oh dear one. I'm so sorry."

"They don't see what goes on at the upper levels," Star Fall said. "They just imagine it's like on television, with nobles being honorable and intelligent. They don't know how much propaganda they're fed. They don't know how mean and petty and stupid they can be."

"We can be," Twinkle Shine sighed. "We're all ponies, no matter what our title is."

"They just won't see it!" Star Fall snarled, pulling away from the Professor, her wings snapping open and closed in furious agitation. "I tried to explain it to them, tried to get them to understand, but all they saw was their daughter telling them to disappear!" She stopped, turning back to the Professor with more tears welling up. "My mother... she... she said she wished you'd never found me."

The Professor took a deep breath and nodded. "So they blame me. That's good."

"Professor!"

"It's better than them blaming you,” she said. “Grudges against family are poison, and they kill slowly, but surely. I'd much rather them curse my name to the grave than spend one minute hating you for what you had to do. This way they can forgive you."

"I don't think I can accept that, " Star Fall said. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

Twinkle Shine couldn't help but smile at that. "I think Astrid would disagree with that sentiment."

"I wouldn't have met her if it wasn't for you,” Star Fall insisted, stomping her hoof with each pronouncement. “I wouldn't have done anything like this if it wasn't for you. I can't let my parents hate you just to soothe my relationship with them."

"Of course you can," Twinkle Shine said, taking her student in another hug but speaking sternly. "And you will. Many things can change, and the need to keep them hidden will be one of them, I assure you. One day you will see them again. On that day they may curse me for ever being born because I took their baby filly away from them. You can disagree as much as you want with that opinion, but you will hold your tongue and let them think what they may. Then you will embrace them as I'm holding you now, and all things will be forgiven."

They were silent for a long time, warm in each other's presence. Star Fall's tears dried and Twinkle Shine's worries eased. But the world moved on, and like all such moments, it had to come to an end.

"I'm sorry I gave you a seizure," Star Fall said, drawing away again.

"I'm told Prince Stature is mostly responsible for that," she replied.

"He was showing me something," Star Fall said, frowning for a moment in indecision. "I saw Twilight Sparkle."

Twinkle Shine managed to keep her reaction to one of surprise, though she felt the Nightmare stirring within her. "A vision?"

Star Fall shook her head. "Something more. He called it the Deep Power, he said that it's something only his family has."

The Professor nodded. "I know a little of it. Enough to say that you were let in on a very precious secret."

"I saw Celestia there, and Luna too. They were... incredible. Like... I can't even describe it. I remember all the lectures on the nature of divinity, but none of them even came close to what I was seeing. They're everywhere. Pushing and pulling against each other, turning the entire universe around them. And right in the middle, between them, there's Twilight Sparkle."

"Amazing," the Professor said. "So is she a fellow Goddess, or something else?"

"Something else, I think," Star Fall said. "She didn't feel... right, there. Not like she belonged. Professor, she kissed me."

Oh, damn, Twinkle shine thought, barely remembering to frown for the benefit of her student. "Kissed you?"

"On my head,” Star Fall said, touching at the spot. “It was... like she knew me. Do you know what that could mean?"

This Is What Comes Of Preoccupation, Umbra rumbled in her brain. "I have no idea," she said out loud. "Perhaps she recognizes the same qualities in you that were in herself. She was a Magic Talent as well, and I'm sure you share more than just your potential."

"It didn't feel like that," Star Fall said. "It was like.... sorry. I'm dwelling on it because it reminded me of how my mother would... It reminded me of her. And of you. I should… I never mentioned how your gift saved me."

"My gift?" the Professor asked, more than happy to allow the subject to change.

Star Fall fished the necklace from her dress, holding it up to catch the light. "You said it would protect me, and you were right."

"I'm flattered,” Twinkle Shine said. She had all but forgotten about the necklace, which she had made so she could locate Star Fall quickly. “But I don't think even my spellwork was what saved you from Umbra. You did that on your own."

"No, not against the Destroyer," Star Fall said. "Against Cash. He was doing something. We think he was trying to use the Element of Loyalty on me. I've seen what it does to ponies. It's... horrifying. He nearly had me convinced to abandon everything and go with him, but this necklace, your gift, it reminded me of all the people who loved me and cared for me. It gave me the strength to resist what he was doing, kept me safe. I haven't thanked you for that yet."

"Oh, Star Fall, I'm glad. I'm so glad it kept you safe." They shared another quiet moment before her student spoke again.

"This is going to be hard," Star Fall sighed. "There's so much good I can do, but when the King practically declared me queen! That was the moment it all came to me. Everything I'm going to be expected to live up to now. Everything I can't live up to."

"I'm sorry,” Twinkle Shine said, smoothing Star Fall’s mane again. “If there were any way I could make him take it back, I would."

"No," Star Fall said. "No, I don't want that. When Cash was trying to... turn me, he said some things that were true, but that I didn't want to acknowledge. Somehow he had me figured out completely."

"He's a manipulator, a con artist. People like that are good at cold reading."

"I guess, but it felt like it was more than that.” She took a deep breath, her brows drawing down as she set her mind to working an old problem from a new angle. “He saw things, made incredible leaps of logic that should have been irrational, but somehow weren't. It was more than just cold reading, he knew things that I didn't know and that he had no way of knowing. And he was right. He saw right through me and told me exactly what I wanted."

"What you wanted?"

"What I want,” Star Fall said. Then she blinked hard and her eyes went open wide, as if she’d come to some sort of revelation. “What I still want, and what I'm willing to fight for."

"What is that?"

"A choice," Star Fall said, practically shining with new energy. "Thank you, Professor, you've always been there for me, and it means so much."

"I'm sorry, a choice?” Twinkle Shine asked, trying to understand what revelation her student had come to. “Which choice?"

"I'll explain later," Star Fall said, her wings going wide with excitement. "I know what I have to do now. Astrid! We're going back to the castle!"

"Star Fall, what is this about?"

"Choice, Professor!" Star Fall called back as she rushed out the door. "I'll see you later!"

"Of course!" the Professor shouted after her, but did not give chase. "Oh, my little Fallen Star, what are you going to get yourself into now?"

"She Is Going To Further Disrupt The Plan," the Nightmare said from the mirror.

Twinkle Shine turned to face her reflection. "She wants a choice."

"She Has Had It."

"Not a real choice. But that doesn't have to remain so," Twinkle Shine mused. "The world has to know that the Nightmare is returning to her full strength. Star Fall has already said so, but the information has to go further. It has to reach all across the world."

"Yes. I Will Raid The Nightlands And The Nations Across The Oceans. They Will All Know Of My Return."

"That's not necessary," the Professor said. "And it will take too long. The plan has been accelerated, visiting each nation individually isn't an option anymore."

"Then What Do You Propose?"

"Something to reach all of them quickly, something to demonstrate what they have to fear. A grand gesture."

"It Would Have To Occur At A Time And Place When The World Is Watching."

"Yes... and I know just the thing. Something to solve both our worries."

The Nightmare's cruel eyes narrowed with interest. "I Am Listening."

Twinkle Shine smiled, and began to describe her idea.


***


Rainbow Dash paced her room with cagey impatience. Every few steps she looked towards the window, marking the descent of the rapidly sinking sun. A map of the city was spread out on her bed, several places circled in red ink. She'd had to get her assigned servant to pick those places out. She knew the names of what she wanted, but without being able to read all she could do was rely on others. A fact that only increased her agitation, she knew that she had to keep this as secret as she could. She didn’t know why it had to be secret, or why she had lied to Star Fall and Astrid about her need to get out of the castle earlier, but she knew it was important.

She went over her plan again, making sure she had thought it through. She didn't want another 'Daring Do hospital robbery' disaster. At least she didn't have an injured wing this time, it made the getaway so much easier. She just had to figure out how not to get recognized, which wasn't easy considering that every pony in the city knew her face now. 

The answer to that problem would have to be the simple disguise that she had put together. Rarity taking over the castle’s tailoring facilities actually worked out for her here, though convincing her friend to make something simple, plain and concealing had been like pulling hydra teeth. Still, she had managed to convince Rarity to make her a simple black hooded sweatshirt. Coupled with an equally plain dress that hid her cutie mark and tail, it would serve to conceal her from the public.

She knew that she was doing something irrational. She knew that whatever was pulling her to go out into the city in disguise wasn't normal. She knew that she should tell someone about it. Someone like Gamma. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Every time she tried it was like a green light flashed in her mind and what she had wanted to say was suddenly changed to something else. It bugged her, but it also made her curious. She wanted to see what was causing this, wanted to find out why she felt it was so important.  
The waiting was the most frustrating part, and the anticipation made her distracted and irritable. She had barely paid attention to what had happened after the big announcement that morning. After Star Fall had told her about when to go, she had all but ignored AJ and Spike at the party, going straight for Rarity and bugging her until she had made the disguise. There were still parties and meetings and receptions and dinners going on, some of which she was supposed to be at, but instead she was here, waiting for the sun to go down enough that her run into the city wouldn't be noticed. 

Finally, after an eternity of waiting, the sun set. The world was still lit up with the million lights of the city, but the disk of the sun was down and the Griffins would be making their daily devotions. She donned her disguise, pulling the hood up and drawing it tight so that none of her telltale mane would escape. Then she gently opened the window and flew out.

She moved quickly, but was careful not to go fast enough that she formed a glowing trail, which meant she felt like she was practically crawling as she crossed the gardens surrounding the castle and finally made it into the city. She looked behind her as soon as she was hovering above a busy street, but while she could see some of the guard patrols that were circling the castle, she couldn't see anyone coming for her. 

She relaxed a bit, zipping up above the buildings to get a better view of the city. She didn't trust herself to navigate the canyon-like streets since it would be too easy to get lost. She had memorized the map, though, and from a high perspective she could pick out the places the servant had marked out. 

She took a deep breath of the high air, feeling the excited tingle of her nerves. There was something going on here, and she couldn't quite grasp it, but she had a feeling all would become clear as soon as she got where she was going. Like she had been in a long race but the finish line was in sight, all she had to do was make one last push.

The city was spread out below her in a sea of lights. It reminded her of the first time she had seen it, flying north with Star Fall and Astrid, still unsure of this new time, still expecting to be sent back home. She had been amazed at the size of the city then. It had looked so grand, so full. Now it was like some of the glitter had worn off. She was seeing beyond the lights and the colorfully-clothed people. She could see the dark patches, the dirt and the grime that inevitably came from so many living so close together. Back in Ponyville the streets had been made of dirt, but they had seemed cleaner than these paved roads scarred with soot and trash.

Still, the sight was breathtaking. She hung in the air, admiring for a long moment before she remembered the urgency of her purpose. She found the spot she had decided to start looking and dove into the streets.

She flitted through alleys and soared above wide boulevards, looking for something she couldn't quite define or understand. It played at the edges of her thoughts and just refused to come into focus. She just knew that when she saw it, all would become clear.

It wasn’t in the first place she went to, nor the second, or the two after that. She was beginning to think that she was chasing a phantom, perhaps some remnant of the dreams she couldn’t remember that left her sweating and shaken when she woke. It was a disheartening thought, but still she felt like she had to press on. Finally, she spotted something that caught her attention and tugged at that strange need she was feeling. 

She didn’t recognize what the building was for from its appearance. Squat, two storied with several large metal doors that would roll upward to open. It was old, and it looked like it hadn’t been used for its intended purpose in a few years. There were a half-dozen similar buildings she had seen in her flight, and she would have passed this one by completely if it weren't for the pony sitting out on the roof, playing with a length of pink string.

She dropped to the gravel roof, frowning as the stallion looked up from the complicated weavings of the string between his hooves and smiled. "Firefly!" he called out. "I mean, Rainbow Dash! You're here! Right on time. Or, you know, a week later than expected, I guess. But who trusts calendars anyway, huh? I mean, it’s Sunday, and then a week later it’s Sunday again? How does that work?"

"Blaze?" Dash said, shaking her head in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," he said, trying to put away the string with a series of quick, complicated motions that only served to entangle his forelegs completely. He stared at his trapped limbs, for a moment, then shrugged. "We've been waiting for a week! Which is why we expected you here a week ago. Well, not here-here on this roof, because that would be kind of uncomfortable after the first night, which is always the best because that's when you can break out the marshmallows. But if you do that every night then you end up with this weird chalky taste in your mouth and a really bad case of sticky-hoof in the morning, which, well, since you’re not going anywhere anyway isn't so bad, but what if you need to scratch an itch? Having your hoof stuck to your butt for days on end is not a fun experience, trust me. Though I guess if it was a rainy season that would take care of itself. Or if you had a really long tongue. Oh! And showering! It’d work for that too. Not the tongue thing, the rain, because ponies can’t produce enough saliva to properly bathe in. But in any case it isn't the rainy season, so, yeah, my initial point stands."

Dash stared at him for a long moment before she was able to draw her mind back from the zen-like emptiness it had gone to. "What?"

"We gotta go inside! Calumn's been really excited."

Calumn. That name sparked something in her, a flash of green and the memory of a voice. Look for me in the Solar capital. "He's inside?" she asked.

"Yup!"

She didn't wait for him to disentangle himself, shooting towards the propped-open door and rushing down into the building. She passed by open, empty offices and into large, empty space that took up most of the building. Stairs led down to the floor of that bay, and she was halfway down before she found him. He was in his earth pony form, gray coat, blue and white mane, strongly built. She remembered that form in a hazy green-tinged surge of images. Following him down a narrow metal hall, talking to him as he looked near to tears. 

“You,” she said, her voice raw with more emotions than she could properly categorize.

He looked up saw her, a small smile crossing his lips. “Rainbow Dash,” he said, green fire flaring all around him and burning away his disguise. More images came to her with that: him tied to a chair, leaping at her, her hugging him. “Finally."

She slammed into him. Bearing him to the floor and driving all the air from his lungs. She smashed a hoof into the floor hard enough to crack the concrete and snarled in his face. "What did you do to me!?" 

He wheezed, struggling feebly against her. She let off just enough that he was able to talk. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'll explain everything, I promise!"

“You’d better.”

“I will,” he said. “I will, just let me up and we can talk.”

She wanted to. There was some kind of nagging emotion that told her to trust him. But memories were coming back strong and fast now. She remembered fighting through Cash's mercenaries, looking for Blaze's friend and finding the Changeling who had been looking for her in the Everstorm. Calumn. She remembered how he had invaded her mind, made her love him, and a blistering rage made her blood roar in her ears. But she held back. She also remembered him freeing her, letting her go to save Star Fall. She remembered how conflicted he had been, how she had talked to him about being a better person. Finally, with a cry of frustrated anger, she leap off of him, backing as far from him as she could and taking up a wide, ready stance in case he tried something. "Fine," she growled. "Talk. What the hell did you do to me?"

He slowly got to his hooves, rubbing at the spot where she had hit him. “Luna, you're strong," he said. 

"Hey, guys, how's the reunion?" Blaze asked as he came down the stairs. He took one look at Dash's guarded stance and Calumn's pained expression and his smile widened. "Wow, nobody's killing anybody! That's awesome!"

"You said you'd talk," Dash said ignoring the goofy stallion. "So talk."

"I'm from the Republics Intelligence Agency," Calumn said. "It's like the Secret Service here in the Kingdom."

"You're a spy."

"Closer to secret police,"  Calumn hedged. "Changelings don't usually go into the sunlands anymore."

"You're here."

"Because of you,” he said, sitting down and taking a few deep breaths as he examined his wings to see if she had broken them, “After you beat up a pair of police officers near Orion City, my superiors were worried that you were working with Max Cash. Or that you were some kind of Solar super-soldier. We didn’t know. They sent me to find out as much about you as possible. To bring you back if I could.”

"You aren't taking me with you," Dash warned, crouching a little and setting herself to move.

"I know," Calumn said. He didn’t sound unhappy about that. "I won't try, I promise. But I do need to know what you do."

"I'm kind of part of the Secret Service,” Dash said, "I don't think I should be telling you anything."

“I don't need to know about the Secret Service," Calumn said. "I need to know about Max Cash. And you. From what I saw today, you're going to have the Republics terrified. That could lead to the war starting right now, and that would be bad for everybody. I can stop that, but I need your help, I need your information.”

"You can trust him," Blaze assured her. "He's cool."

Dash looked between Calumn and Blaze, frowning as her instincts warred with her outrage. Finally, she nodded, relaxing her stance. "Fine, but you go first. I wanna know who you are before I tell you anything."

"I told you that my mission was to find out as much about you as I could," Calumn began. "I met Blaze when I was going through the Everstorm. So if you want to blame me for what I did, don’t blame him too. We didn't know you were in the Storm with us, that was as surprising to me as it was to you. After we made it out the other side we were captured by Charisma who took us to Cash's base. You got tossed in with Blaze and… When I saw you there, I was... in a bad way. Cash did something to me, something I can’t explain, but it made me question everything about myself. When I saw you, I... acted without thinking. I thought I could get back what Cash took from me by taking you and finishing my mission. I used my magic to put you in thrall to me.”

“I thought I was in love with you,” Dash said, spitting the words out.

Calumn nodded. “That’s what it can feel like. It’s obsessive, monomaniacal, not like real love at all, but… well, it can get confusing once the magic is gone. It was wrong. I'm sorry. I'm just glad you were able to convince me to be a better person. I've tried to live up to that since."

"You're doing great, buddy," Blaze said. 

“Why did I forget about you?”

“I told you to,” Calumn said. “I couldn’t take you with me, and I couldn’t stick around without being exposed and… probably killed. I couldn’t let you expose me either. So I told you to forget about me, and to find me here, in the city. I was in the crowd today, and I used what was left of our connection to give you this address, to tell you to come here tonight. So I could find out what you know and apologise for what I’d done.”

"So, you're not here to bring down the Kingdom or anything?" Dash asked.

"No," Calumn said with an emphatic shake of his head. “I’m just here to find out everything I can about Cash and how you connect to him.”

Dash stared hard at the Changeling. Then she nodded. “You know what? I believe you.” 

“Thank you–”

“Still not happy about this whole ‘thrall’ thing you did,” Dash said, cutting him off. “But I believe you’re sorry about it. Have you been taking my advice?”

“I’ve been trying,” Calumn said.

“He’s been awesome,” Blaze put in. “You should have seen him rescuing all those kids from the burning building. Oh, hey, now that you’re a noble and everything, you think you could get them to rename a town for me? I’ve got a real gem.”

Calumn snickered at his friend’s words. “I’m trying,” he repeated.

“Rescuing kids, huh?” Dash asked, her own smile beginning to soften her face. 

“Trying really hard.”

“Alright, then,” Dash said. “You want to know about what's going on? This is it." She told them everything. From her waking up in the future through Cash's appearance at Spike's lair. She told them about what they had discovered from Spike about the Elements of Harmony, and what they thought it all meant. She talked for hours, getting into as much detail as she could remember. They listened with rapt attention. Calumn asked questions and Blaze offered his own rambling insights into the minds of Charisma and Max Cash. The sun was threatening to rise by the time she was done, and Dash yawned as she completed her tale.

“So that’s it,” she said. “Is that what you needed?”

Calumn nodded. “More than enough.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Blaze and I should head back to the Republics,” Calumn said. “My people need to know about this. If Cash is back in the nightlands, he needs to be stopped before he can get more of these Elements of Harmony.”

“Be careful,” Dash said, trying to put as much weight into the warning as she could, an effort that was hurt by another wide yawn. “He can really mess a pony up. I’ve seen it.”

“I’ve had it happen to me,” Calumn said. “I know you’re going to tell your superiors about me and everything I’ve told you. Make sure they understand that whatever he does, it doesn’t go away. I had to… I have to live with it now. I managed to grow from it, but another might not be able to. I’ll make sure my people are ready for it, and you should be doing the same.”

“Way ahead of you,” Dash said.

“You be careful too,” Calumn added. “What the King did yesterday… it was like an earthquake. You might notice the cracks in the floor and the broken windows now, but it’s the coming wave that you really have to worry about.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dash said, flapping her wings to rise a bit into the air. “I gotta go. There’s only, like, a two minute window when the sun rises for me to get back into the castle. At least, I hope so. I never really asked Star how they managed to sneak back in.”

Blaze rushed over and drew her into a tight hug. “It was good seeing you again. If you ever get tied up and thrown in a closet again, remember your old prison-buddy, okay?”

“O… kay?” Dash replied. “I’ll miss you too, Blaze.”

“Good luck, Rainbow Dash,” Calumn said as Blaze let her go. “Luna guide you safely on your journeys.”

“Yeah and… I don’t know, something about Celestia back at you,” Dash said. “Catch you later, guys!” Then she rushed up the stairs and out into the sky, racing the rising sun back to her room.


***


"Now, what does one pack for sneaking into an enemy kingdom?" Rarity mused looking over her improved and extensive wardrobe. The floor was already littered with rejected outfits, most bearing the red and gold of castle livery. Open suitcases were all but empty as she fretted over what to bring on the train the next morning. "Do I dress to impress? Or keep a low profile."

"I don't know if any of this counts as 'low profile', Rarity," Applejack said, helping in the search through Rarity's closet. She tugged on the collar of the suit she wore to loosen it, ripping a few of the seams with a series of snaps that made Rarity’s eye twitch. "I hear they're not as keen on clothing down in the nightlands as there are here. It's probably better if you go without."

"Don't be ridiculous, dear," Rarity scoffed, ignoring the wanton destruction of fine clothing as best she could. "Even if they don't insist on it, a proper outfit will make all the difference in how they see me. So, do I dress the part, in something daring and transgressive, or do I understate it, go for a dress that is more elegant than showy?"

"Somethin' simple," Applejack suggested. "And somethin' you don't mind gettin' all dirty. Dash says that Everstorm's a doozy."

"Well, I don't intend to wear it while crossing that particular monster," Rarity said, musing on a blue and white striped dress that was one of her earlier creations at the castle’s workshop. "I was thinking more for introducing myself to the Republics. I will be accompanying a famous artist, after all."

Applejack hummed over that for a moment, then pulled a purple dress out of the closet. "This one. It works best with Spike's colors. It goes nice with your mane, too."

Rarity grinned in delight. "Why, Applejack! I never imagined you'd have such an eye for fashion!"

"I can be frou-frou when I need to be," she said, pulling her hat low to hide the blush on her cheeks. "Anyway, that's the one. Now if you're done rootin' through your closet..."

"Hardly, dear. This is just one dress, I'll need several more just to be presentable."

"You can't take your whole closet, Rarity."

"Blasphemy!" Rarity gasped.

The two locked eyes for a moment, then both burst out laughing. 

"Woo, nelly! I needed that, sugarcube," Applejack said as their laughter subsided. "Ever since we got here it's been all high-falutin' parties and ponies fakin' smiles. I appreciate the clothes y'all have made me and Rainbow, but I've been itchin' to strip off and feel the sun on my back and the dirt under my hooves, if you know what I mean."

"Not entirely, darling," Rarity sighed. "But I understand where you're coming from. The facilities here are, well, extensive, but it lacks all the charm of my boutique."

"It lacks more than the charm," Applejack said, her smile falling away and her tone growing sober. "It's lackin' the most important thing of all."

Rarity refused to look at her friend, instead staring at the sequinned fabric of another dress. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"And I'm sure you do," Applejack said. "Even if you don't want to think about it. I know you, Rarity, and I know you're missin' your family as sorely as I am."

Rarity made a little noise of anger and flung the dress away. "No," she said. "I don't think that one will do."

"Rarity..."

"I do not wish to discuss this, Applejack!" she snapped.

"Well, tough. I do!" Applejack shouted back. Rarity shot her a venomous glare, but the look melted when she saw the pain in Applejack's face. "I ain't got no one else, Rarity. Rainbow Dash doesn't understand, she left her kin behind a long time ago. You and me, we stayed close, and now... and now..."

"And now they're all long dead," Rarity said, her ears drooping. "I... I can't, Applejack. I can't do this. The thought that I will never see my mother or father or dear, sweet sister ever again!"

"It hurts," Applejack said. 

Rarity nodded. "It hurts. I have so much to do. A world to understand, a Dragon to take care of... I can't let myself dwell on it or will simply not be able to function."

"I understand," Applejack said. "I completely understand. And that's why I know we need to hash this out now, before it sneaks up on you while you're out in the nightlands and gets you in trouble."

"I can keep it together," Rarity insisted.

"I thought so too, once," Applejack said, touching her hat in sad remembrance. "I don't think so no more."

Rarity paused, frowning in thought. "This isn't about me, is it?"

"No, sugarcube, it ain't."

Rarity squeezed her eyes closed and reached out for her friend, who obliged and returned the hug. "I'm so sorry," Rarity said in a whisper. "I'm a terrible friend."

"No, Rarity," Applejack assured her. "You're just hurtin' too. I figure." Her breath hitched as she choked back a sob. "I figure you mighta got through on your own, with Spike there to help you, but I can't. Not anymore."

"It's okay, Applejack," Rarity said, hugging tighter. "It's okay."

"I just... miss them... so much!" Applejack wailed, tears falling freely as she buried her face in Rarity's neck and cried. Rarity did her best to soothe her friend, but eventually her own tears came to the fore and she was just clinging to Applejack as Applejack was clinging to her. 

They cried for a time, not long enough to make the hurt go away, but long enough to exhaust them. Finally, they sat side by side, leaning up against the bed and looking at the open closet once again. "They're really gone, aren't they?" Rarity asked. 

"Not gone," Applejack said. "Not so long as we still remember 'em."

"Not gone," Rarity agreed. "Merely... absent." She sighed and leaned more heavily into Applejack's side. "Spike said that Sweetie Belle and Applebloom both were Element bearers after us. Do you think they're going to miraculously appear as well?"

Applejack slowly shook her head. "Sorry, sugarcube. I think this is gonna be us only."

"It was only a faint hope," Rarity said. "Still, there is little I wouldn't do to see my dear sister's smile once more. I can close my eyes and picture it so clearly."

"Eyup," Applejack agreed, letting out a smile at a memory of her own sister. "You hold onto that, Rarity. It'll see you through when times get dark."

"Thank you, Applejack. I didn't realize how much I was holding in," Rarity said, getting to her hooves and holding out a foreleg to help her friend do the same.

Applejack took the offered limb. "I should be thankin' you for lettin' me bawl all over your nice dress."

"Oh, this thing?" Rarity said, indicating the dress she was wearing with a dismissive wave. "I'm not taking this one with me, darling. I'm not going to be broken up about it needing to be laundered."

"All the same, thank you," Applejack said. "So, you still wantin' to take more dresses than you could ever carry when you head south?"

Rarity looked at her selection and laughed. "Oh, I suppose you're right on that. It would be silly to take more than a couple useful dresses."

"Eyup. I'm happy to be a help."

"Now we just have to pick out the accessories," Rarity said, turning her critical eye from the dresses to the plethora of accentuating items that also filled her closet.

"Uh, what?"

"Oh, you know, shawls, capes, mane-clips, that sort of thing," Rarity said, tapping a hoof against her chin in thought as her magic began sorting through the various accoutrements. "Yes, and then makeup, of course, and jewellry. Do you think they prefer silver in the nightlands? They do have a thing for Princess Luna, after all, and I always saw silver as her metal. Oh! And shoes! How could I forget shoes!"

"Oh, uh," Applejack looked from Rarity to the door and then back again. Rarity's rising enthusiasm was an inescapable vortex, though, so with one last forlorn look at the exit she sighed and joined Rarity by the closet. “Well, you will be walkin’ through a permanent storm, so I’d recommend galoshes…”


***


Calumn bit down. He took his time, savoring the flavors that danced across his tongue. Flat, earth pony teeth crunched through the vegetables, beans and other fillings. Finally, he swallowed it down, chasing the food with a long pull from his glass.

“Well?” Blaze asked, leaning over the table in wide-eyed anticipation.

Calumn delayed, smacking his lips loudly and taking another drink. Blaze only leaned farther, practically standing on his chair. When he thought his friend was just about to tip the table, Calumn spoke: “You were right.”

“Yes!” Blaze punched at the air, falling back into his chair so hard that it rocked and almost fell over. If the other ponies in the dingy diner hadn’t been looking at him before, they were now.

Calumn reached out to steady his friend, shaking his head. “You were right. This is the best damn burrito I have ever had.”

“Woo!” Blaze exulted, flushed and grinning. “This calls for some victory karaoke!”

“No,” Calumn said. “This calls for finishing dinner and getting back before it gets late.” He kept his tone light, but firm. In his peripheral vision he watched as the other ponies quickly lost interest and turned their attention back to their own conversations or the big television showing a nightly news program.

“Aww,” Blaze slumped. “But… but… karaoke! You can’t do that in the nightlands.”

“We’ve got a train to catch tomorrow,” Calumn reminded him. “But I’ll tell you what. When we go and see your sister, I’ll take you both out and we can all badly sing random pop songs together.”

“Oh, that would be fun,” Blaze mused, then leaned forward again and lowered his voice to a near-whisper, his eyes darting about furtively. “But she doesn’t like singing.”

“I’ll convince her,” Calumn promised. “Now, can I enjoy my burrito?”

"Sure thing, buddy," Blaze said. 

It was their last night in the Solar capital. Train tickets had been bought, what meager possessions they had were packed, and in the morning they would be heading for the Everfree Verge. After that there was just the crossing of the Everstorm, and they’d be home again. This being their last chance, Blaze had insisted on going out and showing off his knowledge of Solar cuisine, and Calumn was in no mood to refuse him.

He followed Blaze from place to place, sampling food or drink or even just the ambiance of the sunlands’ greatest city. He probably would have preferred a quiet night to ruminate on what Rainbow Dash had revealed to them, but Blaze’s infectious enthusiasm was more than enough to allow him to enjoy the night out. So they ate and danced and laughed until Luna’s night was deep and the only places left open were dingy little hole-in-the-wall diners like this one. 

Still, for all the fun he was having he was anxious to get back. Rainbow Dash's information was of incredible importance. Straff would need to know everything about these Elements of Harmony and the visitors from the past. He'd need to know that it wasn't just sunland propaganda, that this was all really happening, and that Cash was at the center of it. Then they could find a way to stop the madpony before he destroyed them all. 

Calumn ate his sublime burrito and thought about all the implications of ancient magic returning long-dead heroes. He thought about what he could do, about what he should do. Even so deep in thought, though, he wasn't so far gone that he missed the other patrons of the bar getting up and leaving quietly, one by one. 

"Blaze," he said, keeping his tone low and even. "We've got trouble."

"Is it the beans?" Blaze asked, frowning in concern. "They always take two hours to really hit me, but..."

"Not the beans," Calumn sighed. "The people. We should go."

"Without finishing your meal?" a new voice said. Calumn looked up into the intense blue eyes of a dark green mare who was walking up to their table as the last of the other patrons hustled out. "What's your hurry?"

Calumn swallowed, but tried to keep his reaction neutral. "What's it to you?"

Blaze looked from Calumn to the unicorn, recognition sparking clearly in his eyes as he saw her. "Oh, crap," he said.

"Indeed," the mare said, pulling up a chair. "I don't think it's necessary to inform you that maintaining the act will be futile. I know what you are, and I am fairly certain you know who I am."

Calumn sagged. "Gamma, spymaster to the Solar Kingdom."

She inclined her head in acknowledgment. "And the disguise you currently wear goes by the name of Strongheart." He didn't bother to respond and she turned to the other pony at the table. "And you are Trail Blazer."

"Hi, Miss Gamma," Blaze said with a weak wave. "I've, uh, heard good things about you?"

"Good things," she said in a flat deadpan. "Really."

"Well, you know Charisma, if she doesn't have something nice to say about someone she's not going to say anything at – buddy run for it!" Blaze leapt over the table Gamma, who calmly evaded his clumsy attack and flipped him to the floor. Calumn didn't budge. "Uh, buddy?" Blaze said, struggling to move as Gamma easily kept him in place. "Being a distraction here! Why aren't you running?"

"Because he knows it's pointless," Gamma said. 

"That's right," Calumn replied, taking a slow breath. "So why don't you let my friend go and we can talk about what you want and why you're here."

"Is capturing a Changeling not reason enough?"

"No,” Calumn said, barely keeping himself from snapping at her. “And you know that I know it isn't. If you didn't want something from me I'd already be gutted by Griffins. So, please, let my friend go."

"Fair enough," Gamma said. She released Blaze from her hold, letting him climb to his hooves. "Sit down, Trail Blazer.”

“This has nothing to do with him–” Calumn began, but Gamma raised a hoof to silence him.

“On the contrary, Strongheart. Trail Blazer is essential.” Gamma leaned back in her chair as Blaze reluctantly sat down again. “Now, I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings between us, so I’m going to talk and you are going to listen, and I will not look favorably on any interruptions. Do you understand?” Calumn nodded, Blaze frowned but nodded as well. “Very good. 

“First of all I know what you did with Rainbow Dash. I have, in fact, known for some time that she was compromised and have been watching her closely for any aberrant behaviour that would lead me to you. As usual for her, she did not disappoint. I also know that you, Trail Blazer, are not currently in thrall to Strongheart, so we can dispense with any attempt at subterfuge in that direction. I know that I am also in no danger of being influenced in that way, so any threats should be likewise abandoned. Strongheart, I know that you have abandoned your mission and are currently operating in a partially rogue capacity, though I expect that you will still be making your way back to the Republics to make a full report to your former masters before disappearing. Most likely getting near the Storm via a train leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Wow, are you psychic?” Blaze asked.

Gamma shot him a flat look that held no heat, but was also clearly unamused. “No, merely observant. Rainbow Dash’s description of her escape from Cash’s custody was noticeably vague in certain respects, especially surrounding you, Trail Blazer. That could have been the result of a concussion or the simple ravages of memory in stressful situations, but it was too clean a break, too precise in the information it omitted. The answer was mind magic, and considering that they knew a Changeling had been tracking them through the Storm, the connection was easy to make.

“It became even clearer in the aftermath of the events in Precious Corners.” Calumn couldn’t hold back a wince at that. “Yes. A heroic Changeling saves the lives of a classroom full of children. Quite the story. That Changeling was travelling with a pony that matches the description of you, Trail Blazer. The connections might as well have been gilded for how clear they were.”

“I’m not responsible for what happened there,” Calumn said in a pained whisper.

“I seem to recall asking for no interruptions,” Gamma said, though again there was no heat to it. “But, yes, I am fully aware of the true culprit of that massacre. I have toyed with the idea that you were working with Cash. I know Trail Blazer was his personal Storm Guide for years, and the idea that he could corrupt a Changeling agent is not far-fetched. However, the rescue of children? Not the kind of thing his minions have been known for. Nor are they known for helping colts make friends.”

Calumn jolted at that. “How?”

“I am very thorough in my interviews,” she replied. “Andy Quick spoke very highly of your actions. His testimony, as well as that of others who were there, gave me a fairly good view of what kind of person you are, and put to rest my fears of you working with Cash. No, you’re as much his enemy as I am. Which is why I allowed you to draw Rainbow Dash to you and speak with her as long as you did. Which is why we are sitting here now, instead of inside a detention facility. This is also how I know you’ve gone rogue. A Changeling still on-mission would never have allowed himself to be compromised like that. But with what I know you learned from Rainbow Dash, anyone who would jump into a burning building to save a bunch of foals would also feel the need to warn his government of the danger Cash poses to them. Therefore you are going to do one last service for your masters and tell them what you’ve learned before fading away to live whatever life you have chosen.

“Now,” she continued before they could respond, her unflinching blue eyes boring into Calumn. “Before we continue I do need to ask you one question, and I require a truthful answer. What is the name of your superior? The one you will be reporting all this to.”

Calumn considered the question carefully before answering. "Straff," he finally said.

"Straff," she repeated, and Calumn thought he could detect a hint of emotion finally making its way into her voice, though he wasn't sure what that emotion could be. "Very good."

"So, you know so much about me, have it all figured out. What do you want with me?"

"At the moment? nothing. No, Strongheart, I'm not here for you. I'm here for him," she pointed a hoof at Blaze. 

“Me?” Blaze asked, pointing at himself. “Um, okay?”

"Trail Blazer,” Gamma said, a small smile twitching up the corners of her mouth. “I'd like to hire your services. I need to cross the Everstorm."


***


"I don't think we'll be able to take all of these," Spike said, looking at the pile of luggage Rarity had brought to the train platform with her. 

"Nonsense, it's only the essentials," Rarity assured him, looking at the long, sleek train. It was very different from the Friendship Express that had run through Ponyville. And yet, at the same time it was clearly just a variation of the same thing. She could see now how Rainbow Dash could be disappointed in how futuristic this future was. “Applejack’s invaluable advice saw to that.”

"No, I mean we've got a baggage limit,” Spike said. “Two bags per person."

"What?" Rarity gasped, turning to regard the Dragon with open-mouthed shock. "Since when?"

"Since we decided to turn down the royal treatment," Spike said. 

"Oh," Rarity paused, looking critically at her pile of bags. "Well, I suppose I could condense some of the the essential essentials down to two bags... or three?" She batted her eyelashes at Spike. He sighed and nodded. "Thank you, darling!" she crowed, then began sorting through her luggage, careful not to use her magic too much lest she be noticed. "You know, you've been very bad at telling me things."

"What do you mean, Rarity?"

"Oh, you know, the baggage limit on the train, the dreadful slavery issue, and, ah, yes, Twilight becoming an Alicorn!"

Spike chuckled nervously at that. "Oh, right. About that."

"I didn't even know it was possible!" Rarity continued, heedless. "How did it happen?"

"Well, the Elements..."

"The Elements again! Is everything going to be about them?"

"But it was–"

"No! I do not care," Rarity took a deep breath. "I forgive you, Spike. But please try to inform me about these shocking developments before they can be used to surprise me."

"I'll do my best," Spike promised.

"In any case,” she continued, separating three overstuffed cases from the rest. “I'm sure Twilight would have made a wonderful Alicorn. Why, it's almost like she was a princess."

"She did become a princess," Spike said. "It was a good time for us. She did her best, but eventually, well, she abdicated her throne. Let Cadance's children take over for her."

"Cadance?"

"Twilight's Sister-In-Law. Ancestor of the Solar royalty."

"Sister in law? Twilight had a brother?"

"Yup," Spike said. "That's a long story."

"Well, we've got a train ride ahead of us, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time."

“I’m sure we will,” Spike agreed with a laugh. 

“Hey, y’all!” Applejack cried out, spotting them from down the platform. They looked over and saw her and Rainbow Dash weave their way through the other waiting passengers to come to their side. “You didn’t think you’d get away without sayin’ goodbye, did you?”

“Yeah, what’s up with trying to sneak out?” Dash asked.

Rarity sighed, but smiled at her friends. “Well, I was hoping to avoid a scene.”

“Who’s making a scene?” Dash asked, puffing out her chest. “I’m not!”

“Well, then I very well might!” Rarity said, rushing forward and grabbing Dash in a hug. “I will miss you, dear.”

“Me too,” Dash replied, squeezing Rarity back. “If you… if you find Cash, don’t let him talk, okay? Whatever you do, just don’t give him time to use the Elements on you.”

“I’ll remember that, darling. You take care of Star Fall. She needs a loyal friend right now.” Dash nodded and let her go, and Rarity turned to Applejack. “And I’ll keep in mind what we talked about last night, as well.”

Applejack nodded, leaning in to give Rarity a friendly nuzzle. “You do that, sugarcube. You take care of Spike, now, you hear?”

“Um,” Spike said, one eye-ridge raised. “I’m the thousand-year-old Dragon. Don’t you think it’ll be me taking care of her?”

They looked at him for a few seconds before turning back to each other. “Yeah,” Dash said. “Make sure he doesn’t get into too much trouble.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Rarity replied. “I’ll make sure my little Spikey-wikey is safe and sound.”

“Ugh! You guys!” Spike said, throwing his arms up in protest. 

They laughed, but their mirth was cut off by the crystal chime of the train doors opening as porters stepped out to help passengers with their luggage. “Time to go,” Rarity said.

“Saved by the bell,” Spike said, easily hefting all four of their allowed bags and moving to board the train.

“Take care, sugarcube. We’ll be thinkin’ of you,” Applejack said.

“Farewell, my friends,” Rarity said, stepping over to the train’s door. “I will return!”


“You’d better!” Dash called out, and then Rarity was on the train and they were out of sight.

While they had refused to use their royal connections to expedite their trip, Rarity had been unable to turn down the option of getting them a private room. It was a fairly nice room, with wide benches for sitting or lying on and a good window to view the passing scenery from. It was on the wrong side to wave goodbye to her friends, but she had already made her exit and didn’t really feel the need to prolong it. 

She took up a seat opposite Spike and looked out the window as the train jolted into motion and pulled out of the station. The city spread out before her, a vast sea of asphalt and concrete and ponies. “It’s not like Canterlot, is it,” she mused.

“No,” Spike said. “Not at all.”

“Are the nightland cities any better?”

Spike didn’t answer, and that was all she needed.

They were well out beyond the limits of the capitol and into the rolling hills that led up to the Shield Wall mountains before their contemplative silence was broken by a knock on the door. They frowned at each other in confusion before Spike stepped over and opened it to reveal Gamma. “Excellent, you’re settled,” the spymaster said before breezing past Spike.

“Gamma?” he said. “What?”

“The question you should be asking is ‘why’,” Gamma said, sitting on the bench next to Rarity, who looked at her with deepening confusion.

“Then… why are you here?” Rarity asked.

“For the same reason you are,” she replied. “Cash needs to be stopped.”

“You’re coming with us,” Spike said. “But you’re… you practically run the Secret Service! Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Extremely,” she replied. “Which is why I have taken the necessary steps of securing myself an invite.” She raised her voice. “If you two would join us?” Two more ponies walked in past Spike. Both were earth pony stallions, one green with lemon-yellow stripes in his mane, the other a large, blunt-looking sort with a grey coat. The green one smiled at Rarity in a way that struck a chord with her, and she found herself automatically smiling back. “This is Trail Blazer and Strongheart, though that is not his actual name.”

“Ah, pleased to meet you?” Rarity said. 

“Wow, a Dragon,” Trail Blazer said, staring up at Spike. “I’ve never met a Dragon before. Aren’t I supposed to answer a riddle or something?”

“That’s a sphynx,” Spike said. 

“Bless you,” Blaze replied, making Spike blink in confusion.

“Strongheart, Trail Blazer, these are Rarity and Spike,” Gamma said. “And they will be accompanying us through the Storm.”

“Excuse me,” Rarity said, being sure to put as much indignant stress on the words as she could. “Just who invited you along?”

“You mistake me, Lady Rarity,” Gamma said. “I’m not coming with you, you are coming with me.”

“And why would we do that?”

“Because I am the best chance you have at getting close to Max Cash.”

There was silence in the train car. Rarity scanned the faces of the others. Spike had focused intently on Gamma, his entire body going rigid. Trail Blazer had hopped over to the window and was pressing his face against the glass to look at the passing scenery. Strongheart was looking at her, the light reflecting from his eyes seeming to take on a strange green tinge. Gamma sat with serene calm, taking in the entire scene and not giving anything useful back. Finally, Spike spoke: “You have a plan.” 

“Of course,” Gamma replied.

“Do we get to know the plan?”

“In time.”

Spike snorted angrily at that, but his body relaxed a bit. “And this plan will get me a shot at Cash.”

“Oh, yes,” Gamma said. “You will get your chance for revenge.”

Spike looked to Rarity, who took a slow, worried breath, then nodded. “Alright,” he said. “We’re in.”

“Good,” Gamma said, though she gave the impression that asking had just been a formality. “Trail Blazer, can you lead us all safely through the Storm?”

He peeled his face from the window and looked back at them. “Sure, I guess. I mean, I’ve never taken a Dragon through before, so I don’t know if it’ll like him or not. And she’s super-powerful or something, so it’ll probably react to that. But, I guess, yeah, if we’re all good with running for our lives from giant zombie bears, I think it won’t be a problem.”

“Giant zombie bears?” Rarity asked.

“Trust me, it’s scarier than you’d think,” Strongheart said, the first words she’d heard from him. His voice wasn’t like she’d been expecting from a pony of his size and obvious strength. It sounded quieter than she had thought it would, softer.

“Our lives are in your hooves, Trail Blazer,” Gamma said.

“Just call me Blaze,” he replied with a friendly smile before looking back out the window.

“Very well,” Gamma said. “Now, once Blaze has gotten us safely through the Storm, it will be Strongheart’s turn. He is a member of the Republics Intelligence Agency, and he will be contacting his superiors with very important information about Cash.”

“Okay. So what then?” Spike asked.

“Then?” Gamma replied, and she smiled a small, mischievous smile that transformed her face from the unreadable spymaster into something strange and beautiful. “Then I surrender, and the fun really begins.”