When Will it End?

by Whirl Wind

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: Brotherhood Lost

“What do I do? What do I do?!” Whirl shouted frantically as he paced in front of Sugar Cube Corner. “Where would Sombra have taken him? Where would he go? Think, think, think, think, think!” he shouted as he pounded a hoof on the ground. “Help, I need help!” He took off to head back to the picnic and prayed that Flare was still there. Luckily, he was. Whirl swooped down and landed in front of Flare just as they had finished packing up.

“There you are Whirl, did Sunny send you back?” Derpy asked happily. She noticed he was sweating and looked a bit worried. “Whirl, what’s wrong?”

Whirl was trying to catch his breath. “Sombra took Sunny! Flare, I need your help to find him!”

Flare was dumbstruck. “Whoa, what? How did Sombra take Sunny if he is dead?”

“I don’t know! Sunny was on the ground having some kind of seizure and in a dark voice was shouting for help and calling out Sombra’s name! Then a red circle encased him and he vanished!”

“Wait, did you say a red circle?” Flare asked sternly.

“Yes! It was a red circle!”

“Bloody Marey…” Flare said in a hushed tone.

“What? What’s a Bloody Marey?” Air asked curiously.

“One of Sombra’s other commanding officers. She was the captain of his magical forces during the war. After I destroyed Los Pegasus we assumed she was killed in the aftermath. She must have escaped before hoof and hid somewhere.”

“Where would she have gone?”

“I don’t know where she could be at all… is there anything that Sunny might have said before he became Sunny?”

Whirl started to pace back and forth. “Let me think, let me think! He left me more than you will ever know… He must have meant her! Sombra left Bloody Marey behind for Sunny to meet up with! That must have been where Sunny was heading before I had him turn back… but… I don’t understand why he never told me about her…”

“Maybe when he lost his horn he lost the memories of her too?” Derpy suggested.

“Or maybe this was his plan all along. I mean, how do we know he didn’t let her take him?” Air suggested as she started to load the foals into their pouches.

“No! No, Sunny wouldn’t do that! He changed!” Whirl shouted angrily causing the foals to start crying.

“Air, I need you to take our babies home… Whirl, I will do what I can to help but I can’t leave Ponyville to go out on some dangerous quest. I have other responsibilities to worry about.”

“Fine, just give me a pair of flight goggles and I will be off!”

“Make that two pairs of goggles!” Derpy suddenly yelled. Whirl was a bit shocked and looked towards her. “If you are going to find Sunny then so am I!”

Whirl smiled and nodded. “You realize that we are both probably going to be flying to the northern wastelands right?”

“Of course. And before you say anything, yes I do realize that I am probably going to lose my job over this.” Derpy said confidently.

“Alright then, here.” Flare said as he hoofed them both a pair of goggles. “I brought them in case we were going to do any of our ‘fiery’ tricks. After you are gone I will send a letter to both Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance so that they can try to help. Good luck you two… be careful.”

Whirl nodded and took the goggles. Both he and Derpy strapped them on and flew back to their home to gather supplies for the journey. When they arrived Whirl slammed through the door and broke it in two and Derpy followed behind him. “That mare must have waited for the coronation so that she could strike! We have to make this quick! Dress warmly and grab whatever food will last the longest in cold weather!” he shouted as he ran to his room.

Derpy ran to the kitchen and grabbed as many muffins as she could and stuffed them into a saddle bag. “Muffins last long in the cold right?!”

“They should! They might be a bit hard when we eat them though!” Whirl called from the other room.

Derpy quickly ran to the bedroom and saw that Whirl was half dressed in a large wool coat and he had a scarf on as he dug through the dresser. He pulled out a wool hat and jammed it on his head. “Make sure you dress as warmly as I am… do you have clothes like this?”

Derpy shook her head. “The only clothes I have ever worn is my uniform.”

Whirl opened the closet and pulled out another jacket and scarf. “It is going to be a bit big on you but it will work. You might have a harder time flying but I think I can carry you without being slowed down.” He said as he dressed her. He pulled out another hat from the dresser and placed it gently on her head. “I… you know you don’t have to come with me right?”

“Of course I do! If Sunny means this much to you then he means this much to me. Besides, I am not leaving your side until the day I die.” Derpy said confidently.

Whirl kissed her forehead. “I won’t let that happen, I promise.”

Derpy giggled a bit. “I can see why you helped the elements so easily; love is a powerful force in your life isn’t it?”

Whirl nodded. “I would sacrifice my own life for somepony I loved without question. I will protect you no matter what, but we must be off now… we have little time… maybe… maybe he is still alright…”

****

Sunny let out a howl of pain as Bloody Marey used her magic to corrupt his mind. “Stop fighting me! It is your destiny to serve me!”

“NO! I will never… AUGH!!!!!”

“Fool! Do you really think that they care about you?! Do you really think HE cares about you?! You murdered his family! His brothers! His sister! He HATES you!”

Sunny fell to the floor in agony, the chains that bound him tightened around him at Bloody Marey’s command. “HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU EVEN MENTION HIM!”

“Stop lying to yourself! You aren’t fooling me! I know the darkness within you can still be tapped! NOW QUIT FIGHTING ME!” She coiled the chains so tightly that they started to cut into Sunny’s skin. “Let’s start by getting rid of that ridiculous dye!”

“NO! NOOOO!”

The dye melted off of his coat and was replaces with his natural green coat and his yellow and blue mane. “There we are! Enough hiding your true self! Now, let’s see what we can do about those eyes!”

Sunny started to struggle even more causing him intense pain where the chains cut his skin. “GO TO HELL! I WILL NEVER SUBMIT!”

“YOU HAVE NO CHOICE!” Bloody Marey screamed as he horn started to glow even more intensly.

Sunny felt the darkness start to creep into his mind. With every ounce of strength he had he fought her. Eventually his resolve won out and Bloody Marey stopped her spell and started to pant heavily, as did Sunny. “You… will not win…”

“Not today… but I will be back again tomorrow to finish my work.” Bloody Marey walked to the door and pushed it open. A torrent of snow blew through it and she walked out closing the door behind her locking it.

Sunny saw the moon out the window through the snow. He shook his mane and his half diamond fell out and rolled onto the floor in front of him. “Luna… Luna…” he called out weakly.

“Sunny? Is that you? You sound… different.” Luna said as she looked through the diamond. “Whirl? What are you doing with Sunny’s gem? Wait… are you okay?”

“It’s me… Sunny… Luna… A mare… has captured me… taken me north… and is trying to turn me… into Sombra’s minion again… if… if she succeeds…”

“She won’t! I am coming right now!”

“NO! No… Luna… stay away… I don’t want you to get hurt… I am sure Whirl is already on his way… ungh… warn… Cadance… I think… I think this mare… means to… ungh… take the Crystal Empire…”

“She won’t succeed! We are on our way there! Hold on Sunny!”

The door burst open and Bloody Marey walked through. “So this is where he is getting his strength, let us get rid of that!” she said as she took the diamond and placed it in her bag. “Now then! YOU ARE MINE!” Her horn started to glow and her eyes narrowed.

Sunny was distraught from losing Luna, his mind was weak and at last his mind fell. His eyes turned green and the chains came off of him. He stood up and looked into Bloody Marey’s eyes. “Shall we take the empire while they are gone?”

“That’s the plan. We will use Sombra’s last gift to turn the Empire into our personal army!”

“Then you have mastered the spell?”

“Yes! Come quickly! We don’t have much time!” Bloody Marey shouted as she ran out the door.

Sunny swiftly followed her out and slammed the door shut. “General Wind is back!”

****

The wind howled against Whirl and Derpy as they flew further north. But salvation was near at hoof as the snow started to lighten and the wind died down as they approached the Crystal Empire. The sudden change from cold to warm was welcome as they landed on the outskirts of the city. Derpy climbed off of Whirl’s back and took her hat off. “Looks like we beat Cadance and Shining Armor back; the train still hasn’t arrived yet.” Whirl said as he pointed to the train station. “We should head to the castle and tell the guards to be prepared for anything.”

Derpy nodded in agreement. “Let’s get moving th—“ BOOM! The ground shook violently and the screams of ponies could be heard in the distance. The castle turned black in almost an instant and a dark stream shot into the sky and moved in streams across the sky. Derpy looked horrified as she watched in fear, her heart felt like it was being gripped by fear itself as she stood there. Her chest suddenly felt tight and she grasped it with her hoof. “Whirl, help!” she screamed in terror.

Whirl was fairing much better because he knew the feeling of evil and did not waver. He picked Derpy up and held her tightly. “It’s going to be okay Derpy, I promise. Just hang on and know that the evil will not take you while you are here with me.” He whispered into her ear.

Derpy started to cry. “What’s going on? Why is this happening?”

“They must have done something to the crystal heart. You need to calm down so that we can do something to help these ponies.” Whirl said calmly.

Derpy sniffled a bit more. “Okay… it’s what we came here to do…”

Whirl kissed her forehead gently. “Alright, are you good to go?”

Derpy nodded slowly and stood up. “I’m alright. Let’s go.”

They made their way into town as stealthily as possible. The edges of the crystal buildings had become jagged and rough with small spikes covering its surfaces so it was hard to stay close to them. Then they heard the one voice they wanted to hear, Sunny’s. “Ponies of the crystal empire hear me! By order of King Sombra I have come to liberate you of your freedom and take control of the empire! Those of you that can bear arms are ordered to do so and prepare for retaliation from Celestia!”

Whirl and Derpy hid behind some garbage cans in an alley as brainwashed ponies ran past. “We have to get to the castle, maybe we can bargain with him like I did last time.” Whirl whispered into Derpy’s ear.

“What?! Do you really think that he will listen?!” Derpy whispered back angrily.

“Derpy, I have to believe that there is something we can save here. If we can’t save him then we have to kill him.” Whirl whispered sternly.

“Kill him!?” Derpy accidently shouted which attracted the attention of a couple of ponies that were crossing by. They seemed to be former guards but their entire bodies seemed shadowed by their armor which covered their entire bodies, as well as their identities. As they came over Whirl readied himself for combat. One of them poked their heads around the can and Whirl snapped his neck without mercy and took the guards spear and used the butt end to hit the other over the head knocking him out cold. “You killed him…” Derpy squeaked.

Whirl started to drag the other body into the alley way and pulled out some rope to tie him up and gag him. “Yes, I killed him… I had to… it was either that or he would kill us without hesitation. Since I didn’t have a weapon and I couldn’t guarantee a knockout with just my bare hooves I had to kill him okay? If the time comes and you have to choose between killing somepony and living I want you to not hesitate because they will not hesitate to kill you, they will not show you mercy, and they will NOT take you prisoner. Okay?”

Derpy was shaking a bit. “He’s dead…” she squeaked softly.

Whirl grabbed Derpy by her shoulders. “Listen to me Derpy. If you think you can’t do this I need to take you home. Can you do this or not?”

Derpy looked to the dead guard and then to Whirl. “I… I don’t think I can.”

Whirl smiled and nodded. “Then I will get you to the edge of the city and then I need you to fly to Canterlot to bring back some help, okay?”

“I… I can get to the edge of the city on my own. You go and help Sunny.”

“I think I can help with that.” A voice sounded out behind them. Whirl grabbed a spear and held it to the mysterious pony’s throat. “Whirl, put the spear down… it’s me, Whim.”

Whirl took the spear down. “Whim, thank Celestia… what are you doing here?”

“I followed you after Flare told me what happened. This is my chance to make it up to Sunny for what I said, so what is the plan?” Whim asked in a whisper.

“Derpy is leaving to go bring back help… and there is nothing wrong with that.” Whirl said as he turned to Derpy and gave her a kiss. “Promise me you will be safe.”

“I promise; I will just follow the same way out. I will be fine. Once I get to the edge of town I will fly out and follow the train tracks.”

“Good luck Derpy.” Whirl said softly as he kissed her cheek. Derpy slowly snuck out of the alley and made her way to the edge of the city. “Whim, we need to take these two guard’s armor and put it on. Then we need to go to the castle and see what we can do to talk to Sunny, maybe he can still be reasoned with.”

“Alright, what are we going to do with the bodies?”

“Put them in the garbage cans and place garbage over them. It is all we can do. You… you don’t think it is bad to be killing these ponies, do you? I mean… they are kind of being brain washed…”

“The guards know what their duties are; they would gladly give their lives for the good of their empire. Right now they are compromised and they know it. I am sure death is a release for them right now.” Whim said as he started to dress in the guard’s armor.

Whirl nodded slowly and started to do the same. “Should we kill the other one?”

Whim looked at the unconscious guard and frowned. “I might be able to encase him in stone with my magic. He would still be alive but… I can’t dispel it myself… so he will be trapped in stone until somepony can free him.”

“It is better than death, do it.”

Whim used his magic to encase the pony in stone before they hoisted the bodies into the trash. Now that they were fully geared, they started to march towards the castle. They carried their spears exactly like the other guards and marched just as robotically. When they reached the castle their hearts nearly stopped as they saw the crystal heart broken into two pieces, but it was still spinning and the two pieces were held together by pure shadow. Doing their best to ignore it they walked into the castle and saw guards filing into lines and marching out onto the streets. Then they saw him, standing beside the throne that was currently occupied by Bloody Marey. “Whim… stay on the inside and gather as much information as possible. I have to do this alone.”

Whim gave him a nod. “Good luck.” He said as he marched into the ranks and followed the others out onto the streets.

Whirl walked into the throne room and stood in front of Bloody Marey and Sunny. “What is the meaning of this, why aren’t you in rank?!” Sunny scolded.

“I am here to negotiate with Sunny.” Whirl said as he removed his helmet.

“I expected something like this.”

Bloody Marey smirked and leaned on her hoof on the throne. “Well, well, well. It looks like somepony has a stout heart strong enough to defeat my magic. That’s good, we could use somepony like you in our army!” she said as her horn started to glow. Her aura wrapped around Whirl and he shrugged it off.

“Please, your magic is not nearly as powerful as you think.”

“He is resistant to magic, the only way to convert him would be to take what he loves most from him.”

“And what would that be?!” Bloody Marey asked in rage.

Whirl smirked. “Everything I love is dead… Derpy didn’t survive the trip here like we had originally planned…” he said sadly.

Sunny seemed a bit stunned, and something about him seemed a bit sad. “Derpy… is dead? Then… he truly has nothing to lose… but he was able to resist your magic. How is this possible?”

“I don’t care how it is possible! Just seize him and take him to the dungeons!” Bloody Marey scolded.

Sunny walked over to Whirl and subdued him before chaining his body. He hoisted Whirl onto his back and started to carry him to the dungeons. When they got there Sunny tossed him into a cell and locked it tight. “How could you bring Derpy along with you and let her die? You are more of a monster than I am.”

“Do you think that I don’t realize that? You are the last thing I have left to lose. Are you… even still you?” Whirl asked as he stood up and walked to the cell door.

“I… ungh… no. You have already lost me. I… I’m sorry for your loss.” Sunny said sullenly as he walked away.

“Sunny! Come back!” Whirl called out.

Sunny ignored him and walked out of the dungeons. Whirl laid down on the bench in the cell and sighed. “Things going according to plan?” Whim’s voice sounded just outside of the cell.

“Whim, what the heck are you doing here?” Whirl asked frantically.

“I am here to get you out of course.”

“No, I am right where I need to be. Just keep gathering info and keep the princesses informed. I will turn Sunny around. Wait… I do need you to do something else. Take Derpy and change her appearance, then spread the word that she died on the way here. That will keep her safe.”

Whim nodded and heard the door open. He took his spear and hit Whirl in the face with it. “How dare you ask for water scum!” The guard had entered and looked at Whim.

“What are you doing here? I am supposed to guard the prisoner.” The guard said coldly. Like the others, his identity was hidden behind their armor.

“Must have been a mix up in orders; I will go receive new orders immediately.” Whim said as he walked out of the dungeons.

Whirl rubbed his face and turned towards the new guard who was staring right at him. “Like the view? Draw a picture, it will last longer.” He said as he laid back down on the bench. The guard turned around and started to walk up and down the hall between the cells.

****

Derpy had arrived in Canterlot and was trying her darnedest to get past the guards. “YOU HAVE TO LET ME INTO THE CASTLE! I was sent from the Crystal Empire with an important message!”

“I’m sorry miss, but we are not to let anypony destirb the princesses while they discuss the recent coronation of Princess Twilight.”

“I don’t have time for this!” Derpy yelled as she flew over the guards heads and into the courtyard.

“We have a breach!” the guard yelled before he blew a whistle.

Derpy had to avoid them left and right as she flew inside of the castle. She arrived to the throne room and kicked down the door as she flew and crashed to the ground. The guards quickly swarmed her and pinned her down. “Princess Celestia! Whirl needs…! Mmpf!” she started before a guard muffled her.

“Release her at once!” Princess Luna shouted. The guards quickly got off of her and returned to their posts. “We know what has happened in the Crystal Empire Derpy. We are trying to keep it quiet so that we don’t have a panic. Right now we are making preparations to retaliate against King Sombra.”

“King Sombra isn’t behind it, it is Bloody Marey. She has Sunny under her control now but Whirl is doing something to save him.” Derpy explained.

“We know that too. That foolish Bloody Marey still has the diamond with her. We can hear everything she says, we just heard Whirl get taken by Sunny. He also told them that you were dead to keep you safe, we need to keep you in a protected room at all times and have a fake funeral for you.” Twilight said as she stood next to her brother.

“He told them… I was dead?”

Princess Cadance nodded. “It was to make sure they didn’t try to capture you for leverage. He was very brave considering the situation he was in.”

“We need to back and save him though! You said he was taken right? We need to rescue him before they can change him too!” Derpy cried out frantically.

“We can’t risk it for just one pony. I’m sorry Derpy, but Whirl knew what he was getting into when he went to the Crystal Empire.” Princess Celestia said as her horn started to glow and a map of Equestria appeared in the center of the room. Another map appeared of the Crystal Empire in its current state of darkness.

“My ponies…” Cadance said sadly.

“It’s going to be okay Cadance, we will get them back.” Shining Armor said to try and console his wife.

“Now then, we need to have a plan of attack. Derpy, did you get a chance to see their defenses?” Celestia asked calmly.

Derpy shook her head slowly. “No… I’m sorry. But Whim did! He was with Whirl before he was taken!”

“Who is Whim?” Twilight asked in a confused tone.

“Whim is a pony who is friends with Flare but Whirl knows him too! We have to find him so he can help us save Whirl!”

“Whirl is not the priority here!” Celestia said in a raised voice. “Right now we are focusing on containing the attack so that we can save the Crystal Empire with as few casualties as possible! Now if you do not have information for us then I insist you be escorted to your safe room!”

“Sister…” Luna said with a concerned tone.

“This war is going to be harsh and I will not allow us to be bound to helping one pony when we need to focus on the good of our entire kingdom! We cannot be compromised by remorse!”

“But Whirl is my friend!” Luna shouted in protest.

“And what if he turns? What if he is holding a spear to the throat of a guard and the only way you can stop him is to kill him? Would you do it?” Twilight asked sadly.

“I… I don’t know…” Luna said softly.

“Exactly my point, this is already going to be hard enough on you as it is. We have to remain objective in order to do what we can to protect Equestria.” Celestia said sternly. “Now then, if we could continue planning our retaliation.” She said as she turned back towards the map.

“Fine, you can all plan. I am going to save Whirl on my own.” Derpy said as she started to walk out of the room.

Luna stopped her. “Derpy, I know what you are feeling… but Whirl wouldn’t have gotten captured and lied to them just so that you could put yourself at risk.”

“I can’t let him turn! He wouldn’t stay here and do nothing if it were me!” Derpy said defiantly.

“No he wouldn’t, but now is not the time to help. Let’s discuss it a bit more in your secure room.” Luna said softly. “I will be back in a moment, please continue without me.” She said as she walked Derpy out of the room.

“Princess Luna please, I am begging you to let me go help Whirl!” Derpy pleaded as they walked through the hall.

Luna let out a sigh and frowned. “Derpy, you have to understand… Whirl would have never been captured if he didn’t want to. He must have a plan of some kind if he is in there. Give it time and it will surely come to light.”

“I shouldn’t have left him alone… I just couldn’t do it… I couldn’t do it!” Derpy cried out as tears started to pour out of her eyes.

“You couldn’t do what Derpy?”

“I couldn’t kill anypony! I couldn’t do it! He did it so easily! But I couldn’t do it!”

“Believe me; it is not easy to take a pony’s life… It is however; easy to do whatever it takes to protect somepony you love.”

Derpy didn’t say anything until they got into the room where she would stay. “What can I do to help you…?”

“Help me? Whatever do you mean?”

“Not you specifically, but all of you. What can I do to make sure that nothing goes wrong?”

“Tell me everything you can about what you saw.”

“The empire seemed to be shaped differently; there were spikes all over the buildings. Everypony seemed to be brainwashed and controlled by Bloody Marey and Sunny. Their armor is covering their entire bodies, head and legs. Whirl was able to kill one by… breaking his neck… and he managed to knock the other out cold by hitting him with the end of a spear.”

“Do they speak? Are they still the ponies they were before?”

“I don’t know… Whirl said that… they wouldn’t hesitate to kill me.”

“Alright, anything else?”

Derpy shook her head slowly. “That’s all…”

“Thank you Derpy, this information will help us a lot.” Luna said softly.

“Just bring Whirl back safely… Please…”

“I will do my best. If you remember anything else, just let me know.” Luna said as she started to walk out of the room.

“Thank you…” Derpy said softly before climbing on the bed and crying into the pillows.

****

“Get up!” Sunny shouted into the cell.

Whirl awoke with a start and looked around. He saw Sunny standing at the open door of the cell and the guard on the floor. “What is this?”

“It’s… ungh… it’s me… but not for long! Move now!” Sunny struggled to say.

Whirl jumped off the bench and ran out of the cell. “I am not leaving without you.”

“Urgh! Knock me out!”

Whirl walked behind Sunny and hit the back of his head a few times as hard as he could. Sunny fell to the floor with a loud thud. Whirl quickly took off his armor and put it on. The only thing he couldn’t cover was his eyes. With a grunt he hoisted Sunny onto his back and walked out of the cell. When he walked out of the dungeons a guard saluted him. “Did he give you any trouble?” the guard asked.

Whirl did his best to darken his voice. “Why do you think he is unconscious?! Stop asking stupid questions and stand ready for anything!” Whirl started to walk down the hall before turning around the corner. He saw a window and flew out of it with Sunny on his back. Suddenly he felt something strike the back of his head and the weight of Sunny disappeared. Whirl took a steep dive before turning around to see Sunny hovering above him.

“PRISONER ESCAPE!” Sunny shouted loudly. He dove down and clipped Whirl’s wing, breaking it and causing him to spiral to the ground.

Whirl crashed onto the grass and scrambled to his hooves in time to deflect and attack from one of the guards. Sunny landed on the ground and hit Whirl in the face with his fore hoof. “Sunny! Stop this! Fight her magic!”

“I… am…” Sunny whispered as he pulled Whirl’s head down to the ground.

Whirl grabbed Sunny’s neck and flipped him over from the ground. Sunny tried to regain himself but found a spear to his throat. Whirl was holding him hostage as he started to back out of the city. “ANYPONY GETS CLOSE AND YOUR GENERAL WILL DIE!”

“Oh, you are such a bad liar.” Bloody Marey’s voice sounded through the crowd. The guards separated and Bloody Marey walked through them like nothing was happening. “I know how you got out and I think we found out what is keeping you from being mine.” She said casually as she walked up to them.

“You think I care about the pony that killed my entire family?! Think again!” Whirl said as he pressed the spear harder into Sunny’s neck.

Bloody Marey’s horn started to glow and the spear was ripped out of Whirl’s hooves. It spun around suddenly and plunged through Sunny’s chest. “Then you won’t mind losing him.” Bloody Marey yelled before laughing maniacally.

“Sunny! Sunny no!” Whirl said as he stopped Sunny from falling to the ground. He started to shake as he held Sunny in his hooves. “Sunny, hold on! I am going to save you!” Whirl pushed the spear through Sunny’s body, knowing that if he pulled it out it would cause more damage. Blood leaked out of Sunny’s chest and mouth.

Sunny pulled Whirl close and whispered. “She… missed… my heart… go with her, serve her… save… Equestria…” Sunny coughed blood on Whirl’s face before letting his head droop.

“Sunny, hold on please! Don’t die!” Whirl sobbed as he tried his best to hold in the blood.

Bloody Marey’s magic aura wrapped around Whirl once again. Whirl dropped Sunny and stood up stoutly. “I am yours to command.” He said darkly.

“Excellent. Now then, BACK TO YOUR POSTS!” Bloody Marey shouted.

“What should we do with him?” Whirl asked as he gestured to Sunny.

“Leave him; he won’t be dead weight any longer. He will just be dead.” Bloody Marey said coldly as she walked back towards the castle. Whirl followed behind mechanically leaving Sunny to bleed out on the outskirts of town.

Once the area was clear Whim jumped from the shadows with his horn glowing. “Hold on Sunny! Hold on!”

Sunny coughed up some more blood. “Wh-Whim? What are you doing here?”

“Quiet, you are bleeding too much to speak.” Whim said worriedly. “Listen, you are going to be in a lot of pain, but this is the only way you can live.” Stone encased Sunny as soon as he finished his sentence. “I will get you out of here…” Whim used his magic to lift Sunny and, with some effort, managed to levitate him the rest of the way out of the Crystal Empire. They walked for several hours through the wind and snow that had become extremely intense since the crystal heart had been corrupted. A battalion of pony soldiers from Equestria spotted their figures through the snow and some spilt off from the group to seize them.

“Halt! Who goes there?!” one of the soldiers shouted.

“My name is Whim! Lieutenant Whim! I am a friend in need of assistance!” Whim shouted as he fell to his knees.

The soldiers rushed over to him and put spears to his throat. “Be still or lose your life! Search him for weapons!” The soldiers stripped off Whim’s armor and picked him up. “Why are you out here with a statue?!”

“I was undercover in the Crystal Empire sir! I need to get this statue to Princess Celestia immediately! It is vital to the war!” Whim said with a salute.

“Did your orders come from Celestia?!”

“No, I was in the Crystal Empire when the heart was corrupted! This statue may hold the key to winning the war!”

“I will have a wagon here to carry it within two hours, leave it here and follow these two back to camp!”

“I won’t leave it here! It is too important!”

“That’s an order lieutenant!”

“I have higher orders sir! I will not leave the objective!”

“Then you will carry it back yourself! I cannot spare ponies at this time to assist you!”

“Then just point the way sir!”

“Five kilometers south of here! Good luck soldier!”

Whim heaved the statue out of the snow and turned south. Without his armor he was much colder but he pushed onward through the wind.

****

Derpy was smashing furniture left and right in her room. “Why did I leave you alone?! WHY?!” she shouted painfully as she smashed the mirror. Once the room was completely destroyed Derpy was exhausted and walked out to the balcony to rest.

“Feeling better?” Luna asked as Derpy sat down next to her and looked up at the moon with her.

Derpy was panting heavily while she nodded. “Thank you so much… for letting me destroy… the room…”

Luna giggled and hugged Derpy with a wing. “It was no problem, I did the same thing a long time ago… but that was to the whole castle.”

Derpy laughed a little bit. “It does help…”

“Well, I am glad that it did help, even if it was only a little bit.”

“Do you think… Whirl will be okay now that he has turned?”

“I don’t know if he will be okay… I just… I don’t know anymore…” Lune said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

“You really miss Whirl, don’t you?”

“Well yes but… I miss Sunny a bit more… I… can’t believe he is gone forever… so soon…”

Derpy started to cry a bit as well. “It was all a waste… Whirl went in to save Sunny and he ended up under HER control with nothing to show for it…! I think I need to smash a few more things… do you want to join me?” she asked as she wiped her eyes.

Luna nodded her head and a few drops fell to the floor. They both walked into the room and a large amount of crashes and smashes followed. A loud knock sounded from the door and a chair smashed against it. “COME IN!” Luna shouted.

“Your highness, a message from the forward camps! A lieutenant Whim has a statue that holds the key to winning the war! He disembarked from the train in critical condition with severe frostbite! They will both be here in five minutes!” a guard announced with a salute.

Luna used her magic to smash the bed in half. “Very well. Derpy, would you accompany me to welcome Whim home from his dangerous mission?”

“Of course!” Derpy said happily as she followed Luna out of the room. “Uhh… sorry about the room…” she said to the guard apologetically.

They walked down to the medical ward and saw Whim being carted in with heating blankets over his entire blanket. Whim noticed Derpy and smiled. “Derpy, it is nice to see you again. I am glad you made it out safely.”

“Whim, what is this statue that you brought back with you?” Luna asked curiously.

“It’s Sunny, I had to encase him in stone to keep him from dying. I hope it worked…”

“Sunny?! How is that possible?! Guards, bring the statue in at once and get the doctors!” Luna commanded.

The guards swiftly left the room and soon returned with the statue and two unicorns in lab coats. Luna looked at the statue and saw the expression of Sunny’s face, frozen in fear. Her horn started to glow and the statue started to glow. “Doctors, be ready to treat a serious spear wound to the chest!” she said as cracks started to form on the statue. The stone crumbled and fell off of Sunny and he let out a scream of agony and coughed up a bunch of blood. The doctors quickly used their magic to stop the bleeding and levitated several bandages and surgical equipment over and got to work to save Sunny’s life. Luna took several steps back as Sunny let out another scream of pain. “Put him under!” Luna yelled in a panic.

“If we put him under his blood pressure will drop and he will bleed out in a matter of seconds! If we are going to save him then he will have to endure the pain!” one of the doctors shouted.

Derpy was in tears as Sunny yelled in pain. Luna was not far behind as Celestia walked into the room and behind the doctors. “Sunny, I need you to tell me what you know.” She said calmly.

“Tia! That can wait can’t it?!” Luna shouted angrily.

“No, he may not survive and I need to know what he knows! Sunny, tell me what you can!”

Sunny yelled in agony and coughed up more blood over the doctors. “Sombra’s soul! Crystal heart! Inside! INSIDE! AHHHHH!”

“Princess he must stop talking if we are to save him!” the other doctor shouted.

“I have what I needed.” Celestia said as she exited the room hastily.

Luna followed her out and stopped Celestia in her tracks. “If he dies because you could not wait I will never forgive you!” she shouted as she broke into tears.

“Sister I…” Celestia started.

Luna wouldn’t hear it as she turned around and walked back into the room with Sunny and the others. “Whim, how did you save him? How did you save Sunny?”

Whim sighed sadly and laid his head down. “Whirl was trying to hold him hostage and walk out of the city but… Bloody Marey tore the spear from his hoof and stabbed Sunny with it. I saw Sunny whisper something into Whirl’s ear before he went limp. Once everypony was gone I jumped in and did what I could.”

Luna gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you…”

Derpy walked up to Whim as well. “Is Whirl okay? What is he planning?”

“Whirl didn’t tell me what his full plan was but… his eyes didn’t change like Sunny’s did. I think he is faking it to stay alive.”

“You mean… he didn’t turn?” Derpy asked hopefully.

“I don’t think he did. Trust in Whirl and he will come through.”

“Don’t kill Marey! Don’t kill her until…! AHHHHHH! UNTIL THE SOUL IS OUT!” Sunny shouted in agony.

The doctors grunted in irritation and forced Sunny flat on the bed. With one more stitch they put the surgical equipment down and started to pant. They were both absolutely covered in Sunny’s blood. “He is going to need blood… does anypony have his blood type here?”

“Take my blood; I can change the type as needed.” Luna said calmly.

Both of the doctors looked at each other quizzically before turning back to the princess. “Alright, have a seat and we will begin.”

Sunny let out another cry of pain. “DON’T KILL HER YET! AHHH!” he cried out in agony.

Derpy walked over to him and placed a hoof on his blood covered hoof. “Sunny, it’s okay… Princess Celestia knows what to do. Just keep as still as possible and relax.” She said softly.

Sunny was breathing heavily as he looked into Derpy’s eyes. “Whirl… Whirl is…” he started before coughing up some more blood. “Whirl is okay…” Sunny put his hoof on Derpy’s face, leaving behind a blood stained hoof print on her face. “Whirl is okay…”

Derpy smiled and started to cry. “Thank you Sunny.” She said softly.

Sunny’s eyes closed and his breathing slowed a bit. “He’ll be okay, the pain just became too much for him. Truly I am surprised he was able to last as long as he did.” One of the doctors said as he put a hoof on Derpy’s shoulder. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Derpy nodded and followed the doctor over to the sink. She picked up the sponge that was by the sink and started to wash the blood from her face. Meanwhile, Luna was using her magic to transmute her blood type to match Sunny’s and the doctor had her hooked up to a blood bag that was slowly filling up. Derpy looked into the mirror to make sure she had washed all the blood from her face. “Whirl is okay…” she said to herself.

“I am SO thirsty.” Whim said suddenly.

Everypony in the room let out a small laugh, Whim had said the right thing to ease the tension whether he meant to or not. Derpy brought him a warm glass of water and held his head up so he could drink. He drank the whole glass in one go and sighed contently. “Thank you for bringing Sunny home.” Derpy said with a soft smile.

“You’re welcome. I am just glad that I was able to move him through all that snow.” Whim said with a chuckle. “So doc, how long until I can get back into combat?”

One of the doctors walked over to Whim and moved the heated blankets off of him. There were several blotches of black skin under his coat all over his body, but the most affected area was at the bottom of his legs near his hooves. The doctor’s horn started to glow and the affected area’s lit up in a red aura. “You have several damaged nerves all over your body, I am not sure that we can repair them all as quickly as you might hope.”

Whim sighed and put his head down on the pillows with a grunt of slight pain. “Well, at least I got to help a little bit.”

“You will need quite a few sessions of magical repair that will stretch over the next few weeks. I do believe that you will make a full recovery soldier.” the doctor said confidently.

“A few weeks?! Perfect, just perfect… I can’t believe they didn’t give me my armor back. If they would have given me my armor back I wouldn’t have been so cold and maybe the damage wouldn’t have been so bad! But… they were doing their duty I guess…” Whim sighed in disappointment.

“Whim, you have already done so much for the war. Don’t worry about anything else at the moment.” Derpy said with a giggle.

“She is right; you brought back the one thing that will change the entire war for the better. Take this time to recover and relax. That is an order.” Luna said with a smile.

Whim tried to move a hoof to salute but he was too numb. “Yes your highness. I… ungh… I can’t salute.”

“That’s alright; I can just have somepony do it for you. Derpy, if you would be so kind.”

Derpy giggled and gave a salute. “Oh ha ha, very funny.” Whim said with a chuckle. He felt a pinch on one of his legs and he twitched in pain. “Ah, easy doc.”

“Sorry about that, the salute made me lose my concentration for a second.” the doctor said with a chuckle.

“Okay everypony; let’s not do anything to make the doctor lose his concentration.” Luna said with a giggle.

Sunny opened his eyes and coughed a bit. “Whirl… Whirl where are you?” he asked weakly.

Derpy walked over to Sunny with a sponge and started to gently clean his coat. “Whirl is okay, he will be here in a few days Sunny. Just relax and let me get you cleaned up.”

Sunny relaxed and started to breathe softly. “D-Derpy… where am I?”

“You are in Canterlot Sunny. Whirl and Whim got you out of the Crystal Empire and brought you here.” Derpy explained.

Sunny looked around the room without lifting his head. “What… Where… Whirl?” he muttered weakly.

“Sunny, it’s going to be okay. Please just relax.” Derpy said as she started to clean the blood from his chest.

Sunny started to squirm. “Whirl needs me… Marey… is evil… Let me go help him…”

Derpy put her hoof on Sunny’s face gently. “Sunny, Whirl is fine. Please calm down and relax. Once you are better you can see Whirl.”

Sunny stopped moving and looked over to Luna. “Luna… I’m sorry…”

“Sorry for what Sunny?” Luna asked softly.

“I couldn’t bring Whirl home… I tried but… Marey… her magic… when she took you away… I just lost myself… I couldn’t bring him home… I couldn’t bring him home…” Sunny said with a raspy tone.

“Sunny, it’s okay. Whirl knew what he was doing when he went up there to save you in the first place. What do you think he would do if you were in his situation?” Derpy asked with a smile.

“Well… Whirl would probably be wondering… why I didn’t just kill Marey and break the spell… he must be playing along to find out as much as he can…” Sunny coughed again and sighed. “He can’t kill her until the Sombra’s soul is out of the crystal heart… if he does the crystal heart will be tainted forever…”

“Whirl will do what he needs to do. He will probably wait for the right time to strike and then do what needs to be done.” Derpy said softly.

“I hope he can keep up… the act…” Sunny said before closing his eyes again and falling asleep.

Derpy continued to clean him as the doctors hooked up the first bag of blood for Sunny. “Why couldn’t he remember what happened?” she asked the doctor as he finished hooking up the bag.

“Well, he has quite a few bruises on the back of his head. I would assume that he suffered a few blows and it caused some light memory loss. It will only be temporary and it should only last a few days.” the doctor explained.

Derpy turned Sunny’s head over and saw the dark bruises on the back of it. “Can we get him an ice pack?”

The doctor nodded and levitated an ice pack from the freezer. “Here you go miss.”

Derpy took the ice pack and gently pressed it against Sunny’s head. “Whirl did this... he must have tried to knock Sunny out…”

“Why would he need to if Sunny was trying to get him out?” Luna asked curiously.

“Sunny must not have been in complete control or maybe it was his plan to knock Sunny out and fly him here.” Derpy pondered as she held the icepack. “Poor Sunny… he fought so hard…”

Whim let out a chuckle. “Yes he did, against Whirl from what I saw. It was strange that Whirl had Sunny’s armor on though. I think that Whirl knocked him out inside the castle and carried him to the outskirts where I found him.”

Derpy didn’t respond, she simply held the ice pack to Sunny’s head. “It is a bit hard to look at him… I keep thinking that this is Whirl and they got mixed up somehow… that is probably why I am having such an easy time taking care of him…”

Sunny stirred and opened his eyes again. “Whirl… Where are you?” he asked softly.

Derpy didn’t respond, she just looked at him with a concerned look.

****

“Move the second unit here! They will be expecting us to move to the back to watch for an ambush!” Whirl shouted angrily.

Bloody Marey slammed her hoof down on the map of the Crystal Empire. “I say we keep them in the back!”

“You are as much as a fool as Sombra! He never listened to me either!” Whirl scolded.

“How dare you speak disrespectfully about our master!”

“He lost because he was incompetent! He rushed the advance, which I advised against because I knew he would lose! The only good he is to us now is to control these idiots long enough to sneak into Canterlot!”

“Say that again and I will have your head!”

“I AM THE SENIOR COMMANDER HERE! Or did you forget that you are only a captain?! I am the general and I say we move the second unit FORWARD!”

Bloody Marey slammed another hoof down. “FINE! Move the damned unit forward! After we take Canterlot and steal the elements of harmony Sombra will be in command again and HE will do what is right!”

“Until then, why don’t you send out the order to the second UNIT!”

Bloody Marey grunted and threw herself at Whirl, locking him in a deep kiss. Everything in Whirl’s body wanted to push her off, except for that one part that knew if he blew his cover he would be dead in a matter of seconds. Marey pulled away from the kiss and sighed contently. “You are just what I was looking for.” she said as she walked out of the room.

When she was gone Whirl looked at the map again. “Now there are three openings where the princesses can push through. If they see them then this battle will be over in seconds. I’m sorry Derpy…” he thought as he shuffled the pieces around on the map.

Bloody Marey sauntered back into the room. “You know, I like you being in charge a lot more than Sombra…” she said seductively. “Maybe we can go with the backup plan that me and Sunny came up with…”

“What backup plan would that be?” Whirl asked in an irritated tone.

“Well, we found a way to wipe out Sombra’s essence without losing control of the ponies. If we did that, you could be the king… and I, your queen.”

Whirl let out an evil chuckle. “I like the sound of that.” he said as he walked over to her and looked into her eyes. “What kind of queen could I expect from you…?” He brushed a hoof through her mane softly.

Marey let out a raspy breath. “A loyal one… my king…”

“Then let’s be done with that fool… and we will rule Equestria with iron hooves…” Whirl said as he kissed her again.

Marey lost herself and pushed against Whirl violently. She tore away from him with a gasp and smiled evilly. “Let’s go… your highness…”

Whirl followed her out of the room and down to the crystal heart. As they stood in front of it Marey let out a chuckle and ran a hoof over the heart. “Do it and we will celebrate with a glorious feast on the eve of battle.”

Marey rubbed up against the heart with her snout and her horn started to glow. The heart pulled together and she kissed it softly. “Come and kiss the heart Whirl, and think of me when you do… then he will be gone and we will rule Equestria forever.”

Whirl approached the heart and leaned in to kiss it. “Derpy…” he thought as he kissed the heart. Instantly the heart shattered into two pieces again, except this time one side was covered in shadows while the other shined with purity.

Marey took a step back and admired her work. “Just like we planned. Sombra’s soul is destroyed and we have complete control!”

Whirl looked at the heart with a bit of pain. “That is the second time I have killed him and I hope it is the last.”

Marey walked over to Whirl and kissed him deeply. “Now there is nothing to stop us… we will rule forever…” she said as she kissed him over and over.

Whirl turned his head and looked at the heart again. “What if we need to repair the heart? What if something goes wrong?”

“In the unlikely event that it does happen, we will force the crystal princess to fix it for us.”

“Then let us retire to the dinner table, where we will celebrate.” Whirl said as he kissed her deeply. He slipped his hoof into her bag, took out the diamond and slipped it into his mane. He pulled away from the kiss and lead her back into the castle to the dining room.

The room was packed with intricate delicacies only found in the Crystal Empire. “Quite a feast you have here. Let’s enjoy it before we… couple.”

“We aren’t going to couple tonight. I don’t want to be distracted on the battlefield. But do not fret, we will have our fun in due time.” Whirl said as he held back the vomit welling up in the back of his mouth.

Marey cooed and fluttered her eyes. “Then we will wait, until we are victorious over the feeble Equestrian army.”

Whirl was on the verge of losing it. He dropped his plate and let it shatter on the floor. “Disgusting food. I will eat the rations I stored in my room. Goodnight.” he said as he exited the dining room. When he arrived in his room he shook the diamond out of his mane. “Luna, are you there?”

“Whirl? How did you get the diamond back?” Luna’s voice sounded in the room.

“Shhh! I stole it from her while she was… distracted. Listen, there are three holes in their defenses that I have planned. Send word to the troops that there will be an opening on the north side, the northwest side, and the northeast side.”

Luna nodded and wrote down the instructions. “How did you manage to distract her from you long enough to steal the diamond back? I need to know so that we can do it again when we storm the castle.”

Whirl blushed and frowned. “I… I kissed her… I did not enjoy it one bit, but she likes me and she wants me bad and I am going to play on that for as long as I can.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that a secret… Sometimes we do what we don’t want to get the job done. I have some news from you. Sunny is alive, Whim brought him back safely.”

“Really?! That’s great…” Whirl said as he lowered his voice again. “Listen, Sombra’s soul was in the heart, but we staged a coup and destroyed it. Now all we need to do is have Princess Cadance come in and fix the heart, then the crystal ponies will be free.”

“TRAITOR!” Bloody Marey shouted as she ran through the door.

“MOVE NOW LUNA! MOVE!” Whirl shouted as he deflected Marey’s first strike.

Luna ran out of the room and shouted for the guards to follow. Marey struck again and Whirl deflected the blow and struck the back of her head. She shrugged off the blow and used her magic to start hurling things at Whirl from all over the room. Whirl was pushed back onto the balcony and he looked at his broken wing, he was trapped. The balcony cracked and started to fall off of the side of the castle. Whirl braced himself and looked around; he jumped off of the balcony and onto one of the spikes that had formed on the castle. He looked back up to Marey with a smirk. “By the way, I nearly vomited in your mouth!” he shouted as he jumped down to another spike, then to another.

“Guards! Kill him! KILL HIM!” Marey’s voice boomed.

The guards scrambled and started to pursue Whirl through the streets. Whirl took down two guards that were in his way and continued to run. A loud horn blew through the city and a large battle cry sounded from the north. Whirl tore his helmet off and smacked the nearest guard with it before tearing off his armor. He bucked the next guard and threw him into another. The loud clash of metal rang through the city as the two armies collided. In the sky the pegasi were flying over the city while escorting Princess Cadance to the crystal heart. Whirl was starting to get overwhelmed when a crashed tore down the building next to him. Unicorns started to stun the guards one by one and a bolt of magic hit Whirl in the chest. While Whirl was taken to his knees, he wasn’t knocked unconscious by the blast. “Is that him? The one we are looking for?” one of the soldiers asked as the others pushed forward.

“He fits the description, take him back to the camp.” another soldier ordered.

Whirl was picked up with a magical aura, but he shook it off. “With all due respect sir, I want to finish this fight.”

“We have orders to get you out of the city safely if possible.”

“Pretend you didn’t see me, I have to get back into the fight.” Whirl said as he charged past the lines and into combat again.

“That pony is crazy.” the soldier said as he shook his head and got back into rank.

Whirl fought his way to the center of the city and under the castle where Princess Cadance had Bloody Marey pinned down with her magic. “Bloody Marey, your army has been defeated and your magic is weak. Surrender now or face your death.”

Bloody Marey struggled a bit more before giving up and going limp. “I surrender…” she said softly.

Two unicorn guards chained her body and another broke her horn with a kick. She was hauled away while Princess Cadance looked at the crystal heart. “Princess Cadance, be careful!” Whirl said as he pushed himself to the front of the soldiers.

“Whirl Wind? What are you doing here? You were supposed to be escorted back to the forward camps.”

“I couldn’t stop fighting your highness. Bloody Marey told me that you are the only one that can fix the heart, but I don’t know if I trust her. Just be careful when you attempt to fix the heart, okay?”

Cadance nodded and her horn started to glow. The heart started to resonate and hum as it was pulled together. Whirl stepped closer to Cadance in case anything went wrong. A beam shot out from Cadance’s horn and made contact with the heart. Pulses of light flowed up the beam and into the heart and it started to glow like it was previously. The darkness within the heart focused into one circle and shot back through the beam towards Cadance. Without hesitation Whirl threw himself into the beam and cut it off just as the darkness almost made contact with Cadance. Whirl’s chest was encased in black crystal as he stood up. “And that… is why… I didn’t trust her…” he wheezed as the crystal started to squeeze him.

Cadance was using her magic to stop it from crushing Whirl. “Get Princess Celestia up here quickly.” she ordered the nearest soldier.

The soldier gave salute and flew off to get Princess Celestia. The crystal heart was glowing brightly again and the crystal ponies were starting to come to. Whirl collapsed to his knees as the crystal squeezed his chest a bit more. “Talk about a bear hug…” he wheezed jokingly.

“Hold on Whirl, Celestia knows how to get the crystals off.”

Princess Celestia walked through the line of soldiers and walked over to Whirl. Her horn started to glow and the crystal squeezed one more time before it stopped. Whirl let out a cry of pain as his rib cage started to crack. The crystal slowly cracked and shattered off of Whirl’s chest and he took a deep breath. “Thank you Princess Celestia, it was getting a bit cramped in there.”

Princess Celestia frowned. “Whirl I… I have to take you into custody.”

“What?! Why?!” Whirl asked in a shocked and confused tone.

“Since you were not working under the orders of a princess I have to take you in for enemy collaboration. It will only be for a short time and I can almost guarantee that you will not be convicted. But these laws were set up for a reason. I’m sorry.” Celestia said apologetically.

Whirl nodded with a smile. “Promise me that Derpy can visit.” he said as he was chained by a couple of soldiers.

“I promise you that once you are back in Canterlot you will get to see Derpy.” Celestia said sincerely.

“Alright, take me away.” Whirl said as the soldiers escorted him through the crowd.

“You can’t just give him a royal pardon or anything like that?” Cadance asked bluntly.

“I can’t appear to be favoring somepony, even if they deserve the favors. Trust me; I am dodging a thousand thrown spears by doing this. You might want to do the same after the trial in Canterlot.”

“You are kidding! What could be so bad to do that to somepony?!”

“Three months of political stress and noble ponies using him as an excuse to get more from me. Plus I would have to deal with Prince Blueblood being out decorated by a ‘commoner’ and that would last a lifetime. Need I continue?”

Cadance shook her head. “You need to tell Whirl that in your apology to him. I know I will.”

“So you are going to have him extradited here after the trial in Canterlot? That’s cold.” Celestia said jokingly as she walked away.

“But you just, oh I see. Very funny Princess Celestia! Tell Whirl about the plan and tell him I’m sorry!” Cadance shouted out before Celestia got out of ear shot.

****

Derpy was sprinting down to the train station after she got the news that Whirl was going to be on the next train. She skidded to a halt just outside of the train as it pulled into the station. The engine hissed and the doors opened, then she saw him step off the train. “Whirl!” she shouted as she hugged him tightly. “I was so worried about you! I am so happy you are home!”

Derpy was gently pulled off of Whirl by the guards. “Sorry miss, no contact with the prisoner.”

Whirl chuckled a bit as they started to walk down the street. “I am so happy to see you safe and sound Derpy. I was so worried after you left that alley.”

“I didn’t run into any trouble. The only problem I had was getting back here through all the wind.” Derpy said as she trotted alongside the escort.

“I figured that you would have a bit of trouble, but I always believed in you. The wind has really died down now that the crystal heart is repaired.”

“Oh, I wish I could just hold you and take you back to Ponyville with me…” Derpy said sadly.

“Don’t worry; I am sure that we will only be here a couple more days. What do you two think? Do you think the jury will vote to convict?”

“I wouldn’t personally. I saw you in combat and you got some good moves. Also, anypony who can stay undercover for as long as you did and only blow it when the timing was perfect is okay with me.” one of the guards said sincerely.

“I am with him on this one, you are not a bad pony.” said the other.

Derpy giggled a bit. “Thanks for the vote of confidence you two.”

Both of the guards nodded without turning their heads. “Stoic guards as usual. You two are the paragons of honor and integrity.” Whirl said sincerely.

“Stop flirting with the guards and flirt with me Whirl.” Derpy said jokingly.

Whirl blushed at this and the guards laughed loudly. “Can’t give anypony else a compliment without you getting jealous huh? Well then Derpy, you are the most beautiful thing I have seen all week, and I got to see the Crystal Empire in its full glory.”

“Ohhh that is a good one. He’s pretty good.” one of the guards said sincerely.

Derpy blushed and nodded. “Yes he is, that is why he gets to marry me once all this craziness is over.”

“Congratulations, but this is where our conversation ends. We cannot allow others into the dungeons at this time. Come back after Princess Celestia returns and we can arrange a visit.”

Whirl smiled softly. “Can I kiss my future wife really quick?” he asked kindly.

The two guards looked around to make sure nopony else was able to see. When they saw the coast was clear they gave Whirl a nod and he kiss Derpy passionately. After a few minutes they pulled away and both sighed with content. “I will see you in a few hours Derpy, I love you.” he said as he started to walk down the spiral stair case.

“I love you too Whirl!” Derpy called out. She waited until they were out of view before she turned back towards her room and trotted away.

Luna met up with her half way back to her room. “Derpy, where’s Whirl?” she asked as she tried to catch her breath.

“I had to leave him at the dungeons; they said I couldn’t go down there until Princess Celestia gets back.”

“Oh nonsense, come with me and we will go see him now.” Luna said as she started to walk to the dungeons.

Derpy giggled as they started to walk to the dungeons again. “Thank you Luna, I still can’t believe that you two are going through with this whole trial thing. I mean, he did fight behind enemy lines for you and got Sunny, Whim and even me out of there safely.”

“Actually, Celestia has asked me to go and ask Whirl if he would be willing to do this for us. If he refuses then we will let him go.”

“Do it for you? What do you mean?”

“Being a princess means you have to do some things you regret. For example, the only reason we are arresting Whirl is because if we don’t, we will have to deal with noble ponies and Prince Blueblood trying to gouge us into giving them everything they could ever want. They would say that we showed favoritism and demand ridiculous things for compensation for past transgressions that they don’t need or deserve.”

“Wow, sounds complicated.”

“It is, and we have tried to make it so we can show leniency towards those who have served Equestria in valorous ways. However, the governing council of Equestria has determined that everypony be tried equally in serious matters. Luckily for us, the council is going to be the jury in this case due to it being war crimes trial. They will most likely move to absolve him of his crimes or at the most sentence him to community services.”

“Wait, you mean you don’t get to choose the punishment if he is found guilty?”

“No, the council will decide his punishment as well as his fate. We will only be there to assure order during the trial.”

Derpy started to get worried a bit as they finally reached the spiral stairs that lead to the dungeons. “So you are telling me that Whirl could potentially get a severe punishment for this?”

“That is right. However the highest level of punishment he could receive for such a crime is twenty years in the dungeons. So there is no risk to his life.”

“Twenty years?! He will be on the downhill slope of his life at that point!”

“Yes, but as I said, the council will most likely give him a light sentence given the fact that he only collaborated with the enemy to hamper their defenses.”

“I hear the voices of the two ponies I wanted to see most!” Whirl shouted from the cells.

Derpy clambered down the stairs that much faster and ended up in front of Whirl’s cell. “Whirl, you have to refuse to stand trial! There is a chance you could spend twenty years in here!”

“Wait, what do you mean refuse trial?”

Luna had made it to the bottom of the stairs. “Princess Celestia has asked me to convey to you all of our apologies. We offer you your freedom if you refuse to stand trial. However, I must tell you that if we set you free the repercussions to Equestria could be… severe.”

“You are of course referring to the noble ponies causing a riot and demanding compensation for past transgressions. I don’t blame you one bit for not wanting to deal with them, I will go to trial here and in the Crystal Empire.”

“What?! Whirl, what are you doing?! You can go free, you can come home with me right now! Are you saying you don’t want that?!” Derpy asked angrily.

“Derpy, I love you so much and I want you to be able to live in a peaceful land and the way I can ensure the stability in the kingdom is to go up on trial and accept punishment for what I have done. I am…”

“Shut up! Whirl, I can’t stand to be separated from you for one more moment! Tell her you want to go now!” Derpy pleaded desperately.

Whirl frowned and shook his head. “Derpy… I can’t… I have to do this.” he said sadly.

Derpy stomped a hoof down and tears fell from her face. “Fine! Go to trial! Go put yourself at risk for the kingdom that is willing to imprison their heroes and is will to let something this STUPID to happen! I won’t be a part of it! I am going home!” she shouted before she ran back up the spiral stairs.

“Derpy wait!” Whirl called out as he reached a hoof outside the cell, but she was already gone. “Derpy…”

Luna’s horn started to glow and the cell opened. “Whirl... you are free to go…” she said softly.

Whirl wanted nothing more than to jump out of the cell and chase after Derpy, but something was holding him back. He lurched forward once or twice trying his hardest to move himself forward. When he finally gave up he pulled the cell door closed. “I can’t… I can’t let you and the others deal with that kind of fallout…” he said sadly as he hopped up onto the cell’s bench and laid down.

“But Whirl…”

“Luna, please leave. Please leave now.” Whirl said in a shaky voice.

Luna could hear his sadness and didn’t push it further. She walked towards the stairs and stopped at the bottom step. “Goodbye Whirl…” she said softly as she walked up the stairs. The last thing she heard was Whirl’s sobs as she reached the top step.

****

The days that followed were the worst days of Whirl’s life as he was left alone in the dungeons. Nopony visited him at all as the day of the trial drew closer and closer. Sunny and Whim meanwhile tried their best to get the doctors permission to go and see him. “I can walk! Look!” Sunny said as he moved out of bed. When he tried to stand he fell right to the floor like a rag doll.

The doctor sighed and lifted him back into the bed. “Sunny Plains… you are not able to walk, you are not able to fly and you are not able to go and see Whirl Wind at this time. Now please lay back down and relax. I have done all I can to get him an escort up here but the guards keep telling me he is too… distraught.”

“Then send Derpy in! I need to see her so that she can tell me what is wrong with him!” Sunny shouted angrily as he fell limp in the bed.

“I was informed that she left Canterlot this morning for Ponyville. I’m sorry Sunny.”

“Derpy… went home? Oh no… she must have left him…”

“No way! No way Derpy would leave Whirl!” Whim shouted from the other side of the room. “I am getting up right now and going to see him!” he said as he tried to get up. The frost burnt areas on his bodies stung and burned as he stood up and when he started to walk it was like walking on fire.

“Mr.Whim! Lay back down now!” the doctor shouted frantically as he tried to restrain Whim.

“Sir, am I under arrest for any reason?!” Whim asked angrily.

“No, but I must insist you move back to your bed if you are going to make a full recovery.” The doctor sighed.

“Then I insist you let me past. I may be injured but I am not above moving a doctor out of my way if he is blocking me from helping a friend.”

Being almost half the size of Whim, the doctor wisely moved aside and let Whim limp past. “I will be back when I am done talking to Whirl.” he wheezed as he left the room. It took several hours of walking through the castle and taking plenty of breaks to make it to the dungeons. He started to walk down the spiral stairs and sighed in relief when he reached the bottom. The two guards moved in front of him.

“I’m sorry sir, but the prisoner is not taking visitors at this time.” one of the guards said stoically.

Whim was breathing heavily as he spoke. “Sir, I am seventy percent frostbite right now and I just walked half way across the castle to be here. Now you tell Whirl that if he doesn’t see me now I will be in there with him in two seconds when I put you two on your flanks!” he said angrily.

“Let him come in, the stallion has had a hard time getting here.” Whirl’s voice sounded out sadly.

The two guards moved back to their positions and let Whim pass. Whim walked up to the cell and laid down in front of it. “I hope you don’t mind me laying down, when I stand it feels like I am on fire.”

Whirl was facing away from Whim when he spoke. “What do you want Whim…?” he asked with a slight hiccup.

“What the heck happened? Why did Derpy go home?”

“I told her that I wasn’t going to leave. I had the choice of going free and I refused to help the princesses… I told her I couldn’t go with her…”

“Whirl, look at me.”

“No…”

“Whirl, look at me!”

“Go away Whim!”

Whim’s horn started to glow and the cell ripped open. Whim trotted over to Whirl and turned him around. Whirl looked like he hadn’t slept since Derpy left and his face and fore hooves were soaked. Whirl moved Whim’s hooves away from him and turned away again. “Whirl, you look terrible… Have you slept at all?”

“No, I have been crying ever since she left… I miss her so much and I might never see her again…”

The guards had pulled Whim out of the cell and onto the floor outside. “One more outburst like that and I will have to put you in a cell too.” the guard warned.

Whim went limp on the ground and twitched a bit in pain. “Don’t be a fool Whirl. Derpy is just upset right now and needs some time alone. She will forgive you.”

“What if she doesn’t? What is she leaves me forever?”

“She won’t! I will go and talk to her, let her see why you made your choice.”

“Fine… just go… I deserve to be alone…”

Whim levitated a pebble off of the ground and threw it at Whirl’s head with a sigh. “Stop being such a downer. Things are going to be fine… now if you… don’t mind… I think… I will… mmm mummm mummmm…” he said as he started to black out from the pain.

“Guards… you might want to get a doctor.”

The guards scrambled to Whim and lifted him up. They carried him up the stairs where the doctor was already waiting for him with a gurney. When they got him back to the medical ward they placed him back on his bed gently. The doctor grabbed some leather straps and strapped Whim to the bed tightly. “What are you doing? He doesn’t need to be bound like that.” Sunny said as he watched the doctor.

“The guards requested it after he threatened them.” the doctor explained.

“Whim, wake up!” Sunny shouted.

Whim stirred a bit and opened his eyes. “Ohhh, my body…”

“Whim, what did Whirl say? Did you see him?”

Whim let out a groan and nodded. “He said that he is afraid Derpy isn’t coming back. He hasn’t slept since she left and has spent the entire time crying. I don’t think he has eaten either…” he said as he tried to move. “And it would appear I might have gone one threat too far.”

“We have to get a letter to Derpy immediately. Hey doc, can you help us out with that?” Sunny asked as he tried to move his head. “And can you help me move my head towards the ceiling?”

The doctor walked over to Sunny’s bed with a sigh. He gently moved Sunny’s face onto his pillow se he could relax. “If you two promise not to make me work so hard to heal you, I will make sure a letter gets to whoever you want.”

“Great, thank you. Her name is Ditzy Doo, address it to the residence of Whirl Wind please.”

The doctor wrote down the address and trotted out of the room without another word. “I think we owe him an apology.” Whim said guiltily.

“Yeah… we did kind of go too far. So, Whirl is pretty banged up about this huh?”

“Extremely. He is literally starving himself because of it. I think he is doing it on purpose to punish himself for not going home with Derpy.”

“How could he? He was arrested and put in the dungeons. Why would Derpy not understand that?”

“Because Whirl decided to go to trial for some reason.”

“He probably did it to stop the noble ponies from demanding compensation for past transgressions.”

“What? You really think that they would do that?”

“I know they would, noble ponies will do anything for money and power. They stomp all over the lower classes to do that. I know that from experience. While my family was living in Canterlot we were treated terribly by the nobles and I was once kicked in the face by one who thought I was a ‘wretched waste of pony meat’.” Sunny said angrily.

Whim went silent, he felt a bit hurt because he was technically a noble from Canterlot. What Sunny said made him feel like he was nothing but a snob. “I wouldn’t do that…”

“Well of course you wouldn’t, you aren’t a noble.” Sunny said with a chuckle.

“Yes Sunny, I am. I was born under the House of Fate. My mother is one of the council members of Equestria’s government and my father is a retired palace guard. I myself am a lieutenant in Equestria’s reserve forces. Everything about my family is noble.”

“Really, I didn’t know any of that. You don’t act like a typical noble.”

“How many do you know?”

“Well, there is the House of Shields, my mother worked for them as the maid even though they referred to her as ‘wench’. Then there is the House of Robes, where my father worked as a maintenance engineer even though they called him ‘the pony who fixed things of less pay than any other pony.’ And let’s not forget the House of Swords, my brother worked there as a sword polisher and they called him…”

“Alright, alright… I get it…”

“Sorry to reveal this shocking truth to you, but if you had ever lived a day wondering if your family is going to be able to make enough bits to survive the next month you would understand.”

“Now that you know I am a noble, does that mean we can’t be friends anymore?” Whim asked sadly.

Sunny let out a laugh. “Of course we are still friends. You are kind and respectful to everypony despite their ‘status’. I don’t judge ponies based on how or where they were born. I only judge them based on their actions. Nothing you have done would warrant us not being friends anymore. You saved my life buddy.”

Whim nodded slowly. “I guess you are right…”

“I know I am and I know that you are a good pony. I’m sorry if I upset you, that isn’t what I meant to do.”

“It’s alright, I am glad I got to see us from the other side of the fence. I never realized it but we used to call our maid ‘the cleaning mare’. How she must feel about that…”

“Maybe you can apologize, do you remember her real name?”

“I… never knew her real name…”

“Whim, I am sorry to say this but that is awful. What made you think that was a good thing at all?”

“My parents told me that her name didn’t matter as long as she did her work… I guess I never thought about it again but I was pretty terrible…”

“It’s okay Whim. There is not much you can do about it now. Just remember that us lower ponies have names. Now then, what is my name?”

“Your name is Whirl’s Twin right?” Whim asked jokingly.

Sunny let out a loud laugh. “Close enough, not bad for a noble.”

“I try my best okay…” Whim said with a chuckle.

Sunny tried to grab his glass of water but he didn’t realize that he was still too numb to move. He fell right out of the bed and onto his face. “Ow!”

Whim looked over to Sunny and tried to get up to help, but he was still restrained. “Doctor! Doctor!” he called out.

Sunny sighed and tried to get up again. “Dang it… this is so embarrassing and… oh gosh… My stitches are bleeding…”

“Doctor! Somepony! We need some help in here!” Whim shouted even louder. Sunny moaned a bit and went limp, a pool of blood was forming underneath him. He was unconscious. Whim strained against the restraints and eventually one of them broke. He untied the other one and jumped off the bed to help Sunny. Lifting Sunny back into the bed was no easy task, but he managed to do it with the help of his magic. When Sunny was back in the bed Whim grabbed a cloth from the counter and held it against Sunny’s wound. “HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!”

At last a guard ran into the room frantically. “What is it?!”

“Go get the doctor! I don’t know what to do here!”

The guard dashed out of the room and came back shortly with the doctor in tow, literally. The guard had picked up the doctor and had him in his hooves when he came back. “Here he is!”

“Let go of me.” The doctor said as he struggled out of the guards hooves. “Oaf! What happened to him? Last I check he couldn’t move enough to do this.”

“He tried to get the glass of water on his side table and he forgot that he couldn’t move. He fell onto the floor pretty hard.” Whim explained.

The doctors hooves moved to remove the cloth from Sunny’s wound. “How did he manage to tear the artery by just falling on the floor? This stallion has the worse luck ever…” he said as his horn started to glow. Sunny stopped bleeding and the doctor started to clean up the mess. Whim walked slowly over to the sink and washed his hooves before he laid down in his bed again. “And how did you manage to get out of those restraints? They are magic resistant.”

“They aren’t muscle resistant. I just tore this one and undid the other one.” Whim said as he tossed the torn restraint to the doctor.

The doctor sighed and threw the restraint away. “You two promised me you wouldn’t make this hard for me.”

Whim chuckled. “We didn’t exactly do this on purpose. We were actually discussing how we should apologize to you for making this so difficult for you. We really are sorry.”

“It’s alright. You are much better than some of the nobles that I get in here. At least you aren’t throwing fits and tantrums because your food isn’t gourmet. You also have thrown actual heavy objects at me with your magic. Do you know how many head wounds I have treated on our own staff? Dozens. One even had to have stiches because they were hit with a coffee pot.” The doctor said with a chuckle.

“Well, I am not like other noble ponies.” Whim said proudly.

“Wait, you are a noble pony? I never would have guessed that.”

“From what I hear, the nobles are real monsters sometimes.”

“Only when they don’t get the finest of things in life. You kind of remind of that one noble pony that got food poisoning during a party here in the castle. Fancy Pants, the only noble pony who thanked me for helping him to get better.”

“Well, I will be the second. Thank you very much.” Whim said happily.

“You are very much welcome.” the doctor said as he finished cleaning the blood off of the floor, off of Sunny, and off of himself. “Now then, it is late and you should get some rest.”

“Can you do me one more favor doc?”

“I suppose, what do you need?”

“The pony in the dungeons, Whirl Wind, he is a dear friend of mine and I am afraid he is not well. Can you try to help him out?”

“I can make a quick stop by the dungeons before I go home. That would be no problem at all.”

“Thanks doc. I appreciate that.”

“Alright then, have a good long rest Mr.Whim.” the doctor said as he turned off the lights in the room and left.

Whim closed his eyes and tried his best to sleep. The doctor eventually made it to the dungeons and down to the cell where Whirl was laying on the bench. “Mr. Wind? Are you awake?” he asked quietly.

Whirl stirred a bit, but didn’t turn around. “Who is it?”

“This is one of the castle’s doctors. You can call me Dr. Span if you want. I am here to give you a required physical.”

“Can’t this wait until the trial is over?” Whirl asked quietly.

“I’m sorry Mr. Wind, but I have already pushed this off as far as I could.” Doctor Span said as the guard opened the cell for him. He walked over to Whirl and nudged him a little bit. “If you would sit up please.”

Whirl grunted and sat up on the bench. “Let’s get this over with.”

Span set down his doctors bag and levitated a tongue depressor out of his bag. “Open wide and say ‘ah’.” Whirl opened his mouth with a soft ‘ah’ and the doctor examined his mouth. “Have you been drinking any water Mr. Wind?” Span asked as he removed the tongue depressor from his mouth.

“No.” Whirl said plainly.

Span pulled out another tool and checked Whirl’s ears and eyes. “Extreme redness… have your eyes been watering a lot lately?”

“I haven’t stopped crying for three days. And before you ask, no, I have not been sleeping either.”

Span put the tool away and levitated a stethoscope into his ears. “Deep breaths please.”

Whirl took a few deep breaths as the doctor moved the clod stethoscope around on his chest. “So, what is the word doc? How healthy am I?”

Span sighed and placed the stethoscope back into his bag. “You are malnourished, sleep deprived, emotionally distraught and dehydrated. I think we need to have you removed from the dungeons and taken to a proper medical facility.”

“No… I just consider it part of the punishment I deserve.” Whirl said in protest. “I just want to… OW! Hey what the?! Ohhh… wha…” Whirl passed out on the bench as Span removed a needle from Whirl’s flank.

“That should take care of the sleep deprivation. Guards, I am using my authority as a castle doctor to have him moved to the medical ward. Bring chains and we will chain him to his bed.”

The guards gave a salute and they both lifted Whirl onto their backs and carried him to the medical ward. “Which room?”

Span stopped in front of Whim and Sunny’s room. “We have a bed available in this room.” The guards carried Whirl into the room and chained him to the open bed. They gave one more salute to the doctor before leaving the room. Span hooked up an IV bag to Whirl to rehydrate and nourish him. “I don’t know what is making you feel so bad, but I won’t let you die over it.” he said quietly as tightened the chains on the bed to prevent any movement at all.

“When I asked you to check on him, I didn’t expect you to bring him here. Thank you for helping him.” Whim said quietly.

“Yeah well, don’t make me sedate you too.” Span said with a soft chuckle.

“Will he be okay?”

“He will be fine, now go to sleep. I will be back first thing in the morning to check up on him.” Whim had already fallen asleep and let out a loud snore. The doctor chuckled and walked out of the room.

****

Whirl was walking through the streets of Canterlot at midnight while a cool breeze washed over him. He knew where he was and what he was doing. Princess Luna appeared next to him and smiled. “Enjoying the walk?” she asked happily.

“I wouldn’t be here if the doctor hadn’t sedated me…” Whirl said plainly as he continued to walk.

“Well since you are here you might as well enjoy it.”

“How is Derpy?” Whirl asked as he stopped walking.

“Her dreams have all been about you and how you are doing. She is afraid that you have been torturing yourself over what happened. Since I have not felt you sleep for three days I would have to suspect the same thing.”

“I can decide what I do and do not deserve. I turned down my future wife for a prison sentence! What kind of a pony would do that?! Am I so stuck on helping others that I cannot distinguish the pony I love more than anypony else from the rest of the world?!” Whirl asked angrily as he threw a rock through a window.

“Whirl, you can still leave you know.”

“Then you would have to deal with so much fallout from the nobles that it would make all of Equestria miserable. I can’t let that happen either! Why does all of this have to revolve around what I do?! I am not important! I never wanted to be important!”

“Oh Whirl…” Luna said softly as she hugged him with her fore hooves and wings. “You have helped this world so much… Nopony can appreciate that more than my sister and I who love this world like it were our child. Tonight I will make you a promise, after the trials we ensure that you never have to do anything like this ever again. You deserve better than the hoof you are being dealt. I am sorry you are in this predicament.”

Whirl went limp in her embrace. “I keep saying to myself, at least they are all safe. At least they don’t have to deal with all of this. Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel like I am doing the right thing.”

“I cannot say whether or not what you are doing is right… I am not sure about that anymore. I have been talking to Tia every day since you have been in here and she has been talking to the council about letting you go without trial. But things have been slow since the soldiers have been returning from the recent battle in the Crystal Empire. We are trying to get a casualty list so that we can treat the wounded and provide funeral services for those who have fallen.”

“I am kind of glad the doctor came and helped me… maybe now my broken wing will be tended to.”

“It was supposed to be tended to when you got here but… you got put low on the list of ponies to be treated after the first load of wounded came in…”

Whirl sighed and leaned his head against Luna’s chest. “I’m sorry I caused so much trouble…”

“You didn’t cause the nobles to act like they do, you didn’t cause Bloody Marey to attack the Crystal Empire and you certainly didn’t cause anything bad for Equestria. Just relax tonight and we will make sure that the trial comes swiftly and hurries along as fast as it can. Tia might even be able to convince the council to skip the trial and just set you free.” Whirl hummed in acknowledgement and relaxed. Luna rubbed his back gently. “I’m sorry that I cannot help you more than that.”

“It’s okay Luna… I just can’t wait for this all to be over…”

****

Dawn broke and the light in the medical ward’s room turned on. “Good morning everypony.” Span said happily as he walked into the room.

Whim was already awake and was reading a book on rock farming. “Good morning doctor, how are you this fine morning?” he asked happily as he set his book down.

“Quite well, thanks for asking. Since you are the only one awake, I will check up on you first. Oh my, it looks like you have caused a slight bleed under your frostbite. Looks like you will need a couple more days in bed, but you will be okay.” Span said as he used his magic to fix the bleed. “Are you feeling any tightness in your muscles or any signs of random exhaustion?”

“Not at all.” Whim replied happily.

“Then I think you are going to make a full, albeit delayed, recovery.” Span said as he trotted over to Sunny. “Mr. Plains, wake up please.”

Sunny groaned and stirred very weakly. “Wha… oh… doc… what’s going on?”

“It’s morning Mr. Plains, I am here for your checkup. Seems like the new stitches are holding up alright, how do you feel?”

“Weak… very weak…”

“That’s normal. I need you to please remain in your bed today. If you need something I want you to tell Mr. Whim and he will ring this bell so that I can come in and assist, okay?”

“Sure thing… can I have some water?”

Span helped Sunny take a drink before walking over to Whirl’s bed. He pulled out an apple from his bag and gently shook Whirl awake. “Mr. Wind, I need you to wake up and eat this apple for me.”

Whirl opened his eyes slowly and leaned his head up. He tried to move but found himself restrained. “Uhh, I might need some help with that.” he said sleepily.

Span held the apple up to Whirl’s mouth and he took a bite. “I can’t take the restraints off, sorry.”

Whirl swallowed and nodded. “It’s okay, I understand.”

“Whirl?! Is that Whirl I hear?!” Sunny asked happily.

“Yes it is, but you can talk to him after he eats.” Span said as Whirl took another bite of the apple. Once Whirl had finished the doctor disposed of the core and smiled. “We will be sending meals for you two here in a little while. We have gotten a bit backed up this morning due to a bunch of new arrivals. Mr. Wind, I will be back in an hour at the most to tend to that broken wing.”

“That’s okay, we can wait. Thank you doctor.” Whim said kindly as he picked up his book again.

Span left the room with a smile on his face. “Whirl, how are you doing buddy? I have been so worried about you.” Sunny called out excitedly.

Whirl sighed and tried to get comfortable. “I’m fine Sunny, how have you been? Sounds like you are having a hard time.”

“Well, I can’t move pretty much at all and I feel like I went two rounds with Thunder Driver. But now that you are here I feel a lot better.”

“Not that I can even look at either of you. Whim, how does Sunny look?”

“Like he fell out of bed yesterday and bled all over the floor causing me to panic and cause a bleed under my frostbite.” Whim said casually while turning the page in his book with his magic.

Sunny let out a nervous chuckle. “I was thirsty… Sorry about that Whim, I’ll make it up to you later with a large mug of cider from Sweet Apple Acres.”

“That sounds so nice right now…” Whirl said quietly.

“I know right?! Augh, when we plan your wedding we are buying soooo much cider!” Sunny said happily.

Whirl simply sighed. “I hope that there will still be a wedding…”

“There will be. We sent a letter to Derpy asking her to come to Canterlot and explain what happened. She should be here before the trial.” Whim said just as casually as before.

“Oh geeze…” Whirl said quietly. “This is going to be interesting…”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Okay, I give up, why are you so calm Whim?” Sunny asked in a confused tone.

“Derpy is already here. I got the message late last night that she was here the whole time.” Whim said as he turned another page.

“What?! I thought I was going to have more time to prepare!” Whirl shouted angrily. “She is going to freak out when she sees me like this!”

“Glad to see your voice is doing alright. How’s the rest of you?” Derpy’s voice chirped happily from the door.

“Derpy! Oh gosh I am so sorry! I should have come home with you and…!”

“Oh shush… it took some time but I have come to terms with your decision. I love you honey.” Derpy said as she trotted over to the bed and gave him a kiss. “I’m sorry I left you when you needed me most…”

Whirl smiled and tears of joy welled up in his eyes. “It’s okay, I am just so happy to see you…”

Derpy wiped away his tears gently. “Can we all try to avoid getting into more trouble? I don’t want to worry about losing anypony anymore.” she asked jokingly.

“Don’t worry, I figure we are in the clear. Besides, none of us can get out of bed to get into any more trouble.” Sunny said with a chuckle.

“That is very true. I just wish they would have chained me to my bed while I was on my side. As it is I am lying on my broken wing and that doesn’t feel very good.” Whim turned another page in his book and shook his head. Whirl noticed him out of the corner of his eye. “Whim, are you okay? You seem very… distant today.”

“I am just trying not to do anything… nobleish. I figure if I just read my book and stayed quiet I wouldn’t do anything rude or unkind.” Whim said guiltily.

“Whim, you may be part of a noble family but that doesn’t make you rude or unkind. Have we ever lead you to believe that?” Sunny asked in a concerned tone.

“Yesterday, when you told me about how the nobles treated your family. Yesterday, when the doctor told me about his experience with the noble houses. Yesterday, when I couldn’t remember the name of our maid that had served our house for over twenty years. Last night when I stayed up and thought about everypony I treated badly.”

“You told him about how they treated our family? Whim, you really shouldn’t look too much into it. You are not the ponies who treated our family badly, you are not the ponies who did whatever they did to the doctor, you are you and you are a good pony that employs ponies in Ponyville looking for a start in life and pay them well. You treat them with kindness and respect and I can bet that even now that pony who is probably tending your fields while you are gone is working happily for no pay because you gave him a house, a job and a wonderful start with his new family. Not only that, you came to help Sunny and I without us asking you to, you helped defending Ponyville against Sombra’s army and you pulled me out of that bush of poisoned thorns in the Everfree forest and carried me to the hospital and picked up the tab. If you are anything, you should be the only true noble in all of Equestria! Because a true noble gets what he needs and makes sure others get what they need as well, like you do.” Whirl said encouragingly.

Whim wiped a tear from his eye and put his book down. “Thanks Whirl, that means a lot coming from you. You know, when I first met you I admired you. I admired how simple your life was and how you were content with just living alone and not having to worry about making an impression on anypony. You were just you. You didn’t seek out anything because you didn’t need anything from anypony. And as you sat there and did only what you needed to do to survive everything you could have ever wanted came to you. You got friends, you found a wife and you found happiness in even the darkest of times. While you had your moments of horrifying terror you stood your ground. You may have lost your family, but you are as happy as ever and I am sure that they would be proud to see you where you are now. That goes for you too Sunny, both of you are the prime example of heroes. I am proud and honored to call you two my friends. And Derpy, it was very brave of you to follow Whirl to the Crystal Empire. I may not know you very well but that alone lets me know that you are absolutely the right mare for him.”

“Awww, Whim you are such a charmer.” Derpy said happily.

“Things got all emotional in here really quick huh?” Whirl said with a chuckle. “It is good to be together again. I can’t wait until the last of this is over and we can finally move on in peace.”

“Just a few more days hopefully. All we need to do is defend you during your trial and you will go free. We all believe that.” Derpy said as she walked to the door. “I am going to see about getting the doctor in here to YIPE!”

The door swung open suddenly and a nurse carrying two trays on her back walked in. “Oh I’m sorry miss. I didn’t mean to almost hit you with the door.” she said guiltily.

“It’s okay, I was just going to see if the doctor can come tend to Whirl’s broken wing.”

The nurse walked into the room and set the trays down on the counter. “I’m afraid that is going to be a while. The newest arrivals have some pretty serious wounds and the doctors have their hooves full.” The nurse picked up a tray and walked over to Whim. “Here you go sir, a nice pineapple salad.”

“Is there no doctors available at all?” Derpy asked worriedly.

“I’m really sorry, but there aren’t. Believe it or not he is lucky to only have a broken wing. There are others who have been stabbed, like this poor stallion here.” the nurse replied as she set a tray of food next to Sunny’s bed. “Enjoy your meal sir. I must go now, I have a lot more ponies to serve.”

“Uh nurse…” Sunny started.

“Another nurse will be in here in a little while to address any concern you might have.” The nurse quickly walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

“I can’t… move…” Sunny said in an embarrassed tone.

“Here, let me get that for you.” Derpy said as she walked over and helped Sunny lean up to eat. She took the fork and stabbed a few pieces of pineapple before moving it to Sunny’s mouth. “Here you go.”

Sunny blushed a bit and tried to take the fork from her, but he was too weak. “Augh, this is really embarrassing.”

Whirl chuckled a bit. “Sunny, it’s okay. Sometimes you just need to take what help is available. You should really thank Derpy for offering to feed you.”

“Thanks Derpy…” Sunny said with a sigh as he took a bite.

Derpy giggled a bite and scooped up some more salad. “It’s okay, now here comes the train. Choo choo!”

Whirl and Whim both laughed and Sunny blushed intensely. “Oh come on… this is already embarrassing enough…”

Derpy giggled a little more. “Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.” she said as he took another bite.

“At least she is being kinder than I would be. I would be poking your face with it like I couldn’t see or something. That would be fun.” Whirl said with a chuckle.

“And if it were me I would dump the bowl on your head.” Sunny responded with a smirk.

“Touché.” Whim said as he took another bite.

Suddenly the door slammed open and Span ran in. “I have five minute! Get him unchained so I can wrap that wing!” he shouted as two guards followed him in. They unchained Whirl and turned him onto his side, the wrong side.

“WRONG SIDE, WRONG SIDE! AHHH!” Whirl cried out as his full body weight pressed against his broken wing.

The doctor turned him over with his horn glowing and the wing’s flesh seemed to disappear, leaving just the bones. “There it is…” the doctor said as the wing popped and the bone realigned. Whirl let out a grunt of pain and felt the wing being wrapped with casting. “Just a quick minute and you will feel right as rain.”

“Thanks dooooc ow!”

“Sorry about that, I never wrapped a wing this quickly before but it is better than nothing. There we go! Give it a few days and it will be good as new! Got to go!” Span yelled as he rushed out of the room.

The others looked on with confusion as to what just happened. “They forgot to chain Whirl back down.” Whim said with a chuckle.

Whirl stretched and basked in his new freedom. “Don’t call them back in, I need to move around a bit. Also this.” Whirl said as he hugged Derpy tightly while she was midway through serving Sunny another bite.

Derpy dropped the fork and the tray flipped off of her and landed right on Sunny’s face. “Aww how sweet.” Derpy said, not realizing what she had just done.

Whim was laughing hysterically as the two were looking deeply into each other’s eyes while Sunny sat there with a bowl on his head. “Can somepony please take this bowl off of my head…?” his voice muffled from under the bowl.

Whirl looked over to Sunny and started to laugh as well. Derpy gasped and took the bowl from his head and started to pick pieces of pineapple off of him. “I’m sorry Sunny, I didn’t realize I did that.”

“It’s okay, I am just glad one of us are up and about.” Sunny said with a chuckle.

“I am just glad to see you alive. That doesn’t look good at all.” Whirl said as he pointed to Sunny’s chest wound.

“At least I will have a scar you don’t. Ponies will be able to tell us apart now.”

“That’s true; you won’t have to dye your mane now.”

“I think I will anyway. Yellow made me look awesome with a white mane and tail. I think it gave me my own personality.”

“Kind of like how Whirl’s blue mane makes him look extra sexy.” Derpy said as she ran her hoof through Whirl’s mane.

“Ohh baby.” Whirl said as he kissed Derpy.

Sunny chuckled as they kissed right in front of him. They were really getting into as they ran their hooves through each other’s manes. “Come on you two, get a room.” Sunny said with a chuckle.

They broke apart and put their heads against each other’s. “Love you so much Derpy…”

“Love you too honey.”

“You two are leaning on my stomach…” Sunny said with a sigh.

Both of them moved off of Sunny with blushes on their face. “Sorry about that Sunny, we just got a bit excited.”

“Yeah, I could tell. Can one of you lay me on my back so I can relax?”

Whirl gently moved Sunny into a more comfortable position. “There you go. Once you get out of here, we will take care of you at home and you will be more comfortable.”

“I am going to work first, right when I get back. Maybe Storm won’t be upset that we never came back the next day.”

“I am sure he reads the papers. Our names are probably all over the front page.”

“Actually, they are. Not in the way you might think though. Half of Equestria is in an uproar about your arrest Whirl. The other half is enraged that Sunny hasn’t been able to comment for the last two days.” Derpy said with a giggle. “I think this is all botched if you ask me; not that I am saying that you are doing the wrong thing Whirl, but you have to admit that this is kind of ridiculous.”

“I can admit that, but I figure that it would hurt to help the princesses. Sorry I have to put myself on the line again…”

“It’s okay, it really is. I am actually glad that you are just going to get this over with and we won’t have to deal with it ever again. We will go home, get married, maybe have a few foals and relax.” Derpy said happily.

“A few foals? Why not just two?”

“Because I want lots of foals, that way they will always have somepony to help them out if things go bad for them and they will always have friends because they will have lots of brothers and sisters.”

“So… three foals?”

“I was thinking… four.”

Whirl went a bit pale. “F-four? Like my family?”

“Well… I guess so… I mean… all of your family was very successful…”

“Because we always looked out for each other. Alright… four foals it is. But we aren’t naming them after anypony in my family, I always wanted unique names for every foal that I had.”

“Alright, fair enough.”

“Already planning parenthood, what a family.” Whim said as he picked his book back up. “If any of your foals turn out to be unicorns I can teach them magic, no charge. They could grow up to be promising earth manipulators.”

“I think I will let them decide that. The one thing I learned from my parents is that you should never push your child in any direction other than the one they want. My father pushed me so hard that I left my home at the age of sixteen and traveled around for four years doing oddball work until I finally saved up enough to build a house of my own in Ponyville.”

“Well, maybe a light push if they are on the wrong track…” Derpy said softly.

“Of course, but I won’t push them away from their dreams or think that they are ridiculous. I don’t want to push them away.”

“You won’t, you are too good of a pony to do that… just don’t be afraid to punish them if they do something wrong.”

“Well… nothing too severe… my dad used to make us run obstacle courses and do pushups if we did something wrong. Since I did that anyway for training he would make me do it after school, after work, after lunch on the weekends and after dinner every day.”

“Well, at least it paid off. I mean, it did help you grow up really strong.” Derpy said as she tried to make it not seem so bad.

Whirl thought about it for a moment. “I guess you are right. Maybe I wouldn’t have looked at it so badly if he wasn’t shouting ‘if you don’t finish this section in the next thirty seconds you are doing it again’ when I could only finish in one minute. Maybe if I would have been encouraged instead.”

“Tell me about it! Dad was the worst at punishment. Build the obstacle course anyway, it was fun when we used it to decide who will do the dishes. We never lost once, ha ha!” Sunny said with a laugh at the end.

“That’s right, I completely forgot about the competitions! Those were great!”

“You really competed to see who would wash the dishes? That sounds fair, if you haven’t been training on it every day.” Derpy said as she nudged Whirl on the shoulder.

“Hey, you snooze you lose. Besides, my father encouraged us to use our unique abilities to win. I would fly, my brother would use his magic and my little brother and sister always pulled ahead in the boulder pull.”

“Boulder pull?! Was this an obstacle course or a construction site?!” Derpy asked in shock.

“Both! Our dad bought out a half-finished building and built the obstacle course inside. Each floor presenting a unique challenge for each of us. Floor one was always the easiest, the rope climb. Dad never got mad at us for flying up and ringing the bell, he said it was one of our special abilities and it didn’t break the rules. After a while we just climbed the rope for training purposes even though we never beat my little brother and sister… ohh… I miss them.”

“Me too buddy, me too…” Sunny said sadly. “At least we still have each other.”

“Yes we do… yes we do… and I got you…” Whirl said as he kiss Derpy. “And I have you too Whim.”

“Don’t kiss me…” Whim said as he turned another page.

“And I have Flare, and Air, and Solar, and Frost, and the princesses and… wow… I have a lot of friends... I wonder if they will show up at the trial…”

“I am sure they will. They are going to run out of seats by the time we get into the room.” Sunny said with a chuckle. “And yes, I am going to force them to wheel my bed in there if I still can’t move.”

The door suddenly opened again and Princess Luna walked into the room. The hallway sounded like it was in an uproar and flashed from cameras lit it up like the sun. When the door closed the room went silent. “Whirl, I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you wish to hear first?”

“Might as well be the good news.” Whirl said with a frown.

“The good news is we got you a date for the trial.” Luna said with a half-smile.

“Well, that is pretty good news. What is the bad news?”